The Beggar Young Master of the Namgung Clan

From early in the morning, the open space was filled with people.

Namgung Il stood among them with an expressionless face.

Next to him, Jong Seo-eon's figure was also visible.

"..."

Namgung Il was currently inside the Flying Dragon Academy.

To be precise, the Great Training Ground inside the Flying Dragon Academy.

The number of examinees this year was beyond imagination, to the point where the vast space was densely packed.

'It's enormous.'

Looking at the people gathered now, the line in front of the registration office seemed like a joke.

How many examinees had gathered for the entrance exam this year?

Although he had tried to count the number a little before coming here, upon seeing this sight, Namgung Il had no choice but to give up counting.

'At least ten thousand. More than that.'

He could tell that for sure.

Because on one side of his chest, there was a nameplate with the character for ten thousand written on it.

Examinee number ten thousand. That was his name here.

"Wow... I've never seen so many people gathered in my life."

Just then, from the side, examinee number nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine, Jong Seo-eon, said as if he were amazed.

"Perhaps it's the result of them receiving applications for one more day yesterday."

"Do you think so too, Young Hero?"

"..."

"But why did the Flying Dragon Academy delay the exam by one day and receive applications for one more day without any prior notice?"

Although Jong Seo-eon asked, Namgung Il could not answer.

Because he also still found that to be a question.

The originally scheduled exam date was yesterday, but for some reason, the Flying Dragon Academy had delayed it by one day and changed the exam date to today.

'To go to such lengths and still receive applications for one more day. I can't understand it.'

Then what on earth was that brat, Ma Dongpal?

Although Namgung Il had thought that Ma Dongpal was a person planted by the Flying Dragon Academy, now he thought that might not be the case.

Yesterday, it seemed they were receiving applications without any control.

Thanks to that, the people who had been late on the last day and couldn't register had all flocked in yesterday.

"..."

Perhaps about half of this crowd were the people who had flocked in yesterday.

If they had just proceeded with the exam as scheduled, this suffocating air would have been a little more refreshing.

'Was he just an attention seeker?'

If Ma Dongpal was not a person planted by the Flying Dragon Academy, he had no choice but to think so.

If not, what kind of crazy person would block the entrance like that...

"Oh!"

"..."

"Isn't that the person who broke that rock!"

Suddenly hearing a voice saying that nearby, Namgung Il turned his head that way.

That bald head that looked somewhat familiar.

Namgung Il was immediately able to recall where he had seen that man.

'Ah, it's that brat from back then.'

He thought his name was Gwangcheon.

Since he was from the Shaolin Temple and his movements were quite good, Namgung Il naturally remembered Gwangcheon.

"Ah! Excuse me. I was so surprised that I acted rudely without even properly stating my name."

"..."

"My name is Gwangcheon."

Since the other side had greeted him first, Namgung Il had no choice but to reveal his name as well.

"I'm Namgung Il."

"If it's Namgung Il..."

"Yes, my main family is the Namgung Clan."

Since it was a familiar reaction, Namgung Il immediately added.

And so, Gwangcheon nodded his head with a bright smile.

At the same time, as if he had understood something, Gwangcheon muttered to himself.

"As expected. So not only did you break that rock, but you also broke the saber of the man named Ma Dongpal in a single blow..."

"..."

"I admit it. It's my defeat."

Defeat?

Had he fought with this brat in the past?

Although Namgung Il had that question for a moment, no matter how much he thought about it, he had never fought with Gwangcheon.

"What do you mean by that? Did I do something that would decide a victory or defeat with you?"

"What are you talking about, Young Hero?"

"..."

"Didn't you compete with me to see who would stand out more in people's eyes?"

"...Pardon?"

What on earth was this brat talking about now?

As Namgung Il was looking at him with a blank face, Gwangcheon began to ramble on, lost in his own reminiscence.

"I never thought you would attract people's attention in that way."

"..."

"I think I was a little more dominant at first, no, even up to breaking the rock, it was neck and neck, but I think breaking the saber at the end was the decisive blow."

What is this crazy person saying?

Since he couldn't understand at all what Gwangcheon was saying now, Namgung Il just muttered to himself.

"I won't lose next time."

"..."

"I swear on the name of the Shaolin Temple that I will definitely stand out more than you next time, Young Hero."

Uh... so in a word, this brat was that.

'An attention seeker was here.'

He had heard that he was a disciple of the Shaolin Temple... was he mistaken?

As far as he knew, the monks of the Shaolin Temple he knew were by no means such attention seekers.

On the contrary, it could be said to be the opposite.

The Shaolin Temple was a place that was quite the opposite of the appearance that brat was showing now, generally humble and full of mercy.

Glance—

Just then, Gwangcheon's gaze moved somewhere.

"...?"

Feeling an unknown sense of slyness in that gaze, Namgung Il followed Gwangcheon's gaze to where he was looking.

'Don't tell me... is that brat stealing a glance at a woman's legs now?'

At the end of Gwangcheon's gaze, a woman was revealing one of her legs.

At first, he had thought he was mistaken, but after confirming that Gwangcheon's gaze also moved along with the woman's movements, Namgung Il was finally convinced.

'An attention seeker and a lecher. If the deceased Jinheo were to find out about this, he would break his wooden fish in the afterlife.'

