Chapter 118 – Palace Maid (11)
The rules of the world.
Dream worlds based on reality—like those of Song Sun-young, Choi Kang-min, or Nam Hae-soo—allowed relatively little interference.
But worlds created from literary works were different.
Magic, martial arts, spellcraft…
Settings that didn’t exist in reality had settled in as if they were laws of nature.
What a shame.
And this didn’t just affect the worldview.
A character’s personality, thoughts, reputation, relationships…
Anyone who appeared even once in the work could not escape these rules.
For example—
A had loved B since childhood.
If a work contained a “past-progressive” sentence like this, it would be reflected as is. But if that was all, it could still change depending on later circumstances.
However—
A had loved B since childhood.
A was fine even if B liked C.
Everything about B was lovable.
A couldn’t live without B!
…The more settings like these piled up in the story, the fewer loopholes there were, and the stronger the binding force became.
This guy was one of the victims.
All because he’d thrown around lines about love far too freely in the historical drama Palace Maid Deok-chun.
“Hey. Do you still like Deok-chun that much?”
“I love her!”
The thief shouted while lying in the middle of the hideout, his arms and legs broken.
Teleportation?
He couldn’t use it with my foot planted firmly on his abdomen.
“Young master…”
The nine-tailed fox, who had recklessly charged me head-on after realizing her foxfire didn’t work at all, collapsed after a single kick.
Lying on the dirt floor, she looked at the thief with a pitiful gaze.
“Stay put. If you mess around, I’ll stuff that fox and put her on display.”
“Ghk.”
At my threat, the thief stopped trying to force his broken limbs to move and obediently went still.
A personality that couldn’t abandon his companions.
That, too, was one of the powerful shackles Palace Maid Deok-chun had placed on him.
“I want to save you.”
“Nonsense!”
“You don’t have to believe me. I’ll do things my way anyway.”
Tap.
I spread both hands wide and placed them as broadly as possible on top of the thief’s head.
The cerebrum.
The biological organ that governs human thought.
If I covered this with my world, could I break the story’s settings and make him capable of flexible judgment?
…That was my hypothesis.
“What are you plotting?”
“Deok-chun married the Crown Prince. They’ve already shared a bed several times.”
“…I know.”
“You kidnap a woman who now belongs to another man—what exactly are you planning to do with her?”
“Well, that’s… uh…”
The thief, who had been about to answer briskly as if there was nothing to think about, suddenly hesitated.
Crack—!
The sound of worlds colliding.
An indescribable tactile sensation was clearly transmitted through my hands gripping the bandit’s head.
“There are many women around you who waited for you, even knowing that you loved Deok-chun.”
They, too, were pitiful souls bound by the settings of Palace Maid Deok-chun.
I would save them.
“…I’ve always felt sorry.”
“Don’t just feel sorry—act. Deok-chun is now the Crown Princess. Do you really think she’d be happy abandoning her splendid palace life to chase after you and hide in a thatched hut for the rest of her life?”
“No.”
The foolish thief finally made a rational judgment!
“If you promise to give up on Deok-chun, I’ll explain things properly to the Crown Prince. I’ll make sure you don’t have to live in hiding anymore.”
“Really?”
“Try trusting the guy who’s persuading you instead of killing you, even though you’re branded a traitor.”
“…All right.”
The thief moved the only part of him that still worked—his neck—and nodded.
This is where the real problem starts.
(Yeah. If the shackles snap back on the moment you take your hands off, it’s all meaningless.)
Senior. How about the taekwondo?
(It just ended. Finished it with a single roundhouse kick, but Song Sun-young says she doesn’t like that and keeps nagging.)
Sounds rough.
(If you know what’s good for you, treat me well.)
Swoosh—
I took both hands off the bandit and slowly stepped back.
Why am I getting nervous for no reason?
The grudge over the abilities I’d lost ran deep, but still… seeing him all battered and bruised after I’d beaten him until he was shitting blood felt a little pitiful.
But the more I looked at him, the more pitiful he seemed.
I’d even heard that in the original historical drama Palace Maid Deok-chun, he was so unpopular with viewers that the director and writer were planning to discard him. That just made it sadder.
“I loved her… I loved her… sob…”
The thief began to cry, tears streaming down like chicken droppings.
Tears of resignation.
I knew them well from experience. When the dream ended and I was forcibly separated from the bodyguard knight Valentine, I’d cried my heart out too.
