Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Where Am I? (2)
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Now he finally remembered.
Baek Il-yeong furrowed his brow and bit his lip as he stared at the utterly surreal scene unfolding before his eyes.
If he had zero interest in the first place, that would be one thing, but for someone like him who devoured world history and the like at an otaku level, the emotions surging through him were inevitable.
"Wh-what is this—!"
Soon, his gaze landed on the noblewoman venting her anger at Oda Nobunaga.
'Reality, my ass. This is.'
He never could have imagined it. If the noblewoman hadn't uttered Nobunaga's name, he might not have realized for a good while longer.
There was something unjust about it too.
How was he supposed to notice quickly when the guy wasn't even a man in original history? That would make him the crazy one.
Suddenly, his sleeve brushed against his fingers.
Glancing down at the rough rustling sound, he took in the wide-sleeved black garment unique to Japan. And then, belatedly noticing the two Japanese swords at his waist, he thought.
'Katana, wakizashi.'
The katana was the main weapon.
The shorter wakizashi was the secondary.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, he ran his hand over the two swords at his waist, then absentmindedly looked up at the Oda Clan banner fluttering in the distance and let out a hollow laugh.
'Only noticing that now.'
The black crest shaped like a quince blossom was the symbol of the Oda Clan. He turned his gaze to the corpse from which the monks were hastily clearing the incense.
Oda Nobunaga had offered incense to only one person.
None other than the man called the Tiger of Owari, who started from a branch family and swallowed up Owari Province whole. Oda Nobuhide himself.
And...
Il-yeong glanced at Oda Nobunaga's golden eyes, which held a strange madness and unease amid her black bob, and thought.
'...Why the hell did she have to be a woman?'
That woman was the infamous madwoman.
Or rather, the genius of military strategy, Oda Nobunaga—or so he was convinced the moment he realized it, and he couldn't help but wonder if he himself had gone mad.
It just didn't make sense.
But as he'd repeated to himself, this was reality.
"Hoo."
Il-yeong closed his eyes, rubbed his throbbing brow with his hand, and swallowed back the curse that nearly slipped out.
'Fuck, what did I do wrong? Huh?'
He still didn't even know what his role was in this world. The pressure of possibly being forced into seppuku for carelessly swearing gnawed at him.
Of course, even the low-rank samurai standing nearby were eyeing him with puzzled looks, but now wasn't the time to worry about that.
He didn't just like history.
Having consumed web novels, webtoons, movies, and dramas alike, he had a rough sense of what kind of world this was.
He just didn't want to accept it.
And who could blame him...
1. He opened his eyes to find himself in Japan's Sengoku period.
2. Since Oda Nobunaga was a woman, the other daimyo might have swapped genders too.
3. And from a quick look around, he seemed to be nothing more than a low-rank samurai just filling a seat, not even a key retainer.
...How could anyone easily accept that reality?
The moment he did, he'd either go insane or end his own life—one or the other. But his despairing, confused grumbling didn't last long.
—Slap!
The sharp sound echoing through the temple drew everyone's gaze to the altar. Nobunaga and the noblewoman's fury-twisted faces came into view as heads turned.
Only then did Il-yeong realize with shock that the sharp sound was none other than the slap landing on Nobunaga's cheek.
Yet the noblewoman who had struck it narrowed her brows, bit her lip, and said.
"Many retainers advised making your younger sister the next daimyo. If you've taken the position anyway, you should at least feel shame...!"
No matter that she was the birth mother, striking the cheek of Owari's daimyo—practically a kingdom in itself—was against all reason.
Yet no one stopped the noblewoman.
Or rather, no one dared to.
Regaining his senses bit by bit, Il-yeong swept his gaze over Nobunaga and the noblewoman and thought.
'At this time, Oda Nobunaga was doubted for her abilities, character—everything.'
It wasn't for nothing that her nickname back then was the Fool of Owari. He glanced sideways to gauge the identity of the woman who had slapped Nobunaga's cheek.
'If she's Oda Nobunaga's mother... Dota Gozen.'
It had to be.
She was a woman who sparked endless talk in later accounts.
"Mother."
It was then. A gentle voice rang out amid the murmuring retainers.
"Please calm your anger. Though my sister has committed an act of filial impiety too vile to even mention..."
A voice serene and mild, in stark contrast to Oda Nobunaga's arrogance and insolence. She flicked open the fan in her hand with a snap, covering her mouth as she spoke.
"Still, as you said, Mother, she is now the daimyo of the Oda Clan."
If Nobunaga resembled a lone wolf with her black bob and the prominent 11-shaped abs across her abdomen, this woman's slender frame, long black hair cascading to her waist, and elegant formal robes made her seem like a crane—noble and refined.
At a glance, their differences were clear, and Il-yeong was certain. After all, only one sibling—no, sister—could speak such words to her who had inherited the daimyo position, however imperfectly.
'Oda Nobuyuki.'
The Oda Clan's second child.
Furthermore, a man of ambition who would later rebel multiple times for the daimyo seat—but now a woman, so an ambitious woman.
Thinking that far, he couldn't help but sigh absentmindedly.
'...Common sense is getting wrecked.'
Fortunately, perhaps.
With everyone's attention drawn to the untimely family squabble at the funeral's center, no one was staring at Il-yeong oddly anymore.
Then, Nobuyuki calmly covered her mouth lightly with her fan and said.
"But still... I can't easily understand Father's decision this time. You've crossed the line, Sister."
