NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor

Song Ju-a quickly pulled out her smartphone from under her seat and urgently typed a message.

– Exclusive scoop. Ryu Yeon-woo and Jin Yu-han are currently performing together at a small theater in Hyehwa-dong. This is reportedly their first performance. The play is called “Mirror”. Will gather more information after the play ends and provide additional details.

Meanwhile, Director Lee, who was working even on the weekend, took out his smartphone when it rang.

It was a message from Song Ju-a.

“…What’s this about? A small theater in Hyehwa-dong?”

Though the message seemed too outlandish to fully comprehend, knowing that Song Ju-a wasn’t the type to spread nonsense, he quickly drafted a basic outline for an article with the limited information.

– Ryu Yeon-woo and Jin Yu-han spotted at a small theater in Daehangno. What’s the true nature of the play “Mirror”?

Director Lee tilted his head in confusion as he wrote.

“Those two are doing a small theater performance?”

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The spotlight was shining brightly on Yeon-woo and Jin Yu-han’s heads.

“Detective. Do I really need to play along with your detective game? The storm warning will be lifted soon, and the police will arrive. Then they can investigate fingerprints or whatever. Does your deduction automatically make someone the culprit?”

Kim Se-young pointed her finger at Jin Yu-han’s words.

“No! This person is a detective! Shouldn’t we at least get suspect statements or something to help with the investigation later?”

Yeon-woo smirked at that.

“If you’re going to be uncooperative, we have no choice. Let’s all gather in the lobby and wait for the police to arrive. We need to keep an eye on each other to prevent the hidden murderer from committing another crime, don’t we?”

At that moment, Ha Jae-hoon, who had been holding onto the communication equipment in the corner, approached with a grim expression.

“Um, Detective. I just got word that the waves are getting stronger, so they can’t launch any boats. It’ll take at least another day for the coast guard to arrive.”

The people gathered in the lobby protested vehemently.

“What? You’re saying there’s definitely a murderer among us, and we have to sleep in the same space? I can’t do that!”

“That’s right! Let’s all go to our individual rooms except for meal times, and have Detective Ryu Yeon-woo keep watch in the corridor! We’ll cooperate with the investigation as much as possible!”

“Let’s do that! Anyone who comes out unnecessarily will be considered confessing to being the culprit!”

Jin Yu-han shook his head vigorously in opposition.

“I object! It’s safer to stay in the same space!”

“You be quiet! Don’t you know who’s under the most suspicion right now?”

When everyone except Jin Yu-han insisted on this plan, Yeon-woo reluctantly nodded.

“Alright, let’s do that. Everyone, please go to your rooms.”

At Ryu Yeon-woo’s words, Jin Yu-han opened his mouth to say something more but closed it again after seeing the cold stares from the others.

Ryu Yeon-woo, bathed in the strong light, seemed to have become an untouchable sanctuary among the people.

Jin Yu-han turned away with a disgruntled expression.

All the actors went to their respective rooms, and Woo Seong-sik hurriedly began changing into the outfit of the murdered captain again.

Meanwhile, Yeon-woo opened the door to Room 2 where Kim Junsoo was.

“Mr. Kim Junsoo?”

“Ah, yes, Detective.”

Yeon-woo glanced at Kim Junsoo’s white sneakers once before continuing.

“You’re currently off my main list of suspects. So, I was wondering if you could help me with the investigation?”

Kim Junsoo let out a sigh of relief and nodded vigorously at Yeon-woo’s words.

“Yes! Of course! I’m really innocent.”

Then, only the light illuminating Yeon-woo remained as all other lights were turned off.

“Good. First, the important thing is that the murder weapon is nowhere to be seen in the captain’s room. Judging by the depth and width of the wound, it seems to be a kitchen knife. And looking under the captain’s fingernails, it appears he scratched the culprit’s body hard during the struggle. The culprit must have scratch marks somewhere on their body.”