(Still can’t forget her?)
“Cough.”
That’s a secret.
(That bodyguard really treated you well. Even the legs you like were just as attractive as Song Sun-young’s. You even thought her only flaw was those sword-trained, muscular arms, right?)
“Kh—hm!”
This old man is crossing the line!
(…Junior.)
What now?
(The formation’s been breached.)
“Huh?”
Right after the senior’s warning, a chilling sound that set my nerves on edge reached my ears.
Kiiik—
Kiiik—
That many Sword Demons…?
It wasn’t just one or two. Thirteen Sword Demons entered my field of vision alone, and there were probably more lurking in the dark forest.
“S-Sword Demons?! Ghk!”
The thief clearly recognized them.
But since I’d broken his arms and legs, he couldn’t move.
“Young master! What in the world are these vicious-looking monsters?!”
The mountain bandit chief, gripping an axe in both hands, turned to the bandit and asked.
The answer?
“Run!”
“What—”
Slash!
The bandit chief was cut to pieces—body and axe alike—as he was slain by a Sword Demon.
Limbs that could slice through anything.
Sword Demons like these, each possessing their own unique world like me, ignored the formation and charged straight at us in unison.
“Again?!”
Pssh—
To those who could ignore the rules of the world like me, the nine-tailed fox’s foxfire was worth less than a matchstick.
Rustle—
Having already experienced me once, she didn’t panic. With movements both swift like a fox and graceful, she retreated.
“Fox. Take your lord and run.”
“…Thank you.”
After thanking me for changing the bandit’s heart, the nine-tailed fox released her disguise.
Swish—
A pure white fox with nine tails. Slightly larger than a tiger.
“Young master. Please endure it for a moment.”
“Ghk…!”
Wrapping the bandit’s entire body tightly with her long tails, the nine-tailed fox shot straight up into the sky and escaped the hideout.
And me, left behind alone?
“Let’s have some fun, intruders.”
“……”
“……”
The Sword Demons, glaring at me with hatred-filled faces, offered no reply. They merely raised their two pairs of arms menacingly and charged straight ahead.
Fifteen in total.
No matter how I looked at it, I was at a disadvantage.
(You idiot! What do you mean, ‘fun’? Stop posturing and run!)
“Haha!”
Laughing off the senior’s scolding, I turned around and started running.
Kiiik!
Kiiik!
All fifteen Sword Demons chased after me with ferocious speed.
Slash! Thud! Crack…!
They mercilessly cut down trees, rocks, and any other obstacles that blocked their path.
(They’re surrounding you from a wide angle.)
“They’ve got intelligence?”
(Meaning those human-shaped heads aren’t just for decoration.)
I would’ve preferred it if all the Sword Demons had chased me in a neat, train-like line, but instead, they spread out widely—looking as if they intended to cut down every tree in the forest.
“This is troublesome…”
(It’s troublesome for me too. I’ve got a taekwondo match to attend. I’ll finish it as fast as possible, so when I send the signal, hold out for just a bit.)
“You say that so easily!”
There’s no way the Sword Demons will politely wait during that “just a bit”!
(Stop whining and get it done! I don’t want to get kicked by the feet of some pathetic weakling!)
“Ghk.”
(Five seconds, starting now.)
“Five seconds?!”
Stop.
I halted in place.
One, two—
“……”
“……”
Two Sword Demons lunged at me, lowering their upper bodies like speed skaters.
Overwhelming fighting intent and killing intent!
I tightened my grip on the hwandao, my palm slick with sweat, and waited.
(Done.)
“Ha!”
It was strange that a taekwondo match decided by points could end in just a few seconds, but now wasn’t the time to worry about such trivialities.
Whoosh!
I swung the hwandao—using the swordsmanship I’d learned from Valentine—
Clang!
“Huh…?”
The hwandao was severed. Like air, sliced cleanly by the Sword Demon’s sharp hand.
Whoosh—
Whirr—
They didn’t stop there, swinging their two pairs of arms through the air as if to mince my body to pieces.
(You dense idiot! Is that head of yours just for show?! Swordsmanship only works when the blade is on a comparable level!)
“Ghk!”
Without time to complain or talk back, I twisted my entire body.
Slash—
Was it because I was protected by my world? Their sharp hands couldn’t cut through my body like air.
Hands that could cut through anything.
