IBTHDBS 06

Episode 006

I Became the Baby Sacrifice of the Heavenly Demon

But that alone wasn’t enough to be certain.

had far too many characters.

And since it was a martial arts novel, character descriptions were often brief and vague—just one passing mention—so it was hard to identify someone based on that alone.

As I carefully examined the man, my gaze suddenly landed on the ornament in his red hair.

A golden hairpin carved with two birds!

The moment I saw it, a name came to mind.

“…!”

My eyes widened.

‘This really is the world of …!’

With my hands clenched tightly on my knees, I sank into thought.

‘Then… where in the story timeline is this?’

The beginning of went like this:

– Prologue

That day, the heavens overturned.

On the night when the crimson light of the Heavenly Killing Star, blazing with madness, devoured the Heavenly Wolf Star—the skies of the Heavenly Demon Cult were turned upside down.

One who seemed incapable of betrayal betrayed.

One who seemed impossible to kill met his end.

The traitor was Ak Gunhwi, the Mad Demon, who had sworn to conquer the righteous martial world and establish a true demonic dominion.

The one who seemed unkillable yet ultimately died was the Heavenly Demon, Hyeok Ilse.

His father.

That night, while the Heavenly Demon Cult fell into chaos under mad demons committing the ultimate sin, his mother remained calm—like a lotus floating upon turbulent waters.

“Go, Murin.”

His mother, Baek Suryeon, gently pushed him away.

“I must die here. Only then will you live.”

At that moment, the burning roof of the palace collapsed over her head.

“Mother!”

Murin screamed and tried to rush into the flames, but his guard, Soonchan, held him back.

“You must not, Young Master! You must live!”

“Soonchan, let go! My mother—she’s there! Can’t you hear her screaming?!”

Soonchan, who would have pretended to die at Murin’s command, did not obey this time.

With unprecedented strength, he bound Murin’s arms, lifted him, and began to run.

Murin struggled and shouted.

“Let me go, Soonchan!”

But when he turned back—

he fell silent.

Countless blind arrows had pierced Soonchan’s back. He looked like a hedgehog.

After running for some time, Soonchan finally set Murin down by a river.

“Go, Young Master.”

Smiling, Soonchan picked up stones and stuffed them into his clothes.

Murin’s eyes widened.

“Soonchan, what are you doing?!”

Calmly, Soonchan replied:

“I will die soon. If my body is found, the pursuers will know you came this far, and they’ll send assassins after you. Do you think I’d allow that?”

Suddenly, his expression hardened as he shouted:

“I am proud! I have protected you all my life, and now I can protect you even in death—I am proud!”

Murin cried out:

“Soonchan! Everyone is dead! My father and mother are gone, and now you’re going to die too—are you telling me I alone must live?!”

“Yes! Even if it must be so—live! Only then can you take revenge!”

With blazing eyes, Soonchan continued:

“You always keep your promises, Young Master. So promise me—survive! Survive and behead Ak Gunhwi, the Mad Demon who committed this unforgivable sin, and console the spirits of the dead with his blood! Otherwise, we cannot rest in peace!”

Murin’s eyes widened.

Black blood flowed from Soonchan’s mouth.

“Quickly—promise me!”

At last, Murin silently nodded.

Only then did a peaceful smile appear on Soonchan’s face.

Before Murin’s eyes, Soonchan walked into the river, shouting:

“For the Young Master! I die gladly!”

That day, the heavens overturned.

But he survived—

carrying a single, absolute vow that seemed impossible to fulfill.

That was how began:

With Ak Gunhwi killing Hyeok Ilse and his entire family, leaving only Hyeok Murin alive to escape the Heavenly Demon Cult.

And then—

I recalled what the red-haired man had said at the Yu household:

‘At a time when the heavens of our sect are overturned, who cares about some rat!’

My mind raced.

‘This is the very beginning of the story! Right after Ak Gunhwi killed Hyeok Ilse and Murin escaped!’

I absentmindedly brought my fist to my mouth as I thought.

At that moment, someone knocked on the carriage door.

“Leader, shall we serve the meal?”

“No, I’ll eat outside!”

The red-haired man glanced at me and barked:

“You drank water, so now you eat! Get down!”

Honestly…

I didn’t feel like I could swallow anything.

But since he had been so insistent about making me drink water, I had a feeling he’d be just as insistent about making me eat.

So I obediently nodded.

Besides, if my guess was correct—

he was an extremely dangerous man. There was nothing to gain from defying him.

The red-haired man flung open the carriage door and jumped down lightly.

I followed.

But the carriage was higher than I expected.

I fell straight down—

and rolled across the ground.

The red-haired man rushed over in shock.

“Heavenly Saint Star!”

He grabbed me by the collar and pulled me up.

“Are you alright?!”

“Ugh…”

My limbs dangled limply as he shook me.

Of course I wasn’t okay.

Too much had happened.

I lost the carp, got beaten by Aunt Yuk, witnessed the massacre of the Yu family…

And learned that this was a martial arts novel world.

On top of that, I was being taken as a sacrifice to the Heavenly Demon.

Even without blaming my five-year-old body, tears threatened to burst out.

But I bit my lip and held them back.

If I cried, that red-haired man wouldn’t let me off easily.

I was going to survive.

It didn’t matter where I was.

‘If this really is the world of , then Hyeok Murin must be struggling somewhere to survive… so I will survive too.’

It was a thought that came out of habit under extreme stress.

For a moment, I blanked out.

This was the same thought I used to have in the hospital.

Even after reincarnating… I was still relying on him.

But it didn’t matter.

No matter what I had to do—or who I had to rely on—

I would survive.

This was a second life given to me like a miracle. I couldn’t die like this.

Of course, unlike Hyeok Murin, I had no intention of avenging the Yu family.

They had never treated me kindly anyway.

I would survive—for myself.

That alone was already overwhelming.

The red-haired man set me down in front of a fire.

I curled up and sat there.

A Heavenly Demon Cult warrior, who had been cooking something in a pot, suddenly held out a bowl to me.

“Eat.”

I quietly accepted it.

It was filled with porridge.

Freshly made—it looked quite good.

But to me, it looked disgusting.

It had been made by the same hands that slaughtered the Yu family.

Still, I shut my eyes tightly and picked up a spoon.

‘I still have to eat. I need strength if I’m going to do anything!’

I scooped a big spoonful and stuffed it into my mouth.

“Hot—!”

It was burning hot.

“Ah—hot!”

With tears pooling in my eyes, I rolled the porridge around in my mouth to cool it, then swallowed.

Tears dripped down my cheeks.

I quickly took another bite.

Luckily, it was still very hot.

“Hot…”

Pretending the tears were from the heat, I kept eating.

A Heavenly Demon Cult warrior looked at me strangely.

“This kid… isn’t a bit slow, is she?”

The red-haired man, who had been watching me, took the bowl and replied indifferently:

“Even if she is, it doesn’t matter. She has the Heavenly Saint Star mark on her back. And such a clear mark at that—she was truly born with the energy of a Heavenly Saint.”