NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor

Lim Seong-su stood at the front door, ready to leave early in the morning.

“Daughter. It’s today. You must come.”

“Oh, come on. I told you I would.”

Lim Seong-su’s daughter couldn’t understand her father at all.

She had gone to see the variety shows her father produced a few times in middle school, getting tickets for her and her friends, but this was the first time he had insisted so strongly on her coming to see a play in Daehangno.

And he had been going on about it for days.

Lim Seong-su said once more as he closed the front door.

“Look, I’m telling you this for your own good. Make sure to come with a close friend.”

Ding-a-ling─.

As she heard the sound of the door lock engaging after her father left, his daughter kept tilting her head in confusion.

“What on earth is…?”

Meanwhile, the actors who had arrived early in the morning gathered in the second-floor office after checking the props and stage equipment.

“Wow. Honestly, I thought I wouldn’t be nervous, but I’m already shaking like crazy.”

As Woo Seong-sik slapped his cheeks with both hands while speaking, Kim Junsoo looked at him.

“Why are you nervous? We practiced a lot, we just need to do it the same way. Hic!”

“Hey, are you hiccupping?”

“Ah, no, why am I suddenly doing this? Hic!”

His friends burst into laughter watching Kim Junsoo.

Yeon-woo looked at Kim Joo-hyung and asked.

“How do you feel? It’s the first day your play is being staged.”

“I don’t know. I still can’t believe it. But what if no audience comes and it’s empty?”

Hearing Kim Joo-hyung’s words, Yeon-woo grinned.

“That’s why you guys need to hit the streets from now on.”

“I’m totally ready!”

Woo Seong-sik slapped his thigh and stood up.

Looking at Woo Seong-sik, Yeon-woo encouraged the kids.

“Today is the first and last day for on-site purchases, so let’s promote hard today. From tomorrow, it’ll probably be sold out no matter what.”

The kids nodded at Yeon-woo’s words.

It wasn’t just overconfidence. The small theater had less than 200 seats, so from tomorrow, even just Yeon-woo’s fans, not to mention Jin Yu-han’s, would fill this place.

‘That’s why I asked the theater in advance.’

From tomorrow, tickets will be available for online reservation through the ticketing site.

That’s why today is the only day to meet audience members who came purely to see the play, not knowing that Ryu Yeon-woo and Jin Yu-han would appear.

Since Yeon-woo and Jin Yu-han couldn’t go out, today’s customer solicitation had to be left entirely to their friends.

“Alright. Let’s go out.”

“Okay.”

The friends went out carrying stacks of flyers.

===

**

===

Numerous couples came to Hyehwa-dong to enjoy their dates.

Song Joo-ah, in her third year as a journalist, couldn’t remember the last time she had a proper date due to her busy work life.

“But why a play? Not a movie?”

“It just reminds me of when we first started dating, isn’t it nice?”

She nodded at her boyfriend’s words.

“True, we did see quite a few plays before graduating.”

Actually, she had no idea what plays were showing in Daehangno today.

They had come to Daehangno on a whim to buy tickets on-site for a play that looked interesting, as their main purpose was to have a date, not specifically to see a play.

As Song Joo-ah and her boyfriend turned the corner and entered the alley where the small theater was located, they saw a long line of people waiting.

“Wow. There are still so many people watching plays.”

“Yeah. Looks like about 30 people in line.”

“Hmm, what should we do? Should we go somewhere else or just get something to eat?”

Just then, a man approached them holding flyers.

“Are you here to see a play? There’s a new play called ‘Mirror’ starting today just down there, why don’t you come and see it!”

Song Joo-ah took the flyer the man handed her and looked it over.

“It’s an evening performance. There’s still quite some time left, can we buy tickets now?”

Most on-site ticket sales open 1-2 hours before the performance starts.

So, to get good seats through on-site purchase, you usually had to line up.

However, the man who handed out the flyer nodded vigorously.

“Yes! It’s only possible today. From tomorrow, you’ll have to make reservations online, but today, being the first day, we’re only selling tickets on-site!”

Hearing the man’s words, Song Joo-ah looked at her boyfriend.

“What should we do?”

“Well, shall we see it then? We were going to watch any play anyway. It’s not like we came specifically for this one.”

As her boyfriend pointed to the long line, Song Joo-ah nodded.

“Okay. We’ll come to see it.”

“Thank you! You won’t regret it! Please find the location using the map on the flyer!”

As the man left, Song Joo-ah looked at the flyer again.

“Hmm, it’s really cheap? Only 10,000 won.”

Actually, there are quite a few plays in Daehangno that you can see for 10,000 won.

However, that’s usually for weekday tickets purchased online with a discount, and the regular price for most performances was quite high.

And today is Sunday.

“There aren’t even any actor names written on the flyer. It must not be a very famous theater.”

“Oh, who cares. The timing is perfect. Let’s buy tickets and go get something to eat. I want rose tteokbokki!”

Woo Seong-sik, who had just turned the corner of the alley, excitedly ran to Kim Junsoo.

“Hey! I just sold two tickets! It was a couple, and they said they’ll definitely come!”

“I sold six tickets though?”

“Really?”

Just then, a man with dyed yellow hair who had been staring at Woo Seong-sik and Kim Junsoo approached them.

“Looks like you’re promoting a play?”

“Ah, yes! Here, take one.”

As Kim Junsoo handed over a flyer, the man took it, quickly scanned it, and smirked.

“Ah, yes. Keep up the good work.”

Then he turned back and whispered with the other men behind him.

“Hey, check out this play.”

“Where?”

“You know, Myeongseong Theater.”

“Didn’t that place go bankrupt? I heard they weren’t even doing business when senior Jae-ho joined as the youngest member.”

