SFRW-Chapter 5

Ch.5 Sword God From The Ruined World

“I should buy proper clothes first.”  

Seo Do-jun decided he could no longer stand the sight of his shabby reflection in the mirror.  

The cotton T-shirt and shorts he had worn for the past three days—his wardrobe consisted of nearly identical outfits.  

Seo Do-jun, who had died in the gate, was someone who had desperately struggled to survive.  

Born as an illegitimate child unwelcomed by his father, Seo Do-jun was raised by his mother until he was six.  

Then, by his grandfather’s order, he was taken into his father’s household.  

The family was one that valued heirs highly, and when his father’s legal wife was deemed unable to bear a son, his grandfather reluctantly registered Seo Do-jun in the family registry.  

Naturally, Seo Do-jun was welcomed by no one.  

Though he was registered and brought into the household, his grandfather still disapproved of him, his stepmother openly hated him, and even his father—his only shield—showed him no warmth.  

Despite such an environment, Seo Do-jun grew up kind and untainted.  

But misfortune is unavoidable.  

After endless efforts, his stepmother finally bore a son, and from then on, Seo Do-jun was no longer needed.  

Less than a year after his half-brother’s birth, he was driven out of the house. From then on, Seo Do-jun lived with his maternal grandmother, whom he had rarely seen, and his two-year-old half-sister, Eun-young.  

Just eighteen years old.  

As the head of the household, Seo Do-jun threw himself into the world to earn money.  

But.  

“Hong Hee-ju.”  

A calm voice flowed from Seo Do-jun’s lips.  

The name of his father’s legal wife—his stepmother.  

Hong Hee-ju, who hated Seo Do-jun more than anyone else in the world.  

Even after driving him out of her sight, she couldn’t bear the thought of him living under the same sky.  

Instead, like a fish returning to water, she busied herself with sabotaging Seo Do-jun’s life outside the house.  

Knowing all this, Seo Do-jun had never once protested or even asked her to stop tormenting him—foolishly kind to a fault.  

“I hope she stops now.”  

The situation had changed.  

The foolish, frustrating Seo Do-jun who seemed like an idiot was no more.  

If anyone stood in his way now, Seo Do-jun had not the slightest intention of understanding or forgiving them.  

His distrust of humans… Was something he had experienced enough in the ruined world.  

Seo Do-jun stuffed the cash envelope from the loan shark into his shorts pocket.  

“Brother, where are you going?”  

As Seo Do-jun headed out, Eun-young scurried over, her eyes sparkling.  

A child pure and untainted.  

Whenever he saw Eun-young, who had lost her mother at two and was raised by their grandmother, Seo Do-jun felt an inexplicable pity—despite believing he had dried up all emotions toward humans.  

‘It must be the emotions from sharing Seo Do-jun’s memories.’  

It was a feeling Seo Do-jun disliked.  

But he couldn’t outrightly reject the innocent Eun-young, so he suppressed his emotions as much as possible.  

Suddenly, Seo Do-jun noticed the bear doll Eun-young was clutching tightly.  

A worn-out, tattered, unsightly bear doll with patches of stuffing missing—her only friend. After a long pause, Seo Do-jun spoke.  

“Should I buy you… A new doll?”  

He regretted it immediately, but the words were already out.  

***

“Brother! Brother!”  

Despite Eun-young’s urging, Seo Do-jun walked silently.  

Seeing Eun-young unable to take her eyes off a bear doll as tall as her, Seo Do-jun picked it up without question.  

“What else? Don’t you want anything else?”  

“…Can I really get more?”  

At Eun-young’s cautious question, Seo Do-jun’s brow twitched.  

His emotions stirred again.  

In the ruined world, Seo Do-jun had seen countless children far more pitiful than Eun-young.  

Even then, his emotions had remained unmoved—so this resonance was purely a side effect of sharing Seo Do-jun’s memories.  

In truth, Seo Do-jun’s love for Eun-young had been extraordinary.  

A sense of kinship.  

Both born unwelcomed by their fathers and ultimately abandoned.  

Especially since, while raising two-year-old Eun-young with their grandmother, he had felt more like a father than a brother—pleading even in death for her care.  

Sharing those memories, Seo Do-jun’s emotions reflexively wavered whenever he saw her.  

“…Buy whatever you want.”  

“Really?”  

“Yeah.”  

“Yay!”  

Eun-young’s eyes sparkled.  

She darted around the toy store before finally picking something.  

But.  

“Brother, this one.”  

What Eun-young ultimately chose was a single rabbit doll smaller than her palm.  

Seo Do-jun had seen it too.  

But the ones he had looked at were part of sets—houses, decorated rooms, bustling with similar characters.  

