Chapter 70
Chapter 70
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Surprisingly a Fool?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
People often proceed with things based on vague assumptions.
Especially young folks tend to dive in impulsively without preparation and crash spectacularly.
And right now...
The twenty-year-old young actress who had flown to Japan in high spirits,
with captivating golden blonde hair like a waterfall of sunlight,
and gem-like blue eyes—she was Hollywood's flower,
Elizabeth Stormwalker.
She was belatedly realizing her ridiculous mistake.
"...W... What?"
The woman sitting across from her.
Asaha Broadcasting Station's department head, Sakamoto Yukari.
Elizabeth blinked her sapphire-blue eyes at the words from Yukari's mouth and asked again.
"Wh-what do you mean? You can't meet Kaguya? Isn't she an actress affiliated here?"
"That actress isn't with our agency, and she's Korean to begin with."
"...K... Korea?"
Yukari's response came in fluent English.
Elizabeth stared blankly ahead, and Yukari let out a heavy sigh.
'Hollywood's flower, huh... Surprisingly a fool?'
Come to think of it, weren't there a lot of busty blonde blue-eyed airheads?...
Part of her wanted to snap that you should at least research that much before trying to cast someone, but in situations like this, silence was the bare minimum courtesy.
So Yukari held her tongue for a moment.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth wasn't entirely blameless here either.
She'd never really watched tokusatsu shows before.
She only discovered Masked Hero by pure chance, on a friend's recommendation, catching a scene with Kaguya's acting.
After that, driven by curiosity to see more of Kaguya's performance, she binged Masked Hero: Black Moon—but that was it.
Even searching for "Kaguya actress" in the US turned up almost nothing,
just vague info that Masked Hero often featured rookies in lead roles.
Above all, Kaguya's actress identity still wasn't "officially" revealed in Japan.
Japanese Masked Hero fans, attuned to rumors and news from neighboring Korea, had pieced it together quickly, but for foreigners, it wasn't so easy.
It was like how even East Asians didn't care if an actor from the old Terminator movies was American, Australian, or Norwegian.
Of course, digging into hardcore fan communities or just contacting the broadcaster beforehand would've revealed it...
But this outreach was just a casual feeler anyway—not a formal move—and since she was half here for a Japan trip, her mind had been scattered. She hadn't thought that far.
"Ugh..."
Elizabeth clutched her head, tormented by her own folly.
Considering her fame in America, this scene was priceless,
but Yukari set that aside and did what she could for this visitor who'd flown across the ocean.
"Hmm... Well, since you're here, I'll make an introduction to the Korean side. Take it from there."
With that, Yukari handed over a business card.
Elizabeth left the station with just that single piece of paper, still dazed.
"What will you do now, ma'am?"
Her bodyguard's question left Elizabeth frozen, staring blankly at the card.
And after a moment.
She finally spoke, her voice creaking like rusty gears.
"No choice... Guess we're going to Korea!"
Fortunately, Japan to Korea was just two hours away.
Her pre-planned Japan itinerary was shot, but she couldn't return empty-handed after coming this far.
With a strange mix of stubborn pride, she booked the next flight to Korea.
Child Star preliminaries, round one.
It was rigged to crown Seo Han-sol the winner, with matchups tweaked just to pad the lineup,
but surprisingly, despite the fixing, the prelim battles unfolded fiercer than the production team expected.
-"Pool villa! Pool villa! Uh! Uh huh uh huh!"
A boy belting out a disco remix with gusto.
On the other side, a kid just providing light backup, a bit rough around the edges.
Watching them, the crew nodded, impressed by the unexpectedly solid balance.
'One's a mid-tier talent we pulled up, the other's riding family connections. Can't let it flop too hard, so we paired 'em...'
'Not bad at all. Remix carries it, but they must've shelled out for that arrangement.'
The rich kid without skills pays big for a remix,
and the talented one sings lead.
The process wasn't clean, but it balanced out in the end.
