Do you know about the Heavenly Killing Star?
Of course! If I stacked up all the martial arts novels featuring the Heavenly Killing Star I read back in school, I’d have enough to make a bed!
“Heavenly Killing Star? What’s that, So-hee?”
Kang Yoon-ho doesn’t know anything!
“I have a story to tell from the Heavenly Killing Star up to that day ten years ago.”
So-hee began to explain about the child born every hundred years with the power of the Heavenly Killing Star. I knew some of it, but I could finally pinpoint what the Heavenly Killing Star was in this world.
“Ten years ago, that day. When the Japanese invaded. Everything died. The villagers, my father, my mother… and… me.”
So-hee forced herself to recall memories she wished to forget and wore a pained expression.
“So-hee, you too?”
“That day. On the day everything died, a power that was asleep inside me revived me. And it took revenge in my place.”
So-hee closed her eyes and took short breaths. Was she reliving the shock of that day? Her heart trembled.
“So, this power that was asleep…?”
“Yeah. I’m the child born with the fate of the Heavenly Killing Star.”
So-hee confessed to me with a pained expression.
“So, you are the Heavenly Killing Star?”
My expression was the same as someone realizing that the young hoodlum heir is actually a vigilante at night.
So-hee nodded and then talked about seeking out Cheon Gi-ja, who is said to have the best luck in the Central Plains, to find a solution.
“He said if he meets a noble person, my fate might change.”
“Noble person?”
“Someone who defies heaven. Someone who has fulfilled their destiny and returned from death. Someone who can change the fates of others. A person who has stepped outside the ways of heaven.”
“That’s quite an impressive person. Just hearing that seems like they could save So-hee’s fate.”
That’s usually how it goes for protagonists in stories or games.
So-hee gazed at me quietly, not responding to my comment.
Why is she staring at me like that?
It felt like a reprimand, asking if I’d continue to pretend I didn’t know.
No way…
“The noble person Cheon Gi-ja mentioned… that’s you, Yoon-ho.”
What?
Before I could even react, So-hee continued talking.
During the Cheon Sal-pa incident, the power of the Heavenly Killing Star came to kill me, but it vanished before me — that chilling memory. Realizing that her noble person was me, Yoon-ho. Being glad that she could live as Cheon So-hee instead of being controlled by the Heavenly Killing Star. All the while, the range of that ominous power was slowly diminishing as she despaired today.
“So-hee, wait. Just a moment.”
I felt dizzy. I needed to pause So-hee’s words and sort my thoughts.
“Yeah, I talked too much, huh?”
So-hee suddenly shrank back, bowing her head.
“No, just a moment. Please give me time to think.”
Sorting out So-hee’s words meant this:
Despite the range of that ominous power severely decreasing, as long as she was by my side, it was nullified.
I could live as an ordinary woman.
‘This leads to just one conclusion.’
Hiding my shocked expression, I looked at So-hee.
An astonishing beauty.
A cursed fate.
A man with the ability to save that fate.
It’s not a popular genre nowadays, but there is a game genre that follows this logic.
The game I got sucked into.
‘So-hee, were you the heroine of a martial arts dating sim?’
I trembled at the realization that hit me months after meeting her.
—
Right before my eyes, So-hee was crumbling in real time, and there wasn’t much time to think while witnessing it openly.
Let’s sort it out quickly.
I’m the noble person.
I should have been dead, but I, Kang Yoon-ho of Joseon, overcame my fate and am alive, so I have the conditions to pursue the heroines in this world.
‘I can change So-hee’s fate.’
I thought she couldn’t be a heroine because of her unchangeable fate. But her fate can change because of me.
So-hee is a woman who can become a heroine.
‘Could So-hee actually be the true heroine?’
There’s a good chance, but I can’t be too faithful about it.
If the noble person mentioned by Cheon Gi-ja can change the fate of others, the possibility applies to other female characters as well.
Of course, it’s all just a possibility.
Whether So-hee is the true heroine or not, I still need to solve her problem right now.
The ominous power of the Heavenly Killing Star is shrinking. So-hee might not have a clue why, but I could immediately guess the reason.
‘I met So-hee too early.’
The game’s ending condition is based on reputation and money. Even if I clear all the stories and heroines, if my stats are lacking, I can’t see the true ending.
I met her without gathering the required stats to pursue her.
‘For the Heavenly Killing Star, the important stat must be reputation.’
Since I was a beggar when I first met So-hee, my fame from Chilgok County must have made her ominous power disappear.
The problem is that just being famous in Chilgok County wasn’t enough for the fate of the Heavenly Killing Star.
‘I need to do what I can do right now.’
I can’t raise my reputation immediately.
So I need to look for solutions with So-hee, and if we can’t find any, at least I should comfort her.
I have to lift her spirits, which are crumbling.
Because if I sit down, I can’t do anything.
—
“So-hee, what if we have to kill while losing ourselves to the power of the Heavenly Killing Star? Only that way can my inner desire for blood be satisfied.”
This was my best possible solution right now. Wouldn’t it be good to pacify her power by clearing out some bandits?
“Yoon-ho, I told you. If I lose myself to that power this time, I may never return to being me.”
“But you called me noble. Even if you lose yourself, if you get close to me, maybe you’ll regain your sanity?”
“What if I can’t come back? If I fail, it’s all over! I could lose myself completely! A crazed version of me could kill you!”
“Seems like I spoke too recklessly.”
I thought it might be possible if it was just losing control, but if it could change her very identity, then that might be impossible.
“No. Yoon-ho knows I’m always worried about you. So don’t apologize.”
So-hee sat on the ground with her knees up, bowing her head. Whenever she’s worried or troubled, she always takes that posture.
It was a desperate situation.
I wanted to comfort her, but what should I say?
