After waking from a sleep so good it felt like honey, Hyunsoo got ready to head outside for a light jog.
Thorough self-management.
There was a statistic saying high-rankers played the game an average of twelve to fifteen hours a day.
Hyunsoo sometimes slept even less than that, and sometimes stayed awake for days at a time, so he was stricter than anyone when it came to taking care of himself.
And the scars that had once twisted over his body like worms, covering nearly half of him, were also growing fainter through steady scar treatment.
“Guess I’ll get in a good run today too.”
Feeling refreshed, Hyunsoo opened the door and stepped outside—
“WAAAAAAAAAH!”
BANG—
Hyunsoo shut the door again.
“...?”
Because there were countless people in front of him, all gathered in Gyeongju.
When he cautiously cracked the door open again—
“I LOOOOOVE YOUUU~~”
A man in his fifties shouted a line that used to be a catchphrase from an old cartoon.
BANG—
Hyunsoo shut the door again.
Oh, right. There were bodyguards.
Remembering that, Hyunsoo headed outside.
Gasps broke out everywhere.
“He’s seriously so handsome.”
“Isn’t this cheating?”
“...Hyunsoo, where are you going!?”
“...To work out.”
A few men frowned.
“No, being handsome is one thing, but working out too? That’s cheating... Though I guess that explains why his build looked so solid.”
And Hyunsoo ran, pushing through the crowd the bodyguards cleared for him.
Since childhood, Hyunsoo had always heard people say he looked “manly,” but not very often that he was handsome.
In truth, Hyunsoo was about 184 centimeters tall, and because he had inherited his father’s solid build, his shoulders were broad and heavy. He did resemble So Ji-sub, the star who had once made countless women cry.
At least, [N O V E L I G H T] according to what Jihoon had said back in school:
“A So Ji-sub who looks unfairly aggrieved...?”
“???”
So Hyunsoo had never really thought of himself as handsome.
And there had been a reason Jihoon said that.
Back then, Hyunsoo spent every day working at the forge under the blazing sun, so he was more deeply tanned than someone who had spent a hundred days at the beach, and he always dressed sloppily.
But now he was taking care of himself, and Taehyun—self-proclaimed fashionista—had once said:
“Why do you keep wearing those vests old guys wear to construction sites? And why are your pants such wide slacks?”
“...Because they’re comfortable.”
“...No. This is not it. Our guild leader has an image to maintain. I’ll give you some clothes I don’t wear.”
“Jackpot?”
Anyway, Hyunsoo had been genuinely puzzled.
The vests old men wore to work sites were comfortable because they had lots of storage space, and the wide slacks had been his own attempt at dressing up.
That had been his own sense of fashion.
That was just how Hyunsoo had lived.
But thanks to Taehyun, the current Hyunsoo was different.
The clothes Taehyun had given him—things he supposedly “didn’t wear”—were limited editions from Vermes and Liol, or matching training sets that cost ten million won a set. And when Hyunsoo wore them while working out, they naturally drew admiration from both women and men alike.
To the point that—
-If you’re handsome, there should be a law banning exercise and a law banning luxury goods purchases too. Agree? Agree or what?
Just one jog from Hyunsoo had become public knowledge, enough to make today’s best article, with thousands of comments calling him cool, handsome, saying they wanted him as a son-in-law, and so on.
And although Hyunsoo believed, thanks to Jihoon’s lifelong brainwashing, that he was not cool, he could still feel the popularity.
“Can I get your autograph!?”
“Please draw a hammer on my back!”
Hyunsoo carefully drew a hammer on the fan’s back to the best of his ability, admired himself for being good with his hands no matter what he did, politely bowed, and resumed jogging.
Soon more reactions went up online.
-How’s the drawing Hyunsoo did on my back?
-Is that a spoon?
-...That’s a hammer though?
-???
Anyway, as Hyunsoo saw that both world-class corporations and random people on the street all recognized him, he was beginning to feel firsthand how much his popularity had changed.
And Nell had told him:
“You should rest for a few days.”
At long last, he had been given a break.
After finishing his jog and eating at Takashi’s gukbap place, Hyunsoo sat down on a bench. He had not had much experience resting, so he had no idea what he was supposed to do. In the end, he posted in the guild group chat.
[Hyunsoo: hi everyone.]
[Taehyun: Hyunsoo, don’t draw anything....]
[Hyunsoo: Why?]
[Taehyun: If I said don’t draw, then don’t draw!!!]
What was that about?
The guild members strongly urged him not to draw anything, and Hyunsoo just figured none of them understood the soul of his genius art.
Anyway.
[Hyunsoo: It’s my day off, but I don’t know what to do. What do people usually do at times like this?]
