‘There are rumors that the single-sword style is lacking notable swordsmen and that they inflated the reputation with hype, but seeing that they were invited to the Martial Arts Gathering proves their skills are real.’

By today’s standards, excellent swordsmen have been continuously born in the twin-sword style.

The Iron-Blood Twin Swords, Joo Su-gyeom, Gwak Kyung-gu, and Joo Su-hyuk.

Among them, Joo Su-gyeom chose a managerial path and became a heavy smoker, sacrificing his health and stamina, but when naming the greatest geniuses in the twin-sword school, he still never gets left out.

When Oh Hye-jeong stormed in threatening to kill Joo Su-gyeom—who had made Oh Hye-ji cry—wielding a brutal cleaver, she failed not only to harm him but even to force him to draw his swords.

Even Gwak Kyung-gu, who is considered inferior to his father, the Iron-Blood Twin Swords, and junior Joo Su-hyuk, is regarded as being a step above Oh Hye-ji.

The gap between the twin-sword style and the single-sword style was that wide.

Many thought this was simply due to differences in heir qualities, but my view was different.

‘Oh Hye-jeong and Oh Hye-ji’s potential isn’t bad. It’s partly because they don’t have strong ambitions for the sword, but mostly it’s the fault of the Oh family.’

Though the contract with the Four Seas Dragon King has been resolved and there’s no problem now, the Oh family had forced sacrifices on the younger generation trying to break their curse of short lifespans.

Because of that, Oh Hye-jeong destroyed her engagement ceremony and ran away, while Oh Hye-ji deviated under pressure.

Oh Hye-ji’s family once confined her, saying she should learn to be a bride instead of going to university, preventing her from taking the college entrance exam.

If Joo Su-hyuk and Joo Su-gyeom hadn’t rescued her, Oh Hye-ji would have become a repeat exam student or been forced into becoming a prospective bride.

Thinking of that, it was obvious those who raised her never created a good environment for education.

If anything, they probably obstructed her growth because a stronger Oh family would be harder to control.

Had the Oh family provided an environment focused on study and training, like the Ju family, maybe Oh Hye-ji and Oh Hye-jeong could have reached Gwak Kyung-gu’s level.

“You’re right. Their potential isn’t bad. With thorough training, they could reach that level.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“But weren’t you curious?”

The White Tiger interrupted my thoughts and answered freely, then said something I couldn’t rebut.

Though he hadn’t fought them personally, he confirmed their skills through me.

The blunt Muja who never spoke empty words wouldn’t say something incorrect.

The White Tiger kept talking about the sword.

This time about the Oh family sisters and the prospective Eungwang High first-year student.

“Joo Su-hyuk and Gwak Kyung-gu spoke highly of that Oh family kid. But neither of them ever praised her swordsmanship, even though they’re close to Oh Hye-ji.”

“You remember all that?”

“I remember everything.”

Whether his claim to “remember everything” was true or not was questionable, but what he said before was correct.

Though their styles differ, the twin-sword and single-sword clans interacted deeply, training rigorously together since childhood.

Those using twin swords were close to Oh Hye-ji and respected her work as a former student council president, but never praised her swordsmanship.

Joo Su-hyuk was kind and sociable but never lied or exaggerated to win favor.

He praised Maeng Hyo-don’s fighting skills generously but coldly told Bang Yun-seop, “Yun-seop, if you keep skipping training, the gap between you and Hyo-don will only widen faster.”

Also, he highly regarded Andain’s abilities, Dokgo Miro’s dance and singing, and Teacher Ham Geun-hyung’s archery skills, proving he only gave sincere praise.

“Jo Yi-shin, Joo Su-hyuk once admired your moves and abilities.”

“So what?”

Does he really remember everything?

Even the precious, overwhelming, and joyful memories I had were all known by that White Tiger.

Anyway, it was clear that the Oh family genius possessed skills worthy of Joo Su-hyuk’s recognition.

“Rest now. If you’re tired and can’t show your true skills at the Martial Arts Gathering, many will be saddened.”

“I’m not going to show off skills.”

“I know.”

I wanted to argue what he could possibly know, but since he truly knew a lot, I kept quiet.

Having just confirmed the participant list for the Martial Arts Gathering, I decided to rest.

Lying on the bed, I noticed the door was slightly open and woke a bit.

If I were alone, I’d get up immediately to close it and check all windows and doors in the dorm, locking everything securely.

But now I had someone else to blame.

“Close it yourself.”

Before hearing “No” or “I won’t,” I quickly closed my eyes.

I fell asleep faster than expected.

As the Martial Arts Gathering approached, several incidents occurred.

Suddenly, Jin clan members who were friendly with the Ho clan voiced complaints and caused disturbances in protest.

Some even complained directly to me.

[Sleep Sheep] How can you say such scary things?

[Sleep Sheep] I just wanted to spend a good day in Jeju Island!

I don’t know what Cheongho told Sleep Sheep to make him so upset.

But thanks to Sleep Sheep’s proactive words, I learned something.

It was clear nightmares couldn’t cross through the device.

If that were the case, Sleep Sheep wouldn’t cling to me whining like that, since he hates nightmares.

