The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Heavenly Supreme Has Died – Episode 016
Gathering information proved far easier than I expected. All I had to do was write down what I could see.
‘Short hair, pale skin… and a mole right there…’
Stealing glances was difficult, but I managed it. Since memorization had been my specialty even in my past life, I only needed to engrave it in my mind.
‘I don’t need to note the scar’s size. I certainly don’t need to record her chest measurements.’
I couldn’t discern the details.
After all, I only saw what was visible.
‘What I see right now is five.’
Five. The number of Demons clinging to Namgung Seong.
All of them were women.
Beauty emanated from them—enough that rumors of their loveliness had spread during their lifetimes.
Yet as Demons, their eyes brimmed with murderous intent, and their contorted expressions inspired only dread rather than admiration.
The Demons glared at Namgung Seong with eyes that seemed ready to kill. The sight alone made my legs tremble.
‘This madman.’
Not one, but five. What in the world had he done?
I didn’t need to ponder long. The Demons shared a common trait.
‘They all have red marks on their necks.’
So vivid I could mistake them for fresh blood.
The distinct imprint of someone’s palm was etched deeply across each of their throats.
Whose hand was it? This too required no speculation.
He stood right before me.
The one the Demons were boring holes through with their stares.
Regardless of what he’d done, I could tell he’d killed those women.
Otherwise, the Demons would never cling to him.
‘So my task becomes simple.’
The old man told me to use the orb, but wasn’t something even better standing right in front of me?
Regardless of my reluctance to get involved, I had to use what was available.
Even information gleaned merely from observation—how would it appear to Namgung Seong?
‘Look at his expression.’
Twisted and burning with intensity. That alone told me everything.
‘It landed.’
He must feel as though he’d been struck by my information.
How could it have appeared to him?
Information no one should have known.
A truth only a select few would have known, if anyone at all.
And yet I’d revealed it as though I knew it—what must Namgung Seong be thinking?
Surely many thoughts were racing through his mind.
He had no idea that I could see spirits.
“…Just now… what did you say?”
His tone had shifted. From casual speech back to formal language.
Upon hearing those words, my lips curved upward of their own accord. He was shaken. Deeply shaken at that.
“Why do you keep asking twice? You heard me clearly.”
“….”
This was the moment to press forward.
“Want to fight?”
“Bang Disciple.”
“What? Scared?”
As I added a word meant to provoke his pride, cracks formed between his brows.
Seeing that, I continued speaking.
“If you fight me and lose, I’ll tell you how I found out about this. If you want, I can even keep it secret.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you’re saying, Disciple.”
What a shame.
If he had hesitated or reacted slowly here, it would have been easier. But he wasn’t foolish enough for that.
“I was simply angered that Bang Disciple would send such a letter, thinking it disrespectful.”
“I see….”
So that’s how you’re going to play it?
From the start, he intended to deny everything and simply treat me as a madman, brushing past this conveniently.
“You don’t know anything…?”
I suppressed my laughter at Namgung Seong’s words.
“I didn’t expect you to do this even when I’m pressing you like this.”
Was he planning to feign ignorance until the end?
No, that wasn’t it.
‘He’s probably trying to buy time.’
His intention was to get through this moment and return to resolve the problem.
He was likely thinking there might be an internal spy, and his mind must be racing frantically. His thoughts would be spinning wildly.
‘Whether evidence remains. Who the witnesses might be.’
Where the problem originated. His mind would be too occupied considering all of it.
But.
“I don’t understand why Bang Disciple is suddenly doing this…!”
I had no intention of letting that slide.
As Namgung Seong was speaking, he widened his eyes upon seeing me. This was because I had placed something on the table with my hand.
A luminous blue orb.
The moment I showed it to Namgung Seong, his reaction changed in the most entertaining way.
“You bastard.”
Crack—!
His voice and expression transformed in an instant. Simultaneously, a distant, ominous aura erupted from his body.
‘Wow.’
My breath catches. Is this what killing intent feels like?
‘…Peak realm… has he surpassed it?’
I couldn’t be certain, but it seemed possible.
‘So I’m literally gambling with my life in a tug-of-war against a peak-stage martial master.’
Good grief.
Bangseong-yeon has grown quite a bit. Here I am, clashing wills with a peak-stage master—never thought I’d see the day.
