In their innocent childhood, there was a time when Hyeonwon Kang and Paeng Sa-hyeok were close friends.
"Hello...?"
"Hello!"
The two boys were the same age, both sons of family heads, and shared the common trait of playing with wooden swords since they started walking.
"Do you want to spar with me?"
"Yeah! Sounds good!"
During those days, Hyeonwon Kang's father often visited the Paeng family with his son, and young Hyeonwon Kang was simply happy to meet friends his age.
Back then, he didn't know.
He didn't know the relationship between the Hyeonwon family and the Hebei Paeng family.
He didn't understand why his father had to visit the Paeng family so often and why he sighed deeply every time they returned.
"Sa-hyeok! I'm here!"
"Kang!"
Young Hyeonwon Kang was just happy to meet friends his age and enjoyed swinging wooden swords and rolling around together.
"Hahaha! I won again!"
"Darn it! Next time, I'll win!"
The sparring always ended with Hyeonwon Kang's victory.
Paeng Sa-hyeok would huff and promise to win next time, but to Hyeonwon Kang, Sa-hyeok's attacks were always clear as day.
"I'll come again next time! Let's play again then!"
"You have to come quickly!"
"Okay!"
But as he grew older, Hyeonwon Kang started to feel something was off.
The people of the Paeng family wore better clothes, ate tastier food, and had many more servants than the Hyeonwon family.
But at that young age, he didn't know exactly what that meant.
It was when the two boys turned eleven.
"Kang! Let's spar! This time, I'll win!"
"Alright. Come at me as much as you want!"
The sparring with Paeng Sa-hyeok, whom he met after almost half a year, was particularly tough and strange.
By then, Sa-hyeok had already started learning the family technique, the Five Tiger Sword, and his internal energy had increased several times.
Hyeonwon Kang had also started learning the Jincheon Sword Technique, but with only half of the original technique restored, it couldn't match the Five Tiger Sword.
"I won't lose!"
But Hyeonwon Kang's talent was enough to make up for the lacking technique.
After dodging several dangerous attacks with quick thinking, he aimed a strong strike at Sa-hyeok's exposed shoulder.
However, this time, Sa-hyeok didn't back down easily.
Determined to win against Hyeonwon Kang, he twisted his body to avoid the attack and attempted a counterattack.
With a shout, the two boys' attacks crossed paths,
"Aaah!"
Hyeonwon Kang's sword struck Sa-hyeok's head.
It was an accident that happened without them realizing it.
Blood flowed from Sa-hyeok's head as he lost consciousness and fell.
Hearing the scream, the retainers of the Paeng family rushed over.
"Young master!"
"Master!"
Both boys were still inexperienced in martial arts.
But seeing the young master bleeding from the head, the retainers of the Paeng family didn't think about that.
"How dare you use a killing move on the young master!"
"Ungrateful brat!"
"Do you think your life will be enough if something happens to the young master?"
"Hyeonwon! These people again...!"
"Quickly, take the young master to the doctor!"
Surrounded by the murderous aura of the experts, Hyeonwon Kang couldn't even make an excuse and trembled in fear.
The unconscious Sa-hyeok was immediately taken to the doctor, and shortly after, the head of the Hebei Paeng family and the head of the Hyeonwon family appeared together.
"... Did you use a killing move on my son?"
The head of the Paeng family quietly asked Hyeonwon Kang.
But to Hyeonwon Kang, he was tens of times scarier than the retainers before.
"I, I..."
Young Hyeonwon Kang trembled in overwhelming fear.
It felt like facing a tiger the size of a house.
He felt like he would be torn apart if he said the wrong word.
It was then.
"Master!"
Hyeonwon Kang's father stepped in front of him, blocking his way, and without hesitation, knelt before the head of the Hebei Paeng family, bowing his head.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please forgive him just this once. My son did it without knowing anything."
"..."
Looking back now, it seems the head of the Hebei Paeng family was also taken aback, perhaps not expecting him to kneel.
That's how desperate his father was to save his son.
"Master, you know the two children have been getting along well since they were young."
"... Just because they played together, do you think my son is the same as your son?"
"No, of course not. They can't be the same. It's all my son's fault."
At his father's servile appearance, the head of the Paeng family clicked his tongue, and just then, news came that Sa-hyeok, who had been taken to the doctor, was safe.
The head of the Paeng family issued an order to leave, as if he didn't want to see the two of them anymore.
"Go back. I'll forgive you just this once."
"Thank you very much. I'm truly grateful for the Paeng family's mercy."
