Aura of a Genius Actor

Both Priya and Marta were highly skilled contestants.

But while Marta relied almost entirely on instinct, Priya belonged to the type of actor who had built her craft methodically from the ground up. Her technique was solid, disciplined, and dependable.

Because of that, the unconventional exercise Hugo had thrown at them—and which Yu Myeong had demonstrated so effortlessly—proved far more difficult for Priya.

"Lower the corners of your mouth a little more."

They trembled.

Ever so slightly, the corners of Priya's lips quivered.

"Your levator anguli oris and zygomaticus minor muscles are overly developed. It looks like you've gotten into the habit of engaging them even when you aren't smiling."

Priya flinched.

As though he'd struck a nerve.

"The only solution is to deliberately practice lowering the corners of your lips. Those muscles have shortened from overuse, so it'd help if you massage them whenever you have spare time."

"Hmm... I'm a little worried."

She smiled helplessly.

"This doesn't feel like something I can master in just ten days..."

"Don't worry too much."

Yu Myeong shook his head.

"I don't think this exercise was really intended for either you or Marta."

"It was meant for me."

Priya looked puzzled.

"The script isn't even finished yet."

"Do you already have some idea where this is going?"

"He said my role is the first human, and it's based on the Pandora myth."

"So... I can make a reasonable guess."

"Whether I'm exactly right depends on the finished script."

Marta, who had been practicing by herself a few steps away, quietly wandered closer and began listening as well.

"The first human..."

"And Hugo told us to master complete expressionlessness."

"If you put those two things together..."

"I think the opening will show a being before the gods sent him into the world."

"A completely empty existence."

"One that hasn't yet acquired emotions."

"...!"

"And then, each time the angel grants a good emotion..."

"...and the devil grants an evil one..."

"...those emotions will bloom across that blank canvas as vividly as drops of pure paint falling onto white paper."

A chill ran through the room.

As Yu Myeong had demonstrated throughout the competition,

when it came to acting,

his intuition and insight inspired admiration even from fellow actors.

The expression he had worn moments earlier—

that lifeless, wax-doll face—

was perfectly suited to the first human before emotion had ever existed.

"Still..."

"You should both keep practicing."

He looked toward Priya.

"Especially you."

"If that smiling expression becomes too deeply ingrained, it could eventually limit the kinds of roles you're able to play."

"I will!"

"I'll practice."

She's exactly what everyone says she is.

A genuinely kind person.

Just as people had always described.

And just as before,

the news broke that very night.

Outside Actors House,

a crowd of reporters had gathered.

"Miss Priya! Is it true you're actually Priscilla Hartwright, the youngest daughter of the Hartwright family?!"

"Why would someone like you enter an audition program? You could have debuted whenever you wanted!"

"Please look this way! Just one photo facing the camera!"

Priya had gone completely pale.

She couldn't even manage the gentle smile that was usually always on her lips.

Sluuuurp.

Miho hugged an entire beer bottle against herself and took a long pull through a straw.

"Ahh..."

She let out a satisfied sigh.

"So it happened again in this life..."

"Yeah."

"I hoped maybe it wouldn't..."

"But I guess it was inevitable."

The Hartwright Group.

One of America's most influential conglomerates.

But the reason the reporters, the media, and the public had become so excited wasn't simply because Priya belonged to a wealthy family.

The Hartwright family represented American noblesse oblige better than perhaps any other corporation.

Long before other companies, they had raised concerns about factory workers' quality of life, spending enormous sums to improve working conditions.

They had continued investing in public welfare ever since.

Whenever disasters struck,

their donations were among the largest in the country.

The Hidden Youngest Daughter of the Hartwright Family Appears on Hit Audition Show Casting Vote?

There was another reason.

The Hartwright children were never raised as public heirs.

Their identities were carefully concealed until adulthood.

Only then were they introduced to society.

Each became known as a person of exceptional character, carrying the Hartwright philosophy into different fields.

Priya Lockhart—

or rather,

Priscilla Hartwright—

was the youngest daughter of America's beloved Hartwright family.

"What happened after the news broke in the previous timeline?"

Miho asked.

"It was absolute chaos."

"The hidden youngest daughter suddenly being revealed was already huge news."

"And she was beautiful."

"Kind."

"Stories about her volunteer work and praise from her classmates kept making the news."

"The public support behind her became overwhelming."

