I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 83

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 83

Mother: Ji-eun, are you okay?

Me: Huh? Why all of a sudden?

Mother: I’m just worried about you.

Me: Eh, I’m totally fine! You don’t need to worry

Mother: Well, that’s a relief… Cheer up, daughter. Mother thinks our daughter is the coolest.

“….”

Ji-eun stared blankly at her phone screen.

She couldn’t figure out how to reply.

What immediately came to mind was,

1. Right, I am the coolest

2. Oh come on, what was so cool about me

Those were about the only two responses.

But neither felt quite right to her.

Option 1 felt wrong because she didn’t really think that about herself, and option 2 seemed too low in self-esteem.

In the end,

Me: Yeah hehe thanks! Love you Mother

Me: ♡

This kind of obvious response was all Ji-eun could manage.

She let out a sigh.

“Ugh, how pathetic is this.”

She had thought she would be eliminated someday.

This place was full of monsters so incredible that she didn’t even feel like competing with them.

Of course, that day came sooner than expected… but what was bothering Ji-eun wasn’t that she had been eliminated.

It’s just that when she looked at other people… when she saw them staring at their scripts as if possessed by something, she often had this thought.

Had she ever acted with all her heart like they did?

‘Well, honestly, no.’

Ji-eun was a genius.

…More precisely, she had often been called a genius since she was young.

At the acting academy she attended as a hobby, within just a few days she could act more convincingly than people who had been learning for months, sometimes even years.

Thanks to that, at some point she ended up preparing for college entrance exams for the Theater and Film Department, and she became the top student very cleanly.

And throughout that process… in fact, Ji-eun had never once struggled to the point where she thought it was ‘difficult.’

Because even when she put in moderate effort, results always followed.

Suddenly she remembered what her supervising professor had said.

—Ji-eun. Do you know what your problem is?

—Um… I’m not really sure.

—Everything has gone too smoothly for you.

—It wasn’t that incredibly smooth though…

—But you’ve never hit any real obstacles either. I hope you go there and bump into things this time.

I hope you get properly crushed once.

The professor had said that while laughing heartily.

‘I did end up getting crushed after all.’

Ji-eun stared blankly at her script.

Black was paper and white was text.

…Was it the other way around? Anyway.

Her mind was so complicated that the words wouldn’t register in her eyes.

So she turned on her phone, and

Positive Comment Fairy: Yoo Ji-eun got eliminated lol

└Anonymous: She actually lasted longer than expected though

└ZeroCookie: She was good at acting though

└Positive Comment Fairy: Good but not interesting, just like mom’s homemade soybean paste stew

└Anonymous: But my mom’s soybean paste stew is delicious

These kinds of comments were all that caught her eye.

Ji-eun let out a hollow laugh.

At university she always heard nothing but praise saying she was good, but here she was treated like this.

What was most frustrating was that she had nothing to refute those words with.

Even in her own opinion, she had nothing particularly outstanding compared to others.

Not acting ability, not individuality, nothing…

‘This can’t go on.’

She had to show something.

Like Park Moon-hyeon and Justin did, she had to make her final exit definitive.

One fortunate thing was that the stage for her was definitely set up.

She could be certain.

Her death would be much more spectacular and stimulating than Park Moon-hyeon’s or Justin’s.

How could she know that when the script hadn’t even come out yet?

That was… actually thanks to a secret Ji-eun knew.

Ji-eun knew who the culprit was that killed Justin.

‘Everyone thought it would be Sister Yeon-woo.’

Since she was a psychopath and serial killer, that was the natural assumption.

If not her, then maybe it could be Kim Seon-woo.

That was about the extent of the plot twist they were thinking of.

But they were all wrong.

Last episode, Ji-eun had one scene that was filmed separately with Justin.

A scene filmed for episode 3.

—Hey! Hey! Stop! Don’t go and come in here!

When everyone was moving to their respective rooms to vote, Justin saw Yoo Ji-eun through the gap of a half-closed door and called out to her.

—H-hey, untie this for me. It’s too tight. It hurts! I-if you leave me like this, my mom’s gonna be very angry. So please, okay?

