The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel

“Here! There’s a barbarian murderer!”

How had they found out?

I had been worried that someone might overhear us calling her Okbun in Chilgok County and report us to the Gapsu Trading Company.

But it seemed the trouble had started because Heavenly Death Star had acted suspiciously at the inn the day before. I never thought someone would peg her as the Gapsu Trading Company assassin.

“Here! It’s this woman!”

The bald, fat man pointed us out to the martial artists at the inn’s entrance.

What should I do now?

I glanced at the Heavenly Death Star. Her eyes, usually as sharp as knives, had reverted to their customary blankness.

I could tell she was prepared to demonstrate her deadly skills, likely reaching under the table for a concealed weapon.

This was dangerous.

“I’ll handle this. Don’t draw your sword.”

I stopped at the Heavenly Death Star in the Joseon language.

“How?”

“Are you wearing Okbun’s face from the acrobatics troupe now?”

There was no time for an elaborate explanation. Just the facts.

“No. A different face.”

That was a bit of a relief.

But the situation remained dire.

A woman with black hair and red eyes was a distinctive feature of the Heavenly Death Star in this world.

“Then it’s fine. Don’t draw your sword. I don’t want to see my sister shed blood. I will take care of this, no matter what.”

Bloodshed here would cause complications.

I wasn’t certain of her current mindset, but one thing was clear.

Years from now, she would become a woman consumed by the thrill of murder.

I didn’t know the events that would lead to such a transformation.

I had to rely on the martial arts knowledge and context I possessed. And one known characteristic of the Heavenly Death Star from the novels was that once she began killing, she was unable to stop.

The Heavenly Death Star shedding blood now might set off a ticking bomb.

If I were a martial arts master, the bomb’s detonation wouldn’t concern me, but I was only as strong as the average person.

“What are these fools yammering about? Get over here!”

I ignored the fat man’s babble and looked at her.

She was wondering how I could possibly resolve the situation.

“Trust me,”

I said confidently.

The Heavenly Death Star might have been able to restrain her murderous intent. I might not have died right away, but the aftermath was the problem.

If she escaped safely, it would end for her, but as a normal person, I would undoubtedly be caught if I tried to flee and would likely suffer punishment in her stead.

I didn’t want that.

“Is it these people?”

The Gapsu Trading Company’s martial artists crowded around us, their oppressive presence felt as we were surrounded by a group with swords.

“Good day. I am Kang Yun-ho, a storyteller from Joseon. What seems to be the issue?”

I stood up and greeted them as if I hadn’t heard their accusations of murder.

“A storyteller? Ah! The one from the head of the trading company’s 60th birthday celebration.”

“Yes, I believe I have seen the warriors here and there.”

I hadn’t seen the warriors closely, but their faces seemed familiar.

“Yes, I have seen you a few times as well. That’s why I’m more disappointed now.”

The warrior looked at me sharply.

“Disappointed?”

“Repaying kindness with enmity is one thing, but to be in cahoots with the assassin who murdered our head!”

The leader of the warriors drew his sword, aiming it at my neck.

It seemed I was having a knife at my throat too often these days.

It wasn’t that I was startled by the knife; it was just ridiculous. Was it common in the martial arts world for civilians to have knives at their throats, or was it just my bad luck?

It would have been less frustrating if I at least had pulled out a sword and been overpowered, but having a knife at my throat even when I was doing nothing felt unjust. It made me want to learn martial arts.

Glancing at the Heavenly Death Star, I noticed her hand stealthily moving under the table again.

“I’ll handle this, so please stay still.”

I said this loud enough for her to hear, while looking at the warrior.

“What are you saying?”

The warrior, not understanding the Joseon language, pointed the knife even closer to my neck.

“I got too excited and spoke in the Joseon language. Sorry. But what do you mean by ‘assassin’? Who are you talking about?”

I leaned back slightly to increase the distance from the knife, speaking in a puzzled tone.

“That woman there! Isn’t she the assassin who killed the head of the trading company? Look, black hair and red eyes! Exactly as described!”

Other warriors began to surround Cheon Sohee.

“No! Warrior! She is my younger sister from my hometown. An assassin? No way.”

“Okbun from the acrobatics troupe! Will you just stay still? Or will you draw a sword?”

