Selfish Selflessness Trophy Guide in Onimusha: Way of the Sword

Selfish Selflessness is one of the easier unlocks on the 52-trophy list in Onimusha: Way of the Sword, but it hides behind a random encounter rather than a story beat. The requirement is short and literal, and the only real obstacle is noticing the event before it ends.

Quick answer: Find a merchant surrounded by Genma somewhere in Kyoto, kill every enemy attacking them, then walk up and speak to the merchant. The trophy pops after that conversation.

Selfish Selflessness trophy requirements

The unlock condition is a single rescue. You do not need a set number of merchants, a specific district, or a particular difficulty setting.

Detail	Requirement
Trophy / achievement	Selfish Selflessness
Condition	Rescue a merchant that’s being attacked by Genma
How many	One successful rescue
Where	Random spots across Kyoto
Missable	No
Reward	Items and favor

Nothing about this one is time-limited. Free roam stays open right up to the point of no return before the final mission, “The Clash At Rendaino,” and finishing the story lets you hit Continue from the main menu to drop back in before that mission for cleanup.

Note: this is a separate trophy from Citizen Savior, which asks for 30 townspeople rescued from marauding Genma. Saving ordinary citizens as you explore is still worth doing, but it will not substitute for a merchant.

Where merchants under attack spawn in Kyoto

There is no fixed marker or map icon for this. Merchants appear at random locations throughout Kyoto, and the encounter only exists while it is happening, so exploration is the mechanic here. Roam the streets, courtyards, and side paths between objectives instead of fast-travelling straight to your next marker.

Musashi pushing through a wooden gate into a dark Kyoto courtyard at night — Pushing through a gate into the quiet grounds around Nijo-jo Castle, the kind of open space where a rescue can trigger. Image: Capcom

The tricky part is identification. Merchants use the same civilian look as regular townspeople, so you cannot pick one out by appearance alone. The reliable tell is the fight itself. If you see a non-combatant being swarmed by Genma, treat it as a possible merchant and step in.

Musashi crossing a torchlit courtyard while the What Lurks in the Shadows quest is active — Sweeping a torchlit courtyard on the way to an objective — detours like this are how the encounter gets found. Image: Capcom

You do not need to clear your quest log first. These encounters can appear while a main objective such as “What Lurks in the Shadows” is still tracked, so an active mission marker is not a blocker.

Quest tracker showing What Lurks in the Shadows and the Investigate Nijo-jo Castle objective — The tracker still pointing to Nijo-jo Castle while Musashi explores; rescues can happen mid-mission. Image: Capcom

How to complete the merchant rescue

Explore Kyoto on foot until you find a civilian being attacked by Genma. Move toward the fight rather than around it, since the encounter resolves on its own if you ignore it.

Kill every Genma in the group. Leaving even one alive keeps the encounter in its combat state, and the rescue will not register.

Walk up to the survivor and speak to them. If it was a merchant, the conversation completes the rescue and hands over your reward.

How to tell the rescue counted

A successful merchant rescue pays out items and favor on the spot, and the trophy notification follows the dialogue. Favor is the currency you spend at Yorimasa’s Monument, so a bump there is a second confirmation that the encounter resolved properly.

If nothing unlocks, the cause is almost always one of these:

A Genma from the group was still alive when you approached.
You cleared the enemies but walked away without talking to the person you saved.
The civilian was a regular townsperson, not a merchant — that rescue still counts toward Citizen Savior, but not this trophy.

Because the spawns are random, the practical approach is simply to keep saving anyone you find under attack while you work through Kyoto’s collectibles and side content. Sooner or later one of them turns out to be a merchant, and the trophy takes care of itself.