The World’s Greatest is Dead

“… Bang orabeoni?”

At the woman’s words, the surroundings fell silent. The sounds of the bustling crowd vanished in an instant, leaving an unnervingly deep silence.

I rolled my eyes around, surveying the area. I looked behind and beside me, but no one was there. However, the woman was staring intently at me.

“… Yes?”

She pointed at me with a bewildered look on her face.

“… Me?”

“…”

I asked again, but no answer came. The only thing I felt was the persistent silence, and the only thing I saw was the woman’s shaking pupils fixed on me. It seemed she was quite perplexed as well.

‘… Who is this lady?’

It was confusing me more than her, I was sure. This was the second most flustering moment for me this year. The first was when I encountered that damned old man, Yu Chun-gil. And this was the second.

‘… Who is she?’

Calling me ‘Bang orabeoni’ so suddenly? Just by looking, she seemed at least ten years older than me. What nonsense was this?

‘Oh, maybe…’

I focused on the woman and thought.

‘Does she have dementia?’

It wasn’t something I could say out loud, but it seemed the most plausible explanation. She didn’t look that old, though.

How did she know my name?

‘This is troublesome.’

As I slightly turned my gaze, I noticed that all eyes were on both the woman and me. Especially the Poison King’s sharp gaze.

Ah, it seemed I had messed things up from the beginning of the banquet. I swallowed dryly continuously, feeling nervous.

At that moment, the Poison King, who had been watching me, moved his head and spoke to the woman.

“Madam.”

‘What the…’

Hearing the Poison King say ‘madam’, my heart pounded fiercely. Madam? Was he referring to this woman as madam?

‘If she’s the Poison King’s wife…’

She must be Bi Yunjin, I thought. She was known as the eldest daughter of Yunryeon Trading Company, a well-known merchant group in Sichuan. She reportedly had two sons and a daughter. She was also famous for her beauty in her younger days in Sichuan.

‘Certainly…’

While her confused demeanor was one thing, her appearance was indeed outstanding. I remembered hearing she was over forty, but she looked barely in her early thirties.

‘That means…’

Bi Yunjin. I looked at the young woman next to her. She looked just over twenty… and quite beautiful, with long hair and slightly tanned skin emitting vitality. Her slightly smiling face gave off a refreshing vibe, but the underlying enigma made her even more charming.

She had surely inherited the beauty of Bi Yunjin and the distinct aura of the Poison King. Instantly, I recognized the woman.

‘That’s the Poisonous Flower, isn’t it.’

A flower blooming with poison. Poisonous Flower Tang Yelan. She was the daughter of the Poison King and the cherished member of the Tang family. I stared at her for a moment, perhaps unconsciously.

There was something intriguing about the feeling.

Swoosh.

‘…!’

Tang Yelan looked back at me. Did she realize I was watching her? As we exchanged gazes, she suddenly smiled at me brightly, like a blooming flower.

I was a little startled but remained calm and slightly nodded my head, apologizing for staring. Tang Yelan’s eyes widened slightly at that.

Why was she surprised? I wondered for a moment.

“… I apologize.”

Bi Yunjin’s voice cut through the air. She had come to her senses and straightened herself up.

“You resemble someone I know so much that I caused you offense. I’m sorry.”

Resembling someone, she said. But she had mentioned my surname too. Was it a misunderstanding?

“It’s… it’s alright.”

Thank goodness, she didn’t seem mentally unstable. I accepted her apology with a bashful smile.

Then,

“… But.”

Bi Yunjin continued, looking at me.

“May I ask you something?”

“Yes? Sure.”

Bi Yunjin asked,

“Is your name Bang Sung-Yun?”

“That’s correct.”

“May I know which family you’re from?”

“Yes?”

I felt tense then. Frankly, I should have caught on and lied. But, instead, I said,

“I’m from the Bang family.”

“…!”

She went silent. Why did I say that? Even I didn’t know.

Bi Yunjin froze upon hearing my family name. Her eyes trembled even more, as if in an earthquake.

“Ah… no… it can’t be…”

“… Madam? Are you alright?”

I asked, wondering what was wrong with her. Suddenly, Bi Yunjin approached me.

‘What is she doing, why is she coming closer-?’

*Thud!*

Then, out of nowhere, my arm was grabbed.

“……Young Master.”

“Yes, yes?”

“By any chance… What is your father’s name…?”