‘This is absolutely infuriating. Ha.’
Fine hairs on my skin stand on end, and cold sweat trickles down my back. The only saving grace is that my forehead shows no visible signs of fear, so I won’t be exposed.
“Your reaction is terrifying. I showed you this thinking you’d need it, but it seems that’s not what you were looking for?”
Rattle, rattle, rattle. I can see the furniture around us trembling, but I deliberately ignore it.
“Do you truly wish to die?”
“That’s impossible. I’m someone who wants to live more than anyone.”
I’ll survive by any means necessary until I’m old enough to smear excrement on walls.
I plan to enjoy this life that way, so what kind of frightening talk is that.
‘I’m the one struggling to survive here.’
Unlike others, I started with nothing and only losses in my possession.
Yet I’m clawing my way through life with stubborn determination.
Simply put, when you want to live, there are times when you must stake your life—and now is at least one of those moments.
“You want to live? Yet you dare do this to me?”
“Do what? I’m simply trying to give you what you wanted.”
“Crunch.”
A grinding sound erupted from Namgung Seong’s teeth.
Absolutely terrifying.
What if he draws his blade? If he tries to behead me outright, can I even react?
A thousand thoughts swirl through my mind, and fear grips me, but.
“Stop glaring uselessly. Just answer my question.”
Contrary to the burning sensation inside, my outward appearance is perfectly composed.
It was a talent earned through rolling and tumbling in my past life.
‘Speak like a serpent, lie like a swan upon still waters.’
Those were the words taught to me by Baek Manager, the man who trained me.
Speech must flow like water, slowly ensnaring the opponent, while lies must be delivered with more grace than anyone else—but beneath the surface, you must kick frantically like a madman.
“Did I ever ask you to obey my orders? Or to be my backer? I just suggested we fight.”
I rolled a bead gently across the floor toward him.
“You don’t like me either, right? Why don’t we settle this once and for all?”
“You wretch….”
“I promise you this. If you win, I’ll keep everything I know secret. I’ll even return this. But if you refuse to fight?”
Click.
I stopped the rolling bead, caught it, and met Namgung Seong’s gaze directly.
“Then what I know will soon reach the Heavenly Gate, and this bead will be delivered to the Namgung Clan Lord.”
“…!”
The Heavenly Gate was one of the Nine Major Sects, known as the eyes and ears of the current orthodox faction.
There’s a rumor that they collect and spread all manner of information, and if the Heavenly Gate involves itself in gossip, it spreads across the entire Central Plains within a single day.
To obtain anything through the Heavenly Gate, one needs considerable renown, and as a country bumpkin like me, such a thing is utterly impossible—but he doesn’t know that.
‘He won’t see it that way.’
A mysterious existence that knows my secret.
Moreover, called the Sword Saint’s predecessor and something anomalous connected to the Cheonwol Gate.
An alienation I couldn’t help but be wary of—that’s what I am to him right now.
Namgung Seong’s eyes trembled.
I felt the murderous intent that had been spreading thin out somewhat.
Yet it still wasn’t enough. I needed to drive the wedge in here.
“You seem to be hesitating, so the position of clan head must be quite secure? From what I see, it doesn’t look that way though…”
“….”
At my words, Namgung Seong’s eyes stopped trembling.
Simultaneously, the murderous intent withdrew.
‘Indeed.’
How would he come out?
‘Will he come out with that reckless attitude again?’
The probability was low, but even if he did, it didn’t matter.
I had prepared about four different ways to handle such a situation.
As a few seconds passed like that, Namgung Seong, maintaining his furrowed brow, spoke to me.
“…What… exactly… are you?”
A perfect catch.
Hearing his words, I let out the laughter I’d been holding back.
“Hahaha….”
I laughed briefly, then immediately erased the smile.
“What good would it do you to know?”
“….”
“Don’t change the subject. Tell me. This is my last question.”
I rose from the chair I’d been sitting in and moved my upper body.
I drew close to Namgung Seong and brought my face right before his.
A distance where our breath could touch if I wasn’t careful. Maintaining a dangerous angle where his throat could be cut at any moment, I spoke to him.
“You’ll do it. Or you won’t.”
There are two answers, but only one answer has been given to him.
Because I made it that way.

