Free Web NovelYoomyeong felt strangely good today.
Where did that guy go?
Miho had been nowhere to be seen since Yoomyeong returned from the night shoot the day before yesterday, and he still hadn’t come back yesterday either. Although the spirit fox was usually elusive, Miho normally slept beside Yoomyeong, so his absence felt strangely empty.
Stretching after a long yawn, Yoomyeong looked out the small window of his hotel room. The morning view of the unfamiliar city unfolded before him. The hotel—more of a motel, really—had a crooked bed and wasn’t exactly comfortable. Even so, he felt surprisingly refreshed.
It felt as though he had bathed in energy drinks.
Knock knock
There was a knock at the door. It was probably Hansung from the next room.
“Good morning, Hyung.”
“It’s not really a good morning. Ugh, that bed squeaked all night. What about you?”
“It was great! I slept like a log!”
“I guess it really is different when you’re young, huh?”
They went to a nearby diner and had a hearty breakfast.
“Your big scene is coming up soon, right?”
“Yeah, two more days.”
“Is today your last day as an extra?”
“Yes. I’m taking tomorrow off to focus on my character and lines. You’ve been in top form lately, hyung. I’m worried about keeping up during our confrontation scene.”
Hansung chuckled at Yoomyeong’s words.
“Don’t worry about it. We practice together every day, so I already know your moves.”
It was true. Hansung had improved even more since the main shoot began.
After moving out, Hansung had visibly lightened emotionally and quickly overcome his problems.
The grounded actor transformed into an elegant and refined figure whenever he portrayed Jeong Mong-joo, perfectly fitting the title of the era’s greatest diplomat.
“What’s your scene today?”
“The clan council scene.”
“Ah, right. That big crowd scene.”
After his great victory at Hwangsan, Lee Seong-gye visited the Lee clan in Jeonju.
Jeong Mong-joo, who accompanied him as an official, realized Lee Seong-gye’s true intentions during the clan meeting.
Before the assembled clan members, Lee Seong-gye sang Liu Bang’s Song of the Mighty Wind, a song that subtly hinted at the decline of the Goryeo Dynasty.
For the first time, Jeong Mong-joo recognized Lee Seong-gye’s ambition.
Realizing Lee Seong-gye’s true nature, Jeong Mong-joo was then supposed to ride to Mangyongdae Fortress on Mount Goduk and recite a patriotic poem lamenting the nation’s fall. That was the filming schedule for today.
“Looks like you’ll be riding a horse today.”
“Yeah... I’m still not comfortable with horses.”
“Good luck!”
The air felt fresh, and Yoomyeong’s condition was excellent.
For some reason, he felt that today’s shoot would go exceptionally well.
However, today would also be the day Yoomyeong experienced his first NG during filming.
The hardworking makeup team was handling dozens of actors at once. Yoomyeong, who had become quite friendly with the junior makeup artist by now, finished getting his makeup done before heading to the designated spot.
A large pavilion stood there with a sign reading Omokdae, and beneath it was a massive table covered with dishes meant to represent Lee Seong-gye’s main table.
Below the pavilion, numerous people dressed in white outer hanbok and munrageon gathered together to portray the clan assembly.
Yoomyeong blended in among them.
“While Lee Seong-gye and the clan elders have their dialogue, the rest of you should naturally become part of the background. Let’s start by practicing the scene where everyone bows as Lee Seong-gye arrives.”
“Yes,” they answered.
After climbing the stairs and taking their assigned positions, the rehearsal began.
The director corrected the extras’ movements before carefully directing the dialogue between the clan elder actor and Bae Geohyeong, who played Lee Seong-gye.
Yoomyeong sat quietly in a corner, visible only from behind within the camera frame. He focused intensely, feeling an unusual level of concentration throughout his body.
“Let’s start filming. Everyone, stand by and don’t move!”
The assistant director gave the final instructions before stepping aside. The director, his voice roughened from fatigue, stared into the monitor and shouted:
“Three, two, one. Action!”
Director Son watched the screen with weary eyes, exhausted from lack of sleep. For days, he had been restless, waking repeatedly throughout the night to revise the next day’s script.
His relentless drive came from a desire to make this final project the greatest work of his career.
He watched the actors performing on the monitor—a beautiful scene that would no longer exist in only a few months.
Lee Seong-gye, dressed in a white baekjepo, recited a bold sijo before the assembled crowd. It was Liu Bang’s Song of the Mighty Wind.
“Ah! A great wind blows and the clouds scatter.
Mighty and triumphant, back to my homeland I return.
How shall I find brave men to guard the four corners of the nation?”
Bae Geohyeong truly was the perfect actor for Lee Seong-gye. His solid build, deep voice resonating through the air, and the slight droop of his brows conveyed both boldness and hidden warmth.
As the director smiled at the monitor, moved by Geohyeong’s resonant voice, he suddenly sensed a shift in the balance of the frame.
Hmm?
The current composition placed Lee Seong-gye in the upper left while the bowed heads of the clan members filled the lower right.
The diagonal framing symbolized rebellion and ascension through the left and upper portions of the frame. Despite the one-against-many composition, the focus was clearly meant to remain on Lee Seong-gye.
But now, someone crouched in a corner had caught his eye.
The intense aura emanating from that figure made it seem as though he might leap up and strike Lee Seong-gye at any moment.
