Chapter Index





    Ch.280280. Mistake

    Nam Jeokryeong, the 17th generation descendant of the noble Nam family of Bakju, was a man who had lived his entire life according to his own whims.

    Being an only child with no siblings, he was naturally treasured within his family as a precious descendant, which inevitably led to Jeokryeong developing an inflated and enormous ego.

    He was remarkably the third consecutive only son in his family line—an impressive birth record of three generations of only children—which naturally caused him to grow up as an exceptionally precious individual, showered with expectations from his family.

    Furthermore, Nam Jeokryeong was the type of person who didn’t perceive expectations as pressure, but rather possessed a robust mentality that allowed him to view them as support and encouragement.

    The only regrettable thing about him was that his talent fell considerably short compared to his inflated ego.

    ····In fact, from a strictly objective perspective, the talents possessed by Nam Jeokryeong weren’t particularly bad.

    When taught one thing, he might not grasp ten, but he could independently comprehend two or three. Though he couldn’t dedicate an entire day to studying, he could at least give his all during the time he did study.

    To use a modern comparison, while it might be difficult for him to enter the most prestigious universities, he was certainly born with enough intelligence to enter what would be considered a reputable university.

    And his greatest tragedy was that the difficulty of the civil service examination (Mungwa) for selecting officials was nothing short of hellish.

    An exam that selected only 200-300 candidates from examinees across the nation couldn’t be passed with merely good intelligence; one needed to be either exceptionally brilliant or a monster who studied all day long to pass even the preliminary examination.

    Nam Jeokryeong, who was, for better or worse, nothing more than an ordinary talented individual, couldn’t pass the civil service examination (Mungwa).

    If he had reached an intermediate level in certain skills, he might have been able to enter official service through a special appointment, but Nam Jeokryeong possessed neither the magical aptitude nor martial talent to reach that intermediate level.

    In short, the man who couldn’t escape the evaluation of being mediocre in every aspect gradually collapsed mentally after repeatedly failing the civil service examination.

    ····The specialized exams weren’t particularly easier either, and since the specialized knowledge required for those tests differed from that of the civil service exam, he couldn’t simply give up—that was an added burden.

    Anyway, as the man gradually collapsed mentally····

    He eventually chose to give up at some point, abandoning too many things and letting go of everything he had.

    While climbing up is an incredibly difficult and overwhelming task, going down is easy and simple.

    Because he had climbed to such a high position, the fall was bound to be just as dramatic.

    Thus, Nam Jeokryeong, who had transformed from the heir of a respectable noble family into a mere unemployed good-for-nothing in an instant, ended up leading his own gang after engaging in all sorts of mischief that could be covered up using his family name····.

    Then one day, when he regained consciousness, he found himself opening his eyes in a completely unexpected place.

    ※ ※ ※

    With a throbbing back of his head, feeling the tingling aftereffects of impact on his occipital region, Nam Jeokryeong awoke from sleep···· and noticing that his body wouldn’t move as he wished, he opened his eyes wide.

    What entered his vision was what appeared to be the interior of an earthen cave (a tunnel dug into the ground), with the inside illuminated by what he presumed to be an oil lamp.

    Since he couldn’t determine his current situation from these details alone, Nam Jeokryeong tried to raise his body to escape from this earthen cave, but.

    ‘····What’s happening?’

    Despite feeling no signs of restraint, his body, which had frozen completely after standing up, wouldn’t move according to his will.

    What was going on? What on earth was happening?

    As he repeatedly pondered these questions, Nam Jeokryeong suddenly recalled why he was in this situation, the incident that had caused him to lose consciousness.

    ‘That’s right, I was definitely trying to do something to that rabbit····.’

    Nam Jeokryeong had been planning to visit “that village” with his gang after a long time.

    Having let go of everything and fallen into complete depravity, Nam Jeokryeong had been causing trouble with his gang when he set his sights on a small village and began projecting his base desires onto it.

    Wanting to be superior and more excellent than others, but desperately trying to ignore his own lack of ability to be so, he had attempted the insane atrocity of starving an entire village.

    And as part of this action, he had led his gang to see how many people had died in the village····.

    ‘That, that damned rabbit!’

    Nam Jeokryeong recalled that before even entering the village, he had been intercepted by something resembling a rabbit-human wearing armor and had lost consciousness.

    With a mind full of hypocrisy and shamelessness, he paid not even the slightest attention to his own wrongdoings, becoming furious and irritated as he desperately tried to move his body····.

    But his body had become completely rigid as if hardened by something. Realizing this, Nam Jeokryeong was thrashing about, struggling almost like he was having a fit····.

    It was right at that moment.

    “····?”

    The beings who finally appeared in the earthen cave were someone wearing a green scaled cloak and a gaunt woman.

    While he might not recognize the cloaked figure, the gaunt woman seemed meaningless no matter how hard he tried to recall her.

    What on earth was happening, and how was the situation unfolding?

    As he desperately racked his brain amid this incomprehensible series of events, the foreigner in the cloak, who was presumably the real cause of this incident, began speaking in fluent Korean.

    “Is this the one without a doubt?”

    “Y-yes! This bastard, this goddamn son of a bitch, in my home, and then my daughter····!!”

    The gaunt woman’s wail, close to a cry filled with grief and sorrow. Having not yet lost the capacity for empathy that humans should possess, he felt a twinge in one corner of his heart and finally recognized the woman’s identity.

    Though he couldn’t remember her exact name or situation, he realized she was likely the mother who had lost her daughter due to his “amusement.”

    ‘····So, so what do you want me to do about it?!’

    Of course, Nam Jeokryeong had long since dipped one foot into depravity, too far gone to feel any genuine emotion about this fact.

    He had long ago discarded what should have been called conscience, and in its place was an unpleasant and blatant sense of superiority.

    Nam Jeokryeong, once considered capable of aiming for the preliminary examination, couldn’t have been unaware that he was on the wrong path, and like a thief fearing his own footprints, he was screaming with all his might in desperation····.

    But for Nam Jeokryeong to experience a change of heart and become a better person, he had already crossed the line long ago.

    “His consciousness will return soon. Even so, he won’t be able to move because he’s petrified. Now then, what do you wish to happen to him?”

    “Buried alive···· I want him buried alive!”

    “Very well. He will be buried underground for about 300 years, dying slowly.”

    And at that moment, upon hearing about his current state and what would become of him, he found himself in a situation where he felt he might lose his mind.

    ‘P-please help me! Anyone, anyone save me! That madman is trying to bury me!’

    So, with a desperation that made him wonder if his life had ever been this precarious, he inwardly begged, when suddenly he remembered a certain necklace he had received from a “pleasure house” that he kept in his pocket.

    A necklace given to him by a prostitute whose face he couldn’t even remember, said to grant wishes.

    At the time, he had dismissed it as a joke, but now he was desperate enough to rely on such a trivial thing····

    [If I save you, what can you give me?]

    At that very moment, an incredibly attractive and beautiful voice echoed in his mind.

    ‘F-fairy lady····?’

    The spiritual fulfillment he felt just from hearing the voice momentarily made Nam Jeokryeong respond with a dumbfounded voice, but in the face of the terror that he might be buried alive at any moment, that feeling melted away like snow.

    [A-anything! Anything! As long as I can escape from here····!]

    And this was the worst choice of his life.

    Unknowingly entering into a contract that offered himself as a sacrifice, a terrible curse and fear descended upon Nam Jeokryeong, followed by the reconstruction of everything that constituted him, transforming him anew.

    Naturally, the pain felt during this process was beyond description····.

    But since his mouth had already disappeared, he could no longer scream.


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