Then they looked at the flyer and laughed among themselves.

“It says the theater’s name is New Star. Looks like some country bumpkins came up to put on a show.”

“That’s hilarious.”

Then they carelessly tossed the flyer on the ground and the yellow-haired man and his group disappeared around the corner.

Seeing this, Woo Seong-sik ran over and picked up the discarded flyer.

“Geez, if they were going to throw it away, they shouldn’t have taken it in the first place.”

“Are they from another theater? I want to beat up that yellow-haired jerk.”

Seeing Kim Junsoo’s slightly angry face, Woo Seong-sik laughed.

“Hey. It’s just some rats scurrying around this small field, but we know what’s going to appear here in just a few hours, don’t we? And not just one, but two of them.”

Kim Junsoo nodded, thinking of Yeon-woo and Yu-han who would be in the office.

“Lions? Tigers?”

“No, tractors. They’ll plow this whole field.”

Hearing Woo Seong-sik’s words, Kim Junsoo nodded.

“You’re right. But did you eat something weird? Why are you saying sensible things today?”

“What are you talking about? You’re the one hiccupping disgustingly because you’re nervous.”

As Kim Junsoo glared at him, Woo Seong-sik changed the subject.

“What’s Yuri noona doing? Did you ask her to come today?”

“No, she’s been busy preparing for job applications lately. I told her to come next Saturday when we’re having a special performance for family and acquaintances only.”

Woo Seong-sik nodded.

“She does know that Yeon-woo and Yu-han are performing together, right?”

“Of course. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have understood why I couldn’t go on dates and only practiced for the past few months. But I made her promise not to tell anyone.”

He remembered Hong Yuri saying in the car on the way to the pension that her favorite was Ryu Yeon-woo and her second favorite was Jin Yu-han.

“Oh ho. Yuri noona must be the happiest then.”

“Why? Because I’m on stage?”

“…Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, that’s right.”

===

**

===

Thanks to the efforts of their friends, the audience seats gradually began to fill with people.

Yeon-woo peeked out from behind the stage, wearing a hat and mask, to look at the audience.

“Hmm, looks like the kids are doing pretty well. It’s more than half full.”

Jin Yu-han’s head also peeked out from behind.

“You’re right. It’s amazing.”

However, there were also people who had different thoughts while looking at the same scene.

“Yujin, is this the right place?”

“Yeah. It definitely is.”

Lim Yujin, Lim Seong-su’s daughter, nodded while alternately checking her smartphone and the ticket.

“I wonder if my dad is getting paid properly? It’s their first performance and they’ve barely filled over half the seats.”

As Lim Yujin and her friend settled into their seats, voices of men could be heard from behind.

“This is hilarious. Those guys were handing out flyers earlier, but somehow they managed to fill over half the seats.”

“I know, right? Why did senior Gyeongsik make us come see this? What a waste of time.”

“It’s bound to be mediocre anyway.”

When Lim Yujin turned around, she saw a yellow-haired man and his companions snickering with their hands in their padded jacket pockets.

And in one part of the audience, there was also a middle-aged man adjusting his glasses and looking around.

“Oh ho. So this is how they set up the stage. It’s dark, but I can see something like partitions. Cheol-min, do you know what this play is about?”

It was Yoo Hocheol, the original owner of this building and Jung Cheol-min’s theater group colleague.

Next to him, Jung Cheol-min shook his head while wearing a hat and mask.

“No, I don’t know either. I just sent two kids from our academy.”

“By the way, Jung Cheol-min. You’ve become a real celebrity, huh? Wearing a hat and mask and all.”

Yoo Hocheol playfully tapped Jung Cheol-min’s cap.

Jung Cheol-min chuckled at his friend’s antics.

The two were so close in the theater group that their seniors used to call them ‘HoCheol-min’, combining their names.

“Come on, man. I told you people would recognize me right away if I took them off.”

“You lucked out finding one good student. I’m jealous, you bastard.”

Just then, a circular light illuminated the left edge of the stage, and a woman appeared.

“Oh, it’s Se-young.”

Kim Se-young, the actress Jung Cheol-min had sent, opened with a bright and cheerful voice.

“Hello everyone! Thank you so much for coming to our ‘New Star Theater’ today!”

Having been doing theater in the provinces for several years, her ability to captivate the audience in one sentence was quite impressive.

“Everyone, our play has a boring-sounding name, there are no actors’ faces on the poster, and it’s in this gloomy and secluded place. Why on earth did you come?”

Kim Se-young said in a playful tone, exaggeratedly placing her hands on her hips.

The audience in the seats also burst into small laughter, knowing that the woman on stage was just joking.

“But despite all that, I’ll show you a performance that you’ll never forget for the rest of your lives! Now, let’s begin our story. Ta-da!”

Pwooo─.

Along with Kim Se-young’s signal, the sound of a ship’s horn reverberated through the small theater.

And a beam of highlight fell on the right side of the stage.

Standing there was Ha Jae-hon, who was playing the role of Sailor 1.

Like Kim Se-young, he had been doing theater in the provinces for a long time, and his well-trained voice resonated throughout the small theater.

“The ship is about to depart. Is there anyone who hasn’t boarded yet?”

And he delivered his line once more.

“Alright then, we’re closing boarding and the ship is departing!”

Then, further to the right of the sailor.

A voice was heard from the far right edge of the stage.

“Me! Please wait a moment! I need to get on that ship!”

Clack─.

The lighting brightly illuminated the direction of the voice.

Jin Yu-han appeared on the small theater stage, raising his hand and urgently calling out to the sailor to board the ship.

Suddenly, a great commotion began to stir in the audience of the small theater.