The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel-Chapter 186: Poisoned One - 7

"Hwa-rin, are you okay?"

I pushed aside my surprise at her sudden appearance and asked how she was while scanning her up and down.

Was she really okay?

Contrary to my worries, Hwa-rin looked perfectly fine. Just like before we parted ways, her skin was clear, and she didn’t seem sick at all.

"Yeah! I’ll be waiting outside. Get ready and come out."

She answered cheerfully and left the room.

"What’s going on."

This is reality, yet it feels like a dream. If I hadn’t felt the cold of winter air from the window she opened, I might’ve actually believed I was dreaming.

Just yesterday, even visitation wasn’t allowed—what the hell is going on?

I was dazed. It felt like one of those scenes where a beautiful woman appears from nowhere in the middle of a gunfight, opens the door to a convertible, and tells you to get in if you want to live.

Could it be someone else disguised as Hwa-rin?

"Yun-ho!"

As I stood there dumbfounded, Hwa-rin opened the door and poked her head in to call me.

"Huh?"

"We’re going out, okay? So don’t dress like usual! Look sharp!"

Judging by how she knows I usually dress like a slob, it really must be Hwa-rin.

"You got that?"

With her asking again, all I could do was nod.

----------

"She’ll be fine."

"......Yes."

By the time I’d finished getting dressed with the attendants’ help and stepped out, I saw the Pavilion Head speaking with Hwa-rin in the distance.

He had said he’d make it happen—letting me see her. Did he really pull some strings? I should thank him at least.

"Take this."

"Yes."

"I’ve said this several times already, but..."

"Medicine? Hwa-rin! Are you sick? You’re not fully healed yet?"

As I got closer, I saw her take a round pill from the Pavilion Head and swallow it. Was she still unwell? I asked with a worried expression.

"N-No, that’s not it."

Hwa-rin, why are you averting your gaze a little? That look says you’re hiding something.

"Not it, huh? You can’t even give me a straight answer."

"She only just woke up. Her body still hasn’t fully recovered. It’s just medicine to help with that, so don’t worry too much."

As I tried to press her for answers, the Pavilion Head stepped in to reassure me, his tone calm and soothing.

"Hwa-rin, then maybe we should rest a bit more before going out? It doesn’t have to be today, does it?"

Hwa-rin had been unconscious for days, then ingested the Poison Pellet of the Face-Stealing Lord the day she woke up. She did become a Poisoned One and survive, but she’d spent the days following it bedridden.

Even patients built like solid muscle waste away if they stay in the hospital for too long. There’s no way she, martial artist or not, is back to peak condition already.

"No!"

"What’s wrong?"

Whoa—Hwa-rin suddenly shouted with a look of panic on her face.

"I—I want to go out. Right now."

Her eyes trembled as she looked at me.

"She’s taken the medicine, so she’ll be fine. I guarantee it."

If the Pavilion Head says so, then maybe she really is okay.

"Then let’s go."

"Mm!"

At the mention of going out, her whole face lit up.

"The carriage and driver are ready. You may depart anytime."

The Pavilion Head pointed at the luxurious carriage waiting for us. Wasn’t this way too fancy to be borrowed just for a little outing? Even from the outside, it looked ridiculously expensive.

I carefully opened the carriage door—and the inside was just as luxurious. Hwa-rin’s definitely going to be surprised.

"Return before nightfall."

When I looked back, the Pavilion Head was giving strict orders to Hwa-rin, like a father forbidding his daughter from staying out too late.

The carriage wasn’t Cinderella’s pumpkin coach or anything. We were coming back together anyway—was there really a need for such warnings? Besides, I heard from my friends that if you’re trying to “make history,” it doesn’t necessarily have to be at night.

"......Okay."

With a resolute face, Hwa-rin nodded at me and climbed aboard.

----------

I felt uneasy.

Hwa-rin didn’t look sick. From the way she carried herself, she seemed fully recovered. Her complexion was flawless. But something still tugged at my mind.

There’d been a flicker of concern in the Pavilion Head’s eyes when he sent us off, and Hwa-rin had shown a hint of evasiveness earlier.

Was I just being overly sensitive?

"Yun-ho. Are you just gonna keep staring at me with that sour face?"

Maybe she’d noticed I’d been quietly watching her in the carriage. She sounded a bit hurt.

"Hwa-rin. It’s just..."

"And if you’re staring at me like that, shouldn’t you be saying something?"

"Hwa-rin, I’m glad you’re safe and—"

"Something else!"

