I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 88

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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 88

Anxious Ping: No, are they seriously insane? The writer is completely crazy

Anonymous: (Info) Ryu is actually famous for being completely crazy

Anonymous: There’s even a story about how Ryu put a frog in his mouth when he was young because he was curious what it would taste like, so he’s definitely not normal

Anxious Ping: What? A frog in his mouth…?

wtr: I mean, killing Ji-eun-i is one thing, but did he really need to kill her so miserably!?

Kim Quokka: Thinking about the work, the more miserable the better though…

Not A Critic: Ryu doesn’t understand the human heart…

Anxious Ping: No, I think he understands the human heart way too well and does this on purpose, his personality is just bad for real

Scroll, scroll, scroll.

The scroll keeps going up.

The people in the chat room weren’t even thinking about reading other people’s messages anymore. Partly because they were too busy typing their own messages, but also because the speed made it nearly impossible to follow the chat with the naked eye.

It couldn’t be helped.

The feeling of being toyed with by Ryu in real time during this torture of hope.

The fear felt when Seo Jin-wook opened the door and the despair felt when Yoo Ji-eun’s blood splattered on the wall were at a level that could genuinely cause mental trauma.

Seonghwa-ru: Thank goodness this is rated 15+ and not 19+…

Yellow Goat: I can’t even imagine how horrific it would have been if it was 19+

Kim Quokka: If that were the case, they probably would have shown the actual corpse instead of just blood splattering on the wall

Anxious Ping: Honestly, they just didn’t describe it explicitly, but mentally it seems even more cruel damn…

Freshwater Snail: This won’t do, I need to crack open a beer

Everyone seemed to have taken considerable mental damage.

It couldn’t be helped. After creating a structure throughout Episode 3 that made you root for the character Yoo Ji-eun, they never expected her life to be taken away so cruelly and brutally in the end.

Didn’t they already know Ji-eun would die?

That actually made it harder. From the beginning, they had developed even more sympathy because of the thought that Ji-eun would die.

The greater that sympathy was, the greater the shock and sadness at the end had to be.

Of course, even in the midst of all this, there were people who focused on other things.

White Mouse: Ahem, I know I shouldn’t say this in this atmosphere… but am I a small failure if I thought Seo Jin-wook looked kind of sexy covered in blood?

Drink Cup: You really… Ji-eun who went to hell will be watching

refreshing: Why are they putting our Jieun through hell ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Drink Cup: Either way, she killed someone too, so she has to go to hell

refreshing: Ah… I can’t argue with that

Like that, attention was also drawn to Seo Jin-wook.

It couldn’t be helped. Seo Jin-wook had contributed to Episode 3’s climax just as much as Ji-eun. And naturally,

Freshwater Snail: Our Seon-woo was the prettiest…

Kim Quokka: Seon-woo’s screaming was kind of interesting

White Mouse: Yeah, seeing that kid who was always so calm break down for the first time was really fascinating, somehow felt more human?

Overtime Work: I didn’t know Kim Seon-woo was such a good actor until today

White Mouse: ? You didn’t know that until now?

Overtime Work: No, there weren’t any scenes like today where emotions just exploded

Stories about Kim Seon-woo couldn’t be left out either.

The moment he screamed, every single person watching him felt goosebumps rise without exception.

Seon-woo had long since stopped having difficulty with simple emotional release.

Until now, there just hadn’t been a proper opportunity to show it, but he was always ready to explode once the stage was set.

And this time was simply that opportunity.

And as people’s reactions were exploding like this, the screen that had faded out slowly showed the actors.

Seven participants excluding the eliminated Ji-eun.

The screen that swept past their tense faces soon showed the judges.

And at that moment,

Mike: Look at Sung Jun Il’s face lolololololol

Lee Myeongseong: I’m so pleased I could die hahahahaha

ehdud: But it makes sense though. If your junior colleagues are producing this kind of quality with their first drama, for real

Freshwater Snail: As expected of Seong-samchon…

Laughter burst out in the chat window.

Seong Jun-il’s lips kept twitching, clearly showing his heart that didn’t know what to do because he found the participants so endearing.

A sight that couldn’t help but contrast with Yu Mi-yeon and Lee Mu-beom, who were relatively trying to hide their emotions.

—I enjoyed watching the good acting. I could feel that everyone accepted all the feedback from last time, and it was so good. Especially Ji-eun.

Seong Jun-il called out to Ji-eun.

Then Ji-eun, who was sitting separately in the audience seating unlike the others, looked up in surprise.

—I’m sorry. Honestly, I never imagined Ji-eun would do this well.

—Uh, um, yes! Did, did I do well?

—Yes. It was beyond expectations. You know it yourself, don’t you?

—…I don’t really know.

—Then learn to know from now on. Ji-eun’s acting is alive. I hope you’ll continue like this.

—Yes, yes…!

Ji-eun nods with reddened ears.

An expression as if she hadn’t even expected such praise.

Drink Cup: Isn’t this the first time Ji-eun has received praise in judging?

White Mouse: ? Didn’t she get praise often?

Drink Cup: She heard things like “not bad” or “decent” a lot, but this is the first time she’s heard something like “your acting is alive”

White Mouse: Oh… so that’s why she looks so moved

Daseulgi: Hahaha so cute

As they said, Ji-eun had quite a choked-up expression.

Did Seong Jun-il’s words resonate that much with her?

Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to think more about it.

Lee Mu-beom was opening his mouth.

—As Seong Jun-il said, it was good acting.

—So it’s very regrettable that we have to send several of you away, but this is also something we must address.

