Chapter 3: The identity of the masked woman

Before that shout could even die down, the woman in her thirties beside me, wearing a small sword, immediately raised the price.
“5500 jeon!”

None of the five women sitting in the front row seemed surprised by this absurd price.
They wore expressions as if it were perfectly normal.

A momentary look of bewilderment flashed across the auctioneer’s face.
But only for a moment, his expression changed.
He seemed to have realized something.
“He’s a boy born with a Harmonious Body! 5500 jeon! Are there any higher bidders?”

He looked at me with new eyes and raised his voice as much as he could.
“18,500 jeon!”

The price snowballed.

The atmosphere in the auction house changed.

The people in the back seats held their breath and watched the women in the front row.
The war of the titans had begun.

The women in the front row glanced at each other, engaging in a subtle war of nerves.

In particular, the psychological warfare between the woman with the small sword and the middle-aged beauty was the fiercest.

They threw sharp glances at each other every time they called out a price.

This, this must be a good thing, right?

It was better than being sold off for a pittance, at least.

But I couldn’t understand why such a high price was being formed.

A Harmonious Body?
Did I choose such a trait?

“29,500 jeon!”

My heart pounded with each rise and fall of the numbers.

The women’s war of nerves over me reached its peak.

Those who could no longer participate in the bidding after it exceeded 20,000 jeon sighed and left their seats, but the war of nerves in the front row continued.

“29,500 jeon for the last…”

The auctioneer’s voice wasn’t even finished when.
“250,000 jeon!”

Clang-

A teacup slipped from someone’s hand and shattered on the floor.

But no one even cared about the sound.

All eyes turned to the masked woman who had jumped up from her seat.

W, what is this…

My mouth dropped open without me realizing it.
The price, which had been 29,000 jeon just a moment ago, had soared to 250,000 in an instant.

“D*mn it! I should have brought more money!”

The middle-aged beauty muttered in an angry voice.
“251,000 jeon.”

The woman with the small sword called out the price with difficulty, gritting her teeth.

She looked as if she were tearing off pieces of her own flesh to throw away.
“270,000 jeon.”

But the masked woman’s answer was as calm as if she were speaking into empty air.

It was a nonchalant tone, as if ordering food, like a common everyday conversation.

The woman with the small sword glared at the masked woman.
Her face was venomous.

But no emotion could be read from the masked woman’s face.

The black silk mask completely covered her face, and only her calm-looking eyes shone through the gaps in the silk.
“T… This is a rare case…”

The auctioneer stammered for a moment.

His gaze wandered around the auction house as if searching.
I could read his uneasy eyes.

He seemed worried about the possibility of the winning bidder not being able to pay in such a high-value transaction, as it was a nightmarish moment that often happened even in the game.
“A… At 270,000 jeon, sold…”

His trembling voice wasn’t even finished when.

Whoosh-

The sound of the masked woman reaching into her bosom was heard.
And something sparkled from her fingertips.
“T, that’s…”
“No way…”

The auction house suddenly began to stir.

Some people jumped up from their seats, while others craned their necks.

All eyes were on the woman’s hand.
“I… It’s a Imperial Gold Coin!”

Someone’s shout echoed through the auction house.
That rare currency, minted only by the court, the Imperial Gold Coin, worth dozens of times more than an ordinary gold coin, was emitting a faint light from the woman’s fingertips.

The value was important, but the most important thing was that it was gold.
Even if it was a forgery, gold was still gold, and it was worth about 70% of the real thing.
“Will this be enough?”

She said in a calm voice, handing over the currency.

The auction manager accepted the Imperial Gold Coin and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Take the boy.”

The auction manager said politely.

Just as my new master was about to be decided, the woman with the small sword stood up abruptly.
“I can pay more! The sect’s building…”

She shouted, driven to the edge.

The auctioneer raised his hand to stop her.
“The auction is already complete. The money has been paid.”
“But!”
“I’m sorry, but no further objections can be accepted.”

The auction manager seemed to be out of his mind with the Imperial Gold Coin.

The masked woman reached out her hand to me.
“Let’s go.”

I took her hand.

If it’s a sect that paid this much money… it must be a famous place.

I felt relieved for the time being, and at the same time, my tension was released.

Growl

I flinched at the sudden sound of my stomach.

I felt the masked woman’s gaze and shrank my shoulders.

The masked woman turned her head towards me.

I couldn’t tell what her expression was.
Only her eyes were the only part of her face that was visible.
“You must be hungry.”

It was a calm voice.
There was no sense of intimidation or coldness.
Just calm.
“Yes…”
“I was about to have a meal soon too.”

I took the woman’s hand and went out into the street.

And…

The world of Wind and Cloud Murim that I had dreamed of was unfolding before my eyes.

I turned my head and looked around more closely.

The general scenery of the street was still the image of men leading and women following.

However, among the Murim people, that order was completely reversed.

A group of male Murim warriors passed by.
The swords on their waists sparkled in the sunlight.

Soon after, two female Murim warriors wearing gorgeous silk clothes crossed in front of them.

In an instant, the male Murim warriors quickly made way and bowed politely.

Watching that scene, I finally arrived at my destination.
“Let’s go in.”

The smell of food wafting from the restaurant permeated the air.
“Two bowls of noodles and a plate of dumplings.”

The woman ordered noodles and dumplings.

Come to think of it, that woman hasn’t taken off her mask yet.

Is her face ugly?

Or maybe she has burns or pockmarks.

In the original game, the first companion was usually a beauty if she was a woman, but there’s no guarantee that it’ll be the same here.

