Recently, two audition roles were posted for Crime Society.
I heard the original cast had caused some kind of trouble.
The first was a supporting role, closer to a minor part, the one Hyunah had planned to apply for.
It had lines, but almost no screen time, and it still demanded solid acting skills. More than anything, it wasn't so different from the roles she'd already played.
The second role was another story entirely.
It was a villainess role with real weight to it. Not the lead, but a heavy supporting part standing right beside the main villain.
If done right, this role could send her popularity skyrocketing.
Of course, I wasn't aiming to actually get her through the audition.
It was a main supporting role in Director Hansung Lee's new blockbuster.
There was no telling how many fierce contenders were already gunning for it.
All I wanted was to change the future where she takes her own life after a wave of harsh reviews.
If I just let her die, what am I supposed to do when her face keeps flashing before my eyes like some vengeful maiden ghost, every time I look out at the Han River from my penthouse?
According to 'Inspect,' her aptitude pointed to villainess roles, so I figured this could help her avoid the criticisms.
"But… I've never played a role like that before…"
"Would you like to try a table read for the villainess script right now? You know the lines, right? You have nothing to lose."
After a moment of hesitation, Hyunah did as I said and started reading the villainess script provided by the director for the audition.
"Y-you stupid idiot. That's why you people are peasants!"
Yikes… What a disaster!
It was grade-school-talent-show-level acting!
Was 'Inspect' wrong?
Just as doubt crept in—
Ding!
[Help system activated! Inspecting the actor's performance!]
[Unable to perform properly due to psychological resistance triggered by moral compulsion!]
My jaw dropped in disbelief.
Her personality was simply too nice to properly play a villain!
No way. How can someone like this exist?
After spending three years next to Ina Kim, who was a total bitch in both her acting and her actual personality, seeing such a rare gem of an actress was a shock.
Anyway, I liked her as a person—but there was no way she could pull off a villainess role at this rate.
"I'm sorry. It's not that I haven't tried to take on villainess roles before, but it just never worked out. So I've only ever applied for heroine roles."
Of course, not being able to play a villain wasn't necessarily a fatal flaw for an actor.
There were plenty of legendary actors who never played a villain in their entire careers.
But the problem was that her true aptitude was for villainess roles.
And the bigger issue was that if she applied for any other role, she would receive massive backlash and potentially end up as a vengeful maiden ghost haunting the river view from my penthouse.
This is strictly business. I can't just tell her sweet lies.
"If you don't mind me asking… is there a specific reason? Like a childhood trauma or something?"
"O-oh, no… Nothing like that. It's just my personality. I'm not used to it…"
"You need to do it regardless. After all, this is your job. You're not doing this as a hobby, are you?"
"…"
Hyunah pressed her lips together.
"Nobody actually likes saying harsh things. Sure, some people are just rotten to the core—but most aren't. That's just the job. Like what I'm doing with you right now. If I held back what needed to be said just because I felt sorry, think about how disrespectful that would be to you."
"Disrespectful…"
"Yes, disrespectful to the job you took on. In your case, acting like that is disrespectful to the people watching your performance—not to mention the people who believe in and support you."
"…"
Hyunah said nothing, her expression unreadable.
Would these words actually work?
There was no way to know.
This was something the artist had to overcome on their own, so there was only so much a manager could do from the sidelines.
Still, it didn't seem entirely ineffective.
Something shifted in her eyes.
"Haven't you ever been angry at someone, or hated someone, in your life? Pretend I'm that person, and try acting again."
She gave a firm nod and began to glare at me as if she wanted me dead.
* * *
Hyunah felt conflicted.
Why is he going to such lengths for a washed-up actress like me?
As she constantly told herself, she was trash. Someone nobody looked for… or rather, someone people actively avoided.
She just hadn't been able to let go of her lingering attachments, but as an actress, she was essentially finished.
There was a reason she was tossed into Team 5 in the first place.
And yet… he fought Chief Manager Donghyuk Kim for me, and now he's getting so passionate about my acting.
How long had it been since someone fought that hard for her sake?
He must know there's no way I'll pass the audition. He has to know there's absolutely no benefit in caring about me…
-"Acting like that is disrespectful to the people who believe in and support you."
Those words snapped her wide awake.
I don't know about anything else… but I don't want to betray Manager Lim's support. He's just trying to help me out of pure human decency, without any hidden agenda—even though he has absolutely no reason to.
Whether she got the role or not wasn't the issue anymore.
At the very least, she wanted to deliver a performance that wouldn't embarrass him. No, she absolutely had to.
If she couldn't even do that, she would be committing a massive sin against him.
"Haven't you ever been angry at someone, or hated someone, in your life? Pretend I'm that person, and try acting again."
Hyunah looked at him.
She couldn't possibly see him as someone she hated, so she did the exact opposite instead.
She opened her mouth, determined to act for Chanwoo Lim, the only one who had ever reached out to her.
* * *
Hmm… if things go well, she might actually pass.
I recalled the performance Hyunah had shown me a few days ago.
It was just a table read, but…
…It gave me goosebumps.
It was the same feeling I got when I watched Ina act.
That wasn't an exaggeration at all.
Because this system window had popped up for her performance back then.
[Acting Skill Judgment: S]
It'd be great if it works out. Then she won't come back to bite me as a maiden ghost either.
