EPISODE 23
Wang Shin and Yoon-Hee leave, in their wedding attire.
| - | (satisfied) A good thing done! |
| - | Yes, Jeoonaaah. |
The crowd hesitates to leave.
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| - | Intendant Han, ask them to stay. |
|
| - | (??!) ... Understood, Jeonah. |
|
| - | Let's take this opportunity to solve another administrative task... |
(??) Intendant Han goes to give orders to the guards...
... who in turn ask the people to stay here.
Hidden behind the altar, with a scheming smile, Cha Yu-Sun joins the King.
|
| (ecstatic, the first wonder of the world) |
| (bewitching, irresistible, fatal) |
| - | ... ?!! ("she is wanted?!") |
Intendant Han returns, bows to the King.
|
| - | Let us also celebrate the investiture of my new concubine. |
|
| - | (?!) ... Excuse me, Jeonah?! |
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| - | Lady Cha is now Hui-Bin! (Hui-Bin = Highest rank of concubines) |
|
| - | (!!!) Hui-Bin?!! Directly... Concubine rank one?! Jeonah! |
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| (smiles, "so funny, so easy") |
|
| - | ... (hesitates) ... (takes a lot of courage) ... |
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| - | (bends down) Sorry Jeonah, Lady Cha is wanted. She is the Queen of Darkness! |
|
| - | (!!!) What kind of foolishness is this?!! |
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| - | Sorry Jeonah, kill me Jeonah. I only speak the truth. |
|
| - | Sorry Jeonah, kill me too. Your daughter Princess Dong ordered us. |
|
| (shrugs contemptuously, "no longer a problem") |
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| - | (flaps his hand, annoyed) wrAaah!!! Just her usual nonsense. Cancel that. |
|
| - | (!) ... Alright, Jeonah. |
Some images scroll by (sounds and voice-over):
¤ Royal Palace, ceremonial altar.
¤ The King, "Lady Cha is now Hui-Bin!!!"
¤ Cha Yu-Sun smiling arrogantly.
¤ Garden of the heavenly hall.
¤ Cha Yu-Sun, "I had a hidden relationship with the King since long ago."
¤ Princess Dong guessing the horrible truth.
¤ Cha Yu-Sun, "(arrogant) I thought it best to reveal it today..."
¤ Cha Yu-Sun, "... Princess DONG Yoon-hee..."
¤ Princess Dong traumatized by the revelation.
| ~ | What is out of context is eliminated, or adapted to the context by the manhwa. |
|
| - | Cha Yu-Sun had a hidden relationship with the King since long ago. Isn't that a good plot? |
| - | ... !!! (slowly guessing the truth) |
| ~ | The manhwa can change the past of the parallel universe. ... It's retroactive. It's totally insane. |
|
| - | (arrogant) I thought it best to make a few changes to the script... |
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| - | ... Assistant KIM Yoon-Hee... |
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| - | !!!! (traumatized by the revelation) |
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| - | (whispering) ... MI-RA ?!! |
|
| (sardonic smile) |
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| - | (lost) Mi-Ra... Is that you? |
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| - | I finally realized that ... (clenches teeth) ... you really sabotaged my manhwa! |
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| - | (!!) ... Is it really you? |
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| - | Yes... You drew that fat princess on purpose... (hateful) You ridiculed my work. |
|
| - | ... ("it's really her") |
KRASHHH!!! The decanter shatters against Yoon-Hee's skull!!!
BOMPF, Yoon-Hee collapses, in a coma.
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| - | I have no more regrets about smashing your skull. (evil) No, even... it's well deserved!! |
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| - | (!!!) ... No, Mi-Ra is angry, but isn't coldly hateful. It can't be you!!! |
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| - | (haughty) Who says I'm still the Mi-Ra you knew? |
Her mortified gaze is stuck on the children's attractions, slides, swing.
Yoon-Hee hugs Mi-Ra, who cries, louder and louder, alive again.
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| ~ | This poor tortured thing, agonizing in the throes of endless suffering. |
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| - | ... ?!! ("could it really be her?!") |
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| - | Now, are you just Yoon-Hee, or more? ... Princess Dong! |
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| : | (?!) She too? She has Cha Yu-Sun's memories? |
|
| - | Why... How can... ? |
| ~ | Can you provide the irrefutable proof of all this? |
|
| - | How about going there? Just temporarily? |
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| - | (!!!) ... (gasps, eyes bulging, so scary but so attractive) |
|
| ~ | It's possible? |
|
| - | They have been waiting for you for so long. |
She wants to sadistically savor the moral torture inflicted on Yoon-Hee.
Her tone will be a mixture of arrogance, contempt, mockery, cruelty.
|
| - | How are you here? |
|
| - | Oooh but... a bit like you? ... Just in a more... safe way. |
|
| - | ... safe?! |
|
| - | To begin with? ... A cosmetic problem... slightly disabling. |
|
| - | ... ?!? |
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| - | Do you have any idea what you became in the real world? |
|
| - | Lie down, and stay quiet. |
Yoon-Hee sits on the bed, then slowly lies down in it.
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| - | (stammers, confused) The real world? ... I'm... also there? |
|
| - | Of course... and it's causing me a lot of trouble... What to do with your walking corpse cluttering up my home? |
|
| - | !!! |
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| - | The garbage men will never want to pick this up!! |
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| - | A... a dead corpse?! ... I... I am...? |
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| ~ | Not dead. Just a kind of obese look-alike of Oh Sung-Moo... |
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| - | No mouth or nose, but you still find a way to breathe!! ... Alas. |
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| - | (?!) ... Oh Sung-Moo... W... the faceless zombie...? |
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| - | Come on, don't worry... It makes you less ugly than usual... But it seriously pisses me off when I need to stash you somewhere else. |
|
| - | You know... about "W"?!? |
|
| - | Oooh, everything and more... while you, my poor... |
|
| (lost, helpless) |
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| - | This correspondent has almost nothing to do, so perfect is your case. |
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| ~ | Do what? What will you do to send me there? |
|
| - | This correspondent is unable to answer. There is no intelligible words in your world. |
|
| - | Does he think I'm stupid? |
|
| ~ | Explain yourself anyway. |
The tablet turns yellow. Black letters appear randomly.
