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CHAPTER 2
Ink from the broken quill pen spread across my hand.
“Is the writer crazy or what!”
What? The whole city just disappeared like it never existed?
I was so angry that my body shook.
This beautiful city where I lived was destroyed in one blow, just so the male lead could show off his so-called swag.
The city’s destruction.
That horrible fact was written down in just a few lines.
“And I even paid money to read this garbage?”
Harsh words kept slipping out.
I was hit with reality. Right now, I just wanted to go back to Korea and get a full refund.
The male lead’s greatsword wasn’t even meant to cut down enemies.
According to the setting in *The Continent Hero’s Tale*, that greatsword was a divine relic given by the God of Creation.
It was a fragment of heavenly punishment, an instrument used to carry out God’s judgment.
So the male lead normally didn’t use it against people—he carried a dagger at his waist for that.
A dagger is short, you say?
Well, once he filled it with sword energy, it grew longer—like a lightsaber in *Star Wars*.
The greatsword was more like the ultimate weapon.
If swords, blades, and daggers were weapons to take down enemies one by one, then the greatsword was like a nuclear bomb or an ion cannon.
In *The Continent Hero’s Tale*, there were often scenes where undead swarmed like ants, and the male lead would sweep them away with the greatsword.
\[Here it is! Greatsword Radiance!]
\[I only watch Continent Hero’s Tale for this.]
\[Shiny White Great. Sword. Radiance.]
\[Kyle, respect as always.]
\[The greatsword’s working hard today too.]
The fans of *The Continent Hero’s Tale* waved their glow sticks, cheering for the Greatsword Radiance.
But me? I was living right in Snidel, where that Radiance was supposed to happen. Honestly, I just wanted to go back in time and report every single one of those comments.
I was fuming when a voice called out.
“Suela, time for breakfast!”
“Ah, sorry!”
“Hurry along.”
Paul gave me a kind smile before disappearing into the dining hall.
I let out a long sigh.
I went to the washroom to wipe off the ink on my hands.
But no matter how much I rubbed, the stains wouldn’t come off.
‘I need to find a way.’
Now that I knew the male lead existed, I felt even more desperate.
“That crazy bastard. Does he think wiping everything out solves anything?”
A person should know how to treasure even a single blade of grass.
And people call this refreshing?
I cursed the writer with all my heart.
“You’re officially the worst male lead ever.”
I clenched my fists tight.
—
A few days passed.
But there wasn’t much progress in my investigation or countermeasures.
There was simply no place to get reliable information.
“Dad, I have a favor.”
I gave Paul a sweet, hopeful smile.
“What is it, Suela?”
Noticing my behavior, Paul narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“I’ll be an adult soon. After this Zombie… I mean, this Jombinira Festival…”
“That’s right.”
“Please let me help sell goods at the market.”
“You?”
Paul’s eyes widened.
“Yes. I need to start thinking about my future, don’t I?”
“I suppose so.”
At the temple orphanage, you had to leave once you became an adult.
And I would become an adult during this Jombinira Festival.
That meant I had to leave this place by next spring.
An older child couldn’t stay forever.
Still, not many children completely left.
For orphans, the orphanage and Paul, the director, felt like both home and hometown.
That’s why many stayed nearby, either working at the orphanage or joining the Sanitas Temple.
“Have you thought about what you want to do?”
“No.”
Even without my past life’s memories, that decision would be tough for any kid.
But for me, it felt especially cruel.
As someone who didn’t belong in this world, the orphanage was the only place I had managed to find comfort and belonging.
Just thinking about leaving made me feel sad and uneasy.
“I haven’t yet, but I plan to start now. I can’t keep putting it off.”
And really, I was planning to use that opportunity for my “Save Snidel Project.”
“Please let me help with orphanage work too. I want to experience it and think about my options.”
“Alright. I understand.”
Paul nodded.
“Then help sell goods at the market twice a week. I’ll tell Sabrina about it.”
“Thank you, Dad.”
I hugged Paul tightly, making him stumble back with a laugh.
—
The next morning, I got up early and went to the orphanage gate.
A woman with brown wavy hair tied neatly with a blue ribbon, wearing a sky-blue cotton dress with a white apron, waved happily at me.
It was Sabrina.
The chicken coop, where we kept a steady supply of eggs, was near the kitchen back door.
And about five minutes from the gate was a large warehouse for storage, with a big farm behind it.
I walked with Sabrina toward the farm.
“So Suela’s finally an adult, huh.”
“Hehe.”
Sabrina, sounding deeply moved, made me smile.
She was four years older, at the fresh age of twenty.
She had also grown up at the orphanage and now worked there, helping with the farm and housework.
“Is there anything you want?”
“Something I want?”
“Yes. Pick something. While I’m selling at the market today, you can look around.”
“Oh, it’s fine.”
“No, really. I want to celebrate.”
Sabrina patted my head gently.
“Our Suela… I didn’t think you’d grow up this well.”
Her words carried so much meaning.
I had taken over Suela’s body when she was eleven.
And over the past five years, I’d learned that Suela hadn’t been healthy.
‘To think she’s grown up so strong now!’
‘I thought Suela had gone to Sanitas when she was so sick back then.’
‘This is Suela? Wasn’t she the one who had chickenpox?’
I often heard reactions like that from orphanage sponsors.