“…… My father?”

Was she referring to our family head, the man who I felt embarrassed to even acknowledge?

Why was she suddenly asking about my father? And with such a troubled look on her face at that.

I began to feel uneasy.

Because a memory came back to me.

The majority of the reasons why women had asked me such questions in that manner.

I should have realized it earlier, but it came too late.

“……Why do you ask……?”

“……Please answer.”

“…….”

I glanced at the Poison King. He was looking this way with his usual stoic eyes.

It might have been my imagination, but I felt a murderous intent in that gaze.

Damn it.

Swallowing dryly, I spoke to Bi Yunjin. I desperately hoped it wasn’t what I thought.

“……Bang Chunho is his name.”

“……!!”

Upon hearing my words, Bi Yunjin seemed shocked and dropped to the ground.

Oh, damn?

“Ah…… ah….”

Then she covered her mouth with her hand, suppressing a sob.

“……Madam……. Why are you doing this……!”

“…Bang orabeoni……. Truly…….”

“……Ah damn it.”

Seeing her reaction, I had to let out a curse.

I expected this. As always, my father was the same troublemaker.

‘Damn it. He never assists in any way in life.’

Silently holding back my anger, I thought of my handsome father.

There were three men in the Bang family.

Among them, I was a bit less handsome compared to my elder brother.

But I often heard I was the spitting image of our father.

Women who reacted this way upon seeing me typically had similar reasons.

They had fallen in love with my father in their youth.

They believed they had a passionate love affair with my father in their youth.

Or perhaps.

‘They still love my father.’

Whatever the reason, they were all equally infuriating.

If possible.

‘……I hope it’s not the last reason.’

If it were the last reason.

This place might become my grave.

The Poison King was glaring at me.

As if he would kill me at any moment.

* * *

What was called a welcoming banquet this time was completely chaotic.

How could it not be chaotic? The lady of the house, grasping a young man and tearing up, and sending him a longing gaze.

Fortunately, Bi Yunjin quickly restored her expression and posture to normal, but the damage had been done.

It was too late to reverse the situation.

Despite everything, the banquet was not halted.

The host of the banquet and the head of the house had not permitted it to stop.

If he had been in a bad mood, he would have overturned it. But the Poison King did not.

That made it even more difficult.

“Ah……”

Stepping outside, I let out a sigh I had been holding back.

“I nearly choked on it.”

Actually, I might already have choked.

My stomach felt uneasy, exactly like that.

“Are you alright?”

Chun Uijin asked me, seemingly concerned.

“……Yes, I’m fine. If it gets worse, I might just need to prick my hand.”

“……Prick your hand?”

Chun Uijin asked, as if he didn’t understand.

Ah, right.

‘I guess they don’t do that here.’

In my previous life, my grandmother often pricked my hand when I had an upset stomach.

My sister always looked at it oddly.

When I explained that it relieved the upset stomach, she decided to try it herself.

‘……Then she came at my finger with a sword, and we had a huge fight.’

Not that you could really call it a fight—I just got beaten up.

That lunatic was a woman even our father couldn’t handle.

‘……Ugh.’

I shivered at the sudden recollection of her face.

“It’s just a thing we do.”

I chuckled and moved on. There was no point explaining further.

The three of us continued walking.

As we walked, Chun Uijin asked Do Hyung a question.

“Senior Brother, now what are we supposed to do?”

We had delivered the Full Moon Sword to the clan, and the Poison King had assured us he would take care of it.

So what was left to do? Do Hyung answered with a blank expression.

“We wait.”

“Until the Full Moon Sword is repaired?”

“Yes.”

“……We’ll need to stay in Sichuan for some time, then.”

Do Hyung nodded.

We didn’t know how the Full Moon Sword would be repaired, but sword repairs never took just a day or two.

Judging by the state of the Full Moon Sword, it was clear it would take at least a few days.

Returning to the Blue Moon Sect and coming back to retrieve it later didn’t make sense.

We’d likely have to stay until the Full Moon Sword was repaired.

‘So, how long will that take?’

I had no idea how much time we’d have to spend here.

‘Hmm…….’

I scratched my cheek.

I wanted to return as quickly as possible.

‘……It looked like I might need to leave as soon as possible.’

It felt like sitting on a bed of thorns.

Just like encountering the Broken Heaven Palace or whatever it was on the way here.

The mention of the Poison Sovereign’s secret records by them too, of course.

