I Became the Descendant of My Favorite Character

Chapter 5: Trampling the Sprout (1)

A special recommendation.

The authority granted by the guide to only one participant in that year’s Coming-of-Age Ceremony.

Receiving a special recommendation comes with one privilege: even if you fail during the ceremony, you’re given one more chance.

A kind of wild card.

But my case would be different if I received the special recommendation.

The integrated Coming-of-Age Ceremony of the Adjak Autonomous Region is open to those 18 and older.

At only 15, I couldn’t participate through normal means.

However, with a special recommendation, I could join the ceremony at my current age.

“Is the special recommendation unwelcome?”

“No, it isn’t.”

How could it be?

From the start, I was determined to participate in this year’s Coming-of-Age Ceremony.

No matter who the guide was, my goal was to secure the special recommendation by any means necessary.

‘If Tayon offers it first, that’s the best outcome. But receiving the special recommendation doesn’t mean I can just rejoice.’

The special recommendation signifies that the guide has chosen me as this year’s most promising candidate.

If someone like me, not from the single-digit autonomous regions 1 through 9 with strong backing, receives it, I’m bound to face scrutiny.

Of course, Tayon is a hero of the lower autonomous regions.

Some might understand why he, as the guide, would grant me his exclusive authority.

“I need more help.”

“…….”

Shamelessly, I asked the one who saved my life to open his bag even wider.

“If I receive your special recommendation, the single-digit autonomous regions will surely react.”

Tayon watched me without any particular response.

He was a character who didn’t exist in the game, so his disposition was hard to gauge.

But trusting the piercing look in his eyes, I cautiously continued.

“As you can see, my only weapon is broken.”

I held up the wooden sword placed by the bedside.

“My father scraped together all his money to buy it for me.”

“…….”

“My father is lying in bed, so it’s hard to ask him for a new one. And……”

“That’s enough.”

Tayon cut off my lengthy explanation.

“I’m not entirely unrelated to why you and your father were attacked by Shabers.”

The reason the Shaber pack fled their habitat—more fearsome than me holding a Freya Root—was apparently Tayon.

He took off his cloak and spread it on the table.

As he rubbed it, weapons began to spill out.

It wasn’t an ordinary cloak but a subspace, it seemed.

“I’ll give you a gift. Is there anything you want among these?”

Tayon even offered the sword at his waist.

‘A mithril sword? Wow, there’s a lot of good stuff.’

A mithril sword, a jagged-edged blade, a greatsword, a broadsword.

Various types of weapons lay in abundance.

Most showed signs of use but were well-maintained.

The sharp blades were also coated with demonic energy.

That was because Tayon had served in the Myeolji Guardians, the Crows.

I imagined how many beasts he must have slain with these countless swords.

Among them, oddly, a wooden sword was mixed in.

Perhaps it stood out because it felt out of place among the menacing blades.

My gaze fell on the wooden sword.

Unlike the others, it bore no trace of demonic energy.

I picked it up.

As I held it, Tayon’s usually impassive brow twitched slightly.

But I had no time to focus on his reaction.

My Dragon Heart suddenly throbbed wildly, pouring mana toward the sword.

Tangible white mana enveloped the blade.

The wooden sword trembled as if resonating with the Dragon Heart’s mana.

‘This is…’

It was no different from the wooden sword Gerd had given me—no, a simple design you could easily find at the Gullok village training grounds.

Compared to the other swords, it was utterly unremarkable.

I held it out to Tayon and said,

“I’ll take this one.”

* * *

“Lamel.”

“Yes!”

“Gliez.”

“Yes! That’s me!”

“Wilschrin!”

“Yup!”

The next day, around noon.

Tayon called out the names of those participating in the Coming-of-Age Ceremony in the plaza.

This was supposed to have happened yesterday.

Some might have questioned the delay without notice, but no one here dared to.

Tayon’s presence held too much weight in the lower autonomous regions for anyone to question such a trivial matter.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime Coming-of-Age Ceremony, and being called by Tayon himself made the participants’ faces flush with excitement.

Not only the participants but also the residents of the autonomous region had gathered to catch a glimpse of their hero.

“Dear, look at Tayon…”

“His face radiates light!”

Everyone marveled at the most radiant hero of District 18, as if in a dream.

“Are there any listed participants who are absent?”

“None, sir!”

The ceremony participants shouted in unison, brimming with enthusiasm.

Of course, I wasn’t among them.

I stood in the plaza with the village elders, watching the procession of participants.

Until recently, I wasn’t certain of my fate.

Since birth, every action I took was aimed at growth.

I prided myself on knowing this world better than its residents.

But this was a timeline 300 years after Adjak’s death.

My knowledge might have become entirely obsolete.

Even so, I couldn’t give up.

I resolved to do everything I could and made it this far.

The Dragon Heart, moving rhythmically, transmitted mana to me.

As I felt its pulse, a steady voice called my name.

For some reason, it inspired trust.

Finally, I was taking my first step into the world.

“Polarin Adjak.”

Tayon stared at me and called my name.

“Come forward.”

All eyes in the plaza turned to me at once.

“Yes.”

I responded calmly and walked to the center of the plaza.

“I, Tayon Adjak, as the guide of this year’s Coming-of-Age Ceremony, hereby declare.”

“…….”

“Using the authority of the special recommendation, I grant Polarin Adjak participation in the Coming-of-Age Ceremony.”

