Im Kkeok Jung

Brought to you by WITH S2 Written In The Heavens Subbing Squad

- Hyungnim! - Hyungnim!

- Hyungnim... - Captain...

- Hyungnim. - Hyungnim!

Hyungnim!!

- Hyungnim!! - Hyungnim!

- Captain! - Hyungnim!!

Hyungnim!!

Oju!

Makbong!

Dolseok!

Yubok!

Bonghak!

Uncheong!

Father!

Father...

Baekson!

So lowly, despicable, thieving vermin such as yourself...

will rescue all the populace?!

I never claimed any of that.

All I wished for was living like a human being.

Sheltering thieving scum, slaying innocent people and stealing goods,

is that what living like a human being entails to?

All I did was giving back all the fruit of our people's blood and tears,

and slaying the shameless rats responsible for stealing it!

You witless minion,

all you are is a rotten, treacherous rogue.

As the heavens are my witness,

your spurious pate shall bear the grunt of my punishing blade!

Captain Im.

Captain Im!

You bastard, Seorim!

Captain Im.

It is all over now.

Abandon any resentment, and leave with me.

It is time you rest, Captain Im.

You bastard... Seorim!

You fools!!

Im Kkeokjeong is here!

Come and get me!

Kkeokjeong, you fool... Get up!

I said get up!

Kkeokjeong, hurry up and come here!

Kkeokjeong!

Hurry up!

Even If I go out to the world, wouldn't I have to live as a butcher anyway?

Should I learn swordsmanship just to maul cows?!

Uncheong.

Do you like me?

Yeah. To die for!

I wonder why people like me even came into this world...

Kkeokjeong.

Would you be able to move those mountains with your strength alone?

Everyone might point fingers at us,

but what we do is sacred, helping the fallen souls walk to the gates of heaven.

Think that renouncing your calling will ever change your destiny?!

Imagine if you were a mere slave.

A butcher is all you were born to be, you fool!

"Thieving vandals were swarming the eight provinces,"

"the most fearsome and cruel of them being..."

the gang led by Im Kkeokjeong in Hwanghae Province."

"Not only did they plunder the populace's goods,"

"but set private abodes on fire, attacked local administrations in open day,"

"chopped officers to death, and set imprisoned criminals free."

"They were in secret contact with provincial deputies..."

"in Gyeonggi and Hwanghae Province,"

"and as provincial magistrates feared retaliation,"

"apprehending them was always too arduous."

"They weren't mere vandals, but a throng of treacherous rogues,"

"putting our country's very foundations in peril."

"Hence, His Majesty sent Provincial Inspector Nam Chigeun,"

"who beheaded Im Kkeokjeong and his retinue at Mount Guwol."

~ From the Annals of King Myeongjong ~

"Im Kkeokjeong was a butcher from Yangju."

"He was cunning and daring from the very start,"

"making a blood pledge with the heinous individuals who followed him,"

"after which they rose in arms and became rogues."

"With thousands of troops under his command, Inspector Nam..."

"surrounded the rogues' hideout, but while most surrendered,"

"Im Kkeokjeong and a half dozen of his blood brothers..."

"resisted to their bitter end, dying together as they pledged."

~ Unofficial History of Korea ~

~ This drama tells the story of Im Kkeokjeong,"

"a man of lowly ancestry born into dark times,"

"who fought and died for the sake of living like a human being,"

"and of all the blood brothers and the nameless people he met on the way."

~ WithS2 Presents ~ VIA CLASSICS #2 ~ Im Kkeokjeong ~

~ Episode 1 ~ The Raging Gale

~ Yeonsan ~ YOO Inchon

~ Lee Janggon (KIM Byungse) ~ ~ Yang Bongdan (CHOI Jungwon) ~

~ Yang Jusam (LEE Dongju) ~ ~ Bongdan's Mother (NA Moonhee) ~

~ Sakbul (PARK Cheolho) ~ ~ Wansanwol (KIM Hyunjung) ~

~ 10th year of Prince Yeonsan's reign (1504) ~ Twenty years before Im Kkeokjeong's birth

Ominous haze beclouded the sky,

as Gyeongbok Palace was sweltered by the flames of a ruthless purge*.

