Aura of a Genius Actor

["Hello, Martin. My name is Elizabeth Karsen."

"Ah... your name is Eli...zabeth?"]

A faint chill crept into the way he savored the name, rolling it around his tongue before speaking it.

His manner of speech was far more mature than when he had been with the doll.

His "public-facing voice," perhaps.

Natalie tried to sense the actor standing across from her.

The texture of the character occupying that space was unmistakably real. It carried enough weight to press down on her steadily.

This feeling...

The first time since him.

["That's a beautiful name, Teacher."]

Natalie tried to decipher his intention.

Teacher... So he's established me as a tutor? Then I should follow his lead.

["Mm. I heard you wanted to learn how to paint?"]

["Yes. I want to paint the person I love most."]

["A romantic guy, aren't you? The person you love most... your girlfriend?"]

["Yes. Ah, and by pure coincidence, my girlfriend's name is Elizabeth too. Hehe."]

["Wow. That's quite a remarkable connection."]

Natalie knew exactly who he was supposed to be.

Despite that, he behaved with such effortless familiarity that she almost forgot what she knew.

A kind, cheerful young man deeply in love with his girlfriend.

The two sat down on the floor facing the audience.

There was probably an easel standing before them.

Pretending to mix paints on a palette, Natalie asked,

["Don't you have a photo of your girlfriend? If you're a beginner, it's usually easier to draw while looking at a reference."]

["Ah, here she is. My girlfriend."]

The boy proudly held out the doll.

Confusion flashed across Natalie's eyes—or rather, Elizabeth's.

["That doll... is your girlfriend?"]

["Come on, of course not. My girlfriend just looks exactly like this. Blonde hair, green eyes, small cute ears, hands with rounded fingertips. This doll looks just like her."]

Ah...

As she slowly nodded, the boy began examining her appearance piece by piece.

["But Elizabeth, that's disappointing."]

["Hm? What is?"]

["I wish you were blonde."]

["What?"]

The strange comment left her momentarily bewildered.

Then—

He suddenly seized both her wrists.

["W what are you doing...?!"]

As if wrapping invisible strings around her, he bound her hands.

Then her mouth.

Then her legs.

"Mmph—! Mmmph—!"

She writhed with wide eyes.

Slowly—

He stroked Natalie's hair.

["Let's see... how much of you matches our Elizabeth...?"]

A shiver exploded down Natalie's spine.

There was gentleness in his gaze.

Yet at the same time, he was dissecting her.

Evaluating her.

How useful would she be?

Like someone sorting through a slab of meat, deciding which pieces were worth keeping and which should be discarded.

Watching that expression from afar was one thing.

Facing it inches away was entirely different.

Even knowing perfectly well that it was acting, her knees threatened to buckle.

"Mmmph—! Mmph—!"

Natalie became half sincere and began screaming through her gagged mouth.

["Those eyes are exactly the same. I'll make good use of them. The ears could be useful too... The hair is completely useless, though. Maybe I need to find another Elizabeth with blonde hair."]

["Mmm... mmm..."]

Then his voice shifted.

No longer an adult's.

A child's.

["I'm glad you came. Now you can live with me, Elizabeth."]

At that moment Natalie trembled as though she were being swallowed whole.

A dizzy sensation washed over her, as if blood were draining from her body.

The performance felt half real.

She struggled until the very end.

Then—

Tap. Tap.

He gently patted her shoulder.

["Wow, that was incredible acting. Thank you, Natalie."]

The actor extended a hand with perfect courtesy, as if inviting her to stand.

Natalie stared blankly up at his face.

Even though her arms and mouth had never actually been restrained, she couldn't move them for several long moments.

 {"How was it, meow?"}

"It was... the moment our eyes met, it felt like I was completely captured. Just from the smallest gesture, I could instantly tell where he wanted the scene to go. And his immersion was unbelievable. He's an amazing actor."

{"You were happy acting with a pretty woman, meow."}

After the impromptu scene, Natalie Karsen found Yu Myeong backstage and told him how deeply impressed she had been.

Yu Myeong felt much the same.

An actress with solid fundamentals who followed his intentions so naturally had left a strong impression on him as well.

Miho smacked her lips.

