Entertainment Life With A Camera

Chapter 174

Z-Day (9)

“Director, it’s finally ‘that scene’.”

“I can see your hands shaking, writer.”

It was the moment to shoot the zombie shock, the ending and the highlight of ‘Z-Day’. Director Park and writer Lee checked the camera angles with Ian on the screen.

“It’s a shame to use such a good actor for just one season. What do you think, writer?”

“That’s why I left Kim Jun-hee’s fate ambiguous. If the reaction is good, we can bring him back in the next season.”

“But do you think Ian will do it again next season? His manager looks like he’s going to stab us in the back right now.”

Director Park and writer Lee glanced behind them. Park Dong-soo was watching Ian with his arms crossed and his eyes wide, worried that he might get hurt.

“You should have been more careful. You barely used any stuntmen.”

“Ian was so good at it… And he wanted to do it himself.”

Director Park mumbled. He had nothing to say to Park Dong-soo’s glare.

“And director, if the next season is confirmed, don’t you think E-Flix will double the production cost?”

“That sounds good.”

There is no agency that would refuse a high salary. Director Park hoped that he could film with Ian again next season and put down the script that he had been fiddling with.

“E-Flix should support us a lot for season 2 too…”

“Are you already thinking about season 2, writer?”

“Why not? With my script and your direction, we should go at least until season 10.”

Director Park laughed at her confident attitude.

“Hey, season 10 is honestly impossible.”

There would be some additional shooting in the studio, but the official shooting was over with this scene.

“This scene was one of the scenes I struggled with a lot when I wrote the script.”

“I also wanted to shoot this scene personally. I hope everyone does their best in their assigned roles.”

Since it was the last shooting on the spot, Director Park and Writer Lee had a short speech before the shooting.

“It was an honor to work with you all. Let’s finish the last shooting with energy.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Ian took a deep breath to relax his nerves. A large-scale zombie battle scene, Ian had to hold the center of it.

“Action!”

At dawn, Kim Jun-hee infiltrates the vaccine storage facility of Hwaun Pharmaceuticals with some zombies who share his intentions. He plans to switch the zombie vaccine with saline solution.

“Do we have to do this?”

“Then, why are you doing this, Woo-shin?”

“…I don’t want to live like you.”

A life of being chased as the leader of the zombies after being freed from being an experimental subject by the government, can this be called a life?

Nawoo-shin, who decided to live for himself by throwing away his justice and conscience, decides to side with Kim Jun-hee.

“What are you going to do now?”

“It’ll work out somehow.”

“What’s the point of being optimistic? The zombies will lose their reason like the end of the world, and the government will use you and discard you.”

“We don’t know what will happen in the future. But, we have to hope for the best. I’m going to pioneer my life.”

Kim Jun-hee saw the eyes of the hopeful one. He couldn’t say anything when he saw those eyes.

“I don’t want to live like me…”

Nawoo-shin left the place first and Kim Jun-hee was left behind with a bitter smile.

The next day, after they switched the vaccine, the humans who had no idea what Kim Jun-hee and Nawoo-shin had done were having a peaceful commute.

“Mom! Look at that man!”

A child with a kindergarten bag tried to approach a zombie who was cleaning the street with a mask on. But the child was grabbed by both shoulders by his mother.

“Don’t go near him!”

“But… he’s really weird.”

The mother of the child knelt down on one knee and looked at the child in the eye. The faces of the child and the mother filled the screen.

“What did I tell you to do when you see someone with a mask like that?”

“Don’t go near them, don’t touch them!”

The screen only shows their faces in close-up, alternating between them.

“That’s right. We have to be careful of those monsters. They might hurt our Eun-ji. Got it?”

Suddenly, the camera angle changes at some point. The camera zooms out from the face and shows the upper body of the child, and the background. Behind the child, the zombie that the child pointed out is twisting his body.

The mother of the child didn’t notice it because she was looking at the child.

“Say it again. What do they do when you go near them?”

“They roar! Roa…”

The child couldn’t finish his sentence. The zombie that was twisting his body took off his mask and bit the child’s neck.

“Aaaah!”

The mother of the child screamed and held the child who fell limp, and the zombie who bit the child’s flesh twisted his body and spoke in a slurred voice.

“Cough, cooough. I’m, sorry. Why, am I, doing, this…”

“Aaah! Eun-ji!”

“I got the vaccine, but… cough… ack…”

He eventually loses his reason completely. The zombie attacks the mother who is holding the child.

“What the hell!”

“Run!”

The road becomes chaotic in an instant, and the sound of zombies running from the area that everyone avoids is heard. The zombies who were working also lost their reason because of the changed vaccine.

“Help me!”

“Call for help! Go in, go in there!”

Other zombies run over the gruesome corpses of the mother and child, and after some time, the child and the mother also turn into zombies and get up from their places.

In the midst of that chaos, Kim Jun-hee calmly tore off the mask that covered his face and threw it into the air.

“K, K!”

“Run!”

The humans who were chased by the zombies and saw Kim Jun-hee’s mask avoided him.

He stopped at their shouts. He didn’t need the mask that was the symbol of K anymore. He took off the mask and looked at the sky.

‘I’m going to pioneer my life.’

Nawoo-shin’s words from yesterday suddenly came to his mind.

