The first preliminaries ended.

And the rumors spread in an instant.

Cloud Dragon lost to the Little Sword Saint.

He didn’t land a single successful attack for the entire bout, and in the end, he lost.

The Sword Phoenix’s bout and the bouts of various other juniors did draw attention, sure.

But even so, none of it compared to mine.

“No, listen. That Little Sword Saint.”

“The sword force he used back then was so damn beautiful...”

“I saw it with my own eyes. It was like a lantern all by itself.”

“Really, just like the Sword Saint in his youth...”

At the inn, on the street—everywhere, it’s nothing but talk about the bout.

Just listening made my head ache.

‘Ugh.’

Here, there—everywhere, it’s all about me.

Even though there were multiple bouts in a single day, it was still only this.

It even got to the point where—

‘In the end, even Black-Grand Saber and Thunder Dragon’s bout got forgotten.’

Black-Grand Saber and Thunder Dragon—both part of the Seven Prodigies—had fought too, but it ended in a single exchange and was over so fast.

So the aftershock was simple.

Well, it’s Thunder Dragon and Black-Grand Saber, so I guess that’s how it is. That kind of vibe.

Because of that, the first day of the main bracket was packed with nothing but talk about my bout with Cloud Dragon.

To the point it got sickening. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“Doesn’t it feel good?”

A voice came from beside me. Cheon Hyein was next to me, carefully eating her noodle soup.

I looked at her and asked with a sullen face.

“...What are you talking about?”

“Getting attention. It’s not bad, is it?”

“Does it look not bad to you?”

“In reality, there isn’t anything bad about it.”

“From where I’m standing, it’s bad in every way.”

It was always like this, but I didn’t like getting attention. If anything, it just wore me out.

Holding back a sigh, I spoke.

“Your bout is tomorrow, Young Lady Cheon, right?”

“Yeah.”

Cheon Hyein answered with a bored face. She used to at least try to wear a mask at first, but now she didn’t even bother.

She’d been like that ever since the day she turned me into a bloody mess in our bout.

‘The second day of the main bracket is tomorrow....’

Everyone who hadn’t fought today was scheduled to fight tomorrow.

Even after cutting the numbers down, there were still just too many.

Maybe because of that—

“Young Lord Cheon. Are you all right...?”

“Me? Ah, yes... I’m fine.”

Cheon Eujin—who would be fighting tomorrow—had nerves written all over his face.

Do Hyeong, who was fighting the same day, was calm.

And Poison Dragon didn’t show any particular expression. Like he didn’t care.

Do Hyeong was always like that, so fine.

But Poison Dragon...

‘Is it because it’s not his first time?’

He would have experience with the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, so maybe that was it.

‘Hmm.’

So tomorrow, can I rest a little? A bit of that expectation bubbled up.

Since I already fought today, there was no need to force myself to move tomorrow too.

‘Then I should sort out what I need to do.’

I nodded and swallowed my food.

That was when—

“Did you hear that?”

A voice rose from nearby again. I was about to ignore it, thinking it was going to be about me again, when—

“They say an insanely handsome man showed up in the county seat.”

Something random popped out.

A handsome man...?

“Ah, I heard. They said ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) he was so handsome it looked like he was glowing—was it really like that?”

“I only caught a glimpse... but he really looked unreal.”

“Come on. A man being handsome is still just that—how handsome could he be?”

“It wasn’t like that. Seriously. The moment you see him, you just... end up admiring him.”

They were going on excitedly about how handsome some guy was.

What did they even see that had them acting like that?

It felt kind of novel, but I didn’t really feel anything.

For one reason.

‘I’m used to it.’

Because the people around me had all had faces that weren’t normal, I’d seen that kind of spectacle so many times I was sick of it.

‘Just walking around and he’s a walking disaster.’

My father and my older brother—just walking down the street was enough to pull everyone’s eyes onto them.

[That handsome?]

At Yoo Cheongil’s words, I snorted.

‘...He is handsome.’

I’ll admit what deserves admitting. Even if he’s a shit father, he’s handsome.

So handsome you’d think he wouldn’t starve to death on his face alone.

That’s the one thing I’m grateful for—his damn genes.

Unlike my previous life, he made me be born with a decent face.

So reactions like that were a familiar sight back in Liaoning, but...

‘To hear it here too.’

Hearing it even in Henan felt weirdly fresh.

Who is it?

‘That’s interesting.’

I was a little curious, but I cut off my interest.

