Chapter 4

A-Qing was truly happy until recently.

Why? Because she had money.

If life is boring, the first thing to consider is finances; people who say that overseas travel is fun but domestic travel isn’t are often just being stingy in their own country.

The money bag of some guy named Chugwi was impressive, and plundering has been a winner’s privilege since ancient times.

It was the moment A-Qing amassed wealth exceeding gold coins for the first time in her martial world life.

She even handed over the head of a villain to the authorities.

The bounty was as hefty as his wicked deeds.

To exaggerate a bit, the money bag was so heavy that it threw her off balance, making it hard to walk straight.

So, A-Qing enjoyed the gourmet delights of the martial world to her heart’s content.

She bid farewell to her old Moonlight Sword (No. 5), which was like an old lover, and welcomed a new, younger, and prettier Moonlight Sword (No. 6).

She had always picked up other people’s swords but had never owned a brand new one herself.

A complete sword of her own, untouched by anyone else.

Suddenly, an affection bubbled up.

“I’ll take good care of you.”

Her previous Moonlight Sword (No. 5) was in a pitiful state, completely corroded due to neglect.

The scrap dealer wouldn’t even pay her for it, so she casually tossed it aside while walking down the street.

She even bought herself a sturdy and cheap new outfit.

A-Qing received a great revelation.

With money, even this damned martial world could be enjoyable!

She even managed to overlook the status window with a generous spirit. Her uplifted mood from the gourmet activities held strong, even against the kicks of the status window.

Such were A-Qing’s spending habits.

People who couldn’t see their future wouldn’t save up, a behavior exhibited by the youth of her hometown across the world.

Thanks to that, becoming a beggar could happen in an instant.

Ah, the good old days.

What remained was just the Moonlight Sword (No. 6).

The swordsman’s lover, the sword.

She bought the luxury item for the price of half a gold coin.

“Let’s be together for life, okay?”

That was A-Qing’s reason to splurge.

At least the items she splurged on would remain by her side, even if she turned poor.

“Order’s up!”

*Thud*. Jeomsoi carelessly dropped the dishes.

Three dumplings. One soup.

If you buy more than three dumplings, they give you a soup for free.

This was the wisdom A-Qing had gained in her second year of martial world living.

Unlike modern common sense, dumplings in the martial world were basically just plain bread with no filling, a minimal food option.

Usually costing one coin, and in expensive taverns, about two coins—this was the cheapest food in the martial world.

Those with meat were called meat dumplings and cost a whopping fifteen to twenty coins.

The wisdom of a second-year martial world citizen.

When the dumplings were dry, it was good to dip them in the soup.

If she got choked up, drinking the soup helped.

A-Qing looked down at her now meager diet and stared at her lover, the Moonlight Sword (No. 6).

“I wonder how much I could get if I sold this.

It’s practically brand new and I’ve hardly used it.”

But that was just the wisdom of someone two years into martial world living.

She couldn’t wrap her head around the resale value and depreciation of a sword, so she decided to keep it for now.

Anyway, she really needed to earn some money.

What to do?

A-Qing summoned the martial arts inventory of the status window.

It was a disgusting thing that made her feel bad every time she looked at it, but she needed to check her accumulated points for free training.

The free training points were a means to quickly learn martial arts and could serve as a life-saver in emergencies.

The Moon Lady Sword Technique (true form) and the Moon Lady’s Meditation Technique (true form) along with the Moon Lady’s Step (true form) had all reached Level Twelve.

Level Twelve represented the highest achievement of the respective martial arts.

Commonly, attaining great success meant mastering martial arts to this extent.

Of course, the concept of “great success” was entirely different for Qing compared to what martial artists referred to.

For Qing, every technique was imprinted, gaining additional ability points and special powers—this state was called Twelve-Point Great Success.

Besides that, various martial arts that were merely listed in the book had settled in her inventory.

All of them had white borders.

According to the classification in the “Martial Life and Death Manual,” white was the lowest rank, followed by blue, red, gold, and the highest purple.

The creator hadn’t really designated names for the ranks, which is why the strategies simply referred to them in color terms.

For reference, the true form of the Moon Lady Sword Technique was a purple-ranked martial art.

One of the highest-tier scam techniques, they said, but she couldn’t verify that yet since she hadn’t learned any other martial arts.

Comparison was only possible with a control group.

And now, it was time to add another purple martial art.

After enduring a year of suffering, she had managed to accumulate over five hundred points in good karma.

