[Keeps hearing something bumping against the window from outside?
Sounds like fighting.
But since it’s a basement apartment, I can only see people’s feet from the window.
Too scared to go out, so I put my phone on a selfie stick and looked outside the window.
And there was a person in all black holding that sword. But that’s Lee Young’s Four Evil Beheading Sword.
So I zoomed in on the face and it looked like Lee Young. Is it really Lee Young?]
In the photo, I was holding the Four Evil Beheading Sword and looking at something inside the alley.
– Asking after already drawing your own conclusions.
Why is he carrying that sword around? Isn’t that a national treasure?
So, Lee Young was fighting?
– Writer) After looking into it, it wasn’t a fight, someone jumped from the 3rd floor.
– So, Lee Young saved that person?
But why does Lee Young look so sad?
For real, like he lost his country.
The post on the community spread quickly and widely, riding on the popularity of the Four Evil Beheading Sword.
The agency’s phone was busy with calls from reporters asking why I was there and what my relationship was with the person who fell from the 3rd floor that day.
Yoon Dae-han contacted me, suggesting we say I was filming a promotional video for the Cultural Heritage Administration.
But I didn’t know how to explain holding the Four Evil Beheading Sword in a location where filming hadn’t been reported, so I didn’t release any articles for the time being.
“The production company is using the investors as an excuse. They’re saying they’re scrapping all the casting and starting over from scratch, but it’s a series, so there are fixed roles. They just want to change your role.”
The CEO was fuming as he told me that the Professor casting had been canceled.
In fact, since the attention had been diverted to me and the Four Evil Beheading Sword when I was attacked at the production presentation, the production company must have been quite displeased.
I expected this to happen, but I was disappointed because it was a project I really wanted to do and a role I liked.
At that moment, Kim Woo-jin, who was on the phone, glanced at the CEO and gave me an unknown hand signal.
“Lee Young, they’re saying we should go somewhere now?”
How did the CEO figure that out?
* * *
Sitting in the passenger seat, Jang Ha-woon pretended to be calm, but occasionally turned his head quickly to look out the window.
He had been glued to the TV for the past few days and was quickly adapting to this era.
Yesterday, I even saw him using the remote control to access an OTT service and watch a historical drama that aired a long time ago.
Baek Moong-i seemed to be saying something, but Jang Ha-woon didn’t seem to be listening.
I don’t know how long he’ll stay in this era, but he should enjoy the new culture while he’s here.
By the way, is Jang Ha-woon going to keep wearing that military uniform?
“This humble one does not know how to change clothes. I am sorry.”
“Not just anyone can use illusion magic, Jaga.”
When I asked Baek Moong-i, he grumbled that it used his spiritual power, so I told him to stop.
It seemed easier to be invisible than to change clothes.
“One of the guards at Paldalmun is confronting other guards,” Kim Woo-jin said, explaining the situation while driving.
“Suwon?”
“Yes. The police have been dispatched, but it may be a case targeting the Figurine.”
“It’s going to take a long time to get there.”
“I’ll hurry a bit.”
Kim Woo-jin turned on the siren and placed it on top of the car.
The loud alarm made me realize that I was going to catch a ghost, no, a Demon.
In Demon movies, people possessed by ghosts say strange things, use superhuman strength, and do grotesque things like vomiting, but that’s probably fiction.
* * *
Yeah, it can’t be real.
By the time we arrived, the sun had already set.
The road around Paldalmun, which stood tall against the rapidly darkening sky, was packed with cars.
“Was there a traffic accident?”
“It’s always like this here. There’s always traffic congestion.”
Listening to Kim Woo-jin’s explanation, I looked up at the eaves of Paldalmun.
Of course, the car I was in had to go around the circular road surrounding Paldalmun, so I had to quickly check if the Figurine was safe.
We could only stop turning after Kim Woo-jin parked the car next to the police car parked in the yellow triangle.
Kim Woo-jin, who parked the car, knocked on the window next to the driver’s seat of the police car, and a police officer got out.
“We came because there was an attempted damage to the Figurine.”
Kim Woo-jin held up his ID to the police officer. The police officer made a face that said, “Why is the National Intelligence Service here?” and began to explain.
“Fortunately, it was witnessed before the damage. We compared it to the photos taken after the Gyeongbokgung Palace incident.”
Another person got out from the passenger side of the police car and approached with a delighted expression.
“Oh, you’re Lee Young, right? The actor!”
“Hello.”
The person in the fluorescent vest looked as happy as if he had met a hometown friend.
“Oh my, it’s nice to meet you! I’m a fan of Lee Young. I’ve seen all the dramas you’ve been in. And as a fan, I was so surprised to hear that you’re from the Royal Family.”
“Thank you. Do you work here?”
“Oh, no, I’m just volunteering to protect the Figurine.”
“You’re doing a good job.”
“It’s an important cultural asset in the region, so the locals have to protect it themselves. I found that security guard going up there again today.”
According to the police and the volunteer, one of the external security team members hastily hired by Suwon City was seen leaving his post and climbing the stairs.
When people gathered, he threatened them with a knife, but the witnesses were also security guards, so they were outnumbered and ran away.
“I want to chase after him and catch him, but I’m not a good runner. And he might come back here, so I’m guarding it.”
“Can you tell me which direction he went in and the current tracking situation?”
The police officer looked even more puzzled than before and answered Kim Woo-jin, looking at me.
He seemed to think it was strange that the National Intelligence Service and a celebrity were together.
I didn’t know how to explain, so I pretended not to know and kept my mouth shut.
“It hasn’t been long since he ran away. We’re currently searching the Haenggung-dong area.”
We drove the car towards Haenggung-dong.
