The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 82

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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 082
Whoooosh.
Tree leaves scatter in the wind, their green vitality still clinging to the season.
Caught in the gentle breeze, the leaves swirled and brushed against my cheek.
The sensation was impossibly cold.
Was it the weather? That couldn’t be. The weather was anything but cold right now.
Summer heat would arrive soon enough. There was no reason for coldness.
Yet the chill I felt now came not from skin or flesh, but from the coldness my soul perceived.
A spiritual frost.
A chill born from the soul itself.
Feeling the coolness grip my entire body, I hardened my expression.
One wrong move and it would show.
I had to endure it somehow.
‘What is this?’
My thoughts raced simultaneously.
‘How did he possibly know?’
Dokjon stood before me, regarding me with an unsettling gaze.
Unless I’d misheard, he had clearly said something to me.
‘You know what I see?’
How did he know?
I was certain I hadn’t revealed anything.
I’d managed my expression with all my strength.
I hadn’t swallowed hard, and I’d done my best to keep my eyes from trembling.
‘It can’t be.’
Don’t waver.
‘I made no mistakes.’
I hadn’t made a mistake. Since arriving in Sichuan and meeting Dokjon’s soul, I rapidly reviewed everything I’d done.
‘There’s nothing.’
Even reconsidering, there were no mistakes.
It meant I hadn’t done anything that would allow him to notice I could see ghosts.
But then.
‘Is he testing me?’
Was he probing me? That was likely, but it was problematic in its own right.
‘Why would he test me?’
Where did his suspicion come from? If I truly made no mistakes, I shouldn’t have aroused suspicion at all.
The very fact that Dokjon had noticed something and was testing me was the problem.
It meant something had leaked out, however slightly.
‘Where exactly…?’
My encounters with Dokjon hadn’t been many.
The first was in Dokuou’s office, if I recalled correctly.
At most, three times after that.
Including the place where Dang Yeeran was, it was three times total.
What action among those occasions could have given Dokjon reason for suspicion?
No matter how much I thought about it, there was nothing.
Yet he’s testing me—what does that even mean?
‘Tch.’
I suppressed my swelling doubts and took another step forward.
I couldn’t let it show.
Whether he was testing me or harboring some inexplicable certainty.
In the end, there was only one method I could choose.
‘Play dumb.’
Pretend ignorance even if I knew.
There was nothing I could do but feign innocence.
I would simply pass by. The moment I tried to step forward with that resolve.
[Are you trying to play dumb?]
Dokjon looked at me and let out a soft chuckle.
[Certainly, being that fool’s successor, you’re quite skilled at hiding things.]
My ears perked up slightly at the mention of Yoo Cheon-gil.
[Listen, child.]
Whoosh.
‘…!’
Dokjon appeared right before my face. If I hadn’t been focused, I would have jumped in fright.
[Right now, I don’t have the leisure to consider your circumstances.]
Along with his words, the chill I felt grew more intense.
My fingertips trembled without my control.
I endured it. I endured it by any means necessary.
‘What kind of energy is this?’
I was astounded by the sensations coursing through my body.
Yoo Cheon-gil and that old man, and Dokjon as well.
A ghost already dead, yet capable of exerting such influence.
It was almost miraculous to wonder how they must have lived in life to become like this.
‘Damn it.’
I cursed inwardly without end.
[Answer me. Can you not see?]
“….”
This time too, I ignored him. I didn’t stop walking either.
I had to escape by any means possible.
‘One clinging ghost is already more than I can handle, I can’t afford to add another here.’
My mind was filled with the thought of fleeing immediately, but Dokjon too?
It was impossible.
‘If that happens, I’ll truly ruin my life.’
This was something I absolutely could not concede on. Thus, just as I was about to walk away again.
[So you have no intention of answering. Fine.]
Dokjon spoke and reached out his hand toward me.
The tips of his fingers were blackened with soot. The unnaturally dark coloring was ominous beyond measure.
‘It won’t reach me.’
Dokjon knew full well it would never reach me.
‘…It shouldn’t reach, right?’
A wave of unease suddenly washed over me.
His fingertips drew ever closer to my eyes.
Should I dodge? In that final moment of hesitation.
[Hold it.]
Crack—!
A massive hand shot out and seized Dokjon’s skeletal wrist.
[I went through all the trouble of coating it, and you’re trying to cut in line? How dare you.]
[…Tch.]
Dokjon’s face twisted as he looked at the owner of that voice.
