I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 25

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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 25

 

“What’s your name?”

 

“H-Hakdong Elementary School, 4th grade, class 2, number 7, Kim Si-on!”

 

Si-on answered with a voice tense with nerves.

 

Seon-woo barely managed to speak while holding back his laughter.

 

“Don’t be so nervous. There’s no need for that.”

 

“Y-yes…”

 

“Did you come here alone?”

 

“No, I came with my mother, but…”

 

It seemed she couldn’t follow him this far.

 

Seon-woo glanced over Si-on. Despite being young, his nose bridge and eyes were so striking… he was handsome enough to have a promising future.

 

But his chubby cheeks with baby fat were also adorable.

 

How long had it been since he’d had a conversation with a kid like this?

 

But now he had to compete against this kid for elimination… He just wanted to buy him ice cream instead.

 

Just then, the door burst open and The Man in a suit stepped inside.

 

“Oh my! There are already so many people here. Hello! I’m Bang Hyeong-bin! Wow, you’re incredibly handsome!”

 

The decibel level was quite high from the moment he entered. And starting with appearance compliments right away.

 

It already felt chaotic somehow.

 

“Oh, no… thank you. I’m Kim Seon-woo. Please take care of me.”

 

“Ah, hello! Hakdong Elementary School, 4th grade, class 2, number 7, Kim Si-on!”

 

“Oh my, there’s a young friend here too! Nice to meet you!”

 

“I’m not that young though…”

 

He was a character overflowing with energy in many ways.

 

Was he an office worker? The atmosphere he gave off somehow felt like that. Seon-woo looked at Hyeong-bin and offered a handshake.

 

“Please take care of me.”

 

“Yes, but hyung, you’re really handsome? Did you happen to work as an Actor outside before coming here?”

 

“Yes. I briefly worked with a Theater Troupe before coming here.”

 

“Oh, that’s cool?”

 

“Not really…”

 

A brief free talking session.

 

How long had they been talking like that? Hyeong-bin made a sad face.

 

“Ah, but it’s such a shame. In the end, only two of us will remain.”

 

“…That’s right.”

 

“I wish we could all make it through somehow… But one person hasn’t come in yet. Are we just going with the three of us like this?”

 

“I don’t think that’s the case…”

 

It was right at that moment when they were having such a conversation.

 

The door handle rattled. The heads of the three people in the room all turned at once, and then a red-haired man appeared.

 

Snow-white skin, snake-like slit eyes…

 

Seon-woo’s expression instantly became uncomfortable upon seeing him.

 

And it was the same for the other party.

 

“Kim Seon-woo?”

 

“…We meet here.”

 

In the end, he had encountered a Cheongseong troupe member.

 

Still, should he call it fortunate? The person who entered the room was someone Seon-woo hadn’t thought of.

 

“Why are you here?”

 

An aggressive tone that didn’t change even in front of the camera.

 

An unpleasant expression as always.

 

It was Seo Jin-wook.

 

* * *

 

“Wow, you’re from the same theater troupe? This is really fate!”

 

Hyeong-bin, upon hearing that Seo Jin-wook was from the same Cheongseong as Seon-woo, clapped his hands in delight.

 

Then, before anyone could say anything, he tilted his head and made a serious expression.

 

“Wait, is it actually bad since troupe members from the same company will have to fight each other…?”

 

Contrary to Hyeong-bin’s worry, Seon-woo wasn’t particularly upset about meeting Seo Jin-wook.

 

The troupe members Seon-woo didn’t want to fight were the others, excluding Seo Jin-wook.

 

In a different sense, he did want to avoid Seo Jin-wook.

 

In many ways, just being involved with him was stressful.

 

Fortunately, Seo Jin-wook wasn’t saying anything particularly unnecessary.

 

Hyeong-bin sensed the strangely awkward atmosphere flowing between Seon-woo and Seo Jin-wook. He cleared his throat to lighten the mood.

 

“Ahem, so what should we do now? They definitely said something about us having some kind of competition among ourselves.”

 

“That’s….”

 

【 The organizers will now provide guidance. 】

 

That was when it happened.

 

Seong Jun-il’s voice flowed out from the speaker installed on the accommodation’s ceiling. A voice that sounded excited, as if he found this situation amusing somehow.