[Resil: A girlfriend... Ah, right. Never mind, you’ve never dated.]
[Hyunsoo: .......]
Everyone had different opinions.
[Resil: How about renting a hotel suite that costs tens of millions a night and just resting there for a day?]
A very chaebol-youngest-son kind of idea.
[Hyuksoo: Why not go inspect some real estate?]
In Hyunsoo’s opinion, this middle-aged man had no concept whatsoever of what a day off was.
[Hyeji: How about going to an archery cafe to relax? I go pretty often.]
Hyeji seemed like the type who went to archery cafes to massacre civilians.
[Taehun: Want to come hang out at our dojo? Why am I the only one who never gets gear made for me?^^]
Taehun, the taekwondo gold medalist, sounded like he might kick Hyunsoo the moment he arrived.
[Hyein: How about Tekken?]
Apparently Hyein had once been crushed by elementary school kids at Tekken, and these days had started analyzing the game.
Hyunsoo thought:
I’m the only normal one here.
Then Hyein said:
[Hyein: If it were me, I think I’d do the thing I’d wanted most if I ever became king.]
“...?”
Resting on the bench, Hyunsoo thought about that.
First, visiting his father. He had obviously already done that.
After that...
Thinking hard, Hyunsoo suddenly realized it.
[Hyunsoo: I know now.]
[Resil: Oh, so it’s the hotel after all?]
[Taehun: Our dojo?]
[Hyuksoo: Knew it. The best thing to do on a day off is inspect property.]
But Hyunsoo’s answer soon shattered all of their expectations.
He got to his feet and headed home to prepare to do the thing he had wanted most.
Meanwhile, the members of Hyun’s Forge Guild—who had given the man who had struggled harder than anyone to become king a vacation and were now holding a meeting about the future of the kingdom instead—smiled softly.
“That really is like Hyunsoo.”
The guild members who understood what it meant smiled faintly.
*****
Kang Younghoon.
He was one of the best reporters in Korea.
It was he who had exposed the affair scandal of a famous actor that had stirred the entire country not long ago.
And it was also he who had uncovered a high-ranker’s hit-and-run and tax evasion case.
This time, Younghoon’s target was Hyunsoo.
People are all the same.
Once someone became a star, they always changed. Sooner or later they always showed their ugly true face.
So he intended to uncover that scandal lurking in Hyunsoo too.
Anything would do.
If you shake a person hard enough, at least a speck of dust will fall out.
So Younghoon followed him, and before long he found himself tailing Hyunsoo as the man dressed in a suit and stopped by a hair salon.
Maybe he’s got some hidden lover? One woman? Or three?
The next place Hyunsoo headed was unexpected.
Home Appliance Land?
The place that sold the best home appliances in the country.
Is he buying furniture for some hidden lover?
The First King bought a truckload of products there.
And then headed somewhere else.
A very shabby neighborhood.
Careful, huh? Is this where he’s hiding a woman?
Hyunsoo even stopped by a flower shop and bought a bouquet, so Younghoon became one hundred percent certain he was right.
Then Hyunsoo stopped in front of a shabby two-story house.
The people who came out were, surprisingly, not young women.
It was an elderly couple.
The woman had tightly curled permed hair and shabby clothes, and the man looked like the kind of middle-aged guy you could find in any neighborhood.
When the two lit up at the sight of Hyunsoo, he said:
“...I came to repay the cost of the side dishes.”
The cost of the side dishes?
CLICK-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK—
Younghoon kept firing the shutter endlessly.
“Oh, goodness, this is wonderful, wonderful!”
“Huhuhuhuhu, I knew he’d turn out this well!”
The old woman was so delighted she even clapped, and the old man hugged him.
Then, in front of them—
“All right, let’s go in.”
A truck from an interior design company and the truck carrying the home appliances Hyunsoo had bought earlier arrived, and people started going inside.
“Please stay at a hotel while the interior work and appliance installation are being done. Thank you so much.”
CLICK-CLICK—
Younghoon took photos of it all, unable to understand what he was seeing.
He learned the truth from the neighborhood women who had gathered nearby.
“Oh my, back when Mrs. Kim wasn’t even taking rent from that boy Hyunsoo on the second floor, and made side dishes for him every day too, this is how he repays her.”
Rent...? Side dishes?
Younghoon could not understand it.
Of course, to Master Blacksmith Hyun, this much was pocket change.
But that was not what mattered.
The very first thing he did after becoming king was repay kindness?
Some people, the moment they rose, sat girls down in private clubs, threw stacks of money around, and ordered thirty-year-old Ballantine’s.
Others got puffed up, swaggered around, and abused their power.
