Kang Woojin's response was calm, yet cold. The way he casually tossed his jacket down at his feet afterward was especially striking. At least, that was how it looked to Ethan Smith, the Hollywood stunt coordinator.
'…Huh? He agreed without any hesitation or reluctance?'
Of course, Ethan really had told Woojin that he wanted to assess his current condition. And it was also true that he couldn't make a proper judgment based only on the martial arts practice footage he had received in advance. Even so, there had been no need to make such a rushed demand.
He would have been able to see what Kang Woojin was like once proper training began.
But Ethan Smith was an impatient man. He had already seen Woojin's acting, and ever since then, he had been itching to get a preview of him. If he could evaluate and analyze his skill beforehand, it would help later when it came time to adjust gestures and storyboards during practice. Curiosity had also played a part. After all, Gary Peck, a respected colleague in the same field in Hollywood, had spoken of Kang Woojin with extravagant praise.
What exactly had Gary Peck seen in Kang Woojin that made him praise him so highly?
'To be honest, I wanted to test his nerve too.'
Naturally, learning and mastering CQC required absolute resolve. Courage, boldness, persistence—things like that. If someone approached it with even the slightest hesitation, then accidents and injuries were one hundred percent inevitable. Ethan's sudden, direct request had also been a kind of test to see whether Woojin possessed those qualities.
But in Ethan's eyes, Kang Woojin seemed unusual.
"…At first glance, he looked quiet and stiff, so I thought he'd be clumsy with his body, but he's got more fire in him than I expected. Still, why is he this confident?"
And then there was Woojin's final answer.
'Then let's do that. But let's do it with all of your team involved.'
That was basically the same as saying Ethan's entire team should come at him, not just one person. It was an odd reaction. Somewhere between arrogance and overflowing confidence.
Was it just bluffing? That was possible.
What Ethan had asked for should have been impossible without actually learning CQC. After all, it was a martial arts storyboard built around CQC. Soon, Ethan stared fixedly at Kang Woojin right in front of him, and a meaningful murmur began spreading through the action school.
Around that time, Ethan calmly asked Woojin,
"All right, thank you. But I heard from the director that you haven't formally learned CQC. An edited sequence involving all of us will be quite difficult. Are you really choosing a scene with four or more opponents?"
Since he had thrown off his jacket, Woojin was left in a white long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
"..."
Because of the intensity of the situation, his face had hardened, but inside, there was a faint thrill.
'Of course, filming a scene with only one opponent would be much easier.'
Kang Woojin swept his gaze over the foreign stunt team members. They were either huge or solidly built.
'Up close, they really do look like Terminators.'
Seeing them in person, the stunt team's physiques were undeniably imposing. They looked like men who wouldn't bleed a drop even if you stabbed them. If he had nothing to rely on, then naturally, backing down would have been the smartest choice. So yes, there was bluff in Woojin's come at me response. But inside it, his curiosity and sincerity were just as real.
'It's not that I doubt the void space itself. I've just been curious ever since I gained these abilities. I want to see how it actually works in practice. And if I'm going to test it properly, then the best way is probably to assume a situation where a whole pack of Terminators comes rushing at me.'
There was also a bit of irritation mixed in.
'I don't like the way that big-nosed guy talks. So this is his way of making me prove myself? Fine. So what?'
In any case, he was ready. Kang Woojin answered Ethan in a rough, concise tone.
"It's fine. Any scene will do."
"…Are you sure?"
"Yes. I already took a quick look at the added CQC choreography."
At that moment,
"…A quick look?"
Ethan frowned slightly and asked again.
"Are you saying you intend to perform CQC choreography after only a brief review?"
"Yes. Isn't that what you wanted?"
"There's no need to overdo it. A simple movement would be enough. Part of the goal was to check your posture and correct it while you moved."
Maybe it was because of that phrase a quick look, but Ethan's voice, coming from beneath that large nose of his, turned noticeably colder. Still, Kang Woojin's blunt attitude didn't stop.
"I understand. Even so, how about we go with a cut that includes your full team?"
At those words, the expressions of the foreign members on Ethan's team shifted as well. They must have been feeling the same thing Ethan was. Then Ethan Smith looked at Woojin and spoke again in a low voice.
"Were you like this when you met Gary Peck too?"
Gary Peck? Who was that again? Kang Woojin tilted his head inwardly at the unfamiliar foreign name. The face didn't come to him immediately. But he kept his expression deliberately calm, and about five seconds later, Woojin finally remembered who Gary Peck was.
'Ah, that sleek uncle from Last Kill 3*.'*
He was the stunt coordinator who had handled the overall martial arts scenes for the screen test. He had short hair and a sharp, narrow face.
"More or less."
"He praised you a great deal. He said you have considerable talent."
"Did he?"
"But doesn't saying you only took a quick look suggest that you're underestimating CQC?"
Woojin shook his head with an indifferent expression.
"Not at all. I was just being honest."
"..."
In the brief silence, the martial arts team members in the action school, who had been watching Kang Woojin and Ethan, began murmuring more noticeably.
