Episode 1
“Only two months left of this life.”
I stretched and flopped down onto the grass. My body was exhausted from wrestling with laundry all day, but my mind was refreshed. It had been a long four years and ten months. I entered the castle as a maid at thirteen, and before I knew it, I was seventeen.
Of all things, what bad luck. To think I’d be possessed right at the moment I got a job as a maid. If it had been just one day earlier, I never would have made this choice. For someone like me with no education or special skills, this was the only way to earn the most money in a short time—but nothing in the world is more important than one's life. To think of working in a place that’s no different from a den of demons... the original owner of this body must have lost her sense of fear. Or she was a total fool.
What should I do first when I leave? Even though there were still two months left, I was already imagining a brilliant future. I’ve saved a decent amount of money by being frugal all this time, so should I go on a sightseeing trip to a place with nice scenery with Grandmother?
“Hey, you immature brat! What’s all this talk about sightseeing? What about the noodle shop! Stop talking nonsense and hurry up and make the dumplings!”
I can already picture Grandmother getting angry. Others occasionally closed their shops for vacations or whatever, but our Ms. Shin Geum never rested for a single day. To pull Grandmother out of this devil’s den, I’ll probably need a lot of mental energy, though I don’t know for sure. If I really can’t persuade her, I’ll have to leave alone, but perhaps because of the affection we’ve built up, I wasn't keen on that.
Anyway, the fact that I’m living so decently now is largely thanks to Ms. Shin Geum. I, who was an ordinary office worker in the Republic of Korea, fell into a Wuxia novel overnight. I just fell asleep while reading a novel, and when I opened my eyes, I had become someone else. The feeling of being transformed from a twenty-five-year-old adult into a thirteen-year-old girl...
I know now that this world is the world inside the novel I read, but for a while at first, I didn't suspect it. It was because I was a character who had never even been mentioned as an extra, let alone a supporting character. The reason I learned the reality of this world was all thanks to our Ms. Shin Geum.
I was in a state of total panic due to the suddenly changed environment. Thinking back on it now, it’s impressive that I managed to pull off the maid work. My mind was gone, but someone assigned me tasks, and my instinctive gut whispered that I should do my job quietly without causing a scene. Fortunately, since I had just started, I usually got away with being clumsy without getting scolded too much.
Then, about a week later, Ms. Shin Geum came to find me. As soon as she saw me, she struck my back with her toad-like hand.
“You brat! Did Grandma tell you to drop by the house every five days, or not? Just because this little thing became a castle maid, you’re already ignoring Grandma’s words? Is that how I raised you!”
“…G-Grandmother?”
“What’s with that look? Did you already forget Grandma’s face in that short time?”
Seeing me surprised, Ms. Shin Geum held the back of her neck in disbelief. I was dragged away by her, my earlobe gripped tight. No one stopped us then, whether there had been a prior arrangement or not. Grandmother, who acted terrifyingly as if she would beat me once we got home, brought out boiled meat, saying my face had shrunken to half its size in just a few days.
Then she asked if I really had to work as a maid, saying her body was still strong enough and that it was plenty to feed and support just me, persuading me to quit even now. I roughly grasped the situation. The owner of the body had taken the job as a maid for the sake of the grandmother who suffered to raise her. And that due to my possession, I hadn't been able to keep the promise to come home.
“Fine, I suppose you can't just quit the job immediately. Since you made a contract, you have to keep it.”
As I, who had just been possessed, had nothing to say and just kept my head down, she spoke with emphasis as if telling me to keep it in mind.
“Still, you must be careful, and careful again. It’s nearly impossible for you to meet the Great Cult Leader, but there’s always a 'what if.' By no means should you even cross paths with the Young Lords. Especially be careful of the First Young Lord, Jeok Wibaek. If you catch his eye and get your body harmed, this Grandma won't be able to live. You must keep this in mind!”
What does she mean by my body getting harmed? Before I could deeply ponder that, my mouth was asking something else.
“Jeok Wibaek?”
It was because it was a name that was familiar, if familiar could even describe it. He was one of the characters in the Wuxia novel I had been reading until the night before I woke up in this world. Coincidentally, the owner of that name was also called the First Young Lord.
“Don't tell me you've already seen him?”
“N-No.”
When I reflexively shook my head, Grandmother emphasized again.
“He is famous for having cruel hands. He hasn't officially become the successor yet, but for now, he can be called the most powerful candidate for the Young Cult Leader. What good is it for people like us to catch the eye of the next Heavenly Demon? If you ever happen to encounter him, you must unconditionally lower your body. You understand what Grandma is saying, right?”
It wasn't a difficult thing to understand. However, my mind went blank for a moment as if struck by lightning.
First Young Lord Jeok Wibaek.
Candidate for Young Cult Leader.
The next Heavenly Demon.
With just these few facts, I had a good enough sense of which world I had fallen into. However, in the face of a reality I wanted to deny, I gathered my hands and asked.
“By any chance… do you also know the name of the Second Young Lord?”
“Are you talking about Jeok Igeon?”
Shit.
A curse escaped naturally.
