The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel

What was the most necessary skill for surviving as a barbarian in the world of martial arts visual novels?

Smooth talk? Writing ability? Looks? Money?

No, it was martial arts.

Young country lads who didn’t want a barbarian in their village. A scoundrel who came with a club to steal the piece of wheat bread I was eating. Thugs who conspired to rob me of the hard-earned money from manual labor.

To defend myself against such people, I needed martial arts. But there was no one to teach martial arts to a black-haired barbarian without money or connections.

A wandering barbarian. Hungry, penniless, and without a place to sleep.

What else could I do? I spent my time in the mountains, eating roots and tirelessly practicing the Moyong Family’s escape technique.

Living in nature. Residing in green mountains. Not exactly a Taoist, I was practicing earth-burrowing technique while eating food untouched by fire energy.

Thanks to that, my body grew healthier, and my physical abilities improved dramatically. I could easily defeat local thugs and scoundrels with my earth-burrowing technique.

But you see, those wielding knives were not mere thugs.

“Hey, brother, where are you hurrying to?”

On the alleyway leading to the shantytown, two armed warriors blocked my way.

Turning my head in the direction I came from, I saw another one from the same group blocking the path.

Bad premonitions were never wrong.

“Oh my, what business do such warriors have with someone like me?”

I switched to a smiling face and addressed the warrior blocking my way.

“No. I heard there’s a storyteller in the marketplace recently, boldly doing business without paying tribute to the Cheongsapa, so we came to see for ourselves.”

One of the black path bastards said with a sneering smile.

Cheongsapa? I had been living in Chilgok County for a month and a week. I’ve heard of Changgeommun, but never of you guys.

Just as Mr. Wang had said, some black path martial artists and thugs were probably teaming up to extort money.

“Oh dear, I wasn’t aware Cheongsapa managed this area. If I had known, I would have personally come to pay tribute.”

They were meeting me for the first time today. They wouldn’t start with violence, right?

“You should have known and paid in advance. We had to come all this way for nothing.”

“Truly sorry. May I know how much the tribute is?”

I had several days’ earnings from storytelling in my pocket. It was better to give a little and move on than to lose everything.

“Everything you have.”

“Excuse me?”

“All the money you’ve earned, hand it over.”

What kind of bastards were these?

“Wouldn’t it be better to collect the tribute steadily? If you take it all at once, it’ll be hard for me to continue business here.”

I pretended to negotiate while taking a step back, twisting my body to check the front and back. Two with knives in front, one behind.

Logically, I should have run backward, but the one behind was too far away. If I started running, he would immediately draw his knife.

“A barbarian bastard talking back! Just hand over everything you have!!”

If these were the kinds of guys who extorted money from storytellers, their skill level couldn’t be that high, probably just barely above third-rate. Of course, I couldn’t win 1 against 3 against those with knives.

“I must have overstepped. Here, I’ll give you my money pouch.”

The two black path thugs in front were too close together, a position where they couldn’t carelessly draw their knives. In the narrow alley, drawing a knife would cause them to injure each other.

I held the money pouch in my left hand and approached them.

“Right, hand it over.”

Just as one of them reached out to grab my pouch,

“Barbarian punch!!”

“Ugh!”

I landed a solid punch, weighted with my body, right on his jaw. The Cheongsapa warrior, losing strength in his legs, started to fall. I pushed the falling guy hard backward.

“This bastard!”

The warrior behind cursed as he lost his balance, pushed back by the man who had lost consciousness.

“This is my chance!”

I kicked off the alley wall and leapt over the two warriors. The one tumbling with them widened his eyes in surprise. Surprised? My physical abilities were beyond those of an ordinary civilian.

Would you hand over all the money you earned in a few days to guys like them?

I didn’t look back and simply bolted away.

“That bastard! Catch him!”

“That dog dared to hit my face?”

“Where did that guy go!!!”

The escape turned out to be more drawn out than I anticipated. On reflection, although I may be beyond civilian level, those were martial artists.

