HSA 16

That was Ak Mujin’s last role as the ‘Demonic Cult Vice-Leader’.

Ak Mujin slowly closed and opened his eyes.

The wounds that had occurred just a few days ago were bandaged in white, but they still hurt.

Come to think of it, the old doctor at the pharmacy who had saved him a few days ago said that Jin Geum-ryeon’s sword had inflicted a great wound on him, but it was not that deep. The problem was the sword that aimed for his heart.

‘Why did Kang Mu-hwi target me?’

First Young Master Kang Mu-hwi, who had tried to pierce Ak Mujin’s heart, had disappeared from the Demonic Cult the moment Ak Mujin, the Second Young Master, became the Vice-Leader. Kang Mu-hwi’s attempts to attack Ak Mujin had only happened a few times in the early days of his appointment as Vice-Leader, and then stopped completely, so Ak Mujin had long since stopped paying attention to his existence.

Should he have visited and asked after his well-being as a younger brother? That couldn’t be. Ak Mujin thought that if the object of his inferiority complex came and went like that, it would only provoke him more. According to the old doctor, his constitution seemed to have changed due to the poison applied to Kang Mu-hwi’s sword.

This was a big problem. Hadn’t he almost been raped by a certain Yang Person a few days ago?

Ak Mujin’s face flushed red with shame even thinking about it again.

‘Huk, huk. You have such a nice scent….’

The warrior buried his lips in Ak Mujin’s neck and panted. The hot breath was mixed with the scent of pear blossoms, making Ak Mujin’s head more and more dazed and his skin flushed.

‘T, t, this crazy, heu….’

Ak Mujin tried his best to stay sane. But as the warrior’s hand slipped and groped over his bandages, the dull sensation began to torment him instead.

Just as Ak Mujin was about to accept him, intoxicated by the Yang Person’s scent—

Thud!

‘Young master!’

The old doctor’s disciple, Jang Cheon-woo, burst into the room. He held a medicine bowl and struck the warrior’s Acupoint, knocking him unconscious.

‘Are you alright?’

Ak Mujin shook his head, panting, at Jang Cheon-woo’s question. As the warrior fainted, he fell on top of Ak Mujin, so his bandages were stained with blood again.

It was fortunate that his mind had returned a little due to the pain. Jang Cheon-woo hurriedly put down the medicine bowl and removed the warrior from Ak Mujin’s body. His face looked like he was barely holding something back.

‘Please drink this first.’

Jang Cheon-woo held the medicine bowl to Ak Mujin’s lips and slightly raised his upper body. Ak Mujin swallowed it gulping, sweating profusely.

About an hour after drinking the medicine, Ak Mujin finally felt his body temperature gradually decreasing. The blood that had been surging and boiling had subsided, so he thought he should always keep medicine on hand. The warrior who was lying unconscious on the floor was clearly a man with a beard.

This incident came as a great shock to Ak Mujin.

Physician Noh’s explanation of the Heat Cycle had been far more bland, so he had never imagined such a situation would arise. Moreover, the fact that Ak Mujin himself had tried to open his body to a man was so shocking that for a while, he couldn’t even look Jang Cheon-woo in the face properly.

After hearing that his constitution had changed, a single scene lingered persistently in his mind.

During his time as a writer, he had obsessively searched his name on social media almost every day. Most of what came up in the search were secondary creations of <Namgung Clan’s Illegitimate Child Hides His Power>. Although it had been quite some time since the original story concluded, it had once again achieved great success as a webtoon.

What he had seen then was a one-volume comic book depicting ‘Mae-yeong,’ a character from <Namgung Clan’s Illegitimate Child Hides His Power>, with a swollen belly, tearfully asking the protagonist, Jin Geum-ryeon, for wild strawberries.

It had gained immense popularity among young women and had topped the charts on doujinshi (fan-made comics) sales sites for a month.

He had been trapped in this awful martial arts world he had created for 15 years, and he had found the rampant, inexplicable settings somewhat perplexing.

