Child's Play and Hidden Bruises
I was dying to rush over and see the whipping with my own eyes during our playtime, but I stopped midway. Instead, I double-checked with the ghost.
'You're not talking about corporal punishment, right?'
No matter how much the Tang Clan folks claimed to "love" their blood kin, you could tell from the way my own father neglected me that everything was relative. The standards of a 21st-century advanced nation—where verbal abuse or neglect of one's own kids was illegal—didn't apply here. A guy who wasn't even her official master had stabbed my older brother with a bamboo stick like it was nothing, and no one batted an eye at kids like us getting caned without mercy. There was no such thing as children's rights; this was a harsh world guided by rigid Neo-Confucian principles, where women followed the three obediences and four virtues, and men obeyed fathers, teachers, and lords without question.
So if the beatings Sohee was getting were framed as "love's discipline," there was nothing a third party like me could do about it.
Even as the Mirror Ghost, she couldn't be one hundred percent sure. After agonizing over it, I tucked the mirror back into my bosom.
Master this, master that—what, had the mirror and her personality merged or something? It wasn't important right now.
'If I give this mirror to Sohee, you can talk to her, right?'
The Mirror Ghost wasn't certain either. That meant I might be the only one she'd ever conversed with. Maybe my reincarnation perk wasn't martial arts talent but the ability to chat with ghosts. Of course, there was a chance she could become Sohee's secret friend without issue.
But I pointed out the practical problem.
'Can you really solve Sohee getting beaten just by talking to her?'
I at least knew martial arts and was the youngest son of the family head, but Sohee was a sensitive kid. If she was being bullied and relied on a ghost, would that end well? Classic cliché. I knew how Weasley's story ended because I'd leaned on a diary. Even if the Mirror Ghost truly cared for Dang Sohee, gifting a shady ghost like her to a little girl was foolish. I'd endured it somehow, but what if dealing with that fierce temper drove Dang Sohee insane?
The Mirror Ghost scoffed at my words.
you can fix it.>
'Let's make a deal.'
I calmly explained the deal I'd thought up.
'I'll try to stop Sohee from getting that kind of treatment. And you help me do it. Only when someone actually torments Dang Sohee, of course. Though it'd be better if it never happened.'
She was a hardcore sexist who didn't care about my situation, but her obsession with the Tang women was the real deal. Her tone was still arrogant and prickly, but she didn't reject my condition of saving Dang Sohee. With that temper of hers.
'I'm heading to Sohee now, so take a good look. Aren't you something like a doctor?'
Basic common sense: anyone who practiced poison arts had to know foundational medicine. Sure enough, her response confirmed it.
After finishing my chat with the Mirror Ghost, I ran toward Dang Sohee with a heavy heart.
"Perfect timing, Yohwan! Let's play this together."
Dang Sohee greeted me warmly, drawing several squares on the sandy ground with a stick. Even in the murim world, kids' games weren't that exotic. The game she invited me to was one I didn't play much, but my parents had done it back home—hopscotch, where you could only step in certain squares. Of course, most kids were tossing wooden darts around, but Dang Sohee, who hadn't learned martial arts, played more quietly.
"Sure, let's do it."
I tried to act normal. Luckily, she didn't notice anything off about me.
"Should I go first?"
"Go! A lady should follow demurely behind me!"
"Then you go first, Yohwan!"
I clutched the mirror in my bosom and gave it my all, but somehow lost to Sohee.
'Damn pro gamer...'
Truth be told, I'd never beaten Dang Sohee at hopscotch. So nothing was different from usual. I observed her closely but noticed nothing. That only made me more uneasy.
'So, what do you see?'
'Not that—look for beating marks. Tell me. If you're lying, say so now.'
I was even ready to smash the mirror as a threat.
As the ghost said, on Dang Sohee's neck—right under her jaw, shadowed—there was a faint bruise. Seeing that mark, which felt oddly familiar from before, twisted my heart.
"Sohee, what's that bruise?"
"Oh, this? I tripped and bumped it!"
