HRMF 01

Episode 1

How to Replace a Father

I held my breath, hidden in the vines.

“They’re coming. Now.”

After waiting a long time, the group I’d been waiting for finally approached.

Their faces were completely covered by hoods, and even on this steep mountain they made no sound.

Well — they were the infamous assassination guild Irregular.

Countless lives had been extinguished by their hands.

A knight called the strongest.
A wizard learned in ancient magic.
Even an all-powerful ruler.

They used to be merely kitchen help — and the reason a child like me waited for them was simple.

“I’ll catch them.”

Determined, I opened my eyes wide.

“Waaah—!”

A scream — more like a war-cry — escaped me before I could stop it, my whole body trembling with fear.

Then I leapt from the vine pile and clung onto the man at the front…!

“Da—dad!”

I latched on.

“What did you say?”

“Dad?!”

The Irregular members following the man wore expressions of shock.

As soon as they heard me, some of them instinctively drew weapons, stunned.

Especially the man whose leg I’d grabbed…

“…Who are you?”

A chilling intimidation squeezed my body. His voice alone made me want to faint.

He really was the leader of the continent’s top assassination guild.

My whole body was shaking, but I clung to his leg like a leech.

“…I’ll serve you, my lord.”

“…”

“Please raise me.”

The Irregular members stared at me as if I were crazy.

I felt crazy, too — what must they think?

“But he’s the only one who can save me.”

I am Yusteia Andres.

I’m 15, and I’d transmigrated into a game.

It wasn’t that my life had been hopeless from the start, that I had to cling to the leader of an assassination guild.

My parents were in a political marriage.

My father was a marquis who led a prestigious family.
My mother was the proprietor of a large merchant guild.

Dad needed money, mom needed backing.

“At first, my parents got along fine.”

At least enough to have me.

“Not that there was any overflowing affection.”

My father had remarried, so I had a half-brother.

That half-brother never showed affection to my mother and me.

My father was stern to the point that even seeing his shadow made me cower.

But I had a mother who loved me without limit, and that made it okay.

That balance collapsed a few years ago.

“My father’s first love appeared.”

Apparently after divorcing my half-brother’s mother, dad finally learned what real love was.

But he’d had to separate because grandpa had opposed it.

That first love had been a maid.

And now that first love was raising my father’s child.

By chance my father met his first love and found out about her daughter.

“He brought that daughter back to the mansion.”

That’s where the crack in our life began.

My father was infinitely strict with me and my half-brother.

But not with the maid’s daughter.

He pitied her for growing up on the streets.

The maid’s daughter was naturally bright and cute—she easily tore down barriers.

Not only my father’s wall, but my half-brother’s as well.

“From then on, it was torture.”

The maid’s daughter also had ridiculous luck.

She suddenly gained noble friends I’d never managed to get a glance from.
Even the First Prince, my long-time unrequited love, fell for her.

Because of that, even the household retainers doted on her.

They constantly compared her to me.

“My mother was heartbroken.”

She fought with my father every day.

Don’t discriminate between me and that girl. Make the retainers stop.
But nothing changed.

“The worst part came after that.”

The maid’s daughter accidentally ingested something poisonous and fell into a near-death state.

Everyone who loved the maid’s daughter — my father, my half-brother, even her powerful friends — raved and searched for the cause.

And the one pointed at as the source was me.

“Poisonous herbs were found in Yusteia’s room. The same herbs that poisoned Stella.”

“How dare—!”

My mother tried to protect me, but it was no use.

Everyone who loved the maid’s daughter banded together and even took away my mother’s merchant guild.

It was done to take away my mother’s voice.

And we were driven out.

My mother, already shocked, tried desperately to raise me.

Then she collapsed and lost consciousness and still hasn’t recovered.

“After that, things got really hard.”

While nursing my mother’s illness, I did everything I could to survive.

I, a girl from a noble family, did dishwashing in restaurants and carried fish at the market.

But life didn’t get better.

“And that miserable father even brought his first love into the mansion.”

It still makes my blood boil to think about it.

But when you barely have enough to live on, the only choice is to work. So I did.

I even helped catch tuna at the harbor.

While working like that, I almost drowned and died.

“But in that near-death moment…”

It came back to me — memories from my past life as a Korean.

And I realized.

“This world is inside a game!”

The reason the maid’s daughter had such insane luck and success was that she’s the game’s protagonist.

On top of that, I remembered the game’s story and knew how my life would end.

“Organ storage…”

In the game, when the protagonist was in mortal danger, someone transplanted organs for her.

In the original game, to awaken my mother, I sold my own organs.

