Chapter 1 …
The Curse
Rumble! Bang!
As lightning tore across the sky, a deafening thunderclap split the heavens.
Soon, a torrential downpour fell, and everything in the shadowed night froze under the icy rain. The cold was like a blade, shredding and swallowing every living thing without exception. The howling of the wind and rain forced its way through the tightly fitted windows, echoing sharply inside the house.
A woman stumbled backward in the dark room. But soon, cornered in the room, there was nowhere left to run. Pale and bloodless, her body trembling, she could only stare as a man slowly approached her.
“Save me! I don’t know! It’s not me! I swear it’s not me!”
Nojin (魯甄) pleaded through tears, stepping backward again and again. But escape was impossible.
“Do you think me a fool? A brief moment of hesitation, and you betray me… Thanks to you, I almost ruined everything. This should be reason enough for your death, don’t you think?”
The man tightened his large hand around her neck.
“Gah… Go… Go Kyung-chang !”
Nojin screamed the name of the man choking her.
“You… will never die peacefully…! Forsaking the bonds of kin… committing evil and murder… your karma… will come to take you! Gah!”
Even as her throat was constricted, making it hard to breathe, Nojin’s curse continued unabated.
“You talk so boldly with your mouth wide open. Is that all you have to say in this state?”
Though the man’s face was hidden in darkness, his voice rang cold and clear, sharper than the night rain. He began to squeeze harder. Nojin’s vision blurred as her neck was crushed.
“You… bastard…! Even in death, I’ll watch you with my own eyes… Gah! Marrying a murderer like you to a fool like Shim Wol-ryeong …!”
Nojin summoned her last strength, veins popping, to pour out her curses.
“May you become a laughingstock along with the Shims! That is exactly what that cruel emperor wants. If only you had come to your senses in time… I—ugh!”
Crack!
Bones broke under his grip. Nojin’s cries of curse, which had echoed and rattled, fell silent into the man’s powerful hands.
Go Kyung-chang stared coldly at the corpse before him, eyes wide open. Outside, the thunder roared even louder.
After a brief moment of silent contemplation, he disappeared into the pouring night.
The dead can never betray the living!
“Have you heard? The emperor has decided that the Shim family’s eldest daughter will marry Lord Chungshin .”
“Of course I’ve heard! But that girl is so timid, she can barely speak in front of others. There are even rumors that her own family has severed ties with her. Goodness… someone as brave and excellent as Lord Chungshin marrying a girl like that… heroes never get fairy-tale wives, huh?”
“Hey! What are you saying? That girl lost her mother early and grew up under a stepmother. How could there be good rumors about her?”
“The new lady is said to be kind and compassionate, helping those in need. Surely she wouldn’t mistreat a stepdaughter.”
“They say a good husband meets a wicked wife, a good wife meets a bad husband. Lord Chungshin is a hero, so his wife can’t possibly be a good woman!”
“Enough! Let’s just enjoy the show. Hahaha.”
Amid the raucous chatter of the crowd, a carriage passed silently.
Inside sat Go Kyung-chang, quietly listening to the people’s words. His face, rigid and expressionless, betrayed nothing.
The eldest daughter of the Shim household—she was merely a woman bound by a marriage contract. If useful, she would be spared; if not, she could be removed without a trace. He knew enough ways to make a person disappear silently.
At that very moment, the girl of the Shim household, caught in rumors, was facing a fate no one had ever experienced.
Daeyuk, Yeongwon 17th Year, Spring
The natural residence of the Shim family in Yunseong (雲城), the capital.
Bong-ryeong’s soul still drifted in confusion through the air. He stared at a girl lying on a bed in an antique room.
Where… am I now?
Her features were delicate, but with each fragile breath, her face darkened into an ashen pallor. Her closed eyes were shadowed with gloom.
Her hair lay limp on the pillow, her arms protruded like thin branches from the silk blanket. Even her fingers looked like bare twigs, clinging to the bones with barely any flesh.
