The Price of Truth

I had a dream.

In pitch-black darkness, I heard voices conversing.

“Young miss, are you truly… going to perform that great technique?”

It was a man’s voice, rough yet filled with sincerity.

“For complete revenge… there is no other way.”

A girl’s voice, youthful but carrying a will of steel. Strangely, it felt like the voice was coming from my own mouth.

“Haa… You know the side effects of the Formless Great Transformation Art, don’t you!”

“Of course. That is also a burden I must bear. You know this. We must prepare for the possibility of failure.”

This must have been the original owner of this body. Though the voice was young, the resolve within it was anything but light.

“But… you will have to live the rest of your life like an expressionless doll!”

“It’s a trivial matter. Uncle, you see me as far too young. If I cling to such things, how could I ever achieve my revenge?”

“I am sorry, young miss. This old one is so incompetent… I cannot even face our late master with any dignity.”

“No. Uncle, you have done more than enough. Now… it is my turn.”

“Young miss, please stop speaking.”

Suddenly, an entirely different voice cut in—deep, cold, and chilling. It felt far older than the man called Uncle.

“Samra-gong. What is the matter?”

The young girl’s voice carried a note of confusion.

Then the owner of that voice, Samra-gong, spoke as if piercing straight through me—the “me” inside the dream.

“The ‘you’ from another world is watching and listening to this very moment.”

And then he spoke directly to me, the real me in reality.

“Stop watching.”

At that instant, I jolted awake from the dream.

My entire body was drenched in cold sweat, and my heart was pounding like a war drum.

A dream? No… this was a memory belonging to the original owner of this body.

Then what happened to her? I hadn’t possessed a dead person’s corpse.

When I first fell into this godforsaken place, those lunatics had swarmed me all at once. Thinking back on that… this body had definitely been alive right up until the moment I took over.

Or perhaps something even more horrifying had occurred.

The original owner of this body, faced with the overwhelming presence of my ‘Ultra S-Class’ consciousness crashing in, had been crushed by its sheer majesty and fled into the deepest corner of her own mind.

Yes, she was probably holding her breath like a dead mouse right now.

But she was only biding her time. Like a venomous snake in hibernation, she was waiting for the moment when I was at my physical and mental weakest.

And then… though it seemed impossible, if I ever faltered, she would strike from behind like a dagger and try to seize control of this consciousness.

So who was the real “me”?

Was the consciousness currently controlling this flesh “me”? Or was this body itself another “me”?

Did the mind own the body, or did the body ultimately own the self?

My head felt ready to explode from these tangled, chaotic thoughts. But the mad demons in this prison revealed an even more shocking truth.

They had been locked inside Shaolin’s Repentance Cave for anywhere from five to thirty years.

I learned that once you entered this place, there was no statute of limitations, no parole—it was a perfect life sentence in hell.

My whole body had trembled uncontrollably.

My dantian was destroyed, my meridians severed, leaving me half-paralyzed, and instead of treatment, I was supposed to rot here for the rest of my life?

In this stifling, stinking place filled with every imaginable discomfort?

Kimchi jjigae… I want bossam stir-fry too… Ah, just one hot bowl of soup with rice…

Privacy was nonexistent. You had to relieve yourself in a corner of the cell where groundwater trickled out. Showers were a fantasy. They said you only got one bucket of water to wipe yourself with once a month.

My whole body was sticky with sweat and blood—I was going insane!

I had to get out of here immediately. This was no place for a human being.

The stench was so vile it felt like my nose was going numb. Normally, the human sense of smell adapts and it gets better, right?

But for some reason, every single breath brought a fresh, new wave of stench that slammed into my olfactory bulb like a truck.

How long was I supposed to wait for the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art to be completed and awaken a new ability?

I can’t live like this! I need to make a decision and take action.

That’s right. They say those who don’t act don’t get to eat. Therefore, I would act.

First, I had to escape this sewer-like Repentance Cave if I wanted any chance of finding a way back to my original world.

I would return this body to its rightful owner and hurry back to Earth to save the world.

And so, for nearly a month, I endlessly pleaded my innocence to that fake monk.

Of course, I wasn’t completely starved each time. Thankfully, they gave me one meal a day.

But today, the fake monk brought dumplings, claiming it was a special treat unlike usual.

So this time, I didn’t plead my innocence.

Because I really wanted those dumplings…

“You’re not getting any offerings today. Don’t eat.”

Suddenly?

“Wait, monk! I didn’t say anything today! Sir! Boss! I have a condition where I’ll die if I don’t eat!”

“Apparently not.”

With those words, the fake monk walked out through the side door!

