Ten Armbands
"Sorry, but I'll have to pass."
The atmosphere instantly turned icy. Sure, rejecting her was one thing, but did he really have to swat her hand away like that? Even if Dokgo Rin was his girlfriend, this was the kind of behavior that would've made Namgung Ruby furious. Without thinking, I took a few steps back.
But—
"Whoa~ So you don't make friends that easily, huh~"
Namgung Ruby just grinned brightly, as if she'd expected exactly this reaction.
"…What?"
Even the Ice Princess herself, Dokgo Rin, looked genuinely taken aback.
"Honestly, I'm kind of relieved. If you'd become my friend just because we met again after two years, all the plans I made to get close to you guys would've been pointless. But since you rejected me so coldly, I can still use those plans!"
What the hell was with this overwhelming positivity? Even Tang Soso, who was meeting her for the first time, wore an expression that clearly said, Yeah, this is a bit much. Like Dokgo Rin, she didn't seem particularly fond of this type of person.
Soon, Dokgo Rin spoke with clear bewilderment on her face.
"I said I don't want to be friends with you."
"That's the spirit! Keep rejecting me like that. It'll feel more rewarding once we actually become friends."
"……."
Even Dokgo Rin seemed to have given up on having a normal conversation. Who would've thought someone could push the great Dokgo Rin this far?
Unable to watch any longer, I decided to step in.
"More importantly, Ruby, what are you doing here? The Namgung Clan is in Anhui Province."
"Hehe, obviously I'm here to enroll in the Heavenly Martial Academy."
Namgung Ruby placed a hand on her chest with a confident smile.
"Then you're just like us. We're about to take the entrance exam right now."
Namgung Ruby waved her hands frantically.
"Ah, sorry. I'm entering through recommendation, so I don't have to take the exam."
Tang Soso was the one who reacted.
"What! That's cheating!"
Namgung Ruby scratched her cheek with an awkward smile.
"I was planning to take the exam too, but my father went ahead and registered me as a recommended student without telling me. So I couldn't help it."
Then, as if suddenly realizing something, she turned to Tang Soso.
"By the way, who are you?"
She sure asked quickly. I answered for her.
"This is Tang Soso from the Sichuan Tang Clan. She's Rin's cousin, so we're traveling together to Chang'an."
"I see."
Namgung Ruby tapped her index finger against her chin in thought, then extended her right hand.
"Then, wanna be friends?"
"Huh? Are you talking to me right now?"
Tang Soso's face was the picture of disbelief, as if to say, We've barely met and you want to be friends? Well, we'd reacted the same way at first.
"Yeah. I want to make as many friends as possible."
After hearing that, Tang Soso gave me an incredulous look.
"Is she always like this?"
"Well, she said her goal was to make a hundred friends the last time we met, too."
"As expected of Chilbok! You remembered what I said!"
With that, Namgung Ruby suddenly pulled me into a hug. Squish! Her chest, which was by no means small, pressed vividly against me through the fabric. But her grip was so strong that I didn't have time to appreciate it.
"What—let go!"
Shocked by the sight, Dokgo Rin rushed to pull Namgung Ruby off me, but the girl clung like a leech. No matter how hard she tried, she wouldn't budge. After a long struggle, Namgung Ruby finally released me on her own, narrowly avoiding a bloodbath.
"Huff, huff… How the hell are you that strong?"
Gasping for breath after finally being freed, I muttered the words, but Namgung Ruby just replied with a perfectly calm face.
"Hehe, isn't everyone like this?"
"If you're normal, then most people must be incredibly unlucky."
"You think so?"
After the commotion died down, Namgung Ruby suddenly remembered she had a prior engagement and decided to leave the teahouse first.
"Well then, see you all at the academy next time!"
With a wave, she disappeared like the wind. The three of us, thoroughly exhausted by her pace, exchanged glances with drained faces before letting out sighs of relief.
"She really was an absurd girl."
"Agreed."
