Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: The Survival Drama
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Yumi Yeon's sudden question drew the quickest reaction from none other than Sung Junil.
He shot up from his seat and shook his head.
"Ugh, Senior! Even so, scouting someone right here is a bit much, don't you think?"
"...I, is it?"
"But, Seonwoo-ssi."
Sung Junil turned to Seonwoo.
And flashed a sly grin.
"So, do you have an agency?"
"Uh, no."
"Then how about joining ours?"
"Th, that..."
"...Junil-ssi. Sit down."
In the end, the untimely agency fiasco wrapped up just like that.
And after the evaluations concluded, the score Seonwoo received was...
"9 points."
Yeah. 9 points.
Seonwoo clenched his fist tight.
In a way, it felt even more meaningful than the 10 points he'd gotten for the mute role last time. The mute score had acknowledged the unique interpretation itself, but this one seemed like a pure evaluation of his acting skill alone.
And for Kwon Sori...
"Kwon Sori-ssi gets 8 points."
"...Th, thank you!"
She'd pulled off a solid 8.
For Kwon Sori, it was a new personal best. Her highest score up to now had only been 7.
Kwon Sori turned to Seonwoo with a dazed look on her face.
Truth be told, up until Seonwoo had offered feedback, she'd been half-doubting.
Being good at acting yourself and being good at teaching acting were two different things, after all.
"Oppa."
"...Yeah?"
"Thank you."
Once they stepped off the stage, Kwon Sori expressed her gratitude with a face full of sincerity.
But Seonwoo just shrugged it off nonchalantly.
"No big deal. You worked hard too, Sori-ssi."
He had no intention of taking credit for helping her.
It hadn't been for her sake to begin with.
And above all, Seonwoo was finding it hard to focus on Kwon Sori right now.
"Kim Yechun-ssi, Seo Sin-young-ssi. Please come up to the stage."
Because Yechun was just then climbing onto the stage.
Seeing Yechun's resolute expression, Seonwoo's gaze sharpened.
'...Wonder what performance he's prepared.'
—This time, I'm doing the correct answer.
Yechun's words, spoken with sparkling eyes, came back to him.
Just what was the "correct answer" Yechun had in mind?
The answer came soon enough.
"No... please hold on... the ambulance is coming soon. So, okay? Look at me, just... hold on a little... just a little longer...!"
🎵 Whistle 🎵 [Drama once aired on network TV] [A tale of a serial killer signaled by whistling] It was a drama that had once aired on network TV—a story about a serial killer who struck with a whistle as his signature.
And what Yechun was performing now was the role of the childhood friend who saved the heroine from that serial killer, only to get stabbed in her place and collapse.
The key point here... was that this childhood friend, with her lung punctured by the knife, couldn't utter a single line as she lay dying.
Just feeble gasps of air escaping powerlessly, her gaze fixed ahead.
That was all Yechun had to act out.
It was a tough performance.
He had to convey every emotion surging through him in that moment using only his eyes, his expressions, and irregular breathing.
For a competition like this... it was a role with far more drawbacks than strengths.
But Seonwoo thought he understood why Yechun had chosen this script.
In the last mission, Yechun hadn't properly captured the mute's "silence."
He probably wanted to wash away that regret by nailing "silence" this time.
'...You're no normal guy either.'
Seonwoo smiled wryly.
He could've just let the past shortcomings fade into the background.
But Yechun had deliberately picked a similar silent role to confront it head-on.
To be true to himself?
Because he couldn't move past it otherwise?
Probably something like that.
Seonwoo let out a chuckle.
So stubbornly principled, so stubborn, so inflexible.
But why?
"...Ugh———."
"St, stop it! Don't speak! Just stay still, please listen to me just this once...!"
Why did this foolish determination shine so brightly?
Seonwoo's eyes fixed on the colors Yechun's acting painted. Petals blooming and withering in cycles, evoking his pure youthful affection and hinting at his impending end.
How much effort must Yechun have poured in to draw such imagery without a single word?
And now, as he finally unveiled that painting, how exhilarating must it feel?
'Cool.'
His chest tightened unexpectedly.
He could gauge it. How much Yechun must have berated himself for knowing the right answer in the last mission but failing to execute it. How earnestly he'd thrown himself into this one.
But at the same time, he worried.
No lines meant it was that much harder to rack up points.
Sure, Seonwoo had gotten 10 with the mute, but that was an exceptional case.
Expecting the same here was unrealistic.
But when he saw the judges' faces after Yechun's performance ended... Seonwoo felt a flicker of hope.
Honey seemed to drip from the way they looked at him.
That proud, beaming gaze they didn't know what to do with.
It was the same look they often gave Seonwoo.
"Yechun-ssi, I didn't peg you for such a stubborn guy."
Yumi Yeon was the one who spoke up.
She gazed at him with a playful smile tugging at her lips.
"Did that last flub hurt that bad?"