"Don't ever bring that boy here again."
"Yes. I won't let him come near the young master again."
On the way back home, Hyeonwon Kang thought his father's profile in the carriage looked ten years older.
"Father..."
"Don't say anything. I just want to rest today."
"... Yes."
After that day, Hyeonwon Kang never went to play at the Hebei Paeng family again.
He received several letters from Sa-hyeok, but he never replied and tore them all up.
The two met again when they were fifteen, after entering the Blue Dragon Academy.
"Is this all you've got?"
Paeng Sa-hyeok looked at Hyeonwon Kang with a disappointed expression.
Kneeling before him was Hyeonwon Kang, covered in blood.
"Ugh..."
His clothes were torn here and there, and his lips were cracked, bleeding profusely.
His face was pale, possibly from internal injuries.
In contrast, Paeng Sa-hyeok only had a slightly cut sleeve and wasn't even breathing heavily.
In front of this overwhelming result, the onlookers held their breath.
"To think Hyeonwon Kang couldn't even put up a fight..."
"Was Paeng Sa-hyeok always this strong?"
"Isn't he the young master of the Five Great Families for a reason? He lives in a different world from us."
"Then why doesn't he participate in the Heavenly Martial Arts Tournament...?"
"Everyone shut up!"
At Paeng Sa-hyeok's lion's roar, the murmuring students fell silent.
Right now, Paeng Sa-hyeok was in a very unpleasant mood.
He had defeated Hyeonwon Kang for the first time, but he wasn't happy at all.
Gritting his teeth, Paeng Sa-hyeok glared at Hyeonwon Kang.
"Did you think it would be the same as when we were kids?"
"..."
"While you were wandering around drinking, I was training my martial arts to death. While you were drowning in inferiority and running away, I was making bone-crushing efforts to become stronger."
"Heh... Of course, you did."
Hyeonwon Kang laughed hollowly, then raised his eyes fiercely and spoke.
"You must have worked hard, taking expensive elixirs given by your family, learning from the best masters, and mastering the great martial arts passed down only to the head of the family. If you're still weaker than me, wouldn't that make you an idiot?"
Each word dripped with venom.
His eyes, blue with anger, showed his pent-up rage.
But Paeng Sa-hyeok just sneered at the sight.
"Did you train your tongue while others were training martial arts?"
"Yeah. You don't need elixirs, secret manuals, or a great family to wag your tongue."
"So what?"
"... What?"
Paeng Sa-hyeok looked at Hyeonwon Kang with a pitiful expression.
"What does me being born into a great family have to do with you?"
"Do you not know...!"
Hyeonwon Kang tried to get up, but at that moment, Paeng Sa-hyeok's foot kicked his abdomen.
Thud!
"Ugh! You bastard!"
Hyeonwon Kang clutched his abdomen, his face turning red as he gasped.
Standing before him, Paeng Sa-hyeok asked in a low voice.
"Let me ask you one thing."
"Eat dirt, you bastard..."
"Did you think if you became stronger than me, I would use the family's power to oppress the Hyeonwon family?"
"..."
Hyeonwon Kang couldn't answer.
At that moment, he felt immense anger and disappointment towards himself in Paeng Sa-hyeok's eyes.
"Did I look like that kind of person to you?"
"..."
He had never directly said such things.
But the humiliation and bitter memories his father experienced at the Paeng family that day.
The looks of contempt from the retainers and the head of the Hebei Paeng family.
Over time, he thought this guy would eventually become just like them.
Over the past few years.
"Answer me. There's nowhere to run now."
Paeng Sa-hyeok reached out and grabbed Hyeonwon Kang's disheveled hair tightly.
Close enough to feel each other's breath.
Paeng Sa-hyeok glared at him with burning eyes and asked.
"Did I really look like that kind of person to you, you bastard?"
"... How would I know."
Thud!
Hyeonwon Kang's body fell sideways as he was punched in the face.
"Listen carefully, Hyeonwon Kang. This is the last piece of advice I'll give you as an old friend."
It seemed like flames would burst from Paeng Sa-hyeok's eyes.
When Hyeonwon Kang, who always avoided him, approached him first, he thought something had changed.
But it wasn't.
This guy was still the most hopeless bundle of inferiority in the Blue Dragon Academy, filled with inferiority.
"Don't ever appear in front of me again. If I see you from a hundred feet away, avoid me. If I see your face again..."
Paeng Sa-hyeok, sorting out his last remaining feelings for his old friend, coldly spat out.
"I might really want to crush you like a bug."
"..."
