Chapter 52
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: The Memorial Hall
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After filming in Central Park was complete, the day came to shoot on the indoor set.
With Director Will's permission, Seojun and his father stepped onto the completed set, with Jonathan acting as their guide.
Seeing a movie set for the first time, Lee Minjun and Seojun were in constant awe.
It was so perfect it looked as if they had taken a corner of a real exhibition hall and moved it here. Photos of people and informational plaques adorned the walls, and in the central glass display cases were items people had left behind.
"It looks like a real exhibition hall, Jonathan."
"The art team worked really hard on it. I helped a little, too."
Jonathan said, looking a bit shy. Following the arrows marked on the floor, Seojun read a plaque written in Korean among the various languages.
"...Anomalous wormholes appeared worldwide due to an alien invasion. This photo is of high school student Ray Kasman, who went missing at the time. Do you write things like this for everything?"
"These days, people take screenshots of every single frame and analyze even the backgrounds. We had translators handle all of this. If we wrote something completely irrelevant, it would cause an uproar."
"Wow."
There were as many stories as there were photos on the walls. *The writers are amazing,* Seojun thought. He and Lee Minjun slowly looked around the set.
Jonathan quietly followed behind them. Photos of people who had disappeared into the anomalous wormholes, all smiling brightly, hung on the walls. From old photographs to recent ones, they were filled with memories, looking as if they had been received from the actual families.
As they looked at each one, a particular photo caught their eyes.
"My picture!"
"It's William!"
The photo Director Ryan Will had asked Seo Eunhye for was posted here. A brightly smiling, four-year-old Seojun was there. Lee Minjun's eyes grew misty as he looked at the picture.
Seeing his son's photo in a place like this made his heart feel heavy and unsettled. The memorial hall was so well-realized that a part of him ached.
"You were so little!"
"Pfft. You're still little now."
"Hehe."
But that feeling soon turned to laughter at Seojun's words.
Seojun looked at the plaque next to William's photo. Along with a standard description, there was a letter from William's parents addressed to him.
Seojun and Lee Minjun slowly read the letter. It was a letter from parents wishing for their child's happiness.
"There was originally a letter written by the screenwriter, but they rewrote it after seeing Melissa's performance in *Shadowman 1*. The director liked this one better, saying it was an improvement over the previous one."
Jonathan explained. Minjun and Seojun nodded. They didn't know what the previous letter said, but this one was more than enough to stir the heart.
***
"We'll begin filming!"
The assistant director shouted. The extras playing the roles of the victims' acquaintances found their positions.
Seojun, who had been talking with Evan, also got up. His clothes were the same as in Central Park, as were his shoes.
Evan Block and Seojun stood at the entrance of the memorial hall.
Director Ryan Will, checking the monitor, called out. Several cameras turned towards the two of them.
The extras reviewed their lines, and the staff held their breath.
"Ready…"
Seojun lightly tapped the floor twice with his foot.
[(Good) Baron Cat's Graceful Steps has been activated.]
"…Action!"
Mac and the child entered an exhibition hall within Central Park.
Unlike the vibrant energy of the rest of the park, this place was quiet, filled with silence.
Some looked on with stoic faces, others with expressions that seemed on the verge of tears, as they gazed at the photos on the wall.
The solemn atmosphere made Mac lower his voice.
"This is a memorial hall. It was built to commemorate the people who disappeared into anomalous wormholes a year ago, those who went missing, and those who died."
"Anomalous wormholes?"
"You're too young to remember. A year ago around this time, aliens invaded Earth."
The child blinked.
"They called themselves the Natra and attacked Earth, saying they were looking for a traitor."
Mac bit his lip. *Why did they do such a thing?* They had won in the end, but many scars remained.
The child muttered blankly. Why was that word coming up here?
"...Natra."
"Yeah. This person had their wedding that day. An anomalous wormhole opened up over the altar where the bride and groom were standing and swallowed the bride. This is the bouquet she was holding that day."
Where Mac pointed, there was a photo of a happily smiling woman and man.
Mac slowly explained as he looked at the photos. The stories of that day, the people left behind, and the mementos. The dried-up bouquet, its fallen petals, seemed to reflect the state of the remaining families.
"I think that man was in the wrong, too."
A man who had been standing in front of a photo of a smiling boy holding a soccer ball spoke up. His harsh voice echoed through the quiet memorial hall.
"That guy, what was his name? Shadowman? Why didn't he defeat the aliens from the start? If he'd taken care of them before they could create those wormholes, none of this would have happened!"
"Calm down, Tim."
A friend who had come with him tried to soothe him. He had lost his best friend right before his eyes.
The anomalous wormhole had appeared at the travel destination he had suggested. His friend's photo and mementos, who had vanished into it, were here in the memorial hall.
And today was his friend's birthday. He cried out in a voice thick with resentment.
"Isn't Shadowman actually the traitor those aliens were looking for? He uses those weird powers! If it weren't for him, this might not have happened! He calls himself a hero! Why! Why couldn't you save my friend!"
His friend led him, sobbing, out of the memorial hall. Mac and the child watched them go.
Mac's heart grew heavy. It was a question he had been pondering for a year, ever since the Natra invasion, but he still hadn't found an answer.
*If I hadn't been here...* Would this really not have happened if I didn't exist? Am I really the traitor they were looking for?
