The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess - Chapter 127



127 – Prince of Ashes #4

127 – Prince of Ashes #4

The position of the “Red King” was one that was passed down.

From father to daughter, from daughter to son.

Many kings and their ancestors in the fairy kingdom had passed down the position in this way.

However, our mother, who was the princess of the fairies, did not inherit the throne.

I don’t know if it was intentional or if there was some reason behind it.

Our mother failed to pass the baton, and eventually, the “Red King” fell and became one of the three calamities─.

That’s the story of the future I know.

In the end, whether I had to make a ‘choice’ depended on whether I would take over that task here.

Could I handle the ‘concept’ that even the great fairy king couldn’t endure?

Maybe it would be better to swallow a powerful poison.

My sacrifice─.

Or equal destruction for all.

The reason why future Seo Ga-eul chose me must be in this moment.

He had indeed given me a chance.

“I have been waiting for this moment.”

I felt like I had reached the end of the stairs of repentance I had walked.

Srrng-!

I took out the dagger Singsing that I received from the great shaman.

With my new treasure Singsing, I could pierce that red armor.

“Name: Fang

Possession: 《Fang Lv.4》 – As sharp as the fangs of a wolf said to have bitten the moon and the sun.”

The concept of the 4th grade “Fang”.

It would be powerful.

That’s why the great shaman handed me this dagger.

It was then.

Chuk-!

Seo Ga-eul grabbed my shoulder.

“Han Nam-jin, if you become the ‘Red King’, you will surely die. You will suffer forever and miserably! How long can you, a human, endure the concept that even fairies find hard to handle?”

It seemed that Seo Ga-eul had come to understand the ‘fairy language’ to some extent. To interpret the story of the Red King after learning from the great shaman for a day. Smart.

“What will you do when you reach your limit as the ‘Red King’?”

As Seo Ga-eul said, if I became the Red King, I might struggle in agony and eventually crumble like ashes.

But? It might not be the case.

Maybe I have a great talent and can easily inherit the concept of the Red King and maintain my sanity.

One cannot say ‘NO’ before trying anything.

I can definitely do it, if it’s me!

Such confidence arises!

“What are you talking about! Hanamjin is going to die! You didn’t say that! Hanamjin! What do you mean!”

At that moment, Bbangdaengi asked in surprise.

I explained to such Bbangdaengi.

“Seo Ga-eul is lying. She has always been a wicked girl. So─.”

Squeeeze-.

I grabbed the dagger tightly and charged at the Red King.

“Watch closely, the path a man walks!”

The king seemed neither to defend nor to attack.

It even felt as if he himself had been waiting for this moment.

Thus, my dagger pierced through the king’s chest.

Shaaah-!

The darkness gushing out from his chest like blood enveloped everything around.

# # #

When I opened my eyes, a bright space like white light unfolded around me.

I felt like a lonely dot on a white A4 paper, just like me now.

In front of my eyes stood a man as dark as black ink.

He was quite an old man with long ears.

“Are you my daughter’s son?”

“Where is this place?”

“This is my inner world. It must have allowed the concept of ’emotion’ you possess to intervene in my inner world. How is it? My world.”

Even if you ask how it is.

There is nothing.

“For us fairies, becoming a king means this. I also had memories of beautiful lakesides and sunsets. But now, nothing remains. I have even lost myself.”

Is he saying he has dementia?

If you sit on the throne for a long time, your mind would flicker.

“We had to inherit eternal pain and loneliness as the price of greed. We had to make our sons and daughters carry that burden endlessly.”

“Is it because of the deal with the witch that the old fairy king made?”

“Yes. The four destructions are the price of revival. Until now, we had managed to delay that payment well, but eventually, in my father’s generation, the limit was reached, and the kingdom perished. Nevertheless, the contract did not end.”

Ssssmear-.

The man’s body surged with ink-like darkness.

“Therefore. Even if the kingdom perishes, the price must continue to be paid. And now, I too have reached my limit. My daughter’s son. Now it is your turn.”

