The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel

What was his favorite food?

“If it’s not a deadly sin, go and forgive him, hold his hand once, and buy him the food men like.”

The words of the branch chief from earlier echoed in Cheon Sohee’s mind.

She couldn’t grasp why holding hands was necessary, but she resolved to buy him his favorite food.

As she gazed at the money pouch containing her mission funds, she pondered what food to purchase.

What did Yunho typically eat? Cheon Sohee attempted to discern his preferences from the foods he had ordered.

“He only ate cheap food.”

He habitually chose inexpensive meals. If cheap food wasn’t his actual preference, his usual orders didn’t reveal much about his tastes.

“What should I buy him?”

Could she order two servings of her favorite dish? The idea was tempting, but she dismissed it almost immediately.

That would reflect her taste, not his. Even if he enjoyed it, he would likely urge her to eat more and offer her his portion.

What was his favorite food?

In the midst of her contemplation, she suddenly recalled a phrase he had mumbled after glancing at the food served at the inn one day.

“Issomyeon, dumplings, Jukyeopcheong, where did they go…”

Jukyeopcheong.

Yunho had never consumed alcohol in her presence. He might not favor alcohol, but if he murmured about it, perhaps there was merit in seeking out this drink he seemed to reminisce about.

Crisp on the outside, tender within, dumplings brimming with succulent meat, chased by a swig of Jukyeopcheong.

Cheon Sohee envisioned a man joyously savoring well-prepared dumplings and Jukyeopcheong. Without realizing it, her lips curled upwards at the image of Yunho’s contented expression.

Although Jukyeopcheong, a liquor from the distant Shanxi province in Hubei, would be costly, she resolved to purchase it.

Cheon Sohee redirected her steps from the inn in search of a pub that sold Jukyeopcheong.

Cheon Sohee ascended to the guest room with the Jukyeopcheong she had finally found and dumplings ordered from downstairs in her hand.

As she opened the door to the guest room, she expected to see a man with a sorry face, looking distressed. She wondered how she should present these items to him.

Should she stand in front of him, tell him to be more careful next time, and hand him the alcohol? Surely, Yunho would be pleased.

Perhaps she could suggest they drink together. She didn’t usually drink, but it might be nice to share a drink on this occasion.

“I’m here.”

Cheon Sohee opened the door of the inn with a rare uplift in her voice. However, the expression she expected on the man’s face was absent.

“He’s not here.”

Yunho was gone. She hadn’t anticipated him not to be waiting for her.

Where could he have gone? Maybe he, like her, hadn’t wanted to come back to the inn right away. But then where? Possibly to a cloth shop owned by someone named Wang for currency exchange.

Should she wait here for him to return?

“Maybe the man is tired of you?”

For some reason, Cheon Sohee recalled the words she had heard at the Chilgok County branch. She also remembered Yunho’s face, which he had shown to a married woman with a silly grin.

“I must find him.”

A sense of dread crept in. Whether it was her intuition as the Heavenly Death Star or as a woman, she felt she shouldn’t wait in the guest room.

“The scent of Thousand Li Fragrance is still there.”

Yunho still carried the scent of Thousand Li Fragrance that Cheon Sohee had sprinkled on him. Although it had faded over time, it was still detectable due to the large amount she had used, making it easy to locate him within Chilgok County.

The Heavenly Death Star set out to find Yunho.

At one word from the Heavenly Death Star, the whole area seemed to freeze.

“So, Sohee.”

I called out her name with difficulty.

“Yunho!”

It took her only a moment to reach me from afar.

She helped me sit up from where I lay.

I gazed at her intently.

I had expected her to wear a ferocious and murderous expression, but the look she gave me was that of a child on the verge of tears, ready to burst with just a little provocation.

So you can make such an expression too.

“So, Sohee.”

The thought of poking her cheek crossed my mind. My pain-clouded mind wandered to such silly thoughts.

“I’m… sorry. I’m sorry.”

As if blaming herself for everything, she continued to apologize to me.

“It’s not your fault, Sohee.”

I resisted the urge to touch her face, fearing it might set off her tears, and instead laid my hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

How could we have anticipated that the Cheongsapa, who had vanished from Chilgok County, would reappear so suddenly?

