The World’s Greatest is Dead

The world’s greatest martial artist had died.

This was sudden news that spread across the central plains. Though no one believed it initially, it was indeed the harsh reality.

Thirty years had passed since the end of the epic battle between orthodox and unorthodox sects, sparked by the Heavenly Demon of the Demonic Cult.

Yu Chun-gil, the Sword Saint and the greatest martial artist of his time, who had beheaded the Heavenly Demon Jang Chun and preserved peace, had passed away.

The news was confirmed by the Murim Alliance itself, so it could not be ignored.

One day, the world’s greatest martial artist died.

The cause of death was said to be a long-standing illness, and it was mentioned that Jaegal Jin, the strategist of the Murim Alliance, was with him during his final moments.

Born as the third son of the Guangdong Yu family, he became a hero who averted a massacre.

Thus, a light of his era had faded into darkness, and many who owed their lives to him wept for days on end.

Time passed like this.

More than a decade had passed.

* * *

One day, my father said to me, “My son, you are the hope of our family.”

He had said this countless times since I was around ten years old. At merely ten years old, I was at an age where one wouldn’t even understand what lay beyond the world.

It was an age too young to comprehend, yet my father always said this as he looked at me.

“There’s only you.”

“No, father. You have two other children.”

It was an incomprehensible statement. I had an older sister and an older brother. Our family had a firstborn and a first daughter, and I was the child of a concubine.

In a family with nothing notable, I was far from even being considered for the family head race. Honestly, I didn’t even want it. Why would I want to be the head of a dying family?

There was nothing to gain. Even if ordered, I would never have considered it.

“Do you still say that after looking at your brother?”

My father’s angry voice rendered me speechless for a moment.

“All he does every day is chase women, gamble in every place imaginable, and he’s about to bankrupt this household! How can I call him my child…!”

“Didn’t you do the same things in your youth, father?”

“… What did you say?”

Unable to hold back, I retorted, and his gaze sharply turned towards me. I dodged it narrowly. My father, Amorous Sword Bang Chunho, was a notorious womanizer and swordsman renowned in the Yoryeong.

That was his long-standing moniker. It was truly an embarrassing moniker to mention everywhere. But it wasn’t false. That was the sickening part.

How much of a womanizer was he? He had three children, each with a different mother.

Growing up seeing such a father, it’s no wonder my brother turned out to be a fool and a rogue. Yes, that must have been the reason why Father started harboring such twisted expectations for me.

“It must be you. You must restore our family!”

“That is supposed to be your job, father… After all, you’re the head of the family.”

“If I could have done it, would our family be in ruins?”

He sounded proud. I had nothing to say to his brazen declaration. Ah, I surely had the misfortune to have the wrong parents. I couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

“I should’ve at least pretended to be a scoundrel.”

If I had lived recklessly like my brother, perhaps I wouldn’t be in this situation, but I simply couldn’t do that. Maybe if I had grown up watching my father and brother, that could have been possible.

Unfortunately, I had a problem.

“…Ah, I really want to restart my life.”

The issue was that I had memories of my past life. Because of these memories, I couldn’t pretend to be a delinquent. I appeared somewhat smart and caught my father’s eye.

Ah, damn it. I should have appeared more foolish, but I hadn’t, and that was the regret of my life.

When did it happen?

Roughly when I was nine years old. One day, I opened my eyes and memories of my past life surfaced. I heard that I passed out from the shock when my childhood friend Youngsun rejected me.

When I first heard it, I was dumbfounded.

“What kind of ridiculous reason is that?”

Just how intense was a nine-year-old’s first love to the point of fainting from rejection?

Because of that, I realized my past life.

Because of that, I was in this mess now.

***

“You, you bastard! What did you just say?”

“You wretch! Why are you venting your frustration on me because you were dumped by Hwasun for having a small penis?”

“You, you bastard…!!”

“Oh, gentlemen. Please, calm down… calm down!”

I tried to stop the man throwing a tantrum, but it wasn’t easy. In fact, my body swayed with every move of his arm.

It was clear. This man was a martial artist.

“Jang! Hwasun said that you’re so small she doesn’t even feel anything!”

That was personal information I couldn’t care less about. I have no interest in whether this man’s penis is small or not. I just wish he would shut up.

Otherwise, seeing his face turn red, I felt he was about to do something crazy.

“You bastard! Fine, let’s both die right here!”

Crash!

As expected, the broker Jang, who was accused of having a small penis, couldn’t hold back his anger and smashed the liquor bottle he was holding.

Damn it.

This was dangerous.

I urgently spoke to Jang.

“Sir! If you swing a weapon here, you’re really in trouble!”

“Who the hell are you! Get lost!!”

Swish!

“Ugh!”

The force of Jang’s swing caused me to go flying through the air.

Thud!

“Ouch!”

I overturned the table, causing a mess.

“Oh no!”

The young attendant, witnessing this, let out a desperate cry.

Seeing him rush toward me, I quickly raised my hand to stop him.

“I’m fine! Do not come ov—”

“Oh nooo! This is the chair that the innkeeper treasures!!”

