Chapter 328
Chapter 328
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 328
Chapter Title: S6. Turbulent Waters -1
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"Wuxia, huh..."
I adjusted the hem of the hanbok I'd borrowed from a roadside stall, lost in thought. As far as I recalled, none of the NPCs in the wuxia session had awakened self-consciousness.
On the previous floor, Abraham had laid out the backstory and objectives crystal clear. But with no NPCs here, I'd have to dig it all up myself this time. Tricky, sure, but nothing I couldn't handle.
The hint had come right at the entrance: Heavenly Demon Tomb.
With orthodox sects, unorthodox factions, and even the Demonic Cult all swarming in and clashing, it looked like the core of this floor revolved around the Heavenly Demon Tomb. Those three evocative words carried memories of Yuna.
A snippet of an old conversation flashed by.
-H-Hey, Heavenly Demon Tomb... that's the Heavenly Demon's grave, right?
-It's the tomb of a pegasus that fell from another world. Whoever unravels its secrets gets the Heavenly Demon Machinegun...
-...!!!! Hey...!!
I'd nearly taken an illusion-bat to the face back then. Yuna could be a real traditionalist.
"Ah, I miss Yuna."
I muttered it to the sky, but no answer came.
Of course not. Wishing alone never solved anything. Mountains rise grain by grain, and every accomplishment builds from steady effort.
Time to move forward.
First stop: Heavenly Demon Tomb. A hotspot crawling with people meant intel would flow naturally.
The problem? I was still a pathetic mage who couldn't cast a lick of magic.
My scrawny stats hadn't improved either. I could probably handle maybe ten bandits, but anything more, and some crude blade would lop off my head, turning me into a resentful ghost.
The martial world wasn't kind to the weak.
So I decided to tag along with a merchant caravan. Sure, freeloaders usually got a harsh reckoning, but as I'd said before—if words worked, anything was possible.
Slash-slash-slash!
"Boss, you're as diligent as ever today! Hehe."
"Ahem. You think so?"
Playing the eager lackey and laying on the flattery had the caravan leader melting like butter!
We traveled half a day with the caravan, threading a narrow valley barely wide enough for a single cart.
"This is Black Serpent Alliance territory. Drop your goods and surrender as prisoners."
Then we ran into what looked like bandits.
Why "like"? Their looting greed was straight out of a bandit's playbook...
"Th-This is food and weapons for the orthodox heroes! Aren't you afraid of reprisals?!"
"For reference, the Black Serpent Alliance is part of the Unorthodox Union, and they're already in a blood feud with the Orthodox Alliance. War's on, so reprisals be damned—we loot their supplies. Got it?"
"Ah."
...because they weren't some ragtag bandits. They were the Unorthodox Union's special forces, lying in wait to ambush an orthodox supply convoy. The caravan's guards didn't stand a chance.
I sized up an escape route, but bolting blindly would've just earned me a knife in the back and a one-way ticket to ghosthood. So I bowed to fate. Approaching one of the Black Serpent warriors tying up the men like salted fish, I held out my hands.
"Tie me gently, please."
"...?"
And just like that, I ended up a prisoner of the unorthodox forces.
The Black Serpent warriors quickly pegged me as a total weakling—no internal energy, no external training—and tossed me into a wooden jail for non-martial folk.
It was packed with civilians: the caravan boss's daughter, the maid who'd tagged along to cook, that sort. The vibe was straight-up funeral parlor.
Was this a cue to convert?
Like a bat flitting between sides, I'd switch to the unorthodox bus. My goal was reaching the Heavenly Demon Tomb, no holds barred.
Or I could just wipe out the whole Black Serpent crew and stroll out.
Yeah, they'd wonder: a magicless scrub talking massacre? My infinite confidence stemmed from... the gun.
The pistol I'd snagged on Abraham's floor hadn't vanished.
They'd frisked the martial artists, but not every civilian's pockets. So the gun was still snug at my waist.
"..."
One hitch, though.
Were the orthodox the good guys and the unorthodox the villains? I couldn't tell which side Yuna favored. Backing the unorthodox only for the Demonic Cult to be the protagonists? Disaster. Same if I gunned down the unorthodox and they were the heroes.
With clear conditions still murky, this ambiguity was tying me in knots.
Still, I couldn't waste time rotting here. A week in jail who-knew-what might happen outside the Illusion Tower in reality. Had to pick a side and act.
I plucked a flower blooming outside the bars and did a little petal divination to choose my faction.
"Orthodox, unorthodox, Demonic Cult. Orthodox, unorthodox, Demonic Cult..."
"Strange Hero! The Strange Hero's here!"
"Huh?"
Commotion outside. I gripped the wooden bars and peered through a gap. The unorthodox thugs were scrambling, failing to block a woman.
"Release the civilians."
"B-But Great Hero Oh, they served the orthodox. Letting them go bolsters orthodox forces...!"
"When did I say release martial artists? Civilians only. They work for pay, not out of loyalty."
"But please, Great Hero Oh, have mercy! The Alliance Lord will surely rage..."
"Fine, want a taste of magic?!"
I perked my ears, zeroing in. Who was this?
A righteous female character in wuxia with magic... Had the Beast of Betrayal Enver gone genderbent? Nah. Nangong NPCs awakened? Personality didn't match.
A woman stepped forward right in front of my confused face.
I knew that face. I knew it!
The woman hailed as Great Hero Oh or Strange Hero eyed me with a high-school-girl edge, cocky and disrespectful to her creator.
