WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 183: Rookie Actor (1)
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1.
[Mud and Dust] is a venerable goblin theater troupe.
More precisely, all it has left is a last will. It once did well, but those days are long gone. After the previous director suffered such severe financial trouble that they left a will and disappeared, calling it “a troupe with a will” became an insult rather than a compliment.
-Come inside.
"Did I... pass?"
-Of course you passed. Ugor. You may be a young fairy, but if I rejected you after witnessing a performance like that, I would have no right to lead a theater troupe.
The Hobgoblin director led me into the theater with flaring nostrils. Creak. When the main door opened, the theater’s 130 years of tradition revealed itself. There stood a building that had become utterly dilapidated over those 130 years.
"Wow."
The gloomy interior. They had lit torches and called it illumination, but it would have been better not to bother. Soot covered the ceiling and walls. As if that were not enough, the Earth Spirit Tribe apparently liked damp places, so rotten water of uncertain origin, perhaps groundwater, had pooled across the floor.
A terror to both sight and smell.
"This is a bit..."
That wasn't all.
Spiders, centipedes, various insects.
A whole world of bugs gathered to prove their love for damp places. Thanks to them, even this tiny theater was overflowing with love, life, and above all, spider webs.
"What in the world..."
-You're moved, I see. I understand. I was thrilled too when I first saw a theater as a child.
The Hobgoblin seemed proud, completely misunderstanding my reaction.
-My heart raced, like falling in love for the first time. Looking back, that heartbeat guided my life to this point.
My heart was racing too. My left atrium and right ventricle throbbed at the grandeur of the spiderwebs stretching out like the Great Wall.
"Director, when was the last time this place was cleaned?"
-Cleaned?
"......"
The goblin's 'What's that?' expression made me lose all hope.
Right. These kids were born loving mud. No point nagging them to clean now. They won't listen.
-Even with my lacking muscles, I really passed the audition! Unbelievable! Amazing! Truly Kekerkker!
For reference, the original owner of this body, aspiring actor Ssonia, had become a spirit form and hovered around me. Like the Guardian Spirit, she bobbed through the air like a ghost.
However, Ssonia and the Guardian Spirit could not communicate with each other. Only I could hear both of their voices. Just like that, I had become someone followed by two ghosts.
‘It’s like two mosquitoes buzzing simultaneously in the summer…’
-What?
‘Nothing. Ssonia, why are you so obsessed with such a shabby troupe? If you're determined to act, why not aim for a better place?’
-At first, I applied to famous troupes like [Flame] and [Conflagration]...
Ssonia sounded disheartened.
-But well-known troupes wouldn't even interview me. They said a frail elf like me was useless... This was the only place that gave me a chance.
‘Huh.’
Ssonia was a victim of racial, or rather, muscle discrimination. How did my kids end up being a race that only screams about muscles...
-Follow me. I'll introduce you to our troupe members.
I followed the director deep into the building to the dressing room. There, amidst old theater props, two Hobgoblins were sound asleep.
-Wake up, you parasites!
The director struck the Hobgoblins on the head with a hand as large as a cauldron lid.
-What time do you think it is? Still sleeping!
-Ugor... Ugorr....
The Hobgoblins struggled to open their eyes. One was one-armed, and the other one-eyed. They rubbed their faces and glanced at me.
-Woah. An elf here, director?
-Did we hire a new ticket seller?
-You useless freeloaders. That is not a ticket seller, but a new actor! Didn’t I tell you? An elf kept following me around every day, begging to be hired as an actor.
-Ah, the annoying elf...
Only then did the Hobgoblin actors wake up fully.
-Wait, did you really cast her as an actor?
-Why not? I just passed her after the final audition.
-Are you insane, director? How can someone with a garbage physique like that take the stage?
That's too harsh.
-Don’t worry. I hired her knowing that. Her body may be nothing to look at, but this one’s acting ability...
"My name is Ssonia, director."
-Right, Ssonia. Ssonia’s acting possesses more authenticity than that of any actor I have ever seen. Audiences care only about muscles these days, but seeing Ssonia may change their minds.
The director asserted confidently.
The actors' faces began to show interest.
-Hmm.
-The director speaks so highly...
-Anyway, a junior has finally joined. Show some example, seniors. Will you only sleep in the dressing room? Get up, wash, and assemble on stage.
-Alright, alright.
The actors got up.
