NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 290

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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 290. Pupils

As evening arrived, the cast of “Parabola” began gathering one by one at the Saebyeol Building.

 

The Saebyeol actors had arrived first and were chatting, and finally Dong-ha entered the Main Conference Room with his manager, carrying shopping bags in both hands.

 

“Dong-ha’s here? At this point, aren’t you practically part of our company?”

 

At Son Jin-wook’s words, Dong-ha smiled and distributed the shopping bags he was carrying to the actors.

 

“Actually, our director told me to convey that this expression of gratitude was far too late…”

 

When he thought about it, the connection that started with “White Blood” had continued through Achae University, the smartphone CF, and now to “Parabola”.

 

From Dong-ha’s agency’s perspective, being infinitely grateful to Saebyeol was only natural.

 

“You didn’t have to prepare all this.”

 

Yeon-woo also received the shopping bag Dong-ha handed him and checked inside.

 

There was a blue box decorated with gold trim.

 

‘Ah, whiskey.’

 

Unlike Yeon-woo who simply nodded, Jeong Cheol-min’s mouth stretched from ear to ear.

 

“Oh, this is 38-year-old? Wow, a successful idol company really has a different class.”

 

Son Jin-wook beside him was the same.

 

“Wow, Dong-ha, thanks for the gift. Cheol-min hyung, you should come to my place for a drink after the viewing party, right?”

“Of course. Naturally.”

Yeonwoo smiled as he watched Son Jinwook cracking his fingers and clicking his tongue, and Jung Cheolmin nodding his head vigorously.

‘I hardly drink anyway.’

It would be a bit awkward to give it in front of the person who gave the gift, but if I handed it to the two of them on their way home after the viewing party and told them to drink it, they’d probably be grinning from ear to ear.

“Phew, I’m nervous.”

After delivering all the gifts, Dongha plopped down in his seat and let out a sigh, causing Yeonwoo to tilt his head in confusion.

“Ah, back then I honestly didn’t know anything and wasn’t really nervous while acting, but this time my mindset feels a bit different.”

 

Hearing Dong-ha’s words, Yeon-woo quietly nodded.

 

Thinking about it, when “Summer’s Wardrobe” aired, Yeon-woo felt more bewildered than burdened or worried, unable to grasp the sudden popularity he had gained.

 

On the other hand, when filming his next works “Master Plan” and “Stars Beyond Garam,” he somehow found himself caring more about ratings and audience numbers, developing a sense of responsibility.

 

‘Actually, it would be even more so now.’

 

Since he was now not just a simple actor but the actual owner leading a production company and agency, he couldn’t be free from pressure about performance.

 

While the actors were chatting about various things, all the commercials ended and one of the staff shouted.

 

“Alright, ‘Parabola’ Episode 1 is starting now!”

 

The Main Conference Room instantly became quiet, and only the sound of people swallowing could be heard around them.

 

***

***

The drama’s first scene began with a surreal sight.

 

It was a space where a purple-tinted sky was reflected in an empty lake, making it impossible to distinguish where the water ended and the sky began.

 

Naturally, those colors created a dreamlike atmosphere.

 

And above it, Yeon-woo lay like a corpse on a ferry boat quietly floating down the calm lake, creating ripples, gazing at the sky with hazy eyes.

 

Everyone opened their eyes wide and stared at the screen at that breathtaking visual beauty.

Everyone stared at the screen with wide eyes, captivated by the breathtaking visuals.

I didn’t expect such abstract scenes to unfold right from the beginning of a youth sports story.

‘I had suggested that the opening should break viewers’ expectations and have a dreamy, fantastical direction.’

It was a scene that Director Kim Han-su poured his heart and soul into directing after listening intently to Yeon-woo’s story.

The dreamlike lake reflecting purple hues soon began to churn violently, and the ferry carrying Yeonwoo rocked fiercely.

