The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 157

"This is more than I expected."

"What! Do you have any complaints?"

Despite Cheon Yuhwa's thorny and blunt words, Kim Jaehyun answered as if it were nothing.

"No, it's not a complaint. I expected you to call me for some help. However…"

Kim Jaehyun said, looking at the clock next to him.

"I just didn't expect a call for help to come before an hour had even passed."

"Ugh…"

At Kim Jaehyun's words, which pierced deep into her heart, Cheon Yuhwa felt her face flush slightly.

"Well, I can roughly guess why you called."

Kim Jaehyun, who had guessed Cheon Yuhwa's state thanks to the years they had spent together and judged that there was nothing to be gained by provoking her further, quickly changed the subject of the conversation.

"Hah, if you know, then that's enough. So, do you have anything to say? Like a special ride that's only here."

"Hmm, you're accepting it faster than I thought. I thought you would definitely ask for an efficient route to extract information from Lee Shin-nim."

At Kim Jaehyun's words, Cheon Yuhwa closed her mouth slightly.

Because honestly, she thought she would have asked such a question if it weren't for the conversation with Lee Shin a moment ago.

"You told me to go on a date with that guy. It's the plan you thought of, so I'm just trying to do as you say as much as possible."

"Hmm… Yes, well. I understand."

Kim Jaehyun thought for a moment, then simply nodded his head and moved on.

"But I don't know much about that part either."

"…What? Jaehyun, you said you've been on a lot of dates, right? You're not trying to say something strange like you've been on a lot of dates but never on an amusement park date, are you?"

At Cheon Yuhwa's words, Kim Jaehyun said nonchalantly.

"No, I've been to an amusement park a few times. It wasn't really my taste, so I didn't particularly enjoy it."

"Then why aren't you saying anything?"

"In this case, the problem isn't the place, it's the people."

Kim Jaehyun continued to push before Cheon Yuhwa could say anything.

"If it were a normal date, I could have planned a suitable route, but it's impossible for you two."

"No, why?"

"Because your way of thinking is too different from that of an ordinary person. Well, I've been watching you for a long time, miss, so I could somehow manage, but thinking about the two of you together gives me a headache, so I just gave up on planning."

"…You, do you have any complaints about me recently?"

As Cheon Yuhwa asked in a slightly sullen voice, Kim Jaehyun said as if to tell her not to worry.

"Well, don't worry too much. I can still give you some advice."

"What is it?"

Cheon Yuhwa asked in a slightly expectant tone.

"Just don't worry about anything and play as you please."

"You call that advice?"

"Believe it or not, this is sincere advice."

Kim Jaehyun said that and smiled.

It was a rather playful laugh.

"If there's a ride you want to ride, ride it, and if there's something you want to do, don't hesitate and do it. That's why I prepared the perception-distorting artifact."

At Kim Jaehyun's words, Cheon Yuhwa touched the glasses she was wearing slightly.

"It's a high-performance item that no one will be able to tell even if they look at it openly, so it won't matter if you play a little embarrassingly."

"Sigh, alright, I get it."

"If you get it, then go and enjoy yourselves until evening as you please. Ah, and I won't be answering my phone from now on, so don't call."

And so, the call was cut off, and Cheon Yuhwa stood still for a moment, looking at the phone with a look of disbelief.

'He wasn't this kind of character, why did he become like this?'

"Huh? What, is something wrong?"

At that moment, Lee Shin looked at Cheon Yuhwa and asked as if something was wrong.

On Lee Shin's head was the headband he had bought from the shop a moment ago.

"It's fine, it's nothing."

"Hmm, really? Then that's a relief."

Cheon Yuhwa said that and looked at Lee Shin eating for a moment, then asked as naturally as possible, as if throwing it out.

"How's that headband?"

"Huh? This?"

"Yes, that."

Lee Shin tilted his head slightly, as if contemplating how to explain it.

"It's cheap, but it's a good kind of cheap that's worth trying on once, I guess?"

"Really?"

Saying that, Cheon Yuhwa looked towards the stall and said.

"Wait here for a moment. I'm going to buy a headband too."

"Huh? Didn't you say you didn't want to wear it?"

As Lee Shin smiled teasingly, Cheon Yuhwa flushed slightly and said, as if arguing.

"I changed my mind."

Cheon Yuhwa said that and looked at the headbands on the stall one by one, then chose one and put it on her head.

And so, the red-haired man with a red-horned devil headband and the white-haired woman with a pure white halo headband began their full-fledged date.

***

"Hmm…"

"Uhm…"

The two were eating chocolate-flavored ice cream and vanilla-flavored ice cream, respectively, and staring blankly at the scene unfolding before their eyes.

Numerous rides were emitting colorful lights that tempted the onlookers, and people were laughing and having a good time with the people they had come with.

Lee Shin and Cheon Yuhwa, who were sitting on a bench and resting, looked at them and uttered a short impression.

"It doesn't seem fun enough to laugh so brightly."

"I know, right. Honestly, wasn't it less than you expected?"

"I know."

Cheon Yuhwa thought for a moment and summed up what was on her mind in one sentence.

"Right, it's not that it's not fun, but it doesn't feel fun enough to laugh so brightly."

