NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 99

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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 99. Berlin

“Phew, is it time to quit now?”

 

The role Seo Ji-eun plays is a character named ‘Lee Na-ri’ who serves as the vocalist for the indie band ‘Mocha’.

 

She was the woman who participated under the band’s name at the indie festival Jay attended and went on stage alone.

Financial disputes arose among the band members, their relationships soured, and they scattered in different directions, ultimately leaving her to perform alone at the pre-scheduled indie festival.

 

Nari trudged along with a black bag hanging from her wrist.

 

“Grandmother didn’t lock the main gate again.”

 

Though people in the countryside live without locking their doors, the world is becoming increasingly dangerous these days, so she let out a small sigh seeing the wide-open rusty green main gate.

 

Creak─.

Click!

 

Nari closed the main gate, entered the yard, and opened the front door.

 

“Grandmother. I’m back.”

 

Nari was startled as she entered the house.

 

“Did someone come? Whose men’s shoes are these?”

 

As she moved toward the living room, she heard Grandmother’s voice from the kitchen.

 

“···Child, if you do it like that, all the cabbage will tear. You have to do it like this, like this. Carefully.”

 

When Nari entered the kitchen, she saw an unfamiliar young man wearing an apron, spreading bright red kimchi filling on cabbage leaves from a rubber basin.

 

“···Who are you?”

“Oh my, Nari’s here. What about the pork?”

 

At Grandmother’s words, Nari held out the black plastic bag wrapped around her wrist and tilted her head.

 

“I bought it. Here it is. You said we’re having boiled pork today. But Grandmother, who is this person···?”

“Mmm, I picked him up on the way.”

“···Hello. I’m Jay. We can’t communicate well, so this is how it ended up.”

“Uhm, are you a foreigner?”

 

Jay’s expression brightened at hearing proper English for the first time today.

 

“Oh! You can speak English.”

 

Yeon-woo explained to Nari what had happened today with the feeling of finding an oasis in the desert.

 

“So I asked her to take me to the nearest bus station, but···.”

“Hey, you should say ‘bus’ as ‘bus’ for her to understand. What’s ‘station’? You should have said intercity terminal. Then I would have taken you there long ago.”

 

With Nari’s interpretation between the two of them, they finally began to understand each other’s stories.

 

“Excuse me, but do you have a smartphone charger? The one Grandmother uses is a type I’ve never seen before.”

 

He had a C-type converter with him, but the charger Grandmother had brought out after miraculous communication before Nari arrived was a thumb-sized charger of an unfamiliar type.

 

“Ah, Grandmother uses an old 2G phone···. Just a moment.”

 

When Nari rummaged through her bag and pulled out a C-type charger, Jay let out a sigh of relief.

Since his last contact was followed by sudden communication blackout, Mr. Jeong must have been quite worried.

 

He plugged in the charger right away, but since it was completely drained, it seemed he’d have to wait a bit to turn it on.

 

Then Nari became interested seeing the guitar case standing in the corner of the living room.

 

“Jay, do you play guitar?”

“Ah, I’m a composer. I came to Korea to work.”

“Huh? Really? I do music too.”

 

Jay, who had been wondering since he first saw her, asked with certainty upon hearing Nari’s words.

 

“By any chance, are you the one who performed at the indie festival···?”

“Eh? That’s right!”

“What an amazing coincidence.”

 

It was the moment when change came to Nari’s daily life, which had been boring and tedious, and recently depressing due to overlapping misfortunes.

 

“Jay! Will you listen to the music I made? I have my studio over there. Though it’s embarrassing to call it a studio.”

 

When Jay nodded, excited Nari grabbed Jay and dragged him to the studio.

 

“Tsk tsk. As expected, young people become friends quickly.”

 

Then Director Park Chan-hong’s voice was heard as he watched quietly from the corner of the living room.

 

“Okay. Cut for Jay and Nari’s scene.”

 

***

 

About two months had passed since filming began.

 

During this time, public curiosity about the veiled movie filming only grew, and when Yeon-woo and Seo Ji-eun started filming busking scenes while traveling through the countryside, the internet went wild.

 

– I was riding our neighborhood village bus when suddenly Ryu Yeon-woo started playing guitar and Seo Ji-eun started singing from the very back.

 

– Today my grandmother said a young bachelor and maiden came to the village hall to perform, but it turned out to be Ryu Yeon-woo and Seo Ji-eun. Crazy···.

 

– What on earth are they filming? Why are there no articles about it? Do your job, trashy reporters.

 

Meanwhile, entertainment reporters were also having a hard time.

