The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 25

"Yeon-woo, it's not like I've lived a particularly eventful and fun life, nor do I have anyone I can call a friend."

"In a different sense, you've lived a truly tremendous life."

"Still, I've read a lot of comics and novels, so I know the gist of how to close the distance between people."

"The sample of information is not just contaminated, it's rotten."

Eun Yeon-woo felt a surge of annoyance as he recalled what Lee Shin had done to him a moment ago, but he tried his best not to show it and maintain a business-like attitude.

He had already mastered the art of the poker face through his experience with numerous part-time jobs.

But even he couldn't stop himself from speaking to Lee Shin in a thorny tone.

That alone was enough to show that he was not in a good mood, but Lee Shin just ignored it and continued speaking.

"The simplest way to close the distance between people is to curse at them."

"Haa~"

Eun Yeon-woo couldn't hold it in and let out a sigh at his words.

But his words did not stop.

"I said cursing to make it easy to understand, but it doesn't really matter if it's something else. The point is that you have to close the distance once, whether in a positive or negative way."

Lee Shin stuck the scythe he had swung a moment ago into the ground and continued speaking, leaning on it.

And Eun Yeon-woo, letting his words go in one ear and out the other, used a dismantling tool to dismantle the red foxes one by one and put them in his bag.

"Well, of course, it's not like you get close right away just by cursing once. It's only possible if there are continuous meetings even after closing the distance in some way."

"...If you have something to say, could you please say it a little more clearly? I'm having a hard time understanding, perhaps because I'm not very smart."

At his words, Lee Shin smiled broadly and said.

"Just, I look forward to working with you in the future."

"...Haa."

Hearing his words, Eun Yeon-woo felt like he had gotten himself into something seriously wrong, but he neatly packed the five dismantled red foxes into his bag and shouldered it.

Then, he pressed his throbbing temples and calmly organized his thoughts.

'Honestly, if I had my way, I'd just ignore him and maintain a business-like relationship where we just do our own thing... but seeing that, it's probably impossible.'

Lee Shin's sparkling eyes were indirectly telling him that he had no intention of letting him go.

'But to just curse him out and quit my job, the pay is too good, and more importantly, that person named Lee Shin... is stronger than anyone I've ever heard of.'

Having been pushed around by various things since he was young, he had naturally grown into a realist.

And that tendency of his helped him to calmly face the current situation.

'It's only been about 30 minutes since we entered the dungeon, but we already have this much of a harvest. But the person who caught the monsters, far from being injured, is just smiling without even breathing hard...'

Eun Yeon-woo forcibly convinced himself, hearing the sound of money falling in heaps.

"Right, he blew the whistle in the first place because he was confident he could handle them while protecting me. And I just subdued him when he wasn't listening and was making a fuss. Right, good."

Having completed his self-brainwashing, he looked at Lee Shin with a much more relaxed expression.

"Yes, then I'll call you brother from now on."

"Good, then I'll just call you Yeon-woo."

"...Please do."

He couldn't shake the feeling that things were progressing too quickly, but he decided to just nod his head.

It was a welcome thing for him to form a connection with someone as strong as Lee Shin.

And so that day, the realist and the hedonist formed a flimsy bond of brotherhood that seemed like it could be broken with just a flick of a pinky finger.

***

"You seem skilled at butchering monsters, did you work part-time at a butcher shop?"

"No, I've done a lot of part-time jobs, but I've never worked in that field."

"Really? Then are you a genius?"

His words were half-joking, but the other half was sincere.

He didn't have any memories of seeing someone else butcher, but he could tell that the speed at which he dismantled the monsters was extraordinary.

Eun Yeon-woo drew up his aura, strengthened the muscles in his entire body, and moved his hands, proceeding with the dismantling quickly.

To exaggerate a little, it felt as if when he brought his dagger to the monster's carcass, the hide, flesh, and bones would separate on their own.

"Hmm... I didn't have any experience in reality, but I did in Pantheon."

He said, wiping the blood from his tools.

"I heard it was lucrative, so I tried it as a part-time job. It certainly paid well, probably because it's a skilled trade."

He put away his tools and stood up.

"Thinking about it now, I think I was able to get into the guild thanks to this experience. Well, my awakened ability is also one that increases speed, so I can do this kind of simple work quickly."

Heave-ho-

He packed the dismantled parts into his bag and then swapped it with the empty bag from his inventory.

The carcasses of the monsters he had hunted had already filled one bag.

He slung the new bag over his back and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He was used to physical labor from doing various part-time jobs since he was young, and his body and stamina were better than ordinary people's, but it was still hard to keep moving while using his aura.

But even that pain felt lovely the moment he felt the heavy weight of the fully packed bag.

"Well then, since the bag is full, let's get going."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

At his words, Lee Shin looked at him strangely and said, "Go where? We've only dealt with the small fry, we haven't even seen a proper one yet."

He was momentarily unable to understand his words and made a blank expression.

But after understanding his words, he looked at him with a 'surely not' expression.

But he ignored him and just answered.

"The boss room is still left. I can't just give the most fun part to someone else, so I have to eat it up quickly."

"...Do I have to go in there too, by any chance?"

At his words, Lee Shin thought for a moment and then said.

"I don't know? I can let you in if you want. How about it? Do you want to go in?"

"No, I'll be waiting in front of the boss room, so let's go together when you're done."

At his words, he giggled and shook his head.