"Hmm..."

"So that's what carried her to victory."

"She wasn't a bad actress."

"But once people learned she'd hidden her family name because she genuinely wanted to succeed on her own..."

"...viewer votes flooded in."

"That was probably what decided everything."

"And Marta lost?"

"Yeah."

"Shows like this are heavily influenced by outside factors."

Fortunately,

thanks to everything Yu Myeong had accumulated,

his own popularity had grown large enough to overcome even the racial barriers that had initially worked against him.

For most contestants, however,

external circumstances made an enormous difference.

That was precisely why Yu Myeong had refused the seed privilege and entered from the very first round.

"But the movie Kyler Unshaw made after winning the audition completely bombed."

"It did..."

"I've never really understood why."

"Watching the audition, Priya's acting wasn't bad."

"But in that film..."

"...she was genuinely terrible."

"I think I know why."

"...?"

"Kyler Unshaw was probably hoping Marta would win."

"But he ended up with Priya instead."

"And she had a fatal flaw."

"A flaw?"

"What flaw?"

Yu Myeong remembered Miho saying Priya wasn't her type of actor.

"Figure it out yourself."

"It'll be good practice."

"And judging by this production..."

"...I think you'll discover the answer soon enough."

Leaving behind that cryptic remark,

Miho resumed happily sipping beer through her straw.

"It's me."

"Oh."

"Hi, Derek."

The calm, crystal-clear voice drifting through the receiver made Derek smile bitterly.

His tone was always gentle.

Even while refusing every request Derek ever made.

"The signal's awful."

"Where are you?"

"Yellowstone National Park."

One of the three great national parks in the American interior.

Another remote wilderness with miserable transportation.

At a time when the television program bearing Derek's name had all of America talking,

Kyler had disappeared into the middle of nowhere.

"Have you been watching Casting Vote?"

"If the timing works."

"If not, I miss it."

"I figured becoming a judge would at least let me see you more often."

"Really?"

Kyler laughed.

"So the great Derek McCurdy volunteered as a judge just because he wanted to see me?"

"You know, you could just visit my house."

"You're never home."

Kyler Unshaw and Derek McCurdy had grown up in the same neighborhood.

Even as a child,

Kyler had been as calm and still as a quiet lake.

Derek, meanwhile, had been the undisputed ringleader of the neighborhood kids,

constantly pulling pranks on him.

It was something he deeply regretted now.

"So."

"When are you finally writing one of your scripts for me?"

"Hmm..."

"When inspiration strikes."

"I'm doing all this to make that damn inspiration strike!"

Kyler was famous for writing scripts after discovering an actor's hidden essence.

Having known him since childhood,

Derek understood that Kyler possessed an uncanny ability to see straight to the core of a person.

He desperately wanted to know what kind of script Kyler would write if Derek himself became the inspiration.

Somehow,

he was certain acting in one of Kyler's films would elevate his craft to another level.

"Nothing comes to me when I look at you."

"Maybe I've known you too long."

"Haha."

While every other director dreamed of working with Derek McCurdy,

Kyler rejected him every single time.

Why?

Was it because Derek had tormented him too much as a kid?

Thinking that spending more time together and showing Kyler different sides of himself might finally spark that elusive inspiration,

Derek had voluntarily accepted a judging position on a television program far beneath his stature.

He had even arranged for Natalie to join the panel so the overall standard wouldn't collapse.

Yet Kyler hadn't shown his face once.

Instead,

he was wandering around the wilderness.

The whole situation was absurd.

"You don't sound very miserable."

"In fact..."

"...you sound like you're having fun."

"...Huh?"

"That actor."

"Shin Yu Myeong."

"Interesting, isn't he?"

"You seem pretty happy you agreed to do Casting Vote."

The calm voice landed another perfectly aimed strike.

"...Ahem."

"So you watched Episode Eight."

"What did you think?"

"...I liked him."

"So many ideas came to me."

"I don't intend to meet him before the show ends."

"I want to preserve my first impression until I see him in person."

Derek felt strangely conflicted.

There was pride.

The actor he personally considered the best had also earned Kyler's admiration.

But there was jealousy too.

The inspiration that never came while looking at Derek...

had appeared for Yu Myeong instead.

"...Anyone else catch your attention?"

"Oh."

"Marta was wonderful too."

"That fearless presence..."

"If someone gave her faith..."

