The company’s constant erratic behavior was momentarily distracting, but in the case of this acting instructor situation, it’s highly likely that Heavenly Yuah volunteered herself.
After all, no company could possibly force someone like Heavenly Yuah into such an obligation.
This means that Heavenly Yuah must have known that I requested an acting instructor and, as such, volunteered to become my teacher.
The issue here is twofold: who in their right mind informed Heavenly Yuah of this, and why wasn’t this situation prevented?
While it’s true that an actor of Heavenly Yuah’s stature is difficult to dissuade once they insist on doing something, still, it seems normal that they could have at least intervened to this extent, doesn’t it?
Either I have high expectations or disappointment comes all the more.
Or is Heavenly Yuah the authoritarian star type? Given that not even her manager could stop her insistence, it seems like this might be the case.
Whichever the truth, it’s not particularly favorable news for me.
“Then, are you really agreeing to critique my acting?”
“Yes, even though I may look inexperienced, I have nine years of acting experience. I have a general sense of what issues you, Mr. Siwoo, might have.”
“My issues?”
“Your fundamental acting skills are fine; even to my eyes, your acting is commendable. Ultimately, it boils down to lack of experience, but that’s something you grow accustomed to rather quickly.”
“Aah, understood…”
This wasn’t just another woman volunteering to critique my acting without much thought; she has carefully observed my work, which indicates a clear understanding of my weaknesses.
I wasn’t looking to learn anything extravagant, and there’s no real issue with Heavenly Yuah being my acting instructor, but I can’t help but question if this is truly the best path forward.
“…Understood, Predecessor. Please guide me well.”
Ultimately, I had no choice but to agree.
Because I had no grounds to decline.
Moreover, with matters developing this far, I now had a reason to observe Heavenly Yuah. After all, I had a problem that I needed to confirm thoroughly.
To me, the New Religion is a subject fraught with complexity.
The closest expression might be a love-hate relationship.
Life with the New Religion was generally a continuous series of hardships and trials, but the grace I received from it, and from Heavenly Demon, was far from trivial.
I believe thirty years of service and my demise was sufficient gratitude for the blessings received, but human emotions aren’t quite that simple.
Remembering all the past injustices makes me not only want to distance myself but even brings forth a surge of anger, yet I occasionally yearn for it, and that complex presence is exactly the New Religion.
Of course, every time I long for it, I seriously question whether I’ve gone mad.
Whenever I see Heavenly Yuah, my heart gets tangled with memories of those times.
Especially Heavenly Demon, a presence even more complex than the New Religion. Seeing someone who looks exactly like Heavenly Demon constantly moving around is quite exasperating.
This is really less than ideal.
I concede that I cannot erase my memories of Martial Forest, and perhaps it’s even admitted that I occasionally yearn for those days in the New Religion, but it shouldn’t be this way.
I want to live my own life now.
That’s why I tried to avoid contact with Heavenly Yuah, who constantly triggered old memories, but with the current situation, even that has become impossible.
Since we are in the same company, and sometimes the same place, we’re bound to keep bumping into each other.
Thus, the conclusion is clear.
Separating Heavenly Yuah from the New Religion, as well as from Heavenly Demon.
Heavenly Yuah undoubtedly feels like this world’s Heavenly Demon, but she is fundamentally different from the Heavenly Demon of Martial Forest.
My occasional habit of calling her Heavenly Demon is out of resemblance in appearance and name, not a acknowledgment of her as the real Heavenly Demon.
For now, due to my limited knowledge about her, she often overlaps in my mind with the image of Heavenly Demon, but as I gradually get to know her and confirm their distinction, she will increasingly not appear as the genuine Heavenly Demon.
“Someday, by observing and recognizing the differences between her and Heavenly Demon, I will be able to fully accept Heavenly Yuah the actor as she is, not as the Heavenly Demon.”
And once that happens, seeing her won’t make me recall Heavenly Demon or the New Religion.
Even though she looks exactly like Heavenly Demon, shares the same name, carries herself with the same confidence and fearlessness, and has a peculiar affinity for black, she is absolutely not the Heavenly Demon.
“There is no Heavenly Demon or New Religion in this world.”
That is what I must constantly remind myself of.
*
Gritting my teeth and regaining my composure, I then made my way to the rehearsal room where Heavenly Yuah was waiting.
We were about to proceed with intense acting practice.
As soon as I entered, Heavenly Yuah handed me a few pages of a script.
“Is this the script?”
“Yes, we’ll use this for the first run-through. We can provide feedback to each other from there.”
“Aah, in that way… Then, isn’t the person shooting this footage over there…?”
“The footage is for confirmation during feedback sessions. Most importantly, it’s critical to see how it is captured on camera.”
Thus, the acting practice was planned to proceed rather straightforwardly: Acting out a few scenes together with Heavenly Yuah, filming them, then reviewing the footage together to give feedback.
Heavenly Yuah seemed to be treating it less like teaching and more like collaborative practice for the sessions going forward.
To this end, there was already one staff member equipped with a camera on standby.
When I inquired, I learned that this individual was part of Flame’s publicity team and would hand over the recordings after properly editing them for us.
They also mentioned the possibility of utilizing these recordings for publicity purposes.
“What kind of publicity?”
“It’s currently challenging with the number of actors we have, but once there are more, we’re considering creating our own content. These kind of rehearsal scenes can be useful small-scale resources.”
“Ahh, creating our own content.”
Upon reflection, Flame frequently posted entertaining videos with all the agency’s actors collaborating. One that I vaguely remember showcased actors traveling in a camper. Thanks to the natural portrayals that were hard to find in regular entertainment, it had been well-received by fans.
