NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 317

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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 317. Good Encounters, Bad Encounters

First, he decided to slowly look into the association matter after returning to Korea.

‘There’s no need to waste high-level personnel like our agents on such trivial matters.’

Since this case was a personal matter for ‘actor Ryu Yeon-woo’ unrelated to Baeksol, he would exclude other agents, and if assistance was needed, it seemed like he and Han Hae-woon could handle it together.

In any case, Yeon-woo’s ultimate goal in the competition remained unchanged – it wasn’t to teach lessons, but to find a scenario suitable for his next project.

Having organized his thoughts, Yeon-woo got up.

As he headed to the fitness facility inside the hotel, Park Jung-hyeon, one of the ‘high-level personnel,’ followed behind for security.

“Security Team Leader, you should come exercise with me too.”

“Hmm, I’m fine.”

Park Jung-hyeon firmly shook his head at Yeon-woo’s suggestion.

No matter how secure the hotel was, doing other activities while guarding a VIP was naturally forbidden.

“Hmm, is that so?”

Yeon-woo nodded and began exercising after arriving at the fitness facility and lightly warming up.

Since his routine mainly consisted of cardio and bodyweight exercises, he didn’t need to use the equipment in the facility, but he deliberately chose the facility knowing that going outside for jogging would obviously be difficult for Park Jung-hyeon.

While Yeon-woo was running on the treadmill, he could see Park Jung-hyeon watching from behind, reflected in the mirror.

Park Jung-hyeon’s gaze gradually moved toward the surrounding equipment, and he seemed curious since there were types of weight training equipment that were hard to see domestically.

If Park Jung-hyeon only liked soup and rice, he would have become a pot-bellied middle-aged man, but what he loved as much as soup and rice was weight training.

To put it in crude but easy-to-understand terms, he was a gym addict.

After running for a while, Yeon-woo ended the treadmill session and headed to the pull-up bar nearby, speaking to Park Jung-hyeon.

“You can exercise right next to me. There aren’t many people in the fitness facility anyway.”

“Hmm…”

Since he didn’t answer immediately, he seemed to be contemplating.

“It’s really okay.”

“…Then I’ll exercise within sight.”

“Please do.”

Once Yeon-woo gave permission, Park Jung-hyeon immediately headed to nearby equipment, and while his expression showed no emotion, his rippling back muscles indirectly revealed his joy.

While they were each exercising for a while, a group that appeared to be hotel guests entered.

‘Oh, those guys are pretty built too.’

Yeon-woo looked back and forth between the incoming guests and Park Jung-hyeon.

Most were large Black men, but compared to Park Jung-hyeon’s much larger frame, they seemed almost cute.

As expected, recognizing a fellow enthusiast, those Black guests entering the fitness facility also noticed Park Jung-hyeon and were amazed.

“Oh shit… Is he a pro bodybuilder?”

“I’ve seen a wild brown bear before, and it was exactly that size. Really no joke. Amazing physique.”

“Should we ask him to teach us some exercises?”

The guests whispered quietly among themselves as they entered, but their words reached Yeon-woo’s ears.

And Yeon-woo chuckled at that ridiculous comparison.

‘…Even so, calling a person a wild brown bear. Bears can tear people apart.’

Speaking of wild brown bears, Yeon-woo had encountered one during an operation on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the far eastern region of Eurasia, and it was a whopping 2.7 meters in body length.

Even though Park Jung-hyeon was nearly 2 meters tall with a frighteningly large build, he couldn’t compare to a brown bear.

Facing such a large frame seemed to create quite a visual shock.

As the fitness facility became noisy, Park Jung-hyeon stopped exercising and quietly came back to stand next to Yeon-woo.

Naturally, the guests’ attention turned to Yeon-woo.

“Hey bro, isn’t that guy that person?”

“Who?”

“You know. The champion from 「Survival Island」 we talked about last time.”

“Oh? I think you’re right! Then is that bear-like man his bodyguard?”

Then they slowly approached Yeon-woo.

Park Jung-hyeon glared with fierce eyes at the approaching guests.

Under that pressure, the men couldn’t approach any further and stood at a distance, calling out to Yeon-woo.

“That’s you, right?”

At the rambling question, Yeon-woo looked in their direction.

“We’re fans. You’re that person, right? Korean Soldier.”

“Hmm, soldier…”

Since many people recognized Yeon-woo locally, even when he was lying on the hotel sunbed, he was quite used to it.

But being asked if he was a soldier was a first.

‘Well, strictly speaking, even including my past life, I’m not exactly a soldier… But it’s not like I’m completely unrelated either.’

It seemed these guests had encountered Yeon-woo through variety shows first rather than movies or dramas.

‘Do foreigners who only watched “Survival Island” think I’m a soldier?’

Yeon-woo chuckled softly and nodded his head.

What did it matter what they thought he was?

“That’s right.”

“Oh shit! Korean legendary soldier… Could you give me an autograph?”

***

Men bound together like dried croakers with rope restraints got off the transport vehicle one by one, wearing blue prison uniforms.

And among them was Director Jo Hun-gwang.

Director Jo Hun-gwang, who was under detention investigation due to concerns he might flee or destroy evidence during the trial period, was imprisoned at Seoul Detention Center as a pre-trial detainee since his sentence had not yet been finalized.

He was scheduled to stay at the detention center and undergo additional investigation until the formal trial.

