NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 156
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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 156. Preparation for What’s Next
That signal flare was first fired by a newspaper company.
Most media outlets didn’t expect “White Blood” to achieve global ranking 1st place since its ranking calculation score was quite low compared to “Alliance,” which had originally held the top position.
However, Reporter Jung Yu-jin from Hansae Daily was different.
She was the reporter who had received help from Yeon-woo in Berlin to secure the first exclusive interview with the “Sketch” team among domestic media, and had exclusively reported on the Golden Bear award news and the Berlin Film Festival scene.
And Reporter Jung Yu-jin was a full member of the fan cafe Woods.
With the power of faith(?) that firmly believed the world’s viewers would surely recognize the true value once the final episode was released, Reporter Jeong had been checking the global rankings as much as LN Enter and Snobbish Mount, and as soon as they achieved 1st place, she simultaneously released the article she had written in advance.
After that, with the help of other media companies that began hastily writing articles in competition, South Korea’s news sections began to be flooded with “White Blood” news beyond the entertainment section to the social and economic sections.
– K-Content Makes It Big. “White Blood” Dominates Global Market
– How Far Will Ryu Yeon-woo’s Journey Go? “White Blood” Achieves Global 1st Place
– Achieving Global 1st Place in OTT Market with Homegrown Content. What’s the Secret? Cultural Critic Lee Jung-bin’s···.
– With “White Blood’s” achievement of global 1st place, the direct and indirect economic effects on the tourism industry are expected to reach up to 1 trillion won···.
Articles poured out like a broken dam.
Of course, articles were the genteel part.
The nationalist YouTube channels that had been sprouting like mushrooms lately began to go even further.
– The Story of How the Whole World Cried, Was Shocked, and Surrendered at One Word from White Blood
– What Japan Trembles at and Even Advanced Countries Envy About “White Blood” is Actually···.
Those who tried to ride the issue with such provocative titles to extract maximum views also appeared.
Then, on one side, a backlash psychology kicked in and malicious articles began to emerge.
– “White Blood” May End Up Being Just a Flash in the Pan. Global Ranking Share by Population···.
– “White Blood” Successfully Robbed an Empty House While “Alliance” Was Off Guard. Soon to Be Reversed Again···.
In the comment sections of such articles, bloody battles broke out without mercy.
– Are you kidding, reporter? Empty house robbery? Do you think Netflix global ranking 1st place can be achieved through child’s play?
└ Here comes another blood shield deployment? Honestly, reaching 1st place is impressive, but you need to face reality. It’ll eventually be overtaken again. Stop drinking that nationalist Kool-Aid.
└ What blood shield? Even while trash like you are posting hate comments, it’s been maintaining 1st place for 6 hours already?
Such controversies began to somewhat subside when someone’s screenshot of the current situation at Ryu Yeon-woo’s fan cafe Woods circulated around communities.
– [Guys, this is the real-time status of Ryu Yeon-woo’s fan cafe right now.]
– (No.25673) I want to join the deer eyes fan website. How do I do it?
– (No.25674) I want to join as a full-time member. Do I need to pay money?
– (No.25675) His gentle smile melted me. I want more information about him.
– (No.25676) What is this thing called deer antlers[Aegyo/Cute Act]? I demand a quick explanation about it.
Posts run through translators began rapidly increasing in real-time due to fans flooding in from overseas.
At that moment, Yeon-woo was grilling and eating meat at a dinner gathering held as both a wrap party and celebration for the final episode’s release.
“Hyung!”
Dong-ha, who had become close during filming, called out familiarly and moved to the seat next to him.
“Do you know there’s chaos happening on Reddit in real-time right now?”
“Reddit?”
Reddit is the largest community for English-speaking internet users.
A community with a system where comments follow in sequence when a thread is opened.
Dong-ha held up his smartphone to show Yeon-woo.
– People who finished “White Blood.” What do you think about the protagonist? [Information Sharing]
The comments that first started appearing on that post were mainly about Ryu Yeon-woo’s profile filmography or discussions about “White Blood’s” story.
But from the middle part, when Koreans presumed to be Woods members began entering, it started to transform in a different direction.
– Foreigners, get a taste of this sweet-sweet-Yeon-woo.gif
They began uploading several scenes from when Yeon-woo appeared on “Yeo-reum’s Closet,” and other fans joined in afterward.
– Sweet-pumpkin-Yeon-woo during interview.gif
– Melancholy-Yeon-woo with sorrowful eyes in Sketch.gif
– Melancholy is already taken, then Pierre Choi personality-Yeon-woo.gif
Foreign users who were hanging out in the thread were wide-eyed at the countless meme bombardment.
– What? He’s clearly a young actor, but how many movies has he made so far?
– Maybe he started acting from a very young age like Ashley Vita? K-POP idols also start activities from a young age.
– Hey Bro. What are you talking about? Look at those photos. They’re all not much different from how he looks now. They were taken when he was already an adult.
Domestic fans judged that this was the right timing for Yeon-woo and began rowing hard.
And that was a great oar crossing the Pacific Ocean to go overseas.
Domestic memes began to be transformed into overseas memes for export, and domestically, a variety show filmed before achieving 1st place was released, causing White Blood and Ryu Yeon-woo’s reputation to reach its peak.
Director Hwang Min-kwon’s appearance on a national MC’s variety program that featured successful guests from various fields for comfortable conversations was now being aired.
