NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 315

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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 315. Armang

An ordinary-looking man in his 30s was talking on the phone while riding the escalator at a department store located in Apgujeong.

“Yes. I understand. I’ll come down this weekend.”

– Alright. Mother made some delicious pickled radish kimchi for you to take. Are you working right now?

“No. I just came to the department store for a moment. Seong-jin is getting married next week. I don’t have anything suitable to wear to the Venue Hall.”

Park Hyun-jun is a 3rd-year resident doctor providing general treatment at a Dental Clinic in Gangnam-gu, Yeoksam-dong.

Now that he’s gradually getting used to medical practice, he has time to enjoy hobbies and meet other people after work.

“Yes, yes. Then I’ll see you on the weekend.”

After finishing the call, Park Hyun-jun casually looked at the advertisement board hanging on the escalator wall.

‘······!’

Originally, he was planning to go to the ‘Young & Contemporary’ Store on the 4th Floor.

However, while going up from the 2nd floor to the 3rd floor, there was an advertisement board that caught Park Hyun-jun’s eye.

At first, he thought it was a movie poster for a moment, but only after seeing the brand logo hanging below did he realize it was a fashion brand advertisement.

Come to think of it, the 2nd floor of this department store was the luxury goods section, so there was no way a movie poster would be hanging there out of nowhere.

As if enchanted, Park Hyun-jun turned his steps around and made a full circle to take the Elevator going down to the 2nd floor.

The advertisement board he faced while going back down to the 2nd floor had a magical power that drew people’s attention.

A man standing defiantly with a completely disheveled appearance, casually holding a pistol in one hand as if he might drop it at any moment, leaning on one leg.

His eyes looked languidly tired, yet at the same time, that appearance seemed to make decadent beauty bloom in full.

‘···Damn, that’s cool.’

Park Hyun-jun, who had internally exclaimed with profanity mixed in, entered an ‘Armang’ Store for the first time in his life.

Although he had heard that Armang was a famous luxury men’s clothing brand, Park Hyun-jun was still young, so he had mainly purchased informal clothing like cardigans or casual jackets from contemporary brands located on the 4th Floor or 5th floor.

He didn’t prefer formal wear like suits because they felt somewhat stiff and too dressed up, but his thoughts had completely changed due to the pictorial on the advertisement board he had just seen while going up and down.

‘If I wear something like that to Seong-jin’s wedding Venue Hall next week, it would be fucking awesome···?’

As Park Hyun-jun entered the Armang Store, a Staff member immediately followed and politely guided him.

“Welcome. Sir, is there a particular style you’re looking for?”

“Ah, not really, but I saw the photo outside···.”

Then, as if there had been more than one or two customers who had said the same thing just today, the Staff member smiled familiarly and guided him to one side.

“I’ll help guide you over here.”

***

Ricard Limer, the CEO of Armang Korea, had been grinning from ear to ear since morning.

Ricard, who had been serving as the CEO of Armang Korea for well over 10 years since the early 2010s, had always been getting various hints from headquarters because sales were falling compared to other regions in Northeast Asia.

Although Korea was certainly not a country with a low luxury purchase rate, it was difficult to catch up in sales with China with its 1.4 billion population or Japan with its domestic market size of well over 100 million people.

However, although it was just a short-term sales record for one day yesterday, after the advertising strategy featuring Ryu Yeon-woo was implemented, it brought about a whopping 83 percent increase in Domestic sales compared to the previous year’s data.

Considering that sales for other quarters compared to the same period last year were roughly the same, it was an undeniable fact that the increase came from changing the model to Ryu Yeon-woo.

If this level of sales was maintained, it seemed they could confidently stand shoulder to shoulder even compared to China or Japan.

And today happened to be the day when a video conference was held between headquarters and the CEOs of Asia branches.

Ricard Limer connected to the video conference with a confident expression.

His mouth was itching because he wanted to quickly boast about the performance.

But he couldn’t fulfill that dream.

– In Japan’s case, it increased by 53 percent compared to the previous day, and 74 percent compared to the same date last year.

– China is the same. After the pictorial was released and the advertisement boards were replaced, there was a sales increase of around 50 percent.

Along with the news of sales increases from other branches coming in one after another, he was robbed of the opportunity to definitively put down the other branches’ pride.

