NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor

[Ah, sorry. I meant to contact you first but got busy.]

[Jeong Sooyeon: No worries! You must be busy studying these days. I’ve heard from others that you’re doing well in your studies.]

[Haha, not really. You finished shooting, I guess?]

With that, Yeon-woo exchanged trivial texts with her as he walked home. Yeon-woo had been tutoring his friends for quite some time now. Surprisingly, he had a knack for teaching, as Seong-sik and Junsoo’s grades saw a significant improvement.

Teaching helped Yeon-woo to clarify his own understanding of ambiguous concepts. He had previously felt the unexpected joy of teaching when he was taking acting classes at Cheol-min academy. Now, to Junsoo and Seong-sik’s parents, Yeon-woo was almost like a god. Whenever Yeon-woo visited, they referred to him as “Master Ryu” in awe and respect.

***

Prosecutor Han Hae-woon had finally found a woman named Jeong Hyemin through his tenacity. She was running a Pilates studio in Incheon.

“It was hard to find her as she’s not job-seeking or active on SNS,” he thought.

Unlike Jeon Su-hwan, who was recorded as deceased, she was living an ordinary life. It was the first time he had found someone who appeared in his visions.

But this only complicated matters further.

Following a civilian without a good reason for investigation was practically stalking.

If it came out that he had been investigating this seemingly harmless woman, what could he possibly say in his defense? ‘Because she appeared in my dreams? That makes me look insane.’ If he were to investigate her directly, it would have to be covertly.

Considering the distance between Incheon and Busan, he figured he would have to conduct the investigation on his vacation. Knowing that the woman he had been searching for had no apparent connection to any incident made Prosecutor Han Hae-woon even more cautious.

***

Time flew by as Han Hae-woon carried on his investigation, and the college entrance exam was just a day away for Ryu Yeon-woo. For the past few months, he had focused on studying, fitting in only short, one-day schedules like photo shoots.

Tomorrow marks the end of his high school life and the start of his full-scale activities in the entertainment industry. As if it was planned, his phone started to flood with call as the evening approached.

“Jin-yuk Hyung.”

[Jin-yuk, you’re taking the college entrance exam tomorrow, right? I thought of you when I saw the news about the exam.]

“Thank you. I heard you’re going into a new project.”

[Yes. It’s going to be tough. We have a shoot in Southeast Asia.]

“Well, it’s good you’re going in the winter.”

[Yeah, I should think of it as going on a vacation.]

After ending the call with several other well-wishers, his phone rang again.

“So-hyeon Noona.”

[Yeon-woo, have you studied a lot?]

“Just as usual. Haha.”

[To have a younger sibling around me taking the college entrance exam! That’s when your age feels real.]

“Don’t I usually not feel like a student?”

[Totally! You’re Captain Ryu. What high school student can prepare octopus like that?]

“Hahaha.”

After exchanging various stories with Han So-hyeon, one by one, people like Ahn Jun-Ho, Jung Cheol-min, and Director Kim Han-soo, with whom he had a first film experience and built a relationship, called him.

– Tring. –

Another call, he thought, checking his cell phone, but this time it was a message.

[Jeong Soo-yeon: Finally, it’s tomorrow. Take care of yourself and do well on the test!]

He had never met her since then, but had occasionally contacted her and felt somewhat close online.

[Yeah, you too! Fighting.]

Yeon-woo, who went to bed early, greeted his mother and younger sibling who woke him up the next morning, and went down to the parking lot to get in his father’s car.

“Yeon-woo!”

Min-soo got out of the van that had been waiting in the parking lot.

“Huh? Min-soo Hyung!”

“It’s been a few months already.”

His manager, whom he hadn’t seen for three months since briefly leaving for a photo shoot.

“Did you come all the way to Daejeon?”

“I have to take care of my actor on a day like this. Hello, sir. Shall the two of you get in?”

Ryu Cheol-yung also shook hands with Min-soo, expressing his gratitude, and they got in the car.

Min-soo’s van smoothly took off and soon arrived at the examination hall.

He naturally got out and escorted Yeon-woo and Cheol-yung.

Fortunately, no students recognized Yeon-woo at the entrance since he was wearing a hat and mask.

Yeon-woo looked at his father and Manager Kim Min-soo.

“I’ll go and take the test now.”

“Fighting, son!”

“Fighting, Yeon-woo!”

Both watched him enter, nodding until the last moment.

“Sir, I will take you back home. Shall we?”

“Oh, thank you, Manager.”

And so, the college entrance exam began.

There was a minor happening because some test-takers recognized Yeon-woo, but everyone was tense, and no big fuss was made as no one had a cellphone to take selfies.

The difficulty of the test was moderate.

Yeon-woo solved the problems without any mistakes, just as he had prepared.

The last bell rang, and the students around him let out mixed emotions.

When he left the exam hall, Min-soo was waiting.

“Yeon-woo!”

Upon Min-soo’s call, Yeon-woo greeted his school friends who had escorted him to the school gate and rushed over.