The leader of the warriors ignored my words and threatened the Heavenly Death Star with his sword.

This situation was bad. If it continued like this, we’d end up seeing blood.

“Wait a moment!”

I stepped between the Heavenly Death Star and the sword.

“Are you now defending the assassin, being in cahoots with her?”

“No! My sister doesn’t understand the Central Plains language well! She doesn’t understand what you are saying!”

“What?”

“She’s so scared by the sudden threat with a sword, she’s frozen in fear!”

I coolly portrayed Cheon Sohee, ready to draw her sword at any moment, as a woman petrified with fear.

The Heavenly Death Star looked at me with her usual expressionless face. Good. Just stay expressionless like that.

I’ll do the talking.

“Don’t lie! That woman is Okbun from the acrobatics troupe. I heard she speaks the Central Plains language well!”

“I heard too! That barbarian guy called her Okbun!”

A guest, watching the scene with interest, testified.

Sigh. This was getting complicated. Stay quiet. Now you’re testifying too. Do you prefer the Central Plains people over barbarians?

Yes. We were foreigners and barbarians here.

“It seems her name really is Okbun. So you are indeed in cahoots with the assassin!”

The leader of the warriors looked at me triumphantly.

I had prepared a strategy in advance for such talkers.

“My sister’s name is Okbun, that’s true. But to say she’s an assassin just because of her name?”

First, let’s dismantle the logic around the name Okbun.

“Black hair, red eyes, and the name Okbun – who else but the assassin?”

“The name Okbun is common in Joseon. In my hometown, there were three Okbuns, and the neighboring town had five. If you call out ‘Okbun!’ in the market, more heads turn around than the number of warriors here!”

“What kind of place uses that name so commonly! Stop lying!”

How could there be a thousand Okbuns? What did that even mean, you racist?

“No, warrior. Think about it. I haven’t traveled much in the Central Plains, but the name Okbun is as common here as the name Soso.”

“Soso?”

“Yes, Soso. Look at the martial arts families. Jegal Soso, Tang Soso, Moyong Soso, Namgung Soso, Peng Soso, Hwangbo Soso. If you just call out ‘Soso!’, wouldn’t at least five or six young ladies from martial arts families turn around?”

“That’s… true.”

From the martial arts novels I had read, if you lined up all the Sosos, they could easily fill a training ground. It was such a common name.

The leader nodded at my analogy. Thank you, Sosos.

I glanced sideways and noticed the other warriors also seemed somewhat unconvinced. The first stage was passed.

“I get that the name Okbun is common in Joseon! But! This child has black hair and red eyes! The exact appearance of an assassin.”

How many people in the world would have black hair and red eyes like Okbun?

Just one.

“There are people in Joseon, too, who don’t have black eyes but diverse ones like red. Right now, warrior, you’re drawing your sword because of the distinctive feature of red eyes.”

Those who had never been to Joseon, how could they verify the truth?

I looked at the warrior and then shifted my gaze to the Heavenly Death Star. Though her face was expressionless, my framing made it seem as though she was terrified.

“No, that’s…”

“And look at this neck.”

I raised my head to show my neck.

“The neck?”

“At the Gapsu Trading Company, I almost got beheaded by an assassin. Luckily, other warriors arrived just in time to chase the assassin away, or I would have been killed.”

“Oh? I’ve heard about that too. One of the performers almost got killed after discovering an assassin.”

One of the warriors beside me corroborated my story. I was thankful. The world wasn’t so harsh after all.

“Exactly. So, think about it, warrior. Even if, as you say, I was in cahoots with the assassin, logically, if the assassin found me, he should have just ignored me and fled. Why would he try to kill me?”

“That’s true.”

The leader of the warriors agreed. I quickly scanned the surroundings of the inn.

Inside the inn, guests watching from afar wondered what would unfold, and the innkeeper, calculating damages and potential compensation, focused on us.

I focused on the innkeeper—a man looking at us with an anxious face. The classic innkeeper from martial arts novels, always crying over damages without compensation whenever trouble arose.

Public opinion was not on the side of the foreigners.

But if I could get the innkeeper on my side, I might be able to swing public opinion in my favor.

Let’s give it a try.

I took a deep breath, preparing to speak loudly as if addressing a crowd.

