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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: The Evil Alignment Library
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Director Ryan Will and Jonathan returned to America a week later. Even then, the one-man play Ryan had written was still stuck on the very first line.
Ryan Will and Seojun agreed to have a video call once a week to discuss the best takes from his recorded practices.
In the meantime, his grandfather and grandmother, who had been traveling in Europe, returned safely.
At the airport, where Seojun had come to greet them, the three of them each held out a torn piece of the firefly talisman paper.
"What should we do? The talisman you gave us got torn."
"Grandpa's did too. Will you have to draw us another one later?"
"Yes!"
The delicately drawn firefly picture was torn in several places. There was no way the three of them would have torn a gift from their grandchild themselves.
'It was activated!'
Startled, Seojun circled his grandparents, checking to see if they were hurt anywhere. The adults, thinking he was just excited to see them, simply laughed.
After arriving at Seojun's house, the grandparents happily recounted their European trip, which included a story about a car accident.
His grandmother explained that she had realized she'd left something at their lodging and had gone back with the tour guide to retrieve it.
Because of that, the tour bus departed about ten minutes late.
"You have no idea how shocked we were when ten cars piled up."
"Everyone was grumbling that we were late because of your grandma. But after seeing the accident, the driver and the guide said, 'If we'd left on time, we would've been in that,' and everyone just shut their mouths!"
Fortunately, there were no fatalities, but if their tour bus had been caught in the pile-up, it could have been a major accident. The couple and Seojun let out sighs of relief.
The new year came, Lunar New Year passed, and Seojun, laden with a mountain of birthday gifts, turned a year older.
He was now six years old. In Korean age, that was seven!
And.
A new door opened.
"I've been waiting!"
Having read every book in the two open libraries three times over, Seojun had been clutching at straws, knocking on this one door every night.
He had waited and waited for it to open, and now it finally had.
Seojun's eyes sparkled as he threw open the newly unlocked library door with all his might.
"Seojun seems a bit down today, doesn't he?"
"He's been like that since this morning."
Seo Eunchan, visiting Seo Eunhye's home for the first time in a while, asked Lee Minjun.
Eunchan had been swamped with taking over and restructuring Cocoa Entertainment after its former CEO was arrested for crimes including embezzlement.
He had come to update Seojun, his sister, and his brother-in-law—who had helped fund the acquisition—on the progress, but his usually energetic nephew seemed off.
Seojun was sprawled on the living room sofa like a deflated slime.
"What's wrong?"
"…There's nothing."
"Nothing? Nothing what?"
"There's nothing bad."
Unable to understand Seojun's words, Seo Eunchan just rolled his eyes and looked at Lee Minjun. Minjun gave a wry smile and gestured toward the kitchen.
"Director Ryan came to visit at the end of December."
Lee Minjun slowly continued the story. When he mentioned that Seojun was still practicing the one-man play and having weekly video calls with Director Ryan Will, Seo Eunchan shot a weary look at the five-year-old boy draped over the sofa.
He knew the kid loved acting, but wasn't this the age when interests faded in the blink of an eye?
"But it's July now?"
It was early July, when the summer sun was already scorching and typhoons were brewing.
For seven months, Seojun had been diligently practicing the one-man play every single day without fail.
In the first month, he practiced morning, noon, and night. At home, at kindergarten, he never took a break. But realizing this was a marathon, not a sprint, Seojun now only practiced at a set time after returning from kindergarten.
And after dozens of video calls with Ryan Will, every single one had ended in failure.
"Argh!"
Seojun shrieked, flailing on the sofa.
It wasn't in the new library either. He had read all the books, but it wasn't there.
He had used an ability that seemed promising, but it was an instant failure. If anything, he was told he seemed even nicer.
'I haven't even been doing [Elf's Basic Breathing] since Ryan came!'
It had become so familiar that it was like breathing, but he was trying his best not to do it, even unconsciously.
'Ah. I just did it!'
Seojun stopped the [Elf's Basic Breathing] that had been quietly circulating through his body without him realizing it.
As the flailing Seojun flopped onto his stomach on the sofa, Seo Eunchan couldn't help but laugh. It was a new side to the always-composed Seojun.
"We've been seeing a lot of new sides to Seojun lately."
A mother scolding her son for jumping up mid-meal and heading to his room. A son who pulls out his script without even washing up after kindergarten. A father chiding his son for daydreaming (undoubtedly about acting) while eating a snack. Recalling life over the past few months, Lee Minjun smiled too.
Underneath it all was likely a belief that Lee Seojun would overcome this challenge just fine.
Despite the adults' faith, Seojun was growing weary.
Seven months had already passed. He'd been confident he could do this for a year, five years, even ten. No, Seojun shook his head. Even he would find ten years difficult.
Lying on his stomach on the sofa and gazing at the sky outside, Seojun sighed.
At first, he thought he could do it without using his abilities, but Ryan Will's assessment was a firm no. He still looked too nice, he'd said.
