The Terminally Ill Young Master is the Mad Dog of the Underworld.

There was a reason I became a ‘righteous thief’ under the moonlight, even if it wasn’t by choice. 

Simply put, I wasn’t being chased because I stole something. Rather, since I was already being hunted, I decided to steal this jewel box along the way.

To understand the whole story, we need to go back a bit.

———

After earning godfather Daikin’s forgiveness with nothing but sheer nerve, I spent a long time under him as a blade-for-hire. 

Then, one day, I realized that I had surpassed Daikin in strength. My talent was that exceptional. Even so, I continued to respect him, not out of some grand loyalty or sentiment, but because we all owed him our lives.

‘Looking back…’

I was simply following the words my grandfather had told me in my childhood, that advice which felt like a binding curse.

So, when Daikin was killed in a struggle with another organization, we gladly avenged his blood.

‘With this, the debt is repaid, Daikin.’

But in that process, I ended up with too much blood on my hands. I’d made too many enemies and could no longer stay in my hometown. 

After handing over the organization to those who had supported me, I boarded a ship headed for a distant, foreign land.

“Farewell, Karzan. You’re a fine man. I’ll take good care of the ones left behind.”

“Thanks. Live well.”

There were those who followed me on that journey to an unknown island, those same companions who had treated me like a brother since our orphan days.

“You crazy idiots. Why’d you come all the way here?”

“We didn’t have much choice. Where else would we go?”

Leaving the underworld once you’ve entered it is nearly impossible. And just as there’s no land without nightfall, there’s no country without shadows.

We had to dive into the underworld of a foreign land once again.

… And so, time continued to pass.

The winds of many connections swept past me like a sail. I drifted aimlessly across the sea of life. Looking back, where was I even headed?

“So, boss, aren’t you ever going to get married? I know at least a few women who fancy you…”

“At my age, marriage? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Come on, you’re still in your prime.”

I thought that blood-stained hands couldn’t hold a child.

‘Thinking back now, it wasn’t that necessary to be that way.’

I’d let my pride get the best of me.

Did I have cherished connections? Of course. But I couldn’t accept her love.

“Karzan, you’re a coward.”

Maybe I was.

I was simply afraid. I believed that wanting a family was greedy for someone who lived on the edge of a blade. Walking across a bridge destined to collapse someday, I thought it was better to go alone.

“Damn! It’s lonely as hell.”

The lonelier I was, the sharper my blade became. Eventually, I learned to endure that loneliness with grace.

And so, the genius swordsman without formal training became a renowned master, even across the kingdom.

“You must be the famous Karzan. I’m here with an interesting proposal.”

“And you are?”

“Ivan. Just call me Ivan.”

Eventually, my reputation and skill earned me an offer to become the sword of a powerful figure. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have accepted, but I was in urgent need of money.

‘The problem was that my employer turned out to be a bigger player than I’d anticipated.’

The true Duke, who ruled his family from the shadows without ever taking the title of head, and the king of the underworld who reigned over the kingdom’s night. 

People called him the ‘Shadow King,’ a man whose name was unknown to all. 

Born as a noble, he had achieved his ambition to control both the bright and the dark sides of society.

Naturally, I knew of his existence.

But there was much I hadn’t known.

How could I have known that this kingdom was actually in the palm of a single man’s hand, that even the king was nothing more than his puppet?

‘I should have kicked that bastard Ivan to the curb back then and told him to get lost.’

Everyone, even a three-year-old, knew that some nobles held close ties with the underworld. However, the existence of a ‘godfather of the underworld who also led the nobles’ was an entirely different matter.

“Karzan, go ahead and try running to the ends of the earth!”

“I was already planning on it!”

The chill of a spear blade gleaming in the moonlight sent shivers down my spine.

‘Ah! You damned bastards.’

And I had been used and discarded by such an extraordinarily evil man.

‘I should have known from the start that he planned to use me for dirty work and then throw me away.’

What was that dirty work exactly?

To put it simply, here’s how it went.

In these times, waging territorial wars among nobles was an overwhelming burden. After all, war is an expensive venture.

‘In short, raising armies without any plan is not a cost-effective endeavor.’

Thus, noble lords began hiring prominent figures of the underworld to handle assassinations, kidnappings, espionage, blackmail, slander, framing, and infiltration. These tactics allowed them to ‘topple their enemies quietly and seize opportunities to absorb their power.’

