In This Life I Will Die as an Actress Not a Villainess Chapter 173

While waiting for casting news, I received a call from Min Sohyun, my mentee from <Be Actors>, after quite some time.

Seeing her name after so long filled me with delight.

“Sohyun! It’s been ages.”

-Mentor, how have you been?

“Me? I’m doing well. What about you?”

-I’ve been good too. It’s just that… I’ve been debating whether I should tell you this news or not. You’re in the middle of preparing for that QYN project right now, aren’t you?

“Yeah. You saw the news, I guess. But why?”

An inexplicable chill ran down my spine.

There had to be a reason she was calling me at this particular moment.

-There’s talk going around among us rookie actors right now.

“…?”

-QYN’s casting supporting roles to rookie actors, you know.

I was already aware of that.

-But word’s spreading that if you do a QYN drama, it’ll be hard to film HBC projects later.

“What do you mean…”

-I know it sounds ridiculous. But most of the actors around me seem to believe it. And even if it’s not true, it’s psychologically stressful, you know?

“I see.”

Hearing those words, all my energy drained away.

HBC’s oppressive influence was reaching even rookie actors, and the weight of it hit me hard.

“That must’ve been difficult to tell me. Thank you for letting me know.”

I smiled bitterly as I expressed my gratitude.

Min Sohyun, seeming to have anticipated my reaction, shared her own distress.

-If you said you’d take the role, it must be an amazing project. Why is everyone so desperate to make things miserable for you?

People had shown tremendous interest the moment they heard both that QYN was making a drama and that I’d been cast as the lead.

In response, HBC started raging as if determined not to lose even a shred of that attention.

HBC was still even now doing media play, constantly bringing up how the casting had changed.

“It’s fine. Thanks for worrying about me. Let’s meet up soon.”

After hanging up, I let out a deep sigh.

But then another call came through.

This time it was the production PD.

The production PD delivered the casting update while practically crying.

-HBC poached the actor who was practically confirmed for the team leader role.

“Ah… really?”

My nerves were beginning to fray.

-But the good news is, most actors say they want to work with you, Sena-ssi. We’re getting quite a lot of inquiries!

At least this was the first welcome news I’d heard in a while.

-But I’m being cautious because if I just bring in anyone, there might be talk about nepotism like before. That’s why I’m calling.

Huh?

Hearing that made me tilt my head in confusion.

Among the people I knew, no one had said they wanted to do our drama, though?

The PD started rattling off several names.

The moment I heard those names, my eyes went wide.

Among my <Be Actors> mentees, there were actors brave enough to apply for our project. There was also the lead actor from the iTube web drama inspired by the InTheBazookaFo channel.

Even a supporting actor who’d been filming NetMate alongside me for a long time had expressed interest in participating.

These were all actors I’d wanted to work with anyway.

It felt strangely like being rewarded for the path I’d walked until now.

But the most surprising person was none other than…

-Actor Han Hyunsu asked me to keep it confidential, but he said he wants to play the Kim Youngwoo role.

“Hyunsu-ssi?”

I asked the PD in surprise.

Han Hyunsu was the actor who’d played the securities analyst role in <Desert Island>.

I had memories of going through thick and thin with him over quite a long period, even filming a public service announcement together.

Plus, Han Hyunsu’s characteristically gentle image suited Kim Youngwoo incredibly well.

He wouldn’t just remain a supporting character for Park Inha but was perfect for showing Kim Youngwoo’s active role on fire scenes.

With his uniquely stable acting ability, I felt he could bring the Kim Youngwoo I’d seen in the script to vivid life.

I silently cheered for the first time in ages.

“I’ll pretend I don’t know.”

-Right. Actor Han Hyunsu won’t suddenly jump to HBC or anything, will he?

“I don’t know for sure, but probably not. He’s someone with backbone.”

-It’s not that, but we’re calling fees a bit low…

“Huh?”

I tilted my head again at those words.

-We are receiving investment from Quartet, but with expanding to 16 episodes and the fire scene production itself requiring massive budget… we’re casting supporting actors other than you, Sena-ssi, at lower fees.

Hearing the PD’s explanation, I fell into thought for a moment.

QYN was probably breaking their back trying their absolute best to match my guarantee.

But right now, one person’s monopoly structure was negatively affecting the team.

I made my decision and spoke up.

“PD, please cut my fee in half.”

-What?!?!?

The PD’s shocked voice came through the phone.

-Sena-ssi, what are you saying? I must’ve said something I shouldn’t have. I didn’t mean to pressure you, Sena-ssi! I’m sorry.

“No, PD. I know the production situation full well—how could I take a large fee just for my own benefit? Please cut my fee and raise the supporting actors’ pay. I’m asking you.”

“Sena-ssi…”

If Minyeong unnie heard about this, she’d think ‘she finally did it.’

But I didn’t think she’d try to stop me.