No words. No meaning. A rain of letters, until a fully black screen.
The black turns white. The usual pale yellow frame takes shape.
|
| - | This correspondent explained in the most meaningful way possible. |
|
| - | ..... (confused, feels it's the truth, shivers with fright) |
|
| - | Hey, let's have fun with a little riddle... |
|
| - | ... (tortured) |
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| - | How was that rat face Oh Yeon-Joo coming back from "W"?! |
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| - | (tries to remember, but fuzzy, and too much stress) ... emotions? ... or... when there is... "to be continued"... ? |
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| - | "TO BE CONTINUED"!!! A cliffhanger! Here we go. ... But didn't you notice anything about this? |
| - | They'll be coming in, any minute now. |
|
| - | !!! (in terror) |
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| - | Let's get ready to die with dignity!!! |
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| - | (agitated gaze, thinks) ...... cliffhangers... the cave... or... or... |
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| - | Yes, yesss... It's a while since you've been back in the real world. |
|
| - | It's been more than a day there. Whereas for Oh Yeon-Joo, it was never more than half an hour! |
|
| - | ... (overwhelmed) |
¤ Wang Shin and Princess Dong entering a house, in a rural village. "TO BE CONTINUED"!
¤ In a cave, Wang Shin panicked and Princess Dong epileptic. "TO BE CONTINUED"!
|
| ~ | However... There were several chapters? Cliffhangers? "TO BE CONTINUED"? |
|
| - | But every time, you missed the exit! |
|
| - | ... (horrified, realizes) |
|
| - | Geez... What could possibly go wrong...? |
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| - | The more the process progresses, the more it's difficult to leave the manhwa. |
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| - | Don't you think you and Princess Dong fit well together? |
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| - | ... (desperate, more and more) |
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| - | So well that I think... you'll stay together! ... Yes, forever... trapped in this world. |
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| - | At the end of the fusion process, the character is more fiction than real. Coming back from the manhwa is impossible. |
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| - | At my mercy, in my manhwa, of which I have taken back control. (ironic) You will have a great time... |
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| - | ... (flinching, terrified) |
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| - | Knowing your limited intellect, I didn't want to bore you with it... But technically... It's a fusion process! |
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| - | Once the fusion is completed... The manhwa considers the character to be born in. Born again. |
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| - | You... You lie... If not, you too you-- |
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| - | How sweet of you to worry about me! |
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| - | You're forcing me to harp on it, you retard. My way is more... safe... |
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| ~ | I will be a faceless zombie here? |
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| - | In theory, you will disappear from your world, like Oh Yeon-Joo did. However, you will invest your perfect alter-ego in the manhwa. |
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| ~ | In theory? It's not certain? |
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| - | No one has ever done it, but most of the variables are favorable. |
|
| - | This correspondent will check that everything is going well. If not, the experiment will end and you won't go there anymore. |
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| - | (sobbing) Boo hoo... no... no... it can't be. |
|
| - | Ah ah! Here I am again with my old whiner Yoon-Hee. |
Strangely, the guards don't notice them, look away peacefully.
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| - | You are so insignificant. Typically the kind of secondary character who dies before the second half of a drama. Without moving anyone! |
Cha Yu-Sun approaches Yoon-Hee, threatening.
A discreet halo of shadow appears around her.
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| - | ... !!! (in terror, backs away) |
|
| - | And now you are over your time frame... |
Shhh... Slipping quickly on the ground, without walking--
Cha Yu-Sun joins Yoon-Hee and grabs her throat with one hand!
|
| - | Since you like comedy so much... |
Strangled, Yoon-Hee tries in vain to free herself with both hands.
|
| - | It's time for a villain's comic repartee. Something that will sound good, when the manhwa is published... |
Cha Yu-Sun lifts Yoon-Hee up despite her weight.
Yoon-Hee flaps her legs, holds onto Cha Yu-Sun's arm.
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| - | "Yoon-Hee, do you really think you are making weight, against me?" |
A discreet white smoke emanates from Cha Yu-Sun's eyes.
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| - | (hateful) By what right you claim to be the author, bitch?!! |
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| - | ... !!! (strangled, pure terror, "death is coming") |
VLANG!! A rifle butt smashes Cha Yu-Sun's head from behind.
She collapses fainted, as well as Yoon-Hee--
Wang Shin drops his rifle and rushes to help Yoon-Hee.
They fall together, he prevents her head to hit the ground.
A dozen scattered guards awake from their strange trance.
They see Lady Cha and Princess Dong inanimate on the ground!!!
They rush over while Wang Shin grabs his rifle but--
PAF! The nearest guard tramples the rifle and--
Zing! He draws his sword, Zing! Zing!, as the other guards running up.
Wang Shin stands up, angry and upset.
tZing! He draws his sword and points it straight at the guards.
| - | (shouts) So what?! Aren't you watching?! |
The guards... confused... insecure... those in the back whisper...
"it's Wang Shin"..."the reckless one fighting the Queen of Darkness"...
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| - | (shouts, angrily) You let Princess Dong be murdered?!!! |
The guards get more and more scared...
..."the best fighter of the kingdom"..."he never backs down"..."a royal husband".
tZing! Behind the guards, the Officer draws his sword.
|
| - | Hu-Ho! Obey him!! |
Wang Shin is putting things away, when the officer rushes in.
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| - | Baeuja!! The King doesn't believe Princess Dong!! (Baeuja = Consort) |
|
| - | ... ??! |
|
| - | He made Lady Cha the rank one concubine!!! |
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| - | (!!!) Follow me to the heavenly hall!! (goes out) |
The guards look on, intimidated, swords down.
The ROYAL DOCTOR checks Yoon-Hee's condition, red marks on her neck.
