NOVEL NEXT Chapter 36
This damn martial arts dating sim has a variety of female characters.
They might as well have just focused on two heroines for some romantic scenes instead of flooding the game with useless ones.
Of course, it’s not like those female characters aren’t beautiful. I can’t deny that the princess and Murong Sang-a are top-tier when it comes to looks. But everyone has their own tastes.
In other games or comics, those characters might be main heroines, but here, they’re just side characters. Naturally, that can lead to frustration while playing.
Filtering out those female characters, I end up with a choice between the troublesome heroine and the villainess for my ending. It’s hard not to see it as the developer’s cruelty.
And that cruelty doesn’t stop there. To find the true heroine in this martial arts dating sim world is just madness.
I’m dying and jumping off the walls in frustration. If there were just two heroines, I might as well try and pick one! To find the true heroine among a variety of female characters I’ve seen while clearing the game, or between one of the original heroines, what should I do?
Typically, in a situation like this, it’s best to use some trickery.
Characters in the story that definitely don’t seem like heroines. Even though they’re illustrated, they have no romantic connection with the protagonist, like a pink-haired beautiful older sister character. Who might fit that description?
Heavenly Killing Star, Cheon So-hee.
She’s probably not the one.
[You’ve got to be kidding? Me? Kya ha ha ha! You see that right!]
A confirmed antagonist in the story. A walking slaughtering machine. Just a lunatic obsessed with murder. She keeps killing until she finally gets subdued by the protagonist.
But this character…
Strangely enough, she’s a Joseon character.
Black bobbed hair. Sharp eyes. Maybe because of her setting as the Heavenly Killing Star, she has red eyes. If she shuts her mouth, she’s definitely a beauty. Then again, would someone who likes Gwang-nyeon still like her even if she opens her mouth?
[Hee hee. I see my sanity returning before I die.]
[You killed me, but could you at least remember my name? My name is not 5-ho or Heavenly Killing Star, but Cheon So-hee.]
In that dying moment, the character’s name shifts from Heavenly Killing Star to Cheon So-hee. Only the protagonist who killed the Heavenly Killing Star knows her real name, Cheon So-hee.
[Mom… I can’t go to where you are, can I?]
At the very end, it’s revealed that she was not in her right mind because she’d been consumed by the “Killing Intent.” This character was actually a good person… But what’s so important about that?
Did the people she killed deserve it because they were evil?
Anyway, there’s no way someone like that could be the true heroine. She’s not even a character capable of emotional interaction with the protagonist.
But she’s right in front of me now.
“You. Who are you? How do you know my name?”
The appearance is slightly different, but there’s only one person in this world with black hair and red eyes.
Dumbass. What a dumbass! While I’m standing there as others say the ninja protagonist’s special move is a rubber rubber punch, or that a rubber man turns into a nine-tailed fox as a special move, I just stand there! What a stupid mistake!
The energy within me dissipated in an instant.
“I asked who you are. How do you know my name?”
Cheon So-hee’s blade pricked my skin. Drops of blood began to flow down the edge of the blade.
If this continues, I’ll die.
What do I say? I need a way to survive. Utilizing all the knowledge I have. I saw the character settings! Heavenly Killing Star’s setting! Name, Cheon So-hee. Joseon person. Parents dead. What’s the way to live? I’ll make do with improvisation if it helps!
Alright. That’s the method.
“No way… Is it really So-hee?”
I deliberately put on a shocked expression.
“I asked who you are!”
Cheon So-hee pressed harder with the tip of her blade. It’s still a threatening stage. One wrong word and my throat will be sliced open.
“Really, you don’t remember me?”
I slowly raised my hands above my head so as not to be a threat to Cheon So-hee. Then I took off my headgear and freed my hair.
“Black hair? Joseon person?”
Yep. I’m a Joseon person, just like you. It’s rare to see Joseon characters around here, isn’t it?
“So-hee. What in the world are you doing here…?”
