I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 34

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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 34

 

“[Swell Wave Forecast]…”

 

Yu Mi-yeon muttered in a strange voice.

 

Lee Mu-beom turned to look at Yu Mi-yeon.

 

“Isn’t that a work you appeared in?”

 

“Yes, that’s right.”

 

Yu Mi-yeon nodded her head.

 

In this work, she had played the role of Ji-soo’s mother. It was a role where she couldn’t accept her son’s death and continued to explore the flood area.

 

“It’s a work with quite difficult emotional lines, and they chose this one.”

 

“Well, aren’t those three a combination that brings more anticipation than worry?”

 

Seong Jun-il grinned as he looked at Seon-woo’s group standing on the stage.

 

Seon-woo, Min-hee, Yeon-woo. All three were talents that the judges were paying quite a bit of attention to.

 

They were promising candidates who they expected would probably survive to the ‘TOP 10’ with high probability.

 

However, if there was one thing to worry about… or rather, something he was curious about,

 

‘Can that kid Seon-woo hold his ground well among those two?’

 

It was Seon-woo.

 

He knew that Seon-woo had excellent qualities. Considering his experience, those qualities could be called genius-level.

 

But no matter how great one’s genius might be, it needs sufficient time to bloom.

 

There’s no flower that can bloom before it even forms a bud.

 

It meant he was still lacking when it came to facing Yeon-woo and Min-hee.

 

Of course, that didn’t mean Seon-woo would just be completely overwhelmed.

 

Like the acting he showed last time… Seon-woo had shown unexpected qualities that surpassed expectations just when you thought ‘this must be his limit.’

 

If he could do that again this time… Seong Jun-il chuckled softly as he thought that far.

 

‘That would be difficult.’

 

No matter what, defeating those two was still a distant prospect.

 

Well, it wasn’t that there was an enormously huge difference between them. If you had to measure it, it was a very minor difference, so small that ordinary people wouldn’t even notice it.

 

But actors inherently dedicate their entire lives to narrowing such small differences.

 

No matter how talented Seon-woo was, it would be difficult to close that gap in such a short time.

 

‘Still, I hope he does well.’

 

Ever since witnessing the confrontation with Seo Jin-wook, Seon-woo had been deeply engraved in Seong Jun-il’s mind.

 

And rightfully so.

 

A junior who pursues the value of acting itself, not just immediate benefits… that’s precious.

 

Thanks to this, Seong Jun-il’s eyes sparkled constantly as he looked at Seon-woo.

 

To the point where Seon-woo, feeling that gaze, felt newly burdened.

 

‘…Really, it feels like he’s been staring only at me since last time.’

 

Yu Mi-yeon also often sent him warm glances, but Seong Jun-il’s intensity was severe.

 

Should I say it was to the point where making eye contact was frightening?

 

Just as he was thinking that he seemed to be receiving quite a lot of expectations, Seong Jun-il opened his mouth.

 

“Let’s see the acting first.”

 

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

 

There was no need to say conventional things like “Are you ready?” For the past three days, they had approached practice more combatively than any other team.

 

He didn’t know about Min-hee, but he never thought he’d be saying this about Yeon-woo too…

 

They had reached a level where they could communicate just by looking into each other’s eyes.

 

And then,

 

“Why, why did you bring me back? Huh? Why the hell! Ji-soo was, Ji-soo was there!”

 

Min-hee instantly drew up her emotions.

 

The imagery of rage, dark and putrid, blooming in the form of a rotting flower.

 

What was contained within that rage would be fear and despair that she had no confidence in overcoming.

 

At first, it was somewhat difficult to handle because the size of her emotions was enormous and their form was too beautiful.

 

It was because he felt like he might ruin her acting if he made a mistake.

 

But now it was different.

 

Because he had learned through Yeon-woo.

 

What it really meant to properly handle emotions.

 

That simply expressing them wasn’t the only solution.

 

“What was I supposed to do in that situation? If I had been even 10 seconds late, we would have been swept away too. What could I have done? Just let you die?”

 

Seon-woo spoke slowly.

 

And that was the moment. The judges’ gazes all became profound as if they had made a promise.

 

‘…He’s acting like this?’

 

Usually, when young actors perform the same emotional line, their attitudes are quite similar.

 

To avoid being overshadowed, they burn their emotions even more intensely.

 

Especially when it comes to turbulent emotions like rage, it goes without saying.

 

But Seon-woo was different.

 

Seon-woo changed the texture of the emotion. While Min-hee was expressing explosive rage, Seon-woo instead directed a rage that was being suppressed and held back… but seemed ready to burst at any moment.

 

It’s different acting from the original.