However, the alleys were narrow, so we had to park the car after only a short distance.
I got out to walk, but my hand became heavy.
“Baek Moong-i.”
“It may be difficult to sense Demons if I’m in the ring.”
“You said it’s hard to sense even in doll form.”
“I meant it’s slower than in my true form. The Sacred object is like an abyss, so the senses are dulled. You didn’t even wake up until you were hit by Jaga’s blood.”
I had no choice but to try to get out with the doll, but Jang Ha-woon was already holding the car door.
Did he watch a drama about a chaebol?
“You don’t have to do this.”
“It is my duty to protect Your Highness in this place.”
It was too much trouble to say I wasn’t Your Highness, so I kept my mouth shut.
What should I tell him to call me so he wouldn’t say Your Highness?
* * *
The sun had set after walking a few steps, and the streetlights were on.
Of course, not all alleys had streetlights.
The narrow alleys, where two adults could barely walk side by side, were dark without even one exterior light.
The darkness was ominous.
– Whoosh
The sound of metal scraping was faint.
As expected.
I turned my head towards the sound and called for the Four Evil Beheading Sword.
– Clang
Jang Ha-woon knocked down the flying throwing knife with his sword faster than my sword appeared.
“Are you alright?”
Kim Woo-jin asked me, taking out his sword from its scabbard. A faint light was coming from Kim Woo-jin’s sword.
Jang Ha-woon frowned as he looked at Kim Woo-jin’s sword.
He looked displeased, but that wasn’t important right now.
“It flew from inside that alley.”
At the words of the Baek Moong-i doll, Kim Woo-jin and Jang Ha-woon stood on either side of the alley.
I hesitated about what to do and stood behind Kim Woo-jin.
Kim Woo-jin gave Jang Ha-woon some hand signals, but Jang Ha-woon didn’t seem to understand.
Of course, I couldn’t understand either, so I turned my head and found a shadow stretched out on the floor.
The shadow was coming out of the alley and getting longer and longer.
I remembered cutting Kim Joo-chan’s shadow in Changdeokgung Palace.
Maybe that shadow is the Demon.
At the same time, the shadow stood up in front of me, and I swung my sword.
In the darkness where the streetlights were far away and the moonlight didn’t reach, the Four Evil Beheading Sword emitted light.
The silver curve drawn in the air along the movement of the sword cut the shadow that stood in front of me.
“Your Highness!”
I heard Jang Ha-woon’s shout from the front of the alley, but I didn’t have time to answer.
Because the shadow that had touched the silver seemed to disappear for a moment, but then reappeared.
Even when I just cut the shadow of Kim Joo-chan, the Demon didn’t disappear.
I had to find the part where the Demon was and cut it.
I took a step back to see the shadow as a whole, and Kim Woo-jin immediately followed me and swung his sword.
Kim Woo-jin’s Four Evil Beheading Sword was emitting a soft light, and the shadow disappeared and reappeared wherever the sword touched.
Jang Ha-woon was on the opposite side of Kim Woo-jin.
Jang Ha-woon was also holding a sword, and I hoped that a sword held by a spirit would be more effective against the Demon.
So I was about to watch Jang Ha-woon swing his sword, but the shadow rushed at me.
Clang!
The sword I swung at the shadow hit the wall of the narrow alley and made a loud noise.
I was worried that the blade would be damaged.
Jang Ha-woon’s sword was also cutting the shadow, but the shadow in the cut area disappeared and reappeared in the same way.
The three of us were surrounding one shadow and continuing to swing our swords like peeling a potato.
How can I find the Demon hidden inside the shadow?
“Shall we hit it at the same time?”
“Dangerous…”
“One, two, three!”
Someone, whether it was Kim Woo-jin or Jang Ha-woon, tried to stop me, so I counted quickly.
The three of us, including me, swung our swords at the same time, and three streaks of light with slightly different brightness cut the shadow at the same time.
At that moment, something black seemed to flicker in the lower part of the shadow, near the inside of the alley.
“I saw it too!”
I followed Baek Moong-i as the doll flew towards the inside of the alley.
Baek Moong-i landed on one spot and then jumped back into the air.
“It’s here!”
“Careful.”
The silver light of the Four Evil Beheading Sword left a trail next to the Baek Moong-i doll.
The long shadow disappeared with a whoosh.
“Sigh… Is there a way to quickly find the place to cut?”
I was thinking that it wasn’t easy to find the Demon hidden inside the shadow when I picked up the Baek Moong-i doll that was lying on the floor.
Thwack
Something heavy hit the back of my head. My vision went dark and it was hard to stand.
“Jaga!”
“Your Highness!”
I seemed to be falling to the floor, but I didn’t feel any pain in my body. Was my nerve paralyzed?
– Bang!
No, why is there another gunshot on the streets of Korea?
* * *
“The guy hiding inside the alley attacked.”
I was careless because I thought ‘Did we get rid of it?’ and was attacked by the main body of the shadow hiding in the alley, that is, a person.
I quickly regained consciousness.
Baek Moong-i, who had revealed his true form, caught me as I fell, so I wasn’t hurt.
But I was ashamed of myself for being careless.
In the case of Kim Joo-chan and Ichon-dong, the Demon hidden in the shadow was immediately neutralized when I cut it.
So the problem was that I thought it was all over this time too.
Kim Woo-jin said he chased after the person who ran away.
“I made you miss him.”
“Even though we cut the Demon in the shadow, the human body continued to attack. It was an unexpected event, so don’t blame yourself.”
“I can walk.”
I was being carried in a princess carry by Baek Moong-i.
I told him to put me down, but Baek Moong-i didn’t listen and kept walking.