Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 376

He likes acting, movies, dramas, plays, actors, etc.

He hates anything that interferes with his acting.

“I don’t like it when actors are on my hate list.”

Addition. Actors who bully other actors.

Seo-jun sighed lightly at the newly added item and entered the Library of Evil.

Unlike the Library of Goodness, where bright-colored books were gathered, the Library of Evil had books of dull and dark colors.

Some had simple covers, while others had covers that looked like they were scratched by sharp claws.

He didn’t have time to read new books, so Seo-jun decided to choose a skill from the books he had read so far.

“This is where I stopped reading.”

He visited the Library of Evil as much as he visited the Library of Goodness. 

He read books and checked skills and thought of ways to use them in both libraries. 

Thanks to that, he had read many books of life and had many skills from them.

Seo-jun walked around, looking at the sinister skills one by one.

‘An actor bullying another actor…’

Of course, he didn’t think that all actors were kind and friendly, since acting was a diverse profession that anyone could do. But witnessing it with his own eyes was quite an unpleasant experience.

As Seo-jun, who loved acting and the profession of an actor, it was even more so.

“It’s rather strange that I haven’t met anyone like that until now.”

Not only actors, but directors, writers, producers, managers, agencies. 

No, even without going to the entertainment industry, he knew it. 

It was a problem that could happen anywhere where people gathered: school, work, daily life, etc.

“I hope he doesn’t bully anyone anymore…”

Seo-jun couldn’t fix all the problems, but he wanted to stop what he saw in front of him. Not only Kim Ha Un, but other actors as well.

Then, a book of life caught Seo-jun’s eye.

The book of life that shone brightly as if to ask him to use it had a gloomy skill as much as its ominous atmosphere.

“…But killing him is too much.”

Seo-jun said with a grim face as he looked at the book. 

The light of the book seemed to dim a little. Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders and moved his eyes to another book of life.

Seo-jun cherished life as much as he had the Library of Goodness and faced death as much as he had the Library of Evil. 

So he knew very well how precious life was and how easily it could disappear.

“And I’m not a great person enough to make such a judgment.”

He was just being nosy enough to think that the actor who bullied the child actor should pay for what he had done. He wished he had a skill that could prevent him from thinking bad things in the first place.

“Hmm. How about this one?”

A little inside the Library of Evil.

Seo-jun stood in front of a bookshelf and picked up a book with a flickering cover. 

The dark blue cover of the book sparkled in the light.

***

Seo-jun opened his eyes.

The part of his right wrist where the skill was hidden felt cold and he rubbed it with his left hand.

Kim Ha Un, who was watching a video on his phone at the sound of movement, looked at him.

“Oh? You’re awake?”

“Yeah. How’s your practice going?”

“Um. Can you take a look?”

“Sure.”

Kim Ha Un showed him his phone. 

It seemed like he had received some NG scenes from director Min Hee Kyung. 

At first he did well, but then Kim Ha Un’s face flinched.

“How about trying not to pay attention to me?”

“…You want me to ignore you while we’re filming together?”

Kim Ha Un said with a nervous face. 

He didn’t want to pay attention to him either, but when he spewed out such acting skills and aura next to him, he couldn’t help but look at him.

“Our emotional lines are completely different. I think I made a mistake because I got influenced by your emotions. Look here. My eyes go towards you and I flinch.”

Kim Ha Un focused on his own image that Seo-jun’s finger pointed at on the screen.

As he continued his acting, Kim Ha Un’s eyes briefly turned towards Seo-jun. From then on, Kim Ha Un’s acting wavered.

“…You’re right.”

“Don’t even look at me or pay attention to me at all. That’s what it’s supposed to be anyway.”

Kim Ha Un nodded his head after wiping his face with water.

“Who wouldn’t be swayed by your emotional acting… I’ll try.”

“And before you act, think of Han Suk’s face.”

“Kim Han Suk?”

“Yeah. The day you came back to school after a week off. Think about how you felt then and multiply it by a few times. It’ll be easier to understand what kind of emotion it is.”

Kim Ha Un burst into laughter, remembering the image of the first grader who ran around the school with a bright smile at Seo-jun’s words.

***

Seo-jun left Kim Ha Un, who was checking for the last time, and headed to the set first.

There were actors on the set who were eating and talking with drinks and cookies they got from the coffee truck. 

Among them, he heard a familiar voice from the noisy place in the center.

‘That’s him.’

Seo-jun looked at Kim Jin Chul, who was talking to the extra actors, and then at his wrist. 

