NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 113

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 113. Movie 「Sketch」 Release Date

“Ah, hello! Please take good care of me from now on!”

 

Director Hwang Min-kwon entered the meeting room, bowing 90 degrees to an actor more than ten years younger than him.

 

In reality, he was a director in name only – with just a failed debut work and some remedial short films, he was practically a newcomer in commercial cinema.

 

“I look forward to working with you too. Director Hwang Min-kwon, Director Jung Yo-han.”

 

Seeing Ryu Yeon-woo greet them with a bright smile, Hwang Min-kwon’s mouth stretched into a wide grin.

 

“Whoa, he called me Director Hwang Min-kwon. Amazing.”

“Ah, how embarrassing. Please at least try to act cool.”

 

The giddy Hwang Min-kwon and Jung Yo-han, who was embarrassed by his friend, took their seats.

 

“Now that we’re all in the same boat, I think it’s important to start by solidly building the scenario, which you could say is the backbone of that ship.”

 

Both nodded at Yeon-woo’s words.

 

“But, as I mentioned before, I’m good at picking material, but that…”

 

Hwang Min-kwon trailed off and turned his head away slightly, looking uncertain.

 

Yeon-woo then looked at CG Director Jung Yo-han sitting beside him.

 

“Director, you are…”

“I’m from the science track.”

“Pardon?”

“Anyway, I’m from the science track.”

 

Then Jung Yo-han fiddled with his glasses frame and similarly turned his head away slightly.

Seeing this, it was clear that the two were definitely friends.

 

Yeon-woo chuckled at their behavior and spoke up.

 

“So here’s what I’m thinking. I’d like to find a writer to keep the framework as is and add flesh to the bones.”

“Ah, I’m in favor of that, but in my network, I don’t know any writers, let alone aspiring writers…”

 

Hearing Hwang Min-kwon’s response, Yeon-woo took out his smartphone from his pocket.

 

“Then would it be okay if I handle the casting?”

“Oh my, of course.”

 

Nodding, Yeon-woo made a phone call somewhere.

Hwang Min-kwon and Jung Yo-han looked expectant, curious about who it might be.

 

The call connected quickly, and even though it wasn’t on speakerphone, in the quiet meeting room, both could hear a cheerful woman’s voice.

 

– Oh my, what’s the occasion for you to call first, Yeon-woo? By the way, congratulations.

“Thank you, Writer. But I have called you from time to time.”

– I feel so honored every time you call, that’s why.

 

After chatting about various things, Yeon-woo got to the main point.

 

“You remember the promise you made with me last time, right?”

– Oh my, of course. I’ll do anything for you.

“Then please work on a project with me, Writer.”

– Huh? A project? I don’t have any scenarios written right now except for short story collections…

 

Yeon-woo looked at the two men in front of him and continued.

 

“The director has brought some material, and I was hoping you could participate and add flesh to it.”

– Then this sounds like it’ll be a long conversation? Anyway, I’m someone who always keeps promises. I’ll do whatever you need.

“Thank you. Then I’ll send you the detailed story and scenario as materials. Let’s have dinner soon, Writer.”

 

After exchanging brief pleasantries, Yeon-woo hung up and looked at the two men.

 

“The writer has been cast, Directors.”

 

The two, who had been curious about who the other party was throughout the call, asked Yeon-woo simultaneously.

 

“Who is it?”

“It’s Writer Kim Jin-ju.”

“Ah, yes. Writer Kim Jin-ju.”

 

The two nodded without much thought, then looked at each other once and asked again.

 

“…What? Who?”

“Just to confirm, when you say Writer Kim Jin-ju, do you mean the star writer who wrote 「The Scent of Time」 and 「The Road to Mont-Saint-Michel」?”

 

Yeon-woo nodded and smiled brightly.

 

“Yes, that’s right. And she’s also the writer of 「Stars Beyond the Stream」, my first leading drama role.”

 

The two directors in front of him opened their mouths wide as if their jaws might drop.

 

“Amaz… amazing…”

“Hey, this isn’t just amazing. This is super amazing.”

 

Yeon-woo smiled watching them.

 

“Then there’s nothing else we can decide right now. Since we don’t know how the content might change, it’s also awkward to do casting.”

