In This Life I Will Die as an Actress Not a Villainess Chapter 65

Watching sunbaenim walk away with that stubborn gait, the other actors also took on spirited attitudes.

Everyone transformed into somewhat somber people without exchanging a single word, matching the concept.

This video’s concept was “a dark comedy unfolding among people gathered at a suicide cafe.”

Those who’d gathered to die discover a bundle of cash in the pension’s boiler room and end up killing each other—a story both brutal and cruel.

It was inspired by the character Song Junwoo that I’d filmed in Director Hwangbo Jaejoon’s work.

At first, I’d set it up as a concept of covertly filmed footage secretly following Song Junwoo, who’d gotten entangled in crime, and the people who’d put him in danger.

But gradually, the idea evolved.

What if they all dramatically gathered in one place?

What if they were all suffering from failure?

What if, to make it more relatable, what they wanted wasn’t fame but money…

That’s how this story was born.

However, with the production budget limitations, there was the risk of having to show all the characters’ emotions in a single location.

But flip it around—that meant it could become a setup where the actors’ appeal shines through in every dilemma.

That’s when Kkotbyeol, who’d been walking at the very back, stood among the seniors with a tense expression.

“Kkotbyeol, don’t be nervous.”

At my words, Kkotbyeol smiled slightly and nodded.

Then, breathing in the sea breeze, she closed her eyes for a moment.

Shortly after opening them, Kkotbyeol also walked out without displaying any expression on her face, making no footfall sounds.

Watching even the youngest actor immerse herself made my heart swell already.

Now it was truly beginning.

* * *

Inside the narrow pension with cameras set up here and there.

Everyone unpacked their bags and sat down, catching their breath.

“How did such a young kid end up here?”

Yuri-ssi stroked Kkotbyeol’s head once.

A touch containing sympathy but lacking the will to help.

Filming had already started.

One person approached the large table in the living room and placed a small camcorder on top.

“What’s that?”

“What’s with the camera? Put it away now.”

At the members’ sharp reactions, she spoke calmly.

“Since this is our last time… I wanted to record it like this. I want the world to know why we tried to die and how we died.”

Deep silence flowed through the pension.

After a moment, people sent meaningless jeers toward Sena, who’d turned on the camcorder.

“Look at this. About to die and all.”

But no one actively stopped her.

As if such trivial matters had lost meaning when they’d all be dead soon anyway.

In the silence that returned, Jung Yuri stood up from her chair and headed somewhere.

No one showed interest.

As if by agreement, they simply gazed at the sea through the large windows.

“The waves are fierce. Makes sense the boat only comes twice every two days.”

“Personally, I hate drowning. Pills are better.”

“Me too.”

Meanwhile, Jung Yuri wandered around searching for the bathroom.

She opened several doors but couldn’t spot a bathroom anywhere.

Passing through the kitchen, she noticed a small side door hidden by the refrigerator.

“What’s with this refrigerator…”

Jung Yuri irritably pushed the refrigerator aside and grabbed the doorknob.

Then she opened the door and flicked on the light—

Bundles of cash filling the small room stood there blocking her way.

“…!”

Seeing the money, Jung Yuri stood frozen as if her breath had stopped.

It was all dollars.

At least a million dollars by the looks of it.

Her hand gripping the doorknob tensed with strength.

Just then.

“What, why can’t I find the bathroom?”

From the living room direction, Won Hyerim’s voice rang out—she too was wandering in search of the bathroom.

Jung Yuri instinctively slammed the door shut.

Then moved the refrigerator back in front of the door.

Hearing the door close, Won Hyerim approached this way.

“Wait, is that the bathroom?”

“No, looks like the boiler room. Nothing much.”

Jung Yuri pulled up her lips, which felt like they might stiffen into a grimace.

Then Won Hyerim looked at Jung Yuri with a strange gaze.

“Got something to live for?”

“What?”

“Someone about to die is even smiling.”

At those words, Jung Yuri panicked and wiped the smile from her face.

