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# Chapter 3 – Camera Sickness (3)
A camera with a small red light glowing from it.
Beside it was a small desk, with only one person sitting behind it.
The person who would be conducting and evaluating my audition today.
He was the casting director.
There wasn't a single empty seat on either side of the casting director.
It wasn't that anyone had simply stepped away. In other words, the only person conducting the audition was the casting
director himself.
Actually, the main director or drama writer rarely came to auditions for minor roles like this.
No, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they almost never came.
The main director or drama writer would only attend auditions for leading or supporting roles. There was no reason for
them to come to an audition to select minor actors like me.
Minor roles didn't carry much weight.
They didn't go through every single candidate to see whether they were perfectly suited to the role they were trying to
fill.
They simply checked whether the actor's performance would be good enough not to ruin immersion in the drama or movie and
whether the actor was reasonably suited to the role before casting them.
That was why there was no need for an important main director or writer to come. A single casting director could select
multiple minor actors.
“Participant number 37?”
As I stood frozen while staring at the camera, the casting director called out to me in a loud voice.
His words snapped me out of my trance, and I opened my mouth.
“Ah… yes!”
Then, the staff member in charge of conducting the audition, sitting beside the casting director, looked at me and spoke
with an emotionless expression.
“Please introduce yourself.”
I looked at the casting director and bent at the waist in greeting.
“Yes. Hello, my name is Jin Hee-sung.”
He didn't move at all in response to my greeting. He simply kept his head lowered and stared at the papers.
It seemed he was looking over the documents I had submitted.
He ran his pen across the papers and asked a question.
“Hmm… You've done minor roles several times?”
“Yes. I've had several experiences with minor roles, so I'm familiar with them.”
Of course, that wasn't a lie.
It was true that I had plenty of experience playing minor roles.
It was just that I had gotten wrecked every time because of my camera sickness, but I couldn't exactly tell him that
outright.
Well… he hadn't asked whether I had performed well on sets with cameras, so it wasn't technically a lie.
“Then you should be good. Let's see.”
“Yes.”
Yeah, I can do this.
As long as there was only a casting director in front of me, my acting had always been perfect, exactly as I had
practiced.
I just had to do what I always did during auditions.
But unlike every other audition, there was a camera right in front of me today.
A camera with its red light clearly turned on.
Would I really be able to perform well with a camera there…?
I squeezed my eyes shut and took a long, deep breath, trying to calm myself.
Don't be nervous.
I can do this.
I've practiced a lot.
It's not even long. It's only three lines.
“Hee-sung?”
The casting director called out to me with a slight frown after my breathing lasted longer than expected.
Gulp.
Startled by his voice, I swallowed loudly.
Loud enough that the sound of me swallowing could be heard throughout the audition room.
“Ah! Yes. I'll begin.”
I cleared my throat and immediately began immersing myself in the role.
As soon as I slowly inhaled and exhaled, my eyes changed.
“The enemies targeting the princess are increasing.”
The moment I delivered my first line, I became immersed to an almost unnatural degree.
It was as if I had stepped into the dream I had had recently.
No, it was as if I had become possessed by the soldier I had seen in that dream.
My chest swelled with grandeur, and an inexplicable courage surged forth.
The princess's line came next.
During auditions, when I delivered the lines of the role I was auditioning for, the casting director would usually read
the lines of the opposite character.
But I looked at the casting director, who didn't open his mouth even after several seconds had passed.
Our eyes met.
He looked completely entranced.
Then, with an expression as if he had suddenly realized something, he quickly shook his head and opened his mouth.
“Are you certain?”
Instantly immersed by his line, I delivered mine again.
“Yes. We don't know how much longer this place will remain safe either. You must move to another residence at once.”
“No. You know why I must remain here. If I say I am going to stay here… If I choose to do so, what will happen?”
I raised my head and looked at the camera as I delivered my next line.
“But….”
The royal guard's line to the princess.
It was only three words, but every emotion contained within them was painfully evident in my expression and movements.
I looked exactly like the royal guard, standing in the middle of a dangerous situation, watching the princess who was
looking only at him while struggling with the scene unfolding before his eyes.
“I will remain here. Anyone who wishes to leave may do so.”
Despite the casting director's low, deep voice and his lines delivered as though he were simply reading from a textbook,
the entire situation felt urgent to me because I was completely immersed.
I soon gave a single nod, with the expression and gaze of someone who had made an enormous decision.
“I… No, we will protect Your Highness. Without fail…! We will.”
My voice was filled with strength.
It wasn't an exaggerated or affected voice. It was a firm voice, the kind used to shout so that every ally on a
battlefield could hear.
The moment my acting ended, the casting director's eyes widened.
Then he called out to me in an unusual tone.
“Hee-sung.”
I answered nervously.
“Yes.”
“Why have you been playing minor roles for so long?”
“…Excuse me?”
“No, I mean, you're incredibly good at acting.”
He tilted his head.
It seemed he was genuinely impressed by my acting.
A surge of exhilaration rose inside me.
He was praising my acting this highly after watching me perform at an audition.
Even if he had simply told me I had passed, I would have been indescribably happy.
For a minor actor, simply being told that you were good at acting was already enormous praise.
I repeatedly bent at the waist as I answered him.
“Thank you!”
