The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 136

"Why are you looking at me with those eyes like you're seeing a rare creature? Is this your first time seeing a dwarf?"

"It is my first time."

"…Agh! This is why country bumpkins are so…"

The dwarf, at a loss for words at Lee Shin's remark, grumbled and chugged a new beer.

He knew from the conversations of the outsiders that the world out there was a world where only humans existed, but he had forgotten for a moment because he had been excited just before.

"It's fascinating."

And Lee Shin and the others just stood there and watched him drink his beer.

The sight of a boy who looked like an elementary school student swearing thickly and chugging a bottle was quite impactful in many ways.

Seuk-

After finishing a large glass of beer like that, the dwarf extended his empty hand towards Lee Shin.

"You want to shake hands?"

"…Did you come in without receiving any explanation about your screening?"

"I knew I was getting a screening, but I didn't get a detailed explanation."

It was a small happening that occurred because the pass Cheon Yuhwa had made was too effective.

"Tsk, what a pain."

The dwarf, who had roughly guessed the situation from his past experiences, clicked his tongue softly.

"What I'm about to do now is the screening, so hurry up and grab it."

"Just a handshake? Ah, is there something special about it?"

"Yes, dwarves can perceive the other person's mind as an image through physical contact. Well, it's only possible if you accept it without resisting."

A greedy merchant obsessed with gold would see a mountain of gold.

A person full of passion would see a heart overflowing with crimson flames.

A person who is different on the inside and outside would see a mask with two faces at the same time.

"It's a skill originally meant to be used for making weapons, but it can also be used to distinguish trash like this."

"That's a convenient skill."

"If you understand, then hurry up and come grab my hand. If you don't want to show your inner thoughts, turn around and leave now."

"Hey, you go first."

At the dwarf's words, Lee Shin looked at Eun Yeonwoo behind him and said.

At that, the dwarf sneered at Lee Shin.

"Do you think something will change if you change the order?"

"No, that's not it…"

Lee Shin smiled widely and met the dwarf's sneer head-on.

"I think you'll definitely faint if you look into my mind. Then the other kids won't be able to get their screening. That would be a headache."

"…Hoo?"

The dwarf's face changed in an instant upon hearing Lee Shin's words.

In his over 100 years of life as a dwarf, there had never been a human who had uttered such a direct provocation.

At the very impressive provocation, the dwarf glared at Lee Shin with a small vein popping on his forehead.

"So you're saying my mental strength looks so low that I should test the guys behind you first?"

"Simply put, yes."

Even while staring directly at the dwarf's distorted face, Lee Shin smiled widely with a 'what's the problem?' expression, without any change in his own.

"No, this bastard!"

At that, the dwarf exploded.

"You were a pain from the first time you spoke informally, are you trying to fight now?"

"Huh? You noticed?"

Lee Shin said, as if slightly surprised.

In fact, the reason Lee Shin spoke with informal language and provocation as a basis was for the very rational reason that if the other side started the fight first, he could fight in self-defense.

"Uwaaaaah!!! This crazy bastard!"

"Wh-what's going on!"

As the dwarf let out a monstrous scream, the guards outside were startled and came into the tent.

"Hoo… hoo… It's fine. It's nothing, so get out now."

At that, the dwarf, with a very annoyed expression, sent the dwarves who had come into the barracks back outside.

For a moment, he considered swinging his hammer at this insolent human, but he was not so foolish as to not be able to guess what would happen if he did.

But just letting the human in front of him go was also annoying.

So the dwarf racked his brain and proposed a bet to Lee Shin.

"Alright! Then let's make a bet!"

"Hwaaam~ What about?"

As Lee Shin yawned and showed an uninterested attitude, another vein mark appeared on the dwarf's forehead.

But the dwarf desperately managed his expression by taking a few deep breaths.

However, he couldn't stop his voice from trembling.

"As you said… about whether I'll be fine or not when I look into your mind."

"Why should I? What's in it for me?"

As Lee Shin said with a sly smile, the dwarf gritted his teeth and shouted.

"If things happen as you said, I'll have our best items made for all of you, including you and the guys behind you."

"No, if you say something like that so rashly…!"

"What? Are you saying I'm going to lose to a guy like that?"

The dwarf guard, who had been secretly listening to the conversation from outside the tent, was surprised and tried to stop him, but he was already half-mad.

Seeing that, Lee Shin chuckled.

"It seems you have the ability to keep your word. Alright, let's do it."

"What? What are you going to do if you lose? Why are you accepting my proposal so readily?"

Shrug-

"I'm going to win anyway, so there's no reason to listen to what happens when I lose."

"Hahaha… at this point, it's so absurd that I'm laughing."

Of course, that didn't mean he was actually in a good mood.

As proof, the cross-shaped vein mark was still vividly present on his forehead.

"Wait a minute, Clan Leader! Calm down, calm down!"

"Deep breaths! Deep breaths!"

"Would you like a drink?"

The guard dwarves appeared from all over to calm him down, sweating profusely, and he just let out an absurd laugh while looking at the empty air.

So no one knew.

'Caught another one.'

'Poor dwarf.'

'That's a real talent.'

