Small Moon Unit Leader.

A title that, exactly as it sounds, refers to the highest-ranking person in the Small Moon Unit—

and, to the wider world, the only existence who could call himself the strongest sword of the Blue Moon Sect.

The absolute ruler of the Blue Moon Sect is the Sect Master, sure.

But the sword that protects the Blue Moon Sect is, in the end, the Small Moon Unit Leader.

What is the Small Moon Unit?

An elite unit made up of the strongest martial artists in the Blue Moon Sect.

Wudang’s Taiji Sword Unit and Mount Hua Sect’s Plum Blossom Sword Unit—

or the Changryong Eight Units, the battalions of the Martial Alliance’s guard force—

they were a group comparable to those.

So the fame and martial might of the Small Moon Unit Leader was something nobody in the Central Plains could dare ignore.

That’s why there was no way I wouldn’t know what kind of monster the man in front of me was.

A huge man looking down at me with blue eyes that were sharp enough to seem almost crystalline.

Small Moon Unit Leader Baek Yucheon.

Looking at the man staring at me like I was unbelievable, I swallowed a quiet breath.

Man... this is creepy as hell.

I couldn’t not.

What the hell are those eyes?

The way he looked at me was way too sharp.

It wasn’t like when Moon-Thread Sword looked at me. With that guy, I couldn’t even tell what emotion was in it. His eyes just looked fierce, and that alone made you tense up.

This one’s not even trying to hide it.

The Small Moon Unit Leader just flat-out hated me.

He didn’t hide a single shred of that negative emotion—

and he packed his gaze with it, along with an oppressive, violent pressure.

“......What did you just say?”

The Small Moon Unit Leader asked again, like he couldn’t believe what I’d said.

Hearing that, I hesitated.

Ah. Should I just pretend I didn’t?

Say I misspoke, ask him to pretend he didn’t hear it, then run?

......Yeah, it’s too late for that.

Whether I thought deeply or shallowly, the result was the same.

I’d already said it, and after hearing it, there was no way the Small Moon Unit Leader would let it slide.

So.

“I think I need to become Young Lord.”

I forced down the lump in my throat and said the same thing again.

“And I was hoping you’d back me up—”

KGGGGK—!!!

Kgh—!

The pressure blasting out of the Small Moon Unit Leader was vicious. Even with a body that had reached pinnacle, my mouth clamped shut on its own under that kind of weight.

He’s out of his mind.

Cold sweat ran down my back. Every time I felt it again, I had the same thought—were these so-called absolute masters even human?

How is this something a human being gives off?

Unbelievable.

No, seriously—unbelievable.

My life, too.

I have to survive in a place where monsters like this run around.

It really was a bizarre, shit-stained life.

“......Sounds like you truly think I’m a joke.”

The Small Moon Unit Leader’s anger seeped into his voice.

And with that emotion mixed in, his pressure exploded and wrapped around me like it was trying to crush me.

“I’m pretty sure I told you I would never acknowledge you. So showing up in front of me and spouting that worthless nonsense—means you’re mocking me. Doesn’t it?”

The air sank.

At the same time, the Small Moon Unit Leader’s eyes gleamed, and light spilled out of them.

“Looks like you’re under a very big misunderstanding.”

I was scared out of my mind.

How do a person’s eyes glow like that?

“Even if the Sect Master thinks well of you, you assume I will too? Or...”

SQUEEZE.

The Small Moon Unit Leader set his hand on the hilt at his waist.

My eyes snapped over there on their own.

“Because the Sect Master thinks well of you, you decided I can’t dare do anything to you?”

“.......”

My instincts screamed a warning.

If that sword comes out, I’m really, truly fucked.

So stop it. Right now. Hurry.

That was what my whole body was howling at me.

“Either way, it’s an arrogant delusion.”

My lips felt like lead. My mouth, pinned by the pressure, wouldn’t open when I wanted it to.

Ah... this is bad.

I didn’t think the pressure would be this strong.

I didn’t expect to get blocked to the point I couldn’t even talk.

At this rate, I was going to get completely screwed.

SHING.

The sword slid free.

Fuck—what do I do?

Just as I was about to swallow again in that razor-thin moment—

[ROAR—!!!]

Yoo Cheongil let out a furious bellow.

And instantly, wind tore through the room.

WHOOOOOOOOSH—!!!!

Like a gale slamming into us, the air inside the room surged upward.

CRACK—!

The pressure binding my body collapsed from the shockwave.

“......!!”

The moment the situation changed, the Small Moon Unit Leader’s eyes went wide as he’d been about to draw.

Seeing that, I moved my freed mouth.

“I know you respect our master.”

“What?”

The moment I brought up my master—the Sword Saint—the Small Moon Unit Leader, whose eyes were still wide, immediately drew his brows together.

“What are you trying to say.”

“Isn’t that true?”

“A petty joke. Do you think there’s anyone in the Blue Moon Sect who doesn’t respect him?”

True. Yoo Cheongil was the most respected martial artist in the entire Central Plains.

And the Blue Moon Sect was his home.

There wouldn’t be a single person here who didn’t respect him.

But.

“Among those people, your respect stands out.”

“What does that mean...?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. You respect him so much—”

I paused, lifted the corner of my mouth, then continued.

“—that you even went as far as telling the Beggar Clan to make sure the rumor doesn’t spread that I’m his disciple.”

“.......”

At my words, the raging wind vanished without a trace.

And the air that had been crushed down by the Small Moon Unit Leader’s pressure returned again.