Wang Shin is deeply worried.
| - | She's just fainted, she's fine. |
|
| - | ... (reassured) |
The royal doctor checks Cha Yu-Sun's condition, back of her head bleeding.
|
| - | ... (looks at her with resentment and disgust) |
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| - | A severe concussion, but her life is not in danger. |
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| - | (to the guards) Take her to the iron cell immediately!!! |
| - | Baeuja... she is... the King's concubine, Hui-Bin!!! |
|
| - | You witnessed the scene!!! |
|
| - | ... I... I... (can't remember, was like absent) |
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| - | (threatening) oh-OH. Were you asleep?!! |
|
| (frightened, nods "no") |
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| - | Carry out my orders!!! I take official responsibility!!! |
|
| - | Yes... Yes, Baeujaaa! (bends down) |
The King is sitting on his throne, listening to his ministers.
The conservative party supports Cha Yu-Sun, the reform party wants her impeached.
| - | Lady Cha has been caught red-handed, Jeonah. |
| - | (to the reformist minister) Nothing is certain, there is only Wang Shin's testimony! |
|
| - | She was bullying Princess Dong, Jeonah. |
|
| - | !! |
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| - | (to the reformist minister) Your only goal is to destroy the traditions and dismiss a shaman! |
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| - | Your daughter's condition is evidence of her evil, Jeonah. |
|
| - | !! |
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| - | Do not repudiate such a worthy woman as Lady Cha, Jeonaaah. |
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| - | Have her questioned to find out the truth, Jeonaaah. |
All the reformist ministers bend down and proclaim in heart...
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| - | Please listen to our advice, Jeoonaaaah. |
|
| - | (embarrassed, annoyed) ... Get out, I must deliberate. |
The King is alone with Intendant Han.
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| - | Speak, without holding back your words. |
|
| - | Princess Dong revealed that Lady Cha is the Queen of Darkness. And... she was almost killed... probably by Lady Cha. |
|
| - | (so painful) hHahhhh... Having to part with such a desirable woman... |
|
| - | But I can't risk the life of my beloved daughter. And those damn reformers don't give me much choice... |
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| - | (bends down) I'll prepare the decree right away, Jeonaaah! |
Seen from afar, Intendant Han chats with the reformist party's senior minister.
The reformist minister quietly joins Wang Shin in the shadow of the pavilion.
|
| - | So? |
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| - | The shaman will be dismissed! Thanks to your help. This kind of archaic authority will cease to be influential in the palace. |
|
| - | Will she be questioned? |
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| - | Yes, that's the icing on the cake. |
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| - | We must make her confess that she is the Queen of Darkness! |
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| - | If only! We'd be rid of her forever. |
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| - | She will taste her own venom, on the torture chair. (vindictive) We'll see if she takes it that well... |
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| - | (to the guard) Have you doubled the guard? |
| - | Yes, Baeuja. |
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| - | (to the officer) And Princess Dong, how is she? |
|
| - | She hasn't woken up yet. |
Passing Wang Shin, six anxious guards escort Cha Yu-Sun, chained with irons.
She is cold. No fear, no emotion.
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| - | How... how can she be so calm? ... When she knows what awaits her... ? |
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| - | She is no ordinary prisoner. She is the Queen of Darkness! |
The six guards hear him, frightened, confirming their fears.
Cha Yu-Sun stops. The guards don't dare push her.
|
| (looks at Wang Shin hatefully) |
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| (looks at her harshly, defiantly) |
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| - | ... Ptoo! (spits in his face) |
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| - | (wipes himself, impassively) ... Use iron bars, instead of wooden ones. |
The guards take Cha Yu-Sun to the center of the place.
They tie her to an iron chair, among two wooden chairs.
Two executioners put the iron bars between her legs.
Then they begin the torture of "Juri", moving the bars.
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| - | (laughing) Ah ah ah!!! |
Everyone is stunned, except Wang Shin.
The executioners press harder on the iron bars.
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| - | (tenfold laughter) AH AH AH AH AH !!!! |
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| - | ... (determined, will stop her laughing) |
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| - | (mad) Wang Shin!!! You have no idea about my new powers!! |
We don't see much of the room, a painting workshop in a warehouse.
Mi-Ra is sitting on a stool, facing a table, the tablet and a laptop on it.
|
| - | This correspondent proposes you an idea of plot. |
|
| - | ... ?? |
|
| ~ | It's up to me to create the plots of my manhwa. |
|
| - | This correspondent must be involved for it to work. |
|
| - | ... (annoyed) |
|
| ~ | What is your idea? |
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| - | Cha Yu-Sun becomes the King's concubine. So she can threaten Wang Shin and Princess Dong in the palace. |
|
| ~ | Yes. I had thought of that once. A secret relationship between the two characters. |
|
| - | Start drawing by describing the scenes first. This correspondent takes care of the rest. |
The yellow frame disappears. A blank image in its place.
Mi-Ra turns on her electronic stylus, but about to draw...
... she remembers and types on the laptop.
|
| ~ | Cha Yu-Sun secretly meets the King in a garden at night. |
Mi-Ra draws the silhouettes of the characters. Suddenly--
The drawing shapes itself, at an incredible speed.
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| - | ... !!! (surprised, stops drawing) |
In a few seconds the drawing is finished. Same style as the manhwa.
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| - | (stunned) ... It's... like I drew it?! |
She needs a few seconds... to accept the creepy strangeness of the phenomenon.
She saves the image, clicks for "blank image", types on the laptop...
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| ~ | The King decrees that Cha Yu-Sun becomes Hui-Bin publicly. |
Mi-Ra draws some lines. Suddenly--
The drawing shapes itself, at an incredible speed.
Everything is here, including the King's dialogue: "Lady Cha is now Hui-Bin!!!"
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| - | (shocked) This is... this is what I had in mind?! |
Mi-Ra puts down the stylus... shaking... this is too absurd.
She leans over the tablet to see the details up close...
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| - | This way of drawing the line... my style... so fast... so perfectly... ... as for the episodes automatically designed by the manhwa... ??! |
She breaks down nervously, cries without wanting to, her chin trembling.
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| - | (throat tied) Is it a dream or a nightmare? |
Poc... Poc... Poc... With closed eyes she nervously taps her forehead against the tablet...
Toc... Toc-- She opens her eyes, !!!, lifts her forehead from a wooden table!
She looks around... the house of a Joseon court lady!!
