The World’s Greatest is Dead

What could I say?

The first impression I got the moment I saw the woman was simple.

‘She’s beautiful.’

Incredibly beautiful. That thought crossed my mind immediately.

While I hadn’t seen that many women in my life, she was among the most beautiful I had encountered.

If I had to compare, she was on par with Yungsun. Although she had a terrible personality, she was undeniably pretty.

‘Even though Yungsun had a terrible personality, she still had a beautiful face.’

I ran away because of her crazy personality, but that’s beside the point.

Looking at it that way, this woman was inexplicably beautiful.

However,

‘Beyond being pretty, she gave off a bad feeling.’

It wasn’t for nothing that I guessed she was crazy.

A chilling sensation crept into my head from somewhere.

For her to ask if I knew who she was at our first meeting, how could I know that?

“…… Well…… No, I don’t.”

“Oh, really?”

She said, smiling brightly, but there was an unsettling undertone. She was only pretty, but strangely, I felt repelled.

The reason was clear.

‘Moon Eyes.’

Like the Sect Leader. And, like me, a possessor of Moon Eyes. The woman’s blue eyes signified that.

『Oh.』

The elderly man behind me exhaled in admiration, as if to confirm this.

『A wonder.』

His high praise made my eyebrows twitch slightly.

‘This is the man who said even Young Azure Sword wasn’t bad, calling her a wonder?’

The old man, who had been harsh in his assessment of Young Azure Sword, was incredibly generous towards this woman.

That somehow bothered me.

‘The old man who endlessly called me an idiot and a fool…’

Although I couldn’t argue with his words, and so I couldn’t even nitpick.

As I sighed inwardly, shaking my head,

“Hmmm, why wouldn’t you know……”

The woman tilted her head, as if puzzled.

“You really don’t know?”

“Then, should I know you? Have we seen each other before?”

“No, we haven’t, right?”

“Then how am I supposed to know you? Do you know me?”

“I know you. I know you very well.”

Step. The woman took one step closer.

“You are the successor of our great Sword Saint and the precious son of the Liaodong Bang family, aren’t you?”

‘Precious son.’

I almost laughed at a title I had never heard in my life.

“This is odd… you’ve done your research quite intriguing.”

It was all wrong. But, in a way, it was also correct.

“But do you really not know who I am?”

The woman asked, her clear blue eyes staring at me. Even though she possessed the same Moon Eyes as the Virtuous Moon Sword, her eyes felt like a deep sea, unlike Virtuous Moon Sword’s that felt like a clear sky.

Not knowing who she was?

I briefly pondered how to answer before opening my mouth.

“Moonlit Delight (月舞嬉)?.”

“Oh my!”

The woman smiled, seemingly pleased with my answer.

“So you did know?”

“… Isn’t it strange not to know about you?”

I wanted to pretend I didn’t know, but honestly, I knew the moment I saw her.

Really, it would be strange not to know her in the Central Plains these days.

‘Moonlit Delight Chun Hye-in.’

She was the daughter of Chun Seonghwa, the Virtuous Moon Sword, and the sister of Chun Uijin.

‘Seven Geniuses.’

Unlike the Young Azure Sword, who was rumored to be on the level of Seven Geniuses, she was an individual who actually reached Seven Geniuses.

‘Moreover, as the rumors say.’

She was a person with the greatest talent in the history of the Blue Moon Sect.

Anyone who had ever seen Chun Hye-in’s sword dance would always mention it.

They said she was the brilliant hope of the Blue Moon Sect in the absence of Yu Chun-gil.

Such was the talent of the woman standing before him.

Such a woman.

“Why have you come to see me?”

“Well, I heard that the great Sword Saint’s successor had arrived… I couldn’t resist and just came.”

Bang Sung-Yun furrowed his brows at her innocent smile.

Her face seemed capable of enchanting many men. However, something felt unsettling.

“So, what do you think of seeing me in person?”

“Hmm…”

At his question, Chun Hye-in pondered for a moment before answering.

“You’re alright.”

It was a nonchalant evaluation.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

That couldn’t be it. I looked at her with an increasingly cold gaze.

“Is that your final answer?”

“Yes. Do you need anything more?”

“Well, not really… It’s just strange.”

“Strange?”

“Yes.”

Upon hearing my words, Chun Hye-in wore a puzzled expression. Seeing that, I continued.

“Then why are you doing this to me?”

“Pardon?”

“Though you think I’m just an alright person, you went out of your way to put on such an unreasonable act.”

“….”

Chun Hye-in’s eyes wavered.

“It seems you came to find something out… but I’m quite tired right now. You know that, right? I just arrived today. So, I don’t really want to do anything… Let me just ask.”

I was extremely tired and wanted nothing more than to lie down straight away. Hence, I couldn’t speak in circles.

“What do you want from me?”

There was no answer. I observed.

Chun Hye-in’s smile gradually vanished, revealing an entirely different person.

“Oh, my.”

Her once clear and pure voice dropped several notches.

It was a very low voice for a woman.

“How did you know?”

Even her manner of speaking changed. Her voice now was devoid of any emotion.

Ironically enough, it was only after hearing that change that I felt somewhat relieved.

“Know what?”

“That I was acting, how did you know?”

“How could I not know? It was obvious.”

Since Chun Hye-in had dropped the formalities, so did Bang Sung-Yun. Why did geniuses always ignore the other’s opinions and drop formalities first?

It was something I couldn’t understand. Was talent inversely proportional to character?

“Obvious?”

“Yeah. It was obvious.”

“That can’t be right.”

Listening to Chun Hye-in, I nearly burst into laughter. What made her so confident?

