An Invitation Wrapped in Gold
"Greetings, Sect Leader."
After washing up, I went straight to see Wolseongeom. The moment I arrived, he gave me a brief wave of his hand in greeting, his eyes never leaving the letters piled before him.
Damn. What is up with that pile?
The sheer volume of letters stacked on his desk was staggering. Not only were they crammed with tiny characters, but the height of the stack alone was enough to make me feel suffocated.
...Is he actually going through all of that?
Then again, it was that time of year.
It was the end of the year, and the orthodox sects always held an unusual number of festivals during the winter. He was likely dealing with the administrative nightmare that came with them.
I watched him for a moment before speaking up.
"I heard you summoned me."
"Sit."
"...Sit?"
Where, exactly...?
Even the floor was cluttered with documents. Where was I supposed to sit? I couldn't even see a chair.
At my hesitation, Wolseongeom finally looked up.
"Hmm."
Realizing the state of the room, he let out a low grunt and swept his hand through the air.
In that instant—
Whoosh!
"...!"
A sudden gust of wind whipped across the floor. The scattered letters floated into the air, stacking themselves in neat, orderly piles.
Just like that, a clear space was made.
It wasn't perfectly clean, but it was organized enough to sit. I stared at the display, utterly dumbfounded.
Wow... That's insane.
Telekinesis—the Void-Grabbing Technique. It was an advanced application of internal energy that only absolute masters could pull off, using pure qi to lift physical objects.
No wonder he hadn't bothered to clean up.
Why bother when you can tidy up with a single wave of your hand?
Still, using such a legendary technique for housecleaning was something else entirely.
The masters currently at the peak of the Central Plains.
Wolseongeom was always counted among the absolute best of them.
I felt like I had just caught a fleeting glimpse of what made him so terrifying.
Tsk...
I narrowed my eyes, looking at him. I couldn't even begin to grasp the basics of telekinesis.
The ultimate mysteries of internal energy.
Yoo Chun-gil dismissed the Peak Realm as "mere."
His nonchalant remark struck a chord in me.
...I suppose it is "mere" to him.
Other martial artists rolled in the dirt, desperately struggling to reach the Peak Realm, and many died without ever achieving it.
But the world I lived in now was on a completely different level.
"Squad Member Bang."
"Yes."
"I heard you have completed your closed-door training."
"That is correct. I just finished today, in fact."
I literally just finished today, so why did you summon me immediately without giving me a chance to rest?
I tried to pack as much of that silent complaint into my voice as possible, but...
"I see."
Wolseongeom didn't care in the slightest. He merely nodded.
Dammit. I shouldn't have expected anything else.
Then.
"Did you achieve any results?"
Wolseongeom, who had been looking at a letter, turned his Moon Eyes toward me.
Even in the bright daylight, his eyes shone with a brilliant, piercing light.
Meeting that sharp gaze—which made him look like a sword forged in human form—my body instinctively went on high alert.
Hum.
What is this?
A sword manifested within my mind.
Entirely against my will, the tip of the sword pointed straight up.
A cold sweat threatened to break out on my brow.
Then—
"I see," Wolseongeom said, nodding once more. "It seems you did achieve results. Good results, at that."
"..."
Only after he spoke did the sword in my mind vanish.
It was only then that I realized what had happened.
He did something to me.
Wolseongeom had tested me. It wasn't bloodlust, nor was it fighting spirit.
He had forcibly triggered my survival instincts.
I didn't reply, but I perked up my ears to listen.
...
So Yoo Chun-gil did that to a young Wolseongeom? And now Wolseongeom was copying it and using it on me?
What, is this some kind of petty revenge?
Was he taking out his childhood trauma on me? The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.
"You said it was a month. Is that correct?"
"Yes, that is correct."
Realizing he was referring to the duration of my closed-door training, I answered without hesitation.
"A month..."
His gaze swept over me from head to toe.
"For such a short time, you have refined yourself well. Good job."
I scratched my cheek at the unexpected praise.
"Thank you."
If even Wolseongeom was praising me, it meant my training had gone quite well. Keeping that in mind, I asked him.
"So, what is the reason you summoned me?"
As I steered the conversation toward the main point, Wolseongeom pulled out a letter and slid it toward me.
Taking it as a sign to read it, I carefully picked it up.
"Winter is just around the corner."
I looked down at the letter as he spoke.
"...!"
My eyes widened the moment I read the contents.
The top of the letter was stamped with a light blue crest.
This meant it was an official document sent directly from the Martial Alliance.
And the title written below it was...
Invitation to the Yongbong Association.
It was an invitation to the Yongbong Association tournament, scheduled to be held this winter.
Yongbong Association Invitation
Representative: Bang Seong-yeon, Young Sword Saint of the Sowol Squad
"As I told you before, the Alliance Leader personally exercised his authority to allow Cheongwol Gate to participate in this Yongbong Association."
It was highly unprecedented. If they were going to make an exception, they should have just left it at that... How annoying.
"The number of participants is four to five. And their representative..."
"..."
"...is you."
Dammit.
I bit my lip at Wolseongeom's words.
It was written clearly on the invitation.
It explicitly invited Bang Seong-yeon, member of the Sowol Squad and the Young Sword Saint, as the representative.
...Ah, for crying out loud.
Nothing ever came easy.
And it's even gold.
The crest of the Martial Alliance stamped on the letter.
I could see gold threads woven into the design.
This meant only one thing.
An honored guest invited directly by the Martial Alliance.
Gold, silver, bronze.
Usually, gold-trimmed invitations were reserved only for the Five Great Clans, the Nine Great Sects, or families of equal standing.
Yet, the invitation sent to me was exactly that.
