The Beggar Young Master of the Namgung Clan

The third son of the Namgung Clan's direct line.

That was him, Namgung Il.

"Ha..."

Namgung Il touched his reflection in the water with both hands, his expression one of astonishment.

Was this face really his?

His former shabby appearance was nowhere to be seen. Reflected on the water's surface was only a man with features so handsome he could be called a beautiful young master.

"...I have no idea what's going on."

Several days had passed since he started living as Namgung Il, but he still wasn't used to it.

In fact, it would be stranger to adapt to such a phenomenon immediately.

To wake up, not reborn, but in the future, more than twenty years later, and in someone else's body at that, was truly a shocking event.

'Is this what they call possession?'

He wasn't reborn, so calling it possession rather than reincarnation seemed more appropriate.

Of course, he had never heard of possession happening this way... but since he was experiencing it himself, he had no choice but to accept it.

"..."

Namgung Il looked down at the necklace around his neck.

It was the necklace Namgung Jeongung had given him in the past.

For some reason, that necklace was now around his neck.

'The most suspicious thing is this necklace, after all.'

Do Yeoksan and Namgung Il. The only thing the two had in common was this necklace.

But a necklace that causes one to be possessed after death... Had Namgung Jeongung known this would happen when he gave it to him?

Of course, there was no way to confirm that now.

Because that guy was already dead.

To be more precise, it seemed that everyone who had fought in the final battle against the Blood Demon at that time had died.

"..."

That meant he had died too.

The Beggar King, Do Yeoksan.

If the people of the world found out that he, now deceased, was alive and well like this, how would they react?

'They wouldn't believe it.'

Unless one experienced it firsthand, it was realistically more difficult to believe.

He didn't want to be treated like a madman, so Namgung Il had no intention of speaking about it.

After all, he was now living the life of Namgung Il.

He had thought, 'If I'm reborn, please don't let me be a beggar,' so living as a direct descendant of the Namgung Clan like this was actually a huge windfall.

On top of that.

'Wow—so handsome, no matter how many times I look.'

Even though he had seen it several times, Namgung Il couldn't help but admire his own face every time he checked it.

His face was so handsome that expressions like 'a face like crowned jade' and 'a man of striking appearance' paled in comparison.

At this level, he was by no means inferior even when compared to Namgung Jeongung.

'As expected of his bloodline.'

Namgung Il once again realized for certain that a good face was something you had to be born with.

However.

Realizing that his past self had tried to commit suicide, Namgung Il's expression turned quite serious.

'Even with such a handsome face, this guy tried to die.'

He already knew the general circumstances from the suicide note.

Despite inheriting the blood of the direct line, Namgung Il's martial arts skills were terrible.

In other words, he had almost no talent for martial arts.

Because of that, Namgung Il had been looked down upon by the clan members despite being from the direct line, and it seemed he had been bullied considerably, especially by his other siblings from the direct line.

'Did the Namgung Clan have this side to them?'

At least, the Namgung Clan he knew wasn't like this.

But a considerable amount of time had passed since then.

The clan head was no longer Namgung Jeongung, and it was entirely possible that the atmosphere of the clan had changed in the meantime.

'Namgung Cheong... When I saw him back then, he seemed kind and gentle.'

Namgung Cheong, Namgung Jeongung's son and the current clan head.

Officially, he was now his father, but Namgung Il couldn't help but remember the Namgung Cheong he had seen in the past more vividly than as his own father.

The atmosphere of a clan was bound to change a lot depending on the clan head.

The Namgung Cheong he knew would never have neglected his own son to the point of suicide... but since he hadn't met him in person yet, there was no way to know what his personality was like now.

'There was the major event of the Great War of Justice and Evil. And because of that, Jeongung also...'

Perhaps many things had changed due to the Great War.

The Namgung Clan, in particular, must have suffered considerable damage from the war, so wouldn't there have been some change in Namgung Cheong as well?

For now, he could only speculate.

'Anyway... Jeongung gave me this life.'

Of course, there was no way to be sure whether Namgung Jeongung had intended for this situation when he gave him the necklace.

But wasn't there some meaning to the fact that he had woken up as Namgung Il?

His friend's clan. No, it was his clan now.

The Beggar King Do Yeoksan and Namgung Il of the Namgung Clan.

Over the past few days, Namgung Il had decided to leave his past life behind and accept his present one.

Splash—

Namgung Il stood up from the bath.

Muscles, as pleasing to the eye as his face, were well-defined all over his body.

Namgung Il clutched the necklace in one hand and muttered as if speaking to someone somewhere.

"Jeongung, leave the Namgung Clan to me."

So rest in peace in the afterlife first.

Namgung Il bid his final farewell to his friend, which he hadn't been able to do back then.

* * *

Gulp—

The sound of a beggar eating could be heard from somewhere.

The maid should have been used to that sight by now, but she still wasn't accustomed to Namgung Il's current appearance.

'This... no matter how I look at it, this isn't the Young Master I knew!'

Her Young Master was never like that.

