NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 280
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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 280. Survival Island Broadcast
Yeon-woo, who returned to the office building with Manager Kim Min-su, broke out in a cold sweat trying to make CEO Jeong Hyeok and Director Yoon Mi-yeon understand.
‘Well, it’s something that already happened and I don’t necessarily have to make them understand…’
Actually, CEO Jeong Hyeok and Director Yoon Mi-yeon aren’t what’s important.
Once the program starts airing, countless interview requests will come into the company.
Given the domestic sentiment, it’s far beyond common sense for someone who hasn’t completed military service to beat all the military veterans and win a survival competition that could be seen as mock combat.
‘But the idea that existing participants who completed their full military service would be advantageous in survival games is fundamentally flawed…’
The program’s participants each completed service in units considered ‘tough places’ by civilian standards, but does that mean they’re good at survival games?
‘Honestly, it’s hard to agree with that.’
In fact, the program’s planning concept itself was one-dimensional thinking.
Units that train for this kind of mock combat as individual battles rather than team units are extremely rare.
Moreover, if they’re not even professional soldiers, related training would be counted on one hand.
‘If training is like that, naturally there’s no way they’d have real combat experience.’
In other words, the only advantage of being a military veteran is having shot a gun, and there’s not much else.
Rather, someone who enjoys survival games as a hobby would inevitably be much more advantageous.
‘I should establish a response strategy focused on that point.’
To some extent, it was necessary to coordinate the company’s response for what comes next.
In the meeting room where CEO Jeong Hyeok and Manager Kim Min-su had left, only Yeon-woo, Director Yoon Mi-yeon, and Jin Yu-han remained.
“So you’re saying Yeon-woo is a military enthusiast who usually likes FPS games and often plays survival games?”
“Yes. If they want press materials, it would be good to respond that way for now.”
“Hmm, understood.”
At Yeon-woo’s words, Director Yoon Mi-yeon nodded and took notes on her smartphone.
Then Jin Yu-han, who had been quietly listening beside them, raised his hand.
“I could help with that.”
“Huh? By the way, why are you here?”
When Yeon-woo asked back, Jin Yu-han answered as if it was nothing special.
“I was in a meeting about filming a movie early next year. And I’ve been on variety shows too.”
“Ah, you filmed ‘Rooftop Movie Theater’? Jin-wook hyung did ‘Dawn Market’.”
“I believe the movie Actor Jin filmed, ‘Summer, That Cold,’ was the filming subject?”
Jin Yu-han nodded at Director Yoon Mi-yeon’s words.
“Yes. Since that movie was about school days, they asked what I actually do and play with friends in private.”
Yeon-woo and Director Yoon Mi-yeon nodded and focused on Jin Yu-han’s words.
Actually, Yeon-woo was also slightly curious about what Jin Yu-han does with friends in private.
‘Wait, did this guy even have friends other than me in the first place?’
While Yeon-woo was having disloyal(?) thoughts for a moment, Jin Yu-han picked up his teacup to wet his throat and continued speaking.
“So I talked about playing survival games with you and the guys a few years ago. Since that broadcast will air this Thursday, we can lay some groundwork to some extent.”
Hearing Jin Yu-han’s words, Yeon-woo also thought of Kim Jun-su and Woo Seong-sik, who had now become real soldiers.
“It’s already been several years since then. Anyway, good job. That much should be enough to create an alibi that you usually enjoyed survival games as a hobby.”
“You’re naturally good at it, but having to create an alibi must be tiring for you too.”
At Jin Yu-han’s words, Yeon-woo scratched the back of his head.
‘This time wasn’t at the level of survival games I played with the guys…’
Since Jin Yu-han had played together with Yeon-woo before, he would know that Yeon-woo was good at survival, but when Yeon-woo reflected on the activities he had performed while filming on the island this time, there would definitely be things that couldn’t go without comment.
‘Well, even if there are comments, it wouldn’t really be a problem…’
What could be done about it?
