The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 131

"Here, take it."

"…I'm not going to eat it."

It was a blunt reply, but Lee Shin added as if it were nothing.

"Even if it's a lump of sugar with Nutella chocolate spread on special waffles and pancakes, and topped with plenty of whipped cream?"

If someone were to introduce food with such words, nine out of ten would probably frown and say they wouldn't eat it.

"…Give it to me."

However, Cheon Yuhwa was a person who did not belong to that majority, but rather could be said to be on the complete opposite side.

She was someone who couldn't get enough of sweet food.

Cheon Yuhwa, who had received the plate, moved her fork and carefully took a bite.

After taking a bite, she seemed to like it to some extent, as she glared slightly at Lee Shin and began to nibble on the waffle.

Cheon Yuhwa's pride was hurt that she was being swayed by Lee Shin, but Eun Yeonwoo's special waffles and pancakes were so to her taste that they made her temporarily fold that pride.

"Why on earth is there a machine that can make waffles and pancakes at home?"

"There's a guy at home who likes to cook. And I also bought it as a bribe for this one. This one goes crazy for sweet food."

The three who heard Lee Shin's words recalled Cheon Yuhwa's appearance until now and nodded their heads.

Then, as if by agreement, they firmly closed their mouths.

At that, only the clattering sound of forks echoed in the spacious living room.

A chilling silence fell.

It wasn't the kind of physical chilliness you'd get from turning on the air conditioner too high or the wind turning cold as the seasons changed.

"…"

This chilliness was now flowing from Cheon Yuhwa, who was mechanically moving her fork towards the waffle while continuously glaring at the three.

Even a person with a strong heart would be able to understand the feelings of a honey pig standing alone in front of a pride of lions if they were to stand in front of Cheon Yuhwa now; that's how murderous her eyes were.

Of course, the three were not so mentally weak as to be frightened by this level of aura.

However, they each had their own things they felt guilty about, so they chose to just keep their mouths shut.

"Hmm~"

Lee Shin, who had been watching the scene with a slight smile on his lips as if he found it amusing, downed the beer he was holding in one shot and opened his mouth.

"If I leave it like this, it seems like it will continue, so I should probably speak first."

"Why don't you be quiet?"

Cheon Yuhwa said in a chilling voice, but there was no way it would work on Lee Shin, who had a face of steel among steel.

"I don't want to. And you have whipped cream on your cheek. How deliciously did you eat that you didn't even know?"

"What did you say?"

Cheon Yuhwa blushed and hurriedly wiped her cheek.

But there was nothing on her hand.

In the first place, the fact that there was whipped cream on her cheek was a lie from Lee Shin.

"You bastard…"

Cheon Yuhwa, who had noticed Lee Shin's lie, glared at him with fire in her eyes, but Lee Shin lightly ignored her.

Lee Shin's purpose was over as the silent atmosphere was broken.

"Now, since the main character has arrived, I'd like to hear the reason why you three came to see me."

As Lee Shin said with a wide smile, Oz, who realized this was the lifeline Lee Shin had extended, said urgently.

"We came to propose a deal to you!"

Oz said that and urged Crowley with her eyes.

At Oz's urgent gaze, Crowley, as if he couldn't help it, took out a suitcase from his inventory and placed it on the table.

"W-wait, is that by any chance…"

Cheon Yuhwa, who had been eating waffles while watching the situation with a sullen expression, looked surprised at the suddenly appeared case.

Shwook-!

And Lee Shin, who had realized it was something important after seeing Cheon Yuhwa's reaction, quickly reached out his hand and, without any hesitation, put the case into his inventory.

It was a reaction speed that was possible because he had been slightly strengthening his body with [Madness].

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

The four looked at Lee Shin with bewildered eyes at his sudden action, but Lee Shin opened his mouth shamelessly.

"Looking at the situation, it seems you three smuggled out a good item without saying anything to this one, right?"

"Uhm… if you summarize it simply, leaving only the head and tail, that's correct, but…"

Merlin dragged his words as if he had more to say, but Lee Shin cut him off by nodding his head exaggeratedly.

"Right? But it seems this one isn't too happy about it."

Lee Shin said, pointing to Cheon Yuhwa next to him with his finger.

"In other words, this one will make a fuss again, saying whether I should give her that item or not, and then the conversation will drag on again. I'm not interested in the conversation dragging on any further."

"What, you're just going to… your own way…"

"Then are you going to stay quiet and not interfere with the conversation?"

At Lee Shin's words, Cheon Yuhwa couldn't answer and just glared at Lee Shin, who had taken the case from in front of her, as if she didn't like it, and then opened her mouth.

"…Hah, I'm asking just in case, but you have no intention of obediently spitting out the item from before, right?"

"You're asking the obvious. If I was going to give it back easily, I wouldn't have taken it in the first place."

At Lee Shin's playful answer, Cheon Yuhwa gritted her teeth in annoyance, but there was nothing she could do.

In the end, Cheon Yuhwa decided to turn the anger she was feeling towards someone else to vent her frustration.

To the trio of mages who could be said to be the main culprits who had created this troublesome situation.

"So… why did you do this without saying anything to me?"

