I’m an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me - Chapter 111

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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 111

* * *

What, Myeong Jeha?

‘He never said anything like that.’

But it seemed Myeong Jeha’s analysis hit the mark. Jjang Director had an expression asking how he knew.

“Uh, well… But directors naturally have all sorts of scenes playing in their heads. I’ll polish it up nicely and show you.”

The confusion was only momentary. Jjang Director knew how to deflect like a skilled adult.

“Haha! Jeha said he was my fan, so I guess it’s true? Are you that eager to see it?”

Jjang Director patted Myeong Jeha’s shoulder and laughed.

‘…It seems like there’s more to it?’

As I thought, Myeong Jeha looked at Jjang Director and said.

“You were planning to include the scene where Yeoreum receives divine possession, weren’t you?”

Jjang Director froze completely.

“I could tell from looking at the intro section. The impact that the gut ritual gives as a medium in would be incredibly strong. The gradually building instrumental sounds also show the gut ceremony progressing, but…”

The status window above Myeong Jeha’s head sparkled brightly.

“The child who will become Saetani is the sacrifice, the scene after shows calling the gods using talismans, striking the gong to point at the target of the curse, lowering the screen as if the gods have descended. The shadow of the curse moves.”

Only then did I realize how the scenes in the intro were organically connected. Myeong Jeha’s background knowledge was sharp.

“With the direction of the bell in the shaman’s hand shaking frantically when possessed by the gods… you made the bell sound speed up at the end.”

So, Seoryeong in the final section wasn’t just about exploding in anger.

Direction rivaling the famous scenes of major films was prepared.

‘If we can just show the divine power that overwhelms Yeomga as it is, this would be…’

To explain how difficult it is to exceed 10% viewership on cable channels, TVM had exactly twenty works achieve this in ten years.

‘Among those, the most recent was… that drama that had three consecutive series.’

Even the series drama that could be called an unprecedented hit on cable only had 8% viewership. The peak viewership was 11%.

‘And that was a work evaluated as causing an unprecedented syndrome…’

I have to surpass that now.

I quietly looked at Jjang Director. Meeting my gaze awkwardly, Jjang Director turned his head and scratched the back of his head vigorously.

“Dramas are… was all pre-produced, but… has to go live from the middle. Probably around episode 11, the set will be truly chaotic.”

Considering editing time, filming time might be tight. Come to think of it, I remember editing mistakes occasionally appearing in works that aired in real-time.

‘Like cameramen getting caught in corners, subtitles not being removed during broadcast, wire lines being visible…’

The moment it’s exposed that the drama before your eyes isn’t of complete quality.

Just those few seconds of mistakes cause viewers to turn away from that work.

“Extracting the best scenario is a director’s ability, but leading actors into a story where they can completely concentrate is also a director’s ability.”

When Jjang Director pointed out reality, I finally remembered. Long runtime I’d never handled before, a completely new character different from everything I’d analyzed, voice projection I needed to study more deeply…

‘There’s too much to handle in a short time.’

Can I do it? This is my first drama lead role, and I want to do well…

“To cut to the chase, you’re saying you can’t trust Han Yeoreum?”

That’s when it happened. Dokgo Min, who had been sprawled on the sofa, spoke.

“No, if we put too much burden on just the lead-.”

“Right. That’s what it is. What was I thinking… I was being unnecessarily wary.”

Dokgo Min stretched languidly. As if Jjang Director’s concerns were boring.

“After that director So Yeseul or whatever, I thought a rival had appeared… but you’re not much competition. Hey, Han Yeoreum. This director doesn’t seem to know what a muse is. Mm-hmm. These middle-aged men these days.”

At those words, the gentle Jjang Director’s voice got a bit louder.

“No! You can’t talk like that! Beyond being a muse, our team is family, family!”

“Family, my foot. Either way, you’re saying she’s not a muse. Mm-hmm. At this rate, you won’t be able to make anything proper with Han Yeoreum… I’m leaving.”

Dokgo Min’s collar was grabbed again as she tried to get off the sofa. This time it was Jjang Director.

“Student. Our student seems to not understand that this set doesn’t operate just because I want it to…? Many people’s livelihoods are at stake. Even I would like to just-.”

“Then just do it?”

* * *

Anyway, he was a man you couldn’t reason with.

Dokgo Min frowned and launched into a long speech about the butterfly effect caused by gambling on one scene.

‘I don’t care about that stuff.’

I remembered filming . That moment when my face was soaked with rainwater and tears.

‘Han Yeoreum is a genius.’

But it would take an enormous amount of time for the public to realize this. Many celebrities rise with just one work, but not everyone in the public watches that work.

‘At least several consecutive hits are needed.’

The time it takes to become familiar to the eyes, ears, and mouth was too long and tedious.

Even at this moment, people who wanted to rise somehow would be dissecting and analyzing Han Yeoreum.

‘How many people have started taking photos like Han Yeoreum’s photo book…’

Han Yeoreum’s iconic profile photo had become half public domain. So many people taking photos that way had been mass-produced.

Blue lighting, refreshing sunlight. That could no longer be Han Yeoreum’s unique profile photo.

‘…Other actors started shooting that way too.’

After that, other actors also adopted the refreshing concept, so it wasn’t remembered by the public as Han Yeoreum-style photography.

