Chapter – 04
Wow. I actually survived that.
…But how?
That was the very first question that came to mind when I woke up. But the intense pain that followed immediately blew that thought away.
“Ugh….”
Other than the time I got into a brutal fight with those unorthodox faction bastards right after I ran away from home, it had been a long time since I’d hurt this badly. Groaning, I felt around my abdomen.
White bandages. A faint medicinal smell.
Professional work. Either a doctor… or a martial artist who had survived countless situations like this must have treated me personally.
Could it be that woman?
The aura I felt from her was almost the same as my adoptive mother’s. Of course, the killing intent she showed was real, but the similarity lay in the fact that she could have killed me easily even without being serious.
At my current level, she was basically impossible to measure.
I was certain I had died, but after she saw my face, her reaction had been strange.
I searched my memory.
If she’s at the level of the Heavenly Demon… could she be one of the Five Supreme Masters?
The Five Supreme Masters of the World.
In the game, that title referred to NPCs who had reached the Profound Realm.
I clearly remembered the Heavenly Demon being ranked third, but since I skipped the story, I barely remembered the rest.
If you went down to the Ten Great Martial Experts, I only remembered people from the unorthodox factions and the Blood Cult.
Well… I barely interacted with orthodox faction NPCs anyway.
Creak.
Before I could finish organizing my thoughts, the door opened.
Standing outside was a woman who looked barely past her coming-of-age years.
Light brown hair, noticeably paler than most people of the Central Plains. Skin as white as jade. Clear facial features and striking red lips.
At a glance, she was undeniably beautiful.
After taking in her appearance, I noticed the bandages, medicine, and wet cloth she was carrying.
Suddenly she staggered.
Just as I worried she might fall, she regained her balance, calmly closed the door…
Then shot toward me like a bullet.
“Do-ah!”
…Excuse me? Who?
Before I could even ask, she dropped everything she was holding and fell to her knees beside me.
Unable to touch my bandaged torso, she instead held my face with both hands, gently caressing it over and over.
“You’re awake… you’re finally awake. For two days… you didn’t regain consciousness for two whole days. I was afraid… afraid you might never wake up. Because of me… because of me again…”
“Uh… what?”
“Do-ah. My daughter.”
“…What? I mean… what?”
I stammered in confusion.
She continued to stroke my face carefully.
Tears streamed endlessly from her round eyes. Her gaze and touch overflowed with deep affection.
Even if you brought a three-year-old child here, they would recognize the love she was showing.
From that unfamiliar affection, I instinctively realized there had been a misunderstanding.
“Um… actually, about what I said before—”
“Ten years ago.”
Her voice dropped heavily.
“The vile Blood Cult attacked the Peng Clan. I had left to face a notorious demonic master of the Demonic Cult at the time.”
“Ah… yes.”
“Fortunately, my husband and my eldest son, Ian, were away in Hebei helping me, so they were unharmed. …But my five-year-old daughter was staying at the main house with relatives.”
Her face twisted in pain.
“When I rushed back after hearing the news… I couldn’t find her body anywhere. So I thought… that my daughter… despite having a mother named Joo So-hee… had died alone because of my negligence.”
“Wait a second.”
“Since the day I lost you, I haven’t slept peacefully even once. And now… because of me again… I’m just glad you’re alive. If you’re angry at this mother, you may hit me until your anger fades—”
“Wait, wait!!”
I stopped her emotional avalanche.
She looked at me with eyes full of guilt and love mixed together. Cold sweat ran down my back.
I understood the situation now.
She’s convinced I’m her daughter.
And now that I thought about it… she was the same Profound Realm master who stabbed me in the back last night.
There was only one reason she hadn’t killed me:
She mistook me for her lost daughter.
…But that made no sense.
My surname is Peng from “Pengdori,” not the Hebei Peng Clan!
The system just forcibly changed my name. This body shouldn’t have any dramatic backstory like what she described.
