Aren took a long, deep breath and calmed down.
'I need to think of how to rise in status and power so that I can achieve my revenge!'
[Ding!]
[Ding!]
Aren then noticed the sound he had been ignoring up till now.
"Alright. That confirms it." He turned to the screen. "This system is real."
[Of course I'm real!]
Aren nodded with an amused expression.
"Then..." he narrowed his eyes, "what can you do?"
[Host, I can help you become the greatest actor in the world!]
"How?" Aren asked, interested in the offer.
The system didn't answer immediately.
Instead, the screen changed, shimmering in the empty space before his eyes.
Then the voice came, accompanying the text.
[This is your status window.]
----------------------------------
Name –> Aren Frost
Age –> 22
Appearance –> C–
Acting –> F+
Charm –> D
Fame –> E–
Athleticism –> D+
Reputation –> F
----------------------------------
[You will receive Fame Points for increase in fame and reputation through your acting.]
[You can use these points to increase your other attributes.]
Aren nodded in understanding as he studied the status window.
"This appearance is only C–?" Aren was stunned.
The face he saw was already handsome. It was good enough to lead a drama.
"Maybe it also includes the body's shape," Aren guessed, looking down at his body.
His belly had extra fat, and his hands were lean without defined muscles.
He understood that the original Aren had been sitting in his room for the past year without doing any exercise.
Moreover, judging from the cup noodles' mountain in his room, he wasn't eating healthy either.
It was already a miracle that he wasn't in worse shape.
His face was also less defined than in his idol days.
His focus then went to fame.
"E–?" He frowned. "Isn't Aren already famous?"
"Maybe the system only takes good fame into account." He guessed. "Not many are his fans, after all."
He didn't find anything wrong with the other attributes.
"So?..." He turned to the screen and asked, "How do I increase my acting ability?"
Aren understood that if he wanted to act, the first and foremost thing he required was acting ability.
Without it, he was useless.
[By acting.]
Aren frowned at that answer, but before he could protest, his phone rang.
On top was the name, Mikhail - AD.
Aren picked up the call and brought the phone to his ear.
"Where are you, Aren?" The voice yelled. "Your shot begins in two hours!"
'Huh?' Aren was confused.
"What shot?" he asked politely.
"Hey, don't joke with me!" The voice came frustrated. "You have already taken the advance."
Aren was getting more and more confused.
"At least tell me the address?" Aren requested as politely as he could.
"Didn't you get the details on your LinkChat?" Mikhail sighed. "Do you want me to send it again?"
Aren winced in embarrassment as he said softly, "Yes, please."
"Alright." Mikhail muttered hurriedly, "But you better reach the set in under two hours."
The call ended, and a message beeped on his phone.
He opened LinkChat and checked the message.
There were previous messages as well and details about his scene.
However, the first thing he focused on was the address. He had to reach it in two hours.
'Lobera city private hospital'
He called a taxi through the app, wore a mask and a cap, and rushed out.
It took him around one and a half hours to reach the hospital.
Once Aren reached the set, he was met with curious gazes.
Mikhail came and welcomed him.
He was a man in his late twenties, with messy red hair and crimson brown eyes.
"Good, you are here." He let out a sigh of relief.
He pointed to the makeup room and said, "Go and get your makeup done."
"Also, here is the script."
Mikhail handed him the two-scene script and went to speak with the director.
Aren went to the makeup room and sat down, letting the makeup artist do her job.
After his makeup was done, he was taken to the costume section, where a tailored black suit, white shirt, dark trousers, and a gray tie were fitted on his body.
He appeared mature and older than his current age, almost like he was in his late twenties.
Meanwhile, he read the script. It only had his scenes and a simple backstory to make his job easier.
The drama name was To Your Heart, streaming on Axisplay, a low-tier streaming platform.
To Your Heart was a romance/thriller drama. It was a drama about two school friends who studied at the same university, did the same major, and took the same career in the same firm.
They both become reporters in the same network, and then comes the usual banter and enemies-to-lovers trope.
Aren was playing a side character who makes his appearance in the last five minutes of the finale episode.
Since this was a weekly drama, all the episodes had aired except the final episode, which they were shooting for.
In this episode, the heroine is attacked by the villain, a businessman who has committed numerous crimes to reach his current position.
Both the hero and heroine investigate his crimes along the way, and when the villain finds out about this, he decides to make them disappear.
The hero survives the attack, but the heroine was not so lucky. She slipped into a coma, trapped between recovery and death.
Aren was playing a man who had loved her quietly since childhood. A lawyer who would later become the male lead's ally in hunting down the villain in season two.
The scene was his entrance in the final scenes to keep his character a mystery.
A mysterious entrance.
A perfect hook to keep viewers waiting for the next season.
Aren read the scene and instantly paled.
'I don't know... how to act.' He remembered.