CH52

The United States is the cradle of global popular culture. 

With massive capital, it has overwhelming soft power in literature, music, movies, games, TV shows, you name it. 

As such, there are many famous award ceremonies held in the US, but the four most prestigious awards in various fields, known as the EGOT, are special. 

When the Emmy nominations, the highest honor in American broadcasting, were announced, articles flooded in:

– 62nd Emmy Awards Nominations Announced!

– Emmy Awards: Who are the strong contenders and the unexpected nominees?!

– Look out for this Emmy nominee for Best Supporting Actor, 11-year-old Ian Pryce!

Receiving a barrage of articles and congratulatory messages, Ian realized his mistake. 

"That's right. It's still 2010." 

Back when he was striving to become an actor with a scarred face, TV was a fading medium, and the prestige of the Emmys was waning. 

By the standards before his death, only a pathetic attempt to regain its old glory remained. 

Of course, he was aware that the Emmys still held a prestigious position, but he had underestimated the power of a period when more than ten million people watched.

"Wow, how many party invitations are there? Seems like you got more than me. Planning to attend all these?"

"Are you crazy? How could I possibly attend all these, I'm no celebrity."

Ian pushed aside a variety of invitations, from simple house parties to charity events, scolding Ben. 

It would be too much for anyone but a party enthusiast like Charlotte.

"I'm not going to any of them."

"Why not? There are some good ones. It's a chance to expand your network."

Network? It's not that he didn't understand its importance.

"With all these journalists eager to write strange articles, there's no need to throw them more bait."

"You're not upset about being nominated, are you? Don't worry about it. What award show doesn't have its issues?"

"Who's upset?"

Ian being nominated for Best Supporting Actor was a controversial decision, and there were plenty of naysayers. 

If "invisible children" became a topic of conversation, fans of long-running dramas would inevitably question, "What about our actors?" 

"Even so, it's better than when I was nominated for an Oscar."

He had openly heard comments suggesting he was only nominated because of a disability. 

But it wasn't that bad now.

– Invisible children's showrunner: 'Ian's nomination? When you consider his acting, it's a natural conclusion.'

– Anyone who's seen Ian act wouldn't say that. Director Gavin Davis dismisses controversy.

– Charlotte Underhill takes a journalist asking if she helped Ian get nominated to an ophthalmologist.

From Charlotte, the former Hollywood wild child, to others who readily supported him, many stood by his side. 

He was happier about being nominated than losing sleep over the articles written about him. 

Recalling those moments, Ian smiled softly.

"I can't inconvenience the people who took the time to interview me. Oh, and I remember someone saying that I should be called an actor, not a child actor."

"…Whoever that is must be very handsome, right?"

"Was it someone with red ears?"

Embarrassed by the playful tease, Ben quickly stood up.

"Shut up. Let's just continue with the practice. We don't have much time left until the script reading."

"Why not."

There was no reason to decline the opportunity to practice acting together, something he always did alone.

Facing Ben, Ian thought of Luke, the character he plays in Gavin's new work, *Alien Hunter*. 

Luke, who has a parasitic alien attached to him, was acting with a dual personality. 

Alpha, his original personality, harbored extreme hatred for both humans and aliens due to his parents sacrificing him to an alien for survival, to the point of wanting to destroy everything upon waking. 

'If Alpha is a being betrayed, then Beta is a being worried about betraying.' 

Beta, the alien tied to Luke's body, isn't purely a trustworthy being, especially to an alien hunter set on killing aliens. 

Only Caiden, played by Ben, truly believes in Beta despite the suspicions and rejections from other team members. 

Ian visualized the monster's form he saw in sketches in reality. 

Eyes popping out of its mouth instead of its eye sockets, searching for the intruder who stepped into its cradle. 

As people brainwashed by the Great Will scurried around, Caiden lowered his voice. 

"Beta, what do you think?" 

"Just kill them all." 

