Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Script Reading Suspicion
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The script they had received this time covered the story up to the middle of episode 3.
The players, upon seeing Justin dead, began to eye each other with suspicion.
Because it was certain that one among them had killed Justin.
The first to draw suspicion was Seo Jinwook.
His manner of speech and his very appearance radiated a criminal vibe.
Even during the vote, it had been Seo Jinwook who had first suggested picking Justin. He was the prime suspect, no question.
Was that why?
Lee Yeonwoo: Y-you're the one, right?
Seo Jinwook: …What? (frowning) What bullshit is this?
Lee Yeonwoo: You've been pushing for it all along. Vote him out. When things didn't go your way, you went and killed him. Right?
Lee Yeonwoo pressed Seo Jinwook relentlessly, as if he'd been waiting for this moment.
Seo Jinwook reacted with predictable ferocity.
Seo Jinwook: Cut the crap, you fuck… Why the hell would I bother doing that? You all were obviously gonna vote out that junkie bastard anyway.
Lee Yeonwoo: Maybe you got cold feet.
Seo Jinwook: But this fucking…!
Seo Jinwook slapped Lee Yeonwoo across the cheek.
That was the moment.
As Lee Yeonwoo's disheveled hair fell across his face from the blow, a faint smile flickered through it. Seo Jinwook froze, struck by an eerie chill at the sight. Song Jaewon stepped in front of him.
Song Jaewon: Sit down.
Seo Jinwook: …And who the hell are you to—?
Song Jaewon: Won't say it twice.
Seo Jinwook: This prick's been talking all high and mighty since last time…
Song Jaewon made good on his word.
Before Seo Jinwook could finish, Song Jaewon's fist sent him crumpling to the floor.
With Seo Jinwook knocked out cold and bound just like Justin had been, the group inevitably plunged into a state of extreme tension.
Na Minhee: What… what do we do about him?
Bang Hyeongbin: …What do you mean?
Na Minhee: You heard him. Better to kill someone else than get voted out and die. If we leave him like this, who knows what that guy's capable of.
Bang Hyeongbin: (laughing weakly) You're saying… we vote for him?
Na Minhee: Well…
Na Minhee trailed off, unable to respond.
Outside, she had been prepared to make a public confession about a medical accident at the hospital. A woman who valued life so deeply could never suggest killing someone.
That was when Song Jaewon stepped up.
Song Jaewon: Don't worry about that guy. If he tries anything funny, I'll beat him half to death myself.
Jeong Hyesung: You seemed pretty good in a fight earlier…
Song Jaewon: Did some boxing.
A reassuring figure.
But even he wasn't entirely reliable, just like the rest.
Jeong Hyesung: Um, so… we should vote for him today, right?
Na Minhee: That's…
Jeong Hyesung: (trembling anxiously) We h-have to vote! If we don't, we all get eliminated. You heard that scream! We have to survive somehow!
No one could argue with Jeong Hyesung.
He was right. They had to vote eventually. If not, they'd have to kill someone outright… Compared to that, voting felt like the lesser evil.
Jeong Hyesung ended up taking the lead.
Jeong Hyesung: L-let's go with him. Yeah? Even if we leave him be, we don't know what he'll do!
Irony of ironies.
Jeong Hyesung was the most ordinary, everyday character among them. Precisely because of that, he reacted the quickest to the looming crisis.
Vote.
Kill one person.
Jeong Hyesung: We… we have to survive first!
A line that perfectly captured who he was.
Kim Seonwoo watched the chaos unfold from a step removed, observing everyone quietly.
Then Lee Yeonwoo approached him.
Lee Yeonwoo: (sitting beside Seonwoo) You okay?
Kim Seonwoo: Ah… Yeah. Actually, that's what I should be asking you. Your cheek's pretty swollen.
Lee Yeonwoo: Eh, it's fine. In this situation, a swollen cheek is the least of it. You seemed out of it all morning, Seonwoo. (gazing at him with concern) You were close… with Park Munhyeon, weren't you?
Kim Seonwoo: (smiling bitterly) Close? We just… talked a bit.
Lee Yeonwoo: In this day and age, sharing your heart like that counts as close. Even friends don't do it often. (slowly scanning Seonwoo up and down) …But it's strange.
Kim Seonwoo: (puzzled) What's strange?
Lee Yeonwoo: For someone going through something tough, your face looks… surprisingly good.
Kim Seonwoo: My face…?
Lee Yeonwoo: Yeah. Just looking at you, it's like you slept like a baby. Oh, is that rude?
An odd line.
As if Kim Seonwoo were enjoying the situation, rather than suffering it.
Kim Seonwoo's response was just as intriguing.
Kim Seonwoo: You're one of a kind.
Lee Yeonwoo: (smiling brightly, meeting Seonwoo's eyes) Me?
Kim Seonwoo: Yeah. Keeping your strength even now… Everyone's pretending otherwise, but they're all on guard. Aren't you scared of me? You never know. I could be the killer.
Lee Yeonwoo: …Hmm, somehow I doubt it.
