NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 282

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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 282. Viewership Rating Proxy War

Chu Han-su, who uses the survival club nickname ‘Marine Victory’, was once again posting hate comments on the flood of Ryu Yeon-woo’s “Survival Island” mad movie videos on YouTube today.

 

Ever since the first broadcast last week, the Internet had been absolutely boiling.

 

At first, he was pleased that survival games, his hobby, seemed to be becoming mainstream, but when he saw Player 7 in the video, he felt inexplicably irritated.

 

“Ugh, damn it. I’m getting chills again. Why is this happening? Did all the weather stripping I put on the window come off?”

 

Watching Player 7 – that is, Ryu Yeon-woo’s video – playing on YouTube somehow gave him chills.

 

It seemed ridiculous, but whenever he saw Ryu Yeon-woo, he was reminded of the humiliation he suffered years ago at the survival game arena when high school students ganged up on him with whistling.

 

“Damn it, even got frozen…”

 

Back then, he was driven into the storage shed and eventually got frozen, which would be equivalent to a surrender in the rules of the variety show “Survival Island.”

 

For over a year after that, he was mocked in the club for being cornered by high schoolers and surrendering.

 

‘Strange. Why does seeing that bastard Ryu Yeon-woo keep reminding me of that time? Those little shits with weird nicknames like Acting King and Attention King…’

 

Frowning, the public service worker ‘Marine Victory’ Chu Han-su placed his hands on the keyboard.

 

– Marine Victory (1 second ago): What kind of rampage is that bullshit? The first kill was just lucky after running at the start, and the second double kill was just picked up by chance while stuck in a tree like an idiot. Just a kill stealer lol

 

“Phew…”

 

After venting all that criticism, the mysterious sense of unease that kept giving him goosebumps seemed to lessen somewhat.

 

‘Ah, watching the video makes me want to play a game. Should I ask if there are any spots?’

 

Chu Han-su called the club president who runs the survival game arena.

 

“Yes, Big Brother. It’s Han-su. I was thinking of playing a game today, is there any available spot…”

– Ah, no spots available. I’m a bit busy right now, so I’ll hang up. Han-su.

 

Click─.

 

Chu Han-su’s face contorted as he stared at the smartphone he had pulled away from his ear after the call ended.

 

“What, has this old man gone senile? I obviously know he’s always short on people, so why are there no spots? And what’s he busy with when he just plays Internet Go when there are no customers at that arena where only flies buzz around?”

 

***

 

Meanwhile, Ha Yoon-sik, the survival game arena owner who had hung up on Chu Han-su (saved in his phone as ‘Annoying’), was grinning from ear to ear.

 

“Haha, customers, please come this way. Let me start by explaining the equipment.”

“Yes─.”

 

The survival game arena that used to have only flies buzzing around suddenly started getting flooded with customers.

 

‘And female customers at that… This is crazy.’

 

Ha Yoon-sik looked at the customers in front of him.

 

They were young-faced female college students who probably had zero interest in survival games normally.

 

While female customers had visited the arena during his years of operation, this was definitely the first time five young college women had come as a team wanting to learn.

 

‘What’s even more amazing is that these aren’t the only team like this.’

 

Just this week alone, the survival game arena’s schedule was packed tight with reserved customers.

 

“Oh, Lord Ryu amen.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, no. I was just talking to myself for a moment. Please come this way. This is the protective gear you’ll wear during the game.

 

The customer tilted her head at the owner’s random comment.

Then her eyes sparkled as she looked at the equipment hanging on the wall.

 

“Wow, this looks exactly like what Ryu Yeon-woo wore. Amazing.”

“Seo-hyeon, take some photos of me wearing this later. For uploading.”

“Got it. Using the basic camera?”

“No, the basic camera is absolutely not okay. Use an app.”

 

Ha Yoon-sik grinned from ear to ear watching the customers chatter among themselves and take photos.

