Chapter 124 – Palace Maid (17)
While Olympic events that had nothing to do with me were going on, the problems the senior had been putting off all came rushing in at once.
Olympic gold medals.
If pensions were a system that guaranteed the old age of athletes whose prime was short, then side income like sports toto was a way to accumulate wealth—like Nam Hae-soo had.
Advertisements were the same.
“Hyung~!”
“Kang-hoon?”
The junior Choi Kang-hoon came charging at me like a lover reunited after a long separation the moment he saw me.
Despite it being called the Summer Olympics, autumn had already arrived, and with it came the fated time to receive P’s aptitude test results once again.
I wonder what this guy will get.
I was genuinely curious.
“Congrats on the gold medal!”
He’d even gotten on a plane and flown overseas just to say that to me.
“Thanks.”
I greeted him warmly with a smile I couldn’t hide.
But—
“I also bet a ton on sports toto to cheer you on!”
“Even you…”
I felt betrayed by this unexpected side of Choi Kang-hoon, who I’d thought had no interest in money.
“Hyung, did you sign any advertising contracts?”
“Not yet.”
Taekwondo proposals were few since it was already a strong sport in this country, but track and field—where we’d never won gold before—was so heated that people were even calling it a matter of national pride.
Beverage ads, sportswear modeling offers, radio appearances, streamer invitations, national promotions…
I’d postponed everything for now, using the excuse that I needed to focus on swimming.
“You’re already busy with shaman work, so dealing with all that must be annoying. But you still want to make money.”
“Well… yeah.”
“Whoa! Mao Zhai booked a pretty nice room.”
Choi Kang-hoon jumped onto the plush sofa and sat down like a kid.
I chuckled at the sight.
“Other than being a bit far from the track stadium, it’s pretty great.”
In terms of luxury, nothing beat the imperial palace bedrooms I’d seen in the romance fantasy novel I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Count’s Family, but this hotel room—with its rooftop garden and outdoor pool—was no slouch either.
He’s being way too considerate.
I’d asked Mao Zhai for help to prevent another situation where I’d be dragged into a dream right before an Olympic event, but this level of hospitality went beyond what I’d expected.
Even though I knew there was no such thing as a truly free lunch in this world, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse. That made me feel pathetic.
“Hyung. Is being an athlete just a side job for you?”
“Of course.”
The athletes whose gold medals I’d taken would probably vomit blood if they heard that—but my stance hadn’t changed.
The reason I could beat them despite having a different aptitude was thanks to the absurd growth I’d gained in patients’ dreams. Without being a shaman, I was nothing.
“Then handling non-shaman stuff must be annoying, right?”
“Right.”
“But you still want to earn money.”
“That too.”
Choi Kang-hoon seemed unusually sharp today.
“Hyung. Want to leave it to me?”
“To you?”
“If you suddenly get pulled into a dream on the day of a shoot, you’d have to pay a penalty, right? To prevent something like that, you’d need to start your own company—but I don’t think you have the spare capacity to manage one yourself.”
“Exactly.”
Although his aptitude test results weren’t out yet, business blood clearly flowed in Choi Kang-hoon’s veins—elite blood from the head of a global conglomerate.
Was that why?
I’d never seriously explained my situation to him, yet he understood exactly where it itched.
“The solution is simple. Build a management team that can adjust 100% to your circumstances and schedule.”
“Is that even possible?”
I might be a national athlete who’d shone at the Olympics, but that wasn’t a license to act however I pleased.
“It’s possible if a global corporation and a powerful family join forces.”
“A family… you mean Mao Zhai’s family head?”
“Yeah!”
“……”
I couldn’t read his intentions.
“Don’t overthink it. I’m just trying to repay a debt to you, hyung.”
“Hm…”
“Let me ask you one thing. Do you have no intention of competing in the Olympics again?”
“What’s the point of resting? Of course I’ll compete again.”
I answered Choi Kang-hoon’s question casually.
“Then you need to prepare.”
“Training?”
“Sports toto.”
“…That’s already ruined. Odds like this won’t happen again.”
“You’re thinking the wrong way. You should be considering variables where someone certain to win gold gets eliminated due to external pressure.”
“……”
External pressure.
Interference from third parties.
The vested interests that would try to stop me from winning Olympic gold.
Nam Hae-soo did that.
Sports toto hadn’t been his goal, but because Nam Hae-soo resorted to extreme measures like hijacking a plane, I couldn’t participate in the Olympics at all.
Would reality be any different?
No. It was the same.