Director Hwang Min-kwon, who was originally shy in official settings and had hidden behind Yeon-woo at the launch event, had accepted the variety show casting thinking he should do something as a director since the series was achieving such great success.
Whether the production team had shown consideration, the broadcast date was the day “White Blood’s” final episode was released.
So, that would be today.
Though they had already achieved first place before receiving that consideration.
Director Jung Yo-han grinned as he picked up the remote control and stood up from his seat at the BBQ restaurant.
“Alright, everyone. Today is the day of Director Hwang’s variety show debut. It’s time to start now. Hehe.”
“Hey! I wasn’t telling anyone about it! I was trying to slip by quietly, so why did you have to mention it!”
As Hwang Min-kwon panicked, Han Byeol, who had attended the company dinner with her mother, raised her hand high.
“Director! I already knew everything from reading the articles!”
“Me too.”
Jung Su-yeon also chimed in with a laugh.
“Well then, shall we all watch together?”
“Aaaah!”
Director Hwang Min-kwon, apparently lacking the courage to watch together, ran out of the BBQ restaurant.
– Ah, hello. I’m Hwang, Hwang Min-kwon, who took on the appearance in “White Blood” this time.
– The director was so nervous. It’s not an appearance, you’re directing it. Honey, help him relax.
– Ah, yes, I understand. Then, if it’s not too rude to ask, Director, could you tell us how much income this work has generated…
– Oh my, honey. Why are you talking about money?
Rather, Director Hwang Min-kwon’s nervous character came across as endearing, making for a smooth start.
After the subsequent stories about filming flowed by, the assistant MC spoke up.
– I heard there was quite an unusual production behind-the-scenes story before Director Hwang took on this project.
Upon hearing that question, Director Hwang nodded his head.
Gone was his bumbling appearance from before, and his eyes became focused and sharp.
The thought that he had to speak properly about this much was conveyed even to the viewers.
– Yes, that’s right. I was actually a failed unknown director. As usual, I was at home wearing just a running shirt, ordering jjamppong and patting my protruding belly. Then I saw an interview that our protagonist, actor Ryu Yeon-woo, gave after winning the Golden Bear Award for “Sketch.”
Then, the interview where Yeon-woo had talked about romance was shown as archival footage.
– I went to find him recklessly. With the intention of grabbing onto his pant legs and clinging to him. Looking back now, I don’t know where that courage came from. I lied about having an appointment with the CEO and climbed all the way to the top floor of the office building before getting caught.
And he went on to tell the story of his meeting with Ryu Yeon-woo and the process by which the LN Enter CEO and Ryu Yeon-woo accepted after reading the scenario.
The MCs, perhaps sensing this would be tremendous material for discussion, kept their mouths shut and listened quietly, when normally they would have intervened to add humor.
– And to polish my messy scenario, actor Ryu Yeon-woo personally recruited writer Kim Jin-ju and began actively participating in story planning.
Director Hwang Min-kwon, having laid out all the production behind-the-scenes stories, spoke with slight tears in his voice.
– Actor Ryu Yeon-woo is South Korea’s greatest actor and the ideal type that all directors dream of. At least for me, he is.
“Ooooh.”
The production staff and actors at the BBQ restaurant looked at Yeon-woo and cheered.
This story applied to everyone present here.
Because Yeon-woo had decided to make this work, the people gathered here were able to film the project.
Hearing the cheering from inside the restaurant, Director Hwang Min-kwon, thinking the variety show had somewhat concluded, came back in.
Then Yeon-woo grinned and looked at Director Hwang Min-kwon, saying,
“Director, did you cry because of me?”
“Aaaah!”
Director Hwang Min-kwon closed the door he had been opening and ran away again.
***
The next day, “White Blood” was still steadily maintaining its first-place position and continued to shake up South Korea, but the person in question, Yeon-woo, contacted none other than Han Hae-woon as soon as he woke up.
– I think it’s time to gradually move to the next step. You know that list we talked about last time. Let’s start making it in earnest.
– Han Hae-woon: The time has come. Understood.
There was no telling how long Baek Sol would continue with such childish tactics.
So far, the attacks on LN Enter had been at the level of probing jabs, but if they put their minds to it, they could become wolves that would take off their gloves and rush in to bite.
‘They’re the type who don’t distinguish between legal and illegal methods from the start.’
To prepare for that, he intended to secure some degree of operational capability.
Han Hae-woon reinforced the content based on the list Yeon-woo had prepared.
Han Hae-woon’s previous life, Baek Yu-hyeon, had served in the Special Forces before joining the National Intelligence Service, and he compiled a list centered on colleagues from that time.
He planned to thoroughly investigate what they were doing now and their backgrounds, then propose creating a private intelligence company domestically, focusing on suitable candidates.
‘Of course, throughout this entire process, mine and Han Hae-woon’s identities must be thoroughly concealed.’
Regarding operating funds, the income Yeon-woo was earning was at a level that couldn’t be ignored, and if delivered to Baek No-ya through Han Hae-woon, there would be no problems.
Baek No-ya was the absolute master of money laundering domestically, to the extent that even if the entire Financial Supervisory Service gave their all, he would be difficult to catch.
And basically, Baek No-ya would provide almost all financial support.
As the front with Baek Sol widened, Baek No-ya, who valued his own life above all else, couldn’t possibly be unaware of the importance of field operatives.
In any case, they had to prepare before those Baek Sol bastards extended their larger claws.
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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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