Chapter 193
Story-wise, the scene they were filming today took place before the attack on Jin’s house. Since Jin was fighting on the streets, he would face the enemies with his Taekkyeon instead of a sword. As such, Woo-Jin’s Taekkyeon instructor personally went to the filming location and gave the actor some advice.
“It doesn’t matter if you use your fist or elbow for the Hang Jeong Chigi[1]. You just need to attack boldly by grabbing the opponent’s nape and striking them behind the neck as though you were crushing them. As for the Hwal Gae Purigi[2], it would be best to use the back of your hand[3]. It makes you look cooler.”
The instructor focused on Woo-Jin’s movements and the feeling he exuded on film. Moreover, the director wanted him to find the best angle to make Woo-Jin appear as breathtaking as possible. Therefore, the instructor checked the monitor several times and did not hesitate to make Woo-Jin repeat his movements to engrave the feeling and position he had to maintain when fighting in his mind.
By the time the actors finished rehearsing and were about to start filming seriously, the other side of the street was bustling with onlookers. Having already adapted to the country and its cultures, Dustin waved his hands at the interested audience. His showmanship was so impressive that Woo-Jin thought he should take some lessons from Dustin. However, Woo-Jin then watched as the director checked the time before grabbing Dustin by the collar and dragging him back to the set.
Today’s scene was an important part of the movie. In it, Robert complains that it’s too suffocating to stay at home all day, so he and Jin walk around town when they get attacked by their enemies for the first time. Although Jin was bored of sightseeing, Robert was constantly looking around, curious about the unfamiliar streets and cultures. Since that was Dustin’s actual sentiment, no acting was needed to portray Robert in this scene.
As the movie’s filming progressed, Woo-Jin realized that Dustin truly was the perfect actor for the role of Robert. Although their character and personality weren’t quite the same, they had similar auras that were unique to each and every person. Dustin’s cheerfulness blended in with Robert’s naivety, which was advantageous for his performance.
Dustin would definitely have a hard time playing a gloomy character later in his career. Nonetheless, at the moment, his personality was highly beneficial for him. And since the synergy between Jin and Robert was better than he had expected, Woo-Jin was able to naturally get close to Dustin off camera despite their age gap. In that sense, Woo-Jin always felt grateful to Dustin for their friendship. And perhaps Jin felt the same way towards Robert.
***
{Why can’t I use telepathy?} Robert asked with a frustrated expression as he took a big bite of the ice cream he’d just bought on the street.
{Don’t be so impatient. It’s not a useful skill anyway.}
Jin wore a dull expression, and he placed a hand over his eyes to block the annoying sunlight. It was pretty exhausting to accompany this energetic young man as someone older. He also found it interesting how Robert could be so entertained by this unchanging and boring street.
In the meantime, Robert was upset by Jin’s answer as he sounded like a privileged elite who was indifferent to the common people.
{Isn’t it because you’re a poor teacher that I’m not able to learn it?} Robert said.
{That could be true.}
{Ooh~! Are you acknowledging your incompetence?}
The proud guardians never admitted their own mistakes or shortcomings. Even when they lost to Robert in a debate, they always stayed stubborn until the very end. With this in mind, he was quite surprised by how easily Jin nodded and agreed to his statement.
{I’m such a genius that I learned it in a couple of days. So, I don’t have the ability to understand and teach mediocre commoners like you.}
Robert’s expression darkened at his mentor’s ridicule. Suddenly, Jin stopped in his tracks. As Jin looked up at the sky with his hands behind his back, Robert sensed the serious air around him and inspected their surroundings.
Jin then grabbed Robert by the collar and, without any warning, moved his disciple…
{Aah~! My ice cream~!}
…who unintentionally dropped his ice cream.
As soon as the two disappeared, a huge fireball fell and exploded like a bomb where they just stood moments ago. The street soon turned chaotic in a mere instant.
People were running away screaming. Some couldn’t move from their spot because of the shock and fell on their butts, covering their heads. Others were reporting the incident as they thought a gas pipe had exploded, and some were blindly watching the scene as smoke rose from the flames.
Thanks to the mayhem, no one noticed that Jin had grabbed Robert and vanished in an instant.
This short scene was followed by another, which had to be filmed one block away.
Jin did not bring Robert to the road they were previously but instead took him to a quiet street with barely anyone in sight. There was still plenty of time left until the bars and restaurants got filled with customers.
