The Castle

Woo-hyuk remembered that his boss was the Crown Prince of the Republic of Korea. By now he should have gotten off the helicopter and entered the building. He would have gone straight to the elevator. It takes 52 seconds to reach the 4th basement level from the top floor. Woo-hyuk ran into the building as soon as he finished the call. However, when he reached the elevator, it had just passed through the lobby. There was a calculation error of a few seconds. Woo-hyuk who spat out a curse loosened his stuffy tie and ran at full speed to the fourth basement floor through the emergency stairs. He ran to the point of breath until he reached and turned the handle of the fire door on the fourth basement floor.  

bang! Kwag Kwag Kwag! 

Dozens of car alarms started to go off loudly along with a huge explosion. As the dust from the explosion started to get clear he saw a man standing in the middle of a bunch of cars that were flattened as if they were crushed by something. He is the boss Woo-hyuk had waited for. He is the second in line to the throne of Korea, Crown Prince Lee Geon. His tall height and broad shoulders easily exceeded the average. He was wearing a perfectly tailored suit of his favourite brand and his sheer and perfect features made him express himself as the masterpiece of the royal family. Lee Geon’s eyes had changed to a golden colour. Woo-hyuk got goosebumps seeing his eyes turn to molten gold like that of a beast.

“Are you alright your majesty? Damn it…”

“Yes, I’m okay. But I didn’t know you cuss? You have grown a lot, Lee Woo-hyuk.”

“Be careful, Your Highness.”

Now the one Woo-hyuk was dealing with was not a human being. That’s a Lee Mae. It was a generic name for all demons called “Four-legged Goblins”. Those who inherited the royal blood were born with the power of demonic destruction(power of Lee Mae). They had been able to annihilate the parasites that were on this land for thousands of years. Just like the great generals and kings who lived in the past, the fate of the royal family had not ceased to this day.

(T/N: Lee Mae is a Dokaebi(도깨비). Dokaebi are legendary creatures from Korean mythology and folklore. Dokkaebi are also known as “Korean goblins”, are nature deities or spirits possessing extraordinary powers and abilities that are used to interact with humans, at times playing tricks on them and at times helping them. They are always depicted to be fearsome and awe-inspiring.)

Lee Mae (Dokaebi)

“It looks like a Docheol.” Said Lee Geon.

Lee Geon looked at the bluish creature standing on two cars. It was called a Docheol. It had a human face with a sheep’s body. It was a monster created by greed, with tiger’s teeth.

“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…”

(T/N: Docheol(도철) is also known as トウテツ (Toutetsu) in Japanese. It is a legendary animal in Chinese mythology, called the Four Fears, and is one of the four monsters that were feared. It is said to have a body of a cow or sheep, curved horns, tiger teeth, and a human face and claws. He has a savage personality and a great appetite, and it is said that he eats anything. Moreover, he crouched down to those stronger than him, while tormenting those weaker than him.)

Docheol

As if it recognized the unusual identity of Lee Geon, the ferocious monster growled at him and bowed before him.

“I’m envious of you, but you look stronger and I’m afraid you would destroy me.”

“You are a monster, but are you trying to have a conversation with me?” Lee Geon asked.

“You… I’m going to eat you.” The monster growled.

“That’s a little… No thanks, I’ll decline.”

Docheol’s mane, which had been dripping with saliva, stood out sharply like a lion’s mane. The blue coloured monster bolted towards him like lightning with its sharp jaw wide open. Docheol jumped high enough to reach the ceiling and tried to stamp Lee Geon using his sharp fangs. Lee Geon looked at the creature with an annoying look and pulled his hands out from his pockets. Then he reached out to the monster that was coming down at him. A red ribbon that appeared out of thin air wrapped around Docheol’s legs. As the monster lost its balance, a blue gleam of light flashed from his eyes. At the same time, the red rays of energy appeared from Lee Geon’s hand pierced Docheol’s jaw without mercy.

Those red energies morphed into a sharp sword and pierced the back of the monster’s head and blazed as if it were on fire.

Bang!

The blue and red light burned bright enough to illuminate all four basement floors for a while. In the place where the dazzling light had disappeared, silvery-white ashes fell like petals. They float in the air for a while and vanished into thin air.

“Dang!”

Lee Woo-hyuk wiped out his goosebumps after witnessing the absurd scene. Lee Geon, who stood under the dazzling rain of silvery ashes, squinted his eyes as if he had found something.

“Lee Woo-hyuk.”

“Yes.”

Lee Geon snapped his finger and called Woo-hyuk. Woo-hyuk ran to the place where Lee Geon was standing and found a woman lying on the floor covered in dust. She was hugging a piece of ink painting as if it was a treasure. She was wearing a neat business suit and her face was slightly covered with her hair. She looked quite tall, and she had gentle features. Even though she slowly opened her eyes, she looked dazed.

“Hang on a little longer, I will take you to the hospital.”

At Woo-hyuk’s words, Lee Geon pulled the picture held by the woman with his feet instead of answering. It was a landscape painting using ink. It looked quite similar to a real landscape painting, but it’s absolutely fake. In short, counterfeiting.

“It was Made in China. No wonder.”

“So, this is where Lee Mae came from?”

“Yes, it was a parasite in the painting.”

Lee Geon called Park Sang-Cheol who was recording the damages that happened in the basement. Sang-Cheol retrieved the painting and went out of the basement. RSA agents moved in unison as if they were not affected even a little bit by the chaos that happened a while ago.

“Is she from the research institute?” Lee Geon asked.

“Most of our employees have already gone home by now. All that is left are the on-call staff and the guards, so I’m not sure.”

Lee Geon stared at the woman and knelt beside her. He checked her pulses and breathing.

“She is alive, just unconscious.”

Lee Geon stood up and dusted his hands off. He looked at Woo-hyuk and gave him a nod. Woo-hyuk who was trying to decipher the meaning of his unavoidable glaring eyes, stuttered out his words while looking at the woman and Lee Geon alternately.

“Are you telling me to carry her?”

“Then who’s going to carry her?”

 “Oh, okay…”

“She is the owner of the painting. The transfer of ownership should be done properly.”

After saying that, Lee Geon shook his head again and looked at Woo-hyuk as if he was asking for help. Woo-hyuk closed his eyes tightly as if to get a grip and carried the woman on his back who looked like a lump of dust. As the woman’s arms went around his shoulders one of her sleeves drooped up revealing her wristwatch. Lee Geon who noticed her watch stopped Woo-hyuk and grabbed her wrist.

[Celebration of the 25th anniversary of Seohwa Pharmaceutical]

“Foundation souvenir?”

Her face and the clothes she wore looked enough to believe she was a rich daughter from a wealthy family, but her watch is a souvenir of the company…

“Why, why, what are you doing? Ugh, she’s heavy.”

“She looks light, you are exaggerating Woo-hyuk.”

“I mean, I am an ordinary person, your highness. Not like you.”

Lee Geon smiled amusedly at his words and left the basement with Woo-hyuk. They both got into the waiting helicopter with the lady. The helicopter slowly took off from the heliport and disappeared over the clouds. Once they got off the helicopter, they saw three black sedans parked and were expecting Lee Geon’s arrival. The car doors were adorned with the yellow dragon, which symbolised the Korean royal family. The people who waited for him bowed their heads in respect. 

“Welcome your highness the Crown Prince!”