I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 33

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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 33

 

I admit it.

 

Asking Yeon-woo for help was the best thing Seon-woo had done since coming to This Place.

 

Each small piece of advice Yeon-woo gave felt like it filled the 2% that Seon-woo had been lacking.

 

Thanks to that, even Seon-woo could visibly see the speed at which his skills were improving.

 

‘I still don’t know what kind of person they are… but at least I’m certain they’re a good Actor.’

 

And they were also a good teacher.

 

That skill of guiding someone to immediately shape any Emotion through subtle expressions and behavioral changes…

 

If they worked as an Acting instructor in society, they’d probably reach the top of the industry in no time.

 

One fortunate thing was,

 

“Could you try breathing a bit more shakily and cutting it off as you exhale?”

 

“Uh… like this?”

 

“Yes, that way you can bring out the feeling of trying your best to hold back Anger but still exploding in the end.”

 

Yeon-woo didn’t seem uncomfortable at all about helping Seon-woo.

 

Rather, they approached first and actively tried to help, to the point where Seon-woo felt sorry.

 

‘If only this wasn’t Acting…’

 

Why on earth was such a person always Acting in their daily life?

 

Or should he be even more careful? Acting like a good person ultimately meant they weren’t a good person, right?

 

But what reason could there be to Act to this extent?

 

He didn’t know. The person called Yeon-woo was a mystery that became more unknowable the more he tried to understand.

 

There’s no need to force understanding of the unknowable. He didn’t have that luxury anyway.

 

Seon-woo focused on Acting for now.

 

The situation wasn’t that leisurely to begin with.

 

His Acting still fell short compared to Min-hee and Yeon-woo.

 

One might ask if it wasn’t fine compared to when he was Acting with Do-young.

 

But back then, Do-young and Seon-woo were expressing completely different emotions.

 

However, here and now, everyone was expressing the same type of Emotion – ‘Rage’.

 

Since they were expressing the same Emotion, if one side fell behind, it would immediately show.

 

The fortunate thing was that Yeon-woo’s teaching had helped the Actor named Seon-woo grow quite a lot.

 

If before it was all about understanding the character and putting that character’s emotions directly into Acting… now he had learned how to process it, you could say.

 

‘…I’ve really been acting like an amateur all this time.’

 

In fact, I had been relying entirely on the power of Color Orbs for my acting. Literally raw acting.

 

The more I thought about it, the more embarrassed I became.

 

In the end, hadn’t I been living off undeserved praise as a genius thanks to an ability I gained by chance?

 

‘This won’t do.’

 

Not acting that gets dragged around by emotions, but acting that controls emotions.

 

I wanted to do truly actor-like acting.

 

Then what choice did I have? I had to practice.

 

Seon-woo poured all his available time into practice as usual.

 

Not just emitting color, but being able to paint something with it.

 

And as a result,

 

“This is ridiculous.”

 

Min-hee was currently frowning deeply.

 

“It doesn’t make sense for skills to improve this rapidly.”

 

“…Haha, did I improve a little?”

 

“Not a little, a lot.”

 

Min-hee let out a hollow laugh.

 

She already knew well that Seon-woo was a quick learner.

 

She had been watching him at Cheongseong all this time.

 

But there had to be limits to that too.

 

‘A process that would take others months… he catches up in just a few days?’

 

The more she watched, the more she could feel it.

 

This guy really wasn’t ordinary. From his basic physical abilities to his growth rate, Min-hee had never seen a case like this before.

 

‘Was Do-young oppa like this when he first learned acting too?’

 

She didn’t know.

 

She hadn’t been by his side when Do-young first started acting.

 

But somehow she had that feeling.

 

That if given enough time, someday Seon-woo would become an actor no less than Do-young.

 

—But not yet.

 

‘I can’t lose yet.’

 

Still, there was such a thing as senior pride.

 

It would be embarrassing to be pushed aside by a junior already.

 

Especially since she had just confirmed that she couldn’t even become his older sister this time. Min-hee was determined to defend her title as a reliable senior at all costs.

 

By the way,

 

‘He was so wary before.’

 

Min-hee looked at Seon-woo and Yeon-woo.

 

It was a bit ambiguous to describe them as having become close.

 

It didn’t seem like they had particularly become comfortable with each other, nor did it seem like Seon-woo had opened his heart.

 

But if asked whether they had grown closer, she could definitely say yes.

 

After all, Seon-woo had been seeking out Yeon-woo whenever he had questions about acting lately.

 

Of course, it wasn’t incomprehensible.

