In This Life I Will Die as an Actress Not a Villainess Chapter 103

With a trembling heart, I stood in front of Room 3 written on the paper.

The mentees who’d gone in first were already supposed to be inside meeting their team members.

A camera stuck close by my side, zooming in on my expression as I grabbed the doorknob.

After taking a short breath, I put on a smile in advance.

Then I threw the door wide open.

The mentees sitting on the sofa jumped up from their seats.

I quickly scanned each of their faces.

Min Sohyeon, whom I’d written down as my first choice, was at the very front with a bright smile.

Getting matched with Min Sohyeon—this is a pretty good start, isn’t it?

Min Sohyeon was personally the friend I felt the most desire to teach.

During the preliminary audition, Min Sohyeon had chosen the most difficult script to perform, and made a brief mistake mid-audition.

Though the broadcast heavily featured that mistake, her acting aside from the slip-up had been quite excellent.

Most importantly, the fact that she’d courageously tried to walk a path others wouldn’t take stood out the most.

Next up, the trainee duo who’d strongly appealed that they wanted to join my team.

Kim Yeongi, Lee Hyoseo.

The two were still smiling brightly with their lively energy.

“We finally got to come to Mentor!! Kyaa.”

Looking at their faces made me crack a smile.

Finally, Yoon Haneul.

I sent a friendly eye-smile to Yoon Haneul, who seemed slightly nervous.

Yoon Haneul was a friend I remembered seeing in my past life.

‘A participant who keeps reminding me of my old self.’

In my past life, Yoon Haneul had been a talented actor but retired early after getting stuck with the wrong agency. Buried in debt.

If Yoon Haneul just avoided being dragged around by a company, she was an actor who could grow to any extent.

If I could properly draw out her potential, I wanted to try entrusting her to Minyeong unnie’s hands.

Even if she didn’t join our agency, I planned to use all available information to help her find a good company.

The team composition is better than I thought.

I bowed to the mentees.

“Hello, I’m Mentor Han Sena. I look forward to working with you.”

At that, the mentees sent applause.

“Shall we sit then?”

As I’d been instructed by the production team, I sat down on the sofa together with the team members.

These mentees each had distinct personalities and characteristics.

I’d need to work hard on creating individual coaching plans, even if it means pulling all-nighters for days.

I should also do separate interviews.

While I was busy thinking hard, the screen installed in the room displayed the other teams’ rosters.

The team members and I looked at the screen simultaneously.

1. Han Sena
Min Sohyeon / Kim Yeongi / Lee Hyoseo / Yoon Haneul

2. Park Eunki
Jang Heeyeon / Eom Danbi / Go Seonho / Gwak Seonghyeok

3. Ha Seongjun
Cha Seunghee / Myeong Yuhyeon / Yoo Hyejin / Yang Geon

4. Hwang Yuseon
Do Changhyeon / Kim Minseok / So Daehwi / Yoo Janghyeok

A name at the very end of the screen caught my eye.

“Huh, Do Changhyeon-ssi went to Mentor Hwang Yuseon’s team?”

“I kind of thought he would.”

Lee Hyoseo nodded.

I had the completely opposite opinion.

Hwang Yuseon was the last person I thought Do Changhyeon would avoid.

Most importantly, hadn’t Do Changhyeon said he acted because he wanted to become a different person?

To choose her as his mentor—someone with such a strong personal color that she turns every role into a Hwang Yuseon version.

Hmm, things are getting interesting?

Yeah, maybe it was actually a good choice.

If he finds his own color clearly, it could stabilize his mental state a bit.

And then he might make different choices from his past life…

I shook my head slightly.

Every time I keep thinking about Do Changhyeon, my thoughts end up circling back to drugs.

Hwang Yuseon’s team, excluding Do Changhyeon, definitely had friends with strong character personalities gathered together.

Ha Seongjun’s team felt like, how should I say, friends who learn and act methodically through the textbook approach.

Breaking through walls will be that team’s mission.

Breaking through walls meant trying to go in the opposite direction from the path they’d walked.

I know Ha Seongjun himself worked hard to shed his child actor image.

He’d even done fairly experimental works recently.

Each team’s direction seemed to be coming into view little by little.

How should I build up our team?

The moment my thoughts reached this point, large text appeared on the screen again.

‘Be Audition First Mission Announcement’

“Oh no, what do we do! I’m so nervous!”

“Already??”

The team members looked at the screen with completely frightened faces.

I too waited for the first mission with slight tension.

‘Improvised Acting’

“Huh?!”

As the mission was revealed, the team members all made the same sound simultaneously.

My eyes also naturally widened.

Detailed explanation appeared at the bottom of the mission.

‘Various prompts such as fear, sadness, joy, love, etc. will appear. Prompts will be announced on mission day. Create a 3-minute stage.’

They’re giving us something this difficult from the very first mission?

I knew a mission without scripts would come up at least once, but I hadn’t expected it to appear this early.

Then how much more difficult will the missions after this be?

Still.

“Mentor, what should we do?”

The mentees’ gazes, which had been watching the screen, focused on me.

Looking at those mentees, I smiled slightly.

Somehow I felt like I knew what to do.

* * *

After finishing individual interviews, in the team practice room.