"What are those two even talking about? And why is Kang Woojin so good at English?"
"He's always been good at that kind of thing. But even if I can't understand what they're saying, doesn't it feel like the atmosphere is getting rough?"
"Yeah, it does."
As if to confirm their observation, Ethan spoke to Kang Woojin in a cold voice.
"Fine. Choose the scene you want. We'll begin in ten minutes. Any scene is acceptable."
"All right."
Woojin and Ethan turned their heads at the same time. Ethan Smith blended back in with his overwhelmingly imposing team members, while Kang Woojin rejoined Song Manwoo PD, the martial arts director, Choi Sunggeon, and the others.
It was Song Manwoo PD who broke the silence first.
"Woojin, are you really okay with this? This is… something we never expected at all."
The martial arts director agreed.
"That's right. From their side, testing your movements is necessary, sure, but there's no reason for you to jump into this without any preparation."
Out of all of them, Choi Sunggeon seemed the most surprised.
"You're really going to do this?"
On the other hand, Kang Woojin remained calm.
"Yes. I'm curious too."
"Curious about what?"
"About me. And about them."
"What does that even mean?"
Without offering any further explanation, Woojin answered firmly.
"Because this is the right way."
──────────
A few minutes later.
Ethan, the big-nosed team leader, approached Kang Woojin, who was loosening up his neck.
He showed Woojin the storyboard for the newly added CQC scene in Beneficial Evil.
"What kind of scene are you thinking of?"
Without even a moment of hesitation, Kang Woojin pointed to a specific scene.
"This one looks appropriate."
"…Are you really sure?"
"It's fine."
"Fine."
The reason Ethan hesitated was simple. The scene Woojin had chosen was one of the most difficult ones in the storyboard. To put it simply, it was a sequence where Kang Woojin, the protagonist, had to take down four enemies by himself.
Soon afterward, Ethan spoke to Song Manwoo PD in English.
"We'll start now. If you need to film it, feel free."
Once the interpreter relayed the message, Song Manwoo PD immediately gave instructions to the assistant director and the martial arts director. Both men moved at once. The martial arts director pushed the dozens of martial arts team members occupying the action studio back toward the edges, while the assistant director moved the filming cameras and the making-film crew in closer.
The foreign team members, each large and solidly built, gathered together in one spot. Holding the storyboard, Ethan briefed them.
"Kang Woojin wants to do this scene. There's no need to go too far, but I think a slight surprise would be good."
It didn't seem like Ethan would be taking part in the test himself.
"Will that be okay?"
"…I don't think Kang Woojin is taking CQC lightly, but he does seem to be approaching it too casually. Observing his posture matters, yes, but he also needs to understand in advance how difficult this technique really is."
"Hmm. I heard that actor Kang Woojin is incredibly popular in Korea these days. Maybe his pride has gotten too big and clouded his judgment."
"Use about half your strength. Just enough for him to feel, in his body, how difficult it is to learn CQC."
"Understood."
Ethan's thinking was simple. First, making Kang Woojin clearly recognize how grueling CQC training was would help establish the proper mindset and attitude for learning it. If the content of the training remained vague, then accidents and injuries would be unavoidable. Put simply, Ethan wanted to broaden the perspective of the overly self-assured Kang Woojin.
In his own way, it was a form of consideration.
Before long,
four members of Ethan's team were standing in the center of the action school. Their physiques alone were enough to draw attention, but the aura they gave off was different as well. Around them, the dozens of martial arts team members, actors, and staff who had been pushed to the perimeter all wore expressions full of excitement.
It was not a sight you got to see every day.
At that moment, Kang Woojin walked toward Ethan's four team members.
Out of the four, the largest foreign man asked him in English,
"…Are you okay in the clothes you're wearing right now?"
Kang Woojin glanced down briefly at his long-sleeved shirt and trousers before answering in a low voice.
"They'll do."
Soon afterward, Kang Woojin and the four members of the Hollywood stunt team took their respective positions. Woojin stood in the center of the action school, while the four stunt team members loosely surrounded him, giving the impression of an untidy encirclement.
That was how the scene itself had been designed.
Of course, in the storyboard, the four opponents' positions were completely different. One of them, for example, had originally been seated. But for the purposes of the actual test, all they needed to do was form a rough setup and move from there.
Not long after,
plastic props were handed to the four men surrounding Kang Woojin. They received knives and guns. Seeing this, the dozens of martial arts team members around them began whispering to one another.
"Wow, look at that. Those weapons are just props, but with men that big holding them, it's seriously intimidating."
"Kang Woojin looks calm on the outside, but he's probably at least a little scared inside."
People often said there was nothing more entertaining than watching someone else's fight, but the onlookers were carrying a fair amount of doubt about Kang Woojin. Wasn't he about to go up against a Hollywood stunt team? Choi Sunggeon, Song Manwoo PD, and the martial arts director felt much the same.
Their concern, however, was on an entirely different level.
Still, for the moment, they decided to wait and see.
They believed there had to be a reason for the actions of the usually quiet Kang Woojin.
And at that very moment, Kang Woojin—
'Hoo.'