 

“No! Why can’t you still get any information? If you could find any investor or distribution company, you should be able to get at least some source about what the scenario content is.”

“The problem is we can’t find anything no matter how hard we look. You confirmed it yourself, Editor-in-Chief. How many distribution companies are there in Korea? It’s not even some independent film.”

 

At Reporter Yoon’s words, the Editor-in-Chief’s expression hardened.

 

“Say that again. What did you say?”

“Huh? No, I just said that out of frustration.”

 

Seeing the stern expression, Reporter Yoon flinched and scratched his head while making excuses, but the Editor-in-Chief shook his head.

 

“No, not that. Independent film? Why didn’t I think of that? Isn’t this being shot as an independent film without investment? Looking at the internet tips, they say they’re just filming while going around the countryside without any set control.”

“Uh… maybe they’re doing that to capture realism? Would Director Park Chan-hong really make an independent film with Ryu Yeon-woo and Seo Ji-eun?”

 

Even after hearing Reporter Yoon’s words, the Editor-in-Chief stroked his chin.

 

“Reporter Yoon, I’m getting a very strong hunch right now. This is definitely independent. Look into it once and put out a feature article. You can publish it as speculation.”

“Huh? I’ll do it if you tell me to, but would they really make an independent film? 「Master Plan」 also achieved ten million viewers.”

 

Director Park Chan-hong is a major director who has already attracted ten million viewers for three films, including his first work with Ryu Yeon-woo, 「Master Plan」.

 

However, the Editor-in-Chief let Reporter Yoon’s words go in one ear and out the other as he picked up the calendar from the corner of his desk and flipped through it.

 

“Hmm… Reporter Yoon. Do you remember the article Hansan Daily published last year? It was controversial because they criticized Director Park Chan-hong.”

 

There had been controversy when an article was published that was almost accusatory, saying that despite his success with commercial films, he had never made a film with artistic merit recognized overseas, which was seen as looking down on commercial films.

 

Reporter Yoon also heard the Editor-in-Chief’s words and saw him holding the calendar, and a thought flashed through his mind as he clapped his hands.

 

“Ah! Film festival?”

“That’s right. Timing-wise, they could be aiming for Sundance or Berlin, right?”

 

***

 

“I see. I understand. Have a good day.”

 

Director Park Chan-hong put down the phone and grinned as he looked at Yeon-woo and Seo Ji-eun.

 

“You two need to pack your bags. We have to go to Berlin.”

 

The faces of Yeon-woo and Seo Ji-eun, who had been holding their breath watching Director Park Chan-hong take the call, brightened.

 

“Kyaah! We got invited?!”

“Hehe. That’s right. It’s the competition section.”

 

Following Seo Ji-eun’s excited jumping question and Director Park Chan-hong’s response, Yeon-woo was also surprised.

 

“Competition section? Then we might actually win an award?”

“Of course that’s possible, but let’s not be greedy. For now, let’s be satisfied with being invited.”

 

Of course, Yeon-woo felt the same way.

 

Film festivals are places where major figures gather, so when he was stationed in Europe, he had always infiltrated with diplomatic credentials.

 

‘Now I’ll be attending as an actor.’

 

It was a new feeling.

 

‘Even if we don’t win an award, being invited is an honor.’

 

Of course, since Korean films have recently started winning awards overseas more frequently, he wouldn’t hastily conclude that winning was impossible.

 

Then Seo Ji-eun stood up, holding her head with both hands.

 

“Ugh, this is terrible! I need to diet. I have to wear a dress.”

 

Yeon-woo chuckled seeing Seo Ji-eun make a serious expression while touching her slender waist, wondering where exactly she had any weight to lose.

 

“Berlin is in February, so you’d freeze to death in a dress. Compared to Cannes or Venice, most people attend comfortably in clothes without exposure. The formality is also less strict, so red carpet events are simpler, and even men rarely wear bow ties and tuxedos.”

“Really?! Phew, that’s a relief. I’ve been thinking about eating rose tteokbokki tonight since last night.”

 

Deciding on the next day’s dinner menu from the day before – Yeon-woo, who didn’t have much of an appetite for food, let out a hollow laugh.

 

“Have you been to a film festival before? You seem to know quite well.”

 

At Director Park Chan-hong’s words, Yeon-woo broke out in a cold sweat.

 

“Ah, I saw it in documentaries. Haha.”

“That’s right. Film festivals are actors’ dreams, after all.”

 

Director Park Chan-hong nodded at Yeon-woo’s words.

 

Of course, it’s not only actors who dream of film festivals.

Director Park Chan-hong was happier than anyone when he received contact from the Berlin Film Festival committee shortly after submitting the rough edit.

