Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: But the One Who Got Instantly Killed Was Me
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But the one who got instantly killed was me.
Right from the start of the script reading, amid the dramatically shifted atmosphere, that person smoothly claimed another victory today.
Lee Dong-cheol PD watched the full-scale filming unfold, feeling a deep sense of surprise inside.
'I thought she'd do well, but I never imagined it'd be to this extent...'
The lead role in this drama, and practically the true protagonist.
Han-seo.
Unlike the other protagonists, she possessed an incredibly multifaceted character.
It wasn't just the fact that she hid her gender; her very motivations were layered.
Lee Su-ryeon, the gisaeng driven by revenge for her father.
Kim Seong-ryong, the young noble who had loved her since childhood and wanted to support her.
These two protagonists had relatively straightforward personalities.
Han-seo, another protagonist, seemed at first glance to be helping Su-ryeon out of affection like Seong-ryong...
But the truth was entirely different.
Han-seo held the position of a royal secret agent, Joseon's equivalent of the FBI.
Her job was purging those who opposed the court.
In other words, eliminating anyone who posed a threat to the Queen Dowager—and that clearly included Su-ryeon and Seong-ryong.
As a result, Su-ryeon and Seong-ryong's plans repeatedly failed at the most crucial moments.
Yet even when Han-seo had every opportunity to kill Su-ryeon, she always let her live.
The root of that emotion was love for Su-ryeon.
But the 'love' revealed in the mid-to-late parts of the story was completely different from Seong-ryong's.
Han-seo had coincidentally saved Su-ryeon from street thugs on their first meeting.
This incident brought the two close quickly,
and Su-ryeon genuinely fell for Han-seo.
Watching Su-ryeon show her affection, Han-seo gradually found her heart drawn to her as well.
However, this wasn't romantic love between man and woman.
It was the love of a parent for their child.
Seeing Su-ryeon's appearance, which resembled her deceased daughter, Han-seo instinctively developed paternal... no, maternal love toward her.
As time passed, Han-seo learned that Su-ryeon's goal was revenge against the Queen Dowager and that she was the daughter of the Minister of War whom Han-seo had personally killed in the past. But by then, Han-seo's feelings had reached the point where she couldn't live without Su-ryeon.
Thus, Han-seo was the role that drove the plot through contradictory emotions and contradictory actions.
With such a complex inner world,
and considering the additional elements Han-seo had to portray, it was a role with inherently high acting difficulty.
If Ha Yu-ra had taken this role, they'd have had to simplify the setup a lot,
or if not, spend a fortune casting a major star.
But watching the recent script reading and the filming now underway,
Lee Dong-cheol PD felt profound relief.
'My eye for talent was spot on. Securing someone with that level of skill for this price. This is real investment.'
Hiring actors of that caliber at market rates might have blown thousands per episode.
Of course, paying 'name value' for stars wasn't a pure loss, but in this drama, Ha Yu-ra and Yoon Tae-young—hot names right now—were enough for that.
For reference, Chae Seon-hwa, Chae Soo-jeong's real daughter, was cast as Han-seo's daughter in the occasional flashbacks.
This was the key condition that solidified Soo-jeong's decision, and Seon-hwa's skills weren't bad either—a solid choice.
Thus, watching the filming proceed smoothly except for Yoon Tae-young's early stumbles,
a satisfied smile spread across Lee Dong-cheol PD's face.
A smile confident in the 'victory' he'd soon grasp.
Meanwhile,
in stark contrast to Lee Dong-cheol PD's shining gaze,
in one corner of the set, a person lay discarded and utterly wrecked.
Yoon Tae-young, idol singer and actor.
Just a few hours ago, brimming with confidence,
now he sat huddled in the corner, half out of his mind, face pale as a ghost.
'No way... She's a rookie, right? How is that a rookie...? It'd be more believable if one of the senior actors had turned young again...'
Yoon Tae-young, utterly demolished by Chae Soo-jeong's performance earlier.
His mentality, cracked during script reading, had turned to dust with actual filming.
Chae Soo-jeong, fully costumed, unleashing that monstrous acting again...
Honestly, it was terrifying.
As if the real Han-seo from the story had appeared to crush him.
The vivid hostility in her breath.
The horrific gaze, like an abyss staring back.
And her voice, digging into his psyche so deeply it made breathing hard... Wait, how did she even change her voice like that? It still had a neutral feel, but the tone was straight-up masculine. Had she really been a guy before?
In this state, where thoughts like pillow talk or instant kills via acting dared not even surface, beaten to a pulp,
Tae-young blankly watched the filming before his eyes.
"Are you alright, lady?"
"Ah... Y-yes... This girl is... fine..."
A warrior standing with a bloodied sword, and a gisaeng blushing as she looked at the man before her... no, the woman in man's guise.
The scene of royal secret agent Han-seo and the other female lead Lee Su-ryeon's first meeting.
Unlike himself, who barely scraped through after getting wrecked,
Ha Yu-ra continued her performance flawlessly, her expression more lifelike than her previous work,
like a woman truly in love. Watching her, Tae-young felt even more depressed and let out a heavy sigh.
"Phew... Good work, Teacher."
"Yes, Yu-ra, you too."
On the way back after the first shoot wrapped.
