In this damn martial arts visual novel, there were various female characters.
It would have been better if there had been only two heroines for a more focused romance portrayal instead of an unnecessary abundance.
Of course, these female characters were not unattractive. I didn’t deny that the princess and Moyong Sang-ah were top beauties. But everyone had their own taste.
Characters who would have been the main heroines in other gas or comics were just side characters in this ga. That was why playing this ga often led to frustration.
Filtering out these female characters, the heroines I had to choose for the ending were the nuisance heroine and the villainess heroine. I couldn’t help but think it was the developer’s malice.
The malice didn’t stop there. In the world of this martial arts visual novel, I had to find the true heroine.
It was maddening. If there had been only two heroines, I could at least have tried to choose. But among various female characters, to find the true heroine… If the true heroine was either one of the two original heroines or another character I encountered during the ga, what should I do?
Usually, in such cases, it’s best to use the process of elimination.
Characters who clearly didn’t seem like heroines in the ga. Characters like the blonde sister of the pink heroine, who had illustrations but no romantic interaction with the protagonist in the story. Which of these female characters could it be?
Cheon Sohee, the Heavenly Death Star (天殺星).
It couldn’t be her.
[Crazy, ? Kyahahaha! You got that right!]
A definitive villain in the story. A walking slaughterhouse. Just a woman obsessed with murder. She committed murders relentlessly until subdued by the protagonist.
But this character.
Uniquely, she was a Joseon character.
Her hair was black and bobbed, her eyes sharp. The redness in them might have been due to her identity as the Heavenly Death Star. She would have been quite the beauty if she kept her mouth shut. Or perhaps, for soone who fancied crazy won, she was attractive even when she was speaking.
[Heheh. I’ve co to my senses just before dying.]
[You killed , but do you rember my na? I am not just Number 5 or the Heavenly Death Star; I am Cheon Sohee.]
As she lay dying, the character’s na shifted from Heavenly Death Star to Cheon Sohee. Only the protagonist, who had killed the Heavenly Death Star, learned her real na, Cheon Sohee.
[Mom… I guess I can’t go to where Mom is, can I?]
By the end, it beca clear that Cheon Sohee’s madness stemd from her murderous intent. So, this woman was actually good… But what did it matter now?
Had she killed people rely because they were evil?
Such a woman couldn’t be the true heroine. She wasn’t a character capable of having an emotional exchange with the protagonist.
Yet now, she stood right before .
“You. Who are you? How do you know my na?”
Although her appearance was slightly different, she was unmistakably the only person with black hair and red eyes in this world.
Idiot. This idiot! I had kept quiet when the insiders claid that the ninja protagonist used a Gum-Gum Punch as a special move or when a rubber man transford into a nine-tailed fox! And now, this blunder!
The drunken haze cleared from my body instantly.
“I asked who you are. How do you know my na?”
Cheon Sohee’s knife tip pierced my skin, and blood began to trickle down the blade.
I was going to die like this.
What should I say? I needed to find a way to survive. I had to use all the knowledge I possessed. I was familiar with the character’s settings: the Heavenly Death Star, nad Cheon Sohee, of Joseon origin, orphaned by her parents’ deaths. What was the key to survival? Even a quick-witted response might suffice!
Alright, that was the way.
“Could it be… Are you really Sohee?”
I feigned a look of shock on purpose.
“I asked who you are.”
Cheon Sohee pressed harder with the knife tip. It was still a threat. If I said the wrong thing, my throat would be slit.
“Do you really not rember ?”
I slowly raised my hands above my head, not threatening Cheon Sohee. Then, I took off the hat I was wearing and let my hair down.
“Black hair? A Joseon person?”
Yes, I was from Joseon, just like you. It was rare to see another Joseon person here, wasn’t it?
“Sohee, why are you here…?”
I continued to display a look of astonishnt, as if seeing soone I never expected to et.
A person who seed to know and even ntioned a na that only Cheon Sohee herself should know.
This must be confusing for her.
She wouldn’t kill now, would she?
“Who are you……”
“There she is! Catch her!!”
Voices of martial artists chasing Cheon Sohee were heard nearby.
“See you next ti.”
Cheon Sohee sprayed so strange liquid on and disappeared into the darkness.
Why ‘see you next ti’?
Just don’t see at all!
Nurous martial artists chasing the assassin passed by .
“Storyteller! What just happened?”
One of the martial artists who ca to pursue her asked .
“A suspicious person made so noise, and when I responded, they approached !”
“It looked like you were facing off against them…”
The martial artist cast a suspicious glance at .
“No. Look at my neck. If you hadn’t shouted just now, my throat would have been slit!”
I raised my head to show the wound on my neck, deliberately saring blood on my hand and showing it to the warrior.
“Wow, that was a close call. The trading company head just passed away, killed by that assassin.”
Fortunately, the martial artist seed to drop his suspicion.
“What! The trading company head who was celebrating his sixtieth birthday today?”
“He drank a lot and went to his bedroom with two beautiful entertainers, but then…”
That old man, quite vigorous for his age.
To take two into his room at once.
It was pretty much a happy death, wasn’t it? A blissful end.
“How dare soone attack such a revered and unresentful person in Chilgok County!”
I didn’t know if he had enemies, but I feigned anger on his behalf.
“Indeed. Anyway, since you seem hurt, you should get treated over there and then return to your lodging.”
The warrior directed toward a place for treatnt.
“Yes, thank you. You’ve really saved a decade of life.”
I clutched my throat and bowed at a 90-degree angle, exaggerating my thanks.
“Not at all. Who would have thought an assassin was hiding among the acrobats? I never imagined. I need to interrogate them, so you had better go inside.”
