Episode 005
When Jo Yoo-hwa opened her eyes again…
She wasn’t Jo Yoo-hwa anymore.
She was Geum Sol-ah, 5 years old.
The heiress of the top-tier guild in the world—Geumho (金虎).
The little girl she had saved?
That was the name of the body she’d now possessed.
“Honey! Sol-ah’s awake!”
The first time she came to, everything was a blur.
“Sweetie, can you hear me? It’s Daddy. Do you recognize Daddy?”
All she could think was, Something’s definitely wrong.
Already overwhelmed and confused, the first face she saw just had to be that—Geum Seonghwan, glaring down at her with eyes like a tiger.
No surprise she passed out again right then and there.
The next time she woke up, the reality hit her.
“Sol-ah doesn’t look well. Maybe we should call the doctor…”
“Sweetie, is your food not good? Want some water?”
These two strangers… were her parents now.
“You keep staring at her while she’s trying to eat. Just leave her alone, will you?”
If it hadn’t been for Su Ji-hyun, known as the “White Goddess of the Battlefield,” sitting beside Seonghwan, Sol-ah might’ve thought she’d died and gone straight to hell.
“Our daughter, do you want something else? I’ll get you some premium beef if you don’t like the seaweed soup!”
But it didn’t take long to realize that those scary tiger eyes of his…
were filled with nothing but love.
Still can’t believe this…
She stared at her tiny little hands.
When she first woke up, Sol-ah’s memories had come flooding in like a tidal wave.
Big warm hands wiping the sweat off her forehead.
Those amber eyes, shimmering with worry.
“Sol-ah, do you know who I am?”
“…Daddy.”
“Thank you, my little girl… for waking up.”
That first word… “Daddy.”
It was enough to make this new identity completely settle in.
If she had tried to rationalize things, she probably would’ve lost her mind.
“Mom, Dad took the remote again! He won’t let me watch TV!”
“That’s because all you ever put on is the boring news!”
“But I’m bored!”
“Then let’s play together!”
It’d been a week since she woke up in the hospital.
Physically, she was fine—jumping around like normal.
But her day-to-day was just… eat, sleep, breathe, repeat.
“Playing with Dad is boring.”
“Oh no, Sol-ah… Daddy’s crying now.”
Even Seonghwan, who terrified her at first, had become fun to tease.
“How about we watch Secret MyuMyu on the tablet?”
“Mmm… okay.”
The couple clearly just wanted their daughter to relax and forget everything.
After such a huge scare, they were grateful she didn’t remember the incident.
They never leave me alone.
The only time she could leave the room was during scheduled walks, and even then a whole fleet of uncles followed her like bodyguards.
The whole world already knew how obsessed Geumho Guild was with their only daughter.
No wonder they named her guild heir at her age.
It had happened just last spring.
Right when everyone heard little Sol-ah had started kindergarten, her grandfather—former Guildmaster Geum Cheol-soo—had passed the guild down to her, skipping right over his fully-grown, capable son, Geum Seonghwan.
A literal child. As heir.
People thought the old man had lost it.
Sure, Seonghwan would act as guildmaster until she came of age, but still.
Everyone called it madness.
But Geumho Guild? They proudly celebrated the moment.
[Congratulations to ♥ Our Precious Sol-ah ♥ the Heir of Geumho! — From all Guild Members]
There were celebration buses, huge LED billboards, TV ads…
Even Yoo-hwa, who basically lived at the research center, had seen it.
The first daughter born into the Geum family in a hundred years.
It was a public statement to the world:
Sol-ah wasn’t just any kid. She was Geumho.
And now that kid had nearly died… no wonder they’re watching me like hawks.
But…
Sol-ah stared at the remote on the top shelf she couldn’t reach.
I need to figure out what happened to my real body.
“Heir of Geumho Guild Kidnapping Case Still a Mystery”
She’d seen that headline while flipping TV channels yesterday.
She’d been wondering about that day ever since she woke up.
Was it really a kidnapping?
While it helped that she still had access to Sol-ah’s memories, the problem was—
she was missing a whole year’s worth of them.
Everything about the day of the accident? Gone.
Even when the cops asked her about it, she couldn’t answer.
She wanted to know.
Why was Sol-ah in the middle of a national park?
Where did that monster come from?
How did they survive the raging water?
And… what happened to me?
Sol-ah’s body had survived.
So did that mean Jo Yoo-hwa was still alive?
What she wanted more than anything—was news about her own body.
If only I could watch the news. Why won’t they let me?
Geum Seonghwan and Su Ji-hyun loved their daughter dearly.
Maybe that’s why…
They were actually relieved that she didn’t remember anything from that day.
“Hey… what about the lady who was with me that day?”
The moment she asked, their faces went stiff.
They didn’t answer.
Just kept saying it was okay not to remember. That she was safe now.
That’s all that mattered.
I’m guessing they think she died… But something’s off.
And even if Yoo-hwa did survive… that would still be a problem.
She had been on the run from the Center.
And if—just if—Sol-ah had ended up in Yoo-hwa’s body… they needed to find her fast.
Because if the Center found her first?
They’d never let her live.
But right now, she was just a kid, cut off from the outside world.
And there was nothing she could do.
If she were alive… they would’ve told me. I saved their daughter, after all.
All she could do now was hope.
As usual, Sol-ah was binge-watching Secret MyuMyu.
The flashy animation freaked her out at first, but now?
She was totally hooked.
There was nothing else to do—her tablet was locked so tight, she couldn’t even open Google.
This was the only thing worth watching.
Just then, someone came to visit.
Sol-ah’s eyes lit up.
Her first visitor not from the family or the guild.
“Hello, Mr. Geum Seonghwan, President Su Ji-hyun. I heard your daughter is being discharged tomorrow, so I wanted to drop by. I’m Song Eui-joo, director of Song Hospital.”
A well-dressed man entered, along with a young boy who looked around grade school age.
“These are fruits my son picked out himself.”
Only with Geumho would a hospital director personally show up with a fruit basket.
“Hello, I’m Song Jae-yi.”
The boy next to him bowed politely and introduced himself.
“Oh! So you’re the new combat-type Awakener! Nice to meet you.”
Song Jae-yi.
Yoo-hwa had heard that name plenty back in her old life.
Just a few months ago, he made headlines for awakening as a Hunter at age nine—even without any inherited Hunter DNA. A super rare case.
“As you know, my son will begin training at Geumho Guild next month, so I thought it was a good time to introduce him properly.”
“We heard. I also read he’d been really sick—are you okay now?”
“Yes, I’m doing well. Thank you for your concern.”
His awakening had apparently caused some kind of life-threatening instability, and the boy had almost died.
The news covered it, so most people had heard about it.
Maybe that’s why he seemed so calm and mature for his age.
While the adults chatted, Jae-yi walked over to Sol-ah, who was sitting on the sofa.
“Hi. You’re Geum Sol-ah, right?”
His clear brown eyes met hers, calm and steady.
When they made eye contact, he smiled so sweetly, it was like looking at a bun filled with whipped cream.
Hmm.
The sunlight streaming through the window made his caramel-colored hair shine like syrup.
“Do you like fruit?”
He held out a basket almost as big as himself.
The sweet smell of fresh fruit tickled her nose.
