Chapter 132

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on February 25, 2025

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Éclat Étoile is launching a new clothing brand.

Its name is Argente Camélia.

A brand emphasizing luxurious quality and femininity. The reason why the past version of myself remembers this is that it was circulating as an issue on online communities for a while.

Of course, even aside from that, this memory surfaced clearly, indicating that it would be important even if it weren’t particularly memorable.

“Probably for sure.”

There were a few issues.

The most representative one was the durability issue.

It wasn’t just the fabric. Due to the clothing’s structural design, the waist area would easily break when any vigorous activity was performed.

Also, this was compounded by the issue concerning the actress who starred in their advertisements.

Especially so when the skirt of the dress worn by a female actress at an awards ceremony tore in a catastrophic incident.

This was arguably the defining event that ruined the image of Argente Camélia.

“Second, the design.”

Given its emphasis on femininity, the design’s importance was undeniable.

In portraying femininity, it was necessary to present some degree of appeal that could compensate for whatever inconvenience it brought to women.

But Argente Camélia wasn’t like that.

Owing to the designer’s attempt at overly original creativity, the result was somewhat peculiar.

The design itself was quite pretty, but it was challenging to coordinate with other outfits.

And yet…

“Since Éclat Étoile hasn’t reached the level of luxury brands…”

It’s hard to simply highlight that one piece confidently.

While it has been doing well in France, it remains a domestic brand.

Even if it might be treated as something akin to a prestigious label, it’s still insufficient to complete an entire wardrobe with solely their clothing.

That’s the impression of their brand.

“Lastly, the price.”

As mentioned earlier, Éclat Étoile already exists in the upper echelon of premium brands.

Naturally, their newly launched Argente Camélia followed the same trend.

This meant that their pricing was significantly higher compared to regular clothing.

Given this, the emergence of jokes on community forums was quite unavoidable.

The news spread from women-centric communities to men-centric ones as well.

Because of the perceived poor cost-effectiveness, it became symbolic of a failing brand, leading to its collapse.

An incident that left a heavy blow, causing Éclat Étoile to waver significantly.

Or rather, considering that there was no further news about this brand afterward, it’s likely they reached the worst-case scenario…

“How’s it going, Seoyeon?”

Seoyeon, lost in these thoughts, snapped out of her reverie upon hearing Eun-ha Park, her manager.

“I’ll do it first.”

“Good. It’s surely a great opportunity.”

“But….”

Éclat Étoile was an invaluable brand lately, serving as the foundation of Seoyeon’s considerable allowance.

Since a large part of it went to Ramiel’s Super Chat, it would be problematic if the brand went under.

The money earned as an actress was managed directly by Sua, so the income from advertisements was more freely expendable.

“I’d like to meet with Éclat Étoile sometime later for a more detailed discussion.”

“Alright. I’ll coordinate the schedule then.”

It was rare for Seoyeon to express herself this way.

Generally, if she didn’t like something, she’d outright refuse, and if she did, she’d accept without hesitation.

“Is there something wrong with Éclat Étoile?”

Naturally, such a question couldn’t help but arise.

Eun-ha trusted Seoyeon’s discernment immensely because none of the works, variety shows, or advertisements she had previously taken part in had ever failed.

Doubt would be more unusual than trust in this case.

“I should investigate this on my own.”

There’s always a reason when Seoyeon hesitates.

It seemed necessary to confirm that reason.

***

– Finally, is it A group today????

– Phew, it has been a long wait…

– Still, C group was pretty good, right?

– Out of the four groups, half were trash though.

Episode 5 of *Hyper Action Star*.

Due to the continuous decline in ratings from Episodes 2 through 4, it had significantly reduced mentions on online communities compared to before.

Given that A group had excessively stimulating content, the auditions of B to D groups seemed somewhat monotonous.

In fact, they prepared more carefully after watching A group, making the difference even more pronounced.

– There’s a sense of active use of superpowers here… Hmm.

– I don’t know whose idea it is, but it needs some cutting.

– Still, if it’s an audition for a superpower movie, shouldn’t these elements naturally come forth?

– Sooyeon Joo was entertaining, but I guess it’s just that she’s not good at acting, right?

Because the portrayal of superpower acts didn’t hit the mark, the overall evaluation dropped further.

In other words, while there was preparation on how their superpowers would be utilized, there was a distinct lack of consideration on how they would be “received.”

Of course.

Any actor would naturally want to stand out.