There’s no way anyone would seriously suspect that a former NIS agent from a past life was reincarnated as an actor.
Yeon-woo, who had been thinking for a moment, chuckled softly.
***
The filming of ‘Parabola’ that continued after returning from the island went smoothly.
Perhaps because it was a collaboration between actors who were confident in their acting, there were no obstacles.
In the middle of filming, they received filming cooperation from Korea University’s gymnasium and captured scenes that had never been shown on broadcast.
– Originally, Korea University’s gymnasium absolutely never gives filming permits, but since it’s a drama featuring our alumnus student Ryu Yeon-woo, we’re giving special permission.
Yeon-woo nodded as he recalled what the Korea University official had said.
‘That’s actually right. Broadcasting isn’t some government position, and originally broadcasting station people arbitrarily seek filming cooperation and understanding, but there’s no need to comply with all of that.’
Thanks to that, they were able to film the basketball game scene for episode 4 of the drama in Korea University’s gymnasium, which had officially never been shown on broadcast.
Of course, it wasn’t only ‘Parabola’ that was going smoothly.
They received reports that SBC’s blockbuster-level drama ‘Daytona,’ which would compete in the same time slot, was also progressing quite smoothly in production.
‘I thought Baeksol’s financial situation was so dire that they’d reduce the scale of production support, but seeing that’s not the case, they must have managed to secure quite a bit of funding.’
He hadn’t heard any stories about problems with securing the production budget for 「Daytona」 yet.
In fact, that was rather good.
‘The more money they pour in, the more they’ll lose when we beat them in a head-to-head confrontation.’
Yeon-woo stroked his chin as he read the report Han Hae-woon had sent.
‘Hmm, still, I thought Baeksol would try some petty tricks since it’s a drama airing in the same time slot.’
Whether it was because they were busy these days or because they were confident they could easily crush a sports drama airing on TVM, there hadn’t been any particular movements.
Bzzzz─.
Yeon-woo, who had been organizing documents in his office and sorting out his thoughts about Lake Film and the 「Daytona」 they were producing, heard a vibration sound and picked up the smartphone on his desk.
“Yes, Min-su hyung.”
– I’ll arrive within 3 minutes. Keu, I’m looking forward to today.
Yeon-woo chuckled at Kim Min-su’s words.
“Min-su hyung, you already saw everything in the island’s situation room. The actual broadcast won’t be much different, will it?”
Then Kim Min-su replied that wasn’t the case.
– That’s exactly why I’m looking forward to it. Since I already saw it, I’m dying of curiosity about how the company staff and internet reactions will be. Huhu, I just turned right at the intersection.
“Got it. I’ll come down.”
Yeon-woo hung up the call, grabbed his coat, and left through the front door.
Today was the day of 「Survival Island」’s first broadcast.
Actually, gathering at the office building to watch together when a drama started had somehow become a tradition, so even though this variety show wasn’t a drama, since it was quite a large-scale project, they decided to gather and watch the first broadcast together.
He had heard from Yoon Chang-jun PD that it was scheduled for 8 episodes, and considering that variety shows air once a week, the broadcast period would be 8 weeks, the same as a 16-episode drama.
‘Thanks to this, when 「Survival Island」 ends, it’ll perfectly hand off the baton to 「Parabola」.’
How much of the opposing blockbuster drama’s viewership they could steal away was unknown, but it would probably have a considerable impact proportional to the variety show’s success.
***
When Yeon-woo arrived at the office building and entered the main conference room with Kim Min-su, many people had already arrived.
“Hey, the main character’s here.”
Son Jin-wook waved his hand when he saw Yeon-woo.
Looking at Jin-wook, Yeon-woo smiled.
“Hyung. How was filming for 「Dawn Market」?”
“I thought my back was going to break.”
Yeon-woo chuckled at Jin-wook’s exaggeration and looked around.
