The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 16

The standoff between Lee Shin and Cheon Yuhwa ended anticlimactically when Lee Shin, who was hungry and wanted to wash away the stickiness from his body, turned his head.

And Cheon Yuhwa knew that Lee Shin's action was a silent permission to follow if she wanted to.

Thus, Lee Shin, Cheon Yuhwa, and Kim Jae-hyun made a strange journey together to Lee Shin's house.

Screeech-!

However, that was only up to the front door.

"I'll at least listen to what you have to say for your effort in coming this far, so as you said, when the food arrives, pay for it and wait here."

"......Here?"

Kim Jae-hyun looked around.

The place they were in was in front of the entrance. If someone saw them standing here continuously, it would be suspicious enough to call the police.

But Lee Shin had no sympathy.

"What can I do? I'm about to take a bath, how can I trust a suspicious person I met today and leave them alone in my house?"

"......"

At Lee Shin's extremely common-sense answer, Kim Jae-hyun couldn't refute and shut his mouth.

Pleased that he wasn't being a pain, Lee Shin decided to show a little kindness.

"I'll probably be bathing for at least an hour or two, so find something to do in the meantime."

Grin-

"I don't know what purpose you came here with, but it seems you two also need some time to discuss."

At Lee Shin's words, Cheon Yuhwa looked at him without any change in expression, while Kim Jae-hyun was slightly shaken.

"See you later then."

Screeech-!

"This is a fresh experience in many ways."

"Right? He'll probably be in there for an hour or two and not come out."

"......Truly novel in many ways."

But for them, it wasn't exactly bad news.

They had successfully arranged a place for conversation, and Kim Jae-hyun had a lot to ask her anyway.

'An hour or two should be more than enough to organize my thoughts.'

Kim Jae-hyun decided to ask about the part that bothered him the most first.

"What kind of scouting is this?"

"Is there a problem?"

"Investing this much time is one thing, but the timing of your approach was terrible. Judging by the smell on his clothes, it looked like that person had just come out of a considerable fight in the dungeon."

"Hmm? No, no. The timing is the best right now. If it wasn't, I would have just told you to gather information and come back, I wouldn't have come here myself."

Kim Jae-hyun's expression became a little frustrated as he couldn't understand Cheon Yuhwa's answer with his common sense.

"It gets annoying if you get caught up in that guy's pace."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, right now he's tired and annoyed with everything, but if he were in good condition, when we approached him, he would have approached us instead and tried to play with us like a toy."

Even while listening to Cheon Yuhwa's words, Kim Jae-hyun couldn't properly understand the person named Lee Shin.

Cheon Yuhwa, noticing Kim Jae-hyun's expression, decided to tell him a few more facts about Lee Shin.

Until now, she had only been leaking information little by little as a joke, but it was about time to give him proper information.

"First, to explain a bit about that guy, he was someone who would rush into dangerous things that people shy away from without hesitation."

"From an organization's perspective, he's a plus."

"On top of that, he was born with a few screws loose, and he was like a personification of recklessness, so he moved as he pleased, and when there was nothing to do, he would just lie around like mold, saying it was annoying."

"That part is a minus."

Cheon Yuhwa bit down on her candy, reminiscing about the past.

The more she spoke, the more the emotions that had been building up inside her slowly flowed out, and her teeth clenched, but she calmly composed herself.

"Hoo, anyway, because of that, he liked people, or to be precise, people who seemed unique and interesting."

"Hmm......"

Kim Jae-hyun, not quite getting it, thought for a moment.

"Well, to put it simply, he was a crazy person who didn't care about other people's opinions and only moved as he pleased."

"Hmm......"

Kim Jae-hyun, who had been quietly listening to her, let out a slight groan after she finished and came to his own conclusion about the person named Lee Shin.

"I can certainly see that he's a strange person with a personality that's at odds with organizational life."

At Kim Jae-hyun's words, Cheon Yuhwa giggled.

"The expression 'crazy' fits him better than 'strange'."

Cheon Yuhwa said, biting into the candy that was now only half left.

"But honestly, I was relieved. He's such an unpredictable guy, so I was worried about how to persuade him if he had changed from the guy I was thinking of."

At Cheon Yuhwa's words, Kim Jae-hyun relaxed his posture a little and said.

"Anyway, it seems I don't have much to do regarding this matter."

"I guess so. At most, you'll be a driver?"

The two continued to talk about Lee Shin for a while after that.

Kim Jae-hyun, to get to know the person named Lee Shin better, and Cheon Yuhwa, to reorganize her information about him.

"Ah, come to think of it......"

Then, Kim Jae-hyun asked as if curious.

"Was that person also your colleague in the future?"

***

"Let's see....... Since I didn't hear the doorbell while showering, it seems they paid for the food~ I wonder if they're still outside~"

Lee Shin, who had taken a pleasant shower and scrubbed himself clean, changed his clothes and hummed happily as he opened the front door.

Screeech-

"Oh, it's open."

"Indeed. It took an hour, just as you said."

When Lee Shin opened the door, the two were standing there with the delivery food.

Cheon Yuhwa handed the slightly cooled delivery food to Lee Shin and said.

"It seems you're finally in a state where we can have a normal conversation."

At Cheon Yuhwa's words, Lee Shin looked at her for a moment and asked.

