When Yeonu Ahn first opened her eyes to a new world after remembering her past life in another, she was initially full of hope. Her wide eyes had shined brightly as she sat up from bed, ignoring the dull pain in her temples that’d caused the memories to come back in the first place.
With this knowledge, she was set for life.
The new world she had been born into and living in for the past ten years was the exact one from the novel she’d been reading before she died. Somehow, its plot was the clearest thing she could remember from her past life. The rest of her memories were cloudy, even those about her family and friends. Maybe because it was the last thing she saw before passing away.
“The General’s Five Blossoms,” was…
A novel she could not ever admit to reading in front of others. Ever. It was a trashy piece of work seemingly written for the sole purpose of dreaming about indulgent female harems, centering around a righteous male protagonist with an unbreakable golden halo…
Ah… Why had she read this thing in the first place? That was simply because—!
Some of the male side characters were just her type… Her younger brother of her past life had tricked her into reading it with the promise of appealing male characters, when really he just wanted someone to talk about the novel with. There were in fact characters she enjoyed reading about, but they only played the part of conflict starters… She was forced into reading the rest of the novel in the hopes they would reappear in the story. But surprisingly, looking past the filth, the author wrote somewhat interesting magical elements in the novel.
It didn’t matter that she was only the male protagonist’s younger sister, and was only mentioned twice in the novel. The novel’s events weren’t even that troublesome if you weren’t the protagonist, so she predicted her years to come would be full of laid-back, peaceful paradise, enjoying all the perks that came with being born into a noble house and convenient magic. Additionally, even though she mourned the loss of her past life, she was a little excited to have a reliable older brother (as opposed to a flighty younger brother) for once.
These hopes were dashed within a year of her memories returning.
As it turned out, it really wasn’t simple living the life of a noble house’s only daughter. Of course, it was better than being born as a peasant with no means to live—her mother spoiled her and her brother with all sorts of goods as they grew up.
But as a woman of the 21st century, it was hard to cope with the idea of being married off to another house just to fight other potential wives and make babies… She had forgotten what kind of sexism was at play in the original novel. It was supposed to be set in a somewhat historical setting, but they had magic as well—choose one lane, please!
Not only that, but the lack of entertainment was abysmal. There were no phones, or electronics. The only remotely exciting thing she had to busy herself with was this world’s magic.
Magic, or rather, mana, here, was divided into five elemental attributes: lightning, water, fire, air, and decay. Kids naturally found out which element they were gifted at conducting as they grew up, with abilities usually manifesting at around 12 years old.
If you were skilled enough to use your abilities in a controlled way, you were able to use specially engineered weapons or tools to aid in your mana flow. The majority of the population had one elemental attribute but small stores of mana, whereas a small percentage were admired as warriors, physicians, architects, etc. An even smaller percentage were those who could use their mana freely without needing any sort of conductor as a tool, or those who were in control of two attributes.
Yeonu, upon her memories returning, had tried feverishly to conduct her first attribute, and failed time and time again before she was finally able to release a soft crackle of clumsy lightning in her palms.
It was a relief she could even conduct anything—in the novel, there was no mention of her character’s attribute, but it made sense that it would be lightning. After all, her big brother, Yeonjun’s attribute, was also lightning. He could also conduct water mana. Unfortunately, the halo didn’t extend to Yeonu. She was stuck with one attribute.
Lightning was a fitting attribute for the protagonist. Known for its speed and power, it was a highly envied gift. Water was also extremely useful, being an attribute that could heal and replenish. Fire was steadier and slower than lightning, but had lasting side-effects, air was good for range and volume, and decay… Decay was unpredictable, and somewhat unfavored. Infamous criminals had been known to use decay attributes, and where they went, death and grotesque images followed. It was not an attribute prized for its usefulness in society, only destruction.
Yeonu could only imagine the gossip that would spread had decay been her attribute. Luckily, attributes were seemingly dependent on familial genes. Her mother had the water attribute, and her father, according to her mother, had been lightning.
It was hard to train the mana flow in Yeonu’s body to do as she wanted, and if she practiced in the house, servants would talk. Given the subservient and docile roles of women here, it was unheard of for girls to practice using mana for anything other than small tasks later in life, so when she left the house to train at a nearby hidden creek, she made the habit of dressing in her brother’s clothes and styling her hair as boys wore.
