The One Who Defies Fate: The Law of the Strong (Transcendental Murim)

An Unexpected Tale – "A Man Like Him"

At a tavern in the city,Damian and his companions were finally catching their breath.

Ian swirled her drink, visibly tired.

"That last job was rough. An ogre with two heads? We really see all sorts these days."

Leanne quietly set down her glass and nodded—though her mind clearly remained elsewhere.

Then, from a corner of the tavern, came a curious story:

"A hero appeared in the neighboring village!"

"He wiped out a horde of monsters all by himself."

"They say his name is… Edwin."

Damian's hand froze mid-movement.

Ian tilted her head, muttering,

"Edwin? That name sounds… familiar."

Leanne narrowed her eyes, listening carefully,then slowly spoke.

"This might not be a coincidence."

Fate Repeats – "The Hero Then, and Now"

Not far from where they stayedlay a village once graced by a legendary hero.

The people there still remembered his name: Edwin.

He had lived decades ago,battling monsters and earning his place in myth.

But the problem was—

The current Edwin bore a striking resemblanceto the hero of the past.

The name.The face.Even the way he fought.

Leanne pointed this out with a solemn tone.

"Is that really just a coincidence?"

But Damian already sensed it—This wasn't mere chance.

"The pattern is repeating."

And with that, he realized something.

In this world, a hero wasn't just a person—It was a design,something molded to fit a predetermined form.

Damian's Question – What Is a Hero?

If the legends of the pastwere now repeating in the present,

then what exactly is a hero?

"Is fate just a series of coincidences?"

"Or does this world… create similar figuresevery time it needs a strong one?"

His grip tightened around his glass.

If this world truly revolved around the Law of the Strong,and if strong individuals were born through a specific process—

"Then am I just another version of that pattern?"

Leanne Sees the Variable

Leanne quietly organized her thoughts.

She had seen countless futures as "the one who reads fate."

But now—She was forced to consider a new concept:

"A repeating fate."

If heroes of the past kept appearing with the same name,same face, same strength—

Then this wasn't fate.It was a pattern orchestrated by the world.

"If the Law of the Strong isn't just a rule of might,but a force that shapes destiny itself…"

For the first time,she began to suspect that what she had seen all alongmight not be inevitable,but engineered.

Next Destination – Seek Edwin

Ian tapped the table with finality.

"Well, there's only one thing to do.We go check it out ourselves."

Damian emptied his glass without a word.Leanne, still deep in thought, eventually nodded.

The hunter remained silent—but his gaze flickered ever so slightly.

"If this is just another repetition…"

"Then is Damian also part of this repeating mold?"

They stood and prepared to leave.

Now, they would seek outthe hero born of repetition.

But what they didn't know—

Was that this Edwinwas not just another copy of the past.

Within this repetitionlay a deeper truth still waiting to be uncovered.

***

Chapter – The Repeating Hero-2-

A City in Celebration

The city pulsed with excitement.

The square overflowed with people—some waving flags, others shouting cheers.

At the center stood a single figure.

A young man clad in gleaming armor.Eyes fierce. Posture proud.

His name—Edwin.

He had driven out enemy forces,saving the village from destruction.

The guild praised him.The people exalted him like a miracle.

Ian took a sip of her drink, muttering under her breath.

"Another hero? The world never gets tired of those."

Leanne, silently watching the man,found herself speaking almost unconsciously.

"…Edwin."

At the name, Damian's gaze shifted.

Ian raised a brow.

"What? You know him or something?"

Leanne murmured amid the cheers.

"This feels… wrong."

"What does?"

"That name. I've seen it in the records."

Ian chuckled.

"So what? Common name, famous figure—probably just someone with the same name."

But Leanne shook her head.

"That's not it."

She spoke slowly, deliberately.

"There was a hero named Edwin in this city decades ago."

Ian blinked.

"Seriously?"

"And even centuries ago… the name appears again."

A Hero Repeated

Damian's eyes stayed locked on Edwin.

The young man stood smiling, waving to the crowd—their beacon of hope.

They believed in him with all their hearts.

But Damian—

He felt something cold and unnatural stir inside him.This wasn't chance.Something was off.

Leanne whispered low:

"The records say he always looked the same.""Not just the name—but the face, the voice, even the way he spoke."

Ian set her glass down, frowning.

"You're saying… it's literally the same person?"

Leanne offered no reply.

She wasn't sure herself.

But one thing was clear:

The same hero was being repeated.