So he'd waited for the next library door to open, but all the lives within were the same. A good person here, a good person there.
"Haa."
Seojun let out another heavy sigh, as if carrying all the world's sorrows.
Still, maybe it would get better if he kept trying? Seojun shot up from the sofa and headed to his room. Practice. Practice was the only way.
As Seojun repeated his cycle of practice and library exploration, some unexpected news arrived.
Ryan Will was back in Korea. Jonathan was with him. The sudden appearance of the director put the couple and Seojun on high alert. They had a gut feeling that something big was going to happen today.
Today, he performed directly in front of Ryan Will. He had memorized all the lines and his movements were perfect. But he failed again. Seeing Seojun sigh, Ryan Will suddenly spoke up.
"We'll start filming *Shadowman 2* in September."
At his words, the couple and Seojun froze. Seeing the tremor in Seojun's eyes, Ryan Will instinctively rubbed his face. He had wanted to wait longer, much longer, but…
"…Filming?"
"Yes. My hands are tied on this."
There were the schedules of the other actors in *Shadowman 2*, and the release dates for Marine Company's new films had also been set.
Director Ryan Will had used his authority to delay it as much as possible. But that was no longer an option.
Seojun hesitated before speaking. Acting and filming had always been fun, but today, these were words of despair he wished had never come.
"Then the acting…"
"For now, let's film with the performance you did at the audition."
Seojun was at a loss for words. After practicing for seven months, he was being told, 'Let's go with the first one.' His mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. He changed the subject.
"Are my pictures still floating around?"
"Even the FBI can't get rid of those."
Pictures circulating on the internet could be taken down somehow, but there was no way to get rid of photos people kept personally. Especially if they were printed out.
Ryan Will and Seojun both shook their heads.
Even in Ryan Will's own family home, his mother had a printed photo of Seojun. And in Seojun's house, there was a photo that Kim Heesang had put in a fancy frame.
When Seojun pouted that he didn't want to see it, his parents had hung it in their own room.
"Come to think of it, Jonathan mentioned that in some countries, they're making souvenirs like cups and fans with it. A good luck charm or something? He said they're quite popular."
"Ryan!"
Seojun, who had regained some energy at Ryan's relaxed tone, yelled. Their dozens of video calls had made them close enough to exchange self-deprecating jokes.
"I'm just saying, it was too good a picture. Weren't you a little too immersed in your angel act on Christmas Eve?"
"How was I supposed to know this would happen?"
Seojun pouted. At the time, he had been so thrilled about the live broadcast on Christmas Eve that he had used his ability with the feeling of blessing the entire world. He couldn't quite deny Ryan's words.
The self-deprecating humor faded, leaving only silence. After a not-so-short pause, Ryan Will was the first to speak.
"So? Think you can get ready?"
"Yes."
Seojun nodded. He would get through this one time with [Bell Goblin's Teasing Mr. Kim], and then he would practice even harder for the next one.
"I'll give it a try."
* * *
Jonathan watched as Ryan and Seojun talked.
After announcing the filming date, Ryan stood up. The couple and Seojun said their goodbyes.
Jonathan, who had thought Ryan might stay at Seojun's house a bit longer to coach him, followed him out the door.
"Where are you going?"
"To revise the script a bit."
Jonathan wondered how many times it had been revised already. He looked at the back of his uncle, who was pressing the elevator button.
His uncle had been so genuinely happy, even if he didn't show it on the surface, when he found the perfect actor. Seeing him so dejected was pitiful.
"You're going to revise it again?"
"The actor is trying his best, so I have to do my best, too."
At this point, wouldn't it be better to just replace the actor? But Jonathan kept his mouth shut. There was no way Ryan, who had been making movies for years, didn't know that.
Seojun Lee surely knew it too. But neither of them seemed willing to give up.
Jonathan and Ryan got on the elevator. A heavy silence enveloped them.
* * *
Seojun stood before the library. Director Ryan Will had come and announced the start of filming for *Shadowman 2*.
"Haa."
It was now August. Today, too, Seojun turned and walked away. The brightly lit Good Alignment Library gradually faded behind him as darkness fell.
After a short walk, several doors came into view. Unlike the colorful doors of the good-aligned library, these were all uniformly black.
The library doors were covered in thick, black chains.
Seojun approached and placed a hand on one of the doors. Neither the door nor the black chains reacted.
This dark and dingy library was a collection of all his bad past lives.
"The Evil Alignment Library."
There was only one way to undo the chains and open the door: to possess evil-aligned mana (Magi).
If Seojun had created his source using [Demon's Basic Breathing], this evil-aligned library would have been wide open, and the good-aligned library would have been firmly bound by thick, white chains.
He had been doing this every day for eight months, but he still felt nervous.
Seojun exhaled, relaxing his tense body. The good-aligned mana (Sun-gi) inside him stirred, as if affected by the evil-aligned library.
Seojun sat down in front of the Evil Alignment Library. He closed his eyes.
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