Speaking of her brother…
What a mess. Perhaps it is better for you to see for yourself.
Yeonu Ahn, presently aged 16, sat cross-legged on a flat boulder in her safe haven among the trees and reeds gently swaying in the wind. Her mana flowed fluidly through all reaches of her body, a product of painstaking training. With her long, silken black hair trailing down the back of her outer robes and a buzzing spear by her side, the girl looked every bit like a proper young noble master.
Her eyelids soon fluttered open upon hearing faint calls in the distance. As Yeonu rose from her seat, she grabbed the now-still spear and snapped it briskly into its compact form with a single crack. Her movements were smooth as though she had done it countless times before.
“Young Miss! Young Miss?” A soft, high-pitched voice asked hurriedly. “I’ve come bearing news!”
“Ami,” Yeonu greeted her bubbly attendant with a smile. “What’s happened?”
Pushing through the shrubbery of the forest, Ami scrambled over to where Yeonu was standing, hands on her knees to regain her breath. “Miss Yeonu! The Song’s young master is here to visit!”
..Again?
Hyeok, only son of the Song family and a longtime mutual friend of the Ahns, had been visiting their estate quite frequently the past week, for some unknown reason. Yeonu considered Ami’s words carefully as the attendant recovered from her trek.
“What’s he up to this time?” She wondered, murmuring out loud.
Ami popped up cheerfully, surprisingly good as new. “The way I see it, he’s definitely here to admire Miss Yeonu’s exceptional beauty once more,” she chirped.
“...”
“...” Ami blinked back at Yeonu’s vaguely disturbed face, not knowing the reason behind her Miss’s silence.
“...It was rhetorical, Ami.” Yeonu told her, grimacing a bit as she spoke.
“Very well, Miss Yeonu.”
“You really don’t need to keep answering my self-babble.” Yeonu sighed. She was pretty sure this exact exchange had been repeated in the past, with how often her attendant did so. “Besides, he’s just an old friend. There’s nothing there. I doubt he even thinks about serious things like romance with that lax mind of his.”
“But Miss needs my encouragement, otherwise you’ll be too hard on yourself as usual!” Ami conveniently ignored Yeonu’s latter retort.
“Especially going out in public as a man, this surely must be hard on Miss’s mental state! Oh, how many years has it been since I’ve seen you out in pretty garments that match your fairness…” She lamented, sniffling a little. “Naturally, Miss is very handsome when she dresses like a man, enough to make any person swoon, but still—!”
Yeonu raised a hand to cut off Ami’s rambling, her head starting to hurt. “Yes, thank you, Ami… I understand… As I always do…”
Ami happily nodded twice, back to her bubbly self. “Ah! Young master Song is still waiting! We must make haste!”
“He’s here to see me this time?” Previously, Hyeok Song had met with her mother and brother, only briefly stopping to exchange greetings with Yeonu due to his busy schedule. Maybe his work had cleared up for the time being.
The bright, puppy-like girl nodded again rapidly as the two made their way to the back entrance of their estate so that Yeonu could change into a presentable set of clothes.
Freshly decorated and feeling the whiplash of being changed so fast into her feminine robes, a version of Yeonu with a very different feeling than before walked out to greet her visitor in the garden.
“Hyeok Orabeoni*!” Yeonu smiled widely upon seeing the familiar back of the friend 4 years her senior she had come to depend on. The tall brunette man dressed in purple turned to face her, looking away from the flowering tree he was observing.
“Ah, if it isn’t my favorite little troublemaker!” Hyeok had an easygoing grin plastered on his handsome face. ..As expected, the visuals of this novel were no joke. Every time Yeonu saw side characters she swore they gave her inner healing.
Yeonu snorted at his title for her as she walked up to him. “If you want me to keep addressing you as Orabeoni, you should stop messing with me so much.”
Hyeok was a character that only served to introduce the setting of the novel, only making a brief appearance in the beginning before disappearing into the void—she cursed the author for forgetting about such a good-looking, fun, older-brother type.
