Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 175

However, pushing my uncles that hard didn’t last long.

That’s because filming for Squid Season 3, among other things, was about to begin.

“…Just take it easy and rest while you work.”

“??”

“What’s gotten into you, saying something like that?”

“Is this what they mean by a cat feeling sorry for a mouse?”

My uncles looked at me with puzzled expressions when I said that on the last day before leaving the practice room for filming.

Seeing them like that, I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.

What I originally wanted to say was, ‘Don’t slack off just because I’m not here!’

But seeing how worn out they looked on the day of my departure, I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

“Anyway, take good care of yourselves. You still have to continue the world tour we couldn’t finish back then.”

“Ah~ Europe!”

“That’s more like it. For a second, I thought you were saying something human.”

“That guy’s trying to squeeze every last drop out of us old men~”

“Well… not surprised. Got it.”

“I… I’m in favor. Actually, I’ve been bothered that we couldn’t finish Europe.”

“Hmm.”

The uncles, who had been sneering, fell silent at Park Si-young’s sudden support.

It was a sudden change, but I didn’t find it that strange.

‘They must miss the stage too.’

They had been performing on stage at C’est la vie [a small-scale live music venue], but that was like drinking seawater to quench their thirst.

For those who have performed on stages with tens of thousands of cheering fans, a small stage with less than a hundred people would only temporarily satisfy them, soon making them even thirstier.

I knew that feeling better than anyone.

‘Because that’s how I was.’

The guy in my memories didn’t give up on music for a long time, even after falling into drugs. He eventually reached a level of drug addiction that was almost cognitive dissonance [a state of mental discomfort arising from conflicting beliefs], and finally had to put down his instrument. Yet, whenever he came to his senses, he invariably longed for the addictiveness that only music could provide.

It couldn’t compare to the stimulation of drugs, but it had something special.

After receiving the imprints of his memories, I, apart from him, also desperately missed the stage.

Having an inspiration that was even more intense than the guy in my memories, I missed the stage even more.

Because of that past, I could understand my uncles’ feelings now.

‘Well, apart from that, I also miss the stage after my comeback.’

In any case, since it was a comeback after two years, I wanted this comeback to resonate with the fans more intensely than ever before.

‘Well~ no need to say more.’

Knowing that they were about to embark on a tour to conquer stadiums in Europe, my uncles were more fired up than ever.

“I’m worried someone might collapse at this rate.”

Concerned, I ended up giving the managers separate instructions to focus more on taking care of my uncles.

* * *

Squid Season 3 saw the addition of numerous characters once again.

This is because Squid follows a survival-style death game format.

Only the male lead, along with Ri Ha-jung and Mi-hyun, had been together since Season 1. Nearly hundreds of people had died under the guise of a death game, not only in Season 1 but also in Season 2.

Some deaths were tragic, some were satisfying, and some were anticlimactic.

But whatever death they met, participating in this Squid series as an actor was like achieving a major milestone in their career.

Dozens of people became global stars through Squid, and several times that number of unknown actors made their names known to the public.

In other words, appearing in Squid was like winning the lottery.

Naturally, actors who wanted to appear in Squid had no choice but to line up.

Even if it was a small role, just being able to appear would add a significant credit to their resume.

As a result, the biggest difficulty in preparing for Squid Season 3 was not anything else, but the selection of actors.

This was even more so because the Squid series cast not only domestic actors but also foreign actors.

“Wow~ Jameson is appearing in a Korean drama?”

Tae-hee, who had managed to secure a supporting role after breaking through the fiercely competitive Squid drama auditions, was wide-eyed.

This was even more so because Jameson was an actor with near-top recognition even in Hollywood.

It was surprising that such an actor would take on a supporting role, not even a leading one.

But Jameson wasn’t the only actor she was in awe of.

Even if they didn’t have Jameson’s name recognition, there were five more Hollywood actors with surprising recognition in that place.

In addition to these, the domestic actors who participated in this season were also impressive.

Some of them were actors who could headline mini-series, and there were more than a few supporting actors famous for stealing scenes.

“I heard the production cost for this Season 3 is the highest ever… They’re really going all out.”

Rumor has it that the production cost is $200 million.

$200 million for a TV show, not even a Hollywood movie, and that much money was invested in a domestic drama, which is really amazing.

Even this was just a rumor, so the actual production cost must have been even higher.

But Squid was a series worth pouring such huge funds into.

That’s because, among the streaming entertainment companies that have been emerging in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, YC Film has shown a particularly large increase.

It had long surpassed the number of users of N company [likely referring to Netflix], which seemed difficult to overcome, and Squid played a big role in making that possible.

Squid Season 2, which was released after Squid Season 1, easily surpassed the achievements of Season 1.

There are many reasons, but the charm of the multiple personality character Mi-hyun, as well as the fact that YC, who appeared as the son of the mastermind at the end of Season 1, showed his face in earnest, were decisive.

It was said that Season 3 would highlight these elements even more.

“If I do well, my life will finally bloom.”

Tae-hee, who had been a nameless actor for 10 years, starting as a theater actor, challenged the Squid audition with the thought that it was really her last chance.

