The Stirring Shackles of Fate

Those who would defy the threads of fate. Those who would defy the principles of Heaven.

The Heavenly Dao shall rage at such arrogance, and their end shall inevitably be ruin.

An old man tracing the stars that bloomed thick across the night sky with fingertips scored deep by the years suddenly stilled. Reading the celestial signs with eyes that held a strange light, he let out a long, heavy breath. His gaze had stopped before one ill-omened star, and that strange radiance began to gather in both of his pupils.

"So it has finally begun."

It was not an auspicious trajectory he had marked. Rather, the old man had encountered an ominous path—one where the heavenly signs themselves were coming unstrung. And yet a faint smile still touched the corners of the lips of the old man who bore the name Ilwol.

"Swim against the current and go on."

May you carve your own path through the raging waters called fate. And may the countless souls bound to the destiny of the stars at last know freedom.

Like one quietly blessing a child who had just taken its first step, the old man offered his silent benediction toward the glittering stars. Following the course of a single starlight, he raised a pale aura about his whole body and continued to cast his star-divinations.

"…Hm?"

Then he discovered an anomaly and blinked in puzzlement. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It was not the Heavenly Killing Star alone whose fate was coming undone. Other ill-omened stars, tangled and drawn in from every side, were clustering around it.

"How can this be…"

Among them, the Purple Micro Star—said to be its absolute opposite and fated nemesis—was circling close beside the Heavenly Killing Star, and the old man's eyes filled with deep shock. What was more, even the Heavenly Gang Star, born to supreme martial genius across the ages, and the Hegemon Star, which carries the destiny of an absolute ruler, were watching the Heavenly Killing Star as if intrigued.

"…Just what is the Heavenly Killing Star of this generation?"

The Heavenly Killing Star of the present age had not merely defied fate—it was shaking the surrounding ill-omened stars themselves. Building carefully upon the failure of the previous generation had been wise enough, but this time's Heavenly Killing Star seemed, in every way, to be something far from ordinary.

"If those beyond Heaven take notice, they will hardly sit idle."

Watching the Heavenly Killing Star smash the shackles of destiny more violently than he had expected, Ilwol let out a complicated sigh.

"Hear the stars, and let them overflow the body… Rise with Heaven, and grasp the world…"

Having stepped beyond the heavenly signs, the road ahead could no longer be measured. He only hoped that someone would look with pity upon those who had defied ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Heaven's will, and watch over them from below.

Ilwol lifted that sorrowful wish toward the night sky.

Spring had passed, and summer had arrived before I knew it.

I seized the thread of enlightenment Ilhong had let slip and spent a long stretch swinging my sword like a man possessed—day or night, rain or scorching heat. Training like that, I finally managed to grasp the ultimate principle of the sword Hwang Geolgae had once shown me. More precisely, I managed to get half a foot across its threshold.

"Mujin, you said you suddenly had something to show us. What is it?"

From ancient times they said you boast first to family. Not the kind of family that chucks its kids off cliffs, of course—the kind that looks after each other when things get hard.

I looked at Eun Hwaran, who was watching me with curious eyes while hiding her mouth behind a fan in front of my subordinates, and slowly evened my breath.

One mind, one will. I focused until beads of sweat formed on my brow, and at last it began to take on substance. Pale flames coiled and shimmered around the blade.

"Th-that's… Sword Force…?"

The chief escort and Chief Administrator Jin felt that aura shredding the air around them and went pale with shock. Eun Hwaran, too, covered her open mouth with her fan and blinked in astonishment.

"Mujin, don't tell me you…"

"Yes, that's exactly it. Your little sworn brother is now a master of the Transcendental Peak Realm."

I shrugged for show and grinned. That dirt-poor little beggar kid Big Sis had once picked up had grown up just fine—and reached the Transcendental Peak. I let myself show off a little, packing that meaning into it.

"Oh my goodness! That's truly amazing, Mujin!"

Eun Hwaran kept thumping my back as if to say, of course he's my little brother, and looked genuinely moved. One of the few people who celebrated my successes without weighing the profit and loss. My mouth kept twitching like I'd just been praised by real family.