“Alright, alright,” Hyeok agreed easily. He gestured for her to join him in walking through the garden. “Well, what’s new? Still modernizing society in that forest of yours?”
“Orabe—” Yeonu gasped, sharply turning to see if any servants had heard. She put a hand to his mouth, hushing him, her eyes darting quickly around. “I keep telling you, not here!”
Hyeok blinked once, his eyes forming laughing half crescents under her scolding gaze. He gently removed her hand from his mouth, chuckling. “Of course. Please, forgive my slip-up. You know how easily I forget things.”
Yeonu sighed. It was honestly a wonder that no weird rumors had spread about her character thus far, given the numerous slip ups of those close to her. It was only her family, Ami, and Hyeok that knew about her.. Hobbies? But there were still close calls when it came to her small secret being revealed.
“...But who said you could put a hand to your orabeoni’s mouth like that, huh—?” Hyeok pulled Yeonu into a light headlock, playfully ruffling her hair.
“Ah! Stop it! Ami’s gonna cry if her handiwork is ruined again,” Yeonu complained, elbowing her friend. Before he could acquiesce, a suspicious voice yelled out.
“Hyung**! What’re you doing to N—to my younger sister!” The protagonist has arrived. The two in the garden turned to see a frazzled-looking 18-year old pointing at them in shock.
Yeonu rolled her eyes. This dramatic boy. Hyeok released Yeonu, putting both his hands up in the air in amusement. “Yeonjun, there you are! Your sister and I were just talking about how proficient you’ve grown with your attributes.”
Her cheeky old friend nudged her foot with his. Yeonu gave in, sighing at the two of them. “..Yeah, that’s what happened. What do you want now?”
“Really? ..I am pretty cool, aren’t I?” Her older brother gave them a self-satisfied hmph. Stop doing weird things with the protagonist’s face—! Yeonu wanted to flick her sibling in the forehead.
“Mm, of course you are,” Hyeok laughed, his words somehow not sounding sarcastic in the slightest. “As a rare dual user, you should be very proud of yourself, Yeonjun.”
Yeonjun nodded emphatically. “Couldn’t have said it better myself, Hyung.”
The reason behind Yeonu’s disapproval of her older brother was simple. This guy was supposed to be two years older than her. But, technically… The biggest shock Yeonu had received after her transmigration wasn’t that she was now living in a novel, but rather this: her immature past younger brother by four years had transmigrated before her into the protagonist’s character!
By the time Yeonu recalled her memories, he’d already remembered his own past life for five years—the siblings quickly recognized each other after they’d unintentionally let some old habits slip into their new characters. Thus, the small hope for a reliable older sibling in this life had been crushed in no time at all.
Ever since she realized the truth, the protagonist’s awe factor had dropped to almost zero. There was no way her twerp of a brother could do impressive things without messing it up somehow. The only thing her brother and the protagonist had in common besides their face was their fickleness and a tendency to fawn over beautiful women.
As the two men chatted over nonsense (undeserved praise towards Yeonjun), Yeonu suddenly recalled what she wanted to ask Hyeok. “Oh, right. What exactly were the two of you talking about last time? Is it related to why you visited me today?”
Yeonjun eyed Hyeok anxiously before blurting out, “Nothing! Nothing uh.. That you need to know about.”
As if that wasn’t an even bigger cause for question. Yeonu looked to Hyeok for a straight answer, but the older man avoided her gaze, coughing a little as he did. “..Why’re you guys acting so weird about this? Should I just ask Mother?”
“No! No need, Yeonu.” Hyeok put a hand on her shoulder hastily to stop her. Yeonu looked down at it, then back up at his face, her eyes squinting.
“I can just tell you now.” Her friend’s normally twinkling black eyes blinked down at her, oddly serious. For Hyeok, who was always cracking stupid jokes and had a laid back personality, this must be a real issue.
“There’s something y—”
“Young master Song!” Ami burst into the garden all of a sudden, interrupting his sentence. “You’ve been called by Elder Song! He says it’s urgent…”
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Yeonu observed a flicker of something new to her pass through Hyeok’s face momentarily. He smiled at Ami and nodded. “Thank you for letting me know, Ami.”
