'The Film Critic, Conrad Balen, said this about Aren's debut scene. Watch his interview.'
In the article, his interview video was attached, where he analyzed Aren's acting and pointed out mistakes.
He pointed out random stuff and pointed to it as amateurish mistakes, giving the Ventage Fans something to vent their hate on.
[Hahaha, Conrad Balen! What a genius critic! He exposed the fake acting of that pipsqueak, Aren. Bwahahaha!]
[Conrad Balen, I salute you. You have the trained eye of a critic. Even I couldn't identify those mistakes. Aren is truly devious, just like the rumors said.]
[Hmph. Aren is an amateur after all. Why are people sharing clips of his scenes like he did some god-level acting?]
[Yeah. Theo and Axel can act a hundred times better than him. Just let their dramas air once.]
[Hahaha, I couldn't bear seeing comments about people saying how they got goosebumps while watching Aren act. What do they have to say now?]
[Of course, they will stay silent. A real critic has said his acting had amateurish mistakes.]
[AAAAAHHH... This is so satisfying. I was getting so many hate replies when I called Aren's acting just average. I will go and confront them now.]
[Hehehe, that devious Aren can only fool normal viewers but not a critic who watches veterans act regularly.]
The wave of Ventage fans was once again active, trashing anyone who praised Aren.
On the other side, in a hotel room, Theon laughed while looking at his phone screen:
"Hahaha, this is great."
He glanced at his manager and sneered, "What do you think of my decision now? Wasn't it a great idea to pay HBS and this critic, Conrad Balen?"
Conrad wasn't a famous critic and was very cheap to hire to call Aren's acting amateurish. As for HBS, it was closely connected to Blackshore Management.
Theon just had to pay some money to the agency and request them to release that article and interview.
"Did you think you could overtake me by debuting first? Hahaha, sweet dream, Aren." Theon let out a mocking laugh.
He was the second eldest in Ventage, three years older than Aren. Right now at 25, he was going to star in his first drama just after a month.
His contract was already signed, and he was in the news for it.
Axel, who was only a year older than Aren, had decided to learn acting for much longer rather than to begin acting.
However, Theon didn't have that luxury. He was already 25, and if he wasted any more time on learning to act, he might be forgotten by the fans.
This industry was unforgiving. Once you had a decline, it was almost impossible to make a comeback.
Since Theon had only trained in acting for a year, he still didn't have confidence in his skills.
This gave rise to insecurity when fans kept their high expectations clinging to him, and just when he thinks everything is going fine, Aren makes his debut out of nowhere.
Theon thought that Aren would be trashed for his acting since, unlike Theon and Axel, Aren didn't have the luxury to be trained by professionals; however, when the episode aired, his clips went viral on PulseX snips.
In every ten snips Theon scrolled, Aren's scene would come for sure, either with a caption "Pure goosebumps" or "This is called acting," making Theon clench his teeth in anger. There were even fancams from Aren's idol days trending on Snips suddenly.
What could be worse than the scapegoat who you thought was slaughtered, rising once again?
Moreover, if Aren were to rise, Theon would undoubtedly be compared to Aren; that would be truly terrifying.
Furthermore, once Aren became a star, he could expose the truth about the disbandment.
If he were to remain hated, no one would listen to him even if he tried to expose the truth; however, if he became a top-tier actor, his words would carry weight, and the truth would be exposed.
This was the reason why Blackshore Management agreed with Theon's suggestion to release the criticizing article.
The fans of Ventage were already ready to hate Aren; Theon only had to provide a push. And as predicted by him, the fans were already leaving hate comments.
Aren, who was in the gym at the time, found his phone constantly vibrating from notifications. They were Ventage fans privately messaging him.
John glanced at Aren's phone weirdly, and then asked Aren, "What's going on with your phone, Aren? Who's messaging you that fast?"
Aren had just finished his rep, wheezing from the heavy workout.
"Oh sorry, I forgot to turn my phone on silent mode. Give me a sec."
After catching his breath, he rushed to the phone and, without even checking, turned the phone silent.