And she finally succeeded in winning the role of Hani.

The reason she succeeded in winning the role of Hani was not only thanks to her 10 years of acting experience, but also because she perfectly matched the image of Hani that the director had in mind.

Hani was a native Korean, despite her name. Nevertheless, she used the name Hani because she hated her old-fashioned name.

She was vain, and as a result, she naturally became a bar girl to pay off the private loan she took out to buy a luxury bag.

Fortunately, she was able to establish herself as an ace with her pretty appearance, but as time went by, she was now becoming obsolete as she got older.

The problem is that her love for luxury goods is still the same even in such a reality.

No, rather, the reality that is gradually tightening her breath is stimulating her vanity and pushing her to a terrible result.

So it was no surprise that she jumped into this hellish survival game called Squid.

The reason she showed a supporting-role presence was because her villainous acts throughout the play even harmed the mastermind.

And that played a decisive role for the protagonists such as Mi-hyun, who were trying to blow up Squid.

Although the proportion was low, it was a character that would greatly twist the tension and flow of the play, so Director Woo was careful in selecting the actor to play Hani.

“Found it!”

Then, Director Woo, who saw the image of Hani in the unknown actor Tae-hee, whom he saw without much expectation, cast her without saying a word.

It was right that there would be a lot of talk about picking an unknown actor over actors who already had great recognition, but surprisingly, there were no people who opposed Director Woo’s choice.

The position of being the hottest director that YC Film is pushing had more power than that.

Anyway, Tae-hee, who luckily got the role of Hani, was having a proper starstruck moment on the set thanks to that.

When Lee Na-eun and Kang Ah-young, who played Ri Ha-jung and Mi-hyun, appeared on the set, she almost screamed.

This is because she loved them so much as a singer and was a long-time fan of them as an actress.

She was so engrossed in looking around blankly on the set that she ended up causing an accident.

-Thump!-

She bumped into someone quite hard while walking blankly without looking around.

“I’m, I’m sorry…!!”

“…Are you okay…?”

She was about to apologize in a hurry, but she couldn’t finish her words.

The reason was that the person she bumped into was none other than YC, who had revealed himself to the world after ending his hiatus of more than a year.

Tae-hee couldn’t help but lose half of her mind in front of him, who was showing an aura that was different from the top stars she had seen before.

Thanks to that, Young-chan had to say, “Are you okay?” instead of “I’m okay,” and Tae-hee nodded silently.

“Then… I’m a little busy, so I’ll go first.”

“…”

In response, Tae-hee had to send Young-chan away, still surprised without answering properly.

As a fan of YC, it was a very disappointing first meeting, but she couldn’t help it.

-Thump, thump-

Her heart was already beating beyond its limit to do anything.

Only after time had passed could she barely calm down, and she muttered while still catching her breath.

“They said he’s a real-life visual *kkangpae* [깡패 is a Korean slang term for gangster or thug, often used to describe someone with striking visuals that are almost intimidatingly attractive]… That rumor was true.”

No, rather, it felt like the rumor was more understated.

Thanks to that, Tae-hee realized once again how big of an opportunity it was that she was able to appear in Squid.

Moreover, if she thought about the fact that she would be filmed in a scene with YC, who has such an unbelievable aura, it was clear that appearing in Squid would be a career highlight she would cherish for the rest of her life.

“I thought she was a strange woman… She was a great actress?”

Young-chan couldn’t help but change his mind after seeing the acting of the actress named Tae-hee, whom he had a bad first meeting with on the first day of filming Squid Season 3.

Tae-hee showed a possessed performance to the point that the worries that had been there when he first put an unknown actor in the important role of Hani disappeared.

It felt like the ‘Hani’ in the script came to life in a surreal way.

Young-chan wasn’t the only one who thought that.

Kang Ah-young, whom he had met after a long time, also couldn’t help but admire.

“Since she’s a character who has to challenge the CEO, she had to show a presence no less than the CEO, but at this point, there’s no need to worry!”

The presence of YC, especially YC who played the role of the mastermind, was truly overwhelming.

Hani had to show a presence that was not inferior to such YC, and for this reason, Director Woo had no choice but to put effort into the role of Hani.

However, seeing Tae-hee, who was showing her presence with her crazy acting skills in the first filming, made her think that it would be possible.

“If nothing else, it’s the same as securing one star for sure in this Squid 3 season?”

Young-chan muttered that and then remembered that Tae-hee was an unknown actor from the director, and hurriedly had his manager find out if she had an agency.

This is because he saw that she had the potential to become a global star if she was promoted well.

Fortunately, Tae-hee did not have an agency, and Young-chan did not hesitate to directly recruit her to YC Entertainment.

Of course, Tae-hee signed a contract with YC Entertainment without even thinking twice.

Already in the entertainment industry, there was a saying that just signing a contract with YC Entertainment was a success because the support was so great.

In fact, the contract conditions were so good that Young-chan, the CEO of YC Entertainment, moved directly, so Tae-hee signed the contract on the same day without thinking otherwise.

She might think it was hasty, but as an actress who had been unknown for a long time, she was afraid that YC Entertainment would change her mind.