"Pathetic bastard."
Paeng Sa-hyeok turned and left the grand martial arts arena.
The students who followed him, and the onlookers, also left one by one.
Left alone, Hyeonwon Kang lay sprawled in the middle of the grand martial arts arena.
"Damn..."
He lost.
He had already expected to lose.
As Paeng Sa-hyeok said, while he wasted time living as a scoundrel, the guy must have been training to become a successor worthy of the Five Great Families.
"Why did that guy enter the Blue Dragon Academy?"
The other successors of the Five Great Families were all learning martial arts at the Heavenly Martial Arts Academy.
But only Paeng Sa-hyeok entered the Blue Dragon Academy.
At the time, it was a big topic, so no one paid attention to the ruined successor of the Hyeonwon family entering.
"Hyeonwon Kang! Long time no see!"
Suddenly, he remembered the entrance ceremony three years ago.
Before the ceremony started, Paeng Sa-hyeok, who spotted him from afar, walked over.
"What have you been doing all these years? I sent letters, but didn't you receive them? I wanted to visit your house, but my father wouldn't let me..."
"... Get lost."
"... What?"
"I said get lost."
"... Hey. Is that what you say to a friend you haven't seen in a long time... Hey! Where are you going!"
He turned and hurriedly left.
Paeng Sa-hyeok called out to him from behind, but he ignored it.
He avoided him for three years.
At first, Paeng Sa-hyeok approached him, but as Hyeonwon Kang continued to ignore and avoid him, his attitude gradually turned cold.
"Hey. Hyeonwon family's scoundrel. Did you go drinking again today? You reek of alcohol."
"... None of your business."
"Pathetic bastard. Are you going to live like this forever?"
While Hyeonwon Kang became more arrogant and reckless, Paeng Sa-hyeok took control of the club union and seized power.
Paeng Sa-hyeok, along with student council president Dokgo Jun, was the top talent in the Blue Dragon Academy.
The only difference was that while Dokgo Jun participated in the Heavenly Martial Arts Tournament every year, Paeng Sa-hyeok never participated even once.
"Why doesn't he participate? Because he's not confident."
"If he participates in the tournament, his skills will be exposed immediately."
"He's a king here, but if he participates in the tournament, he won't even make it to the finals."
Students gossiped behind Paeng Sa-hyeok's back for not participating in the Heavenly Martial Arts Tournament.
They said he chose to be the head of a snake rather than the tail of a dragon.
They said he entered the Blue Dragon Academy to gather followers and rule comfortably rather than compete fiercely at the Heavenly Martial Arts Academy.
But Hyeonwon Kang thought that couldn't be true.
"Nonsense. There's no way that guy entered the Blue Dragon Academy because he was afraid of competition."
Even as a child, he always challenged him, saying he would win someday, even though he lost every time.
A guy with such a competitive spirit wouldn't have chosen the Blue Dragon Academy because he was afraid of competition.
"Then why..."
Round and round, back to the same place.
Then why did Paeng Sa-hyeok come to the Blue Dragon Academy? Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.
"Did I really look like that kind of person to you?"
"Could it be because of me?"
No way.
Just because they were briefly close as children, did he follow him to the Blue Dragon Academy?
"Did I really look like that kind of person to you, you bastard!"
No way.
Just to ask that.
"Hah. That can't be..."
Lying in the grand martial arts arena, Hyeonwon Kang looked up at the cloudy sky with a blank expression.
Drip, drip, drip...
Suddenly, raindrops began to fall one by one.
The rain gradually intensified, soon turning into a downpour.
Swoosh...
"... Really, this is too much."
Is this what they mean by getting beaten up on a rainy day? A hollow laugh escaped.
"Heh heh..."
What a dog of a day.
Hyeonwon Kang covered his face with his arm to block the pouring rain.
The rainwater seeped into his wounds, making his whole body sting, but he didn't want to move from his spot.
"Hello?"
"Do you want to spar with me?"
"Darn it! Next time, I'll win!"
"You have to come quickly!"
"Aaah!"
Memories of childhood surfaced on their own.
If only these memories could be washed away by the rain.
And if only I could dissolve and disappear with this rain.
While Hyeonwon Kang was thinking such thoughts as he got drenched in the rain, suddenly, the rain that was falling on his face stopped.
Swoosh...
The sound of rain was still audible, but the raindrops that had been falling on his face stopped.
And then.
"What are you doing here?"
At the familiar voice from above his head, Hyeonwon Kang lowered the arm covering his face.
A man holding an umbrella was looking down at him quietly.