William White and the Wizard's Stone (5)
The reactions to episode 5 of Die to Live, which was airing, were on an entirely different level from before.
The drama, which had been trashed in comparison to the William White frenzy up until now, was filled for the first time with purely intense responses.
It was comparable to the peak of King and Sovereign—no, even greater.
Up until episode 4 of Die to Live, the evaluations had been simple.
Kang Min and the masked man's overwhelming, refreshing action.
The chemistry between the cheeky male lead and the female lead who facepalmed at him.
And in contrast, a story that made no damn sense and 'Kwaaaagh'.
More precisely, the former had been covering for the latter.
That was why, when the William White frenzy dimmed the action's shine, the evaluations had turned subtly sour.
But the flow of episode 5 changed everything.
[*** **.]
[Please, please spare me! Please!]
[**** *** **?]
[Like this, I'll beg, I'll beg...!]
[**...]
[Aaaargh!]
The scenes revisited in episode 5 were all familiar to viewers. Many had trashed them as 'boring and predictable' plot points.
But from the masked man's perspective, nothing was boring or predictable.
No—it was closer to a full-blown horror film.
[What the hell are you?! Are you even human?!]
[Guh... Hack... Gaaack...!]
[How, how did I end up coming this way...!]
[What is it, what the hell are you...!]
For the masked man, everything happened fresh every time.
Facing those two blurry figures that instinctively made his skin crawl,
Fighting one of them haphazardly but ultimately flailing and losing,
And even fleeing at full speed through the few secret passages only he knew, burying himself along the way—yet still getting caught.
[Huff, huff...]
[Did I... make it...]
[... ?]
The masked man, letting out a sigh of relief, slowly looks up with a strange feeling.
The extremely slowed background music shatters unpleasantly.
The camera deliberately pans from the eyes a beat later than the body rising.
An angle maximizing terror.
Trembling pupils of anxiety.
The distortion of a figure that seems to smirk.
And above all, the scream.
[Uwaaaaaaaaagh—!!!]
A gut-wrenching scream that anyone hearing it couldn't help but shiver at.
Overlaid on it, the image from episode 4 of the female lead sighing, [Come on, enough already. If you're gonna do it, just end it quick.], and the male lead shrugging his shoulders—chillingly superimposed.
In episode 1, the female lead wouldn't even hurt a fly, let alone kill. She'd asked multiple times if it was really necessary.
That was her innate nature, separate from her vengeance, and viewers knew it.
But viewers belatedly realized that over time, the frequency of that hesitation had decreased.
Slowly.
Slowly.
But unmistakably—
With each death she endured, she was becoming 'strange'.
Amid the background filled with that excruciating scream, what capped off episode 5 was that scene from episode 1 of Die to Live.
The desert, where the male and female leads first confronted each other.
Not a word different.
[For revenge, what are you capable of?]
[Anything.]
[Anythi—]
[I can do anything! If only I could kill those things!]
[Hmm.]
The female lead grits her teeth. Under the sun's violent heat that could scorch everything around, only her defiant eyes layer by layer, shining fiercely.
The man gazes at it with deep eyes.
A scene all viewers had seen many times.
[Anything, huh.]
But viewers belatedly notice that the man's lip corners lift just enough to be ambiguous.
The male lead's actions, which had seemed random or idiotic until now, instantly connect with entirely new meaning.
Screen fades to black.
And the subtitles that opened episode 1 now closed episode 5 once more.
Revenge.
If you seek revenge, dig two graves.
But whose graves?
#
A day later, Kim Kang-hyun, the head of the department, was in the vice president's office as usual.
The vice president, mid-yawn, blinked and asked.
"...What's the rating?"
"Th-thirty-two percent..."
"Even King and Sovereign only hit that around Hui-yul's peak, right?"
"Yes..."
"......."
"......."
"You're covering that 5 billion yourself. Why come to me just because your mouth runs loose."
"Vice president! That's not how this works...! Vice president!"
With the William White incident and the ensuing drama firestorm everywhere, cracks forming even in the vice president and department head's solid friendship, the remaining S&W support team from America arrived.
Having belatedly caught episode 5, they couldn't hold back their admiration.
The twist elements and direction weren't bad, but they were top-tier creators at heart. Naturally, they were more impressed by the idea no one else could have conceived.
"Oh, this episode 5 was made by screams! From start to finish, the painful, gut-wrenching screams dominated the atmosphere!"
"We could've done the direction itself. But no one would think to extract screams like this! No verified sound effect could pull this off!"
