Chapter 225
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 225
Chapter Title: Shattered Timestone
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“Hmm.”
Seojun let out a low hum as he stared at the green, ball-shaped chroma key prop in front of him.
‘It’s even greener than I thought.’
Although he had worked with chroma key before, unlike other scenes where he had a counterpart, this scene featured only him. Seojun had to wage an invisible battle with this green ball. There was no dialogue, and his scene partner was an inanimate object.
‘It’ll be an amazing scene after the CG is added… but the raw footage will just look like I’m making a fuss by myself.’
No background music, no sound effects. Just an actor performing alone on a quiet set.
It was a scene that would lay bare Seojun’s acting skills. He gave a faint, resigned smile and fiddled with the round, vividly green ball.
Seeing Seojun’s troubled expression, Jonathan and An Daho began to talk in worried tones.
“Do you think this scene will be difficult, even for Jun?”
“Well, it’s his first time in a scene that uses this much CG. *Escape* had some CG, but we mostly used zombie mannequins.”
*Yeok (Reverse)* had almost no CG, and as for *Over the Rainbow*, what CG? They had brought in a real audience for the performances. Jonathan racked his memory.
“Even in *Shadowman 2*, the scenes Jun was in didn’t have much CG.”
“The same goes for his previous works.”
In *The Specter*, a film made before An Daho joined, his co-star Lee Jiseok was with him, and he heard that Director Choi Daeman had used a mechanical device to create the burning talisman. Even further back, in *Shadowman 1*, the strange wormhole chroma key was behind him, so he didn't need to pay it any mind.
“Don’t worry.”
Seojun, who had overheard their conversation, shrugged and said.
“With the use of chroma key and CG in movies, scenes like this have become common. Besides, you can’t have a superhero movie without scenes like this.”
Seojun fiddled with the chroma key ball. He kneaded it all over, leaving no spot untouched. The soft chroma key ball was squishy.
“In some fantasy movies, actors have had to perform completely alone without a scene partner. I can do it too.”
‘And I have my abilities.’
Seojun decided to use the ability that only he could see.
[(Good/Craftable) Light of the Lantern Goblin - Low Grade]
The light of a goblin born from a lantern.
It shines brightly in dark places.
Crafting Method: 5 minutes of contact
An ability whose only function was to shine brightly.
He figured its grade had risen from Lowest to Low because it was craftable.
[0:41]
[0:40]
The timer ticked down.
Finally, five minutes passed, and the ability activated.
[(Good/Craftable) Light of the Lantern Goblin - Low Grade is activated.]
The green chroma key ball began to glow brightly.
* * *
“Let’s start shooting!”
At Jonathan’s voice, the set fell silent.
Imagining the scene as it would be with CG, Director Ryan Will raised his voice.
“Ready, action!”
[(Evil) Chivalry of the Death Knight (Low Grade) is activated.]
Jin Natra opened the doors to the temple.
In the center of the temple stood a single altar. Jin Natra walked toward it.
A radiant, pure white orb floated above the altar, which was engraved with ornate patterns.
It was the Timestone.
As Jin Natra gazed at the Timestone floating above the altar, his eyes turned cold.
As Seojun gazed at the chroma key ball fixed to the altar, his eyes turned cold.
With no background music or CG, it was a shoot that was awkward and even embarrassing for onlookers, but the staff, accustomed to superhero films with heavy CG, went about their tasks with practiced ease.
Standing before the waist-high altar, Jin Natra reached his hand downward.
[(Evil) Mashed's Shadowmancy - Mid-Low Grade is activated.]
[The grade of [(Evil) Mashed's Shadowmancy - Mid-Low Grade] is temporarily lowered.]
[(Evil) Mashed's Shadowmancy (Low Grade) is activated.]
A black shadow wavered and stretched, rising into Jin Natra’s hand. The shadow transformed into a sharp sword. Gripping the hilt with both hands, Jin Natra, without a hint of hesitation, stabbed the brilliantly white Timestone.
The glowing green chroma key ball and Seojun’s sword made contact.
It was then that something unexpected happened.
[(Good/Craftable) Light of the Lantern Goblin - Low Grade is being attacked by demonic energy!]
[(Evil) Mashed's Shadowmancy (Low Grade) is attacking the sacred energy!]
