LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 1
I was born and raised in a small village on the outskirts.
Our village was the quintessential countryside, a place you needed to drive for several days from the capital to reach.
Inside the village, the air was always thick and suffocating. It was probably because of the walls built to keep out the monsters and vagabonds.
The village had only a dilapidated movie theater and a tiny grocery store as its facilities. The lone school had barely a few dozen students combined.
There was no hospital at all, and the villagers relied mostly on an old quack healer.
Naturally, the children wished to escape this poor village. Whenever a wandering truck merchant came, the square would be bustling with those children.
Gathering people was the merchant’s strategy, and he spent the whole day telling tales of heroes from the outside.
For example, stories of three wanderers who stopped a massive onslaught of monsters from the east, or tales of a veteran who single-handedly slaughtered the evil demon kin beyond the northern wall.
Every time he spat while telling his stories, the children’s eyes sparkled even brighter. They would often get up from their seats and break into roleplay among themselves.
By the time the sun began to set, the merchants would offer trinkets or protective items to the women who came searching for their children, and this strategy had never once failed.
But I had no such envy. Oddly enough, what I desired was the life of the frog in the well from the fairy tales I read as a child.
In the story, the frog gave up on leaving the well. Its friends laughed, calling it stupid for rejecting the big world, but I felt the opposite. It simply understood its limits and was content.
For me, the well was our village. This narrow village was my entire world. Whether the environment was good or bad was not a variable I even considered.
I had no idea how I developed such a worldview. Perhaps I just accepted reality and let go of expectations for a fantasy that had little chance of coming true.
One thing was certain, though: as a child, I firmly believed it was my destiny to grow old in this place.
But in the year I turned 13, during a late summer just after the monsoon ended, ripples began to disturb the calm of the village routine.
Near my home stood an old mansion that had been empty for a long time. Suddenly, workers swarmed in from outside to start repairs on the mansion.
The clattering sounds continued even at night for a while, and the house quickly regained its original neatness.
Naturally, people were curious about the new owner of the mansion. Some speculated that it might be someone highborn, seeing the surprised expression of the guard captain.
Debates over the identity of the new resident lasted for days. For the usually bored villagers, it was quite an exciting topic.
That curiosity would only be resolved days later when the village gates opened at the guard captain’s signal one early morning.
Soon, a luxurious black vehicle entered the village road. The car only stopped after reaching the repaired mansion.
A moment later, a seemingly strict woman got out of the driver’s seat and ran to the back to open the door.
Then, after a brief pause, a girl appeared from within.
*
The debates regarding the girl’s identity stirred the village for a while but soon began to die down.
Only the guard captain, who seemed to know a bit more than the others, kept silent, leaving no openings to dig deeper.
Realizing there was nothing to gain from getting involved, adults gradually stopped discussing the matter.
Usually, children are quite insensitive to the concerns of adults, but this time was no different.
There was only one school in the village, and the girl started attending shortly after moving in.
When the girl first appeared at the classroom door, all the students gasped softly.
Her hair was as black as a night sky.
Contrastingly, her skin was as pale as ivory.
She had a tiny face that looked like it fit in one hand.
Her big, bright eyes and long, elegantly curled eyelashes.
Her lips were painted a deep red like the mountain ash fruits.
And on top of all that freshness lingered an inexplicable gloom and shadow that seemed to consume everything.
The unique mystique and regal posture the girl possessed had a captivating power that drew students to her, regardless of gender.
But it didn’t take long for the fantasy to shatter.
The girl maintained an arrogant and haughty attitude towards all the students who approached her.
Occasionally, she would unleash insulting comments on especially persistent kids.
And she would instruct others to serve her as if they were her servants, so it wasn’t surprising that people slowly began to distance themselves.
Before long, no one approached the seat at the end of the classroom where she used to sit, and she spent her days quietly at her desk until it was time to go home.
Honestly, by this point, I didn’t even know why she continued coming to school.
Even after she transferred, we didn’t know even one letter of her name.
*
“Did you hear? I was told by Hajin earlier. She saw the strict maid come out of that house, and the guard captain was bowing to her.”
“Stop with the nonsense.”
“She swore on her mother’s name that it’s true. How does that make sense? That pig bowing to anyone is ridiculous, let alone a maid?”
On the way back to the living quarters after school, Jinho’s mouth was nonstop, his face full of indignation.
He was also one of the victims of the girl’s merciless insults.
“The adults were right. She must be a noble from a prestigious family. A really highborn one. Maybe she’s even a wizard. The pig must have bowed because she’s a maid from such a household.”
“Stop with the nonsense, will you? Why would a noble from such a family come to our village? Would you want to?”
“How would I know? But I’m sure.”
While Ina was rolling her eyes at him, Jinho continued to state his confident claims.
“That’s why the homeroom teacher can’t do anything about her. Think about it. If a student act like that, how could Joohee just let it go…”
“Hey, what do you mean by Joohee to a teacher? I’ll tell her at school tomorrow. You can’t just call out names like that unnecessarily.”
“So what? It’s not like she’s around to hear it anyway. You know last time when Joohee confiscated the tints, you made a big fuss… UGH!!”
“Hey! I told you to forget that!”
Ina yelled angrily as she kicked Jinho’s calf.
“Hey, Lee Hyun. Say something too.”
“What should I say?”
After a while of groaning to recover from the pain, Jinho struck my shoulder.
“What do you think? You heard what she said earlier.”
“So why don’t you just avoid her like I do?”