What a refined method, right? They didn’t even have to pay to build it up. As long as society exists, a shadow will inevitably arise.

‘Slums, freemen, criminals, assassins, smugglers, mercenaries—places untouched by the hands of nobles and bureaucrats.’

The so-called denizens of the night extended their roots into every field where money and blood flowed, expanding their business networks.

Thus, enlisting the power and resources of underworld godfathers to reduce costs and quietly handle issues became an efficient business model.

‘In short, it’s a mutual benefit.’

From the underworld’s perspective, it was the same. With the backing of nobility, they could expand their operations and receive consideration in various ventures.

Thus, the cooperation between noble families and the underworld became the perfect symbiotic relationship, inseparable over time.

‘Still, the Shadow King was an absolute scoundrel.’

Nobles who had once been his enemies found themselves accused of treason, their families destroyed, their heirs assassinated, or their heads of households driven mad, killed by vassals, or attacked by foreign forces and pirates.

Meanwhile, those in the underworld who had contested his power were either hunted down by the military or dismantled under the wrath of the king and nobles.

‘The Shadow King used all the powers of light and shadow at his disposal to ruin his enemies without restraint.’

So how many lives had he taken, how many plots had he played, and how many people’s lives had he ruined? 

From the moment I understood the true nature of the Shadow King, I was filled with the thought that one day I’d have to kill him.

But I lacked the strength. Instead, here I was, betrayed and on the run.

‘How pointless.’

I wasn’t exactly a righteous man myself, but even so, I couldn’t let myself be killed by the hands of such a despicable piece of trash.

‘Who does he think he’s double-crossing?’

The moment I sensed the ominous air, I acted first. Did I ambush him? No, who would dare to openly oppose the Shadow King?

Defying him didn’t just mean facing a few assassins. 

‘The kingdom’s elite guards and knights would have been dispatched to tear me apart.’

His real power came from his grip on the kingdom itself, controlling its authority from behind the scenes.

So, under cover of night, I vanished. And while at it, I stole the treasure he prized as dearly as his life, and for two days I’ve been running nonstop.

I wasn’t acting purely on impulse. I won’t deny I wanted to deal him a blow. But it was also true that I planned to use the treasure as leverage if things went poorly, to buy time or negotiate.

But here’s the thing: even though I expected betrayal, I couldn’t predict the timing or method of it, and now there was something I hadn’t expected after stealing his treasure.

‘I didn’t realize it was this important.’

Who would’ve thought they’d chase me relentlessly? What on earth could be inside this jewel box to warrant such madness?

‘Is it your mother’s ashes? If so, I apologize.’

No matter what I tried, it wouldn’t open; it seemed to have some intense protective magic cast on it.

‘Nothing ever goes as planned, does it?’

Looking back, it had always been that way. The things I truly desired slipped through my fingers like sand, while unwanted burdens clung to me, sticky and tiresome. It had been a messy, frustrating life.

‘If I’d been a little more ruthless and shameless, I’d have lived much better.’

Sometimes, accepting certain losses seemed wise. But now, with death looking right in front of me, doubt and regret gnawed at my heart.

‘Grandfather, did I live the right way?’

He once told me not to withhold small acts of kindness. And he also said there was no need to live like a fool.

‘I really was a fool.’

Despite being sharp and cunning, at the most crucial moments, I acted with my heart. In short, I was a romantic fool, ruined by my own ideals.

Remember this: love doesn’t put food on the table.

‘… But eating without a sense of love doesn’t taste very good, either.’

For the past two days, there had been far more people trying to keep me alive than I’d expected. People who refused to let me die alone. So maybe my life hadn’t been a complete waste.

‘Fools.’

Just last night, one guy waited at a safe house, ready to die in my place so I could escape. Naturally, I knocked him out and dressed him in the pursuers’ clothes.

‘He just made things messier and gave me more to deal with.’

How many others had sacrificed themselves to help me get this far? Regret surged within me, nearly overwhelming.

‘Enough. Life is always filled with regret.’

I already knew escaping their web was impossible.

But even so, it would be too miserable to leave without putting up a final fight.

“Let’s see how this goes.”

After all, I still had one last move left.