Let's Set the Board Again. A Much Bigger One.
"Huh? This isn't the same place as last time."
Those were the first words out of Sua after she activated Time to Act. In her heart she had expected the grassland from before. This time, it wasn't that.
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"A hotel? Why is this hallway so ridiculously fancy?"
What filled her vision was luxury, plain and simple. A long red carpet ran the length of the corridor, and doors stood at even intervals along either side. She checked a few of the nearer ones, and couldn't help but startle.
"They even have names on them?"
The way someone might tape a sheet of paper outside a waiting room, an elegant line of text was set into the entrance of every suite — and in a typeface she knew all too well.
"Oh."
She understood at once.
"Got it. Step inside, and the experience starts."
Time to Act — the third Special Privilege Lee Sua possessed. Ordinarily it took the form of a hotel just like this, and the moment she opened any given door, the experience would begin. There was no reason to go in now. Sua nodded and stepped back. Knowing this much was enough for the time being.
※ Your status classification: Virgin
※ A virgin cannot experience bed scenes.
…Ah. And some things, it seemed, couldn't be experienced at all.
Sua considered that. Honestly, it was a relief.
"Huh. Way simpler than I thought."
She went back over everything she'd pieced together.
"I know what kind of Privilege this is. All that's left is…"
Getting in and out.
She could tell it was an extremely useful space. But if she couldn't come and go as she pleased, what good was it? How was she supposed to leave?
Fortunately, she didn't have to wonder long. Far down the hall, an exit came into view — an emergency-exit sign and all.
Sua started toward it.
Whoooosh—!
The moment she passed through the emergency exit, everything snapped back to the way it had been. And there she was again, sitting in front of her computer.
That was when it happened.
—♪♫♬
Right on cue, her phone rang. An unknown number.
She hesitated a second, then picked up. It might be urgent. She waited without saying a word, and before long a familiar voice came through.
"Hello? Ah — this is the Snack Movie directing team."
"Ah?"
Sua blinked, quietly. She'd been on edge wondering when the results would come, and in what form if they did — and now, at last, the call had arrived.
"Yes. That's me."
"Ahaha…"
At her answer, the person on the other end let out an awkward laugh.
"Things got hectic on my end, so I had no choice but to call this late. I'm sorry. Please don't be too angry."
She hadn't been angry. Not even a little. Sua did her best to sound unbothered.
"And you're calling because?"
"Ms. Sua, you passed. Congratulations."
"…?"
Sua blinked again. And before she knew it, she was asking back.
"…Me? Why?"
Meanwhile. The other end of the line.
The mind of the directing-team member on the phone with Sua was a tangled mess.
Lee Sua. What is with this woman?
Wasn't the normal reaction to news that you'd passed supposed to be joy? Acceptance notices were only ever meant to go out by text, and they'd made a special exception to call Lee Sua in person. By all rights she ought to be thrilled, shouldn't she? And yet her reaction was lukewarm. Worse, her tone made it sound like she was grilling them over why she'd been chosen. Nothing was going the way they'd pictured, and their vision was starting to white out.
Why ask back?
Ah. Don't tell me.
She wanted confirmation?
The staff member soon nodded, convinced. Lee Sua's acting had been extraordinary enough to win the judges over unanimously. Of course she knew her own skill. With a face that pretty, being particular was only natural.
The type who wants her own worth acknowledged. Confirmed.
Then all they had to do was acknowledge it. It wasn't even difficult. Nothing they were about to say was a lie.
"Why else? Because you acted well, Ms. Sua."
But no answer came back.
"…"
Only after a long pause did Lee Sua speak.
"…You're saying I acted well?"
"Huh?"
The question slipped out before the staff member could stop it. What was this strange, lukewarm reaction — had the praise not been good enough? Did she think they weren't being sincere?
"Really. I acted well?"
A voice as cool as they came. The staff member swallowed dryly without meaning to, and took stock all over again. This woman was extremely particular.
"Yes."
There was no choice but to praise her in more detail.
"Your eye lines, the way you built the scene, your movement… From where I stood, all of it was remarkable. The others felt much the same."