Okay, I am ready.

The way of a man.

It was to fulfill one’s duty and role.

“But before that─.”

Flash-.

At that moment, the red eyes of the black-shining king.

“Have you faithfully performed the duties of the royal family?”

“That’s why I’m here now.”

“Not just taking over the position.”

What else should I do besides that?

Come to think of it, Grand Knight Hamern also scolded me to go back, saying I hadn’t faithfully performed the duties of the royal family.

What more is there?

Should I pay taxes?

Or military service? Some royal family members say they are not recognized as part of the royal family unless they have served in the military.

While I was deep in thought, the Fairy King Valla frowned.

“To let in a brat who hasn’t even fulfilled the duties of the royal family. What have my grand knights been doing? My daughter’s son, this stage is still too early for you. Not yet!”

“What exactly is not enough?”

At this point, I was getting angry too.

I’m not someone to be ignored anywhere.

But the old Fairy King was relentless.

“You are not ready yet.”

As he waved his hand, my body was suddenly pressed to the ground as if crushed by a powerful gravity.

If you ride a roller coaster that looks so ominous that there are rumors of people dying, you would feel exactly like I do now.

“Oh oh oh!”

While I was struggling in various ways-.

Someone slapped my cheek.

“Hanamjin! Snap out of it! Snap out of it! You can’t die! I need your help! Baekdangbigi, Gu-eum Baekgoljo!”

Slap! Slap slap! Slap slap! Slap slap slap!

It was Bbangdaengi.

Bbangdaengi was slapping my cheeks and almost wailing, but I had no idea what was going on.

“Hey! Bbangdaengi! Stop hitting me! I’m going to die from your slaps!”

“You’re back! Hanamjin is back! My Gu-eum Baekgoljo worked!”

Roasted turkey? What on earth happened?

As I looked around, I saw a white hospital room.

I detached the machines that were attached to my body and stood in front of the dark window.

Is it night now?

How many days have passed?

Swooosh-.

As I listened to the unusually loud sound of rain and opened the window, black raindrops splashed in all directions and entered the hospital room.

Bbangdaengi was startled.

“Don’t get hit by that rain! You’ll go bald! And your mind will go crazy! It’s completely contaminated acid rain!”

Creak-!

Bbangdaengi hurriedly closed the window.

The fact that black rain was falling meant that the subjugation of the “Red King” wasn’t going well.

“What happened?”

“What happened is… It looked like the ‘Red King’ was fatally wounded by your dagger, Hanamjin. But suddenly, as if it was his last burst of strength, he drove us out.”

Like the desperate patterns of boss monsters before they die, the dying “Red King” spewed thick darkness and drove everyone out of the Great Labyrinth.

Baek Yeoul and his party barely escaped with their lives.

“It’s a miracle we survived. If the ‘Special Agents’ and Mibbang hadn’t stepped in, it would have been impossible to rescue you, Hanamjin. So, about that Mibbang─.”

They said I had been unconscious for three days.

And it had been raining “Black Rain” all those three days.

“Hanamjin, where are you going!”

“Home!”

Whoosh-!

I ran home, just in case.

I was curious about the state of the yard.

As expected, after three days of continuous black rain, our yard was in a state of utter devastation. The buds of the flowers we had planted in the garden had all withered and twisted.

“My flowers that I barely managed to bloom!”

So sad!

It feels like tears are about to pour out!

The sky is crying for me!

“Muhuhu, Kore’s son, don’t worry…! Bao Noi has carefully moved all the buds from the yard into pots and placed them indoors…!”

At that moment, Bao Noi popped out of our house.

For some reason, he was leisurely holding a drink can with a straw in it.

“If you stay under the ‘black rain’, your hair will fall out and your aggression will become ferocious…! Come inside quickly…!”

I followed Bao Noi into the house.

And there, weren’t the sprouts neatly transferred into small pots?

Ino Noi, who was watering the pots with a spray bottle, proudly straightened his shoulders.

