Leon stared blankly at the insignia Seong had presented.
Then, after a brief mont of shock, he snapped back to his senses.
If soone as powerful as Seong had earned a knighthood, it wasn’t entirely surprising.
The refined aura, the overwhelming presence—there was nothing about him that seed ordinary.
But for a foreigner to have obtained a knighthood...
That was sothing else entirely.
He really is extraordinary.
Leon’s evaluation of Seong rose another notch.
Finally, he nodded.
"Alright. That ans you’re qualified to receive my letter of recomndation."
If Seong had that, his chances of infiltrating the Equinox Knights would skyrocket.
Leon thought for a mont before speaking.
He shared his knowledge, his insights on Ragna Eckrion, and the current state of the Equinox Knights.
Even things that his subordinates had never known.
And the more Seong listened, the clearer it beca—
Ragna is worse than I expected.
From the way Leon described him, he wasn’t all that different from Carn, the worst of Pentagrid.
Except for one crucial distinction.
"He’s hidden it well."
Carn had succumbed to madness, rampaging uncontrollably.
Ragna, on the other hand, had refined that madness, tempered it, and turned it into raw skill.
That alone made him far more dangerous.
Of course, their power levels were entirely different, which made the comparison sowhat aningless—
But in terms of control, in terms of pure skill, Ragna was on another level.
"That ans he’s worth fighting."
Seong smirked in satisfaction.
Seeing that, Leon laid out his plan in full detail.
How they could lure Ragna out.
How they could take him down.
Leon spoke of coordinating with allies to fight him together, but Seong didn’t pay much attention to that part.
If needed, he could do it alone.
Or just bring his subordinates.
The important part was the first step.
As Seong nodded in agreent, a ssage appeared before his eyes.
[Hidden Linked Quest: "Equinox Knights Entrance Exam" has been generated.]
Now that he had the letter of recomndation...
It was ti to join the order.
"Co to think of it, I’ve earned a knighthood, but this is my first ti actually joining a knight order."
It could be interesting.
Seong extended a hand, and he and Leon shook on it.
2.
[Eternal World will always be waiting for you.]
Seong stepped out of the capsule, greeted by the familiar exit ssage.
Receiving the Hidden Linked Quest had gone smoothly.
But there was sothing unexpected.
First, finding Wehad’s journal had taken longer than anticipated.
And second—
"The knight exam is in three days? That’s kind of annoying."
Now, he had to wait.
A bit disappointing, but it wasn’t like he had a choice.
A set schedule was a set schedule.
No point in complaining.
He could just hunt for the next few days.
It was a good opportunity to practice his new Dark Lord skill, anyway.
Accepting that, Seong stepped out—
And imdiately ran into his sister, Yu Mina, who had just returned ho.
"You’re back already?" she asked.
"Yeah. Since the power’s out, I just played outside today," Mina replied. "You’re ho early too, huh?"
"Yeah. The capsule room felt a little off."
"Huh. Most people wouldn’t notice that. But of course, my little brother does!"
"...What?"
The highest-grade capsules at gaming centers were noticeably stiffer than the one at ho.
Not by much.
Just a little.
But for Seong, it was clear as day.
Apparently, other people didn’t even notice?
"No way."
"You’re joking," he said. "It was super stiff."
"Yeah, well, most people can’t feel it. Only people like us can notice the difference. It’s, like, a 5% delay in responsiveness? Normal people don’t even register it."
"Huh. Really?"
To Seong, it had felt much worse than just 5%.
But if Mina said so, then maybe...
Shrugging, he let it go.
Mina grinned at his reaction and changed the subject.
"So? Where are you now? Hexia?"
"No. I went to Sisvald."
"Sisvald? What for? Oh, wait—you have a knighthood, don’t you? Are you taking the knight exam or sothing?"
She laughed, making it sound like a joke.
But then—
"Yeah. I’m taking the exam."
"...Wait. What?? For real?!"
Her reaction was imdiate.
It wasn’t normal.
Seong frowned.
"Why?"
Mina hesitated.
"Well... I guess it’s fine since you have a knighthood, but..."
"But what?"
She sighed.
"Normally, when a player joins a knight order, they get treated like absolute trash at first."
"...How bad are we talking?"
Seong was starting to get a bad feeling.
Mina gave him a knowing look.
"You know. Shoveling horse crap."
"...What?"
"Yeah. Scrubbing armor, washing clothes—it’s like the military, but worse."
"Ah."
The word military made Seong’s expression imdiately darken.
It had only been a month since he had finished his service.
And now he had to deal with this again?
"Middle Age boot camp? I did not sign up for this."
For the first ti, he wondered if maybe...
Just maybe...
He should drop the quest.
Mina, seeing his expression, added,
"But since you do have a knighthood, they probably can’t treat you like a total rookie, right?"
"...R-right?"
Even Seong wasn’t entirely sure.
Mina shrugged.
"Beats ."
And with that, she walked off to her room.
Seong stood there, staring at nothing.
"No way... There’s no way I have to do military training in a ga, right?"
Right?
The City of Knights, Sisvald did not hold knight exams on a fixed schedule.
They were irregular events, happening only when necessary.
And today was one such occasion.
Knight exams were rare—perhaps once a month at best.
But even when they did happen, players were never invited to participate.