"We'll have to throw a small celebration. Load the tables with sweets and wine."

Eun Hwaran smiled brightly as she said it. Now that was the kind of free food and feast talk that would make any Beggar Sect beggar's ears prick up.

"Do we really need to go that far?"

"You're running a business of your own now. You have to use opportunities like this to make your name known—otherwise ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the clients dry up and you can't feed your people."

She was right, of course. Even in ancient China, the importance of self-PR never went out of style. And when Big Sis Eun Hwaran offered to put her rock-solid network to work for me, there was no reason to refuse.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Noona."

"What are you talking about? I'm happy to introduce such a capable little brother."

Completing my Sword Force and showing it to her first really had been the right call.

Next I went looking for the person I needed to show my growth to after her, and put on a full-powered Sword Force exhibition that could snip even ordinary sword qi clean in half.

Tssssss—!

Pulling up every last drop of internal energy I had nursed since I was a baby, pale Sword Force rose about three inches from the tip of the blade. I flourished that pure-white edge in front of a certain old man, showing off like I was swinging a lightsaber.

Back on the day of the escort company's departure ceremony, Hwang Geolgae had sent this thing rocketing into the sky to raise everyone's spirits. That Left Blood Dharma guy from the Blood Cult had fired it off like a long-range attack. Unfortunately, that particular sword art was still beyond me at Transcendental Peak.

"Hoh. Sword Force, is it."

Hwang Geolgae twitched an eyebrow as if mildly impressed and tossed out his appraisal of my Chamgu Sword Art.

"What, less enthusiasm than when you found a hidden liquor stash…? Could you maybe celebrate your disciple's growth a little, Master?"

I sheathed the sword and spoke in a thoroughly deflated voice.

"You brat. Why should this old man celebrate your life going well?"

Most master-disciple pairs got happy about that sort of thing. This old man, though—independent was one way to put it. Still the same solitary, "all three realms suffer; I alone shall find peace" sort of elder. At that rate, whether he could ever trample the five desires and seven emotions and ascend as an immortal was anyone's guess.

"So why are you parked in my office again?"

I wiped the sweat from the front yard as I asked. Lately, instead of the wealthy Eunseong Merchant Group, this great king of beggars had been draining the snacks and tea leaves of a barely-scraping-by troubleshooter's office.

"Because this old man must sever his ties to the mundane world, escape affliction, and attain liberation."

In short: now that he could enter Beijing, the Beggar Sect disciples who kept doggedly hunting him down had driven him to hide out here. On top of that, the Beggar Sect had recently started setting up a branch near the Eunseong Merchant Group. That was clearly both a message and silent pressure telling their runaway Dragon Head Sect Leader to come home anytime.

"…"

As if he could read the look I was giving him—like I was staring at something pathetic—Hwang Geolgae, still sprawled across the office chair, spouted more nonsense.

"The stars of the night sky, the immortal existences of the celestial sphere. Before teachings that traverse the principles of all creation, what meaning do a human's bonds or worldly affections hold?"

"You've been drinking again. More nonsense."

Thwack.

An empty liquor bottle, laced with a subtle force, smacked me square in the forehead. Did everyone who went mad with inner demons for a while and then climbed back out turn this eccentric? Somehow, even though he was my master, the first thought that rose wasn't "I want to be like him," but "I must never end up like that."

"Dan Mujin, you brat."

"Yes, Master."

But I couldn't show that on my face. I bowed my head and answered the call.

"With that newly gained power of yours—what do you intend to do?"

The realm of Transcendental Peak. And a vast ocean of internal energy that would let me keep swinging that still-clumsy Sword Force for a very long time. True to a master who was both glad I was growing stronger and wary of it at the same time, Hwang Geolgae seemed to be probing the intentions of the Heavenly Killing Star. The face of an adult who had just pressed a real sword into a child's hands.

"I'm going to beat Master into the dirt."

Thwack.

This time a dried squid leg charged with internal energy flew into my face. That sensation of getting slapped full across the cheek. A little damp—must have been the one he'd been chewing on.

