The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 173

While Lee Shin and Crowley were meticulously planning, the five who had followed Lee Shin were engrossed in looking around [Meister], oblivious to the conversation happening above them.

"Uhm, it was tough, but it wasn't so bad. There was nothing physically demanding. Besides, when the dungeon break happened, I was inside the guild with other people."

"I'm jealous. We weren't."

"I know, right. We just suffered before and after the dungeon break."

The atmosphere among Lee Rion, Lee Sieun, and Lee Jieun was very good.

Although the time they had been apart couldn't be called long, for the three who had always been together since they were young, it was a sufficiently long time.

Perhaps because of that, they were having all sorts of trivial conversations.

"Hmm, I'm a little used to the blacksmith's shop since I saw it last time, but the alchemist's workshop is amazing since it's my first time."

"I don't even know what's what. Hyunyoung, do you know anything?"

"Uhm… I can roughly guess what the devices are used for, but there are many things I'm seeing for the first time, so I don't know for sure."

And the other three, Eun Yeonwoo, Lee Hyunseok, and Lee Hyunyoung, who were following them, also looked around the guild very happily, peeking here and there.

Unlike a typical combat guild, it was a specialized guild for production-class Players, so there were plenty of amazing things around to see, and their eyes had no time to be bored.

"Oh, you're here? You came earlier than I thought."

"It wouldn't have mattered much if you had come slowly."

Perhaps because they had spent such a fun and happy time below.

They were more nervous than usual, quietly drinking their coffee and glancing at Crowley.

As they faced Crowley's face head-on, they were reminded that this was one of the top guilds in the world.

Thankfully, thanks to Crowley's quiet and calm appearance and Lee Shin's appearance of looking only at the gloves with sparkling eyes, they were able to gradually find their peace of mind and begin to savor the taste of the coffee.

Dalgeurak-

And Crowley, who had also noticed that, quietly put down his empty coffee cup.

"Then since you seem to have calmed down, shall we go."

"Huh? You're not going to explain anything?"

"It will be faster and easier to understand if I explain it there rather than explaining it here."

"Hah…"

The people who were quietly listening to the two's conversation let out a low sigh at the anxiety that was crawling up from their chests.

'I knew it…'

'Sigh, as expected, it's happening.'

'I was looking forward to seeing the city.'

'Smile, I hate you.'

'If I had known this would happen, I would have changed into different clothes in advance.'

The five who had followed Lee Shin accepted the familiar anxiety that was tickling their chests and quickly adapted to reality.

'What is this?'

And so, only Lee Rion was turning the happy circuit, unable to accept reality.

"By the way, is the dungeon nearby? It's a bit annoying if we have to go far."

'…Damn it.'

But Lee Rion also quickly adapted to reality as the word 'dungeon' came out of Lee Shin's mouth.

Unlike the other five, it was a little different that he had accepted reality after seeing Crowley, not Lee Shin.

"You don't have to worry about that. Because it's much closer than you think."

Jeobeok-jeobeok-

Crowley said that and went to the empty space between the bookshelves, the exact opposite of the direction of the door the six of them had entered, and drew a circle with his finger.

Woong-

At that, a swirling halo of pure white light appeared in the empty space between the bookshelves.

At that, the six who were quietly preparing their minds for what would happen, just stared at Crowley with their mouths agape at the unexpected sight.

"Oh, that's amazing. How did you make something like this?"

"I was able to make it thanks to getting a lot of interesting data from this dungeon break."

"Did you develop a technology that creates a dungeon wherever you want?"

"No, it's not such a convenient technology."

Crowley quietly shook his head and denied Lee Shin's words.

"It would be easier to understand if I said that I didn't create a dungeon, but that I made a side door to an existing dungeon and went in."

"Then where is the dungeon connected to this dungeon?"

"It would be annoying if other people went in, so I've moved it to the basement of the guild and am storing it there now."

"Oh, that's amazing."

Lee Shin nodded his head a few times, understood, and moved on, but the other six couldn't close their mouths after hearing Crowley's words.

Because they couldn't even imagine how much of a ripple effect the words that had just come out of Crowley's mouth so nonchalantly could cause.

A dungeon is an unknown mystery that numerous scientists from all over the world have rushed at but have not been able to solve.

But Crowley's words now were no different from indirectly confessing that he had solved a little of the mystery of the dungeon that no one had dared to touch.

They trembled slightly at the feeling of having seen a side of Crowley's genius.

Especially Lee Rion and Lee Hyunyoung, who were alchemists like Crowley, were even slightly thrilled.

"Now, then, let's go in."

"Wow~ Going in like this reminds me of when I first entered a dungeon, and my heart is pounding."

Lee Shin threw himself into the dungeon without hesitation with a wide smile.

Seuk-

Crowley turned his head and looked at the six who were looking at him with dazed faces.

"Are there no other guys besides you?"

"Yes? Ah, yes. We are all."

Eun Yeonwoo, who had been dazed for a moment, quickly came to his senses at Crowley's question and answered.

At that, Crowley nodded his head slightly at them.

"I see. Then you guys follow me in too."

