Ch.112This needed to be stopped at all costs.

“Ah, it’s cold, my toes are going to freeze at this rate.”

As the signal for filming begins,

Ju Seonghwan’s character, Beomho, delivers his first line.

“I should get started now.”

“I will restore justice to this land!”

As if they’ve been waiting, the actors immerse themselves in the play.

A chilly winter with biting cold.

The commoners gather, take up weapons, and rise up.

They decide to become traitors to root out the corruption in this land.

The officials extort from commoners who already live day to day,

And use what they’ve extorted only to fill their own bellies.

How could anger not rise?

Thud, thud.

The angry crowd heads toward Jeonnam,

To gather greater strength,

To sow greater chaos from the very bottom.

The path toward Jeonnam.

They lead a large group toward Jeonnam.

Since they cannot march on the main road,

They continue moving along narrow mountain paths.

As they walk along the only available path.

“…Maggots gathering and spreading the stench of rot.”

They stop in their tracks at the words of a boy who appears from the opposite direction.

Keeeeeng.

The camera expands the frame, capturing the scene.

While over a hundred commoners hold tools with anger in their hearts,

The boy who spoke so calmly is dressed very simply.

A snow-white overcoat reminiscent of the cold winter and a sharp sword.

Judging by the bow on his back, he seems to be out hunting.

Of course, his attire wasn’t suitable for hunting.

But looking at his weapons alone, that’s what it seemed like.

“…I have no intention of harming children. Step aside.”

Regardless of the level of armament,

Beomho didn’t care much.

Because he was in a hurry to continue on his way.

“I find your lowly disrespect unpleasant.”

“Perhaps being under twenty makes your judgment clouded.”

Beomho draws his sword as a threat.

Originally a butcher’s knife for slaughtering animals.

Sling.

Now it reveals itself as a traitor’s blade meant to pierce the heavens.

“I’ll say it once more. Step aside.”

It’s a narrow path where they cannot pass unless someone moves.

The only flat ground in the middle of a slope.

They can neither go up nor down.

“You should be able to make that much judgment.”

The only options are to retreat and flee,

Or to step forward and confront.

Obviously, the former would be the normal choice here.

And Beomho believed the boy before him would make that choice.

“I heard rumors of vermin gathering to plot something, but I didn’t expect this level.”

Everyone hesitates at the boy, Lee Taeseong’s words.

His unwavering attitude despite being clearly outnumbered,

The natural way he holds his stance.

It was clearly a posture of confrontation.

“They all talked when I caught and threatened to kill one kid, it’s funny how they all spilled about the kid who took my candy.”

His calm words reveal the whole situation.

And at that moment, as if on cue.

“That one! That’s him! He’s the princess’s ruffian!”

An extra jumps out from behind Beomho and points at Taeseong.

The princess’s ruffian.

Upon hearing those words, Beomho looked at Taeseong again.

A familiar name.

Though the princess was still far away,

He hadn’t expected to meet him here.

‘A name that must be eliminated.’

While Beomho was thinking this.

Thwack!

In the blink of an eye, an arrow,

“Kuhek!”

Flies and lodges precisely in the heart of the extra who was pointing.

Of course, it wasn’t actually shot.

Since actually shooting would be dangerous,

A directorial technique using cut transitions was employed.

‘But in the end, an arrow must be shot.’

Beomho’s gaze unconsciously shifts to where Taeseong’s arrow landed.

And there, he saw an arrow precisely embedded in the middle of a tree.

At that moment, Beomho, or rather Ju Seonghwan, recalls a past conversation.

-Think of it as at least twice what you saw in the script reading.

-Twice from there, sir?

Honestly, he thought it was a lie.

He treated it as just praise to boost a favored actor.

But that wasn’t it.

‘Is he… really an actor?’

Kim Donghu, completely immersed as Taeseong, was pure terror.

As if the bowstring was a signal for war.

Taeseong, sword in hand, slowly approaches.

Gulp.

He must be holding a prop sword.

Why does it look like a blade that could easily cut down dozens of people?

Despite having over a hundred comrades behind him,

A future where they cannot handle this one person unfolds before his eyes.

“I was planning to enjoy this slowly, but you’re ruining my mood.”

I can’t stand when lowly beings cross the line.

With those final words, Taeseong began to sprint.

It looked like a frenzied struggle driven by instinct.

But beneath it lay meticulous calculation.

A narrow path where only about three people can walk side by side,

Fighting there?

Barely three people, in fact only one person can be active.

Meaning that no matter how many there are, only a 1:1 situation can exist.

And in such situations, the side with greater numbers is at a disadvantage.

Because groups move sluggishly.

“Thanks to you vermin, I lost my candy and my firewood helper, so I must hold you accountable.”

Slash!

Chilling swordplay begins.

