If I Don’t Earn 1 Trillion Won, My Regression Ends - Chapter 72

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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 72

It was truly exceptional treatment.

However, it wasn’t just because of the syndrome from four years ago.

The biggest reason was that the female lead role I was cast in had significantly increased in scope.

I don’t know how he got it, but Director Haemun seemed to have watched a video of my performance at the Yewon Festival.

He called me in the middle of the night, all fired up.

[“Ssing-ssing.”]

“Yes.”

[“If you can perform at this level, then I’m ready too.”]

“Ready for what…?”

[“Let’s go… Let’s try walking on that French red carpet!”]

The crank-in that was originally supposed to happen last year was postponed for another year like that.

Because Haemun completely rewrote the entire script.

He had already reached the top domestically, but Haemun’s goal this time was very clear since he still had no awards from international film festivals and had repeatedly come up empty-handed.

Cannes.

The Cannes Film Festival in France is one of the world’s three major film festivals, boasting the highest prestige and market scale in the world.

For directors, it was the pinnacle of glory.

After a Korean director’s work that made it to last year’s competition section unfortunately failed to win any awards, there was quiet talk in the industry that this year might really be worth a shot.

Haemun had already won a trophy in 1992 at ‘Un Certain Regard,’ which could be called Cannes’ second league, with his noir action film “Obedience to the Obedient Dog.”

But in the main league, the official competition section, he had always tasted bitter defeat and couldn’t even make it into the competition section.

“So this time I’m thinking of shooting abroad for once. It gets your competitive spirit up, you know.”

“What about the money… If we shoot overseas, the production costs will be enormous, and what if we don’t win any awards? Director, all of us in the production team have homes and families to support…”

“If we fail, there’s always Venice. Don’t be scared! It’ll be fine!”

If the Cannes Film Festival favored glamorous auteurism, then Venice, which was also one of the three major film festivals and the oldest film festival, placed extreme emphasis on experimentalism.

This was exactly what Haemun meant.

Submit to Cannes first in May, and if we get the rejection notice around April, immediately switch tactics and head to Venice!

Apparently everyone does this. When you drink bitter water at Cannes, you run to Venice…

Anyway.

To aim for Cannes scheduled for next May, we had to start by early fall at the latest. With overseas location shooting included like this film, we needed to start even earlier for location hunting.

The production company hurriedly scheduled departure for June.

Yeah. Originally, that is.

“Waaaah, semifinals! It’s the semifinals!”

“South Korea! Oh~~ Victory Korea!”

This year was that famous legendary year of 2002.

Who could have predicted that South Korea would advance to the World Cup semifinals?

Really no one knew except for me, who came back from the future after being hit by a truck, and Min-su.

Madness. Pure madness.

All of South Korea began going crazy.

The entire nation wore red t-shirts with ‘Be the Reds’ written on them like uniforms as if they were all one team, and beer halls experienced unprecedented crowds.

Work? Business?

Forget it! We’re in the semifinals!

There were plenty of people who got drunk on patriotic dopamine and abandoned even their livelihoods, so naturally no one was interested in things like movies.

Even the director himself…

“Director, hello? It’s April, when are we departing?”

“Oh! Is that Ssing-ssing-i? Oh! Hang up! The director’s busy! Goal! Goooooooal!!!”

“…”

Thanks to that, it kept getting postponed and postponed until now.

We ended up setting foot on Italian soil in July, when the Mediterranean sun is said to be at its hottest.

Knock knock.

“Yes~”

– Sing-a’s still on the phone. You should get some sleep soon.

“Yes! I’ll go to sleep!”

Outside the door, at Bae Seo-nyeok’s words, I checked the time and was startled. How did it get this late already?

‘I talked with Rampa for a whole hour?’

“You should have told me when it got this late. I still haven’t finished packing, how annoying. Don’t you have anyone looking for you?”