It had been a truly long and degrading time.

Good karma could be incredibly useful.

It was the harness for karma reward.

Every time good karma reached a certain threshold, she could choose a martial art to learn within the game’s system.

One exchange of karma required five hundred points.

By the way, bad karma was utterly useless.

Bad karma accumulated through committing evil deeds, but usually, one could amass training points nicely in the process.

Conducting good karma quests by selecting only the worst villains made it difficult to accumulate training points, but the structure allowed exchanging good karma for martial arts of her choice.

A-Qing didn’t hesitate.

She had a goal from the start.

Though Heavenly Demon Divine Skill sounded tempting, she lost interest upon discovering through searches during the game download that “Heavenly Demon” was treated as a joke nowadays.

These days, it was said that Heavenly Demons ran restaurants, bakeries, or became chaebols and played baseball.

In traditional martial arts, they were nothing more than a third-tier lover of the protagonist, so what could a Heavenly Demon skill be other than a fancy name?

Without delay, A-Qing received her good karma reward.

In an instant, phrases of martial arts forms and true intents, images of techniques invaded her mind, turning her insides upside down.

Unintentionally, a silly sound escaped her.

“Ugh… urh, uh…”

As the unfamiliar knowledge burrowed into her brain, it felt like someone reached in and was kneading around, a horrendous experience that defies description.

And afterwards, there was always a major aftereffect.

Does this even make sense?

Who learns martial arts this way?

Isn’t this a game world after all?

Am I really making all the judgments and movements by myself?

What if there’s a transparent screen beyond the sky where someone is typing and controlling everything with a keyboard and mouse?

Then what am I…?

No, no. Stop it! Bad thoughts, stop!

A-Qing forced herself to turn away from those thoughts.

At times like this, she needed to become ridiculous.

Desperately grasping for traces of her past memories as someone who once existed in modern times, A-Qing considered herself a living entity.

Who am I? I am the. Buddha’s Physical Body. Owner.

Zhou Shicih, step aside. K-Buddha’s Physical Body is making its entrance.

Try wrapping Buddha’s Physical Body in kimchi, why don’t you?

The K-Buddha’s Physical Body that surprises Trump and makes Xi Jinping envious, this martial art is now mine.

The Buddha’s Physical Body is depicted on a watermelon…

Any complaints? Chinese people? Then inquire over at the Red Army during the Cultural Revolution.

Nothing happened?

Thanks to my desperate display of ridiculousness, I narrowly avoided feeling worse.

But I no longer had the courage to look at the status window.

I couldn’t bear to look at anyone.

Right now, I shouldn’t see numbers overhead people’s heads.

A-Qing tightly shut her eyes and lowered her head.

She chewed her dumplings thoroughly.

Despite chewing them hard, her throat felt warm and tight.

She desperately tried to divert her attention.

Closing her eyes let in the surrounding chatter.

A-Qing’s physical abilities, having mastered one Inner Strength Meditation Technique, were close to superhuman; just by paying attention, she could hear everything in the tavern.

Among those voices, one particularly caught her attention.

“Hey, I heard Pyo-do is heading to Yongseong.”

“Oh! May I ask your esteemed name, young hero?”

“It’s Pang Dae-san.”

“Oki-rin! My goodness, aren’t you the eldest son of Pang’s clan? What an honor! Going to Yongseong means you’re heading to Hwasan?”

“Pyo-do doesn’t need to know more than that.”

“Ah, right. Of course, of course. What an honor to have you here, great hero! Come, please, sit down. Hey, Jeomsoi, bring out enough food to break that table!”

Arrogant banter exchanged with an abruptly obsequious voice.

A-Qing’s gloomy mood vanished instantly.

So, just being with a master gets this kind of treatment, huh?

Indeed, what a revelation!

In search of villains to kill when her money ran low, A-Qing knew nothing other than the destitute life she’d led over the past year.

And a few scenes from a Zhou Shicih movie.

So, of course, A-Qing had no idea who the Pang family was.

The seniority of the world’s five great families was nothing compared to the worthiness of their patriarch, who had turned upside down the Imperial Palace after the incident involving the Great Master Mucheondae.

Even though Wangdu Pyoguk was a decent-sized trading house dealing in two provinces, it was nothing when compared to the name of the Hebei Pang family.

Unaware of this background, A-Qing just thought that if someone was a master, they were treated well.

A-Qing, whose actions were blindly bold, shot up from her seat.

“Excuse me, but I heard Pyo-do is going to Yongseong?”

