Top Star By Luck [EN]: Chapter 183

183. Talent Fraud

Where did things go wrong?

What exactly was the problem Lee Minki was facing?

Where did it all start to go awry?

Where did he deviate from the fundamentals?

‘This is driving me crazy.’

After collapsing into sleep after the first day on Geoje Island, Lee Minki woke up the next morning.

After waking up in his accommodation and heading to the cafeteria on the first floor for a meal, Lee Minki checked the morning news as usual and let out a hollow laugh, as if dumbfounded.

[Lee Minki, the reason for pushing through the schedule despite the hardships ‘revealed.’]

The article summarizing his day yesterday was just like that.

[Lee Minki’s fan meeting was special. Was it to quench the thirst of fans who had to continue their fan activities without a fan meeting? He showed another side of himself as an entertainer before being an actor.]

It was also the story of his stage yesterday.

[He showed a fantastic collaboration stage with Son Hee-jeong. He revived his famous song ‘Yeoubi’ with his own sensibility, and the hearts of fans were moistened as if by autumn rain. In addition, the duet with Joo Hana became the highlight of the day.]

Right, it was a fan meeting.

I went there and had a fan meeting, and I sang, and the reaction was pretty good.

I didn’t expect to sing. It was a sudden decision, but I had no choice. If I only signed autographs, I wouldn’t be able to handle 10,000 people, let alone 3,000.

So, I just sang to have fun together.

[Isn’t Lee Minki dropping hints to debut as a singer?]

The story seemed to be flowing in a strange direction.

That’s right.

Lee Minki was now under suspicion of trying to debut as a singer, leaving behind his acting career.

[I knew it when he suddenly said he was going to make a music movie.]

I didn’t know either.

Who knew William Lockhart would suddenly come and say he wanted to make a movie?

[Isn’t that why he went to the United States? To collaborate with a Billboard-level singer and gain attention.]

So, William Lockhart came all the way from the United States to Korea.

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Well, if he’s that successful as an actor, he’s bound to be greedy for other areas.]

It’s not because of greed.

I only looked at this as an extension of my acting career.

There were countless other suspicions.

[If you raise your profile, it’s easy to get into the charts even if you release an album moderately. Lee Minki must have been aiming for that too. I can’t be fooled! Lee Minki, you rascal!!!!]

No, why is that person scolding me like that?

Still, I could tolerate being suspected in that way. But what was even more unfair was…

[Did you see the video? Look at him singing. That’s not a project he prepared for a day or two. It looks like he’s been preparing for years ㅇㅇ; Maybe he was originally preparing to be a singer and debuted as an actor.]

There were even people who doubted his entire career.

This was the mainstream. The theory that he was originally a music aspirant but changed his course to become an actor.

Lee Minki washed his face with his bare hands in a miserable mood.

However, the sight before his eyes was like water stains on the outside of the system window, and he didn’t know how to erase it.

[Son Hee-jeong is attached. Son Hee-jeong cleared her entire schedule and stuck to it, so what does that mean? They’ve been planning it for years.]

[Maybe this work was earlier than Manman-to.]

[Have we only seen once or twice the case of acting and then doing music later ㅋㅋ It’s obvious, it’s obvious~]

[But it was worth listening to, so I’ll give it a try~~?]

Oh my, these creative geniuses.

They seemed to be looking at Lee Minki with the assumption that he was a master of building up.

“……People in the world have no trust.”

“What’s wrong?”

“No, Manager, look at this article. They’re saying…”

“I’ve already seen it.”

Ah, as expected, our manager is thoroughly prepared. Market research on his assigned celebrity is basic.

Lee Minki showed the art of sighing while admiring at the same time.

“Why don’t people believe me? I told you, I started practicing singing because of this movie. I said it all in the interview before.”

“Yes, in the previous promotional article, you hinted that you had started vocal training.”

“Isn’t it polite to believe me?”

“That’s what I mean.”

Manager Park Han-mo pondered for a moment.

There was something bothering him, but he was wondering if he should tell the person involved. However, he would find out anyway as time passed. Moreover, he was curious about Lee Minki’s reaction, so Manager Park Han-mo casually said, pretending not to know.

“By the way, some people call you a hypocrite because of those interviews.”

“Yes?”

Lee Minki frowned slightly and asked again.

“A hypocrite? Me? Why?”

Hypocrite.

