Chapter 41
Translator: uly
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: The Scheme of the Black-Haired Schemer - 5
This wasn't part of the plan.
Insert myself into the blank spaces of The Heavenly Killing Star's memories. It doesn't need to be too specific. Make The Heavenly Killing Star accept the setting that I was from that village. Share a few fake memories that we could both recall.
If she has no intention of killing me, it will end there. She wouldn't easily kill someone she knows. But what if she still suspects?
Touch upon precious memories. Prevent her from being fully confident in her own memories, and wedge myself into those recollections. In the end, she'll have to acknowledge it.
The plan succeeded. But it also failed spectacularly.
"So-hee. Should I get you a room?"
After the series of events concluded, we prepared to get some sleep.
I spoke to The Heavenly Killing Star while tidying up the bedding. The room I had was a single. It was a bit expensive, but I had deliberately booked a single room to save my life.
Being a single room, it only had a single bed, so two people couldn't sleep in it. This was a chance to chase The Heavenly Killing Star out and buy some time to think.
"No need. I'll stay here."
Having sorted through a series of emotions, The Heavenly Killing Star sat in a corner of the room, hugging her knees and staring at me.
"A man and a woman in the same room could cause misunderstandings. I'll go downstairs and get another room..."
"I said it's not necessary."
"Alright. If you say so."
Why does it feel like there's murderous intent in her words? A chill just ran down my spine.
What should I do about this?
I wasn't naive enough to think all problems would be solved in one night. I had prepared a few more schemes.
If I use them, I could avoid The Heavenly Killing Star's suspicions for a while. But the plans I've made now are designed for short-term engagements.
What if, after using all available schemes, The Heavenly Killing Star still remains by my side?
Once I've thrown all my schemes, next I'll have to throw my own neck.
As I finished tidying the bedding, a chill ran down the back of my neck. Turning my head, I saw The Heavenly Killing Star glaring at me.
Don't be nervous. Kang Yun-ho.
I'm The Heavenly Killing Star's childhood friend's older brother. If I get nervous, she'll be suspicious. No matter what The Heavenly Killing Star does in front of me, I have to act like an adult.
"So-hee. Sleeping on the floor there is bad for your health. Sleep here on the bed."
"It's fine. I'm used to sleeping on the floor."
The Heavenly Killing Star retorted in a sullen tone.
"Sigh. Honestly. Why is our So-hee, who used to be so sweet to her brother, acting so prickly?"
If you're from a Confucian country, show some respect. Just because we're childhood friends, do you think we're really peers? I'm three years older than you. Don't you know basic manners? Don't they teach etiquette in the Demonic Cult?
"I'm always like this."
"Right. You must have absorbed too much of the Central Plains' ways."
Yeah. In the martial world, the strong one is the older brother or sister. My mistake. The martial world is truly ruining society.
Even if my attitude might seem cocky to The Heavenly Killing Star, I need to consistently play the role of the 'older brother' with this natural attitude.
I slowly approached Cheon So-hee.
"What?"
Cheon So-hee looked up at me, still sitting with her knees hugged on the floor.
"Here's a blanket. The nights in Chilgok County are chilly these days. Even if you're used to sleeping on the floor, you should cover yourself with a blanket, right?"
I held out the blanket to Cheon So-hee with a kind face.
"..."
Cheon So-hee continued to stare at me without taking the blanket.
What? Never seen a sweet older brother before? I'm doing this to survive.
Every moment, the weights of 'swindler' and 'older brother' in The Heavenly Killing Star's mind will keep shifting. To add weight to the 'older brother' side, it's best to keep acting like this.
"Your hand feels heavy."
Just take it. She may be suspicious, but I'm still her childhood friend's older brother. If she rejects even this level of goodwill, the road ahead will be truly rough. Seriously.
"...Give it."
Cheon So-hee took the blanket and draped it over herself. Is she planning to sleep just sitting there? Is that even possible for an assassin?
"Good. Cover yourself warmly and sleep."
I handed over the blanket and turned back to lie down on the bed.
I want to turn comfortably and face the wall. But doing that would mean I'm uncomfortable with The Heavenly Killing Star's presence.
I deliberately lay down facing The Heavenly Killing Star and tried to make eye contact.
Suspicion. Bewilderment. Doubt. The Heavenly Killing Star's gaze was a mix of many things. To think I have to keep this up... As long as that gaze doesn't change to trust, this situation will persist.
"So-hee."
"What."
