FESTIVAL

It was the start of the Outer Grand Tournament.

Yes, we jumped forward in time by a few months.

Other than the same old routine, there's not a lot I have to say about the events that occurred during that time other than the fact that Kan Hyojoo and Kim Taeyang were participating in the tournament with me because they also mastered the first book.

"I hope I don't face against someone in their final lap as an outer disciple," said a random person in front of me.

What he said was the sentiment that most people participating had.

The tournament was largely luck-based and although everyone was an outer disciple, there were different stages to being an outer disciple so it all depended on your luck to determine how quickly you were going to be eliminated.

Oh and also, Mae Jaesun continued to vanish from time to time and return with pills and potions for me to consume which further increased my strength and gi.

Truthfully, I was worried that I was going to get eliminated early and disappoint my master greatly but as he pumped more steroids into my veins, the more confident I got.

[Dear friend,

good luck in the tournament. Please try your best, prove people wrong, impress everyone in attendance but most importantly, make sure that you don't get hurt. I wish I could go watch it in person but I have an important meeting I have to attend. I'll be hearing everything that happens later either from you or one of my people. If you have to give up a match, just do it. There's no need to let your reckless ego ruin your future with a needless injury. Take care of yourself.

From your student/friend, Yeon Hwang]

That was the letter delivered to me the day before.

I had it folded neatly and tucked it into the inner pocket of my uniform (funny enough, a word you could use to describe the uniform is Gi, the same as gi which is also known as ki or chi).

I didn't keep it on my person because I cared about the letter but because I knew that based on the logic of these sorts of stories, it was a good luck charm and it would work to an extent. 

The Outer Grand Tournament was a very important event because it was held outside of the sect itself and took place in a major city in between the home of the two sects.

It wasn't just a tournament. It was also a multiple-day festival that had music, food, and games for kids to entertain themselves with.

Every outer disciple was attending, even those who weren't participating because just watching the fights was a great source of knowledge and would help a lot of people break through with whatever blockage they might've hit.

Everyone was separated into groups so that it was easier to maintain peace and order amongst the disciples.

The students who hadn't graduated to use weapons yet were grouped in the same group that they attended afternoon training with.

For the students who were using weapons, they were with whichever instructor used the same weapons that they used.

Instructor Chi Namsun took us to the inn we were going to be staying at for the week. 

Other than the nine members of the group that entered the sect through the same entrance exam as me and myself, everyone else in our group had already attended an Outer Grand Tournament before so they weren't nervous but as I looked at the newbies, they were jittering and bouncing around.

"In a few hours, for the members that are participating in the tournament, you'll be receiving a paper that tells you which group you'll be fighting in. Other than that, for the rest of the day, you're free to enjoy the festival," said Instructor Chi Namsun.

Permitted to leave the inn, immediately all of the disciples rushed out.

You see them training, beating each other up, and spending so many hours memorizing their books that you sometimes forget that most of these outer disciples were just underage teenagers, including Son Youngho.

"Where are you going to go?" I asked the last person who remained in the inn with me, Kan Hyojoo.

"My parents are in this city waiting for me at the Red Fish Restaurant so I'll be heading there to see them," she said.

Because we weren't allowed to leave the sect, this would be the first time she's seen her parents face in six months since they weren't members of the sect.

"What about you?" she asked me.

"I'll probably go to the musical performance," I responded.

It would be the first time since I came to this world that I would get to listen to proper music. Other than the occasional singular instruments playing in the background as bored disciples tried to entertain themselves, there weren't many opportunities to hear a collective of instruments playing while someone sang.

I couldn't help but notice that it was similar to a rave the closer I got to the "concert". They didn't it a concert but that's basically what it was.

Lights were flashing, people were dressed less modestly than normal, and they were dancing along to the music.

It didn't take long for me to find myself incorporated into this large group that was moving around the concert together.

Because of the growth spurt I had and the defined muscles from all the training, I looked older than I was.

The first two hours were largely uneventful from the perspective of someone whose been to many raves and concerts in his many lifetimes (I was even the one performing in one of them).

I wasn't surprised because this was, after all, a fantasy world that was based upon the times of old.

It was pretty cool however to see creatures flying around in the air and people using their gi to do harmless magic tricks into the crowd.

Vibing with my new friends, I was listening to this dude singing, dancing along to the melody and beat.

Compared to the previous singers, he was a lot more energetic and was getting the crowd moving.

As I was vibing out, I noticed that people were beginning to strip down in their layers because of how hot it was getting in the crowd. It was still pretty tame compared to raves back on Earth but was extremely inappropriate for a world that prides itself in elegancy.

