The World’s Greatest is Dead

“What are you?”

The voice and tone were familiar.

It was even the same scene as before.

So white, so blindingly white that it was impossible to discern direction.

The sheer whiteness filling the surroundings was as dazzling as a snow-covered landscape.

In my hand was a sword, just like last time.

And then,

‘That guy.’

The young man with Moon Eyes was staring at me. The one with the peculiar demeanor, the one who had appeared before, was there again.

A guy who had appeared out of nowhere and killed me.

But then,

‘Again?’

Just like the previous nightmare, he appeared this time as well. The scene was exactly the same.

“What are you?” he repeated.

Even the words were the same as before. He had said that then, and now he was saying it again.

It felt like a loop.

“No intention to answer, I see. It doesn’t matter.”

Yes, that’s exactly how it was.

“…”

Realizing this, a chill ran down my spine.

His words implied that this was a repetition of the actions from the previous nightmare.

Which meant, his next words would be…

‘Since you’ll be an enemy anyway.’

“Since you’ll be an enemy anyway.”

And then,

‘And next would surely be…!’

Skk-!

With a horrifying sound, my vision blurred again.

Just like before, my neck was severed, causing my sight to fade.

As my body and head gradually separated, my mind began to feel a peculiar sense of relief.

‘I’ll wake up.’

Even though it meant dying again, as long as I could wake up from this damned dream, it was fine.

Or so I thought.

“What are you?”

‘… What?’

My eyes widened at the sound I heard as soon as I regained consciousness.

I hurriedly clutched my neck with my hand.

The severed neck was somehow reattached.

‘What…?’

I definitely just died!

‘Why?’

What the hell was going on?

I couldn’t understand it. Not only had I not woken up from the dream,

“What are you?” he repeated.

Was I experiencing the same situation again?

Unable to hide my trembling eyes, I looked forward.

The young man with Moon Eyes stared at me, exactly as he had the first time. It was as if the previous event hadn’t happened.

‘What is this…’

What on earth was happening?

“No intention to answer, I see. It doesn’t matter.”

An immense sense of déjà vu flooded over me.

It felt unnatural and chilling.

“Since you’ll be an enemy anyway.”

Skk-!

My neck was severed once again.

“… Gah…”

Gasping for breath, I staggered. As if I had never died, my body was restored.

“What are you?”

The same voice echoed.

From the cold eyes of the young man staring at me.

The indifference mixed with his rough demeanor made me bite my lip.

“What are you?” he repeated.

Having heard the question so many times, I couldn’t help but shout back while wiping my mouth.

“You answer first. What are you…?”

At that moment, my vision blurred once more.

“What are you?”

“….”

“What are you?” he repeated.

I was suddenly back at the beginning. It dawned on me that I had died again just now.

This time, I didn’t even realize I had died.

“Huff… Huff…”

Something had changed in the repetition. Although I still ended up dying, something was different.

“What does it matter to know?”

I responded in a different tone this time.

“….”

The young man’s actions changed too.

“I suppose that’s true.”

He nodded as if he understood something.

But the issue was,

“That’s not what’s important.”

Skk.

The outcome remained the same despite the change.

“What are you?”

“… Damn…this…”

I stumbled and sank to the ground. What did he want from me?

What did he seek that he was driving me into this hell?

The situation didn’t change after that.

Skk.

My neck was severed.

Skk-!

It was severed again, and again.

After more than ten, nearly twenty times,

“What are you?”

“….”

I finally realized, maybe not the first time, but by now, he had no intention of letting me go.

Repeated deaths left my mind exhausted and hollow.

What should I do?

I rolled my eyeballs. At the same time, I quickly churned my thoughts.

What was the breakthrough in this place?

What on earth did the nightmare want from me?

In the terror of death, I pondered and pondered over that.

“….”

Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind, and my eyes turned cold.

The fear of death had long invaded me, but I had always been close to it.

People always died. But knowing that it wasn’t the end, it was always just as it was.

I sought ways to move forward instead of sitting down.

