Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Don't Live on Your Knees, Die on Your Feet
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Can a human achieve anything if they just try hard enough?
I simply wanted to prove it.
In an era where even fellow humans were divided by class from the moment they were born.
A pathetic, miserable time when people were called slaves more often than by their names.
Where the masters of noble houses would chop off slaves' arms and legs to make them into mounts, then force them to mate with beasts.
Those with such vile tastes were simply born as nobles, so they were "justice."
And we slaves, trembling in fear until our limbs were severed, impaled by horses or pigs until our guts spilled out—we were "evil" just for being slaves.
As proof, the day after my sisters and brothers all died that way.
When my turn came, no one pitied me for committing my first murder.
"How dare a mere slave bite her master without fearing heaven!"
"Guards! Execute her at once!"
Can a human achieve anything if they just try hard enough?
...No, wait—wouldn't things have been better if I'd done something sooner?
A life where I fled far away with my family and lived happily.
It might have been possible...
"Damn it... damn it, damn it, damn it!"
Humans... no, no, that's not it.
...Right, even someone born as worthless trash—can they achieve something if they try?
That was the question I asked myself after beating my dog-of-a-master to death, then slaughtering the officials and bounty hunters who chased me with drawn swords, all the way up to the daughters of hunter clans.
After killing every last one of them.
Me.
Kim Deokja, who stole her former master's surname.
Who sat idly by until my entire family was slaughtered, only finding the courage to fight when it was my turn.
Even so, how far could I climb?
How many more of those who'd looked down on me could I shove a blade into their throats?
That curiosity soon turned into an obsession, carrying me from Joseon across the Edo shogunate to the Qing dynasty, endlessly onward like the round Earth itself.
When I finally came to my senses, I'd arrived in an era where all humans were equal in class—and only then did I lose my reason for living and stop.
"Is this... Joseon?"
I'd set out from Joseon and ended up settling in Japan, the land of Joseon...
How much time had passed? Even the slave-catching bounty hunters were gone from my homeland.
A bottom-feeder like me had, through sheer effort, succeeded in killing nobles, soldiers—even "emperors."
"I've had my fun."
The question I'd always asked myself.
Having found the answer, now I just needed to cut down one final opponent to end it all in death.
I turned my blade on myself—the me who'd only trembled while my family died.
That very moment.
"Hey."
"Huh?"
Until I met the one who sparked a new question.
"Hey, sis. If you're just gonna throw your life away anyway, why not hand it over to me?"
"...What?"
Fighting is great.
At least while it's happening, I don't have to think about anything.
No complications—just dodge or block the incoming attacks, then stab or slash when the enemy shows an opening.
Yeah, that's all it takes.
If I just focus on that, time flies by like riding a time machine.
That's why I loved fighting so much.
These moments let me escape all my past memories.
"Kyahahahaha!"
Clang!
Krunch!
Clatter!
Meanwhile.
"Whoa..."
Deokja-noona...
Wasn't she supposed to be a recovery hunter?
No, even if she's estimated at A-rank or higher, can a healer really be this strong?
Such thoughts raced through my mind amid her solo rampage against hundreds of soldiers and seven women in Bongsan masks moving too fast for my eyes to track.
Deokja-noona, dancing with the enemies' weapons as she snatched them one by one—she was truly...
"Hahaha! Hahahaha!"
...a devil.
No, one of ours, so a good devil?
Either way, she was the kind of powerhouse who'd fuck you up if she turned against us.
"Yes... so good! Stimulate me more! Give me an orgasm like nothing I've ever felt!"
"C-Captain... what the hell is this woman's deal?"
"Hundreds of our soldiers are already down! And they're not dead—just knocked out!"
"She took on all seven of our A-rank hunters at once?"
Something's off.
When we first faced this situation, we were the terrified ones.
At least I was.
But now, with over half the gate guards down, the ones shaking in fear were the Supreme Lee Clan's hunters—facing just one opponent.
The Bongsan Tal Hwarangdan, one of the Supreme Lee Clan's top elite groups that Seolgi once told me about.
Despite their mask-dance getups, all seven were A-rank hunters in the top 1%.
Gulp.
A-rank hunters.
I'd felt their power bone-deep before, in a dungeon against the Wang Clan head, Wang Sunja.
So I knew right away.
The women blocking our path weren't weak.
Of course, none of them could match a clan head individually.
But still—seven A-rank powerhouses charging at once?
If it were me, I'd be instant-killed by even one in seconds.
Slash!
"We—we cut her! We cut her face!"
