97. Survival Is the Rule in Academy Stories

The survival audition program began.

The first week's theme was shamelessness.

The test was how well they could perform without embarrassment, and candidates dropped out in droves.

"Pfft, heh-heh—"

"Pfft!"

While groups performed their assigned scripts, Allen would suddenly appear beside them in a gas mask and start causing a scene.

Besides that, he would hold a squeaky toy up next to someone's face and give it a good squeeze, or show up in a bizarre skin-tight bodysuit and announce that he was a prop and to pay him no mind.

Even professional actors often laughed mid-performance, so one laugh only cost points rather than causing immediate elimination. Once the deductions accumulated, however, the candidate was eliminated.

Especially for actors who struggled to keep a straight face, it was a challenge to perform without cracking up.

Of course, holding back laughter was not the sole measure of shamelessness, so we had prepared various disruptive elements.

"Shalala, lovely mirroring!"

We made them perform embarrassing scenes.

"Brace yourself. Vengeance for my father!"

We made them act toward empty air.

"That camera is a bit much..."

"Point deduction."

We even shoved the camera so close to their faces that you could see their pores.

We exposed them to all kinds of situations where laughter or embarrassment would be difficult to suppress.

At first glance, it might have looked as though we were merely playing pranks on the students, but not one of the five judges treated the audition as a joke.

When candidates protested that no one could continue acting under such conditions, the judges confidently stood up and demonstrated it themselves.

Then the actors had no choice but to fall silent and return to their places.

I felt sorry for them, but that was the world of acting.

In actuality, even just in my own experience, plenty of cringeworthy situations arose when I acted as John.

When necessary, I also had to fire a gun at empty air with an earnest expression.

But on camera, all that was ever captured was John's consistently serious and hard-boiled image.

Every condition in the audition hall reproduced something we had actually experienced.

In other words, they were never some contrived themes we invented just for fun.

Anyway, during the first week, with shamelessness as the theme, many students were eliminated in droves.

Of course, as we had announced in advance, being eliminated didn't mean we'd just make them extras; we could also offer them supporting-role positions.

On top of that, there was a second-chance match.

But students still shed tears in disappointment.

The chance to seize a lead role must have been awfully tempting.

All we could tell them was to prepare for the next opportunity.

With joy and sorrow thus intermingled, the first week came to a close.

*

The second week's theme was stunt action.

Here, the students had to spar against each other, but they had to do so 'stylishly.'

Ceres and I demonstrated what that meant.

We traded punches and then I kicked her in the stomach.

Given my physical abilities, I could have regained my balance immediately and followed up on Ceres while she was still flying away.

Ceres could likewise have stabilized herself in midair without taking a breakfall and blocked my follow-up.

But we didn't do that.

After kicking her, I deliberately shifted my balance backward and fell onto my back.

Ceres also chose not to maneuver in midair. She rolled twice across the ground before standing again.

With both of us covered in dirt, we panted for breath, pretending to be exhausted.

"Cut!"

At Nikolai's cut signal, we immediately returned to our places.

Then I asked the watching candidates.

What had they seen in the combat scene just now?

A female student raised her hand and answered.

"Desperation?"

"Correct."

Yeah.

That was what action meant.

If you fought realistically, you'd throw punches with enough force to blow away cover, and instead of getting dirty in a brawl, you'd just shoot beams pew-pew, right?

But that wouldn't be any fun.

Action came from desperation.

Not from flashiness.

I deliberately drove this point home by using the difference between Fairy Warrior and Magical Mari as an example.

"Understand? If all you want is to look strong, you shouldn't become an actor."

And in a great combat scene, the person doing the losing also had to be skilled.

Even though the spotlight was concentrated on Mari in Magical Mari, the reason her attacks looked so cool was ultimately because the wrestlers who took the hits were professionals.

And actors who could lose 'stylishly' like this were the ones audiences would seek out even if they didn't realize it.

Losing well was also a skill for an actor, and viewers knew this subconsciously.

That was why those actors became famous.

The students who listened to my explanation shook their heads fervently.

And during the second-week audition, many students showed growth.

Regrettably, however, a portion had to be cut, and students who failed to show satisfactory action during this period were eliminated.