“The cutest method is slipping laxatives into your food.”
“That’s… really cute.”
If I lost a gold medal because of diarrhea, wouldn’t I collapse from sheer rage?
“If you add a bit more malice, you swap the laxatives for substances banned by the Olympics and make it public. Then you get banned from the Olympics for four years.”
“…Damn.”
Four years was practically a death sentence for athletes with short prime careers.
“Oh! Accidental traffic accidents are another common tactic!”
“That’s insane.”
I hadn’t gained a single cent from sports toto—only piled up risks.
“Hyung, you’re really amazing!”
“All of a sudden?”
“You graduated high school barely a year ago.”
“If you get your aptitude test results too—ah! You already got them, didn’t you?”
“Yeah!”
Because time flowed so quickly in the world of the historical drama Palace Maid Deok-chun, it didn’t really feel real yet—but a full year had already passed since the day I became a shaman.
Or maybe not exactly.
In other patients’ worlds, time flowed more slowly than reality. Adding it all together, my subjective experience was well over three years.
Anyway—
“So what’s your aptitude?”
“Curious?”
“Of course.”
Choi Kang-hoon broke into a wide grin and answered.
“Scheming Hero.”
“…That’s an aptitude?”
“Yep!”
“Well… if there’s a Shaman, I guess a Hero isn’t impossible either.”
Still, this naïve guy being labeled a cunning hero?
P’s aptitude testing machine might be malfunctioning.
***
All the patients I’d officially treated at Elmolance University Hospital were extraordinary.
The Swimming Emperor, Nam Hae-soo.
The eldest son of a conglomerate, Choi Kang-min.
The head of a great family, Mao Zhai.
Out of them, I couldn’t save Nam Hae-soo—but since he left the final words he wanted, it wasn’t fair to call it a complete failure.
Impressive.
There was a reason Section Chief Seo Hye-joo had advised me to carefully select my patients.
Discriminating against people?
No—I was simply moving in the direction that benefited me.
That wasn’t discrimination.
It was a wise choice.
(Look! Kang Moon-soo is entering the pool!)
(A shaman who catches ghosts! But today, he’s here to catch a gold medal!)
(That stamina is unbelievable! It’s hard to believe he’s the same athlete who ran the 100 km marathon not long ago!)
(And he won gold there too—shaving a full twenty minutes off the world record!)
(The nickname “nuclear submarine” wasn’t given for nothing!)
The people stirring up baseless doping suspicions were all small-time individuals. Major media outlets and official commentators didn’t portray me maliciously.
This was the power of influence.
Global corporations and powerful families were standing firmly behind me.
(Kang Moon-soo also set a world record in the 4000 m freestyle about two hours ago—an incredible eight-second improvement!)
(Eight seconds… That’s a record that makes it feel like he’s living in a completely different world.)
(And it’s not over yet.)
(That’s right. He’s immediately taking on the 2000 m next! Where does that kind of stamina even come from?)
(They say you need great stamina to catch tireless ghosts.)
(Ho ho! That does make sense!)
Listening to the commentators’ live broadcast through my smartphone wasn’t bad.
But there were plenty of people around who couldn’t afford to listen to this as if it were someone else’s business.
“Monster…”
“Is he even human?”
“How is this possible…?”
The athletes were utterly shaken by my stamina—something that surpassed even the mysteries of the human body.
For competitors who could barely manage a single event, my very existence was an insult to their pride.
Beep—
“Take your marks!”
The whistle echoed through the pool.
I removed the towel and outerwear hanging around my neck and stepped onto the starting block.
2000 meters… can I really do this?
Bang—!
The starting gun fired.
Splash! Splash! Splash…!
All the swimmers on the blocks dove into the pool at once.
It looked like a direct competition with them, but in essence, this was no different from practice—setting my best possible record in an official setting.
This brings back memories.
The reason I could never completely quit swimming.
It reminded me of the days when I was learning to swim from Song Sun-young.
And most importantly—
Because I’m confident.
Tap!
My fingertips touched the wall at the finish.
“Puhah!”
(He’s done it again! Kang Moon-soo sets another world record in the 2000 m freestyle—cutting it down by a full 0.8 seconds!)
(Today, the shaman is catching people instead of ghosts! Many sports toto players must be crying tears of blood!)
(Are you talking about me?)
(Ha ha! I have no idea what you mean!)
I headed to the waiting room, listening to the commentators’ excited, half-joking voices.
“Good work.”
Song Sun-young congratulated me as she handed over a dry towel.
