NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 160

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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 160. Acting Demonstration

 

The members of Theater Company Saebyeol came back down to the basement.

 

 

 

“Have you ever done acting before?”

 

“How could I have? Of course not. What about you?”

 

 

 

To Jun-su’s question, Seong-sik unexpectedly nodded.

 

 

 

“···Huh? You have?”

 

“Yeah. I did something weird at a festival in middle school. Don’t you remember?”

 

 

 

Jun-su tilted his head.

 

 

 

“I don’t know. We weren’t really close back then.”

 

“We did some crude play about preventing school violence.”

 

 

 

Yeon-woo, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, spoke up.

 

 

 

“Forget about your acting experience, then do you have any experience watching plays?”

 

“Plays? I watched one with Yuri Noona once. But it was right after we started dating, so honestly I don’t remember any of the content.”

 

“I don’t even have that much experience.”

 

 

 

Yeon-woo stroked his chin and then went up onto the stage.

 

 

 

“Then sit in the audience seats. Even though you’re members of a theater company now, if people heard you’ve never seen a play, they’d laugh. Yu-han, help me out.”

 

“Okay.”

 

 

 

At Yeon-woo’s words, Jin Yu-han nodded and came up onto the stage.

 

The remaining members sat down with sparkling eyes.

 

 

 

“Ooh! Are you going to show us a demonstration?”

 

“Hey, think about how much this would cost.”

 

“Right. You couldn’t see this even if you paid money.”

 

 

 

All three had expectant faces, but the most excited among them was Kim Ju-hyeong.

 

 

 

“Wow, I get to see this again.”

 

 

 

He had just been a college student who liked movies, but what made Kim Ju-hyeong interested in acting and even write a play script was because of the performance those two on stage had put on in the past.

 

 

 

Jin Yu-han, who had gone up on stage, approached Yeon-woo.

 

 

 

“But we don’t have a prepared script. Are you planning to improvise?”

 

 

 

Then Yeon-woo grinned.

 

 

 

“We have a prepared script. We can do ‘Deyandor’. Let’s just skip the singing parts.”

 

“Ah. Then that part we did before?”

 

 

 

At Jin Yu-han’s words, Yeon-woo recalled the performance they had put on when they visited the support vehicle.

 

 

 

Back then, Yeon-woo had played the role of ‘Ezel’, the workers’ representative, and Jin Yu-han had played the role of ‘Shane’, a 1930s Detroit mafia member.

 

 

 

The character ‘Shane’ that Jin Yu-han played had witnessed his father’s tragic death and came to curse industrialization, forcibly occupying the factory where ‘Ezel’, the role Yeon-woo briefly acted, worked.

 

 

 

The scene where they clashed with their lives on the line after that.

 

 

 

Yeon-woo had perfectly performed the original’s ‘Five Steps’ in that part.

 

 

 

It wouldn’t matter if they did that part again, but since they were just doing it for fun, it might be good to try a different part.

 

 

 

“Hmm, since we’re doing it anyway, should we try a different part?”

 

“Huh? You’ve never seen the script for other parts.”

 

 

 

Then Yeon-woo raised the corners of his mouth.

 

 

 

“I went to watch your premiere a few days ago. And I’m a ‘Deyandor’ fanatic, so I can do other parts too. Of course, it’ll be a bit different from the dialogue written in the script, but let’s improvise according to the content.”

 

“Really? That sounds fun too. Which part should we do?”

 

 

 

Jin Yu-han was the lead actor currently performing that musical, so any part would be fine for him.

 

 

 

After thinking about it, surprisingly no suitable scene came to mind.

 

 

 

“But if we exclude that scene, there aren’t many scenes where two men interact? It’s all mainly Jane and Shane, or Ezel and Jane.”

 

 

 

At Jin Yu-han’s words, Yeon-woo, who had been recalling the content of ‘Deyandor’, immediately thought of one part.

 

 

 

“Then how about this? Jane’s final moment.”

 

 

 

Then Jin Yu-han tilted his head sideways.

 

 

 

“Huh? We’re both men, how can we do that scene? There’s no Jane.”

 

 

 

‘Jane’s final moment’ was a meaningful scene for Yeon-woo.

 

 

 

It was the part that made him choose seats in the right terrace every time he watched ‘Deyandor’ in his previous life.

