I, A Shut-in, Was Proposed to by a Tyrant - Chapter 1

I was determined not to live like my mother even when I died and woke up.

‘She sees ghosts.’

‘Unlucky woman.’

‘I don’t feel good just staying at her side.’

These words that I hear. It’s not for me, but for my mother

Words that my poor mother used to hear all her life.

Even the man who didn’t want himself to be called a father by someone like me would make a fuss about something that was attached to me on a drunken day, saying that if I looked at him with unpleasant eyes, he would kill me.

“Mom, are you okay?”

My mother smiled at my question and held the bell.

“The guardian deity is protecting me.”

What is it about those dead souls! A person who lives on fortune telling yet receives blessings that cost only a few pennies.

A foolish person who said that being ignored does not mean disregard and that she doesn’t hate people. I didn’t want to live like my mother.

My mother, who lived miserable, went back to the soil, and my father, who left home, said, “You have the same eyes as her,” and never returned.

After that, I shut myself inside the house and isolated myself.

***

Three years went by slowly. All I did at home after quitting my university was eat, sleep, and play.

【Oh, this crazy b*tch. Play well, play well.】

“Don’t pay attention to me and go.”

While watching romance novels, I did virtual dating, played games, and traveled. There was nothing lacking in my life.

Except for the damned old woman who interferes with me as I hold a small cell phone in my dark room, I swear there’s nothing missing.

【How long are you going to live like that? It’s pathetic.】

I was already in a bad mood because of this boring novel.

Same story, sweet potato1 development, frustrating female protagonist. I was annoyed that I couldn’t get an interesting novel again this time.

“Please don’t interfere with my life, and go your way.”

She’s been bothering my mother all her life. I don’t know what more regrets she has left for her to bother me even after my mother died.

【Hey, you. Do you think I am here because I like it?】

“Then why are you following me?”

【It’s because there’s no one else who can accept me other than you!】

That again.

Others can’t accept her because she’s small. I’m going to die soon. So it’s just me.

Without fail, this old woman hovered around me with the same repertoire for three years.

“You’re talking like a bowl…”

Why did my mother die? She spent all day at the shaman’s house even though she was pointed at for trying to save others.

On my mother’s day off, the house she returned to was not a resting place for her.

“I don’t need it, so get lost.”

The old lady quietly disappeared again, clicking her tongue at my sharp voice. When she calmed down, she would come back and bother me again.

“Ha…… I’m tired of it.”

Everything is boring. I sighed as I looked at the novel floating on the screen. The villain, who grew up without receiving any love, faced death after numerous misdeeds.

The novel, titled 〈The Lady Walks on the Flower Road〉 contained a lot of clichés popular among readers.

In the introduction, it is the typical Cinderella story of a simple country baron lady and the emperor’s love.

As soon as the villain died in a novel I hadn’t read much, I shut down the app without hesitation.

Was I too immersed in the fact that the villain who was persecuted every day and lived pitifully became a victim of her family and died?

“I feel bad.”

I feel bad for the character.

The villain who is discriminated against for having a different hair color and a different eye color from the rest of her family is just like me, just like my mother’s life.

She’s like us who were discriminated against for seeing ghosts and seeing the future of people.

I got up, throwing my phone on the bed at random. I should eat ramen to soothe my empty stomach.

【Why are you annoyed?】

“You’re back again after a long time.”

I’m really not in the mood today. Voices that others can’t hear, things that others can’t see. Why are those useless abilities given to me?

【Let me guess.】

I just decided to ignore the old woman who was bothering me around. I put the pot on the gas stove and when the water started to boil, I put noodles and soup and intentionally moved busily like a person who couldn’t see anything.

【You don’t like being different from others?】

“…….”

The moment I threw a thick book on the floor instead of a pot stand, my phone, which I had put far away, flashed.

【Why don’t you like it? You’re the chosen one.】

“I never wanted to be chosen. So did my mom. I want you to fall to hell when I think of my mother who had a hard time taking care of you, whether you are a god or not.”

I gritted my teeth.

【But you have to accept me! Or you’ll die.】

“I’d rather die.”

Yeah, like the villain in the novel.

