A World Where Everyone Is Happy
The Heavenly Slaughter Star.
The most entertaining sight in the world is a fire burning across the river or someone else’s fight.
And when a huge commotion breaks out on the street, nine times out of ten it’s a brawl.
There’s no way a waiter would curse customers to drop dead while trying to drum up business, after all.
So the moment I heard the shouting, I sprinted over to watch the fight.
In fact, this was an extremely constructive and productive activity.
Getting to enjoy the most pleasurable spectacle in existence without spending a single coin? What a steal.
Heart pounding with excitement, I dashed over and soon came upon three men tangled in a bloody brawl.
Well, bloody for one side only. It was a completely one-sided beatdown.
“Die, you bastard!”
“What? How dare a snot-nosed brat interfere with his elders’ business?!”
“Arrogant punk! Die! Just drop dead already!”
In front of an inn that doubled as a restaurant, three men with swords at their waists were stomping on a boy curled up on the ground.
They weren’t even fighting fairly. The kid was already down, and they were just kicking him for fun.
I had no idea what the story was, but if they could win one-on-one, why were they ganging up like this? It didn’t make sense to me.
“Did that boy do something wrong?”
“……Huh?”
When I suddenly asked, the middle-aged man watching the fight beside me blinked and stared at me like I was some exotic creature.
What, uncle? Never seen a Korean before?
Judging by the white in his beard, he’d lived long enough, yet his worldview seemed painfully narrow.
He just kept blinking without answering, which was incredibly frustrating, but I possessed a generous heart above all else, so I waited patiently.
Yeah, living in a backwater like Sichuan probably meant he didn’t encounter many Koreans.
After a moment, the stuttering uncle finally noticed the sword at my waist. His eyes widened and he bowed slightly, suddenly polite as if he’d met a superior.
“……Ah, it seems the inn’s waiter boy interrupted the warriors’ affair.”
“Affair?”
“Those three gentlemen from the Sichuan Trio were trying to speak with a young lady when the boy butted in without knowing his place. That’s why he’s being punished like that.”
“Aha. I see.”
So they were hitting on someone, the kid interfered, and now they were taking it out on the waiter.
Those aren’t warriors. They’re complete bastards.
A waiter has to look after other customers too. Of course he might yell “Stop harassing people!” What, are customers kings now?
Just because you carry a sword at your waist, you can beat up anyone you want?
“Hmm. That’s all well and good.”
I nodded, then immediately came up with a brilliant plan that would make everyone happy.
I could never think of a way to suppress the demon inside my head, yet ideas like this popped up so easily.
Well, at least one useful thought appeared. That counted as a win, right?
Having settled on my brilliant plan, I put it into action at once.
I slipped out of the crowd of spectators and ran straight to the front of the inn.
Heavenly Slaughter Star
My powerful body crushed the physical distance with every step.
The energy of the Asura Divine Art circulating through my meridians made my movements even faster.
With such lightning-like speed backing me up, it was no surprise that I, who had been standing far away just moments ago, reached the bastards in an instant.
“……Hm?! Who the hell are y—”
Of course, suddenly facing a super freak like me must have been one hell of a surprise for the bastard warrior.
I flashed him a bright smile and slammed my hand down on the crown of his head.
Thwack!
Grabbing his surprisingly well-shaped skull, I drove it straight into the ground.
Kwaaaaaang!
By the most natural law of physics, the warrior’s head kissed the earth.
It was such a passionate kiss that a clear crack spread across the ground.
Yes. This was the greatest idea my mind had ever produced.
The waiter gets hit less, the warriors learn some manners, and the spectators can keep enjoying the show. A world where everyone wins.
Hmm. He’s not dead, right?
“You—what the hell are you doing, you bitch?!”
While I was checking on the warrior whose head was still planted in the dirt, his companion drew the sword at his waist and challenged me to a duel.
Oh? You dare pull a blade?
But it would be too embarrassing for me to draw my own sword against the likes of them.
I already know exactly what level you people are at.
A whole month had passed since I began clearing the Tower while handling inner energy.
It wasn’t quite like having an extra pair of limbs yet, but it was more than enough time to grow familiar with the power in my dantian.
