The Crazy Mercenary Commander Goes to Work in the Entertainment Industry

Translator: Dreamscribe

The moment Director Baek Jeong-ha's first starting signal was fired across the entire set, An Ji-hee, who had been waiting, began her performance. It wasn't a particularly big scene.

"......"

An expressionless face, eyes fixed on a laptop screen, fingers tapping the keyboard half-heartedly. The acting looked easy, but it wasn't. She had to convey a gray, colorless emotion through her eyes, through her expression.

Not too much, but not nothing either.

It had to be just dry enough, just dull enough.

Only a performance balanced on that subtle borderline would pass. And it wasn't just An Ji-hee. The sound stayed subdued, the lighting soft, laying bare the office's bleak atmosphere, while the camera captured An Ji-hee in profile.

It was an utterly common sight and a very simple scene, but it mattered.

Because it was the opening scene of 'Murder Is a Qualification Too', written by Oh Jong-man, the opening salvo of the 'One-Act Drama Project'. On top of that, the character of the Female Lead, An Ji-hee, had to stand out.

The colors reflected on the monitor were mostly white or gray.

The desk, the laptop, the partitions, all the office supplies, every last bit of it. All of it was intentional. Written into the script by Oh Jong-man and staged under Director Baek Jeong-ha's instructions.

The first take ran roughly a minute.

-Clack-clack-clack!

The only sound layered in was An Ji-hee's typing. It looked simple, but to any office worker, this scene would feel like hell itself. That was the intent of the direction.

Then An Ji-hee let out a short sigh.

"Hoo-"

There was no particular emotion mixed into the sigh either. Just a simple breath. But An Ji-hee, playing the Female Lead, was quite nervous. She had been confirmed for a total of three projects including the 'One-Act Drama Project', but it had been a good while since she'd acted in front of a camera, not since the short film 'Condensation'.

And so much was different from her days on the short 'Condensation'.

The officials and gathered staff here numbered several times more, and the director at the helm was a heavyweight. Even the platform serving the show was the world-famous Netflix.

Any Newcomer would be nervous in this situation.

But An Ji-hee pulled off the performance of silence, of stillness, with real skill. Enough that Director Baek Jeong-ha, nose buried in the monitor, gave a thumbs-up on the inside.

'That's it, just like that. The picture's coming out beautifully.'

True to her nature as a directing pervert, she kept wetting her lips as she watched An Ji-hee's acting. It was a sort of habit of Director Baek Jeong-ha's whenever she saw delicious acting.

The flow was good. From there, Director Baek Jeong-ha shouted again.

"......Cut!! Nice! That was great!"

Director Baek Jeong-ha threw An Ji-hee a double thumbs-up. To be honest, she had been half expectation, half worry. An Ji-hee had certainly shown good acting at both the audition and the Script Reading, but there were Newcomers who performed well right up until they hit the actual set and then fell completely flat.

But An Ji-hee had no problems whatsoever.

'If anything, she seems several times better than at the Script Reading?? As if the air of a live set works like a buff on her.'

After giving An Ji-hee some brief direction, Director Baek Jeong-ha sat back down in front of the monitor.

"Same scene, let's go again with the camera head-on!! Ready- action!"

The shoot resumed with the camera angles changed. Accordingly, dozens of staff held their breath, and among them were plenty of familiar faces. From Executive Director Heo Seong-jin of Netflix Korea, to the actors on standby including Oh Jong-man, to narrow-eyed Lee Chan-hoo, and Kang Jae-ha standing beside him.

Dry-faced, arms crossed, Jae-ha didn't take his eyes off An Ji-hee.

'Her form's solid. First shoot in a much bigger environment, and she's not freezing up at all. She's focusing well, too.'

He had wondered whether her instincts might have dulled a little with the gap since 'Condensation', but fortunately, An Ji-hee didn't look like she'd be much of a problem going forward.

'With that form, she'll be able to handle 'Condensation: Euphoria' and 'Spring at the Borderline' just fine.'

Just then, Lee Chan-hoo, standing beside him, whispered into Kang Jae-ha's ear.

"She's good. Ji-hee-ssi's clearly grown compared to 'Condensation'."

Kang Jae-ha answered with a faint smile, and his gaze shifted. Toward where the actors were waiting. What he was checking on was Oh Jong-man, writer and actor both. His costume was a dress shirt. To anyone's eye, the very picture of an upstanding office worker. Makeup finished, Oh Jong-man wasn't watching An Ji-hee's performance; his eyes were closed.

