Lord Of Dying Smoke - Chapter 235
Only Noblemtl
The King of Death Smoke Episode 235
The Last Masterpiece and the Final Choice (8)
“Right now… Are you saying you’re going to sell me out right now?! And to that girl, Aislin?!”
* * *
Actress Megan Lewis.
Her cousin Aislin has always been a thorn in her side.
Well, back in my school days, it was relatively okay. Back when Gossip Girl was all the rage, schools were all about showing off who could do the most upper-class imitations, and Megan did pretty well at it.
Megan, who was able to arm herself with reasonably expensive clothes and accessories, and Aislin, who was the epitome of the word “old-fashioned,” were not even comparable in the first place.
To be honest, Megan didn’t even think she was bullying Aislinn.
Shouldn’t you be thankful that you were given the chance to live a life that would have ended up in an orphanage with nowhere to go? If you can’t even do your job as a maid properly, shouldn’t you at least pour the water you’ve used to wash a mop over it?
It was around that time that something happened.
-Hmm, so you’re Megan, Aishi’s relative?
-But, what about that?
-Hmm. Heuh-hmm… Ahaha!
-What do you want to do?! If you have something to say, just say it!
-Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to laugh, but it was a bit too much, you know!
-what?!
-Well, if I may give you a piece of advice, I would say that you should change your personality. My grandmother used to say that the only people who are qualified to be arrogant are those who have the ability to be arrogant! But I don’t think that’s true for you!
-This is now…!
At that time, Megan boldly slapped Bomu. Megan’s parents taught their daughter never to give up, and when a dispute actually arose, she was the first to fly in and raise her voice.
Megan’s parents were extremely successful, so most people couldn’t help but bow their heads in a cold sweat.
But Megan, who had been giggling in anticipation of such a sight, had to see her parents bowing and sweating for the first time that day.
Penelope scratched her cheek as she looked at the frozen Megan.
-I’m sorry, Louis. It’s not like I beat you. I just happen to have better parents.
-But you know, doesn’t that apply to you too? That’s the only thing you’re better at than Aishi.
-If you keep acting like that, you’ll regret it later when you don’t have parents to depend on. We won’t be minors forever.
It was serious advice, but Megan couldn’t understand it.
As time passed and she entered Broadway with her cousin, Megan’s bullying became more vicious.
Networking, manipulation, gossip─
After all that, Megan managed to get Aislinn off Broadway in just two years.
‘What, it’s easy. What about regrets…!’
Megan laughed inwardly.
Even later, when Aislinn struggled to get back on track with her camera acting, it was easy to ignore.
Well, to tell the truth, I was a little offended, but the theater world’s sense of superiority that has continued for many years helped her. Right away, her colleagues around her laughed at her, labeling her as an ‘actor who ran away from the theater world.’
The high point came about three years ago, when Aislinn took a green-eyed Asian actor to an off-Broadway stage.
Everyone openly laughed.
-I guess you still have some lingering attachment to theater.
-Oh, who would accept that?
-Min-gang? Who the hell is this little brat? How dare you bring a guy like that onto the stage?
-What are you trying to do with this scandal? Aislin has become so ugly!
High-ranking officials, including the owner of the Bennett Theater, were foaming at the mouth and showering him with praise for some reason. But to the actors who survived on Broadway, Kang Min was just a bastard who had shined with a single advertisement.
No, I even felt hostility because it was obvious to anyone that the reaction was manipulated.
To them, who had built up countless ‘classics’, Kang Min’s stage acting was so loose that it was miserable.
-I didn’t see Patrick Bennett that way either. Money doesn’t do business.
-Just wait and see how many months he lasts.
-Ten dollars for half a year!
-Oh, you held on too long, buddy!
They said that and giggled.
And a year later,
is out.
Megan blinked and tried to speak.
-Oh… Are you lucky?
-Oh, I see.
-That’s why acting on camera is a problem. Even people who don’t match the class can become popular if they just follow the trend.
-That means the level is dropping!
A year later,
has been released.
Megan nitpicked again.
-… Uh, um, isn’t it a bit overrated?
-That, that’s right! The only thing I could see was the smoke from the chocolate pie!
-That’s the level of appearing in the 3rd audition!
-Additional cookie videos!
-I don’t know much about it, but did Kang do anything else besides that?
-shut up.
-?
And then, a year later,
The improvisational play was released.
This time, even actress Megan couldn’t say anything.
-… … .
-… … .
-… … .