Given this, it feels like this is the real Flame that I know.
I like the practice method, and the filming feels good as well.
However, there is one uncomfortable point I’d like to clarify before starting: the issue of honorifics.
“You’re much older, so wouldn’t it be better if you spoke more casually?”
“Yes, I may be a senior, but you’re the same age as me, aren’t you? How about if both of us spoke casually, then?”
“But this feels improper, given that you’re my senior.”
“Actually, I find it more comfortable this way.”
“Ah, is that so?”
The True Sovereign Heavenly Demon spoke politely to no one. However, there were rare instances when this Heavenly Demon used honorifics, and that was when they were thoroughly enraged.
Anger often manifested as polite language but, usually, this approach helped restrain their fists.
It was a sort of self-help method to prevent inflicting fatal blows on fellow members of the New Religion.
Though, since accidents tended to happen when Heavenly Demon used honorifics, I have some PTSD from those moments.
But the fact that this woman, who looks exactly like the Heavenly Demon, insists on speaking casually, triggers a reaction even though I know it’s not the same person.
That’s why I proposed the casual approach out of frustration, but Heavenly Yuah claims this feels better to her.
At least it’s one aspect where she differs from the True Sovereign Heavenly Demon.
Heavenly Yuah gets one point for this.
“Well, then let’s start. With scene 1.”
“Yes, let’s begin then.”
After neatly (though a bit uncomfortably, in my perspective) resolving the issue of honorifics, we proceeded with the practice.
We rehearsed various scenarios: a thief caught by the police, disruptive guests at a funeral, an obnoxious customer in a convenience store, a day laborer borrowing money from a young boss, and a couple breaking up.
Most were extremely dramatic and non-routine contents, but such things are easier to express compared to anything too bland.
With the script that she prepared, we proceeded to film a few scenes.
“Heavenly Yuah, your ability to convey emotion in your acting is exceptional. This is something that doesn’t just happen with practice.”
“Thank you for your kind words.”
Heavenly Yuah highlighted my strength in conveying emotion as the first commendable feature of my acting performance.
She mentioned seeing the character’s feelings clearly the moment it was viewed, and her tone of surprise seemed genuinely admiring.
Conveying emotions. Well, if I have a talent, it must be in that area.
Even before falling into Martial Forest, I was told that I was decent in this regard.
Though all other areas were a mess and not worthy of acknowledgment, making others understand my emotions was something I had considerable confidence in.
Upon landing in Martial Forest at the tender age of seven, I was immediately recognized and ‘collected’ by a seemingly kind innkeeper, thanks to this particular advantage.
Though, had I known that inn was going to be dismantled by the end of that day, I probably wouldn’t have acted so willingly.
Certainly, showcasing acting for the camera feels different from what I’ve done so far.
Honestly, when role-playing as a tenant farmer in Martial Forest, if Martial Forest Alliance warriors suddenly conducted an inspection, I had to appear completely pale and trembling.
In such scenarios, why would I care about enunciating clearly? On the contrary, it’s more natural if I can barely communicate due to intense shaking to show I’m a true ‘grassroots’ individual.
However, clarity in content delivery to the audience is paramount in this setting, and such aspects must be considered carefully.
“But there are still issues, of course.”
“Yes, please go ahead.”
“Your diction, while very realistic, is too much…”
“Isn’t being realistic a good thing?”
“It can be, yes. But look at this part. In the video, you’ll see…”
“The pronunciation gets muffled quite a bit.”
Heavenly Yuah pointed out a scene where two lovers split up.
The character, a man who has to let the woman go for her sake, is alone crying with regret after seeing her off.
While crying heartrendingly, his dialogue is so muddled that the words are barely intelligible.
“Under real circumstances of such an ordeal and sorrowful crying, I can see why you’d cry like that, Mr. Siwoo.”
“Yes, but we shouldn’t do it that way in acting. While it’s natural that pronunciation gets muddled, it must remain at least intelligible enough that the lines are understandable…”
“That’s correct. Such things will be noted and feedback will be given by the PD on set.”
“Hmm…”
“Since it’s not to your liking, repeated practice until the feel sinks in is unavoidable. Haven’t you watched audio or video recordings of your own acting performances many times before?”
“Yes, that’s true. It’s ultimately part and parcel of practice, then.”
“Separately practice crying and highly emotional scenes, and review them. Somehow, I think you will get used to this quicker than expected.”
Indeed, presenting performance through the camera feels a little different from the ones I’ve acted out before.
Honestly speaking, when acting as some tenant farmer in Martial Forest and suddenly subjected to an unscheduled inspection by the Martial Forest Alliance, I would turn pale and quiver.
What reason would I have to care about pronunciation then? Rather, such severe trembling that hinders communication would be more genuine as a ‘grass roots’ type of person.
But here, since delivering clear content for viewers is important, such aspects need to be attended to.
“Also, there is something very important.”
“Yes, Predecessor.”
“You use facial expressions very well, don’t you? That’s probably why the emotion transmission is so effective, right?”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, honestly, I’m impressed. You have amazing control over your facial muscles. I almost question whether some aspects can even be achieved through practice…”
As Heavenly Yuah praised my facial expressions, she then offered some sound advice with a serious tone.
“It’s too exaggerated.”
“…Exaggerated?”
Even though my ability to act out facial expressions was exceptional, she pointed out that it was being overdone, which gave me chills down my neck.
Especially since it was something she praised before.
But once I reviewed the scene she pointed out, I understood what the problem was.
Facial expression is among the most effective means of emotional communication, a part I’ve always considered my strength.
Even more so as it was something Heavenly Yuah praised.
However, after observing the clip a few times, I grasped precisely what the issue was.