"Never mind. I tried it last time, and when you clear the boss room, a portal of light connected to the dungeon entrance appears inside. If you go in there, you can choose whether to go to the front of the boss room or outside the dungeon."

"So you're saying you'll go outside the dungeon with that, and I should move with you until just before the boss room, and then go outside the dungeon the moment you enter the boss room?"

"Exactly."

At his nod, his expression became strange.

"...What about my safety?"

He thought for a moment, then smiled and said.

"You'll have to run away on your own and get outside."

With those words, he walked toward the depths of the dungeon, and he sighed and then followed him.

'This is why they give double the basic salary.'

Not long after, they found the door to the boss room in the deeper part of the dungeon.

"See you outside the dungeon later then."

With those words, he went inside, and he stared blankly at the spot for a moment, then sat down, drank some water, rested to recover his stamina, and then went back the way he came.

***

"Hmm~ Are all boss rooms basically the same shape? Still, unlike last time, the light is bright, so it's a bit more comfortable."

Lee Shin took out a new weapon from his inventory and looked at the giant red fox in front of him.

A fat sword with a deformed appearance, wide but short, was gripped in his hand.

"Haa, I wonder when they'll all be gone."

The weapons he had used in the tutorial were, in the beginning, of a reasonably normal shape.

But as he went on, there were only things that were ambiguous to even call weapons.

So until now, he had been taking out the weapons from his inventory, using them, and then just leaving them there when he was done.

Even so, he had only used about 700 of them so far.

"When on earth will I use all of these and be able to use my inventory? I want to use my inventory too."

He muttered, throwing the weapon in his hand at the fox, which was the size of a tiger, sitting and looking at him.

Kaang-!

The fox easily swatted away the weapon he threw with its front paw.

Kyurururu-

The fox, perhaps displeased that it had been attacked, wrinkled its nose and let out a threatening sound.

At that, he smiled and took out a new weapon.

"Now, I'll give you my full service, so come at me. I'll turn you into a cactus, just like the ones I've seen so far."

As if it had understood his words, the fox stood up and rushed toward him.

He looked at the fox rushing toward him and slowly raised his internal energy.

At the same time, his body shimmered like a heat haze, and leaves of flame began to bloom from his body.

Even with his change, the fox just swung its front paw with an angry face.

A beast full of only the thought of attacking, without any plan.

To him, it was the best punching bag.

"Flame Leaf Returning Step."

Hwoooong-!

The fox's front paw clawed past the spot where he had been, but he was no longer there.

He moved freely here and there, distorting his form even more and confusing the fox's eyes.

"What I put into the Flame Leaf Returning Step was not strength or speed, but distortion."

He spoke as if humming, drunk with excitement, and plunged the weapon in his hand into the fox's body.

The fox screamed and attacked even faster.

It kept sniffing, as if trying to locate him by smell, but it was impossible to pinpoint his location with just that.

As time passed, the fox's nose began to lose its function, intoxicated by the smell of its own blood.

Thwack-

And in the smell of acrid blood, he continued to move, plunging weapons into the fox's body.

Every time his hand moved, a weapon from his inventory was gripped in his hand, and the smell of blood grew stronger.

At that, he smiled a smile similar yet different from the one he had shown to Eun Yeon-woo and muttered as if humming.

"This was the kind of technique I had in mind from the beginning."

Scrape-

He continued to move, confusing the fox's senses.

Scrape-

The fox's attacks all missed, and his attacks continued to wound its body.

A technique that deceives the opponent's senses, makes them move as he wishes, creates an opening, and attacks through that opening. That was the essence of the Flame Leaf Returning Step he had created.

Kiiing-

When his arm had been swung about 50 times, the fox, for the first time, gave up on attacking him and showed him its back.

He erased the [Flames] and took a step toward the fox, but the fox stepped back to avoid him.

There was clear fear in its eyes.

"Yes, that's right."

Seeing the fox's appearance, he nodded.

"This is where the problem arises. Usually, when you get hit that much, you get wary and try to run away."

Thwack-

"And unfortunately, the Flame Leaf Returning Step is a footwork that focuses only on evasion and confusing the senses, so it doesn't have the speed to catch a running opponent. Well, since this place is closed, it will be caught eventually, but that's another story."

At that moment, small [Lightnings] extended from his body into the air like branches.

"So what I made is this."

Pajik!

"Lightning Wood Thread Step."

With the sound of crackling lightning, his figure momentarily disappeared.

The fox was flustered by the sudden situation, but its mind soon became blurry, and it collapsed on the spot.

He finished his words while letting go of the weapon handle that had pierced the fox's brow.

"If the Flame Leaf Returning Step is a technique to dodge the opponent's attacks, the Lightning Wood Thread Step is a technique to attack the opponent."

He finished his words while letting go of the knife embedded in the fox's heart.

"Haa~ This is how you should fight, just as you please! I was so frustrated there because I was conscious of others."

He stretched in satisfaction and muttered.

"By the way, should I just throw away the rest of the weapons and take out the one at the very back? Now that I'm using footwork, I want to try using martial arts too."

He thought for a moment, then gave up on the idea.

He was reluctant to just throw away what had come into his hands.

He felt like he would only be satisfied if he used it once, in any way, and then threw it away.

Satisfied with his fight with the boss, he sat next to the fox and operated his cultivation method.

Woooong-

After a little time passed, the boss room turned the boss monster into a single item, and he took it in his hand and then went outside the dungeon through the portal.

(End of Chapter)