Even if the brainwashed humans could use their bodies to the breaking point, that was all they were capable of. 

Caiden, capable of facing hunters from outer space, wasn't particularly worried. 

"They're just brainwashed." 

"Does that make their crimes disappear? They could have resisted. If they're innocent, should we also forgive aliens who ate humans because they couldn't bear hunger?" 

"They're monsters… sorry." 

Realizing his mistake, he shut his mouth, but it was too late. 

Betrayal and disgust marred his expression, stabbing Caiden's heart. 

Beta coldly responded, "I know you see me as a monster. But do you think you're different? To ordinary humans, you're also monsters." 

His words unraveled the fears held by all hunters, including Caiden. 

Humans unable to mingle with ordinary people were no different from the monsters he mentioned. 

With his head hung low, Caiden was forced to look up by the continuing conversation. 

"Fine. Monsters should stick with monsters. All I need is Alpha as my human." 

…Alpha? 

Beta despises even hearing about Alpha, enough to wake him from sleep in disgust. 

It meant he was not someone to be mentioned lightly. 

Beta's eyes glowed blue, and Ian felt a stabbing pain in his head. 

"Disappear before I consume you, just like Alpha." 

The growing noise of footsteps signified the Great Will's awareness of Beta's intense anger. 

Caiden, with unwavering steps, said, "I will definitely return." 

"Think of the humans you like. Next time we meet, we'll be enemies." 

Find a way to save the people. 

Realizing the meaning, Caiden left, and Beta alone muttered with the approaching footsteps, "I really hate humans." 

Alpha is terrifying. 

After finishing the act, Ben roughly tousled Ian's hair. 

"See, it's so much more focused when I do it with you than alone. With this, you could perform well in front of a green chroma key." 

"Let's see how well you do." 

Ian wondered if such confidence would last after weeks of acting in front of a chroma key to be filled with CG. 

"Why are you trying so hard, anyway? You weren't like this before."

There are more than two months left until the shooting. There's enough time to prepare, but being enthusiastic about it as if it's happening tomorrow is not like him.

At this remark, Ben casually dropped the script.

"There's a rather unlucky person involved in this shoot."

"An unlucky person?"

"You'll know when you see him on the script reading day. There's someone with a high nose."

Ben seriously said to Ian.

"You also come prepared. I think you can give him a good hit."

Thinking about the actors cast together, he could roughly guess who he was talking about. And why he would say that.

'That person is indeed going through a turbulent period.'

Both having sharp edges, it made sense for Ben to dislike him.

The thought of grumbling Ben and that person made the shooting day quite anticipated.

"That's my specialty, after all."

"That's the right attitude. This is what makes you an Emmy nominee."

'That damn Emmy.'

While shaking his head, Ian looked at his watch. It was time for his appointment, and just then, he received a message that his agent had arrived.

"My agent has arrived."

"Really? I'll be here by myself, so don't worry and take your time to come."

Waving his hand casually, Ian left Ben, who was looking at the script, and opened the front door.

Austin, whose expression was brighter than before, was seen.

"You've arrived."

"It's been a while. Your house is too nice for a rehearsal space. I think it's even better than where I live."

"Then I'll give you a room to live in. Do you want to move in?"

"Hahaha, I almost had to."

With meaningful words, Austin and Ian went upstairs to a room so as not to disturb Ben.

It was a resting place prepared with snacks for Rachel and Ian, and Austin was the first to bring up the matter.

"Jerry Perez, the host of this Emmy, wants to hold a special event with the children from Invisible Children."

"Jerry Perez?"

A famous comedian and host of a famous talk show in the United States.

Being the host of the Emmy, his popularity was unquestionable.

"What does he want to do?"

"He wants to meet and decide on that."

'I wasn't sure what he wanted to do, but it seemed like it would be a good memory for the other child actors.'

"We definitely should do it."

"I think so, too."

It was a topic that didn't need much deliberation, and it was something that didn't necessarily need a meeting.