The black path thugs knew the back alleys of the shantytown all too well. I thought I was hiding effectively, but they found me with ease. Had I not learned the earth-burrowing technique, I would have been caught without delay.

I finally managed to elude their sight after several close encounters, but I was still in peril.

“Pant, pant. Damn.”

I was out of breath. It was futile to attempt shaking them off in the shantytown. Darkness had already fallen.

Perhaps it would be safer to return to the marketplace. Mr. Wang’s fabric store would be shut. Where could I go?

If I got caught, they would rob me, so I hurried onward. If I mingled with the crowd in the marketplace, they wouldn’t dare to search openly.

As I approached the entrance to the marketplace, I spotted a warrior adorned with a hero’s sash.

Yun Daehyeop.

The warrior from Changgeommun I had seen earlier at the fabric store. Isn’t Changgeommun a righteous faction? A defender of the marketplace.

He might assist me.

“Yun Daehyeop!”

I called out to Yun Daehyeop, my voice breathless, and he turned.

“Huh? Aren’t you the barbarian I saw at the fabric store? Why are you running off in such a haste?”

“Yun D, pant, pant.”

I raced toward Yun Daehyeop with the remnants of my strength, feeling as though I was on the brink of passing out.

“You’re out of breath. Take a moment to catch it.”

I didn’t have time for that. I took a deep breath and spoke again.

“Some Black Path thugs tried to extort my money.”

“Black Path thugs? Now that you mention it, I’ve heard the Cheongsapa have been extorting money from vendors lately.”

“Yes, right there, in the shantytown, the Black Path thugs were waiting to rob me.”

I pointed in the direction I had come from.

Got you, guys.

I wasn’t sure how strong he was, but he should be able to handle a few third-rate warriors. Bringing Yun Daehyeop should end this.

“Hmm. Be careful in the future.”

Yun Daehyeop said that and turned his gaze away.

“What?”

That wasn’t the response I expected. I thought he would show animosity toward the Black Path, but he seemed indifferent.

“Are you a storyteller with a dull sense of hearing? I told you to be careful.”

Annoyance was evident in Yun Daehyeop’s voice.

“The Black Path thugs are chasing me right now to steal my money! Please help me.”

Maybe he didn’t understand. I asked for help more directly.

“I can’t.”

He refused immediately. It wasn’t a refusal of dislike but a statement of impossibility. What did that mean? A righteous faction should draw their swords to help the oppressed.

“There’s that bastard!!! Over there!!!!”

I heard the Cheongsapa people spotting me from afar. Could I survive if I ran now? I had no more strength left. My only chance to live was to ask Yun Daehyeop for help.

“Please save me. How can you do this?”

“I don’t dislike you or owe you anything.”

“Then, please save me.”

“But my sword belongs to our sect. If I use my sword for free, who will pay for the services of our sect’s sword?”

“Shouldn’t righteous factions wield their swords for justice? If they don’t draw their swords to execute justice, how are they different from the swords of the lawless?”

“Ho. As expected of a skilled storyteller. You may have heard some folk tales. But you are wrong.”

“What?”

“We lend our swords for a fair price. We don’t wield them against the common folk; that’s why we are called righteous. Unlike the evil factions who swing their swords without any shame or remorse.”

“Hurry up and catch that bastard!”

The voices grew closer.

“Then I’ll pay! I’ll pay the price!”

Desperation took hold of me.

“Our sect also considers who we sell our swords to. Wielding our swords for a mere barbarian’s small change, how can we uphold our sect’s honor?”

“That means…”

Was this what the righteous factions of this world were?

“Got you, bastard! Oh, Yun Daehyeop, are you acquainted with this young brother?”

At last, the Cheongsapa thugs grabbed my shoulder.

“We are not acquainted.”

“Right, then we have some business with this young brother. Hehe.”

“I hope there won’t be any trouble at the government office tomorrow.”

“Of course not. Hehe. We also keep to the line.”

“……”

I hoped to appear pitiable enough that someone would help.

Passersby glanced at the commotion but soon ignored it and continued on their way. Even Yun Daehyeop, whom I had asked for help, started walking away as I was dragged off.