At first, I wondered—did I reincarnate into Suela’s dead body? Or did our souls switch somehow?
But now, I’d stopped thinking about it. I’d never know the answer anyway.
“As your sister, I’m celebrating you. So even if it’s expensive, it’s fine. Got it?”
“Thank you, Sabrina.”
My chest ached warmly.
Anne, Paul, Sabrina.
I wanted to protect them.
Maybe running away to another country would be the best way for me to survive.
But I didn’t want to lose the people who had given me warmth in this cold, unfamiliar world.
‘Is this what soldiers feel when they fight for their family and homeland?’
Just thinking about it made me uncharacteristically solemn.
“Suela, come here!”
Sabrina showed me where the warehouse key was hidden and taught me how to unlock it.
“You open it with this key, then bring out the cart first.”
“Okay.”
I struggled to pull the cart out, but it didn’t budge.
Sabrina laughed.
“There’s a brake on it.”
Embarrassed, my cheeks turned red.
Back in Korea, I’d already be over thirty by now.
So when younger people like Sabrina treated me like a cute little sister, I felt shy.
‘It just means I’m blending into Suela naturally.’
But as an adult, I couldn’t help feeling a little ashamed.
“After pulling out the cart, we load the goods.”
Sabrina pulled a thick notebook from her apron pocket.
“Normally I just follow this list myself, but today I’ll write it down for you.”
She scribbled the items and amounts on the ground with a stick.
With both of us working, loading didn’t take long.
Then Sabrina brought a horse from the stable and tied it to the cart.
“Much faster with help.”
“Did I really help?”
“Of course.”
I climbed onto the cart.
Sitting beside me, holding the reins, Sabrina looked so mature and dependable.
Like a company CEO ready to back up a truck.
When I stared at her, she handed me the reins.
“Want to try?”
“Ah, no!”
I quickly shook my head. The cart was loaded with precious supplies.
Since I’d never driven anything before, I firmly refused.
The ride to the village was refreshing as we chatted away.
“What about lunch?”
“We’ll leave the goods at the store in the morning, then eat. Sometimes I pack bread, but since you’re with me today, the director gave me money for something nice.”
“Really?”
My mouth watered.
Street food.
Something sweet.
Cake or dessert.
I missed chocolates and sweets I used to snack on.
I was sixteen, so why not enjoy it when someone wanted to treat me?
Humming happily, I noticed something strange ahead on the road.
“Sabrina, what’s that?”
It looked like a filthy bundle of rags.
Torn, stained with blood.
From a distance, it could’ve been a dead wolf or boar.
But no wild animal ever looked so mangled.
It made me uneasy.
“Strange. People don’t hunt here.”
The forest was huge and full of animals, but no dangerous beasts.
It was like a wall protecting the Sanitas Temple and the orphanage.
And nobody dared steal from temple property, fearing God’s curse.
So Sabrina had always traveled safely on this road.
When she stopped the cart, I jumped down.
The ragged body was blocking a third of the road.
As I got closer, I realized—it was a person.
“Sabrina!” I shouted.
She turned to me, reins in hand.
“Sabrina! It’s a person!”
“What?”
In my past life, I had been a nurse. Blood and wounds didn’t scare me.
But twenty-year-old Sabrina turned pale, like she was about to throw up.
“Please bring water and a towel.”
While she ran back, I shook the collapsed person.
“Hey, wake up!”
I checked breathing and pulse. Luckily, he was still alive.
“What happened here…”
His body was shredded so badly he looked like rags.
‘Did he have some kind of grudge against someone?’
I laid him flat, wet the towel, wiped his face, and moistened his lips.
“This isn’t good. He’s lost too much blood.”
“Then what should we do?”
Sabrina, panicked, didn’t notice how practiced my first aid seemed.
“Can we get him to a clinic?”
Sanitas was the God of Healing, but holy water wasn’t easy to use or buy—it was too expensive.
And in recent decades, priests’ divine power had weakened. They couldn’t even produce first-class holy water anymore.
“Ugh…”
A weak groan escaped his lips. The best option was to rush him to a town clinic.
“Let’s go, quick.”
We laid him in the back and sped toward the village.
“What on earth happened?”
Vincent, the village doctor, was shocked when he saw the wounded boy.
“Is he from the orphanage?”
His thin, frail frame did look like one of us.
“No. We found him on the road.”
“My goodness. He hasn’t even had his coming-of-age ceremony yet.”
Vincent cut off his bloody clothes and frowned.
“Not a single part of him is uninjured.”
The nurse applied hemostatic powder everywhere and wrapped him in bandages until he looked like a mummy.
“Suela.”
“Yes?”
“I need to run to the store. Can you stay here?”
“Yes, I will.”
Once Sabrina left, Vincent handed me a vial.
“When he wakes up, give him this medicine.”
“Thank you, Vincent.”
I sat by the boy’s bed, watching.
“Could he have been trying to join the orphanage?”
Even Suela had never seen a child this thin, this abused. The thought of his injuries made me shiver.
“Where… am I…”
Suddenly, a faint voice spoke. I jumped to my feet.
“Are you awake? Can you hear me?”
The words came out like a reflex from my old nursing days.
“What’s your name?”
Asking for name, age, and home was the basic test for consciousness.
“Ka…yle.”
The moment I heard his name, I froze.
—
