The Serpent's Mark
When Ha-ri returned to the estate in her dream, the sun had already begun to sink below the horizon. From the outside, the main house of the Wonju Yang Family retained the full dignity of an ancient hanok. The eaves stretched long and graceful, the roof tiles gleamed as if freshly polished, and the pillars and main hall stood firm, as though they had guarded the same spot for centuries. Yet once one stepped inside, modern conveniences blended seamlessly with tradition. Though all within the same walls, the servants’ quarters, the warriors’ areas, and the spaces reserved for the family head and direct descendants were strictly separated. The main residence, reception halls, training grounds, bathhouses, archives, small gardens, and detached buildings all stood apart from one another.
Among them, the residence where Yang Ha-yeon lived was unusually quiet and secretive, unlike the noisy servant halls or the bustling central compound. Ha-ri, led by Ha-yeon, entered the private bathhouse deeper within. The space was incomparable to the communal baths used by the servants. The floor was black stone polished so it would not become slippery when wet. The walls alternated between water-resistant wood and pale gray stone. A faint mist of medicinal herbs and clean steam drifted through the air. The bath itself was large enough for several people to enter together comfortably, and warm water continuously flowed in from one side.
Ha-ri paused for a moment at the entrance.
Yang Ha-yeon’s voice was curt.
“Ah, Young Miss. I can do it myse—”
There was no room for further argument. Ha-ri quietly bit her lip and loosened the ties of her robe. The dirtied maid uniform slid to the floor. The scent of earth, blood, and sweat from the long day spread into the air. The moment she pushed even her undergarments aside with her toes, Ha-ri instinctively covered her left arm. The snake tattoo. She had to hide the mark that had clearly been on her arm.
Ha-yeon approached immediately, grasped Ha-ri’s shoulders, and straightened her posture.
“I-it’s nothing…”
She lifted Ha-ri’s arm and examined her in order—shoulders, collarbones, sides, waist, thighs, knees, and calves. Every time Ha-yeon’s fingers traced her skin, Ha-ri unconsciously held her breath. This touch was entirely different from the intimate contact they shared in the bedroom every morning.
Ha-ri cautiously glanced at the inside of her arm. It was gone. The slender white snake that had definitely been there had vanished without a trace. She blinked in disbelief, but there was only bare skin. Ha-yeon frowned slightly.
Though she had claimed she wanted to check for injuries, what she observed was more than simple scrapes. Having pressed close to Ha-ri’s body every early morning, she was more sensitive than anyone to even the slightest changes.
Her thighs seem a little less soft.
To Ha-yeon’s eyes, Ha-ri’s body looked subtly different from just hours earlier. It wasn’t dramatic weight loss or sudden muscle gain, but the lines of her figure had become slightly sharper. The inside of her thighs felt firmer, and the connection between her calves and ankles appeared more defined. Combined with the fact that her body was far too intact for someone who had just rolled across the ground fighting for her life, the change stood out even more.
Ha-ri lowered her head slightly.
“I was lucky, it seems.”
Ha-yeon’s gaze sharpened.
Ha-ri could not answer. How could she possibly speak the truth—that she had made a pact with the snake goddess and killed the creatures through mere contact?
Ha-yeon’s fingertips paused. If things continued like this, suspicion would arise. At that exact moment, a familiar voice slithered through her mind like a serpent.
[Turn the flow.]
Ha-ri closed her eyes for the briefest moment, then opened them and spoke.
“It really was luck.”
Ha-yeon’s eyes returned to Ha-ri’s face. Ha-ri deliberately continued in an even smaller, more cautious voice.
“Thanks to that luck, I get to wash myself clean with warm water in a place like this.”
“…What?”
Ha-yeon’s expression faltered slightly. Ha-ri did not miss the opening and continued naturally.
“Servants have to move quickly from early morning, so we usually just rinse with cold water and leave. In winter, our hands freeze right away, and the smell doesn’t come out easily either.”
Finally, Ha-ri added the one remark she knew would shake Ha-yeon’s attention the most.
“…Every morning when I went to Young Miss’s room, I was always anxious. I worried that I might smell strange.”
