The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 246

"Hoo..."

A man with light blue short hair that came down to his nape, tied up in a high ponytail with a red string, let out a deep sigh and leaned back against the backrest.

"Ah, my eyeballs feel like they're going to pop out. It's a small group of only a hundred people, so there are no people and no resources gathered, but why is there so much work, it's so annoying..."

He muttered that and pressed his eyeballs, which were soaked in fatigue and felt like they would pop out at any moment, with his fingers.

It was ambiguous to call it a rest, but taking a break like that made him feel a little more alive.

Kwaaang-!

"Midra!"

"Midra oppa!"

However, as if even that small rest was unacceptable, two people burst into his room with a sudden loud noise.

'...Is this world really cursed to have its insides twist whenever it sees me resting?'

Midra let out a small sigh while having such absurd thoughts.

His head had already turned towards the direction where the sound came from, but the fingers massaging his eyes were still in place, not having moved.

But it didn't really matter.

He had already roughly guessed who had entered the room through the shouts from a moment ago.

"Tafra noona, I don't know what happened, but please calm down first, and if it's not urgent, please ask me later. And Bodra, I told you not to open the door so strongly because it would break..."

Midra, saying the lines that had now become a habit, slowly removed his fingers from his eyes and opened his closed eyes.

Then, Midra's eyes caught sight of the two, who had long, light blue hair like his own, tied in side tails to the right and left respectively.

"...but opening the door with gusto for about a day should be fine."

However, the first thing that caught Midra's eyes was not their hair or hairstyle, but the two's pupils, which contained a blazing fire.

The moment he saw the flames burning in their eyes, Midra changed the direction of the words he was trying to say as naturally as possible and lowered his eyes.

He didn't know what this situation was all of a sudden, but he could tell very well that this was the time to hold his breath.

"No, the timing is a bit bad right now, so I understand that you and noona might have misunderstood. But I wasn't slacking off, I was working hard and just taking a short break. So, I have a small wish that you wouldn't rush me with such scary eyes..."

Kwaang-!

"That's not why we came!"

"Let's settle that later."

Bodra, with the side tail on the left, slammed her fist on the desk and shouted, and Tafra, with the side tail on the right, spoke in a calm but urgent tone.

"The people from the vigilante group who went out still haven't returned."

At Tafra's words, Midra's upper body leaned forward slightly.

"You wouldn't be making such a fuss just because they're simply late... did something happen?"

"That's right."

Tafra nodded at Midra's words and took something out of her pocket, placing it on the table.

What Tafra had placed were ten wooden dolls in the shape of a person.

They were all in the shape of a person, but every single one of them had a crack somewhere.

Bodra grabbed one of them and held it out to Midra, saying.

"Here, look. All the dolls noona made are cracked. I don't know the detailed situation, but it means a battle broke out and everyone was defeated."

"And judging by the extent of the cracks, it seems everyone sustained considerable injuries, but not a single person died."

At Bodra and Tafra's explanation, Midra leaned his upper body completely forward and muttered.

"All ten of them sustained injuries close to serious, but they didn't die. On top of that, even though the time they should have returned has passed, they haven't sent us any signal..."

Haa-

Midra, who had organized the situation by retracing their words, said with a sigh-filled voice.

"It would be too optimistic to think that they just fought with some magical beasts near the village, right?"

"If that were the case, one or two of them would have been eaten and died."

At Midra's words, Bodra said with eyes that told him to wake up.

"You already know."

Following Bodra, Tafra also opened her mouth in a calm voice, as if telling him to accept reality.

"This is clearly a situation where someone has subdued the vigilante group with some purpose. For now, judging by the fact that no additional injuries are appearing on the dolls, it seems they're not being tortured or anything, but..."

"Still, we don't know when their minds might change. We have to go and help them quickly before someone dies or gets seriously injured!"

At the two's urging, Midra stood up and spoke in a low voice.

"...Haa, this village really doesn't have a single quiet day."

The tone of the words flowing from his mouth was the same as when he was leaning back in his chair a moment ago.

However, unlike then, Midra's listless voice now contained the weight that only the head of an organization possessed.

"What happened to the vigilante members who were in the village?"

"I already had them all prepared before coming here. They can be dispatched immediately if you just say the word!"

Bodra said that and swung the bow held in her hand around.

At that, Midra gestured with his hand as if to calm her down and said.

"Alright, then let's leave only the minimum number of people to protect the village and all go out. Bodra, I'll leave the personnel selection to you."

"Got it! I'll get the kids ready!"

Bodra said that and ran out of the room like the wind.