‘A lot of people gathered.’
Since it was a variety show airing late at night, participation was voluntary, but quite a few employees from both Entertainment and Media seemed to have attended the main conference room.
Gong Min-jeong from the planning team, who had secured the smartwatch PPL that was well-utilized during the competition, was there, and Im Jae-wook, the manager in charge of Jeong Cheol-min, was also visible.
‘Since Teacher Cheol-min isn’t visible but Jae-wook is here, he must have come voluntarily because he wanted to attend.’
Seeing him smile and chat with other management team staff, he seemed to have blended into the company quite well.
He could see employees eating finger food prepared in advance by calling a catering company to the main conference room, gathering in small groups and having conversations.
“Oh, Hee-jin came too?”
“Of course. Our Yeon-woo filmed a variety show after such a long time. Still, won’t you appear a lot in the first episode?”
“Right? You won’t get eliminated right away, will you? Quite a few people around me have been asking about the survival show too. Asking me to give them some spoilers.”
“There were a lot of provocative articles on the internet too. Team Leader Gong doesn’t know the content either, right?”
At Jung Hee-jin’s words, Gong Min-jeong nodded.
“Yes. I haven’t heard anything separately either.”
Among those gathered today, except for CEO Jeong Hyeok, Director Yoon Mi-yeon, Jin Yu-han, and Kim Min-su, the rest didn’t know about Yeon-woo’s victory.
Of course, it wasn’t that he suspected there would be people leaking information to the outside, but there was no need to tell them.
Yeon-woo quietly listened to the employees’ conversations and nodded.
‘Those people are all viewers too, so there’s no need to spoil the fun with spoilers.’
Then, after the SL Electronics smartwatch commercial, the variety show’s intro began.
“Oh, it’s starting!”
When someone shouted, everyone focused on the large screen at the front of the main conference room.
《Throughout human history, there are questions that keep repeating endlessly, even if someone harshly criticizes them as childish.
Who would win if a tiger and a lion fought? Who would win if triads and yakuza fought? Even questions like who would win if a humidifier and dehumidifier fought.
With that spirit, we invited everyone in the entertainment industry who prides themselves on having gone through tough military service.》
The program that started with a simple opening video explained the production team’s intention for planning this program and then began introducing the participants one by one.
《···Singer Min Jun-kyung from the Police Special Operations Unit (SOU), Kang Hak-jun from the Army Special Warfare Command (SWC), Bae Shin-woo from the 35th Special Forces Battalion, and the one whose appearance news alone heated up South Korea’s internet from the production stage···.》
The majestic music abruptly cut off and the screen showed Yeon-woo being interviewed.
– I heard you voluntarily contacted us saying you wanted to participate in this survival show. Is there any particular reason?
– Hmm, not really a particular reason, it just looked fun. That’s the essence of variety shows, right? Fun.
Seeing Yeon-woo answer with a bright smile like an innocent young man, laughter erupted throughout the Main Conference Room.
Rather than Yeon-woo’s appearance being funny, it was the dramatic contrast with the previous solemn atmosphere that had been introducing participants with majestic music – a complete 180-degree difference that naturally drew chuckles.
– Are you confident?
– Of course I know there are many excellent people participating, but I quite like survival games myself. People around me often say I’m a military enthusiast. I also like FPS games.
Then Son Jin-wook, who was sitting next to him, lightly tapped Yeon-woo’s shoulder.
“Hey, that’s a lie. The only game you know how to play is Halli Galli.”
“Hmm…”
He couldn’t fool Son Jin-wook, who had known Yeon-woo since childhood.
After that, the broadcast introduced Gak-ul Island where the survival show would take place and briefly explained the rules.
Since there was more than enough footage anyway, perhaps judging that they needed to capture viewers’ interest from the beginning, the broadcast quickly moved to the part where the game started, showing players being placed in separate locations wearing eye masks.
And Player 7 on the screen began running down the Forest Path.
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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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