“I’ll visit again tomorrow. Sorry for the cliffhanger,” Hyeok chuckled without seeming very amused. “Good seeing you two today.” His hand came up to pat Yeonu’s head once before he left, his long robes swishing around his figure.
As soon as their friend left, Yeonu waved for Yeonjun to come closer impatiently. “I can’t wait until tomorrow. Just tell me now.”
“Don’t wanna!” Her annoying brother stayed stubbornly where he was standing, crossing his arms. “Didn’t you hear what Hyung said?”
“Yeonjun, you—” Yeonu put a hand to her head. “Why’re you always bugging me, even in this life?”
“Hey, you think I wanted you to come here too?” Yeonjun scowled, miffed. “I had such a cute younger sister who looked up to me before you changed. Now I’m getting beat up by a witch who’s not even older than me!”
“Who’s not older than you, you fool—! Say that again, I dare you,” Yeonu stepped towards him and raised a hand to give him a slap on the back of his head, pausing triumphantly when her brother flinched.
Yeonjun pulled a horrified face, backing away while pointing an indignant finger at her. “See, this is what I’m talking about!!! You psycho with anger issues! Stay away from me!”
She was seriously about to flick his forehead. The only thing that stopped her was her mother’s clear, disapproving voice ringing out. “Yeonu, what did I say about harassing your brother?”
The two siblings froze in their places as their mother walked into view, shaking her head.
“And Yeonjun, the only reason Yeonu does that is because you’re too soft on her,” She sighed.
“That is not the reason!” Yeonjun glanced at Yeonu, paling when he saw her intense stare directed at him. “Ah, forget it…”
“Son, you should be preparing for the examination tomorrow anyway. Why are you out here when you should be training?” Their mother frowned.
“Oh…… Right…” Yeonjun let out a nervous laugh, and Yeonu raised an eyebrow at him. He’d talked big about living up to the original protagonist’s character, but when it came to it, he was still the cowardly little brother she knew.
“Hurry along now. You’ll do wonderfully if you continue to work hard. Even your sister was busying herself today. Try to have her attitude. And go to bed early, alright? Yeonu, you sleep well too.” And with that, Madam Ahn left. She was quite a busy woman, having to take care of the estate fully after Master Ahn, their father, passed. A reliable motherly figure who was stern but caring.
Yeonu faced her brother, who seemed to be having great internal conflict. She gave him a light punch in the arm in an attempt to lighten the mood. For all the critiques she had against his flaws, she did care about his well being. “Hey. You’ll do great. Don’t sweat it—you’re the protagonist, right? You’ve got that halo protecting you, if nothing else.”
Yeonjun glanced at her, his worried expression temporarily vanishing as a grossed out one took its place. “Did you eat something wrong?”
…Okay, serves her right for attempting. “Forget it, brat. Just go to sleep and stop bothering me.”
Yeonu swiftly turned and exited the garden, making a beeline for the comfort of her room. …She didn’t get to see the sketchy, scheming expression that entered Yeonjun’s face as she left.
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The next morning, Yeonu didn’t get to hear what Hyeok had wanted to say. She wasn’t even that mad about it, either. This was because something else had taken up all of her attention for the worse.
“YEONJUN, YOU F——NG IDIOT!!!!!!”
Yeonu, her mother, and Ami stood in Yeonjun’s empty room, staring wide-eyed at the bed that was stuffed with pillows to look like a sleeping body. Her mother stumbled back in shock (either at Yeonjun’s disappearance, or at Yeonu’s exclamation, she wasn’t sure), with Ami supporting her worriedly. “Madam Ahn! Oh no.. Someone get the doctor!”
An extremely pissed off Yeonu supported her mother as she lay down to rest, then stormed her way to her own room to do what she knew she must. In her hand was a crumpled note the idiot had left in his room telling them not to worry, and that he was going to live his life the way he wanted, and not the way the world wanted. This bullshit reason—Yeonu knew the real reason was because he didn’t like experiencing conflict and was more interested in spending time with beauties instead!
It didn’t matter for now. What mattered was the fact that the palace was expecting a son from the Ahn family to show up at their placement examination in the Royal Army, which was taking place in approximately two hours!