Nevertheless, Ryu Yeon-woo in the drama didn’t even blink, just staring up at the sky with wide-open eyes like a frozen fish that had already died.

The camera captured a close-up of Yeonwoo’s eyes on screen, and in those pupils seen up close, there was a bottomless, abyss-like emptiness that seemed to have no end.

Deep eyes that make the viewer feel a dizzying sensation, as if being sucked into that pitch-black abyss.

No, adding the character for person, it could be called human-magnetic force without anyone objecting.

 

It literally drew viewers in completely.

 

‘Wow… what kind of gaze is that.’

 

Dong-ha, who was watching the screen, shook his head.

 

Since it was an individual filming scene, even Dong-ha, who was a cast member, was seeing this scene for the first time. Seeing Yeon-woo on screen expressionlessly just opening his eyes while containing emptiness in those pupils, he tried to gauge whether he could do the same, then soon shook his head.

 

‘No, how does one even do such subtle pupil acting…?’

 

Dong-ha shook his head at what seemed like an insurmountable gap and glanced at Yeon-woo sitting beside him.

Dongha shook his head at the seemingly insurmountable gap and glanced sideways at Yeonwoo sitting next to him.

 

Yeon-woo was quietly nodding while looking at the screen.

 

‘If you deliberately create an incident in a separate independent space at the beginning of the drama that only the viewers and protagonist know about…’

 

By creating one incident shared only between the viewers and protagonist, an information gap occurs.

 

A principle similar to interviews in survival games.

 

When Yeon-woo received the scenario, he judged that it wouldn’t be easy for viewers to get drawn into the character early on because the protagonist was someone suffering from a kind of mental disorder.

 

Viewers often immerse themselves in dramas by identifying with the protagonist, but if the character has vastly different traits from themselves, immersion becomes difficult.

 

The choice to visualize and show the protagonist’s inner world in the opening to draw out viewer immersion.

However, drawing empathy from the inner world of a protagonist suffering from mental illness was a distant task.

 

‘If they can’t empathize, then with charm. No, with enchantment.’

 

To capture the details within, he had to express the protagonist’s destroyed inner self and the resulting emptiness.

 

To bewitch people with his eyes.

 

‘That day, I was waiting in the car with blackout curtains drawn until right before filming…’

 

The visual aspects representing the destroyed inner self could be expressed through the set created by the art team and the CG-processed background overlaid on it, but the emotion of emptiness had to be expressed through subtle acting.

 

So what he chose was ‘dark adaptation.’

 

As soon as Yeon-woo arrived at the filming set, he waited in the car with blackout curtains drawn, keeping his eyes open in the darkness until right before his shoot.

 

When the amount of light entering the retina is significantly reduced in pitch-black darkness, the area occupied by the pupils naturally expands to receive even a little more light.

 

So Yeon-woo, with eyes that had become deep and dark like an abyss, was staring at the camera on screen.

 

Flash─.

 

And the visual beauty that made people get sucked into the close-up of his eyes quickly transitioned to everyday life at some point.

 

The purple lake and ferry boat disappeared without a trace, changing to show Yeon-woo lying on a bed like a corpse, staring at the ceiling.

 

Then Yeon-woo’s narration flowed out in a low voice.

 

– I am sick. No, honestly I think everyone else besides me is strange, but on an island of one-eyed people, those with two eyes are abnormal, so I just accept it as such.

 

***

 

Lee Jin-a, manager ‘Yeo Nu-ji-na’ of fan cafe Wooz, watched Yeon-woo’s drama airing after a long time with an excited heart.

 

‘Amazing. Youth sports…’

 

Plus Son Jin-wook and Jin Yu-han are in it too.

 

She was filled with anticipation for how fresh and vibrant the visual aesthetics would be.

 

It was a story that had spread among fans through word of mouth, but she had also heard that in a planned follow-up variety show, five members including Dong-ha and Jeong Cheol-min had played a friendly match against celebrity basketball team ‘Fast.’

