About an hour later.
The first scene finally passed on the sixth take. The fifth had already been good enough, especially since Yasuta's acting had noticeably improved by then, but Director Kyotaro wanted to make absolutely sure.
In the end, he got what he wanted.
'Good. We'll go with either the fifth or the sixth.'
With that, the difficult opening scene of The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice was complete. But the set, packed with Director Kyotaro and dozens of staff members, only grew busier.
They had finished only the first scene.
"Fog! Make the fog thicker!"
"Yes!"
"The director wants one more light added!"
"We're setting it now!"
"Props team! Where's the other wooden boat? We need another camera!"
"We'll get it ready!"
By the time anyone noticed, it was already well past eight in the evening. The reporters, the production and distribution staff, and most of the villagers had already left, leaving only the actors behind.
The fishing village of Ine Funaya felt even more eerie now.
Thanks to the filming arrangement, every light in the village except the streetlights had been dimmed or shut off completely. Around the dock set in particular, it was almost pitch-black, with only the soft lighting for the shoot left burning.
Then the slate clapped again.
Bang!!
Director Kyotaro's voice rang sharply across the set.
"Action!!"
At the same time, Kang Woojin released Iyota Kiyoshi through his whole body. The life vanished from his eyes in an instant.
His face had already been hard to read, but now it was several times more opaque. Darkness seemed to settle over it.
Across from him, Konakayama Kinjo had changed too. Gone was the earlier noisy panic. Now he felt like a grown man forcing himself to suppress the fear of a child.
Looking out over the sea buried in fog, Woojin spoke in a dry voice.
"Do you remember Toka? Misaki Toka."
"...Toka. Misaki Toka. Th-that's right. You! You were Kiyoshi. Iyota Kiyoshi?"
"That's right. You finally remember."
"Th-that's really you? Iyota Kiyoshi?"
"It's been a long time."
There was no expression in the greeting. No warmth, no anger, nothing. At that moment, Kinjo's breathing grew ragged and his eyes widened.
"Why are you doing this?"
He wanted to say more, but the words would not come. Woojin stayed silent for a moment, breathing evenly.
Inside him, though, something cold and exact was moving. It was not anger or frustration. It was closer to recognition.
Kinjo had recognized him, and that had changed his thinking. The proof was in his voice. The sense of danger there had eased just a little.
You have to catch every shift in the other person. Hesitate once, and everything collapses.
Woojin became colder still.
The calm he had been maintaining dropped even lower, and his face seemed to freeze over. As the camera moved in on his upper body, he began speaking again.
"Kinjo. This is a fishing village near Chiba Prefecture."
In reality, Ine Funaya was in Kyoto, but for the film, the setting had been changed to Chiba.
"And this is also Misaki Toka's hometown."
"Ki-Kiyoshi. Don't tell me this is because we picked on her a little back then?"
"Of course not."
"Ha, haha. Right. Right, of course. You're generous. Just like I thought. It was only a joke, wasn't it?"
"But Toka is dead."
At once, everything he had buried came rushing back. Toka, what had happened to her, the fact of her death, even the relief he himself had once felt.
But Kinjo did not show it. He had to hide it, no matter what.
"...Th-that was!"
"That's right. She jumped on her own. But that's hardly different from being pushed by several people."
Kinjo's lips trembled as he stared at Woojin. Then his gaze flicked toward the man in rags in the other boat.
Without any change in expression, Woojin asked in the same dry tone,
"How much of that push came from you?"
Silence hung between them for a beat.
Then Director Kyotaro cut in.
"It's good, but change the composition and the movement. Again."
The shot list moved on.
──────────
The next scene opened with Kinjo slowly lowering his head after Iyota's question. His eyes kept darting around, still calculating.
This lunatic. What is he even talking about? Revenge? Because of Misaki Toka?
'Why bring that up now of all times?!'
More importantly, did this bastard really know everything? No, that could not be right.
'We knew that bitch's weakness, and she never had the guts to say anything.'
Still staring down at his bare feet, Kinjo slowly lifted his head. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Woojin's dry face became even clearer.
Kinjo made up his mind.
"Kiyoshi, I think you've got the wrong idea!"
He would deny everything.
"Me? I was good to Toka. The others bullied her a bit. No, it was bad. Fine. But I felt sorry for her. I even tried to stop them."
Woojin said nothing.
"This is unfair. If Toka were alive, she'd probably tell you to spare me."
