The Miracle's Blade
Before we get into the match results, let's first take a look at Namgoong Sega. Korea's Mir Guild delivered such a shocking performance that it dominated the headlines, but China's Namgoong Sega has also shown some truly startling progress.
"No doubt Gary has a lot to say. Didn't he even write that book on Chinese guilds?"
"Ahem. My turn has come. That's right, I have plenty to say. Let me begin with this. From long ago, I've always named Europe, Korea, and China as the three major leagues."
"Oh, here we go again."
"Hear me out until the end."
The debate over the three major leagues is a rather heated topic among European officials.
If Europe is the homeland of strategy, then Korea is the cradle of talented hunters. Up to this point, there's no room for argument.
However, opinions were sharply divided on that final spot.
The American league was overwhelmingly dominant in terms of marketability, yet European officials often dismissed their money-obsessed behavior as vulgar.
The Egyptian league offered plenty of inspiration through its diverse abilities and unique hunters, but the drawback was that it featured more hunters from other African nations than its own.
And the third was China.
"They have a massive population, to start with. Which means they also have an absurd number of Awakeners."
"According to last year's Oxford University survey, India ranks first in the number of Awakeners by country, followed by China."
"What's the point if most of them lack any real skill and are used as human excavators? They need to start thinking about human rights first."
"Hey, friend. If we go that far, our Match of the Day will turn into Newsnight. For today, let's focus on the Chinese guild."
"Fine, okay."
That aside, China has a vast number of Awakeners.
As someone said, most of them end up working as excavators or manual laborers, but the fact that there are so damn many of them is undeniable. These individuals are filtered and refined through unimaginable competition rates that other countries could never dream of, and only then can they enter a 'major guild.'
"To Chinese hunters, joining a major guild doesn't simply mean becoming a member. It means being reborn. It means their status has risen. That's why they discard their old names and surnames to truly become 'family.'"
Munpa follow the proper hierarchy.
Sega share the same surname.
Loyalty over trust. Affection over law.
It's a uniquely Chinese culture that draws clear lines between my friend, my brother, and my people, then forcibly binds them into a community of shared fate.
Guanxi.
China's guilds, or 'munpa,' are born from this fusion of guanxi.
"It's definitely a culture that's difficult for our sensibilities to understand."
"That's why the introduction was so long. Without grasping this, everything becomes confusing."
"That was very informative. Now then, Gary, shall we talk about Namgoong Sega?"
"I was just about to. Namgoong Sega is the origin of the 'sega' that goes beyond simply changing one's name to adopting an entirely new surname. The Zhuge Sega and the Murong Sega all emerged from this tradition."
A team composed of exceptional hunters centered around China's rank three player, the Blue Sky Sword Emperor Namgoong Min.
Yet something felt off. Not rank one, not rank two, but rank three? How did the third-ranked guild become China's champion?
At the host's question, Gary simply shrugged.
"That's precisely why it's an upset. When I first heard that Namgoong Sega had become China's champion, I doubted my own ears."
"If all you did was doubt it, you wouldn't have any reason to be sitting here, would you?"
"Right? So I looked into it. I had to find out what on earth had happened. To cut straight to the conclusion, Namgoong Sega solved their chronic problem of having no 'brains.'"
"Brains?"
"Brainpower. Strategy and tactics. Hey, roll the prepared footage."
When Gary snapped his fingers, the screen lit up with a video.
Hunters wearing white martial uniforms patterned with sky-blue clouds. It was footage from Namgoong Sega's matches last year.
"This is Namgoong Sega from last season."
"They're certainly tough."
"To put it negatively...?"
"...Brainless? Crude?"
"Exactly right."
Playing as individuals was the baseline. Their coordination was so poor they couldn't even speak of synergy. Battle design was nonexistent. Line control was a disaster.
Because each hunter possessed outstanding individual might, it looked somewhat impressive to the untrained eye, but experts saw right through it.
This was a complete mess.
"The evaluation that always followed the old Namgoong Sega was exactly this. Despite having the money, the equipment, and hunters brimming with raw power, they lacked one single thing that prevented them from becoming the best."
"And that thing was brains?"
"Yes. And the interesting part begins now."
He snapped his fingers again, and the video switched.
It was this year's Asia League round of sixteen match against Indonesia.
"Take a look. What's your impression?"
"Uh, um, hold on. Just a second. Is this really the same guild?"
"...Wait, does this even make sense?"
