《I Became the Despised Granddaughter of the Powerful Martial Arts Family》 Chapter 1 Even in villains, there is a hierarchy. There are some people who have to be punished because they make the main character suffer until the very, very final moment, and there are also people who disappear after coming back to haunt the main character. Among them, I was the dreg. The one who came back to haunt the main character in a sloppy and annoying way, and was absolutely not a threat at all. Just as a jewel shines more if there is trash next to it, I was that kind of villainess extra who had not even a tiny bit of influence, and was only there to make the main character stand out. I realized at a very late time that the place where I was in was a world inside a novel. A place that was full of sobbing. ¡°Isn¡¯t that Baekri Euikang¡¯s that daughter?¡± ¡°Ah, that trash?¡± ¡°That waste!¡± The excruciatingly tiresome remarks followed me even to my father¡¯s funeral. From my blank eyes, which had no power to sob, only tears flowed down. ¡°After giving Baekri Euikang a rough time like that during his lifetime, even so, she¡¯s still crying because he¡¯s her father.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying. I heard they also don¡¯t get along well either.¡± Just like what they said in their whispers, in ordinary times, my relationship with Father was not well. If it were to be calculated whether or not our relationship was closer to good or bad, it was closer to bad. Since Father thought I was pathetic and I ignored such Father. However, I cried throughout these two days. I couldn¡¯t tell the exact reason why I was crying. Whether it was because of the sadness of losing Father, or the predicted miserable daily life that would follow me in the future. At the unknown sadness which I did not even understand, I cried and cried until I collapsed after three days. And then, I recalled¨C My past life¡­ My life in the past could be organized and told very simply. Mother who divorced my father during childhood, whose face I don¡¯t even remember, and Father who swung his hands whenever he drank. Getting beaten up from under him as usual, I hit my head at the corner of the table and that was my last memory. I also remembered something else. That this world was actually the very same oriental fantasy I read! (t/n: ?? [muhyeop] is commonly translated to ¡®martial arts¡¯, but can also be written as ¡®oriental fantasy¡¯.) ¡®To think that this is inside a novel¡­. Does this even make sense?¡¯ But the life in this place was truly mine. I could entirely remember the villainess extra¡¯s past that wasn¡¯t covered in the novel. The person who took care of me when I was very young died. And just like that, I became a vagrant who wandered on the street. Then, my biological father, who was dressed in a dazzling outfit, found me. In the situation where I was wandering on the street and picking up trash to eat, there was no option not to follow him. The place where I was led to was a huge manor that was enough to make my eyes widen. When I crossed the gate, which was like a royal palace guarded by scary-looking soldiers wearing swords on their waists, I thought, That my life finally got its sunshine now. ¡®But, out of all things, to think that this was inside that martial arts novel!¡¯ I lifted the teapot with my hands trembling. However, the teapot was empty, and as I put down the teacup weakly, I missed my grip. Clang. The teacup crashed onto the stone floor and like that, it shattered into pieces. There was a reason for me to tremble excessively. Because this novel was a novel wherein for over the next 10 years, slaughter was rampant and the characters were dying! The first sign¡­ was my father. The prestigious family faction, as well as one of the 10 generations of the powerful martial arts family, the powerful Baekri Family¡¯s Fourth Young Lord, Baekri Euikang, the Holy Victim who awakened the arrogant main character, who only knew himself, into the guardian of justice by being the teacher of Namgung Ryucheong, the male lead of this novel! It was an evaluation of my father. And the only daughter of his was Baekri Yeon. A stupid and greedy villainess extra who died by decapitation after coming back to haunt the main character and her father in every way. That¡­ was me. ¡®Damn it.¡¯ Throughout reading the novel, I cursed like so at the villainess extra. Saying that if it was me, I wouldn¡¯t live like that. ¡®But that didn¡¯t mean that I wanted to be her!¡¯ What was worse, Father has died, and to think that this moment was just before the worst war began! Even worse, this novel wasn¡¯t even completed! ¡®¡­What should I do?