Rookie but One-in-a-Million Actor

Chapter 1

**I Want to Live**

“Hello everyone, this is Celebrity World! I’m your host, Jung Yi. Today, we’re going to meet a newcomer shaking up Chungmuro and Yeouido, a new actor! Let’s welcome Ha Mooyoung! Nice to meet you!”

The camera panned to a man who seemed to be in his mid-twenties with a sculpted appearance, smiling leisurely.

“Hello, I’m new actor Ha Mooyoung.”

“Mr. Mooyoung, you must be really busy these days.”

“I made time just to see you, Jung Yi.”

“Oh my, Producer! If I have a heart attack today, please treat it as an industrial accident. Okay?”

The interview started with light-hearted jokes.

“Mr. Ha Mooyoung, you have the nickname of ‘divine’ Rookie, did you know that?”

“Yes, I’ve heard.”

“Do you know why they call you that?”

Mooyoung smiled sheepishly at the MC’s playful question. With a pleasant low voice and sophisticated gestures, the staff couldn’t take their eyes off him, secretly admiring.

“I understand it as a compliment for performing my roles well.”

“Not just well, you really nailed them.”

– Thought he was possessed by a god.
– Insane acting as if he was possessed.
– Is this really a newcomer? It can’t be. He must be a divine being.
– Ha Mooyoung brought the character to life. Can’t imagine any other actor. He’s irreplaceable. A blessing to the Korean entertainment industry.
– Don’t be surprised, just look at his face. Is that a human?
– He attended Seoyeon University. Definitely not just human.

When the comments from netizens appeared on the screen, Mooyoung covered his face with his hands out of embarrassment. The cameraman capturing the moment smiled contentedly.

“You’ve created a box office reverse legend through word of mouth. Your debut work, *Plague*, drew 4 million viewers, *Sunlight in the Streets* attracted 7 million, and your first drama lead role *You Are a Star, I Am a Star* achieved a 32% viewership rating. Can you believe this all happened this year? Amazing, right?”

The MC, excited, waved her cue sheet, a signature move from her comedian days, only done when genuinely amazed or impressed.

“I was fortunate to work with great people on good projects.”

“And you’re humble too! Now, let’s dive into the in-depth questions. When did you first decide to become an actor?”

“It was around the time I graduated from high school.”

“Really? Was there a specific reason?”

Mooyoung nodded calmly.

“My family was in a very bad situation. Worse than you can imagine. One day, feeling like I couldn’t go on, feeling like I would die, someone told me I could live a different life through acting.”

His eyes sparkled as they reflected the studio lights, clearly reminiscing about a not-so-distant past.

“So I started to survive.”

* * *

Slap!

“You cursed bastard!”

Slap!

“You devilish brat!”

The smell of alcohol was thick in the air. My mouth was split, and my nose was bleeding. But today, I couldn’t back down.

“Say it again!”

“…I’ll leave when I graduate. Give me back the bank account mom left in my name.”

“You ungrateful brat!”

Slap!

The man who was hitting me senselessly was my stepfather. He had been with me for about five years since my mom died in an accident. To me, he was a living hell.

“I spent it all on clothing, feeding, and housing you! What now? You think you can fool me?”

He grabbed my collar threateningly. My head was spinning, and I couldn’t stand properly.

“I took care of the bastard who killed his parents, and now you want money?”

“…It was an accident.”

“If it weren’t for you, it wouldn’t have happened. You’re a demon magnet. You shouldn’t have been born.”

I could see things others couldn’t. Not just spirits, but clear supernatural phenomena. Whenever a black smog-like shape appeared, something would go wrong. My mom’s death was one of those events.

“Why did I take in a bloodless bastard like you?”

He grabbed my hair and shook me violently. I felt like throwing up. My ears were ringing incessantly.

“And now what? I’ll leave when I graduate? Don’t be silly and get ready to receive the spirit.”

Since I was a child, I frequented shaman houses. But shamans would always tilt their heads.

– The child has spiritual energy but seems different somehow.
– The child has spiritual energy but no god to serve.

They always said there would be some change when I became an adult and to wait until then. My stepfather pinned his hopes on my spiritual powers exploding.

“No.”

“What did you say, you bastard?”

“I don’t want to receive the spirit.”

I resisted, trying to push away his hand. If I didn’t break free now, he would choke me for the rest of my life. He would tie me to the shrine and make me live like a dog forever.

“Stop it. Please.”

“Hah! Look at this brat!”

Thud!

He banged my head against the wall and grabbed a broken soju bottle from the floor.

Smash!

The sharp glass glinted in the dark.

I was paralyzed with fear.

“Like mother, like son. You both get hit because you don’t listen. Mooyoung, maybe I’ve been too lenient with you, huh?”

He grinned as he approached.

He was a demon. A demon in human skin.

“Should I scratch that pretty face? So you can’t walk around outside. Will that make you behave?”

I instinctively stepped back. I felt an ashtray under my fingertips. I grabbed it with trembling hands.

“Oh.”

It appeared.

The black smog slowly rose, enveloping my stepfather. It was horrifying but somehow thrilling, as if the sulfur smoke from hell was pulling him in.

“What is this?”