“Just being able to produce something is more than satisfying for me. I’ve waited my whole life, so waiting a little longer is no problem!”

 

Yeon-woo nodded at Director Hwang Min-kwon’s words.

 

“Since I also have my studies to consider, this project will probably progress quite slowly.”

 

***

 

Click.

 

Writer Kim Jin-ju sat in front of her computer and clicked on the file she had received.

 

“Hmm, a medical action story? What could this be…?”

 

Just looking at the first page, she couldn’t get a sense of what the content was about.

Writer Kim Jin-ju read through the quite substantial scenario from her seat in one go.

 

 

The protagonist Jeong Do-jin was considered a rising renowned doctor among the young generation of specialists.

 

A renowned doctor who boasted an overwhelming cure rate even at the cancer specialist hospital, a man who carried the modifier ‘heals with just a touch.’

 

To receive treatment from him required a minimum reservation period of six months, and terminal patients whose lives hung in the balance lined up to somehow receive treatment, even if it meant slipping money under the table.

 

However, in reality, Jeong Do-jin had been ordinary during medical school and wasn’t a doctor who stood out during his residency either.

From one day onwards, the patients he was in charge of suddenly began showing dramatically improved cure rates, and though countless people asked for his secret, he had only answered that he treated with sincerity.

 

Such Jeong Do-jin had a secret he couldn’t tell others – the absurd story that he personally entered patients’ bodies to treat them.

 

Entering the body didn’t mean possession.

It was the story of shrinking to micrometer size and traveling through the body like actual cells to provide treatment.

 

One day, watching a patient whose condition was worsening despite intensive treatment, he grabbed the sleeping patient’s hand in frustration and leaned against the chair beside the bed for a nap, when he first realized his ability.

 

After dreaming of traveling through an unfamiliar world and fighting monsters, the symptoms miraculously began improving, and shortly after, that patient was discharged.

 

“Hmm, the idea of entering the body isn’t completely unprecedented material though.”

 

Among American movies from the late 80s, there was the SF movie ‘Innerspace’ about entering the body in a submarine, and there was also a Japanese animation where cells were the protagonists.

 

This alone was difficult to see as truly ingenious and novel material.

 

“Well, connecting that concept with a doctor is interesting, but that alone is a bit lacking. Still, if Yeon-woo called me, it must mean the scenario has strength.”

 

Writer Kim Jin-ju began focusing more on the scenario.

 

In the story, Jeong Do-jin used his ability to treat patients and lived a happy life feeling wealth, fame, and even fulfillment, but one day his only younger sister was hospitalized with leukemia.

 

Though it wasn’t his specialty, Jeong Do-jin used his ability on his sister too, entering the world inside her body.

 

After that, he couldn’t escape for 6 years and became trapped in the world inside his sister’s body.

 

“Hmm, it’s getting interesting from here? So is the setting that real-world time stopped during that period?”

 

Writer Kim Jin-ju quickly scrolled down and read the rest of the story.

 

Click! Click!

 

The sound of mouse clicks ringing out continuously.

 

Writer Kim Jin-ju had already read through to the final chapter and fell into deep thought.

 

“What is this? The setting and material were completely good, but why is the story in the middle such a mess?”

 

Suddenly, important supporting characters betrayed without rhyme or reason, space warships appeared without plausibility, or dinosaurs popped out.

 

If this had been a webtoon or web novel, it would have been overflowing with ‘drop it’ points.

 

Only then did she realize why Yeon-woo had called her, and her head nodded involuntarily.

 

“It’s definitely a work that would make an actor greedy, but the problem was that the story went in this direction.”

 

Writer Kim Jin-ju picked up her smartphone and called Yeon-woo.

Yeon-woo’s voice came through the quickly connected phone.

 

– Yes, Writer.

“I’ll take on this work. Not because of the favor, but because I really want to do it. As a writer, I can’t stand seeing such good material being tainted by such an absurd story.”

 

***

 

At this time when Yeon-woo and Writer Kim Jin-ju were talking on the phone, 「Sketch」 finally opened in South Korea.

 

Hong Yu-ri also visited the movie theater with her boyfriend Kim Jun-su from lunchtime.

