Surviving as a Rival in a Martial Arts Novel

Chapter 19 – Because that’s the protagonist (02)

“What? Are you crazy?”

“Are you trying to deceive the Sohye?”

“If this scent disappears, the real couples will not follow it and instead start massacring wherever they go. If that happens, the damage to the commoners will be great.”

“So?”

“But if a strong warrior drinks this and becomes bait, they can minimize the damage by confronting the real couples in a place where there are few people.”

In fact, the reason why Lady Zhuge Yanji didn’t kill Hansoso was because, ultimately, she prevented the commoners of Samae from being killed by the real couples if she had abandoned the incense burner that led to Sacheondangga. But now that Lady Zhuge Yanji won’t trap them like that, I had to give them a chance to confront the real couples.

From here on, due to the progression of the novel, I couldn’t naturally receive any help as fate flowed.

If I fail… according to the development of the novel, they could be driven to the harbor, and they could escape from there and survive. But originally, they would have had to fight against the real couples to gain experience and enlightenment, and that time would be delayed.

Ultimately, Bangyuseong, who is the force against the Heukwoldang, would lose the opportunity to grow.

“From now on, I have to convince them completely.”

I was not a novelist, nor was I a smooth-talking orator.

If it were the original Yeoncheongha who was skilled in entertainment, they would somehow persuade them with a slick tongue, but for me, there was only one way to convince them.

‘A man convinces with one action rather than a hundred words.’

Drip!

I immediately raised a bottle containing a hundred years’ worth of sewage and gulped down about three liters.

Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.

Although the scent of chemical substances emanated, strangely, it had a taste, giving the feeling of drinking honey rather than alcohol.

“Phew…!”

“Yeonsu Society!”

Banguyung and Hansoso, who had just heard the explanation, were staring at me in surprise.

“What have you done!”

Banguyung, almost tearing his voice like a woman, was screaming.

“I know that Yeonsu’s level is high, but if what Yeonsu said is true, you have to withstand against top-notch experts who don’t know pain or fatigue.”

“I understand. If you can’t overcome it with your own strength, you can do it by combining the strength of several people.”

I looked back at Banguyung and Hansoso.

“Do you want to drink together?”

“Are you suggesting a joint suicide? Not worth listening to.”

Despite my answer, Banguyung hesitated, looking at the bottle, and Hansoso was sniffing a nose fart.

As a daughter of a Sapha-born father, she, in her own way, as a practical and rational person, probably couldn’t understand what I was saying now.

Later, thanks to Banguyung, she would change, but for now, she still had a cynical and selfish personality.

“Can I ask just one thing?”

Despite not giving permission, Banguyung opened his mouth with a determined expression.

“If it were the realm of the Lotus Alliance, even if the real spouses surged like water, one could still fend for oneself. Why then take such risks?”

In response to that question, I turned my body away from Ban Kyuseong with a nonchalant demeanor.

“Because it’s about loyalty and cooperation.”

The man spoke from his back.

“Ha… hahahaha! You really are foolish, Yeon-hyung.”

Where does this kid get off calling me ‘hyung’? We’re the same age, aren’t we?

Splish. Splish.

“But…”

Ban Kyuseong, who glanced at my face, also picked up a glass bottle containing a century-old sewage brew.

“I’ll join in too.”

Coincidentally, the direction he picked to drink from happened to be the part my lips touched. It bothered me a bit, but in this good atmosphere, I couldn’t fuss, so I just let it slide.

“Well… that’s why men have a shorter average lifespan.”

“You told me to drink with you!”

As I teased him once, Ban Kyuseong, now with a flushed face, scolded me, and strangely enough, his voice, normally gruff, sounded a bit cute.

For the first time, I thought Ban Kyuseong was likable.

“Yeah. This is how he becomes my rival.”

Oh damn, am I drunk too? Why does Ban Kyuseong, who’s giggling, look so cute?

* * *

Hansoso didn’t drink.

In truth, I didn’t expect Hansoso to offer me a drink. Instead, while Ban Kyuseong and I acted as decoys to block the real spouses rushing in during the Four Blood Moons, Hansoso had to handle the task of sorting out the Black Moon Faction’s nuisances that Yeon Cheongha had originally assigned.

“In other words, it’s as if Hansoso and I have switched places.”

Since we’ll all join together after the job is done, it won’t be much different from the original.

“Well then, make sure Hanso stays hidden safely.”

“Hmph. As if I need to be told.”

Knowing Hansoso’s personality, if you ask her to do something, she won’t do it. On the contrary, if you express concern and tell her to stay hidden safely like now, she’ll butt in.

Even though she may appear practical and selfish on the surface, I know that deep down she’s an incredibly kind and good person. I believed that if she saw Bangyuseong in danger while lurking nearby, she would help by attacking from behind.

“Is our comrade not accustomed to drinking?”

“Ugh…!”

Bangyuseong’s face turned red from the alcohol, and it seemed like my words had touched his pride as he made a scowling expression. But he didn’t have the energy to get angry, so he stumbled along behind me.

“When should I raise this guy?”

If I could just take him around like in a game and absorb experience points to level him up, I would do that. But the work I was reincarnated into was a martial arts novel, not the world of martial arts games.

