Ch.38Chapter 38 – Dragon and Phoenix Tournament (1)

As if to prove that the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament was just around the corner, the streets were filling with people, creating a festival-like atmosphere.

Originally, it was a martial arts competition overseen by orthodox sects like the Martial Alliance, where disciples from various schools competed to measure their skills.

“…In my novel, I wrote that participants could compete regardless of whether they were from orthodox sects, evil sects, or even from the Western regions.”

I had simply thought this setting would be the easiest way to introduce characters from different novels without complications.

Though it was called a tournament that bestowed the titles of Dragon and Phoenix, ultimately how to use such plot devices was up to the author’s discretion.

“Master! Are all these people here to see us?!”

Verdandi exclaimed in amazement as she looked at the spectators filling the arena. It was an attitude befitting her character as an orthodox Hero who enjoyed being admired by people.

I had always thought of Heroes as those who step forward first and sacrifice themselves the most.

Even if someone gets kicked out of a party for incompatible personality or fighting style, only to be regretted later—similar things happen in reality too.

“Yes, normally only one person from each sect can participate in the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament… But this time, there are so many applicants from various places.”

I scratched my chin as I spoke. It seemed like the scale and number of participants had doubled compared to the previous tournament, as if Bing-seol-hwa had pulled some strings.

She’s now an Outer God reader who is my first love and a character who wouldn’t hesitate to use any means to kill the final bosses.

“Seol-hwa knows the settings of this novel just as well as I do.”

No matter how much I longed for Seol-hwa, I needed to set aside my lingering feelings for now and figure out how to protect these children.

“For the preliminaries, each sect will send one person to fight, but for the main tournament, they’ll need to send three representatives.”

The rules of the competition had changed, seemingly targeting Bi-wol, Verdandi, and Azazel specifically. I couldn’t even guess how many people she had met in advance to arrange this.

The official reason given was to justify an evil sect winning a tournament led by orthodox sects, but this meant she had at least convinced the Martial Alliance Leader.

“Originally, I considered deliberately losing in the preliminaries, but…”

As luck would have it, the prize was the 10,000-Year Ultimate Blood Treasure, a medicinal elixir containing extreme yang energy. It was the last hope that could save my life, which was limited by the Severed Nine Yin.

Wolfram said my blood vessels were blocked by something strange, but if I took this to the Divine Doctor, there might still be a chance.

“This disciple will definitely win this tournament and claim the elixir, Master.”

Bi-wol gently smiled as she firmly held my scarred hand. Having properly mastered the Three Talents Swordsmanship under me, she was overflowing with confidence.

“Senior! You must make it to the finals! Give the Hero a chance to shine!”

Verdandi spoke excitedly, clearly eager for her turn to fight, as she watched Bi-wol.

I had planned to send Bi-wol for the preliminaries and the other disciples for the main tournament. The strategy was to show our strongest hand first to create a miscalculation in their power assessment.

In my opinion, Verdandi was the variable in this martial arts tournament.

The Holy Armor that appears when the Hero suffers a fatal wound—there would be no better place to obtain this ultimate defensive equipment.

“…There’s no guarantee Azazel will win if she meets Kang Si-woo. She still longs for him.”

Just as I couldn’t bring myself to confront Seol-hwa, Azazel might choose to forfeit rather than harm the man she had a crush on.

Knowing this, I planned to send Bi-wol, Azazel, and Verdandi in that order for the main tournament to aim for a reversal. Even if it was an orthodox approach, it might touch a sore spot for our opponents.

“Azazel, what will you do if you meet Kang Si-woo?”

“I’ll first ask him why he abandoned me and chose my sister. I’ll also ask if the word ‘love’ can really be that shallow.”

Azazel answered with a slightly trembling voice. She still believed that man had lingering feelings for her. Even after being betrayed once, she wanted to trust him again.

“…Even if that man never loved you in the first place?”

Just a game character. There might be people in this vast world who would dedicate their lives to such games, but the Kang Si-woo I wrote wasn’t a character with such heavy responsibility.

I had considered making him a protagonist who lost his parents in a childhood fire and lived with survivor’s guilt until being saved by a Saintess in the game, but…

“He might have been just a puppet reciting predetermined lines. If his feelings for you were genuine, he wouldn’t have been swayed by your sister’s seduction.”

That wouldn’t have fit the harem genre. I regretted that if the main theme of “I was Possessed In Idle Game” had been pure love, Azazel’s future might have been different.

“From your perspective, it might seem like just another common unrequited love. But…”

Azazel trailed off, her unspoken emotions congealing into words.

“…Because I love him, I can overlook that fact.”

Though chosen as a Saintess, she wasn’t officially recognized because of her succubus bloodline, and it was the player Kang Si-woo who saved her.