 

“Jun-su, I feel like Yeon-woo is becoming more and more unreachable. Even winning awards overseas.”

“Hey, but when we occasionally talk on the phone or in the group chat, he’s exactly the same as in high school, right?”

 

Kim Jun-su nodded thinking of his friend whose personality remained perfectly unchanged.

 

“Still, we haven’t been able to see him at all lately because he’s busy. The last time was when we went camping last year. Ah, he’s my favorite celebrity… That day was like a dream.”

“What? That day was when I confessed. It seems like the focus of your dream wasn’t me?”

 

Looking at Jun-su with his lips pouting, Yu-ri chuckled.

 

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

 

Jun-su also seemed to be joking as he quickly smiled and nodded.

 

“Well, I did do survival shooting together and went to a pool villa, but it has been a while. Anyway, we came to see him like this now.”

“Hehe, is that so? Seeing him on screen counts as seeing him too.”

 

Hong Yu-ri and Kim Jun-su bought popcorn and cola and sat in the movie theater lobby, waiting briefly until entry time.

 

Then they heard a voice sniffling and talking on the phone right behind them.

 

“Sniff, Mom. I’ll do better from now on. Let’s film a video together. Okay?”

– What kind of nonsense is this brat suddenly calling to say? What video.

“No. Just film one video with me. So I can remember Mom’s voice. *sniff*”

– You got into some trouble, didn’t you? Mom’s busy right now, so tell me quickly.

 

It wasn’t just the woman sitting behind who was sniffling. The audience members coming out after watching the movie were all wiping tears with their sleeves or had red noses.

 

“···Sister, what on earth did he film?”

“Didn’t Yeon-woo tell you what the content was about during filming?”

“He definitely said it was a music movie with youth romance elements. That’s why he was practicing guitar and violin···.”

 

Before they knew it, it was time to enter, so the two got up from their seats.

 

“What could the content be? I’m curious! Let’s hurry and go in.”

 

Jun-su and Yuri headed toward the screening room.

 

Meanwhile, they weren’t the only ones entering the screening room.

 

A gentleman in a suit with neatly styled pomade hair also made his way forward.

Although CEO Kim Ju-seong had essentially invested the money in place of Yeon-woo, he was equally unaware of the scenario’s content.

 

While Yeon-woo had also accepted Director Park Chan-hong’s offer and decided to appear and invest without even checking the scenario, CEO Kim Ju-seong had trusted the actor he chose and proposed the contract to Yeon-woo.

 

“Hmm, but it’s already a successful contract.”

 

Since it was the first day of release, future performance was unknown, but even if it completely failed at the box office, having obtained distribution rights for a Golden Bear Award-winning work meant the 1.5 billion won investment could already be considered recovered.

 

‘And there’s no way we won’t recover the investment.’

 

Director Park Chan-hong invested 3 billion won, and LN invested 1.5 billion won under Ryu Yeon-woo’s name.

Ryu Yeon-woo’s share was 33 percent, and in exchange for paying the investment on his behalf, they agreed to receive 30 percent of that, making the company’s share about 10 percent of total profits.

 

Of course, since this was profit after excluding the distributor’s share and other costs, it wouldn’t actually be 10 percent of total revenue, but compared to CEO Kim Ju-seong’s expected audience numbers, there was no problem.

 

Right now, Ryu Yeon-woo and Park Chan-hong were hot names that appeared whenever you turned on any media.

Not just entertainment channels or NeTube, but their names came up all day long even on the news.

 

Having brought national glory and made all the bar owners in South Korea collapse from overwork, it was natural in a way.

 

Proving this, the movie theater was bustling with people despite it being a weekday lunch time.

Although it was still winter vacation season, considering the heavy snow that had been falling since morning, the people currently in the movie theater lobby were likely all audience members waiting to watch “Sketch,” which opened today.

 

“Investment aside, I can’t stand the curiosity about what the content is.”

 

Being someone who loved movies more than anyone, CEO Kim Ju-seong had issued a gag order to Manager Kim Min-su and Team Leader Jeong Hyeok to avoid any spoilers.

 

With that, CEO Kim Ju-seong walked quietly toward the screening room entrance with a face full of anticipation.

 

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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