싸아아아—
The already intense cold aura grew even more ferocious.
Goosebumps erupted across my skin beneath my clothes.
[As expected, you were here.]
Dokjon bit his lip as if he’d known it all along.
Another ghost who witnessed this.
Yoo Cheon-gil laughed savagely and spoke to Dokjon.
[It’s been a while. Dang Gyeon.]
In that instant.
Kaaaaaaaaa—!!!
The cold aura reached its peak with a scream.
“Ugh….”
I spat out blood and clenched my fists.
[A wretch who should have been dead long ago—what lingering attachment keeps you wandering this mortal realm?]
Dokjon growled, and Yoo Cheon-gil chuckled before responding.
[Who are you to speak? Look at yourself first. With such overwhelming regrets, crawling about pathetically—have you no shame to even lift your head? You should be embarrassed.]
[…You bastard?]
Dokjon glared at Yoo Cheon-gil, and he twisted his face in return, refusing to back down.
‘Wow.’
I couldn’t help but gasp in admiration at the sight.
These old men looked genuinely terrifying.
Dokjon was frighteningly sinister.
Yoo Cheon-gil was simply, impossibly terrifying.
[Why? Pissed off? Come on, it’s been a while—let me fold you up nice and clean.]
[No matter how many years pass, that crude mouth of yours never changes. It’s because you’re like that the Martial Alliance got dragged through the mud.]
[Dragged through the mud? Nonsense. Jin handles everything anyway, so why would I take the blame? Do you know how much money came in as sponsorship when I was the Alliance Leader?]
[Not interested.]
[What? You bastard—?]
“….”
The conversation was utterly crude. Could this really be the dialogue of heroes who saved the world?
A strange complexity swept through my mind.
[Anyway.]
In the midst of their bickering, Yoo Cheon-gil turned and presented his broad back before me.
[I’ve already claimed this child. Back off, Dang Gyeon.]
His low voice carried an eerie resonance.
[Surely you know what that means.]
Something stirred within me. The moment I heard Yoo Cheon-gil’s voice, words erupted from my chest.
Stay alert. What stands before you is no ordinary being.
[Dang Gyeon, I despise anyone touching what’s mine more than anything in this world.]
A chill ran down my spine.
My back drenched with sweat from just those words.
I couldn’t help but perspire profusely.
Tap, tap.
Yoo Cheon-gil’s hand patted the crown of my head. Of course, I felt nothing.
[…You.]
Dokjon’s brow furrowed deeply at the sight.
Then.
[Could it be.]
His eyes widened as if he’d grasped something.
[Yes, that’s it.]
[What is?]
[I wondered why you were lingering in this world like this, but now I understand….]
Dokjon spoke to Yoo Cheon-gil as if he’d finally realized something.
[I thought there was a resemblance, but this child—could he be your hidden offspring…!]
“Insane—what kind of ridiculous nonsense is that? There’s no way this handsome face could come from that old man—”
Ah.
The moment the words left my mouth, I shut it.
It was such a stupid thing to say that I reacted without thinking.
[….]
[….]
The gazes of both ghosts fixed upon me.
Feeling their stares, I awkwardly scratched the back of my head.
“…Oh dear…. Oops, I made a mistake…?”
I tried to brush it off with words.
But of course, that was never going to work.

* * *
I returned to my residence.
Upon arriving, I could already feel the sun gradually setting.
The moment I stepped inside, I lit a lamp.
In the now somewhat brighter room, I had to hide my darkened expression.
And before me stood—
[…What a pathetic wretch.]
Yoo Cheon-gil was staring at me with eyes full of contempt, while Dokjon sat beside him, sending me an enigmatic gaze.
“Ahem….”
I let out an awkward cough, but it did nothing to stop Yoo Cheon-gil’s words.
[You managed to hold back so well, and you couldn’t endure just one thing? You’ve ruined everything?]
“…No, I had no choice in the matter.”
[No choice? What exactly made this unavoidable?]
Yoo Cheon-gil spoke as though he genuinely couldn’t understand.
“No, listen here.”
I couldn’t help but feel wronged.
“How could a son like me come from your face? At least I need to explain this.”
From a family with nothing to its name, the only thing I could possess was my appearance.
I was born with good looks, inheriting my father’s face—the one he used to make his living—only to be told I resembled this fierce-looking old man. How could I possibly accept that?
I couldn’t.
[…Are you insane?]
Yoo Cheon-gil recoiled at my sincere words.
