"I resign."
Inside the cramped CEO office, a tall man made the declaration firmly.
"I've already wrapped up the tasks I was responsible for, so there shouldn't be any issues. This will be my last day."
The man who calmly announced his resignation was Kang Woojin. With his short hair and sharp impression, he stood quietly in front of the CEO.
The CEO, who resembled a fat toad, burst out laughing in disbelief.
"Ha! You're quitting? You idiot! Do you think the design industry is as big as China? It's a tiny market! What are you going to do if you just walk out like that? Do you think changing jobs is easy? Huh?"
The CEO kept rambling, his voice filled with irritation and mockery.
But Kang Woojin, standing calmly in front of him, didn't react at all.
'Whether I change jobs or not isn't your concern anymore, you damn toad.'
Right now, he just wanted to go home as quickly as possible.
The company Woojin was leaving was a typical design firm with about twenty employees.
A very small business.
And a company with a terrible reputation.
From high school to college and until now, Kang Woojin had spent his entire life doing design work. He had already worked at this miserable company for four years.
He was twenty-seven.
'Thinking back on it… there's nothing but awful memories.'
Although it was a design company, because it was a small business, there were countless miscellaneous tasks unrelated to design.
And overtime was constant.
Overtime pay?
Almost nonexistent.
Weekend work?
Completely normal.
Paid leave?
What was that? Some kind of tea you boiled and drank?
Eventually, Kang Woojin couldn't take it anymore.
And this morning—Monday morning—the moment he saw the toad-faced CEO, he snapped.
'Damn it. Whatever. I'm just going to say it.'
In truth, Woojin had already prepared his resignation letter two years ago.
Probably everyone in the company had the same thought.
The toad-faced CEO glared at him and waved his hand dismissively.
"Ha… unbelievable. Fine, fine. Get lost. There are plenty of people as good as you. Don't bother coming in starting tomorrow."
As if he had been waiting for that answer, Kang Woojin immediately replied.
"Yes, understood. And please make sure the unpaid overtime and severance pay are transferred properly."
"You—"
"I've roughly calculated it already. CEO, I don't intend to make a big issue out of it. That's all."
Once he made up his mind, the words came out smoothly.
Muttering to himself, Woojin politely said goodbye to the toad-faced CEO and walked out of the office.
Soon, cheers and encouragement poured toward him.
From the employees.
"Nice job."
"I'm jealous."
"Good luck."
One coworker who was close to him approached.
"I'm jealous you escaped. But what are you going to do now?"
What would he do?
Honestly, Woojin had many worries.
How would he live from now on?
But today, he decided not to think about it.
He answered casually while sitting down.
"To be honest, I don't plan on doing design work anymore. I have a working holiday visa, so I'll probably go there."
"Working holiday? Where?"
"Australia."
—
About thirty minutes later.
Kang Woojin rested his chin on his hand and stared blankly at his monitor.
Now that his resignation was confirmed, he had completely lost motivation.
Then—
Swoosh.
Looking exhausted, Woojin picked up his phone.
Unread messages and the time were displayed on the screen.
→ February 3, 2020
→ 10:22 AM
Only thirty minutes had passed?
Time felt frozen.
Right then—
Bang!
The office door suddenly burst open.
The toad-faced CEO stormed in, his face red with anger.
"Hey!! Kang Woojin!"
The shout was clearly directed at him.
"Get out of here right now! I can't stand seeing your face!!"
At that exact moment—
Woojin was cheering inside.
'Perfect. I should be thanking him.'
One week later.
Around noon inside Kang Woojin's studio apartment.
Woojin lived in Suji-dong, Yongin City.
His apartment was surprisingly tidy. Clothes were neatly arranged on the wall, showing how organized he was.
But in the middle of the apartment—
"..."
A vagrant was sprawled on the floor, sleeping deeply.
Of course, it was Kang Woojin.
His appearance was the complete opposite of the tidy apartment.
He still wore the padded jacket he had gone out in yesterday, and the carefully styled hair he once maintained was now completely messy.
Even worse—
Every time he exhaled, a strong smell of alcohol filled the air.
He had drunk heavily with friends last night to celebrate quitting his job.
About an hour passed like that.
"…Ah, damn it."
The vagrant—no, Kang Woojin—finally woke up and groaned while lying down.
"Ugh… my head feels like it's going to split open."
Woojin grabbed his head with both hands and looked around.
"Huh? Home? How did I get home?"
"I remember making it to the second round."
After that, everything was blank.
His memory was wiped clean.
No matter how hard he tried to recall the fragments of last night, nothing came back.
Maybe it was because he hadn't drunk that much alcohol in a long time.
Woojin let out a long sigh that smelled faintly of alcohol and gave up trying to remember.
