The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 196

-It's been a while.

-Yes, it's been a while.

Simultaneously with Lee Shin touching his phone, the voices of two people echoed from the phone.

"Who is it? One of them seems to be that guy, Lee Shin."

"I don't know, it's a voice I've never heard before."

It was easy to tell that one of the two people talking was Lee Shin.

Because as far as they knew, there was only one person who used a tone that grated on one's nerves just by speaking.

However, since they didn't know the identity of the other person talking with Lee Shin, a small confusion arose among them.

'What is this?'

However, one of them, Cheon Yuhwa, immediately recognized the identity of the person talking with Lee Shin as soon as she heard it.

And for good reason, Cheon Yuhwa had been talking with the owner of the voice coming from the recording several times a day for a very long time.

"Huh? Isn't this the voice of Yuhwa-noona's butler?"

Baekhyun, who had talked with Kim Jaehyun through a request before, belatedly realized the identity of the person coming from the recording and said so.

"Alice's butler… isn't that the vice-guild master of [Wonderland]?"

"Why is he suddenly coming out?"

At Baekhyun's words, they whispered in a small voice, but they focused on the sound coming from the recording out of curiosity.

And as if responding to their curiosity, the voices of the two continued to flow out.

-The guild master has asked me to bring you. Please follow me.

-Really?

The small sound of the two's footsteps was heard as their trivial conversation continued.

'When was this? When on earth was this recorded?'

While listening to that sound, Cheon Yuhwa desperately racked her brain and at the same time looked for a timing to break the recorder.

If she had her way, she would have rushed to Lee Shin right now and broken that phone, but with Crowley right next to her, she was a little hesitant to start a fight with Lee Shin inside the [Meister] building.

-Wow, you're here?

But Cheon Yuhwa's composure also disappeared like it was melting in water the moment a new voice came out from the recording.

"Heek!"

The moment she heard that voice, Cheon Yuhwa could instantly realize when the conversation coming from the phone had taken place.

At the same time, the other people in the room looked at Cheon Yuhwa with puzzled and intrigued eyes.

And for good reason, the owner of the voice that had just been heard from the recording was none other than Cheon Yuhwa herself.

-…What is this situation?

"Ah, no!"

The moment she heard that, Cheon Yuhwa shouted as if having a seizure and moved her aura faster than ever before.

The light bullets, filled with Cheon Yuhwa's urgent heart, were quickly fired to break the phone in Lee Shin's hand.

But Lee Shin, as if he had known she would come out like that, deflected the bullets with his qi-clad hand and then declared to her with a wide smile.

"Too late."

Simultaneously, a loud voice, so loud that everyone in the room could hear it, burst out from the phone.

-Hey! You're going on a date with me from now on!!!

That voice was, without a doubt, Cheon Yuhwa's voice.

And judging by the circumstances, there was only one person that remark could have been directed at.

Not long after Cheon Yuhwa's shout echoed in the room, a storm came.

"Yuhwa-noona asked Lee Shin-hyung on a date?!"

"Wow, then have those two been acting all this time while fighting like that?!"

"It was a lover's quarrel! It was a lover's quarrel! It was unnie and oppa's lover's quarrel!!!"

The three who had been eating popcorn together shouted in an excited voice.

"…"

"…"

Yeonhwa and Crowley, who always showed a calm appearance, stared at Cheon Yuhwa with surprised eyes.

"I knew something smelled a little fishy."

"There was something suspicious about it."

Hercules and Diz began to search their pasts for suspicious circumstances.

"Alice finally…!"

"When did they become like that…"

Oz had the expression of an older sister excited that her younger sister had gotten a boyfriend, and Merlin had the expression of an older brother shocked that his cherished younger sister had gotten a boyfriend, and they looked at Cheon Yuhwa.

"Heuk… N, no! I had my reasons for saying that back then!"

And Cheon Yuhwa, who had received everyone's attention, shouted to prove her innocence, her face flushed red with shame and embarrassment.

"Noona, it's okay not to be so embarrassed."

"That's right, what's the big deal about getting a boyfriend."

"Right, it's weirder that you didn't have a single lover until you became an adult."

And of course, no one believed Cheon Yuhwa's words.

"Yiik! It's not that… Aww, really!"

Cheon Yuhwa, while making excuses, hurriedly tried to find Lee Shin, the culprit who had created this situation, to vent her anger.

Hwoooong-

But there was already no one where Lee Shin had been standing, and the firmly closed door was open at some point.

"Huh? There's something on that desk."

At Baekhyun's words, Cheon Yuhwa's eyes naturally turned to the table.

There.

-ㅋ

A piece of paper, which anyone could see was written by Lee Shin, was placed there.

"It seems to be a piece of paper from the notebook I gave him."

At Yeonhwa's calm confirmation, Cheon Yuhwa's mind recalled the image of Lee Shin mocking her with a sly face.

"I'll kill you if I catch you, you son of a bitch!!!"

