7 transmigration tips from the saint chapter 1

Recently, Seo Woohyun has been troubled by a dilemma. It’s too trivial to share with others, yet it has nagged at him for months, making it impossible to ignore.

It was well past midnight, early morning, when he finished working late and headed to the convenience store near his home.

Ignoring the promotion that offered discounts for buying multiple items, he grabbed just one can of beer.

Thinking about the overwhelming amount of work he handled today, he felt it was a miracle that he still had the strength to drink a beer.

He was so exhausted that, at one point, he seriously considered sleeping on a makeshift bed in a corner of the office before finally deciding to go home.

The night-shift worker at the convenience store had bleached hair that was patchy and looked like it could barely keep up with his swaying head.

Seo Woohyun felt a bit guilty for waking him, but he couldn’t wait to get home, have a beer, and pass out.

When Woohyun cleared his throat at the counter, the worker jolted awake.

“Oh, I’m sorry! Let me ring you up!”

After paying for the beer, the worker greeted him with more enthusiasm than usual.

Woohyun nodded slightly and left the store.

‘Why do I feel so tired today?’

The walk back home felt unusually long, as if his body had grown heavier.

It wasn’t until he entered the lobby of his apartment building that he remembered he’d forgotten to buy any snacks.

‘Oh, snacks. Do I have anything at home?’

The only food he had at home was a can of ham that was about to expire and a couple of packets of ramen.

The ramen might already be past its expiration date.

After a brief moment of thought, Woohyun decided to give up on snacks altogether.

After all, he only had one can of beer, so he reasoned it was a good way to cut down on expenses.

As he waited for the elevator, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror on the wall.

His pale skin, dark circles under his eyes, and blank expression made him look ghastly.

Working indoors all the time and leaving for home only after dark had left his already fair skin looking lifeless.

‘The manager’s been commenting on how pale I look these days. I guess I really am worn out.’

The burnout he was experiencing had only made his already hollow complexion worse.

The thought of quitting crossed his mind frequently, but the mountain of debt he had to repay kept him going.

He still had a bit of rationality left, enough to keep him hanging on, though he wasn’t sure how much longer that would last.

Even the faint noise of the elevator arriving in the lobby felt deafening to his exhausted body, which had been pushed to its limits after several consecutive nights of overtime.

‘I feel like I’m going to die.’

Since being promoted to assistant manager, his workload had doubled, but his salary had barely increased.

Sometimes, even having a beer after work felt like a luxury.

Woohyun frowned as he leaned against the elevator wall.

The old elevator creaked so much that he feared it might just give out and drop.

‘I can’t afford to get sick before the end of the month. I don’t even have time to go get an IV drip… Life really is messed up.’

His life had become so harsh that even getting sick had to be scheduled around his work.

Perhaps that’s why he’d been having the same recurring dream for months—sitting around a campfire in a dense forest, just resting or cooking.

Occasionally, he’d dream about exploring an unfamiliar city, participating in festivals, and traveling with people who seemed like friends.

The dreams were so vivid that they felt like real experiences.

He always felt strange when he woke up, and according to dream interpretations, these were supposed to be good omens, indicating that his wishes would come true.

But instead of feeling uplifted, Woohyun felt more confused.

‘What do I even want?’

No matter how much he thought about it, the only things that came to mind were wishing for the office to burn down or winning the lottery.

Despite repeatedly having dreams that were supposed to signify his wishes coming true, neither of these things happened.

‘Even in my dreams, I have lousy luck.’

After arriving home, he washed up and downed his lukewarm beer, swallowing his grumbles along with it.

Without any snacks, he felt the alcohol hit him faster than usual, making his cheeks flush.

He tossed the empty beer can into the recycling bag and collapsed onto his bed, his body sinking into it as if it had been waiting for this moment.

Yet despite his exhaustion, sleep eluded him, and he lay there staring at the ceiling.

Out of nowhere, he recalled the complaints his colleague Choi had been making earlier that day.

‘Assistant Manager, I haven’t been able to sleep lately, so I’ve been taking sleeping pills. But they don’t work well, so I’m going to take a half-day off tomorrow afternoon to see the doctor. The manager… He’ll approve it, right?’

At the time, all Woohyun could say was to take care of his health. The approval for half-day leave often depended on the manager’s mood.

Luckily, the manager had been in a good mood, thanks to a good day in the stock market, and had approved Choi’s leave.

‘At least I don’t need sleeping pills, so I guess I’m doing better….’

He never imagined he would become an adult who found a sense of superiority in not needing sleeping pills.

Woohyun let out a deep sigh.

‘Will that guy appear in my dream tonight?’

In truth, the foreign man who occasionally appeared in his dreams bothered him more than the fact that he had been having these travel dreams for months.

Just thinking about him made Woohyun smile.

Dreams had become his escape from the dullness of everyday life, and because of that, he usually felt content before falling asleep.

It was also the only time his facial muscles, which were usually forced into fake smiles at work, could relax naturally.

Early in his career, Woohyun had been told to smile more, so he had practiced forcing a smile.

Recently, his efforts had paid off in a small way, as he had started to gain a reputation for it.

‘Our Assistant Manager Seo used to glare all the time when he first joined the company, but now he’s always smiling. It’s nice to see! I should start calling him “Smile Manager” from now on. Hahaha!’