With Tayon’s declaration, the crowd in the plaza began to murmur.

“Why him?”

“Didn’t they say Tayon rescued that kid from the mountains yesterday?”

“What does that have to do with the special recommendation?”

“How should I know, idiot!”

Whispers came from all around.

Normally, they might have been more cautious out of respect for Tayon, but this was so unexpected that many couldn’t hold back.

Tayon stood expressionless, just as he had when I made my request.

Yet, I found strange comfort in his calm demeanor.

I tightly gripped the sword he had given me.

“Thank you. I, Polarin Adjak, will strive not to disappoint Tayon’s faith in me.”

Suppressing my surging emotions, I responded as calmly as Tayon.

I knew Tayon would grant me the special recommendation.

I also knew the people of the autonomous region would be unsettled by it.

And, as expected, someone objected to the decision.

“Tayon! Could you reconsider?”

It was the instructor, kneeling before him.

“I know you have your reasons, but that boy is only First-Rank and doesn’t even know how to project mana. If you must choose, someone like Grojian over there…”

“…….”

Tayon said nothing.

The murmuring crowd gradually fell silent.

“Are you questioning my words?”

Tayon spoke softly.

As someone who rarely spoke unless necessary, his words froze the crowd in an instant.

But the Gullok instructor was more tenacious than I’d thought.

“Absolutely not, sir. I—I genuinely respect you, Tayon. I’m just afraid this boy might tarnish the reputation of our autonomous region’s hero.”

Fair enough.

The Gullok instructor was the type to motivate children with tales of heroes.

Tayon’s heroic stories were often among them.

It seemed those weren’t empty words.

“It’s all for Tayon’s sake…”

The instructor continued, trembling.

His words stemmed not from dislike for me but from reverence for Tayon.

I believed him.

But that didn’t mean I felt good about it.

I glanced at Tayon.

He met my gaze.

Though he gave no signal, I took his look as permission for my actions.

Whoosh.

Using [Rush], I leaped in front of the instructor in an instant.

“Does Tayon’s decision need a reason?”

“But you…!”

The instructor tried to retort but couldn’t finish.

I had been at least ten steps away, yet I appeared right before him in a flash.

By displaying a movement impossible without tunes and mana, I proved I had reached Second-Rank.

“H-How did you?”

The instructor looked incredulous, unable to believe he’d missed my movement.

I drew the wooden sword Tayon had given me.

An utterly ordinary wooden sword.

But when I received it, I was genuinely thrilled.

I recognized it as one of the hidden pieces in the Tune World game.

A weapon that reveals its true value only when infused with the player’s mana.

The moment I held it, the sword naturally resonated and melded with my mana.

Had I not gripped it, I wouldn’t have known it was the ‘Branch of the World Tree.’

How a divine relic like the Branch of the World Tree ended up in Tayon’s subspace, I didn’t know, but I was certain it was the best choice.

Even Tayon had said I chose well.

As I raised the wooden sword, the crowd in the plaza gasped.

Boom.

I drove the sword into the ground in front of the instructor’s feet.

Startled, he fell backward.

“Thank you for teaching me all this time!”

This wasn’t a planned action.

I felt both gratitude toward the instructor who had taught me and resentment for how he’d treated me.

But all those emotions reached their conclusion the moment I drove the sword into the ground.

“Let’s go.”

With Tayon’s words, the group began to move.

Fifteen years since arriving in this world.

The time for my expedition had finally come.

* * *

With Tayon’s declaration, the Coming-of-Age Ceremony procession left District 18.

The people of Gullok were still stunned but sent off the departing group with fervent applause.

“Gerd’s son got the special recommendation!”

“But, like the instructor said, Polarin wasn’t that remarkable, was he?”

“What are you saying? Are you implying Tayon made a bad call?”

“No, my son’s the same age as Polarin. He said Polarin was always teased during lessons…”

The villagers kept clapping while adding their comments.

Then the village chief approached and spoke.

“Do you all remember? Gerd’s son absorbed mana right after he was born.”

“Of course. Didn’t the Council of Elders send a mage to examine him back then?”

“I heard he definitely didn’t have the ‘Blessing of Mana’…”

But the chief shook his head and said,

“True. But the light that came from that boy’s heart that day was real. I’ve lived a long time, but I’ve never seen a light so bright. Nor will I ever again.”

The chief’s words resonated deeply with the people of Gullok, reminding them of the times they’d been looked down upon as a lower autonomous region.

“Speaking of, did you see how he rushed at the instructor? I was watching Polarin closely, but I still missed it!”

“Me too! I don’t know the details, but it was something incredible.”

“To think such a kid was in our village. How did we not know? We should’ve treated him better!”

“I hope Gerd wakes up soon to hear this…”

As the people of Gullok grew increasingly excited, the chief stopped one person and placed a hand on their shoulder.

“Who are you? You don’t seem to be from our autonomous region.”

The villagers’ attention turned to the sudden stranger.

*Tap.* *Tap.* Tap.

The man tapped the ground with a jet-black staff.

In that moment, the people of Gullock briefly lost sight of his movements.

The villagers were dumbfounded by the sudden occurrence and no wonder—the man appeared and vanished before their eyes, slipping through the crowd like smoke.

Reappearing far from the village, the man pulled a communication crystal from his cloak and made a call.

“Lord Milias, this is Pinnon of the Black Veil. Please forgive my abrupt contact. I have an urgent matter to report.”