I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 43

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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 43

 

“Crazy….”

 

“10 points? This is the first time someone got 10 points, isn’t it?”

 

“It’s the first time. Wow, this is really insane. Getting a perfect score without saying a single line?”

 

“It was acting worthy of that score though.”

 

“That’s true, but….”

 

All the participants without exception fell into shock.

 

10 points. In fact, they had thought that no one might receive 10 points until the program ended.

 

Because 10 points was a perfect score.

 

Of course, a perfect score here probably didn’t mean being perfect as an actor… but anyway, the score of 10 points felt somewhat symbolic to them.

 

How should I put it.

 

It was like praise saying it was so perfect that there was nothing left to improve.

 

For them, who weren’t even proper actors yet… it felt like excessive praise.

 

But 10 points had appeared.

 

The funny thing was that this 10 points made sense.

 

The Mute.

 

Despite acting a role without a single line, no one questioned this result at this moment.

 

Because that was the kind of acting Seon-woo had shown.

 

Rather,

 

“10 points…?”

 

The one most flustered by that score was actually Seon-woo himself.

 

While getting a feel for the Mute character, he had thought he might be able to receive a high score… but that would have been 9 points at most.

 

He never imagined he would receive a perfect score.

 

Lee Mu-beom smiled.

 

“Why, do you think it’s undeserved?”

 

“Yes. I still… feel like my acting is very lacking.”

 

Instead of responding to Seon-woo’s answer, Lee Mu-beom stared intently at Seon-woo.

 

In his calm gaze, curiosity and interest that were hard to describe were deeply melted down.

 

“Seon-woo, you’re… looking very far ahead.”

 

“…Far ahead?”

 

“You’re setting your standards at a level that most people wouldn’t even dare to dream of. And this is when you haven’t even been learning acting for a full year yet.”

 

“That’s…”

 

Seon-woo was about to say that wasn’t true.

 

But Lee Mu-beom was right. Ever since entering Cheongseong, Seon-woo’s goal… his standard had always been just one person.

 

Do-young.

 

When they first met at Cheongseong, he hadn’t realized it, but looking back now… Do-young was such an absurd person that their chance meeting itself felt like a miracle.

 

Yoo Chan-woo had chosen someone with no career whatsoever as the lead role based solely on their acting ability.

 

Anyway, having witnessed such a monster from the very beginning of his acting journey, it was inevitable that his standards would be raised.

 

“If you can’t believe in yourself, then believe in my words.”

 

Lee Mu-beom saw right through Seon-woo.

 

That there was quite an interesting person at the end of Seon-woo’s gaze, and that’s why Seon-woo had no choice but to be strict with himself.

 

And that these words were necessary.

 

“Seon-woo, you’re a good actor.”

 

* * *

 

The evaluation was over.

 

Along with a team score of 9 points… and an unprecedented individual score of 10 points.

 

After coming down from the stage, Seon-woo felt dazed for quite a while.

 

A good actor.

 

Seon-woo barely managed to suppress the corners of his mouth that kept trying to rise. It was strange. His heart was fluttering more from those words than when he was called a genius.

 

‘…Am I doing well?’

 

There hadn’t been a single day of rest since he started acting.

 

He thought he couldn’t afford to be leisurely since he started at such a late age.

 

Though he didn’t show it, he was actually anxious inside. There was the 2-year promise he made with his parents, and he worried whether he could achieve meaningful results within that time.

 

In the midst of all that, he heard that he was a good actor.

 

From none other than veteran actor Lee Mu-beom.

 

How should he put it. It felt like he could finally breathe freely. It seemed like he had received confirmation from Lee Mu-beom that he just needed to keep going as he was.

 

Of course his mouth would want to smile.

 

But not everyone could smile like that.

 

Right now…

 

“How disappointing.”

 

That was the case with Si-on and Ye-chan’s team.

 

It had been a problematic team from the start.

