Chapter 123

“What is that?”

Min Do-ha immediately turned her body and fled.

“Dodging paintballs by hearing the sound?”

She felt goosebumps rising.

If this scene were broadcast, it was certain to cause quite a stir.

“Had I only maintained close combat…”

Originally, Min Do-ha had planned to shoot from a distance; failing that, she thought she would lure the enemy into close combat. She had believed she could easily subdue some frail high school girl.

But—

“It’s absolutely impossible.”

What was that reaction speed? And why were her eyes shining so intimidatingly?

“Huhk, huh-huhk.”

Min Do-ha heard footsteps chasing her from behind and quickly jumped over an obstacle.

There were various places to hide scattered around the set. Given the number of obstacles, she felt confident she could escape by jumping over them.

Eventually, the sound of footsteps chasing her faded away.

“Phew…”

Min Do-ha exhaled a sigh of relief. Running across the set had left her breathing heavily. She hid behind one of the props and caught her breath.

Various sounds of chaos were audible around her—the sound of gunfire, actors shouting prepared lines for action sequences.

“Acting, acting…”

Min Do-ha suddenly realized she hadn’t shown any acting at all. Even though it was risky, perhaps she should’ve engaged in close combat—no, that was clearly not a good idea.

“Hm?”

As she pondered this, she noticed the area had grown unusually quiet. And as she absentmindedly looked up—

“…”

The first thing she saw was a head of black hair. Pale skin. And crimson eyes that glowed with a menacing smile playing on the lips.

And she felt the mouth slowly move.

“I’ve found you.”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

Without realizing it, Min Do-ha screamed in terror, tried to get up, but her legs gave out. She started crawling away.

Seo-yeon had pointed her gun at Min Do-ha but slowly lowered it.

‘What an incredible performance.’

She was truly impressed. She had momentarily believed the scream was real. Even the part where Min Do-ha crawled away, her legs giving out, was utterly convincing.

This was why Seo-yeon decided to let Min Do-ha go so easily.

‘If this is acting, someone needs to harmonize with it.’

Even if she had established her own character, she needed someone to play off her. In this sense, Min Do-ha had been a decent counterpart. She must have chosen the physical enhancement ability.

That’s why, while chasing her, Seo-yeon had carefully adjusted her speed to match Min Do-ha’s, as a regeneration ability user shouldn’t be faster than a physical enhancement user—it would look odd.

‘Get stronger and return.’

Seo-yeon decided to spare Min Do-ha, for now. She could have chased her down immediately, but since she had chosen Min Do-ha as a partner who could complement her, it would be a waste to eliminate her.

‘And mysteriously, there seem to be many people who are paying attention to me.’

Seo-yeon slowly moved her gaze to check her surroundings. Initially, there were about five people watching her, but as time passed, the number seemed to grow increasingly larger.

Maybe all the running around had drawn attention.

At that moment–

Flick!

Something flew through the air and landed at Seo-yeon’s feet.

“Huh?”

She caught one of the paintballs just as it flew by her shoulder.

‘Earphones?’

No, they looked a little different. It seemed to be something meant for the ears, though. Could it be a special item prepared by the production team? She placed it on her ear.

“Can you hear my voice?”

To her surprise, Soo-hee Jo’s voice came through clearly.

Before she could ask how Jo Soo-hee had gotten this, she remembered they were allowed to bring items useful for the movie.

Any items other than weapons could be brought in after inspection by the production team. And Jo Soo-hee was set up as a rich genius… that’s what the character was meant to convey.

‘So she’s using it for props.’

But where was Jo actually?

Just as Seo-yeon wondered about this, she looked around and—

Three or four more shots flew toward her. Instinctively deflecting one with her hand cost another point.

“Our alliance would be useful.”

“Huh?”

“I can’t do it alone, can I? I’m a bit far away, in a higher position where I have a good view of others.”

As if from a support character in a movie, this is what Jo Soo-hee said. Only then did Seo-yeon realize where Jo Soo-hee was located.

‘Instead of going toward the bag side, she went the opposite way.’

Near the hill area of the set, there was the tall Styrofoam ruin. Jo Soo-hee was clearly hiding there.

“…Anyway, I’ve been hit five times while running and have five points already.”

Jo laughed. Anyway, it was a good sign that she wasn’t dead yet. It seemed like the timing was right for Jo Soo-hee to start moving instead of running for her life.

It wouldn’t have much impact if the story was about chasing someone who’s helplessly fleeing.

‘Is she giving up?’

Seo-yeon was perplexed by Jo Soo-hee’s actions. Was she planning to fail completely?

Such behavior made her ponder deeply.

“The position I’m in allows me to see below clearly. Even someone as capable as you wouldn’t be able to fully cover the field of view, would you?”

Even if she could cover it somewhat, Seo-yeon nodded.

‘Hmmm?’

At that moment, she noticed a slight shift in Jo Soo-hee’s tone.

But she didn’t think much of it. Perhaps the situation required her to change the tone.

“I’ll tell you their locations if you trust me. How’s that alliance?”

