CH19

TL/n - I've changed the novel name 

I'm an Actor = Hollywood Actor

Tell me in comment section whether I should keep the new name or revert to the old one. 

***

From the Miss Universe pageant, an international beauty contest, to audition programs expanding franchises worldwide, to popular sports events. 

It's interesting to think that YouTube started with the wardrobe malfunction incident during the Super Bowl. 

There's no shortage of interesting videos. 

Naturally, the education category had to be the least popular. 

"An unknown Asian boy teaching Korean? Who would watch that?" 

Even if a future where Korean content becomes popular exists, if you ask most Americans about Korea now, the responses you're most likely to get are "I think I've heard of it?" or "Isn't that the country that was in the news for launching nukes?" 

Those were the most likely responses. 

Even as he posted the video, he had no expectations, and the views were as low as his expectations. 

At best, a few dozen views, and even those were from people he knew. 

He didn't mind since he didn't start with the goal of becoming a popular YouTuber… 

"Wow! A YouTube star!" 

"Ian! Why did you lie, seeing how well the views are doing?!" 

Ian gave a pitiful look to the variety show members who had come over making a fuss since the morning. 

"Was yesterday's filming too hard? Do you want a corn dog?" 

"I don't even want to smell corn dogs anymore! No, but seriously, you're not lying?!" 

"Ian didn't know either, right?!" 

It seemed like the staff filming behind the members hadn't just dreamed this up together. 

A member suddenly showed him the screen of a smartphone. 

"…This is my channel?" 

Pryce's Room. 

The channel name was correct, and his face was prominently featured in the uploaded videos. 

It was his own channel, so he couldn't mistake it, yet Ian looked at the screen again. 

The numbers were still odd. 

"Why are there so many?" 

The channel he had left alone for about 2 weeks due to busy filming schedules suddenly had a video with over 200,000 views. 

After pondering for a moment, Ian smiled. 

"Aha! It's a hidden camera prank! If you're going to make it believable with a fake site, you should have kept it realistic. 200,000 is too much. I would have believed it if it was around 10,000." 

"This is the real YouTube screen, you know?" 

Frustration was evident in their voice, and Ian's expression turned serious. 

If it was the real YouTube, then there was a big problem. 

"Don't tell me it's view manipulation?" 

"View manipulation? What's that?" 

"It's inflating view counts artificially. You know that's illegal, right?" 

Knowing how much broadcast people are obsessed with ratings, he never thought they would go as far as committing illegal actions. 

At the mention of illegality, the members frantically waved their hands. 

"I don't know what you're thinking, but the video really wasn't touched at all." 

"Your video got these views all on its own." 

"You're saying there was no manipulation?" 

Ian looked over his channel again. 

Videos with thousands to tens of thousands of views. 

The overall view count had increased, but there was one video whose views had skyrocketed like a spike. 

He clicked on the video. 

-One little, two little, three little Indians. 

The video played the song "Ten Little Indians," translated into Korean from the original "Ten Little Indians," a well-known song and a good one for learning the basic numbers from 1 to 10. 

He had recently recorded and uploaded the video. 

Better than other boring videos, but a video that would get high views? 

That was questionable again. 

It was only after he scrolled down and read the comments that Ian understood the situation.

-If you're raising a child and need salvation, turn this on instead of a Bible.

└Ten little Indians! You are a god!

└When I played this, they really kept watching it. Could this actually be a hypnotic video?

└But still, I'd play this video.

-Warning: Never show this to a babbling baby.

└Why? Did something happen?

└The first word my child said was "Indian" 🙂

└lol! Their first word is "Indian"! But why am I laughing?

└Both my spouse and I are American Indian. We fought over who the baby would call first, but we found peace, haha.

-Aaaaah! Indian! Please get out of my head! The song keeps playing!

└Where's an exorcist when you need one? I find myself humming it at work without realizing it!

└Our Indians have not forgotten the long-standing grudge.

└Aaaaah! You go away too!

-Who would've thought, it's corn dog boy?

└No, it's rolling boy.

└Isn't it a dropkick boy?

