Chapter 49

Chapter 49

TL: KSD

Its a gray sky today.

Its just that the clouds are overcast, but on days when the sky is gray, its hard to kill people.

Killing people requires courage. Pulling the finger on the trigger is easy, but mustering the courage to actually pull it is difficult.

This courage seems to come from the sky. Humans have revered the sky since ancient times. The sky is high, vast, and unchanging.

Before Westerners came across the sea, this world was called all under heaven, and the one who ruled it was called Son of Heaven.

It was because one could not rule over others with mere human authority, so they borrowed the authority of the sky. Theres no need to look far for examples, did not the leaders of Japan, playing the role of Shwa, also play the role of the Emperor?

In such a situation, the sky, mixed with white and black into a murky gray, seemed to grant me a transcendent wisdom beyond human judgment.

That the sky of Joseon you will reclaim would look like this, mixed with white and black to be eternally gray. And that the world has always been so.

However, if I had planned to simply follow the decree of the sky, I wouldnt have crossed over to Shanghai in the first place.

Bang, the trigger was pulled along with the sound. Or perhaps the sound came at the moment the trigger was pulled.

A commie, kneeling and trembling in front of me, became a corpse.

I moved the gun barrel towards his daughter next to him.

She looked young. A young girl.

Indeed, killing a person requires great courage.

As I calmed my mind for a moment, the daughter asked me.

Why am I to die?

All sorts of answers flashed through my mind.

Because your father embezzled the money received from the Comintern and did not share it with his comrades, choosing instead to divert it to the Communist Party. Because he was frantic to hand over the poor land of Joseon, ruled by the Japanese, to Russia this time. Because your father killed Cheol-deuk. Because your father is a communist.

And because the fathers sin is the daughters sin.

But lacking the courage to say so, what came out of my mouth was a bland excuse.

Its divine punishment.

Who administers this divine punishment?

I do.

By what right?

By the unified will of the suffering Korean compatriots.

Who exactly has gathered this will? Do the thirty million residents living on the land of Joseon even know of your existence? Whether its the Provisional Government or the National Representatives Conference, in the end, isnt it just a few hundred of your gang who decided everything on your own whim?

This is for a greater cause.

Murderer.

The communists daughter said.

You are a murderer

I know.

Bang. The gunshot rang out along with a flash.

The traitors daughter, crouched silently next to her, left a small hole in the ground beside her.

Live as if you were dead from now on.

I said so and left the traitors house. Looking up at the sky, it was still gray. Indeed, its hard to kill people on a day when the sky is gray.

But the world was also gray.

The Yellow Sea beneath the sky, contrary to its name, was gray, the bustling docks were gray, even the work clothes of the port workers were stained gray, and the cityscape of Shanghai built with gray concrete was entirely gray.

I lit a cigarette and quietly slipped into the gray world. There were still many communist left to hunt.

EP 4 Red Hunter

The line murderer seemed to be the most important.

It succinctly reveals the perspective of a victim of history. Especially considering that this scene is the introduction to the movie.

The traitors daughter, an unnamed character with a small role, acts as a scene-stealer who briefly introduces the theme the movie will explore and then exits

Hmm

Kim Byul thought so as she read the script.

Whether this interpretation is correct or not, she does not know. Shes not the original author, after all. But she could ask the original author.

I contemplated sending a text to the charmless junior for a moment but soon shook my head vigorously, abandoning the thought.

How could I calmly talk to that guy after what happened on the emergency staircase!

Ugh.

Even now, thinking about that time makes me want to kick the blankets with my feet.

Embarrassing as it was for me to have reacted so emotionally, that charmless blanket-roller, despite being two years younger, spoke like an adult.

Its an incident that wont easily fade from memory

But Kim Byul erased the memory of that day from her mind and focused back on the script.

Its unthinkable to entertain any thoughts other than the script right before an audition.

At least, thats what Kim Byuls professional conscience told her.

Oh, hello, sunbae!

But someone elses professional conscience seemed to be of a different kind.

Turning her head slightly, she saw a smiling junior.

This junior is 4 years older than Kim Byul.

Though just freshly an adult, Kim Byul could not stand idly by and accept formal speech from an adult in a place with so many prying eyes.

Even slightly taking the juniors greeting lightly could quickly spread rumors of being a morally bankrupt person.