“But the rain is sure to stop within a few days…! If the ‘Red King’ had truly lost his mind and become a monster, it wouldn’t just end with black rain…!”

Ino Noi’s eyes were filled with hope.

“It’s not too late yet…! This Ino Noi has heard that you are Kore’s son…! Ino Noi will help you fulfill the royal duty…!”

“The royal duty?”

“That’s right…! This Ino Noi was chosen as Kore’s errand boy to find a suitable ‘match’ for the royal family…! Nymphs have always been excellent matchmakers…!”

“Muhuhu, pairing Kore and boys and increasing the number of little Kore’s is one of the few entertainments for us nymphs…!”

Find a match?

It was a strange story.

Maybe because I had just woken up from a coma, I felt dazed.

So while I was trying to grasp the true meaning of the story, Ino Noi spoke.

“The royal duty is to continue the lineage…! To keep passing on the burden of destruction they bear to future generations…! Therefore, anyone who wants to become a king must have a partner…!”

It reminded me of the Joseon Dynasty.

Men had to get married and tie their hair in a topknot to be recognized as proper men.

Those who were not married could not become kings, it seems such customs existed among the fairies too.

“Now this Ino Noi understands…! Our Kore also left the great labyrinth to find a match to fulfill the royal duty…! But he couldn’t return due to an unexpected accident….”

In other words, anyone who wants to become the ‘Red King’ must always have a blood heir.

If someone without children inherits, they will eventually reach their limit and won’t be able to pass the baton to anyone else, and that will be the end.

But I was a virgin, and of course, I had no heir.

“Did you just hear from those nymphs? Han Nam-jin, if you want to defeat the ‘Red King,’ you need to create a family.”

At that moment, Yoo Yeoreum, who had been lying on the sofa, got up.

I don’t know since when she had been there.

“But it’s okay. I can help you create a family. If you marry the fairy prince, I will become the fairy crown princess. Although I’ve always played the role of the prince, I’ve actually wanted to be a princess too.”

Not just Yoo Yeoreum, but the dark Yoo Yeoreum?

A very blatant temptation that doesn’t hide its impure intentions!

I’m not someone who would fall for that.

If I marry her, I would have to earn the money, do the dishes, and all the housework.

So, I was about to grab the doorknob to leave the house.

“Han Nam-jin, you don’t have many choices right now. Either marry voluntarily or be captured and forced to marry. Everyone is talking about it.”

Everyone is talking about my marriage?

What on earth happened during the three days I was unconscious?

I turned on the old computer and searched my name “Han Nam-jin.”

“Title: Han Nam-jin was actually a prince of the fairy kingdom

Content: I knew something was off”

└Nam-hwang is really cool

└LOL quickly have lots of kids and stabilize the Great Maze and Korea

└Do it, do it, do it

“Title: Han Nam-jin should be captured and forced to have kids

Content: I’m waiting for Pookimon to be released in 2026, and if the world ends like this, it would be unfair”

└There are many Nam-jin fans on the internet, so we should get volunteers LOL

└I’m jealous of Han Nam-jin LOL

“Title: Everyone, we can’t just sit back and watch foreign agents come in.

Content: They say it’s for social stability, but they’re trying to gain access to the Great Maze from abroad.

According to the fairy kingdom’s law, the authority of the Great Maze belongs to the fairy royalty, which means the nationality of Han Nam-jin’s children becomes very important.

Foreign awakeners are seed thieves who have come to gain access to the Great Maze.

Thanks to the benefits of the Great Maze, Korea has barely come back to life, and the birth rate has rebounded. If the Great Maze is taken by foreigners, Korea will really be doomed.

So, here is the list of brides for Han Nam-jin that I have compiled to protect Korea. I have only selected people who are definitely of Korean nationality.

1. Seo Ga-eul – First of all, she’s pretty…”

└Why did you suddenly drift to a bride list while going well?

└Why is Seo Ga-eul the top priority? Are you part of the Seonam Group’s comment squad?