Chapter 183: Reputation
Chapter 183: Reputation
Evan Harris rubbed his arm.
The goosebumps on his skin refused to settle.
He stared blankly at Ryu Sunho.
What had I just seen?
Clearly, all that sat before him was one neat-looking young Asian man.
And yet, while reading that script just now, the afterimages of three different people had flashed past.
A cold-blooded killer, an elegant strategist, and a weighty monarch.
He had not even performed any real action.
He had merely sat there and read a script.
How could someone leave behind such an illusion just by doing that?
It did not feel like simple voice modulation at all.
It was as if the very structure of his vocal cords had been dismantled and rebuilt. Every time the personality changed, the resonance itself changed with it.
And on top of that...
Even more astonishing was his sense of rhythm.
Normally, when the background music was strong, actors either forced their voices too hard, making the tone jump, or missed the beat and floundered.
Exactly like Townsend.
But Ryu Sunho was different.
Instead, he drove his lines into the gaps in the music and unleashed emotion in accordance with the rises and falls of the melody.
...It’s been a while since something this stimulating came along.
It only reinforced his conviction that choosing this film had been the right decision.
While Evan Harris burned with competitive spirit, Townsend was dripping cold sweat as if he had been caught in the rain.
Damn it... I have to say something.
Instinctively, he knew.
He had been the dissonance in that scene.
At the very moment he licked his lips, scrambling to find an excuse—
Bang!
Quentin slammed his fist down on the table.
The impact was strong enough to rattle the coffee cups and topple a water bottle.
The startled people jerked their shoulders.
“How can the god of acting and a cockroach coexist in the same frame?!”
Quentin’s vicious gaze stabbed into Townsend.
Townsend flinched for an instant, but quickly gathered himself and applauded toward Ryu Sunho.
“Wow! Ryu, that was really amazing. I got a little shaken because you were so immersed. To think you’d work this hard even in a reading. I can’t let my guard down.”
He tried to smooth it over with glib charm, like a snake slipping through the grass.
But Quentin turned dead serious.
“Townsend.”
“Haha, I’m sorry, Director. For putting on such cockroach-like acting. Today’s the worst day of my acting career. My God.”
“Quit grinning and answer only what I ask. When Brandon first faced Alex Han, what was the very first emotion he felt?”
The sudden question caught Townsend off guard.
His eyes darted.
“Well... obviously fear. A guy he thought would never come back suddenly showed up.”
“Wrong. Fear comes later. The first emotion should have been superiority. Brandon is a director of the association, while Alex Han was just some brat who happened to be a chess player.”
Quentin’s eyes blazed brightly.
“There has to be arrogance underneath it. What could someone like you possibly do? That’s the foundation. But you came in with your tail tucked from the very beginning, like a frightened puppy. It was a goddamn awful start.”
“No, that’s—”
“I’ll ask one more thing. When Alex brings up money, why does Brandon feel relieved?”
“That’s... because he thought it could be solved with money.”
“I’m asking where that relief comes from, you idiot!”
Bang!
Quentin slammed his fist onto the table again.
“You little shit, did you even analyze the character? Did you stuff the script I gave you in your house as decoration?”
A public execution in front of fellow actors and staff.
Townsend was clearly humiliated, but even so, he tried to maintain an air of ease.
“As if that could be. If Director Quentin’s script were to be displayed, it would have to be somewhere like the Metropolitan Museum. Certainly not in some mere house—”
“So this moronic bastard didn’t practice my script. He practiced stand-up comedy.”
Smack!
Quentin hurled the script at Townsend.
“I don’t need a stand-up comedian. I need an actor. Stop ruining my film and get the hell out right now!”
It was a somewhat violent act.
Even so, not a single person stepped forward for Townsend.
Because they had clearly witnessed what Townsend had done to Ryu Sunho at the meal.
No one agreed with his racist words and actions.
Or rather, even if someone did agree somewhere in the back of their mind, after witnessing the overwhelming acting Ryu Sunho had just shown, they now understood whose hands this film truly rested in, and no one dared take Townsend’s side.