No matter how angry the crowd,

Their combat experience was limited to basic handling.

Among such a crowd,

A beast sent from heaven descends with a sword.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Save me! My arm, my arm!!!”

It was truly like a wolf among sheep.

“Scatter! The mountain isn’t steep anyway, so you can go downhill without worry! Run away!”

Beomho immediately recognized this fact and ordered a retreat.

It was ridiculous to have to disband the group because of just one person,

But there was no choice.

“You! Face me instead of tyrannizing the weak!”

Beomho desperately chased after Taeseong, demanding a direct confrontation.

But Taeseong ignored him and methodically cut down those around him.

Using his long sword to slash around him, securing his space,

Deliberately avoiding combat with the strong, conserving his engagement time to the extreme.

Taeseong’s raised sword seemed like a living creature.

The extras fell into a strange sensation at its mysterious movements.

‘Am I… really going to die?’

It was terrifying.

That savage expression,

That appearance that seemed to smile brightly while cutting people.

Despite moving so brilliantly,

The white overcoat, still unstained by fake blood,

Fills their minds with terror.

A one-sided disadvantage that couldn’t even be called a many-against-one battle.

“…With such high martial arts, how can you use that power in such a way!”

Just as Taeseong was about to cut a commoner’s neck with his sword again.

At Beomho’s words, he stops his sword and quietly observes Beomho.

Silently like that for about 3 seconds.

After his overcoat flutters in the blowing wind.

“High martial arts, you say? I personally showed you the Bongukkum… yet you can only express it in such a way.”

Taeseong, revealing his disappointment.

Slash!

He cuts the commoner’s neck.

The camera captures the entire scene.

Those who fled are nowhere to be seen,

And those who couldn’t escape are all dead.

For over a hundred people to disappear,

It happened in an absurdly short time.

Taeseong mocks Beomho’s state and mimics his earlier words.

“Step aside.”

Same line, same situation, different person.

Only the person has changed.

“…I won’t forget today.”

Yet a completely different result unfolds.

In the worst situation, Beomho ultimately chose to flee.

He hurriedly threw himself down the slope.

Seeing this, Taeseong,

“What a truly base way to live.”

After staring intently at the downward slope, he fired arrows in succession.

Thud!

With the sound of arrows embedding into something behind him,

Taeseong once again moved his feet.

Now nothing stood in his way anymore.

“Cuuuuuut!”

The director’s voice signaling the end of the scene echoed through the set.

++++++

“…What exactly did I just witness?”

“Didn’t he learn swordsmanship somewhere?”

“Now I understand why the martial arts director praised him so highly and said there was nothing to teach him.”

The staff members shared their impressions, lavishing praise on Kim Donghu.

Movement that, though acting, didn’t look like acting at all.

No matter how many times they watched, they couldn’t help but admire it.

In fact, the most shocked person in this process was the director.

‘Too, too perfect.’

He had always wished for such a Taeseong.

The Taeseong in his mind had jumped out into reality and was swinging a sword.

But here, Director Yoon Seongbin noticed a problem.

‘Isn’t he too, too cool?’

Strictly speaking, Taeseong is a villain.

The root of corruption and the evil that the people must kill.

But he was performing too brilliantly and coolly.

To the point where viewers might empathize with the wrong character.

‘That’s why I deliberately included many scenes of evil deeds.’

But it felt insufficient.

‘If people start supporting Taeseong, or rather Kim Donghu, that would be troublesome.’

What if Taeseong, who should be the target of poetic justice,

Receives public support? And all because of a single actor?

‘That can’t happen.’

Director Yoon Seongbin shook his head.

That was excessive paranoia.

++++++

Mid-December.

>Kim Donghu, you’re spending Christmas with me this time, right?

<I can’t because of my schedule.

>Kim Donghu, are you crazy! Scheduling something on Christmas?

<Sorry, I have to film that day

>Hmph! Whatever!

As Christmas gradually approached.

>Donghu, shall we have a meal together on Christmas?

>With grandmother… and your family too…?

<I can’t because of my schedule then.

>Ah… I see… okay.

<Sorry

Christmas invitations kept coming in.

>Donghu, shall we have Western food instead of Korean on Christmas?

>I’ll roast chicken for you! Or I can fry it too!

<Ah, I won’t be home that day.

>? Why?

<Schedule

>;;

<Sorry

As he was apologetically declining one by one.

Ding!

A future message arrived unexpectedly.

“What?”

It contained:

-[Ryu Jaerin, attacked by stalker and injured, future activities expected to be difficult]

It contained content he never expected.

‘Stalker? What stalker?’

As he was thinking this.

He suddenly remembered.

‘Ah, right.’

That incident that once heated up South Korea.

The tragic event that became the biggest obstacle to Ryu Jaerin’s success.

‘That was this year?’

This was something he absolutely needed to prevent.