King of Dying Acting - Chapter 52
“Ah, now’s the time!”
Sunday noon.
Choi Ra-hee, who’d been eating lunch, bolted to the living room sofa like lightning and flipped through the channels. The familiar Unbelievable title logo appeared.
Her father stopped her mother just as she was about to frown and complain.
“Don’t, honey.”
“But still...”
“Ra-hee’s been studying her butt off lately. She only does this once in a while.”
“Hmm.”
Her mother had no rebuttal to that.
After the so-called ‘Life Lecture Recording Incident,’ Choi Ra-hee had become infamous. Her name was plastered everywhere, and since she’d uploaded and bragged about it herself, she had nowhere to turn.
Having become the butt of everyone’s jokes, Choi Ra-hee suffered in agony. Even her usually nonchalant parents started worrying.
And then, she awakened.
“...I’m going to university.”
“What?”
“In Seoul—no, SKY university, and then I’ll go meet Oppa Kang Min properly. With my head held high!”
“.......”
Her mother wondered if her daughter had finally come to her senses or gone completely mad, but at least the actions she was taking were commendable.
Choi Ra-hee had shoved all the albums that cluttered her bookshelf into boxes and tossed them in the storage room, replacing them with stacks of reference books.
Her father, of course, teared up in deep emotion.
“Even during Kim Ho-jin’s stuntman days, Actor Kang Min was no ordinary man! I’d love a chance to meet him someday!”
“The honorifics have gone full deity mode, honey.”
“He made Ra-hee study— we ought to worship him like a god!”
“Hmm...”
Another point she couldn’t argue.
In the end, both parents wolfed down their meals and joined her on the sofa. They too were curious about Kang Min’s appearance on Unbelievable.
...Or rather, they couldn’t quite picture it.
“Why on earth is he even on there?”
“I have no idea what he’s supposed to do even if he is.”
“Yeah...”
To the public, Kang Min’s main image was still Hui-yul.
The cynical, composed expression, the endlessly natural aura even in rage—a raven warrior through and through.
Of course, his other images had gained traction lately, but it was still hard to connect them to Unbelievable.
And well,
That notion shattered the moment the episode aired.
“Pfft!”
“What the hell is that?!”
The two adults burst into laughter at Kang Min’s makeup right from the start.
The viewer forums, filled with similar thoughts, exploded in hysterics.
Kang Min sported a frizzy wig, a white mustache, and a white doctor’s coat.
His expression was even more gravely serious than Hui-yul’s.
That only amplified the inherent comedy of the look.
“Ah, stop laughing already!”
Choi Ra-hee, Fan Cafe (unofficial) member #00124, got mad, but even she couldn’t stop her lips from twitching.
Kang Min had clearly gone in intending to clown around.
...Though even that was kinda cool.
Pavlovsk Experiment Station!
In Pushkin-Pavlovsk, south of St. Petersburg, stood the world’s first seed bank and research institute.
Botanist and geneticist Nikolai Vavilov stored, compared, and studied countless seeds, dreaming of eradicating famine from this land.
At the Pavlovsk Experiment Station—a total embodiment of that vision—countless scientists devoted themselves to improving food seeds.
The narration was dead serious.
But only the narration.
Viewers couldn’t help but burst out laughing every time Kang Min appeared stroking his mustache with that frizzy hair.
The story progressed, and viewers kept cracking up.
The Unbelievable production team’s intent seemed to be hitting perfectly.
—But soon, the mood shifted.
But!
The land of the Experiment Station, St. Petersburg, once had another name.
That name was Leningrad.
Site of one of WWII’s fiercest battles: the Siege of Leningrad.
How could that frizzy hair and mustache ever look serious?
No, if it was going to get serious, why make it look like that in the first place?
Viewers plunged into confusion.
The reenactment actors piled on.
[Oh, the Germans are invading!]
[The Germans are strong!]
[We can’t protect our lives!]
The familiar Western reenactors’ awkward acting.
Koreans had long grown used to it, but that didn’t make it profound or anything.
And then,
There was Kang Min.
He closed his ridiculous-looking eyes, then opened them.
And spoke.
[External support? Practically none.]
Russian...?
That surprise was secondary.
People reacted first to the tone.
[Of course. With millions dying right now, who gives a damn about this nonsense? If they don’t just take it all and use it for rations, we’re lucky.]
[.......]
[It’s all meaningless bullshit.]
His voice was low.
The heavy timbre brimmed with anguish.
Strangely, that alone made Kang Min’s previously comical appearance feel utterly alien.
What?
What was happening—
As viewers stared blankly, the man rose.
Kang Min—Dr. Georgy A. Kryier—issued calm orders.
[Contact everywhere you can reach, for now.]
[...Yes.]
[We might have to make the final choice.]
