Episode 79

Did I know about the Heavenly Death Star?

I knew it well.

I could make a bed with the number of martial arts novels featuring the Heavenly Death Star that I’ve piled up during my school days.

“The Heavenly Death Star? What is that, Sohee?”

However, Kang Yun-ho knew nothing.

“From the Heavenly Death Star to the story of that day 10 years ago, there’s a lot to tell.”

Sohee began to explain about a child born once every hundred years with the energy of the Heavenly Death Star. I knew some of it, but now I could understand exactly what the setting of the Heavenly Death Star was in this world.

“That day, 10 years ago. When the pirates came. Everything died. The villagers, my father, my mother, and… me too.”

Sohee reluctantly recalled her painful past, showing a distressed expression.

“Sohee, you too?”

“That day. The day everything died. A dormant energy inside me revived me. And it avenged me in my stead.”

Sohee closed her eyes and breathed heavily. Perhaps she was reliving the shock of that day. Her chest trembled.

“So, the dormant energy you mentioned…”

“Yes. I am a child born with the destiny of the Heavenly Death Star.”

Sohee confessed to me with a pained face.

“Sohee is the Heavenly Death Star?”

I looked as surprised as someone who found out that a thuggish chaebol heir actually wore special equipment at night to patrol as a vigilante.

Sohee nodded and then spoke about seeking out Cheon Gija, reputed to be the best at predicting destiny in the central plains, to find a solution to her murderous intent.

“He said that meeting a noble person might change my destiny.”

“A noble person?”

“One who defies the heavens’ fate. One who has completed their heavenly mandate and returned from death. One who can even change others’ destinies. A person who has stepped out of the heavenly way.”

“That sounds like a remarkable person. Just hearing about it, it seems like they could save Sohee’s destiny.”

It’s just like the destiny of protagonists in novels or games.

Sohee didn’t respond to my comment and just stared at me blankly.

Why was she staring at me?

The look seemed to accuse me of pretending not to know.

Could it be?

“The noble person Cheon Gija talked about. It’s you, Yunho.”

What?

Before I could even be surprised, Sohee continued with her story.

During the Cheongsapa incident, she came to kill me, consumed by the Heavenly Death Star’s murderous intent, but in front of me, the murderous intent disappeared—a chilling tale even now.

She was surprised to realize that her noble person was Yunho.

She was happy to live not as someone controlled by the Heavenly Death Star’s murderous intent but as Cheon Sohee.

The range of her murderous intent has been shrinking, leading to her despair today.

“Sohee, wait. Just a moment. Let me think.”

I’m dizzy. I needed to stop Sohee’s words for a moment to gather my thoughts.

“Yes. I’ve said too much.”

Sohee quickly became disheartened and bowed her head.

“No, just a moment. Really, just a moment. Give me some time to think.”

If I organized Sohee’s words, this was it.

The effective range was rapidly decreasing, but next to me, her murderous intent was nullified.

She could live as an ordinary woman.

“This means… there’s only one conclusion.”

I desperately tried to hide my shocked expression as I looked at Sohee.

A breathtaking beauty.

A cursed destiny.

A man with the power to save that destiny.

It was not the most popular genre these days, but there was a game genre that employed such a narrative structure.

The game that I had entered to possess this character.

‘Sohee, were you the heroine of a martial arts visual novel?’

Months after meeting her, I shivered at the realization.

There’s no time to think long in a situation where Sohee’s heart was visibly breaking in real-time before my eyes.

Let’s quickly summarize.

I was her noble person.

By overcoming the fate of Kang Yun-ho, a debauchee from Joseon who was destined to die, I’ve earned the ability to win over the heroines in this world.

‘I can change Sohee’s fate.’

I initially thought she wasn’t the heroine due to her unchangeable fate. However, her destiny can be altered because of me.

Sohee could become a heroine.

‘Is Sohee the real heroine?’

The likelihood was high. But it was not a certainty.

