NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor

Yeon-woo and Min-soo arrived at the set in Paju and stepped inside the building.

“Wow, Yeon-woo. The scale is impressive.”

“Indeed. It seems even larger than the special filming set in Daejeon where we shot ‘The Star Beyond the River’.”

Kim Min-soo, who was visiting for the first time, was awestruck by the grandeur that could be felt right from the entrance. Although they had heard from CEO Kim Joo-seong about the extensive support, seeing it in person was a different experience.

– Click. –

Just then, the door to the internal studio opened, and two directors along with writer Kim Jin-joo emerged.

“Oh my, Yeon-woo. When did you get here?”

“I came right after my class ended. We just arrived.”

At that moment, Director Hwang Min-kwon, with tears welling up in his eyes, ran towards Yeon-woo and grabbed his hands.

“Sniff, Actor Ryu, thank you so much! How could I have brought my vision to life without you!”

Feeling a bit awkward, Yeon-woo gently pulled his hands away and scratched his cheek.

“It’s not me; it’s LN Media’s CEO Kim Joo-seong who made this happen.”

“It’s all because you took the lead role that we received such overwhelming support!”

“That’s true.”

CG Director Jung Yo-han nodded in agreement from behind. Not particularly fond of seeing grown men cry, Yeon-woo quickly changed the subject.

“Director Jung, how’s the chroma key set?”

“It’s fantastic.”

Jung Yo-han gave a thumbs-up and nodded.

“Oh, instead of just standing here, let’s go take a look. I’ll guide you.”

Director Hwang Min-kwon, speaking in a tone that made it hard to tell if he was a director or a tour guide, politely gestured with both hands to lead the way. Yeon-woo chuckled at the sight and began to follow.

As they entered, they were greeted by a vast space covered in green chroma key walls, with a rather grand earthen fortress standing in the middle. It was a wall built entirely of earth.

“Wow, how did they make this?”

Yeon-woo marveled, and Director Hwang Min-kwon, still in his guide mode, explained.

“It looks like it’s made of real earth, but according to CEO Lee Joo-seok, only the surface is coated and then baked with a torch. They used materials typically used for building saunas.”

“CEO Lee Joo-seok? The same company that built the spaceship interiors for ‘Master Plan’?”

“Yes, they told us not to worry about the budget, so we hired the best company in the country. Haha.”

Yeon-woo couldn’t help but be impressed by the level of detail and effort put into the set, feeling even more excited about the upcoming project.

As Yeon-woo approached and examined the wall closely, he couldn’t find any seams or details that suggested it wasn’t made of real earth.

‘It looks almost identical to the stronghold where anti-government forces in the Islamic world would hold out.’

Nodding in approval, Yeon-woo continued walking and looked at writer Kim Jin-joo.

“So, in the story, is this the gateway to Cardiac?”

“Yes. This is where the large-scale battle scene will be filmed.”

Cardiac, a medical term for the heart, was the setting for a major battle in the story. The protagonist and the supporting red blood cells would engage in a massive fight against the pursuing white blood cells before entering the heart.

Looking at the green chroma key wall beyond the earthen fortress, Yeon-woo muttered to himself.

“Then behind that, the Carotid Artery will rise as a giant pillar of light towards the sky.”

“We’ve already started the CG work. It will be depicted on a grand scale.”

The Carotid Artery, the fastest route from the heart to the brain, would be represented as a massive pillar of light leading to another world in the story. Most of the place names and terms in the work were medical terms, and the protagonist, being a doctor, often looked at them with a bewildered expression, adding a touch of humor to the story.

‘Who would think of a colossal pillar of light tearing through dimensions and call it the Carotid Artery?’

Yeon-woo smiled at Director Hwang Min-kwon, who was eagerly guiding them.

‘And who would invest in producing such a script? It’s absurd.’

Yeon-woo realized that Director Hwang Min-kwon’s lack of fame wasn’t due to a lack of talent. It was because there weren’t any production companies large enough or investors bold enough to bring his imaginative visions to life.

‘CEO Kim Joo-seong’s substantial investment is likely due to his trust in my past successes…’

Fundamentally, it was probably because he felt the same emotions Yeon-woo had when he read the script in the CEO’s office that day.

As they moved to the next area, they entered a room filled with red pebbles. Yeon-woo noticed a stack of mysterious rubber towers and tilted his head in curiosity.

“What are those?”

“Oh, those are gym balls. They haven’t been inflated yet, so they’re just stacked there.”

Red pebbles and red gym balls.

“So, this is Cardiac?”

It was the ‘heart’ in the story, not just a metaphorical heart but the actual heart.

“That’s right. We’ll mark each gym ball and capture the motion, then process each one with CG. It might look strange now, but it’s a technique commonly used in Hollywood.”

Yeon-woo was impressed by the level of detail and the advanced techniques being employed, feeling even more excited about the project.

‘If Director Jung Yo-han said so, it must be true. Given his filmography, there was no reason to doubt him.’

After thoroughly touring the set, Yeon-woo and the group returned to the entrance.’

“Hmm? Now that I think about it, there’s no set for the latter part of the film?”

They had walked around the entire set, but there was no sign of the futuristic sci-fi setting that would represent the brain’s inner world.

Director Jung Yo-han responded to Yeon-woo’s question.

“The latter part will be almost 99 percent CG. Once we’re done shooting the earthen fortress scenes, we’ll tear down that set and replace it with a full chroma key setup for filming.”

Yeon-woo nodded in understanding. His main concern was the chroma key shooting. His only experience with chroma key was during a telecom commercial where he was suspended on wires, transitioning from a classroom to outer space. Even then, all he had to do was maintain a pose while lying down, which hardly counted as acting.

