Prologue
Five years old.
That was when Koo Hyun-mo first stood in front of a camera.
Hyun-mo had been a bright-eyed child from a young age—quick to understand things and good with words—so his mother led him by the hand into acting.
The role he landed right from the start was quite substantial.
After all, the title of the work even included the name of the character he played.
Acting at such a young age was unfamiliar to him, but what helped him endure it was the actor Oh Jung-seop, who played his father in the drama.
Whenever filming breaks ran long, Hyun-mo stayed glued to Jung-seop's side, memorizing lines together and chatting with him.
Jung-seop found Hyun-mo endearing too and took good care of him—so much so that Hyun-mo felt closer to him than to his own parents.
"Is acting fun?"
One day, Jung-seop asked Hyun-mo whether he found acting enjoyable.
It was a question that came up because Hyun-mo, though only five, was holding up surprisingly well—even though there was no way a child that young could truly understand the fun of acting.
"I'm not sure…"
Hyun-mo had never really thought about it. After all, he had become a child actor purely because of his mother's dream.
"But… I think I want to keep doing it."
Jung-seop grew intrigued by Hyun-mo's unexpected answer.
"You want to keep doing it? So you're not just forcing yourself because your mom told you to?"
Everyone on set knew the truth.
Most child actors hadn't chosen this path for themselves.
Koo Hyun-mo was no exception.
His mother would coax him at times and yell at him at others—always pushing young Hyun-mo in front of the camera.
Yet here he was, saying he wanted to keep going. It was unexpected.
"I know it's what my mom tells me to do… but while I'm acting, you're my dad, Mister."
"What?"
"That's why I want to act. Because right now, I get to live as Dae-han… and while I'm acting, I don't have to be Mom's son…."
"What…?"
Could words like these really come from a five-year-old?
"Come here, Dae-han."
Oh Jung-seop sat Hyun-mo on his knee and called him by his character's name. It worried him that a preschooler who had never properly learned how to act would say that he could "live as Dae-han," but at the same time, he found it impressive.
"Maybe… with you, the singularity might actually come."
"Singularity? What's that?"
Yes, maybe.
Jung-seop suddenly had a feeling that this kid could become a pretty decent actor.
"Hmm… how should I explain this? If method acting is when an actor internalizes a character's emotions and psychology through their own experiences and imagination, then the singularity is—at some point—something inexplicable…."
For a brief moment, he caught himself. What was he even saying to a five-year-old?
"…They say it's a state beyond explanation, where the actor and the character become perfectly aligned and the boundary between them disappears—a level that can't be reached through theory or training alone. In other words… it transcends acting."
Hyun-mo, too, was staring at Jung-seop with a look that clearly said, What is this guy even talking about?
"What am I even saying to you…."
Of course, no matter how bright the child was, these weren't words a five-year-old could possibly understand.
"If the singularity comes… is that a good thing?"
Koo Hyun-mo looked up at Jung-seop with his big, sparkling eyes and asked.
"They say that if you're an actor—if you truly want to become a real actor—it's so good that you'd die to have it."
Oh Jung-seop wore an inexplicably strange smile. It was an expression Hyun-mo had never seen before. He flinched at Jung-seop's almost unsettling expression, but…
He didn't know what it meant to love something so much you'd die for it.
"Hyun-mo, do you want to reach the singularity too?"
Still, if it was that wonderful, Hyun-mo thought that someday he absolutely wanted to reach that singularity.
"Yes! I definitely… want to!"
***
Time passed, and now.
At thirty, Koo Hyun-mo had become a top star.
Chapter 1
Chairman Kim's Study (Night)
Min-soo enters the study. As the smell of cigarette smoke and old leather hits his nostrils, he frowns in displeasure.
Outside the window, raindrops trickle slowly down, and on the wall, shadows flicker in the swaying light.
Soon, Chairman Kim, who had been sitting in the darkness, is revealed, gazing silently at Min-soo.
Chairman Kim:
(in a low but heavy voice)
"Did you bring excuses?"
Min-soo hesitates for a moment, then speaks as if he's made up his mind.
Min-soo:
(in a trembling voice, though trying to hide it)
"Chairman, I really don't understand why you're—"
Min-soo, with blood on his hands, looks at Chairman Kim with a wronged expression. Chairman Kim laughs mockingly at the sight of him.
Chairman Kim:
"You dared to betray me."
Chairman Kim slowly rises from his seat and walks toward Min-soo. His massive shadow approaches and completely engulfs Min-soo's face.
Min-soo:
(swallowing dryly, pausing for a moment before speaking)
"What are you talking about…?"
Chairman Kim:
(in a chilling whisper)
"Did you think I wouldn't know that you smuggled out and hid the bastard I told you to take care of?"
The moment Chairman Kim finishes speaking, thugs emerge from the darkness. They surround Min-soo. In an instant, razor-sharp blades are pointed at him.
Min-soo quickly counts the number of blades on his left and right—each one capable of cutting him down at any moment.
Min-soo:
(his eyes widen as he stares straight at Chairman Kim)
With everyone watching, Min-soo opens his mouth as if he's made up his mind. Tension reaches its peak—!
"…Was it you who's been tailing me all this time?"
"CUT!!"
As Koo Hyun-mo delivers his line as Min-soo, the director's cracked voice shouting "Cut!" rings loudly through the studio.
The actors and staff, who had been fully immersed in the scene, all turn their eyes toward the director at once.
"Whoa! Oh…! Um, well, our, uh, Koo Hyun-mo-ssi… Ah. Um… sigh… Shall… shall we take a short break?"
The director pressed his throbbing head firmly with both hands.
He couldn't bring himself to point out the acting flaws to Koo Hyun-mo, who had brought in a huge chunk of the film's investment. So he swallowed his words, biting his lips tight as if gulping down bitter water.