"You're late, boss. Tower opened ages ago."
She even scolded me.
"I did my best. Realistically, who's desperate—you or me? And why are you here?"
"Worth sticking around."
"But this is a different world... Oh Hyein!"
Commanding unorthodox warriors in a pitch-black hanbok was Roderus and Lulu's best friend from the Pure Light magical girl session: Oh Hyein.
Thanks to Oh Hyein—who apparently had some pull in the unorthodox world—I got out of jail. We set off toward the Heavenly Demon Tomb.
"But is it cool just bailing like this? You seem unorthodox-aligned."
"To expand my range, I've been playing the carefree rogue crossing orthodox and unorthodox lines since I dropped in!"
Some rogue—her title had "strange" slapped on it.
Her answer to "Why a magical girl in wuxia?":
"No clue."
"..."
Fair enough. She wouldn't know; she didn't cast the roles.
But Yuna adored wuxia. She'd roar like a lion at weird inserts, yet here was a magical girl? That was intriguing.
Maybe a world crossover. Wuxia felt light on value, so padding it with resources from other sessions to flesh it out.
"Fusion chow mein, huh, boss?"
"My guess."
Explained why my gun stuck around. If Oh Hyein's modern world resources overlaid this one, it tracked. Gun data would exist.
"Ran into Abraham on the last floor."
"Oh, you met Grandpa? Story go well?"
"Perfectly. He was treated like an NPC, so he knew the backstory and clear conditions. Nothing like that for you?"
"Nope."
No?
I stared into Oh Hyein's eyes in shock, but they just sparkled with thoughts of spicy noodles and candied fruit. Nothing from the world at all.
Why the difference? Crossover effect? Other-session character, no info access?
Then to nail clear goals, I'd need a proper wuxia NPC. More poking around this world required.
But either way, Heavenly Demon Tomb was the right path.
"Radiant light that saves all──Pure Light!"
Poof.
Our journey began with Oh Hyein. My pace was glacial, so she mostly transformed, hoisted me piggyback-style, and ran. (She could transform and wield pure energy.)
Unorthodox warriors we passed on the road:
"Halt! This is Hoshan Stronghold terri... Th-That shameless western garb! Strange Hero! Forgive my ignorance!"
They spotted her dazzling magical girl outfit from dozens of meters away and didn't dare block. They feared her.
"What the heck have you been up to?"
"Magical girl basics. Smashing evil, saving the innocent. You know."
She beamed with conviction. Yeah, that was a magical girl. Satisfying.
Her lines sparked a thought: magical girls might mesh surprisingly well with the martial world. Righteousness through force. Wasn't wuxia just magical girl stuff?
"..."
"Why stare at the sky all sudden, boss?"
I half-expected Yuna to read my mind and smite me with lightning.
We crossed mountains and reached a city near the Heavenly Demon Tomb. I strode into the first inn I spotted. Stomach rumbling, and perfect spot to probe the genre.
"Welcome!"
I flashed a grin at the eager waiter and ordered right away.
"Hey, kid—one carbonara."
"Pardon?"
"Kimchi hotpot and cheese fondue too."
"...Pardon?"
His reaction said no food fusion here.
Oh Hyein cleared her throat, put on an adult air, and ordered.
"Ahem—somen noodles, bamboo leaf liquor, dumplings, five-spice pork."
"Right away."
"...High schooler boozing?"
"Boss, you tagged every session character as secretly over twenty. No ID for me, but adult status?"
That's not how it works.
I tapped the table waiting for food. No cultural mashup, so where'd the magical girl elements sneak in?
They wouldn't fuse the whole world just for one Oh Hyein.
Something was up. My gut screamed it.
Mulling hypotheses, the waiter soon bustled over with trays.
"Great hero, your orders!"
"Boss, I get the worries... but eat first? Munga said: even urgent stuff, grab a meal."
"..."
True enough. I picked up my chopsticks.
Right before sinking teeth into a steaming, tempting dumpling.
Bam!!
The inn door flew open as a group stormed in. Wild mix of outfits—some even my own Nangong Clan designs.
The lead lackey bellowed:
"Martial kin of the central plains, apologies, but clear out. We'll cover meals, but vacate the first floor. Orthodox great heroes gathering here today—weighty matters, can't have eavesdroppers."
"..."
Translation: We're chartering the place—scram.
Their arrogance riled one hot-tempered patron to his feet.
"Who do you think you are, ordering folk around?!"
"The Orthodox Alliance Leader arrives soon. Still got words?"
"Tch...!"
The lackey borrowed the Leader's clout, glaring down every customer. Our table got the eye too—I glared right back.
Inns never failed. Walk in, event pops. Reverse meeting spot confirmed.
"...What now? Bow?"
"Nah, faction head's coming too. Duck and cover. Pocket a dumpling and... Hey, Hyein—over there. Check her."
"Huh? Oh."
Mid orthodox pack stood a haughty woman fanning her mouth, brow faintly furrowed at the rude eviction.
Oh Hyein recognized the familiar face, clapped a hand over her mouth in shock.
We knew her too.
"Chaerin unnie?"
"...Hyein-ssi?"
Stellaria's ace pilot, genius mecha engineer Woo Chaerin.
"...Lady Zhuge, you know them?"
"Yes, close ties. Honorable, close-mouthed. Mind if I join? If you evict them, I'll head out for my meal too."
She played daughter of the Zhuge Clan.