 

【 As of this moment, all participants have found their rooms. Now you must engage in competition to become the owner of that room. 】

 

【 Please open the wardrobe and check the script inside. 】

 

“I’ll do it!”

 

Si-on jumped up and brought the script.

 

It was quite a thick script. As Seon-woo skimmed through it, a glint appeared in his eyes.

 

‘A four-person play?’

 

【 As you can see, the script contains plays that can be performed by four people. You just need to choose the one that appeals to you most and perform it. 】

 

“It feels more like cooperation than competition.”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“I-I’ll do my best!”

 

Si-on clenched his fists and shouted.

 

Watching Si-on like that, Seon-woo felt anew how cruel the program was.

 

They had to cooperate and prepare the acting together, but the result was a structure where two of them would be eliminated?

 

It would be an interesting and stimulating structure to watch on broadcast, but still, it was a bit too much.

 

The moment he thought that,

 

【 You might be thinking something like that. 】

 

【 That it would be too disappointing if, after cooperating so hard like this, the ending is eliminating each other. 】

 

【 For those who might think that way, we’ve prepared something special. 】

 

【 The Golden Ticket. 】

 

Seong Jun-il continued the broadcast as if he had been waiting for this.

 

Right, something like this should exist.

 

【 Among the teams taking the stage this time, Golden Tickets will be given to only two teams. Teams that receive Golden Tickets can have all members survive. 】

 

【 Now, you all know what you need to do, right? 】

 

【 The competition will proceed tonight at 10 PM. 】

 

【 I wish you good luck. 】

 

It was a clean finish.

 

Seon-woo looked around at everyone.

 

“…I think I have a goal now.”

 

“Right?”

 

“Should we look at the script first?”

 

For now, they read through the script.

 

It would have been nice if everything after that was resolved smoothly, but it wasn’t. It was quite difficult to decide what scenario to perform right away.

 

Si-on was the problem from the start.

 

They couldn’t assign Si-on, who was obviously a child, to play a company employee. When trying to choose a script with roles that Si-on could handle, the options were inevitably limited.

 

Still, they were able to pick one decent option.

 

Seon-woo spoke up.

 

“How about scenario number 13?”

 

Number 13.

 

Three brothers and a grandson gathered at their deceased father’s house over inheritance issues. But they didn’t know the password to their father’s safe, so they struggled and tried various passwords in the scenario.

 

And when they couldn’t find the password no matter how hard they searched, they fought and reconciled with each other… while the second son’s young child played a crucial role in solving the password.

 

Both the emotional line of the three brothers and the emotional line shown by the young son made it a pretty decent scenario.

 

“I’m fine with anything!”

 

“I’m good with it too!”

 

Si-on and Hyeong-bin immediately nodded their heads.

 

What remained was Seo Jin-wook. Seon-woo looked at Seo Jin-wook. Instead of answering immediately, he quietly read through the script, and only after some time passed did he nod his head.

 

“Let’s go with this.”

 

If he was going to accept anyway, why did he take so long to decide?

 

Still, dividing the roles proceeded without much difficulty.

 

The young son role naturally went to Si-on, the cold-headed eldest to Hyeong-bin, the irritable second son to Seon-woo, and finally the rough third son to Seo Jin-wook.

 

‘…So this is the color.’

 

Seon-woo faced the color orb that appeared before him and nodded.

 

A color orb with a gray base and dark purple spots blooming here and there. At first glance, it didn’t look very healthy.

 

That made sense. The second son was clearly a working adult worn down by work stress and reality.

 

But he had acted similar characters a few times before.

 

While preparing for the finals, Seon-woo had practiced as many different types of characters as possible. Of course he had practiced playing a tired office worker.

 

Thanks to that,

 

“No, hyung! Not that one, try a different number!”

 

“…Wow.”

 

When it came time to actually match their acting, Hyeong-bin could only stare blankly at Seon-woo’s performance, even forgetting to deliver his own lines.

 

When he heard that Seon-woo was from a theater company, he thought he’d be good at acting, but he never imagined it would be to this extent.

 

Should he call it a truly overwhelming feeling in the literal sense?

