Fade in.

An ordinary office.

The camera begins with a bird's-eye view of a vast office floor, then slowly zooms in until a single man stands at the center of the frame.

"Yes, this is Assistant Manager Park Ju Won from the Logistics Management Team at Samjin Trading."

"Yes—?"

"No, why would that shipment end up there...? I think you'll need to move it back. Redirect another shipment instead? Haha... Believe me, I'd like to do that too. No, we can't. You know that. Please resolve it and get back to me."

Click.

The screen abruptly turns black.

White gothic lettering appears in the center of the darkness like a documentary caption.

<You are competent.>

The office returns.

A new employee pokes his head around the partition beside Park Ju Won's desk.

"Assistant Manager."

"Assistant Manager!"

"Assistant Manager~~"

The same basic questions he has already answered continue to repeat.

When the rookie asks a third elementary question, Park Ju Won's expression hardens.

Even when smiling, he never looked particularly approachable.

But the moment all expression leaves his face, a chilling coldness settles over him.

The intimidated rookie mutters an apology and hurriedly withdraws his head.

Park Ju Won immediately restores a perfectly measured smile and resumes his phone call.

The caption appears once more.

<You are competent.>

The office reappears.

Park Ju Won's desk sits empty.

His back can be seen in the distance.

Several partitions away lies the team leader's desk.

Like Sadako crawling out of a television, the camera abruptly jumps forward and closes the distance in an instant.

"This is giving me a headache. For now, have Assistant Manager Park cover Assistant Manager Yoon's workload."

"...Understood, Team Leader. Naturally we need to redistribute the work in a situation like this. But the lines I'm managing are already operating at maximum capacity, so I probably won't be able to cover everything. I'll review the staffing situation and divide the tasks appropriately."

"...Fine."

As he turns to return to his desk, his face comes into view.

The corners of his mouth are still raised.

His eyes, however, remain expressionless.

Black screen.

Another caption.

<However>

The image returns, filled entirely by the office clock.

5:59:57.

   The moment the minute and second hands align, he rises smoothly from his chair.

Pop.

At that instant, every movement in the office freezes and drains into grayscale.

A coworker frozen mid-sentence while answering a phone.

A manager halted while scratching his shin without taking his eyes off a monitor.

A droplet of water suspended in midair between a dispenser and a waiting paper cup.

Within that black-and-white world—

Only Park Ju Won remains in color.

Beep.

He presses the button on his car key.

Thump.

Thump.

A rhythmic beat begins echoing from somewhere unseen, gradually growing louder.

In the middle of the office floor, a bright red sedan slowly materializes.

'Whoa...!'

The head of Crude's design team unconsciously swallowed.

Against the monochrome backdrop, the blazing red Crude looked as if it might burst into flames.

For a moment, he found himself marveling at his own design.

Was it always this cool?

Park Ju Won moves casually beside the vehicle.

He loosens his tie and folds it neatly twice.

He unbuttons his shirt.

As he rolls up his sleeves, colorful lining unexpectedly appears from within the otherwise conservative shirt.

He ruffles his hair.

Trades his stiff dress shoes for sneakers.

And finally—

Removes his glasses.

At that moment, the rigid smile disappears.

A completely different smile spreads across his face.

Bright.

Fearless.

A smile so openly delighted it feels contagious.

The camera captures him in all his brilliance as words appear across the screen one character at a time.

<Competence Is Not All That You Are>

Without hesitation, he slides into the driver's seat.

His foot presses the accelerator.

Vroooom—

The engine roars as the RPM climbs.

The car launches forward—

And smashes straight through the office wall.

BOOM!

Even Director Min, who already knew the storyboard, felt his heart jump.

Of course, the sound had been enhanced to maximize impact.

But one executive who hadn't seen the storyboard actually gasped aloud.

Among the executives, those who had climbed from entry-level positions rather than parachuting into management unconsciously clenched their fists.

They too had spent decades trapped inside offices, suppressing the urge to run away and earning their way to where they stood now.

Watching the wall collapse, several nearly let out whistles before catching themselves.

The wall crumbles away.

With a brilliant blue sky behind it, the Crude races down an empty city road devoid of even a single pedestrian.

Vooooom—

The growl of the engine blends with the driving beat of the music.

As the car speeds onward, a series of inserts appears alongside captions.

Park Ju Won wearing the smile of a wild predator as he draws a bow and aims at a target.

<You, who had to be competent all day long, have earned the right.>

A dazzling figure commanding attention while dancing in a nightclub.

<The right to enjoy your real life.>

The Crude reaches a racing circuit after tearing across the highway.

The vehicle charges around the track with aggressive intensity.

When Park Ju Won climbs out and removes his helmet, the camera captures a radiant smile bursting with life.

The bright red Crude stands beside him.

<The unrefined, authentic you stands out.>

<Crude You, with Crude>

As every executive sits spellbound, unable to tear their eyes away from the center of the screen—

The image slowly fades back into the office.

The same office as before.

The clock reads exactly nine o'clock.

Park Ju Won sits at his desk once more, wearing the same professional smile.

Then he notices one sleeve is still rolled up.

Seeing the strip of green fabric peeking out, he briefly lets a genuine smile slip through.

He quickly fixes the sleeve.

Changes his smile back.

And places his hands on the keyboard.

Clack.

Clack.

Clack.

The camera pulls away.

The first preview screening of Crude comes to an end.

 Click.

The fluorescent lights that had been turned off for better viewing come back on.

For several moments, the executives stare blankly at the now-empty screen as though waking from a dream.

Then applause erupts.