After all, supporting an opponent’s performance only enhances their presence.

Even in auditions, there’s an unconscious avoidance of this due to the awareness of the situation.

Thus, the mission for the reduced A group now stood at ten members.

“It’s a flag-grabbing game.”

Actor Min-kyu Cha looked at the A group and said. Each of them had a flag on their backs and would compete in chasing and stealing those flags.

“And this will incorporate parkour into it.”

Parkour, meaning the use of terrain to enact action sequences.

Indeed, the filming set was stocked with various terrains and obstacles.

– Ahhh

– This feels familiar.

– Is Seoyeon Joo excited?

The screen caught Seoyeon, who already seemed energized.

And beside her, Do-ha Min with a gloomy face made her even more eye-catching.

– Why does Min Do-ha look so down??

– Just think about it like Min Do-ha’s crying sound getting merged with a supercar on the internet.

– Isn’t being more famous a win?

– ㄹㅇㅋㅋㅋ She’s become famous!

– Min Do-ha was already a somewhat known actress though…

In any case, the viewer reactions reflected a rather desolate state of Min Do-ha’s current feelings.

“Of course, not this again—flag grabbing.”

It didn’t feel good.

Really, it didn’t.

And, just as expected.

“Why is everyone chasing me?! There are so many others!!”

Min Do-ha ran with all her might.

Desperately, all the way.

Even giving up the flag was out of the question because of her pride.

“Why did I choose sniping as my superpower?! If only I had chosen telekinesis!! At least I could’ve blasted that girl away once.”

With no resistance possible.

“Hello.”

“AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!”

Seeing Seoyeon jumping over the obstacles enthusiastically and running towards her, Min Do-ha screamed and ran away.

Looking around briefly, Seoyeon spotted and snatched flags from a few nearby actors, as if they were meant to be hers from the start.

Turning her back and disappearing elsewhere, Seoyeon left behind actors with a sense of futility, who had just had their flags snatched away.

Her actions were so natural that it seemed seamless.

– She learned her fishing skills from Star Fisherman.

– Seoyeon keeps sparing Min Do-ha. Does she like her?

– ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ If you run like that, she has to let you go.

– If I were running on all fours like that, I’d let you survive too.

– That’s all acting, right? Min Do-ha really acts well, huh.

– Acting?? Is that even acting?? What kind of acting is it?

– I don’t know either.

– Watching it, isn’t it the classic hero chasing a super-powered villain storyline? Her power was sniping, wasn’t it?

– Could be.

As these discussions began to heat up, Seoyeon literally flew across the parkour setup.

At first, she was moving around at a steady pace for some reason, but the sight of Min Do-ha screaming as she ran seemed to have triggered something.

“Here we go again; Min Do-ha is dodging and running from Seoyeon.”

– Does Min Do-ha have some grudge against her?

– Min Do-ha: K…ill… me…

– I’m oddly sympathizing with Min Do-ha. Isn’t that strange?

– That psychopathic villain… isn’t Min Do-ha pitiful enough?!

The live streamer Ramiel, who had been casually smirking, held back her laugh upon seeing Seoyeon on the broadcast.

Seeing Seoyeon, her mind briefly wandered back to the past.

“Poor girl.”

Ramiel genuinely pitied Min Do-ha.

Seoyeon must have genuinely thought Min Do-ha was responding well to her acting, and that was why she was chasing her.

It was this very reason why she let her off.

How could one knock out someone responding with such vitality?

Besides, obstacles meant nothing to someone like Seoyeon.

She could just leap and hurdle all of them.

She only rolled around due to the need to keep up appearances.

“Wasn’t she talking about her image recently?”

Ramiel recalled Seoyeon’s serious statement back in school.

There was awareness that her image needed adjustment.

And it was somewhat encouraging that she’s now starting to take care of her image.

Nevertheless.

– Isn’t Jo Seo-hee flying right now?

– Is Seo-hee Jo dead?

– Not really; the soft, padded floors and obstacles at the set make sure it’s fine.

– She betrayed us last time, now she has to pay!

– Is Seoyeon Joo strong, or is Seo-hee Jo light?

– But didn’t Seoyeon have regenerative powers?

– True stamina also falls under regenerative abilities…

“Umm…”

Does her current performance match her image goals?

A flashback to a long-forgotten childhood trauma.

Once, Ramiel had jokingly challenged Seoyeon to a game of tag.

