NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor

Yeon-woo headed to the upscale restaurant he always frequented, as CEO Kim Joo-seong had called him for a meal together.

The door creaked open.

“Ah, you’ve arrived, Yeon-woo.”

“Sir. It’s been a while.”

Although Yeon-woo often visited LN Entertainment’s office building, he rarely ran into CEO Kim Joo-seong. It had been quite some time since they’d seen each other, as they hadn’t met during the filming of “White Blood”.

CEO Kim Joo-seong smiled and gestured for Yeon-woo to take a seat.

“Let’s sit down. It seems that Actor Ryu’s annual visit here for a meal has become something of a tradition, given how you film projects non-stop every year.”

“Now that you mention it, I suppose it has.”

Yeon-woo smiled back as he took his seat.

“As an investor and the head of your agency, I’m pleased with the success of this project, but I also enjoyed it as a viewer. ‘White Blood’ was quite entertaining.”

“Thank you, sir.”

CEO Kim Joo-seong was the one who had readily agreed to produce the series after seeing the initial, unpolished script.

Of course, Yeon-woo had been the first to advocate for it, but given the enormous production costs that were evident from the start, it would have been impossible without CEO Kim’s approval.

“Hmm, it truly was a bizarre script, wasn’t it? The one Director Hwang brought initially.”

“Yes, it really was. Dinosaurs and even a spaceship.”

Although the Macrophages’ appearance had changed from dinosaurs to something closer to tentacled monsters, the spaceship still made an appearance, and the original story hadn’t changed much.

Yeon-woo and writer Kim Jinju had simply refined it through their discussions, making it more plausible and sophisticated.

“From now on, LN’s PR strategy team will be working hard. Instead of using outdated promotional methods, we’ll start marketing in new ways that fit the current times. So even though the series has ended, the response will only get hotter.”

“I see. Our company’s employees are all veterans, after all.”

Kim Joo-seong chuckled at Yeon-woo’s words before continuing.

“Oh, by the way, the outside director position you recommended last time has been approved for Professor Kim Taekyung. I met him, and he’s quite an interesting person, isn’t he?”

“Did he perhaps mention the rock band to you as well…?”

Before Yeon-woo could finish his sentence, CEO Kim Joo-seong nodded.

“Yes, he’s certainly a character.”

“Indeed he is.”

CEO Kim Joo-seong nodded and continued eating before speaking again.

“Yeon-woo. If you keep colliding forcefully with everything, cracks will form, and eventually, you’ll break. Every endeavor needs rest. I advised you once before starting ‘White Blood,’ but this time, I think you should listen to me and take a break.”

Although it seemed to come out of nowhere, Yeon-woo understood what he meant.

Reflecting on his previous life, it wasn’t wrong at all.

He had collided with the world more forcefully than anyone else and ended up shattered and depleted.

Yeon-woo nodded obediently and replied.

“I understand. I’ll take a break for a while.”

“Oh?”

Kim Joo-seong looked at Yeon-woo with interest.

“You’re agreeing more easily than I expected.”

“Haha. I do need to rest, after all.”

He would take a break from certain ‘activities’ to some extent.

Of course, he had no intention of taking a break from ‘acting’.

===

**

===

As CEO Kim Joo-seong had said, even though the final episode of “White Blood” had aired, public interest continued to grow.

When asked to name the most successful work of the second half of the year, both domestically and internationally, most experts chose “White Blood”.

And to add fuel to the fire, LN Entertainment’s PR team released behind-the-scenes footage and on-set videos of “White Blood” through Youtube.

Movie Youtubeers immediately began reprocessing and uploading this source material, and the special effects set videos, which were completely different from the final scenes, were more than enough to be favored by the Youtube algorithm, especially given that it was currently the most popular content.

“Hello everyone. This is CineTube. ‘White Blood,’ which used CGI in over 80% of the entire series, is really hot these days. Today, we’ll take a detailed look through the on-set footage directly released by LN Media.”

On the screen, Yeon-woo was hanging from wires in special clothing against a chroma key background.

Staff members in tights were pushing green styrofoam walls from both sides, and Yeon-woo, fully embodying Jung Dojin, wedged himself between them, holding them back with both arms.

At that moment, Hanbyeol, with her hair in pigtails, rolled in and squeezed between Yeon-woo’s arms that were holding the gap.

– I’ll open it with you!

And in the next scene, the camera zoomed in on their faces as they forcibly opened the barrier together.

The left side of the screen showed the raw, unedited footage, while the right side displayed the final edited scene from the actual broadcast, allowing for a side-by-side comparison.

On the right side of the screen, blue electricity crackled as the barrier was torn apart, but in the original footage, there was only a green styrofoam wall.

The focus of the video was on Yeon-woo’s face.

While in reality, staff members in tight-fitting clothes were simply pushing an unremarkable green styrofoam box, Yeon-woo acted as if he could feel the electricity being released as the barrier tore. He controlled even the minutest details of his facial muscles, from his eyelids to his cheeks, showing a trembling expression as if affected by the current.

It was method acting, completely immersed in the scene.

“Did you see that, everyone?”

The YouTuber played the footage in slow motion, pointing out and explaining each detailed aspect of the acting.

“These subtle expressions probably weren’t written in the script. I suspect this is acting that Actor Ryu Yeon-woo showcased by fully immersing himself in the role.”

Alternating between the split-screen footage of before and after editing, he continued.

“When these detailed acting choices are presented in advance, the post-production experts likely add special effects to match them. Let’s keep watching.”

Not just in this scene, but in most of the following scenes as well, there was a continuous display of immersive acting that made one wonder how it was possible.

Thanks to LN Entertainment’s PR strategy team, which was providing an overflow of material for fans to obsess over, and the YouTubers who were analyzing each piece of content in detail, fans were on the verge of ecstasy.

