The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 188

Small candles flickered fiercely, illuminating the man in the center of the room, and the man's shadow, elongated by the candlelight, danced to the movement of the candles.

In that ominous and eerie atmosphere, the man, clad in a dark red robe, stood quietly with his eyes closed and his hands clasped in prayer.

His still figure, without any movement, was reminiscent of a warrior in meditation, but because of his clasped hands, he looked more like a believer praying to a god.

But if one were to see even one of the many paintings hanging in the room, no one would be able to attach the sacred word 'prayer to a god' to him.

Because all the paintings in the room depicted terrible disasters such as floods, plagues, and earthquakes, and they contained the vivid expressions of people suffering from those disasters.

Drip-

Drip, drip-

The man, who had been standing still and praying for a long time, quietly shed tears and muttered in a low voice.

"Please forgive our sins. Please take us out of this hell and care for us with your mercy. Please… please…"

Kiiik-

While the man was quietly shedding tears and continuing his time of prayer to his god, the firmly closed door of the room opened, and a man in black clothes entered.

The man in black immediately bowed his head deeply and spoke politely to the praying man.

"Leader, I apologize for interrupting your prayer."

"…What is it?"

At the leader's tearful voice, the man's head lowered even further.

"The time you had instructed before entering the prayer room has come, so I have interrupted your prayer. Please forgive my rudeness."

"Ah, it's alright."

The leader said that, wiped the tears from his eyes with one hand, and then smiled at the man.

"On the contrary, I should be thanking you. Because you have prevented me from making the mistake of neglecting my duties by being too engrossed in my time of prayer."

"Th, that's too much of a compliment."

At the leader's words, the man in black bowed his head as if he were overwhelmed.

"Could you wait outside for a little longer? I will finish my prayer and then come out."

"I understand."

As the man in black left, the leader walked around the room with careful steps, looking at each painting on the wall and taking them all in.

The leader, who had been moving like that, finally stopped in front of one painting.

A beautiful painting of a mysterious woman sitting in the shadows under a full moon, her features covered by a black cloth.

The leader, who had been looking at it for a moment, soon lowered his head and said in a reverent voice.

"O Wolyeong, please have pity on the sentient beings who are suffering in this hell today. Please grant them the joy of quickly escaping this hell and going to your world…"

It was a kind of greeting he always made before leaving the room.

Now, with these words, he would leave the room and begin his work of saving the sentient beings suffering in hell.

Just as he had always done.

"You're wrong."

But a low word from somewhere completely shattered the today he had been thinking of.

Hwook-

Even though no wind had blown, the candles that had been lighting the room were extinguished all at once.

At the sudden strange event, before the leader could even take out his weapon, the extinguished candles were lit again, and the room became bright again.

Hwoooong-

And at the same time as the candles were lit, a woman with huge black wings appeared in front of the leader, flapping them.

'What…!'

At most, it had only taken about a second for the candles to go out and be lit again.

In other words, the woman in front of him now had broken through all the security nets of the cult in that short time and had entered the leader's room, which was being guarded most heavily.

"Keut…!"

Although his head was confused by the unbelievable fact, the leader first judged that she was an assassin who was after him and decided to attack.

Because although everything was uncertain, it was clear that she was an intruder.

Shureureuk-

But the shadow that had been writhing under the leader was faster, grabbing his body before he could attack her.

The shadow, like a snake, climbed up his legs, then restrained his whole body like a straitjacket, and forced him to his knees on the ground.

'How can I be defeated like this without being able to do anything?!'

The leader's eyes widened at the unbelievable situation.

He had been a high-ranker in the past, so famous that everyone would know his name, and now he was a top-level LV. 3 skilled person.

That's why he was astonished at the fact that there was a person who could neutralize him so easily in a one-on-one fight, other than the Ten Kings.

'No, is she even a person?'

The leader, who had barely managed to lift his head and confirm the woman's appearance, thought that without realizing it.

The first impression he had of her was that she was black.

Not only her long hair that came down to her waist, but also the bandage that covered her eyes, the clothes that fluttered like a fairy's clothes, and even the large wings on her back, there was nothing that was not black.

"You are wrong."

Why was it?

The moment she uttered a single word, the leader felt his heart stir.

It was not a trivial emotion like love or lust.

The emotion he was feeling now was what he had felt a little while ago while praying to his god.

Reverence and worship.

'Why… why am I feeling this emotion?'

Whether she knew of the leader's agitation or not, her mouth opened again.

"The job of you, the leader, is not to pray to Wolyeong."

The woman, who had been lightly flapping her wings in the air, landed on the ground and looked at the leader.

Why was it?

Even though her eyes were covered with a black bandage, the leader felt as if his eyes were meeting hers, and even more, as if everything about him was being seen through.

"You are a piece of the shadow that Wolyeong sent to this hell called the present world. The job you have to do is not to pray to Wolyeong, but to establish Wolyeong's will with your own hands and save the sentient beings of hell."

"I… am already doing so."

The leader answered in honorifics without realizing it.

The shadow that had first bound him had long since disappeared, but he could not think of getting up and was still kneeling.

