The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel - Chapter 92: A New Encounter (5)

“I figured out too quickly that Tang Hwarin is the heroine.”

Originally, I had planned to become friends and piece together various clues to reach a conclusion, but the evidence was too clear.

“Should I get closer to Tang Hwarin?”

I can get closer to her by helping her out of her predicament. I’ve already set up a good scenario for it.

The question was, how close should I get?

From merely covering her room charges to dedicating myself to helping her get closer.

If Tang Hwarin was indeed the true heroine, the latter would be the correct approach.

‘The problem is, if Tang Hwarin can be the heroine, then it’s possible for other female characters to become heroines too.’

A feeling of unease welled up inside me.

How can I find out who the true heroine was if I get close to Tang Hwarin, search for other heroines, get closer to them, and repeat this process?

Contrary to my concerns, I might be able to identify the true heroine in the process. But even finding the true heroine poses a problem.

“I could end up like So-hee.”

A situation where we had to break up due to lacking the essential stats for conquering the heroine. After a tough conquest of the true heroine, I might have to release her like an eternal 10-year-old monster trainer.

“What’s important to me now is not conquering the heroine but fame.”

It’s wiser to write books and become famous, dealing with heroine candidates who came to me, rather than searching for heroines one by one.

“I’ve achieved my goal of resolving doubts about the Yeokcheonja. I’ll just help Tang Hwarin to a likable extent and then part ways.”

I’ve already helped her enough. I prevented her from a tragic fate and revealed hidden truths.

If I helped her out of her current predicament and then parted ways, I didn’t need to get any closer to her to plan for the future.

Right. What’s with conquering heroines? Writing books came first.

“Miss Hwarin.”

“Huh? Why?”

Tang Hwarin, slightly startled, answered after I called her out of her thoughts.

“What are your plans going forward? Do you have a place to go?”

“My maternal grandfather runs a small trading company in Yichang. That crazy woman said she’d go there, so I thought I’d check it out too.”

“A trading company in Yichang? You have a remarkable grandfather.”

Hubei Province (湖北省) Yichang (宜昌).

A bustling city on the western side of Hubei Province, where official roads managed by the government interconnect like a web.

Departing from Yichang and following the official roads west leads to Chengdu, the city famous for the Sichuan Tang Family in Sichuan Province, and northward to the renowned Wudang Sect.

Not to mention, being a city by the Yangtze River, traveling downstream leads to Wuhan, the largest city in Hubei Province.

To think her grandfather runs a trading company in such a major city.

“I’ll just pay off the overdue room charges and help her onto a carriage to Yichang, then part ways.”

Farewell, Tang Hwarin.

Thank you for resolving the Defier of Heaven’s mystery.

You’re also grateful to me for revealing the truth, so don’t become a recluse.

If I become famous and you are the true heroine, you must come to me.

“We just run a bookstore and a variety store in Yichang.”

What did they run?

“A, a bookstore?”

Surprised by the unexpected fact, my voice trembled with emotion.

A bookstore? If it’s referred to as a trading company, did it mean they operated several bookstores on a large scale?

In this world, if a sizable trading company ran a bookstore, could it possibly be…

“Yes. My grandfather brings interesting books from other places to sell or contracts with authors to print and sell their books separately.”

“Ah, I see. If you’re using printing presses to produce books, it must be a considerable trading company.”

I couldn’t contain my excitement. Printing presses? A trading company equipped with printing presses?

Although it’s not a modern automated machine but rather closer to woodblock printing and metal type mentioned in textbooks, if usable, it could literally replicate books.

Naturally, purchasing one was unimaginable for me, and without substantial funds and connections, using one was impossible.

Being nothing more than a despised barbarian in this world, I had given up on the possibility of using it from the start.

If a printing press was available, there’s no need to waste time handwriting dozens of copies of a book after writing one.

Tragically, thinking of a deceased friend, I wanted to help Tang Hwarin in her predicament, and it seems I must accompany her to Yichang.

If I safely brought his granddaughter back, they wouldn’t scold a barbarian for wanting to try using the printing press, would they?

Tang Hwarin’s maternal grandfather.

I will safely escort your granddaughter. Please wait.

‘Why does Tang Hwarin suddenly look like that?’

Looking at Tang Hwarin with an excited heart, her expression suddenly turned sour.

What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong?

“Then, Miss Hwarin. I will pay the guest room fee first.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Is there a need for a reason to help a lady in distress? Please think of it as pure kindness.”

