Episode 2

What would happen if I became a character in the novel I wrote?

If it was a parody, being the protagonist was great.

I wrote it during a phase of adolescent fantasies, and although I’d rather gouge my eyes out than read it again, being a harem-king protagonist among charming female characters would be bliss.

Even being the protagonist of the erotic story I wrote during my peak hormonal days would be good.

Who would refuse a world where just holding a phone makes all beauties yours?

Fantasy, academy stories, modern settings, professional genres.

I wrote quite a variety.

I wouldn’t mind not being the protagonist in these novels.

Every novel I wrote, I wrote with love. Even the hidden pieces I couldn’t express in the novels are part of my life’s enjoyment.

If only I could become a character in the novels I wrote, I would live happily.

If it were the novels I wrote.

“But why am I just an extra in a visual novel?”

It didn’t take long to understand the situation after waking up in another world. How many reincarnation prologues have I rewritten in my career?

After a brief moment of confusion, I realized it.

It was ridiculous to hope it wasn’t the work I sent feedback on yesterday. The Eastern-style clothing, the colorful hair. What martial arts story has such colorful hair?

“Master Kang Yun-ho, I will show you to your room at the inn. You look tired, and it’s only a few days until we reach the Moyong Family.”

One of the attendants noticed my complexion and led me to a room in the inn.

“Okay.”

I replied casually, closed the door, and sat down in front of the mirror.

In the mirror, there was a man with black hair.

In the martial arts visual novel with characters of various hair colors, there was no Central Plains person with black hair.

Was it a unique feature of a Korean-made martial arts game that black hair symbolized a Korean?

Then, who was this Korean?

The character I became was the worst.

Kang Yun-ho.

Born into a family of interpreters.

A wealthy family that amassed a fortune through ginseng smuggling between Joseon and China.

And I was Kang Yun-ho, the eldest son of that family.

“And soon to be a bridegroom murdered by the heroine.”

A character created to give the heroine, Moyong Sang-ah, the attributes of a widow and a villainess. Also, a character who ended up losing all his family’s wealth. That was Kang Yun-ho.

I was possessing a person with the same name as mine. Or perhaps I possessed him because there was no name setting.

Anyway, that Kang Yun-ho was on his way to the Moyong Family. To marry the villainess-widow heroine, Moyong Sang-ah. Or should I say a true widow heroine? A self-made widow also had a nice ring to it.

“It’s too late to run away now.”

It would be different if the engagement hadn’t been finalized. Or even after it was, I could turn everything upside down and break it off.

But I became Kang Yun-ho when he was already on his way to marrying into the Moyong Family.

The new groom of the Moyong Family running away from marriage? That would be a joke among martial artists.

The Moyong Family would form a pursuit team to avoid that ridicule. And Kang Yun-ho, who had not learned martial arts, would surely be caught soon.

[Isn’t it too cruel to marry a man you don’t love? So I sent evidence in advance that could accuse his family of treason.]

At this point, Moyong Sang-ah had already sent evidence of treason to the Joseon court. Whether real or fake, given Joseon’s sensitivity to treason, it could not be ignored. Even if I returned to Joseon, I would be executed.

It was too late to escape, and my time to live was running short.

[I felt so relieved when I killed him as he drunkenly entered the bridal chamber. And as a reward for revealing the treason, all the wealth of the exterminated man’s family went to me, his wife.]

Moyong Sang-ah definitely said that in the story.

From where I was now, it was a 3-day journey to the Moyong Family. The marriage would be held 3 days after arrival.

If I heard about the treason before the first night with Moyong Sang-ah, then I only had 6 days left.

“I need to come up with a plan quickly.”

I assessed the current situation and set the highest priority goal.

Situation: If I returned to my hometown, I was scheduled for execution with my family. If I stayed in the Moyong Family, I was scheduled for assassination.

Since the wedding date is set, running away now would lead to being pursued by the Moyong Family.

I couldn’t return after getting married either. How could I go back when I was going to be killed by Moyong Sang-ah on the wedding night?

“Is this a game? Or is this really happening? Aaaaah!”

I screamed in frustration at the absurd situation.

“Master!! What’s wrong!!”

Hearing my scream, one of the attendants in the next room hastily knocked on the door. Wasn’t this room soundproofed? I needed to be quieter.

“It’s nothing. Ah! Bring me some writing brush and ink.”

“Yes, I’ll bring them right away.”

Once the attendant’s presence faded from the door, I continued my thoughts.

‘Kang Yun-ho, this idiot.’

