The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel

It was the worst-case scenario.

If she continued to try to stimulate her lost memories through my existence, perhaps her forgotten memories would begin to resurface.

It hadn’t been unforeseen.

To survive, I had boldly used the settings of the original work, but concerns about the long-term consequences loomed in my mind. I had just hoped it wouldn’t come to fruition.

But to think that her memories would start to come back so swiftly in just a few days.

“Ah, I see. Sometimes memories from our childhood return unexpectedly. Do you recall anything else?”

Rather than figuring out the best way to handle this abrupt situation, I chose to watch and wait for now.

How much do you remember? Spill everything quickly.

“I heard a voice in my dream.”

“A voice?”

“The voice of a mother, wiping my sweat and holding my hand, full of concern.”

She placed her hand over her heart, as though she were trying to imprint this newfound memory deeply within herself.

That’s what all parents did when their children were sick. I even performed my brotherly duties just last night.

I still didn’t have enough information.

If I pretended to know and it differed from her memory, I would quickly be reduced to pieces of Kang Yun-ho.

Was there more? Tell me if there was.

My mouth felt dry.

As I waited for her to continue, she spoke again.

“I heard a voice outside. A young boy’s voice.”

No, why! Why did she have to hear that voice! She should have fixated on the mother’s voice!

This was not good.

The owner of that voice was definitely not me. If she saw the face of the voice’s owner in her dream, she might start to doubt me.

‘You said we were close, so why is there a different boy in my dream?’

What should I say?

‘Sohee, have you been playing the field since you were young? Are you confessing now? No wonder you don’t remember me. To you, I was just another guy in the background.’

Saying that would have me crawling on all fours starting tomorrow.

Let’s put a contingency plan in place quickly.

“I can’t remember exactly when, but there was a time when Sohee was ill, and I visited her. Perhaps the brother in your dream was me?”

If the dream wasn’t clear, I’d claim it was me.

If she claimed it was someone else, I’d suggest that Cheon Sohee also played with other boys.

Sohee, in truth, I was your second choice.

“I couldn’t see the face. I just heard the voice.”

“What did it say?”

“From outside the door, a boy’s voice expressed concern, ‘Is Sohee okay? Please let me see Sohee.’”

Huh?

Could it have been this?

“It must have been me in the dream. I brought candy when Sohee was unwell. I wanted to give it to her to make her feel better.”

I smiled calmly, reminiscing with a nostalgic tone.

“I think I heard something about bringing something… But I can’t recall anything beyond that.”

Cheon Sohee furrowed her brow slightly, as though she was trying to remember the dream once more, but she seemed unable to do so.

“I was worried about Sohee all night when she was sick and brought candy the next day, hoping it would help her recover her strength.”

“I don’t remember.”

Cheon Sohee slowly shook her head, then quietly closed her eyes, resting her hand on her chest as she treasured the fragments of memory she had managed to reclaim.

I watched her closed eyes, feeling a sense of pride.

I had aged ten years in a single moment.

I never expected she would construct a memory.

Cheon Sohee, that’s not your memory.

The memory I told you about before you went to sleep was a fabricated one.

‘It wasn’t a recovered memory, but a lucid dream.’

I never anticipated she would create a memory.

The dream she had was likely a kind of lucid dream.

Just like a child who watched a horror movie before bed and then dreamt of the murderer they saw in the film.

Or, akin to college student Kang who obsessed over an idol group, watching their music videos and fancams all week, only to dream about that idol.

Overwhelmed with emotion, I couldn’t believe that such dreamlike events were happening to me. With just one word, I nearly reached the end, then awoke, crying out in despair.

The Heavenly Death Star experienced such a vivid dream.

Last night, she was bound with a strange rope, which must have weakened her mentally. As a result, the fake memory I mentioned while she was half-asleep infiltrated her solid mind.

After hearing my story and falling asleep directly afterward, she dreamt a dream influenced by my actions and words.

My gestures of wiping her sweat and holding her hand must have transformed into her mother’s touch, and the story I spoke of into the voice of a young child.

Had it been someone else, they would have dismissed it as just a dream, asserting that no such memory existed. But she, having no memory of her own, mistook even a simple dream for a forgotten past.

I feared it was a major crisis, but it proved to be a significant gain.

“It seems like I’m finally remembering my real brother.”

Her eyes closed for a while, she spoke, savoring the memory.

I couldn’t miss this chance.

Kang Yun-ho was Cheon Sohee’s brother.

It was time to make my mark.

“I only heard a voice. And you got the candy wrong, too.”

This woman, always so contrary.

It wasn’t wrong. She just didn’t remember it.

Couldn’t she just accept it already?

Had I not mentioned candy before bed but instead rose tteokbokki, would her memory have sparked?

“Sigh. So.”

I let out a deliberate sigh to express my frustration.

“But.”

“Yes?”

“Thank you. For helping me remember.”

Unexpectedly, she bowed her head in gratitude—her first words of thanks to me.

“No, Sohee, you don’t need to thank me.”

Flustered, I watched as The Heavenly Death Star raised her head once more.

“Keep this with you from now on.”

Cheon Sohee offered me the rope that lay beside her.

“Sohee, this is meant for your use.”

Why should I keep such an irritating object? I waved my hand dismissively to signal my refusal.