└Then let's call him Corn Dog Rolling Dropkick Boy.

└Are you a genius?

Ian shifted his gaze away from the screen.

As he scrolled down, he saw some racially insensitive comments and decided he didn't need to see any more.

'The increase in views must be due to digital parenting, and the reason kids like it is because of the changed voice.'

Shiny, focused, powerful voice.

He had heard from those around him that there was a change in his voice, but he hadn't expected to directly experience this change on YouTube.

Of course, whether this is entirely a good thing is debatable.

'It's ambiguous. After all, I am an actor.'

He could appear in risqué teen genres or portray a brutal murderer.

There might be people who view negatively the fact that an actor beloved by young children takes on such roles, and it could be hard to shake off an early-career image.

But that's a problem for the future. 

For now, it's definitely a good thing.

Ian returned the phone with childlike joy.

"Wow! Really?! I just found out!"

"Right?! How could you not know about all this commotion?"

"I've been so busy with filming lately. And I have to go to school, too."

The members nodded as if that made sense.

After all, they had seen him rushing to meet his mandatory education hours with a private tutor right after filming ended yesterday.

A scene that made one appreciate the strong legal protections for children's rights in Korea…

"Uh…? Wait a minute. We're filming right now, aren't we?!"

At one member's words, the others froze for a moment before screaming in horror.

"Now that you mention it, yes?! Hey! Turn off the camera! Turn it off now!"

"If we do business without this kid, we're dead! Hey, Lee Seong-won! Don't laugh! You knew all about this, didn't you?!"

The strictly limited filming hours for child actors.

Thanks to this, the members, who had been run ragged without Ian, trembled with a sense of betrayal as they saw the staff laughing behind the camera.

"Now that it's come to this, shall I sing 'Ten Little Indians' for you? I can do it in Chinese, Japanese, French, and Spanish, too."

"Aaaaah, don't!"

The commotion ended with one member screaming and stealing the camera to run away.

***

The dazzling bright lights and the whirring sound of slot machines spinning.

Called a city of sin, akin to Sodom and Gomorrah, Las Vegas, which attracted countless tourists, was now covered in a layer of yellow sand.

-Aaaaaah

Children dart dangerously through streets roamed by zombies, and adults rely on these children to survive hidden in subways.

People watched the drama, which had been perfectly completed with CG and editing, with heavy gazes.

As the ending scene filled the screen and the lights turned on, a weighty voice resonated.

"As a showrunner, what did you think of the drama we just watched? Was it worth scrapping the pilot episode and shooting it anew?"

Before scheduling a new drama, TV stations request a pilot episode, and production companies invest a substantial amount of money to produce it. 

If it passes the internal screening, it gets scheduled; if rejected, the production company must absorb the loss. 

This is the structure of American dramas. 

Thus, most American TV shows first episodes are pilot episodes, but there are exceptions.

Occasionally, due to the need to replace actors, or completely redo direction, filming, or even the script, the first episode has to be reshot, as was the case with Invisible Children.

Faced with the broadcast executives' question of whether it was worth investing billions to reshoot the first episode, Caitlin confidently responded.

"I believe it was absolutely worth it. And I don't think I'm the only one who thinks so."

Caitlin clearly remembered the atmosphere when the pilot episode was screened.

The ambiance was so ambiguous that she felt fortunate it passed.

'Maybe it would have been canceled mid-season.'

No one can be sure of the outcome until it actually airs, but the feeling of crisis was enough.

Making the tough decision to completely redo the first episode felt justified in hindsight.

"Your answer is as if you read my mind. Honestly, I never dreamed it would change this much. I'd even want to pay more for the exclusive broadcasting rights if I could."

"I wouldn't refuse if you offered."

"Ha ha ha, I'm just a salaried employee, so that would be difficult."

The joking executive looked at the paused ending scene.

The face of the boy, the only Asian in the work and the one who concluded the first episode, was visible. 

The child actor who played Noah, who had saved the protagonist, Benjamin, was someone the executive had heard of even before the broadcast.

"He's the friend who saved us from a scheduling hole, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"I simply thought of him as a grateful friend, but seeing him placed at the end of episode 1, I truly understand the reason now."