The stench of blood was drenching Joseon,

as the weeping howls of the people engulfed the land.

Are you suggesting a calamity will befall our country?

The situation has gotten even worse,

so there shall be dire consequences.

With all this pandemonium ensuing,

shall I just retire to the country and live a life of farming?

When even the late Jeompiljae* Seonsaeng is beheaded after death,

[*Kim Jongjik's moniker. His writings sparked Yeonsan's Muo Purge of 1498]

where could anyone still alive possibly hide?!

You scoundrel...

How dare you act with such impudence?

Listen, Jeong Hallim*.

You're already speculating upon future developments,

so you'll also know a way to avoid the tide, I trust?

Advise me on what I should do.

I envy those jesters.

Aren't we nothing but jesters ourselves?

These are the stains the poison they forced upon her left.

And this is blood.

The blood my mother shed on that day.

As a man of virtue and filial pity,

I trust I should avenge this affront?!

It is the mother who gave birth to Your Majesty,

who could ever malign a son for reminiscing upon his mother's death?!

Thank you.

My gratitude.

Janggon.

Prepare my bow.

Arrows drenched in poison shall spurt from Joseon's greatest bow,

and pierce the black hearts...

of the treacherous miscreants responsible for her death.

However,

a ruler should not let vengeful whims begrime his legacy.

Should he let his boundless virtue bring prosperity for all his subjects,

his charitable deeds would be the noblest vengeance against such affront.

And should a ruler lack virtue, then what?

For so vital to our country's survival a position it is, it would imperil us all.

A ruler without virtue could be easily manipulated into...

Say what?!

A ruler without virtue would what?

W.... What I am trying to say...

You impudent vermin...

Do not let blood begrime your legacy, Sire!

~ Exiled to Geoje Island - Lee Janggon ~

Is the king going to kill everyone who dares to speak the truth?

Our country is doomed.

Naeuri!

Naeuri!!

Find all the scum who ousted my mother and slaughter them.

Should any of them have perished already,

find their graves and behead them,

after which you'll throw their spurious carcasses in the river.

Hallim Jeong Heeryang, You shall hereby be escorted to the court,

where you will follow His Majesty's orders.

I cannot acknowledge those orders.

Say what?

My mother perished and I am in mourning,

how could I possibly accept those orders?

What?

He must respect our tenets when it comes to his mother's death,

but he couldn't care less if his ruler's mother perished?

Despicable minion...

Head to that knave's abode, and the moment encoffining procedures are over,

have him gorge a bowlful of poison.

Fill that spurious gob of his with the same venomous nectars...

which brought demise upon my poor mother!

Criminal Jeong Heeryang, accept your orders!

He threw himself into the river, committing suicide.

Sungjae.

Yes, Sire.

I don't know why it all feels so suffocating...

and I can't find any merriment.

I shall alleviate your disheartenment by dancing, Sire.

Shall I dance for you, Sire?

You fool.

You don't dance that way.

Then, show me how, Sire.

There should be grace in your steps.

Shall I take care of accompanying you?

Aigoo... Our Majesty...

He is the most able of dancers...

Nice!

Our Majesty is blessed with many talents!

Aigoo... You dance so well...

Aigoo! You dance so well.

When my mother disappeared,

do you know how scared I was?

Despite my young age,

I already feared for my life.

Again, crying...

For tonight,

how about you play the Royal Emissary?

It's nice, nice indeed.

Will our Wansan even overshadow a peerless beauty like Jang Noksu?

What if she catches His Majesty's eyes while dancing today?

And what would that bring me?

Just think about it.

You'll push Jang Noksu aside and all the power in the world...

will end up under your skirt's might.

Aigoo... I have no interest in all that power.

Let me dance as I only can,

and live my life as I wish.

Indeed you shall.

I shall live!