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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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“How long are you going to keep this up?”
A jade-like voice flowed out as if she could gain a hundred million YouTube subscribers just by filming vlogs.
The masked woman was currently sweeping up the gazes of the Sacheon outcasts.
It was a natural situation, as she was a woman of rare beauty wherever she went.
If I hadn’t been the target of pressure right now, I might have also leisurely admired the masked woman’s beauty and expressed my admiration.
In fact, on the first and second days of the strike, more than one or two outcasts tried to talk to the masked woman.
But all of those outcasts were hit in the back of the head by Yu Sa-yeon and ran away.
Whether voluntarily or involuntarily, after sticking together for 5 days, the masked woman inevitably caught my eye, and her every gesture was so fatal that I flinched unknowingly more than once or twice.
If you ask if it’s a good situation, I have no choice but to answer that it is…
The problem is that my heart felt more eerie than that.
Even just looking at her angles so far, she’s a terrifyingly beautiful woman, so what the hell is she so obsessed with me for?
“What’s your reason for doing this?”
“Because I was recommended that there’s no better teacher than you.”
“There are many reasons why I’m rejecting you, miss.”
“First, because the inn owner acted like a jerk to me.”
“Second, because she pressured the intermediaries and made me eat shit.”
“Third, because your beauty is so outstanding that it’s burdensome to be with you.”
“Lastly, because you haven’t shown your face at all for 5 days while using the Black Shadow Qi Technique that assassins use.”
No matter how free-size the black hat is to cover even the faces of big heads, and even if this woman’s face is tiny, it doesn’t make sense that no facial feature is visible except for the jawline.
[Black Shadow Qi Technique] is a martial art that doubles the power of shadow-type martial arts when mastered or enhances stealth techniques.
Even just hearing the description, it’s not an upright martial art, and she’s been using it in front of people for 5 days?
She’s emitting suspiciousness with her entire body.
The problem is that this masked woman and Yu Sa-yeon don’t seem like they’ll ever give up.
I can’t keep doing this forever, either.
“Alright, let’s hear your purpose. What do you want?”
“I want to become the best among the Sacheon outcasts.”
“Then you should seek martial arts or spiritual medicines.”
“The strongest martial artist is not necessarily the best outcast.”
Somehow, I felt like the masked woman smiled.
“Since appearing in Sacheon 7 years ago, you have had a 93% success rate on requests. And you’re the only one still active with all limbs intact. Even looking through the short history of Sacheon outcasts, there’s no one like you, Hocheon An.”
“The word ‘best’ is given to those who are qualified. If not the best in martial arts, it’s impossible to become the best outcast.”
“That’s right. But the advancement of martial arts is not something that can be solved just by putting in effort. I’m always trying, but achievement is up to the heavens. Shouldn’t a person do what a person can do?”
I had plenty of time to think as I had been playing around for the past 5 days without doing anything.
From the 3rd day of the strike, I realized that this matter couldn’t be resolved with a strike.
Since neither Yu Sa-yeon nor the masked woman seemed willing to give up, I also had to devise a countermeasure.
The masked woman’s determination seemed extraordinary.
Judging from the masked woman’s operation of the Black Shadow Qi Technique and her presence, she was at least at the peak level or above.
From the general concept of a martial artist, it would be expected to immediately burst into anger if a mere second-rate warrior ignored their will and lounged around.
But she endured it for 5 days and still maintained a rational attitude.
I don’t know what makes being the top Sacheon outcast worth going this far.
If she accommodates me to this extent, there’s no reason not to become her comrade-in-arms.
If she follows my instructions, I can manage my fame value to some extent.
It means going back on what I said publicly, but among the outcasts of this inn, there’s probably no one who really thought I would win.
In the end, Yu Sa-yeon and I have a vertical superior-subordinate relationship.
Just as there can’t be an employee who beats the boss, my actions were just resistance from the beginning.
I roughly caused this commotion for about a week, so I hoped the outcasts would evaluate me as having lost but fought well.
I can’t avoid being a laughingstock for a while, but…
What can I do? This is the sorrow of the weak.
If I have no choice but to be the defeated weak, I’ll be the weak who walks around with a peerless beauty by my side.
At this point, isn’t it actually a win?
My little one tried to take over my brain, but I shook my head, the one on top of my body, and suppressed it.
“Hmm…”
I had already lived as Hocheon An for 8 years.
I reached the second-rate limit within a year of falling into Murim Cheonha.
For 2 years, I did everything I could with my capabilities to surpass that second-rate wall.
And I failed at everything.
So, I had been living quietly while training my gambling skills.
But after meeting Yeo Il-ye, this quietness ended.
I said I would die if my fame value became high compared to my realm, but it’s not like I would die immediately as soon as my fame value rose.
Shall I compare it to a game?
I don’t know when I will die either.
It might be a few days later, or I might be able to endure for ten or twenty years.
But if I were to choose a loading point where I would face a lousy ending or game over and have to start the game again, it would clearly be before meeting Yeo Il-ye.
I had just passed that point.
Hocheon An was mentioned and referred to somewhere, and some people knew of my existence.
The masked woman in front of my eyes and Yu Sa-yeon, who arranged this masked woman, were the same.
People who had expectations for me or revised their evaluation of me due to this incident, despite me being just one of the outcasts at the Outcast Inn, had appeared before me.
