“I’m fine. Calm down.”
“Then why do you look like that?”
Ha Hyeon asked with a furrowed brow.
“Come to think of it, you said there was a problem. You said you’d tell me later. Is that the issue?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right, so…”
I began to organize my thoughts. As my mind settled, I suddenly remembered something I had momentarily forgotten. That is, in this world, when something strange usually happens…
‘First, one can suspect it to be sorcery.’
Although Hwasan and other sects occasionally use sorcery, these usually give a sense of being refined through the use of talismans and various tools.
In contrast, the evil sects don’t use such tools.
There’s one impression I had when learning how to counter their sorcery. Similar to how I thought of battle formations as magic circles, the more I learned, the more this sorcery seemed like magic used in Western fantasy novels.
The wide variety of types, the need for talent, and in the same context, that not just anyone can use large-scale sorcery.
And… even the fact that it serves as a convenient plausibility generator for strange occurrences.
‘I can think a bit more broadly.’
Three of us met one person, but among those three, only one saw a different face of the person we met.
Logically it doesn’t make sense, but if we insert the existence of sorcery into this lacking logic?
‘That eldest son.’
Would it be going too far to think he did something?
But the person who sat face to face with us three for the longest today was none other than him.
Shifting my perspective this way, even the fact that the eldest son’s complexion worsened after Yu Seong installed the formation became suspicious. Perhaps the reason I felt I kept offending him was something that couldn’t be explained in words.
As my thoughts branched out, one suspicion crept into my mind.
‘What if that person isn’t the real eldest son?’
If he was a sorcerer impersonating the eldest son.
If I was the only one not affected by the sorcery and thus the only one who saw his real face?
“…Let’s go to Sabaek.”
“Pardon?”
“To Yu Seong Sabaek. I’ll talk to him. This doesn’t seem like something we can resolve by ourselves. Even if he finds it strange, I need to at least say something. Let’s go.”
Just as when we entered, I grabbed his arm without waiting for an answer and headed for the door. Seeing my urgency, Ha Hyeon seemed to decide to go along with me for now.
However, when we were completely out of the room.
We didn’t need to go looking, as we came face to face with a perplexed-looking Yu Seong Sabaek standing in the middle of the corridor.
“Sabaek?”
“Ha Eun? Ha Hyeon?”
As I called out to Sabaek in surprise, he called back to us with an equally surprised expression. After staring blankly at each other for a few seconds, Sabaek was the first to come to his senses.
“No, this is not the time.”
He quickly approached us.
“Someone has tampered with the formation.”
“What?”
“This is fortunate timing. I’ll go check first, Ha Eun, you wake up Ha Jin and follow me. Ha Hyeon, call Yu Baek and go with him to guard the quarters where the clan leader’s children are staying!”
He spat out the words in a rapid-fire manner and then ran out of the building.
Urgency tends to be contagious. After briefly looking at each other, Ha Hyeon and I quickly began to move according to Sabaek’s instructions.
While Ha Hyeon went to find Yu Baek, Sa Jeo burst out into the corridor, perhaps having sensed like Yu Seong that there was a problem with the formation.
Thanks to this, I was saved from having to explain, so I grabbed my sword and immediately followed Sabaek along with Sa Jeo.
Outside, night had fallen and the moon had risen.
In the dark compound, lit only sparsely by braziers, Yu Seong was standing a little distance from the building with his eyes closed.
He seemed to be extending his spiritual sense to check where the formation was breaking down.
As we approached, he soon opened his eyes and gestured to the west.
“It’s that way. Let’s go.”
As I chased after Sabaek’s back, I opened my mouth, thinking this was a good opportunity.
“Sabaek, Sa Jeo! I have something to tell you! The Seong young master we met today, the eldest son, he seems suspicious!”
“What? Tell me!”
As we ran, I briefly explained that among Yu Baek, Ha Hyeon, and myself, only I saw the eldest son’s face as someone different.
I also mentioned that I hadn’t told others because it seemed like interfering in another family’s affairs, given how different he looked. Feeling that it lacked persuasiveness, I added my personal speculations and even mentioned a few names of soul-confusing techniques that seemed to fit the situation.
‘It’s fortunate I only need to mention the names without having to explain what they are.’
This is thanks to both of them being from the Jemungak, which researches sorcery.
In any case, Sabaek and Sa Jeo took my words seriously and listened carefully to the names of the soul-confusing techniques I mentioned. As they know more about these techniques than I do, they seemed to fully understand what situation I had experienced and what I was trying to explain.
“Eun.”
Sa Jeo, running beside me, turned to me with a serious face and spoke.
“That might not be that you alone weren’t affected by the sorcery! It could be that only you were affected!”
“What?”
I opened my eyes wide. Even Sabaek, running ahead, agreed with Sa Jeo’s words.