In the end, Townsend was thrown out.
And all anyone did was watch his exit with cold eyes.
“Director, are you really planning to cancel Townsend’s casting?”
“Do I look like I’m joking? I have no intention of working with an idiot like that.”
“Townsend says he’s reflecting deeply on it. I heard he even called to apologize to you. He has the basic skill set, so once he gets onto the actual set, he might show a different side of himself—”
“Reflecting? Reflecting on what?”
“On showing you such poor acting, of course, Director.”
“And what about him acting up toward Ryu Sunho?”
“Excuse me? What do you mean by that...?”
The casting director looked bewildered.
Quentin clicked his tongue.
“I knew it. Stupid bastard. Did he think I didn’t hear it?”
“......?”
“I heard all of it. Every racist thing he said to Ryu Sunho outside that day.”
“......!”
“He must have thought I was too distracted grilling barbecue to notice, but my ears were open. Even so, I was willing to let it pass once if his acting was good. But then his acting turned out to be a complete mess too? That I can’t forgive.”
Quentin drove the point home firmly.
“Our key man is Ryu Sunho. Anyone who makes the key man uncomfortable is completely useless. Even if that kind of bastard reflects on himself a hundred times and gets his act together, one comfortable performance from Ryu Sunho matters far more. So replace that son of a bitch right now. I’ll pay the penalty fee.”
Faced with Quentin’s firm stance, the casting director finally nodded and withdrew.
After that, word came out that Townsend had been dropped from Check Mate.
And news that he had been replaced by another actor spread quickly through Hollywood.
“What? Townsend got fired?”
“What happened at the script reading?”
“I heard Quentin fired him personally.”
People who could not suppress their curiosity quietly asked those who had been at the workshop.
Actors, staff, managers, and so on.
And the stories that came out of their mouths were all the same.
“He deserved to get fired. His acting was bad, and his character was rotten too.”
“He got punished after making racist remarks to the lead actor.”
“But even more incredible than that was...”
Alongside Townsend’s disgrace, they went on and on in amazement about the overwhelming acting Ryu Sunho had shown at the script reading.
“I’m telling you, Director Quentin, who’s famous for being impossibly picky, called Townsend a cockroach and praised Ryu Sunho as the god of acting?!”
It was not just one or two people saying it.
Everyone who had been there was praising Ryu Sunho with one voice, and that only made the interest grow.
“...Really? Quentin actually used the phrase god of acting?”
“That’s what I’m saying. They say that Asian actor is the real deal. I heard even Evan Harris acknowledged it.”
“They say he switches out his voice like changing clothes. Everyone got goosebumps and lost their minds.”
“What was his name again? Ryu?”
That story gradually spread into the broadcasting industry as well.
Eventually, it even made its way to WAX Channel.
The executive producer of Mystery Singer smiled faintly.
This... is turning out pretty well.
A practice room enclosed by soundproof walls.
A high note sharp enough to tear through the air exploded out.
“...Wow.”
The vocal trainer with a hippie perm stood there blankly, unable to close his mouth.
“Mr. Sunho, be honest with me. Did you go into the mountains and attain vocal enlightenment or something?”
I had gone to the Grand Canyon while I was in America.
But I had not done anything crazy like screaming there.
“No, seriously, this makes no sense. You’ve improved like crazy. You were already good before, but compared to when we first started, your volume is completely different. The way your breath flows is perfect. Your technique improved too.”
The trainer kept exclaiming in admiration and raised a thumbs-up.
I took a sip of water and smiled.
Good. The reaction’s positive.
Because the song I was practicing now was the one I would sing on Mystery Singer.
Since security there was maintained far more strictly than in Korea, even the trainer did not know the specific schedule.
He would probably faint from shock once he found out later.
That aside.
The trainer’s ear really was good.
【Stats】
【Singing: A-】
The Singing stat had naturally risen one level from B+ to A-.
