The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel

A chill ran down my spine.

Why was he saying a dead person was walking among the living?

I had some guesses. Certainly, someone might have died. For example, Kang Yun-ho, who gave feedback on the visual novel and then fell asleep on the bed, or the prodigal Kang Yun-ho whose body I had taken over. However, I couldn’t reveal my thoughts, so I decided to ask.

“Haha. Grandfather, the person standing in front of you is alive. A dead person? Am I supposed to be a jiangshi or something?”

Didn’t he see me, standing here, still alive? It didn’t seem appropriate to joke in this situation, so I forced a laugh.

“That’s what’s so strange. It’s been 50 years since I’ve been able to read the heavens, and I’ve never seen a fate like yours,”

The grandfather stroked his beard, deep in thought.

“What kind of fate is it?”

I was curious.

“Clearly, you were supposed to die last year. Despite being a small and insignificant star, destined to become fuel for another star.”

Ah! Was this about the prodigal Kang Yun-ho? That guy did die. I survived by a stroke of luck.

“So, the other star wasn’t as remarkable as expected?”

“It’s not that. The dying star was meant to do great things in this world. That fate was too certain. You were meant to become fuel for that star. But now, you’re alive in front of me, and the dying star is burning brighter than its original fate. How this came to be is beyond me…”

The fortune-teller grandfather looked at me with suspicion.

I was living hard. Moyong Sang-ah. How are you? I was not doing well.

The grandfather was more remarkable than I thought. Sitting in front of a shanty, reading fortunes, I had underestimated him. Such an old man could figure out that the star was Moyong Sang-ah, and I was the dead Kang Yun-ho.

In such a situation, it was better to make excuses and dispel the suspicion.

“I’m sorry. Actually, I told you the birthdate of a friend who died tragically last year. Seeing someone with a saintly and scholarly appearance like you, I wanted to know the reason behind my friend’s unjust death. I truly apologize.”

I stood up from the chair and bowed to the grandfather in apology.

“Hmm, I see. No wonder it wasn’t a fate meant to live. A friend, huh… That makes sense. A fate snatched away unknowingly. Tsk tsk.”

The grandfather clicked his tongue and fiddled with his tools.

Grandfather, I was alive. I deceived you unknowingly. While he may not be an outright charlatan, he didn’t seem to possess extraordinary abilities either.

But perhaps it was worth hearing my original birth chart. I quickly calculated my real birthdate in the sexagenary cycle.

“I apologize. I was just troubled by my friend’s fate. I’ll pay double the fee, and now I’ll tell you my real birthdate.”

I called out my real birthdate as Kang Yun-ho. The grandfather fiddled with his tools again and then smiled at me. Why was he smiling now?

“You.”

“Yes?”

“Never think of entering officialdom.”

“Why’s that?”

“Telling the harsh truth and giving advice without thinking could lead to death. Dying for speaking the truth is one thing, but dying for giving thoughtless advice is truly regrettable.”

“……”

Suddenly, the feedback I provided for the visual novel came to mind. No, I had put a lot of thought into it, filling it with my anger. The grandfather was only half-right.

“I asked about how my future endeavors would go, not about a fate of death.”

“Oh! My mind wandered. I was so fascinated by your earlier fate. Don’t worry about work. As long as you don’t pass the civil service exam, you’ll have a great life ahead. In fact, you should speak up more. Don’t worry.”

“That’s reassuring.”

Fortune-telling was about hearing good things, right? Being told I had a promising fate ahead by a more credible fortune-teller than most made me feel good.

“Leave the fee in the box in front of you.”

“Okay. Thank you for the reading.”

Despite some unsettling stories, the experience was quite fascinating, so I left feeling satisfied, paying the promised fee.

“Oh heavens! We can’t depart without enough travel expenses!”

I had already spent a week in this place. The storytelling business was booming. Not to the point of buying silk clothes or houses after one story, but it was still significant.

Eating hearty soup three times a day, enjoying a drink in the evening, and even considering savings – the days of eating mantou dipped in salt were long gone.

“You. I’ve heard rumors about your exceptional money-attracting skills, and indeed, they seem to be true.”

I was visiting Mr. Wang’s fabric store to exchange currency. It was late afternoon and, surprisingly, there were no customers.

With some free time on his hands, Mr. Wang started a conversation. Why so idle today? Usually, he would just do a quick calculation when I came to exchange money.

“Did you see it today?”

