Chapter 25
Translator: uly
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: The Black-Haired Merchant of Chilgok County - 4
What is the most essential ability for surviving as a barbarian in a martial arts dating sim world?
Silver tongue? Writing skill? Looks? Money?
No. It's martial arts.
Rural youths who don't like a barbarian being in their village. Beggar bastards coming at me with clubs to snatch the single piece of bread I'm eating. Hoodlums ganging up to smash the back of my head to steal the money I earned through hard labor.
To protect myself against those bastards, I ultimately needed martial arts. But there was no one to teach martial arts to a penniless, connection-less black-haired barbarian.
A wandering barbarian. Hungry, broke, and with nowhere to sleep.
In the end, what could I do? I holed up in the mountains, eating roots and grass, and practiced nothing but the Murong Family's Vomiting Technique over and over.
I was supposed to live in nature. I was supposed to live in the blue mountains. What was I, a Taoist, practicing the Vomiting Technique while eating food untouched by 'fire energy'?
Thanks to that, my body became healthy and my physical abilities improved by leaps and bounds. I reached a level where I could easily handle beggar bastards or neighborhood thugs with just the Vomiting Technique.
But you see, guys with swords aren't thugs, are they?
"Hey, mister, where are you off to in such a hurry?"
An alley leading to the shantytown. Two warriors with swords at their waists blocked my path there.
I turned my head toward the direction I came from, and there, a guy who looked like part of the same gang was already blocking the way.
My bad feeling was never wrong.
"Oh my, what business do esteemed warriors like you have with someone like me?"
I immediately switched to a smiling expression and spoke to the warrior blocking my front.
"No. I heard there's a merchant around the marketplace lately. Said he dares to do business without paying tribute to the Azure Sand Faction, so I came to see what kind of face he has."
A lowlife bastard said with a nasty smile.
What Azure Sand Faction? I've only been in Chilgok County for over a month and a week. I've heard of the Changgeom Sect. I've never heard of you guys.
Just as Uncle Wang said, it must be a few lowlifes and thugs who know a bit of martial arts getting together to extort money.
"Oh my, is that so? I haven't been here long, so I didn't know the esteemed Azure Sand Faction members who manage this area. Had I known you were in charge, I would have come to pay my tribute in person."
This is the first time you're meeting me today, right? You won't start with the swords right away, will you?
"You should have known that beforehand. Now you've made us go through the trouble of coming all the way here."
"I'm truly sorry. Could I perhaps know how much the tribute is?"
I had the money I'd earned from a few days of merchant work in my pocket. Rather than having it all taken, it's better to just give a little and move on.
"Everything you have."
"Huh?"
"Everything you've earned so far, hand it all over."
Have you ever seen bastards like this?
"If you want tribute, wouldn't it be better for you to take it steadily? If you take it all at once like this, I won't be able to do business here anymore."
Pretending to negotiate one more time, I took a step back. I twisted my body slightly to check front and back. Two sword-wielding guys in front. One behind.
Common sense says it's better to run backward, but the distance to the guy behind is far. If I start running, he'll immediately draw his sword.
"You barbarian bastard, where do you get off talking back?! Shut up and hand over everything you have!!"
If they're guys who extort money from merchants like me, their level probably isn't that high. At best, they might be barely third-rate. Of course, I can't win 1 against 3 against guys with swords.
"It seems I was presumptuous. I will give you my money pouch here."
The two lowlifes in front were stuck close together. A position where they couldn't recklessly draw their swords. Drawing swords in a narrow alley would hurt each other.
Holding the money pouch in my left hand, I approached.
"Right, hand it over quickly."
Just as one of the guys standing in front tried to snatch my pouch,
"Barbarian Punch!!"
"Guhk!"
I firmly planted a punch with my weight behind it right on his chin. The Azure Sand Faction warrior's legs gave out as he started to collapse. I pushed the guy, who was losing his balance and falling, hard backward.
"This bastard!"
The warrior behind spat out a curse, but he also lost his balance due to the guy who was knocked out and pushed back.
An opening!
I immediately kicked off the alley wall and leaped over the two warriors. The eyes of the guy who was falling together widened at the sight. Surprised? My physical ability alone is at a 'beyond civilian' level.
Would guys like you just hand over all the money you earned over several days?
Without even looking back, I made a run for it.
"That bastard!! Get him!!"
"This bastard dared to hit my face?"
