The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel

“Does that man wish to keep treating me like a prostitute?!”

Enraged, Moyong Sang-ah threw the [Conduct Guide for Joseon Women] she had been reading against the wall.

It had been a while since she had felt this angry.

Not even when her brother overwhelmingly defeated her in front of the servants had she been this furious. At that time, she had felt more embarrassed and ashamed. But a similar emotion had flared in her not too long ago.

Right. She had been this angry when she first met that man.

‘You’re like a kite with its string cut, too much talk for a woman. Just shut up and pour the wine, you wench! Whether I buy a gisaeng with my money or our family buys you, it’s all the same! What? Can’t pour wine? Then just prepare to throw tantrums in bed.’

His face appraised her as if she were an object while he was drunk. His eyes, shimmering with desire. And the verbal abuse she had never heard in her life.

That she was this angry in her life, and again, it was because of that man. Moyong Sang-ah felt the hatred for her fiancé rise again from deep within her heart.

The content of the book was not about Joseon’s culture or the etiquette foreign women should follow in Joseon.

Ways for a woman to court a man

Ways for a woman to act coy towards a man

Ways for a woman to support a man

Ways for a woman to provide sexual services to a man

The most shocking section was about providing sexual services. The others could be considered ways to live harmoniously with one’s husband. But sexual services? Weren’t those what prostitutes did?

Of course, Moyong Sang-ah knew how children were made.

Her mother had passed away during her birth, but she had learned about it indirectly through sexual education from an old maid and books.

But that was about how to make a child, not about providing sexual services.

It was as shocking as showing a child who thought swinging a branch was all there was to swordsmanship, the true essence of sword energy by a martial artist.

It was too shocking and also displeasing.

Kang Yun-ho edited this book. Was he implying that she should learn these things to serve him? How was this different from being a prostitute?

Enjoying the pleasures of love between men and women (雲雨之樂) didn’t necessarily carry such a meaning.

However, for Moyong Sang-ah, who only knew about the way to make children, receiving such a book from the man who treated her like a gisaeng felt insulting.

To calm her mind, Moyong Sang-ah adopted a meditation posture for Qi cultivation. As she took a deep breath, her pectoral muscles moved significantly, making her already noticeable chest even more prominent.

She had to regain her composure.

Even if that man had given her the book to insult her, the fact that she would be tested on its contents remained unchanged. If she failed the test due to her feelings of insult, she would have to retake it in front of the servants the next day.

‘There is a service involving the breasts. What is its name?’

‘Breast-ss…’

‘Huh? I can’t hear you well. Speak up.’

Moyong Sang-ah imagined that man’s mocking voice, the laughing guests, the pitying servants, and the angry subordinates. Could she endure such a situation if it ever came to pass?

The thought of such a potential situation made Moyong Sang-ah tremble with indignation.

Such a situation must never occur. To prevent it, she must accept the book not as an insult but as knowledge.

Having calmed her anger, Moyong Sang-ah looked at the book she had thrown. She wasn’t mentally prepared to accept it yet. In that case, she decided to read the unopened [Collection of Joseon Folk Tales] first.

So, Moyong Sang-ah tried to ignore the [Conduct Guide for Joseon Women] and opened the [Collection of Joseon Folk Tales].

“She would properly read the collection of folk tales,”

I murmured quietly, lying in the room arranged for me after meeting the elders of the Moyong Family.

The [Conduct Guide for Joseon Women] was a fake book about Joseon customs created to deceive anyone who might read it, with the exception of Moyong Sang-ah.

If someone were to take a test on Joseon customs and etiquette, who would first check the [Collection of Joseon Folk Tales]? Naturally, they would begin with the [Conduct Guide for Joseon Women].

The [Conduct Guide for Joseon Women] aimed to make readers shake their heads at the strange customs of a foreign ethnicity.

Of course, some of my fantasies were also mixed there. But since it’s a fantasy that would make one shake their head, it shouldn’t matter.

The [Conduct Guide for Joseon Women] contained content that would enrage even the calm Moyong Sang-ah. However, unlike others, Moyong Sang-ah could not simply discard this peculiar book.

She must read and study it and do so with great care.

Then, she would turn to the storybook, which at least contained standard content.

My strategy was hidden within that storybook.

“Please work out. Please let it work.”

The princess heroine was a figure of strength, so you were not a character of intelligence, were you, Moyong Sang-ah? Please come to that realization.

‘Masked Princess’

One story in the collection captured Moyong Sang-ah’s attention.

It was the story of a cursed princess from a land far away, thousands of miles from the Central Plains and Joseon.

