Chapter 12

Even now, when I close my eyes, I dream of that day.

[Contestant number 1074, Kim Moo-yeong; Contestant number 0014, Cho Seong-hwan. Begin the match.]

A dazzling training ground, the kind I had never seen since the day I was born.

A brief exchange of bows beneath the bright lights, followed by the start of our duel.

The scorn in his eyes as he glared at me, as if I were nothing.

But the moment our swords clashed…

His gaze twisted into something else.

Surprise.

And then came,

Sshhk—!

Blood arcing through the sky.

My right arm, following that trail of blood, dropped to the ground.

And then, the pain.

Unimaginable, excruciating loss.

“Aaaaaaagh—!”

“Match suspended! Match suspended—!”

They said it was the son of the prestigious noble family, the Pungyang Cho Clan, who had severed my arm.

That my sword had been aiming for his throat.

That’s why he used his authority to slice off my arm, they claimed.

A lie.

But that didn’t matter.

“What kind of exam lets a lowborn brat raise a sword against our child?!”

The noble’s hysterical parents slapped the exam proctor right there on the spot, shouting at the top of their lungs.

And I was disqualified without being allowed a single word of defense.

The reasons were as follows:

First, I was a Hangwae, a stateless half-blood without citizenship, who almost harmed a noble family’s heir.

Second, the loss of my right arm meant I could no longer achieve the most sacred principle of the Royal Guards: the purity of the body.

“...This can’t be allowed.”

“W-What do you mean, it can’t? What are you saying?”

I tried to demand compensation for the injury that happened during the exam, but the clerk at the Administrative Support Center didn’t even try to hide her annoyance as she fed my documents into the shredder.

She didn’t even glance at the cover, let alone read anything.

“It’s clearly stated in the Constitution of Joseon, isn’t it? ‘No compensation shall be provided to those without Joseon citizenship.’”

“B-But I applied for citizenship ages ago! I’ve stayed here long enough, and I met all the qualification criteria! It’s just that the issuance is still—!”

“Still not issued though, right? Or am I wrong? If you have it, go bring it in.”

“......!”

‘You’re the one in charge of my citizenship application…’

The words clawed their way up my throat, but I swallowed them down.

Even a low-ranking bureaucrat was still a government official, nothing good could come from provoking one of them.

“If you’re done here, please leave. Next—!”

She had already turned her attention away from me.

“Tch. Why’s this dumbass Hangwae bastard making trouble like he’s a real person?”

Just before I stepped out of the office, I heard her mutter those words behind me.

I had lived my entire life in Joseon since birth.

Yet to Joseon, I was nothing but a foreigner.

“...Now then! Let us welcome the youngest ever to pass the Royal Guard entrance exam! Please give a warm round of applause for the Pungyang Cho Clan’s very own young master, Cho Seong-hwan! Hello, sir!”

“Thank you. It’s an honor.”

As I exited the community center with nothing to show for it, an all-too-familiar face appeared on the holographic screen floating in the sky.

“First off, congratulations on becoming the youngest ever to join the Royal Guards! I heard the competition was fierce. Could you share a few words of encouragement for those currently preparing for the Royal Guard selection exams?”

“Haha, you flatter me. Honestly, there’s no real secret to passing.”

Cho Seong-hwan.

The very bastard who cut off my arm.

“You just have to do it with honor. Without an ounce of shame. Pour everything you’ve got into it. That’s all there is to it.”

“Ooooooh—!”

As the reporter gasped in admiration, the crowd’s cheers rang out across Hanseong.

Was it the pain of the missing arm that tightened around my chest,

Or the sheer weight of despair crushing my sense of self?

“Oppa?”

Back home, holding my innocent little sister in my arms, I made a vow.

Even if I had lost my dream, my talent, everything—

There was still one hope left to me.

Her.

If nothing else, I would make sure she became a citizen of Joseon.

If nothing else, I would never let her live the life of a lowborn Hangwae like me.

Never.

No matter what I had to do…

No matter what lines I had to cross…

* * *

“Hey, Kim Moo-yeong!”

“?!”

At the sound of someone calling his name, Moo-yeong’s heavy eyelids flew open.

“Looks like the sedative’s still in your system. Can’t even come to your senses properly…”

“What about his neural network? There’s no damage, right?”