“…Then the Third Young Lord is Jeok Hwigyeom…”
“Did you memorize all the Young Lords' names just because you became a castle maid?”
No. No way. It’s just that it was a book I read last week, so I just happened to remember. I enjoyed it quite a lot…
So this is what it feels like when the sky turns yellow. I wasn't even this scared when I suddenly woke up in the body of a young girl. Of all the many novels, why this one! I had to exercise superhuman strength just to keep from collapsing. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't escape the shock. Could it be that I’m dreaming right now?
I tried having such hopes, but the surroundings were too realistic. The clean but old shop, the subtle scent of meat spreading through the air, the pork being swallowed into my mouth. Grandmother was constantly putting pieces of meat into my mouth, saying that eating well is the most important thing for a person. While chewing it down without being able to spit it out, I recalled the title of the novel.
The Advent of the Heavenly Demon.
To summarize the content, it was simple: The birth of the most powerful Heavenly Demon in the history of the Demon Cult. As is usually the case with the Demon Cult, the new Heavenly Demon sets his sights on the Central Plains and, surprisingly, succeeds in unifying the Murim. The Righteous Faction, the Evil Faction, and the Demon Cult—there had always been armed conflicts, but they had never been subjugated under a single power.
The one who achieved that for the first time was the Second Young Lord, Jeok Igeon. Jeok Igeon, the protagonist of the original novel. In a word, he was a devil. Jeok Wibaek, whom Grandmother told me to be careful of, was equally wicked, but he was at a cute level compared to Jeok Igeon. A legendary crazy psychopath who would tear a subordinate to death just because they caught his eye when he was in a bad mood, and who would strangle a woman carrying his child to death for being "impertinent."
The novel begins with the curtain rising on him slaughtering his brothers and father to ascend as the Heavenly Demon. I remember there was a brief description that until then, he had waited for his time while hiding his true nature. Demonic practitioners naturally remain loyal to the strong. Although he committed patricide and fratricide, no one could raise an objection to Jeok Igeon once he became the Heavenly Demon. On the contrary, many praised his choice.
Anyway, the novel that opened like that takes the Kunlun Sect as its first sacrifice and advances into the Central Plains. Jeok Igeon, who had long since surpassed the human realm through innate talent and effort, pushed the Murim with the force of a breaking bamboo. The Advent of the Heavenly Demon was a novel that gained popularity for the protagonist’s overwhelming martial prowess and its refreshing, suspenseful development. It showed that the story of a villain, not a good man, could be plenty interesting.
But that was because it was a novel, so I understood and watched it. If such a situation becomes reality, the judgment changes completely. I mean, how could I even breathe properly when I'm so scared?
‘I must stay out of sight as much as possible.’
Fortunately, the point I was possessed was long before the novel began. The contract period for a castle maid was five years. My goal was to somehow endure that period and leave the Demon Cult. Since there was no way to go back home, I would have to continue living here, but I absolutely had to avoid Jeok Igeon. Because I didn't want to suffer a dog's death.
Now it's two months.
‘If I can just hold out for two months, I can escape!’
Looking up at the blue sky, I once again solidified my resolve. It was then that I heard Seolok’s voice.
“Seolha! What are you doing here! Do you know how much I’ve been looking for you?”
“Why me? Is something wrong?”
Seolok was a friend of the same age I met here. She was clumsy and required a lot of looking after, but she was a kind-hearted and tender child.
“What kind of luck were you born with, really?”
“Luck?”
“I just heard, you’ve been assigned as the personal maid for the Second Young Lord! All the girls are going crazy with envy right now!”
“W-What kind of bullshit is that! Me, the personal maid for the Second Young Lord! Why me!”
I jumped up and screamed. My heart hammered like crazy. My mind went blank at the sudden news.
“Isn’t it because you do your work meticulously and well? Even if it's a bit early for our years of service, it’s not unheard of. But Seolha, do you hate being the personal maid for the Second Young Lord? Why is your face like that?”
She had a look on her face that said, Others are dying to do it, so what’s your problem?
Of course I hate it! Do you know how much damn trouble I went through to avoid that place all this time!
The system for cleaning areas in the castle was to rotate periodically. Naturally, there were days when I was supposed to be in charge of the Second Young Lord’s residence. But every time, I swapped with other maids and never set foot in that place. It was because I didn't want to allow even the slightest variable. Even back then, because Jeok Igeon was hiding his true nature, there were plenty of maids who would switch turns.
The fact that he was an incredible handsome man also played a part. I’ve never actually seen him, but according to the maids who ran into him, the most handsome man in the cult was definitely the Second Young Lord.
‘In the original work, it was mentioned every time he appeared that he was handsome. To the point where even his enemies were impressed.’
Because I personally took on even the difficult laundry in exchange for switching turns, not a single person had refused me until now. I thought I had avoided it well like an eel, but a personal maid? I’d rather kill myself than ever let that happen.
“I have to see Madame Gwak!”
Madame Gwak was, so to speak, the head maid. I ran like crazy toward her quarters. Raindrops began to patter down from the sky that had been sunny just a moment ago. It felt like an omen of a miserable future, and I was overwhelmed by an ill feeling.