She continued to wear a face that looked like she was seeing someone she thought she could never meet.
A person who seems to recognize her. Someone who even speaks her true name, known only to the Heavenly Killing Star herself.
She must be confused.
She can’t kill me now, right?
“Who…”
“Over there!! Catch her!!”
I heard the voices of martial artists chasing after the Heavenly Killing Star nearby.
“I’ll see you next time.”
Cheon So-hee sprinkled some strange liquid on me and then vanished into the darkness.
Why next time?
Just don’t come!
A horde of martial artists rushed past me, chasing after the assassin.
“Madam! What just happened?”
One of the martial artists who came to chase asked me.
“There was a suspicious person who gave off a vibe, and she came at me!”
“I thought you were in a standoff with someone…?”
The martial artist cast a dubious glance at me.
“No, look at my neck. If I hadn’t made a sound over there, my neck would have been sliced open just now!”
I raised my head to show the injury on my neck. I deliberately smeared blood on my hand and held it out before the martial artist.
“Whoa. That was a close call. The group leader has just returned from the assassin that disappeared.”
Fortunately, it seemed that the martial artist eased their doubt.
“No way! Today is the birthday of the group leader?”
“He drank heavily and went to his bedroom with two beautiful courtesans, and, well, let’s just say…”
Wow, that old dude has some good stamina for his age.
Entering with two women at once is just something else.
You could just call that a freak accident. Typical example, indeed.
“No! Who would dare to hold a grudge against that esteemed person from Chilgok County!”
I’m not sure if there’s a grudge, but I got angry on their behalf.
“Right? Anyway, it seems you’re injured. Head over there to get treated and then return to your lodging.”
The martial artist pointed me towards a place for treatment.
“Yes. Thank you. I truly owe you my life.”
I intentionally clutched my neck and bowed at a 90-degree angle.
“No! I never imagined there’d be an assassin mixed in with the circus troupe. I need to go interrogate the circus troupe now, so you should get going.”
“Yes, I’ll head for treatment first.”
I hurriedly made my way towards the treatment area.
——-
“All done. Fortunately, the wound isn’t too deep. With some golden ointment, it’ll scab over in a few days.”
The physician said nonchalantly.
What do you mean? I’m bleeding! How is that nothing!
“You almost cost me my neck, the asset of Maedam! Please take good care of it.”
“Just a scrape, do you need it treated with medicine?”
The physician frowned at me.
Well, it’s not that bad. But hey, a century-old ginseng tonic would do me good.
“I’d appreciate it if you could give me a steady supply of golden ointment.”
Since rolling around with the barbarians will likely lead to more injuries.
“That’s enough for a scrape. Tch. Fine, since you’re injured, I’ll give you that much.”
Though the physician showed some discontent, they handed me a small container of golden ointment.
This! The red medicine of the martial world! It’s fantastic for stopping bleeding! Healing properties galore! A mixed golden ointment!
“Thank you. I’ll take my leave now.”
“Oh! And hold on.”
Just as I was about to bow and leave, the physician stopped me.
“Yes?”
“We have to hold a funeral since the group leader has passed. It’s unfortunate that a feast has turned into a mourning, but the group leader’s son asked all guests who were present to participate in the mourning. You should stay for a few more days as well.”
“In just один день, a feast turns into a mourning? I too am someone who has benefited from the deceased group leader, so I will stay for a few more days to pray for their peace.”
“Indeed. With a tragic event occurring, the martial artists will be on alert. Something like this should not happen again. You can rest easy while staying.”
“Yes. Understood.”
I bowed and stepped outside.
———————————-
Back at my lodgings, I sunk into thought.
You’ll see me next time.
“Can’t I just pass by and pretend I met someone I know?”
I rubbed my eyelids with both palms in response to the looming disaster at hand. I managed to come up with a way to survive, but she clearly said she would come again.
Is she coming to find me tonight?
No way. She won’t come after me.