The first person he saw when he opened his eyes was his senior guard, Seo Taewoong.

Standing next to him was a boy staring down at him with an unreadable expression.

Kim Chang-woon, an illegitimate child of the prestigious Andong Kim Clan.

The same boy who had pulled him out of the gutter.

“Y-Young Master…” I croaked.

“If you’re awake, get up. The transplant procedure is done.”

Transplant procedure.

Those words jolted Moo-yeong’s mind awake, and he slowly sat up from the medical pod he’d been lying in.

Vrrrrrr—!

Accompanied by a mechanical hum, a black-colored right arm emerged from the pod.

A prosthetic limb, crafted from a special black alloy.

It was a first-grade, newly released model, completely disassembled, modified, and rebuilt from scratch. The focus was on muscular reinforcement and durability, resulting in a simple but powerful build.

But what was truly astounding was the precision with which it had been customized by the makers themselves.

It wasn’t just capable of wielding a sword. Every delicate motion a human hand could perform, this prosthetic could do as well. It was more than enough for everyday use.

The sensation of the right arm he had lost so long ago—

It now felt so vividly real.

“Whoa… I didn’t expect you to go this far.”

“This quality rivals official manufacturing plants. No—considering the precision...”

“It surpasses them. Seriously, why is a craftsman this skilled rotting away at the bottom of society?”

While Taewoong and Chang-woon exchanged words of awe, Moo-yeong’s eyes never left his new right arm.

The arm that had once been lost…

Severed by a noble’s sword…

Now welcomed him back in a completely new form.

It took more effort than he’d expected to hold back the emotions welling up inside him.

“...Ah!”

But he didn’t have time to get swept up in gratitude.

Shaking off the last remnants of the sedative, Moo-yeong quickly pulled up his account on his device.

“What are you doing?” Chang-woon asked.

“Please wait just a moment, Young Master. I need to settle the cost first.”

There was no time to sit there marveling.

This was a first-grade, cutting-edge prosthetic bought at black market prices,

Security protocols removed.

Base components disassembled and entirely restructured.

The cost had to be at least five times that of the standard model.

‘If they’ve tacked on interest, I’m screwed. I’ve got to figure out a loan package before the day ends…’

But just as he was thinking that…

“Cost? What cost?”

Chang-woon asked, genuinely puzzled.

“I-I mean… for the prosthetic you provided—”

“Ha, that’s what you were worried about?”

Chang-woon waved his hand as if brushing away something ridiculous.

“Forget it.”

“…Excuse me?”

His words left Moo-yeong momentarily doubting his own ears.

“This isn’t like the first time I gave you something as a gift. This is equipment you’ll be using for work. I’m not dumb enough to make you pay for that.”

“No, Young Master! I’ve already received far more than I deserve. If you keep treating me like this—”

“More than you deserve? And who exactly decided that?”

Chang-woon cut him off, his face suddenly turning stern.

“Moo-yeong. You’re my bodyguard, aren’t you?”

“Y-Yes.”

“And who decides who you fight, who you kill, where you go, and what you do?”

“You… You do, sir.”

“Exactly. So…”

Kim Chang-woon looked directly at Moo-yeong’s shoulder, where the prosthetic limb was now firmly attached.

“Whether this arm is ‘too much’ for you or not… That’s for me to decide. Not you.”

His voice had lost its usual playfulness. The seriousness behind it made him unconsciously straighten his back.

“I gave you this arm because I believe you’ll achieve even more with it. I made that investment because I believe you’re worth it.”

“Then, I…!”

“So what are you going to do now? Refuse it and walk away just to tell me my judgment was wrong? After coming all this way?”

Kim Chang-woon grabbed his tense shoulder and held it firmly.

“You’ve got only one job—let your talent blossom.”

“……!”

“And with that talent, deliver on what I expect… no—go beyond it. Show me you’re worth even more.”

Something that had long been buried deep inside him…

Was starting to wake up again.

The exhilaration of being acknowledged for who he was.

The hunger to rise higher—

To become someone worthy of that belief.

A dream Moo-yeong had once thrown away.

A hope he had once buried when his arm was cut off.

They were all returning to him, as if they had never left.