“You don’t intend to answer, do you? Well, that’s fine.”

Clang-!

This time, a sharp and rough sound was heard instead of a soft one.

“Hmm?”

The opponent made a puzzled expression because I had blocked his move.

Crack-!

“Ugh!”

A groan escaped from the intense pain. It seemed my arm had broken from the block.

The sword wobbled and slowly dropped due to the broken arm.

At that moment, a sword flew at my face.

“What are you?”

“……”

I had returned to the beginning. So, I had died again? I understood. I had died once more, barely blocking a single strike, leading to my death.

“Phew…”

I heaved a deep sigh, exhaling everything inside me.

“I asked, what are you?”

How many times had I heard that same question? I couldn’t count anymore. Numbers from before no longer mattered.

From now on, it was the first time.

Grabbing my forehead while staggering, I whispered softly.

“…Left. And from top to bottom… it’s pointless to block it.”

“You don’t intend to answer, do you? Well, that’s fine.”

Along with the sound, I lowered my head.

Whoosh—!

A rough wind brushed past my head.

“Hmm?”

A puzzled reaction. Hearing that, I swung my sword.

My target was the opponent’s foot.

Smack-!!

The sword’s tip embedded into the ground. I had aimed for the foot but it was no longer there.

Crunch.

A sound of something breaking was heard.

“What are you?”

Upon hearing the words, I nodded.

It seemed what broke was my head.

“Abandon.”

I immediately discarded the plan. Aiming for the foot was pointless.

‘Then what should I do?’

Now it was the second time.

Just the second time.

How many times would this repeat?

Was there a set number? Or would it continue until the end?

When was the end?

‘Hmm.’

I didn’t know, but I understood.

‘Eventually, he won’t let me wake up easily.’

Even if I woke up like this, he wouldn’t stop the game.

Then, it meant he wanted something from me.

‘Is it that?’

Was it from the one holding the stance?

Something that I desired from him.

“……”

I raised my sword. It was an utterly terrible situation. Who would ever think of such a nightmare?

“You don’t intend to answer, do you? Well, that’s fine.”

Luckily, if it was a repetition, it was a different story.

As always.

“…Phew.”

I was confident in memorizing things.

* * *

Seventeen times.

“What are you?”

That was the count of times I had abandoned the option of blocking the sword.

If I blocked, something would break or be cut off and rendered useless.

‘Shall I try dodging then?’

“What are you?”

Forty-one times.

I discarded the option of dodging.

Thinking so, I tried.

Eighty-two times.

Shriek—!

Instead of simply blocking, I succeeded in deflecting the opponent’s stance.

The sword followed the opponent’s stance and shot into the sky.

It felt numb, stinging from my forearm up to my shoulder, but nothing was broken.

It was a success.

However,

Swoosh-!

I couldn’t block the second strike after all.

“What are you?”

One hundred and forty-two times.

I found a way.

Whoosh—!

I stimulated my qi and looked. The blooming of Moon Eye, as the old man had described. Using this brought a method.

It also helped in deflecting the first strike.

‘I can see it.’

What was the true efficacy of Moon Eye, as the old man said?

‘It’s not just about seeing the sword’s path.’

‘If you see it, it’s too late. Reacting after seeing it is the most foolish and lazy thing.’

I had asked what it meant, and Yu Chun-gil had said.

‘It’s not about seeing, but feeling it.’

‘So, your body must always be faster than your eyes.’

I understood those words.

Indeed.

‘Reacting after seeing it is slow.’

I was already slow, and thinking and moving made me even slower.

So, it took some time.

“It was interesting.”

Seven hundred and sixty-two.

A new word had been added to his vocabulary.

I deflected the second strike.

It was the number of times it took for my body to adapt to the world seen through the Moon Eye.

Instead of seeing and reacting, I moved by feeling.

It was a way that truly didn’t suit me.

But there was no alternative.

I adapted. The choice that always existed for me was that.

Deflect the first.

Dodge the second.

Then he would say it was interesting.