He relaxed the tension in his body and maximized his flexibility. He reminded himself that he had to maintain balance in his strength. Then he called up the many things within him. The beginning was Jang Yeonwoo, the male lead of the drama Beneficial Evil. Everything about Jang Yeonwoo, the man who obeyed his master's orders, spread through Woojin's veins.
On top of that, he layered martial arts.
But it didn't end there.
Lastly, he drew out the close combat that had been engraved into him only recently.
Right then,
the air surrounding Kang Woojin, who slowly brushed back his black hair, changed. No—more precisely, the atmosphere he gave off turned cold and still. Half the emotion vanished from his eyes, replaced instead by cold, calculated resolve. His body didn't move an inch, yet an indescribable chill wrapped around him.
From only a few minutes earlier, Kang Woojin's field of vision had become completely different.
The dozens of martial arts team members watching him, the Beneficial Evil production staff, the core crew, the actors, even their teams—everything disappeared. His senses remained intact, but the soft mat beneath his feet and the faint smell of sweat hanging through the action school could no longer be felt.
What Woojin saw now was the inside of a shabby building.
Somewhere, a faint sound could be heard.
A soft hiss.
It was raining.
A strange smell hung in the air, like an old building soaked through with rain. In Kang Woojin's vision, the background of the scene from the storyboard took concrete form.
Right then,
"Action."
At Song Manwoo PD's signal, the four men surrounding Kang Woojin each took up their positions. Their movements were practically performance in themselves. The broad, bear-like man stood still, glaring at Woojin. The cropped-haired man with a knife at his waist slipped one hand into his pocket. The tattooed man with ink covering his neck and both forearms, along with the scruffy man with the heavy beard, began approaching Woojin slowly from diagonal angles.
Song Manwoo PD swallowed nervously as he stood there with his arms crossed.
'They really are on a different level. You can tell just from the way they hold themselves. But… why isn't Woojin moving at all?'
The enemies had begun closing him in, yet Woojin remained standing where he was. His eyes were different from those of an ordinary person. In truth, the real prey was not Kang Woojin but the four foreign men pressing him in. Every single one of their movements looked like slow motion in Woojin's eyes.
Time was flowing equally for all of them, but in Kang Woojin's vision, it was proof that he was making rapid judgments.
The bear-like one is the leader. His posture looks the most relaxed, but his aggression is the strongest. The shaved-haired one has a knife at his waist. Short, flashy, but sharp.
Kang Woojin's gaze shifted slightly.
'The tattooed man on the right diagonal has a gun. His expression is tense.'
The man's index finger kept twitching. The instant he saw even the slightest movement, he would fire. It would take only two seconds for him to notice, aim, and shoot. His arms are long. I can use that.
Woojin's eyes moved again.
The bearded man on the left is holding a knife, but he's clumsy with it.
The way he kept fidgeting with the hand holding the knife was proof enough. He was familiar with technique, but he had switched to a new knife recently. Information about his opponents poured into Kang Woojin at high speed, and the answer came quickly.
"Less than three minutes."
The moment Kang Woojin finished muttering to himself,
he suddenly moved his feet. He stepped forward at an ordinary pace, but there was no sign of haste. His destination was the bear-like man standing farthest away, beyond the other subordinates. The bear-like man stared blankly as Woojin approached, then frowned.
But Woojin didn't stop.
Of course, this was not reality.
It was a simulation resembling reality.
More than that, it was a scene being recreated on the basis of a martial arts storyboard. Because of that, guns mattered, but martial arts and technique were the decisive factors. In truth, from the very first move, the stunt team had intended to stray from the storyboard. If they had followed the original sequence, where Jang Yeonwoo easily subdued them, they wouldn't have been able to properly demonstrate the difficulty of close combat to Kang Woojin.
They had to overpower him with ease.
Even if he realized what was happening, it would not be difficult to weaken his legs and force him to his knees.
The bear-like man didn't move at all. Meanwhile, two of the other three men surrounding Woojin launched their attack. The first to come at him was the tattooed man, gripping his gun tightly with both hands.
Suddenly, Kang Woojin twisted his body and moved toward him. And the moment he took a step, he closed the distance in an instant. The tattooed man flinched. Kang Woojin's movement had deviated from the plan—from the storyboard.
Instinctively, the tattooed man—
"Down!"
He tried to lift the gun. But before he could even raise it, Woojin's left hand blocked the motion of his hand. The tattooed man was startled. Kang Woojin was one beat faster. Woojin's right hand seized the man's left hand—the one holding the gun—and in one swift motion, twisted his arm behind his back.
In the blink of an eye,
Kang Woojin hooked his own leg behind the man's leg and threw him off balance.
The heavily tattooed man dropped to one knee.
'Ugh.'
This wasn't acting.
It was real.
At the same time, Woojin stripped the gun from the man's hand, while that same hand remained twisted behind his back.
Thunk.
The muzzle of the gun pressed against the crown of the tattooed man's head.
At that moment, the man's face was filled with nothing but question marks.
"???"
Because he had absolutely no idea what had just happened to him.