Chapter 19
I’ve said it before.
My dream.
An apartment in Seoul, in my own name.
If I had even one amazing apartment under my name, I’d have no more wishes.
The reason I worked so hard was because I wanted to buy a house. I didn’t want to keep living like this, shuttling between cramped rented rooms and monthly rent.
There was one more reason a good house mattered.
“Ooh, what is it? A refrigerator too? If it’s okay, can I keep my bottled water in here?”
At least I wouldn’t have a neighbor like this.
“Are you saying something absurd?”
I grabbed Renia’s hand as she kept opening and closing the one-compartment fridge.
It was cheap from a secondhand deal, so if you handled it roughly, it would break quickly.
“How petty! Where did you spend the money I gave you!”
Renia grumbled.
Even if she was a premium customer, wasn’t this a bit much?
“Haa, customer. This is my house, you know? Please leave now. If you have something to say, come to the office tomorrow.”
“Aww! We’re neighbors, aren’t we? We should get along!”
“Ha.”
This really was a coincidence that felt like fate.
Our workplaces were right next door to each other, and we both wanted something cheap, so naturally we ended up moving into this building.
The room next door was just an extra variable, but even if it hadn’t been there, we would have met eventually anyway.
“How about a housewarming party? I’ll even order fried chicken specially for you, boss!”
“I have beer at home!”
Free fried chicken after work?
I can’t resist that.
She really wasn’t called Grandma for nothing.
When it came to food, she was generosity itself.
“Heh heh, actually, I saved on lunch today.”
Saying that, she started looking around my place. There wasn’t much to see, so I ordered chicken through a delivery app.
“Should I order fried chicken?”
“Half and half!”
“Yeees.”
After ordering the chicken, Renia stared blankly at the framed plaque beside the TV.
“What’s this?”
“Oh, that? It’s a medal. I got it a long time ago.”
“A medal?! Come to think of it, you said you were top of the Hunter Training Center, right?”
“That was ages ago.”
I took out a beer and handed it to her.
It should be fine to have a drink before the chicken arrives.
“But do they even give out medals at the Hunter Training Center?”
“No.”
“Huh? Then what is this?”
“I got it when I was even younger. You know, something like the Children’s Scouts?”
“But it looks really expensive?”
She had a good eye.
It was indeed the most expensive thing in my house.
So I displayed it somewhere so visible. If Kim Yang’s salary ever got badly delayed later, I planned to sell it.
“Hey, is it okay if I ask something like this?”
“My past?”
“Ahem!”
Click, click!
The elf queen couldn’t open her beer can. I opened it for her instead and handed it back.
“Well, there’s no need to hide it pointlessly. My father was a general... or something like that.”
“A general?!”
She froze with the beer halfway to her mouth, eyes wide. Her reaction was so funny that I unconsciously gave a brief smile.
“Yes, a general. Thanks to that, I was put through the wringer from a young age under the guise of early education. I had all sorts of experiences... and in the end, I couldn’t stand it and ran away from home.”
“Ran away from home...”
“But what’s funny is, I ran outside because I hated being trapped, yet once I was out, the world was harder than I’d expected.”
I didn’t want to fight.
Because every time that happened, it felt like I could hear my father’s threats, scolding me for being a useless fool.
But the boy who had rushed straight into the world ended up doing what he was best at.
“I was hungry, and I didn’t know how to do anything. So I ended up entering the Hunter Training Center.”
My results were good.
Because the training I’d received since childhood was on another level.
“By any chance... is the reason your Hunter license wasn’t issued related to your family?”
She looked up cautiously, still holding the beer can. She was worried her words might touch a wound of mine.
“Well, you could say that.”
“My goodness... you’ve lived such a hard life.”
Hard life.
I suppose that could be.
“Well, if things really go south, I’ll just have to go back home.”
“Huh?”
“Why? I mean, if I’m hungry, I’ll have to go back to my father and kneel, won’t I?”
“...Then you’d become the general’s heir?”
“I’m not sure about that, but wouldn’t I at least be able to eat well and get by?”
Renia stared at me after my answer. After looking me over from head to toe, she quietly leaned in.
“Ah, ahh! It seems this noble one is quite drunk.”
She hadn’t even taken a sip yet. What was she talking about?
