“Don’t /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ we have sothing to talk about?”
CRUNCH.
The Small Moon Unit Leader ground his teeth hard.
Hearing that sound, I thought.
This guy’s expression is scary as hell.
I’ve felt it for a long ti, but are all Blue Moon Sect people like this?
Every last one of them looks like they’re ready to kill sobody.
Not as much as the Tang Clan folks, but these people were no joke either.
Ah—more than “ferocious,” it was closer to “cold.”
Anyway.
Do you have to look like that?
Like, do you have to look vicious, or at least like it’s hard to hold eye contact with you for more than a few seconds, to grab a decent seat?
If that’s the case, I’m pretty screwed.
In my past life, Kim Mincheol had one of those faces—top-tier “looks dangerous.”
Because of that, I lived hearing people call a goblin and whatever else.
But this body isn’t like that.
This life, it wasn’t.
Far from vicious, I had a soft, harmless-looking face.
It wasn’t like I hated it. If anything, it was good.
No one loses money for being good-looking.
That part, I was satisfied with.
But—
This isn’t what I need to be thinking about right now.
Anyway.
I focused back on the Small Moon Unit Leader.
“I think I carried out the condition properly. What do you think?”
When I brought up what happened last ti, the Small Moon Unit Leader’s brow furrowed even deeper.
TWITCH—!
The air rippled.
It wasn’t like last ti. Not pressure.
This wasn’t pressure so much as emotion spilling out and mixing into qi.
In other words—
...A realm where even letting your feelings slip makes the energy move.
It also ant even a tiny change was enough to make the air tremble.
My tension rose on its own. Still, I didn’t show it.
“......”
The Small Moon Unit Leader was the sa. He didn’t say a word—just stared at .
Blue eyes and blue eyes t.
A mont passed like that.
“What exactly do you want?”
The Small Moon Unit Leader finally asked.
I smiled and answered.
“As I told you last ti—”
“No. I already know that isn’t your real intent.”
“Oh?”
“If anything, you should know better than anyone that I don’t like you.”
“That’s right.”
Of course I knew. He made it so obvious that if you didn’t notice, you were a damn idiot.
“You know it perfectly well, and yet you still reach for . I’m asking why. What is the reason?”
His face said he genuinely couldn’t understand.
The reason?
“The reason is obvious.”
It didn’t even need explaining.
“Because your position is the strongest, and I need it.”
“.......”
The strongest person after the Sect Master.
And in the Blue Moon Sect, the one with the most solid footing after the Sect Master was the Small Moon Unit Leader.
If sothing happened to Moon-Thread Sword, the one who would act as Sect Master’s proxy was the Small Moon Unit Leader.
Moon-Thread Sword was the real commander in practice, but the one who could directly issue orders to the Small Moon Unit was, in the end, only the Small Moon Unit Leader.
The master of the strongest elite unit in the Blue Moon Sect.
That alone made borrowing his influence more than worth it.
“Given what my goal is, I absolutely need your strength.”
“......Ha....”
At my shalessly straightforward answer, the Small Moon Unit Leader let out a hollow breath.
“So you co to and do this, even though I hate you?”
“That isn’t important. Liking and disliking are separate issues. What matters is—”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Whether you lend your strength or not. That’s it.”
“......Haha.”
The Small Moon Unit Leader finally laughed.
Then—
“I can’t understand it.”
He imdiately wiped the smile off his face and continued.
“Even if you say you want to borrow my strength, do you really think I’ll lend it?”
“I won the bet.”
So why were you talking nonsense now, after making a bet and everything?
When I asked with that attitude—
“Yeah. That little bet.”
The Small Moon Unit Leader lifted the corner of his mouth.
“A bet is a bet. I can say I’ll help you with words as much as I like. But is that enough for you?”
Helping with words alone—saying it—was easy.
He wasn’t wrong.
“Honestly, you beating Cheon Hyein surprised . I was certain you couldn’t. On that point, I was wrong.”
The Small Moon Unit Leader admitted it calmly.
“But if you thought that would make my heart move toward you—that’s your mistake. I still don’t like you.”
“Why?”
“You are not soone worthy of inheriting the Sword Saint’s na.”
“Oh.”
That hit my chest like a punch. I didn’t expect him to say it that bluntly.
“To inherit his na, you are arrogant. You are conceited.”
Arrogant. Conceited.
Words that didn’t fit at all, but they made it crystal clear how he saw .
“So you hate because I don’t look worthy of inheriting the Sword Saint’s na?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
I scratched my cheek.
I knew he respected the Sword Saint. How could I not?
And he was saying that was the reason he hated .
Even aside from that, it was already common knowledge.
They said the Small Moon Unit Leader started learning martial arts after seeing the Sword Saint’s sword.
The reason he entered the Blue Moon Sect—
The words he always spat out while he was active in the Central Plains—
I’d checked and confird all of it a long ti ago.
‘Everything follows the will the Sword Saint left behind.’
What the Sword Saint said.
What the Sword Saint tried to accomplish.
A man who walked after all of it.
That was the Small Moon Unit Leader, as I’d co to understand him.
If anything, he might have been the one who wanted to be the Sword Saint’s true successor more than anyone.
So that might be why he hates even more.
Because he couldn’t.
Because it was a stupid, lingering jealousy.
So what do you do in a case like this?
A short thought flickered past.
“So, for the sake of the bet, you can say it with words, but there won’t be any weight behind—”
“But listen.”