—…Shouldn’t you apologize to me first?

—An apology?

And Justin made a blank expression.

—For what?

Yoo Ji-eun finally realized.

That Justin had completely forgotten that he had even lunged at her in the first place.

It was at that very moment that the resentment she had been suppressing exploded.

—Why, why is everyone doing this to me?

—Hey, *gasp*, you, *gulp*, what the hell. You think, ugh, our mom is just gonna let this slide!? Huh!? *groan*…

—I also… I have a mom too. Don’t ignore me. I’m not a beast. I have a name too, I hurt too, I also… I also———!

Yoo Ji-eun strangled Justin just like that.

Perhaps there wasn’t an intention to kill. But when she came to her senses, what lay before Yoo Ji-eun was Justin with his tongue hanging out and his head drooped.

Seeing Justin like that… Yoo Ji-eun quickly fled to her room with a pale face.

And then consecutively,

—Player Justin has been eliminated.

—Due to an early elimination, today’s voting will not be conducted.

The familiar broadcast flowed out.

Yes. That’s right.

It was none other than Yoo Ji-eun who killed Justin.

* * *

“Seon-woo. It was you, right? You killed Justin?”

“…What?”

What is she talking about.

Seon-woo looked back at Yeon-woo with an absurd expression.

She was looking at Seon-woo with sparkling eyes as if she knew everything.

“I thought it was you, Yeon-woo.”

“Hmm, it wasn’t me though…”

“You’re saying that on purpose right now, aren’t you?”

“You’re the one pretending it wasn’t you on purpose, aren’t you, Seon-woo?”

“I really didn’t do it.”

“Me neither.”

Suspicious glances given to each other.

Watching the two engage in this battle of wits, Min-hee shook her head.

“Those two are really scary. One of them is the culprit, right?”

“…R-right. I really wonder who it is~.”

Ji-eun hastily nodded her head.

Fortunately, Min-hee didn’t seem to think anything was particularly suspicious.

‘How long do I have to hide this?’

Park Myeong-jin earnestly requested Ji-eun while filming this scene.

He hoped she would let the other actors naturally discover this truth, and absolutely not tell them in advance.

Ji-eun could now understand what Hollywood stars bound by secrecy agreements must feel like.

Her mouth was itching.

She wanted to say it.

It’s me. I killed Justin.

I’m the terrifying murderer of this [One Room]!

‘…Well, not quite to that extent though.’

And that’s when it happened.

Ji-eun, who had been lost in thought, made eye contact with Yeon-woo. And she got goosebumps.

It was a strange look. Like a snake looking at a frog, you could say.

It was one of the reasons she found Yeon-woo difficult.

Her gaze was too scary.

The problem was that Yeon-woo was already approaching Ji-eun.

Yeon-woo peered at Ji-eun.

“….”

“….”

“…?”

“…?”

“…!”

“Why, why are you doing that!?”

“It was Ji-eun-i, wasn’t it?”

“…Wh-what? What was?”

“Killing Justin.”

Yeon-woo nodded as if she finally understood.

Ji-eun-i’s face showed her heart sinking, but Yeon-woo didn’t care and asked.

“What. Why did you kill him?”

“Wait wait, what is this about.”

Min-hee, who had been listening, frowned as if she couldn’t understand.

“Why would Ji-eun-i kill Justin?”

“I was wondering why she’d kill him too, but looking at Ji-eun-i’s expression, it seems right?”

“I, I, I didn’t kill him!”

“Yeah, I got it. I understand everything.”

“I, I really didn’t kill him…”

Overwhelmed by the momentum, Ji-eun lowered her eyes and muttered.

How should he put it. If she kept making eye contact, it felt like she would somehow end up admitting to the charges. She had no confidence she could overcome that pressure.

But fortunately, she didn’t need to overcome that pressure.

“The script is here!”

The remaining part of episode 3 had finally arrived.

Looking at this, they would also be able to find out about the real culprit who killed Justin.

Ironically, even within the work, the first person to notice Ji-eun’s murder was… none other than Yeon-woo.

Lee Yeon-woo: (With a worried expression) Are you okay?

