Rebirth: King to Superstar

Joon-won stood there in complete silence as he took in the criticism and rejection from the two. He didn't expect this result due to the confidence he had in his skills. But he was flat out rejected and told his skills wouldn't fit that of a film and only theatre. As he heard Director Sun mention about him practicing to act in dramas, he found it completely true. After all, there were no movies back in his world and he didn't watch many movies to find the difference between the two.

The Director signed as he looked at Joon-won's blank face and knew this might be a little surprising for the young man who carried himself with so much confidence rightfully given his good acting skills. But he couldn't accept him as a director knowing how important the role was for the movie. There wasn't much time for the young man to learn and change his acting to get ready for the role. 

"Look, it might be hard to gear this, but I don't think that you are ready to act in movies and we do not have the time to teach you the way. If it was two months prior and you came into an audition, I would have taken you in for another smaller role which could be your starting point to change your ways." Director Sun sighed. It wasn't easy to just randomly change actors after they signed a contract. There were too many obligations and would delay the shooting further. 

Joon-won nodded and replied, "It's alright. As you said I hoped to get this role but looks like I couldn't in the end. I'll just treat this as a learning experience and move on." In a low voice.

"You know what, give me your phone number. If I ever need an actor and find a role that is perfect for you, I'll give you a call." The Director offered his service. He really liked Joon-won's acting and knew the guy can make it big if can adapt to the problem he had now. The industry was full of people with connections and he wanted to make one with Joon-won who he had a high evaluation of.

Joon-won nodded and passed him the phone number. The Director nodded and all of them stood up. The decision was made that they couldn't hire him for the role. Cho Deasham came up to Joon-won and patted his shoulder while trying to encourage him, "It's alright. I can see this is your first audition ever and it was pretty good. Just make some minor changes and you will be ready to blast off." 

Joon-won nodded and the two judges walked out, with Do Hwan behind them. Do Hwan turned towards him while exiting and said, "If you don't have any work now, go up to my office, let's have a talk about what's next." Before going out to send the two away. 

Now it was only Hea-Jung with him in the room. He sighed and sat on the chair he used before closing his eyes. The first try was a failure, and he didn't know what to do next. He researched the past week, before getting this chance for auditions like normal people. But he didn't find many and the ones he found were low-budget movies and had only small roles open, like a passerby who would speak one or two lines. Roles like that wouldn't get him enough exposure, and he was unwilling to try them out.

Hea-Jung looked at the silent Joon-won and didn't know what to say. She knew the young man before her was an exceptional talent and wanted to help him out. She also noticed the same points the director and Cho Deasham pointed out but on a smaller scale when he was acting in the exam drama. She offered her help the day before to try and fix these problems, but Joon-won denied it. Now he didn't get the role and had to look for other opportunities. 

Joon-won's mind was now empty. He wasn't thinking about acting, his family, or even the role he wanted. He was just not thinking. This was a setback, not the biggest setback he had, but the first one after coming here. It was a necessary setback for him to improve based on the comments he received a few minutes back. 

He knew he might not get a good role in a good movie until he fixes this problem. Now he was thinking if he needs to go after the smaller roles which he denied earlier or do something else. 

[Don't go after the smaller roles. They are just a waste of time.] The system's expressionless voice ringed in his ears once again after it went silent a few days back. He ignored its earlier suggestion and it didn't make one from then on. 

"Why?" He slowly murmured and even Hea-Jung heard it due to the silent room. 

She was a little worried about Joon-won when she heard that and thought he was feeling very depressed about the setback. She opened her mouth and said, "Little brother it's ok. It's normal for people to get rejected at auditions. Even i got rejected many times before I landed the present one. It's a long process and you are only starting. So don't feel down." She stood up and gently tried to make her way towards him.

Joon-won heard her and opened his eyes while turning towards her. He saw her concerned expression as she made his way towards him and he shook his head and replied, "I'm alright. It came as a little shock to me. That's all. Nothing to worry about. I'll try to land a role before the summer ends. That's the deal. If not this, then another one." 

Hea-Jung nodded and remained silent. She knew he was contemplating things and needed some time before he would spring back up. 

[I told you earlier that day when this woman asked if you needed help in practice to accept. If you did accept, then you would have gotten this insight from her earlier. You underestimate this woman too much. How can a king like you underestimate based on what you saw only for a few days? This woman would have provided you the same conclusion as the people earlier and the end result of this interview could have been different.]

Joon-won looked at Hea-Jung for a second and asked, "Did you come to the same conclusion as the judges before this? Don't hesitate and tell me." 

Hea-Jung hesitated when she heard the first question but nodded and replied, "Yes, a little. I noticed it. I wasn't completely sure of it and if that's the problem. That's why I wanted to help you out a little earlier." Her voice turned extremely small at the end. She felt she was blaming him for not accepting her help. 

Joon-won nodded and finally understood how stupid he really was. He hated people underestimating him in his past life when he had nothing, but now he was the one underestimating people because of how they carried themselves out. The girl was a bit aloof and stupid but that didn't mean she had no talent. It looked like his confidence and pride came to his head and messed up his thinking. 

[That girl experienced many audition failures, so she knows what is needed to pass one.] 

Joon-won stood up and said to Hea-Jung, "Well, shall we make our way towards Mr. Hwan's office?" Hea-Jung nodded and made her way towards the exit with Joon-won following her behind. 

"So what next then?" He asked the system in a low voice. He didn't want people to think he was crazy, talking out loud to no one. 

[We need to maximize this summer. There are two months left and we need to get this huge obstacle in your acting out if we want to get a few roles in notable movies.] 

Joon-won nodded. He also thought the two months they had in their hand were crucial. It was only the 3rd of May, and the next semester would not start until July. So May and June would be the two biggest and crucial months of his life. 

[Let's talk about this later and not now. Have a discussion with Do Hwan now about what's next. That guy is pretty wise and he might have noticed your problem earlier itself. So listen to what he says and tell you will get back to whatever he offers by night.] 

Joon-won nodded once again and decided to take the discussion seriously, unlike the previous one they had back at university. 

Both Joon-won and Hea-Jung were in the elevator and it was completely silent as Hea-Jung, who generally was very talkative, didn't know what to say and Joon-won was having his own discussion with the system. 

The elevator door opened, and they reached the top floor. Both of them walked out and Joon-won looked around to see there was only one room on the entire floor.