Looking through the absorbed memories, Kang Yun-ho was a typical rich family’s reckless son. He enjoyed drinking and gambling, and the courtesan house was practically his second home.

He lived an enviable life.

While others were struggling with two jobs. Damn it.

Maybe because it was a martial arts visual novel, even the courtesans in Kang Yun-ho’s memories were almost like celebrities in beauty.

He was living a life where he could grope courtesans to his heart’s content, and they fed him food and drinks when he just opened his mouth.

Of course, his parents wouldn’t look kindly on such a reckless lifestyle.

‘Marry the daughter of the Moyong Family.’

‘Father, I’m still too young for marriage.’

‘The Jurchen tribes have been too rampant lately. If you get robbed every time you smuggle ginseng, marrying into the Moyong Family, the closest martial arts family to Joseon, would give us sturdy guards.’

‘But I don’t like women from the Central Plains; they’re too aggressive.’

‘Do you even know where all the food and drink you’ve been enjoying comes from?!! If you don’t marry, I’ll cut off all support and send you to a monastery!!’

‘Father!’

That was how he agreed, but his reckless personality caused a disaster when he met Moyong Sang-ah.

‘It seems you’ve been drinking.’

At a private meeting arranged for them to meet alone, Moyong Sang-ah was late due to talking with her future father-in-law, and this reckless idiot couldn’t wait and was dead drunk.

‘Uh? You’re a courtesan I haven’t seen before…’

‘Now doesn’t seem like the right time. I’ll see you another day.’

As Moyong Sang-ah quickly assessed the situation and was about to leave, the reckless idiot spoke.

‘Ah, my fiancée. Right, we were supposed to meet today. Sit here and pour some drinks.’

‘…If you need someone to pour drinks, call a courtesan. I may become your fiancée, but I’m not a courtesan. An engagement is between families, between fates, creating a union…’

‘Such a long-winded woman. Just shut up and pour the drinks! Whether I pay for a courtesan or our family buys you, it’s the same thing! What? You can’t pour drinks? Then just prepare to throw tantrums in bed.’

Wow. What a trash character. Even looking at the memories again, he really was a character designed to die.

‘… I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Goodbye.’

‘Yeah, go. Next time we meet, I’ll make you cry under my feet.’

Haha.

I admitted it.

This much definitely deserved death.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity.

If I heard such words at a first meeting, I would have really wanted to kill him.

But the problem was, the one scheduled to be assassinated in the Moyong Family wasn’t the reckless idiot, but me, disguised as the reckless idiot.

“I really need to win Moyong Sang-ah’s favor.”

At the very least, I needed to mend my relationship with Moyong Sang-ah to survive the wedding night.

Even though she was already plotting to annihilate our family and seize our wealth, I still needed to recover our relationship to the point where she wouldn’t kill me.

“And I can’t stay in the Moyong Family either.”

The Moyong Family was obviously located in China, outside the administrative regions of Joseon.

However, even if Moyong Sang-ah didn’t kill me, I couldn’t stay in the Moyong Family for long.

I only cleared the princess route and knew only the general facts, but the Moyong Family was annihilated in the story. The reason for their extermination was collaboration with the evil Demonic Sect.

Moyong Sang-ah, who was the heroine, was innocent, but she disappeared from the story, along with the news of her family’s annihilation. She never appeared again.

If the Moyong Family was already collaborating with the Demonic Sect, staying there was a bad move. Escaping quickly was the best way to save my life.

So, I set my goals like this:

‘Recover the relationship with Moyong Sang-ah to a reasonable extent. Even if my relationship with Moyong Sang-ah is mended, being implicated in treason will make the Moyong Family want to expel me. Then, I’ll flee to the Central Plains. Start a new life.’

Good. Perfect.

The important thing was how to recover the relationship.

“Master, I’ve brought the writing brush and ink.”

The door opened, and an attendant brought in the writing brush and ink.

“Okay. You can leave now.”

“Yes.”

I started grinding the inkstick to make ink, intending to write down my organized thoughts.

Scribble scribble

This was surprisingly laborious.

Was there no elementary school stationery store around? Just squirt ink and write. Then I remembered accidentally splattering ink on my deskmate’s clothes, making her cry. The boy she liked grabbed me by the collar, asking what I was doing. We ended up in a fight, all three of us covered in ink, and I got scolded by my mother for ruining my clothes.

Ah, memories.

Wait.

Elementary school?

Ah!

There was that method.

A way to save my life using the field I was best at.

I hurriedly began writing on the paper.

“Right. A writer cleanses with words.”

Reckless Kang Yun-ho, I would wash you clean.