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Translator: uly
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: The Scoundrel Fiancé of the Murim World - 1
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What happens if you get possessed into a novel you wrote?
If I were possessed into my first parody work, being the protagonist would be great.
Even though it was written during a chuunibyou phase and looking back now would make me want to gouge my eyes out, it's still about a Mary Sue protagonist building a harem among charming female characters, so I'd be happy.
Being the protagonist of the erotic novel I wrote when my sexual desires were exploding would also be good.
No man could refuse a world where simply holding up your phone makes every beauty yours.
Fantasy, academy stories, modern settings, expert stories.
I wrote quite a variety. For these novels, I wouldn't even need to be the protagonist.
Because I wrote every story with affection. My style was to build up from the settings, so I could even collect all the hidden pieces I couldn't express in the novel and live a sweet, easy life.
I was confident I could live happily if I were just possessed into a novel I wrote.
That is, if it were a novel I wrote.
"But why a dating sim extra?"
It didn't take long to open my eyes in this other world and grasp the situation. How many regression, possession, reincarnation prologues had I written?
After a very brief moment of confusion, I could immediately tell.
My desperate hope that it wasn't that work I had just sent feedback for yesterday was laughable. The Eastern-style clothing and the multi-colored hair. What kind of martial arts world has hair that colorful?
"Young Master Kang Yun-ho, let me show you to your room at the inn. You look tired, and with only a few days left until we reach the Murong Family, please rest well."
One of the attendants, checking my complexion, guided me to a room in the inn.
"Understood."
After replying lightly and closing the door, I sat in a chair and looked into the mirror.
The mirror reflected the face of a man with black hair.
In the martial arts dating sim, characters with various hair colors appeared. But among them, there were no Central Plains people with black hair.
Perhaps as a unique point for a Korean-made martial arts dating sim, black hair was a symbol of a Joseon person.
Then, what kind of Joseon person?
The identity of the possessed person was the worst character.
Kang Yun-ho.
From a family of interpreters who worked as translators.
A wealthy family that amassed enormous fortune by smuggling ginseng every time they traveled between Joseon and China.
The eldest son of that family was Kang Yun-ho.
"And soon, he's also the groom who will be killed by the heroine."
A character created to give the heroine Murong Sang-ah the attributes of a widow and a villainess. A character who, as a bonus, also gets all his family's wealth plundered. That was Kang Yun-ho.
To be possessed by someone with the exact same name as me. Or perhaps, because there was no name setting, I was possessed using my own name.
Anyway, that Kang Yun-ho was on his way to the Murong Family. To marry Murong Sang-ah, the villainous widow heroine in the story. No, she's not a widow yet, so is she a genuine widow heroine? Self-made widow also had a nice ring to it.
"The timing of the possession is too late to run away."
If it were before the engagement was finalized, maybe. No, even after the engagement was finalized, if I overturned everything, an annulment might have been possible.
But of all times, the possession point was when Kang Yun-ho was already on his way to the Murong Family to get married.
The Murong Family's new groom ran away because he didn't want to get married? He would become the laughingstock of the martial world.
The Murong Family would organize a pursuit squad to avoid that ridicule. And with Kang Yun-ho's body, which had never learned martial arts, he definitely wouldn't get far before being caught.
[Isn't it too harsh to have to marry a man you don't love? That's why I sent evidence ahead of time that could frame his family for treason.]
And this is the period when Murong Sang-ah has already sent evidence related to treason to the Joseon court. Whether it's real or fake, given Joseon's sensitive reaction to treason, they won't just let it slide. Even if I return to Joseon, my fate is execution.
Not only is the timing to run too late, but there's also not much time left for me to stay alive.
[When he rushed into the bridal chamber saying he should at least get me drunk, the feeling when I killed him was truly refreshing. And as a reward for exposing the treason, all the wealth of the man whose family was exterminated came to me, his wife.]
In the story, Murong Sang-ah clearly said that.
The Murong Family is three days' journey from where I am now. Wedding three days after arrival.
If she heard the news of the treason before spending the first night with Murong Sang-ah, then I only have six days left.
"I need to make a plan quickly."
I tried to define the current situation and set the top priority goal.
Situation: If I return to my hometown, I'm scheduled for execution along with my family. If I stay at the Murong Family, I'm scheduled for murder.
Since the wedding date is set, if I run away like this, I'll be pursued by the Murong Family.
I can't go back after getting married either. How can I go back when I'm killed by Murong Sang-ah on the first night?
"Is this a game? Is this even a situation! Ugh!"
I screamed at the utterly shitty situation.
"Young Master!! What's the matter?!"
Hearing the scream, one of the attendants from the next room urgently knocked on the door. Is the soundproofing bad? I should be quiet.
"It's nothing. Ah! Bring me some writing materials."
"Yes, I'll bring them right away."
