The Genius Actor Who Brings Misfortune

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 55

The members simultaneously had the same thought.

☓ We’re doomed.

“……”

They were so shocked that they lost their words.

When there was no response, Kim Su-ho smiled awkwardly.

“Why is everyone so stiff…?”

The smile, which lacked a frivolous laugh, was gentle, but just as intimidating.

The members exchanged glances, gauging each other’s reactions.

What should we do, hyung? I don’t know either. Lee Ho-seop replied to Shin Woo-chul with his eyes, desperately racking his brain.

However, the smiling face in front of him was so terrifying that it kept stopping his words.

‘No… but is it really necessary to be this scared?’

After all, it was just a kid. There were five grown men here.

Of course, in the story, it was obviously not an ordinary kid, but still a kid nonetheless.

And above all, this was a broadcast.

There was no way the actor acted on his own, and it was just something that came out at the scheduled timing.

So, there was no reason to be afraid.

If anything, it would be strange to be scared. It was just a broadcast.

‘I was unnecessarily scared.’

Thinking this itself was already evidence of being scared, but Lee Ho-seop didn’t acknowledge it and boldly opened his mouth.

“Uh… Mr. Su-ho. I’m sorry for sneaking in. Did we surprise you?”

“Yes. I was a bit surprised. I didn’t hear any knocking. Where did you come in from?”

When they said they came in through the kitchen window, Kim Su-ho laughed heartily.

It was a laugh that treated them like mischievous children.

“I thought that only our divine spirit would play such pranks, but you guys are quite amusing too.”

Just as the members were beginning to show signs of puzzlement at the unexpectedly mild atmosphere, Kim Su-ho lifted the corners of his lips that were still holding a smile.

“You heard about the ghost on the top floor, right?”

“…! Yes!”

At the obvious line leading to the next development, Lee Ho-seop nodded vigorously.

Kim Su-ho led the way, telling them to follow him.

Great, now we’re making some progress.

“One of the few ghost stories circulating in our village. They say a woman who hung herself in this building a long time ago can be seen beyond the window. And whoever makes eye contact with her dies that day.”

“Huh….”

The youngest, who was leading the way up the stairs, was startled by Kim Su-ho’s words.

Seeing that reaction, Kim Su-ho smiled softly.

“Don’t worry. Such unfortunate incidents don’t happen in Spirit Village. Our divine spirit watches over us at all times.”

“That’s a relief….”

As soon as the youngest answered, they reached the top floor.

Kim Su-ho, who was quite familiar with the stubbornly opening door, gestured for them to come inside.

“You can look around slowly. Once the concerned residents confirm there’s nothing, they’ll feel relieved. I need to go down to serve the divine spirit.”

“Thank you, Mr. Su-ho.”

Kim Su-ho disappeared gracefully with a smile.

Although the wooden floor creaked with every step they took, strangely, there was no sound when he walked.

“Wow, this must be a really old building. The noise is severe.”

“There must be something here, right? Let’s hurry and search before it gets dark. You, check that side, youngest, you check this side.”

Following Shin Woo-chul’s direction, the members scattered.

After scanning several rooms for a long time, Lee Ho-seop entered the room at the very end.

While glancing around the room that had become dim before he knew it, something caught his eye.

“Huh?”

A crumpled bundle of paper was sitting on top of a box.

The position was too fitting to be meaningless.

This is just serving it on a platter.

Lee Ho-seop, who got excited in an instant, was about to shout for everyone to come over.

“Did you see it?”

He was startled by the voice behind him and turned his head to see a smiling face.

His head tilted and then snapped.

With a sound of something cracking, Lee Ho-seop’s mind snapped back.

“Oh, gosh…. Didn’t you leave? Why all of a sudden―”

“Did you see it?”

Why the informal language?

The momentary rising anger quickly subsided.

The face close to his was still smiling but was completely different from before.

The light from the streetlamp outside shone into the room.

Kim Su-ho’s face was chillingly bright.

His black pupils seemed to gleam in a strange way.

“You saw it.”

“……”

And in an instant, Kim Su-ho reached out his hand.

* * *

Shin Woo-chul, who found the clue first, shouted for everyone to gather here.

The clue was a notebook.

It was quite thick, with clipped newspapers and what seemed to be self-taken photos pasted in it.

“Please, I hope someone finds this writing.”

Shin Woo-chul read aloud the sentence written on the first page.

Below it, it said that the writing was to expose the fraudsters ruining Spirit Village.

“Oh my….”

As the pages turned, the members’ jaws slowly dropped.

The notebook recorded events from thirty years ago when the fraudsters first visited Spirit Village.

The fraudsters intentionally caused accidents to make people believe in the divine spirit, then deceived the villagers by saying they needed to hold rituals to prevent the spirit’s anger.

The villagers were fooled into believing that sacrificing five lives annually would ensure their peace.

It was a common story, but the shocking part was that most of the sacrifices were children.

The fraudsters forced the villagers to offer their children, as younger children fetched higher prices.

“What kind of rotten people are they?”

Shin Woo-chul fumed with anger but also worried if this was suitable as broadcast material.