A first-class assassin is supposed to kill their target without them knowing and vanish. There shouldn’t be an incident like today where they kill and then get caught. But I got caught.
‘She’s a professional killer, but still an amateur assassin?’
They said the assassin was a newcomer to the circus troupe. She was probably undercover. She must have tried to assassinate the group leader and planned to slip away unnoticed through the circus troupe, but something went wrong and got caught.
In martial arts stories, professional assassins slip in without any fuss and disappear in a flash. She might have made a poor choice, unable to utilize stealth techniques or concealed movements.
Even though she wore ninja-like assassin attire in the original story, she wasn’t strictly an assassin. It wasn’t assassination where she kills and disappears; it was more of killing everyone who might have seen her.
They said martial artists are on alert. That means, as long as I’m here for a while, I should be safe.
‘But escaping on borrowed words is impossible.’
Cheon So-hee sprayed some strange liquid on me before fleeing.
It must be something like Cheonri Pursuing Fragrance.
A nonsensical tracker from martial arts tales. Once it’s sprayed on the body, it won’t vanish even if you wash it for a long time. They’ll trace me down by that smell for sure.
‘It’s guaranteed that she’ll appear before me in the near future.’
The weakness of Cheonri Pursuing Fragrance in martial arts tales is time. No matter how much I wash myself, pursuers can find me by the fragrance. But as time passes and the components of Cheonri Pursuing Fragrance fade away, they’ll lose the scent and can’t find me. Leaving the Gapsu Merchant Entrance will likely increase the probability of them finding me.
“I need to find another way to survive.”
What a day after a whole year of peace.
Cheon So-hee is the type who has no qualms about murder. Just like swatting away mosquitoes in a room, she’ll nonchalantly kill anyone annoying her.
Her not killing me was probably because I mentioned the name only she knows. What would happen if she figured out I’m just a Joseon person who knows her name by chance?
Assassins don’t allow civilians who discover their identity to live. And not just any assassin, but the Heavenly Killing Star assassin. If the truth comes to light, it’s obvious what would happen.
I must find a way to live.
I still have some time. I need to come up with a method before I leave the Gapsu Merchant Entrance.
‘I’ve looked at the character settings sheet.’
After clearing the princess route, I could check the detailed settings of secondary characters from the extra section.
I had to give feedback, and the character illustrations were so stunning that I’d carefully examined them all. Of course, that included the villainess, Cheon So-hee.
Let’s search through my memory. Is there a setting I can use to survive?
“A way to survive… there is one!”
Yes. If I use that method, I can live.
I hurriedly left my lodging and grabbed a passing servant, saying, “Excuse me.”
“What is it? The situation is precarious; you shouldn’t be roaming around at night.”
“Could I possibly get some writing materials?”
“Writing materials? What do you need them for?”
To save my life.
“I was invited by the group leader and came here, but I was so heartbroken that I couldn’t contribute even a single form of condolence that it made me sleepless. So suddenly it occurred to me that writing a eulogy would be fitting, and thus I asked.”
A eulogy (弔狀) refers to a letter expressing sorrow and consolation for a bereavement.
“That’s deep of you. Understood. I’ll go fetch some for you.”
“I’m good at storytelling but have no talent for writing, so I might use a lot of paper. Please, bring plenty.”
“Understood.”
The servant nodded and vanished to fetch the materials.
A moment passed, and soon the servant returned with the writing materials and hurried off. I gathered them and entered my room.
“In the end, it all comes down to writing.”
While I earned my living through writing in real life, here I have to write to survive.
Honestly, if I could make a living from my writing, it wouldn’t feel so bitter. The things I’ve written just tanked anyway.
I must set a trap for Cheon So-hee with my writing.
To think I need to wager my life on this strategy. The one who usually puts others’ lives at stake in their own strategy is just giving me the chance to gamble with my own life.
“What can I do? A writer must live through writing!”
I briefly lamented before I began to write.
Let’s live!
Once was hard enough.
Can’t I do it twice?