This was where the real plot of the novel started! How could Yeonjun all of a sudden ditch the entire plot this world was built on, without considering any of the consequences?!
All she knew was that there needed to be a son at that exam. There needed to be a son, so… Yeonu changed into her outfit for the outside as quickly as she could, cursing under her breath. So she would be one.
It’s not like this was entirely new to her, anyway. There were a few reasons why she wasn’t chasing her stupid flaky brother down instead of doing this herself.
1: It was too late to track down her brother with the limited time remaining. Two hours to find wherever he’d run off to, and send him to the palace, which was an hour’s ride away? Impossible. Plus, she knew how well her brother hid, from prior experience. No way she could find him now with his head start.
2: Only a handful of people knew the Ahn family close enough to interact with the two siblings. Both of their tendencies to avoid social exposure in this world had worked out quite conveniently, because this meant not many people knew what young master Ahn was supposed to look like, and only knew him through rumors.
3: She was familiar with presenting herself as a man to be recognized with respect in society, and
4: ..Not to toot her own horn, but her mana abilities were pretty decent, despite them being a result of hard work rather than protagonist buffs.
All of these factors and more considered, if she just made it to the palace for today, and failed the examination… Her estate name would be ruined, but at least she wouldn’t be drafted?
Or maybe it was better for her to make her brother take his rightful place after tracking him down after the examination… The odds of that happening were slim to none, though. Damn that brat! Yeonu scoffed as she faced reality on the way to the palace. After telling Ami to relay the news to her mother and saying her goodbyes, she set off with no other option available.
The walk was long and gave her a lot of processing time. As she walked, Yeonu considered her situation deeply. Was this a bad thing after all..?
Of course, her taking the role of the protagonist without having the same buffs and halo as her brother was an extremely dangerous prospect. However, weren’t a lot of the conflicts in the novel purely because Yeonjun’s character had wreaked havoc in the midst of capturing his target harem? Maybe if she avoided starting those events, she could change the story..?
Yeonu was doubtful of her own plan. She’d read transmigration novels and webtoons before, and not all protagonists were able to change their own fate. But wasn’t her being in this exact situation evidence that the novel could be altered? She might as well give it a try and save her household’s reputation!
Additionally, deep down inside of her, Yeonu had a completely different reason for not being super opposed to working in the army.
This was because…
It was embarrassing to admit out loud, but even in her past life, Yeonu just wanted to live a mediocre life, in all honesty. She wanted to live out her days doing nothing but sleeping, eating pleasant food, reading interesting books, and now, testing convenient ways to use her mana. And in order to do so, the thing she needed the most was: money.
Since the majority of people were unable to use their mana in a controlled manner, occupations that required mana ability were outrageously lucrative. And at the top of the hierarchy was working in the Royal Army. The nation the novel took place in was called Gwihan, and it was known for its strong military power keeping its neighboring nations at bay. This was why army jobs ranked number one in terms of pay. (Also because they were risky, but if Yeonu could tone down her skills she’d have no problem flying under their radar.)
The structure of the kingdom and world was a sort of parallel universe that stemmed very loosely from Silla’s historical culture, and with obvious major deviations. (The author wasn’t very original or creative, but that was to be expected from a trashy web novel like this one.)
Yeonu had originally planned to make money doing odd jobs under the disguise of a male commoner, but those were unstable sources of money that didn’t ensure her peace in the long run. Since things were like this already… Why not just take advantage of the plot? After all, noble families had the best chances of their children being accepted into the army, due to their reputations and sometimes even bribes.
Fine.
It was settled, then. Yeonu steeled her heart, and confidently decided on living an unremarkable life in the army before retiring early to live her dream life of comfort.
Just in time, too. Her arrival at the grand palace gates went smoothly—no one questioned her or sent suspicious glares her way, which was what she had feared would happen. Her disguise as a man wasn’t anything super special, so she wasn’t sure if it would hold up to scrutiny, but it ended up working perfectly. The guards of the examination site let her through as if nothing was amiss.
