ALL NOVEL I had a dream.
It was a dream from the time I lived as ■■■ before being reincarnated in the body of a young boy named Ichilbok.
Our family had been poor since my childhood.
After the IMF crisis turned our fortunes upside down, my father, who worked as a laborer, naturally became an alcoholic.
When he came home drunk, he would often unleash domestic violence.
My mother defended him, saying it was the alcohol causing his behavior and that he was a good person at heart, but I couldn’t understand that.
Most of my childhood memories revolve around the time spent with my mother.
Despite our family’s financial difficulties, she tried to do everything for me.
Knowing this, I studied even harder.
But where did it all go wrong?
Just because we were poor, I became a target for bullying.
When my friends all abandoned me and even the teachers turned their backs, the only one who stood by me was my mother.
However, I was mentally drained to the point of dropping out of high school and shutting myself away at home.
Even when I was wallowing in despair, my mother quietly supported me without a word of complaint.
A year passed like that.
As my emotional wounds slowly began to heal, I felt I couldn’t just stay shut away any longer, so I took the high school equivalency exam.
After getting accepted to a vocational college based on my grades and working part-time to cover my tuition until graduation, I finally reassured myself that I could make my mother happy.
But—
When I graduated, the outbreak of COVID-19 tightened the already narrow job market even further.
In a job market flooded with tens of thousands of graduates each year, I continually faced failures due to my relatively lacking qualifications, and eventually, I was crushed.
Isn’t it often said?
Happy families are mostly alike, but unhappy families come in various forms.
Having experienced two major failures in life, I could no longer summon the courage to try again.
So, as I lay dying, my greatest regret was that I had never been able to repay my mother’s kindness.
If I had just found a little more courage, perhaps the outcome could have been different.
*
“Ichilbok! Please, wake up!”
As I chased after Ichilbok, who was being carried on my grandfather Tang Hochang’s back, Dokgorin desperately shouted.
But Ichilbok’s eyelids remained tightly shut.
“Rin, calm down. We’ve stopped the bleeding, so as long as he gets treatment soon, he should be fine.”
Tang Sosu, who was managing to keep her composure, tried to reassure Dokgorin, but her words didn’t reach her as she almost lost another precious person.
She seemed as if her soul had left her body, solely focused on Ichilbok’s safety, giving a chilling impression.
Seeing that, Tang Sosu shook her head and turned to Namgoong Ruby, who had come up beside her.
“Is the physician here?”
“I ran into them just as they were about to go out for their rounds, so I stopped them.”
“Thank goodness.”
“Yes, thank goodness.”
While the two of them conversed, the group arrived at the largest clinic in the city.
“Please come this way!”
Since Namgoong Ruby had already informed them of the incoming patient, everything proceeded smoothly once they entered the clinic.
Following the physician’s instructions, Tang Hochang carefully laid Ichilbok on the clean floor covered with cloth, and the physician immediately began treatment.
“Where is the patient’s injury?”
“He was pierced in the chest. Fortunately, it seems the vital organs were missed, but he’s in serious condition due to massive blood loss.”
As Tang Hochang vaguely explained Ichilbok’s current state, the physician nodded and began treatment.
Watching anxiously, Dokgorin prayed.
“Oh, dear God, please save Ichilbok. I don’t care what happens to my own life, just please save his.”
Having never had a religion in her life, it was the first time she sought out a deity.
If Ichilbok were to die now, she felt she would unable to escape the guilt for the rest of her life.
The reason she had managed to endure seeing her family slaughtered twice was that Ichilbok had always been her firm support right beside her.
If Ichilbok were to die like this, she would have nowhere left to lean on.
“Rin, why don’t you step outside and rest for a bit?”
Just then, Tang Hochang approached and said that, and Dokgorin slowly shook her head.
“I’m fine.”
“You’ll end up collapsing first. You need to take care of yourself before you can help anyone else.”
Tang Hochang urged her to rest, and against her will, Dokgorin nodded.
“Just for a short while.”
“Got it. After that, I won’t say anything more.”
Having found a compromise, Tang Hochang took Dokgorin, who was still gazing longingly at Ichilbok receiving treatment, out of the room.
*
“The treatment is complete.”
As the physician said that, Dokgorin, who had been waiting outside, sprang up and asked.
“How is Ichilbok’s condition?”
