CH16

Tension flowed on the rooftop of the building scheduled for shooting.

The extended jib crane raised its head, and the staff members scrutinized the filming equipment.

Humans in ragged condition and zombies gathered together to warm up when someone slapped Miles on the back.

"Bro! You already have a terrible face, why so serious? Trying method acting?"

Miles, who was chosen for the role of a zombie because he had a longer neck and protruding cheekbones than the other team members, carefully touched his face.

He felt his rough, log-like skin and torn wounds.

The makeup team had gone all out, to the point where even teammates who had seen it all ate far apart from each other.

"Just a bit anxious."

"What's there to be anxious about? It's not hard, and unlike usual, there's even a safety device below. Is it because of what the child actor you got close to said?"

"…Maybe."

Having heard too many cautions about being careful during filming might have made him unnecessarily sensitive.

"Yeah, it's no big deal, even if it's action."

The lined-up buildings decreased in height, and except for the last one, where the zombies had to fall, the width wasn't very broad either.

The teammates joked that one could close their eyes and jump, so there was no reason to be anxious.

Miles tried to shake off his anxiety.

"The first shot will be a long take. We'll keep filming the escape scene from above."

Pointing to the raised jib crane, the director explained the shooting scene and clapped his hands lightly.

"If we fail, we can just shoot it again, so please be safe."

After confirming that the actors had taken their places, a staff member responsible for syncing video and audio for the editing team clapped the slate.

-Clap!

Simultaneously with the peak appearing on the audio waveform like a dot, Benjamin and the actors playing zombies let out rough cries.

-Aaaaaargh! Aaargh!

"Aaaaah! Run away!"

Chasing after the fleeing survivors, the zombies ran wildly.

A different level of aggression than when the children encountered zombies.

It made one wonder why children, not adults, were wandering the city.

The edge of the rooftop.

The first jump section appeared.

"Ugh!"

Flailing their arms, the survivors noisily crossed, followed by the zombies jumping after them.

The zombies, which would later be erased by CG, rolled roughly over the soft mats, drooling as they chased.

With the shooting going smoothly, Miles completely shook off his worries on the second jump and leaped confidently.

'Just one more jump, and it's the last.'

It's already the third jump section.

Not much different from the previous jumps, Miles was thinking about the last jump he had to fall when he heard a short exclamation.

"Huh?!"

He saw the previously jumped survivor looking back with a panicked expression.

Before even hearing what had happened, the other had crossed to the opposite building, and Miles saw something he shouldn't have.

"Aaaaah?!"

The face of a child, terrified upon seeing the hideous zombie face.

The scene of the child's body, hidden behind an obstacle and falling backward, seemed to slow down.

It felt like his heart dropped.

Miles, who was already halfway towards the next building, floated in mid-air. 

He looked down where the safety net should be and gritted his teeth. 

"Dangerous!" 

The safety net wasn't installed flush against the building's outer wall. 

The falling child appeared as though they would hit the hard ground below. 

"I have to catch the child," Miles thought, beginning to twist his body to somehow catch the building's outer wall with his toes. 

"What the fxxk!" 

Along with a refreshing F-word, a black figure burst out and embraced the child in mid-air. 

Miles, startled, shouted as he saw the figure falling with the child. 

"Ian?!" 

Holding the trembling child tightly in his arms, Ian looked up at the astonished face of Miles. 

"I told you to be careful." 

Ian grumbled to himself, feeling a sensation of floating. 

The sky slowly receded. 

He had never attempted it despite numerous moments of wanting to die but hadn't expected to have a near-death experience like this. 

After what felt like an eternity, he felt an impact on his back. 

Whoosh— 

Briefly feeling the net's undulating touch on his back, the net shook violently as Miles fell onto it. 

"Phew, I'm dead tired." 

Sweat soaked his body from running frantically, and his heart pounded wildly. 

Yet, feeling a deep relief that they had prevented an accident, Miles, who crawled over the net, extended his hand. 

