I Will Become a Phoenix More Noble Than the Emperor - Chapter 1
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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1.
This world is full of cruel and strange things.
Seon-o had recently learned that brutal truth with her entire body.
For instance, that someone with terribly bad luck would experience losing their entire family in a single accident and being left alone.
“Hey, sis. What are you doing? Snap out of it.”
At the familiar voice, Seon-o blinked her eyes that couldn’t quite focus properly.
“Did you drink that alcohol, sis?”
But how many people would experience reuniting with family members who had died?
The face before her eyes gradually became clearer.
“Can you hear me?”
Or what about possessing into a book to revive already dead family members?
“Are you sleeping with your eyes open?”
The one fidgeting in front of her was her younger brother Yoon-han.
The youngest of the three siblings in the Kang Family, five years younger than Seon-o.
An ordinary high school boy still in school who was crazy about soccer and basketball.
The guy who would unbelievably receive loads of candy and chocolate on Valentine’s Day and White Day and act all proud about it.
And… her only younger brother who had died before her in an accident that happened two weeks ago.
“…”
This world was truly cruel and strange.
But no matter how strange it was, such things didn’t happen to just anyone.
So, obtaining a chance to revive one’s family was absolutely not a common occurrence that everyone experiences.
“Hey there, sis! Kang Seon-o!”
As she realized that she had just succeeded in obtaining that miraculous opportunity, a brilliant flash burst forth in Seon-o’s eyes that had been sunken in contemplation.
“Yoon-han.”
Seon-o quietly called Yoon-han’s name. The sense of reality resonating in her throat sent chills throughout her entire body.
“What? Did you really drink? Why are you calling someone by their first name without the title? Hmm, but you don’t smell like alcohol.”
Even while watching Yoon-han come close and sniff around, Seon-o’s body remained frozen and wouldn’t move.
What was written in that book had been real.
“Kang Yoon-han!”
When the emotional Seon-o pulled Yoon-han into a hug just like that, Yoon-han was startled and struggled.
“What, why are you like this? Are you crazy?”
Even his startled, convulsing reaction was so welcome that she almost cried. But right now, she didn’t have the luxury to cry.
Seon-o let go of Yoon-han and urgently looked around.
The surrounding scenery was unfamiliar. It looked like a realistically implemented marketplace that might appear in a martial arts movie.
Calmly swallowing her dry saliva, Seon-o examined Yoon-han’s and her own clothing.
They too were dressed like extras from some martial arts novel. It was attire they would never wear in real life, let alone even see.
Nevertheless, Seon-o wasn’t flustered. As if she already knew this strange world.
“…Where is everyone? Mom and Dad.”
At her calm question, Yoon-han’s face became even more bewildered.
“Why are you really acting like this? Mom and Dad went on a delivery. They left two days ago, so there’s still a long way to go. We have to sell all this stuff by ourselves.”
At his nonchalant answer, Seon-o’s heart finally settled down with relief. Following Yoon-han, their parents were alive too!
Then what remained was…
“…Then where’s oppa?”
Then Yoon-han’s eyes, which had been bewildered, hesitated and hardened.
“What…? Where’s hyung? …What the hell have you been talking about since earlier?”
Sensing Yoon-han’s confusion, Seon-o’s heart vibrated with a thud again.
Something ice-cold, like when she had suddenly heard the news of her family’s death, flowed through all her blood vessels.
Exactly two weeks ago, Seon-o’s family had all died.
It was an accident that happened on their way to a trip.
The truck driver who had been drinking and driving took away Seon-o’s parents, older brother, and younger brother all in a single accident.
Only Seon-o, who had been excluded from the family trip with tears in her eyes because she had to revise her graduation thesis, survived alone. The funeral was held before she could even understand what had happened.
A few days after Seon-o had barely managed to hold the funeral in a time where she couldn’t distinguish between dreams and reality, a letter arrived.
It was a letter sent by Ji-woon, Seon-o’s older brother.
〈Phoenix Chronicles〉.
She knew that book. It was an Eastern fantasy novel that Ji-woon had recommended a year ago.