“Organ selling is illegal, right?”

That cursed game only cares about the protagonist.

Of course, I could refuse to sell my organs.

But when the protagonist was in danger, would her fan club — the protagonist’s private guard (my father, half-brother, the First Prince, the high-ranking noble friends, etc.) — just leave me alone?

In the first place, in the game it was my father who found me.

If I didn’t sell, they’d drag me away by force.

“So to protect my organs, I needed a savior who would protect me from them.”

Someone powerful who had no ties to the protagonist’s guard.

That’s why I chose the assassination guild Irregular.

We were in a cave.

This was a hideout the Irregular used when they operated nearby.

Right now I was surrounded by members, trembling like a squirrel thrown into a den of beasts.

‘Not just members, but elite troops too.’

Irregular’s elite squad — including the leader — was said to be only seven people total.

Two of them were present here.

The leader and a man named Antonio.

‘I heard one elite can defeat a hundred soldiers…’

While swallowing dryly, elite Antonio approached me.

“Are you really the leader’s daughter?”

Other members snickered.

“There’s no way the leader would have a kid like that.”

“You never know. Maybe you were mistaken somewhere… ack!”

As they chatted, Antonio grabbed my chin and examined me; he screamed.

A coin hanging on the leader’s hand stuck into his eye with a snap! sound.

‘Wow…’

How could a coin make that sound? He just flicked it and it flew like that.

‘Should I run now?’

But I shook my head like a drumroll.

‘I only have one answer: the leader.’

The leader stared at me.

It felt like all the blood in my body froze.

I’d handled tuna, but no kitchen experience could prepare me to face the aura of a true killer.

‘Calm down.’

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.

Of course, I was terrified to death. If I could choose, I’d faint.

But I’d done every job since being expelled from the Andres family.

And at home a rabbit-like mother waited for me, so I couldn’t back down.

Thinking that, the leader slowly pulled back his hood.

For a moment I thought I’d suffocate.

‘What a face…’

Whether idol or actor, no business card could do him justice — his looks were that stupendous.

Even in my Korean-life memory, I’d never seen such beauty.

Jet-black hair like midnight.
Red eyes like the crystal of congealed blood.

Who knew a man that red-eyed could look so perfect.

A sharp jawline, features that seemed selected by a god, beautiful eye-shapes masked by long eyelashes.

And the tight chest and broad shoulders visible under the hood were model-level.

Yet even that beauty was overshadowed by a terrifying presence.

The moment our eyes met, my blood felt like it drained to the floor.

‘There’s no turning back. I’ve seen the leader’s face.’

A person whose face must not be known had revealed himself.

If things went wrong, he could kill me and leave.

He stared at me, pale.

“Who are you—.”

“Yusteia Andres, fifteen! Three years ago I was expelled from the Andres marquisate — the marquis’s daughter! Since then I’ve done dishwashing, misinformation work, market day labor, tuna fishing, sometimes assisting herbalists, and more! I live with my sick mother; we were driven out and now rent a basement at District 5, A-115—!”

“How do you know our location—”

“Last night there was an incident that destroyed the Galego count’s house — I thought Irregular did it! Only a group like Irregular could secretly annihilate a house in one day! Considering military deployments, I assumed the search would be on this mountain! So I was hiding here—!”

“You—”

“Yusteia Andres, fifteen! Three years ago—!”

“I’m not asking for your personal information.”

“Ugh.”

I snapped my mouth shut, panicked, and clapped my hands over it.

The members laughed.

“Cute.”

“What? No way. What’s cute about that? ‘Cute’ is for people like me.”

“You’re not dumb. Maybe we should test her skills.”

“There’s no time to test. If we’re avoiding the imperial troops, every minute counts.”

Amid the chatter, the leader remained silent. His face unreadable. But he didn’t seem inclined to accept me.

“Um, excuse me.”

I raised my hand carefully.

“You don’t have to worry about the imperial troops….”

The leader narrowed his brows.

“What do you mean?”

“There was an incident with the third detachment searching this area.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I made it happen…?”

I rummaged in my bag and pulled something out.

At first glance it looked like a bracken sprig, but it was an herb used in this world.

The members who recognized it flinched.

“Bettiom?”

“Yes.”

Bettiom is extremely effective for abdominal bloating caused by foreign substances and can cause constipation or bowel disturbances.

In short: a powerful laxative.

“I put a lot of it in the mess hall food yesterday.”

There’d be thunder in their stomachs.

They’d be miserable, but they wouldn’t necessarily stop searching because of diarrhea. The detachment commander in this area was a promotion-hungry man.