Then hurriedly left the spot.

Won Hyerim watched Jung Yuri’s retreating back.

* * *

A quiet beach.

Jung Yuri was coughing while smoking a cigarette she didn’t normally touch.

While furtively checking on the pension interior, her leg bounced…

“If you’re that anxious, why not put a lock on the door?”

Won Hyerim approached from behind Jung Yuri.

Jung Yuri stopped her frantically bouncing leg dead.

Then looked at Won Hyerim with an icy gaze.

“Hey, you never planned to die, did you?”

“What? Didn’t you see my suicide note?”

Jung Yuri snapped at Won Hyerim in irritation.

Then Won Hyerim shot back.

“Someone claiming to be so desperate to die got their eyes flipped after seeing money once?”

Jung Yuri lost her words and glared at Won Hyerim.

Won Hyerim stared right into Jung Yuri’s face.

Then smirked.

“I’m not criticizing you, you know? Let’s laugh together.”

Won Hyerim took one step closer to Jung Yuri.

“My eyes flipped too right now.”

“…”

“If the people inside find out, you know what’ll happen to you, right? They’re all people whose lives got ruined because of money. You know? This island just becomes hell.”

Won Hyerim delivered a curse-like nuance by pronouncing “hell” unusually fast.

“I won’t ask for more. Fifty-fifty. It wasn’t your money to begin with anyway. Deal?”

Jung Yuri reluctantly glared at Won Hyerim…

Just then, a blood-curdling scream came from inside the pension.

Both of them jumped in shock and rushed inside.

Inside the pension, Kim Eunseo was crawling toward the second-floor stairs, covered in blood.

Everyone who heard the screaming gathered at the bottom of the stairs.

Kim Eunseo was coughing up blood from her mouth, crawling down the stairs with all her dying strength.

Startled, Jung Yuri stepped backward…

The refrigerator had already been pushed aside, the room door standing open before her eyes.

“Th-the door…”

The moment Jung Yuri spoke, Won Hyerim dashed toward the storage room.

The cash that had been neatly organized looked like a brawl had already taken place, scattered everywhere.

“Fuck, are you all crazy?!”

Just then, Kim Eunseo, who’d crawled down to the floor, opened her mouth as if trying to say something.

But barely—her breath cut off with a snap.

Seon Yuseok, who’d been right in front, collapsed backward.

“A-aah!”

The other people also stood frozen in place.

“Wh-who did this?”

No one answered Kwon Jaehyung’s question.

Everyone simply wore shocked expressions.

Jang Heeyeong, face drained white, shouted.

“Is this… because of money?! You’re doing this for money?!”

But everyone stayed silent.

“We gathered here to die. We even agreed to kill each other if we really couldn’t do it ourselves. But even so, this isn’t right!”

Won Hyerim was first to come to her senses.

“These crazy bastards… We need to get out. I saw something like a boat at the dock earlier.”

That became the signal, and everyone rushed into the room, frantically scooping up cash with all their might.

Jang Heeyeong flipped his entire suitcase upside down, then shoved in money bundles indiscriminately.

Even as his suicide note and underwear fell messily to the floor, he didn’t care—roughly dragging his half-zipped suitcase, he bolted outside the pension.

Then quickly pulled along the refrigerator and headed outside the pension.

While everyone ran toward the dock in utter chaos following Jang Heeyeong, only Sena filmed them expressionlessly.

Shortly after arriving at the dock.

The boat could barely hold two or three people at most.

As everyone hesitated and watched each other, Jang Heeyeong threw in the suitcase with one wheel smashed, then nimbly climbed aboard.

Then immediately started rowing.

Everyone couldn’t quite step forward and watched the boat recede for quite some time…

Before it got far, Jang Heeyeong’s scream rang out.

“Fuck, what is this?!”

Jang Heeyeong awkwardly stood up and started bailing out water filling the boat.

But from the camcorder’s viewpoint, the boat was already becoming a small dot beyond return.

In an instant, the boat sank.