Damian's Unease

Even amid the cheers,Damian felt an unnatural silence pressing around him.

He recalled his time in the Murim.

The Law of the Strong—the one true rule that governed that world.

The strong exist.The strong prove themselves.And the strong do not repeat.

But here—

"This is not the natural birth of a strong one."

He had seen countless powerful figures rise in Murim—Each one carved their path through raw effort and unique will.

No one manufactured them.

But this place?

This world?

It kept producing the same hero—over and over again.

As if a variable had been preset.

It unsettled Damian.

If there was a law behind all of this,then perhaps it, too, was something he had to break.

A Watcher from the Shadows

At the edge of the square,someone watched in silence.

He held a glass, eyes fixed not on Edwin—but on Damian.

He didn't cheer.He didn't believe.

He simply watched.

His gaze—piercing and deliberate—marked the stirrings of a new variable.

One the world had not yet accounted for.

**

Chapter – The Hero Meets the Variable

A World Where Heroes Repeat

"Did you hear? Sir Edwin led another victorious battle.""Of course! He's a hero!""Even the Lord acknowledges him. It's only a matter of time before he rises higher."

As Damian and his companions wandered the city,they caught snatches of the same conversation.

The name—Edwin.

A young knight of the sword who protected this region.One who had earned glory in battle time and again.

Once more, he had secured victory in war.Once more, people called him a hero.

But—

Once more?

That phrase felt... off.Did it mean he was a hero before, and would be again?

Leanne muttered quietly to herself.

"This isn't right…"

Meeting Edwin

They met him at the grand banquet hall.

Edwin stood tall among nobles and officers.A man who looked like he was born to be a hero.

Ian whispered under her breath.

"He looks like the protagonist of a story."

Leanne nodded slowly.

"But something feels… unnatural."

They could feel it.This wasn't just a hero.

This was someone repeating a prewritten path.

But Edwin himself—he didn't know.

To him, this was his only life.He simply followed his sword and his fate.

And yet—

He sensed it.

"That man… he's strong."

Edwin met Damian's gaze.

And understood, instinctively—

The strong recognize the strong.

A Sword Answers a Sword

"Fight me."

Edwin quietly drew his sword.

The hall stirred, but he paid it no mind.He had to test this man.

He had to know if someone stronger existed.

For strength—was proven by the sword.

Damian didn't shy away from the gaze.He too drew his blade, replying calmly.

"So that's how it is."

"The strong know one another."

Edwin's eyes glinted.

"You tested me. Now it's my turn."

Damian shrugged.

"Be my guest."

The Inevitable Defeat

Swords clashed.

Edwin's strikes were swift and powerful—honed not by noble training, but true combat.

But Damian's swordplay—was on another level entirely.

Edwin faltered.

"This can't be."

He attacked again—but before his strike even landed, Damian moved.

And—

The tip of Damian's blade brushed his neck.

Once.

That was all it took.

A Crack in the Pattern

"No… this isn't right."

Edwin stared at his sword in disbelief.

It slipped from his hand.For the first time, his fingers failed him.

He had held this sword countless times—but now, he could not even grasp it.

For the first time,the word "defeat" carved itself into his heart.

He had always been the strong.He had never lost.

But now—a variable had entered.

That variable was Damian.

The hero fell to his knees.His hand still on his sword,but powerless to raise it.

Damian looked down at him,then quietly sheathed his blade.

"That's enough."

But the hero's eyes trembled.

He had believed in his victory.Just as he had always triumphed as a hero.

But this time was different.

He whispered to himself.

"This is… wrong.""I am not someone who loses."

And that single thread of doubt—would lead him to a different path.

From this moment forward,he would begin to change.

He would become something other than a hero.

A single variable—had disrupted fate.

And yet no one noticed.

Not even Damian.

The Pattern Revealed

Leanne watched silently.In her mind, an image surfaced:

A figure from ancient records.A hero, long past.

Different name, perhaps.But the life—nearly identical.

That hero, too, had once tasted defeat.

And after that—he shook the world.

She whispered to herself.

"Could it be…?""Even in the distant past, the same thing happened?"

And if that defeated hero—had become a king?

If he had started a war?

A chill ran down her spine.

And in that moment,a word flashed in her mind—

NOON

A palindrome.A loop.A fate in repetition.

Would it happen again?

Or—would this time… be different?

She turned to look at Damian.

And made her conclusion.

"He is the variable.""Then maybe, this time—it won't repeat."