Chapter 143
Chapter 143
Translator: Penny
Chapter 143
Seo Yehyeon sat on the bed, arms crossed, tapping the script Manager Hyung had handed her.
"Just tell me why you're trying to sabotage my chance to be cast in this drama. It's not even a lead role—just the female lead's friend, with no separate love line."
"Well, well...!"
Should I sacrifice my Original Intent Score and tell her the truth, or just let her get thoroughly roasted and give up acting on her own?
As I pounded my chest in frustration, unable to speak, Ryu Jaehee spoke up beside me with a serious expression.
"Hyung, you can't act."
Thanks to Ryu Jaehee saying what I wanted to say, my chest felt as clear as if I'd just chugged a bottle of soda.
"Have you forgotten our first acting attempt during the music video shoot?"
The atmosphere grew solemn at those words. How could anyone forget the countless NGs Seo Yehyeon had racked up?
"Maybe Yehyeon Hyung just wasn't used to the camera back then?" Gyeon Hajun offered in Seo Yehyeon's defense, and Yehyeon nodded in agreement.
Yeah, the kind of acting that got him roasted as a terrible actor by viewers and fans alike.
"People with natural acting talent can perform well even if they're not familiar with the camera. Hajun Hyung, were you so comfortable with the camera back then that you delivered such a brilliant performance?" Ryu Jaehee retorted.
Gyeon Hajun, who had delivered a lovelorn performance so convincing it drew gasps of admiration from everyone, chuckled awkwardly and ran a hand through his hair.
"Besides, the role Yehyeon Hyung got cast for isn't just the female lead's childhood friend. He's supposed to be in love with her twin sister, who dies in an accident. Afterward, he develops a strange bond and feelings for the female lead."
Despite such a complex emotional arc, before the regression, Seo Yehyeon had played the role as an awkward male friend of the female lead. This led to massive criticism for miscasting, so severe that even Seo Yehyeon's handsome looks couldn't compensate.
The nickname "Wooden," originally used for his stiff dancing, expanded to encompass his acting as well, becoming a widespread label.
"Hyung, you've never even taken acting classes before. It seems like they cast you solely based on your looks. Can you really handle the avalanche of criticism that's coming?"
"Are you still trying to push me into admitting I can't act?"
I'm not pushing you—you really can't act! If it weren't for that damn Original Intent Score and all the discord it's causing, I could have forced Seo Yehyeon to face reality.
"Then let's just try it out!" Kim Dobin clapped his hands sharply, drawing everyone's attention.
"Try what?"
"Acting."
Seo Yehyeon frowned at the suggestion.
"You want me to act alone here? Put on a one-man show in front of all of you?"
"When you're in front of the camera, there are twice as many staff as members, right?"
Seo Yehyeon couldn't argue with that logic.
"Still, I don't want to. How am I supposed to do this alone? It's embarrassing."
"If you're embarrassed by this, how are you going to act in front of the camera?"
Muttering to himself as if he wanted to be heard, he whistled and smoothly averted his gaze when Seo Yehyeon's sharp glare landed on him.
"Since Yehyeon Hyung would be too embarrassed to do it alone, why don't we hold a Reve acting competition?"
The rules were simple: the four members would choose a theme and have the others act it out.
The person who delivered the most outstanding performance would win a prize of 100,000 won!
"But who's going to pay the prize money?"
"Obviously the leader, right?"
"What, is the money in my bank account Reve's group fund now? Huh? Since when did we start a group savings club?"
As Ryu Jaehee glared at him, Kim Dobin, standing beside him, cautiously raised his hand and offered, "Then I'll..."
"Forget it. What money do you guys even have? I'll pay."
"We got our share too," they said.
"Yeah, go buy some snacks with it," I said, ruffling Kim Dobin's hair lightly before assigning the order. Once the order was set, the four of us huddled together to decide on the acting theme for the first performer.
Kim Dobin, the first up, would be playing...
"A eunuch who accidentally trips and splashes wash water on the king's face."
Hearing his theme, Kim Dobin asked with a peculiar expression, "What's the criteria for choosing these themes?"
"Since you're going first, we gave you a little advantage. Something easy to pull off, not too different from your usual image."
"So you're saying I look like a eunuch?"
Be grateful you're not a House-Elf, Dobin.
Kim Dobin, pretending to hold something, walked across the bed before collapsing with a thud. He looked up in shock, then immediately prostrated himself.
"Y-Your Majesty, please have mercy!"
I clutched my stomach, rolling around on the bed in laughter at the booming, cliché line from historical dramas. Ah, this is actually kind of fun.
I was about to give him a perfect score for his acting when Seo Yehyeon beat me to it.
"Zero points. You completely misinterpreted the role."
At this cold assessment, Kim Dobin slowly raised his head and asked, "Why?"
" 'Please have mercy' means 'consider carefully' and is used in contexts of patriotic loyalty. Since you dared to splash water on the king's face—a capital offense—the correct line would be, 'I have committed a crime worthy of death, Your Majesty. Please grant me death.'"
"It's not just 'Please spare me once'? If you beg to be killed and then they grant your wish, are you really going to let them kill you?"
"You'd have to die."
As expected, the era of absolute monarchy was ruthless. Long live egalitarian society.
"And eunuchs don't have such deep voices. They're castrated before puberty."
