That night, Director returned to his room early, already a little tipsy from drinking.
Even though that arrogant woman Kazahana Yukihime had rejected his "kind offer" earlier, his assistant director had recommended a fresh new talent.
And honestly, a change of flavor every now and then wasn't so bad.
By the way — Kazahana Yukihime was just her stage name. It seemed picking a fancy name was the standard trick to become popular quickly.
He stepped inside his room and, just as expected, the assistant director had arranged everything perfectly.
Sitting nervously on the bed was a young girl with blonde hair styled in twin tails.
She had clearly dressed up for the occasion, wearing a pretty princess‑style dress, with her cute little feet peeking out from underneath.
Director Ku's breathing instantly grew heavier. He rushed forward impatiently, ready to pull the beauty into his arms.
But the girl dodged him nimbly, acting as if she had been taken completely by surprise.
"D‑Director! What are you doing? We agreed we'd only go over the script together!"
Seeing her delicate, innocent, and adorable appearance made the heat rise inside him even more.
Still, he knew that a wolf must be patient before eating the lamb.
The duck was already in the pot — there was no way she could escape now.
"Ahem… exactly right. I asked you here to discuss the script. Tell me, what role are you playing right now? How many lines do you have in total?"
Director assumed a formal, authoritative tone. When talking about his own field of expertise, even his voice changed to sound deeper and more imposing.
The girl answered obediently, "I play the maid serving Princess Fengyun. I don't have a name… and I only have two or three lines."
"I see."
nodded, unsurprised. If she had a big role or a proper name, how else would he ever get leverage over these pretty actresses?
"What is your name, then?"
"Moxi~"
"Alright then, Moxi… recite those lines for me. Let me hear your skills."
"Waaah… Waaah… Waaaaah~…"
"I didn't ask you to act cute. I told you to recite your lines."
"But… that is all my lines are."
She twisted the ends of her pigtails with her fingers, tilted her head, and widened her eyes — a masterful display of pure, innocent naivety.
"…"
was instantly lost for words. Then he slapped his forehead as he remembered.
Before filming had started, in order to highlight the bold and decisive personality of Kazahana Yukihime's character, they had written Maid #1 as a character who did nothing but whimper and cry all the time!
She was designed purely to act as a contrast — to show how heroic and formidable the heroine was in comparison.
There was nothing wrong with that idea, of course. But seeing it isolated like this… it was obvious just how lazy and careless the scriptwriting had been.
How was he supposed to give acting guidance now?!
Did he really have to demonstrate how to whimper properly himself?
Damn it — I want to punch every one of these useless characters!
So Director ended up praising her against his better judgment.
"Hmm… yes. That whimpering was excellent, very well done. I can tell right away that you are very talented. You fit this industry perfectly."
"Thank you, Director~"
"It's too early to thank me yet. I see great potential in you. So… how would you like me to expand your role a bit?"
started placing his bets. Right from the start, he played his ultimate trump card: giving her more screen time!
No actor in the world ever complained about having too many lines or too much time on camera — even in a bad movie, screen time was everything.
Anyone else in this situation would have known exactly what to do next, and he wouldn't have needed to say another word.
But once again, he had miscalculated…
"But Director… my character already died today. She was killed by the rebel soldiers. How can you add more scenes? Are you going to bring me back to life?"
As she spoke, the girl suddenly looked up at him with genuine hope sparkling in her eyes.
"Uh…" was completely stuck. He sat there choking on his words for a long moment, before deciding to just go all in.
"Yes! Not only will I bring you back… I will make your part bigger and better. You will become the main heroine!"
At this point, he was willing to throw away his reputation in the entire industry just to get what he wanted.
He was determined to get his way tonight, no matter what.
Lies? Deception? Whatever worked.
"Now… I think you understand what you need to do, right?"
practically screamed his hints at her — so obvious he might as well have written them in stone and recited them aloud.
Then Moxi nodded. She walked right up to Director Ku… and suddenly punched him straight in the eye.
"AAHH!"
fell back onto the bed, seeing stars, screaming in pain.
"You little bitch! How dare you hit me?! Do you even know who I am?! I'll ruin your career! You're banned! I'll make sure you never work again!"
"Tch. Like I care." Moxi sneered. "I only came here because I thought being a celebrity might be fun.
But now I see… it's no different from the Red Chamber where I used to stay. Every single one of you is rotten to the core, hiding evil thoughts behind fake faces.
And worse yet… you all want to take advantage for free! This place is even worse than the Red Chamber!"
The more she spoke, the angrier she got. BAM! — she punched him again, right in the other eye.
Now he didn't just have a black eye… he looked like a complete panda bear.
After two solid hits, wanted to tear her apart with his bare hands, but all he could do was beg and plead for mercy, calling her "Miss" and "Milady" over and over.
He was smart enough to know when to yield. Just you wait… once I escape this room, a little girl like you will be nothing. I'll settle this score ten times over.
But Moxi, who had lived and moved among humans ever since she came into existence, could tell exactly what he was thinking.
She suddenly smiled wickedly… and twisted her head all the way around 180 degrees. Then, in a sweet, tender voice, she asked:
"Do… I still look beautiful to you… now?"
"G‑G‑Ghost… ugh…"
Staring at that bizarre, feral‑looking face, Director Ku's eyes rolled back, and he fainted dead away from fright.
Some unknown time later, he slowly woke up. The first thing he saw was a figure sitting by his bedside. He jolted in shock.
"Don't come near me! What… what exactly are you?!"
"Director How can you say such mean things to me? You collapsed onto the bed drunk the moment you walked in. I stayed right here and took care of you all this time… and the moment you wake up, you shout at me like that. I… I just can't go on living like this… waaah"
Moxi buried her face in her hands and began to cry loudly.
touched his face and his head, suspicious and confused. Could it be… I drank way too much and just had a terrible nightmare?
"Yes… that must be it! Otherwise, there's no way I'd still be alive right now."
His courage returning, began looking her body up and down again.
Hmm… her figure was a bit underdeveloped, sure… but her face was still cute.
Even though she wasn't exactly his type, he was still willing to "try a new flavor" once in a while.
So he went back to his old routine. He started asking again: "What role are you playing right now? How many lines do you have?"
They went back and forth, question and answer, perfectly synchronized.
But deep down, kept feeling a strange sense of déjà vu… as if this exact conversation had happened just a little while ago.
Growing more and more unsettled, he said casually, "Fine… perform a scene you're really good at. Show me what you've got."
"You want to see what I'm best at…? Is this what you mean, Director?"
As she spoke, that eerie smile appeared on her face again.
She reached up with her hands and physically twisted her head around 180 degrees, revealing a strange, beast‑like face that spoke directly to him.
Ku's eyes rolled back one more time, and he fainted in terror all over again.
____________________
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