Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 451

“Ah, do you want to go see our Cheongryong-nim?”

At Kim Chaeyeon’s words, the [436] team, who had finished their morning practice and had lunch, widened their eyes and then nodded their heads eagerly.

“That’s right, they said they did a play here!”

“I’ve seen it on Working Man, but I’ve never seen it in person!”

“Me neither. I watched Spring on VOD. I wanted to see it for real!”

They seemed very enthusiastic.

Seo-jun, who was about to start the practice right away, rubbed the back of his neck at the sight of the children’s sparkling eyes and nodded.

Wow!

The children cheered as if they had won a lottery.

“Is seeing Cheongryong-nim that fun?”

“You’re too hard on us with the practice.”

At Han Ji-ho’s words, Kim Joo-kyung and Kang Jae-han smiled softly.

The third-year acting students were already used to it, but the students from other departments or the first and second-year students might have had a hard time.

They decided to postpone the practice for a while and went to see the head model of Cheongryong-nim. Isol smiled and said.

“I also watched it on DVD when I was young.”

“Me too. I just watched it for fun back then, but now I think my mom showed it to me for the sticker effect.”

At Park Yeon-ji’s words, everyone nodded.

How many children of Seo-jun’s age had not seen the children’s play [Spring] and collected Yeoui-ju?

Even if they didn’t show it at home, the children’s play [Spring] was what they showed at daycare centers and kindergartens. 

There were plenty of stories on the internet about how much Cheongryong-nim helped the teachers.

“I collected stickers shaped like Yeoui-ju instead of Yeoui-ju pieces.”

At Kim Young-chan’s words, the seniors exclaimed in admiration.

“Well, there were only three pieces of Yeoui-ju, so you had to grant a wish every time you did three good deeds, so it was surprisingly hard for the parents.”

“My mom wished she had made about twenty pieces of Yeoui-ju. She said I was too diligent.”

Everyone laughed at Han Ji-ho’s words. They could imagine a little Han Ji-ho with red eyes looking for good deeds to do.

“My house had a point system. I got 3 points for running errands. 5 points for listening to mom and dad well. And when I got 100 points, I got one piece of Yeoui-ju.”

“That’s a good way!”

“Yeah. That’s why my calculation skills improved a lot.”

Everyone laughed again at Kim Chaeyeon’s words.

The Eunhasu Center was closed on Mondays, so there were no people except for the staff and those preparing for the performance.

The area around Cheongryong-nim, which would have been crowded with little kids, was also like that.

“Wow…!”

“It’s bigger than I thought.”

They gasped as they saw Cheongryong-nim alone in an empty space.

Somehow Seo-jun felt a little excited too.

‘It’s been a while.’

He came here once in a while when he came to see a play or a musical at Eunhasu Center, but Cheongryong-nim was so popular with children that he couldn’t squeeze in.

‘I can’t fit in between kids who are up to my waist.’

Cheongryong-nim’s big eyes seemed to welcome Seo-jun from up close.

The blue beard was still the same color as before. It was over 10 years old, but there was no faded part in sight. It seemed that Eunhasu Center was taking good care of it.

The [436] team took a picture with Cheongryong-nim and headed to the second theater for their afternoon practice.

They needed a break from the hard practice, not that they hated it. 

They knew how important the practice was since tomorrow was the performance day.

They just needed a little escape from the unusually hard practice.

“But seniors. When are we going to film?”

Kim Young-chan asked Seo-jun.

This ‘filming’ was referring to the video that would be uploaded on YouTube. 

They planned to upload the video that they filmed during their graduation performance as well, but since they were doing an official performance, they decided to film another one with higher quality.

The [436] team agreed without hesitation.

It would be fun to compare the videos of watching the stage from the audience seats and going up to the stage.

“I’m not sure yet because the directors haven’t been decided yet, but maybe around late January? It’s going to be public on YouTube, so I thought it would be better to film it after we get more familiar with the performance.”

The kids nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

“I wish the directors who filmed us during the mirror test would do it for us.”

Kang Jae-han’s words made the other kids nod in agreement, but they also had ambiguous expressions on their faces.

“The director is the director, but the video is going to be public to the world, right?”

“It’s not public to the world, it’s just uploading it on YouTube.”

“Isn’t that the same thing? Everyone will watch it if Seo-jun is in it. It was like that with the mirror too.”