But they wrapped themselves in “good PR,” fooled the public, and performed goodness in front of the press.
“......”
For a moment, Younghoon—who had believed that one hundred out of one hundred people were all alike—felt disoriented.
Then he followed Hyunsoo to the next stop.
This time, he arrived in front of a shabby cafe.
Ha, so Hyun’s hidden lover really was a beautiful cafe part-timer!?
The person who came out soon after, however, was—
“...Why did you block me?”
“Because I was jealous you became king.”
BICKER-BICKER—!
A man who looked around the same age as Hyunsoo, and the conversation sounded exactly like any ordinary chat between friends.
Huh? Why are they fighting all of a sudden?
The two of them soon headed to a department store that sold luxury suits.
“Hey, is it okay if I buy this?”
“...How much is it?”
“Three hundred.”
“Just buy it. I have money, so stop worrying about things like th—”
“No, I mean there’s one over there that’s three thousand. Can I buy that one?”
“???”
BICKER-BICKER—!
Then they started bickering all over again. But the way they looked at each other was different.
Every time his friend tried on a suit and made an awkward face, Hyunsoo teased him this way and that. But then he stood off to one side for a long while, staring at a pair of shoes.
Then he picked them up and held them out.
“The shoes... I wanted to choose them myself.”
“...Fine.”
“Do well in the interview.”
He placed the suit in his friend’s hands.
Younghoon watched the two of them.
Neither one said it aloud, but respect and support for each other were obvious in their eyes and tone.
Then Jihoon, watching Hyunsoo’s back as he walked away, said:
“...Hyunsoo.”
“Yeah.”
“Can I brag that we’re friends?”
In that word, brag, Younghoon heard gratitude, pride, and encouragement.
“Then unblock me, you bastard!”
And with that, the two parted ways.
After that, Hyunsoo visited the hospital where his father was staying, spoke with many people, and laughed.
“Pizza’s on me today. For the patients too!”
Nurses and doctors said something to him every time he passed, and even the hospital director told him congratulations when he saw him.
Why?
Younghoon did not understand.
A hospital needed publicity for profit, and the director could easily have tried to press Hyunsoo for a favor.
Hyunsoo could have taken kickbacks behind the scenes, and instead of buying pizza, he could have flaunted his power with enormous sums of money and influence.
But the director and doctors looked at Hyunsoo as if he were a beloved younger brother, or a son. They cheered him on. They were happy for him.
...This is completely different from everything I’ve seen until now.
At last, Hyunsoo took another taxi and arrived at his final destination.
Hansung Group.
“......”
When he met Chairman Lee Taesung, he was nothing more than an awkward young man.
He rubbed the back of his head bashfully, and the chairman of Hansung Group—called one of the greatest tycoons in the country—laughed in delight as if looking at his grandson.
In truth—
...I already knew the story between those two.
Chairman Lee Taesung had hidden it tightly, but Younghoon had heard something through an interview with the man who had built the forge.
And yet Hansung Group, of all places, was the only company that had not made an advertising offer to Master Blacksmith Hyun.
And the man who had now become the king of a nation had remembered that, and stood before him.
The backs of the two as they entered headquarters together.
The chairman, old now, with small shoulders.
And beside him, Hyunsoo, tall in his suit, walking with him.
Younghoon found himself captivated by the sight.
Just then—
“So, what did you think? The life of our king, as you saw it.”
“......”
Younghoon turned his head.
Hyein was standing beside him.
Did she know in advance? That I was tailing him? Then was all of this some kind of script—
He immediately knew that thought was pointless.
If Hyunsoo had staged all this, then unless everyone around him had been actors, they could not have reacted like that, could not have looked proud of him like that, could not have cared for him like that.
“...No matter what you intended to write, you won’t be able to write it. And no matter what you try to dig up, you won’t find anything.”
Younghoon understood what she meant.
And Hyein, like all the others Hyunsoo had met that day, looked at his back with affectionate eyes.
“That is the king I serve.”
Younghoon thought Hyein knew one thing and not the other.
Late that night.
Alone at the office, typing at his computer, Younghoon found that—contrary to what Hyein had said—he had far too much to write.
He was the reporter who had become the greatest among journalists after breaking dozens of scandals, and many people waited for his articles.
He was also an outstanding columnist.
After staying up all night, he smiled faintly as he looked at the title.
[Perhaps the king we longed for.]
He knew better than anyone.
So many people were waiting for his article that the piece he had written this time would spread across the world.
And everyone around the globe who was waiting for an article about the First King would see it.
[Would you like to publish?]
Click—
[Published.]
Even then, Younghoon did not yet know
that this one article would send Hyun’s price soaring into the stratosphere.
