The World's Greatest is Dead - Chapter 85

*Boom.*

Everyone fell silent, staring at the newly formed entrance in the wall.

After several inexplicable actions, an entrance appeared where there seemed to be nothing.

What kind of nonsensical situation was this?

Everyone was in silence.

What on earth had happened?

A door that a group of people couldn’t find suddenly opened.

“How on earth…?”

“How did it…!”

The silence was broken by the Blue Moon Sect’s warriors, who belatedly reacted.

Even seeing it, they couldn’t believe it.

It only took a few small actions.

For such seemingly trivial movements to suddenly open the hidden door?

It was unbelievable.

‘Crazy.’

I felt the same way.

‘Why did it suddenly open?’

I stared, dumbfounded at the emerging entrance.

It was genuinely bewildering.

‘… What on earth is this?’

Though I followed the instructions, I didn’t expect it to open like this.

I had to lower my gaze stealthily.

Meanwhile, the elderly figures floating in the air were chattering energetically.

『To think he’d manage it on the first try. Fascinating, indeed.』

Poison Sovereign looked at me, seemingly amazed.

『Right? Even though he’s not very bright, he can manage this much.』

Yu Chun-gil appeared inexplicably proud.

Why were they the ones feeling proud?

『To be honest, I expected at least a thumb or index finger to be lost…?』

‘…What?’

What did that crazy old man just say?

A thumb or index finger? Were they talking about fingers?

‘…So if I had done it wrong, my fingers would’ve been severed?’

All I did was throw a few stones and draw some pictures on the wall; where was the risk of losing a hand in that?

I furrowed my brow in disbelief.

『Did you tamper with the mechanisms again?』

Yu Chun-gil addressed Poison Sovereign, sounding exasperated.

Poison Sovereign replied with,

『Well, should I just let a burglar raid an empty house? Preparations need to be made.』

『There’s a limit, you know. What you do is not just tricky, but outright malicious.』

『Yet it withstands and doesn’t get looted, does it not?』

『That is true.』

‘…’

The more I listened to the old men, the more I sighed.

‘Anyway, they did set up something.’

I understood that some sort of mechanism was set in place around the hidden door.

In other words,

‘… I cannot lower my guard.’

Not knowing what might happen kept my body tensed up.

Just then,

“Young master Bang.”

Poison King’s voice called out. As I turned, I saw him approaching with his distinctive expression.

“What did you do?”

“…”

How did I do it?

The elders told me in detail.

‘…But I can’t say that.’

Saying such a thing would be asking to be killed.

How should I explain it then? After some quick thinking, I said, there was only one way to explain it.

“I saw it.”

“…You saw it?”

“Yes.”

After speaking, I focused my energy on my eyes.

A blue light gathered in my eyes, thanks to the Blue Moon Mind Technique, creating the effect of Moon Eye.

This power was obtained by consuming a Blue Moon Pill, making my eyes shine.

“…That is…”

Poison King’s eyes widened as he looked at me.

Did he understand the significance of these eyes?

I wasn’t sure, but it didn’t matter.

“Most likely, it seems that Poison Sovereign set up the mechanism.”

After all, Poison Sovereign left me with the excuse.

I just needed to match my explanation to it.

“When I channel energy through my eyes, I see something glowing blue on the wall. I think that is why the hidden door opened.”

“…You see a light…”

For reference, I based this statement on my experience in Yu Chun-gil’s snack storage.

‘I did see a light back then.’

I spoke while recalling that moment. Whether Poison King understood or believed it was a bit ambiguous.

‘If he doesn’t believe it, so what?’

There was nothing he could do if he didn’t believe it.

The fact was that I opened the door.

Perhaps understanding this, Poison King made no further remarks.

“Truly… the power of the Sword Saint was required.”

He seemed to believe me.

It made sense; since the message was left and I demonstrated it, he had no choice but to believe.

The Poison King shifted his gaze from me to the entrance of the hidden door.

“…We will now proceed to enter the hidden storage.”

With a profoundly serious expression, Poison King declared.

This heightened the tension among everyone present.

Poison Sovereign had left behind this hidden storage.

What might be inside that vault the Poison Sovereign left was unknown.