But…

“That kind of lingering attachment isn’t called love. It’s just obsession from the one left behind.”

I knew the end result of such emotions well. I had seen many people who ruined themselves while pursuing unrequited love.

A girl who spread rumors about me after getting no response to her love letter, a senior who approached my friends to get my phone number.

And Seol-hwa’s father who tried to separate us, saying I wasn’t good enough for her.

“What I think of as love is two people looking in the same direction. Even with different perspectives, they understand, accept, and align their views.”

It’s a famous quote from Saint-Exupéry, the author of “The Little Prince.”

Seol-hwa and I both had the dream of becoming “novelists.” Though our reasons were different, we matched our steps and breath, encouraging each other without anyone taking the lead.

With her, I learned what true love was. To use a metaphor, it’s not about plucking a beautiful flower you find by the roadside, but about protecting it.

“…You speak as if you know a lot about love.”

“Well, it’s only natural that I know more than all of you here.”

Love is a complex emotion mixed with hatred, sadness, happiness, and jealousy, making it difficult to explain in just a few words.

“…Is that really true, Master?”

As I was talking with Azazel, Bi-wol sharply turned her head and gave me a piercing look.

“I thought I had warded off all the wolves circling around you, Master, but are you saying there was someone I missed?”

With increasingly rapid breathing, changing tone, and burning eyes, Bi-wol looked like she might draw her sword and hold it to my neck at any moment.

“Don’t tell me the woman who left writing on your body and claimed to see the future… was someone you were intimate with before I became your disciple…?”

I covered Bi-wol’s mouth with my hand. I couldn’t let her continue this outburst, especially since she was talking about Seol-hwa.

“Enough! Bi-wol, that’s enough. She is also the one who saved my life.”

She was also the co-creator of each final boss. Without Seol-hwa, I might have long ago lost faith in life and ended it all.

Ironically, her death became the reason I couldn’t die.

“We never shared that kind of relationship. At least not in this body.”

“That’s the truth! Senior!”

Knowing Verdandi was present, I deliberately told the truth in a vague way to appease Bi-wol’s heart.

“Hmm… It’s still suspicious. Someone who left writing on your body and has prophetic abilities.”

Bi-wol traced my body with her finger, showing possessiveness, but I just swallowed hard, hoping she wouldn’t cross the line.

Being possessed by an Outer God reader.

My life in the real world before that.

And the reasons why the final bosses had such dark pasts.

There were too many intertwined events to explain everything.

“I’ll believe you just this once. It would be too wasteful to miss the opportunity to care for your health because of such petty jealousy.”

Bi-wol looked at me with a slight smile and confidently walked toward the tournament grounds.

* * *

A grand stage where everyone’s attention was focused, filled with the roaring cheers of the crowd.

“A martial arts arena where disciples from each sect gather to compete! I think everyone has been waiting for this!”

The man announcing with a loud voice enhanced by sound techniques was from the Snow Mountain Sect located at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain near Lijiang in Yunnan Province.

A sect within the Central Plains martial world that could use ice techniques or sound techniques, similar to the North Sea Ice Palace.

“I am Cheon Cheon-mu, your commentator!”

He introduced himself and was respectfully introducing the elderly man with a long beard beside him.

“This Dragon and Phoenix Tournament is specially sponsored by the North Sea Ice Palace!”

“…The sect leader of the Ice Palace.”

I could see a man with blue eyes like mine and Bing-seol-hwa sitting next to a man bearing the seal of the Martial Alliance.

That person was probably the reason I wasn’t welcomed when I visited the Ice Palace. I frowned as I looked at him.

“Before we begin the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament, we’ll hear from the Martial Alliance Leader!”

“Although I’ve heard that some sects have accepted disciples from the Western regions this time, in the martial world, one must always face the unknown.”

The large-built man cleared his throat once. Wearing a robe bearing the Martial Alliance emblem, he was Go Tae-ho, known as the Martial Alliance Leader.

“‘Mu’ means strength for the weak, and ‘Hyeop’ means the heart that doesn’t ignore the weak. To uphold these principles, a minimum level of strength is necessary.”

Also known by the title “Strong Tiger,” he was the leader of the Martial Alliance who would be half-defeated by Bi-wol, the Heavenly Demon, in the original novel.

It was a passage I’d seen in some martial arts novel, and the justice I mentioned before was also derived from this line.

“I hope the disciples of this generation will keep this in mind.”

As the Martial Alliance Leader finished speaking, people cheered, and the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament began.

“Now, let’s begin the long-awaited Dragon and Phoenix Tournament! First up is Kim Hyul, the fist master from the Seongyeong School!”

The first to appear was Kim Hyul, the protagonist of the original “Diamond Fist King.”