NOVEL FROG Chapter 124
Actor Audition.
An audition for action and stunt actors called Hyper Action Star.
Honestly, most people were indifferent.
After all, the audition programs have been done to death.
However, that evaluation flipped after the teaser was released.
Especially after Seo-yeon’s dazzling rappel action appeared.
– Isn’t everything on variety shows scripted anyway?
– Honestly, someone else probably did the jumping for her;;
– Seriously, believing in that is pretty naive.
Of course, not everyone reacted positively.
There were many skeptical opinions as well.
Because of the overly radical action, people started to say it might be staged.
– Who is this Joo Seo-yeon and why is she getting so much screen time?
– She’s the one from The Chaser.
– She has her recent Dream Future release, so she’s kind of trending now.
– This is my first time seeing her.
The community’s reactions mostly reflected that vibe.
While a quiet community surprisingly turned out to be Joo Seo-yeon’s fan base.
Over there, it was more of a “that could happen” vibe.
– Huh, she seems to have overcome gravity now…
– Hyper Action Star? Do they really have to pick via audition?
– I’m looking forward to what she’ll show this time.
– LOL!
– Just from the teaser, Seo-yeon looks excited!
– Well, she probably is excited…
Amidst various intersecting opinions,
Hyper Action Star Episode 1 officially aired.
Streaming simultaneously on internet broadcasting and cable channels.
This alone showed how much GH Group was investing in this variety show.
– It’s starting!
– Is this live?
– Yep, it’s all live!
In the very first group,
20 actors stood in the set looking tense.
The set, designed with broken Styrofoam buildings, had a concept of ‘ruins.’
Among those dressed comfortably, one person stood out.
Joo Seo-yeon.
Unlike the other nervous participants, she stood there with an unusually calm face.
– ? Why is she in a school uniform again?
– She’s a high school girl!
– Do high school girls usually come wearing uniforms????
– Where’s the combat gear stronger than a school uniform? Seriously, I wouldn’t know.
– ???
– But she’s really, incredibly pretty.
Most were in comfortable outfits.
Among them, some had dressed according to their characters.
Jo Seo-hee, Han So-yu.
At this point, viewers couldn’t help but notice.
‘Ah, we have to catch the character from their outfits first.’
In reality, the instructor standing at the forefront, Cha Min-kyu, was scoring those actors with his sharp gaze, implying that their outfits also counted for points.
And then, the first mission began: a gunfight.
Cha Min-kyu explained the rules in detail.
How the scoring would work.
How to act out the scenes.
The actors had already been informed beforehand, but it was new information for the viewers.
– A gunfight?
– Can female actors even do a gunfight?
– They probably haven’t even touched a gun! LOL!
– But can you act with superpowers during this gunfight?
No matter how much of an action star you are, handling firearms is a different matter.
Even if it’s just a model gun, it’s not the same.
Of course, they were warned in advance, so they probably practiced to some extent…
‘Honestly, can they shoot properly?’
It would be lucky if there were no safety accidents.
Everyone was thinking that when suddenly—
Bang!!
A sound of something being shot echoed.
On camera, someone dropped a gun, and the bullet flew away.
And that bullet was heading straight for Seo-yeon.
– ?
– What?
Like swatting a fly, Seo-yeon deflected it.
That moment was captured so distinctly that viewers’ minds froze.
– Did she just swat away a paintball with her hand?
– That’s just a coincidence;; there’s no way.
– I just saw what Bong-sik analyzed, but Seo-yeon’s eyes moved when the bullet flew.
– Seriously, shut up, you YouTuber wannabe.
Most viewers believed it was a coincidence in this unbelievable situation.
Nevertheless, with the ruckus that just happened, they spent a few minutes to settle down.
When the situation calmed down to some extent, Cha Min-kyu nodded.
And then—
Beep Beep!
The horn signaling the start of the filming blared.
In the first few minutes, gunfire wasn’t allowed, so everyone rushed to secure favorable positions.
And among them, four were caught on camera.
Seo-yeon, and three others chasing after her.
– Wow, three on one?
– From The Chaser, they’re probably trying to take her out quickly.
– Seo-yeon’s gonna get cut early on! LOL!
– Didn’t you see Seo-yeon swatting away the bullets just now??
– What the hell, that’s obviously just coincidence!
The chat started to speed up.
Additionally, Min Do-ha was spotted hiding and watching them.
