The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 7

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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 007
Search.
It literally meant to seek and find, but searches conducted by the Martial Alliance weren’t particularly meticulous.
Well, to be precise, it wasn’t the entire Martial Alliance—just our unit operated this way.
“Hey, blockhead. Find anything?”
“Nothing at all, Leader Bujori.”
“Tch, search properly… what did you just say?”
“It’s nothing.”
Following the Daeju’s orders, we divided our unit and split the search areas.
The Western Forest west of Anhui. We’d arrived there and were searching the surroundings.
Calling it a search was generous—we were essentially wasting time looking for footprints or traces.
The Martial Alliance, which claimed responsibility for the safety of the Central Plains.
If the people of the Central Plains knew their work was this sloppy, what would they say?
They’d probably curse us out, saying they didn’t donate funds for this.
‘No footprints on the ground. No obvious traces left behind. Why would a master-level martial artist leave any traces in the first place?’
If that were the case, they should have brought in a martial artist of similar caliber, but our unit had no such person.
If I had to name someone… Yeon Socheon, or perhaps.
“Senior, don’t you see anything?”
Yoo Hyeong-in, maybe.
“Hmm… yeah, I don’t see anything either.”
Yoo Hyeong-in spoke with his characteristic good-natured smile.
As always, I was working in the same unit as Yoo Hyeong-in.
‘If even the senior can’t see anything, then we’re truly hopeless.’
Yoo Hyeong-in. My direct senior, he was a far more capable martial artist than I’d expected.
We were both low-ranking members of the Martial Alliance, but we were qualitatively different.
If I’d gotten in through connections, Yoo Hyeong-in had entered purely on his own merit.
Both descendants of fallen noble families.
But unlike me, he actually had the skills to back it up.
He might even be stronger than the current unit leader.
Of course, despite his abilities, his gentle temperament and lack of backing meant he received treatment similar to mine.
‘At least the seniors don’t directly curse him out or match him in hostility.’
Me, on the other hand, I get tossed around all day.
I held no resentment. Someone of Yoo Hyeong-in’s caliber shouldn’t be here.
I’d never asked about his realm, so I wasn’t certain, but I suspected he was nearly first-class level.
‘I did ask him once before.’
Why he’d come to Anhui with such skills.
Wouldn’t the Main Sect in Henan be sufficient? When I asked that, Yoo Hyeong-in smiled and answered.
‘My younger sister and widowed mother live here.’
He couldn’t leave his family behind, he said.
That was the kind of person Yoo Hyeong-in was.
I turned my gaze elsewhere.
Among the crowd, one figure stood out distinctly—a fortunate bastard with a handsome face and impressive height.
Yeon Socheon. That’s where he was.
He too seemed to be searching for traces while scanning his surroundings, and I noticed others lingering near him.
All of them were trying to attach themselves to Yeon Socheon, hoping to catch his attention.
Of course they were.
‘After all, our group consists of those who fall slightly short.’
It was strange that Yeon Socheon had even joined this group in the first place.
Normally, he should have been accompanying the Daeju directly.
‘…The fact that he’s suddenly here.’
Yeon Socheon must have pulled some strings.
And the reason was likely.
‘Me.’
I suspected I was the cause.
‘Tch….’
It felt like an annoying entanglement.
In fact, I could see Yeon Socheon glancing over here repeatedly while working.
‘Bastard, just focus on your work. Why are you looking?’
The others were working so hard just to catch Yeon Socheon’s eye.
Wait. Could it be that only I’m not working?
It seemed that way.
No, that’s definitely it.
Excluding me, there were seven group members, and all of them were moving busily.
‘Hmm.’
I should at least pretend to search.
With that judgment, I moved my body casually.
I rummaged through the grass while rolling my eyes around.
It was to make it look like I was searching for something, but simultaneously, I was praying inwardly.
‘…Don’t let anything appear.’
Please, let nothing show up.
If something must appear, let it be somewhere else. With that thought, as I was moving, I swept aside the grass in front of me with a rustle.
I cleared it away carelessly because it was in the way.
“…Huh.”
Upon seeing what lay ahead, I froze involuntarily.
‘…Damn?’
Why is life always so miserable?
Even from my past life, my luck was terrible, but could it really be this bad?
“Yeon Disciple. What’s wrong?”
Yoo Hyeong-in approached, seeing me frozen.
He probably wondered if I’d discovered something.
“Hm?”
Yoo Hyeong-in tilted his head, looking at the same spot I was observing.
To him, there was nothing there.
But.
‘Damn it.’
What I saw was different.
‘That’s a Spirit Remnant.’
