Chapter 61: Ghost Shadow Thief (2)
Tang Sowol shut the door tightly and locked it carefully, her eyes gleaming.
"So, what shall we play? What shall we play?"
The wounds from the sparring match had already been treated, and the Blood Venom Unit Leader was resting in the adjacent room.
There was no excuse to leave, nor was anyone likely to enter.
In other words, it was just the two of us in this room.
Realizing this, I started to feel a bit nervous. Meanwhile, Tang Sowol, seemingly without a care, was pulling out the golpae (a set of traditional gambling tiles) I had caught a glimpse of earlier in the morning.
Well, it wasn't surprising. Golpae were an old tool, sometimes used for fortune-telling. It wouldn't be strange to find some lying around the Wudang Sect.
Given that they performed rituals and wrote talismans for worshippers, using golpae for divination wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary.
The only issue was that golpae were more commonly associated with gambling.
She shouldn't be getting into this kind of thing already…
"Do you even know how to play? The rules can be quite complicated."
"Of course, I do! The Blood Venom Unit Leader taught me yesterday."
Was it really okay for him to be teaching his lady something like that?
I was a little taken aback, but after hearing the details, it seemed more like he had given her a bit of preventive education—so she wouldn't get scammed somewhere.
"If you bet money, it becomes gambling. And no matter how high your martial arts skills are, you can never beat a seasoned gambler."
"That's true."
People usually think of gamblers as having fancy hand tricks, but in reality, they often exchange hidden signals, manipulate their opponent's thoughts, or even rig the gambling tools themselves.
Just like the Blood Venom Unit Leader said, no matter how skilled you were in martial arts, there were ways to get tricked.
So, the best option was to avoid it entirely... but the more you tell people not to do something, the more they want to try.
If she had never been exposed to it, that would be one thing. But now that she knew about it and was interested, it was better to show her how to enjoy it without betting money.
The Blood Venom Unit Leader had thought this through.
As I was nodding in understanding, Tang Sowol suddenly leaned in, her eyes shining.
"So, how about a wager without money?!"
"...?"
I stared at her, trying to figure out what she meant.
Perhaps due to the Purple Flower Poison Enhancing Grass (a rare poisonous herb) intensifying the poison within her body, her black hair and eyes now carried a faint green hue.
Even before my regression, when I had only seen half of her face, I thought she was beautiful.
Now, with both sides fully revealed, she was breathtaking—enough to hold my gaze all day without growing tired of it.
However, while her appearance remained stunning, her overall demeanor differed significantly from my past memories.
In my previous life, her emotions were faint, barely perceptible. But now, Tang Sowol reacted vividly, like a budding sprout full of life.
Her crescent-shaped smile, the faint puff of breath from her nose, the way her lips twitched as if she were always ready to laugh—her anticipation was palpable.
And when she leaned in close to me, the scent from her body drifted over, drawing my attention to her figure—one that even loose-fitting clothes couldn't completely conceal.
Without realizing it, I turned my head and asked,
"…Aren't you a little too close?"
Ever since the misunderstanding between us had been resolved, Tang Sowol had been acting comfortably around me.
But this level of proximity? It had happened only a handful of times.
Her response, however, was completely nonchalant—like she didn't see any problem at all.
"Hm? We're betrothed now, so isn't this fine?"
"Betrothal and marriage are different."
More specifically, the difference lay in whether or not I'd have to fight Tang Jincheon, the Poison King, in a forced duel if we crossed a certain line.
Of course, it didn't seem like Tang Sowol cared about that at all.
Slide.
She gently cupped my cheeks with both hands and pulled me closer.
The touch of her slender fingers and the unfamiliar warmth of her body sent heat surging through my head.
Our gazes locked at the suddenly shortened distance.
Then, in a firm but playful tone, she asked,
"So? Are you in or out?"
Her words suggested a choice, but her eyes made it clear that she knew I wouldn't refuse.
And really, at this point, did I even have a choice?
She understood me all too well.
"Fine. So what's the wager?"
"Hm. Let's see… A favor, perhaps? The loser grants the winner one request."
"A favor?"
"Yes! Of course, nothing unreasonable or excessive."
"That's not a bad idea."
Saying that, I reached out and touched Tang Sowol's cheek in return.
I wasn't about to be the only one flustered here. This much payback was only fair.
In the past, she had always kept her right side covered due to the poison that eroded her skin.
But now, there was nothing but soft, smooth skin beneath my fingers.
"I guess I should start thinking about what I'll have you do for me."
"Ugh!"
Tang Sowol's face flushed instantly, caught off guard.
Like a startled cat whose tail had been stepped on, she jumped back with a flustered expression.
"Th-then let's start right away! Best of three—whoever wins twice first takes the victory!"
"I don't mind."
Tang Sowol poured the golpae onto the floor.
And then—
"Wh-what?!?"
She leapt up from her seat, screaming in despair.
Her face had gone pale as if she had seen a ghost.
But no matter how shocked she was, the outcome wouldn't change.
"Why… why am I getting completely wiped out, Cheon Hwi-da?! Don't tell me…!"
"What? You just learned the rules yesterday. Where did you get the confidence that you'd win?"
"I didn't expect you to be this good! Wait, you're not even that old yet—how are you so experienced?!"
