Chapter 104: Change (3)
“Yoo-jin-ah, how many did you say in total?”
“About 5,000…”
“Can I back out of judging now?”
“No… We’ve already lined up Shim Ji-young, Park Jun-ho, Kim Ji-hyun, and other actors as judges. If you drop out, it’ll actually cause more trouble, Writer-nim.”
“Right. Split into 10 groups, that’s just 500 per group… We can do this. Haha.”
Kim Si-woo scratched his head and headed to his seat.
On the way to the audition venue, someone called from behind.
“Writer Kim Si-woo-nim!”
“Ji-hyun-ssi. Thank you so much for coming today.”
It was actress Kim Ji-hyun.
“If you call, I come anywhere. How have you been?”
“I’ve been… ordinary.”
Kim Ji-hyun had been steadily working and improving her craft, now one of the most popular actresses in her twenties.
She occasionally got flak in articles for her cold expression, but Kim Si-woo and her fans knew she was simply honest with her emotions.
“I heard you switched agencies.”
“Yeah… Honestly, I wanted to join your company if possible…”
“If I ever start a proper agency, I’ll contact you.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I don’t lie about things like that.”
Kim Si-woo no longer held any grudge over the past—he’d received help from her too many times.
Since that day, Kim Ji-hyun had never asked to appear in his works. Instead, she always helped first, busy proving her worth as promised.
And Kim Si-woo knew it.
“Anyway, thanks for today.”
“Leave it to me.”
After greeting several other actors, the auditions officially began.
There were five main criteria for selection:
Appearance, acting skill, potential, desperation, and character.
In reality, potential, desperation, and character were the hardest to gauge.
That’s why sharp-eyed actors were brought in as judges.
“I’m excited to see who makes it… Alright, let’s start.”
“Yes. Participants 1 through 5, please enter.”
At Lee Yoo-jin’s words, a Siwoo Film staff member led the contestants in.
“Starting with number 1: introduce yourself, perform a one-minute prepared piece, then talk about your aspirations.”
“Yes! Hello, I’m…”
Contestant 1 began their introduction and performance, then shared their goals. Kim Si-woo picked an appropriate question from his prepared list.
“Contestant 1, if you joined Siwoo Film and only got minor roles, what would you do?”
“Huh? Well… I’d probably give up.”
“Understood. Prepare contestant 2.”
The process took a full 10 hours.
Starting in the morning, ending late evening.
“Ugh… I’m starving…”
In the first round alone, they cut 4,500 people. From the remaining 500, another 480 had to go.
“500… Hey, Yoo-jin-ah, come here.”
“Yes? Ah… yes, Writer-nim.”
A great idea suddenly hit Kim Si-woo. He called Lee Yoo-jin over and explained.
“That sounds like a good plan.”
“Right? Let’s do it right away.”
“Yes, Writer-nim.”
Kim Si-woo’s idea was a massive survival audition.
Two weeks later, the people who passed the first round of auditions were gathered in one place.
“Ah… where the heck are we? It’s so hot I’m dying…”
“If you’re unhappy, just quit and go home. Stop whining like a kid.”
“What did you say, you jerk? You done talking?”
“Don’t fight. We’ll find out soon enough.”
A building halfway up a mountain.
And in its yard, 500 people were assembled.
“Verify identities and let them inside.”
“Yes, Writer-nim.”
While everyone stood in the scorching yard, Kim Si-woo, up on the platform, gave instructions to the staff, who moved quickly.
“Those whose identities have been confirmed, please enter the building.”
The verified passers entered the cool, air-conditioned building.
Each first-round passer inside was handed a sheet of paper.
“What’s this? They said to read it.”
Seated on chairs, everyone started reading.
It was a contract.
“Appearance contract?”
The paper detailed terms for appearing on YouTube.
As people finished reading, a man with a microphone appeared at the front.
Kim Si-woo greeted them.
“Hello, everyone. I’m writer Kim Si-woo. In your hands is a YouTube appearance contract. I plan to run this audition as a survival format. I assume you all agree? It’s a great chance to promote yourselves to various agencies. Of course, if anyone thinks ‘Do I really need to go this far?’ you’re free to quit and leave now. There’s a bus waiting outside. If you leave now, we’ll even give you participation pay.”
No one stood up at Kim Si-woo’s words.
Any aspiring actor knew Siwoo Film—and Kim Si-woo’s influence.
They couldn’t throw away this huge opportunity.
Plus, standing out in this YouTube shoot could catch an agency’s eye.
“Since no one’s leaving, I’ll take that as everyone continuing. Any questions, ask the lawyers up front. Once all signatures are done, we’ll start assigning dorms.”
Time passed, participants signed one by one and moved to their assigned dorms.
When the last one finished, Kim Si-woo gathered with the Siwoo Film team.
“Cameras rolling smoothly… Good thing CBS helped a lot. Doing it alone would’ve been tough.”
