Confession
Learning Ice Soul Divine Art had already been proven before the Jegal Clan Head, so that matter was behind me now.
But that didn’t mean everything was settled. There were still things I could never, ever tell them.
My appearance. My past. My external martial arts. Those, for starters.
If I said, “I made a character for a game, and then somehow logged into her body like this. Actually, I’m a guy. Twenty-five years old.”
How would they look at me then?
Would they think I’d been taken by a demonic delusion? Or would the words just get filtered out somehow before they ever reached them?
Either way, spilling it would be the height of stupidity.
If I died, I’d have to take it to the grave. How the hell was I supposed to say that out loud?
Besides, this wasn’t just about them.
This could become something I’d have to keep explaining forever, couldn’t it?
My external arts could be hidden, sure, but not this face. As long as I stayed here, I’d probably have to deal with it again and again.
White hair and blue eyes. An appearance I absolutely couldn’t conceal.
So I needed to decide now how I’d explain its background.
Right now.
"I don’t remember anything from my past. I don’t even know what kind of person I was. That’s why I couldn’t properly tell you my sect. There really isn’t anything I can remember."
So I simply told the truth. More precisely, I told them the truth about there being nothing to tell, and since I truly couldn’t remember, it wasn’t a lie.
Trying to weave some elaborate fabrication around it would have been even more absurd. One lie would give birth to another, and in the end I’d be the one who couldn’t keep up.
"I do remember the name Baek Harin. But other than that, I can’t recall a single thing."
A perfectly convenient answer. No lies, no improvisation.
And it worked.
Mo Yong Jua and Jegal Seyeong both wore faces touched with sympathy.
Even Paeng Jeon-ho looked at me with an expression that said he felt sorry for me.
"Oh! I’ve heard of that! A condition where shock causes someone to lose all their memories from before... It’s rare, but apparently it really happens. Mm... to actually meet someone like that in real life."
"Really? That kind of thing exists?"
"Yes. I heard that if someone falls from a great height or takes a powerful blow to the head, their memories can get wiped out."
"Then what? Is there a way to get them back?"
"That part isn’t clear. Some people say the memories returned after they suffered the same kind of shock again, and others say they came back on their own after some time passed."
"I see? Then... Miss Baek. You don’t even know how you ended up like this, do you?"
Mo Yong Jua asked with a face full of curiosity, though there was a strange energy beneath it, as if she were silently wondering whether she should just hit me on the head once and find out.
Dangerous woman. At least hide that look.
She looked like she was about to ask Paeng Jeon-ho to do it on the spot.
Of course, if she did, that man would probably just stare at her with an expression of utter disappointment.
"No. I don’t remember that either."
"Then is your goal to recover your memories, Miss Baek?"
I’d been hoping that question would come up, so I felt relieved and gave the answer I’d prepared in advance.
"I’ve heard that if I go through a rebirth of body and bones, my memories might return. So that’s what I’m thinking about for now."
I needed to obtain elixirs. Or increase my inner power dramatically.
So if I was going to keep living like this, I needed a goal that matched it.
Rebirth of body and bones. What a convenient excuse. I didn’t know if I could actually achieve it, but as a reason for gathering elixirs and building inner power, it was perfect.
"Ah... rebirth of body and bones!? But that could take who knows how long, right?"
"Then I suppose I’ll have to keep working toward it until then."
Everyone nodded as if they understood.
It seemed I’d gotten through it safely.
Especially since even Jegal Seyeong had accepted it; for most people, my reason probably wouldn’t sound all that strange.
In any case, my story ended there, and the conversation soon shifted to the chatter between Jegal Seyeong and Mo Yong Jua.
The real flood of gossip had begun.
What amazed me was that Jegal Seyeong took in every bit of Mo Yong Jua’s endless chatter without missing a beat.
No, “took it in” wasn’t enough. She actually kept up with her, word for word?
It was honestly impressive enough to inspire awe.
Of course, I knew women could be incredibly chatty. And since the two of them hadn’t seen each other in a while, that made sense too.
Right. Knowing something in your head and feeling it firsthand are two different things. I knew that much.
Back in my old world, I’d been a man for twenty-five years.
And I also knew that if I’d joined in, the whole raw, no-filter conversation between women would have fallen apart.
So I hadn’t expected it to be quite this much. Even if I’d had some half-baked experience of it, it probably hadn’t been in the right kind of setting.
Wow. This much gossip without a single drop of alcohol? The thought just came to me on its own.
And Paeng Jeon-ho, more than I’d realized, was even craftier than I’d thought.
He simply, naturally, timed it perfectly and slipped away.
He wasn’t a bear. He was a fox pretending to be a bear.
The problem was, I couldn’t do the same. Paeng Jeon-ho was a man, and I was stuck in the body of a woman.
Once he was gone, the conversation only got more and more outrageous.
The tone kept rising bit by bit. A conversation only women could have.
"So. Jua. How are things going with Jeon-ho? You two were wandering around together all the time."
