Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Boasting
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Actor Kim Yu-chan was the first to post photos from the Cheongpyeong Lake battle on SNS, sparking a fiery response.
But no one believed the pictures he'd uploaded were real shots of the incident. Naturally, they assumed they were concept photos for some ad or promo.
The other actors saw what Kim Yu-chan was doing and started competitively uploading their own photos.
The managers had diligently snapped pictures while their actors were fighting. Among those shots were plenty that weren't too gruesome but still looked great.
Even actors without managers had photos. Other managers had been madly clicking away and ended up capturing unrelated actors in the frame too.
Those photos each had some minor shortcomings. The actors grumbled about their B-grade pics but still posted one online anyway.
Most of the photos they shared showed actors beating down fallen drug cartel members.
Lee Bo-ra had come here without her manager. Driving all the way to Gyeonggi Province by herself felt a bit daunting. She had a history of being kidnapped, after all.
So today, she'd had her neighborhood dongsaeng Shin Young-seok drive her. Shin Young-seok dropped only Lee Bo-ra off and fled so his noona Shin Eun-ha wouldn't spot him.
Lee Bo-ra asked the crowd.
"Who took a picture of me?"
Director Son Tae-min popped up smoothly.
"Bo-ra, did you call for me?"
"Oh! Director, did you take a photo of me too?"
"Of course. Wanna see?"
Lee Bo-ra checked the photo. It captured her slamming a chair down on a drug cartel member. Her long hair whipping around as she brought the chair crashing down—it came out looking incredibly cool.
"Wow!"
"Heh heh. I know how to frame a shot, right?"
"Director! Can I have this photo?"
"That's why I brought it. I'll copy it for you."
"Eek! Thank you! I'll definitely star in your next film!"
"Uh... you'd still need to audition first, wouldn't you?"
"Tch. Not falling for that."
"Shin Eun-ha pulls the same trick on me. You two are friends—maybe that's why? Same playbook."
"No! Eun-ha doesn't... Uh... Thanks for the photo!"
Lee Bo-ra took that photo and posted it on SNS. She added tags too.
(Photo of Lee Bo-ra slamming chair)
#IToldYouNoDrugs #TakeTheChairOfJustice #IronWall
That photo got a great response too.
Pretty much every actor had kicked a drug cartel member at least once, so they all had at least one such photo.
But there was exactly one actor with zero photos of themselves fighting.
Oh Se-na had hung back at the start of the battle, then fainted after Shin Eun-ha took an arrow, so she hadn't gotten a single decent shot.
The other actors had all posted their fighting photos online. That was the problem.
Oh Se-na complained.
"It'll look weird if I'm the only one not posting!"
She'd come with her manager, but still had no fighting photos.
"This won't do. Take a picture of me too."
Her manager asked.
"The fight's already over though?"
"There are tons of guys passed out over there!"
"If you start beating them now, the cops won't let it slide."
The police had already arrived, investigating the scene and cuffing the drug cartel members.
"Fine, just take one with that as the background then!"
"Yeah, okay."
Oh Se-na struck a pose in front of the scene. Her manager snapped the photo.
She posted it online. With tags.
(Photo of Oh Se-na posing in front of scene)
#ICame #IFought #IWon
But in that photo, cops were visible cuffing the unconscious cartel members. And not just one or two.
The actors had initially posted their best shots one by one to gauge reactions. But Oh Se-na's photo tipped people off that this was a real event.
The actors then started seriously uploading more of their on-site photos.
Those photos didn't just show cuffing. One actor posted a distant shot of police collecting evidence. Another shared a pic of a jackknife on the ground.
They gradually explained what had happened.
Actor Kim Yu-chan asked high schooler Lee Yeon-ji about the situation back then and drafted a post for online.
"A passing high school girl witnesses a drug deal..."
Lee Yeon-ji stated her demands.
"Add 'kind, pretty, cheerful, and bright' before high school girl."
"Huh?"
"That's the price for telling you the story. Gotta get something out of it."
Kim Yu-chan chuckled.
"Sure. It'll lighten the mood too."
He spiced up the story she'd told him, wrote the post, and uploaded what had gone down at the lake.
The reaction was explosive.
Oh Se-na quickly posted a photo of herself slumped exhausted in a chair, with a caption.
(Photo of exhausted Oh Se-na in chair)
Fought so hard I passed out—no pics of me. So upset. 😢
A comment attached to that post.
Oh Se-na snapped in irritation.
"If you're curious, ask her! Why come at me?"
Director Son Tae-min posted a photo of Shin Eun-ha on SNS, muttering to himself.
"Where'd Eun-ha go? Guess I should post this pic I took of her at least."
The photo he shared captured the moment Shin Eun-ha yanked the arrow from her bulletproof vest and raised it triumphantly overhead. The angle was so perfect, it clearly conveyed she'd pulled it from her gut.
An internet community board post compiled all the actors' photos.
Someone posted doubts while looking at them.
The news that actors had crushed a drug cartel sent the media into a frenzy.
Breaking news flooded online portals. Broadcast stations aired urgent updates.
Around then, Son Tae-min posted one more photo.
"Next film poster—advance reveal."
The shot showed Na Gang-in's back. His left hand gripped a limp cartel member's collar, while his right caught an incoming arrow at head height.
Behind him, terrified guys hesitated. Plenty more lay sprawled unconscious on the ground.
People first thought Son Tae-min had posted a movie poster. It was that well-composed.
But it wasn't a poster. Breaking news was pouring in, and backgrounds matched other actors' photos.
Someone analyzed the photo.
The on-site actors excitedly posted about that photo.
No actor had a photo of Na Gang-in's face. Everyone knew he hated having his name spread. So they bragged about their connection instead. They uniformly called him the martial arts director.
Kim Yu-chan evaluated Na Gang-in.
Lee Bo-ra posted one more photo from Director Son Tae-min. An arrow embedded vertically right next to her; she stared at it in shock.
She briefly described the moment.
Na Gang-in drove around, scanning the surroundings.
"If they hit the highway already, police will track them via traffic cams. Leave that to the cops."
Shin Eun-ha asked.
"Then why are we driving around here?"
"They're not dumb. They'd avoid CCTV-tracked routes for drug deals."
"So back roads?"
"Possible. Could skirt unpaved country paths till clear of surveillance, then hop on roads. Or switch cars."
Na Gang-in pulled over briefly to check tire tracks on the road.
Shin Eun-ha got out too, but she couldn't distinguish road marks. While Na Gang-in inspected, she scrolled SNS and forums on her smartphone.
"Everyone's excitedly posting pics. Huh? Bo-ra stirring up trouble in the gap?"
She wanted to post a photo too. But they'd left the scene right away, so she had none.
"Anyone take my pic? Ah! Director Son posted mine!"
She showed Na Gang-in the photo.
"Look. I came out with mad presence, right?"
"Looks good."
"But tons of people worried if I got shot. Gotta say something."
Shin Eun-ha copied Son Tae-min's photo and reposted it on her SNS. With a caption.
Shin Eun-ha snapped a pic of the arrow hole in her clothes and posted it right there.
Shin Eun-ha giggled.
"Heh heh. Gang-in oppa, know what? I just advertised Dragon Plate."
"No matter how much you promo, civilians can't buy anyway. Custom luxury models take forever; they haven't even finished 20 for Korea and foreign gov orders."
"There are mass-produced ones."
"Only for body types matching existing Dragon Plates. And why would regular folks buy one domestically?"
"Tch. Promo wasted."
Na Gang-in got back in the car.
"Let's go."
"Found something?"
"Not this road."
"Huh?"