A location that appeared to be an ordinary grassland.
Yet something faintly visible hovered above it.
The moment I discovered it, I had to narrow my eyes.
A Spirit Remnant.
The trace of a dead soul. More precisely….
‘A soul murdered by another.’
Those that vanished without becoming ghosts.
‘Which means someone died here.’
I turned my gaze and surveyed the surroundings.
There were no traces visible to my eyes.
‘Spirit Remnants typically fade before seven days pass.’
Yet the Spirit Remnant before me hadn’t disappeared, meaning it hadn’t occurred long ago.
Judging by its condition, less than four days had passed.
‘But there’s no trace at all?’
This meant the body had been removed and all evidence erased.
In a word, the situation was….
‘Extremely dangerous.’
Someone had died just days ago, yet left no trace.
Moreover, despite being not far from the Anhui Branch, nothing had been reported, which meant.
‘I need to get out of here.’
Something existed in this place.
This required escape.
Whatever it was, I had to leave.
Even if discovered, it should be the First Division’s combat unit that intervenes.
It could very well be the Sanchen Gwiin as mentioned, so I had to leave immediately.
Professional duty as a member of the Martial Alliance?
To hell with it. My life took priority right now.
“Junior?”
I spoke while maintaining composure.
“It’s nothing. Let’s search in another direction instead….”
“Wait.”
“Se—!”
Despite my words, Yoo Hyeong-in casually walked forward and began examining the ground.
“….”
Then I scrunched up my face.
As if I’d discovered something.
“Leader.”
At Yoo Hyeong-in’s low voice, everyone rushed over in an instant.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
At the Leader’s words, Yoo Hyeong-in grabbed some soil and sniffed it.
“…There’s a scent of blood mixed in.”
At those words, the atmosphere among all present sank.
Mine in particular darkened considerably. For a different reason than the others.
‘Damn it. Blood scent? What blood scent?’
Several days must have already passed—where was this blood scent coming from?
Did this master have a nose like a dog’s? It was absurd.
But it seemed only I thought so, as the Leader asked Yoo Hyeong-in with a hardened expression.
“Could it be from a wild animal?”
“For that to be the case, there aren’t even traces of animals nearby….”
Yoo Hyeong-in’s face, as he checked here and there, was devoid of its usual smile.
“There are no other traces whatsoever.”
At Yoo Hyeong-in’s words, the Leader nodded.
“True. Now that I look, it does seem artificial.”
Artificial? What’s artificial about it?
It’s just a forest. Even if it is, so what.
I desperately hoped it would be so.
“Something seems suspicious about this.”
“We’ll conduct a search of this area. Song-yeok! Go back to headquarters right now and report this!”
“Yes!”
“L-Leader. That’s something I, as the youngest, should do….”
“You’re so slow it takes forever just to get there! Shut up and do your job!”
I’d tried to slip away subtly, but failed.
I was done for.
The conversation proceeded without me saying a word.
At this rate… doesn’t it look like I discovered something?
“Well done, junior! You’ve accomplished something great!”
“No… Senior, that’s not it….”
“No, really. You’re amazing. Bang Disciple. How did you know about this? Even ghosts would weep.”
“…Right. I feel like I should be the one weeping.”
Creak.
I ground my teeth and held back a sigh.
…Why did I have to be the one to discover this?
If I’d just turned my head away at first sight, it would’ve been fine, but the members’ faces were already burning with enthusiasm, as if they could already rack up a case.
In the midst of it all, Yeon Socheon observed me with a peculiar gaze.
It was the look of someone who thought, “I knew it.”
Seeing that expression, I tried to speak hastily.
“This is just a coincidence….”
“Hey! You fool! Move faster!”
Damn it.
Before I could finish speaking, the Leader’s roar forced my legs into motion.
Fine, since things had come to this.
‘I’ll pretend to search and slip away. I can just slink back out later.’
I wasn’t sure if this was truly a trace of Sanchen Gwiin, but the ominous premonition remained the same.
Either way, having found something gave me a tactical advantage.
With that thought, I began moving.
I started my (pretend) search immediately.
My eyes darted about as I wandered here and there.
‘Not there. Not there either.’
I searched only in places where there were no traces, moving carefully.
I thought those areas would be safe.
But as I moved about like this for a short while.
‘There’s one here too… and there… there’s one there as well?’
The further I walked, the stranger things became.
‘Why are there so many?’
With every step, traces appeared.
They were here and there.
Before long, the number of traces I’d seen exceeded ten.
“….”
I stopped in my tracks, cold sweat breaking across my skin.
The further I went, the clearer the traces became.
