I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 78

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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 78

Watching your own acting work directly… is actually quite a difficult thing to do.

Because it catches the eye of the person who acted it much more easily.

Whether his own acting was truly the best he could do. Whether there were parts that were acted differently from his intentions. Where it was lacking, and where the emotions were excessive…

Should he call it fortunate?

At least Seon-woo wasn’t too embarrassed by himself on screen.

‘This is my best.’

He wouldn’t say it was perfect.

But Seon-woo had pondered with all the best effort he could give. And he had never tried to compromise in any case.

Even if he went back to the past, he would probably do the same acting.

However, he was worried about the audience’s reaction.

The audience score Seon-woo received last time was 8 points. And the judges’ score was 83 points.

Would he receive a better score than that time this time?

What he tried to express… was it fully conveyed to them?

He doesn’t know.

He’ll find out when he hears the evaluation.

But unfortunately, the first name called wasn’t Seon-woo.

“Seo Jin-wook.”

“…Yes.”

Jin-wook looked quite nervous, which was unlike him.

The score he received last time was 82 points from the judges and 6 points from the audience.

What was more concerning was probably the audience score.

6 points was too low no matter what.

The relatively high judges’ score wasn’t comforting either.

Rather, it was unpleasant. Because it sounded exactly like… ‘Your acting isn’t bad, but you have no marketability.’

“I heard from the production team. You even received acting tutoring from Lee Yeon-woo?”

“…Yes. I did.”

“Did you feel the need for some change?”

Seong Jun-il smiled and looked at Seo Jin-wook.

Jin-wook quietly lowered his head.

“…I thought I couldn’t continue like this. I felt it would be difficult to make a living as an actor.”

It was such raw speech that one might wonder if he was considering this was live broadcast.

It felt exactly like Seo Jin-wook from [One Room] had jumped out into reality.

Watching such Jin-wook, Seong Jun-il smiled.

“I don’t know if this is thanks to Yeon-woo… but it seems like smooth sailing so far. Jin-wook’s judges’ score is… 83 points. And the audience score is 7 points.”

A total of 90 points.

Both the judges’ score and audience score had increased by 1 point compared to last time.

But Jin-wook couldn’t decide whether he should be happy about that result. So he stood there quietly without much expression, and Seong Jun-il added in a low voice.

“Don’t worry too much. If you continue like this… Jin-wook, you’ll definitely become a good actor.”

Having an actor like Seong Jun-il say ‘you’ll become a good actor’ surely had great meaning.

But Jin-wook remembered the sparkling expressions in their eyes when he… and the other judges looked at Seon-woo.

And also that their eyes didn’t sparkle like that when they actually looked at him.

‘…Still not enough.’

It was the moment he returned to his spot thinking that.

Seon-woo, who was standing next to him, glanced at him and quietly opened his mouth.

“Your acting was good.”

“…?”

What’s this?

A new type of provocation?

Jin-wook looked at Seon-woo with a sour expression.

Seon-woo always treated him like a ghost or something invisible. He wasn’t the type to speak first like this. Thanks to that, even the compliment didn’t sound like a compliment.

But that was the moment.

Jin-wook ended up making eye contact with Yeon-woo, who was looking at him with a bright smile.

Eyes that seemed to ask, ‘Didn’t you promise?’

…In the end, Jin-wook had no choice but to open his mouth with a sigh.

“Yeah, thanks.”

The awkward atmosphere flowed only briefly.

The two looked back at the judges. The next batter was already going out to receive evaluation.

It was Ji-eun.

“Our Ji-eun is… really a neat actor.”

“Th, thank you.”

“But that’s not always a good thing.”

It wasn’t a compliment.

While Ji-eun froze mid-smile, Yu Mi-yeon looked at her with determined eyes.

“Being neat means you don’t stand out that much. How should I put it… you don’t need to try so hard to do ‘perfect acting.’ Do you understand what I mean?”

“…Yes, I understand!”

Actually, she didn’t understand.

But Ji-eun nodded for now. Saying she didn’t understand might sound like she was arguing back.

However, when she heard the following score, she thought maybe she should have argued.

“Ji-eun’s score is 75 points from the judges, 7 points from the audience… making it 82 points.”

The score she received last time was 85 points.

It was a score that had dropped by 3 points.

‘…Am I going to get eliminated at this rate?’

At that sudden thought, Ji-eun’s eyes became anxious.

She had always thought it wouldn’t be strange to be eliminated at any time. After all, everyone remaining was formidable.

Hye-seong, who went up right after her, was no exception.

“It was perfect.”

He received the same 94 points as last time.

The ones who came after were the same.

“It’s hard to find any flaws.”

Jae-won received 90 points.

“…I forgot for a moment that this was acting.”

Min-hee received 89 points.

All of them were high scores that were hard to compare with Ji-eun’s.

Actually, she hadn’t expected them to receive lower scores than her from the beginning. Their experience was different from Ji-eun’s to start with.

But at this rate, all that awaited her was elimination.

Faced with that reality, Ji-eun’s face grew darker and darker.

“Bang Hyeong-bin. What do you think about your own acting?”

It was Hyeong-bin’s turn.

The one who asked the question was Seong Jun-il.

Under his humorless gaze, Hyeong-bin stammered as he opened his mouth.

“…I think there are still many areas where I’m lacking.”

“Of course there are many lacking areas. But does that mean you should lose confidence?”

“Um, no. That wouldn’t be good.”

“That’s all I want to say to Hyeong-bin. I like your acting, Hyeong-bin. The audience likes it too. So I hope you’ll have a bit more confidence.”