But against me, they were merely extremely sharp ordinary blades.
(Tch. You lost your left arm.)
Clang.
The moment the senior clicked his tongue, my left arm was severed by a Sword Demon’s hand.
“……”
Enduring the pain, I drove my right foot into the Sword Demon’s abdomen with all my strength.
Thud!
Skin as hard as plate armor. A body that couldn’t be pierced in a single shot even by a firearm at close range caved in deeply.
Pure physical force.
A kick that ignored the Sword Demon’s world was unmistakably effective.
(Junior. Die while holding onto that realization you came to far too late.)
“Hup!”
Ignoring the senior’s ominous remark, I quickly snatched my severed left arm off the ground with my right hand.
Tap.
Then I pressed it back onto the severed stump.
(That’s some perverted regeneration.)
“Thanks.”
The cuts covering my body rapidly healed and vanished as well.
Pop!
I started running again and returned to the thief’s hideout.
“……”
The mountain bandit chief lay there, brutally slain by the Sword Demons. Beside him was his axe—now reduced to nothing but the handle. Should I call it an iron rod now?
That was enough.
Good.
Swoosh—
I smeared my blood onto the iron rod.
(Not bad. Pretty good adaptability.)
“Right?”
The Sword Demons, who had neatly cleared away the surroundings and removed all obstacles I could hide behind, emerged one by one.
Kiiik—!
The moment they completed a perfect encirclement, they charged all at once.
(Handle it yourself. I’m going to deal with the annoying reporters clinging to me.)
“Yes.”
Vrooom—
I swung the iron rod, stained red with my blood, with all my strength.
“……”
A Sword Demon tried to casually slice it apart with its hand—
Thud!
The moment it collided with the iron rod, the Sword Demon’s razor-sharp hand shattered like glass. I followed through and landed a clean hit on its head.
Crack!
Its skull was crushed spectacularly, and the Sword Demon was sent flying.
“……”
It didn’t get back up.
“Haha!”
A refreshing laugh escaped me at the satisfying result.
My blood. My world.
Smearing my blood onto the iron rod and turning it into my iron rod had been the right answer. If I’d realized this method a little earlier, I wouldn’t have lost my hwandao.
No—
Maybe it only worked because it was an iron rod. Even with my blood on it, the solid rod had been cut nearly in half. Proof of just how sharp the Sword Demon’s hands were. With an ordinary hwandao, the blade would’ve chipped or snapped before the blood even dried.
“……”
“……”
The Sword Demons didn’t seem to care that one of their own had fallen. Like a pack of wolves surrounding prey, they rushed at me.
Thud!
Crack!
They looked like creatures that would be masters of the blade, but in reality, they were as clumsy as beginners handed a sword for the first time.
A world that cuts through anything.
That was why swordsmanship itself hadn’t been necessary. Their technique was truly awful.
They’re not even consistent.
Some Sword Demons seemed to have a decent grasp of weapons. Given their individual-looking faces, it didn’t feel right to call them factory-made, identical monsters.
Clink—!
Just as I crushed the fourth Sword Demon’s head with the iron rod—
“Tch.”
The iron rod finally reached its limit. It snapped and became useless.
Kiiik—
Kiiik—
As if mocking me, the Sword Demons rubbed their hands together, producing a horrifying sound.
“Don’t laugh. I’m still— huh?”
Stagger—
My head spun. Me—the one who thought I’d never tire—was suddenly hit by crushing fatigue and dizziness.
Why?
It wasn’t because I’d lost too much blood.
“……”
“……”
Seeing my weakness, the Sword Demons’ lips curled upward cruelly.
“…Don’t underestimate me.”
Crunch.
I stepped on the elbow joint of a dead Sword Demon, tore off its sharp arm, then slit my own wrist with it, soaking it in my blood.
That took one beat.
A Sword Demon realized my intent and lunged—but it was too late.
Clang! Slash!
“……”
Using one Sword Demon’s hand, I deflected another’s strike and severed its neck in a single motion.
“Come at me.”
Thump—
I kicked the headless corpse’s head like a soccer ball, provoking the remaining ones.
(You’re still fighting?)
“You’re the one who finished early.”
(Oh? You held out pretty well with those crude skills of yours.)
“Only because they’re even cruder.”
Kiiik—!
Kiiik—!
With their crude skills, I planned to finish this quickly and get a good nap afterward.
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