[“You forgot you were sleepy from talking with me. Baby, you keep playing hard to get like this. Huh?”]

“What are you going to do about it.”

[“I’ll have to cling to you more~.”]

“You’re really silly~.”

I was giggling because of silly Rampa too.

Well, if Rampa didn’t have this kind of personality, how could I have been so comfortable with him like now?

I knew that once I decided to walk this path, I needed to become thick-skinned and much more shameless. But my naturally timid heart wasn’t something that could be fixed in just a day or two.

It really wasn’t easy.

[“I really should let you sleep now. Go to sleep.”]

“Mm-hmm. Hanging up.”

[“But when does the first shoot start?”]

“Hehe. The day after tomorrow~.”

[“Why are you laughing?”]

“You’re laughing too?”

[“Baby. If I don’t laugh with you, who else would I laugh with. Look where your oppa is. There are only Marios older than me here. Pot-bellied Mario, bald Mario, Mario with a wrench, Mario pointing at the stopwatch if you’re even 0.001 seconds late…”]

“Ahaha. I’m really going to sleep~ Hanging up!”

[“Good night. My one and only Maria.”]

Both Jeong Hyeon-gyo and Choi Chamsol are childhood friends as close as siblings, but no one is as uniquely comfortable as Rampa.

Rather, sometimes he felt more comfortable than family, so I found myself acting spoiled with Rampa more and more often without realizing it.

I lay down on the bed, feeling drowsy.

The fatigue from the forced march, the discomfort of jet lag, the tension of my first crank-in, and so on were all appropriately relieved through the phone call with Rampa.

I really felt it was just right.

So I closed my eyes and muttered.

“[Hall of Persona], open.”

Hall of Persona.

It was the one and only skill I had acquired along with unlocking my job stats.

♧

Two years ago.

It was before I had even recovered from the emotion of my first curtain call and the shower of audience applause.

【Hidden Mission: Find Your Natural Talent】 (Success!)

【Updating due to successful hidden mission completion…】

【The challenger’s profession stats have been activated.】

I was incredibly flustered.

Profession stats?

All of a sudden?

At this point, 10 years after my regression?

Whenever I opened other people’s relationship information windows, it wasn’t like I hadn’t been curious about my own.

How many stars would my potential be? I had naturally thought about such things.

But it really existed, and was just in an inactive state?!

Moreover, my profession window was incomparably more detailed than the relationship window.

【Seosing-a, 1991. 05. 25】

【Category: Culture·Arts (Actor)】

【Overall Level: ★★★☆☆ [62/60]】

[!] Some stats have reached their limit. Advance to a higher tier to expand the limits.

– Potential: 60 (MAX)

– Destiny Power: ?? [Singularity]

– Appearance: 60 (MAX)

– Technique: 59

– Artistry: 52

– Star Quality: 60 (MAX)

– Luck: 45

[!] To advance to the next grade (4-star), you must fulfill the conditions below. Upon advancement, all stat limits will expand to 80.

[Condition 1] Hidden Mission Achievement: Calling Awakening (Success!)

[Condition 2] Media Debut: Make your name known to everyone (Success!)

[Condition 3] Talent Proof: Gain recognition from a master (Not achieved)

The stats looked like a game window, but don’t be fooled.

Distributing points to raise specific stats… such efficient and convenient things didn’t happen to me.

I could only raise them by working my ass off on my own…

Even [Technique] was originally around 30, and I raised it to that level by practicing like hell for 2 years!

‘It would have been much harder without skills.’

【Passive Skill】 Hall of Persona

When I opened my closed eyes, a space that had become quite familiar came into view.

Hall of Persona.

Between the deep red velvet curtains and gold leaf molding, a massive state-of-the-art IMAX screen was visible.

On the walls were portraits of legendary actors and various film canisters.

A form that seemed to blend theater and archive, where modern and past coexisted.

This was the Hall of Persona – the hall of actors.

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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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