I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 252

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 252
“It feels like a festival.”
So-ra murmured with genuine feeling.
These days, all the members of Cheongseong were working feverishly, eyes blazing with intensity as they prepared to compete in the Drama Festival.
And for good reason. This Drama Festival could be a real opportunity for those who had no interest in broadcast acting.
Above all, there was hope among the troupe members—the hope that theater might finally step into the light this time around.
Thanks to that, everyone was truly ablaze.
Since coming to Cheongseong, there hadn’t been a single day when the atmosphere was bad, but lately it was on an entirely different level.
Ye-chan opened his mouth.
“This is a festival, for real. As an actor, what could be more joyful than getting to promote theater on broadcast networks?”
“……Though theater doesn’t really make it to broadcast much.”
“Musicals have at least built a solid fanbase, but theater… it doesn’t have that kind of ticket power yet.”
That’s why actors eventually gravitated toward broadcast work.
People need to earn. No matter how much you love theater, when you can barely scrape together next month’s rent, what choice do you have?
Whether they drift into broadcast, or look for other work, making theater your lifelong career was actually harder than becoming a star actor.
But maybe this broadcast could change things even a little.
If people’s interest in theater grew, if this market itself expanded, the working conditions could improve considerably from what they were now.
‘Though I can’t really afford to worry about the theater world right now.’
Ye-chan’s nose was high with concern.
Lately his work had been drying up, and he was troubled by it. Of course, if he wasn’t picky, there would always be something to do.
But if he took the wrong project, even if the pay was low, his career image itself could crumble.
He needed to secure good work somehow, and the reason he couldn’t was simple.
‘My acting ability isn’t enough.’
Ye-chan admitted it honestly.
There was a time when he thought that for his age, this level of skill was plenty. But once he stepped into the field, it wasn’t so simple.
Youth might be an excuse, but it wasn’t a weapon. And that youth kept slipping away anyway.
‘Will I ever act like Seon-woo someday?’
When such thoughts came, his heart grew heavy. The most recent performance he’d seen from Seon-woo was My Jade. And the acting ability Seon-woo displayed as the I-mu-gi demon there was….
‘Completely overwhelming.’
It was beyond anything he remembered from when he’d first seen Seon-woo.
And as he was sighing over this, So-ra tilted her head.
“Why do you have such a worried expression?”
“Wondering if I’ll be able to make a living.”
“Come on, you’ll make a living fine. I’ve seen free meal services work pretty well these days. Are you going to starve to death?”
That wasn’t what he meant.
He didn’t want to reach the point of eating free meals.
But if he started a serious rebuttal now, things would just get depressing. So Ye-chan chose to keep his mouth shut.
‘Let me think of this as training and give it my best shot this time.’
And that was when it happened.
A commotion echoed from the entrance. A passing junior member spotted Ye-chan and spoke up.
“Oh, Ye-chan! Everyone’s supposed to gather at the theater right now!”
“Got it, I’ll head over.”
It was time for a meeting.
Gathered at the theater were mostly those currently active in the troupe.
And as Ji-hwan looked them over, he stepped forward to speak.
“We got word from the Drama Festival organizers. They’ve confirmed the format.”
“……What kind of format?”
“It’s different from what we expected. It’s not a tournament format, but rather a survival format from the start.”
“By survival, you mean…….”
“One troupe gets eliminated each week. And the eliminated troupe’s spot will be filled by another troupe. And once you’re eliminated, you have to wait at least six months before you can compete again.”
“……So it’s really a long-term program then?”
“That’s right.”
Ji-hwan nodded.
“Of course, if the program doesn’t catch on with audiences, it could wrap up quickly no matter how long it was planned to be. But that’s for our PD to worry about. What we need to think about is one thing.”
Ji-hwan’s eyes flashed sharp.
“We can’t be eliminated.”
It was natural that they couldn’t always take first place.
But elimination was unacceptable. At Ji-hwan’s words, all the members nodded. Even without Ji-hwan saying it, no one here was even considering the possibility of elimination.
After all, if you got eliminated, you couldn’t appear again for six months. With that penalty hanging over them, they had to avoid last place with every ounce of strength they possessed.
And there was one thing that made this part of the discussion weigh especially heavy.
“As you all know well, there are many people who came out of this troupe and are doing really well now.”
The members nodded.
After all, their contribution to Cheongseong’s current success was quite significant.
Those who’d known them for a long time already had a reputation that Cheongseong was quite capable. But it would’ve been impossible to make Cheongseong’s name known to the general public without them.
“And because of that, you probably wonder: will I actually get a chance to shine? Will I just get overshadowed by my seniors, fail to land a proper role, and shrivel up by the end?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Quiet throat-clearings sounded from various corners.
This had been the hot topic among troupe members lately. Given the nature of broadcast, even if Cheongseong was going on, wouldn’t the active members like them fail to get noticed? That’s what they were all thinking.
Ji-hwan understood their hearts.
“Let me be clear: I’m not going to rig roles toward them just because they’re celebrities. But conversely, I’m not going to give you special treatment just because you’re not celebrities. Competition will be fair. What you need to do is simple: show better acting than they do.”
This was something that needed to be laid out.
Without it, unspoken dissatisfaction could accumulate and eventually cause rifts.
Fortunately, all the members seemed to accept this.