“Ah? Pure kindness?”

Her voice became slightly higher. A bit irritable. Why suddenly?

“Once the guest room fee is paid, let’s go to Yichang together.”

If I generously offered help, she wouldn’t be able to refuse to let me use the printing press, right?

“Why are you accompanying me?”

“Isn’t it a long way to Yichang? If you get sick along the way, someone needs to take care of you.”

“So, why are you coming with me?”

I just wanted to use your family’s printer.

Suddenly, her voice became fussy. Are you dissatisfied? If you’re dissatisfied, I’ll specially pay for the A4 paper.

“I was reminded of a friend. Knowing you are ill, how could I let you go alone?”

I looked at her with a genuinely nice smile.

“Hey.”

However, her returning voice was cold.

“Yes?”

“Are you going to keep lying?”

Suddenly, the air around us froze.

Lying?

I’ve spoken only the truth; where did this suspicion come from?

It’s amateurish to immediately affirm or panic when the other party suspects and interrogates. It only gave them more certainty. I needed to calmly find out what the ‘misunderstanding’ was.

“Miss Hwarin. Do you think I’m lying?”

I spoke to her with a face that didn’t know what she meant.

“Hey. Your pure kindness. Remembering a friend. All lies.”

Tang Hwarin looked at me with a derisive expression.

How did she know?

“Miss Hwarin. It’s just that, reminded of my friend who tragically died, I couldn’t feel indifferent and wanted to help. To call that a lie…”

I spoke to her with a genuinely aggrieved expression.

“So, you’re saying you’d accompany a stranger on a journey of many days and pay their way just because they remind you of a friend?”

“Miss, it seems there’s some misunderstanding here.”

I could feel from Tang Hwarin’s tone that her suspicion had now turned into conviction.

Why suddenly doubt me when she had believed me until now?

“Misunderstanding? Do you think I haven’t seen guys like you before, harboring ulterior motives, approaching with polite speech and a mask? You. When you found out my grandfather runs a trading company. The change in your eyes. You think I didn’t notice?”

Tang Hwarin looked at me with a conviction as if she had gathered all the evidence and was declaring me the culprit, like a detective in a detective manga.

‘I couldn’t manage my expression at the sound of the printing press.’

The puzzle was solved.

If she sensed my intentions even slightly, talking about pure intentions might have seemed as if I was groping a woman and then claiming it was because she reminded me of my daughter.

‘Given the circumstances. Just like my friend did. I thought maybe, but yeah. There’s no way someone like me could genuinely want to help…’

Tang Hwarin’s voice and face exuded deep disappointment as she talked to herself.

‘Luckily, she seems to believe the friend story about poison. Well, it’s hard not to believe that.’

“Hwarin-….”

Whoosh! Suddenly, a hidden weapon flew past my face. When did she even draw and throw it?

“Lady Hwarin! Lady Hwarin! It creeps me out, people like you who speak politely but harbor dark intentions. So, get lost.”

Tang Hwarin spoke to me with a firm voice.

“Lady.”

“If you don’t leave right now, I’ll aim right between your eyebrows next time.”

“I will see you next time.”

Yes, I’m leaving, I’m leaving.

“That’s right… This one, that one. They’re all only interested in what I have.”

Before I closed the door as I left the room, I could hear her lamenting in a small but clear voice.

“Shit. …Of course, it was too good to be true.”

Tang Hwarin muttered with a bitter heart, convinced that no one could approach her with pure kindness.

That was a major oversight by Kang Yunho.

Tang Hwarin had faced disgust and contempt due to her skin since she was young.

Those who showed kindness to Tang Hwarin were always motivated not by her as a person but by the background she came from.

Kang Yunho’s momentary glimpse of greed was fleeting. Most people wouldn’t have noticed Kang Yunho’s dark intentions.

Only Tang Hwarin, who had lived her life among people wearing masks, could detect that brief moment of malice.

“Shit. Bastard! Barbarian!”

Tang Hwarin vented her anger alone towards Kang Yunho, who had already disappeared.

She had genuinely hoped. A man in the same plight as herself. She had explained why she was in such a situation, hoping to prevent the same from happening to him.

Trapped in a situation from which she couldn’t escape.

How could she, who had never even had a boyfriend, let alone friends, keep her wits about her when such a man showed kindness with a friendly smile?

“Looking perfectly normal.”

Yes, it’s his fault for casually flirting, all composed.

It’s not her fault for losing her composure to someone who looked like a noble yet behaved like a barbarian.

