After parting ways with Wi Seol-ah, half a shichen had passed.
I couldnât help but feel a deep sense of regret as I took in the situation.
"This was a mistake."
The reason wasnât anything extraordinary.
The line was just too long.
It hadnât looked that long at first glance, but I mustâve been late because now I had to stand in it for what felt like forever.
I shouldâve gotten in line earlier.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Instead, Iâd been idly gawking and ended up in this mess.
When the line started growing rapidly, I shouldâve joined in right then. But because Iâd been a little late, I had to spend half a shichen just standing in line.
"Gu from the Gu family⦠Gu Yangcheon. Verified."
The Murim Alliance staff member inspecting my identification token froze momentarily.
Why does everyone pause like this whenever they see my name?
"This feels oddly unsettling."
"I havenât even done anything bad yet." So what exactly was the problem?
Anyway.
After standing in line for half a shichen, I finally got my identification token verified and followed the signs ahead.
Upon entering the gate, I was met with a vast field, artificially leveled and organized.
By the time I arrived, a large crowd had already gathered.
Well, it made sense. Iâd spent so much time in line, after all.
Even with a quick glance, I could see there were over a hundred people present.
Considering this was just one of the groups, with the participants divided over three days and further segmented by colors, the total number of participants must be staggering.
On top of thatâ
"What exactly are they planning to do?"
Even if they split us into smaller groups, could they really filter through this many people in a single day?
Sure, there were supposed to be second and third rounds of preliminaries, but I couldnât help but feel curious about how they intended to pull this off.
Since the people inside were already lining up, I joined the queue as well.
After waiting for a bit longerâ
"The White Group. A total of 172 participants. Everyone is accounted for."
The voice of one of the sword unit members reached my ears.
"â¦Thatâs a ridiculous number."
Nearly 200 martial artists gathered in a single group.
Just looking at it made me chuckle dryly.
How exactly were they planning to handle this?
Were they just going to make us all fight each other?
"Thatâd be the simplest way, honestly."
It was a method Iâd seen used frequently, both in my previous life and now.
The easiest way to cut down numbers, thoughâ¦
"They wouldnât use such a barbaric approach. Not these self-righteous folks."
As expected, they wouldnât resort to such "violent" methods under the guise of being a righteous faction.
And, unsurprisinglyâ
Creeeeakâ!
The sound of something being dragged filled the air.
"Whatâs that?"
"Somethingâs coming this way!"
The martial artists craned their necks toward the direction of the sound, their eyes widening.
Several sword unit members were carrying something massive toward us.
Seeing it made me widen my eyes as well.
"Why is that here�"