This was somewhat of a surprise, but a happy one. Yeonu mulled over the ease of her entry thoughtfully as she walked down a hallway to reach her destination, fellow examinees walking alongside her. Aside from a few lingering glances she’d received along the way to the palace, there wasn’t a lot of attention on her. She was glad Yeonu’s face and body were in line with vague androgyny, despite having delicate features. For now, everything was going well.
It was almost as if Yeonu jinxed herself. As soon as she thought that, she realized she had taken a wrong turn somewhere and wasn’t sure where to go. The hallways were empty of other people, but there were murmurs coming from the next hall…
Yeonu walked over to ask the people for directions. It was better than wasting time wandering aimlessly. She turned the corner, spotting two men: a elderly official speaking in hushed tones to a tall young man dressed in luxurious robes. This sight caused her to freeze in place for two reasons.
She had clearly walked in on a private conversation from the way they were speaking.
And… The young man had long, striking white hair. It was beautiful, yes, but the more important fact was that only the royal family of Gwihan had members with that characteristic.
From a reader’s perspective, the cause of this marvel of nature was clearly to grow the protagonist’s harem, to add a special white-haired woman to the mix of those who fawned over Yeonjun. Yeonu had scorned the thought when she read, but…
She couldn’t deny that this man had an ethereal type of beauty. He carried himself with an icy demeanor that only became more apparent as he dismissed the official and turned to catch Yeonu standing there, staring blankly at him.
…Wow. So there were many benefits to living in this world, after all…
If she thought his expression was cold before, it turned below freezing. The man strode up to her, fury contorting his features. It was only then Yeonu realized she was being rude with her staring.
“Hear something interesting?” He spat out, his glare withering down at her. “I thought you lowly things knew how to act, but I was clearly overestimating your brains. Pathetic.”
Yeonu’s eyes widened owlishly.
…Wow. So there was this kind of asshole in the palace, after all…
Her eyes quickly narrowed in turn before she took on a neutral expression. There was only one way to deal with jerks like this. “Those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, as the saying goes. Going out of your way to insult a random bystander… Clearly you have bigger issues to deal with than simple overestimation.”
The man jerked back as if he were slapped. “???”
“What the hell is your problem?!” He demanded hotly, outraged.
That’s what I want to ask you, you prick! Yeonu, while laughing politely, smoothly replied, “The problem is you. Who are you to be starting unnecessary fights?”
Contrary to how she expected him to react, the man scoffed in hostile amusement. “Ah, I see. You’re just an idiot. You don’t know who I am? Keep your gaze lowered unless you want to die, trash.”
Who was he? Well, wasn’t he..?
…Hold on.
Wasn’t this attitude and appearance linked to only one male character? It can’t be…
Ryeo-uk Yoon? The f——ng crown prince? She had assumed he was one of those lower-ranked white haired princes… After all, why would the crown prince be here of all places?
Ryeo-uk regarded Yeonu with an unimpressed and mildly disgusted look in his eye, as though he were seeing a dirty bug on his shoe. Yeonu blinked up at him, wordless for once. In return he sent her an icy unamused smile, knowing she realized his identity. “Stay out of my way.”
He didn’t even wait for her to move before roughly passing by her, knocking her into the wall.
Oh… The audacity of meeting such a rude bastard had made her lose her senses for a moment. But… It felt refreshing to talk back to him. He definitely deserved it. It would probably be fine as long as they didn’t meet again…… Right?
Damn! Yeonu cursed under her breath at her own impulsiveness. Let’s just hope his personality is just as aloof as in the novel, so that he doesn’t hunt her down later. This was not a great start to her time in the palace.
Not only that, but… She had also forgotten to ask for directions. Well, it’s not like she would’ve received actual help, anyway.
Yeonu decided to forgo human interaction for now (given her new terrible track record) and headed in the opposite direction of where the crown prince went. As she turned into a new hallway, she ran smack dab into another person.
She should’ve expected it, honestly, what with her luck recently. Thankfully, the person she bumped into was fast enough to grab her shoulders before she fell back onto her ass. Large, calloused hands steadied Yeonu carefully before letting go. She followed the movement with her eyes, looking up at the person who helped her to express her gratitude and apologies.
The words died immediately on her tongue when she saw who it was.
Unlike Ryeo-uk, who wasn’t exactly the most recognizable from the novel until he opened his mouth, she knew exactly who this new person was.