The knight exams were exclusive to official knights.
And even among them, only those with a recomndation letter could enter today's trial.
Which ant that under normal circumstances, a player would have never set foot here.
Except today was different.
Among the gathered knights, one person stood out unmistakably.
A figure clearly out of place among them.
A traveler.
An outsider.
Whispers spread like wildfire.
"Hah? An outsider?"
"A traveler... with a knighthood?"
"I never would have imagined."
So of the knights were simply amazed.
Others, however, were not so pleased.
"That filthy foreigner dares to enter our sacred knight exam?"
"Whose recomndation did he get?"
"I don't know, but I bet it ca from soone without any honor."
Their resentnt was obvious.
They had started from nothing, climbing their way up from squires to knights through sheer effort.
And now, here was an outsider who had seemingly skipped all of that.
So of the older knights clicked their tongues in disapproval, irritated by the childish complaints of the younger ones.
But Seong?
He couldn't care less.
There was no reason for him to care.
He didn't need to be in their good graces.
If anything, their reaction only made his accomplishnt feel even more satisfying.
While the knights were murmuring among themselves, the sound of approaching footsteps filled the air.
Seong turned his head slightly.
"They’re here."
Three knights entered the training grounds.
They didn’t bother suppressing their overwhelming presence.
Every knight in the area imdiately fell silent.
The tension in the air was palpable.
No one here failed to recognize them.
These were the three great knight captains of Sisvald.
Captain of the Solaris Knights.Captain of the Valkyrion Guard.Captain of the Equinox Knights.The mont they arrived, every knight instinctively straightened their posture, standing with utmost discipline.
So of the younger ones gasped in admiration, overwheld by their sheer presence.
But Seong?
He was focused on only one of them.
Ragna Eckrion.
The target of this quest.
And then—
Ragna’s gaze t his.
For a fleeting mont, the two of them silently studied one another.
They couldn’t read each other’s thoughts, but one thing was clear.
"He's no joke."
"He's impressive."
Both Seong and Ragna took ntal note of one another before shifting their gazes away.
Seong had no reason to reveal his hand too soon.
And Ragna?
He wasn’t here for Seong.
Not yet.
Instead, their attention turned to the leader of the Solaris Knights, Eisel Richtwert, who stepped forward and addressed the knights.
"Today’s exam is an opportunity for you to showcase your abilities. Prove yourselves, and you may earn your place among our orders."
The knights listened attentively.
They were the select few who had earned recomndation letters—each hoping to impress one of the three great orders and secure a place among them.
And then—
Eisel Richtwert declared,
"The first trial will be duels. Take your match number and wait for your turn!"
Imdiately, the knights moved with precision.
Each participant drew a number, which determined their opponent.
The duels would be fought one at a ti, rather than in simultaneous matches.
It made sense, given that there were fewer than twenty participants.
Seong reached into the box and pulled out his number.
"Hmm. Number 1."
The very first match.
Lucky? Unlucky?
Didn’t matter.
If anything, finishing early ant he could sit back and relax.
As he waited, a knight called out—
"First duelists, step forward!"
Seong walked onto the battlefield.
And his opponent?
One of the young knights who had mocked him earlier.
He hadn’t even bothered to rember his na.
And frankly, he wasn’t worth rembering.
The knight grinned arrogantly.
"Hahaha! What luck! I get to fight an outsider. This is almost too pitiful."
"......?"
Seong tilted his head slightly.
It was such a cheap attempt at provocation that he actually found it confusing.
Seeing Seong’s lack of reaction, the young knight frowned.
Annoyed, he sneered.
"Tch! Surely you don’t think a re traveler could defeat a true knight, do you? I’ll show you what real swordsmanship looks like."
A real knight.
The way he put extra emphasis on the word was almost laughable.
Seong didn’t respond.
He simply drew his sword.
Calm. Composed.
The young knight’s face flushed red with anger, mistaking Seong’s silence for mockery.
Without another word, he unsheathed his blade.
The ti for talking was over.
Now, they would let their swords do the talking.
The supervising knight raised his hand, signaling the start of the match.
And then—
BOOM—!
Seong vanished.
A deafening shockwave erupted as he launched forward, the ground beneath him cracking under the force of his movent.
Before the young knight could even register what was happening, Seong had already closed the distance.
His foot planted just beside the knight’s own.
His sword—held in a reverse grip—smashed into his opponent’s abdon with the hilt.
BANG—!!!
The impact was devastating.
A thunderous explosion rang through the training grounds.
The young knight’s breastplate caved inward, distorting into an unnatural shape.
A split second later—
His body was sent flying.
He rocketed across the training grounds like a ragdoll before crashing out of bounds in a heap.
Silence.
There was no cheering.
No excitent.
Just stunned disbelief.
Even the supervising knight was montarily speechless.
Finally, a beat later, he shakily announced,
"V-Victor... Seong."
And then—
"UWAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
The crowd erupted.
"HOLY SHIT!!!"
"DID YOU SEE THAT?!"
"WHAT WAS THAT SPEED?!?!"
"UNREAL!!"
The knights roared in exhilaration.
Even those who had been jealous of him °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° earlier couldn’t deny what they had just seen.
Seong simply lowered his sword and let out a small, amused exhale.
"That was easier than I expected."
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