The World’s Greatest is Dead

Poison Dragon, Tang Chun-il.

At the age of twenty-three.

A genius sent by the heavens to the Central Plains. One of the Seven Geniuses.

He was skilled in the use of hidden weapons and poison techniques, and was known for his precise control.

Like the Sword Saint, who was an extraordinary talent from a young age, he was a hero of the Great Demonic War.

He was a young man known as the reincarnation of Poison Sovereign.

With time, he would undoubtedly become as skilled as Poison Sovereign.

Many people who saw Poison Dragon said so.

It meant he possessed that much talent.

‘Hmm.’

I frowned while observing his face.

‘He looks quite fierce.’

I had memorized the description of his appearance.

I had heard he looked very fierce, and seeing him in person now, it was clear.

‘What kind of eyes…?’

Could a person’s eyes be that sharp?

Chun Uijin was known to look cold, but this was different.

His features were literally sharp.

It seemed like he could kill someone with just his eyes.

『Look at that guy.』

Yu Chun-gil, who saw Tang Chun-il with me, spoke with a hint of fascination.

『He looks exactly like the young Poison Sovereign.』

His face?

I was slightly surprised by Yu Chun-gil’s words.

『It’s a spitting image.』

He sounded genuinely amazed.

Did they look that much alike?

I looked at Tang Chun-il’s face and recalled the ghost I assumed to be Poison Sovereign.

‘… Indeed.’

They did look similar.

If Tang Chun-il aged like that, he would look just like the ghost with the nasty personality.

‘They are remarkably alike.’

Was that why he was called the reincarnation of Poison Sovereign? If so, it made sense.

Of course.

‘Even if that wasn’t the case’,

The fact that he was called one of the Seven Geniuses already meant he had more than enough talent.

However, ‘… Why would someone like that come to see me?’

What was the reason behind Tang Chun-il specifically coming to see me?

Moreover, “I said get out of the way.”

“…Explain the reason first.”

What was the situation with Tang Yelan blocking Tang Chun-il?

It was a baffling situation.

“Reason?”

Tang Chun-il frowned at Tang Yelan’s words. Wow, he looked even scarier when he narrowed his eyes.

“Do I have to explain everything to you?”

“Young master Bang is a guest of the Tang family, of our father. You can’t act so recklessly.”

“Haha.”

Tang Chun-il laughed. The sight made Tang Yelan flinch.

“Of all people, you dare mention the Tang family? That’s amusing.”

“…”

“You deserted the main family and indulged in trivial matters, and now you dare speak of the Tang family in front of me?”

“That’s…!”

“Get lost.”

Tang Chun-il pushed Tang Yelan by the shoulder, knocking her aside.

Tang Yelan was overpowered.

Thus, I came into Tang Chun-il’s sight.

Our eyes met.

“Hmph?”

When Tang Chun-il confirmed my presence, his brow furrowed.

His gaze slid from my head to my toes in one swift motion.

Then, a subtle expression crossed his face.

After a brief silence, Tang Chun-il finally spoke.

“…Are you the Sword Saint’s successor?”

His voice was filled with disbelief. A feeling that it couldn’t be true, perhaps?

So I gave him the answer he wanted.

“No.”

“…”

Despite my answer, his expression twisted further.

This guy, seriously?

I exhaled in exasperation and spoke.

“If you won’t believe me, why did you ask in the first place?”

“…Are you Bang Sung-Yun?”

“Would you believe me if I said no?”

“…”

“See? You’ve already decided your answer.”

Tsk. I clicked my tongue and shrugged my shoulders.

“I am Bang Sung-Yun.”

“Are you?”

While speaking, his gaze passed over me again.

No, it was ambiguous to say that they were the same.

There was a slight feeling of contempt.

『Hehe, that bastard?』

Yu Chun-gil laughed and cursed, indicating that he had felt the same thing.

『He only looks like him, but he also has those dog-like eyes. Makes me want to pluck them out.』

“……”

There was a clear emotion in his rough speech.

『Back in the day, when he looked at people like that, I made both his eyes turn blue. I miss it.』

Hearing that he had beaten Poison Sovereign in the past, I almost cleared my throat unintentionally.

Barely holding back, I saw Tang Chun-Il looking at me and speaking.

“I heard you defeated Young Azure Sword……?”

“Oh, yes. Well, something like that.”

When I vaguely confirmed it, Tang Chun-Il narrowed his eyes.

“How did you manage that? Seems impossible.”

“Huhuhuhu?”

As soon as I heard it, I burst into laughter.

It was a straight-up dismissive remark.

It was filled with the sentiment of “How could someone like you beat Young Azure Sword?”

“Brother! What are you…!”

Tang Yelan, surprised, tried to stop him, but Tang Chun-Il continued without caring.

“I came expecting something from the Sword Saint’s successor, but it looks like there’s no need to see more.”

After saying this, Tang Chun-Il turned his head sharply.

“Grandfather doesn’t need to bother with this person.”

He said this and walked away as if he had no lingering feelings.

Several others left following him.

In the suddenly quiet situation, I scratched my cheek.

It felt like a storm had passed.

“Um.”

What was this?

As I awkwardly scratched my cheek repeatedly,

“I am sorry ….”

Tang Yelan, who hadn’t left, approached and bowed her head.

“I apologize for the rudeness my family has shown……”

As she repeatedly bowed her head in apology, I awkwardly laughed.

“No, well… it’s not a big deal.”

It was funny that they suddenly picked a fight and then left, but since they didn’t say anything particularly wrong, it was fine.

Yeah.

I was fine.

The problem was.

『Hahaha. Look at that damn bastard! Hahahahaha.』

The fact that Yu Chun-gil, who was behind me, didn’t seem fine.

