I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 72

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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 72

 

Episode 2 of [One Room] was… literally ‘stimulation’ itself.

 

“Fuck, hey! Hey! You’re watching from there, right? Stop messing around and let me out right now! I’ll come out and kill you all!”

 

While the people who heard the broadcast were panicking, Seo Jin-wook pointed at the camera hanging from the ceiling and raised his voice.

 

And Justin, who agreed with Seo Jin-wook, staggered while looking up at the sky.

 

“R-right. Let me out! Is anyone out there? Is it Mom by any chance? Mom! You’re doing this because of my drug problem, right? Let’s solve this through conversation! It’s all my bad. Huh? I’ll do better! Huh? So, so… don’t do this. Mom, please!”

 

“…What the hell has this crazy bastard been saying since earlier?”

 

And while Seo Jin-wook looked serious watching Justin ramble like that, no matter how much time passed, there was no response from the game managers.

 

And how long had they maintained that silence?

 

Justin, who had been anxiously biting his nails alone, got up and pointed at everyone.

 

“You fucking! You, you guys were also sent by Mom, right? Huh? That’s why you came, right?”

 

And soon, perhaps because Yoo Ji-eun looked easy to handle, he fixed his gaze on her and trudged toward her.

 

“Hey, how much? How much did they say they’d give you? I’ll give you more, okay? Hey, drugs. Give me some drugs. My drugs… huh?”

 

“D-don’t do this! D-don’t, gasp, huff…!”

 

“What, what? Are you putting on a show?”

 

And this was the moment Kim Seon-woo stepped forward.

 

“Move aside.”

 

Yoo Ji-eun was having a panic attack.

 

Kim Seon-woo pushed Justin away and grabbed Yoo Ji-eun’s shoulders.

 

“Don’t be anxious. You’ll be fine soon. Slowly breathe in through your nose and exhale long through your mouth. Follow me. Inhaaale. Exhaaaale.”

 

An eerily calm voice.

 

It couldn’t be helped. Now that he had burst the color orb… what Seon-woo faced was the same emptiness as always.

 

It wasn’t that he felt empty emotions. It was a feeling as if his chest was completely hollow, to the point where even such emotions couldn’t be felt.

 

A complete emotional void.

 

“Huff, hufff… huh, gasp…!”

 

“Don’t hold your breath, slowly.”

 

Yoo Ji-eun’s breathing gradually stabilized.

 

But unlike that, the atmosphere in the common area was still chaotic.

 

This was when Park Moon-hyeon stepped forward.

 

“Everyone please calm down. We all seem to be in the same situation, so rather than fighting among ourselves, wouldn’t it be better to assess the situation first?”

 

Along with Park Moon-hyeon organizing the situation, the content of the currently shared script ended.

 

Continuously reshooting all these scenes was today’s schedule.

 

“Let’s take a break!”

 

With Park Myeong-jin’s break announcement, everyone collapsed with exhausted expressions.

 

The scenes taking place in the common area were quite difficult after all.

 

It wasn’t acting alone, but a scene where all ten people had to react organically and act together.

 

Having to act while paying attention not only to oneself but also to the breathing with others.

 

‘Considering that, everyone is doing well.’

 

They had been dragged to the film set without enough time to fully study the script, but considering that, everyone was showing acting without unnecessary elements.

 

Certainly 【I Am an Actor】 itself seemed to have properly served as a training camp.

 

It was a moment when he could realize that everyone’s skills had improved tremendously compared to the beginning.

 

However, not everyone was doing well.

 

“Yeon-woo, your acting feels somewhat awkward. Like you keep stumbling somewhere? Do you know what I mean?”

 

“Yes, I’ll pay attention to it!”

 

As could be seen from Park Myeong-jin’s criticism, Yeon-woo was struggling to the point where her overwhelming performance in Episode 1 seemed meaningless.

 

One might think, why suddenly when it’s the same character?

