CHAPTER 005: Our Hero! Our Rising Star!
CHAPTER 005: Our Hero! Our Rising Star!
“Let’s go with Ryu Sunho as the Mate drink commercial model. No objections, right?”
Everyone nodded.
No one could argue with the advertiser’s opinion.
And it wasn’t even like the advertiser was being stubborn.
“I thought he passed the moment he walked in. There was this glow on his face…”
“He really was the exact visual we had in mind. That fresh, youthful image that suits a twenty-year-old.”
“And the outfit he wore was the kicker. Clean, refreshing, pure—he dressed perfectly for it.”
“Other applicants acted like this was some sportswear commercial, I swear…”
“There was one other kid who dressed kind of student-like, but his level of understanding was on another level.”
“And that free acting he showed earlier… I was shocked watching it. Are we sure he’s a rookie? His analysis and expression were better than most established actors.”
Everyone gave Ryu Sunho a near-perfect score.
Everyone except one person.
‘Damn it…’
Jeong Minguk ground his teeth, but he couldn’t oppose the advertiser’s decision.
In the end, he nodded with a face like he’d bitten into a bug.
“I agree as well. Let’s go with Ryu Sunho.”
“Hahaha, excellent. We really are on the same wavelength. That’s why I trust this agency and leave it to you.”
“Then we’ll send the casting results two days from now.”
“Good. I’m very excited.”
Click—
The audition ended.
The moment I returned home and opened the front door, I was greeted by my trashed studio.
Clothes I’d left lying around for days because I hadn’t had time to clean were scattered everywhere.
“Ugh.”
Sighing, I started tidying up, piece by piece.
Laundry, trash, sweeping and mopping.
It wasn’t a jeonse deposit apartment—it was monthly rent.
And even then, it was a semi-basement unit.
There was never enough light through the window, so it was always gloomy, but once it was cleaned up, it became a space that was at least livable.
The 100 million won I’d received from Han Taejun flashed through my mind.
I considered moving somewhere better, but I had something else to use this money for later.
For now, I’d conserve it.
“Whew. I’m exhausted.”
After cleaning, I sat on the sofa and looked around, and a sudden emptiness washed over me.
The empty sofa and the small dining table made the loneliness stand out even more.
My parents’ faces came to mind.
The moment I turned twenty, I’d announced I was going to become an actor and came up to Seoul alone.
My parents had stayed behind in Chungcheong Province, farming in our hometown.
It kept weighing on me—how I hadn’t contacted them often, making excuses because I was young. It lingered like regret.
No matter how easygoing my parents were, they must have missed their son a lot, living alone far away.
Something swelled in my chest.
In this life, I’d make sure to call more often—warmly, frequently.
Just as I was making that vow—
♬♩♪-
It was my father.
“…!”
So they really did miss their son, too.
I hesitated, then picked up my phone.
My throat felt tight. I cleared it a few times and forced my voice steady.
Then I answered as warmly as I could.
“Yes, Dad, I miss—”
-Yeah, son. Skip the greetings. Um… what’s this “broken guy bread” thing? Do you know?
“?”
What is that?
You didn’t call because you missed me?
-Your little sister keeps throwing a fit, saying I have to buy her “broken guy bread” or something, and it’s driving me nuts. What kind of guy is breaking what. (It’s not “broken guy,” it’s “Pokémon”!)
My little sister’s voice came through the receiver.
-That’s what I’m asking! You want me to become the guy who breaks the door or what?!
“Ah… you mean Pokémon bread.”
-Yeah, yeah, that. They’ve got none of it in the countryside, so it’s chaos. They got it in Seoul?
“It’s past the trend now, so there should be plenty. I’ll buy some when I come down next time.”
-Yeah, yeah. Thanks. Get to work! Oh, wait. Your elementary-school sister has something to say too. (Thanks, oppa! And if you can, Team Rocket choco roll!)
This period.
My second year after moving up to Seoul.
I’d carried guilt for a long time, thinking I’d never contacted them even once.
Turns out I was the one being overly sentimental on my own.
Two days later,
The atmosphere shifted the moment I walked into the acting academy.