“What’s this?”

“Who’s this woman?”

As Cheon Sohee’s gaze fixed on me, the Cheongsapa thugs, who were momentarily stunned by her aura, found their mobility restored.

One of the Cheongsapa thugs who had been assaulting me attempted to grab Cheon Sohee’s shoulder.

“What are you! Do you know this barbarian? Aaagh!”

The arm of the thug who had reached for Cheon Sohee’s shoulder tumbled to the ground, rolling away. It was so surreal, as if an arm from a cheap robot toy had fallen off.

“She’s no ordinary woman!”

“Draw your swords!”

The thugs surrounding me hastily unsheathed their swords. The Cheongsapa thugs, concentrating their attention on us, prepared for battle in unison.

This was dangerous.

“Aaagh!”

“My leg!”

“My hand!”

What on earth was going on?

While Sohee continued to look at me, the thugs who had brandished their swords around me were now writhing on the ground, their wrists and ankles severed.

“A master?”

“Damn it! It’s a master!”

Some of the Cheongsapa thugs recognized Cheon Sohee’s prowess and began to retreat hesitantly.

“Don’t be scared! If we all attack at once, she’s just a woman!”

“Focus on the man, the barbarian first! If we target him, she won’t dare move recklessly!”

The voice of the Cheongsapa boss, making a relatively calm decision, echoed.

“Kill the male barbarian first!”

The Cheongsapa thugs, swords in hand, began to cautiously surround us.

“Who are you trying to kill?”

Her pupils, previously focused on me, suddenly turned terrifying. She didn’t blink, instead turning her head to look behind.

“Hiiik!”

Perhaps sensing the venomous intent, like that of a snake stalking its prey, the man who had ordered my death suddenly wet his pants and collapsed.

“Anyone who points a sword at Yunho dies first.”

Her voice was even, but the intent behind it was as menacing as if it had come from the depths of hell.

“Ugh!”

Realizing her words were not just threats, the Cheongsapa, despite their numbers, found themselves immobilized, like ants being crushed under a human hand.

“Yunho, let me check your body for a moment.”

Sohee’s voice, now dripping with concern and vastly different from moments before, addressed me.

She gently probed my body, assessing my condition.

“Fortunately, your bones and muscles aren’t damaged.”

After examining me, Cheon Sohee smiled in relief.

But the eyes of the Heavenly Death Star were not smiling at all.

When I was young and nearly got hit by a truck, my mother checked on me before furiously confronting the truck driver. Cheon Sohee’s expression now was similar, as if she might burst into tears at the slightest provocation.

“Yunho. I’ll hold you.”

She tenderly lifted me into her arms.

Being held like a princess, I never imagined I’d be on the receiving end of such an act.

Slowly, she began walking towards the circle of Cheongsapa thugs that surrounded us, cradling me in her arms.

Was this really okay?

The Cheongsapa thugs stepped aside obediently as she gave them a cold gaze, distinct from the one she reserved for me.

The Heavenly Death Star strode past the immobilized Cheongsapa members and stood before the extorted inhabitants of the shanty town.

“Look at me.”

“Yes!”

Had they realized the tables had turned? The terrified shanty town residents quickly shifted their gaze to her.

“Take this man and leave this place.”

The Heavenly Death Star reached out, offering me, still cradled in her arms, to them.

“Sohee, you shouldn’t kill people.”

I looked up at the Heavenly Death Star and uttered the words with great effort.

It’s not that I was saying something as naive as revenge being futile.

I, too, wished those bastards were dead. Brutally dead. The Heavenly Death Star could easily kill them all.

But what then, after she killed them?

Even if all my concerns up to this point were groundless, this time it seemed like it could really be serious.

“I will kill them.”

Her declaration was firm.

“Sohee.”

“I will kill them.”

“Sohee!”

“I’ll crush their ankles and sever their arms. I’ll slice open their bellies and yank out their intestines, and before I pluck out their hearts, I’ll rip through their throats.”

Her face remained expressionless, but her eyes shone with a fire brighter than ever. Her words were charged with tangible fury.

‘I can’t stop this.’

The realization struck me instinctively.

This wasn’t right.

