If I were to sum up a life, I’d call it a life that wasn’t all that special.

Sure—someone might call it special. And if you looked at it from the outside, you might click your tongue and ask how I could possibly say that.

But Cheon Eujin had always described his own life that way.

A life that wanted to be special, but couldn’t be.

That was his life.

“Live.”

When his gentle mother said it to him at the end of her death.

“So live with your head held higher.”

When she said it while stroking his cheek with a hand drenched in blood.

Cheon Eujin thought—

I have to live with my head held high.

With eyes forced wide open, he swore it.

He wiped at the tears that kept spilling, forced down the breath that kept rising, and stared somewhere.

His mother’s body, gone cold.

And beyond that body, he saw a gaze fixed on him.

A gaze that didn’t even bother to hide the blood-soaked hand—

a gaze colder than anything as it looked down on him.

That was—

His older sister.

The sister who had driven a blade into their mother’s belly.

FLASH.

“...Hrk.”

Cheon Eujin jerked upright. His body was soaked through with sweat. He rubbed at his forehead with his hand.

Cold sweat—everywhere. As he shook off the dampness clinging to him, he bit down on ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) his lip.

“Damn it.”

A dream he didn’t want to have.

A memory he couldn’t forget, and still didn’t want to recall.

Dragging it back up, Cheon Eujin forced himself fully upright.

His body ached.

Maybe because of the nightmare, but he felt like absolute trash.

Then—

BANG! BANG!

HRAAAAAH!

The sound came from the wall. He frowned at the noise. The room next door had felt like this since yesterday.

“The room next door, if I remember right...”

He’d heard it was the room where Little Azure Sword—the man from the Namgung Clan—was staying.

Why he’d been like this since yesterday, Cheon Eujin had no idea.

“Was it really that bad?”

Losing to his senior brother—maybe it had shocked him that much.

“...”

Is he going to fall into a heart demon at this rate?

The thought flickered through him, but he didn’t bother worrying.

It wasn’t someone worth worrying about.

“...”

He watched for a moment, then started moving.

Click. He closed the door, and just as he was about to head downstairs—

“...”

Cheon Eujin stopped in front of one door.

It was the room where his older sister should be staying, and he couldn’t even hear proper movement inside.

Feeling that, Cheon Eujin lifted his hand slightly.

Should I knock?

“No... forget it.”

He lowered his hand again. Ignored it. Went down the stairs.

“This is the place.”

At a table, he saw Poison Dragon and Do Hyeong sitting there. Cheon Eujin smiled when he saw them.

Only now did it feel like the tightness in his chest was easing.

I can breathe.

Thinking that, Cheon Eujin sat down at the table.

And he rolled his gaze around, as if searching for someone.

“Your junior hasn’t come yet.”

“Ah.”

Do Hyeong answered for him.

Cheon Eujin nodded awkwardly.

Looks like he knew exactly who I was looking for.

And the moment he heard that—

“Agh.”

A groan came from somewhere.

Everyone at the table turned their eyes.

From the stairs, a young man was coming down, pounding at his lower back.

“...I’m dying.”

It was Bang Sungyeon.

The moment Cheon Eujin saw him, the last of his lingering discomfort seemed to vanish.

A handsome face, and an expression heavy with exhaustion.

He didn’t look strong at all.

And yet—Cheon Eujin thought he was stronger than anyone.

Maybe without even realizing it, Bang Sungyeon had become Cheon Eujin’s goal.

His idol.

“...Have you all eaten?”

Bang Sungyeon asked as he approached the table.

He looked like he might yawn any second.

With strength like his, even staying up for days shouldn’t leave him tired.

So that had to mean—

“He’s training like a madman.”

Training day and night, without pause, where no one could see.

And the reason was probably—

“Today’s match.” 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The match with Thunder Dragon.

Cheon Eujin assumed that was why he looked like that.

“Is he not even nervous?”

He didn’t look nervous at all.