Born beautiful, she was adored and cherished by everyone. Even a beggar she accidentally met on the streets received her pity, and she arranged food and shelter for him—a truly kind-hearted child.

The royal palace resonated with praise for her, and the whole country wished her well in her future, except for her jealous stepmother.

The stepmother cast a curse she learned from a certain sect on the princess.

A curse that forced the princess to wear a haunted mask forever. Numerous Taoist priests and monks attempted to cure her, but the sorcery proved unbreakable.

The princess suffered from hallucinations and delusions, driven to madness. The demons of the mask tormented her without respite.

Those who loved her gradually vanished from around her. Her father, who never gave up on her, was poisoned by the stepmother, and the kingdom fell into the stepmother’s clutches.

“A girl who can’t remove her mask has become Jeolyeong Umyeon (絶纓優面). Could there be anything more ridiculous? Be gone. There’s no place for you in this castle.”

Jeolyeong Umyeon (絶纓優面), a clown mask with a broken string, which symbolized a pitiable state with nowhere to turn. She left the royal castle, but no one would care for a woman believed to be possessed by spirits.

Except for one man.

A wealthy young man took her as his bride. Despite people pointing fingers, the young man welcomed her as his wife. She was moved and swore to love her husband forever.

The Masked Princess was elated to be loved again. But she was mistaken.

From the first day of their marriage, her husband tormented her relentlessly, both physically and mentally.

“Just kill him.”

“Poison his food.”

“I’ll strangle him in his sleep.”

Even the spirits were appalled by his cruelty and urged her to kill the young man.

“No. I will continue to love my husband. There must be something wrong with me.”

But despite her thoughts and efforts, her husband remained unchanged. Eventually, even the demons grew weary of the spectacle.

“Boring.”

“Even when showing hallucinations and delusions, she lives righteously. It’s tiresome.”

One by one, the spirits in the mask began to depart.

In the end, when the last spirit left, her husband stood before her, weeping.

“My lady. In truth, I am the beggar you saved when you were young.”

The husband revealed his true identity to the princess and continued.

“When my lady was cursed, I traveled the country to find a way to break it. I learned that the curse would break if my lady maintained her kind nature and love for others, even in situations that were unbearable, even for spirits. Although it was to break the curse, tormenting my savior tore my heart into a thousand pieces. But now that the curse is broken, it feels like divine intervention. Now, leave me and go back.”

“No, my lord. Even when I faced the situation of Jeolyeong Umyeon (絶纓優面), I didn’t lose my love for you. How can my love for you change just because my situation has improved? Now that the curse is broken, I have truly become Jeolyeong Umyeon (絶纓優面). Let’s live happily from now on.”

Afterward, the princess reclaimed her kingdom and lived a long and happy life with the man who truly loved her.

Something was suspicious.

That was Moyong Sang-ah’s impression after reading the story.

The content followed the format of the folktales she had heard in her youth. A persecuted protagonist overcoming trials and achieving happiness, with a moral lesson included.

If one had to pick a single lesson from the Masked Princess, it would be ‘No matter how badly the husband behaves, there’s a reason, so treat him with love.’ However, the content seemed somewhat off.

‘It’s too similar to my own situation.’

Trapped in a family conspiracy, marrying into a wealthy family, and the husband’s extremely vile nature. If Kang Yun-ho edited this folktale book, too, there must be some intention behind it.

‘Is he suggesting I just become a good wife and mother?’

If the intention behind leaving the story of the Masked Princess was as she suspected, it’s even stranger. In the end, wasn’t the husband actually a good person? But Kang Yun-ho was just a worthless man.

Also, the term Jeolyeong Umyeon (絶纓優面) mentioned in the story was problematic. A mask with a broken string. In Korean…

‘A woman like a kite with its string cut.’

He first said it to her when they met and again in his last words today.

Something was fishy.

Moyong Sang-ah began to reread the text slowly. As she carefully read it again, she noticed something peculiar about the story of the Masked Princess.

“The font of certain words is different.”

Upon closer inspection, she realized that the same words were repeatedly written in different fonts. It couldn’t be a coincidence that the words with different fonts seemed to be written with a fine brush, being slightly thinner than the others.

The most noticeable word with a different font was undoubtedly

‘Ma (魔)’

Could it be…? Moyong Sang-ah hurriedly fetched her brush and ink and started to transcribe the words with different fonts one by one.

“This, what on earth is this…”

Moyong Sang-ah couldn’t even blink at the words written before her.

[I] [Want] [To] [Talk] [To] [You] [In] [Sec] [ret]

A cold chill ran down her spine.