Knock, knock.

  Leon heard someone at the door. He opened it to find his cousin standing there.

  "Hey!—"

  "Are you okay?" Hyun's excitement quickly turned into concern as he took in Leon's exhausted expression.

  "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm good. I just woke up."

  "You must have been really tired yesterday."

  They stepped inside and made their way to the living room. Hyun's eyes landed on a script lying on the table. He picked it up, flipping through the pages before handing it back to Leon.

  "Here you go."

  Leon reached for it, but noticed something— Hyun hadn't noticed about the black pulsing ink in the corner of the script.

  "Don't be nervous or awkward. Just act the best you can," Hyun advised. "I know it's your first time, but you need to build confidence for future auditions. Even if this is just temporary, you should at least learn to act without feeling nervous."

  Leon swallowed. The realization hit him—he had to act in front of his cousin. He suddenly felt awkward and unsure. He had never done anything like this before. He didn’t even sing in front of his family because of how embarrassed it made him feel.

  Noticing Leon's stiffness, Hyun sighed.

  "If it helps, I can record your acting and leave the room for a while. That way, you can practice alone and feel more comfortable," Hyun suggested. "But after that, I’ll need to see it in person. You’ll have to get used to performing in front of others, whether it’s for a minor role or even modeling."

  Leon hesitated before giving a small nod. Hyun positioned his phone at a good angle, hit record, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

  Leon stared at the phone. The awkwardness lessened slightly without an audience, but nerves still lingered.

  Taking a deep breath, he started acting according to the script. At first, his movements were stiff, but the longer he went on, the more natural it felt. He could remember everything from the simulation. It was as if he were recreating a memory rather than performing a script.

  Everything felt vivid—the emotions, expressions, even the rhythm of speech. The living room faded away, replaced by the world of the script.

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  Then, as the scene ended, Leon collapsed onto the floor as if he was shot. The moment passed, and reality snapped back into focus.

  He sat up, stunned. This time felt different from the previous two. He had been fully in control, yet everything had felt so natural. He knew he was acting, knew he wasn’t actually Detective Kang, but for those moments, it was as if he had become the character.

  He smiled and felt joyful about what he was feeling. He wasn't spectating someone's life, he wasn't confused about who he was, this time he was in control.

  Shaking off the feeling, he grabbed the phone, stopped the recording, and went to find Hyun.

  "Done," Leon said, handing him the phone.

  They sat together on the sofa, watching the playback.

  Leon was shocked by what he saw. It felt surreal watching himself act—it didn’t even seem like him. At first, it was slightly awkward, but as the scene progressed, his performance became fluid and immersive. By the end, it looked as if he had transformed into Detective Kang.

  When the video ended, Leon sat in silence, processing what he had just seen.

  'Maybe I have some talent for acting...'

  But then he frowned, thinking back to his strange ability.

  'Never mind. If I didn't have this weird ability, I probably wouldn't have been able to act this well. Maybe my ability is only meant for acting, but do I have to go through that experience every time just to act well?'

  He recalled the time he had felt confused about his own identity.

  'Maybe I can just use the first method of my ability. I only entered the script to experience the character's life. And once it ended I returned to normal. The second option seems to bring the character to the real world but it seems too dangerous as some of his presence still lingers inside me. Maybe that's why I was able to act natural.'

  The room had gone eerily quiet. Realizing this, Leon turned to Hyun, who was staring at the phone, deep in thought.

  'Did I mess up? I thought I did well... It felt like I was looking like a professional acting or maybe I'm biased?'

  Then, Hyun finally spoke.

  "Leon… do you want to actually become an actor?"

  Leon’s eyes widened. He turned to face his cousin, who was watching him with a serious expression.

  "Hyun, I'm only doing this temporarily. I just thought it’d be cool to appear in ads or minor roles once in a while so I could brag to my family and friends. I never planned on seriously pursuing this."

  "But look at this," Hyun insisted, holding up the phone. "Your acting level is insane. If I didn’t know you, I’d think you’d been training for years. With this kind of talent, you could go for leading roles."

  "Calm down, Hyun. You did say this type of role was easy to act in."

  "You don’t get it." Hyun shook his head. "You added subtle details that made it more realistic—more natural. It’s like you became the character and you did this in less than a day. I only gave you the script two days ago and I know you didn't have time to practice intensely, so you must have learned-"

  Leon interrupted him as he tried to calm him.

  "Hyun, I appreciate the compliments, but I’m only doing this temporarily. I prefer having a stable income job so I can take care of mom and my family."

  "But with this... Fine," Hyun said with a sigh. "Then can you try acting in front of me this time?"

  Leon stood up, this time feeling more confident. As he started acting, the performance flowed even better than before—no hesitation, no nerves.

  Hyun watched in stunned silence, completely absorbed in the scene. When Leon finished, Hyun blinked, as if snapping out of a trance.

  "I have to go," Hyun suddenly announced. He stood up, an excited grin spreading across his face. "I need to make some major changes."

  Before leaving, he turned back and said, "By the way, you don’t need an acting coach. I’ll text you when you should come to the agency for now keep practicing for the role."

  And with that, he was gone.

  'I guess I did nicely?'

  He felt proud and happy as he then looked at the script and stared at the black pulsing ink.

  'I wonder how my ability works. I know that it certainly helps with acting, but I don't want to lose my mind if that's what it takes to act well.'

  He stared for a few seconds as he stopped thinking, as he did not want to remember what just happened in the morning since he didn't want to ruin his good mood. He just went ahead and began preparing his breakfast.