They bowed after nailing a surprisingly praiseworthy performance,
and the judges responded seriously.
"Pretty good. Pronunciation muddles a bit in places, but solid overall."
"Great arrangement, decent skills. Good work."
"Th-thank you."
"Thank you."
The kids retreated amid modest praise.
Their total score: 35 out of 50.
Not stellar, but passable.
'As long as it's not Seo Han-sol's level, we can score straight.'
'Crew nailed the balanced bracket. Heard they slaved over it.'
Normally they'd tank skilled kids, but teams changed that.
Unlike the original plan, they scored fairly amid the unexpectedly intense auditions,
watching with growing interest.
Then.
"Next up, final group four: Seo Han-sol and Chae Seon-hwa."
"...Hmm."
"Finally..."
The judges tensed at the names,
but it was more excitement than anxiety.
Seo Han-sol's vocals were top-tier here.
Not riding coattails—she'd clearly worked hard to become a singer.
And crucially, paired with an off-the-charts monster.
Chae Seon-hwa, who could dominate Ultra Star K prelims too.
Basically, 1st and 2nd place teamed up—a cheat combo. No worry of flopping,
just anticipation for the insane performance.
And.
-"Yoonha's favorite random game!"
-"What game?"
-"Game start!"
The duo kicked off with bouncy voices.
The judges felt a twinge of disappointment at first.
'Just the original track?'
'Tch... I was hoping for a remix...'
No tweaks—they brought the straight original.
True to form, but lacking that fresh edge.
-"Love you, love you."
-"Watching you on my phone, but I wanna meet you for real."
Vocals and pitch were spot-on,
but it just felt competently sung.
However...
'Huh?'
'What... what's this?'
At some point, the judges sensed it.
A deeply familiar melody.
But now, they truly grasped the vivid emotions embedded within.
The passionate longing of lovers craving each other.
'Heard it so much, I'd forgotten...'
'Right, this song... it's always been like this.'
Remixes bring novelty,
but originals hold the composer's and singer's raw feelings purest.
Bouncy melody, lively voices.
Yet that very energy sharpened the ache for an absent love.
-"Don't you love me too? Don't you miss me?"
-"Tonight, I won't let you go all night! Come meet me now!"
On stage, gazing at each other while singing.
So close, yet their eyes painted distant lovers.
Hands reaching out, voices vibrant yet achingly tender—it embodied Black Venus's "Pool Villa" perfectly.
Watching dazedly,
the judges suddenly shivered at a realization.
'W-wait. They're nine and twelve, right?'
'N-no way, at that age?'
'Chae Seon-hwa's insane, but... Seo Han-sol too? Did we undersell her?'
They'd expected much, but this shattered those hopes.
As it ended,
the judges sat stunned, speechless.
"...H-how was it?"
The host broke the heavy silence.
They responded like wind-up dolls creaking to life.
"Honestly... We have standards for young hopefuls, but..."
"We were arrogant."
"Way beyond expectations... That's all we can say."
No lip service—pure sincerity.
Hearing such rave reviews,
and seeing the perfect 50/50 score pop up,
Seo Han-sol—drained from her all-out performance—felt tears welling.
'I did it... I did it!'
Without Seon-hwa, she couldn't have sung it alone.
To others, it might look even, but Seon-hwa handled the tough emotional parts,
while she rode the wave.
Even that required her level of skill.
Without Seon-hwa's crude emotion-training tips, no way they'd get this praise.
Anyway, the stage succeeded,
and she'd taken another step toward her dream.
Overjoyed, she clenched her fists.
Seon-hwa gripped her hand with her tiny one.
"You were great, unnie!"
"Th-thanks. It's all thanks to you, Seon-hwa."
Sweat-drenched and spent, unlike her,
Seon-hwa hadn't broken a drop despite out-singing everyone.
Amazed anew at the kid's iron stamina, she hugged her with her free arm.
As tension eased, her heart raced for another reason.
'Tomorrow's finally here. Water park!'