Unexpected Encounter - 3
I'm writing erotic martial arts novels.
Not pure erotica, mind you. When I arrived in this world, wuxia novels barely had any popularity. So I mixed in affairs of the heart—and the body—between men and women to give them some mass appeal.
How the hell am I supposed to explain that?
Of course I like erotica. I like spicy scenes. I like erotic wuxia. But admitting to someone else that you're writing the stuff is a completely different matter.
Even if erotic novels enjoy some popularity in this world, the writers themselves are never entirely open about it.
Hopil. Barbarian Brush. Barbarian Scribbler. The reason readers never find my pen name strange or mock me for it is because the actual authors of erotica tend to pick weird or ridiculous pen names in the first place.
A poor scholar writing erotica under a false name for money and never revealing his true identity—it's a fairly common story in this world. That was how I could write as Hopil while living a double life as the manager of Daseogak.
Are the Dang Clan people this loose-lipped? I had to reveal I was Hopil under the circumstances, but I never expected them to go telling other people. They may be my benefactors after I received the grace of a life debt, but that doesn't mean they need to go announcing my personal details.
"I write stories of the murim," I answered Cheon-un, circling around the truth.
"Stories of the murim. Are you writing about events that actually happened in the past?"
"No. I'm writing the tale of a righteous hero."
"A righteous hero?"
Why the sudden reaction? Cheon-un shot up from the bed where he had been sitting and stared at me with wide, startled eyes.
"Yes. The story of a righteous hero who hails from an orthodox sect."
"Are you writing about one of the Nine Great Sects, by any chance? For example... a protagonist who comes from the Wudang Sect?"
Cheon-un looked at me with clear expectation in his eyes.
"No. I'm writing about a protagonist from the Sichuan Dang Clan."
"Ah... the Sichuan Dang Clan."
Cheon-un's expression crumpled into sharp disappointment as he sank back down onto the bed. He must have gotten his hopes up thinking I was writing about his own sect.
Well, when people think of righteous heroes in wuxia, they do think of Wudang first. From the Seven Heroes of Wudang all the way to the Demon Sword of Wudang and the Wind-Cloud Hero Unhyeon... there really are a lot of them.
"Might I ask what pen name you write under?"
Cheon-un carefully hid his disappointment and asked me in a cautious tone. Should I tell him? I feel a little reluctant, but I can't lie to someone who saved my life.
"I go by Hopil. I've managed to earn a small empty reputation in Yichang."
I'm not the absolute king of the erotica scene or anything. Just a novelist with a modest bit of renown. I slipped that extra explanation in casually.
"Ah... I see."
You've never heard of me, have you? Cheon-un wore the same faintly disappointed look as someone who had been told a famous detective was coming, only to realize he had never heard the name before.
It's understandable. Even though we're both in Hubei Province, Mount Wudang and Yichang are as far apart as Seoul and Busan.
"Haha. I feel embarrassed for bragging about a reputation you've never even heard of."
What a relief. If he doesn't know what kind of novels I write, so much the better. I wasn't the least bit embarrassed, but I pretended to be modest.
"Not at all. I have heard that your murim stories are quite popular in Yichang. You have every right to be proud. Murim tales have so little popularity that they usually end up shoved into the dusty corners of bookcases. It always pained me to see it. You are truly remarkable."
"Haha. It's true that murim stories don't enjoy much popularity."
For a moment the bitter memory of past failures rose up.
"Yes. The more you reread them, the more you realize those books are the ones truly worth reading. Yet even my junior disciples ignore the exemplary texts and secretly read whatever else is popular these days."
Do the young Taoist priests read erotica too? You little horny Taoists, I swear.
"Haha. Even if they're cultivators, they're still just children. With all that youthful blood, it's only natural."
"It shames me to say it."
Cheon-un bowed his head, looking guilty, as if he had accidentally spoken ill of his own sect.
"So Young Hero, it seems you yourself are quite fond of murim stories."
A fellow wuxia enthusiast? I asked with a brightened expression.
"Anyone who sets foot in the murim ought to understand what righteousness truly means. One can find such teachings in the scriptures and ancient texts, of course, but through stories one can receive both pleasure and lessons at once. How could I not read them? If only my junior disciples could know that same joy. Whenever I recommend good books about righteousness, they toss them aside without a second glance."