[Just for that reason? And what’s wrong with me anyway?]
“What do you mean ‘what’s wrong’? Are you asking because you don’t know…?”
[Of course! By these standards, I’m quite handsome for a merchant! Do you know how many women I seduced with my face back in my youth?]
“Did you perhaps bury your conscience along with yourself when you passed? Otherwise, I can’t make sense of what you’re saying.”
[You little bastard…?]
Yoo Cheon-gil’s brow furrowed with cross-shaped veins of anger.
Just as he was about to start growling and quarreling—
[…Wouldn’t it be better to stop?]
Dokjon interjected smoothly.
[That’s not really the issue right now, is it…?]
Even a ghost long dead could wear such a weary expression.
Looking at Dokjon, I realized I’d learned something else.
[So then, regardless… boy. You’re saying you can see me, aren’t you?]
Dokjon asked, looking at me. Upon hearing that, I nodded with an uncomfortable expression.
“…Yes.”
[As expected.]
Dokjon responded as if he had already known. Seeing that, I asked this time.
“…How did you know?”
How on earth could he have found out?
It was something that should have been absolutely impossible to discover by my calculations.
Dokjon approached with an almost certain confidence, which was strange to me, so I decided to ask directly since I was already exposed.
Then.
[It shows.]
Dokjon produced an unexpected answer.
“It shows?”
What does that mean? Does he mean it shows that I can see ghosts?
[Child. It means I can see that you see me.]
“…What do you mean?”
I requested a more detailed explanation.
Fortunately, Dokjon provided me with an explanation after hearing my words.
However.
[The way you deliberately try not to look at me, the way you hide what you can see, the way you try to ignore other things—I sense the aura that comes from those small, minute differences.]
Even after hearing it, I needed some time to understand.
‘So that means….’
In other words.
‘He realized it precisely because I tried not to look?’
The sense of incongruity that arises from intentional action.
Dokjon had grasped that.
“…Is that even possible?”
How could such a thing be? I asked again, thinking it made no sense.
[It’s possible.]
The answer came not from Dokjon, but from Yoo Cheon-gil.
[Ultimately, even minute differences are changes, and you lack the control to manage all of those actions. In other words, for a martial master who has reached a certain level, there are aspects that cannot help but be felt.]
“…So you’re saying that if a spirit is a master, they would be able to tell that I can see ghosts?”
[Hmm….]
Yoo Cheon-gil looked at me quietly for a moment, then added.
[Well. To catch a difference of this degree… there probably aren’t many people like that in the Central Plains right now….]
[Wouldn’t even reach ten.]
Dokjon nodded in agreement.
[Wouldn’t Plum Blossom see it?]
[He probably would, but that bastard will be dead soon anyway.]
[True, it’s about time for him to go. His lifespan is just unnecessarily long.]
[I thought he’d be the first to die, but the fool has lived quite a while despite his station.]
“….”
If the Plum Blossom they mentioned there is….
‘Could it possibly be the Plum Blossom One Sword…?’
The sect leader of the Hwasan Sect, one of the Nine Major Sects, and unlike the two ghosts before me, a living celestial being from beyond heaven.
If that statement were true.
‘It means it would be difficult to recognize without reaching a considerable level of mastery.’
Since he just said it wouldn’t be less than ten, I suppose that’s fortunate in a way.
‘…Put differently.’
It simply meant there could be someone among the ghosts who might recognize it.
‘Tch.’
Even if the probability was low, since the possibility existed, I needed to find a solution.
So, just as I was about to rack my brain for what to do.
[Child.]
Dokjon’s voice reached me.
[I have a request for you, one who can see me.]
As expected, it was just as I had anticipated.
‘…I knew it would come to this.’
The reason a ghost would speak to me was obvious. They all wanted to use me to resolve their lingering attachments.
Dokjon would be no different. So, should I accept this request?
‘No.’
I shook my head inwardly.
I was already overwhelmed with just Yoo Cheon-gil alone.
I couldn’t take on anything more. Therefore, I had to refuse whatever request came.
With that resolve, I opened my mouth to Dokjon.
“I apologize, but I’m afraid I’m not in a position to grant your request-”
[There is something I need you to secretly retrieve from my residence. If you bring me that one thing, I shall give you Shaolin’s Great Restoration Pill.]
“-though I suppose I could at least hear what you have to say…?”
As it always goes.
Desire inevitably overcomes reason.
…Damn 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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