Kim Junsoo nodded and repeated Yeon-woo’s words once more.

“Murder weapon: kitchen knife. Scratch marks from fingernails.”

This was a device to help the audience understand once more and focus on the play.

“Hmm, the fisherman might have his own knife, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. He probably does.”

The door to fisherman Kim Joo-hyung’s room opened, and light fell on it.

Suspicion that he might be the culprit had deepened.

“I clearly saw the fisherman lurking near the kitchen yesterday when I went into the dining room to check if there was any beer in the fridge.”

The light on the fisherman intensified, and Yeon-woo continued.

“There was a hooded guest in one corner of the dining room. I couldn’t see their face, but judging by the build, it’s definitely that man in Room 5.”

“T-then those two are the most suspicious suspects, right?”

As tension-building sound effects played, Yeon-woo approached Room 5, and a strong spotlight illuminated Jin Yu-han’s head in the darkness.

Eek-!

A weak scream erupted from the audience.

Jin Yu-han was in his room, holding a gun in his hand, pressed close to Yeon-woo, listening to the sounds outside.

The audience all realized there was an invisible door between the two, but their hearts raced at the sight of Ryu Yeon-woo seemingly about to be shot by Jin Yu-han’s gun at any moment.

Then, as the tension-building sound effects stopped, Yeon-woo turned around, and the light illuminating Jin Yu-han went out.

“Let’s investigate the fisherman first.”

“Yes, Detective.”

After that, Yeon-woo searched the fisherman’s room but didn’t find anything special.

“Hmm, the fisherman did have a knife, but…”

“It seems too small, Detective. It’s just a pocket knife.”

Yeon-woo nodded at Kim Junsoo’s words.

And this time, he went to Jin Yu-han’s room.

Bang bang bang─.

“Guest in Room 5. I need to search your room. Please cooperate.”

“Why should I agree to a search? Don’t trust anyone and wait for the police to arrive.”

At that, Kim Junsoo angrily spoke up from the side.

“What? The detective is the police!”

Yeon-woo calmed Kim Junsoo down.

“It’s alright. We can’t help it.”

Then the lights dimmed, and an announcement came in Kim Junsoo’s voice.

– It’s mealtime. Crew and passengers, please gather in the dining room. Everyone must come out without exception, and for safety reasons, you cannot bring personal belongings.

The audience could only blink their eyes at the relentless pace of events unfolding on stage.

And the audience began to whisper to each other, each starting to make their own deductions.

“Who’s the culprit? Is it really Jin Yu-han?”

“Why does he have a gun?”

While most were suspicious of Jin Yu-han, other characters were also under suspicion.

“I’m suspicious of Kim Junsoo. Didn’t he clear himself too quickly? Just because of a shoe.”

“If you put it that way, the crew member who took a bribe to let that passenger on board is more suspicious.”

“Ah, was his name Ha Jae-hoon?”

The blackout time was intentionally set long to give the audience time to make their own deductions.

And as the main lights came back on, the passengers were gathered in the center.

“Everyone, raise both hands. No one brought any personal belongings, right?”

“Let’s all keep a close eye on each other.”

While everyone was suspicious of each other, the actors were ultimately looking at Jin Yu-han with distrustful eyes.

And that Jin Yu-han was glaring at Yeon-woo.

Yeon-woo ignored that gaze and opened his mouth.

“While you were all confined to your cabins, I conducted some investigation with Mr. Kim Junsoo’s help. We searched all locations except Room 5, but we didn’t find the suspected murder weapon, a kitchen knife.”

Jin Yu-han immediately retorted.

“Couldn’t the weapon be thrown overboard at any time to destroy evidence?”

At Jin Yu-han’s words, the others glared at him and each criticized him.

“Is that what you did?”

“If you’re so innocent, why won’t you let them search your room? Tsk tsk.”

Regardless, Yeon-woo continued speaking.

