Feeling unfamiliar with the title “Master,” Yu Un made an odd expression and said he would return tomorrow, advising me to rest more before leaving the room.
Left alone, I got up from the bed after a while and first searched around the room.
Opening the drawer in the corner, I found something like a metal plate about the size of two palms combined in the topmost compartment. It even had a ring attached in the middle.
‘This must be a mirror, right?’
Given the era of this martial arts novel, glass mirrors were a luxury.
Unless it was a large clan, there was no way something like that would be in a Taoist temple. After all, metal mirrors were common until glass mirrors became widely used.
Picking it up and turning it over, sure enough, the surface was smoothly polished, allowing me to see my face somewhat clearly.
‘So this is what Baek Yeoeun looks like.’
It was a rather pretty face, more than I expected.
Moreover, with gentle eyes and overall refined features, I felt it didn’t quite fit the image of a villainous supporting character.
‘A villainous supporting character, huh.’
The more I mulled it over, the more unrealistic it seemed.
Although I had decided to think of it as possession for now, it was still hard to accept.
Would it have felt more real if I hadn’t known Baek Yeoeun was a character from a book?
‘…No. I would have been even more confused without understanding the situation.’
Swallowing a sigh, I stroked the mirror’s surface with my fingertips. The cool sensation of the mirror felt too vivid to dismiss as a dream.
I slowly recalled the rest of the book’s contents in my mind.
‘The Taoist name I’m about to receive is probably Haheun.’
Becoming the disciple of a first-generation disciple makes me a second-generation disciple, and second-generation disciples use the character “Ha.” Additionally, I’ll receive a Taoist name that keeps the “Heun” (昕) character from my original name, Yeoeun.
‘…Perhaps the problem starts with being a “Ha” disciple.’
Currently, Hwasan hasn’t yet taken in third-generation disciples.
It’s been a few years since the previous sect leader passed the position to the current one, and the sect has entered a period of stability. The youngest among the second-generation disciples has just entered their early twenties.
They were planning to take in third-generation disciples in about two to three years, but in the meantime, Hwasan’s First Sword, who had never taken a disciple before, suddenly brought in a young girl barely over 10 years old as his disciple.
‘Not particularly gifted, not exceptionally talented, and even seemingly with some complicated backstory.’
Although Hwasan is a Taoist sect, it’s still a place where people live. It was quite possible that many would disapprove of the fact that Hwasan’s First Sword’s first disciple was a young girl who was neither here nor there.
Haheun knew this fact very well.
“Isn’t she somewhat lacking to be the disciple of the Plum Blossom Sword King?”
“It’s a bit disappointing to present her to people from other sects or clans…”
The whispers from behind, no matter how quiet, were strangely clear to hear.
At first, she pretended not to know, but as time passed, she couldn’t help but realize that it was indeed far-fetched to build up the skills worthy of being called Hwasan’s First Sword’s disciple, as they said.
‘So…’
Haheun became increasingly irritable and naturally drifted apart from others in Hwasan. Due to her inferiority complex, she even treated harshly those who approached her with goodwill, which was understandable in a way.
At the same time, her obsession with her master, Yu Un, grew stronger.
“Don’t be anxious. From the moment I brought you here, you have always been my disciple, for whom I am responsible.”
He was the only one who said such things to Haheun.
Moreover, he didn’t take any other disciples besides Haheun, which also gave her a sense of reassurance.
But one day.
Yu Un, who had briefly left Hwasan on the sect leader’s orders, returns with a boy by his side, just like the day he had brought Haheun.
‘…Probably the protagonist.’
Unlike Haheun, this boy was born with martial talent and was exceptionally gifted. He also had a good personality and quickly blended in with the people of the sect.
He was the very image of a protagonist to anyone who saw him.
‘And he too becomes Yu Un’s disciple.’
Naturally, Haheun couldn’t like the culprit who had taken away her title of “Yu Un’s only disciple,” from which she had drawn comfort.
Moreover, her martial brother shone incomparably brighter than Haheun.
“So you’re my martial sister. I look forward to our future together.”
That greeting felt like a poisoned declaration of war to Haheun.
‘Probably from that moment on…’
Although she had already been gradually becoming twisted, this is when her thoughts began to seriously turn in a bad direction.
“Hah…”
I let out a light sigh.
As days passed, Haheun became increasingly obsessed with her master, beyond what was appropriate. It was too frequent to be dismissed as mere disciple’s reverence; she often crossed the line.
Bullying her martial brother behind his back was common, and if caught, she would cry and get angry or even throw things. It was to the extent that those who tried to stop her were at a loss due to her violent behavior. In such situations, only her master, Yu Un, could manage to calm her down.
And this abnormally twisted personality and obsession eventually lead to an irreversible tragedy when they meet with a certain coincidence.
The content of this coincidence was nothing special.
“If you examine it alone, you’ll know what to do.”
