136 – Martial Realm Nymph #6
I heard that in ancient times, people used to barter instead of trading with currency.
If I brought rice, the other person would catch a chicken to give to me.
They would bring goods that both parties acknowledged and found acceptable for trade.
Fairness.
This was a natural concept in transactions.
What if someone’s profit was unusually large when proposing a trade?
It meant that there was something wrong.
“Haildo. I will help you win the martial arts tournament. I would also like you to take Xiao Xiao to Korea. Let’s mutually benefit each other. Isn’t this a good trade?”
It was a good trade.
It was overly beneficial for me.
So, it was a problem.
“This proposal is too favorable for me. What’s your ulterior motive?”
From what I heard from Lady Tang Yong-yong, the Tang family specializes in hypnosis and poison.
Those who use poison and hypnosis are adept in deceit and tactics.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that this meeting was some kind of trap.
“Ulterior motive? What kind of ulterior motive?”
Buzz buzz—
Tang So-hae gathered bees with her palm.
I was tense, but Inoi was greatly impressed.
“I just noticed that those bees resemble the Bascir bees…! Bascir bees are nymph-friendly bees whose honey is incredibly sweet, almost as sweet as the candy made by honey ants…!”
I was also familiar with Bascir bees.
They commonly appeared in D Rank Rifts and were all quite large.
Thinking about how the queen bee’s essence had stuck to my shoes and how Seo Ye-rim had used it to tease me, those bees were unforgettable in many ways.
“They are said to be incredibly cute…! This Inoi, once loved bees so much that there was a time I wanted to become a nymph of honey!”
A nymph of honey.
It was said to be a nymph that befriends bees and can handle them freely.
Is it true that a nymph of ditch water can evolve by consuming special honey?
But now that I looked again, the bees from Tang So-hae seemed closer to pumpkin bees, with their plump butts, than regular bees.
Bzzzz—
Bzzzz—
Honestly, they were very cute.
Imagining them burying their faces in flowers and sticking their butts up made me smile.
Just then, Tang So-hae blushed and shouted.
“What’s wrong with bees? Though I am called the Poison Bee now, I was originally a phoenix! Xiao Xiao, that guy appeared one day and took my title, demoting me to a bee…!”
Poison Bee and Poison Phoenix.
The similar sounds had a vastly different meaning.
For me, it felt like going from “Legend Haildo” to “Normal Haildo.”
“Still, I think even poison bees seem cute.”
Bees.
Aren’t they cute?
“Bee Haildo.”
Isn’t that a wonderful title, even if it’s not as legendary?
So, “Bee Tang So-hae” also sounded like a splendid title.
“C-cute…?”
Tang So-hae’s face flushed bright red.
Soon, she spoke.
“Everyone was busy laughing; you’re the first person to say I’m cute…! You must be trying to mock me…! I won’t be fooled…! I’ve decided to defeat Xiao Xiao and become a Shura…!”
Anyway.
I could clearly see that Tang So-hae despised Xiao Xiao.
Xiao Xiao has never been particularly popular among girls of the same sex, and it seemed to be the same in China.
In Tang So-hae’s case, it appeared she believed Xiao Xiao had taken her title and achievements.
“Anyway, take Xiao Xiao to Korea. Then I can regain my status and authority in this vast martial realm of China. I will become the head of the Tang Clan, and if I can obtain the ‘Tang Clan’s Secret Manual’….”
Hehehe—
Tang So-hae laughed with a somewhat sinister vibe.
But she didn’t seem like a bad person.
It seemed that these cute “Bascir bees” followed her very well.
“The Bascir bees are picky in nature, and if you don’t take care of them, they’ll just fly away…! I am curious how this Inoi has managed to tame them…!”
Inoi showed great interest in Tang So-hae.
I guess she wanted to pet the adorable bees!
At that moment.
Illinois, who had briefly gone out for a walk and returned to the hotel room, frowned dramatically.
“Who is this disgusting woman…? For some reason, I smell the scent of the poison nymph…! The poison nymph is completely incompatible with me and cannot be together…!”
Illinois clenched her round fists.
She immediately charged at Tang So-hae, swinging her fists wildly.
Just then, Tang So-hae grabbed Illinois’s hand.
“Tang Clan’s Elixir.”
I was very surprised.
It was the first time I had seen Illinois’s wild flailing blocked.
Inoi was surprised too.
“The fact that she countered the Nymph technique means she knows a lot about nymphs…! I felt it earlier with the bees, but that Core Tang So-hae is definitely related to nymphs…!”
“Counter? How old do you think I am to have physically mastered martial arts? You can’t injure me with such clumsy punches.”
“Muhuh, do you not understand math? That Illinois has two hands…!”
“…What?”
Illinois used her ungripped hand to punch Tang So-hae in the stomach.
Unexpectedly struck in the abdomen, Tang So-hae fell, and Illinois proceeded to beat her as if to express her resentment.
“Just quietly acknowledge America’s supremacy…! Accept the wave of liberalism…! Let’s do this…!”
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud…
“Aaaargh~!”
I had felt it for a while now; Illinois just liked to beat people up. Was it a characteristic of nymphs?
No, considering that Coris and Inoi didn’t act that way, it was probably just Illinois’s characteristic.
“Feeling refreshed…?”
However, Tang So-hae, who got up after being hit, looked significantly surprised.
It seemed her body felt lighter.
Soon, Illinois chuckled.
“I have properly purified the disgusting poison energy…! This is something only I, the nymph of medication, can do…! My hands are truly healing hands…!”
