-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Awakening in the Yeon Household
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As my consciousness flickered back to life, a faint voice drifted into my ears.
"Brother! Brother! Open your eyes!"
"Ugh..."
Someone was shaking me, calling out, and it yanked me from the sweetest sleep.
I tried to open my eyes, but after sleeping so long, they just wouldn't budge.
"Dad's looking for you. Get up quick."
Hearing "brother" snapped me alert.
"Good thing. Looks like someone called 119, and they rushed me to the hospital."
I pieced together the situation as best I could, but my little sister cut in.
"Brother! Why are you muttering to yourself?"
"Huh? No, nothing. Have I been out long?"
"Over a day. They said you hurt your head—everyone was so worried."
"Yeah, my bad. Shouldn't have gotten drunk and tried riding."
I gave a wry smile and rubbed my eyes with my fingers. There might've been some gunk; things were still blurry, but I could tell someone was looking down at me.
"At least it's just family."
A warm swell rose in my chest.
'Dad flipped out when I got into the literature department, yelling what good is that gonna do, but he quietly paid the tuition anyway. Mom boiled seaweed soup when I kept bombing New Spring Literary contests and publisher submissions, cheering me on to hang in there. And my little sister, always grumbling but there for me whenever I needed support...'
That's when something felt off.
Wait, I don't have a little sister. I'm an only child.
I nearly screamed in shock. Instead, a weird whooshing sound escaped, and the mystery girl who'd called herself my sister asked,
"Brother, what's wrong? You okay?"
"Who... who are you?"
"Who else? Your little sister. Lightning strikes you, and now you don't even recognize me?"
"Lightning? It was like a whirlwind sucking me in."
My self-proclaimed sister snorted.
"Seriously, teasing me again? You were out in the rain, got hit by lightning, and collapsed."
"Out? I was inside the shrine."
"What? The Celestial Maiden was babbling nonsense, but it's true?"
"What'd she say?"
"That if you live, the world dies, and if you die, the world lives."
"R-really?"
My self-proclaimed sister replied,
"Yeah, so I was worried, but looks like you just turned into an idiot."
"I-idiot?"
"Duh, you don't even recognize your own sister."
Frustrated, I snapped,
"That's why I'm asking—who are you?"
"Your little sister, Yeon Suyeong! Don't tell me all that closeness was fake? I thought you at least were genuine."
Her aggrieved tone made my frustration boil over, so I softened and complained,
"Sorry, the fall must've scrambled my brains, and I can't see a thing."
"Obviously."
"What's obvious?"
"You've always been blind."
I jolted at Yeon Suyeong's words.
"What? I've been blind? Since when?"
"Must've been one hell of a shock."
Tongue clicking in exasperation at my self-proclaimed sister Yeon Suyeong, I asked,
"How do you get around outside if you can't see?"
"Practiced since I was little. No obstacles in front, and you don't really need eyes to walk."
"I... guess so."
"You took a big hit. Rest up, it'll get better."
"How's being blind gonna get better?"
Too drained for anger, I asked calmly, and Yeon Suyeong burst out laughing.
"It's the blindfold over your eyes."
"Blindfold?"
Feeling around my eyes at her words, I touched thick bandages wrapped there.
Deflated, I reached back for the knot. Meanwhile, Yeon Suyeong said,
"Stay put. I'll get Dad and the brothers."
No chance to reply—she was gone.
"Damn, what's going on here?"
For a second, I feared I'd been nabbed by some weird group instead of 119, turned into a lab rat.
But my booze-and-junk-food-ravaged body wasn't lab-rat material. Untying the tight knot finally let in light.
"Can't believe I fell for the blind guy trick without checking."
Gripping the removed blindfold, I grumbled belatedly. But the room looked alien.
Not a hospital room, or anything like it.
"Wh-what's that?"
Yellowish walls held thick pillars here and there.
Up top, rafters like in a hanok.
If Joseon hanoks used raw, crooked timber, here it was smoothly planed and fitted.
"Wh-where am I?"
I lay on something bed-like, but instead of a mattress, thick cotton padding and a red silk quilt.
On the wall, no IV stand—instead, wooden shelves with ceramics and incense burners.
"Like stuff from a museum."
I tilted my head, trying to sit up, but a throbbing pain on one side kept me pinned.