The mark of the Loomuntos that wrapped around his wrist was visible.

[(Evil) Loomuntos’ Hunt – Intermediate]

You consume the dark emotions accumulated in your prey and inflate your body.

If you grow more than your prey, you catch and eat them.

[Caution] You can partially control your prey’s emotions.

Loomuntos was a snake-shaped demon that fed on the dark emotions of the person it chose as its prey and inflated its body. 

When it reached its maximum growth, it swallowed its prey whole.

Here, ‘dark emotions’ referred to anything from the crime plans that the person Loomuntos was parasitizing had not yet executed, to the resentment they received from the victims of their executed crime plans.

Of course, plans that were not carried out did not create much emotion.

It was a demon that was hard to see, so even in the world where Loomuntos existed, it was passed down as an old story that taught children a lesson: ‘If you do bad things, you’ll be swallowed by the Loomuntos snake.’

‘Thanks to that, it was considered a spirit.’

It was just a demon that hoped to grow well and quickly by eating dark emotions. 

So a fairly large Loomuntos used its own magic to make people impulsive and commit sins, then gulped them down.

Seo-jun’s magic went to the mark of Loomuntos that wrapped around his wrist.

The dark blue scales of Loomuntos that wrapped around his wrist like a bracelet sparkled and then took on a form that only Seo-jun could see.

A small snake-like Loomuntos climbed up to Seo-jun’s palm. Fortunately, [(Evil) Loomuntos’ Hunt – Intermediate] was a skill that could be activated as long as it was within a reasonable distance.

When Seo-jun crouched down and let go of Loomuntos, Loomuntos crawled to the set and wrapped around Kim Jin Chul’s ankle. 

The tail bit Loomuntos disappeared soon after.

Seo-jun tied his shoelaces well and got up from his seat.

[(Evil) Loomuntos’ Hunt – Intermediate] is activated.]

[The grade of [(Evil) Loomuntos’ Hunt – Intermediate] is temporarily lowered.]

[(Evil) Loomuntos’ Hunt – Low] is activated.]

[(Evil) Loomuntos’ Hunt – Low]

You consume the dark emotions accumulated in your prey and inflate your body.

Your prey does not get used to the weight.

[(Evil) Loomuntos’ Hunt – Low] was different from [(Evil) Loomuntos’ Hunt – Intermediate] in that it did not eat its prey and that its prey could not get used to Loomuntos’ weight and always felt heavy.

‘I wonder if it’ll take up one leg.’

Seo-jun wondered how much resentment Kim Ha Un and the other victims had, but he thought that maybe when Loomentos grew a little bigger, it could wrap around one of Kim Jin Chul’s legs and squeeze it.

It would be uncomfortable to live with a sandbag of unfamiliar weight on one leg, both in acting and in daily life.

Seo-jun looked at Kim Jin Chul.

What Seo-jun didn’t realize was that Kim Jin Chul’s actions were not just one or two times.

Loomentos discovered Kim Jin Chul’s sins and the grudges of the people who witnessed his harm, and its eyes glowed. It flicked its long tongue and swallowed them one by one.

Loomentos grew in size in an instant.

Its thickness, which was like a thread, became as thick as a finger, and its thickness, which was like a finger, became as thick as a wrist. 

The small thread snake that wrapped around the ankle grew longer and thicker, and climbed up and up. 

In no time, Loomentos, which had grown up, coiled around Kim Jin Chul like a tail.

‘…Hmm.’

Seo-jun scratched his cheek as he looked at Loomentos, who was almost covering Kim Jin Chul and smiling contentedly. 

He must have been a very sinful person.

‘If it had its original ability, it would have eaten him by now.’

It was fortunate that it didn’t eat Kim Jin Chul because its rank was lowered to low.

‘It doesn’t have a physical body, so it won’t die from being crushed.’

Seo-jun was satisfied with his choice of ability and soon turned his attention away from Kim Jin Chul and prepared for filming.

***

Kim Jin Chul looked around at the suddenly stifling air. 

His shoulders felt heavy and his head felt like something was pressing on it. 

His arms and legs moved, but they felt heavy as if he was wearing several sandbags.

‘What is this?’

He felt a cold chill on the back of his neck and shivered.

Did he sleep wrong? Should he go to the hospital? 

He was worried when he saw someone in his sight. 

It was Kim Ha Un, who had finished practicing and came back. Kim Jin Chul clicked his tongue and bit his tongue.

‘He’s lucky.’

Contrary to what he had said to Kim Ha Un, it was difficult to find a new actor to replace him now. 

