WeTried Translations
Translator: uglyidol
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became a Top Star by Only Playing Villains ◈
Chapter 1: A Clockwork Orange
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I could say with confidence that I’d lived an ordinary life.
Passerby A.
Neighbor B.
Extra C.
I wasn’t particularly handsome.
I wasn’t particularly good at studying.
I didn’t have any special talents.
I was so plain and ordinary that someone looking back on their school days as an adult would think, “Oh, what was that guy’s name again?”
Not kind, but not especially bad, either.
Not warm, but not completely cold.
Just an ordinary person you could find anywhere.
That was me.
I, Lee Hansol, had lived all 26 years of my life that way.
But one day, I remembered my past lives, and everything changed.
In the past lives I saw in my dreams, I was a truly evil man.
And it wasn’t just one life.
A serial killer who took pleasure in murdering people. A monstrous dictator who plunged the world into war and death. A traitor who sold out his family and friends to the enemy.
Across countless lives, I had been evil every single time.
Only after spending an eternity being punished in Hell had I been given another chance at life.
‘To think I was that evil in my past lives.’
When I first remembered them, I was deeply confused.
Just recalling the terrible things I’d done filled me with so much disgust and revulsion that I felt like throwing up.
So I made a promise to myself.
In this life, at least, I would keep living without committing any sins for the rest of my days, just as I had so far.
I’d finally been given a new life. I couldn’t become evil again.
I intended to spend the rest of my life quietly, without causing anyone trouble.
But...
There was one problem.
Rrrroll, tap.
As I was walking down the street, a soccer ball rolled to my feet.
It belonged to some children playing at a nearby playground.
Normally, I would have returned it right away, but I was different now.
‘Man, I want to boot this thing into the distance.’
That was the problem.
Remembering my past lives had brought out an evil nature I’d never known I had.
“Hyung! Could you kick our ball back?”
“Please!”
The children, who looked like elementary school students, smiled and waved at me.
Looking at their smiling faces only made the malice inside me rise even higher.
‘I want to channel Cristiano Ronaldo and send it flying with a knuckleball free kick.’
Then they’d be devastated about losing their ball and burst into tears, wouldn’t they?
...After thinking that, I gave the ball back.
“...Kids, be more careful when you’re playing next time, okay?”
“Okay! Thank you, hyung!”
It was driving me crazy.
Ever since I’d remembered my past lives, resisting the urge to do bad things had been incredibly hard.
It felt like someone was standing beside me, constantly whispering in my ear, telling me to do something evil.
If I kept holding back and suppressing this nature, I felt like I would eventually lose control and become just as evil as I’d been in my past lives.
‘I don’t want that...’
Of course I didn’t want to become evil.
If I committed a crime, I’d go to prison.
And if I went to prison, I’d have a criminal record. Wouldn’t that ruin my life?
More importantly, this life was practically my last chance.
If I spent this life being evil too, the demons in Hell certainly wouldn’t let me off.
‘I absolutely can’t commit any sins in this life...’
I wanted to be good and live without hurting anyone.
But my body kept wanting to do bad things.
What on earth was I supposed to do?
Was there really no way to control this evil nature that felt ready to explode at any moment?
I was sighing heavily when my phone rang.
Rrrring.
[Seongsu hyung.]
“Oh.”
It was Seongsu hyung, who worked as my manager.
Believe it or not, I was an actor.
I’d first dreamed of acting in elementary school. Now, at 26, I’d finished my military service and was still working as an actor.
Though, of course, I was barely scraping by as an extra.
“Hello? Hi, hyung.”
[Hey, Hansol. The audition results came in, so I called to let you know.]
“Oh...! If you’re calling me yourself, does that mean I got it?!”
I’d recently auditioned for a youth drama.
It was only a supporting role, but it had a fair number of lines, so I’d set my sights on it.
The writer had even said outright that they liked me, which had gotten my hopes up.
But...
[Uh... Well... The thing is...]
“...”
His hesitation alone told me the result.
‘Another one down the drain.’
A familiar sense of defeat seeped through me.
Even after countless failures, I couldn’t hide my disappointment.
“I didn’t get it?”
[...Sorry. That’s how it turned out.]
“You don’t have anything to apologize for. Could I ask why they turned me down?”
[...Same reason as last time.]
When I first joined an acting academy, I was a promising student the teachers had high hopes for.
They would tell me I had a talent for acting and would soon be landing lead roles.
