NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 144
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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 144. White Blood – First Week Response
When all three released episodes of “White Blood” ended, Kim Ju-hyeong, the ‘pension part-timer’ who had been watching with bated breath, took a deep breath.
“Whoa. This is a story I never expected. I wondered what medical action would be like, but it’s complete fantasy.”
Kim Ju-hyeong had recently started writing for theater, and now all media seemed amazing to him.
Even movies he had watched without much thought, when he watched them again, he wondered how they wrote such dialogue and how they came up with such imagination – the writers’ creativity seemed incredible.
And “White Blood,” which he had watched three episodes of consecutively as soon as it was released today, was on a completely different level.
Because it created a new worldview that had never been seen anywhere else.
“And above all, the actor who brings that imagination to reality and breathes life into it.”
The supporting actors who appeared also felt completely immersed in their roles.
And the best among them is definitely Ryu Yeonwoo.
“An actor like that is going to perform in a play I wrote…?”
I remembered when I had seen Juhyung’s unfinished manuscript in an empty university lecture hall last time and acted it out myself to show him.
Just imagining that moment made adrenaline surge through me, causing my hands to tremble uncontrollably.
The feeling of my writing coming to life right before my eyes.
“···I’m a beginner, so I need to give it everything I’ve got.”
Kim Juhyeong sat down in front of the monitor with a reverent heart and placed his hands on the keyboard.
***
Originally, the places where such reactions spread first are various online communities.
Although people with extreme tendencies tend to be more active in communities, sometimes causing social problems, it was certain that these were among the places that responded most sensitively to issues on the internet.
This tendency was even stronger in anonymous communities.
– Real-time haters crying [White Blood launch event comment compilation]
– Real-time haters crying [White Blood launch event comment compilation]
– After watching White Blood, I started worrying about my liver. Sorry, human
– White Blood <– seems to be destroying everything right now, whether movies or anime
And such sparks burn even brighter when there’s firewood to fuel them.
– Guys, looking at those fake reviewers who started bashing before White Blood even came out is hilarious now ㅋㅋ
– Anyway, those nitpickers who judge before even watching are so disgusting
– What’s honestly fun about White Blood? K-fantasy is too much, it’s cringy
– What’s honestly fun about White Blood? K-fantasy is just cringe, seriously
Not only internet reactions, but the next day, whenever people gathered offline at schools or workplaces, “White Blood” stories would come up.
“Section Chief, did you watch ‘White Blood’?”
At Assistant Manager Ha’s words, Section Chief Oh exhaled cigarette smoke and said indifferently.
“Yesterday my daughter was also talking about some White something.”
“Is it similar content to that? According to my daughter, it’s something kids watch? Fighting with swords.”
At Section Chief Oh’s words, Assistant Manager Ha nodded.
“That’s true, but the protagonist of ‘Sketch’ is the protagonist of ‘White Blood.’ Ryu Yeon-woo.”
“The content isn’t as childish as you’d think either. Kind of like a Korean version of ‘The Hobbit and the Ring’?”
Section Chief Oh showed slight interest at Assistant Manager Ha’s words.
Since it was a series movie that shook the world when Section Chief Oh was in his early twenties, he might actually have less resistance to fantasy than the younger generation.
“Can I watch it at the theater?”
It was a film series that shook the world when Chief Oh was in his early twenties, so his generation might actually have less resistance to fantasy than the younger generation.
“Can we just go see it at the theater?”
“Oh, you don’t need to go to the theater – you can watch it on Netflix. Just ask your daughter to connect it to the TV and put it on for you.”
Meanwhile, at this moment, the “White Blood” production team had gathered at LN Entertainment headquarters to monitor real-time statistics through their partnership account.
“First, it immediately entered the top 5 in the new content rankings.”
“Hey, Director, it’s troublesome if you’re satisfied already. We all worked really hard.”
Hearing Writer Kim Jin-ju’s words, Director Hwang Min-kwon’s eyes quickly reddened.
“Sniff! Really, thanks to Writer saving my trash-like scenario…”
“That’s right! Sniff. Yeon-woo!”
At the end of the suddenly redirected arrow of gratitude, Yeon-woo smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.
He had absolutely no intention of receiving a grown man’s tears, so he changed the subject.
“Honestly, our first week’s content didn’t have any particularly exciting scenes, right? Next week will be even more amazing.”
At Yeon-woo’s words, all the production staff nodded.
I had absolutely no intention of dealing with a grown man’s tears, so I changed the subject.
“Honestly, our first week’s episodes didn’t have that many exciting scenes, right? Next week is going to be way more amazing.”
The production staff all nodded at Yeonwoo’s words.
While the internet reaction was mostly positive and amused, the production team and cast were more excited about the content that would be revealed later.
“Well, our story does get more epic and interesting as it goes on.”
“By the way, I wonder what our actors are doing right now?”
At Director Jung Yo-han’s words, Yeon-woo naturally thought of the School Lunch Expedition members.
Ella, Akenaton, the Narrator, and even Dipangdal who hadn’t appeared yet.
Actually, the Narrator hadn’t appeared visually either, so excluding Dong-ha who played Akenaton and was originally a famous idol, there was one person left.
“Ella is probably feeling like her whole world has been completely turned upside down right about now.”
Yeon-woo said that and chuckled softly, thinking of his own past.
The feeling he had when no one recognized him, but after filming “Yeo-reum’s Closet,” he suddenly rose to stardom and people started recognizing him wherever he went.
Perhaps right now, the young girl Han Byeol who played Ella might be experiencing that feeling.
It would be fascinating and somehow frightening at the same time.