Final choice—
The weight in that one phrase from Kang Min felt impossibly heavy.
It was the moment laughing viewers were suddenly overwhelmed.
The screen cut abruptly.
But!
“.......”
“.......”
The Soviet government rejected all aid!
Siege of Leningrad!
The most brutal and fierce battle of WWII!
(Rumble rumble)
(Thud thud)
(Whoosh)
German casualties: ~580,000. Soviet: ~3.4 million!
Above all, over 640,000 civilian casualties in this horrific siege!
(Boom)
(Swoosh)
(Aaaah!)
Yes.
The government had no resources to spare for a single research institute.
People laughed it off.
They could, for the moment.
After all, Dr. Kryier was back.
Some time later, he calmly reviewed the report.
[I see. All rejected.]
[...Yes. They’ll send a rescue team, but it’ll take time.]
[Then there’s only one option left.]
[Pardon?]
Dr. Kryier stood.
He briefly closed and opened his eyes.
And reached his conclusion.
[Seal all doors and fortify.]
[...Pardon?]
[Anyone who could target this station’s food seeds is the enemy.]
Soldiers.
Civilians.
Thieves.
Cats.
Insects.
Everything else—regardless of nation or allegiance—is the enemy.
The most patriotic man of all declared calmly.
[Let me say it again. Everyone but us is the enemy.]
[.......]
[Think beyond the war’s end. These seeds and data are the key to surviving Siberia’s harsh winters. With them, we can save tens of millions from starvation. Maybe even greater things in the distant future. We can’t let ignorant fools turn them to shit.]
[Doctor...!]
[Implement it now. And anyone too smart for this stupidity, leave immediately.]
This was no mere evacuation.
It was severing all ties to the outside world.
The inevitable end for an isolated institute unable to produce its own food or water was obvious: mass starvation.
His colleagues held their breath at his resolute expression.
But the doctor remained composed.
[And Mikhail, if you’re leaving, bring my research log first. I didn’t record yesterday’s entry.]
[Is that what you’re doing now, Doctor?!]
[What else?]
[.......]
[Bring it, or go.]
Dr. Kryier turned away.
His steps seemed resolute at first glance. But had they been utterly so, they wouldn’t have shaken viewers’ hearts.
His legs trembled faintly. His hunched back looked strangely frail.
If human,
How could one not hesitate?
As if realizing it himself, Dr. Kryier paused briefly.
But he clenched his teeth and hurried on.
It was resolve.
“.......”
“.......”
The scientists watched blankly.
Each forming their own expressions.
No crude acting there. Resolve is something any human can possess.
Viewers stared blankly.
Swallowing hard, awaiting the story and the humans’ resolve.
But well,
What followed wasn’t human resolve again.
But!
Rumor has it the Pavlovsk Experiment Station faced countless crises back then.
“.......”
“.......”
People fell silent.
Swoosh.
Boom.
Kaboom.
Cheap sound effects and narration pierced the quiet.
The Germans relentlessly bombed Leningrad, dragging the institute into it. Windows shattered nonstop!
They boarded them up with wood, but couldn’t beat the winter general. Fuel long gone, scientists suffered cold and terror...!
But worse: -40°C frost!
A deadly risk where seeds could freeze solid!
How did Pavlovsk survive this crisis!?
“.......”
“.......”
People were starting to get pissed.
It was like watching a perfect teamfight angle in a game, only for someone to yank your mouse away.
But that ominous mood soon subsided.
It was still okay.
The gaunt Kang Min’s eyes were shining again.
[Burn them.]
[Burn what?! We’re out of fuel!]
[Burn whatever! Paper, boxes, debris, supplies—burn anything flammable to hold out!]
His wig and mustache no longer looked ridiculous.
His sunken cheeks gleamed with intensity.
Madness.
Or resolve—
Such things don’t exist. Everyone knew his eyes were just reflecting cheap studio lights like crystals. No sunlight in sight.
But even so,
Human eyes could shine.
[No one—no one—will get past this place.]
[.......]
[Last chance for your thick skulls too. Don’t wanna die? Leave.]
The scientists exchanged glances.
And let out hollow laughs.
No one left.
[Idiots.]
The doctor smiled bitterly.
His face mixed scorn, pity, and something else entirely.
He smirked crookedly.
[Then starting today, we set night watches. Armed deserters are starting to show. They’ll wonder what’s here.]
[......]
[Let’s see if the world helps us.]
As always, the world didn’t.
The camera showed the passage of time.
Brutal time.
Time of famine.
Viewers watched the scene blankly.
[.......]
Aleksandr was the first to die.
Found slumped over his desk, as if asleep.
He was the first to starve in a research institute full of food seeds.
No rescue came.
Dr. Kryier just said, Is that so?
[Damn.]
[Mom...]
