Superstar 783
by CristaeFrom 0 Years Old, Superstar Episode 783
Before the WTV Awards.
In actor Lee Sejun’s fan café [From Sprout], a secret project that even Sejun did not know about was underway.
The start of that secret project was a single comment left by a “sprout” when the WTV Awards nominees were announced, and the sprouts were enthusiastically saying “Let’s vote hard so Sejun can win!” as they steeled themselves.
- Even if it’s not for other awards, I wish actor Sejun and Evan Block would receive the Best Hero Award together ㅠㅠ
That comment by the sprout (Lee Miyeon), who had been a fan since Sejun was a baby, seemed buried for a moment, but then it was unearthed by sprouts who felt the same.
= Right. Especially since it’s the “Best Hero Award.”
= If it’s Best Hero, Shadow Man couldn’t possibly be left out. Whether it’s Jin Natra or William!
= The same goes for Sejun. After all, his first work was Shadow Man.
= And for us too, it was the iconic film that led us to discover the actor Sejun.
And so, beginning with these longtime fans who had spent the same era together with the [Shadow Man Series],
- If you think about the fact that the next production’s title is “Shad&Kni” rather than “Knight Jin,” it seems unlikely that Shadow Man would be nominated for this award again in the future, right? ㅠㅠ
= 22 The role probably would be smaller.
= 33 Sejun would keep receiving it for Knight Jin (we’ll make that happen!), but having both actors nominated at the same time would be difficult.
= 44 This might be our last chance!
Recent sprouts, who had done a marathon of the [Shadow Man Series] and cried their eyes out, also began to share this sentiment wholeheartedly. Thus, what had been just a small, regretful comment that Lee Miyeon left started to grow bigger.
- Heukheuk (Sob): Then we shall commence our joint award project for Sejun and Evan Block.
= Haetbitbit (Sunlightlight): Yahoo!
= Mulppurigae (Watering can): Really? Are we really doing it ㅠㅠ?
It grew to the point where even the café moderators officially declared it.
And the news also reached the overseas branches of [From Sprout]. Naturally, comments poured in saying, “I definitely want to participate! I absolutely will take part!!”
- Let’s gather fans of Evan Block, too!
= Okay, I just spread the word.
= +) Done!
= ……That was incredibly fast;;;
Not only the Korean sprouts, but the overseas sprouts and fans of Evan Block all came together with one heart and one mind. Yet they never truly believed it would be possible.
Because there were two reasons.
- Why is the number of votes a secret ㅠㅠ
= 22 They should reveal the number of votes so we can match it ㅠㅠ
= 33 Should I vote for Sejun oppa, or should I vote for Evan Block……?
- If Sejun ends up not getting an award this way, that would be ㅠㅠㅠ so sad ㅠㅠ
= Aaaah!! This is driving me crazy!!
The first was that voting in the WTV Awards was private, not public.
- Ah…… Someone showed proof that they voted for Sejunㅎ
= To all the regular viewers out thereㅠ thank you for voting for Sejunㅠㅠ but why am I tearing upㅠ
The second was that they could not predict how many “regular viewers” (from all around the world at that) would vote for Sejun out of pure goodwill.
- H…… Haha. I tried my best, rallying family, friends, and relatives to vote for Evan Block, but I really can’t guess.
= ㅠㅠIndeed. The science-major sprouts tried their best to calculate everything from the vote counts of the awards ceremony 7 years ago, to the increased number of Sejun fans + Evan Block fans since then, to the possibility of regular viewers voting. They prepared for numerous scenarios, butㅠ
= They’re even updating it in real timeㅎㄷㄷ
= Looking at those analysis posts again, I’m really amazedㅋㅋㅋ
= If this project succeeds, don’t you think it might become material for an academic paper later?
= 22 That would be great. It would mean Sejun and Evan Block received a joint awardㅠㅠ
= ㅠㅠIt wouldn’t happen, butㅠㅠ
Even if the number of votes had been disclosed and only fans could vote, a joint award was difficult enough. But there were far too many variables in WTV Awards voting.
Moreover, a single vote.
A difference of even one vote would mean only one winner.
- But sprouts never gave up!
= Let’s see who wins!
