In This Life I Will Die as an Actress Not a Villainess Chapter 97

-You didn’t see this coming, did you? Thanks to this whole incident, our pre-sales jumped!

“What?”

Thanks… is that really the right word to use?

Following the Snowfall win and major talk show appearance, Rams’ social media post became yet another hot topic that drew people’s attention.

But I genuinely hadn’t expected this development.

The moment I finished reading the message, unnie called.

“Unnie. What on earth is going on?”

-I know, right? You handled the talk show well. Good job.

“I’m worried about Chloe.”

That was my concern then, and it remained my only concern now.

-Take good care of Chloe. She must’ve been shocked. Anyway, that person must be fuming. Tries to pull some stunt and ends up helping you two instead.

“…Reaping what she sowed.”

Unnie let out a short laugh at my response.

-Oh right, did you see the Little Egg score?

“Ah, I checked it yesterday right before the talk show.”

Little Egg was a film site that displayed ratings and scores for the latest releases based on critics’ reviews.

We were nearing the end of our second week since opening.

<Hometown>’s creativity score was 8.76.

Little Egg was notoriously stingy with scores.

So 8.76 was an impressive achievement.

Not only that, we were leading <Marvelous>, which had opened the same week, by 0.6 points.

-Can you believe it? Ahead of <Marvelous>. Sena, you really did it.

“It’s just a score. Our box office won’t even compare.”

-Well, that’s obvious. Still, going up against Warners—who dump money into events and merchandise while monopolizing screens—and? You pulled in nearly half their audience numbers. That’s genuinely phenomenal.

Unnie’s voice grew more animated as she spoke.

Hearing her words speed up made me grin.

Should I really be riding this high first thing in the morning?

I’d been trying not to show it.

But my mood lifted so much that a small laugh escaped.

-There we go. You should’ve been laughing like that from the start.

“How’s Korea?”

At my question, Minyeong unnie responded with uncharacteristic cynicism.

She was just as fed up with the endless articles and comments as I was.

-What do you expect? Everyone’s drunk on nationalism, thinking now’s their moment. All those questions about why you didn’t do Warners disappeared, so we came out ahead. Plus I never expected that person to give such a generous rating?

“Who?”

-Critic Seong Sechan.

“Seong Sechan??”

Seong Sechan was Korea’s most famous critic.

For years, Seong Sechan had been introducing the value of Snowfall and other international film festivals and art films to Korean audiences who weren’t familiar with them.

-Right, once Seong Sechan gave a good rating, pre-sales jumped even more. Pretty wild, right?

After hearing unnie’s words, I paused in thought.

“Unnie, this isn’t a dream, right?”

-Why, does it feel like one?

“How is life changing this dramatically?”

In my past life, getting a rating from Seong Sechan had been an impossible dream.

Plus, Seong Sechan’s ratings were notoriously harsh.

-Anyway, you worked hard. Just hang in there a little longer before you come back. Take care of yourself.

After dumping all the good news at once, unnie hung up.

* * *

But the satisfying news didn’t end there.

Two weeks later, at the start of our fourth week in theaters, I attended another talk show.

The Leo talk show I’d been waiting for.

Unlike the previous show, Leo came over with a cheerful handshake even before cameras started rolling.

Such a small gesture, yet it felt remarkably welcome.

When the curtain rose, Leo launched into his opening remarks with practiced ease.

“The unbreakable flame! The <Hometown> family!”

Applause and cheers from the not-yet-warmed-up audience poured toward our team.

Leo brought up the news that had made me happiest.

“How did this happen, <Hometown> family? Your audience numbers have been climbing for four weeks straight.”

Director Raymond, sitting beside me, smiled with satisfaction.

“Even we didn’t anticipate this.”

That made sense—normally by the fourth week of release, audience numbers either dropped or maintained third-week levels.

But <Hometown> was defying expectations, drawing a noticeable upward curve as audiences continued growing.

Leo rattled off his words rapid-fire.

“Who could’ve predicted this! I became a huge fan of this film. So I can’t contain my excitement right now. This is the power of art, wouldn’t you say?”

Laughter erupted from the audience.

Leo exhaled a long breath and looked at me, seeming slightly calmer.

Then he asked a new question.

“Everyone must be wondering—any fun episodes from filming? Our Emily?”

Watching energetic Leo made me smile naturally.

Unlike the Abigail talk show, I answered with a genuine smile.

“We can’t talk about our film’s climax without mentioning the rain scene. It was absolutely exhausting. Director Raymond will need to explain.”

When I looked at Director Raymond with meaningful eyes, he coughed awkwardly.

