NOVPUBnightmare (1)
Yoo Il headed to the practice room in Seocho-gu. As soon as he entered, Kim Joo-won greeted him.
“Yuil, how have you been?”
Director Kim Joo-won was still wearing the same beanie.
From what I heard from the staff, director Kim Joo-won said he has several identical beanies. The staff member added in a whisper as if they were telling a secret.
– Once you start practicing in earnest, you become very sensitive. Like the beanie, you always wear the same clothes... Should I say it’s a bit of a jinx? I think you might have something like that?
‘I think you just wear it because it’s comfortable.’
Whatever the reason, the beanie was a fashion item that was almost like her icon.
After greeting Kim Joo-won, Yu Il sat down and waited for the other actors.
There are a total of three main actors who appear in < Ordinary Family>. They were Han Yu-il, Lee So-yoon, and Kwon Mi-ja. Lee So-yoon had been acting in a theater company since she was 20 and was called a talented actress after recently appearing in a drama, and Kwon Mi-ja was a veteran actress who was as famous for her acting skills as her acting career.
When the practice room door opened, Yu Il jumped up.
The person who opened the door and entered was Kwon Mi-ja, the actress Han Yu-il was most looking forward to meeting in this play. She came in, smoothing out her graying curly hair, and found Yu Il in the center of her practice room.
“···Teacher, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”
“Oh, just call me senior, that’s okay.”
Mija Kwon and Yoo Il were spherical. We filmed together in < Sun and Moon> just a few months ago.
“Yes, that’s right... congratulations on receiving the award this time. “I thought your acting was good when I saw it on TV.”
“Thank you, senior.”
A faint look of anticipation appeared on Kwon Mi-ja’s face.
‘I was curious.’
I was secretly disappointed that I couldn’t see Yoo Il’s acting up close on the set of < Sun and Moon>.
Because the filming was mainly done inside the palace set, Kwon Mija saw Yoo Il’s face only a handful of days during the filming period. So now I finally felt like we were acting together in earnest.
“is it so. “I guess I’ll see you more often this time.”
At that time, the door to the practice room opened again. Short black hair and eyes without double eyelids stood out.
“Hello~!”
She came in with a cheerful greeting and looked at Yoo Il and Kwon Mi-ja standing in the center of the practice room.
‘Senior Kwon Mi-ja... you have a nice expression...?’
Lee So-yoon, who had already appeared in a play with Kwon Mi-ja once, was a little surprised. Although Kwon Mi-ja was gentle, she was not the type of person who was easy to get close to.
Are you more sly than you think?
Lee So-yoon quickly gathered her thoughts and a smile appeared on her face.
“Senior niiiiim!”
“Yes. “Soyun is here.”
Lee So-yoon, who came running with a charming voice, was hugged by Kwon Mi-ja. Like the role she played this time, she looked like a grandmother and granddaughter.
“This is Han Yu-il.”
“It’s Lee So-yoon!”
Lee So-yoon, who gave a light greeting, looked at Yu-il with curious eyes.
Lee So-yoon was curious about Han Yu-il.
I knew that he was a popular actor these days. And the reality was that there were rumors going around about actors who were that popular. He was not a particularly well-known actor. Even if I asked around, I couldn’t easily answer my question because no one knew much about it.
‘···I didn’t know you would do theater more than anything else.’
It was not uncommon for actors who were famous in theater to be recognized for their acting skills in dramas and movies, but it was not uncommon for actors who were at the height of their popularity to participate in plays.
When the white practice room was filled with similar yet different expectations, Kim Joo-won opened his mouth.
“Now that all the actors are here, we can start soon.”
After briefly explaining the play and direction, she clapped her hands loudly and shrugged her shoulders.
“Leading, let’s begin.”
At the same time, Kim Joo-won’s expression, which had been relatively relaxed just a moment ago, suddenly turned sharp. The atmosphere among the staff also changed noticeably.
‘···It’s the beginning.’
Yuil slowly opened his eyes.
“Jisoo. “Do some cleaning today.”
“Ah, I understand~”
Starting with Kwon Mi-ja and Lee So-yoon’s lines announcing the beginning of the play, the full-scale reading began.
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.
.
“Ordinary Family” was originally a play with strong genre characteristics, but after going on stage a few times, the fantasy nature became even stronger.
< Ordinary Family> was set in the distant future. Due to the radioactively polluted air, people could not survive, and those with wealth and power left to seek other planets. Only a few survivors who predicted the future survived in pre-built underground bunkers.
Then one day, while cleaning the entrance to the bunker, the girl accidentally encounters a humanoid exploration robot.
A girl who meets an android robot for the first time is very surprised.
“Aaaahhh!”
Even while getting my butt kicked.
Jisoo, a girl who at first thought he was a living person and not a robot, is embarrassed and doesn’t know what to do.
“What do we do? “Could it be that he is a real person?”
And here, Jisoo’s monologue begins. On the actual stage, it was planned to be performed in a way that recalled the past using lighting and props.
“Actually, I’ve always been curious about the outside.”
Jisoo, who was born in a bunker, has never been outside. The girl’s parents left the bunker to find food and never returned. This was also the reason why her grandmother was overly protective of Jisoo.
Such a girl had seen an outside ‘person’ only once in her life.
The ‘person’ was a woman, her hair had fallen out to the point where her age was unrecognizable, and her skin was full of pus.
– Ugh... Ugh.
The woman who checked Jisoo through the bunker’s foggy window only let out a small moan. That was the only sound she could make.