A few people recognized me now.
“Is that him? That guy up front?”
“Huh? The Brave Citizen Award guy?”
“Whoa, he went to our academy?”
At first, only a few didn’t recognize me, but then they started whispering to each other, checking their phones, going “Ah!” “No way!” while looking back and forth at me.
“He’s seriously handsome…”
“There’s literally light coming off his face…”
“I’ve never seen someone this handsome in my life.”
“He’s way more handsome than most celebrities…”
Compliments poured in from every direction.
I didn’t get shaken.
I was the owner of an S-rank mental, acknowledged by the system.
Words this embarrassing wouldn’t make me even blink—
“That guy’s ears are red.”
“Is he not feeling well? His face is red too.”
“He even has that sickly-pretty vibe…!”
I hurried into the practice room.
My ears were red because I’d exercised this morning.
Not because I reacted to compliments.
Instructor Jo Sangdeuk spotted me and strode over, lifting both arms to the sky.
“Our hero! Our rising star! Korea’s future hope! You’ve arrived!”
“Huh?”
“I heard you rescued a citizen from that car. Why didn’t you tell me! If that’s why you were late, you should’ve said so!”
It probably wouldn’t have sounded believable anyway.
But—
“I didn’t want you to worry.”
I answered with a line distilled from my previous life’s workplace survival.
The instructor seemed pleased. He let out a hearty laugh.
Then the students all filed in and class began.
“Now, in that scene, the protagonist looks calm on the outside, but inside he’s feeling extreme rage. How do you express that? You—answer me!”
The instructor pointed at Jeong Sihu.
Jeong Sihu answered in a proud voice.
“You could show tension by lightly biting your teeth, or slightly furrowing your brow.”
“Oh, what a cliché!”
The instructor sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead.
“That’s like seeing a skeleton and saying, ‘Ah, scary.’ Everyone knows it—mechanical acting!”
Jeong Sihu bit his lip.
This time, the instructor thrust his arm straight toward me.
“Ryu Sunho! Answer with your creative soul!”
Everyone turned to look at me.
Especially Jeong Sihu, staring with sharpened eyes.
Hmm. In my view—
“You said it’s extreme rage, but if you show too much emotion, it loses persuasiveness. Wouldn’t it be stronger to show rage hidden behind a calm expression?”
“Oho! Go on!”
“For example… a voice that trembles slightly, or gripping a teacup too hard while drinking. You hide suppressed emotion inside ordinary actions.”
The instructor suddenly clapped loudly.
The sound startled the students in the front row so hard they practically jumped.
“Meraviglioso! Wonderful!”
He cheered in Italian as he continued.
“That’s exactly it. Emotion doesn’t have to be expressed only through the face. Sometimes the smallest action can convey the greatest emotion!”
He walked slowly around the classroom as he spoke.
“Then the person beside him! What do you think is the most important thing to become a true actor?”
At some point, Yoon Iseul had moved to sit beside me, and she answered loudly.
“Acting skill!”
“Okay. Acting skill matters. But how do you raise that acting skill?”
“Uh… um… steady practice?”
“If you only practice like a maniac, people will just call you a practice bug. If you want to become a person, use your head!”
“…Yeees.”
“Acting isn’t done only with the body. Someone who truly acts well starts with deep analysis of the character. You analyze psychology—‘How would a normal person react here?’ Then you add creativity—‘If I were that person, what would I do?’”
Students nodded and wrote notes.
Without realizing it, a smile spread across my face.
In my previous life, when I made ads, I’d wrestled with similar questions.
Reading people’s hearts and moving them.
That was the core, in the end.
“In that sense, Ryu Sunho—you seem to have analysis and creativity that surpasses anyone else.”
After class, the students were gathering in small groups to do personal practice.
That was when Jeong Sihu strode over.
“Hey, Ryu Sunho.”
For some reason, his voice was packed with anger.
I only looked at him calmly.
“What?”
“Don’t get cocky just because you got internet-famous for a bit. You think that’ll last your whole life?”
“No.”
“People who never knew popularity always get that delusi— Huh?”
Is he stupid.