 

According to what Ye-chan had said, the team members hadn’t gotten along properly… and just looking at what they did to Si-on, it wasn’t normal.

 

There was no way a good stage would come out of it.

 

And that prediction wasn’t wrong.

 

“Wh-where is this place!”

 

“Let me out!”

 

“Heh, hehe, give me alcohol! Give me alcohol!”

 

“…!”

 

The individual acting might not have been bad.

 

But not only were their eye contact and breathing out of sync with each other, sometimes even their movements overlapped… it was a stage where teamwork was practically nonexistent.

 

Thanks to that, Yu Mi-yeon’s face had become so cold it was frightening to even look at.

 

“Looking at all of you, I can see exactly how much a stage can be ruined when it aims for competition instead of acting. Honestly… I’m wondering why I even have to judge this.”

 

The critique that followed doesn’t need to be mentioned.

 

Just knowing that they recorded a historic team score would be enough.

 

3 points.

 

Considering that even those who had recorded the lowest score before had gotten at least 5 points, it was truly a disastrous score.

 

Of course, even so, Si-on and Ye-chan did manage to hold their own to some extent.

 

First, in Ye-chan’s case,

 

“I could feel that Ye-chan put a lot of thought into it. You really brought a character with no lines to life well. But… I don’t think this is the mute character the writer intended. So I’ll give you 6 points.”

 

He managed to get 6 points.

 

It wasn’t a high score, but it was still decent for a mute character. Except for Seon-woo, no one playing the mute had scored over 6 points.

 

And Si-on too,

 

“Si-on did well. I can see that you worked hard even in difficult circumstances.”

 

“Thank you!”

 

The score Si-on received was 7 points.

 

With a score even higher than Ye-chan’s, Si-on’s eyes sparkled with joy.

 

But Seon-woo’s expression as he watched wasn’t very good.

 

‘Si-on’s cumulative score is… 15 points.’

 

Si-on’s existing score had only been 5 points.

 

Depending on what the passing score was for this round, it wouldn’t be strange at all if he got eliminated.

 

‘…But he acted really well this time.’

 

Seon-woo clenched his fists.

 

While getting eliminated from a competition was natural, he didn’t want to see Si-on fall because he’d been matched with such a wrong team.

 

That would be too unfair.

 

But the world doesn’t always flow fairly.

 

When all the teams had finished their evaluations and Seong Jun-il snapped his fingers… various names appeared on the screen above the stage.

 

Just as he was looking for Si-on’s name among them, Seong Jun-il opened his mouth.

 

“Those whose names are on the list… please all leave the studio.”

 

Si-on had been eliminated.

 

* * *

 

13 people.

 

That was the number of contestants eliminated in this mission.

 

22 people remained. Now they were really just one step away from the TOP 10.

 

But Seon-woo wasn’t entirely happy right now.

 

“Here, your pillow.”

 

“Oh, I almost forgot. Thanks, hyung!”

 

Si-on smiled brightly as he accepted the pillow Seon-woo handed him.

 

He was packing his luggage. He had to go home now.

 

Seon-woo looked into Si-on’s face.

 

For someone who had been eliminated, he didn’t look that depressed. If anything, his face looked rather relieved.

 

It wasn’t incomprehensible.

 

Looking at Si-on alone rather than the team, his acting hadn’t been bad at all. In fact, it was good. Better than any acting Si-on had shown so far.

 

It was ironic.

 

Even though he had shown the best acting he’d ever displayed… he still had to drink the bitter cup of elimination.

 

Seon-woo patted Si-on’s head.

 

“You did well today.”

 

“Huh? What did I do well?”

 

“Your acting. You did it with such spirit.”

 

“…Really?”

 

Si-on’s eyes widened.

 

Seon-woo chuckled softly.

 

“Of course it’s real. Why? Don’t you think so?”

 

“No, that’s not it… Hehe, I don’t know. I did receive praise, but now I’m packing my luggage like this…”

 

“Feeling conflicted?”

