The World’s Greatest is Dead

The World’s Greatest is Dead – Chapter 114

A pure white world. The ground, the sky, and everything had turned white, creating a space filled with an overwhelming sense of dissonance.

Standing silently in this place, I touched my forehead with my fingers.

“… Damn it.”

I let out a rough curse. There was no way to hold it back.

“Sigh…”

I had been to this place before. If I counted, it had been a few times, but no matter what, every visit had been nothing but a crappy experience.

“… Why am I here again?”

Why was I in this place? As soon as I thought about it, I turned around and spoke.

“He said I would know once I woke up. Was it for this?”

As I said this with my face contorted, something began to change in that place.

Smoke started to gather slowly, taking on a shape, and before I knew it, it had formed the semblance of a human.

Sword Saint Yu Chun-gil.

The old man appeared before me.

“Keke.”

Yu Chun-gil smirked with that distinctive, annoying smile of his, clearly amused by my reaction.

“How do you feel about being back after such a long time?”

“It feels like crap. Absolutely.”

There was no way a good reaction would come out.

‘I’ve died here countless times.’

I had died over and over here, to the point where I didn’t even want to count.

This place was none other than a lucid dream created by Yu Chun-gil.

‘… It’s the same place as before.’

It was a place I had experienced even in the Blue Moon Sect.

A place where I fought Young Yu Chun-gil like a madman.

No, to call it a fight would be strange.

It was a one-sided massacre.

“… What are you trying to do this time?”

What was the intention behind calling me here again?

Yu Chun-gil, looking somewhat puzzled, spoke to me in response.

“Well, didn’t you just ask me earlier?”

“… Excuse me?”

“You asked how to make the moon shine.”

“…”

Indeed, I had asked that.

“… Then you could have just explained it verbally. Why call me here?”

“As I said back then, explaining it with words is troublesome and difficult. I thought this method would be easier.”

“… No…”

“Moreover, it seems like the right time. It was a necessary process.”

“The right time?”

“Yes. You also mentioned wanting to take something from the storage.”

“…”

Indeed, I had said that. Yu Chun-gil had told me there were more treasures hidden deeper in the snack storage he had created.

In exchange for granting my request, he had said he would give them to me.

‘Is this necessary for that?’

I wondered why it had to be this way, but…

“Since the situation has come to this, I want you to learn it as quickly as possible.”

Yu Chun-gil then threw something in front of me.

*Thud!*

The object flew towards me and stuck into the ground. It was a sword.

This, too, was the same as before.

Which meant…

‘… Am I supposed to do the same thing as last time?’

No way. He wouldn’t be using that brute method again, would he?

Despite my anxiety…

“At least this time, it should be easier, so don’t worry.”

Fortunately, Yu Chun-gil tried to reassure me.

“Just block it once. Block it just once.”

“… Block it?”

“Yes. And…”

Yu Chun-gil extended his index finger and pointed at me.

“Don’t just focus on emitting light; look deeper. The answer lies there.”

“What is…?”

Before I could finish my sentence, Yu Chun-gil vanished right before my eyes.

That old man, really.

I ground my teeth furiously.

But I still had to draw the sword in front of me.

“… Ha…”

To go through this hellish situation again.

‘I shouldn’t have asked.’

I ran my hand through my hair.

Ah, I asked that old man out of frustration, and now look at this mess.

I believed, given the amount of trouble it was last time, that it wouldn’t happen twice.

‘Am I crazy for believing that?’

How could I believe that old man?

“Phew.”

I sighed and tried to look at the sword.

*Freeze!*

“…”

My moving body froze instinctively.

Turning my head, I looked towards a certain place.

I didn’t sense anyone’s presence, nor did I hear any sound.

It was purely…

‘Instinct.’

A small instinct wrapped around my body, moving my head on its own.

There was something where my gaze landed.

Against the backdrop of white, a lone rock was lodged disproportionately.

“… What is that?”

Why is there suddenly a rock here? There wasn’t one before.

While staring at the sudden rock, I discovered something else.

Someone was perched on top of the rock.

Their top garments were nowhere to be seen, and their tattered pants were soaked in blood.

Even worse, the exposed torso was covered in scars and wounds.

As I watched quietly, *Swish.*

The person turned their head toward me.

Our eyes met.

“!”

I gasped unconsciously and took a step back.

“What is that?”

What is going on here?

The moment I met those blue eyes, every hair on my body stood on end and my heart seemed to drop to the ground.

Cold sweat started to flow.

‘What is that? Can that even be called a human?’

“Eyes like those…”

Despite the blue color of the eyes, there was no discernible emotion.

The expressionless face under the blood-streaked hair made me feel queasy without even realizing it.

I was terrified.

It felt like just facing it was enough to crush me with fear.

A slight breeze seemed to move my hair even though there was no wind.

Realizing it, I wondered if it could be…

“… Killing intent?”

Was the breeze actually the killing intent emanating from that person?

Killing intent strong enough to take the form of wind and brush against me?

“Insane.”

Is something like that even possible?

Can a human being do such a thing?

Lost in these incredulous thoughts, *Thud.*

The person perched on the rock moved.

“… Huff… Huff…”

Watching the staggering figure rise, one thought crossed my mind.

