LuCIxUzMQ5cGUB6Mx2oSMPY
LuCIxUzMQ5cGUB6Mx2oSMPY
PlKxSPYnbWwEGgIIlEtIl16
aLSRDrVvui2Kz3PjzQlNhg7R8eqFB
PlKxSPYnbWwEGgIIlEtIl16
Chapter 8
“Why are you going this far for me?”
Moo-yeong asked, his voice now laced with courtesy as he lowered himself into a formal posture.
Well, I did just wipe out a debt that would’ve taken him a lifetime to repay, his reaction was only natural.
Without rejecting his question outright, I replied calmly.
“I told you already. It’s to recruit you.”
“That’s exactly why I’m asking. If you want to hire me, isn’t this kind of money a bit too much…?”
“Not hire—recruit. Don’t you get the difference?”
I watched Moo-yeong pause, and a small smile tugged at my lips.
“I’m not looking to send you on some temporary errand or hire you as a bodyguard for a couple of weeks. I need someone who’ll never betray me. Someone who’ll be my hands and feet, even at the cost of their life. That’s the kind of person I’m looking for.”
“……”
“And among all those candidates, you were the one with the most exceptional potential.”
“…Potential? You mean me?”
Hearing himself praised, Moo-yeong’s expression darkened, his voice barely audible as he let out a breath.
“You’re overestimating me.”
That thick shadow of defeat.
The deeply ingrained helplessness and self-doubt built up over years.
It was a face I’d grown sick of, because once, it had been my own.
“I… I probably won’t live up to your expectations.”
“And why do you think that?”
“Because I’m just… just one of countless wandering ronin.”
Despite the way his fists clenched tightly at those words, I already knew the truth.
The root of his defeatism,
It wasn’t because of his skill or lack thereof.
“I’m nothing special in martial arts… and I only have one arm. On top of that…”
“Because you’re of Hangwae origin?”
“……!”
His lips clamped shut, like I had struck him dead-on.
Hangwae.
The descendants of those who had fled the rift-ridden Japanese archipelago and settled in Joseon.
And because of that lineage, they were treated in Joseon as little more than the lowest caste, facing constant scorn and discrimination.
“I looked into your background a little. You applied for the Royal Guard selection test, didn’t you?”
I recalled the information I had dug up on Moo-yeong.
“Written exam was just a formality, sure. But the practical exam, especially the one-on-one sparring section? You scored a perfect mark. That too when you were only fifteen.”
“That was…”
“But even with that, the Royal Guard rejected you. No, more than that…”
I glanced at his empty right shoulder.
“They took your arm and didn’t even pay you a single coin in compensation.”
“…….”
“Because you weren’t Joseon-born. Because you were a filthy half-Japanese, that was their excuse.”
Moo-yeong said nothing, his head bowed low.
His lips pressed into a tight line, like the rage of the past had surged back.
I understood.
Your birth. Your blood. Your lineage.
Things you could never change, no matter what you did, they become shackles that choke the life out of your future.
I knew it all too well, having lived my life as an eolja bastard.
Which is why persuading him like this was all too easy.
“Hangwae? One-armed? Ronin? I don’t care. There’s only one reason I sought you out and made this kind of investment.”
I placed my hand firmly on Moo-yeong’s shoulder, wearing a serious expression.
“It’s because I believe you’re worth it.”
“……!”
“Because I’m certain that once you grow under my investment, you’ll bring in returns, tenfold, a hundredfold what I spent.”
Moo-yeong’s face was changing.
That look on his face, he was already halfway convinced.
And inside, I was trembling with quiet, predatory delight.
This is it.
Oh, this is it!
Bottom investment, high return, secured.
“…I suppose I won’t ever get a better chance than this.”
Was this the moment he finally made up his mind?
For the first time, Moo-yeong, who had remained silent the entire time, opened his mouth to speak.
“I understand… that this opportunity you’ve given me is one that will likely never come again in my lifetime.”
“……”
“So please… allow me to ask just one thing.”
What is it… that you intend to do?
As those words left his mouth, I looked around us.
No eavesdroppers. Good.
Not just Moo-yeong, but even Taewoong was clearly listening closely, eyes silently urging me to answer.
Fine. If it’s just these two,
If it’s these two, then maybe it’s time I said it.
“Revolution.”
A single word escaped my lips.
Just two syllables.
But with that, the expressions on Moo-yeong and Taewoong’s faces shifted by the second.
“Young master, did you just say… what I think you did?”
“……!”
Shock. Horror. Panic.
A flood of emotions passed across their faces, one after another.
Even uttering the word was a blasphemy in itself.
And yet, at the same time.
For anyone who had lived under the rotting system of Joseon, it was something they had surely imagined at least once.
“I’m going to spark a revolution in this country. In Joseon.”
* * *
“Your official duties start next Monday. You and I both have things to prepare in the meantime.”
“Understood.”
By the time we’d wrapped up all the formalities required to hire a bodyguard, evening had already fallen.
I considered treating him to a meal, but gave up on the idea.
He was probably exhausted already from everything that had happened. Forcing food into someone in that state would do more harm than good.
Better to give him time to settle his emotions, and maybe let his little sister enjoy a good meal instead.
“And lastly… here.”
Right then, the apartment purchase contract I’d been waiting on finally arrived. I reached out and handed a card to Moo-yeong.
“This is…?”
It was a key card, an access pass to a mid-level apartment unit in the residential zone.
His eyes widened the moment he realized what it was.
“You really don’t have to go this far! I—”
“Whoa whoa—hey now, my arm’s gonna fall off—ow ow ow~!”
