662 - The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel

"An assassination squad, you say...?!" "Y-Yes, I've heard of it! The Secretary-General is supposedly forming a special team to purge counter-revolutionaries!" As Baek Ho Chaeju spoke with conviction, the gazes of the remnants of Baek Ho Chaeju's band turned towards Cheon So-Hee. The assassin with the cold, emotionless expression and black hair. By the time they awoke, half of the mountain hideout's members were no longer of this world. Even when surrounded by countless brigands, she showed not a hint of tension. Only the red droplets of blood on her sword fell onto the pristine white snow. The sound of someone nervously swallowing reverberated in the winter mountain. The biting cold winter wind swept over the brigands. It was certain. What kind of madwoman would invade a bandit's hideout alone? She must surely be an assassin sent by the Secretary-General. "I-I-Isn't it just a rumor?" One of the brigands muttered, unable to contain his disbelief, his jaw trembling uncontrollably. "It wasn't just some baseless rumor! But what I heard wasn't 'assassination squad,' it was another name." "Yeah, that's right. What was it again... I think I heard the name was..." Baek Ho Chaeju's voice dropped to a low murmur as he remembered another name. "The Secretary-General's Purge Brigade." "...!" Baek Ho Chaeju Bae Il-Eung ground his teeth, staring at the assassin before him. "The Great Purge! So, the rumors were true. The talk of creating an internal organization to categorize and purge those who might hamper the party's future!" "..." What on earth were they talking about? Cheon So-Hee, unable to grasp the situation, continued to wear her characteristic unreadable expression, inadvertently fostering further misconceptions. "It seems you're wondering how I know. Even though I was only briefly involved with the party, I know what the Secretary-General is preparing!" He planned to use the party's resources to train elites. Was this a place for training mystics or what? We are the Green Forest. Mastery comes through real combat, nothing else. Opposed to the freedom-valuing atmosphere of the Green Forest, he had left, but Baek Ho Chaeju was among the few who knew of Sutallin Secretary-General's extensive efforts. He never imagined that they would be the first targets. "The Great Purge was supposed to start after the party was completed! Is he trying us as a preliminary experiment?!" The Secretary-General's merciless blade had arrived. As even Baek Ho Chaeju began to tense, the remains of his band started to stir. "Did the Secretary-General send someone to purge us now?" "Even the Secretary-General! How could he!" "Right! It's a misunderstanding! We were preparing to leave!" "...I came from the village." Who is Sutallin Secretary-General? I came because I heard you were going to pillage the village. Cheon So-Hee attempted to clarify briefly. "Damn it! Has she even grasped the situation in the village...?!" Of course, it only intensified the misunderstanding. "Didn't I say we should just grab our things and run!" "I remember now! That black-haired woman! She was with the Okcheon Escort Agency!" "Could it be that the Okcheon Escort Agency was in league with them too!" Hearing the overreaction of his subordinates, Baek Ho Chaeju nodded, as if he expected it. "It was all anticipated. Even with the false arrival signature they asked for fifteen days ago, they're trying to frame it as a betrayal for additional time." Where did it all go wrong? Cheon So-Hee silently watched the trembling brigands. She disliked seeing a beloved childhood friend and elder brother separated. With her strength, she wanted to help. There was no need to explain anything to the brigands. In truth, it didn't matter if they misunderstood. Today, no brigand would walk out of this mountain alive anyway. "Stand or fall." Cheon So-Hee decided to affirm their misunderstanding. "Heh, heh, heh. So, you're finally admitting it." "Not one will escape." "Escape is unforgivable. As expected of Sutallin Secretary-General. But even so..." "..." At the chief's signal, countless weapons were raised simultaneously. The moonlit weapons pointed towards one woman. The woman with black hair held only a single sword. "Do you really think you can take us all on?" The blades aimed at the woman's throat were countless. --- “Corner her so she can't escape!” Slowly and surely. Like tightening a noose, the brigands encircled Cheon So-Hee. No matter how skilled she was, fighting many against one created unpredictable variables. Even those well-versed in martial arts advised thinking of escape first when surrounded. Furthermore, the mountain hideout was now a snowy field. Snow piled higher than an ankle's depth. It was natural for confidence to gleam in the brigands' eyes. "She can't move freely because of the snow! Surround her!" Just as no one dared face the wild water currents, the snow-covered mountain was the stage for the brigands. "Attack!!!" With the command shouted, the first to move wasn't a brigand, but their prey. A wave of snow suddenly engulfed the brigands. Cheon So-Hee kicked up the snow, blinding the charging brigands. "Tch! Such a shallow trick!" Did she plan to start with the opposite side while their vision was obscured? The brigands hastily shielded their eyes, fearing the snow would blind them. "Ugh!" Their mistake was in that very action. Through the wave of snow, a piercing blade transformed a handful of them into corpses in an instant. "Attack!" Cheon So-Hee looked impassively at the oncoming, bloodied brigands. For an ordinary person, it might have been a despairing scene worthy of burning into memory; for her, a fate born of killing, it was not. Like a seasoned artisan who discerns how to craft the finest work by merely inspecting the material. She knew precisely how to kill people efficiently. Slash. Stab. Sever. "Ack!" "Gah...!" It was the brigands of Baek Ho who fell, while the one standing amidst their encirclement was a manifestation of the red