The Eungwang District Branch (Bunta) of the Black Wind Forest.

Though the Black Wind Forest claims to be a righteous sect opposing the demonic cult, to efficiently fight the demons, they famously concealed the location of their main base, the General Headquarters (Chongta, and instead maintained multiple branch bases.

Admitting this strategy is already problematic, yet surprisingly, it worked well—there had been no demon attacks on the General Headquarters.

While the branch bases’ locations were public, their sheer number combined with the relatively small size of the Black Wind Forest’s team meant many branches often had no permanent disciples stationed, rendering attacks ineffective.

Since the Ho clan resided in Eungwang District, reducing demon threats there, there was no pressing need to establish a branch, but the Sword Saint of the Black Forest—the sect leader—graduated from Eungwang High, so a branch was kept there for appearances.

However, lately, heroes and disciples of the Black Wind Forest have been gathering at the Eungwang District branch.

That branch has undergone repeated expansion and remodeling, now boasting a size comparable to a proper team building.

People speculated various reasons for this, one of the most credible being the presence of Jin Jeongmuk, considered a top disciple.

‘Chaotic brushstrokes reflect a distracted mind. There’s truth in that.’

In the Eungwang District branch, Jin Jeongmuk occupied the Chief Chamber (Suseokwon).

By name, it seemed the chamber for the second-strongest after the sect leader, but in reality, several seniors in the Black Wind Forest had greater skill than Jin Jeongmuk.

Nonetheless, as a sign of encouragement and hope for the future—having been taught directly by the Black Forest Sword Saint and achieving great things at a young age—the sect’s masters had given this place to him.

At the center of the Chief Chamber, Jin Jeongmuk sat formally on the wooden floor, gazing down at his brush calligraphy.

[DARKNESS]

A baffling phrase mixing Hangul, English, and Chinese characters.

Objectively, the content was odd, but the handwriting was stranger.

Though improved from when he first started brush calligraphy, the writing was far from neat considering his practice time.

Jin Jeongmuk recalled what classmates said when he wrote the same phrase in class:

—Wow, your English is great. That word looks like expert calligraphy.

—Your brush skills improved. Practicing English seems to have helped.

—I agree with my friend. At this pace, in a hundred years you’d be called a master even writing Chinese characters.

—A hundred years... wait, isn’t the problem the content, not handwriting?

—That guy insults Mingreen so blatantly.

—Haha... Jin Jeongmuk still uses that title...

Jin Jeongmuk pondered over his sloppy calligraphy.

Inspired by Class 0’s free spirit, he had recently incorporated confident English into his practice and received praise for his improvement.

But seeing others grow daily made him anxious.

Maeng Hyo-don mastered derived skills and kept growing; Dokgo Miro fulfilled his dream and appeared on stage; Mingreen was active creating works; Kwon Rena’s violin skills soared after revealing her background.

Also, the overwhelming power of Baekho, the startling growth of Cheongho from a certain day, and the seemingly concealed yet strong presence of Hwangho only deepened Jin Jeongmuk’s anxiety.

‘Should I have spent less time on calligraphy and more sharpening my sword?’

Eungwang High had many sword masters.

If Jin Jeongmuk had devoted himself to swordsmanship, his level would have risen further.

In that case, he wouldn’t have felt ashamed before his master, the Black Forest Sword Saint.

While the Sword Saint was at Eungwang High for three years, he was famous for reigning as the top master, making it impossible for Jin Jeongmuk to surpass him.

Strictly speaking, when the Sword Saint was enrolled, mythical Ho clan members didn’t attend, nor were there prodigies like Joo Su-hyuk or Andain, so comparisons were meaningless.

But Jin Jeongmuk wasn’t lenient enough on himself to consider that.

As Jin Jeongmuk struggled, a paper bag containing wrapped candies arrived.

Naturally, he recalled the voice of Jo Yi-shin, who often gave him snacks.

“Eat up.”

Jo Yi-shin’s words were brief but always kind.

Though sharp with Baekho and Hwangho, he wasn’t so with others.

Beneath cold advice was always a caring heart.

Thinking that, Jin Jeongmuk stood, fixed his usually messy hair neatly, put on his heroic gear, and ate a pumpkin toffee candy.

His appearance resembled a righteous sect heir or a martial artist immersed in wuxia tales, but eating candy given by a classmate made him look like a high schooler.

“Are you inside?”

A low voice from the Black Forest Sword Saint came.

Only the voice was heard outside the door; Jin Jeongmuk hurriedly swallowed the candy and straightened his posture like a caught child.

Though Jin Jeongmuk once told the sect leader he could come freely anytime, the Sword Saint always went through this checking ritual.

Inside the Chief Chamber, the Sword Saint smiled ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) warmly seeing his disciple practicing calligraphy.

He was especially pleased, thinking the phrase on the rice paper was appropriate for a high schooler and glad Jin Jeongmuk had settled well at Eungwang High.