Against the foot-of-the-bed wall stood armor and a helmet.
Not the Joseon lamellae from dramas—full plate iron, literally.
And atop it, a helmet with pointed ear guards.
"Wait, that's from Goguryeo murals?"
As I stared wildly, noisy voices erupted outside, and people poured in.
The sight shut my mouth.
"Gasp, folk village?"
But their clothes and hairstyles weren't Joseon folk village style.
The playful-looking girl in front wore a yellow wrinkled skirt and a red top dotted with yellow polka dots.
Collar and sleeves far from Joseon women's jeogori.
Pearl necklace around her neck, big earrings like from Gyeongju Museum in her ears.
Hair in a big back bun, adorned with tiny beads.
Beside her, a middle-aged man with thick jawbeard and mustache.
His loose pajama-like jeogori was pale sky blue; gold necklace at his chest, no other frills—until the belt.
'A whole department store. Department store.'
His massive thick black belt, like a Western gunslinger's, dangled daggers to fish-shaped ornaments galore.
Next, two teenage punks. Shallow mustaches and droopy eyes screamed "delinquent," like the high school thugs who'd tormented me.
The lead girl pointed at me in bed, laughing.
"He's awake now. Was hilarious earlier."
The middle-aged man lightly patted her head and approached.
The punks and girl instantly clammed up like on cue. He grabbed a folding chair by the bed and sat. I muttered unwittingly,
"Mustache!"
The exact curled mustache from Goguryeo murals I'd pored over writing novels.
Kaiser mustache—long sides twisted upward.
On Goguryeo warriors riding, shooting arrows, or beheading foes in those paintings.
Curiosity overtook me; I reached out and touched it. Oiled and stiff.
Startled by my sudden move, Yeon Suyeong yelled,
"Brother! What are you doing?"
He raised a hand to hush her, gently taking my hand.
"Good to see you've come to."
Up close, sharp eyes and a faint sword scar on his cheek.
Raised privileged, yet weathered the harsh world—I saw it plainly. And grasped the situation roughly.
'Sucked into that weird vortex, time-slipped to real Goguryeo. Or possessed someone's body.'
Relief hit—well-off family, at least.
Back home, dirt-poor from birth, never a peaceful moment.
'Otherworld, and still fretting over food and shelter.'
Seeing my dazed laugh, the man's face twisted in unspeakable complexity.
Moments later, the door opened. The newcomer bowed to the seated man.
"Elder Brother! Heard Namsaeng woke up."
"Thanks for worrying. Big shock, but eyes are open—fortunate."
"Seems so. The Celestial Maiden must've blessed our house."
"With three sons, what talk is that?"
The man glanced back meaningfully; the one who'd called him Elder Brother replied,
"Still, the eldest must be sturdy to anchor the family."
The man just stared silently.
For a split second, I caught annoyance and jealousy flash in the punks' eyes.
'What'd they call me?'
As I pondered, the man addressed the other,
"Listen, Jeong-to."
"Yes, Elder Brother."
"You'll handle the imperial marriage."
"Me?"
The man nodded at Jeong-to's question.
"Namsaeng's accident feels ominous. You marry into the imperial family."
"How, with your house? I'm just the younger brother."
Jeong-to's hand-wave seemed phony. The man cut through,
"No false talk."
"Yes, Elder Brother."
"The Sun King's child and your daughter match in age, no?"
"Yes."
His rehearsed reply made the man stand as he answered,
"Soon, entering the palace to see the Great King, I'll mention it casually."
"Thank you, Elder Brother."
I couldn't process their talk. Jeong-to had called me Namsaeng.
'So he's Yeon Jeong-to, and Elder Brother means this guy's...'
Yeon Gaesomun. Not the brutish drama version, nor Ma Dong-seok bulk from my novels.
'Just like a corporate chairman.'
Stern, but not the ruthless butcher type. As I exhaled, terror struck.
'If dad's Yeon Gaesomun, then I'm...?'
I realized whose body: his eldest son, Yeon Namsaeng—the one who doomed Goguryeo in my novels as the villain.
Enough to faint again.
'Namsaeng. Namsaeng!'
Blackout incoming—then a Windows chime sounded somewhere. A mechanical voice boomed.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Heavenly Palace's first patch: Scales of Light setting complete.