THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD….
PATTER-PATTER….
Pounding footsteps hammered against the old floor.
The floor was already cobbled together from loose wooden planks, so even the slightest movement made plenty of noise. Why the hell were they running around like that?
“Run! Hurry! We’re all going to die at this rate.”
“Damn it, after that whole mess yesterday….”
“Stop complaining and run. Look over there. Even the Silver Dragon Corps seniors are running.”
It was complete chaos.
As though war had broken out, the boys raced one another toward the training ground.
Some ran with limps.
Probably the aftermath of the beating they had received yesterday.
“F-Four-Eight. F-F-Four-Eight. Wh-What are you doing? G-Get up q-quickly.”
Number 87 shook Number 48 awake with a tearful expression.
“Mmm… just a little longer.”
Number 48 lazily rolled onto his side.
“N-No, F-Four-Eight. H-Hurry.”
“Hey, just leave that bastard. What’s the worst that’ll happen? He’ll get beaten.”
Number 32 spoke while hurriedly fastening his trousers.
THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD….
As Number 48 lay on his side, the pounding of the wooden floor struck directly into his ears.
“Gasp.”
Only then did Number 48 bolt upright.
The doorway before him was packed with people scrambling outside.
Number 87 stood there looking ready to cry, while Number 32 glared at him.
‘What is this? What’s going on?’
There was nothing surprising about it.
It was a scene no different from any ordinary day.
And yet Number 48 stared blankly at it.
He felt as though he had suddenly been dropped alone into another world.
“Q-Q-Quickly.”
“What’s wrong with you this early in the morning? Hurry up and run, bastard.”
Is that really you?
Are you really Eight-Seven?
With that terrible stutter, he had to be Number 87.
And that had to be Three-Two too.
The way he rushed around in a panic was unmistakable.
What was going on?
Why did he feel as though he were all alone in the world?
“What’s happening?”
“Huh? Uh… Th-They’re c-calling us.”
What did he mean, what was happening?
Was this not their normal life?
‘What is this? Yesterday, I definitely….’
Had it been a dream?
But it had been far too vivid….
Number 48 looked down at his fingers.
‘Yesterday they were definitely twisted up like some monster’s.’
They looked exactly as they always did.
Grimy with dirt.
Black beneath the nails.
Ugly hands.
‘Right. It was qi deviation. My body definitely twisted all over.’
But his perfectly normal hand seemed to be mocking him for talking nonsense.
‘Yeah. There’s no way that really happened. It must’ve been a dream. Thank goodness.’
“Wh-What are you doing? The I-Instructors said to c-come out q-quickly.”
Number 87 tugged on Number 48’s collar.
Instructors?
“Gasp.”
Number 48 immediately snapped awake.
“Let’s go. Run, run.”
He jumped to his feet and ran toward the training ground with Number 87.
Barefoot.
His soles stung.
He must have stepped on gravel.
Who cared?
If he did not want to get beaten, he had to run first.
Number 32 was already far ahead of them.
***
THUD.
“Ghk!”
A Silver Dragon Corps member rolled across the ground.
A Golden Dragon Corps member’s kick had struck him squarely in the chest.
And he was far from the only one rolling around on the ground.
“You bastards can’t move your asses faster? You, you’re one of the brats who just became Iron Dragon Corps, right? You think the whole world belongs to you now that you climbed up from the Non-Dragon Corps?”
The scolding was directed at the Iron Dragon Corps.
Yet the ones actually getting beaten were the Silver Dragon Corps members.
“Do you know what time it is? How are the lowest-ranking brats the last ones to show up?”
THWACK.
Another kick.
The Golden Dragon Corps had its dignity to maintain.
They could not personally lay hands on the lower-ranking Iron Dragon Corps.
Only occasionally.
So the punishment fell entirely upon the Silver Dragon Corps instead.
It was more effective that way.
The Iron Dragon Corps members stood rigidly in formation, blinking nervously.
The Silver Dragon Corps had just been beaten like that.
Which meant the Iron Dragon Corps would soon be torn apart by the Silver Dragon Corps in turn.
‘Bastards. What do you mean we were late? We ran out the instant you called us. You’re the ones who came out last.’
