I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 42

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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 42

There are no words.

I don’t even know what to think.

It wasn’t just the judges or participants.

Even the staff members who were always bustling around in the back had stopped breathing and were staring blankly at the stage.

It was dreamy, as if they had just awakened from a dream.

It was clearly nothing spectacular. Just the mute standing up, opening his mouth, and staring at the camera… a simple scene.

But why did that scene give such thrills?

“Ah…”

It was the moment when someone barely let out a suppressed moan.

As if their entire bodies had been frozen and were just now melting, applause began to slowly emerge from here and there.

And then came the cheers.

“Waaaaaaah! This is insane!”

“Kim Seon-wooooooo!”

“He killed it—!”

For a brief moment, competition disappeared from everyone’s minds.

Since they had all practiced the same script, their emotions were even more heightened.

No one knew that [Those in the Sealed Room] could leave such a lingering impression.

Especially the mute character – they had wondered why such a character was even created… but at this moment, everyone had no choice but to realize.

The mute was the hidden protagonist of this work.

‘…So this is what Seon-woo hyung meant.’

Even though the performance was over, Ye-chan couldn’t take his eyes off the stage.

Seon-woo had said it. The mute isn’t simply someone who can’t speak. He should be someone cut off from the world, unable to communicate with anything… that kind of existence.

He actually knew that was the right answer.

But in the end, Ye-chan couldn’t prepare such an extreme mute.

It was because he lacked confidence deep down. Confidence to bring to life a character with not a single line, without any special actions.

Seon-woo was different.

He must have felt lost too, but he somehow confronted it and created this kind of mute.

It’s incomprehensible.

How is this possible?

How can he always challenge only such difficult paths?

This wasn’t just Ye-chan’s thoughts.

For the other mutes too, Seon-woo’s mute was truly shocking.

No one knew that the mute could shine like this.

‘Why…’

Why could they look at the same role and think it was ruined, while Seon-woo could discover such charm?

He was envious.

Those eyes that could find something beautiful even when looking at the same thing.

Those who acknowledged Seon-woo and those who doubted him all nodded now.

He was definitely a genius.

It’s not a feeling of being excellent or smart.

He’s different.

It doesn’t even make me want to compete.

“…Amazing.”

Yu Mi-yeon slowly parted her lips.

“When I received the script, I thought this. There probably won’t be any team that can properly act this out. Even to me, it was a difficult and complex work. But… it was needless worry.”

Yu Mi-yeon chuckled and shook her head as if she found it absurd herself.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I saw a good performance.”

It was praise sent not as a judge, but as an actor and as an audience member.

Yu Mi-yeon looked back at Seong Jun-il as if telling him to speak too.

But Seong Jun-il remained silent for a moment, and only after some time passed did he open his mouth with a sigh.

“…I’m sorry. Honestly, I’m a bit dizzy. I never imagined I’d see such a performance… I don’t even know what to say.”

“I can relate. The composition of the performance itself was very different from what we expected, right?”

“Yes. It feels like the texture of the work itself has changed. The reason is… well, everyone knows, so let’s set that aside.”

Seong Jun-il said that while briefly looking at Seon-woo, then soon looked around at all his team members.

And he couldn’t help but chuckle for a moment.

“You all have interesting expressions.”

There’s no sign of tension. Everyone is smiling.

Because they’re full of confidence?

No, that’s not it. They’re intoxicated by the afterglow of the performance.

It was a performance where not only the mutual chemistry but also individual acting abilities were honed to the extreme.

Everyone had no choice but to be intoxicated by a satisfaction that made their brains tingle.

Well, if there was an exception, it was Yeon-woo.

Although she was making an expression pretending to be moved, in fact she wasn’t feeling any particular joy right now.

What came to her mind now were just a few question marks.

‘How many points will we get?’

Points.

Yeon-woo had no interest in self-realization through acting. What she wanted were points, survival, and all the fruits that would follow.

She didn’t need to wait long.

Lee Mu-beom opened his mouth.

“Honestly, we didn’t think we’d get a high score for the team evaluation.”

“It’s not easy for all five team members to achieve harmony together.”

“So… it’s both surprising and delightful to announce this score.”

“Your team score is… 9 points.”

“!”

“Crazy… 9 points?”

“That’s legendary, isn’t it?”

The audience became restless.

A team score of 9 points was the highest score achieved so far.

It was essentially the best performance.

Now all that remained were the individual scores.

Lee Mu-beom opened his mouth.

“Lee Yeon-woo?”

“Yes!”

“Do you know? Your acting doesn’t have what we commonly call ‘mannerisms.'”

“…Oh, I don’t think I’ve ever been particularly conscious of that!”

Yeon-woo hesitated for a moment, then smiled brightly as she answered.

No mannerisms. That made sense.

An actor develops mannerisms in their acting because they incorporate aspects of their usual self into their performance.

But Yeon-woo didn’t incorporate her own image when acting. She couldn’t.

What she incorporated were always the characteristics of others that she understood through observation.

Naturally, she couldn’t have her own unique mannerisms.