“I’m curious! And no matter how annoying it is, how can someone talk to another person like that? I didn’t do anything wrong. Just because she grew up in the lap of luxury doesn’t mean that’s all it takes?”
“That might be true for you.”
Ina sneered widely. Jinho, however, continued his argument stubbornly.
“If it was just her tone, I wouldn’t care. You should’ve seen her eyes. She looked at me like I was some kind of monster!”
“Isn’t that normal? I would probably look at you like that too if you talked to me.”
“Hey, Hyeon! Just because a woman is pretty doesn’t mean she’s all that! I’ve never seen anyone as venomous as that girl!”
“Hey! Kang Jinho! I’ll seriously kill you!”
“Anyway, I said mine! I’m leaving first! See you tomorrow!”
Ina lunged at him like she wanted to eat him, but Jinho easily dodged her and quickly dashed towards the end of the alley.
Ina also fiercely chased after him, leaving me behind.
I trudged down the alley, replaying the events since the girl’s transfer in my mind.
Honestly, I wasn’t so different from the girl either. The reason was my constitution.
During the physical examination conducted before entering school, I was classified as a complete non-responder, meaning I couldn’t use magic at all. I still remembered the examining doctor’s wide-eyed surprise.
He said everyone has at least some sensitivity to magic. No matter how talentless one is, with a few decades of effort, anyone could manage basic magic like levitating a small fruit.
But a constitution with no sensitivity at all like mine was so rare that even a hundred thousand, no, even a million people couldn’t find one.
The doctor wanted to take me to the upper city for research. He even offered a hefty reward in exchange.
However, his dream was thwarted by my mother’s fierce opposition, and he left the village with a regretful expression.
Anyway, my body type made me a perfect target for the teasing of careless kids.
Kids who weren’t even wizards themselves mercilessly mocked me. And as I brushed it off, their teasing gradually got worse.
Eventually, someone crossed the line and said something related to my parents, and I couldn’t hold back any longer; I gave the main culprits a beating.
I didn’t care that much about my constitution. Would it really make a difference if a frog could use magic? Rather, I think it was the thought of my mother continuously apologizing for something that wasn’t even her fault.
It was tough to fend off multiple opponents alone, so I used everything I could grab, like stones or wood, and ultimately broke several bones of the instigators.
Among them was a girl. Some adults protested to my mom about hitting a girl that hard.
But I refused to apologize until the end. If she did the same wrong, it wasn’t fair to hit her any less just because she was a girl.
Jinho and Ina stood by me during that whole process, which allowed us to become friends.
Yet, because so many kids were involved, I still maintained a distant relationship with the other friends in class now.
Of course, I never felt any kinship or desire to get close to the girl. Who could like someone who hurls insults at you the moment you express a desire to befriend them?
Perhaps due to those experiences, I was more sensitive to verbal bullying than physical ones.
When I happened to overhear a rude comment from those around me, I couldn’t even predict how I would react.
Unlike other kids who might try to engage, I found myself pulling away even more.
This has not changed even to this day.
*
“Hey, you there.”
One day, I accidentally forgot my pencil case and returned to school. As soon as I opened the classroom door, I locked gazes with the girl, who was alone.
Seeing me, the girl immediately called out to me as if it was a good opportunity.
“…?”
Since she always headed home early, I had never expected to encounter her here.
A bit taken aback by the sudden encounter, the girl seemed unconcerned about my embarrassment and arrogantly pointed towards the door.
“Go get me some water.”
“…What?”
Only after hearing the girl’s unexpected demand could I calm down a bit.
At the same time, I felt a strange sense of defiance rising within me.
When did she decide she could order me around like this?
Jinho’s words from that day in the alley echoed in my mind, and I was forced to sort through my thoughts. The girl urged me again, her face filled with arrogance.
“These commoners never understand anything the first time. Can’t you hear? I’m thirsty, so hurry up and get me some water…”
“No.”
“…What?”
Her face twisted, clearly not expecting to be refused.
“I said no. If you want water, you can go get it yourself. Why order someone else? Not even a request. I’m going home.”
All I wanted was to get home instead of engaging in this empty conversation.
But as I turned to leave, her thorny voice halted my steps.
“You, a lowly non-responder, dare refuse my command? Ugh, must be the lowly blood you inherited…”
Her clear voice juxtaposed with the unfamiliar and harsh insults hit me like ice water.
At that moment, I felt the blood in my veins run cold.
Her words were undoubtedly insults directed at my mom, and they were the very statements I hated the most.
There was no one left who openly said such things after I had dealt with the bullies. However, I still knew that a few stray comments lingered behind.
Perhaps she had overheard those and learned about my background.
But how she found out didn’t matter. What mattered now was that this rude girl had said the words I despised the most, and I felt an overwhelming urge to silence her.
“…? What are you doing now…”
I walked toward her, sensing she felt something was amiss.
She furrowed her brow, starting to say something, but I didn’t want to hear anymore of her words.
I raised my right hand, and before her words could finish, I tensed my arm and brought it down.
SLAP!
“Ah…?”
My right hand struck her left cheek. Her fair skin turned red in an instant. She was left stunned, unable to comprehend her situation.
But my retribution was far from over.
I raised my right hand again, this time clenching my fist with all my might.
I then thrust it toward her belly with every ounce of strength I had.
FOOM!
“Ugh… agh… ugh…”
“Don’t insult my mom.”
The girl, who had been flaunting her arrogance, was now rolling on the ground, consumed by pain.