Kneeling Before the Winter King
Somewhere in the Taebaek Mountains, before their king was slain. Sophia, the elder of the Korean beastkin, wandered the forest, chewing her lips raw.
"Ugh..."
Someone on the Korean Peninsula had consumed the Beast God's Blessing. Every beastkin on Earth instinctively knew their king had been born.
Of all things, for the blessing to become an item...
She couldn't pinpoint who or where, but Sophia, guardian of wisdom, had a way to find the king: visit every top guild and adventurer on the peninsula. It seemed brute force, but it was surprisingly the simplest method. No one would have looted the Beast God's Blessing from an ordinary dungeon. It had to be someone from a top guild.
And so, in just one day, Sophia tracked down the one who had taken the blessing.
Someone connected to Yeomyeong Guild, of all places.
With no choice but to coexist with Earth, she couldn't punish the bearer. She had hoped to raise them well, but Yeomyeong Guild was untouchable. All beastkin on Earth might one day bow to the name "Yeomyeong."
It would have been better if she could have gone herself to talk. But beastkin valued martial prowess over wisdom, so the village sent two elite warriors instead of her—naive thinking that the blessing's bearer would be awed by their strength.
This is the problem with beastkin.
The beauty of flesh and power. As if that would sway someone who had once been fully human? Only Sophia, born with rare intellect like an oddity among her kind, found the situation frustrating.
Crunch.
As she nervously bit her nails, a melody rang from her pocket—the symbol of this world's civilization, a smartphone.
"En Sia!"
Had En Sia finished talking to the bearer? Sophia hurriedly swiped the call icon.
"En Sia, how did the talk go...!"
"The boss is a total beast!"
"Argo...?"
The voice from the phone wasn't En Sia's—it was Argo's, thick with the brute tone unique to lizard beastkin. Sophia blinked.
"A beast beyond beasts! Overflowing with primal allure!"
"Quiet down, Argo. The elder is talking to me, isn't she?"
"Yeah. Got it."
Click.
A long silence followed. Was she supposed to speak first? Sophia steadied her breath and asked the most important question.
"So, what was the bearer like?"
"Fortunately, they possess remarkable talent."
"R-Really?"
"Yes. I estimate they hold greater potential than any king in history."
The greatest king in history. Sophia imagined En Sia's tail wagging over the line.
"For such words to come from you, En Sia?"
"Yes. That one... is more primal than even us beastkin."
"Right, Elder! This boss is an absolute savage! Charisma pouring out!"
Primal nature and charisma—the very qualities beastkin prized most. But to Sophia, no brute-force fighter, it wasn't especially meaningful. A true king had to control their primal instincts through sheer will. No matter how strong the instincts, one ruled by them was merely a beast.
"Talent is good. But remember, we don't need some tyrant."
"Yes. No need for concern, Sophia. Even without guidance, they were controlling their primal side."
"W-What?!"
They had just turned from human to beastkin—an immature young one, no less, when instincts were hardest to tame. And controlling it alone, without help? Unbelievable to Sophia.
"At first, I thought them just some naive child. Stuttering speech, soft and weak voice."
"Disappointing, I'm sure."
A timid king—the worst scenario for beastkin. But Sophia knew En Sia wasn't finished.
"Yes. Then I saw the marks of their life and realized: their body trembled only from suppressing the massive instincts amplified by the blessing."
"What does that...?"
Even innate beastkin wouldn't tremble from absorbing the blessing. How immense must their primal nature have been as a human, to shake just holding it back? Unfathomable to Sophia, with her own mild instincts.
"No need to worry, though. They're primal yet kind. They even humbled themselves so we wouldn't fear them."
"Impressive."
Trembling from colossal instincts, yet mastering them. Humble and gentle even to beastkin warriors. If all true, they truly surpassed any past king.
I need to meet them myself.
The two warriors had already met the candidate king. She could visit freely now. Nodding, Sophia brought the phone back to her face.
"Understood. Hardliners might attack the king, so you two stay and serve the candidate."
"Yes. Understood."
"Got it!"
A king with monstrous power yet unyielding kindness. Sophia yearned to meet them soon—before the human-hating hardliners found and killed the candidate.
**
The next morning, I woke in my box bed, staring at my palm. Just one restful day, and I felt this refreshed. In this condition, I could probably take down more than three horn rabbits.
"Whoa."
The boiling hunting instinct was hard to suppress. Looked like an early morning trip to the hunting ground.
As I grabbed the nearby slingshot and iron pellets—
Rustle.
A familiar girl swept aside the tent flap and entered.
"Gyeowol! Look at this!"
"Y-Yes...?!"
She must have washed her face in the stream; her face and top were soaked. In her hands was the basket trap I'd set in the creek.
"Caught a ton of loaches today?"
"Y-Yeah?"
How many did she catch to be this excited? I started toward her to check, then stopped. Even from here, I could see them clearly.
One, two, three, four. In the split second they leaped and fell, I counted about fifty.
Huh?
Had my dynamic vision improved this much? My shock only deepened my fear of the girl. To boost a mana-less human's physical abilities this far... What monstrous power did she really have?
I held back a sigh at the frustrating situation—I didn't want to start the morning negative.
"That's like... fifty loaches..."
"Whoa, you counted them that fast?"
"Y-Yeah..."
I nodded, then realized my mistake. She'd shown them on purpose to test my enhanced vision. I hated being played, so I scowled deeply.
That's when a booming male voice echoed from afar.
"Boss! Booooss!"
"Guh."
The lizard guy from yesterday? Then the wolf woman was probably with him.
"Boss, open the door!"
Thud thud thud!
The lizard man pounded the tent entrance. Since it was just fabric, I could see them both through the flapping cloth.
"There's no door here... just come in..."
"Gasp! A house with no entrance! Such confidence! So barbaric!"
"Yes. It means no one coming in matters."
The two beastkin spouted nonsense. My brain must have gotten scrambled during the mods.
What's really wrong with me?
Did I sell out my country in my past life or something? But I remembered everything from then.
As I mulled my pointless thoughts alone, the two beastkin suddenly dropped to their knees before me. Like knights swearing fealty in a comic.
"Allow us to greet you properly. Henceforth, Lady Gyeowol..."
"W-Why are you doing this...!"
People kneeling before me? Shocked, I knelt to them too.
"Lady Gyeowol, you mustn't kneel to us."
"Right! Boss! The boss is the boss! Don't lower yourself!"
"What are you talking about...! Get up...!"
This wasn't some medieval era. People kneeling to people. It felt like abuse; my whole body shook.
"But we..."
"No. Please, no kneeling."
"A-Ah, yes. Understood."
The wolf woman glanced around and stood, scratching her head awkwardly.
Is this some tactic...?
After a moment's thought, I realized: the girl was trying to paint me as a tyrant who forced humans to kneel. Her cunning had delayed my realization.
She's a real villainess.
Cunning and sly. Irritated, I grabbed my slingshot and bolted for the hunting ground. I knew they'd follow, but right now, I wanted to vent like this.