I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 89

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

Episode 89

When did it start?

Seon-woo naturally wasn’t thinking about winning.

It couldn’t be helped. Even setting aside other people, the wall called Hye-seong felt far too massive.

Especially after gaining the ability to see not just colors but paintings this time, that feeling could only grow stronger.

Because he had come to know what a beautiful painter Hye-seong was as an actor.

‘I would have believed it if someone said he had the same eyes as me.’

Hye-seong, who could act like that without having those eyes, was truly wondrous.

Just how much trial and error must he have gone through to be able to act like that? It was hard to even fathom.

And Yeon-woo was also one of the reasons Seon-woo couldn’t easily covet victory.

A psychopath. Her acting, born with completely different emotional lines from ordinary people… indeed had a unique feeling that ordinary people could hardly even imitate.

Separate from acting ability, the unique tone that her acting created definitely captivated attention.

Seon-woo thought he had nothing particularly special to offer compared to them.

Thanks to the ridiculous ability called color orbs, he could find acting closer to the correct answer relatively easily compared to others, but that was all.

So today too, he naturally thought first place wouldn’t be his,

“Please come up on stage!”

When he heard those words from Lee Mu-beom, Seon-woo couldn’t help but be stunned for a moment.

Calling him now meant… he had taken first place.

He knew.

Even in his own opinion, the acting he showed in Episode 3 was close to perfect.

It meant it was acting that wouldn’t be strange to take first place with.

Nevertheless, this was bewildering because Seon-woo always felt regret about his own capabilities.

It couldn’t be helped.

From when he first started acting, Seon-woo had seen someone too amazing.

Cha Do-young.

Looking back now, meeting him was itself an amazing connection.

Even after acting for such a long time and meeting countless people, he still hadn’t seen anyone who seemed like they could compete with Do-young.

The problem was that Cha Do-young was too amazing, even for being amazing.

The more he learned acting, the more he didn’t feel like the distance between them was narrowing. Rather, he only realized how tremendous and distant a level of acting that brilliant light flowing from him, like the sun, truly was.

Even when people praised him as a genius, Seon-woo’s pride didn’t rise, purely thanks to Do-young.

Having seen Do-young’s acting, he wasn’t shameless enough to think of himself as a genius and act arrogantly.

“You didn’t expect it, I see.”

Lee Mu-beom looked at such a Seon-woo intently and smiled.

Seon-woo honestly nodded his head.

“Uh… Yes, honestly I couldn’t even imagine first place because it seemed too undeserved.”

“Is that so? In my eyes, it was really good acting. You do know that you acted well, right?”

“Um… I did my best.”

“It seems so. That’s why the score came out like this. Seon-woo’s total score is 96 points. Judge score 86 points and… audience score 10 points.”

“10, 10 points… you said?”

Seon-woo’s eyes widened.

It wasn’t just Seon-woo. The audience watching and the other cast members also murmured with surprised expressions.

“Isn’t an audience score of 10 points the first time this round?”

“That’s right. With so many people, getting an average score of 10 points really wouldn’t have been easy…”

“Wow, amazing.”

At Min-hee’s words, Hye-seong honestly admired and nodded his head.

“It means the viewers were that impressed.”

That was exactly right.

In fact, in some ways, getting a perfect score from the audience rather than the judges might be more welcome for an actor. Because it means the public evaluates him highly.

After all, isn’t public recognition the most important thing for an actor?

Lee Mu-beom opened his mouth.

“Even modesty becomes poison when excessive. Sometimes you need to know how to praise yourself and straighten your shoulders.”

“…”

Seon-woo silently bowed his head.

Lee Mu-beom looked at such a Seon-woo and deliberately suppressed a smile. What a good kid to see. Usually at that age with that kind of talent, one would run wild without fear of heaven… yet he still knows how to examine his own shortcomings.

‘With time, he’ll surely become a great actor.’

That’s why it was all the more necessary to point this out once.

Because it wasn’t only arrogance that held people back.

“People are telling you now. That Seon-woo is doing incredibly well right now.”

Seon-woo quietly looked into Lee Mu-beom’s eyes.