"If you were paying attention, you should've realized it the moment I asked if you were sure about this instead of questioning the rules."
"Just answer me already! You're not… cheating, are you?! Just what kind of outrageous request are you planning to make me fulfill?!"
"I never cheated. It was purely a difference in skill. Ah, and to be fair, you were also quite unlucky."
"No, but seriously—how did this even happen?!"
"I was going to tell you even if you didn't rush me. It's nothing too grand. It's just that, when I was young, I spent some time running errands and barely scraping by in a gambling house."
"...What?"
Well, that was only half true. When I was too young to be given proper tasks, I did work at a gambling house run by the Red Sand Gang for a while.
But that wasn't the main reason.
After I joined the Dark Soul Unit, I finally got my hands on some money and went all in on purchasing martial arts manuals.
At one point, I heard a rumor that a gambler affiliated with the Hao Clan was wagering a Rising Sword Technique in a gambling match.
The deal was simple: if I won, I would get the martial arts manual; if I lost, I had to pay ten gold taels.
Back then, due to the Dark Soul Unit Leader's petty restrictions, I couldn't access the good techniques stored in their archives.
I had never learned the Rising Sword Technique before, and techniques of that caliber were rarely up for sale. So, desperate, I took the chance.
...I didn't expect to lose twenty times in a row.
At first, that gambler was thrilled to be draining my gold. But after ten rounds, he started going quiet. By the twentieth, he just handed over the manual and pleaded with me.
He wanted me to forget everything that had happened.
He was probably scared I'd hold a grudge and come for revenge.
To be fair, I was frustrated and pissed off, but I never planned on retaliation. So, I accepted his offer.
After that, we became somewhat acquainted, and he shared some insight about gambling.
He said that in one or two rounds, anyone might win. But for a complete amateur like me, going up against a professional gambler? I was bound to get cleaned out.
At the very least, he was decent enough not to cheat outright—he just took my money fair and square.
Later, he ended up wagering elixirs in another gambling match and got his head chopped off by a temperamental unorthodox master.
That so-called master was eventually hunted down and executed by the Hao Clan, but by then, the gambler was long dead.
Since then, I swore off gambling halls entirely.
Anyway, my golpae skills now were the remnants of that desperate struggle to obtain the Rising Sword Technique.
For Tang Sowol, who had just barely learned the rules, defeating me was an impossible feat.
After losing two consecutive rounds in our best-of-three match, she collapsed onto the floor like a squirrel who had lost its acorn, utterly devastated.
I chuckled at her miserable expression.
"Well, now. Since I won, that means I get to make a request. What should I ask for…"
"Ugh! You were only thinking about martial arts anyway, weren't you?!"
Tang Sowol bit her lip and dramatically flopped onto the bed, shouting in an exaggeratedly tragic tone.
"You'll just ignore a bothersome person like me and run off to discuss martial arts with your seniors, won't you?!"
"…What are you even talking about?"
I sighed, exasperated.
"We already agreed to spend the evening together, remember? And yes, I do love martial arts, but there's something else I like just as much, right in front of me. So where exactly do you think I'd be going?"
It took her a moment to fully process my words.
Then, her face turned red as she tried and failed to suppress a pleased smile.
But as if suddenly realizing something, she looked down at herself—only to freeze.
Finally noticing how exposed she was in front of me, she yanked the blanket over herself, cocooning up like a silkworm.
Only her face peeked out as she cautiously asked,
"Th-Then… what exactly are you going to make me do?"
"It's nothing much. I just wanted to know—what is it that you want from me, to the point that you'd go this far just to ask?"
"…Ah."
Tang Sowol flinched as if I had struck a nerve.
She curled up slightly, hesitating, before finally straightening and speaking again.
"Was it… that obvious?"
"Not really. It just seemed a bit unnatural that instead of asking me directly, you used a favor as an excuse."
"Hmph. You act like you don't pay attention to me, but you actually understand me quite well, don't you?"
"Who knows? Maybe it's just that I'm watching you when you're not looking at me."
"…Okay, that was kind of creepy."
"..."
"I was joking. Don't worry."
Still bundled in the blanket, she giggled and lightly tapped my thigh with her forehead.
As I stretched my legs out, she took it as an invitation and laid her head on my lap, looking up at me.
"You're right, Cheon Hwi-da. There was something I was curious about, but I couldn't figure out how to bring it up."
"Then let's do this. My wish is for you to tell me what's on your mind."
"You know, every time we have a conversation like this, I feel like I really lucked out with my fiancé."
Chuckling to herself, she cleared her throat before continuing.
"Ahem. First, I want to make one thing clear—I'm not suspicious, nor am I jealous. Please keep that in mind."
"…That just makes me more nervous, but alright. I'll keep that in mind."
I nodded, and after a brief pause, she finally spoke.
"Cheon Hwi-da, you once said that when you look at me, you think of someone else, correct?"
"I also told you that person no longer exists in this world."
"…Then, do you also think of that person when you look at Seol Lihyang?"
An unexpected question.
But I understood what she was trying to ask.
Tang Sowol had realized it.
She had noticed that when I saw Seol Lihyang, memories of the past—of the Demonic Sound Witch from my previous life—came rushing back to me.
I hesitated for a long time, choosing my words carefully.
And finally, I spoke.
"…I—"
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Happy New Year!