A Nightmare at Daybreak
It had to be a dream.
Surely, it was.
Otherwise, none of this made any sense.
With that thought, I lay back down on the bed.
I'm just tired. That's all.
It was all because of that storm I had to weather in the middle of the night. My sister, whom I hadn't seen in years, had suddenly shown up out of nowhere.
My mind was probably just shaken up, making me dream up something this ridiculous. That was what I chose to believe.
I lay there with my eyes closed, but...
"..."
Before long, I slowly sat back up.
"...Sigh."
Letting out a deep sigh, I shifted my posture. I knelt politely, placing both hands neatly on my thighs.
Then, I raised my head to look at the old man.
"...Greetings, Alliance Leader."
Acceptance came quickly. Denial was nice and all, but given the circumstances, it was better to snap out of it as fast as possible.
Fortunately, I wasn't stupid enough to actually believe this was a dream. I knew it was real.
I had just wanted to pretend it wasn't.
"..."
At my greeting, the eyebrows of the Trustworthy Spear, Sinchang, twitched ever so slightly.
"...Please forgive my delay in showing proper respect. The suddenness of the situation left me somewhat disoriented."
My words were polite, but the underlying meaning was simple.
Who in their right mind barges into someone's room at the crack of dawn without permission? Even if I didn't show respect, you'd know it's your fault.
It was a statement loaded with that exact sentiment.
"..."
Hearing this, Sinchang simply stared down at me without a single change in his expression.
...What the hell is this?
Cold sweat began to drench my back. What on earth was going on?
Why is this man in my room?
I thought I had grown immune to shocking wake-up calls since I usually woke up to Yoo Chun-gil's ghostly face, but seeing Sinchang right after opening my eyes was a whole different level of stress.
...He looks terrifying.
To be precise, it wasn't just scary; it was heavy. A face radiating pure, crushing pressure. At least Yoo Chun-gil had a mischievous glint in his eyes, but this man had absolutely none of that.
A living legend. One of the few masters who could be counted on one hand out of the countless martial artists in the world. No, perhaps he was someone who could fit within the top three. And that very man, the Trustworthy Spear, was standing right in front of me.
To face him at such close quarters... any other martial artist would have wept with envy.
...Am I going to die? Is this where I die?
But I couldn't bring myself to be happy. The only thought crossing my mind was that I might get killed right here and now.
And for good reason.
That damn old ghost.
Considering the sheer scale of the trouble Yoo Chun-gil had caused Sinchang in the past, it wouldn't be surprising at all if the collateral damage fell on me.
I glanced at Sinchang's left eye. Seeing the eyepatch covering it, that had to be it.
...The gouged eye.
The eye that Yoo Chun-gil had ripped out. That was where it used to be.
His remaining right eye stared down at me. Just meeting his gaze made me swallow hard.
Ugh...
The sheer pressure radiating from his massive frame was suffocating. It felt like my head would shatter the moment those arms of his made a move.
...Surely he won't actually kill me, right?
I could only hope. He was the Alliance Leader, after all. He wouldn't just barge in and murder me for no reason. As I tried to swallow my anxiety, believing there had to be some purpose to this...
Rustle.
Sinchang moved.
The hand I had been warily watching since earlier reached toward my face.
Uh?
Wait, wait. Is he really going to kill me?
Terrified, I tried to pull back, but it was already too late.
Grab!
Sinchang's hand clamped onto my face, forcing my left eyelid open.
"Are you crazy...?"
The curse slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.
Was he planning to do to me exactly what Yoo Chun-gil had done to him?
"W-Wait a moment, Alliance Leader! I mean, even if it's an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, I didn't actually do anything wrong—"
Just as I scrambled to plead my case, Sinchang stared into my left eye and spoke.
"It is blue. Just like his."
It was the deepest voice I had ever heard in my life. I had noticed it during the banquet, but Sinchang's voice was excessively heavy and resonant.