And then.

He would readjust his stance.

A familiar sight.

But it was the same stance I had seen back then.

‘Moon Wave?’

A sword technique that made the moon blossom with its blade.

Blue Moon Sword Dance.

Moon Wave.

He intended to unleash it.

‘What is this? In that case, where should I-‘

Slash-!

“What are you?”

“……”

Hmm, I see.

Laughter burst out of me.

‘This is incredibly difficult.’

I genuinely wanted to give up.

Should I change my approach from the beginning?

It was regrettable to throw away what I had memorized thus far, but it seemed necessary.

Three thousand and five hundred and two.

‘No.’

I returned to square one. After trying various methods and reaching the third time, I circled back to the starting point.

‘It’s not efficient.’

The other methods, unlike the initial one, were especially cost-ineffective.

Of course, that didn’t mean they were useless.

‘There’s something odd.’

I discovered his habit. It was hard to notice since our fights weren’t long, but there was definitely something peculiar.

‘His wrist is strange when he swings his sword.’

Should I say it wasn’t stable? I felt something discomforting.

It took me nearly two hundred times to confirm it wasn’t my imagination.

‘Hmm.’

I rubbed my neck.

This was the second time I died this much.

Since encountering an ill-fated evil spirit in my past life, it was the first time in this life.

‘This isn’t good.’

I was reaching my mental limit.

The goosebumps on my skin and my increasingly wild heartbeat told me so.

“……hmm.”

“What are you?”

“I’m curious about something.”

I swallowed my words. I had already asked a few times and knew.

“What?”

He answered my question. He wasn’t a strange existence merely repeating actions.

“Why do you use it that way?”

“What do you mean?”

“Moon Wave. Why do you use it like that?”

“……”

I was genuinely curious. The way he used Moon Wave was different.

Or rather, different from what I knew.

His fundamental sword technique was also oddly displeasing.

“What I’ve heard is that if you’re going to use it, do it properly…”

“I see.”

He cut off my question.

“You’re a guy from the Blue Moon Sect. I suspected it when I saw the Moon Eye.”

“… Huh?”

His words made me tilt my head.

“Bastards I’ll chew up and swallow.”

Bloodlust seeped from him.

And then.

Slash!

“What are you?”

I had to discard another attempt.

“……”

I learned that it was a part I shouldn’t provoke. Factoring that into my variables, I moved again.

* * *

Three thousand and seven hundred and four.

‘It’s definitely strange.’

The more I dissected Moon Wave, the more I was convinced.

‘What is it?’

Why did he wield it like that?

It appeared to be much faster, more accurate, and more precise.

A sword technique faithful to the fundamentals as used by Seom Sung-Gyeong.

That seemed accurate, but.

‘Is that fundamental really correct?’

I couldn’t understand.

It differed from the Moon Wave Yu Chun-gil demonstrated, which I tried to emulate.

How should I put it?

‘It lacks foundation.’

It felt lacking.

To call that crazy swordsmanship weak seemed absurd, but.

That’s how it felt to me.

Compared to the polished and clean sword technique, what Yu Chun-gil showed felt sharp and rough.

Was it just that simple difference? It didn’t seem to be.

I wanted to know. For some reason, I did.

And so, four thousand and fifty-two.

‘So that’s it.’

I started to understand why I felt discomfort with that sword technique.

The reason was.

‘Because it’s an imitation.’

Yu Chun-gil said.

The essence of the Blue Moon Sect was to make the moon rise with the sword.

But,

‘That sword doesn’t paint or rise the moon.’

It was an imitation.

That made it discomforting.

‘Why?’

Why should I be uncomfortable about this? I didn’t know anything about the Blue Moon Sect, let alone this sword.

‘It’s just forced.’

But I felt uncomfortable seeing that guy merely imitating the moon.

It wasn’t even funny.

‘Am I tired?’

I had gone insane from mental exhaustion.

To be caught up in such useless emotional play, indeed, that was true.

‘Idiot.’