Kim Seonwoo: Why?
Lee Yeonwoo: (smile fading) Just a feeling.
An intriguing exchange.
A scene implying the killer was hiding between Kim Seonwoo and Lee Yeonwoo.
And that's exactly where their script cut off.
That was why Minhee had come looking for Seonwoo.
"No, before reading this, I totally thought Yeonwoo killed Justin… But now I'm not so sure."
"…Yeah, that makes sense."
It was something Seonwoo hadn't considered.
He knew for a fact he hadn't killed Justin. Neither Park Myeongjin nor Ryu had mentioned anything about it.
Of course, it was possible even Seonwoo didn't know he was the killer, but Park Myeongjin or Ryu wouldn't handle things that amateurishly.
They wouldn't let the actor perform without knowing.
"Did you ask Yeonwoo?"
"Yeah. He said it wasn't him. So I figured it had to be you."
"Not me either."
"…Not sure if I can believe that. The PD might've told you to deny it if anyone asks."
Minhee eyed Seonwoo suspiciously.
Then she let out a sigh.
"Whatever… Na Minhee doesn't know who the real killer is either, so maybe not knowing helps with immersion."
"Hmm… Who do you suspect most right now? Doesn't Yeonwoo seem more likely?"
"Probably Lee Yeonwoo, yeah."
Minhee nodded.
"But you never know."
You never know…
It was a fair point. Maybe Lee Yeonwoo really wasn't the killer. That could even be the twist.
Then who? Who killed Justin?
The first name that came to mind was Seo Jinwook.
Excluding Lee Yeonwoo, he fit the murderer archetype best.
But the motive didn't add up. That applied to every character except Lee Yeonwoo, really.
Who had reason to kill Justin?
Kim Seonwoo killing him would make more narrative sense.
A man numb to life suddenly grasping its value through another's death… Perfect origin story for a new killer.
But Kim Seonwoo wasn't a killer.
'Kim Seonwoo has a line he won't cross.'
And Seonwoo had his own lines too.
Lacking the will to live didn't mean denying others' right to it. If anything, it made him respect those fighting to survive even more.
Kim Seonwoo wouldn't have killed Justin.
Seonwoo drew that conclusion inwardly and sent Minhee on her way.
'Focus on the acting.'
Episode 3 was a key turning point for Seonwoo.
The first episode showing Kim Seonwoo awakening to the will to live.
How naturally he portrayed that shift would define the character's appeal going forward.
So he had to answer this first.
How had Kim Seonwoo changed?
'…Different from what I expected.'
Seonwoo had imagined that once Kim Seonwoo found his will to live, he'd feel… just like Seonwoo now.
Revitalized through acting, devoting everything to it… So Kim Seonwoo would immerse himself in whatever gave him that spark.
What had given Kim Seonwoo his will to live?
Simple.
The one-room.
This kill-or-be-killed game itself… For Kim Seonwoo, it was no different from Seonwoo's acting.
Here, he could truly feel alive.
So what differed from his expectations?
That…
'…This visual's pretty brutal.'
It was the color orb right in front of him.
Seonwoo stared at Kim Seonwoo's color orb. A gray sphere crisscrossed with crimson threads.
Like a miniature volcanic planet.
Those red lines, like molten lava, represented Kim Seonwoo's attachment to life.
A hot, sticky obsession bordering on mania.
Unexpected.
Even if the object of that devotion was a brutal death game, Seonwoo had thought Kim Seonwoo would brighten up somewhat.
Not turn even more vicious than before.
'…Just when I thought he could feel some vibrancy.'
Seonwoo had stuck to method acting lately.
Kim Seonwoo's drab emotions had been a real ordeal for him. Like his mind was fraying.
But for a great performance, he'd endure.
'Let's pop the color orb first.'
He'd missed his chance earlier thanks to Minhee.
Seeing its savage look made him worry what heavy emotions would surge when it burst… But Seonwoo had embodied all sorts of characters.
This was nothing.
Seonwoo squeezed his eyes shut and burst the color orb.
He braced for the lava and ash to envelop him. Then, a massive wave of emotion that would jolt his brain—
——didn't come.
'…?'
Seonwoo slowly tilted his head.
He couldn't comprehend it. The orb had definitely burst. Unlike the script read-through, it wasn't a failure.
Yet no change.
Why?
Seonwoo blankly looked down at his body.
Kim Seonwoo's colors—ash and lava—coated him thoroughly. The orb was working fine.
So why no felt change?
…Embarrassing as it was, there was only one answer.
An answer Seonwoo desperately didn't want to accept.
'No way, this is…'
He'd thought it savage.
Too aggressive, extreme.
But all that was just him lying on his back spitting at the sky.
'My usual… color?'
Seonwoo let out a hollow chuckle.
If the color enveloped him with no perceptible change… The reason was simple.
That emotion was already with him always.
He'd never imagined his own psyche was this hue.
It felt awful, irritating, a blow to his pride…
But he had to admit it.
Ryu.
He knew Seonwoo better than Seonwoo knew himself.