How do you fall and only bruise your neck? My stomach churned. The Mirror Ghost was right—I'd been dull, stupid, and useless.
that harshly!>
It meant I'd prided myself as Dang Sohee's friend without noticing her plight. Seething at myself, I kept playing hopscotch as she advised me.
Whoever it was, it wasn't accidental. They'd avoid obvious marks to hide from others. By then, Dang Sohee had finished a round alone and turned back to me.
"Yohwan, you done?"
"Yeah, I'm sick of it. Let's play house."
"Yay!"
Dang Sohee eagerly accepted. Girls loved playing house more anyway. Normally, I'd skip such a boring game, but now it was the perfect excuse to check for other wounds.
We moved from the busy street to a quieter spot good for playing.
"I'll be the doctor, you be the patient."
"But in a clinic, you can't show your belly to a strange man, right?"
"Ahem, I'm your husband and the doctor, so I can examine you."
Dang Sohee's eyes widened in surprise, but she accepted the setup. She casually lifted her top, baring her belly.
"Then, my lord husband, please examine me yourself."
"Ahem, then let the examination begin, my lady."
Even with my adult memories, I felt a twinge of reluctance, but there was no choice. I parted the fabric and inspected Dang Sohee's belly. Against my hopes, there were clear signs of violence. Even the Mirror Ghost's voice turned solemn.
"My lord, when will our baby come?"
"Soon, dear—when your belly's as big as Namsan Mountain. You're so impatient, my lady."
I swallowed my gloom and heaviness, reciting the lines.
"Ouch, really? Are you tearing up from joy? You too, my lord."
Come to think of it, to Sohee, my all-out mammoth-level acting just looked like over-the-top happiness. What good was sadness now? No—realizing it even this late was a blessing. I'd said everyone loved Dang Sohee, right? An exception to that assumption just popped up: her father. His expression whenever he looked at his lovely daughter was always displeased. And the adult who'd lay hands on Dang Sohee, who trained separately, was obvious. Even a salaried CEO had some power with money, so silencing people was easy. If it really was her father, I wasn't curious why he'd do something so horrific. Maybe resentment from his position as a son-in-law bound to the clan?
"By the way, Namsan? First time hearing it, my lord. What's Namsan Mountain like?"
I realized I'd slipped a name that didn't exist in the Central Plains. My first mistake since reincarnating left me dumbfounded. Luckily, it was Dang Sohee.
"...It's a mountain like that. A place for sweethearts to visit."
"S-Sw, sweethearts? Wh-what did you just say?!"
She played husband-wife fine but blushed at "sweethearts." Go figure.
"Anyway, don't worry, my lady. I'll protect the baby in your belly—and you— no matter what."
Of course, five-year-old Dang Sohee had no such thing, but my vow to protect her was dead serious. Before long, her face turned traffic-light red—an color that didn't exist in the Central Plains.
"I don't wanna play house anymore."
As she fled, avoiding my gaze, I steeled my resolve watching her go. Who was I? Dang Yohwan. The owner of charm so great the Republic of Korea decided to demolish it. The protagonist of this world! Trapped in a child's body tormented by Tang Family Fist, but a mature adult across time and space! Domestic abusers were no match for me.
...So? With your third-rate skills, what exactly do you plan to do against an adult?>
'Get help, obviously. How do I beat an adult?'
The Mirror Ghost laughed at me like always.
...Now I was pissed. My father was a real 40-degree scalding bastard. Teaching Tang Family Fist was one thing, but dragging in just anyone as my instructor? My older brothers had better ones. Me and the fourth brother got shafted—maybe because his maternal family was weak or he was young. It sucked for me, but in the merit-first Tang Clan, even the family head's sons got no special perks.
'I do have an adult I can rely on.'
Someone far more reliable than the Mirror Ghost. A kind grandma at heart, but a true active elder and Bi Yeon Pavilion master!
'Right now she's a shut-in granny, but her prime nickname was none other than the Poison Insect!'
"A great calligrapher doesn't judge the brush. Doesn't apply to poison arts?"
At the Mirror Ghost's dubious reaction, I realized I'd skipped the key detail and added it.
"Oh, and she's a woman. My little great-aunt or something."
Sure enough, the chick magnet perked up with massive interest.