Possessed 10 Million Actors - CHapter 189

Incheon Airport.

I somehow knew I was departing because a group of reporters was waiting for me at the airport.

“Actor Kang Jinseok! Hollywood director has extended a love call this time. Could you please share your thoughts on the outcome?”

Journalists’ questions were always ambiguous, as I always felt. What should I say?

In the past, I might have been flustered and asked for help from Jang Sunho, who was standing next to me. But now, I could respond appropriately.

“I consider it a truly overwhelming opportunity and will do my best.”

It was a bit strange to have reporters waiting just for an audition. It was something I couldn’t have imagined in the past.

Among them, there was a noticeable group of people.

They were middle-aged men in suits. Unfortunately, the suits seemed to be tightly stretched over their muscles, ready to burst at any moment.

The airport police seemed to consider these men as potential troublemakers and were desperately trying to prevent them from approaching.

“Hey, Jinseok! Fight on!”

“If you don’t like the taste, eat the gochujang and ramen I packed in your bag!”

“Don’t forget to buy liquor at the duty-free shop on your way back!”

“And bring some wrapped-up McDonald’s!”

Seemingly oblivious to the gazes of others, the middle-aged men each waved and shouted words of encouragement, not showing the slightest concern for onlookers.

I smiled alternately in both directions.

When one reporter opened the floodgates with a question, others raised their hands as if they had been waiting.

“We are curious about your intention to go to the United States when the school violence rumors have not been completely resolved! With the trial, sparked by these rumors, currently underway, could you please share your thoughts on that!”

I hadn’t anticipated such a question here.

Although it was a somewhat uncomfortable question to answer, I had no reason to hide, so I decided to speak confidently from the heart. Jang Sunho had advised me before, “Act with confidence.”

Just as I was about to respond, Jang Sunho took a step forward to speak.

However, some reacted even faster than him.

The middle-aged man is right next to the reporter.

“Huh?”

Park Chunsam, with a grim expression, created an intimidating atmosphere. The other men stared at the reporter with a similar intensity.

Although they didn’t say much, it seemed like their expressions conveyed a clear message.

[“Hey, Mr. Reporter, is that something you say to an actor going to the United States?”]

[“Wow, this guy has no clue about reading the atmosphere. Maybe we should teach him how to do it.”]

[“Hey, Mr. Kim, stop eating cotton candy and handle this reporter.”]

In the mysteriously charged atmosphere, a problem solver emerged.

It was an airport staff member.

“Um, excuse me, but Kang Jinseok, your flight is about to depart soon. You should start wrapping up,” the employee said with an awkward smile, addressing Jang Sunho.

After giving the reporter a cold look, Jang Sunho guided me inside.

“Please come in, actor.”

“Oh, sure.”

Amidst the questions from reporters and farewells from the middle-aged men, Jang Sunho spoke.

“Oh, yes. Well then, I’ll go. I’ll do my best and come back.”

As I spoke, reporters shouted something like “Actor Kang Jinseok, one last question!” and the men yelled, “Do well and come back, Kang Jinseok!” While I wanted to continue responding to both the reporters and the men, Jang Sunho subtly guided me inside, and I found myself partly obliged to enter the airport.

As an aside, for some reason, Jang Sunho seemed to have etched the face of the reporter who asked the last question into his memory.

After a while, Jang Sunho escorted me to the airplane.

The first time I went to Japan, everything felt awkward, but having flown a couple of times, it was somewhat comfortable.

Shortly after taking my seat, the plane took off, and almost simultaneously, the flight attendants brought snacks and drinks.

“Snacks…!”

Reflexively, I reached for the snacks they offered.

Since the audition date was confirmed, not only meals but also snacks had been controlled.

“Actor, you’re not thinking of having snacks, are you?”

“…”

At Jang Sunho’s weighty question, I could only sit back down with a dejected expression.

The flight attendant, initially taken aback by my actions, listened to Jang Sunho’s explanation, chuckled lightly, and left with the snacks. It was a casual explanation that I was on a diet.

As I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the snacks, Jang Sunho spoke in a solemn voice.

“Not only snacks but also please refrain from eating the in-flight meals for now. The in-flight meals have a tremendous amount of calories.”

“Today, I only had green juice. Am I supposed to endure twelve hours on an empty stomach?”

“Oh, I requested a special meal.”

“A special meal?”

“Yes, it’s not the typical in-flight meal, but if you eat that, you’ll feel reasonably satisfied. Also, there should be a lunchbox prepared by the OS International U.S. branch employee at the destination. You can eat that. It should be sufficient for the audition, right?”

That was more than enough.

“Alright.”

Casually responding, I took out the audition script and the original book that Jang Sunho had prepared from my bag.