Since she had to take off her mask to eat, I would be able to see the woman’s face once we were in the restaurant.

The woman slowly took off her mask.

And finally, her face was revealed.
“Ah!”

I exclaimed without realizing it.

She was beautiful enough to warrant it.

Her beauty was comparable to the main female character of Wind and Cloud Murim that I had painstakingly customized.

Also surprising was her age.

She looked no more than twenty-one at most.

It was a completely different impression from the calm voice I had heard from behind the mask.

A smile formed on the young woman’s lips.
“Is my face that surprising?”
“Ah… No… That’s…”

A young woman like this having as much as 270,000 jeon…

Of course, it’s not a bad thing.

The richer she is, the stronger the sect I’ll be joining, and that will be my backing.
“S, so I’m joining a Murim sect, right?”
“Why do you think so?”
“Because you wouldn’t pay that much money just to use me as a male toy.”

A smile spread across the woman’s lips.

Her eyes became even softer.
“You’re a clever child. That’s right. You’ll belong to the same place as me.”
“If it’s not too much to ask, what sect are you… affiliated with…”
“Don’t call me affiliated. I’m not that old.”
“Ah, I know! You’re beautiful!”

The woman smiled slightly at my heartfelt answer.

‘So what’s the name of our sect?’

The restaurant was moderately crowded.
The woman looked around for a moment.
“Thousand Slaughter Valley.”
“Pardon?”

I stopped holding my chopsticks.
The woman’s eyes sharpened.
“Thousand Slaughter Valley. It’s more of an assassin group than a sect, but…”

The woman paused for a moment, picked up her teacup, took a sip, and continued.
“In some ways, we’re also a Murim sect.”
“Thousand Slaughter Valley…”

I was about to pick up a dumpling but hesitated and mulled over the name.

In the ‘Becoming a s*ave Master’ scenario, there was definitely a very low probability that an assassin group, not an ordinary black society, would buy the protagonist.

And in that scenario, the person who bought the protagonist was always a female master.

But even so, the reason I hadn’t thought that far was simple.

In this world, the big shots of the black Murim were all women.
“W, what kind of martial arts does Thousand Slaughter Valley use? If it’s an assassin group, quick sword techniques? Or maybe hidden weapon techniques?”
“We use both. I’ll show you now.”

Show me now?

In a restaurant?

I was about to ask again because I couldn’t understand for a moment.
“I know you’ve been following me since earlier.”
“I didn’t expect you to follow me to the restaurant, but why don’t you come out now?”

The woman suddenly shouted towards a distant place.

Her voice was laced with a different coldness than before.

Only then did I look around.
“Tch, it’s because of you.”
“No, it’s because you were being so slow, lady.”

Two women appeared.
They were the faces I had seen at the auction earlier.

The middle-aged woman (downgraded from a beauty to a woman after seeing the masked woman’s face) and the female Murim warrior with the small sword.

They had been grinding their teeth at each other at the auction, but now they seemed to have formed an awkward alliance.

With their appearance, men stood up from all over the restaurant.

A total of five people.
All of them were exuding the aura of Murim warriors.

They naturally created a formation that surrounded us as if they had agreed on it in advance.
“T, isn’t there too many of them?”

I shouted in a flustered voice.

But the woman’s expression was still calm.
“No, this is just right. It’s a good opportunity to show the martial arts of Thousand Slaughter Valley.”

The woman with the small sword burst into laughter at her calm voice.
“Ha? Thousand Slaughter Valley? Are you saying you’re an assassin from Thousand Slaughter Valley?”
“That’s right.”
“Ridiculous. If you’re an assassin from Thousand Slaughter Valley, then I’m a protector of the Heavenly Demon Sect!”

With those words, the woman with the small sword charged straight ahead.

The woman with the small sword.
A faint smile spread across the lips of Gok Yuha, the young master of the Southern Sect.

It was a smile that reflected her pride in the swordsmanship she had honed for over twenty years.

The opponent looked much younger than she had expected.

She didn’t like that she was prettier than her, younger than her, and had more money than her.

But her young age wasn’t all advantages.

Even if she pretended to be an assassin from Thousand Slaughter Valley, she couldn’t be that great at her age.

The young woman’s hand reached into her bosom.

She also drew a small sword.

The two women’s eyes met in the air.

‘That young girl also uses a small sword. If we compete with the same weapon, the difference in skill will be more evident.’

Gok Yuha thought it might end more anticlimactically than she had expected.

Well, the duel… flowed as she expected.
It ended anticlimactically.

But it was the exact opposite of what she had expected.

A flash of lightning streaked across the sky.

A red line was drawn from Gok Yuha’s forehead.

Death without even a proper scream.

The first to grasp the situation was Gok Yuha’s ally, Ah Se, the head of the small and medium sect, Southern Moon Pavilion.
‘Is that young girl really an assassin from Thousand Slaughter Valley?’

The woman wearing the mask called herself an assassin from Thousand Slaughter Valley.

It was probably true.

At least in this area, there was no sect that could defeat Thousand Slaughter Valley.

If she valued her life, it might be better to back down at this point.

It would be difficult to defeat that woman, and even if she did, she wouldn’t have the ability to stop Thousand Slaughter Valley’s revenge.

But…
‘How can I back down just because I value my life when there’s such a treasure in front of me?’

It was an absurd story.

The boy in front of her could make her, and her daughter, top masters.
‘If I kill that woman here, how will Thousand Slaughter Valley know who killed her?’

Ah Se soon made up her mind.

If she didn’t seize this opportunity, it would be impossible for her to reach the pinnacle of mastery in this life.