Chapter 1
“This life will be over in just two more months.”
I stretched and flopped down on the grassy field.
My body was exhausted from wrestling with laundry all day, but my mind felt refreshed.
Four years and ten months had passed.
I started working as a maid in the inner city at the age of thirteen, and now I was already seventeen.
Why did I have such bad luck? Out of all times to transmigrate, why right after I got hired as a maid?
If it had been just one day earlier, I never would have chosen this path.
I had no education or special skills, and this was the quickest way to earn money. But nothing in this world is more important than life itself.
To think the original owner of this body chose to work in a place as treacherous as this—it’s clear she had either lost her fear or was a complete fool.
What should I do once I leave?
Even though two months still remained, I was already dreaming of a bright future.
I’d saved up quite a bit of money through frugality. Should I take my grandmother on a trip to a scenic place?
“Hey, you clueless brat! What about the noodle shop? Dreaming about sightseeing? Stop that nonsense and start making dumplings already!”
I could already picture my grandmother scolding me harshly.
While others closed their shops for vacations from time to time, our Shin Geum was someone who had never taken a day off in her life.
To pull her away from this den of hardship, I would surely need a lot of persuasion.
If I couldn’t convince her, I might have to leave on my own. But because of all we’d been through together, the idea didn’t sit well with me.
After all, the reason I could live as well as I did now was thanks to Shin Geum.
I had been an ordinary office worker in Korea before suddenly finding myself in a martial arts novel.
I had simply fallen asleep while reading, only to wake up in someone else’s body.
When a 25-year-old adult turns into a 13-year-old girl, how does one cope with such a situation?
By now, I knew this world was the setting of a novel I had read, but in the beginning, I had no idea.
That’s because I wasn’t even a side character or an extra in the story. I wasn’t mentioned at all.
I only discovered the truth about this world thanks to Shin Geum, this body’s grandma.
Thrown into this strange environment, I was almost in a state of panic.
Looking back now, it was impressive that I managed to do any maid work at all during that time.
Although my mind was scattered, someone assigned me tasks, and my instincts whispered to me to stay quiet and just do my job.
Fortunately, since I had just been hired, I wasn’t scolded too harshly for my mistakes.
About a week later, Shin Geum came to see me. As soon as she saw me, she smacked me on the back with her toad-like hand.
“You little thing! Didn’t I tell you to come home every five days? And now, just because you became an inner-city maid, you’re ignoring your grandmother? Is this how I raised you?”
“…G-Grandmother?”
“What’s with that face? Have you already forgotten what I look like?”
Seeing my surprised expression, she grabbed the back of her neck in disbelief. Then she grabbed my ear and dragged me away.
Whether she had arranged it beforehand or not, no one stopped us.
When we got home, the grandmother who had been so fearsome just moments ago suddenly appeared gaunt. She cooked meat, saying her face had grown thin in the past few days.
She then tried to persuade me to quit, saying I didn’t have to work as a maid, that she was still healthy and capable of supporting me.
I started to piece things together.
The original owner of this body had started working as a maid to lessen the burden on her grandmother.
Because of my transmigration, I hadn’t been able to keep my promise to come home regularly.
“Well, I suppose you can’t quit immediately. A contract is a contract.”
Having just transmigrated, I didn’t know what to say and only hung my head.
Seeing this, she emphasized her words.
“But be careful. Extremely careful. Meeting the cult leader is nearly impossible, but the possibility still exists. And don’t ever cross paths with the young masters, especially Eldest Young Master Jeok Wi-baek. If you get noticed and something happens to you, I won’t survive. Remember this!”
Before I could dwell on what she meant by “something happens,” I found myself asking another question.
“Jeok Wi-baek?”
The name sounded familiar. He was one of the characters in the martial arts novel I had been reading the night before I woke up here.
By coincidence, he was also called Eldest Young Master.
“Don’t tell me you’ve already met him?”
“N-No.”
I shook my head instinctively, and my grandmother repeated her warning.
“He’s infamous for his ruthlessness. He hasn’t officially become the successor, but he’s the most likely candidate for the next cult leader. People like us gain nothing from catching the attention of the next Heavenly Demon. If you ever encounter him, you must lower yourself as much as possible. Do you understand?”
Her words weren’t difficult to understand, but my mind went blank as if struck by lightning.
Eldest Young Master Jeok Wi-baek.
A candidate for the cult leader.
The next Heavenly Demon.
Just these facts alone were enough for me to realize where I had ended up.
But faced with this harsh reality, I clasped my hands together and asked.
“By any chance… do you know the name of Second Young Master?”
“Do you mean Jeok I-geon?”
Damn it.
A curse escaped my lips.
“…Then the name of Third Young Master must be Jeok Hui-gyeom…”
“Have you already memorized all the young masters’ names just because you became an inner-city maid?”