Number 48 rolled his eyes as he quietly watched the Silver Dragon Corps members getting beaten.
‘They’re definitely taking yesterday out on us. But that wasn’t our fault either. You bastards were the ones who screwed up.’
Words he could never say aloud.
Yesterday’s battle.
The Orthodox Allied Forces had launched a sudden ferocious assault and broken through the vanguard.
The Golden Dragon Corps.
Because of that, the Silver Dragon Corps and Iron Dragon Corps had suffered tremendous losses.
Had Sect Leader Lee Woo-yang not personally beaten them because of it?
Even the Golden Dragon Corps.
The Golden Dragon Corps members, who were normally never beaten, must have been seething with rage.
Naturally, that anger had descended upon the Silver Dragon Corps.
“I’ll deal with you bastards later.”
Hwang In-gwang clutched his battered stomach and glared at the Iron Dragon Corps with flashing eyes.
He was the man who would soon torment the Iron Dragon Corps like trapped rats.
‘W-We’re dead.’
The Iron Dragon Corps members swallowed dryly as cold sweat ran down their bodies.
***
They had been summoned early in the morning.
Once everyone finished forming ranks, the Golden Dragon Corps stood in the front row.
The Silver Dragon Corps stood behind them.
The Iron Dragon Corps came last.
Before long, Lee Woo-yang appeared atop the platform.
Several people in slightly less extravagant silk garments followed him up.
They were the Ascending Dragon Sect’s three elders.
“This Sect Leader was deeply disappointed by yesterday’s battle.”
He sounded the same as yesterday.
His sharp voice.
Though he spoke quietly, every word carried clearly even to the Iron Dragon Corps standing in the very last row.
‘Again? Wasn’t beating us half to death over it yesterday enough?’
They had already heard this yesterday.
Apparently, his anger had not completely subsided.
Why else would he gather everyone again first thing in the morning just to spout the same words?
“This morning….”
More and more force entered Lee Woo-yang’s voice.
A force condensed from rage.
The corps members standing in formation unconsciously swallowed.
“A messenger came from Hegemon Fortress. They condemned us for allowing the vanguard to collapse.”
The softly spoken words, laden with anger, made everyone’s hearts sink.
They had assumed everything would end after yesterday’s savage beating.
Surely he was not going to do it again today?
‘Those Hegemon Fortress bastards. They barely showed their faces on the battlefield, so why did they have to come bothering us first thing in the morning over something like this…?’
The messenger must have said something that enraged Lee Woo-yang.
Otherwise, there was no way Lee Woo-yang would even be awake this early.
Lee Woo-yang slowly stroked the beard beneath his chin and continued.
“If the vanguard can be broken through in a battle of that level, it proves both your training and your state of mind are lacking. Especially since the longer a battle continues, the more important the second and third rows become.”
Lee Woo-yang’s narrow eyes turned toward the rear ranks.
Not only the Silver Dragon Corps but even the Iron Dragon Corps members swallowed dryly.
“Good grief…. I’m tired.”
Lee Woo-yang abruptly turned and descended from the platform.
He had said enough.
The rest would handle itself.
Had he not exercised quite a bit last night?
Moving around for the first time in ages had left his entire body feeling stiff.
He had no desire to start moving again first thing in the morning.
His destination was the place where an ancient-looking hall towered over the others.
The Great Dragon Hall.
A magnificent, lavish building that stood in stark contrast to the shabby structures around it.
‘What the hell is so great about Hegemon Fortress? We’re the Ascending Dragon Sect. Did he really drag us out here first thing in the morning just to spout that bullshit? After beating us like that yesterday? This is too much.’
Number 48 glared at Lee Woo-yang’s departing back.
It was the only revenge he was capable of.
***
“You heard what the Sect Leader said, right? Brace yourselves, you bastards.”
They had been beaten like that yesterday.
And now, the next day.
Today.
The exact same situation repeated itself.
Was yesterday’s beating not enough?
The instant Lee Woo-yang entered the Great Dragon Hall, the Golden Dragon Corps members raised their greatswords once again.
Those brutish lumps of iron.
“Die, you bastards.”
Perhaps they still had not vented all their anger from being beaten by Lee Woo-yang yesterday.
There was not the slightest restraint in their hands.