Okay, maybe not the touching reunion speech she was expecting.

She looked into my eyes, clearly hoping to hear something. What exactly was she waiting for?

When I hesitated, she tilted her chin slightly in a gesture of mild frustration. Ah.

"Your face looks clear. Really, congratulations, Hwa-rin."

"Close, but wrong!"

This time, she showed off the outfit she was wearing like she was on a runway.

Even if I had no sense for these things, by now even I could tell what she wanted to hear.

"You look beautiful today, Hwa-rin."

"Hmm? What did you say?"

A flower bloomed on her face. That was the right answer.

Even though she’d clearly heard me, she grinned and asked me to say it again.

"You’re beautiful, Hwa-rin."

"Again. Again. Say it again."

Why are you like this? You're going to make me blush.

"Your beauty rivals that of Xi Shi, Wang Zhaojun, Diaochan, and Yang Guifei. So in Storm of the Tang Clan, when they mention the Most Beautiful Woman in Sichuan, they were clearly talking about Lady Tang Hwa-rin."

I performed it like a storyteller onstage professing his love—dramatic and playful.

"Pfft! You’re crazy! Really!"

Apparently delighted, she kept elbowing me in the ribs.

"Ack!"

Still hurts, even if it’s playful. Hwa-rin...

"We’ve arrived."

The coachman, clearly a pro, didn’t care what we were up to. In a mechanical voice, he informed us we’d reached the marketplace Hwa-rin had wanted to visit.

"Heh. I grant Young Lord Kang the honor of accompanying the Most Beautiful Woman in Sichuan."

Hwa-rin, now playing the part completely, extended her hand to me in a noble tone.

"It’s an honor."

Gotta go along with these things.

"Are they from the Tang Clan?"

"What’s the Tang Clan doing at the market?"

Like a limo pulling up in the middle of a street market, our fancy carriage had drawn attention. As I opened the door and took Hwa-rin’s hand, murmurs spread through the crowd.

"Y-Yun-ho."

Her voice trembled. When I looked at her, her face was frozen stiff with anxiety.

"Yeah?"

"This is... the first time I’ve gone out without a veil. So you have to lead me well, okay? Promise?"

Even with her face restored, she kept her head bowed as she stepped out. Her hand, tightly clutching mine, trembled uncontrollably.

And here I was, worrying about the wrong thing.

The moment her body recovered, Hwa-rin ran straight to me. Right now, instead of worrying, I should be enjoying time with the now-healthy Hwa-rin.

My anxieties are for the future. The fear she feels right now is something I need to protect her from.

To reassure her, I tightened my grip on her hand and said,

"Just trust me."

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

----------

“All of a sudden, it just feels like everyone’s staring at me. I’m anxious... What if I haven’t really gotten better?”

Although Hwa-rin’s anxiety eased a little once she linked arms with me, she still kept glancing around nervously.

Hwa-rin. You're not imagining things. People really are looking at you.

Her skin had cleared up so flawlessly that now, any man who walked past her would do a double take and risk full cognitive shutdown. And even if he recovered from the temporary stun, the moment his gaze dropped a bit lower, the paralysis would hit his lower half instead.

Hwa-rin was basically walking around as a mobile red light.

I tried to reassure her by saying it was just because she looked pretty, but whenever someone got too close, she clutched my arm even tighter.

Of course, the tighter she held on, the more... contact there was with a certain area. Not that I minded if she wanted to keep being anxious.

“Let’s go to the acrobat troupe first. People will be too busy watching the performance to pay attention to you.”

“Mmhmm.”

Conveniently, a traveling circus troupe had set up in the marketplace.

“How can a human arm stretch that far?”

“An elephant! Is it from Tianzhu?”

“That must be Tianzhu martial arts! Yoga Fire!”

Damn, that was impressive. Sure, this world has martial arts, so acrobatic feats are easier here than in ours, but the troupe’s performance was cool enough to leave both Hwa-rin and me with our mouths hanging open.

It’s like how even if two people train in the same martial art, a fighter who enters mixed martial arts tournaments and a performer aiming to entertain audiences will develop in totally different directions. The troupe was clearly focused on bringing joy to the crowd.

“Wasn’t that fun?”

Once the show ended, we found a street food stall and started chatting while placing our orders.

“Yeah! But the storyteller wasn’t as good as Yun-ho. Hehe.”

Hwa-rin, clearly in high spirits, seemed to have completely shaken off her anxiety and replied to me with a bright face.

“Of course I’m the best storyteller.”