Because he was set to go in for the next scene.

Oh Jong-man was currently steadying his own mind. This was a shoot he'd reached at the end of a truly long road, and he wanted to pour himself into nothing but the acting.

Then came Director Baek Jeong-ha's cut sign.

"Cuuut!! OOOK!! Let's move to the next scene!"

A handful of staff swarmed An Ji-hee on the set. To touch up her makeup. Meanwhile, An Ji-hee searched for someone among the staff. Kang Jae-ha. She found Jae-ha in no time, and Kang Jae-ha, meeting An Ji-hee's eyes, calmly threw her a thumbs-up.

It was a simple gesture, but An Ji-hee's excitement wouldn't fade.

'The Director's praise is great and all, but Manager-nim's thumbs-up really is the tastiest! It's addictive, seriously addictive. I have to focus harder, harder, harder!'

Soon, Oh Jong-man, fully prepped, stepped onto the set.

Director Baek Jeong-ha went up to the two actors and gave them brief direction. Eyes brimming with directorial ambition, she tapped Oh Jong-man on the shoulder.

"Writer-nim, I don't need to give you a pep talk or anything, right??"

An unspoken meaning along the lines of, your Hiatus was long, but you've got the mileage, so you can handle this on your own, yes? In fact, Oh Jong-man was the most senior actor on this set. Well aware of that, and with his mind already firmly made up, Oh Jong-man nodded gravely.

"Yes, Director. No problem at all."

"Okay."

Director Baek Jeong-ha's cue sign rang out once more across the tidied set. The camera framed the seated An Ji-hee in a bust shot, and soon Oh Jong-man, playing the 'killer', slipped into the angle. The camera holding both of them in a bust shot slowly moved into a close-up of Oh Jong-man.

"......"

Oh Jong-man silently looked down at the crown of An Ji-hee's head. For about three seconds. Then, right where he stood, he faintly sniffed the air. There was quite a distance to the top of An Ji-hee's head, yet it was as though he'd caught some scent.

-Swish.

Brushing his nose once, Oh Jong-man let the corners of his mouth twitch faintly. His eyes brimmed with a certain excitement. That was the expression, and it was acting. Watching Oh Jong-man's performance on the monitor, Director Baek Jeong-ha felt goosebumps creep over her.

'Damn, hiatus my ass. He's flying so high it'd be a waste to keep him as just a writer.'

Kang Jae-ha nodded slowly.

'He's pulled his deteriorated acting way back up. Compared to his prime it's still a bit short, but that's more than enough.'

And he went on planning for Oh Jong-man to keep working as both writer and actor.

'Writer, actor. He could feast on both just fine.'

After that.

The first shoot of 'Murder Is a Qualification Too' rolled along smoothly. An Ji-hee, a Newcomer and the Female Lead, acted without a single snag, like an actor with years under her belt, while Oh Jong-man, deployed after breaking his long Hiatus, displayed the seasoned poise of the set's most senior actor.

"Cuuuut!! OOK!! Great! Let's go to the next cut!!"

From the actors' performances to the staff's teamwork, everything clicked into place, and Director Baek Jeong-ha was in high spirits.

"Let's keep charging right through!"

She tore through cuts in a frenzy for over two hours. Then, at long last, the words break time left Director Baek Jeong-ha's mouth, and after briefly passing something along to the actors, An Ji-hee, Oh Jong-man, and the rest, Director Baek Jeong-ha walked over toward Kang Jae-ha.

To be precise, she attached herself to Executive Director Heo Seong-jin.

"How was it?"

The bald Executive Director Heo Seong-jin gave a small round of applause.

"The atmosphere is fantastic. You, the staff, the actors, everyone looks to be in top condition, Director."

"We really are. The condition just keeps climbing."

After a brief exchange with Lee Chan-hoo as well, she turned her gaze to the dry-faced Kang Jae-ha.

"An Ji-hee-ssi is the real deal. I'm the one who ought to be grateful to you for discovering her."

Kang Jae-ha shrugged as if it were nothing.

"I only made the suggestion. An Ji-hee-ssi is the one who pulled it off."

The answer must have been unexpected, because Director Baek Jeong-ha murmured to herself.

'Modesty? No, maybe he's just naturally this cool-headed. The type who moves quietly behind the scenes even when he's exceptional. Well, there's a reason they say real talent can't stay hidden. Managers of this caliber don't exactly grow on trees. Though I suppose he's already famous.'

