Don't read if you haven't read till Ch 53 of the Webtoon. I promise it won't make sense otherwise. In this one I have provided some backstory for the oc/reader.
You sit in your room, alone. The rooms provided for the participants for the test on the blood corpse valley are surprisingly well maintained. For all you cared you thought they'd just give each of the participants a shack to stay in. That would have been fine for you. You don't come from wealth you come from dirt poor parents that had to sell you off to the shamans of Cheonji. From a young age you had a strange affinity to evil spirts and forces. You remember having little to eat, consuming fistfuls of dirt to sate your hunger. You remember throwing up more than you ever ate due to consuming anything from hunger. Your parents never particularly cared, all you got was the apathetic, sometimes pitying gaze of your mother. Her bones sticking out, you got a father who refused to acknowledge neither you nor your mother. Looking back you suppose you can't blame them, they didn't have enough to feed themselves. They got thrown out of their village due to you, they figured that maybe if you starved to death it would relive them from the influence of the dark spirits that took away their good fortune......
You were dirty, never having anything but torn rags clinging to you. You remember the strangely dressed masked men, their faces and bodies covered head to toe in black clothing. You remember seeing joy in your father's eyes for the first time as he clung to the leader's leg and thanked him. You remember your mother crying. The men took you away in a bullock cart and you didn't protest. You realised as you grew among them, never allowed to leave or question their decisions that you were now a part of Cheonji. It took you a few more years to realise the tremendous fear the name of your master created in the martial world. Due to your ability to sense grudges without any training they had bought you to make you one of their shamans. Your master said you had potential. They said you had *value*. Even after all these years, you feel guilty about it. You know you shouldn't feel happy to be bought, to be sold by your own parents. But your talent in handling grudges and spiritual techniques was valued here. Your diseases and malnutrition were cured by the healers. For the first time....you had a purpose, you didn't mind that it was forced onto you.
You sighed as you sat on the bed, thinking about these things. It wasn't unexpected for you to be sent to Blood Corpse Valley, the vassals of Chenji always sent their prodigies to the test. The chance to become a disciple of one of the peak lords of Cheonji was a competition. Candidates like you were considered perfect to be sent, young and talented people from poor backgrounds. People get a rare mix of ambitious youngsters willing to kill to prove their worth mixed with expendable material. That was why Bi Yongheon, your master had sent you.
Your eyes are wide open as you stare at the ceiling, heart beating frantically as you grip the sheets on the bed. The second test was just over, you hadn't changed your bloodstone clothes. *What was that?* You were terrified of the young boy with the demonic eyes. You remember he wore black clothes with red linings, his long hair loosely tied and his red eyes.....To you he was a picture of monstrosity. He had killed the demon boar and defeated everyone in the test. When you saw him, you already knew you stood no chance against demon like him. What terrified you about him more than his sadistic ferocity was that look he gave you. That single look of realisation when he saw you look at one of his bonded grudges, he recognised your look exactly as it was. That was what made the adrenaline pump in your ears, *he knew you could see them too....*
Your roommates wouldn't be coming back today, you were going to be all alone in this luxurious, well furnished room for the first time in your life. You were paralysed with fear, breathing quickly, your heartbeat erratic as if it was still running to save itself.
You flinch when you hear the knock on the wood, it is midnight. You sit up instantly, should you open the door? There is a knock again. No, you decided you should not. Silence. You get up, looking to be aware of any suspicious movements as you walk the length of the room and slide open the door. Your eyes freeze in an expression of terror when you see him. Those same cold and demonic red eyes looking back at you with a smile. "May I come in?" You step back, still staring at him, your mind goes back to the fields......when people were killing eachother at his order. You step back and he enters the room, sliding the door to close it. He takes the liberty to sit in the chair next to one of the beds previously by your deceased roommate. The raw stench of death qi from him makes you still as he passes you. You are still standing at the door when he makes himself comfortable. Your heart was telling you to run, your mind was telling you that won't work. Not this time. You take your time, being cautious as you walk towards him. He gives you your time, sitting with closed eyes, smiling. Waiting for you to come close.
"You saw...the chains?" *Wow...so direct* you think. You nod, eyes going to that tiny wooden doll in the neckline of his jeogori. He takes a breath, placing one leg above the other as he looks at you. "Tell me....do you have a tendency to see things?" "I'm a shaman". He raised an eyebrow. You could feel the immense resentment and power emanating from the doll, he had such a powerfull spirit vesseled in the doll. It made you nervous. He was thinking silently. "Well (reader).....you've made quite a problem for me". The pressure was building, you were sensitive to spirits. You could feel the effects of even being in the presence of such a powerful blue spirit grudge.
Suddenly...your hand shot out and grabbed the wooden doll. His eyes widened, you caught him off guard but he didn't fail to react. You feel an iron grip on the hand that held blue, you feel the coolness of steel on the skin of your throat. You feel eyes boring down at you with cold analysis. You shiver in fear as he leans closer "Work for me". You nod, still holding the wooden doll. All your instincts telling you to chuck it out. He doesn't let go, the knife to your throat draws a drop of blood.
After a few moments of staring in confrontation you let go of the doll and he releases you. You look at him as he stands up. He looks at you with those same cold eyes, your earlier actions perplexed him....."Do you want it?" "Huh?" You look back at him with a frown. "The blue spirit, do you think she will give you power?" You hadn't thought of anything along those lines, the sense of it's vile energy made you think it was something to be destroyed at all costs....but now you have calmed down. You realise you can't afford to anger the boy in front of you and you can't overpower the blue grade grudge. He leans in and places a hand on your shoulder, his words for your ears only....though there were no other occupants in the room. "You are a junior shaman of Cheonji I assume....your master must want to be in the favour of one of the peak lords. A shame....you won't get to be a good investment if you die here." You know he is serious, you know what this means.....from this moment forward you can't afford to betray or disobey him. He pats your shoulder and smiles, you notice how he is shorter than you by about an inch. "I'm sure you realise the benefits of following me. There is nobody else here who cares for anything less than killing you." He walks back to the door, believing his job here was done. You call out to him against your better judgement. "Wait". He stopped to looking back at you. "Since we will be working together....I need your name". A pause.....then "Gyeong un mok, you can call me gyeong. 'Sir' works just as well."
