Episode 75

Travel and assassination should not be undertaken impulsively.

In games, you might simply press the fast travel button and complete the quest upon arrival, but reality is far from a game.

Preparation for expenses, transportation, scheduling, and contingency plans for unforeseen circumstances are all essential.

Sohee mentioned she needs a day or two to prepare for it.

“Today is the last performance of this street play in Chilgok County!”

Thanks to her, I had time to perform the final show in Chilgok County.

“No! How can it end when we’ve just discovered a few new stories!”

“Speaker! My wife and I were planning to come tomorrow! Please extend it until tomorrow!”

“My daughter praised it so highly that I came! It would have been a disaster if we hadn’t made it today!”

“No! I wanted to try playing the main lady role if there was no audience!”

“Sister! I’m so glad I came out today!”

The audience’s reactions alternated between sighs of regret for not being able to see it again and sighs of relief that they could witness it today.

“This street play! Since it’s the last performance, I’ll give it my all!”

I must gather as much money as possible until the last moment.

I announced the final performance in Chilgok County with a booming voice.

“Ah! Was that lady the main lady? I can’t quite recall!”

The last mention of the heroine’s role has been made.

Perhaps the female audience realized it was their last opportunity to be the main lady in Chilgok County.

When I stepped down from the stage and approached the audience, the women previously rushed to the front.

“I’ll be the main lady!”

“Use that money to buy candy! I’m going to do it!”

“Lady! Use that money to cover the wrinkles on your face!”

“What, what did you say!”

“Don’t outbid the main lady I’ve chosen!”

“Lady! Don’t you dare bid!”

Starting from a single coin, to dozens of coins, and then to silver coins, my basket was filled with a considerable amount of money.

Counting them became a task in itself.

Without the enhanced eyesight from the Soyunsimsanggyeol, I might have confused how much money each lady put in and caused a scuffle.

“Ah! I lost!”

“I won!”

The lady who had put five silver coins in the basket clenched her fists and shouted in victory.

“Ah! Main lady! Would you honor me, a Romeo so enchanted by your beauty that I forgot even your name, by telling me your name?”

I asked politely, as if a fantasy knight was requesting a dance from a lady.

“So, So, Soyeong!”

Why is her voice trembling?

She might accidentally say Ju Sosoyeong instead of Soyeong.

“Main lady Soyeong! Just looking at your beautiful appearance feels like I could lose my mind!”

“Th, thank you!”

I was really the thankful one.

I praised her throughout the story with the generosity of a karaoke bar owner who added a lot of service time on slow business days.

“Are you really leaving?”

After successfully finishing the last performance, when I visited Mr. Wang’s fabric store, he asked with a surprised look.

“Yes. I’m thinking of going somewhere else now.”

“No. If you’re making a good living here, why not stay? Did I do something to offend you?”

“How could that be? Mr. Wang, you are my benefactor. This friend has been nagging me about when we’ll start touring the Central Plains, so I’m planning to leave now.”

I pointed to Sohee, who was standing quietly behind me.

“This friend was going to sponsor the tour of the Central Plains in return for her service, right? Ah, time has passed so quickly.”

Mr. Wang smiled bitterly and nodded.

“Mr. Wang, I truly appreciate everything. You are the greatest benefactor of my life.”

I bowed 90 degrees and greeted him respectfully.

The master carpenter who introduced me to Chilgok County was a benefactor, but Mr. Wang, who provided clothes, arranged a stage, and spread my fame when the time came, truly deserved to be called my greatest benefactor.

“Ha! My friend, you have a knack for moving people. Well, if you’re leaving, take this with you!”

Mr. Wang pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to me.

A black coin?

Upon closer inspection, the black coin was inscribed with the character for “pollution” (汚).

It’s a currency I’ve never seen before; what is it used for?

“What is this?”

“If you ever need to ask Hao Clan for a favor, hand this over. They’ll help you once for free.”

“Mr. Wang, are you also a member of Hao Clan?”

Hao Clan (下汚門).