"Let's take a break!"
The assistant director caught the director's intent and called out to the staff once more. Almost immediately, sighs burst out from all over like water from a broken dam.
"Again?"
"Ugh, how many times are we going to stop like this?"
"Who else is it gonna be? They say he and Oh Jung-seop are like real father and son, but did he just never learn how to act?"
It was already a scene where Koo Hyun-mo's lines had gone through multiple takes. The staff, their nerves frayed from the shoot dragging on because of a single scene, turned their sharp glances toward Koo Hyun-mo.
"Hey, shh. You're getting loud."
"What, did I say something wrong…"
"Go have a smoke and come back."
"I thought I was fine, though."
"Man, you're just face-blind."
But no one dared to voice their complaints directly to Koo Hyun-mo.
After all, who was Koo Hyun-mo?
Flawless, symmetrical features measured with precision—a face like a sculpture, perfect in every detail. And that dazzling smile of his, working miracles that made the suffocating reality vanish the moment you saw it.
A legendary comedian who could make people burst into laughter just by meeting their eyes, without even opening his mouth. 188 cm tall, 68 kg, with an artistic physique to boot.
An ambassador for various luxury brands, with annual ad revenue pushing 10 billion won—a walking corporation.
People even said they were proud that South Korea was a "Koo Hyun-mo-owning country."
With every word used to describe him more dazzling than the last, he had become the top star of the moment.
“Should I go and say something to the staff?”
“Why bother? Manager Heo.”
At the staff's muttering, Manager Heo glanced at Hyun-mo.
“Not really interested. I don't care what they say. They'll get over it.”
“R-right… I like that mindset.”
“Anyway, Manager Heo. I stumbled over my pronunciation earlier. I was fine during practice.”
“Our Actor Koo… it's because you're nervous about returning to the screen after so long…”
“Hmm. It's been a while since I did noir, too.”
“Th-that's right…”
But even the perfect Koo Hyun-mo had two serious shortcomings…
“I heard some directors these days nitpick every single line during directing. Manager Heo, this is my comeback project after so long—how could you pair me with a rookie director? It's beneath my dignity.”
First, there was his personality, which had been thoroughly ruined from being catered to from all sides.
“All this time… have you been tailing me all this time?”
And second, there was his acting ability, which wouldn't improve even if the Earth split in two.
“Ha… why won't these lines stick in my mouth….”
Not that the lines had ever stuck in Koo Hyun-mo's mouth in the first place. Maybe that's why, whenever the words fumbled around his lips, Oh Jung-seop's words kept circling in his head.
‘Singularity, my foot… You said a singularity would come to me someday….’
Could it be that Oh Jung-seop had made up stories and fed them to an innocent child? Or had he simply misjudged someone?
He'd tried visiting teachers who were good at teaching acting, and he'd tried mimicking other actors' performances, but the acting singularity Oh Jung-seop had spoken of never came.
Far from a singularity, he'd only kept hitting his limits.
“Actor Koo, we'll stand by!”
"Ah, yes."
Truth be told, he already knew.
He knew that luck, not skill, accounted for 80% of his rise to top-star status.
He had succeeded.
From his child actor days, he'd consistently landed lead roles, and with box office hits to boot, he'd made a name for himself early on.
Even if he cried with the same expression and laughed with the same expression, thanks to the writer's blessings, he'd ridden the wave of fantastic character writing and received love.
"Alright, please let's get it in one take this time! Ready!"
The director subtly pressured Hyun-mo as he jumped back in.
'One take this time? In one go?'
Curses swirled in his head, and his pride had already hit rock bottom, but he couldn't say a word.
Truthfully, Koo Hyun-mo was standing on the precipice of his acting career right now.
If that director hadn't been a veteran, or if Hyun-mo hadn't coaxed advertisers into bringing in investment, he wouldn't have even landed the role of "Min-soo."
There was a time when he could get by just by pretending to try, roughly mimicking the role, but that era was over.
Audiences no longer fall for "good enough." Neither does the industry.
They want the real thing.
Real acting. Real emotion. Real actors.
"Camera roll!"
That was why Koo Hyun-mo knew.
He knew that this time, this film, might be his last chance as an actor.
If he failed again this time, he would disappear from this industry forever and live on shooting nothing but commercials.
"Scene 26, take 27!"
But Oh Jung-seop was already an actor.
He was a great actor that everyone acknowledged.
While Hyun-mo was sweeping up money playing second-generation chaebols, department heads, and team leads, basking in the glamorous spotlight, Jung-seop steadily built up a diverse filmography through consistent work.
And now, at over sixty years old, articles were pouring out left and right predicting that he was likely to win an award at the Cannes Film Festival.
‘Has Oh Jung-seop reached the singularity?’
If he had seized the title of "great actor" and reached the point where everyone said, "Oh Jung-seop is the name that comes to mind when you think of acting," then the singularity he spoke of must have certainly arrived.
"Action! What? Wait! What did you say?"
Just then, the director's shout was abruptly cut off, and a strange current rippled through the set.
"For real? What? No—when?"
"Huh?!"
"Why? What is it? What's wrong?"
In an instant, the atmosphere grew restless, and murmurs began to spread among the staff.
Judging by the shocked expressions on their faces, this was no ordinary matter.
Someone hurriedly pulled out their phone, while others were already frozen, staring at their screens.
"What is it? Tell me too. Why is everyone acting like this?"
Unable to contain himself any longer, Koo Hyun-mo grabbed a nearby staff member and asked.
"Ah… well…"
After a moment of hesitation, a trembling voice came from the staff member's lips.
"Right now… Actor Oh Jung-seop's agency… released a death notice."