Most expected SEO-yeon to get knocked out here.
After all, it was three against one.
If it was just regular action acting, it might be different, but with scores involved in this gunfight…
There was no way she could handle three alone.
– Three???
– Do you see Joo Seo-yeon as weak??
– Why is she committing suicide?????
– ? This is nonsense, seriously. Even with Joo Seo-yeon, how could that even be logically possible?
– This is why fans can be so clueless.
Though some fans of Seo-yeon were posting in the chat, they were met with scorn.
While everyone anticipated Seo-yeon’s elimination, the guns held by the three pointed straight at her.
Then, bullets were shot… but she dodged.
She crouched down and clearly watched the bullets fly past her.
‘Huh?’
In that moment, viewers felt it.
They didn’t know how the actors facing her felt, but at least the viewers could clearly figure it out.
Seo-yeon had become a completely different person from before.
‘Acting.’
Suddenly, they realized this audition was to select the lead role for the movie.
All participants were to act out the character they created to win.
This gunfight was no different.
The superpowers and the protagonist’s settings mostly followed the actor’s imagination.
‘Cha Seo-ah?’
In that moment, they thought of that.
But no.
The smile on Seo-yeon’s face proved otherwise.
Cha Seo-ah wouldn’t smile like that.
It was a provocative smile that seemed to say, “Bring it on, this is fun.”
Though the three had shot first, they were completely overwhelmed by Seo-yeon’s character.
Then, two more bullets shot out.
Seo-yeon swatted those away as if it were only natural.
– What the heck!
– How can this even make sense?
– Paintballs can travel at 90m/s;; even if they shot weaker ones for filming…
– There’s no way she could have seen and swatted those bullets;;
Those who initially thought this was nonsensical were now startled by the chat responses.
Swatting it away by chance once?
Sure, that could happen.
But dodging three bullets at once and then swatting another two?
No way, that just doesn’t add up.
It was natural for such remarks to emerge.
Moreover, Seo-yeon didn’t even shoot from afar.
She dodged bullets and approached instead.
And then, close-range shooting.
She even didn’t forget to whisper something to the ear before shooting.
– LOL, now it’s just ridiculous enough to be funny.
– If you don’t know, just memorize it, 1 high school girl = 3 tanks.
– Wasn’t it the other way around?
– If it’s Joo Seo-yeon, it’s possible, right?
Next, she simply dealt with the remaining two.
And there was Min Do-ha, secretly observing the situation, pointing her gun at Seo-yeon.
– Is Min Do-ha crazy?
– Is she really going to shoot after seeing that?
– If Min Do-ha is a good shot, then it might be worth aiming from the outside.
With a small shot sound, a bullet flew towards Seo-yeon’s back.
Of course, Seo-yeon casually dodged it.
– She didn’t just stand there, did she? Do something, Min Do-ha!!!
– Was there a fan of Min Do-ha, too?
Just like she had heard those comments, Min Do-ha ran away.
In reality, she ran pretty well.
She dashed across the filming set so swiftly that other actors couldn’t target her properly.
“Phew, phew.”
Just thinking she had finally shaken them off, she let out a sigh when suddenly Seo-yeon’s head popped out.
With her red eyes sparkling.
– Joo-kiya!!!
– I’d freak out if I were in that spot.
– Why capture the character like that, she’s practically a villain.
– Joo Seo-yeon, the ultimate character from this universe… Cha Seo-ah with regeneration abilities!
Naturally, Min Do-ha screamed and nearly collapsed, crawling away on the ground.
Initially, Seo-yeon had been chasing Min Do-ha, but seeing her, she nodded her head in genuine admiration, not acting fake.
“You’re really good at acting.”
That little muttering.
– Crazy girl, does that look like acting to you????
– Save our Do-ha, what the heck is happening?
– Struggling for survival = the best acting! LOL!
– Joo Seo-yeon: Omoshiroi (It’s fun) wwww
– She just loves acting!
Anyway, thanks to Seo-yeon’s not-so-average “performance,” she grabbed the attention of the actors.
And gradually, the number of actors aiming for Seo-yeon increased.
In that crisis, the only ally that appeared was Jo Seo-hee.
– Wait, was Jo Seo-hee still alive?
– I just saw her crawling away earlier.
– Survival skills, goated!
– Isn’t it the ones who couldn’t kill her who are the real fools?
– But, so items can be brought in, huh? Jo Seo-hee’s character was well-captured.