“…A little.”

“That’s perfect.”

With Jo Soo-hee’s chuckle, Seo-yeon turned her body and charged toward the people pointing their guns at her.

Ducking down, avoiding incoming paintballs with her hands, she moved.

Through all this—

[So Yeon: 38 points]

Seo-yeon’s score began to rise rapidly.

***

“What is that?”

Han Bong-sik, slowly regaining his footing as a 1.4 million YouTube subscriber, murmured under his breath. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing in the video.

– What the heck is this?

– She’s dodging paintballs without even looking.

– Did Jo Soo-hee help her?

– If she tells me everything, I could have scored perfectly in the SAT.

– Haha, seriously.

The screen showed Jo Soo-hee being cornered. She was hidden within the Styrofoam ruins, observing the battlefield from a high elevation. Every time she spoke, Seo Yeon’s body reacted accordingly.

Almost like she was dominating the field.

That was the impression she left with her performance.

– With Soo Hee giving her positions, no sniper would hit

– Wasn’t she taking everyone on one-by-one anyway?

– Who’s Seoyeon Jo? Is she always this way?

– Yea, she’s always this crazy.

– ???

– Naively asking, of course, it’s scripted. All variety shows are.

– Are you dumb? THAT’S impossible to script.

– If this was a script, then so’s my life…

Clearly, there were others putting up a fight, enacting their own scenes of gun battles in clusters.

Just then—

– Here she comes, Seo-yeon!

– Holy crap. Is she a ninja?

A scene of chaos unfolded as Seo-yeon suddenly burst out. It was even more chaotic because of her regeneration ability—they couldn’t kill her easily.

Whenever Seo-yeon seemed about to receive a mortal wound, she would block it with both hands.

“Even so, it’s clear she’s sticking to her character. That’s why this is more terrifying.”

Seo-yeon was still acting.

Likely, the same was true for the other viewers. Those chatting in her broadcast probably felt the same way.

“If she’s hit on the arms and legs, she’ll be incapacitated. Though something feels weird about it.”

– Is she on purpose?

– ?

“That’s what I mentioned earlier: action acting requires coordination.”

Han Bong-sik slowed down the video to 0.25x speed. He could see the barrels pointed at Seo-yeon, the bullets flying at her. Initially, it seemed like a coincidence, but as he watched, Seo-yeon’s eyes moved along with the projectiles.

In short, Seo-yeon was “seeing” the paintballs and dodging them.

Whether or not that was possible was beside the point.

“If she can dodge them, why does she let herself get hit?”

There was a moment when Seo-yeon could have ducked and avoided an attack. However, if the opposition mistook that moment as an opportunity and lunged—

“They’d be dead instantly.”

– What kind of T-1000 is she?

– Aren’t other people using their superpowers?

– They probably don’t know they can.

As per the chat, there weren’t many actors utilizing their superpowers for the performance.

It seemed as if they were perplexed about how to perform in such situations.

Until this moment.

– Han So-yoo!

– Isn’t it better to start running?

A rather cute-looking woman appeared on screen. A subtitle quickly popped up: “Han So-yoo’s ability is telekinesis.”

This was a common tactic—descriptions appeared as soon as the cast members came into frame. However, until now, none had properly used the superpowers mentioned in their explanations.

“See. Here’s what I was about to say. Doing a superpower performance is not as easy as it sounds.”

– Of course, right? Without CG, it’s all for nothing.

“Especially for what Han So-yoo is attempting now—telekinesis. It’s particularly tricky because nothing is visibly happening.”

Even Seo-yeon’s regeneration and physical enhancement abilities could be easily glossed over. But superpowers needing CG will naturally appear absurd.

“However, telekinesis is something that doesn’t require CG.”

– ?

– What’s he saying?

Bong-sik thought about Seo-yeon up until now. Although it seemed chaotic and unplanned, there was indeed a certain pattern.

She first seemed to recognize the opponent’s superpower. For instance, if she faced someone with a fire-based ability, she would avoid getting too close, showing clear caution.

Even though the opponent would just recklessly fire their gun, it was meaningless in Seo-yeon’s case.

“Perhaps gunfights were not only for the sake of action.”

It was probably a test to see if someone could perform superpowers convincingly in extreme situations. Han So-yoo probably understood how Seo-yeon operated by now.

Then, she would also know how Seo-yeon would react to her telekinesis.

“In short. That’s the plan.”

Han So-yoo extended her hand toward Seo-yeon.

Seo-yeon’s eyes widened in shock as she flew backward with a “bang.”

She collided with a nearby Styrofoam structure.

“Ever heard of WWE? It’s American professional wrestling. In their performances, a key factor is receiving an attack, also known as ‘taking the hit.'”

The role of taking an attack when someone performs a move.

This was the element that made the superpowers realistic.

After all, telekinesis isn’t seen.

But Seo-yeon “received” it by convincingly flying backward.

“But when shown in full frame, it looks childish, similar to old tokusatsu shows with bad CG.”

That’s why the camera moved closer.