"Nothing. I just called because it feels amazing having So-hee in front of me."
I smiled with a kind face, crinkling my eyes. You can't curse at a smiling face, right?
"..."
The Heavenly Killing Star's eyes, mixed with suspicion and doubt, changed to a look of bewilderment. She didn't tell me to shut up or stop talking like before.
"So-hee, I'll turn off the light now."
Even if I die tomorrow, I need to sleep.
"Wait."
"Huh?"
"The name So-hee... Don't call me that in front of others."
A cautious tone seeped into her words. That's fine with me. It's the only name she and I share. Sharing secrets strengthens a relationship.
"Then what should I call you?"
"Call me Okbun."
How is 'Okbun' a name for a martial arts dating sim heroine? It's a rare name even among grandmothers these days. Is it a real Joseon-era name?
"Alright. Okbun. Let's sleep now."
I calmly turned off the light in the room.
Thank goodness.
She trusts me, even if just a little.
She rejects goodwill, but not completely. She wants to share secrets only between us. Asking me to call her by her alias is also a good sign.
Right now, The Heavenly Killing Star is like a hedgehog. Always ready to prick others, but if I carefully reach out my hand, she lowers her quills.
To avoid dying, I need to make her lower her quills even when I just try to reach out.
The road ahead is long.
If I don't want to give up from the start, I should sleep for now.
"Customer! Are you two coming out of the same room now!"
The next day. The inn boy, The waiter, who seemed to be entering puberty, caught us leaving the room together. He looked at the two of us with a shocked expression.
Shocking!
The Heavenly Killing Star. Coming out of a room with a man in the morning.
Confirmed that her clothes were unchanged from the day before. Even for a villain character, the dignity of a martial arts dating sim female character has hit rock bottom. Where is our society headed?
He had a face that looked like he would report this as news.
"Ah! Is it not allowed for two people to sleep in a single room?"
Quickly, tell me two people can't sleep together. Send her to another room.
"No. You have to pay double the fee!"
Is that it? I was happy thinking I could chase her out right away, but what a pity.
"The room is the same, it doesn't get bigger just because there are more people, so how can the fee be double?"
"This town charges per person."
"I've never heard of such a thing."
What is this, a pension? Charging per person.
It reminded me of the time I fought with a pension owner because friends who joined late were told to pay after we went to a pension with friends.
If more people come to the same room and sleep cramped, they should at least change the room or just ask for more money. And then they say it's the principle because they only do business for one season. Honestly.
"Of course I didn't mention it because you came alone. When on earth did the person next to you arrive?"
"She came at night."
She picked the lock and came in.
"That's strange. I closed the inn door yesterday, but I don't remember seeing such a person."
The waiter looked at Cheon So-hee with a puzzled face. Should I say she was wearing a straw hat yesterday so he couldn't see her properly?
Following The waiter's gaze, I looked at Cheon So-hee and saw she had a different face than when we left the room.
Not a man's face, nor Cheon So-hee's original face.
Is that the face Okbun usually uses when moving around?
Well, if she wandered around with Cheon So-hee's face and figure, even in modern times, men trying to get her number would cling to her as soon as she stepped outside.
On the other hand, Okbun's face is that of a completely ordinary Joseon woman. The kind of face you'd see in a high school graduation album and think, 'Strange, why is the girl who took a picture in Class 1 also in the Class 2 photo?'
With a face like this, I can make up a plausible story.
"She's a close younger sister from my hometown who came all this way dressed as a man to find me. Do you remember a man wearing a straw hat yesterday?"
"Ah! That incredibly suspicious person?"
The waiter made an expression of realization.
"Yes. She said it's dangerous for a woman to wander alone, so she moved around like that."
"Aha. That makes sense. Understood. Let me calculate the fee first. Just pay the same amount as yesterday."
The waiter stretched out two fingers, urging me to pay double.
These daylight robbers. Trying to charge for two people in a single room.
"No. If there are two people, give us a double room. Isn't it too much to ask for double the fee for a single room?"
"Our inn doesn't have double rooms, only singles or quadruples. Do you need a quadruple room?"
The waiter changed the two fingers he had extended in front of me to four. Pay quadruple? That's too much for someone who used to sleep in a shack.
I glanced subtly at Cheon So-hee.
Do you have money? Just pay triple.
"I don't have money."
With those words, Cheon So-hee looked away. Tsk. Avoiding eye contact.
I wanted to immediately search The Heavenly Killing Star's pockets and shout 'one slap per coin that comes out,' but since I'm the weaker one, I decided to endure.