Clear traces meant they hadn’t been dead long.
When I realized the timeframe had narrowed to within a single day, I finally understood.
‘…This.’
Something was terribly wrong.
Very wrong indeed.

* * *
I glanced to the side with trembling eyes.
The trace was far too vivid.
It appeared someone had died here—yesterday, or perhaps just this dawn.
What in the world had transpired in this place to leave such a mark?
And yet.
‘Of all places, that trace was found here.’
I lifted my gaze and looked beyond the trace.
There stood a dungeon.
A dungeon so concealed within the Western Forest that I’d never suspected its existence.
The moment I saw it, I understood.
“Ugh….”
My luck was absolutely abysmal.
It seemed I’d stumbled upon something significant.

* * *
A decidedly strange dungeon.
Upon discovering it, my natural course of action was to inform the team members.
“Was there something like this in the Western Forest?”
“It’s certainly a dungeon I’ve never seen before.”
Even those who had served as team members for five or six years claimed they’d never laid eyes on it.
It was partly because we never patrolled the deeper areas, but even so, it was peculiar that no one knew of it.
No, peculiar wasn’t the right word.
‘It’s suspicious.’
That such a dungeon would be discovered now of all times.
Especially when others were searching frantically for any trace of evidence.
‘Tsk….’
Yet I stood before evidence far too clear to ignore.
A trace impossibly vivid.
It appeared to be no more than five hours old.
Someone had been killed within this place.
Right at the dungeon’s entrance, no less.
‘I feel it.’
The sensation of misfortune.
That eerie, sickening feeling coursed through my entire body.
“Hmm…. It will take roughly an hour for reinforcements to arrive from the Main Sect.”
Fifteen minutes to travel there, approximately twenty minutes to gather personnel and return.
That was the timeline the Leader had estimated, and everyone shared this assessment.
“Leader. What should we do?”
What should we do? What could we possibly do.
It’s obviously dangerous just looking at it.
‘Of course, I should retreat first and bring reinforcements.’
This unknown place—we have only eight people.
Moreover, the reinforcements we’re supposed to call won’t even know the exact location of this dungeon.
The right move was to return now and prepare properly.
But.
“We’re going in.”
The Leader’s command was frustratingly reckless.
“…What did you say?”
Before I could stop myself, I questioned him back.
“We’re going in there?”
At my words, the Leader’s gaze turned toward me.
“Fool. Are you really raising your voice at me right now?”
“How am I supposed to lower my voice in this situation? Are you insane, Leader?”
“This bastard?”
The Leader’s face twisted.
I trembled slightly, expecting another blow, but something felt different from usual.
You could see it in his eyes.
The Leader’s eyes were filled with a different emotion now.
“No matter how much you crave merit, this isn’t right.”
The initial discovery of the dungeon.
The traces we found around it.
And soon there would be a promotion evaluation.
Because of that, the Leader’s eyes were coveting the achievements that lay ahead.
“Are we a combat unit? We’re a search team.”
“So we’re going in to search. What’s the problem?”
“We’ve searched enough and found this place. What’s left is the First Division’s job. It’s not our responsibility. Frankly, if Sanchen Gwiin is inside, could we even win?”
Setting aside the matter of victory or defeat altogether.
If we’ve come this far, not entering is the right call.
What did this Leader learn during the Martial Alliance search training? Did he forget everything?
Or is he pretending not to know while he actually does?
From my perspective, it seemed like the latter.
Even if Sanchen Gwiin isn’t inside, I didn’t want to go in any further given the strange atmosphere and ominous feeling.
“I’m not going. I’m returning to the Main Sect to report.”
“What?”
At my words, the Leader’s face crumpled even further.
“Fool. Are you saying you’re disobeying a superior’s orders?”
He calls me fool even with Yeon Socheon right beside him. He seemed furious beyond measure.
“It’s not disobedience—I’m simply following the Branch’s guidelines and regulations.”
But with my life on the line, I didn’t back down either.
“You’re the one breaking that rule right now, Leader. So you’re disobeying the Branch’s orders? Fine then, I’ll just accept insubordination. I’ll take whatever punishment comes—a few months of reduced pay or whatever.”
So what if my wages get cut for a few months?
Is money more important than my life? I didn’t think so.
I was done with all of it.
I would survive. Even if this mission somehow succeeded, I wouldn’t envy it one bit.
I trusted my instincts.
I spat out those words with such vehemence, ready to head straight back to the Branch.
“Ha. The First Division Leader said the same thing. Now some worthless bastard dares to disrespect me?”
The Leader’s voice came from unnervingly close.