“So stop with the dramatics and just run some checks.”

“Any discomfort compared to your old arm?”

“Any features you want added?”

“Say it now. It’s a waste of time if you whine about it later and ask for a rebuild.”

Chang-woon relaxed his face into a smirk as he spoke.

And that’s when—

“……Huh?”

Drip.

Drip.

As if something had burst open inside him, Moo-yeong’s eyes began to overflow with tears.

“Hey, Taewoong, what’s wrong with him? Why’s he crying? Is this some kind of side effect from the prosthetic? If it is, we’re getting a refund—”

“I’ll repay you.”

‘Repay? Repay what?’

Chang-woon turned back toward Moo-yeong, confused.

His face was soaked in tears.

But there was no trace of weakness.

His gaze was firm—

As if making a vow to himself.

“I swear I’ll repay you. For everything you’ve given me, for everything you’ve done for me and my sister—I won’t forget it.”

“…….”

“No matter what it takes. No matter what I have to do.”

“I will repay you for what you’ve given me. I swear it… I swear…!”

“Hah… So that’s what this is about.”

Finally understanding what Moo-yeong meant, Chang-woon let out a small chuckle and said,

“Of course you will.”

* * *

Only one week remained until the Formal Assembly.

Which meant,

Just one week until that incident would unfold on the day of the ceremony.

And one week until the plan I had crafted specifically for that moment would go into motion.

“Huu…”

Moo-yeong’s prosthetic arm was ready, and Taewoong was busy digging up intel from within the family estate.

I had done everything I could in advance. Every preparation was complete.

Still, I found myself stuck in front of the computer, going over the plan again and again.

No matter how meticulously it was built—

Once things started, there was no telling how they’d play out.

“Repay me, huh…”

I was reviewing supply routes to and from the family estate, lists of invited families and corporations, trying to cram every possible variable into my head.

But somewhere in the middle of it all, I caught myself thinking about what had happened earlier today, and chuckled to myself.

“I will repay you no matter what, Kim Chang-woon.”

The moment I heard those words from Moo-yeong, what came to mind wasn’t the present.

It was a memory from my past life.

A right arm, lost and gone.

And in the left—

The lifeless body of his younger sister, clutched tightly in his arms.

“What you did to me and Ha-yeong—I will never forgive. Never!”

“No matter what it takes…”

“No matter what I have to do…”

“I’ll drag you and your entire class of noble scum into the depths of hell—every last one of you…!”

‘To think I’d hear those words again…’

How ironic.

What I had done to him in the past was the complete opposite.

And yet, he said the same thing to me now.

Strange, how things come full circle.

I sat there for a while, lost in that irony, picturing Moo-yeong’s face in my mind.

Knock knock.

A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts.

“At this hour? Someone coming to me?”

Both Taewoong and Moo-yeong were out on errands for the plan. I tilted my head in confusion as I approached the door.

“What the—?!”

The moment I opened it, I stumbled back in surprise.

A black visor where a face should be.

Clean, natural limbs with no signs of prosthetics.

A distinctive ceremonial uniform.

I recognized them immediately.

Standing at my door was an official court attendant from the Department of the Royal Palace.

“……”

The attendant silently lowered their head in greeting.

The moment I saw that, I knew exactly why they were here.

“The ceremony’s close, so they’ve sent my attendant?”

The attendant nodded once, confirming my guess.

I let out a shallow sigh.

‘Poor voiceless things…’

Some things never changed. They were as silent and suffocating as ever.

But just as I resigned myself to the awkwardness…

“Hmm?”

My eyes narrowed when I saw what the attendant handed me.

A letter?

“A letter? And not from the main family? Addressed to me?”

No response.

They merely held it toward me insistently.

‘Right… even if they knew why, they wouldn’t be allowed to say anything.’

Scratching the back of my head, I took the envelope.

A letter… at this timing?

Who the hell could it be from?

This hadn’t happened in my past life.

Just thinking about it already gave me a headache.

But that thought didn’t last long.

“……Ha.”

I opened the letter and let out a stunned, hollow laugh.

There, in the center of the paper…

Was a wide, smiling face.

A Hahoetal, a traditional Korean mask grinning ear to ear.

---The End Of The Chapter---

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