There were some who found fault with it, saying, “Is this a circus or a play?” However, even so, Kang Min’s level, which dominated the stage without any devices, could not go down.
Moreover, Aislinn, who had long since given up on her theatrical career, made a splendid comeback, receiving the evaluation that ‘Broadway made the biggest mistake since the West End in losing its greatest talent.’
The rookie actor from three years ago and the loser who got kicked out. The two of them sat down in the seats above as if they were theirs from the beginning.
All those who had laughed at him at that time remained silent with dumbfounded expressions.
But in fact, that was not the time to do that. Once they came to their senses, one thing struck them.
Everyone stood up in thought.
“Uh, sorry, just a moment.”
“I have a place to go….”
“Me too─”
But it was too late. The SNS accounts they had used to badmouth Aislin three years ago had already been captured by reporters.
And then everything changed in an instant.
Literally, everything.
“Ms. Megan Lewis, I have a question about casting.”
“Oh, of course! Of course!”
“Ahem, would you ever consider co-casting with actress Aislinn Lewis?”
“……yes?”
Megan’s face didn’t even have time to contort.
The agency manager who had spoken to me without knowing what was going on was immediately dragged out by his senior.
“Is this idiot crazy? Come here!”
“No, why are you like that? Considering your current situation, you should use your relatives or something! It’s time to choose the means and methods…”
“Means? Phew, you really don’t know anything. Dude, he and Aislinn Lewis are worse than enemies! Are you thinking of donating some news stories to the reporters nearby?”
“omg…!”
No matter how much you do art, the world is run by money.
And now Kang Min and Aislinn Lewis are the money.
The backstory of how Aislinn Lewis had to leave Broadway has been rediscovered, and the reporters who criticized Aislinn at her older brother’s funeral are now defending her, criticizing Broadway’s ‘closed’ system and its absurdity.
It was a typical entertainment industry routine.
Of course, extremes also reacted very commonly.
“This is a stage that has been prepared for a really long time! How could you do this!”
“Well, what can I do? The problem is that you were mocking Louis on SNS in the first place. If you go up there, the audience will probably boycott.”
“I will issue an apology! I will issue an apology!”
“Of course we have to make an announcement. I don’t know if that will calm down the public reaction.”
“Senior…!”
SNS is a waste of life─ Manager Ferguson earned another win today.
Naturally, Megan Lewis, the one who made the joke, was blocked from appearing on all shows.
No, it got much worse than that.
She was foaming at the mouth.
“Right now… Are you saying you’re going to sell me out right now?! And to that girl, Aislin?!”
“That’s a bit harsh, Megan. Aren’t you related?”
The extremist shrugged his shoulders.
“Be happy. Thankfully, thanks to Mr. Bennet, I have the opportunity to clear up a ‘minor’ misunderstanding with Ms. Aislinn Lewis. Isn’t it a good thing that I won’t hold you responsible for sending you to this one-act play? It’s a proposal that would make even an angel blush.”
“You basically threw it at her to kill her! To that kid! Do I look like an idiot?!”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t matter.”
The extremist smiled broadly.
“The point is, if we don’t do this show, we’re going to lose millions of dollars, and it’s your fault.”
Silence fell. Megan guessed that neither persuasion nor entreaty would work on the extremist.
I barely managed to grit my teeth.
“… I was able to kick that kid out thanks to the tacit approval of the extreme leader.”
“Oh, yes. You have been in my favor. Don’t you think it is time to repay it?”
“I could expose this!”
“Oh, Megan, Megan.”
The joke is back.
It was a mocking laughter, closer to pitiful than cold.
“Please, think about it. Who would believe you and who would help you? Given your past behavior.”
“… … .”
Now twenty-six.
Now that Megan Lewis’s parents are adults, they can’t rush to their daughter’s aid.
-If you keep acting like that, you’ll regret it later when you don’t have parents to depend on.
Megan realized it too late and shut her eyes tightly.
* * *
As is often the case with stage actors, Megan didn’t really know where to act other than on the theater stage.
Less mature Broadway actors tend to downplay their camera performances, even dismissing them as nothing more than a fox picking grapes.
‘What is this… .’
That’s why.
The reason why Megan was dumbfounded when she saw the scale of the set prepared.
‘This is a set prepared just for that one girl, Aislin…?’
Contrary to popular belief, the theater industry is also growing in scale and introducing the latest technology. The so-called 4D, which allows the audience to move the stage and increase immersion, was actually introduced to the theater industry much earlier.