An invitation fit for the Alliance's most esteemed guests.
The honored guests chosen by the Alliance.
The honor that came with this was beyond words, but...
In my case...
It wasn't an honor I had earned myself.
It's definitely because of that old man.
I glanced at the ghost of the old man floating in the air, looking down at me like an evil spirit.
I was essentially piggybacking on the prestige of Yoo Chun-gil.
The realization made my stomach churn, but I did my best to ignore it. Then, Wolseongeom spoke again.
"We depart in three days. Our destination is the Martial Alliance headquarters in the heart of Henan. Do you have any questions?"
Is that even a question? I barely held back a scoff.
Questions? I had a shitload of them. If I had to list them, they would go on forever. But the one I wanted to ask most of all was:
Can I just not go?
But...
As if he'd let me.
Knowing it was pointless to ask, I had to settle for something else.
"...Sect Leader."
"Speak."
"You said four or five people are going. Who exactly is attending?"
Four or five, including me. The Yongbong Association was, after all, a festival for the young generation of martial artists. Attending meant Cheongwol Gate would only send its young talents.
But who do we even have?
Were there even five young talents in the current Cheongwol Gate worth sending?
Actually, to be precise...
There are too many.
Although the third-generation disciples of Cheongwol Gate were on the older side compared to other sects, they still qualified as young talents.
By definition, they were still the youth of the Murim.
Since we had to pick the strongest among them, I asked out of genuine curiosity.
To my question, Wolseongeom replied:
"That..."
Wolseongeom pointed his finger at me.
"...is for you to decide from now on."
My face contorted in a grimace.
What kind of nonsense was this?
"I have to decide?"
"Yes."
"...Why?"
Why the hell did I have to choose?
I asked in sheer disbelief, but Wolseongeom replied without a single change in his expression.
"Who knows."
"...Excuse me?"
Who knows? Are you out of your mind?
What kind of half-assed answer was that?
It was utterly ridiculous. I didn't even bother to control my facial expression as I stared at him.
"Select the members and submit a report to me by tomorrow."
"...No, but why do I have to—"
"However," he interrupted, cutting me off.
"If you select the team and show good results, I will reward you accordingly."
"..."
A reward.
I paused at the mention of a reward.
An appropriate reward.
Take a team and show results at the tournament...?
And he'd reward me.
But why?
That was the first question that popped into my head.
What's his angle?
Why was Wolseongeom suddenly acting like this?
No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn't figure it out.
I have no idea.
Thinking about it wouldn't give me the answer.
In that case, there were only a few logical conclusions I could draw.
And the best course of action among them was...
"...Then, may I ask for a favor as well?"
"Hmm?"
I had to squeeze whatever benefits I could out of this situation.
I spoke to Wolseongeom.
"I would like to obtain some information from the Beggar Alliance. Deep information, if possible."
"The Beggar Alliance?"
"Yes."
"What kind of information?"
Curiosity tinged his voice.
However, that curiosity quickly turned into something else.
"Detailed information regarding the Seven Great Talents."
"...The Seven Great Talents?"
His eyes flashed with sudden interest.
The Martial Alliance headquarters, located in the heart of Henan.
The main headquarters of the orthodox factions, commonly referred to as the Grand Alliance.
With only three days left before our departure...
Time was running short.
What I had to do in the meantime was already decided.
Four people, then.
Four to five young talents to represent Cheongwol Gate at the Yongbong Association.
Though he said four or five, it was best to go with the minimum number possible.
I pondered over the choices.
Who should I bring?
Cheongwol Gate had plenty of young disciples, making the choice difficult.
Fortunately, two spots were already locked in.
"The Yongbong Association, is it?"
A handsome man with sharp, defined features spoke.
Do-hyeong nodded as he looked at me.
"I will go. It is the Sect Leader's command, so I must obey."
"Oh..."
I let out a sigh of relief.
If I had to pick four young talents from Cheongwol Gate, Do-hyeong was a mandatory choice.
After all, he was a member of the Sowol Squad.
It was a place where only the elite of the elite in Cheongwol Gate could enter. Average martial artists couldn't even dream of setting foot in it.
The fact that he had joined such a squad just barely past the age of twenty meant he was an undeniable genius.
Honestly, it's weirder that he isn't famous.
With his level of strength at his age...
It was bizarre that Do-hyeong, who was easily one of the strongest among the younger generation, didn't even have a title to his name.
Well, at least Do-hyeong was an easy recruit.
He had readily agreed simply because it was the Sect Leader's order.
It would have been stranger if he refused, but I was still glad.
If Do-hyeong had declined, it would have been a real headache.
Who else could possibly replace him? I could probably find someone if I looked, but searching would have been a massive pain.
Alright, Do-hyeong is locked in.
That was one spot filled. Now, two remained.
The problem was...
...the hard part starts now.
Finding the remaining two members was going to be a challenge.
Leaving Do-hyeong behind, I went to meet the second candidate.
"So,"
A cold voice pierced my ears the moment I arrived.
"You want us to go to the Yongbong Association together? With me?"
She possessed a cold impression that closely resembled Wolseongeom, with pale skin that contrasted sharply with her striking blue eyes.
It felt as if the very air around her was freezing.
Ignoring the chill, I spoke to her.
"Yes. Let's go."
She let out a dry, scoffing laugh.
"...Ha."
Soon, her lips curled into a mocking sneer. I clicked my tongue inwardly at the sight.
Like Do-hyeong, she was a member of the Sowol Squad, possessing a talent so rare that it was hard to find a match for it in the entire history of Cheongwol Gate.
One of the Seven Great Talents.
The Moon Dance Beauty, Cheon Hye-in.