Chapter 38: The Black-Haired Storyteller’s Strategy (2)

Chapter 38: The Black-Haired Storyteller’s Strategy (2)

I remember getting hit in the back of the head while walking.

Back in my school days, after classes had ended, someone struck me hard on the back of my head. Who would hit an innocent student like that?

Could it have been that guy from yesterday? The one shouting Seat. Ignoring him, I switched channels and left. To think he would chase me after just one encounter.

Upon reflection, he was quite persistent. Even after I switched channels, he continued to pursue me. Was it really that important? It was just a game I didnt play much, but the intensity of that moment still scares me a bit.

Anyway, if not him, I couldnt think of anyone else who would hit me.

Whos there!

Angry, I turned around and saw a man smiling at me.

Isnt that Yunho! Long time no see!

Who are you?

Dont you remember me? I used to visit your parents house when you were little.

Sorry, I dont recognize you.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldnt recall who he was.

Kang Yun-ho. Are you attending high school here? Youre in the first year, right?

Yes.

He even remembered my age. Who was he?

Kid! You really dont remember me. Im hurt. You used to ask me to buy you snacks with your chubby cheeks.

Haha.

I had no memory of someone who bought me snacks.

Hows your father?

Hes healthy.

Good. When you go home, tell him you ran into Mr. Choi who worked with him ten years ago. Take care.

The man who had slapped my head waved and disappeared.

After he left, I was left with a throbbing head, bewilderment, and guilt for not recognizing him. I told my father about the incident that day.

Huh? Mr. Choi? I dont know anyone by that name. Who could it be?

What was that about? If even my father didnt know.

The mystery lingered until the day I stole someone elses Seat.

It was resolved a few months later.

That man went to the police station.

He turned out to be a lunatic who took pleasure in smacking kids on the head.

First, he would hit them, then casually check their name tagname, tag color. That was how he determined their age and grade. He just had to pretend to know the parents, and it was done.

Even the smartest kids found it hard to get angry at an adult who claimed to be close to their parents and to have known them since they were young.

Of course, getting struck was a natural cause for anger. In such situations, it was best to keep a calm, smiling face.

They say you cant spit on a smiling face. With a smile and false claims of knowing the parents, he tricked the students with minimal information. This way, no student could respond with hostility.

The lunatic got caught because he happened to encounter the parents of a student he had just met.

That was the essence of fraud.

Like in movies or dramas, fraud could be meticulously planned, but even deception with minimal information, allowing the other person to fill in the blanks, was a form of fraud.

The methods I used to survive against the Heavenly Death Star were not unlike this.

Wake up.

Someone jostled my shoulder to rouse me.

I was on edge, but it seemed I had dozed off momentarily. I had grown accustomed to sleeping amid the nocturnal cries of animals in the mountains.

Who? Cough!

Quite the fiery awakening. As I turned my head, still drowsy, and peered at the Heavenly Death Star through bleary eyes, her hand was already in motion, striking toward me.

I experienced a peculiar pain, then my throat felt strange. Had she hit my mute acupoint? I couldnt produce any sound.

Was this acupoint sealing? In the world of martial arts, humans were said to have a universal switch on their bodies that, when pressed, could render one mute or even induce deep sleep.

I stared at the Heavenly Death Star, my expression one of shock. The Heavenly Death Star pressed a cold blade against my throat.

You know me.

Cheon Sohee had almost no memories from before the age of eight. On the day the villagers were slaughtered, she lost most of her memories due to shock.

I dont know who you are

She didnt know. She couldnt recall at all. This was a person who didnt exist in her memories. Cheon Sohee found herself engulfed in confusion.

[That day, all the villagers died.]

The content was written in her diarya fact known only to her and the people who kidnapped her that day.

The face is different.

Only a few people knew her original face. It would be impossible for a stranger to recognize it.

Cheon Sohee?

It was the only name in the world she knew as her own.

But it was a name not present in her memories.

On the day the villagers died, everyone who remembered her name perished.

Cheon Sohee was kidnapped that day and raised by a group of assassins.

Since everyone who could have called her by her name had died, nobody knew her real name was Cheon Sohee.

Not even the master of the assassins called her anything but the Heavenly Death Star. They didnt intend to nurture a martial artist, only to create disposable assassins.

The Heavenly Death Star honed her skills and became Assassin No. 20. On her first assassination mission, she killed a martial artist whom everyone thought was impossible to assassinate. From then on, no one doubted her talent.

Time passed, and as Assassin No. 15 died, she took that rank. Then she became No. 10, and eventually No. 8. Fake identities, Assassin No. 20, 15, 10, 8, 5. Her name was constantly changing.

For an assassin, names werent important. The mission was what mattered.

Thus, the Heavenly Death Star buried her real name deep within herself.

Assassin No. 5.

The top-ranked assassin.

The Heavenly Death Star.

This was her current identity.

She believed she was the only one who remembered her real name.

She had lived her entire life believing that.

Sohee.

She never imagined someone would call her by her name.

I dont know who you are

Confusion layered Cheon Sohees expressionless face.

Huh?

Expressionless?

Something was strange. No, very strange.

I felt a sense of discomfort from the moment I met her. The Heavenly Death Star I knew was a lunatica murderess who killed without guilt, a maniac who looked her best with blood on her face and a grin.

But she doesnt feel like that now. What was going on?

With a moment to breathe, my mind raced.

The Heavenly Death Star. In martial arts fiction, what were her traits? Madness. Murderous intent. A talent for killing. A villain or lunatic driven mad by the thrill of killing.

Driven mad by murder?

Ah! She was not insane yet.

I rejoiced inwardly. A club was the remedy for a madman, not flattery. I had played weak from the start to avoid provoking the Heavenly Death Star, but now the story changed. If she was in this state, my plan would work even better.

Sohee.

I called out to the dazed Heavenly Death Star as she stood up. Cheon Sohee seemed surprised.

It worked. Just calling her name worked.

Now, lets drive the point home.

Someone who knew the Heavenly Death Stars real name.

Someone who knew Cheon Sohees real face.

The only person who knew Cheon Sohees past.

Sohee. Sohee. Its Kang Yun-ho, your brother. Cant you recognize me, your childhood playmate?

From now on, I was the Heavenly Death Stars childhood friend.