I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 84

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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 84

‘…Would it be a bit strange to say this?’

Seon-woo scratched his head.

But he couldn’t help feeling this way.

The content of the following Episode 3… was dealing with the life and death of the character ‘Yoo Ji-eun’ in an incredibly delicate manner.

It felt like an episode that existed solely for that death, you could say.

And Kim Seon-woo was the character who watched everything about Yoo Ji-eun from the closest distance.

Thanks to being the only person Ji-eun opened her heart to in this space.

Yoo Ji-eun: When I get out of here… I’ll be less irritable with Mother.

Kim Seon-woo: (Chuckling) You’re not saying you won’t be irritable at all.

Yoo Ji-eun: That seems difficult.

Ji-eun dreams of the future even amid her anxiety.

She resolves to live differently from the past when she gets out of This Place.

And in the evening, she even delivers dinner to Seo Jin-wook.

Yoo Ji-eun: Please eat.

Seo Jin-wook: …Hey.

Yoo Ji-eun: What.

Seo Jin-wook: Untie this.

Yoo Ji-eun: I don’t know what you might do.

Seo Jin-wook: Mister, fuck, I don’t think there’s much age difference between us. Stop being noisy and untie it. Then I’ll protect you.

Yoo Ji-eun: You’re the scariest one here, you know? Never mind. I’m leaving.

Seo Jin-wook: Ha, fuck, can’t get through to you… Hey, get your head straight. Do you think you can survive here staying like this?

Yoo Ji-eun: …What do you mean by that?

Seo Jin-wook tries to persuade Ji-eun like that.

Seo Jin-wook: Are you naive or stupid? Who do you think they’ll vote for tomorrow? Well, maybe it won’t be you tomorrow. But gradually someone will think like this. Ah, instead of voting, let’s just kill them directly. That way I can survive. Like that.

Yoo Ji-eun: …Stop it.

Seo Jin-wook: Wake up, you idiot. Do you think this place is the same as outside? Bastards who don’t even blink when people die have locked us up. Idiots like you who just sit still are the first to die!

Yoo Ji-eun: I said stop!

Ji-eun eventually can’t bear to listen anymore and rushes out of the room.

And she falls into panic and suffers. In the illusion of dead Justin approaching her, she has another panic attack, and the one who comforts her is…

Kim Seon-woo: …Are you okay?

It was Kim Seon-woo.

Yoo Ji-eun: (With a dazed face, shedding tears) Mister…

Kim Seon-woo: What is it. What happened.

Yoo Ji-eun: I, I… what should I do?

Kim Seon-woo: Is it Seo Jin-wook? What did that person do?

Yoo Ji-eun: No, it’s not that person. It’s me. I did it.

Kim Seon-woo: Did what…

Yoo Ji-eun: …I killed him.

Kim Seon-woo: (With a dazed face) …What?

Yoo Ji-eun: That drug addict, I killed him…

Kim Seon-woo looks at Ji-eun with a strange expression that seems both shocked and thrilled. He appears to be holding back overwhelming emotions rising from his chest.

Kim Seon-woo: (With a trembling voice) …It’s okay.

The thrill he felt when watching this scene…

Seon-woo couldn’t bear it and wanted to act this scene as soon as possible.

This wasn’t just a scene of Ji-eun breaking down.

Ji-eun who had blood on her hands to survive.

Even though her heart was half-broken by that fact, Ji-eun struggling to maintain herself somehow looked so pitiful to Kim Seon-woo’s eyes and… equally dazzling.

However,

“…Oppa, what kind of emotion is this supposed to be?”

Ji-eun herself seemed unaware of how dazzling she was in this moment.

So she was asking why Kim Seon-woo was showing this kind of reaction here.

Kim Seon-woo thought.

How should he express this. How should he express it to convey it best.

“It’s because you’re so pretty.”

“…What? I am pretty, but is it that much?”

Apparently that expression wasn’t right.

Seon-woo hurriedly shook his head.

“No, that’s not it, it’s your emotions and situation and… I don’t know, really?”

As he spoke, he felt sorry for no reason.

Right now, not only Ji-eun but everything surrounding her was shining beautifully to an exquisite degree… but she herself didn’t know it.

