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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: The Black Door Opens
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After hearing about the problem from Director Ryan Will, Seojun thought of a few methods.
The first method.
As Director Ryan Will said: practice, practice, and more practice.
But the more he practiced over the months, the more he realized this wasn't the right way. Still, he didn't give up and continued.
Seojun took a deep breath. He pushed aside the good-aligned mana (Seongi) and began [Mage's Basic Breathing].
The second method.
Wait for a new door to open in the good-aligned library.
Like a birthday present, the third door swung wide open, but inside, there was no suitable ability.
Hearing comments that he somehow looked even kinder, Seojun began to wonder if he should stop opening the library doors altogether.
The white mana (Seongi) crumpled within Seojun's core. Seojun waited for the black mana (Magi) to seep into his core.
One hour, two hours. Then seven months. Eight months.
The third method.
Open the door to the evil-aligned library.
To open the door of the evil-aligned library, he needed evil-aligned mana (Magi).
Seojun tried to shake off his impatience, but the unmoving Magi was starting to get on his nerves.
Usually, once he chose an alignment, he lived his life acquiring abilities of that alignment. Good if good, evil if evil. There was no reason or need to have both alignments at the same time.
Only one life.
There might have been many similar lives. But there was one life that remained vividly in his memory. A life that served as a warning in his mind.
It was the life of an elf who lived for revenge against the humans who had hunted his tribe.
The good-aligned elf had also tried to open the door to the evil-aligned library in the same way as Seojun.
Despite having a core of good, he tried to obtain Magi and open the library's door to exact his revenge.
An elf's life was long, and the elf had the patience to match.
However, before the elf could obtain Magi, one of the elf hunters he sought revenge against fell ill and died.
The elf realized. Unlike himself with his long lifespan, his human targets died far too easily and far too soon.
'With this method, I might be able to obtain it someday. But will that be in 10 years, or 100?'
The elf closed his eyes. He gave up.
And using the bones of liches, the blood of demons, and the flesh of monsters,
he became a demon king.
Seojun shook his head at the memory of that life.
The end of that life was ruin.
The elf who became a demon king killed humans and destroyed their kingdoms, and the Magi eventually consumed his mind, leading him to destroy the kingdoms of his own kind, the elves.
And a high-level black mage, born later, who remembered his past lives and had opened the evil-aligned library to read of the elf's life, had embedded that tale into Seojun's mind as a warning for the next life.
"Phew."
Seojun let out a long breath.
He didn't know how long that elf had struggled in front of the library.
But unlike elves who lived for ages, a human's life was short, and the time until the filming of Shadowman 2 was even shorter.
Seojun once again performed [Mage's Basic Breathing].
A long time passed, and the Magi remained unresponsive today as well. Seojun sighed and prepared to wake up.
"For now, I'll use [Bell Goblin's Teasing of Mr. Kim] for Shadowman 2."
He looked with longing at the evil-aligned library, firmly shut and tightly bound by black chains.
"And I'll keep practicing and practicing, breathing and breathing. I will definitely open it."
Just before waking up, as always, Seojun's vision blurred.
"Until then, I won't appear in any other movies. No dramas either!"
Like a warning, like a vow.
At Seojun's resolute words, it seemed for a moment as if the library trembled slightly.
* * *
The next day.
After attending kindergarten as usual, practicing hard, and going to bed, Seojun opened his eyes in the library.
He then sat familiarly in front of the evil-aligned library and began to breathe slowly and deeply.
As if drawing in the Magi emanating from the library, he pulled it in with his entire body.
Then, the Seongi, crumpled and stuffed into a corner of his core, would stir. As the Seongi actively moved to repel the intruder, Seojun would frown and try to control it.
But intimidated by the triumphant Seongi, the Magi would only circle around Seojun's body, never entering.
"Haa. Really."
'Is it impossible for the two manas to coexist?'
Steeling his wavering heart, Seojun sat up straight again and began to take deep breaths.
'Will the door to the evil-aligned library never open in my lifetime?'
The Magi and Seongi faced off, one outside his body and one inside.
'Does that mean I'll never be able to act in movies?'
The library trembled slightly.
Seojun, his eyes squeezed shut and focused on [Mage's Basic Breathing], did not see it.
'Can I become a superstar if I can't even play a villain?'
Seojun exhaled and inhaled deeply.
It was then.
The Library of Life moved.
It soothed the Seongi and encouraged the Magi. It mediated between the two manas and demanded their cooperation.
Sometimes coaxing, sometimes threatening. Finally, it bared its teeth and growled at the two disobedient manas.
At the library's actions, the two manas didn't know what to do, but in the end, they held hands with disgruntled expressions.
As if ready to let go at any moment, only a single finger from each was weakly linked.
This all happened while Seojun had his eyes tightly shut, focusing solely on his breathing.
Huh?!
The Magi seeped into Seojun's body. Though it seemed ready to bolt at any second, it slowly and hesitantly entered.
His heart pounded. The Seongi in his core also seemed poised to rush out and fight the Magi, but it didn't charge out, merely circling within the core.
