The World's Greatest is Dead - Chapter 88

I struggled to raise myself. The moonlight streaming through the window was faint, and the surroundings were dark, suggesting it was quite late at night.

“…Whew…”

As I forced myself to sit up, I was met with a menacing face right in front of me. I couldn’t help but shudder violently at the sight.

“Whoa, damn.”

『…?』

When I cursed and leaned back, the owner of the face, Poison Sovereign, looked puzzled.

『Why are you reacting like that?』

“…It’s nothing. A bug just flew by.”

I couldn’t just say your face is too terrifying. So, I shook my head.

『…A bug? I didn’t see any.』

The old man’s observational skills were annoyingly sharp.

“No, it passed by. A gnat.”

『Hmm, is that so?』

Fortunately, as I insisted with sharp eyes, Poison Sovereign let it slide, albeit reluctantly.

Seeing this, I sighed inwardly and looked around.

‘Looks like Yu Chun-gil didn’t come in.’

Yu Chun-gil was nowhere to be seen. Given how busy I was in Sichuan, it no longer bothered me.

What was important was…

“So, you’re saying you’re going to get the Great Rejuvenation Pill?”

『Oh, were you awake?』

“No, I heard it in my sleep.”

『Oh, I see…』

Poison Sovereign’s expression seemed to say ‘you heard that?’

『…Anyway, I think I should give you some reward as promised. What do you think?』

“If you’re offering, I’d gladly accept…”

I glanced sideways.

“Do we have to go at this hour?”

It seemed like it was around the hour of the tiger (3–5 a.m.).

“Was there a reason to go now when everyone was asleep?”, I asked, puzzled.

『Yes, we must go now.』

“Hmm…”

Hearing this, I got up. Without asking further, I stood up, and Poison Sovereign looked puzzled.

『Why aren’t you asking more questions?』

“What?”

As he asked why I was following without further questioning, he looked at me in disbelief.

“…You said we have to go now, didn’t you?”

『But you could ask more. Why not?』

“Well, um…”

After thinking for a moment, I responded to Poison Sovereign.

“If we need to go at this hour to get the Great Rejuvenation Pill, it means it’s an issue of other people noticing. Also, you’re offering the Great Rejuvenation Pill before the task is even completed, so it seems you think the pill and the sword you’re looking for are in the same place. Isn’t that right?”

『…Uh…』

“Additionally, judging by the circumstances, it seems to be in the secret vault. Since there are guards at the main entrance of the secret vault, we wouldn’t go there. Hence, there must be another entrance. That’s where we’re headed now, isn’t it?”

『…』

The more I spoke, the more peculiar Poison Sovereign’s expression became.

At first, he just looked at me as if I were strange, but now he was looking at me as if I were incredibly strange.

Why was he looking at me like that? After staring at me for a while, Poison Sovereign chuckled and spoke.

『…That guy was spot on.』

“What? Who said what?”

『No matter. Let’s go, as there’s no need for further explanation.』

“Ah, yes.”

I forced my tired eyes open and fully stood up.

“Where are we going?”

『We don’t need to go anywhere.』

“What?”

『The entrance is right below you.』

“What the…”

I trailed off as something came to mind.

“…”

I recalled the incident at the Blue Moon Sect. With that in mind, I spoke to Poison Sovereign.

“… Elder, you didn’t happen to make entrances in all the residences within the Tang family, did you?”

『… What? How do you know that? Did you predict that too?』

“No, it wasn’t a prediction, just experience.”

It was a very similar experience, indeed.

So, I asked on a hunch, and it turned out to be correct.

“Hmmm…”

Unsure how to react, I stayed silent. At this point, I realized something. Reacting dramatically wouldn’t change anything.

‘I’d only tire myself out.’

These old men were all eccentric, so it was better to just go with the flow.

“…So, what now? Do I open a drawer or something again?”

As I asked naturally, Poison Sovereign seemed surprised.

『What’s this, boy? How do you know that?』

“……”

It was truly nerve-wracking.

I had figured it out.

Now that I saw it, the mechanism seemed more complex than it initially appeared.

Opening the drawer triggered the door. How did he even make something like this?

‘…… It feels kind of similar?’

The rules bore a striking resemblance. Given that the creator was the same, it was more than just a coincidence.

‘Maybe it’s more about habits than coincidence?’

Whatever the case, it wasn’t particularly significant. What mattered, in any case, was.

‘…… That there’s a path leading to the Secret Vault from here.’

There was another passage leading to the Secret Vault.

That was the crucial point right now.

So.

“Elder.”

『Speak.』

“…… Why did you not mention this during the daytime?”

Why did I have to go to the Secret Vault with the Poison King?

If there was such a shortcut, I should have just quickly gone and accomplished what Poison Sovereign wanted.

I couldn’t understand why he waited until nighttime to mention this.

To my question, Poison Sovereign replied.

『I had something to confirm.』

“…… With the clan leader?”

『Yes.』

He needed to confirm something with his son while entering the Secret Vault together?

‘What was it?’

I wondered what he intended to confirm. But for now, I decided to let it pass.

He didn’t seem likely to answer anyway.

“…… So, what should I do first?”

As soon as I spoke, Poison Sovereign pointed somewhere. It was the drawer right behind me.

『Open the second drawer.』

I immediately followed his instruction. *Squeak!* The drawer opened. There was nothing inside.

Poison Sovereign’s hand moved again.

It pointed to a lamp on the table that was not lit.