It was a statement laden with political risk for the one who had become daimyo. But thanks to Nobunaga's earlier behavior, Nobuyuki's words seemed like perfectly justified counsel.
Yes, at least on the surface.
But at that moment.
Nobunaga's lip curled into a sinister smirk, and she parted her red lips slightly to say.
"...Nobuyuki."
The matchlock rifle in her hand spun once with a whirl before aiming squarely at Nobuyuki. Though no fuse was lit, the threat alone was enough to freeze the air solid.
At that moment.
Nobunaga said.
"What if you can't understand?"
At the same time, their mother, Dota Gozen, paled and cried out.
"N-Nobunaga!"
Though samurai tended to disdain the so-called matchlock rifles from the West, a weapon was still a weapon. It was absolutely not something to aim at one's sister.
"Hmph."
However, Nobuyuki, the one facing Nobunaga's intimidation without flinching, remained utterly composed and even stepped forward. The muzzle now pointed precisely at Nobuyuki's heart, and she arched her eyes gently in response.
"Indeed. What... should I do?"
Her reply was profoundly ambiguous.
Yet everyone present knew the intent behind it bordered on treason.
Thus, Il-yeong too found himself swallowing hard as he watched the sisters' exchange intently. He was simply too curious what answer the domineering Oda Nobunaga would give to Nobuyuki, who had so brazenly revealed her inner thoughts.
What would her answer be?
No, it might not even be words. Considering how Nobunaga in original history decapitated enemy leaders and gilded their skulls into sake cups, she might just cut Nobuyuki down right here.
'Then what happens to history...?'
If Nobunaga were a man, he wouldn't even entertain such hypotheticals. But in a world where even genders had flipped, expecting history to stay unchanged was laughable.
"...Hah."
Finally, a sigh escaped her lips—whether a sneer or a lament, unclear. She smirked and said.
"Do as you like, Nobuyuki. Just..."
In that instant, her gaze shifted from Nobuyuki to everyone gathered at the funeral. Everyone instinctively realized her response wasn't just for Nobuyuki, but for all the retainers.
"If you can't accept it."
A sinister smile played on her lips.
Furthermore, her chilling—yet somehow lonely—voice echoed through the temple.
"You'll have to stake your life on it."
It was an utterly arrogant declaration of war.
Nobunaga left the temple immediately after those words. Her waiting retainers outside followed suit, departing en masse.
Yet Il-yeong silently stared in the direction Nobunaga had gone.
'Oda Nobunaga.'
Seeing her in person made his heart race.
Setting aside his personal admiration for the historical figure, what could he say?
The retainers who witnessed this funeral might think she was mad. Even he inwardly agreed to some extent.
But he differed from them.
Il-yeong knew all too well the path she would walk ahead.
That woman... no, that man in history would shake the archipelago. And more—she would be the lord of Toyotomi and Tokugawa, who later dominated Japan.
There were many tales about Oda Nobunaga.
Some said she was mad from the start; others, that endless wars and assassinations broke her amid the era's limits.
But one thing was certain.
The road ahead for her was paved with blood and slaughter. And ultimately, she would meet a pathetic end at Honnoji.
Thus, he couldn't help but think.
—Maybe there's a reason I suddenly ended up in this world?
Pulled from everyday life into the extraordinary.
The modern Baek Il-yeong was gone, and he might have to live here forever.
And before such a him—
Passed one who could seize the archipelago with her innate talents alone.
In that instant, a gleam flashed in Il-yeong's eyes.
The Warring States period.
Sengoku era, in Japanese.
The age of upheaval where inferiors toppled superiors, samurai dominated, and no history of Japan could omit it.
In such a world, Oda Nobunaga was the most alluring lifeline for Baek Il-yeong, who truly knew nothing substantial.
Thus, he soon resolved himself.
—I'll pursue my survival.
Only by living could he do anything.
He wasn't fearless.
But he couldn't afford to stop.
'Hah, what sin did I commit?'
His head throbbed, but there was no helping it.
Reality wouldn't change for it.
Having etched his newfound goal into his mind, he silently stared at the fluttering quince blossom banner and thought.
'First, I need to get close to Nobunaga somehow.'
Pursuit of survival.
To that end, he had to keep Nobunaga from going mad.
"Hey, Il-yeong."
"Yeah."
Yes, he had made that resolve.
Il-yeong roughly wiped his sweat with a plain cloth, sheathed his now somewhat familiar katana at his waist, and stood.
A cool breeze whooshed in.
Passing the Oda Clan's distinctive yellow banner, he gazed at the vast blue sky filling his vision and smiled bitterly.
'Already two months ago?'
It had been over two months and a week since he landed in this absurd world. He had been scheming to approach Nobunaga and paint the big picture...
Didn't someone say it? Reality is a goddamn cesspool.
"Hurry up!"
"Yeah, yeah. Coming."
In shabby clothes of poor quality and a black sedge hat unique to Japan, Il-yeong scratched his shaggy hair and shuffled forward in his geta sandals.
Then, the samurai relieving him came over and started chattering.
Ah, why the name like this?
Il-yeong's expression twisted for a moment.
'Damn it, if you're gonna make me Joseon-born, send me back to Joseon.'
Apparently, he was a Joseon ronin who had crossed into Japan.
Yes, right now, Il-yeong was.
Not even a key retainer of the clan, just one of the Oda Clan's dime-a-dozen low-rank samurai... a so-called ronin, rolling in the dirt.
Ah, I wanna go home.