Ch.104Do Not Try This at Home!

During the fall of Baekje.

Lee Wonsuk, the eldest son of a powerful noble in the Chungcheong region,

adapted to the changing times faster than anyone else and avoided disaster.

He immediately cooperated with Silla and, in those chaotic times,

established roots in Gongju and began to expand his influence in earnest.

As a reward for his loyalty, he was able to seize all the land documents from those who maintained their allegiance to Baekje,

and based on these, he created new land documents.

These documents have survived until now, passed down to Lee Jaeyun.

Lee Jaeyun used these land documents to assert legitimacy,

and wielding tremendous power under the violence of political authority, he exploited the land,

amassing wealth so vast that generations could spend lavishly without running out.

However, he had one concern.

He had no legitimate male heir to continue his bloodline.

All his children were daughters,

and despite his anger at not having a son and trying various methods, there was no solution.

As he lamented this fact year after year, approaching death…

“I-It’s a boy!”

Miraculously, a late-born son appeared to continue his lineage.

With a name meant to carry on the will of the phoenix and achieve greatness,

he dared to call his son Taeseong.

As Taeseong grew up,

he gradually became aware of how precious he was.

By the time he was 6 years old,

Despite his reckless violence,

everyone could only bow their heads without saying a word.

At that moment, he fully realized how high his position was.

This became the catalyst for Taeseong’s arrogant nature.

Moreover, heaven unfairly bestowed upon Lee Taeseong

not only immense power but also strength.

After living a life of debauchery, he briefly participated in a military examination,

where he demonstrated perfect martial arts skills that surprised everyone.

He was truly worthy of being called a phoenix.

+++++

Whoosh!

After briefly experiencing Lee Taeseong’s life,

I blinked at the narration-like explanation that followed.

‘So this is another way to immerse myself.’

Just as I was feeling the infinite possibilities of immersion,

Ding! Ding! Ding!

A message from Sims arrived immediately.

-[Current role’s martial arts level deemed insufficient]

-[Adjusting martial arts level.]

-[Downloading application ‘Muyedobotongji’.]

If I had only learned how to use a sword as Jaun in <Swordsman Baek Dong-soo>,

now all knowledge related to martial arts in general had entered my mind.

It wasn’t just knowledge that came in.

‘I feel like I could use it right now.’

Martial arts thoroughly adapted for actual combat.

It felt quite different from the assassin’s sword I learned as Jaun.

It’s like becoming a general on the battlefield who can cut through everything.

To put it bluntly, it feels like a black dragon is sleeping in my right arm.

Anyway.

As I was checking the script again,

<Traitor: The Root of Corruption, B, B>

‘…What’s this?’

An additional grade had appeared out of nowhere.

It seems like it might have appeared because of me.

‘Is it the same for others?’

After checking other works,

only <Traitor: The Root of Corruption> had two consecutive grades.

‘Does it mean I’ll be evaluated twice? Or is it being re-released?’

I didn’t know what it meant, and there was no way to find out right now.

So I decided to just set it aside for now.

‘B isn’t bad, so that’s good.’

After muttering that to myself, I immediately got up.

With the boxing competition approaching,

and the filming schedule not yet properly set,

I needed to train hard during that time.

Going to the gym every day would be the best approach, but…

>Donghu, I can absolutely adjust and coordinate your training schedule, so just tell me what works for you!

Under Coach Paek Sangha’s full support,

I could maintain a well-structured training routine even on my own.

The only shortcoming was not being able to spar frequently.

But that was actually one of the things I didn’t need to do.

‘When sparring, I can’t move properly because I’m worried about hurting my opponent.’

It was much more comfortable to practice alone.

Besides, I could now perform shadow boxing to some extent.

‘Though I can only visualize two people in my mind.’

But those two were the best in the world, so there was no problem.

Anyway, time passed quickly with training,

and on the day of the National Sports Festival…

“Donghu, did you know Rushman is also airing today?”

“Huh? Of course. But don’t you have modeling class?”

“Modeling class is important, but I’m your manager.”

I arrived at the competition venue with Yerim.

++++++

Every Sunday at 6:10 PM,

<Run! Rushman!> airing on SKS was currently receiving tremendous anticipation.

“Is it today? The one they’ve been advertising with Kim Donghu?”

“Yes, I wonder how amazing he must be for them to promote it so much.”

Except for the <Run! Rushman!> production team, everyone was honestly expecting something,

but at the same time, they were ready to criticize if it didn’t meet expectations.

And for good reason.

-“Please, please promote this one properly!”

-“Rushman is amazing, if you knew what Kim Donghu did…! I really can’t say because it would be a spoiler!”

