Become a Star

“Okay! That concludes Hanryang Doryeong’s last performance and once again, he managed to leave people in tears. SnowflakeFairy, this is your first time watching Hanryang Doryeong’s performance live, can you tell us your thoughts?”

“Oh…the biggest reason as to why I came here today was so that I can listen to him sing live. From my experience, if you listen to a song through TV, you can’t really say that you listened to it properly because there’s nothing better than listening to a singer’s voice live. In my opinion…I’m really glad I decided to come but at the same time, maybe I shouldn’t have come. I’m probably going to get eliminated, right?”

Snowflake Fairy quickly accepted defeat. She said that if she could vote, then she would unconditionally vote for Hanryang Doryeong because she sensed that no one here remembered her performance. In this situation, Snowflake Fairy confidently acknowledged her defeat. However, Snowflake Fairy didn’t lose confidence because she didn’t lose due to her lack of talent, but because her opponent was trully skilled.

“Voting time is over. Will Hanryang Doryeong keep his position as the masked king or will someone new ascend to the throne! The winner is…”

Woo-Jin already knew the results, but this time, his heart started beating quickly. It was similar to the feeling of worrying all night that he might’ve written down the wrong answer after thinking that he did well on his exam, or writing the wrong name on his exam script.

“The Doryeong that dreams of being a Hanryang has won five times with the score of 96 to 3! Hanryang Doryeong has managed to keep his position. It’s the same score as the first time he was crowned king. Was this all planned?”

When Gam Sung-Joo asked the question while the audience members were cheering, Hanryang Doryeong shook his head. If he had the ability to do that, then he would take all 99 votes instead of giving up three votes.

“I’ll be having an official conversation with Hanryang Doryeong later on, so please wait outside the stage for now.”

The process of Hanryang Doryeong leaving the show was going to happen after Snowflake Fairy removes her mask. When Hanryang Doryeong left the stage while wearing his golden mask, Snowflake Fairy covered her face bashfully with her hands.

“Now! Snowflake Fairy, please remove your mask and reveal your identity!”

"Noooo, I don't want to! I want to leave it on."

“I’m sure the audience here and those who are watching from home already know who you are.”

When Gam Sung-Joo said that, Snowflake Fairy must’ve given up because she sighed, turned around and started removing her mask.

“The Warm Snowflake Fairy is none other than one of Korea’s best vocalists, Na Yu-Ri, who debuted 18 years ago!”

When Snowflake Fairy removed her mask, Gam Sung-Joo started listing her debut song as well as her best hit songs, but Na Yu-Ri approached him and quietly covered his mouth.

“It's embarrassing so please don't say anymore.”

Since Na Yu-Ri only received three votes, she felt embarrassed to continue listening to him.

“If I had known that I was going to get embarrassed like this, I wouldn’t have agreed to come. But my curiosity got the better of me. Honestly, three votes is a little messed up isn’t it? Wait, no! I understand why I got three votes because even I wouldn’t have voted for myself. Thank you for the three votes.”

Na Yu-Ri felt ashamed and didn’t know what to do because she expressed resentment at first and then immediately acknowledged her loss. Not only was she a talented singer, but she was famous for her innocent and cute personality, so everyone looked at her happily.

“Now then, let’s bring back Hanryang Doryeong, who’s stepping down from the show voluntarily, back to the stage. Hanryang Doryeong, you’ve managed to keep your position today, but you have no choice but to leave the show because of your schedule. So, you will be removing your mask and revealing your identity. Snowflake Fairy, you may head to the waiting room.”

“Why?”

“Sorry?”

“I came here to see Hanryang Doryeong, not to leave after receiving three votes. Since I received three votes, I think I have the right to see who Hanryang Doryeong is!”

Na Yu-Ri stood her ground as she confidently mentioned her three votes. Na Yu-Ri said that if they made her leave without giving her the chance to see who Hanryang Doryeong was, then they should just edit her out and the audience supported her by clapping.

That was why Na Yu-Ri was standing next to Gam Sung-Joo when Hanryang Doryeong returned to the stage. As soon as Hanryang Doryeong saw Na Yu-Ri, he greeted her and Na Yu-Ri did the same. Even though Na Yu-Ri didn’t know his identity, she was certain that they were similar in age or Hanryang Doryeong was her senior. Thus, Na Yu-Ri greeted him respectfully.

“Hanryang Doryeong, are you really going to leave the show today? Don’t you think it’s a waste? If you continue, it may be worth it to try to beat the previous record.”

“I would like to do that too, but I’m afraid I can’t due to personal reasons.”

“If I may ask, what exactly is that personal reason?”

“Filial piety.”

When Gam Sung-Joo became flustered after hearing his short answer, Na Yu-Ri, who was beside him, nodded seriously while wiping her eyes. Na Yu-Ri believed there was nothing more important than that since she lost her father early last year.

“Since you mentioned that you were going to be free starting from March, would it be okay if we did a Hanryang Doryeong special and continue from there? The production staff did mention that it was okay to take a break for one episode.”

The audience clapped and cheered in agreement after hearing Gam Sung-Joo’s question. There were rumors that the audience rating was going to be high because Hanryang Doryeong was leaving the show today and was expected to take off his mask. He managed to sit on the throne by breaking through the high competition rate, but the audience wanted to keep watching Hanryang Doryeong’s performance on TV.