{Ugh, my neck… I can’t breathe…}
Since Jin dragged him along by the collar, Robert groaned as he got strangled by his shirt. Once Jin let go of his clothes, Robert exhaled loudly and stumbled around, unable to regain his balance. However, he instinctively turned his body and rolled to the side as a chill ran down his spine. A mysterious group of people in black showed up out of nowhere and split the air where Robert had been standing using their black clubs. If he were even a single step late, he would’ve gotten clobbered by those weapons.
{What’s with these randos in black?} Robert asked.
{They’re probably the people we’ve been investigating.}
Looking at the dozen or so mysterious assailants surrounding them, Jin speculated that they were those who had murdered Robert’s predecessor. His gaze then settled on Robert and their enemies one after another, and he clicked his tongue. Although the enemies were smart to attack Robert now while he was still weak, they had made the terrible mistake of overlooking Jin, who was accompanying him.
{You should’ve asked the guardian first if you wanted to hit the child.}
Jin took a step forward and made the first move. Even though he was facing several people alone, he fought effortlessly and could not be pinned down. As it was Robert’s first time seeing Jin fight, he got distracted for a short while, but soon enough, he shook his head and ran into the chaotic battle.
{How dare you ignore me!}
Robert was confident that he wouldn’t lose to anyone in terms of brute strength. He punched his way through his foes, sending them flying. Robert was a crude fighter who had no use for any techniques or martial arts. Each time his fists flashed forward and landed on a target, he exuded a cool yet attractive charm.
Meanwhile, Jin was showing off his splendid martial arts next to Robert. He approached his enemies with light and nimble footwork, kicked their knees, and grabbed them by the neck to push them back. Then, Jin hit the clubs with a backhand, shattering them with a cracking sound. Taking advantage of his opponents’ bewilderment, he slammed their faces in a circular top-down motion with the palm of his hand and struck them in the nape with his elbow.
{Ack!}
{Cut!}
However, Woo-Jin’s opponent screamed in pain as his elbow slammed down. Woo-Jin had been too forceful in his strike as if he were in a real battle. This also shocked Woo-Jin, and he stopped his movements to check on the other actor’s condition. When he rolled down the back of the actor’s shirt, he found that the nape of their neck was already swollen red.
{I’m really sorry. I made a mistake when controlling my strength.}
It was the first time Woo-Jin had hurt someone while acting, so his mind was empty from the shock. As soon as the medical team rushed in and gave the actor a warm compress, he made a slightly relieved face; it appeared that this had caused the pain to subside somewhat.
{Shouldn’t you go to the hospital?} Woo-Jin asked.
The actor moved his head around, seemingly checking his neck’s state. Although it was aching, it was only because his muscles were sore. There was nothing wrong with his bones.
{It’s not bad enough to stop filming.}
After putting a pain-relief patch on his neck, the actor affirmed that it was okay to continue the shoot. Despite failing to control his strength, Woo-Jin knew that he hadn’t hit hard enough to cause a severe injury. Yet, he couldn’t move on so quickly when he was the assailant and had caused this accident.
The actor had gotten injured because of him, so Woo-Jin thought it would be too shameful to resume filming without getting the wounded party adequate treatment. He was about to suggest the actor take a break, but the latter’s eyes clearly showed an unyielding refusal. Woo-Jin held himself back and shut his mouth when he saw that desperate and earnest gaze.
He had once seen a similar gaze to the one in front of him. A similar situation had occurred in the past when Woo-Jin was injured while filming City of Shadows, but the circumstances and outcome were different back then.
At that time, Woo-Jin stopped filming and went straight to the hospital. The stuntman who had injured him said that he had waited extremely anxiously for Woo-Jin to return to the film set as time ticked by slowly. He was worried that Woo-Jin had gotten gravely injured and that he would ask the stuntman to be excluded from the scene because of this mistake.
However, the situation was reversed today. Woo-Jin was the assailant, yet the victim was still extremely anxious. Even if the wounded actor went to the hospital, the filming would not get delayed, and the crew would not wait for him. The staff would exclude him and continue filming the scene with another extra.
The positions and circumstances of extras were the same everywhere, no matter what country or system they lived in. Needless to say, in this current situation, the actor wouldn’t have any financial troubles as the hospital fees would be paid for, and he would still get paid for participating as an extra. Yet, it was no easy feat for an extra to find a role where his face showed while simultaneously also serving to fight one of the supporting characters in a Hollywood movie.
