["The reading (experience) of A: Jang Yeonwoo is now complete."]
As soon as the robotic female voice ended, Kang Woojin returned to reality—to his home. The Beneficial Evil script with the black square was still in his hand, he was still dressed in the comfortable clothes he wore around the house, and his hair was still mussed as though he had just woken up.
But—
"...Hoo."
A tingling sensation spread through his entire body.
It was only natural.
Time in the real world had been frozen, but Kang Woojin had lived inside the world of Beneficial Evil under the name Jang Yeonwoo. He had blown open a strange man's skull, smashed a face into the ground until it shattered, punched through chests with an AK rifle, snapped necks, split open stomachs with a knife, gouged out eyes, and slit throats.
He had wiped out more than a dozen people in an instant.
He had set buildings on fire and pushed through roads where bullets rained down like a storm. Cars exploded, helicopters crashed, and in the middle of all that, he blew apart a few more heads.
It was violence beyond imagination.
Kang Woojin knew perfectly well that nothing like that could ever be experienced in reality. It was an impossible world, the kind that only existed in films or dramas. Not even the military could give someone an experience like that.
And yet Woojin had lived in that brutal world. He had breathed there, adapted to it, and endured it thoroughly.
'I can still feel the aftershock of the explosions.'
The towering flames that had erupted right in front of him. The sandstorm that had lashed against his face. The ringing that had torn through his ears. The searing heat that had nearly suffocated him. The force of the blasts that had twisted his body without his consent.
When Woojin came back to himself, he found it astonishing that the life of Jang Yeonwoo still remained so vividly imprinted across his entire body.
Even the smell of blood and metal lingered.
But had the world of Beneficial Evil completely swallowed Kang Woojin?
Not at all.
Killing. Gunfights. These were all things Kang Woojin had already done in previous works. The only difference was that Jang Yeonwoo had killed more people.
Soon, Kang Woojin—
"Yes. I'm fine now."
He felt that his control over his own mind had become perfect once again. There was no real difference from before.
This time too, Beneficial Evil had carved itself into him just as thoroughly as the many works before it, but it quickly faded under his control.
Kang Woojin brought his concept acting back up.
He became even more clearly aware of his real self. There were countless personalities and worlds inside him, but in the end, the one who governed them all was himself, and the master of that domain was Kang Woojin.
Thinking that, he set the script down and headed for the bathroom.
It was time to get ready.
At the same time, he thought—
'Filming something based on Beneficial Evil sounds like it'll be fun, doesn't it?'
What would it look like if the world of Beneficial Evil that he had directly experienced was recreated in reality? What would happen if Jang Yeonwoo, who thrived on the freedom of the role, moved freely across a real filming set?
Even while showering, Woojin realized he was full of anticipation.
Strangely enough, the worries he used to feel were nowhere to be found now.
"I've really become an actor."
His body trembled, but not from fear.
It was closer to excitement.
After drying his hair well enough, Woojin headed down to the underground parking lot, where the waiting van greeted him.
As expected, the briefing began with Choi Sunggeon, his hair tied back in a ponytail.
"How are you feeling today?"
"No different from yesterday."
"Good. That's good, then."
Wearing a faintly mocking smile, he changed the subject.
"I heard from PD Song yesterday that they brought in an overseas team for the action scenes in Beneficial Evil."
"An overseas team?"
"Yeah. They'll probably be mixed in with the existing stunt team. You saw that the newly added material included close combat, right? Apparently, they're a team that specializes in that field."
"I see."
"Right. The original martial arts director could probably handle it too, but apparently not at that level of specialization."
In other words, they were adding more technical expertise to the planned action choreography.
"Anyway, once the martial arts training starts, both the existing stunt team and the overseas team will be involved."
Judging from the storyboard, they would be practicing not just hand-to-hand combat based on martial arts, but also guns, knives, and other combat techniques.
Well, Kang Woojin was not particularly nervous.
Experts?
Maybe.
But the Kang Woojin currently sitting in the van and calmly looking out the window was, in truth, no different from a human weapon himself.
Of course, that only applied so long as he kept the switch under control.
Then Choi Sunggeon asked him again.
"So, do you think you can handle it? The guys from overseas are probably going to be huge. I heard CQC techniques are seriously difficult."
Inside, Kang Woojin gave a silent thumbs-up.
'Easy as breathing.'
Outwardly, he kept the same cold composure as always.
"I'll have to try it first, but it doesn't seem especially difficult."
Choi Sunggeon let out a small laugh, then quietly reassured himself.
'Just accept it. Don't question it, Choi Sunggeon. That man is Kang Woojin.'
A few hours later, in writer Choi Nana's office—
Choi Nana, who had recently met with Kang Woojin, was staring at her laptop screen.
Click, click.
She was not working on the Beneficial Evil script. She was reading an email that had arrived a few minutes earlier.
