Severing the Heavenly Bond
Why the hell is our Donghu coming out there? My hands were trembling uncontrollably. It felt like a little more grip would do it, but it wasn't that easy. People don't die easily. Slicing through skin and muscle, severing bone—it's never a simple task.
No, that's not it. That was actually too easy. Snapping a single bone wasn't hard at all. So what was making my fingertips shake?
"Are you truly going to sever the heavenly bond?!"
The fate demanding I cut the heavenly bond made Jaun's body tremble. The brutal destiny that forced him to kill his parents—the ones he should serve his whole life to repay for raising him—crashed over him like waves.
"You believe that nonsense superstition and kill your mother—how can you stand so shamelessly?"
Even with the blade drawing a line across his throat, Jaun's father didn't flinch. He even seemed to be enjoying the situation.
"The Heavenly Calamity Star isn't a superstition."
The words came with a faint smile, carving into Jaun's body. "How could it be? How many have been born under its decree in the past..."
For that absurd reason, they tried to block the future of a child who hadn't even fully grown. That was his father's rationale.
From left to right, a diagonal slash bisected his father's body.
Though it was his first time wielding a sword, the talent of the Heavenly Calamity Star produced flawless swordsmanship.
Thud.
Was that the sound of his father's corpse hitting the ground just now? Or the fraying thread of an irreversible fate?
"If that's how it was going to be, why did you even raise me?"
The words he wanted to spit out in the end came too late. If he'd known his father would die so pointlessly, why hadn't he killed him right after his mother? Why teach him to avoid people and build a house deep in the mountains? Why spout nonsense about morality when he could barely read?
Resentments and longings swirled in the air before scattering like smoke.
With the heavenly bond severed beyond repair, where was he supposed to go now?
"You're the Heavenly Calamity Star."
A voice came from behind. He hadn't even noticed someone approaching, lost in grief as he was.
Slash!
Jaun's sword moved again. Now that the fate of the Heavenly Calamity Star had begun to unfold, though he'd never trained in the sword anywhere, his blade traced efficient arcs designed to kill humans.
Clang!
But it was blocked. The cheap sword, ruined after just one kill, pitifully failed to fulfill its purpose.
"You killed one person, and now all hesitation is gone."
Yeah, that's the Heavenly Calamity Star for you. The voice's owner muttered as much, twisting Jaun's sword-wielding wrist slightly.
"Urk!"
Thud.
Jaun's blocked sword twisted out of his grip and fell.
"I wondered why the horse suddenly veered this way—turns out there was treasure hidden here."
The man stroked his horse's mane and extended a hand to Jaun.
"I'm the Sword Forest Lord, Grandmaster Heavenly Calamity."
It seemed like people with the same fate might band together. What do you think?
Jaun looked around. His father's bisected corpse reeking of blood, and the unknown man looking down at him, hand outstretched.
Where should he go? No one existed to give the right answer to that question.
You were born to kill people.
His father's parting words suddenly resurfaced.
Yeah, if that's why I was born...
Jaun took the Grandmaster's hand.
I'll live as you said.
For his mother, who had to die without reason, suffocated by mere superstition, he'd survive to the bitter end.
Definitely feels totally different since it's a historical drama.
Once I snapped out of the immersion, I set the script down. The story of Jaun, the rival entangled with swordsman Baek Dongsu from start to finish.
Even as a child role, it had solid screen time.
It's not like I've only done bit parts so far.
Historical dramas tend to run long, so just appearing in one could skyrocket recognition. If school uniform modeling made me famous among teens, this would expand my age demographic.
And besides.
There's Ilsik too.
I glanced at the second script, Ilsik.
The drama Ilsik that achieved absurd success and marked a milestone in historical drama history. I knew its prestige even without checking ratings.
And the actual rating is no joke either.
Ilsik, A
A bold A rating. The monster hit that peaked at 40% viewership and averaged over 30%.
Knowing this work's future and passing it up would be like saying you weren't an actor at all. And the role they offered was a big one.
Finally getting to play a good guy.
Though some roles blurred the line between good and evil.
Most scripts so far had been villains anyway.
Child actor limitations, and villains make for great impact.
In a conservative era setting, they couldn't hand the lead to a rookie comet out of nowhere. So villain roles naturally piled up.
That made this pure-hearted male lead child role feel refreshingly new.
"I'll do both."
"Huh? Uh, uh? You can decide that fast?"
Of course I had to do both. Seokho hyung worried if that was okay, since filming two historicals at once could be tough.
But with immersion and my long-term training, stamina's no issue.
Acting and physical demands were no problem for me.
"Oh yeah, and Director called—Hero's rough cut is done, wants to watch together."
"For real? That's super fast."
"Michangsen Short Film Fest deadline's mid-April, so he wants to tweak and add till then. Said he wants your input too."
Input, huh.
I'll say as little as possible.
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
I'll just trust him completely—everything's good, I believe in you.
One director was enough to control editing. It was an indie film anyway. Plus, over-editing could ruin it—stopping at the right point often helped more.
Oh, and Endless Frontline should be wrapping edits soon too.
Wait.
So Hero and Endless Frontline drop back-to-back in June-July.
One hits big, the other rides the wave—twin successes. I eagerly awaited their screen debut when—
Ding! Ding! Ding!
[Sims - The Real Life demands you not forget it, bombarding with messages to assert its presence.]
-[Judged that 'Kendo' learned in Hero differs from the 'Swordsmanship' domain Jaun will acquire.]
-[Downloading application 'One Stroke Clears the Bloody Flames Under the Mountains.' ]
-[Your sword will never know defeat.]
It was telling me to perfectly embody Jaun.
Late March.
The Michangsen Short Film Festival was devouring shorts like a whale. One of Korea's top short film fests since 2002.
They divided entries into five genre sections, with judges from commercial film circles evaluating based on expertise to scout young talents.
Those judges often aimed to find promising actors too.
A prime example:
"...Actually, I'm here looking for Donghu."
The owner of the glossy Guan Yu beard—Director Kang Sanghun.
"You guys haven't seen our Donghu's acting? Come to the premiere later. It's mind-blowing."
He loved films so much he'd volunteered as a judge mid-shoot.
Why? To find great actors, obviously!
And he'd found one.
Just thinking about it makes me grin.
Director Kang kept bragging to fellow directors about Kim Donghu—from emotional depth in a kid, killer action, stamina, research, you name it.
Like a great-grandpa meeting his firstborn great-grandkid.
"Ahem, enough bragging. Who doesn't know actor Kim Donghu's great?"
His peers were annoyed, naturally.
That Hydream performance nailing Lee Yi? Who wouldn't want to cast him?
"You guys too, yeah? Work with our Donghu later. Though his screen debut's mine first."
Director Kang loved that fact. Pride in debuting a superstar rookie in theaters with his film—winning newbie awards, skyrocketing career!
He could almost dance for joy.
But.
"...Huh, what's this? Hero? Kim Donghu's name is here?"
"What?"
Unbelievable words from a colleague.
"What nonsense! Why would actor Kim Donghu be in an indie?!"
Coincidence? No way!
Director Kang shot up, Guan Yu beard flapping.
It couldn't be. Or rather, he didn't want to believe it.
"It's real—says it on the DVD. Hero, starring Kim Donghu."
His face was right there, big as day.
The director teased him, then—
Whirr.
Played the Hero DVD demonstratively.
"...No, no— he has to debut on my screen..."
Why was Donghu in that black-and-white footage?
Thud.
That day, Director Kang Sanghun's world collapsed.