“Thin.”

A strangely gaunt figure stood before me. Though tall in stature, they looked impossibly skeletal.

A body full of scars and wounds, yet so thin.

That made it even more terrifying.

“Like a starving beast.”

Hungry predators would do anything to survive. That was exactly the impression this person gave me.

“No matter what, this is too much.”

It wasn’t something to take lightly.

Not even when dealing with the Spear Demon or when Poison King exuded his fierce aura did it feel this overwhelming.

Seeing that person, a sense of despondency washed over me.

The imposing presence was too great to consider them human.

Recognizing the sheer difference in stature made me feel powerless.

The overwhelming despair when confronting a higher existence enveloped me.

I struggled to maintain composure.

*Crunch.*

The man walked towards me, barefoot.

Step by step.

Each step left a footprint; a very red, bloody footprint.

Eventually, he reached me.

I was so paralyzed that I couldn’t even manage to take a step back properly.

“… What… are you?”

“……”

The voice was dry and hollow. It barely held any strength, almost like it was sobbing.

It was surprising how tired a voice could sound.

Despite the question, my mouth remained shut.

I stood there, frozen in front of this predator.

I couldn’t easily show any reaction.

Hiding my cold sweat and stifling my trembling; that was all I could manage.

After a brief moment, “You are…”

The man tried to speak again.

“… Never mind…”

He shook his head.

“… It’s over.”

He then whispered something, seeming to accept fate.

“Now… everything is meaningless.”

The voice was void of any emotion.

In stark contrast to the intense killing intent, his voice was utterly indifferent.

That frightened me even more.

Among evil spirits, there are different kinds.

Some are filled with fury, pursuing nothing but revenge.

Others are consumed by their lingering regrets or sorrow, leading to their corruption.

But the scariest among them is…

“‘What you are dealing with is an evil spirit that has let go of everything.’

It had let go of emotions, let go of memories.

Existing solely as a vessel filled with flowing malice.

I knew dealing with such an evil spirit was extremely difficult.

However, ‘… This one seems similar somehow.’

The feeling from the man in front of me resembled that significantly.

Would this be okay?

Just as I looked at the man with uneasy eyes, *Crash.*

With the sound of something breaking, “… Gasp…”

My eyes snapped open.

* * *

“Gasp… Gasp!!”

I raised my upper body, breathing harshly as I scanned my surroundings.

It was not the white world.

It was the familiar surroundings—the room I stayed in.

Confirming that, I covered my mouth with my hand.

“Ugh…”

A dry heave came automatically.

The nausea was unbearable.

“… Ugh…”

Was I dead? It sure seemed like it.

When did I die?

Could the breaking sound have been my head?

‘I didn’t see a thing.’

I couldn’t see how I died at all.

Luckily, it didn’t repeat, and as a result, I could wake up from the nightmare.

‘Isn’t this crazy?’

Recalling what I experienced, I had to stifle a gasp.

‘What was that even about?’

What was the entity I encountered?

‘… Was that Yu Chun-gil?’

The first time in the nightmare, I met Yu Chun-gil as a child.

Could the man I just encountered also be from Yu Chun-gil’s past?

‘… Really?’

I wasn’t sure. That was because the person was too emaciated to be identified as Yu Chun-gil.

‘The height seemed similar, and the Moon Eye was there, so it might be him.’

If it was him, when was it?

What kind of period was it, to emit such a monstrous aura?

“He was strange during his teenage years as well, but this is on a different level.”

Even after generous concessions, this appearance was just too much.

‘How am I supposed to fight something like that?’

It quickly became ‘something like that’, but it couldn’t be helped.

There should be a limit, but that wasn’t something that could be resolved through effort alone.

This was beyond that.

‘He’s like an unconscionable old man.’

I immediately looked around to question him.

But Yu Chun-gil was nowhere to be seen.

Where did he go this time?

He was missing again. He usually disappeared at the drop of a hat but, ‘He vanished without an explanation?’

Showing me a vision unilaterally and then just disappearing?

While pondering over this, ‘Oh.’

A thought crossed my mind, and I furrowed my brows.

‘Could it be… this old man.’

Was he unable to get out while using the nightmare?

Until I met the conditions to escape, could he not come out?

‘Certainly. That was the case back then too.’

When I first entered the nightmare at the Blue Moon Sect, Yu Chun-gil didn’t appear while I was struggling inside the vision.

I distinctly remembered cursing his absence when he wasn’t there when I needed him.

He only showed up after I overcame the trial in the nightmare.

Which means, ‘Even now?’

Could it be the same now?

Speculating this, I placed my hand on my stomach and chest.

“Oh…”

The feeling of wanting to vomit wouldn’t go away.

First, I thought I should step out for some air, so I got up.

If I kept thinking like this, I might just throw up.

Hastily, I grabbed the doorknob to leave.

*Creak-!*

Yet, before I could, someone opened my room door first.

“About this time, you should be awake, right? It’s time fo-”

“Ugh!!”

I covered my mouth, trying to hold back the dry heave.

“….”

The person taking in my condition, a meticulously adorned woman from the morning, Murong Yeongsun, known as the Most Beautiful in Liaoning, furrowed her delicate brows harshly.