‘Ah···. Ryu Yeon-woo was a global star.’

Although he was certainly a Korean actor, considering his worldwide recognition and popularity, it wasn’t surprising that the advertising effect wasn’t limited to just Korea.

Having no choice, Ricard Limer armed himself with national pride and opened his mouth.

“Isn’t that all thanks to Ryu Yeon-woo, the great actor from our Korea. Haha. A world-class star produced by our country is driving Armang’s overall sales, isn’t it?”

– ···Our Korea?

Of course, Ricard Limer’s nationality was not Korea but Sweden.

However, having lived in Korea for over 10 years, Ricard Limer had naturally become a Korean foreigner who was now more familiar with Jeonju-style tteokgalbi than Swedish meatballs, and a glass of soju with a serving of flounder sashimi rather than gravlax made with salmon.

***

While Armang, chosen by Ryu Yeon-woo, was showing a promising start with rising sales and reminding other brands of Ryu Yeon-woo’s economic value, the protagonist himself, Yeon-woo, was staying at Bernard Fenton’s Hotel in LA, taking a brief rest.

Since Yeon-woo usually held the philosophy that ‘you’ll rest for a lifetime when you die anyway,’ it wasn’t because he wanted to rest, but rather to let those who came with him rest.

‘Both Min-su hyung and Park Jung-hyeon deserve some rest now.’

Kim Su-hyeok had taken a vacation in the middle, and Lee Kyu-jin was resting now, but only Park Jung-hyeon had worked without rest, following Yeon-woo’s overseas schedule.

Of course, he was probably still running around checking security near the hotel right now, but doing this simple VIP Protection work after chasing Baek Sol’s trail would be a kind of rest for him.

While leisurely looking at the beach and resting on a sun bed, a hotel staff member came looking for him with an urgent expression.

Of course, they had come looking for Bernard Fenton lying on the seat next to him, not Yeon-woo.

“CEO.”

At the sound of someone calling him, Bernard Fenton lifted his sunglasses and responded.

“What’s the matter?”

“Guests from the EPA have come to see you again.”

“Sigh, how stressful. I understand, so guide them to the audience chamber. I’ll be there soon.”

Listening to the conversation, Yeon-woo tilted his head.

‘EPA must mean the Environmental Protection Agency, right?’

Yeon-woo looked at Bernard Fenton’s dark expression and asked.

“Did you secretly dump wastewater into the sea like some evil corporation?”

Seeing Yeon-woo asking jokingly to lighten his serious mood, Bernard Fenton chuckled and shook his head.

“Haha. No way. If we did something like that in this country, the hotel would be torn to shreds.”

“Then why is the Environmental Protection Agency bothering Bernard?”

Bernard Fenton let out a deep sigh and opened his mouth.

“This is probably a difficulty that all hotels on Santa Monica Beach face alike, but it’s because of hotel slippers. I’ve been so stressed about this lately that I can’t focus on other work.”

“Hotel slippers?”

Bernard Fenton nodded, got up, and headed toward the audience chamber while explaining to Yeon-woo.

To summarize Bernard Fenton’s story, which he poured out like a complaint, it was like this:

‘So some guests wear hotel slippers to the beach and just throw them away there…’

Moreover, Bernard Fenton said that those who visited his hotel most often were Asian couples on their honeymoon.

However, if they switched to reusable slippers or changed to paid sales, Bernard’s hotel, which had maintained its 5-star status for over ten years, might receive unfavorable evaluations in their annual assessments.

It was only some guests who were the problem, as most guests didn’t wear hotel slippers to the sea or throw them away outside.

‘It would be like burning down the whole thatched cottage to catch a bedbug, losing customer service points over this problem.’

In fact, Bernard Fenton could confidently do content business in Hollywood because his main business and cash cow, the hotel, supported his financial power.

If by any chance the hotel received a lower grade in evaluations, it would inevitably deal a major blow to his main business.

Yeon-woo came out to the beach near the hotel while Bernard Fenton was meeting with people from the EPA.

Just walking around for a while and picking up disposable slippers he could see, he found nine of them and had to carry them with both hands full.

‘Nine pieces means a total of five pairs, but even then, I don’t know where the other halves went.’

