BDPVF

Chapter 1

Ding!

Late at night.

After assisting in surgery until the very end, I was dragging myself home in exhaustion.

That was when a notification sound rang out.

For a moment, I wondered if the chief resident—the one who had led the bullying against me—had finally sent an apology. I hurriedly checked my phone.

[Chapter 198 of The Saintess Like Clouds in the Blue Sky has been released!]

But it wasn’t the apology I had hoped for.

It was a notification for the novel I used to love reading before I became a target of bullying.

‘Chapter 198… It’s almost finished now.’

As I faced the hardships of daily life, I had gradually forgotten the story, but now the memories came flooding back.

It was a novel I had loved so much that I even read the setting book.

Thinking back on those days, I entered the novel site.

And then—

HOOONK—!

A runaway truck crashed into me.

And just like that, my life ended meaninglessly.

“Back then…”

I smiled faintly as I recalled my previous life, now six years in the past.

Whoooosh…

At the same time, a cold wind brushed across my cheek.

I was six years old.

The age at which I decided to escape the abusive orphanage.

* * *

The Saintess Like Clouds in the Blue Sky.

The novel I had happily read six years ago.

The protagonist of that story was a saintess.

Like the sun itself, she shone brightly, bringing light even to the dark slums and their orphanages.

More precisely, she became a ray of hope in Iris’s life—a life that had known nothing but darkness.

She hired Iris, a child from the orphanage, as her maid.

Thanks to that, Iris escaped the orphanage where she had been abused.

That happened when…

“I’m only six.”

Iris met the saintess at the age of eight.

But surviving two more years in this hellhole, where people committed every kind of cruelty over something as trivial as eye color, was far too long.

‘At least when I was younger, they still fed me.’

Once I could walk and speak properly, the abuse only got worse.

Being starved became normal.

I rubbed the bruise on my thigh from where I’d been pinched last night and quickened my pace.

The orphanage lay in darkness.

The atmosphere was so eerie that even the moon seemed to hide itself away.

‘Still, I have to go.’

The vicious director and the orphanage staff had drunk themselves unconscious.

‘Not sure if that’s fortunate or not.’

Because they got drunk every night, sneaking around the orphanage was surprisingly easy.

Night after night, rubbing my sleepy eyes, I had searched for it.

The hole in the fence.

The area around it was especially dark tonight—perfect for escaping.

‘Let’s go, Hayang.’

I tightly hugged the rabbit doll in my arms.

It was old and ragged, ignored by everyone else, but it had been my only friend in the orphanage.

Tap tap tap!

I couldn’t wear shoes in case they heard me.

Barefoot, I ran across the painful ground.

The hole in the fence was my destination.

I chose uncertain misery over certain misery.

‘If I stay here like this, I’ll die even if I become the saintess’s servant!’

For years now, I’d suffered dizzy spells.

That was probably what would eventually kill me.

I had to escape to get treatment.

Even the saintess, who could supposedly heal everything, hadn’t been able to save Iris in the original story.

So if I wanted to live…

‘I need to find the Tears of the Goddess.’

A divine relic spoken of only in legends.

But thanks to the novel, I knew where it was.

I planned to drink it and cure the illness that would kill me.

“Haa…”

Compared to that, this hardship was nothing.

Even as dizziness made my legs tremble, I bit my lip and kept running.

And then—

“Iris is gone!”

“Hhk…!”

The dark orphanage lit up in an instant.

At the same time, every hair on my body stood on end.

I could see teachers running around in every direction, searching for me.

‘I need to hurry.’

At this rate, getting caught was only a matter of time.

I pushed myself even faster.

Finally, I reached the hole.

It was tiny—small enough that only a child of three or four could squeeze through.

And more than anything…

‘It’s scary.’

The other side was pitch black.

So dark I could barely bring myself to stick my head through it.

“I can do this…!”

Clutching the doll tightly, I shoved my head into the hole.

“IRIIISSS!!!”

THUD THUD THUD THUD!

Footsteps pounded closer, assaulting my ears.

‘They found me. I have to get out. I hate this place.’

Those thoughts repeated endlessly in my mind like a broken radio.

Eyes squeezed shut, I crawled into the hole.

Maybe my body had grown a little bigger, because I scraped myself against the tight opening.

My fragile skin tore easily.

But I couldn’t stop.

“Ugh…!”

The footsteps were getting closer.

Learned fear.

The terror of being caught again squeezed the air from my lungs.

I moved my arms with all the strength I had.

“Ghh…! HAAAH!!!”

With a desperate cry, I burst out of the hole.

“IRISSSS!!”

The director’s hand barely grazed my back.

Thud.

“Ugh…”

Trying to dodge it, I fell hard onto my backside.

But even then, I was happy.

