Chapter 212 - Epic
"They are calling for you in the meeting room."
Rather than delivering breakfast, the server notified Leo that he was being summoned to the dining room.
'Is it about time?'
Leo walked out of his cave to see Yeon exiting at the same time. The situation that he wasn't sure about was basically confirmed when he saw Cheon Yong walking ahead of them. It was time for things to start for real.
"Yeon unni! Baekho orabeoni!"
Cheon Sohee was already inside when they arrived, but Leo's eyes turned to Iyeolhan. This was the first time that he didn't personally come to collect them, something understandable considering there were four other instructors standing by his side.
'He didn't come.'
Cheon Jeong was there, but the same couldn't be said about Cheon Chang. Seeing that Cheon Sohee had successfully become a 1st rate Martial Artist herself, the timing also seemed to be right.
Although it wasn't directly pronounced, the end target of the Heavenly Furnace was still to nurture 1st rate Martial Artists for the Heavenly Strength Society's core divisions. Just because they started in the Heavenly Furnace didn't mean they would remain there forever.
Despite achieving said target, the four of them had yet to leave for a reason. Thanks to the surprisingly early results that Yeon and the others produced, their number was still too low to start anything…
Normally, the Heavenly Strength Society would wait until enough 'recruits' had reached the last step before building a whole new team around them, or they would use them to supplement other teams or departments. Unfortunately…
'We are too precious.'
Looking through the instructors' faces, Leo recalled the situation mentioned in the novel. Just like in real life, one always hoped for great results, but they would feel burdened if things suddenly turned out to be too good. This Heavenly Furnace batch was the optimum example for that!
First of all, there was Yeon, a one-in-a-lifetime genius. Then there was an artificial genius like Leo, a fiery battle genius like Cheon Yong, and even a normal genius like Cheon Sohee. If one looked at the results of the past generations, just the appearance of someone like Cheon Sohee was enough to call it a success.
However, with too great a success, things became tougher. Even if Cheon Sohee who just hit the target was to be put aside, the top trio couldn't be carelessly used to fill the gaps in other teams. A big chunk of resources had always been poured into the Heavenly Furnace in hopes of achieving a result like that, but its sudden emergence took the one responsible by surprise…
'You should blame the protagonist for that.'
As usual, the appearance of a protagonist always brought about the advent of countless geniuses and ordeals. It was always explained as the sign of 'great upheavals' being in sight, but that was just an excuse to explain the appearance of countless opponents and adventures that the protagonist had to overcome. Although such elements made novels more fun to read, experiencing them in person felt a bit ridiculous for Leo.
Even now, Cheon Chang might have remained silent while Iyeolhan silently conversed with the rest of the instructors through 'Sound Transmission', but his fiery red eyes intensely burned as he stared at Leo, it seemed like he wasn't very happy about being denied the chance to have another match…
"Alright, we have an announcement for you."
Fortunately, just as a protagonist brought rivals and calamities along with him, he also had great timing for the start of his journey.
"You four had already achieved the minimum requirement to truly become part of the Scarlet Sky's core. In fact, you did so at an exceptional pace at that."
The main policy in the Heavenly Furnace was to not overpraise or favor a certain trainee so that they wouldn't end up getting too cooky. However, now that they had escaped the boundaries of the second phase, the main value of the Society took priority, that was… Strength recognition.
"Several arrangements had been made about integrating you into the core's structure, and you would have eventually been given the choice to decide. However…"
Being worried about where to place your geniuses? There was no such thing with a protagonist lurking in the neighborhood!
"Another arrangement had appeared before its time. The next Mount Hua Sword Conference has been brought forward to start next month."
Out of nowhere, an important event that only happened every decade or so was starting ahead of time! This was the legendary protagonist effect!
"While it's out of schedule, this was something that we already arranged to attend."
Just as the geniuses had bloomed earlier than usual, the event that they were scheduled to attend had moved to perfectly fit them…
"It's also a great opportunity for you to experience what it's like in murim."
'Yesn't.'
Leo had mixed views about seeing almost the exact same speech that he read play out in front of him like this, but he wasn't completely in disagreement. After being locked away under the darkness of the Heavenly furnace, being sent out was a necessary procedure to nurture some level of common sense and familiarity with the martial arts community, but this wasn't the best time to do so.
Leo could tell that they didn't exactly have the option to give up. It would have been a stretch for a normal group of young generation martial artists to go along this. However, he had been waiting for this.
'Finally.'
An era of turbulence was something that he was forced to live in as a reader. He was someone that could only access the events depicted in chapters written to tell the story of protagonists faced with countless adversities. Rather than worrying about the danger, he rejoiced for getting the opportunity to head out.
"All four of you will be going out tomorrow to attend the conference, but only two will get to join..."
[ Plot Change confirmed.. Epic Event occurrence has been detected. ]