episode_0083

Vrooooom─!

Mystic’s van diligently sped along.

It had just left Director Go Tae-min’s studio, and Soo-ah’s harvest wasn’t just limited to getting the Kim So-hee role.

The Kim Yi-seo that she’d been curious about finally spoke.

“Hey, Soo-ah.”

“Yes.”

“First of all, congratulations on landing the Kim So-hee role. It’s amazing since you achieved it with your own abilities. But there are a few things I’m curious about.”

Soo-ah quietly nodded.

Meaning, ask anything you’re curious about.

“First, about Ham Ah-yoon. Is there a reason you suggested the Park Min-seo role? It felt like you were actively recommending it, for Soo-ah.”

“Hmm.”

The reason she suggested the Park Min-seo role to Ham Ah-yoon?

Soo-ah quietly checked her special ability window.

[ Crescendo From Tomorrow ]

▶ Implementation elements sufficient.

▶ Grade 1.5

001 ─ Kim So-hee (Grade A)

002 ─ Park Min-seo (Ham Ah-yoon)

003 ─ Lee Seung-myung (Grade F)

The reason was the suitability of the role.

‘The grade for Park Min-seo wasn’t visible originally, was it.’

She could now check Park Min-seo’s grade, but what was surprising was that the special ability pointed to a person’s name, not an alphabet.

And it was even Ham Ah-yoon’s name.

But even Soo-ah could quickly understand the situation. Ham Ah-yoon had to play the Park Min-seo role. Absolutely.

So, she made the suggestion, and Ham Ah-yoon accepted after some thought.

Thanks to that, the current grade for ‘Crescendo From Tomorrow’ is a whopping 1.5. That’s a very excellent start.

Plus, it’ll allow her to graduate the ‘Musician’ trait, so it’s like a super helpful asset.

On the other hand, she was also curious.

Perhaps, could she also see Ham Ah-yoon’s Yeon Cheon-gyeong?

That’s when it happened.

“And Soo-ah.”

“Yes.”

“That ‘wanting something,’ were you serious about that?”

Here, the “wanting something” that Kim Yi-seo mentioned.

That was the reward that Go Tae-min suddenly promised. The production team was divided into factions and fighting, so he had a headache, but thanks to her, it was neatly resolved. He wanted to pay her the price.

Soo-ah simply said what she wanted.

Kim Yi-seo shrugged.

“…Well, alright. Raise it well.”

What Soo-ah mentioned she wanted.

That was a polar fox.

◈◈◈◈◈

Meanwhile, in Gangnam, Seoul.

On a pedestrian overpass.

Click─!

Two tourists were capturing scenes of Seoul with their camera. The camera looked expensive at first glance, and their clothes were subtly different from the trends of Koreans.

It was only natural. They were Japanese.

The man, fiddling with the camera like a game console and checking the photo he just took, was addressed by the man next to him, who was cautiously observing him. His voice was very careful.

“ところがですね. 監督.” (Tokoroga desu ne. Kantoku.) (But, Director.)

The expressions of the man holding the camera and the man who just spoke were completely opposite. It’s like, the owner of the voice didn’t seem very interested in the scenery of Korea. He was full of boredom.

“正直、もう韓国も日本もあまり変わりません.” (Shojiki, mou Kankoku mo Nihon mo amari kawarimasen.) (Honestly, Korea and Japan aren’t that different anymore.)

“どんな点で?” (Donna ten de?) (In what ways?)

The two continued their conversation in Japanese afterward.

“It’s different from before. The internet has become so developed now. The trends are similar for people in both Korea and Japan. You can tell just by looking at the people walking around the streets.”

“The conclusion?”

“Do we really need to find inspiration for the next work in Korea? There are many good places in Japan too, right? I don’t feel like something suddenly pops into my head just because I came to Korea.”

“Hmm.”

Then, Director Yusaku, who was looking at the camera, shifted his gaze for the first time. He opened his mouth, now looking at the scenery seen from the overpass instead of the photos he had taken.

“Well, even if it’s not about inspiration, I had to come to Korea anyway. I have to fulfill the schedule as a special jury member.”

“Busan International Short Film Festival… I can’t believe you’re receiving that.”

The man shrugged.

“And Director, don’t lie. Rather, being a jury member is just an excuse, and you just came because you like Korea. I don’t know why Director Yusaku likes Korea so much.”

“Hahaha, does it show that much?”

Suzuki Yusaku.

There are many directors with high reputations in Japan, but Yusaku was quite famous in Korea as well. That’s because of his unique love for Korea. So, he’s a Japanese director who has quite a few Korean fans.

He was invited as a special jury member for this Busan International Short Film Festival.

“You saw ‘Carp and Goblin’ that came out recently, right?”

“Of course, I saw it.”

‘Carp and Goblin’ was a story that took the Yakuza, the Japanese organized crime group, as its theme and told various stories about them.

