The Man Who Defies Fate

Mu-Jin's breath was shallow, controlled, but the war within his mind was anything but calm.

Everything—the Council's words, the years of struggle, the countless corpses left in his wake—it all pointed to one undeniable fact.

He had never been in control.

And now, staring at Jin Tae-Hyun, that feeling gnawed at his soul like a festering wound.

But he wasn't a man who accepted fate.

He was a man who shattered it.

---

Five Years Ago.

The Council had called him an anomaly. A mistake.

Something that wasn't supposed to exist.

But instead of killing him, they had let him walk free.

A test, they said.

A test of whether fate could be defied.

And if he failed?

Then his entire life would serve as proof that fate always wins.

That everything he had done was just another cog in an already moving machine.

That realization had driven him into madness.

Had turned him into a beast that devoured anything that stood in his way.

He refused to be a pawn.

So he did what no one expected.

He vanished.

For three years, he disappeared from the martial world, diving into forbidden arts, secrets lost to time, techniques that could sever even destiny itself.

He would prove them wrong.

He would make his existence his own.

---

Present Day.

"You're scared," Jin said, his tone unreadable. "I can see it in your eyes."

Mu-Jin forced a smirk. "Fear? I don't know the meaning of the word."

Jin tilted his head slightly, studying him. "No… You do. But it's not fear of death. It's fear of the truth."

Mu-Jin lunged.

A single step.

Then—darkness.

Jin had moved.

No, not moved—disappeared.

Mu-Jin barely had time to process before a blade was at his throat.

Jin's voice was cold. "How does it feel?"

Mu-Jin gritted his teeth. "How does what feel?"

"Being on the other side of fate."

A slow chill crept up Mu-Jin's spine.

Because in that moment, he understood.

This wasn't just a battle.

This was a clash of two men trying to seize control of their lives.

One who had known the script and bent it to his will.

And one who had spent his entire life trying to rewrite it.

But only one of them could win.

Mu-Jin grinned, his blade twisting in a fraction of a second.

"Then let's see whose will is stronger."

The air cracked with power.

And the battle truly began.