= It’s war!!
“Uwaaaah!!
Normally, it would have been absolutely impossible.
But it was not ‘normal times.’
Because the sprouts, who watched the [Temple Project] videos every day, had received a blessing.
[(Divine) Celestial God Zeruel bestows blessings upon people.]
[(Divine) Celestial God Zeruel’s Blessing (Highest) temporarily decreases in rank.]
[(Divine) Celestial God Zeruel’s Blessing (Mid-Low) activates.]
It was mid-low rank, but that was fine.
As Zeruel, a Celestial God and the God of War, gave those who worked hard an even greater chance.
[The winner of the Best Hero Award is! Knight Jin, Sejun Lee!]
[And!]
[Shadow Man, Evan Block!]
Thus,
what everyone believed to be impossible
became reality.
At the host’s announcement, Sejun, eyes wide, turned his head to look at Evan Block. Evan Block, whose name was also called right afterward, wore such a shocked expression that his mouth hung open a little.
It was not just the two winners. Probably everyone present at the awards ceremony and everyone watching the live broadcast had the same expression.
Only the WTV officials, who had known the results in advance, seemed calm. Gesturing for them to carry on, the host, as though snapping everyone out of their surprise, opened his mouth to speak.
“Yes. Once again, let me confirm, there was no manipulation. Everyone, please look at the screen.”
As if under a spell, everyone turned their heads to face the screen at the host’s words. The large screen behind the stage, which had just been displaying the five nominees, now showed two graphs.
It was a joint win, with not a single-vote difference.
A situation that had never happened in WTV Awards history. WTV seemed fully prepared for it.
When the voting ended, even WTV did not believe it.
They anticipated others would not believe it either, which was why they prepared this proof. It was also a performance meant to commemorate an unprecedented situation and generate buzz.
The names of the two actors appeared on the screen.
Evan Block and Sejun Lee.
Beside them, as if the gauge were filling up, the graphs began to move, and the voting percentages started to appear.
At first, Sejun Lee seemed to be in the lead, but soon Evan Block’s vote count started to catch up. They appeared to overtake each other a few times. Even knowing the result, it was nerve-racking to watch the graphs compete.
Then, Sejun Lee’s graph stopped first.
After that, Evan Block’s graph filled one more block and then stopped as well.
E.B:■■■■■50%
S.L:■■■■■50%
Setting aside the other three nominees,
a graph calculating just the votes for Sejun and Evan Block showed that result.
!!
Exclamations of awe filled the awards hall. The people watching the live broadcast reacted the same way. There was no other response to such an amazing outcome.
-Wow…… This was crazy……
-Was it really a joint win???
-With not even a single vote’s difference?
-Kkyaaah! We did it! We actually did it!!
-S***ㅠㅠ Who knew it would really workㅠㅠ
-???
“Please come up to the stage! Jun! Evan!”
Sejun’s surprise quickly subsided.
He had some inkling because of the sprouts, and he had already gone through an incident during the Best Acting Award. He had been startled then, so now he only felt happiness.
Unbelievable!
A joint award with Evan!
He had never imagined such a day would come.
Sejun, who jumped up from his seat with an excited face, called out to Evan Block.
“Hurry, let’s go, Evan!”
“Huh? Oh, sure.”
Evan Block, who truly never expected to win (he had voted for Sejun), flailed a bit, looking dazed at Sejun’s urging, and stood up.
“This is crazy! Crazy!!”
As Rachel Hill flipped out and Director Jonathan clapped with all his might, shouting “Clap, clap, clap!”—Kirk Lawrence and everyone around them exclaimed “Oh!” and applauded in awe, helping Evan regain his senses.
Indeed, his name had been called, alongside Jun’s.
That was how the two actors who had made WTV Awards history with a first-ever joint win made their way onto the stage.
Waaaaaah!!
Amid the roaring cheers, two trophies and bouquets inscribed with “Best Hero Award” were presented to Sejun and Evan Block.
“Could you please give an acceptance speech. Oh! Who would go first? This was the first time we had a situation like this!”
Laughter burst forth here and there at the host, who made a fuss, and among Sejun and Evan Block, who were laughing together, Evan Block stepped up to the microphone first. Sejun took a step back.
