Chapter 153:  The Chinese martial world getting its skull cracked. (2)

We decided to roughly establish our character settings.

At least for our Cheonma, we had something in mind already.

“Ah. That person is the berserker who pledged loyalty to me.”

“Saintess, how could you—mmph!”

I quickly covered Cheonma’s mouth as she tried to argue.

“If we go around calling him ‘K-Cheonma’, it’ll definitely cause controversy and make it harder to spread the Kanora religion in China. We can’t afford to fight over the title of Cheonma here, right?”

“Yeah. Honestly, you’re more like a knockoff Cheonma anyway. You got that title just by beating up kids, so is it really worth obsessing over?”

At Battle mage’s words, Cheonma’s face crumpled.

Did she take more pride in that title than we expected?

“Hey, let’s get things straight. I didn’t just get it by accident. I didn’t beat them up—they attacked me first!”

“Then be the Berserker. In that setting, maybe it fits. But in this one, our Cheonma just looks like some lightsaber dork from a Star Wars knockoff.”

“Li… lightsaber dork?”

Our Cheonma looked hurt. Her eyes widened at the insult, then she sulked.

Seriously, what a handful.

Who’s going to take you seriously as a Cheonma when you’re swinging around glowing swords?

Honestly, you’re more of a Cheonma lackey than a Cheonma.

“No, no. It’s about the romance. The ideal. I just meant that you’re different from the typical Cheonma, that’s all.”

I consoled our sulking Cheonma and stepped forward to face the Orc with confidence.

With a determined expression full of righteous fury, I shouted silently: Vile lich! You shall pay for your sins!

Our Chinese friends, watching us, had eyes full of admiration.

Now was the time to show overwhelming power.

Overwhelmingly—

CRACK!

We smashed his skull.

“Grrraaaghhhh!”

The Orc’s head was shattered without mercy.

The attack succeeded, and our Orc quietly collapsed, pretending to be dead.

He was putting on a good performance.

The fight was over.

“Wow, liches can scream like that?”

“How powerful must it be to make a sound like that?”

In the end, the Orc fell, and our plan was a success.

These Chinese people, who seemed to be martial artists, must have been grateful we saved them, because they immediately served us various Chinese dishes.

“Amazing. Where did these people come from? Looks like Europe or North America?”

“We’re from Korea.”

Just because someone has white, blonde, or silver hair doesn’t mean they’re not Korean.

“We’re all Koreans.”

“Korea? You’re from Korea? Then… returnees?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t there some religion called Kanora spreading in Korea lately?”

So they knew.

But there’s no need to worry.

Our Kanora religion isn’t an evil cult.

“Hahaha. Don’t worry. It’s only popular in North Korea, and it’s not a cult. It’s a religion from another world.”

Unless they’re agents of the Chinese government, things should go smoothly.

Since they’re returnees—especially martial artists—they’ll understand right and wrong.

And since we helped them, they can’t ignore us.

“Ah, I see. I didn’t know that. The government’s been censoring info about Kanora religion.”

“But what brings you all the way here from Korea? You didn’t even register for this dungeon, right?”

Now came the time for a tearful performance.

If they’re truly martial artists, they’ll listen to us.

They didn’t seem like the kind of rude people who would just leave after getting help.

So it wasn’t much of a gamble.

I suddenly began to cry.

The tears of a beautiful woman are both proof and weapon.

I let the tears flow freely, setting the somber mood.

Other returnees around me wore grim expressions, their whole bodies radiating bad vibes.

“The truth is… we tried to return some Chinese refugees who drifted into the North Korean region… but we were blocked at the Great Wall.”

“Ah, right. The soldiers…”

“Yes. They’re all starving, and we couldn’t just leave them there, so we tried to take them directly to China to return them, but…”

Here, I let the tears fall like a waterfall.

As if to say absolutely not, that those people were abandoned by China, I wept.

“So it failed, then?”

“Yes.”

“How could they…? Fellow people of Zhongyuan suffering in cold Manchuria, and the government just leaves them? How could the same people do that?”

Wow, these guys are easier to manipulate than I thought.

That should be enough.

These folks can definitely be converted to the Kanora faith.

—They seem like good candidates too.

“We have to raise this issue with the Premier’s Office!”

“Yes. As members of the Namgung Clan, we can’t ignore those in difficult situations!”

So that’s it.

These people are the three siblings of the Namgung Clan, a classic Qing dynasty-style martial family.

No need to dig deeper.

They’re definitely martial artists too.

Cheonma looked like she wanted to say something, but I kept her quiet.

“Then… can you help us?”

“Brother, we have to help them.”

“Yes. I believe we should help.”

That’s more like it.

We smiled slyly.

Even the unconscious Orc probably thought the same.

We found out later that these people were actually of fairly high status.

Their clan’s main residence was near the Great Wall, and they allowed us to stay there.

This Namgung residence near the Wall was quite grand.

It felt like a different world entirely, surrounded by nature and geography untouched by modern times.

Despite being large enough to be called a fortress, there didn’t seem to be many people living there.

After arriving at the main estate of the Namgung Clan, I introduced the rest of the returnees to these Chinese people.

“But this one—isn’t he an Orc? I don’t recall seeing him before.”

