The Cultural Heritage Administration’s new promotional video began with the Paldalmun Gate and fortress of Suwon Hwaseong, and a nighttime view of Suwon Hwaseong from the sky.
Next, Kim Woo-jin and Jang Ha-woon were shown performing the same movements as the Muyedobotongji team.
“It’s out!”
Jang Ha-woon’s voice trembled, as if deeply moved.
Then, scenes of me inspecting the soldiers’ martial arts training on horseback alternated with scenes of me walking along the Suwon Hwaseong fortress walls.
Following a scene of me and Kim Woo-jin facing off with the Four Evil Beheading Sword, a scene of us fighting masked assailants who had stormed in was shown.
“That made it in.”
“You can’t tell who they are because their faces are covered, but they’re criminals…”
Kim Woo-jin was also puzzled.
The director said he’d take care of it, but did he want to include that scene?
“They said they included it because the audience saw that scene.”
Kim Woo-jin held up his phone to show me a message he had just received.
He must have felt guilty.
He sent a message right away.
It’s not a scene that fits a cultural heritage introduction, but the Cultural Heritage Administration checked and approved it, so it should be fine.
I picked up the ‘Taoist’ script and got up, watching Jang Ha-woon rewind the video to the scene he was in.
But things didn’t go as quietly as I had hoped.
* * *
The Suwon Hwaseong promotional video received comments in various languages saying, “Korean swordsmanship is amazing and beautiful.”
There were overwhelmingly more foreign language comments than Korean ones.
As it became a hot topic, news articles boasting about it were published, along with articles of protest.
China claimed that Muyedobotongji was a training method based on Chinese martial arts and should not be introduced as Korean culture.
Japan claimed that the shape of the Four Evil Beheading Sword was similar in length to a Japanese sword and needed to be examined to determine if it was a Japanese sword.
Several places in Korea also chimed in, with each group claiming that it was similar to their swordsmanship.
However, the domestic opinions were ignored based on the fact that Muyedobotongji performances had been ongoing for a long time.
The problem was the protests from neighboring countries, which made Yoon Dae-han angrier than anyone else, and he started calling reporters.
And the next day, an article was published that angered people who were already in a bad mood.
[Emperor of Japan Demanded Royal Family Heir Lee Young’s Four Evil Beheading Sword as a Birthday Gift!]
[Japan Demands Four Evil Beheading Sword, Retaliates with Diplomacy After Rejection]
The number of views on the articles with sensational headlines from each news outlet quickly increased, and comments were quickly posted.
When these articles were posted on various online communities, the number of views and comments turned them into a battleground.
[They asked for it as a gift and are now claiming it’s theirs because they didn’t get it?]
Are they crazy?
Did they invite Lee Young last time to steal it?
– 100% they’re doing all sorts of things to get it
Are they coveting it because it shines?
– Is there even a Four Evil Beheading Sword in Japan?
They must have stolen it from our country
– Then they should try rubbing it. Who knows?
This article was also covered as a major article in various foreign media outlets.
As it became a hot topic not only in Korea but also overseas, there was a suggestion to designate the shining Four Evil Beheading Sword as a national treasure and store it in a museum to prevent it from being targeted overseas.
This opinion was also put up for debate.
This was because there was already a Four Evil Beheading Sword on display in the museum, and there was an opinion that there was no need to send the one inherited by the Royal Family’s descendant to the museum.
I expected this to come up someday, but I didn’t expect so much opposition.
In particular, the Imperial Family Association, some transmission associations, and the Jongchinhoe even sent statements to reporters.
‘In a democratic country, is there any basis for forcibly returning private property of ordinary citizens to the state? And if you want to designate the Four Evil Beheading Sword as a national treasure, isn’t it polite to ask the Royal Family’s descendant who inherited it for permission first?’
Accordingly, the atmosphere began to shift towards designating it as a national treasure with ‘Let’s ask for consent.’
At the same time, there were many opinions that I should continue to keep the Four Evil Beheading Sword.
I was a little suspicious that the National Intelligence Service’s Figurine team was involved in this public opinion formation.
* * *
I received a call from Kim Woo-jin in the early morning.
“There’s a fire at Heunghwamun Gate in Gyeonghuigung Palace.”
The culprit was caught immediately, he said.
He was a homeless man wandering around a nearby subway station who lit a fire with newspapers because he was cold at night.
Although it was early morning, I opened the window. Lukewarm wind came in.
It was the transition from spring to summer.
No matter how homeless you are at night, it wasn’t the season to light a fire because you were cold.
When I arrived at the scene, the lower part of one of the pillars of Heunghwamun Gate was blackened.
The sign and its surroundings were also blackened, as if the fire had risen high.
The culprit said he burned newspapers, but there was a smell of gasoline in the air.
“I smell gasoline.”
“He claims he didn’t spray gasoline, but I think he’s lying. Fortunately, a citizen who was jogging discovered it and put out the fire quickly.”
I wondered if he was possessed by a Demon and started the fire.
“Did you meet the person who started the fire in person?”
“Yes, but there was no reaction from the sword.”
{If the Demon has already escaped, it will be difficult to detect with that sword.}
I focused my mind on the ring to find traces of the escaped Demon.
The ring vibrated lightly on my finger, but no light beam to bind the Demon came out.
I couldn’t tell whether the Demon had escaped or whether he had really damaged the cultural heritage while trying to start a fire.
I looked up at Heunghwamun Gate with a heavy heart, and I couldn’t see the Figurine on the eaves.
“We need to restore the Figurine first.”