Ji-eun nodded with a displeased expression.

“Not at all.”

“The fact that you killed that person, and that you’re suffering so much from having killed that person… it’s so pitiful and lovely. Would it be better to say beautiful? Anyway, Seon-woo finds you both heartbreaking and dazzling at the same time. Do you understand what I mean?”

“…I really don’t understand?”

Is this Korean or English?

Even English wouldn’t be this incomprehensible.

Ji-eun-i spoke with a displeased face.

“Isn’t Kim Seon-woo too crazy?”

And at that moment, Seon-woo’s world collapsed.

No, this isn’t crazy, it’s more like… Ji-eun’s situation is really well constructed.

But this didn’t seem like something that could be conveyed by continuing to explain with words.

“…Let’s try acting this out together right now. Starting from the part where you say you killed Justin.”

“Suddenly?”

“Yeah. Quickly.”

“W-wait a moment.”

I haven’t practiced enough yet.

Ji-eun grumbled inwardly but gathered her emotions. She had always been confident in her acting reflexes. It was a bit sudden, but catching emotions wasn’t difficult.

Indeed, her eyes began to darken quickly.

Panic, depression, and pain soon began to fill those two eyes completely,

“That drug addict, I killed him…”

From her bloomed pale purple petals that seemed soaked and drooping with water.

And Seon-woo’s expression became blank.

As he had said many times, it was beautiful.

From the fragility of those petals that seemed ready to break at any moment… the curves drawn by the drooping petals, and even the posture of the pistils and stamens trying somehow to stand upright.

Even the colored powder that scattered and glittered like pollen from them.

So,

“…It’s okay.”

Seon-woo couldn’t help but tremble.

Like a person being moved in front of beautiful natural scenery.

He couldn’t help it.

Because Yoo Ji-eun’s petals that reached Seon-woo, the anxiety and resentment he felt from them… were so human.

Because they were so beautiful.

And Ji-eun, who faced that acting…

‘What… is this?’

She was stunned.

Kim Seon-woo’s gaze looking at Ji-eun… precisely at Yoo Ji-eun, was a kind that Ji-eun had never encountered in her life.

If she had to express it… it was like the expression someone who had only been in the city would make when traveling for the first time in a long while and facing the ocean.

An expression as if he had encountered something incredibly beautiful.

It didn’t make sense.

How could he look at her, at Yoo Ji-eun, with such eyes?

A three-time exam retaker with nothing to show for herself, who had even killed someone – what about her sparkled so brightly…

She didn’t know.

What was stranger was that even though it didn’t make sense, when she actually met Seon-woo’s gaze… she didn’t even feel like questioning it.

Just as it’s natural for a parent’s gaze toward their child to be warm,

It seemed natural that Seon-woo’s eyes would sparkle like that right now.

“How is it? Do you understand now?”

“…Yes, I do.”

Ji-eun nodded.

Her mind was complicated, but when she came to her senses, she was saying this.

“Kim Seon-woo, looking at me… now wants to live too.”

“Wants to live… you say.”

“Isn’t that right?”

“No, that’s right. Yeah. The more he sees you, the more he wants to live – that’s exactly right.”

“Good. Now that I’ve acted it out… I understand.”

Certainly, acting it out once together was faster than talking about it for days.

His emotional line could be felt so clearly like this.

…Of course, this was possible because Seon-woo had such good expressiveness.

Meanwhile, Seon-woo let out a sigh of relief seeing Ji-eun say that. From Seon-woo’s perspective, Ji-eun needed to do as well as possible this time.

‘Yoo Ji-eun needs to shine for Kim Seon-woo to shine too.’

Kim Seon-woo is essentially that kind of character.

A person who can only sparkle when reflecting others’ light.

Especially in a situation like now where Seon-woo could resonate more easily with others’ emotional lines.

“Then let’s try again.”

That’s why he said this.

It was hard to say Ji-eun’s acting was bad… but how should he put it, honestly if asked whether he was satisfied, it wasn’t quite there yet.

Ji-eun looked at Seon-woo with a somewhat flustered expression.

“…Again?”

“Yeah. You know too. The emotion you just showed was… how should I say, it felt too much like collapsing.”