My hesitation died fast.
“Is the Sword Saint’s na really that heavy?”
“...What?”
At my words, the Small Moon Unit Leader’s body went stiff.
And then—
SSSSSSSSS—!!
The air sank like last ti.
“What did you just say?”
“I asked if the Sword Saint’s na is really that heavy.”
My skin stung.
The hairs on my body stood up, and that prickling, electric sensation was especially irritating.
“My master was an incredible man, sure. But he already beca fertilizer a long ti ago.”
“You little—!!”
The mont I dared to speak about the Sword Saint like that, the Small Moon Unit Leader’s presence flared violently.
The funny thing was—
This is better than last ti?
The pressure pouring onto my body was strangely bearable.
Last ti, it felt like I was being crushed to dust, like I’d be smashed flat any second.
“A na is all it is.”
Even speaking wasn’t that hard right now.
What was going on? Had sothing changed?
Maybe it was Yoo Cheongil’s doing. Last ti, he’d shouted and loosened my body up.
“The Sword Saint’s na? Sure, it’s great. He was the strongest under heaven, a hero—of course it can be heavy.”
Because of that, I could push through the pressure and talk to him.
“But for , it isn’t that heavy.”
“You. If you keep running that worthless tongue about him, I’ll cut it out right now.”
“Ha.”
I laughed. The Small Moon Unit Leader’s face twisted into sothing downright vicious.
“I respect your reverence. But don’t force it on .”
CLINK.
At my words, a sound ca from his waist.
Before I knew it, his hand was on his sword.
At this rate, he really would draw it.
I knew that.
But—
“For , the Sword Saint’s na isn’t sothing I have to bear.”
My mouth didn’t stop.
The Small Moon Unit Leader’s shoulder moved.
Then—
“It’s just one mountain I have to climb over.”
Halt.
At that, his hand paused.
This was the mont.
“The strongest under heaven? The greatest in all ages? The Blue Moon Sect’s hero? So what.”
I stepped forward and t his eyes.
If I showed respect for the Sword Saint, I might be able to win the Small Moon Unit Leader’s favor.
But—
Favor alone isn’t enough.
What I needed wasn’t so cheap approval.
I—
I needed more than that.
So it wasn’t enough to just form a shared sense of reverence with him.
Then what?
Then there’s only one way.
I already knew exactly who he worshiped.
Instead of building common ground by worshiping the sa man—
I’d make him see that man in .
I judged that would work better.
Yeah.
Right now—
“Because it’s an achievent I’m going to accomplish anyway.”
I had to look like Yoo Cheongil, the Sword Saint, in his eyes.
Rember.
If it were him, standing in front of you, what would he say?
What expression would he make?
I pictured that old bastard with the foul personality hovering behind , and I set my stance.
What did he do?
I lifted the corner of my mouth and stared straight into the Small Moon Unit Leader with a hard gaze.
He was a powerhouse who could kill in an instant, but—
So what.
If it were Yoo Cheongil, he wouldn’t even care about sothing like that.
That was the kind of man he was.
“Do you think I need to watch your mood because the Sword Saint’s na is heavy? I’m not planning to inherit his na.”
The Sword Saint’s na was nothing.
That was the posture I showed.
“Inheriting it is boring.”
If it were Yoo Cheongil, that’s what he’d say.
“Before long, I’m going to surpass him.”
The strongest under heaven?
The greatest in all ages?
Just thinking about those titles felt crushing.
But—
“Does that look hard to you?”
The weight was my problem.
If it were Yoo Cheongil, it wouldn’t have been.
“No. It’s not hard. I’ll do it. So—”
SHIIIING—!
“...!”
Right in front of the Small Moon Unit Leader, I drew my sword.
The ink-dark Divine Sword revealed itself.
And then—
FWOOSH—!!!
A brilliant blue light flooded over the blade.
“You’re not looking at so runt who doesn’t know his place, trying to inherit the Sword Saint’s na—”
My sword touched his throat, but the Small Moon Unit Leader didn’t move.
He only stared at with trembling blue eyes.
“You’re looking at the one who’ll stand alone above the heavens soday.”
“...You....”
The Small Moon Unit Leader tried to react to my words.
That was when I twisted it slightly.
“I’ll treat the bet as doing a little trick for your amusent. So choose.”
I handed him the choice.
“Will you keep your eyes covered by the Sword Saint’s na and ignore ? Or will you stay close and watch my little tricks a bit longer?”
I don’t care about taking the Sword Saint’s na.
I’ll beco sothing higher, sothing greater.
So watch from the side.
That was what it ant.
Cold sweat ran down my back. Feeling my clothes turning damp, I spoke to the silent Small Moon Unit Leader.
I even used the last card I’d prepared to shove him.
“Oh, and if you’re saying you’ll really put your weight behind .”
I shifted my gaze and looked at my sword.
His eyes followed to the blade.
“I’ll teach you the third form of the Blue Moon Sword Dance—newly created by my master.”
“...!”
I added one more weight to the scale.
I didn’t know how heavy his pride and reverence really were.
But after doing this much, would he still not move at all?
Right as that doubt began to sprout—
CREEEAK.
The weight shifted.
A tiny, tiny change—but a change.
At the sa ti, the Small Moon Unit Leader spoke to .
“...What is it you want from ?”
I smiled at that.
It wasn’t that different from the first question.
But the aning inside it was clearly, completely different.
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