"What a huge lesson!"
Of course. No sane person would think to beat Kim Ho-jin half to death to wring out screams for use.
Even a death-acting maniac couldn't help but be impressed.
"I doubted my own eyes watching it, PD! A total smack to the back of the head! Director Kim Cheol must've praised it highly too!"
Whatever praise from the Kim Cheol he'd never see again—or head-grab—aside.
Han Ye-seul hesitated for some reason before asking.
"...More than the director, what did Min think?"
"Pardon?"
"With this level... um, could I co-direct Kang Min Special with you later...?"
"My god, you mean it!"
After the brief shock, Kang Min clasped Han Ye-seul's hand, deeply moved.
He'd been agonizing over how to rope her in. Her volunteering first was pure joy.
"If anything, I'm the one lacking! With your continued help, it'd be worth a thousand troops!"
"...You mean it?"
"How could I not!"
"R-right... heh..."
Whether Han Ye-seul was venting pent-up frustration or crossing an irreversible river—who knew—another was shocked.
No need to say: the planner's writer.
He mumbled blankly.
"...Uncle Yu-hyeon."
"Hm, what?"
"I think I was an idiot."
"?"
Yoo Ji-min clenched his fist quietly.
"The key wasn't how many deaths. It was how they died. Just shifting perspective like this creates something like...!"
"Hm."
"Damn it, if I'd known, I could've written better...! Killed better...! Just a burden on Min hyung...!"
"Calm down."
It sounded less like a writer and more like a serial killer, but no correction came.
No, Shim Yu-hyeon smiled and patted his shoulder.
"Everyone makes mistakes when young. Privilege of youth."
"This is a project tons of people bought into..."
"And Kang Min picked you over countless proven writers. That was calculated too."
"Kuh..."
"Rome wasn't built in a day. Even your noona spat out failures before hits. Just needed someone to cover it. That's enough."
At the gentle voice, the writer blinked.
Looking at the passionately ranting actor and grinning PD, unknown resolve filled his eyes.
He asked.
"...Uncle."
"Hm?"
"Can I join Kang Min Special too? Even if I don't know the theme?"
"Kid. Even Rome's founders didn't dream of their territory or future legacy."
The kebab guy chuckled.
Then stretched and stood.
"No rush. First, suck dry those nose-hairs' skills. Looks like there's VFX guys better than me, and that famous Shirakawa writer too."
"Yes!"
"And hey, who says we can't make a William White?"
"Right!"
Kang Min.
Han Ye-seul.
Shim Yu-hyeon.
Yoo Ji-min—
Thus, the first members of Kang Min's hero party, set to leave groundbreaking marks in many ways, formed in this heartwarming atmosphere.
Director Lloyd Gonzalez and the S&W support team watched the scene warmly too. Perhaps they witnessed history.
...Of course, only they felt the warmth.
But Yoo Ji-yu awkwardly smiled and bowed as Kang Min approached, and Kim Ho-jin rubbed his palms even more awkwardly as twenty meatheads extended hands saying 'good luck today too.'
Thus, the set was peaceful today as well.
"Oh, honestly, I pride myself as a sound expert. The fencing man's screams pulled by our staff weren't bad, but I could bring them out even better. Consider it, producer!"
"Reliable! Next time, let's go for even more realistic screams! Please, actor Kim Ho-jin!"
"Uh, th-that's... I mean... just a bit... a little less..."
Tears welled in stunt actor Kim Ho-jin's eyes, but anyway, peaceful.
And as falling leaves heralded year-end.
Awards season for film festivals and acting awards arrived.
#
But honestly, film fests aside, the three major broadcasters' acting awards barely drew interest.
Not that the year's dramas flopped, but they were too predictable.
People's attitudes were lukewarm.
A rookie actor from terrestrial TV winning Daesang? First in 10 years, and unprecedented for MBS.
But handing it to anyone but Kang Min at SBC would be more absurd. From King and Sovereign to Die to Live, MBS's top hits this year wouldn't exist without him.
Most predicted Kang Min as MBS's first royal loader, obviously.
At best, whether writer Baek Chae-i snags writing award was the sole intrigue. People chattered mildly and forgot quickly.
But catastrophe struck the seemingly tidy situation.
A truly bizarre rumor spread.
Hearing it, everyone was speechless; domestic awards shook too.
An unprecedented event most would doubt their ears or eyes over.
The internationally prestigious American Emmys nominated the William White video not in TV ad category, but short-form program.
William White and the Wizard's Stone (5) End