A roar filled with Cheon Yuhwa's angry aura burst out from her mouth.

◎ ◎ ◎

The time when the moon rises and the people who have finished their day's work are sleeping.

-I'll kill you if I catch you, you son of a bitch!!!

A roar filled with Cheon Yuhwa's deep anger echoed through the city.

"What, what's that! Is it a monster attack?!"

"No, what's this in the middle of the night?!"

"Waaaah! Mommaaa!!!"

At the sudden loud noise, not only the people who were resting, but also the people who were sleeping woke up and looked in the direction the sound came from with wide, rabbit-like eyes.

"To think it would drag on for 10 seconds, it's much more effective than I thought."

But Lee Shin, the culprit who had created that situation, just muttered a short impression mixed with laughter and focused on quickly leaving the place.

-To think a trick like this would work.

'Surprisingly, this kind of thing works well.'

There were roughly three reasons why they had tried to catch Lee Shin.

To get information about the incident he was planning, to get revenge for what he had done to them so far, and to satisfy their curiosity about how much he knew.

-By using that recording, you changed the curiosity that was directed at you to the regressor woman, and you made their desire for revenge falter for a moment, creating an opening.

'That's right. And Cheon Yuhwa, who had been constantly wary of me, wary of what I would do, also left on her own the moment the recording was played.'

Lee Shin chuckled, thinking that the situation had worked out well.

'I was keeping it, thinking I might use it as a weakness someday, but I never thought I'd use it like this.'

-I think I know the reason why you usually walk around with a recorder on.

Kwang-!

While Lee Shin was moving with his presence hidden, the sound of something breaking echoed from the direction of the [Meister] guild.

Lee Shin, who had a rough idea, looked back, and he could see the figure of Cheon Yuhwa, who had spread her huge wings of light and was floating in the sky.

'Wow, she seems really angry. I can feel the killing intent to kill me from her eyes, it's tingling.'

-Certainly, judging by the fact that she came out while breaking the building, it seems her instincts are ahead of her reason.

The moment Lee Shin thought it would be better to get a little more distance and was about to move again.

Woong-

He felt a wave of mana spreading out from Oz, who had flown up into the sky following Cheon Yuhwa on [Clear].

The moment he saw that, Lee Shin thought.

Although he didn't know what kind of magic that was.

"Alice, that way."

That his location had been revealed because of that magic.

Eudeuk-

Simultaneously with Oz pointing in the direction Lee Shin was, Cheon Yuhwa gritted her teeth and roughly moved her wings, flying in the direction Oz had pointed.

Pajijijik-

Lee Shin, watching Cheon Yuhwa flying towards him as if she were falling, unfolded the Lightning Ray Immortal Art, which he hadn't been using because it was obvious his location would be revealed if he used it.

-It seems the provocation worked well.

'It seems it worked too well, beyond my imagination.'

Aura is easily influenced by an individual's mind and emotions.

Cheon Yuhwa, as if to prove that, was flying with the form of an angry Yaksha created behind her wings of light using her aura.

'Well, the chaser has to be this active for the escape to be fun.'

In terms of simple speed, Cheon Yuhwa's wings were overwhelmingly superior.

But that was only when the environment was the sky, where she could use her power freely.

Grin-

In a city full of people like this, Lee Shin's Lightning Tree Immortal Art could move much faster.

Lee Shin, who knew that well, appropriately mixed the Lightning Ray Immortal Art and the Flame Leaf Return Art, changing directions here and there and using the city's terrain and crowds to avoid Cheon Yuhwa's hand.

Cheon Yuhwa's response to Lee Shin's action was simple.

"Die!!!"

To also slow down Lee Shin's speed.

Numerous light bullets created from Cheon Yuhwa's wings were fired to pierce Lee Shin's legs.

"Ouch! Is this the price for accepting your date proposal back then?"

"Shut up! It wasn't a date! And back then, my head was complicated because of what Kim Jaehyun said, so I misspoke! But you cut out that part and only played the beginning?!"

"It's not like I made up something that didn't happen."

"I'm really going to kill you today!"

Cheon Yuhwa shouted that, and at the same time, a much larger number of light bullets were created behind her than before.

At that, Lee Shin, thinking it was dangerous, was about to turn into an alley and run away.

-Curse of the Rock

-Shackles of the Leaves

Suddenly, as if a huge rock were hanging on them, his two legs became heavy, and at the same time, grass that had sprouted from the ground wrapped around his ankles like a rope, preventing him from running away.

Hwoooong-

At the same time, a heavy wind that had accumulated countless times pressed down on Lee Shin from above, starting to interfere with his movements.

Lee Shin clicked his tongue.

'Is it the witch and the mage who couldn't overcome their curiosity, and the narrow-minded painter?'

-To think that only this many are chasing, the situation isn't as bad as I thought.

'Of course, Hercules isn't a body that can be active in a city chase like this in the first place.'

