Chapter 21.1

Chapter 21.1

Oddly enough, I had dreamt of escaping the apocalyptic world and entering a bright, hopeful drama, but a single memory synchronization had turned the genre into a mystery.

Yeon Seo repeatedly closed and opened his eyes. It was an effort to stay conscious. The volume he was vomiting was concerning enough, even if it was just food... but he was throwing up blood.

‘I might actually die at this rate...'

<I told you it was too dangerous, Master.>

Even Beta, who was currently learning human behaviours, had started to chime in subtly. Yeon Seo ignored the comment and bowed his head to vomit blood again. The sink and even the floor were covered with the blood he had spat out.

<Current synchronization rate is 12.82%.>

Pushing it to the limit allowed him to gain some pretty important memories.

He was a man with a good head on his shoulders, despite his unpredictable temperament, so he wouldn't make such a statement without basis. Clearly, the voice doubting his birth mother's suicide was Yeon Seo's. So, who was the recipient of those words?

‘My brother? Or some third party?'

Yeon Seo washed his face with cold water and looked at himself in the mirror. His naturally pale and smooth complexion was now tinged with grey, despite the heavy makeup.

‘Now isn't the time to worry about that.'

Even though he felt like he was losing his mind, he wasn't at home, but on set.

‘I need to shoot at least one more scene while these sensations are still vivid.'

After all, there was a reason why he had pushed his memory synchronization to the limit.

With great effort, Yeon Seo got up. He still felt nauseous, but it was bearable.

Fortunately, his costume was already stained with fake blood, which perfectly camouflaged the blood he had vomited.

"Ah, sh*t..."

Swearing involuntarily, with every step he took, his body screamed in pain, as if he was suffering from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, where even minor friction causes severe pain.

Before entering the set, Yeon Seo casually wiped the cold sweat dripping from his face with his clothes.

"Huh? Yeon Seo is here!"

Amidst the filming set, which had been buzzing due to the lead actor's absence, one of the staff members shouted out loudly.

"Director, let's shoot right away."

"Wow..."

Park Min Woo stood with his mouth agape. The filming of ‘Baekho-ham' had begun thanks to Yoo Yeon Seo, but he had assumed that the praise for acting and action scenes would be directed towards him, the lead actor. But what he was seeing wasn't Yeon Seo, it was Lieutenant Kim Woo Jin himself.

‘Did he take some kind of performance-enhancing drug?'

There was no other explanation for the drastic improvement in his acting. He had taken a few lessons himself from Park Hyun Jeong, who was Yoo Yeon Seo's acting teacher, but he never saw such dramatic changes in his performances.

‘It doesn't seem like method acting; he can turn it on and off...'

Of course, his previous performances were so subpar that any slight improvement might appear to be a divine upgrade.

Park Min Woo, Lee Han Gyeol, and all the staff on the set watched Yoo Yeon Seo's extraordinary performance with bated breath.

"F*ck!"

Out of bullets, Yeon Seo nervously tossed the handgun aside and pulled out a knife. It was now a do-or-die situation. With gritted teeth, he rushed at Director Park Sung Jin and stretched out his hand.

After a lengthy bout, Yeon Seo ended up sprawled on the ground, and Park Sung Jin reached out and gave a light punch to his stomach. They planned to add CGI later to show his stomach being pierced.

"Arrrrrgh!"

At that light touch, Yeon Seo thrashed around and let out a loud scream. Despite all the movement, his abdominal area remained unnaturally still.

Seeing such meticulous detail, the director instinctively clasped his hands together in a prayerful gesture. This was it. The brutal action scene that he had extensively discussed with the writer, Kim Dae Sung.

"Hrk... Hrk..."

As Yeon Seo vomited blood and screamed out in a metallic voice, his breath began to hitch. His will to cling to life gradually faded, and Yeon Seo stopped breathing.

"...Cut! Good job!"

After a few seconds of filming Sergeant Kim Woo Jin lying still with eyes open, the director signalled the end of the scene. Those who had been watching also let out their breaths, held in anticipation.

"Wow, that was incredible."

"Do you think we'll get a rating for this scene?"

"One hundred per cent we will."

"Even if we get an R-rating, we must use this scene. It'd be a waste to only show it in the behind-the-scenes."

"Or maybe it's okay to separate it into R-rated and PG-15 versions."