Ch 324 - The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel

**Chapter 10: The Gateway** "I'll die." "What's this about threatening to die over some misunderstanding? I showed interest because it seemed like my brother's daughter was in a difficult situation, and you thought it meant I... had a crush? That's a bit of a stretch—pfft!" I can't handle it. I can't hold it in any longer. Unable to suppress the laughter welling up inside, I collapsed onto my seat. "I'm going to die! I really should just die!" Lim Ha Yeon exclaimed, her face turning from red to what seemed like an impending purple. "Pfft. Don't, don't die... pfft." My stomach feels like it’s going to burst. Save me. They say inner strength can reflux and cause catastrophic damage, but I'm about to suffer a mishap just from laughing too much. "Are you seriously going to keep laughing?!" Lim Ha Yeon looked at me, trembling with her fists clenched. You have to admit this is funny too. How could she think I fell head-over-heels at first sight and was secretly pining for her? "Let's go down first. I'm not confident about getting down from this height yet," I managed to stifle my laughter and held out my hand carefully to Lim Ha Yeon. "Do you even know what I thought all this time?!" She seemed unwilling to descend, biting her lip in frustration as she exclaimed. "What did you think of me?" With as serious an expression as I could muster, I gazed at Lim Ha Yeon, her shame evident. "……." "Whatever misconceptions I had about you, or you about me, aren't they what brought us here?" The chat we had earlier holding hands wasn't a misunderstanding, after all. I was partly at fault too. Every time I took action around her, it was under the assumption she might be the true heroine of a martial arts dating sim. In a way, both of us shared responsibility. Lim Ha Yeon glanced back and forth between my hand and face, before lowering her head and murmuring. "Who, whoever liked who first is, well, pretty important in the future…." "Isn't it more important that I don't want to let go of your hand right now?" "You really…." "A long misunderstanding needs to be resolved over a long conversation. Let's talk about the rest once we're back." Blushing, Lim Ha Yeon took my hand. Not like it really matters. Going down together is what counts right now. Although, I'll be sure to remind her in the future about who's smitten over whom first. ———————- "I'm feeling peckish from wandering around without dinner." Suddenly, I'm starving. I ran around frantically without dinner, worried for Lim Ha Yeon, and now the hunger hits all at once. "Should we go to that pork soup restaurant we went to before? They said they stay open late." "Perfect. A bit of boiled pork and a glass of rice wine would be just the thing." "You do have work tomorrow, don't you?" Lim Ha Yeon said, expressing her concern. "Tomorrow's worries can wait until tomorrow." After all the effort today, a cool drink is deserved. "Really… Should I join you for a drink?" Sighing as if she couldn't stop me, Lim Ha Yeon chuckled warmly. "How could I not let you?" "Okay then, let's go. It's this way." Lim Ha Yeon began leading the way to the soup place, holding my hand tightly. But our conversation wasn't quite over, thanks to the armed figures surrounding us near the pavilion. "Who are you?" Each carried a sword. It's obvious they can't be here with good intentions. Who would walk around with swords at night? They're not competitors, bandits, or remains of the Green and Blue Flags Bureau, are they? Surely not. The thought of someone I'd never want to meet crossed my mind in an instant. "I knew the girl with the pink hair would be with him." "Told you! I said we'd find her by tailing that barbarian!" Expressions of relief that their search was over appeared. If they were here for Lim Ha Yeon, not me, only one group comes to mind. "Are you here for Lim Ha Yeon?" "That's right. We came from the Dao Gate. If you don't want to die, leave Lim Ha Yeon and get lost." So they are Dao Gate cronies. —————– "Do you even realize how much trouble you two caused us!" "This nonsense is about to end." I had momentarily forgotten, consumed by the search for Lim Ha Yeon. There were not only me but other parties interested in finding her. Every step I took towards Lim Ha Yeon increased the chance of falling under the Dao's watchful eye. "Come quietly." There were dozens of them from the Dao Gate. I had confirmed nobody was there before we climbed the pavilion. Where had they been hiding? What should we do? Lim Ha Yeon and I exchanged a quick glance. "They're planning to run!" A martial artist from the Dao Gate, sensing our intent, shouted at us. "Lim Ha Yeon. Abandon your escape plan. You're