Chapter 44: The Presence Was Overwhelming

Chapter 44: The Presence Was Overwhelming

༺ The Presence Was Overwhelming ༻

“Really... should we shoot it now?”

“We should do it when we’re in the mood!”

“What about the costumes? The camera? The lighting?”

“We have white practice suits in the studio. Seryeon will do the basic makeup, and I’ll shoot hand-held (a method of shooting while holding the camera with one’s hand). We just need to bring a couple of tungsten lights. The director can hold the reflector, haha.”

Director Choi easily answered Seryeon’s question.

At first, it seemed like nonsense... but the atmosphere gradually ripened.

“Oh, it does sound fun. But will the video quality be decent?”

“It won’t be brightly caught since it’s at night. And after all, it’s a dreamy scene. We can apply effects and adjust it during editing.”

“Hmm... even if it’s lacking, it’s worth trying to shoot once.”

Director Ki agreed as well.

This time, Yoomyeong asked.

“What about the location?”

“There’s a spot I’ve kept in mind for a night view of cherry blossoms. It’s a location that’s only good until this year.”

“Why?”

“There’s redevelopment going into that neighborhood. It’s a place I’ve wanted to shoot at least once, so this worked out well.”

The conversation rapidly progressed.

Yoomyeong and Seryeon decided to return to the practice room to prepare costumes and makeup, while the director and cinematographer prepared to bring the sub cameras and portable lighting.

Both had been drinking, so they reluctantly recruited the sleeping assistant director to drive for them.

An hour later, they arrived at a neighborhood where evacuation had been completed, and not a soul was in sight.

There, a giant cherry tree stood tall.

It was a weeping cherry tree, with branches drooping like a birch. Each branch gracefully bore clusters of pure white blossoms, like stars falling at night.

For a moment, everyone was lost for words at its mystique.

“Wow...”

“How old do you think this tree is?”

“It must be well over 50 years old. They used to call it ‘the General’ in this neighborhood.”

“It’s so beautiful...”

“Take a good look. They say it’s going to be transplanted to the private property of a chaebol family, so this view will also end this year.”

After gazing dazedly at the tree for a while, they began to set up.

Conveniently, it was a full moon and the moon was shining brightly in the sky.

They only needed a little additional lighting.

Hwaran and Phantom, dressed in pure white practice outfits, donned their ballet shoes and stood facing each other under the cherry tree.

The ground was covered with a pink carpet of fallen petals.

The director played the music.

It was the music from when Giselle and Albrecht fell in love.

“Don’t worry about the sound; we’ll dub (record separately and insert during editing) it later. Just naturally become Hwaran and Phantom and move. Feel free to talk, to dance... Just go with the flow.”

Unlike usual, Seryeon moved first.

She appeared wholly intoxicated by the glass of beer and the moonlit atmosphere.

“Ahahaha—”

Bursting into clear laughter, she grasped Yoomyeong’s wrist and led him. Yoomyeong, who was following, was already immersed in acting as the Phantom and had an awkward expression.

“Here, it’s my favorite place. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Hwaran, fully embracing the freshness of spring, looked up at Phantom with sparkling eyes.

Color slowly tinted Phantom’s irises.

“Um- hmmm—”

Seryeon, humming softly, began to dance to her humming.

It was pure.

Even though she usually emitted an air of jealousy, competitiveness, and desire as a ballerina, her passion was devoutly pure when the music started and she danced.

Touched by that transparency, the Phantom, whose twisted heart was touched, gazed directly into her eyes and, with his own hands, removed his mask.

Even though he had been exposed before, this was the first time he willingly took off his mask.

‘She will run away.’

As the Phantom prepared to sneer, imagining the sight of her screaming and fleeing...

She met his gaze and smiled brightly without wavering.

“Would you like to dance with me?”

Those were the words Phantom had extended to Hwaran at their first meeting.

The God of ballet had chosen her.

To her, his grotesque face was meaningless.

She, who was devoted to ballet, loved it regardless of its beauty or its ugliness.

To her, the Phantom and ballet were entities of equal standing.

Ah...

Their hands clasped.

Led by Hwaran’s hand, he stood beneath the tree and tilted his neck to look up.

Then, the wind blew.

“Close-up! Close-up!”