With the sound of the door closing, Midra's head turned towards Tafra.

"Tafra noona, this time, only Bodra and I will go. Noona, please protect the village in case of an emergency."

Grin-

"Yeah, got it. Don't worry, leave the village to me."

"Yeah, thanks."

After thanking Tafra, Midra strapped the longsword that was beside him to his waist and quickly exited the room.

As he passed through the hallway, Midra muttered to himself.

"I really hope nothing bad happened..."

◎ ◎ ◎

-Now, from now on, I will teach you about pressure points.

Irehgue, who was balancing on Lee Shin's head using his two feet and tail, looked down at Mio and Rwen and said in a solemn voice.

-Mio, you especially watch carefully. For you, who uses your hands as a weapon, pressure points will be a particularly useful weapon.

"Yeah, Master. Got it."

-...Yes.

At Mio's words, Irehgue looked at her for a moment and then just nodded.

Normally, Mio at least tried to use honorifics, but when she focused on something like this, she immediately reverted to her original way of speaking.

The problem was that it wasn't because Mio had any ill will, but simply a side effect that appeared because she had raised her concentration.

To correct this, he would have to break Mio's concentration every time she focused and give her a warning.

However, if Irehgue kept breaking Mio's concentration like that, it was obvious that the efficiency of the lesson would drop significantly.

That was why Irehgue had also compromised to some extent on Mio's informal speech.

-You there.

When Irehgue gave a signal to Lee Shin in his mind, Lee Shin raised his index finger as if in response.

It was Lee Shin who had improved and created the martial arts forms, cultivation method, and formation for the two, and it was also Lee Shin who had taught them, and it was also Lee Shin who had shown them how to use them through actual action.

While Lee Shin was teaching and sparring with the two like that, Irehgue soothed their bodies and minds, and at the same time, helped them operate the cultivation method so they wouldn't suffer from qi deviation.

Thanks to that, Irehgue was able to gain the mental support of the two with relative ease.

So, 'Next, to raise my authority and dignity as a master, I will conduct the lesson in my dragon form!' was Irehgue's thought.

However, there were various difficulties in teaching pressure points in a dragon's body.

That was why, like the relationship between a professor and a teaching assistant, Irehgue was in charge of the explanation, and Lee Shin was in charge of moving his body.

Swoosh-

Mio and Rwen's eyes went up slightly to see Lee Shin's fingertip.

In contrast, Lee Shin's eyes went down slightly to look at the target.

Mmph-! Mmph-mmph-! Mmph-mmph-mmph--!

On the ground, three of the gang who had been defeated by Mio and Rwen a little while ago were tied to sturdy tree trunks with branches in their mouths, restrained, and placed in front of Lee Shin, Mio, and Rwen respectively.

Those three were the teaching materials to be used in this pressure point lesson.

Lee Shin's eyes met the eyes of the squirming and struggling bandit.

At that moment, Lee Shin's eyes, filled with mischief, curved upwards.

"First, before we begin, I'll tell you that pressure points are a surprisingly delicate technique."

At Lee Shin's sudden words, the heads of the bound Irehgue and Mio turned towards him.

And the eyes of the three chosen as teaching materials and the seven who were buried in the ground with only their heads sticking out also moved towards Lee Shin.

"If you use it well, it can be utilized in countless ways, but conversely, it also means that you can break the target of the pressure points in countless ways."

Gulp-

The three teaching materials who heard Lee Shin's words swallowed their saliva without realizing it.

"If you do it wrong, the flow of ki in the target's body can get twisted, and in the worst case, the twisted flow of ki might never return to normal, causing a permanent disability in the body."

Shrug-

Lee Shin shrugged his shoulders as if to lighten the somewhat heavy atmosphere and said.

"Well, don't worry though. There are plenty of spare teaching materials to replace these guys."

At Lee Shin's words, the eyes of the bandits, who had been quiet while listening to the story, trembled uncontrollably.

The guys buried in the ground, who had already had their pressure points hit, only rolled their eyes.

However, the guys who were the teaching materials started to struggle more than before, making louder 'mmph-mmph' sounds.

A look of clear terror.

However, since he didn't care about the teaching materials' situation, Lee Shin ignored all the sounds.

No, on the contrary, he smiled.

Because what Lee Shin had just said was not to explain pressure points to Mio and Rwen, but to scare them.

-If they scream, it will be noisy, so let's first hit the mute point. After that, we will try to stop the movement of the limbs.

"It doesn't matter if they break, so do it comfortably. If they break, it just means their fate is bad."