Woo-Jin nodded, enduring the bitter taste in his mouth as he understood the actor’s fear of being replaced at any time. The only thing Woo-Jin could do right now was to quickly finish filming the scene with the least amount of bad takes possible.
As they were about to resume filming, Woo-Jin attempted to settle his agitation. He tried to bring out the unique calm and restrained atmosphere that ‘Jin’ had. Rather than fighting his enemies as though it were a life-or-death situation, he decided to fight with one hand behind his back. He would leisurely knock out his opponents one at a time with his remaining hand as if he were merely chasing and catching some flies.
{Ready? Action!}
At the director’s signal to resume filming, Woo-Jin took a deep breath.
Seeing his colleagues collapsed and groaning on the ground, one enemy who hadn’t been injured yet began to chant a spell with a stiff expression. Jin calmly watched the enemy as they attempted to counterattack.
Although there was nothing more foolish and unrealistic than giving one’s opponent the time and opportunity to attack, Jin wanted to see what hidden cards his foes had. Moreover, he was confident that he would win no matter what card the enemy drew. Jin’s plan and confidence were evident by the expression on his face, so once Robert noticed his mentor’s attitude, his body relaxed as he also watched their final enemy prepare his spell.
As this strange, incomprehensible language poured out of the enemy’s mouth, a dark red light emanated from the club he was holding, revealing a magical pattern engraved on it. Unfortunately for him, the enemy was unable to complete the spell. A woman in a pure white suit suddenly came crashing down from the sky and stood on the enemy’s body.
{Angelica?}
{Medusa?}
The woman who suddenly fell from the sky, defeated the enemy, and stood on him was the Guardian of Europe, Angelica. Her black hair fluttered in the wind in a way that almost made it appear like it was alive, so Robert associated her with the mythological creature with snakes for hair, Medusa. It was a soft murmur, but Angelica glared at Robert with a fierce gaze. It looked like she heard his remark.
With Angelica’s arrival, one of the injured enemies staggered behind her, barely standing straight as he pulled out a magic scroll. He tore the scroll, and the bodies of the unconscious assailants instantly vanished into a puff of black smoke. It seemed they had decided to retreat rather than continue fighting now that three guardians had gathered.
Needless to say, the person lying under Angelica’s feet also turned to smoke and vanished. Once the body she was stepping on disappeared, Angelica leaped forward and approached Jin.
{Was that magic? There used to be a group of humans who used something like that in the past.}
Ignoring Angelica, Jin showed interest in the scroll-wielding enemies. Considering the pattern drawn on the black clubs, this organization unexpectedly had a lot of skills and talent.
{If I had seen him go through with the spell until the end, I would’ve figured out the principle behind their magic. But a certain someone ruined it for me.}
Instead of thanking her, Jin treated Angelica as a hindrance. Robert coyly nodded his head next to him. Although he didn’t know the exact details of their current situation, Robert’s face showed that he did not appreciate anything Angelica did.
{Why bother checking something like that? It’s just a waste of time,} she replied to Jin’s taunt.
Angelica was someone who looked down on her opponents, so she didn’t care much about what weapons or abilities these enemies wielded.
Robert pouted, appearing frustrated by her. It seemed like they did not get along back when he was living with her.
{But why are you here?} Jin asked.
{Because of this situation. There were simultaneous attacks all around the world yesterday. None of us guardians were severely injured, but we couldn’t get in touch with you, Jin. That’s why I came to check on you personally. It looks like their attack here was a bit late compared to the others.}
{They probably couldn’t find the location of my house because of the barrier.}
Robert was silently listening to Jin and Angelica’s conversation when he tilted his head in confusion and asked, {Why couldn’t you contact him? It should be easy with telepathy, no? Does it not work when the distance between you two is too vast?}
1. Hang Jeong Chigi (항정치기) is a move in Taekkyeon where you grab your opponent by the nape and make them bend over to strike them in the back of the neck. ☜
2. Hwal Gae Purigi (활개뿌리기) is a move in Taekkyeon where you whip/strike your opponent with the back of your hand while keeping the hand open. ☜
3. This does not quite make sense as I believe the only way to do hwal gae purigi is using the back of the hand, yet the instructor is telling Woo-Jin that it would be better to use the back of his hand, however I left it as the original was written. ☜
