Chapter 207: Let’s shoot a teaser.

["Because it's 'mimicry."]

Yu Myeong explained.

By then, standing around him and the director were the cinematographer, several staff members, and even Erchi and Natalie, who had no scenes scheduled that day but had come to watch.

"So because it's 'mimicry,' it naturally has to possess 'typicality'?"

"Yes. As has analyzed human expressions while observing countless people. When he had insufficient data in the beginning, his expressions probably would have been inconsistent. But as he accumulated more and more data, he would have started making 'natural expressions,' and eventually developed into having the 'most natural, and also the most universally preferred, beautiful and attractive expressions,' wouldn't he?"

Kyler nodded deeply.

That was something he had also considered up to that point, but...

"From a technical perspective, expressions that most people universally find attractive would naturally exist in the overlapping area already present in many people's minds. A graceful posture that does not waver even in urgent situations, eyes that lower slightly when lost in thought... Things like that."

As's existence was the culmination of all those expressions that belonged to the realm of "preference."

That was why As's expressions carried a sense of typicality.

It was not merely an image that existed in his mind.

It was a conclusion that could only be reached by an actor who had actually practiced making dozens, hundreds of different expressions and embodied them through performance.

Kyler felt a slight shiver as if the world he had created had escaped the boundaries of his own imagination and suddenly emerged into reality.

"Do you dislike it...?"

"...No. Even though the expression gives me a sense of familiarity, it's definitely attractive. I can't take my eyes off it. The brain must automatically respond to things it has learned through repeated exposure. It's very... good."

So that's why there was that note saying a typical performance was needed.

But easier said than done. How much effort would it take to research and master the most typical expression for every single situation in the script?

Not only Kyler, but the other actors around them as well, especially Natalie, who had years of acting experience, seemed even more shocked by Yu Myeong's explanation.

But that was not all.

There was another person—or rather, another ghostly being (*gwimul)—who had fallen deep into thought.

Could it be... that all the acting I've done until now was within the realm of mimicry?

Acting.

A profession built on imitating others.

For some unknown reason, Hye Ho had been drawn to this strange practice that existed only in the human world, and he chose acting as his ghostly profession.

Unlike other acting ghosts who were satisfied with merely consuming residual life energy, he sought out various performances and practiced endlessly.

Whenever he created opportunities to actually perform, he had shown acting that surpassed the limits of ordinary humans...

But...

Did I truly understand the human heart and act?

Humans were fascinating beings, but he had never once considered them meaningful in themselves.

However, after meeting Yu Myeong and spending years together with him, unfamiliar human emotions had slowly begun to sprout inside Miho's heart.

Humanity.

Put another way, it was something incredibly un ghostlike.

 Filming of Scene 1 continued. ℴℴ𝘮

The presence of As Predator was overwhelmingly powerful, to the point that the moments of silence after each cut gradually became longer and longer before anyone spoke.

A high school student with an exceptionally refreshing appearance.

His natural leadership, which captured those around him, carried a distinctly masculine charm despite him still being a student.

And the slight curve of his lips after meeting someone's eyes directly made hearts race in an annoyingly irresistible way.

Everyone had no choice but to admit it.

Typical or whatever, damn it. He's cool.

After hearing that his expressions were created by taking the most effective ones, everyone tried to resist by forcing themselves not to be swayed.

But it was impossible.

It was like watching someone who was skilled at romance use the same tricks every time.

Even while knowing perfectly well that the person was using a trick, the other party would still end up falling for it.

They were really not going to put a character like this on screen?

The cinematographer shook his head, thinking that was impossible.

His support for the director's intended message after reading the completed script had been shattered by the actor's performance before his eyes.

A charm that captured viewers' hearts effortlessly.

How could they possibly use this only in a trailer...?

"Starting alter B filming."

Yu Myeong completely stepped away from the set, and the director and cinematographer spent a long time examining the monitor while checking the storyboard.

Seriously... it's exactly like the script.

The motions Yu Myeong had requested they incorporate into the camera movement were carried out with perfect timing, without even the slightest deviation.

The director and cinematographer recorded the timing of those movements down to one tenth of a second, then filmed alter B with extremely precise adjustments.

"Scene 1 filming complete. Thank you for your hard work. We're moving to the chroma key studio immediately."

Chroma key.

A special filming technique where a subject is shot against a blue or green background, then the background and subject are separated and composited onto another background.

Yu Myeong had also used this method before during the previous Crude advertisement shoot, when they created the background after he broke through an office wall.

Creak—

The chroma key studio was a large rectangular room where every surface from floor to ceiling was covered in green.

Staff from other departments who had arrived earlier had already positioned the cameras and installed lighting stands.

The parts of the equipment facing the cameras, including the lighting stands placed throughout the room, were covered with green fabric as much as possible so nothing would appear in frame.

"Scene 2 is the part where As's 'emotionless side' is revealed for the first time."

Repeating something they already knew was the director's way of directing the actor's focus and indicating what aspect they should emphasize in their performance.

A peaceful small town.

After school, As walks along the embankment with earphones in his ears.

On a path with a forest stretching on one side and a river flowing on the other, he encounters two forms of life.

One is a beetle.

The other is an adorable puppy.

"This is a situation where he is alone. Show us the true nature of As when he is not mimicking."

"Yes, I understand."

Yu Myeong stood at the starting point.

Camera rails had been installed along the length of the vertically extended studio.

Walking through this long space was the same as performing the "two walks" from before.

Not Yu Myeong.