"Hehehe. I knew you'd react like that."
The reason the two men furrowed their brows while watching the footage was simple.
The team that once played as scattered individuals was now moving as one.
Every engagement carried meaning. Their rotations, personnel distribution, side management, and line control unfolded with majestic grace, like hawks soaring above the clouds—the very symbol of their guild.
"What the fuck... It's so beautiful it makes me want to curse. I feel like I'm looking at a masterpiece."
"...In some scenes, they're every bit as good as us."
"This is it. Through this teamwork and tactical precision—moving as a single body—Namgoong Sega became the smartest guild in China. In the end, they seized the champion title from the rank one 'Heavenly Demon.'"
"If the best match of the round of sixteen was Korea's game against Japan, then the best match of the quarterfinals was undoubtedly China's Namgoong Sega against India's representative."
"Both countries boast enormous populations, quite the coincidence."
"And Awakeners and hunters as well."
"It was a matchup between two nations whose potential would make anyone else jealous. But? As you can see, the result was one-sided."
"And the following semifinals were against Qatar's Falcon."
"Yes. Along with Saudi Arabia, Qatar is a nation that pours astronomical royal investments into the league. In fact, both countries delivered quite respectable performances in this Asia League."
"For that level of investment, the result seems awfully one-sided, doesn't it?"
"As you saw from the match, Falcon displayed a fairly solid weight class. Though their lack of brains held them back, they somehow managed to drag the lane phase along through sheer physicality."
"They look exactly like Namgoong Sega before the change."
"Oh, I was just thinking the same thing."
"Hehe, exactly. So Namgoong Sega precisely exploited their old weakness. They won the macro game."
On the screen appeared a miniature view of the canyon.
Namgoong Sega stood in breathtakingly perfect positions.
Their 1-3-1 split push was artistic. It looked like blue clouds drifting across the sky.
Qatar's Falcon was swept away like a lost bird in that sky and ultimately crashed to the ground.
"...You're saying they acquired this level of teamwork and strategic tactics in just one year?"
"Don't forget that these are the same members. There were no roster changes."
"Now everyone understands why I called it an upset."
If their weight class had simply increased, it would have been understandable. They could have loaded up on Legendary items.
But their teamwork had transformed. Their brains had caught up.
It was nothing short of a miracle.
And that was what made it so fascinating.
"As you all know, the 'Asia League' finals are about to take place. The word that symbolizes Korea's Mir Guild is 'legend.' And the Chinese guild standing against them, Namgoong Sega, represents 'miracle.'"
Legend and miracle.
The sea and the sky.
Korea's dragon and China's hawk are about to clash.
"Who will ultimately stand at the peak of Asia? This concludes Match of the Day. Thank you."
* * *
"...Thank you."
"It's over."
Park Su-bin set down his phone and tilted his head.
He had watched it because of the homework his hyung assigned him, but he only felt like he'd fallen deeper into a maze.
"So how exactly did Namgoong Sega acquire their strategy?"
I have no idea!
He stretched without thinking and took a deep breath, only to start coughing from the scorching heat and stuffy air.
That's right.
This was the Bress Forge—the greatest forge in Korea, no, in all of Asia—created through astronomical investments from the Lee Group, the Rothschilds, and Mir Guild.
The reason Park Su-bin was spending his precious rest time here before the Asia League finals was because of his best friend Baek Yeon-woo, who was hammering away in the corner.
Clang—! Clang—!! Kaang—!!
Baek Yeon-woo struck the heated iron.
If the fire's heat gave the metal breath, then Baek Yeon-woo's hammer gave it a name.
Which name do you like? His sky-blue eyes drew graceful arcs as he asked the iron. A gaze that seemed to say it was so adorable he could hardly stand it.
On the other hand, Park Su-bin's nose twitched as he watched.
"Why is he like that?"
He's smiling while looking at the iron, right? Has he gone crazy?
He used to be a good kid even if he was a bit prickly, but whenever he started hammering, he seemed to lose his mind.
Park Su-bin found himself resenting the representative hyung who had apparently ruined his friend.
"What did he say again..."
He had probably said something like this.
"Yeon-woo, let's stop studying match videos for a while. At this point, your vessel is full. Now take a little time to breathe and create your own style."
It wasn't mere acquisition. It was about transforming every technique he had absorbed so far into Baek Yeon-woo's own style.
Up to that point it sounded incredibly cool... but why did that suddenly involve a hammer?