The PD kept thanking me profusely.

* * *

A few days later, at a small cafe.

I sat across from Hyunsu-ssi, whom I was seeing after so long.

“Meeting again under these circumstances?”

Hyunsu-ssi, whom I hadn’t seen in ages, spoke with his characteristic smile.

Suddenly feeling like I was seeing family(?), warmth rushed through me.

“How have you been?”

“Yeah, been well. How did you decide to do this project, Hyunsu-ssi?”

“The script was interesting. Sena-ssi, is your body okay now?”

Hyunsu-ssi wore a worried expression.

“I’m fine now.”

Hyunsu-ssi took a sip of coffee and spoke.

“My fee suddenly went up.”

“Ah… did it?”

I played dumb and asked back.

Hyunsu-ssi chuckled softly.

“Yeah, thanks to someone.”

“……”

Wait, did he figure it out?

I’d begged them so desperately not to tell anyone else.

“I didn’t hear it from the PD.”

“…Huh?”

“It’s obvious. When money suddenly goes up like that. Where it came from. I’ve got some experience under my belt too.”

Hearing that made me click my tongue.

Not just his acting, but his perceptiveness—there was a reason he had seniority.

“Thank you, Sena-ssi. I’ve been receiving help from you since <Desert Island>.”

“What help? We just worked on a project together.”

“Thanks to you, Sena-ssi, I think other role casting will be much easier too.”

I waved my hand at those words.

Hyunsu-ssi looked at me and chuckled.

Then took another sip of coffee before changing the subject.

“Those HBC bastards are the same now as they were back then.”

Hyunsu-ssi furrowed his brow as he spoke.

By ‘back then,’ he meant when we were filming <Desert Island> and HBC had done media play using Heo Sojin at the front, claiming they were creating a ‘Han Sena line.’

Hearing that made me shrug.

Hyunsu-ssi cautiously made a prediction.

“They’ll probably do even more going forward.”

“I think so too. This doesn’t feel like the end.”

“They’ll probably do every bit of media play they possibly can.”

“Ah, seriously. Did I have some feud with HBC in a past life? What is all this?”

As I let out a deep sigh, Hyunsu-ssi offered comfort with a worried expression again.

“But at least now you’re not alone—you have a team. Let’s get through it together.”

Suddenly, as Hyunsu-ssi said the word ‘team,’ Kim Youngwoo’s face overlapped with his.

I could feel the warmth of someone who’d long protected me by my side.

‘Again, I’m immersing again. Han Sena.’

I was still dreaming about the world inside the script every night.

In those dreams, the team members always appeared.

They berated me for acting alone, worried over my injuries, and unhesitatingly risked their lives to save me when I’d collapsed in the flames.

And closest by was always Kim Youngwoo.

I had the illusion that Kim Youngwoo was sitting right there before me.

Seeing me suddenly space out, Hyunsu-ssi wore a puzzled expression.

I snapped back to attention.

“Right, we’re a team now. Let’s do well together.”

“Sounds good.”

* * *

Some time later, as casting was wrapping up and we were awaiting the first script reading.

The thing I’d been anticipating finally happened.

HBC, having rapidly finished their crank-in, began glamorously promoting the start of <Perfect Man> filming.

They spared nothing—their own commercial spots, entertainment program interviews, newspaper articles—utilizing every means available, but the iTube advertisement was especially spectacular.

Specifically, it was a promotional video collaboration between <Perfect Man> and a popular uploader who posted movie and drama compilation videos on iTube.

The video’s view count was climbing insanely.

I too watched with interest, carefully examining the promotional content…

‘Are they insane?’

While watching the video, I suddenly felt flushed and broke into a sweat.

The video showed interviews with people involved.

‘We want to compete with quality rather than external factors or issue-making.’

‘We even recruited a CG expert from Warners. We’ll show you spectacular visuals and cinematography!’

‘This is where a major broadcaster’s power shows, you could say. They’re not impressive for nothing.’

The captions the channel owner had edited into the video were spectacular.

‘Stacked casting lineup! The lead casting fell through once, right? But the confirmed cast raises expectations even more~’

My photo even appeared in the middle before getting struck by lightning effects and disappearing with a whoosh.

“This is completely blatant…”

If you picked apart each element individually, it just looked like terrestrial broadcaster + big capital promotion.

But when you gathered all the emphasized points from the promotional video, they were all jabs aimed precisely at me and QYN.

Even the comments seemed like they might be HBC’s mischief or something—filled with suspicious remarks.

-Major broadcasters aren’t major for nothing lolol. Using a traffic accident as noise marketing is different from these guys~

-This is like a gathering of people who fell out with Han Sena. Even Warners lol Even if Lee Nara was the lead it would’ve been funny.

-QYN’s probably still casting, right? Can they handle going up against HBC.

I scrolled through the video comments in a briefly stupefied state.