But no matter what tricks the theater uses, it cannot compare to the overwhelming scale of the event.
‘The Dali camera rail… was it that long? It seems like it would be about half a subway station long…?’
No, before that, the numbers themselves were so numerous that it was dizzying and tangled.
Even Aislin herself didn’t seem particularly proud of it.
“Yes, I think the camera would be better.”
“I’m not particularly obsessed with picking things up. I just wish you’d look after the aftertaste.”
“Yes, please do so.”
“Yes…? Oh, I see. Time.”
Only then did Aislin seem to notice Megan’s arrival.
She finished her simple request and walked over.
“You came.”
“… Yeah, I’m here.”
Megan gritted her teeth at his indifferent gaze.
“Ha, you like auditions. What are you talking about, using all these people? Fair competition? It was all set up? Don’t you feel sorry for the other contestants?”
“…? I don’t know what you’re talking about, but this level of support went to all the contestants. Compared to actors like Rawit Thanat, I’m on the lesser side.”
“what?”
“Min, since it’s a project involving that person, of course there’s going to be money overflowing.”
I’m a little tired of the staff’s strange attitude these days─
Aislin nodded, consulting with the director who had rushed over.
The director’s appearance of flirting with his cousin was compared to the extremist behavior of ridiculing and throwing himself out.
Megan clenched her teeth harder.
“Oh, so what should we do first? Should we start by cleaning the staff bathroom?”
“what?”
“Don’t act like a fool! You’re just trying to make fun of me for being in a difficult situation! Hey, do whatever you want. Do you think I’m going to die like this?! You’re going to regret this someday!”
“… … Hmm.”
Aislin stroked her earlobe for a moment. She seemed to think, ‘What a wonderful capital.’
But soon he sighed and shook his head.
“It’s a very attractive offer, but I called you today for another reason.”
“Ha, what nonsense are you talking about─”
“I’m going to confess this time. But the narrative is lacking.”
“… … ?”
What should I say,
It was a bizarre statement that turned expectations 180 degrees, and then 360 degrees again.
Exactly one minute later, Megan asked blankly.
“what?”
“I want to make a confession, but I feel like my narrative is lacking.”
“… … .”
It seemed like there wasn’t anything wrong with my ears.
But Aislinn was sincere.
It wasn’t even a thought yesterday or today.
After seeing Seo Bom’s second audition, she had been biting her lips and worrying.
‘It’s a scam. That’s a scam… .’
‘In a relationship that lasted for over ten years, in that relationship, you even found your purpose in life because of that person? And, you didn’t add anything to that?’
‘If you make a melodrama like that, it’s so obvious that I don’t even watch it! What is that!!’
The reason Seo Bom confidently planned something like this was probably because she was convinced that she was the only one who was close to the starting line.
What made me even more upset and disgusted was that it was true.
Aislin’s opportunity was far from being as great as Seobom’s, and it would have been even more so if it had been a one-person play dealing with her own story.
It was a few days ago that I came up with a brilliant idea after thinking about it so much.
“So I have to create a narrative too, right? That’s when I thought of you, Megan.”
“???”
“If you think about it, you’ve tormented me a lot, too. I’ve thought about suicide more than once, too. But you showed up when Min and I first met. I thought that if I paid attention to that, it would supplement my narrative.”
“???????”
Is there anything as obvious and yet so successful as the Cinderella genre?
If Seo Bom, who was wandering around without parents, found her way thanks to Kang Min, then poor Aislinn Lewis can go as ‘being persecuted by her stepmother and older sisters’.
I met Megan on stage, and it was Kangmin who saved her.
Isn’t this a narrative that can compete with Seo Bom?
“No, that… .”
Even Megan, the world’s best, was speechless at that brilliant logic.
Are you serious?
No, are you in your right mind?
You brought me, your mortal enemy, here just for that?
‘Just that?’
But even that wasn’t the end of Aislin’s antics.
“Phew.”
Aislin soon arrived carrying a large jug, full of actual sewage water from some unknown source.
She put it down with a thud.
And he commanded.
“pour.”
“Uh… what?”
“Pour it on me, Megan. Bring back old feelings.”
“… … .”
“Live properly. Otherwise, your acting career is over.”
Megan Lewis stared blankly into the other person’s eyes.
It was a pair of gleaming eyes that told me that if I didn’t do it right, I would get kicked in the butt.
‘ah.’
Megan,
For the first time in my life, I regretted not following Penelope’s advice.
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