Just as there was the famous righteous faction, the Gisaeng Faction, in the orthodox martial world, there was the Hao Clan in the unorthodox martial world, formed by a gathering of street thugs.

Being an organization formed by street thugs, each member’s strength might be insignificant, but their large numbers make it one of the best organizations for handling information.

No wonder rumors spread in a day whenever I mentioned something.

So, he was a member of the Hao Clan.

“I used to be part of the Hao Clan, but now I’m just a man enjoying brunch at a fabric store.”

Mr. Wang had a reminiscent look, as if recalling his days when he was well-known.

Did he once have a time when his bulging belly was all muscle?

“I’m not sure if someone like me should be receiving something so significant.”

Even though it looks like an unremarkable coin, from his explanation, it’s a coin that serves as a one-time free voucher for Hao Clan’s services.

I didn’t know how much it costs to use the Hao Clan, but it’s likely to be expensive enough to be a burden for someone like me.

“Just take it and use it when necessary. Thanks to you, the fabric store has been bustling with customers, and it was nice to have someone to chat with after a long time.”

“I will use it well.”

“Don’t use it on something trivial; save it for something important.”

How valuable was this coin, exactly?

I briefly learned from Mr. Wang about how to use the black coin, then looked at the black coin again. It seemed so simple, like a voucher for information services.

Had I not been told, I might have made the mistake of wishing for a magic bead that grants any wish and asking for women’s panties.

“Thank you. Stay healthy in the future.”

“Take care!”

I repeatedly thanked Mr. Wang and left the fabric store.

The last day at the house in Chilgok County ended.

Sohee and I packed our bags as if we were packing military gear and left Chilgok County early in the morning.

“Leaving Chilgok County fills me with mixed emotions.”

I looked back at the receding Chilgok County and said to Sohee with an indescribable expression.

“It’s just an ordinary county in the Central Plains. There are many places like it elsewhere.”

Perhaps worried that I might want to return due to lingering attachment, Sohee responded indifferently.

“It’s not an ordinary county. Because I met you there.”

I looked at Sohee and smiled affectionately.

“If we don’t hurry, we might end up sleeping outdoors in the mountains.”

Sohee avoided my gaze and softly urged us to start moving.

Without responding immediately, I took one last look at Chilgok County, imprinting its image in my memory.

There, I experienced failure and success. Despite the ups and downs, I went from worrying about the next day’s bread to living like a human being.

Probably, I won’t return there again.

What happens after Daehung County is uncertain, but my goal is to elevate my fame.

Not staying in one place but traveling around the Central Plains, speaking, gathering money, and writing books would be wise.

“Yun-ho?”

“Yeah. Let’s hurry.”

The starlight in the dawn sky looked beautiful.

As if blessing my future.

“Blessing my ass. Huff huff!”

Hiking on a journey was damn hard. Really.

On the second day of the trip, I was climbing a mountain with So-hee to get to Daehung County, which was over the mountains.

“Yun-ho, your steps are slow.”

So-hee, leading the way, turned around and reprimanded me, her face not showing a single drop of sweat.

Aren’t you too fast? I need some consideration, sister.

Despite my body being strengthened by the Soyunsimsanggyeol, keeping up with So-hee’s pace felt like an overweight office worker, who only swam in the pool over the weekend, trying to compete with a dolphin.

‘I wish I could have learned lightness skills.’

Regrettably, my two years of internal energy cultivation were said to be insufficient for mastering lightness skills.

When will I ever accumulate enough internal energy?

I started with two years’ worth of internal energy, thanks to using a ginseng internal energy jump ticket, hoping maybe scraping together the remaining ginseng energy in my body would help accumulate more, but that was it.

I asked So-hee if taking an elixir might increase my internal energy, but she said that the internal energy currently in my body hasn’t fully integrated into my own, so consuming more would be pointless.

For now, I have no choice but to accumulate internal energy through Soyunsimsanggyeol.

So-hee, like a dating novice who can’t match steps with their partner, went ahead but eventually stopped, urged me on, then gave up and started matching her steps with mine.

‘Is she bored?’

