“Yuk Yunseo!”
With that urgent call came a pain that surged through his head as if splitting it open.
Someone was shaking him.
It took him a moment to open his eyes.
His hazy, swaying vision slowly found its focus.
And right before him was a face so beautiful it stole his breath away.
Skin pale enough to be white. Anxiety and worry etched all across it.
Only then did Yunseo realize that he was lying half-reclined beneath the pedestal of a collapsed divine statue.
Then, sharp pain flared from his left shoulder.
Cold, toxic energy spread madly through his veins from a wound gouged so deep his bone was visible.
Each inch the poison spread brought agony like flesh being gnawed away.
The hemp hem of a woman—blocking the rainwater falling through the debris of the shattered statue—was already soaked through, clinging to her body’s lines.
Beneath the thin cloth, the woman’s slender waist and voluptuous curves were starkly exposed.
Especially the moment she bent her body to support him, a startlingly soft elasticity pressed directly against his chest.
“Are you awake? Don’t move. Your wound is too deep······.”
She spoke in the gentlest voice possible, moving again to lay him down more comfortably.
In that instant. The sensation beyond the wet fabric grazed and pressed against him even more distinctly.
Even with two layers of cloth between them, it was a sensation so vivid it took his breath away.
Yunseo’s mind went blank.
······What kind of situation is this? Could it be— possession?
Before that thought could even finish, extreme pain surged again from his left shoulder and ribs.
At the same time, memories flooded in.
Yuk Yunseo. The Dajing Dynasty. The last bloodline of the Lu Family.
And the woman before him was the empress who had ascended the throne less than half a year ago, Gang Wolhwa.
The previous emperor had been a wise ruler who expanded the territory in his youth, but in his later years fell into debauchery and favored treacherous officials, leaving behind nothing but a rotted, crumbling court before he passed.
Thus, Wolhwa had ascended to the imperial throne from the very heart of crisis.
She had poured her body and soul into holding the falling dynasty together without a single day’s rest, but the old factions wounded by the previous emperor and the powerful clans eyeing imperial power directed all their fury at the young empress.
Prince Jeongan raised the banner of rebellion under the pretext that a woman could not discuss state affairs, and joined hands with the northwestern barbarians to bring in iron cavalry.
The allied army thus gathered broke through the Yellow River defense line in a mere three months.
And now. The capital of Dajing, Luoyang, was completely surrounded.
The outer wall had fallen, and the inner city had run out of food.
Wolhwa suppressed the retainers who insisted on fighting to the death until the end and decided on relocating the capital south to Jinling.
A choice that looked halfway like defeat. Yet it was the only path to survival.
Under the pretense that the emperor was personally leading the administration, Wolhwa took Yunseo and elite escort warriors and broke through the siege in disguise.
But the information had already leaked.
Guided by Prince Jeongan’s spies, the rebel army’s most elite Black Sword Squad pursued them.
The moment they escaped through the narrow mountain path. A single poisoned arrow flew toward the empress.
Without hesitation, Yunseo blocked her path. The poisoned arrow pierced his shoulder.
Wolhwa was also poisoned by a deadly poison called “Heartfire Poison.”
A virulent poison that would cause one to lose their strength or die an explosive death as their body burned up if not detoxified within two hours.
Outside this ruined temple, all the accompanying escort warriors had perished in battle.
It was clear that the remaining experts would not last much longer either.
Inside the temple, cold poison was freezing Yunseo’s veins, while Wolhwa’s veins were being destroyed as if by fire.
The refuge road heading south had touched the threshold of death from the very start.
Outside, the laughter and footsteps of the rebel soldiers drew closer. Like the drumbeats signaling execution.
“Yuk Yunseo······ It’s all my fault.”
Tears flowed from Wolhwa’s eyes.
“Your grandfather died in battle beneath the barbarians’ horse hooves, and your father fought to the end atop the border fortress walls before perishing for his country. Though your entire house bled for the nation······ The Gang imperial house······ Your Lu Family······”
She could not continue.
Though the Heartfire Poison was flaring up inside her body, spreading pain like countless fire ants gnawing through her veins, what hurt more than that was the fact that she could only watch this young escort warrior dying before her eyes.
She knew it. That the time Yunseo could endure was running out.
Having recovered all his memories, Yunseo suppressed the pain and looked at her, filled with guilt.
······They want me to die just minutes after coming to this world?
In the world he originally lived in, he had been an ordinary office worker tormented by overtime.
He had not paid off his mortgage yet, had never properly traveled, and had never even properly held a woman’s hand.
But— this is how it ends? —
Heaven has abandoned me.
