The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 145

“Yeonwoo-hyung. It seems we won't be able to come out to the secular world for a while again, so should we eat something in advance?"

"Don't. If you fill your stomach now, you'll definitely throw up while fighting."

"Hmm, I don't think eating something simple will matter. Should I give you a chocolate bar?"

"Thank you, Hyunwoo-hyung."

"Don't mention it. Here, Yeonwoo, you eat too."

"Alright, thanks."

The two, who had been rolled under Lee Shin's thumb to the point of seeing their lives flash before their eyes several times in the past, had gloomy expressions like cows being dragged to a slaughterhouse, even while chewing on chocolate.

It wasn't an expression to be made in front of the person who had given them the food, but Baek Hyunwoo, who had seen right in front of him how the two had been tormented by Lee Shin, couldn't say anything to them and just gave an ambiguous smile.

Even while exuding such a gloomy atmosphere, the two couldn't even think of running away.

Because they knew very well what would happen if they ran away.

"Um, Oppa?"

"Huh? Why are you calling me?"

In front of the two, Lee Shin was talking with Arachne.

"I came here to settle the score with you, Oppa, not to help these people with their training."

"Ahem, where do you think you're going, trying to snatch only the delicious parts? If something goes, something must come, that's how it is."

"I'm currently an illegal immigrant, so it'll be troublesome in many ways if I get caught."

"A guy called the world's best assassin gets caught by the police?"

"Ah, really! You won't lose a single word! Just let's fight!"

Arachne was clinging to Lee Shin's side, chirping and begging to fight, and Lee Shin was smiling widely, telling her to work first if she wanted to fight.

'No, who is that person again, suddenly appearing and calling him Oppa…'

'Oppa… Oppa… Oppa…?'

Meanwhile, Lee Hyunyoung and Lee Sieun were lost in their own worlds, watching the two talking a step behind.

'Hah, what is it? Is this the era where a guy like that is popular? No, but our Alpha should meet a proper, normal guy, not a guy like that…'

Lee Jieun held her forehead, looking at the two as if it were a headache.

Walking along, boasting a boisterous appearance in many ways, they soon arrived in front of their target, an unpopular dungeon.

"Is this a place where undead monsters come out?"

"It certainly looks that way."

"Well, you can tell why an unpopular dungeon is an unpopular dungeon as soon as you come in."

While they were looking at the gloomy forest shrouded in mist with a sense of displeasure, Lee Shin looked at them and said.

"I didn't investigate in detail because it was troublesome, but it seems people don't come here because it's a place with various strange rumors attached to it. So you should be able to use it comfortably for a while. Ah, if you have any questions, ask now."

Perhaps thanks to Lee Shin chattering about various things to all of them on the way, no one said they had a question.

Lee Shin, satisfied with that, looked at Baek Hyunwoo and said.

"Then let's start."

At Lee Shin's words, Baek Hyunwoo stood up from his seat with a smiling face, and the rest of the people looked at the two with slightly expectant faces.

"Tsk, I said I would fight, so why are you fighting that guy and not me."

Only Arachne looked at the two, grumbling as if she didn't like it.

Baek Hyunwoo, who had heard Arachne's grumbling, smiled ambiguously and looked at Lee Shin.

"Well, I also wanted to fight Hyung after a long time, so I said okay, but is there a reason you're fighting me instead of her?"

"Huh? Are you two close?"

"Ah, among the ten, we were the same age. So we just decided to be friends."

"Oh, that's interesting."

"For reference, there's one more besides her."

"Ah, is it the one who moved her with a fighter jet from Germany?"

"Yes, that's right."

Lee Shin smiled appropriately and chose an answer to Baek Hyunwoo's question.

"Uhm, the reason you and I have to fight… if I had to say, it's revenge."

"Revenge?"

Baek Hyunwoo tilted his head at the unexpected words, but he smiled as if he understood at Lee Shin's next words.

"Yes, because I lost to you back then."

"Ah, back then. But didn't I lose that one? I collapsed because my stamina ran out, but you were perfectly fine, Hyung."

"You didn't go all out, so of course I lost."

In the past, Lee Shin and Baek Hyunwoo had gauged each other's strength while training Eun Yeonwoo and Lee Hyunseok.

And both of them thought they had lost that fight.

Because Baek Hyunwoo couldn't subdue Lee Shin, who was continuously attacking him, and Lee Shin had ultimately failed to draw out Baek Hyunwoo's true power.

"You know the difference in items is unavoidable."

"Hmph, I knew you'd say something like that, so I found a way."

Lee Shin said that and took out the Night Sky from his inventory, holding it in his hand.

Seeing that, Baek Hyunwoo's eyes trembled slightly, and Arachne's mouth, which had been grumbling nonstop, stopped and opened slightly.

"Is that by any chance…"

"Yes, it's an Epic-grade weapon, the same as what you guys use."

"No, where and how did you…"

"I was lucky."

It was true.

In the first place, what Lee Shin had initially expected was a top-tier Unique weapon.

Woong-

The Night Sky held in Lee Shin's hand cried out loudly, as if to release the sorrow of being trapped in the inventory until now, and showed off its presence.

"Hee… Then I'll go all out too?"

Baek Hyunwoo, who had realized from seeing that that Lee Shin had come fully prepared, stealthily raised the corners of his mouth.