No, not at all. I just happened to remember them because I read the book last week. It was such a good read…
The feeling of the sky turning dark must be like this.
Even when I suddenly woke up in the body of a young girl, I wasn’t this terrified.
Of all the novels, why this one?
I had to muster superhuman strength just to stay upright.
I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t shake off the shock.
Could this all just be a dream?
I hoped so, but everything around me was too vivid.
A clean yet old shop, the subtle aroma of meat wafting in the air, the pork being swallowed in my mouth.
My grandmother was constantly pushing pieces of meat into my mouth, saying that eating well is the most important thing for a person.
I couldn’t spit it out and kept chewing, and a title came to mind.
“The Record of the Heavenly Demon’s Descent”.
The summary was simple.
The birth of the strongest Heavenly Demon in the history of the Demonic Cult.
As always with the Demonic Cult, the new Heavenly Demon aimed to conquer the martial world, and astonishingly, succeeded in unifying it.
The Orthodox Sect, the Unorthodox Sect, and the Demonic Cult—while conflicts between them were common, none had ever been unified under one power.
The one who achieved this for the first time was Second Young Master Jeok I-geon.
The protagonist of the original novel, Jeok I-geon.
In short, he was a devil. While Eldest Young Master Jeok Wi-baek, whom my grandmother warned me about, was also evil, he paled in comparison to Jeok I-geon.
He would tear apart his subordinates simply for catching his attention when he was in a bad mood. He strangled a pregnant woman for being rude, earning a reputation as a notorious psychopath.
The novel began with him slaughtering his brothers and father to ascend as the Heavenly Demon.
Up to that point, he had hidden his true nature and waited for the right moment, as briefly described in the narrative.
The demonic followers inherently obey the strong.
Though he committed atrocities, no one dared oppose Jeok I-geon after he became the Heavenly Demon. On the contrary, many even praised his decisions.
The story unfolded with the Kunlun Sect as the first sacrifice, marking the Demonic Cult’s entry into the martial world.
With innate talent and effort, Jeok I-geon had already surpassed the limits of humanity, driving the martial world into chaos with unstoppable force.
“The Record of the Heavenly Demon’s Descent” was a novel loved for its depiction of the protagonist’s overwhelming martial prowess and its thrilling, fast-paced plot.
It showed that even the story of a villain could be entertaining.
But that was only acceptable because it was fiction.
If such a situation became reality, it would be a completely different story. Who could live without fear, let alone breathe properly?
‘I must avoid drawing attention at all costs.’
Fortunately, the time I transmigrated into was well before the novel’s beginning.
The contract period for inner-city maids was five years. My goal was to survive the term and leave the Demonic Cult.
Since I had no way to return home, I would have to continue living here. But I absolutely had to avoid Jeok I-geon.
I didn’t want to die a meaningless death.
Just two months now.
‘If I can endure for two more months, I’ll be free!’
Looking up at the clear blue sky, I steeled myself once again. That’s when I heard So-ok’s voice.
“Seol-ha! What are you doing here? Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?”
“Why are you looking for me? Is something wrong?”
So-ok was a friend my age whom I had met here. Though she was clumsy and often caused trouble, she had a kind and gentle heart.
“You’re so lucky. Do you even realize it?”
“Lucky? What do you mean?”
“I just heard. You’ve been assigned as Second Young Master’s exclusive maid! Everyone’s jealous and causing a fuss!”
“W-What kind of nonsense is that? Me? Second Young Master’s exclusive maid? Why me?”
I jumped to my feet and shouted. My heart pounded furiously. My mind went blank at the sudden news.
“Well, maybe it’s because you’re so meticulous in your work? It’s rare at our level of experience, but it’s not unheard of. But Seol-ha, why do you look so upset? Don’t you like it?”
Her face said, “What’s the problem? Everyone else would die for this opportunity.”
Of course, I hated it!
Do you know how hard I’ve worked to avoid that place?
The cleaning zones in the inner city were rotated regularly.
Naturally, there were times when I should have been assigned to Second Young Master’s quarters. But each time, I switched duties with other maids to avoid stepping foot there. I didn’t want to leave even the slightest room for error.
At this point, Jeok I-geon was still hiding his true nature, so there were plenty of maids willing to trade places.
The fact that he was exceptionally handsome also played a role.
Though I had never seen him in person, the maids who had all agreed that Second Young Master was undoubtedly the most handsome man in the cult.
‘The novel often described how even his enemies were awestruck by his beauty.’
Since I handled tough laundry tasks in exchange for switching turns, no one had ever refused my requests.
I thought I had managed to avoid him like a slippery eel, and now they’re making me his exclusive maid?
I’d rather die than let that happen.
“I need to see Lady Gwak!”
Lady Gwak was akin to the head maid.
I dashed madly toward her quarters.
Raindrops began to fall from the once-bright sky.
It felt as though the rain was an omen of the misfortune to come, and an ominous feeling washed over me.
—
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