star. "Unbelievable!" "This is the Secretary-General's blade." "What is she, a human butcher?" "Keep coming." At Cheon So-Hee's words, the startled brigands stumbled backward. "Ugh..." "You idiots! What are you doing, scared of one woman?!" Baek Ho Chaeju clicked his tongue and shouted. "Chaeju!" "Step aside! I'll handle this." The entire hideout could be wiped out if things went wrong. With a sense of urgency, Bae Il-Eung grabbed his weapon and approached the assassin. "Fine." "You slaughtering wench, looking closely, you're quite a beauty." "......" "After I've brought you down with the Twelve Swords of East Sky, I'll take my time enjoying your face as it's drenched in tears!" Bae Il-Eung's eyes gleamed with an undeniable lust. "Chaeju, have your fill and spare some for us too!" "Ha ha ha!" For the first time, a crack appeared in Cheon So-Hee's usually expressionless brow. Though she knew he was trying to lighten the mood, she couldn't let it slide. "My body is for one person only." There was only one man who could have all of her. "So, is the Secretary-General's task force also his consort? Fine then! I'll conquer wherever the Secretary-General has already claimed!" The Twelve Swords of East Sky unfurled in front of Cheon So-Hee. The swordsmanship wasn't particularly exceptional. It was a tenacious and forceful style focused entirely on offense. But with Baek Ho Chaeju's innate might, each technique seamlessly followed the next. Before the twelve techniques could cycle through even once, they could reduce an opponent to minced meat. It was the sword technique that had elevated Bae Il-Eung to the rank of a leader among the Seventy-two Camps of Green Forest. "Ugh." Even Cheon So-Hee found herself momentarily stepping back, overwhelmed by the force of the full circle of the Twelve Swords. "Ha! Is this all the Secretary-General's butcher amounts to?!" "..." Bae Il-Eung had every reason to boast confidently. He was, after all, a leader within the prestigious Seventy-two Camps of Green Forest. "There's nowhere to escape! This will be your grave! What are you doing? Hurry up and surround her!" He should have given it his all from the onset. Had he done that, he could have subdued the black-haired woman easily. Although it was a grievous oversight by Baek Ho Chaeju, it didn't matter now. "..." "Why is there no response...?" As soon as Bae Il-Eung turned around, he realized his even greater mistake. "The ones who seemed competent have all been dealt with!" "What?!" The assassin wasn't alone. -------- "When did this happen?" Baek Ho Chaeju murmured in shock as he saw the fallen cadre members. To think there was more than one. How, even in the dead of night, could they silently assassinate without the person beside them noticing? "Are you finished?" "Heh heh heh! Thanks for keeping their attention!" Seolja, a first-class assassin, tossed aside a cadaver easily and laughed, looking at his comrade with satisfaction. "Purge Brigade... Damn it. So that's why they didn't move alone. They were buying time." Only then did Baek Ho Chaeju realize his grievous mistake. "Another black-haired one! Run!" "The entrance is blocked!" "When did this happen?" With the cadre members dead, the bandits frantically searched for a way out, but the exit was already sealed. Trapped. Another assassin was slowly approaching them. With one keeping pace with the chief, and now two of them, the brigands' faces turned pale with fear. [Yukiko, facing them head-on is not something I'm confident in!] Of course, Seolja had a slightly different thought. "I'll finish this." There was no need to hold back any longer. Aura began to emanate from Cheon So-Hee's body, terrifyingly palpable. "Ha! You've been hiding your true strength." "Chaeju! Let's surrender! We'll go back!" It was a desperate situation. Someone proposed a compromise, but it was futile. "Stand or fall." There was no intention of sparing them. Cheon So-Hee answered with words she had heard a few days ago. "Those words...!" "It means you only get one chance. And now, all that's left for us is to fall. Stand aside." "Chaeju!" Baek Ho Chaeju, faced with the greatest crisis of his life, firmly gripped his sword and shouted. "Come, then! Butcher of Sutallin!" "......" Once, he had etched the values of Virtue Bandits deep in his heart. Now, it was time to ready himself. "A turncoat will test the new sword of Virtue Bandits! To see if you truly possess the power to usher in a new era!" He wished to leave no regrets behind. His boiling strength, honed through countless battles, was imbued in his sword strikes. There was no room for even a minor slip-up. With only seamless links between techniques. Baek Ho Chaeju Bae Il-Eung. He unleashed his finest Twelve Swords of East Sky. "I've already seen it." And with a single strike, everything crumbled. Z2dKbDJFSCtSbEo3WFlpUEN0eDQxVjBTbkZJMVB1RC9JclJTVGd2Z3ErcHk0RldONWo5aExiYklMUWxhYVh0aQ —— "Heh! Ha ha ha, urgh!" The blood of one who once engraved the values of Virtue Bandits into his heart now stained the refuge of a turncoat. "Chaeju!" A voice filled with regret echoed through the air, but none dared approach the black-haired assassin. Baek Ho Chaeju's knees began to weaken. Panting heavily, he looked at the butcher who had come for him. "Tell the Secretary-General!" "......" Is it silence from the sword? Bae Il-Eung smiled weakly. It didn't matter. As a tool, it meant it would convey the message. The Secretary-General's sword. Or rather, the sword for the Virtue Party. To think that even as a blade for the Virtue Party, it was already this capable. "I, Baek Ho Chaeju Bae Il-Eung, fall here as the foundation for a new world!" Sutallin Secretary-General. Although a traitor, he hoped he served a purpose in testing the Virtue Party's sword. It was just a shame he wouldn't witness that day due to his mistake. "Chaeju!!!" With words he couldn't convey, Baek Ho Chaeju fell with a satisfying smile. [I have no idea what he's been saying all along!] [I feel the same.] All without ever realizing the truth to the very end.