Chapter 25: The Black-Haired Storyteller Of Chilgok County (4)
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 didnt 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 Familys 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 theres 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. Ive 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 wasnt 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 wouldnt 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 youve earned, hand it over.
What kind of bastards were these?
Wouldnt it be better to collect the tribute steadily? If you take it all at once, itll 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 couldnt be that high, probably just barely above third-rate. Of course, I couldnt win 1 against 3 against those with knives.
I must have overstepped. Here, Ill give you my money pouch.
The two black path thugs in front were too close together, a position where they couldnt 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 didnt 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.This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com
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 couldnt 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 shantytowns 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 couldnt. The pain was too intense.
What a dogs existence.
Truly, a dogs 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 wasnt this hard when I starved. Being chased out of the village for being a barbarian didnt hurt like this. Having my hard-earned money stolen by thugs wasnt as heartbreaking.
But now, I feel so hurt and miserable.
What wrong have I done? Huh? Lets 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 youre listening, come out and talk to me.
Yes, protagonists had their visual novel worlds. But for someone like me, perhaps this wasnt 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, didnt I? Ive tried to live more diligently than anyone else since I arrived!! But what is this? Huh? If youre listening, say something!!!
But the sky kept pouring down rain indifferently. Please, if youre listening, say something. Where was the chivalry in the world of martial arts?
From Yodong Castle to Hubei Province, I hadnt 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.
Its not even martial arts. Its a martial arts visual novel world. Just show me anything. Please
Why didnt I get any special treatment in this world? Why did I have to live as a discriminated barbarian? I screamed at the sky.
I couldnt 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 wouldnt 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?