 

 

 

– ‘In ‘Deyandor’, the female protagonist, despairing over her love, stabs herself with a sword and dies, and at that moment, all the emotions humans experience flash across her face. Looking at that expression from the highest right terrace seats is magnificent.’

 

 

 

These were words that Yeon-woo from his previous life had once said to Han Hae-woon from his previous life.

 

 

 

The highest right terrace seats were a tip for purely appreciating this scene, and thanks to Han Hae-woon remembering that story, it also became an opportunity for him to find himself in this life.

 

 

 

The problem was, as Jin Yu-han said, this scene belonged to ‘Jane’, who was Shane’s younger sister and the female protagonist that Jin Yu-han was currently playing.

 

 

 

“How about changing Jane to a man? Instead of siblings, make it a conflict between brothers.”

 

 

 

At Yeon-woo’s words, as if intrigued, a gleam appeared in Jin Yu-han’s eyes.

 

 

 

“I’ve never thought of it that way. Hmm, that’s interesting?”

 

“Let’s call Jane’s name roughly ‘Alex,’ and replace the existence of Ezel, the original male protagonist, with ‘Angel,’ the female protagonist.”

 

 

 

Then Jin Yu-han nodded as if something had occurred to him and added his opinion.

 

 

 

“Oh ho. Then in that final confrontation part…”

 

“Okay. Then we’ll replace the sword in the final part with a gun and I’ll go first…”

 

 

 

Yeon-woo and Jin Yu-han’s eyes lit up simultaneously as they exchanged opinions in an instant.

 

 

 

 

 

“Well then, let’s begin. I’ve modified a part of ‘Dejandor’ slightly to fit the play.”

 

 

 

At Yeon-woo’s words, the friends in the audience seats nodded with expectant faces.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Jin Yu-han brought over a stool chair, placed it in the center of the stage, and sat down.

 

 

 

And Yeon-woo steadied his breathing, reached his hand toward the air in a door-opening motion, then approached Jin Yu-han.

 

 

 

Those two simple actions naturally made it clear that the place where the two were now was somewhere indoors.

 

 

 

Jin Yu-han started with solid voice projection.

 

 

 

“Alex. Have you finally come to your senses?”

 

 

 

Hearing the first line, the friends in the audience seats tilted their heads in confusion.

 

 

 

‘Who is Alex?’

 

 

 

All three had just come from watching Jin Yu-han’s performance.

 

So the content was still vividly remembered, but no character named Alex appeared.

 

 

 

Without even responding to Jin Yu-han’s words, Yeon-woo opened his mouth with empty eyes.

 

 

 

“Hyung. Do you remember Dr. Fisher who lived next door when we were kids?”

 

“Fisher? You mean that doctor? Dr. Fisher?”

 

 

 

Then the friends caught on to what situation this was.

 

 

 

‘Talking about Dr. Fisher is from the final part with the female protagonist Jane.’

 

 

 

In the original, it was a scene between Shane, the role Jin Yu-han played, and his younger sister Jane, the female protagonist of the play.

 

 

 

The scene that begins with her resenting her mafia older brother who killed the factory youth she loved, and putting poison in the alcohol he always drank before handing it to him.

 

 

 

‘So instead of younger sister Jane, it became younger brother Alex?’

 

 

 

As the friends focused, Yeon-woo opened his mouth again.

 

 

 

“Yeah. We used to play catch often when we were young. I ran into him by chance at a bar on Kercheval Street last time. He was proud seeing how successful you’ve become.”

 

“Really? But why are you suddenly talking about him?”

 

 

 

But Alex continued with his own words as if he had no interest in what Shane was saying.

 

 

 

“But that man, you see. He’s researching the brain inside this skull, and he says love is just a chemical reaction caused by hormones. It’s all an illusion. All phantoms. It’s just an urge that occurs the same way as eating, drinking, and sleeping.”

 

 

 

Finishing the long line in one breath, Yeon-woo looked at Jin Yu-han for the first time.

 

 

 

“What do you think? Do you think so too, hyung?”

 

 

 

Receiving that gaze, Jin Yu-han was inwardly surprised once again.

 

 

 

‘I thought this last time too, but the lines Yeon-woo delivers have a unique rhythm different from other people. There’s some kind of melody that seems to stick right in your ears.’

 

 

 

Of course, that difference was also conveyed to the friends in the audience seats since they had just come from watching Jin Yu-han’s performance.

 

 

 

Jin Yu-han, who had hesitated for a moment, picked up the dialogue again.