“I should have immediately read the next line, but I got so immersed in your first line that I was late. I'm sorry.”
“Not at all. It's fine.”
He continued speaking with a satisfied smile.
“Filming is next Monday. You can come, right?”
“Of course. I'm available!”
“I'll text you the time and location, so make sure you don't arrive late.”
“Yes, thank you so much!”
---
I walked out of the building where I had just auditioned, pushing my way through the countless people.
What was this…?
Even I could tell that my acting had been different from usual.
The level of immersion was completely different from my previous auditions and practices.
It felt as if I wasn't myself.
As though I had been possessed by something.
That didn't mean I had actually been possessed and had no memory of the moment I performed.
I had definitely acted with my own body.
Wait a second….
Come to think of it, there had definitely been a camera in the audition room.
Goosebumps spread across my entire body.
The camera had clearly been recording with its red light on, yet I hadn't trembled while acting.
Even though they had only been three short lines, I hadn't gotten a single word wrong.
I don't think I've ever experienced anything like this before…?
The moment I had just spent acting came back to me, sending a shiver through my entire body.
Was my camera sickness disappearing like this?
I could feel a warmth spreading through my chest, and for some reason, I felt confident.
Yeah, just like today.
If I could keep doing things the way I always had, the way I practiced, it felt as though I could accomplish anything
from now on.
---
Phew.
As soon as I stepped forward today, I began taking deep breaths again.
Monday.
The Monday I had been eagerly waiting for.
It was the filming set for the drama Flowers Blooming in the Empire.
The closer I got to the set, the more people and cameras I could see.
The equipment and cameras scattered around the set were covered with PBC Broadcasting Station logos.
The props also had large stickers bearing the abbreviation of Flowers Blooming in the Empire, Hwangkkot.
I steadied myself as I looked at the props marked with the words Hwangkkot.
I had been given the opportunity to appear in this drama.
Today, please, don't let me get nervous.
Just do as much as I practiced. Just do as well as I did during the audition.
“Hello!”
As usual, I began greeting the staff members one by one as I spotted them.
Even with my energetic greetings, only a few staff members returned them.
I was grateful even when they gave me no reaction at all or simply nodded as they passed by.
There was a reason for that.
“Ah, go over there and wait. Don't come all the way here.”
Some staff members even scolded me as though I were more of an obstruction than the props scattered across the floor.
But I wasn't someone who would become discouraged over something like that.
This wasn't my first time on a set like this.
After greeting all the staff, I walked over to where the minor actors were gathered and waited.
“Excuse me.”
It was someone I had never seen before.
I tilted my head and asked in response to his call.
“Yes? Me?”
“Yes. Have you heard about that?”
The minor actor spoke to me again.
Despite being a complete stranger, he casually asked me a question.
“Yes. I heard Song Yuna is going to be filming today.”
“…Song Yuna?”
At my hesitant tone, he asked me again.
“Why? Do you have something going on with Song Yuna?”
“Uh… no. I saw her at a movie set a while ago.”
“Wow, that's interesting. I've never seen her in person before! What is she like? Does she look the same in real life as
she does on screen?”
Back then, Song Yuna had given me just as much hell as the director had.
For someone who was a top actress, she had a pretty face, but her personality was a little….
Come to think of it, my role today was the princess's royal guard.
Actors in leading roles weren't usually specifically identified to minor actors like us, so I had been curious about who
the leading actress would be, but I never expected it to be Song Yuna….
Before I could answer the man who had asked me the question, everyone turned their heads at the sound of murmuring.
I followed everyone's gaze and turned my head as well.
A familiar van had stopped in my field of vision.
The door opened immediately, and a woman stepped out of the vehicle with an aloof expression.
It was Song Yuna.
She walked toward the director in the distance, and after confirming her arrival, a staff member spoke in a loud voice.
“Alright! The actress is here, so let's get on standby!”
The staff member approached the group of minor actors.
As soon as I heard my cue, I immediately walked toward the filming area.
When I arrived, I saw countless staff members and cameras.
There were not only an overwhelming number of cameras, but also the prickly Song Yuna.
As I waited to go on standby, my legs, firmly planted on the ground, began to tremble.
Then a bead of sweat trickled down my back.
Damn it.
Had this damn camera sickness returned again?
It had definitely seemed better during the audition.
Still, if I could perform at least as well as I had during the audition, it should be enough.
I silently mouthed my lines, going over them again.
At the very least, I felt like I needed to practice to calm myself down.
“Huh? What's that?”
A sharp voice came from behind me.
I turned around and saw someone looking at me with a displeased expression.
It was Song Yuna.
Her gaze, which had been fixed on me, soon shifted toward Director Kim Chan-gi.
“Director. What's with him?”
At her words, Director Kim looked surprised and hurried over to Song Yuna.
“Why? Yuna, what's wrong?”
“Hah.”
She let out a breath as though she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
“I'm talking about him.”
Song Yuna pointed a finger toward me.
Director Kim looked in the direction her finger was pointing, saw me, and tilted his head.
“Hm?”
He glanced at me before looking back at Song Yuna and tilting his head again.
“Why? Is there a problem?”
“This guy seriously can't act.”
Song Yuna glared at me intensely before adding,
“Replace him. I can't work with him.”