[TS] Became a Peach Saint – Chapter 1

I entered a narrow one-room apartment, probably about seven pyeong in size, and plopped down on the mattress, pulling the bracelet out of my pocket to examine it.

As evening fell and the sun began to set, the room grew dim.

Even though the lights were off and the room was slightly dark, the bracelet seemed to glow brightly, emitting a pinkish light.

“What on earth is this situation? Do I have no lingering attachments?”

I’ve lived emptily, without any lingering attachments.

That doesn’t mean I want to die, though. As people often say, I’m the kind of person who wants to live until I’m smearing poop on walls.

I don’t have the courage to die, and just imagining death is terrifying.

I lived an ordinary life.

So ordinary that it was almost a problem. Middle school, high school, engineering college, military service, and then a male-dominated company—I followed the typical path.

I’ve been living in a world full of men, with an average appearance, and I’ve never even held hands with a woman. That’s who I was.

Apart from the ordinary hobby of gaming, I had no other hobbies or club activities.

After graduating from a two-year college in the provinces, I came all the way to Seoul alone to start living in a one-room apartment, hoping to get into a decent company.

I went to work, came home, played games, watched some internet broadcasts, got sleepy, and went to bed, only to repeat the cycle.

At 28, money problems started leaking out at home.

Having suffered from domestic violence under the name of Confucian discipline since childhood, I finally declared a clean break from my family.

After working for nearly two years, I got fed up and quit, receiving a severance package of just over 5 million won.

I spent my salary on games as soon as I got it, so I had no savings.

After staying at home, living frugally, and running out of money, I did a day’s work at a construction site, earned 100,000 won, and on my way back, I met Par.

All I had left was a small one-room apartment, a computer I bought with my first salary years ago, and the 100,000 won I earned today.

As the days went by, I felt my emotions wearing thin.

Even the games I used to enjoy, I stopped playing after quitting my job.

All I did was watch internet broadcasts and fall asleep.

“Hmm.”

The bracelet on my palm was radiating a dazzling light.

“What if I change? What about dating? Wait, do I even want to date a woman?”

I think I like women, but I’ve never been in love before.

Without love, I can’t understand how sweet it can be.

“You gotta try it to know…”

I don’t even feel like working anymore, and eating dust while doing manual labor is so unbearable that I can’t keep doing it.

Even the game I thought I couldn’t live without isn’t fun anymore. I don’t know if it’s because I’m broke or if I’m just losing interest as I get older.

Staring blankly at the bracelet, my thoughts drift to, “Would life be a bit easier if I were a woman?”—a thought with no real answer.

“Is there any reason not to use this?”

I don’t want to die, but living isn’t fun either.

“Would life be a bit more interesting with you in it?”

No answer came from the glowing bracelet.

I don’t even know if using this will actually work, and I’ve lived too realistically to believe in something so unrealistic.

“But didn’t I just see someone disappear in front of me?”

Reality and unreality coexist.

Or maybe I’ve gone crazy. It’s one or the other.

“Let’s go!”

I shoved the bracelet onto my left hand, which didn’t fit well.

—Crack. Thud.

Suddenly, strange noises started coming.

I thought it was from the bracelet, but no, it was coming from my thigh—no, my entire body.

My whole body shook and trembled.

—Crack! Snap! Pop!!

Sounds like bones breaking echoed from within.

Then, excruciating pain hit me.

“Ahhh!”

Like air escaping a balloon, my fat melted away as if I’d gone on an extreme diet, and my skin sagged. It felt like every bone in my body was breaking.

“Ugh.”

All I could do was collapse and drool from the unbearable pain.

“Ugh… Shouldn’t I have passed out by now… Damn it.”

I don’t know how much time passed.

My mind was clear, but the sounds of my body crumbling kept coming.

I begged and begged to just pass out.

Then, miraculously, the pain vanished in an instant.

“Haah, hoo—. What the hell is this? Shouldn’t it just glow, go ‘poof,’ and then I transform, you crazy spirit bastard?!”

Even though I screamed like a madman, thankfully, no one from next door came over.

Since manual labor starts and ends early, it seemed like people hadn’t arrived yet.

I slowly caught my breath and headed to the bathroom.

“Ugh. Why is my eye level like this?”

It seemed like my body was struggling to adjust after changing.

Click.

I reached the bathroom, turned on the fluorescent light, and saw my reflection in the mirror.

