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"What's wrong with that guy?!"

The Director’s voice echoed across the set. I turned my head to look toward the source, trembling. He was jabbing a finger at me.

The Director was shouting at me.

"Hey!"

"Y-Yessir!"

As I stood before the Director, his seething anger causing me to stutter without conscious thought, I couldn't fathom what could have possibly set him off. 

His shouts filled the room, causing me to shrink back in fear and confusion. 

Even the normally stoic Producer wore a frown of concern. 

This was a position I had worked tirelessly to attain, and I couldn't bear the thought of losing it due to this sudden turn of events.

It would be wise to avoid incurring the Producer's wrath.

"Do you want to ruin the scene? Why are you standing out there alone?!"

This was unfair.

My acting wasn't bad, so did it make sense to be yelled at for standing alone?

In the first place, my role was to sell socks on the street.

That alone already stood out enough, but what could I do if he said I stood alone?

All sorts of excuses swirled around my mind, but I held back and lowered my head.

In these situations, it was better to admit my mistakes and bow my head rather than make excuses.

"I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? Hey, it's over if you don't do it properly next time. Got it?"

"I'll pull myself together and do it properly this time."

The Director eventually stopped yelling. Then, after taking a quick look at the leading actor, he moved behind the camera.

'Damn it.'

I hadn't done anything wrong.

It was just the leading actor and the Director butting heads.

The actor was late for the filming set, and the Director was just trying to find an excuse to reshoot the scene.

Sadly, I became that excuse.

'Fuck...'

That sucked.

It felt shitty to be yelled at without doing anything wrong. But what could I do?

Extras needed to live like extras. As an extra, the best I could do was to keep my head down and act innocent.

Only that way could I earn more things.

"Okay, let's go again!"

At the Director's command, the other actors checked their lines one last time before moving into position.

"Ready, action!"

The camera started rolling.

I did my best at acting as a socks salesman.

But since the fight between the Director and the main actor was still not over…

We ended up shooting the same scene two more times.

The Director gave the okay to a scene that would normally be shot a couple of times only after shooting it six full times.

This was exhausting and hard. I took off the salesman's outfit and picked up the prop box containing the socks.

"Ha… fuck. If I had to do it one more time, I would have abandoned set."

I heard the main actor muttering.

Lucky bastard.

He was in his mid-20s and already had enough popularity to be the main actor. A rising star.

Only his pride mattered; he didn’t care how hard the actors in minor roles and the staff had it. That was why he was so focused on butting heads with the Director.

He didn't even care about someone like me struggling to get a minor role.

I was jealous of him. But, at the same time, I also respected him. How hard was it for him to get where he was now?

Would I have a chance if I had a little more talent and luck?

Random thoughts popped up.

"Great job!"

It was the staff's job to clean up the set after the shoot, but I hurriedly put away the sock boxes and the things around them to get on their good side.

After saying my goodbyes to the staff, I headed to where the other minor actors were waiting after a job.

"Oh, Sung-hyuk. Good work."

"Thank you, sir."

"See you on set again next time."

"See you."

I gave a cordial farewell to another close minor actor and left.

The life of the extras, who have few opportunities, is tough.

We could barely make a living with this kind of work, so saying 'see you again on set' was a well-wishing remark.

"We're going to take a break!"

Someone from the staff shouted.

"Kyaaah! Oppa.”

"I came from work as soon as I heard you were shooting here!"

"You're so handsome!"

Fans of the main actors flocked around them. They all moved in unison when they heard the staff member declare they would take a break.

Dozens of people gathered around the main actor in an instant.

I smacked my lips as I looked at them, feeling jealous.

I was holding on until now at the thought that my acting was good and that someday I would be cast in that spot... but I was getting close to my limit.

It seemed that I couldn't hold on any longer.

I had never lived a main character's life, but somehow, I still felt a sense of loss. As if I had lost something I had once gained.

"Sigh..."

I sighed and turned around just as someone called out to me.

"Um..."

"Oh, looking for the lead? He's over there."

I pointed to the crowd around him.

But the woman who spoke to me stood still and repeatedly blinked at my response.

"I'm sorry?"

"The one you are looking for..."

"Oh, no. I came to see the actor Lee Sung-hyuk."

She smiled brightly.

At that, I paused and looked the woman over. She had definitely called me an 'actor.'

I've always been called 'hey you' or 'you punk' all my life. All the staff and the Director called me that way.

But this woman called me an actor.