Yoo Ji-eun: (Being cautious) …Yes?

Lee Yeon-woo: You can speak honestly to me. I know. It was you, wasn’t it, Ji-eun? That… (looks around and whispers) You did that to that man.

Yoo Ji-eun: (Jumps up) …D-don’t say strange things!

Yoo Ji-eun jumps up and heads to her room. Lee Yeon-woo watches Yoo Ji-eun’s retreating figure and smirks.

Lee Yeon-woo: How mean. Having all the fun by yourself.

What followed after this was a scene where Yoo Ji-eun vomits into the toilet while recalling the situation when she killed Justin.

A scene that confirmed Yoo Ji-eun had killed Justin.

Thanks to this, the others reading the script,

“…It was you?”

“Wow, Ji-eun-i, you… really didn’t say a single word this whole time.”

“Scary, so scary…!”

Everyone couldn’t help but be shocked like that.

The same was true for Seon-woo. When Yeon-woo suddenly approached Ji-eun and said ‘You killed him, didn’t you?’ he wondered why that person was acting like that again…

‘It was real?’

Seon-woo had naturally thought it was Yeon-woo who killed Justin.

It seemed he had underestimated Ryu. Indeed, he wouldn’t go with such an obvious development.

For Seon-woo, it was certainly shocking.

Yoo Ji-eun was a character closely related to Kim Seon-woo.

There was even this scene in episode 2.

Yoo Ji-eun: Mister, do you know? Next week is the college entrance exam.

Kim Seon-woo: …I suppose so.

Yoo Ji-eun: But… the moment I realized we were trapped here, I had this thought too. Ah, maybe it’s fortunate. I was worried about what would happen if I failed again this time… at least now I won’t have to worry about ruining the college entrance exam.

Kim Seon-woo: No, you’ll do well.

Yoo Ji-eun: …On the college entrance exam?

Kim Seon-woo: Yes, Ji-eun will get out and take the college entrance exam… and get good scores, and go to the university you wanted. So… don’t worry too much.

Yoo Ji-eun: (Eyes welling up with tears as she buries her head between her knees) …Thank you, mister.

He didn’t think Kim Seon-woo’s comfort had completely soothed Yoo Ji-eun’s heart.

Still, he thought it would help stabilize her mental state to some degree… but perhaps it was far from enough. In the end, she ended up with blood on her hands.

One could think of it as simply something happening in a drama, but perhaps because he had been bursting Kim Seon-woo’s Color Orbs daily to maintain immersion… it felt like a heavy stone had dropped into a corner of his chest.

His heart was already unsettled just from Yoo Ji-eun dying, but to think she experienced such a terrible thing before leaving.

But at the same time,

‘…Why is this like this?’

Seon-woo saw Kim Seon-woo’s Color Orb boiling up even more intensely. The sight of that lava-like red color constantly writhing.

Seon-woo chuckled softly.

It was because his heart had already felt what it meant before his head could understand it.

‘In this situation?’

Kim Seon-woo was once again feeling life vividly.

As much as he empathized with Yoo Ji-eun’s situation and circumstances… he was newly realizing how brilliant the life he had tried to abandon was.

In a way, this game itself was serving as a kind of depression treatment program for him.

A treatment program that made him feel and desire life.

‘When I actually act with Ji-eun… what kind of feeling will it be.’

Just imagining it made his heart race already.

As Kim Seon-woo’s character changed this time, Seon-woo’s acting had grown significantly.

Resonating with other characters’ colors… should he say he became able to create synergy effects.

The better acting the other person showed, the more Kim Seon-woo’s color would be able to come alive and breathe.

In that aspect, what Seon-woo was most looking forward to right now was Yoo Ji-eun.

Even Yoo Ji-eun’s current sadness helped Kim Seon-woo feel life vividly.

All struggles for life were reaching Kim Seon-woo as tremendous stimulation.

Then if he learned that such a Yoo Ji-eun had actually killed someone… and was even murdered later, what would Kim Seon-woo feel in that moment.

This might sound a bit strange to say, but he wanted to see it quickly.

It couldn’t be helped.

He could already imagine it.

How beautiful her final moments would be.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————