The Holy Knight's Pure Love
Jinwoo closed the final page with a bittersweet expression on his face.
He had already known from the author’s notice that the story would end in a week. Still, a lingering sense of emptiness kept rising in his chest.
Exactly two hundred chapters. A serialization period of roughly six months.
The novel Jinwoo loved most—commonly known as Hwangnyeo-kkosim—had finally reached its conclusion.
It was the story of a holy knight who repeatedly turned back time through regression in order to seduce the princess. For an erotic novel, the plot was remarkably clean and engaging. At the same time, because it was an erotic novel, the service scenes were plentiful and satisfying. In every way, it was a perfectly balanced work.
Naturally, its popularity was enormous; it had never once dropped out of the top ten rankings. Jinwoo had followed it from the very first chapter, and every single day had been a joy. He had even done several full re-reads in the middle of its run.
And now, the novel he had been so deeply immersed in was over.
What am I supposed to live for starting tomorrow?
If the ending had been sloppy, at least he could have clung to the loose threads. But the author had collected every single plot thread perfectly until the very last sentence. The only problem was that there was truly nothing left to complain about.
Well, since it’s finished, I guess it’s okay to post this now.
Jinwoo moved his mouse and opened a file. On the screen appeared an illustration of Princess Theresa, the heroine of The Holy Knight Seduces the Princess. Beneath it, the bold letters read: “Congratulations on the Completion!”
It was what people commonly called a completion congratulatory fan art. He had started it in a rush the moment he heard the news a week ago. Although time had been tight, he had stayed up nearly all night to finish it, barely making the deadline.
Upload the file, write a greeting, then post the article.
He immediately uploaded the fan art to the illustration board on the site under the title “[The Holy Knight Seduces the Princess Completion Celebration!!]”
The moment it went up, likes and comments flooded in. Maybe that was the power of a popular work. The reaction was on a completely different level from when he posted his usual personal drawings.
Just like Jinwoo, many people were sad about the ending. Well, it was only natural for such a masterpiece. Jinwoo had read countless works with confidence, but he could still rank The Holy Knight Seduces the Princess as the absolute best.
While he was quietly sharing that bittersweet feeling with other readers, a new comment appeared.
“Holy shit!”
He let out an exclamation before he could stop himself. It wasn’t a fake comment pretending to be the author. The username clearly read “Silverstar.” There was no need to explain—it was the exact pen name of the author of The Holy Knight Seduces the Princess.
The sudden appearance of the real author caused a flood of replies underneath the comment.
“Wait, the author personally commented on my fan art?”
Could there be any greater joy for a reader? The week he had spent staying up all night drawing suddenly felt completely worth it. The exhaustion vanished in an instant.
She’s already working on her next project, huh.
He had assumed a popular author like her would take a long break, but she was jumping straight into a new series. Her work ethic was truly impressive.
Just what kind of person was the author?
“Well, judging from the subject matter and content, she’s probably a male otaku like me.”
The Holy Knight Seduces the Princess was fundamentally an erotic novel. Depending on the route, it even featured extremely hardcore play. He had heard that her previous work was a harem brainwashing training story. She was probably just as much of a degenerate as he was. As a fellow man, he felt nothing but respect. He was in awe.
While Jinwoo was entertaining such rude thoughts, another comment appeared.
A fan signing event? That meant he could actually see Silverstar in person?
I can’t pass this up.
He immediately clicked the link, filled out the application form, and clasped his hands together in prayer.
Please, just let me meet the author once.
The tteokbokki shop was always busy on weekends. Jinwoo learned this firsthand while helping his father.
“Yes, one order of tteokbokki to go!”
A pair of middle schoolers received their tteokbokki. They were even wearing matching couple shirts, so they were clearly dating.
“Babe, should we eat this at the park?”
“Anywhere is good if you like it, babe!”
……Fuck. Must be nice. There was a time when Jinwoo had dreamed of sweet dates like that too. But reality? At this age, he still hadn’t even held a girl’s hand and was stuck smelling like tteokbokki sauce every day.
It’s fine. At least I still have ‘The Holy Knight Seduces the Princess.’ Oh… it’s over now. God damn it.
Why did nothing ever go right in his life? As he let out a deep sigh and stirred the tteokbokki, his father, who was standing beside him, offered some comfort.