Right now, I had too much to think about for that.

TAP.

I even set my chopsticks down.

‘...What was that, seriously?’

At the same time, I recalled what happened earlier today.

‘What was the Sword Empress trying to do?’

What the Sword Empress said to me in broad daylight.

‘Could you get engaged to me?’

Just imagining it made it absurd.

It was such an unexpected load of bullshit that I refused immediately.

I’m not crazy. Why would I get engaged to the Sword Empress?

Without even a sliver of hesitation, I spat the refusal out, and the Sword Empress widened her eyes a little, then—

‘Okay. I understand.’

She said that, and vanished.

‘...What? Didn’t you say you had more to ask?’

Putting the engagement thing aside, I’m pretty sure she said she had another request too.

It was strange that she just left.

Was the engagement thing really the whole point?

‘...Why would the Sword Empress get engaged to me?’

It felt like there had to be circumstances behind it, but an engagement was out of the question.

‘What the hell is it?’

Every woman I’d gotten tangled up with lately had something off about her.

Was what my grandma said in my previous life actually true?

That line about how there was no way you’d ever get involved with a normal woman.

‘...Damn it.’

That would be a problem.

I wanted to deny it, but the things I’d been going through were all too bizarre for that.

“Hoo...”

A sigh spilled out on its own. Even with the bouts, I was already at my limit, and I never thought I’d have to deal with things like this too.

The Sword Empress who returned to youth asked me to get engaged?

‘Wow. That title is insane.’

It sounded like something that would sell great if you printed it as a book.

‘For fuck’s sake.’

I scratched my head.

Because it felt like things were twisting into a weird knot.

At this point, there was only one choice left.

‘Ugh. I don’t know.’

Just ignore it and fill my stomach first.

With that thought, I was eating when—

“Hey, sorry to bother you while you’re eating.”

Someone walked up close and spoke.

And at the same time, a damp, stale stench brushed my nose.

What the hell is this stink?

“Ugh.”

Cheon Hyein pulled back with a truly disgusted face.

I turned my head with a puzzled look, and I saw shaggy hair and a filthy appearance.

This face...

“...Fighting Beggar Dog?”

It was the Beggar Clan’s Fighting Beggar Dog, one of the Seven Prodigies.

What is this bastard doing now?

With a completely exhausted look, he came up to me and immediately fished something out of his clothes.

A grimy letter.

“Delivery.”

“...Delivery?”

A delivery for me? From Fighting Beggar Dog?

I stared, wondering what kind of situation this was, when—

“Ah, I’m busy dying just trying to beg. This fucked... life. Ah, right, begging life. That’s what it is, yeah?”

“...?”

Fighting Beggar Dog spewed nonsense and started laughing by himself.

Oh, right.

‘This bastard’s one of the Seven Prodigies too.’

For a second, I forgot there were no normal people in the Seven Prodigies.

“What? Not funny?”

Fighting Beggar Dog asked, looking at me because I wasn’t laughing.

“...Was that something you wanted me to laugh at?”

“Then what, do you think I’m not insane and I just talked to myself?”

“....”

This bastard is insane.

I was sure of it.

No, putting that aside—

“...So you’re telling me Fighting Beggar Dog came to deliver a letter?”

It was hard to understand. One of the Seven Prodigies coming to run deliveries for me.

Sure, the Beggar Clan had close ties with the Martial Alliance, so it wasn’t strange that they attended the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, but even so—

Fighting Beggar Dog was a recognized figure in the Beggar Clan.

Maybe even someone who could become the next Beggar Clan Master.

And that guy is delivering letters?

At my doubt, he made an indignant face.

“Like I want to? My shitty master ordered me, what the hell am I supposed to do? If he says do it, you do it.”

‘Master...?’

If it was Fighting Beggar Dog’s master...

“...You mean this is an errand from Staff-Beating Woo Aseok?”

Beggar Clan Master Staff-Beating Woo Aseok.

The current Beggar Clan Master of the Beggar Clan under the Ten Great Sects—and one of the absolute masters.

So Fighting Beggar Dog came on that man’s orders?

“Why would the Beggar Clan Master...?”

“How the hell would I know? Today I was just gonna lie down and beg on the ground. But that damn old beggar—ah, beggar, right? Hahahaha.”

“....”

I ignored the brain-melting wordplay.

I took the letter first. It was so filthy I really didn’t want to touch it, but I forced myself.

