'What is this?'
PD Lee Ki-tae felt a sense of dissonance as he watched the ongoing finals.
It was an audition but also a variety show, clearly structured that way.
But this finals seemed more focused on the audition aspect, and on acting.
Up until now, it had been content closer to a variety show, watching the actors' improvisational skills in real-time.
But for the finals, they were given 2 hours with a script beforehand.
In other words, they wanted to see acting.
'At the same time, time for final confirmation.'
Since the setting had been shared from the preliminaries until now, they would have known how it would proceed.
Thrown into a specific location and given a mission.
That had been the format of
If they had communicated beforehand to some extent, they could have planned how to act in advance.
They just needed to incorporate that into the mission.
'Even so, choreographing an action sequence would be difficult with just that time.'
2 hours.
If they had discussed things beforehand to some degree, it was enough time to do a final coordination.
If they were to construct scenes live in 2 hours, they could probably plan at most one scene, maybe two at most.
That would typically be 10 minutes at most.
Thinking normally, it would be a scene of roughly 5 minutes or less.
But that wasn't really a problem.
Action scenes shown in movies are generally about that length.
So he thought they would show their acting related to the background and narrative, excluding the action.
If structured that way, they could produce about 10 to 20 minutes of content.
Even if that wasn't the case, it didn't matter.
'Because I've prepared various things.'
For example, the pre-interviews.
And showing the two's performances in the missions so far.
Combining all of that, he had planned a roughly 40-minute structure.
Before the finals began.
To insert appropriately after it ended.
'But.'
PD Lee Ki-tae checked the time.
5 minutes had already passed.
Even those who had applauded in admiration at the first exchange seemed flustered.
It was a light exchange, but the quality was hard to achieve with just 2 hours of practice.
Now, acting other than action would come.
He thought so.
If Narumi Sora hadn't taken out the nunchaku.
The audience was simply surprised by the unexpected weapon, but the staff were thinking in a completely different direction.
'How?'
Action using weapons is several times more difficult than simply coordinating with bare hands.
He could confidently say that no matter what they did, it was impossible with just 2 hours.
'Just swinging it once or twice?'
They might be able to manage that much.
He had that thought, but it was still strange.
Something about both of them.
Rather than coordinating... why did it feel like they were fighting in real-time?
Lee Ki-tae held his breath and watched.
How this finals would turn out, he could no longer guess.
***
One breath.
Holding her breath, with the nunchaku tucked under her arm, Sora looked at Seoyeon.
They had already passed the realm of acting.
What she had prepared as Shin Ah-rin was now just simple dialogue.
She had informed the other party in advance, so they would have memorized it.
But there was no action acting in that.
What was prepared in advance was zero.
In the end, this part could only be contested as Narumi Sora.
Not action acting, but pure action.
'You're the one who said it.'
A face where one couldn't tell what she was thinking.
Looking at Seoyeon, Sora extended her left hand forward.
A familiar posture.
It was a posture she had practiced countless times while watching movies as a child.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The weight felt in her hand was much lighter than an actual nunchaku.
Except for the plastic chain, it was closer to a stick-shaped sponge with appropriately adjusted weight.
Even if hit, it would only feel somewhat dull.
But rather, she felt it would be fine even if she had brought her original one.
"You seem to like Hong Kong movies?"
At that moment, Yuhwa spoke.
For a moment, she didn't know if she was asking Shin Ah-rin or Narumi Sora.
But among the lines prepared in advance, there was nothing to use for this question.
Feeling like her clumsy Korean would come out, Sora just nodded.
"Yeah."
She only answered that much.
Then, a smile deepened at the corners of Yuhwa's mouth.
"Interesting."
A voice that seemed to be mocking.
Perhaps because of the previous line.
It felt like she was mocking the movies she liked.
Of course, that was fine.
Such things were familiar to Sora.
"If it hits you, it won't end with just pain."
This was a prepared line.
The character Sora played, 'Shin Ah-rin', was a physical enhancement ability user.
If she used such a weapon, it would definitely break bones in one hit.
A line informing Seoyeon of that.
And.
Sora stepped forward.
Just as Seoyeon had done earlier.
One step, then another.
Like that, it turned into a sprint, and she charged at Seoyeon.
Toward the still Seoyeon, her left foot sliding forward, her right hand holding the nunchaku swung in a gentle arc.