Clap—

Clap clap—

Clap clap clap clap—

Seeing their expressions, Park Jin Hee smiled broadly.

"That concludes the first VIP preview screening of Crude. We'd appreciate any feedback regarding revisions or improvements. We'll do our best to reflect it in the second screening."

The first person to speak was the president.

"Director Min!"

"Yes, sir."

"Your modesty is excessive. How can you describe that as merely 'not bad'? Hahaha!"

The president was grinning from ear to ear.

"The visuals were excellent, and the structure is unlike anything I've seen in a car commercial before. Haha. Director Kim, what do you think?"

"I think it's excellent. It has the potential to generate considerable buzz. That actor suits Crude perfectly. His name was Yu Myeong, wasn't it?"

"That's right."

"There was controversy when the marketing department paid such an outrageous fee to a rookie actor. After seeing the final result, I understand completely. I'd like to see him continue as Crude's image model going forward."

"That's our intention."

Director Min answered with a satisfied smile.

Director Kim had also played a ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) major role in the development of Crude.

The president spoke again.

"I don't think there's anything to fix. It turned out wonderfully. The three-minute version exists mainly to generate attention anyway. We should move quickly on the fifteen-second TV commercial."

"The fifteen-second version is essentially a condensed version of this cut. If we don't modify the three-minute version, it'll carry over almost exactly as it is. Will that be acceptable?"

"If it comes out like this, that's perfect! Excellent! Hahaha!"

And just like that, the "first" screening of the three-minute version became the final screening.

The launch of Crude drew ever closer.

 That evening, on God Named.

Post #18712 — [Greetings] Nice to meet you all / Shrimp Snack

Hello everyone ^^

I'm a new member, Shrimp Snack. It means "The Guts of Our New Millennium," hohoho.

Recently I happened to meet actor Yu Myeong through work, and let me tell you, he's an astonishing actor.

I may be a man in my fifties, but my heart is still that of a blossoming twenty-year-old, so please take good care of me.

World's greatest actor, number one in the universe, Yu Myeong—fighting!

└ Wow, an uncle fan! Welcome! Yu Myeong really does have appeal across all ages and genders.

└ That username... hahaha. You really are an uncle.

└ Wait, you met him through work? What was he like? What kind of work? Was it something good? Is Yu Myeong doing a new project?

└ Why is this thread so awkward compared to all the others...? Uncle, stay strong...

Looking at the post, the cafe member Bohyeongyangje felt a chill run down his spine.

'Th-This can't be... right?'

 "Huff... Haaah... Huff..."

Sweat poured from Su Yeon in streams.

Her lungs burned.

The words I can't do this anymore clawed their way up her throat, and she barely managed to swallow them back down.

The senior she was training with was terrifying.

Urgh—

The room spun.

Nausea rose from her stomach.

Only when the physical training finally ended did she feel she might survive.

Without caring about appearances, she collapsed flat onto the wooden floor.

Meanwhile, Ryu Shin calmly finished with stretching.

His training shirt was soaked with sweat, yet his expression remained completely unchanged.

"Ten-minute break. Then we'll do acting practice." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Yes, Senior! Um... is Yu Myeong oppa not coming today?"

"He said he had some matters to take care of. He'll probably be unable to come today."

"Ah... okay."

Su Yeon quietly wiped away her sweat with a towel.

She wasn't accustomed to senior-junior relationships, and she kept finding herself shrinking in front of him.

Actually, perhaps she wasn't accustomed to any kind of relationship.

The person she felt most comfortable with was still Yu Myeong—the one she had met two years ago and who had reached out to her first.

"What did you prepare today?"

"Peter Pan."

It had been two weeks since Yu Myeong and Su Yeon began training together.

And another two weeks had passed since Ryu Shin joined them.

Fairy tale acting.

Recently, this had been Ryu Shin's assignment for her.

Fairy tales contained relatively simple emotions.

He had judged that Su Yeon's acting was not yet capable of handling complex emotional material.

To develop the basic expression of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness—as well as character analysis—he had chosen fairy tales as the foundation.

Even so, there had been little progress.

To Ryu Shin, her acting was so lacking in emotional expression that he occasionally wondered whether she possessed the aptitude for acting at all.

She conveyed text.

Nothing more.

Yet he continued training her without showing any frustration.

If Yu Myeong was right that there existed some hidden breakthrough, then these fundamentals would become the foundation supporting her acting once the problem was resolved.

"Let's see the lines you prepared."

"Here."

She handed him a single sheet of paper.

Today's scene was the moment when Wendy's parents invite Peter Pan to live with them, and Peter refuses, declaring that he will remain in Neverland.

Ryu Shin slowly read through the script and instructed her to perform it.

Then he watched her while reading the other character's lines himself.

Under his piercingly serious gaze, she stood before him and acted with all her effort.

"I don't want to become an adult. Waking up in the morning and touching my face only to find it covered in a beard? I never want to become that kind of adult!"

Her pronunciation was clearer than before.

Her voice carried more resonance.

Her gaze toward the audience had improved.

Yet her acting still did not look like acting.

It was simply herself.

No—not even naturally herself.

"That's enough."

"Hmm..."

Su Yeon looked at him anxiously.

Physical training was difficult, but she could grit her teeth and endure it through determination.

What truly terrified her were moments like this.

The evaluation afterward.

She was always afraid he would finally say:

This isn't working. You don't need to come anymore.

Unlike usual, Ryu Shin did not deliver one of his razor-sharp critiques.

Instead, he stood up and rolled his neck from side to side.

Then he stepped onto the practice floor.

"I'll do it."

He looked at her.

"Watch carefully."

Ryu Shin began to act.