I Received the Holy Sword by Dawn Delivery
Bzzzz.
At 5 a.m., a smartphone vibrated on the floor of a small studio apartment.
‘What is it?’
Kim Hayoon, a woman in her twenties who was a light sleeper, reached across the floor and grabbed her phone that was charging.
Squinting, she checked the notification.
Two dawn-delivery boxes have been delivered to your door.
‘Ah. The dawn delivery.’
Hayoon belatedly remembered the famous bakery cake she had ordered from Daejeon on Coupang.
Today was her birthday.
After losing her entire family in a car accident and surviving alone, there was no one to celebrate her birthday except herself.
The expensive cake she had bravely ordered as a reward for living hard—for herself and for her family’s share—must have arrived at her door.
Hayoon quickly jumped up to get the package.
Because of the continuing tropical nights, it was quite hot even at dawn. If she left it outside, the whipped cream might melt.
‘But why are there two boxes? I only ordered a cake.’
Trying to recall something she didn’t remember ordering, Hayoon pressed the door lock button.
Beep. The door opened, and the humid summer dawn air flowed inside.
‘Huh?’
She paused.
In front of the door stood two boxes—and a Coupang delivery man checking his device.
‘He hasn’t left yet. This is a bit awkward.’
But the delivery man was extremely handsome.
Hayoon looked at his features under the blue cap.
His long silver-dyed hair brushed his shoulders, and his gray-brown eyes and high nose gave him an exotic look.
‘He’s a foreigner.’
It was unusual to see a foreigner doing delivery work.
Perhaps noticing her gaze, the delivery man smiled brightly and greeted her.
“Ah, Ms. Kim Hayoon? Hello.”
He picked up the two boxes from the floor and handed them directly to her.
Not only was he good-looking, but he was also very kind.
“Thank you.”
Hayoon accepted the boxes with a nod.
Unlike the light cake box, the long box placed on top was quite heavy.
She staggered, and when the box tilted, the delivery man quickly held it for her.
“I’ll place it inside for you.”
Smiling cheerfully, he stepped into the entrance and set the boxes down. Then he dusted off his hands and gestured toward the long box.
“It has been successfully delivered to Ms. Rukna.”
“Ruk—what?”
Startled by the unfamiliar name, Hayoon immediately checked the shipping label.
Recipient: Rukna
Address: 00 Villa 201, 21-gil 00-ro, 00-gu, Seoul
The address was correct. But the name was different.
“Um, wait a moment. I don’t think this is mine. Let me check.”
To apply for a return, Hayoon opened the box tape right there.
When she lifted the lid, something completely unexpected was inside.
“What is this?”
A silver longsword that looked like it belonged in a European history museum.
If stood upright, it would reach her waist. The blade was slim, about the width of two fingers placed together.
On the silver-plated hilt were five delicately carved symbols that seemed to represent fire, water, wind, earth, and light. At the end was a round, transparent jewel.
Looking at the obviously expensive item, Hayoon was about to say, like the woodcutter who dropped his axe into a pond, “This is not my package.”
But the delivery man spoke first.
“It’s the Holy Sword. It belongs to Rukna—so, to you, Ms. Kim Hayoon.”
“Excuse me?”
She scratched her head.
The Holy Sword? The one from fantasy novels?
Seeing how calmly he said it, she wondered if this was some trendy SNS item.
“It’s called the Holy Sword, Bisbi. If you say ‘Hi Bisbi,’ the sword will respond to you.”
“What?”
“There’s a manual inside. Please read it.”
“It’s written in a foreign language I’ve never seen.”
She waved a paper filled with letters that looked similar to Arabic.
The delivery man muttered, “So you still can’t read the language.”
What? Was this foreigner bragging that he could speak both Korean and foreign languages?
“A complaint came to the Possession Association that the reincarnation truck system was too cruel, so we tried a new method. But it still has many flaws.”
“Possess—what?”
And what was a reincarnation truck?
Hayoon rubbed her ears. Maybe she misheard. But her hearing was fine.