Yunseo swallowed a bitter smile inwardly.
Before his eyes, Wolhwa sat as if she would collapse, her figure swaying hazily.
A face completely devoid of color beneath dark circles.
More than the dignity of an emperor, what was visible first was the exhaustion of a human bearing everything.
He could not resent her. She had done nothing wrong.
The previous emperor who left behind a rotted court, the feudal lords starving for power, and this chaotic era itself were the guilty ones.
“It... is alright.”
A cracked voice barely came out.
“How could it possibly be alright...!”
Wolhwa’s eyes shook violently.
Yunseo’s vision gradually darkened.
His breath grew thin, and he felt the cold toxic energy approaching his heart.
At that moment—
Darkness fell as if his consciousness were severed.
“Yuk Yunseo!”
Wolhwa brought her hand to his neck.
His pulse was so faint it could barely be felt.
As if clinging to each weak beat transmitted through her fingertips, she bit her lip.
But despair surged in quickly.
“Kuh!”
A mouthful of blood burst from Wolhwa’s mouth.
Flames churned through her meridians as if scorching her blood vessels.
Her vision shook. Outside, the footsteps of the rebels drew even closer.
The remaining time was minutes at most.
Then, a single line of memory flashed through her mind.
The imperial secret scripture.
“Ice poison and fire poison. The two poisons that kill each other devour one another when yin and yang mix.”
In Yunseo’s body was Iceheart Poison.
In her own body was Heartfire Poison.
One was a freezing chill,
and one was a burning heat.
There was only one way for both to survive.
...The harmony of yin and yang.
Wolhwa’s hand trembled slightly. The position of emperor, face and dignity—all lost meaning in that instant.
He was her guard. She was the empress who had ascended to the throne by the will of heaven.
If this truth became known to the world, ridicule and mockery would endure for a thousand years.
However, Yunseo’s body temperature was slowly dropping.
The Yuk Family was a house of loyal subjects that had shed blood for the Dajing Dynasty for three generations.
If that bloodline were severed here, she would never be able to forgive herself for the rest of her life.
Wolhwa quietly closed her eyes.
Two lines of tears streamed down her cheeks.
And when she opened them again, what remained was not the emperor, but a single person’s resolve.
“Yunseo... You must not die.”
She murmured, quietly yet resolutely.
“Today, We shall use this body to save the lives of both you and me.”
Her wet clothes quietly came undone in the wind.
The light flickered, and a faint fragrance spread through the air.
Warm body heat seeped into Yunseo’s hazy consciousness.
The warmth of life layered over his frozen body.
“······It’s alright. It will be over soon.”
Her voice trembled, but her hands did not hesitate.
Just before his consciousness faded, Yunseo instinctively realized.
That this empress was the most valuable piece in this chaotic world.
If he could protect her, he would be able to survive even in this chaotic world.
No,
he might even be able to overturn the world.
He did not know how much time had passed.
Her breath settled and the warmth withdrew.
Wolhwa hurriedly fastened her loosened collar.
Beneath the light, her face was flushed red.
“Y-You... are you alright?”
Yunseo slowly opened his eyes.
His body felt light. It did not hurt. At all.
“What just...”
Wolhwa averted her gaze.
“...It was merely one of the treatment methods. Nothing more.”
At those words—
A cold voice resonated in Yunseo’s mind.
[Ding!]
[Combat Card System activation complete.]
[Great Fortune Bearer detected.]
[UR-grade core card acquired.]
『The Empire-Toppling Empress · Gang Wolhwa』
※ Card Grade: N → R → SR → SSR → UR
[Current Bond Stage: Early Phase (20 / 100)]
[Reward: 20 Stat Points distributed.]
[Exclusive combat skill acquired.]
『Yuk Family Secret Art』
Automatic unlocking of the final realm accessible only to the bloodline of the Yuk Family.
[Trait Acquired]
『Yin-Yang Harmony』
· Complete Poison Immunity
· Greatly Increased Energy Recovery Speed
· Growth acceleration for both parties upon deepening bond with a Great Fortune Bearer
A scorching energy enveloped his entire body in an instant.
Shattered muscles revived, and veins that had felt about to tear were completely restored.
The wound on his left shoulder healed before his eyes.
Yunseo slowly rose from where he lay.
His internal energy was completely different.
The weak power suddenly exploded in growth, instantly surpassing the level of an ordinary martial artist.
Even without holding a blade, his body already knew the way to cut.
He quietly clenched his fist.
“...I survived.”
Then he slowly raised his head and looked at the empress.
In this chaotic world—
she was his first card.