 

Then the Assistant Director opened the office door and came in.

 

“Director, an article just came out?”

 

At the Assistant Director’s words, Yeon-woo tilted his head.

 

“We just received the call from the director, so how did an article come out?”

“Oh, you got the call? Oh yes!”

 

Director Park was also tilting his head in the same way.

 

“What does the article say? We just got the call from Berlin.”

“Ah, a speculative article came out. It seems our film is being shot as an independent film, and they’re probably aiming for the Berlin or Sundance film festivals.”

“Ho, quite impressive deductive skills. Then let’s make an official announcement too. We need to nail it down.”

 

At Director Park Chan-hong’s words, the assistant director saluted with an excited face.

 

“Yes! Director. I’ll pass the information to friendly reporters. Hehe. Going to Berlin.”

 

***

 

“Oh my, oh my.”

 

Yoo Mi-yeon, who was preparing to leave work at the Sejong Government Complex, clicked on a portal site and casually saw an article that appeared on the main page.

 

– Ryu Yeon-woo and Director Park Chan-hong opened Berlin’s doors with an independent film they were determined to make. Berlin International Film Festival invitation.

 

– Will the chemistry between Ryu Yeon-woo and Seo Ji-eun work in Germany too? Director Park Chan-hong’s film officially invited to Berlin Film Festival competition section.

 

– Will they bring good news from Berlin? Director Park Chan-hong and Ryu Yeon-woo’s mega independent film 「Sketch」.

 

When Yoo Mi-yeon let out an exclamation while looking at the monitor, her colleagues around her looked over curiously.

 

“What’s wrong? Mi-yeon.”

“Is there some good news?”

 

Yoo Mi-yeon looked at Section Chief Ryu Cheol-woong sitting across from her.

 

“Congratulations in advance, Section Chief Ryu!”

 

Yeon-woo’s father, Ryu Cheol-woong, who was filling out documents, widened his eyes at the unexpected comment.

 

“Huh? Congratulations? Suddenly?”

“Oh my, haven’t you heard the news yet? It’s plastered all over the portal main page.”

 

At Yoo Mi-yeon’s story, when colleagues were also wondering what was going on and each opened their internet windows, Ryu Cheol-woong’s phone rang.

 

Ring─.

 

“Oh, son. What’s the matter at this hour? Did you come home?”

– No. I called to tell you some happy news, Father.

 

The other civil servants working together also naturally turned their heads toward Cheol-woong, who was on the phone, after seeing the flood of articles.

 

After hearing the explanation from Yeon-woo, Ryu Cheol-woong’s mouth spread wide.

 

“Oh my! This is a celebration for our family, a celebration. Congratulations, son. Well done.”

– I haven’t won anything yet. But I’m happy just to be invited.

“Of course! It’s naturally something to be grateful for.”

 

Throughout this year, 「Master Plan」 attracted ten million viewers and 「Stars Beyond Garam」 also recorded good ratings, but since the KBC year-end awards ceremony hasn’t been held yet and the film can only be expected at next year’s Korean Arts Awards, the only award Yeon-woo has won is the newcomer award he received for his debut work 「Summer’s Wardrobe」.

 

He was a father who placed it like a sacred object in the display case in the most visible center of the living room, and carefully polished the newcomer award every day after work.

 

Knowing this about his father, Yeon-woo called him first.

 

“Yes, well done. Go in and rest.”

 

When Ryu Cheol-woong hung up the phone, his office colleagues approached.

 

“Section Chief, congratulations.”

“It’s so amazing to have such a famous celebrity around us.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Haha. Thank you. Thank you.”

 

Min-su’s cheerful voice could be heard from the driver’s seat.

 

“Haha. Your father must be very happy, right?”

“Of course. He seems happier than I am.”

“Wow, to make it into Berlin in one shot like this, I’m proud.”

“It’s thanks to Director Park Chan-hong’s scenario.”

 

Yeon-woo scratched the back of his head, feeling slightly embarrassed.

 

Then Yeon-woo’s smartphone rang again.

 

‘Hmm? Is it Mother?’

 

Thinking it would be his mother or younger sister So-hyeon who heard from his father, Yeon-woo looked at his smartphone screen and saw it was a call from Han Hae-woon.

 

“Yes. Teacher Han. I answered the phone.”

– Ah, it seems there are other people next to you. Team Leader Ryu, I found one connection to ‘Baeksol’. Starting from the Plus Ten Entertainment representative last time, I traced back very slowly so they wouldn’t notice, and one name came up.

 

Yeon-woo’s eyes lit up upon hearing Han Hae-woon’s words.

 

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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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