Dragon Pearl

These chapters, while action-packed and engaging, also serve a crucial expository role by exposing the heroine to the primary aspects of spaceflight, interstellar navigation, ship mechanics, and the cultural norms of Space Forces military cadets-in-training. Thus, as the author continues to develop the story’s rising action, Min also learns a series of new skills and adapts more fully to her ever-expanding comprehension of the world. She also increases her skill with Charm even as she comes to realize just how little she knows about the universe or the Space Forces. Impersonating Jang pushes her supernatural talents to their limits because her performance requires attention to minute physical and behavioral details. Not only must she use her Charm to emulate Jang’s appearance, gender, and personality, but she must also use her magic to engage with the ship’s own meridians in a variety of ways. In Chapter 17, for example, Min investigates a meridian that was damaged in the fight with the mercenaries who attacked the freighter ship. She learns about the meridian because its damage is affecting a tank in the hydroponic gardens, which are on a completely different level of the ship. The ability for damage to travel in this way demonstrates the interconnected nature of meridians and shows how an imbalance in one system can lead to a decline in others.

This concept of interconnectedness on an almost ethereal level is further explored during the attack on the Pale Lightning in Chapter 20, for as Min works to repair meridians that have been affected by the initial damage, she untangles the meridians’ energy and unhealthy pressure in the same way that acupuncture is understood to do (See: Background). When Min goes into her trance, she becomes one with the ship and can feel its meridians as if they were her own, which makes the ship feel as if it’s alive. While there is no direct mention of inanimate objects having life force or meridians in Korean mythology, the novel nonetheless builds upon the idea that energy is life itself, and thus the power of the meridians goes far beyond the physical and implies that all beings and objects in the universe are connected in ways that the characters can barely comprehend. Accordingly, when the Pale Lightning takes a hit at the end of the chapter, Min is so connected to the ship that the blast knocks her unconscious, showing the interconnected power that the meridians possess.

In addition to the metaphysical aspects of the novel, this section also demonstrates author’s tendency to draw upon Korean mythology to enhance the world of the novel. A prime example is the author’s use of ghosts as a common phenomenon and well-known hazard within the context of the story, and the ghostly presence of Jang serves as a primer of sorts to introduce the reader to this aspect of world-building. In Korean myth, there are four types of ghosts. Jang’s need to learn who is responsible for his death reveals him to fall into the category of a gwishin: the ghost of a person with unfinished business that prevents them from moving on. A ghost tends to haunt—and sometimes curse—the place of its death. If left to linger, a gwishin may become vengeful and violent. Thus, Jang’s marked hesitation before promising not to curse the ship serves as an element of foreshadowing, and it is implied that his ongoing presence may spell trouble for the Pale Lightning and for Min’s mission. This foreshadowing is confirmed when Min feels Jang’s energy around the damaged meridians and realizes that he has tampered with the Pale Lightning as punishment for its involvement in his death. Given these complications, it is important to note that although Min understands Jang’s need for closure, her choice to help him is not entirely altruistic. She only agrees to help because impersonating Jang provides her with an ideal disguise. Thus, this relationship embodies the ongoing theme of The Conflict Between Ethical and Self-Serving Actions, for while Jang’s presence helps Min to disguise herself, his increasingly baleful tendencies also endanger the health of the ship and the lives of everyone aboard.

Additional Korean cultural elements contextualize the discovery of the Dragon Pearl on the Fourth Colony. In Korean myth, four is an unlucky number because it is spelled the same way as the word for death, and the novel uses this connection by making the Fourth Colony a ghost planet. In the universe of the story, the Fourth Colony was overrun by ghosts long ago, and most people have avoided the planet ever since because ghosts bring bad luck, even more so when they congregate in large numbers. Ghosts are also known for creating winds that get more powerful the longer a ghost lingers. Jang shows this in Chapter 15 with the chill he leaves behind, which foreshadows the powerful winds Min will eventually face from the army of ghosts she discovers on the Fourth Colony toward the end of the novel.

Additionally, these chapters both confirm and complicate Min’s preconceptions of how other people view foxes. In Chapter 10, for example, Jang accepts Min’s fox nature with no issues. Because Jang is a human, this serene acceptance contradicts Min’s assumption that all humans are distrustful of foxes. Yet in Chapter 12, Min’s preconceptions seem to be confirmed when she overhears other cadets whispering about “Jang’s” odd behavior for hanging out with supernaturals; this incident supports the view that humans hold unreasoning prejudices against all supernaturals. Sujin and Haneul are also supernaturals, but as a goblin and a dragon, they are considered to be superior to foxes and better candidates for joining the Space Forces. These incidents foreshadow the trouble that will arise later in the novel when Sujin and Haneul eventually learn of Min’s fox nature and reveal themselves to also possess a degree of prejudice against Min’s kind. Thus, these early scenes provide additional layers of social nuance; on a practical level, the issue intensifies the tension surrounding Min’s masquerade, and on a broader level, it allows the author to inject an implied social commentary about how profoundly cultural prejudices can influence individual actions and interpersonal relationships. Thus, Min will eventually discover that just as humans hold a broad prejudice toward supernaturals, some species within the supernatural community believe themselves to be superior to others. In this way, the author posits that a commonality between disparate subcultures does not necessarily guarantee that the members of those groups will become allies.