Princess’ Knight

“Yes. The next segment of our program is about the famous player in Tor Kingdom who’s all a buzz amongst users these days. Mr. Oh, I hear there’s now a blacksmith who can enhance the defense of your equipment?”

“Yes, that’s right. A fighter will always have some regrets and aspirations. Equipping gear with high defense will increase your chance of survival and the Blacksmith of Tor can increase this defense by smelting it with enhancing minerals.”

There were many television programs related to Royal Road, drawing on the many wonders and legends of the Versailles Continent. Viewers.h.i.+p increased in parallel with the influx of players, leading to enormous advertising revenues.

“Hmm, a Blacksmith?”

Lee Hyun was sitting in his room, watching a TV show on Royal Road. A female host and a male host were talking to each other in turns, and Lee Hyun hoped to hear new information about the game. Although he could not be certain, many other viewers likely shared his objective.

The Versailles continent had no distinction between night and day; every hour was training hour. But when programs related to Royal Road aired, training grounds were less busy.

“Yes, that is amazing. Perhaps I should request an enhancement too. But wouldn’t the price be extremely high?”

“Yes. He charges anywhere from 10 to 100 gold depending on the effect or function. Isn’t that unbelievable?”

s.h.i.+n Hye Min frowned. “100 gold? I wouldn’t be able to afford that even after gathering all of the money I have collected so far.”

“Haha, but that price is only for very, very good items, so he would probably enhance your items for around 10 gold.”

“That Blacksmith user will be filthy rich really soon.”

“That’s not exactly true. The prices of the materials needed for enhancing are pretty expensive, so he wouldn’t be able to get 20% profit for each enhancement. The reason for Tor’s Blacksmith becoming a hot topic is probably due to him being the first player ever to achieve intermediate level in the blacksmithing.”

“The achievement makes me jealous. A skilled sculptor appeared in Rosenheim Kingdom before, right?”

“Yes. Sculptors are very rare. It’s a rare job simply for what they do. The sculptures he made are said to be very beautiful.”

Rosenheim Kingdom’s sculptor was, of course, Lee Hyun’s game character, Weed.

“After I heard the rumor, I visited Rosenheim Kingdom to interview and purchase a sculpture to give it as a gift to you, Hye Min, but he had already left. I’m worried that he deleted his character after going through the difficult path of a sculptor.”

“Wow, that’s too bad. I lost my chance to receive a nice gift. I think artisans are starting to take their places.”

“Yes. The next news item is the one you’ve all been waiting for – the British Confederacy’s civil war! Finally, Fort Odein, widely known to have been unconquerable, was invaded! Balkan guild is now in big, big trouble.”

The feed cut to an in-game video of Royal Road, showing a bird’s eye view of a grand brown castle, surrounded by 35 towers that could hold archers and mages in the case of war. The moat was filled with water and spanned multiple drawbridges. The castle walls, built with 3 layers of bricks, seemed impenetrable.

“Wow, amazing. It’s as if I am looking at a medieval castle.”

“Yes, this is Fort Odein which was owned by the Balkan guild. A fierce battle took place here last night.”

Fort Odein, drenched in the blood of countless users, has a very dark reputation. It levied exorbitant taxes and entrance fees! Nearby villages paid 60% tax on every sale, which is more than twice the rate in other munic.i.p.alities. This applied to all items including medicine, potions, and herbs.

The anger of the users had reached its limit. To make matters worse, merchants traveling through the fort were charged 40% of their profits as customs tax. Fort Odein exploited its strategic location between the British Confederacy and Iedern Kingdom to monopolize the international trade.

The money all went to Balkan guild, the owner of the castle. It was obvious why they were hated by others!

“But Fort Odein has never been taken over before, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. But this battle was just splendid. Watch this.”

The TV showed Fort Odein on a night with the moon hanging silently in the sky. In the field nearby, a horde of players were gathering. Standing next to their respective guild flags, they were waiting for the morning to come.

‘Just how many people were there?’ Lee Hyun was too astonished to speak.

