Top Star By Luck [EN]: Chapter 198

198. Top Star Luck – Episode 198

There’s a common misconception about students aspiring to arts and sports.

[People often assume they are driven by a deep passion.]

It was that they lived passionately with the genuine goal of pursuing art.

Like they loved art so much that they would give up a stable life for it, or something like that.

Some might be like that. But not everyone is. Rather, there are far more people who aren’t.

For example.

“Ah, this jungle is f***ing hopeless.”

Like this student who is currently spewing profanity.

Tatatatatak!

Click, click!

The sound of the mouse and keyboard is dazzling. The screen in the monitor also flashes incessantly.

The student was now spending the prime of his life as a gamer.

“Phew, won.”

The student finally clinched the victory.

As this amazing game, where they competed neck and neck and he turned the tables with his carry, came to an end, the thought that came to his mind was this.

‘Should I play one more game?’

He had no intention of going back.

It goes without saying, but the student was an aspiring arts and sports student. Acting, to be exact.

But it’s not like he loved arts and sports so much that he couldn’t help but aspire to them. He just hated studying.

He hated studying so much, but he would feel guilty if he just played around. So, he gave himself the identity of an arts and sports prodigy.

[Instead of feeling like a lazy student…]

Rather than this.

[…he preferred to see himself as a dedicated actor.]

This sounds cooler.

As a bonus, he has plenty of excuses to make when hanging out with girls.

[Hey, this guy is studying acting. You might see him in a movie theater later.]

[Really? Then I’m hanging out with a celebrity?]

It’s not like he doesn’t really want to become an actor. He wants to be an actor more than a painter or a singer. When he watches movies, he sometimes thinks that he wants to act like that too.

But.

‘I can do it later, right?’

To tell the truth about the student’s real state.

He was addicted to potential, as they say these days.

Because a prospective actor with the potential to succeed is more plausible, even if less substantial, than a failed actor.

It was just then, as he was about to start another game.

‘Oh, right.’

Suddenly, a thought belatedly occurred to the student.

‘Come to think of it, I was supposed to meet the new acting teacher today.’

His parents were supposed to find one for him. He even met him once before. As expected of an actor, he had a strong presence.

But what to do. He was so engrossed in gaming that he forgot.

‘Hmm, if I go now, he’ll probably just get mad. Saying I ignored him.’

The situation became difficult.

What if he snitches to my parents and I get nagged?

“Shit.”

That’s right.

The student, soaked in laziness, was still selfish to the core.

He doesn’t feel guilty for making the teacher wait so long. Rather, he’s more annoyed by the damage that will come back to him as a result.

He was on the verge of becoming a completely hopeless human being.

“Ah, whatever.”

It was just then, as he was about to queue up for a game.

“Oh, you’re here.”

Someone grabbed the chair the student was sitting on and turned it around.

“……!”

Who the hell is this crazy bastard.

In his flustered moment, the man’s appearance in the student’s eyes was quite familiar.

“You.”

“Not ‘you,’ but ‘teacher.'”

Kim Ah-sung.

The teacher his mother had introduced him to last time.

The one who couldn’t get lead roles, only supporting and minor roles, but was amazing at teaching people.

“Oh my, I had a hard time finding you.”

Kim Ah-sung said, chuckling.

“How did you know I was here.”

“Where else would a high schooler go but the PC bang [internet cafe] next to the school? And I checked your SNS, and you posted earlier? Looking for someone to play ranked games with.”

“…….”

He even snooped on my SNS.

A small amount of shame and anger welled up.

‘Is a teacher allowed to do this?’

There are lines you have to draw. I should formally protest this.

The student was still harboring ungrateful thoughts when Kim Ah-sung’s next remark crossed the line in another sense.

“Wow, but you’re really f***ing bad at the game.”

He was criticizing his gaming skills.

As the student’s eyes widened, Kim Ah-sung continued.

“How can you play over 2,000 ranked games and still be in Gold 4? Did you just empty your brain and click the mouse? Or is it that? Did you buy the account? No, if it were me, I would have paid someone to boost my rank.”

Unavoidable insults flowed freely from Kim Ah-sung’s mouth.

As the old saying goes.

You can laugh off insults about your appearance among men, but you can’t stand insults about your gaming skills.

The student, feeling a surge of emotion, shouted as if protesting.

“Then how good are you?”

“Oh?”

It was the next moment.

Kim Ah-sung smirked and said.

“Hey, I could play better than you even with my left nipple.”

“……!”

Is this guy. Out of his mind right now?

I was going to treat him like a teacher, but he’s paying me back like this?

Finally, unable to contain his anger, the student shouted with profanity.

“Just by looking at you, you’re probably a Silver noob…….”

But the student couldn’t even finish his sentence.

“Ah, this guy’s mouth is really running.”

Because Kim Ah-sung Trainer cut him off and made another provocation.

“If you’re so upset, why don’t we go at it?”

* * *

Two weeks later.

“Burp.”

Kim Ah-sung, who had a frozen hamburger for a meal at a convenience store in the neighborhood, received a phone call.

“Yes, Mother.”

[Teacher, what on earth did you do to my child?]

It was the parent’s phone call.

The student he had visited at the PC bang last time.

“Did something happen?”

Is she going to complain or something?

Ah, I haven’t earned enough for next month’s living expenses yet. I have to draw the line that refunds are not allowed.

