The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel-Chapter 247: Night Guest - 4

So she had noticed, after all.

Even with her sudden visit, Im Ha-yeon calmly sipped her tea as she looked at the man listening to her worries and thought:

“I was trying to buy my courtesan registry.”

Im Ha-yeon began to explain the reason behind her eccentric behavior in Yichang.

“Your registry?”

“There’s no way the Courtesan Division would help me. If I wanted to buy my registry, I had no choice but to take action myself.”

Though the Courtesan Division of the Wuchang branch controlled the Hao Clan’s courtesans in Hubei Province, to Im Ha-yeon, they were complete strangers.

In the Hao Clan, where “every person for themselves” was the principle, no one would go out of their way to help a runaway courtesan from Wusan.

It was practically inevitable that she would be officially branded a runaway courtesan.

“But the stories I heard about your ‘eccentric behavior’ were quite different.”

So why hadn’t she stolen anything? That was what he meant. Seeing Kang Yun-ho’s puzzled expression, Im Ha-yeon recalled the moment she first resolved to climb someone’s wall in Yichang.

The wages from Daseogak couldn’t buy her registry. Even if she continued to live as a courtesan, she would remain one until she died.

If she couldn’t buy her registry either as an employee of Daseogak or as a courtesan, then only one option remained.

That’s how she ended up scaling another person’s wall.

But—

“The moment I steal something, I become a thief. Saying I’d rather be a thief than a courtesan—isn’t that ridiculous?”

Im Ha-yeon responded bitterly.

The moment she picked up jewelry from an open safe, she would become a thief. Does it really make sense to become a thief because you don’t want to be a courtesan?

Until the moonlight, hidden behind clouds, shone down upon the guest who had crept in during the night—she had agonized over her choice. And in the end, she turned back.

She didn’t want to be a courtesan, but she didn’t want to become like that man either.

“You’ve been wandering the streets at night these past few days because of that dilemma?”

As Kang Yun-ho avoided directly using the words “theft” or “thief,” Im Ha-yeon sensed his consideration and continued speaking.

“I kept coming back empty-handed, but nothing changed. I thought—maybe this time I’d feel differently. So I wandered again. And sometimes, when I did that, the worries that had been weighing on me all day would disappear for a while.”

Pouring your whole mind into something can sometimes make you forget reality. For some, it’s work; for others, it’s alcohol or games. For her—it was thievery.

Of course, the moment she opened the safe, she had to face a new worry.

“No matter how stealthily I snuck in, in the end, I couldn’t bring myself to actually steal like a fool. Even though if I get dragged away now, I’ll have to live as a courtesan until I die.”

Im Ha-yeon gave a bitter laugh and lowered her head.

Selling smiles, songs, and dances—until the day her value dropped and she was forced to sell her body—she would have to work as a courtesan. And yet, Im Ha-yeon still didn’t want to accept that fate.

Kang Yun-ho cautiously opened his mouth as he looked at her bowed head.

“If you don’t want to be a courtesan or a thief—then how about running away?”

“All I’ve learned in life is thievery and how to be a courtesan. If I run away—what am I supposed to do?”

Im Ha-yeon’s voice suddenly rose, unable to hold back her frustration. It was something anyone could say without thinking. Something easily said by those who had never lived as a courtesan.

If she couldn’t use even the one skill she had, and if she had no connections—what would happen to a beautiful woman like her in the martial world?

“Still...”

There were no other options. Im Ha-yeon could feel that thought behind Kang Yun-ho’s pained expression.

“The moment I run away—I become a runaway courtesan forever.”

If she was dragged back this time, there was a chance, however slim, that she could clear her name. Even if not, perhaps there would be some leniency and she wouldn’t suffer too much.

But if she ran away now, she’d be a fugitive for life. The Hao Clan would chase her endlessly. She’d never be able to use her mother’s surname or the name he gave her again.

She didn’t want to throw away her registry just to become a permanent runaway.

Even if she escaped safely, the mark of “runaway courtesan” would remain etched in her chest forever, impossible to erase—only hidden.

“...”

Kang Yun-ho held back his words, now understanding her true intentions. He, too, had once lived like a beggar with no ties to anyone in the Central Plains.

And he knew well what often happened to beautiful, unconnected women in the martial world.

Kang Yun-ho waited patiently for her to continue, absorbing her anger with quiet empathy.