He’d heard that the number of users playing Royal Road was increasing greatly, but this was just too much. Rivers of people covered the field in front of Fort Odein.

“The number of users gathered to conquer Fort Odein was over 30,000.” The male MC, Oh Joo Wan continued on as if he had read the viewers’ thoughts.

“30,000? That is the greatest number of people that has partic.i.p.ated in a siege so far!”

“That’s correct. The desire to conquer Fort Odein was widespread. About 150 guilds united, and around 5,000 mercenaries had partic.i.p.ated in this battle. We’ll view the scene now.”

Finally, the sun rose above Fort Odein. Some of the attackers gave long speeches about how they were righteous, and how they would deal with Fort Odein after they conquered it. With courage filling the air, the battle began.

It was a wondrous sight to behold: 30,000 soldiers attacking Fort Odein simultaneously. Arrows flew everywhere, and magic struck the fortress. Catapults constantly spewed boulders, and summoned golems attacked the stronghold. But the opposition still fought back, relying on the castle wall’s defensive capabilities.

Balkan guild had pulled their allied guilds into the war. There were also NPC soldiers in Fort Odein, further bolstering their defenses.

But the tide turned when the Special Forces, prepared for the worst, snuck in through the back. Each guild’s master and elites provided a diversion by a.s.saulting the front, while the Special Forces infiltrated the castle through the sewers.

Grand sword auras rose and magic exploded everywhere.

“About half of the British Confederacy’s Top 100 players are known to have partic.i.p.ated in this battle. In the end, Fort Odein couldn’t resist any longer, and fell into the hands of the invaders.”

Balkan’s guild members, who resisted to the end, were all killed. Their allied guilds had surrendered when the situation turned against them, ending the fierce battle. The invading guilds exulted in the overwhelming joy of victory.

“Mr. Oh, will peace come to Fort Odein now?”

“I don’t think so. First of all, Balkan, who owned the fort, is unlikely to simply back off. They will be gathering their strength to take back what was theirs.”

“Another war will commence.”

“Yes, but even if Balkan’s attacks fail, Fort Odein seems like it won’t settle down for a while. Division of profits between the victorious guilds will not be settled easily. And considering the other advantages that Fort Odein grants, they’ll all be hungry for it. That’s how much value the land has. Balkan had invested a lot of money to stabilize the economy and the land. But they had to collect a lot of taxes for soldiers and fortifications, since other forces wanted the place.

“That’s a bad cycle to be stuck in.”

“Yes. Fort Odein, which stands in the middle of the two empires and functions as a relaying station, will continue to be in chaos.”

Lee Hyun smirked; a smirk that could make the most heinous villain envious.

‘The attackers had 30,000… At least 15,000 should have died. And about 10,000 from the defenders…’ Imagining the skills and levels that decreased was simply exhilarating to

Hyun. While others’ stats dropped, Lee Hyun was growing stronger.

Suddenly the phone rang, and he hurried to answer.

“h.e.l.lo?”

“You ready?”

The person asking the question without any greeting was his sister, Lee Hye Yeon.

“Yeah. I’m all dressed, and I washed my face.”

“Hair?”

“Of course I washed it.”

“It’s starting soon so you have to hurry.”

“Alright Hye Yeon, I’m coming.” Lee Hyun turned off the television and rose from his seat.

He sighed. Lee Hyun was discontent. ‘What the h.e.l.l am I doing…’

Dein High school. Even though he swore to himself that he would never return when he quit the school…

“Brother, you have to come!”

If Hye Yeon hadn’t nagged in the morning, he never would’ve gone. He was threatened that if he didn’t go today, he shouldn’t dare to even think about going into the capsule for a while.

‘Does she even realize who I am trying to make money for…’

A high school festival. Others went with their parents, but Lee Hye Yeon called her older brother.

“Ugh. Just what am I doing” Lee Hyun complained constantly. Even though he really didn’t want to go, when he thought of his disappointed sister, he had no choice. He felt like a cow being dragged to the butchers. Lee Hyun carelessly sat at the festival’s stands when he arrived. Students were divided into clubs or grades, and were selling goods at shops but Lee Hyun ignored them.