The mentees had slightly deflated expressions on their faces.

“Everyone, there’s no need to lose confidence. From what I see, you all have solid fundamentals. We’ll focus on emotional interpretation and acting ideas.”

I handed out the short script excerpts I’d prepared to the mentees.

As the first training session for the mentees, all the scripts had different content.

Compared to other teams where members had distinct personalities, our team had relatively few commonalities among the members.

I needed time first to understand each individual’s characteristics more deeply than what I’d caught during preliminaries.

The mentees quickly scanned their assigned scripts.

“This will be confusing from the start, but we’re going to try acting with these. I’m doing this to understand everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, so don’t feel pressured. Let’s do it freely, however you want.”

“Yes!”

The mentees answered vigorously.

“Then I’ll give you five minutes starting now. Everyone practice, and we’ll have each person show us one by one.”

At that, the mentees quickly scattered to corners of the practice room and began analyzing their scripts.

Ding—

A short while later, the alarm rang after five minutes flew by like an arrow.

The team members gathered back in one place.

I smiled slightly watching Min Sohyeon, who still hadn’t taken her eyes off the script.

“Sohyeon-ssi.”

At that, Min Sohyeon looked at me in surprise.

“Want to go first, Sohyeon-ssi?”

Min Sohyeon hesitantly answered “Yes.”

She seemed to tremble a bit, but the moment she dusted herself off and stood up to come forward, all signs of nervousness vanished completely.

Look at this.

As expected, this friend’s guts are absolutely killer.

“I’ll begin.”

The mentees looked at Min Sohyeon with eyes that sparkled while also showing slight wariness.

“There’s something I’ve wanted to say for a long time. A very old secret story.”

Min Sohyeon looked at me and spoke gently.

The flow of air changed with just those two sentences.

I felt invited into the small attic room Min Sohyeon had created through imagination for her acting.

As expected, definitely a skilled actor.

Good script interpretation skills too.

Polish it just a bit more and she’d have no problem standing in front of cameras right away.

I just watched Min Sohyeon with the corners of my mouth slightly raised.

And in between, I also checked the mentees’ expressions.

“Ten years ago that day, remember? The day you forgot but I can’t forget.”

Yoon Haneul in particular was watching Min Sohyeon’s acting with an unusually serious expression.

Even unaware that the camera was zooming in on her face.

She’d probably appear on broadcast looking like she felt threatened watching a fellow team member’s performance.

But that wasn’t necessarily bad.

Because that’s probably what was actually happening.

Yoon Haneul seemed to be feeling deep in her bones that Min Sohyeon’s acting was excellent.

“Back then… why did you do that.”

Min Sohyeon finished the short performance and bowed politely with her hands together.

“Good job. I’ll give feedback during one-on-one time. Next, Haneul-ssi?”

I called on Yoon Haneul, who still looked like she hadn’t escaped from the lingering impression of Min Sohyeon’s acting.

At that, Yoon Haneul jumped up from her seat in surprise.

“Ready to try?”

At my words, Yoon Haneul nodded and came forward.

Yoon Haneul also quickly erased the nervous look from her face.

Watching that, I admired her internally.

Everyone has such good mindsets.

Yoon Haneul approached the wall and leaned her back against it in a slightly disheveled posture.

Then without saying she was starting, she immediately threw out her line.

“I must’ve been a gypsy in my past life. Alcohol, men, sadness, love. I like it all.”

As Yoon Haneul said “I like it all” with a grin, the team members’ eyes widened in surprise.

The same-agency duo especially looked at Yoon Haneul with huge smiles, as if they found it entertaining.

That makes sense, since from preliminaries on, Yoon Haneul had been particularly quiet and very shy.

I also couldn’t help laughing at the bold transformation.

She’d instantly made a line that could make viewers cringe become attractive.

Truly an actor like a blank canvas who could be painted any color.

Yoon Haneul, riding the momentum, finished the rest of her lines in one go.

After finishing her performance, Yoon Haneul returned to her original self and bowed shyly, and the team members sent applause and cheers.

Min Sohyeon, while clapping, had a face that looked slightly wary of Yoon Haneul.

Watching that, I smiled warmly.

Because any kind of stimulation is good.

I don’t view jealousy negatively.

“Next, Kim Yeongi, Lee Hyoseo. You two have a pair scene.”

I’d specifically given them a pair acting script.

Because there was something I wanted to confirm.

At my call, the trainee duo jumped up from their seats.

“We’ll do it!”

“Fighting!!”

As the two came forward, yet another different atmosphere filled the air.

As expected, overflowing with energy.

“You said that, didn’t you?!”

“You really want to die?”

“You little, shit!”

The two performed an epic sisterly brawl comedy show.

The team members all roared with laughter at every single line watching the pair performance.

I also laughed out loud at the funnier-than-expected action.

Wait, this is even better than I expected?

The two’s acting styles had quite a lot in common.

Maybe because they’d been breathing together for so long, their synergy and stability were also good.

The two ended their performance right before the situation where they’d grab each other’s hair.

At that, the team members sent applause while wiping away tears they’d shed from laughing.

I also said with a bright smile,

“Good job. Everyone worked hard.”

And I thought to myself.

If it’s this level, I think we can execute the strategy I had in mind?