"...It felt embarrassing, somehow."
And Yechun answered honestly.
His head hung awkwardly, fidgeting shyly.
But why? That bashfulness only made him look cooler.
"Actually, back then, Seonwoo hyung told me how to do the mute right. But... even knowing it, I couldn't follow through."
"Because of the score?"
"Yeah. I didn't think I'd score well with acting like that."
"And now you did?"
"...Truth is, I'm still not confident."
Yechun bowed his head.
Like he was confessing his deepest shame, his ears flushed red as he stammered on.
"But I had to do it anyway. I've got a long life ahead... and I want to face every moment of it with my head held high."
And right now, Yechun held his head high.
As if that was enough, he finally met the judges' eyes with firm resolve.
"Thank you for everything."
He said it like a farewell.
There was a reason. Once this mission ended, everyone outside the top 10 scorers would be eliminated.
Just last mission... Yechun's team had only scraped 3 points.
Even a perfect 10 here wouldn't save him realistically.
And to such a Yechun,
"Yechun-ssi's score is 7 points."
The judges delivered a brutally realistic number.
But Yechun didn't mind. From the moment he'd chosen a silent role, points hadn't been his goal.
Sure, Seonwoo had nabbed 10 with a mute, but that was Seonwoo.
'It just means I'm still not there yet.'
As that thought crossed his mind,
"But... please don't think this score defines you as an actor."
Lee Mu-beom spoke up.
He peered into Yechun with calm eyes, as if seeing right through him.
"As a senior who's walked this path before, and as a fellow actor, the score I'd give you today... is a hundred out of ten."
"......"
"Good work, Yechun-ssi."
That Yechun shed tears right then... best not to mention it, for his sake. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ "Alright, now we'll settle the scores." All the performances had wrapped up.
And without a moment to breathe, the judges plunged straight into the next phase.
The TOP 10 selection.
Truth be told, there wasn't much tension left. Most people had kept track of each other's scores. They'd already calculated where they stood—survival or elimination.
So,
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ "Now, announcing the TOP 10!" When the names appeared on screen, people just let out sighs—no real surprises.
Seonwoo's gaze darkened.
The list of qualifiers was as follows:
🏆 TOP 10 FINALISTS 🏆 Kim Seonwoo
Jeong Hyeseong
Na Minhee
Lee Yeonwoo
Song Jaewon
Bang Hyungbin
Seo Jinwook
Park Munhyeon
Yoo Jieun
Justin Oh
Yeah.
Yechun's name wasn't there.
Out of worry, Seonwoo instinctively glanced beside him.
Yechun was forcing a calm expression, clapping along.
'...His heart can't be at ease.'
But before he could figure out how to console him without being awkward, Sung Junil spoke up without giving time to process.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ "Congratulations to everyone in the TOP 10." "To those who didn't make it... thank you for all your hard work." "I'd love to throw a farewell party, but we don't have time for that." "Next up: announcing the next mission." "Or rather, how our TOP 10 will compete from here on out." A barrage of announcements in quick succession.
But the nuance felt off.
Like the competition ahead would be entirely different from what they'd done so far.
And soon, everyone understood why.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ "As we mentioned before, all TOP 10 participants will get a chance to appear in a drama." "But we never specified what drama or how." "You probably thought it'd be some post-broadcast slot drama?" "Wrong." "The TOP 10 missions themselves will be the drama shoot." "......Huh?"
"We're shooting a drama?"
"N, no way. Right now? Already?"
It was utterly unexpected.
The contestants couldn't help but stir.
Even Seonwoo was no exception. He stared blankly at Sung Junil's mouth.
A drama shoot?
Right now? This suddenly?
It didn't feel real.
He'd vaguely dreamed of the day he'd appear in a drama, imagining how happy it'd be... but never this soon.
Still, plenty didn't add up.
He had no clue how the shoot would work exactly, but could it really happen this abruptly? And with eliminations along the way, did dropouts just get written off the drama?
Hard to picture how it'd play out.
And as if reading Seonwoo's mind, Sung Junil flashed a wicked grin.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ "I know what you're all thinking." "How will we tie an audition show to a drama shoot? No clue, right?" "To help you understand, first up: the genre of the drama you'll be shooting." 'Survival.' Survival.
As question marks filled everyone's eyes at the unfamiliar theme, Sung Junil continued with even more excitement in his voice.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ "From now on, you'll act as contestants in a game where you kill each other until only one survives." "Each episode, our judges will evaluate you, and at the end, that decides who 'dies'." "Think of it simply: You'll become real actors now. The better you perform compared to others, the longer you survive." "Fall behind in acting... and you'll get the role of the one who dies—and drops out of the game." "Which means elimination from the show too, of course." "Just keep doing what you've been doing." "Act!" Sung Junil grinned.
💥 BOMBSHELL ⚠️ "And survive."
A bombshell had dropped.