"Where did this bastard go!!!"
The escape chase turned into a protracted battle beyond my expectations. Come to think of it, while I'm at a 'beyond civilian' level, those guys are martial artists who have learned martial arts, aren't they?
The fact that they were lowlife bastards who knew the back alleys of the shantytown inside out was also a problem. I thought I hid well, but they found me better than I expected. If I hadn't learned the Vomiting Technique, I would have been caught immediately.
After several close calls, I finally got out of their sight, but this was dangerous.
"Huff, huff. Fuck."
My breath was caught in my throat. Shaking them off in the shantytown was impossible. Already, the sun had set and the surroundings were dark.
Would it be okay to go back to the marketplace? The door to Uncle Wang's fabric shop would be closed. Where should I go?
If I got caught, I'd be cleaned out, so I hurriedly moved my feet. If I hid among the marketplace crowd, they wouldn't dare to search recklessly, right?
As I emerged onto the path leading from the shantytown to the marketplace, there was a warrior wearing a conical bamboo hat.
Warrior Yun.
The warrior from the Changgeom Sect I saw at the fabric shop earlier. Isn't the Changgeom Sect a righteous faction? A person from the righteous faction that protects the marketplace.
That person would help me.
"Warrior Yun!"
When I called Warrior Yun with a voice that sounded like my breath was failing, Warrior Yun reacted.
"Huh? Aren't you the barbarian I saw at the fabric shop earlier? Where were you running off to in such a hurry?"
"Warrior Y, huff, huff."
Having run to Warrior Yun with all my remaining strength, I felt like my breath would give out.
"You look like you're about to pass out. Catch your breath."
There's no time for that. Taking one deep breath, I opened my mouth again.
"A group of lowlifes tried to extort my money."
"A group of lowlifes? Now that you mention it, I've heard lately that guys calling themselves the Azure Sand Faction occasionally extort money from traveling merchants."
"Yes. Over there, in the shantytown, a group of lowlifes was waiting to extort my money as I passed by."
I pointed with my finger toward the path I came from.
You're screwed now.
I don't know how strong he is, but he should be at a level where he can cut down a few third-rate warriors. If I take Warrior Yun there now, case closed.
"Hmm. Be careful from now on."
Saying that, Warrior Yun turned his gaze and looked in another direction.
"Huh?"
It wasn't the reaction I wanted. I thought he would naturally show hostility toward the lowlifes, but instead, his reaction was indifferent.
"Are you hard of hearing for a merchant? I said be careful from now on."
Annoyance seeped into Warrior Yun's voice.
"The lowlife bastards are chasing me right now to take my money! Please help me."
Perhaps he didn't understand? I directly asked for help.
"I cannot."
I was refused with an immediate answer. He didn't say he disliked it. He said he cannot. What on earth does this mean? If he's from a righteous faction, shouldn't he draw his sword for the oppressed?
"That bastard!!! He's over there!!!!"
The sound of the Azure Sand Faction finding me from afar reached my ears. If I run now, can I survive? I don't have any stamina left. The only way for me to survive is to ask Warrior Yun for help.
"Please save me. How can you do this?"
"It's not that I dislike you or have any personal grudge."
"Then, please save me."
"However, my sword belongs to our sect. If I sell my sword for free, who would pay for our sect's sword?"
"Isn't the reason a righteous faction draws its sword to uphold justice? If you don't draw your sword to execute justice, what difference is there from a ruffian's sword?"
"Hoh. As expected of a smooth-talking storyteller, have you been listening to folktales? But that statement is wrong."
"Huh?"
"We lend our swords when a proper price is paid. Because we wield swords yet do not swing them at the common people, we are called a righteous faction. We are different from the evil faction bastards who shamelessly swing their swords."
"Hurry up and catch that bastard!!"
The voice was getting closer.
"Then I will pay the money!!"
I became desperate.
"To whom the sect's sword is sold is also important. If I swing my sword for a mere barbarian's pittance, how could I uphold the sect's banner?"
"That is..."
Is this what the righteous factions of this world are like?
"We caught this bastard!! Oh, Warrior Yun. Are you perhaps acquainted with this little brother?"
In the end, I was grabbed by the shoulder by the approaching Azure Sand Faction bastards.
"I do not know him."
"Yes, well then, we have some business with this little brother. Hehe."
"I'd prefer it if the magistrate's office doesn't needlessly stir things up tomorrow."
