Morning.

The time just after dawn, when the sun is barely floating in the sky.

A somewhat cool breeze blows as if announcing the end of summer.

As the wind sweeps through the sky, countless people fill the space below.

“Those with neck tokens, please line up this way!”

A booming voice echoes.

The sound carries the essence of bets and sticks to my ears.

“Green Gems, come this way!”

“Blue Gems, over here…!”

Following the voice, countless people start to move.

Just by looking, the numbers seem to range from hundreds to thousands, and the air surrounding feels particularly heavy.

‘The presence of bets is no joke.’

The density of inner strength mixed in the air surpasses imagination.

When was the last time I felt something like this?

‘Was it during the war?’

It feels like I could only feel this when the Righteous-Demonic War was going on.

To experience such thick energy within the Martial Alliance like this?

‘It probably means a massive gathering.’

At least the brink of the second-rate.

The martial artists gathered here were all exceptionally intense.

From young martial artists who looked like they were of my age to elders with streaks of white in their hair.

Not a single person around was without martial arts skills.

The implication is that everyone present is a martial artist.

‘What a crowd we have.’

Truly, it was a lot.

No matter how much the alliance hosted the martial arts tournament, I never expected such a turnout.

I looked around in awe, unable to hide my admiration.

‘They say Shaolin is directly involved. Maybe that helped a bit.’

That might be true.

I glanced around, sighed, and pushed my hair back.

‘So, I’ve finally arrived….’

It was the day of the martial arts tournament.

More precisely, the day the preliminary rounds started, and I stood in front of the entrance set up by the Martial Alliance.

Of course, this was to attend the martial arts tournament.

‘Tsk.’

I clicked my tongue at this sight.

The preliminary rounds are scheduled to take place over three days, yet I was destined to be on the very first day.

This wasn’t the entrance itself but rather led to what would probably take me into a deep mountain.

‘Well.’

It wouldn’t make sense to hold preliminaries with this many humans inside the alliance.

Splitting days and changing the terrain like this is quite understandable.

It seems they plan to use as wide a location as possible, but what will they actually do?

As I calmly surveyed my surroundings, I heard a voice from behind.

“Prince!”

I turned around at the call and found Wi Seol-Ah with a veil over her face looking at me.

It was also her first day for the preliminaries.

Even with the veil to cover her face, her figure was undeniably captivating.

‘…This is the best she can do.’

She had put in effort for the veil, but should I find her a treasure after seeing her like this?

‘Is it okay to give her the one Nangong Bi-ah used?’

The white fox mask.

I’d heard that it was a treasure from the North Sea.

An item that lowers the opponent’s perception, they said.

‘It seems similar to the effects of that thing Tang Deok used.’

Should I have lent it to her? But too bad—being a treasure, she would’ve had to take it off soon.

Thinking that, I looked at Wi Seol-Ah.

“What color are you, Prince?”

At her question, I glanced at the neck token in my hand.

I assumed she was referring to the color of the gem embedded in it.

“It’s white.”

The gem embedded in my neck token was white.

She shifted her gaze following mine.

There, at the very end, a man was holding a white sign, and it looked like that’s where I’d be lining up.

“I’m blue.”

Wi Seol-Ah shyly showed her neck token.

A blue gem sparkled in the token.

The colors totaled four.

‘Green, Blue, Red, White.’

Coincidentally, those colors matched the grades of the Demonic Gate.

‘If it’s not a coincidence, could they be organizing tiers based on colors?’

I pondered for a moment but shook my head to dispel the thought.

No matter how incompetent the alliance might be, would they have set it up that simply?

‘That couldn’t be.’

I believed it wouldn’t be so foolish.

At least, we didn’t overlap.

Should I consider that a stroke of luck?

If that’s lucky, then yes.

At least, that’s how I saw it.

I shifted my gaze.

There were a total of four lines. Long lines of people stretched toward each end.

They didn’t discriminate by gender, nor by age or realm.

Some had determined expressions, while others were visibly nervous.

Everyone was different.

But where were they all headed?

I didn’t know.

Or maybe…

‘Everyone except me is likely looking toward the same place.’

An outsider that shouldn’t be present.

That thought suddenly made me frown.

No more useless thoughts.

I shook my head to clear my mind.

‘Where’s Seongyul?’

I turned my head to search for him.

Seongyul also had his first day today.

I had told him to figure it out on his own, but I wondered if he was managing well.

‘He should be fine.

He may look a bit clumsy, but he’s someone I can trust to manage on his own.

The problem is…

‘…Bong-Soon.’

The fact that she had to enter on the second day, not today.

That I would have to send her without me.

Just recalling that made me feel exhausted.

‘I did place restrictions on her….’

I had put a few restrictions on Bong-Soon to prevent her from causing trouble.

First.

Never speak a word.

Second.

If someone bothers her, endure it at least twice.

And third.

‘Don’t kill anyone unless they’re truly trying to kill you.’

Those were all the restrictions I placed on her.

With this level of limitation, I thought I could manage somewhat.

Otherwise… well.

‘If she explodes even with such constraints, I’ll have to admit defeat.’

If it came to that point, there would be little I could do.

She should manage to cope.

Just as I was starting to accept that, I heard a commotion.

“Look over there!”

“Is that the Sword King?”

“Is it really the Sword King?”

At that, the spirits of the martial artists shook.

Turning my head, I saw two figures entering from the entrance, and everyone was watching them.

Thud.

The vibrations echoed with the man’s steps.