Aren wanted to just turn the notification from PulseX off; however, being a public figure, he couldn't. He had to stay updated, and the fans' hate messages were the fastest way to know what was going on related to him in the industry.
It wasn't until two hours later that Aren was finally home and checked his phone in earnest.
He opened a few messages and read them.
[Hahaha, you bastard! Your amateurish acting has been exposed by Conrad Balen. Why don't you explain yourself?]
[If you have any shame, give an explanation. Do you agree your acting is average?]
[Apologize to Theon and Axel, you c*nt. They are still supporting you even after your mediocre acting.]
[You mother fuxking bastard. How can you ignore Theon and Axel when they are supporting you even after you are exposed?]
[I feel so sad for Theon and Axel. They still support a heartless as*hole like you!]
[AAAAAHHH... Die! Just die! I hate you!]
[Get cancer!]
[Hang yourself!]
Other than these, most of the messages were simple personal attacks or curses at him and his family.
'So something has happened again, huh?'
Aren searched his name, and surely, the article with Conrad Balen from HBS was the one to appear at the top.
He clicked on it and watched the interview.
He only had one word to say after watching it. "Bullshit."
He then went to Theon and Axel's PulseX profiles, and as he expected, they had put a post about him.
[You did great, Aren. I support you. Ventage forever. ❤️]
Under this post, the comments spoke in a similar tone.
[You are too kind. Don't trust Aren; he wants to take advantage of you.]
[That bastard Aren is still not leaving our Theon and Axel alone.]
[Hahaha, who would pay attention to him if he stops using Ventage name?]
[He is just a failed idol who is struggling to survive.]
Aren furrowed his brows after reading the comments.
'When did I use Ventage's name?'
He was truly confused. He hadn't even posted anything, and yet, he was still getting accused of using Ventage's name.
What was he supposed to do in such a situation?
If he was just a normal 22-year-old idol, he might have been clueless; however, with the experience from his previous life, he knew the best thing to do was to remain silent and ignore the hate.
Why?
Because his acting was the proof that nullified every accusation. The truth couldn't be hidden for long when everyone in the industry could see his scenes.
Moreover, he wouldn't gain anything by justifying himself.
If there was a drama upcoming, he might have been inclined to reply to the accusations to get free publicity for his show; however, with no drama for at least 3 months, he wasn't going to benefit anyway.
Instead, he began cooking a meal according to the diet plan given by John.
After eating, he went to just take a nap to let his body rest.
However, when he woke up, the vibe on the internet had taken a 180-degree turn.
He checked the recent messages, and on top were messages from the official To Your Heart group.
Leon and Gisha had messaged.
Gisha:
[Oh my god. Dailen Shot had posted an acting breakdown video of Aren's scene. He called his acting even better than award-winning veterans!]
Leon:
[Goodness gracious! You are right. Let me go and watch it.]
After a few minutes, Leon's another message was sent.
[Dear me. He praised Aren so highly. I can't wait to see the reaction of Ventage fans and that critic, Conrad Balen.]
Gisha:
[Yeah, but why isn't Aren reading our messages?]
Aren just sent a thumbs-up in the group chat and then opened some private messages from fans.
[I apologize. I was fooled by that bastard, Conrad Balen. I support you.]
[Aren. I love you! I always knew you could do it! I will always remain your fan!]
Aren didn't know how to react. A few moments ago, he was receiving insults, and now he is the beloved champion of the masses?
There were still some curses mixed in; however, the recent messages were positive.
He searched his name on the internet, and on top was the video posted by Dailen Shot on his Viewtube channel.
Dailen Shot was the top acting coach, even considered legendary in the industry.
Most of the top stars in the country had been his students, so his words carried the most weight in everyone's eyes.
He was famous for breaking down award-winning acting scenes from movies, showing the difference between great acting and a generic one.
He rarely picked acting scenes from dramas; however, this was the first time that he broke down an acting scene from a low-budget drama, and that too, of a rookie actor.
Aren gulped and clicked on the video titled—
'Dailen Shot breaks down the viral acting scene from To Your Heart | Aren Frost |'
And the video opened...