The physician had a faint smile on his face as he replied.
“Fortunately, it seems luck was on our side; as you mentioned, there wasn’t a critical injury to any vital areas, so the treatment has been a success. The wounds have been sutured, and medicine has been applied, so for now, we will have to monitor him until he recovers.”
Finally sighing in relief, Dokgorin repeatedly bowed to the physician.
“Thank you! Thank you!”
Seeing her, the physician offered a wry smile, saying it was only natural.
“Now we can rest easy.”
Tang Sosu, who had stayed by Dokgorin’s side until Ichilbok’s treatment was complete, murmured that, and Namgoong Ruby nodded in agreement.
“I’m so relieved.”
Watching the three of them, Tang Hochang smiled wryly.
“I guess Ichilbok has done quite a bit of good in his life.”
While Rin had been desperately devoted from the start, even his granddaughter Tang Sosu and the lady from the Namgoong family seemed to hold affectionate feelings for Ichilbok.
“Well, it’s not uncommon for heroes to attract beautiful women.”
He reminisced about the many beautiful women he had spent passionate nights with back in his youth.
For an ordinary person, it wouldn’t be uncommon, but a hero being lecherous wasn’t necessarily a flaw.
“Of course, that’s only if Rin permits it.”
It was evident Rin thought highly of Ichilbok, so it seemed not easy for other women to approach him.
“But you never know with the ways of the world.”
After fully acknowledging the relationship between Ichilbok and Dokgorin due to this incident, Tang Hochang prayed that Ichilbok would open his eyes soon, worrying about the entanglements his precious pupil might face in the future.
*
A week had passed since then.
Ichilbok’s condition, which had been critical, visibly stabilized, to the point where his life was no longer in danger.
However, he still hadn’t woken up from his bed.
“Doctor, why hasn’t Ichilbok opened his eyes yet?”
To Dokgorin’s question, the physician shook his head with a troubled expression.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve encountered many patients, but this is the first time I’ve seen a case like this.”
Mystery.
Hearing that even the expert didn’t know the cause filled Dokgorin with despair.
“Don’t worry too much. Ichilbok will wake up soon.”
Although she should have returned to Anhui City by now, Namgoong Ruby, who forced her stay longer to witness Ichilbok opening his eyes, patted Dokgorin’s shoulder as she said that, causing her to weakly respond, “Thank you.”
Given her usual demeanor, it was unreasonable, but even Dokgorin couldn’t treat someone nice to her even more harshly.
Just as Dokgorin was merely staring blankly at Ichilbok’s face lying on the bed without having achieved anything, the door suddenly swung open.
“Why do you look so gloomy since morning?”
Baek Yujin entered the room.
“You…!”
Dokgorin gasped in surprise, glowering at her, but Baek Yujin shrugged her shoulders.
“I just thought that guy had been lying in bed for too long, so I came to check. So can you stop glaring at me?”
As Baek Yujin chatted casually, Dokgorin begrudgingly relaxed her glare.
Entering the room, Baek Yujin scanned Ichilbok’s body lying in bed, then made a significant statement.
“It seems he has suffered a wound to his spirit.”
“…What does that mean?”
“The person who harmed him is a master, right? By the looks of it, it seems pretty vicious.”
“He was a master by the name of Yangbang.”
“Is that his real name?”
“I don’t know that far.”
“Wow, to have this level of power and be an unfamiliar name, today’s youngsters are impressive.”
Baek Yujin muttered to herself while looking down at Ichilbok.
“If we leave him like this, he might never wake up. This guy.”
“…What? What do you mean?”
“Literally. The master named Yangbang, who fought with you, messed with him. To be precise, he didn’t just injure the body, but his soul as well.”
The human body is quite a delicate object, and just a little imbalance can lead to a complete breakdown.
“No matter how much you treat the outer wounds, if you don’t address the root cause, this guy won’t wake up.”
“Then what should we do now?”
“Just like you seek a physician when your body is sick, if your soul is hurt, you need to find someone who can heal that.”
As Baek Yujin said that, she tapped the bed where Ichilbok lay.
“There’s no point lying around here; we need to tend to him first.”
“And then?”
At Namgoong Ruby’s question, Baek Yujin smiled broadly.
“Next, we’re headed to Myeosendong.”
“I’ll introduce you to a sage I know.”