"Of course. Hehe. We also know our limits."
"......"
If I look pitiful, wouldn't someone help?
Passersby threw glances at the commotion but soon ignored it and went on their way. Even Warrior Yun, whom I had asked for help, immediately moved his feet as I was dragged away.
"Come with us, you bastard!"
I resisted as much as I could, but I was just dragged along like a dog on a leash.
The place I live in is a martial arts world.
But here, there was no one who would draw their sword for an innocent barbarian.
"You bastard!! You dared to hit my face?"
"A barbarian, where do you think this is, crawling in here!!"
"Step on him!! This bastard!!"
I was hit, and hit again.
It was one-sided violence I couldn't resist. Even if they are treated as flies in the martial world, third-rate warriors, I'm just a bug being eaten by those flies.
The only resistance I could offer was to curl my body into a ball to protect my vital areas.
"This barbarian bastard carries quite a lot of money."
"Cough! Ptooey!"
Did they get tired from hitting me? Or did they get bored?
As if they had vented their anger, the Azure Sand Faction bastards spat on my face, took the money, and left.
Rain began to fall in the shantytown.
The dirt ground was getting wet from the rain, and the foul smell of shantytown sewage began to spread across the ground.
Rainwater started to get into my wounds too. The black sky was pouring down endless rain. I had to get up from the dirt ground. But I couldn't. It stings and hurts.
What a dogshit world.
Really, a dogshit world.
What on earth did I do wrong to come to this world and live receiving this kind of treatment? I was thoroughly beaten until my whole body ached.
But what hurt more than that was my heart.
Even when I starved, it wasn't this hard. Even when I was chased out of villages for being a barbarian, it didn't feel like this. Even when the money I earned was taken by thugs, it wasn't this sad.
But now, it's so painful and miserable.
"What on earth did I do wrong? Huh? Let's talk."
I asked the unanswering sky.
I gave the feedback they asked for, and then I got possessed by a guy with days left to live. I squeezed my brain and succeeded in surviving. I wandered the Central Plains for a year, treated as a barbarian.
Just when I thought I could finally live like a human, the money I earned through hardship was taken.
"It's not martial arts, it's not a dating sim. What kind of world is this? If you're listening, come out and talk to me."
Right, it's a dating sim for the protagonist. It might not be a dating sim world for someone like me. My original life was far from romance anyway. But you see.
You said it's martial arts.
What kind of righteous faction hands over an oppressed civilian to lowlifes? They lend their sword if you pay money? They're a righteous faction because it's legal? If there's no chivalry in martial arts, why on earth is it called martial arts?
Say something.
If you sent me to this world, you should be able to hear me.
"I lived hard. Since coming here, I tried harder than anyone to live!! But what is this? Huh? If you can hear me, talk to me!!!"
But the sky only poured down rain indifferently. If you can hear me, please say something. In the world of Mount Hua and the Sword Forest, where on earth is the chivalry?
From Liaodong Fortress to Hubei Province. I haven't seen a single person who drew their sword for an oppressed barbarian. Did I just not find them? Or do they not exist here?
"Status window!! Stat sheet!! System!!"
A world where inns sell carbonara and money is calculated in copper. This isn't a martial arts novel world.
"It's not a martial arts world anyway. It's a martial arts dating sim world. Just show me anything. Please......"
Why did I come here and receive no special privileges? Why do I have to live as a discriminated barbarian? I screamed toward the sky.
I couldn't control the flowing tears. But in the pouring heavy rain, my tears soon vanished without a trace. Just as no one would care if one barbarian died within the Central Plains.
"I want to end it. I want to go home."
Waking up cursing the morning alarm for work. A life where you get pushed around by work, pecked at by the section chief, scolded by the deputy, and before you know it, it's quitting time. A life where after work, you write and find comfort in readers' reactions.
I missed that life.
It felt like if I opened my eyes, I could return there.
But no matter how many times I closed and opened my eyes, I was in the martial arts dating sim world.
I am living as a barbarian who must forever wallow in this cesspool.
"If only I knew the ending conditions, at the very least."
If I knew how to clear this game-like world.
It wouldn't have been this miserable and despairing.
[Ending Conditions Unlocked]
"Huh?"
A green window appeared before my vision blurred by tears and rainwater.
[Minimum fame stat achieved. Ending conditions are now unlocked.]
"Huh????"
[Ending Condition: Romance the True Heroine.]
What is this.