Chapter 110 – Palace Maid (3)
[Chapter 6 – Section 2] I’m Here
The Olympics underwent massive changes after the P aptitude test appeared.
First, shortened cycle.
The Winter and Summer Games, once held every four years separately, were reduced to every two years as outstanding athletes were discovered in droves. That effectively means Olympics every single year without gaps.
“You thought it through. If you miss this year, you’d have to wait two whole years.”
“Sun-young? This is the men’s dorm… Fine, do whatever.”
“Where was I? Oh, right. I felt bad for you cooped up at home, so I came to check if you’re still alive.”
“Thanks. But if—though it won’t happen—if I miss this year, I can just prep for next year’s Winter Olympics.”
“Like what?”
“Skating, kendo… Actually, there aren’t many events I can do.”
Second, reduction in events.
Olympic events not listed in the P aptitude test’s “aptitude categories” gradually vanished from history because there was no way to find elite athletes for them.
So the remaining events are?
<Winter>
Skating, Skiing, Sledding, Hockey, Dodgeball, Volleyball, Equestrian, Jousting, Weightlifting, Kendo, Shooting, Archery
<Summer>
Track & Field, Swimming, Taekwondo, Boxing, Golf, Baseball, Water Polo, Soccer, Basketball, Badminton, Table Tennis, Tennis
12 winter events, 12 summer events.
The modern Olympics consist of a total of 24 events combining winter and summer. And new events that didn’t exist in the old era.
Jousting (騎士道)!
The only event where killing is permitted during competition—a terrifying sport called the flower of the Olympics, boasting unrivaled popularity and sky-high betting payouts.
“…What about jousting?”
“Are you insane? Jousting is only for people with weird aptitudes!”
“I’m a shaman too…”
“Don’t even dream about it! If you really want to enter, kill me first!”
“O-okay! I won’t! Happy?”
“Get a grip. This is reality. You’re not the Lust Dragon smirking with Mi-bong and the blue-eyed princess on each arm.”
“I’m sorry…!”
Third, increased event difficulty.
With the P aptitude test, the average skill level of athletes skyrocketed. The old-era rules lost all discriminatory power, so they were made much tougher.
For example, finish lines in track and swimming were moved farther away. Baseball fields grew larger, making home runs harder, and in basketball—where players practically fly—the hoops were raised slightly…
“Moon-soo, what about weightlifting?”
“Look at my body. Do I look like I can lift heavy?”
“Then let’s try dodgeball.”
“That’s a team event.”
“Who cares? It’s basically a survival game. If you alone take out the entire opposing team, you win, right?”
“…You’re right.”
Come to think of it, Sun-young has a point?
Dodgeball is technically a team sport, but if I avoid getting hit and hit everyone on the other side, I win single-handedly.
‘Easier than bullets.’
No matter how hard a dodgeball player throws, it can’t be faster than a bullet. Plus, a dodgeball is way bigger than a bullet, so it’s easy to see, dodge, or even catch.
“What do you think? Good idea, right?”
“Yeah. After this Olympics, I should definitely aim for the national dodgeball team too.”
“…”
“Why the face all of a sudden…”
“After the Olympics, a bunch of weird women are going to swarm you. I’m already annoyed just thinking about it.”
“Y-yeah…”
My shoulders shrank on their own from the guilt of my crimes.
“You only look at me.”
“I’m looking.”
“Until you die.”
“Hey! Don’t say ominous stuff like ‘die’—”
“Don’t change the subject.”
Ahem! “I promise.”
“Good♪”
Song Sun-young, who had been sitting on my bed, flopped backward and lay down.
“…I haven’t washed the sheets.”
“Why? Did you have a wet dream recently or something?”
“Cough! No way?!”
“Then it’s fine.”
“Well… yeah.”
Beep!
I turned the TV back on—it had been off since Sun-young arrived.
“You watch dramas too?”
She lifted her head slightly and looked at me like it was totally unexpected.
“The next Ranuvel patient is the female lead of that drama.”
“Ah! So the patient’s a woman? Hmm. Another pretty one?”
“…”
“I’ve watched every episode of that historical drama. Romance isn’t really my taste, but Mom loves it.”
“Really?”
“The basic plot is the crown prince and a thief competing for the love of a palace maid. I couldn’t immerse myself at all because it’s so unrealistic.”
“Yeah, it is.”
In that era, palace maids were literally the king’s property—no human rights, no choice.
Yet a handsome, capable crown prince struggling and tiptoeing around a mere maid?
It made zero sense.
In other words, the historical drama <Palace Maid Deok-chun> was a modern-romance story with only the buildings and costumes historically accurate.
‘Still, it’s super popular…’
I’m no critic; nitpicking the artistic value would just give me a headache.
“But Moon-soo, this drama actually has a lot of action too.”
“I noticed.”
“The thief is insanely strong to compete bare-handed against the crown prince. The setting is that he learned immortal arts from a hermit on Mount Baekdu.”
“Hmm…”
I had zero interest in the palace maid “Deok-chun’s” love life (which would normally earn her a flogging for insolence), but I was glued to the action scenes.
‘No wonder I got sliced up.’
The thief’s pure combat power was basically an upgraded version of Hidden Dragon Mao Zhai. Invisible ultra-speed swordsmanship and Sword Control were just the basics—he could even create clones of himself!
And that wasn’t the end.
He could teleport long distances without any wind-up, peek through walls like infrared binoculars, and his sense of smell was perverted enough to track the heroine’s scent from outside the palace.
