In This Life, I Want an Oscar, Not a Husband - Chapter 31

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

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This life, I choose The Oscars over a husband.
Chapter 31

【I first met Kim Ji-hyun when I saw that banner outside the Academy—the one proclaiming her as the top student.】

The scene shifts. The woman from before walks down the street and stops, her gaze fixed on the Academy Building where the words “[1st Place: Kim Ji-hyun]” are displayed.
Her eyes flicker with emotions too complex to name.
Inferiority, envy, and a hint of excitement….
‘Excitement?’

【Kim Ji-hyun really is remarkable.】

The scene shifts again. The woman’s footsteps lead her to an Orphanage.

【Even though she grew up in an orphanage, she’s so diligent, so kind, so upright.】

The woman’s eyes follow a student in a school uniform from behind.
She smiles with unmistakable pride.
At this moment, the audience begins to wonder.
What is the relationship between this woman and Kim Ji-hyun?
And the Prosecutor in the Interrogation Room voices that very question.
The scene returns to the Interrogation Room.

【You’re not from that Orphanage, and you didn’t attend the same school. So how did you come to know Kim Ji-hyun?】

Confusion crossed the Prosecutor’s face.
The woman called “Lee Eun-rae” answers with evident unease.

【I ran into her often on the street. We’d meet by chance, and sometimes I’d seek her out.】

She leans against the desk in the Interrogation Room, clearly uncomfortable with this line of questioning, and interrupts the Prosecutor.

【You asked me to talk about Kim Ji-hyun. Why are you asking about something else?】
【I beg your pardon?】
【I was just telling you how remarkable she is. So why change the subject? It’s infuriating.】

One eye crumpling shut looked almost grotesque.
A magnetic charisma flickered in that gaze.
Park Chang-sung felt goosebumps rise across his entire body without warning.
Park Chang-sung had experienced this kind of bone-chilling sensation exactly once before.
When he watched the film Do Eun-hee had won at the Cannes Film Festival. When he saw her desperate, anguished performance.
But back then, Do Eun-hee was already a top-tier actress whose acting prowess had reached its zenith.
Yet now, he felt that same chill from this complete newcomer.
Park Chang-sung laughed in disbelief.
All those thoughts about wanting to see how poorly this newcomer would perform had long since vanished.
‘I want to see how far this actress can take her craft.’
That was the thought consuming him now.
Of course, this didn’t mean Park Chang-sung rated this film highly.
The mise-en-scène and editing were certainly excellent, but a film required all three elements—editing, direction, and acting—to align perfectly alongside the message it sought to convey.
Yet wasn’t this edited more like a typical crime thriller?
At that moment, the Prosecutor sighed and spoke.

【Well… then keep going.】

Like a dog granted permission before its prey, Lee Eun-rae began pouring out Kim Ji-hyun’s remarkable qualities without restraint.

【Throughout high school, she was always ranked first in the entire school. Not only that, she swept every academic competition. She did exceptionally well on the mock essay exams too.】

As if Kim Ji-hyun stood right before her, Lee Eun-rae’s eyes wandered into empty space.

【And despite having no parents, the teachers said she was upright and kind… she’d even help her grandmother when she was carrying heavy loads.】

The Prosecutor stopped typing and looked at Lee Eun-rae with visible irritation.

【So?】
【I’m sorry?】

Lee Eun-rae glared at the Prosecutor irritably, like someone jolted awake from the sweetest of dreams.

【But Kim Ji-hyun disappeared suddenly. A few months before the college entrance exam. What do you think the reason was?】

Upon hearing those words, Lee Eun-rae’s expression hardened.
It wasn’t just her expression that froze.
Returning to that initial state, my back curved inward again, my face slipping back into fear.
A dramatic shift in emotion.
But then again…
Park Chang-sung detected a subtle flaw in the actress’s performance at this point—something felt slightly lacking.
‘The emotional intensity was expressed well.’
There was likely a connection between the disappearance of this woman named Kim Ji-hyun and why the protagonist was in this interrogation room.
Any amateur director would spin a predictable tale.
Murder, of course.
‘But even for a murderer, isn’t the expression a bit too extreme?’
Compared to the acting shown so far, this emotional arc felt overly theatrical—a minor disappointment.
But that moment passed quickly.
Park Chang-sung found himself drawn back into the next scene with Lee Eun-rae.

“Well, I wouldn’t know. But if it’s Ji-hyun, she’s such a kind girl… maybe something happened while she was helping a homeless person who got hit by a car?”

Watching Lee Eun-rae’s restless hands, the Prosecutor let out a hollow laugh.
Lee Eun-rae’s anxious face.
And the Prosecutor, visibly irritated.
In this completely reversed situation, the door opened and a man entered.

“Prosecutor. The fingerprint recognition results have arrived.”

The man glanced briefly at Lee Eun-rae before speaking with a subtle expression.
The female Prosecutor took the fingerprint results from the Male Official and flipped through the papers with a weary air.
Then she immediately showed the paper to Lee Eun-rae.
Lee Eun-rae deliberately avoided looking at the paper as if she couldn’t see it, but the Prosecutor was relentless.

“I think I understand why Kim Ji-hyun ran away a few months before the college entrance exam.”
“Ran away?”

A fierce glint flashed across Lee Eun-rae’s face.

“My Ji-hyun…”
“Kim Ji-hyun wouldn’t be able to pass fingerprint recognition. A few months before the college entrance exam, she would have needed to complete her resident registration and have her fingerprints taken. If that had happened, the fingerprint recognition results wouldn’t look like this, would they?”

…!
The story unfolds in a direction I never could have imagined.
My lips tremble, and my eyes burn with a murderous rage.
Tears of resentment have already pooled in those round eyes.
As if commanding me to shut my mouth.
As if threatening to kill me if I say another word.

【Kim Ji-hyun doesn’t actually exist. The 26-year-old Lee Eun-rae who went missing and the 19-year-old Kim Ji-hyun are the same person. Like this.】

At those words, tears drop from Lee Eun-rae’s eyes. Plip. Plip.
Simultaneously, the screen begins to shift.
Just moments before, the Academy Street where Lee Eun-rae was walking.
Lee Eun-rae gazes up at a placard that reads [1st Place: Park Kyung-jun] instead of [1st Place: Kim Ji-hyun].
My phone rings, my face exhausted.

【Your student loan payment is overdue…】

Irritated, I try to turn off my phone when I notice a text message at the bottom.

[You’re not even preparing for the civil service exam. You’ve retaken the college entrance exam three times, and now you won’t even accept a mid-tier university—you’re preparing to transfer. Why don’t you know your place? You think you failed the entrance exam because you weren’t in good condition that day, but from what I see, that’s just your actual ability. I’m tired of this conversation too. Let’s break up.]

Only then did the twist of this story strike the audience like a blow to the back of the head.
Lee Eun-rae hadn’t killed Kim Ji-hyun.
Lee Eun-rae had become Kim Ji-hyun.
The 26-year-old Lee Eun-rae, who had retaken the exam three times and yet remained unsatisfied with the university she attended, pouring all her energy into transfer preparations.
And the 19-year-old Kim Ji-hyun, an orphan with a good personality and excellent grades.
They were the same person.

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

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