So-sam.
Hired Hand.
It refers to one who, is unable to make ends meet, had no choice but to live in another's house, serving at the beck and call of a Master.
To put it simply, a servant.
The relationship between a Hired Hand and a Master was bound by a contract, but most contracts were useless or, rather, became the start of a shackle.
This was because the contracts were not managed by the authorities, but by the Master.
The Master could tear up and rewrite the contract at will for his own convenience.
In particular, Hired Hands belonging to the Murim sects were closer to slaves than servants.
According to the principle of non-interference between the authorities and the Murim, the authorities were indifferent to the Hired Hands of Murim sects unless something extraordinary happened.
They knew the hands were being exploited, but that was no longer within the authorities' domain.
So-sam was a stablehand of the Danri Family.
He was originally the third son of a desperately poor slash-and-burn farmer.
It was not a life of abundance, but they were happy times.
Then one day, when he was five, a typhoon struck, killing his entire family and leaving him as the sole survivor.
After that, So-sam lived without a Head of Household, wandering and begging.
Then, for the sole reason of knocking on the Danri Family's gate to beg for food, he became a Hired Hand for the Danri Family.
For over ten years, he had been taking care of the family's horses.
Needless to say, as a servant, he was in charge of all the dirty work within the Danri Family.
Not to mention cleaning inside the family grounds, he sometimes had to do chores in the kitchen, and at times, he even had to clean the latrine.
He was a stablehand in name only.
The only times So-sam actually felt like a stablehand were when he walked the horses in the morning and evening, and when he went to sleep.
His bed was in the stable.
Living in the stable, his body naturally became soaked in the distinct rank smell of horses, rotting haystacks, and horse dung.
Along with his lowly status, that foul stench made even other lowly people shun him.
For these reasons, the people of the family called So-sam not by his real name, but by Ma-byeon-sam.
'Ma' from stablehand, 'byeon' because he smelled of horse dung, and 'sam' from So-sam.
These three were put together to make Ma-byeon-sam.
To So-sam, no, to Ma-byeon-sam, the Danri Family was a home, but on the other hand, it was also a hell.
Just like any other day, Ma-byeon-sam was having another difficult day.
One of the armory hands, Machil, had taken Ma-byeon-sam for his personal errands and was working him to the bone.
This was a common occurrence, possible only because no one paid any attention to Ma-byeon-sam.
Among the lowest of the low, the Hired Hands, Ma-byeon-sam was at the very bottom.
The two of them were now at a weaponsmith in Soaring Sun to pick up custom-ordered weapons for the Danri Family warriors.
"Machil, you're here?"
The shop owner came out and greeted Machil first.
The Danri Family was the largest sect in Soaring Sun, so they were the best customers for any weaponsmith in the city.
Naturally, this shop owner also supplied many weapons to the Danri Family and knew Machil, the Danri Family's armory hand, well.
"I'm here to pick up all the weapons ordered a month ago."
"Ah, perfect timing. I haven't slept properly for a month, and I just barely finished them yesterday."
The weaponsmith owner whined as merchants often do and brought out the finished products.
The quantity was enormous, so the owner had to go back and forth to the warehouse several times before he could place all the weapons in front of Machil.
Machil gave them a quick glance and paid the price.
It wasn't like he was going to use them anyway, so as long as they looked fine on the outside, it didn't matter to him.
"But did only the two of you come? I don't see a cart. Will you be alright carrying all this to the Danri Family? It's quite a long way."
"What's there to worry about? I've got a fine horse right here next to me."
Machil smirked and forcefully struck Ma-byeon-sam, who was standing beside him, in the chest.
Thwack.
Ma-byeon-sam, so scrawny he was nothing but skin and bones, was helplessly knocked to the weaponsmith's floor by Machil's fist.
Even though the weaponsmith owner saw this happen right in front of him, he just shook his head and turned away.
It wasn't like they would listen to anything he said anyway, and it was an internal affair of the Danri Family.
There was no one in Soaring Sun who didn't know of Ma-byeon-sam's plight, but no one ever stepped forward for him.
People in such situations could be found anywhere in the Central Plains.
"Hey, Ma-byeon-sam, what are you doing? Get up and start moving the weapons now, unless you want to die right there."
Without a single whimper, Ma-byeon-sam got up and slung as many weapons as he could carry over his shoulder.
He would probably spend the entire day just moving these weapons back to the family estate.
"I have some business at the Soaring Sun Inn, so I'll be there. Come find me when you're done moving everything. Got it?"
Ma-byeon-sam nodded without a word.
It was his way of conserving energy, as his poor nutritional state made even speaking a chore.
But not answering was not a wise way to conduct oneself.
Thwack.
Machil punched Ma-byeon-sam in the face.
Ma-byeon-sam fell to the floor again.
A smear of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth, his lip seemingly split open.
"Hey, you bastard. Answer me, I said, answer. Are you ignoring me because we share the same surname, Ma?"
"N-no, sir...."
Finally, Ma-byeon-sam's mouth opened.
Just like his emaciated body, his voice was as impoverished as dry sand, utterly parched.
As he spoke, blood trickled from his mouth.