“…….”

Heh heh. Life.

I stood up with an awkward expression. At that moment, a server who was clearing chairs behind me spoke up, teary-eyed.

“Sir… Please resolve this quickly…!! If the owner comes, I’ll be dead!”

As if I didn’t want to stop this myself.

‘That guy’s throwing a fit with a bottle; what am I supposed to do about it?’

Moreover, he was a martial artist. The report claimed he was just an ordinary person.

‘Ordinary person, my foot. How is that ordinary in any sense?’

Throwing a perfectly fine man with one swing of the arm?

It was impossible unless one was a martial artist with a developed dantian.

‘Damn it, when is the backup coming?’

Everyone else was too busy to come, and I ended up being sent here, only to face this situation.

“Come here, now!”

“Eek!”

The chaos worsened as the broken bottle swung wildly.

“Haah.”

Watching the scene, I finally sighed. Simultaneously.

Clang-!

I grabbed the sword at my waist.

There was no other choice.

“Stop right there.”

My intense tone made the man freeze.

“Huh?”

“Mister, if you move any further, I can’t be responsible for what happens.”

The furious Mr. Jang glared at me, his face contorted. At that moment, I saw a slight flinch in him as he looked at my sword, just before his wrath could escalate.

Good.

It was working.

“I’m trying to be lenient here, but if you keep this up, I’ll cut you along with your arm.”

“…….”

The eerie warning finally got Mr. Jang to compli-

Whoosh-! Clang-!

“Arrgh!”

-at. But just as I thought so, a bottle flew straight to my head.

What sucked was that I tried to cut the bottle and ended up failing and getting hit.

“What the hell did you just say, you little brat!”

Furious, mr. Jang charged at me. As I tried to grip my sword tighter to make a stand.

Whoosh-!

Someone swiftly dashed into my view. They spun around and kicked Mr. Jang’s face squarely.

Thud-!

“Ugh!”

Thump-!

His hefty body crashed to the floor.

Screech.

With a chilling sound, the tip of a sword touched his neck. In no time, someone was pressing a sword to Mr. Jang’s throat.

“Don’t move.”

A sharp and clear voice resonated throughout the tavern.

“If you move. I’ll kill you.”

“……!”

Even I got goosebumps from that voice.

Mr. Jang, who had been wreaking havoc, immediately froze up at that voice.

Ah, of course, that applied to me as well.

‘……So damn frightening.’

Could there be another voice as cold as that?

Realizing this, I knew who that young man was. From the start, there were only two faces like that in this neighborhood, so it was impossible not to know.

One was that guy. The other one was me.

“…….”

While I was staring at the situation with surprised eyes, the person who had subdued Mr. Jang turned his gaze toward me. When our eyes met, I almost instinctively looked away.

His chilling gaze felt like it could cut through me.

At that moment, “What are you doing?”

“……Excuse me?”

The cold voice poured over me.

“Are you just going to stand there?”

“Ah.”

Only after hearing those words did I come to my senses. I quickly moved. I pulled out the handcuffs I had in my possession and cuffed Mr. Jang’s hands.

Click.

“Ugh……”

As he was restrained, a groan escaped Mr. Jang’s lips.

“I…… I should have killed those bastards……”

Ignoring Mr. Jang’s words, considering the arrest was successful, there were things I needed to say first.

“Well……. You don’t particularly have the right to remain silent. However, if you have any family members you want to contact……”

While I continued mumbling,

“Lust Demon, Jang Sochul. Subdued.”

“What? Excuse me?”

I quickly lifted my head and looked around.

Lust… what?

Feeling confused, I scanned my surroundings. Something felt off. When I turned around, several individuals had already entered the inn. Men in blue uniforms adorned with unique embroidery.

Seeing people dressed like me made me frown. Among them, a man at the forefront smiled at the young man.

“Member Yun, well done. The way you handled it was perfect.”

The words flowed out in a sly tone. Hearing this, I asked the man, “Chief……. What is going on here?”

At my question, the man looked at me. Unlike when he looked at the young man, his gaze was filled with disdain.

“Tsk.”

The man clicked his tongue shortly, then spoke again.

“What do you mean, what’s going on? It was an operation.”

“… An operation?”

“Yes, an operation. A search operation to catch the Lust Demon. Well, you played your part too. Thanks to you, we managed to catch the Lust Demon. Although, most of the credit goes to Member Yun.”

“What kind of bullshit is that—”

“But, are you okay? You seem to be bleeding quite a lot.”

“Excuse me?”

At the chief’s words, I wiped my forehead with my hand. And upon checking, my palm was completely red. It was all blood.

“… Heh, damn it.”

As soon as I confirmed it, I felt dizzy as if I had seen a ghost and collapsed right there. Born in Yoryeong, direct descendant of the clan head, Bang Sung-Yun. Eighteen years old.

Currently living as a low-ranking member of the Murim Alliance’s Anhui branch.

Today was yet another shitty day.

TL’s Corner:

How ironic is it to be a Lust Demon with a small PP?