Scared just an instant, then... she recognizes... Cha Yu-Sun's Room!!!
She picks up a mirror from the table and looks at herself...
|
| ~ | You will invest your perfect alter-ego in the manhwa. |
It's definitely her, but with hair and makeup like Cha Yu-Sun!!!
|
| - | !X!!X!!X! (brief seizure, shaking head) |
Widening her eyes, breathing deeply, a miracle takes place in her mind...
... A sudden clarity, a relief so intense that it's hard to bear.
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| - | Hhhh... Hhhh... Hhhh... (breathless moans) |
Comes a voice that only we and she can hear...
Cha Yu-Sun's voice, echoed by the sepulchral voice of the Queen of Darkness:
"You deserve to rest, beloved master. We will help you as we always have."
She strokes her head, disbelievingly, her mind drifting to peace.
|
| ~ | They have been waiting for you for so long. |
|
| - | She's laughing at "Juri's" ordeal! |
|
| - | Let's move on to more serious treatment. |
|
| - | Get out the hot iron!!! |
Cha Yu-Sun tilts her head back, eyes rolling back, flailing around.
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| - | !X!!X!!X! (epileptic fit) |
|
| - | She looks like a witch! |
Cha Yu-Sun's seizure stops.
The executioner approaches the red iron to her face.
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| - | (terrorized, screams) ArAAaaah!!! No!! No!! Not this!!! |
A large warehouse room of twenty meters converted into a paint workshop.
|
| ~ | You must get out of danger. |
Everywhere, huge paintings stored, some covered with white sheets.
Cluttered, with bags, boxes, carts, painting material.
|
| ~ | Hide in a secret place until the agreement is made. |
Paintings depict abstract faces, muddled, distorted, disturbing.
Near the back, Yoon-Hee's tablet and a laptop on a table, a stool behind.
|
| ~ | They will want to end your manhwa. |
In the back, large windows showing the night and the moon.
WOMPF... Mi-Ra materializes in a puff of shadow near the stool.
Mi-Ra is disoriented... then falls to her knees, pulling her hair out--
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| - | (scream of suffering) RAAaaaAAAahhhh !!!! RaahhAhhh... Raahaaa... ahhhhh... |
She comes back to her senses, sweaty, sick, shaking...
... then stares at the floor, absent, in shock...
11-year-old Mi-Ra is drawing on a paper on the table:
Anarchic black lines, vaguely a scary character.
Her mother comes, disgusted by the drawing.
| - | Mi-Ra, I told you to stop these scary scribbles!! I don't want anyone to see that at your school! |
| (obsessed, must continue) |
|
| - | Draw animals in a field, in the sun, or a rainbow. |
|
| (as if she can't hear) |
|
| - | ... (jaded, gives up) ... (goes towards the entrance hall) |
|
| (continues to draw, tears flow in silence) |
Mi-Ra's mother and father finish dressing to go out.
| - | Are we sure she is safe? |
|
| - | It went well the other times. |
|
| - | But what about her morale? |
In the living room, Mi-Ra stops drawing and listens from a distance.
|
| - | Would you want to miss the opportunity your brother offered? |
|
| - | No, but... we don't know how Beak-Soo behaves with her. |
|
| - | Let her get used to it! She'll only get stronger and more voracious. Our child is much too sensitive to become a financial shark! |
|
| - | (resigned, relativizing) Of course... this kind of thing is not rare. It happens regularly in the international upper class. |
Mi-Ra understands what they say and rushes to the entrance.
They leave, SBLAM!, closing the door, Cric-clok!, locked.
Clc-clc-clc... Mi-Ra tries to open the door with the handle, in vain.
Paf! Paf! Paf! She hits the door, desperate.
|
| - | (crying, shouting) Daddy! Mom! Don't leave me!! |
Cric-clok!, the door unlocks and enters...
... MOON BEAK-SOO, Mi-Ra's uncle.
|
| - | !!! (terrified) |
| - | Come on Mi-Ra, don't be sad. Your kind uncle will take care of you all weekend. |
Mi-Ra holds her head with both hands, coming out of her mental hell...
Breathing with difficulty, helping herself with the stool... she gets up and sits on it.
Tortured, feverish, she looks left and right, wondering what to decide.
SUDDENLY--
The intense yellow light from the tablet... fades... then the pale yellow frame...
|
| - | Moon Mi-Ra. |
Mi-Ra types on the laptop, connected to the tablet.
|
| ~ | I'm here. |
|
| - | Have you secured the tablet? |
|
| ~ | It's done. |
|
| - | Are you keeping your assistant under control? |
Mi-Ra looks at a wheelchair. On it, hat, scarf, sunglasses.
|
| ~ | I found a way to carry her. |
|
| - | Do you have enough evidence to start an agreement? |
|
| - | ...... (too strange, too scary...) |
|
| ~ | I need to think about it more. |
|
| - | Perfect. This correspondent prefers wisely thought decisions. |
|
| ~ | What do you want in exchange? |
|
| - | Nothing. |
|
| - | ... !!! ("this is not possible") |
|
| ~ | Nothing ? |
|
| - | So let's just say... an occasional artistic collaboration. The study of phenomena is a motivation in itself. |
|
| - | Mmh-Mmh... (reassuring, it seems more realistic) |
|
| - | However, there are some details to fix. |
|
| ~ | Which ones? |
|
| - | Those who will chase you. Kang Chul, Park Soo-Bong, and Oh Yeon-Joo. |
|
| - | (?!) ... Anything illegal? |
|
| ~ | I'm not a criminal. |
|
| - | Is it a question of moral conscience? You hate one of these people, and despise the others. |
|
| - | (!!!) ... He wants what... That I kill them?! |
|
| ~ | I won't do anything that makes me suffer justice. |
|
| - | You won't suffer justice, because you won't really do anything. |
|
| - | (nods, doesn't want to hear about it anymore) ... (afraid for herself) |
|
| ~ | How do you know they'll chase me? |
|
| - | They already hinder considerably this correspondent. |
|
| - | ... ?!! (worried) |
|
| ~ | How? |
|
| - | They almost put an end to the manhwa "Butterfly Girl". |
|
| - | ... ??! ... Bu... bu ??... ?... |
|
| ~ | Why is this a problem? |
|
| - | This correspondent likes long stories. |
Deserted, dimly lit by the windows, the street lamps of the residence.