At Cheon Yuhwa's words, Oz smiled awkwardly and avoided answering, and Merlin blatantly looked elsewhere, refusing to join the conversation.

Crowley, who saw the two, answered in a sigh-filled voice.

"It seemed like you were letting a useful resource go to waste, and it seemed difficult to persuade you, so we acted without telling you."

"…"

Cheon Yuhwa, who heard Crowley's words, slightly reduced her aura, and Lee Shin watched the two's conversation with interest while drinking a new beer.

"Even if the deal fell through and we came here for nothing, since you talked about him so much, I thought it wouldn't be bad to see him once and have a conversation."

"Ah, now that you mention it, it seems you've been talking about me quite a lot outside."

At Lee Shin's nonchalant words, Cheon Yuhwa's face soured.

She couldn't say she was not at fault in that regard, but hearing Lee Shin's unique, irritating tone, the desire to apologize itself disappeared, so keeping her mouth shut was the best Cheon Yuhwa could do.

"I came here with that thought, and it was just as I expected. You, you didn't explain anything to this guy, did you?"

"…"

At Crowley's words, Cheon Yuhwa couldn't say anything.

"Hah."

"Sigh."

"Hmm."

Looking at Cheon Yuhwa, Merlin, Oz, and Crowley sighed in turn and looked at her as if it were a headache.

When they first heard the explanation about Lee Shin from Cheon Yuhwa, they had vaguely felt it.

Cheon Yuhwa had a tendency to become quite emotional when it came to the person named Lee Shin.

They couldn't tell if it was due to her antipathy towards the man named Lee Shin or some other emotion.

They weren't so rude as to be interested in what could be called an individual's private life.

But this was a different story.

"Hmm, Alice. I roughly understand what you're thinking, but from what you've shown, that person is much more suited to be a hunting dog that hunts something rather than a guardian who quietly protects one place. You know that too, right?"

Oz said, recalling the image of Lee Shin that Cheon Yuhwa had shown her before.

The image of Lee Shin, freely roaming the sea of monsters, drenched in blood from head to toe, and smiling brightly as if enjoying himself, suited the term "Blood Dragon" better than anyone else.

When they first saw that image, the three of them didn't say anything, but inwardly, they felt a chill run down their spines.

It wasn't simply a matter of being good at killing.

The Lee Shin in the video was genuinely enjoying the fight to the death.

"You also feel that this person is more suitable for that role, don't you?"

"Certainly, if it's simply a fight to the death, this guy is the right person, but considering the speed at which we need to move, it's better for me to do it…"

Cheon Yuhwa tried to refute with her own reasonable reasons, but that attempt was quickly buried.

"No. This is not the kind of problem that can be decided by simply comparing your individual abilities."

Crowley cut off Cheon Yuhwa's words coldly, as if they weren't even worth listening to.

"As you said, individually, Alice, you might be more suitable for monster subjugation. But if you think of it not as an individual but as a group, there's no one more suitable for that role than that guy."

Lee Shin roughly understood Crowley's words.

Crowley was now talking about the influence they each had on other Players.

King.

The pinnacle of Players who received the respect of over a hundred million Players and reigned over them.

If they were to lead their guilds and defeat the swarming monsters, the Players' morale would soar, and the general public would cheer and be relieved by such actions of the Players.

For them to abandon their organizations and move as individuals?

An extreme loss was bound to occur.

"You are a guild leader who leads a guild. Even if you are a guild leader who hasn't shown your face much, your presence or absence has a great impact on the guild's morale."

"That's right."

"It's not for nothing that the guys who have been hiding because it's troublesome are revealing themselves. Those guys also know and understand their position and the current situation."

"Right, right."

Lee Shin chimed in in place of the quietly silent Cheon Yuhwa.

A thick vein popped on the hand of the bowing Cheon Yuhwa.

Crowley's words were all logical and correct.

There was no one here who didn't know that.

That's why Lee Shin smiled with amusement at Crowley's words, and Cheon Yuhwa kept her mouth shut quietly without saying anything.

"…Hah, I understand."

Cheon Yuhwa nodded her head with a sigh.

She had raised the white flag to the three of them.

Seeing the conversation between the two end, Lee Shin asked while drinking his beer.

"Now, since the persuasion seems to be over, can you tell me in detail about the operation you mentioned, what you want me to do, and what the deal is? There's a limit to understanding by intuition."

At Lee Shin's words, the three's eyes moved towards Cheon Yuhwa.

At that, Cheon Yuhwa awkwardly rolled her eyes.

It was a silent confession that she hadn't told Lee Shin anything.

"…I roughly explained what's going to happen in the future."

"Hmm, I think I heard something about the world's genre moving from modern fantasy to apocalypse…"

"Uhm… well, is that not a big mistake?"

"Even so, didn't you skip over it too roughly?"

"It's more serious than I thought."

At Lee Shin's words, the three of them muttered their own words, and this time, Cheon Yuhwa turned her gaze elsewhere to avoid the three's gazes.

"Hah, well, fine. It's not like there's much to explain, so I'll explain it simply."

Crowley let out a small sigh and began his explanation.

Lee Shin urged Crowley on with intrigued eyes.

(End of Chapter)