"I was planning to say something cool like 'Look inside yourself while hammering iron,' but honestly I don't know that well either. Still, I believe this will be effective. I'll guarantee it."
Lee Shin had abruptly placed a hammer in Baek Yeon-woo's hand and gifted him the royal spot in the forge.
After that, there was no need to say more. Baek Yeon-woo followed Lee Shin just as devotedly as Park Su-bin did, so there was no chance he would ignore the instruction.
The moment the words left his mouth, Baek Yeon-woo headed straight for the forge and began pounding iron.
At first he found it boring, but after one day, two days, as more time passed, something changed. Doing this is actually more fun than I expected? And after that, well... he looked exactly as he did now.
Hammering away with a grin. Staring lovingly at the iron with a grin. He was evolving into a steel pervert.
Suddenly contemplating how far he should tolerate his friend's hobby, Park Su-bin shook his head vigorously.
"Ugh~ What am I doing? I've got my own problems to worry about."
Lee Shin wouldn't have given the advice only to Baek Yeon-woo. Naturally, he had given guidance to Park Su-bin here as well.
That was the homework currently troubling him.
"Bokchi, the Namgoong Sega we're going to fight in a few days is an incredibly tricky guild."
The hunters' brainpower, which had once been rock bottom, had transformed into something world-class.
The guild that was once nothing more than a headbutting dinosaur had become majestic enough to resemble a hawk soaring through the open sky.
In just one year.
"The members haven't changed, and it's not like they brought in a new commander. So how could they have changed so miraculously?"
"Find out what Namgoong Sega's 'miracle' is. This is the homework I'm giving you, Bokchi."
The homework Lee Shin had assigned with a bright smile.
This was how Lee Shin raised the children—through suggestions and assignments—and the children never failed to live up to his expectations.
"...What could the miracle be?"
Park Su-bin sat back down in the rocking chair and reviewed every single one of Namgoong Sega's match videos.
Last season's games and this season's games. If you covered their faces, it was impossible to believe they were the same guild.
"If their abilities or weight class had changed, there would be plenty of things to consider."
Physical or ability growth was visible, so it could somehow be explained.
Whether they had loaded up on Legendary items, consumed elixirs, undergone risky procedures, or—even though it shouldn't be done—used illegal doping or forbidden arts.
But.
"I've never once heard of an ability that injects brainpower."
Having the Mountain King Kim Jong-pil as his mentor, Park Su-bin understood better than anyone how unique this brainpower truly was.
He also knew it was a power that only the chosen could possess. This was an area where effort simply didn't work.
Ah, there had been one exception.
"Maybe Hye-jung noona would know?"
Then a voice came from beside him.
"What? Why bring up Hye-jung noona?"
"Oh, you're done?"
"Yeah. What do you think?"
Baek Yeon-woo held out a kitchen knife.
He had made it as a gift for his mother. Park Su-bin swallowed hard as he looked at the sharply honed edge. It looked lethal.
Soon after, Baek Yeon-woo stripped off his sweat-drenched shirt and pulled a sports drink from the small refrigerator.
"Still haven't figured it out?"
"Yeah. It's difficult."
"It's hard enough that even you can't solve it? Hmm. Let me see."
Baek Yeon-woo examined the pad Park Su-bin handed over.
His pupils suddenly dilated and flooded with a strong sky-blue light. Then he pointed at one part of the screen and spoke.
"Is this a decoration?"
"What?"
"This. Right here."
The place Baek Yeon-woo's finger indicated was the waists of the Namgoong Sega hunters.
A small dagger embedded with blue jade. In truth, it was so small and blunt that calling it a dagger felt embarrassing. It resembled a silver ornament knife.
It was a dagger that seemed completely unusable for actual killing.
"Isn't it just decoration?"
"It looks like decoration, but it seems to contain mana?"
"Really? Then maybe it's an accessory?"
"Could be."
"There are lots of emblems with options these days."
In fact, even if it were an emblem, there would be nothing strange about it.
After all, the symbol of a martial artist was the sword above all else.
But.
To get straight to the conclusion, Baek Yeon-woo had hit the right answer.
"!!"
"!!"
The two startled young men turned around. Behind them stood an elderly man covered in liver spots.
The only person who could freely come and go from the Bress Forge, known as the old man of the forge.
It was Ak-bong Ji Jung-chul.
"Those people are doing something dangerous."