‘The actor Lee Sung-hyuk.’

It was nice to hear.

My expectations soared, even though I knew I shouldn't let them.

Gulp. I swallowed hard before opening my mouth.

"Me…?"

"Yeah! Lee Sung-hyuk."

It wasn't an illusion.

She came to see me.

The woman laughed and continued to speak as I stood still with a blank look.

"It's my first time doing this... so I'm a little nervous too."

Saying that, she blushed and lowered her head.

My heart was beating fast. My expectations were flying.

"I-I'm your fan."

Ah...

I almost stopped breathing.

One of the fans who only existed in my imagination appeared before me, in reality.

"Really? Thank you so… so much."

"Huh? No, I am more grateful."

The woman waved her hands as she spoke, so I noticed the bag she was carrying.

"And this...?"

"This is a novel I wrote. I wrote it while thinking of you, so please read it. I haven't finished it yet, but still..."

"I will definitely read it."

She wrote a novel while thinking of me, so how could I refuse it? I snatched the eco bag up.

"Thank you. Please tell me how it was once you read it."

"Sure. I hope to see you again next time."

"Me too."

The woman replied with a smile that reached up to her eyes and checked the time.

"Oh, I have to go now..."

"Ah, yes, you should go. Of course."

I mirrored her grin, matching its playful and mysterious allure.

***

After I returned home, I took out the books from the eco-bag.

There were eight books. It wasn't that big, so it was amazing that eight whole books could fit inside. I took another look at the bag.

It was an eco-bag with a picture of a tree on the side, nothing special.

What is this? Tilting my head, I sat down and picked up the first volume.

I read so many scripts that went nowhere that a few more wouldn’t bother me.

'The Ruler of Talent' was the title of the book.

"I guess it's a fantasy novel."

As a busy bee, I rarely had the luxury of indulging in leisurely reading. 

However, in my younger days, I would occasionally allow myself the pleasure of a good book.

With a small mutter, I opened the book.

I read each word carefully, trying not to miss a single letter.

This novel was written by a fan of mine while thinking of me, so I didn't want to miss anything.

The book's plot is about the main character's quest for revenge.

The main character, who'd lost his parents to monsters, went around hunting for the monsters he saw that day.

Then he awakened a unique ability that no one else had: to see the talent of the people around him.

It manifested as a light that grew in intensity depending on the size of their Ability.

After finishing the first half of the book, I realized that the main character's Ability wasn’t simply to see others' Abilities, however.

After killing the Orc King, he'd gained the Ability they possessed.

It was not just his Ability to see the Abilities of his opponents, but also to absorb them by defeating them in battle. This made him a formidable force to be reckoned with.

After killing the Orc King and gaining the Spearman Ability, the protagonist continued to kill monsters and learned more about himself.

But the main character changed in the second half of the first volume.

"Hmm?"

The development was strange. He killed someone out of the blue.

It was different from killing only monsters until now; this was his first murder.

However, the main character paid it no mind and continued.

"The main character feels more like a villain."

Since this was a novel, I didn't have a significant objection to the concept of murder. I wasn't such a nice guy in the first place.

"Still… this is too much."

Right before I finished the sixth book, I stopped reading and scratched my cheek.

I didn't know how the story would end, but the main character had wiped out an entire village.

For the main character to gain more power, it became necessary to sacrifice the villagers. And the main character didn’t hesitate to use any means to progress.

I didn't like how things were going, but I started again. I wasn't reading it for fun anyway, but because a fan said she wrote it while thinking of me.

"By the way, what part did she write with me in mind?"

I wondered.

I didn't know which part was written with me in mind.

Was it even true?

It was given to me by a fan, so I shouldn't even question it.

I read it to the end even though I had doubts, and at the end of the 8th volume, the main character eventually became a ‘Slayer’.

Because I read eight of them in a row, my eyes were a little tired. I rubbed at them and shut the book.

But while organizing the books, something strange caught my eye as I was tidying them away in the bag.

"What is this? There wasn't anything there until just now."

The eco-bag had only a picture of a tree and nothing else.

But now, there was something written under the tree.

"I'll always watch you...? What is this?"

In that moment, I whispered to myself in hushed tones.

Ping!

Like the reel of a film getting cut off in the middle, the world went dark. My body lost strength, and I collapsed.

Huh?

I couldn't even open my mouth to yell.

My head went blank, and everything went dark.

Then, a soft voice passed through my ears.

"I look forward to your story."

['The Unknown God' has started watching your story.]