Dokgo Rin rarely chimed in, but even she nodded at Tang Soso's muttered words. She must've been exhausted too.
After killing some time at the teahouse, we headed back to the Heavenly Martial Academy for the entrance exam. Even though quite a bit of time had passed, the place was still packed with people. We weaved through the crowd and made our way inside.
"By the way, how exactly is the entrance exam going to work?"
Tang Soso shrugged.
"I don't know either."
"What?"
"I heard the content changes every year. Otherwise, repeat applicants might prepare in advance using past information. Still, since they have to filter out a huge number of people in a short time, it probably won't be too complicated."
"That's a relief, at least."
I'd boldly followed them all the way to Chang'an saying I'd take the exam with my girlfriend, Dokgo Rin. The last thing I wanted was to fail alone and end up as the odd one out.
We went to find a staff member at the admissions office to get instructions, and they handed each of us a cloth armband.
"This is?"
"Looks like an armband you wear on your arm."
"That's not what I meant."
I read the character written on the armband.
"Heaven?"
Tang Soso frowned.
"Mine says Human. Are these different for everyone?"
Looking around, I noticed that every person nearby had a different character on their armband. They all seemed to fall into one of three categories: Heaven, Earth, or Human.
"Maybe they're dividing us into groups with these?"
"Ah, that makes sense. Could be."
Dokgo Rin quickly jumped into our conversation, as if jealous of us talking.
"Mine has Heaven too, just like Chilbok's. Does that mean we're in the same group?"
"Maybe. Or maybe not."
Since only the organizers knew the exact exam format, I couldn't give a definite answer. You understand that, right?
Dokgo Rin nodded calmly.
"In the end, we'll just have to figure it out as we go."
Right then—
"Everyone, pay attention!"
A booming voice that seemed to dominate the entire crowd echoed through the air. All eyes turned in one direction, including ours. Standing on a slightly raised platform was a middle-aged man in black robes. The martial artists who had come for the exam began murmuring.
"It's the Peak Sword, Un Gi-ik!"
"If it's Un Gi-ik, he's one of the popular instructors at the academy. Don't tell me he's the examiner for this entrance test?"
"This is no joke."
Those who recognized him gathered in small groups, whispering. Having successfully drawn everyone's attention, Un Gi-ik cleared his throat and spoke in a loud voice.
"With that, the 97th Heavenly Martial Academy Entrance Examination will now begin."
Waaaaah!
The applicants erupted in enthusiastic cheers. But the next words out of his mouth were truly shocking.
"The first test. All examinees are to fight each other."
"There are simply too many of you right now, so let's reduce that number by at least half in one go."
Peak Sword Un Gi-ik had given the examinees only one instruction: Survive.
Now it made sense why they'd handed out armbands labeled Heaven, Earth, and Human. The armbands were collectibles. If you gathered a total of ten—including your own—you'd advance to the next test. The catch was that armbands with the same character as yours were useless.
In other words, someone with a Heaven armband had to target those with Earth and Human, while someone with Human had to go after Heaven and Earth. And since you needed ten in total, the organizers' intent to slash the number of examinees down to one-tenth was painfully obvious.
The sudden test format left the applicants flustered. But while some stood frozen, others immediately sprang into action, and some even formed alliances with those bearing the same character. Since killing anyone would result in immediate disqualification regardless of the reason, that was something to keep in mind.
"Looks like it's every man for himself from here on out."
Tang Soso, who had drawn a different character from ours, smiled confidently as she spoke. In each of her hands, she held something—the hidden weapons that were the Sichuan Tang Clan's trademark.
"I'll move on my own. You two do whatever you want. If fighting gets too tough, surrendering is always an option, you know?"
Like a mother sending her child off into the world, she gave us a serious warning before saying she'd see us in the second test and walking away.
Once it was just the two of us, Dokgo Rin smiled meaningfully from behind her black veil.
"You're ready, right? Chilbok?"
"Of course, Rin."
Since we'd come this far, I was going to give it everything I had—even if it meant being sorry to the other examinees.