It seemed like the production team tried to control the severity by using vague words like ‘sale.’

After much persuasion and threats, the villagers eventually offered their children as sacrifices.

The notebook was written by a woman who fell into regret after making an irreversible choice.

“After sending my child like that, I realized something was wrong. No matter how much I regret it, it’s too late.”

Shin Woo-chul read the remaining words on the last page.

“There is no divine spirit. The fraudsters deceived us for a long time. We were fooled by them and drove our children to their deaths with our own hands.”

In the following paragraph, there was a desperate plea, “I have gathered evidence in these documents, so please set things right.”

The text blurred with tear stains, stating that the fraudsters were already watching her and she would never escape the village alive.

Judging by the circumstances, the female ghost appearing in the building seemed to be the owner of the notebook.

It was a topic that was hard to discuss easily, so everyone remained silent.

Shin Woo-chul sighed softly and summarized the situation.

“So, we are this year’s sacrifice. There weren’t any kids, right? It seems like they invited outsiders because there are no more children to offer.”

“…! Oh my, that’s creepy….”

“So, the mission is to escape this village before being sacrificed?”

“And we need to report these documents. We need to catch all these bad guys!”

The documents, along with the notebook, contained personal information about the fraudsters.

Besides the man who guided them when they first arrived at the village, there were three more people, and Kim Su-ho wasn’t among them.

“Huh? Why isn’t Kim Su-ho listed? Isn’t he also a fraud if he played the divine spirit?”

“I don’t know. But wait, why isn’t the leader here? Youngest, go and check.”

“Oh, Ho-seop hyung isn’t here.”

The members, who had completely forgotten about Lee Ho-seop’s absence due to the notebook’s content, looked around belatedly.

At first, they waited casually, but when the youngest returned with a panicked face, the atmosphere turned serious.

“Ho-seop hyung isn’t anywhere.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. He’s nowhere. I looked everywhere.”

“Did he go downstairs?”

The members, confused by the leader’s absence, moved about restlessly.

At the same time, a similar commotion was happening elsewhere.

* * *

“Would you like some water, actor?”

“Thank you.”

I took a sip from the water bottle handed to me by Manager An Jin-bae.

My parched throat finally felt relieved.

Next to me, the main PD was angrily shouting.

“Are you out of your mind? Do you want to ruin the broadcast?!”

“……I’m sorry.”

“Is ‘sorry’ enough?! Do you know how much money goes into filming one episode? How many times do I have to say this is not a rehearsal!!”

The main PD’s face turned red with anger, and the staff rushed to calm him down.

“PD-nim, please calm down. The filming isn’t over yet.”

“Yes, you can talk about this after the shoot. Fortunately, nothing serious happened.”

The main PD, who was fuming, took a few deep breaths and then gave an okay sign to indicate he had calmed down.

The staff member in charge of the site management was bowing his head like a criminal.

Seeing the situation subside, I took a moment to catch my breath. The main PD urgently approached me.

“Yeon-jae, really, thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, it would have been a disaster.”

“It’s nothing.”

“No, really, thank you. It almost turned into a major accident. I knew from PD Kim that you were good at acting, but I didn’t know you could ad-lib so perfectly.”

I understood his intentions, but his face was too close, making me a bit uncomfortable.

Fortunately, a staff member hurriedly pulled him away, saying it was urgent. What a mess.

‘It’s really chaotic.’

I should have expected this since the meeting two days ago.

The writers emphasized the importance of coping with unexpected situations, and I wondered why.

This performance was completely different from the one I did at ‘Tail’ and ‘The Zelkova tree.’

Unlike dramas where you can reshoot the same scene several times for the best result, Mission Clear was entirely field-based.

Although my lines and actions were decided, I had no idea how the other party would react.

I was told that they were skilled in variety shows and would adjust accordingly, but that didn’t alleviate my anxiety.

I acted with the feeling of walking on a thinly frozen lake and thankfully delivered all my lines without stumbling.

It seemed the story flowed without any twists, as intended by the writers.

Until I found the script left on the scene before the conclusion.

‘Wait… What’s that?’

‘Isn’t that the script?’

When I realized it, it was already too late.

The main PD, monitoring the scene through the camera, was appalled, but all the members had already entered the top floor.

The actor, realizing it was his script, was trembling with a pale face.

‘I-I’m sorry. I-I left it while practicing… and forgot it—.’

He was the actor who played the guide.

The rough voice I heard in the restroom came out in a rigid state.

But no one was listening to him.

Everyone was in a panic, shouting about what to do.

Since it wasn’t a live broadcast, they could stop filming and start again. But the risk was too high.

Because the vividness and realism were very important for the shoot, the production team couldn’t afford to choose an option that would completely destroy the immersion.

So, I was the one who was sent in.

I moved without thinking at the order to go in and quickly retrieve the script.

My mind went numb as I sprinted up the stairs two at a time.

What should I say if I encounter the cast?

What if they’re already reading the script?

Within seconds, I reached the top floor and entered the last room without hesitation.

But there was already a guest.

“Did you see it?”

When I came to my senses, my mouth was already open.

The person holding the bundle of papers turned around.