Baek Ryung

**Baek Ryung** was a member of the Bi Yeong Pal Mu, who served as a personal guard of King Jin Won during his excursions outside the palace.

## Plot

### Compact Heist Arc

One night, Baek Ryung was summoned by the king during Heuk Rang's absence. Though he initially looks for the captain, he asks her to accompany him as they visit Yu Hyang Ru's Nabi.

The next day when Nabi was poisoned, Baek Ryung tells Won to return to the palace for the court meetings, but he reprimands her for letting Nabi leave. She tells him that Bi Yeong Pal Mu are his shadow and will not appear unless he calls for them. He rebukes her, a mere "shadow", for lecturing him, the king. He adds that she should be thankful he does not have a sword with him at the moment, much to Baek Ryung's nervousness. Nevertheless, left with no other choice, they head back to the palace.

### Chase Arc

During one of his excursions, Won goes to the slums to catch a pickpocket. When he arrives at the site, he encounters Chung's ill brother, Woon, who admires the Crimson Moon so much that he wanted the current king to be replaced by the masked vigilante. Infuriated and insulted, Won calls for Baek Ryung to call for the Royal Army and burn the village. She then leads the army, but loses sight of the king and misses his escape. It is implied that she found him afterwards and accompanied him back to the palace. When they arrive, her captain Heuk Rang notices a wound on the king's face and scolds Baek Ryung for her carelessness of letting the king be wounded.

### Revolt Procurement Arc

At the gallery, Baek Ryung catches Baek Ho tailing Won and points her weapon at him from behind, asking who he is and what his purpose is for following the king. Baek Ho immediately grabs her and flees at once. As the king enters the shop, she leaves to catch Baek Ho first, having nothing or no one suspicious around in the location. She then flees and follows Baek Ho.

Baek Ryung comes across Won asleep and wakes him up. He asks her if nobody was with him; she tells him that no one was with him when she arrived at the place. She adds that he seems to have "grown wings", making Won think that his "friend" truly exists.

### Plague Arc

In the midst of the plague, Baek Ryung accompanies Won to Moon's End Village to meet "Nabi". However, he leaves immediately after finding out that it is a different Nabi. On his way back, Dan Ah calls him from afar. Won motions to Baek Ryung to stay hidden in the shadows, as she is an acquaintance. Dan Ah, however, mistakenly thinks that Won waved at her, so she happily waves back at him.

Later, as Won is brought to the clinic supposedly to assist the patients, he summons Baek Ryung and orders her instead to assist. She comes up to Sori and becomes his helping hand throughout the day. By nighttime, Baek Ryung becomes oblivious to the fact that Won and Dan Ah have gone missing. After hearing this, as Sori described, Baek Ryung goes "overboard" in searching for them.

In reality, Baek Ryung goes back to the palace to mobilize a search party for the king. However, the Queen Mother becomes infuriated upon learning that the king has gone missing, a feat that Bi Yeong Pal Mu members should not allow to happen. Out of her fury, she orders her to be executed on the spot at the hands of her own captain.

Yeon Lee further chides Bi Yeong Pal Mu's lackluster execution of their duty and responsibility, deeming it as a fake compared to its predecessor. In the end, Heuk Rang closes his subordinate's eyes upon her death, frustrated at the Queen Mother's attacks on the organization he commands.

## Legacy

Due to her report, a search party journeys to Moon's End Village and successfully finds the king, albeit injured, at the clinic. They later fetch him back safely to the palace. The king's accident fuels Bi Yeong Pal Mu's strict and tight orders of tailing the king. For most of the king's succeeding excursions, Baek Sa takes over Baek Ryung's task of accompanying Jin Won out of the palace, though there are some instances when the king is tailed by at least two other royal guards. Moreover, though there are times when royal guards tend to hide in the shadows while on duty, the king's guard becomes typically visible and follows the king close by wherever he goes.

## Trivia

* Her name means "white phantom". Like the other members of Bi Yeong Pal Mu, her alias was formed out of an adjectival color and a noun.

## References

1. ↑ *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 8
2. ↑ *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 12
3. ↑ *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 17
4. ↑ *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 26
5. ↑ *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 28
6. ↑ *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 34
7. ↑ *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 35
8. ↑ *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 36
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 38
10. ↑ *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 40