The Gender-Reversed Folk Tale Fantasy (1)

After blowing off steam at the movie theater, we did the kind of date that lovers usually enjoy.

We strolled through the night streets with the city lights as our backdrop, smiling shyly at each ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠other.

When we finally returned to the dorm, we lingered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in one last kiss because neither of us wanted to part.

That intoxicating kiss and the pure emotions I hadn’t felt in so long. If I had to define it in one word, it was the taste of pure love.

It feels like my mind corruption is finally being cured.

For the time being, enjoying only this kind of innocent affection seemed like the best path forward for me.

There were Miyoung and Jaehee too, but the one who suited pure love the most was Yerin.

The breadth of her heart was on another level.

“Well then, shall I head out for a bit?”

I lay on the dorm bed and pulled up my status window.

“There’s only one place left to go.”

I had considered jumping to a new world if one appeared, but there were no other options available.

Since I had no plans to revisit any of the worlds I’d already been to for a while, I agonized over the decision for a long time.

While I was still debating whether to enter one of the remaining worlds, a new window popped up.

Is this a gacha?

From the explanation, it looked like I could sacrifice a world I’d never visited to open up new possibilities in another.

At first glance it didn’t seem bad, but I couldn’t help worrying whether the new world would actually be better than the current options.

What if I spun the wheel and got something like The Pure Boyfriend Falls to Corruption?

Still, life is a gamble. I slowly pressed the RESET button and tried my luck.

The letters broke apart into tiny pieces, then recombined in a mysterious spectacle. I watched until I could finally read the newly assembled words.

That actually sounds pretty fun.

I wasn’t sure if it would be pure love, but the name alone—classic folk tale world—sparked my interest.

Hadn’t I seen it at least once as a child? It was so familiar from all the children’s literature I’d read that I genuinely wanted to experience it.

“Then I’ll go with this one.”

When I opened my eyes, I saw a scene straight out of a history textbook.

The sudden mixture of memories left me disoriented for a moment, but I sorted them with keywords and quickly adapted. Only then could I think clearly.

I was a good filial son living with my ailing mother. The problem was that her illness had left her blind.

Is this the Shim Cheong story?

The setup felt familiar, but once I arrived home, it became obvious.

This was the Tale of Shim Cheong.

The story of the devoted daughter who sells herself for three hundred seok of rice to cure her blind father Shim Bongsa’s eyes, then throws herself into the Indangsu sea.

But there was one major difference.

“Sihyun, you’re back already? Weren’t you going to check if the medicine peddler had come by?”

“I’m a little tired today… Sister, is there anything I can help you with?”

The fact that I had an older sister named Shim Cheong.

I was startled by the slightly altered story, but I adapted quickly and delivered a flawless performance.

The Joseon era really is full of inconveniences.

I wasn’t used to the kitchen layout, which looked nothing like a modern one, so I kept making small mistakes.

Even though I messed up repeatedly, my older sister Shim Cheong never once got angry.

Instead, she comforted me, saying it was fine, and gently stroked my hair.

She really is kind-hearted. And pretty, too.

Her long brown hair was tied in a single braid, giving her an air of pure innocence. The enormous breasts that seemed out of place in such a poor household nearly stirred up lust in me.

“Sihyun, could you look after Mother for a bit? I’ll prepare the meal right away.”

“Okay. Sorry, Sister.”

In the deeply Confucian Joseon era, seeing a woman cooking was shocking, but I decided to accept it as the expression of a sister who loved her brother beyond measure.

I moved away from the furnace and entered the warm inner room where the ondol floor was heated.

Breathing in the savory, nostalgic scent unique to thatched-roof houses, I faced my mother.

“That footstep… is it Sihyun? Aigu, my baby—what did I tell you to do when you come to Mother?”

“I’m supposed to give you a hug, right?”

I approached my extremely affectionate mother and embraced her tightly.

Even though I had possessed this body, I couldn’t forget the grace of being raised by a woman who couldn’t see.

I closed my eyes at the touch of her hand as she fumbled over me and patted my back.

Stable family love. For an orphan like me, this warmth was a completely new sensation.

“Mother, that’s my butt.”