 

But in Episode 2… after entering this game arena called One Room, Lee Yeon-woo’s character had clearly changed.

 

If what she showed in Episode 1 was the aspect of a murderer intoxicated with killing, inside here she had to show herself thoroughly hiding that murderer’s aspect.

 

Inside the game arena, Lee Yeon-woo thoroughly takes the stance of a vulnerable woman.

 

Not arousing suspicion from anyone, but rather acting out a character who opens her heart and is worth depending on.

 

In a way, it could be seen as a kind of living suspense itself.

 

An existence like a time bomb under the table… having the most threatening fangs yet no one except the viewers could guess her true identity.

 

Thanks to that, even the color she emitted was different.

 

The color she showed as a murderer was a metallic lustrous pink.

 

But her current color… was a warm pink as if painted with pastels.

 

And seeing that, Seon-woo couldn’t help but be surprised anew.

 

‘…This is somewhat similar to Yeon-woo’s usual color.’

 

The sky-blue aura that Yeon-woo usually wore was also the same pastel tone as this pink.

 

Seon-woo thought this might be the reason her acting was shaking.

 

Acting out Lee Yeon-woo’s two faces like this… must feel exactly like confessing her identity.

 

‘Her feelings must be complicated.’

 

Seon-woo looked at Yeon-woo with slightly worried eyes.

 

And at that moment, Park Myeong-jin turned to look at Seon-woo.

 

“And Seon-woo.”

 

“Ah, yes!”

 

“When Kim Seon-woo was comforting Yoo Ji-eun… how should I put it. It felt a bit lacking.”

 

“…Could you tell me which part specifically?”

 

“I’m not sure about that either. I know Kim Seon-woo is a dry character in many ways, but it feels like he’s only dry?”

 

…It seemed this wasn’t the time to worry about others.

 

Listening to Park Myeong-jin’s feedback, Seon-woo inwardly tilted his head in confusion.

 

‘…Only dry?’

 

Honestly, he couldn’t quite understand it.

 

Was it a problem to act a dry character in a dry way?

 

Kim Seon-woo was originally a character whose core was exactly that. A person who couldn’t hold any color, whose identity was that parched dryness with no trace of moisture.

 

However,

 

“Yes. I’ll pay more attention to it!”

 

There must be a reason why Park Myeong-jin said that.

 

And Seon-woo had some idea of what it might be.

 

‘It’s probably that sparkle.’

 

That sparkle Lee Mu-beom had seen.

 

Somehow, it seemed like that sparkle was what Park Myeong-jin was expecting.

 

The problem was that Seon-woo hadn’t discovered even a fragment of that sparkle yet.

 

“Alright, let’s get back to filming!”

 

But what could he do.

 

He had to find it.

 

He had even received criticism.

 

Seon-woo gritted his teeth and threw himself into the reshoot.

 

However, no matter how many times they filmed… Seon-woo couldn’t get a sense of how to find that sparkle.

 

Yeon-woo’s situation was similar.

 

She showed somewhat unstable acting until the very end… and when filming finally ended, they had to watch Park Myeong-jin let out a deep sigh.

 

Eventually, the next morning,

 

“…Didn’t you sleep?”

 

Yeon-woo, whom he encountered in the communal kitchen, had hollow eyes.

 

“Couldn’t sleep.”

 

It was a bit unexpected.

 

He didn’t know Yeon-woo would take this problem seriously enough to lose sleep over it.

 

“Why? Because you’re troubled?”

 

“No, because I’m pissed off.”

 

…Wasn’t that the same thing?

 

Though his head tilted in confusion, this didn’t seem like the right atmosphere to point that out.

 

Perhaps her head was throbbing, as Yeon-woo rubbed her temples and spoke.

 

“I really hate that I’m getting a headache over something like this. It’s inefficient.”

 

“…Is it because of people’s reactions?”

 

Yeon-woo silently turned to look at Seon-woo.