"I know that you are establishing Wolyeong's will. But you must also be feeling a lack in the current situation."

"That's…"

"There is no need to be ashamed. Because Wolyeong, understanding your situation, has sent me, one of the apostles."

At her words, the leader could not say anything and lowered his head.

Because if he didn't, it felt like the overwhelming emotions would burst out of his mouth.

While he was quietly silent, she recited the words as if singing.

"This world is hell, and the people who live in the present world are sinners, and you are the comfortable shadow of the moon that Wolyeong has sent down to save those sinners."

Saying that, she spread her hands forward.

"To help you in your great work, Wolyeong bestows a part of the divine knowledge."

At that, a shadow gathered on her outstretched hands and formed a square shape.

Flap-

While the leader was staring at it blankly, she moved her wings as if her role was over and rose into the air.

"I hope to see you again in the shadow of the moon someday."

"A, Apostle!"

As she said words that seemed to signal her departure, the leader shouted at the empty air in a hurry, but he could do nothing and missed her.

"Leader, are you alright!"

Simultaneously with the leader shouting, the man in black who had entered the room a little while ago entered the room.

The man's shout was full of concern for the leader.

"How dare you…"

But the emotion the leader felt at his appearance was great anger.

"L, Leader! Why all of a sudden!"

"Because a worthless thing like you, who doesn't know your place, came in, the apostle of Wolyeong has disappeared. How on earth will you atone for this sin, you worm-like thing."

"I, I'm sorry! Please forgive my mistake!"

The man said that, thinking of the leader's usual appearance, but the answer that came back was cold.

"You're wrong."

Woong-

From the leader's hand that was holding his neck, darkness spread out and wrapped around the man's whole body like a sack.

And when the darkness was lifted, in his hand was a man who had lost all his vitality and had become a mummy, unlike a moment ago.

"What you should have done was not to ask for forgiveness, but to beg for atonement."

The leader said that, threw the man's corpse in his hand to the ground, and then stomped on it with his feet in anger.

"This is…"

Then, the leader noticed that a black book with a blue crystal ball embedded in it was placed where she had disappeared.

The moment he saw that, the leader realized that that book was the divine knowledge the apostle had spoken of a little while ago, and he grabbed the book with trembling hands and looked at its contents.

"O Wolyeong… I can only be impressed by your lofty will."

The leader, who had muttered in a moved voice, put the book in his bosom, offered a quiet prayer, and then went out of the room.

Wiiing-

"Hmm, unlike what I thought, it seems he's not just a fool with greed and avarice. Well, it's a little unexpected, but in this case, this seems better, so it doesn't matter."

And Lee Shin, who had confirmed the leader's appearance through the surveillance camera, smiled widely.

"Oppa, did it go well?"

While Lee Shin was looking at the laptop with a satisfied expression, Raven, who had taken off her wig and changed her clothes, entered the room.

"Yes, thanks to you acting better than I thought, it went well."

"I worked hard because you prepared it for me."

Raven answered that and looked at the laptop.

"Why? Is there something you're curious about?"

"No, I'm just amazed that there are people who really believe in a religion like this."

"Well, it's not unreasonable for you to think so. The world you came from has only one religion, and there was clear evidence that a being called a god existed."

At Lee Shin's words, Raven recalled the place she had just entered and the religion related to it in her mind.

Hell Cult.

A huge pseudo-religion that has been rapidly expanding its power in China recently.

They claim that this world is hell and that they are sinners who have committed sins, and that the numerous disasters and sufferings that exist in the world exist to punish the sinners and wash away their sins.

Up to this point, it was just a gathering of common doomsday believers, but they added the elements of dungeons and monsters to this.

-The dungeon is God's judgment to purify the world, and the monsters are the jailers who purify them in hell… I wonder what expression Gaia would make if she heard this.

"I know, right."

At Irehgue's words, Raven nodded her head without realizing it, and then tilted her head slightly.

"Why do they believe in a self-destructive nonsense like this?"

"I know, right? I don't know either. And these guys are very popular. They even have a homepage site and a mascot character."

Well, thanks to that, I was able to write the lines you were going to say well.

Lee Shin said that and smiled widely.

"Well, the important thing is that they have value to be used, so let's just move on."

-Certainly, it seems it will be difficult to find such convenient guys. Then are you going to leave the creation of the LV. 5 dungeon to these guys?

"That's right. So the money will be enough, and I also gave them a crystal ball and a book with the method of creating a dungeon, so they'll do well on their own."

To create an LV. 5 dungeon, magic power equivalent to 100 LV. 4 magic stones was needed.

Of course, Lee Shin's house also had that many magic stones, but in a situation like the present, where there were more than enough things to do, Lee Shin didn't want to waste his time on a boring chore.

Grin—

"Now, then, shall we move on our own."

-Heum.

Irehgue wagged his tail from side to side as if he were happy to finally be moving, and Raven took out a red crystal ball as if to say, 'just say the word'.

Lee Shin patted Raven's head a few times as if to say she had done well, and then said.

"Then let's see where the remaining two are and what they're doing.”

(End of Chapter)