It was a novel with a worldview where the harmony of yin and yang was broken, monsters appeared, and a being called the ‘Phoenix’ who could subdue them was selected through competition. Except for the fact that it was unfinished, it was quite interesting, and Seon-o hadn’t put the book down for several days.
But a fantasy novel in a situation where she had lost her entire family. Seon-o let out a hollow laugh that was beyond absurd, yet she found and opened the book as Ji-woon’s last request.
She thought there would be one last prank left by Ji-woon, who couldn’t foresee his own death, hidden inside the book.
But on the first page of the book, there was writing she had never seen before.
Seon-o stared at that strange brush writing for a long time.
She knew what the Phoenix was. An important being in this novel who possessed power comparable to an emperor. The competition to select that Phoenix was the content of this novel.
But to enter the book. To become the Phoenix. And with that, to be able to bring her family back to life.
“Haha… This is crazy…”
Seon-o, who had been letting out a cold laugh at the low-quality prank, suddenly realized a chilling fact.
Ji-woon, or at least someone who wrote this, had known that Seon-o’s family would all die.
At that moment, Seon-o’s heart, which had seemed dead for the past few days, slowly tightened. After remaining frozen in that state for about two hours, Seon-o finally reached out and turned the page.
And when she opened her eyes, she was here.
A place where her family was alive, whether it was a dream or reality. Perhaps the Foreign World inside the book, as written on the front page of that book.
Yoon-han was in front of her, mom and dad had gone to deliver something, and…
“Kang Yoon-han. Where is our older brother?”
Please. Seon-o’s heart beat so fast it hurt.
Please…
Soon Yoon-han answered with a face that was beyond bewildered to flustered.
“He’s at home.”
Her heart, which had jumped up to her throat, finally fell down to her toes at that answer.
Ah…
Everyone was alive. Everyone existed. That was enough. There were sufficient reasons to settle in this world.
“Let’s go home.”
“What? What are you talking about? All of a sudden?”
“I need to meet our older brother. I have something to ask him.”
After blurting that out, Seon-o turned around and started walking. Yoon-han hurriedly grabbed Seon-o, who was trying to leave the shop without even knowing which direction to go. When she turned around, she saw Yoon-han’s face full of confusion.
“You have something to ask our older brother?”
“Yeah.”
Seon-o answered firmly. She was prepared for whatever answer she might hear from Ji-woon. After all, nothing could be more surprising than reuniting with her dead family.
“What are you talking about! How is our older brother supposed to answer!”
At those words, Seon-o’s face hardened again.
“What do you mean by that?”
“What are you talking about, really?”
Enraged, Seon-o grabbed both of Yoon-han’s shoulders roughly.
“I don’t remember. Explain it properly!”
At that fierceness, Yoon-han finally flinched and shrank back.
“O-our older brother is in a coma right now.”
What?
Her thought from just moments ago that nothing could be more surprising than seeing her dead family again crumbled and crashed down on Seon-o’s head.
After being frozen for a moment, Seon-o immediately threw Yoon-han aside as if she had been hit by cold water and turned around to run. After running for a while, she stopped as if brakes had been applied, then came back and grabbed Yoon-han by the collar.
“Where’s our house. Lead the way!”
At this sudden bolt from the blue, Yoon-han froze while stammering.
Gasp. Our sister has finally gone crazy…
* * *
The two of them headed straight home.
Only after running so hard that his breath came in ragged gasps did Seon-o finally face Ji-woon, who was both the beginning and the answer to all of this.
His older brother, who truly lay motionless as if dead, just as Yoon-han had said.
“Huff… huff… What the hell is this… What’s going on all of a sudden…”
Thanks to Seon-o’s frantic rush, Yoon-han had also returned home without catching his breath and was collapsed beside the bed, gasping heavily.
“Why is he like this? Since when?”
“What…? Damn, it’s been way over a year already… Huff… aren’t you out of breath?”
“Why is he like this?”
When Seon-o turned around sharply and lowered his voice menacingly, Yoon-han flinched again.
“Ah, scary. Tone down those eyes… Fine, I’ll talk, okay? Hah… So, whew… I think hyung was trying to become a Superhuman. And it seems like he failed. Ugh, I really didn’t want to bring this story up again.”
At those words, Seon-o’s breathing stopped completely.
“…Superhuman?”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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