NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor

The transfer of building ownership was completed smoothly under the name of the corporation operated by Terrence Williams, the cover identity.

And late that night, Yeon-woo and Han Hae-woon met on the fifth floor of the newly acquired building.

“This place will be our base from now on.”

“Congratulations on becoming a building owner, Team Leader.”

Yeon-woo looked at Han Hae-woon with a slight smile.

“Building owner, nonsense.”

“By the way, that real estate agent was quite useful. Their processing was quick and accurate. They were also sharp in figuring out what the client wanted.”

“They did a good job when I was buying my house too. Did you get the floor plans?”

Cotton Flower Building was an old structure, making it difficult to find the design blueprints.

“Fortunately, since the building was constructed in ’96, there were plans available.”

South Korea began managing building status drawings at the national level from 1995.

However, the building plans obtained through Han Hae-woon were not proper blueprints, but merely floor plans for each level.

“Did you look into the designer listed in the building management ledger?”

“Yes. The company went bankrupt, and the designer has already passed away.”

“Can’t be helped. Let’s hope our assumptions are correct.”

Yeon-woo looked behind and instructed Han Hae-woon.

“Before we start working, disable the elevator to prevent anyone from coming up.”

“Yes, understood.”

Han Hae-woon used a key to open the control panel managing the elevator and stopped its operation.

Meanwhile, Yeon-woo examined the building’s walls.

“Let me see the floor plans first.”

At Yeon-woo’s words, Han Hae-woon took out several sheets of paper from his bag.

“It might not be noticeable once inside, but the sense of space is definitely different compared to other floors.”

Yeon-woo sprayed cooking oil on the floor plans of the first and fifth floors recorded by level.

As the paper absorbed the oil, it became slightly translucent.

Then Yeon-woo overlapped the floor plans.

“Look at this. The width-to-length ratios don’t match. It’s impossible for the pillars to be misaligned in the design.”

It’s inconceivable for the skeleton bearing the building’s load to be misaligned.

“We should take some actual measurements.”

Han Hae-woon took out a laser distance meter from his bag.

Beep─.

“Hmm, as expected, it’s different from the records. The building’s length is definitely about 3 meters shorter.”

Nodding, Yeon-woo went to the end of the left wall he had only seen on screen and examined the connection.

He discovered a part where the dark gray wall finish suddenly changed to a light concrete color.

“The finish color is different. This partition wall was definitely added long after the building was constructed.”

“We should break through the wall to see what’s inside.”

At Han Hae-woon’s words, Yeon-woo stretched, massaging his shoulders.

To check the building’s plumbing and other facility conditions without alerting others, they would have to either forcibly remove the framework or use a thermal imaging camera after raising the temperature of the pipes.

To confirm the building’s secrets without notifying others, they had no choice but to trust their instincts.

“Should I do some hammering after a long time?”

Han Hae-woon grinned at that.

“Team Leader, what era do you think we’re in to use a hammer?”

Then he took out a concrete demolition hammer drill from his bag.

“This one will do the job quickly. Please stand back there and wear a mask.”

“What else are you pulling out of that bag? It reminds me of a certain blue cat character.”

“Come on, that guy uses a front pocket, doesn’t he?”

As Yeon-woo stepped back, Han Hae-woon activated the electric drill.

Whirr─.

Drrrr─.

The electric drill made contact with the wall and began to break through the concrete.

“As expected, the wall is quite thin.”

Soon, dust flew as a fist-sized hole appeared, revealing a dark space on the other side.

If it had been an exterior wall as recorded in the blueprints, it would never have been this thin.

“My arm’s tingling. Maybe I’m not skilled enough.”

“Let’s switch.”

Yeon-woo took the drill and started it up again.

He tilted it slightly and drilled, and as the giant drill bit tore into the concrete, Yeon-woo gradually widened its range while applying pressure.

After continuing to break through for a while, a hole large enough for a person to pass through was created in the wall.

Whirrr─.

Turning off the drill, Yeon-woo and Han Hae-woon stood in front of the hole.

“Let’s go in.”

“Yes.”

Han Hae-woon turned on a flashlight and examined the floor first.

Carefully entering to check if there were any problems with the foundation, he looked around.

“Clear.”

Yeon-woo followed, holding a flashlight and examining the walls.

“I see a distribution box over there.”

“Ah, confirmed.”

Han Hae-woon approached, opened the distribution box, and flipped the switch.

Click─.

Then, lights came on in the interior space that seemed unused for at least a few months, possibly years.

“Hmm, as expected.”

Inside the space was a single table, with an elevator and emergency stairs visible behind it.

This was probably a secret room accessible only to VIPs when the illegal gambling den was in operation.

Judging by the flickering of the ceiling lights, it seemed the entire electrical system would need an overhaul since this space hadn’t been used for a long time.

“We should inspect the elevator first.”

“Then let’s go down the stairs and see where they lead.”

“Yes, let’s go.”

Creak─.

Yeon-woo and Han Hae-woon opened the emergency stairway door and began to descend.

Seeing that there were no doors leading to other floors, it seemed that from the first to the fourth floor, there were no secret spaces like the fifth floor, except for the area with the emergency stairs and elevator.

“Then we can use only the fifth floor and rent out the rest of the floors.”

“That’s actually better for our cover. The agents only need to use this passage.”

“But was there a secret passage to exit on the first floor? I didn’t see one when we looked around earlier.”

Hearing Yeon-woo’s words, Han Hae-woon nodded.

“I didn’t see one either.”

They went down the stairs, but as expected, there was no exit on the first floor.