The sender was Japan's A10 Studio.
As the original writer of Boy Friend, Choi Nana regularly received updates from A10 Studio on the progress of Boy Friend: Remake.
This email was no different.
"Wow, they've already finished the voice recording and the mixing."
The information had already been made public through the press, but Choi Nana, who had been buried in the additional Beneficial Evil writing recently, was only now finding out.
After skimming through the email from A10 Studio, she immediately checked it for herself.
Then—
She minimized the email window and opened a search engine.
She was about to search for it.
The search term was, of course, Boy Friend Remake.
Usually, Japanese animation projects did not generate many articles in Korea, but ever since Kang Woojin had been cast as the male lead voice in Boy Friend: Remake, related articles had been pouring out nonstop.
Some were based purely on speculation, while others quoted Japanese media directly and relayed concrete details.
After reading the articles carefully for a while, Choi Nana took off her round glasses and let out a short sigh.
"Hoo, I'm nervous."
Lately, if one were to describe Choi Nana's life, it could almost be called a golden age.
Her debut work, Boy Friend, was being remade into a Japanese animation, while Beneficial Evil was aiming for the global market. For someone who had been an unknown rookie writer until just last year, it felt like walking through a dream.
And Kang Woojin was involved in both projects.
"PD-nim told me not to worry. He said it'll turn out well."
By nature, Choi Nana was timid, and anxiety was almost a constant companion for her.
But Song Man-woo had reassured her with one bizarre remark.
'Ah, it'll be fine. We've got the Kang Totem.'
He had not looked worried at all.
But what exactly was a Kang Totem supposed to be?
Choi Nana slowly closed her laptop and lifted her head. The familiar ceiling came into view.
At the same time, she remembered Kang Woojin from the meeting a few days earlier.
More precisely, she remembered the short conversation they had shared.
It had all begun when writer Choi Nana carefully opened her mouth.
"Um… Mr. Woojin."
Kang Woojin, who had been on his way out of the meeting room, answered in a low voice.
"Yes, writer-nim."
Just as Choi Sunggeon seemed to sense the mood and was about to leave, Choi Nana spoke again in a voice barely above a crawl.
"This might be a strange thing to ask during a Beneficial Evil meeting, but… what did it feel like when you recorded for Boy Friend: Remake?"
"What do you mean by what it felt like?"
"I'm curious how the other voice actors felt, and what the atmosphere at the production site was like. I get updates by email, but you experienced it directly, so I'm more curious. If the recording is finished, then the animation itself must already be complete too, right?"
"Yes. I recorded while watching the completed animation."
"No way. So how was it? Did it turn out well?"
After a short silence, Kang Woojin shook his head.
"I can't go into detail."
"Yes, I understand."
"But to me, it looked quite enjoyable."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"It'll do well."
"How do you always speak in such a confident tone?"
"I don't know. That's just how it feels."
Writer Choi Nana had been left bewildered.
In contrast, Kang Woojin had calmly and elegantly left the meeting room.
Staring at his retreating back, Choi Nana muttered to herself.
"...Feels? What kind of feeling is that?"
She had no idea that Boy Friend: Remake was an SS-grade work.
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Japan—
Inside A10 Studio, the giant animation production company near Tokyo Station, a medium-sized studio that served as both a recording room and test screening room was packed with people.
The first thing that stood out was the voice actors seated in rows of chairs.
From Natsumi Umi, who voiced the heroine of Boy Friend: Remake, to Asami Sayaka, who had built a close connection with Woojin, to the dozens of voice actors who had once gathered for the script reading, they were all there.
Kang Woojin was the only one absent.
Every single one of them wore a serious expression.
"..."
"..."
"..."
With those expressions, they stared intently at the large monitor placed in front of them.
Standing beside it were the main staff, including Mahiro Sakuichi, the chief director of Boy Friend: Remake. Naturally, executives from A10 Studio were there as well.
At that moment—
"Then let's begin."
The woman standing near the studio entrance turned off the lights.
She was the female team leader from the planning department who had overseen Boy Friend: Remake.
Click, click.
In an instant, the studio sank into a comfortable darkness.
Everyone gathered inside fell silent, and all eyes turned toward the large monitor in front of them.
Soon—
-♬♪
Even before the screen lit up, powerful music began to fill the studio.
It was the official opening theme of Boy Friend: Remake.
The song began with piano, quickly building in tempo as the violin joined in. Then the male vocal entered.
Naturally, it was Kang Woojin's voice.
-♬♪
As Kang Woojin's opening song filled the studio, the animation opening slowly began to appear on the large monitor.
It was Boy Friend: Remake.
The opening sequence ran for about thirty seconds. As it played, the expressions of the dozens of voice actors gradually brightened, and some even nodded along to the rhythm.