There was just one problem, though—
「Manager? Are you busy?」
A KaTalk message arrived.
I wasn't doing anything anyway, so I replied that I wasn't busy.
Then a video was immediately sent over.
「How is this?」
It was a video of her practicing her acting in preparation for the audition.
Her acting was brilliant. She was great a few days ago, but I could see she had improved even more since.
The problem was—
Why is she sending this to me? I'm not an acting coach.
Of course, as the saying goes, even a dog living in a schoolhouse will eventually learn to recite poetry. I had a decent eye for acting myself.
Still, wasn't it right to send things like this to an acting coach?
But I couldn't exactly tell her to stop sending them.
「Are you sure you aren't really busy? I hope I am not interrupting you.」
「…I'm not busy.」
Because I literally wasn't doing anything!
Well, it should be fine.
Though she was messaging a bit too frequently.
And she didn't just contact me about acting, either.
I was also getting texts like, "Manager, did you enjoy your meal? I'm about to eat! Oh, and this is what I'm planning for my diet!"
It blurred the line between personal and professional, but I decided to let it slide.
Ina used to send me useless texts all the time, too.
The real problem was elsewhere.
Why is she contacting me?
「Why aren't you answering your phone?」
「I have something to tell you, so pick up.」
「Pick up…」
I frowned as I looked at the barrage of messages from Ina Kim.
Why should I pick up? Is she crazy?
I hadn't officially left the company yet, so I would have to answer if it was work-related, but no matter how I looked at it, this didn't seem like business.
After blocking both her number and messages, I contacted Team 2.
「An artist under Team 2 is making inappropriate personal contact, so please handle the situation. If this inappropriate contact continues, I will report it as stalking. If work-related contact is necessary, please request cooperation through official channels.」
Fortunately, the message must have gotten through, because she stopped contacting me.
However, there was yet another problem—
"…Head Director Soohyuk Kim wishes to see you."
The head director's secretary came over again with a troubled expression.
I made a troubled face as well.
"Right now?"
"Yes, right now."
"I'm busy."
"…Are you?"
"Yes. Very."
"Even if you are busy, the head director wishes to see you immediately…"
"Shouldn't I prioritize work? Or does he have business that takes precedence over my work?"
The secretary looked like he was about to burst from frustration, but I didn't budge an inch.
I don't want to meet him. Why should I look at a face I hate?
I had set a rough principle for myself.
I would do what I had to do.
No matter how rich I had become, as long as I was working at a company, I had responsibilities to fulfill.
However, I absolutely refused to force myself to do annoying and unpleasant things that went beyond my official work duties.
I don't know if the head director's intentions for seeing me are good or bad, but it definitely isn't related to official business.
The head director was an extremely political man. He definitely wanted to see me with some sort of sinister ulterior motive.
I refused to get involved with him entirely.
"If he has work-related matters to discuss, tell him to please do so through an official channel. If he wants to talk about personal matters, tell him to refrain as it interferes with my work."
The secretary's mouth gaped open wordlessly before he vanished.
The members of Team 5 looked at me like I was a madman, but when I slowly turned my head toward them, they flinched and ducked their heads to avoid my gaze.
So peaceful. It'd be nice if I could hold out like this for five years.
But it seemed I had underestimated the head director.
A few days later, the Team 5 office was thrown into a commotion.
"Greetings, head director!"
The head director had personally descended to the mortal realm—ah, no, he had made his way all the way down to the Team 5 office!
"Chief Manager Chanwoo Lim, you must be very busy recently."
I furrowed my brows.
Why is he going this far?
I didn't know what his motives were.
I hadn't cared in the first place.
But seeing him act like this only made me want to know even less.
However, since he had shown up right in front of my face, it was difficult to just keep using the excuse that I was busy.
Because I literally wasn't doing anything at all!
I don't know what he's scheming, but I don't want to deal with him.
Then—
A message chimed, saving my life!
"Yes, I am busy."
"…Busy? With what?"
"I have to head out to the field."
"…The field?"
「Today is finally the audition day! Just like you cheered me on, Manager Lim, I'll definitely pass!」
It was Hyunah Lim's audition day.
* * *
Usually, a road manager doesn't tag along every single time an actor attends an audition. Especially not when it's an open audition like this one.
Hyunah hadn't wanted me to follow her, either.
"You must be busy, so thank you for caring so much. I-I will definitely, definitely pass."
She must have been moved, because tears even welled up in her eyes.
She said it had been a very long time since a manager had accompanied her to an audition venue.
Well… I only came to avoid the head director.
Future repercussions?
It wasn't like I needed to get on the head director's good side, so what was there to worry about?
Whether he was boiling with rage on the inside or not was none of my business.
Anyway. It was getting stuffy in the office, so coming outside feels like a nice breath of fresh air.
I thought it might be nice to come out to the field every now and then like a little outing.
However, right before entering the audition hall, we ran into someone surprising.
"Gasp, director! How are you?"
It was Director Hansung Lee!
Since it was the audition venue for his own movie, running into him beforehand wasn't exactly strange, but still.
[Would you like to inspect Director Hansung Lee?]
I answered 'yes' without much thought.
[Hansung Lee]
Type: Director
Rank: S
Potential: C (Drastically reduced due to a slump)
[Special Note: Scheduled to massively flop his next project, Crime Society, due to a slump.]
…Only to be completely baffled.
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