At that moment, Ha-yeon whipped her head away. The tips of her ears turned noticeably red. She opened her mouth, then closed it again, and stared pointlessly at the steam-covered wall of the bathhouse. Her struggle to maintain a cold expression was obvious. Because she understood exactly what “every morning” and “smell” implied, she could not help but be flustered.
That was the only sentence she managed to squeeze out. Ha-yeon cleared her throat with a short cough and added coldly once more.
She turned her back and left the bath. Just before the sliding door closed, Ha-ri heard a very small voice.
“You never smelled strange to me.”
It was quiet, but clear enough for Ha-ri to hear. Once the door shut, only the sound of flowing water remained in the bathhouse. And soon after, the white snake’s laughter tickled the inside of her head.
[You’re quite good, aren’t you?]
Ha-ri quietly lowered herself into the bathwater. The moment the hot water enveloped her skin, the tension throughout her body melted away. Yet her mind grew even clearer.
[You seduced the successor of a powerful family with that pale body even before I found you?]
Ha-ri lowered her gaze and did not reply. No matter what she said, the snake would only find it amusing. She looked at her reflection on the water’s surface. There was still no tattoo on her arm. But when the ripples shifted, for the briefest instant, she thought she saw a faint curve near her lower abdomen. Ha-ri flinched violently and covered her stomach with her hands. The skin beneath her palms was hot. When she checked again, the pattern that had vanished from her left arm had now faintly seeped into her lower belly, somewhere between her navel and pubic bone.
Ha-ri quickly removed her hands as if nothing had happened. Even though no one was watching, she found herself acting self-conscious.
[I am simply finding a suitable place to fix my mark on your body.]
[There is no need to be anxious. I know it is better to keep it hidden for now.]
Ha-ri still gave no answer. She simply wanted to dry herself with a towel and cover up as quickly as possible.
When she left the bathhouse, a new maid uniform had been laid out. It was of better quality and slightly thicker than the previous one. It must have been Ha-yeon’s order. Ha-ri quietly changed into it.
At that same time, on the other side of the main house, the cleanup of the Gate was coming to an end. The combat unit had recovered all the byproducts secured from inside the Gate and returned. Magic stones, monster bones and teeth, hides. And most importantly, the device-type magic stone that forcibly maintained the Gate even after its resident guardian had died. The recovered items were immediately sorted and moved to warehouses and preservation rooms. The corpses were also loaded onto separately dispatched vehicles and brought back to the main house. The names of the fallen warriors were recorded, the identities of the dead servants were confirmed, and compensation and cleanup procedures followed.
A Gate was an industry that fed on blood and spat out resources. Some profited, others died. After the simple report concluded, the topic naturally shifted to Kang Ha-ri.
Won Yeon-jung spoke carefully.
“She is ambiguous to use as a warrior.”
One of the warriors present nodded.
“Even if she has talent in external arts, she has only just awakened. She needs systematic training, but without accumulating internal energy, her growth ceiling will be too obvious.”
Another countered.
“Still, it would be a waste to keep her as nothing but a maid. It’s true she killed monsters in actual combat. Even if luck was involved, the ability to seize that luck is itself a talent.”
“Are you suggesting we make her a maid who also fights?”
“That would be going too far. But keeping her as support personnel nearby should be possible. It would also make it easier to observe whether she truly has growth potential.”
Won Yeon-jung tapped the table once with his finger.
“In conclusion, she is ambiguous.”
Until then, Ha-yeon had remained silent. Now she spoke.
All eyes in the room turned to her.
“You personally, Young Miss?”
Her words were plain.
She paused for a beat, then added.
Ha-ri’s treatment had been decided. Since the successor herself had declared she would take the girl into her personal service, none of the warriors under her could object. Moreover, granting a small privilege to a maid who had rendered meritorious service appeared perfectly natural on the surface.
Yeon-jung gave a short laugh.
“Very well. We will move her quarters there as well. You have plenty of rooms.”
“Yes, Young Miss.”
The meeting ended there. On the surface, it was a simple personnel adjustment. Yet several people present sensed that Ha-yeon’s attitude toward that maid today had been slightly different from usual. Still, no one voiced it aloud. In a household like this, the ability to pretend not to know what one clearly knew was also important.
