The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 133

"…"

"…"

The spacious house was filled with many people.

However, there was not a hint of a noisy or boisterous atmosphere.

On the contrary, a chilling silence, so quiet that one could hear an ant crawling, hung in the air.

No one dared to open their mouths rashly.

'What should I do? They seem to be related to Lee Shin, but is it okay to just talk?'

'I wonder. I haven't paid much attention to them, so I don't know.'

'Uhm… Then let's just keep our mouths shut for now.'

'That certainly seems to be the best course of action.'

The four, including Cheon Yuhwa, kept their mouths shut, wary of the situation taking a wrong turn as they looked at the six who had suddenly barged in.

'Oppa, didn't we come in too thoughtlessly? I feel like I'm going to suffocate.'

'Uhm, Shin-hyung told us to come in, so it should be fine.'

'No, by the way, are those people the people I'm thinking of? They're not fakes, are they?'

'They seem to be the real deal.'

'It's hard to believe, but as Al… Sieun said, they don't seem to be fakes. In the first place, there's no reason for them to be in disguise if they're just cooped up in the house like this.'

'They're probably not fakes. I've seen Cheon Yuhwa-nim a few times before, and Hyunwoo… no, Baekho has seen her too.'

'…What on earth is that guy Smile's identity?'

The six, including Eun Yeonwoo, were surprised by the faces of the people in the house and were busy reading the atmosphere, communicating with each other through eye contact.

While a strange standoff was taking place with the living room and kitchen as the boundary.

"Phew, I thought there wouldn't be any, but I'm glad I found some after looking around. Here, take this."

Lee Shin, who could be said to be the main culprit of this standoff, approached the table where Eun Yeonwoo, Lee Hyunseok, Lee Hyunyoung, Lee Sieun, Lee Jieun, and Joker were, with a beaming smile, and placed various things on the table.

"What's this?"

"It looks like blank paper."

"No, do you think I would have asked if I didn't know that? Of course, I mean why are you giving this to us now."

At Lee Jieun's scolding, Joker quietly shut his mouth.

From his past experiences, he knew that in times like these, it was best to just keep his mouth shut and turn his head.

They weren't the only ones being noisy.

"Huh? These are the colored pencils from my room. Ahjussi, did you go into my room by any chance?"

"Yes, I figured you were the only one who would use colored pencils or ballpoint pens here, so I looked around a bit."

"You can't just go into a grown maiden's room as you please!"

"Pfft! What do you mean grown, you're just a high schooler."

At Lee Shin's blatant ridicule, Lee Hyunyoung's face turned bright red.

Seeing that, Eun Yeonwoo, who thought the story was about to go off on a tangent again, quickly intervened.

"By the way, Hyung-nim, why are you suddenly giving us this?"

"Ah, this? It's nothing much."

At Eun Yeonwoo's words, Lee Shin said as if it were nothing.

"Just think of it as a self-introduction."

"A self-introduction?"

"Yes, a slightly special self-introduction."

Lee Shin nodded his head lightly.

"It doesn't matter if you write or draw, just write down your abilities here as specifically as possible. What your fighting style is, how you want to fight in the future, what items you have, as detailed as possible."

"…Do we have to do that too, by any chance?"

"Yes."

At Joker's words, Lee Shin nodded his head as if it were a matter of course.

At that, Joker's expression soured slightly.

In fact, the information Lee Shin was requesting now was not something to be requested so lightly.

To put it a bit extremely, what Lee Shin was asking for was no different from telling them to state their own weaknesses with their own mouths.

"Hah, I wonder what he's trying to do this time…"

"Hahaha… Well, it's not the first or second time Hyung has done something like this."

"Wow, Oppas, have you been treated like this by Ahjussi every time? It must have been really tough."

However, the three, Eun Yeonwoo, Lee Hyunseok, and Lee Hyunyoung, took the paper and pen according to Lee Shin's words without any particular hesitation.