"What...?"
"What do you think?"
Seo Yehyeon's gaze flicked to a certain spot, and everyone shuddered.
"Yes, that's right. Zero points."
"Zero points, Hyung."
"The role interpretation was lacking. One point."
Amidst the zero-point frenzy, Kim Dobin, tears welling up, rushed to hug Gyeon Hajun, who had awarded him a single point.
Next up was Ryu Jaehee, whose scenario was:
"You're on a blind date and run into your older sister."
"Objection! I've never been on a blind date before," Ryu Jaehee protested.
I responded nonchalantly, "I doubt anyone here has."
"I have," Seo Yehyeon interjected.
Four pairs of eyes turned to Seo Yehyeon.
"When? When did you sneak off for a blind date behind our backs?"
"When I was twenty, right after starting college."
"Ah, back then..."
Since Seo Yehyeon hadn't even joined as a trainee yet at that time, everyone nodded in understanding.
"Wait a minute, so three out of the four judges don't even know if that was a good performance? Swap them out! Swap them out!"
"Seriously? You haven't even seen blind date scenes in dramas?"
"I saw it, but I wasn't really interested, so I skipped it."
"I don't know. I haven't watched any Korean dramas besides Age of Warriors."
"Wow, Age of Warriors? That's ancient history..."
Ryu Jaehee muttered something beside me, sounding either impressed or disgusted.
Either way, Ryu Jaehee's topic remained unchanged.
"Gasp! Sis? What are you doing here...?"
Ryu Jaehee delivered a performance that left us unsure whether he was acting as a younger brother to his real sister or as a boyfriend to his current girlfriend, earning an average score of 1 point.
Next up was Gyeon Hajun, who had even earned the nickname "acting idol" before the regression. His topic was...
"A trashy ex-boyfriend who gets hit with the aftershock a week after the breakup."
"Hyung, you really need to nail the 'trashy' part!"
Hearing the theme, Gyeon Hajun grimaced as if he had a headache, closed his eyes for a moment, and then lay down on the bed. Lying on his side and staring at his phone screen, tears streamed down his face.
"His tearful acting is insane," I whispered in awe to Ryu Jaehee's ear.
As Gyeon Hajun called his ex-girlfriend and pathetically begged her to take him back, listing all his faults, everyone covered their mouths to stifle their laughter. Even though we knew it was just acting, Gyeon Hajun still came across as a complete scumbag.
"Wow, he really seems like trash."
"His girlfriend was right to break up with him."
"Delete her number right now! Let her go!"
Overly immersed in the scene, Kim Dobin grabbed Gyeon Hajun's shoulder and shook him violently. I grabbed Dobin's hood and flung him away.
"Even if Gyeon Hajun acted well, isn't insubordination a bit much, Dobin?"
Gyeon Hajun received a unanimous score of 5 points, instantly claiming the top spot.
Next, it was my turn.
I was fully prepared to humbly accept any theme and deliver a top-tier performance, ready to prevent the 100,000 won penalty. As I closed my eyes to focus on my emotional arc, the theme was announced:
"Suddenly swapping souls with a gangster while being extorted by a bully Sunbae."
"Why would a soul swap happen suddenly?!"
My eyes snapped open as I protested the five-star difficulty theme.
"Wow, we did set the theme, but this is seriously challenging. Playing two roles at once!"
"Still, to balance it out, Hyung, I included a role you'd feel confident in."
"Am I a gangster? Huh?"
"Oh, you knew without me even saying it."
I casually put Ryu Jaehee in a headlock, then bowed my head deeply to focus on my emotions. Jun-a, I'm sorry, but I'm taking the 100,000 won.
Okay, from now on, I'm a pitiful student getting extorted by bullies. Though I've never actually been extorted before.
"Huh? Money? I don't have any money!"
"No, wrong! Wrong! You sound less like you're being extorted by bullies and more like a 1970s delinquent rebelling against his teacher for not giving him pocket money!"
Seo Yehyeon immediately interrupted me after I delivered just one line. He scowled fiercely and growled, "Ugh, just act properly!"
I had finally gotten into character, and this guy was trying to sabotage me so I couldn't take the 100,000 won?
Only after the youngest members restrained Seo Yehyeon on both sides could we resume filming. I successfully completed the scene, even managing to flinch and act properly humiliated, before moving on to the next phase.
It was time for the soul-swapped gangster act.
"Money? You want money? Ha, buddy, are you out of your mind?"
He delivered the line with a crooked grin and swaggering swagger, then abruptly turned serious, his voice dropping to a menacing growl as he mimed slapping the delinquent's cheek. The performance immediately earned him praise for its authenticity.
But Seo Yehyeon's critique focused on something else entirely.
"Stop butchering the dialect," she snapped.
"Huh? But this is how my Busan hyung talks?"
"That's not right."
Since he wasn't a native Gyeongsangdo speaker, he had no choice but to concede.
"Then how should I say it?"
"Are you out of your mind?"
Hearing the authentic dialect revealed the problem: it was the intonation, the intonation.
My scores: Seo Yehyeon 1 point, Ryu Jaehee 3 points, Gyeon Hajun 4 points, Kim Dobin 3 points. My 100,000 won was gone.
And finally, the theme that had sparked this pointless competition, Seo Yehyeon's theme, was...
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny