NOVEL NEXT Chapter 81
What I see are stars and the moon.
The endlessly vast universe obviously can’t fit into my vision.
I was born and raised on a lonely dwarf planet.
Just a few steps and I could circle the planet completely—my tiny home.
A fool tree is trying to destroy the planet,
And I have to cautiously approach a mountain that could blow up at any moment for maintenance.
This tiny space is my home.
“I’m bored.”
I’m the god, king, believer, and servant of this place.
“What use is maintaining this land to me?”
Useless.
Realizing I hold no value, my gaze drops below.
Unlike this small patch of land, I see a blue floating star.
A land a few times larger than where I am, with vast oceans.
That place, yes, that’s where I should head.
Not as the only existence.
But to descend to a level where I can mix with someone.
I throw everything away and fly toward that place.
The great king becomes a mere human,
Arriving on a desolate land.
And then, belatedly realizes.
“Why the heck am I here? What am I looking for?”
What should I be looking for?
Why did I come down here?
I pull up the questions I should have thought of before coming down.
Why did I want to look at this place and descend?
What’s the identity of this emotion that bloomed within me?
One vividly red and bright emotion has taken control of my body without permission.
Walking without a purpose is definitely not enjoyable.
However, the thrill of endless new landscapes unfolding before me was quite refreshing.
How long have I walked and walked?
I heard a faint voice.
“Who is it?”
It sounded like it could get cut off at any moment,
Yet it was full of the will to live.
“Wa… water, please.”
An unnamed,
Dying pilot spoke to me.
“Water? Why do you need water?”
At my innocent question, the pilot’s eyes widened slightly.
“I… I haven’t had water for… three days… cough cough.”
As a metallic cough emerged, blood splattered.
My vocal cords screamed, already torn apart.
“So weak, this is what humans are.”
How could such fragile beings live on such a beautiful star?
I glance around with indifferent eyes.
The sandstorm ruthlessly sweeps across this vast land.
I thought it would feel truly beautiful.
But it can also give birth to death.
“If I give you water, what will you give me in return?”
Ah, looks like I can’t speak anymore.
I can feel the pilot’s eyelids getting heavy.
I opened the water bottle cap and poured it all over the pilot’s face.
Glug glug glug glug glug.
How long did I pour for, a few minutes maybe?
With a rough gasp, the pilot opened his eyes wide.
“…If a life-saving benefactor has a wish, I must grant it.”
That was my first meeting with the pilot.
+++++
Bong Jinwoo was flustered.
‘Am I really supposed to read the script so seriously?’
Honestly, I was fully aware that I had done something incredibly rude.
I pretty much yanked a new student, who should have been heading to the entrance ceremony, by the wrist and dragged him away.
But on the other hand, I thought he was a really nice guy.
Considering the size difference, I was at least twice his size.
Logically, there was no way he’d get dragged along, but Kim Donghu followed me willingly.
Maybe he looked that desperate.
‘Grateful yet… scary.’
Bong Jinwoo had never felt afraid of an actor while writing a script.
Because in the end, he thought actors were just puppets he controlled.
But.
Seeing the actor, called the National Prince, reading his script seriously, having brought him along without any real reason made him think.
‘…What if he criticizes it?’
A chill ran down his spine.
If he had just casually glanced at it and said he wouldn’t do it, or even said it was good, it would have felt fine.
But staring at it with such a serious expression made it hard to even approach him.
Flick flick.
At first, Kim Donghu held the script quietly for about 1 or 2 seconds, then nodded as if he understood and turned the page.
‘But seriously, he’s ridiculously good-looking.’
The reason Bong Jinwoo said that another actor couldn’t handle [The Tale of the Stars and the Moon] was that, while acting was one thing, the bigger reason was his appearance.
The protagonist of [The Tale of the Stars and the Moon], the young prince, was supposed to be the most handsome of them all, befitting the title of prince.
More handsome than anyone.
Is there such a vague expression?
Even though looks are relative, Bong Jinwoo formed a protagonist with an absolute standard of appearance.