What was that attitude?

“Because he’s sure he’ll win?”

Because he was certain he wouldn’t lose to Thunder Dragon?

Maybe.

If it was Bang Sungyeon, then yeah. He would.

Watching Bang Sungyeon sit down and start eating as if nothing mattered, Cheon Eujin steadied his breathing.

Bang Sungyeon was that calm.

So why was Cheon Eujin this tense?

“Calm down.”

I can do this.

As he tightened his resolve—

“Young Lord Cheon.”

“Yes?”

“What’s wrong?”

Bang Sungyeon looked at Cheon Eujin’s face and asked.

Cheon Eujin shook his head.

“It’s nothing.”

That was all he said.

*****

“Bang Sungyeon wins.”

WAAAAAAAHHHHH—!!!!

Cheers exploded.

The match was over.

Thunder Dragon’s sword lay in broken pieces across the floor, and Thunder Dragon acknowledged his defeat.

At his words, the entire stands erupted.

It was the kind of match that earned it.

“Ha...”

Cheon Eujin finally let out the breath he’d been holding.

He didn’t even understand what he’d just witnessed.

It was an unreal fight.

“What was that?”

Bang Sungyeon looked like he was getting pushed back.

And then, at some point, the fight flipped.

Thunder Dragon even used Thunder Armor—the Namgung Clan’s secret technique.

And Bang Sungyeon still overcame it.

“What did he use?”

That power at the end, especially—

His hair turned snow-white.

And that wasn’t enough. Light poured off his entire body.

Watching him overwhelm Thunder Dragon while wrapped in that light—

It was mystical.

Distant.

“...What in the world.”

What was that power?

Cheon Eujin was a disciple of the Blue Moon Sect. He knew Bang Sungyeon’s strength came from the Blue Moon Heart Art.

But—

“What was it?”

He couldn’t tell what it actually was.

Because it was the first time he’d ever seen power like that.

“...Young Lord Bang. Who are you, really?”

Power even a disciple of the Blue Moon Sect couldn’t recognize.

And Bang Sungyeon used it.

The image of him crushing even Thunder Dragon burned into Cheon Eujin’s mind.

“As expected.”

You’re the one who should become the Young Lord of the Blue Moon Sect.

Not my older sister.

Driving that thought deep into his head, Cheon Eujin bit down on his lip.

“Me too.”

I want to be like that too.

Like you—the one who became my idol.

Like you, standing tall no matter what, never backing down.

Clench.

Cheon Eujin curled his fist tight—

Thud.

“Huh?!”

Bang Sungyeon suddenly collapsed.

Cheon Eujin moved to rush forward—

FWAAH!

Someone vaulted onto the tournament stage.

“Huh?”

At first Cheon Eujin thought it was Do Hyeong.

But it wasn’t.

A woman.

A woman in fluttering white martial robes.

That woman—

“Sword Phoenix?”

Sword Phoenix sprang straight to Bang Sungyeon and supported him, moving him.

Behind her, Thunder Dragon—still conscious—spat out a few words to her.

“What’s he saying?”

Cheon Eujin couldn’t hear.

Sword Phoenix nodded, then lifted Bang Sungyeon and ran—almost flying—toward the medical station.

“...”

What the hell just happened?

As he stood there blankly—

“Next match. Prepare.”

The announcement rang out.

It was his turn.

“...Hoo.”

I have to do this.

Cheon Eujin’s eyes sharpened.

*****

He stepped onto the tournament stage.

No matter how many times he climbed up here, it was always wide.

Always heavy.

Wind swept in.

His hair fluttered in it, and Cheon Eujin measured his breathing against the winter air.

Then—

“Hello.”

A greeting came from in front of him.

When he opened his eyes, his opponent was standing there.

A young man who didn’t look particularly large, with a face that seemed friendly.

“Hello.”

Cheon Eujin returned the courtesy, and the young man smiled.

“I’m Baek Cheonin of the Baek Clan.”