“Hey, are you Lee Hyun by any chance?”

Lee Hyun turned to look towards the voice. A slim and pretty female university student wearing a purple skirt was standing there.

“Who are you?”

Her face showed disappointment at Lee Hyun’s words.

“Ah, I was right. It’s me, Junghee.”

“Oh.”

Her name and face were all that Hyun could remember.

Her pretty face had made her the object of many boys’ affections in high school.

‘She became more stylish, and her intelligent appearance probably makes her popular even now. University must be treating her well.’

That was all Hyun could remember. There weren’t any special memories remaining.

“Was it Yoon Junghee? Long time no see. Why are you here when you’ve already graduated from this school?”

“Mmhm. My little sister goes to this school so I came. You?”

“Same.”

“You have a little sister. Can I sit beside you?”

“It’s an empty seat so do whatever you want,” Lee Hyun said grumpily and continued to watch the festival. A parody of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was being performed.

An apple seller came out, danced, sung foolishly, and then spoke. “Oh!! Dear most beautiful queen. Here are some delicious apples. They are freshly picked from the apple farm so it is cheap and fres.h.!.+ Only 2 thousand won for 5 apples!

The scrawny queen yawned and replied,

“Why is it so expensive!”

“Because they’re ripe apples, my Queen!”

“Really? Then we can use these to kill Snow White, right?”

“I believe I didn’t say such a thing yet?”

“CAN THEY KILL, OR NOT?”

“If one tastes it, one won’t be able to escape its deliciousness, my queen.”

Nevertheless, the queen bought the apples. She walked up to Snow White, did some more useless dancing, and handed over the apple.

“Why didn’t you come to the Alumni celebration?” Yoon Junghee asked Lee Hyun, who was watching the musical with a cold expression.

Lee Hyun tersely replied without turning his head. “I didn’t feel like going.”

“Really? We hoped that we’d be able to see you there… After you quit school, we couldn’t contact you. Sanghoon said he would call you so we thought you’d be there.”

“Thanks for the kind lies.”

“No, really, I wanted to meet you again. Remember when you saved me before?”

“I saved you? Ah… right.”

When Lee Hyun was in grade 10, he delivered newspapers in the morning. Once he saw a girl being picked on by a few thugs at the park. Lee Hyun tried to just pa.s.s by. It wasn’t any of his business, so he decided to ignore it. But hearing the girl’s terrified screams, Lee Hyun ran back.

He beat up the thugs and saved the girl. Later on, he found out that she was Yoon Junghee that went to the same school as he did. He didn’t know about her because she wasn’t in his cla.s.s, but they had ended up in the same cla.s.s in 11th grade.

While they conversed, the musical had gone into a crazy direction. There was a bug in the apple that the merchant sold to the queen, so Snow White was beating him mercilessly. After she accidentally took a bite of the apple which had the bug inside, she fell to the ground. The dwarves discovered her, kidnapped her, and brought her to their house.

They were plotting to make Snow White cook their meals, wash their clothes, and clean the house! Snow White who soon woke up was at a loss. Why would a princess know how to do housework? When they told her to do the dishes she shattered them into pieces, and when they told her to clean, she broke apart the furniture and decorations.

Finally, when a prince came to take the princess, the seven dwarves cried in happiness, finally rid of the incompetent maid. It was a boring musical.

“… How disappointing” Lee Hyun thought that he had wasted his time. But Yoon Junghee who sat beside him was laughing endlessly.

“Hehehe. Look at that, Hyun. It’s really funny.”

He had no clue why she was calling him in such a friendly manner when he rarely saw her. As they spent their time like that, Hyun’s sister came. Lee Hye Yeon was dressed in jeans and a white t-s.h.i.+rt instead of the school uniform. At that moment, Lee Hyun felt sparks of rivalry igniting between Hye Yeon and Junghee.

“Why are you sitting beside my brother, old lady?” Hye Yeon’s pre-emptive strike was sharp and filled with envy. A killer aura emanated from her.