“That would be easier for a sorcerer too. Controlling minds isn’t something anyone can do, and it becomes more difficult as the number of people increases. Rather than that, if he changed his own appearance and only put power into your eyes to see his true form…”
“Power in my eyes? You mean there’s something in my eyes right now…?”
I touched around my eyes in confusion. But since we were running, I couldn’t use spiritual energy to check if Sabaek and Sa Jeo were right. Sabaek also restrained me.
“If there’s no problem with your vision right now, leave it be for now. Is your vision blurry or do your eyes hurt?”
“It’s fine…”
Wait a minute.
‘Come to think of it, haven’t my eyes been stinging and tired often today?’
That’s why I kept rubbing my eyes or touching around them without realizing it.
‘Then?’
A chill ran down my spine at this sudden realization.
When did that start?
“Ha Eun?”
“…I’m fine!”
I pushed the unwelcome realization out of my mind.
As Sabaek said, there’s no problem with my vision right now. There was only slight discomfort a few times, which even I, the person experiencing it, had dismissed as coincidence without much thought. I bit my lip for a moment before asking something else.
“But why only me? What was the intention?”
“We can make all sorts of guesses, but catching and interrogating them would be the most accurate.”
Sabaek glanced back at me even as we ran.
“But usually, the minds of those who cause such problems are either difficult to understand or not worth understanding, Ha Eun. It’s easier to think of it as stumbling on a stone and falling unfortunately.”
Logically, I thought it was the right thing to say. But emotionally, it wasn’t easy to accept and move on like that.
Sabaek doesn’t know, but I had been badly burned by sorcery just a few years ago.
“Anyway, Ha Eun. Since only you saw a different face, that’s likely to be his true appearance, so if you see him inside the compound, let me know without delay.”
“Understood.”
By that point, we had reached close to the wall surrounding the entire compound.
“Shh.”
Sabaek, quieting us, gazed intently ahead.
“Just one person.”
Sabaek muttered softly. Then, as we turned the corner of the building, right in front of the wall…
“Ah.”
There was an unexpected guest.
It was as Sabaek said. The person slowly turning towards us was alone.
“Oh my…”
Being in the shadow of the wall, their face wasn’t clearly visible. But having confirmed each other’s presence, despite realizing they were outnumbered, the other person merely let out a light exclamation as if for us to hear, without any sense of crisis.
“Who are you!”
“I’ve been caught. As expected, it’s a bit difficult to break it quietly.”
The voice, almost ignoring Sabaek’s words and speaking leisurely to itself, sounded somewhat familiar.
The person slowly walked out of the shadow. Standing exactly on the boundary where the moonlight fell, they had a face that was strangely beautiful even in the not-so-bright surroundings. Like a flower laced with poison…
“…Sabaek, it’s that person.”
I said quietly, gripping the handle of the sword at my waist tightly, not taking my eyes off the opponent.
“The fake eldest son.”
Upon hearing those words, not only Sabaek but also Sa Jeo tensed their bodies even more.
I’m not sure if this person appears with that beautifully dangerous face only to my eyes this time, or if they’ve revealed their true form to Sabaek and Sa Jeo as well. I was just grateful that I had been able to convey my suspicions in advance on the way here.
“Fake eldest son? Ah, so that’s what you call me.”
The other person nodded, smiling as if amused.
“It’s a shame. To think we’d meet just when I briefly undid the shape-shifting. I guess I can’t pretend to be the Seong young master anymore. I meant it when I said I’d like to have time to talk…”
They were speaking while looking straight at me. Sabaek quickly blocked in front of me, drawing his sword.
“First, reveal your identity. Who are you?”
“Is that important?”
The other person unfastened their hands from behind their back and threw what they were holding at Sabaek’s feet. It was a talisman that ‘had been’ crumpled up as much as possible into a round ball.
‘…They said they broke it themselves, but.’
It really was true, not just in words.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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Daily Life of a Scumbag Man Giving Birth (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The way for a promiscuous scumbag man to atone for his sins is to let him get… pregnant.
Synopsis:
Meng Huan, a scumbag who has dated countless girlfriends, scammed countless women, transmigrates to a female-dominated country.
Day 1: Whether it’s female dominance or not doesn’t matter. The beauties here are passionate and amorous. Isn’t it easier to scam them than in modern times?
Day 2: After a night, Meng Huan discovers the differences in the female-dominated world. Men here actually have chastity locks and menstrual cycles. This hinders his ability to perform, damn it!
Day 3: What’s wrong with sleeping around? I don’t want you to marry me. I’m meant to be a playboy. I don’t care about male virtues… What? You want to drown me in a pig cage? Marry, I’ll marry!
Day N: Meng Huan inexplicably vomits and receives the shocking news of his life… He’s pregnant.