I intended to enter that place from now on.

『Let’s go in.』

Even with Poison Sovereign himself.

* * *

I entered the dark interior.

The initial sight was a staircase descending, incongruous with the pitch darkness.

Though the area was devoid of any light, the power of the Moon Eye made darkness itself a trivial issue.

‘It’s narrow.’

The passageway was narrow.

It was barely wide enough for one person to descend.

I carefully descended the stairs, holding onto the wall.

Despite descending for quite a while.

‘How far do we have to go?’

I still had not reached the destination. It felt like I had been descending forever, but it was astonishingly deep.

I squinted my eyes in discomfort. The tension still swirled around my body.

Especially because I was the one leading.

‘Damn it.’

Ah, what a sight I got myself into.

Thanks to it, I was extremely anxious.

『How far down are we supposed to go?』

『Just a bit more.』

The person who had constructed the secret vault was chattering, floating in the air, which was at least somewhat reassuring.

‘Just a bit more?’

Having to go even further, I wondered if they had dug all the way to the very bottom.

“Do you see anything?”

Poison King, who was right behind me, asked.

“……Not yet. It seems we need to go a bit further.”

There were six of us in total.

Three from the Blue Moon Sect, including me.

And three others, including Poison King.

According to Poison King, two of them were an array expert and a mechanic, just in case of emergencies.

In sum, it meant the only person from the Tang family was the Poison King alone.

‘……What could be hidden in the secret vault?’

I heard there was an incident when they tried to forcibly open the secret vault, so Poison King himself entering seemed like the most dangerous part.

Even though I was just responding to a request, questions swirled in my head.

‘What could he be seeking?’

What is Poison King trying to obtain by unlocking the secret vault?

At first, I thought he was just seeking something inside left by a previous head of the family.

‘Seeing that he came in person and his reactions, it’s a bit ambiguous.’

Naturally, given his position as the family head, it was not strange for him to enter the secret vault himself.

However, the reactions I sensed from him were somewhat subtle.

I hadn’t figured out what that subtlety was yet.

‘Remembering this could be necessary.’

It is wise to keep anything unusual in mind.

With that determination, I kept descending the stairs.

『Child, stop here.』

“…….”

I immediately halted at the words of Poison Sovereign.

I was still in the middle of the stairs.

“Young master Bang?”

Ignoring Poison King’s call from behind, I sharpened my ears.

『Place your hand on the left wall.』

I placed my hand on the wall as instructed.

Then, Poison Sovereign detailed the adjustment of my hand position just like before.

『From that angle, move a little to your left. Stop there. Now, slowly turn your middle finger to the right, just like that.』

Moving so minutely, I didn’t even know what had changed.

I just followed Poison Sovereign’s words precisely, like a puppet.

『Now, push with your inner qi.』

*Wooong!*

I immediately drew forth energy and channeled it into my hand.

Then, I pushed with force.

*Creak!*

The wall surface where my palm rested caved inwards.

At that moment.

*Creak!!!*

A rough sound resounded, and changes appeared on the wall as before.

Another entrance appeared.

“…….”

I glanced at the entrance, then looked at the stairs ahead.

‘This looks like an entrance, so what is that then?’

What was the significance of the stairs ahead?

As I was musing, Poison Sovereign spoke to me.

『Do you wish to go down? While I understand, I don’t recommend it.』

“…….”

Upon hearing those words, without any hesitation, I stared at the entrance.

“Let’s proceed. This way.”

I led the group towards the entrance between the stairs.

Unlike before, the path was not long this time.

After a brief walk, a door came into view.

Just as I approached, ready to open the door.

『Oh. If you try to open it as it is, it will collapse. Pull the lamp next to it first, and then open it.』

I reached to the left to pull the lamp.

One could not afford even a moment’s carelessness.

*Creak.*

A sound was heard. I then grasped the door handle and opened the door.

*Creak.*

I glanced into the interior through the opened slit.

“Hmm?”

I narrowed my eyes immediately upon seeing it.

The interior was exceptionally bright, unlike the outside.

‘…What the…?’

Why was it so bright?

It wasn’t even narrow; it was spacious.