"I know. It's like, it's fun to watch, but not fun to ride?"

That was the general opinion of the two who had ridden most of the rides in this amusement park with a free pass.

It's not that it's not fun.

The rides, which were created with a total mobilization of various advanced technologies, made the riders' hearts sink, and the illusions created through magic invited the people on the rides to a world of fantasy.

The combination of technology created through science and fantasy created through magic had a destructive power beyond what people had expected.

In other words, the problem was not with the rides.

The problem was with Lee Shin and Cheon Yuhwa, the two of them.

The level of the two was too high to fully enjoy the amusement park.

The two had crossed too many lines of death to be scared by a fake threat that occurred within a safe fence created through thorough calculation.

On top of that, their level was too high and their senses were too sharp to be deceived by a fake illusion created through magic.

So naturally, the two couldn't genuinely immerse themselves in the rides and have fun like other people.

Well, but if you were to ask if it was completely not fun, that wasn't the case either.

Just as a movie is fun even if you know it's fake, they didn't feel a thrill-filled fun while riding the rides, but they had felt enough fun just by watching.

When you ride a roller coaster, a brilliantly shining Milky Way appears, making you feel like you're racing through space.

When you ride a Viking, you fall into a sea where it seems like you'll be swept away by the waves at any moment.

When you ride a bumper car, a future city unfolds before your eyes, and you race through a shower of laser guns that occurs in the city.

When you ride a merry-go-round, you fall into a fluffy world of a fairy tale where sheep tap dance and birds sing jazz.

For reference, on the last merry-go-round, Lee Shin had gotten off quickly because he had felt a little sick from seeing the soft and cute things.

"Ah, but I think the haunted house was a little fun."

"Really? I just found it boring."

At Cheon Yuhwa's words, Lee Shin said with a playful, wide smile.

"I was a little bored at first too, but as I kept watching, I saw something interesting."

"Something interesting? What is it?"

At Cheon Yuhwa's words, Lee Shin thought for a moment and said.

"Uhm, how should I put it? The way to scare people? I saw that while I was just spacing out and watching the ghosts."

A haunted house basically has to scare the people who come.

Knowing how to scare people was synonymous with knowing how to use the skill [Ghost] that Lee Shin had recently obtained better.

'It wouldn't be bad to watch some horror movies when I get back.'

As Lee Shin was thinking that, he looked at Cheon Yuhwa sitting next to him and asked.

"By the way, how is it? Do you feel a little more at ease? Do you feel healed?"

"Hah… I wonder, to be honest, I don't know."

Cheon Yuhwa thought for a moment and answered.

It was certainly fun, but if you were to ask if it was extremely fun, that wasn't the case either.

If I had to say, should I say it was a level of fun that made the corners of my mouth rise lightly?

"Really? Then it's a success."

As Cheon Yuhwa said that, Lee Shin smiled lightly.

"I'm saying it wasn't that fun, so why is that a success?"

"You wouldn't know since you're a person who just stays cooped up in your room and works, but having fun is also a tiring thing."

Lee Shin said that and put the soft ice cream he was eating into his mouth.

"The purpose right now is just rest. So that level of slightly fun is enough."

"…How do you know that?"

"It's a byproduct of when I was a shut-in and a loser in my room in the past."

Tuk-tuk-

Lee Shin said that and lightly dusted off his butt, getting up.

"Is there anything else you want to ride? It seems there's still some time left."

"I wonder… Is there anything you want to ride?"

"Me? I've ridden most of the things I had in mind, so there's nothing I particularly want to ride now."

"Hmm… really?"

At Lee Shin's words, Cheon Yuhwa pointed at one side with her finger and said.

"Then how about that?"

"What, that's a Ferris wheel?"

"Yes."

At Lee Shin's words, Cheon Yuhwa got up from her seat and nodded her head.

"I heard a little while ago that it's time for a spectacular parade. If we're up there, I think we can watch comfortably without worrying about being pushed around by people."

Cheon Yuhwa said that and looked at Lee Shin.

In fact, there was one more reason why Cheon Yuhwa had chosen the Ferris wheel.

She wanted to talk with Lee Shin.

'To think I'm trying to have a conversation with this guy again…'

It wasn't the first time Cheon Yuhwa had tried to talk with Lee Shin.

In the past and now, Cheon Yuhwa had acknowledged Lee Shin's skills.

Naturally, she had tried several times to persuade him.

For reference, the reason Cheon Yuhwa knew so much about Lee Shin was because of these several attempts.

'Well, in the end, all the persuasion ended in failure.'

Thinking that perhaps her refusal to talk with Lee Shin was a side effect of that time, Cheon Yuhwa looked at him.

"Ending with watching the parade, the flower of the amusement park, from a special seat… not bad."

"Alright, then let's go."

And so, the two walked side by side towards the Ferris wheel.

"But before we get on the Ferris wheel, let's buy some snacks."

"Alright, how about caramel popcorn? But can we eat inside the Ferris wheel?"

"We can just sneak it in, what's the big deal."

The shadows of the two, which had been stretched long by the red sunlight that was falling beyond the sky, connected into one.

(End of Chapter)