“Uheuh... Uheuheu... UHAHAHAHAHAHK-KUK-KEK!”
He laughed so hard, his breathing turned ragged—he even started choking a little. That’s how funny it was.
Exactly 52 Jokers, each one with a single card tucked into a patch pocket, unleashing chaos.
The sheer absurdity of it was just too much fun to bear.
“Of course... Oh, right. Gotta stick to the truth.”
And Batman... even then, you’ll keep looking for .
You’ll try to track down through truly... truly flawless deduction.
Piecing together countless clues and leads.
You’ll eventually reach where I am.
But—
But you know what?
There’s still one thing you don’t know.
“The Joker card, you see...”
Ah, no—if I say it now, it won’t be fun anymore.
So I’ll stop right here.
***
With the Joker’s final monologue—
“That’s the end of the script.”
The imrsive world ca to a close.
In just a fleeting mont, I finished reading the rest of the script.
“It’s brilliant. I can’t wait to start filming.”
I gave my review.
Honestly, it was fascinating.
Fifty-two fake Jokers.
And on top of that, one last trick from the real Joker that hasn’t even been revealed yet.
It felt like every possible chanism for making the Joker compelling had been loaded into this script.
“Hearing that from you... it’s an honor. I was really nervous, but now I feel relieved.”
“It’s the kind of script that makes nervous. If the script is this strong... I’ll have to work even harder to match it.”
“Haha! Just hearing that ans the world to .”
After sharing a few complints about the script,
Director Cristo got into the filming strategy.
“As you saw, there are 52 fake Jokers. To prevent any leaks during production, we won’t be doing any Joker scenes with you.”
“Ah, that’s a good call. Leaks are the last thing we need.”
Until the day the film is released,
No one can know that Kim Donghu is the Joker.
More precisely—no one outside the production team and studio staff.
Because that is one of Murcielago’s core plot twists.
“To be honest, even though we say 52 Jokers... we can’t exactly highlight each of them individually.”
“Because of the runti, right?”
“Exactly. They’re puppets, after all.”
They had been cast through auditions.
Most of them were newcors, or actors who had yet to be in the spotlight.
Cheap talent—but with just enough spark to explode if given the chance.
They were being handed a few lines as minor Jokers.
Naturally, they’d throw themselves into it—and Cristo was counting on that.
“They’ll all be wearing masks or in disguise... performing their versions of the Joker.”
Cristo laid out the rest of the production plan.
“Anyway, if we break the film into parts... Part 1 is Batman’s arc, Part 2 is his encounters with the fake Jokers... and Part 3 will be the showdown with the real Joker.”
“Can all of that fit into one Murcielago film?”
“No, of course not. That’s why we’re thinking the real Joker will fully erge in Part 2.”
“Part 2?”
“Yes. That’s when Harley Quinn will probably co in as well.”
Wait a second... We haven’t even fild Part 1 yet, and we’re talking about Part 2?
What the hell?
Noticing the confusion in my eyes, Cristo paused briefly—
“Ah, um... you might’ve already heard whispers... but we’re planning Murcielago as a series.”
“Yes, I heard a bit about that.”
“And obviously, the lead is you—Donghu Kim.”
“Uh... thank you.”
“We’re moving forward with the belief that Murcielago will be a hit. We've secured major investnt, and... the goal is, well—an Academy Award.”
“...Sorry, what?”
Just a mont ago, this felt like a relaxed walk in the park.
Now, it’s like I’ve been thrown into an F1 race car.
What is this sudden acceleration?
But Cristo didn’t slow down.
“In short... the initial plan is a trilogy. Of course, the contracts will be discussed later, but I wanted you to know that this is the vision.”
“Three films?”
“Yes. A long-term project. Ultimately... the goal is to revive DC.”
So then why...
Why the hell are you telling all this in the middle of a surprise housewarming party?
Apparently, complinting the script had flipped so switch in him.
And just like that, Cristo launched into a passionate two-hour explanation of how deeply invested he was in Murcielago.
That’s how my housewarming party ended—
With a one-on-one business ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ eting with a world-famous director.
***
About a week had passed since Kim Donghu enjoyed his surprise housewarming party.
