'Is this for real?'
Seola thought.
'Am I really going to die like this?'
She couldn't believe it.
Out of nowhere, she had fallen into the world of Murim (martial arts) and trained like crazy just to survive. She thought she could finally live in peace using the Murim trip as an excuse…
But then a war suddenly broke out between the righteous and demonic sects. She had no choice but to pick up her sword and fight to the death.
And now, death was the outcome?
She didn't want to believe it—but the horrible pain from the sword stabbed into her chest was too real to be a mistake.
"Hahaha! I finally took down that annoying Sword Queen!"
Sword Queen.
That was none other than her nickname—Seola.
She forced her eyes open despite her blurry vision and saw an old wrinkly man laughing loudly.
What shocked her even more was that Cheonma—the powerful martial leader she had just fought to the death—was now kneeling calmly in front of that old man.
'Cheonma… is bowing his head?'
Even as she lay dying, Seola couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Who was Cheonma?
He was the main force behind the war, the leader of the Demonic Sect, someone almost like a god in the martial world.
For someone like him to bow to anyone? That made no sense.
But something else was strange.
Cheonma had been badly injured by Seola's sword too. He had only won because of a bit of luck during their final exchange. If that strike had missed just slightly, Cheonma would've been the one lying in a pool of blood now.
So it wouldn't be weird if he collapsed at any moment.
But there he was—kneeling, not even flinching, like he couldn't feel pain at all.
'Who is that old man?'
Seola was curious.
Who was this old man that even Cheonma bowed to?
"You were a real nuisance. If it weren't for you, I would've unified the Murim years ago. But now it's over."
One day, the Demonic Sect started making moves again.
Their dark activities caused great concern among the righteous sects.
Then suddenly, several smaller sects were wiped out overnight.
Everyone knew it was the work of the Demonic Sect.
It was basically a declaration of war—no reason, no warning.
But the Demonic Sect had tried this before. Everyone just thought, 'So it finally happened.'
To fight back, the righteous sects gathered their forces and launched a counterattack.
And so the Great War between good and evil began.
Countless martial artists from both sides died.
"We can't go on like this. The next generation of martial artists is dying. Even if we win, it won't mean anything."
"Then what do we do? Those fanatics throw away their lives like moths to a flame!"
"Shouldn't we take out their leader? Isn't that the only way to stop them?"
"Take down Cheonma?"
If their leader fell, the Demonic Sect would fall apart too.
'That's how I got chosen…'
Seola and a team of elite martial artists were sent to take Cheonma down.
It wasn't easy—they faced countless dangers.
Seola endured the deaths of her comrades, and finally faced Cheonma in a deadly duel.
The battle was fierce.
They were evenly matched.
Cheonma just happened to have a bit of luck at the end.
'I thought everything would end if I took Cheonma down.'
But now… who was this old man?
Even if she was going to die, she had to ask.
"You… who are you?"
Seola coughed up blood as she forced herself to ask.
"Me? Hehehe. You're curious, I see. They call me Blood Brain."
"Blood Brain…? Wait, you mean that Blood Brain from the Blood Cult?"
"Oh? So you know. That saves time."
Even while dying, Seola was stunned.
The Blood Cult?
All of a sudden?
'Wait—wasn't the Blood Cult destroyed 300 years ago? What's it doing here now?'
As unbelievable as it was, Cheonma was kneeling before him—so it had to be true.
'Hold on… does that mean the Blood Cult was behind this whole war?'
If it really was the Blood Cult, then Cheonma acting like a puppet made sense.
They were known for their dark sorcery.
Whether he knew how shocked she was or not, Blood Brain ordered Cheonma,
"You've served your purpose. End your life."
Cheonma's forehead twitched slightly, but only for a moment.
When Blood Brain shook the bell in his hand, Cheonma calmly raised his sword and slit his own throat.
Slash!
It was such a disappointing end for someone who had defeated so many strong martial artists.
"Hahahaha!"
Blood Brain burst into laughter.
"Three hundred years ago, the Demonic Sect destroyed the Blood Cult! But now, the Demonic Sect bows at our feet! Hahahaha!"
As his loud laughter echoed, Seola thought—
'Wait a minute. This all seems really familiar…'
The key moment was when Cheonma's head flew off so easily.
'This is… This is from that novel!'
Right as she was about to die, memories she had forgotten came rushing back.
Could it be…?
It wasn't reincarnation—it was transmigration into a book!
She was speechless.
'If I had known from the start that I was inside a novel… would things have been different?'
But now, it was too late.
The shadow of death had already come for her.
'Book world or whatever… I'm dead anyway.'
It had been a hard life.
She trained endlessly, then left her sect only to spend the rest of her life fighting.
But now she was dead. That was that.
Or so she thought… as her eyes slowly closed.
"…?"
She came back to life?
'Wait, didn't I die?'
Why was she alive?
Seola was confused.
She wasn't in the middle of the battlefield anymore.
'Did someone find me and heal me?'
She quickly checked her body.
Cheonma's sword had dealt a fatal wound.
Not even a god could've saved her.
"…?"
But there was no pain.
And that wasn't the only strange thing.
'My inner energy…! Why is it so weak?!'
She should've had power the size of an ostrich egg—but now it was no bigger than a kidney bean.
Her neck suddenly felt stiff, so she reached up—and froze again.
'What's with this hand?'
She had spent over ten years training and fighting. Her hands should've been covered in calluses like any martial artist.
But these soft little hands… what were they?
They were even oddly short!
Her confusion didn't last long.
She could sense someone approaching.
'Where's my sword?!'
She reached for her waist out of habit—and realized her beloved sword, Moonlight, was gone.
'Can't be helped.'
Seola's eyes scanned the room.
She spotted a flower decoration near the window.
She quickly grabbed the flower, snapping off the stem and holding it tight.
It was fragile, but with some inner energy, it could be sharper than any dagger.
Seola held her breath and waited for the intruder to come closer.
Tap tap tap!
Tiny footsteps stopped just outside the room.
Then—
Creak!
"Huh? Sister! You're already awake?!"
A bright and cheerful voice made Seola freeze.
"…Ryeonghwa?"
"You recognize me, Seola! Thank goodness. Master said we didn't know what kind of side effects there might be!"
Ryeonghwa added that there was a risk Seola might lose her memory and turn into a fool.
"But seriously, you were reckless this time, sister. I get that you were hungry, but why did you eat a poisonous plant?!"
This situation wasn't unfamiliar to Seola.
Wait… this was…
'This is when I first woke up here!'
This was the moment when she first fell into the Murim world.
She had lived as an ordinary office worker in 21st-century Korea before suddenly waking up as a little girl.
One who had eaten a poisonous herb out of hunger and died—only to come back to life.