The kind with a noir film atmosphere and full of men’s fantasies.

“Calling something like that a Japanese masterpiece is the reality now. Someone who played a gangster in another work plays a gangster in this work again, and goes to another work and plays a gangster…”

“Ah, there’s definitely that. But it can’t be helped. People like famous actors, and there are few famous actors. And it’s not even like the new faces are better at acting.”

“Anyway, the current Japanese actors are too stagnant. They just gather familiar actors and repeat cartoonish acting. That’s the reality of J-content. So, instead of complaining, you focus.”

Director Yusaku’s eyes were quite serious.

“There are things to learn everywhere, and Korea is the same.”

◈◈◈◈◈

The conference room of the Busan International Short Film Festival was still busy.

Including the chairman, who was the head of everything, the people who previously discussed raising interest in the short film festival gathered in one place again.

But their expressions were much brighter than before.

The chairman opened his mouth.

“So, it was worth spending some money, huh? Articles are pouring out.”

“Yes. Fortunately, the reactions are quite positive. Quickly cutting ties with the criminal Director Kim Jun-gi seems to have played a part, and the lineup of invited actors and directors is solid.”

What one of the staff members said was true.

The amount of articles doesn’t matter how much there is when it’s treated like malicious advertising. But currently, fortunately, the articles related to the Busan International Short Film Festival were generally well-received.

[ ‘Busan International Short Film Festival’. Draws a line with Director Kim Jun-gi. Will never defend him. Must pay the price for his sins. ]

[ ‘Busan International Short Film Festival’ Invited Actor Lineup Collection! ]

[ Who Exactly is the Invited Foreign Director? ]

There were so many articles that reporters officially wrote, the reactions that netizens showed in the communities were uncountable.

In particular, on-site photos were quite popular.

[ Title: How much money did they spend on this? ] (Photo of good chairs) – Wow, I was worried about them putting out pocha chairs. – What? Why are they spending money? – LOL what’s going on this year

The atmosphere in the conference room improved as they checked each one.

“How about the SNS of the invited actors? Is that in progress?”

“Yes. We’ve entered into advertising using hashtags.”

The way they’re promoting is by having famous actors upload posts on SNS and attach hashtags like #BusanInternationalShortFilmFestival together. Naturally, their fans are also paying a lot of attention.

And lastly…

The chairman’s gaze turned to the employee who was always dozing off.

“…Did you, um, put in the advertisement with that VTuber or whatever?”

“Yes. Trust me.”

The guy, who usually just nods off, changes his expression like a determined warrior whenever the story of VTubers comes up, which is strangely annoying.

But he can’t say anything. Yeah, it’s good that he works hard even just at times like this. It’s better than being useless his whole life, right? So, the chairman sighed and asked.

“Can I ask which VTuber you went with?”

“We placed an order with Neo-Live. Especially Shikarinn.”

“Shikarinn? Ah, what. Is her name Shikarinn?”

“Yes. Rindo Shikarinn.”

“Why? There wasn’t any mention of placing an order with a Japanese person?”

“Yes? What are you talking about? She’s Korean!”

“…?”

The chairman was momentarily dumbfounded.

It wasn’t that he had any intention of belittling or disparaging the other person’s words, but he simply couldn’t understand it with his own mind. The chairman, who thought about what it meant for a long time, spoke again.

“Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. I sometimes think about this when I see what my daughter does, but I can’t understand this world these days…”

“You don’t know Neo-Live’s Rindo Shikarinn. I guess you don’t know much about her, so I’ll explain and move on. She’s the most popular VTuber at Neo-Live, and she’s really super─”

“…That’s enough. You take care of it.”

.

.

.

.

.

The next morning.

Was it thanks to the efforts of the short film festival’s organizers? There were many people who became interested in the short film festival through promotions, and Soo-ah’s group chat room was no exception.

Especially Monkeying.

[ Monkeying: @(Everyone) ]

[ Monkeying: Hey hey hey when is our meetup ]

[ Deer: What meetup are you talking about ]

[ Monkeying: Lately it’s all short film festival bait ]

[ Monkeying: Yang Ha-rin is also coming out, I want to go ]

[ Deer: Go by yourself ]

There had been talk of having regular meetups before, but it wasn’t realistically easy to gather together.

Everyone was busy with their own work.

In the first place, this isn’t the first time a meetup story has come up in this chat room. The story came up every time, and every time it eventually fizzled out. Probably the same this time too.

[ Monkeying: Hey is there really no one going ]

[ Monkeying: @Lee Soo-ah hey let’s go go go ]

As if everyone’s thoughts weren’t wrong, the read count on the messages was increasing, but not many people were participating in the chat. Because they thought this topic would fizzle out.

But.

Then.

[ Black Bear: Let’s meet up once. ]

[ Black Bear: I’m enlisting soon. ]

A single word changed the whole situation.