The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 15

"This is the hot spot where you can awaken as a player, right?"

"If you awaken as a player here, things will go much smoother, right?"

"Hello, I've come on a pilgrimage. Please let me earn a lot of money~"

About a day had passed since the news that the dungeon in the park had been cleared spread among people.

During that time, the dungeon had become widely known and was bustling with many people who had come with various purposes.

"What in the world am I looking at..."

And a man sat on a bench, watching the scene.

Unlike yesterday, when he was wearing a suit that didn't fit the park, he was now dressed in casual clothes.

And that wasn't the only difference from yesterday.

Slurp-

"This vanilla latte is perfectly sweet. It's a real gem."

"Is that so?"

Yesterday, Kim Jae-hyun was alone, but now a woman sat beside him, leisurely sipping a vanilla latte.

Long hair reaching her waist, a beauty exuding a languid aura, as if exhausted from work like an office worker tired from a week of overtime.

Swoosh-

However, for Kim Jae-hyun, who had served Cheon Yuhwa since childhood, the coffee in her hand caught his eye more than her beautiful appearance.

"Drinking something like that from morning isn't good for your health."

"This much is fine. And humans are originally structured to get unhealthy over time anyway."

"Your teeth will rot."

"It's fine. You know I brush my teeth well."

As the two conversed idly, feeling the cool and refreshing breeze circulating through the park, and looking at the dungeon, Kim Jae-hyun, who had finished an ice cream, spoke.

"Now that it's come to this, I'm starting to get curious, but is he really worth investing a whole day in?"

Kim Jae-hyun's words were not a trivial complaint, but a pure question.

He could fully understand why he was here.

In Kim Jae-hyun's opinion, there were plenty of ways to replace his role for a day.

But Cheon Yuhwa was different.

In a situation like this, her presence was an invaluable asset that could not be replaced by anything, and a treasure that could bring countless benefits.

For example, let's assume Cheon Yuhwa continuously cleared several of the numerous dungeons that appeared in the city.

Then, Cheon Yuhwa's existence, along with the guild she had just created, would instantly rise to the surface and gather people's attention.

Therefore, Kim Jae-hyun found it difficult to understand why Cheon Yuhwa was here, sacrificing her time and the countless benefits she could gain from it.

"Hmm, worth, you say..."

At Kim Jae-hyun's words, Cheon Yuhwa slurped her vanilla latte and answered coolly, as if there was no need to ponder.

"More than enough. No, should I say the comparison itself is futile?"

"...Is it that much?"

"Yes, that much."

At Cheon Yuhwa's assertion, as if there was no need to think, Kim Jae-hyun was surprised, but his mind became complicated as he couldn't understand the reason.

Cheon Yuhwa, noticing his state from his face, opened her mouth to provide further explanation.

"And it seems to you that I'm wasting time, but I'm actually making full use of my time. Look."

Saying so, Cheon Yuhwa pointed her finger at the sky, and Kim Jae-hyun raised his head to look.

"Huh..."

Then, he saw particles of light moving here and there like fish in the sea, hidden in the sunlight.

"Were you training while monitoring the dungeon?"

"Yeah, that's the convenient part about being an aura user."

Cheon Yuhwa answered simply, taking out a lollipop and putting it in her mouth.

"And anyway, the trivial profits will naturally fall into my hands."

"...Indeed, even if only half of what you said is true, that part wouldn't be a problem."

Cheon Yuhwa did not deny it.

"That's right. Well, there's definitely a need to raise my name splendidly at some point, but it doesn't necessarily have to be now. Rather than that, it's more profitable to move around scouting people. After all, everything is ultimately done by human hands."

At those words, Kim Jae-hyun's eyes, looking at Cheon Yuhwa, changed.

"...It suddenly reminds me whose daughter you are. That, and how you subtly manipulated five team leaders to enter the dungeon. You're truly amazing in many ways."

"That's a remark that shows no respect for your superior."

"Are you expecting that from me now?"

At Kim Jae-hyun's words, Cheon Yuhwa chuckled and said.

"No, never mind. If I really heard something like that, I'd probably get goosebumps for no reason."

Even while exchanging such trivial banter, their eyes never left the dungeon.

On the contrary, they became even sharper.

It was about time.

"Hehe, I've gained an ability. Now I'm a player too..."

"Hmm, it seems I awakened a bit more smoothly."

"Yay! I'm rich now."

People who had entered the dungeon with their own purposes were slowly coming out.

They began to emerge as it was time for the dungeon to disappear.

According to the system, even if they stayed inside the dungeon, they would automatically be ejected the moment the dungeon disappeared, but few people would risk such an uncertain situation.

"Ugh!"

"What is this smell!"

At that moment, people suddenly flinched, covered their noses, and looked somewhere.

From there, a person who looked like a homeless man emerged from the dungeon and was moving away from the crowd.

