NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor

The interior design exuded an elegant modernity at first glance.

Outside the window, the view of LA from the hilltop spread out like a painting.

The scene of this ultra-luxurious house made one think that if there were a heaven, this might be it.

However, Jake was sitting in the middle of this paradise, clutching his head.

“Damn it. This has turned into a complete joke.”

He had never once thought that “Alliance” would lose its first-place position.

It was supposed to be just a stepping stone to secure the distribution rights for subsequent films.

Of course, there were several competitors in Hollywood besides Snobbish Mount.

But no matter which company had taken it on, securing first place for “Alliance” was supposed to be nothing more or less than a given.

Of course, from the perspective of the general public, “White Blood” might be entertaining enough to deserve first place.

It’s not like fans of the original work would be disappointed and stop watching just because “Alliance” came in second.

But in the professional world, it wasn’t like that.

For a top-tier distribution company, maintaining rankings by any means necessary was part of the job, and the moment that symbolic first place crumbled, Snobbish Mount’s reputation would plummet.

And for Jake, who had only been CEO for a few years, this was something that absolutely should not have happened.

He had already heard rumors circulating among shareholders and the board about his competence.

Ring ring─.

At that moment, Jake’s smartphone rang.

Jake, who had been clutching his head due to a headache, gestured behind him.

“Bring it here.”

“Yes, sir.”

The assistant brought the phone from the table to Jake, who snatched it roughly and checked the screen.

– Bernard Penton.

Seeing the caller’s name, Jake’s face instantly twisted into an expression as if he’d bitten into something foul.

“…Yes. This is Jake.”

– Hahaha. It’s been a while. Almost a year, isn’t it?

“I suppose so.”

Penton’s smug voice came through the receiver.

– How have you been lately? You’re still young, so I hope your health is good? My back has been giving me trouble recently.

“What’s the reason for your call?”

– Ah, are you busy? I just called to say hello.

As if he would call just to say hello at a time like this.

Jake’s mood worsened at Penton’s nonchalant tone.

“We’re not exactly on greeting terms, are we?”

– Whoa, whoa. Why so hostile? In this business, there are no permanent enemies or allies. Jake, your youthful spirit is an asset, but it would be even better if you could cultivate some tolerance to balance it out. Hahaha.

Jake ended the call without listening any further and threw his smartphone at the wall in irritation.

“Huff. That rat bastard Penton!”

The assistant watching from behind quietly shook his head.

‘I guess the rich really are different. Throwing it at the wall. No matter how angry I get, I’d at least throw it at the sofa or bed.’

===

**

===

The friends arrived at the address Yeon-woo had sent.

“Is this the right place?”

They had walked quite a bit after getting off at Hyehwa Station.

The address indicated by the app pointed to this location.

The old building’s gray granite walls were stained with rust in places, giving them an orange tint, and the first-floor store that once read “Engineering” had long since closed, with only messy stickers remaining and the interior completely empty.

The friends hesitated to descend the stairs leading to the basement, which looked a bit gloomy from the outside.

“Are we going down to the basement?”

“The address is right. Let’s go down and see.”

Kim Junsoo took the lead, followed by Woo Seong-sik and Kim Joo-hyung.

As they descended the stairs, they could hear Yeon-woo and Jin Yu-han’s voices.

– Ahhh.

– How is it? Is the acoustics good?

– Yeah, it’s great!

Hearing the familiar voices beyond the entrance, the friends felt reassured as they continued down the stairs.

“This must be the place. Let’s go in.”

Click─.

The friends entered the small theater as they opened the door.

Yeon-woo had arrived earlier with Jin Yu-han to inspect the interior facilities and look around.

He waved at the friends as they came in.

“You’re here? Found it quickly, huh?”

“Oh, we were hesitant to come in at the entrance, but it’s quite clean inside, isn’t it?”

Kim Junsoo nodded as he looked around.

In fact, it was their first time in a small theater, so they still felt a bit awkward.

Yeon-woo smiled as he watched his friends.

“Take a look around. This is where we’ll be spending the next half year.”

The friends’ eyes widened at Yeon-woo’s words.

“Huh? Half a year?!”

The friends, who thought they had only rented it for today based on the group chat message, were shocked.

“We need about that much time to practice and put on the play. I rented the whole place, so we can practice whenever we want. The first floor is empty too, so there won’t be any noise issues even if we practice at night.”

“…Wow. Is this what they call a world star’s flex? You just went ahead and rented it for half a year when we’ve barely started talking about this?”

Yeon-woo grinned at Woo Seong-sik’s words.

“If we’re going to do it, we might as well do it properly.”

In fact, taking a break before choosing his next project was partly due to CEO Kim Joo-seong’s recommendation, and there was also the reason of wanting to do a play with his friends, but there was one more reason beyond that.

‘Anyway, while filming “The Stars Beyond the River” and “White Blood,” I ended up thwarting all of Baek-sol’s sabotage attempts aimed at LN Entertainment. So I need to stay off their radar for a while before they start taking an interest in me.’

Of course, it was impossible for Baek-sol to realize Yeon-woo’s true identity.

The very premise of ‘reincarnating’ into a different body was nonsensical, and the process of cleaning up the moles they had planted left no trace of Yeon-woo’s involvement when viewed from the outside.

‘They probably still think it was just bad luck.’

However, if the actor ‘Ryu Yeon-woo’ starts catching Baek-sol’s eye and they begin to keep him in check, or conversely, if they try to recruit him as a pawn to use and discard, either scenario would be troublesome for Yeon-woo.

