Making a Living from Games Isn't Easy
With more than a decade of directing behind him, if Director Kang had to name the single most difficult kind of shoot in his career, he would have picked commercials with little kids without a second’s hesitation.
They cried, threw tantrums, and turned to stone the moment a camera was pointed at them.
Getting one child to cooperate was twice as exhausting as placating three adult actors.
Last time, on a beverage commercial, the lead kid had cried nonstop for three straight hours, and the entire crew had been left completely dazed.
By comparison, today’s lead was seven years old, so it wasn’t as if things were hopelessly bad, but...
“They put an inexperienced kid in the main role?”
No matter how much this industry ran on connections, the advertiser had apparently trusted the agency completely and shoved an inexperienced child into the spot.
Probably because they were drinking buddies or something.
If this had been a film or drama, where any stain on his career would have mattered, Director Kang would have fought it tooth and nail. But this was a minor side commercial, practically a sideline job, so he decided to go along without a fuss.
“Let’s knock this out quick and get out of here.”
He was sitting down, looking over the storyboard, when...
“Director, Director!!”
An assistant director he’d worked with for years came running over in a panic.
“What is it?”
“Wow, this commercial is going to be dead easy.”
“Huh? I heard she’s a rookie.”
“Yeah, but the kid speaks way too well for a seven-year-old.”
“Oh? Really?”
There was nothing better for a commercial shoot than a young model who knew how to carry herself.
“And on top of that, she’s got a total actor face. You know what I mean, right? She just has that born-for-it vibe.”
“Really? I thought she was just some parachute hire.”
“No, no. She’s the textbook definition of 'Please Stay This Cute as You Grow Up'. I doubt she’ll even move the camera angle much.”
“You brat. What do you know about cameras?”
“I’m serious. You’ll be surprised when you see her.”
Still unconvinced, one of Director Kang’s eyebrows rose at an angle.
“If she’s at that level as a child actor, wouldn’t she have been discovered younger?”
When someone got dropped in from nowhere without a proper explanation, it was usually because they were nothing special at all.
“He doesn’t usually get this worked up about things...”
His curiosity began to bubble up.
“Show me. Where is she?”
“Yes. This way.”
He didn’t even have to move far before he ran straight into Lee Chaewon’s family, who were greeting people around the set and heading this way.
“Hello.”
The moment he saw the little girl clutching her father’s hand and greeting them in a clear, bright voice, the set stirred.
“Oh my.”
“Whoa.”
“She’s cute.”
The atmosphere rippled with quiet excitement.
“Hoo?”
Director Kang also stroked his beard in satisfaction.
Round eyes like a doll’s, a face that looked as if it had absorbed sunlight itself, and an air that drew every gaze in the room even when she was standing perfectly still.
There was something about her that simply pulled people in.
...This one’s a find.
“Hi there. You’re Chaewon?”
“Yesss.”
“That’s right, that’s right. I’m the director. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Polite, too, and well-behaved.
Today’s shoot might be easier than expected.
Director Kang let himself smile with rare pleasure.
“All right, parents, please come over here and wait. Chaewon, why don’t you go over there?”
He’d only taken a quick look to see how she appeared on camera, and yet...
Jesus—!
No matter how carelessly he framed her, the atmosphere she gave off in every angle was no joke.
I’m going to shoot a masterpiece today!
For the first time in a while, Director Kang’s dead artistic soul blazed to life.
Sadly, it took less than ten minutes for that smile to shatter into pieces.
“Okay, hold the magic wand up and go, ‘Sparkle sparkle, transform!’ Then give me a big bright smile. Got it?”
The commercial product was the Magic Girl transformation set from Duel King, currently all the rage.
Lift the sparkling wand, spin around in a cute little twirl, and beam brightly, the kind of thing any girl that age would normally be thrilled to do.
“Ready— action!”
“......Sparkle sparkle. Transform.”
“...Cut.”
What was that just now?
Not a single shred of soul in that voice.
The pose with the wand raised looked like a gladiator heading into battle.
And the smile she’d been told to make was nothing but a stiff upward tug at the corners of her mouth, the very picture of forced cheerfulness.
It was cute enough to be usable, sure, but...
“Uh, Chaewon. A little more excited! Like, wow— I’m transforming! Something like that, okay?”
“...Wow. I’m transforming.”
“......Cut.”
What on earth.
Wondering if something was wrong, he glanced toward the side, where the family seats were, and saw her mother covering her face with both hands.
Trying hard not to laugh, her shoulders trembling, Director Kang pretended not to notice and looked away.
“Then this time, try hopping a little! Wow— this is fun! How’s that?”
“...Wow. This is fun. Hop.”
“......”
An all-time scam of a find!
Director Kang’s thoughts twisted into knots.
“Chaewon, are you hurting anywhere? Want to take a short break?”
“...No. I’m okay.”
She looks great just standing there...
He looked at the footage they’d shot so far, and his expression kept hardening.
Look at that face. Anyone would think someone had brought her poisoned soup.
No, no. Maybe she was just nervous. She was still a child, after all!
Refusing to give up, Director Kang walked over to Chaewon.
“Chaewon, want to take a little rest? You might be fine, but this old man needs one.”
“Yesss.”
The set was full of huge cameras and unfamiliar adults.
For a child, it was not exactly an easy place to be.
So he tried gently to start a conversation.
“How did you end up deciding to do this commercial, Chaewon?”
“Oh, because the pay was the best...”
“The pay...?”
Not exactly the sort of word a child should be using, was it?
N-no way.
A street beggar...?!
What kind of shameless nonsense was that in the twenty-first century?
He widened his eyes and turned to look at Chaewon’s parents, only to see Lee Jeonghwan already approaching with his phone out.
“Heeey, don’t take pictures. If you do, I’ll go hungry all day.”