"...Are you really a devil? Do you have no blood or tears?"

"...I felt it a little during sparring, but Lee Shin-ssi is really mean."

Mio and Rwen said that, but they still followed Lee Shin and stretched out their fingers.

Because they both knew well that unlike martial arts, the opportunity to practice pressure points on a real target like this was rare.

-Now, then, I will teach you. First, the basic mute point is the center of the neck. Starting from there, the side of the chest and neck also...

Tap-

Tap-tap-

In tune with Irehgue's guidance, Lee Shin's hand moved briskly.

And Mio and Rwen also listened to Irehgue's words and, referring to Lee Shin's hand, began to move their hands in earnest.

"If you hit the mute point wrong, the meridian can get twisted, and the voice can change strangely."

"Ah, remember this part well. If you do it wrong, you can make them unable to use their arm forever."

"If you poke this part with a little more internal energy, you can make them completely lose their sight."

"If you poke this part well, you can make them unable to function as a man, so remember it well."

Irehgue's explanation continued, and Lee Shin moved his hand according to Irehgue's instructions, supplementing his explanation by saying what side effects the target could suffer if the pressure point he hit failed.

At that, Irehgue smiled with amusement, and the two, who had roughly guessed Lee Shin's thoughts, looked at him with cold, dead eyes.

However, with Irehgue's continued lesson, the two soon forgot about Lee Shin's existence and focused more and more, moving their hands diligently.

Mmph-! Mmmph-!

Thanks to that, the three who were being used as teaching materials for pressure points below felt like they were going to die.

They could vividly feel their bodies twisting here and there every time their bodies were poked by a finger.

Every time their bodies moved against their will like that, they felt like they were aging a year due to the extreme fear.

-Hmm, for now, this is the end of the basic pressure point techniques.

"Phew..."

"Haaa..."

Fortunately for the three, since the two had followed Irehgue's lesson well, his teaching time was not that long.

At that, the three who had been used as teaching materials below let out a sigh of relief.

"Now, then, I'll teach you something a little more difficult."

However, Lee Shin had no intention of letting go of the toy he had found after so long.

"Difficult, you say?"

"What is it?"

Grin-

"Torture methods. The most representative technique is called Bone and Tendon Separation."

Lee Shin opened his mouth in a playful voice, as if teasing.

"If you master this, you can make a person feel the pain of their bones and flesh separating just by poking their body. It's a useful technique for your revenge, so remember it well."

You can conduct torture with a single finger.

Normally, they would have ignored it, saying 'don't be ridiculous', but they, who had been controlled like dolls until now, couldn't just brush off Lee Shin's words as usual.

"Ah. And there's also a pressure point technique that can completely trample on a person's dignity. It's a meridian that makes you urinate or defecate when pressed. I'll teach you that too."

"Ugh..."

"Eww..."

At Lee Shin's words, the two looked down at the three below with expressions of seeing something dirty and contemptible, as if they had imagined something.

'No...!'

'Please...!'

'Anything but that...!'

The three, who had received such a look from children who hadn't even lived half their lives, looked at Lee Shin with more desperate eyes than ever before and pleaded in their minds.

"Now, then, shall we begin."

But he was not an opponent who would be moved by such eyes.

Thus, Lee Shin slowly moved his fingers with a beaming smile, and they despaired, watching the fingers that were gradually approaching them.

"Hey! You there, stop right now!"

Swoooosh-

At that moment, a sharp woman's voice and the sound of something cutting through the wind flew towards them from somewhere.

At that, Lee Shin quickly whipped his hand, which was going down, upwards like a whip.

"Huh?! What!"

"What's with that arrow in your hand?!"

When the hand that had been swung in the air stopped, three arrows were stuck between its fingers.

"Well, I wonder?"

Lee Shin said, spinning the three arrows held in his hand like a pen.

"It seems someone wanted to give us a surprise gift."

Swoosh-

Having said that, Lee Shin threw one of the arrows in his hand towards the direction the arrows had come from, as if throwing a dart.

At that, Mio and Rwen's heads naturally followed the arrow.

Thunk-!

The arrow that had left Lee Shin's hand stuck in a tree.

And on that tree, a woman with light blue hair tied to the left was holding a bow and glaring at Lee Shin with fierce eyes.

"Well, the quality of the gift and the skill of giving it are shabby, though."

Lee Shin said that and broke the two arrows remaining in his hand.

Snap-

"Hoh, is that so?"

Bodra, who saw that, muttered in a low, thoroughly annoyed voice.

(End of Chapter)