Even now, when I close my eyes, I dream of that day.
[Participant Number 1074 Kim Mooyoung, Participant Number 0014 Jo Seonghwan. Begin sparring]
The dazzling training hall I’d never seen once in my life.
A brief greeting under bright lights, then the sparring began.
The opponent’s gaze looking at me as if I were ridiculous.
The moment our swords clashed, that gaze turned to confusion.
And then—
Schhhlick—!
Fresh blood spurting toward the sky.
My right arm falling along that trail of blood.
And the terrible pain and sense of loss that followed.
“Aaaaargh—!”
“Stop the match! Stop the match—!”
The one who cut my arm was said to be the son of a renowned noble family, the Pungyang Jo clan.
He said my sword had been aimed at his throat.
That’s why he used phase power to sever my arm.
It was a lie.
But that didn’t matter at all.
“How did you manage the exam that this lowlife pointed a blade at our child—!”
The opponent’s hysterical parents slapped the examiner’s face right there and screamed.
I was disqualified without a chance to protest.
The first reason was that a surrendered Japanese without citizenship had ‘nearly’ injured a noble’s son.
The second reason was that with my right arm severed, I no longer achieved the most important virtue of the royal guard: ‘bodily purity.’
“…This won’t work.”
“Wh-what do you mean? Won’t work?”
I tried to request compensation for the accident during the exam, but the administrative center counselor shoved my documents into a shredder as if annoyed.
Without even reading them, without even opening the cover.
“It’s written in the Joseon Constitution, isn’t it? ‘Those without Joseon citizenship shall not be compensated.'”
“I-I applied for citizenship long ago! My residency period was sufficient, and I met all the qualifications! It’s just that the issuance…!”
“Either way, you didn’t get it, did you? Am I wrong? Or bring me your citizenship card.”
“…!”
‘You’re my citizenship application reviewer.’
The words rose to my throat but I swallowed them in the end.
Even as a lowly official, he belonged to the Administration—there was nothing to gain by touching him.
“If your business is done, leave. Next—!”
The counselor cut off his interest in me as if there was nothing more to see.
“Tsk, why’s this crippled surrendered bastard bothering people and causing a fuss.”
The words he muttered just before I left the counseling room.
I’d lived my entire life in this nation of Joseon since birth.
Yet to Joseon, I was nothing but a foreigner.
-…Now, this year’s youngest royal guard selection passer! Please welcome Young Master Jo Seonghwan of the prestigious Pungyang Jo clan! Hello, Young Master?
-Hello.
As I left the community center empty-handed, a familiar face appeared on the hologram screen in the sky.
-First, congratulations on becoming the youngest royal guard! We heard the competition was fierce! Could you give a word of advice and encouragement to everyone preparing for the royal guard selection exam?
-Haha, I’m a bit embarrassed by such praise. Actually, there’s no special secret to passing.
Jo Seonghwan.
The face of the one who cut my arm.
-Fight fair and square. And without a shred of shame, pour out all your strength. That’s all there is to it.
-Oooooh—!
The crowd’s cheers echoed through Hanseong along with the reporter’s exclamation.
Was what constricted my chest the pain of my severed arm, or self-loathing?
“Big brother?”
When I returned home, I hugged my young little sister and made a vow.
My dreams, my talent—having lost everything, the one last hope remaining to me.
I would make you a Joseon citizen, at least.
I wouldn’t let you live as a lowly surrendered Japanese like me, at least.
Absolutely.
Yes, no matter what it took…!
“Hey, Kim Mooyoung!”
“?!”
His closed eyes snapped open at the voice calling his name.
“The anesthetic must still be in effect. Look at you, unable to regain your senses in time…”
“What about the neural network? No problems, right?”
The first person he saw when he opened his eyes was his senior guard, Seo Taewoong.
And there was a boy looking at him with an indiscernible expression.
The illegitimate son of the Andong Kim clan, Kim Changwoon.
The boy who’d pulled him out of the gutter where he’d been rolling.
“Young… Master…”
“If you’re awake, get up. The installation work is done.”
Installation work.
At those words, Mooyoung barely collected his wits and raised his body from the medical equipment he’d been lying on.
Whirrrrr—!
Along with an alien mechanical sound, a right arm with a black sheen appeared.
An artificial body made of black special alloy.
It was a simple model obtained by completely disassembling and modifying a first-grade new model, focusing on muscle assistance and durability.
But the most amazing thing was the precision of the artificial body modified directly by its creator.
It could perform not just gripping a sword, but every motion possible with a hand, making it suitable for daily life without any deficiency.
The sensation of the right arm he’d lost long ago now felt incredibly vivid.
“Oh ho, I didn’t expect you to go this far.”
“This rivals even official manufacturing plants. No, considering the precision…”
“It’s even better. Why is a technician like this rotting in the lowest levels?”
While Taewoong and Changwoon spoke, Mooyoung’s gaze never left his new right arm.
The arm lost that day.
The arm severed by a noble’s sword was greeting him in a new form.
Suppressing the emotions welling up required more effort than expected.
“…Ah!”
But that immersion in emotion was brief.
Having shaken off the anesthetic, Mooyoung quickly opened his account.
“What are you doing?”
“Just a moment, Young Master. First, I’ll handle the, uh, payment.”
This wasn’t the time to be moved.
He’d bought a latest first-grade body at black market prices, plus security device removal work. On top of that, completely disassembling, modifying, and reassembling the body.
It would easily exceed five times the price of an equivalent model.
‘If interest gets added, it’ll be even harder to handle. Before today ends, I need to somehow look into loan products at the bank…’
But that thought was brief.
“Payment? What payment?”