“I am the person who stayed there for several days, mourning, and even received a gift from the chief mourner! And you say I’m with the assassin? Even the assassin who should have fled after killing the head of the trading company is still in Chilgok County? Does that make any sense to you?”

I shouted loudly, causing a stir in the inn.

“Why are you suddenly shouting?”

“Because it’s unfair! I met my younger sister from my hometown for the first time in a long while. She was terrified because she can’t speak the Central Plains language. I almost got killed by an assassin, and now you warriors are accusing me of being in cahoots with them! It’s just too much!”

“Don’t cause a scene and break things! What are you doing, capturing an innocent man? Hey! You guys, stop this!”

The innkeeper, having heard my reasoning, quickly intervened to calm the situation. It was the innkeeper who would suffer losses if the inn’s items were damaged.

“Whoa. Gapsu Trading Company is capturing an innocent person.”

“Hey! That storyteller has only been working in Chilgok County for a few days; how could he be in league with an assassin?”

“Gapsu Trading Company is trying to frame an innocent man in the midst of mourning!”

Encouraged by the innkeeper, the regular customers of the inn started to jeer in unison.

“Well, that’s true. Ha! Fine. Your words make sense, so let’s go to Gapsu Trading Company together. I won’t draw my sword and will take you there.”

The leader of the warriors, startled by the sudden shift in public opinion, attempted to negotiate with me.

He drew his sword when it was advantageous and now he was trying to negotiate when it was not.

“Are we criminals? Take us there. Just leave one of you here and send someone to bring a member from the acrobatics troupe. You can see if they resemble the assassin.”

The Heavenly Death Star’s skill in disguise and bone shrinking was at an incredible level, even for a martial arts novel aficionado like me.

It seemed like a level that only a legendary thief, referred to as the ‘treasure goblin’ in martial arts novels, could match. However, if we were taken to Gapsu Trading Company for interrogation, our true identities might be revealed. This is when one needs to be assertive.

“Cough. Alright! Then let’s do that.”

The leader of the warriors agreed and instructed one of the warriors to go to Gapsu Trading Company.

“No! Why would this friend be on the same side as the assassin? We drank together last night; there’s been a misunderstanding. This woman is not Okbun.”

The one called was the acrobat uncle I had shared a drink with the night before. He looked haggard from being interrogated about the assassination but still actively defended me.

“It seems there was a misunderstanding. Let’s leave it at that.”

Eventually, thinking it was a misunderstanding, the leader of the warriors gave a stern look to the bald, pot-bellied man who had reported us and left.

“No, it’s not. Please take care.”

I did not show any sign of relief at having overcome the crisis and saw them off at the inn’s door.

They left without apologizing. Despicable martial artists.

After seeing off the warriors, I sighed in relief and went up to the second floor with the Heavenly Death Star.

Tiring. I just wanted to rest in bed once I got into the guest room.

Arriving at the door of the guest room, the Heavenly Death Star, who was ahead, turned back to look at me.

“Why did you help me?”

The Heavenly Death Star looked up at me with an expressionless face.

If you mess up, it’s all over.

“Why? Sohee, your older brother had to step in when his younger sister was in danger.”

“I didn’t need your help. I can handle those guys.”

Of course. If the Heavenly Death Star was a tiger, those guys wouldn’t even be rabbits.

The problem was, even if a tiger fought a rabbit, the bugs nearby would get trampled to death.

“Sohee, I don’t know how you’ve lived until now. But I can’t just stand by and watch my sister try to commit murder right before my eyes.”

“Rather, you could have gotten hurt.”

“If I get a little hurt to stop you from committing murder, I’ll do it every time.”

A small scratch was worth preventing an explosion.

The Heavenly Death Star’s eyes flickered slightly upon hearing my words.

Why? Frustrated that I’ll keep preventing you from killing?

Suddenly, the Heavenly Death Star bowed her head in front of me and mumbled something.

“Tha…”

“Huh?”

“…nk you.”

Thank you? I didn’t like the sound of that either.

Bang! Cheon Sohee said her piece and went into the guest room.

What the?

Hey! Why lock the door?

I was the one who paid double for this room; why were you locking it!

I needed to go in! You just leave!

I wanted to rest too!