THUD, THWACK, THUD-THUD-THWACK….
Another beating began.
Once again, the Silver Dragon Corps and Iron Dragon Corps curled up on the ground and had no choice but to take the flying masses of iron with their bodies.
“Ghk.”
“I-Instructor… please….”
“Please… Agh! You hit me there yesterday!”
Desperate screams erupted everywhere.
“Shut up and take it, you sons of bitches.”
“You bastards still haven’t come to your senses.”
“Looks like you’ve still got enough strength to scream. If you had that much strength, you should’ve used it in yesterday’s battle!”
The corps members’ screams only further provoked the Golden Dragon Corps members’ madness.
Their eyes were bloodshot.
They were already little different from madmen.
The others could not even scream anymore….
They merely covered their mouths, protected their heads, and endured the masses of iron crashing down upon them.
Desperately.
There was nothing else they could do but endure.
“Bah. Ptooey.”
“Count yourselves lucky.”
Had they finally vented some of their anger?
The Golden Dragon Corps members spat thick phlegm onto the ground and left the training ground.
They headed toward their residence, the Golden Dragon Hall.
The building reserved for the Golden Dragon Corps.
Their limping backs showed traces of yesterday’s battle injuries and Lee Woo-yang’s beating.
Was it over?
No.
This time, the Silver Dragon Corps members began rising one by one.
‘Ah… please.’
***
Rustle….
Number 48 barely managed to push himself upright.
Boys lay scattered across the empty training ground.
Every one of them belonged to the Iron Dragon Corps.
Looking around, he saw that the others were still sprawled flat on their backs.
“Ugh, those rotten bastards.”
He looked up at the sky.
A red sunset was already spreading across it.
‘Damn it. We got beaten in the morning, and it’s already evening.’
Apparently, he had been unconscious all day.
No.
Some of the boys might simply have fallen asleep rather than fainted.
The occasional snore could be heard among them.
But….
‘What is this? Something feels strange.’
Number 48 abruptly stood and examined his body.
He had been too distracted by the beating to think much of it, but he had noticed it even that morning.
His body felt unusually refreshed.
‘Did getting beaten again after yesterday somehow do this?’
That could not be it.
It was hardly his first time getting beaten on consecutive days.
He had undoubtedly been beaten half to death yesterday.
Today, he had been beaten again.
Yet considering everything his body had endured, he felt bizarrely light.
Even the wounds from the battle had faded considerably.
The place where he had been cut by a sword had already healed quite a bit.
And the places where he had been beaten….
The pain remained, but that particular heavy, dull unpleasantness of deep bruising was gone.
‘Maybe my body finally adapted after getting beaten so much.’
Suddenly, he remembered yesterday’s dream.
He could not tell whether it had truly been a dream or reality.
That strange scene had been far too vivid.
“Whatever. Hey, wake up.”
Thinking about it any further would only make his head hurt.
Number 48 lightly kicked Number 87, who lay beside him.
“Mmm… why? J-Just a l-little longer….”
Number 87 abruptly rolled over and tucked both arms between his thighs.
Apparently, he intended to settle in and sleep properly.
‘Was this bastard not unconscious at all? Was he just sleeping? What an easy life….’
“Get up, bastard. The sun’s going down.”
“Mmm… I-I’m h-hungry.”
Come to think of it, they had not eaten anything all day.
Judging from how quiet everything remained this late, there did not seem to be any more training today.
Not that any of them were in a condition to train anyway.
Number 48 grabbed Numbers 87 and 32 by the backs of their necks and dragged them toward the cliff.
The warm late-autumn sunset made his body feel languid.
Only then did the other Iron Dragon Corps members sprawled across the ground begin getting up one by one.
Some clutched their aching bodies and trudged toward the Iron Dragon Hall.
Others remained dead to the world, sleeping peacefully.
The Ascending Dragon Sect might have been shabby, but it possessed one truly breathtaking thing.
The western view.
Mountains surrounded the terrain on three sides, but the west alone lay completely open.
Green vegetation spread in that direction like everywhere else, but the western edge of the training ground ended at a sheer cliff, leaving the view wonderfully unobstructed.
Number 48 liked this place.