A woman who looked so plain it was like she had given up on self-care entirely, with hazy light blue eyes blinking back at me.

I’m looking at myself.

Touching my face while looking in the mirror, it’s definitely me.

“Changed? Yeah, I changed, but what the hell is this? Shouldn’t I have turned into something prettier if I’m supposed to be a saint?”

Even my voice feels scratchy, to the point where it’s almost repulsive if I keep hearing it.

The clothes are men’s clothes, loose and showing my shoulders, and the jeans I tightened with a belt are now slipping down, barely hanging on to the opposite hip.

“No, it’s just me with longer hair. Why is my hair so long, reaching down to my tailbone?”

My hair is a mess, as if I’ve been pulling at it, and my skin is rough.

“Is this for real? Why is my hair this dull pink, like someone spilled ink on it? Did that damn spirit fall asleep while dyeing it?”

After all that pain, the result is just too pathetic.

No matter how I think about it, it’s just too unfair.

“What was that scammer’s name again? Parry?”

As I muttered, trying to remember the spirit’s name, a strange sound reached my ears.

—Whoooosh!

The humming sound I heard earlier outside seemed to grow louder, and the mirror in front of me flickered, showing something faint.

“Ahhh! What, what are you!”

Reflected in the mirror was the spirit I had seen outside and had been desperately searching for.

“Hello, Contractor.”

“Contractor? Contractor?? You crazy fly bastard, what the hell is this? What kind of mess is this? And why are you popping out of the mirror!”

“It’s not Parry, it’s Par. And I chose this method to minimize the energy needed to project my appearance by using the mirror.”

“You almost gave me a heart attack. So that’s not the point, what’s with this appearance? Is this what you meant by saint or whatever? And what was all that pain I just went through?”

The pain and the unsatisfactory appearance naturally made my tone rougher.

“Let me explain one by one. The pain from the physical changes was because my power was insufficient to alleviate the pain.”

“You should have told me beforehand. That kind of pain could drive someone insane or into shock.”

“I can only apologize for that. It’s my first time, so I didn’t realize the pain would be that severe.”

“Damn, you call yourself a spirit and you’re this clueless? Fine, let’s let that slide, but why does my face look like this?”

Par’s lifeless eyes slowly moved and turned towards my face.

“That’s also the same. My power was insufficient, so I focused on transforming the bones and organs into a female form while keeping the appearance as similar as possible to before.”

“Ha, then why is my head this dull pink?”

“That color is also a symbol of Cheondo (Heavenly Peach).”

“You keep mentioning Cheondo, are you talking about the Cheondo peach? As far as I know, Cheondo peaches are more of a red color.”

“The reason is that your strength is still close to that of an ordinary believer, and as a human, it’s impossible for you to reach the Heavenly Peach.”

“So, you’re saying it’ll change gradually, right?”

“Correct. And I will grant you the power to gather the most important divine energy and transform.”

The spirit in the mirror waved its hand in the air.

“What, what’s this?”

Suddenly, letters appeared before my eyes.

A semi-transparent outline, like a hologram, was visible in the air, with letters written inside.

───

[Name: Han Ga-eul]

[Age: 21]

[Position: Saint]

[Affiliation: Heavenly Peach]

[Contract Spirit: Aparsek]

[Shop: Inactive]

───

“This is the last power I can give you.”

Reading the letters, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Pfft, this is just personal info. Why’s my age like that? Did I get younger?”

“To facilitate your life as a Saint, we have reverted your physical age.”

“Out of all the changes, this is the one I like the most. What’s the shop?”

“What you saw earlier is just information, as you said, but the shop written at the end is a power close to the authority I have bestowed upon you.”

Authority? That sounds more grandiose than I thought.

I read a bit more and pointed at the “Inactive” next to the shop.

“What’s this ‘Inactive’?”

“It’s just a temporary restriction. It will naturally lift as you engage in productive activities, so there’s no need to worry.”

Suddenly, the term “productive activities” felt too overwhelming.

“Productive activities? You mean earning money?”

“Correct. That is the condition to unlock the shop, and the money you earn becomes the medium to use the shop’s authority.”

“Why money all of a sudden?”

“The medium must contain the power of value, and among the things most valuable to humans, money is the easiest to access and spend.”

“So, all I have to do is earn money?”

“No, money is just the medium to use the shop. Gathering divine energy is a different matter.”