At a training camp sowhere in the U.S., a heavy sense of tension filled the air.
“Is it today?”
“Yeah.”
“Whew... why am I getting nervous for no reason?”
The top-tier stunt team in Arican action filmmaking, Arica Calamity, found themselves recalling their ti in Korea.
Aside from happily feasting on Korean beef and watching soone eat five bowls of yukhoe bibimbap in a row—
What they mostly rembered was being repeatedly flattened during training with Kim Donghu.
But today wouldn’t be like that.
Because—
“Today’s focus is CQC firearms tactics.”
Batman uses guns.
And not just one—but two.
When reloading isn't an option due to the extended barrels, he switches to tonfas as backup.
Just hearing the setup made it sound like a seriously cool weapon system.
The issue, of course, was that looking cool and fighting in real life are two completely different things.
To make full use of those weapons, Donghu needed to move with absolute precision.
“Guess we’ll start with handgun grip... then shooting stance, and all that.”
Naturally, Batman is a superhero, so the suit offers a lot of help.
But realism still matters—those little details are what give flavor to the role.
Plus, dual-wielding pistols adds an extra layer of complexity.
To be honest, Arica Calamity felt like a month was way too short.
This wasn’t just about moving the body—it was another level entirely.
And yet—
“Thank you for your help today.”
When Kim Donghu actually showed up, picked up the pistols—
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
All three bullets struck dead center on the target.
“...Huh?”
“What?”
“Did I see that wrong?”
“Is that even possible?”
They were already aware that Donghu had learned CQC back in Korea.
But that had been non-firearm CQC.
“What he’s showing now is just... way too perfect.”
His movents were like soone who had spent years in special forces.
From the speed of drawing the gun, to his aim—
Even his grip was flawless. His disassembly skills were perfect, too.
And the most unbelievable part?
“Is he... controlling recoil like that?”
Despite not wearing anything like a Batman suit,
Despite holding a gun in each hand,
He was fully controlling the recoil.
There should have been so recoil.
But he was firing like the guns had none.
“...Maybe those rumors were true.”
“Which rumors?”
“You know... that Kim Donghu might actually be so secret super-soldier raised in South Korea.”
“That’s such a dumb conspiracy theory. Only people who believe the Earth is flat buy into that crap...”
“I an, yeah, but seeing it in person—he looks like he’s been injected with so kind of super serum or sothing.”
And when he casually held a Desert Eagle in one hand and fired it?
They nearly lost it.
One hand? Controlling the recoil? How?
There were so many questions, but the conclusion was clear.
“...There’s really no need for this training camp.”
“Is that so? I’m glad you think highly of .”
Kim Donghu was the kind of actor you had nothing left to teach.
***
Once the training camp wrapped up in just three days,
I got a brief four-day break.
And the first thing I did was leisurely think about everything ahead.
“A trilogy, huh...”
I checked in with Seokho hyung, but he said he hadn’t heard anything definite either.
Which, in a way, made sense.
As of now, I was only officially signed for Part 1—
Just Murcielago.
No other contracts had even been drafted yet.
Still—
“It’s basically guaranteed that Part 1 will be a hit.”
It had received an S rating.
There was no doubt in my mind about the comrcial success.
“So now I’ll be known as Batman... even off-screen?”
That thought was just—
“Ridiculously cool.”
It was incredibly exciting.
There was absolutely no reason to refuse.
It was the kind of opportunity you welco with open arms.
On top of that, it was a fantastic way to resist fate.
Winning an Olympic gold had been historic—it saved my parents.
But if I beco the Batman in the eyes of the entire world?
That might even surpass a gold dal in terms of impact.
“This is good.”
While I was still riding the excitent about filming—
Rrrring.
My phone rang.
“Hello?”
—“This is Cristo. I’m calling to let you know that the suit has been completed, based on the asurents we took earlier.”
“Oh, really? When can I try it on?”
—“You can co right now if you want. And while you’re here, I was thinking maybe we could do a little rehearsal. What do you say?”
“Then I’ll head over imdiately. Is that okay?”
—“Of course. Co on over!”
One of the things I’d been waiting for most had finally arrived in my ear:
The Batman suit was finished.
And now that I knew—
There was no way I could wait another second without trying it on.
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