“Leader—! That’s—!”
Yoo Hyeong-in rushed to call out to the Leader, but—
Snap! The Leader’s hand grabbed the back of my neck first.
“Huh?”
“You say you can’t go in because you don’t know what’s there? Then I’ll send you in myself.”
“Wait—!”
The Leader, a second-rate martial artist, gripped me and exerted his full strength.
Then he hurled me toward the dungeon.
Whoooosh!
By the time I realized what was happening, my body was flying through the air.
Beyond my twisted vision, I could see the Leader’s contemptible grin.
Seeing that smile, I tried to curse—
“You bastard—!”
Crash!
“Ugh!”
My body hit the ground and tumbled across it.
The dungeon, surprisingly, sloped downward.
A gentle decline—not too steep, not too shallow.
My body, propelled by the impact, rolled endlessly down the slope.
Thump-thump-thump! Thud!
By the time my rolling body finally came to a stop—
“Cough.”
I coughed and pushed myself upright.
“Ptui!”
I spat out the dirt that had filled my mouth.
‘He just threw me in like that…?’
The man was truly insane.
He threw me in without knowing what was inside the dungeon—which meant he didn’t care whether I lived or died.
‘Is that even human?’
I wanted to scream right then, but I held back.
I’d already cried out once, and I had no idea what state I was in, so I couldn’t afford to make noise.
Pitch-black darkness.
All that filled my vision was shadow.
I steadied my breathing, my entire body taut with tension.
Would my eyes adjust enough to see anything at all?
My body trembled at even the faintest sound.
‘Damp.’
The interior of the dungeon was remarkably humid.
Moisture hung in the air, and the soil clinging to my body was soaked through.
Where was the water flowing from?
Beyond that.
‘What is this stench?’
An indescribable fishy reek permeated everything.
A stench sharp enough to make my nostrils burn.
I was furrowing my brow, my nerves wound tight, when—
Thud! Thud-thud!
Someone tumbled in behind me.
It was the other team members.
“Junior! Are you alright——!”
“Ha, see? Fool. There’s nothing in here worth——.”
“Huh….”
The team members who entered after me trailed off mid-sentence, their faces draining of color.
What was wrong with them?
Everyone’s expression had gone rigid as they stared straight ahead, so the Leader gestured backward with his hand.
One of the team members quickly pulled a wooden stick and flint stone from his pouch and struck a spark.
Crack-crack! Whoosh!
Flames erupted, illuminating the interior of the dungeon.
In that instant.
“…!!”
My stomach lurched at the sight before me.
The dungeon was filled with human corpses.
Some were in advanced stages of decomposition, while others remained relatively intact.
Then surely——
‘…Insane.’
The reason the soil was damp was because of blood seeping from the bodies.
This acrid, fishy stench was entirely the reek of blood.
Bile rose in my throat.
My body reacted of its own accord.
I clamped my hand over my mouth and examined the robes the corpses wore.
All the bodies were dressed in identical garments.
Martial robes of blue fabric embroidered with gray thread.
The patterns embroidered on the robes were far too distinctive to mistake.
‘…Namgung?’
The Great Namgung Clan.
One of the Five Great Families of the Orthodox Sect responsible for Anhui.
These corpses all belonged to them.
“This can’t be…!”
Someone’s voice burst out at the sight.
It was Yeon Socheon.
His eyes betrayed utter disbelief.
His reaction was decidedly strange, but this wasn’t the time to dwell on such details.
‘Dangerous. This is truly dangerous.’
I swallowed the rising nausea and forced strength into my trembling legs.
I had to move.
Before I could even comprehend what was happening, I needed to escape this place first.
“Leader… We need to get out of here first….”
“Ah, so you’ve finally arrived.”
“…!”
An unfamiliar voice echoed.
Whoosh.
Then came the sound of wind. I wondered what it meant.
Slice—!
Thud. Roll.
Something was severed beside me and tumbled against my feet.
“Gasp!?”
I looked down to see what it was, my eyes widening.
A human head.
Dongbaek-u, a senior from my division.
His severed head lay at my feet.
Thump—!
His headless body beside him collapsed as well.
“This wasn’t part of the plan, you see.”
A figure emerged from the darkness, voice preceding him.
A man with a body as massive as my own frame, shouldering something equally immense.
One eye covered by a patch, a great scar cleaving across his face.
And.
A towering giant cloaked in an overwhelming aura of death.
Seeing him, I spoke his name.
“…Sanchen Gwiin.”
Likely the Heretical Sect member responsible for creating this mountain of corpses.
Unluckily, I had finally encountered him.

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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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