By this stage, the wheat was gradually separating from the chaff.

*

Third week.

Shamelessness and action were, at best, fundamentals.

Most of the students who had made it this far were no longer mere Hero candidates.

They had already reached the level of a decent professional actor.

From here on, what we looked for were the sprouts of a great actor.

"This week's theme is the emotional arc."

Diane demonstrated this example.

Because when it came to emotional-range acting in our group, she was the top.

She presented the characters she had played so far, one by one, as examples.

Aside from Tila and Dina, the appearances she had performed in other works were shown before the people.

She drew admiration as she displayed, at one moment a demure young lady, at another a yandere with the highlight gone from her eyes, and at yet another a vengeance-obsessed wraith.

The candidates seemed overwhelmed and pressured by her acting that swung across the emotional spectrum.

Even so, the promising talents among them, whom I had kept my eyes on, finally spread their wings and advanced to the finals in the fourth week.

*

The final fourth week arrived.

To be honest, the kids who had advanced to the finals could already be considered as good as confirmed for lead-role level.

If the second week was a decent supporting role, and the third week a supporting role brimming with presence, then the fourth week was simply the lead.

Even in the one-in-a-thousand chance someone was a supporting role, they would be the type constantly glued to the protagonist's side like a member of the main trio, so having come this far, there wasn't exactly a need to give it their absolute all.

But would they have clawed their way all the way to the finals if they didn't covet the protagonist role?

They were burning up their competitive spirit more fiercely than ever.

Amid a sharp battle of wits, the fourth-week theme was revealed.

The theme was a free topic.

It meant choosing a script you wanted, performing it against an opponent, and turning it into a short film over the course of a week.

Since it was the finals and there were only four people who had advanced, we specially prepared professional actors for them to act against as well.

[Then, let me introduce the first role! It is— Magical Mari! And acting opposite her, the great actor who played the mighty Great Warrior, Scapul! Dreul Stardum!]

It was that scene between Mari and Scapul.

The actors were also startled by the fact they had to perform that iconic scene.

Undeterred, the next role followed.

[The second role! Isis. And her opposite actor— the Illusionary Wizard! Ignos!]

This was also a high-difficulty performance.

If the Mari scene had to tug ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the tear ducts, the Isis scene had to draw out empathy.

Of course, if we only did this it'd turn into a magical girl audition, so we also brought actors from other movies.

For the third counterpart, we cast a villain who frequently appears as a nemesis in the Bowman Hero series.

For this script, Skadi was starring as the protagonist in the upcoming installment, so we asked her side for the script and the opposing actor.

The fourth through seventh opposing roles were likewise played by actors from well-known series.

As the finalists tensed at the formidable lineup of seven consecutive roles, the long-awaited eighth and final role was revealed.

Its identity could only shock the crowd.

[He who chooses this role, shoulder the weight of the gun! The eighth role! The legendary knight. The Grim Reaper of the Gun. John Armstrong! And acting opposite him~]

The heroes 'themselves'!

With the host's shout, multiple heroes revealed themselves.

It was none other than the actual heroes who had appeared in John 0!

And at their head stood Marquis Gregor.

The moment they appeared, the audience instantly recognized the scene the candidate for this role would have to perform.

That scene from John 0.

The highlight where John, by himself, had annihilated the heroes.

The actor not only had to use three weapons at the right moments, but also perform the reloading, weapon checks, and even having the weapons taken away.

In terms of action difficulty, it rated six stars out of five.

I watched with anticipation as the finalists each chose their scripts.

There were four finalists.

And eight roles.

There was therefore no need to choose the John Armstrong role.

But if the kid I had my eye on truly possessed the talent of a great actor, and had ambition as an actor...

I believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would pick up that script.

When the first three each picked a suitable role, the lone remaining person deliberated among the roles.

And after deliberation, he picked one role.

"Waaaaah!!"

As he picked up that script, people let out a cheer.

The host, whose sense of showmanship hadn't died, held the mic out to the actor and asked why he had chosen this role.

"Jace, why did you choose this script?"

Then, rather than answer the host, he stared straight into the camera and said:

"I figured we'd need a custom bottle of champagne for the toast."

I couldn't hide my excitement either and gave a standing ovation on the spot.