Leo excitedly pressed the director.

“Go ahead, explain!”

Director Raymond gave up and laughed good-naturedly.

“It was a day when rain poured down like a storm. Severe enough that weather warnings were issued. The rain in the film wasn’t from any water truck. I staked my director’s position on filming that day.”

“Wow.”

Leo’s surprised reaction accompanied laughter from the audience.

“The sound director nearly cried. I ended up taking him to a bar and buying drinks until his wallet was empty.”

The moment the director finished, I naturally added,

“But if we hadn’t filmed that day, everyone would’ve regretted it. We’re lucky—that rain completed the film.”

Director Raymond smiled gratefully.

Aiden smoothly joined the conversation.

“The director’s judgment was right, and thanks to Sena, the rain scene became the best scene. You saw her passionate performance, right?”

Leo nodded knowingly.

Then his expression turned deliberately serious.

“Wait, wait—let me address one thing first.”

“…?”

Chloe, traumatized by talk shows, tensed beside me.

What kind of question is coming now?

“How did both Sena and Aiden get offers for both <Fabulous> and <Hometown> simultaneously? Isn’t this totally fate? Will we never see you two paired again? Even at Warners…?”

The perfect opportunity had finally arrived.

A chance to end the relentless questioning I’d been sick of hearing.

‘Why did you turn down Warners?’

I was truly ready to tear my hair out over it.

In the brief second before answering, barely long enough to think.

My mind worked quickly.

One wrong answer could cause serious problems.

People who loved twisting words would say, ‘So you didn’t like the Warners role after all?’

I opened my mouth.

“After filming <Desert Island> in Korea, I went to an LA acting workshop with a fellow actor. I wanted to learn a broader range of acting. That’s where I met Aiden.”

Aiden picked up on my expression and chimed in.

Leo teased playfully.

“You two went to learn acting? Not to teach it?”

At that question, Aiden and I simultaneously waved our hands.

“In Korea, there’s a saying. Actors are called ‘baeu,’ a word that means both ‘actor’ and ‘one who learns,’ because you must learn for life. It’s wordplay, but I think it’s true.”

After hearing my answer, Aiden spoke.

“Actually, unlike me, Sena stood out from day one at the workshop. Enough that I wanted to learn acting from Sena.”

I quickly waved my hands at that.

“Aiden always exaggerates. I was the one shocked by Aiden. That amazing villain I’d only seen on screen was my workshop classmate.”

Director Raymond smoothly interjected.

“Let me add something—I was completely flustered. I had Sena pegged for Emily from the start.”

Leo’s eyes widened.

“Really? Is that so?”

“Yes, I never even considered other actors. But Sena stood out so much at the workshop that the <Fabulous> team requested an audition. And she passed.”

The director paused here and winked at me.

As if telling me to just trust him.

The director seemed quite relaxed.

How reassuring.

“Even when I learned they were also targeting Aiden.”

The director dramatically pressed his temple.

“I thought I was finished. I was ready to scrap filming.”

Faint laughter rippled through the audience.

“First I thought, let me grab my friend Aiden by the leg. Then unexpectedly, he had a connection with Sena. So I practically begged.”

After hearing the director’s behind-the-scenes story, Leo burst out laughing right there.

“Good grief, a director the whole world watches. I can’t believe it.”

The director shook his head as if to say don’t even mention it.

“These actors are that incredible.”

Hearing that, I rejoined the conversation.

“The script convinced me. Honestly, as an adoptee in America, the life depicted felt as distant to me as the fantasy hero in <Fabulous>. But the ’emotion’ in <Hometown> pulled me in. The director’s sincerity delivered the final blow.”

Leo looked at me with an understanding smile.

Perfect wrap-up.

I mentally high-fived the director.

Leo then skillfully shifted the conversation’s direction.

“I’m curious about that Korean fellow actor who joined the workshop with you?”

“That friend’s young. Still in high school, currently in Canada filming the English version of <Desert Island>.”

Leo nodded.

After that came episodes from outside filming.

The stories wandered briefly before returning to filming behind-the-scenes.

This time Aiden received Leo’s question and answered at length.

“…We all made the final scene’s table together. From the director to the actors to the youngest staff member. It was incredibly meaningful. Everyone united just like the film’s theme.”

Leo asked mischievously.

“Then it’s an extremely valuable table. Who took it after filming wrapped?”

From here on followed the talk show script we’d received in advance.

I grinned and jumped in to answer.

“Actually, we’re going to decide that through a game today.”

“Well then, shall we begin? The Leo talk show’s signature game!”

Cheers erupted from the audience.