“That’s right. The most representative of the disasters that Figurines prevent is fire. If it had spread into a big fire, we would have lost this gate this time.”
I looked at the people from the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center as I listened to Lee Geon’s words, but Yoon Dae-han was not visible.
“Mr. Yoon Dae-han isn’t here.”
“He’s being disciplined for leaking confidential information.”
Did he get in trouble for leaking the story about the Emperor of Japan asking for the Four Evil Beheading Sword as a birthday gift to reporters?
“I told Mr. Yoon Dae-han to restore the Figurine right away, but the person in charge has disappeared.”
“The Figurine team will try to move the Cultural Heritage Administration.”
Even if it’s the National Intelligence Service, it seemed difficult to push the Cultural Heritage Administration to do its job.
Yoon Dae-han was needed to solve the Figurine restoration problem and start selling keychains quickly.
“Is it difficult to lift Mr. Yoon Dae-han’s suspension?”
“The president directly ordered the Cultural Heritage Administration…”
Well, it was understandable that he was upset because he had leaked information that had been secretly exchanged between countries to the media.
In fact, people were questioning the diplomatic negotiation power of everyone from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the President, sayingn how easy did Korea look for them to ask for the Four Evil Beheading Sword as a gift.
If this Sacred object was creating political risks, there should be corresponding benefits.
That way, they wouldn’t help, but they wouldn’t interfere.
First of all, the Figurine restoration and the Four Evil Beheading Sword keychain production were urgent.
“How about changing the appearance of the Sacred object and showing Baek Mungi?”
“To the President?”
“The Director of the National Intelligence Service is conveying the message in the middle, so he already knows about its existence, right?”
“That’s right.”
“It’s difficult for the National Intelligence Service to exert influence on the Cultural Heritage Administration, so if we show it to the President and say that Mr. Yoon Dae-han is needed, will he listen?”
“…There is a possibility. It creates a justification for reversing the disciplinary action. It’s a bit disappointing for the Director of the National Intelligence Service, but I’ll try to persuade him because of the situation.”
The Director of the National Intelligence Service would have been asserting his presence to the President by knowing information about me.
But if I meet the President directly and show him the Sacred object, he might dislike it because his role seems to be reduced.
“I can’t meet the President every time and report on things. Please persuade him that the Director of the National Intelligence Service will continue to do that.”
“Yes. But…”
Kim Woo-jin looked at me with a strange expression.
“You have a good understanding of politicians. You’d be good at politics if you did it.”
“Huh?”
My voice cracked because I was so dumbfounded.
* * *
I asked the stylist team leader, who was adjusting the fit of the suit I had been fitted for.
“Is it okay to fit it like this? I’ve lost a little weight lately.”
The team leader replied in a slightly raised voice.
“Lee Young, our Royal Family Heir.”
“Oh, come on. Even you, teacher.”
“There’s a line of places that want to put a suit on you right now. Lee Young, your suit fit is amazing, right? Not only domestic brands but also overseas luxury brands will sponsor you and even give it to you for free. There are many requests for ambassadors. You can choose which one to accept.”
Was that what she meant when she said the photo shoot concepts were overlapping?
So what were we going to shoot?
“If you attend an overseas fashion show, the brand will send you a gift, right?”
I had seen luxury gifts being sent to popular celebrities on my idol senior’s SNS.
We had jokingly talked about how popular you had to be to get to that level.
But that’s me?
I was dazed and excited, but I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t because of my main job’s popularity.
I grew up as an orphan, and now that I’m said to be a descendant of the Royal Family, the treatment has changed overnight.
“I’m not getting it for my main job, though.”
“So what?”
The stylist team leader said, fixing the tie tied with a long ribbon.
“Isn’t this better? Popularity disappears, but your birth doesn’t change. Think of it as compensation for growing up in an orphanage.”
Come to think of it, I’m not going to my main job today either.
I was preparing to meet the President.
The schedule was set a few days after Kim Woo-jin told the Director of the National Intelligence Service.
Kim Woo-jin said it was because public opinion was bad.
The reason why I was putting so much effort into the suit and getting makeup done to meet the President was because there was a public event on today’s schedule.
The President, who had been told the story by the Director of the National Intelligence Service, had set a very long schedule for the meeting.
My plan to meet briefly and show him the Sacred object was shattered the moment I received the itinerary, which included a public event in the morning, lunch, and a private meeting in the afternoon.
When I came out of the shop, there were two more black cars around the new van I had bought.
“I told them that we had a lot of people and that we were going in our van, even though they said they would send your car separately.”
The CEO said with a nervous face.
The CEO, Kim Woo-jin, and I were in the van.
I hadn’t shown the CEO Baek Mungi, Jang Ha-woon, or Lee Geon, so I told them to hide their forms.
But… how did he know there were a lot of people when he couldn’t even see them?
CEO, can you see Jang Ha-woon and Lee Geon?
I carefully watched the CEO’s expression, but I couldn’t read any other emotions other than nervousness like before.
Our van started only after the car blocking the front moved, and another escort car followed behind.
I thought it was so extra, even though they wouldn’t be escorting me like this every day.
They must have announced that I had a meeting
today through the articles for show.
“But there are a lot of people saying that the sword should be a national treasure, so they’re not going to take it away, are they? Under the pretext of displaying it.”
This was also strange. Our CEO had never asked about the identity of this sword.
He had seen the Four Evil Beheading Sword suddenly appear in my hand while emitting light, but he hadn’t asked me about it.
And he saw me change the ring into a sword at a meeting with the National Intelligence Service and the Cultural Heritage Administration, but he never asked me about it separately.