“You asked me once, didn’t you? If I’d ever starved.”

“I remember.”

“I didn’t become a courtesan apprentice because I wanted to. When my mother died, I was ten years old. What could a starving child do? Becoming a courtesan was my choice—but it was the only choice I had.”

A common story. Even now, somewhere in the Central Plains, a poor child is sold to a pleasure house. Another starving child finds her own way there.

“I understand. When I was starving, back when I ate grass roots just to survive—I felt like I could do anything, too.”

That brief bond between two people who had known hunger seemed to melt the cold air between them.

Im Ha-yeon nodded and went on.

“I didn’t hate life in the courtesan house. The older girls were kind. I never went hungry. But... I always lived in fear of that day arriving.”

“...”

“Then one day—I read Storm of the Tang Clan. And I started to dream.”

“What kind of dream?”

“To write a novel like Storm of the Tang Clan, by the writer I respect—Ho-pil—and buy my own registry.”

“...”

A woman who found her dream after reading his novel. Kang Yun-ho was struck speechless by the sudden weight of responsibility.

“I thought I had a talent for writing. Being a cheonggi isn’t only about singing and dancing. I thought—if I could write something like Ho-pil, I could buy my registry. But... the truth is, my writing wasn’t even good enough to win an encouragement award.”

Looking back now, she realized how foolish she had been. She smiled faintly and let her shoulders sag.

“It wasn’t a bad piece.”

“But it wasn’t a piece that could change my fate.”

“...”

“I didn’t want to live like my mother. I didn’t want to live like that man. But those are the only two paths I have.”

Im Ha-yeon’s voice trembled with an indescribable bitterness.

Selling smiles to others—or making them cry. She looked at her reflection in her teacup as if facing a mirror she didn’t want to see.

“If it comes to it, we can contact your sworn uncle—”

“Don’t even think about it.”

There was not only firmness, but outright anger in her voice.

“Still...”

“My mother was a runaway courtesan too. And she died a courtesan. Even after giving birth to the child of the Phantom Godfist.”

He could have saved her—could {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} have taken her name off the registry. But he didn’t. Feeling the rage radiating from Im Ha-yeon’s clenched jaw, Kang Yun-ho quietly nodded.

“If you need help—let’s find a way together.”

“You can’t help me.”

Im Ha-yeon shook her head slowly, as if giving up.

“I didn’t come to ask for help.”

She had no one else to confide in but him. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to say the words stuck at the top of her throat.

“I didn’t come looking for a solution. I just... thought, if I disappear one day, you should know why. And if possible—if I could just read Volume 4 of Storm of the Tang Clan before I’m caught... I wanted that.”

She simply stood up, pretending nothing was wrong.

All she wanted was someone to listen. No matter how many walls she climbed over, the heavy burden that never left her back felt like it would crush her forever.

Im Ha-yeon lowered her head with a look of apology.

“I’m sorry for bothering you at night. See you tomorrow. Or... I hope I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As she jumped out the window, her steps were clearly lighter than when she had arrived. But the weight bearing down on her shoulders still looked far too heavy for her to carry.

***********

“Gu-gu-gut!”

“Goo-goo, you rascal. Can’t you at least greet someone before your master sends them off?”

As soon as Im Ha-yeon left, I got up and gave a light scolding to Goo-goo, who was perched on my shoulder.

The open window through which Im Ha-yeon had disappeared let in a chill wind, as lonely as the person who’d just departed. I’d better secure the windows more carefully, Kang Yun-ho’s place needs proper sealing.

I closed the window and quietly sat on the bed.

“So this is Phantom Godfist: Origins, huh.”

A courtesan who sold smiles to others, and a thief who made others cry—this woman, who wanted to be neither, would one day become famous for being both.

It was hard to imagine just how much despair, sorrow, and conflict Im Ha-yeon must have faced along the way.

To her, this was an enormous crisis. But for me, ironically, it had just solved a massive problem.

I had my suspicions. And they were confirmed.

A strange grin formed on my lips as I murmured to the ceiling window:

“So Im Ha-yeon’s route condition is... money.”

I had been half in doubt. Was Im Ha-yeon really a heroine in a wuxia dating sim?

Sure, she was just as beautiful as the other heroines I’d encountered. But she didn’t have a cursed fate like Heavenly Killing Star or Poisoned One.