At that moment, Lee Hyun felt that his sister was scarier than a death knight. But, a Dullahan was sitting right next to him.

“Old lady? Such a foul mouth you have for a child.”

“I’m not that much younger than you!”

“I am your brother’s cla.s.smate. I’d watch my mouth if I were you.” Junghee slowly put her hand on Lee Hyun’s shoulder.

“Hmph!”

Hye Yeon walked over to Hyun, ignoring Junghee. “What are you doing here?”

“What do you mean what am I doing here? I am watching the festival.”

“Ugh, just hurry over here!” Hye Yeon forcibly dragged Hyun up from the seat.

“Why?”

“There something I want to do with you!”

“What is it?”

“Just come here.”

Lee Hyun had to stand up. As he rose from his seat, Lee Hye Yeon gave a nasty, victorious smile to Yoon Junghee. She took Hyun towards the school field, where there were many events and challenges set up.

Apparently, KMC Media had brought them for the school. They were broadcasting video of students avoiding various traps and clearing the missions. It was chaotic with a crowd of cameramen maneuvering around the mess of students rolling and jumping around.

Hye Yeon took Lee Hyun and stood in front of one of the easiest challenges.

People had to tie one of their legs with that of another and run to the finish line at the signal of the referee.

“Why are we here?”

“You and I should run together. I really wanted to try the 3 legged race”

“Why would I do such a thing? Do it yourself.”

“I can’t do it unless it’s with you! I already told all my friends that I’ll be running with you. So you have to do this with me.”

Lee Hyun winced, but he couldn’t win against his sister’s obstinacy.

‘This probably won’t be televised.’

Lee Hyun glanced at the cameras with fearless eyes. Even though they were filming everywhere, not every single shot would be broadcast. Only the most epic failures would be edited to be aired.

Anyway, when KMC media broadcasts a school festival, the actual filming began at night when celebrities were visiting. Celebrities going through tough obstacles were extremely popular amongst viewers. Students and normal people were nothing but bridesmaids for them. From Lee Hyun’s twisted view, they were just beta testers for the safety of the celebrities.

s.e.xy female helpers in miniskirts were accepting the entry applications.

“Sigh. We’ll partic.i.p.ate.”

“It costs 10 thousand won to play.”

Lee Hyun shuddered, but reluctantly forked over the money out of his pocket. Even though this was a festival, the fee was way too much; it felt like a scam.

‘I guess I’m eating spinach and soy sauce for dinner tonight.’

Of course, for Hye Yeon or grandma, he would cook up other delicious food, but he still had a tiny hope that his sister would eat a lot at the festival and come home stuffed.

“Now, get ready… Go!”

Twelve pairs raced at the same time.

At the bang of the gunshot, Lee Hyun and Lee Hye Yeon began to run. Because it was a 3 legged race, they were getting tangled in each other’s feet and started to slow down. By the time they completed a third of the race, they were one of the slowest groups.

“Brother, try harder!”

“I am trying my best.”

“I’m telling you, do better!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Because he was forced to partic.i.p.ate, Lee Hyun wasn’t taking it seriously. As he watched the groups pa.s.s them, Hyun asked, “What’s so good about these games? All you get when you win first is a back full of sweat.”

“You didn’t know? First place gets a shopping mall gift card.”

“H-how much?”

“A 100 thousand won.”

Lee Hyun’s movement suddenly changed. He grabbed onto his sister, Hye Yeon, and started to sprint. Lee Hyun zoomed through at an incredible speed.

A perfect motivation!

Originally, a 3 legged race requires both of the players’ teamwork. Lee Hyun and Hye Yeon cleared all obstacles at a blinding speed, pa.s.sing all the compet.i.tors and took first place.

“Congratulations for winning.”

They won a 100 thousand won gift card from the hosts. Hyun could earn a few thousand won if he sold it online. Unfortunately, a team could not partic.i.p.ate in an event again, so they couldn’t make more money from the same race. Lee Hyun quickly searched for other games with prizes. His eyes were lit with life unlike a moment ago.