With Seon-hwa already asleep on my back, I headed to the underground parking lot with Yu-ra.
Since carrying Seon-hwa would be tough, Yu-ra offered to drive us home.
As someone helping with acting practice lately, I accepted her kindness without burden and got into her car.
Her sleek AV sped out of the underground lot.
Despite the recent accident, she drove skillfully and continued in an excited voice.
"Did you see Yoon Tae-young's face? That cocky guy who didn't know better at first, soul stripped bare by the end. Hehe, still hilarious thinking about it."
"Haha... Yeah... I might've gone a bit overboard there. Got too immersed without realizing."
With his prickly vibe and poor state since script reading,
Yoon Tae-young, a former idol and solid actor in my past life, seemed off-condition today, unable to focus on filming.
Especially in that last scene, I got carried away, triggering emotions so intensely it nearly brought tears.
I thought any actor should handle that much, but feeling a bit sorry for pushing a young(?) guy in his twenties too hard.
"But seriously, the more I see, the more amazing Teacher's skills are. That role's difficulty is no joke—especially the first scene, gave me chills too."
"Well, since the core emotion is maternal love. Thinking 'those bastards are taking my daughter' made it click perfectly."
"Ah..."
Yu-ra instantly got it from my answer laced with subtle menace.
However, the reason I could portray such an objectively tough role so well wasn't just that.
'Come to think of it... Playing Han-seo gives me quite a few advantages.'
In my past life, the hardest part of side roles was lack of information.
Main roles and protagonists get abundant details.
Background, personality, thought patterns, even inner thoughts.
Since the story world exists for that one person, understanding the protagonist is relatively easy for a seasoned actor.
Side roles, however, don't need such elaboration.
As supporting characters, they just serve as plot devices,
no need to deeply flesh out their details.
Thus, in my past life, stuck with side roles, I twisted myself to excel, getting used to squeezing every drop of info from the role.
From a single line of dialogue, a minor action—discerning the psychology and reasons behind.
Filling the blank spaces of non-existent depth with fitting imagery was tough, but necessary to fully immerse.
This honed my unique understanding of roles.
From scant lines and tiny gestures, grasping the psyche—and this elevated my acting significantly in my past life.
Though it didn't change my eternal side-character fate.
And now,
for the first time, I got a lead role.
No scrambling for scraps; the script and setup overflowed with Han-seo details.
Like opening a full pantry for someone used to scraping ingredients together.
Thus, I'd meticulously grasped everything about Han-seo.
Behaviors, psychology, even the underlying intimate emotions.
And Han-seo's 'inner image' surprisingly overlapped with mine in many ways.
A woman living as one due to a TS-like body swap, similar to a cross-dressing woman.
The shared maternal love.
And above all...
'A person consumed by their own greed. Me too. Han-seo too.'
Beings who burned themselves up with unchecked desire.
The difference: Han-seo had the power to nearly burn the world, while the powerless me nearly self-immolated alone.
But ultimately, both escaped that flame through a bond with one person.
'For Han-seo, it's Lee Su-ryeon... And for me, my ultimate bias right here.'
With that thought, my gaze turned to our daughter, innocently asleep.
The one who saved past-life me,
and the reason present-life me lives.
A gentle smile formed as I softly stroked her hair.
'Gotta keep pushing. For our daughter.'
"Ha... Nothing good to watch these days... This one bombed too."
Weekend afternoon,
Oh Young-ae, YouTuber with 400k subscribers, sat at her computer with a sour face, continuing her stream.
-Real waste of time and money.
-Director should just die.
-Watched cuz previous was a masterpiece, left cursing.
-Why are all recent movies like this?
-Dramas same. Desperate enough to watch Indian films.
-What's wrong with Indian movies? Don't diss dance time!
"Sigh..."
Oh Young-ae let out a heavy sigh amid the viewer roast fest.
Right after ending the stream,
she flopped on her bed, scrolling her phone for the next review target.
"Nothing to watch... Nothing..."
For Young-ae, who made her living reviewing films and dramas, the current scene was a famine.
Dramas were predictably boring, movies churning out flops.
She forced reviews and savage critiques to scrape by, but trash-bashing revenue had limits.
Ultimately, viewers and she craved enjoyable works.
'In that sense, Tears of the Queen Consort era was better. But that ended weeks ago...'
Not a massive hit, but one of the few she deemed watchable this quarter.
Its stimulating, unique plot—not clichéd romance—was decent,
and starring her favorite Ha Yu-ra in her lead debut made it enjoyable despite flaws.
Even boosted her views a bit.
'And that making-of at the end. Who was that child actress's mom?'
After the drama ended, a 20-minute making-of on YouTube.
Nothing special overall, but one scene caught her eye.
The princess child actress's audition for the final scene.
The moms' successive cringy acts were laughably sad.
Except one:
the mom of the girl who ultimately passed.
Face not shown, but the extraordinary acting skill stood out.
Beyond average actors... maybe even Ha Yu-ra level. That scene left lingering curiosity and questions.
Of course, impossible to ID a faceless person.
'Hmm... Maybe check ZTVC? Heard something about a new project.'
On a whim, hoping for another Tears of the Queen Consort, she tapped away.
The moment she hit ZTVC's main page.
"Oh?"