Next, Dmitry and Lydia starved.
They oversaw rice and oat seeds, respectively.
Rooms full of grain sacks—food they could’ve opened and chewed to survive.
But no one did.
Dr. Kryier nodded, Is that so? and returned to his research.
Still no rescue.
[Ah—]
Avraham starved.
No rescue.
[Heh heh.]
Stegeglov starved.
No rescue.
[Hung...ry.]
Kovalevsky starved.
No rescue.
[.......]
Leontievsky, Malygin, Mikhail, and countless others starved.
Still no rescue.
Time dragged on eternally.
And then,
[Is that so.]
Wrapping the last corpse, the doctor realized he was the sole survivor.
[...Is that so.]
Is that so? He nodded and dove back into research.
Time passed, notes grew.
Time kept passing, notes kept growing.
One week.
A month.
Maybe more—
Yet,
No rescue.
#
[Ah.]
After eons, suddenly,
Dr. Kryier realized he’d collapsed on the floor.
Luckily, it was amid seeds likely useless anyway, slated for disposal.
[...No.]
Not luck.
He’d crawled there.
Instinct, stripped of reason, had dragged him pathetically here.
To cling to life uglily.
[.......]
The institute’s sole survivor stared blankly at the seed sacks.
Yes. These were probably worthless.
And he was starving.
So hungry.
—And no one was watching.
[.......]
Suddenly, the doctor looked at his right hand.
Research notes—scrawled to forget the situation, to cling to sanity.
The last entries weren’t even words.
That,
Such crap—
Was what Georgy A. Kryier had to leave behind.
Had to.
[.......]
Lips twitched.
Hand shook.
Chills wracked his body.
This.
This crap.
[What meaning does this shit even have—!]
The doctor hurled his notes away.
Lifted his gaze.
Tears welled pathetically.
He crawled, ripping open a grain sack with his teeth.
Rice seeds. Just soak in saliva and swallow.
A greedy smile spread—pure instinct.
Eat, and live.
Tens of thousands here. One wouldn’t hurt.
Maybe this batch is useless.
Some hybrid.
No—even if not, so what!
I want to live. Life is living. Humans are human because they live. The dead aren’t human! What’s the difference between organic matter and non? Human memory is an extension of sensation! Impressions fade into memory! All human essence is continuity of memory, all judgment from it! Humans are organisms born from a moment’s impression!
Thus, humans are,
Humans—!
[.......]
The doctor froze.
He stared at the sack.
Long.
And longer—
Then,
Closed it.
[Heh heh, heh hehehe...]
Fool—
Pathetic fool—
Dr. Kryier crawled and laughed. Laughed and cried.
He was ridiculous. His looks, sending his men to heroic deaths only to debase himself last— all ridiculous.
But isn’t life inherently absurd?
[Hehehe...!]
The doctor hugged the seed sack and wept.
Wept for the damned things that would save multitudes in the distant future, but not him.
Wept mocking the idiocy at his core that stopped him from devouring them now.
All that sorrow.
Rage.
Self-loathing.
Despair.
Pointless folly.
Yet still.
Still,
Humans—
“.......”
“...Ah.”
Viewers watched blankly.
Tears welled as the doctor’s movements slowed to a halt.
A human dying.
An organism dying.
What separates them?
What name attaches to starving beside viable food? Foolishness?
[I see.]
The doctor found the difference.
He raised his hand.
But the world’s margins were too narrow to write it.
[.......]
Thus,
The human’s eyes closed.
All viewers witnessed it.
How uglily, how beautifully a single human could die.
...And in the ensuing silence,
The line to perfectly cap it all emerged.
But—!!
“.......”
“.......”
“.......”
Reportedly, Pavlovsk did have a survivor.
He claimed Dr. Kryier actually died early on—
People,
couldn’t take it anymore.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
“You fucking bastards!”
“You goddamn pricks!!”
“Stop with the ‘But’ already! Just let us feel the emotion!!”
“You’ve lost it, you assholes!!”
“What kind of PD are you!!!”
Screams like wails erupted not just in Choi Ra-hee’s home, but across the apartment complex.
Online, curses flooded every portal site—fiercer than even peak King and Sovereign could muster.
That day, Unbelievable episode 1080—usually 2-3% ratings—surged past 15% in a shocking upset.
...Along with the viewer board exploding in rage and curses at the PD and crew—an even bigger storm.
A slightly different issue arose too.
#
“...So.”
The MBS vice president asked blankly.
“The Unbelievable from the other day is trending overseas?”
“...Yes. Insane views.”
“.......”
“......The title’s ‘The Amazing Actor and the Utterly Braindead Broadcaster’—”
“No need to say it.”
Damn—
The vice president squeezed his eyes shut and covered his face.
Unbelievable and the Very Excellent PD (4)