Leaving those words, Crowley also entered the dungeon without hesitation, just as Lee Shin had.

"…We have to go in, right?"

"…I guess so."

Although they were flustered by the sudden change in the situation, they did not think of running away from here.

Perhaps because they had seen such an amazing thing before it even started, they were curious about what would be inside the dungeon.

On top of that, since they had all been continuously swayed by Lee Shin, they were sufficiently trained to face a situation like this suddenly.

And they had a rational belief that the two of them would not have done such a troublesome thing to harm them.

'And if I run away, he'll definitely find me later and make me regret today's events for a long time.'

Each of them, recalling Lee Shin and Crowley, made up their minds and then moved their steps into the dungeon one by one.

"It's just like a real dungeon."

"I know, right. To be honest, I was a little worried about what would be inside, but I'm glad."

As they entered the dungeon, the guild master's office, which had been faintly smelling of chemicals a moment ago, disappeared, and a wide meadow full of blue grass spread out before them.

While they were feeling the nostalgia of when they had first entered a dungeon in the past.

"This is amazing!"

Lee Shin, who had already finished exploring the dungeon, asked Crowley, poking the ground with his foot.

"Can you make one of these in my house too? It seems convenient because I don't have to move around here and there."

Even at the sight of Lee Shin asking for a priceless facility for free, Crowley just let it go and shook his head.

"It's not as convenient a thing as you think. It may seem like there's no problem, but it's still a very incomplete thing, so it needs my periodic maintenance."

"Really? Then I guess it can't be helped."

At Crowley's words, Lee Shin cleanly gave up his greed and shrugged his shoulders.

Crowley looked at Lee Shin with eyes that said he was a very consistent guy.

"Excuse me…"

Taking advantage of the break in the two's conversation, Eun Yeonwoo approached Crowley and asked.

"Is it alright for a moment?"

As Eun Yeonwoo called him, Crowley looked at him with eyes that said, 'why are you calling me'.

In the atmosphere that created a subtle tension, Lee Shin looked at Eun Yeonwoo with an amused expression, and the rest of the people looked at the two, swallowing their saliva.

"Why did you call us?"

At Eun Yeonwoo's words, Crowley's expression changed subtly.

"You guys didn't hear anything from that guy?"

"…I heard a nuance of a statement that he would make us stronger."

"You came all the way here just by hearing that?"

"That's right."

"Hah…"

At Eun Yeonwoo's words, Crowley looked at the five, including him, with eyes that looked at an adult who had been lured by candy and had followed a stranger.

Because that gaze of Crowley's was strangely embarrassing, the five of them quietly turned their gazes elsewhere and avoided his gaze.

"So I told you. Would it be okay not to explain in advance."

"I thought you had already explained the basics, so I just had to explain how the experiment would proceed, so I said that. But I never thought you hadn't explained anything…"

Crowley looked at them for a moment and then said bluntly.

"You all seem to trust that guy quite a bit."

"That's…"

At Crowley's words, Eun Yeonwoo was about to open his mouth and say no, but he quietly closed his mouth again.

He just couldn't say it.

'No, I was just fascinated by this suit at first, and then I suddenly met the president, and because Hyung-nim showed a strange appearance, my mind was blank and I came all the way here.'

Because even in Eun Yeonwoo's opinion, what he was trying to say now was too foolish.

"…I guess so."

In the end, Eun Yeonwoo, who had concluded that it was better to let Crowley misunderstand, quietly nodded his head.

"It should be fine. I had to explain it properly to that Rion guy anyway."

Saying that, Crowley took out a fist-sized glass bead from his bosom and threw it on the floor.

Woong-

"Oh."

"What's this again?"

At that, a transparent curtain in the shape of a hemisphere spread out from the glass bead, creating a wide dome that included all of them.

"It would be annoying if monsters intervened, so I took measures to block their approach altogether."

"Hmm, it seems to be like a mosquito net."

Lee Shin, who had approached at some point, said that and looked at the transparent curtain that covered the sky.

"…So why did you call us here?"

"Hmm, I'll explain it as simply as possible."

Crowley thought for a moment about where to start the story and then opened his mouth.

"Today, I heard that this guy was coming, so I was just in the guild master's office, but I basically spend most of my day in the laboratory making artifacts. But since I'm alone, there are bound to be parts where the efficiency drops."

Crowley said, pointing at Lee Shin with his finger.

"But this guy told me that you guys could help me. I've put that proposal on hold. I'm going to decide what to do after seeing your skills."

"So you called us here to see if our skills are useful or not."

"…Why are you taking my explanation?"

Crowley, whose explanation had been taken, glanced at Lee Shin and then looked at Eun Yeonwoo.

"Among us, only Hyunyoung has a deep knowledge of alchemy."

"The part I'm asking for help with is not the creation of the artifact. It's the experiment part of the artifact. Ah, Hyunyoung will participate in the creation part as my assistant along with Rion."

Eun Yeonwoo finally realized what Crowley wanted from them and nodded his head.

In other words, Crowley was saying that they should not participate in the process of making a car engine, but in the process of experimenting by riding a car equipped with a fully made car engine.

"But…”

(End of Chapter)