The dragon clan also said something; I barely listened to Yong Je-geon’s nonsense and got a message from Yeom Jun-yeol.

He asked if I had any intention of changing the person managing the invitations.

‘The dragon clan isn’t deeply connected with the Black Wind Forest. Though dragons appear as motifs in martial arts manuals or swordsmanship, there’s no real exchange between them. So if I left invitations to them, they’d have struggled.’

Yeom Jun-yeol seemed very pleased but I couldn’t easily shift the invitation task from Hwang Ji-ho to the dragon clan.

Considering that, I politely said it was difficult to entrust the dragons, and Yeom Jun-yeol seemed shocked.

I worried he might be depressed, but he soon sent a spirited reply.

[Yeom Jun-yeol] Please choose me next time. I’ll improve.

[Yeom Jun-yeol] (Stamp)

The message wasn’t only from one side.

Yeom Jun-yeol also sent a separate message as a senior and disciple.

[Yeom Jun-yeol] I’ll try to be chosen by my master next time.

[Yeom Jun-yeol] (Stamp)

Though similar, the Hongryong stamp had a different design, inspired by the red dragon flower, and I admired it at once.

Yet, thinking about the choice left me with mixed feelings.

I have no plan to attend the next Black Wind Forest Martial Arts Gathering, but Yeom Jun-yeol spoke as if another invitation would come.

Still, I couldn’t dampen his ambition, so I ended the conversation politely.

Also, seeing Hwang Ji-ho suffer made me unwilling to shift the task to anyone else.

“Jo Yi-shin, just how far have you spread your favors? The number of people after your invitation is endless.”

There’s no way it’s that many.

Most of them are probably using my name as an excuse while targeting the Black Wind Forest Martial Arts Gathering.

There’s almost no way to publicly get an invitation, so it’s unavoidable.

I felt a bit sorry seeing Hwang Ji-ho struggle so much.

Should I say I’m managing the invitations myself?

When I thought this, the Ho clan all gave me serious looks.

Eunho smiled gently, calming the agitated Ho clan.

“Yi-shin, don’t say that. More importantly, the Tu clan’s leader finished making the outfit. Let’s check it together.”

In the end, the invitation topic was dropped, and we decided to look at the clothes.

When we took the outfit out of the box, the Ho clan lost their words.

The outfit Seodol sent wasn’t marked with Nuru’s logo but with Seodol’s seal in dark gray.

Since the outfit wasn’t commissioned from Nuru, no one was in a position to complain about what seal was on it, but it was obvious that wearing it would mark the wearer as Seodol’s person.

Screech.

The outfit on the table suddenly split in two.

Faint traces left by Baekho showed it was the White Tiger’s doing.

There wasn’t a single crack in the table, yet the clothes were perfectly split in half, centered on the seal—so precise it was astonishing.

Seodol raged when she saw the clothes torn, but the White Tiger shamelessly said,

“Bill it to Hwang Ho.”

“Well done, Baekho. I’ll take responsibility.”

The matter was passed again to Hwang Ji-ho, who gladly accepted.

“If we agreed to pay, we can dispose of it without leaving a trace. I’ll zap it with lightning and turn it to ash before the plague spreads.”

Seodol’s first outfit became ashes without ever being worn.

The Ho clan and Seodol were sharply at odds over the clothes.

I heard that no part of my opinion was reflected in their compromise, and I haven’t seen the new outfit yet.

They say some detailed adjustments are needed, so I’ll probably be able to wear it only on the day itself.

‘Since Eunho inspected it, it should be fine.’

Today is October 31, Sunday.

Halloween and the day of the Black Wind Forest Martial Arts Gathering.

The school didn’t officially celebrate Halloween, but autonomous organizations and clubs within Eungwang High held /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ small events.

At the entrance to Ji-ik Hall, pumpkins wearing conical hats and lanterns glowing eerily were decorated, with baskets of pumpkin caramel and jelly laid out.

On the school’s bulletin board, photos and videos of club rooms decorated for Halloween were uploaded, and the composition club’s ghost mansion-themed room playing an original Halloween theme song received praise.

‘Last year I was in England and missed this. Glad I can see it this year.’

Not long after leaving the dormitory room, I met juniors every few steps.

Although it was still early, many wore passive costumes like summoning bells or ghost-type enemies or simply witch hats.

Juniors I met shouted “Trick or treat!” with excited faces.

“Your costume suits you well. Take this.”

“Thank you!”

Each time I handed out pumpkin-puree chocolate and marshmallows from a paper bag, juniors politely greeted me and stepped back.

Apparently, previous Class 0 students would cause mischief if given bad candy at Halloween, but my class and juniors were kindhearted.

They were also diligent.

Usually, students put on costumes from evening and go around, but they were active so early, which was commendable.

“Jo Yi-shin, those kids know you’re participating in the Martial Arts Gathering today. That’s why they came early.”

The White Tiger made a useless comment.

Before leaving school, I quickly looked around Eungwang High.

There were many unusual outfits, but mostly it felt like just pretending for the festival.

However, where I was going now, the real ones would gather.

I steeled my resolve and headed toward the Martial Arts Gathering where martial artists assembled.