It seemed there had been synergy thanks to S-rank Physical Acting and Dialogue Delivery, which had dramatically improved my ability to control my breathing and vocalization.
Of course, I had also practiced like a madman until my throat tasted like blood.
“Let’s rest for about thirty minutes, then do it again.”
Leaving behind a warning not to overdo it, the vocal trainer stepped outside.
While I was resting and checking SNS, something suddenly sparkled before my eyes.
More precisely, one part of the status window did.
...What is this?
A flashing light was pointing at the [Value Shop] icon.
At that moment—
Ding!
【Congratulations! You have reached a Reputation Value of 5 billion won!】
【All functions of the Value Shop are now unlocked.】
A notification popped up saying my Reputation Value had reached 5 billion won.
When I had checked right after the contract renewal, I think it had been around 4.5 billion.
Why had it suddenly gone up this much?
All I had done since then was the script reading.
Did word about that already spread?
Had my reputation gone up among Hollywood insiders?
If so, there was nothing bad about that.
【Coins Held: 50 C】
Just as I had guessed before, a Reputation Value of 5 billion won had been converted into 50 coins.
At the same time, new items appeared in the Value Shop.
[Item List]
[Red Elixir of Emotion] - 20C
[Blue Potion of the Mermaid] - 30C
[Golden Ampoule of Horus] - 30C
...What is this?
The screen merely displayed images of colorful potion bottles.
The names were not intuitive, and there was no concrete explanation of the effects.
Even when I pressed on the items, only an unfriendly message appeared.
[The effect will manifest upon purchase.]
...They’re terrible at sales.
With no information, what exactly was I supposed to base a purchase on?
And it was not as though I had many coins.
For now, I’ll hold off on buying anything.
Just as I was thinking that and about to close the shop, a pop-up window suddenly appeared.
【Special offer for new customers!】
【A sample item will be provided free of charge】
There was another potion bottle image, just like before.
But this time, the price tag was different.
[Green Potion of Allure] - 0C
This... was a textbook experience-marketing tactic.
It was the kind of marketing strategy most often used by startups where securing early customers was crucial.
The familiar “first month free” and “sample provided” both fell under experience marketing.
Usually, it was used for experience goods whose performance could only be understood after direct use.
And—
When companies usually recommend a product, they use algorithms to present the item the user most needs right now.
Because the key to securing consumers was how unforgettable an experience you could leave after a single use.
If that was the case, then this sample currently being offered in the Value Shop was highly likely to be something useful to me.
When I accepted it and checked, it was exactly as expected.
【You use the Green Potion of Allure.】
【Effect: [Siren’s Voice] activated】
【Your ‘Singing’ stat temporarily increases by +2 levels. (Duration: 30 days)】
“......!”
It would raise my singing ability by two full levels for an entire month...!
My current Singing stat was A-, so that meant if I used this, it would become A+.
A level beyond merely matching singers, something that could crush even most professional singers.
The item effect applied immediately.
The inside of my throat turned cool, and my vocal cords felt as though they had tightened into something dense and elastic.
As a test, I hummed lightly.
—♬♩♪
The sound stretched upward in head voice.
The resonance was no joke.
At this level...
Bang!
Just then, the vocal trainer pushed the door open and came back in.
“What was that sound just now? Did you make that, Mr. Sunho?”
The trainer stared at me with an expression of disbelief.
...I could even change the song selection.
To something more impactful.
Something more destructive.
I immediately pulled out my phone and searched for a new song.
The WAX Channel Mystery Singer filming set.
Brilliant lights and the roar of the audience filled the studio.
As expected of a popular program on a major American channel, the scale itself was on another level.
In the panel seats sat a row of people whose faces alone were enough to make your jaw drop.
Each and every one of them was a global heavyweight star.
And right now, those people were staring at the stage with their jaws practically hanging open.
Not a reaction for the cameras, but genuine amazement and shock.
“...Is this even possible?”
“...Can someone really sing this alone?”
“...Who the hell is that Flower Deer?”