Baek Hyunwoo didn't dislike fighting either, and with Lee Shin's words now, that personality was slowly starting up.

"Sigh, that tiger is at it again."

Arachne, who saw Baek Hyunwoo smiling slyly, stood up from her seat and stood in front of the five.

It was to block the aftereffects that would occur from the two's fight from now on.

Thanks to Arachne, Baek Hyunwoo raised his power without worry and looked at Lee Shin.

Lee Shin was definitely a person with the potential to reach them.

But that it wasn't yet was the common opinion of everyone who had fought Lee Shin.

The level of the absolute, LV.7, that the Kings had stepped on was by no means light, and crucially, the difference between the weapon Lee Shin held and the weapons they had was too great.

But now that Lee Shin had brought the Night Sky, the situation had changed.

Normally, since there was a difference in level, just holding one such weapon wouldn't have changed anything dramatically.

But Lee Shin was different.

Lee Shin had a talent for real combat and a talent for killing something that was hard for even them to believe.

In fact, when they fought Lee Shin, they would sometimes feel the dizzying sensation of standing in front of the line of death.

Until now, they had suppressed him with the difference in level and the difference in weapons, but now, that difference in weapons had disappeared.

"I'm glad I didn't fight first."

Arachne muttered, looking at Lee Shin with interest, and the other five looked at the two with eyes full of tension.

"It's okay to clash with all our might, right?"

"Of course. That's why I brought this."

With those final words, the two rushed at each other.

***

The characteristic of Baek Hyunwoo's aura is [Manga].

It's a characteristic that seems to have no relation to combat at a glance, but Baek Hyunwoo used this characteristic to break the skulls of numerous Players in the Pantheon and became one of the Kings, the pinnacle of Players.

Then what is the ideal that Baek Hyunwoo has drawn in his mind?

"My guess is a manga book with arms and legs that can run around on its own."

"What kind of person would think of such a strange thing as an ideal."

"He seems to do it."

"That's because he's strange."

"Hey! What's wrong with me! Do you guys know how amazing spiders are?!"

A heckle came from the outfield for a moment, but the two lightly ignored it.

"Anyway, it's not that peculiar, so if you were expecting something like a manga book to pop out of my back, you'll probably be disappointed."

"So what is it in the end?"

At Lee Shin's words, Baek Hyunwoo thought for a moment and said.

"I don't have anything precisely made as an ideal. Should I say I've only set the basic framework and left the rest blank?"

"Huh? Is it okay to be that vague?"

"Well, it's not like there's a rule you have to follow, and in the end, it's my heart. I heard there are people who have set their ideal as becoming an invisible man or an emotionless machine."

At Baek Hyunwoo's words, Lee Shin tilted his head, realizing that the world was indeed wide.

"But you're telling me much more obediently than I thought."

"Uhm, let's just say it's a service because I'm in a good mood."

Baek Hyunwoo looked at the gathered people with his eyes.

"Because it's fun for me too if there are many strong people around."

"Hmm, I really like your personality."

"Thanks for the compliment."

The two chuckled and looked at each other.

"So what's your ideal?"

"Hmm, it's a bit complicated to explain. But to put it simply…"

Baek Hyunwoo took his stance again and looked at Lee Shin.

"First, I'll keep moving forward for what I want."

In response, a green aura slowly blossomed and began to envelop Baek Hyunwoo's body.

"Even if various hardships and adversities come, I will never give in."

The blossoming aura gathered on Baek Hyunwoo's forehead and soon created a green third eye.

"And in the end, the person who wins, that would be my ideal."

At Baek Hyunwoo's words, Lee Shin let out a hollow laugh.

A person who, in a [Manga], does not give in to hardships and adversities and ultimately wins in the end… isn't that too obvious.

"To take a hot-blooded shonen manga protagonist as your ideal… isn't your taste too chuunibyou-like?"

"It's a taste that still works well these days. And every man lives with a boy in his heart, you know?"

Baek Hyunwoo said that and smiled as if to provoke.

"So… can you win against the protagonist?"

"Of course."

Lee Shin said, creating a transparent spear ki over the Night Sky.

"I also used to think it would be nice to be a villain in the past."

Mainly, it had seemed like a very attractive job in that he could break and attack anything.

With those final words, the two clashed again.

And the five who were far away watched the two again with tension.

Although he was LV.3, Baek Hyunwoo, who was using his items to his heart's content with his eyes open, was stronger than they had ever imagined.

Every time Baek Hyunwoo swung his fist and threw a kick, the aura extending from his attacks drew various pictures and rushed at Lee Shin.

Each and every one of them was threatening.

Each and every one of them was beyond common sense.

Each and every one of them was a special move.

And Lee Shin, swinging the Night Sky, dodged, tore, split, cut, and passed all of them.

And at the same time, Lee Shin continued to attack Baek Hyunwoo without rest.

Watching him, Arachne quietly thought of a shark.

Until now, Lee Shin had pressured them with his stamina, regeneration, and mental strength as his weapons, with his tenacity.

But now, while slowly narrowing the encirclement and moving, he was threatening, baring his fangs as if he would bite down at once if an opening was shown.

Watching him, Arachne felt it.

That Lee Shin's fangs could now reach them.

"Wow, he's much stronger than I thought."

And the emotion Arachne felt was also felt by the silver-haired woman who had just entered the dungeon.

(End of Chapter)