You think popularity lasts forever just because you got one Brave Citizen Award?
If that were true, every aspiring celebrity would be waiting in the waters off Busan wearing life vests.
These days, attention whips around with every new issue.
This wasn’t even enough to call “blowing up.”
To keep momentum, you need a work that follows.
“Whatever. The Mate commercial audition results come out this afternoon, right?”
Jeong Sihu smiled leisurely.
A few students nearby were watching us.
“The result is obvious anyway, isn’t it? I don’t get why you’re dragging out this false hope. It’s kind of pathetic.”
That was when my phone in my pocket vibrated.
At the same time, Jeong Sihu’s phone rang too.
A text message with the audition result.
“Oh, the result’s here?”
Jeong Sihu grinned as he lifted his phone.
“Aren’t you curious? Who got picked as the Mate commercial model?”
He looked around, enjoying the attention.
The students’ focus converged.
“Should we check together? Right here, in front of everyone.”
“Tch. I don’t really want to see blood.”
I may look like this, but I’m fifteen years older.
I don’t want to be a cruel adult.
No need to play childish games with a kid.
But Jeong Sihu misunderstood what I meant and raised his phone with a face full of confidence.
“Why? Shocked? Well, don’t be too disappointed. There’ll be another chanc— Huh?!”
Jeong Sihu’s eyes trembled, locked on his screen.
His phone read:
[Unfortunately, you were not selected as the model for the Mate drink commercial.]
Meanwhile, on my phone:
[You have been selected as the final model for the Mate drink commercial. The detailed schedule will…]
Jeong Sihu’s face warped in an instant.
It shifted red to blue like a ripening tomato.
“This can’t be… this… how…”
It can. And it is.
I’ve got years of ad experience—how could I not read an advertiser’s expression?
I’d known I was the one the moment I finished my closing greeting and walked out of that audition room.
“Fuck!”
Jeong Sihu shoved his phone into his pocket, seething, and stormed out of the practice room.
The remaining students stared at each other, murmuring.
“Jeong Sihu failed?”
“He was acting super confident earlier… bragging that he was going to shoot a commercial…”
“Then Ryu Sunho got it? Holy shit!”
At that moment, the familiar translucent window appeared in my vision.
【Goal Achieved: Passed the Mate drink commercial audition】
【Reward Granted: Trait Draw x1】
A trait draw? What’s that?
Like a gacha in a mobile game, flashy effects burst across my vision.
It looked like it was trying to prompt me to draw immediately.
‘Do I really need to?’
There are variables like limited-time or one-time traits.
Nothing special is happening right now, so there’s no need to draw immediately.
It’d be better to save it and draw right before filming.
Mate commercial shoot D-1
“Hah… hah…”
I finished my daily workout quota.
Ever since returning, I’d been running for an hour every morning.
My pathetic D-rank stamina—
mental toughness without physical endurance is just empty bravado, so I kept training relentlessly.
And the result?
───────────
【Stats】
Looks: A
Acting: C
Mental: S
Physical: D+
…
..
Remaining Stat Points: 0
───────────
Even without investing stat points, the rank went up by one.
Seems low-tier ranks can be covered through effort.
But acting skill didn’t rise easily.
I practiced for hours every day, but it stayed in place.
Instructor Jo Sangdeuk was “B+,”
and Jeong Sihu—who had filmed commercials in my previous life—was B-.
Could I really finish filming with C-rank acting?
I needed a variable.
‘Then.’
I checked the trait draw.
It was practically urging me to click already.
【If you do not use it within the time limit, the draw ticket will disappear】
【Time Remaining: 1 day】
With a warning that intense, there was no ignoring it.
‘Filming is tomorrow, so I’ll use it.’
Without hesitation, I used the trait draw.
Clunk!
A riot of colors filled my vision, and a roulette spun rapidly.
Pop!
【Trait Acquired! Runner’s High (C-rank)】
【A transcendent state beyond ordinary runner’s high, allowing you to approach perfect harmony between body and mind】
【Effect: While running, all senses are maximized, and you can perfectly control even the finest movements of your body】
“…Runner’s high?”