Yet here I was, struggling to get even a small part.
[...They said you were a little too ordinary, Hansol.]
“...So it’s that again.”
It was because I was too ordinary.
An actor’s job was to be seen by the public.
Handsome or ugly. Funny, heartbreaking, or infuriating.
An actor needed at least one quality that stood out, but I was far too ordinary.
‘...I should never have aimed for something beyond my reach.’
Everyone dreamed of becoming the opposite of what they were.
Having been ordinary since childhood, I’d wanted to grow up to be an actor the public loved and admired.
But acting ability alone wasn’t enough to make someone an actor.
For someone like me, with nothing that stood out, this career really was impossible.
‘Is it... time to give up on my dream?’
I couldn’t spend my whole life just dreaming.
I was already in my mid-twenties.
If I was going to quit, giving up as soon as possible would give me a better chance of finding another way to make a living.
[Still, don’t get too discouraged, Hansol! It was actually a good thing you didn’t get it! I’ve landed you an incredible audition opportunity!]
“An incredible... audition opportunity?”
But perhaps I hadn’t let go of my dream yet.
His words made me pause.
[It’s for the new Webflix original, <The Last Clue>!]
“...!”
<The Last Clue> was a crime investigation drama preparing to enter production. Streaming giant Webflix had recruited a star director-producer and writer from a terrestrial TV network to make it.
With an all-star lineup, from its director-producer and cast to its writer, it was one of the most anticipated shows of the second half of the year.
And a role had suddenly opened up in a major drama like that?
“I thought they’d finished casting ages ago. Did another spot open up? What’s the role?”
[Yeah. A serial killer who appears in Season 1.]
The role they were holding auditions for was a serial killer.
In other words, a villain.
‘A villain...?’
My eyes flew open the moment I heard that.
A villain could do all kinds of terrible things in a story without the actor actually becoming evil.
Maybe playing a villain would let me release the evil nature stirring inside me.
More importantly, I’d lived countless lives as evil people.
The urge to kill, jealousy, rage, hatred, a sense of being wronged, arrogance, and more.
The emotions and memories of all kinds of evil people were still vivid in my mind.
I could release my evil nature by playing villains.
And achieve my dream of becoming an actor.
Wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?
[Of course, you’ve never played a villain before, so it’ll be a difficult role...]
“No, hyung! I’m fine with playing a villain! Actually, I really want to!”
Afraid I’d miss my chance, I rushed to answer before he could change his mind.
At that moment, a thought crossed my mind: maybe playing villains was my true calling.
* * *
Kim Seongsu, head of the management team at D&P Entertainment.
Despite his position as team leader, he personally looked after Hansol, who was barely more than an aspiring actor.
He felt terrible seeing someone so talented spend years on the edges of the industry without getting anywhere.
In Seongsu’s eyes, Hansol was clearly an actor who could make it big.
His acting was excellent, and he had a fairly likable appearance.
But there was one problem.
When Seongsu watched Hansol perform, he felt like he was watching an ordinary person who was good at acting, rather than an actor.
It was probably because Hansol was too ordinary, just as so many directors and writers had pointed out.
Even so, Seongsu saw potential in him. That was why he’d arranged so many auditions and meetings for Hansol.
The audition for <The Last Clue> was no different.
As soon as the casting director contacted him, Seongsu had recommended Hansol as his first choice.
But...
“Of course, you’ve never played a villain before, so it’ll be a difficult role...”
[No, hyung! I’m fine with playing a villain! Actually, I really want to!]
Seongsu hadn’t expected Hansol to welcome this audition quite so eagerly.
After all, a serial killer was far from an easy role.
“Huh? R-really? Hansol, do you think you can do well at this audition?”
[Yes! I really think I can do well this time! I’m confident!]
Hansol was even expressing confidence about the audition.
It was the first time he’d sounded this sure of himself, and Seongsu was taken aback.
‘What’s going on? Has he been practicing villain roles a lot?’
Too ordinary. No presence.
Those were the reasons Hansol had failed so many auditions.
But a serial killer was a role that needed to make its presence felt more than anyone else.
How was Hansol, who was always being told he was ordinary, planning to pull it off?
“...Okay. Then I’ll get the audition scheduled right away and send the script to your phone first.”
Seongsu was starting to get curious.
Footnotes:
“Hyung” is used by boys and men to address an older brother or an older male they regard familiarly. Hansol addresses Seongsu with the more respectful form, “hyungnim.”
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