WeTried Translations
Translator: uglyidol
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became a Top Star by Only Playing Villains ◈
Chapter 6: This Guy Is the Main Villain?
──────
Now that I’d been cast as the main villain in the highly anticipated <The Last Clue>, I was practically a proper celebrity.
My agency, D&P Entertainment, assigned me a manager to help me handle the busy schedule ahead.
Of course...
“Hansol! I’m here!”
“Seongsu...?”
I hadn’t expected that manager to be Seongsu.
I’d come down in front of my apartment building ten minutes before our meeting time. Soon, a black SUV pulled up in front of me.
None other than Seongsu was behind the wheel.
“Wait, what are you doing at my place...?”
“I’m your manager starting today. I’ll be going around with you until filming for <The Last Clue> is over.”
“What? You? But you’re the team leader.”
“We’re seriously short-staffed because nobody wants to be a road manager these days. I was getting restless anyway, so I decided to do it for a while.”
Even so, Seongsu was the head of the management team. Was this really okay...?
While I stood there in confusion, he personally ushered me into the back seat of the SUV.
“Come on, we’ll be late at this rate. Get in. We can talk on the way.”
“Oh... Right.”
Today, I was going to meet the cast of <The Last Clue> for the first time.
Some of the cast were veteran actors with decades more experience than me.
If I wanted to make even a slightly better impression, I should get there early.
I hesitantly climbed in and fastened my seat belt. Seongsu smoothly pulled away and gave me a quick briefing.
“Today’s table read is at a café in Seocho-dong. It’s famous for being spacious, and apparently the studio rented out the whole place.”
“They’re certainly going all out.”
I might have been unknown, but I’d spent two years moving between supporting roles and extra work. I’d attended a few table reads before.
They were usually simple affairs held somewhere like a studio conference room...
Yet they’d rented an entire spacious café in Seocho-dong.
“There’ll also be a few reporters outside.”
“Why... would there be reporters?”
“Apparently, the studio invited a few on purpose. They probably want to draw more attention to <The Last Clue>.”
“Wow...”
They’d even invited reporters?
People were already talking about <The Last Clue> as a highly anticipated show.
Once the articles came out, public interest would grow even more.
“They really have everything ready.”
“Webflix has high hopes for <The Last Clue>, too. And you’re playing the main villain in that major production, Hansol.”
“Oh... Haha.”
Embarrassed by the sudden praise, I laughed. Seongsu spoke in a serious tone.
“I’m not joking. You can take a little more pride in yourself. I heard from the people at <Savage Blood>, too. Apparently, Director Noh praised you a lot?”
“Director Noh Jeong-hyeon did seem to think highly of me.”
“I think your talent is finally starting to bloom, Hansol. This is a real secret, but... the CEO has a very high opinion of you these days, too.”
“The... CEO?”
“Yeah. In fact, the CEO was the one who assigned me to you.”
I’d thought it made no sense for Seongsu, the head of the management team, to be working as my road manager.
‘The CEO arranged all this?’
But why...?
I hadn’t seen the CEO since I first signed with D&P Entertainment.
“I actually showed the CEO your audition video for <The Last Clue>.”
“Oh...”
“If this shoot goes well, the CEO will want to see you about something good. So give it your best, Hansol.”
Seongsu beamed at me, looking extremely pleased.
‘Well, I guess he has reason to be.’
Ever since we’d first met two years ago, he’d always looked out for me.
The aspiring actor he’d kept supporting had finally begun to bear fruit after two years. Of course he was happy.
At that moment, I suddenly found myself smiling.
Now that I thought about it, I’d only made it this far thanks to Seongsu.
He was the one who’d recommended me for the <The Last Clue> audition.
If only for the sake of the people cheering me on like this, I needed to work even harder.
“Right, Seongsu. I’ll give it my all.”
“Heh, that’s the spirit! You’ve got this! Go out there and crush that table read today!”
With our spirits raised, we headed for the café in Seocho-dong where today’s table read would take place.
And soon...
“Oh, I think this is it... What the heck?”
“Seongsu. There are... more reporters than I expected.”
Our SUV reached an alley packed with reporters.
The car couldn’t go any farther.
To reach the café about forty meters ahead, we’d have to get out and walk.
But there were far more reporters than either of us had expected.
“Damn it... They said they were only inviting a few. What is this?”
“We should get out for now, right? We can’t drive all the way up there.”
“We don’t have a choice. Hansol, there are some real assholes among entertainment reporters, okay? Watch out for them.”
Plenty of reporters quietly worked hard at their jobs, but there were also plenty of nasty ones commonly called “trash reporters.”
Seongsu seemed worried that rude reporters might put me in a difficult position.
“I’ll cover for you, so just keep smiling and head into the café.”
“...Right.”
We braced ourselves and stepped out of the car as though we were carrying out a secret mission.
And then...!
Murmur, murmur.
“Hey, when are the leads coming? Have you heard anything?”
“It’s about time. They should start arriving one by one now.”
“I heard they picked a new face after Actor Park fell from grace. Wonder who it is?”
The reporters showed an astonishing lack of interest in us.
Even though I’d stepped out of a fairly expensive SUV with my manager, Seongsu.
“...”
“...”
Feeling awkward, Seongsu and I simply walked quietly through the crowd.
Only then did someone speak to me.
“Which outlet are you with? We claimed this spot first.”
“...Oh, I’m not a reporter.”
They’d mistaken me for a reporter.
“...I need to go into that café.”
“Oh, you’re with the crew. Hey, everyone, make way. A crew member needs to get through.”
