Chapter 439: Living for Yourself
"Great! The first act—The Origin of the Shark Girl—has wrapped up perfectly. Next, we'll be filming the debut of the Crocodile Chibi. Everyone involved in this scene, thank you for your hard work! As for someone whose acting was a bit… less enthusiastic, points will be deducted. Everyone else, come over here and grab your lunch boxes!"
With Steven's loud announcement as the acting stage manager, the first scene—disastrous in every conceivable way—finally came to an end. The operators who had appeared on screen emerged from behind the set, walking toward Steven with all sorts of expressions.
Suzuran, Ceobe, and Amiya wore bright faces filled with excitement and curiosity toward this novel experience. Specter, one of the leads, had a teasing smile, clearly enjoying herself to the fullest.
Only Kal'tsit—who had been explicitly criticized by Steven—kept a dark, sour expression, evidently still unable to recover from the ordeal she'd just endured.
Among everyone present, she was also the only one who didn't step forward to take the lunch box from Steven's hands. Even without opening it, the aroma of the food inside was unmistakable. Steven's cooking skills were well-known across Rhodes Island, after all.
But no matter how good the food was, she clearly had no appetite right now.
"Hey, don't be like that. You agreed to this yourself, didn't you? You still have more scenes later, and honestly, it's better if you don't change out of that outfit just yet."
Fully embracing his role as the stage manager, Steven walked over with a lunch box in hand. While shamelessly shoveling food into his mouth, he casually gestured at Kal'tsit's current attire.
"I agreed to filming, yes—but you never said it would be this kind of thing. And have you actually looked at what I'm wearing right now? If this was all just to satisfy some petty revenge fantasy between you and Nian, then congratulations—you've succeeded."
Kal'tsit shot Steven a fierce glare, her fists clenched tightly.
"I think it looks pretty good."
"You—! …Hah…"
A flash of anger crossed Kal'tsit's pale face, but after a deep breath, her expression gradually settled.
"Tell me—was it really worth it? You went to such lengths and paid such a heavy price just to make something this childish and meaningless."
She looked at Steven seriously as she asked. Truthfully, she'd been wondering the same thing ever since he'd supported that absurd sliding-chair competition. Even now, she still couldn't find a reasonable answer.
"Whether it's worth it or not—that kind of question is pointless," Steven replied casually. "As long as it's something that interests me, then it's worth doing."
He quickly finished off the contents of his lunch box, then spread his hands as he spoke his mind.
"Living freely according to your own likes and dislikes—don't you think that's a happy way of life?"
After saying that, Steven looked straight into Kal'tsit's pale green eyes. He had always felt that this big feline was more like a machine programmed with a purpose—every action taken for some objective. From beginning to end, it seemed she'd never truly acted for her own sake.
Of course, that was only Steven's personal impression. What Kal'tsit was really like was impossible to say.
After all, someone who had lived for so long, and experienced so much, was bound to be far more complicated than anyone could easily understand.
"That's right. What Mr. Steven just said is honestly enough to make my heart flutter with envy."
Nian, holding a lunch box of her own, walked over and—quite rarely—spoke with genuine seriousness. As she talked, she made no effort to hide the admiration in her eyes as she looked at Steven.
"If only I could live as freely and unrestrained as you do someday… but unfortunately, I still can't let go of everything like that."
Perhaps what she had pursued throughout her long life was precisely this kind of existence—Steven's way of living. Yet fate had already decided that she would never truly be able to live as he did. And that, in turn, was why she stubbornly insisted on filming those eccentric, borderline unhinged movies that others simply couldn't understand.
At the very least, it allowed the world to remember that someone called Nian, a film director, had once existed.
"…I still can't understand it."
Kal'tsit frowned, slowly shaking her head as she muttered those words under her breath.
Seeing her like this, Steven and Nian exchanged a knowing smile, then simultaneously reached out and gave Kal'tsit a light pat on the shoulder while she was still lost in thought.
"Not understanding is fine. You just need to play your role properly for now," Steven said, offering words that could hardly be called comforting. "Here's the script for your next scene. Oh, and next time, remember to take out whatever you stuffed into your chest—it looks way too unnatural."
The moment the latter half of that sentence left his mouth, Nian decisively abandoned her position beside him and retreated at top speed.
As expected, Kal'tsit's expression darkened instantly. A sharp, murderous aura burst forth from her body. Just as Nian thought Kal'tsit was about to unleash the legendary move known as "Kal'tsit's Grip Strength" upon Steven—she realized that Steven had already withdrawn to a safe distance, dragging Nian along with him.
"For now, you can take a break," Steven called out while fleeing. "We're going to hurry up and film the second scene."
Pulling Nian away as they escaped, Steven had the good sense to recognize that he might—just possibly—have stepped directly on someone's most sensitive landmine. Retreat, at that moment, was clearly the wisest option.
Only after Steven and Nian had completely left did the overwhelming killing intent radiating from Kal'tsit slowly subside, eventually dissolving into a soft, restrained chuckle.
She knew it well—no matter how many trump cards she revealed, they would be useless against someone like Steven. The fact that he still avoided her like this was, in its own way, a form of respect.
"Living for yourself, huh… In this world, how many people can really do something like that?"
Gazing quietly in the direction Steven had departed, Kal'tsit let out a soft sigh and murmured those words—so quietly that only she herself could hear them.
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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