Clatter!
The props, stacked like a pile of Lego bricks, came crashing down. Surprisingly, not two but three Hobgoblins ate and slept in the dressing room. The last was buried deep among the props: a Hobgoblin missing one ear, asleep and hugging a lion doll.
-Hurry up and wake up!
-Ack? Aaack!
The director dragged the last one by their remaining ear. Even while being dragged, the actor held onto the lion plushie. Adorable.
-As you know, the Cave Fire Drama going up the week after next is [Sword Dance of Flames].
Soon, the actors gathered.
The director paced in front of the stage with hands behind their back.
-One day, while living an ordinary life, Kekerkker meets the Flame Emperor, whom he has long admired. After the two meet, one begins a completely new life and the other’s life ends. Recently, many reinterpret the story by claiming that “the Flame Emperor was actually a good person,” but we will follow the classic.
-Director.
The one-armed actor raised their hand.
-That's too outdated. We should follow the latest trends, right?
-Right. Audiences want something new.
The one-eyed actor chimed in.
-Even if it’s a little childish, they should trade some lines that make them seem as though they’re in love while pretending otherwise. The trend these days is “pull-push, pull-push.” They say it is more fun to watch when there is back-and-forth like drawing each other in and pushing each other away.
-Ugh, nonsense! True flames don’t choose their fuel!
The director's eyes bulged.
-The theme of [Sword Dance of Flames] is how one person becomes disappointed in another, and how extremely that disappointment can affect a person’s life. Everything else is heterodoxy and heresy!
Hmm.
The actors murmured.
-That old fossil mentality of the director’s will never change, not even in death.
-Are we heading towards ruin...?
-Quiet! Haven't I compromised by adding a few lines due to your complaints? No more. Stretch for 20 minutes. Practice starts soon!
-That's not enough... Anyway, understood, director....
As the junior, I quietly sat in the audience, watching the seniors rehearse.
30 minutes passed.
‘Wow.’
I concluded.
‘This is a complete mess.’
It was utterly terrible.
Cave Fire Drama is about using Aura in acting. When enacting anger, the actor doesn't just spill lines but also bursts out flames of Aura from their body, manifesting anger.
If you're familiar with Aura, you excel in acting. If you're skilled in acting, you become proficient in Aura. Thus, Cave Fire Drama actors naturally become great warriors and Aura users.
That was how it was supposed to work, but...
"Why are they so stiff?"
I muttered without realizing it. The words had slipped out on their own. Apparently hearing me, the director stopped coaching and turned my way.
-What do you mean?
"Oh. Nothing. It just seems like they're using Aura in a very predetermined way..."
In the scene where Kekerkker realizes the Flame Emperor's atrocities and becomes enraged.
The actors focused too much on "anger." Or rather, they failed to focus on it at all. For instance, to express "anger," they would explosively unleash Aura like a wildfire. When expressing "sadness," they would just droop.
As if there's a set formula for Aura.
‘It's flashy but...’
I watched as the Auras dramatically expanded and then diminished in real-time. It was dazzling.
But that was it.
‘It’s meaningless like this. Really.’
I spoke up.
"Cave Fire Drama is the art of Aura. And Aura is a power manifested by rooting in a certain will, emotion, or mental image. Emotion comes first. If you prioritize mere physical movements or lines, the Aura loses its vitality. How should I put it? It doesn’t vibrate. Right. It lacks impact. It’s deflated."
The director frowned, looking like a gangster from their youth.
-What's with this Kekerkker's babbling?
"Is that a goblin proverb? …No, never mind. Anyway."
I stepped up to the corner of the stage.
The senior actors had stopped their practice and were watching me.
"See, if you have a set motion for every instance of anger, and another set motion for every instance of sadness, that’s not going to work. Does everyone shed tears when sad? No, right? Situations vary. You have to be able to adapt instantly in completely different circumstances for Aura to be meaningful."
The senior actors snickered, amused.
-The director brought a teacher instead of a junior.
"Teacher! Show us a model performance!"
"Hmm."
How can I make them understand?
I looked around.
"First, let's extinguish these torches."
I scooped up a handful of dirt from the floor and, infusing it with Aura, flung it. The torches hit by the pebble arrows lost their flames and went out.
The Hobgoblins panicked.
-What?
-How did...
The surroundings darkened in an instant.
"Okay."