I know what hypocrisy is, but was there a reason for me to be called a hypocrite?

It was the moment Lee Minki tilted his head.

Manager Park Han-mo nodded as if it were natural, and then calmly said like a kite floating in the sky.

“It refers to people who try to gain envy and praise by showing off their excellence to others while pretending not to know.”

“…….”

A reason flowed out that I didn’t know but seemed to know at once.

Ah, am I that kind of hypocrite?

The kind of person who subtly deceives but pretends not to know.

[Is an annual salary of 70 million won a lot? It’s not enough to raise children ㅜㅜ]

[Everyone around me gets that much. I barely get about 100 million won a year, but after paying what I have to pay… I live like others.]

[Whether it’s 100 million won in actual receipts or not makes a big difference. Even if it’s actual receipts, it’s not that great of an amount when you take a picture of it, so it’s frustrating.]

[Well, I earn about 150 million won, but when I look at the house prices, I just sigh. They say everyone is equally happy if they earn about 50 million won.]

[These days, even the starting salary is over 50 million won, so it’s not enough ^^;;]

[Stop being a hypocrite, XXX.]

[I’m going to die of nausea]

That’s right.

They are called hypocrites, and they proudly promote themselves as likable fixed nicknames, because they want to brag but know that they will only be ridiculed if they brag openly, so they try to buy the envy of others by acting humble.

Is it only annual salary bragging? Hypocrisy was hidden everywhere in our society.

[This is a bikini I’m going to wear when I go to the water park with my boyfriend ㅠㅠ Did I gain too much weight? The clothes are tight and look ugly……]

[Yeah! It would be better for you to lose some weight!]

[Stretch marks are all visible. How about going to a dermatologist and getting cellulose treatment? I’m worried about you.]

[Isn’t this being spread on a male-dominated site? ㅋㅋ]

[Hello everyone! Capture me too!]

[Click click!]

This is also hypocrisy.

[This is what came out of the free gacha event, is it good? This is my first time playing this game. Is it okay if there are five stars?]

[Ignore the beggar]

[Trying to brag ㅋ]

[Can’t even ask a question]

[ㄴ I’m sorry to say this for the first time, but I got it in one try]

This is also hypocrisy.

[Hoo, house prices have risen a lot, but taxes have also risen a lot, so I don’t feel good. It doesn’t matter because it’s a house I’ll live in forever.]

[That’s right. If you’re not moving, it’s just the taxes that have gone up.]

That is also a kind of hypocrisy.

In short, a world of hypocrisy, for hypocrisy, dominated by hypocrisy has arrived.

A world of survival of the fittest where people of all ages and genders compete in hypocrisy using hypocrisy as a weapon.

Like a hypocrisy paradise.

Meanwhile, among the various kinds of hypocrisy competing, there was a hypocrisy formula that was particularly abundant in arts and sports, and that was…

[Singing? I’ve never practiced separately. This is my first time.]

Talent fraud.

A fraud that shows something full of talent and pretends not to know that they are talented.

This time, Lee Minki became the main character.

“The world……”

“There’s no need to feel wronged. You started vocal training urgently for the movie shoot, and you can handle the live performance that much in two or three months. Hmm, this is a bit…”

As Lee Minki was about to mutter blankly, Manager Park Han-mo calmly recited.

“I wouldn’t believe it either if I were you. I think it would be a little disgusting.”

“…….”

Is it to the point of saying that?

As he peeked out his eyes in frustration, Manager Park Han-mo coughed slightly and said.

“I’m not saying that the actor is disgusting. I just mean that if I were someone else, I would have thought that way. That’s what I mean. The actor is not disgusting.”

“Really?”

“Yes, 100 percent sincere. You can believe it. The actor is not disgusting.”

“I wish you wouldn’t use that word ‘disgusting’.”

“I just used it in a dictionary sense.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m always sincere to the actor.”

“No, you’re changing the subject.”

“Can’t you trust me?”

At that, Lee Minki looked at Manager Park Han-mo’s eyes with distrustful eyes.

There is no shaking.

The unwavering gaze is suspicious.

However, Lee Minki decided to believe him because he knew that he was a person who would spit out harsh words from time to time.

‘That’s why it’s important to behave well normally.’

As soon as Lee Minki removed his suspicious eyes, Manager Park Han-mo continued in a brazen voice.