Around that time, Ham Ji-yu, the matriarch of the Wonju Yang Family, was receiving a report in her own residence. Her quarters were as quiet as Ha-yeon’s, but the atmosphere was different. On the surface, Ham Ji-yu’s residence gave off the stable calm of a tranquil lake. The incense was subtle, and the furniture and decorations were luxurious without being excessive. Yet the presence of the woman seated within surpassed all of that.
Ham Ji-yu possessed a face that seemed as if time had flowed and then stopped. Her skin was smooth and flawless, her eyes and lips perfectly balanced. Her long black hair was neatly arranged in a half-braid, and every strand appeared to stay exactly where it belonged. At first glance, she gave the impression of a serene and gentle noblewoman. But the longer one faced her, the clearer it became that this serenity was the result of relentless self-discipline that never allowed even a moment of carelessness.
She finished reading the report before her.
She took her as an exclusive maid.
Her eyes remained calm as she murmured inwardly. She already knew that Ha-yeon summoned a single maid to her bedroom every early morning to relieve her sexual desires. Even without seeing it directly, the subtle tension among the servants and the frequent changing of the bedroom sheets made it obvious.
I wondered why it was always the same one. So she was the favored maid.
However, Kang Ha-ri’s performance recorded in today’s report was another matter entirely. Ji-yu slowly ran her fingertips across the paper. Mere talent alone could not reach the pinnacle of martial arts. All the renowned masters knew that the threshold of divine techniques—or “abilities,” as they were otherwise called—could rarely be crossed through human talent and effort alone. That was why families arranged calculated marriages and sometimes even secretly repeated the filthy practice of mixing blood with contractors of gods or other races. Everyone wrapped it in elegant words, but in the end, it was nothing but an obsession to produce stronger offspring and reach the apex.
She despised that hypocrisy, yet understood it better than anyone.
What if she has contracted with some remnant of a god that wanders the surface?
The assumption was premature. Yet it was also too ambiguous to dismiss entirely. A maid who could not accumulate internal energy had awakened in real combat and slain monsters. The explanation itself was not impossible, but—
Ji-yu smiled. It was a cold, faint smile.
She spoke as if to herself and folded the report. Whether the maid who had earned her daughter’s favor was simply an amusing toy, an unexpectedly talented individual, or a dangerous foreign substance—whichever it was, she had no intention of leaving her unattended.
Night deepened. The lights in the residence dimmed one by one, and the footsteps of the servants grew distant. Having become Ha-yeon’s exclusive maid and moved to new quarters, Ha-ri lay in a room that still felt unfamiliar. It was wider and cleaner than the servant hall room she had used before. Yet her body refused to fall asleep easily. Too many things had happened in a single day.
Ha-ri placed her hand on the blanket and slowly pressed down on her lower abdomen. The tattoo was invisible. But the distinct sensation that something lay beneath it remained clear. At some point she must have fallen asleep. When she opened her eyes again, the world had changed.
The ground beneath her feet felt like water yet also like mist. Each step sent gentle circular ripples outward, but her feet did not get wet. The space was a pale bluish-white, as if the color of the sky just before dawn had spread into the distance. The moment she realized it was a dream, a white snake crawled up onto the faint surface of the water. It was the same small snake she had seen during the day.
Its white scales held the light and glowed softly. Cool eyes gazed quietly at Ha-ri. The snake coiled itself in front of her, then very slowly began to change shape. Ha-ri felt as if her breath had stopped.
As the snake grew larger, it took on the outline of a person. The scale-like sheen transformed into silk-like fabric. The coldly glittering eyes became the beautiful gaze of a woman, leaving only a faint vertical trace. Sky-blue hair, transparent like the dawn sky just before sunrise, flowed down to her waist. Every time the hair moved, tiny sparks of light glittered. Her skin was as smooth as pale marble, and her blue eyes held both beauty and a chilling divinity at once.
The Doric-style chiton she wore was light and rippling. A golden snake-shaped bracelet coiled around her arm, and wherever her bare feet touched, white mist bloomed. To call her beautiful was not enough. To call her frightening was also true, yet still insufficient. The being before her eyes seemed to have been completed according to standards from an entirely different dimension. Looking at her made one want to kneel and, at the same time, want to run away.
