Teresa Mode

Summer vacation was over.

No — it had already ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been over. A full week had slipped by since then.

I'd meant to show up at school on the first day back. If only problems would stop cropping up one after another.

"Alright — and... action!"

Listening to Director Shin Yeomyeong's voice, I sat in one of those so-called actor's chairs and flipped through the script. Today's shoot covered two bookends of the film: the very beginning, where I give a witness statement at the police station, and the very end, where I walk in to turn myself in just before the cops can catch me. Between those two scenes, I had to become a criminal who had already committed fifteen murders.

"Is it hard to approach her today?"

"Can't be helped. She's got to play a serial killer."

"Let's just leave her alone so she can focus."

Whispers drifted around the set. Everyone was being considerate, watching me only from a distance. They didn't need to. I already had the emotional through-line locked in. Right now I was the messenger of God who had cleaned up fifteen pieces of human garbage. No one but God Himself had the right to recite my sins.

"Cut! Kim Haseong, take ten and we'll pick it back up!"

The first setup was finally done. I watched Kim Haseong walk off the set, letting out a light breath, then stood up from my chair.

"Hold on a second, Senior Kim Haseong."

"Senior? I haven't even taught you anything."

He always pulled that same pained face whenever I called him that, like a man who couldn't stand being addressed as teacher.

"You still walked the actor's path before I did, so senior is right. Unless..." I let a small smile curl at the corner of my mouth. "You'd rather I call you... o-ppa?"

"Save that for a variety show. Just tell me why you called me over."

Kim Haseong laughed, looking faintly incredulous. Huh. That didn't land? I was Teresa herself right now, sex appeal rolling off me in waves. And Teresa wasn't just some raving psycho killer. Director Shin Yeomyeong had built her as a character ripe for every kind of derivative work, which meant she had to be dripping with charm.

I'd signed off on the merchandising, of course. The contract gave me ninety percent of every won that came out of derivative works; the director took five as the character's creator, and the last five went to support kids on free school meals. Which meant I had to become a Sister Teresa who oozed sex appeal and hit every weeb button in the book.

Didn't think it'd bounce off him from the jump.

Was my intel wrong? I flicked a glance around the set.

"Did you hear that? She called him oppa."

"Whoa... I genuinely thought Teresa had shown up in the flesh."

"And now she's going to play a psycho killer looking like that. Isn't that going to mess with her head?"

"I'm a little worried, honestly."

The murmuring started up again. Everyone seemed plenty satisfied with my Teresa Mode. A few of the newer crew even looked like their knees had gone a little weak.

"It's nothing big. We're going to be playing off each other later, right? I figured if I knew your style, I could needle you just right."

"Needle my personality, huh. That's not a small ask."

"Don't be like that. And Director! I brought in a fantastic sponsorship, remember? You've got every reason to sit down with me and figure out how to make this movie a hit!"

"Me too? Just shooting the thing is already more than I can handle."

Director Shin Yeomyeong had been trying to slip away when I caught him. Normally the director is the highest authority on a film set. From here on out, though, I was basically the one holding the cards.

"So you don't want the sponsorship?"

"No, I want it. Badly. More money is always better. And a sponsorship from the Dohan Group? Tell them I'll push the product placement as hard as I can."

"Of course. That's exactly what I wanted — I even went head-to-head with my grandmother over it."

A few days earlier, I had asked Grandmother to invest. At the word invest she'd almost refused on the spot. So I made her a deal: if this movie cleared ten million admissions, she would pour sponsorships into every film and drama I shot from then on. Starting with an advance sponsorship for the picture we were making right now — Magnificent Bride.

I did put my whole life on the table as the stake, though.

The chip I pushed forward was nothing less than my future. A high school girl with a wide-open road ahead of her — that was the wager. A kind of slave contract: I would do whatever Grandmother said.

Heh heh heh.

But there was no way I was going to lose. Even in my previous life, Magnificent Bride had pulled nearly ten million tickets through every kind of disaster. This time we were dialing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠back the gore and aiming for a fifteen-and-up rating. Ten million? Fifteen million was on the table.

And then—

Status Window.

I opened it for the first time in a while.

Pretty much every stat had gone up. The trait that had jumped the most ranks was Look Only at Me!. The last time I'd checked it had been D; using it on stream and in everyday life had apparently shoved it up three whole tiers.

And there was something I hadn't known: Look Only at Me! didn't just raise my own immersion. It raised the other person's too. Use it on a broadcast or in a movie and an audience could sit through two hours, three hours, without looking away for a single second.

That was why, even when I streamed for five or six hours, people still complained that I was ending too soon. A lot of people. Every time I waved goodbye and cut the stream, the community posts that followed were something else.

With reactions like that, how was I supposed to stream without the trait?

I was still wearing a smile I hadn't quite managed to hide when Kim Haseong tossed out a suggestion.

"How about this, then? We shoot the first scene as planned, and for the second one — when she comes in to turn herself in — she shows up covered in blood."

"Covered in blood? That wouldn't match the timeline of the last incident."

Director Shin Yeomyeong and I were thinking the same thing. Teresa turns herself in because the police are about to catch her — meaning they already have all the evidence.

"What if she commits one last murder right before she turns herself in?"

"One last murder. The problem is, given the timeline and how the case unfolds, we can't just drop in a new character."

"Why not? You've already got one. The male priest who helps Teresa."

"Ah... you're right. That's a good idea."

What? Before I could even catch up, Director Shin Yeomyeong and Kim Haseong were nodding at each other with little grins.

"What is it? Fill me in too."

"Well, in a way, Jiwoo is the protagonist of this new script, so you ought to know. Basically—"

Director ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Shin Yeomyeong put his finger on a problem I'd already noticed: a woman like Teresa couldn't realistically handle the killings and the body disposal all by herself. I'd assumed there would be an accomplice, but I'd been told the story was just going to skate past that. Now they wanted to make that accomplice the male priest standing beside me — Kim Woojin — and have me kill him as the final murder, wrapping every case before I walked in to confess.

"That's not bad at all. The story actually plays a lot cleaner that way. And we don't have to shoot the kill here — we can do it somewhere else. No need to call Woojin in right now. A little extra makeup and we're good. Excellent idea."

People didn't say "crime thriller" and immediately think of Kim Haseong for nothing. Coming up with a twist this interesting on the spot... I almost wondered if he'd done this kind of thing himself.

"Why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are you looking at me like that?"

"No, I just... Senior, you haven't actually committed any crimes, have you? Murder, for example."

"I get why you'd ask. I haven't."

Kim Haseong shook his head, firm. Fair enough. Unless the police were complete idiots, they wouldn't miss a killer wandering around in plain sight. Still, he knew a little too much about crime.

"That's weird, though..."

"You can stare all you want. I haven't committed any crimes. Especially not murder."

"Especially? So other crimes—"

"I do run into the illegal stuff now and then, but— wait, what am I even saying to a kid. Anyway. I think this deeply about it because I love crime thrillers and suspense. That's all."

Ah. That I could accept. If that was his favorite genre, even without formal expertise, years of reading and watching would get you to expert level on their own. I nodded.

"Alright, looks like everyone's had their break. Let's shoot. Jiwoo, just in case, let's touch up your makeup first."

"Yes, sir~"

I'd already been sweating in the brutal August heat. The makeup had started to melt, so I hurried over to the makeup team, got patched up, and stepped back onto the set.

"Alright! Rolling! And... action!!"

Alright then. Time to slip into Teresa Mode.