PSW 01

Chapter 01

“Saintess, thank you for saving our village!”

A little girl with twin braids beamed brightly. In her hands was a wreath woven from flowers of every color.

Rena knelt down to meet the child at eye level. She didn’t care that her pale sky-blue dress was getting dirty with soil.

Standing on tiptoe, the girl carefully placed the flower crown atop Rena’s silver hair. One by one, the people standing behind her began to clap. The wave of applause showed no sign of stopping and soon turned into cheers.

A warm spring breeze blew. As her silver hair fluttered, Rena brushed it back behind her ear.

Her radiant smile made her look like the goddess Fiora herself.

Rena’s gaze met that of the Crown Prince. Watching her blue eyes curve into crescent moons as she smiled, he could no longer deny it.

He had fallen far too deeply in love with her.

Just as she was about to scroll further down, the middle-aged woman who had been glancing sideways at Suji for a while finally approached the counter.

It was such a good part. Disappointed, Suji quickly pulled herself together and turned off her phone.

With hands that were still stiff but now slightly more familiar, Suji carefully took out each item. She was slower than others at scanning the barcodes and placing the items into bags, but thankfully, the woman waited without complaint.

Instead, her eyes openly fixed on Suji’s burned hands.

It was uncomfortable, but it happened often enough that Suji could bear it now.

“17,800 won.”

When the transaction ended, the woman held out a bottle of vitamin drink.

“This is for you, student.”

“Pardon?”

“Drink it and stay strong, okay?”

The woman clicked her tongue as she looked at Suji’s misshapen, burned hand.

“How could a young woman’s hand end up like that…”

It was probably meant as warm kindness, but for Suji, it was a comment she had heard more than enough times—so much that it made her sick of it.

“…Thank you.”

She gave a shallow bow. Her feelings didn’t even get hurt anymore. She was simply numb, used to it.

She just wanted the woman to leave quickly so she could finish reading The Saintess’s Dilemma.

“Stay strong, alright?”

“Yes.”

The moment the door closed, Suji checked her phone again.

There was only one chapter left of The Saintess’s Dilemma. The store owner wouldn’t be back for a while yet.

After some hesitation, she decided to reread it from chapter one.

She had already read it five times, but it was still enjoyable every time.

Especially the scene where the female lead—who had risen to fame as a child actress—was forced to quit acting after a fire. It felt so much like her own story that she couldn’t help but immerse herself.

Her blunt fingers tapped the screen.

Her thumb, shortened by half a joint compared to others, slipped slightly.

She clenched and unclenched her stiff hand, but it only bent in her mind. In reality, nothing changed.

Heat surged up from her hand that couldn’t fully open.

As a child, Suji had been famous as the youngest national shooting team representative.

But that was four years ago, back when she was a high school sophomore—before a fire and explosion at the shooting range turned everything into nothing.

Her face. Her hands. Her dreams.

Maybe that was why she was so attached to this novel.

After quitting acting, the heroine couldn’t give up her thirst for performance and began working in lighting instead. During a show, she lost her footing and fell.

She thought she had died—but woke up as a saintess, and soon captured the hearts of both the Crown Prince and a count who served as the second male lead.

There, she was loved by everyone.

Suji felt jealous and envious of that world—a world that didn’t exist for her. And yet, she was relieved. At least that girl had been given a new life and happiness.

The only regrettable thing was that the novel wasn’t finished.

Whether the author got tired of the steadily declining views, or something else happened, the serialization had stopped a year ago.

After finally finding such a treasure, how could this happen?

Even though she treasured it so much, she kept postponing reading the very last chapter because she didn’t want it to end.

And it had stopped right at that fluttering moment when the Emperor realized he had fallen for the heroine. Just thinking about it made her pout in frustration.

Why had the author abandoned such a wonderful story?

Suji scrolled down again with her blunt finger.

The store owner arrived an hour late without so much as a message—and didn’t even apologize. Without looking at her, he simply gestured for her to leave.

Still, he was the only person who had given her a job when no one else would, because of her burned face and twisted hand. So she endured it.

Her entire body throbbed as exhaustion crashed over her all at once.

Standing at the crosswalk, Suji pulled out the vitamin drink the woman had given her out of pity.

She twisted the cap as hard as she could, but her grip wasn’t strong enough to open it.

She used to withstand the recoil of gunfire with these hands. The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth.

To comfort herself, she took out her miracle cure.

She didn’t want to end the day feeling this low.

Since her phone wouldn’t sit properly in one hand, she held it with both.

She had reread the entire novel again while waiting for the store owner—and once more, only the unfinished final chapter remained.

It was frustrating.

She barely resisted the urge to tap on the post.

“What is the author doing now, I wonder.”

She envied the author more than anyone—the only person who knew how this story would end.

The light turned green. Still focused on the words on her screen, Suji stepped forward.

Then, from far away, she heard the screeching sound of tires skidding.

Instinctively turning her head, she saw a luxury foreign car swerving wildly in an S-shape.