{"The remnants of her vitality were quite delicious."}

The moment the studio filming ended, Susan came charging over and dragged Yu Myeong away.

She relentlessly questioned him.

Had the performance been his own creation?

What concepts and themes had he built into it?

How had it felt working opposite Natalie?

The interview dragged on for quite a while.

By the time it ended, three more contestants had piled up behind him waiting their turn.

Susan pursued the interview with all the intensity she could muster.

When everything was finally over, Yu Myeong headed toward the cafeteria feeling pleasantly satisfied, as though he had successfully poured every prepared performance onto the stage.

["Hyung, let's go together!!"]

Kai came running over and attached himself to Yu Myeong's side.

His expression was practically worshipful.

["Wow... Hyung, what are you? Seriously, I thought my soul was about to leave my body watching that performance. For a second I wondered if I'd wandered into a place way beyond my level... But getting to see that in person? Even if I get eliminated, I'm glad I came. You really were an actor before this, right? What did you do? Movies? Theater?"]

Yu Myeong felt strangely emotional.

To think Kai Nunen was looking at him like some kind of idol.

Granted, this Kai was a little younger than the version Yu Myeong knew.

Still, the face was exactly the same.

When he had first discovered Missing Child, he had spent an entire night binging a season of it while admiring and envying the actor Kai Nunen.

That version of himself puffed out his chest proudly somewhere deep inside.

["Yeah. I acted in Korea before coming here. Movies, theater, dramas. A bit of everything."]

["Woooow, dramas! Then you were a real major actor!"]

Yes.

And you're going to become major among the major.

Yu Myeong swallowed those words and simply smiled.

He and Kai had become surprisingly close in a short time.

They had sat beside each other for hours waiting for their turns, exchanging thoughts while watching the other contestants perform.

Kai was exactly the sort of person who radiated a naturally bright and sincere personality.

["Hyung, where did you learn acting? You must've had a great teacher."]

["Uh... yeah. The best teacher."]

In the past, he would have said he was self-taught.

But now Yu Myeong fully recognized Miho as his master.

He deliberately emphasized the word "best" as if making sure Miho heard it.

Kai's expression immediately darkened.

["I knew it... I'm so jealous."]

["Did you teach yourself acting, Kai?"]

["Well... calling it self-taught would be..."]

["Hm?"]

["This is actually my first time acting."]

["Your first time??"]

Yu Myeong tilted his head in surprise.

Kai had been rough around the edges, certainly.

But for a beginner...

He had possessed the natural magnetism of someone accustomed to capturing people's attention.

["Acting is my first time. I've done some extra work before because of a connection I had... but after that I really wanted to act."]

He said it with a smile.

Yet there was something desperate underneath.

["Looking at everyone else's level, I'll probably get eliminated here. But hehe, I got acting lessons from Natalie Karsen, and I got to watch your performance too... I'm really glad I applied."]

Yu Myeong disagreed.

But he merely nodded.

 ["Group One started first, and it turned out to be the fiercest group of all! Now it's finally time to announce the successful candidates!"]

Natalie Karsen was no different in the afternoon than she had been in the morning.

Every now and then she seemed to drift into thought for a moment.

But whenever contestants performed, she focused with complete sincerity and never hesitated to offer advice.

As expected, filming had stretched right to the limit of the schedule.

Even after seven hours, Jerry maintained his professional energy and cheerful atmosphere.

Yet the words "announcement of successful candidates" plunged the studio into complete tension.

["Drumroll! Drumroll! Drumroll! The first successful candidate will be announced by our goddess!"]

["Can you stop calling me that already?"]

["Why? Embarrassed?"]

["No. Just tired of it."]

Jerry shook his head dramatically as if to say See what I deal with?

Natalie shrugged and opened the envelope containing the results.

Or rather, she started to.

Then she simply grabbed the microphone instead.

["Do I even need to look? The first person was decided long ago."]

["Processes and procedures exist for a reason, you know?"]

["Some results are obvious enough to skip the process entirely."]

Her comeback was so smooth that Jerry wore the expression of a man who had just been defeated.

["So who is it?"]

["Mr. Yu Myeong. Congratulations."]

Clap clap clap clap—

The applause erupted immediately.