I had reached the point where I could pour the energy of a Asura into my fists as well as my blade.
“I’m a martial artist. Who the hell are you?”
As the ever-raging Asura energy gathered in my fist, a faint crimson aura began to swirl around it.
“Huh?”
The moment the sword-drawing warriors saw it, they stumbled backward, but I had no intention of letting them escape.
What, you’re abandoning your friend?
Clearly, cowards like these Sichuan Trio—or whatever they were—needed a brand-new educational approach.
“Heads up!”
Receive the educational philosophy of 21st-century South Korea (or not)!
After I finished organizing the so-called Sichuan Trio or Three Unions or whatever they were, cheers erupted from the innkeeper whose business had been interrupted and from every single spectator.
Hey, hey, I knew I could count on you guys!
To them, I looked like a heroic wanderer who had stepped forward for the persecuted waiter and the innkeeper suffering from lost business.
In their words, I appeared as a majestic female hero.
Hmm. That’s right.
Yes, I had stepped up for everyone’s sake.
I had willingly jumped into this fight for a world where everyone could be happy!
Praise me more! Clap harder!
After basking in the cheers for a while, I followed the bowing innkeeper’s guidance, received a free dinner, and even got a complimentary room.
It wasn’t like I had threatened him.
The innkeeper had simply been so moved by my sense of justice that he voluntarily offered me the best food and room available.
I had assumed the inn would be as pathetic as the third-rate swordsmen it catered to, but the food was surprisingly delicious and the room quite comfortable.
I had worried about cockroaches the moment I realized it was a Chinese establishment, but that fear proved unfounded.
As expected, living kindly really does pay off.
I burrowed into the incredibly soft bedding, patting my full belly contentedly, when a knock sounded at the door not long after.
“Yes, come in.”
I had already sensed their presence, so I answered calmly.
The innkeeper and a boy wrapped head to toe in bandages opened the door and entered.
The innkeeper kept his lips pressed tightly together, met my eyes, then bowed his head deeply.
“Thank you so much for saving my son.”
That’s right. Shockingly, the waiter who had been getting beaten was the innkeeper’s own son!
I didn’t know whether that was common or rare in the Central Plains, but I decided to just think of him as a teenager helping out at his father’s shop.
Thinking that way, the waiter boy seemed like a truly filial son, even if I didn’t know how much he got paid for his part-time work.
On the other hand, the father who had watched his own son get pummeled without intervening felt a bit cowardly…… but then again, in a neighborhood where butting in carelessly could get both of you killed, it made sense.
He probably would have stepped in later once he saw an opening.
Since I had already received considerable hospitality from the innkeeper, I tried to exercise empathy and understand his position.
Besides, I wasn’t exactly a righteous hero, and it would be rude for a mere passing guest to criticize the owner.
While I was nodding along, exercising my long-unused understanding, the boy wrapped in bandages also lowered his head deeply.
“Thank you for saving me.”
Hmm. Having even a patient act like this made me feel like I was forcing them to do something difficult.
I wasn’t extremely kind, but I wasn’t a bad person either.
Feeling a little awkward, I scratched my head and looked at the back of the waiter boy’s head before remembering why I had come here in the first place.
Oh, right.
I had a mission.
You have entered the 19th floor, ‘Sichuan.’
Clear Mission: Sichuan
📍 Objective: Locate the Black Hand Old Woman of Chengdu and protect her for seven days.
🎁 Reward: Floor clearance points, additional achievements, shop coins
I blinked while checking the quest details and clicked my tongue.
Come to think of it, this wasn’t the time to play heroic inn patron. I needed to find the old woman first and protect her.
I had no idea if the old lady was frail or healthy. If she suddenly died of old age…… well, I would just fail the mission, but still.
“Hmm. It’s better to finish it quickly.”
Having finished my deliberation, I approached the bandaged waiter boy and asked.
“Do you happen to know the people around this village well?”
“……Yes? You mean in Chengdu?”
“Yes, around here.”
“I know some of them……”
Good. A service worker his age should know the locals pretty well.
Satisfied, I nodded and asked the puzzled-looking boy once more.
“Do you know who the Black Hand Old Woman is?”
“……Ah, I do.”
“Oh.”
As expected, living kindly really does pay off.