The Genius Actor Who Brings Misfortune

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 56

After practicing smiling for three days, the corners of my mouth naturally turned upward.

Seeing his pupils widen in surprise, I slowly twisted my neck.

Crack. The sound of my joints popping brought him back to his senses.

“Whoa! I thought you left. Why are you here all of a sudden—”

“Did you see?”

Kim Su-ho’s trigger was cracking his neck.

Thanks to that, my previously rigid mind loosened up.

I didn’t think about what I had to do.

“So, you saw.”

“……”

The important thing was that he had seen something he shouldn’t have.

I had eagerly accepted the role, thinking that acting as a shaman would save my life.

I was worried they might sell me out since we were running out of sacrificial offerings.

If these guys who had come by chance were gone, I might be the next to be sold. I couldn’t mess this up here.

“Mmph!”

I quickly reached out and covered his mouth.

As I considered realistic ways to subdue an adult male, I brought my hand to his eyes.

“Clue found! Everyone, gather here!!”

The voice coming from a distant room brought me back to reality.

My shoulders, which had been tense with effort, jerked noticeably.

Unintentionally, I loosened my grip, and he scrambled backward in a hurry.

“You, you—”

“Shh!”

He was so shocked he was gasping for breath.

My heart was racing no less than his, but the important thing now was the filming.

“Let’s say I subdued you and knocked you out.”

“……What?”

“Don’t say anything and just leave quietly. This won’t air on the show.”

As expected, being in variety shows for a long time, he understood with just a brief explanation.

After confirming he nodded without a word, I kept watch.

After closing the door quietly so it wouldn’t creak, I headed downstairs where the staff were waiting.

“Mr. Ho-seop, don’t be too confused. Just remember you were overpowered by Su-ho and brought here. Follow this person.”

“Yes, okay. I will.”

Comedian Lee Ho-seop glanced at me before obediently following the staff.

Anyway, it was part of the original story for one member to be kidnapped.

Only the method and timing of the kidnapping had changed, so it wasn’t a big deviation.

It didn’t make sense that a kid could subdue an adult male alone, but… well, they’d handle that in editing.

“Are you alright, actor?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

As soon as I entered the booth, Manager An Jin-bae approached.

His worried eyes examined me as he unfolded a chair for me to sit.

I drank the water he handed me and watched as the main PD scolded the site manager.

The main PD repeatedly thanked me and only after being taken away by another staff member could I finally catch my breath.

The site manager cried after the main PD left the booth.

She kept apologizing, saying she didn’t know it was the script until the very end, mistaking it for a note.

It was understandable since the clue-bearing note was white and had a similar thickness.

“I’m really sorry….”

The actor responsible for leaving the script there tearfully apologized.

Then the makeup staff ran over, shouting not to cry because it would smudge the makeup.

It was complete chaos.

Despite the chaotic atmosphere, everyone was trying to pull themselves together for the remaining filming.

So, I had to do the same.

‘Get it together.’

My heart was still pounding.

The fierce beating resonated in my temples.

My hands trembled so much I clenched them together tightly. Please calm down.

‘If I had been just a bit slower…’

It would have been a real disaster.

What realistic way does a grade schooler have to subdue an adult male?

None of the ways I knew were fair.

In that short moment, what flashed through my mind was a script I had read recently.

I recalled a scene from a script where the protagonist was a bully and, if I had been just a bit slower, I might have acted it out. No, I would have.

“……Actor, are you okay?”

“Yes, yes.”

The reason I wasn’t calming down wasn’t because I had thought of poking Lee Ho-seop’s eyes.

The problem was that there wasn’t even a moment of hesitation in deciding to act on it.

I had never done it before. Naturally, I never even wanted to.

Yet, I didn’t feel any aversion to it.

‘Kim Su-ho,’ who had abandoned friends he had grown up with to save himself, would probably do that.

‘But I’m not Kim Su-ho.’

I felt like something was wrong, but I didn’t know exactly what or where to start fixing it.

Though calmer than before, my still trembling hands made me frown.

This was not the time for this.

“Hoo….”

I didn’t have much time. I had to be back on set soon.

To clear my mind, I shook my head vigorously.

Then Manager An Jin-bae gently lifted my chin.

“Actor. You’re not alright, are you?”

I met his gentle eyes.

His words were calm, unlike his slightly stiffened eyes.

“It’s okay. You can tell me after filming.”

“……”

“Just forget about it for now until you can talk to me. Nothing major will happen immediately, right?”

His steady voice momentarily left me dazed, and I slowly nodded.

Then he smiled and patted my shoulder.

Telling me there wasn’t much left and to hang in there, he lightly massaged my shoulders, though the pressure was anything but light, causing me to yelp.

“Hyung, that hurts!”

“Oh. Sorry! I didn’t mean to press that hard… are you in a lot of pain?”

It hurt a lot. Enough to snap me out of it.

I raised my head and wiped the tears that had formed reflexively.

Seeing my expression, his face instantly stiffened and he urgently apologized.

“I’m really sorry, actor! I didn’t mean to hurt you. Is it bruised? I’m sorry—”

“It’s okay. Wow, hyung, you’re really strong.”

Rubbing my still throbbing shoulder, I laughed.

This was definitely going to leave a bruise.