『Move that lamp onto the drawer.』

I lifted the lamp and placed it on the drawer. Then.

『Now, channel your inner qi into it.』

Poison Sovereign instructed. Without hesitation, I activated the Blue Moon Mind Technique in my hand.

*Wooong—!*

The blue energy slowly flowed and adhered to the lamp.

At that moment.

*Screech—!*

A sound came from the floor. When I lifted the blanket, sure enough, there was a square hole.

Even a ladder. It was exactly like what I had seen at the Blue Moon Sect.

『How is it? Amazing, isn’t it?』

Poison Sovereign asked me proudly, evidently brimming with self-confidence.

“Yes, it’s really fascinating.”

I responded as much as I could to match his expectations. In truth, I wasn’t that surprised, given what I had seen at the Blue Moon Sect.

『Why do you seem so unimpressed?』

“Not at all. I’m just too shocked to properly react.”

『Ah, is that so? I see.』

“……”

Poison Sovereign, unbeknownst to him, was somewhat naive.

Anyhow.

“…… Should I go down now?”

『Yes.』

With Poison Sovereign’s permission, I descended the ladder.

This, too, felt familiar.

The difference was that at the Blue Moon Sect, I had to descend quite a bit, whereas this time, it wasn’t as deep.

*Splash.*

As soon as my feet touched the ground, a damp feeling spread.

The space I had come down to was dark. I immediately circulated my qi and focused my vision.

In the now brightened view, an entrance appeared in front of me.

『Proceed slowly. There’s nothing particularly problematic.』

“…… Nothing particularly problematic means there are minor issues, right?”

『You’ll be fine. At the most, you might lose a few toes…… Haha, just joking, kid. Keep going.』

“…… Don’t make jokes like that. It’s terrifying.”

I almost went back up immediately.

I looked at Poison Sovereign suspiciously and moved forward. Just as he said, there were no other traps.

After walking a little, I saw a door.

There was no doorknob. It seemed to require a special method to open.

As I observed it quietly, I wondered.

『The door is now…』

Poison Sovereign was attempting to explain how to open it.

*Swiish.*

『Huh?』

But my hand moved first.

『Child, what are you… Oh?』

Poison Sovereign tried to question my actions but.

*Swoosh swoosh.*

Seeing my hand move, Poison Sovereign fell silent. After drawing a few lines without hesitation, *Creak–!!!* the door in front of me opened.

“Oh, it worked.”

Nodding at the opening door, Poison Sovereign stammered as he asked me,『… How. How did you do it.』

“Excuse me?”

『I’ve never told you how to handle this mechanism…』

“Oh, this.”

It was nothing special.

“I noticed a pattern.”

『… A pattern?』

“Yes.”

Even during the day when I opened the mechanism, there was a peculiar pattern in deactivating Poison Sovereign’s mechanisms.

“There were dots on the wall. Connecting them was the key, right?”

『…!』

As I spoke, Poison Sovereign’s eyes widened.

『You saw that…?』

“Yes. It was very small and hard to see, but once I focused, I could see it.”

The sizes and heights varied, but, ‘The shapes were identical.’

The shapes formed by the dots were identical, and within them was the same rule.

No matter what direction one should move the hand or how to turn, the result was the same.

‘How to connect these dots.’

This seemed to be the criterion for opening or closing this mechanism.

『… But there must have been more than just one or two dots?』

Poison Sovereign asked, seemingly unable to comprehend.

He was right. There weren’t just one or two dots. To open the door, six dots had to be connected, and there were dozens of small dots on the door.

Moreover, since the material was stone, at a glance, it just looked like part of the stone’s texture.

If you ask how I managed to find the dots that formed the mechanism in such a situation,

“I calculated.”

『… What? Calculated?』

“Yes. Since the shapes formed by the dots seemed the same, I determined the base points and calculated based on the size.”

『But how did you establish the base points among so many dots?』

“Ha, why are you doing this.”

I replied to Poison Sovereign, as if it wasn’t funny.

“Those two biggest dots kindly provided were the base points. How could I not find it.”

『… I see.』

Among the countless dots, there were two larger dots: one to the north and one to the south.

These were the base points. From these, I could estimate the overall shape and size, and connect the remaining four dots.

『… You found that… in such a short time?』

The more I explained, the more unusual Poison Sovereign’s expression became.

Why was he reacting like this?

“I just calculated and connected, so why are you so surprised? Once you know the rules, it’s simple.”

『Simple…? No, it can’t be that simple…』

He seemed broken somehow.

Looking at his condition, soon enough, Poison Sovereign composed himself and asked another question.

『No, no. Finding it is one thing, but child, as I mentioned earlier, messing with the mechanism could have caused a big accident. Knowing that, the fact that you did something so risky is hard to believe.』

“… Oh…”

Indeed, he was right. If I had tampered carelessly, it could have exploded.

“But still.”

I spoke nonchalantly to Poison Sovereign.

“I was certain I wouldn’t get it wrong.”

『What…?』

“It didn’t seem like I could fail, so I just did it.”

『No… You just… did it?』

“Yes. Since I wasn’t going to get it wrong, there was no need to hesitate.”

『… I see.』

“In the end, everything turned out well, didn’t it?”

『Ah, well…』

“We just need to go inside, right?”

Leaving the bewildered Poison Sovereign behind, I stepped into the entrance that had opened.

『This child, just like his master, is twisted in some way.』

Poison Sovereign muttered with a complicated look in his eyes.

His voice was so faint that I did not hear him murmuring behind me.