“Honestly, that was close.”
“By 1.3 seconds?”
“If I’d ignored the patient and just focused on the Olympics, there’s no way I would’ve taken first. Look at the scoreboard—there’s only a 0.2-second gap with second place.”
“You’re right.”
If I hadn’t been there, the glory of the world record and the gold medal would’ve gone to the runner-up.
I hadn’t practiced swimming in the world of the historical drama Palace Maid Deok-chun, but fighting Sword Demons had given me slight growth. Without that, at best it would’ve been silver.
It was genuinely dangerous.
“Congratulations on the triple crown.”
Jeon Ji-eun smiled brightly as she said the slightly embarrassing phrase.
Triple Crown.
Track and field, taekwondo, and swimming.
Since I had won gold medals in three Olympic sports, it wasn’t an incorrect description.
“Thanks.”
“Now there’s only the 10 km open-water swim left, the one held before the Olympic closing ceremony.”
“That’s nothing…”
I was confident I could win gold even if I swam with my eyes closed.
“Do you have time this afternoon?”
“I do, but…”
When it came to meeting an attractive young woman, I couldn’t help but watch Song Sun-young’s reaction.
“You can go.”
“Huh? Really?”
She agreed, though her face and tone clearly showed how much she disliked the suspicion she’d developed because of me.
“It’s work, right?”
“Exactly!”
It seemed that as her assets multiplied 201-fold, Song Sun-young’s generosity had grown as well.
***
After giving brief comments on my gold medals in the 2000 m and 4000 m freestyle, I avoided the spotlight and returned to the hotel. There, a woman one year older than me was sitting and waiting.
What was this about?
Having spent too long in the world of the historical drama Palace Maid Deok-chun, I’d grown dull when it came to real-world matters, and I couldn’t even guess her purpose.
“I’ll start by apologizing.”
“Hm? Did something happen while I was away?”
“For the awkward situations I caused.”
“……”
It had been awkward, given that I clearly had a girlfriend and she’d still approached me so directly.
“My grandfather was afraid that the vision and traditions of our family, which had continued for 700 years, would end in his generation. He said it would anger our ancestors.”
“I see…”
“I joined in because I wanted to help the family, but there was also a calculation behind it—if my husband were a ‘real shaman’ who could inherit everything regardless of family rank, then it would be fine.”
“So that’s how it was.”
It wasn’t new information, so I wasn’t surprised—just caught off guard.
Why all of a sudden?
I couldn’t figure out what had caused this change of heart in someone who hadn’t backed off no matter how much distance I kept.
“My aptitude is film actress.”
“You must be good at acting.”
“That’s right.”
Actor.
Among the aptitudes judged by P’s aptitude test—which coldly defined people’s destinies—it was firmly ranked near the top.
To portray others, an actor must convincingly portray even another person’s aptitude. That’s why acting was considered an “all-purpose aptitude.”
“I can act as affectionately as a girlfriend you’ve dated for over ten years. If you need secret love, I can do that too.”
“…Sorry, but I don’t really understand what you’re trying to say to me.”
“Song Sun-young.”
“Why bring her up?”
“She’s obsessed with you, like you’re the only man in the world.”
“……”
That part, at least, was spot-on.
“With my acting, I can’t beat the sincerity she has. And I think you like her because you know that too.”
“That’s true.”
Still, it all felt too sudden.
“I received an offer from CEO Choi Kang-hoon.”
“Kang-hoon?”
“He asked if I’d like to stop pretending to be a shaman and try becoming a film actress instead.”
“Ah…”
Choi Kang-hoon’s aptitude—treacherous hero—popped into my head.
“It was a short time, but working together was fun, and I’m grateful.”
She extended her hand toward me, as if asking for a handshake.
“…Is this sincere?”
The fatal flaw of the acting aptitude—despite being highly valued—was that you had to live your entire life being suspected of acting, even in everyday behavior.
“To be honest, it wasn’t fun. I was treated like a bad woman trying to steal someone else’s man.”
“Ah, I see.”
That sounded sincere.
“Kang Moon-soo. I’ll be cheering for you, even from afar, as you become a world-class shaman.”
“Ah… thank you.”
Was this the power of an actor’s talent?
As her tone and expression turned businesslike, the relationship reset to zero—it felt as if we were strangers meeting for the first time.
“Aren’t you going to shake my hand? That would be awkward.”
“…Sorry. I hope you succeed as a film actress too, Ms. Jeon Ji-eun.”
Clasp.
We shook hands and said our goodbyes.
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