Dokgorin.
The moment I heard that name, I felt as if I had been struck hard on the back of my head with a hammer.
It was no wonder; Dokgorin was the protagonist of the martial arts novel “Heavenly Poison Witch,” which I had loved and read multiple times during my high school years.
‘Could it be that I have been reincarnated into a martial arts novel?’
I simply thought the people around me were speaking Chinese and assumed I had taken a trip to ancient China, never considering that I might actually be in the world of the novel I had read.
Still, the idea of dying and being reborn into my favorite novel felt absurdly fortunate.
But now that I thought about it, the girl in front of me didn’t look ordinary at all.
In “Heavenly Poison Witch,” Dokgorin was described as a stunning beauty.
Her hair did not shimmer jade green, as often described in the novel, so I couldn’t recognize her at first. However, it wasn’t strange for Dokgorin to have black hair before fully learning martial arts.
“Um… may I ask you something?”
I cautiously opened my mouth.
Dokgorin appeared to be around my age or perhaps even younger, but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to speak informally.
Was it a feeling that a person’s demeanor was different?
Despite her youthful appearance, it felt as though I was conversing with an elderly person.
“It’s our first meeting, yet I find it strange that you would ask me to speak informally.”
Then, Dokgorin covered her mouth with her wet, flowing sleeves and smiled gracefully.
“Would you believe it if I said I fell for you at first sight?”
“That’s a bit of an overstatement.”
“What if it’s not a joke?”
“….”
An awkward silence fell instantly.
Seeing the maid next to me with a startled expression, it seemed this was not something she typically said.
While I searched for the right words, I finally managed to say, “Um, it’s a bold statement, but what are you trying to achieve with such easy words?”
After all, in “Heavenly Poison Witch,” Dokgorin was depicted as cold and calculating.
Just because she was young didn’t mean her personality had changed.
Yet, as if mocking my expectations, Dokgorin gazed directly into my eyes with those glassy black pupils and said, “If that’s the case, then my judgment of people must be flawed. But from what I see, Chilbok, you don’t seem like that kind of person.”
Those eyes felt as if they could pierce right through a person.
“…Understood. I’m not trying to save you for some reward. Then, I suppose I’ll take my leave. Please see to your home.”
Feeling an instinctive aversion, I decided to leave the scene immediately.
For some reason, I felt that I shouldn’t get entangled with her any further.
Moreover, in the original story, her clan, the Dokgo family, faced complete extermination on her fourteenth birthday at the hands of a top assassin sent by Weijichun, the leader of the Murim Association.
This meant that being around her would significantly increase the risk of danger.
Meeting the protagonist of the novel I had cherished was certainly a joy, but I didn’t want to waste my hard-earned new life recklessly.
I had a solid goal now—to live more earnestly than in my past life.
As I bowed my head to her and hurried on my way home, Dokgorin, who was watching me with a mysterious expression from behind, suddenly called out.
“We will meet again soon!”
I made no effort to look back.
The moment I reacted to those words, I had a strong premonition that her words were going to come true.
‘Today is definitely a day of misfortune.’
I might as well sprinkle some salt at the door when I get home.
*
Heavenly Poison Witch, Dokgorin.
In her moment of death, the face that came to mind was that of her servant, Ichilbok.
‘Finally, we can meet again. Chilbok.’
The first time she met the servant who was part of her clan, Chilbok, was eighteen years ago when she was twelve.
‘I went out for a walk with the maid and fell into the water.’
Her memories of that childhood were now fuzzy.
Due to her father’s special affection for her, she had spent most of her childhood confined to the house, making the once-a-month walks a pleasure unlike any other.
That day, Dokgorin was particularly excited about her stroll, and while crossing the stone bridge in the village, the incident occurred.
As a child, she carelessly ran across the bridge and slipped on some moss.
Splash!
The incident happened in an instant, and the young Dokgorin could not swim.
What saved her was none other than Chilbok, who was passing by on his way home.
‘Looking back, it was completely inevitable that I started to take notice of Chilbok.’
It wasn’t just because he was her lifesaver; it was because he saved her without any ulterior motives and treated her like a normal person even after seeing her face.
When this fact reached her family, her father immediately summoned Chilbok to their home, accepting him into the family as he had nowhere to go after losing his parents.
