Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Tae-hoon's Audition
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Han-gyeol seemed to still be diligently roaming around the world fighting here and there afterward.
I had no idea what kind of change had occurred deep inside that guy.
Word was, she was now traveling through the Islamic cultural sphere with great enthusiasm.
Seeing her appear in news reports everywhere confirmed it.
After Yahweh's descent, the world had been swept up in yet another massive wave of change.
Religions worshiping Yahweh's faith had begun showing signs of gradual unification.
Because of that, even the fiercest religious wars in certain regions were starting to die down bit by bit.
Most religious wars boiled down to tangled issues of old grudges, differences in doctrinal interpretation, and vested interests... but ultimately, the key question was who was truly following God's will.
With God Himself and His messengers descending to deliver their voices directly to the world, no faithful person would dare oppose them.
Of course, there were high-ranking figures unwilling to relinquish their own interests who committed blasphemy by calling it a false god and stoking the wars anyway, but divine judgment was falling upon them just as you'd expect.
It wasn't uncommon for Han-gyeol to suddenly descend from the heavens and demolish the very buildings they lived in.
The sight of massive beams of light shooting down from the sky to shatter buildings was so majestic and holy that no one dared raise a banner against her.
In conclusion, Han-gyeol was unifying the Abrahamic religions at an astonishing pace.
...What was truly surprising was that even Judaism, which doesn't recognize Jesus as another form of Yahweh, had been brought into the fold.
Well, when God Himself declares that Jesus is indeed His son and another aspect of Himself, what could they say?
With the Trinity doctrine proven as fact, Judaism had no room to nitpick.
Anyway... in the end, one major axis of the massive wars crisscrossing the world religions had vanished, so this must be God's grace as well.
* * *
While Han-gyeol was unifying the world's religions, daily life continued without a hitch.
The news reported her exploits day after day, but... for non-Christian households, it was just, "Oh, that's interesting."
Anyway, after lounging at home for the first time in a while, I got a message from Tae-hoon.
[Han Tae-hoon: What're you up to?]
[Yoon Seo-hyun: Chilling]
[Han Tae-hoon: Hey, what if... I ended up in a movie, you think?]
What the hell was this guy talking about? Isn't appearing in movies a given for a stuntman?
...Of course, no one would know it was him.
[Yoon Seo-hyun: Don't stuntmen appear in movies by default?]
[Han Tae-hoon: No, no. Not as a stuntman—as an actor.]
...?
What? Actor?
[Yoon Seo-hyun: Actor? What's that about?]
[Han Tae-hoon: Somehow I ended up with an audition coming up;;]
[Yoon Seo-hyun: What? Weren't you gonna be a stuntman? Why actor all of a sudden?]
[Han Tae-hoon: I dunno;;]
Here's what happened when I asked for details.
Just like any other day, while learning martial arts at action school, he happened to get acquainted with the instructor's friend, who turned out to be a famous film director.
And this director's upcoming film was an Eastern-style action swashbuckler, and he said Tae-hoon's visuals were perfect for the final boss in that historical action flick, so he urged him to audition.
...Does that even make sense?
[Yoon Seo-hyun: So what'd you say?]
[Han Tae-hoon: I've never acted a day in my life, so obviously I refused like, "Who am I to audition?";; But then he suddenly insisted I participate.]
Even as he said it, he seemed genuinely flustered.
I could see why he'd be thrown off.
He'd joined action school thinking he'd just dabble in stunts, and now suddenly he was being pushed into an audition.
Sure, he didn't have to go, but it seemed like inner conflict was brewing in him.
That's probably why he reached out to me.
......Man, stuff like this really happens in real life, huh.
[Yoon Seo-hyun: But action swashbucklers need action acting too, right? Even with stuntmen, they can't cover everything.]
[Han Tae-hoon: That's why he had me show off my best martial arts... You know that thing from when I first mutated? ㅇㅇ;; After I showed it, he was like, he really wants to cast me;;]
Ah, yeah, I get why he'd want to cast him then.
If it's not CG but a scene created with mutant abilities, it'd be impossible not to go viral.