Eventually—
Sss.
The opening music faded out, and the main episode of Boy Friend: Remake began in earnest.
The eyes of the voice actors widened.
It could not be helped.
What they were watching now was episode 1 of Boy Friend: Remake, fully completed down to the dubbing and final editing.
In other words, this was the finished pre-broadcast test screening.
There seemed to be nothing lacking.
At least, that was how it looked through the eyes of the voice actors.
With their accumulated experience from participating in dozens of works, their judgment was accurate.
Then Sengoku Toru, the male lead of Boy Friend: Remake, appeared on the screen.
Kang Woojin's voice was heard.
And in that instant, the voice actors were reminded once again.
"He really is incredible. Once you see the final product, you feel it even more strongly."
'The way he speaks fits the male lead perfectly.'
'Who would ever think he was originally an actor? He's a complete voice actor.'
Once more, they realized just how extraordinary Kang Woojin's voice acting truly was.
And so episode 1 of Boy Friend: Remake came to an end.
Its runtime was roughly twenty-four minutes.
Episode 2 followed immediately after, and at about eighteen minutes, it was slightly shorter than the first.
Before the third episode began—
The director seated in front of the monitor equipment turned and looked back at the voice actors behind him.
"How was it?"
Before moving on to episode 3, he was asking for their impressions.
But suddenly, applause burst out from among the voice actors.
Clap clap clap clap clap!
It had not been intentional, but it was sincere.
The sound spread throughout the studio, and the excited voice actors began passionately sharing their impressions of the completed first and second episodes in Japanese.
"This is so good! Seriously so good!"
"The animation quality is incredible! Honestly, in terms of visuals, this has to be the best among the recent releases, right?"
"It's been a long time since I've seen a proper romantic comedy like this!"
"It's fun. I did the voice acting, but even watching it is still fun!"
"But aren't the opening and ending songs absolutely amazing? They're already stuck in my head."
"Yes, especially the opening. Kang Woojin's vocals are seriously attractive."
"I've got a feeling! As soon as the anime airs, that opening song is going to shoot straight to number one on the charts!"
The voice actors spoke excitedly, and none of it was exaggerated.
Even the executives of A10 Studio, one of the top three studios in the industry, looked deeply satisfied. Even through the eyes of seasoned veterans, the quality and level of completion of Boy Friend: Remake were undeniably impressive.
Then the female planning team leader, who had been quietly watching from the entrance, suddenly spoke.
"It won't be long before this series takes over the rankings. The broadcaster is TBE, and the first episode airs on Monday, July 12, at 10 p.m."
In truth, the day when Boy Friend: Remake would finally be unveiled was just around the corner.
"There are about thirty competing titles this quarter."
A fierce battle was expected.
At Incheon Airport—
The arrival hall was so crowded there was barely room to move.
Then a group of foreigners appeared.
Some had close-cropped hair, while others were huge, muscular men. As the group of about five foreigners stepped into the arrival hall, a Korean man waiting nearby greeted them.
Looking closer, that Korean man turned out to be a staff member from Beneficial Evil.
After exchanging a brief conversation in English, the two groups separated.
The foreigners split up and climbed into two large vans parked by the road outside the airport. Three of them boarded the front van: a bald man, a bear-like giant of a man, and a man with a large nose.
Once everyone was inside, the two vans pulled away.
Then the man with the large nose, who seemed to be the leader, spoke in English.
"It's really hot. I didn't expect it to be this bad."
The other two foreigners nodded in agreement.
"I heard stories, but it's worse than I imagined."
"Still, it seems better than Japan was last year, doesn't it?"
The man with the large nose gestured with his hand, and the muscular man by the window held one out toward the bald man sitting on the right.
"Show me the material we received."
The bald man pulled a tablet from the backpack in front of him.
After tapping it a few times, a video began to play.
Interestingly, the person in the video was none other than Kang Woojin.
More precisely, it was footage of Kang Woojin from the past, demonstrating martial arts at an action academy.
"Hmm."
Watching Kang Woojin closely on the tablet, the man with the large nose muttered under his breath.
"His condition looks good… but it's hard to judge without seeing him in person."
"Even so, he seems to have more than just the basics."
"But having the basics alone won't be enough to implement CQC. That kind of thing takes a lot of time."
"I heard there isn't much time left before shooting begins. Hmm, if it's too difficult, we may need to adjust the directing approach a little."
In truth, these men were the Hollywood stunt coordinator team hired by the Beneficial Evil production.
The man with the large nose stroked his chin and spoke again.
"I don't see any sign here of the greatness Gary Peck mentioned."
The Gary Peck he mentioned was a fairly successful Hollywood stunt coordinator, the same man who had personally coached Kang Woojin during the screen test for Last Kill 3.
"Our meeting with actor Kang Woojin is scheduled for this afternoon, right?"