 

This was a scene he could never have imagined in his arena that used to only have flies buzzing around.

 

***

 

Yeon-woo nodded as he looked up information about “Survival Island” on the Internet with his smartphone.

 

“Still, the first broadcast turned out pretty well.”

 

The premiere episode recorded a 6.1 percent viewership rating.

 

Since middle-aged and older viewers mainly watch public broadcasting or comprehensive programming channels, “Survival Island” served by TVM was bound to show relatively low numbers in TV-based measurements.

 

Nevertheless, it was an extremely high viewership rating for a cable variety show.

 

‘Originally, the demographic that consumes TVM Broadcasting Station’s content is mostly people in their twenties and thirties.’

 

Instead, the content replay usage rate and the number of short clip videos circulating on SNS or YouTube were overwhelming.

 

Popular posts in various communities, clip videos shared through SNS – countless Internet spaces were filled with nothing but talk about “Survival Island.”

 

However, the reason for appearing on “Survival Island” was ultimately to bring viewers to his drama.

 

Yeon-woo stroked his chin as he looked up today’s programming schedule on the Internet.

 

‘We’re facing off early today.’

 

The SBC drama “Daytona” produced by Lake Film, which is presumed to be Baeksol’s money laundering operation.

 

The drama’s first broadcast clash would be in two months, but today they’re having a proxy battle in advance.

 

‘All the lead actors are mobilizing…’

 

Today, the lead actors of “Daytona” are appearing on SBC’s flagship variety show “Showtime,” which coincidentally airs at the same time as “Survival Island.”

 

‘Since they filmed Showtime after the article about me appearing on the survival show came out, it’s probably not a coincidence.’

 

If the other side was planning to do promotional activities through variety show appearances anyway, they probably judged it would be better to nip this variety show in the bud while they were at it.

 

“Hmm, I always welcome this kind of head-to-head confrontation. Today will probably show up to the part where we enter the dormitory after the first day’s competition ends.”

 

Although he didn’t know what kind of performance the other cast would put on in their variety show appearance, Yeon-woo, who knew the content of the already-filmed “Survival Island,” was already confident.

 

The effort he put into directing from start to finish, creating the narrative of victory step by step, wouldn’t have been in vain.

 

 

Since several people were gathering in the main conference room to watch today’s broadcast, Yeon-woo also visited the office building with Manager Kim Min-su.

 

When Yeon-woo opened the door to the main conference room and saw the gathered staff and actors, he shook his head.

 

It wasn’t just “several people” – the number gathered was quite substantial, similar to the first broadcast day.

 

“Um, doesn’t everyone have schedules? Plans with friends or something…”

“No. Ever since the first broadcast aired last week, watching this has become the joy of our lives.”

“This is our schedule.”

 

Son Jin-wook chuckled at Yeon-woo’s words and quickly gestured for him to come over.

 

While gathering to watch the first broadcast together had become a tradition, today was the second episode, yet quite a few people had voluntarily gathered.

 

“Director, can’t you give us some spoilers?”

 

At one staff member’s question, Director Yoon Mi-yeon shrugged and pointed to Kim Min-su and Yeon-woo.

 

“You should ask those two. I don’t know anything about the content either.”

 

Then the staff in the room looked at Yeon-woo for a moment, but thinking it was hopeless, their gazes shifted to Manager Kim Min-su.

 

However, Kim Min-su also grinned and made a zipping motion over his mouth with his finger, then clamped his lips shut.

 

“Sigh, thirsty viewers have no choice but to wait and watch every week…”

 

Just then, the second episode broadcast began.

 

***

 

– Come on, sir. If you shoot from this distance, even if they’re plastic bullets, it would hurt a lot, right? Let’s acknowledge the surrender.

 

The scene where Yeon-woo tailed Player 29 and got him to surrender with a surrender kill appeared.

