I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 106

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 106

Honestly, he was bewildered.

He thought it wasn’t a bad performance, but he didn’t think it was the kind of acting that would draw such passionate cheers.

But at that moment, something Seon-woo never could have anticipated entered his vision.

‘Kim Seon-woo’s color is…’

It’s on the audience.

Seon-woo looked around at the audience in a daze. Sometimes when audiences got too immersed in a work, that work’s color would rub off on them, but… this time was on a completely different level.

Without a single exception, everyone was painted with Kim Seon-woo’s color.

It meant they had deeply immersed themselves in [One Room]… in Kim Seon-woo.

Thank you.

That was what Seon-woo thought in that moment.

To think they liked his inadequate acting this much. He couldn’t help but feel grateful.

He wanted to do better.

He wanted to show them better acting… better colors.

So that when they painted those colors on themselves, they could feel even more thrilled.

As he bit his lips with such thoughts,

“…You did well, Seon-woo.”

Jeong-hee placed her hand on Seon-woo’s shoulder.

When he turned his head, she was looking at him with a face that seemed ready to cry at any moment.

“Amazing, truly amazing.”

“…Don’t cry. Why are you crying?”

“No, I tried not to cry… but seeing my son die made me feel something.”

“It’s not like I actually died…”

Seon-woo turned his head with a troubled expression.

He was about to tell Young-sik to comfort Jeong-hee. But a moment later, Seon-woo’s expression could only become even more troubled.

Young-sik was crying too.

Pretending not to cry, holding his head up straight, while tears streamed down his face.

‘…This is trouble.’

In the end, Seon-woo could only let out a hollow laugh and pat his parents’ backs.

Fortunately, their tears could soon stop.

The lights turned on, illuminating the judges’ seats on the stage.

—…

—…

—…

And for a moment, the audience seating fell into awkward silence.

None of the judges were easily opening their mouths. Caught on camera, they were all just moving their lips slightly, unable to easily speak up.

How long did that silence continue?

Seong Jun-il let out a sigh.

—This really has deep lingering effects. It’s been a really long time since I felt like my mind was being gnawed at in real time while watching a drama.

Many audience members nodded at Seong Jun-il’s words.

They couldn’t help but agree. [One Room] wasn’t originally such a hopeful drama, but in this episode 5, the degree was very severe.

How painful it was to watch Kim Seon-woo singing of nonexistent hope in the face of confirmed death.

—There’s a saying. [One Room] actors always peak in their acting when they’re about to exit. This time was no exception. Jin-wook, and Seon-woo.

Seong Jun-il called their names while looking around the audience seating.

—It was such wonderful acting.

—That’s right. This might sound cliché since I always say this… but honestly, I’m not too worried about your futures. I think you’ll do well.

Yu Mi-yeon added.

Seon-woo felt his ears burning as he bowed his head.

He wondered if Lee Mu-beom might also add some encouraging words, but Lee Mu-beom just smiled at them without saying anything particular.

It was disappointing but couldn’t be helped.

They were already people who had been eliminated from the game. They couldn’t take up any more screen time.

More than anything…

‘Who will be eliminated?’

He was so curious about that.

Who did Seon-woo think it would be? Well… honestly, he couldn’t get a grasp on it either.

‘They both showed absolutely incredible acting.’

Actually, this itself was absurd.

Hye-seong was someone who had devoted his entire life to acting. Talent, experience, effort, attitude… he was someone who showed no weaknesses in any aspect.

Just having him there made Seon-woo feel reassured.

That’s how great a figure he was.

Hye-seong was a complete actor, to the point where it felt truly sad that he had to appear on an audition program like this.

But Yeon-woo, who appeared as Hye-seong’s competitor… was someone who had never properly acted before.

His career was actually even shorter than Seon-woo’s, whose experience was already meager.

‘…Actually, isn’t Yeon-woo the real genius?’

In fact, there had been a lot of praise for Yeon-woo on the internet lately.

eyesonyou: But why do they keep mentioning only Kim Seon-woo and not Lee Yeon-woo? Lee Yeon-woo was working as a hairstylist before coming here. Doesn’t it make no sense for someone like that to act like this?

gogumaststar: Right, Yeon-woo never learned acting either, right?

Face-focused person: That doesn’t make sense though. Honestly, when it comes to clean acting, he seems to be the top among male actors.

Kim Quokka: But there were a lot of surprisingly ordinary acting moments for someone called a genius, so it seems like they didn’t really benefit from it. For a psychopath, there weren’t many scenes that actually showed their craziness

eyesonyou: That’s true

This was the general public opinion.

Lee Yeon-woo’s acting ability had been consistently excellent from the beginning, but she simply hadn’t had proper opportunities to spread her wings.

Seon-woo only half agreed with that opinion.

Which meant he disagreed with the other half.

‘Her acting has grown too.’

Yeon-woo had been steadily growing.

Especially after finding that damn ‘essence’ of hers.

More precisely, it would be correct to say she had accepted herself rather than finding her essence.

She had a tendency to struggle with accepting herself… specifically, the characteristic of being a psychopath.

Even while pretending to be confident, she was always reading the room, so to speak.

All she needed was a little courage.

The courage to accept herself.

‘No, maybe that was… the same for all of us.’

Hye-seong only gained freedom from the framework that bound him after hearing that it was okay for him to be the protagonist.

And Seon-woo… only after accepting that even his own dullness could be a reason for beauty in someone’s eyes, was he finally able to properly understand Kim Seon-woo.