This… Could be counted as facing her second death flag. She had accidentally raised the first flag with the way she acted towards the crown prince, but meeting the army’s commanding officer within the palace was a surefire path to hardship.
The bottom half of his face was covered by a tight black cloth, so she could only see his light brown eyes, but the man’s imposing, almost suffocating presence was more than recognizable. Only one subgroup of the army covered their faces for surveillance missions, and of that group, only one man was described to have this kind of intimidating aura.
This could only be Commander Taejin Han, the leader of the Shadow Division and the highest ranked officer within the five divisions. The rest of the generals reported to him, and he was in direct contact with the royal family, responsible for the monarchy’s protection. He was the first to receive this title at such a young age—presumably around his mid-twenties right now.
What was such a fierce character doing here?! Wasn’t he only supposed to show up after the first 50 chapters to make the protagonist’s life miserable?
The fact was, that the original Yeonjun was known far and wide for being a womanizer, so his reputation among his fellow troops was… Not great, to say the least. Some respected him for it, but the majority looked down on him for caring more about his ladies than his duties as a general. One of these people who particularly thought poorly of him was Commander Han. Thus, he had sent Yeonjun off on extremely dangerous missions, both to make use of his undeniable talent and stop him from lazing about with women and ruining the army’s reputation. Who knew Yeonjun would come back from those missions with another lady attached to his arm?
Yeonu sighed internally. Poor Commander Han. Another victim of the idiocy of Yeonjun’s plot armor. But she didn’t have that kind of reputation now. He probably just saw her as any other normal recruit.
“...Boy. What division are you aiming for?” A low, baritone voice popped Yeonu out of her thoughts. She’d been staring. Again.
Scampering to present herself properly in front of such a respectable figure, she saluted and bowed her head. “Sir. The Moon Division, Sir.”
Out of the five subgroups of the army: Sun, Moon, Orchid, Shadow, and Iron, Moon was the safest bet for Yeonu. Yeonjun had entered the Shadow Division himself, but she had enjoyed the eccentric personality of the Moon General, so that’d been her personal top pick.
“You don’t get to call me Sir unless you make it in,” Taejin tilted his head down at her, a hint of dark amusement and.. Disappointment? In his tone. “You’re still a civilian.”
“Yes Si—... Commander..?” Yeonu frowned, confused by what title he meant for her to use.
When she peeked up at him to see if she’d been correct, she saw one of his eyebrows quirked up at her. “You… Don’t know what you’re doing.”
There was no room for argument in his voice. It hadn’t been a question. Yeonu’s shoulders slumped slightly at the bluntness of his words. She’d never been in a setting as high-stakes as this before, but she needed to learn quick.
“The exam site is down the other hall, one right turn, one left, then straight. You should see the others heading that way.” Commander Han nodded his head towards the place she had recently come from.
“Thank you very much, Commander.” Yeonu bowed her head once more in respectful deference, then moved to follow his instructions.
Taejin studied her, eyeing her stature. He spoke once more, making her turn back. “And… Work on your spatial awareness.”
Yeonu paused at his unexpected but fair advice. Wasn’t he the kind of standoffish character that only bothered to talk with his personal students? As she was mulling it over, Taejin dropped a heavy hand once on her head and made his exit.
? Did he just.. Pat her head? …Yeonu was 100% sure she’d never read this sort of exchange happening between Yeonjun and Taejin in the novel. Maybe she had passed some sort of secret test..? Regardless of the reason, this was relieving. It didn’t seem as though she’d raised another flag after all.
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“My, the Ahn family’s son! We were wondering when you’d make your appearance~” One of the two officials overseeing the mana conductivity tool brightly greeted Yeonu as she stepped up to their platform after waiting in line. The other official looked fed up at his comment.
“I see,” Yeonu smiled awkwardly. “May I..?”
“Of course, of course! Go ahead,” he responded, staring intensely at the tool. The other nudged him sharply, making him lose focus. Yeonu took the opportunity to channel her mana into the tool whilst not under careful scrutiny, and placed the tool back after she was done.
