The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel-Chapter 266: Proposal - 1

“Ever since I started ordering delivery food, I just can’t bring myself to go out to eat anymore.”

“Same here. After a long day at work, who wants to go out again? It’s so much easier to just order in!”

The food delivery culture using spirit-trained homing pigeons had successfully taken root.

“New order! Three stir-fried pork, one squid-bulgogi combo!”

“One jjajangmyeon and one jjamppong!”

Ahn Sook-su had also bought his guesthouse with food service in mind—he’d purchased it at a relatively low price with exactly this business in mind.

Under normal circumstances, even if the guesthouse had reopened, he would’ve been forced to give up on the lodging aspect and run only a half-functioning establishment in the residential area. But once delivery food took off, the situation changed.

Of course, it wasn’t without trial and error.

“Some people are stealing the bowls when we leave them outside.”

“Switch to rough wooden bowls for delivery. Ask if someone’s home when you deliver and collect them. If that doesn’t work, demand they return them.”

“Boss, some of these order slips are unreadable.”

“That one always orders the same thing. From now on, make a separate sheet listing common regular orders and send it with the pigeon. If the handwriting’s bad, just have them mark the blank.”

“Yes, understood!”

With each round of trial and error, customers and revenue increased steadily day by day.

---------------

“I’m back. What’s going on with the Sam-gu brothers?”

Back in my third-floor office, Im Ha-yeon had returned from an outing and blinked in surprise at the unexpected visitors inside.

“Good day, sister-in-law!”

“S-Sister-in-law?! I’m not your sister-in-law! What were you all doing?”

“They brought some letters from Yichang. Il-gu, is everything going well at the port?”

I gestured to the sealed orders from the Seocheon Escort Bureau, then asked the brothers how things were.

“Thanks to you assigning us work through Seocheon Escort Bureau, more clients are trusting us with their goods!”

No need to shout like that. They were standing stiff like pillars.

“It’s all thanks to you, Chairman!”

“The Joseon workers at the port praise you every day!”

“Good to hear. Any unusual activity or notable trends lately?”

When doing business in a foreign city, information is everything. I asked with mild curiosity.

Il-gu and Sam-gu looked blank, unsure. But Choi Il-gu, clearly determined to make up for his younger brothers, frowned as if squeezing thoughts from his brain, then spoke.

“Well... if anything unusual happened... when we were unloading goods from the ship that arrived today from Yichang, a woman came out of a jar.”

“A woman came out of a jar?”

At the mention of a “jar woman,” I glanced at Im Ha-yeon, who was quietly listening beside me. The brothers followed my gaze and looked straight at her too.

“Why are you looking at me?!”

Just reminded me of the old days.

“A stowaway?”

I asked Il-gu.

“That’s what we thought at first—we figured we hit the jackpot. But then people from the Ten-Thousand Gold Merchant Guild came to apologize. They said she was a guest and had fallen asleep inside because it was comfortable.”

Il-gu added that while he had initially wondered if this was some kind of scam to avoid a smuggling fine, the Guild handed them a small sum to smooth things over.

“Haha. What a peculiar woman.”

Then again, I know a woman who slept in a jar quite well.

“Ugh... why are you still looking at meeeee...”

Im Ha-yeon replied with a barely audible groan, burying her head in embarrassment.

“Anything else to report?”

“No, sir! Thanks to you, everyone’s working happily, even though it’s tough out there!”

“Good. You may go.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Ha-yeon, how did your visit to the Hao Clan go?”

I waved the Sam-gu brothers off and turned to Ha-yeon, who still had her head lowered, asking whether her errand went well.

“They seemed surprised by your progress over at the Simun Division. Nothing from the Gimun Division yet.”

She’d said earlier the Gimun side would be too risky.

“So, the Simun Division hasn’t officially acknowledged us yet.”

Looks like I’ll need to expand the business further. I opened one of the many letters on my desk.

“Still, it’s impressive that they’re even watching. Can I read these?”

It’s considered rude to read someone else’s letters, even if they’re not private. I nodded and informed her of the latest news from Yichang.