He suddenly had that thought.

He had always thought acting was about becoming someone completely different from yourself, but maybe it was the opposite story.

Maybe acting was actually a journey of getting to know yourself.

Between Hye-seong and Yeon-woo, who had come to know themselves better?

Which of the two had shown better acting?

He would know the answer soon enough.

—Lee Yeon-woo, Jeong Hye-seong, please come up to the stage.

Lee Mu-beom spoke up.

Then Lee Yeon-woo and Jeong Hye-seong slowly walked up onto the stage.

The stage was set up in a slightly different form than usual.

At the end of a long hallway, two separate platforms were prepared.

—Please step onto your respective platforms.

Hye-seong and Yeon-woo stood on their platforms.

As spotlights illuminated the two of them, Yu Mi-yeon quietly spoke.

—Yeon-woo, how are you feeling right now?

—Um… it’s hard to explain. I think I’m probably nervous.

—Do you think you can win?

—Hye-seong oppa is a good actor.

Yeon-woo subtly stepped back.

But if she just showed modesty like this, that wouldn’t be Yeon-woo.

—But I also think I did good acting. I’d be grateful if you viewed it favorably.

—Good. How about you, Hye-seong?

—…I, I want to win.

Hye-seong answered while even stuttering.

He seemed quite nervous, his breathing had become rather rough too.

Seon-woo smiled inwardly watching Hye-seong like that.

In his eyes, even Hye-seong’s current appearance looked nothing but cool.

‘Hyung is an amazing person.’

He acknowledged it.

Honestly, Seon-woo wanted Hye-seong to win.

It wasn’t that he had ill feelings toward Yeon-woo. He just thought Hye-seong was the person most qualified to win in this situation.

Because Hye-seong was more sincere about acting than anyone else.

At least when it came to loving acting, he could be certain that Hye-seong was ahead of Yeon-woo.

After all, Yeon-woo had said her reason for appearing in this competition was because of the ‘200 million won.’

‘I hope hyung’s heart gets rewarded.’

He hoped his life of chasing dreams for a lifetime… would receive proper recognition.

The championship trophy of ‘I Am an Actor’ would be enough to honor that achievement.

—We will announce the winner.

—After the countdown ends, whoever’s light doesn’t go out… will become the winner of ‘I Am an Actor.’

—Now, everyone together… please start the countdown.

—10!

The countdown began.

—9! 8! 7!

Seon-woo shouted along with the numbers while clenching his fists tightly.

—6! 5! 4!

Could Hye-seong win?

—3!

Would this world give him… those sweet words, ‘You did well’?

—2!

He would be able to receive it.

He had to receive it.

Because Hye-seong was someone who deserved it.

Because he was someone who was worth it.

Hye-seong was…

—1!

Surely, someone who could become the protagonist.

—0!

Clench.

The moment the final countdown ended, Seon-woo instinctively closed his eyes.

He couldn’t bring himself to see the result.

What had happened?

Had Hye-seong… been able to face a fitting result?

—Congratulations!

Before he could even prepare himself mentally, Seong Jun-il’s voice rang out.

Seon-woo startled and opened his eyes. He didn’t want to hear the result just through that voice.

Whoever the winner was, he wanted to capture with his own eyes the sight of them shining alone under the spotlight.

—The final winner of 【I Am an Actor】 is… Actor Lee Yeon-woo!

And when he opened his eyes, what Seon-woo faced was… Yeon-woo’s dazed expression amidst the fluttering flower petals.

Yeon-woo.

The winner was Yeon-woo.

Seon-woo’s expression became blank as he belatedly recognized this fact.

While a desire to congratulate her victory bloomed within him, he found himself newly worried about Hye-seong.

It might seem presumptuous to worry about someone when he had already been eliminated… but isn’t it true that fruit is always more regrettable when you lose it right before your eyes?

But Hye-seong’s figure was hidden in darkness, invisible.

As if those who weren’t winners had no right to receive lighting, he had once again disappeared from everyone’s view.

Why was it?

That sight felt so heartbreakingly painful in that moment.

‘…How regrettable.’

Seon-woo clenched his fist.

Knowing how sincere Hye-seong had been about this competition, his heart couldn’t help but ache more.

But that’s when it happened.

Suddenly Hye-seong appeared.

Into the spotlight that Yeon-woo was receiving, with a bright smile.

…He was even clapping.

‘…?’

Question marks appeared in Seon-woo’s eyes.

Seon-woo could immediately tell whether someone was acting or not. And to Seon-woo’s eyes… Hye-seong didn’t seem to be acting at all.

A smile that seemed to genuinely congratulate Yeon-woo’s victory.

A face that looked as if right now, in this moment, the fact that he had lost… didn’t matter at all.

He couldn’t understand it.

It should be regrettable. It should be natural to feel angry and frustrated that he couldn’t take that final step.

But how?

‘…Ah.’

It was at that moment of thinking.

Seon-woo was looking at Hye-seong when he unknowingly became dazed.

The spotlight was clearly shining on Yeon-woo.

But having stepped into it now, Hye-seong was shining together with Yeon-woo.

As if whom that light illuminated wasn’t important at all.

‘I was narrow-minded.’

Seon-woo laughed helplessly.

He hadn’t meant to, but it seemed he had unknowingly underestimated Hye-seong.

To think he had assumed Hye-seong wouldn’t be able to shine just because he didn’t win.

Look.

Right now, that man… he’s shining like that.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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