The most useless thing was emotional play. I had felt the sting of it in my past life, yet here I was, still indulging in it.

‘I have a long way to go.’

It made me laugh out loud.

Suddenly, I held the sword diagonally.

Creak! Thud-!

The sword’s surface was grazed by the blade’s edge.

I no longer needed to try to remember it. It was deeply embedded in my body.

“Hmm?”

Before I could react, I held the sword’s edge diagonally with both hands. The sword’s tip was slightly angled downwards.

I held my breath and exerted all my strength into the muscles of my left arm.

Crack—!!!!

The descending sword followed the blade’s surface and struck the ground.

Once again, I had deflected the sword.

“Huh.”

I heard the sound of his breath. Originally, it wasn’t audible, but from the late 2900’s, it had been added as a reaction.

The same movement and different reaction—did this mean there was a difference in my approach?

I didn’t delve deeply into it.

Knowing wouldn’t change anything, anyway.

“Interesting.”

He bent his waist. Was it Moon Wave again this time?

As always, he was about to unleash his sword.

“……What is it?”

But this time, he opened his eyes wide, looking at me. It was his first time having such a reaction.

It was bound to be.

“No, it’s nothing.”

I bent my waist as well, just like him.

“……I just got annoyed without realizing it.”

Just looking at that sword made me angry.

So I wanted to show him.

“Do you know? The old man said something.”

Clench-! I put force into my hand. The energy in my body seeped into the sword.

“He said your sword is fake.”

“…….”

“Totally worthless.”

I said with a smile.

Then.

“You’re right.”

He also smiled. And it was a gruesome smile.

His blade moved.

Even if I predicted it, by the time I realized it, the blade would already be flying toward my neck.

At that moment, my sword wasn’t even drawn.

How could he wield such a heavy sword so lightly?

“Sigh.”

I needed time to draw my sword.

So I made a move.

Flash-!

“……!”

He hesitated. It was because my body emitted light.

“This is…!”

They called it Moonlight.

I had wondered where to use this light emitting from my body, but it turned out to be useful in situations like this.

Clang-!

I grasped the sword, and it revealed itself to the world.

While keeping my legs strong, I applied a slight pushing sensation with the soles of my feet.

Breathing not entirely steady, flowing mildly, then dramatically.

Keeping my waist balanced yet light as a feather, and letting the energy flow dynamically with every swing.

Yu Chun-gil had spoken about it after I raided the snack warehouse last time.

‘Isn’t it inconvenient to memorize and use each move like that?’

To his words, I had wanted to ask instead.

‘How is it possible to use moves without considering the many steps involved?’

I couldn’t understand that at all.

How could I not know the meaning contained in each one of these steps and use them unknowingly?

‘If that’s the case, you shouldn’t have taught me.’

Why had he shown me so many things when he had possessed this body?

He was indeed an insufferable old man.

Swhh.

“This-!”

The pause lasted only moments.

Once again, he initiated the Moon Wave.

The moon started to rise.

And so did my moon.

His moon was gigantic.

It was impossibly more formidable compared to my crude energy.

What kind of brute strength is this anyway?

Did I entertain this foolish notion of defeating this with my meager efforts?

Such thoughts fleetingly passed.

But my sword didn’t stop.

Because I had already done it.

I had watched the old man smash another’s Moon Wave using my body.

Bang-!

“……Huh!”

The blade flew out of his hand.

His enormous moon was crushed by my small moon.

“You should’ve gripped your sword tighter.”

I laughed at his empty stance.

And then swung my sword.

Slash-!!

The sword cleaved through the empty air.

Facing nothing.

“…….”

I stood still in the same stance, looking ahead.

The figure who had been there until just now had vanished without a trace.

While I was frowning at the sight.

“Ha ha”

A rough voice came from behind.

I turned around.

In the still white background, Yu Chun-gil stood with his arms crossed, blue eyes glaring.

“You monster.”

He was looking at me with a fearsome grin.

TL’s Corner:

Damn, mC died thousands of times.