At 18, Haheun learns about a spell that can freely control people’s minds through a stranger. Not only that, but she also somehow obtains the method to use it.
However, I can’t remember whether this process was described in the book and I just forgot, or if it wasn’t described at all.
‘If it’s the latter, where’s the plausibility?’
…Anyway, she thought of using this spell to make her master drive away her martial brother and become her master’s only disciple again.
If she had been able to think rationally, she would have known that such a spell wouldn’t easily work on Hwasan’s First Sword, but honestly, Haheun at this point could hardly be considered in her right mind.
That’s how terrifying obsession can be.
‘She finally used it.’
And she fails.
Hwasan’s First Sword, Yu Un, was not affected by the clumsy spell of his not-yet-adult disciple. However, the problem was that this spell was unusually wicked and extremely powerful for something that a disciple of an orthodox Taoist sect had supposedly obtained by chance.
Although he managed to block it, it consumed a great deal of energy, and on top of that, Yu Un was shocked by the fact that none other than his ‘first disciple’ whom he had brought and cared for all her life had used such a spell on him, causing his qi to become distorted and his mind to waver…
‘Entering a qi deviation…’
When I recalled up to this point, my head suddenly started to ache.
Am I thinking about it too seriously?
I put down the mirror and pressed both my temples for a moment, then returned to the bed and lay down.
…Anyway, when Haheun faced a crisis situation where her master might die from falling into a qi deviation due to her own mistake, she froze. She couldn’t help her master because she was the cause of Yu Un’s qi deviation.
She had already lost his trust.
She blankly stared at her master collapsed on the floor, then sensed her martial brother’s presence approaching from afar, sensing something was wrong.
And when her martial brother arrived right in front of her…
She took her own life in front of her martial brother’s eyes.
She was truly the very embodiment of a villain set up to give pain and trials to the protagonist.
‘…I can’t remember beyond this point.’
I probably closed the book at this point, disgusted by this third-rate drama-like story. Maybe that’s why I can’t remember the book’s title?
‘If that’s the case, it’s fortunate I remember this much.’
At least I know enough to understand what’s going on in this strangely real yet unreal situation I’m in.
As I thought earlier, if I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have been able to grasp the situation at all.
At that point, I lay down holding my head, which was still throbbing with a headache that wouldn’t subside, probably from thinking too much for too long. I suddenly felt tired even though I hadn’t done much.
“…Let’s rest for now.”
I should rest and think about the rest later.
Burying my aching head in the pillow, I tightly closed my eyes.
* * *
Several days have passed since I woke up that day.
I’ve learned that this is inside a martial arts novel whose title I can’t remember, and I’ve now certainly accepted that the situation I’m in is not a dream but reality.
‘If a dream were this natural, that would be even more frightening.’
I have to acknowledge it.
The me on Earth must have died.
I’ve gone over the accident I remember many times. Although I’m not a doctor, one thing I can be sure of is that if you survive such an accident, you’re not human.
However, despite dying like that, for some reason, when I opened my eyes, I found myself possessed by a villainous supporting character from a third-rate trashy martial arts novel I had read when I was alive, and that’s the current situation.
‘This is reality.’
After acknowledging this, I quickly stopped pretending to have lost my memory. It wasn’t really pretending in the first place, but anyway, it was a necessary decision to act comfortably.
‘Although I don’t know anything beyond what was in the book, in a situation like this, they’ll probably accept that there are some blank spots.’
After declaring that I had regained my memories, Master carefully observed me for several days. He seemed to be checking if I was dealing with the shock alone or if I was lost in deep thought.
In fact… if I were to be meddled with or receive misguided comfort from someone who doesn’t understand my situation, I thought it might make me even more irritable, so at first, I tried to appear calm.
But I soon realized that it wasn’t an easy task at all.
Like the original owner of this body that I unintentionally came to possess, I too had lost my family.
‘Yes, I lost them.’
And it was because of my death.
It wasn’t something I intended to think about while still breathing.
But the fact that I can never see my mom, dad, and older sister again remains unchanged.
Thinking about it, it felt even more unreal than this current possession.
__________
He Said He’s Pregnant, and It’s My Child (Female-dominant)
Intro 1
Something seems a bit off about this world.
Wang Zhao thought as she watched a pregnant man walking towards her…
Intro 2
Female lead finds herself in a world where the men who possess the ability to bear children.
As she navigates this unfamiliar reality, she is caught off guard by the sudden appearance of her boyfriend, who reveals that he is pregnant.
Is this truly her boyfriend?
Why can’t she recall any details about their time together?
She begins to doubt whether the child her boyfriend is carrying is even hers.
Is there a hidden reason behind her amnesia, or could it be a side effect of her sudden arrival in this strange new world?
Just when it seems the protagonist’s life couldn’t become any more entangled, her ex-boyfriend makes an unexpected appearance, raising questions about the protagonist’s past.
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Maria the Goner
This trashy novel has a really interesting set-up. Looking forward to seeing the protagonist navigate it!