Life is Easier If You're Handsome-Chapter 257

From the moment they’re born, all people eventually die.

They just aren’t born for the purpose of dying.

As a child, I realized that truth faster than anyone else.

“The weak die. Because they are weak, because they are pitiful, Heaven takes pity and lets them die.”

Is that why Mother died?

At the time, I couldn’t bring myself to say it aloud.

My father’s words sounded too cold—too solitary.

Like if I approached carelessly, he’d cut me.

“You must grow strong. Stronger.”

What is strength?

My father never stopped repeating that he was “the strongest under Heaven,” though he lived in a narrow, rural village.

He’d boast about uncertain tales from his past.

Talk about being the best.

Flex his prowess before farmers who had never wielded anything but a plow.

What was the point of any of that?

How foolish is it to grip a sword in a land at peace?

From the moment that thought took root—somewhere in my heart, I began to look at my father with pity.

No matter how good the martial arts he taught, no matter how righteous his lessons—

That gaze within me never softened.

If you compare yourself to the heavens and call yourself the strongest, how can you not see how pitiful you are?

An arrogant sky is no sky at all. You mustn’t keep staring at a setting sun.

The moment I realized that, I decided to leave home.

Because in that tiny world, I could never be the best.

From that moment on, I fought like mad to escape the well I was born in.

“Surpass me! If you surpass me, you’ll be the strongest under Heaven!”

The first thing I did was beat my father.

Breaking the link of blood—that endlessly suffocating chain.

And whether it was fortunate or not, I’d inherited his talent.

“Guh-ack...!”

At an early age, I managed to bring him down.

I didn’t kill him. I couldn’t.

It’s not like you can kill someone with a wooden sword.

All I did was sever it.

The chain of blood.

The knot of fate.

Once I cut it that first time, everything else became easy.

I thought I could sever any tie that bound me.

Until she appeared before me.

The woman who said I’d once saved her life.

Who said she nearly lost her chastity, but thanks to me, she kept it.

She came running to me, saying she wanted to stay by my side forever.

No matter how many times I threatened to kill her, she didn’t flinch.

She said she was already living on borrowed time.

That she didn’t care when she died.

And somehow... that reminded me of my mother.

A scent I didn’t even remember began to # Nоvеlight # flood my senses.

And so the urge to kill her grew stronger.

Scrrrrk.

I drew my sword.

The longer blade, and pointed it at her.

“I know. I’ve been dead since that day. You may as well kill me.”

“...”

That was the moment I realized—

I had never once prepared myself to die.

I prided myself on living closer to death than anyone else.

But I had never carried the same resolve she had.

Eyes trembling, tears gathering... and yet she still came toward me.

The fact that she didn’t hesitate even when my blade touched her throat—

Wasn’t because she wasn’t afraid.

But because she had already accepted that fear.

The more I thought about it, the more frightened I became.

Of her—

this woman with delicate wrists, incapable of even lifting a sword.

Because somehow... she seemed to be living stronger than I was.

And so I let the sword fall.

Clatter.

All that talk about being a Musha, a samurai, a warrior on the path of carnage—

All of it lost meaning. My earlier threats now hollow.

I crumbled in the face of her step alone.

“What... what the hell is this...”

I couldn’t cut her. The moment I realized that—

I panicked.

And suddenly—

I embraced her.

Like some dumb animal burying its head in the dirt to feel safe because it can’t see danger—

I did the same.

“...What is your name?”

“What name does a dead woman need? But if you must call me something, then... please choose one.”

“Then... I shall call you Youko.”

Youko.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

The name of the woman who first taught me what death truly looked like.

And the name of the formidable foe I met on the path of carnage.

A woman I must cut—

And perhaps the one I might one day embrace.

Leaving behind that tangled heart,

I picked up the fallen sword.

One arm held the woman.

The other held the blade.

What greater luxury could there be?

“...My heart is still full of chaos.”

Was the path to being the strongest under Heaven always this far?

What kind of illusion was my father chasing all this time?

Wrestling with that question, I slowly raised my eyes to the sky.

And at the same time—

“Cut! Okay! That was perfect!”

With the director’s voice, the mask of Musashi comes off.

***

Kiryu Sota furrowed his brow at the atmosphere Kim Donghu exuded.

To think he could summon such emotional depth in such a short span of time...

