At the time of Baekje's fall,
Lee Wonsuk, the eldest son of a powerful noble family in the Chungcheong region, was quick to adapt to the changing tides of the era and escaped misfortune.
By promptly cooperating with Silla during the chaotic times, he planted his roots in Gongju and began expanding his influence in earnest.
In exchange for his loyalty, he seized all the land documents of those who had upheld their principles, using them as the foundation to draft new property records.
These documents have been preserved and passed down to Lee Jaeyoon.
Lee Jaeyoon, leveraging the legitimacy of those land documents, wielded overwhelming power under the guise of "justice" to confiscate even more land, amassing a fortune so immense that even his descendants could not exhaust it.
However, even with such wealth, he had one pressing concern:
he lacked a legitimate male heir to continue his bloodline.
No matter what he did, all his children were daughters, and not a single son was born. His frustration grew, and he sought every means possible, but to no avail.
Years passed in sighs and despair, until finally—
"Sir, it's a boy!"
A miracle happened, and a late-born son arrived to carry on the lineage.
Believing this son to be destined for greatness, like the phoenix, he named him Taeseong, a name embodying lofty aspirations.
As Taeseong grew, he gradually became aware of how precious he was.
By the time he was six years old, one incident made this crystal clear.
Even when he acted out violently and recklessly, no one dared to reprimand him, instead lowering their heads in silence.
At that moment, Taeseong fully realized the height of his status, and this became the turning point that shaped his arrogant disposition.
As if the heavens were unfairly favoring him,
Taeseong not only inherited immense power but was also gifted with extraordinary strength.
Living a debauched life, he casually took a military examination one day and stunned everyone by displaying flawless martial skills.
Truly, he was worthy of being called a phoenix.
+++++
Whoosh!
After briefly experiencing a fragment of Taeseong's life, I blinked, taken aback by the seamless transition into a narration-like explanation.
"So, immersion works like this too."
While I was marveling at the boundless potential of immersion—
Ding! Ding! Ding!
A notification from SIMS popped up immediately.
now, I had absorbed knowledge encompassing all aspects of martial arts.
And it wasn’t just theoretical knowledge.
"I feel like I could use it right now."
This was martial arts thoroughly tailored for real-life combat,
entirely different from the assassin’s swordsmanship I had learned as Ja-un.
It felt as if I had become a general capable of cutting down everything on the battlefield.
To put it bluntly, it was like having a dormant black dragon coiled around my right arm.
Anyway, as I went back to reviewing the script—
<The Traitor: Roots of Corruption, B, B>
"...Huh?"
Out of nowhere, an additional rating appeared.
It seemed to have something to do with me.
"Is it like this for other works too?"
Checking the other projects, I found that only The Traitor: Roots of Corruption had dual ratings.
"Does this mean it will be evaluated twice? Or is it getting a re-release?"
I wasn’t sure, and it wasn’t something I could figure out immediately,
so I decided to let it slide for now.
"A 'B' isn’t bad, anyway."
Muttering to myself, I got up.
With the boxing tournament approaching, and no fixed filming schedule yet,
I needed to focus on training in the meantime.
While going to the gym every day was the best approach—
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Donghu, let me know your preferred schedule. I’ll adjust everything for you!
With the full support of Director Baek Sangha,
I was able to maintain a well-structured training routine, even on my own.
The only downside was the lack of frequent sparring.
But honestly, sparring wasn’t something I really needed.
"When sparring, I can’t go all out since I’m afraid of hurting my opponent."
Practicing alone was much more comfortable for me.
Besides, I had even mastered shadowboxing to some extent now.
"Although there are only two fighters I can envision in my head."
But since those two were the best in the world, it wasn’t an issue.
Time flew by as I trained,
and soon, the day of the national championship arrived.
"Donghu, did you know Rushman airs today too?"
"Huh? Yeah, I know. But aren’t you skipping your modeling class?"
"Modeling class is important, but I’m your manager first."
I arrived at the tournament venue with Yerim.
+++++
Every Sunday at 6:10 PM, Rushman! aired on SKS, and it was currently generating immense anticipation.
“Is it today? The one with Kim Donghu they’ve been heavily promoting?”
“Yeah, I wonder how amazing he must be for them to push it so hard. Seriously.”
While most people outside the production team of Rushman! were curious, they were also prepared to be critical if the show didn’t meet their expectations.
This wasn’t surprising.
“Please, push this episode hard! Really hard this time!”
“Rushman! is going to be a hit! If you knew what Kim Donghu did... I can’t spoil it, but it’s incredible!”
“Promote it properly! Watching Kim Donghu and Kim Sujin’s adorable chemistry is just...!”
PD Ji Yoojin, who rarely expressed strong opinions, had passionately demanded aggressive promotion. This level of insistence was unprecedented during the production of Rushman!. Whatever they had seen during filming had left them determined to make sure the show got the attention it deserved.
To add to the buzz—
“Kim Donghu... Kim Donghu, right? Tell him to stop hanging around with variety amateurs and come back to dramas.”
Even the director of the drama department, who rarely involved themselves in variety programming, chimed in, subtly mocking the variety team. This fueled the steady buildup of hype, starting from the teaser trailers.
And today was the culmination of all that effort.
“Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Rushman! Today, we’re bringing you an extraordinary episode with two supernova guests—Kim Donghu and Kim Sujin! Let’s go, go, go!”
The highly anticipated Rushman! Child Actor Special had officially begun.
Most opening segments of the show typically started light, easing the guests into the atmosphere with casual banter.
But—
“Yes, that’s right. Sujin is cute and pretty, isn’t she?”
Kim Donghu completely dominated the atmosphere from the very first line. His straightforward, no-holds-barred approach was on a different level from previous guests, making it impossible not to get drawn in.
The caption “Alpha Male Kim Donghu!” popped up on the screen.
Viewer Reactions:
The viewers were losing their minds.
After his bold declaration, “Alpha Male” shot to the #1 spot on trending searches within minutes. Rushman! claimed 10 spots on the trending list just three minutes into the broadcast. And the surprises didn’t stop there.
Viewer Comments:
The undeniable fact of Kim Donghu’s breathtaking visuals resurfaced. When combined with his presence on variety TV, the synergy was overwhelming.
In dramas, movies, and plays, expressions are naturally restricted by the script and direction.
But in variety shows? You could see 100% pure, unfiltered Kim Donghu.
Perhaps that’s why—
Viewer Comments:
The flood of praise continued.
Adding to the charm was Kim Sujin, who blurted out, “Donghu even rang the Golden Bell, hehe.”
Viewer Comments:
The viewers couldn’t contain their fluttering hearts.
Viewer Comments:
While the demand for Donghu’s melodramatic performances skyrocketed, Rushman! continued.
“How about soccer, Donghu? Do you play?”
Viewer Comments:
And so, the usual chase segment began. Viewers eagerly anticipated how Donghu would shine this time.
But then—
“What?! What are you doing?! Who—who are you?!”
Suddenly, Kim Donghu began walking on his hands.
Viewer Comments:
Viewers froze in place, staring blankly at their screens.
On TV, Donghu was casually moving forward on his hands, leaving the production team speechless.
“Why can you even move like that?!”
Accompanied by Rushman’s! bewildered captions,
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Donghu bounded forward on his hands, a sight never before seen on television.
“Do not attempt this at home!”
A warning caption appeared as the cherry on top.