"...wouldn't that create something fascinating?"

"And Hyo Jun was interesting as well."

"I heard he was eliminated."

"But if he grows and comes back someday, I'd love to work with him."

"Kai Nunen, Antoine Monier..."

Kyler suddenly became astonishingly talkative.

Eventually Derek snapped.

"Enough."

"I'm hanging up."

Click.

The call ended.

Kyler chuckled quietly.

When they were children,

Derek had loved frightening him with snakes and frogs.

He still intended to tease him a little longer.

And that actor...

Shin Yu Myeong...

"..."

Kyler silently looked up at the sky,

where the stars seemed ready to spill across the desert night.

"Didn't you say Priya was the devil and Marta was the angel?"

"That's right."

"But they don't seem that way right now, do they?"

Hugo had finished the first half of the script.

Yet in those pages,

Priya played the angel,

while Marta played the devil.

Enjoying everyone's bewilderment,

Hugo puffed out his chest proudly.

"You'll understand once you've read the second half."

"I'll write that tonight."

"For now..."

"...let's rehearse the first half."

"Okay."

"Yes."

Perhaps because of all the media attention,

Priya looked noticeably downcast.

Instead of being praised for her own ability,

she was suddenly being treated as a favorite simply because she was a Hartwright.

The burden weighed heavily on her.

Yu Myeong already understood.

Marta didn't seem to care in the slightest.

And Hugo...

appeared completely oblivious.

"Priya, stand over here!"

"Yu Myeong, take the center."

"Good."

"Now..."

"Show me that expressionless face."

Yu Myeong reproduced the expression he'd shown yesterday.

Even seeing it again...

The utterly empty face,

devoid of every emotion,

still made Hugo inhale sharply.

He shook himself once,

lifted his chin,

and began explaining the staging.

"Right now, Pandora has just been created."

"She exists in a state of absolute nothingness."

"Perfect."

"Exactly that expression."

Then he gestured toward Priya.

"We'll skip the prologue for now."

"Let's begin with Act One."

"Angel."

"Approach Pandora and deliver your first lines."

"Pandora."

"Most godlike of all creations."

"I can give you many things."

"The joy of a gentle breeze brushing your ear."

"The sweetness of first love."

"The charm that makes others long for you."

"The delight of taking the very first bite of a perfectly ripened harvest."

"All of that happiness..."

"...shall be yours."

The angel tilted her head gently as she spoke.

Pandora merely looked back,

her empty eyes allowing the angel to pass through her gaze as though she were made of glass.

"And here..."

Hugo smiled.

"The angel's face fills with pure joy."

"Then Pandora's empty face becomes filled with that exact same pure joy."

"As though the expression itself has been transplanted from the angel."

"There must not be even the slightest trace of any other emotion."

As Hugo explained,

he carefully watched the actors.

This was his favorite moment.

The instant he revealed a brilliant piece of direction...

and demanded the impossible performance needed to achieve it.

First came shock.

Then fear.

And finally—

the desire to accomplish it overcame both.

Except...

Huh...?

Why is everyone so calm?

No one seemed surprised.

Naturally.

Yu Myeong had already spoiled Hugo's creative direction yesterday.

More than that—

he had demonstrated both complete expressionlessness and pure emotion himself.

The two actresses had already gone through the entire cycle of astonishment transforming into determination.

Just as he predicted...

It'll be difficult.

But... we've already seen him do it.

Hugo stared at the actors in confusion.

Then his eyes settled on Yu Myeong.

He realized Yu Myeong had already anticipated the direction.

For a brief moment,

he felt disappointed.

Even so...

There's no way he predicted this.

A crooked smile slowly returned.

"Yu Myeong's role is the most important."

"When the angel gives him joy, joy fills his face."

"Then she gives him love."

"So now his expression becomes a blend of joy and love."

"Then joy."

"Love."

"Charm."

"You'll add one emotion at a time."

"...?"

"The angel and the devil express only pure emotions."

"But the human..."

"...must gradually combine every emotion he's been given."

"His expressions should grow more and more complex."

"My, my..."

"That human is interesting after all!"

Miho exclaimed loudly enough that only Yu Myeong could hear.

Priya and Marta froze,

their faces plainly asking,

...Did I just hear something?

Yu Myeong, meanwhile,

smiled.

It was the unmistakable smile of someone whose competitive spirit had just been ignited.