not in your fortress, where you could escape with your eyes closed. This is Dao's stronghold, Wuhang." "Exactly! Every alley you could flee through is already packed with our people! Imagining you can escape is a mistake!" That's something for us to go and find out for ourselves. "Miss Ha Yeon." Let's prepare. I signaled Lim Ha Yeon with my eyes once more. "They don't get it! Lim Ha Yeon! Try fleeing! Do you think the man beside you will remain safe if you do?" "Let's run." "Okay." I activated the power in my soles. "Is this woman really leaving her man behind to... huh?" The Swift Shadow Technique. A high-tier move requiring no preparatory action, propelling us before the swords could be drawn. "Yahoo!" They couldn't have imagined we'd leap past their encirclement like that. Underestimating my footwork, were they? In this martial world, I've been personally trained by a genius with unmatched Techniques of Lightness! I shot a smug grin at the dumbfounded goons behind us and took off running. "Catch them!" —————— "Damn it! They're using techniques of lightness!" "I thought it was luck they took down the Green and Blue Flags Bureau leaders!" "Stop talking and capture them!" "Don't let them escape! Tighten the net!" Their claim that every alley was packed with Dao men wasn't an empty boast. As we sprinted through alleys, over fences, and across rooftops, the shouts behind us echoed information about our whereabouts. "Aim for the running barbarian's legs!" "Damn it!" A blade swept through the space where my ankle had been just moments before. The Dao man looked on in frustration. I have no intention of becoming like Kang Yun Ho, what's the meaning of this? In the brief moment of surprise, more sword-wielding Dao henchmen appeared. What now? "This way!" I heard Lim Ha Yon’s voice calling from above. When did she manage to scale the wall up to the roof? She pointed out a path—through some trash, over the wall, hit the wall twice, and up to the roof. Alright, let’s go. Moving wasn't difficult. "After them!" "Run!" The streets were too perilous. Following Lim Ha Yon’s guidance, I dashed across rooftops. Her martial arts skills are astonishing. I paused and squeezed out my inner strength to leap every time a new roof appeared, but Lim Ha Yon showed no hesitation. Instead, she frequently glanced back to check on my lagging state and seemed to be figuring out the optimal route. As Lim Ha Yon turned to look at me once more and jumped to the next roof... "Throw the spear!" A spear sliced through the air towards her. "Ha Yon!" No, it's going to hit. Humans can't fly. The spear’s trajectory was so perfect that no amount of mid-air twisting could avert the lethal blow. Except for Lim Ha Yon. "What the…?! What's going on?!" "How did it happen?! It clearly went through the body!" She met the spear’s gaze head-on. From below, it must have appeared that the spear passed clean through her, with no time to react. But Lim Ha Yon was unscathed. "The Great Dragon Eight Movements..." Even if a rain of arrows falls on a dragon dancing above the clouds, it slides away unscathed, like dodging drizzle. A supreme movement technique, stolen by the forerunner of the Shadowless Martial Arts, mimicking a dragon's glide above the clouds. Lim Ha Yon twisted her waist, changing direction mid-air in that fleeting instant. "What are you doing?!" Lim Ha Yon called to me casually from the opposite roof. In the moment the stunned men hesitated, I flung myself onto the next rooftop. "I said throw it accurately!" "That woman… did she just fly through the air?" "Nonsense! Just throw the spear!" ————————— "You’re too slow!" The pursuit was relentless. "This is the best speed I can manage!" These Dao guys are persistent! Even though I’d been pretending to stay at the print shop for months, feeding lies to Si Mun, and playing siege inside the mansion. Do you guys at least get paid overtime? You're not salaried employees, are you? "There they are!" "I’m going to throw. Be careful." Eventually, Lim Ha Yon stopped, feeling frustrated, and held onto me. "What are you talking about? Woaaah!" Suddenly, the gravity left my body. "Even guys can fly!" She threw me. The earth receded. In the distance, the mighty waters of the Yangtze, which hadn't been visible before, appeared. I wasn’t a human anymore. I was a bird, taking in the view. Wright brothers, you were mistaken. Humans can soar without machines aiding them. Is this what being a human airplane feels like? Or rather, a human rocket? Should I join Team Rocket from now on? "Today I’m flying toooooooo!" Unfortunately, an actual rocket’s success in reaching Earth's orbit would be a feat not seen for centuries. My flight was destined to be recorded as a