If the Fate-Reverser saves heroines from tragic destinies, wasn’t Im Ha-yeon lacking as a heroine?

But once she mentioned her courtesan registry, everything made sense.

The condition to clear a heroine’s route in a wuxia dating sim is always fame and money.

Im Ha-yeon was a heroine of the same type as Murong Sang-ah. The kind of heroine only obtainable with a sum of money so large that an ordinary player—or a non-Fate-Reverser—would never even think to pay it.

“If your master might turn out to be the true heroine, then you’ve got to help her, right?”

“Goo-goo!”

Does this bird really understand what I’m saying? Goo-goo flapped his wings in response.

If I want to save this heroine’s fate, I’ll have to buy her registry.

“The problem is... where the hell am I supposed to get that kind of money?”

Unlike fame points, money is a visible, quantifiable stat—but that makes it even harder.

I could barely scrape enough to buy a printing press, and I had to negotiate installment plans just to buy a bookstore—how could I ever afford that kind of sum?

Right now, it looks impossible.

I have to build up both wealth and fame to reach the true heroine. Meanwhile, Im Ha-yeon will return to Wuchang and continue her double life.

Should I just give up for now and think that I’ll go find her again when I’ve saved enough?

No. Just like with So-hee and Hwa-rin, there might be a time limit I don’t know about.

Even if I collect the required money and fame, if the time limit ends, her route might be locked forever.

And...

I briefly thought back to Im Ha-yeon, walking away with such sorrow in her eyes.

Even though she denied it, everything about her screamed that she was asking for help.

And yet I dared to call myself someone seeking the true heroine—how shameless would I be to ignore that?

If that’s the case, then there’s only one thing for me to do.

“I have to find a way.”

*********** 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

What a disgrace.

Im Ha-yeon walked toward the Hao Clan’s Yichang branch, thinking of news from Wuchang.

Why did I go to that man’s house like a fool?

That man couldn’t possibly solve her problem. Sure, he was the rising manager of a bookstore—but he couldn’t pay an outrageous fortune just for her.

Even if he listened to her worries, what would change? And yet, why had she gone to him?

She didn’t even understand her own heart.

She stopped in her tracks and turned to look toward Daseogak, visible in the distance.

—I read Storm of the Tang Clan one day.

No, in truth, she did know why she’d gone to his room.

There was something she hadn’t told him.

The real reason she fell for Storm of the Tang Clan was because of the story of Tang Jeong and Du Eung-hyang. The chivalrous swordsman and the top courtesan of Hubei. The swordsman who fell in love and bought her out of her registry with an immense fortune.

A dream every courtesan longed for.

Im Ha-yeon had been enchanted by that part of the story, too.

“But that only happens in novels.”

Though she didn’t want to admit it, maybe she had projected Tang Jeong onto him.

She’d made that assumption from the first time they met.

He always showed up at her worst moments, helped her without hesitation whenever she was in trouble—maybe she just couldn’t let go of that illusion.

Maybe she thought, If he’s Tang Jeong, he might save me.

Im Ha-yeon let out a faint scoff. Ridiculous. He wasn’t Tang Jeong.

He probably couldn’t even understand her.

Someone who once begged on the streets and now commanded people with a mere wave—he would see her as nothing but a pitiful woman, unable to run from or fight her fate.

Compared to that man, she was small, petty, foolish.

They were similar, but ultimately different. When he lived in Joseon, he had probably lived as an ordinary person.

He couldn’t possibly understand what it meant to be born of base status.

Forcing herself to shake off thoughts of Kang Yun-ho, Im Ha-yeon opened the door to the Hao Clan’s Yichang branch.

“You’re here. I already contacted the Wuchang branch to request more time.”

The branch chief greeted her with a sympathetic gaze.

“Thank you.”

“Cheer up. You never know how things will turn out! Ah—actually, I got my hands on some very interesting information. Want to hear it?”

Of course she couldn’t cheer up. But the branch chief knew that. That’s why he hoped maybe this tidbit of gossip would at least lift her mood.

“Interesting information?”

“It’s about Kang Yun-ho.”

“...What about that man?”

That alone was enough to break through her gloomy mood, if only for a moment.

The Yichang branch chief grinned, ready to share this top-secret scoop that could fetch a high price on the black market.

“Kang Yun-ho. Rumor has it... he’s the illegitimate son of the Tang Clan Leader and a Joseon courtesan.”