"The vessel is weak, but what it holds is dense. He chose his vessel well. Is it talent?"
"...Pardon?"
I couldn't make heads or tails of what he was saying.
"If so, then fortune favors you. I wonder, is it you who is lucky, or is it him?"
"...Alliance Leader?"
Releasing his grip on my eye, Sinchang stepped back.
"Devote yourself. So that you may reach the heavens."
With those words, he abruptly walked over to the window and stepped onto the sill.
Wait, don't tell me...
Whoosh!
"...Huh?"
Sinchang threw his massive body right out the window.
"What in the..."
I stared blankly at the empty window, utterly dumbfounded by the absurdity of it all.
Why did he even come here just to do that? That was a mystery, but more importantly...
"Why the fuck does everyone jump out the window when there's a perfectly good door right there?"
First Bang Seo-jin, now Sinchang.
It seemed neither of them had any intention of using doors like normal people.
[That was a close one.]
Once Sinchang had gone and I stepped out of the room, Yoo Chun-gil spoke, clutching his chest in relief.
"...I was the one who almost had a heart attack."
As I wiped away the cold sweat, Yoo Chun-gil suddenly glared at me.
[I told you to wake up earlier, did I not? I knew you were awake, so why were you just lounging around like a lazy dog?]
"...It's because of how you usually treat me. Besides, who could have guessed that the Alliance Leader would suddenly be standing right in front of me?"
No one in the world could have predicted it. Waking up to find the leader of the Martial Alliance staring down at you while you slept? What kind of absolute nonsense was that?
It was a nightmare. A total nightmare.
Something that made no sense unless it was a dream had actually happened in reality. If I asked a thousand people, every single one of them would call me a liar.
And...
"Judging by your reaction, old man, you must have been pretty panicked too, huh?"
It was rare for Yoo Chun-gil to yell at me like that. This meant that even in his eyes, the situation had been incredibly urgent.
My heart is still pounding.
I still couldn't calm my racing heart.
Then, Yoo Chun-gil spoke.
[Indeed. Why didn't he gouge it out?]
"...What?"
He was casually spouting absolute nonsense again.
"What do you mean, 'why didn't he gouge it out'? What kind of crazy talk is that?"
[...Well, given the circumstances, it looked like he was definitely going to rip it out... I was already busy pondering how I should make use of a one-eyed disciple.]
"..."
He gave up on me ridiculously fast. The moment Sinchang grabbed me, he had already accepted that I was going to lose an eye.
What a truly heartless old bastard.
I was about to lose an eye because of the trouble he caused, and he was already planning how to use a one-eyed version of me?
He's a demon. That old man is definitely an evil spirit.
If he wasn't a demon, then what was he? At least within the boundaries of my common sense, Yoo Chun-gil was a certified evil spirit.
"Do you have any idea why Sinchang came here...?"
[Who knows? I am pondering that myself because I have no clue either.]
Sinchang had literally just checked my eye and vanished. I never expected the great Alliance Leader to show up so randomly.
[Besides, to think he stood there watching you for over two hours. Does that fellow have no work to do? That shouldn't be the case.]
"Exactly. There's no way the Alliance Leader has nothing to do... Wait, two hours?"
My eyes widened. Did I hear that right? Two hours? Two whole hours?
"Sinchang was watching me for over two hours?"
[Indeed.]
"..."
That was terrifying. To think he had stood there silently, watching me for that long.
Could there be anything more horrifying?
If Sinchang had wanted to kill me, I would have died without even knowing.
Of course, I knew I would die instantly in a real fight against him, but hearing it put so directly made it feel much more real.
It seemed Sinchang had no intention of killing me.
Then what was his goal? Did he really just come to check my eye?
Why my eye?
Why did he care about looking at my eye?
I recalled Sinchang's words.
"It is blue. Just like his."
"Devote yourself. So that you may reach the heavens."
What is he talking about?
The blue eye obviously referred to Yoo Chun-gil, but why tell me to devote myself?