"Hmm, it doesn't seem likely at all, but have we ever talked somewhere before? It feels like you know me too well."

At Lee Shin's words, Cheon Yuhwa paused for a moment, then chuckled and said.

"No, this is the first time we've met."

"Is that so?"

Lee Shin stared at Cheon Yuhwa for a moment, then accepted the food she handed him.

"Well, anyway, come in. I said I would, so I have to keep my word."

Lee Shin said, opening the door.

At that, the two entered the house without hesitation.

As Lee Shin was setting the food on the table, he said to the two.

"I never thought I'd invite people to my house in my life, so there's only one chair left, is that okay?"

"It's fine. I can stand. Where is the spare chair?"

"In that room over there."

Kim Jae-hyun said, went into the room Lee Shin pointed to, and brought out a chair, and Cheon Yuhwa sat on it, looking at Lee Shin.

And Lee Shin, who had finished setting up, also sat down, took a bite of food, and looked at Cheon Yuhwa.

It was his signal that he was ready, so she should go ahead and speak.

At that, Cheon Yuhwa looked at Lee Shin and spoke in a calm tone.

"First, let me introduce myself."

It was a single sentence, but with that, the air around Cheon Yuhwa changed slightly, and Lee Shin, who felt it, curled his lips in interest.

"I am Cheon Yuhwa, the guild master of the newly created guild [Wonderland], and the person behind me is Kim Jae-hyun, the vice guild master."

Cheon Yuhwa met Lee Shin's clear eyes with a serious gaze and said.

"As the guild master, I would like to scout you for our guild."

Lee Shin, who had already put a chicken leg in his mouth, met Cheon Yuhwa's gaze head-on and said calmly.

"I don't want to."

***

"Hmm, but what did they really come here for?"

Lee Shin thought about the two people he had met on his way while being hit by the stream of water.

But no matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn't recall or guess anything about the woman or the man.

He was sure, because he hadn't gone outside for nearly three years since Pantheon appeared, and even before that, he had no one he talked to or personally interacted with.

After thinking for about five minutes, Lee Shin just gave up.

It was something he couldn't know just by thinking, so thinking itself was a waste of time.

So Lee Shin relaxed and came to a conclusion.

"Well, I don't know what those two are up to, but they seem interesting, so I'll at least listen to what they have to say. If I'm not interested after listening, I can just refuse."

"I don't want to."

Since he had already decided on a rough policy while bathing, he could answer without any hesitation.

Perhaps not expecting to be rejected before even hearing any explanation, a small flicker of agitation appeared on Kim Jae-hyun's face.

But that was none of Lee Shin's business.

"You two seem interesting, so I was intrigued, but I'm sorry, I'm still a bit reluctant to belong somewhere."

"But..."

"Ah, it's not that I'm rejecting you outright. I have my reasons too."

Nom, nom-

Gulp-

"There might be some benefits to belonging to a guild, but there will also be many things I have to do, so I don't like it. Maybe later, but for now, I just want to wander around as I please."

"But..."

Lee Shin took a sip of cola and said with a smile.

"You've shown me such sincerity, so it would be a bit harsh of me to be so ungracious. How about we just make a simple freelance contract?"

"A freelance contract, you say?"

"Yes, simply put, a relationship where I handle monsters when you make a request. A relationship where you buy the monsters I give you."

"That method certainly seems like it could satisfy both sides to some extent."

Seeing Lee Shin's smile, Cheon Yuhwa gave a small nod.

Watching her, Lee Shin nodded inwardly, hoping she would take the bait.

Although he had spoken with a confident attitude, as if it didn't matter whether it worked out or not, since the other party had shown a clinging attitude, he also wanted the contract to be made, as it would be very beneficial for him to work as a freelancer in many ways.

Money was money, but what he was thinking of was convenience.

He had no intention of stopping entering dungeons in the future, and if so, he would naturally need a trading partner who could properly handle the monsters he caught, in other words, odd-job workers.

'I was just about to look for people who could handle monster byproducts anyway, so this is great. Besides...'

Lee Shin looked at Cheon Yuhwa through the gaps in his long hair.

'My instinct is telling me that if I'm near that woman, interesting things will roll in.'

That's why he didn't want to let go of the person named Cheon Yuhwa like this.

'I wish she would just accept it obediently, but is that too much to ask? She won't just say 'Yes, I understand' when I come out like this.'

"Yes, I understand."

"Hmm?"

But to his surprise, Cheon Yuhwa readily nodded at his proposal, and Kim Jae-hyun took out a few sheets of paper from his pocket and placed them in front of him.

"It's a shame we couldn't have you in our guild, but since you seem to have made up your mind, I won't say any more. Well, your mind might change as we work together."

Thump-

"What's on the table is a freelance contract, and this is my business card. After you've looked everything over, come to our guild and present the business card, or contact the number on the card, and we'll proceed with the contract. Well then, we'll be going."

Scrape-

With those words, Cheon Yuhwa opened the door and went outside before he could say anything.

At Cheon Yuhwa's suddenly bold reaction, Lee Shin forgot to eat and stared blankly at the contract on the table and the direction of the front door, muttering as if something was off.

"What was that? It went exactly as I said, but... this feeling of being hooked?"

(End of Chapter)