“When I first decided to appear on The King of the Masked Singers, I didn’t expect to be on this show for five episodes and that was why I agreed to appear on the show. If I had planned on appearing on the show in March in the beginning, I would have left my schedule open. However, since that was not that case, my scheduled was filled with other activities. It’s difficult for me to stay on the show. I’m sorry.”

It wouldn’t have been a problem if Hanryang Doryeong appeared again in March, but considering the situation he was in right now, he firmly answered that he would be busy in March too.

“That’s really unfortunate. Then, please remove your mask.”

The moment Hanryang Doryeong removed his mask, there was no chance of him appearing again, so the MC tried his best to delay and convince him. But no matter how hard he tried, it didn’t work. After lightly nodding at the PD, Gam Sung-Joo raised the hand that was holding the cue card.

“The identity of Hanryang Doryeong is~!”

When the MC said that, Hanryang Doryeong turned his head and loosened the string that was holding up the mask and everyone was focused on his every move. Not only was Hanryang Doryeong the first one to voluntarily leave the show, but no one really knew his identity. Despite there being many candidates, this was the first time where people were uncertain of the masked king’s identity. Hanryang Doryeong was the perfect masked king for The King of the Masked Singers.

People held their hands together and widened their eyes as they saw his back. Even though it was unintentional, their bodies moved on their own and they couldn’t help but react that way.

“The Doryeong that dreams of Hanryang is… Actor Chae Woo-Jin! His name wasn’t well known at first, but then he earned the title of Beauty Slayer, and created the Louie syndrome last year through City of Shadows!”

The moment Hanryang Doryeong removed his mask and turned around, people looked confused because they couldn’t believe it. While removing his mask, Woo-Jin pushed back his messy hair once and greeted the audience after smiling awkwardly at the camera. Then, Woo-Jin displayed the confident smile that Hwang Yi-Young ordered him to do. At first, the audience was confused by his smile but soon after, they finally released the praise they’ve been suppressing.

“I told you! I told you he was Chae Woo-Jin.”

Shim Bong-Sun was the first person in the panel to come back to her senses and she started complaining to Kang Goo-Ra. Shim Bong-Sun mentioned before that based on his frame, he looked like Chae Woo-Jin but had been told that it was impossible. “Wait, Mr. Chae Woo-Jin! I heard that you’re unable to appear on the show because of your agency’s CEO.”

Kang Goo-Ra brought up what Woo-Jin said when he appeared on TV Star.

“That’s because back then, I was already appearing on the show so I couldn’t answer right away. On top of that, Mr. Kim Joong-Sun managed to convince my CEO to let me participate. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

When Chae Woo-Jin appeared on TV Star, Kang Goo-Ra heard his singing and confidently said that he wasn’t Hanryang Doryeong. Woo-Jin mentioned that it was difficult to appear on The King of the Masked Singers because of his agency’s CEO, Jang Soo-Hwan. Another factor was that the singing voice between Chae Woo-Jin and Hanryang Doryeong were really different. That was probably why everyone, including Kang Goo-Ra, thought that Hanryang Doryeong wasn’t Chae Woo-Jin.

“Then the singing style and the tone that you used all this time…”

Up till now, the charming deep voice that Chae Woo-Jin used was pretty famous, so people were confused about which one was his actual voice.

“I sang the songs that I sang previously with a low voice in order to match the style of the song, but the voice that I used in The King of the Masked Singers is my real voice.”

That’s when people realized. Chae Woo-Jin was so skilled in impersonating people that he was able to sing with the same voice as Min Shi-Hoo.

“Is it possible…to sing that well at that age?”

The professionals insisted that Hanryang Doryeong was a singer and was pretty old in age, so they tilted their heads because they still couldn’t believe it. Their attitude made it seem like they were still suspicious of him, so Woo-Jin lifted his mic and sang part of the song he sang from earlier today so that they could no longer deny the fact that he was Hanryang Doryeong. Even though he sang without any music, the audience all looked sentimental within that short period because of how touched they were earlier.

“It’s unfortunate that we have to part ways like this. When will we be able to see the fabulous Chae Woo-Jin again?”

“I’ll be sure to come back with great projects.”

“Are you planning on becoming a singer anytime soon?”

“I would first like to do my best to become a great actor.”

Woo-Jin had opportunities, but when he said he wasn’t planning on taking those opportunities, people looked disappointed. Since they didn’t want to send him away like this, they kept holding onto Woo-Jin and that was when someone suggested that Woo-Jin perform one last dance. Since Woo-Jin already prepared for this beforehand, he signaled the crew and smiled brightly when he took the sword that the crew brought out. The blade was dull because it was more of a ceremonial sword, but the balance was different when compared to the sword he used during the commercial shoot.

The performance that Woo-Jin had prepared was a sword dance. One of his past lives was drunk on excitement and lived his whole life being obsessed with beauty and this was one of the dances that he enjoyed dancing. Until his very last breath, he used this sword to protect someone. That was why his sword dance, which was both empty and beautiful, showed a strong and determined will. In order to prevent his family and the people he loved from getting hurt, he performed this dance as a way for him to express his determination to get stronger. The sword dance was like a ceremony where he expressed his feelings to others.