"Did he just jump?" thought Min-Su.

Before he could rationally proceed the information, his brain had already sent the order for his limbs to move. And he had rushed to the border of the arena without hesitation as fast as he could. As he bent over the edge, he couldn't even see Jin anymore.

He really jumped...

Could it be possible that Jin told the truth? Was the only way out to escape death to go through the void by sealing himself? Was he bound to die even if he won?

No! It was impossible! He still believed in Hae-Hyuk. Instead, he began to hypothesize that Jin's mind had been messed with. After all, the weird red and black liquid-like substance over his arm was weird. It could have been some kind of parasitic existence that rewrote his thoughts...right? While he said that to himself to spare his mental state, a small seed had been planted. A seed of doubts. Everyone knew that the smallest seed of an idea could grow to define or destroy someone. Even if Min-Su was aware of it, there was nothing he could do about it.

Doubts would now be a part of him...

...

As he jumped, Jin had many thoughts. It felt like time stopped. He didn't waste any on sealing himself and reducing the marble size so that he could move within the small space though. But as the sealed marble fell with him inside, many memories flew by. Times spent with Hae-Hyuk and times spent with Min-Su.

While there had been quite the age gap between the both of them, Jin and Min-Su had been great friends. They enjoyed spending moments together. In fact, Jin considered him his best friend. He was the greatest friend he ever had throughout both lives. A friendly rival and more than anything, a real comrade and a fellow disciple under the same Master. They lived together and trained together. These memories would forever remain with him.

One day, he would go visit Min-Su's family and if there was not, he would erect a tombstone for him over there.

Regardless, as the marble entered the void and the surroundings became nothing but flowing rainbow-colored space elements, he vowed to forever remember and honor this friend of his that would likely die at The Peak.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

...

In the Grand Hall, Hae-Hyuk sighed in relief as he let himself glide further inside his throne. No longer was he upholding a calm and straight facade. He really thought he might lose it all there. Fortunately, only Jin jumped.

That fucking fool...

He nearly took Min-Su with him to death. Nothing could survive the void. The sealed marble would be torn to shreds and Jin with it. That being said, he remained unaffected by that loss. Instead, he was gloating. He wouldn't be able to get Cao Lei's prized weapons but, at the very least, he wouldn't ever get them back himself. This was something worth rejoicing over.

The other important thing was that Min-Su believed in him more than in Jin and did not jump. Now, he was quite certain to win the trial. As long as Min-Su did not mess around and nothing unexpected happened again. There had been enough twists and Hae-Hyuk would rather there not be any more.

Aside from him, a lot of people were debating about the event that took place. They discussed about Jin's intentions. Since the Saint patron revealed that he saw the soul channel, it meant that this was the plan of an ancestor. Was it truly possible for this seal to held true even while within the void? They debated but couldn't reach a conclusion. They wanted to ask Cao Lei but that guy's face was just too ugly at the moment. While they did not fear him, they did not want to attract his anger for nothing. They stayed out of his way.

He, on the other hand, was still angry. He was probably the only one who knew for sure that the seal would hold. The problem was to get the seal out of there. The void was a capricious entity that no one understood completely. How, where and when that sealed marble would end up... No one could know. At least, it would be within this world but where... And when would it spit it out?... Regardless of how he analyzed things and how it was true that he would be able to locate the treasures as soon as they exited the void, it was still a loss. He would be without his treasures for an undefined amount of time and, even after they reappeared, he would have to go fetch them... As so, he was very furious at the moment. His entire plan to fuck up Hae-Hyuk sunk like rock in a pond. If not for being in the sacred realm, he would have erupted and let out his anger...

Aside from him, there were in fact quite a few people who were also certain that the seal would hold. They were the Saints for one thing. All five them understood what it truly meant for a champion to successfully act according to an ancestor's plan. It was a successful fabricated miracle. And if the ancestor truly told this champion that he could escape through doing that...Then, he could. There was no way an ancestor would waste their precious 'time' with a champion for no reasons.

Unexpectedly, there was another man who thought that Jin was still alive. It was the ancestor from the Empire. His little princess asked him if he would survive. It wasn't because she cared about him or was curious but because he might be the one holding onto one of the ten orbs of succession... That idiotic brother of hers had been given one like any other candidates. In the Empire, a hundred orbs were given out every century. Whoever managed to get ahold of a hundred in total could ask to become the reigning emperor for the coming century. If he had that orb when he jumped, what would happen?