Moo-yeong was trying his best to refuse politely, but I had no intention of hearing it. I threw in a dramatic groan to stop him cold.
Uncertain, he finally accepted the card.
Seeing his flustered expression made me chuckle without realizing it.
“Think about your sister. You really gonna let that little girl keep living in a place like this? Doesn’t sit right, does it?”
“But still, I…”
“If you’re that grateful, just work hard. I’m gonna squeeze every drop out of you until you’re the one asking for a raise. Got it?”
“…Yes. I understand.”
To refuse any more would be an insult at this point.
After saying that, I was just about to get ready to leave when…
“Oppa!”
From the corner of the room, a small shadow came rushing over to me.
It was Ha-yeong, Moo-yeong’s younger sister.
“Rich and handsome oppa, are you leaving? When are you coming back?”
“Hahaha! Crying over loan sharks one minute, now you’re calling me handsome and buttering me up?”
“A future brownnoser already charmed by money. She’s got a bright future ahead of her.”
I traded a few quick lines with Taewoong, but only briefly.
I waved at Ha-yeong, telling her I’d visit again when I had the chance.
“Okay! You better come back to play, got it?!”
“Sure, sure. Next time I’ll even bring more snacks…”
But just then—
Pop!
The moment Ha-yeong, clearly reluctant to say goodbye, lunged forward to hug me…
Seeing her run toward me with that innocent smile, I instinctively took a step back.
“Hmm? Oppa?” Ha-yeong tilted her head in confusion.
“…Ah, no. It’s nothing.”
She tilted her head further, as if wondering why I avoided her.
I tried to smile, really tried, but my expression remained stiff, unmoving.
“Let’s go, Taewoong.”
“Ah, yes.”
Leaving behind the confused little girl, I quickly turned on my heel.
Moo-yeong and Taewoong glanced at each other, both with the same puzzled expression.
“…What was that just now?”
“No idea.”
It wasn’t disgust toward the child. It wasn’t disdain for her shabby clothes.
If it were, I wouldn’t have come to this slum to begin with.
No—the strangest thing was that expression I’d worn just before I turned away.
The face I must have made.
.
.
.
“It wasn’t that he hated the child approaching him… He looked more like he was scared.”
Taewoong muttered to himself, straightening his collar. Then he reached out to pat the shoulder of the young man who would soon become his replacement as bodyguard.
“Pleasure working with you. I’ll see you around.”
“Ah—yes! Th-thank you, sir!”
“Mm.”
With a final nod, Taewoong walked away.
.
.
.
By the time he’d exited the apartment complex, I was standing outside, gazing up at the sky with a grim, unreadable look.
Even though there was no sky to see.
“What’s wrong, Young Master? All of a sudden…”
“…Just now, that girl. She tried to hug me, didn’t she?”
“Yes. Kids tend to warm up fast, you know.”
Taewoong gave a slight smile as he spoke.
“Isn’t that a good thing? Considering how she was crying when we first met—”
“No. It’s not good.”
My voice was flat, sharp.
I brought a trembling hand to my face and sighed deeply.
Whether it was hatred or fear, I didn’t know, maybe it was both.
“No… it’s not good at all.”
Behind the hand covering my face, memories from my past life played out in vivid detail.
Shhhh—
A dark, ash-stained sky.
Flickering neon lights of a crumbling city.
Blood spattered across concrete. Corpses strewn across the streets.
And at the center of it all, a man, Moo-yeong,on his knees.
“I’ll kill you… Kim Chang-woon… you damned nobles… you damned Joseon… every last one of you…!”
He had been crying tears of blood.
The mechanical device grafted to replace his lost right arm had long since shattered.
In his one remaining hand, he cradled the corpse of his younger sister, Ha-yeong.
That man, he was the Sword Demon.
The monster who slaughtered twelve noblemen and several status holders, plunging Joseon into an era of terror.
Joseon’s first official traitor. Moo-yeong, the rebel.
After his only sister was sold off as a nobleman’s plaything and killed, he retaliated by murdering a member of the noble family and became a wanted fugitive.
And the reason he hated me so fiercely in that previous life—
It wasn’t complicated.
-“You… You were the one who cleaned up the body. The one who erased all traces. You filthy bastard—!”
Yeah.
It was me.
I was the one who disposed of Ha-yeong’s corpse.
I did it to secure my position in the noble family’s internal power struggle.
I was the one who covered up the filth of that psychopath. I was the one who buried the truth.
“…Goddammit.”
I suddenly wondered…
Why the hell was this second life given to someone like me?
Was it meant to be some kind of divine punishment? Some kind of forced repentance?
Was I supposed to reflect on all the sins I’d committed just to hold my seat in that viper’s nest?
What a joke.
Even if I did repent, would that change anything I’d done?
No.
Even if time reversed and I went back to my childhood…
Even if certain events technically “never happened”...
The memories remained. The guilt, the knowledge, the scars, they were still all mine.
So no… this wasn’t some pitiful form of repentance.
This wasn’t about regret.
This was about taking the most important action I could in this second life.
About grabbing the one thing of true value that I could still reach.
Saving Seo Taewoong.
Pulling Moo-yeong out of that pit of despair before he became a monster.
That’s all this is.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
“Let’s go.”
I shoved the thoughts from my mind and moved forward without hesitation.
I’d acquired a new bodyguard, but this was just the beginning.
There was still the upcoming “audience” to prepare for.
A mountain of work ahead.
After all, I had a revolution to start.
And I had to survive—no, thrive—in the Joseon that was about to collapse.
---The End Of The Chapter---
Join Patreon to support the translation and to read 5 chapters ahead of the release.
Comments