 

In the original, they just chose to recklessly explode with rage. But seeing Seon-woo’s acting makes me think this.

 

…Perhaps this scene, wasn’t acting it that way the correct answer?

 

“You should have let me die! At least you should have let me decide whether to stay there or not! Who are you to drag me and run! Huh? Why… why did you make me survive…!”

 

“Stop… Please, both of you stop.”

 

“I had no choice. If I hadn’t dragged you out then, you would have died too!”

 

“Right. But you didn’t have to abandon Ji-soo! Who are you, who are you to save me? Huh?”

 

“Does that make sense? Should I apologize for saving your life?”

 

“You didn’t save me, you stole from me. You didn’t even give me the chance to make that final choice. Ji-soo, Ji-soo was looking at me until the very end…!”

 

Perhaps it’s thanks to Seon-woo’s acting.

 

Min-hee’s acting also feels like its tone is coming alive.

 

Seon-woo could actually see it with his eyes.

 

Every time the rage he couldn’t quite control and let slip reached Min-hee, the petals Min-hee bloomed grew larger and larger.

 

And when Min-hee’s color that filled the stage finally invaded the spot where Yeon-woo stood…

 

Yeon-woo exploded as if she had been waiting for it.

 

“I told you to stop!”

 

No, perhaps that was too beautiful a scene to call an explosion.

 

It scatters. Yeon-woo’s rage that had been suppressed and suppressed rises sharply like the spines of a curled-up hedgehog.

 

You can tell just by looking.

 

That pure white rage that might hurt someone… is actually meant to protect herself.

 

“What’s the point of you two fighting now! It’s nobody’s fault! It just… it just couldn’t be helped. It’s not our fault. So please just stop. Stop it—!”

 

Even though he had seen this acting several times already, Seon-woo was thrilled.

 

Yeon-woo’s emotion control was admirable every time he saw it. The feeling of someone who had been curled up just moments before suddenly collapsing, exploding, vomiting out the accumulated resentment and wounds inside…

 

But this wasn’t the time to just admire.

 

Seon-woo slowly drew up Min-seok’s color.

 

The color Seon-woo had bloomed earlier was torn to shreds before Yeon-woo’s thorns.

 

But would that still be the case now?

 

No.

 

“Stop? How can I stop? I did something wrong. Right?”

 

The advice Yeon-woo gave for this scene was as follows.

 

Inhale as if holding your breath, then exhale forcefully with your lines.

 

Cut short between words, expressing suppressed rage.

 

Tighten your throat to create a choked feeling, and let your voice crack at the end of lines.

 

Make arm movements as large as possible.

 

And when you finally explode… get angry as if bursting into tears.

 

“I killed him. If it wasn’t for me, everything would have been fine, this kid—!!”

 

Bang! It felt like something exploded in his head.

 

And at the same time, the resentment that had been pressed down inside Seon-woo’s body burst forth.

 

Like a dam collapsing, a fierce wave of dark blue color overflowed.

 

For just a brief moment, this stage seemed submerged in the ocean.

 

Like the title [Swell Wave Forecast]… it felt as if fierce storms had swallowed and passed over the stage.

 

And what remained after that was,

 

“…This is impossible.”

 

The participants watching them with dazed faces…

 

And Seong Jun-il with a half-stunned expression.

 

* * *

 

Insane.

 

The participants’ reactions to Seon-woo’s team’s acting were unanimous.

 

It was unbelievable acting. It made them wonder if those were really participants like themselves.

 

Even Hyeong-bin was clicking his tongue in amazement.

 

‘Seon-woo is really something else.’

 

How surprised he had been when he first heard about Seon-woo’s experience.

 

Hyeong-bin had naturally assumed Seon-woo must have at least several years of experience. His acting ability couldn’t be explained otherwise.

 

But his actual acting experience was… much shorter than even Hyeong-bin’s hobby acting.

 

Yet despite all that, Seon-woo’s acting has reached a level that he could never dare to aspire to.

 

No, that’s not simply the problem.

 

Even compared to when they acted together last time, his stage presence is different.

 

It feels like he’s grown another level as an actor.

 

…But only three days have passed, is that even possible?

 

I don’t know. Logically thinking, it should obviously be impossible, but it seems meaningless to apply common sense to Seon-woo.

 

Hyeong-bin looked back at Seo Jin-wook.

 

“Jin-wook. Isn’t your junior way too talented?”

 

“….”

 

Seo Jin-wook didn’t give any answer and looked at Seon-woo with unreadable eyes.

 

Though it didn’t sit well with him, the acting Seon-woo had shown was too high-level to deny.

 

Breathing, intensity, color… acting that didn’t fall behind Min-hee or Yeon-woo over there in any aspect.