“So when watching your acting, Yeon-woo… it always feels fresh and clean. It seems like the optimal acting for each situation comes out naturally.”

“Thank you!”

Yeon-woo hummed to herself inwardly.

At this rate, she thought she might even be able to expect an individual score of 9 points or higher.

It was a score she wanted to receive once. She felt that if she got 9 points, she would somehow become the protagonist of this program.

However,

“Lee Yeon-woo receives 8 points.”

The score that was soon announced was a bit disappointing compared to her expectations.

Part of her couldn’t accept it. She was sure she had shown her best.

What exactly prevented her from filling those remaining 2 points?

As she harbored such doubts, Lee Mu-beom looked intently at Yeon-woo.

“Are you curious about the reason for the deduction?”

“Yes.”

“It’s because you have no mannerisms.”

“…?”

Yeon-woo made a puzzled expression.

Didn’t he just say that having no mannerisms made her fresh and clean?

Lee Mu-beom continued speaking in a low voice.

“Mannerisms are quite peculiar things. If they’re too excessive, they interfere with expressing a role, but if there are too few, people don’t know what to expect when watching that actor.”

In summary, it meant that Yeon-woo’s unique color wasn’t particularly felt.

For Yeon-woo, this was somewhat daunting. Her unique color… wasn’t something she could publicly display.

“Find your own color, Yeon-woo.”

“…Yes! I understand!”

But she couldn’t make a sad face because of that.

Yeon-woo deliberately put on a resolute expression and bit into a pretty smile.

Lee Mu-beom shifted his gaze.

The Man, clearly showing signs of nervousness, was staring at him intently.

“Jeong Hye-seong.”

“Yes.”

“Please score your own acting directly.”

“…Wow, that’s really difficult.”

Hye-seong laughed awkwardly.

But soon he looked at Lee Mu-beom with firm eyes.

“I’ll go with 8 points.”

“Not 9 points, but 8 points?”

“I think it’s better to have as much room for improvement as possible.”

“Then why don’t you make it 5 points?”

Seong Jun-il asked with a chuckle.

Hye-seong smiled slyly and scratched his head.

“But if the road ahead is that long, it would be too difficult.”

“Well, don’t worry. From what I can see, you don’t have that much road left ahead. Hye-seong receives 9 points. The reason… I won’t bother explaining. Everyone who saw Hye-seong’s acting must be thinking the same thing.”

“…Thank you!”

9 points.

It was practically the highest score he had hoped for.

Lee Mu-beom’s evaluation ended there. As if Hye-seong receiving 9 points was so natural that there was no need to say more.

His gaze had already moved to the next target.

“Hyeong-bin really did well compared to what we were worried about. If you just work on your voice projection a little more… I think you’ll really do stable acting.”

“Thank you!”

The score Hyeong-bin received was 7 points.

Although it might seem weak compared to other team members, from his perspective it was a sufficiently satisfying high score.

Thanks to this, while a beaming smile formed on Hyeong-bin’s lips, there was one person who still couldn’t smile.

Yu Mi-yeon immediately pointed him out.

“Jin-wook?”

“Yes.”

“You’re aware that your own acting style has changed, right?”

“…Yes.”

Seo Jin-wook nodded slowly.

Seon-woo looked at him with a strange expression.

Seo Jin-wook had always been the type to act ostentatiously, as if begging people to look at him. But now he was… how should he put it. Honestly, he had become quite a good team player.

It was fascinating.

What on earth had changed him like this?

“How did it change?”

And apparently that wasn’t something only Seon-woo was curious about.

At Yu Mi-yeon’s question, not only Seon-woo but the other team members, as well as Si-on and Ye-chan, all looked at Seo Jin-wook.

Seo Jin-wook couldn’t answer easily.

As if ashamed, as if embarrassed, he just moved his lips for a long time… then soon looked down at the floor for no reason and answered.

“I thought I couldn’t continue like this.”

“…Could you tell us a bit more?”

“I want to act. Not just now, but continuously in the future.”

Seo Jin-wook said while still looking down at the floor.

“But if I continued like this… I thought I might not be able to do that.”

It was a brief answer, almost as if a lot had been omitted in the middle.

But why was it that what he wanted to say seemed somehow understandable?

Yu Mi-yeon opened her mouth with a calm smile.

“Jin-wook. I like your change.”

“…Yes. Thank you.”

“I hope you continue acting.”

No one there could tell what expression Seo Jin-wook made at that moment.

His head was bowed so deeply toward the floor that his neck must have hurt.

If he had wanted to, he could have looked at that face. But Seon-woo didn’t.

Somehow, that expression seemed like it would be quite cringeworthy.

And,

“Kim Seon-woo.”

“Yes.”

Now it was finally his turn to be evaluated.

Yu Mi-yeon swallowed.

Anyone here would be able to tell who the protagonist of today’s stage was.

Yu Mi-yeon looked into Seon-woo’s eyes.

They were normal. So normal that she couldn’t recall those eyes that had contained the Mute’s emptiness just moments before.

Well, they should be normal.

If someone went around with those kinds of eyes normally, they wouldn’t be normal.