¡¯ It was too dangerous for a villainess like me who couldn¡¯t even use martial arts to be beside the male lead. Whether it was a good guy or a bad guy, if a person swings their hand once, I¡¯ll die without even making a sound. The male lead may still try to protect me because I am still the daughter of his teacher. However, that¡¯s also why I can¡¯t get out of the state of being a lump of nuisance. ¡®Let¡¯s run away.¡¯ If I live as silent as a grave they won¡¯t even know that there was a villainess extra like me. That¡¯s why I ran away. However¡­ ¡®Why is he here!?¡¯ A pale face to the point it makes the corner of one¡¯s eyes move along following it. An attractive appearance that bewitches people even in this situation. There was only one character that fitted this kind of description. Haven¡¯t I said that there are also classes in villains? If I was merely a dreg extra, then this person was the lead. The lead villain. The actual villain of this novel, Ya Yul! As the Leader of the Cheonsal Group, who undertook alone the brutal murder of the Cheonma religious armed force, he was the one who would climb up to the seat of the Palma Forces in the future and severely torment the male lead. (t/n: based on my research, ?? [cheonsal], I found 3 meanings for this. The first is: the hanja only :¡± Ì욢 which if we break it down, Ìì for sky, god, king, and š¢ for flesh to kill, kill, die. The second is: ÉÚ¢ which means killing people carelessly without hesitation. The third is: ÌìÉ· which means, the name of an ominous star. And for ??? [palmagun], I can¡¯t seem to find anything except for this, °Ëħ܊ which if we break it down, °Ë for eight, ħ for devil/demon, and ÜŠ for army, military, groups of soldiers, and (armed) forces. And ?? [cheonma], it mainly appears as the founder or leader of ?? ħ”œ [magyo] (a religion that worships demons) or Cheonma religious armed force in oriental fantasy. Please do cmiiw.) Tuk. Tuk. Moonlight which was pouring through the cracks of the destroyed window lit up the place where the sound was coming out. The sound of dripping water was from a head which had no body. A fishy smell that reeked. It was like a scene from a horror movie. I slowly stepped back, denying reality. The Villain lightly ridiculed. ¡°I¡¯m disappointed, though. To think that the daughter of Baekri Euikang is in this kind of state.¡± ¡°A-are you here to kill me? Why?¡± ¡°Are you curious?¡± Of course! After Father¡¯s funeral, I broke all ties and disappeared. What I¡¯m trying to say is that it has been a while since I have moved away from the central story where slaughter was rampant. But it didn¡¯t make sense for the final villain to come kill an extra like me! ¡°About that¡­¡± It was when I was focusing on the Villain¡¯s mouth that was opening slowly¨C My view suddenly started spinning, and the floor with blood marks approached, like a slow movie. Thud. A dull sound resonated at my head, not ears. My sight that was spinning stopped, and the long sword which the young man obliquely held was seen. I didn¡¯t even see when he pulled out the sword. Red blood dripped, flowing down the long sword, and a satisfactory smile bloomed from the Villain¡¯s corner of the mouth. That was the last. *** ¡®You son of bitch.¡¯ To think that it was a life of dying from getting decapitated. I really wanted to avoid it, though! ¡®Well, it¡¯s either dying from bumping my head at a table, or dying from getting decapitated. Although it¡¯s all the same deaths in vain.¡¯ Even so, inside this novel, if I died from decapitation, it did belong to the pretty moderate side¡­ but something was strange. ¡®It hurts so much¡­¡¯ I¡¯m sure I died, but my whole body was hot and painful. Will it hurt as much if I roll over and over in fire? While I was struggling with pain, the back of my hand was insanely itchy. At the strange sensations of cold, itchy, and warm, the moment I did my best with all of my strength, my eyes opened. It took a long time for my view to return. A dim room. From the beams on the ceiling to the magnolia-shaped window frames. I was strangely familiar with the embroidery patterns of the long pulled-down indigo silk hanging on the bed. It even felt nostalgic. ¡®Here is¡­¡¯ A human-shaped shadow moved, bending along with the wavering candlelight. Confirming the shadow¡¯s owner, my eyes opened wide. ¡°Father?¡± At that moment, something fell out of Father¡¯s eyes. When I saw the tears that touched the back of my hand, I realized the identity of the sensation that woke me up. ¡®What¡¯s this? Is this a revolving lantern?