“Come along, you dog!”

Despite my best efforts to resist, they dragged me away like a dog on a leash.

I lived in a martial arts world.

But in this place, no one would draw their sword for an innocent barbarian.

“You dog! How dare you hit my face?”

“A barbarian dares to crawl into our place?!”

“Crush him! This bastard!”

They beat me over and over.

I faced a one-sided violence I couldn’t resist. I might be treated like a fly in the martial world, but even flies could be eaten by such third-rate martial artists.

All I could do was curl up and protect my vital areas.

“This barbarian dog carries quite a lot of money.”

“Ptui!”

Was it fatigue or disgust?

The Cheongsapa thugs, having vented their fury, spat on my face and took the money before leaving.

Rain began to fall in the shantytown.

The ground turned to mud, and the foul stench from the shantytown’s sewage began to seep through.

Rainwater started seeping into my wounds. The dark sky continued to pour endless rain. I needed to stand up from the mud, but I couldn’t. The pain was too intense.

What a dog’s existence.

Truly, a dog’s existence.

Why did I deserve such treatment in this world? Beaten severely, every part of my body throbbed with pain.

Yet, the ache in my heart was even more painful.

It wasn’t this hard when I starved. Being chased out of the village for being a barbarian didn’t hurt like this. Having my hard-earned money stolen by thugs wasn’t as heartbreaking.

But now, I feel so hurt and miserable.

“What wrong have I done? Huh? Let’s hear a story,”

I asked the unresponsive sky.

After being asked for feedback, I found myself possessing a man who had only a few days left to live. I survived by exhausting every idea my brain could muster. For a year, I was treated like a barbarian, roaming through the Central Plains.

Just as I thought I could finally live like a human, I was robbed of the money I had earned through great hardship.

“Not a martial arts world, nor a visual novel world. What kind of world is this? If you’re listening, come out and talk to me.”

Yes, protagonists had their visual novel worlds. But for someone like me, perhaps this wasn’t a visual novel world. My life was never close to romance anyway. But then again…

This was supposed to be martial arts.

Which righteous faction handed over oppressed civilians to black path thugs? They lent their swords for money? Because it was legal, it was righteous? If there was no chivalry in martial arts, then why bother calling it martial arts at all?

Come on, say something.

If you sent me to this world, you must be listening.

“I worked hard, didn’t I? I’ve tried to live more diligently than anyone else since I arrived!! But what is this? Huh? If you’re listening, say something!!!”

But the sky kept pouring down rain indifferently. Please, if you’re listening, say something. Where was the chivalry in the world of martial arts?

From Yodong Castle to Hubei Province, I hadn’t seen anyone draw their sword for an oppressed barbarian. Had I just not found them, or did they not exist here?

“Status window! System!”

In this world, inns sold carbonara and prices were calculated in copper. This was not the world of martial arts novels.

“It’s not even martial arts. It’s a martial arts visual novel world. Just show me anything. Please…”

Why didn’t I get any special treatment in this world? Why did I have to live as a discriminated barbarian? I screamed at the sky.

I couldn’t control my tears, but they were quickly lost in the downpour, just as no one cared if a barbarian died in the Central Plains.

“I want to end this. I want to go home.”

Waking up to the morning alarm for work, getting pushed around at work, scolded by my boss, and lectured by my manager. Then going home to write and find solace in readers’ responses.

I missed that life.

It felt like I could return there if I just opened my eyes.

But no matter how many times I closed and opened my eyes, I was still in the martial arts visual novel world.

Living as a barbarian doomed to wallow in this cesspool forever.

“If only I knew the ending conditions.”

If I knew how to clear this game world,

it wouldn’t have been this miserable and hopeless.

[Ending Conditions Unlocked]

“Huh?”

A green window appeared before my blurred vision of tears and rainwater.

[You have achieved the minimum Fame requirement. Ending conditions have been unlocked.]

“What????”

[Ending Condition: Conquer the true heroine.]

What was this?