 

“Conflicted? What does that mean?”

 

“I’m asking if you feel disappointed.”

 

“Ah… No. But it’s okay.”

 

Si-on scratched his head with an embarrassed expression.

 

“Actually, there’s something I lied to you about.”

 

“Huh? To me?”

 

“When I said I didn’t miss Mother. Actually, I… really missed Mother.”

 

“Did you cry?”

 

“I, I didn’t cry!”

 

Si-on hurriedly waved his hands in denial.

 

“Being here was nice… but I think this is as far as I should go!”

 

“…”

 

Seon-woo didn’t bother saying anything.

 

It would be awkward to say “Yeah, this is as far as you go”… and it would be ridiculous to say “No, you could have gone further but got eliminated.”

 

“Keep acting well even outside.”

 

All he could offer was a word of encouragement.

 

And seeing Seon-woo like that, Si-on nodded vigorously.

 

“Yes! I’ll practice acting hard and… someday I’ll become an actor like you!”

 

“That would be a real honor? But there are many other good actors, so why me specifically?”

 

“Because you were the coolest, hyung!”

 

Si-on looked up at Seon-woo with sparkling eyes.

 

Seon-woo thought that look seemed familiar somehow.

 

Yes, it was just like how he looked at Do-young…

 

“Your acting was the most… how should I put it, it shined! Especially this time as the Mute, it was really amazing! I’m going to act like that someday too. I want to.”

 

“…This makes my shoulders feel heavy.”

 

Seon-woo smiled quietly.

 

He was a bit flustered. In Seon-woo’s mind, he wasn’t yet at a level where he could be someone’s goal.

 

But if that’s how Si-on saw him, he couldn’t say anything about it.

 

He should just be grateful.

 

“I’m leaving, but hyung, you have to win!”

 

“That doesn’t seem like it’ll be easy.”

 

“It’s okay!”

 

Si-on showed him his clenched fist.

 

“Hyung is good at difficult things anyway!”

 

His farewell with Si-on ended like that.

 

He didn’t really like sharing a room with someone else, but now that he was alone in the room where the two of them had always been together… his feelings were somehow complex.

 

How should he put it. It was disappointing, but… it made him realize that the broadcast had progressed quite a bit.

 

‘TOP 10 is right around the corner.’

 

It was quite amazing when he thought about it.

 

Until he appeared on this program, he had been struggling to even find a single supporting role audition…

 

‘They said if you make it to TOP 10, you can appear in a drama.’

 

This part was a bit puzzling.

 

What kind of drama was it that they would cast all the people who made it to TOP 10?

 

They didn’t even know who would make it to TOP 10, so it was questionable whether the scenario they had prepared could accommodate all of them.

 

‘…It’s not going to fall through, is it?’

 

Seon-woo shook his head.

 

Im Yeong-do didn’t seem like someone who would handle things so carelessly. There must be some way he had figured out.

 

He just needed to focus on his own work.

 

Acting.

 

‘Let’s do this without regrets.’

 

Si-on had said that.

 

That he wanted to become an actor like him someday.

 

Having received such an absurd compliment, he couldn’t show a half-hearted performance, could he.

 

Seon-woo raised his Color Orb.

 

Not just the Mute’s Color Orb.

 

All the Color Orbs of every character he had acted—from the Painter he first portrayed, to Seung-do, Hee-jae, and all the rest.

 

‘I’ve already experienced so many colors.’

 

Seon-woo suddenly imagined.

 

Decades from now, after going through countless roles incomparable to what he had now… just how many Color Orbs would he be with?

 

And how beautiful would those colors be?

 

Just imagining it made his body heat up.

 

More than things like drama appearances or program victories… imagining the colors his world would hold in that moment seemed to make his heart burn hotter.

 

Right. There’s no need to think too hard about it.

 

Let’s keep painting.

 

Everywhere his eyes reach, until his world becomes colorful.

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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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