"Ian, are you okay?" 

"I'm fine." 

The moment Ian grasped his hand, there was a flash in his vision. 

Crack— 

A disgusting sound of something breaking, a twisting field of view, and a terrible scream echoed. 

Beyond the hand clutching his grotesquely twisted leg, a red liquid spread damply. 

It was proof that a young life had tragically ended. 

-If only I had been a bit faster. 

-Miles! It's not your fault! Snap out of it! 

Despite his teammate's desperate words, he dreamt every night. 

Nightmares of flailing his arms trying to catch a falling child. 

Dreams that dug into his guilt as the man limped out of the hospital on his wobbly leg. 

It was the start of a homeless life, surviving because he couldn't die. 

Facing disdain and disregard from others as if it were atonement, the man wandered the streets until he met a boy. 

-Your name? Ian Pryce. 

A face marred by hideous burns and the ethnicity of being Asian. 

The only similarity to the deceased child was their year of birth, yet he was drawn to speak to the boy. 

-Do you know parkour by any chance? 

Why had he said that? 

Even as he taught parkour, the question didn't fade. 

After seeing a child being chased by criminals escape safely using parkour on Christmas, he finally understood. 

'The sport I loved could indeed save people.' 

He was overjoyed by this realization, like a Christmas gift. 

Now he could let go of all his regrets. 

Screech— 

A sharp tinnitus scratched past his ears, and someone shook him violently.

"Ian! Ian! What's wrong with you?! Snap out of it!"

"…Miles?"

"Yes, it's me. Are you coming to?"

For a moment, Ian's mind was a tangled mess, unsure of what he had just seen. 

The memories that flashed by, like a flashback, were clearly not his own. 

They belonged to Miles, specifically to the Miles he had met during his homeless days. 

'What was that scene just now?' 

The vivid memory didn't feel like a mere illusion. 

"Is everyone okay here?! Is anyone hurt?!" 

With a booming shout, Ian snapped back to reality. 

The surroundings were incredibly chaotic. 

The shooting had stopped, and all sorts of people, including staff, actors, and guardians, had crowded around the net. Among them, Sophia's face, covering her mouth in shock, caught his eye. 

Ian's first thought was, "Ah, I'm going to get in trouble." 

Oh well, it's done. 

Preventing the accident was what mattered. 

Ian lay sprawled on the net. 

*** 

The shooting was halted due to the near-miss of a major accident, and the showrunner, Caitlin, rushed to the set. 

After a safety assessment and understanding the circumstances of the incident, Caitlin was furious. 

A careless moment could have cost them the airing and potentially billions. 

Caitlin, having issued a stern warning to the parents who let the children play, assuming they were used to the set, replaced all the child labor inspectors overseeing the young actors' shooting. 

After sorting out the situation, Caitlin sought out Ian. 

"I'm not in a position to scold you for taking a risk. Thank you. It's because of you that nothing happened." 

The scene of the child nearly falling through the net had been captured by the camera, and Caitlin couldn't forget that harrowing moment. 

After expressing her gratitude, she hesitated before speaking. 

"I'm really sorry to have to say this to you." 

Ian immediately knew what she was about to say. 

"You want me to keep this incident a secret, right?" 

"…Embarrassing, but yes." 

"Okay. Let's keep it as quiet as possible." 

There was nothing to gain from attracting unnecessary controversy before the broadcast; it could only harm the drama's success. 

'There are no secrets that last forever, but it might come out someday.' 

If the drama was already on the path to success, minimizing the damage was possible, so Ian saw no reason to refuse such a proposal. 

"I really appreciate your understanding." 

Beyond the drama's success, owing a favor to the showrunner, the most influential person in drama production, was also beneficial. 

With the unexpected halt in shooting causing a schedule scramble, while the production team was struggling to rearrange the shooting timetable, Ian had to entertain guests due to the disrupted schedule. 

"You tried stunt work for the first time and you're totally fine? I'm worried you'll start doing action roles without a stuntman soon." 

