Justice Penguin and the Child Rescue
Recently, writer Baek Chae-i had picked up a new hobby.
Today, too, after grunting and chiseling away at her script, she stretched long and hard before closing the Word window.
She'd probably reopen it in about thirty minutes with a "Something's off..." and tweak it again, but for now, it was free time.
And in her free time, Baek Chae-i wasn't a writer—she was the crusader of justice, OlivePenguin.
As usual, she unleashed a flurry of comments with her flashy typing speed exceeding 800 strokes per minute.
Ever since the King and Sovereign Special aired, hate comments about Kang Min had all but dried up.
But of course, they weren't completely gone, and Baek Chae-i's sense of justice couldn't tolerate these pests.
Her keyboard battle skills were like a peak master dropping from the heavens—enemies shattered in seconds from all directions.
Soon, netizens began fearing OlivePenguin more than the Unbelievable Villain.
Anyway, while Baek Chae-i was enjoying her little hobby as usual, a DM arrived one day.
Bracing for more hate, she tilted her head at the unexpected content.
Her reply flew out in 10 seconds.
The reply came back in 3 minutes.
In the end, Kang Min got a fan cafe.
But he wasn't quite at the level to have fans yet, and once word spread that OlivePenguin had joined, even the few interested folks backed off in fear.
Baek Chae-i was disappointed, but what could she do?
Kang Min's fan cafe seemed destined to become another ghost community, just like so many others.
Until episode 4 of King and Sovereign aired.
At the end of episode 1 of King and Sovereign,
Hui-yul, who looked ready to sever the crown prince's head any second, surprisingly only pierced a shallow hole in his gut, sparing his life.
But he did offer a most merciful suggestion.
"Just give me one arm."
"What?!"
"No disqualifications as crown prince yet, so we need one elsewhere, no? One arm and one ear should suffice."
"........."
"You claim no interest in the world, Your Highness, but alas, the world has interest in you."
The crown prince hesitated but soon gritted his teeth.
"If I give it, you'll never come back?"
"Don't! Dolsoe!"
"No choice...! It's the only way!"
"No such thing exists in this world!"
The heroine tries to stop the crown prince but fails.
Finally resolved, the crown prince extends his trembling arm.
"T-take it...!"
"...Hmm."
Long story short, Hui-yul didn't swing his sword.
Instead, he kicked the prince in the gut with his foot.
"Guhk...!"
"Dolsoe!"
"You just died once, Your Highness."
Hui-yul walks over to the prince rolling on the ground and grabs him by the collar.
Dry eyes and fear-constricted pupils captured in one devastating shot.
The contrast hits harder than complementary colors.
"This isn't the palace, Your Highness. In a place like this, there's no royal physician for emergencies, not even anyone who can staunch bleeding."
"Kuhuk...!"
"What I just asked is the same as 'Can I kill you?'"
Even if he survived, Hui-yul isn't the only one after the crown prince.
Could the Left State Councillor's intel network miss a physician capable of treating a severed arm?
Either way, it was a dumb move.
He should've thrashed about desperately right then.
And the crown prince missed his chance.
"Wanting to live as a commoner? Looks easy to you, huh."
"........."
"I'll give you a month. Earn my passing grade. Or I'll take your head anyway—you won't survive."
Hui-yul's faintly sneering face spread across communities as "Today's Horror Meme.jpg," sparking the bizarre new genre of "thriller melo."
Whenever the crown prince and heroine tried to build romance, Hui-yul appeared and turned it tense in seconds.
Viewers were troubled yet thrilled, of course.
People were still busy marveling at Hui-yul's acting.
But as weeks passed, the bar rose higher, as with all things.
Not so much waning interest as the Special being too phenomenal.
Staff worries during Chief Kim Kang-hyun's planning—"Overdoing the Special might kill main episode hype"—hit the nail on the head.
Audiences were getting used to Hui-yul's acting prowess itself.
Meanwhile, KBC pulled out all stops.
"Rumors about Actor Kang Min lately—are they for real?"
"At least SGS Enter seems serious. They're going all-in on the offer."
"Other agencies are scrambling too! They see him as S-grade!"
"Damn it...!"
Inadvertently, the hyped rumors and moves from top agencies freaked out the Black Forest team.
Ultimately, Black Forest's Han Ye-seul CP scrapped all the "breather" mid-scenes, accelerating the main story tempo.
Selling the future for instant ratings—a desperate gamble—but it worked wonders.
Episode 3 of Black Forest finally beat SBC, stole some pie from King and Sovereign, and widened the gap.