Even as I reassured him, I couldn’t take my hand off my shoulder, and his face looked like he was about to cry.

“Su-ho, you’re up next!”

“Yes.”

Luckily, a staff member called just in time, stopping Manager An Jin-bae from pulling up my shirt to check.

“We’ll have the members join us soon. Just follow the script from now on! There’s not much left, so hang in there.”

As I stood at the designated spot in a daze, the staff whispered and disappeared.

While I stood there nervously, I could faintly see the cast being dragged by the villagers from a distance.

Alright, focus on what’s in front of me first.

Nodding, I immersed myself in ‘Kim Su-ho.’

A fictional character created by the production team, yet one who might be an appalling human being if he were real.

The rising discomfort disappeared with a snap.

* * *

Shin Woo-chul and the members carefully examined the documents under the notebook.

The documents detailed the order and method of the ritual, as well as the location where the sleeping pills for the sacrifices were stored.

“So the order is to have the sacrifices drink the holy water first, then the remaining villagers drink the holy water?”

“Yeah. We just need to get the sleeping pills and mix them in the holy water for the villagers, not the ones we drink.”

“How do we tell them apart??”

“Ugh, it says here the containers are different colors!”

The plan was as follows.

First, sneak into the storage and switch out the sleeping pills for the ones already in the containers.

Second, bring the sleeping pills to the kitchen and pour them into the holy water container for the villagers.

Third, once the ritual starts, drink the holy water and pretend to fall asleep.

Finally, escape the village once the villagers fall asleep from drinking the holy water.

They decided to leave Lee Ho-seop’s whereabouts alone for now.

Since it was already dark, they had to hurry and execute the plan before it got any later.

Ahn Ji-chul and Hwang Min-seok sneaked into the storage and switched out the sleeping pills, while the youngest sneaked into the kitchen and poured the sleeping pills into the red holy water container.

While pouring the sleeping pills with trembling hands, the youngest’s eyes widened at the sound of approaching footsteps.

Quickly pouring the pills, he crawled under a table just as someone entered.

“Still haven’t found him?”

“It’s obvious. He’s probably hiding in that old building. He can’t get out of here anyway. Don’t worry.”

As the two men walked briskly towards the table where the youngest was hiding, one asked, “What do the sacrifices drink? Was it the red container?”

The other replied, “No, the blue container! How many times do I have to tell you? If you still can’t remember, there must be something wrong with your head.”

“You could forget… you’re so harsh.”

“You’ve been here for years and you still can’t remember. Ugh, my face hurts from laughing too much. Even my head hurts.”

“Just bear with it. It’s almost over. Once the sacrifices are asleep, we won’t need to laugh anymore.”

Yawning indifferently, the man poured the sleeping pills into the blue container.

Unaware it was the container the members had previously switched.

The faces of the two men, chatting away, showed no trace of a smile.

“Were you the one who screamed earlier? That was some impressive acting.”

“I haven’t acted in a while. The spirit has quite the bad taste, scaring those who are going to die anyway.”

“You’re going to get in trouble! Don’t badmouth the spirit. They’re probably listening to everything.”

The men, suddenly quiet and fearful, left the kitchen.

The members, watching from outside, quickly came in and helped the youngest out.

“Ji-chul, was the guy who yelled at you earlier one of them?”

“Yes… but did anyone understand what they were saying? What did that mean?”

Ahn Ji-chul asked confusedly, and Shin Woo-chul replied, exasperated.

“The villagers were all acting. Everything from the cheerful conversations to the yelling.”

“Why?”

“How should I know? It seems like Kim Su-ho ordered it, but I have no idea what’s going on.”

“Guys, what do we do now? Should we let them catch us?”

As the youngest nervously asked, everyone exchanged glances.

Amidst the confusion, the members were eventually spotted by the villagers and captured.

In the village square, they saw Lee Ho-seop already tied up, standing expressionless beside Kim Su-ho.

“So you’ve arrived. You really are playful.”

Though the floating words were gentle, the face speaking them was chilling.

The contrast made not only the members but also the villagers tense.

“Ah… this is bothersome. Let’s finish quickly. Serve the holy water to the visitors first.”

As ‘Kim Su-ho,’ now pretending to be possessed by the spirit, waved his hand, the villagers fetched the holy water from the blue container and distributed it to the members.

The pressure from their gaze made refusal impossible.

The members, hesitantly drinking the holy water, and the tied-up Lee Ho-seop were fed by the villagers.

As the members pretended to fall asleep, an unaware Lee Ho-seop also closed his eyes, playing along.

Celebrating another successful ritual, the villagers simultaneously drank the holy water from the red container.

“Long live the spirit!!”

“Thank you for always protecting our village!”

“Thanks to the spirit, we can safely get through this year too!”

Shouting with great enthusiasm, the villagers began to collapse one by one after drinking the holy water.

The sound of cups hitting the ground and the rustling of white robes mixed together, and the noisy square quickly fell silent.

The members cautiously peeked through their half-closed eyes.

Through the barely opened eyelids, they saw everyone lying down, collapsed.

As they sighed in relief and fully opened their eyes, Shin Woo-chul gasped and quickly closed his eyes again.

“I know you’re not asleep. Open your eyes.”

The voice was calm, but the members cautiously opened their eyes.

Standing among the collapsed villagers was one person, still standing tall.