『…… You said that fool is the Poison Sovereign’s grandson, right? How dare he……』

Growrrr.

Was it my imagination, or did I hear the sound of a dog growling?

『He’s dead.』

At Yu Chun-gil’s reaction, I shook my head.

I had a feeling that this wouldn’t end well.

And it was a very strong feeling.

* * *

The place I headed to after leaving my room was where Tang Gyung-ak was.

The building and the corridors were the same as before. But the scent of flowers was gone.

This meant that they had deliberately burned incense last time.

Mixing it with poison arts that caused paralysis, if I remembered correctly. What a scary place.

“…… Thanks to that, I stayed on edge.”

I became more alert, worried that something might happen.

Frankly, if it was just because of that, it would have been somewhat okay.

“…… But I’m anxious because of Bi Yunjin.”

Because of Bi Yunjin and my damned father, I felt terrified to face the Poison King.

“It would be odd to try to look good.”

Just by looking at it, the relationship was clearly strange.

Would Poison King know about the dealings between Bi Yunjin and my father in this situation?

“…… Considering Tang Yelan knows, there’s a high probability that Poison King does too.”

I hoped he didn’t know, but-

“Are you the son of Bang Chunho?”

Damn it.

As soon as I entered the room, Poison King’s words made my face go stiff.

“…… Yes.”

“Is that so?”

Speaking, Tang Gyung-ak studied my face.

It was a different look from the one his son Tang Chun-Il had given.

After briefly assessing, Tang Gyung-ak spoke as if convinced.

“You do resemble him.”

There was no need to ask who he meant I resembled.

“Do you know my father……?”

“I do.”

At Tang Gyung-ak’s words, I swallowed.

Why?

I held back the words that were about to burst out of my mouth.

“…… So you’re saying the Poison King knows my father?”

How was that possible?

The incident with Bi Yunjin was unexpected enough, and now even her husband, Poison King, knew him?

“He really roamed everywhere, didn’t he, that old man.”

He once boasted that he had flirted with women all over the Central Plains, and it seemed it wasn’t a lie after all.

If only it had been mere bravado.

“That… how exactly…?”

“Do you want to know?”

“No, not really…”

I immediately declined.

It didn’t seem like it would be beneficial to hear it anyway.

At that moment.

“Don’t worry.”

“Yes?”

The Poison King suddenly said something out of the blue to me.

“Regardless of who your father is, I won’t let personal feelings affect this matter.”

“Oh…”

What a relief.

Could it be that being the head of one of the Five Great Families gave him such a mindset?

Just as I was feeling a minor sense of relief.

“The one I want to kill isn’t you, Young master Bang.”

“…”

That relief shattered instantly.

Who does he want to kill then? I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t.

I could only sense that asking would bring more harm than good.

‘What exactly did he do?’

What on earth did my father do in the past?

Seeing that he is still alive till now, maybe he skillfully avoided it, or maybe he was just lucky.

Whatever it was, it was clear that thinking too much about it wouldn’t be beneficial for my life.

“… Thank you.”

So, the only thing I could say at that moment was this.

The Poison King nodded slightly and then changed the topic.

“I heard that you had a conflict with my second son this morning.”

“Ah.”

He must be referring to what happened with Poison Dragon.

“Yes. It wasn’t really a conflict, just a brief exchange of greetings. He didn’t seem to like me much.”

“Is that so?”

I spoke plainly and honestly.

The Poison King’s reaction was just as calm.

It was unexpected.

‘What kind of reaction is this?’

We came to the Tang family to request their services, but we are guests, after all.

And it seemed the Poison King needed someone who was the Sword Saint’s successor and Full Moon.

In such a situation, he was just brushing off what happened with his son and me.

‘What could it be?’

It was quite different from the reaction I expected.

I was looking at the Poison King with curiosity when he spoke up again.

“Firstly, if what happened with my second son upset you, as the head of the Tang family, I apologize.”

“No need, it’s not to that extent…”

“And.”

The tone of the Poison King’s voice grew slightly serious as he looked at me.

“Even if the conflict deepens and something happens between you and my second son, as long as you don’t take his life, I won’t blame you.”

“…”

I remained silent and furrowed my brow.

His words were exceedingly peculiar.

“That seems fairly dangerous to say.”

No matter what happens, he wouldn’t blame me.

It sounded like as long as I didn’t kill his son, I could do whatever I wanted.

It felt like he was giving me permission to vent my anger if I got angry.

In other words.

‘He’s giving us the justification to handle any conflicts between us on our own.’

That was a more accurate interpretation.

‘Ha.’

Hearing this much revealed a lot about this man’s character.

‘A man like a blade.’

He was sharp, just as he appeared.

‘And a bit hot-tempered.’

There was a touch of fiery temper in him.

An unusual character indeed.

However, ‘It’s still too early to say I’ve fully figured him out.’

Knowing too well what the Tang family was capable of, I couldn’t be too hasty in drawing conclusions.

‘Does he think I can beat his son?’

Recalling how he was skeptical about me being the Sword Saint’s successor yesterday, it probably wasn’t just that.

So what could it be?

Unlike Namgung’s So Cheong-Gum, it was different.

People called the Seven Geniuses the geniuses among the geniuses of the later period of the Central Plains.

Just as Yu Chun-gil called Moonlight Delight a ‘person of unmatched talent.’

Poison Dragon was one of those Seven Geniuses, just like Moonlight Delight.

At that moment, the Poison King stood up.

“Time has passed, so shall we discuss the rest as we move?”

“Move?”

Where were we going?

I looked at him in curiosity, and the Poison King spoke to me.

“I will guide you to the place where we will repair the Full Moon.”

“…!”

My interest piqued considerably.