"Haha. Eventually they'll grow tired of the other stuff, and then they might start looking at the kind of books you read. It's not as if you yourself are completely unaware of those other books' charms, is it?"
Even hot-blooded kids aren't going to read nothing but erotica every single day.
"I do not read books that interfere with my cultivation."
Cheon-un shook his head with firm resolution.
Ooooh. A pure, orthodox Taoist who keeps far away from lust? A righteous hero who also rejects desire... Is that what it takes to walk the path of true chivalry? This guy feels less like a character from a murim dating sim and more like he stepped straight out of a classic wuxia novel.
"I seem to have spoken rudely without realizing it."
I apologized for the discourtesy I had nearly committed.
"Not at all. Still... a novel about righteousness. Judging by the expressions of the Dang Clan people, you must be writing something truly entertaining. It is quite amazing. I have read many novels myself, yet I have never once heard of a single volume becoming that popular."
Cheon-un spoke with the astonished air of a hardcore traditional fantasy fan who had just been told that some pure fantasy novel currently held the number-one spot on the web novel charts.
"I merely possess a small talent and was lucky enough to move a few hearts. And it is not just one volume."
I answered with open pride.
"Pardon?"
"Fortunately the response to the first volume was so good that I released a second. It is enjoying great success."
"Ahh... so this entertaining novel is not just one volume but two... Haah..."
Cheon-un let out a long sigh, his face taking on a strangely bitter, regretful expression as if some private sorrow had just resurfaced.
"Is something weighing on you?"
"I merely wandered into a brief daydream. In any case, I take it your writing has currently stopped because of your friend's troubles."
"Yes. But the moment my friend's affairs are settled, I fully intend to publish the third volume."
No matter how I end up resolving things once I reach the Dang Clan, I will publish the third volume of Dangga Pungun.
"Even while your friend is in trouble, you are already thinking of the next volume. Your sense of responsibility is truly admirable."
"Haha! When you sell books, of course you have to take responsibility!"
"Exactly. Once an author writes a novel, he must see it through to completion. To write only one volume of what is clearly meant to be a series and then abandon it—how irresponsible can a person be?"
A faintly ominous air began to gather around Young Hero Cheon-un. What's gotten into him?
"You're absolutely right. Haha."
"Yes, truly. An author must have a sense of responsibility. An irresponsible author is neither interesting nor worthy. If they would at least write down where they live, one could go find them. To not even put a proper pen name—how cowardly!"
Cheon-un muttered in a single unbroken stream, his voice thick with deep, accumulated resentment.
"Um, Young Hero?"
What the—? Why the sudden rampage?
"Ah...! Forgive me. I—I have shown you a shameful sight."
At my call, Cheon-un immediately ejected from his outburst and bowed his head in embarrassment.
"Haha. You must have suffered quite a few of those experiences. I understand completely."
Did I accidentally poke an old trauma? Anyone who had never been through it might have been startled, but I got it.
"You... understand?"
Cheon-un looked at me in surprise.
"Of course. Before I became a writer, I was a reader myself. There have been more than a few times I wanted to lock a talented author in some back room and force-feed him nothing but dumplings until he finished writing."
He really does love books, doesn't he? I understood. Cheon-un's sudden explosion hadn't been intentional.
I tossed out a light joke to ease the awkward, heavy atmosphere that had settled over us.
"That would not be nearly enough."
Apparently the person on the receiving end did not take it as a joke.
"Pardon?"
"The sin of stirring a reader's heart and then vanishing is unspeakably great. You must lock them in a training cave and only feed them fasting pills every time they produce a certain amount of text. A proper meal comes only after an entire volume is finished."
Cheon-un's fingers twitched as if he already had some abandoned author standing in front of him and was about to grab him by the collar and throw him into a cave.
"Hahaha..."
I could only laugh awkwardly. Whoever the author is that made an enemy of this young hero, he is not going to die of natural causes.
The atmosphere remained stiff. Embarrassed by his own outburst, Cheon-un fell silent after that.
"To tell you the truth, I used to think righteous heroes existed only in dreams. But after meeting a true hero like Young Hero Cheon-un and receiving the grace of a life debt, it truly feels like a dream."
I praised Cheon-un once more, partly to change the mood.