“Should we go try those?”

He pointed towards a set of facilities installed in the middle of the field.

It was called the Princess Set. The set had 3 parts: first you had to cross a moving, slippery log, second, you had to pop 50 water balloons flying at you, and third you had to climb a wall using a rope. One needed to clear the 3 stages and save the princess waiting for him in the prison. Of course, the princess was one of the partic.i.p.ants.

It was a game where you must save your own princess. In Hyun’s case, he had to save Hye Yeon.

“That’s going to be pretty hard, will you be okay? Let’s just give up before you fall in the water and catch a cold, Hyun.”

Worry filled Hye Yeon’s eyes. The high structures looked pretty dangerous, and you would be splashed with water when you fall down from the log. Many people were crowded in front of the site, cheering fiercely. Most of the cameras were focused on the Princess Set.

“Don’t worry. Just trust me.”

This was an event where you receive the prize depending on your record. The fastest person receives 3 million won and a 2 million won gift card. Because the school and the broadcasting company invested a lot in this event, the prizes were big. Lee Hyun paid 20 thousand won and registered.

He had to wait for a long time. There were many challengers for the event. More than 95% couldn’t rescue the princess and failed. Even if you did rescue the princess, the prize depends on your time, so there was a slim chance of winning.

Lee Hyun’s turn finally came after an hour wait. It was near the end of the festival, after all the applications for the events were over.

“Hyun, be careful so you don’t hurt yourself…”

“Yeah. Don’t worry and just wait for a bit. I’ll hurry to save you.”

Hye Yeon went inside the prison. Soon, she was surrounded by her friends who made a lot of fuss.

“Is that person your older brother who you’re always talking about?”

“Yeah. Isn’t he good looking?”

“He’s just average…”

Her friends couldn’t hide their disappointment. Hye Yeon’s sugarcoated depiction of Lee Hyun was very different from his real appearance.

“I really don’t understand how your brother is so great that you reject every guy that asks you out.”

“Yeah. The world is big and there are better people than your older brother.”

“You guys have no idea.”

Lee Hyun stood at the starting point. Two celebrity MCs, a man and a woman, approached him and pointed a microphone in his face. The guy was handsome and had a mature feeling to him, and the female MC was beautiful. He expected no less from a celebrity.

The male MC asked, “Why did you decide to partic.i.p.ate in this game?”

“To save my one and only precious little sister,” Lee Hyun replied tersely. If he didn’t unlock the cage, it would move towards the water, and the bottom would suddenly open up. Hye Yeon would fall into the water.

This time, the female MC asked a question. “Yes. You came to save your little sister. From the information I have just received, your sister is the prettiest student that has partic.i.p.ated so far. Apparently she’s the school’s idol! I will be watching whether the beauty will fall in the water or be saved by the hero. It’s just my opinion, but I think the crowds would prefer to watch her fall into the water. Before you leave, please say a word of resolution!”

“I’ll try my best.”

Lee Hyun felt like other words were unnecessary. He would try his best, and win by all means. He would save his sister, and win 3 million won and the 2 million won gift card! That resolution was immeasurable.

The starting gun sounded, and Lee Hyun bolted forward with his animal-like instincts. He skipped over few obstacles that were there just for the looks and arrived at the first challenge.

It was single wooden bridge, with water surrounding it and Styrofoam logs rolling around place to place to impede advancement. High school girls fired water cannons from all directions at the compet.i.tor.

The male MC was shooting out comments like a machine gun.

“The challenger has now arrived at the first challenge. I believe he is the fastest person to arrive at the first challenge so far, but it will be dangerous for him to rush because he might fall in the water! If he falls, he’ll be automatically disqualified. He needs to time his movements precisely.”

“Yeah!”

Hyun could hear neither the MC’s words nor the crowd’s screams. Even if he could, he wouldn’t have given a rat’s hat.

‘This is a game based on speed. I can’t be late.’ Lee Hyun’s eyes flashed sharply. He deftly jumped on to the bridge and started to run.