“Don’t hope for anything, Tang Hwarin.”

Tang Hwarin told herself with a slightly sad tone.

The great expectations she had placed on Kang Yunho crumbled with that brief moment of greed. He was just like all the others.

There was no one who approached her with pure kindness. She trembled with unknown sorrow and a sense of betrayal.

“Ugh.”

Lying in bed for hours with a heavy heart, Tang Hwarin eventually fell asleep.

Thud thud thud!

As the surroundings darkened, a knocking sound came from outside the door. Could it be that man? Tang Hwarin got up from the bed, put on a mask, and opened the door.

“Who is it?”

A man with an unfamiliar face, looking very angry, was waiting for her.

“I am the owner of the herbal medicine shop! Why haven’t you paid for the medicine?”

“The medicine cost? Those bastards didn’t pay for it?”

It seemed the servants who had run away hadn’t paid for Tang Hwarin’s medicine either.

“The cost for a week’s supply of medicine has piled up! Pay it now!”

“…I’ll pay it next time.”

“What next time! I knew you couldn’t even pay the room rent when I came here!”

The owner of the herbal shop started hurling abuse when he realized Tang Hwarin was trying to avoid payment.

As voices raised, people opened their doors to peek out, but no one came to her aid.

Instead, hoping to get the room rent, the inn’s warriors also came up and merely watched the situation unfold.

It’s wretched. Tang Hwarin silently listened to the man’s abuse and ridiculed herself.

-You’re like a cripple. Your temper is filthy too. If it wasn’t for money, I wouldn’t have gotten involved with you!

The servants who stole the money said it. That’s right. With a face like this. Sick and diseased. Who would help a woman with such a temper?

If her background disappeared, no one would help her. It was a fact she had known all her life, but experiencing it firsthand made it more painfully clear.

-Even my closest friend turned out to be a poisonous human.

A man came to Tang Hwarin’s mind.

Yes. The man who resolved the dispute in the morning had clearly approached with good intentions at first.

Even without his mask, the man never once looked at her with disgust during their conversation. It was certainly a first-time experience for Tang Hwarin.

It must be true that her friend was a poisonous human. It’s also true that he approached with pure goodwill, both during the incident at the Sung Family and today.

Could it be that she mistook his intentions for malice because of her own feelings of inadequacy?

Did she wrongly reject his kindness?

“Are you not listening? Give me the money!”

Tang Hwarin looked at the wildly ranting apothecary owner. What to do? She owed a debt, so she couldn’t show force. How to repay it?

She felt helpless and devastated.

That’s when it happened.

“I will pay for it.”

Kang Yunho appeared in front of Tang Hwarin with a smiling face.

I paid off all of Tang Hwarin’s room and medicine bills and dismissed the people.

“What, why are you back?”

Tang Hwarin looked at me, sitting on a chair with a haughty expression.

“Hmm.”

As I frowned and glared at Tang Hwarin, letting out a grunt, she showed a noticeably flustered expression.

“What, what! You want me to say thank you?”

Tang Hwarin also seemed to feel guilty, avoiding my gaze.

Good situation. Waiting was the right choice.

The fact that I deceived her was being neutralized by the grateful feelings for saving her in a crisis.

It’s a situation where she couldn’t just dismiss me. Let’s start with shock therapy to change the impression for a retry.

“Hey. Tang Hwarin.”

“What? Are you speaking informally to me now?”

“You said you hate people who speak formally. You speak informally to me, so why can’t I?”

“You. Showing your true colors now?”

Tang Hwarin frowned at my changed attitude for a moment, then smiled triumphantly, thinking she had finally figured out my true nature.

“Hey, Tang Hwarin. I’ll accompany you to Yichang.”

“I told you. With someone like you…….”

-Bang!

“What, what?”

When I interrupted Tang Hwarin and placed a strange container on the table with a thud, she asked in surprise.

You were going to say you didn’t want to travel with a man who hid his intentions and wore a mask. Something like that.

But here’s the thing, Tang Hwarin.

You can’t possibly reject me.

“It’s a remedy.”

I revealed the identity of the secret weapon that could seize the opportunity given to me again.

“A remedy?”

“A remedy that can cure the side effects of the poison.”

“What?”

Tang Hwarin looked in shock at the remedy placed on the table.

In truth, her medicine was not in the container but right in front of her eyes, unbeknownst to her.

With a triumphant expression, I asked her again.

“Let’s ask again. Tang Hwarin. Will you come with me? Or not?”