A bedside lamp illuminates weakly...
Motionless on the bed, Yoon-Hee's faceless zombie.
Around her head, a bandage darkened by coagulated blood.
Ffff... The flaccid surface on her face vanishes. She recovers eyes, nose and mouth.
Yoon-Hee opens her eyes, looks around, recognizes the room.
She gets up painfully, almost falls but leans against the cupboard.
On the bandage, wet and bright red blood oozes.
Yoon-Hee narrowly opens the door, checks the living room.
|
| : | ... she's not here...? |
Yoon-Hee staggers towards the workshop, her legs wobbling.
Yoon-Hee grabs her smartphone on her table.
Her tablet is gone, but she doesn't notice it.
She suffers, disoriented, half-conscious.
Yoon-Hee has to lean on a dresser for two seconds.
|
| : | Run away... as far away as possible... ... before she comes back... |
She opens the front door and walks out.
Yoon-Hee goes along the wall, uses it to avoid falling, bumps regularly.
Blood drips from her bandage to her shoulders.
|
| : | (in great pain, crying silently) ... If she finds me... ... she will kill me... |
Yeon-Joo inspects Ren-Bo's unfolded surgical table.
An electrode on her wrist, she turns on the electro-cardiogram.
Tit... tit... tit... Her heartbeat displays on it.
| - | (low voice) Everything works like on a real one. |
No one. Yoon-Hee staggers towards the exit.
Bandages and face covered with blood, dripping on her clothes.
Her eyes are half shut. Dizziness, walking is a torment.
Soo-Bong boils water and unfolds a bag of ramen.
| - | (low voice) If only Ren-Bo was here to bring a dish... (puts the ramen in the boiling water) |
|
| - | (strongly) Does anyone want ramen? |
Do-Yoon comes from the bathroom, hair wet, towel around his neck.
| - | We had dinner only two hours ago. You should watch your diet, Soo-Bong. |
|
| - | (from the living room) I want some! |
Nobody. Small street. Quiet. Out of sight of Mi-Ra's Residence.
Feeling safe enough here, Yoon-Hee takes out her smartphone.
She has to lean against a wall not to fall.
Her trembling fingers covered with blood have difficulty typing.
Yeon-Joo and Soo-Bong at the table, about to put ramen in their mouths, but--
BrrZZ-BrrZZ... On the table, Soo-Bong's smartphone rings. Yoon-Hee displayed!!
|
| - | (puts down his bite of ramen) Here?! ... It's Yoon-Hee. It's been a while... |
|
| - | ... ?? (eating her bite of ramen) |
|
| - | (picks up) Hello? (does not put on speaker) |
Yoon-Hee's condition is awful, her voice interspersed with moans.
|
| - | Soo... Soo-Bong... |
|
| - | (worried) Yoon-Hee? Are you all right? |
|
| - | I went... to "Queen of Darkness". |
|
| - | (confused) Huh?! ... (slowly realizes, gets scared) |
|
| - | ... ! (alert, knows his expression) |
|
| - | The manhwa... like "W". |
|
| - | (!!!, gets up, shouts) You went to the manhwa world??! |
|
| - | !!! |
|
| - | Mi-Ra too... she's dangerous. |
|
| - | ... !! |
|
| - | She wants me dead... |
Tloc! Soo-Bong hears a noise, as if the call cuts off.
He looks at his smartphone, but it says "online".
|
| - | Yoon-Hee? Hello?! |
Yoon-Hee's smartphone is on the ground.
|
| ~ | Yoon-Hee?! Yoon-Hee!! (out of the smartphone) |
plic ploc... Drops of blood fall on the smartphone.
Yoon-Hee holds on to the wall with both hands. Her blood falls on the ground.
She lets go of the wall, leaving bloody handprints on it.
She wobbles away. Like a zombie. Absent gaze. Consciousness extinguished.
She obeys in automatic mode to her only and last imperative... RUN AWAY.
It's panic!!! Quickly, Yeon-Joo and Soo-Bong put on shoes and coat.
Do-Yoon scrolls fast "Queen of Darkness" on a computer.
Yeon-Joo takes a mini-tablet and runs out.
|
| - | (shows Princess Dong) Princess Dong Hee. |
|
| - | (looks at the computer) It's Yoon-Hee!! |
|
| - | I'll take my car, it's better to split up. (gets up) |
Soo-Bong leaves briskly, taking out his smartphone.
Technicians are clearing the equipment from the film set.
Soo-Bong walks quickly to the street, calling on the smartphone.
BRZZZ... Kang Chul's smartphone rings. Soo-Bong on the screen, he picks up.
|
| - | Hyung!! There is a new manhwa alive, like "W" and "Butterfly Girl". It's "Queen of Darkness"!!! |
| - | !!!!! (huge, maximum alert) |
|
| - | (runs) Yoon-Hee, a friend, inside, Princess Dong, she's in trouble. |
|
| - | Speak slower, don't panic!!!! (walks quickly to the exit) |
|
| - | (slows down) Yoon-Hee went into the manhwa. Now she is out, maybe hurt. She doesn't answer anymore. She says Moon Mi-Ra wants to kill her. |
|
| (clenches teeth, contracts face, unexpected and painful, trots towards the exit) |
|
| - | (comes out of the gate) Mi-Ra is the manhwa author and she allegedly went in too!!! |
|
| - | Where does she live?!!! |
|
| - | (goes to Yeon-Joo's car) Gangnam. Three Kingdoms Residence. Building C, 3rd floor. |
|
| - | I'm right next door!!! Tell Do-Yoon to meet me there!!! |
|
| - | (gets into Yeon-Joo's car) Yoon-Hee might be around. I'll go that way. |
|
| - | Yes!!! Start searching with Yeon-Joo!!! (hangs up and runs!!) |
Vroom!!! Yeon-Joo starts the car with a bang.