"I see."
"Th-that's right. Ah, how about this? I'll help you."
"No. If it were Toka, she would've chosen forgiveness over hatred toward you."
"...What?"
Woojin let out a bored sigh.
"Kinjo. You really are clever."
"What do you mean?"
"Even now, you're calculating. Whether I know everything or not. Fine. Keep denying it."
"W-wait, Kiyoshi."
"Do whatever you want. It's fine."
That one line was enough to terrify him. More precisely, it terrified Yasuta, who was inside Kinjo.
He could not explain why. It was only a dry voice, but it felt as if death itself were standing right in front of him.
The same was true of Woojin's vacant eyes.
'Damn it. How can he act like that?'
Without meaning to, Yasuta felt a flicker of envy. Then he forced himself back into Kinjo's mind.
There was nowhere to run. Only the sea. A sea thick with fog. Was it deep? Probably. It was frightening.
He wanted to live.
But there was no trace of hope in Kiyoshi's face.
The camera caught Yasuta's increasingly unstable profile. Suddenly, he threw himself backward and shouted toward the eerie village.
"Help me!!! Over here!! There are people here! Please, save me!!"
His voice echoed off the mountain beyond the village.
No answer came back.
Only Woojin's expressionless face replied.
"Kinjo, you're only making things worse. There's no one here. Do you remember the bubble economy from decades ago?"
"...What?"
"This place once tried to grow into a tourist destination. Inns and restaurants sprang up everywhere. Then the bubble burst, and everything failed. No one comes here now."
It really was like an abandoned village.
"If they investigate tomorrow, they'll figure it out eventually. But for now, no one knows you're here."
"How did I... how did I even get here?"
"By car."
Woojin gestured toward the man in the neighboring boat.
"He drove. We sent your wife a message from your phone."
"Here."
"You use business trips as an excuse to meet women all the time. You're often out late too. Your wife probably won't suspect anything. The three of us will stay here until morning."
Kinjo said nothing.
"Are you hungry?"
"Ki-Kiyoshi. It's me."
"If not..."
Woojin moved quickly. He pulled a phone from his pocket. It was Kinjo's.
"Make a call."
"...What? To who?"
"Horinochi Ami. She owns the karaoke place you were at just before coming here. She's also one of the nine people from our class."
According to the script, before being brought here, Kinjo had been drinking at a karaoke bar run by his former classmate Horinochi Ami. Her name was also on the crumpled list of nine names Iyota Kiyoshi carried.
"I'll tell you what to say. Repeat it exactly, then hang up."
"Amie... wait. Kiyoshi, are you really trying to get revenge for Misaki Toka?"
Woojin gave a slight shake of his head.
"No. It's simply something I have to do."
"Something... you have to do?"
"Homework."
Kinjo's body began shaking even harder. His brow knotted deeply.
"Hey, if this is some kind of joke, stop it right now. Why? Why are you doing this for Misaki Toka? You were nothing to her."
"That's right. I'm just a stranger."
At that point, Director Kyotaro called cut again.
"Cut! Good!"
This time, the take ended cleanly. Everyone had been so focused that dozens of staff members simply swallowed and watched in silence.
And the reset was complete.
Compared to the earlier takes, this one moved much faster. Not only Woojin, but Yasuta and even the actor playing the homeless man had all improved visibly.
For Yasuta, it was the first time since becoming an actor that he had experienced something like falling out of himself inside a role.
The difference between the earlier Kinjo and the current one was that stark.
He had to keep violent emotions under control and hold them there. More than that, he did not want to let go of the vivid memories of Kinjo wrapped around his whole body.
'Have I ever felt anything like this before?'
For Yasuta, it was the deepest immersion he had ever had as an actor. That was why he started wanting more.
Acting was fun.
The moment Director Kyotaro called action, the cynical Kang Woojin standing in front of him transformed instantly. The absent Kiyoshi returned in less than a second, and the speed of it was startling.
Listening to the dry lines Woojin delivered, Yasuta understood just how far Woojin's acting had gone.
"Call her, Kinjo."
That thought was not entirely his own.
'Mr. Iyota Kiyoshi. No... Mr. Kang Woojin. It was thanks to this Korean actor that I was able to take this role.'
He was being shaped by Kang Woojin's presence. Woojin stood in the middle of the vast set like a solid pillar, and because of that, Yasuta's own performance shone more clearly.