If Kim Ha Un left, he might have a chance to take his place as he was familiar with the script and had acted in the same scene closest to him.

He had taken away some roles like that before, and Kim Jin Chul rolled his eyes.

‘There’s a bit of an age difference, but.’

It didn’t seem like such an important role for age.

Anyway, they would film mainly Seo-jun, so what does it matter how old the extra is?

If Seo-jun and Min Hee Kyung, the director, knew, they would have frowned at his thoughts. Kim Jin Chul pondered.

‘Should I step on him?’

It was a good way to interrupt the flow of dialogue or facial expressions. 

He didn’t have to worry about his lower body when filming his upper body, so it would be okay if he made a mistake. If he bothered him a few times without being noticed, he would lose confidence again.

Kim Jin Chul was looking for the right time while recalling the filming scene,

‘Ugh?!’

Loomentos swallowed Kim Jin Chul’s plan in an instant and grew bigger. 

Surprised by the sudden increase in weight, Kim Jin Chul looked around but saw nothing.

***

“Let’s start filming!”

Kim Ha Un tilted his head at the sight of Kim Jin Chul standing awkwardly and frowning. He focused on filming at the shout of the assistant director.

He recalled the contents of the script and smiled brightly as he wandered around the school as Kim Han Seok.

The extras also headed to their places.

Inside the clinic.

Seo-jun took a breath as he had to open the door and go out.

Every time he filmed, he did it as if it was his first time, carefully, with all his strength. 

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

Behind him were Kim Ho Young and Choi Hyun Hee, who played his parents.

“Ready,”

Min Hee Kyung’s voice tightened Seo-jun’s emotions like a rubber band pulled tight. 

He changed from actor Lee Seo-jun to high school student Jung Ga Ram in an instant. 

It was an amazing sight no matter how many times he saw it, thought Kim Ho Young and Choi Hyun Hee, who also focused on filming.

“Action!”

The monitor showed a noisy waiting room with worries and concerns about the unknown disease, treatment, and future.

How bad is it? The chances of getting a serious illness are not high, they said. There was a faint anxiety on the faces of the people who were talking.

The waiting room was in the center, and the clinics were divided on both sides.

First, a family came out of the clinic in the left corridor with a sound of opening the door that seemed careful.

A boy and a couple with blank expressions.

And then, a family came out of the clinic in the right corridor with a noisy sound.

This side was also a boy and a couple.

A man sitting in a waiting room chair ran to the family in the right corridor. Min Hee Kyung, who was watching the monitor, blinked.

‘Actor Kim Jin Chul’s movement is… slow?’

He looked like he was being pressed by something, and she wanted to shout cut right away, but Kim Ha Un’s feeling was good.

“How did it go?”

The boy saw his brother and burst into tears.

Jung Ga Ram, who looked like he couldn’t see anything with his eyes on the floor, lifted his head at the sound of crying.

‘Ah, he too…’

He too, like me.

He felt a surge of empathy and bit his lip.

“He said no. He said it’s not me…!”

The boy’s voice, which was not very loud in the noisy room, stuck in Jung Ga Ram’s ears.

“He said no…! He said it’s a different disease! He said this one can be cured with medicine!”

“Look at that! He said no!”

“Oh, God. Buddha…”

“Hoo-hoo-hoo…!”

Jung Ga Ram saw the face of the boy who was crying sincerely with joy for his future life.

The boy and his family thanked God, Buddha, and all the gods in the world with tears on their faces and smiled brightly. 

And Jung Ga Ram’s vision was filled with the boy’s family who were happy with him.

…Why? Why?

His ears went deaf as if he couldn’t hear the noise of the waiting room anymore, and he could only see one person in his sight. 

He couldn’t turn his head as if someone was holding him back and his whole body was stiff.

Why me?

Why me?

He’s fine…

Why only me… Why only me…?

Jung Ga Ram’s face turned pale. 

His breath slowed down and then sped up. 

His lips and chin trembled and his clenched fists were damp.

Then he heard a sobbing sound from behind him. 

It was the same crying sound, but Jung Ga Ram felt his heart sink. Only then did he realize it.

‘I’m really dying.’

He suddenly felt suffocated.

Jung Ga Ram’s expression collapsed.

On the left was a boy who was diagnosed with a terminal illness, and on the right was a boy who was promised life.

Seo-jun’s despair and Kim Ha Un’s happiness settled on the set like light and darkness that could never mix, as if they were from completely different worlds.

“…Okay! Cut!”