Yeon-Joo's car is racing.
Soo-Bong scans "Queen of Darkness" on the mini-tablet.
|
| - | There's no doubt, Princess Dong is Yoon-Hee's look-alike!!! At first, she was just called Dong Hee, but now Dong Yoon-Hee! |
|
| - | This is a new character never seen before!! |
Yeon-Joo is focused on the road, nervous.
|
| - | (mumbles) How can this happen again? ... "Butterfly Girl", and now "Queen of Darkness"... ? |
|
| - | Cha Yu-Sun is Mi-Ra's look-alike. But it has always been like that. |
|
| - | (to herself) If Moon Mi-Ra had gone in... ... Did she disguise as Cha Yu-Sun? There would be two Cha Yu-Sun... ? |
On the mini-tablet: Cha Yu-Sun strangles Princess Dong. "TO BE CONTINUED".
|
| - | In the penultimate chapter, Cha Yu-Sun threatens Yoon-Hee. |
On the mini-tablet: Cha Yu-Sun screams, a red iron next to her face. "TO BE CONTINUED".
|
| - | Yoon-Hee isn't in the last chapter, only Cha Yu-Sun. |
|
| - | (probable) So Yoon-Hee came back here at the penultimate chapter end. |
On the mini-tablet: in a cave, Wang Shin panics, Yoon-Hee epileptic. "TO BE CONTINUED".
|
| - | It's been more than two days since it started!! Several chapters, she came back here several times! |
|
| - | Why didn't she tell us before??! |
|
| - | (shocked) Was she... locked up??! And she managed to escape?! |
|
| - | Would Mi-Ra be crazy enough to lock her up?! |
|
| - | (nervous) I don't think so... I... I don't know anymore... She's too unpredictable... Yoon-Hee... Noona, I'm scared to death about Yoon-Hee... She looked so bad... |
BrrZZ-BrrZZ... Soo-Bong's smartphone rings, Kang Chul, he picks up.
|
| ~ | Soo-Bong, do you have any news? |
|
| - | Yes Hyung Kang, what I found out in the manhwa... |
Mi-Ra's branded car drives fast.
|
| ~ | It's a matter between me and this "correspondent". Yoon-Hee has nothing to do with it. |
Moon Mi-Ra is cogitating, horribly anxious.
|
| : | If Yoon-Hee stays in the manhwa, Cha Yu-Sun will hurt her. Besides, she might end up stuck in it forever. |
|
| : | I have to get her out of there... But how? |
|
| : | If I kill the character... She might die too? ... Or I do it when she's not in there? |
She wipes the sweat on her forehead, her face pleading.
Mi-Ra's car enters the underground parking lot.
|
| ~ | Or a plot like... ... Princess Dong leaves for the new world, and we never see her again... ? |
Car parked. Mi-Ra takes out of the trunk a wheelchair, unfolds it on the ground.
|
| : | (nervous) And then? ... I am about to sequester her. If she tells the police...? What about her head injury? No, it seemed to get better... But is it certain...? |
Mi-Ra pushes the wheelchair, with a bag on it. She pinches her lower lip with a tooth.
|
| : | Kang Chul will really fall on me?! ... ... If he is competent and determined like in "W", I have no chance... |
She nervously presses the call button several times, morally devastated.
|
| - | (tears) Lord... What a crazy situation... |
Mi-Ra pushes the wheelchair when, !!!, she sees her apartment door open!!!
Catastrophized, she puts the wheelchair against a planter, and runs to her front door.
Not closing the entrance or lighting up, Mi-Ra rushes to the guest room.
She opens the door wide, !!!!, Nobody!!! Yoon-Hee's zombie is gone!!!
|
| - | (enters, looks around) Yoon-Hee?!! Yoon-Hee?! |
No one. Mi-Ra swallows her saliva... understands that she is gone...
Mi-Ra turns on a lampshade, runs her hand through her hair.
She sees the bottle of cognac. Pale with anguish, she fills a glass.
Her hand trembling, she drinks a sip, tries to calm herself.
|
| : | She came back from the manhwa... How long has it been...? |
|
| : | Maybe she's not far away, I need to-- |
|
| - | Author Moon Mi-Ra? |
|
| - | !!!! (startles, turns around and sees...) |
|
| - | .... (terrorized, drops her glass, Crash!!, which bursts on the ground) |
¤ Kang Chul disarms the cutter from Oh Sung-Moo, knocks him out with his gun butt.
¤ Kang Chul shoots Oh Sung-Moo in the heart!
|
| - | What did you do to Yoon-Hee? |
|
| - | ... !! (heart beating, adrenaline, thinking fast) |
She sees the apartment door closed (by Kang Chul) and near the living room...
... the sword hanging on the wall, the handle ready to be grabbed.
|
| - | What happened to her? (one step forward) |
|
| : | (sees his step forward) Don't let him get close!! |
She strides towards the entrance and Kang Chul.
|
| - | (vindictive) What right do you have to enter people's homes?! |
|
| - | ... ??! (surprised by her reaction) |
She takes out her smartphone and holds it up, to divert attention.
|
| - | I just have to press to make the police come! |
|
| - | You won't do that, they'll find your drugs. |
|
| - | (more calmly) What big words for a little therapeutic herb. (approaches sword side, close to Kang Chul) |
|
| - | (holds out his arm to prevent her going to the door) You won't leave until you answer. |
Mi-Ra has to divert his attention to back away to the sword.
She steps back, making her hair fly with a seductive head motion.
|
| - | (languid) You made a good impression on me last time. But it turns out you're a disappointing guy. |
|
| - | (gets angry) I have no time for worldly talk! |
|
| - | (shouts) YOON-HEE!!! |
|
| - | (yells) NOT YOUR BUSINESS!!! |
|
| - | !!! (limits exceeded, considers a rougher method) |
Mi-Ra throws her smartphone at Kang Chul's face. Splif!