My stepfather noticed the change in my eyes and groped his body.

“Is it here?”

His voice sobered up.

Once it appeared, there were no exceptions.

From small accidents to major deaths.

I didn’t know what it would bring.

“You bastard! Is it here?”

I nodded slightly, and my stepfather turned pale. He rushed at me in a frenzy.

“Get rid of it! Drive it out!”

As if I had control over it.

I just saw it.

If I could, I wouldn’t have let it take my mom.

“You cursed brat-!”

I’m not sure what came first.

Do I see them because they come, or do they come because I see them?

But for my enraged stepfather, it didn’t matter. He lunged at me, screaming, and I swung the ashtray.

Thud!

“Argh!”

Blood gushed from his nose. I ran up the basement stairs barefoot.

“Stop right there-! You bastard!”

“Pant- Pant-”

The street was desolate. I couldn’t stop, feeling as though my stepfather was still chasing me from behind. The fear of death outweighed the pain I felt in my feet.

“Ugh-”

I reached a nearby park. Grabbing a trash can, I threw up, expelling not just stomach acid but also blood. My head injury from earlier must have been serious; I felt extremely dizzy.

“Damn it.”

I couldn’t keep my balance. I needed to move, but my fingers wouldn’t budge. Through my blurry vision, I saw the park clock. It was almost midnight, my eighteenth birthday, the day I needed to escape that house.

…This wasn’t the time to be lying down.

“Student.”

At that moment, someone placed their hand over my eyes. It was warm.

“What are you doing here?”

A mysterious voice, ambiguous in gender and age. Tears streamed down my face without me realizing it.

“Oh dear. You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”

Yes. I felt like I was dying. And now, I really am dying.

“Life has been harsh. Your fate has been twisted beyond repair.”

Why is it only me? Everyone else lives normally, so why is it just me?

“Because there’s a god inside you. A normal fate can’t handle it.”

What are you talking about? What god?

“Do you want to live?”

Of course.

“Even if you survive, your life won’t change. It will still be hell.”

Isn’t that too much? Damn it. What did I do so wrong?

“There is a way, though.”

A light chuckle accompanied the words.

“Live someone else’s life instead of your own. Think of it as borrowing a life.”

You’ve been speaking in riddles since earlier. Can you explain it more clearly?

“Mooyoung. It means to enter someone else’s shadow and erase your own.”

That’s not the meaning of the characters in my name.

“Consider this a birthday gift. I believe you’ll do well. Besides, you have those special eyes.”

Those eyes are the reason I’m in this mess.

But no answer came. All I felt was the warm touch of someone’s hand. I lost consciousness.

* * *

“What in the world!”

A cleaner shook me vigorously. Her face was filled with horror and disgust.

“How did you end up like this? I should call an ambulance!”

My head throbbed painfully, but I was relatively okay. I was in the same park where I lost consciousness. My clothes were stained with blood, and my wounds burned. Everything was the same.

“Did someone beat you? Should I call the police?”

“…What time is it?”

“It’s a little past six. Oh dear, here, wear this. And this too.”

The cleaner gave me her outer garment and covered me with a newspaper. Snow was piled up around us. It was a miracle I survived.

“Hey! This is Hanbit Park!”

I looked down at the rustling newspaper. My mind was foggy, but suddenly, a sentence jumped out at me from an article.

It was an interview with a famous actor.

[The charm of acting? Borrowing the life of a character.]

“What? Hanbit Park in Surangdong? You said you already dispatched? What do you mean? This is my first call.”

[A chance to live someone else’s life. When reality is too unbearable, that’s when I act. The moment I become one with a character, I can hide in their life and erase myself.]

I felt a massive jolt as if struck by lightning. The words were identical to what the mysterious voice had said. I stood up and handed the cleaner back her clothes.

“Student? Are you okay?”

“Thank you for waking me up.”

“Hey! Wait!”

I was barefoot, but it didn’t matter. My stepfather was surely passed out drunk by now. I had to pack my things and escape. Run away and live.

‘Act.’

“Pant- Pant-”

‘To escape this wretched life-’

Tap, tap!

‘Act-!’

My heart pounded wildly as I ran. It felt like I finally found a path. A way to save pitiful me, Ha Mooyoung.

“I’ll take control. Don’t cross the line.”

I soon arrived at the alley in front of my house. Police cars and neighbors were causing a commotion. People stepped aside, startled by my disheveled appearance.

“What happened to him?”

“Isn’t it obvious? He must’ve passed out drunk.”

“It was really cold last night, and it snowed too.”

“And he collapsed looking like that. Tsk tsk.”

“Did he fall forward? His nose is broken.”

“Calling an ambulance was unnecessary.”

Through the murmuring crowd, I saw a familiar face. My stepfather’s body lay sprawled on the ground, lifeless. A police officer covered him with a white sheet.

“Student?”

I walked forward as if in a trance. The shaman’s words that there would be a change when I became an adult were true.

‘What’s that?’

More captivating than my stepfather’s death was a strange phenomenon around his body. Glowing particles floated, contrasting sharply with the smog. Fortune.

I instinctively knew what it signified: my stepfather’s death was the first stroke of luck in my life.