It was the child who roused Mac from his tightly shut eyes.
"That is..."
"Ah. That's a child who disappeared into an anomalous wormhole that day."
The child looked at the photo on the wall. A baby with black eyes and black hair was smiling brightly. And next to it was a photo of the child holding a teddy bear.
But for some reason, the face looked familiar. A sense of déjà vu made Mac turn his head. The child was staring blankly at the photo.
Mac tilted his head, looking back and forth between the photo and the child. *They look similar, don't they?* It seemed like if the child in the photo aged five or six years, he would grow up to look just like this boy.
The child didn't take his eyes off the photo for a single moment.
"...What does it say?"
"Hmm."
Mac slowly read the plaque. It was the family of a victim he had seen himself a year ago. The image of the woman crying as if she were dying was still vivid in his mind. His chest ached.
"To William... We never imagined you would disappear in an instant like that. Why didn't I run faster, why wasn't I with you? I regret it every single day. Please, just be alive. Wherever you are, just live happily. Even if we can't spend time with you, as long as you are alive, we can hold onto hope. We can be happy. Mom and Dad will wait for you forever. We'll be waiting at our home, no matter when you come. Please come back anytime. We love you. Mom & Dad."
"'William.'"
At that word, the child's eyes widened. He tightly gripped the pendant around his neck. A single word that had lingered in his mind for as long as he could remember.
*William.*
The child's mind raced. And then, all the puzzle pieces fell into place.
He knew.
*This is my home. That's me. I had a family.*
Something surged up from within him. Vivid images of a family spending a happy day together flashed through his mind. Everyone in Central Park had worn expressions like that.
*I, too...*
*I, too, here...*
*I could have lived like that here.*
Something stirred in the child's heart.
*I could have been happy!*
As the child stared at the photo on the wall, his eyes turned icy cold.
Seojun stopped [Basic Elven Breathing]. And began [Basic Demonic Breathing]. He used a skill at the same time.
[(Evil) Melancholy Scent of a Lone Flower has been activated.]
[(Evil) Melancholy Scent of a Lone Flower - Lowest Grade]
Within a 10m radius, only this flower blooms.
It resembles a weed, so no one knows it is a flower.
Smelling the flower's scent induces a feeling of melancholy.
A chilling aura emanated from Seojun's body.
After opening the door to the evil-aligned library, Seojun had conducted many experiments.
He discovered that when he had a surplus of mana in his body, he could use a good-aligned skill and an evil-aligned skill simultaneously.
He also learned that he could use the 'breathing methods' to determine which of the two abilities he wanted to be more prominent.
[(Good) Baron Cat's Graceful Steps] and [(Evil) Melancholy Scent of a Lone Flower] were activated together.
With the synergy of [Basic Demonic Breathing], a chilling demonic energy flowed from Seojun's body.
The child, who had seemed like an angel, changed in an instant. It was different from the simple shift to an ordinary appearance in Central Park. This was a bone-chilling coldness. An iciness.
At that instantaneous change, Mac—no, Evan Block's—expression twisted bizarrely without him even realizing it. Since the script explicitly stated, 'failed to notice the child's condition,'
"Cut! NG!"
The filming naturally stopped.
At the same time, the staff and extras, who had been watching quietly without even blinking, expressed their admiration. They, too, had noticed the instantaneous shift in Seojun's atmosphere.
"Wow. That was..."
"I heard he was a genius, but this is beyond imagination."
Though they were whispering to the people next to them, with more than ten such groups, it soon turned into a buzz.
The camera director and assistant director were too busy being impressed, so in the end, Director Ryan Will had to shout.
"Everyone, quiet! We're shooting again. And Evan Block!"
"Ah, I'm sorry!"
Evan Block, who couldn't take his eyes off the now-ordinary-looking Seojun, snapped back to his senses at Director Will's call.
The more he learned, the more he realized the boy's talent was bottomless. Just when he thought he had seen the extent of it, the child—no, the actor—would show him something more. He looked forward to this actor's future.
*'Maybe it won't end with just one volume.'*
No matter how great an actor, none had ever surpassed a single volume. Evan Block grinned and prepared for the next take.
*'An NG is a first for me.'*
Seojun felt a strange sense of novelty. It wasn't a take for a bust shot or a close-up. It wasn't his mistake either, but it was his first NG.
*'He was probably surprised by the demonic energy, right?'*
Even as everyone returned to their positions, they couldn't take their eyes off Seojun, continuously expressing their awe. For some reason,
*'This feels good!'*
The reactions of these people clearly showed the effect of the demonic energy he had worked so hard to obtain.
*'The people who watch the movie will probably make the same face, right?'*
Imagining the stunned expressions of people seeing his drastic change, Seojun couldn't help but grin.
*Alright. Let's put more effort into this take!* Seojun psyched himself up and went into filming.
"NG! Jun! Too much force! Mac will notice at this rate! You have to let it out just a little!"
"I'm sorry!"
The staff and actors were once again surprised by Seojun's even colder atmosphere than before, but Director Will evaluated it coolly.
His first-ever NG was due to being overzealous.
Seojun pouted and went into the retake. Unable to ruffle his styled hair, Evan Block patted Seojun's shoulder encouragingly. Fortunately, they got the 'OK' and could move on to filming the close-up shots.