This junior already had a history of spreading rumors that Kim Byul didnt properly return my greeting.

Haha, sunbae? Drop the formal speech, unnie.

No, but Im still new to acting

This junior is a newcomer as an actor. Originally, she is an idol. In other words, an acting idol. One could say an invasive species that steals the jobs of poor and struggling actors. Like the American bullfrog.

A cute imagination momentarily crossed Kim Byuls mind. An SD-characterized bullfrog getting punched by a native frog and sprawling out with a Kwek.

But reality is different from imagination. The native frog cannot beat the bullfrog. The difference in size is evident.

You topped the charts with your comeback album, didnt you? Congratulations, unnie~

Thank you!

People tend to look down on idols acting. Calling it bad acting.

However, a work featuring even one idol versus a work with unknown actors, the former wins.

Though they might pretend to be noble with their words, their hearts are honest. People want to see pretty, cute, slim, and S-line bodied women on the screen.

Bold

Has that little kid from 10 years ago grown up like this?

To mime to this extent without props!

Though a positive atmosphere seemed to swirl among the judges, Kim Byul felt none of it.

She was already deeply immersed in her performance.

The Traitors Daughter.

A character who, labeled a communist, kills fellow independence activists and is killed by them, uttered her first line.

Why am I to die?

Anger over her fathers death, fear of her impending death, and the bewildering disbelief of this reality.

Three emotions mixed in just the right proportions created a voice filled with tension. And the imbalance between her delicate, youthful tone and her stiff manner of speaking.

Diction passes.

Thus, without even realizing, Kim Byul passed Director So Tae-woongs first round of auditions.

Her performance intensified.

Who decrees this divine punishment?

I do.

By what right?

By the unified will of the suffering Korean compatriots.

Who exactly did that? Do Koreans even know of your existence? Whether its the Provisional Government or whatever, in the end, wasnt it just your gang deciding everything on your own whim!

This is for a greater cause.

Here comes the crucial line of the character.

The shadow of history that this movie highlights.

The tragedy of ordinary citizens sacrificed for a cause.

A single line that denies the sanctity that founded this nation.

Murderer.

A line that brands an independence activist as a murderer.

To shock the audience at the beginning of the movie.

That is the essence of The Traitors Daughter.

This character was created solely for that purpose.

Other participants were not unaware of this.

Thus, there were numerous interpretations of this murderer dialogue.

Someone shouted it as if condemning the person pointing a gun at them.

Someone screamed it out of the fear of death a girl felt.

Someone cried it out, teary-eyed, with pitiable gestures and sobbing.

But Kim Byul knows.

She knows Author Moon.

That cynical, expressionless, charmless boy harbored warmth in his heart.

What expression would that boy have had when that warmth, that tender heart, was shattered in the most terrible way?

When he found out that his parents, who were supposed to love him, had abandoned him.

How would Moon have reacted?

Would he have been angry? Screamed? Sobbed?

No.

The boy would have probably despaired.

Chewing over the soul-destroying agony, he would have stared into the void with empty eyes.

So, Kim Byul did just that.

Murderer.

The Traitors Daughter quietly recited it as such.

As if everything she had ever believed in had crumbled in an instant.

Like someone driven mad upon realizing that the sanctity of their parents love was nothing but a lie.

An empty soul squeezed out a hollow voice.

You are a murderer

Okay! You pass!

Huh?!

* * *

You passed.

.Thank you.

(An emoji of a white rabbit with its arms crossed, huffily turning its head away with a Hmph!)

Even as a series of welcome messages poured in, I couldnt muster a smile.

I didnt have the energy to congratulate Kim Byul.

All my mental energy was consumed elsewhere.

Lim Yang-wook cautiously asked me, noticing my distraction.

Whats the matter?

Its nothing. Just got a text.

I pocketed my phone and focused on my conversation with Lim Yang-wook.

In the underground parking lot of Baekhak Entertainment. In the front seat of Lim Yang-wooks car.

Lim Yang-wook, who had summoned me to this most secretive place, brought news that couldnt be ignored.

Trying to suppress my shock, I asked him.

Which of the two is it?

Lim Yang-wook calmly replied.

Both of them.

.

Both of your parents, theyve contacted the company wanting to meet you.

*****

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