—But before that, let me tell you in advance how many will be eliminated today.

—The number of eliminated contestants to be announced today is…

—Three people.

Three people.

The participants’ faces rapidly turned grim.

It was more than they had expected.

But it was unavoidable.

[One Room] was a 6-episode drama. It meant they needed to reduce the number of people in episode 4.

So among the four remaining in episode 4, those who would advance to episode 5 would be decided, and the filming of episode 5 would essentially be the final match.

Episode 6 would be the final filming to honor that winner.

However, even knowing this, they couldn’t help but feel more suffocated.

Until now, it had been choosing two out of ten, one out of eight… but today it was three out of seven.

Nearly half the participants would taste the bitter cup of elimination.

Face-ist: Wow, but three is really brutal…

Drink Cup: Who’s going to be eliminated?

meteor: At least it won’t be Hye-seong lol he was possessed by acting again today

Moon Jun-ki: For real, it wasn’t even a special scene but when Hye-seong acts, the atmosphere just changes

meteor: It’s the vibe that comes from experience

Anxiety Ping: But who are the three!! Jae-won was a bit bland though

Moon Jun-ki: For having a scene where he beats someone up, his presence was kind of weak

Freshwater Snail: In terms of presence, I think Seon-woo was pretty good…

—Everyone looks tense.

Lee Mu-beom smiled.

—I understand how you feel. That anxiety of feeling like one wrong step could make you fall, and you might never come back… I had that too.

Considering he had never once fallen from his position as a top star since his youth star days, these were deeply meaningful words.

Lee Mu-beom looked at the participants with gentle eyes.

—But you don’t need to think that way. It’s okay to stumble. It’s okay to fall. No, to be precise… life is such that it’s impossible to go through without stumbling. So I hope you don’t dwell too much on today’s results.

Lee Mu-beom’s words filled the chat room with “wow” comments.

The participants also had somewhat moved expressions. But that didn’t mean the tension could be completely erased from their faces. That too was impossible in a way.

Watching them, Yu Mi-yeon spoke up.

—Additionally, I’ll tell you the order of today’s judging in advance. We’ll judge in the order of 3rd, 2nd, 1st, 7th, 6th, 5th, 4th place. First, I’ll announce 3rd place. Lee Yeon-woo, please come forward.

Round Man: Wow, Yeon-woo god survived

eyesonyou: She deserved to survive, her acting was genuinely chilling

meteor: But if she’s 3rd, who are 1st and 2nd?

Yeon-woo went up on stage.

She wore her characteristic confident yet likeable smile.

Watching her, Seong Jun-il smiled.

—Yeon-woo, let me ask you something.

—Yes. Please go ahead.

—What do you think I’m feeling right now?

A sudden question.

But Yeon-woo smiled leisurely.

—Hmm, you seem a bit curious about me.

—…That’s correct. Specifically, I’m very curious about what’s inside your head. Yeon-woo, you’re always observing people, aren’t you?

—No comment.

—That’s fine. I can already see it all. This is acting that can’t be shown unless you’re constantly observing people. How many details do you melt into a single scene… I’ve never seen an actor with such precise acting before.

Seong Jun-il’s expression was serious.

It almost seemed like he was showing respect.

Peanut: Yeon-woo’s acting was insane

Kim Quokka: Yeah, honestly no actress her age can match her attention to detail

Peanut: But what part of Yeon-woo’s acting has such amazing detail? I don’t know much about acting so I can’t tell exactly

Kim Quokka: Just think about the expressions, gestures, and tone you saw when Yeon-woo was acting. She has twice as many variations as other actors

BOI: I go to acting academy and our teacher literally uses Lee Yeon-woo’s expression list to explain all emotions lol she’s amazing at capturing facial expression points

—Any actor would know. How tiring and exhausting it is to bring out such details. Watching Yeon-woo’s acting… I can tell how much she loves acting. I honestly pay my respects to that heart.

—…Thank you.

For a moment, Yeon-woo seemed to make a slightly displeased expression, but it was probably just imagination.

Yeon-woo’s judging ended that way. Next to be announced was 2nd place. And at that moment, the camera caught someone who was somewhat unexpected.

—Jeong Hye-seong, please come up to the stage.

—Yes!

The second batter was Hye-seong.

It meant Hye-seong was in 2nd place. As Hye-seong went on stage with a bewildered expression, Yu Mi-yeon smiled watching him.

—Honestly, judging Hye-seong always makes me feel embarrassed. Sometimes I think, isn’t he better than me in some aspects?

It was hard to believe these words came from a great actress who had even won Best Actress awards.

It meant Hye-seong’s acting was that high-level.

Seong Jun-il also nodded.

—I always feel this, but it’s hard to find flaws in Hye-seong’s acting. The technical aspects are already complete, and it feels like the results just vary depending on how well he fits the role. So there’s only one thing I want to say to Hye-seong. Don’t be scared, just keep doing what you’re doing.

—…Thank you!

It must have been praise he’d heard countless times since appearing here, but every time he heard such praise, Hye-seong’s face was filled with emotion.

He looked exactly like a puppy receiving a surprise gift from its owner.

meteor: I really can’t hate Hye-seong…

Such a chat message was natural.

You could see that this person was truly sincere about acting, and that he had lived without receiving even such small recognition.

meteor: But if Hye-seong is 2nd… who’s 1st?

People now began to deduce who came in first place.

But that deduction didn’t last long.

Before they could properly figure anything out, Lee Mu-beom’s mouth opened.

—Kim Seon-woo.

—…Yes?

Lee Mu-beom smiled.

—Please come up on stage!

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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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