Whoosh!!
Seoyeon ducked and avoided it.
Her red eyes followed the nunchaku, then turned toward Sora.
You dodged, right?
Eyes that seemed to say that.
Seeing that, Sora laughed inwardly.
Come to think of it, Seoyeon doesn't take the first strike.
Earlier, when she charged, Sora was the one who struck first.
The knee strike she reflexively threw.
Why that was, was simple.
Seoyeon could dodge it herself.
Dodging itself was an act close to impossible without coordination.
At least in acting.
Because of that, if Seoyeon continued to attack, honestly Sora couldn't dodge.
Unless she showed it openly like before.
So Seoyeon doesn't take the first strike.
Because that would become one-sided violence, not acting.
Because it couldn't be disguised as coordination.
'Therefore.'
Sora passed it on.
You're the one who said you'd coordinate.
Roughly that kind of feeling.
At the same time, her pride was hurt.
She wanted to show that she could do it like Seoyeon too.
So.
Clatter!!
The sound of the chain was heard, and the direction of the nunchaku changed.
Retrieving her arm, snapping the outside of her wrist, the nunchaku curved precisely aiming for the back of Seoyeon's head.
A movement impossible with normal weapons.
But with a chain-attached nunchaku, it was possible.
Belatedly realizing that fact, Seoyeon's eyes moved.
Bang!!
It was right then that the nunchaku touched Seoyeon's body.
The character she played, 'Yuhwa', was a regeneration ability user.
But there were two weaknesses.
One was the head.
The other was the heart.
So, being hit on the back of the head was dangerous.
Depending on the case, it could be an attack that results in a death verdict.
Seoyeon blocked it by inserting her right hand.
As if taking a strong blow, Seoyeon's body was pitched forward.
It was then that exclamations burst from the viewers' mouths.
"For a moment, I thought they were showing a movie scene as is."
Reporter Kim Min-woo, who had seen that scene from the audience seats on the screen, said while recalling that moment.
"Otherwise, it was to the point where words couldn't come out."
Yuhwa, who had raised one hand to block, let her right arm hang limply.
She must have directed it to show it was broken.
Because that's actually how it looked.
Toward such her, Shin Ah-rin.
Sora's nunchaku swung mercilessly, aiming for that opening.
"Even though I don't look like it, I've done some exercise."
Taekwondo 2nd dan. Hapkido 3rd dan.
Plus kendo too.
Going to an MMA gym a couple of times a month and sparring was his hobby.
"Yes? Are you asking if I can do it?"
At those words, he crossed his arms and tilted his head.
"Hmm~~~~~~~."
Then, he laughed as if it was absurd.
"Hahaha. I can't, I can't. How would I do something like that."
He said while waving his hands left and right.
"How do you dodge a weapon swung at such speed? Especially if it's nunchaku, it's even faster."
The hand holding a weapon feels much faster perceptually.
Even though bare hands should clearly be faster, it feels that way.
But she dodged that.
She dodged the nunchaku swung at her.
The moment it came down on her shoulder.
Chest.
Waist.
Head.
Then, turning her body half a turn, it swung aiming for Seoyeon's leg.
Everyone watched that series of scenes holding their breath.
"Would it be possible if it was coordinated action acting? I definitely want to ask when I meet the two actors later."
Because he was genuinely curious about how they pulled off such action.
And.
Just as the reporter said, the audience looked beyond the screen as if bewitched.
Dodging the nunchaku aimed at her leg, Seoyeon rolled sideways and retreated.
Then, toward Sora charging again, she kicked the chair next to her with her foot.
"Ugh!!"
Sora threw her body sideways reflexively.
Seeing her like that, Yuhwa laughed brightly.
"Isn't this common in Hong Kong movies?"
Action using chairs often appears in Hong Kong movies.
Yuhwa seemed to be talking about that.
'Right hand.'
Looking now, she was moving her right hand that had been hanging limply.
Did that mean regeneration was complete?
The right hand had regenerated, but now the left hand was hanging.
Yuhwa was a regeneration ability user.
To show that, she inevitably needed to take hits.
Like just now, both arms.
And the waist once.
Each time she acted as if she had taken a proper hit, Sora thought her prediction was right.
"You're quite sturdy for someone who got beaten up like that, aren't you?"
Sora said in a slightly clumsy tone.