# # #
“I’ll send Xiao Xiao back to Korea. In exchange, give me the ‘Tang Clan’s Secret Manual.’ If I have that, I can become the legitimate head of the Tang Clan.”
Tang So-hae expressed her desire to become the head of the Tang Clan.
She didn’t explain why, but her expression looked serious.
“If it’s a secret manual, is it this?”
I showed Tang So-hae the secret manual I received from Lady Tang Yong-yong, and she was greatly astonished.
“That’s the real ‘Tang Clan’s Secret Manual!’ So it turns out Aunt Tang Yong-yong stole it! If this… if only this existed…! Have you read the contents inside…!?”
“I have read it.”
Read it, and what? The inside was blank.
“Do you want to read it too?”
“No way! Only the heads of the Tang Clan can read its contents!”
Saying that, Tang So-hae slowly reached out and snatched the secret manual from my hand.
Then she opened the book without hesitation and gasped in shock.
“What is this? It’s blank!”
“I was surprised too.”
“This… this is….”
Tang So-hae tsked in dismay and frustration.
As I felt earlier, it seemed like there was something behind it.
Soon, Tang So-hae clenched her fists.
“Still, it’s worth researching. Haildo, if you win, give me that book and the Gongcheongseokyu. Then I will take responsibility and promise to send Xiao Xiao back to Korea!”
The terms of the deal became a bit clearer.
Was it right to hold Tang So-hae’s hand here?
I became curious all of a sudden.
“You said you would help me. How are you going to help?”
“Do you not trust me? I will mix this special vitamin of the Tang Clan into the participants’ lunch. Then they will feel severe chills and abdominal pain, running back and forth to the bathroom.”
Indeed.
The plan was to mix medicine into the meal to throw other competitors off balance and help me win.
It was a very effective method.
I pondered how to respond to this.
“Tang So-hae, I will refuse your proposal.”
“What?”
It was too cowardly a tactic.
Go ahead and win like that.
News would spread online that Haildo won the martial arts tournament through cowardly methods—then I would surely receive all sorts of hateful comments!
Would I tarnish my proud career all on my own?
# # #
Tang So-hae thought Haildo would accept her proposal.
Though she was left behind by Xiao Xiao, she was still the sub-head of the Tang Clan.
Administering drugs to others’ meals was an easy task, and that way, Haildo would win the martial arts tournament without lifting a finger.
However—
Haildo rejected it.
“Winning like that is meaningless. It’s true that I came to this land of China to save Xiao Xiao, but having decided to participate in the tournament, this matter is also tied to my future.”
I want to fight fairly—.
To insist on such a stale logic that no longer appeared even in old martial arts movies or novels!
Tang So-hae felt a chill run up her spine.
“Are you stupid? Haildo, I know you’re great, but honestly, I can’t beat you either! Do you think you can face the Scarlet Swordsman Liu Hua? The cowardly one is the winner, and only the winner is just!”
The awakened one from the continent adhered to the logic of power.
Only strong power is the truth.
Winning by any means necessary was all that mattered.
In this world, the one who wins, albeit cowardly and in a dirty way, is honored and thrives more than one who is fairly defeated.
‘That cowardly girl Xiao Xiao was like that too!’
Tang So-hae recalled the time she lost to Xiao Xiao.
The girl won cowardly, yet it was Tang So-hae who ended up being mocked and criticized.
‘This man doesn’t know that. That the world is only about power and victory…!’
Tang So-hae wanted to show this man, who was oblivious to the ways of the world, a harsh lesson.
Tang So-hae was A Rank.
Haildo was powerful but still B Rank.
The difference was as great as that between a crow and a phoenix.
If she could show such a difference in power, he would come to his senses and take her hand.
“Calm down.”
“No, I can’t calm down! Haildo! I have to show you the bitter taste of the world! Justice? Chivalry? Such things do not exist in this world! What exists is only winners and losers—.”
At that moment, as Tang So-hae was about to unleash her inner power, she felt a chill run through her.
Her whole body felt every hair stand on end.
When she regained her composure, Haildo’s many powerful beasts were gazing at her with shining eyes.
The cute mannerisms they displayed while roaming around the hotel room were completely gone, now resembling a unified military force.
‘W-What are these guys…?’
Each one of them was an entity that wouldn’t be surprising even if they became the leader of fierce rifts.
Tang So-hae found herself frozen, like a novice trapped in a rift full of horrifying demons.
In such a situation, Haildo spoke leisurely.
“Everyone calm down. Tang So-hae will not harm me.”
It turned out that Haildo was soothing not Tang So-hae but his own animals.
Meow—
At that moment, the animals began to lazily lie on their backs or move around, and thanks to that, Tang So-hae’s frozen body felt like it was slowly thawing.
“Ah… anyway, Haildo! You will regret this!”
Pat!
Tang So-hae ran away just like that.
As she opened the door, she bumped into someone; the woman was very famous, and even Tang So-hae recognized her at a glance.
“Seo Ye-rim…!”
“You’re the A Rank 4th of China, Tang So-hae, right? It seems you were thinking about easily manipulating Haildo, but looks like you got cleanly hit instead. Did you think that hunk of metal could be swayed by someone like you?”
“…….”
Tang So-hae felt frustrated but had nothing to retort with.
Battling Seo Ye-rim here would be as foolish as pouring oil and jumping into lava.
Pababat—
Tang So-hae fled away.
Seo Ye-rim then entered the hotel room and showed Haildo a small paper.
“Haildo, your match schedule has come out. However, the odds of being eliminated from the start are high. Your opponent is the Scarlet Swordsman Liu Hua. He’s A Rank 1 in China.”
