Episode 007
“Suddenly a Heavenly Saint Star appears—what an incredible stroke of fortune!”
“Indeed. That level should help suppress the Heavenly Demon’s Heavenly Killing energy.”
I was busy letting tears drip while hurriedly eating porridge, but even in the middle of that, I felt dumbfounded.
‘Heavenly Saint Star mark? Don’t tell me… the birthmark on my back?’
This stupid mark.
Because of it, I’d been called the ridiculous name “Baduki” for five years—and now it looked like I was going to be dragged off to the Heavenly Demon Cult because of it.
Before I knew it, my tears had completely stopped.
I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and gathered my courage to speak.
“Mister… why do you keep calling me Heavenly Saint Star?”
At my words, the red-haired man’s eyes widened.
“What? What did you just say?”
“Why are you calling me—”
“No, not that! Heavenly Saint Star! Did you just call me mister?”
I flinched, and the red-haired man’s eyes flared again.
“I’m not a mister!”
“Th-then… what should I call you?”
“I am…!”
He opened his mouth as if to say something, then suddenly shut it and waved his hand dismissively at me.
“You noisy little sacrifice! Just eat your food!”
“O-okay!”
I pretended to focus on the porridge again, but—
my mind was racing.
‘Heavenly Saint Star? Why would I be one?’
This was one of the important settings in Absolute Young Master.
Among its characters, there were those born with the power of stars.
For example:
- The current Heavenly Demon, Ak Gunhwi, possessed the energy of the Heavenly Killing Star
- The previous Heavenly Demon, Hyeok Ilse, had the Heavenly Wolf Star
- And the protagonist, Hyeok Murin, had the Ziwei Star
Naturally, there was also the Heavenly Saint Star.
Usually, only one person per generation is born with a star’s energy.
So there was no way I could be the Heavenly Saint Star.
But this red-haired man seemed convinced I was one because of the mark on my back.
That mark had helped me survive the massacre at the Yu household—
but now it was going to get me dragged to the Heavenly Demon Cult as a sacrifice.
And another question arose.
‘What sacrifice?’
There had been nothing like that in Absolute Young Master.
‘Well… the Heavenly Demon Cult only appeared briefly in the prologue. After that, it’s all about Murin training and growing… the cult doesn’t show up again until much later!’
So it made sense I couldn’t remember the details.
‘But that’s exactly what I need right now!’
I aggressively moved my spoon.
I scraped up every last grain from the bottom of the bowl.
Then, with the spoon still in my mouth, I scanned the red-haired man and the Heavenly Demon Cult warriors with sharp eyes.
The red-haired man narrowed his eyes at me.
“What?”
A cult warrior said,
“Do you want more? Don’t hold back. We made plenty—eat as much as you want.”
I wasn’t actually asking for more food—I was trying to find a way to survive—
but if they were offering, I might as well take it.
I held out my bowl.
“More, please!”
“Alright!”
The warrior neatly refilled my bowl.
As I blew on the hot porridge and ate, I thought:
Wouldn’t it have been better if I had realized sooner that I’d reincarnated into a novel?
I could have looked for someone helpful, or searched for hidden elixirs—there were things I could have tried.
But then I faced reality.
‘No… I’m five years old. There wasn’t much I could’ve done anyway.’
With a discouraged expression, I set down my empty bowl.
“You eat well.”
The warrior pulled something from his clothes and handed it to me.
“Eat this too.”
It was a red snack.
A snack…
I had seen them often. That brat Yoo-won used to eat them in front of me all the time.
But I had never tasted one.
Since reincarnating, I hadn’t even been able to eat full meals properly—there was no way I’d ever had snacks.
So even though my mouth watered—
my reason clearly rejected it.
I didn’t want to accept food from a Heavenly Demon Cult warrior!
But…
my hand moved on its own.
And my mouth spoke before I could stop it.
“Th-thank you…!”
The warrior grinned.
“What is it? This kid is pretty cute! Is it because she’s a Heavenly Saint Star?”
The red-haired man shot him a sharp glare, and the warrior immediately straightened up.
The red-haired man barked:
“Cute? You think she’s cute? Get a grip! That’s exactly why our Blood Demon Unit keeps losing to the Demon Sword Unit!”
“I apologize.”
“Honestly! Even today—the Heavenly Demon is on the verge of qi deviation because of madness, and we’re sent out to chase rats?!”
Fuming, he pounded his rock-like thigh—
then suddenly stopped.
Then he looked at me and began to chuckle.
“Well, thanks to that, we found the Heavenly Saint Star! This will solve the Heavenly Demon’s madness, and he’ll be very pleased.”
I quietly looked up at him.
Now I was certain who he was.
This idiot had just revealed it himself.
I swallowed the snack I had been chewing.
With something sweet in my system, my mind began working quickly.
‘Alright… what do I do now?’
I was a powerless five-year-old child.
The ones who kidnapped me were Heavenly Demon Cult warriors.
I was being taken as a sacrifice to the Heavenly Demon—
and at this rate, I would definitely die.
But—
I thought of Hyeok Murin.
He had faced every hardship head-on and overcome the impossible.
That’s the kind of story this was.
So—
‘I won’t give up until the very end!’
I pointed my finger at the red-haired man.
“Blood Demon!”
At my words, the red-haired man—Blood Demon—widened his eyes slightly.
His face clearly said, ‘How does she know that?’
“What is it, Heavenly Saint Star?”
I stared straight into his eyes and shouted clearly:
“Ranbi!”
At that—
Blood Demon Ranbi’s eyes widened as if they would split apart.
“Y-you… what are you?!”
His reaction was understandable.
He was one of the Ten Great Demons of the Heavenly Demon Cult, the leader of the Blood Demon Unit.
Despite his brutal status and fierce appearance, he had a surprisingly pretty name—Ranbi, meaning a hairpin adorned with phoenix-like birds.
And in the story, that name was essentially his trigger.
He seemed to think it didn’t suit him.
Other demons who disliked him would deliberately call him by that name to provoke him.
It was a scene I remembered clearly because it was oddly amusing.
Of course, Ranbi had no way of knowing that—
so he was completely shocked that I knew his name.
“M-my name…! How do you know it?!”
I shouted confidently:
“Because I’m the Heavenly Saint Star!”
“H-Heavenly Saint Star…!”
His mouth fell open.
“Can Heavenly Saint Stars even do something like that?”
What an idiot.
I almost scoffed, but held it in.
Blood Demon wasn’t exactly a smart character—more like a strong fool.
But that didn’t mean he was harmless.
Even a fool among the Ten Great Demons was far beyond anything I could handle.
Thankfully, I didn’t need to defeat him.
I just needed to trick him.
I crossed my arms confidently and nodded.
“Yes!”
Right now, even if I wasn’t the Heavenly Saint Star—
I had to act like I was.
I had to pretend I could do something.
To survive!
I declared boldly:
“Just trust the Heavenly Saint Star!”
* * *
It seemed Blood Demon Ranbi had completely come to believe that I was a Heavenly Saint Star with mysterious powers.
As I kept my mouth shut and focused on eating snacks while organizing my thoughts, he began eagerly explaining on his own the relationship between the Heavenly Killing Star and the Heavenly Saint Star.