If the storyteller Kang Yun-ho joined the acrobat troupe and started spinning tales, I’d instantly become their star act. But I’m a kind-hearted writer, Ho-pil, and I don’t want to contribute to the rising unemployment rate in the performing arts.

“You’re right. I don’t think anyone can beat your performance-donation technique.”

“So that’s what impressed you.”

“Hehe. Were you disappointed? Your [N O V E L I G H T] storytelling’s better too, Yun-ho.”

“No, not disappointed or anything. But... was it really okay to give them that much money?”

When the show ended, Hwa-rin had casually pulled out a sum that even surprised me and tossed it toward the troupe. It was enough that the entire group stopped what they were doing and bowed in thanks.

Instead of replying right away, she looked at me for a moment, then gave a small smile and said,

“We only made it to Yichang by working as storytellers. That’s why we’re able to stand here now. We’ve received help—so we can’t just keep taking without giving.”

Tch. She’s blinding.

Some people might look at Hwa-rin’s now-beautiful face and instinctively avert their eyes, but the truth is, she’s the kind of girl who would never steal a coin from anyone. She lives to give.

“Here are your red bean and custard bungeoppang. Since you waited so long, we’ve thrown in two extra ones that got a little burnt.”

“Thank you.”

I was about to snap at the guy behind me for being too loud, but since they gave us extras, I let it slide.

We sat down where there was no foot traffic and started eating our bungeoppang. Delicious. Nothing hits like red bean buns in the dead of winter. Wonder if Hwa-rin likes them?

When I glanced over at her, she was nibbling carefully with a slightly shy expression.

“Why are you nibbling like a dainty lady? Don’t like it?”

“Hey!”

“You must be hungry. Eat up.”

After a nod, Hwa-rin dropped the act and devoured both the custard and red bean ones in one go.

Looks like she really liked the winter soul food of Korea. Though I didn’t expect her to eat my share too.

“Yun-ho... I always wanted to try something like this.”

Once she checked that the paper bag was empty, she spoke to me quietly.

“You’ve never had bungeoppang before?”

Don’t tell me this counts as Sichuan cuisine in this world...

“No. I just always wanted to try regular street food.”

“Ah.”

For someone like Hwa-rin, who’d spent her life behind a veil, street food must’ve been an intimidating venture.

“Even if I wanted to eat it, I’d have to send someone to get it, and by the time it arrived, it’d be cold. Kids my age laugh and chatter as they eat and wander the market together. But I... I never got to experience any of that.”

Why’s she getting all sad again?

“From now on, let’s eat together often.”

I grabbed her hand and tried to reassure her.

“......”

Hwa-rin looked at me silently.

“Hwa-rin?”

What’s wrong now?

“Forget it! I’ll get fat!”

She slapped my hand away playfully, laughing as she spoke.

Seriously. How am I supposed to keep up with her mood swings?

----

To make up for everything she’d missed out on, I ended up buying every kind of street food that caught her eye. Afterward, she led me into a shop that sold writing supplies.

“What are you even buying this stuff for?”

“You need good tools if you want them to last. It’d be disgraceful if the top author in Yichang used cheap supplies, wouldn’t it?”

“I just need to write. And we could always buy this stuff once we get to Yichang.”

“...But I want to buy it for you now. Shopkeeper. Please bring out your best items.”

“Oh-ho! You must be Lady Hwa-rin. I was informed someone from the Sichuan Tang Clan would be visiting. I’ll bring out the same fine goods used by the Clan Head himself.”

“Hwa-rin, that’s way too fancy just at a glance...”

What the shopkeeper pulled out was so flashy that even a beginner could tell they were top-tier luxury items. This girl... It’s not the time to be loosening our belts—we should be tightening them.

I completely forgot that Hwa-rin was a pampered heiress from one of the wealthiest families in Daeheung County. Hwa-rin, believe me, I get the appeal of Sha, Lu, and Gu-brand luxury pens.

But we’re deep in debt thanks to Daseogak, and the store is shut down, meaning we have no income. We’re not just business partners anymore—we’re on track to become life partners, so I should really say something.

Just as I opened my mouth to protest, Hwa-rin covered it with her hand and calmly revealed the most important detail.

“All the money I’m spending today is being covered by the Sichuan Tang Clan.”

“Shopkeeper!”

“Yes?”

“Forget this ordinary stuff. Don’t you have anything better?”

You know, something like a priceless heirloom passed down from a master craftsman’s grandfather’s grandfather.

Bring out your most expensive piece!