The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 24

After briefly introducing themselves at the cafe, Lee Shin and Eun Yeon-woo went outside.

Naturally, the place they went to after leaving the cafe was a dungeon.

Although the dungeon was nearby, they were able to arrive quickly thanks to Eun Yeon-woo bringing a car with the guild's support.

"Hoo."

After arriving in front of the dungeon, Eun Yeon-woo began to put on armor to prepare for any possible monster attacks.

After putting on the armor he received from the guild, he fastened a belt with tools for dismantling the monsters Lee Shin killed around his waist.

After that, he finally slung a huge bag, large enough for three adult men to fit inside, over his back.

"Hoo~ Done."

After finishing all his preparations, Eun Yeon-woo turned his head and met the eyes of Lee Shin, who was staring at him blankly without any preparation.

Eun Yeon-woo slyly rolled his eyes and checked Lee Shin's attire.

A red cotton t-shirt, black jeans, and a black jacket over it.

Unlike him, Lee Shin was not wearing any armor and had not taken out any weapons.

Feeling a little anxious, Eun Yeon-woo spoke in a careful tone so as not to offend him.

"...You have to enter the dungeon now, are you sure you're okay without taking out any weapons or armor?"

"Ah, I can just go in. It's the first time I've seen a supporter prepare, so I was just staring blankly out of curiosity. If you're done preparing, let's go in."

Lee Shin finished his words and, as if to say 'come if you want, don't if you don't', swiftly entered the dungeon.

He could have felt ignored and sulked, but seeing Lee Shin's behavior, instead of saying anything, Eun Yeon-woo thought to himself, 'Of course,' and calmly followed him into the dungeon.

Thanks to leaving the orphanage and experiencing numerous part-time jobs at an early age, he knew very well that there was no free money in the world.

'I already expected this much when I heard the offer. No, if it's just this much, it's actually much more bearable than I thought.'

Eun Yeon-woo smiled inwardly and opened his eyes inside the dungeon.

What spread before him was a wide meadow full of green grass.

And seeing Lee Shin walking toward somewhere a little distance away, he quickly got behind him.

Whether he knew he was behind him or not, Lee Shin entered deeper into the dungeon without a word, and his supporter, Eun Yeon-woo, also entered the depths of the dungeon with a tense face.

Eun Yeon-woo, trying not to get on his bad side, even held his breath and quietly followed behind, observing him.

But no matter how he looked, he didn't seem like someone who had come to hunt monsters in a dungeon, but like someone who had come for a walk in a park.

Especially looking at his skin, which had a strangely pale feel as if it hadn't seen much sunlight, his sense of trust gradually disappeared.

'From the outside, I look more like a player than he does.'

Even while having such stray thoughts, his eyes did not leave Lee Shin.

'What on earth is he thinking?'

He had never even heard of a player entering a dungeon alone without any preparation.

It was common sense to make satisfactory preparations and then form a party with trustworthy players to challenge a dungeon.

'...Did I perhaps take on a bigger bomb than I expected?'

Thinking so, a few difficult-to-understand puzzle pieces began to fit together naturally.

'I had a bad feeling from the moment I heard he was a freelancer, not a guild member. Is this person perhaps treated as a huge troublemaker in the guild?'

And surprisingly, his guess was more or less correct in the grand scheme of things.

In fact, Cheon Yuhwa thought of him in a similar, no, even worse way.

"Hmm. If we've come this far, will it be okay? It seems just about right."

As Eun Yeon-woo was making various assumptions inwardly, Lee Shin suddenly stopped, looked around, and muttered.

At that, Eun Yeon-woo, who had been lost in thought, also looked around, wondering if there was something nearby.

"Ah, right."

"Yes?"

Then, their gazes met, and Lee Shin looked at him for a moment with the gaze of someone looking at a piece of gum they had briefly forgotten about, then turned his head with an annoyed look and said.

"Ah, it's nothing. It'll all be over in a moment, so if you just lie down in a corner, there won't be any problem."

"Yes? What do you mean..."

Eun Yeon-woo was flustered by his sudden words and asked back, but Lee Shin, as if he had done his part, ignored his words and brought the whistle in his hand to his mouth.

"Wait...!"

At that, Eun Yeon-woo, with a horrified face, hurriedly tried to snatch the whistle from his hand, but he simply dodged his hand by moving his waist slightly and blew into the whistle.

Ppiiiiiiiik--!

The whistle sound, just as he wanted, rang out powerfully, spreading in all directions and filling the dungeon.