“Ella looked absolutely amazing whenever she stepped into the frame. Of course, her acting was great too.”
Director Hwang also smiled warmly, apparently thinking of Han Byeol just like Yeon-woo.
Seeing Director Hwang like that, Yeon-woo continued speaking.
“And Ella hasn’t even shown her true self in our series yet.”
“You’re right, Yeon-woo. That’s true.”
The ‘School Lunch Expedition’ wasn’t called an ‘expedition’ for nothing.
Content-wise, it wasn’t about the protagonist Jeong Do-jin carrying everything alone, but each character had their own unique role.
Because Writer Kim Jin-ju had done such an excellent job creating the characters. As the story progressed, not only the protagonist Jeong Do-jin but other characters would also show their diverse sides and gain popularity.
Then Director Hwang looked at Team Leader Yoon Mi-yeon and spoke.
“Team Leader Yoon. Are we included in the global rankings by any chance?”
“Hmm. Just a moment.”
When Yoon Mi-yeon checked the statistics through the LN Entertainment partnership account, unexpected results came up.
“Huh? Why is this like this?”
Since they hadn’t done any overseas promotional campaigns yet, she didn’t think there would be such a large influx.
But the global ranking was higher than expected.
“We’re currently ranked 23rd globally…?”
All the production staff widened their eyes at Yoon Mi-yeon’s words.
“23rd?!”
General audiences might think it wasn’t that high a number, but the global ranking literally listed content from all countries where Netflix operates, ranked by viewership.
Since people mainly consume content available in their own country, it naturally had to be arranged in order of countries with many active users.
Simply put, it was about ‘population power.’
Even excluding China since it wasn’t a service country, the market sizes of the United States, Japan, and European countries were enormous.
Moreover, in terms of population, South Korea was embarrassingly small compared to large countries like India or South America.
“How on earth…?”
Depending on domestic performance, overseas promotion might come later and raise the ranking, but being 23rd already didn’t make sense.
So Team Leader Yoon Mi-yeon checked the influx routes of overseas users.
Click─.
Moving the mouse busily and examining various metrics, she found that influx was occurring from an unexpected source.
“The amount of traffic coming from Canada and the United States through ‘Master Plan’ is surprisingly huge.”
At Team Leader Yoon Mi-yeon’s words, all the production staff looked at Yeon-woo in unison.
They had momentarily forgotten, but he was an actor who consistently produced mega-hit works year after year.
Suddenly receiving focused attention, Yeon-woo smiled awkwardly and shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, anyway, it’s good that things are going well.”
***
The Canadian friends who had mispronounced Ryu Yeon-woo as ‘Yeonu Ryu’ were gathered at Amy’s house today as usual, clicking through Netflix to see if there was anything worth watching.
“Hey, guys, look at this!”
Sophia, who was most actively immersed in Korean culture, called out to her friends who were practicing K-POP choreography in the corner of the room.
“What? What is it?”
“That Korean actor we talked about last time seems to have released a new work. It has English subtitles too.”
Sophia, who had clicked on the “White Blood” poster that appeared as a recommended video on the account that had watched “Master Plan,” lay on the mattress looking at the cast list and stamped her feet excitedly.
“Come here quickly and look at this! Dong-ha from AXIS is in it too?!”
“Dong-ha? Dong-ha from AXIS is in it? Really?”
Paula, who was a fan of AXIS among K-POP idols, stopped practicing dance and ran over to Sophia.
With both Ryu Yeon-woo and Dong-ha appearing, she couldn’t resist.
She immediately clicked on episode 1 and became completely absorbed.
Meanwhile, at the headquarters of Hollywood production company Snobbish Mount, a meeting was in full swing.
“Let’s wrap up the movie discussion here, and how are things going with Netflix, Catherine?”
At the CEO’s question, Catherine adjusted her glasses and displayed statistics on the screen.
An upward trending graph appeared on the screen.
“‘Alliance,’ which launched this week, started at global 5th place right from day one. With no significant competition at this timing, we expect smooth sailing ahead.”
This was the series that Yeon-woo was originally supposed to audition for as a supporting Asian male character.
As a spin-off series based on a successful movie, it was expected to easily maintain the Netflix #1 spot for several weeks just by absorbing the fanbase of the original film.
“If we can’t maintain the #1 position after launching ‘Alliance,’ trust in our company’s marketing power will decline. Don’t spare any promotional costs—pour everything into it.”
Snobbish Mount’s handling of the “Alliance” launch wasn’t done with profit in mind from the start.
Since “Alliance” was merely a preview for upcoming movies sharing the same universe, maintaining the #1 spot was absolutely essential.
Though it wasn’t even #1 yet since it was launch day, Jake spoke as if they had already secured the top position.
Catherine nodded to meet his expectations.
“Yes. I’ll make sure there are no setbacks.”
“Oh, right. What’s Bernard Fenton up to these days?”
“He said he was working on something with an Asian agency, but we haven’t heard from him since. Should I look into it?”
Jake shook his head at Catherine’s words.
“Hmm, Asia? Never mind. It seems it’s time for him to retire. He’s probably thinking of chasing some blind China money.”
Jake couldn’t even remember the Korean actor named Ryu Yeon-woo who had declined to participate in the audition.
While Ryu Yeon-woo had made quite a name for himself domestically and even won at the Berlin awards ceremony, since that was a work-based award, Jake might have heard of Director Park Chan-hong’s name but not knowing the actor Ryu Yeon-woo was, in a way, normal.
In the global content market, the distance between Jake and Ryu Yeon-woo was wider than that between a lion and a cat.
However, while the lion wasn’t paying attention, those cats were slowly climbing higher, devouring everything with their mouths wide open.
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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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