 

The edited scene, accompanied by tense music, alternated in real-time between Yeon-woo following behind and the player ahead, making it seem like a scene from an action thriller movie.

 

– It’s so chewy and bouncy hahaha

– How did he do that? Is Player 29 an idiot? Why doesn’t he notice someone following right behind him?

– For real, I thought he’d get eliminated but he’s doing better than expected

– There’s some marine guy who kept posting on the board that Ryu Yeon-woo’s kill was just lucky, where did he burrow off to?

– But what are Min Jun-kyung and Kang Hak-jun doing? They made such a big deal about being championship candidates

 

Male-dominated communities mainly focused on the game content or split into ‘fans’ and ‘haters’ criticizing each other, while fan cafes and general communities began clipping and distributing scenes of Yeon-woo’s activities.

 

– In that part when they put the gun to his neck, he gets totally screwed, just gets hit by a truck ㅠㅠㅜ

– Are there any people living in Incheon who want to do survival games as a hobby together?!?! Currently 3/5

– How can he be so perfect?

 

The staff gathered in the main conference room watching had similar reactions.

In fact, since Yeon-woo was right next to them, their reactions were even more intense.

 

“This is really amazing. Were you a special agent in your past life?”

“…Wow, that’s crazy. But why doesn’t he notice when you’re following him like that from behind?”

 

Questions poured toward Yeon-woo in real-time.

 

Since the person from the screen was sitting right next to them watching together, they could ask directly just by turning their heads.

That was probably why they bothered to gather at the office building at this late hour to watch together, even though it wasn’t the World Cup.

 

‘Hmm, I think a dangerous question just came in…’

 

Of course, the question about his past life probably wasn’t asked out of genuine curiosity, but Yeon-woo deliberately ignored it and answered other questions.

 

“Well, I think that player was probably too nervous to hear the sound of someone following. And since he’s wearing a helmet to protect his head, it’s harder to hear sounds.”

“Ah, I see. He is wearing a helmet.”

 

In reality, just because you’re wearing a helmet doesn’t mean you can’t hear human presence in a quiet forest where even insects chirping can be heard.

 

However, the staff seemed somewhat convinced by Yeon-woo’s explanation.

 

Then Son Jin-wook shook his head.

 

“I’ve been with this guy for several years now, you know? It’s his natural species trait.”

“…Species trait?”

“Racial characteristic. It’s a gaming term.”

 

Yeon-woo knew that much too.

He had studied modern slang (?) quite a bit recently.

 

“What part is that supposed to be a species trait?”

“Didn’t you know? You normally don’t make any footsteps or presence sounds. Even on the filming set, you suddenly appear from behind and startle everyone.”

“Hmm…”

 

It seemed like due to habits ingrained in his body, he naturally moved while minimizing his presence even in daily life.

 

‘I should be mindful and fix this too.’

 

Yeon-woo quietly approached near Gong Min-jeong, who was in charge of publicity, and whispered to her.

 

“Min-jeong sunbae. Can you check the minute-by-minute viewership ratings for ‘Showtime’ and ‘Survival Island’ right now?”

“Yes, it’s possible. I was actually about to check now anyway. While there’s some difference from the viewership ratings that come out tomorrow morning, I can find out the ratings from IPTV sample households.”

 

Gong Min-jeong looked up something on her laptop, then looked at Yeon-woo with a delighted expression.

 

“We’re at 9.6 percent and SBC’s ‘Showtime’ is at 8.1 percent!”

 

At Gong Min-jeong’s words, Yeon-woo nodded and smiled.

 

It had risen by a whopping 3.5 percentage points from the first broadcast’s viewership rating.

 

The drama viewership rating proxy war had definitely broken the neck of the enemy’s vanguard.

 

But there were still many cards prepared on this side.

 

Not only ‘Survival Island’, but also the NeTube basketball variety show they had filmed while shooting ‘Parabola’ was ready.

 

‘I need to shake them down completely.’

 

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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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