His hips, defined by strong and detailed muscles, prevented his body from shaking. Completely balanced, he ran as though the obstacle covered bridge was a flat plain. His body was very light and his feet dashed forward as though they were hovering; his steps looked like moves from Chinese martial arts.

The Styrofoam logs moved in a set pattern. Lee Hyun just proceeded on, as if the logs stepped aside for him.

“Fire!”

The high school girls shot water cannons, but most of the shots just splashed into empty s.p.a.ce that Hyun had already pa.s.sed. Lee Hyun cleared the bridge at the speed of light and arrived at the next challenge.

“Th- this is amazing. It’s the first time anyone has cleared the first challenge this fast. He’s running at an astonis.h.i.+ng speed; it’s like we’re watching a circus act. What do you think, Ms. Ha? Ah, you’re too focused on watching.”

Ha Yejin was a rising star that was getting extremely popular of late. She was expensive to hire, so you could only usually see her in movies and commercials. But she was an alumnus of Dein High school. That’s why she was an MC for the event.

Ha Yejin just stared at Lee Hyun like a deer in headlights.

Water balloons were fired like cannons from machines.

Lee Hyun was in front of a tower of medium height.

He had to pop 50 water balloons!

You could only pa.s.s after popping at least a third of the 150 balloons that were shot. About half of the challengers failed in the first challenge and the other half failed in the second.

This was also a challenge where you could be subjected to embarra.s.sment from situations like falling onto the sponge below from being hit by flying water balloons. Challengers needed to push their body to the limit in order to pop the water balloons that were continuously fired at them, so they tended to end up in silly positions. It was a challenge that guaranteed high numbers of viewers.

But the water balloons exploded near Lee Hyun. Water sprayed everywhere from the popped water balloons.

Lee Hyun’s hands and feet moved like lightning as he demolished the balloons. People who have tried popping water balloons midair would know: this is not an easy task. Even though they were big in size and thus had a large surface to pop, spun towards the challenger so it was difficult to hit them without a high level of concentration.

The water balloons were shot by a machine and all had different trajectories. Some flew high, some low, and some flew far.

Even if you do succeed in popping a balloon, the water splashes at your eye, and people would start panicking at their loss of vision.

Things get even more difficult when the machine starts firing the balloons crazily.

But Lee Hyun found order in the chaos of balloons and sharpened his senses.

When he reached his hands out to pop some balloons, the weight of his body s.h.i.+fted to the front. He balanced that weight by doing graceful spin-kicks. His hands and feet flowed gently like water. At no time did he loose his balance, nor did he panic.

Lee Hyun did a flying triple kick, popping 3 water balloons before he dropped back to the ground.

His movements resembled dancing. He broke all the water balloons without missing a single one.

The MC’s and the crowd were in awe.

“Oh, oh my G.o.d…”

“This can’t be happening…”

“Who is that person?”

The camera crew was busy broadcasting the moment on the screen, and the MC’s were just staring with their mouths wide open from the shock, forgetting the commentary.

After popping the 50 water balloons faster than anyone else, Lee Hyun moved on to the next challenge.

The challenge was to climb over the 3 meter high boulder-like wall with a rope and landing on the other side. The sides were blocked by walls for safety, and one rope dangled at the front.

‘If it’s only this high…’ Lee Hyun charged at the wall, not reducing his speed.

“Ahhh!”

Even though it was a fake wall made of compressed Styrofoam, people screamed in fear at the reckless charge. It seemed as if he had no intention of grabbing the rope.

When Lee Hyun arrived at the wall, he threw himself up. He kicked at the side walls that were made for safety and continued to climb up. After jumping over the highest point of the wall with an elegant twirl, Lee Hyun continued to run straight ahead the moment he landed on the ground.

He could see his little sister trapped in the cage at the end of the game.

“I came to save you like I promised. I was a little late, right?”

Lee Hyun opened the cage door.