-“Promote it properly! When you see Kim Donghu and Kim Sujin together being lovey-dovey, it’s really…!”

PD Ji Yujin, who normally didn’t express strong opinions, had demanded massive promotion.

She had never advocated so strongly for anything while working on <Run! Rushman!>.

Whatever she had seen, she seemed ready to make a scene if it wasn’t properly promoted.

On top of that…

-“Kim Donghu… was that his name? Make sure to tell him to stop playing with kids who have no entertainment sense and come back to dramas.”

When Drama Department Director Jung Doseon unexpectedly appeared and subtly jabbed at the Entertainment Department,

<Run! Rushman!> steadily built up anticipation starting from the preview.

And today was the day to reap the rewards of that buildup.

-<Alright, viewers! Hello! Today we have super special! Supernova guests! We’ll start Run! Rushman! with Kim Donghu and Kim Sujin! Let’s go go go!>

The highly anticipated <Run! Rushman!> <Child Actor Special> began.

Usually, most openings started lightly,

and it was standard practice to ease guests’ tension with casual small talk.

But…

-<Yes, that’s right, Sujin is cute and pretty.>

From his first words, Kim Donghu completely dominated the atmosphere.

A straightforward approach unlike any previous guest.

It would be strange not to get caught up in it.

At the point where the caption “Manly Kim Donghu!” should appear…

ㄴKim Donghu crazy alpha male

ㄴIsn’t this kid 17?lol Is this his second life? He’s just going for it;

ㄴHe doesn’t even care about potential scandals; Why? Because he’s just saying his childhood friend is pretty and cute

ㄴEven Kim Sujin, who’s been in entertainment since she was a child actor, is immediately flustered lol

Viewers started going wild.

After his super manly statement, he immediately hit #1 on real-time search rankings.

Within 3 minutes of the broadcast starting, <Run! Rushman!> occupied up to the 10th spot.

And the shock didn’t end there.

ㄴBut seriously, Kim Donghu is almost excessively handsome

ㄴlol His face has its own halo, is it CG?

ㄴEveryone else looks like squids compared to him, he’s just insanely handsome

ㄴDon’t look in the mirror after this ends! You might get seriously depressed!

A forgotten fact resurfaced.

Kim Donghu’s ridiculous good looks,

now combined with variety show elements, created massive synergy.

In dramas, movies, or plays, expressions are somewhat limited by the plot.

But variety shows have no such restrictions, allowing viewers to see 100% pure human Kim Donghu.

Perhaps that’s why?

ㄴKim Donghu’s shadow boxing level OMG

ㄴHe didn’t win that competition for nothing;

ㄴKim Donghu won a boxing competition?

ㄴyes;; I just checked and there’s an article today, 4 consecutive 1st round KO wins, link here

The reactions continued to be overwhelmingly positive.

Additionally…

-<By the way… Donghu also won the Golden Bell, hehe>

When Kim Sujin’s cute and innocent bragging about her childhood friend suddenly popped up…

ㄴAh… he’s really so lovable

ㄴAre all childhood friends like that? Please make me a childhood friend too

ㄴYeah sure, good job and see you in the next life~

ㄴYeah but to be like that, your face needs to be on Kim Donghu’s level~ Try resetting hard~

Viewers couldn’t contain their fluttering hearts.

ㄴKim Donghu’s eyes seem like they were born for melodramas?

ㄴDonghu, let’s film We Got Married just once, honestly with anyone… just film We Got Married once;

ㄴFilm a melodrama too, I saw you in The Little Prince and the way you looked at the rose was no joke.

ㄴDonghu, aren’t you returning to acting soon? Variety shows are good but seeing your face makes me crave dramas and movies.

While requests for Kim Donghu’s melodrama acting were suddenly flooding in,

the <Run! Rushman!> broadcast continued.

-<Forget the meeting, Donghu, are you any good at soccer?>

ㄴAh… Brother Gukjong really; you’re not good at soccer

ㄴThat’s why he’s trying to bring in someone who is good

ㄴ??? : Hey, become my teammate

ㄴMuscle King Kkukpi OMG

And so began the usual chase.

Viewers were anticipating how Donghu would perform.

But then…

-<Uh, uhhhhh?! What, what is this! Who are you! What are you doing!>

Suddenly Kim Donghu started doing a handstand.

ㄴ??????????

ㄴ????????

ㄴ??????????

ㄴ??????????

Viewers stopped whatever they were doing and stared blankly at their TVs.

And there…

-<How can you move like that?>

Along with the surprised <Run! Rushman!> caption…

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Kim Donghu, running on his hands, made his first TV appearance this way.

-<Do not attempt to imitate this!>

The warning caption was just a bonus.