In fact, from a playwright’s perspective, this was the worst path to choose.
Because in the end, to perform a play, you need to bring the characters in the script to life.
And he created a character that couldn’t be brought to life, so it would have been fair to call it a failure.
However.
‘If Kim Donghu is here…’
The story changes.
Because Kim Donghu’s looks were absolute.
It was absolute.
“If you use Kim Donghu as a standard, the term ‘handsome’ applies only to him.”
The problem was Kim Donghu’s attitude.
If he was that popular, shouldn’t he have caught some celebrity disease or something?
How could a person be so upright and pure?
That just made me want it more, and it became even harder to rationalize.
If only…
“If I had acted rude first, and we both ended up being awful, at least I’d feel better about it.”
I could have rationalized that it wasn’t my fault the script didn’t shine; it was because I messed up.
But right now, this was truly a place where my script was being evaluated.
I felt like my head was on the guillotine.
In that moment, each second felt like an eternity.
“Did you write this all by yourself?”
“Huh? Uh, uh… Yes.”
Bong Jinwoo accidentally answered in an honorific.
“I wrote all of it, and the stage preparations are all finished. I kept it low-budget to avoid any strain.”
For some reason, it felt right to use honorifics.
Though in the entertainment industry, debut year means seniority,
it was a brutally cold world where results reign supreme,
and it felt as if new social skills were sprouting with some kind of magic.
Bong Jinwoo instinctively bent down before Kim Donghu.
“But it’s really short, right? Is this Act 1?”
“Uh… Yes, that’s right. Since it’s in a play format, I thought it would change as the acts go up and down… something like that.”
The more I spoke, the more I felt pathetic.
I could objectively grasp the current situation.
“I’m just a second-year at Daejong High holding a script.”
And the other person has the title of the National Prince,
who pulls 30% ratings whenever he shows up, achieving a top rating of 41%,
sweeping rookie awards across all three networks, and debuting in a blockbuster movie.
“Huh?”
As I listed everything out, I realized I did something truly insane.
Dividing people into ranks is one of the things I really dislike,
but I found myself way out of my league.
“Hmm… I see.”
That response didn’t sound good at all.
Bong Jinwoo felt inexplicably intimidated and lowered his head.
“It’s interesting, you said it’s called Sparking? Next week is club recruitment period, so see you then.”
“Yes, huh? What?”
Kim Donghu’s unexpected words burst out.
Naturally, Bong Jinwoo immediately fell into a state of confusion.
He wanted to ask for more details, but by then, Kim Donghu had already disappeared.
I couldn’t delay any longer because of the entrance ceremony, so I hurriedly ended the conversation and headed toward where it was taking place.
“Wow, that’s amazing.”
At the same time, I recalled what had just happened.
“I made that alone, and it’s at that level?”
Why did [Sims – The Real Life] recommend this script? Why did it predict a future of collapse due to investment issues?
It was because it saw tremendous potential.
[The Story of Stars and Moons, A]
A.
A high school sophomore created a script rated A. Even Director Lee Seong-deok’s [Hero] was rated B.
But a play script is an A?
Even more so.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
-[The play must demonstrate its presence above all else.]
-[It needs to capture the audience’s attention with an overwhelming presence.]
-[Download the application ‘Mokdo, Awe, Worship’.]
The moment I read the script, [Sims – The Real Life] reacted. It decided that the level of the script exceeded my current abilities.
“How high can the A of a play go?”
I was excited.
How big of a wave could it create next? In what form would it appear before people?
After the break ended, my mind refreshed, and I felt like I could work hard at anything again.
“Is my debut work an A?”
But there was one disappointing point.
“They said it was low-budget.”
Since they had trouble finding proper investment sources along the original flow, they seemed to start safely with a low budget. If I knew a successful future, there wouldn’t have been a need to hesitate about investing.
[Seok-ho, I think I found a play worth investing in. What do you think?]
> A play? Well, I’m going to need to think about that.
[I'll be starring in it.]
> I’m all in!
[I'd rather not bet everything...]
Since there was an agency I could maneuver as I wished.