She lightly moistened her lips with her tongue, then rested her cheek against my chest and looked up at me.
“Mm-hmm, I’m tired. May I stay the night today, General?”
“...I told you, I’m not a general.”
“Aiiing, young master.”
I respect keeping multiple lines in the water.
So this is the wisdom of someone 1,901 years old.
“Please get off.”
“For someone who’s 1,901 years old, my skin is amazingly supple!”
“I have no intention of getting drunk and taking responsibility for a 1,901-year-old, okay?!”
Renia immediately butted her head into my chest.
“Passé!”
* * *
“B-boss, here.”
“Mm, thanks.”
Recently, with more freelance customers coming in, the workload had increased quite a bit, but Meracle was basically still pretty idle.
That meant we could arrange matches quickly, and the work didn’t pile up.
The file folder Kim Yang handed over was a list of men who could be matched with Baek Yeonhwa.
Normally, free matching only introduces up to B-rank, but this time I made an exception and listed candidates up to A-rank.
Someone like Baek Yeonhwa was worth that much on the marriage market.
‘She’s young, has never dated a man, is innocent, and even comes from a good family.’
It wasn’t like there were no flaws.
Maybe she’d grown up in a wealthy household, because she had a side to her that didn’t really know what she wanted.
But if that counted as a flaw, then no one in this world would ever be able to do marriage matchmaking.
“Hmm, maybe being on the same fifth floor would be a bit much.”
What stood out immediately was the A-rank customer, White Dragon Blade Jang Baeksu.
A master of blades, he was currently called the Blade Star among the Five Divine Stars of the fifth floor.
But now I’m suddenly curious.
“Kim Yang.”
“What is it, boss?”
“Who’s stronger, the Ten Great Masters or the Five Divine Stars?”
“...I don’t know?”
“You don’t know?”
When I asked back in confusion, Kim Yang shrugged.
“The, the Ten Great Masters and the Five Divine Stars. Th-that’s just what people call them because it sounds impressive.”
“Just calling them something impressive?”
“I-I don’t know who’s stronger. P-people usually just blab about it in inns.”
“...Why?”
“I-it sounds cool?”
It does sound cool.
But being called one of the Ten Great Masters doesn’t automatically mean you rule the fifth floor.
‘So they’re just the kind of people who walk around town with their chests out?’
I shouldn’t put too much pressure on it. I’ll introduce them first.
I sent Jang Baeksu Baek Yeonhwa’s basic profile along with a note that I’d arrange a new match for him.
‘He probably hasn’t reached the fifth floor yet, right?’
As I said before, no transmission towers are even built on the fifth floor, so communication is tricky.
You have to pay extra at the post office and have the message sent in the form of a letter.
Jang Baeksu called.
- Hello?
“Ah, customer! Did you perhaps see what I sent you? She’s someone who joined newly this time, and I thought she’d be a perfect match for you.”
Jang Baeksu had good looks and was a solid, reliable person.
His one unusual point was that he had an excessive preference for virgins, but that was probably pretty similar for most men.
There were quite a lot of customers who wanted a virgin.
They were just embarrassed to say it outright.
- Boss. This is her, right? Baek Yeonhwa of the Taeguk Yin-Yang Sect.
“Yes, that’s right. Do you know her?”
- You could say that.
Jang Baeksu hesitated for a moment.
Then he let out a sigh.
- The truth is...
“Hold on. Is this heavy stuff?”
- It is, yes.
“Then don’t tell me. I don’t need to get involved that far.”
- But if you don’t know this and introduce her to other men, it could become a serious problem.
Ah, damn it.
It had been a long time since I’d landed an S-rank listing.
“Sigh, go ahead and tell me.”
- Lady Baek Yeonhwa has, uh, a predetermined life.
A predetermined life?
“What do you mean?”
- Haa, that is... there is a book that records the remaining 80 years of Lady Baek Yeonhwa’s life.
A book?
Seeing my expression harden, Kim Yang quietly came closer and pressed her ear next to the phone.
It must have been uncomfortable because of my horn, but she didn’t care at all.
- This is called the Cheonjeongrok (天定錄). Lord Azure Dragon has already prepared a perfect life for Lady Yeonhwa.