*

Jason Danielson was born into an ordinary farming household.

That someone like him could enter Hetairo Academy could only be called sheer fortune.

This was because a passing wizard had recognized his talent and taught him magic.

A noble who noticed his talent offered to recommend him for admission, but he refused.

- I do not wish to disgrace my teacher's name.

He confidently entered just like other students, through talent alone, and though he placed in the lower ranks, he kept up with the academy's classes.

Of course, no one called him a failure, just as no one would call a student at the bottom of Harvard a failure. But he knew the truth.

He was one of Hetairo Academy's lowest-performing students.

His admiration for one person was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the reason he had never given up and the reason he had applied to Bon Voyage Studio's project.

His teacher, and the world's eternal demon king.

Agion Karambelt.

As Agion's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠unofficial disciple, he had refused to give up either magic or acting despite his poor grades.

And throughout the audition, he remained near the bottom.

He scraped through the first week by the skin of his teeth, he was eliminated once in the second week, and barely survived through the second-chance match.

And he began to receive the spotlight from the third week onward.

Like an underdog's rebellion, he showed insane growth and began to attract people's interest by unrestrainedly presenting his emotional range.

A farm-born background, poor performance at the academy, and finally the story of an eliminated contestant returning through the second-chance match.

All these narratives were pushing Jace forward.

Eventually, Jace's short film began screening on the screen.

Just like in John 0, from the very center of the party hall, the Marquis recited his line.

"Tonight will forever be recorded as a great night that changed the kingdom's history."

"No. No one will remember any of you."

Jace recited the script that he had practiced for the past week, in step with the Marquis's line.

Unfortunately, unlike the original John, Jace was not fluent in the Kingdom Language, so he had no choice but to answer in the Imperial Tongue.

The scene that followed.

Originally, John was supposed to begin by drawing a pistol from his pocket and putting holes through the heads of eight nobles.

But what Jace took out was not a pistol...

'A staff?'

It was a magic staff.

Each time he pointed the staff, a shockwave erupted from its tip and knocked down a noble.

The audience was disappointed by that scene.

A staff had no romantic appeal.

The pistol's distinctive metallic sound, the report, the scent of gunpowder, the reloading.

All of it was absent from the magic staff.

Perhaps that was only natural.

The pistol was an obsolete relic used only by John.

For a student to handle one, the difficulty was simply too...

- Click-clack!

In that instant, a sound that should never come from a magic staff was heard.

The staff produced a sound heard only when loading a pistol.

Wondering what the sound was, everyone focused on the screen to see Jace loading the magic staff.

To be precise, he was opening the lid on the staff's grip section and loading a small gem inside it.

It was like loading a break-action shotgun.

This was Jace's hidden trump card.

He had respected John, and loved that scene.

Enough to rewatch and study it countless times.

And he, too, could handle guns.

But that alone was insufficient.

As the saying goes, a truly great actor should not merely follow an already-prepared scene.

At the very least, to follow in the footsteps of Agion Karambelt and John Armstrong, he had to show something more ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠outstanding.

So he threw a gambit.

He adapted that scene of John's in his own way.

After loading the Dihex, when the staff's tip reached the end of its lifespan, he headed for the wine cellar.

And what emerged from there was not John's shotgun, but a new Dihex.

"A halberd?"

A halberd.

Except buckshot fired from its tip.

Nikolai and Allen pressed their hands to their foreheads.

"Good heavens. A gunlance."

The spear was slender for a gunlance, but both men immediately thought of that word when they saw it.

Even while deftly handling the halberd, Jace showcased the new function of firing buckshot from the spear tip.

And then came the highlight of the ensuing combat scene.

He swung the gunlance in a 360-degree arc while continuously firing buckshot.

The steel balls shot out in a full 360-degree spread, instantly riddling the Heroes surrounding Jace with holes.

It lacked the desperation of John's version, but it possessed its own exhilarating appeal.

In this way, Jace's action scene overwhelmed the audition hall.

Finally, after blowing a hole through Marquis Gregor's head, Jace successfully completed his performance.

With all performances over, the time came to announce the winner.

The winner was already all but decided.

[Hetairo's Got Talent! The very first winner is... Jace Danielson!]