Right until the moment the boat capsized, Jang Heeyeong never pushed the refrigerator out of the boat.

In the end, even Jang Heeyeong sank below the water.

Watching that sight, Jung Yuri covered her mouth.

Inside the camera Sena held, everyone except Kim Kkotbyeol wore terrified expressions.

* * *

Evening after finishing one day of filming.

After raucously finishing a barbecue party to celebrate the filming start, we all sat around watching the recorded footage on camera.

“While I couldn’t watch, Eunseo and Jaehyung were filming like this in another room.”

Jang Heeyeong sunbaenim gazed at the camera footage installed in the small room for quite some time in admiration.

Then Kim Eunseo waved her hand as if embarrassed.

“Filming in that enclosed space with just the camera made immersion unavoidable. Jaehyung sunbaenim was genuinely scary.”

Then Jaehyung-ssi picked at the remaining meat and spoke.

“I was terrified of how Eunseo-ssi kept making eye contact even while getting strangled…”

“I was way more scared!”

Kim Eunseo and Jaehyung-ssi made a commotion about who scared whom more.

Meanwhile, Won Hyerim sunbaenim and Seon Yuseok, who’d shown thrilling couple acting, were also studying their camera footage intently.

I approached and looked at the video together.

Inside the small monitor, Seon Yuseok wasn’t being overwhelmed by sunbaenim’s presence at all.

‘If you want to get out and live with me, go kill everyone here.’

Yuseok’s character, Yunwoo, whispered in Yeongsil’s ear.

Then Yeongsil in the screen flinched in surprise and looked at Yunwoo.

‘How were you planning to commit suicide without the guts to do even this?’

Yunwoo grabbed a fistful of Yeongsil’s hair and stroked it.

Watching it from a new angle I hadn’t filmed myself made that scene feel even more precarious.

And more…

‘Continuously rising.’

I kept marveling internally at Seon Yuseok’s acting I’d never seen before.

I could feel Yuseok growing as much as he’d so desperately wanted.

Rapidly, at that.

I wanted to show Minyeong unnie this footage too.

When the video ended, Won Hyerim sunbaenim smiled warmly.

“Director Han, how did you select such talent? Same with Kkotbyeol.”

At those words, I smiled slightly.

“Selection? What selection…”

Then Yuri-ssi, who’d been bickering with Won Hyerim sunbaenim all day, spoke up.

“A film made by actors for actors… Honestly, even up until the morning we started filming, I wasn’t sure, you know, Sena-ssi?”

Yuri-ssi stuck a pain relief patch on her shoulder.

Then continued.

“Also, it was fascinating the whole time we filmed. This was my first time immersing into a character with only direction given like this…”

“Right. And this is something we’ve all wanted to try at least once. That’s why we came here.”

Jaehyung-ssi also nodded and added his words.

“Exactly. Sena-ssi, thank you. I’m having so much fun.”

Yuri-ssi conveyed her gratitude with sincere eyes.

Then others chimed in one by one.

“I’m grateful you invited me to do this together too. Thanks to you, I’m gaining experience.”

“I got in through audition though! Thanks for letting me audition, noona!”

“Let’s film together often from now on, how about it?”

Nodding past the embarrassment flooding in.

“I’d love that. Without all of you, I couldn’t have even attempted this. So, everyone.”

I clapped once.

“Our video’s core is spontaneity, right? I had no idea the stars would be this beautiful on the island. I’m curious what conversation the main characters would have while looking at these pouring stars.”

At my words, the actors before me grinned.

“Ah what, this event enthusiast!”

“I’ve been drinking too. I’m really confident right now.”

Everyone stood up excitedly and started cleaning up the barbecue.

That’s when Jang Heeyeong sunbaenim stopped us from clearing the table and suggested an idea.

“No, let’s leave this. It’d be nice to keep it there like it was a last supper.”

Everyone nodded as if that sounded good and stepped away.

Then they moved away from the spot and began taking time to immerse themselves individually again.