In the pitch-dark cave, the only sound echoing was the loud chewing of dumplings.

Feeling utterly dejected, I sat there like a stone statue. From the cell across from me, the rat-like Heavenly Poison Old Man shook his head.

“Child, what could possibly be so unfair that you’re making such a fuss? If you’ve been locked up here, you must have committed quite the sins. What evil deeds did you commit at such a young age to end up in this place? Shaolin is the great mountain of the righteous Murim. They would never imprison an innocent person. It would be better to give up and spend the rest of your life in repentance and meditation, seeking the ‘Dao.’”

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

To the old demon who was hammering nails into a discouraged person’s heart, I hurled double curses with both my eyes and my mouth.

“What the hell are you on about~? I’m already pissed off enough to die, and now you’re picking a fight?”

What else was there to do in this gloomy Repentance Cave? When the demons bragged about their evil deeds, my daily routine was to mercilessly curse them out.

Every time, the old demons would laugh like it was the funniest thing in the world.

Sometimes I even picked up useful knowledge about this pseudo-martial arts world from them…

Thinking about it again just makes me angrier.

“Achieve the Dao? Achieve what Dao! Why don’t you achieve some harmony with your own ugly face first! What kind of nonsense are you spouting? Damn it, I’ll turn you into rat meat skewers!”

“Hehe, as expected, your way of speaking suits a promising sprout of the Demonic Path. That mouth of yours is more than qualified to be in Shaolin’s Repentance Cave.”

“This old bastard looks like a rat and squeaks on and on!”

“Hmm… I’m getting old, so even a little food makes my stomach heavy. And since my little one looked so pitiful, I was thinking of giving her one dumpling… but I suppose not.”

“!!!”

Was this old man actually sane? Or was he secretly an immortal?

He was offering to share half of his two dumplings with me? Was this even possible for a human being?

I immediately displayed the flexibility and resourcefulness befitting an Ultra S-Class Super Awakened.

“Elder! I must have lost my mind for a moment out of resentment and despair! Please generously forgive this young one’s mistake and bestow your mercy upon me!”

I lowered my eyes as much as possible, bowed my head, and curled my body into the most pitiful posture imaginable to evoke sympathy.

I had to actively use the fact that this body appeared to be quite young.

“Hey, you poison freak! If your stomach’s too full, just give the dumplings to me! That ugly bitch is young and full of energy—she won’t die from skipping one meal. My stomach’s been weak lately and I have no strength in my body, so give them all to me!”

The senile old man locked in the cell right next to mine blurted out those annoying words without reading the room.

His nickname was probably… Gapjil? Bossy Bastard? Ah! It was Gapjil Jijon.

I quickly spat on the back of Gapjil Jijon’s hand as he reached through the bars for the dumplings.

Ptoo! Ptoo!

“You crazy bitch! What are you doing! Do you want to die?!”

“Then kill me if you can! Why are you ruining the nice atmosphere with your lack of tact? He told me to achieve the Dao! How are you ever going to achieve anything when you’re so old and still such a glutton?”

“Grr! This ugly crazy bitch…!”

Ugly this, ugly that… Even though it wasn’t really my body, my self-esteem was taking massive damage.

“Gapjil brother, that’s enough. Next time we get a special meal, I’ll yield mine to you. It’s pitiful for someone in their prime to go hungry, isn’t it? And this child isn’t even in her right mind.”

“Ugh… Fine. I’ll yield this time.”

Good choice.

“However!”

When Gapjil Jijon shouted loudly, I had a bad feeling he was about to say something aimed at me.

“Ugly bitch! I’m not yielding because I think you’re pretty, so don’t get any ideas!”

“Yeees, yeees~.”

“Look at this damn girl!”

“Gapjil brother, calm down. And you, madwoman, stop as well.”

Heavenly Poison Old Man mediated between us and tossed one dumpling my way.

Jackpot!

I caught the flying dumpling in mid-air as if greeting a lifelong lover, cradling it with utmost care.

It was plump and white like a steamed bun. I held the sacred object with both hands and took a careful, reverent bite.

It had cooled down since it was made a while ago, but who cared?

The moment I bit into it, a big bang of flavor exploded in my mouth!

On ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the pure white canvas created by the tofu’s mild flavor, the refreshing crunch of green onions danced across my taste buds like a spring breeze.

Then the finely chopped stir-fried radish threw a lively percussion party in my mouth.

And for the finishing touch—the conductor that tied everything together was the uniquely aromatic garlic chives. It slammed into my frontal lobe and awakened every dormant emotion inside me!

Joy, gratitude, sorrow, anger, hope… All of it was contained in a single dumpling.