If they were swept away by the waves, they might be floating somewhere in the Pacific Ocean by now.

‘Hmm, so he can’t focus on work because he’s racking his brains over this…’

If that were the case, it would be troublesome.

From Yeon-woo’s perspective, it was problematic for Bernard Fenton, who was in charge of overseas operations, not to be able to focus on work, and it would also be troublesome if problems arose related to this, leading to lawsuits from environmental groups or becoming a subject of controversy.

‘I need to find a solution somehow.’

Other hotels near Santa Monica, or perhaps all luxury hotels near the seashore, might be experiencing this problem.

That’s why Yeon-woo couldn’t immediately think of a brilliant solution.

‘I feel like I recently had this kind of conversation with someone…’

Thinking carefully, Yeon-woo remembered who it was.

‘Right. Vincent Clerc, Armand’s chief designer.’

The conversation they had while eating tteokbokki and fish cake on the filming set suddenly came to mind.

– The taste is really good, but Korea certainly uses a lot of disposable items.

Vincent Clerc had said that his hotel was near Hangang Park, and when he went out for evening walks, he saw disposable containers rolling around.

Even the dishes that the bunsik truck that arrived at the filming set used to serve the food were disposable styrofoam containers.

‘He seemed quite interested in the environment…’

And immediately, he also recalled what Bernard Fenton had said.

– Armand and Capella are probably more famous in America than in Korea. Just look at how extravagant Hollywood people are.

After thinking for a moment, Yeon-woo clapped his hands.

“Maybe it could work?”

Yeon-woo took out his smartphone to check the international time.

‘It’s 7 PM in France right now.’

It was a pretty good time to make a phone call.

He immediately called Vincent Clerc, and after hearing the dial tone for a moment, the call connected.

– Oh? I was surprised by the unexpected call.

“Did I call at a bad time?”

– Not at all. I just finished dinner and was about to rest. By the way, isn’t it dawn in Korea right now?

Yeon-woo smiled and answered Vincent Clerc’s question.

“I’m in LA right now. It’s morning here. I saw that Armand’s photo shoot was released.”

– I actually received a report that the reaction has been incredibly hot. I felt it during the shoot too, so it’s a natural result. Haha.

After hearing the response, Yeon-woo chatted about various things for a while before bringing up the main topic.

“Mr. Clerc.”

– Feel free to call me Vincent.

To Vincent Clerc, who told him to address him comfortably, he briefly summarized what had happened at the Hotel.

– So you’re saying you personally went around the beach and picked up discarded slippers?

“I picked them up for a while, but my hands were full so I couldn’t pick up any more.”

The proposal Yeon-woo made to Vincent Clerc was this:

“How about we contract manufacture the slippers with Armand’s logo engraved on them, and provide Armand with royalties from either the sales revenue or part of the Hotel budget allocated for slippers.”

Of course, he would need to ask Bernard Fenton too, but the idea was to provide disposable Hotel slippers with Armand’s logo engraved on the bottom, even if small.

Even with the same disposable slippers, the value consumers perceive would be distinctly different just by having a luxury brand logo on them.

He had even heard that on domestic secondhand trading sites, people pay Cash to trade paper shopping bags with brand logos that come when buying products.

Probably, even if they were disposable slippers, if they had Armand’s logo on them, there would be people who wouldn’t use them and take them Home, but significantly fewer people would throw them away outside.

– Ho, that’s an interesting idea. I’ll have to bring it up to the Board of Directors first to know for sure, but at least I think positively about it. It seems like it would work well with our brand’s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) projects too.

After receiving a positive response from Vincent Clerc and ending the call, Bernard Fenton returned just as he finished his meeting with the US Environmental Protection Agency.

His expression was dark, probably due to having a repetitive meeting about a problem with no solution.

Then he saw Yeon-woo holding discarded slippers in both hands and hurriedly ran over.

“Wait, Ryu. Did you personally go around picking these up?”

Then Yeon-woo grinned and answered.

“Bernard. I’ve mentioned it for now, but I’m not sure if it will proceed well, but I thought of a solution to this problem.”

“What?”

Bernard Fenton’s eyes widened at the unexpected words that came from Yeon-woo’s mouth.

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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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