 

Even from her perspective, Yeon-woo’s acting method was… mysteriously detailed.

 

She thought she had seen all kinds of people during her acting career, but this was the first time she had seen someone act like Yeon-woo.

 

“…Honestly, I didn’t expect you to improve this quickly.”

 

But even Yeon-woo seemed genuinely surprised by Seon-woo’s rate of growth.

 

The way she looked at Seon-woo with a somewhat fed-up expression suggested she had never imagined he would learn this fast.

 

Seon-woo smiled awkwardly.

 

“It’s thanks to you, Yeon-woo. Thank you.”

 

“No, there’s nothing to be grateful for. I helped because I found it interesting too.”

 

“…Still, I’m grateful. I wanted to say this.”

 

He was sincere.

 

His wariness toward Yeon-woo still hadn’t disappeared. How could he easily trust this woman hidden behind that sky-blue aura, even right now?

 

However, separate from not being able to trust her, Yeon-woo had consistently shown kindness to Seon-woo all this time.

 

He should be grateful for what deserved gratitude.

 

‘If only this wasn’t acting, how wonderful would that be?’

 

It couldn’t be helped.

 

He couldn’t just suddenly tell her to stop acting.

 

Seon-woo slowly emptied his thoughts.

 

What he needed to think about right now wasn’t Yeon-woo.

 

‘The competition is coming up soon.’

 

He wanted to show them quickly.

 

He finally had some confidence now.

 

He felt like he was finally doing something that resembled real acting.

 

* * *

 

Main Set.

 

All the participants had gathered before filming, but the atmosphere was different from yesterday.

 

The number of people had been cut in half, so it was inevitable.

 

The feeling of constantly noticing the empty seats.

 

The feeling that he could become part of those empty seats at any moment.

 

“Si-on.”

 

“…Y-yes!”

 

“Don’t be too nervous.”

 

Seon-woo patted Si-on’s shoulder.

 

His small shoulders kept moving up and down, and it was obvious he was breathing heavily from nervousness.

 

‘I should have looked after him more.’

 

He had been so absorbed in acting practice that he hadn’t paid much attention to Si-on.

 

No matter what, he was still a young kid, and even if it was for a broadcast, he probably needed a bit more adult attention… Just as he was thinking that,

 

“Hehe, Kim Si-on. Are you scared?”

 

“…I’m not scared!”

 

“You are scared. I can tell for sure since you got all worked up.”

 

Ye-chan appeared.

 

He was grinning while teasing Si-on. When did these two, who used to growl at each other at first, become so close?

 

“I’m fine! You should worry about yourself, hyung. You’re scared too.”

 

“I’m not scared though?”

 

…No, had they actually become close?

 

It seemed like they had just become more comfortable rivals.

 

Seon-woo smiled quietly. Either way, the tension seemed to have eased. That was good enough.

 

“Did you prepare well?”

 

Then a familiar voice was heard.

 

Jae-won was looking at Seon-woo. Seon-woo hesitated for a moment, then soon nodded his head.

 

“Yes. I think I did well.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

 

“If you’re saying with your own mouth that you think you did well, then you must have really done something properly.”

 

Seon-woo wasn’t the type to give himself generous evaluations.

 

For such a Seon-woo to say he ‘prepared well’ like this… it must mean he really has that much confidence.

 

Seon-woo shook his head as if embarrassed.

 

“It’s not really to that extent though…”

 

“Anyway, you did your best, right?”

 

“Well, yes. What about you, senior? No wait. I don’t need to ask you, senior.”

 

Seon-woo chuckled.

 

There are other people to worry about. If it’s Jae-won, of course there would be no problems at all.

 

But Jae-won’s reaction was a bit strange.

 

“I… don’t know.”

 

“…Excuse me? Is something wrong?”

 

“Rather than something being wrong…”

 

It was the moment Jae-won was about to say something.

 

【 It’s been a while, everyone. 】

 

Seong Jun-il’s voice echoed through the speaker.

 

The judges appeared on the stage. The participants held their breath, and Seong Jun-il slowly looked around at them.

 

【 Today, someone will take their first step toward becoming a real actor, and someone will have to turn around and go home. 】

 

【 And all of that will be determined by what kind of acting you show today. 】

 

【 Don’t waste this opportunity. 】

 

【 Today, what I expect from you is your best. 】

 

With just a few words, the atmosphere in the venue became solemnly serious.

 

The participants asked themselves.

 

Had they truly prepared their best for today?

 

【 The judging will proceed in the order of Joy, Anger, Sorrow, and Pleasure. 】

 

The answer would be known soon enough.

