NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 64
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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 64. Martial Arts
Yeon-woo didn’t increase his speed just to show off his excellent horseback riding skills.
When he rode around the filming set once, seeing the amount of dust kicked up behind him, Yeon-woo thought that to create a spectacular scene, he needed to excite the horse as much as possible so it would kick its hind legs hard and stir up plenty of sand.
In the end, it was a scene Yeon-woo deliberately designed by making the horse run as fast as possible according to his plan.
Returning to where the staff were, he gave the hardworking horse water and sugar cubes before handing the reins over to the animal handler.
“Good job.”
After patting the horse’s forehead, Yeon-woo went to Director Lee.
“Director.”
“Ah, Yeon-woo. The shot came out absolutely fantastic. Come here and look at this.”
Grinning at Director Lee Sang-hoon’s words, he stood in front of the field monitor.
“Did too much sand fly up? I tried to make as much as possible.”
“It was like a complete storm. Look at this.”
When the director operated the controller, the galloping scene they had just filmed appeared.
The shot turned out even more spectacular than what Yeon-woo had envisioned in his mind.
A video that approached Yeon-woo running in one take, then pulled back to show the full landscape.
“Wow, it really came out well.”
“Just thinking about handing this scene to the CG team for editing makes me grin from ear to ear.”
Then Min-su, who had been behind them, approached.
“Um, Director, sorry but is today’s filming finished? It’s gotten quite hot…”
At those words, when he looked at Yeon-woo, he was drenched in sweat.
“Oh my, look at me. Go change your clothes quickly.”
“Haha. Understood.”
Yeon-woo laughed and went into the trailer to change clothes.
When he took off the official robes in the air-conditioned trailer, steam rose from his body.
“Whew.”
“Are you okay? Actor Ryu.”
Min-su opened the trailer door and came in with water.
“Ah, thank you, Min-su hyung.”
He took the water Min-su offered and quenched his thirst.
Wearing non-breathable official robes with an official hat on his head, riding a horse at full speed for several kilometers under the blazing sun where direct sunlight reflected off the sand, even Yeon-woo with his excellent stamina had become exhausted.
After sitting on the simple bed in the trailer to rest for a while, Yeon-woo came out, greeted the filming team, and got into Min-su’s car to head to the dormitory.
Checking his smartphone in the car heading to the dormitory, he found a message from Han Hae-woon through an app.
‘It just came.’
Looking at the coastal dunes that reminded him of the Middle East desert, Yeon-woo had been wondering how Han Hae-woon was doing, so he opened the message.
– Team Leader Ryu. I’ve found a lead on Old Man Baek. I should be able to make contact within two to three months at the latest.
It seems there are already results.
Yeon-woo conveyed several precautions and put down his smartphone.
Min-su’s car quickly headed toward Seoul, and Yeon-woo closed his eyes from fatigue.
A few days later, he heard news that Stars Beyond the River had begun its first filming.
Since they were first filming content about Seo Pil, Seo Hee’s father, and Seo Hee’s childhood stories, Yeon-woo would join in two weeks.
While practicing the script as usual, his smartphone vibrated.
“Yes, Team Leader Jeong.”
– Yeon-woo. How have you been?
“Stars Beyond the River has started its first filming.”
– Ah, it’s already begun. Then I’ll need to coordinate with them too.
If coordination is needed, a schedule must have been set. If a schedule is being set now, it can only be that.
“Has the Master Plan screening schedule already been set?”
– It seems Director Park Chan-hong’s production company was editing while filming simultaneously. They’re in post-production now, so it should hit screens in two to three months.
“Then the production report meeting and preview screening schedule will be set soon.”
Still, having experienced handling the “Spring Lover” schedule before, he felt relaxed knowing how it worked.
However, the difference was that back then he was a cameo child actor, and now he’s the lead.
– Yeon-woo. You’ll be incredibly busy now without a moment to breathe. Starting the drama while simultaneously handling the movie schedule. Oh, don’t worry about schedule conflicts since we already reached a prior agreement during casting.
“Since Team Leader Jeong handles everything so thoroughly, I have no worries at all.”
– Haha. Hearing you say that gives me strength. I’ll coordinate and let you know the dates.
After exchanging greetings, he ended the call with Team Leader Jeong.
But it wasn’t just empty words – Team Leader Jeong had never disappointed Yeon-woo so far.
Not only schedule coordination, but also fee negotiations always brought the best possible results.
“Come to think of it, quite a bit has accumulated.”
Once the appearance fee for this drama was settled, it seemed like there would be enough money to secure my own place in Seoul.
The current officetel provided by the agency was spacious enough for living alone, so if I were to move, it would be better to save up more and go to a luxury villa like the one Son Jin-wook lives in.
‘Considering privacy and security issues, that would be better.’
I’ve been feeling my recognition gradually rising lately, but it’s still mainly among younger demographics.
However, once “Master Plan,” which will be released soon, and “Stars Beyond the River,” which I’m currently filming, start airing, my recognition will rise even more than now.
Of course, it’s still uncertain how well they’ll perform, but Yeon-woo trusted his own judgment in directly choosing the scenarios.
As full-scale filming began, a making film of the script reading scene was uploaded to YouTube to maintain viewers’ expectations.
* [Stars Beyond the River Making] Romance That Changes the Tide of an Era ‘Script Reading’ Behind-the-Scenes Revealed, KBC1
Yeon-woo only found out about the upload after seeing the KakaoTalk message Seong-sik sent in the afternoon, and when he went to watch the video, it had already surpassed 20,000 views just 4 hours after being released.
Jin Yu-han’s influence was probably significant.