‘Am I pioneering my life too?’

It was the section that Writer Lee paid attention to. Kim Jun-hee raised his arms and tasted the sunlight that poured down on him.

“Ha ha!”

He laughed out loud like a child, then made a face that looked like he was crying and smiling at the same time.

He also had to give the impression that his muscles were stiff like a zombie.

The zombies did not attack Kim Jun-hee. They passed by him on both sides as he stood still.

“Wow, this is…”

“Amazing…”

Kim Jun-hee was happy to find freedom after giving up his life of duty without reward as the leader of the zombie horde. He felt pity for himself who had been exploited and hatred for the humans who had used him.

He expressed complex emotions in a short moment. The staff who were watching his acting were stunned by his face.

‘This is it.’

Director Park clenched his fist.

He had to pause the shooting for a moment and attach a wire to Ian’s waist, but he did not want to interrupt.

He had been acting for longer than the time the director had told him before the shooting, but Ian was completely immersed in his role and did not even wonder why the director did not give the cut sign.

‘When will it end?’

‘Do I have to keep going?’

Rather, the extras who were acting as zombies eating humans were waiting for the director’s cut sign.

“…Cut!”

As Director Park shouted, the extras got up and moved to switch places with other actors. But Ian did not come to the director’s side to watch the monitor as usual.

“…Let’s attach the wire to Ian and go right away. We can’t break the flow.”

“Yes.”

Director Park, who noticed Ian’s condition, urged the staff.

‘He’s totally immersed…’

This was what people called method acting. Appropriate immersion was a strength for an actor. But it was also true that too much immersion was not good for an actor.

There were cases where actors were consumed by their roles in the process of immersion, and the mental exhaustion and stress were also great.

‘I have to finish this quickly and move on.’

Director Park did not prefer this kind of over-immersion situation. However, he also felt a sense of anticipation that a good scene would come out when he saw Ian, who was completely dyed in his role.

“Let’s go right away! Extras, get ready quickly!”

The staff moved busily. Park Dong-soo, who was fascinated by Ian’s acting, looked at Ian’s face with a nervous feeling, worried that there might be an accident.

‘He’s working really hard today.’

Park Dong-soo often visited the drama set of Jo Tae-woong and Ian, but he only thought about how to support the ones he was in charge of, not watching them act with such immersion.

‘Is Ian okay?’

Park Dong-soo, who was not an actor but an idol manager, did not know much about the method acting technique. But he could feel that it was a very different look from the usual Ian. Park Dong-soo rolled his feet.

[Hey, Choi Ian.]

Ian was still staring blankly at the air while the staff were attaching the wire. He did not answer Jin’s call.

[Hey.]

‘Don’t break it.’

Ian was indeed more immersed than usual, but he was not as immersed as the director thought. Rather, he was trying not to be eroded by his role while keeping the emotional line. Jin closed his mouth without saying anything at his silent effort.

The director held the slate himself and headed to Ian’s front. He shouted to the assistant director.

“Is everything set?”

“Yes!”

“Good, last scene. Cue!”

Director Park hit the slate and quickly moved away from Ian and sat in front of the monitor.

Kim Jun-hee took a cigarette from the chest pocket of a human who had collapsed in the building and put it in his mouth. He then leaned his face close to a burning car and lit it.

“There’s no difference in other areas!”

“What the hell is going on…”

“Team leader, behind!”

“What, damn it, shit!”

Bang, bang bang!

The soldiers who arrived at the scene had no time to question the sudden situation and engaged in a street fight with the zombies.

“What is that guy?”

Among the soldiers who were shooting, Kim Jun-hee took off his coat and showed the bomb that covered his upper body.

“It’s a bomb!”

“Over there…!”

He was heading to the headquarters of Hwaun Pharmaceutical, where all the data of Hwaun Pharmaceutical, including his own, was stored. Kim Jun-hee wanted to erase his data and the formula of the vaccine itself.

“What do we do? Do we shoot?”

“Shoot!”

“Ha… but, if we shoot, we’ll all die.”

The soldiers hesitated. Judging by the amount of the bomb, if the bomb that covered Kim Jun-hee’s body exploded, this area would be turned into a wasteland, including them.

The soldiers hesitated to pull the trigger, fearing for their lives.

“Shoot, damn it! Shoot! That’s the headquarters of Hwawoon Pharmaceuticals, you idiots! Hurry up and shoot!”

Kim Jun-hee laughed wickedly. Madness flickered in his eyes. He quickened his pace and leaped into the air after a few rolls. Right in front of him was the building of Hwawoon Pharmaceuticals.

“No!”

Kim Jun-hee found his freedom only in death.

Naow Shin, who was left alone in a new hiding place, watched the building explode in a daze. The first season of ‘Z-Day’ was over.

“Cut! Good job, everyone!”

There was a brief silence on the set after Director Park’s cut sign. As Park Dong-soo clapped, the staff cheered and applauded.

“Ian, are you okay?”

“Yes, Director! Thank you for your hard work!”

Ian quickly regained his composure and bowed to the staff, contrary to Director Park’s concern. Director Park sighed in relief.

“…Writer Lee.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go all the way to season 10.”

Writer Lee Ju-hee nodded blankly at Director Park Pyo-hyun’s words.