Mirror World: Destined Return

Seong-Hwi entered the memory palace in his mind, gusts of wind blowing the white snowflakes. He walked down the carpet of white snow and stood before the wooden arched door of the Calasanz Home for Children.

The Tarot Deck of Destiny appeared with a golden flash of light. The deck shuffled, and three cards came out of it: No.9 The Hermit, Three of Pentacles, and Page of Cups. In the Three of Pentacles card, two clerics and one sculptor discussed something while holding a blueprint. In the Page of Cups card, a boy was standing at the beach, talking to a fish inside a blue cup in his hand.

[Activating Unique Skill: Borrowing Destiny.]

[Three-card Destiny.]

[Spread cards: No.9 The Hermit, Three of Pentacles, Page of Cups]

[Destiny reading: A kind-hearted hermit with masterful skill.]

It’s my first time encountering this destiny. Will I be able to borrow it? Seong-Hwi wondered as he watched the three cards melting into the door of the children’s home.

One of Seong-Hwi’s priorities after his return was to find as many destinies as possible in the library. His unique skill, Borrowing Destiny, allowed him to borrow the destinies of figures from folklore, mythology, history, and novels to use their abilities and symbols. Naturally, he needed to know as much about the destiny he was borrowing as possible.

I’ve only ever borrowed one three-card destiny: William the Foolish Gambler.

Borrowing Destiny was a complex skill because it required several conditions, one of them being a good understanding of the destiny he was trying to borrow.

The door of the children’s home glowed gold, and it slowly opened.

[Iljimae the Gentleman Thief of the Plum Blossom]

***

A marketplace of the late Ming dynasty was before Seong-Hwi. Life was difficult inside and outside due to government corruption and raids by Mongolians and the Japanese. The national treasury was nearly depleted, and the marketplace was in a sorry state due to frequent thievery by the starving people and chaos from the farmers’ revolt.[1]

“My baby is crying for food, but I’m so malnourished that I can’t even lactate! Someone, please help us!” a woman with only skin and bones shouted on her knees in the marketplace.

“Waaah!”

“Mommy! I’m hungry!”

Three children behind the woman cried like baby birds waiting for food, and she was also holding an infant, whom no one could tell was dead or alive. The woman begged every woman who passed her for breast milk, but no one helped her.

Just then, a man with a face so average that anyone would forget walked past the woman. He swiftly placed his hand in and out of her clothes and walked away as if nothing had happened. Seong-Hwi quickly followed the man and grabbed his shoulder.

“Who are you?” the man asked.

“I want to borrow your destiny, Iljimae.”

The man’s eyes widened, and he nodded. “I see. You recreated this miserable era I never wanted to see again.”

“Yes, but you’re a little different than what I expected. I thought Iljimae was a gentleman thief, but to think you would rob a poor, starving woman.”

Iljimae smirked and pointed behind him. Seong-Hwi turned back to the woman. She loosened her clothes to try and feed her baby with breast milk that did not come out when she noticed a silver coin inside.

“W-what the—?!” She quickly fastened her clothes so no one would see and walked away with her three crying children. “Thank you. Sniff, I pray to the heavens, thank you.”

She continued to express her gratitude as she left the marketplace.

“What would I hope to gain from rummaging through a woman’s clothes when she has nothing to give? I have no warm breast milk since I am a man, so I can only give a cold silver coin,” Iljimae remarked.

Seong-Hwi nodded. “Truly a gentleman thief.”

“Don’t call me that. I’m just a petty thief.” Iljimae looked up at the sky. “You said you wanted to borrow my destiny?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t lie. You don’t want my destiny, but my ability.”

“I won’t deny that,” Seong-Hwi admitted.

Iljimae stared at Seong-Hwi again and asked, “Why do you need my ability? Does your world also have those who are poor and starving?”

“Something like that. Some die because they don’t have Coins, and some do whatever it takes to obtain Coins. It’s no different from here.”

“I see,” Iljimae replied as he sighed. He said, “I started thieving to live well and keep my belly full. I was an exceptional thief. No one could follow my trail.”

He repeatedly opened and closed his fists and continued, “Even if I started farming, my produce would all be taken from me. The poor and powerless can’t rise to the top. All I could do was empty the pockets of the rich.”

“I’d bet,” Seong-Hwi, who already knew everything about Iljimae’s destiny from books, nodded.

“I began thieving to keep my belly full and continued it to fulfill my desires. But one day... a government official whom I robbed killed my neighbors out of anger.” Iljimae’s eyes subtly trembled as he continued, “The household was framed as a house of thieves, and the husband, wife, and even their child were beaten to death.”

Seong-Hwi stared at Iljimae. The shock of his neighbor’s deaths because of his thieving became the turning point of his life.

“I can do more than enter without anyone knowing and steal fortunes,” Iljimae remarked, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust. “That night, I killed the official without anyone knowing and left a plum blossom branch there. It was from the plum blossom tree grown in my neighbor’s yard.”

“Was it to mourn your neighbors?” Seong-Hwi asked.

