NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor

It had been about a week since he went to the small theater with his friends, and he didn’t have much to do since Kim Joo-hyung’s script was still being finalized.

Jin Yu-han was busy performing in a musical, and the rest of his friends seemed to be using the small theater as their hangout, going there almost daily.

Yeon-woo had given Junsoo and Seong-sik the mission of watching plays to get a feel for the atmosphere of theater companies in Daehangno.

“I wonder if they’re watching them properly.”

And then Yeon-woo thought of another person he had given a mission to.

‘Han Hae-woon must be working quite hard too.’

Most of the people on the list Yeon-woo had handed over were special agents he had come to know through various channels while working.

Of course, they had worked on operations together a few times following Yeon-woo’s instructions, but they didn’t really know Yeon-woo’s true identity.

Since he always met them in disguise and with a different appearance, they only knew the Yeon-woo from his past life as an operation commander with the codename ‘Alpha Beta (αβ)’.

On the other hand, Yeon-woo was a black agent with access to almost all confidential information, so he knew all about their operation records and achievements in detail.

He had selected those who were unlikely to be under Baeksol’s influence while still being highly capable, and passed the list to Han Hae-woon.

Yeon-woo picked up his smartphone and sent a message to Han Hae-woon.

– How’s it going? If it’s tough, just say so. I’ll help you out.

Meanwhile, Han Hae-woon, whom Yeon-woo was thinking about, was currently compiling profiles by investigating the backgrounds of the people on the list, from their past to their recent activities, gathering a vast amount of information.

As he had been an agent specializing in information analysis and theft in his past life at the National Intelligence Service, he was working at a remarkably fast pace despite the extensive workload.

Ding─.

Han Hae-woon picked up his smartphone and saw that the incoming message was from Ryu Yeon-woo.

Tok tok─.

– Han Hae-woon: Yes, I’m working on it step by step. Team leader, you know quite a lot of interesting people.

Han Hae-woon put down his smartphone and looked at the monitor.

“Now what does this person do?”

The more he dug, the more surprising people he found.

The list he was working on mainly consisted of Han Hae-woon’s colleagues from when he served in the Special Forces in his past life, but the people on the list that Ryu Yeon-woo had instructed him to look into were on a different level, even though there were fewer of them.

“A gold laurel wreath badge despite not being an instructor, and most of the records are classified…”

The gold laurel wreath badge, also known as the Gold Wing, is an honor awarded for completing over 1,000 high-altitude jumps.

Even if you jump once a week, it would take nearly 20 years.

‘People who jump this much are almost exclusively in the 707th Special Mission Battalion.’

Of course, it might be possible for an instructor teaching high-altitude jumps at the Special Warfare School, but given that most of the records were classified, it was clear that this person was a special agent who had been on actual missions.

‘But what this person is doing now is…’

Han Hae-woon looked at the monitor.

On the YouTube window that was open, there was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man rambling as he climbed a mountain alone.

“Channel name is Tarzan TV with 16 subscribers.”

After retiring, this exceptional agent was now an completely unknown YouTuber.

Of course, he had analyzed the videos this person had uploaded for his investigation.

If there was anything unusual, it was just how utterly uninteresting they were.

Those 16 subscribers were probably all acquaintances.

‘The people on the list the team leader gave me are all extraordinary yet peculiar at the same time.’

In simple terms, they were mind-boggling individuals.

It seemed he would have to work even harder to complete the list.

===

**

===

While contemplating which variety show to appear on for the fans, a call came in from the company.

– Caller: Team Leader Yoon Mi-yeon

‘Hmm, if it’s Team Leader Yoon instead of Team Leader Jung Hyuk, it must be about “White Blood”.’

Yeon-woo picked up his smartphone and answered the call.

“Yes, Team Leader.”

– Actor Ryu. Good morning. We’ve received a very good offer, and although the company is still reviewing it, I wanted to contact you first.

“A good offer?”

Since it was CEO Kim Joo-seong who had suggested taking a break for a while, it probably wasn’t about a new project.

“Is it a variety show?”

– Yes. But it’s not a Korean show. We’ve received an offer from none other than “Friday Night Show”.

Yeon-woo paused for a moment before asking again.

“…You mean that American talk show?”

– That’s right.

In foreign countries, except for a few nations, the self-sustainability of domestic broadcasts is weak, so they often import American shows directly for regular programming.

The “Friday Night Show” was a show that Yeon-woo quite enjoyed watching when he was stationed overseas.

“So the offer came in for ‘White Blood’, right? What about the other actors?”

– The offer came in for the entire expedition team. However, it’s on the condition that you, Actor Ryu, must appear.

It would be great if the other cast members could be recruited too, but the casting came in on the premise that Yeon-woo, the main character, would appear.

“Hmm, then I guess we’ll have to treat our actors to a trip to America.”

At Yeon-woo’s words, Team Leader Yoon Mi-yeon’s soft laughter could be heard through the phone.

– Then I’ll take that as your acceptance and proceed with the arrangements.

“Yes. Thank you.”

After hanging up, he was lost in thought for a moment.

Although he had pretended to be calm during the call, Yeon-woo was, of course, quite surprised.

It had been over two weeks since they had been holding the number one spot on Netflix.

He knew through Manager Kim Minsu that offers for broadcasts and projects from overseas were coming in to some extent, but among them, the “Friday Night Show”?

It was undoubtedly one of the talk shows with the highest viewership ratings worldwide.

“‘White Blood’ really has become a success, hasn’t it?”

Even when “Sketch” won the Golden Bear, the highest honor at the Berlin Film Festival, there were no invitations from American talk shows.