While he's surprised, she turns around and--
Ziinkk! She draws the sword, the sheath remains on the wall. Immediately--
Slashhh! She strikes in the air towards Kang Chul, not seeing that--
He takes a step towards her!! Riiipp!, a piece of his jacket is cut off.
|
| - | !! (realizes, close to a serious injury) |
She steps back to the living room, sword on guard, firming her grip, ready to strike.
|
| (eyes firing lightning bolts) |
|
| - | (coolly) Oh, you want to play that? |
Kang Chul grabs the sword sheath on the wall, then walks towards her.
|
| - | (a tigress) I learned how to use it, douchebag. I don't draw shit. I know every sword stroke in my manhwa. |
|
| - | We'll check it right away... (advances within sword range) |
|
| - | TsRah-TsRAaahh!! (chains two blows, flawless skill) |
SLASH!, CLING! Kang Chul parries with the sheath.
SLASH!, Shoo! Kang Chul steps back and dodges in-extremis.
|
| - | !!! (sweat! surprised by her rage and vivacity) |
|
| - | If I hadn't dodged, you would have killed me. |
|
| - | (surly) Do you begin to understand? Are you afraid? TsAah!! (a sharp sword jab) |
|
| - | !! (forced to step back) |
|
| - | (turns around, towards the workshop) It's not as easy as facing an old man with a box cutter... |
|
| - | Understand that you are a real criminal, yes. |
|
| - | TsAah!! (a blow in point, opening way to the entrance) |
|
| - | (dodges) And as for being afraid... (without hesitation, he rushes towards her) |
|
| - | TsRAAaah!!! (without hesitation, a powerful sideways slash) |
SLASHHH! The blow could cut Kang Chul in two but--
DTCHOK!!! He enters her guard and parries at the blade base.
He grabs Mi-Ra's sword hand, executes an ample self-defense hold and--
He traps this hand behind her back, then...
BOMM!! He pushes and crushes her against the wall.
Sbling! She drops the sword because of his grip and the shock.
He turns her over, sticks her arm on the wall, their faces inches apart.
Mi-Ra is trapped between the wall and Kang Chul, her hair sensually undone.
Sweating, panting, if it wasn't a fight, you'd think they would kiss wildly.
|
| - | (snarling) I'm not the type to be beaten by a woman. (spits on her) Don't make me lose my patience!!! |
|
| - | (disgusted) You treat women like that? And I treat men like this-- |
With her free hand, she grabs Kang Chul's genitals!!
|
| - | !!! (the pain for a split second, but--) |
Before she squeezes, BAF!, he sweeps her arm roughly.
Angrily, Kang Chul grabs her neck, pulls her away from the wall, and--
SPLAMF!!! He slaps her so hard that she is thrown away, flipped over!!
|
| - | (hate, pain, rage) I'll kill you for this, Kang Chul!!! |
SBOM! Kang Chul kicks her in the back, to push her.
Ooops, she is rushed to the workshop, and with the momentum...
... she runs involuntary, loses her balance, followed by Kang Chul, and--
SPLAF!!!, he slams her against Yoon-Hee's table.
With one hand, he twists her arm in her back. With the other, he grabs her hair and--
PAF!, he slams her face on the table.
Mi-Ra stuck, leaning on the table and Kang Chul behind.
He holds her arm behind her back. His other hand in her hair.
If they weren't dressed, you'd think they do something else... ^^
On the table, Kang Chul notices a clear area, the absence of an object.
|
| - | The tablet! Where is it? |
|
| - | Fuck you!!! |
|
| - | !! (immediately twists her back arm) |
|
| - | AAAAAH! (pain!) |
He pulls on her hair and PAF!, he slams her head against the table.
|
| - | Talk, bitch. |
|
| (breathes heavily, keeps quiet) |
|
| (twists her arm further, risking to break it) |
|
| - | RrAaAaAhaahh!!! Stop!!! Stop!!! (unable to endure pain) |
|
| - | (loosens his grip slightly) So? |
|
| - | I don't know. I came back... ... But Yoon-Hee wasn't here anymore. |
|
| - | You know more. |
|
| - | No... no. |
|
| (twists arm without forcing) |
|
| - | RAaAah!!! |
|
| - | You want more? |
|
| - | No. I... I'm gonna say everything. |
|
| - | ... |
|
| - | Two days ago, Yoon-Hee told me a strange thing... going into the manhwa. A stupid delusion, but she seemed confused, I don't know why. |
|
| : | (!!) Yoon-Hee really went there! |
|
| - | Shortly after, she was on the sofa without saying anything. And when I saw her, I almost had a heart attack! |
|
| - | ... ? |
|
| - | She had become a kind of horrible zombie without a face! |
|
| : | (!!!) ... Like Oh Sung-Moo ?! (cogitates, why, how) |
|
| - | And then? |
|
| - | I was terrified, but she wasn't violent or moving. She went where I asked and seemed fine. |
|
| : | (!) Oh Sung-Moo's zombie was behaving like this. Is she telling the truth?! |
|
| - | Since then, she is like that... |
|
| - | And you did nothing? |
|
| - | (crying) That's... that's why I was afraid to speak, because of... of... ... the weed here, and other problems... it was useless, incomprehensible... |
|
| - | It would have drawn attention to me when I undergo the worst humiliation of my life... ... because of my manhwa, I don't know what's going on, it's crazy... |
|
| : | (!) The manhwa publishes itself! |
|
| - | The worst horrors fall on me all at once... (cries more) I didn't do anything, but I worry about her!!! |
|
| - | I went out and when I came back she was gone. You arrived at that moment. That's the truth. |
|
| - | And her tablet? |
|
| - | I don't know... the tablet was here earlier.... ... maybe she took it away...? |
|
| - | You went to the manhwa? |
|
| - | What?! That doesn't make any sense!!! (scared) You are crazy!!!! |
|
| - | ... ?! |
|
| - | (screams) You torture me because you are crazy!!!! Boo hoo hoo hoo... (cries of despair) |
Moon Mi-Ra doesn't need to force much to make it believable.