There had even been talk, at one point, of turning Musashi into a drama instead of a film.

People claimed the story was too rich for a movie—too short to capture everything it needed to.

But Kiryu Sota had been firm back then:

“There are stories that can only be told because they’re short. They must be short.”

At most, two hours.

There was a kind of emotional density that could only be achieved within that constraint.

That’s what he’d said.

And now he’s actually proving it.

A man barely into his twenties—how could he act with the presence of someone who had accepted death? Who had transcended it?

Good acting, mimicry, perfectly embodying a scripted character—this was beyond that.

He had stepped one level further.

He was acting like someone who had actually lived in that era.

And the most shocking part?

He hadn’t started out like this.

“What in the world happened while you were gone?! Your acting... it’s on another level!”

Kiryu Sota hurried over, unable to hold back his curiosity.

Normally he wasn’t one to ask personal questions like this—but what he’d just witnessed made it impossible to stay quiet.

“It kind of feels like someone really wants me dead.”

Donghu couldn’t exactly answer that honestly.

So he offered a vague excuse—something about the script being great, and how he puts a lot into his preparation.

“You should be complimenting Chisako more than me. Her acting’s improved so much since Cutting the Knot.”

“Haha, well, it’s Chisako. A rising talent with gifts in every area.”

Maybe she’d inherited her father Usami Ken’s talent for acting.

There was definitely something magnetic about Chisako’s performance.

More precisely, it was her voice.

Her vocal projection stood out even among seasoned actors.

The kind of thing you recognize instantly—without even thinking.

“Maybe you could explain what exactly feels different about her acting?”

“Huh?”

“No, I mean... your praise felt a little thin, so I thought maybe a bit more... detail? Haha.”

Apparently Donghu’s compliment hadn’t gone far enough.

From the back, the quiet figure of Usami Ken—

Chisako’s father—suddenly jumped into the conversation.

“Do you know how hard my daughter worked to act alongside you—”

“Dad! Dad! Stop! STOP! STAHP!!!”

Just as he was about to continue, Chisako jumped in, flustered.

Donghu chuckled awkwardly and nodded to show he was fine.

Chisako’s composed, elegant demeanor evaporated as she immediately started scolding her dad.

“How could you say that out loud?! That was supposed to be a secret! You can’t just blurt that out!”

“W-was it? I thought... you wanted people to know...”

“Not like this! And definitely not coming from you!”

Yep—father-daughter dynamics really don’t change based on nationality.

Come to think of it... Dad was always soft when it came to Seohyun too.

Daughters really are the perfect counter to their fathers.

Donghu muttered that to himself and checked his schedule.

“Christmas is almost here, huh...”

Time was flying by.

***

Kim Seohyun, age 7.

Soon to be 8. A healthy and extremely spirited child.

And recently, she’d been hit with some truly shocking news.

“On the 24th... Oppa’s bringing a girl over?!”

“...Where are you even learning to say things like that? Seohyun... she’s just a colleague, coming over for dinner.”

“Then why does it have to be on Christmas Eve? That’s the day we always eat together!”

“Something dangerous happened recently. She helped me through it. She wanted to say thank you with a proper meal.”

Boom.

Dangerous incident.

Even Seohyun had heard about it.

A lunatic had suddenly shown up out of nowhere—with a gun. He’d threatened her brother.

It had been a really serious situation.

If that was the woman who helped during that...

Evelyn Queen Amber.

She knew exactly who that was.

All it took was one glance at any video—and it was obvious the woman had serious heart-eyes for her brother.

Maybe she could fool everyone else—but not her.

Not Seohyun!

“I have to protect Oppa!”

She knew the dark schemes lurking behind that woman’s pretty face!

“Okay then! If that’s what it is... I guess I can’t object. BUT! BUT!”

Having dinner with the family on Christmas Eve?

That was clearly a declaration of war.

A message that she planned to become Seohyun’s sister-in-law.

“Hmph! My oppa’s still in his twenties!”

Marriage? Absolutely not happening.

There were still so many amusement parks they hadn’t gone to.

She couldn’t just let someone snatch him away.

Kim Seohyun, nearly 8 years old, snorted defiantly and made her decision.

But before that—

“By the way, that Evelyn unnie asked if we’re going to do a Dezni World tour on Christmas Eve. What should I tell her?”

“G-going! I’m going!”

There was no way she could say no to Dezni World.