“So, you must really trust yourself, seeing how sure you are.”

“…..”

“It wasn’t bad, though. Ah, right.”

I recalled the words she had said to me earlier and repeated them exactly.

“You are alright.”

“…….”

“Just that much?”

When I returned the same words, Chun Hye-In’s beautiful eyebrows furrowed, but it was only for a moment.

Chun Hye-In quickly changed her expression and said to me, “Interesting. You.”

“You are quite rude yourself.”

“I planned to just take a light look around today… Seems like it was a good choice.”

Chun Hye-In suddenly turned her back and added, “I like you. See you later.”

“You say such creepy things so nonchalantly. See you later? Sure.”

I barely managed to hold back the urge to curse.

At that moment.

“Nun…!!”

Someone burst into my quarters. It was Chun Uijin.

He seemed greatly fatigued, probably from running in a hurry.

“… What are you doing right now…!”

Chun Uijin shouted at Chun Hye-In, clearly angry.

‘Damn it… If he was going to come, he should have come sooner.’

I felt it was unfair that Chun Uijin intervened only after she decided to leave. Chun Hye-In, almost ignoring Chun Uijin, walked past him as though not seeing him.

“Nun-!”

Chun Uijin tried to block Chun Hye-In.

“Move.”

“…!”

“How dare an incompetent fool block my way?”

Her cold voice directly hit Chun Uijin.

‘Wow. Incompetent, huh.’

For someone who is talented and good-looking like him to be called incompetent, it was unexpected.

Chun Uijin seemed so shocked by those words that he stood there like a statue.

Chun Hye-In didn’t even look at her brother and walked past him.

She was truly like a whirlwind.

“Are you alright?”

I approached Chun Uijin and asked, and only then did he come to his senses.

“I’m sorry, Young master Bang.”

“No, it’s… there’s no need to apologize.”

If anyone needed to apologize, it would be that crazy woman, not Chun Uijin.

‘His father, his sister, they are all rather harsh.’

Both Virtuous Moon Sword and Chun Hye-In seemed to disregard Chun Uijin.

Were they not blood-related? That thought crossed my mind briefly.

‘No, that’s even more ridiculous.’

Seeing how alike the three looked, that couldn’t be it.

There seemed to be some issue, but… After figuring out the situation, I asked Chun Uijin, “That crazy woman just now… She is your sister, Chun Uijin?”

“… Yes.”

I confirmed something I already knew by asking again. I wanted to make sure of something.

‘He’s terrified.’

Chun Uijin displayed an uneasy look whenever Chun Hye-In was mentioned, and I wanted to confirm that.

‘Uneasiness… or rather fear.’

The younger brother was afraid of the older sister. Well, I was also afraid of the brat in my family who was called my sister, so I thought it might be similar.

‘The feeling is entirely different.’

This was genuine fear. It was beyond just having a bad relationship.

It truly seemed like there was a significant issue.

‘But that’s beyond my interest.’

Honestly, delving into that was too bothersome.

Knowing there was such a problem was enough.

What’s important here…

“She must be paying attention to me.”

That terrifying woman was certainly aware of me.

“Tsk.”

She was the most outstanding genius in the entire history of the Blue Moon Sect and a strong candidate for the upcoming sect leader competition. This was already a bothersome background, but the biggest problem was…

“Chun Hye-In is far more…”

…terrifying than I had predicted. And in a very bad way.

* * *

A day had passed.

My body was so exhausted that I collapsed and flushed out all of my fatigue. The room was warm, and the bed was soft.

This was why one had to succeed; to feel this comfortable for a lifetime. Perhaps because I had spent several days in a carriage, I felt it even more distinctly.

After eating and being lazy for the first time in a while, I decided to get ready around noon and head somewhere.

“Did you sleep well?

“Thanks to you, I had a good night.”

It was the place of Chun Seonghwa, the Virtuous Moon Sword, whom I had met just yesterday.

“I’m glad you were comfortable.”

“Thank you for your hospitality.”

I had the same expression and tone as yesterday. But, I had to remain tense inside as I watched him.

People with such nonchalant faces often made the harshest comments without batting an eye.

“I heard you met my daughter yesterday.”

True to form, he got straight to the point without any preamble.

“Ah, yes. I did meet her.”

“How did it go?”

“Well… she’s quite an extraordinary person.”

I wrapped my words as nicely as I could. After all, I couldn’t describe her as a lunatic in front of her father.

“Extraordinary, you say… I see.”

The Virtuous Moon Sword just nodded once. That was the end of the questions about Chun Hye-In.

“So straightforward.”

Anyway, I didn’t have much to say even if I was asked. From the brief conversation, what I learned was…

‘Chun Hye-In is crazy, and Chun Uijin has a story.’

And both of these things were topics I couldn’t bring up to the Virtuous Moon Sword, especially not here.

‘This is a lot.’

Besides the Virtuous Moon Sword, several other people were gathered in the room. Most of them were unfamiliar faces. There were elderly people and middle-aged ones. What caught my attention was that the elderly ones all had blue eyes.

“We called you here for a reason”, the Virtuous Moon Sword began as I examined the guests.

“While we appreciate that you brought the treasure of the sect…”

“Yes.”

“Including that, there is something we need to verify.”

Holding my breath, I wondered what could be coming.

“We can tell you are indeed from our sect from the Mind Technique you possess and the eyes you have. But that’s not enough.”

I suppressed the tension rising to my throat and thought.

“I must ask.”

This was the moment.

“How did you come to inherit that skill? Please enlighten us.”

It was time to spew the nonsense I had prepared with the old man over the past few days.