Jisoo didn’t worry. The bunker was made up of multiple layers of steel doors to block outside air and disinfect. Jisoo immediately opened the door to the triple-filtered bunker, and the woman was able to enter the bunker after completing disinfection.
That day, the grandmother did not beat the girl. Instead, she handed the woman the coolest water she could find.
“···The next day, the woman was dead. “She couldn’t even say her own name.”
Jisoo rolls her eyes. He carefully glances at the robot and picks up the microphone installed in the bunker with trembling hands.
“···hey.”
And after much thought, I ask carefully.
“Are you a refugee?”
After radioactive contamination progressed, humans exposed to the atmosphere without any protection would die within a week at the most. No matter what treatment I did or what I did or ate, it didn’t change.
Some people had to leave the bunker against their will, for reasons such as the house they lived in collapsed or they ran out of food, but there were also those who left the bunker by their own choice.
The former were called refugees.
“Or... an ascetic...?”
···The latter were called ascetics.
The outsider who heard Jisoo’s question looked at her with an expression that did not know what was inside.
Jisoo swallowed without realizing it.
“···yes. “I am an ascetic.”
*
The art director looked around at the actors who were reading with an interesting look on their faces.
< Ordinary Family> was a play that was recognized as an experimental and unique stage performance since its premiere 20 years ago. It became a hot topic because it was a design created by a famous artist who was very young at the time.
Anyway, the artistic director was planning to create a stage in a different direction from the previous stage design. The rough design and key mechanical parts had already been developed through consultation with the director, but the details had not yet been decided.
What made me worry until the end was the outside world. It was the outer part of the bunker. There were ways to create a dystopian world with screens or lighting, but in this play, I wanted to show the outside world more clearly.
However, it was not possible to use expensive equipment such as LED ICVFX (In-Camera Visual Effects) like those used on Hollywood movie sets.
It was a time when the art director was worried.
“···yes. “I am an ascetic.”
The moment Yuil first spoke his lines.
To be precise, the moment he moved, something strange caught the art director’s eye.
Han Yu-il, who finished speaking, moves slowly. One step, half a step. And then another step, half a step.
The art director, who was following his movements with his eyes, suddenly had an epiphany.
‘···!’
That’s it.
The only move now. If we make the outside of the bunker with a regular spiral path...
‘···We can solve the space problem as well.’
The art director, who came across an unexpected solution, ran the simulation in his head and started making random notes in the margins of his blank notebook.
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.
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Meanwhile, Jisoo becomes irritated after discovering that the being she brought into the bunker was a robot.
“···What, you’re not human? “Why do you lie and say you are an ascetic?”
“I am Ascetic B-234, an android created for exploration purposes.”
“···What is the name of this exploration robot? Is it really true?”
When Jisoo spoke irritably, the robot spoke up as if it had been waiting.
“Exploration, start- 9914- days.”
The robot continued speaking while making direct eye contact with Jisoo.
“Current time, 16:34 PM local time. “We discovered life.”
The eyes were devoid of vitality.
Lee So-yoon, who is acting opposite Yoo-il, shakes her head hard every time he says a line.
‘what?’
Each word has a strangely different pitch. The spacing between words was also unusual. It was an unusual way of speaking. However, it wasn’t strange or the acting was awkward.
In the play < Ordinary Family>, no specific speaking style was presented. Since full-scale practice had not yet begun, everything must have been a performance created based on the actor’s own judgment.
‘How did they do it?!’
I’m so curious!
Lee So-yoon’s eyes lit up. She never lost sight of what she was curious about.
As soon as it was time for a break, a white arm suddenly appeared in front of Yuil’s eyes. This was because Lee So-yoon was holding Han Yu-il’s arm tightly.
“Is there a reference for this character? How did you come up with your tone of voice? “Do you practice alone?”
Lee So-yoon looked directly at Yoo-il with burning eyes. Kim Joo-won, who was watching this, smiled quietly.
‘Good.’
We are already starting to look forward to the synergy effect that the three actors will show. It was the moment when it was revealed that she saw people properly.
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.
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That night.
Han Yu-il sat in the room to draw the background.
When auditioning for < Ordinary Family>, Yu Il prepared for his acting through background pictures, but after the first reading, Yu Il clearly felt his shortcomings.
‘···I want to do better.’
This was the reason why Yuil repeatedly created background pictures of the same scene.
【Start with the background picture for Chapter 1.】
empty streets. I see a ghost town with flying dust. Lost people and broken buildings. Corroded cars, signs with letters missing.
All that took the place of life was dust.
It was already a distance I had walked for several times.
Yoo Il slowly walked down the street, clearing his mind of distracting thoughts.
‘9914 days since exploration began.’
With each step, a layer of emotion and thought was peeled away.
As Yuil walked at regular intervals and looked around dryly, Bwin’s voice rang in his head.
【Heart rate drops by 18bpm. Body temperature dropped by 2.1°C. Oxygen saturation 93.5%. Hypoxia alert. Stop ‘background painting’...】
The next moment, Yoo Il stumbled due to nausea. Her vision began to blur. Soon, I felt dizzy. This was to be expected since he had been working on the background painting for longer than usual.
‘···It’ll be okay if you rest a little.’
Yuil relaxed his body and waited for the background surrounding him to gradually disappear.
‘...?’
But soon he looked around in confusion. The background painting did not disappear easily.
“···Bwin?”
Yuil called out to Bwin for the first time in a very long time.
...But, there was no answer.
