* * *

To understand the letters KTB that Ainsha and Tata had seen, we first need to turn back the clock a few days.

KTB was a broadcaster going under.

No, let us correct that.

In truth, it was closer to a zombie broadcaster that had already gone under and was barely clinging to life beneath a mountain of debt.

Naturally, its name recognition had gone beyond rock bottom and started tunneling underground. The eccentrics who deliberately sought out the KTB channel were few and far between.

But precisely for that reason, KTB launched an advertising campaign with the company's very survival on the line.

"What's that ad for?"

"Beats me. It just says KTB in huge letters."

"Is that an acronym?"

"Who knows? Since it's on every bus, maybe it's an ad for a bus company?"

On the first day of the campaign, when KTB's ads appeared on buses, it was only natural that over 99 percent of the people who saw them reacted this way.

Even if the ads had said it was a broadcaster, hardly anyone would have recognized it. Expecting people to think of the KTB broadcasting company from just three English letters on an ad that was half blank was asking far too much.

"Well, who cares?"

It was also inevitable that nearly all of those people promptly forgot the ad.

In this age overflowing with content, people were far too accustomed to all sorts of dazzling advertisements to be curious about one so simple.

"Hm? That ad's here too?"

"Do you know what it's for?"

"No, I just saw it yesterday. It was unusual enough to stick in my mind."

That was why, on the second day of the campaign, when KTB ads appeared in the subway, even the handful of people who looked at them with puzzled or intrigued expressions simply shrugged them off.

But that was the last time people could casually ignore those ads.

"What the hell?"

On the third day of the campaign, KTB ads appeared on outdoor billboards.

In itself, that was nothing special.

Except that every billboard downtown, which should have been shining with a colorful assortment of advertisements, had been made uniform.

People stared blankly at the extraordinarily uniform cityscape, which now resembled the Russian Khanate, where every building was plastered with Silver Dragon flags.

But that was only the beginning.

"... Honey, what's this?"

"What do you mean? It's the kids' milk."

"I know that. Why does it have a KTB ad on it?"

"The milk with that ad was another hundred won cheaper, so I bought it."

On the fourth day of the campaign, products bearing KTB ads appeared.

Milk cartons, disposable coffee cups, cigarette packs, liquor bottles, T-shirts, and more.

Every kind of everyday product was coming out with a half-blank KTB ad on one side.

"This is fucking insane..."

On the fifth day of the campaign, the moment a KTB ad appeared on television, people finally had no choice but to groan out curses.

No dialogue.

No sound.

No actors.

As though the age of black-and-white films had returned, nothing but the three letters KTB and a half-empty space occupied the television screen for over a minute. The sight was enough to leave viewers utterly stupefied.

By that point, even the most indifferent people could not help asking one question.

'What on earth is KTB?'

And the investigation began.

For starters, the three letters KTB monopolized the top spot in real-time search rankings all day long.

All manner of self-proclaimed intellectuals and experts poured out theories, suggesting it was a new luxury brand or a game.

Ironically, not a single person mentioned the KTB broadcasting company.

That was inevitable.

No sane person would connect a tiny broadcaster going under for lack of money with advertisements backed by such astronomical funding.

"Huh? Where did KTB go?"

Thus, on the sixth day, when all the KTB ads were taken down, people were utterly bewildered.

The ads that had conquered every corner of their daily lives in mere days—from buses and subways to television—had vanished completely overnight.

Even the products on store shelves were gone.

It was as though all those advertisements had been a dream.

"If you're going to take the ads down, at least tell us what they're advertising first!"

People felt more than bewilderment and disappointment. They even felt angry, as though something belonging to them had been snatched away.

That was how much interest and curiosity the ads had stirred up, with their staggering expense and complete lack of any clue to what they actually advertised.

So people kept theorizing even after the ads came down.

No, they worked all the more passionately to uncover the truth behind the KTB ads.

"The KTB ads are back?!"

That was why people were thrown into an uproar when the KTB logo reappeared on the seventh day of the campaign.

This time, the half that had always been blank was filled in.

Already burning with anticipation, people rushed to see the ads in astonishment, like readers finding the concluding volume of an epic mystery novel they had waited years for.

And every last one of them was dumbfounded.

By the content of the ads, finally revealed.

[Channel KTB.]

[First come, one winner.]

[Prize money: 100 billion won.]

[【Music Challenge】 — Coming soon.]

"... What in the world is this?"

That was the moment a program offering an unprecedented prize in the history of world broadcasting was unveiled through an equally unprecedented, bizarre advertising campaign.

* * *

"Apparently, it is an advertisement for a television program."

"I am surprised. I have never seen such a blanket of ads. I have never even heard of one."

"Neither has Tata. It seems to be an advertising strategy popular in this country."

"As expected of the Sword Lord's country. They casually do things other countries could not even imagine."

Ainsha expressed her admiration without a trace of emotion on her face.

Even she, who regularly traveled all over the world, had never seen anything so outrageous.