– Cream puff door opens (4 minutes ago)

Sprinkle more food! Make them eat until they puke, nyaaan!

– Flea’s ASMR (3 minutes ago)

I was tense watching this scene, but the filming set looks hilariously awkward lol

– Ryu So-hyeon (3 minutes ago)

Look at how fast Ella rolls, I thought she was a kitten going for some treats. So adorable for real

– I’ll give it for free, take it well (2 minutes ago)

Look at Yeon-woo’s facial acting, everyone! How can he move like that when there’s nothing there? It’s amazing

– Only this reform for a thousand years (1 minute ago)

For real, he was born to act

– Hankuk mom to Hongdae (17 seconds ago)

Everyone’s forgetting this fact, but he’s from Hankuk University. This is what happens when a smart person also has talent

At this moment, Yeon-woo was in a cramped studio apartment.

“Why are you coming to my small place when you have a spacious house, Yeon-woo…”

Woo Seong-sik grumbled as he hurriedly picked up clothes scattered here and there, stuffing them into the storage cabinet.

Junsoo, seemingly used to this sight, plopped down on the floor and shrugged his shoulders.

“This place is the closest. We’re just going to have some chicken and beer, no need to go all the way to Gangnam.”

Today was the opening night of Jin Yu-han’s musical “Deyandor”.

After a long time, the members of the survival shooting range were invited to watch together, and Jin Yu-han, the musical’s lead, had joined them as well.

“But Yu-han, is it really okay for you to be with us? Don’t you have some sort of after-party or dinner?”

Jin Yu-han nodded with a smile.

“I don’t usually go to after-parties or company dinners.”

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Ding dong─.

“I’ll get it!”

Joo-hyung, the ‘pension part-timer’, got up and ran to the entrance, returning with chicken.

As they sat around on the floor, tearing into the freshly delivered chicken, the conversation naturally flowed towards the musical “Deyandor” they had watched today.

“To be honest, it was my first time seeing a musical in person, and it was really enjoyable.”

As Seong-sik spoke while tearing into a chicken wing, Joo-hyung nodded.

“You guys haven’t seen Yeon-woo and Yu-han acting together, right? I saw it when I went to cheer during their practice last time.”

“Huh? Why was Yeon-woo acting when you went to cheer?”

“I don’t know. It just happened that way, but anyway, it was awesome.”

At that, Junsoo tilted his head.

“But it’s a musical. Isn’t this guy’s singing terrible?”

“…Terrible, you say.”

At Junsoo’s unfiltered words, Yeon-woo became sullen, and seeing this, Joo-hyung spoke up for him.

“There wasn’t any singing part. Oh, I’ve seen Yeon-woo act in a play one more time.”

It was Yeon-woo acting out the script that Joo-hyung himself had written.

Seemingly reminded of that time, Yeon-woo nodded and asked Joo-hyung.

“Have you written a lot of scripts since then?”

“…I’ve almost finished writing one.”

At that, the other three opened their eyes wide as they were putting chicken in their mouths.

“What kind of script?”

“Joo-hyung has been writing a play script.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Joo-hyung, I didn’t know you had that kind of talent.”

In response to the kids’ reactions, Kim Joo-hyung scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed.

“No, it’s not really a talent or anything grand, just scribbling as a hobby.”

At Kim Joo-hyung’s words, Yeon-woo shook his head.

“I acted out what he wrote as a test, and it’s quite high quality for a hobby. I don’t know how it’ll turn out, but there’s a small theater run by Teacher Jung Cheol-min’s acting academy, and there are aspiring actors too, so I’m planning to put on a stage performance sometime.”

At that, Woo Seong-sik’s eyes lit up.

“Hey. Then do you need any minor roles or staff? After seeing Yu-han’s musical today, I thought I’d like to try something like that at least once before going to the military.”

Then Kim Junsoo hesitated for a moment before raising his hand.

“If you’re going to do it, include me too. I’m also going to the military soon, and I’d like to do something productive before I go.”

“What are you going to do, Writer Kim Joo-hyung?”

As Yeon-woo poked Kim Joo-hyung’s side and asked, Kim Joo-hyung stammered in surprise.

“Uh, uh? I’m fine with anything…”

“Oh, great. This sounds fun.”

“Hey. Even if it’s just a minor role with a few lines, don’t we need to learn some acting? Can we do it?”

As Kim Junsoo worried, Woo Seong-sik pointed at Yeon-woo, saying what’s there to worry about.

“The god of acting is right here. What are you worried about?”

“Ah, I see.”

As the atmosphere suddenly shifted to the friends trying to do something together, Jin Yu-han, who had been quietly listening, raised his hand.

“Include me too.”

“……”

After a moment of silence, Kim Junsoo looked at Jin Yu-han and asked.

“When you say include you, you mean you’ll be on stage…?”

“Yes.”

“But you just started a musical! Today was the premiere!”

“Well, it’s not like we’re starting right away, right? My musical ends in about two and a half months anyway.”

Then Jin Yu-han looked at Yeon-woo and continued.

“Yeon-woo, why don’t you join us on stage instead of just directing? We talked before about how fun it would be if the two of us did a play together.”

At Jin Yu-han’s words, Yeon-woo stroked his chin.

Since he was planning to take a break from entertainment activities for a while anyway, there wasn’t really any problem.

“Hmm, should I?”

At that, Kim Joo-hyung’s jaw dropped and his mouth opened wide.

Originally, Yeon-woo had said he would act out the play script when it was finished, but that was meant to be a test for editing and directing, not actually going on stage.

“You’re saying Ryu Yeon-woo and Jin Yu-han will act in a play I wrote…?”

Unexpectedly, huge stars began to fall onto the stage of the small theater.