“No, it was to ask for their forgiveness. From then on, I began to share the fortunes I stole with others. If I ran out, I robbed corrupt officials for more and always left a plum blossom branch at the scene. That’s where I got my name[2].”

“Was it to prevent others from being suspected? Showing that it was all done by one person?”

Iljimae smiled. “You sure are glorifying petty thievery. I just... wanted forgiveness above all else. From my poor neighbors who survive in this miserable era... where one had to eat their children to sate their hunger.”

As I’d expected, he’s a gentleman thief, Seong-Hwi thought.

He could see that Iljimae was as kind-hearted as a mother feeding breastmilk to her baby; he was a kind-hearted hermit with masterful skill.

“You said your world is no different from this era, correct?” Iljimae asked.

“Yes.”

“In that case, promise me one thing and I will allow you to borrow my destiny.”

“What is it?”

Iljimae remained silent momentarily and replied, “If your neighbor is in danger... do what you can to help them. Gain forgiveness from the world in my place.”

Seong-Hwi chuckled. Iljimae’s drive for life was endless compassion for the world.

He answered, “Okay. However, I will decide how I help them.”

Iljimae nodded as if he paid no mind to Seong-Hwi’s words. “Please place a plum blossom branch in this world.”

***

A giant golden room displayed the heads of countless races as trophies on a golden wall. In the center of the room, a massive bed decorated with red silk and emeralds held the goblin High Ranker, Tutobure.

“Kreeeh! Kraaah!” Tutobure, groaning in his sleep, suddenly shouted as he opened his remaining eye.

He flipped his red blanket and tried to get up, but couldn’t because his wounds dealt by Lee Kang-San had yet to heal.

“Kurgh! Kraaak! Lee Kang-San!!!”

His bloodshot eyes emanated thick bloodlust as he shouted his mortal enemy’s name. However, the bloodlust was pointless—Lee Kang-San was not here, and even if he were, Tutobure could do nothing against him.

“There is no way... This is impossible! The High Ranker Tutobure can’t have been reduced to this!”

Tutobure stared at his pathetic reflection in a large mirror beside his bed. His right arm and left eye were gone. His body was a mess, and blood oozed from his wounds, wrapped in bandages. He was in this state even after every goblin with a healing skill spammed their skills on him. If not for that, Tutobure would have been dead already.

“I-I lost?! With just a single swing of a sword?!”

Tutobure recalled the red tsunami that engulfed him. He was overwhelmed by his enemy’s overpowering pressure, which felt like it could make every being in the world kneel, and by an unstoppable natural disaster.

“You’re just a wandering goblin who has given up on reaching the center. I will allow you to feel the gap between you and me.”

Kang-San’s words echoed in Tutobure’s head.

“Kreeeh! I never thought a World Ranker... would be so much more powerful than me!”

The gap between them was so large that Tutobure couldn’t see himself ever shortening it.

Then does that mean Abyete, the king of Humilitas, is just as powerful? Tutobure wondered.

He thought he was around the same level as Abyete and that Abyete was only number one in the ranking because he had more factions supporting him. Tutobure believed he wouldn’t lose in a one-on-one against Abyete.

No! There’s no way! I was simply tired. Yes! I had just fought a human Ranker. The result would’ve been different if I hadn’t tired myself out—

Tutobure heard his subordinates’ voices as he rationalized his defeat.

“Krrrk. What do we do now since the boss is in that state? Does Sir Homaruba become the clan leader now?”

“Who knows? Kreeeh. I’d bet his ranking would drop significantly now that he lost an arm and an eye. He would undoubtedly have to step down as a High Ranker—he might not even be on the level of a Semi Ranker. If that’s the case, it might be better for Sir Homaruba to take his place.”

“Kraaak!” Tutobure grunted as he gritted his teeth.

He did not have the time to feel sorry for himself or be enraged. Now that he was weakened, those below him would try and take his position, and his enemies would take the opportunity to attack him.

I have to recover! I have to regain my power!

It was his highest priority. However, no one could return his obliterated arm and eye. Just then, Tutobure recalled a rumor recently going around the Mirror World. According to the rumor, the Second Fiend Curiositas created a new field of science known as Chimera production after various biological experiments.

It involved creating monsters one could control or modifying one’s body to make it stronger. Tutobure heard that those desiring strength desperately pursued the science. If the rumors were true, he could obtain a new arm and eye on par with—no, surpassing his original ones.

If not, I’ll have to obtain an Elixir!

Unlike the baseless rumor about Chimera production, the Elixir was proven to exist. They rarely appeared in dungeons or from an S-rank item cube. Even if they were on the brink of death, those who drank the Elixir were rejuvenated with immense vitality. It also lengthened one’s lifespan and regenerated any missing body parts. The problem was that Elixirs were far too rare; fewer than five had appeared in the Mirror World.

Whether it be the mystic arts of Chimeras or the Elixir, I need to contact a superior race for them!

Tutobure recalled his trump card, which he had been planning to give Abyete for a price. Now that it had come to this, he would use it himself.

1. I’m not good with history, so hopefully this makes sense. ☜

2. Iljimae means one blossom branch. ☜