The words “still lacking” circled in his head, but he couldn’t voice them. In the first place, he couldn’t say such things when Lee Mu-beom was telling him to have confidence, and moreover,

“Seon-woo… you’re very brilliant.”

As he said, Seon-woo reflected in Lee Mu-beom’s eyes was… truly shining even in his own view.

* * *

—Seon-woo… you’re very brilliant.

RoundMan: Pya

dubu: Kya

Butcher Uncle: Wow

Freshwater Snail: I’m crying…

AnxiousPing: What, it’s not even elimination, he got 1st place, why is this so touching

Freshwater Snail: Can’t help it, Seon-woo went through a lot of mental struggles

AnxiousPing: He was struggling mentally?

Daseulgi: Yeah, you could see it in the making films that went up on YouTube ㅇㅇ Not exactly self-blame but like… the feeling that he can’t easily be satisfied with things

AnxiousPing: I thought that was just because he’s a genius with high standards, but was he genuinely stressed…

When Seon-woo’s evaluation ended, the chatroom scroll was moving up quite rapidly.

Some people were moved, while others found the atmosphere puzzling. Unless you looked deeply into “I Am an Actor,” not many people knew that Seon-woo was under such stress.

dubu: Wow, but 10 points is a bit surprising… though I gave 10 points too

Hyun81: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ That last scene was huge! Since it had been so quiet the whole time, it was even more thrilling when it exploded

ChuChu: For real for real, I was watching and literally screamed

meteor: But Teacher Lee Mubeom really seems to care a lot about Sunwoo lol he’s always smiling like a loving grandfather whenever I see him

Chuchu: It just seems like all the judges really adore Seonwoo lol you can totally see that the kid only thinks about acting so they can’t help but find him endearing

The fact that the judges cherished Seon-woo was already a famous story among people.

It wasn’t just the judges either. The Cheongseong troupe members always looked at Seon-woo with affectionate eyes as if treating their youngest (Min-hee didn’t even seem conscious that she was the same age), and other people like Park Moon-hyeon and Bang Hyeong-bin always treated Seon-woo fondly.

You could say an image like the nation’s little brother or the nation’s nephew was slowly forming.

eyesonyou: I wish I had a younger brother like Seon-woo…

FaceSupremacist: My thoughts exactly

CornCoffee: No but Seon-woo has a subtle T vibe, so if I asked him to comfort me he’d probably say ‘But you did your best, right?’ and hit me with facts

Freshwater Snail: Even better

It was a good atmosphere in many ways.

No one questioned Seon-woo getting 1st place, and instead seemed to be purely happy for him.

If industry insiders were watching this chatroom, their eyes would surely be sparkling.

He was performing this well, yet not a single person had anything bad to say about Seon-woo. What did that mean?

It meant Seon-woo’s image was being established in a completely positive light.

If they understood that value, it wouldn’t be strange for them to be burning with desire to connect with Seon-woo immediately.

But the chatroom couldn’t keep talking about Seon-woo forever.

—We will now call the next participant.

The evaluation was already proceeding.

According to the previously announced order… the person to be called this time was 7th place.

That meant an eliminated contestant.

And,

—Bang Hyeong-bin. Please come up to the stage.

The first name called was Hyeong-bin’s.

Hyeong-bin stood up. Had he expected his name to be called? His face looked more comfortable than expected.

Seong Jun-il looked at Hyeong-bin and spoke in a gentle voice.

—Just in case, I want to say that you did well, Hyeong-bin. It’s just that others did better.

—Yes. Thank you. Just being able to come this far… I think it’s something to be grateful for.

—Do you have any final words?

—…Actually, even while filming this, I still had many doubts. I questioned whether I could do it… especially since everyone around me was so amazing, I sometimes wondered if I was somewhere I shouldn’t be.

The judges said nothing and quietly looked at Hyeong-bin.

Hyeong-bin looked at them and smiled quietly. It wasn’t a forced smile. A smile from the heart.

—But now I can say this with certainty. Whether I belong here or not, whether I can do it or not, I’ll think about that later. For now, I want to act. I will act. So, please take care of me from now on!

Hyeong-bin suddenly bowed deeply.