* * *
Afternoon descended, and the time for the sunset glow drew near.
Within the Martial Arts Alliance Anhui Branch, loud voices echoed back and forth.
“What…? Socheongeom is fighting whom?”
“You know, that one from this generation who was called the Fool….”
“The Fool is a man, watch your tongue! From now on, you must address him as that person!”
Namgung Seong, the second child of the Namgung Clan and known as Socheongeom, was holding a martial contest within the branch.
Moreover, for several days now, he had been making not just the branch but all of Anhui noisy—a person of considerable concern.
Against Bangseong-yeon, the successor of the Sword Saint.
A low-ranking member of the Martial Arts Alliance who had been concealing his strength.
A boy who had come with a letter of recommendation this generation and was scorned for having neither talent nor power, yet the truth that he was the successor of the Sword Saint, the Heavenly Supreme of the previous generation, left everyone breathless with shock.
Those who had subtly looked down upon him were forced to break into cold sweat, and those who had openly mocked and cursed him trembled with fear.
Yet even amid all this, there were those who harbored doubts about him.
Because the image Bangseong-yeon had presented over the past year was far too pathetic.
‘I’ve never seen him properly endure morning training.’
‘A man who collapsed every day because he couldn’t even properly stop drunks is the Sword Saint’s successor…?’
‘Is this nonsense?’
Cheon Euijin, a martial artist of the Cheonwol Gate and even a blood relative of the Cheonwol Gate Master.
Even though he had personally verified it, suspicion filled every gaze, yet in such circumstances, a martial contest against the so-called genius Socheongeom?
All eyes could not help but turn toward the arena.
“…It really is Socheongeom.”
“His stature is quite tall. How is his face carved so beautifully….”
“But if we’re talking about looks, the Fool… ah, no. Bang Disciple isn’t losing either, is he?”
The martial contest arena prepared within the branch.
It was already surrounded by countless people. All of them were martial artists of the Martial Arts Alliance.
Even those who should have been out on missions were visible. It was because people had gathered at the branch due to word that the Namgung Clan was visiting.
“Excuse me… could you move aside a bit?”
“No, who… gasp!”
In the midst of it all, someone pushed through the crowd and entered.
The man blocking the path frowned as he looked, but upon recognizing who it was, he drew a sharp breath.
A handsome man striking enough to leave one’s mouth agape.
It was Cheon Euijin of the Cheonwol Gate.
While others stirred nervously upon seeing him, Cheon Euijin’s eyes were fixed solely on the arena above.
‘Bang… Disciple.’
He had rushed here upon hearing the news, and indeed, Bangseong-yeon stood upon the arena.
With his characteristic languid and sharp-looking demeanor, he held his sword carelessly in that state.
Moreover, on the opposite side stood Namgung Seong in a composed stance.
‘What on earth….’
How had this situation come to be?
Why were Bangseong-yeon and Namgung Seong suddenly facing each other on the arena?
A situation that made absolutely no sense.
‘What could he be thinking?’
Why would Bangseong-yeon, who had always concealed his strength, do something like this?
Cheon Euijin couldn’t fathom his true intentions at all.
Namgung Seong, who had accepted this challenge, was equally bewildered.
‘Socheongeom accepting such a martial contest… what in the world happened?’
Namgung Seong was renowned for his meticulous character.
He wasn’t the type to conduct a martial contest in such a crowded place with so many spectators, yet he stood dignified upon the arena with his characteristic benevolent smile.
Then.
“I never expected so many distinguished guests to gather.”
Namgung Seong opened his mouth and began to speak.
“I merely thought we might engage in some light camaraderie amongst ourselves, but ha. How embarrassing.”
As Namgung Seong spoke with apparent bashfulness at the unexpected situation, soft laughter rippled through the crowd.
They felt a touch of humanity in the seemingly perfect Namgung Seong.
“Truly, I am quite flustered… but since there was nothing secretive about it, I do hope you will all enjoy this with good hearts.”
Snap!
As he cupped his fists in salute toward the audience, small cheers erupted from the surroundings.
His refined demeanor clearly reflected his excellent upbringing.
The moment Cheon Euijin frowned at that disagreeable display.
“Woof woof.”
Suddenly, a strange sound burst forth.
“Where is that dog barking from?”
It came directly from Bangseong-yeon.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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