¡¯ Father received many women¡¯s admiration with his very handsome appearance. However, just like a teacher who was in charge of the main character¡¯s mental growth in general, different from his appearance, he had an upright and righteous personality. Since he has such a personality, I had seen Father¡¯s tears only once when we were together. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I should¡¯ve been by your side.¡± At that sight of Father who said the same thing as my memory, somehow I laughed. What does it matter whether it¡¯s a revolving lantern, a dream, hell, or something else? ¡°Father¡­ no, Dad. Don¡¯t cry.¡± Father opened his mouth slightly and opened his eyes wide. It was the first time I saw such a flustered expression. Even though we¡¯ve been together for years¡­ After the short laugh passed by, somehow emotions soared. As I grew up, my relationship with Father only worsened. Let alone seeing his surprised appearance, even his smiling appearance, no, I couldn¡¯t even remember what kind of face he had at the end¨C Whether the main character did something, sacrificed, and died. He was a really good person, though. Although he was a character in a novel, he was very clumsy, but he was always a sincere person to me. I realized that only after he passed away. Father was the only one who sincerely cared for the villainess extra in this scum-like novel. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for all those times.¡± Father still looked like he was in a daze. It felt like something was lacking. Yeah, if I want to do it, let¡¯s do it properly. I said with a light heart, with a mind of ¡®let¡¯s act as a devoted daughter even if it¡¯s only at the end¡¯. ¡°I love you.¡± Father¡¯s eyes opened wide. ¡®Huhu.¡¯ Seeing the surprised look, I was a little bit proud. Good. It seems that I have done everything that I could in the end. If I close my eyes comfortably like this¡­ At that moment, Father hugged me to the point of suffocation. The refreshing scent of my father, which was the same as my memory. ¡®Whoa¡­ it¡¯s really the same. No, wait.¡¯ Suddenly, I felt a chill. Is this really a revolving lantern? What kind of revolving lantern is this? Father said in a voice that was filled with emotions. ¡°I thought you resented me, but turns out, you didn¡¯t at all.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Turns out, during that time, during those times, Father didn¡¯t know how you felt. It¡¯s all because I¡¯m not good enough. Sorry. I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± What in the world¡­ What¡¯s going on? Chapter 2 A child who looked sickly was blankly sitting back on the bed. Upon entering the room, the girl saw the child and frowned at once. The girl who had been calling the child several times frantically shouted. ¡°Young Miss!¡± The child¡¯s body shook in sudden surprise, and she turned her head. Clicking her tongue, the girl pointed to the basin and said. ¡°Please come to your senses! Here is the water to wash your face and comb your hair, but you don¡¯t need my assistance, right?¡± It was Danggeum, my handmaiden. Seeing the brass basin, I nodded slowly, and Danggeum clicked her tongue as she headed outside. As the sound of footsteps became farther away, a conversation was heard in the distance. ¡°Why are you making a fuss this early in the morning?¡± ¡°No, I mean, no matter how many times I called her, she didn¡¯t hear me, you know. Besides, she¡¯s only been sitting on the bed blankly all day. Isn¡¯t it that she became an idiot after coming back from the dead?¡± ¡°It must be a great shock. They say she¡¯s a disabled person with no life energy right?¡± (t/n: the ¡®life energy¡¯ there is the same as ¡®qi¡¯ or ¡®chi¡¯ which refers to the vital life force or energy that runs through all living beings.) ¡°I know. An elixir that¡¯s capability isn¡¯t even good, who¡­¡± After listening to that conversation, it had hit me that I was really alive and had returned to the past. ¡®To think that I¡¯d experience regression¡­¡¯ And at that, it¡¯s after I fall into ¡®Juhwaipma¡¯! ¡®Juhwaipma¡¯ talks about the phenomena in which the body¡¯s inside energy couldn¡¯t be controlled and is flooding. If one fell into Juhwaipma, most of them died, or even if they recovered, they would become disabled. I also barely escaped death, but my field of elixir, the core wherein life energy is gathered, was shattered. In other words, I became a disabled person who could never use martial arts for the rest of her life. It was a matter which I experienced within half a year after I entered the powerful Baekri Family, when I was just was six years old. I slowly raised my body and ploddingly headed to the table. On the surface of the washbasin¡¯s water that didn¡¯t slosh, a child¡¯s face was dimly reflected. Sunken eye sockets with very dry lips, and deep hollowed cheeks. She was a child with an obvious sickly appearance. That child blinked and tilted her head as she raised and lowered the corners of her mouth. ¡®And my neck¡­ is also attached well.