RoundMan: Wow

meteor: So full of fighting spirit

Anonymous: Quitting your job to pursue acting isn’t easy, hope it goes well for him

eyesonyou: Ah but who’s getting eliminated now

FaceSupremacist: What’s left is Jae-won, Min-hee, Jin-wook… wow shit, that means all but one of them are eliminated

meteor: I think it would be really sad no matter who gets eliminated ㅠㅠㅠ

People who had been applauding Hyeong-bin now started worrying about the next elimination.

It was definitely a moment when you could feel they were approaching the end of the program. These were all actors who seemed like they’d have no problem acting professionally, yet now was the time they had to worry about survival.

Who would be eliminated?

Just as everyone’s eyes filled with questions, Lee Mu-beom opened his mouth.

—Song Jae-won.

—Yes.

—Please come up to the stage.

And he called Jae-won’s name.

Anonymous: Ah…

CornCoffee: Jae-won’s getting eliminated

Face-obsessed person: No way, I was getting my weekly eye cleansing thanks to this ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

It was a shocking result.

Not that others were eliminated instead of Jae-won, but just the image of Jae-won being eliminated itself was shocking.

It couldn’t be helped.

Jae-won had an atmosphere that felt like a protagonist from the start.

From his handsome face to his calm personality and solid acting ability, he seemed to have no visible weaknesses.

From the viewers’ perspective, many naturally hadn’t even considered his elimination.

But Jae-won seemed different.

His face as he went up on stage showed no sign of surprise or anything like that. Rather, he calmly accepted the result.

There was no regret whatsoever on his face.

Seong Jun-il seemed to notice this too. He looked at Jae-won with a strange expression.

—You’re quite composed.

—It was enjoyable. It was a good opportunity, and I got to act on broadcast networks that I’d only thought about. It’s disappointing I couldn’t go to the end, but…

Jae-won’s eyes sparkled.

—There’s actually something I’m looking forward to. I’ve always wanted to try a dying performance.

—Hah…

Seong Jun-il swallowed a hollow laugh.

At the same time,

RoundMan: What a real man…

BlueVillage5Complex: Don’t ever discuss acting in front of Song Jae-won again

ParkDaeho: Really feels like he has no regrets at all, so cool

Junking: For real, just giving off that “I did my best” vibe

eotlr: Hyung, take me with you

All sorts of fangirling chat messages started pouring in.

You’d expect disappointed voices, but since he was so calm about it, the viewers were also taking it cheerfully.

Thanks to that, they quickly started talking about who the next eliminated contestant would be.

eyesonyou: Only Min-hee and Seo Jin-wook are left

GoguFlavor: Wow, it’ll be a bit sad no matter who gets eliminated, but I hope Min-hee survives, she’s so likeable

eyesonyou: Agreed, she’s pretty, acts well, and is easygoing, just perfect

eotlr: Jin-wook too…

FaceSupremacist: Say something about Jin-wook too

eotlr: Haha, actually I have nothing to say

gogumasta: hahahahahahahahaha

Overall, the atmosphere was cheering for Min-hee.

The camera started alternating between Min-hee and Jin-wook.

Min-hee seemed a bit nervous but still appeared relatively composed, while Jin-wook was…

GoguFlavor: …What, is he trembling right now?

meteor: It does look like he’s trembling…?

FaceSupremacist: This is awkward…

He was trembling.

Whether he was conscious of it or not, he was desperately gritting his teeth trying to suppress the trembling… but his body was shaking so much that it was impossible to pretend not to notice.

The audience naturally fell into a solemn mood.

Because they could feel it through that trembling.

How desperately this person named Seo Jin-wook was approaching this moment.

How soaked in fear he was.

Even Min-hee was looking at Jin-wook with a slightly surprised expression.

She looked like she never imagined Jin-wook would show such a side.

And then, that’s when it happened.

—Na Min-hee.

Yu Mi-yeon called out the name, and in an instant, the atmosphere was reversed.

Min-hee turned her head with a stiffly frozen face, and Yu Mi-yeon opened her mouth in a low voice.

—Please come up to the Stage.

The final eliminated contestant was…

Min-hee.

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