‘I can’t just sit back and let their obvious tricks work on me, but on the other hand, it would be strange for a mere actor in his early twenties not to fall for their carefully planned schemes.’

From that perspective, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to enjoy some hobby activities for about half a year.

It’s also a good choice to focus on controlling the ongoing projects through Han Hae-woon to get them on track during this time.

After all, this play had more time flexibility compared to working on a movie or drama project.

It’s not like he had to move according to a fixed shooting schedule.

In that spare time, he needed to steadily carry out the tracking of and preparation against Han Hae-woon and Baek-sol according to plan.

‘Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m going to slack off on the play.’

Although Yeon-woo had broadly enjoyed acting since his previous life, if he had to compare, he preferred theater and musicals slightly more than dramas or movies.

When he was stationed in European countries, he used to attend performances every week.

Yeon-woo looked at his friends who were peering around with awkward expressions.

“First, I came and checked with Yu-han earlier, and it seems we won’t need to use the sound system separately except for special effects.”

Yu-han nodded in agreement with Yeon-woo’s words.

“It may look shabby from the outside, but the interior seems to have been built with quite a lot of care. It looks like an architectural acoustics expert designed it with detailed delay adjustments. If we just vocalize properly, we won’t need to wear microphones.”

The other three friends, who didn’t really understand what was being said, just nodded their heads.

“This space was originally the small theater of the theater company where Teacher Jung Cheol-min was active in his younger days.”

“Ah, Uncle Dipangdal?”

Yeon-woo nodded with a smile at Woo Seong-sik’s words.

Then Kim Junsoo looked around and said,

“To think this space is just for us to use. Doesn’t it feel exciting, like we’ve got our own hideout?”

“Oh, you’re right. Thinking of it as a hideout does make it feel cozier somehow.”

Hearing Kim Junsoo and Woo Seong-sik’s words, Yeon-woo chuckled.

“Come on, calling this sacred stage a hideout? We actually have a separate hideout, you know.”

“Huh? We have a separate one?”

“Follow me.”

Yeon-woo led his friends up to the second floor.

It was originally the office used by Yoo Hocheol, Jung Cheol-min’s classmate and the representative of this small theater.

Since they were renting the whole place for half a year anyway, and Yoo Hocheol had no need to come to work, he had given the second floor to Yeon-woo to use as well.

Creak─.

As they opened the door and entered, an office with a view of the quiet streets of Hyehwa-dong came into view through the window.

In the center of the office, bathed in warm sunlight, was a quite large sofa, and in the corner, there was even a single portable bed and a refrigerator, making it perfect as a hideout for five college students to gather.

“Here’s our office.”

“Wow! Amazing!”

“This really feels like a hideout! Yeon-woo, you’re the best.”

Kim Joo-hyung, sitting on the sofa, looked at his friends excitedly.

“Then shouldn’t we decide on a group name or something?”

“A group? Like an organization?”

Kim Joo-hyung shook his head in disbelief at Woo Seong-sik’s words.

“No! We’re a theater company now, aren’t we?”

“Hmm. That’s true.”

Although it was still just a mini theater company with only five members and set to disappear after six months, they had decided to put on a play, so it was indeed a theater company.

“Well, since we’re on the subject, let’s decide now. What should we call it?”

In response to Yeon-woo’s question, Jin Yu-han pondered for a moment before speaking.

“They say names often determine fate, right? Names have a magical quality, so I think it’s better to go with a name that has a good meaning rather than something unnecessarily pretentious.”

Hearing Jin Yu-han’s words, Yeon-woo smiled wryly, remembering that this theater company’s original name was ‘Fame,’ but ironically, its fame had disappeared.

Everyone agreed with the idea of choosing a name with a good meaning.

Kim Junsoo thought for a while and then spoke up.

“A name with a good meaning… How about something that makes you feel good when you hear it? For example, ‘Happiness’ or ‘Joy.'”

“‘Happiness Theater Company,’ ‘Joy Theater Company’? Those names sound pretty lame. They sound like something you’d find in North Korea.”

Woo Seong-sik shook his head.

Then Kim Junsoo turned to Woo Seong-sik and asked,

“Then what words make you feel the best when you hear them?”

“Me? Hmm. Let’s see? ‘ADC carry confirmed’?”

“……”

At Woo Seong-sik’s answer, Junsoo shook his head with an expression that said he shouldn’t have asked that guy.

“Is there nothing but games in your head? Yeon-woo, do you have any words you like?”

“Words I like…”

Yeon-woo remembered that among the numerous articles about him since his debut, there was one that stood out in his memory.

– New Star (Shinseong)! A new star rises. Rookie actor Ryu Yeon-woo sets out to capture women’s hearts with JNBC’s “Summer’s Promise”…

In his previous life, he had ended his days as a nameless star on a desert hill that no one sought out, so seeing the title ‘new star’ made him truly feel that he was living a new life.

“New star (saeloun byeol)?”

“Oh? That’s good!”

“But four syllables might be too long, how about shortening it to ‘New Star’ (Saebyeol)?”

Everyone nodded, seemingly satisfied with Yeon-woo’s suggestion.

“It sounds good! So we’re ‘New Star Theater Company’?”

And so, not long after, a tiny, time-limited theater company that would soon shake South Korea was born.

Translator Note:

1. 신성(新星) = New Star (Shinseong)
2. 새로운 별 = New star (saeloun byeol)
3. 새별 = New star (Saebyeol)