¡¯ However, the feeling of her neck being cut off and the crooked smile reflected in her twirling view were crystal clear. It was simply too vivid to be considered as a mere delusion. ¡®Also every matter that I had gone through¡­.¡¯ The prestigious family faction, the powerful Baekri Family. Baekri Paehyuk, the head of that powerful Baekri Family, had three wives and four children. Among them, the youngest Young Lord from the Third Wife was Baekri Euikang, my father. The Sword Genius that was said to appear once every 100 years. A gentle, but upright character that can¡¯t stand injustice, with a handsome appearance. A perfect person inside and out, with even talents in martial arts! Grandfather also had extremely high expectations for his son, who had nothing missing. The child who was suddenly one day brought by him, saying that it was his daughter. That was me, Baekri Yeon. It was a bolt from the blue. To think there was a daughter from the son who didn¡¯t even get married! Naturally, the family turned upside down in a mess. Grandfather was also red with anger. Moreover, I was an illegitimate child whose biological mother¡¯s origin was unknown. The family and Grandfather objected. However, it couldn¡¯t break Father¡¯s stubbornness. And like that, I was entered into the powerful Baekri Family¡¯s family register. I, who was young at that time, had completely no idea about all these circumstances. And even if Father was a sword genius, at parenting, it was clear that he had no talent. Since if it was not for that, there was no way he¡¯d neglect a five-year-old child whom he brought as his daughter in this kind of house for more than a half year. The young child, who was surrounded by those who were not favorable to her like that, wanted to be recognized by any means. To the point where she was greedy for an elixir whose ability isn¡¯t even that good. It was simply the birth of an idiot and greedy villainess extra. Splash splash. After washing my face, I wiped my face with a towel. ¡®It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s still not too late.¡¯ In the novel, from the starting point of Father¡¯s death, the order of the martial arts world, which was barely keeping its balance while being tangled up, began to collapse. ¡®And in the middle, there was Namgung Ryucheong, Father¡¯s disciple.¡¯ However, now, Namgung Ryucheong, who was the male lead, was also a little kid like me. He hasn¡¯t even formed a master-disciple relationship with Father yet. Father and Namgung Ryucheong became master-disciple, but my role was very effective. I looked out the window in the direction of the place where Father was. There were more than 10 years left until the Great War of Faction and Magyo, the main event where Namgung Ryucheong would play an active role. (t/n: ?? ħ”œ [magyo] means a religion that worships demons. And I¡¯ll shorten ¡®Great War of Faction and Magyo¡¯ into F.M Great War as actually, the Korean word is a shortened one, too.) So, it meant that there were about 10 years left before the event where my father passed away, which is the outpost of the F.M Great War¡¯s beginning. ¡®I have to save Father.¡¯ Father¡¯s death was surrounded in too much doubt. Before, I couldn¡¯t even think about revealing it. I mean, a thing that even Namgung Ryucheong, who was the male lead, couldn¡¯t reveal, how could I even find out about it? It wasn¡¯t that I wasn¡¯t curious about Father¡¯s death, and that I didn¡¯t feel unfair and angry about it. However, I knew, that if I was present, I would only become a disturbance to Namgung Ryucheong. Also the most important thing¨C I wanted to live. And my regressed life. This time¡­ I wanted to save Father. *** Father¡¯s and my residence were in contact with each other in a square shape. As I passed through the courtyard and approached Father¡¯s residence, my heart pounded. Like this, I wanted to turn back and hide in my residence again. On the way, I repeatedly stopped my steps several times, but before I knew it, I arrived in front of Father¡¯s door. ¡®You can do it, Baekri Yeon.¡¯ I clenched both of my fists tightly and looked sharply at the door. If someone saw my expression now, they¡¯d say it was like a commander going out to the battlefield. ¡®The embarrassment was only for a moment. You want to save Father, right?