Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Genius
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Genius.
The ones most shocked to hear that word weren't Seonwoo or anyone else... it was Seong Junil and Yumi Yeon.
Anyone who knew Lee Mubeom well couldn't help but be stunned right now.
He wasn't the type to throw around the word "genius" lightly when it came to acting.
On the contrary, he'd always say that talent didn't matter—just keep grinding away steadily.
Yet here was Lee Mubeom, calling someone a genius.
And to a total rookie junior who had only just started acting, no less.
"It's the first time I've ever heard Teacher call someone a genius..."
Seong Junil turned to Lee Mubeom with a look of astonishment.
It wasn't that he couldn't understand.
Seonwoo's growth speed was undeniably incomparable to anyone he'd ever seen.
Was that what left such a huge impression on Lee Mubeom?
"Ah, no, it's not like that. Everyone just helped me out a lot..."
Seonwoo shook his head, looking embarrassed.
It was excessive praise. He'd simply had great mentors and benefited from the unrealistic aid of his color orbs.
But watching Seonwoo like that only made Lee Mubeom smile even more warmly.
This kid had talent so extraordinary he could afford to get arrogant, yet here he was, still clinging to humility.
Wasn't that just precious?
"When we first met, Kim Seonwoo-ssi, you were doing acting dragged around by your emotions. You knew that yourself, right?"
"Yes. I knew."
"Then last time, you'd learned to restrain those emotions, and just a few days later today... you've even mastered controlling your pacing."
The other judges nodded at his words.
They'd felt it too.
Seonwoo was fast.
Insanely, unbelievably fast.
His growth was visible day by day.
"Seonwoo-ssi, what are emotions to you?"
And Lee Mubeom thought he knew the reason.
Seonwoo's very perspective on feeling and understanding emotions was special.
It took others years just to grasp what emotions were, but Seonwoo showed comprehension and acquisition speeds dozens of times faster when it came to them.
"...I think of emotions as colors."
And in a way, Lee Mubeom's guess was spot on.
The color orbs allowed Seonwoo to view emotions from a perspective utterly different from anyone else.
Who else could experience someone else's heart as if it were their own, and see it as colors?
"Could you explain that a bit more in detail?"
"Without emotions, the world would just be black and white. I think human emotions and hearts are what paint color into this world."
As he explained, Seonwoo inwardly scolded himself. It felt too scattered.
He didn't realize it himself. How much his eyes sparkled as he spoke.
Just looking at those eyes made you understand the person he was.
Ah, I see.
So that's why this guy acts—to capture those colors...
That was why Lee Mubeom's smile deepened.
"I want to keep watching. To see what colors Kim Seonwoo-ssi brings next."
The judging wrapped up like that.
With near-universal rave reviews for every team member.
And the scores... were as follows.
⚔ SCORES ⚔ Minhee, Yeonwoo, Seonwoo: All 8 points It might seem a bit stingy for someone who'd been called a genius.
But that "genius" label wasn't about his current skill level. It was about the trajectory of his growth.
Seonwoo was satisfied.
Tying with Minhee and Yeonwoo was encouraging enough, and 8 points was the highest score so far anyway.
No reason not to be pleased.
And in that moment, one other person was extremely satisfied too.
"Our teacher just handed us another goldmine clip."
It was Im Youngdo, monitoring the whole thing.
Lee Mubeom probably hadn't calculated it for TV drama.
He'd just been genuinely moved by Seonwoo and praised him accordingly.
But that was exactly the kind of scene Im Youngdo wanted most.
The emergence of overwhelming talent acknowledged even by a giant like Lee Mubeom.
He hadn't expected it to be Seonwoo, but... it wasn't surprising.
Seonwoo had stood out from the start, always showing something extraordinary.
Im Youngdo had planned to push him anyway, but for Lee Mubeom to lay out the red carpet like this?
"Dongsoo-ya."
"Yes, PD-nim."
"Can we re-edit our teaser video?"
"...The teaser? It's already fully finalized."
"I know. But what can we do."
Im Youngdo grinned, baring his teeth.
"We can't hold this back, can we?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ His ears were burning.
Having heard so much embarrassing praise, it was hard to even meet people's eyes.
Seonwoo sighed inwardly.
"...Feels like I've gotten a lifetime's worth of compliments since I started acting."
In a way, it meant he was doing that well.
But Seonwoo wasn't entirely thrilled.
"I'm not the genius they think I am."
He couldn't afford to get cocky over talent that wasn't truly his.
Still, he couldn't ask them to take back their expectations now. He'd just have to work harder to live up to them.
The pressure weighed on his shoulders.
Fortunately, the attention on him didn't linger long.
A new team quickly took the stage.
Jaewon's team. A duo.
Seonwoo's eyes sparkled with anticipation.
No one else mattered—Jaewon's stage was always worth watching. He knew what kind of actor Jaewon was.
Maybe he'd finally snag a 9... no, even a 10?
But,
"Honestly, today's performance was disappointing. Your chemistry on stage felt completely off."
As the judges' feedback made clear, it was a stage lacking polish.
Even Seonwoo and the troupe members watched in confusion.
The problem? Jaewon's partner.
Skill deficiency. But it wasn't just skill. In Seonwoo's eyes, their colors never properly bloomed—not once.
Meaning their motivation for acting was already crushed.
...Why?
He had no idea. All Seonwoo knew was that Jaewon's team had delivered a disastrously half-baked performance.
Even Jaewon couldn't fully bloom his colors because of it.
What could he do? With a partner phoning it in, even Jaewon was powerless.
"Song Jaewon-ssi... 7 points."
For Jaewon's caliber, it was definitely underwhelming.