It was the only truly open place in the sect, and the place where he could watch the setting sun longer than anywhere else.
More than anything, it held memories.
Below the cliff.
The Non-Dragon Hall stood there, the place where every member of the Ascending Dragon Sect had begun.
How often had he looked up at this place during his days in the Non-Dragon Corps?
Thump, thump.
Several other Iron Dragon Corps members besides them began taking places along the cliff.
Apparently, they all intended to sit there until mealtime.
Their bodies might ache as though they were falling apart, but hunger was another matter.
“I’m hungry.”
“E-Eat th-this.”
Number 87 pulled a handful of acorns from inside his clothes.
“Acorns again? You’ve been eating those nonstop since the Non-Dragon Corps. Don’t you ever get sick of them?”
“Th-They’re g-good.”
Number 87 smiled and placed the acorns into Number 48’s hand.
His face had been struck so many times that it looked less like a smile and more like a grimace.
Number 48 looked no better.
“Don’t smile, bastard. You’re ugly.”
CRUNCH.
The instant he bit into an acorn, an astringent bitterness spread through his mouth.
Why did it have to be both astringent and bitter?
Could it not pick one?
“Ugh… bitter. Damn it, it touched the cut inside my mouth.”
Every change in expression made the places he had been struck throb even more.
Even chewing and swallowing the acorn with a blank expression hurt.
“I-It h-hurts.”
“Mine too.”
Number 48 sat on the edge of the cliff and swung his feet back and forth.
“By the way, was that true? What you said about people hitting you less outside?”
“Huh? Y-Yeah, i-it’s true.”
Far to the west, the sun began slipping beneath the horizon.
“What do you think is out there? Where the sun goes down?”
Back in the Non-Dragon Corps.
How desperately had he admired this very place as he stared up at the cliff, at the spot where the soles of his feet now rested?
Now that he had climbed here, Number 48 looked somewhere even farther away.
Fighting the Orthodox Allied Forces had taught him something.
The Ascending Dragon Sect was not the entire world.
There were many more people outside.
‘Not just people. More places. More worlds must be out there too.’
It was strange.
Everyone in the Ascending Dragon Sect had been indoctrinated since childhood.
This place was everything.
These people were everyone there was.
Surprisingly, that indoctrination was powerful.
Even the mighty Golden Dragon Corps members considered this place their home and never thought of leaving it.
‘It was written in the book Number 92 gave me too. ‘The world is vast.’’
Then he remembered something he had heard before.
Wanderer.
The word Hwang In-gwang had taught him.
Someone who roamed alone wherever he pleased.
The word freedom lingered in his mind.
Number 48 slowly opened his mouth.
“I want to leave this place.”
“There you go with that shit again. If you want to die, I guess there’s nothing you won’t do.”
“You just go back to sleep.”
Naturally, Number 32 mocked him.
There was no way Number 32 could truly be fine either.
His closest friend, Number 92, had died in yesterday’s battle.
“Tch.”
For once, silence settled over the normally noisy Ascending Dragon Sect.
It was a strange stillness that did not suit the place at all.
Riding that silence, the memory of the previous night passed through Number 48’s mind again.
“Was it really a dream?”
“Wh-What was?”
“Nothing. Just something.”
DING, DING, DING, DING.
The ringing of a bell shattered the quiet of the Ascending Dragon Sect.
“Let’s eat.”
Number 32 slowly got up and headed toward the Iron Dragon Hall.
Roll, roll.
An acorn rolled around in Number 48’s hand.
One of those Number 87 had given him.
No matter how much he bent his hand around and inspected it, it looked nothing like the twisted left hand he remembered from last night.
‘I must be losing my mind. What the hell am I thinking? I’m hurt and exhausted, so I’m having all kinds of crazy dreams.’
Yes.
It had only been a dream.
It had merely been so vivid that he had mistaken it for reality.
Look.
There was nothing wrong with his body.
Except for all the places he had been beaten.
‘I’ve seen so many bastards suffer qi deviation, and I’m still thinking like this. I really am crazy.’
“Come on, Eight-Seven. Stop cracking open those acorns.”
“Y-Yeah. L-L-Let’s go… Hehehe.”
Where they had been sitting, acorn shells came spilling down in a shower.