The World’s Greatest is Dead

Bang Sung-Yun looked around, leaving behind the Poison King. The ground appeared flat. It didn’t seem like the usual stone floor, but rather one that had gone through some processing.

“…and the height isn’t that tall either.”

It was roughly the height of two or three stacked individuals.

It wasn’t particularly high.

“It’s spacious… but it’s wide open, making it easy to survey.”

Except for the luminous orb embedded in the ceiling, nothing stood out. What could this place possibly be for? Such questions just kept bubbling up.

“It doesn’t seem like it was built to store something.”

Then, what was its purpose? My mind was occupied with such thoughts.

『So, what was this place made for?』

Yu Chun-gil asked the Poison Sovereign what I was so curious about, as if he had been waiting for it. It felt refreshing to have my question voiced.

『Oh, this is just a passage. It has doors set up everywhere to make traveling to other places easier.』

Doors? I looked around at the Poison Sovereign’s words.

Even after checking here and there, I couldn’t see anything resembling a door.

『You need to activate the mechanism to go to other places. There are eight doors in total, but only three are actually in use.』

“Three…”

It was fewer than I expected. Should I be relieved or disappointed?

From my perspective, it was fortunate.

Hearing that, I looked at the Poison King.

Coincidentally, he was also looking at me.

“Do you see anything?”

Turning my gaze slightly at the Poison King’s question, I saw where Chun Uijin and Do Hyung were. I focused on Do Hyung’s side.

I saw a large firefly moving around Do Hyung. It was a Guardian Spirit, and a rather high-ranking one.

I carefully observed the movement of the light.

“It doesn’t seem very aggressive.”

The Guardian Spirit wasn’t sending warnings. If there were any dangerous situations, it would’ve reacted, but luckily, the Guardian Spirit remained calm.

Then, what should I do now?

Considering my next step, I looked back at the Poison King.

“I can’t figure out anything for now.”

I pretended to be ignorant. I wanted to see his reaction since something was bothering him.

Hearing my words, the Poison King furrowed his brow slightly.

“First, search around.”

He ordered the Tang family members who had come with him to search around.

Upon hearing that, the group moved. I believe they had mentioned being formations experts and mechanism specialists earlier?

They began examining the surroundings with tense expressions.

They were so cautious that each step seemed like a journey of a thousand miles. It seemed foolish, but at the same time, it made sense.

“People exploded trying to open the door, didn’t they?”

I heard that people died while meddling with the Poison Sovereign’s notes.

What kind of mechanisms could be lurking inside? Considering that, their cautious approach was reasonable.

Even Chun Uijin and Do Hyung seemed extremely tense, ready to react to any unexpected situation.

They looked prepared to respond immediately if something happened.

It wasn’t a bad idea. Indeed, being prepared for danger was commendable, but…

『Oh, there’s nothing set up here.』

“…”

Hearing the Poison Sovereign’s words afterwards, I couldn’t help but swipe my face.

“… Nothing set up here?”

So, even though there were mechanisms everywhere else, there was nothing here?

Considering that, I wondered if I should tell them.

Everyone was moving around, breaking out in cold sweat, examining every corner as if not wanting to miss even a speck of dust.

If I left them like that, they’d be at it for quite a while.

“Hmm…”

After contemplating, I decided to let it be.

There was nothing much I could say to improve the situation right now.

So, let’s leave it for now.

“If they stop eventually, I’ll step in then.”

I thought it wouldn’t be long before they halted their search.

But…

It took longer than I expected for the search to stop.

* * *

Not sure how much time had passed. It must have been at least two full hours when, “There is nothing to be found.”

A man drenched in sweat reported to the Poison King.

He was so drenched that it seemed like he had been caught in a rainstorm, but it was all cold sweat.

“Nothing found?”

“We searched thoroughly, but there’s no immediate sign of anything unusual…”

“….”

Hearing the man’s words, the Poison King merely furrowed his brow deeper.

He didn’t seem to trust it completely.

They had searched this vast place thoroughly, and yet nothing was found.

It seemed quite strange that neither a single trap nor any peculiar point was discovered.

“…This is strange.”

The Poison King stroked his chin, lost in thought.

It seemed he couldn’t understand it no matter how much he listened.

Watching him, I slowly got up from the floor where I had been sitting.

“Ugh…”

Having sat for so long, my whole body felt stiff.

I patted my back as I stood up.

‘Is it over now…?’

As I stretched, I looked towards the Poison King. Seeing the men drenched in sweat made me swallow awkwardly.

I thought they would find it easily.

‘I didn’t expect it would take this long to find.’

I hadn’t known it would take hours of searching.

I expected it to be over soon, but it seemed I had overestimated them.

I felt even more sorry because of that.

‘I should have just told them.’

I should have told them from the start. Such thoughts flickered briefly.

‘… No, it wasn’t the right situation.’

It wasn’t a situation to tell. One shouldn’t just pretend to know everything.

It was risky to handle everything under the pretext of seeing things.

That’s how lies usually are.

‘A lie must always contain at least a portion of the truth.’

For a lie to be convincing, it must have a bit of the truth mixed in.

So, I calculated that it would be better not to act this time.

Of course.

『Now, isn’t it time to move? Child, come on, start walking!』

It was exhausting hearing the constant complaints of Poison Sovereign from above for several hours.

『Oh, shut up. You’re making me dizzy. How long are you going to whine?』

Though Yu Chun-gil occasionally lashed out in anger, it didn’t stop Poison Sovereign’s chatter.

Oh, it was maddening.

Listening to the complaints might be tolerable a few times, but hearing it incessantly for hours was too much.

‘…That old man keeps whining, too.’

Even if a beautiful woman were doing it, it would be annoying.