“I saw it from a distance. It was astounding. Your stories have become quite the talk of the marketplace lately.”

“Haha. That’s good news.”

The more the rumors spread, the better. I planned to stick with the same story for a while.

Being a storyteller didn’t mean you always had to tell diverse stories.

Imagine someone heard my story yesterday and spread the word about its fun. If I told a different story every day, they might leave disappointed. It wouldn’t be what they expected.

It was better to continue with the stories people want when word of mouth spreads. That was why I would keep telling stories about Prince Hamulin for now.

“Excuse me.”

While chatting with Mr. Wang, a warrior wearing a hero’s sash entered. Who was this?

“Oh! Isn’t that Yun Daehyeop?”

What, Yun Daehyeop? The famous Yun Daehyeop?

“I came out to collect protection money for Changgeommun.”

I thought he was some great recluse. What a letdown.

“Oh, has the date come already? I should have visited you; sorry for the inconvenience.”

“No. It’s tomorrow, but I stopped by on my way. It’s better for me to collect it while passing by than for the busy shopkeeper to make time tomorrow.”

“Oh, I see. I will give it to you right away.”

Mr. Wang disappeared behind the fabric store, seemingly to retrieve the prepared money.

“Now that I see, the frequently mentioned figure around here is present.”

Yun Daehyeop shifted his gaze from Mr. Wang to me and recognized me.

“Greetings. I am Kang Mo, a storyteller from Joseon. I am honored to meet the famous Yun Daehyeop, whose name is so well-known.”

I quickly stood up and greeted him.

“Hehe. I heard you haven’t been here long, but you’ve already heard of my fame?”

“Of course. Storytellers sell stories but also need to hear them first. Among those, I’ve often heard of the pillar of Changgeommun, Yun Daehyeop’s fame.”

Actually, I didn’t know him. But he seemed important, so I should flatter him.

“Is that so? I’ve been quite active lately. I’ve heard about you too. They say your stories are interesting, even for a barbarian. I’ve been meaning to hear one.”

Kid, if I was a storyteller, at least call me a Joseon person. You called me a barbarian on my way out?

“Haha. Next time you come to listen, I’ll reserve a special front seat for you.”

I should invite you to the front row and milk you with my money-collecting skills. Don’t want to pay? I would keep at it until you did.

“Looking forward to it.”

Just when the conversation seemed to be dwindling, Mr. Wang reappeared.

“Here it is! This month’s protection money.”

“There’s no need to count. Sign here.”

Mr. Wang quickly signed the document handed to him by Yun Whatshisname and returned it.

“See you next month.”

Yun Somethingorother waved his hand and left the fabric store.

“Yes, take care!”

“Goodbye!”

I bid him farewell and then turned back to Mr. Wang.

“It seems Changgeommun collects protection money here.”

“Yes, all the merchants here pay protection money to Changgeommun. It’s a martial school established by secular disciples from the Wudang Sect, and people appreciate it because they don’t step out of line.”

“Are there bandits in this neighborhood too?”

White path and black path.

In martial arts fiction, these terms often appeared interchangeably with righteous and evil factions, but their nuances differed slightly. The righteous and evil factions pertained to the orientation of martial arts, while white and black paths pertained to the legality or illegality of earning money.

Since evil factions often obtained money illegally, they frequently aligned with the black path.

While wandering here, it seemed that I hadn’t encountered much of the black path.

“They roam around occasionally. They’re not particularly formidable, just a few martial artists and ruffians grouped together. Sometimes they pickpocket pedestrians and vendors.”

“Speaking of which, should I have paid protection money to Changgeommun?”

Thinking about the black path roaming around made me feel anxious. When I was penniless, I had nothing for them to steal, but now that I have something, I feel uneasy.

“No. Storytellers aren’t like shops. They’re more akin to vendors. Changgeommun doesn’t bother with them. If they managed vendors in Chilgok County who only sell goods briefly, they’d frequently clash with the black path. That’s why Changgeommun doesn’t collect protection money from vendors.”

They only provided regular protection services to stores with a fixed income. They didn’t protect those who might leave at any time, like me.

“Talking about the black path makes me a bit anxious.”

“Be careful. The storyteller who used to sell stories there was stabbed by those black path thugs and died.”

“I really need to be careful. I’ll take my leave now.”

They should have told me sooner. After saying goodbye to Mr. Wang, I headed towards the shanty house.

After hearing about the black path, I felt uneasy.