She must have been around twelve or thirteen. The girl seemed already half-way to death. The young maids outside laughed and played, oblivious to the girl on the verge of death in the room.
A single ray of light flashed across her dying eyes. As it vanished, a small smile formed on her lips, precisely in Bong-ryeong’s direction.
In an instant, he felt himself pulled helplessly inward. The world spun violently, ears ringing as if shredded by noise—a sensation like being thrown into a whirling washing machine!
As he was dragged along, countless white specks poured into Bong-ryeong’s mind. They were the dying girl’s memories, forcibly absorbed into his soul like a sponge absorbing water. Then came an unbearable wave of pain.
The girl’s name was Shim Wol-ryeong .
A mother gone too soon, a cold father, a cruel stepmother, step-siblings wearing kind faces but hiding schemes—the death of Wol-ryeong today was the product of all their machinations.
It began with a seemingly joyous marriage. A month ago, the emperor had ordered Shim Wol-ryeong to marry Go Kyung-chang of the Chungshin household. But Wol-ryeong’s half-sister, Shim Un-geum , admired Go Kyung-chang. She believed that if a Shim girl were to marry him, it should be her, not Wol-ryeong.
“That foolish Wol-ryeong marrying Lord Chungshin? Sending her off to another household is a disgrace. I, of course, am the one worthy to be his wife.”
Determined to take the marriage from her sister, Un-geum slowly poisoned Wol-ryeong’s meals. And now, Wol-ryeong’s death had arrived.
Bong-ryeong, drawn into her body, lost consciousness. When he regained awareness, he faced a horrifying reality:
He had become Shim Wol-ryeong, lying dying on the bed!
Summoning his remaining strength, Bong-ryeong lifted Wol-ryeong’s frail arm. His own steel-like arms, capable of breaking human necks effortlessly, were gone—only frail twigs remained. The sheer absurdity nearly made him laugh.
23rd-century top-ranked bounty hunter! Skilled in medicine and poison! That was Bong-ryeong! Yet now, he was weaker than any living person he had ever been. Even recalling his death in a trap while completing an assassination mission did little to prepare him for this: not only had he crossed space-time, but he had been reborn in a dying girl.
Was this a blessing from heaven? No, it was heaven’s cruel joke! Alive, yet no better than dead. He might as well be killed…
No. Fragile as this life was, he had not yet died. He would not give up the chance to survive.
Thinking this, Bong-ryeong realized how thirsty he was. He tried to sit Wol-ryeong up to drink water, but her body was far weaker than expected. Simply raising her caused her to fall from the bed, smashing into a sturdy, ornate table made of purple sandalwood. Blood dripped from scratches onto her chest.
Ha… there was no other choice. If no water, he’d drink blood.
As she struggled to lift her arm with a grim smile, a sudden heat surged through her chest, piercing to her heart, making her head pound. Darkness swallowed her vision again, and Bong-ryeong’s soul was pulled from Wol-ryeong’s body, dragged somewhere unknown.
Under a gray sky stretched wide plains and gentle hills, atop which sat a modest two-story bamboo house (죽루). A stream nearby formed a small waterfall, creating a clear pond in front of the house.
Bong-ryeong—now Wol-ryeong—lay by the pond, staring blankly at the bamboo house. Thirst returned to her mind. Seeing the water nearby, she plunged her face in and drank deeply, feeling relief as the cool water slid down her throat.
Exhaling deeply, she felt a warm sensation at her chest. Reaching out, she touched a yellow amber stone the size of a soju cup. The gem shimmered, patterns inside like a phoenix soaring into the sky.
Wol-ryeong knew something about this amber. Blood-red amber (‘Hyeolbak’) was the rarest, followed by transparent golden amber (‘Geumbak’).
The amber at her chest was the golden variety—smooth, translucent, and of the finest quality. It was the only keepsake left by her biological mother.
She recalled that the blood that had dripped onto her arm had touched this golden amber.
Could this be an incredible stroke of luck that saved my life? Perhaps I haven’t just crossed into another world…