Since the old man kept doing it, it made me extremely irritated.

I wanted to put him to rest with all my heart.

‘…What on earth are they looking for?’

What could they be searching for with such obsession?

‘Even though they’re already dead.’

The regrets of the deceased are always lingering…

‘It’s just a sword anyways.’

They merely asked for a sword to be retrieved.

Why were they so desperate?

‘And speaking of which.’

The Poison King’s state wasn’t very different.

Finding nothing evidently changed his face significantly.

He seemed half troubled and half annoyed.

Though I had only seen the Poison King for a few days, it was the first time he expressed his emotions so clearly.

‘Both of them are so weird.’

I stood up, having grasped the situation.

Then, I strode towards the wall.

“Whoa, it’s dangerous to move like that!”

A sweaty man warned me in alarm as he saw me move.

“You said you already checked everything.”

I waved my hand in response.

“Young master Bang!”

Chun Uijin quickly followed me.

The same was true for Do Hyung.

Stepping lightly, I stood right before the wall.

“Hmm…”

Pretending to examine it deeply, my gaze had already locked onto a specific spot.

A mere crevice in the wall.

I reached for it without hesitation.

“Gasp!”

The man seeing this gasped in astonishment.

It was obviously a suspicious hole. It seemed he was shocked to see my hand inside it.

Anyway, they had examined this place.

I saw earlier that they had tried pushing and pulling it.

However,

‘…Unfortunately, that’s not the answer.’

This wasn’t something you could open by pushing or pulling.

According to Poison Sovereign, *Krrk!*

You had to turn this door, not just push or pull it.

I saw the men attempt turning it earlier, but important thing was:
‘How many times to turn?’

The exact number was four and a half turns.

It had to be turned exactly that many times, no more, no less.

Applying force, I turned the circular crevice, making it grind as it rotated.

After turning it four and a half times, I pulled it towards me.

*Thud, thud, thud!!!!*

The door opened. Dust rose in clouds. I held my breath quickly.

“Ugh…”

The door was heavy, seemingly due to the stone material, making it hard to open.

After a fair bit of grunting, I finally managed to open it.

“Though I couldn’t open it completely, it was enough to see inside.”

“… Huh…!”

“How…?”

The men who had been investigating all around looked at me in astonishment.

The Poison King also widened his eyes.

“… Hoo…”

I grabbed the door with all my might, opened it, and addressed them while looking at them.

“… No, I saw it turning a while ago. I thought I could open it if I turned it a few times, and it worked?”

I laughed awkwardly. No one reacted.

What I saw were the somehow pitiful expressions of the men, the twinkling eyes of Chun Uijin staring at me, and the still astonished Do Hyung.

‘… Their eyes are frightening.’

It was the Poison King glaring at me for some reason.

* * *

Everyone moved into the room that had opened.

Even then, no one let their guard down.

It was suddenly opened, and no one knew what might be inside.

‘It’s dark.’

Unlike outside, it was so dark inside that it was hard to see anything.

‘Is it because of the difference in night pearls?’

The outside was illuminated by night pearls, but even so, it was too dark inside.

Even with the door open, no light seemed to penetrate the room at all.

Sensing an eerie discomfort, I focused my eyes.

*Swish*

Energy moved from my dantian as the Moon Eye shone.

‘Oh.’

Finally, the dark room came into view.

It was definitely good to use what I had learned.

As the suffocating feeling subsided, I surveyed the space in detail.

‘Hmm…’

The room was distinctly smaller than the outside.

Especially since there were items filling the space, making it feel even smaller.

Yes, items.

‘There’s something here.’

We finally entered the storage room and saw the items.

And they weren’t just a few, it was filled to the brim.

What were these items filling the space? There was no need to deliberately check.

“Swords…?”

Chun Uijin said, squinting heavily as if he couldn’t see well.

“These… seem to be all swords?”

“Yes, it looks that way to me too.”

From the walls to the floor.

The space was filled with, surprisingly, swords.

There were other types of weapons scattered here and there, but most of them were swords.

Even more.

‘… Their quality is on another level.’

They were far superior to ordinary swords.

Just at a glance, even I could feel they were worthy of being called famous swords.

Even the swords from the Iron Workshop seemed inferior to these.

Even someone like me who didn’t know much about swords could see their quality, so those who knew better would surely recognize their value even more.

“This is…”

“Senior brother… All these swords…”

Do Hyung and Chun Uijin were also amazed by the swords.

For Chun Uijin, it was understandable, but for the usually quiet Do Hyung to react loudly, the swords must indeed be exceptional.

‘So, is this where the Poison Sovereign’s treasures are stored?’

With so many famous swords, it had to be.

Thinking so, I then looked toward the Poison King.

‘… Hm?’

Seeing the Poison King, I narrowed my eyes.

He was searching the area meticulously as if he was looking for something.

But his expression was still grim like before.

Which meant.

‘… He’s not finding what he’s looking for?’

Did that mean what the Poison King was after wasn’t here?

‘Didn’t he come here for the treasure?’

Then, why did he come to the storage room?

Unable to grasp the Poison King’s intention, I tried to think.

『… Where could it be?』

The voice of the Poison Sovereign, the owner of this storage room, echoed.

He was busy examining the stored swords, looking around hurriedly.

Indeed.

That guy came here looking for a sword.

‘What kind of sword is he looking for?’

What kind of sword is it that he is so desperate to find by frantically searching?

As I watched him with curiosity,『… I’m sure it’s here somewhere.』

The Poison Sovereign murmured softly.

『The Heavenly Demon Sword… I was certain I left it here somewhere, but where could it be…』

“… What?”

I was frozen solid at his words.

… What sword…?