The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 113

The first thing that caught Lee Shin's eye when he came out of the bedroom was the sight of Joker and Irie tapping away at several laptops on the living room table like a storm.

A fragrant coffee smell lingered around them, as if they had already made coffee.

"How's the investigation going?"

"It's going smoothly. At this rate, I think we can leisurely finish it by this evening."

"Haa, this kind of work is too hard for a man in his mid-30s."

Irie grumbled from the side, but Lee Shin and Joker ignored his words as if they had planned it beforehand.

"Then I'll go buy some necessary items and check Alpha and Beta's skills. And I'll also check the situation outside with my own two eyes."

"I would appreciate it if you could add my request to that 'by the way'."

Joker said, and handed Lee Shin a long piece of paper like a receipt after grocery shopping.

"What's this?"

"These are the materials to make a bead artifact similar to the one you used in the last operation."

"Hmm, really?"

Lee Shin roughly looked at the things on the list, but for him, who had almost no magical knowledge, it was full of things he didn't know even if he looked at them.

"We do have the artifacts we brought from Korea, but... it's always better to have more of these things. Please do me this favor."

"It's certainly good to have a lot of these things. Especially when there's someone who's generously supporting us with gold from behind."

Lee Shin said, and took Joker's note and put it in his pocket.

"And take one of these each."

Joker handed Lee Shin a box full of masks modeled after human faces.

Lee Shin asked with a little curiosity.

"Did you say there are foreigner faces besides local faces?"

"Yes, there are both white and black people. Shall I give you those?"

"Hmm... no, for now, please give me the local faces."

"Alright. By the way, do you know how to speak Japanese?"

"Yeah, reading characters is a bit ambiguous, but I can listen and speak."

Should he call it a remnant of his past shut-in life?

Lee Shin had naturally learned English and Japanese.

"Well, that should be fine. Beta can read the characters."

"Alright. I'll have to get some help."

Lee Shin said, and after taking three masks, he walked to where the shoe rack was.

"You're here?"

"Why are you so late?"

There, Alpha and Beta, who had finished preparing to go out, were standing.

Fortunately, unlike their usual missions, the two's attire was ordinary.

Alpha was wearing a loose-fitting light pink long-sleeved shirt that emphasized activity and jeans that were short enough to show a little of her thighs, and Beta was wearing a pure white short-sleeved shirt and ripped jeans.

For reference, Lee Shin was simply wearing pitch-black pants and a pure white long-sleeved shirt.

"I was late because I was getting this."

Lee Shin said, and handed the two the masks he had chosen one by one.

"Let's put them on before we go out."

Lee Shin said, and after pressing the mask onto his face, he put on a wig.

Then, Lee Shin's sharp eyes and the corners of his mouth, which were always raised as if he were sneering at something, disappeared, and a kind-looking man with a gentle smile appeared.

Alpha's originally large pupils and her always tightly shut mouth were replaced with a slightly sharp-looking face, but perhaps because of her short height, she didn't feel threatening.

Beta's intellectual eyes and slender nose were covered, and his face changed to give a cute puppy-like feeling.

"...On what basis did you bring this?"

Beta, who had checked the mirror, asked, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Huh? I just picked them out appropriately, the opposite of your usual impressions. Why, is there a problem?"

"...No, there's no problem at all. Then are we all ready now?"

"Yeah, let's go out now."

And so, the three went out the door.

The first day in Japan had officially begun.

So, let's give a simple introduction to Japan.

Although not as much as Korea, Japan was a country that had managed to block the dungeons quite well on a global scale.

And one of the reasons that was possible was that what could be called Japanese culture played a big role.

In the early days of the dungeons, a huge number of people entered them, and the reason was simple.

It was because of things like anime, manga, and light novels.

The otaku who were living their daily lives as usual heard the news that an unknown thing called a dungeon had appeared in their country through various media.

'Isekai!!!!!'

'Uooooo!!! Raiko-chaaaan!!!!!'

'Hnyuuuuu!!!!! Ore-sama ikuyooooo!!!!!'

And the otaku, with their eyes shining, rushed to the dungeons.

Reincarnation to another world.

The chosen hero.

A brilliantly shining life.

The moment they saw the dungeon, manga, anime, and light novels with such stories flowed like a panorama in their heads, tempting them.

And they actively followed that temptation.

It was a truly absurd statement, but it was something that had happened in reality.

Because the world is full of various people.

Anyway, the otaku who had been cooped up in their rooms used anime as their textbook, rummaged through their kitchens for various weapons, and then entered the dungeons.

And that became the divine move that saved Japan.

Surprisingly, the otaku armed with anime came back alive from the dungeons.

Even among them, some used everyday items in unexpected ways and achieved unbelievably amazing results.

It was the moment when the tenacity of an otaku transcended common sense.

Ordinary people who saw that thought, 'Huh? That kind of guy did it? Then I can do it too,' and jumped into the dungeons.

In other words, to put it as simply as possible, the reason Japan was not greatly damaged by the appearance of the dungeons was largely because the otaku, who were surplus power in daily life, became pioneers and conquered the dungeons.

And the current appearance of Japan has undergone a great change because of that.

Due to that incident, the morale of the otaku soared to the sky.

Pika- Ppaljjeok-

"...I don't know what I'm looking at right now."

"...My eyes hurt."

As a result, they were now entering dungeons wearing items similar to the cosplay outfits of various anime.

Seeing that, not only Alpha and Beta but also Lee Shin were dumbfounded.

***

After players became something of an object of admiration, it was a trend in Korea to see people walking around wearing items from time to time.