Between the dust stuck to it, the Beggar Clan emblem was stamped clearly.

I opened it carefully.

‘Who is it?’

Who would send me a letter?

If it was under the Beggar Clan Master’s orders, I thought maybe it was a letter from Staff-Beating Woo Aseok, but—

‘Huh?’

It wasn’t.

The sender was someone I knew all too well.

[Third. It’s your older brother. Have you been well?]

“What the hell is this guy doing.”

The letter was, unbelievably, from my older brother.

The Bang Clan’s eldest—its heir apparent.

A promising Liaoning butcher, a bastard who took after my father not only in looks but in personality.

‘He sent a letter?’

I never would’ve imagined my older brother would send one. Not my father—my older brother.

And on top of that—

‘...Staff-Beating Woo Aseok personally sent an errand?’

It was even more shocking that Staff-Beating Woo Aseok had entrusted it to Fighting Beggar Dog.

What is this? What is happening?

One incomprehensible situation after another.

[Your older brother has been well. I hope you have too.]

His filler was short. Unlike my father.

So that was a relief.

[Ah, did you meet Second? You probably did. If you see him, tell him to come home for once.]

How did he know? Like always, my older brother had a sharp eye.

So sharp that he could tell—perfectly—whether a woman liked him or not, then use it.

Yeah.

This guy was trash too, same as my father.

Men who treated their faces like a license to be worse.

That was my father and my older brother.

‘Anyway, so?’

So why did my older brother send this?

I kept reading with suspicion, and—

[Then be careful.]

“...Huh?”

The letter ended.

What? That’s it?

“Wait... there’s nothing else...?”

I checked, thinking maybe there was a second page, but there wasn’t.

“What is this?”

That’s really the end?

It ends with “be careful”?

“...What the...”

What kind of dogshit situation is this?

I couldn’t believe it.

He used Staff-Beating Woo Aseok to deliver a letter just to say “be careful”?

‘What connection does my older brother even have?’

What could he possibly have done with the Bang Clan’s nonexistent influence?

Just like with Jegal Jin, this family was weird as hell.

‘Be careful of what?’

What, exactly, am I supposed to be careful of?

He asked how I was doing, then told me to be careful. It felt like the middle got ripped out.

I couldn’t understand it and just stared at the letter when—

“Little Sword Saint.”

Someone’s voice came again.

‘What is it today?’

I’m exhausted to death, so why does everyone keep coming to find me?

I sighed and looked at him.

“Oh.”

This time too, it was a familiar face.

Someone I’d seen recently.

“...Leader?”

The person who’d introduced himself as a leader of Main Alliance Headquarters.

And the reason he’d come looking for me back then was—

“The Strategist is looking for you.”

“...”

That.

And it was the same again.

Ah, damn it.

‘...What is wrong with today?’

It felt like today was a day with the worst luck imaginable.

*****

I went to Main Alliance Headquarters in the middle of the night. I’d been there in the daytime to fight bouts, but—

I didn’t expect to be coming in at this hour.

And this time, it wasn’t just “Main Alliance Headquarters.”

‘Jegal Jin’s quarters....’

Jegal Jin’s quarters, said to be prepared inside Main Alliance Headquarters.

I got invited there.

Honestly, “invited” is generous. It was basically forced.

‘Because I don’t have the right to refuse.’

If you can’t refuse, that’s force. What else is it?

With a tense face, I moved forward.

“Go in.”

At the leader’s words, I stepped inside slowly.

It was a large and clean residence.

I carefully crossed the wooden floor and approached the door.

And—

“...Are you in there?”

I spoke in a tiny voice.

Like I was begging him not to hear it.

But—

—Come in.

Unfortunately, the old man’s ears were sharp as hell.

For fuck’s sake.

Clamping my lips shut, I opened the door.

“Th— I heard you called for m—”

I tried to meet eyes with Jegal Jin right away.

But inside, there was a guest sitting there besides Jegal Jin.

When I saw him, my body locked up.

It couldn’t help it.

“Oh.”

He was someone who should absolutely not be here.

Especially not in Jegal Jin’s quarters.

“Aahaha.”

A man handsome to a ridiculous degree.

A man who, obviously, was the most handsome bastard I knew.

“Long time no see!”

That man smiled at me.

“...No.”

Staring at him, I asked, forcing myself not to curse.

“...Why is my father here?”

So handsome his age meant nothing—so handsome anyone would blurt admiration on sight.

That man was my father.