Swoosh-

Nod-

And seeing that scene, Cheon Yuhwa looked at Kim Jae-hyun, and Kim Jae-hyun answered the question in Cheon Yuhwa's eyes with a simple nod.

Although his appearance had changed unbelievably shabbily in just one day, the person who had just slipped through the crowd was definitely the person they had been looking for.

At that, the two stood up and moved to follow the man who was running somewhere.

Cheon Yuhwa's eyes, in particular, shone even sharper than before, looking at the man and searching for something.

However, the man's appearance was too shabby for that.

Woooong-

And not long after the three of them left, a crack appeared in the dungeon, and it collapsed.

And from the spot where the dungeon collapsed, countless people suddenly appeared, densely filling the empty space.

***

Woooong-

"Wow! I was so surprised! So this is what it feels like to be kicked out of a dungeon!"

"Phew, I saw videos of dungeons collapsing and the people inside coming out safely. But I was still a little scared inside, so I'm glad I came out safely~"

"Yay! I'm a player now too! From now on, I can live a life of gaming day and night!"

"Wow! My body is completely different from before! At this rate, 500 pounds will be a breeze!"

"Hmm, what should I do? Should I enter a nearby dungeon now? Or should I find party members to enter the dungeon with first?"

As numerous people suddenly appeared and filled the empty space, the quiet park became filled with the noisy chatter of people, and their gazes naturally converged on that spot.

Lee Shin smiled contentedly, feeling the gazes and attention that had been directed at him now turning toward that direction.

'It was worth coming out at this timing. It's obvious that I would attract a lot of attention if I came out in this state.'

Lee Shin let out a small sigh and looked at his body.

It was his own body, but it was so dirty he couldn't bear to look at it.

Clothes and skin so stained their original color was unrecognizable, long hair hardened with blood and sweat, and even the dirty, torn bag on his back.

It was almost to the point where the bodies of the homeless people at Seoul Station looked cleaner.

Thanks to that, Lee Shin was currently using his internal energy to limit his sense of smell.

'Sigh, well, it's a minor side effect of my body getting much better, so I guess I'll just have to overlook it. After all, it's also because what was inside my body came out.'

Still, since it was bothering him, Lee Shin threw the coat and hat he was wearing into a trash can he passed by and washed his face next to it.

Due to the nature of the park, there were facilities for a simple wash after exercise.

'By the way, now that I'm moving, I'm starting to get hungry. Was there a restaurant nearby? It's probably impossible in this state.'

Lee Shin, who had filled his stomach with water for now, took out his phone and decided to order food for delivery on his way home.

Fortunately, he had used sturdy materials for the screen and case, so even though there were scratches, there were no major problems that would affect its function.

"Yes, one fried chicken and one seasoned chicken."

"Yes, three pizzas, please."

As he ordered enough food to fill his stomach and hurried his steps to get home quickly, someone spoke to him from behind.

"Hello?"

"......"

However, Lee Shin ignored them and quickened his pace.

Whether it was a cult recruiter or a scam artist, normally he would have dealt with them until he was sick of it, but not now.

Even though he looked like this, to Lee Shin, who was quite particular about cleanliness, the two people were nothing more than annoying gnats.

'Tsk, thinking about it makes me even more annoyed.'

"Excuse me?"

But despite Lee Shin's complete disregard, the other party, far from getting angry or embarrassed and turning away, followed him again and spoke to him in the exact same tone as before.

"Excuse me?"

"......"

"Excuse me?"

"...Haa, what is it?"

As they continued to bother him, Lee Shin eventually changed his approach to just dealing with them appropriately while walking.

He didn't bother to hide his annoyance, so his tone was full of thorns, and what came out of his mouth was informal speech.

However, the woman smiled as if it didn't matter at all and walked at Lee Shin's pace.

At that, Lee Shin looked at her and the man silently following behind her with an expression of extreme annoyance.

He knew that the two had been following him since the moment he came out of the dungeon.

However, he had ignored them out of annoyance and decided to deal with them later when he caught them, but he hadn't expected them to approach him directly first.

She spoke to Lee Shin with a kind smile on her face.

"Hello, I'd like to have a little chat, if that's possible?"

"You've been following me all this time, so you must have seen me order food just now, right? If you really want to talk to me, wait outside my house until I finish showering and pay for my food instead."

"Alright."

Lee Shin stopped in his tracks and stared intently at her, as she nodded without any hesitation at his jokingly made remark.

His eyes looking at her were strange.

They were clearly the eyes of someone looking at a strange person, but at the same time, they were also eyes mixed with half-interest.

She met Lee Shin's gaze head-on.

"?"

And the man who had been watching the two from behind suddenly wondered what kind of conversation this was and, in his dumbfounded state, just watched silently without interfering in their conversation.

(End of Chapter)