“Where’s the audition script section… Is it here?”

The reason for wanting to read the original book was simple.

Before the audition, I wanted to check small details not included in the script by referring to the original work.

Since I hadn’t had the chance to read the book while memorizing the script, I planned to read it during the flight to the United States.

“There isn’t much time, so let’s just read the audition script part.”

The audition script I received was titled ‘The Night Andy Miller Killed the Pastor, Reference to Chapter 2 of the Original.’

I began reading the second chapter of the book as per the script.

The movie was titled “Long Time No See, Andy,” while the original title was “Who Is Andy.”

——

The most challenging aspect to understand when investigating Andy Miller was the people he had murdered.

Usually, the targets of murderers are those who have caused them harm, such as men who have taken away their wives or people who have tormented them.

Except for those who murder for money, this pattern holds for most cases.

However, all the people Andy Miller killed were those who had helped him.

The first victim was the pastor who had rescued Andy Miller from his foster parents.

Then came Andy’s first girlfriend, a guiding professor, club friends, and even the owner and waiter of the restaurant he frequented.

Andy seemed to repay their kindness with vengeance by killing them.

——

I felt a bit awkward as soon as I started reading the book.

“The original feels like a memoir. Andy Miller wasn’t the protagonist.”

——

What was even more unusual was his method of murder.

Although Andy Miller was right-handed, he always used his left hand to commit crimes. The forensic examiner said so at the time, and even analyzing the autopsy photos again confirmed that fact.

This confused the FBI.

Confused, we excluded Andy Miller from the list of suspects. At that time, he was dedicated to the local community, and there was no resentment between him and the victims.

…

If they had known about the illness called ‘multiple personality disorder’ at that time, maybe they could have arrested Andy Miller sooner, before he left a shocking suicide note and took his own life.

In Andy Miller’s suicide note, he claimed responsibility for killing over 30 people, stating that it wasn’t him but ‘Andy Ramil’ or ‘his reflection in the mirror.’

——

“Hmm. It certainly provides a more detailed description of Andy than what’s in the script.”

But something was odd.

“No matter how I look at it, the audition script doesn’t seem to match well.”

The audition script I received was titled ‘The Night Andy Miller Killed the Pastor, Reference to Chapter 2 of the Original.’

However, no matter how much I looked, there was no description in Chapter 2 of the book about how Andy Miller killed the pastor.

“Is it mentioned in another chapter?”

I quickly checked the other chapters of the book.

But such content was nowhere to be found.

The original focused mainly on solving the case from the perspective of FBI agents.

“It just got more complicated.”

It felt like looking at the answer key to a math problem, only to find written there, ‘You can know the answer by solving the problem.’

I wondered if I had missed something, so I went through the book again from the beginning. However, the information I was looking for wasn’t there.

That’s when it happened.

“Actor.”

Jang Sunho called me.

“You’ve been reading the script and the book for six hours already. How about taking a little break? The audition is in four days, resting now will help with adjusting to the time difference.”

“Oh, sure.”

I hadn’t realized so much time had passed.

Following Jang Sunho’s suggestion, I closed the script and the book, leaned back in my chair, and closed my eyes.

However, my mind was still filled with questions.

“How did Andy Miller kill the victims? Why isn’t the script providing clear directions?”

Even if I could deliver perfect acting by embodying the character, these lingering questions weren’t easily dismissed.

Amidst this curiosity lingering in my mind…

“Ah.”

Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.

“The content of Chapter 2 described a person named Andy Miller. Then, could it be that what the director wants is… to imagine and portray how Andy Miller from the book, based on the content, would have killed the pastor?”

—

In James Won’s office in Los Angeles, evaluations for the actors who auditioned today were being conducted without reservation.

“Lewis Chang seemed to lack acting skills more than I expected. He had a sharp edge in the previous work, but there was none of that in today’s audition.”

“I agree. Now, how about Nakamoto Jack?”

“That actor held the knife in his right hand. Regardless of his acting skills, he didn’t even make basic preparations. We wrote in the script ‘Reference to Chapter 2 of the Original.'”

“Was it a mistake?”

“Mistake or not, it’s a matter of skill.”

Despite a lengthy discussion, it seemed no actor perfectly captured the hearts of the production team.

At that moment, one of the production team members asked Director James Won, “How about you, Director? Were there any actors you particularly want to see again?”

“Nothing in particular. I haven’t found an actor that stood out.”

James Won expressed his disappointment and continued, “We need an actor who can accurately analyze and portray the Andy Miller depicted in the original. To do that, they need to understand the life of the person ‘Andy Miller.’ Based on the contents of Chapter 2.”

“That’s correct.”

“I don’t know if such an actor exists among the remaining auditionees, but we’ll continue the auditions. We still have time.”