The point at which the protagonist appeared to kill Ak Mujin, who was himself, had also been moved up by a year, and the protagonist’s attitude toward Ak Mujin was also quite different from the original.

Moreover, now that he thought about it, he had rarely seen a ‘woman’ in this world.

Ak Mujin had clearly given the protagonist, Jin Geum-ryeon, many female characters around him. However, he realized that the only women he had seen were the main characters, and even among the passersby, the proportion was significantly lower.

But now he knew the reason.

‘Male pregnancy’ was a story mainly dealt with in BL (Boys’ Love) creations written by female doujinshi artists, and it was often produced through a subgenre called ‘Omegaverse.’

What was this Omegaverse! Wasn’t it a genre where men with Omega and Alpha constitutions got together and did the deed?!

Then why would this setting suddenly pop up?!

That’s right.

It wasn’t ‘suddenly’ at all.

He realized after 15 years that from the beginning, he had been possessed not by his original work, but by a doujinshi of the original novel!

Thinking that far, he finally remembered what he had been doing just before he was possessed into this world. He had simply finished his daily routine, lay on his side, pulled the blanket up to his ears, and was holding his smartphone.

Yes. He had been doing ego searches again to pursue dopamine because he felt it was a shame to end the day like that.

Ak Mujin felt an immense wave of embarrassment wash over him along with the Blood Flow rushing to his head.

What author could say they died while looking at a secondary creation of their work?

He writhed and groaned. He had put on all sorts of airs while living as Ak Mujin for 15 years, but he couldn’t pretend to be calm now.

‘I have to escape this doujinshi no matter what.’

Ak Mujin’s mind was filled with that thought alone.

However, despite countless contemplations, no clear-cut book came to mind. In modern times, Ahn Do-hyun would lose track of time when doing ego searches. Therefore, he had encountered countless secondary creations. That’s why it was difficult to pinpoint a single work and deduce that he had fallen into that one.

However, if there was anything that remained vividly in his mind, it would be the scene of Mae-yeong, with a swollen belly, tearfully asking Jin Geum-ryeon for wild strawberries. In the work that scene belonged to, Mae-yeong seemed to be a ‘Yin Person’ born with the scent of plum blossoms. Everyone was captivated by his scent.

He had gone to see the samples because that work had been number one on the doujinshi sales site for a month, and he had been shocked. According to the author, that book was a comic book restricted to readers under 27, and 200 out of 300 pages were about the protagonist, Jin Geum-ryeon, violating Mae-yeong in all sorts of lewd ways.

So, had Ahn Do-hyun read this book? That’s a secret. He doesn’t remember the contents very well anyway. Ah, he already said it.

Anyway. It couldn’t be just that.

‘Scary, scary.’

Still, he had now roughly figured out the inside story of this world. He needed a different strategy than the original.

So, what to do now?

When he firmly believed that he had been possessed into the original work, he had thought this:

‘If I die at the hands of the protagonist as in the original, I might be able to return to my original world.’

But as far as he could tell, there was no place for Ak Mujin in this doujinshi. Then he had no idea how to get out of this world.

Ak Mujin ruffled his hair after thinking for a while. He felt like his head would explode from thinking too much.

“Ugh…”

Ak Mujin groaned softly.

Plum blossoms were blooming profusely outside the window. The sight naturally reminded him of Mae-yeong. The Yin Person with the deep scent of plum blossoms, Mae-yeong…

“Does your wound hurt?”

“……!”

Startled by someone’s sudden question, Ak Mujin jumped about 10cm from his seat without a sound. The one who asked the question was none other than Physician Noh’s disciple, Jang Cheon-woo.

“Oh, when did you come in?”

“Just now. I came in to check your pulse.”

Cheon-woo said nonchalantly, pulling a chair in front of the bed where Ak Mujin was sitting and taking a seat. Then, he rolled up Ak Mujin’s sleeve, placed a handkerchief on his white wrist, closed his eyes, and took his pulse.

“Do you have a place to go?”

