Chapter 122: Shootout (2)
Chapter 122: Shootout (2)
Hyper Action Star was, strictly speaking, an audition variety show.
This meant every episode was broadcast live from the very first installment, and viewers could start voting immediately after the broadcast ended.
There were five groups in total.
Since half of the participants would be eliminated in one fell swoop each time, every single filming session was of the utmost importance.
“It looks like they’re broadcasting in real-time on both TV and the internet. Man, this is already getting exciting!”
Han Bong-sik, a YouTuber with 1.38 million subscribers, breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his subscriber count—which had recently dipped—starting to recover.
I have to cover this, no matter what.
He’d had a good feeling about this show ever since the teaser.
No, more importantly, wasn’t Ju Seo-yeon appearing in it?
Then it was a must-watch.
Ever since The Chaser, Ju Seo-yeon had been nothing short of a goddess to Han Bong-sik.
Even in the teaser, and even now, she displayed an absolutely overwhelming presence.
As if proving the show’s buzzworthiness, the viewer count was about thirty percent higher than usual.
Looking at the active chat, it seemed many people who didn’t usually subscribe to Han Bong-sik’s channel had tuned in.
“Ahem, for those of you just joining, the show we’re watching today is Hyper Action Star. It’s an actor audition program where the winner gets a lead role in a movie.”
Han Bong-sik shared the research he’d done with his viewers—how the show would proceed and how the final selection would be made.
“Today’s theme is ‘Gunfight.’ But get this! It’s not just a simple gunfight. They have to act. Acting!”
The reaction was one of confusion.
It was a fair point.
They had to showcase action based on the superpowers they had chosen during the previous rappel action mission.
However, the actors filming were, of course, ordinary humans.
How were they supposed to incorporate superpowers into the scene?
“Perhaps... this is just my guess, but...”
“I’ll tell you once the first shoot begins.”
Bong-sik chuckled at the viewers’ reactions.
He really did have a theory, but telling them now would ruin the fun.
It’s probably the acting.
It definitely had something to do with that.
However, superpower acting could easily look ridiculous if it was awkward.
Actually, it’ll probably look ridiculous for most of them.
Superpowers without CG.
How would that be any different from the ‘Superpower Special’ on Running People?
Therefore, there was one crucial element.
In this kind of acting, the ‘receiver’—the person getting hit—is more important than the one performing the action.
“So, I heard that after an episode airs, the version with CG applied will be released in the next episode.”
This much had already been revealed by PD Lee Gi-tae of Hyper Action Star.
By now, some people probably understood the ‘rules.’
Even Han Bong-sik had grasped it immediately.
“No. This is strictly an audition. ...Though there’s a chance they’ll keep the same superpowers for the movie.”
Of course, it was all speculation.
There was no guarantee the superpower the protagonist used in the audition would be the same one in the movie.
But if they make a big enough impact, it might change.
With that thought, Han Bong-sik focused on the screen.
The first audition of Hyper Action Star was being broadcast live.
The ‘Gunfight.’
*
“Once filming begins, every scene is acting. You’ve all seen the script, right?”
At actor Cha Min-gyu’s words, the actors nodded in response.
However...
Can you even call this a script?
It was more like a set of acting instructions than a script.
Devise a character that fits your superpower.
And perform your acting accordingly.
Most of the actors were flustered, but some found it interesting.
I only joined because of Ju Seo-yeon, but this isn’t bad.
Jo Seo-hee, in particular, felt that appearing on this show was the right choice.
To be honest, she wasn’t confident about passing.
She wasn’t exactly the athletic type to begin with.
But if this is about acting...
Unlike her usual self, Jo Seo-hee looked at Seo-yeon with sharp eyes.
This was a chance to clash with Seo-yeon through acting for the first time before the movie they would film together later.
Since it was a mix of variety and acting, it might differ from ‘real’ acting, but the fact that it was acting remained unchanged.
I wonder how many people here have realized that.
And you, Ju Seo-yeon.
“...?”
Seo-yeon flinched at Jo Seo-hee’s gaze.
To be honest, it was a gaze she could never get used to.
I should invite her as a guest the next time I do a festival stream.
Unlike herself, who had crawled along making a scene, Jo Seo-hee would be terrifying just by standing there.
Now that was true horror.
While Seo-yeon was having such rude thoughts to herself, she scanned the other faces.
She recognized quite a few of them.
Especially with her knowledge of the future, Seo-yeon could immediately identify the people she needed to watch out for.
First, in Group A...
Han So-yu.
She was a woman who would later receive great acclaim for the action movie Wicked and become a huge star through OTT dramas.
Her acting skills weren’t top-tier, but her strength lay in action scenes that utilized her excellent athletic nerves.
At the very least, her long limbs made her movements look incredibly fluid and dynamic.
And besides her...
Seo-yeon’s gaze lingered on Min Do-ha for a moment.
She had heard that Min Do-ha had gained some recognition in a previous movie or drama.
But since she hadn’t played any particularly memorable roles in the future, nothing specific came to mind.
As Seo-yeon finished her thoughts and looked forward...
“First, I will explain the rules.”
Actor Cha Min-gyu looked at the actors and began explaining the shoot.
“First of all, these are model guns loaded with paintballs. Today, everyone will be using pistols.”
The rules were simple.
The ‘Gunfight’ would be evaluated on a point system.
1 point for every time you hit another actor with a paintball.
And there was a black bag at the end of the set.
30 points for whoever possessed it the moment the scene ended.
“And an additional 30 points will be awarded based on the final acting evaluation.”
In other words, just shooting and hitting opponents wasn’t everything.
However, conversely, it meant you could still rack up points just by shooting a lot, even without getting the ‘black bag’ or acting well.