[(Evil) Chivalry of the Death Knight (Low Grade) is attacking the sacred energy!]
Demonic and sacred energies clashed.
Seojun’s brow furrowed at the real shockwave that traveled up his hands.
‘I didn’t expect this to happen!’
He had assumed it would be fine since he could use Good and Evil abilities together, but it seemed that wasn't the case.
The sacred and demonic energies at his core maintained a balance thanks to the help of the Library of Life. Unaware of this, Seojun only now realized that once outside his body, the sacred and demonic energies were enemies that could not exist under the same sky.
‘Come to think of it, I was able to eliminate the residual demonic energy on set with the Fan of the Intermediate Angel.’
That was likely just the leftover dregs of the ability, which was why no notification had appeared.
What should I do? With a serious expression, Seojun gripped the sword that was trembling violently from the repulsive force. Then, a thought struck him.
‘…But isn’t this a good thing?’
When he thought about it, this wasn't a bad turn of events. Feeling that his performance had become more realistic than before, Seojun smiled inwardly with satisfaction and tightened his grip on the sword with all his might.
It took him less than a few seconds to reach that conclusion.
“Ugh!”
The Timestone, the core of the planet Natra, possessed immense energy. Though the tip of the sword had barely pierced it, the impacted white Timestone defensively blasted out pure white energy.
Against the repulsive force of the brilliantly glowing Timestone, Jin Natra pushed the sword in with all his might, as if to shatter it.
The energy became a wind that shook Jin Natra’s body as he drove the sword in. His hair and cape fluttered in the gushing energy.
Narrowing his eyes against the fierce wind and blinding light, Jin Natra did not withdraw the sword. Ignoring the shockwaves traveling through his fingertips, he pushed the sword in with all his strength.
A crack, however small, appeared. It felt like his feet, planted on the ground, would be pushed back, but Jin Natra instead took a step forward.
His own shadow supported his legs and back.
“Ugh!”
While Jin Natra struggled to break the Timestone,
“Actors really are on another level.”
“I could never do that.”
The staff, who had been quietly watching Seojun’s performance, threw up their hands in awe. Jonathan and An Daho could finally shake off their worries.
Seojun was deeply immersed in his acting, unfazed by the green chroma key ball and the wind from a large fan operated from a distance.
The raw footage on the monitor seemed to convey the invisible light and vibrations of the Timestone.
“I can’t wait to see it with the CG.”
At someone’s comment, everyone nodded in agreement.
[(Good/Craftable) Light of the Lantern Goblin - Low Grade has been destroyed by demonic energy!]
*Crack!*
The light of the brilliantly white Timestone dimmed, and finally, the sword pierced through it.
The victor of the long struggle was Jin Natra.
Having exhausted all his strength to break the Timestone, Jin Natra gasped for breath, his hair a mess from the shockwaves.
He roughly swept his hair back and looked at the shattered pieces of the Timestone that had fallen onto the altar. He picked up the largest piece and placed it back on the altar.
*Vwooom.*
The shattered Timestone began to glow white, just as it had at first, and slowly levitated into the air. But it could not exert its full power. Gazing at the Timestone, which shone with an unstable yet pure white light, Jin Natra gathered the remaining fragments and headed out of the temple.
“Cut, OK!”
At the call of “OK,” Seojun stopped using [(Evil) Chivalry of the Death Knight] and [(Evil) Mashed's Shadowmancy] and reflexively activated another ability.
[(Good) Fan of the Intermediate Angel - Mid Grade is activated.]
A warm breeze blew, eradicating all remnants of demonic energy.
‘Hmm. Still no notification, as expected.’
Scratching his cheek, Seojun examined the chroma key ball from which he had pulled the sword. The lantern-shaped symbol he had imprinted inside the ball was gone.
‘Well. Thanks to that, I was able to really get into character, so it was for the best.’
Was it just his imagination, or did he feel like the Lantern Goblin was sobbing its heart out?
Feeling a pang of guilt, Seojun wondered what kind of books the library might like as he prepared for the next shot.
Just then, Jonathan, the assistant director, shouted.
“We’re getting a bust shot!”
Realizing that there was still a bust shot and a close-up shot left, Seojun clasped his hands and prayed.
‘…Please, just two more times!’