Changwoon asked back as if he didn’t understand.
“Well, obviously, for the artificial body you provided…”
“Aah, I wondered what you were talking about.”
Hearing that, Changwoon waved his hand dismissively.
“You don’t need to.”
“…What?”
At Changwoon’s next words, Mooyoung couldn’t help but doubt his ears.
“It’s not like I’m giving it as a gift like the first time we met—it’s something you’ll use while working. I’m not stupid enough to make you pay for this.”
“No, Young Master! I’ve already received too much, if you keep doing this…!”
“Too much? Why are you deciding that on your own?”
Changwoon cut off Mooyoung’s words with a hardened expression.
“Mooyoung. You’re my guard. Right?”
“Y-yes.”
“Who you’ll fight, who you’ll kill, where and what you’ll do. I decide all of that. Right?”
“That’s… right.”
“Right. So.”
Having said that, Changwoon looked at Mooyoung’s shoulder where the artificial body was attached.
“Whether this arm is too much for you or not—I decide that, not you.”
At Changwoon’s voice stripped of humor, Mooyoung’s shoulders tensed.
“I invested in you because I judged that giving you this arm would produce results beyond its value. Because I thought you were worth it.”
“So I’m…!”
“Then what should you do? Decline and run away saying my judgment was wrong? After coming this far?”
Gripping the tensed shoulder, Changwoon spoke.
“You have one job. Make your talent bloom.”
“…!”
“And with that talent, show utility value beyond what I expected… No, far beyond it.”
It felt like something forgotten for a long, long time was awakening again.
The elation of having one’s potential recognized.
The aspiration to climb higher to meet those expectations.
Dreams abandoned long ago.
Hope.
The things given up the moment his arm was severed—it felt like they were returning to their rightful place.
“So stop the nonsense and just do the inspection.”
Compared to the previous body, is there any sense of foreignness?
Any functions you want added?
If so, say it now. It’s a waste of time to complain later asking for modifications.
The moment Changwoon spoke with a relaxed expression—
“…Huh?”
Drip. Drip.
As if something blocked had broken through, tears began flowing from Mooyoung’s eyes.
“Hey, Taewoong. What’s with him? Why’s he suddenly crying? Is this some artificial body side effect? If so, we need to refund it immediately…”
“I’ll repay you.”
Repay? What?
Changwoon looked back at Mooyoung with a bewildered face.
Covered in tears.
But with a resolute face, Mooyoung opened his mouth as if vowing to himself.
“I’ll definitely repay you. What you’ve given me, Young Master. What you’ve done for me and my little sister. I’ll never forget.”
“…”
No matter what it takes.
By any means.
“I’ll definitely repay what you’ve given me. Definitely… definitely…!”
“…Phew, what’s he even saying.”
As if finally understanding Mooyoung’s meaning, Changwoon chuckled and spoke.
“Of course you should.”
The time remaining until the face-to-face meeting had already dwindled to just one week.
In other words, ‘that incident’ that would occur on the day of the face-to-face meeting—
And the plan I’d prepared accordingly—would also execute in one week.
“Huuu.”
Mooyoung’s artificial body was ready, and Taewoong was gathering various information from inside the family.
I’d finished all the preparations I could, but even so, I continued sitting before the computer rechecking the plan.
No matter how meticulously you plan, when the situation actually arrives, no one knows how things will unfold.
“By the way, ‘repay me’…”
The distribution routes of goods coming and going from the family.
The invited families and companies.
While cramming all sorts of information into my head, I chuckled, recalling what happened earlier today.
‘I’ll definitely repay you, Kim Changwoon.’
When I heard those words from Mooyoung, the first thing I recalled was my past life’s memories.
An empty right arm.
The sight of Mooyoung clutching his dead little sister’s corpse with his one remaining left arm.
‘What you did to me and Hayoung. I’ll never let this pass!’
‘No matter what happens…’
‘No matter what it takes…!’
‘I’ll drag you and every last one of you power clan bastards to hell…!’
“I never expected to hear those words again.”
What I did to him was the complete opposite, yet the words coming back were the same.
Thinking about it, it was truly ironic.
Just as I was immersed in sentiment, recalling Mooyoung’s appearance—
Knock knock.
The sound of someone knocking on the door.
“A visitor at this hour? And for me?”
Taewoong and Mooyoung were outside preparing for the plan.
I tilted my head and opened the door.
“Jeez, you scared me.”
Seeing who stood at the door, I jumped back in surprise.
“…”
A black visor where a face should be.
Clean limbs without artificial bodies and distinctive attire.
I could recognize them immediately.
Standing at the door was a palace attendant belonging to the Imperial Household Department.
“…”
The palace attendant bowed wordlessly.
The moment I saw that, I could easily tell why they’d come to find me.
“With the face-to-face meeting right around the corner, they sent an attendant?”
“…”
The palace attendant lowered their head once as if affirming those words.
Seeing that, I let out a faint sigh.
Poor mutes.
Frustrating as ever, now and then.
But that thought was brief.
“Hm?”
When I saw what the palace attendant handed me, my eyes narrowed.
What they offered me was—
“A letter? Not from the main house, but to me?”
There was no answer.
They just looked at me as if telling me to hurry and take it.
‘Well, even if they knew the reason, it’s not like they could speak.’
Scratching the back of my head, I accepted the letter.
A letter at this timing—who could it be from?
My head grew complicated as something happened that hadn’t occurred in my past life.
But that thought was brief.
“…Ha.”
Having opened the letter, I let out an absurd laugh.
In the center of the unfolded paper.
There, the face of a brightly smiling Hahoe mask was drawn.
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