“Everyone, please put on your goggles. You will be penalized if you hit someone in the face.”
At Cha Min-gyu’s words, everyone nodded with tense expressions.
They could feel that the filming was about to begin in earnest.
“Alright, everyone, get ready.”
Following Cha Min-gyu’s command, the actors entered the set one by one.
The set was quite large.
Ruins.
That was exactly what it looked like.
Styrofoam blocks mimicking the debris of collapsed buildings were scattered everywhere.
There were walls and various props made of styrofoam.
And a building could be seen a short distance away.
The black bag is probably in there.
The actors thought as they checked their assigned model guns with nervous faces.
Since they were actresses, many of them were handling such model guns for the first time in their lives.
“Ah!”
Then, someone accidentally dropped their pistol and instinctively tried to catch it.
Bang!!
The trigger was pulled, and a paintball was fired.
An accident before the shoot had even started.
And that bullet, of all things, flew straight toward Seo-yeon.
Right toward her face, no less.
“Watch—!”
In a moment where no one could react properly...
Since they hadn’t even put on their goggles yet, the panicked actor’s warning was cut short.
Thwack!!
Seo-yeon’s hand moved, swatting it away as if shooing a mosquito.
Of course, since it was a paintball, it burst against her hand the moment she struck it.
“...Huh?”
The eyes of the few actors who witnessed the accident went wide.
Was that real? Did she just see a flying paintball and swat it away?
No, it didn’t look like she was even watching.
Her gaze had been fixed elsewhere to begin with.
It was a fluke. It must have been a fluke.
The few witnesses blankly thought to themselves.
I mean, swatting away a flying paintball is just impossible.
Generally, the velocity of a paintball is about 90 meters per second.
Of course, since this was for a broadcast, it might have been weaker and thus slower, but it wasn’t something you could swat away without even looking.
“Oh, no!”
The actor who had been staring blankly snapped out of it and rushed over to Seo-yeon, bowing her head.
“I-I’m so sorry. I startled you, didn’t I?”
“Huh? Oh, no, I’m fine. This is nothing.”
This is nothing?
It was a rather cryptic thing to say, but the actor just sighed in relief.
“Still, your hand must really hurt...”
As she spoke, looking at Seo-yeon’s hand with a wince, Seo-yeon’s expression became a bit awkward.
“I’m really okay.”
In truth, Seo-yeon’s hand didn’t hurt at all from swatting the paintball.
A mere paintball couldn’t even leave a scratch on her invincible TS skin.
I should have just caught it.
Seo-yeon was only frowning because the paintball had burst and stained her hand.
She had simply forgotten that paintballs burst upon impact.
Wait, with my regeneration ability, catching it would be impossible too.
Swatting it away definitely felt out of character as well.
She felt like she should have made it look like she was dodging it instead.
Anyway, it was a small accident that could have been much worse.
Since there weren’t many witnesses, it didn’t cause a stir on the set.
However...
Because that scene happened to be caught on camera, intense reactions from some viewers were pouring in.
“...That wasn’t a fluke, was it?”
Han Bong-sik rewatched the clip he had just captured.
A bit slower this time.
“If you look at this, the paintball was fired by accident...”
The scene showed it flying exactly toward Seo-yeon’s face.
At that moment, Seo-yeon’s face wasn’t clearly captured by the camera.
Only her profile was vaguely visible.
In the 0.25x speed playback supported by YouTube, the paintball flew through the air.
And then...
At 0.25x speed, it was clear that Seo-yeon’s eyes had tracked the paintball.
And the next scene was, as everyone knew, her swatting the paintball away with her hand.
“Wait, she didn’t do that on purpose, did she?”
Han Bong-sik pondered as he looked at the chat.
The images of Ju Seo-yeon he had seen so far in Desert Island Survival and Star Fisherman...
“...Hmm. I see.”
She definitely could have done it.
Once that thought crossed his mind, he felt at ease.
“Let’s keep watching for now.”
Whether she did it on purpose or it was a fluke, no one knew for sure.
He decided to believe she did it on purpose because that was more interesting.
“The filming time is 30 minutes in total. Please keep that in mind. Also, any dangerous behavior or unsportsmanlike conduct will result in immediate elimination.”
At the word ‘elimination,’ the actors nodded with tense faces.
Should I focus on the gunfight?
Maybe aiming for the bag is better...
How will the acting be evaluated? Superpowers?
Amidst these crossing questions, Min Do-ha stared at Seo-yeon.
Having witnessed the accident earlier, she bit her lower lip.
Whether it was a fluke or not, people will be talking about that scene once the broadcast airs.
Since actor Cha Min-gyu had come over and given a stern warning after learning about the situation, it was bound to be discussed.
She didn’t like how Seo-yeon was hogging the spotlight as if she were the protagonist from the very beginning.
I can’t lose in action acting.
There would be no greater humiliation than losing to a fragile-looking high schooler like her.
With that resolve, Min Do-ha glared at Seo-yeon.
Firing was allowed three minutes after the shoot began.
The bag appears after ten minutes.
Until then, everyone needed to take their positions.
And then...
BEEEEEP!!!
The signal announcing the start of the shoot.
As soon as they heard it, the actors dashed out all at once.
Min Do-ha chased after Seo-yeon, who was running at a leisurely pace.
There was no rule saying you were out if you got hit by a bullet.
But if they were ‘acting,’ they wouldn’t be able to help but act out a death scene if they were hit.
In the end, it was all up to the actor’s discretion.
And it depended on what the judge, actor Cha Min-seok, and the viewers thought.
Sorry, but I’m taking you out right here.
Actually, she wasn’t sorry at all.
Eliminating the strongest competitor was only natural.