As if everyone had expected it.

The loudest applause of all, unsurprisingly, came from Kai.

["The second successful candidate will be announced by Andrew Pailton."]

["Face Shaper. Congratulations."]

["The third successful candidate will be announced by Keaston Hugh."]

["Jeffrey Lane. Congratulations."]

One male actor and one female actor joined the list.

Only the fourth and final position remained.

["Back to Natalie. Who's taking the final spot?"]

["Honestly... I struggled a lot with the last choice. Every actor here comes from a different background. We gathered people with professional experience, but some are already highly skilled while others are only taking their first steps. So who should we choose? Someone who's currently at fifty points? Or someone at thirty points but gains five or ten points every time they receive guidance?"]

["Hmm... that's a difficult decision."]

Natalie reflected on her judging process.

["That's why I invested so much effort into the coaching sessions. Some actors were already so complete that my guidance wasn't necessary at all. Others had reached a certain level but become rigid, making it difficult for them to absorb anything new. And some lacked experience but improved dramatically every time they were taught. So we agreed on one standard: where they'll be in three months. We decided to select the actors most likely to reach the finals three months from now based on both their current ability and their rate of growth."]

Only then did everyone understand why she had been so meticulous throughout the coaching sessions.

The clarity of her standards, and the seriousness with which she applied them, left the contestants deeply impressed.

["And the final successful candidate chosen by that standard is..."]

Just as Yu Myeong had expected—

["Kai Nunen. Congratulations."]

The final successful candidate was Kai.

Even after hearing his name, he looked half stunned, as though he couldn't believe it.

["Will the four of you please come up to the stage?"]

["Kai, let's go."]

["I... it's really... really me?"]

["Yeah. It's you. Get up already."]

Smiling, Yu Myeong pushed him gently to his feet.

Still dazed, Kai shuffled after him.

Only after stepping onto the stage and facing the judges did it finally sink in that he had truly passed the second round.

Tears began streaming down his face.

 ["All right, now it's time to announce the third-round assignment."]

Jerry pointed toward the studio screen once more.

Everyone's heart pounded in anticipation.

Then the screen displayed:

4

["Huh? Isn't that the same screen we saw earlier? Is it broken?"]

["Oh, no no. Not a malfunction."]

Dismissing Andrew's perfectly rehearsed reaction, Jerry continued.

["The California regional second round is being conducted in five groups of forty contestants each.

The assignment for advancing to the main competition is simple. The four successful candidates from each group will form a team and prepare a single stage performance together.

After presenting that performance, we'll decide who stays and who goes home."]

The four successful candidates glanced at one another.

Advancing from this round did not mean all four would reach the main competition.

Someone among them would be eliminated.

As though voicing everyone's thoughts, Andrew asked,

["Then how many people pass the second round, and how many ultimately enter the main competition?"]

["Excellent question. Let's take a look at the screen."]

52,231 (5,004) → 2,000 (200) → 200 (20) → 40

A sequence of numbers appeared.

Numbers that seemed understandable and incomprehensible at the same time.

["Roughly fifty two thousand people applied to Casting Boat. The numbers in parentheses represent the California region. Across the entire competition, the first-round acceptance rate was twenty five to one, leaving two thousand contestants. The second round narrows that to two hundred contestants at ten to one. Those two hundred people will form teams of four, creating fifty performances in total.

And from all of them...

Only forty contestants will advance."]

Someone swallowed hard.

One out of five.

Statistically, that meant fewer than one person from this group of four would make it through.

The contestants instinctively tensed.

["Those who advance will enter Action School, the main competition stage. An elite panel of instructors will train you for two weeks. And let me assure you, some truly extraordinary people are waiting there. You can probably guess that much just by looking at Natalie."]

Kai's eyes shone brighter than anyone else's.

The prospect of formal acting instruction clearly excited him beyond measure.

["And the script you'll be performing is... Script Number Two out of twenty five available scripts."]

Finally, Jerry turned toward Yu Myeong.

Their eyes met.

["And because Mr. Yu Myeong received the highest score in today's second-round auditions, he will serve as the team leader."]

An entirely unexpected responsibility dropped onto Yu Myeong's shoulders.

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