– Jo Seo-hee is smart as always.
Thanks to Jo Seo-hee’s help, Seo-yeon, now without corners to hide, soared through the set.
Dodging and deflecting incoming bullets.
In the meantime, she also made sure to keep her acting tight.
Even viewers got to realize the weaknesses of the character Seo-yeon was embodying.
– Seriously, just get shot in the limbs and run away!!
– So, now getting shot seems to be okay?
– Can’t you see her eyes moving when the bullets fly? She’s just a human weapon!
Gradually, viewers began berating the other actors, showing heated reactions.
Anyone could feel it.
Seo-yeon was the main character of this gunfight mission.
In the end, what makes a protagonist?
The basic requirement of a protagonist is to make the viewers feel involved.
In that sense, Joo Seo-yeon was indeed a perfect lead for this variety show.
A man watching from beyond the TV murmured.
“This is… impressive.”
A man planned to direct Mine at GH Group.
Han Ye-geon.
He was focusing on the screen while stroking his notably pointy beard.
‘Joo Seo-yeon.’
The person GH Group was considering as the lead for Mine.
Yet, it was quite odd that they’d go for an audition to pick someone.
“Indeed, there’s a thought behind this.”
Seo-yeon’s physical abilities were undeniably extraordinary.
I mean, she dodged paintballs, right?
Of course, what caught Han Ye-geon’s eye wasn’t her physical prowess.
‘Acting.’
She was one of the few actors truly performing in this battlefield.
Even though she was most often on screen.
Above all, what amazed Han Ye-geon was the acting with Han So-yu.
‘Even though she could perform in a way to appear overwhelmingly superior…’
She chose not to do so.
Instead, she properly accepted Han So-yu’s ‘telekinesis acting’ and responded using her body.
It felt like she was trying to remind everyone that this was indeed an audition for a superpower action movie.
The realistic flying actions caused the chat to explode with comments.
It looked genuinely supernatural, they said.
They wondered if CGI would benefit the material.
“…Honestly, I did contemplate declining.”
Han Ye-geon was an action director who didn’t quite lean toward CGI.
Having been captivated by Hong Kong action films in his youth, this tendency was even stronger.
However, watching Seo-yeon, he definitely felt a desire bubbling up inside.
As the first mission wrapped up with Han So-yu close to defeat.
What was the finale like?
“Aw, you’ve done your best. Our agent.”
With a little Bang, Seo-yeon got knocked out by Jo Seo-hee.
At that, the chat exploded all at once.
It wasn’t a smooth victory for Seo-yeon; it was an unexpected betrayal at the end by Seo-hee in the variety show.
Watching that, Han Ye-geon merely smiled.
He already felt he had found interesting actors.
*
And then a few days later.
The results of the first mission participants were revealed.
“Probably got eliminated.”
Min Do-ha didn’t particularly want to check.
Did she really do anything?
Did she even engage in the gunfight when getting her bag? She wasn’t even sure if she had made it through.
‘Thank goodness, I’m relieved.’
In fact, Min Do-ha felt reassured.
At least now she didn’t have to deal with Joo Seo-yeon.
This audition left Min Do-ha with only bleak memories.
Even now, when she slept, the image of the crimson-eyed creature chasing her lingered.
‘Maybe I should look for an ordinary romance movie next.’
Supporting roles would be fine.
Just something to calm her nerves a little…
“Aw, Do-ha! Congratulations!! You passed the first audition!!”
“….”
But the next day, when the manager came in with a smile, Min Do-ha thought she had misheard.
Passed? Me?
Min Do-ha hurriedly checked the email she received.
There were even evaluation scores tallied.
The score from the gunfight was only about 16 points.
It seemed she managed to hit something amid the blind shooting.
Although her score was halved because she was marked as dead.
That alone wouldn’t have been enough to make it through, but—
[Acting Score +20 points]
“……”
In that evaluation item, Min Do-ha felt despair seeping in.
She wanted to call and argue straight away.
This wasn’t acting.
But rejecting it was out of the question.
“Do-ha!! Congrats! This Hyper Action Star is quite the issue, isn’t it? I was worried about you getting eliminated. Thank goodness!!”
With her manager’s sincere congratulations, Min Do-ha couldn’t help but squeeze her eyes shut.
The cheerful smile of the crimson-eyed creature sprang to mind.
Today, she had a feeling she might have a nightmare.