Despite the burnout and overwork that were about to push him to the brink, he’d earned a new, cheerful nickname at the office.

At first, he didn’t think much of it, but at home, it sometimes made him angry.

Of all the nicknames he could have gotten, why did it have to be something as ridiculous as “Smile Manager”? It felt like they were making fun of him.

As he tossed and turned, trying to fall asleep, he found himself thinking of the nameless beauty he only met in his dreams.

‘If he’s been appearing in my dreams for months, isn’t that fate? I hope he’s dreaming of me too, somewhere on the other side of the world. Maybe we’ll meet by chance….’

Tonight, Woohyun was desperate to learn the man’s name.

Even if they couldn’t exchange names, being able to communicate at all would feel like a dream come true.

He was tired of waking up from dreams where he would try to talk to the man, only to find himself confused and unable to understand what he was saying.

Then, just before he drifted off to sleep, the thought crossed his mind that knowing the man’s name wouldn’t make any difference, and he let out a small, amused laugh.

White light poured onto the grass. Breathing in the fresh scent of the greenery, Seo Woohyun slowly opened his eyes.

[Ah, I’m not sure whether to feel happy or sad about this.]

Woohyun turned his head toward the soft voice coming from behind him.

Although they had never had a conversation like this before, he recognized the voice instantly.

‘It’s him.’

The man who Woohyun felt an unspoken connection to was lying back, half-reclined in mid-air.

His long, shimmering silver hair and languid eyes made for an incredibly striking image.

“Hello.”

Woohyun’s cheeks turned slightly red as he greeted the man first.

When the man smiled in response, it oddly gave Woohyun the courage to continue.

“This might sound strange, but you’ve appeared in my dreams many times.”

[Yes, you’ve remembered well. How sweet of you.]

“May I ask your name? I’ve always been a bit frustrated because we couldn’t communicate.”

[Every time you tried to speak to me, you only tilted your head in confusion. I figured as much….]

The man’s soft voice trailed off.

Woohyun waited for his answer, gazing at the man’s long silver hair that shimmered in the light.

It was a rare color in real life, but it contrasted beautifully with his tanned skin.

[Why don’t we exchange names, then? I don’t know your name, and you… don’t know mine either.]

“My name is Seo Woohyun. I live in Korea and work for an ordinary company. I’m twenty-nine this year.”

When Woohyun extended his hand for a handshake, the man hesitated for a moment before carefully taking his fingertips.

It was an awkward gesture for a handshake, and as Woohyun looked down at their hands, it didn’t feel quite right.

The man gently turned Seo Woohyun’s hand so that the back of it faced upward, then slowly lowered his head.

When Seo Woohyun fidgeted in response to the brief touch of the man’s lips on the back of his hand, a strange glimmer appeared in the man’s golden eyes.

[Erdian.]

“……”

[That’s my name, so I hope you won’t forget it from now on.]

The man’s smile was dazzling, as if it could blind someone with its brilliance.

Even though they were only facing each other closely, Seo Woohyun felt a strange warmth spreading around them.

“Yes, it’s nice to meet you, Erdian.”

Seo Woohyun gently pulled his hand away.

He had a feeling that when he woke up from this dream, his underwear might be damp.

The reason this man had been on his mind throughout the dream was because of his type.

Seo Woohyun liked men—specifically, men who were beautiful and well-built, like the one standing in front of him.

[Yes, you said your name is Seo Woohyun. Can I call you Woohyun?]

“Yes. Do you have a last name, Mr. Erdian?”

[There are grand titles that follow my name, but none that you could call a last name. You can just call me Erdian.]

Whether he had a last name or not, it sounded as though he was being deliberately vague.

Seo Woohyun didn’t feel like pressing the issue and simply nodded.

Erdian, who had been lying sideways in mid-air, slowly raised his upper body.

Seo Woohyun, who had been sneaking glances at the man’s muscles moving with his every gesture, was startled by his height as he stood up.

Was he always this tall?

[Now that we know each other’s names, it’s time to move on to the next part of our conversation, don’t you think?]

Suddenly, a round sphere appeared right in front of Seo Woohyun, who was still flustered.

[Take it.]

Caught off guard, Seo Woohyun grabbed the sphere. It looked like a large, shiny pearl, and it was very warm.

As the gentle warmth spread through his hands and his expression relaxed, long fingers brushed against his cheek, lightly tapping it.

[Now, take a closer look inside.]

With his face flushed from the brief skin contact, Seo Woohyun slowly peered into the sphere.

The cloudy scene, as if veiled by mist, gradually became clearer.

Before long, Seo Woohyun quickly recognized the place reflected inside the sphere.

‘This is….’

It was his own one-room apartment.

Paramedics and police officers were bustling around his neatly laid-out body on the bed.

As he focused on the sphere, the faint sounds grew sharper.

Words like “crime scene,” “deceased,” “identity,” and “body” crept into his ears, chilling him. Just then, a beautiful man murmured softly.

[That’s your current state. To be precise, that’s your corpse.]

Seo Woohyun’s face contorted in shock.

His expectations of having a sweet conversation with his ideal man were shattered.

A dream that had felt so blissful had suddenly turned into a nightmare.