If the power of the noble person that Cheon Gija spoke of was to alter others’ fates, then it might also apply to other female characters.

It’s merely a possibility, of course.

Regardless of whether Sohee was the actual heroine, I needed to address her issue now.

The area within which the Heavenly Death Star’s murderous intent faded was diminishing. Sohee seemed unaware, but I could immediately surmise the reason.

‘I met Sohee too early.’

The game’s ending conditions hinged on fame and money scores. Even if I completed all the heroines’ stories, I wouldn’t achieve the capture ending without the requisite scores.

I encountered her before amassing the necessary scores for Sohee’s capture.

‘Perhaps fame is the crucial score for the Heavenly Death Star.’

Since I was broke when I first met Sohee, my fame in Chilgok County must have neutralized her murderous intent.

However, merely being famous in Chilgok County wouldn’t have sufficed to alter the fate of the Heavenly Death Star.

‘I have to do what I can now.’

I couldn’t immediately increase my fame score.

I needed to find a solution with Sohee, and if there wasn’t one, at least provide some comfort.

I must boost her morale because sitting idly by won’t resolve anything.

“Sohee. If satisfying the inner murderous intent requires killing while losing one’s reason to the Heavenly Death Star’s murderous intent, how about trying that? Maybe defeating bandits to soothe the murderous intent.”

This was the best solution I could think of for now. Perhaps trying to quell the murderous intent through bandit suppression.

“Yunho, I told you. If I lose my reason to the murderous intent this time, I might never return to myself again.”

“You said I’m your noble person. Even if you lose your reason to the murderous intent, if I approach Sohee, might you regain your sanity?”

“What if I can’t return? If I fail, it’s all over. I could lose myself forever. My crazed self could end up killing Yunho.”

“I was too rash.”

I thought it might be possible if it was just losing reason to the murderous intent. But if it’s about changing the personality itself, it might be impossible.

“No. I know Yunho always worries about me. Don’t feel sorry.”

Sohee sat down on the garden floor, hugging her knees and bowing her head deeply. She always adopts that posture when she’s worried or troubled.

It’s a desperate situation.

I wanted to comfort her, but what should I say?

“Yunho. How about returning to Joseon?”

While I was pondering, Sohee spoke again.

“To Joseon?”

“Yes. You get on a ship, and I see you off. You’ll grow distant. Even if I get consumed by the murderous intent in that state, you’ll be on the sea. Even if I go crazy, you won’t die by my hand. You’ll receive a warm welcome in your homeland, live there, and… if I, if I die by someone’s hand, then you can return to the central plains. How about it?”

There was a moistness in Sohee’s voice, as if she might cry at any moment.

I was suddenly at a loss for words.

It was hard to guess what kind of resolve she had to be making such a statement.

The idea of going mad is so frightening, yet she says it’s okay to go mad if it can save me.

“Sohee, look at me.”

“…I don’t want to.”

Sohee bowed her head even more.

“I have a secret to confess to Sohee as well. So, please look at me.”

Sohee cautiously looked up at me.

Her face flushed, her eyes seemed like they could spill tears at any moment.

In this desperate situation, it’s like the lifeline that came from heaven has snapped. I couldn’t be her lifeline right now.

But still.

I can use the plan I’ve devised to lift her spirits.

“Sohee, my family, the Kang family members, are all dead.”

I said calmly, looking at her with a sorrowful gaze.

“What are you talking about?”

Sohee asked Yunho with a trembling voice.

“Have you ever wondered why this brother, who was once a wealthy young master, is now in the Central Plains doing odd jobs in rags?”

“I have, but I never dared to ask.”

Initially, she was merely curious about her own past, and later, she lacked the courage to delve into his secrets while keeping her own.

“Sohee, my family, the Kang family, was annihilated due to treason.”

Yunho looked at Sohee with a sad smile.

“Treason?”

“Yes, treason. The men of the Kang family were all executed, and the few remaining women were taken as slaves.”

One side of his face twisted in pain—an expression she had never seen on him, who always showed her kindness.