He’d lock himself in the bathroom, but his soldiers would be sent into the streets.

At my words the members’ mouths dropped open.

But one of them was suspicious.

The only female member of Irregular, who earlier had shouted “What’s cute about that!” said,

“Nonsense. How did you sneak into the military kitchen?”

“I used to work at the barracks’ mess hall….”

“Used to work — meaning you’re not working there now, right? The army wouldn’t open the kitchen to someone like you.”

“Uh, it’s because my cooking is so good they always asked me to come back….”

I took out recommendation letters I carried to find work.

[★★★★★. Honestly better than home cooking. — Lieutenant Colonel Durotty]
[Your cooking is amazing. — Colonel Ragon]
[I channel my urge to beat subordinates into managing it through this child’s food. — Brigadier General Munoz]

“They always begged me to come back. I’d often drop by and cook for them when I had no work.”

“…How good could your food be?”

The members were amazed.

‘Did I do something stupid?’

Maybe they had planned another escape route and I ruined it. That’d be such a nuisance.

I asked, crestfallen.

“Shall I go cook and detoxify them?”

The leader paused and said, “Check the imperial troop’s movement and verify the truth.”

“Yes.”

The member who received the order vanished — so fast you could barely track him with your eyes.

‘So I didn’t ruin anything.’

The leader rose.

“Rest.”

“What about that girl?”

“She doesn’t seem to be thinking of running. Leave her.”

At those words I flinched.

This is my chance.

“Then shall I at least prepare lunch?”

“Huh?”

“May I see what ingredients you have?”

“The rations are over there…”

“Since I might mess with the food, would you like to watch me?”

“Y-yes.”

Seeing me get to work, one member muttered, “What is this crazy situation.”

— and that was that.

Aslan, the leader of Irregular, stared at Yusteia.

She started cooking, with one member tethered beside her.

She skillfully made a fire and stacked stones to hold a large cauldron. After pouring water she hummed.

“We’re short on vegetables.”

Antonio, the elite attached to her, said, “They spoil easily so they’re not good for carrying as rations.”

“Even so, without vegetables there’s not much nutrition… oh, right. Could you lend me your dagger?”

She borrowed the dagger, dragged Antonio away, and returned about thirty minutes later.

Other members, checking the time, frowned.
“Why is she taking so long? Maybe she ran off?”
“She’s with Antonio; she couldn’t have run.”
“Antonio’s touch with people isn’t ordinary — maybe she tricked him.”

Just as the members’ expressions hardened, Yusteia and Antonio returned with their arms full.

Various vegetables and even fish.

“You waited? I prepared some ingredients by the river.”

“Leader, it’s amazing! We got these from the river-keeper!”
“I used to work for an extortion gang….”

While Antonio excitedly recounted, the cooking began in earnest.

She sliced the vegetables with a sword cleaned by the river and threw them into the pot.

She made a vegetable stock and added the prepared fish.

She even crushed raisins from a supply pouch with a knife handle and dropped them in.

The cave filled with an aroma that whetted the appetite.

Some members were already drooling.

Even those who’d been wary slowly crept toward the cauldron.

“…Is it ready yet?”

“Wait a bit more. The turnips need to be soft to taste good.”

“Vegetables — it’s been a while…”

“If so, I’ll load you up with vegetables.”

She shooed the drooling members away and simmered it ten more minutes.

When the food was ready, she ladled it into bowls and served.

Those who tasted remembered the recommendation letters scribbled by colonels and lieutenant colonels.

[Your cooking is amazing.]

Indeed.

Her cooking was truly amazing!

Then they ate like a pack of starving dogs — no, like men starving — digging in.

One of the members, licking his bowl, regained his wits and cautiously handed his bowl to Aslan.

“Leader, the food seems fine.”

“If it wasn’t, you’d all be dead.”

After stuffing ourselves like that, Aslan sighed and tasted the soup himself.

He could understand why the members had been eating like mad.

‘Indeed.’

The members were in a frenzy.

“Put that ladle down. You’re already on your second bowl.”

“You get your hands off the cauldron.”

“I’m still on my first bowl.”

As the quarrel erupted, Yusteia quietly approached the leader.

‘Are you going to distract them with food and attack me?’

How ridiculous.

A scrawny, almost-skin-on-bone hand posed no threat.

At that moment she pulled something quickly from her bosom.

Just as the leader moved to restrain her, she slipped something out.

“I made these secretly… sausages.”

“…”

What on earth is this kid?

But one thing became clear.

“That brat will scoop the cauldron and run!”

“If she’s caught she’s dead!”

…It was obvious the sausages would taste incredible.

Aslan took the sausage.