“You little devil! Where do you think you’re running?! What am I supposed to do if you escape?!”

The director was stuck in the hole, unable to come through.

I compared her hand to mine.

My own hand was so thin it looked like a twig.

Her hand, meanwhile, was swollen with fat.

Seeing that made anger surge inside me, and I couldn’t stop myself.

“That’s not how pigs cry.”

You’re supposed to go oink, you know.

I sneered at the director and turned away.

She screamed behind me, but I ignored her.

Wiping away the tears streaming down my face from fear, I walked aimlessly forward.

‘At least I escaped.’

From now on, I’d somehow have to earn money.

With these red eyes—called the Devil’s Eyes—I’d probably need to keep them covered while working.

‘This plan is way too reckless.’

Still, I didn’t regret it.

“Huff…”

As I trudged onward, the lights of the orphanage finally disappeared behind me.

Once I’d put enough distance between us, all the strength drained from my body.

The exhaustion that comes after adrenaline burns away completely.

My heart, which had been racing wildly, slowed down, and all the pain I’d ignored came flooding back.

It was time to rest.

“What if…”

What if the orphanage people were still chasing me?

I looked around.

‘Thankfully, they’re not.’

I could barely see a thing in the darkness, but at least I couldn’t sense anyone nearby.

‘I’ll rest over there.’

Letting out a sigh of relief, I headed toward an alley ahead of me.

Head lowered, I stared at my tiny stumbling feet.

‘What a mess.’

Little feet covered in cuts and bruises.

Both my body and mind were utterly exhausted.

Even the alley I chose to rest in was unpleasant.

Unlike modern paved roads, this place was filled with rough stones jammed into the ground.

It clearly wasn’t maintained properly—there was a strange smell drifting around too.

Probably sewage.

Too tired even to frown, I walked deeper into the alley.

Just in case someone could see me from outside.

And then—

“Khk…!”

“Hii—!”

Something touched my shoulder.

Something cold, heavy, and sticky.

What?

What the hell was that?!

The place I’d entered was a crossroads where four alleys met.

I had leaned against one corner to rest, and suddenly someone grabbed my shoulder from behind.

I was so startled that I could only gasp for air instead of screaming.

My face must have turned pale blue.

“Kh…!”

Whoever held my shoulder showed no sign of letting go.

DING DING DING!

Alarm bells rang frantically in my head.

‘A ghost? Or a drunk from the orphanage?’

Either way, I was terrified…!

But whatever it was, if I wanted to survive, I had to look.

If necessary, I’d headbutt them or recite a prayer.

Creak… creak…

Like a rusty robot, I slowly turned my head.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

The unknown figure gradually came into view.

The first thing I saw was blood.

Blood I had seen far too often six years ago in my previous life.

I did not welcome this reunion.

‘An… assassin?’

I barely swallowed the scream rising in my throat.

Clenching both fists tightly, I whipped my head around completely.

At the same time—

Thud!

The person gripping me collapsed to the ground.

A thick metallic scent of blood filled the air.

He must have lost an enormous amount of blood.

Someone had probably attacked him.

Fortunately, I couldn’t sense anyone else nearby.

“Hng…”

Covering my mouth with my hand, I examined the man’s condition.

The darkness made it hard to see clearly, but one thing was certain.

‘He’s going to die soon.’

I had been a doctor in my previous life, but there was nothing I could do.

So I should run.

‘If he’s bleeding this much, it means he has severe external injuries.’

He had already fallen into a coma.

Death was only a matter of time.

I had no equipment.

No strength.

There was no way I could save him.

Ignoring the guilt stabbing at me, I slowly backed away.

‘There’s no tourniquet. There’s nothing I can do.’

I tried to convince myself of that.

I was about to flee down the opposite alley from where he had collapsed.

At that moment, the moon finally emerged from behind the clouds.

The moonlight slowly approached from the distance, as if urging me to run.

‘At least I’ll be able to see.’

Clenching my fists tightly, I waited for the light to reach me.

Slowly, the moonlight crept closer.

And when it finally illuminated the fallen man—

“Huh…?”

My gaze unconsciously followed the light.

The figure hidden in darkness was revealed.

Dark navy hair, deep like the back of a whale beneath the sea.

Blue eyes twisted in pain.

I knew this man.

More importantly—

That ring.

The ring he wore was none other than the Ring of Blue Flame.

‘No way.’

In the novel I had transmigrated into, there was only one man who wore that ring.

A power-crazed madman who tormented the saintess.

He always wore the ring while searching for his lost daughter.

As an avid reader of the novel, there was no way I wouldn’t recognize it.

“I… found you…”

His voice trembled as he spoke to me.

His hands were soaked in blood, but the ring alone shone with a blue light.

His name was Arphote Silas.

The main villain of this novel.