Silence spread.

No sound, just a slice of time passing.

“......What are you talking about?”

The Small Moon Unit Leader’s delayed playing-dumb came out.

The expression on his face was something else.

He probably knows too.

That it was way too late to pretend.

From his reaction just now, it was basically the same as him admitting he’d heard it.

Still—

“Isn’t it?”

“.......”

“Then I guess I was mistaken.”

Even while knowing the truth, I gave the Small Moon Unit Leader a hole to escape through.

More accurately—

It’s a threat.

I know about this.

That was the threat.

I’d thought of it back then—the day I arrived in Henan and the question first crossed my mind.

Who the hell was the one who stopped my rumor?

Once it had leaked out in Anhui that I’d become the Sword Saint’s successor, it wouldn’t have been strange for it to cover the Central Plains not long after.

Honestly—

This is a bigger shock than me catching Ma Hyeokchang.

A direct successor of the Sword Saint appearing?

That’s a bigger deal than me getting called Little Sword Saint and having my name spread across the entire Central Plains.

And yet—

That rumor got smothered.

For a while, the rumor that I was the Sword Saint’s successor didn’t spread. It was weird. How many people saw my spar with the Moon-Thread Sword in Anhui? How many reports were there when Mountain-Spirit Fiend died?

If you added it all up, the rumor should’ve already exploded ages ago...

My rumors really started spreading because of what happened in Sichuan.

They had been leaking bit by bit.

People recognizing me as soon as I arrived at the Blue Moon Sect, for one.

And in a Five Great Clans family like the Tang Clan, they’d already identified me ahead of time to the point they sent a letter.

Which meant—

The important forces knew about me...

...but beyond that, it was more accurate to say the rumor had been blocked from spreading.

So if someone “blocked” the rumor, who was it?

The answer was simple.

The Beggar Clan.

There’s a saying that rumors in the Central Plains start with the Beggar Clan and end with the Beggar Clan.

Meaning nobody could match them on information.

And if you flip that around, it also meant they could control rumors.

The Beggar Clan stopped my rumor from spreading.

At the same time, they let it spread so that major forces would still know about it.

That explained why the rumor about the Sword Saint’s successor hadn’t spread widely.

Sure, small leaks are unavoidable.

Even accounting for that, it was way too quiet.

If I hadn’t caused that mess in Sichuan, it might’ve been even quieter.

Someone must’ve made another move through the Beggar Clan.

Just like someone blocked my rumor—

someone else also made a move to let it spread.

I didn’t know who did that part, but—

That’s not what matters right now.

More than whoever spread it,

the one who blocked it mattered more.

And when I tried to find the culprit, I picked out a handful of suspects.

Among them—

This guy had the highest odds.

The guy in front of me.

From my perspective, the most likely was the Small Moon Unit Leader—

and— 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Bingo.

In the end, my guess was right.

At first I’d only meant to probe lightly, but with his reaction, I could tell.

“Mistaken or not... putting that aside, back to the main point. Could you back me up?”

I returned to business.

At that, the Small Moon Unit Leader’s brow crumpled harder than ever.

Same words, but he’d know it meant something different now.

If something was “done”—

There’s a high chance it was done personally by the Small Moon Unit Leader, without the Sect Master knowing.

He must’ve handled it without Moon-Thread Sword’s knowledge. Otherwise, Moon-Thread Sword’s reaction toward me didn’t make sense.

And also—

“......How dare—”

—the Small Moon Unit Leader’s reaction right now made that clear too.

“You’re trying to blackmail me.”

“Blackmail? How could I dare do something like that.”

I didn’t wipe the smile away.

Inside, fear crawled up my spine. If this man tried to pull his sword out here, I wouldn’t even be able to react before my head hit the floor.

“This is a request—and a longing—I’m offering you. And it’s also hope. That if you’re someone who respects our master, you might take my side.”

“.......”

“Of course, I know you don’t like me. But people... there’s always a ‘maybe,’ isn’t there.”

I kept talking without stopping. I couldn’t afford even a moment of silence.

And even if the Small Moon Unit Leader really was the one who worked with the Beggar Clan to suppress my rumor—

This alone won’t pull him in.

It was impossible to drag the Small Moon Unit Leader to my side with just that.

This was groundwork.

To show him I can think harder than he expected.

To make him recognize I wasn’t some random nobody.

Once that got hammered into his head—

Then I hit him with the most important punch.

I had to detonate the “real” punch I’d prepared.

“Fine.”

“Right. I figured you’d say that. But if you back me up, then— Huh?”

I froze mid-sentence.

What?

“......Fine?”

“Yeah. Fine.”

“......Huh?”

[Huh?]

I flinched without meaning to. Fine? Even Yoo Cheongil above me tilted his head.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

What the hell?

Why is he saying fine?

I didn’t even get to use what I prepared.

I was about to say the line that would make him start drooling, but the Small Moon Unit Leader’s words knocked my mind sideways.

Why?

Why would he say fine? He was supposed to refuse. Staring at him in that unexpected turn—

“Instead, there’s a condition.”

The Small Moon Unit Leader said.

“A condition...?”

I frowned as I listened. Then the Small Moon Unit Leader told me what the condition was, and—

“......What?”

It was so far out of left field that all I could do was panic.

*****

Time passed, and it was around when the sunset was just starting to tint the sky.

I stood in the middle of a space where countless people formed a circle.

And not just that—

“Nice to meet you?”

“......Yeah.”

I was facing Cheon Hyein with a wooden sword in my hand.