His face now, his pained expression,

‘It’s like imagining that day.’

Perhaps he had experienced something equally, if not more, horrific.

“Sohee called me a noble person. No, Sohee. I’m not like a noble person. I’m not a noble person; I’m a sinner.”

“A sinner?”

“The day my family was taken for treason, I resorted to cowardly means and my family’s help to escape to the Central Plains. A noble person because I escaped death? How can someone who survived cowardly while his family was dying be called noble? How could I ever be considered noble?”

Yunho laughed as if he had heard a really funny story, but his eyes were not smiling at all. Instead, they were filled with tears.

Dangerous.

“Yunho!”

Startled as if she had never been sad before, Sohee sprang up and approached Yunho.

It was a confession that he was her only hope in a hopeless world.

Instead, it touched his wounds.

“Sohee, Sohee. Don’t you feel left alone in this world?”

Yunho embraced Sohee without hesitation as she ran to him.

Yunho’s trembling heart. Sohee could not even guess how much he had suffered inside. But she knew his loneliness all too well.

“Yes. I know. Just like Yunho.”

“Yes. If it’s Sohee, you would know. The sorrow that Sohee and I know best in this world.”

“I’ve suffered my whole life.”

“I also thought about just dying. But then, being left alone in this world… If I died too, there would be no one to remember our family. What kind of life should I live? While pondering, I remembered the stories my family liked.”

“Stories?”

“My family really liked the stories I told them. So, I decided to become a storyteller. If I could spread the stories they loved throughout the Central Plains, I thought it would be as if they continue to live and breathe following my voice.”

“So that’s why you became a storyteller.”

“Sohee, throughout my life, I’ve buried countless people in my heart. … You were among them, too.”

“But I’m alive.”

“Yes, you are alive. Everyone who remembered me died. But there was Sohee. You don’t know how happy that made me. Really… you wouldn’t know.”

Yunho embraced Sohee tightly. He didn’t want to lose her. Sohee seemed to feel Yunho’s heart.

“Yunho.”

That day—the day she doubted Yunho and confronted him with a sword.

Instead, Yunho was overjoyed to see her. He was happy because he realized there was someone in the world who remembered him.

Sohee finally understood Yunho that day.

“So, Sohee. Don’t give up. Just like I’m the only one who knows Cheon Sohee of Joseon is alive, you are the only one who knows Kang Yunho of Joseon is alive. If you too die, then I…”

“Yunho! No!”

Sohee imagined him making a dreadful choice.

“So, will you promise me? To not give up. To search for the answer together.”

“Yes. I won’t give up. We’ll find the answer.”

Even in moments overwhelmed by sorrow, he was concerned for her.

She thought she was the only one who needed Yunho, but he needed her too.

There was a reason to live.

Despite the dire situation, there’s a reason to persevere.

“Sohee, go ahead and go inside.”

After acting as if my emotions were somewhat in order, I released the hug and spoke to Sohee.

“Are you sure?”

“I’ll just get some fresh air and come right in.”

“Still…”

“You had your time alone too. I’ll just take a short walk in the garden and then come inside.”

“Okay. Come in soon.”

Sohee said goodbye and entered the lodging.

‘I finally calmed her down.’

It was the last resort I had saved for a situation where the Heavenly Death Star would doubt and try to kill me.

I never thought I’d use it at this timing.

Using it as a strategy for mutual understanding worked out well. It seems to have reignited her will to live.

With a somewhat heavy heart, I took a brief walk in the garden.

‘Just don’t go mad right away.’

I don’t know when Sohee might lose her sanity even with me by her side, but it won’t be right now.

If I wrote books quickly and worked hard as a storyteller to raise my fame score, Sohee could continue to stay by my side.

“Huh?”

Pondering over future plans while walking in the garden, I unexpectedly ran into someone.

“Hey, you. Turn around.”

‘Why do I keep running into her.’

I ran into Tang Hwarin, who was walking in the garden without wearing a mask.