Instead of showing the whole body, partial footage was used.

When people only saw Seo-yeon being flung back into the air, it would genuinely seem like she’d been struck by something.

– It’s real!

– Isn’t that incredible skill from the film crew?

“This is actually an advertisement. GH Group prepared it to promote the movie.”

Bong-sik watched Seo-yeon and Han So-yoo carefully. As expected, Seo-yeon responded to Han So-yoo’s telekinesis convincingly.

The activation condition was extending the left hand forward. The ability manifested within her line of sight.

This was Han So-yoo’s script-detailed ability. Han So-yoo had prior experience with acting as a wizard in a children’s drama.

Back then, it was cute and perhaps a bit ridiculous. But depending on the opponent, it could become frighteningly convincing.

– Wow!

– It feels… real.

Seo-yeon moved out of So-yoo’s line of sight, evading her hand. Clearly, Seo-yeon had learned how dangerous So-yoo’s ability was with the previous attack.

Everyone waited to see how Seo-yeon would overcome this.

“This!!”

Han So-yoo’s eyes twisted maliciously. Her character was unmistakably defined in just one line and an expression.

‘She’s taking up the role of the villain.’

Bong-sik thought Han So-yoo was clever. There was ultimately no way to outright defeat Seo-yeon with superpowers alone. The rules stated only a paintball hit could confirm death.

Superpowers, aside from acting points, couldn’t clearly determine death unless the other person acted accordingly.

It was impossible for Han So-yoo to win against Seo-yeon, whose physical abilities were dominating. Having realized this, Han So-yoo assumed the role of “the powerful villain.”

After all, even Seo-yeon, who had been overwhelming everyone else, felt vulnerable under So-yoo’s telekinesis, creating a sense of great tension.

With the atmosphere flipped, the rest unfolded effortlessly. Seo-yeon dodged So-yoo’s hand and approached her.

As if her arm had been twisted by telekinesis, her right arm twisted, dropping her gun. But Seo-yeon kicked the gun forward.

“Gah!!”

Han So-yoo let out an instant screech as Seo-yeon lunged and seized her with her left hand still intact. The moment So-yoo extended her left hand, Seo-yeon’s gun made contact with her chest.

Bang!!

[Seo-yeon: 68 points]

With that score indicating she had eliminated more than half of the contestants single-handedly—

“!!”

Min Do-ha, who had been hugging the bag and hiding, involuntarily gasped. The once chaotic surroundings had suddenly grown quiet.

‘What just happened?’

Min Do-ha’s spirit had been completely broken since she fled from Seo-yeon. But she managed to get a hand on the bag, thus switching strategies to just safeguarding it.

‘It was wrong to fight against someone like that anyway.’

How could anyone expect her to fight while dodging paintballs?

Min Do-ha genuinely felt aggrieved.

Did she have some special training or something? It was simply unimaginable.

‘If I just protect the bag, I’ll get at least 30 points…’

“There you are.”

“…”

Min Do-ha lost consciousness right there.

***

With the bag, Seo-yeon’s score easily crossed 80 points. Honestly, it was a score no one on the production team could have anticipated.

Even halving it, she was clearly going to take first place.

Adding acting points, she was almost certain to surpass 100. Such dominance made the other contestants simply smile wryly, accepting their fates.

After all, getting eliminated by Seo-yeon was meaningless. Ultimately, it wasn’t death but points that decided who advanced to the next round.

It was all just acting anyway—many who had sustained fatal injuries were still walking around.

Even if acting scores were cut, other scores could still be earned.

‘Still, I made it into the top 10.’

‘Apparently this kind of acting just isn’t for me.’

As the excitement intertwined, the shooting time was nearing the five-minute mark.

The survivors—now only two remained.

Seo-yeon and Jo Soo-hee. Carrying the bag, Seo-yeon moved toward Jo Soo-hee’s location.

Jo Soo-hee stood nearby, only slightly stained with paint compared to everyone else.

‘Yet…’

Seo-yeon glanced at the scoreboard. Jo Soo-hee’s score was not displayed—effectively, 0 points.

A situation where she would clearly be eliminated, no matter if Seo-yeon handed over the bag.

Just as Seo-yeon got closer and was about to check on Jo Soo-hee,

“Oh my, you worked hard, my agent.”

Jo Soo-hee smiled and chuckled warmly.

Seo-yeon halted momentarily, baffled.

‘Acting.’

Why right at this moment?

Just as she thought that,

Bang.

A sharp firing sound. Seo-yeon looked down.

A paintball mark on her chest—right over her heart, the one vulnerability of her regeneration ability.

Too close.

Too much trust and no time to move.

[Jo Soo-hee: +34 points]

The score was enough to boost her ranking to around fifth place.

Even with previous hits taking her down to 29 points, it was a significant jump.

Watching the new score display on the scoreboard, Seo-yeon looked at Jo Soo-hee, clearly unable to believe it.

“I’m sorry. But I’ll still give you the bag.”

Jo Soo-hee spoke soothingly, but—

Seo-yeon felt annoyed.

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