I was powerless to stop her.

No matter what I said, she wouldn’t listen.

“Sohee, let me down.”

“Okay.”

The shanty town resident, attempting to support me, took me from the Heavenly Death Star’s embrace.

“Sohee.”

If my words couldn’t halt her actions, there was only one promise I could make.

“Okay.”

“I want Sohee to be by my side when I’m in pain. So please… come back.”

The Heavenly Death Star I knew from the game was a murderer who reveled in mass killings.

But the one I had encountered in this world wasn’t the murderous Heavenly Death Star; she was the assassin Cheon Sohee.

Now, if she committed a mass slaughter today, would she remain Cheon Sohee or become the Heavenly Death Star?

I couldn’t be certain.

If she transformed into the Heavenly Death Star, the carnage wouldn’t stop with just the Cheongsapa.

If I couldn’t stop her once she had made up her mind, there was only one thing I could say.

“Come back as Cheon Sohee, not the Heavenly Death Star.”

“Okay.”

Did she understand my words? Or did she just take them as a farewell? She nodded slightly and turned around, walking back towards the Cheongsapa.

“Thank you! Let’s go quickly!”

“I’ll help you too! Use my shoulder, barbarian friend!”

Before escaping, I looked back at her.

She didn’t turn around.

I hoped my worries were just unfounded.

Memories she didn’t want to recall.

Memories she could never forget.

“Pirates are attacking! Run!”

“Mom! Dad!”

“Please spare my life! Please save me!”

Memories of the village burning and people being slaughtered. The memory of losing loved ones to overwhelming violence.

The overwhelming sense of helplessness that a child feels in such a situation.

To escape that helplessness, to flee from the heavenly punishment (천형), she trained her entire life.

“A barbarian crawls into Chilgok County and extorts innocent people, shouldn’t he pay taxes?”

The end of the Thousand Li Fragrance’s scent.

She came here to see him again, his apologetic face walking down the street. But instead, she found him being victimized by overwhelming violence.

Memories she wanted to recall didn’t come easily, while those she wanted to forget returned to haunt her.

She recalled the overwhelming sense of helplessness from that day.

“It’s the first time.”

She confessed to the immobilized Cheongsapa thugs.

“I’ve killed people before. For missions. In rage.”

She walked into the circle previously formed by the Cheongsapa warriors, taking steps around them, showing a smile.

Her mouth smiled, but her eyes did not. The Cheongsapa warriors felt as if they were seeing a ghost in broad daylight.

“But you know. It’s the first time I’ve killed out of anger.”

Strange. She was angry, but her blood wasn’t boiling. The anger had frozen due to its intensity.

The Heavenly Death Star was momentarily grateful for this feeling.

Thanks to that, she was able to let him escape.

“What the hell is she saying!”

“Hey! Even if you run, you’ll die! Just attack!”

“Whether she’s a master or not, stabbing her will end it!”

“Hey! Let’s attack together!”

The Cheongsapa warriors readied themselves to charge at her with their swords drawn.

But her ears didn’t pick up their words.

Her thoughts were occupied by only one man.

“Sohee, if you kill…”

The man who was more fragile than anyone else. The man who was more concerned about her hands being stained with blood than his own vengeance. The man who was always trying to protect her.

“I would like Sohee to be with me when I’m in pain. So please… come back.”

The man who feared she might vanish into thin air. The man who would welcome her with a warm smile upon her return to the room.

A momentary lapse.

“So, Sohee.”

A momentary lapse had resulted in him being trampled, bleeding, dying before her eyes.

Someone who could become precious to her, perhaps the only significant person in her world, was nearly lost.

She had promised to protect him.

But she had failed.

Even though she had gained power, she was still powerless and inept.

That realization was agonizing, sad, and infuriating.

“The bitch! What are you all waiting for! Attack her now!”

The hidden anger, like an avalanche breaking through the perennial snow, surged, seeking its targets.

Crush the ankles and sever the arms. Slice open the belly, pull out the intestines, and rip out the heart. Tear the throat and burst the head.

Before she unleashed her wrath, she declared in a cold voice,

“You can’t run away. Let’s start with the feet.”

The Heavenly Death Star appeared in Chilgok County.

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