The masked woman probably appeared before me because she needed me or wanted to find out something.
Yu Sa-yeon would have also had some expectations or changed her perception of me due to this incident.
Such people would continue to appear in the future, and someday, I would get involved and be in danger because of such things.
And while overcoming those dangers, I would fail someday and face an ending I don’t want to recall.
If the snowball hadn’t been rolled, nothing would have happened, but now the snowball had left the mountain ridge.
Even if I put in effort to slow down the speed of the rolling snow, the snowball that had started rolling would someday become a size I can’t handle and crush me.
I had to fly higher than second-rate to avoid being crushed by that snowball.
So, I thought I would have to make a big move someday.
And isn’t now the time to make that big move?
Indeed, I couldn’t find a way to break through the second rate during the 2 years after becoming an outcast, even though I tried everything.
But the current situation is different from back then.
I also have Yeo Il-ye’s gratitude plaque, and the masked woman will be active with me for a while.
If things go wrong, I might be able to borrow Yu Sa-yeon’s power, too, right?
In a situation where my realm is second-rate, I don’t think there will be another opportunity to move masters of this caliber.
The problem, of course, is the price.
How much does the masked woman think the value of Hocheon An in serious mode is?
Can that masked woman pay a stake worthy of this once-in-a-lifetime gamble of Hocheon An?
“Alright. How do you plan to compensate me?”
“What do you want?”
“There are things I want, but why don’t you try guessing?”
A thirsty person digs a well.
Proposal?
That’s for a hungry person to do.
I have a price in mind, but first, I must receive a proposal.
“I will give you a Recall Pill.”
“Not enough.”
The masked woman fell silent.
Recall Pill.
There are many spiritual medicines in the martial world.
Still, if you survey the popularity of spiritual medicines sold by each faction, the top would probably be Wudang or Shaolin.
It’s not simply because Shaolin or Wudang made them.
Regardless of the faction’s reputation, Wudang and Shaolin have a very high level of alchemy techniques.
Above all, they can produce spiritual medicines closest to natural energy that do not discriminate against the characteristics of internal energy.
No matter how good a spiritual medicine is, it’s just a pie in the sky if I can’t consume it.
The Recall Pill and Taiji Pill, which are close to natural energy that anyone can consume, have a value beyond the efficacy of internal energy enhancement in terms of stability and versatility.
The most important spiritual medicines, like the Great Restoration Pill, are not sold outside, so the best spiritual medications that can be purchased with money are Shaolin’s Recall Pill or Wudang’s Taiji Pill.
In fact, even in the game, those two are about the highest-grade spiritual medicines that can be bought with currency.
You need contribution points for the respective faction to purchase spiritual medicines higher than the Recall Pill.
Simply, it means you have to become a benefactor of the faction.
Anyway, going back to the story of the Recall Pill, if you consume the Recall Pill, even a crippled second-rate could become a first-rate.
Yeah, except for me.
In my current state, even if I swallow the Great Restoration Pill by the dozen, I can’t become first-rate.
In my situation, it’s better to receive money than the Recall Pill.
“I don’t care about such things. There’s only one thing you have to pay as the request fee. My past.”
“…What do you mean?”
“My birth. My bloodline. Finding that out is my side of the bargain.”
My limit realm is fixed at second rate solely because of [Mixed Blood].
Final Realm -?
It should be at least 1, so I can rise to the first-rate level.
Mixed blood, the lowliness guaranteed by the heavens.
This is the biggest hurdle blocking me right now.
What the hell is this mixed blood?
I don’t think I know everything about this Murim Cheonha.
However, drastically reducing the final realm is still an absurd penalty.
It’s impossible that I haven’t heard of or seen such a characteristic, even though I’ve played this game for over 10 years.
This mixed-blood characteristic definitely has something to it.
I have to understand and break this characteristic.
However, I need to find out the past of this Hocheon An.
I just became the 15-year-old character named Hocheon An one day after being hit by a truck.
The masked woman remained silent.
From her perspective, she probably didn’t expect me to demand information either.
It also seemed like she was flustered, thinking, ‘How did he know I’m from an information organization?’ while staring at me.
But you know, while showing techniques like the Black Shadow Qi Technique that deal with darkness and revealing hidden information like the request status of Sacheon outcasts, if I let out this many clues, isn’t it normal to guess that she’s from an information organization?
The masked woman, whose eyes were perfectly hidden by the Black Shadow Qi Technique, pondered for quite a long time before nodding.
“I don’t know if I can find out or not… but I promise to do my best.”
“Alright, let’s consider it an agreement.”
For now, I nodded my head.
If that woman can’t learn about my past, the day I teach her everything will never come, so she’ll have to do well independently.
“Then. From now on, let’s speak comfortably. What should I call you from now on? You should at least let me know what to call you, right?”
“…Call me Myo (猫).”
“Yeah, no. From today, I’ll call you Black Cat. I won’t accept any complaints.”
“The sound of it is not very good…”
“Yeah that doesn’t matter much. Anyways, I’ll be in your care for a while.”
I held out my hand.
The custom of handshaking, which doesn’t exist in the Central Plains, made Black Cat stare at my hand for a while before grabbing it.
I became colleagues with a woman named Black Cat, about whom I knew nothing.
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Perfectly done