“Ah, well…”

Ak Mujin could finally return to reality with that question.

What should he really do now?

He had lived in the Demonic Cult for 15 years, and there were definitely people he had grown fond of, but he didn’t want to go back there. If he were to leave that place, now was the best opportunity. He had been struck by Jin Geum-ryeon’s sword and Kang Mu-hwi’s sword at the same time and fell into the river, so Kang Mu-hwi would think Ak Mujin was dead.

However, since he had nowhere to go, if he left this pharmacy, he would have to wander aimlessly.

Jang Cheon-woo glanced at Ak Mujin’s face, felt that his pulse was stable, and removed the handkerchief.

“Your pulse is fine. The detoxification is almost done, so we just need to watch your Blood Flow.”

“Thank you.”

Ak Mujin replied politely.

Jang Cheon-woo hesitated for a moment, then unfolded the rolled-up sleeve again and asked carefully.

“…Where were you and what were you doing before you sustained such a fatal injury?”

Jang Cheon-woo was talking about the stab wound that had pierced his chest.

His tone showed traces of having pondered for quite some time, so Ak Mujin couldn’t shake his head right away and scratched his head quietly. Honestly, he didn’t think he had done anything to incur anyone’s resentment, but it seemed that was just his own thought.

“…Perhaps if the physician finds out, this pharmacy might be in danger.”

Ak Mujin replied with a smile.

If he talked about Jin Geum-ryeon and Kang Mu-hwi, the story of the Demonic Cult would naturally come out. It would be fine if this story stayed between them, but it might flow somewhere else. If it reached the ears of the Demonic Cult Leader, the benefactors who had saved Ak Mujin would become corpses. He wanted to save his benefactors as much as possible.

Jang Cheon-woo nodded without asking further. As was often the case with wandering martial artists, they each had a story.

Jang Cheon-woo now stood up to prepare to change the bandages.

Come to think of it, Ak Mujin was curious as to why the protagonist, Jin Geum-ryeon, hadn’t attacked him as if to kill him. The wound left by the protagonist was healing quite well.

“…Is this big wound really okay?”

“Yes. There will be some scarring, but once it’s all healed, there will be no problem moving around.”

As the bandages were slowly unwound, his bare chest and large scar were fully revealed.

Ak Mujin awkwardly stared straight ahead and tried to straighten his back, but his back naturally bent due to the wound.

Jang Cheon-woo removed the medicine applied to the affected area and wiped it clean with a soft cloth soaked in warm water. Ak Mujin felt very prickly, but he clenched his fist, gritting his teeth to endure it.

“…You endured it well.”

“…What is the reason for treating me so kindly?”

Ak Mujin suddenly became curious and asked. As on the first day he opened his eyes, they knew that Ak Mujin had practiced Demonic Art. Jang Cheon-woo looked at Ak Mujin once and sighed softly.

“Even if you’re from the Demonic Cult, I have to save your life, what else can I do? Hold this.”

Jang Cheon-woo handed Ak Mujin a teacup filled with warm tea as if it were nothing.

His words were understandable, as this place was located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. The Yellow River was scenic but also a good place to fight. Corpses from a round of duels often floated down the river.

Among them were living people and dead people, and the camps were not limited to the Orthodox Sect or the Demonic Sect.

Ak Mujin fiddled with the teacup and took a sip. The pleasant tea scent calmed his mind.

“Hyung, I’m here.”

At that moment, the sound of someone entering the pharmacy was heard. Soon, the sound of footsteps echoing on the floor followed, then the sound of opening and closing the side door, and finally the sound of the door opening to the room where Ak Mujin and Jang Cheon-woo were sitting.

Jang Cheon-woo and Ak Mujin turned their heads at the same time.

“Hyung, I…”

The face of the person who opened the door was somewhat shadowed, and the person’s face stiffened even more when he made eye contact with Ak Mujin.

Who was he?

It was the protagonist, Jin Geum-ryeon.

Ak Mujin spat out the tea.