“Son, is something wrong? Why do you look so down?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Did a girl dump you?”
“I told you it’s not that.”
“Well, there wasn’t any girl to dump you in the first place.”
Damn it. That wasn’t comfort, that was a brutal fact-check. Hearing something like that from a man who had two children was infuriating. But it was true. Still infuriating, though.
“You’re always holed up in your room drawing pictures of girls. Of course you’re unpopular.”
“What does that have to do with anything!”
“If you’re a guy, you need to get out there and run around if you want to meet girls.”
“Then I’m quitting this job and going on blind dates instead.”
“Aigoo, just look at our son’s skill at making tteokbokki. Even Baek Jong-won would cry and run away.”
Bickering with his dad like this was just part of daily life. For Jinwoo, it wasn’t such a bad thing. It was a sweet part-time job that let him draw as much as he wanted in his free time. He got paid properly, and since he had been helping out since he was little, it suited him well.
-Ding~
“Welcome!”
He had gotten so used to the bell that he reflexively greeted customers with energy. But this time, both Jinwoo’s face and mouth froze in place.
The customer who had just walked in was someone he knew. Or rather, someone he had seen before. It was a face from his high school days.
Why is she here?
A face so perfectly sculpted it reminded him of an idol. Silky hair that flowed like satin all the way past her shoulders. Even just standing there, her beautiful lines made her look like a model. She gave off an incredibly warm and charming aura.
She was probably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in real life.
Lee Eunbyul… seonbae?
It was definitely Eunbyul seonbae, who had gone to the same high school as him. For a second he thought about greeting her, but he stopped himself. Even though she was his senior, they had never actually spoken. At most, he had only heard rumors about her or seen her from afar. That was how he knew who she was.
There’s no way Eunbyul seonbae remembers someone like me.
There was no need to make things awkward by pretending he knew her. Jinwoo cleanly gave up on the idea and simply watched her quietly. Her gaze was fixed on the menu board.
She really is beautiful.
People always said memories get beautified over time, but somehow Eunbyul seonbae had become even more beautiful than the girl he had admired back in school.
“Um, one tteokbokki please. And one order of sundae to go… huh?”
A flash of surprise crossed that gorgeous face. There were three full seconds of silence. Then her face bloomed like a flower in spring.
“Wait… aren’t you Kim Jinwoo? From Jungle High School!”
Even though his name had been called, Jinwoo couldn’t say a single word. He had never imagined she would recognize him.
“You… know who I am?”
So it was no wonder such a dumb reply came out. For a moment, Eunbyul’s face fell into a pout.
“What? You don’t remember me? Well, I guess we never actually talked…”
“No, no! I do remember! Eunbyul seonbae! I was just surprised you remembered me…”
“Hehe! You ran like crazy during the sports festival, remember? That’s why I remember you. I thought you were really amazing back then.”
Aaah, thank you, past high-school me. For running your heart out in a race you had already lost like an idiot.
Eunbyul looked around the snack shop with curious eyes.
“You work here as a part-timer?”
“It’s my parents’ shop. I’m just helping out today.”
“Wow, that’s perfect! I just moved to this neighborhood! I’ll come by often from now on.”
“Th-that would be nice.”
She was saying she would come to his house every day to eat tteokbokki. Was this a green light? How many kids should they have? He had heard the Phoenix Kindergarten facilities were really good these days.
While Jinwoo’s foolish brain was off in the clouds, his well-trained hands diligently packed the tteokbokki and sundae.
“I gave you a little extra. Enjoy your meal.”
“Hehe! Thank you! I’ll eat it well!”
Eunbyul gave a bright farewell and left the shop. Jinwoo stared blankly at her retreating figure. Then he finally snapped out of his dream.
“Hah… I wonder who someone like Eunbyul seonbae would date?”
Probably someone handsome, who made good money, and had wholesome hobbies. After all, she lived in a completely different world from him.
“Still, if she comes to the shop often, I’ll get to see her face a lot.”
Just thinking about those fresh, youthful feelings from his school days for a brief moment made him feel better. The boring part-time job at the tteokbokki shop would probably become quite enjoyable if Eunbyul seonbae kept coming by.
Jinwoo never imagined that this would be how he and Eunbyul would meet again.