“It’s also a common saying among artists. They emphasize the short training period and subtly emphasize how talented they are.”

“That’s not what I am.”

“Yes, I know because I’ve seen it all from the side. But the very act of saying it out loud is hypocrisy. Of course, it means it looks like hypocrisy. Hypocrisy, hypocrite, hypocrisy tactics.”

No, it keeps coming out. That damn hypocrisy.

Just as Lee Minki was about to get angry, Manager Park Han-mo asked calmly, taking the timing one step ahead.

“A person who obviously looks like he’s been drawing for 10 years comes to an art academy, draws an amazing picture, scratches the back of his head, and says he’s only been drawing for 2 months. What do you think?”

“He’s being a hypocrite.”

“Yes, that’s what the actor is doing now… not really, but that’s how it will look.”

Manager Park Han-mo bent the curve, sensing that it would not end well if he touched it any further.

‘I think I know what you mean.’

Lee Minki sighed softly.

In short, it meant that it was impossible to explain no matter what he said. Would it be fortunate if there were no side effects?

But.

This wasn’t necessarily a bad situation.

Click.

A tray with bread piled up like a mountain was suddenly placed above the seats where Lee Minki and Manager Park Han-mo were sitting.

“Hana.”

It was Joo Hana.

“You eat a lot more than I thought……”

“I brought it to eat together. To eat together.”

“Ah, yes.”

She said with a bright smile.

“Anyway, doesn’t that mean the actor’s singing skills were that good? So good that you heard the word hypocrisy.”

That’s right.

Hypocrisy is something that can only be used if there is a clear basis for buying the envy of others.

The person who is doing the hypocrisy knows best that clumsy hypocrisy is not hypocrisy. In other words, Lee Minki’s humility can be seen as hypocrisy, which means…

“It means that it sounded professional enough to other people’s ears.”

It was also evidence that his skills had reached a certain point in a short period of time.

“Hana’s words are not wrong.”

Manager Park Han-mo added, as if agreeing with her words.

“Don’t you know just by looking at the reaction on the internet? The evaluation of the actor’s song is clearly good. There are already requests to release it as a sound source.”

“Not to that extent.”

“The Mytube views have already exceeded 1 million.”

“Yes?”

“Ah, you didn’t know. No wonder.”

Lee Minki hurriedly turned on Mytube [a fictional video-sharing platform, similar to YouTube] and searched for his name.

Then, there was a video that had been uploaded there just 11 hours ago.

[Lee Minki sings {Yeoubi} ★ Lee Minki x Son Hee-jeong Geoje Island Live Concert!]

[Views: 1.21 million]

That was yesterday’s performance.

He decided to listen to the video later because he was embarrassed, and checked the comments first, and what should he say about Lee Minki’s reaction there.

“Hoo.”

He sighed.

It was definitely a sigh, but it was a clearly different sigh from the sighs he had been sighing until just now. A sigh that did not contain frustration. Instead, a sigh full of relief was the very identity.

[The expression of emotion is really perfect]

[I’ve been listening to it repeatedly for the 20th time already. I’m also telling my friends. May it be the light of the world. love from thailand]

[I was wondering why he was challenging music that he hadn’t done before, but if he does this much, it’s worth it]

[Ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ So when is the album coming out ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[Is this a song from the new movie this time?]

[Minki♥♥♥♥♥♥♥]

[How can he be so versatile.]

It was what is commonly called Nade Nade [a Korean expression for being praised or complimented].

Nade Nade came to Lee Minki’s heart, which had become sullen due to unintended hypocrisy, like an ointment.

‘Well, it’s okay if there are people who like me.’

Lee Minki chuckled.

As a result, isn’t it something that can be proven with skill?

No, is it a problem that arose because it was proven with skill? I should just save my words in the future. I shouldn’t give any room to be called a hypocrite anywhere.

It was the moment he decided that.

“Ah, you’re all here.”

“Director.”

Director Shim Seong-bo hurriedly approached and said.

“I have a feeling. Let’s set the main character’s character in this direction.”

“Yes?”

This direction?

What is that?

The moment Lee Minki tilted his head, Director Shim Seong-bo threw the wedge and said the word out loud.

“Is it called hypocrisy? This?”

“…….”

“A musical genius protagonist is good, but let’s go with a genius protagonist who is a hypocrite. Um, yeah, why can’t this be done? With the same feeling.”