“The Hao Clan has been poking around again. Seems like the Domun Division still doesn’t know you’re here.”

The letter said the Hao Clan had backed off after being disciplined by the Seocheon Escort Bureau, but came back later with a martial expert in tow.

Apparently, things nearly turned violent before they finally withdrew. If she had still been at the print shop, Im Ha-yeon might’ve been dragged off.

I chose not to mention that part—no need to make her more anxious.

“If the Simun Division is still keeping my location secret, that buys us more time.”

“If the business continues to thrive, we might resolve it this way.”

If the venture succeeded, the Simun Division might recognize me. And once that happened, they could mediate between the warring Domun and Gimun Divisions.

It seemed Ha-yeon had the same thought; her smile held a quiet flicker of hope.

“I really hope so. By the way, you sure have a lot of letters here. Do you have that many people to exchange correspondence with?”

She pointed at the mountain of letters on the desk. Perhaps the weight pressing on her heart had lightened a bit.

“Some are for me, yes—but not all.”

I sighed and rubbed my forehead.

I had asked for all letters addressed to me to be sent to Wuchang, but I didn’t expect them to send everything.

“Everything?”

“Some are for Author Ho-pil.”

No need to forward fanmail to Ho-pil.

“Why are you reading letters sent to Author Ho-pil?”

Im Ha-yeon squinted suspiciously at me. It wasn’t exactly a misunderstanding, but it could be taken that way. I had to word this carefully.

“In case someone like Jeon Gil-san sends another letter.”

“Ah...”

She remembered Jeon Gil-san had once tried to recruit Ho-pil and let out a small sigh.

“And not all the letters are kind.”

Most were fan mail, but occasionally venomous letters disguised as “advice” would come. Some complained that even the Tang Clan-approved fight scenes lacked historical accuracy.

“There are a lot of pink envelopes in that stack.”

Im Ha-yeon pointed to the pile of especially pink-colored letters.

“Those are all from a single devoted fan. She says she’s drawn Tang Jeong, imagined what the Poisoned Killing Zone would look like, and keeps sending letters with new interpretations of the story every time she re-reads it.”

“She must be a real die-hard.”

“The envelopes are just more noticeable, but other readers send letters frequently as well. Still, that’s something I can deal with once I return to Yichang, so I’ll tell them not to send any more here.”

It was encouraging to read them, but between the Ten-Thousand Gold Merchant Guild, Im Ha-yeon, and the Joseon Community Union, I didn’t have a moment to spare for leisurely fanmail.

“What are you going to do with the letters sent to Author Ho-pil?”

“I’ll send them back to Yichang and show them to Ho-pil later.”

It wasn’t that I disliked seeing readers’ reactions—I just didn’t have time right now.

While I was busily sorting letters addressed to Kang Yun-ho and Ho-pil, # Nоvеlight # Im Ha-yeon kept quietly watching me.

Does she have something to say?

She stood silently for a while, looking conflicted, but once our eyes met, she finally spoke up.

What is it?

“...Then, can I write a letter too?”

“To Author Ho-pil?”

Maybe she wanted to send one after hearing that Ho-pil reads his letters?

“B-But you can’t read it!”

Im Ha-yeon flushed slightly, like a girl telling someone not to read her diary.

“Hm...”

“Promise me!”

“All right. Store Manager Kang Yun-ho swears that only Author Ho-pil will read the letter.”

“Good! I’ll have it ready before the letters are sent back to Yichang!”

More energetic than she’d been even when talking about the Hao Clan, Ha-yeon practically burst out the door, clearly full of things to say to Ho-pil.

...I wonder what she’ll write.

I’ll have to read it.

-------

“Tell the owner of this guesthouse to come out!”

While I was reading one of the letters from Yichang, a ruckus broke out downstairs.

“What seems to be the issue...”

“You filthy barbarian, that’s none of your business!”

“Why are there so many barbarians in this place?!”

“Oho! And what’s a barbarian gonna do if he scowls?!”

What the hell is going on?