Just like Flotty Bevenia in 〈The Lady Walks the Flower Road〉. A life that is ignored and discriminated against by the fact that she is different from others.

I’d rather die.

【As I was saying….】

When the old lady heard my angry voice, she blurred her words and looked around. It was the moment when I put the fully cooked ramen on the book and held my chopsticks.

【Should I make you want to live again?】

The old lady, whom I thought would be quiet because she was discouraged, was looking at me with a sly smile. I met the old lady’s eyes for the first time in a long time.

Wrinkled eyes, plain hanbok, white hair. She’s so ordinary that she doesn’t even feel like a god.

【Why did your mom choose that? You should know that.】

“Insane old lady…”

I thought she was talking nonsense again today. Because she’s been like that every day.

I would eat ramen as usual, and I would spend my time blankly watching TV programs that were not fun.

【Go ahead. You should know how precious I am!】

Where are you going?

Now I just picked up a chopstick for my ramen. Just before the steaming ramen entered my mouth, my cell phone, which I couldn’t reach, vibrated loudly.

“W, what is it? What’s wrong?”

In a hurry, I crawled on top of the bed and grabbed my cell phone that was only vibrating. When I touched it, it didn’t work and the power button didn’t work.

The novel app that I turned off was turned on again on my phone. The scene where Flotty Bevenia dies.

“What are you doing again, you damn old lady?”

She’s done a lot of bizarre things, so this is nothing.

She will turn off the electricity to prevent me from reading a comic book I was enjoying, or she blocks the water from going down the toilet.

The old lady’s petty atrocities have occurred several times, so I thought this was only one of them.

【Let’s go, you wicked girl.】

The vibration was strong enough to make my hands tremble. The moment the white light emitted from the screen, I covered my eyes and blinked rapidly.

I lost my consciousness.

***

“What are you looking at? It makes me feel bad.”

This was the first thing I heard when I came to my senses. The man with pale skin and dark gray hair had a typical face.

The small gold threads in his red suit flashed brightly under the chandelier lights.

“Anyway, you’re an unlucky girl. We always see each other every day. Are you doing this because you want to have fun, too?”

The man who approached me, as I was lying on the ground and unable to control myself, tapped my stomach with his shoe nose.

The one who should be in a bad mood is me, not this man. However, for some reason, I couldn’t frown and move my body.

“Hey! There, you!”

The man called a woman passing by in the distance. A woman in a maid’s uniform, as seen in a movie, ran quickly with a frightened face.

“Put this in the basement.”

The finger of the man who said ‘this’ was pointing at me exactly.

“If possible, don’t let it come out. It’s better if you tie it up.”

The man, who laughed at me to the fullest, hoofed away. Only a woman in a maid dress remained and supported my collapsed body.

It was not a welcome touch. She showed her displeasure as if she was touching an annoying, dirty bug.

“Lady, how can you come out again? The young master will punish me.”

A voice with no sign of kindness. My hair naturally flowed down to the side of my face as she supported my body.

Deep purple hair caught my eye.

“Purple?”

It’s not dark brown hair that Koreans naturally have, but dark purple. I managed to look around with all my might.

A large hall, carpeted stairs, a woman in a maid’s suit and a man with gray hair. People busily move with white plates of food.

“This is…”

I saw my skinny fingers and arms. My originally dark skin became pale.

On such a light day, I walked along the woman who led me recklessly and thought.

‘Did that old woman touch my dream?’

Yeah, that’s a possibility. This must be a nightmare. There’s nothing more effective than drying people to death.

I gnashed my teeth in a familiar rage.

When I wake up from this dream, I will go to the shaman’s house with that old woman who talks nonsense.

I want you to get rid of that old woman who’s stuck in my life.

After walking for a long time with that thought, the place where I was standing was in front of the stairs leading to the dark basement, unlike the colorful and pretty hall.

“You’re so obedient today.”

The woman laughed.

A hand pushed my back, saying, “This is where you should be.”

As soon as I managed to pull myself together,

【You arrived safely.】

I heard the brazen voice of the old woman.

t/n: sweet potato is a Korean slang in novels that is used to express frustration or impatience in a person or a situation