“I feel bad about your story, but I didn’t have parents from the beginning. If I lived in Hebei until I was five, there’s no way I wouldn’t remember…”
“Who in this world is born without parents? Your body is covered in scars. You must have suffered greatly in the Blood Cult at such a young age. It’s obvious you lost your memories from the trauma.”
“Lost memories? Me? No, it wasn’t that bad. I even had an adoptive mother. Past tense, though…”
That’s right.
The Heavenly Demon in the game had cared for this body a lot. And besides, this was a game character. There shouldn’t be real scars.
They were just cosmetic items.
Permanent full-body scar set (9,900 won each).
This situation was getting ridiculous.
“Do not deny it.”
She carefully embraced me, making sure not to strain my wounds.
“Even if ten years have passed, how could a mother fail to recognize her child? And the scar on your hand…”
She gently took my hand.
“Those four marks are not birthmarks. They are scars from when you trained the Peng Clan’s external martial arts at age four. Your face grew just as it was, looking exactly like mine. The scars remain too. How could I not recognize you?”
“……”
“You are my daughter. Without a doubt. My beautiful baby.”
My eyes rolled nervously.
Is this… real?
Setting aside the shock of suddenly gaining a mother, the situation was suspiciously coincidental.
Well…
In the game, you create characters with a [Create New Account] button. But if this became reality, of course there would have to be parents somehow.
And now the matriarch of the Peng Clan was saying this.
“It seems you’re halfway convinced. Aren’t you?”
She asked with a face filled with hope and guilt.
Her tears had stopped, but the tear stains on her cheeks remained. Seeing such maternal affection from someone who looked barely over twenty felt incredibly strange.
…My actual mental age is in my late twenties.
Judging by how she spoke, she must be a master who regained youth.
“Um… then…”
“You may ask anything.”
“What’s my name?”
Yes.
I swallowed.
This question was important.
Depending on her answer, I could confirm how this body had been constructed.
After hearing my question, she looked at me and gave a bitter smile. She gently stroked my forehead, then kissed it lightly before speaking.
“Dori. Your name is Peng Dori.”
“You’ve got to be—”
I barely stopped myself from finishing the curse.
Even after I almost swore right in front of her, this Profound Realm woman just looked at me with doting eyes and kissed my ear.
At the same time, she seemed pained remembering she had personally cut open my stomach, glancing at my injuries with guilt.
No.
That wasn’t the important part.
Peng Dori.
Wow. No.
Wow.
How can someone name their child Peng Dori?
For a moment I almost asked if she actually loved her daughter.
But even a fool could see how deeply she loved me.
Still.
No.
Even so.
…If you love your daughter, don’t name her Peng Dori!
Or is this my fault?
Maybe this background setting was the protagonist’s default, and only the name and scars changed depending on the user.
Did I… turn this woman into someone who named her beloved daughter Peng Dori?
This is the worst.
“Um… ma’am.”
“What is that stiff way of speaking? Call me mother like you did when you were little.”
My real mom is in Korea, outside this game though.
But if I kept calling her something formal, she would definitely be hurt.
And I’m weak against crying beauties.
So I compromised.
“Then… Mother.”
“Yes. Do-ah.”
She answered warmly.
She had been calling me Do-ah from the start, so I wondered if my name was Peng Do, but apparently it was just a nickname.
In the Central Plains, people often take one character from a name and add “ah” to it.
In my case, I could be called A-do, Do-ah, or Ri-ah.
Adding “ah” at the end makes it sound more affectionate. Like saying “my baby” in modern terms.
Anyway.
I finally brought up something that had been bothering me for a while.
“You mentioned I have an older brother?”
“That’s right. He’s twenty-three now. Seven years older than you.”
“What’s his name?”
She answered:
“Peng Yi.”
“Good lord.”
I smacked my forehead.
Judging from the naming sense, I might really be their daughter.
…Please don’t tell me my dad’s name is Peng-guin.