At Han Ji-ho’s words, everyone nodded vigorously.

“Shouldn’t we film better if we go by the number of viewers?”

“I think tomorrow’s performance is more important.”

“Well, tomorrow’s performance is paid. YouTube is free.”

They debated whether the performance or the filming was more important, but the conclusion was only one.

They had to do well on both.

“Then we have no choice but to practice hard.”

He nodded at his own words and obediently entered the second theater with his teammates. 

The team leader, Seo-jun, smiled satisfactorily.

And he closed the door firmly so that no one could escape, no, interfere with the practice.

***

January 3rd.

It was the day of the first performance of the play [MOEB-436].

The internet was full of articles titled [Play ‘MOEB-436’ scheduled for today!], and people who succeeded and failed in ticketing left comments full of anticipation and envy.

Of course, those who succeeded in booking for the first show started to prepare to go to Eunhasu Center early in the morning.

“Wow, there are a lot of people.”

Song Yu-jung and Im Ye-na looked around as they came out of the subway entrance.

People of all ages and genders were going in one direction with excited faces. 

It was the direction where Eunhasu Center was visible from afar.

“Let’s go quickly!”

Song Yu-jung and Im Ye-na also grabbed their bags and joined the moving crowd.

It was their first time at Eunhasu Center, but they didn’t need to look at the map as they just followed the people ahead of them. 

They smiled involuntarily.

As they moved along, they saw an open space.

“It looks like there are two theaters here.”

The building where the second theater, where [MOEB-436] would be performed, was located had people waiting for their entrance time everywhere.

There were benches, but there were not enough for everyone to sit on.

Song Yu-jung and Im Ye-na first went to the ticket office inside the building and showed their e-tickets that they received by text message on their phones and exchanged them for real tickets.

[MOEB-436]

[January 3rd 1st show]

[Marble]

The black ticket seemed to show the genre of SF, with white stars gradually embedded on it.

“You also succeeded in the first round…”

“What’s going on?”

Song Yujung and Im Yena, who were giggling while looking at the physical ticket, looked at each other with curious eyes.

They both succeeded in getting tickets, and they were for the first round of the show. 

Their seats were diagonal, across the aisle from each other, in [Ma] and [Ba] sections.

“It’s amazing that we got diagonal seats.”

“I know, right? But I’m glad we can watch it together! We’ll have someone to talk to about it.”

Im Yena’s words made Song Yujung nod her head.

It was fun to watch plays or movies, but it was also a pleasure to share opinions and thoughts about the work afterwards.

“Did you bring your light stick?”

“Yeah. I won’t turn it on though.”

Song Yujung tapped her bag on her shoulder. She felt the round sprout stick inside.

It would be a distraction to turn it on during the play, but she felt proud and reassured just by having it in her bag.

Im Yena also smiled and showed her sprout stick in her bag.

Then, their phones rang.

Song Yujung and Im Yena reflexively looked at their phones. It was an SNS notification.

“Oh. The golden hand is here!”

“Let’s go get it quickly!”

Song Yujung and Im Yena walked towards the place where the golden hand was, with bright smiles on their faces. Their steps were light because of their excited mood.

There were many people around the golden hand, who was giving out drawings that he had made himself.

Song Yujung and Im Yena greeted him with a smile and gave him some snacks that they had brought.

The golden hand handed them a card each, without any wrinkles.

“I drew this with Cheongryong and Kim Jinwoo’s images, since it’s a play this time.”

“Thank you! Please draw the play today too!”

“Sure! I’ll upload it as soon as the YouTube video is released.”

The YouTube video release would be in March, two months later.

But the sprouts who were strict about spoilers could wait patiently enough.

“I hope the directors filmed it again this time.”

“Me too. The mirror was great… But maybe they’re too busy to do it?”

As they chatted about this and that, it was time for the play to start.

The sprouts, of course, as well as those who were curious about what kind of play it would be, got up from their seats and moved to the second theater.

“See you after the play.”

“Yeah.”

Song Yujung sat in [Ma] section, and Im Yena sat in [Ba] section. They felt excited as they saw the audience seats filling up one by one.

Unlike Song Yujung and Im Yena who were lucky enough to come together, there were hardly any cases of coming with acquaintances because of the fierce competition rate.

