Chapter 1 - Chapter 1

Translator: Nox

Became the Owner of a Poor Estate - Chapter 1Became the Owner of a Poor EstateChapter 1

780,000 won.

That was the measly sum Donghee managed to scrape together after a month of running between three part-time jobs on barely any sleep. One might ask why she had so little when she worked three jobs.

It was the same old story. Debt.

The fortune Donghee had never even laid eyes on was a gambling debt her estranged older brother had racked up with loan sharks.

The loan sharks, more persistent than leeches, had tracked Donghee down and presented her with the massive mountain of debt like it was a gift, simply because she was his family on paper. Even now, the memory of the day they first stormed into her basement studio apartment made her shudder with a chill that could wake her from sleep.

Ha Donghyuk, that son of a bitch. Beating him to death wouldn't even be enough.

Donghee cursed her brother, hurling insults that would never reach him.

Five million won turning into fifty million happened in the blink of an eye.

After working like a madwoman to pay it off for a month, the debt—despite not being a living organism—would somehow spawn offspring and swell back up. It was like pouring water into a bottomless pit, but she couldn't stop; the anxiety that she might be sold off piece by piece if she didn't keep paying kept her from resting.

Sometimes she thought it might be okay to give up a kidney, but she had a feeling that the moment she lay on the operating table, she’d be saying a permanent goodbye to this world.

Donghee shook her head, recalling the men who looked at her with eyes full of greed.

No matter how wretched her life was, she didn't want to die like that.

Today was payday, but as always, the money only left a fleeting trace in her account before vanishing.

“It’s not a guestbook, for god’s sake. Phew!”

Her head, leaning against the wall, felt infinitely heavy today. Why was it so heavy when there was nothing in it?

“I wish the world would just end.”

If only she could turn back time, she wanted to erase the days when she walked around smiling, happy to finally have a mother and a brother.

“Stupid, idiot.”

The day she returned from her school trip, her stepmother had taken not only the house deposit but even her father’s life insurance money and run away with that bastard brother of hers.

All that was left for her were the clothes on her back, the laundry in her bag, and the handmade choco pies she had bought to give to her mother and brother.

“Dumbass.”

She had checked the bag so many times on the bus, worried the choco pies might melt.

She didn't have enough money for three, so she had only bought two—one for her mother and one for her brother.

In the end, those handmade choco pies from Gyeongju became the last meal Donghee ate in that house.

She hadn't touched a choco pie since.

She lacked the courage to die, but felt like she’d actually die if she gave up. The more she struggled to survive, the tighter the noose seemed to pull.

There was no way out.

“Am I supposed to live like this until the moment I die?”

47.8 million won.

She had paid over two million won every month without fail, yet the debt had only decreased by a total of 2.2 million.

“Fuck. I really can't do this anymore.”

Donghee spat out a curse she wasn't even used to using and squeezed her eyes shut. Tears began to stream down her face of their own accord.

I really wish the apocalypse would come.

She didn't even have the strength to wipe her tears. As she threw her exhausted body onto the worn mattress, the stained wallpaper of the ceiling came into view.

‘It’ll leak again when it rains. They said the monsoon starts next week.’

Because the rent was so much cheaper than anywhere else, she couldn't even bring herself to pester the landlord to fix it. She was terrified they would tell her to move out immediately if she did.

‘If water starts dripping, I’ll just put a bowl under it.’

Even a damp room was better than the streets.

Miserable thoughts followed one after another. As her thinking grew longer, her exhausted body sank deeper into the old mattress.

Donghee reached her arm above her head, fumbling around to find the phone she had tossed aside.

The four-year-old phone took a hellishly long time to charge and would die weakly before half a day was through.

Still, the phone, which was much better than having nothing, dutifully informed her that it was now two in the morning.

She had to go to her convenience store job at five.

“Let’s just sleep for three hours.”

Donghee crawled across the mat, shoved herself into the crumpled blankets, and closed her eyes. Every bone in her body felt as heavy as if it were made of iron.

Even a slight toss and turn made the old mattress emit a metallic sproing.

She blinked her naturally closing eyelids a few times for no reason before drifting off into sleep.

Still, it’s better than nothing to have a place like this.

Donghee fell into a deep sleep, trying to feel proud of herself for managing to secure even a basement studio with no money.

“My Lord, please wake up.”

A soft, kind voice drifted from somewhere.

Did I leave the TV on?

Donghee opened her eyes with a sense of guilt, thinking she’d left the television running when she was in a position where even 100 won for electricity mattered.

However, the scene that met her eyes was different from usual.

For a few seconds, Donghee blinked slowly with a dazed expression.

‘Am I still dreaming? Why is it so bright?’