The two officials peered closely at the results. “Ah…”
The outspoken one tsked. “Only one, is it? That’s unfortunate. We’d heard rumors of—”
“Apologies for his rambling, young master. Please, join the others for your drill.” The other official had enough of his partner’s attitude and smiled politely at Yeonu, interrupting him.
Yeonu nodded, a little confused and entertained at their dynamic. She made her way down the steps from the platform leading to the training field, where sections of examinees were being called to perform drill sequences in front of watchful supervisors.
It was a wide, spacious field with dry, gravelly land filling its space. It was here Yeonu split off into her group for her drill exercises, performing just well enough when supervisors with the Moon uniform watched her, but underperforming slightly when it came to other examiners. As she switched off to spar with a partner, she happened to spot a familiar face onlooking the scene.
Yeonu made eye contact with Commander Han’s sharp gaze, retracting a little involuntarily. He observed her for a moment longer before moving on, but the look stayed with her until the results were announced. It almost seemed like he could see through to her inner motives. She wasn’t sure what it meant.
For the first time in a long while, or so it seemed, luck was on Yeonu’s side. Her name was called out for the Moon recruit lineup, which took a large burden off her shoulders. She didn’t have to worry about heavy missions being forced onto her or getting too much attention in this division.
After the new army recruits split off into their respective divisions was when things got more interesting.
“Oi, you soft-looking boy over there.”
Yeonu wasn’t sure the Moon recruit was talking to her until the people around her turned expectantly in her direction, expecting to see a fight break out. She frowned at the young man with messy bangs that had called out, pointing to herself. “Are you referring to me?”
“Yeah, you. Who else?” He didn’t look particularly intimidating as he walked over to where Yeonu was, but she still prepared for the worst. Her fingers twitched towards the compact spear hanging from her waist.
“I’m Doyoung Shin.”
…Was that it? He seemed to be waiting for something. Family recognition, perhaps? Yeonu scanned her memories quickly. There wasn’t a mention of a Doyoung Shin in the novel. Or if there was, he must have been thoroughly unimportant to the plot. “And?”
“...We’re name comrades, man! I heard your introduction earlier. Both of our names are pretty ambiguous*,” Doyoung laughed, clapping her on the back amicably as if they were already close brothers. “Even though you definitely look more girly than I do. Let’s look out for each other in the future, eh?”
“...”
Yeonu blinked, taken aback at his attitude and the unhesitating physical contact. “..Uh…Yeah. Nice to make your acquaintance.”
Doyoung waved a dismissive hand in front of her, snorting. “C’mon, no need to be so formal with me! Wait, how old are you? ‘Cuz you kinda have a baby face, haha.”
He certainly had an interesting personality. Something about his upbeat nature reminded Yeonu of her trusty attendant’s energy back at home. “Sixteen.”
“Whoa, say what??” Her new friend’s eyes almost popped out of his face from shock. “We’re the same then! Bro, this is giving me chills.”
“Ha! Doyoung, as if you’re the same as that guy. You’re way uglier.” Doyoung whipped his head around, eyes zeroing in on the speaker who dared to insult him.
“Shit, what’d you just say? You punk, I remember you from the gates—hey Yeonu, I’ll catch you later, alright? This bastard’s just asking for a beating—” The outspoken Doyoung Shin raised a quick hand in farewell and ran off shouting, presumably to chase down the rude commenter.
…The Royal Army was rowdier than expected. However, at the very least, it was a bright place. Yeonu let the corners of her mouth curve up, surprisingly enjoying the chaotic scenes playing out before her.
From across the hall, a certain crown prince watched the unaware girl with narrowed eyes, scoffing disdainfully at her carefree interactions with her new division. He turned away briskly, throwing her out from his mind in favor of more important business at hand.
Yeonu Ahn was bound to her role now. There was no going back, especially not after meeting two key characters known for putting the original protagonist into dangerous situations. Things were progressing at an expedited rate, and it was up to the transmigrator to keep up. There were only two options. Survive, or perish from the novel’s whims. But it was Yeonu’s second chance at life, and she wasn’t going to sit back and let it slip out of her grasp.
She was going to succeed in changing “The General’s Five Blossoms” from a trashy harem romance to an uneventful slice-of-life, even if it was the last thing she did.