The goddess curved the corner of her mouth slightly.
Her voice seemed to resonate throughout the entire space rather than inside the head. It was calm and gentle, yet contained an undeniable dominance.
Ha-ri barely managed to open her mouth.
“…A special favor, you say?”
The goddess drew closer to Ha-ri. With every step she took, the floor—whether water or mist—rippled gently. Before Ha-ri knew it, the goddess was right in front of her. She lightly lifted Ha-ri’s chin.
The moment their skin touched, Ha-ri’s back straightened. The hand she had expected to be cold was warm, yet at the same time it felt as if burning poison was seeping beneath her skin. The goddess gazed into Ha-ri’s eyes, then slowly moved her other hand downward. It brushed across her stomach, covered her lower abdomen, and quietly pressed the center.
The goddess’s whisper brushed against her ear.
Ha-ri wanted to pull back, but her body would not move. From the places where the goddess’s hand touched, her body grew strangely heavy yet filled with heat. Her lower abdomen burned fiercely. It was then that Ha-ri felt a strange sensation below.
“Ugh…!”
She looked down in shock. Beneath the goddess’s hand, a sensation that should not exist in her body was clearly growing. Flesh swelled, lengthened, and its root grew firm. Ha-ri reached down with a trembling hand and froze. There, alongside her vagina, stood a fully erect penis.
“What is this—?!”
Her breathing quickened. The texture she held in her hand was unfamiliar and hot. It was her own body, yet the sense of alienation made it feel like it belonged to someone else. The goddess looked down at the panicked Ha-ri and explained calmly.
Her fingers lightly stroked the newly grown penis. Ha-ri’s hips trembled.
“Ah, ugh…”
Just a single stroke and the penis reacted immediately. Whether the body in the dream was more sensitive than in reality, or whether it was the goddess’s touch, Ha-ri could not tell. The goddess narrowed her eyes in clear enjoyment of Ha-ri’s reaction.
The next moment, the goddess lightly pushed Ha-ri’s shoulder. She had not seemed to use any strength, yet Ha-ri’s body fell back easily. The floor that was neither water nor mist gently caught her back. The goddess naturally climbed on top of her. Both knees settled beside Ha-ri, and the thin fabric of the chiton slid up her thighs. The smooth thighs revealed beneath and the shape between her spread legs entered Ha-ri’s sight. The goddess was unmistakably female. Yet she possessed the perfect form of a female that could not be compared to an ordinary human woman.
She grasped Ha-ri’s penis with one hand and straddled it. Soon, a hot and slippery sensation touched the glans. As the goddess lowered her body slightly, the tip of Ha-ri’s penis pushed into the gap.
“Wait, just a— Ahh!”
Before she could finish speaking, the goddess sat down completely. With a wet sound, the penis was sucked into her vagina. Ha-ri’s hips jerked upward, then she let out a moan from the burning pressure. The inside of the goddess was unbelievably soft and sticky. The vaginal walls writhed as if alive, wrapping around the penis and slowly pulling it deeper. The violent stimulation turned Ha-ri’s mind white.
The goddess slowly raised and lowered her hips. At first the movements were slow, as if to let her adjust. But even that was excessive stimulation for Ha-ri. Every time the penis moved in and out of the goddess’s vagina, love juices stretched out stickily before being swallowed back inside. The vagina clenched tightly, and the depths gripped the penis firmly.
“Ha, ah…”
Ha-ri’s moan stretched out long. The goddess looked down at her and smiled.
It was not mere pleasure. Every time she moved her hips, along with the thrill that ran from the penis up the spine to the brain, something else was being injected into Ha-ri’s body. A wave that was hot and cold, heavy yet light. The feeling that somewhere inside her head was slowly expanding. The sensation that her flesh, bones, blood vessels, and even her thoughts were being rewoven made Ha-ri tremble.
The goddess grasped Ha-ri’s breast with one hand. When her fingers twisted the nipple, Ha-ri arched her back.
“Ah, ugh…!”