-What about the alchemist?

'Well? I think he's probably holding his head, looking at the broken guild by now.'

The problem was that even just these guys were annoying enough.

Lee Shin, who let out a light sigh at the trick that clearly showed their intention to catch him, unfolded the Flame Leaf Return Art to its extreme.

Hwareureuk-

The grass that had been slowly climbing up Lee Shin's feet began to burn in the flames that bloomed from the tips of his toes.

At that, Lee Shin put strength into his feet, tore off the grass, and then cut through the wind that was pressing down on him by roughly swinging Yagong.

But the ones who had been holding onto Lee Shin's feet, as if it were enough, did not use any more tricks.

The two were in a high-speed chase.

That brief moment was enough to turn the tables, and in the current situation, it was almost certain that Lee Shin would be caught by Cheon Yuhwa.

Seuk-

Of course, that was only under the assumption that the only means he could use was the Flame Leaf Return Art.

[Boots of Crimson Clouds]

-Unique

-Leather boots made from the legs of a demonic beast that walks on clouds and roams the sky. It is said that the clouds the demonic beast steps on are dyed red.

"I'm going to do a proper field test."

The Flame Leaf Return Art is a footwork that takes a strange, swaying movement by dragging the tips of the feet on the ground, allowing one to dodge or deflect attacks at any time.

And that footwork was now about to be unfolded not on the ground, but in the air.

Seuk-

Lee Shin's legs, which had been touching the ground, separated from the ground.

From the tips of his toes, which were slowly rising into the sky, clouds flowed out, and a pure white trajectory was drawn.

At that, Lee Shin, as if a bird were tightly gripping its desired prey with its talons, stepped on the clouds and rose into the air.

The leaves of flame rose from the ground to the sky, freely weaving through the shower of light bullets.

The eyes of everyone who saw that widened.

Because Lee Shin was not just jumping up to dodge the attacks, but was unfolding his footwork in the air.

-[Legs that Walk the Sky] Optional application, you can walk the sky by creating clouds and stepping on them.

Watching that, Cheon Yuhwa, who had regained a little of her reason, frowned.

'It seems he's gotten a little faster. And because he's surrounded by smoke, it's hard to attack accurately.'

Cheon Yuhwa looked at the red clouds that were gradually enveloping Lee Shin and glared at him.

-[Declaring the Territory] Optional application, you can raise your physical abilities by wrapping your body in red clouds.

Woong-

At that, Cheon Yuhwa created dozens of rings of light, as if to say, 'if you can dodge this, try dodging this too'.

Cheon Yuhwa's favorite binding technique, the dozens of rings of light that would restrain Lee Shin like handcuffs the moment they touched him, flew towards the red smoke where he was.

Hwoooong-

But there was no Lee Shin in the red clouds anymore.

Because he had already escaped from there before the rings of light could cut through the smoke.

-[Leaving the Red Clouds] Optional application, you can accelerate your whole body to jump from one cloud to another, and when you are wrapped in clouds, you can leave your real body in the clouds and then accelerate.

By leaving his real body in the clouds to deceive their presence and high-speed movement with his presence erased.

Lee Shin, who had used that appropriately, was able to deceive everyone here, including Cheon Yuhwa, for a moment.

"Hey! Aren't you going to come out right now?! Do you think you can run away for a thousand years?!"

At that, Cheon Yuhwa quickly followed behind Lee Shin again and shouted.

It was true what Cheon Yuhwa said.

Because if it went into a long, drawn-out battle like this, their victory was certain.

In the first place, the reason they had obediently given Lee Shin the items was because they had the confidence that they could catch him no matter what he did.

Woong-

'He's here.'

But of course, Lee Shin had not just been running away aimlessly.

He was just waiting.

For the moment when the signal came from his right hand.

Pajijijik-!!!

Lee Shin, as if he didn't care about internal injuries, poured all the internal energy in his dantian into unfolding the Lightning Tree Immortal Art.

'What, why is he suddenly doing that?'

Cheon Yuhwa, who was puzzled by Lee Shin's sudden appearance, was surprised and her eyes widened when she saw someone standing where Lee Shin was going.

'Does he have a companion?'

In the future or in the present, the Lee Shin she knew had always moved alone.

Because she had taken that for granted, she had considered the possibility of Lee Shin causing an incident, but she had not even considered the situation of him cooperating with someone else.

Although Cheon Yuhwa had decided not to over-rely on her information about the future, her annoyance at herself for showing an opening in this way surged, but now was not the time for that.

"Stop him!"

Cheon Yuhwa shouted that and flew towards that direction, pouring out light bullets, but it was too late.

Shureureuk-

Simultaneously with the two holding hands, a huge magic circle shone on the floor, and then a pitch-black shadow soared up and swallowed the two.

Lee Shin, through the gap in the shadow that was enveloping him, sent a victorious smile to Cheon Yuhwa and sent a mental message.

-See you later in China.

(End of Chapter)