What is happening?!
Seojun felt his jaw about to drop at the events unfolding inside his own body.
Having only watched the two manas bicker, Seojun quickly came to his senses.
He decided to figure out the cause later; for now, Seojun would seize this luck, this opportunity.
Focus. Focus. Focus!
He fervently cheered on the hesitant Magi and restrained the growling Seongi. He put all his effort into appeasing the two childlike manas.
And then,
the Magi finally seeped into his core. As if on the verge of a fight, the two manas circled each other warily. Then, gradually, they calmed down.
At that moment, a blessing-like notification sounded.
[Mage's Basic Breathing has been activated!]
Perhaps because Seojun was in such a good mood seeing the two manas residing peacefully in his core, the notification also seemed to be rejoicing.
[Mage's Basic Breathing]
Allows a being of evil (darkness) to harbor mana.
Does not conflict with other breathing methods. (Excluding good (light))
Harmonizes the wielder's body.
"Uwaaah!"
Seojun threw his arms high in the air and shouted. A cry of joy.
"Finally! Finally!"
He was so excited that he ran around the inside of the library.
"Hahahaha!"
In all his seven years of life, had he ever been this excited?! He ran around, bursting into laughter that came from the pit of his stomach.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
"Huh?"
He heard something fall in the library where he should have been alone. With a puzzled expression, Seojun turned around. Three marbles had fallen to the floor and were rolling around.
"What's this?"
Seojun picked up the three marbles. Each one had a pattern. There was a marble with the pattern of a long baton, one with a slime pattern, and one with a bear crest.
"...Ack?!"
Placing the marbles neatly on the floor, Seojun quickly looked at his right palm and felt his stomach and the back of his head. Gone. It's gone! Seojun's face turned pale as he felt around. He couldn't feel the energy of the abilities.
The only things in Seojun's body right now, not in marble form, were [Elf's Basic Breathing] and [Mage's Basic Breathing].
"Why did they fall out!?"
Panicked by this unprecedented situation, Seojun soon collected himself. He realized that the very fact that Magi and Seongi were starting to form a single core was a first.
"It's the first time the two manas have been together, so no one knows what might happen. First, let's try putting them back in."
Seojun picked up a marble. It was [Slime's Digestive Ability]. And as he always did, he placed it into his stomach.
A slime pattern appeared on his stomach. Then, he placed [Summer Bear's Hibernation] on the back of his head and [Orchestra Conductor's Connection] on his right palm.
Fortunately, they all seeped back into his body.
"Did they get ejected because the Magi suddenly appeared?"
As Seojun examined his body for a while, his eyes darted back and forth.
"I didn't expect this..."
The amount of Seongi he had been able to use freely was now halved. In other words, the Seongi that was at 100 had been reduced to 50, with the remaining 50 being occupied by Magi.
If he could use 100 Seongi all day before, now with only 50, he could only use it for half a day.
Of course, his core would naturally grow as he aged and developed.
"Since I have Magi now, this is fine."
He just had to control his abilities during filming. The eight months of acting practice with Ryan Will had not been in vain. By practicing the same role over and over, he had managed to distance himself slightly from method acting. He could control it quite well now.
"Just a little more now."
Seojun turned and looked at the firmly shut evil-aligned library.
At his gaze, the black chains, sensing the Magi inside Seojun's body, began to unravel with a clattering sound. The chains that had tightly bound the black door vanished in an instant.
Seojun trudged over and waved his right hand.
The door, which had been as large as the one to the good-aligned library, slid to the left and a smaller door appeared from the right. At Seojun's touch, the door grew smaller and smaller.
The final, firmly shut door appeared.
"Now, it's a new beginning."
Seojun placed his right hand on the black door.
With a creak,
the door opened.
* * *
Director Ryan Will was looking over the script for Shadowman 2, which was set to begin filming next month.
Revisions, revisions, revisions. The script, which he had initially been satisfied with, had become tattered over the past eight months.
Seojun Lee's screen time had been steadily reduced, and he'd had a headache trying to maintain causality and create new episodes to fill the gaps, but he had finally completed it.
'I can't say I'm satisfied, but it will probably be a box office success.'
Just then, a notification chimed. He checked his phone; it was from Seojun. Seeing a message that he had sent a video, Ryan Will played it out of habit.
He had just received a video the day before yesterday, and now, not even a week later, another one had arrived. Ryan Will smiled faintly.
"You have to give him credit for his persistence."
That's what made it all the more disappointing. Why was it that only villain roles were impossible for him?
Ryan Will crossed his arms. In the past, it might have been different, but these days, charismatic villains were popular. Being unable to play a villain meant throwing away half the roles he could potentially take.
Adding a bit of personal feeling, Ryan Will desperately wanted to see Seojun Lee, who had delivered such incredible performances, play a villain. He was curious to see what kind of aura he would exude, what kind of acting he would display with that small body.
'But now...'
Barely suppressing a sigh, Ryan Will played the video.
"...!"
In it,
was a child with a wide smile, yet who exuded a chilling aura.
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