Ben Roberts came along with a playful laugh. 

Having already checked in on Ian by phone to the point of tedium, the real reason he came was beside him. 

"Are you hurt anywhere?" 

"Thanks for your concern." 

Ian expressed his gratitude to Ayla, who had made time to visit despite her busy schedule, and then called out to Rachel, who was staring blankly upwards. 

"Rachel, what's wrong?"

Rachel already knew she had synesthesia, where she could see sounds with her eyes, but she had only shown this reaction during their first meeting. 

When Ian called her, she snapped back to reality and asked, "Ian, are you hurt or injured anywhere?" 

"As you can see, I'm fine. I even went to the hospital to get a quick check-up, and they said there's no problem." 

"Phew, that's a relief." 

Rachel let out a long sigh of relief and tilted her head. 

"But why has it changed?" 

"What's changed?" 

"Your voice. Your voice has changed." 

It was strange. 

She had never heard such a thing before, and it wasn't because his throat was hurt from falling into a net. 

Of course, it wasn't time for his voice to change due to puberty. 

Since Rachel was not an ordinary child, her words couldn't just be dismissed as a mistake. 

"My voice has changed? Do you mean it sounds weird?" 

"No, not weird. It's actually become prettier." 

Rachel took a step closer and reached out to the sky. 

"Before, it looked like a bright halo of light, but now, um…" 

After a moment of thought, Rachel smiled brightly. 

"It's like the sparkling Milky Way. So beautiful that I can't take my eyes off it."

***

"The ADR just never ends." 

ADR, also known as post-recording or dubbing, was a source of sighs among the staff. 

The reasons for doing ADR were typically twofold. 

First, if the original filming was marred by mistakes, such as dialogue not being recorded properly or excessive background noise. 

Second, if new, more engaging dialogue was realized during editing and needed to be recorded. 

"Invisible Children" had many running scenes, necessitating a lot of ADR work, and as the staff checked the work, something struck one of them as odd. 

"Huh, this is interesting." 

"What is?" 

Upon the colleague's inquiry, the staff played the video. 

-Do you know why there are no children among the zombies? 

-Now that you mention it, why is that? 

-Even if we're bitten, we don't get infected. We just die. Maybe the zombies aren't interested in us because they can't turn us into one of them. 

Noah, answering, climbed the iron stairs with the sound of zombie moans in the background. 

-So, I want to be bitten when I'm an adult. Is it weird that I think that? 

The desire for life was evident on the face, not something expected from a mere 10-year-old. 

This was an important scene that fleshed out the character of Noah, who might have seemed just playful, adding depth to his character. 

"What's so interesting about that? Noah's role being well-acted is hardly surprising now." 

"No, that's not what I mean. There's a lot of background noise right now." 

Zombie moans and the creaking of iron stairs were quite loud, to the extent that Benjamin's voice was hardly captured. 

"But strangely, Noah's voice is the only one that comes through clearly. It's not just a matter of good diction."

"So?" 

"The voice itself is special." 

Yes, that was the most fitting description.

TL/n - 

Synesthesia is a fascinating neurological condition where stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in another. For example, someone with synesthesia might see colors when they hear music or taste flavors when they read words.

There are different types of synesthesia, such as:

Grapheme-color synesthesia: Letters or numbers are perceived as inherently colored.

Chromesthesia: Sounds involuntarily evoke an experience of color, shape, and movement.

Lexical-gustatory synesthesia: Certain words or sounds trigger specific tastes.

It's not considered a medical condition but rather a unique way some people's brains process sensory information. Many synesthetes find it enhances their creativity and memory.

***

You can read 

Chaebol (up to Chapter 45+)

I'm an Actor (up to Chapter 40+)

Perfect Hero (up to Chapter 40+)

Devil's Idol (up to Chapter 10+)

An Investor Who Sees The Future (up to Chapter 20+)

I was hoping you could support me on my Patreon at p@treon.com/inkbound 

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