At the ti 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 tis, he planted his roots in Gongju and began expanding his influence in earnest.
In exchange for his loyalty, he seized all the land docunts of those who had upheld their principles, using them as the foundation to draft new property records.
These docunts have been preserved and passed down to Lee Jaeyoon.
Lee Jaeyoon, leveraging the legitimacy of those land docunts, wielded overwhelming power under the guise of "justice" to confiscate even more land, amassing a fortune so imnse 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 ans 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 nad him Taeseong, a na embodying lofty aspirations.
As Taeseong grew, he gradually beca aware of how precious he was.
By the ti 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 mont, Taeseong fully realized the height of his status, and this beca the turning point that shaped his arrogant disposition.
As if the heavens were unfairly favoring him,
Taeseong not only inherited imnse 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 fragnt of Taeseong's life, I blinked, taken aback by the seamless transition into a narration-like explanation.
"So, imrsion works like this too."
While I was marveling at the boundless potential of imrsion—
Ding! Ding! Ding!
A notification from SIMS popped up imdiately.
[The current role's martial arts level is deed insufficient.]
[Adjusting martial arts proficiency level.]
[Downloading the application 'Muye Dobo Tongji.']
If I had only learned basic swordsmanship for my role as Ja-un in Swordsman Baek Dongsoo,
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 beco 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—
"...Huh?"
Out of nowhere, an additional rating appeared.
It seed to have sothing to do with .
"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 an it will be evaluated twice? Or is it getting a re-release?"
I wasn’t sure, and it wasn’t sothing I could figure out imdiately,
so I decided to let it slide for now.
"A 'B' isn’t bad, anyway."
Muttering to myself, I got up.
With the boxing tournant approaching, and no fixed filming schedule yet,
I needed to focus on training in the anti.
While going to the gym every day was the best approach—
Donghu, let 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 sothing 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 .
Besides, I had even mastered shadowboxing to so 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.
Ti 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 tournant venue with Yerim.
Every Sunday at 6:10 PM, Rushman! aired on SKS, and it was currently generating imnse 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 et their expectations.
This wasn’t surprising.
“Please, push this episode hard! Really hard this ti!”
“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 co back to dramas.”
Even the director of the drama departnt, who rarely involved themselves in variety programming, chid 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 gentlen! Welco 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 segnts 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:
Kim Donghu, this kid is insane.
Isn’t he 17? How’s he already living his second life? He just charges ahead fearlessly.
He doesn’t even care about scandals. Why would he? He’s just saying his childhood friend is cute and pretty. That’s all.
Kim Sujin’s been in the entertainnt industry since she was a child, but even she looks flustered. LOL.
The viewers were losing their minds.
After his bold declaration, “Alpha Male” shot to the #1 spot on trending searches within minutes. Rushman! claid 10 spots on the trending list just three minutes into the broadcast. And the surprises didn’t stop there.
Viewer Comnts:
Kim Donghu is unrealistically handso.
It’s like his face has its own special effects. Is he CGI?
Everyone else looks like squid next to him. He’s so good-looking it’s maddening.
Don’t look in a mirror after this! You might feel like absolute garbage!
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 Comnts:
Kim Donghu’s shadowboxing is insane.
No wonder he keeps winning tournants.
Wait, he’s won boxing tournants?
Yeah. There’s an article today about his fourth consecutive first-round KO. Here’s the link.
The flood of praise continued.
Adding to the charm was Kim Sujin, who blurted out, “Donghu even rang the Golden Bell, hehe.”
Viewer Comnts:
Ugh, she’s so adorable.
Is this what childhood friends are like? Can soone make one?
Sure, good luck in your next life.
Well, to have a relationship like that, you’d need to look like Kim Donghu first. Better start over!
The viewers couldn’t contain their fluttering hearts.
Viewer Comnts:
Donghu’s eyes are naturally made for lodramas.
Donghu, do a marriage reality show with anyone. Just one episode, please!
We need a lodrama from him. I saw him as the Little Prince, and the way he looked at the Rose… insane.
Donghu, aren’t you returning to dramas or movies? Variety is great, but your face belongs in film.
While the demand for Donghu’s lodramatic performances skyrocketed, Rushman! continued.
“How about soccer, Donghu? Do you play?”
Viewer Comnts:
Ah, here we go. The host sucks at soccer.
He’s just trying to recruit soone good.
“Hey, join my team.” Muscle king in the making.
And so, the usual chase segnt began. Viewers eagerly anticipated how Donghu would shine this ti.
But then—
“What?! What are you doing?! Who—who are you?!”
Suddenly, Kim Donghu began walking on his hands.
Viewer Comnts:
?????????
??????????
?????????????
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 ho!”
A warning caption appeared as the cherry on top.
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