Ji-hwan looked at them with firm, resolute eyes.
“You can all show it. How we’ve kept this troupe alive. How far your potential reaches. Right?”
“……That’s right!”
“Good. Let’s all show what we’ve got. How much skill you’ve all honed.”
Ji-hwan smiled.
“Let’s stage a rebellion!”
* * *
Ji-hwan: Here’s the script for this round. Anyone who’s participating, get it ready by Saturday of this week.
Ji-hwan: Oh, and if you prepare half-heartedly…… you might actually get embarrassed in front of the others, so I’d recommend preparing properly haha
Seon-woo chuckled as he read the text message Ji-hwan had posted to the group chat.
Just from that message alone, he could feel how tense the atmosphere must be among the other members of the troupe.
‘I need to do this right.’
Not that he’d planned to do otherwise anyway.
Seon-woo looked over the script.
The title of the work they’d be performing was Will We Still Be Okay Even If We Break Up?
The basic premise was a couple whose relationship had grown distant confessing to their friends that they were considering a breakup, and seeking their advice.
Seon-woo read through the entire script.
Then he fell into thought.
‘Which role should I play?’
There was one role that caught his eye, if he was being honest.
Junseong. A man who—faced with a wife gradually talking about breaking up—had requested this “breakup consultation” from his friends, desperately trying to hold onto her.
‘……It seems like it could help.’
Preparing for this role might itself become a journey toward finding what Seon-jun had asked for.
It felt a bit apologetic to use a role this way as a stepping stone to something else, but… well, what could he do. For at least this part, Seon-woo had decided to live a bit more strategically.
Park Hoon sighed as he watched Seon-woo.
“The impression I get from watching you, sir…… you’re really diligent.”
“Idols work way harder than I do. I’m basically living in luxury compared to them.”
“……That’s not really a fair comparison, is it?”
Park Hoon shook his head.
“You should rest a little, sir. I mean, even if you don’t push yourself like idols do, there’s hardly any time when you’re not thinking about acting, is there?”
“……But I went fishing recently and I had a date with my mother, didn’t I?”
“That’s just two days. That’s not enough.”
“But you can’t expect people to take a whole week or month off at a time.”
“……Normally people don’t get to rest that long because they can’t afford to, not because they don’t want to.”
Is that so?
But if he didn’t work, things would get boring pretty quick.
He wasn’t sure. Anyway, he had work to do now. Seon-woo shrugged.
“Anyway, I’m going to do this. Don’t try to stop me.”
“……I’m not going to stop you, sir. I’ve never opposed anything you’ve done before. It’s just that I’d like to see you rest sometimes.”
“That’s…… something I’ll work on.”
Seeing Park Hoon say it like that, Seon-woo really was living a pretty tightly wound life.
But for now, he needed to focus on preparing for the audition.
It was ironic, really. Now he was getting love calls from various PDs and directors without even asking, but here he was, having to audition for this small stage.
‘I can’t be careless.’
His competitors weren’t weak.
And with the troupe members grinding away like they were, if he slipped up, he could easily lose his role.
Among them, the one he needed to watch most was…….
‘Do-young hyung.’
What role Do-young was going for mattered.
He’d rather not compete with him for the same role if possible. It would be difficult to beat him in the first place, and even if he somehow won, they wouldn’t be able to perform in the same play together.
So he should just ask.
Seon-woo sent Do-young a text right away.
Seon-woo: Are you free?
Do-young: Yeah, what’s up?
There didn’t seem to be any particular urgency; the reply came right away.
Seon-woo got straight to the point.
Seon-woo: I was wondering what role you were thinking of for our play.
Do-young: I’m thinking of Junseong
Seon-woo: ……I see
Do-young: What about you?
Seon-woo: I was thinking of Junseong too
Seon-woo sent the reply and let out a sigh.
He’d half-expected this. There was no way Do-young hadn’t felt the same appeal in Junseong that he did.
Do-young: Looks like we’re going head-to-head for the first time
Seon-woo: I didn’t really want to compete with a senior…… ㅠㅠ
Do-young: I didn’t want to either. I was hoping we’d do something together this time.
Seon-woo sighed at Do-young’s words.
And he thought for a moment.
‘Should I change my role?’
It was something he genuinely struggled with.
Acting alongside Do-young held real meaning for Seon-woo.
When Seon-woo acted, he still often recalled that first moment he’d performed with Do-young. That golden light rippling from Do-young’s Priest technique, that overwhelming presence filling the entire world—it was like a milestone Seon-woo could never forget.
He wanted to act like that someday.
‘If it’s now…….’
What would happen?
Could he perform acting that didn’t yield to Do-young? Could he match him?
……But that was a meaningless hypothetical.
If things stayed as they were, Seon-woo wouldn’t be able to perform alongside Do-young.
That’s why, in this moment, Seon-woo had to wrestle with a dilemma he wouldn’t normally face.
‘……Should I really change it?’
For someone like Seon-woo, choosing a different role when he’d found one he liked wasn’t easy.
But if it meant getting the chance to act alongside Do-young, maybe it was worth sacrificing.
It wasn’t a decision to make lightly.
Seon-woo ran a hand through his hair. The conflict in his eyes deepened.
‘What should I do?’
Should he give way, or should he hold firm?
Do-young, or the role?
That was the question.

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