Even as she kneaded the breast, the goddess did not stop moving her hips. Instead, she moved faster. The bouncing breasts, the wet sounds, the splashing noises overlapped. Ha-ri’s penis grew burning hot as if completely tamed inside the goddess’s vagina, and her own vagina also grew sensitive as if burning together with it.
The goddess moved her hand lower and rubbed Ha-ri’s vagina.
“Hngh, aah—!”
Ha-ri’s body jerked violently. The intense stimulation of both sexual organs being touched at once made her vision flash white. The inside of her vagina clenched, and the tip of her penis trembled madly. Ha-ri tried to lift her hips to push the goddess up, but the goddess instead locked her in place more firmly with both thighs.
With those words, the goddess’s speed increased further. The wet slapping sounds tore through the silence of the dream. Every time the goddess’s sky-blue hair swayed, faint light scattered, and her chiton lost all meaning as clothing, slipping from her shoulders and waist. The revealed body was smooth and voluptuous. The bouncing breasts drew the eye, and the lines flowing from her belly, pelvis, and thighs were perfect. That goddess was moving her own body atop Ha-ri’s penis, wringing pleasure from her.
“Ahk, hngh, Goddess… it’s too… deep…!”
The inside of the goddess’s vagina suddenly tightened even more. The tip of the penis kept striking the most sensitive spot deep inside. Ha-ri convulsed her hips and let out a moan.
“My pussy… it’s too hot… my cock… feels strange…”
As she spoke, the goddess placed one hand on her own belly. Ha-ri’s eyes followed the gesture. A faint light spreading from where they were joined illuminated both of their lower abdomens. Ha-ri had already crossed the threshold of climax several times. When the goddess went beyond rubbing and pushed her fingers inside, Ha-ri shook as if electrocuted, and the inside of her vagina clenched automatically in sync with the movement of the penis. Yet the penis itself remained on the verge of bursting without being able to release. The goddess was deliberately tormenting her. Every time Ha-ri approached ejaculation, the goddess would loosen her strength and slow down, stretching out that final sensation and drawing it out longer.
“Ha, ah… no, I’m going to— come—”
The goddess slammed her hips down deeply. The sensation of being swallowed to the root made Ha-ri sob as she thrust upward. The goddess’s hands pressed down on Ha-ri’s shoulders and chest, pinning her to the floor once more. Her face drew near. Within her blue eyes, both benevolence and predation dwelled simultaneously.
With those final words, Ha-ri reached climax.
“Aaaah—!”
Hot fluid erupted from the tip of her penis. The ejaculation did not end with a single spurt. Every time the goddess’s vagina clenched strongly as if sucking, semen poured out again and again. Ha-ri felt the semen that had flowed from her own penis being pushed, thick and heavy, deep into the goddess’s womb. Even as the ejaculation continued, the goddess did not stop moving her hips. Instead, she moved slower and deeper, ensuring Ha-ri squeezed out the very last drop.
Ha-ri’s eyes glazed over as she could only moan.
“Hng, ugh… ah…”
Finally, when the penis began to twitch and calm, the goddess slowly rose. She stroked Ha-ri’s cheek once with her hand.
Ha-ri could not breathe properly. Her body felt as if it were melting, and her head seemed wrapped in fog. Yet deep in her lower abdomen, she could clearly feel that something had changed. The goddess slowly withdrew from Ha-ri’s body. As the penis slipped out, sticky semen stretched between them. Ha-ri flinched her hips but no longer had the strength to move further. The goddess stood elegantly once more and looked down at her.
Her voice sounded farther away than before. The dream space seemed to sink into dark, deep water.
With those words, Ha-ri’s consciousness sank into darkness.
When she opened her eyes, it was dawn. Ha-ri blinked for a long time. The dream had been far too vivid to dismiss as mere fantasy. The subtle tremors remaining in her inner thighs, the heavy feeling in her lower abdomen, the lingering heat in her breasts and vagina, and above all, the unfamiliar presence between her legs. Ha-ri reached down beneath the blanket with a trembling hand. And then she swallowed hard.
The traces of the dream had not disappeared. Her body was truly no longer the same as before.