The basement studio, which was dark day and night, was as bright as broad daylight.

Aw, geez, did I leave the lights on too?

She sat up with a grimace, but the sensation of the blanket against her palms was unfamiliar.

Where am I?

Her first thought was: did the loan sharks break in while I was sleeping and kidnap me?

Donghee widened her eyes, looking at the unfamiliar furniture, walls, and ceiling, before finally locking eyes with a woman who was looking at her with concern.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

“Aah!”

Startled by Donghee’s scream, the woman standing before her also trembled and shrieked.

Donghee’s screaming continued for a while.

She looked around for anything that could serve as a weapon, but all she saw were soft, plush things.

“What is the matter? Did you have a nightmare?”

The woman who had screamed along with her regained her composure and asked with a worried face.

Realizing a moment too late that the woman was a foreigner, Donghee was struck with despair.

“Did they... put me on a deep-sea fishing boat?”

It was a relief they hadn't just cut her open immediately, but wasn't putting her on a boat a bit much?

Wait, why do I understand everything she’s saying?

And come to think of it, this isn't a boat. Where am I?

Her heart wouldn't calm down, causing her breathing to quicken. Sitting on the bed, Donghee curled her body like a terrified cat, ready to strike at any moment.

“My Lord, are you truly alright?”

“M-me?”

“Yes. Are you hurt somewhere?”

“I’m not hurt. But... who are you?”

“Pardon?”

This time, it was the woman who let out a cry of utter dismay.

Leaving behind the woman who kept calling her "My Lord," Donghee had been glued to the mirror for an hour.

The woman in the mirror wasn’t thirty-one-year-old Ha Donghee, but a girl who looked to be in her late teens at most.

Large, chocolate-colored eyes sparkled like glass marbles, and hair the same color as her eyes flowed down in waves. Her skin, as pale as white rice cake, was flawless, and her soft, smooth lips were as red and fresh as cherries.

“This is me?”

Still unable to believe it, Donghee pressed her nose against the mirror and felt her face.

The girl in the mirror also felt her face and moved her mouth just as Donghee did. The girl following Donghee’s every move was as beautiful as a doll.

She had lived a life where she had never once been called pretty.

An average face and a body that lacked curves where they should be and had them where they shouldn't.

Donghee, who had always lacked a presence, was someone few people recognized even at school reunions.

The question Donghee heard most at reunions was, ‘Were you in our class too?’

And yet, this was her?

“I’m this pretty?”

“Yes, My Lord, you are very beautiful. So you must get ready to head out now!”

The woman with the sharp impression said she was a nanny. Or rather, used to be a nanny.

When Donghee didn't recognize her and asked who she was, the nanny had initially answered with teary eyes in shock. However, seeing Donghee’s excessively calm demeanor, she concluded it was a prank and now wore a thoroughly disgruntled expression.

It’s not a prank. Then is it a dream?

Donghee grabbed her soft cheek and gave it a little pinch.

It doesn't hurt?

“Do you think that little pinch is going to hurt?”

The nanny’s grumbling voice poked through from the side.

“Then could you pinch it for me?”

If this was a dream, she had to wake up quickly. It would be a disaster if she was late for her part-time job and got fired.

Donghee slid one cheek toward the nanny. Even though she thought it was a dream, she felt a bit nervous and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Don’t you go complaining later!”

“Yes, yes, just pinch me quickly. So I can wake up.”

“I’m pinching!”

“Hurry! I’m going to be late for work.”

“I have no idea what you’ve been talking about for a while now! Well then, excuse me!”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Donghee felt a pain as if her cheek were being ripped off. Contrary to her apologetic face, the nanny mercilessly yanked and twisted the tender cheek.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

Donghee’s heels lifted as high as her cheek was pulled, and she let out a piercing shriek as she stomped her feet.

Flailing like a fresh fish, Donghee clutched her cheek and glared. A tear pricked her eye.

“That hurts!”

“I told you not to complain! Now, get up! You must have breakfast! You absolutely must tour the fief today. Otherwise, Viscount Patrasche might truly take the territory away from you.”

The nanny spoke while stroking Donghee’s reddened cheek, looking belatedly apologetic.

“Patrasche? Like the dog?”

Donghee felt a slight sense of familiarity at the name and rubbed her stinging cheek.

The nanny let out a deep sigh, wetted a towel with warm water, and began to gently wipe Donghee’s face. Fearing her cheek might be pinched again, Donghee instinctively pulled back, but the nanny caught the back of her neck, so she just squeezed her eyes shut. This nanny person definitely had a very strong grip.

“Even so, how can you call him a dog to his face? What if someone hears you?”