The eyes of the martial artists widened as they confirmed it.

“The mere way he walks holds such presence…!”

“Is he really the clan leader of the three great families?”

Wonder and terror, along with a hint of respect, piled upon the man.

All those gazes turned toward the Sword King, Peng Zhou.

‘The Sword King…’

I couldn’t help but snicker at the sight of him.

Those with the title of King in the Central Plains are few and far between.

It’s not based merely on strength like the White-Grade Masters or even the higher-ranked Ten-Grade Masters.

The title ‘King’ literally refers to those with absolute influence in their field.

It’s not just about martial prowess. It’s about fame and position.

He is the most influential being among those who wield swords.

That was the clan leader of the Pang Clan, Sword King Peng Zhou.

As he appeared, the gathered martial artists began to heighten their tension.

“Did the Sword King really come to participate…?”

“Could it be true that rumor was real?”

“Why would the Sword King be here…?”

Half of them reacted in amazement.

The other half questioned why that man was here.

It’s understandable.

‘What would the clan leader gain by joining in on this?’

Winning means a break-even; losing means loss.

Or rather, winning could end up being a loss.

There is literally no reason for the Sword King to be here, yet he chose to participate in this martial arts tournament.

Walking slowly under all those gazes, Peng Zhou.

I thought to myself.

‘He’s really making quite the spectacle.’

It was absurd.

Thud!

Each step of his made ripples form.

People were interpreting that as the presence and spirit from his power, but.

‘That guy really has no clue how ridiculous this looks.’

What he was doing was purely for show.

It was like he was announcing how overflowing his inner strength is. Just look at me, I’m splendidly powerful.

Thanks to that, he was indeed drawing eyes, but…

‘How embarrassing is that?’

The flow of energy was so abnormal that it was impossible to overlook.

‘Is nobody else seeing this?’

Why was I the only one who could recognize this display?

It left me puzzling.

‘Am I the only Transformation Realm martial artist here?’

Only those at the level of Transformation Realm could discern the foolishness of the Sword King’s antics.

I wondered if there might be others besides me, but.

‘There are some.’

A few familiar faces caught my eye.

There were quite a few renowned martial artists among them, but not just that.

“Can’t you see that?”

“…Huh?”

There was one right beside me.

I tried asking, but Wi Seol-Ah only made a confused face.

‘She can’t see that?’

The flow of energy is so peculiar; how can she not notice it?

‘Why can’t she see this?’

It made no sense.

I momentarily questioned my own eyesight.

Could it be that I was mistaken?

The thought passed my mind, but I ignored it.

Amidst the murmurs as the Sword King walked by, the martial artists parted for him, revealing a familiar face by his side.

The son of Peng Zhou and the Lesser Clan Leader of the Pang Family.

Bi Seongdo, Peng Woojin, was walking alongside him.

As Peng Woojin casually glanced this way, our eyes met.

He grinned and waved his hand at me.

“…”

I didn’t wave back but merely nodded.

That was the best greeting I could offer.

‘As if those two also have their first day, huh.’

The fact that the father-son duo shared the same first day as me means…

‘It doesn’t imply any relation to the order of application.’

Peng Woojin registered on the same day as me, while the Sword King must’ve registered last day, so there’s really no correlation.

Then does that imply it’s merely a randomly assigned order?

‘I don’t think so.’

Doubts began to surge.

I believed the Martial Alliance would have messed things up in that regard.

‘They say the martial arts tournament will last nearly half a month.’

What on earth will they have planned for that length of time?

Just imagining it made my stomach churn.

As I was lost in these sensitive thoughts, finally, a warning bell rang.

“Preliminary rounds will commence in one time point! Please make sure you’re lined up!”

It was that time for real now.

I turned to look at Wi Seol-Ah.

“Uh.”

“Yes?”

She turned to me with a curious expression.

Looking at her, I contemplated stuttering out a question.

Should I really say it? Can I skip out?

But then, I looked into her eyes behind the veil and scratched the back of my head.

“Just try your best.”

That’s all I could say to her.

Upon hearing that, Wi Seol-Ah smiled brightly and replied,

“Yes! I’ll do my best!”

It seemed she didn’t quite grasp my intention.

“I said just enough effort!”

“Yes, I’ll do just enough hard work!”

“…”

I wasn’t sure why, but Wi Seol-Ah was in a state of complete enthusiasm.

Tang Soyeol was like that too, so why were they acting this way?

‘…I hope nothing goes wrong.’

It better not.

“Alright… see you later.”

After wrapping up the greeting, I started to head over to the line.

“Oh, Prince!”

“Yeah?”

Perhaps she had more to say, Wi Seol-Ah called out to stop me.

I looked back, curious as to what she might say.

All of a sudden—

“Hmm?”

Wi Seol-Ah opened her arms and hugged me.

Then she leaned her forehead against my chest and stood still for a moment.

What’s this?

I was flustered but managed to spread a thin energy barrier to reduce my presence.

“What are you doing…?”

“It’s a support hug.”

Wi Seol-Ah gently lifted her head and made eye contact with me.

“I’ll do my best too. You… do your best as well. For sure.”

“…Uh… okay.”

Just as I was about to respond to her words—

“See you later.”

Before I could say anything back, Wi Seol-Ah pulled away and walked off.

Watching her golden hair grow distant, I chuckled awkwardly.

I couldn’t bring myself to respond with an acknowledgment.

Why was that?

I had no idea.

It was just one of those feelings.