If an actor personally demonstrates martial arts by summoning blue demon flowers to slice an alloy wall in half, it'd blow up on SNS and everywhere.
If his acting holds up even a little... as long as it's not total cringe-level acting, it might actually work.
Basic martial arts choreography would feel totally different from CG anyway.
[Yoon Seo-hyun: Then sign up for an acting academy first.]
[Han Tae-hoon: Think I should? Kinda hesitant to blow all my rice-farming money though.]
[Yoon Seo-hyun: Hit it big and you'll recoup it all, right?]
[Han Tae-hoon: True? Maybe go for broke and aim to recover it?]
[Yoon Seo-hyun: It's like investing your rice-farming earnings to get a return—profit either way, no?]
[Han Tae-hoon: O...... You know me too well;; ㅎㅋ Fine, if I've drawn the sword, might as well chop some grass.]
For reference, Han Tae-hoon was the type to make pocket money by farming gold and items in games and selling them.
And he made a pretty decent amount—not just pocket change.
The money for action school came from that too.
Successful rice farmer through and through.
* * *
That very day, Tae-hoon signed up for an acting academy.
And he discovered something unexpected: he actually had talent for acting.
......Racial trait? Nah, doesn't feel like a racial thing. There's no lore about Oni being good actors.
Hard to pin down, but he wasn't exceptional across all acting in general—more like optimized for exuding a "larger-than-life" aura.
In short, perfect for auditioning as a final boss.
I knew zilch about acting, so I couldn't say for sure, but... if the pros say he's good, who am I to argue.
Buoyed by that confidence, he juggled action school and acting academy on a killer schedule.
Fortunately, his mutant body's durability meant no fatigue, so he pulled all-nighters immersed in acting, and his skills improved daily.
He had a knack for embodying roles and scenarios from the ground up.
Then, some time passed, and Han-gyeol returned to Korea.
Tae-hoon's audition rolled around.
“Han Tae-hoon has an audition?”
“Yeah, why, don't you know that director? He was saying he's dead set on casting him.”
Han-gyeol was shocked the moment she got back and heard about Tae-hoon's audition.
“Who's the director I know?”
“You know, the guy who hit ten million viewers last time? Famous for action flicks.”
“Oh, Director An Jin-ho?”
“Something like that, yeah.”
“......Why would a director of that caliber want Tae-hoon?”
“Dunno. But he showed that thing where he set his sword on fire and cut alloy, mixed with action school martial arts......”
At that, Han-gyeol nodded.
“Yeah, for an action movie at least, it'd be a gamble worth taking.”
“Anyway, you done with everything?”
“Yeah... for now? Worked my butt off, so planning to take it easy for a bit.”
“You managed not to show your face?”
“I thought about going full reveal, but Dad said it'd ruin the mystique......”
......Ah, so that was Yahweh's doing?
He knows exactly when mystique works best, huh?
“But my dad, no matter how I look at it, has this ditzy side......”
“Why?”
“He's got no sense of direction. No wonder Moses wandered for decades finding the way...... My bad for trusting him. If we hadn't gotten lost there, we'd have been back a week sooner.”
“......”
Uh, um.
Yeah.
Better not say anything—blasphemy otherwise.
“So, you going to watch Tae-hoon?”
“Why else would I call you? Buy us a meal after the audition.”
“Oh, me too?”
“......Yeah, whatever.”
* * *
Tae-hoon entered the audition room with slight tension.
She wasn't one to get nervous in most situations, but anyone with a heart of steel would tense up trying something for the first time.
The people around her jumped in surprise at the sight.
Jet-black hair.
An otherworldly beauty.
And smooth horns protruding from her forehead.
With a mutant showing up at the audition, everyone was startled.
“......Are, are you here for the audition?”
“Yes.”
She gave an awkward smile as she replied.
‘......Wonder how this'll turn out.’
Still, now that she was here, she hoped for a good result.
The director had made such a fuss, and the acting academy feedback was positive...... Falling flat would look bad.
With that in mind, Tae-hoon took a deep breath.
Soon, her name was called.