As I rose to check, a black-haired staff member burst in, face pale with urgency.

“Chairman! Some thug-looking guy is here demanding to see you. You’d better come out.”

“Let’s go.”

With a calm expression that didn’t match the panic around me, I stood up.

What now—some martial artist picking a fight?

In the martial world, guesthouses often saw scuffles for no reason. I had expanded the kitchen and reduced the number of tables, redesigning the guesthouse to focus on delivery instead.

Not that I’d completely abandoned food and lodging—I just reduced their importance. Maybe cutting down tables wasn’t enough to stop fights.

Staff are allowed to show nervousness. Owners can’t. If I look rattled, everyone else will panic. I kept my face cold, my feet hot, and moved quickly downstairs.

“I said bring out the guesthouse owner!”

Yup, martial artists. I could see swords from the second-floor stairwell.

“I’m the owner.”

I calmly walked past the flustered staff and approached the source of the noise.

Wait a second.

Why is he here?

“...What are you doing here?”

The instigator was someone I knew—or rather, a damn thug.

“Jeon Gil-san?”

----------

“Why is the guy who sold books in Yichang here?”

Jeon Gil-san of Manggeum Bookstore asked me with clenched teeth as he sat across from me in the office.

“Are you asking because you genuinely don’t know, or because you want to be a prick?”

Why do you think I’m here? You whined to your granddaddy after I wrecked you, and now I’m here. I didn’t bother hiding my irritation.

“Oh? Don’t tell me... You said your grandfather took Daseogak from you, right?”

“Interesting how you talk like it’s none of your business.”

I lost my livelihood. To this bastard, it was already water under the bridge.

“Heh... If a lowly beast bites a tiger, it had better be ready to die.”

“What? Beast?! Did you really just say that?!”

Im Ha-yeon, who had been silently listening, suddenly exploded.

“Ha-yeon.”

I might beat him.

Actually, I really wanted to. But if I did, who knows how the Guild Leader would react.

What do I do?

I gently grabbed the end of Ha-yeon’s sleeve to at least pretend I was trying to stop her.

“Let go. He should’ve been grateful we let him crawl back to Wuchang. Let’s break his arms and legs first and then hear him out!”

Such an appealing suggestion.

“Do you know who you’re talking to?! How dare a woman—urk!”

Are these bastards seriously drawing swords inside my place?

Before the escort even fully unsheathed his weapon, Im Ha-yeon had already closed the distance.

A Gold-toxin flow technique? She slammed the escort into the wall barehanded.

“The rude ones are you! Do you have any idea who we’re struggling because of?!”

Maybe it happened too fast, but the two remaining guards just stood there in stunned silence.

“You bitch—!”

A fight?

Count me in.

I was ready to leap in. But if you start swinging swords here, the Joseon community is going to come flooding in. You sure you’re ready for that?

Jeon Gil-san, seeming to understand the situation, raised a hand to stop them.

“I see what’s going on now! Kang Yun-ho, so you lost Daseogak and fled to Wuchang... then used your remaining funds to start a business here!”

Even amidst the chaos, this thug still found time to smirk at me.

“Spit it out or get out—before we break something.”

I wasn’t planning on hearing him out.

“Well then. This’ll make things simple.”

Had this bastard already finished the intro, body, and conclusion of whatever pitch he came to make? Why was he smiling like he’d already won?

“Though honestly... I think your bones will snap before you finish.”

I activated Soyoon Mental Resonance Technique. I couldn’t radiate the presence of a master, but I could create an ominous enough atmosphere.

“Tch. Fine. I have a proposal that could benefit both of us!”

Jeon Gil-san clicked his tongue, then called out to me in a tone that had lost some of its confidence.

“A proposal? What kind of proposal?”

He clearly didn’t even realize I was the guesthouse owner.

What could he have come to offer? And why make a scene at the door?

If he said something ridiculous, I was ready to beat him up twice—once for taking Daseogak and once for bothering Ho-pil.

“I’ll get straight to the point. That business you’re running—hand it over to me.”