failure, with me crashing back down to the earth. "What are you saying?! Catch!" Lim Ha Yon caught me perfectly. "Gasp! I thought I was going to die!" Good thing I was a reusable rocket and not a disposable one. "Thanks to that, we got far. Where to now? The inn? The mansion? Daeseogak?" "Now that we’ve been discovered, they’ll have all those places surrounded. We need to focus on losing our pursuers." To avoid making her a launch pad for a second time, I poured every bit of my inner power into fleeing. —————- "Capture them!" Give it a rest, already. Did every member of the Dao in Wuhang come out? How much do you guys want to capture Lim Ha Yon that you'd go to such lengths? "If you catch her, we’ll wipe your gambling debts!" Well, that’s understandable. "Huff, huff!" While dodging Dao goons momentarily in a clearing, a bout of dizziness hit. "Are you okay?! What’s wrong?" "My, my inner power..." I only had five years’ worth of training. It’s not enough to execute the Shadowless Technique all night. "Ah." A look of realization dawned on Lim Ha Yon's face. "There they are! Over there!" "Get on my back!" Lim Ha Yon squatted down and offered her back to me. "No. Go by yourself. I'll run the other way." "What are you saying?!" "Splitting up might help us break their encirclement." At this rate, I'd only be a burden. It might be better if she escaped alone. "You think I don’t know you’re trying to be a decoy?!" "It's not like that!" "Stop saying nonsense and get on!" Lim Ha Yon's urgent voice pierced my ears. "Lim Ha Yeon. It's over." Aren’t you guys tired? Where are you all crawling out from? The Dao men brandished their swords and started to close in on us. "Go first." "Don't tell me that!" "Right. Go ahead and run, Lim Ha Yeon. What reason do you have not to leave a man behind when you ran away, leaving your ‘sisters’ behind?" All the courtesans from the Umbrella Pavilion were killed in the attack by the Harem Sect. If she ran and left me, it was a threat implying they'd kill me. "Don’t shrink back. We’ve taken a breather and can run again." "How long do you think your man can run? When we catch him, he'll live a crippled life. Regret protecting you and hold a grudge forever." The Dao member sneered at me with a rotten smile. "Please. Don't worry about me." I shielded Lim Ha Yon behind me, glaring at the Dao member. "Lim Ha Yeon! If you come with us now, you might live as a fugitive courtesan for the rest of your life, but the man beside you won’t suffer any harm. How about it?" "Don't let their nonsense fool you. They won't dare lay a finger on me." Can you really handle someone like me? Do you intend to cross someone as esteemed as me and risk the wrath of the Tang family? "Barbarian. This isn’t Sichuan; this is Hubei." The Dao man sneered as he spoke to me. "Even here in Wuhang, there are people who’d be angry on my behalf." Are you ready to face the wrath of Si Mun’s descendants, who have their eye on the year's rising star? "You dared touch something belonging to our Dao Lord. Do you think Si Mun’s people will protect you for this?" We merely held hands. Quite literally, that’s all. I haven’t even dared to dream about the next phase, and yet here I am. "And since when was Ha Yeon considered the property of the Dao Lord?" I held Lim Ha Yeon’s hand tightly, as if I would never let go. "You..." Let's save the sweet talk for a little later. Should I provoke the Dao thugs by asking if Ha Yeon is really the Dao Lord's, or should I find some other way to buy more time? As I contemplated how to regain enough strength to escape, a voice pierced the tense air: "What a joke, claiming children from other families as your own, or not." Silhouettes emerged behind the Dao men encircling us. "Who’s this woman?!" "The stuffy gamblers weren’t where they ought to be, and in the commotion, we stumbled upon something amusing." In the middle of the newly arrived group, a heavily made-up woman taunted the thugs. "What?!" "Ha Yeon, do you recognize these people?" There’s familiarity on her face. "Do the riffraff who stake their lives on gambling not know the saying ‘sing but do not sell yourself’?" "You wretch!" "Hmph." The Dao men visibly displayed hostility toward the new group. Amongst them were not only warriors but also well-dressed women, their silks standing out. Who could they be? The woman in the group that had arrived seemed undeterred by the Dao men and approached us directly. As she grew closer, the smell of powder, perfume, and alcohol wafted strongly. Wait a second. A group mainly composed of courtesans similar to the Dao of the Hao Sect? Could it be? "Are you from the Gimon?" "Yes. Young Master Kang Yun Ho, we’ve come from the Gimon to reclaim our child, Lim Ha Yeon."