"I'm not good at drawing…"

"It's fine. It seems like you just have to draw it roughly."

"…Hah, I don't know either."

Lee Sieun began to ponder with her characteristic dazed expression, and Lee Jieun stuck to her side and comforted her.

Joker, who was the only one hesitating, eventually let out a sigh and quietly took the pen.

Watching them, Merlin, Oz, and Crowley's eyes widened slightly.

It was an unfair demand, yet their appearance of following Lee Shin's words without even asking for an explanation came across as strange, and Lee Shin, who was followed by such people, looked new to them.

"Sigh…"

In Cheon Yuhwa's eyes, however, it just looked like they had given up resisting because they were used to going along with Lee Shin's unreasonable demands.

'Still, it's strange. It's not that there weren't guys like that before, but there wasn't anyone who was dragged along smiling like that.'

While Cheon Yuhwa was looking at Lee Shin with a newfound sense of wonder, Lee Shin looked at them and opened his mouth.

"Now, I'll tell you why you have to write that, so listen carefully."

At Lee Shin's words, their hands, which had been moving individually, stopped, and they looked at him.

The Lee Shin reflected in their eyes was smiling widely and pointing to a person behind him with his thumb.

"But there's not much to explain. It's just that an unexpected opportunity has arisen, and I'm going to have an artifact made to assist you, so I need some information, that's all. For reference, it's one artifact per person."

At Lee Shin's words, those who had been rolling their pens at the table unconsciously looked at one person.

A gentleman with all his golden hair slicked back.

A mage of the century and at the same time, the Meister revered by countless craftsmen.

And as Crowley nodded once as if to say it was true.

Shashashak-

They instantly changed their attitude and began to move their hands with all their heart and soul.

Lee Shin chuckled at the sight.

"Well, it might be a chance to grasp the clue to go up a level, so think carefully. People often think they know everything about themselves like this, but there are many cases where they don't even know what's inside them."

With those final words, Lee Shin returned to the sofa where Merlin, Oz, Crowley, and Cheon Yuhwa were.

"Are you planning on having an artifact made for those guys?"

"That's right. Well, I'll have one made for myself too, of course."

At Crowley's words, Lee Shin readily nodded his head in affirmation.

At that, the three looked at Lee Shin as if it were unexpected.

It wasn't an artifact made by an ordinary alchemist, but an artifact made by Crowley, who stood at the pinnacle of alchemists.

It was just strange to them that he would so readily give away an item that was literally priceless.

"Ah, and about my favor, take two of the guys over there as your three's disciples."

"Hm?"

But Lee Shin, without caring what the three were thinking, just continued with what he had to say.

The three, flustered, looked at the two people Lee Shin's finger was pointing to.

Lee Shin's finger was pointing to Joker, who was scribbling with a ballpoint pen, and Lee Hyunyoung, who was humming a tune and shaking a colored pencil.

"You want us to take those two as our three's joint disciples?"

"Yes, for reference, the guy's name is Joker, and the girl is Lee Hyunyoung. You can teach them in whatever way they want."

At Lee Shin's words, the three's expressions turned ambiguous.

No, it wasn't just the three.

The six who had heard Lee Shin's story were also looking at him with surprised eyes.

"Those two look like they're hearing this for the first time too."

"Of course. I just said it for the first time."

"…Don't people usually not use the word 'of course' for such things? Did I learn Korean wrong?"

"No, Unni. It's because that guy is a psycho."

Oz and Cheon Yuhwa whispered back and forth while looking at Lee Shin, and Merlin and Crowley also looked at him, flustered.

Looking at them, Lee Shin said in a low voice.

"I have to at least teach them how to use their power, but I don't know magic."

The six at the table thought Lee Shin's words were a bit out of the blue, but the four who knew the whole story could easily guess what he wanted to say.

It was a request for the two to build up at least a minimum level of skill before the dungeon break occurred.