The camera captured Evan Block.
Evan Block looked around the awards hall, then opened his mouth to speak.
“Nice to meet you all. I was Evan Block. I never thought I would receive an award, so please understand if my words sounded a bit disorganized. I actually voted for Jun.”
Laughter erupted from several places.
He seemed entirely unruffled, enough to crack jokes, perhaps because he was a veteran actor who had received many awards at various ceremonies.
“I remembered standing on this stage seven years ago. Back then, I thought that might be my last award as a hero, as Shadow Man, but I never imagined I would receive it again like this. And alongside Knight Jin, no less.”
Sejun—no, Knight Jin—smiled broadly at Evan Block’s words.
That swift change of mood drew a roar of excitement.
“Thank you to everyone who voted so the two of us could receive this award together. And I wanted to thank Marine, Director Jonathan, and actor Sejun Lee for letting me take on the role of Shadow Man once again.”
When Evan Block finished his acceptance speech and stepped back, Sejun came forward to the microphone, almost crossing paths. Even that brief moment somehow resembled heroes passing the torch to each other and tugged at everyone’s heartstrings.
“Hello. I was actor Sejun Lee. Even if I stood here multiple times, I always felt nervous and overwhelmed. I never imagined a joint award with Shadow Man. I wanted to thank everyone who voted for Shadow Man and Knight Jin.”
Sejun spoke with the brightest, most energetic expression he ever had.
“I was reminded of receiving the Best Villain Award here seven years ago. At the time, I thought it would end like that, but now…”
He held up the ‘Best Hero Award’ and smiled widely.
“I never expected to return as a hero. Everyone had voted that there would be no villain better than Jin Natra, after all.”
People made amused comments from all around.
“Because of that, I believed no one could have expected that Jin Natra—no, William—would appear as a hero. I felt the same way. So I wanted to express my gratitude to our eternal hero, Shadow Man, for guiding William onto the right path.”
Sejun looked back at Evan Block, smiling. Evan Block also smiled as he looked at Sejun.
From that sight, people watching the live broadcast felt they were seeing “Shadow Man” and “Knight Jin” once again, so the [Shad&Kni] fans covered their mouths in joy.
It was the same for the sprouts.
Seeing how thrilled Sejun looked to have won a joint award made the sprouts feel happy, too.
“Sejun-ahㅠㅠ Seeing you smile like that made all our hard work worth itㅠㅠ”
“22 Just seeing that look on Sejun’s face made all our voting worth itㅠㅠ”
“33 Today was seriously the bestㅠ This was my personal heavenㅠ”
“I would show a heroic side that was not lacking for this ‘Best Hero Award’ in the upcoming Knight Jin series.”
Sejun grinned.
“Please look forward to ‘Knight Jin,’ which we will be making alongside Shadow Man and Belle Natra! Thank you!”
Waaaah!!
Amid the thunderous applause, Sejun and Evan Block returned to their seats, smiling, and the cameras captured every moment.
“Haa-. The awards ceremony was perfect down to the last detail.”
“22 I felt like, later on, when Sejun received Best Hero again for Knight Jin, it would really be a torch-passing moment.”
“33 If someone cried while watching the ceremony??? (Meㅠㅠ)”
“I was crying from the moment they stood together on stage.”
“D*mn it, how can I not cry when they showed those two together on screenㅠㅠ”
“At least Shadow Man was alive. If he had actually died, I would have bawledㅠㅠㅠ”
“Ugh, seriously, I could picture that happeningㅎㄷㄷ”
“But was it confirmed that Sejun would receive the Hero Award again?”
“ㅎㅎ Just look at the fans’ enthusiasm.”
“22 I’m not a fan, but I also voted.”
“Would people complain if a movie ended like thisㅋㅋ A joint awardㅋㅋ”
“Reality was always more dramatic than movies.”
“But seriously, wasn’t it rigged?”
“Would they rig it so openlyㅋㅋ”
“…If it was WNET, maybe. (Your Honor, our cat…)”
“It’s WTV, so I guess not.”
“Wow. This was crazy. The sprouts made that joint award happen.”
“…???”
“What do you mean???”