He didn’t know the phrase was infamous even among the crazy Class 0, who cringed at it.

Since people planned to treat Jin Jeongmuk as just one of the disciples, not a special protege, the Sword Saint decided to give encouraging words.

As he finished, the Martial Arts Gathering time neared.

“The time for the gathering draws close. Go warm up.”

“Yes, I will head there once I finish preparing.”

Though he wished encouragement, Jin Jeongmuk’s reaction was somewhat unsatisfactory.

Noticing hesitation in his disciple’s attitude, the Sword Saint asked,

“If you have something to say, speak.”

“...Before the great battle, I still lack enlightenment.”

The Sword Saint knew the ‘great battle’ Jin Jeongmuk referred to wasn’t the upcoming gathering.

Jin Jeongmuk hadn’t yet been told everything about the ‘demonic scenario’ the Ho clan called it.

He was young, and his skill was still lacking compared to the masters confirmed to participate.

Instead of bluntly stating this, the Sword Saint expressed his expectations.

“Jeongmuk, you can grow further. Believe in yourself.”

If he did not grow, he could not share the great cause.

That was how Jin Jeongmuk heard it.

But knowing his master believed in him, all he could say was “Thank you.”

The place mentioned in the Hero Invitation from Black Wind Forest was the Eungwang District.

Though not the most technologically advanced neighborhood in Korea, it was filled with modern buildings matching the era.

So, I expected these martial artists to have just built large buildings and decorated them like movie sets for martial arts dramas.

But the Black Wind Forest were genuine martial artists, and their Eungwang District branch was real.

‘They really went all out.’

The surroundings of the branch were fitting to its name.

The dense forest let little light in, befitting the ‘Absolute Black’ name, and a variety of deciduous trees rustled their leaves in the wind, matching the ‘Wind Forest’ name.

But that wasn’t all.

Hwang Ji-ho gazed at the forest with shining eyes and said,

“A high-level defensive formation is deployed. Be careful not to stray from the path. They call this the “Qimen Dun Jia” formation, considered a celestial technique.”

Wasn’t this like the deadly formations that endangered visitors in secret crypts from martial arts novels?

Usually such illusions were used by heretics, so I wondered if the self-proclaimed righteous sect Black Wind Forest should be using them.

One thing was certain: thanks to this ability, the modern cityscape—high-rise buildings—was completely invisible from here.

Although the Halloween atmosphere at Eungwang High and here weren’t far apart, this place felt like a different dimension.

Walking straight along the open path for visitors, I soon saw a pavilion.

A few people had gathered or were warming up, which put me at ease.

‘Everyone came dressed appropriately for the real deal.’

Before entering the forest, I changed into the clothes Seodol prepared in the car.

I worried if only our group and the Black Wind Forest members dressed up, but that was unnecessary.

Everyone had dressed up properly.

Though the eras and styles weren’t unified, everyone shone in various classical Eastern-style garments.

“Hmm, a pity our colors don’t show well without light, but they suit us well.”

Hwang Ji-ho said, wearing a golden jangpo (long robe).

The jangpo shone brightly, making my own clothes look darker in comparison.

Today, I wore a black handmade dobo (overcoat) by Seodol.

Its special dye reacted to light, reflecting different colors: red, blue, white, yellow—and the black base.

All these were tiger clan colors.

Depending on light and angle, the ends, back, and shoulders of the dobo gleamed in the intricate shape of the Ho clan’s seal.

It was basically advertising that I was one of them.

‘If seen badly, it means I’m under the Ho clan’s influence. Could this fool the mastermind?’

That was questionable, but only carefully selected guests could enter the martial arena today, and filming was only allowed for Black Wind Forest members.

Not everything happening inside would leak outside.

Though many guests attended, considering how much trouble Hwang Ji-ho had over invitations, it felt like quite a crowd.

‘Our classmates haven’t arrived yet. But all participants should be here.’

There were three participants from our class.

Actually more could have joined, but the Ho clan decided only humans would participate, so all the Tigers were excluded.

As a result, Jin Jeongmuk, myself, and Kim Yuri were the three attendees from our class.

“Yi-shin, Ji-ho! Over here!”

Kim Yuri, who arrived earlier with Jukho, waved and called us.

Seeing Kim Yuri’s outfit made me exclaim.

Her clothes were directly made by her master Jukho, so beautiful that I regretted he wasn’t the designer for Plum High’s costumes.

Her semi-transparent jade-green attire, reminiscent of bamboo shoots, with a belt engraved with leaves suited her perfectly.

However, the light saber she held was somewhat un-martial-artist-like.

“Are you using the lightsaber again this time?”

“Yeah! I’m going to use the one I’m used to.”

Kim Yuri’s skill was fencing.

It did involve sword handling, but whether it was fitting for a martial artist was another question.

“Anyway, I’ll be fighting with powers other than swords, so I’ll use weapons I’m familiar with.”

And today, Kim Yuri would experience real combat against people using the power she’d long suppressed.