Chapter 94
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 094
Chapter Title: Hellbound Audition (3)
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“...”
Without a hint of hesitation, Shin Yi-han declared he'd give it a shot, leaving the director utterly flustered instead.
A hollow chuckle escaped his lips.
Truth be told, he'd half-expected a refusal, something along the lines of "I can't do it."
That expression of his...
Even though anyone could see it was an absurd demand.
It looks almost... welcoming.
He hadn't anticipated such ready agreement.
Braden rubbed his chin, eyes fixed on Shin Yi-han.
He had to give the guy credit for his guts, at least.
But still.
How the hell does he plan to pull this off?
The director shrugged and crossed his arms.
It was nothing more than the bravado of an outsider—nothing less, nothing more.
- A priest named Johan, whose body has been seized by a demon.
- He descends into madness, then calls out for the protagonist, 'Cain.'
The snippet of script he'd handed over started with that exact setup from the first line.
Acting out a demon possession without CG, makeup, or any direction? It was a nightmare of a scene.
Even if he tried, it'd end in disaster.
"Tell me when you're ready."
Braden checked his wristwatch, as if allotting some time for preparation.
This audition scene wrapped things up anyway. He could spare five minutes.
But the director was caught off guard once more when the other man spoke up immediately.
"I'll do it right now."
Shin Yi-han hadn't frantically scanned the script or shown even a flicker of doubt.
"What...?"
The director was dumbfounded.
No matter how short the lines, there were several of them. No way he'd memorized a brand-new scene on the spot.
This isn't a joke.
Yet the actor staring back at him had eyes steady as steel.
He meant it.
Either a fool... or genuinely insane. One or the other.
In the end, the director smirked, nodding as if to say, Fine, show me what you've got.
"Begin."
A faint smile curved Shin Yi-han's lips.
From his perspective, preparation had been over for ages.
He already knew the scene. The lines sprang to mind automatically from that script glimpse.
The expressions of Inner Johan from his past life, the staging required here—he remembered it all crystal clear.
And in his past life, Adrian Hill's Johan, once possessed by the demon...
His angelic purity shattered.
His pristine skin turned pitch black.
And he twisted into a mask of utter madness.
The exact opposite of the chaste, rigid Johan seen throughout the film.
Shin Yi-han was confident he could replicate that scene on demand.
But that's not what I'll do.
Perfectly mimicking that "right" Johan had never been his plan.
Even if I could match it, I can't—and I won't.
Just one difference—his race—and everything had to be rewritten.
Adrian's blond hair and blue eyes lent natural legitimacy to the story.
But a stranger, an outsider? That carried even more narrative weight.
An Eastern priest dispatched to Vatican, filled with white faces, to monitor a problem child.
Doesn't his mere existence spark the imagination?
Johan, saddled with a lead role no one wanted.
Treated as an outsider even among the faithful.
His loneliness.
His rigidity, bound to rules and dependence just to survive.
All of that would breathe life into Johan.
And that's the Johan Shin Yi-han intended to show them.
Of course, first they wanted the demon-possessed Johan.
So he'd deliver something longer, deeper than the short film version.
A deeper horror.
The demon mimicking humans.
Fooling everyone with its alien smile.
Sss...
Shin Yi-han drew a deep breath.
At the director's cue, he closed his eyes briefly.
When they opened, Shin Yi-han was gone.
The priest stared into the void, drawing the demon into himself.
Fear and despair. Sorrow, agony, pain.
Then relief and joy.
His face flashed through those expressions in an instant as Johan confronted the demon.
That was the moment. The air around him warped in a heartbeat.
“...!”
Johan's eyes lost focus.
His body convulsed as his hands clamped around his throat, choking with guttural gasps. As if gripped by invisible, massive claws.
Guhk!
It wasn't just agonizing to watch.
No mercy here.
Something filthy, forbidden, forced its way down his throat. His face flushed crimson, veins bulging grotesquely.
His ragged breaths grew wilder.
Thud.
The hands fell from his neck.
Slowly lifting his head, Johan's gaze had utterly transformed.
It felt like another being entirely—impossible to believe one person was performing this.
"Ah."
The thing tested its voice.
"Ah...!"
As if speaking through human vocal cords for the first time.
"Aaaah!"
Its hands and arms flailed about, joyfully exploring its new vessel with childlike glee.
Like a puppeteer yanking a human marionette every which way.
Then it laughed, as if utterly delighted by the situation.
Kuhahaha! Hak! Hak! A booming, inhuman cackle—beast or man, impossible to tell.
It clutched its belly, howling like a lunatic.
Johan's face stretched into an endless grin, splitting wide enough to chill the blood.
"...Cain."
Suddenly, it whipped its head toward the one who'd come searching.
Toward the protagonist, Cain.
"Cain!"
A rasping wheeze, like dry lungs tearing apart.
Caaaain!
Johan's scream or the demon's delight? It clawed at its throat, shrieking deafeningly.