"Heh heh. Stop joking and speak your true mind."

I wasn't joking. I was one hundred percent serious. Reading that earnest expression, Hwang Geolgae stared for a moment, then let out a hollow laugh.

"You thunderstruck little savage… Learning martial arts just to thrash your own master? What a ridiculous brat."

Someday I was going to plant my fist in that face. I was going to pay back every beating I'd taken so far. That firm goal was one of the several engines driving my growth.

"Still, with a mental state this peculiar, I suppose that's how you reached this realm even as the Heavenly Killing Star."

He laughed to himself, then nodded as if he'd convinced himself.

"Doesn't the Heavenly Killing Star usually blow past Transcendental Peak without much trouble?"

"While still in their right mind, you brat. They usually go mad before that."

Training martial arts and climbing to higher realms demanded mental maturity and suffering of a warrior. Like gradually awakening to the Dao. Which meant someone tormented by the Heavenly Killing Star's murderous impulse found it nearly impossible to reach.

"I heard the previous Heavenly Killing Star was already at Transcendental Peak at fourteen."

"…That one had an unusual origin and status. You are different."

I'd thought I was the most outstanding Heavenly Killing Star in history, but hearing that from Hwang Geolgae was enough to make me think of a sky beyond the sky.

"I'd like to reach the Transcendent Realm before I turn thirty. Is there any way to raise my achievement a little faster?"

Having punched through one wall, I'd gotten greedy lately. I wanted to surpass that Namgung family's Azure Cloud Sword once and for all. If you were born a man, you had to hang the title of next Greatest Under Heaven around your neck at least once.

"Possible. Why wouldn't it be?"

"Oh? How do I do it?"

"If that spirit of yours is swallowed by the Heavenly Killing Star, it would be more than possible."

"…"

When it came to cutting people down and killing them, the Heavenly Killing Star's side learned faster. It wouldn't be a true rise in realm through enlightenment, he said, but it would produce a similar result of getting stronger.

"Then that means my mind dies."

"Exactly. That's the normal course for a Heavenly Killing Star, you brat."

"This son of a—"

Fortunately I had learned the Seongun Simbeop and could block that process. Come to think of it, just who was that mysterious Daoist who had created this divine art? As if he had foreseen all of this, he had saved Hwang Geolgae, passed on the heart method, and let ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it flow down to me.

I asked Hwang Geolgae about that person's identity.

"I don't know either, you brat."

He said he barely knew the name Ilwol, and that he himself would find the man someday no matter what.

"You're useless as always."

Thwack.

This time a round teacup flew into my face.

"Honestly. I told you to keep it inside your head, you brat."

After the small banquet Merchant Lord Eun Hwaran arranged, one troubleshooter's name began to spread with considerable fame through the imperial capital of Beijing.

A master who had reached Transcendental Peak at a young age, plus the exploits from Sichuan that were only now catching up to him, and the sheer drive to charge even into the Imperial Palace if it was for a client. The rumors ran tail to tail and spread across all of Beijing, and it worked well enough that clients never stopped coming to a shabby troubleshooter's office on the outskirts.

"H-hey, form a line—please form a line!"

Clients and commissions used to show up about as often as beans sprouting in a drought. Managing people lining up at this cramped office for the first time, Jo Harang looked flustered. Watching from inside, I felt a little swell of emotion. Like a blocked vessel had finally opened—when you run a business, times like this do come around.

This was probably thanks to Eun Hwaran's introductions, plus the Beggar Sect disciples who liked me diligently carrying the rumors around.

"Experts really do change things."

Even when you open a business, publicity is life—thinking about it now, I'd been running mine like a complete amateur.

"Is this the Dan Mujin Detective Agency that does anything for a client?"

"Yes, that's right, sir. Come right in."

Ilhong and Jo Harang were hard at work receiving guests. I rubbed my hands together, beamed, and welcomed the client inside.

And yet—things were going well, and I even had the Beggar Sect as solid backup now. Still, as she moved busily about, Ilhong's face looked strangely dark, as if some worry was weighing on her.