I quickly noticed this girl approaching me.

You might think that she was heading in my direction and I was overthinking it but no, her eyes were directly pointed at me.

Out of the crowd of thousands listening and dancing to the music, she was probably in the top one percent of most risqué outfits.

I'm saying that she was practically in a bikini which was this world's equivalent of wearing thin shoestrings for underwear back on Earth.

Every dude had their eyes on her even though many of them were with their girlfriends or wives.

It made sense because it wasn't every day that you got to enjoy such a beautiful woman dressed so erotically.

No wonder many people came to attend the festival every six months. They don't care about the tournament between the two sects. They just want to satisfy their libido and get material for them to jerk off to later.

I was dressed in a casual outfit, not wearing my uniform because I didn't want to reveal that I was a Mount Hua Sect member and bring attention or shame to my sect.

The music got louder and the person banging the drums was hitting them so loudly that the ground was quite literally shaking which in turn had the people going crazy, bobbing their heads, moving their feet, and jumping up and down.

The girl continued to squeeze through the crowd and I noticed a few dudes she passed by tried to touch as much of her as they could before she left their space.

"Hey," she said as she reached.

"Hey," I responded with a smile.

"I'm Ran Sori."

"I'm Son Youngho."

"Would you like to dance with me?" she asked.

I looked around my group and saw that they were busy doing their own thing so I didn't bother to mention that I was leaving.

"Let's do it," I said and she immediately grabbed me by the hand and began pulling me deeper into the crowd where the music was louder and the bass was kicking harder.

We were dancing, facing each other when she placed her hands on my shoulders and got close to me.

It was perfectly timed because the song ended and the next one that played was slow and romantic.

This was very strange to me.

I didn't expect such a Western-like thing to exist in this part of the world which was largely Eastern-based.

We danced, swaying our bodies to the calm melody.

Our eyes stared at the other and the contact didn't break.

I dropped my hands down from her shoulder and grabbed her by the waist.

"You're good at dancing," she said.

"Thank you."

It wasn't like I had years of practice when I was a K-pop idol. Oh wait — I did.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked me.

"No," I shook my head. That was technically true since it was Alexander who had a girlfriend. Not Son Youngho who I was at the moment.

"Then can I ask you to give me a massage?" she asked. "A real nice one."

"Sure. Can you turn around for me?" I asked.

As she did that, I began to use my expertly trained hands to massage her back, neck, and head as if I were a professional. I even did it in sync with the music that was playing.

"This feels like heaven," she said.

Then as I stopped, she turned around and asked, "Can I give you a massage?"

I didn't need it but why not? "Sure."

"Can you take off your shirt then?" she asked.

That was probably her plan the entire time. To see what was underneath my shirt which was already sticking to my muscle because of all the sweat that I had produced from the dancing and heat.

Pulling the shirt off me, I decided that there was no use keeping it since I didn't want to hold on to it so I just dropped it to the floor.

"Oh my," said Ran Sori, her hand covering her mouth. Her eyes were checking out my body.

Even in a world where a lot of people did martial arts and were extremely fit, I was still extremely chiseled even compared to them.

She began to massage my naked torso and truth be told, she was good at it.

Closing my eyes, I was enjoying the feeling of her hands and the music simultaneously.

When I periodically opened my eyes, I noticed that more and more people were looking at us. Dudes were staring at her while girls were checking out my body which made their boyfriends jealous.

"There," she said as she pulled her hands away from me. "Let's keep dancing."

She turned around and backed her body next to mine. As she danced to the music, she made sure to grind her ass against my thighs. 

She would sometimes turn her head back and look at me with the corner of her eyes, giving me these seductive looks.

Although it was awkward at first, I started to ignore all the people who were staring at us and began to just exist in the moment with her.

It wasn't like I was going to see her again so might as well enjoy it.

As it was starting to get dark, the temperature began to cool down, I noticed that the more she was grinding her body against me, the more wet she was down there.

I didn't need to pull her panties to the side to realize such a thing.

I'm an expert at the ways of the pussy. I'm like a doctor at that shit. 

She didn't ask for it but I began to massage her again and occasionally, she would let out these very soft moans.

Her body was feeling amazing, from my touch, and probably also from all the eyes that were lusting after her sexy body.

She turned to me and spontaneously gave me a quick kiss.

"You're the first person I've met in these festivals who've matched my mood the entire time," she told me.

She was saying that we were on the same wavelength and shared a vibe.

I responded, "And you're the first person I've seen who has such a beautiful body."

It was game over after that. Her tongue went down my throat and my tongue went down hers.