There were many fans who had flowed in from the drama “Beyond,” which concluded in the second half of last year.
The comment reactions were also filled with quite a lot of talk about Jin Yu-han.
– Ppueng (4 hours ago)
Please increase our Yu-han’s screen time!
– Throat Candy (3 hours ago)
Why is Jin Yu-han in a supporting role? He has the highest recognition among the three leads.
└ Ppueng: That’s true.
– Lone kim (3 hours ago)
The actor casting is perfect, so I’m looking forward to it.
– Drama Fan (3 hours ago)
This is the most anticipated work of the second half.
└ Aletta: I heard MBS is also releasing a big production soon.
– Kim Jae-kwon (3 hours ago)
What’s with Ryu Yeon-woo always getting lead roles?
└ Lance: His face?
Since there wasn’t much shown as a lead actor yet, the comment section was focused more on Jin Yu-han than Ryu Yeon-woo.
“Hmm, it’s fortunate that Jin Yu-han joined.”
The next day, Yeon-woo rode in Min-su’s car and headed to a gymnasium.
Jingle─.
As he opened the door with the sound of a bell, the distinctive smell of sweat from the gymnasium wafted over.
‘It’s been a while since I smelled this.’
It was a smell he encountered daily during training in his previous life, but living his new life, he usually exercised alone and focused on bodyweight exercises, so there was no need to go to a gymnasium.
Jin Yu-han, who had been warming up in a corner, noticed Yeon-woo entering and approached him.
“Oh, you’re here?”
“Yu-han, were you already here?”
Yeon-woo had also arrived about 30 minutes earlier than the start time, but Jin Yu-han had arrived even earlier and was warming up.
“I haven’t been here long. I just arrived and was warming up. Reading the script made my body itch to move.”
As expected, he seemed to be sincere about acting above all else and had a diligent personality.
It was peculiar that he seemed to have no interest in anything else though.
Looking past Yu-han’s words toward the inside of the gymnasium, many people were coordinating their movements.
It was the special filming team that mainly handled action scenes.
Then the martial arts director, who had been instructing team members from afar, approached the two.
“Hello. I’m Do Gwang-wook.”
Do Gwang-wook, the martial arts director, extended his hand while looking at Yeon-woo. He was someone Yeon-woo had seen a few times in media.
He remembered him as one of the top people in this field as a martial arts director.
“Please take care of me. I’m Ryu Yeon-woo.”
Yeon-woo greeted him, clasping hands with both hands.
Do Gwang-wook and Jin Yu-han seemed to know each other, as he familiarly patted Yu-han’s shoulder.
Yu-han had been seen on filming sets since childhood, and his previous work “Beyond” was a time-slip investigation drama with quite a lot of action scenes, so he had continuously received guidance during filming.
“Well, since you came early, let’s start right away. Yu-han doesn’t need to learn the basics separately, but Mr. Ryu Yeon-woo, have you done any exercise before?”
Yeon-woo pondered how to answer Do Gwang-wook’s question.
The exercise Yeon-woo’s body had done was just ball sports and bodyweight exercises, making him an ordinary man, but considering his previous life, he could be considered a master of practical martial arts and all kinds of weapon arts.
“Yes, I’ve learned a bit of weapon arts and combat arts.”
Rather than trying to boast, Yeon-woo answered ambiguously because the filming preparation period wasn’t long, so it seemed necessary to skip some unnecessary basic stages.
Do Gwang-wook showed an interested expression, as if Yeon-woo’s answer was unexpected.
‘Combat Arts? Not boxing or taekwondo?’
Whether it was simply a young man’s bravado or he actually had some training, he couldn’t get a sense of the level, so he felt the need to test it.
“Since I can’t tell what level you’re at, let’s do a simple test.”
“Yes, understood.”
When the martial arts director gave instructions, one of the crew members brought two short styrofoam sticks and two mitts used for boxing training.
“First, try hitting the mitts? Think of it as boxing.”
“Understood.”
Yeon-woo looked at the martial arts director holding the mitts, relaxed his body, and threw a light jab.
Yeon-woo stepped back and forth, relaxed his shoulders, and lightly extended his left hand.
Thuk thuk─.
Watching Yeon-woo’s jabs coming in with crisp steps and precise form, the martial arts director ordered a straight.
“Okay, one-two.”
One-two meant to show a jab and straight connected together in a continuous motion.
He relaxed the power in his pivot foot, quickly threw a jab, then as he retracted it, twisted his body and threw his right hand like a dart, landing a straight.
Thuk thwack─.
Yeon-woo’s right hand struck the mitt with quite a heavy sound.
‘Whoa, that’s heavy. His form is proper.’
The martial arts director’s eyes widened slightly at the impact that seemed to wrap around the mitt.
The martial arts director continued ordering jabs and straights while speaking.
“How long did you train in boxing?”
“I didn’t learn it separately. I just did comprehensive combat fighting.”
Yeon-woo hadn’t learned boxing but rather comprehensive combat arts developed purely for killing field operatives, and after that it was honed in real combat, so if the martial arts director asked detailed questions about boxing, he wouldn’t be able to answer.
So he honestly said he hadn’t learned boxing, but rather the martial arts director tilted his head at Yeon-woo’s words.
‘He’s never learned boxing but has this level of speed and form…? What kind of training did he do.’
The curious martial arts director picked up the pace, also as a warm-up.
“I’ll raise the tempo slightly and do some simple attacks too, so think of it as real combat. There’s no headgear, but the mitts are soft so you won’t get hurt.”
Hearing those words, Yeon-woo didn’t show it outwardly but smiled bitterly inside.
‘It would be troublesome if I actually thought of it as real combat. I should hold back appropriately.’
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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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