Critics flipped their palms one by one.
But the early story of King and Sovereign episode 4 wasn't particularly groundbreaking either.
The leads still churned out cliché rom-com, with Hui-yul patching the gaps somehow.
Viewer reactions inevitably turned lukewarm.
Just as reactions stayed subtly iffy,
the scene's mood shifted slightly.
"Warrior."
"What."
"Kids are here today. They're scared, so keep your distance."
"No."
"........."
The heroine sighs.
Faint irritation flickers in her eyes.
But viewers perked up for a different reason.
Regardless, the rare scene without the crown prince focuses solely on Min-hwa and Hui-yul.
Min-hwa beams warmly, walking with the kids.
"White apricot blossoms over there! Wanna see?"
"Yes! Yes!"
"Wanna see!!"
The kids bounce excitedly.
Hui-yul watches impassively with dry eyes.
A heartwarming sight, but King and Sovereign veterans react ambiguously.
The path to the forest has long stairs.
Kids laugh and climb happily.
Soft BGM underscores the peace.
Wholesome, but not the scene viewers crave. Some gripe.
And then,
the music cuts abruptly.
Viewers tilt heads.
No.
The fallen kid tumbles sideways, unable to resist momentum.
And sails right over the railing.
Below: a cliff.
Even from the distant camera, the kid's terrified grimace is clear.
An unbelievable sight that demanded shock.
And so, viewers realized a beat late that Hui-yul had dashed out.
The camera stays fixed, full shot capturing everything.
But that was enough.
"...!"
Hui-yul sprints like mad.
Desperate expression never seen before—he kicks off the stairs, vaults the railing.
Acrobatic slide down the slope. Dizzy viewers cover mouths, but it's not enough.
No railing left to step on, Hui-yul perilously treads the short ledge beyond.
Then hurls himself off.
"Th-that!"
"What the hell!"
As parents cover mouths, Choi Ra-hee stares blankly at the screen.
Hui-yul barely catches the kid mid-air, grabs the railing—but strength fails.
Gritting teeth, he shields the kid with his body, absorbing impact.
And tumbles down.
All in one unedited full shot.
The boards went quiet.
No viewers had time to post.
All stared blankly as speakers erupted in screams—the opposite of silence.
"Kyaaaaack!"
"What do we do!!"
"Warrior!!"
Yu Ho-hyeon PD kept raw field audio, lightly cleaning and dubbing seamlessly for ultimate realism.
First shot change.
Camera shakes wildly amid sprinting heroine and kids.
Rushing down stairs, it catches fallen Hui-yul.
Amid screams and chaos, heroine fumbles to check him.
"Y-you okay?! Fine?!"
"........."
Hui-yul stands.
Camera steadies.
Slightly dazed, he looks around, sighs in relief.
And,
smiles faintly.
"I'm fine. Kid's fine."
"........."
"We got lucky."
Dazed,
the heroine's eyes glaze over.
Viewers fell silent too.
The kid seemingly really falling, the impossible acrobatics sans edits—gone from minds in a flash.
For the parched character Hui-yul, it was an impossibly flawless, gentle smile.
Brief silence.
Then boards erupted fiercer than ever.
"......Ah."
In that frenzy, Choi Ra-hee,
one of the first 1,000 members of boy group Etherbit's early fan cafe, still stared blankly at the screen.
Her brain, hunting for flaws moments ago, emptied instantly.
All that remained: that final scene.
"........."
She blankly placed a hand on her chest.
The feeling from first seeing Etherbit's leader Yi Hwan-jae—no, surpassing it by miles.
She murmured dazedly.
"Oh no...? But I already have my fave...?"
She'd fallen.
"........."
"........."
Same time, KBC Black Forest team meeting room.
Han Ye-seul CP stared blankly at the screen.
She'd thought her counter perfect.
Slight future-selling, but grasping King and Sovereign as Hui-yul one-trick, she'd ramped story density beyond one actor's cover.
Results weren't bad; Black Forest seemed set to claim the throne.
And now, MBS's response to Black Forest.
Utterly insane.
"...So, since it's Hui-yul one-trick anyway, just go harder with epic Hui-yul one-trick. That's it."
"........."
"Personally wanna yell 'You joking? That work?' but..."
Silence, then contact from main control room staff.
After hearing ratings, Han Ye-seul CP quietly ended the call.
And squeezed her eyes shut.
"Drama biz is such bullshit!!!"
Even falling backward breaks your nose.