 

“I’m suddenly feeling really embarrassed about my acting…?”

 

“No, you’re doing well, so don’t worry about it too much.”

 

“But still, you’re just so good…”

 

He’s handsome too. And he acts well too.

 

What kind of overpowered character is this? Hyeong-bin suddenly felt small.

 

But the real problem wasn’t Hyeong-bin.

 

“The password is ac, actually… Ah, sorry. I’ll do it again.”

 

Every time they tried to match their timing, Si-on kept getting nervous and forgetting his lines or stuttering repeatedly.

 

Honestly, Seon-woo understood Si-on.

 

How nervous must this young kid be, suddenly being in such an unfamiliar place, and among adults he doesn’t know at that.

 

“It’s okay. Don’t be too nervous, just think of it as reading and give it a try?”

 

“Yes, yes…”

 

From the moment he first saw Si-on, he had somewhat anticipated this kind of situation.

 

There are inevitable limitations for young children. He could help from the side.

 

Didn’t he have the know-how he learned from his seniors? He could assist them on how to interpret characters more easily and realistically.

 

Both Si-on and Hyeong-bin.

 

And how long had he been watching over their acting like that?

 

“Kim Seon-woo.”

 

“…Me?”

 

“Come out for a moment.”

 

Suddenly, Seo Jin-wook called him out.

 

He did think about what nonsense he was going to spout now, but he couldn’t just ignore him either.

 

Eventually, following Seo Jin-wook out of the room, Seo Jin-wook looked around and headed to an open space without cameras.

 

Then he turned to look at Seon-woo and frowned.

 

“What are you thinking?”

 

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

 

“Did you forget? We’re competing. I didn’t come here to play babysitter.”

 

“You’re the one who seems to have forgotten. Don’t you remember that the top two teams all survive?”

 

“So, you’re aiming for everyone to survive?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Why?”

 

Seo Jin-wook tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand at all.

 

“Think realistically. If you just help them a little less, it would actually be easier. Those two will just collapse on their own.”

 

“….”

 

Seon-woo was momentarily at a loss for words.

 

He thought that this person hadn’t changed at all, even after coming this far.

 

“Would you be satisfied if you could act like that, senior?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Seo Jin-wook answered confidently.

 

“I’d be satisfied. Even if I look a bit sordid and pathetic, as long as I can act in the end. You probably still have a full stomach since you haven’t been in this field for long, but I’m hungry.”

 

“….”

 

For a moment, Seon-woo was speechless.

 

For just a brief moment, he felt like he could understand what that feeling was like.

 

If the desire to act was so desperate, one might be able to throw away humanity and dignity—that kind of thought.

 

But Seon-woo wasn’t swayed.

 

He didn’t want to act badly enough to go that far.

 

That’s not colorful.

 

It’s not beautiful.

 

“That’s unfortunate. Maybe I’m not hungry enough yet, like you said. I don’t want to just leave those people to their own devices.”

 

Realistically speaking, Seo Jin-wook’s words might actually be right.

 

If he didn’t help Hyeong-bin and Si-on and just let them self-destruct, he might easily secure survival.

 

But he couldn’t do that.

 

“I don’t know about Hyeong-bin, but… Si-on is just a kid.”

 

“That’s enviable. He has more time and opportunities than us.”

 

“…Let’s end the conversation here.”

 

They can’t communicate.

 

The more they talk, the more they realize they’re complete opposites.

 

Eventually, Seon-woo turned his back on Seo Jin-wook and started walking away, then soon looked back at Seo Jin-wook.

 

“Watch us.”

 

“What?”

 

“We’re going to get the Golden Ticket.”

 

Seon-woo declared.

 

Perhaps it was a promise to himself.

 

“We’re all going to make it out alive.”

 

With those words, Seon-woo left.

 

Seo Jin-wook watched Seon-woo’s retreating figure with an expression of incomprehension, then soon let out a rough sigh and began scratching his head irritably as he started following behind.

 

In the Open Space where the two had left, only silence remained…

 

And only Seong Jun-il, who had accidentally overheard this entire conversation from beyond the Corner wall, was left.

 

Seong Jun-il muttered with an excited expression.

 

“…I’m so curious about the next episode?”

—————
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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