“Min-soo Hyung! Didn’t you leave?”

“Where would you find a manager who leaves the actor alone when the schedule isn’t even over?”

Min-soo said with a grin.

Seeing that, Yeon-woo also smiled.

“Thank you so much.”

Min-soo and Yeon-woo got into the car.

“Did you do well on the exam?”

“Yes, I did well.”

Yeon-woo responded with a bright smile.

At that, Manager Kim Min-soo was impressed.

“Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen a student say they did well after taking the college entrance exam.”

“Hehe, it’s because I prepared hard.”

Min-soo was pleased with Yeon-woo’s words.

Despite having received numerous casting offers since joining the agency, Yeon-woo remained committed to his school life.

While people his age who become stars tend to neglect their studies, Min-soo had never seen any arrogance or laziness from this perfect actor he was managing.

After various conversations and arriving home, Yeon-woo bowed sincerely to Min-soo and went inside.

Claiming that one should eat pork belly on such a day, he had a pork belly party at home with his family and went to school on Monday for grading after the weekend had passed.

Whoosh!

As soon as the classroom door opened, students who had already arrived at school were sprawled out, enjoying the free atmosphere of a third-year high school student after the college entrance exams were over.

“Yeon-woo, how many do you think you got wrong? Surely you didn’t get them all right?”

As Yeon-woo enters, the kids flock to him. The focus is on whether or not he got a perfect score on the college entrance exam.

“Eh, I didn’t check the answers separately, but there’s no way I got them all right. There were quite a few I was unsure about.”

He has never scored perfectly on a mock exam, so a perfect score is unlikely.

In reality, Yeon-woo also had quite a few ambiguous questions that he was unsure about while solving.

However, it’s clear that even if it’s not a perfect score, he’ll have grades good enough to enter a top Korean university.

Not just among the students, but the teachers are also interested in Yeon-woo’s grades, as he has become the top output of Dongwoon High School.

At that moment, the classroom door opened with a loud noise.

“Hey, you’re from the next class. Why are you entering our class?”

“The college entrance exam is over, does it matter which class you are in? It’s a relief just to be at school.”

As always, Junsoo and Seong-sik entered, bickering with each other.

Then Seong-sik, spotting Yeon-woo standing at the back of the classroom, ran over and knelt on one knee.

“Whoa, Master Ryu. Your disciple has come to school.”

“So, my disciple, did you do well on the exam?”

Yeon-woo responded in jest to Seong-sik’s teasing.

“My Lord, I did as best as I could, so I have no regrets.”

“That’s good. You’ve gained enlightenment.”

The friends who had been watching burst into quiet laughter at the talent-wasting skit infused with Yeon-woo’s high-quality acting skills.

“Junsoo, how did you do?”

“I somehow feel good. Based on the preliminary grading, it seems like I achieved my goal.”

Junsoo’s goal is solely to get into a Yeonha university.

It was one of the top three universities in the country, so it was a good result.

– Creak. –

The front door opened, and the homeroom teacher walked in.

Lee Jung-tae, who had been Yeon-woo’s homeroom teacher for two years in a row, spoke.

“Alright, sit down, everyone. Woo Seong-sik, go to your own class.”

A brief morning roll call was followed by applause and words of appreciation from the homeroom teacher.

“Now, don’t be too noisy, as there are other grades here. Enjoy your free time. Yeon-woo, come to the staff room for a moment.”

“Sure.”

With the students’ responses, Lee Jung-tae exited through the front door and Yeon-woo followed.

Walking to the staff room, the teacher asked to Yeon-woo,

“So Yeon-woo, how was it? Did you check your answers?”

“No, I wrote them down, but I haven’t graded them yet.”

Yeon-woo handed over his answer sheet with his responses written on the back.

“Good job. Let’s go to the staff room and input the answers.”

Upon arriving at the staff room, Yeon-woo and the teacher went to Lee Jung-tae’s desk and input the numbers from the answer sheet into the computer.

Even within the staff room, it was a hot topic, and other teachers gathered around.

“I’ve entered all the answers, sir.”

“Let’s check the grading.”

– Click! –

The screen showed that he had gotten two questions wrong across all subjects.

“Wow, Mr. Jung, with only two wrong, he’s ranked first in the school, right?”

“Based on what we know now, Ji Seon from the science stream got four wrong, so yes, Yeon-woo ranks first in terms of total score.”

Since the college entrance exam score varies depending on each university’s admission requirements and the standard scores for each subject, it’s not possible to definitively say who did better. But for convenience, they counted the number of wrong answers.

Greeting the teachers who were patting his back and encouraging him, Yeon-woo returned to the classroom.

While one side of the classroom was diligently studying, another part had turned into an unexpected playground, with some students playing with an air toy of unknown origin.

Regular class time flew by, and it was lunchtime. While eating lunch, Seong-sik choked as he looked at his phone.

“Hey, look at this! Have you seen it?”

“What’s up?”

When Junsoo looked at Seong-sik’s phone screen, there were numerous articles pouring out about Yeon-woo.