"Eh, whatever. At least I made it home."
The moment he opened his eyes, he immediately opened a food delivery app.
Right now he desperately wanted mul-naengmyeon.
Curing his hangover came first.
Just then—
Bzzzz.
His phone vibrated.
A call.
The caller was his best friend Kim Daeyoung, who had been drinking with him last night.
Still lying on his side, Woojin put the phone to his ear.
"Hello—"
Hearing Woojin's voice, Daeyoung laughed on the other end.
"Listen to your voice. You sound like you're about to collapse. Still, you made it home safely, right?"
"How much did we drink yesterday? My stomach feels completely empty."
"You don't remember?"
"No. I don't remember anything from last night."
The moment he heard that answer, Kim Daeyoung cursed immediately.
"You idiot. Yesterday you suddenly disappeared while we were drinking. For like thirty minutes. We were seriously considering filing a missing person report. What were you doing?"
"Really? How would I remember? Anyway, why did you call?"
"Damn it. So you don't remember our conversation either? You promised to come to the interview with me."
Interview?
Kang Woojin slowly scratched his chin.
He had absolutely no memory of that.
"What interview are you talking about all of a sudden? Aren't you doing fine at your company? Are you changing jobs? Are you crazy? That's a mid-size company."
"No! This guy is unbelievable. Not a job interview—it's the preliminaries for 'Super Actor'!"
The Super Actor Kim Daeyoung mentioned was a new variety show currently in production.
It was produced by SBC.
As the name suggested, it was an audition program designed to discover hidden stars, and it had been heavily promoted for the past month.
Woojin tilted his head and asked through the phone.
"Super Actor? You're going to try that? You're switching to acting?"
Kim Daeyoung cursed again.
"No, you idiot! I told you yesterday… sigh… I just submitted a few documents and a video for fun. And somehow I passed the first screening."
"Oh really?"
Kim Daeyoung treated acting as a hobby.
He worked at a company during the week and attended a theater club on weekends.
Of course, Woojin knew this.
"They must be accepting anyone. I mean, you passed."
"Shut up. Anyway, the first evaluation and interview are tomorrow morning. It's not an official shoot, but I'm nervous, so I asked you to come with me."
"So that's why I said 'okay' yesterday?"
How strange.
Woojin quickly changed his tone.
"Friend, I was drunk yesterday. Completely out of my mind. Why would I go there? What would I even do? Don't you have work tomorrow?"
"That's my problem. You just need to stand next to me and cheer me on. They said we can bring family or friends. Just wait outside while I do the interview."
"…I'm not really in the mood today."
"Hey! You're unemployed anyway! After it's over we'll eat pork belly and drink soju! As much as you want!"
"Hmm."
Woojin hesitated.
Then Kim Daeyoung added one more sentence.
"Hong Hyeyeon is one of the judges tomorrow!!"
Woojin froze.
His eyes suddenly lit up.
"…What? Who?"
"Hong! Hye! Yeon! You might even get to see Hong Hyeyeon."
"Really?"
"I swear on my life."
Hong Hyeyeon.
The most popular actress of the moment.
An actress every man knew.
And she was going to be a judge?
Kim Daeyoung quickly explained over the phone.
"Super Actor has different judges every episode. One of them is some famous drama PD. Hong Hyeyeon is working on a project with him. She's only appearing once."
"How do you know that?"
"Look it up yourself, idiot. It's in the articles. And we're friends, right? Come with me."
Woojin, who had just stood up from his seat, answered with a determined face.
"You should've mentioned friendship earlier… so, my friend—what time are we meeting tomorrow?"
His attitude had completely changed.
The next morning.
Wednesday, February 12.
Around 10 AM.
The location was the SBC Art Center in Mok-dong.
Wearing padded jackets, Kang Woojin and Kim Daeyoung entered the five-story building that looked almost like a large house.
For reference, Kim Daeyoung had an impressive build.
Although he was about the same height as Woojin—over 180 cm—his upper body looked much more muscular.
Still—
"Wow, there are a lot of people."
Woojin was genuinely surprised.
The lobby of the art center was already packed with people.
Dozens of staff members stood at the entrance guiding participants, and contestants continued to enter nonstop.
There had to be at least two hundred people.
But this was only the tip of the iceberg.
Kim Daeyoung explained.
"This is probably only about thirty percent. I heard the first audition for Super Actor is divided by time slots."
"So at least six hundred people are coming today?"
"Of course. You should watch TV sometimes."
"Doesn't matter. It has nothing to do with me."
Anyway—
After completing the information check with a staff member, Woojin and Daeyoung followed the signs and staff gestures down a hallway filled with contestants.
They entered a room labeled:
Waiting Room 1.
Creak.