"Hey, now! Do you ever not say something embarrassing? And Miss Baek is right here!"
"So what? Right, Miss Baek? You’re curious too, aren’t you?"
"N-no! Why would I be curious about that?"
"Of course you’re curious! I mean, when are those two ever going to stop being so frustratingly awkward? When are they going to finally pick a good day and get it over with? How could I not think that!?"
"A-and you! Did you invite Young Master Dang this time too? Is he coming?"
"W-why are you suddenly bringing that up!?"
"Why else!? We can’t just ignore clan matters, so someone from the Tang Clan will definitely come. Young Master Namgung is coming too, so that Tang girl will surely show up as well. And if she comes, there’s no way he won’t come with her, so won’t Young Master Dang come too? What a perfect excuse! Right? He’s coming, isn’t he?"
"Aah! Honestly! Fine! Yes, he’s coming. He is! But I didn’t invite him! That was Grandfather... "
"Oh? Really? You didn’t slip a word to the clan head on purpose? That sounds exactly like something you’d do."
"N-no, I didn’t!"
I had no idea. I’d just have to keep smiling and nodding.
This was nice. I could just sit there quietly without getting dragged in.
But the two of them weren’t going to leave me alone.
They knew there was a lot to lose by talking too much about each other, so the topic naturally drifted toward me.
Damn. So that’s how it is. There is no neutral country.
Still, it was somewhat fortunate. These two didn’t know much about me anyway.
Even so, I was bombarded with questions from both of them late into the night, and only after a long while was I finally freed from the chatter.
When I woke the next morning, the silence of the world made me absurdly happy.
In inns and guesthouses, there was always noise no matter what.
The clatter of carts passing outside, people shouting, roosters crowing from somewhere, breaking sounds... things like that.
But not here. I’d slept soundly, and that left my mind feeling wonderfully clear.
No wonder the Jegal Clan was so full of smart people.
If I woke to a place like this every morning, I’d probably turn out pretty clever too.
I thought about what I should do with such a clear mind, and then I snorted to myself before I could stop it, amused by how pathetic that was.
That was the problem. I was a martial artist now.
If you’re a martial artist, of course you should train. No matter how many system privileges you have, trying to coast on them too much is just lazy.
Daily training is like grains of sand.
One grain. Something so insignificant you wouldn’t even notice if it vanished.
But when those grains gather, they become a sandbag, and then you’ll definitely feel the weight.
When they gather enough to become a white beach, only then will you realize how precious each grain was.
And if you don’t even collect those grains, you’ll never have a sandbag or a beach at all.
That was why I took up the folding fan that the Jegal Clan Head had given me yesterday.
Originally, I’d wanted to carry a great sword or a tachi.
When I first made this character, that had been the plan. A tachi on a beautiful girl was pure romance.
But after seeing Paeng Jeon-ho, I’d realized that wasn’t realistic now.
For one thing, it stood out too much. And besides, it wasn’t exactly easy to carry around something like that.
So for now, I’d try using the folding fan.
Besides, I liked this fan quite a lot. It looked cool, and it had an air of rarity about it.
With the fan in hand, I stepped outside, where the pond and garden before Hwasunchae looked even more beautiful than they had yesterday.
This would be a good spot. The stone-paved ground was decent too.
So I recalled Charye Folding Fan Art and performed the form from beginning to end.
To be honest, Charye Folding Fan Art was closer to a dance than a martial skill.
The manual even said so. Wear wide-sleeved clothes and perform it for aesthetic effect.
Still, it was undeniably a martial art.
A technique performed with an iron fan.
When folded, it could strike like a blunt weapon; when fully opened, it could block attacks or cut down an opponent with its spread ribs.
If your opponent was facing it for the first time, it could be a real headache to deal with.
Of course, there was the obvious limitation of it being a peculiar weapon.
In any case, I liked it, so I kept running through the forms.
Wave the fan, swing it, fold it, open it again, spin half a turn, fold it, then thrust.
Open it to dazzle the eye, then fold it again. Thrust. Swing, then snap it open with a sharp flick.
After doing that for quite a while, another half-star filled in on my skill window.
Now I was at one and a half stars. Was it because I was still at an early stage? It was climbing faster than I expected.
Visible results, immediate results, always make people more eager.
That’s probably why people love games so much. You can see yourself getting stronger right away.
Even if it’s only by a tiny amount.
As I repeated the forms a few more times and another star finally reached two, I found myself smiling without realizing it.
Then, from over there, I heard a clearing of the throat.
When I looked over, there was a man in the neat scholarly robes of the Jegal Clan, staring this way with a slightly awkward smile on his face.
"Excuse me. My name is Jegal Seongjin. The old master sent me to bring Miss Baek."
"Ah. I see. Thank you. Nice to meet you. My name is Baek Harin."
After I greeted him, the man still smiled awkwardly and bowed his head.
Hm. He seemed a little shy for a grown man. Maybe that was because he’d been spending too much time with Paeng Jeon-ho?
Thinking that, I followed the man toward the Jegal Clan Head.