It seemed the Lantern Goblin in the book, destined to be shattered by demonic energy again—twice more—was truly sobbing now.
* * *
“Ready, action!”
At the sudden summons, Natra’s knight commanders and ministers headed for the throne room.
Had King Tul Natra finally recovered from his illness, or had some other grave matter occurred? With complex expressions, the knights and ministers opened the doors to the throne room.
The large doors swung open, revealing the vast and opulent chamber. One among the crowd, who had been voicing his concerns, stopped in his tracks.
“...Lord Jin?”
At the man’s words, the Natrans’ heads all turned in one direction. At the far end of the throne room, someone was sitting on the throne that should have been empty.
The boy who was not a Natran, yet had become Tul Natra’s son and a candidate for the succession.
It was Jin Natra.
[(Evil) Chivalry of the Death Knight (Low Grade) is activated.]
A heavy silence filled the throne room.
“Get down from there at once!”
The knight commander who served Tul Natra most closely raised his voice, drawing a sword from his shadow. The other knights also raised their swords and spears in unison.
[(Evil) Mashed's Shadowmancy (Low Grade) is activated.]
Jin Natra, who had been sitting on the throne, rose to his feet and drew a jet-black sword.
The wire team staff watched the set without even breathing. A small lapse in concentration could lead to a major accident. As Seojun Lee attacked the knights, they manipulated the wires in perfect sequence. A stuntman, pulled by a wire, flew into a wall and sank into the chroma key mat. Another, hit by Seojun Lee’s choreographed attack, rolled across the floor. Seojun Lee and the stuntmen were perfectly in sync.
All the knights fell under Jin Natra’s assault.
“H-How…?”
In utter disbelief, the ministers recalled something. The bedridden Tul Natra and the now powerful Jin Natra.
One of the ministers, thinking of a forced succession, unconsciously blurted out.
“This is why I told you we had to kill him—!!”
‘Now!’
A minister in a wire harness was yanked backward. It was almost simultaneous with Seojun Lee turning his head. The call for an NG never came. The wire team celebrated a perfectly executed scene.
Jin Natra informed the ministers about the shattered Timestone.
Hearing that not only had there been a forced succession but that the Timestone itself was now in pieces, the ministers were at a loss for words.
“To even touch the Timestone! What in the world are you trying to do?!”
“Who knows.”
Unconcerned with the ministers' anxiety, Jin Natra toyed with the precious Timestone fragments as if they were playthings and smiled like a child.
“Revenge?”
*Clink, clink.*
The sound of the shattered Timestone fragments carelessly clinking against each other echoed in the ears of the knights and ministers.
Jin Natra spoke nonchalantly.
“Due to the unstable Timestone, Natra’s time will become erratic. Mornings that pass too quickly, afternoons that drag on slowly, evenings that vanish in the blink of an eye. And the people will age. Tens, hundreds of times faster than now.”
The Natrans’ hearts sank. They understood without him having to say more. The Natrans, who lived for hundreds of years, would be plunged into fear, unable to comprehend the cause of this sudden change.
“Even if you gathered the shadows of every Natran, you wouldn’t be able to create a Timestone even this size.”
He was right.
The Timestone was created from the power of shadows gathered since the existence of the planet Natra and the Natrans themselves.
Even a piece the size of a pinky nail required an immense amount of shadow.
“If you wish to stabilize Natra,”
The ministers’ gazes fell upon the white Timestone fragments in Jin Natra’s hand. To restore Natra to its original state, they needed those fragments.
At the ministers’ eyes, filled with a mixture of resentment, anger, and fear, Jin Natra smiled darkly.
“Kneel.”
It was not a simple command to kneel.
At Jin Natra’s demand to accept him as their king, the knights and ministers squeezed their eyes shut. Not only they, but their families, their friends, and this very land were being held hostage.
Biting their lips hard enough to draw blood, the ministers had no choice but to kneel before their new king for the sake of the Natrans living their everyday lives.
Gazing down at the prostrating Natrans, Jin Natra closed his eyes, then opened them again. His jet-black pupils gleamed sharply. It was a gaze so cold it sent shivers down one's spine with a mere glance.
The newly crowned Jin Natra issued his first command.
“Gather the technicians and scholars.”
The revenge had begun.
“Cut! OK!”
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