“Hmm. According to the markings on the wall, this is the first floor, but it seems to connect to the basement?”

Then Yeon-woo shook his head.

“No, it’s not the basement. I think it connects to the back of the building. There’s quite a height difference between the front and back of the building.”

“Ah, there was a slightly sloped downhill path next to the building.”

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they came across a gray door.

“Let’s open it carefully since we don’t know where it leads.”

“Yes.”

Yeon-woo put on a hat and mask.

Han Hae-woon took the lead, unlocked the latch on the door, and carefully opened it to reveal what looked like the kitchen of a closed-down restaurant.

“Hmm, where could this be?”

Hearing Han Hae-woon’s whisper, Yeon-woo pointed ahead.

A menu board with ‘Mokhwaru’ written on it was attached to the wall.

“Looks like a failed Chinese restaurant behind the building.”

“Mokhwa Building, Mokhwaru. I guess they had the same owner originally.”

Hearing Han Hae-woon’s words, Yeon-woo stroked his chin.

“Hmm, Mokhwa. The original owners. They were quite interesting guys, weren’t they?”

“Pardon?”

Yeon-woo grinned and continued.

“When you hear Mokhwa, doesn’t Mun Ik-jeom come to mind?”

The Goryeo scholar who was sent as an envoy to the Yuan Dynasty and secretly brought back cotton seeds hidden in his brush handle, despite their export being prohibited.

Of course, in modern times, there’s controversy over whether cotton was actually a prohibited export item in the Yuan Dynasty at the time, and records from the late Goryeo and early Joseon periods only state that he ‘obtained’ it, so many say the brush handle story is fabricated.

However, there was no doubt that Mun Ik-jeom’s cotton story was a famous tale known to most people.

Han Hae-woon clapped his hands upon hearing Yeon-woo’s words.

“Then we’re like the cotton seeds secretly entering and exiting the building?”

“Well, I suppose you could see it that way.”

Mokhwa Building and Mokhwaru.

“We should acquire this Chinese restaurant building too.”

===

**

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The acquisition of the Chinese restaurant building was left to Han Hae-woon, and Han Hae-woon instructed three team members to organize the fifth floor of the building that would become their base.

And Yeon-woo was gazing at the quiet alleyways of Hyehwa-dong, basking in the late winter sunlight coming through the second-floor office window of the New Star Theater Company.

Watching him, Woo Seong-sik raised his smartphone.

Click─.

“Wow, that’s a killer shot. Thought it was a photoshoot or something.”

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

“You sound like some neighborhood thug uncle.”

“What are you talking about? That’s rich coming from you, who’s been like an old man since high school.”

Yeon-woo shrugged his shoulders.

What could he do about actually being an old man?

“Can I post this photo on my Starlstar?”

“Sure, why not.”

“Okay. Follower gain!”

Just then, Kim Joo-hyung opened the door and came in.

“Se-young noona and teacher Jae-hoon have arrived. Shall we start practice soon?”

“Alright. Let’s head down.”

Kim Se-young and Ha Jae-hoon were actors sent from the theater company run by Jung Cheol-min.

They had joined last week and were being a great help.

‘Well, they do have a lot of theater experience.’

While there might not be many people in South Korea with acting skills surpassing Ryu Yeon-woo and Jin Yu-han, experience in staging plays was a different matter.

From efficient stage movements to everything else, their help was having a significant impact on the theater company in all aspects.

As Yeon-woo was about to go down to the basement following his friends, he spotted a man walking down the alley.

“Hm? That person is…”

The middle-aged man with a fairly large build was someone Yeon-woo knew quite well.

Yeon-woo called out towards the stairs.

“Hey guys! Go ahead and start without me! I’ll be back in a bit!”

“Okay!”

Hearing the response from below, Yeon-woo ran out into the alley.

In the time it took to come down, he could see the back of the man walking far ahead.

“Director Lim!”

The middle-aged man walking down the street turned around.

“…Huh? Yeon-woo?”

The man who turned around was Lim Seong-su, the lighting director.

The director who was in charge of lighting when filming “The Summer Promise.”

There was even a time when Yeon-woo found him passed out in a corner of the parking lot after a company dinner and carried him home on his back.

“Wow, it’s been so long. I’m so glad to see you. Our Yeon-woo has become a big star. Every time you do well, I feel so happy.”

“Come on, I’m not a big star. I’m glad to see you too, Director. But what are you doing here at this hour?”

“Huh? I’m looking for some work. I often do side jobs in Daehangno. My daughter is starting university this year. It’s going to break my back. Really break it.”

Yeon-woo’s eyes lit up hearing Director Lim’s words.

“At a theater company? You mean lighting work, right?”

“Of course. That’s my bread and butter.”

Lighting was extremely important in theater.

Depending on how the light falls, it can double an actor’s presence or focus the audience’s attention on one spot.

At first, they tried to train the theater company members to quickly run and operate the lights when they weren’t on stage, but it turned out to be not as easy as they thought.

Director Lim, responsible for lighting in drama productions, was actually one of the top experts in the industry.

Finishing his thought, Yeon-woo nodded and looked at Director Lim.

“Then, would you like to work with me? I’ll pay you the highest rate in the industry.”

“Work? What work all of a sudden? Are you starting a project?”

Then he immediately shook his head.

No, there’s no way an actor would personally recruit a lighting director for a project.

Seeing Director Lim tilting his head in confusion, Yeon-woo opened his mouth.

“Please take charge of the lighting for our ‘New Star Theater Company’. We’re not much to look at yet, but we’re about to shake up the whole country.”