Inside, plastic chairs were packed tightly together, and more than half were already filled.
Woojin pointed at an empty chair.
"Hey. Let's sit there."
"Okay."
The moment he sat down, Kim Daeyoung touched the number tag on his chest and took a deep breath.
"Hoo— damn it. I'm so nervous."
Whether it was true or not, Kang Woojin—who looked completely uninterested—unzipped his padded jacket and crossed his legs.
"You've been doing theater as a hobby for a long time, right? More than three years."
"Right."
"And you're still nervous? Doesn't your club do free performances or something?"
"Shut up! Is that the same level?"
"What's the difference? Acting is acting. I don't know anything about acting, but you should at least treat it like the same level and try your best. You might become a top actor through this show."
Soon, Kim Daeyoung let his imagination run wild.
"Damn… just thinking about it gives me chills."
He grinned widely, then suddenly looked around at the dozens of contestants.
Then he grabbed his stomach.
"Uh… hey. I need to take a dump. My stomach feels weird."
"Are you crazy? When does the interview start?"
"No idea. I heard they'll call us."
"Then go ask and come back quickly. Don't chicken out while acting."
As if he couldn't hold it anymore, Kim Daeyoung jumped up and ran toward a female staff member at the waiting room entrance.
After a short conversation, he rushed out into the hallway.
Watching his friend leave, Woojin muttered.
"What a waste."
He leaned deeper into the plastic chair.
About ten minutes passed.
Woojin frowned and checked the time on his phone.
Daeyoung was taking way too long.
"What is that idiot doing?"
Right then—
"Kim Daeyoung, Kim Junsu, Kim Taejung!"
A male staff member stood at the front of the waiting room and called out to the contestants.
"Kim Daeyoung, Kim Junsu, Kim Taejung!!"
Names were being called in order.
Kim Daeyoung's name came first.
When other contestants began moving forward, Kang Woojin looked slightly confused.
Soon—
"Excuse me."
Woojin raised his hand to call a staff member.
"Sorry, my friend Kim Daeyoung is in the restroom right now… I'll go get him immediately."
"Ah, he's in the restroom? Hmm. One moment. You're his friend?"
"Yes."
The male staff spoke into the intercom hanging around his neck.
Interestingly—
He suddenly grinned.
It was the playful smile often seen from variety show staff.
Like he had something in mind.
Then the staff member spoke to Woojin.
"Then would you like to go in first instead of your friend?"
"Excuse me?"
Woojin frowned.
"Me?"
"Yes. Your friend is first in line. At this rate, Kim Daeyoung will automatically be disqualified. If he comes back soon, you can just hold the spot. Once he arrives, we'll guide him."
So it was better for someone to occupy the spot than leave it empty.
Woojin didn't fully understand, but thinking of his friend, he let out a small sigh.
"Where should I go?"
A moment later—
Woojin arrived at the end of the hallway.
Two other contestants sat on small chairs beside the door.
After a brief instruction, Woojin entered the room.
And then—
'Whoa…'
Woojin quietly admired the interior.
Unlike the waiting room earlier, this place looked much more organized.
At the front was a long desk with the Super Actor logo printed on it.
Two large cameras stood on the left side.
Small cameras were also installed across the ceiling and around the room.
There were about ten staff members present.
Among them—
A woman in her late thirties with short hair approached Woojin with a playful smile.
"You're Kim Daeyoung's friend, right?"
Woojin nodded slightly while looking around the room.
"Yes. I'll call my friend right away."
"Sure. Take this and sit over there."
The woman handed him a thin stack of papers and pointed to a chair placed prominently in front of the desk.
"That's your script. Today's task is improvisational acting, so read it quickly and perform right away. If you're bored while waiting for your friend, you can read it first."
"Ah, okay."
"The judges will arrive soon."
Woojin asked confidently,
"Excuse me… is Hong Hyeyeon one of the judges?"
The woman's smile widened.
"Yes. That's right. But you can't ask for autographs or photos."
Woojin's chest filled with excitement.
He sat down on the chair, trying to hide his anticipation behind a faint smile.
Then—
Swoosh.
While dialing Kim Daeyoung, he glanced at the script resting on his lap.
This single sheet of paper meant nothing to him.
But—
"Why isn't this guy answering…?"
Woojin paused while looking down at the script.
"…What is this?"
He stared closely at the space beside the script.
Something strange was there.
How could he describe it?
A square about the size of an A4 page.
Inside it—
Black and gray patterns swirled like a vortex.
Anyone would find it strange.
Because—
"…"
As if hypnotized, Woojin slowly moved his index finger.
He wanted to poke the strange thing.
Carefully, he pressed his finger into the center of the swirling square.
And then—
Something happened.
"Ah!"
He was pulled in by something.