Every Cave Fire theater resembled the city of the Sanwa Tribe. A Great Cavern: a cave enclosed by walls on all sides but open through a hole in the ceiling. The Earth Spirit Tribe had now forgotten the days when they groaned in slavery. Yet time had left its traces, casting that history’s shadow over their architecture.
"Please be a bit quieter, everyone."
As the torches went out, only the light from the small hole in the ceiling streamed in. The light of dawn. The slightly shadowed blue light settled on the shabby stage.
"It's not about delivering special lines."
A quiet carpet of dawn.
"You don’t even need lines. Aura isn't magic... Okay, let me just show you. Let’s say we’re expressing anger."
I assumed a push-up position on the stage.
"Any familiar posture is good. Something everyone can recognize. No need for exaggerated expressions. Hup!"
I slowly lowered and raised my chest and waist, maintaining a specific rhythm.
"Normally, this is the speed for push-ups. Ordinary. But, if you change it like this..."
I abruptly heightened my Aura.
Red flames surged around my body. Amidst them, I repeated push-ups much faster than before, at an abnormal speed.
Rapidly.
Mechanically.
Expressionlessly.
"......"
Silence all around.
I stared ahead, silently, doing nothing but fast push-ups. I moved my whole body. Above me, blood-red Aura fiercely blazed.
"...Hoo."
After 30 seconds, I dusted off my hands and stood up.
"See? It's just push-ups. A familiar movement. But how is it? Even with the same action, changing the speed completely alters the feel."
-......
"If I were sweating profusely, taking an unstable posture, and doing push-ups manically, how would it be? The feeling would change again. If the previous was refined anger, this would be wild, uncontrolled anger. That’s what it’s about. It’s not about reciting special lines or doing unusual movements."
The Hobgoblins seemed to understand, yet they didn’t. It was a bit frustrating. Only then did I realize I had met [children with no talent for Aura] for the first time.
"Hey, senior."
I pointed at the one-eyed actor.
The actor playing the Flame Emperor in the play.
-Me?
“Yes. The Flame Emperor is intensely narcissistic, isn’t he? How would you express the Flame Emperor’s self-love?”
-Well...
“Just what kind of Aura would you use to express self-love?”
The one-eyed actor, flustered, picked up a hand mirror from the nearby props.
-Something like this, I guess...
The actor looked into the hand mirror. Faint Aura arose from their body and wriggled seductively like a snake.
Indeed.
"It's not the worst, but it's strange. It doesn’t fit."
-Strange how?
"Look. The Flame Emperor is like a self-proclaimed macho man. Would such a guy delicately look into a hand mirror? Would the Flame Emperor carry around a hand mirror? For what? Why?"
-Well...
“You’re trapped by the notion that ‘people with intense self-love often look in mirrors.’ Then you decided that self-love somehow seemed seductive and ought somehow to wriggle, so you made your Aura rise that way. That won’t do. Every part of it is merely an imitation of something else. I’m telling you to establish its foundation in your own emotion.”
-Then, how would you do it?
"The same."
With a sharp breath, I circulated my Aura.
Like Uburka, I also cloaked myself in Aura. Artificial muscles. I made it seem as if my whole body was bulging with muscles.
"Huff… hoo, huff..."
And then I did slow, deliberate push-ups. I exaggeratedly added heavy breathing.
Not an act of [improving the body] but a [display of a good body].
“There. Simple, isn’t it?”
-No... I’ve been trying to point this out for a while, but manipulating Aura the way you do is itself...
“How could we emphasize the self-love even more? This is where props help. Scatter wooden chairs all around. But the Flame Emperor, that lunatic, refuses to sit despite having chairs right there. He never sits down. He just keeps doing push-ups without rest.”
-...
“Then people will recognize him without a single line. ‘Ah, that bastard is insane. He’s so fucking infatuated with himself that he pays no attention to anything around him.’ Are you starting to understand? Since we’re discussing it, I may as well show you.”
I easily lifted the log chairs onto the stage and arranged them haphazardly.
Then, surrounded by the chairs, I performed slow push-ups as before, breathing heavily while making my muscles appear to bulge through Aura.
“How is it? Isn’t it easy?”
-......
The one-eyed Hobgoblin stared with their mouth hanging open.
-Who are you?
“I’m a rookie actor, you know?”
The Hobgoblins stared at me as if I were crazy. Why, though?
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