The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 444

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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 444
What? Did I mishear just now?
I couldn’t help but wear a dazed expression at Woo Aseok’s response. Had that old man really said what I thought he said?
“…What did you just say?”
Unable to believe it, I asked again, and Woo Aseok replied in a blunt tone.
“Didn’t you hear? I said what you’re asking for is too expensive. It’s information that cannot be shared for the price you’ve brought.”
“…How could that be…!”
There was no way such a thing could happen.
It wasn’t something else—it was gold. I’d brought the highest grade of the Gaebangjoo and asked, yet he said it couldn’t be shared?
“Doesn’t gold grade answer everything?”
“Who said that?”
“Pardon?”
“Who said that gold grade answers everything?”
“…No.”
That’s just what’s commonly known.
“That’s not the case?”
“No.”
Woo Aseok spoke while picking his nose.
“There exists one more grade above gold. It’s just that no one currently possesses it.”
“…Such a grade exists?”
“Ink. A grade that allows access to any information that exists within the Gaebangjoo.”
“….”
At the mention of an ink-grade level, I grimaced. I’d never even heard of such a grade existing.
“Of course you haven’t heard of it. This is something only the current Gaebangjoo can grant once. The only person who ever possessed it was your master.”
“…You mean the Sword Saint?”
“Yes, but that damned bastard kicked the bucket. So ink-grade is…. It can only be obtained when the next Gaebangjoo appears, I suppose? Hehehehe.”
“….”
Yoo Cheon-gil possessed the ink-grade, and he died with it in his possession.
‘…Unless the next Gaebangjoo appears and grants it to someone, ink-grade simply doesn’t exist.’
And also.
“…So what you’re saying is that what I asked about is information that requires the ink-grade to access?”
“You catch on quickly.”
“Insane. Why would ink-grade be needed for that?”
This was absurd. What important thing had I even asked about?
I’d merely asked about my clan and my father. Why would ink-grade suddenly come up?
I was utterly bewildered.
‘…What is it?’
What kind of secret did this household possess?
Lately, I’d been growing increasingly curious about the clan. If things were like this.
‘There’s no way I can leave this uninvestigated.’
Either don’t dig at all.
Or dig properly if you’re going to dig.
It had to be one or the other. What should I do now? I pondered for a moment, but.
‘Is there anything to ponder about?’
For now, there’s no answer. Still, I’ve gained one thing, haven’t I?
‘…There’s something in the house.’
Whether it’s my father or the clan itself.
I can tell that Gaebangjoo possesses secrets significant enough to mention the Forbidden Color.
‘What the hell is it really?’
I’d always thought of our clan as just another family that rose to prominence through the Lord’s mistakes and is now falling apart. We’re treated as a prestigious house, but I considered us a family too embarrassing to show to the outside world.
‘…Damn it.’
To think such secrets would exist in a household like ours.
“Right then, you little blood clot. Do you have anything else to ask? I’ll pretend what just happened never occurred, so ask away quickly.”
“…Um.”
Curious about what? When I can’t hear anything about the household, what else could I possibly be curious about….
‘Ah.’
I remembered something I’d forgotten. There was actually one more thing I needed to ask.
“Then I’ll ask about something else.”
“Go ahead.”
“Can you provide me with information about Amjeon?”
“…Hm?”
At the mention of Amjeon, Woo Aseok’s expression crumpled.
“Amjeon…? Why?”
“I’m curious about something.”
“…Hehehehe.”
Woo Aseok chuckled before continuing.
“Just asking to be sure, you little blood clot.”
“Yes?”
“Do you have a death wish or something?”
“…No?”
I want to live more than anyone.
“Yet you’re asking for information about Amjeon?”
“Why? Is this also a Forbidden Color secret?”
It could be. If Amjeon, the greatest under heaven, had information that was also Forbidden Color, I could accept that.
“No, that’s something you can obtain with the Gold Color.”
“…Ah, really?”
Information about Amjeon can be obtained with the Gold Color, but our household requires the Forbidden Color?
‘I’m going to lose my mind.’
When I compare them like this, it becomes even stranger. Our household’s importance is greater than Amjeon’s information.
This is absolutely ridiculous.
“I could give it to you if you wish, but you’ll have to bear the consequences yourself. Are you still willing?”
“…Consequences, you say?”
“You probably don’t know, but if Amjeon were to find out, he might come looking for you. And if that happens, even your esteemed maternal grandfather wouldn’t be able to stop him.”
“….”
Terrifying words. Amjeon coming after me? That would be.
‘Death.’
An execution. No one has ever survived meeting Amjeon. Well, I did manage to survive.
Anyway.
I hesitated for a moment. Was there any point in wavering now, having come this far? After a brief pause, I reached my conclusion.
“…Please give it to me.”
“Hehehehe…. Very well. I understand.”
Woo Aseok nodded his head.
“However, since this information cannot be provided immediately, I shall give it to you after a period of three days.”
“Three days?”
So there’s that much information? As I wondered, Woo Aseok spoke.
“This delay is not due to the volume of information, but to ensure I can hand it to you safely, away from Amjeon’s eyes.”
“Ah…. I understand.”
Then I’ll wait as long as necessary. Right.
“It seems we’ve said all there is to say, so go on now. And convey my regards to your maternal grandfather.”
“Yes. I understand.”
I bowed my head and rose to my feet. There seemed to be nothing more to discuss.
As I stepped outside, Yoo Yul was waiting for me.
“Did you finish talking?”
“Yes. More or less.”
There was a slight unease lingering, but this was sufficient. With that thought, I moved forward.

