The Monsters Called the Gallery

It was before dawn had even broken. I stood before the mirror, about to shave.

‘This is seriously fascinating.’

The skin reflected in the mirror was flawlessly smooth, without a single blemish. It made all the solo skincare routines I’d painstakingly maintained in my previous life as a so-called actor feel utterly pointless.

‘Is this the power of youth?’

I clenched and unclenched my fist.

‘So smooth.’

Every knuckle, every knee joint moved without the slightest hitch. The sensation was entirely new to me.

Right before my regression, my joints had been so stiff and creaky that delicate movements were nearly impossible. No matter how hard I tried to put strength into my fingertips, they simply wouldn’t obey.

‘But now it’s different.’

My body moved with the fluidity of oiled machinery. Even my once-rigid fingers responded perfectly to my will, tension flowing exactly to the tips as I desired.

With this body, I could unleash every nuance of the acting I had envisioned.

Since I had resolved to become an actor in this life, failure was not an option. I had to demonstrate my qualities as an actor by drawing on every last scrap of knowledge and experience I possessed.

It was a relief that this body could help even a little toward that goal.

“Ten million viewers.”

This was South Korea, twenty years in the past. An era before the number ten million viewers had yet been etched onto any movie screen.

In the distant future, when people spoke of the golden age of Korean cinema, they would recall the names of a few legendary actors. Among those names, I would carve my own: Kim Doyun.

This wasn’t mere success. I would become an actor who left an indelible mark on the history of Korean film. The lead in a film that mobilized ten million viewers. That ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was my goal, starting today.

A vast, brilliant dream I could never have dared imagine in my previous life.

“Hoo.”

Whoosh—

I splashed water lightly over my face and set down the razor I’d been holding.

‘I need to make thorough use of this ability too.’

I stared at the text floating before my eyes.

‘No matter how many times I see it, it’s still amazing.’

After the audition, I had tested a few things.

This ability only activated in front of a director. It showed no reaction when I faced Lee Se-rin or the other staff members.

The vivid scenery I had witnessed during the audition must have been a recreation of Scene #4 from Flowers Fall, exactly as Director Lee Tae-ryun had imagined it.

I had visited many sets while playing minor roles in the past, but this felt nothing like those artificial environments.

‘It was like I had stepped inside a completed film scene.’

In the past and now, I had always loved acting.

But the acting I performed within the landscapes shown by Director's Vision existed on an entirely different level.

‘It felt like a child who had closed his eyes and imagined going to the zoo alone suddenly finding himself dropped into Disneyland.’

Simply put, the sensation ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was incredibly exhilarating.

‘And the appearance fee… the points are probably only earned by performing in front of a director as well.’

The abilities I could use with the points I had earned were…

‘Available for use inside the Actor Gallery…’

With a satisfied expression, I finished shaving, stepped outside, and sat down on the bed.

Actor Gallery.

The moment I called it out in my mind, a blue window appeared before my eyes.

The posts were still filled with crude, vulgar language. Yet—

When I clicked on one of them, the full post opened.

Comments

Their speech was so cheap it bordered on frivolous. If anyone claimed these people were legendary actors, no one would believe it.

But—

I clicked the video attached to the post.

A man stared straight ahead. Even without context, it was obvious. This man had no intention of holding back the boiling rage inside him.

And then he delivered his line.

The man’s hand shot out like a whip, mercilessly striking the woman’s cheek before him.

I stopped the video without thinking.

My brow furrowed on its own. That man was undoubtedly human garbage. He was clearly venting the consequences of his own actions onto an innocent person.

And that was precisely the performance he had aimed for.

This wasn’t the only post. Most of the acting videos uploaded to the Actor Gallery were of this quality.

Even in Hollywood, only a handful of actors could deliver performances at this level. Yet here, they were everywhere. No—these people seemed to find even this level of acting nothing more than a laughingstock.

In other words, if I used them well, I could absorb the acting and experience of these extraterrestrial-level actors.

If there was one fortunate aspect in all this—

When I closed the post, the list appeared again.

It seemed the majority of users were favorably disposed toward me.

“They really do look like old-timers doting on their grandchild.”

While I had some free time, I had read through the posts here and learned a few things.

These users were not people from my world. And that incredibly talented actors from their respective worlds had gathered here.

After wandering around for several hours, I had also figured out how to write a post.

When I pressed the create post button, a blue window appeared.

Newbie… lacked style. I typed out my response.

“Mon…ster… Rookie.”

It was a nickname that carried my own aspirations.

“It’s fixed?”

What? They never told me that!

…Well, there was no use crying over spilled milk.

Sighing, I looked at the blue window before me.

I might as well start with a greeting.

“This should be fine, right?”

These people probably didn’t spend all day in the Actor Gallery, so it would likely take some time before any comments appeared.

Or so I thought.

—Ding! —Ding! —Ding!

Huh?

The notifications began ringing like crazy.

“What the…”

In the brief moment since I posted, dozens of comments had already piled up on my thread.

Comments

What on earth did these points even mean?

“What is this…”

I was at a loss for words. They were all acting like grandparents watching their grandchild’s cute antics; I couldn’t even hold a proper conversation.

The number of audience members I could mobilize through acting. I had 200 points. That meant…

“Tsk.”

Tears threatened to fall.

‘I can just build it up gradually from now on.’

This person… I should just ignore her.

It was then that, starting with one comment, the entire atmosphere of the gallery shifted.

What?

“Did I make a mistake?”

As expected of actors of their caliber, maybe they were sensitive about this kind of thing. It seemed my arbitrary use of their advice during the audition had rubbed them the wrong way.

I hurriedly added a comment.

Huh? The reaction was strange.

“Wait, does this mean…”

I swallowed hard. No one had ever listened to advice before. It probably wasn’t because they were all stubborn.

Only now did the points displayed next to their usernames catch my eye.

Every single one of them displayed absurd numbers without exception. If points represented the number of audience members an actor could mobilize, then these were all monsters beyond any standard.

This place called the Actor Gallery was probably only accessible to such monsters.

And what that meant was simple.

These insanely seasoned veterans were dying to give advice, and they were desperately starving for a newbie who would actually listen to it.

This was utopia!

Today was my first rehearsal. There was no reason to hesitate. I would make full use of them right away.

The alarm began ringing once again.

“Alright, let’s go.”