“Aww, why? You’re dressed so cute. Let me keep just a few shots; stay still.”
Ah, so that’s not it?
Judging by the way she talked to her father, she didn’t seem to be some street corner extortion case after all.
After telling her to wander around the set freely and get comfortable, Director Kang was left alone with his thoughts.
Let’s cut the dialogue entirely. Just have her strike a few decent poses.
It was a pity, but even that alone could be put to good use.
She was far too striking to throw away over something this minor.
Having made up his mind, he looked around for Chaewon and found her near the pile of set props.
“Hm?”
What is that sadness?
Chaewon’s harmless, almost mysterious gaze rested on something with such wistful pity that it practically released a cloud of longing.
He immediately snapped a few shots without saying a word.
How can a child express emotion at this level?
He zoomed in on whatever she was holding in her hands.
“...Duel...King?”
A Duel King card pack box being used as a prop.
What was it about that thing?
Director Kang sprang up at once and headed for Chaewon.
“Chaewon.”
“Eep?! Y-yes? I didn’t steal anything.”
“Huh? No, no. You like that?”
“Uh... yes.”
Without the slightest hesitation, Director Kang lifted up one of the boxes.
“This one. I’ll give you a brand-new one, the whole thing.”
Chaewon’s eyes went round as she pressed her lips together.
“But only if you finish the shoot well. Deal?”
“Y-yes, please!”
He hadn’t expected some miraculous transformation.
Limits of birth were hard to overcome through effort alone.
If all the shaky actors in the world could be fixed just by willpower, then there would be no such thing as bad acting.
It was only a bait to draw out a little more of the child’s honest reaction.
That was all. Surely...
Surely that was all it had been.
“Sparkle sparkle, transform! Waaah— I’m so, so pretty now!”
That laugh, so pure and delighted as she played with the magic girl set, genuinely overjoyed.
Those tiny hands flicking the wand around so cutely.
Even the sidelong look her eyes gave the camera was enough to pierce straight through it.
It was perfect.
If the advertiser had been there, nobody would have been shocked to hear them offer a full-time model contract on the spot.
“Bravo!! Bravoooo! Cut-cut-cut! Okay!! Let’s go one more time! This is too good right now! You can break through your own peak! Let’s goooo! Play even harder!!”
After that, Chaewon kept striking poses exactly as the director wanted, looking every inch the real thing, and the shoot wrapped safely.
***
“Phew.”
I let out a sigh that felt like it could carry the world away.
What exactly had I just done?
“Chaewon, let’s go home. You were the cutest thing alive today.”
“I got scammed...”
“Hm? Why? Wasn’t it because you chose the magical girl character you like?”
“I didn’t say I liked it. I said I was a little interested.”
I could say it a thousand times and it still wouldn’t stick, so I just shut my mouth.
But wasn’t this ad my choice?
Yes, it was. I picked the commercial myself.
What, what, what, so what?
I’d only been curious because the agency’s list had included a magic wand toy from a Duel King magical girl series.
The other options had been a transforming car robot, a doll wardrobe called Sisi, and a child actor part for a web drama.
I’m not acting, how would I do that?
That one felt way too serious, and I didn’t like it.
I want easy ssalmeok!
If I wanted to avoid feeling like I was working, then the Duel King commercial was the most interesting option.
And besides, it paid the most.
...Also, on the side, I’d been curious whether the wand’s quality had actually turned out well.
Anyway, that was the chain of thought that had led me to do the ad.
I heard it would air on the kids’ cartoon channel too...! This is bad...!
Little kids at kindergarten were going to watch the scenes where I danced?
“I’m gonna die.”
“Huh? Chaewon wants soup?”
“No...”
Even then, I looked down at the Duel King box I was holding tightly in my arms.
Bone Dragon.
Yeah, this bastard is the problem.
As expected of the Duel King studio, there were mountains of those card boxes piled up on the set.
Wow, one box has thirty packs in it.
That was when I started drooling and my eyes went all funny.
After the director handed me a box of Bone Dragon, something inside me felt like its limiter had been ripped away.
I have to do my best!
I threw myself into it, and when I came to my senses, I was a Girl No. 1 happily playing with a magic wand.
And if you think about it, my actual appearance fee was way higher than this thing.
It’s not even thirty thousand won per box. Why did I go so hard...?
Why, indeed.
...Because Mom banned me from buying cards, that’s why.
Idiot, sea anemone, mangy mutt.
I was pretty sure if I said it out loud, I’d get flicked on the forehead, so I fixed a resentful glare at the back of Mom’s head as she drove.
Somehow that made me feel a little calmer.
So this is why kids blame their parents for everything.
Then Dad turned around and showed me his smartphone screen.
“Sweetie, Dad took a ton of photos. Want to see?”
“Aaaagh, delete themmm.”
“Why? You look adorable.”
I’d snarled at him not to take pictures, and he was still ignoring me.
“...Then I’m not eating.”
Dad would only love being hit, so I’d torment this body of mine in his place.
“Then you’re the one who loses if you don’t eat. Starve away~”
Mom, who was driving in Dad’s place, answered coolly.
“Honey, should we get chicken tonight?”
“Sounds good. Chaewon, you don’t want any?”
“...Chicken?”
Well, Mom wasn’t wrong.
The sensible one really was Mom.
There was no reason for me to go hungry.
Nope, none at all.
“I want boneless.”
“Pwahaha. Sure, sure. Let’s pick it up on the way.”
.
.
.
Then about three months passed.
By the time the commercial had faded to the back of my mind, the classroom door slid open with a rumble.
“Oh! Chaewooon! You’re heeere?”
“You! Youyouyou! That!”
When I got to kindergarten, Kim Siyeon was holding a familiar magic wand in her hand.