There’s no convenient leveling system, and I have to carefully adjust my abilities to ensure I don’t die in the middle of the novel’s progress. Fortunately, in this Four Bloods case, they listened to me, so I can raise it to a level similar to the original.

Approaching the people standing guard in the Tang-style robes with the sign “No Entry” hanging on the door of the Four Bloods Gate, they opened the way and let Bangyuseong inside, as if they had already received a message.

“Rest for a moment. Even if the true couples have already smelled the scent, we’ll need about six hours to move properly.”

“I… understand.”

I allowed Bangyuseong to take a rest, who looked exhausted, and entered the port where the last duel with Chugum took place. Seeing the central part of the port cut out in a circular shape, as if a meteor had crashed, I couldn’t help but curse.

“The terrain destroyed by the sword of the Supreme Master…”

Even if it was just the Supreme Master, comparing it to the modern society’s standards, they had a power that could be called a superhero, with no lack of strength. The Supreme Master was truly at the level of a walking disaster.

If Chugum hadn’t found the Four Bloods and found it interesting, the two of us would have become fish food in the river a long time ago.

“It seems Chugum is coming.”

Far in the distance, a familiar energy was approaching closely, and before long, Samae landed precisely by my side.

“I’m back, sentenced to death.”

“Ah, yes. As for the item…”

“It wasn’t a censer, so it was a bit strange, but I found something with a similar scent.”

As expected, Samae, being smart, efficiently handled things without me having to say anything.

The suspicious item Samae brought was a small pot with a moonflower inserted as a fresh flower.

‘Did they hide it in the fragrance of moonflowers, thinking that I would be sensitive to scents in Amipha?’

Moreover, when the night of the blooming buds arrives, the Four Blood Sages will begin, so at that time, suspicious individuals might follow the scent.

“Well done, Samae.”

I immediately accepted the pot from Samae, confirmed that there was nothing unusual underneath, and let it flow into the Yangtze through the facilities of the broken harbor.

“Have you collected all the items?”

As Samae and I arrived at the harbor, the Dangchakmun and Jegalyeonjido, who were waiting nearby, were approaching with the censer from earlier.

“Hmm…”

Jegalyeonji approached me closely, detecting the faint scent emanating from my body.

“You’ve put it inside your body.”

“…Hmm… Can you smell it a lot?”

“I practiced how to distinguish at the Dangmun, so yes.”

Wait, even dogs can distinguish that?

“And regarding this fragrance, after investigating, most people can’t detect it properly. Even the Dang Munju didn’t notice.”

“hehehehe… My daughter could notice, but I couldn’t.”

“Is that so?”

I heard that the masters of the court must have a sensitive sense of smell and receive separate training for their olfaction, but it seemed that even if they couldn’t catch the scent, it wasn’t faintly detectable, but rather completely undetectable.

Is it a matter of limited individuals who can smell the scent of the Cheongsan fruit or a matter determined by one’s constitution, like someone who strongly perceives the fragrance of cucumbers?

“Hmm… come to think of it, even when I showed him that alcohol, Bang Gyu-sung couldn’t sense anything strange, but he did notice a slight oddity in the smell.”

It’s fortunate that I can still distinguish between poison and medicine, but unlike Jeok Yeon-ji, I couldn’t determine whether or not my body emitted a scent.

“Well… then I guess it’s a good idea to use it as bait for the real married couples.”

“But… what are you doing?”

Jeok Yeon-ji sealed the scent from the incense burner he worked hard to obtain and put it in a small boat.

“Wouldn’t it be better to throw it into the river?”

“It’s okay. I have a plan.”

“Ah… is that so?”

Come to think of it, Jeok Yeon-ji, the lady of Jilang, is not a fool either. She must have realized that the incense burner was used to lure the real married couples, and after I realized that, more real married couples came rushing in. Bang Gyu-sung and Han So-so were in danger, so she tried to lure the real married couples to the small boat by putting the incense burner in it.

Of course, it was useless and ended up being a futile effort, like something you would see in a zombie movie, crawling along the floor of the river and clinging stubbornly to the boat, causing it to sink in the water.

“When Bang Gyu-sung and I are holding them off and in a crisis, Jeok Yeon-ji will open the incense burner in that boat to lure the real married couples there.”

In its own way, it was a safety measure for us, and it wasn’t bad.

However, the person inside who would open the incense burner… may they rest in peace.

“If you have the intention to lure the real married couples through the incense burner, I should tell you to escape as soon as you open it.”

“Do you think they can catch up to us if we escape at full speed on the boat?”

“Yes. Hm…”

As soon as the water started flowing, I was about to mention the Black Moon Faction without thinking, but I changed my answer to whispering to Jeok Yeon-ji.

[The ritual marriage created by the Black Moon Faction is not normal. Consider it not as facing a lifeless being that has lost its ego… but rather facing what is almost a walking corpse.]

Of course, you may not completely believe my words, but if you pay attention even once more, it might be somewhat bearable.

“Well then, leave it to me. I will open the incense burner at a more certain time than anyone else. And as long as I can prevent the ritual marriages here just as the thoughts of the Yearning Cow Association suggest, there should be no worries, right?”

“No, that’s dangerous…”

“As dangerous as it is, reliable personnel should handle it, right?”

Wait, was Jang Nang-hyun Je Gal-yeon like this originally?