He didn't spill food everywhere while hastily swallowing it, nor did he eat with his eyes rolled back like someone who had starved for days.

On the contrary, he used to enjoy small meals and always ate with the graceful demeanor befitting a child of the Namgung Clan... but now, there was just a beggar eating right in front of her.

Chomp—

Now he was even holding a whole bone with his bare hands and tearing off the meat.

Seeing that, the maid was even more dumbfounded and at a loss for words.

'Should I report this to the clan head?'

From a few days ago, when he started asking her about this and that, the maid had thought that something was strange about Namgung Il.

But since he wasn't bedridden as if he were sick, she hadn't bothered to report it to her superiors.

Now that she kept discovering changes that were so different they felt alien, the maid was seriously contemplating whether she should report it.

"Mmm, delicious!"

"..."

"Yeonghwa! Is there more of this meat?"

Just then, Namgung Il stopped tearing at the meat and asked the maid.

Yeonghwa was the maid's name.

Yeonghwa, who had been staring blankly at Namgung Il, seemed to come to her senses and hastily opened her mouth.

"There should be more in the kitchen... Why do you ask?"

"Really? Then bring me another plate!"

"...Another plate?"

Hearing that, Yeonghwa couldn't help but be surprised.

The meal she had brought was already much larger than what a normal adult would eat.

Because Namgung Il's appetite had drastically increased over the past few days, she had deliberately brought a larger portion.

But to ask for more food on top of that... She might not know about other things, but it seemed certain that a beggar had taken up residence in Namgung Il's stomach.

"Understood. Please wait a moment."

Yeonghwa calmly opened the door and went outside, not showing her surprise on the outside.

Meanwhile, Namgung Il was still tearing at the meat.

Soon, a large bone, cleanly stripped of its flesh, fell onto the table.

Burp—

Burping, Namgung Il patted his stomach with one hand.

Outwardly, he might have the appearance of a nobleman's son, but Namgung Il's essence was, in the end, a beggar.

Moreover, wasn't he the Beggar King, the king of all beggars?

Acting as he usually did with that handsome face created an indescribable sense of dissonance.

'Ah—this is great. Is this the life of a Namgung Clan's Young Master?'

Namgung Il had been in a very good mood for the past few days, enjoying a luxury he had never experienced before.

Especially, the best part was the food.

Of course, he hadn't starved when he lived as the Beggar King, but a meal prepared by beggars and a meal prepared by the Namgung Clan's chef were naturally incomparable.

'To think I can eat such luxurious meals every day, which I only got to eat once in a while.'

On top of that, he could eat as much as he wanted without worrying about the quantity.

Another thing that Namgung Il was truly satisfied with in this life was cleanliness.

'To think my hair isn't greasy... I couldn't even have imagined this in the past.'

Living as Namgung Il, it became possible to wash once a day.

One might say, what's so great about that, but at least for Namgung Il, it was truly a dream-like event.

Because in his past life as the Beggar King, he brushed his teeth once every three days, washed his hair once a week, and bathed once every ten days.

'The Dragon Head Elder can't even wash freely in order to be a model for all beggars... I should have gotten rid of that damned tradition by any means necessary.'

But in the end, due to the opposition of the elders, the tradition was maintained.

They washed whenever they wanted, yet they forced such a tradition only on him.

Thinking about it now, it was truly an unfair situation.

'Thank you, Jeongung.'

Delicious food and a clean life.

Just those two things alone made Namgung Il feel grateful to Namgung Jeongung.

"..."

Just then, Namgung Il's gaze changed slightly.

Over the past few days, Namgung Il had learned about his position within the Namgung Clan through Yeonghwa.

He had already thought that his position wouldn't be good, considering he had attempted suicide, but it seemed he was treated as much more of a failure in the Namgung Clan than he had expected.

'So, I'm the son of a concubine.'

The current clan head, Namgung Cheong, had two wives.

One was the official wife, Suseonghwa, and the other was his mother, a concubine.

The fact that he was the son of a concubine already put him in a rather awkward situation, and on top of that, his mother had already passed away.

'The bullying must have started in earnest from then on.'

If he had had talent in martial arts, it would have been a little better, but unfortunately, his previous self lacked such talent.

His older sister, who had at least stopped the bullying, had also left the family, so the bullying from the others must have gotten worse day by day.

He couldn't fully understand that feeling, but since he was living in the same body, Namgung Il could empathize to some extent.

'First... I need to get stronger.'

He had to become strong enough not to be bullied, at least.

Because in this world, even if you don't want to do anything, the outside world won't just watch you quietly.

Having lived long enough in the world, Namgung Il knew that part well.

"Huh?"

Just then, he heard the rough sound of footsteps approaching.

These footsteps... it wasn't Yeonghwa who had gone to get the meat.

'Who is it?'

Thinking that, Namgung Il stared silently at the door.

Soon, the door opened, and a boy appeared.

"Hey, Namgung Il!"

It was the appearance of his half-brother and the youngest of the Namgung Clan's direct line, Namgung Ji.

(End of Chapter)