However, unlike European-centric film festivals, this was also a time when the growth of the OTT market was frighteningly large, and there were many Netflix viewers within the United States.

Therefore, the cast of “White Blood,” which was ranking first globally, would be a hot commodity that American talk shows were salivating over.

As Yeon-woo was sorting out his thoughts to some extent, his smartphone began to vibrate.

He picked up the phone and checked, and it was the group chat for “White Blood”.

“White Blood Group Chat (5 members)”

– Dong-ha: Is there anyone else who’s received the contact besides me?

– Han Byul: What contact?!

– Jung Cheol-min: I just got contacted by LN. Is this a dream or reality.

– Han Byul: What kind of contact is it?!

– Jung Suyeon: Byeol, aren’t you in class right now? Who told you to use your phone

– Han Byul: Hiiing what kind of contact is iiiit

While reading the messages, Yeon-woo chuckled and started typing.

– Ryu Yeon-woo: We’re going to America. Let’s give it a shot. Friday Night Show.

– Dong-ha: Ah, hyung, wait a moment, I’m suddenly tearing up

– Han Byul: Wow! America? Can I go too? But what’s this Friday thing?

===

**

===

Jung Yongho is an English teacher who has been teaching for 20 years.

As soon as he finished his lunch during the lunch break, he headed towards the class he was in charge of, clutching his throbbing head.

As he approached the classroom, he could see a crowd of people gathered in the corridor along with a noisy commotion.

Since “White Blood” had become a huge hit, Han Byul’s popularity at school was no less, if not more, compared to when Ryu Yeon-woo had debuted.

And given the nature of middle school students who don’t know moderation, it could potentially lead to incidents if not careful.

“What are you all doing gathering here again! Quickly return to your own classrooms!”

At Yongho’s stern command, the children dispersed while grumbling.

“So annoying. What does it matter where we are during lunch break.”

“He’s the most old-fashioned among the 2nd year homeroom teachers. Why is he like that.”

They might have thought they were whispering quietly, but one’s own criticism is always the most audible.

However, Yongho didn’t want to be doing this during his sweet lunch break either.

Since Monday’s faculty meeting, the vice principal had instructed them to pay special attention to safety incidents and to control students from gathering, so he had no choice but to come up to the classroom during breaks and lunch times.

‘It’s all because of that kid.’

He looked at the twin-tailed female student in the center of the classroom, laughing brightly and chatting with her friends.

Honestly, he didn’t look kindly upon the fact that one student in his class had caused so many troublesome issues.

He wasn’t particularly fond of students who leaned towards arts and physical education in the first place, which made it worse.

‘Netflix or whatever, why is the whole school in an uproar just because she appeared in something that doesn’t even air on TV. This will just be a flash in the pan. I’ve seen plenty of kids like this since I started teaching.’

Jung Yongho, who doesn’t even watch cable channels let alone Netflix besides public broadcast channels, couldn’t really grasp why everyone was making such a fuss.

Of course, he abstractly understood that “White Blood” had achieved something great since even the news was talking about it, but that was about the main actor Ryu Yeon-woo’s story.

‘At best she’s just a child actor, why is everyone making such a big deal?’

To Jung Yongho, Han Byul’s existence was the only variable that posed a challenge to his hope of just getting through this year without any incidents.

Jung Yongho reluctantly sat down on a chair at the teacher’s desk and started reading a book throughout the lunch break to prevent any safety incidents.

And after the lunch break, when all the regular classes had ended, Jung Yongho was dealing with his backlog of work.

At that moment, as the sunset was coming through the window and tinting the staff room red, Han Byul opened the door and came in.

“Teacher!”

Jung Yongho looked at Han Byul.

“Why are you here instead of going home?”

“I have some work, so I don’t think I’ll be able to come to school for a few days…”

“Again? I know you act, but you need to study at this important time. For a student, coming to school should be the absolute priority. In my years of teaching, I’ve seen plenty of kids who skipped school to be child actors, had their moment, and then ended up unable to do anything later.”

If anything, the smart Han Byul knew this even better.

Opportunities for child actors to get unique and significant roles like Ella in “White Blood” were rare, and there was no need to forcibly continue acting activities right now, so she had put numerous love calls on hold and hadn’t even decided on an agency yet.

Even if she went to an arts high school, she had already agreed with her parents to focus on school life for the time being.

“But this is something I really need to go for… The company said they’ll send an official document to the school today.”

In fact, it wasn’t something that required her homeroom teacher’s permission, but Han Byul thought it would be courteous to inform him in advance, so she stopped by the staff room before going home.

At Han Byul’s words, Jung Yongho frowned and asked in a slightly sharp voice.

“What kind of work is it?”

“I’m going to appear on a show in America.”

“…America? Why suddenly America? Are you sure you’re not being scammed?”

Just then, a fax arrived at the staff room, and simultaneously, Jung Yongho’s email inbox lit up.

“Ah! Teacher. It looks like the official document from the company has arrived.”

Jung Yongho looked at Han Byul suspiciously and then clicked on his inbox.

After reading the official document sent by LN Media, he tilted his head.

“…Is this ‘Friday Night Show’ written here the one I know?”

“Oh? You know it too, teacher? To be honest, I heard about it for the first time.”

There was no way he wouldn’t know.

The only channel that Jung Yongho, an English teacher, regularly watches besides domestic public broadcast channels is the NBS channel, which he started watching for English pronunciation practice when he was preparing for the teacher certification exam, and the “Friday Night Show” has been that channel’s flagship TV show for 20 years.

“…You’re saying you’re going to appear on this? Are you famous?”

At those words, Han Byul tilted her head and smiled brightly.

“Umm, maybe just a teeny tiny bit…?”