As So-hee matched my pace, I wondered if she might be getting bored. From her perspective, it must feel like matching the pace of a child’s walk.

“Walking in the mountains reminds me of the time I encountered a bandit alone in the past.”

It’s time for storytelling to prevent boredom.

“Have you met a bandit?”

She showed interest in my story as if she had never shown signs of boredom.

Yes. I almost died.

一 Hey, brother, why are you hurrying along this mountain path all by yourself?

Every office worker’s dream was to become a real estate mogul with passive income. After saving my life, that was the dream I wanted to achieve.

一 Brother, thanks to you, our entire bandit stronghold can retire! We’ll spare your life as a special favor!

Becoming a real estate owner was not the reality, but rather providing a pension service for the bandits of the Central Plains.

I recounted the event as cheerfully as possible to So-hee, even adding some acting.

“Where do those bandits live now?”

So-hee seemed angry that I was robbed so quickly by the bandits, her voice tinged with faint anger.

“Who knows? Maybe they bought a house and land and are living well. It’s a thing of the past now, so no need to worry too much about it.”

I wanted to say, “Go, So-hee-mon!” and request a cash recovery, but I don’t know where they are. I was very thankful for having survived the ordeal, at least.

But So-hee’s face still showed anger. There have been much sadder things. Better not to delve into them.

I continued climbing the mountain while talking about the more pleasant experiences I’ve had in the Central Plains to keep So-hee entertained.

“Yun-ho. Ahead.”

How long had we walked? So-hee interrupted my endless stories and pointed to the path ahead.

“The path is blocked.”

The way was blocked by fallen logs.

Was it struck by lightning?

Focusing my enhanced vision, I noticed that they weren’t naturally fallen but showed signs of being cut with a tool.

‘If someone deliberately blocked the path, it means there’s a reason for it.’

In the mountains, usually, there’s only one reason for this.

I hastily surveyed the surroundings.

As I looked around, men with knives jumped out of the bushes with ominous laughter.

My expectations were not wrong.

“Hehehehe. A woman with a sword and a man carrying loads of stuff.”

“Black hair? Saw black hair earlier too. Is today some barbarian’s feast day?”

“Boss, let’s kill the man and have a taste of the woman.”

Walking as a pair and getting surrounded by bandits!

Wow. This. Was. Big. Trouble.

“Ugh!”

“Shit!”

“Please spare us!”

You think it was big trouble for you?

So-hee effortlessly defeated the bandits as if she were participating in a bottle cap challenge rather than a life-or-death struggle.

Don’t they know in the martial world to be wary of children, women, and the elderly? They should have been cautious upon seeing a woman armed with a sword.

“Yun-ho. What are you doing?”

“Just a moment.”

I was checking if there was anything worth salvaging from the bandit corpses, but it seems they were as destitute as beggars.

Don’t they know to carry some emergency cash and cards when going out?

“Pl… please spare me…”

I was about to stop looting when I heard a faint voice from somewhere.

Was there a surviving bandit? Unless their heads were severed, making them not Dullahan, there shouldn’t be any talking.

“Yun-ho.”

So-hee also hurried over to me, alerted by the voice coming from somewhere.

Following the source of the voice, So-hee and I ventured into the bush where the bandits had been hiding earlier.

“A Korean?”

There lay a Korean man, dying from blood loss, the black-haired individual the bandits had mentioned earlier.

“Ah… Kor, ea…”

His face was too pale from losing too much blood.

There was no hope for him.

Life was slowly ebbing away from the man’s eyes.

“Excuse me!”

Should I ask him if he has any last words?

“That box…”

As the man raised his arm to point somewhere, something gleamed from under his naturally lifted sleeve.

“What?! Wha-what?”

Instead of looking where the man was pointing, I found myself staring at his wrist.

What? Why do you have that?

“To Sichuan…”

The unidentified man died with those words.

Hey! What am I supposed to do if you just die! I had questions!

I hastily rolled up the sleeve of the deceased man again to examine his wrist.

“Why is this here?”

What was on the man’s wrist was a bracelet.

This was something I recognized.