So everyone sat quietly in their seats and waited for the play to begin.

Soon, an announcement came on.

Song Yujung and Im Yena turned off their phones and checked the emergency exits according to the announcement.

Beep—

The audience seats darkened with a sound, and the curtain that covered the stage began to rise.

Song Yujung and Im Yena, and the audience looked at the stage with tense faces. 

Their hearts seemed to beat faster.

The stage slowly revealed itself.

Under the blue light, a woman in a white gown stood with her back facing the audience.

-Ughkrsmeu.

A sound like an animal’s cry came from the woman’s mouth.

***

Sound & Lighting Room

Park Minhyeong, Kim Chaeyeon, and the staff quietly looked down at the stage outside the window.

From the sound & lighting room located above the audience seats opposite to the stage, just like Mirhol, they could see the stage very well.

-Who are you?

-…What?

-Where is my mother?

“Minhyeong-ah. Get ready for the spaceship crash scene. The aisle is number 2.”

“Yes.”

At Kim Chaeyeon’s words, Park Minhyeong put his hand on the lighting machine with a slightly trembling hand. 

The staff who came to help the kids were also immersed in the play like the audience.

On stage, red lights flashed quickly with a warning sound and

“Now!”

Bang!

Everything went dark with a sound.

Seo-jun quickly hid himself behind a black cloth handed by Kang Jae Han who popped out from beside the stage. 

He ran towards aisle number 1 while covering his face with Isol who was waiting at the end of aisle behind a curtain.

Adjusting his presence was easy for Seo-jun.

Park Minhyeong paid attention not to shine light on aisle number 1 and made the audience dizzy with colorful lights.

Isol sent a message to Kim Chaeyeon while helping Seo-jun put on a wig and a cloak.

He was able to put on the wig quickly even in the dim light, thanks to the many practices.

Isol combed the wig neatly while Seo-jun, who had put on yellow lenses, turned the black cloth over again to cover his white hair.

-That damn tiger keeps coming out!

“Done.”

Park Minhyeong let out a light sigh.

Seo-jun came out of the curtain.

“Here he comes!”

At Kang Jae Han’s line, a spotlight turned on at the farthest place from where Seo-jun was, between [Da] and [Ra] sections.

‘Next is between Ga and Na sections.’

“Here he comes too!”

As planned by team [436], a spotlight turned on between [Ga] and [Na] sections at the right timing. People laughed at Kang Jae Han’s cheeky acting.

Song Yujung and Im Yena were no exception. 

They didn’t understand how it went from SF to Joseon era, but the actors’ acting made them forget such questions.

Flash!

The third spotlight turned on, and now the last one.

“He’s coming from there too!”

Kang Jae Han pointed his finger and Park Minhyeong turned on the light. At the same time, Seo-jun, or Jang Sanbeom, took off the black cloth that covered his white hair.

Song Yujung and Im Yena, who were looking back with a smile at the spotlight that appeared right next to them, froze. The other audience members were the same.

Boom!

With a sound of a drum that shook their hearts, Seo-jun, or Jang Sanbeom, took a step.

[(Evil) Ice Golem’s Echo – Intermediate Level is activated.]

[The level of [(Evil) Ice Golem’s Echo – Intermediate Level] temporarily decreases.]

[(Evil) Ice Golem’s Echo (Lowest Level) is activated.]

Follows the sound of prey.

Movement is heavy and dull.

Lowers the temperature around slightly.

Model: Snow Tiger

A golem made after a model of a snow tiger that hunted prey in the same way as Jang Sanbeom. It was one of Seo-jun’s previous lives that inspired this play.

[(Good) Ice Desert SIme’s Similarity] that was strong against cold and [(Evil) Ice Golem’s Echo] that lowered the temperature seemed mismatched but also fit well together.

Seo-jun walked down the stairs with a heavy aura.

Like a black pebble in a white flower bed, the magic that covered Seo-jun in soft lines made people shiver but also drew their attention.

The white hair that swayed, the white cloak with red stripes that fluttered. Inside it, a slightly messy white shirt and black suit. 

And his pale face and yellow eyes that looked dull but also bright.

They felt chills.

Their hearts seemed to beat along with his steps. 

Boom, boom.

The audience lost their minds at the sight of Jang Sanbeom who appeared right next to them.