It must have started around that time.
The grey hue of her life began to gradually take on color.
Chilbok, who became her direct servant, was always by her side from then on.
In times of joy or sorrow, he was always there for her.
What began as mere fondness soon blossomed into deeper affection.
Though Dokgorin had always kept her distance from men other than her father because of her beauty, Chilbok, who treated her like an ordinary person, became someone special to her.
Then, one day, tragedy struck.
On the day of her fourteenth birthday, assassins sent by Weijichun, the leader of the Murim Association, stormed the Dokgo clan and killed everyone inside.
Later, she learned that the reason they exterminated her clan was because of her.
Her appearance, often described as celestial since childhood, had ultimately caused the disaster.
Chilbok was the one who stopped her when she attempted to rush out in a frenzy after her family’s death.
He advised her that she couldn’t go out right now and needed to endure and bide her time to take vengeance on her family’s murderers.
After losing everything and becoming a woman driven by revenge, Dokgorin wandered the martial world with Chilbok.
If she had been alone, she might have resorted to selling herself to survive, but Chilbok wouldn’t allow her to do such things.
Instead, he endured labor to earn money to feed Dokgorin, encouraging her to focus solely on avenging her family.
Thanks to him, she was able to master the family’s secret martial arts technique, the Nine Limitless Sword Technique, at a young age and stormed in alone to eradicate the assassins, eventually becoming an absolute master capable of calmly escaping while carrying documents related to Weijichun.
All of it was thanks to Chilbok, who had supported her both physically and mentally.
But did fate allow her to find happiness?
One day while wandering the martial world with Chilbok in pursuit of her enemy, he was captured by Weijichun’s subordinates and subjected to terrible torment, ultimately dying without betraying her.
In grief, Dokgorin began to go to any lengths to find and kill Weijichun, acquiring all manner of ruthless martial arts.
Be it poison techniques that generated toxins endlessly within her body, bloodsucking arts that drained opponents’ life force or concealed techniques to slash enemies with invisible wires.
However, among the greatest weapons a woman could wield, she sealed away the beauty ploy.
No one could touch her pure maiden body anymore because they had already been buried in the ground.
After mastering so many martial arts, another ten years passed as she honed her skills.
At the young age of thirty, having accumulated an impressive level of internal strength, she at last succeeded in taking down the head of her enemies and avenging Chilbok, Weijichun.
Using the ultimate technique of the Nine Limitless Sword Technique, she split Weijichun’s body in two and made the choice to leap off a cliff to avoid entrapment by the Murim Association.
However, due to excessive blood loss, she lost consciousness while falling, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw the youthful face of Chilbok as he had been in her childhood.
“What the…”
She couldn’t comprehend.
What on earth had happened?
She was sure she had completed her revenge against her family and Chilbok and had leaped off the cliff to prevent her pure maiden body from being defiled by Weijichun’s subordinates.
Yet when she came to, what she saw was the childhood version of Chilbok.
‘Could it be that I’ve returned to the past?’
In that instant, she felt a sudden heaviness in her chest.
And she felt thankful to the god who she always thought was cruel to her.
For giving her another chance to start over.
‘…No, this isn’t the time for that.’
Regaining her senses, Dokgorin asked Chilbok, who was still looking at her in shock.
“Did you save me when I fell into the water?”
“Yes? Oh, yes.”
Realizing only then, Chilbok hurriedly nodded and responded.
Seeing his adorably flustered demeanor made her want to hug him and ruffle his hair, yet suppressing that desire, Dokgorin asked with a teasing tone,
“May I ask your name?”
Chilbok replied with a nervous expression.
“I’m Ichilbok.”
“Chilbok… What a charming sound.”
‘Ah~~ so cute~~’
Thanks to the Taekuh Heart Method she had mastered, her thoughts and words seemed to stray from each other, but it seemed Chilbok hadn’t noticed anything strange.
And finding that innocent aspect endearing, she smiled brightly and said, “My name is Dokgorin. Since you are my lifesaver, I hope you can call me Rin from now on, with warmth.”
Though she hadn’t been able to protect him in her past life, this time would be different.
This time, she would protect him to the end and enjoy a long life with him.
‘Weijichun, just wait; I’ll be coming for you.’
But first, she needed to assassinate her future enemy.
