Chapter 01
Extreme terror devours even sound.
In a cave filled only with darkness, where the only light came from the serpent’s glowing eyes, Manhyang Escort Agency’s guard, Shin-A, couldn’t even breathe properly.
Standing before the giant serpent, its fierce eyes fixed on her, her body trembled without pause, and her mind went completely blank.
The obvious thought of running away didn’t even occur.
The serpent, which had been still like a massive hill, flicked out its long tongue.
Only then did the breath caught in Shin-A’s throat burst out.
‘Is this how I die?’
There was no hope.
The serpent was enormous—large enough to fill the cavern. Coiled as it was, she couldn’t gauge its full length, but it looked easily over eight jang (approximately 24 meters).
Its girth alone was terrifying. Its weight was beyond imagination.
If it bit her, instant death.
If it crushed her, instant death.
Either way, only death awaited Shin-A.
‘If only I could use magic… this stupid serpent would be nothing.’
Shin-A clenched her teeth.
In her past life, she had been a great mage. Then she awoke in a strange world with no magic, trapped in a new body, and ever since she had obsessed over magic.
Only a month ago had she barely managed to let go of that obsession and vowed to live earnestly as an escort guard of the Manhyang Escort Agency.
And her very first escort mission had led her to a serpent’s den?
Judging by the murderous aura, this creature wasn’t a serpent cultivating to become a dragon. It was something else.
Suddenly, a realization flashed in Shin-A’s mind.
‘So that’s why they gave me this job.’
Her uncle So Baek-rim’s face appeared in her mind—the face that had informed her of the mission request.
A greedy face tied to the deaths of her grandfather, father, and older brother.
After her grandfather and former agency master So Hyuk-ho died, So Baek-rim seized control of the Manhyang Escort Agency and had thoroughly ignored Shin-A ever since.
But the moment she declared she would do her part as an escort guard, he conveniently handed her a job.
‘I was too shaken to notice then… Did he plan to throw me into a serpent’s mouth?’
Had her father and brother, whose bodies were never found, been disposed of like this too?
Shin-A shivered.
‘He didn’t send me to escort goods… He sent me into a snake pit.’
This was meant to be her grave.
Shin-A clenched her fists and looked down at the sword that was little more than a decoration.
‘If I had known, instead of chasing after magic, I should’ve trained my internal energy.’
She let out a hollow laugh and touched her tiny dantian, no bigger than a bean.
‘So what am I supposed to do now?’
Her hesitation didn’t last long.
After all that wandering, she had decided to become an escort guard. First, she should finish the job.
She tightened her core and shouted:
“I am So Shin-A, escort guard of the Manhyang Escort Agency. I have come to deliver the entrusted item from Moran Pavilion Master Lee Heng-seong!”
The serpent only hissed louder. No sign of anyone inside.
‘I hoped… but of course. The recipient isn’t a person—it is the serpent.’
She set down the delivery.
The serpent, which until now only flicked its tongue, began moving lazily.
When something unfamiliar entered its den, it watched for a moment. But it sensed only a trivial human with barely any internal energy.
To the serpent, Shin-A was less than a mouse in a jar.
Stones rained from the ceiling as its colossal body shifted. Shin-A reflexively squeezed her eyes shut—
And the serpent struck, sinking its fangs into her side.
“Hugh!”
A scream burst out. She had been prepared for death, but once pain hit, her instincts thrashed for life.
The serpent’s venomous fangs dug deeper.
Shin-A realized how arrogant she had been.
“H-Ha… h-help… please…”
Her thought of accepting death had been childish. Now that death was real, she desperately wanted to live.
“I… want to live…”
Her plea was futile.
The venom consumed her rapidly, burning as though fire spread inside her veins.
‘Is this really my end?’
Her strength faded.
“Am I too late?”
A rough, urgent voice echoed.
Shin-A forced her eyes open. A man with a vaguely familiar face stood below.
“Mu…Gyeol…”
She whispered the name from memory.
He was a servant from her childhood who had often helped her—then disappeared. And now he appeared, fully grown, at the perfect moment.
Hearing his name, his eyes shone. He raised his sword—
And vanished. Or so it seemed. He moved so fast it looked like he disappeared.
Then—
THUD
The serpent’s body collapsed.
Mu-Gyeol had severed its neck.
Before she could marvel at his skill, Shin-A’s body fell.
“Miss!”
Mu-Gyeol dashed forward, dropping his sword and catching her mid-fall.
“H-How…?”
Why are you here? What was that just now?
Her eyes were filled with confusion.
Mu-Gyeol smiled bitterly, laid her down gently, and began removing the serpent’s head.
“Don’t speak. I’ll explain later.”
Later? When she was dying?
“You won’t die, miss. I will save you. Just hold on.”
It was as if he heard her thoughts.
He retrieved his sword and approached the serpent’s corpse without hesitation.
Soon he returned, drenched in blood, holding the serpent’s inner core.
“You need to eat this.”
He brought it to her lips.
But Shin-A was too weak to move. She only blinked.
Mu-Gyeol bit his lip, brimming with sorrow and urgency.
‘Why?’
Why did he look so sad?
She wanted to ask, but the words never came.
As her eyes began to close for the final time—
Something soft was pushed into her mouth. Bitter, hot, metallic.
Her eyes shot open. Mu-Gyeol’s face was inches away.
With his long lashes lowered and the taste in her mouth, she understood—
He was feeding her the serpent core through mouth-to-mouth.
Her mind filled with one question:
Why?
This was no mere snake but a centuries-old serpent’s inner core—one of the rarest treasures in martial history.
If he couldn’t consume it himself, he could sell it and become rich instantly.
‘Why would he give it to me?’
But thought was short-lived. The core’s power surged through her.
It melted into her dantian, forming internal energy. It followed Mu-Gyeol’s qi as he guided it, detoxifying the venom and regenerating her ravaged organs.
But her life still faded.
The core could neutralize venom, but couldn’t fully regenerate organs already dissolved.
Grief swelled inside her.
If she had to die, why give her hope first?
“Magic… mana… my circle…”
If she had only had that, she wouldn’t be here.
Frustration and regret consumed her.
Her vision dimmed. Her limbs chilled. Her heart slowed.
“Miss! Wake up! Miss!”
Mu-Gyeol’s voice reached her faintly.
Light, sound, everything drifted away. Darkness swallowed her.
Her body floated.
Her heart should have stopped—yet…
Below her navel, her dantian swirled violently. Something broke apart and reassembled over and over.
It was only a sensation, but she felt it vividly. Hidden fragments of energy tore through bone and flesh, merging and taking shape.
“…My circle!”
A sigh left her lips—one unfitting for someone dying.
“…Finally?”
Her magic circle had returned.
So Shin-A, once the greatest prodigy mage on the continent and granddaughter of the Manhyang Escort Agency, became a mage again—at the moment of death.
But before she could celebrate, death struck again.
“Miss!”
The last thing she heard was Mu-Gyeol’s anguished scream.