 

 

 

“I wondered what you were talking about coming here suddenly, and you’re trying to talk about that Angel woman or whatever again? The emotion you’re feeling right now is just based on that too. Fisher spoke correctly.”

 

 

 

Then Alex, hearing his brother’s words, burst into loud laughter.

 

 

 

Hahaha—.

 

 

 

Yeon-woo acting out that appearance was like a ‘madman.’

 

 

 

From Yeon-woo looking into the air and opening his mouth wide, laughing loudly enough to make his uvula tremble, an unapproachable charisma could be felt.

 

 

 

And shifting his gaze, Yeon-woo looked directly at Jin Yu-han.

 

Then, naturally overwhelmed by that atmosphere, Jin Yu-han stood up from the chair he had been sitting in.

 

 

 

‘…Hm? Why did I stand up?’

 

 

 

He had no intention of getting up from his seat until this short performance ended.

 

He had unconsciously stood up from his seat, overwhelmed by the atmosphere.

 

 

 

And Yeon-woo opened his mouth again.

 

 

 

“What’s so important about one little thing dying? It was all just a small sacrifice for the greater cause. This is what you want to say, hyung?”

 

 

 

Clearly Yeon-woo was speaking, but the voice and tone that flowed from his mouth was chillingly similar to ‘Shane’ that Jin Yu-han acted in the main performance.

 

 

 

The sense of alienation from that ever-changing tonal variation made even the friends watching from the audience seats tense.

 

 

 

Jin Yu-han was also momentarily overwhelmed, but since the countless practiced lines were ingrained in his mouth, the next line automatically flowed out.

 

 

 

“That’s right. You pathetic bastard. I told you. We have to become strong. To survive in this jungle called Detroit, we have to become wolves without blood or tears.”

 

 

 

And shaking his head as if pathetic, Jin Yu-han continued speaking again.

 

 

 

“But what? Love? Don’t waste time on such worthless things. I have a lot of work you need to help me with.”

 

 

 

And Yeon-woo stepped forward.

 

 

 

The facial expression acting that Yeon-woo would perform along with his lines from now on was, in the original work, delivered while looking diagonally upward and gazing into empty space.

 

 

 

That’s why it was said that this part could be best viewed from the right terrace.

 

 

 

However, since no such thing as a right terrace existed in this small theater, Yeon-woo began his lines while looking at his friends in the audience seats.

 

 

 

“My brother always said that everyone would die because of the machines made in the factory. But I think I finally understand what he meant.”

 

 

 

Yeon-woo’s face as he spoke those lines changed in sequence from emptiness to anger, from anger to compassion.

 

 

 

The friends in the audience seats, faced with raw, unrefined emotions, unconsciously opened their mouths.

 

 

 

Again, Yeon-woo’s expression changed to a resolute face that had made some kind of decision.

 

 

 

“Machines only move for their purpose. Machines without emotions are dangerous. That’s what my brother always used to say.”

 

 

 

Then he spun around and looked directly at Jin Yu-han.

 

 

 

“A machine made in the factory called competitive society. Just like you.”

 

 

 

What Alex’s brother Shane had finally killed by blowing up the factory wasn’t just his beloved woman. It was the last remaining strand of his own humanity.

 

 

 

He made the motion of drawing a pistol from behind his back and pulled the trigger.

 

 

 

Bang─!

 

 

 

It was the sound of Yeon-woo stamping his foot on the floor, but his friends, who had become completely immersed in the play, flinched greatly as if they heard a gunshot from somewhere.

 

 

 

Then, as if it were a lie, Yeon-woo turned around again and smiled brightly.

 

 

 

“It’s over.”

 

 

 

Acting is the work of telling lies but ultimately convincing those who watch it.

 

 

 

In this brief moment, the friends in the audience seats were completely convinced.

 

To the point where they forgot even the space they were in and became momentarily immersed and absorbed.

 

 

 

Though they had watched countless movies and dramas until now, they were overwhelmed by the vividness they felt before their eyes.

 

Kim Jun-su, who barely managed to break free, opened his mouth with a dazed heart.

 

 

 

“···So this is what acting is.”

 

 

 

At those words, Jin Yu-han on the stage shook his head slightly.

 

His friends were mistaken—this wasn’t ordinary ‘acting.’

 

 

 

It was just ‘Ryu Yeon-woo.’

 

 

—————
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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