"You flatter me. Anyone in that situation would have done the same."
"Flattery? I have been in the Central Plains for some time now, yet I have searched high and low without finding a single true righteous hero. Why else do you think someone like me picked up a brush? I did it so I could at least see the heroes I dreamed of."
I heard he climbed the mountain to look for a missing person. If Cheon-un hadn't been a true hero, he would never have been there in the first place. No amount of praise is enough.
"I, too, stepped into the jianghu in order to fulfill my dream of becoming a righteous hero."
Cheon-un straightened his posture and spoke to me with a serious face.
"That cannot have been an easy decision. You are truly remarkable."
"I am not the only one who made such a decision. Young Master Kang, you could have written the trash that fills the marketplaces, yet you chose to write about righteous heroes. Both of us dreamed of becoming heroes. One of us took up a sword, and the other took up a brush. That is all. Your praise is so excessive it makes me ashamed."
He sure knows how to phrase things beautifully. There was no way I could confess in this atmosphere that I was actually writing erotic wuxia.
"Hearing you put it that way makes me the embarrassed one. Then... might I hear about some of the chivalrous deeds you have performed?"
"I have not been in the jianghu for long, so there is not much to tell."
He didn't actually say he didn't want to talk about it, though.
Even while pretending to refuse, Cheon-un kept sneaking glances at me, his lips twitching. You want to talk about it, don't you? Acts of chivalry are the kind of thing people love to boast about.
"I truly wish to hear them. I might even find inspiration for my writing. If it is not too much trouble, please tell me."
"I am not gifted with words..."
"Whatever you say, I will listen quietly."
When I sat up straight in a posture of perfect attention, Cheon-un let out a small sigh—then his eyes lit up.
The small acts of chivalry that began after leaving Mount Wudang. Cheon-un started speaking as if embarrassed, but soon both his words and his expression came alive with energy.
"It seems I have kept you for far too long."
Perhaps he had noticed my eyelids growing heavier. Cheon-un spoke to me with a slightly regretful air.
"Not at all. I want to hear more, but it is lamentable that my stamina has run out first."
"You should sleep now."
"Yes. There will still be chances to hear the rest of the stories. The simple knowledge that, somewhere in the Central Plains, a righteous hero like Young Hero Cheon-un—the kind I have always dreamed of—actually exists... that alone is enough comfort for me to sleep well tonight."
I smiled at Cheon-un the way a man who has finally found the star he always searched for would smile, then began arranging my bedding.
"..."
"Young Hero?"
Why is he just staring blankly? Right before I lay down on the bed, I called out to Cheon-un, who was still gazing in my direction as if lost in a daze.
"Ah—nothing!"
Startled by my voice, Cheon-un suddenly bolted toward the door.
"Where are you going, Young Hero?"
"Please sleep first. I will keep watch around the area for a while before resting myself."
What was that about?
I was not the sort of man who would insist on accompanying someone who volunteered for night watch. Holding onto a small question, I crawled into bed.
Cheon-un stepped out of the inn to breathe the night air. A cold wind brushed across his flushed cheeks.
"Hey, at least take this with you!"
"I already said no!"
As Cheon-un walked the perimeter, he came across some of the other Dang Clan warriors who were burning trash.
"What is going on here?"
"Young Hero Cheon-un! It's nothing serious. This is a book the dead brother cherished, but this fool here is trying to burn it."
"Calling it a keepsake feels wrong. Just burn it."
"Why would you burn a book that has Author Hopil's personal signature in it?"
"I feel bad too, but we need to lighten the load!"
The name Cheon-un heard between the two Dang Clan warriors was the pen name of the author he had been speaking with only moments ago.
"Did you say Hopil? You mean Young Master Kang's books?"
"Ah! If you have never read them, would Young Hero perhaps like to take it?"
"Yes. I will take it."
"The dead brother would be happy knowing you have it."
The warrior of the escort agency, unable to bring himself to burn the book belonging to his fallen comrade, hurriedly pressed it into Cheon-un's hands.
A book popular in Yichang. A book Young Master Kang wrote about righteous heroes. Just what kind of story could it be?
Cheon-un carefully studied the cover of the book he now held, then slowly read the characters written upon it.
"Hopil... Dangga... Pungun?"