Ignoring the red light, the car sped straight toward her, its headlights blazing like spotlights.

She froze.

There was no time to dodge.

When she came to, she was lying on asphalt.

It felt as though her entire body had been scraped raw. During the shooting range explosion, she could still move—but now, she had no strength at all.

She thought she had grown numb to pain after all the burn treatments.

She was wrong.

She wanted to scream, but her throat was tightly blocked.

She heard the driver open the door. From start to finish, all he spat out were curses.

She barely managed to move her stiff neck, trying to beg for help—but her scream was swallowed by the blood bubbling up in her throat. Only animal-like groans escaped.

The driver staggered back into the car.

The vehicle reversed violently, crushing Suji’s right hand before speeding away.

Her shattered phone screen flickered.

The final chapter of The Saintess’s Dilemma was displayed.

She had never imagined her death would be this pitiful.

The vivid sensations slowly faded.

She closed her eyes.

Even as she died, a hollow laugh escaped her.

It was ridiculous.

So this was death.

Unlike the blazing fire, she was dying on cold concrete.

I really was alone until the end.

Her eyes slowly shut.

Hot tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Gasp!”

It felt as though someone had grabbed the back of her neck and yanked her up from the depths of the sea.

She sucked air deep into her lungs—a desperate, instinctive struggle to live.

When she opened her eyes, a towering ceiling came into view.

The floor was still cold—but this time, her head rested on smooth stone, not rough concrete.

Murmuring voices around her gradually became clearer.

After several deep breaths, Suji slowly lifted her head.

A sharp dizziness struck, and she pressed a hand to her forehead.

The hand she touched was unbelievably soft.

And every joint bent exactly as she willed it.

Startled, she looked at her palm.

There wasn’t a single burn scar.

Instead, it was long, straight, and beautiful.

This… is my hand?

She couldn’t believe it.

At that moment, an old woman approached her. She had dark skin and eyes like a deep lake.

The woman was so short she barely reached other people’s chests, and she used a black cane as a third leg, walking heavily toward her.

“Are you conscious?”

Despite her exotic appearance, her words sounded clearly like Korean.

She appeared to be the oldest person there.

As she approached, the people around Suji parted respectfully, folding their hands as if performing the miracle of Moses.

Judging by her presence alone, she seemed to hold an important position.

Without waiting for an answer, the old woman gestured to someone. A man stepped forward holding a silver tray, with something placed on it.

Noticing Suji’s gaze, the old woman picked it up and held it out.

A gun.

A .38-caliber revolver.

The old woman spoke to Suji, who was staring in disbelief.

“You said you could kill monsters with this gun, didn’t you?”

“…What?”

“Prove it.”

Instead of explaining, the old woman gestured toward something.

Without thinking, Suji took the gun. Her fingers wrapped around it smoothly, perfectly. The familiar sensation sent shivers from her toes to her head.

Suppressing her trembling, she opened the revolver’s cylinder.

It was empty.

Then white lights, like fireflies, gathered into the gun.

They were pouring down from the sky.

Looking up, she saw two moons… hanging there.

Two moons?

Before she could process where she was, the cylinder snapped shut on its own, now fully loaded.

The gun, which had looked old and worn just moments before, gleamed like brand new.

It grew heavier in her hand.

As she raised it properly, a forgotten sensation returned.

A feeling she had yearned for, deep in her heart, for so long.

“Ooooooh!”

People standing far away clasped their hands together and cried out, awe shining in their eyes.

Why?

Before she could even wonder, the crowd erupted into chaos.

Suji slowly rose from where she had been sitting. Every joint in her body moved smoothly.

Only when her feet touched the floor did she realize she was barefoot. A cold sensation surged from her toes up to her head—nothing like concrete.

Goosebumps spread across her skin.

Then she heard the heavy sound of metal dragging, mixed with a beast-like screech.

When the unpleasant noise entered the temple, Suji saw something that was not human.

Judging by its clothes, it might once have been human—though they were little more than rags.

Its skin was pitch black, as if painted over.

Even the whites of its eyes were black, with only blood-red pupils glowing. Its sharp, elongated fangs resembled vampires or zombies from movies.

Two small black horns jutted from its forehead like a demon’s.

“You’re saying you can erase that monster without leaving a trace?”

The old woman asked.

It didn’t sound like kindness—more like a quiet threat.

The creature let out a razor-sharp screech.

Despite the heavy chains binding its hands and feet, it continued trying to lunge at the people.

Each time, the men holding the chains pulled it back. Even the collar digging into its flesh caused no sign of pain.

Is that really human?

And what do these people expect from me?

Everyone stared at Suji’s glowing white hands.

Hands that perfectly gripped the gun—no longer stiff, scarred, or burned.

And this long-desired feel of cold metal.

“Shoot.”

The old woman nodded toward the monster.

“High Priest!”

The man restraining the creature cried out, struggling to hold it back.

“If you succeed, we will accept you as a Saintess under the protection of the goddess Fiora.”

At that moment, the man lost his grip.

The monster broke free