Because there was nothing good about being pushed back in banter.
Then.
Seoyeon raised her right hand and smashed the case next to her with her hand.
The weapon inside the case made of sugar glass.
A red fire axe.
Seeing that, Yuhwa twisted her lips.
"It would be nice if you were sturdy too."
Grabbing it in her hand, Yuhwa charged straight at Sora.
A weapon!
A weapon was now in the hands of Yuhwa, who had been fighting bare-handed until now.
She, who had yielded the first strike to her opponent, raised her right hand first this time.
'Danger.'
Before the thought could even finish, the axe's direction twisted and struck the wall behind Sora who had reflexively twisted her body.
Bang!! With a sound, the styrofoam wall cracked.
At that sight, Sora's eyes trembled slightly.
'Wasn't that also a weapon made of sponge?'
A slightly hard sponge.
Even so, it cracked the styrofoam?
For a moment, it felt like even Seoyeon hadn't expected it to crack and her body stiffened.
The first time a delay occurred in Seoyeon's body.
'Now!!'
The nunchaku swung aiming for that opening.
Yuhwa's eyes moved following its trajectory.
Pulling the axe embedded in the wall, she deflected the nunchaku with the blade of the axe.
As if knowing she couldn't win with physical ability.
Rather than receiving its power head-on, she twisted it.
If it had been metal, it would have twisted in a very slight direction.
But because soft sponges collided with each other, the nunchaku bounced back as if sprung.
Yuhwa's hand moved and snatched it as it rose into the air.
And the axe fell vertically.
Crack!!
The nunchaku breaking with a sound and falling to the floor.
Moving both hands that instantly became empty, Sora aimed for Yuhwa.
Neck and chest.
But before that could reach, Yuhwa's body rushed forward and bumped Sora's body with her shoulder.
"……!!"
Like that, Sora was pushed and fell.
Fallen on the floor made of soft mats, she hurriedly tried to raise her upper body.
"Ah."
If not for the red fire axe that had come right up to her nose.
Like that.
Bringing various commotions.
***
Except for Group A in the beginning, it didn't produce significant results, and viewership ratings plummeted.
Then it rebounded a little, but honestly the reviews didn't improve.
It was probably because it was different from a typical audition, and it came across as a simple variety show rather than action acting.
"Well, audition variety shows made for movie promotion are all like that."
"Still, isn't it a bit fun?"
Roughly such reactions, but still the viewership ratings were decent.
A whopping average of over 6 percent.
At this level, it was a remarkable viewership rating for a cable variety show, so everyone was satisfied.
The majority reaction was that it would be fine if it ended like this.
But at the end, a jackpot exploded.
[
[Narumi Sora 'I acted with the feeling of actually fighting.']
Such articles came up one after another, literally setting internet communities on fire.
- But if that's the finals, isn't it a content spoiler?
- No no, they said it's different from the actual content
- That seems just right, but is Yuhwa the main character?
- Yeah, if she wins the finals she'll appear as is
The character Yuhwa naturally had a lot of talk too.
After all, she was depicted like a villain, but ultimately became the winner.
- I supported Sora chan...
- Raise your head Sora, losing to the strong is not a disgrace.
- Strong (real deal)
- Rather, that much against Joo Seoyeon is a good defense. I thought Sora's head would be split by the axe
The unprepared dialogue felt somewhat clumsy, but it was enough to immerse in.
Rather, because it flowed mainly with action, there were many reviews saying it was fun.
The action scene that was expected to be roughly within 5 minutes came out to be nearly 15 minutes.
It was natural for it to circulate as various memes and clips.
At the Joo Seoyeon cafe, the review was 'The strongest Joo Seoyeon of all time has appeared.'
- Is Joo Seoyeon with a fire axe now the strongest?
- Yeah, even Cha Seo-ah's head gets split
- But Cha Seo-ah also uses an axe
- Joo Seoyeon originally likes axes
- ?? Why?
- She said in this interview that she likes them because they look strong
- ;;Axes are strong I guess;;
Like that, the lead of
Not many people had objections to this.
Although many posts came up saying 'Instead of an actor, how about going to UFC?'
Anyway.
Like that, Seoyeon, who became the lead of
"Seoyeon, a public service ad came in."
"Yes? For me? From where?"
"Fire department."
"……."
She was sighing in dismay at the CF requests rushing in like a flood.