“I said you could buy anything you wanted.”  

“…Grandma said brother worked hard for the money.”  

At the words of a mere seven-year-old, Seo Do-jun’s expression twisted.  

He strode to the store owner.  

“I’ll take everything here.”  

“E-everything?!”  

The startled owner asked, but Seo Do-jun replied as if he shouldn’t have to repeat himself.  

“Every single thing. Don’t leave anything out.”  

***

“Is it good?”  

“Yeah! So so yummy! The best!”  

At Eun-young’s honest answer, a faint smile flickered at Seo Do-jun’s lips before vanishing.  

Squeeze.  

Eun-young clung to Seo Do-jun’s hand as she ate her ice cream.  

His other hand was weighed down with shopping bags, but it didn’t bother him.  

“Brother.”  

Eun-young, with ice cream smeared around her mouth, called to him.  

“Aren’t we getting Grandma a present?”  

Seo Do-jun’s expression soured—he hadn’t even considered what a seven-year-old had.  

“Did Grandma say she wanted something?”  

“…She said she’d like a cane. She said other grandmas have canes, but she doesn’t.”  

“A cane?”  

“Yeah!”  

Recalling their grandmother’s severely hunched back, Seo Do-jun nodded.  

“Alright, let’s go buy one.”  

Holding Eun-young’s hand, Seo Do-jun headed to a nearby department store.  

He planned to buy a suitable cane and return, but Eun-young’s excitement dragged him into unplanned shopping.  

While browsing, Seo Do-jun entered a dazzling luxury boutique—something even the ruined world hadn’t had. Curiosity and Eun-young’s wide-eyed wonder kept him there.  

Dismissing an attendant’s offer, Seo Do-jun leisurely explored the quiet store with Eun-young.  

As they browsed, ignoring the staff’s stares—  

“Seo Do-jun?”  

A petite woman, barely over 150 cm, with a round, flat face and pudgy build. Thick makeup exaggerated her plain looks, draped in lavish designer clothes. Two burly bodyguards flanked her.  

“Wow, it’s really you?”  

The woman approached Seo Do-jun in mock surprise.  

Seo Do-jun’s expression remained neutral as he took in her designer-clad figure.  

“What’s with that look?”  

Her face twisted into open disdain.  

Seo Do-jun wore a clean T-shirt and jeans—no longer the cheap rags from before, but decent brands. His model-like height and build drew attention, but she sneered anyway.  

“Clothes make the man… You’re proof even trash can dress up.”  

Seo Do-jun stayed silent, just watching her.  

“Who’s the kid? Your mistress? Too old for that… Or is she—?”  

Studying Eun-young, the woman’s lips curled at her resemblance to Seo Do-jun—large, clear eyes and porcelain skin.  

“Hey, kid, what’s your name?”  

Eun-young answered without hesitation.  

“Lee Eun-young.”  

“Lee? You’re a Lee?”  

Eun-young blinked, confused.  

To others, it might’ve been cute, but the woman scoffed at her clothes.  

“Dressed like that… Pathetic. Just like her mother.”  

Her cackling drew no reaction from Seo Do-jun.  

Annoyed, she snapped, “What, you mute now? Or just that ungrateful?”  

Still met with silence, her eyes turned vicious.  

“Hey, brat.”  

She addressed Eun-young.  

“Yeah?”  

Ignoring her innocence, the woman smirked.  

“Ever heard of a whore?”  

“Ahem!”  

Her bodyguards coughed awkwardly; staff looked away.  

Delighted by the discomfort, she pressed on.  

“A whore is like your mom—”  

“What a brazen bitch.”  

Seo Do-jun’s voice cut through.  

“…What? You—you dirt, you called me a bitch?”  

“Your face is bad enough, but your soul’s uglier than an orc’s. I can’t listen anymore.”  

Stunned, she gaped at him.  

No one had ever dared speak to her like that—least of all Seo Do-jun.  

Seo Min-chae—his two-years-younger half-sister.  

They’d lived together for nearly 12 years, though never on good terms.  

Her hatred for him ran deep.  

“Y-you… Did you just—orc? Me—?”  

Trembling, she couldn’t even finish.  

“A spoiled, stupid, jealous brat with nothing but her parents’ money. Even an orc’s better.”  

Seo Do-jun smirked, mirroring her earlier mockery.  

Humiliation burned in her teary eyes—worse under the staff’s watchful gaze.  

“What are you doing?! You’re just standing there while he—?!”  

She shrieked at her bodyguards.  

Reluctantly, they stepped forward.  

“Don’t make this worse.”  

Seo Do-jun’s lip curled slightly.  

He was ready to break the first arm that touched him—  

“Long time no see, Seo Do-jun.”