But As Predator.

A walk where he revealed As's "essence" for the first time.

Yu Myeong decided exactly where he would encounter the insect and exactly where he would encounter the animal, drawing a precise image in his mind.

As walking through peaceful nature.

He would confirm that no other human was watching.

And then he would briefly lower his camouflage.

Whoosh—

Yu Myeong felt the wind blowing from the river and brushing through the forest.

He opened his closed eyes.

 One step.

Two steps.

Three steps—

—was all it took for the human expression on As's face to disappear.

What appeared instead was a strange expression completely stripped of every emotion except interest.

Thump—

It was different from Pandora's blank expression.

If Pandora's face had been a pure white blank page belonging to a being that had never learned emotions at all,

this was not paper.

It felt alien, as if it were made from an entirely different material.

Maintaining that expression, he walked.

The charm he had intentionally scattered was withdrawn.

The deliberate lightness disappeared from his steps.

Each footfall landed heavily against the floor.

Boom.

Boom.

And yet, his presence only became denser.

The small studio tightened with an inexplicable tension.

Ah...

Kyler swallowed.

The carefully controlled presence he had shown before was released and began to run wild.

It felt as if he would soon shed his human exterior and reveal something else entirely.

The depth of that existence could not be measured.

Was this really acting...?

After walking about one third of the way, As's gaze caught on something.

A beetle about half the size of a palm was sitting exactly where his second next step would land.

An ordinary human would move aside to avoid stepping on an insect.

It could be compassion for life.

It could simply be learned guilt.

Or it could be something as simple as disliking the unpleasant sensation afterward.

No, a stressed human might even intentionally crush it.

To relieve stress by stepping on something small and powerless.

Crunch—

But As stepped on the insect for none of those reasons.

"Because there was no reason to avoid it."

The beetle was simply there.

And As did not possess human emotions.

Crack—

In the chroma key studio, the beetle would later be inserted through CGI.

Yet even without anything there, just from his gaze and the slight adjustment of his step, everyone could tell the exact moment he crushed it.

They could almost hear the sound of the beetle being flattened and the sticky fluid from its body clinging to the bottom of his shoe before peeling away with a wet crack.

Everyone unconsciously frowned.

As if he had not noticed anything, As continued walking.

Just as the goosebumps on the audience's arms began to settle, As's gaze fixed on something once again.

Everyone already knew what it was from the script.

A puppy.

They could picture the cute puppy with drooping eyes.

After meeting As's gaze, the puppy froze in place, trembling strangely.

It was also standing in the middle of the embankment, directly along his path.

Step.

Step.

Everyone became tense.

A beetle and a dog were both living creatures, but the weight humans assigned to them was completely different.

No way...

Thud—

But As could not understand that human moral standard.

Without any malice whatsoever, he kicked the puppy away while maintaining his walking speed.

Just like casually kicking away a stone that got in the way while walking, he removed the obstacle with the same indifferent feeling.

And As, who had continued walking just as before,

reached the final section of the studio.

There, he put his expression back on.

As if performing the obvious process of putting on clothes because one could not remain naked when meeting people.

Then,

he checked the bottom of his shoe once.

"Mom's going to hate this if she sees it again. I should wash it off at the faucet before going inside."

It was As's bright, cheerful tone once again.

 Everyone remained silent for a long time.

This was completely opposite from the silence when everyone had been captivated by As's charm in Scene 1.

This was a silence of shock.

"Was it too much?"

Yu Myeong smiled awkwardly and broke the silence.

"...No. It's just that As was beyond what I expected..."

Kyler answered while still unable to shake the dazed feeling of having witnessed something extraordinary.

"Actually... while writing the script, I repeatedly wondered whether I was right because there were parts where the impression I had of Shin Yu Myeong and the personality I felt when talking with him didn't match. Compared to the feeling I received from him, the real Shin Yu Myeong was such a 'human' person that I worried whether a nonhuman character like this was really suitable..."

Without realizing it, Kyler revealed his true thoughts.

Strangely, he had always sensed two different energies from him.

The actor Shin Yu Myeong used both of them harmoniously, but turning such an existence into a character had been an extremely difficult task.

So he gave each of those two energies their own character.

The weaker, more human side was combined with Erchi's qualities to create Hetty.

The opposite side—the mysterious quality that seemed to transcend human limits—became As.

And yet whenever he spoke with Yu Myeong, he was such a human and considerate person that Kyler repeatedly questioned whether he was truly following his own philosophy of "writing a script tailored to the actor."

"Truly... As. Exactly as I imagined... No, even beyond that... I must have seen it correctly."

Hearing Kyler speak as if under a spell, Yu Myeong gave a small smile.

"But... well, you're right, Director. As you said. Because As is expressed so perfectly, it could accidentally become a spoiler for the later parts of the film at the very beginning."

The idea that the later story could be spoiled not by dialogue or props, but merely by the aura of the actor performing the role.

Could such a thing really make sense?

Even while thinking that, Kyler could not help worrying.

That the audience might immediately realize As was not human.

"That was something I was worried about. I tried it at the maximum level first, but I'll adjust it and try once more."

"Yes. One more time."

The As that Yu Myeong performed with slightly restrained intensity was the As Kyler had originally imagined.

"It's a shame about the previous version..."

After muttering for a while, Kyler snapped his fingers.

"Seeing you just now gave me an idea for a video I really want to make."

He spoke with the face of an artist whose inspiration had been ignited.

"Let's shoot a teaser."

"...A teaser?"