 

She imagined the actors each clashing with passion and radiating hot fighting spirit.

 

‘Ah, I love this summer vibe so much.’

 

But “Parabola,” which began airing, didn’t flow as expected from the very first scene.

 

“Huh?”

 

A purple lake and ferry boat, with Ryu Yeon-woo lying on top of it.

 

And eyes that couldn’t be described in words.

 

She couldn’t know how the later parts would unfold, but judging by the first scene of the first episode, this was definitely not the fresh vibrancy of youth sports she had expected.

 

“De, decadent beauty…”

 

Through the narration that followed, she understood that the scene she had just watched was a visual representation of protagonist Ryu Yeon-woo’s wounded inner self.

 

***

 

Meanwhile, TVM Drama Department’s Director Shin Jae-kwon was anxiously drumming his fingers on the desk, alternately looking at the large screen broadcasting the drama in real-time and the staff member beside him.

 

“Not yet?”

“Director, please wait just a moment. Even though we call it real-time, it takes about 10 minutes for viewership ratings to appear.”

“No, these damn AGC bastards. We pay so much annually to check real-time viewership ratings, and they can’t even make that one thing pop up immediately.”

 

Director Shin Jae-kwon got angry.

 

Actually, since the competing work Daytona was a blockbuster-level drama that a terrestrial broadcaster put all their effort into making, and there were widespread rumors that some mysterious big shot known to insiders in the broadcasting industry had gotten involved as a sponsor, he hadn’t had high expectations at first.

 

He had just planned to make profits through VOD replays and overseas licensing since the cast consisted of actors popular with young audiences.

 

However, recently the variety show “Survival Island” from the same broadcaster TVM had been a huge hit, and the internet reaction to “Parabola,” which was both a follow-up and featured the same protagonist, was also significant, so ‘expectations’ had formed before he knew it.

 

And those expectations had turned into anxiety, manifesting as the rhythm of Director Shin’s fingers drumming on the table.

 

Tap tap tap─.

 

Just as he was thinking that drumming so hard and fast might break his nails, the staff member opened his mouth.

 

“Director. It’s up!”

“What is it? How much!”

 

The staff member looking at the screen pointed to the numbers with his finger and spoke.

 

“SBC got 16.5 percent, and we got 14.1 percent!”

“Okay! That’s great!”

 

We hadn’t expected to win in the first place.

 

The production budget difference alone was several times over, plus it was the difference between terrestrial and cable broadcasting. Given that terrestrial TV has its concrete viewer base, getting this close was already a huge success.

 

Just then, a staff member who had tilted his head spoke up again.

 

“Uh…? Director.”

“What? What is it? Did it drop already?”

“No, that’s not it…”

 

Finding the hesitating staff member frustrating, the director got up from his seat and went to the monitor.

 

“Just say it. What is it?”

“The 20-49 target viewership rating is first place for the entire time slot.”

 

Director Shin’s eyes widened at the staff member’s words.

 

The 20-49 viewership rating is the figure advertisers pay most attention to, calculated separately for the age group from their twenties to forties who have high purchasing power.

 

Thanks to this, it’s become an important metric for broadcasting stations these days, and winning in the 20-49 demographic is practically the same as beating everyone.

 

“So you mean overall?”

“Yes!”

“Overall including all broadcasting companies combined?”

“Yes!”

 

Then Director Shin quietly pulled out his wallet from his back pocket.

 

“Take the corporate card… This is a celebration. Make a reservation.”

 

The staff member immediately stood up and reached out with both hands, beaming as he respectfully took the corporate card.

 

“Thank you. Director, what type of cuisine should we…?”

“Beef.”

“Yes sir, your grace is immeasurable.”

 

The director turned his gaze to look at the screen.

 

Ryu Yeon-woo’s figure was displayed prominently on the screen.

 

“Hmm, it was called Saebyeol, right… I should probably start rubbing my palms together to see if they have any other projects.”

 

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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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