...What is this?
If he held a grudge, those weren't the kind of words he would say to me. Offering encouragement to his enemy's disciple?
"How could he do that? If it were me, I would have killed me on the spot."
[Indeed. I would have done the same.]
"..."
[...]
"...You're the one who shouldn't be saying that."
[Ah?]
"Ah" my foot.
My head throbbed from this pointless banter. Suppressing a sigh, I headed down the stairs.
I couldn't easily talk about what had happened with Sinchang to others.
Well, it probably wouldn't matter even if I did, but...
It's best not to poke a sleeping dog.
I was worried about the potential fallout if I spoke of it, so keeping my mouth shut was the right call.
Seriously, what an exhausting start to the morning.
My mind was a mess.
Part of me wanted to just crawl back into bed and sleep off the fatigue, but...
"...How much time do I have left?"
Unfortunately, I had a schedule to keep today as well.
The preliminary round was over.
Nearly seventy percent of the participants had been eliminated during the preliminary round using the Banmuk Stone.
Today was the day to prepare for the second preliminary round after the first had concluded.
...At least there's one silver lining.
They weren't holding the actual matches today; instead, we were just drawing lots to determine the order for the second preliminary round.
I recalled them mentioning a brief explanation followed by the drawing of lots.
It's a relief I don't have to exert myself physically, but...
I still had a bad feeling about this.
Come to think of it, didn't Bang Seo-jin say she was coming to watch today?
...Sigh.
Even after all these years, Bang Seo-jin hadn't changed a bit. Just looking at her drained my energy.
How on earth...
How did she suddenly end up as an elite guard of the main Alliance? What had happened over the last few days for things to turn out like this?
I was genuinely curious about what she had gone through during the years she was gone.
Creak.
I walked down the stairs. Arriving right on time, I saw a crowd gathered in the center of the inn.
Although there were far fewer people than yesterday, it was still a sizable crowd.
Step.
The moment I took a step down, everyone below turned to look at me.
Their gazes were intense.
Wow.
It felt like they were shooting lasers from their eyes. If glares were arrows, I would have been turned into a porcupine by now.
This was the aftermath of yesterday's preliminary round.
After I had split the Banmuk Stone in half, the way the young talents looked at me had become twice as intense. I could sense their tension and wariness.
It seemed my existence had been firmly engraved into their minds.
While that might be a good thing, it still made my stomach churn.
"Oh!"
Someone waved at me.
"Young Sword Saint!"
It was Heuk Tae-do.
"Over here!"
"..."
I had no idea what he was so happy about, but he was grinning widely as he called out to me. Spotting him, I headed in his direction. I didn't particularly want to go over there, but unfortunately, my group was gathered right next to him.
"Good morning," I greeted them, my voice laced with exhaustion.
Do-hyeong nodded silently, while Cheon Ui-jin gave me a faint smile.
"You look like you didn't sleep well," Cheon Hye-in remarked casually as she looked at me.
"Yeah. I had a bit of a nightmare."
"A nightmare?"
"Yes."
A nightmare I never wanted to experience again.
As I clicked my tongue, Cheon Hye-in looked away and said, "Well, there's not much you can do about that. But you might want to fix your expression if you can."
"Pardon?"
Fix my expression? I looked at her in confusion, and she immediately added, "I heard someone very important is going to explain the second preliminary round today."
"Someone important?"
Could it be Sinchang? Just as I was about to frown, thinking the Alliance Leader was going to give the briefing himself, she spoke.
"Cheonli Jinan. The Chief Strategist of the Alliance is going to explain it himself."
"Ah."
So it wasn't Sinchang. Thank goodness.
I nodded in relief.
Cheonli Jinan was the current head of the Jegal family. As the second-in-command of the Martial Alliance, he was certainly a prominent figure, but since he wasn't dangerously entangled with me like Sinchang was, it didn't matter...
"Wait."
Hold on.
...Who did she say was coming?