Besides Namgung Jeongung, Namgung Il had a few memorable friends.

One of them was Jinheo.

He was once the abbot of the Shaolin Temple and a friend who had risked his life with him to defeat the Blood Demon.

But to see a brat who was a distant disciple of that friend now drooling while stealing a glance at a woman's legs... it's quite... interesting?

From Jinheo's point of view, it seemed like a situation where he would break his wooden fish, but from Namgung Il's point of view, he was a rather interesting brat.

"...!"

Just then, as if she had felt the gaze, the woman hurriedly covered her legs.

Only then did Gwangcheon turn his head back to its original position and clear his throat as if embarrassed.

"Ahem, by the way, who is that person over there?"

"I am Jong Seo-eon of the Beggars' Sect."

"Ah... the Beggars' Sect! Nice to meet you. I am Gwangcheon from the Shaolin Temple."

Belatedly, Gwangcheon noticed Jong Seo-eon's existence and greeted him.

"...?"

Just then, Jong Seo-eon's gaze suddenly turned to the nameplate on Gwangcheon's chest.

The character for one (一) was written there.

Jong Seo-eon looked at the nameplate with slightly surprised eyes and asked Gwangcheon.

"Number one... did you perhaps come here first?"

The number written on the examinees' nameplates was the order in which they had entered the examination hall.

In other words, the fact that one was written on the nameplate meant that he had come here first.

Considering that he and Namgung Il had come early in the morning and were still the ten thousandth, he couldn't even guess when Gwangcheon had come here.

"You noticed?"

When Jong Seo-eon asked, Gwangcheon shrugged his shoulders as if he were quite pleased.

"Actually, I've been waiting in front of the Flying Dragon Academy gate since the registration ended yesterday."

"Pardon? Then what about meals or sleep..."

"Of course, I slept on the street and starved."

"...Why?"

Jong Seo-eon couldn't help but have such a question.

If he had no money like him, it would be understandable to starve and sleep on the street, but that wasn't the case for Gwangcheon, was it?

Since the Shaolin Temple would have given him plenty of money, he could have eaten at an inn and slept well.

"Number one, isn't it a really good number?"

"Pardon?"

"Everyone will be secretly paying attention to the number written on my nameplate. Because it's number one!"

"..."

"For that, I can endure starving and sleeping on the street for a day."

"Uh..."

At that moment, Jong Seo-eon was at a loss for words.

It seemed that Jong Seo-eon had also realized what kind of person this Gwangcheon was.

Jong Seo-eon looked at Namgung Il with a rather flustered gaze.

'There's no cure for an attention seeker.'

On top of that, this brat seemed to be a severe case.

How on earth did a brat like this get into the Shaolin Temple?

Namgung Il was quite curious about that.

"Attention!"

It was then.

A loud shout was heard from somewhere.

Although the training ground was quite noisy with the chatter of numerous people, the voice that had just been heard was so loud that it buried all that murmuring.

"..."

Everyone's gaze turned to where the voice had come from.

And so, Cha Yul-ryeong, who was on the stage, who knows when he had come.

It seemed that the voice just now had also come from his mouth.

"I am Cha Yul-ryeong, who will be in charge of this year's Flying Dragon Academy entrance exam."

"..."

"The entrance exam will begin soon, so all examinees, please pay attention to me for a moment."

Contrary to the loud voice just now, a rather soft voice flowed from Cha Yul-ryeong's mouth.

But strangely, the voice was clearly transmitted to the examinees in the back.

Including Namgung Il, the other examinees maintained their silence and focused on Cha Yul-ryeong's words.

"First of all, on behalf of the academy, I would like to express my gratitude to all the examinees who have applied to our academy."

"..."

"The number of applicants to the Flying Dragon Academy this year is about twenty thousand. Among them, the number of people who can officially enter the Flying Dragon Academy is one hundred."

When those words came out, a sense of tension appeared on people's faces even more.

Although they had roughly expected it, it was truly an enormous competition rate.

That alone felt difficult enough, but it was not over yet.

"However, our academy implements a system called recommended admission every year."

"...?"

"The number of students who have already been confirmed for admission through recommended admission this year is twenty. In other words, among the people here, the number of people who can enter the Flying Dragon Academy is eighty."

The already narrow entrance had become even narrower.

A sense of despair was revealed on the faces of some people with just that one word, and someone muttered and recalculated the competition rate.

"..."

But Namgung Il was just looking at Cha Yul-ryeong with an expressionless face.

After all, he had already expected that this many people would flock here.

Namgung Il's interest was, after all, in what way they would select eighty people from among twenty thousand.

'I'm curious. It would be difficult to pick out just eighty people from among twenty thousand with ordinary methods.'

It would be quite difficult even if they were given a month, not a day.

But due to time constraints, they would not be able to put in that much effort to select students.

On the contrary, they would not be able to just carelessly select unqualified students because of time.

"Now, then, I will announce the first test."

After a moment of silence, Cha Yul-ryeong said.

At that moment, a sense of tension filled the hall.

Pass or fail, the first test that would decide their fate was...

"It's guessing odd or even."

"...?"

"From now on, you will guess how many beads are in this wooden box."

At that moment, the tension that had been lingering in the hall disappeared as if it were a lie.

(End of Chapter)