“I haven’t done much chroma key shooting. What’s the most important thing to keep in mind? I’d like to prepare as best as I can.”

“Hmm, the most important thing?”

After pondering for a moment, Director Jung Yo-han nodded and spoke.

“Imagination, I’d say. You have to act as if something is flying towards you when nothing is actually there, or as if bombs are exploding all around when nothing is happening.”

“Imagination…”

Yeon-woo nodded thoughtfully, and writer Kim Jin-joo patted him on the back.

“Oh, Yeon-woo, I’m sure you’ll do great even if you haven’t done it before. Remember, the desert chase scene in ‘Beyond the River’ was also CG.”

True, he had imagined a vast army beyond the desert while riding a horse, so it made sense.

Yeon-woo smiled and spoke up.

“I’ll do my best to prepare during the remaining time.”

Watching him, Director Hwang Min-kwon spoke up.

“About the other roles, we’re planning to hold auditions. Would you like to be involved?”

“No, please choose based on your and the writer’s judgment.”

“Understood.”

If Yeon-woo got too involved in the production, it might limit the director’s discretion.

‘A work is ultimately a picture painted by the director’s imagination.’

As an actor, his job was to be the best brush possible.

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‘Sketch’ will conclude its run this week.

– The highest-grossing independent film that doesn’t feel like an indie film.

– South Korea’s independent film sets a new box office record with [6.71 million viewers].

The break-even point for ‘Sketch’, which had a total production cost of 4.5 billion won, was 1.3 million viewers. However, it surpassed the break-even point just six days after its release, leading to substantial additional revenue.

About 40 days later, theaters began to reduce the number of screens allocated to ‘Sketch’. Although Director Park Chan-hong had achieved over 10 million viewers multiple times before, ‘Sketch’ concluded its run with 6.71 million viewers.

“Well, honestly, even when I was stationed overseas, I rarely went to the theater unless it was a movie where an American came out and smashed everything.”

Lying on his bed and browsing articles about ‘Sketch’ on his smartphone, Yeon-woo nodded in agreement. It was a human-documentary genre and an independent film. Even considering it won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, it was an incredible box office record.

At that moment, his smartphone rang.

“Yes, Director.”

– You answered right away.

“I was just looking up articles about ‘Sketch’. It finished its run today.”

– That’s right. That’s why I called. Not to the actor, but to the investor.

Aside from the director, the only investor in the independent film ‘Sketch’ was Ryu Yeon-woo.

“The box office revenue has been tallied, I assume.”

– The distributor just contacted me. It’s still a preliminary tally, but the actual revenue shouldn’t be much different. The total revenue is 56.3 billion won.

Though he had expected it, the amount was still staggering.

“It’s an amount that doesn’t feel real.”

– Of course, the net profit that you and I receive will be much less.

The film’s revenue is subject to various deductions, including value-added tax, the film development fund, revenue sharing with theaters, and distribution fees.

‘Considering the 10 percent and 3 percent, and the shares for the theaters and distributors…’

Yeon-woo quickly did the math in his head.

“Roughly 23 billion won, I suppose.”

– Hmm? How did you know? The total allocated amount is 23.4 billion won.

Considering the distribution ratio based on Yeon-woo’s investment, even after excluding the promised share to LN Entertainment, Yeon-woo would receive approximately 5.4 billion won directly.

“Of course, taxes need to be deducted, but it’s still a significant amount.”

– Congratulations.

“I should be the one saying that. Congratulations, Director.”

Winning awards and achieving box office success meant they had caught two birds with one stone. This wasn’t the end; there was still additional revenue to be earned from overseas rights and the domestic OTT market.

– If you agree, I’d like to provide bonuses to the staff and actors who participated.

“Of course. I’ll leave that entirely to you, Director.”

– Got it. The profit distribution should be completed by the end of this month at the latest.

After ending the call with Director Park Chan-hong, Yeon-woo fell into thought.

‘I’ve accumulated quite a bit of earnings from my entertainment activities so far.’

The amount far exceeded the salary he had earned throughout his previous life dedicated to serving the country.

‘I’ve been sending enough to my family, and I’ve prepared well for tax issues.’

Yeon-woo looked around his officetel. He had been living there since before he graduated high school, and it had been almost two years now. Although it was a company-assigned accommodation, he hadn’t felt the need to move.

‘Hmm, it might be better if I move.’

There wouldn’t be any issues if Yeon-woo continued to stay there, but considering the new rookie actors being brought into the company, it seemed right to free up a spot. Besides, he had promised himself not to live frugally like in his past life.

“Money disappears when you die anyway. At least I’ve made some donations.”

Yeon-woo picked up his smartphone and roughly calculated his soon-to-be-received earnings and current assets.

‘Even after taxes, it should be over 7 billion won.’

A significant portion of this came from the CF for Lee Han Technology and the success of ‘Sketch’. Additionally, he had worked on numerous projects over the past two years, starting with ‘Summer Promise’.

Yeon-woo picked up his smartphone and pressed the call button.

‘When it comes to spending money, this person’s consulting is the best.’

After a few rings, a familiar voice came through the receiver.

– Oh, Yeon-woo!

“Jin-yuk hyung, are you busy?”

– No, the filming for ‘Prisoner’ is over, and I’m just resting at home.

“I’m thinking about moving.”

A house with a practice room for acting… The luxury village where several celebrities, including Son Jin-yuk, lived had always seemed appealing.

‘Let’s move this time.’