‘This is just too much!’
All because the director irresponsibly piled on overpowered settings to make him compete with the crown prince who had everything—power, authority, looks.
“Kang Moon-soo, tell me your plan.”
“My plan?”
“You don’t have to. I can just hear it from the patient later. Quite a few famous actresses appeared in that drama, didn’t they?”
“…”
That showed exactly how low my credibility had fallen.
“Tell me.”
“Okay. First, I’ll help the crown prince and take out the thief. Once the thief is dead, the rest will be easy. I’ll kidnap the patient and lock her up somewhere quiet like a deserted island, then persuade her.”
“A deserted island? With a woman?”
Song Sun-young’s eyes sharpened.
“Th-that’s not what I meant! I meant persuading her in a quiet place!”
“So I misunderstood?”
“Y-yeah! It’s a misunderstanding! I’d never do that with you here!”
“I believe you♪”
“…”
If I’d carried out this plan without Sun-young’s censorship, it could’ve been dangerous.
“How much of the drama have you watched?”
“About half?”
We analyzed and watched <Palace Maid Deok-chun> together.
Then—
“Hm? It’s the Chief?”
Ring ring~♬
My smartphone rang loudly.
“Answer it.”
“Yeah. Hello.”
(Moon-soo, what are you doing right now?)
“Watching a historical drama with Sun-young at home. Why?”
(You don’t need to watch any more.)
Chief Seo Hye-joo said with a hint of regret.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
(She’s going to die soon. The patient won’t last until the Olympics are over.)
“…Please explain in detail.”
One of the worst-case scenarios I’d been dreading had just happened.
***
All the Ranuvel patients I’d treated so far were far from short on cash. If anything, they were loaded!
Song Sun-young, Choi Kang-min, Kim Eun-jung, Nam Hae-soo, Mao Zhai.
Even Song Sun-young’s father—the most “ordinary” of the bunch—was a doctor, so his university classmate at Elmolance Hospital had pulled strings big and small.
But…
‘Not everyone can be like that.’
The Ranuvel patient presumed to be possessed by the female lead of <Palace Maid Deok-chun> was the exception.
Her name: Yoon So-ra.
She’d given up college because her family was poor and was working at a café behind the university to support them.
Her frail build and pale skin gave off a delicate, pity-evoking aura that stirred protective instincts, so the café was always packed with male university students coming to see her…
And then trouble struck.
“Rumors spread that Yoon So-ra started dating someone, and a jealous guy caused an incident.”
Chief Seo Hye-joo said casually, as if watching a spectacle, when I rushed to Elmolance Hospital after her call.
“I already know that. The important part is why she’s dying now.”
“Her parents have zero earning power. They’re addicted to VR games.”
“…”
The convenience store owner where I used to work part-time was also addicted to VR games. He insisted he wasn’t, but does a normal gamer rank 4th worldwide?
He basically dumped all the store management on me and spent most of his life inside VR.
“I couldn’t reach the parents, so I sent hospital staff to the house. It was horrific. The parents were playing VR games with the money their daughter had saved, and Yoon So-ra, left neglected like trash, was still wearing an unchanged diaper for who knows how long.”
“That’s the worst.”
“The lawsuit already settled quietly with compensation.”
“Hah…”
“The parents were arrested at the scene and are on trial now. The problem is the daughter. Yoon So-ra’s health, after being neglected for so long, is critically bad.”
“But we saved her in the end, right? Ah! Is it the hospital bills?”
If I could buy time, I was willing to cover her hospital and treatment costs until after the Olympics.
“She won’t recover.”
“Huh?”
“That’s a characteristic of Ranuvel patients. Once their vitality drops, it doesn’t come back. The body rejects reality, you could say. Life just keeps draining away. With good care, they can last long like Chairman Nam Hae-soo or Kang-min, but…”
“…”
“Here she is.”
Creak—
Yoon So-ra, lying alone in a regular ward bed, looked like a completely different person from 90 days ago.
A desiccated corpse?
It was hard to believe this wretched figure was once the popular beauty working at the café behind the university.
“…Elmolance Hospital’s ventilators are really something.”
“There’s a human rights issue, so I can’t show you, but if we lift the blanket you’d be even more impressed. Still, she won’t last until you finish the Olympics and come back.”
“I figured.”
I closed my eyes and thought.
‘The parents’ fault… I ended up empathizing in the wrong place.’
If she didn’t have parents, wouldn’t the government have taken care of her? Or maybe arranged euthanasia to end her suffering.
Song Sun-young, who had been listening silently, summed it up coldly.
“Her story is tragic, but it’s not your fault, Moon-soo. There are plenty of people in the world more pitiful than her. You don’t need to feel responsible or guilty.”
“…”
“And even if she wakes up, with VR-addicted parents she’ll just live another miserable life. There’s no salvation for her. Wouldn’t it be better to die in the dream, held in the arms of the handsome crown prince and the dashing thief?”
“…You’re right.”
“Let’s go. We shouldn’t have come in the first place.”
Grab.
Sun-young took my hand and pulled.
“There’s no salvation for her.”
“You…?”
But I didn’t budge an inch.
“True.”
“Hey! Face reality. The Olympics start in one week!”
Sun-young stomped her foot like it was her own problem.
“It’s fine.”
“Are you serious?! You’re giving up the Olympics for some random woman?!”
“It’s fine.”
“I’m not fine!”
“Haha! I sometimes forget, but my aptitude isn’t athlete.”
It’s shaman.
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