After being guided by a correctional officer and changing into the khaki prison uniform for pre-trial detainees, Jo Hun-gwang trudged with heavy steps to the common exercise yard when exercise time came the next day.

‘Damn, shit…’

He alternately recalled his once glamorous life and his gutter-like future ahead, letting out a long sigh as if the ground would cave in.

Then someone approached from behind, acting familiar.

“Isn’t this Director Jo Hun-gwang?”

Jo Hun-gwang turned around and momentarily felt pleased.

“Hey, isn’t that Jung Tae-seon? How long has it been?”

The man behind him was veteran actor Jung Tae-seon, who had become an informant under orders from Hwang-geum, an agent from Baeksol’s side.

Jung Tae-seon was serving time after being caught hiding large quantities of drugs in his car trunk and receiving a prison sentence for violating narcotics control laws and various other charges.

An unexpected and sudden reunion had taken place.

Unlike Jo Hun-gwang who seemed pleased, Jung Tae-seon’s eyes were unkind as he stood with other inmates.

Jo Hun-gwang had always relied on his authority and treated actors rudely, so no actor liked him.

‘Just thinking about how I caught a severe flu and was bedridden for a month after getting soaked by the water cannon spray while acting in freezing weather because of that bastard…’

The old man was so obsessed with women, constantly pressuring him to hook up with rookie actresses whenever they met – what a disgusting human being.

“Well, well, they say life’s fortunes are unpredictable, and even Director Jo who was flying high in the broadcasting industry has finally been dragged here in this pathetic state? You should have known when to stop.”

Jo Hun-gwang’s face, which had been approaching with a welcoming expression, turned sour as if he’d bitten into a bug.

“…What did you say? Has this bastard lost his mind? I’m Jo Hun-gwang.”

“Still don’t get the situation? Your life is completely ruined. You’re not Jo Hun-gwang anymore, you’re just number 3425. You bastard.”

At Jung Tae-seon’s words, Jo Hun-gwang trembled and looked at the blue name tag on Jung Tae-seon’s prison uniform before speaking.

“…Do you think you’re any different? Sucking on drugs all day long, I knew from way back you’d end up like this. Prisoner number 1732, drug offender.”

“What are you talking about? I’ll be released once I finish my remaining short sentence and I have savings, but according to the news, your embezzlement penalty alone exceeds 7 billion won? Now you’re a beggar, you know?”

The untimely and utterly childish misery battle between the fairly well-known inmates drew the interest of surrounding prisoners who gathered around.

Then a correctional officer standing behind pointed with his baton and blew his whistle.

Tweet─!

“Numbers 1732 and 3425, keep your mouths shut. Put both hands above your heads and separate from each other immediately. Execute!”

***

Meanwhile, at that moment, Yeon-woo was having a meeting with a major figure in LA.

“It’s an honor to meet you in person like this.”

“Not at all. No matter how little I know about America’s broadcasting ecosystem, I’m well aware that Blue Whale Gate has enough power to grip and shake Hollywood in one hand. The honor is mine.”

Yeon-woo’s meeting partner was John McClellan, CEO of Blue Whale Gate, the production company that was currently the hottest in Hollywood with its stock price rising daily.

“Haha, I don’t know what to do with such praise. We broke out in cold sweats trying to recruit you, Mr. Ryu Yeon-woo. I’m really pleased that we ended up working together like this.”

John McClellan’s words weren’t mere pleasantries.

The broadcasting station thought that if they just bought the rights to “Survival Island,” the cast member Ryu Yeon-woo would naturally follow, but that wasn’t the case at all.

When they hurriedly looked into it, they found that Ryu Yeon-woo was already a major star in Asia – so much so that it was questionable why someone of his age and career would appear on such a reality show. He also had considerable recognition in North America and Europe through “White Blood” and “Sketch.”

John McClellan smiled and looked at Bernard Fenton, who was sitting right next to Ryu Yeon-woo like a guardian.

‘I don’t know what kind of relationship Mr. Ryu and Fenton have, but they stick together like a loving grandfather and grandson…’

It wasn’t simply a business-minded approach.

The sight of Bernard Fenton personally jumping in and staking everything on an actor from Asia, to the point of causing major difficulties in the recruitment process, was unusual even from John McClellan’s perspective.

Thanks to this, they had to pay double what they initially expected to complete the recruitment.

Nevertheless, after going through all these processes, the three of them ended up having a meal together at an upscale restaurant in Hollywood.

McClellan’s comment about feeling good was likewise not mere pleasantries.

McClellan had no doubt about the success of “Survival Island.”

While it had currently achieved success mainly in English-speaking countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia, he was confident that the “Global Match” they were planning would gain worldwide popularity, including not only Asia, which was Ryu Yeon-woo’s home ground, but also Europe and South America.

‘And the first step of that is this young actor sitting right in front of me.’

Normally, the working-level staff would have handled this, but when they encountered difficulties proceeding with this project, John McClellan personally stepped in to take charge of mediation and negotiations.

In the process, he naturally conducted research on ‘actor Ryu Yeon-woo’ as well, which led him to watch his works, and he personally became a fan.

John McClellan looked at Ryu Yeon-woo, who was ‘Jay,’ ‘Jeong Do-jin,’ and simultaneously the ‘Korean Legendary Soldier’ sitting before him, and opened his mouth with a smile.

“I have tremendous expectations for ‘Survival Island – Global Match,’ not only as a producer but also as a fan. Just thinking about starting production soon makes my heart race.”

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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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