Although she lies, her despair is sincere, and her real situation even more terrible...
|
| - | Boo hoo... I don't understand what's happening to me... a hacker is publishing the episodes instead of me... boo hoo... destroying my work... boo hoo hoo... there's no way to stop it... boo hoo... I'm going crazy... |
|
| - | ... (looks at her with pity, heartbreaking, she is lost) |
|
| - | boo hoo hoo... I don't know you and you come to torture me... boo hoo hoo... when I need help... boo hoo... and Yoon-hee becomes an impossible thing... boo hoo... I can't stand this madness anymore... boo hoo... I want to die... |
Kang Chul releases Mi-Ra. She confessed more than expected.
She stands up, continues to cry.
Kang Chul looks at her sincerely pleading eyes, moved a second but...
... determined not to soften. He steps towards the exit... then turns around.
|
| - | If you lied to me, I will come back. If you are no longer here, I will find you. |
|
| - | ... (overwhelmed) |
|
| - | And I won't be so gentle next time. (exits her home) |
Mi-Ra picks up her smartphone. Tears, makeup dripping, hand on her red cheek.
|
| - | (resentful, whisper) Scum, if I have to get rid of you... ... I won't have any qualms anymore. |
|
| : | Yoon-hee!!! I must find her before him! (rushes to the entrance) |
Mi-Ra checks that Kang Chul has left.
She closes her door, then rushes to the elevator.
Kang Chul's car drives away from Mi-Ra's Residence.
|
| ~ | Soo-Bong, is there any evidence that Mi-Ra went into the manhwa? |
|
| ~ | Nothing in particular. |
|
| - | (to his smartphone earpiece) Is there a scene where Yoon-Hee faces Cha Yu-Sun? |
|
| - | (looks at the manhwa scene on the mini-tablet) Yes, but it does seem to be Cha Yu-Sun, not Mi-Ra. |
|
| : | Would Yoon-Hee have confused it? |
|
| - | The manhwa may not have rendered out-of-context parts. Are there any inconsistencies in the dialogue? |
|
| - | No... |
|
| - | ... !! ("shit!") |
|
| - | Or maybe... a line that sounds weird. |
|
| - | ... ?! |
On the mini-tablet, an image of Cha Yu-Sun strangling Yoon-Hee, and her text bubble:
|
| - | "Yoon-Hee, do you really think you are making weight, against me?" |
|
| - | The Queen of Darkness is not a villain used to jokes. |
|
| - | "Yoon-Hee"?! She called her directly as such? |
|
| - | Yes, that's pretty familiar in a historical context. |
|
| - | Keep searching. (hangs up) |
|
| : | She confessed so much that it seemed right. |
|
| - | Boo hoo... I don't understand what's happening to me... |
|
| - | ... you come to torture me... boo hoo... when I need help... boo hoo... |
|
| - | ... I can't stand this madness anymore... boo-hoo... I want to die... |
Kang Chul looks at her sincerely pleading eyes, moved for a moment.
|
| ~ | Maybe she needs help, but... |
|
| : | (intuition on duty) Could she be hiding something? |
|
| - | Are you starting to understand? Are you afraid? TsAah !! (a sharp sword jab) |
|
| - | !! (forced to back up) |
|
| - | It's not as easy as facing an old man with a box cutter... |
|
| : | (!!) It's just a manhwa scene!!! But she said that as if my fight with Oh Sung-Moo was real! |
|
| : | She knows something about "W"?!! |
Kang Chul walks around thinking, not noticing it... but now sees it in his memory!
|
| ~ | She was planning to transport Yoon-Hee somewhere else!!! |
|
| - | (clenches teeth) Damn it, I let this get away! |
Kang Chul runs to Mi-Ra's Apartment.
SBROM!! He kicks the door open.
Kang Chul scans... No one! He clenches his fist, angry with himself.
|
| - | I shouldn't have let her out of my sight for a second. |
Two lanes on each side, separated in the middle. Mi-Ra is driving on the fast lane.
On the median between the two directions: vegetation, billboards, street lamps.
|
| ~ | She often takes this way, to come to my home. |
On the median, coming out from behind a billboard...
... Mi-Ra sees a fat, dimly lit figure staggering around! Yoon-Hee!!!
Barely conscious, she cross the street, in front of Mi-Ra's car.
ShriIIik!!! Mi-Ra brakes hard to avoid hitting her!!!
Yoon-Hee continues to cross the street, but behind Mi-Ra's car...
... A BIG WHITE TRUCK is surprised by her sudden stop!
Panicked, Shrrriii..., the driver turns into the slow lane, to dodge her car.
The truck is now running into Yoon-Hee, whom the driver didn't see!!!
| - | !!!! (sees Yoon-Hee!!) |
SHRRIIIII... The truck brakes to death, but too fast and too heavy to stop!!!
|
| - | !!!! (see the truck, horrified!!) |
Yoon-Hee, blood all over her face, not lucid, just...
... RRRIIIIIII...... ... she feels light, noise.
|
| (looks at the truck's headlights, blinded, absent-minded) |
Without even realizing it, Yoon-Hee sees death coming.
The truck is about to hit her!!
... RIIIIIKKKK!!! The truck STOPS !!!...
... by miracle, 20 centimeters away from Yoon-Hee, who has no reaction!
Like a moment of grace, time slowed down...
Yoon-Hee's bust and the stationary truck and between them...
... in the background, Mi-Ra gets out of her car, in shock.
plic-ploc... Blood falls on the asphalt at Yoon-Hee's feet.
|
| - | ... !!! (worried, terribly) |
SBOMF! Despite the absence of any shock, Yoon-Hee collapses!!!
CRACK! Her head hits the asphalt, turned towards Mi-Ra...
... under which a puddle of blood spreads... towards Mi-Ra!!
|
| - | ... !!! (terrified) |
The truck driver gets out in a panic.
|
| - | I didn't touch her! I didn't do it!!! |
Apoplectic, he turns to Mi-Ra, insane beside her car.
|
| - | Madam! Did you see all?! I didn't do anything! |
Mi-Ra doesn't notice him. She is petrified by a frightening vision...
... In an EMOTIONAL HELL, with bulging eyes, Mi-Ra stares at Yoon-Hee.
Yoon-Hee's eyes are empty and wide open, turned to Mi-Ra...
... But she doesn't look at Mi-Ra, SHE LOOKS AT ETERNITY.