The school festival ended in a huge success. Due to the celebrities that arrived later in the day, the Princess Set was surrounded by hordes of viewers. Lee Hyun was also very happy about having come to the festival. Three million won of cash and 2 million won from a shopping center gift card! He was walking home quickly from all the excitement of making an unexpected 5 million won.

‘If I exchange the gift card for cash, I save a lot to pay Hye Yeon’s university fees. But since it was won as a prize, should I buy grandma and Hye Yeon some new clothes? The mall is too expensive so I’ll buy them at the market…’

While he was deep in thought, Hye Yeon tugged on his s.h.i.+rt.

“Brother.”

“Hmm?”

“My leg hurts.”

“Really?”

It must’ve been tiring for her, since she had to follow Lee Hyun around the whole day and couldn’t enjoy the school festival.

Lee Hyun felt sorry for dragging his sister around to earn prize money.

“Then should we take a taxi home?”

Such a waste of good money on a taxi! He knew would have to pay above the basic fee since they were about 5 blocks away from home. Lee Hyun never rode a bus either when he went to school, but since he was so happy today, maybe it’d be okay to ride a taxi for once.

Of course, his chest was trembling. He had ridden in a taxi twice in his life, and he felt like it was a terrible waste of money both times.

Hye Yeon shook her head at Lee Hyun.

“No. We’re not too far away from home, it’s ok.”

“Then do you want to take a rest? I’ll buy you a drink. You can’t drink coffee yet since you are too young…”

Hye Yeon stuck out her tongue. “Psh, I’m a grown-up now.”

“In my eyes, you are still a child.”

“Jeez. Anyways, you haven’t had dinner yet. Let’s hurry home.”

“That’s… not true. I ate a lot of stuff here and there when I was viewing the festival.”

“Liar. I know that you’re not the type of person to buy that kind of food.”

There was no one who knew Lee Hyun better than Hye Yeon. His frugal personality would never let him buy food from the expensive festival.

“Then what should we do? Would you like a piggy-back ride?”

He said it like a joke, but Hye Yeon smiled. “You read my mind!”

“Uh… Really? People will stare.”

“It’s ok. Hurry up and give me a piggy-back ride. My legs hurt.” Hye Yeon started to whine.

Lee Hyun had no choice but to let her on his back. ‘It’s been such a long time, giving Hye Yeon a piggy-back ride.’

When their parents pa.s.sed away, Hye Yeon was in Grade 2.

Lee Hyun carried his crying sister to school when she didn’t want to go to school. He did this for about a year. After his parents’ death, they had to pay back the loans so they had to sell their house, and move around from place to place.

Because Hye Yeon went to school like a good girl afterwards there was no reason to give her a piggy-back ride, it had become a nostalgic memory now.

Due to other people giggling and staring at them, Lee Hye Yeon held tightly onto Hyun’s body. “I’m heavy, right?”

“No, you need to eat more.”

Hye Yeon’s body was pretty skinny for her tall height. For Lee Hyun whose body was covered in muscles from various training, she was light as a feather.

Hye Yeon asked curiously, “Will you give me a piggyback ride even if I become a pig?”

“Of course, I’d still give you one even if you were a hippo.”

“I’m always forcing you to do favors, what should I do to repay you?”

“What favors… Just grow up faster and get married.”

“I’ll find a person who is rich and will die soon so I can repay everything that you and grandma have ever done for me.”

“Even if it’s a joke, don’t say such things. Find someone who will make you happy. I’ll live with grandma so don’t worry about us, and live your life doing whatever you want.”

Festival Live!

Episode: Dein High School.

It received 10x more viewers than usual.

The man who cleared the Princess Set in the shortest time! The bridge crossing couldn’t stop him, and he performed an astonis.h.i.+ng feat at the balloon popping. He used martial arts that only people who are completely in control of their body could accomplis.h.!.+

Viewers went wild at Lee Hyun’s kicks.

He finished the final stage, climbing the wall with a rope with ease using his body’s flexibility.

Though Lee Hyun starred in the program for only 1~2 minutes, the effect was beyond imagination. His clips were all over the Internet, spread out on websites from other countries.

He earned a nickname: The Princess’ Knight!