It was to the point where players who had entered famous large guilds would even embroider the guild mark on their casual clothes.

But the scene unfolding in front of the three now had a completely different feeling from that.

It wasn't that the items made in Korea completely ignored appearance, but the type, or should say... the art style was different from what was being made in Japan.

The three now felt like they had come to a cosplay convention, not a player item department store.

"Why are they wearing those clothes? With a dress that's open at the chest like that, it's perfect for getting stabbed in the heart and dying."

"It's strange. The clothes are so flashy and frilly that it would be difficult to hide or move."

Not only Beta but also Alpha, who was usually not very talkative, poured out a fairly long sentence and gave various impressions as they looked at the clothes the passing people were wearing.

"What's that?"

While the two were evaluating the combat power of the passing people, Lee Shin was watching what was happening in front of the dungeon.

"Uhyooooo!!! Rei-chan~~ Bandages! A sickly beautiful girl!!!"

"Kyaaaaaa!!! Atlas-sama~~!!!"

"Kirito-kun, dual swords sugeeee!!!"

"Uoooooong!!! Tanjiro-kun!!! Ganbare!!!"

"Kumoko-chan! Cho☆kawaii!!!!"

"Take me, sob sob!!!"

"...In Japan, do they call players by titles instead of names?"

The front of the dungeon was like a mix of a press conference, an idol concert, and a cosplay convention.

People were diligently taking pictures with long cameras that were reminiscent of sniper rifles, and next to them, people who seemed to be fans were sobbing and letting out soul-squeezing cheers.

"Yare yare."

"Pictures, trouble."

"Kuku, this body's popularity is..."

And in front of the dungeon, people wearing a variety of outfits with no uniformity were smiling and striking various poses.

'Are they not trying to enter the dungeon, but just taking pictures in front of it?'

He thought so for a moment, but it didn't seem to be the case.

Because the players who had been posing for about 10 minutes waved their hands appropriately to the people who were taking pictures and then went inside the dungeon.

And after that, a new party stood in front of the dungeon and posed, and the situation of a moment ago was re-enacted once more.

On top of that, when he looked closely, it seemed that a lot of people were lining up to enter the dungeon.

"...What is this?"

Lee Shin stood there blankly and accepted the situation unfolding before his eyes.

There is a saying that in a village of one-eyed people, the person with two eyes is the fool.

Lee Shin was now understanding that saying with his whole body.

After the three had accepted the current reality in their own ways, they gathered and had a conversation.

"By the way, this is a bit of a big deal."

At Lee Shin's words, Beta looked at him as if he couldn't understand.

"What is? It's true that a scene we hadn't expected is unfolding, but it doesn't really matter, does it? It seems to be a problem of the level of having to line up to enter the dungeon."

"It's true that that's not a problem. But what I'm trying to say now is not that kind of thing."

At Lee Shin's serious tone, Alpha and Beta hardened their faces, thinking that something serious that they didn't know might have happened.

"You guys, have you ever seen a player wearing ordinary items instead of those kinds of items on the way here?"

"Uh... no."

"Me neither."

At Beta and Alpha's words, Lee Shin also nodded his head.

Lee Shin also hadn't seen such a player.

In other words-

"It means that it's very normal to enter a dungeon wearing those kinds of clothes here."

"Don't tell me...?"

"Really...?"

Alpha and Beta, who had noticed the point Lee Shin was trying to make, looked at him, or more precisely, his mouth, with wavering gazes.

Hoping that the words that would deny what they were thinking would come out of Lee Shin's mouth.

But reality was originally cruel.

"In other words, from the standpoint of having to be as inconspicuous as possible, from now on, we also have to go into a department store, get that kind of item setting, and then enter the dungeon."

"Into the dungeon...?"

"In that state...?"

The two's voices trembled, but Lee Shin cruelly nodded his head.

Because there was even more news.

"It's not just wearing the clothes. We'll have to do that too."

Lee Shin pointed at the front of the dungeon with his finger.

Alpha and Beta's gazes simultaneously turned to the photo shoot unfolding in front of the dungeon.

And they saw it.

Click- Click- Click-

"Magical~~"

The sight of a girl with pink hair tied in pigtails with ribbons, wearing a pink dress full of ribbons and frills, waving the pink magic wand in her hand and winking while making a V with her hand.

That appearance, when viewed objectively, was definitely on the cute side.

"..."

"..."

But Alpha and Beta, who saw that, trembled all over as if they had seen something indescribable, and their faces turned bright red, which could be seen even over their masks.

For reference, for Lee Shin, who had once been a shut-in and had dabbled in various media, cosplay was within his range of acceptance.

He wasn't the type to be embarrassed by such things in the first place.

Thud-

Lee Shin placed his hands on Alpha and Beta's shoulders.

Then, the two flinched as if they were kids who had been caught not doing their homework at school.

In front of the two who had turned their heads so awkwardly that a creaking sound could be heard.

"Let's go, shopping."

A kind-looking man was facing them with Lee Shin's unique sparkling eyes.

"B-but..."

"U-uh..."

The two, who were not yet mentally prepared, were flustered and couldn't say anything, but Lee Shin didn't even give them a chance to worry.

"This is enemy territory. We should refrain from conspicuous actions as much as possible. Or was your resolve only that much?"

When Lee Shin came out like this, the two had nothing to say.

And so, the two, unable to shake off Lee Shin's hands, moved their feet powerlessly as he led them.

And Lee Shin entered the department store, lightly humming a tune.

It seemed like it would be a more enjoyable time than he had thought.

(End of Chapter)