At this moment, Ji-eun unconsciously gulped.

At this rate, Hyeong-bin’s score probably wouldn’t be very good either. Maybe she could escape from the elimination zone…!

“The judges’ score is 77 points, audience score is 7 points… making it 84 points.”

…or so she had thought.

It wasn’t a high score, but somehow Hyeong-bin had recorded a score 2 points higher than Ji-eun’s.

She didn’t know how many would be eliminated today, but it was almost certain that Ji-eun would be one of them.

‘Who’s left… I wonder?’

Ji-eun glanced around at the other participants.

And inwardly smiled bitterly.

‘…There’s no hope.’

Yeon-woo and Seon-woo.

Both had shown monstrous acting abilities that wouldn’t be strange no matter who came in first place.

Well, the judging results might not be as good as expected, but at least they wouldn’t come in last place.

It was over.

As Ji-eun quietly organized her thoughts, Yu Mi-yeon opened her mouth.

“Yeon-woo… you’re a truly precious actor.”

“Oh, thank you!”

“I’m not just saying that. Right now, there’s no actress in our country who can act like you, Yeon-woo. Do you know that?”

“…Um, I don’t think I’ve ever really thought about it.”

Yeon-woo shook her head.

Yeon-woo didn’t have any particular concerns as an actor. Her distinctiveness as an actor wasn’t really something she needed to worry about either.

Looking at such Yeon-woo, Yu Mi-yeon’s eyes sparkled.

“Then think about it carefully from now on. I hope that someday Yeon-woo will truly become a star. I want to see many works that you do.”

It was high praise.

And the score Yeon-woo received was certainly worthy of that praise.

94 points.

Though it was 1 point lower than last time, it was still a score that tied for first place with Hye-seong.

Yeon-woo deliberately smiled brightly and jumped after receiving that score, but actually she wasn’t very interested in the score. It’s not like there were any benefits for coming in first place.

Rather, what caught her attention was,

‘There’s no actress like me?’

Well, it was an obvious statement.

How many women would there be trying to act while hiding that they’re psychopaths.

However, as she wasn’t sure whether to take this purely as a good thing, Yeon-woo’s expression became a bit more serious.

“Seon-woo.”

The main dish stepped onto the stage.

Some of the audience members let out cheers as soon as Seon-woo stepped onto the stage.

The acting Seon-woo had shown in episode 2 wasn’t particularly provocative, but… at the same time, it was hard to forget.

It was so mysterious and deep that it remained in memory like a burn mark.

And Seong Jun-il was no exception to this.

He looked at Seon-woo with sparkling eyes.

“I’m sitting here as a judge, but… I’m still curious. How did you do it?”

“…What do you mean?”

“Kim Seon-woo, such a depressed character… how were you able to express him so brilliantly?”

Brilliantly.

At those words, Seon-woo found himself smiling without realizing it.

Perhaps that was the thing Seon-woo most wanted to hear.

Just until the last evaluation, when Lee Mu-beom told him he had ‘sparkled,’ Seon-woo couldn’t understand those words at all.

But now he was receiving the question ‘how do you sparkle like that?’

His hard work had paid off.

Seon-woo answered with a smile.

“Actually, I was quite troubled at first too. I wondered if someone like Kim Seon-woo could really sparkle.”

“But your thinking changed?”

“Yes.”

Seon-woo nodded.

And he looked back at Park Moon-hyeon sitting in the audience seating.

“Our department head told me. That people shine in their own way… from their own positions.”

Park Moon-hyeon looked flustered as the spotlight was suddenly turned on him.

Seong Jun-il looked at Park Moon-hyeon, then smiled warmly.

‘Looking at him, he’s always good at passing credit to others.’

It was about time he’d want to show off a bit himself, but did he have no such desire for recognition?

But that’s probably what made him more admirable.

Thanks to that, the smiles on the judges’ faces deepened.

Seon-woo’s eyes sparkled as he spoke.

“And I’m grateful to Teacher Lee Mu-beom as well.”

“To me?”

Lee Mu-beom looked at Seon-woo with wide eyes.

Seon-woo smiled and nodded.

“Yes. If you hadn’t told me last time that Kim Seon-woo sparkled… I think this kind of acting would have been difficult. It’s thanks to you, Teacher.”

“Ahem…”

Lee Mu-beom cleared his throat, looking both pleased and embarrassed.

Actually, he hadn’t said that with the intention of telling him to show this kind of acting. Lee Mu-beom had just expressed himself honestly.

Because in his eyes, Seon-woo was sparkling.

But to think he took that one comment and developed it into this kind of acting.

‘He’s a clever kid.’

Lee Mu-beom nodded inwardly.

Seon-woo said this kind of acting wouldn’t have been possible without his comment, but Lee Mu-beom didn’t think so.

This was a kid who could find lessons and draw inspiration from anything.

Even without his words, Seon-woo would have somehow found the best he could perform.

But what Seon-woo needed now probably wasn’t this kind of praise.

‘What should I say to him.’

Lee Mu-beom’s gaze deepened.

This was a kid who could learn from even a single word about sparkling.

Thanks to that, Lee Mu-beom couldn’t help but feel pressure for the first time in a while. Depending on what he said, Seon-woo’s next performance would likely be different too.

What should he do?

What should he point out?

How could he make that kid sparkle even more?

Even after thinking for a long time, there was only one answer Lee Mu-beom could come up with.

Finally, Lee Mu-beom smiled and spoke.

“It was good acting.”

No matter how much he thought about it, there was nothing more to say than this.

“I enjoyed watching it.”

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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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