The fallen petals and those lifted from the ground swirled around Phantom’s body.N0v3lRealm was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.

It was a dreamlike scene.

‘I thought that the only beautiful thing was ballet...’

‘If emission is possible, then contraction should be possible, too.’

Miho had said that.

Even though it was the same presence, one’s own presence was said to be a dynamically smoldering one.

Thinking about those words in reverse meant that contracting his presence was not impossible...

Yoomyeong gazed at himself in the mirror.

‘It seems to be working a bit... but not as much as I thought...’

The end of the two weeks was fast approaching.

Throughout that period, Yoomyeong had dedicated all his time to this particular issue except for filming and the bare minimum of sleep. However, he still hadn’t produced satisfactory results.

The more he mulled over Director Ki’s words, the truer they seemed.

That part should overwhelmingly showcase the difference between a human ballerina and the Phantom.

‘With the help of editing...’

However, he wanted to enact it through acting as much as possible.

This part vividly revealed the characteristics of the role of the ‘Phantom.’

Swoosh—

Miho was curled up on the bed, licking its fur.

Yoomyeong shot a glance in that direction.

If it was a matter of presence and vitality, a definite pro was right there. Although he tried to somehow figure it out on his own, he was now out of time.

Even if it meant making a deal...

Just as he thought that far, Miho abruptly lifted its head.

Yoomyeong was slightly startled.

{It’s not going well, kyung?}

“Huh? Uh... Yeah.”

{It won’t be possible, kyung.}

“What?”

{The minimum presence or vitality essential for maintaining life can’t be controlled. That’s about 20 per person.}

“Re...ally?”

{And you also can’t control the presence I gave you. In other words, from your original presence of 29 and excluding the presence needed to sustain life, there are only 9. That’s all the presence you can control.}

“Huh? But didn’t you say that my presence is dynamically smoldering? Wasn’t I controlling that too?”

Yoomyeong didn’t understand and asked back.

Then, Miho pondered briefly and recited a spell.

{Miniature (a technique for creating a special model similar to the real thing).}

A small, silver sphere separated from Miho’s body, floated up lightly and turned into the form of a small human.

Yoomyeong admired Miho’s amazing abilities as always and kept an eye on the figure.

{This is you. Your presence of 29 is enveloping you.}

A thin, red membrane appeared around the silver human.

{Then, add to it the 27 presence I gave you.}

A blue membrane was layered on and they mixed, gently undulating together.

{When you act from here...}

Among the swaying energies, a part of the red presence began to dance. It surged and swayed like a wave, and occasionally burst with a pop.

{It makes your presence seem much larger, see?}

Yoomyeong numbly nodded his head at the dynamic spectacle.

{Now, let’s try killing off that presence.}

A part of the red presence coiled its tail and penetrated into the silver figure.

However, the majority of the red and overlaid blue presence remained unaffected, swirling around the figure.

The overall size of the presence had slightly decreased, but it was not a significant change.

{This is the current state. As I said, you can’t control the presence I gave you and the presence needed to sustain life. The method of gathering the rest of the presence... it seems you’ve already mastered it.}

“So... no matter how much I practice, there’s no way to suppress my presence more than this?”

{That’s right.}

“Isn’t there... some way?”

Yoomyeong bit his lip.

What Miho just said meant that even if he practiced, he couldn’t reduce his presence below the 46 left after limiting his presence to 9.

It also meant that, at least in this kind of acting, he would be inferior to a typical actor.

Apart from the Phantom, would there be no other roles that required this kind of acting in the future?

This... was problematic.

{The method is... difficult.}

“Difficult means... there is a way, right?”

{If I transfer my control of the presence I gave you, you can manage it. However, that would be too great a loss for me.}

“Please explain in detail.”

{Although I shared my presence with you, I did not transfer the control. For example, if you were to suddenly die, the presence I gave you would return and belong to me. However... if I transfer the control entirely, the presence completely becomes yours, and there would be no way for me to retrieve it in case of an emergency.}

Considering what he heard, it was indeed something Miho would be reluctant to do.

But Yoomyeong was also desperate.

“So, if I do something for you... can you transfer the control? ‘Difficult’ means that there are possible trading conditions...”

At that, Miho’s eyes sparkled brightly.

“Get an additional 3 presence from me.”

“3 presence?”

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