...These people. It never even occurred to them that I might be an actor.
I was the main villain in <The Last Clue>. I had a pretty important role...
I passed through the crowd of reporters as easily as a car through a Hi-Pass toll lane.
Not a single person suspected I was an actor or tried to block my way.
Should I be happy about this... or sad...?
As I stood there with a conflicted expression, Seongsu patted my shoulder.
“...Let’s let your acting do the talking.”
“...Right, Seongsu.”
Somehow, it left a slightly bitter taste.
* * *
The most anticipated show of the second half of the year.
A Webflix original series.
<The Last Clue>, a crime investigation drama with a star-studded cast and a top-tier production team.
Despite the public’s high expectations, however, things were very unsettled within the team.
Just before filming began, the actor playing the main villain, Kim Minu, had caused a scandal and voluntarily stepped down.
Murmur, murmur.
“I heard Actor Park got drunk and beat someone up?”
“I never thought that was the kind of person Park was.”
“Dropping out right before filming? What on earth is going on...?”
The café quickly grew noisy.
Most of those present were popular veteran actors with excellent acting skills...
But once that first crack appeared, it soon grew into serious anxiety.
The leads of <The Last Clue> were just as anxious.
“Actor Park... I didn’t know that was the kind of person Park was, but the acting was still top-notch.”
“I know. Can anyone else pull off playing Kim Minu? There won’t even be time to study the character...”
The two leads of <The Last Clue>.
Shin Ah-gyeong played Yu Hyeju, a detective consumed by cases in the search for the serial killer who had murdered their family.
Jeong In-hwan played Choi Minho, a profiler who helped the police investigate cases with outstanding powers of deduction.
They had both the looks and the acting skills.
Both had started as child actors and had well over a decade of experience. They couldn’t help worrying about the drama’s future.
The serial killer Kim Minu, the role left vacant by Actor Park’s scandal, was an extremely difficult character to play.
“So who’s taking over as Kim Minu?”
“...The casting director told me the name, but I’d never heard it before.”
“A name even you hadn’t heard, In-hwan? Then is it a rookie?”
“Apparently, the actor’s spent a few years working in obscurity.”
“...Huh.”
They’d entrusted the crucial role of Kim Minu to an unknown actor?
Four people had judged the auditions for the serial killer Kim Minu.
Director Park Yeong-won, screenwriter Kim Seonmi, the casting director, and Webflix’s head of production.
They were certainly trustworthy people, but Shin Ah-gyeong, the female lead of <The Last Clue>, was beginning to question the situation.
It was only natural for her to be sensitive about it.
If a production with this much public attention went wrong, it could seriously damage her career.
And the other actors were in the same position.
The role of the serial killer Kim Minu was giving the entire cast of <The Last Clue> a headache.
Just then...
“Excuse me...”
“...?”
As Shin Ah-gyeong sighed, a crew member hesitantly approached her.
The person was holding a cup of coffee.
Apparently, they had come to offer her a drink.
“I’m sorry. I don’t actually drink coffee.”
“Oh, no. It’s not about the coffee...”
“What? Then... Oh.”
There was a stack of papers in the person’s other hand.
‘Are they here for an autograph?’
She picked up a pen with practiced ease.
But...
“Would you like an autograph? How many do you need?”
“...No, thank you. I’m not here for an autograph.”
That wasn’t why the crew member had come, either.
‘Then what on earth do they want?’
As Shin Ah-gyeong tilted her head, the person spoke.
“I came to introduce myself to my senior actors.”
“Your... senior actors...?”
At those words, the male lead, Jeong In-hwan, also turned his head with a puzzled “Huh?”
Brimming with determination, the crew member set down the coffee and script, then bowed to them both.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Lee Hansol, and I’ll be playing Kim Minu.”
“...What?!”
The man standing before them wasn’t a crew member.
He was Lee Hansol, the actor playing the serial killer Kim Minu, the very role the two leads had been discussing with such concern only moments ago.
“S-so you’re the one who’s replacing Actor Park...”
“Yes, that’s right. I still have a lot to learn, but I’ll do my best.”
“...”
The two leads of <The Last Clue> could only stare in shock at Lee Hansol, who had almost none of the presence they expected from an actor.
* * *
Murmur, murmur.
The arrival of Lee Hansol, the actor playing Kim Minu, made the room even noisier.
When Director Park Yeong-won entered the café, a few actors even approached them to ask about it.
“Director.”
“What’s wrong with everyone? Did something happen?”
“...Is that really the actor playing Kim Minu?”
Park Yeong-won looked where they were pointing. Lee Hansol was going around greeting each of the senior actors.
“Yes, that’s right. Hansol got here very early. Have you all said hello?”
“That’s not the problem... I mean, that person is...”
The actors started to say something, then pressed their lips tightly together.
That alone was enough for Park Yeong-won to understand what they wanted to say.
Why had they cast someone so ordinary-looking, with so little presence, as a main villain like Kim Minu?
How dare they question an actor the production team had chosen unanimously?
They found it irritating, but they understood to a degree.
After all, they’d felt much the same way when they first saw Lee Hansol.
Without offering a lengthy explanation, they gave them a relaxed smile.
“Just make sure you all use the restroom before the read. You might get so scared you wet yourselves later.”
“...What?”
No questions. No arguments.
There was no need for any more discussion about Lee Hansol’s casting.
They would all find out soon enough anyway.
Why he absolutely had to be the one to play Kim Minu.
Footnotes:
Hi-Pass lets drivers pass through designated toll lanes without stopping to pay.
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