It seemed like something was about to happen, or perhaps something had already happened.

Moreover,

‘Lady Bi is the biggest problem.’

Bi Yunjin, who collapsed mentioning my father, and the Poisonous Flower watching her.

And me.

‘… Wow…’

Thinking back to that moment made my hands tremble involuntarily.

‘… What on earth were you doing with your life?’

I remembered my father.

Out of 365 days a year, he had a scandal involving women on about 300 of those days.

Because of that, countless troubles had befallen me.

Honestly, my father was a rotten individual who enjoyed his looks abundantly.

‘… To think he was also involved with the lady of the Tang clan.’

I didn’t even want to know what had happened, and it seemed better not to know.

But,

‘… Actually, it kind of shows.’

Just by looking, I could guess.

I just hoped it wasn’t true.

‘Somehow.’

What my father said about Sichuan now sounded different.

He used to warn that Sichuan was a dangerous place and to never get entangled with the Tang clan.

‘… Could it possibly be because of Bi Yunjin?’

Was it because the woman he flirted with happened to be the lady of the Tang clan?

Perhaps my father, knowing this, had warned me?

‘No, it can’t be.’

He wouldn’t be so insane.

I desperately hoped not.

‘…’

Yet, it somehow seemed true.

My father was indeed a crazy person.

“… Damn.”

How could such wretched things always happen? I cursed like I was sighing, and Chun Uijin flinched.

“… Young master Bang?”

“Oh, sorry. My stomach is in knots.”

“Would you like to go and rest first?”

“No. Even after being so considerate, I must do what I have to.”

Right. I had to go.

We were on the way to the training area provided by the Tang clan.

Knowing it would take a day or two, they had given us a separate place to use.

If only there was one regret,

‘At times like this, the old man should be here.’

It was the absence of Yu Chun-gil during the training.

If that old man supervised me a bit, I could get a better grasp, but…

As soon as we arrived in Sichuan, he kept disappearing somewhere.

Thanks to that, I trained alone, which wasn’t entirely a bad thing.

It was just a bit disappointing.

“Young master Bang.”

“Yes.”

“By any chance, the sparring…?”

“Ah.”

I nodded at Chun Uijin’s words.

“Let’s do it.”

“Oh!”

Chun Uijin smiled brightly at my response.

Is that something to be so happy about?

I couldn’t understand.

Since my victory against Chun Uijin recently, we had sparred several times during our journey to Sichuan.

I won those times too.

There was the power of the Moon Eye, and since the time I defeated Yu Chun-gil’s younger self, something had changed within me.

‘But that doesn’t mean I’m winning completely.’

It was evident Chun Uijin was growing stronger.

Though it was laughable for someone weaker than him to talk about growth.

But it was true.

Chun Uijin became stronger day by day.

It became increasingly difficult to deal with him.

‘I hope my secret doesn’t get exposed.’

Despite worrying that he might figure out I wasn’t really that strong,

I still sparred.

The reason was simple.

‘It’s fun.’

It’s more fun than I thought.

Swinging the sword and being in those thrilling situations.

People often criticized martial artists for having no sense of normalcy.

I felt increasingly abnormal myself.

As I walked, clenching and unclenching my stiff hands, thinking about the sparring, my body automatically tensed.

I loosened up a bit while walking.

“Bang Sung-Yun.”

Suddenly, Do Hyung called out to me.

“Yes, senior brother.”

Looking at Do Hyung, I saw him staring, contemplating something.

He seemed to have something to say.

I waited for him to speak. Seconds passed.

“This sparring…”

Just as Do Hyung was about to say something to me,

Clang!

Suddenly, Do Hyung stopped talking and grabbed his sword.

A blue aura began to rise from the tip of his body.

“Who are you?”

Do Hyung’s eyes, now icy, uttered those words, and Chun Uijin belatedly grabbed his sword.

As for me? I couldn’t react, so I just stayed still.

‘Is there something?’

Following Do Hyung’s gaze, I glanced at the trees.

“Oh my.”

Someone with an awkward expression stepped out from there.

A familiar face.

Seen just a moment ago, it was natural to recognize her.

“The lady is…”

Do Hyung frowned as he looked at her.

Then, the woman,

“Busted. How embarrassing.”

Poisonous Flower Tang Yelan laughed.

TL’s Corner:
Bang Sung-yun’s father giving him trouble. lol