"Just take double for the single room."
I took money from my pocket and gave it to The waiter. The single room fee was already expensive, and now I'm paying double.
"Yes. Received. And could you lend me your ear for a moment?"
The waiter politely took the money and gestured to me. I bent over and put my ear near The waiter's mouth. The waiter glanced at Cheon So-hee for a moment and then whispered to me.
"Our inn rooms are well soundproofed, so you don't have to be cautious at night."
Ah. So that's what you wanted to say.
"Come down if you need anything~"
The waiter winked at me once and went downstairs.
Could it be that the quadruple room being quadruple the price wasn't about the room, but just him giving us consideration to stay together in a single?
When a man says, 'They said only one room is left,' and the woman says, 'Mister, is there really only one room left?' 'Yes, really only one,' everyone knows all three are lying, but they accept it and go into the room anyway.
Was he setting up that situation for us? Well, if you sleep together, a single bed becomes a double.
But, I don't need that kind of consideration!
"What did he mean we don't have to be cautious at night?"
Cheon So-hee asked me in a curious tone, as if she had heard the whisper.
"Not sure. Seems like he misunderstood something. Let's go eat."
We are not in a relationship where we sleep doing 'this and that' at night. Rather, we are in a relationship where we sleep praying the bed won't be stained with blood the next night.
I gestured to Cheon So-hee and we went down to the first floor of the inn.
The inn was completely empty of customers eating during the late morning.
Why is it so dead? Is it an inn that only gets busy in the evening for drinking?
The Heavenly Killing Star and I sat in a corner of the inn that was least noticeable and where conversation wouldn't be easily overheard.
As we sat at an inn table, The waiter, who had given us that unnecessary consideration earlier, approached.
"What would you like to order?"
The waiter asked me with a beaming face.
"Okbun, is there anything you want to eat separately?"
"Anything."
An.y.thing.
Wow. Hearing this from The Heavenly Killing Star.
It must perfectly match The Heavenly Killing Star's taste and preferences, of course, and not overlap with the menus she's eaten over the past week. It must be low in calories to maintain her figure, and a food that doesn't ruin the atmosphere while eating.
That is precisely 'anything.'
If it's a place where you can also take shots for SNS, that's the icing on the cake. If I order a steaming hot soup rice here? I'll be found as a corpse in the room the very next day.
Phew, you think I've watched a lot of dramas so I understand that phrase. Be more direct from now on.
Anyway, this is a trap of resonance.
Let my brain spin rapidly.
One of the schemes I originally planned to use. Let's use it.
"The waiter, can you tell me what foods are available here at the inn?"
It's not like the inn has a menu board, so I have to ask The waiter to recite the menu.
"Huh? I haven't been working here long, so I'll just give you the menu."
The waiter brought a menu from somewhere and handed it to me.
There really is a menu board in the martial world. And they don't even call it a 'bill of fare,' just a menu board.
Ha. Right. Let's think.
"Can you get this now?"
I pointed to one food item on the menu with my finger and showed it to The waiter.
"Of course. The price is a bit high, is that okay?"
Perhaps because I was wearing old clothes, not the new ones I received from the Gap-su Merchant Group, The waiter looked over my appearance and asked again.
"It's fine."
Asking for a discount here would be tacky. To score points, you shouldn't be too stingy. With a trembling hand, I handed over the money The waiter mentioned.
What a waste. Too much of a waste!
With that, I could have eaten several bowls of top-quality hangover soup with plenty of meat and thick broth.
"Please wait a moment, I'll bring it right out."
"What did you order?"
"Something I thought Okbun would like."
I replied with a smile.
If you said 'anything,' then don't even ask. So 'anything' was a fake after all.
Cheon So-hee, a master of push-and-pull like me won't fall for such fakes.
It's fortunate I'm someone who has reached the 5-Star realm of push-and-pull. An ordinary person would have been fooled.
I've never accurately measured my own realm, but since I've never done the pulling and only experienced being pushed away, but have fully experienced half of it, let's say it's about 5 Stars.
Looking at The Heavenly Killing Star, I saw a slightly curious look on her face.
I had predicted to some extent that The Heavenly Killing Star might not leave immediately at night.
A situation where, having met after a long time, we end up eating a meal together. Or a method for when Cheon So-hee continues to suspect me and doesn't leave the next day.
A scheme prepared for that time. Another way to make her believe I'm her older brother.
It's time to execute it.