A-Qing spoke to Pyo-do.

It was the confident attitude of a martial artist.

“Uh, um. Who is this young lady…?”

Pyo-do frowned in dismay.

What kind of place was this?

This was a gathering meant for an esteemed individual rated like a diamond among golden connections.

In Chinese, it’s called Guanxi—an event meant for building relationships and friendships.

In a setting like that, how could he be happy to see a random guest just cutting in?

“I’m A-Qing!”

“A-Qing?”

His response came from the side.

That arrogant voice was Oki-rin, the son of the Pang family, Pang Dae-san.

His low tone could melt any woman, but it didn’t work on A-Qing.

Since Pang Dae-san had his back turned, A-Qing had to turn to see his face.

Wow! How could someone be this good-looking?

The nickname Oki-rin was one of the long-standing traditions passed down from the past.

It was a special nick bestowed upon the most handsome among promising late bloomer youths.

And the current Oki-rin, Pang Dae-san, was hailed as having the most beautiful looks throughout the long history of the Central Plains.

With the unofficial title of “The Most Beautiful in the World,” was it even necessary to say more?

But A-Qing, having merely disguised herself as a woman, was essentially a man.

So, she wasn’t swayed by male looks.

She was simply taken by surprise.

Wow! What a face! Totally handsome! So jealous!

What is this? A surreal sight before my very eyes?

Is this really the face of an existing man?

If one were to line up all the men in history by appearance, he would undoubtedly take the eternal Number One spot.

A-Qing’s astonishment, being a spiritually masculine being, was at this level.

In fact, it was usual for women to faint or even collapse upon facing the alluring gaze of Oki-rin without any mental preparation.

While Qing gawked at his stunning looks, Pang Dae-san casually remarked,

“A-Qing, do you happen to know the Moon Lady Sword Technique?”

“Wow, you know the Moon Lady Sword Technique! Maybe—”

“Ha. Well, this is quite refreshing.”

Pang Dae-san cut A-Qing off with a sneer.

What’s this? Is he looking down on me?

Is he showing off just because he’s good-looking?

A-Qing scowled.

“So your name is actually A-Qing?”

“Uh-huh, but…”

“I’ve never heard of that surname. Then what is your ancestral name?”

“Uh, um. So…”

How would I even know that?

But admitting she didn’t know would raise suspicion.

In fact, A-Qing usually traveled alone.

The only forms of companionship she had were with fellow impoverished souls in similar circumstances.

As they say, misery loves company.

So she had no idea about the etiquette of high society in fancy clothes.

It was all so ridiculous to her that rich people asked about the founding ancestor.

Thinking of someone with a well-known surname, A-Qing racked her brain.

“Why can’t you answer?”

“I was trying to.”

“And so, what’s your ancestor’s name?”

“Uh… Asura?”

Is that right?

It just slipped out, but Asura seemed a bit off.

“Asura, 17th descendant, A-Qing.” That’s acceptable, maybe?

“Ugh, ha-ha-ha…!”

Suddenly, Pang Dae-san burst into laughter.

So it wasn’t right, huh?

“Good! This is quite fresh. You score a 27.”

“What for?”

“Your face is average, so zero points. Your body is decent but wouldn’t you know it, losing points for being tall. Your chest is big, making you come off as vulgar, so more deductions. That gives you a total of 7 points. But you made me laugh, so I’ll add a bonus score of 20, giving you 27 overall.”

What? How could someone be so brazen with sexual harassment?

One clear fact was that this kind of attitude wasn’t the high culture of the martial world.

Any other woman would have run away in shame and tears, but A-Qing remained untouched.

Instead, she was filled with rage.

She couldn’t forgive that jerk.

“Hey, do you have a hole in your mouth? Just blabbering nonsense? Do you poop out of your mouth? Well, I’ll give myself a hundred points and stamp the ‘Well Done’ seal on you!”

“I’m not sure, but it sounds like you want to slap me.”

Pang Dae-san didn’t hide his amusement.

“Go ahead. Give it a shot.”

But there was something Pang Dae-san didn’t know.

Since leaving the martial world, A-Qing rarely held back.

She was the sort who felt unsure whether this was a game or reality, filled with a deep insecurity.

She had no room to endure her impulses.

And if someone dared to provoke her to strike, well…

So, A-Qing clenched her fist.

And then, BAM! She punched Pang Dae-san right on his smooth cheek.

The sight turned Pyo-do’s face pale as a ghost.

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