Even Do Gyeoul ended up taking photos with blue backgrounds.

No matter how much Han Yeoreum was rising, the entertainment industry was overflowing with actors who could overshadow her with greater fame.

A world where only bigger, heavier, and more sparkling names are placed on the scales.

“Are you not confident?”

“No! Just because I’m confident doesn’t mean everything will work out!”

Certainly, for something named after Han Yeoreum to be recognized, works needed to support it.

‘Decent’ works weren’t enough. The character needed to be clearly recognized like Pi Chaewon.

‘The public isn’t genius like me, so they can’t immediately acknowledge Han Yeoreum.’

I could see why Myeong Jeha brought Dokgo Min to this place. This stupid old man was a director I disliked in another sense.

“Even so… I have a duty to protect Yeoreum properly until the end.”

Jjang Director spoke calmly, having calmed down again.

“I know what it’s like for a rookie with no manager and no car to come to the filming set hours early. I’ve been watching Yeoreum since then.”

It was an overly realistic story. A story from a perspective only a director could have.

“We have to go to regional locations and the CG costs would be enormous. On set, every minute and second is money. But what do you think the atmosphere would be like if an actor kept making NGs?”

As excuses go, it wasn’t bad. Either way, Dokgo Min gave slight bonus points for caring about Han Yeoreum.

‘Though that’s still minus five hundred billion points. Mm-hmm.’

For reference, Director So was minus one hundred million points.

“Even if they don’t show it, actors can’t help but feel it. The set is where endless variables explode even within well-planned schedules.”

Dokgo Min looked at Han Yeoreum sitting quietly with the scenario in her hands, then turned to stare into Jjang Director’s eyes filled with worry.

“Don’t ignore the pressure of the set. Whether the drama is doing well or not, it’s tremendous either way. The work we’re competing against is also SBC’s anticipated project… Ugh, I don’t know why I’m even talking about this, but anyway!”

Anyway, people who do team work are impossible for this reason.

From composing shots to lighting positions, subject angles and the moment of pressing the shutter. Dokgo Min, the self-centered photographer who calculated everything alone, had an action-oriented temperament.

“I can’t pressure Yeoreum according to my selfish desires while she carries such burden. That’s my duty and loyalty. So student…”

“What if it’s not you pressuring her, but Han Yeoreum wants to do it too?”

Dokgo Min pointed at the computer.

“The final episode scenario. You have the completed version now, right?”

“Uh, well, there is one…”

“Pull that out and give me 30 minutes. Whether it’s just this old man’s greed or not, Han Yeoreum will decide.”

Dokgo Min smiled triumphantly at Yeoreum, who was looking at her with surprised eyes.

Then she shouted to Yeoreum.

“You can do it!”

What followed Dokgo Min’s words wasn’t a question mark but an exclamation point.

* * *

“The final episode scenario…”

Since Dokgo Min had dragged Jjang Director and Myeong Jeha away, I was left alone in the studio.

“Can I do it? Can I?”

Could I act as Seoryeong while bearing all that cost and expectation, caught between the pressure?

‘…16 episodes.’

I felt like I was standing on a precarious tightrope.

‘Should I say I can’t do it even now? The original scenario isn’t bad either.’

It was a moment when I kept wanting to back away.

The moment I read through the final episode scenario.

The scene vividly appeared before my eyes. Yeomga wearing a mask, standing on the blue blade. Seoryeong confronting him.

My fists naturally clenched with strength.

I could understand why Seoryeong saved the sin she most wanted to question for last.

I could feel Seoryeong’s stubbornness in not wanting to show her tears to the very end. Because she didn’t want to reveal her weak face.

I could feel Seoryeong’s hidden true feelings that I hadn’t noticed before.

“…It’s love and hate.”

Before learning that Yeomga had tried to use Seoryeong’s divine power, the two had been family.

At least for Seoryeong, Yeomga had been her whole world.

“…No matter how wretched the ending was, she remembers the moments when he was good to her…”

Only those who know understand what meaning a single trivial memory with a guardian holds for a child.

My stomach burned hot. I tried speaking Seoryeong’s lines aloud.

“How dare you, how dare you… how dare you!”

I widened the space in my mouth and put strength above my belly. A scratching voice from within resonated desperately. My head felt dizzy from suddenly using head voice.

Seoryeong’s feelings were conveyed directly.

The betrayal of Yeomga, whom she had believed to be family, meeting her guardian Jeongan afterward, her calm but warm affection, the fact that she would still have to die for revenge someday, the time spent deliberately keeping distance, Jeongan’s cold corpse, regret and anger at not being able to open her heart, childhood memories that suddenly surfaced when facing Yeomga…

‘I think I understand why Jjang Director tried so hard not to include this scene…’

The dialogue that followed was difficult enough for a rookie to handle.

Because she had to return Yeomga’s curse ritual right back at him.

As if Seoryeong was slowly overlaying herself on me…

The speed of my muttering mouth quickened. Lines I had never spoken before came out without hesitation.

‘I can do it.’

‘Now I can really… properly become Seoryeong…’

I no longer felt the responsibility I would bear on the filming set, the pressure of having to carry 16 episodes, or the anxiety about whether my Seoryeong was right.

Emotion crashed over me.

Click-.

Gears that hadn’t fit together clicked into place and slowly began to turn.

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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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