“So-hee, how about going back to Joseon?”
Just as I was deep in thought, So-hee spoke again.
“Back to Joseon?”
“Yeah. You’d take the boat while I wave goodbye. You’d gradually move away. Even if you get consumed by the ominous power, you’d be on the sea, so I wouldn’t have to worry about you killing me if you go insane. I could live in my hometown, enjoying the people’s warmth… then if I… die at someone’s hands, I’d return to the Central Plains. What do you think?”
I could hear the glimmer of tears in her voice.
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
I couldn’t easily guess the resolve behind her words.
If going insane terrifies her that much, she’d rather lose herself if it meant saving me.
“So-hee, look at me.”
“…I don’t want to.”
So-hee sunk her head even lower.
“I have a secret I want to confess to you. So please, look at me.”
So-hee cautiously gazed at me.
A face filled with anticipation. Eyes that looked like they could burst into tears any second.
In this desperate situation, it must feel like the lifeline from above had been severed.
I can’t be her lifeline right now.
But, you know…
I can use my remaining tricks to uplift her.
“So-hee, my family… the Kang family… they’re all dead.”
I said it plainly while looking at her with sad eyes.
—
“What do you mean?”
So-hee spoke to Yoon-ho in a trembling voice.
“Have you ever wondered why this rich young master is working as a beggar in the Central Plains?”
“I have, but I couldn’t ask.”
At first, she was only curious about his past, and later, she didn’t have the courage to probe while keeping her own secrets.
“So-hee, my family… the Kang family was wiped out for treason.”
Yoon-ho smiled sadly as he looked at So-hee.
“Treason?”
“Yes, treason. All the men from the Kang family were executed, and the few women were taken as slaves.”
One side of his face twisted in pain. A look he had never shown before, always kind towards her.
This face, his anguished expression, was like imagining the day of that event.
He must have gone through an experience just as horrific, if not worse, than mine.
“You called me noble, So-hee. No, I am not noble. I am a sinner.”
“Sinner?”
“When I learned my family was taken for treason, I cowardly fled to the Central Plains with the help of others. Just because I escaped a death sentence, I am called noble? How can a coward who survived as his family perished be called noble? How? How can one be noble?”
Yoon-ho laughed as if he heard a really funny story, gripping his belly. But his eyes were far from laughter. Instead, they were filled with tears.
This is dangerous.
“Yoon-ho!”
So-hee startled as if recalling her own sorrow, jumped up and approached Yoon-ho.
In a world with no hope, she confessed he was her only hope.
But it only touched his wounds.
“So-hee, so-hee. Don’t you feel like you’re left alone in this world?”
Yoon-ho hugged So-hee without hesitation.
Yoon-ho’s trembling heart. So-hee couldn’t even imagine how much he suffered inside. But she deeply understood his loneliness.
“Yeah. I do. As much as Yoon-ho.”
“Right. So-hee would understand. It’s the sadness that only you and I know in this world.”
“I’ve suffered my whole life.”
“I was thinking about just dying too. But you know what? Being left alone in this world, if I were to die too, then no one would remember my family. What kind of life should I live? In the midst of that confusion, I remembered the stories my family loved.”
“Stories?”
“My family loved when I tell stories. So, I decided to become a storyteller. If I can spread the stories they loved through the Central Plains, then it’s like they still live through my words.”
“So that’s why you became a storyteller.”
“So-hee, I buried countless people in my heart. …You were among them.”
“I’m still here.”
“Yes, you’re alive. Though everyone who remembers me is dead. So-hee, you were there. You have no idea how happy that makes me. Really… you wouldn’t know.”
Yoon-ho held So-hee tightly. He didn’t want to let her go. So-hee felt his heart beating hard.
“Yoon-ho.”
That day, when she pointed a sword at him and doubted him…
Yoon-ho was actually so very happy to see her. He realized someone in this world remembered him, and that’s why he felt that joy.
So-hee finally understood Yoon-ho’s feelings from that day.
“So, So-hee! Don’t give up. Just as I’m the only one who knows that Cheon So-hee is alive in Joseon, you are the only one who knows that Kang Yoon-ho is alive in Joseon. If you die too, then I…”
“Yoon-ho! No!”
So-hee imagined what terrible choice he might make.
“So promise me. Let’s not give up. Let’s seek the answers together.”
“Okay. I won’t give up. I’ll seek the answers.”
Even in the moments filled with uncontrollable sadness, he still worried about her.
She thought she was the only one who needed Yoon-ho, but he needed her too.
There’s a reason to live.
In this desperate situation, there’s a reason to fight back.
—
“So-hee, why don’t you head in first?”
After feeling my emotions settle, I let go of our embrace and said to So-hee.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m just going to get some fresh air and then head back.”
“Still…”
“So-hee had her alone time already, right? I’ll just stroll in the garden for a bit and then go back.”
“Okay. Come back quickly.”
So-hee greeted me that way and went into her lodging.
‘Finally settled down.’
Originally, I intended to use this as a last resort if the Heavenly Killing Star turned on me.
But I never thought I’d use it in this timing.
It was a ploy born from shared grief that I could use quite effectively, so I should be happy about that. I feel like I gained my resolve back because of it.
With a somewhat heavy heart, I walked around the garden for a while.
‘As long as I don’t go crazy right away, it’ll be fine.’
Even if So-hee is beside me, I don’t know when that point will hit, but it shouldn’t be right now.
If I write quickly to raise my reputation and do the job of a storyteller earnestly, I might be able to keep So-hee by my side a little longer.
“Huh?”
As I pondered my upcoming plans while walking through the garden, I unexpectedly ran into someone.
“Hey, you. Turn around.”
‘Why do we keep running into each other?’
The person I encountered was Lady Tang, who was strolling through the garden without a face cover.
