“Don’t /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ we have something 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 time, but are all Blue Moon Sect people like this?

Every last one of them looks like they’re ready to kill somebody.

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 me 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 time, the Small Moon Unit Leader’s brow furrowed even deeper.

TWITCH—!

The air rippled.

It wasn’t like last time. 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 meant 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 same. He didn’t say a word—just stared at me.

Blue eyes and blue eyes met.

A moment passed like that.

“What exactly do you want?”

The Small Moon Unit Leader finally asked.

I smiled and answered.

“As I told you last time—”

“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 me. 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 something 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 shamelessly straightforward answer, the Small Moon Unit Leader let out a hollow breath.

“So you come to me 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 me your strength or not. That’s it.”

“......Haha.”

The Small Moon Unit Leader finally laughed.

Then—

“I can’t understand it.”

He immediately 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 me. 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 someone worthy of inheriting the Sword Saint’s name.”

“Oh.”

That hit my chest like a punch. I didn’t expect him to say it that bluntly.

“To inherit his name, you are arrogant. You are conceited.”

Arrogant. Conceited.

Words that didn’t fit me at all, but they made it crystal clear how he saw me.

“So you hate me because I don’t look worthy of inheriting the Sword Saint’s name?”

“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 me.

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 confirmed all of it a long time 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 come 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 me 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 name really that heavy?”

“...What?”

At my words, the Small Moon Unit Leader’s body went stiff.

And then—

SSSSSSSSS—!!

The air sank like last time.

“What did you just say?”

“I asked if the Sword Saint’s name 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 became fertilizer a long time ago.”

“You little—!!”

The moment 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 time?

The pressure pouring onto my body was strangely bearable.

Last time, it felt like I was being crushed to dust, like I’d be smashed flat any second.

“A name is all it is.”

Even speaking wasn’t that hard right now.

What was going on? Had something changed?

Maybe it was Yoo Cheongil’s doing. Last time, he’d shouted and loosened my body up.

“The Sword Saint’s name? 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 me, 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 something downright vicious.

“I respect your reverence. But don’t force it on me.”

CLINK.

At my words, a sound came 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 me, the Sword Saint’s name isn’t something 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 moment.

“The strongest under heaven? The greatest in all ages? The Blue Moon Sect’s hero? So what.”

I stepped forward and met 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 some 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 same man—

I’d make him see that man in me.

I judged that would work better.

Yeah.

Right now—

“Because it’s an achievement I’m going to accomplish anyway.”

I had to look like Yoo Cheongil, the Sword Saint, in his eyes.

Remember.

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 me, 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 me in an instant, but—

So what.

If it were Yoo Cheongil, he wouldn’t even care about something like that.

That was the kind of man he was.

“Do you think I need to watch your mood because the Sword Saint’s name is heavy? I’m not planning to inherit his name.”

The Sword Saint’s name 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 some runt who doesn’t know his place, trying to inherit the Sword Saint’s name—”

My sword touched his throat, but the Small Moon Unit Leader didn’t move.

He only stared at me with trembling blue eyes.

“You’re looking at the one who’ll stand alone above the heavens someday.”

“...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 me doing a little trick for your amusement. So choose.”

I handed him the choice.

“Will you keep your eyes covered by the Sword Saint’s name and ignore me? Or will you stay close and watch my little tricks a bit longer?”

I don’t care about taking the Sword Saint’s name.

I’ll become something higher, something greater.

So watch from the side.

That was what it meant.

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 me.”

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 same time, the Small Moon Unit Leader spoke to me.

“...What is it you want from me?”

I smiled at that.

It wasn’t that different from the first question.

But the meaning inside it was clearly, completely different.