"Mm."
And still, her reaction stayed impossible to read. An intent that couldn't be parsed. With some difficulty, the staff member managed to infer an answer.
Thinking about it, none of this would move her. She's that good.
Praise like this, she must have heard countless times already. No compliment, however it was phrased, could leave her as anything but unmoved. Lee Sua's belated, utterly unruffled reaction suddenly made perfect sense.
Praise finished, the directing team finally got to the point.
"Anyway — I'll go ahead and pass along the next shoot date."
"Ah?"
Once again, not the reaction they'd been hoping for.
"We're going in this soon?"
"Sorry?"
"Ah, it's nothing."
"…"
The directing team was utterly lost. How to put it — she was a difficult person to get a read on. That voice stayed cold no matter how many times they heard it. Honestly, judging by the tone alone, it seemed entirely possible she might say, right this second, that she'd rather not film after all.
What on earth would win this woman's favor…?
They puzzled for a moment, and then something flashed.
"Um, Ms. Sua — if there's anything you need, please just say the word."
"Mm. I'll think about it."
"And you must come to the shoot!"
"Yeah, yeah."
A call that felt like nothing but hard work, with nothing to show for it. Or was that unfair? They had, at least, gotten Lee Sua's promise to show up. Did that alone make it the best conversation they could have hoped for?
They were steeped in that peculiar feeling when—
"How'd it go?"
The staff member's whole body sank into shadow. An enormous frame had appeared at their back. They reacted as if the bulk alone were enough to say who it was.
"Ah. Cheoljung."
"I was dying to know how it went. Did you get a yes on the appearance?"
"Probably?"
"What do you mean, probably?"
"No, she just seemed like she was mulling something over."
"She auditioned because she wanted to, didn't she? What's there to mull over? Ah — wait. Don't tell me."
Choi Cheoljung remembered something a beat too late.
"Pretty face, and the skill to match. She might already be in talks with the real entertainment industry."
"You think? No. But if she were actually in contact with the industry, something about it wouldn't sit right."
"Which part?"
"She said the acting was just a hobby."
"…!"
Choi Cheoljung startled, late to it.
"Hm. So maybe she auditioned purely for the fun of it? And that's why she's hesitating now?"
"As guesses go, that one feels like the prevailing theory."
Neither of them spoke for a while after that. Faced with someone this unusual, all they could do was sit and puzzle — until Choi Cheoljung broke the silence.
"…Well. Nothing for it but to hope she shows. I'd like to share a frame with her at least once."
Choi Cheoljung had trained until he was nothing but muscle, and he was a man with a fierce passion for the camera.
He was still a nobody.
Meanwhile, Sua finished her bath and stretched out, feeling refreshed.
"Hoo… I got through that all right, I think."
Talking to the PD had wrung a truly cold sweat out of her.
My acting. How was it, really?
That was the question sitting in her head. She'd finally unlocked the Special Privilege, and she'd figured out that she could live through a script by way of it. Whether she had actually recreated any of it in the flesh was an entirely different matter.
"I passed… If I passed, does that mean I did all right?"
But she soon shook her head.
"Nah. No. I still don't even know why they picked me."
Who could say? Maybe it hadn't been the acting at all, but something else. Jung Soyen's formidable connections, for instance.
Meanwhile, Sua finished her bath and stretched out, feeling refreshed.
"Hoo… I got through that all right, I think."
Even just dealing with the people from the Mutube channel wore her out.
Anyway. I wonder how my acting was.
That was the question sitting in her head. She'd finally unlocked the Special Privilege, and she'd figured out that she could live through a script by way of it. Whether she had actually recreated any of it in the flesh was an entirely different matter.
I can't go believing other people's praise so easily.
There was nothing wrong with being careful. The compliments had secretly pleased her, but she told herself not to let her guard down for a second. For all she knew, they were sweet-talking her just so they could use her up as a villain, or as comic relief.
See it with my own eyes, and judge for myself. No exceptions.
And she thought she ought to call Soyen unnie and ask about a few of the details.
Not long after, Sua fell into a deep sleep — utterly unaware of the enormous storm bearing down on her.