¡¯ Father has to be alive for the probability of my chances to live to rise. Excluding emotion, if it¡¯s the world where even Father, who was realistically one of the martial arts¡¯ most influential person, dies, there was a high probability that my dream of surviving safely couldn¡¯t come true. ¡®Baekri Yeon. You can do it. By being embarrassed to death, it doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re really dying!¡¯ After all, the first button was initiated the moment I opened my eyes. You can do it. You can do it. After hypnotizing myself, I closed my eyes tightly and opened them. As soon as I opened the door carefully, the infusion of medicinal herbs smell poked my nose. ¡°So, you¡¯ve woken up.¡± Father slowly got up from behind the landscape pattern divider screen. As innocent and cute as possible, ¡°Fa-the-rrack!¡± I screamed. Before bumping my face on the floor with a thud, the wind blew. The expected pain didn¡¯t come, so I opened my eyes which were tightly closed. It was a piece of paper difference between the floor and my nose. My heart was thumping. ¡°You have to be careful.¡± Father was holding my nape collar as if a cat held its child in its mouth and moved. It wasn¡¯t a close distance, but there was no telling when he came close. I rubbed the dorsum of my nose as I looked at the floor. ¡®Huaaa, I¡¯m embarrassed! Just what in the world is it? I think I stepped on something and fell, though¡­. What¡¯s that? A bamboo strip?¡¯ Several small letters written on the bamboo poles that were woven with strings came into my sight. It was about medicinal herbs. The bamboo strip wasn¡¯t the only thing rolling on the floor. From books piled up here and there to a number of medicinal stuff that weren¡¯t tidied, the room was a complete mess. I looked up and saw Father¡¯s face. There was a deep shade below his eyes today as well. ¡®I guess he stayed up all night again.¡¯ For a few days already, I haven¡¯t seen the light in his residence go out. Although it wasn¡¯t as much as I who was ill, Father has lost quite a bit of weight in the meantime, too. Being held by Father danglingly, I stretched my hands out, asking him to hug me. Father who was hesitating said with a strict face. ¡°Haven¡¯t I said that you can¡¯t run in a room?!¡± ¡°Hehe.¡± Father looked at me with a firm face. But as if I didn¡¯t know anything, I kept stretching out my hand as cute as possible. ¡°You aren¡¯t going to hug me?¡± At Father¡¯s strict face, hesitancy brushed past. A short conflict. But the winner was me. Of course. Because I¡¯m ill! Confidently throwing myself in Father¡¯s arms, I hugged his nape. I felt Father¡¯s body, which flinched in surprise, stiffly harden. ¡°Ahem.¡± Clearing his throat, Father looked around the room which there was no one for no reason. My first goal. That was becoming closer to Father. And skinship was the easiest way to narrow the distance between people. How uncomfortable it was when I was first hugged by Father. An awkward posture and a stiffly harden body. He showed practically off that he hadn¡¯t hugged a child before. Me, too, throughout the life I remembered, I have never been hugged by people called ¡®Father¡¯. Right now is, well¡­ Even while Father walked fast, he crossed the room very carefully as if worried I might fly away. ¡°Did you sleep well last night?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re feeling okay?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You mustn¡¯t endure the pain. And if you have a fever or anything, be sure to tell me.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to tell them to serve the infusion of medicinal herbs.¡± ¡°Hoo¡­.¡± The sigh came out reflexively. The medicine that Father gave was bitter like hell every time. In the past, I wailingly threw a tantrum, saying that I couldn¡¯t eat it, and Father forcibly had tried to feed me. Just like a person who has lived by holding a sword in their entire life, it wasn¡¯t a very kind way. Just saying, ¡®Eat.¡¯ and keeping an eye on me until I drank it. If I vomited after forcibly drinking it under strict surveillance, they boiled the medicine again, and I had to come back and drink it. While repeating this, I even held a feeling of resentment against Father. ¡®Honestly, it was too much for me.¡¯ This time, there was also a time where I drank it calmly, but my weakened body couldn¡¯t accept the medicine and vomited all of it. Then this time, Father¡¯s reaction also changed. It¡¯s that he started spoon-feeding me spoon by spoon, in person! ¡°How come your efforts are increasingly progressing?¡± On Father¡¯s face, which had been stiff all this time to hide his worries, a smile broke briefly. The look in Father¡¯s eyes which were looking at me was incredibly sweet. For some reason, for a moment I was so embarrassed that I hid my face in Father¡¯s arms.