"Stop for a moment...!"

Eun Yeon-woo rushed with all his might to snatch the whistle from his hand, but he completely escaped his charge by moving his feet a few times.

And as their game of tag continued, he kept blowing the whistle.

"Aww! This crazy bastard!"

In the end, Eun Yeon-woo gave up on snatching the whistle from him and turned his back to try to get out of this place now.

Since no monsters were visible yet, he calculated that he could escape if he was lucky.

Grab-

"Where do you think you're going?"

But Lee Shin did not allow even that.

Just before he turned his back to run away, he grabbed the bag he was wearing to prevent him from escaping.

When he tried to abandon the bag and run away, this time he grabbed his collar.

"Aww! Let go of me! If you want to die, die alone! Where do you think you're trying to commit a double suicide!!!"

Eun Yeon-woo even used his aura to try to swat away his hand, but he alternately let go and grabbed with both hands, dodging all of his attacks while not letting him go.

"Aww! Just let go, you bastard! I don't want to die! If you want to die, die alone!"

"Ahahaha! Hey, you're really funny right now. Ahahaha!"

Eun Yeon-woo, seeing the red foxes getting closer and closer, struggled to escape until the end with a "what kind of crazy bastard is this" face, and Lee Shin just laughed, finding his completely changed attitude funny.

And that worked as bad luck for Eun Yeon-woo.

Thanks to that, the thought of not letting him go was firmly established in his mind.

"Ah, why are you suddenly laughing and shit!!! Hurry up and let go of this...!"

"Since you're saying it like that, I'll let you go. It's too late to run away now anyway. Oh, and since you were the one who started speaking informally first, I'll just drop it too."

"......What?"

At his words, Eun Yeon-woo was released and carefully looked around.

Grrrr-

Then, he could see five red foxes that had arrived at some point, hearing their commotion.

They were staring at the two from the trees, surrounding them to prevent their escape and monitoring them.

"Aww, really!!!"

Realizing that he couldn't escape, Eun Yeon-woo quickly took out the dagger he had for self-defense and gripped it in his hand.

Finding his appearance unexpected, Lee Shin, with sparkling eyes, smiled broadly and spoke to him.

"What? Are you giving up on running away? Or are you going to fight valiantly and die?"

"How can I run away in this situation! Stop talking nonsense and get into a stance if you want to live!"

"Hmm~"

At his words, Lee Shin looked at him as if surprised.

At first, he thought he was just a common idiot, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

When he knew danger was coming, he struggled with all his might to run away, and as soon as he realized it was futile, he immediately prepared to fight.

'Hmm... what should I call this? Should I say his judgment of the situation is fast, or should I say he's rational? No, it seems subtly different from those two.'

As a test, he decided to poke him once.

"Then are you prepared to obediently offer your body for the sake of the foxes' second generation while fighting?"

"What kind of bullshit is that! I'll fight moderately, use you as bait, and run away in that opening!"

Hearing those words, he came to a conclusion for now.

'It seems a pretty interesting person has come as a supporter. He's also fun to tease.'

Lee Shin chuckled, thinking he had done well to sign a contract with the [Wonderland] guild.

Thump-

He lightly pulled Eun Yeon-woo's shoulder and lightly hit the back of his knee, and he suddenly collapsed to the ground.

"What! What are you doing right now...!"

"It's okay, this brother told you at the beginning."

Lee Shin ignored his protest and, taking out a large scythe from his inventory, swung it lightly and said.

Grin-

"Just lie down in a corner, and I'll take care of it."

Eun Yeon-woo still thought his words were absurd, but unlike before, he couldn't say anything.

It wasn't that his body was frozen in fear of the current situation.

Even in this situation, he was calmly composing himself and assessing the situation.

Although he himself didn't know it, the reason he didn't retort was because he had read a belief close to certainty in his words.

Hearing his words, he had unconsciously thought that it would be safe to just stay still in this spot.

Kyarreureung-!!!

At that moment, one of the foxes leaped from a tree and rushed toward him, and he swung the scythe in his hand with a light smile.

The scythe drew a line in the air, scattering a golden radiance.

Degururu-

And with that one attack, the red fox's head separated from its body and rolled on the ground.

"......"

And Eun Yeon-woo stared blankly at the whole scene, and even the red foxes stared blankly, as if they couldn't grasp the situation.

In the midst of it, Lee Shin smiled broadly and opened his mouth.

"Now, I want to get to the boss room quickly, you see? So hurry up and come down."

Thump-

"Then I'll cut you without pain."