The real main topic was from now on, and Austin politely expressed his gratitude.

"Thank you. Thanks to you, we were able to stop Carter before it was too late."

"What happened to him?"

"He will probably be disciplined and resign. He'll have to suffer a bit, including the damages he caused to the company."

"And Nick?"

"Of course, Nick's disgrace was also cleared. Many people were surprised that the person who argued not to sue Nick was him."

It wasn't really for Nick's sake that he made such an argument.

It was merely to protect him as much as possible, fearing that Nick might reveal all the facts if he were sued.

While investigating Carter, Austin recalled the facts he had discovered and frowned.

"It wasn't just me who got pulled off such tricks. There were even people who had already resigned."

"It wasn't something done just once or twice."

"It was tough to find out, indeed. If it hadn't been for the hints through a private detective, it would have taken quite a while to suspect him."

Being good at receiving information is also a skill.

Having the experience to see how outstanding Austin was also proved to be beneficial.

"Hmm, this is a delicate question, but were you the one who introduced him to that strange company?"

"What do you think?"

Looking at Ian's meaningful smile, Austin sighed.

"Please be careful next time. There's no need for you to get involved in such dirty matters."

"I know. I wouldn't want to be the talk of the town for no reason."

If it were before going back to the past, he might not have cared much.

'But not now. There are many people who stand up for me as if it's their own business.'

He didn't want to hurt those people as much as possible.

Relieved by Ian's answer, Austin said.

"I'm glad to hear that. Anyway, thank you for that matter as well. Thanks to you, we could take him down easier than expected."

"No. It's also thanks to how well Austin handled it."

Carter was not a fool. Rather, he was a very clever person.

He wouldn't have acted so openly to get caught like now.

'He could have lured celebrities in various ways, pretending it was coincidence.'

The reason he didn't use such methods was because of the lack of time.

Austin cornered him, so he must have needed to secure the investment as quickly as possible.

The original plan might have been to receive the investment while keeping the agent's position, but the start was wrong.

It was a board set by Ian.

"I appreciate you saying that."

"How about the celebrities who invested?"

"Fortunately, since it was an investment in a venture company, no one invested to the extent of feeling burdened."

It seemed likely. Not many had the heart of a beast to put a large sum into a risky investment.

Even for successful stars, a small amount was enough to send Carter to downfall.

"Just handle the ousting well. More interesting things are bound to happen."

Austin shook his head.

To be so persistent just because Nick was involved. He had to commend himself for being kind to him in the past.

As the conversation ended and he stood up, he extended his hand.

"It's a topic hard to bring up in the future, so I'll say this for the last time. I'm really grateful."

"No need to mention…"

As Ian shook Austin's hand, a flash blinded his eyes.

When his vision cleared, the TV screen showed Carter receiving a trial in court.

Turning away from the screen, he saw a haggard-looking Nick.

"Thank you, senior. No, Mr. Austin, the journalist."

A journalist? Austin?

Ian was surprised.

"It took too long to catch that guy."

Hearing Austin's voice, Ian remembered a question he had in his mind.

Who was it that brought down Carter and cleared Nick's name in his previous life?

Now, the curiosity was resolved.

'Yes, it was Austin, who was driven out by Carter, who uncovered him.'

Pulling out an old notebook from his pocket, he slowly flipped through it. It contained many things he had written during his journalist career.

As he skimmed through the contents of the notebook, reminiscent of the past years, Nick asked.

"What will you do now? Do you plan to return as an agent?"

"No. I plan to continue this work so that victims like you and me don't appear in the future."

A smile formed on his lips.

"So, I hope you'll become a good agent in my place."

With those words, Ian snapped back to reality.

"What happened?"

"…It's nothing."

Contrary to his answer, his heart was pounding.

Ian recalled the contents of the notebook that Austin had handed over. It contained not only crimes related to Carter but also a lot of information.

He had received an unexpected reward.