Chapter Index

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    “Are you here, disciple?”

    “I went there. Teacher.”

    Tang Xiaoyeol’s eyes wandered to the lamas behind me. There was tension on the lamas’ faces.

    The levels of the lamas are as follows: one of the highest level, one of the highest level, and one whose level I cannot understand.

    It wasn’t that he couldn’t handle two peak masters, but he must have judged the situation to be unusual.

    If you go to Daemunpa, you will get kicked by a Jeongjeom master, but the chances of meeting a Jeomseum master by chance while just walking down the street are extremely low.

    The mere presence of two climax experts is enough to raise tension.

    “Haha, why don’t you sit down and have a cup of tea.”

    “…Thank you.”

    The lamas were so nervous that they didn’t even touch their teacups.

    However, the faces of those lamas soon turned blue.

    “I went there. Dear Ronin. Oh…who are these people?”

    “Senior!”

    “Eun Gong.”

    “Instructor.”

    Heukmyo, Dang Do-yeon, and Yeo Il-ye, who are at the highest level, joined. Corn is also top-notch.

    “…donor.”

    “We have no intention of causing any harm to the monks.”

    The group, who had been showing off their own momentum in preparation for the collision, lost their energy and left the room.

    Nurubuchi, who had escaped the situation where there were as many masters as there were lamas, protested, wiping away cold sweat.

    “I think there are many things to say.”

    “Haha, of course. Okay…where should I start the story?”

    I looked up at the sky with vague eyes. Well, since it was indoors, all I could see was the dirty ceiling, but the atmosphere is important in everything.

    “I was born with a natural destiny.”

    “Um.”

    Of course, the beginning has to be shocking to arouse curiosity and attract attention.

    “I became a Sichuan Rongin to become the one expert who criticized Gangho. That’s how I sold swords during the day and practiced martial arts at night, honing myself.”

    “Oh…”

    “It may not be comparable to the talent of the practitioners, but since I was evaluated as having decent talent when I was young, I quickly stepped onto the level of second-class and easily reached the threshold of first-class. But that was where the tragedy began.”

    I put on a sad expression, folding my eyebrows together as if to express the despair I felt at that time.

    “I really tried my best to get to the top level. Relying on a rumor, I went to a medical center, spent all the money I earned as a ronin for several years to obtain elixirs, and even visited a prominent doctor. The result!”

    I clenched my fists and trembled.

    “I learned a shocking truth…I had a cursed constitution that made it impossible for me to rise to the top.”

    Nurubuchi, who was momentarily overwhelmed by my momentum, spoke cautiously.

    “But you are not at your peak right now.”

    “Yes, that’s right.”

    I smiled broadly and shook my head.

    “For someone from humble origins, I was very fortunate to have contact with the Tang family, and as a result, I was able to receive medical treatment from an old man in the world who is said to be one of the three great doctors in the world! The old man improved some of my constitution through elixirs. He treated the symptoms of energy not flowing properly with elixir.”

    “Oh…really?”

    The lamas seem to be slowly becoming interested in my story itself. Well, Hocheonan’s biography is very interesting.

    So far, the build-up has been based on a true story, so from now on, we will gradually mix lies and truth.

    I opened my mouth again, sounding like an ascetic suppressing pain.

    “A whopping seven years! Although he had reached the top level in seven years, Dok-ui’s words were truly despairing. Seven attributes! In order to pioneer the pinnacle, I need to consume seven elixirs that others would say are lucky even if they only get one.

    “There are seven…”

    The lamas opened their mouths in amazement. It was a part that could have been criticized as being unrealistic, but the three people had expressions like, ‘Yes, it makes sense to take that kind of elixir to improve one’s constitution.’

    These are lamas who have the oxbow man suffering from the nine syllable veins. I have a vague idea of how difficult it is to overcome heavenly punishment.

    “Do you remember the cotton-threaded sojeo you saw earlier?”

    “Of course, how could I forget that.”

    “She also has a special constitution. I suffered a lot because I was born with the energy of Tae-eum and had a strong yin that attracted men’s attention.”

    “I guess so…”

    “However, due to my special constitution, I was not affected by her energy. She met me by chance, remembered that I wasn’t fascinated, and sneaked into where I worked.”

    “Oh, this is truly amazing!”

    “Yes, it is. It’s thanks to Buddha’s great compassion. After that, we went through various events, identified each other’s constitutions, and formed an alliance to work to improve each other’s constitutions.”