“I’ll only use it when I’m with you.”

“Huh.”

Do you want to live? Keep it to yourself. I find it bothersome. Was that what she was saying?

“Keep it until your memories of me return.”

“I wish your memories of me would return quickly.”

I reached out for the rope with a reluctant expression, making a comment I didn’t mean.

“Me too… I wish that too.”

Cheon Sohee handed me the black rope, looking up not at my hand but at my face.

Was it an illusion because of the dazzling morning sun?

For some reason, her smile, beaming with the joy of finding precious memories…

It seemed as if it was smiling at me.

Time passed since then.

Cheon Sohee’s gaze toward me softened considerably after the day she was tied with the black rope.

The fake memory must have caused some emotional changes in her heart.

I wondered if deepening the fake memory with the black rope could lead to a dramatic improvement in our relationship. I tried it a few times, subtly, but soon stopped.

Unlike the first day when she was tied up, there was no effect from the next day as she was not mentally disoriented. Plus, there was the fear that continuing might actually trigger her real past memories.

Honestly, it was a bit disappointing.

If it were possible, I would have added clichés like promising to enter Sungkyunkwan together when we grew up, saying she would be happy, or changing the sad ending of Sohee’s story to a happy one and exchanging a token of promise.

Although just one fake memory had a good effect.

Since that day, she still had some wariness toward me, but she wasn’t as sharp in every matter.

As we spent more time together, there was a slight change in our relationship.

“Yunho, order this.”

“Yunho, follow me.”

Cheon Sohee’s way of calling me was promoted from ‘you’ to ‘Yunho’.

She still didn’t acknowledge me as her childhood friend, but there must have been something uncomfortable about continuously calling me ‘you’.

Thanks to the improved relationship, the tension had eased, and it was no longer like walking on a tightrope every day.

“The Joseon storyteller is here!”

“Here to listen again!”

“Hurry up and get up there!”

As my relationship with her improved, my work as a storyteller became smoother.

Though it wasn’t the huge success of the first few days, it had settled into a stable routine without major setbacks.

It seemed there would be no need to return to the shabby hut where rain leaked in and mice scurried over my head as I slept.

During one of my storytelling sessions, an interesting event unfolded.

“Storyteller, you’re handsome up close. Take this.”

A beautiful woman clad in silk garments complimented Hamurin’s tale and handed me money.

“Come to my side every time you come down.”

The woman flashed a flirtatious smile and pressed more money into my hand as I was about to go back to the stage.

There was no reason to decline.

“You speak well.”

“You’re tall.”

“Your body looks impressive up close.”

Her whispers were audible to me, even though they were soft.

The woman continued to lavish me with flattering comments, and since she also continued to offer money, I had no reason to refuse and accepted it each time I came down.

“That’s all for today’s story. Thank you!”

“Wowwww!”

“That was fun!”

After finishing the story and acknowledging the audience, I stepped off the stage.

‘Where is Sohee?’

Finding her was always a challenge since she vanished every time.

“Young Master.”

While I was searching for Cheon Sohee, the beautiful woman who had spoken to me earlier approached.

“Ah! You were the one who complimented me earlier. What can I do for you?”

Being addressed as ‘Young Master’, a title I seldom heard as a Joseon, often being mistaken for a Goryeo servant, was quite gratifying.

Although she wasn’t as stunning as Cheon Sohee, the fact that such a beauty showed interest in me prompted me to reply with a smile.

“Could you perhaps tell today’s story at my house?”

The woman invited me with the same smiling eyes she had before.

“Ah! Are you inviting me to a feast as a storyteller?”

Was there a feast at some rich family’s house? Performing for a wealthy household would have been a great welcome.

“No.”

The woman suddenly came right in front of me, close enough to embrace if I stretched out my arms.

Maybe it was because of the height difference, with my head being a whole head taller. A pleasant scent of perfume wafted from her head.

“What?”

“Hehe. I wanted to invite you for a personal reason.”

The woman gave a seductive smile and then gently scratched my chest with her finger. The feeling of her fingernail grazing my chest was strangely pleasant.

Oh.

Was this, by any chance, what I thought it was?

“Miss, if it’s because you have elderly parents who need…”

No, snap out of it. Such good things didn’t happen so easily.

No matter how seductive a woman seemed, to me, they were all decent and modest ladies.

She then placed her finger on my lips, which had been tracing my chest.

“You’re cute. But, I don’t have parents.”

Really. Was it that?

Such a thing was happening to me?

“Miss, you’re giving me the wrong idea.”

It was the first time in my life to meet a woman who pulled me in so aggressively right from the start, and it was confusing.

“It’s not a misunderstanding… Hehe. If it’s too much, how about dinner with me?”

Dinner sounded good.

Instantly, I envisioned the first step towards dating, marriage, and even parenting with this beauty.

First, choose a nice place with a quiet ambiance for dinner, order food that doesn’t make much noise, start with light jokes, and then begin the first step of getting to know each other.

If the mood was still good, then it was time for a second round.

Intentionally choose a place with dim lighting, have a drink, a touch, another drink, maybe a waist grab,

And if the mood was really ripe…

“Yunho. What are you doing right now?”

My pleasant fantasy shattered with the cold voice that came from behind.