 

It was acting that had grown several levels beyond what he remembered.

 

It was a perfect stage.

 

After the acting ended, Yu Mi-yeon’s evaluation wasn’t an exaggeration at all.

 

“Honestly, I didn’t expect to say something like this, but I got goosebumps for a moment. The three of you had such perfect acting chemistry… I forgot I was even judging and just ended up appreciating it.”

 

Just moments ago, this same mouth had been spitting harsh words while watching the ‘Joy’ team participants. But now only a pleasant smile appeared on those lips.

 

“The emotion of ‘rage’ is actually more complex than people think. People rage because they’re scared, rage because they’re hurt, and… rage because they’re sad. All of that was well captured in your acting. Especially Min-hee.”

 

“Yes, yes!”

 

“Min-hee’s acting, how should I put it. She’s good at acting well, but… she seems to have this power that continuously captivates people’s attention. I might be called presumptuous for saying this already, but should I say she shows the qualities of a star?”

 

“…Thank you!”

 

Min-hee bowed her head deeply.

 

She tried not to show it, but tears welled up in her eyes for a moment. Being acknowledged like this by a great senior like Yu Mi-yeon felt like all the difficult times were being comforted.

 

Seong Jun-il also nodded in agreement.

 

“That’s right. Watching it made me really empathize. From a viewer’s perspective, being absorbed into that actor is really important. In that sense, Yeon-woo was also excellent. I’m amazed every time I watch. I think, how can someone act so precisely?”

 

It was a judgment perfectly suited for Yeon-woo.

 

If asked who the most outstanding participant in this competition was, Seong Jun-il would have to think about it. But if asked who gave the most precise acting, he would choose Yeon-woo without hesitation.

 

Even in very short, just a few seconds of acting, Yeon-woo knew how to incorporate dozens of details.

 

Even among active actors, those who can take care of this many details are rare.

 

However, there was someone who stood out just as much as Yeon-woo.

 

“Kim Seon-woo.”

 

Lee Mu-beom called out to Seon-woo.

 

“You didn’t seem like the type to analyze acting technically before, but today was different. You didn’t just stop at simply acting out emotions… you even did direction.”

 

Lee Mu-beom adjusted his glasses and stared at Seon-woo.

 

“Honestly, I was a bit flustered. A person’s acting method isn’t something that can change overnight like this… How did you do it?”

 

This was something he was curious about, aside from the evaluation.

 

Seong Jun-il and Yu Mi-yeon also looked at Seon-woo with agreeing eyes. The feeling was definitely too different from his acting just a few days ago.

 

Considering the level he had shown before, they thought he might fall a bit short compared to Min-hee and Yeon-woo… but what was this? Instead, he was showing more explosive emotional lines than anyone else in those moments.

 

Seon-woo’s stage presence hadn’t been pushed back even once today.

 

The problem was the ‘how’ that Lee Mu-beom had asked about.

 

Just how could that be possible?

 

Just how could a person grow so differently from day to day like this?

 

“Yeon-woo’s advice was significant.”

 

And Seon-woo gave that credit to Yeon-woo.

 

Of course, the power of color orbs had also played a big role. Watching the colors change with every expression and tone adjustment… Seon-woo was able to understand emotions more intuitively.

 

But without Yeon-woo, such change wouldn’t have existed in the first place.

 

Yeon-woo had taught him the details to further develop Seon-woo’s emotions, and Seon-woo had made all those details his own.

 

It was that simple a story.

 

“Following the advice Yeon-woo gave me, I could feel my acting changing.”

 

An answer Seon-woo gave back with his own sincerity.

 

But from the listener’s perspective, it couldn’t help but be a somewhat absurd answer.

 

No matter how well someone teaches acting, could you really improve that dramatically just from learning a bit?

 

Wasn’t it no different from saying you went to an academy and got a perfect score on the college entrance exam?

 

Seon-woo spoke as if it was nothing special, as if it was natural, so they almost just let it pass for a moment… but no matter how amazing a mentor one might have, this kind of growth speed couldn’t be explained.

 

But there was no choice.

 

From the moment the question was asked, there could be no answer to this ‘how’ part.

 

No, if there was an answer, it would only be this one.

 

Lee Mu-beom took off his glasses.

 

And with a hollow laugh, he rubbed his face wearily.

 

“My acting career spans 53 years as of this year. I’ve seen truly countless actors over such a long period of time. But… I never thought the day would come when I’d say these words with my own mouth.”

 

Lee Mu-beom opened his mouth.

 

Even until the moment he opened his mouth, he hesitated as if doubting whether this was right… but in the end, he spoke those words.

 

“Kim Seon-woo… you’re a genius.”

—————
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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