With a small smile, Director Baek Jeong-ha continued.

"Oh, please. Without your care, Manager-nim, she'd never have made it this far. Anyway, I hear Ji-hee-ssi has a lot of confirmed projects, so manage her well and make sure she doesn't burn out. Not that you need me to tell you."

"Of course."

Nodding, she spoke to Executive Director Heo Seong-jin again.

"And with the set running in this condition, filming will wrap faster than expected."

"Oh-"

The current shooting schedule for the 'One-Act Drama Project' was split into Season 1 and Season 2, three works each, six in total. In episode terms, about 12, with Season 1's shooting portion covering roughly 6 episodes. The plan had allotted about three months just for filming, but that period was going to shrink considerably.

Soon, Director Baek Jeong-ha spoke as if all but certain.

"At this pace, we can launch in the first half of next year."

Then, two days later, on the 7th.

Late afternoon. The place was the animation studio 'FrameMEG'. 'FrameMEG' was deep in production on 'Moonless Village', contracted with Netflix Korea, and quite a few of the people who had been on the 'Murder Is a Qualification Too' set two days earlier had gathered in a fairly large conference room.

The bald Executive Director Heo Seong-jin, Lee Chan-hoo, Director Hong Man-seop spearheading 'Moonless Village', and so on.

Kang Jae-ha, of course, was there too.

He was currently wearing a mask, Face A. In other words, he wasn't Kang Jae-ha, but General Manager Kim Ha-jae of 'MEG'. In any case, with the key members of 'Moonless Village' assembled, the thick-browed Director Hong Man-seop gave a briefing on the animated film 'Moonless Village'.

"As I informed you in advance, the overall character sketches for 'Moonless Village' are complete."

Meaning the characters of 'Moonless Village', a project aiming for the world stage alongside its Netflix launch, were ready.

"I'll walk you through them one by one, from the protagonist to the supporting characters."

Everyone listening to Director Hong Man-seop's explanation, from Executive Director Heo Seong-jin to Kang Jae-ha, was serious.

"For reference, since 'Moonless Village' is a spin-off of 'House of the Daytime Moon', the two naturally share the same universe, and characters from 'House of the Daytime Moon' may occasionally be inserted as well."

Director Hong Man-seop then unveiled the characters of 'Moonless Village'. Along with the characters' color palettes, personalities, traits, the weapons they used, and so forth.

With animated films, once the characters are locked in, things usually pick up speed from there.

'Moonless Village' was no different, and as he watched the characters displayed through the PPT, Kang Jae-ha raised the corners of his mouth without letting it show.

'The quality's far better than I expected.'

The character sketches alone made it plain just how much time, how much of his very soul, Director Hong Man-seop had poured into them.

'Well, obviously. With the world stage on the table, what director wouldn't be fired up?'

At the same time, Choi Ri-na's studio.

Choi Ri-na, even busier as of late, had her face buried in her workstation, hands moving swiftly. Following her movements.

-♬♪

All sorts of music played and cut off throughout the studio. After a good few dozen minutes of dead-serious work, she abruptly.

"Aah-"

Stretched long and hard, shaking loose her long, purple-tinged hair.

"It's dooone!"

What she meant by done was the music for 'Moonless Village', requested by her Commander, Kang Jae-ha.

"Whew, the polishing took a while. It's fine. I'll save it real quick and play it for Commander-nim!"

In truth, Choi Ri-na had already made the music for 'Moonless Village'. It had simply taken a bit longer to revise it until she was 100% satisfied. Either way, Choi Ri-na had now completed all of the music for 'Moonless Village', making it her third project, after the 'One-Act Drama Project' and 'Condensation: Euphoria'.

Normally an impossible pace, but for Choi Ri-na, who possessed an 'Ability', it was nothing difficult at all.

Musically, she was practically a monster.

And as that same Choi Ri-na played back the completed 'Moonless Village' tracks one final time, she instinctively hummed along when the main OST track came on.

Then she froze.

"Ah."

Noticing something, Choi Ri-na straightened in her seat and played the main OST track from just now again. At the same time, she began to let her voice out, this time in earnest.

-♬♪

Choi Ri-na's tone spread through the studio. She was singing along to a song she herself had composed, and for Choi Ri-na, this was a momentous event.

Having sung the song through from beginning to end, Choi Ri-na murmured quietly, as if startled by her own self.

"......It works. I can sing all the way to the end. Whoa."

It meant her PTSD was fully cured.

*****

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