Kim Si-woo had consulted a PD who made survival audition shows at CBS and even got introductions to freelancers who’d left the network.
“Yeah. But surprisingly, no one went home… It would’ve been easier to edit if at least one quit…”
“That means they’re all serious. Or confident.”
“We’re in for trouble soon.”
“Probably.”
Kim Si-woo, Lee Yoo-jin, and the actors and staff there all nodded.
That evening.
After dinner, the audition participants gathered again.
“Is everyone here?”
“Yes!”
Their voices echoed, and Kim Si-woo continued, satisfied.
“From now on, form groups of five. Total 100 groups. We’ll number them in the order you form. You have 20 minutes. If you don’t finish in time, we’ll assign randomly. 20 minutes—start!”
At Kim Si-woo’s shout, the actors looked confused at first but quickly started asking each other questions to form groups.
Some already knew each other and finished faster than others scrambling around.
“Hmm… friends from the same school? They’re already done.”
“Working with friends should make chemistry easy.”
“We’ll see…”
After 20 minutes, all groups were barely formed.
“All groups made. Now… the first challenge. We’ll divide into sets of 10 groups. Survival rate: 50%. The task is acting with the script in front of you. You can’t choose the script or opponent group. Groups 1–10 will use script 1. Groups 11–20 will use script 2.”
As the survival competition officially began, the participants’ excitement skyrocketed.
“Hand out the scripts.”
Scripts were quickly passed to the person standing at the front of each group.
“Tomorrow morning at 7 a.m., judging starts simultaneously. Dismissed.”
The participants grabbed their scripts and began discussing.
Some in the auditorium, some in rooms, others in the cafeteria.
“Hoo… that group’s already started?”
A few groups stood out.
In that short time, they’d already divided roles and were running lines.
“Anyway, let’s have our meeting. Leave filming to the cameramen and come to the room, everyone.”
“Yes, Writer-nim.”
Following Kim Si-woo, people gathered in a small room next to the auditorium.
“You know this shoot is a huge opportunity not just for them, but for you too, right?”
“Yes!”
“You’ll appear as judges and mentors. Show your skills there. Cameramen and staff are on our side, so don’t worry about editing. And… if you get intimidated in front of those guys, I’ll be really disappointed. So let’s do this well.”
“Yes, Writer-nim!”
“Alright. Actors, rest a bit, then go around to your assigned groups and happily help any that look like they need it. Staff, let’s prep the meeting.”
The actors went outside, leaving Kim Si-woo, Lee Yoo-jin, and the staff in the room.
“With 500 people, we can’t focus on everyone equally. There’ll be leads and supporting roles here too—just like a drama. The difference is their positions can change anytime.”
Lee Yoo-jin and the staff began selecting participants to focus filming on.
A group of five friends who came together.
The oldest contestant in his 40s.
A former child actor now in college.
And so on—plenty of unique individuals, so picking wasn’t hard.
“But… Writer-nim, are you really not doing viewer votes or live broadcasts?”
“Yeah. We’re looking for actors for Siwoo Film, so viewer opinions aren’t that necessary. And live has too many variables.”
“Understood.”
As the meeting continued, the door burst open and a staff member rushed in.
Bam!
“Writer-nim! Big problem—a fight broke out!”
“Fists?”
“No, just arguing for now… but it’s getting really intense…”
“Sigh… Got it. See? This is why live is too unpredictable. 500 people, not one or two.”
Kim Si-woo stepped outside and heard harsh swearing from one side. He headed over.
“Sigh… Did they forget the cameras are rolling?”
While people fidgeted around the two arguing, Kim Si-woo stepped between them.
“Both of you, that’s enough. Before we air it unedited…”
At his icy voice and the blunt truth, the two shut their mouths.
“If you’re going to fight, at least no swearing. We won’t say anything about raised voices.”
“…Yes.”
Faced with Kim Si-woo’s cold tone and stare, the two answered dazedly.
Kim Si-woo then climbed onto the platform, grabbed the mic connected to the building-wide speakers.
“Ahem… Everyone. Fighting for the lead role is fine, but let’s avoid swearing. If you can’t decide, settle it with acting or a vote. We’d rather not send you all to the bottom, but if you don’t care—go ahead. We can air it raw, no edits. Haha.”
After Kim Si-woo finished and left, people began revising their plans.
Draw attention with drama and boost recognition… or stick to the safe, good-guy image.
The former could secure screen time and fame fast but ruin future careers; the latter risked being edited out entirely.
And so the first night of the survival audition passed.
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TL Note:
This novel is now translated and finished at Chapter 176.
If you’d like to continue right away, the remaining 72 chapters (105–176) are available on my Patreon Premium tier, along with extra chapters from my other 5 ongoing translated novels.
There’s also a Plus tier with 39 advance chapters, updated at 7 chapters per week.
Link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/Vritratls?utm_source=search
For this novel specifically, check the collection under “Genius Writer”
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