“Sorry, my dear. I can’t see, so…”

“That’s my crotch.”

“Ahem! My hand keeps wandering to strange places.”

It was all good—except for the part where her blindness caused her to touch only the strange places.

While I was taking care of Mother, my sister opened the door and brought in a tray. The meal must have been ready.

I took it from her, set it on the table, and laid out the spoons.

“It smells savory. Must be doenjang stew.”

“The auntie next door, Younghee’s mother, shared some with us.”

“We should go thank her together later.”

“I already gave her some freshwater snails I gathered, so it should be fine. Here, Sihyun, let’s have a spoonful too.”

Before that, I scooped a spoonful of mixed-grain rice, wrapped it in lettuce, and offered it to Mother first.

As the younger brother of the famous filial daughter Shim Cheong, I had to be a filial son too.

“Mother, please eat first. You too, Sister. I’ll eat after Mother finishes.”

Tears flowed from Shim Bongsa’s eyes. It seemed my filial devotion had moved her to tears.

I wiped the droplets with her collar and brought the rice to her mouth.

The dinner overflowing with family love tasted incomparably better than any meal I had eaten in the modern world.

“Ugh, my back…”

I woke up early and stretched, taking in the scenery of old Joseon.

Swallows and magpies flying between the cozy thatched houses. The clear sky and the crisp touch of clean air.

It felt like simply breathing here would be enough to heal me.

The moment I tried to step outside, I spotted something on the ground.

It was moving, so it couldn’t be called an object. A blue bird with a broken leg was trembling pitifully.

“Aigu, that must hurt. I don’t have the means to raise you, but I can heal you with my mysterious power.”

Before anyone could see, I drew mana from within my chest and poured it into the bird’s injured leg. I had never used healing magic before, but the basic principle was simple.

Just pump in enough fuel to amplify the healing power.

Whether the theory was correct or not, the swallow’s twisted leg quickly returned to normal.

“Fly away freely now~ If you come back later, I’ll boil you in bone broth next time.”

“Sihyun, what are you doing?”

“Nothing. There was a collapsed bird earlier, so I just helped it a little.”

It seemed my sister had woken up too. She stepped outside wearing her usual yellow hanbok.

Her braided hair and gentle smile stimulated a sense of pure beauty.

“Right, the Ppangddeok Lady is coming this morning, so stay inside your room.”

“Ppangddeok Lady?”

The only thing I remembered was that she was the wicked woman who tried to swindle Shim Bongsa in the original story.

But the fact that my sister was trying to keep me inside suggested there was another reason…

Since thinking about it wouldn’t give me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠any answers, I retreated back into the room.

Though I did poke a small hole in the paper door with a tool so I could peek outside.

“Oh my, it’s been a while, Shim Cheong. Has your mother been well?”

“It has been a while, ma’am.”

“But where is your brother? We need a man present for the conversation to make sense.”

At the woman’s words that seemed to be searching for me, I observed her through the hole.

Black hair and violet eyes. And a voluptuous, mature figure that could only be described as milf-like. She was no ordinary woman.

So not all villainesses are ugly.

It felt like one of my preconceptions had just been shattered.

Her appearance was prettier than I expected. I actually started drooling, and it seemed like our eyes met through the paper door.

Creak.

“As I thought, you were here. Sihyun—the auntie has come. Why aren’t you greeting her?”

“Ah, hello…”

“Nice to meet you. It’s cold outside, so I’ll come in. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Shim Cheong, please bring some warm water.”

“Yes…”

With a sour expression, my sister retreated while clearly worrying about me. The Ppangddeok Lady entered the room, approached my side, and sat down with an ominous smile.

“Aigoo! Madam, what brings you here again? Thank you for always helping us.”

“No need to thank me. We all have to help each other to survive, don’t we?”

This woman…

She was secretly stroking my thigh, taking advantage of the fact that Shim Bongsa couldn’t see.

“Sihyun has grown so much.”

I was flustered by the blatant sexual harassment, but I kept quiet for the sake of the unaware Shim Bongsa.

Just as I thought—sexual desire really is the root of all problems no matter where you go.

This is my older sister, Shim Cheong.