This was truly the taste of heaven!

Hot tears streamed down my face before I even realized it.

It was on a completely different level from that watery porridge with a few vegetable scraps floating in it.

This was violent flavor on par with—or even surpassing—the A5 Wagyu and fatty tuna belly I used to enjoy in my past life.

To savor this sacred experience even one second longer, I nibbled at the dumpling bit by bit, like a hamster.

Heavenly Poison Old Man, who had been quietly watching me, shook his head again.

Does that old man have a motor in his neck? Why does he shake his head so much?

“Are dumplings really that delicious? Why are you even shedding tears?”

I couldn’t possibly put this emotion into words, so I simply gave him a thumbs-up in silence.

Heavenly Poison Old Man looked dumbfounded and shook his head again out of habit.

“From now on, don’t waste your energy throwing tantrums for no reason. That young monk in charge of the Repentance Cave may look young, but his heart is pitch black and his personality is extremely twisted. If you keep acting out, you’ll just end up starving again.”

Hmph. Once a man draws his sword, he must cut something—even if it’s a radish!

Tomorrow, I won’t let this slide!

I steeled my resolve and savored the lingering taste of the dumpling.

An unforeseen worst-case scenario had occurred.

I… the hope of humanity, the savior of the world, the incarnation of testosterone, the womanizer bomber… had gotten my period.

Do they call it “moon visiting” here? Menstruation? Anyway, that’s not the important part!

The man among men that I was had started bleeding!

Pain started near my tailbone and spread to my upper thighs. Vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea continued for days.

The physical pain was bad enough, but the real problem was the confusion of identity.

I might really have to live as a woman in this filthy cave for the rest of my life.

The fear that I might stop being myself.

The fundamental terror that maybe the “me” I knew had never existed at all—that I was merely a fictional personality born from the delusions of this abused, ugly girl trying to escape reality.

Yeah, what was that called again? Dissociative identity disorder?

Maybe the original main personality was this pitiful girl, and I was just a side character created for escapism.

The fact that I was even having these delusions showed just how shocking this period was to me.

My steel-like yet actually glass-fragile mentality shattered into pieces. My lower abdomen and pelvis continued to throb with dull pain.

Even in the middle of all this, I stubbornly continued pleading my innocence with unyielding will, but that fake monk still brushed me off with a single “Starve, then.”

What a rude bastard… to an adult who’s clearly older than him…

How could I not go crazy?

So today, I decided to try one last insane stunt.

Currently, I have been steadily practicing the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art. Thanks to it, not only have my severed meridians been healing, but the size of my Heaven-Shattering Divine Power has been growing steadily as well.

Of course, whether my destroyed virtual organ—the dantian—is also being ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠healed remains unknown for now.

Even in a normal healthy body, it usually takes about a week to prepare the body to accept the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art. On top of that, I must awaken an ‘ability.’

Normally, those who learn the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art can awaken within a month at the earliest, but on average it takes several months.

Once I awaken, I will be able to escape this place on my own.

I will definitely do so.

I have a great mission as the one and only savior of humanity, and there is a reason I must return.

However, I cannot escape by myself right this moment.

To put it plainly, it takes one month to rebuild my body and accumulate usable internal energy with the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art, and another two months to awaken an ability. That means I must live in this dirty, stinking Repentance Cave for at least three months total.

I cannot do that.

I have a great mission, and the food here is absolute garbage.

No! It’s not even food. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠That would be an insult to actual food.

Pseudo-food. Yeah, that’s more accurate.

When breakfast time arrived, the side door opened as usual, revealing his emotionless face.

At that moment, I threw off the rag that could barely be called clothing.

Completely naked, without a single thread on my body, I declared:

“If my demands are not met, I will begin a naked protest starting today!”

Finally, a change appeared on his face! A clear look of shock, a body frozen in place!

It worked! It got through to him! He’s only about twenty years old—how could he not be shocked seeing a woman’s naked body! He’ll definitely panic, try to stop me, and report my demands to his superiors!

Convinced that I had seized the upper hand, I flopped down completely onto the floor.

“I’m going to live like this from now on, so do as you please.”

But oh no.

The look of panic on his face vanished in an instant, returning to his usual expressionless mask. Then he turned his gaze away from me and declared to the entire cave:

“Today, the entire Repentance Cave will starve. There will be no offerings all day.”

At those words, cries of shock and rage erupted from every corner of the cave.

“What?! Why?! That crazy bitch is the one who caused trouble—why do we have to starve?!”

The fake monk spoke quietly, yet loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Collective responsibility.”

With those final words, he left without distributing any food.

Ah.

I had a feeling we were utterly screwed.