 

Meeting that gaze, Seon-woo felt anew how truly transparent her eyes were.

 

Rather than being pretty because they were transparent, they felt eerily unsettling… eyes that reminded him of a predator.

 

“Seon-woo, do you also think I’m more suited for psychopath acting?”

 

“…”

 

It was a question he couldn’t easily answer.

 

But in truth, the answer was already decided.

 

“Yes.”

 

“…Ha, this is really fucking annoying. Oh, I wasn’t cursing at you, Seon-woo.”

 

“I know.”

 

Seon-woo smiled bitterly.

 

He couldn’t help it. The psychopath acting Yeon-woo had shown was… so overwhelming that even Seon-woo felt thrilled.

 

It wasn’t for nothing that she had surpassed even Hye-seong to take first place.

 

But Yeon-woo probably wasn’t entirely happy about that.

 

…Why?

 

Seon-woo fell into thought for a moment.

 

Actually, what Yeon-woo was facing now wasn’t much different from Seon-woo’s problem.

 

Seon-woo didn’t want to accept his depressed self,

 

Yeon-woo didn’t want to accept her psychopathic self.

 

Both wanted to live as someone else… someone different.

 

This was exactly what bothered Seon-woo.

 

“…But Yeon-woo. Is there really a reason to deny it?”

 

“What?”

 

“I’m asking if there’s really a need to deny yourself to that extent. I was wondering if you couldn’t just accept it as it is.”

 

He naturally understood Yeon-woo’s feelings.

 

It wasn’t just any other condition, but psychopathy. Antisocial personality disorder.

 

If she revealed that diagnosis, would the world really accept her?

 

There would be some people who would accept her.

 

But the absolute majority would be wary of her.

 

They would fear her, keep their distance, and treat her like a monster.

 

However,

 

“Sometimes I think this. It’s not this world that can’t accept Yeon-woo… it seems like it’s Yeon-woo herself.”

 

“….”

 

At those words, Yeon-woo was momentarily speechless.

 

She wanted to say it wasn’t true, but her mouth wouldn’t open easily.

 

Because Seon-woo’s words were right.

 

As he said… she despised herself.

 

Seon-woo continued speaking.

 

“You can just accept it. What does it matter what color you shine with? In the end, sparkling is all the same. Just because you don’t like that color doesn’t mean you have to…”

 

Seon-woo stopped mid-sentence and suddenly froze in place.

 

Each person shines in their own way. Even though those were words from his own mouth, they couldn’t be easily brushed aside for some strange reason.

 

If Kim Seon-woo was shining… how was he shining?

 

Was it colorful?

 

No, that couldn’t be. Kim Seon-woo was a gray character.

 

Even when Lee Mu-beom was said to be sparkling, the only color that appeared in Seon-woo’s eyes was gray.

 

Right.

 

Kim Seon-woo had sparkled in gray.

 

With a color he thought could never sparkle.

 

How?

 

How was that possible?

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

“…Seon-woo? Why did you stop talking?”

 

“Wait a moment. I just remembered something.”

 

Seon-woo suddenly got up and walked out of the kitchen.

 

Then he turned back to look at Yeon-woo and glanced at her briefly.

 

“Let’s finish this conversation later!”

 

“Hey, wait… that crazy guy, seriously.”

 

Yeon-woo, with a rarely flustered expression, tried to call Seon-woo back, but he had already left the common kitchen.

 

As the suddenly abandoned Yeon-woo stared blankly at the door where Seon-woo had disappeared with an incredulous expression, not long after, a man was about to enter the common kitchen but stopped and looked at Yeon-woo with surprise.

 

It was Jin-wook.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

Jin-wook said nothing and just looked at her as if asking why she had such an expression.

 

Yeon-woo frowned.

 

“What. Why?”

 

“…Good morning?”

 

“What are you even saying…”

 

Yeon-woo let out a weary sigh.

 

Anyway, this place is full of nothing but weirdos.

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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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