Samurai Shinjoo: Introduction

The shogunate is gone; now, a democratically elected government governs the country. The samurai are unemployed. This is the new economy.

Swish

And the heads of two living beings came off in a clean sweep, a torrent of blood gushed from their now headless standing corpses. It was gory, but Shinjoo didn't flinch.

His task was accomplished, now was the time to receive payment. Shinjoo had always been reluctant to request compensation because he previously served the Shogunate as a samurai. His self-esteem took time to decline, allowing him to ask for money. But this was the new gig economy. Samurai were jobless, and most of them now worked as freelancers; the best became assassins, as it paid handsomely.

After receiving his payment from the farmer, Shinjoo wiped the blood off his sword with a rag and proceeded to the unofficial guild. The guild was a place where people posted gigs. It was established by the current government to employ the samurai, as most of them were causing chaos by cutting things. This initiative would benefit the community and the samurai. There was a fine line between legal and illegal here, but that decision rested with the samurai.

Shinjoo was skilled with his katana. He could have easily been one of the top ten samurai in the country. He was a physical beast. Mentally, he was a bit slower than most people. He was also struggling financially; he could have easily been well-off if he had taken up assassination gigs. But his moral compass was incorruptible.

Actually, just kidding.

He tried his hand at assassinations; he was instructed to assassinate a high-ranking government official at some conference, but guess what he did? He assassinated the official's secretary instead. This blunder led to the end of his assassination career. How does one mess up things so badly?

So now, Shinjoo took up gigs that didn't involve killing humans. Oh, you must be feeling confused about what I was talking about some time ago. Shinjoo killed two chickens, not humans, for the farmer. Those chickens had some kind of disease, and the farmer was too cowardly to kill the chickens themselves. That's where Shinjoo came in.

Unfortunately, Shinjoo was drowning in debt, as the failed assassination had cost him a fortune. All the preparations, paying the right people to smuggle in the katana – all of it had cost a fortune, and he didn't get paid. It was a rough time for him. Imagine being one of the top guns for the Shogun and now being a nobody with debt, living in a small studio apartment for which he was already three months behind on rent.

He was in a bad place, but he had not given up. He was taking on gigs and earning money. Soon, he would be able to pay for his lunch and wouldn't have to visit the homeless shelter for food. Things were turning around for Shinjoo.

Fin.