“Should I carry a phonebook or something for protection?”

The sun hadn’t set yet; I doubted I would encounter black path scoundrels on the way.

“Well, I can handle one or two troublemakers now with my escape skills.”

But if I did encounter the black path, I would have to throw a barbarian punch or a bread punch and run.

“Hey, brother, where are you hurrying to?”

Ah.

On the way to Chilgok County’s shantytown.

Only widows, orphans, and the impoverished passed by this place, where an old man had been sitting with his stall for a week.

Anyone could easily tell he was a fortune teller, with a worn but powerfully written ‘Divination’ (占) flag behind him. But in this place, there weren’t many who came to have their fortunes told.

In a place where people worried about their next meal, not many inquired about their future.

Only a successful storyteller from his first performance, a vendor who made more money than usual, and a few curious ones had asked the old man about their fortunes.

“I’ve met the esteemed guest (貴客), and now it’s time to meet the ghostly guest (鬼客), but they haven’t come.”

The old man wasn’t sure who the important guest was. He only read fortunes as the heavens directed him here.

“One will prosper through words and writing, two through business, and one will rise and fall by the sword.”

These were the only interesting destinies he had encountered among the people he met in a week.

There was no one he could call an esteemed guest.

But the divination indicated he had already met the esteemed guest, so it must have been one of them.

“How can Cheon Gija, the revealer of heaven’s secrets, not recognize the esteemed guest? It’s a matter for spirits to lament.”

Cheon Gija (天機子)

The old man was known throughout the Central Plains as one who could glimpse the secrets of heaven. Many high-ranking officials and martial arts experts sought him out, bringing treasures in the hope of learning their fates from this elusive seer.

“I’ve seen someone with a unique destiny, yet they were already dead.”

Born under an inauspicious star, destined to become fuel for a fading celestial body. A peculiar man once approached him, requesting a reading of the future for a man with such a destiny.

“It was the first time I encountered a divination with such a fixed destiny.”

In his fifty years of divining the secrets of heaven, Cheon Gija had never encountered anyone fated like this.

If a creator for this world existed, that man was meant to die last year. His fate was sealed as certain death.

“It’s burning fiercely.”

As the sun dipped below the horizon and darkness enveloped the land, Cheon Gija gazed skyward. Invisible to the common eye, he saw a star ablaze with an extraordinary intensity.

Oddly, this star burned with a ferocity that surpassed its predetermined fate, threatening to engulf even the neighboring stars in its flames.

“With it burning like that, it can’t possibly still be alive.”

The man who was supposed to have perished last year might indeed be the one standing before him. Yet Cheon Gija struggled to accept such a possibility when witnessing the star’s intense blaze.

“If that man was the esteemed guest (貴客)…”

If,

Really if,

The man who was fated by the heavens to die.

The man destined to sacrifice his life as kindling for the star.

What if such a man were still among the living?

“Have I, have I beheld the Defier of Heaven (逆天子)? Is it even possible?”

A revelation struck Cheon Gija like a bolt of lightning.

Defier of Heaven (逆天子)

One who dared to resist and overrule the fate decreed by the heavens.

Such an individual was dubbed the Defier of Heaven (逆天子).

“Facing not just a minor misfortune, but a destiny ordained by the heavens. Can one truly defy such a fate?”

Cheon Gija sometimes offered advice on crises that would occur in someone’s future. However, his guidance was meant for personal adversities, not for methods to defy a destiny set by the heavens.

Acting against the will of the heavens usually led to heavenly retribution. (逆天而行應天譴)

Thus, humans could not defy the principle of heaven (天理). This was the common sense Cheon Gija had understood for 50 years.

But what if,

“What if one fulfills a calling that should only be achieved through death, while alive, and preserves their life?”

Then the heavens might not rebuke but perhaps bless instead.

How could the heavens punish someone who accomplished a heavenly task in life, which was supposed to be resolved only in death?

“He was the Defier of Heaven (逆天子). I witnessed a Defier of Heaven right before my eyes.”

Cheon Gija looked up at the sky.

A very small star.

Straying from the orbit of the fiercely burning star, now it stood alone. Upon closer inspection, he discerned the star.

Its light was dim.

It might remain that small until its light fades out.

But if the star possessed a will. If it desired to shine brighter…

“Having broken free from the natural order of the heavens, it can now change personal fate, the fate of nations, and even the fate of the world.”

It had the power to change the fate of the world.