 

The teams that chose Joy went up on stage one by one.

 

Among them, the faces Seon-woo recognized were Hyeong-bin and Seo Jin-wook.

 

What was interesting was that the two were on the same team. Did Hyeong-bin suggest they work together first? Or did Seo Jin-wook suggest it?

 

‘I hope they do well.’

 

He was sincere.

 

Their connection was just briefly acting together for one day, but even in that time, he could feel that Hyeong-bin was a good person.

 

If there was a concern, it was that his partner happened to be Seo Jin-wook.

 

Given Seo Jin-wook’s personality, he’d be too busy showing off his own acting to care about acting chemistry or anything else.

 

Could Hyeong-bin really overcome that? He wondered, but

 

“It’s all in! Go in, go in…! First place! It’s first place!”

 

“Fuck! Hyung! Hyung! We won! We’re first!”

 

“What, what were the odds? Twenty to one? How much is twenty to one?”

 

“…Three thousand! We just made three thousand! We made three thousand————!”

 

Their chemistry was better than expected.

 

Seon-woo’s eyes widened. It was an unexpected scene. He wasn’t surprised because they did well. It was just that Seo Jin-wook’s acting seemed very different from before.

 

‘He toned it down a lot?’

 

More precisely, it wasn’t that it had diminished, but that he had deliberately reduced it.

 

It was surprising. If it were someone else, maybe, but he never imagined Seo Jin-wook would change his acting style.

 

Perhaps the sharp advice the judges gave last time had really hit home.

 

Lee Mu-beom seemed to have noticed it too.

 

He looked at Seo Jin-wook with a rarely seen gentle expression.

 

“Seo Jin-wook.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Do you like acting?”

 

“…Yes. I like it.”

 

“Why do you think I asked that?”

 

“Did I… look like I wasn’t enjoying it?”

 

“No. It’s the opposite. Today, your acting was very comfortable to watch. If your previous acting felt like you were doing it out of desperation, today it seemed like you were enjoying acting.”

 

“…”

 

“I hope you’ll continue acting like this in the future. That’s what I wanted to say.”

 

That was Lee Mu-beom’s impression.

 

When Lee Mu-beom finished speaking, it seemed like Seo Jin-wook’s eyes had become a little moist… but Seon-woo thought he must have seen it wrong and let it pass.

 

No matter what, Seo Jin-wook and tears just didn’t go together.

 

The performances of the teams that prepared ‘Joy’ followed one after another.

 

Not everyone received good reviews like Seo Jin-wook and Hyeong-bin. Rather,

 

“Gang-hee.”

 

“Y-yes!”

 

“Were you happy while acting?”

 

“Um… I think I was reasonably happy.”

 

“From what I could see, you didn’t look happy. You looked nervous. I couldn’t see the character, only Gang-hee.”

 

“Gang-hee… gets 4 points.”

 

Most of them received harsh criticism like this.

 

But Seon-woo didn’t think the judges were just trying to create an atmosphere for no reason.

 

Even from his perspective, the participants’ acting had many problems.

 

‘It’s not just a matter of skill.’

 

Seon-woo’s eyes narrowed.

 

He could understand lacking skill. They weren’t all professionals. And among those who participated here, there were many like Hyeong-bin who came from completely different professions.

 

But what was really problematic was…

 

‘They can’t concentrate.’

 

He could feel that everyone was more interested in the side benefits than the main purpose.

 

It felt like they were focusing only on the scores and evaluations they could get through their acting, rather than the acting they were doing.

 

‘It’s like they’re taking an interview rather than acting.’

 

It was ironic.

 

He had started acting because he loved this world that sparkled and shone in all colors… but here in this place, Seon-woo was facing again the very scene he had so despised.

 

The interview room filled with white dress shirts and black ties, dull gazes.

 

That detestable black and white world.

 

‘…I can’t act like that.’

 

Seon-woo reflected.

 

Even he couldn’t say he was completely free from that same pursuit of scores and victory like those people right now.

 

Seon-woo reminded himself.

 

Focus only on Acting.

 

Let go of greed, and just think about what Color to bloom.

 

“Participants Kim Seon-woo, Na Min-hee, Lee Yeon-woo. Please move to the Stage!”

 

At the voice calling for him just then, Seon-woo stood up.

 

Min-seok’s dark blue Color Bubble writhed as if it had been waiting for this moment, slowly embracing his body.

 

Feeling that cool sensation, Seon-woo’s eyes grew calm.

 

As always, the goal was the same.

 

To paint the Stage.

 

Very beautifully.

—————
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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