It was the moment when Kim Ah-sung Trainer firmly made up his mind.

[It’s because I’m so grateful!]

The words heard from the other side of the receiver were completely the opposite of what he expected.

[Do you know how much my son has changed these days?]

“Yes?”

[Since meeting you, he’s been practically living in the practice room, even though I’ve been begging him to go for so long? He seems to have almost quit gaming too.]

“Oh, really?”

[He’s even begging me to increase the number of your classes, and I’ve never seen him like this before, so it’s like a dream to me.]

The mother of the student, with a voice full of excitement about her child’s education, continued for a long time.

The student’s mother asked as if she couldn’t believe it.

[Teacher, what on earth did you do to make him change like this?]

“Well, I don’t know.”

Kim Ah-sung scratched his chin and said.

“We just played a few games together.”

[Games?]

Her voice became bewildered.

He started studying acting hard all of a sudden because he played games? That doesn’t make sense.

The parent asked back with a puzzled voice.

[Did you conduct the class by comparing it to games? By incorporating games?]

“Well, something like that.”

It was similar.

Kim Ah-sung actually used games in his class.

{Yeah, you suck. See, you’re trash, right?}

{Oh, really!! One more game!}

{Eh, Teacher, why would I play games with trash?}

That day, Kim Ah-sung thoroughly 털었다 [trashed] the student to the bone and sent him on a cosmic tour.

It goes without saying, but Kim Ah-sung is practically unemployed.

If the student is a pseudo-unemployed person as an aspiring actor, Kim Ah-sung is closer to an active unemployed person.

At least the student goes to school, but what else would Kim Ah-sung, who works less than 4 hours a day, do with his remaining time?

{Teacher, what’s your tier [rank]?}

{Master}

{…….}

Master 2.

It was a ranking equivalent to about the top 0.07% in the game the student enjoyed.

He was far from being a pro, but conversely, he far surpassed the skills of a typical gamer.

There was a quarrel, and after a long argument, there was one rule the two people set.

{If you prepare well for class, I’ll play ranked games with you for 1 hour after class.}

The game promise was that.

He offered to help him with the game in exchange for focusing on the class.

“Yes, yes, I understand. Mother, then please tell him to prepare well for the next class. We’re one team, you know?”

Click.

A moment later, Kim Ah-sung Trainer, who hung up the phone, looked at the wide-open sky and thought.

‘My luck is amazing.’

I should do this for a few months and quit as soon as I have enough money.

* * *

About 7 years later.

Mapo District.

‘Ah, I don’t want to work. I really don’t want to. I want to quit. Ah, I want to rest. I crave pizza.’

Kim Ah-sung Trainer, who visited Jam Acting School for a special lecture, repeated his complaints.

“Ah, life. Life. Life.”

The weather is so blue, but why do I have to come to the academy to teach on this weather? I’m so annoyed to teach the students, how long do I have to do this job?

“Ah, life.”

Kim Ah-sung Trainer repeatedly stretched as if trying to relieve his stiff body.

‘The director here looks like someone who does things half-heartedly. Should I just pretend to do it properly and run away? I don’t think he’d even notice?’

He wants to run away, but as always, Kim Ah-sung Trainer himself knows better than anyone that he will work diligently while running away, so it’s just a futile outcry.

After rolling around for 7 years, he somehow ended up taking the position of a full-time trainer at the company.

But it’s still a mayfly’s life [precarious existence].

“Ah, I should have studied hard in school.”

I heard the starting salaries of big companies are really high these days.

He was muttering like that and walking down the hallway for a long time.

“……!”

Somewhere down the hallway, he heard a voice muttering to himself.

And the sound of dynamically stomping feet.

‘What is it? From this time?’

Kim Ah-sung Trainer stroked his chin as if he was interested.

It’s still a long time before the start of the morning. Kim Ah-sung Trainer, he just visited early because he had nothing to do, but what is that student doing?

‘Hmm, should I take a look?’

He peeked his head out the window and observed for a long time.

A small gleam flickered in Kim Ah-sung Trainer’s eyes.

“Oh ho.”

It was better than he thought.

The student’s acting, who was practicing alone inside the window, was better than he thought.

“If your love is a seed, then devotion is a stream of water. Professor said that at the end of that, there is a family.”

He kept repeating this and that acting, and his skill was considerable.

‘His head is small and his legs are long. His body is flexible. His voice has good diction. His mask [facial expressions] is a bit weak in self-assertion, but in other words, it can be said to be a face of a thousand faces. Hmm, Director, were you hiding someone like that?’

Overall, he’s usable. So much so that it’s hard to believe that he’s just a student.

But even so, what should I say.

“……Are you kidding me?”

It was incomplete.

He could see traces of being less polished in every corner.

No, should I say he polished it and stopped? He was clearly showing signs of unconsciously shrinking back from acting that would be completed with just a little bit, just a little bit more.

If he fills that 2%, he’ll be something right away. Is he not aware of it himself?

Suddenly, he became curious.

What’s that student’s name?

‘Should I ask the director?’

No.

I don’t want to talk to him.

Bang!

Kim Ah-sung Trainer suddenly 벌컥 [abruptly] opened the practice room door and went inside, saying with a bright smile.

“You’re working hard from the morning.”

“……!”

The student, who had been immersed in acting for a long time, widened his eyes like a rabbit at the short greeting.

The reaction is unusual. He seemed to be frightened by this sudden situation.