“Isn’t collapsing appropriate for this scene?”

“Even while collapsing, struggling desperately to somehow hold on would be more fitting. Like hanging from a tree branch on a cliff? You know what I mean?”

“Mm, I’ll try it.”

Ji-eun nodded for now.

Seon-woo’s feedback was already famous among actors for its high quality. If Yeon-woo gave the most detailed advice, Seon-woo’s feedback… helped you gain perspectives you never even thought of.

“You need to be pitiful.”

According to Seon-woo’s expression, Yoo Ji-eun was that kind of person.

“Pitiful, regrettable, yet admirable… that’s how you should be. A character that no one can say is outstanding or amazing, but everyone ends up caring for and rooting for.”

That was three-time retaker Yoo Ji-eun.

A child who had never shone even once, but wanted to become something.

A child who could only complain to her mother, but was simultaneously that mother’s only comfort.

Like a pasque flower hanging its head forlornly, Yoo Ji-eun was somehow shabby yet beautiful at the same time.

That’s why her death would be even more anticipated.

Because Ryu had prepared a truly perfect exit scene for her.

After confessing to Kim Seon-woo that she was the culprit, Yoo Ji-eun slowly finds peace of mind.

She tells Seon-woo.

Even if the guilt of killing someone still torments her, right now she wants to live.

Just once would be fine, she wants to spread her wings wide and fly in that world.

Yoo Ji-eun: …Would that be possible? For me.

Kim Seon-woo: (Smiling calmly) Don’t ask such obvious things. It’ll definitely happen.

Yoo Ji-eun: Thank you, mister.

Kim Seon-woo: I told you I’m not a mister….

At first glance, it seemed like everything would return to its place.

But even in the midst of all this, night eventually comes, and the time for voting draws closer. And during this time, Seo Jin-wook desperately tries to tear off the blanket that binds him, but only wastes precious time.

And then it happened.

The lights in Seo Jin-wook’s room go out, and someone slowly begins to enter.

Seo Jin-wook: (With a trembling voice) What, what… What the hell are you trying to do, damn it!

The shadow drops a steak knife right in front of Seo Jin-wook. Seo Jin-wook sees the knife and gulps. Leaving Seo Jin-wook like that, the shadow exits the room.

And thus, he provides Seo Jin-wook with the means to break free from his restraints and escape.

And at the same time,

—We will begin voting shortly.

—All players please move to your respective rooms for voting.

The announcement flows out.

Seo Jin-wook’s hand movements become more frantic as he cuts through the restraints with the knife, and finally he tears off all the blankets.

Then there was only one choice left for him.

It was already clear who would die if the voting proceeded as planned.

He had to stop the voting.

And Seo Jin-wook already knew how to do it.

Seo Jin-wook leaves his room.

And he tries to open the doors to other rooms. But all the other rooms are already tightly locked.

Seo Jin-wook: Damn it, damn it…!

However, just one.

Whether it should be called coincidence, there was one door that hadn’t closed properly due to a piece of cloth caught in the door gap.

Yoo Ji-eun: (With disbelieving eyes) …Huh?

Seo Jin-wook: Ha, haha… Hello?

And what happens next doesn’t need further explanation.

—Player Yoo Ji-eun has been eliminated.

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

The announcement echoes.

And the emotion that Kim Seon-woo feels at this moment… is truly complex and subtle, yet also ecstatic.

Seon-woo opened his mouth with a serious expression.

“I’ll help you. So you can die properly.”

“Uh… how can I die properly?”

He couldn’t bear to watch Yoo Ji-eun die clumsily.

This wasn’t for Ji-eun’s sake. This was for Kim Seon-woo, for himself.

The shock and confusion that Kim Seon-woo feels at this moment would only grow stronger the more intensely Yoo Ji-eun yearned for life.

“It’s not very interesting when someone who’s given up dies. When you die, you need to really want to live like crazy. You need to feel like someone who doesn’t want to die more than anyone else, that’s what makes the death more attractive.”

Hmm. It did make sense. But that aside…

Ji-eun trembled.

‘This oppa’s eyes are too scary.’

…Certainly, this person seems to be a genius alright.

The more you look at him, the more abnormal he is.

This person is subtly insane.

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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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