Right.

Those were the eyes of someone whose heart had already died.

Yu Mi-yeon’s gaze naturally darkened as she recalled those eyes again.

“I want to ask. How… did you think to express the Mute like this?”

Seon-woo thought for a moment.

How could he do this?

Actually, the biggest reason was the Color Orb. The Color Orb had shown him that the Mute had no color at all.

Seon-woo had said that having no color was itself the Mute’s color.

And at the same time, he thought that the process of gaining one’s own color was the Mute’s main narrative.

But he couldn’t answer like this.

In the end, all Seon-woo could give back was this safe answer.

“I just did what the script told me to do.”

“…?”

Yu Mi-yeon’s expression became strange.

Seon-woo belatedly realized that this might sound like saying “I just studied by looking at textbooks.”

He was already troubled by the genius frame, and he couldn’t throw more fuel on that fire.

Seon-woo hastily added.

“The writer seemed to have written it all down. That the Mute’s greatest line is his silence itself. That if you don’t bring that silence to life, the Mute stops being the Mute. I just followed that message.”

Seon-woo attributed all the credit to the writer.

That he wasn’t great, he had just done what the writer instructed.

“…Amazing.”

And watching such a Seon-woo, Yu Mi-yeon was impressed.

According to Seon-woo’s words, the Mute was actually a character with nothing difficult about him.

But then why couldn’t anyone properly express that character?

Simple.

…Because it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Finally, Seong Jun-il couldn’t stand it and spoke up.

“Teacher Lee Mu-beom said something last time. That Seon-woo is a genius.”

“…That’s too generous a compliment.”

“Yes, honestly I thought so too. I do think Seon-woo’s acting is attractive, but I thought calling him a genius was going too far.”

Seong Jun-il nodded.

“But now I understand why he said that.”

Seong Jun-il spoke without any hint of laughter.

This wasn’t deliberately exaggerated for broadcast.

Now I think I understand. Why Lee Mu-beom said he needed to keep watching Seon-woo. Why he called him a genius.

“Seon-woo, you’re special. All those things you talk about so casually, as if they’re ordinary… they’re actually quite special.”

“….”

“You said it was all written in the script? Yes, that’s right. But why couldn’t others discover it?”

Seon-woo couldn’t answer.

Honestly, his first thought was ‘Maybe they just didn’t look hard enough?’ But he couldn’t say that. It would sound like he was saying the others didn’t put in effort.

Seong Jun-il stared intently at Seon-woo.

“Because you see what others can’t see, because you don’t even realize that’s special, that’s why you’re a genius, Seon-woo. Not because you’re superior to others, but because you’re different from them.”

And Seong Jun-il turned to look at Lee Mu-beom.

“Isn’t that right, Teacher?”

Lee Mu-beom smiled silently.

When people talk about genius, they think it means ‘being better.’ They think if you do the same thing faster and more skillfully, that makes you a genius.

But that’s not what Lee Mu-beom considered genius.

What’s the point of being faster than others?

A genius is someone who can accomplish what others could never do.

Someone different from others.

“Kim Seon-woo.”

“Yes.”

“Why do you think others didn’t express Mute the way you did today?”

“…I think it’s one of two reasons. Either they couldn’t see this kind of Mute in the first place, or… they were scared.”

Seon-woo answered honestly.

Watching such a Seon-woo, Lee Mu-beom’s eyes lit up.

“Scared the results wouldn’t be good?”

“Yes. Actually, I was scared of this too. I wondered if I was making an unnecessarily experimental attempt.”

“Then why did you act that way?”

“…Well, I hadn’t thought about the reason, but thinking about it now, I think it might be this.”

A somewhat rambling tone, but one that felt all the more sincere for it.

“Being in this place, I feel like my attention keeps getting drawn to surviving and winning. But I didn’t want to get confused. I’m not acting to win in this program.”

As he spoke, his thoughts slowly organized themselves.

Along with that, his voice gradually gained conviction.

“The reason I act is simple. Because I want to.”

His eyes sparkled.

So beautifully that you’d wonder what he was holding in those eyes.

“I just acted the way I wanted to act.”

“….”

Lee Mu-beom was momentarily speechless.

It wasn’t just Lee Mu-beom. Everyone watching Seon-woo had no choice but to fall silent.

Lee Mu-beom recalled his youth when he first decided to pursue acting.

Yes. It was like this back then too. Everything in the world seemed so beautiful, everything appeared to shine.

Dreams… sometimes just having them can make you feel like you have everything.

So that’s why this young man is shining like this now.

“To our Seon-woo… I want to say thank you.”

“…Yes?”

“Thanks to you, after a long time… I remembered how I felt when I first started acting.”

Lee Mu-beom looked at Seon-woo.

“Earlier, Hye-seong said this. That he wanted to get 8 or 9 points, if only to leave room for improvement. However, the reason we’re giving you this score now is because we felt there was nothing more to touch, at least for this role.”

Lee Mu-beom continued calmly.

“Kim Seon-woo… gets 10 points.”

It was the first perfect score.

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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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