I said it again—they weren't weak.
Just...
Crunch...
"Huh?"
"Crazy..."
"With her teeth?"
Munch munch.
Our healer-noona was just too strong.
"I thought you were tough... turns out all your gear's made from upper-dungeon minerals, huh?"
Smirk.
"No wonder they felt so sturdy~."
Is that something to say after chewing the sword hilt with raw bite force?
'Deokja-noona... at that level, couldn't she have gone into any other field besides healing?'
What kind of past does she have?
How did someone that fierce end up as Korea's top medical director for hunters?
I was curious, but decided not to ask.
My instincts screamed it was an abyss best left unprobed.
"You bitches are sturdy—if I had a dick, I'd have fucked you all one by one."
"......"
"Huh?!"
That's when she dismantled all seven of the Bongsan Tal Hwarangdan—without skills, just pure hand-to-hand.
Had she completely forgotten I was there? She smacked her lips with that massive coming-out, then froze upon spotting me behind her.
The awkward vibe hit me too—how the hell do I get past this?
As I coughed awkwardly, staring at the woman who'd declared she'd have railed me if she could...
"...ra."
"Ra?"
"I almost said 'ra'!"
No, how old are you to know community slang like that?
"It's because Yongchan's a guy—among girls, that was just a light gag, like a morning greeting."
Bullshit.
Who the hell hears lowbrow crap like that as a joke...
"Pure love sex! Pure love sex!"
Who the hell...
"Living dildo! Living dildo!"
Who...
"One more growth spurt and we'll do that birth-control sex we skipped last time, got it?"
Hmm...
Fuck.
Maybe it really is normal girl talk in this world?
'...Is it?'
Thinking of the three women around me, it suddenly seemed plausible—no grounds to argue.
Anyway.
"Well, whatever—we took 'em all down!"
It looked like a brutal fight at first.
Seeing Deokja-noona stretch and stand alone at the gate, I figured Koreans don't care as long as the result's good.
I pretended not to hear, picked up sleeping Seolgi, and the three of us headed out.
"That's far enough."
Chill.
We were really about to leave the estate.
"?!"
What is this?
Right then.
A voice whispered right against my back, carrying overwhelming pressure that froze my feet in place.
'Is this Lee Gok-nim's blood command?'
I wondered if I'd been hit by a skill, but no—this wasn't that.
It was like prey facing a predator: body locking up before the strike, pure 'difference in presence.'
"Yongchan, snap out of it."
The aura dwarfed what the Bongsan Tal Hwarangdan had emitted—dozens of times stronger.
But Deokja-noona casually breathed the heavy air, walked up beside me, patted my head, and my body relaxed instantly.
"Sheesh, unleashing killing intent on a fragile boy like that. Not sweet at all."
"I don't want to hear that from a former traitor."
"Lee Yul... never imagined that little princess would grow this much."
We turned, and there stood the current head of the Supreme Lee Clan—Lee Yul-dangju, with barely any attendants trailing her. The renowned Lee Gok-nim of the world.
One of only two S-rank hunters in Korea.
Lee Yul-dangju looked exactly as she did from that brief kindergarten glimpse.
"Lee Yul-dangju-nim..."
"Yongchan-kun, you've grown so deli—"
"Pardon?"
"Ah, no. Quite splendidly."
Did I hear something weird? Must be my imagination.
Anyway, who'd expect a reunion like this with the dangju who always funded our orphanage.
Not thrilled.
But I couldn't abandon Seolgi in my arms.
"I'll be taking Seolgi."
"As clan head, I can't allow that."
"Even if it means your daughter faces disaster?"
"...Even then, my role as clan head is to watch according to the rules."
"Then hand over Seolgi."
My body, calmed by Deokja-noona's pat, buckled again under unprecedented pressure, one knee hitting the ground.
But I wouldn't let go of the arms hugging Seolgi.
I couldn't lose my one and only friend—even if it killed me.
And that moment.
Boom!
"...!"
"M-Mother!"
In pressure even Lee Gok-nim couldn't budge, Deokja-noona grinned fiercely and leaped forward with a punch.
Lee Yul-dangju blocked with both hands, of course.
"Yongchan!"
"Y-Yes! Deokja-noona."
"That princess you're holding—is she precious enough to fight this clan head for?"
"...!"
Ignoring the pressure, Deokja-noona turned to me with the sudden question.
"Of course!"
I shouted without a second's hesitation, vowing no past-life regrets.
"I don't care if I get dragged in! Deokja-noona, stop Lee Yul-dangju no matter what!"