It wasn't just his lip that was torn; his tongue and the roof of his mouth inside were also badly cut.
Thump.
Seeing Ma-byeon-sam bleeding, Machil kicked him in the face again.
The impact must have been greater this time, as Ma-byeon-sam tumbled and rolled into a corner of the weaponsmith's shop.
Though he had no strength, he lifted his head with all his might to look at Machil.
The capillaries in his eyes had burst, and his bloodshot eyes seemed to be asking:
Why? Why? Why...?
"Ah, that son of a bitch got blood all over the weapons. Unlucky bastard. You're useless no matter what you do."
Just for that...?
Ma-byeon-sam, no, So-sam was in true agony.
Just living day to day was so hard, and he only wanted to die.
But mustering the courage to die was not an easy task either.
Every time he tried to end his life, he would get scared and give up.
Each time, he would resolve to use that courage to live diligently once more, but the desire to die would soon return.
As this cycle repeated, now, even the courage to live had all but vanished.
Unable to die, yet finding it difficult to live................
So-sam hated himself for being such a coward, unable to do either.
Fumbling, he used the wall to barely pull himself up.
Staggering.
Though he swayed, he approached Machil.
Poke, poke.
Machil lightly pushed his forehead with his fingers.
A scornful tone followed.
"Move all the weapons and wipe off every drop of blood that splattered. I'll check later, and if I find even a single drop of blood, you'd better be prepared to spit out a bucket of blood from your own mouth for each drop. Understand?"
"Yes............."
With that final threat, Machil left the weaponsmith's shop.
As he had said, he was heading for the Soaring Sun Inn.
So-sam knew very well why Machil was going there.
Ten to one, he was going to meet Aeng-Aeng.
Machil would spend his time there, caressing Aeng-Aeng's soft flesh, until So-sam finished moving all the weapons.
Wipe, wipe.
So-sam wiped the blood from his mouth with a piece of rag the weaponsmith owner handed him.
It was the only help the weaponsmith owner could offer.
It was truly nothing, but tears welled up in So-sam's eyes.
Within the Danri Family, there was no one who would do even this much for him.
He was, after all, nothing more than the most useless, foul-smelling, worse-than-an-insect Hired Hand in the family.
He handed the blood-stained rag back to the weaponsmith owner and offered his thanks.
Then, he struggled to sling two spears over his shoulder and left the shop.
Gasp, gasp.
Harsh breaths escaped his lips.
Drip, drip.
Hot sweat flowed down endlessly.
By evening, So-sam, completely exhausted, finally finished moving all the weapons.
Seeing him, the weaponsmith owner spoke.
"Young man, why don't you rest a bit? Your complexion is not good. It's like................"
The weaponsmith owner swallowed the rest of his words, that he looked like a man about to die.
He felt that if he said something so unlucky, it might actually come true.
"I'm fine............"
So-sam said this and moved his body again.
Every bone in his body creaked, and his muscles screamed at him to please rest, but he had to move.
Leaving the weaponsmith owner's pitying gaze behind him, So-sam left the shop.
He staggered as if he were about to die, but took one step after another toward the Soaring Sun Inn.
Perhaps from overexertion, his breathing grew so ragged it felt like he would stop breathing, and sweat poured down his body.
It felt as if pushing himself just a little more in this state might actually kill him.
Despite this, he miraculously managed not to collapse and reached the Soaring Sun Inn.
"Stop."
"Why............ sir?"
"Why? You fucking bastard. If you were me, would you let someone like you inside?"
The inn attendant, after looking So-sam's filthy body up and down, pinched his nose with two fingers and refused him entry.
He was dirty to begin with, but So-sam's appearance now was truly beyond words.
The blood from Machil's beating and the sweat from moving the weapons had mixed with layers of grime, making him look like a complete beggar.
In the end, he asked the attendant to tell Machil that the work was done and turned to leave.
It was obvious he would be interrogated later by Machil for not reporting directly and having the attendant do it, but So-sam had no other choice.
He felt like he would truly stop breathing if he didn't go back and rest immediately.
...I'm tired.
I just............ want to rest.............
His mind was racing toward the Danri Family stables, his shabby but only sanctuary, but his body wouldn't listen.
He was so tired that he wanted to just lie down on the street.
At this point, it seemed like it would be a relief to die of exhaustion right here.
Damn it, damn it.
Contrary to that thought, it seemed that even in this state, he still wanted to live.
Staggering even more than before, his two feet were still moving, crossing the bustling streets of Soaring Sun, dyed red by the setting sun, and heading in the direction of the family estate.
Heh.
Hehehe.
A twisted laugh unknowingly escaped through his torn lips.
So-sam... So-sam, do you really want to prolong this insect-like life, even like this? He asked himself.
"Yes............ That's right. Even like this............"
I don't want to die.
Let's live.
Yes, let's live.
If I keep living, a good day will come eventually.
"Hey, Ma-byeon-sam."
He was dead tired, and someone was calling him.
So-sam lifted his heavy eyelids to see who was calling.
His vision was blurry, so he couldn't easily identify the person, but he made sure to lift his head properly.
Thud.
He felt himself bump into someone he thought was the owner of the voice.