The sight of her red, glowing eyes as she lunged towards her still haunted her dreams.

Now, it felt like Jo Seo-hee was also suffering from that same nightmare.

Seoyeon was precisely that now.

However, the difference this time was…

“Huh?”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

It was the last moment again.

It appeared that Jo Seo-hee might have felt regret over her actions and spared Seoyeon’s flag this time.

Using the opportunity, while crawling away quietly, she stealthily snatched Seoyeon’s flag during the commotion when Seoyeon tried to steal Min Do-ha’s flag.

Such a deed was only possible because of her low presence.

In this entire parkour challenge, Seo-hee Jo’s activity could be summed up in just one brief instance: being thrown and rolled around by Seoyeon.

– What?

– Double betrayal ㄷㄷ

– Is she not worried about future repercussions?

In the end, though, Seo-hee Jo managed to survive this challenge while Seoyeon claimed first place again.

– Min Do-ha and Jo Seo-hee managed to survive again.

– If Min Do-ha had lost this time, Jo Seo-hee’s act saved her.

– Didn’t Seo-hee get hit by Seoyeon?

– No, our Seoyeon isn’t that kind of person.

– Still, seeing her enjoy herself while running around in the show brings a good vibe.

– ㅋㅋㅋㅋ She’s far from the image of a typical actress when it comes to variety shows.

Still, the growing Seoyeon Support Group stepped in to defend her image.

Their stance was somewhat akin to: “Our Seoyeon doesn’t bite.”

“A Group has a fairly well-balanced feel, right?”

“Since Seoyeon ultimately got out at the right time.”

“The acting by Han So-yoo was particularly good too. It’s definitely best when superpower acts by Han So-yoo and Seoyeon Joo are combined.”

“And Seo-hee’s character was good. She made full use of her capabilities.”

The staff and PDs laughed while grading the acting performances for *Hyper Action Star*.

In fact, the ratings, which had been dropping, surged back up to 7%.

Still, it was a bit concerning that all the attention was concentrated on A Group.

“At least it’s better than not performing well.”

PD Ki-tae Lee sighed.

No, A Group should have been scheduled later.

Swapping D Group with A Group would have been more beneficial in holding the ratings.

While that was a little disappointing, it was inevitable.

“What does Director Han think?”

“…”

Director Ye-geon Han was carefully reviewing the recently filmed footage.

For someone who usually just cracked jokes, his serious expression stood out.

Director Ye-geon Han was someone whose intensity could rival even greats when it came to action scenes.

This must have been the reason GH Group hired him.

Visual style and action.

His pursuit was to elevate that to the extreme.

Like recent Western hero movies.

“Let’s be honest; it’s a gamble.”

Undoubtedly, the recent standard for action or CG that audiences expected was aligned with Western hero franchises.

Anything below that risked getting harshly criticized or mocked.

That’s why Korean productions generally avoided films with these fantastical elements.

It requires a lot of investment, is hard to execute, and risks ridicule. Who would dare take that step?

“I have something to say.”

When Han began talking, breaking the silence, Ki-tae slightly tensed up.

There was a rumor that Han held high standards for actors, and he wondered if this was criticism aimed at Seoyeon for being too variety-show focused rather than actor-centric.

“Through all the actors I’ve seen…”

He paused the footage on the scene where Seoyeon chased Min Do-ha.

Although others might have found it merely humorous and entertaining, he saw more.

“I’ve never encountered an actress with such a strong presence.”

“She obviously has a strong presence.”

“Not merely that. Beyond simply commanding the screen, there’s an inherent ‘anticipation’ factor.”

“Anticipation?”

Han nodded.

“Anticipation about what she’ll do, the faintest sense of wonder about what she might show. This actress is incredibly strong in that aspect. That’s why viewers anxiously wait for scenes with her.”

Because she always seems ready to deliver something.

“That sense of anticipation transcends acting and can highly impact a movie’s box office success.”

What kind of acting will Seoyeon deliver?

What will she contribute to this scene?

Seoyeon had this essence.

Ye-geon Han chuckled, watching Seoyeon lose her flag to Seo-hee Jo in the last moment — she was truly unpredictable until the end.

“You’ve really managed to find a monster.”

With these words, Ki-tae looked at Seoyeon with renewed respect. If even the arrogant prodigy speaks such words.

It meant Seoyeon was far beyond what he had expected.

And…

Where was that monstrous actress now?

“What are you doing?”