That the people behind Lee Shin were looking at them with eyes full of pity.

Soon, the dwarf, who had calmed down with the help of the guards, extended his hand to Lee Shin.

"Ah, by the way, what's your name?"

"…I'm Mairiph, the temporary master of the [Red Hammer] clan."

Mairiph glared at Lee Shin for a moment and then said that.

At that, Lee Shin smiled playfully and extended one hand to take Mairiph's hand.

"Now, take your time and look around. It would be better to come out quickly if you're going to come out."

"Tsk!"

Mairiph clicked his tongue openly, then activated his ability and entered Lee Shin's mind.

Watching him, Lee Shin smiled stealthily.

***

"Tsk, what kind of strange guy did I get caught up with to cause this mess."

The condition of the bet was to check the mind within Lee Shin and remain conscious without fainting.

To do that, he had to pass through the realm of 'consciousness' where he was now and go to the realm of 'unconsciousness'.

"But what is this room?"

The place Mairiph was in now was a huge room.

The room was shaped like a greatly enlarged version of the master bedroom Lee Shin used to use at home, but to Mairiph, it was just an unfamiliar room he was seeing for the first time.

'Is this room a warehouse? No, there's a bed, so it seems to be a sleeping space. Then what are all these odds and ends?'

Mairiph briefly looked at the novels, comics, games, and toys that filled the floor and noticed that they were toys for passing the time.

"Are these the things that guy likes? No, it doesn't seem like it."

Basically, people have an attachment to the things they like and tend to store such things carefully.

Even dwarves organize and store the weapons they make in a warehouse; they don't just leave them lying around like this.

Mairiph looked at the things that filled the floor for a moment.

Seeing the large quantity, it seemed he had collected these things with some purpose, but since he had just collected them and left them on the floor as if he had no interest, it was difficult for Mairiph to understand Lee Shin's thoughts.

'Research? No, is there anything to research with these things?'

'Simple collection? Then he would have at least organized them.'

'Did he want to know something? But no matter how I look at it, there's no consistency.'

"…This is the first time I've seen such a headache-inducing guy."

Mairiph soon stopped thinking and walked towards the ordinary door he could see in the distance.

The odds and ends in the room were cumbersome, but they weren't enough to block his steps.

Mairiph grumbled and opened the door, moving to the next room.

"What is this again…"

And so, what appeared before Mairiph's eyes was a pitch-black room where nothing could be seen.

No, it was ambiguous whether this should even be called a room.

It was difficult to even properly grasp whether he was standing or lying down, let alone up and down, as if he had suddenly fallen into outer space.

At the suddenly changed atmosphere of the room, Mairiph inadvertently stopped his steps and looked around blankly.

It is common for the atmosphere of the mind to change as one goes deeper from the surface of consciousness.

But this was the first time for him that the atmosphere had changed so drastically.

'Is the room I was just in a mask? No, it would be more accurate to say that he put a room and thoroughly isolated the instincts below it.'

Mairiph stood still in that spot for a moment to calm his mind, then walked towards the door with slightly slower steps.

It was a room full of only black, to the point where he couldn't even distinguish front and back or up and down, but strangely, he could tell the location of the door.

Kkiiik-

When he opened the pitch-black, formless door, a completely new landscape unfolded before his eyes, just as it had a moment ago.

A dark sky somewhere between night and dawn, and a dry field without a single blade of grass.

Normally, he would have been surprised that such a vast image was spread out within a person, but Mairiph, without even thinking about that, looked at the tree he could see in the distance.

A tree that was clearly showing off its presence despite being far away.

The tree, created by the combination of flames that embroidered the empty air and lightning that shot up from the ground, captured his gaze, exuding a mysterious atmosphere.

-Are you just going to stand there like that?

At that moment, Mairip, surprised by someone's voice coming from his side, hurriedly turned his head.

"Heo-eok!"

And froze.

Where Mairiph had turned his head, a huge red dragon with both red and golden eyes was standing, clad in a majestic golden light, looking down at him.

Even in Mairiph's knowledge, dragons were creatures close to legend, and in those legends, dragons stood at the pinnacle of all creatures with their ferocity, arrogance, and absolute power.

That's why Mairiph's eyes, looking at the dragon, trembled uncontrollably.

Grin-

Irhegue, pleased with Mairiph's reaction, smiled stealthily without showing it.

Irhegue had an arrogant personality by nature, but until now, he had not been able to satisfy that arrogance.

Because the only person who had entered the place where he was was Lee Shin.

So the sight of Mairiph trembling at the sight of him greatly satisfied Irhegue.

-Rest assured. I have no intention of doing anything to the one that guy invited.

Irhegue said that and lightly stomped his foot, creating a door leading to the basement on the floor.

In Irhegue's heart, he wanted to continue showing off his majesty and enjoying Mairiph's reaction, but since Irhegue was still a novice dragon, he didn't know how to show off his majesty.

In the first place, his appearance before him now was also decided on the spot.

Instead of taking the risk of tarnishing his majesty, Irhegue chose to just quickly send Mairiph to the world of unconsciousness.

Because if he showed a strange appearance, he might be teased by Lee Shin.

(End of Chapter)