I didn’t intend this...
Who is that?
“NG! Hold on, please.”
As the NG was called, the extras raised their heads. NGs were common during scenes like this, so no one seemed particularly bothered.
Then the director saw the face of the person he had been watching.
No way.
He stared in shock.
It was the rookie actor who had once asked permission to practice projecting his presence—a request the director had casually approved.
But even he had never expected such a dramatic change.
“One more time—”
After two more NGs, the director finally called for a break. Then he summoned the cinematographer to review the problematic segment.
“What’s bothering you?”
“Doesn’t the balance of the frame feel off in this section?”
“Hmm... it does. It looked fine during rehearsal, so why did it change during the actual take? Should we redesign the composition?”
The cinematographer agreed, though he wasn’t sensitive enough to identify the specific cause.
The director thought for a moment before calling over the production manager.
“Are there any young male extras not involved in # Nоvеlight # this scene?”
“Yes. One is getting makeup done for the next scene.”
“Switch him with Shin Yoomyeong.”
The production manager looked puzzled but nodded immediately. On set, the director’s word was absolute.
Fortunately, Shin Yoomyeong’s current position wasn’t visible on camera, so replacing him with another actor prepared for the next scene wouldn’t stand out.
With that calculation in mind, the production manager hurried off.
“Actor Shin—”
“Yes, Director.”
“Could you come here for a moment?”
Yoomyeong, who had been seated beneath the pavilion, came down to meet him.
The director also called over Hansung, who was waiting nearby for the next scene.
“Actor Yoon, come over here as well.”
“Yes, Director. Did you call for me?”
“Cinematographer, could you film these two together with the secondary camera?”
The cinematographer switched on the secondary camera and positioned it between the two actors.
“Let’s do a waist-up shot. Can you perform Scene 98? The scene you performed the day we first met.”
“Sure.”
“Alright.”
Neither actor understood the sudden change in plans, but they obeyed the director’s instructions without question. They didn’t even need the script anymore; every line was already engraved in their minds.
Ding
The red recording light on the camera turned on, and the cinematographer signaled that they could begin whenever ready.
Hansung briefly cleared his throat before starting Jeong Mong-joo’s lines from Scene 98.
“Yudeok, what is needed to create a nation for the people is a system.”
As Jeong Mong-joo’s lengthy dialogue continued, the director’s gaze remained fixed solely on Yoomyeong, as though trying to see through him.
Really...
The actor had changed.
Even though he simply listened quietly to his counterpart’s words, his expression made people wonder what thoughts were hidden behind it.
A powerful aura lay concealed beneath that calm face.
Director Son felt the exhaustion accumulated over days instantly vanish.
He had a feeling that the actor standing before him had made extraordinary progress—that the ideal Lee Bang-won he had envisioned while writing the script had finally appeared before him.
The cinematographer was the first to speak excitedly once the scene ended.
“The screen presence is incredible. If it weren’t for the costumes, I’d use this take exactly as it is.”
Even though Jeong Mong-joo’s dialogue dominated the scene,
the fierce clash of gazes between the wild young actor and the seasoned veteran had been unmistakable.
“Actor Shin. Thank you.”
“?”
“So it really was an extra causing the NG. I honestly thought it was impossible.”
Director Son smiled in satisfaction while Yoomyeong stood there with a dazed expression.
It seemed he had accomplished something remarkable.
He wanted to ask Miho what had happened, but the spirit fox was still nowhere to be seen.
In some ways, that was reassuring. He had worried that Miho might have been the reason for his sudden increase in presence.
But he could feel it himself.
Something had definitely changed.
The month he spent acting as an extra while focusing on projecting his presence seemed to have truly paid off.
Filled with a quiet sense of pride, he lay down on the bed.
It felt like he would sleep well tonight.
Swoosh
Deep in the middle of the night, sometime between one and three in the morning, two suspicious figures settled outside the window of Yoomyeong’s hotel room.
They passed effortlessly through the wall and entered the small room, looking down at the sleeping human.
{“Shin Yoomyeong. It’s this guy, right?”}
{“He looks awfully harmless for someone who caused so much trouble for the elders of the Celestial Realm.”}
Briefly illuminated by the moonlight, the two figures had fierce faces and single horns protruding from their heads.
They were gwis—goblins who served as underlings to the immortals.
{“Which celestial was responsible for this mistake? Can we really handle this quietly?”}
{“Shh. We just need to do what we’re told. Don’t think too much or you’ll get yourself scolded.”}
{“Got it.”}
They pulled out a small pouch and a bamboo slip.
Inside the unfolded pouch was bright red cinnabar powder, a refined mineral substance commonly used in talismans and sometimes in medicine.
One goblin held the bamboo slip while the other carefully coated the sleeping Yoomyeong’s thumb with the red powder.
{“Press it down.”}
Just as one of them was about to press the bamboo slip against Yoomyeong’s finger—
Wham!
A silver figure sliced between them.
Startled by the sudden interruption, one goblin was hurled backward while the other barely managed to hold onto the bamboo slip before crashing to the floor.
{“You bastards!!!”}
The silver light quickly took human form.
And though the goblins had never met him before, they instantly recognized him from his noble appearance. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
Hiss
It was Hye-ho, the illegitimate son of the Heavenly Emperor.