'Because it feels real. Because he really is Kiyoshi, it feels like I've stepped into the world of The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice itself.'
In that moment, The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice was Kang Woojin, and Kang Woojin was The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice.
That was how it felt to Yasuta as he looked straight at him. Director Kyotaro, watching through the monitor, and Akari, the original author, had likely felt the same.
It was as if the entire set of The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice had unfolded itself in Kang Woojin's hands.
Normally, when the other actor was lacking, you had to carry the scene alone. The camera would naturally capture the gap in skill between the two performers, and the result was what people called an unnatural scene.
Yasuta had gone through that countless times.
But here, it was different.
There was no problem at all.
'Because all I have to do is focus on my part.'
If you memorized the script properly and added a slightly exaggerated performance, things usually came out passably well. Back then, in the Japanese film industry, striking image mattered more than chemistry between actors or pure acting ability.
That had been the reality.
But The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice was not like that. In this place, which revolved around Kang Woojin, Yasuta had no reason to exist unless he truly became Kinjo.
'Ha... Kang Woojin. This actor's presence is overwhelming.'
Creak.
On the gently rocking wooden boat, Woojin's dry voice rang out again.
"The message you need to give Horinochi Ami is simple."
"...Wh-what is it?"
"Just tell her, 'Misaki Toka has returned.'"
"T-Toka has returned?"
"Yes. That's all. Then I'll send you home."
"Really?!"
"Of course. I really will send you home."
Without changing his expression, Woojin handed him the phone.
"Just so you understand, you can't make a mistake."
"No! I won't. Absolutely not."
"It's fine, Kinjo. Even if you do make a mistake."
"It's fine?"
"For example, if you tell 'Amie' what's happening now or ask her to save you, that's fine too."
"N-no! I wouldn't do that!"
"That's fine too. The situation would only change a little. But then tomorrow morning, they'd find you stripped naked and ruined beyond recognition."
Woojin delivered the words without emotion, while Kinjo's arm shook uncontrollably. Even so, he managed to take the phone.
He found Horinochi Ami in the call log and dialed. Then, with a trembling hand, he pressed the phone to his ear.
"...Ah, Ami."
His eyes lifted toward Kiyoshi across from him.
"Misaki Toka has returned."
A woman's raised voice burst from the other end, but Kinjo slowly lowered the phone. Woojin took it back, then walked toward the boat where the ragged man was waiting.
"Well done, Kinjo."
The man dressed like a drifter crossed over to the boat Woojin had been sitting in, and they switched places. Anxiety flickered through Kinjo's eyes.
Then Woojin's calm voice reached him.
"Now I'll send you home. But you probably won't make it back alive."
──────────
A little later, Kang Woojin stood on the roof of the tallest building in the fishing village. Two cameras behind him were filming his back.
On the railing stood the same ragged man from before. Only the location had changed. Everything else felt familiar.
It was almost the same as the final scene between Misaki Toka and Kiyoshi.
Soon, the ragged man, who looked to be in his sixties, glanced down from the roof. Below lay the harbor and the moonlit sea.
Two wooden boats floated on the water. On one of them, a naked man lay sprawled out.
It was Konakayama Kinjo.
For some reason, he did not move at all. Perhaps he was asleep.
Whether he was or not, the man's gaze drifted to the moon in the distance.
"Tomorrow, the world will turn upside down. The detectives will chase you like mad. Don't get careless just because the fog is hiding you."
Kang Woojin, or rather Iyota Kiyoshi, answered without expression.
"You don't need to go that far, Mr. Misaki Shutoku."
So that was his name.
Misaki Shutoku.
The same surname as Misaki Toka.
The man laughed openly.
"That's true. But right now, I want to see my daughter."
"Death is just death. Saying you'll see her again afterward is only superstition."
"Ha ha. You're exactly the same as when I first met you, Iyota Kiyoshi. Sorry for placing such a heavy burden on you."
"It isn't a burden."
"Right, right. It's your homework, isn't it? You said so yourself. If I stay silent, the detectives will be completely thrown off. I'm perfectly sane, but I don't have the courage to stay quiet. That's why I'm asking you, my daughter's 'strange' friend, to handle this."
Woojin gave no response after that. It was not that he chose not to respond. He simply could not.
The man standing on the railing had already disappeared, just as Misaki Toka had.
The drifter was gone.
He had been Misaki Toka's father.