“If we have another chance to do this, we should make sure the possessor can immediately recognize the language of the country they’re sent to.”
Meanwhile, the delivery man kept talking to himself.
‘Is he crazy?’
Frowning, Hayoon tightly gripped the silver hilt and glared at him.
“Ah, why are you looking at me like that, Ms. Hayoon? You’re holding the Holy Sword. That’s scary!”
“You’re the one talking nonsense about reincarnation trucks. Please leave my house.”
She pointed at the foot he had placed inside her doorway.
If she threatened him with the sword, could she claim self-defense for trespassing? She even calculated it in her head.
“T-That’s strange. You don’t know about reincarnation trucks? According to the records, you regularly read web novels, so no extra explanation should be needed…”
He hurriedly checked her personal information on his device.
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“I’m telling you that Ms. Kim Hayoon just died, and we are about to send your soul to another world.”
“…What?”
“Oh. Did you not realize you were dead?”
The delivery man gestured behind her.
Following his gaze, Hayoon looked toward her bed.
Her own body lay there—dead from overwork.
At that moment, the Holy Sword in her hand began to shine with a bright white light.
「Twisting space-time. Beginning soul transfer. Connected to Dwarf Central Server.」
With the unfamiliar voice, her body was wrapped in white light.
Without even having time to accept her death, Hayoon was pulled into a sudden gap.
The delivery man waved calmly at her.
“See you soon, Ms. Rukna.”
Transferring soul data. 98, 99, 100… Complete.
Even though her eyes were closed, strange letters floated before her like a hologram.
‘What is this?’
Hayoon opened her eyes wide.
She looked up at a ceiling patched roughly with old wooden boards and took a deep breath first.
‘Am I… alive?’
She had just realized her death moments ago, yet now all her senses felt vivid as if she were alive.
She had clung to life desperately, thinking she had to live for her family who died in a car accident. But strangely, she did not look very happy.
‘By the way, where am I?’
She was lying inside a shabby hut. The only furniture was the bed she was on and a fireplace.
On the shelf were clay pots and poorly repaired tin cans. A shovel and poker for the fire sat nearby. None of them looked modern.
‘Oh my god!’
Jumping up, she remembered the suspicious delivery man mentioning reincarnation trucks and web novels.
‘Did I really get possessed into a novel?’
Looking at the poor environment, it seemed she had possessed a rather unfortunate role.
With so many stories where the heroine becomes a rich villainess and spends money freely, how did she draw such a bad card?
‘It’s too early to be disappointed. Maybe I’m a beautiful villainess hiding here because of unavoidable circumstances.’
Obsessed with common villain clichés, she looked at her reflection in the shiny stew pot hanging near the fire.
“…What is this?”
The first thing she noticed was dry platinum-blonde hair, like a failed bleach job.
The hair was short like a man’s, and the body she hoped would be curvy was thin like a branch.
Her face was the same. Sunken cheeks and an exhausted complexion made her look almost like a ghost.
She touched the straw-like hair and sighed.
‘Forget a beautiful villainess. I look like a stable boy.’
Even for a supporting character, this was too much.
Wasn’t it normal to at least get long hair, a pretty face, and a noble title when you came to another world?
“Well… looking closely, the base is pretty.”
Her pale face looked like a beaten corpse, but her clear green eyes, straight nose, and full lips on a small face made her somewhat doll-like.
As she was examining her new body—
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang bang bang!
Someone knocked hard on the hut door.
“Open the door, Rukna! Before I break it down!”
‘Rukna? Is that this body’s name?’
Now that she thought about it, that name had been written on the dawn-delivery box.
‘Was there a novel with a character named Rukna?’
No matter how much she searched her memory, nothing came up.
Still confused, Hayoon decided not to open the door yet.
For now, she had no idea what situation this body was in.
“Looks like she doesn’t plan to open it.”
“Let’s just break it. What can she even do?”
Break it?!
“One, two, three!”
As they counted three, the old hinges snapped loudly, and the door crashed to the floor.