“And the victim’s stab wound was deep, going from top to bottom. In other words, the culprit is likely someone taller and stronger than the victim.”

“Wasn’t the estimated time of the crime in the early morning? If the victim was stabbed while lying down sleeping, wouldn’t it not matter? Even if it was a small female crew member…”

Jin Yu-han stopped speaking and looked around.

“Where is that female crew member?”

At those words, the other passengers also looked around.

“Huh? Why isn’t Se-young noona here?”

“She was definitely here earlier.”

The audience, caught up in the presence of Ryu Yeon-woo and Jin Yu-han delivering their lines, hadn’t noticed Kim Se-young’s disappearance.

“Damn it!”

With a frustrated expression, Jin Yu-han turned around and ran to his cabin.

At that moment, Kim Se-young rushed out between the running Jin Yu-han and Ryu Yeon-woo standing center stage.

“B-big trouble! I found this in the Room 5 guest’s room, Detective!”

In Kim Se-young’s hand was a revolver.

Seemingly afraid to touch it, she held up the gun by the tip of the barrel with her fingers.

The audience gulped at the rapidly unfolding events on stage.

Jin Yu-han opened his mouth.

“Stop! I…”

And as Ryu Yeon-woo and Jin Yu-han’s gazes clashed in mid-air, they both simultaneously started running towards Kim Se-young.

Kyaaak─.

With Kim Se-young’s scream, the stage went dark.

Bang─!

And immediately, a flash of light and a single gunshot filled the entire stage from the center.

The startled audience flinched.

“W-what’s going on?”

“Did someone shoot? Who shot whom?”

And the audience couldn’t understand the development that had just occurred.

‘So what happens to the culprit, and what’s the plot structure of this story…?’

As the audience murmured, the main lights came on halfway, dimly illuminating the stage.

Jin Yu-han’s arms were being held by the fisherman and the gangster passenger, and Jin Yu-han’s head was drooping towards the floor.

And in front of him, Ryu Yeon-woo was lying on his back, having slid backwards, pointing the gun at Jin Yu-han.

Of the two who had rushed simultaneously, Yeon-woo had grabbed the gun first, and the gun had gone off while the fisherman and gangster were restraining Jin Yu-han.

“Oh no. W-what should we do?”

“The d-detective was just trying to protect us!”

Ryu Yeon-woo looked alternately at the gun in his hand, Jin Yu-han’s corpse in front of him, and the passengers watching this, then staggered on the spot.

“Oh, Detective!”

The passengers came forward to support Yeon-woo.

The strongest spotlight illuminated Yeon-woo.

His confused expression was clearly conveyed to the audience.

“Oh my, Detective. There’s blood all over your face and body… Let’s get you inside to clean up first.”

“This isn’t your fault, Detective. You were just trying to protect us…!”

Supported by others, Ryu Yeon-woo stumbled into Room 4.

And the people left in front of Jin Yu-han’s corpse began to speak.

“This all happened because you, Kim Se-young, searched the culprit’s room.”

“What are you talking about! You all encouraged me to find out what the culprit was hiding!”

“If only Jae-hoon hyung hadn’t illegally taken a bribe to let that passenger on board in the first place, right?”

“What the hell? Are you saying it’s my fault?”

As the crew members started to argue, the fisherman Kim Joo-hyung intervened.

“We’re all involved in this. Stop fighting, everyone.”

Then the gangster passenger Woo Seong-sik roughly shook his head.

“Shit. I was told that if I got involved in one more incident during my probation period, I’d rot in prison for a long time this time.”

Even though Jin Yu-han was the culprit, the fisherman and gangster who had been holding him from both sides when Ryu Yeon-woo fired the gun felt as if they had sand in their mouths, feeling like they had contributed to his death.

At that moment, Ha Jae-hoon opened his mouth with wide eyes.

“…But you know, we’re the only ones who know that this culprit was on board, right?”