It was spacious enough to seem larger than the lord’s quarters.

‘If it’s this bright…’

Where was the light coming from? I raised my head and looked up.

Then, I understood the reason for the brightness.

‘…That…’

Something shining, attached to the ceiling.

Could it be…?

“Is that… night jewels…?”

Were all those densely packed things really night jewels?

No way.

Night jewels were incredibly expensive. How could all of those be night jewels?

I couldn’t believe such an absurd thing and just stared in disbelief.

『… Where did all those come from?』

『You’ll get hurt if you know.』

『Did you… take them from the Demonic Cult?』

『Come on. I told you, you’ll get hurt if you know.』

‘I’m going crazy.’

Unwanted information spilled into my mind again.

It was already mind-boggling to think that those were actual night jewels.

‘…What? The Demonic Cult?’

Why was the Demonic Cult suddenly mentioned?

I nearly screamed out loud without realizing it.

‘Are those night jewels from the Demonic Cult?’

The Heavenly Demon who instigated the Great Demon War.

The Heavenly Demon Cult that worshiped the Heavenly Demon like a god.

It was known that Sword Saint Yu Chun-gil had struck down the Heavenly Demon, leading to the cult’s downfall.

Did the Poison Sovereign really bring those night jewels from such a cult and lodge them in his secret vault?

‘…Why on earth would he do such a thing?’

I had mountains of questions but couldn’t voice them.

“Are those all night jewels?”

“… That’s…! Night jewels?”

Do Hyung and Chun Uijin also confirmed they were night jewels, reacting in surprise.

Even the Poison King seemed shocked, staring fixedly at the night jewels.

『No, it’s not the night jewels that are important right now. Look at all of them, unable to take their eyes off.』

No, it was very important. How could something like so many night jewels not be important?

‘I wish I could just take one.’

Taking just one could make it quite easy to run away and live comfortably.

I indulged in that happy fantasy for a moment.

『For the record, if you try to take one recklessly, the whole place will collapse, so be careful.』

The Poison Sovereign quickly shattered that hope.

“… Looks like there’s nothing special here. Let’s move on.”

As I sighed and spoke, the gazes around me changed.

What was this…? Why were they all staring at me like that?

“Young master Bang… It seems you are indeed indifferent to material things.”

Chun Uijin spoke with admiration in his voice.

What?

‘How could I not be interested?’

I wanted to steal them and run away right now.

‘… But I can’t, and it’s tearing me up inside.’

It was unbearable, having treasure right in front of me and unable to touch it.

“… That’s not it. This vault was made by the Poison Sovereign, so it’s not mine. Besides…”

I continued, shifting my gaze to the Poison King.

“From what I’ve observed of his nature, touching those jewels recklessly could lead to who knows what.”

“…”

The Poison King seemed to understand what I was implying.

In fact, he appeared surprised that I had picked up on it.

“It’s probably best not to touch anything recklessly… What do you think, Lord?”

“I agree.”

With his agreement, we had enough justification.

“Then, Lord, what should we do next?”

I asked. The Lord’s brows furrowed slightly.

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve successfully entered the vault… what more needs to be done?”

“…”

We had opened the vault. Wasn’t the mission complete?

The Poison King remained silent for a moment before responding.

“We haven’t searched everything yet, so we should look more.”

“Understood.”

I nodded in acknowledgement without further comment.

At that moment.

『This guy? We haven’t even found the sword yet and he wants to stop…』

The Poison Sovereign’s disbelief was apparent, but.

『Silence. Let it be.』

Yu Chun-gil immediately interrupted, silencing the Poison Sovereign.

Simultaneously, I shifted my focus.

In that unnoticed moment, I changed my expression.

With narrowed eyes, I pondered.

‘…Indeed.’

It seemed correct.

I scrutinized the Poison King with heightened caution.

‘He must be looking for something specific here.’

The vault itself wasn’t the goal.

There was something specific inside he was after.

And…

‘Though I don’t know what it is.’

Feeling a mix of awareness and confusion toward the Poison King, I furrowed my brows.

‘This is unsettling.’

I felt uneasy.

Like being next to a bomb ready to explode at any moment.