The Qing-era Chinese men looked at the newly joined Orc with complicated expressions.

Hmm.

Did they instinctively sense that this was the guy who beat them up?

The Orc just stood there with a giant lump on his head, looking very grumpy.

“Oh, he’s a returnee too. Not a monster.”

“Then, young lady, what kind of martial arts have you learned?”

A bald man, who appeared to be the leader, asked me.

Did this look like martial arts to him?

Also, his reaction now was different from what it had been in the dungeon.

“These are simply powers bestowed upon me by my god to uphold justice. I’ve never trained in them.”

“Hmm. Even so, that power was no ordinary thing.”

“Hehe, just as the Namgung family becomes strong by training in martial arts, I simply received strength from my deity to deal with their enemies.”

The only difference, if we’re being honest, is that while they struggled like dogs to get stronger, I got a starter pack because my base body was built by a god.

“Hmm, I see. I couldn’t show proper courtesy earlier due to the chaos. Thank you for saving me and my younger siblings. I am Namgung Cheolsu.”

“I’m Namgung Younghee, Cheolsu’s younger sister.”

“I’m Namgung Hyunsoo, the younger brother.”

What’s with all of these ridiculous names?

“Ah, I see.”

It feels strange to hear someone with that appearance call themselves Namgung Cheolsu.

Anyway, it’s not a bad start.

Even though this is my first time encountering Chinese martial world folks, the good news is—they’re at least polite.

I thought they’d puff up with pride and try to compete, but that wasn’t the case.

“They say you’re returnees from Korea. By the way, this person… gives off a vibe similar to ours, though it feels somewhat murky.”

This time, they glanced at our Cheonma.

So, they noticed it too. Is it true that martial artists recognize one another?

Even Cheonma seemed a bit interested in them.

Alright then.

We should introduce our Cheonma.

But calling him “Cheonma” outright might stir up unnecessary conflict.

Since we’re still trying to slowly convert them to Kanoraism, we can’t pressure them by flaunting his title.

Let’s blend it in carefully.

“Ah, this person is… someone who emanates power. In terms of martial arts, you could call it ‘Cheonma Divine Art.’”

“Cheonma… Divine Art? Cheonma?”

Our poor Namgung family reacted sensitively to the term “Cheonma.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that word.

Well, this should be enough.

“Oh, it’s just a figure of speech. He’s from Korea.”

“Then he couldn’t possibly be Cheonma.”

Our Cheonma looked like she had a lot to say.

I quickly shut her mouth.

She seemed annoyed at the implication that someone from Korea couldn’t be Cheonma.

But honestly, there’s no way a Korean could be China’s Cheonma—especially when we’re from entirely different universes.

“Hmm, that makes sense. Even if she learned that kind of martial art, she would’ve come from a different world.”

They accepted it surprisingly smoothly.

“Still, ‘Cheonma Divine Art’… I’m a little curious.”

“Could you possibly show us?”

Cheonma looked pleased.

And then, in front of the Chinese group, she showed off the “Cheonma Divine Art”—specifically, her light sword.

A thick, long, large lightsaber.

Everyone’s eyes lit up when they saw it, as our Cheonma proudly displayed her prized possession.

The Namgung clan members’ eyes sparkled.

Well, it does look cool.

The sword shines brightly, after all.

“That’s like… that lightsaber from those old movies?”

“It’s completely different. There are no mechanical parts. It’s purely formed from his own energy.”

Cheonma boasted proudly.

“She formed a light sword by solidifying her inner energy over a catalytic structure?”

“Exactly.”

“How much energy must you train to create something like that—like a pillar?”

Ah, is that how it looks to them?

As expected of our Cheonma.

I’m proud.

The conversation continued for quite some time about the light sword.

Curious about our Cheonma, the Namgung clan began researching how to make such a weapon themselves.

I thought it was a bit ridiculous, but they were deadly serious.

They said manifesting inner energy like that was impossible but wanted to pursue it anyway.

Well, let’s at least engage in conversation.

That’s how you build rapport—by talking, exchanging ideas.

“You said you’re returnees?”

“Ah, yes. We haven’t introduced ourselves properly. The world we came from was Zhongyuan. It was under the Qing Dynasty. Though… a slightly different Qing.”

A slightly different Qing?

That kind of place exists?

It’s a parallel world, so I suppose it’s not that strange.

Still, the world is truly diverse.

A parallel version of China, even one resembling a wuxia novel setting?

Nothing more to say, really.

“Is that so?”

“It was a world ruled entirely by martial arts.”

“I see. That must’ve been tough.”

I guess it’s no different from a world full of thugs.

Honestly, our goddess’s Yukran continent is the only place worth living in.

Whether it’s the martial world or anything else, I’d rather not get involved.

Wuxia is just so low-tier.

—Is that something our dear angel should be saying?

“We once participated in the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament.”

“Ooh. Such a tournament existed?”

“There’s a lot in the martial world. It’s nothing to be surprised about.”

“And what happened? Did you come here after that tournament?”

Sounds like something happened over there.

“Well, something did happen there.”

“What do you mean, something happened?”

“To put it simply—we fought against Cheonma.”

“Cheonma?”

Now our Cheonma seems interested.