“How do you know about that, Mr. Jang Baeksu?”
- When Lady Yeonhwa was fifteen, there was a martial arts tournament. I was invited there as well... as an actor.
“...”
- The reason she joined Meracle now is probably because her marriage date was delayed beyond the time written in the Cheonjeongrok. She must want to find a husband quickly.
I remembered the desperate look on her face when she’d heard that marriage would be difficult through a martial-arts match.
What came after was more of the same.
Dangerous.
The Azure Dragon is watching.
If you get married, your life will be stolen, and so on.
Words spoken out of concern for Meracle.
After hanging up, I let out a short sigh.
“We’re screwed.”
Another strange prospect had been added.
“Kim Yang, should we just say we can’t do it and send him back?”
“M-Meracle doesn’t reject customers.”
“Then should we put up a new sign?”
“...”
“Ah, how did I end up being the one suited to Azure Dragon’s self-insert?”
Life really is miserable.
* * *
Deep inside the Taeguk Yin-Yang Sect.
A sealed chamber completely cut off from outside energies.
There was no decoration on the walls, only candlelight cast across them.
Only the book placed on the table in the center gave this room a reason to exist.
Cheonjeongrok (天定錄).
The book of a woman who had been saved because the Azure Dragon stabilized her yin and yang, but who, in return, had given her life to the Azure Dragon.
-----
[Body Management]
Weight: Maintain 7 seok 4 geun (47.0 kg ~ 48.5 kg)
Sleep time: 4 hours 30 minutes per day
When the menstrual cycle changes: compensate by increasing training.
-----
[Diet Control]
Meals: Only byeokgokdan allowed
Solid food: unnecessary
Sweet foods: prohibited
Flavorful foods: classified as a factor that distracts the mind
Meals are based not on fullness, but on “maintenance”
-----
[Interpersonal Relations]
Total intimate relationships: maximum of 3
Long-term interaction: maximum of 5 people
-----
[Scheduled Major Events]
Ages 7~15
Wake up at Insi (3:00 a.m.).
Martial arts training for 19 hours.
Sleep for 3 hours.
Recovery and stabilization for 2 hours.
(Repeated daily)
Age 15
First participation in a martial arts tournament
Age 17
Death of a close fellow disciple
Training focus increases
Age 20
Completion of the yin-yang twin meridians
Age 23
Marriage scheduled
Partner requirement: at least first-class martial arts.
Live-in son-in-law.
Age 24
Pregnancy.
First child’s name: Baek Yeonho (male)
Age 26
Second pregnancy.
Second child’s name: Baek Yeonrin (female)
.
.
.
Age 45
Spouse’s death.
Public activities begin.
Rising to hero status.
Age 46
The war to dominate the old martial world begins.
-----
Words she’d read for nearly her entire life.
After reading that she would conquer the martial world at eighty and die of old age, Baek Yeonhwa closed the book again.
A perfect life plan.
It wasn’t just a wish for simple happiness, but a kind of great-person biography filled with joy, anger, sorrow, and delight, so her name could be widely remembered by later generations.
[Yeonhwa.]
“Yes, Lord Azure Dragon.”
The voice echoing by her ear was now familiar.
As she knelt, she felt the Azure Dragon’s embrace.
[In one month, the year will turn over to the next. You must urgently find your fated beloved.]
“Yes, I’ve already placed a request with a famous matchmaker on the third floor.”
In the old martial world, it was hard to find a match, so this was a kind of compromise.
[Yeonhwa, do not forget that my gaze reaches even the lands of the foreign realm.]
A scolding for the last time she had tried to eat sunji haejangguk.
“I’m sorry.”
[That is enough. Be careful.]
As she stepped out of the Cheonjeongrok chamber, a family servant came running with a sheet of letter paper in hand.
“Young lady! A letter has arrived from the third floor!”
Without hesitation, Baek Yeonhwa took it and opened it.
[What does it say?]
“The match has been decided, so they are requesting a visit within two days.”
[Very well, prepare yourself. We must proceed with the marriage as soon as possible.]
For Baek Yeonhwa’s perfect life.
notes":"Adjusted the chapter title to the self-insert joke and kept neutral phrasing where context was ambiguous. No adjacent repeated-word issues needed fixing."}]}