Once the presence outside the door disappeared, I decided to continue my train of thought.
'Kang Yun-ho, you bastard.'
Looking through the absorbed memories, Kang Yun-ho was a typical spoiled rich brat. He enjoyed alcohol and gambling, and the gisaeng house was practically his own living room.
What an enviable life.
While someone else lived juggling multiple jobs without proper rest. Damn.
Perhaps because it's a martial arts dating sim, the gisaengs in Kang Yun-ho's memories also had looks on par with semi-celebrities.
A life where you have such gisaengs on both sides, kneading their breasts like dough, and just opening your mouth gets you fed food and drink by the gisaeng.
Of course, there's no way his parents would look kindly on such a delinquent life.
'Marry the daughter of the Murong Family.'
'Father, I'm only just twenty, what kind of marriage is that?'
'These days, the Jurchen tribes are acting up so much that if we just smuggle ginseng, we get plundered in no time. If we form a marriage alliance with the Murong Family, the martial family closest to Joseon, we can get reliable guard warriors.'
'Still, Central Plains women are too headstrong, I don't like it.'
'Do you even know where all the food and drink you've been consuming came from?! If you don't get married, I'll cut off all support and send you to a temple!!'
'Father!'
He agreed in that kind of flow, but that damn delinquent personality caused trouble at the meeting with Murong Sang-ah.
'It seems you've been drinking.'
A place arranged for them to meet alone. Murong Sang-ah was late because she was talking with her prospective father-in-law, and this delinquent bastard couldn't wait and was dead drunk.
'Huh? You're a gisaeng I haven't seen before...'
'It seems now is not the time. I'll see you another day.'
Just as Murong Sang-ah quickly grasped the situation and was about to turn away, the delinquent bastard opened his mouth.
'Ah. My fiancée. Right, we were supposed to meet today. Sit here and pour me some wine.'
'... If you need someone to pour wine, call a gisaeng. Though I have become your fiancée, I am not a gisaeng. An engagement is between families. When connections and connections meet to become one...'
'A woman like a kite with a broken string sure talks a lot. Shut up and just pour the wine, you bitch! Whether I pay money for a gisaeng, or our family buys you. It's the same thing! What? Can't pour wine? Then get ready to throw a tantrum in bed.'
Wow. What kind of trash bastard is this? Even looking back at the memories, he's truly a delinquent character determined to get himself killed.
'... I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Then, farewell.'
'Yeah, go on, go. Next time we meet, I'll make you cry and whine under my legs.'
Haha.
I admit it.
At this level, killing him is justified.
It was so absurd that a bitter laugh escaped me.
If I heard such words at a first meeting, I'd really want to kill him too.
But the problem is that the one scheduled to go to the Murong Family and get killed isn't the delinquent bastard, but me wearing the delinquent's mask.
"I really need to win Murong Sang-ah's favor."
To at least avoid dying on the first night, I need to restore my relationship with Murong Sang-ah.
Even though she's already plotting to exterminate our family and swallow the wealth, I need to restore the relationship to a level where she won't kill me at the very least.
"And I can't stay at the Murong Family either."
The Murong Family is, of course, in China, so it's outside Joseon's administrative jurisdiction.
However, even if Murong Sang-ah doesn't kill me, I can't stay at the Murong Family.
I only cleared the Princess route, so I only know the general facts, but the Murong Family gets exterminated in the story. The reason for extermination is the crime of cooperating with the Demonic Cult.
Murong Sang-ah, being a heroine, was not implicated, but she was written out of the story along with the news of the extermination. She doesn't appear afterwards.
If the Murong Family is already cooperating with the Demonic Cult, staying there is also a bad move. Escaping quickly is the best way to save my life.
Then, I had to set my goals like this.
'Restore my relationship with Murong Sang-ah to an appropriate level. Even if my relationship with Murong Sang-ah is restored, since I'm implicated in a treason charge, the Murong Family will also want to expel me. At that time, flee into the Central Plains. Start a new life.'
Good. Perfect.
The important thing is how to restore it.
"Young Master, I've brought the writing materials."
The door opened and an attendant presented the writing materials.
"Alright. You may leave."
"Yes."
I started grinding the inkstick to make ink, intending to write down my organized thoughts.
Scritch scritch.
This is surprisingly laborious.
Isn't there an elementary school stationery shop around? I could just spray ink and write. Then accidentally splash ink on my deskmate's clothes and make them cry. The boy they liked would grab my collar asking what I was doing. We'd get into a fight, all three of us would get an ink shower, our clothes ruined, and get scolded by our mothers.
Heh. Memories, good memories.
Wait.
Elementary school?
Ah!
That method came to mind.
A way to save my life using the field I'm best at.
I hurriedly started writing on the paper.
"Right. A writer should launder things with writing."
Delinquent Kang Yun-ho. I'll launder you squeaky clean.