“I’m Cheon Eujin of the Blue Moon Sect.”

“Oh, the Blue Moon Sect. Ah—then are you perhaps Young Lord Bang’s companion?”

Companion?

For some reason, Cheon Eujin’s brow creased.

“...That’s right.”

“Ahaha. I’m close friends with Young Lord Bang. Ah, but if your surname is Cheon, then...”

“...That’s right too. I’m the younger brother of the one you knocked down.”

“Ahh.”

Baek Cheonin nodded as if he understood.

Cheon Eujin already knew Baek Cheonin.

He was the one who beat his older sister, Cheon Hyein.

Of course—

“I don’t think he won by skill.”

It wasn’t skill. It was coincidence.

A moment so absurd it was practically a miracle.

That was why some people called Baek Cheonin “Miracle Sword,” as a sneer.

Remembering that, Cheon Eujin narrowed his eyes.

Not because of that, though.

Because—

“But why did Young Lord Bang...”

Before Cheon Eujin entered his match—

No, precisely, before Bang Sungyeon stepped onto the tournament stage—

Bang Sungyeon had pulled Cheon Eujin aside and spoken quietly.

“Be careful of Baek Cheonin.”

“Pardon?”

Cheon Eujin asked because he didn’t understand, but Bang Sungyeon’s face had been serious.

“Don’t let your guard down. You have to. Understood?”

The moment Bang Sungyeon heard Cheon Eujin would be facing Baek Cheonin, he came over and said that.

It threw Cheon Eujin off, but he still nodded.

“There has to be a reason.”

If it was Bang Sungyeon, there had to be a reason he said it.

Cheon Eujin trusted that.

“Even if I couldn’t see anything from him.”

Bang Sungyeon’s Moon Eyes would be different.

He would’ve seen something Cheon Eujin couldn’t.

That was why he warned him.

“Well now. I’m not really someone who belongs up on a stage like this... ahahaha...”

“...”

Instead of answering, Cheon Eujin drew his tension up.

“Did you know? They call me Miracle Sword. It’s a nickname that suits me perfectly, really. You think so too, don’t you?”

“Not really.”

“Hm?”

“I think luck is part of skill.”

It was infuriating that his older sister lost.

And yet, part of him felt satisfied.

A vile part of him made that thought.

“Oho... that’s unexpected.”

Baek Cheonin sounded genuinely impressed by Cheon Eujin’s attitude.

“Then do you believe the previous match was also just Thunder Dragon having bad luck and losing?”

Twitch.

The question jabbed right into Cheon Eujin.

“What are you saying?”

“No, I mean—Thunder Dragon looked like he was overwhelming Young Lord Bang. And then he won at the end, which was a little strange. That might also be luck, not—”

“Watch your mouth.”

“Hm?”

“Young Lord Bang’s victory wasn’t a miracle or luck.”

“That’s quite the faith.”

“It is.”

Maybe because his words scraped him, Cheon Eujin’s stomach turned tight.

“Even if it looked like he was being pushed at first—”

“That was part of his plan.”

“A plan...?”

“Young Lord Bang doesn’t lose. No matter who the opponent is.”

“Ahaha.”

Baek Cheonin laughed at Cheon Eujin’s words.

But—

“What is this?”

Cheon Eujin’s face tightened as he heard the laugh.

Because something about it felt wrong.

“‘No matter what’... That’s a really bad kind of faith.”

A chill crawled over his skin.

Goosebumps rose along Cheon Eujin’s forearms.

Baek Cheonin was laughing, and his presence still didn’t feel that strong.

So why was Cheon Eujin feeling this from him?

He didn’t know.

But—

“That’s the one thing that can never be kept. Not ‘no matter what.’”

“...”

Cheon Eujin found himself recalling Bang Sungyeon’s warning again.

“Be careful of Baek Cheonin.”

Somehow—

This time too, it felt like Bang Sungyeon was right.