Of course, the campaign was quite deranged even by this country's standards, but since this was her first visit, her misunderstanding was inevitable.

That was probably why Ainsha's perpetually expressionless face softened a little as she watched the KTB ad on television.

But only briefly.

The moment her gaze grew subdued, all emotion vanished from her face again.

After quietly watching the television for a while, Ainsha abruptly spoke.

"Tata, I am curious."

"About what, Your Highness?"

"I want to know what kind of program would run ads like this. Therefore, I will watch it."

"Leave it to me. Your Tata has booked lodgings fully equipped with a television in preparation for just such an occasion."

Tata declared her preparations complete as though she were Sword King Richard I, who had prepared a hundred swords and ventured onto the battlefield alone to halt Joan of Arc's mad march.

Ainsha answered her bluntly.

"No television is needed. Throw it out."

"... You wish to see it in person?"

"Correct. I will see it in person."

"That may disrupt our plans."

"Plans exist to be changed. Therefore, I will change them."

"Understood. Then I will make the arrangements."

As Tata looked at the expressionless girl's face and let out a small sigh, a man and a woman suddenly approached.

Dressed in something resembling priestly robes, but lighter and more flowing, the pair spoke quietly.

"It is a television program called [Music Challenge]."

"Apparently, it is being broadcast live today."

"The time is seven p.m."

"Arranging VIP seats discreetly seems difficult, so we are looking into ordinary audience tickets for now."

"We cannot obtain them immediately, but we should be able to secure them in an hour."

"That is all."

She had not given them a single order, let alone summoned them, yet the pair had come with their answers already prepared and delivered them one after another. Tata was not surprised in the slightest.

As though she had expected nothing less, she simply nodded and issued another instruction.

"You'll have a tail soon. Split the unit into three, shake them off, and then regroup."

"Understood."

Placing their fists against their palms as if in prayer, the man and woman bowed before vanishing back into the crowd.

Tata did not even watch them leave.

She merely clicked her tongue lightly.

"I chose our future with the utmost care, yet they have already caught up. The Black Dragon Clan's influence must not have diminished as much as Tata thought."

"Naturally. East Asia is the Black Dragon Clan's sphere of influence."

"Even so, they are now the weakest in the Seven Dragons Society. I heard they suffered damage from just a few intruders recently."

"Damage was to be expected. They were ghosts of the Liberation Brigade. They are surprisingly troublesome opponents."

"But opponents we could have easily stopped."

Tata spoke with absolute conviction.

Ainsha bluntly objected.

"Tata, that is called running away, rather than stopping them."

"It makes no difference. Rather than winning through bloodshed, escaping without losing is the true victory."

"Correct. I agree. Tata is wise indeed."

CLAP, CLAP, CLAP.

Ainsha clapped expressionlessly.

For the White Dragon Clan, being good at running away was a point of pride. It was both their survival strategy and their formula for certain victory.

There was a reason Limon had found the White Dragon Clan particularly difficult to encounter during his battles with the Seven Dragons Society.

"But Tata, I do not understand."

"Understand what, Your Highness?"

"Why wise Tata has still not managed to marry."

Ordinarily, that might have hurt someone's feelings, but Tata answered proudly.

"Simple. From the moment Tata became Your Highness's nanny, I have been married to my work."

"I am surprised. I am shocked. I was Tata's mother-in-law all along."

"... Why are you Tata's mother-in-law, Your Highness?"

"The position of my nanny was created because of me. Creating is equivalent to giving birth. Therefore, I am the mother. And I demand a divorce."

"Lay an egg before you start acting like a mother-in-law."

Tata took Ainsha's deadpan nonsense in stride.

Then, looking at the KTB ads filling the street, she murmured.

"In any case, these ads are excellent. With a few changes to the method, we could use them for missionary work back home."

"Abandon that idea. There will be a religious war. I cannot mediate it. I would rather die."

"Hmm. That is a pity, but I am still very curious who devised such a bold advertising strategy."

* * *

"Producer Kim, there's something I need to check."

"What is it?"

"Didn't I tell you to keep the advertising low-key? Having people swarm in right from the start would be a nuisance, so I told you to just put your program's name on some ads and run them."

"You did."

"Then why are your ads dominating every hot topic out there?"

"... Because we had money to spare?"

"..."

"Look, what else were we supposed to do? The investor gave us a huge advertising budget and insisted we spend every bit of it, but the ad itself was so simple that we had nothing to spend the money on."

"So you ended up placing ads here and there, one at a time?"

"Well, we were short on time..."

"And you even left out the text that was supposed to be included in the first place, so you had to pay penalties to pull every ad and put them back up?"

"No, that wasn't me. The publicity department made that mistake..."

"... Now I see why your broadcasting company went under."

"We're going under. We haven't gone under yet!"

"Is that something to brag about?"

"Anyway, it worked out in the end, didn't it? Our broadcasting company got famous thanks to it!"

"Tsk. Fine. Do whatever the hell you want from here on out. My part is done anyway... I'll just watch from the audience."