But bad luck wasn't just Jaewon's problem.
Sion was in trouble too.
"I-I-I also said it th-that way..."
After days of visible tension... Sion finally delivered a performance clearly inferior to his last one.
"Kim Sion-ssi gets 5 points."
And ended up with a brutal 5.
Seonwoo's heart sank.
He hadn't had the bandwidth, but maybe he should've checked on Sion more?
Not that his help would've sparked some dramatic turnaround, but still...
"S-Sorry. I'm so sorry..."
Watching Sion sob on stage was heartbreaking.
At least, among Seonwoo's acquaintances, Sion was the last to get harsh critiques.
Yechun earned applause from the judges for 7 points, and Hyeseong...
"That's the feeling I get."
Lee Mubeom said it.
"Purely on technical terms, Hyeseong-ssi is the most complete actor here."
"Jung Hyeseong-ssi gets 9 points."
The first 9 ever.
The praise was impressive, but Hyeseong's reaction after was even more so.
That sly Hyeseong... choking up with tears in his eyes.
Seonwoo softened his gaze.
"...Senior Hyeseong must've been through a lot mentally."
Hyeseong was Cheongsong Troupe's eldest brother.
Which meant he'd waited longer than anyone for his moment in the light. And Lee Mubeom's words were that very ray he'd craved.
Seonwoo hoped from the bottom of his heart.
May the light shining on Hyeseong now never fade.
May no one snatch it away from him.
He wished that blessing for everyone here, but that was probably impossible.
📢 ANNOUNCEMENT 📢 "We will now announce the ranking results." And Seong Junil, as always, brought them back to reality.
To summarize the results:
In Hee: Seo Jinwook took 1st, Hyeongbin 3rd.
In Ae: Yechun 2nd.
In Rak: Naturally, Hyeseong 1st.
And for them, in No...
📢 RANKINGS 📢 "No team's results." "3rd: Kim Seonwoo. 2nd: Lee Yeonwoo. 1st: Na Minhee." They swept the top ranks.
3rd. With bonus points on top of the original 8, that made 9.
Not bad at all for now.
But that wasn't all they had to worry about.
📢 ELIMINATIONS 📢 "Next, we will announce the eliminations." Elimination announcement.
Only one real worry right now: Sion. With just 5 points.
Would he get cut like this...?
📢 CUTLINE 📢 "Today's elimination criterion: Anyone under 5 points." Sion barely scraped by on the cutoff.
But they couldn't just celebrate.
Even now, contestants were leaving the studio in tears.
Nineteen eliminations.
From 54 down to 35 in an instant.
Watching their backs as they left, Seonwoo thought:
Even if the day came when he too had to leave like them... he hoped there'd be no regrets in that moment.
He wanted to give his all, show only his best.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Still, glad we all survived."
Break room.
Jaewon gave a wry smile as he looked around at the gathered troupe members after the mission.
Minhee frowned at him.
"Yeah, but... oppa, what happened? Why was your partner like that? Beyond sucking, it felt like zero motivation."
Everyone was wondering the same.
But Jaewon waved it off like it was nothing.
"No point rehashing bad stuff. It's in the past."
"Still... she didn't get eliminated, right? Gotta see her face again."
"It's fine. I'll just focus on my part. No need to worry about others. Anyway, none of us got cut? That's what matters."
Was this big-heartedness?
Seonwoo was curious too, but he didn't pry. No point forcing it if Jaewon didn't want to talk.
Jaewon flashed Seonwoo a grin, as if to say relax.
"But you killed it, Seonwoo."
"...Thanks, sunbae."
"No, but seriously, hyung was insanely good!"
Yechun nodded vigorously.
"First time seeing Teacher Lee Mubeom praise someone that much. He's usually 90% criticism."
"Our Seonwoo—genius label's permanent now."
Hyeseong smirked.
Seonwoo sighed, looking troubled.
"That's why I'm dying here. Feels like viewers might hate on me later."
"Nah."
Hyeseong shrugged leisurely.
With playful yet confident eyes fixed on Seonwoo.
"People will see it too. How insanely good your acting's getting."
"......"
Nice words.
But no real comfort. Seonwoo still had to maintain that upward trajectory.
One slip, and it'd be "What genius?"
But that was his burden to bear...
Seonwoo quirked up the corner of his mouth.
"But sunbae."
"Yeah?"
"You weren't crying earlier, were you?"
"......"
Hyeseong was speechless at Seonwoo's counterattack.
As his eyes darted helplessly, Minhee's lit up like she'd spotted prey.
"Right! Oppa was bawling his eyes out."
"Watch your words! I wasn't bawling!"
"So you admit you cried?"
"That's...!"
Hyeseong bolted up and fled.
The troupe members burst into teasing laughter.
Seonwoo chuckled softly, watching them.
Then, Yeonwoo, who'd stayed quietly by his side, spoke up.
"Looks nice."
"...Yeah?"
"Yes. You can tell you all genuinely care for each other. Kinda envy it."
Seonwoo looked at Yeonwoo silently.
Even now, sky-blue energy swirled around him. Nothing new. Yeonwoo never stopped acting.
But at this point, it was weird.
If it was to hide malice, everything he'd done while acting had only helped Seonwoo.
Seemed like it'd just tire him out more.
He could ignore it.
Just keep his distance, accept that's how he was.
But Yeonwoo had helped him too much this time. Drawing lines felt wrong now.
Seonwoo hesitated briefly.
Then decided.
"Yeonwoo-ssi. Mind if I ask something?"
"Hm? Of course. What's on your mind?"
It might not be polite.
But pretending not to notice felt ruder.
If either choice was impolite,
"Why do you act?"
Why hold back?