“Yes, I’ll go get treated now.”
I hastened off to the place for treatnt.
“That’s it. The wound isn’t deep, fortunately. Apply this healing ointnt, and it should scab over in a few days.”
The physician dismissed the severity of my wound.
But I bled! How could that be nothing?
“My throat, the cornerstone of my storytelling career, was nearly severed. Please take extra care with it.”
“You’re asking for dicine over a re scratch?”
The physician looked at with a frown.
I didn’t an it like that. It would be nice to have sothing, like a hundred-year-old ginseng brew.
“Just apply the healing ointnt regularly, please.”
Being a foreigner here, I seed to get injured frequently.
“That ointnt is sufficient for such a scratch. Tsk. Fine, since a guest is injured, I’ll make an exception.”
With slight reluctance, the physician placed so healing ointnt in a small jar for .
This was it! The legendary red potion of the martial world! It stopped bleeding instantly and accelerated healing—a multifunctional healing ointnt!
“Thank you. I’m off now.”
“Oh! And one more thing…”
Just as I was about to leave after expressing my gratitude, he called out to .
“Yes?”
“The trading company head has passed away, and his funeral must be held. It’s unfortunate that the banquet hall has turned into a mourning hall, but the son of the deceased has requested all guests who attended to participate in the mourning. You should stay a few more days.”
“A banquet turning into a funeral overnight,” I mused. “I received kindness from the deceased head. I will stay a few more days to pay my respects.”
“That’s good. Given the unfortunate incident and the martial artists on guard, there won’t be any incidents like today. Stay comfortably before you leave.”
“Yes, I understand.”
I thanked him and stepped outside.
Back at my lodging, I found myself deep in thought.
See you next ti.
“Just think of it as bumping into soone you know and move on.”
I rubbed my temples with both palms, worrying about the impending disaster. I had survived through quick thinking, but she had said she would co back.
Would she co for tonight?
No, she wouldn’t be able to find .
A first-class assassin would kill their target without anyone noticing and then disappear. They shouldn’t get caught right after the kill, like she did today.
‘A pro as a murderer but an amateur as an assassin?’
Cheon Sohee was supposedly a new mber of the acrobatics troupe, likely a disguise. She must have planned to assassinate the head of the trading company and secretly escape back to the troupe, but sothing went wrong, and she was exposed.
In martial arts novels, professional assassins didn’t go through such elaborate processes; they infiltrate, kill swiftly, and disappear. Perhaps she chose that approach because she was weak in stealth or infiltration.
Even in the original story, she was dressed like a ninja assassin, but strictly speaking, she wasn’t one. She killed not only her targets but also any witnesses.
The martial artists had said they were on guard. That ant I should be safe while I stayed here.
‘Escaping on horseback is out of the question.’
Cheon Sohee sprayed so strange liquid on before she escaped.
It must have been sothing like a tracking scent used in martial arts novels.
An absurd tracking device from martial arts novels. Once sprayed, it never disappeared, no matter how much you washed. She would definitely find by its scent.
‘It’s certain she will appear before soon.’
In martial arts novels, the weakness of the tracking scent is ti. Even if I washed, the pursuers could sll the scent, but as ti passed and the scent faded, they could no longer track it. The likelihood of her finding right after I left the trading company was high.
“I need to find another way to survive.”
What a disaster after just a year.
Cheon Sohee didn’t hesitate to kill. Like swatting a mosquito, she effortlessly killed anyone who bothered her.
She didn’t kill because I ntioned a na that only she should know. What if she found out I was just a Joseon person who happened to know her na?
An assassin wouldn’t spare a civilian who knows their identity. And she wasn’t just any assassin; she was the Heavenly Death Star assassin. If she discovered the truth, it was obvious what would happen.
I needed to find a way to survive.
There was still so ti. I had to find a way before I left the trading company.
‘I’ve seen the character setting sheet.’
After clearing the princess route, I could check the detailed settings of supporting characters in the extras section.
I had given feedback, and the character illustrations were so beautiful that I had checked them thoroughly. Of course, Cheon Sohee, the villain, was among them.
Let’s recall. Was there a setting I could use to survive?
“There is a way to survive…”
Yes, I could use that thod to survive.
I hurriedly left my room and caught a passing servant.
“Excuse .”
“What is it? You shouldn’t be wandering around at night with the situation being so tense.”
“I need so writing brush and ink. Could you get so?”
“Writing brush and ink? What do you need them for?”
To save my life.
“I was invited by the head of the trading company, and it saddens that I can’t contribute condolence money due to my difficult circumstances. I haven’t been able to sleep. Then it occurred to that I should at least write a condolence letter (弔狀).”
A condolence letter (弔狀) expresses sorrow and condolences for a death.
“That’s a thoughtful gesture. I understand. I’ll fetch them for you.”
“I’m good at storytelling but not skilled in writing, so I might need a lot of paper. Please bring enough.”
“I understand.”
The servant nodded and left to get the writing brush and ink.
After a short while, the servant returned, handed the writing brush and ink, and went about his business. I took the items and entered my room.
“It all cos down to writing, after all.”
In my previous life, I earned my living through writing, and here I am, writing to save my life.
It would be less frustrating if I could at least make a living off my writing. Instead, whatever I write seems to end in failure.
I had to devise a plan using writing against Cheon Sohee.
To think I have to use my own life as a stake in this plan. Normally, you’d risk soone else’s life and get criticized for it, but now, my own life is on the line.
“A writer lives by the pen, I suppose.”
After a brief mont of self-pity, I began to write.
Let’s survive!
It was hard the first ti.
But who says I couldn’t make it a second ti!
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