    I kept running my mouth and telling the three people the story of ‘Hocheonan, a gifted hunter,’ rather than ‘Hocheonan, a Sichuan nang.’

    The reason for telling them a fabricated story rather than telling them the truth was simple.

    In their minds, Ho Cheon-an was supposed to be a great adventurer and talent hunter who wouldn’t be surprised if he knew the cure for syllable veins.

    “Inside the foggy valley of Mt. Cheonwang, there was a really big Donghyeol with its mouth open. And what was inside was a large poisonous centipede that easily split a tree!”

    “Oh my god!”

    “It’s really amazing!”

    I told stories about events that I knew about as if they had happened to me.

    The three people concentrated with sweat on their hands as they listened to the adventure story of Ho Cheon-an, a talented hunter, that was truly a biography of a warrior.

    The biography of chance hunter Ho Cheon-an was created by adding the flesh of fantasy called adventure to the framework of fact.

    Although the explanation of how my current colleagues came together is based on facts.

    In between, I filled the story with stories about all the wonderful things I experienced while playing the martial arts world in the game.

    The three of them diligently dug into the parts that raised doubts about what I said, but my lie turned out to be based on a true story. In the end, there were no loopholes in the story because they were all events experienced in the martial arts world in the game.

    There were even things there that would add truth to my story.

    By the end of the story, when I showed them the knight cloth obtained from Hyeoncheonja’s secret room, who had gone on a real talent hunt, they had completely lost their doubts and had become a three-person audience.

    “Through that process, I arrived at the chief.”

    “What an adventure you had!”

    After the long story, the room became quiet for a moment. As he listened to these and other stories, he seemed to have grown fond of me, and he quenched his thirst by drinking tea that he had not even touched.

    “I listened carefully to the story of Mayor Ho Cheon-an. The reason I came to Seojang is probably because I was looking for a talent, and I also know why so many experts have gathered here. But I haven’t heard anything about the reason why magic is being performed in Lhasa.”

    “…Hmm. This is a different story.”

    I picked up the weight again. The lamas at Podalap Palace looked like, ‘Why are there so many stories?’, but from now on, it was once again based on a true story.

    “Do you know anything about the current situation in the Central Powers?”

    Of course the three shook their heads. In order to get from Seojang to Sacheon, one had to cross over and over again rugged mountains. Since we had a non-cheon carriage, we arrived at Seojang quickly, but travelers and merchants who heard the news from Sacheon still needed more time to reach Lhasa.

    I summarized the Tanggata disaster and the conflict between the Sichuan faction and the Yunnan faction and delivered it to them.

    “Uhm…such a slanderous thing.”

    “We who had ties to the party family in one way or another were continuing our current activities with support from the party family. How could we ask people whose families were in disarray to lend us money?”

    “Indeed, I guess so.”

    “So, we need to come up with a self-rescue plan. The self-rescue measure is this magic.”

    I briefly demonstrated a few sleights of hand.

    “These mysterious techniques were also written in a book discovered while hunting Giyeon. I thought it was a perfect skill for a stranger to become friends with locals, so I worked hard to learn it. I started working because I thought I could cover my travel expenses by performing using this technology.”

    “Hmm…If there are this many experts, isn’t there another way to make money?”

    I looked at the three people with heavy eyes.

    “Any job that requires a foreign expert is usually a dirty job. I don’t want to cover my travel expenses by greedy for other people’s blood.”

    “Oh…I didn’t mean to. Please forgive my rudeness.”

    “It’s okay. Have any of your doubts been resolved?”

    The three were silent for a moment. Well, if you can trust a stranger just because you heard a story, then why is there a word for stranger?

    I nodded and said that I understood.

    “You are welcome to visit us at any time until your questions are resolved. Starting tomorrow, we are planning to perform a large-scale magic trick in the southern vacant lot. We plan to sell admission tickets after seeing the response in a few days, but anyone at Podalap Palace is welcome at any time.”

    The expressions of the three people brightened at once.

    …What is this violent reaction?

    Could it be that they just ran away from the palace because they wanted to see magic?

    Oh no way. They must have been a scouting party sent from Podalap Palace because there was some commotion in Lhasa.

    Probably not. If you’re a bunch of idiots who escaped because you wanted to see magic, I have to tell you about the story of Ho Cheon-an, the gifted hunter I’ve been talking about for a long time, but is that possible?

    “If you are interested in magic, can I show you some here?”

    The three people smiled and put their hands together.

    “Please. Donation.”

    “….”

    It seems that they are bastards who escaped from the palace because they wanted to see magic.

    shit.

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