Hah-

The first to accept Lee Shin's words was Oz.

"Well, fine. It's not a very difficult condition, and if I'm doing it with these two, it probably won't take up much time."

As Oz came out like this, Merlin and Crowley also accepted Lee Shin's proposal with a light laugh and a nod.

"You guys can decide on the teaching method among yourselves."

Lee Shin smiled with satisfaction and looked at the two.

Lee Shin was smiling widely, drawing out a 'mage-raising project' in his head.

'Someday, when they grow up, they'll make me a flying bed or a box that can store a huge number of novels.'

Lee Shin smiled as he looked at the two.

***

The silence that had been between the two groups disappeared like a mirage as Lee Shin intervened, and they talked as if even the time to sleep was a waste.

"How is it?"

"If you have this kind of ability, the method you mentioned would certainly be one way. But it seems too extreme. How about supplementing the weakness in this way instead…"

Those who had finished their papers went to Crowley and told him what they wanted, and Crowley listened to them and added his own thoughts, having a conversation.

"Hmm, so you want to conduct the classes via video call?"

"Ehehe, I thought this would be the best way, Master."

"Well, it's certainly a special situation with three masters, so that seems to be the best. Then what will you do?"

"I plan on moving with Master Crowley and focusing on learning alchemy."

Lee Hyunyoung and Joker discussed what to do in the future while talking with Oz and Merlin.

Everyone present knew that the current situation was like a great fortuitous encounter, so they were trying to talk with them even a little more.

And Lee Shin, the main culprit who had created such a situation, now seemed to have lost interest and went to the terrace to sip his beer.

'So what now.'

Originally, Lee Shin had planned on playing around by sweeping away the remnants of the [Black Dragon Society] that Cheon Yuhwa had mentioned.

But after talking with the three today, the situation had changed.

In a situation where a super-special dish called [King] was laid out before him, there was no reason to play with the [Black Dragon Society].

He didn't think he wouldn't be able to fight the [Kings].

Lee Shin had accumulated a level of skill in picking fights that was second to none.

'Still, it feels a bit unsettling to just let it go…'

While Lee Shin was pondering how to create a more interesting situation.

"You're here."

Cheon Yuhwa, holding two cans of beer, came to the terrace where Lee Shin was.

"What? If you want more waffles, it would be faster to ask Yeonwoo, not me."

"…You're a genius at getting on people's nerves."

"Thanks for the compliment."

Lee Shin said that and took the can of beer Cheon Yuhwa handed him and sipped it, and Cheon Yuhwa also sipped her beer with a sigh.

And so, a small and simple drinking party for the two was created under the night sky.

"Have you grown attached to those guys?"

"Hmm, rather than attachment, I think it's more appropriate to call it a sense of ownership."

Lee Shin thought for a moment and decided to just go along with Cheon Yuhwa for about one can of beer.

It was the same in the past, and it was the same now, but Lee Shin could not feel the affection that exists between people.

In the first place, Lee Shin's heart beat only for the purpose of killing something else, and his head perceived the world in a different way from other ordinary people.

Lee Shin's answer was twisted and twisted as befitting him, but Cheon Yuhwa nodded her head slightly as if that were enough and fell silent.

And so, the two spent their time sipping beer, each lost in their own thoughts.

"What are you going to do tomorrow?"

"I wonder. If there's nothing special like today, I'll probably do what I originally planned."

Cheon Yuhwa, who heard those words, thought for a moment and then said in a sigh-filled voice.

"I've prepared enough passes, so if you're going to go in, it would be better for everyone to go in together."

At Cheon Yuhwa's words, Lee Shin's eyes sparkled as if it were unexpected.

"What? Didn't you hate me?"

"Of course. Who would like a guy like you."

Cheon Yuhwa said that and chugged the beer.

"So this is just my whim on a drunken night."

Cheon Yuhwa's face, as she said that, was slightly flushed from the alcohol.

(End of Chapter)