* * *
Shortly after Bangseong-yeon departed, within a shabby dwelling.
“Hmm.”
Gaebangjoo Tabong Wooaesuk tilted his head, turning his chin this way and that. As he did so, the old man standing behind him spoke.
“Bang Ju.”
“What is it?”
The old man, Gaebangjoo Elder Gye Yong, who had heard much of the conversation thus far, posed the question.
“…Do you truly intend to provide information about Amjeon?”
Amjeon—called the Master of Night, a being feared by all martial artists.
Information about him was extraordinarily rare, and even if one obtained such knowledge, Amjeon would somehow discover and eliminate anyone who possessed it.
“Tsk tsk. Not all of that is truth, you see.”
“…What do you mean…?”
“If he killed everyone who knew about him, how would Gaebangjoo still be alive?”
“….”
“Well, it’s true he doesn’t touch Gaebangjoo because of its size, but he’s not the sort to kill indiscriminately.”
There exists a line. That line is simply so opaque that others don’t perceive it.
However.
“Revealing this to that blood-soaked brat is merely a somewhat dangerous choice.”
“…How could you, of all people, make such a choice? Surely you’re not deliberately placing him in danger?”
“Look at you. What do you take me for, garbage?”
What else could it be? The elder’s eyes filled with doubt. Seeing this, Wooaesuk chuckled softly.
“Rather, I’m trying to earn some points. For which I’ll need to do some laundering first.”
“…Points, you say—surely you don’t mean Cheon Rijin-an?”
“Nonsense. What good would earning points with him do? I’m talking about that old man in the back room, already aged.”
“Then…could it be.”
Wol-hyeop? The Gaebangjoo is earning points with Wol-hyeop?
“How could you do this for that young man…!”
“Yes, a young man. Which is precisely why I must earn points with him.”
“Pardon?”
“That one is no ordinary being. Didn’t you sense it even after seeing him?”
The elder’s face showed incomprehension. Seeing this, Wooaesuk sighed inwardly. Ah, there’s still no one worthy of taking his place.
“He noticed me, of course, and his eyes never remained still throughout.”
“His eyes, you say.”
“The environment around us. The atmosphere. He even seemed to have grasped your presence.”
“…!”
His own concealment?
“Moreover, his conduct suggests a man whose heart has long since rotted away. He carries himself like one who has already rolled through everything. It was difficult to find an opening.”
At times, feigning weakness.
At times, pretending ignorance.
Yet while appearing sharp and baring fangs, he dully retreats backward.
‘I almost broke a cold sweat for the first time in ages.’
Cheon Rijin-an. Now I understand why he’s been watching me so carefully.
‘Hehehehe. That old fox must be gnawing at his insides.’
It would be frustrating for him.
‘That I’m not a descendant of the Jegal Clan.’
Unable to find a successor, Cheon Rijin-an has reached his age without passing the position of Lord of the Clan to his own son.
He desired a successor of equal or similar caliber to himself, but he never expected such a bizarre talent to emerge anywhere in the Central Plains.
‘Yet he managed to find one from his own bloodline.’
The problem was that this one was the child of a daughter who had already severed her ties with the family.
‘That cunning bastard.’
He’d been running around without manners, but now he must be wrestling with considerable concerns. A being like his own reflection had appeared, yet he couldn’t bring him into the Jegal Clan.
“Hehehehe.”
“Bang Ju…?”
“And it’s not just his intellect that’s exceptional.”
I knew it the moment I saw him. Disciples? The one behind him, Wol Seon-geom’s disciple, is impressive too.
‘But that one can’t be described as merely a disciple.’
He seemed to have already reached the pinnacle. They said he was the Sword Saint’s Predecessor and all that.
‘…That damned fool really does have luck till the very end.’
He’d apparently raised an absurd monster.
That eccentric bastard who constantly complained that the disciples of the Cheongwol Sect were problematic, had created a successor to his liking.
‘If that’s the case.’
Is this a being wielding Yoo Cheon-gil’s sword while possessing intellect and keen perception?
‘Good grief.’
A hybrid I don’t even want to imagine.
Woo Aseok shakes his head at such thoughts.
How wonderful it would be if his own disciple were like that. The thought flickers across his mind, but he quickly turns to other matters.
He is an information broker. He sets aside envy and focuses on what he can gain.
‘I’ve already marked the points.’
A man destined to become something great regardless of what happens.
So I’ve given quite a bit for someone like me. He doesn’t seem to be a man without perception, so he’ll understand what I’ve given him.
By bringing up the Dark Color, I conveyed indirectly what level of question he was asking.
And I’m even doing unnecessary favors regarding Amjeon.
This means it’s something I wouldn’t even do for Cheon Rijin-an.
‘He should understand.’
That man would surely recognize my consideration. If he doesn’t.
‘Then I’ll make him understand.’
If I give something, I receive it by any means necessary. That was Woo Aseok’s principle. If Bangseong-yeon doesn’t understand, I’ll simply make him understand.
Though Woo Aseok thought this way.
‘Hmm.’
This part honestly left him uncertain.
The problem was Bangseong-yeon’s background. One careless move could lead to unforeseen consequences.
Cheon Rijin-an? Yoo Cheon-gil? Shin Chang? In truth, such matters were inconsequential. What could aging relics on the verge of retirement possibly threaten?
What truly mattered was.
‘The Yoeryeong Bang Clan….’
The Yoeryeong Bang Clan. That was the greatest obstacle.
-Please tell me about the Yoeryeong Bang Clan and Bang Cheon-ho, the Lord of the Clan.
Bangseong-yeon had asked me to reveal information about my clan and my father.
That man seemed to have sensed something as well.
‘Let it be.’
It was not something that could be revealed simply because one wished to know.
‘It is an abyss without bottom.’
Above all, it was far too deep and dark.
An bottomless pit into which one would fall endlessly should they misplace a single step.
A twisted history forged in the past.
Such was the Bang Clan as I knew it.

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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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