The executive's gaze shifted to a colleague.

His face was contorted as if he had swallowed something bitter.

'Stupid fool. That's why you should think before you speak.'

The colleague had publicly poured out harsh words at the mention of including an Asian child actor. 

While citing the actor's career and the importance of the role, it was clear to everyone that racism was the underlying issue.

'Racism isn't the problem. You should have realized that disparaging the actor would reflect poorly on your own reputation if he performed well.'

The answer was to respond more generously when a competitor acted foolishly.

"Can we expect more great performances from this actor in the future?"

"Absolutely. Our scriptwriters also consider Noah to be very important. Nothing is decided yet, though."

Caitlin looked at the paused screen of episode 1.

"If the response is good, he might become the actor who concludes this season."

The broadcast day for episode 1 was rapidly approaching.

***

As Rachel thought about making YouTube videos with Ian, she felt disheartened.

"…Ian, no matter how much I think about it, I don't think we can beat 'Ten Little Indians.'"

Due to word of mouth and algorithms, the view count for "Ten Little Indians" kept rising.

To Rachel's whining, Ayla responded with a laugh.

"So you said you didn't like the Indian song?"

"Not at all! Really. That's not why I said I didn't like it."

Rachel, anxious about being misunderstood by Ian, quickly explained.

"It's just that it doesn't sound as pretty as Ian's real voice. Honestly, I don't get why it's so popular. It sounds all hollow and not as good as the original."

"Hollow?"

"Yeah!"

It was an apt description. 

The sound quality was lacking. 

"It's just a video recorded with a camcorder, after all." 

Despite their best efforts, if that was enough, there wouldn't be a need for recording studios.

Hearing Rachel's complaints, Ayla patted her daughter's head.

"Then we'll just have to record our girl's song in a proper studio, right? If you capture Ian's beautiful voice correctly, it'll surely be more popular."

"Ah… Right! It'll definitely be more popular!"

Seeing Rachel smile brightly made one curious. 

She says it's like the Milky Way, but just how beautiful could it be for her to respond with such certainty?

Ian teased.

"But if you take too long to make the song, puberty might hit first?"

"…Huh?"

"Right. If you write a song that suits his voice now, it might sound strange by then."

Rachel's face turned pale as if the world had collapsed around her, and Ian, not expecting such a reaction, hurriedly said,

"It's still a long way off! Don't worry too much. Or, should I imitate my voice during puberty for you?"

"Can you?!"

"Of course."

It seemed possible with a bit of practice. His voice hadn't deepened yet, after all.

"It's a promise!"

"Yeah."

As they made a pinky promise, Dylan called out loudly,

"The drama's about to start!"

The first broadcast of the drama they had returned to shoot.

It was the reason they had been invited to Ayla's house, and as Ian was about to happily walk over, someone grabbed him.

"Should Ian and Rachel stay separately then?"

"…Mom?"

"Did you forget? It's the drama with the scary zombies. You're too young to watch this drama."

…Oh no.

Realizing a fact he had completely forgotten, Ian felt despair.

With Ian feeling shell-shocked, the first broadcast began.

TL/n - 

YouTube's creation is often linked to the infamous "wardrobe malfunction" incident during the Super Bowl halftime show in 2004. This incident, involving Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake, highlighted the need for a platform where people could easily share and view videos online. 

But it's a common misconception that YouTube was created because of the wardrobe malfunction incident during the Super Bowl halftime show in 2004. While this event did highlight the need for a platform to easily share videos, YouTube's actual founding story is a bit different.

YouTube was founded by three former PayPal employees Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim—in February 2005. The idea came about because they wanted a simple way to share videos with friends after struggling to find and share videos online. The first video ever uploaded to YouTube was titled "Me at the Zoo," featuring Jawed Karim at the San Diego Zoo.

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You can watch One Little Two Little Three Little Indians - Nursery Rhymes on YouTube. 

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You can read 

I'm an Actor (up to Chapter 46+)

I was hoping you could support me on my Patreon at p@treon.com/inkbound 

(replace @ = a )