A face no longer human.
And the director watched it all unfold right before his eyes.
...W-Wait a second.
He'd lounged indifferently through other candidates.
Even Adrian hadn't rattled his smile.
Boredom aside, his posture always exuded ease.
How is this even possible...?
Now, he was frozen solid. Goosebumps prickled from toes to scalp, his jaw slack.
The actor had only called a name.
It had barely begun.
He couldn't help it.
No humor, no farce.
Bradens arms had long since unfolded before this raw shock.
The mad cry for the protagonist 'Cain' echoed through the set.
Then, as if by magic, the noise ceased.
As if the story were just beginning, Shin Yi-han slowly turned his head.
As if Cain stood right there.
His eyes locked on, lips curling up.
Now, the demon wearing Johan's skin had its sights on Cain.
But it had no intention of simply clawing the life from him.
It craved his soul.
- Possessed Johan reveals Cain's weaknesses and shames.
The demon would do anything to ensnare him.
“...”
At last, the demon hid the beast that had scratched and laughed moments ago deep within the priest.
Johan's very breathing shifted.
The heaving gasps softened to faint, fragile breaths.
His rigid posture crumpled unnaturally.
"Ah..."
Johan's lips trembled.
From the black-clad priest's body came a frail, pained voice.
"Cold."
His breath ghosted toward Cain, almost touching.
"S-So cold."
A whisper, a plea, directed at him.
Like Cain's little sister, dying on that icy winter street.
Dragging up his deepest pain, clouding his soul.
"No! Don't abandon me...! Please."
The desperation from a demon ignorant of human hearts hit once.
"Please...! Cain!"
The pitiful voice clashing with his eerily blank expression hit again.
Everyone present felt chills.
They knew it wasn't real, but the voice was so heartbreaking.
For a moment, they wondered if that soul was truly trapped by the demon.
Seizing the confusion, the demon stepped toward Cain.
"But Cain. This time..."
The demon in Johan's form tapped its cheek thoughtfully.
"You're planning to abandon this priest too?"
Creak. Shin Yi-han's head tilted sideways.
At the same instant, Johan's shivering form went still.
"Cowardly murderer!"
It screamed with the demon's signature rictus grin.
"Spineless survivor!"
It cackled, utterly mocking Cain.
Of course, chills raced down everyone's spines at that laughter.
Yes.
Shin Yi-han had owned the room long ago.
He could feel the nonexistent Cain crumbling.
The demon before them was sly, horrific.
And above all, inhuman.
“...”
“...”
In the end, silence was all the audition hall could hold.
And just as they grew restless, desperate to see more...
It's over...?
Really...?
Even the director belatedly recalled the script ended there.
No more stage directions, no more lines.
Normally, a judge would speak up.
But no one did.
They were too stunned by the Easterner they'd dismissed.
Shin Yi-han's demon was...
This is what a real demon looks like.
That insane smile, toying with people... it's driving me mad.
How does he switch like that so fluidly...?
Perfectly terrifying.
Yes!
Casting director John, seated among the judges, couldn't suppress his glee.
The director had to reassess Shin Yi-han. This performance demanded it.
How could I, as a director, let this pass?
But some clung stubbornly to doubts.
But... is it Johanesque yet?
Y-Yeah. Shocking, sure, but we haven't seen the real Johan.
Even amid the shock, seeing the demon, they insisted he hadn't shown Johan proper.
Maybe even Adrian could pull off a demon like that... right?
Some judges exchanged hopeful glances, still betting on Adrian.
Then.
Shin Yi-han slowly raised his hand, fingers curled as if gripping something.
Huh...?
All eyes locked back on him.
The actor hadn't finished.
That face, those eyes.
The demon still inhabited Johan's body.
And seeing the hand's shape, they realized what it held...
No way.
The pistol holstered at Cain's waist.
He's going to keep going...?
Braden's eyes widened.
In the original flow.
When Johan regained his senses and grappled the demon, Cain had no choice but to shoot him.
That sealed the tragedy.
But Shin Yi-han was rewriting it as Johan.
Click.
The demon aimed the barrel at Cain.
Planning to shatter his body and claim his soul.
"Right. It's too hard, isn't it?"
The demon whispered tenderly.
"Give up."
As if further resistance was futile.
"Then I'll end it all for you."
Finger tightening on the trigger.
The despairing climax, where all ended.
That was when.
Plip.
A clear teardrop fell from the demon's right eye to the floor.
“...?”
The demon tilted its head, bewildered even to itself.
Demons don't cry.
They don't know tears. An ironclad rule.
But that rule had just broken.
Its mouth grinned demonically, yet one eye wept desperately.
Before that bizarre discord.
A miracle unfolded.
"Cain."
The voice returned.
A tone impossible for the demon, brimming with true heart.
The familiar cadence.
...Standing before Cain now was.
Indisputable.
Johan.