The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 277

Lee Shin cut the thread of reason that held him and, of his own will, dove into the blood-scented sea.

"Is this what it feels like?"

Ever since he was young, he had only suppressed this killing intent to keep his mind from being consumed by it.

He had experienced this sensation once when his parents passed away, but he was too out of his mind then to have the leisure to look around.

"This is the first time I've come in like this because I wanted to."

As monsters appeared in the world, he was able to move beyond just suppressing it and learn to control it to some extent.

But that was all. He had only learned how to open the lid and adjust the faucet; he had no memory of facing head-on what came out of the faucet and what it tasted like.

"So that's why I didn't know. There were guys like this inside."

Lee Shin muttered as he looked at the countless attacks pouring down on him.

Not long after Lee Shin entered this sea, the ones who had been floundering in this sea originally came to find him.

The ones who came to find Lee Shin attacked him as if to kill him without any conversation.

"I don't know what these guys are trying to do."

The appearance of the attacking guys was all the same.

It looked as if they had clumped blood together to imperfectly mimic the form of a person.

Weak guys from whom clumps of blood, which looked like pieces of their bodies, would fall off with just a little movement.

Like their weak appearance, their skills were also weak.

Just at the level of a gangster who goes around bragging about being able to use some strength.

If Lee Shin swung his fist lightly once, a dozen of them would disappear in an instant.

Thanks to that, at first, they were guys who didn't even register, but as time passed and Lee Shin went deeper, it changed.

From a level where they didn't know anything and just used brute force, to guys who at least showed signs of having learned something called martial arts.

The deeper Lee Shin went into the sea, the better the overall power and appearance of the guys who appeared became.

But there was something that hadn't changed from the beginning until now.

The moment they faced Lee Shin, they would attack, spewing killing intent as if he were their mortal enemy.

Perhaps because their forms had become sturdier, the amount and quality of the killing intent they spewed had also increased.

"Hmm..."

At first, Lee Shin didn't know why these guys were rushing at him.

But as he continued to watch, he was able to figure out why guys like this kept popping out.

"There was no reason at all."

Just as a deer grazes on grass and a lion chews on meat, it was the instinct of the Blood People to rush at others while spewing killing intent.

And the Blood People were not specifically aiming for and attacking Lee Shin.

It was just that Lee Shin stood out particularly in this red world, so more of them flocked to him; the Blood People even fought among themselves.

Lee Shin continued to think as he cut down the Blood People who were swinging their weapons at him.

Lee Shin's initial thought that they seemed to be born from clumped blood was correct.

Because they were guys who were born in this sea of blood as it clumped together stickily with killing intent.

In other words, to put it simply, the identity of the Blood People was the memory of someone's killing intent, manifested in this space.

Because killing intent was the greatest axis and essence that constituted them, the guys repeated the battle until their existence disappeared.

Lee Shin, seeing them, was able to know naturally.

"So the culprits who have been running rampant in my head until now were these guys."

The killing intent that naturally came to mind the moment he faced someone, and the sense of how to kill the opponent.

The original owners of that sense were these guys.

And that was precisely why Lee Shin was swinging his spear at them now.

Because Lee Shin's original purpose was to devour the killing methods they possessed and create his own to surpass his current realm.

“Haa, but it's not as simple as I thought."

Lee Shin had come down, cutting down all the Blood People he had faced so far.

But he still couldn't see a way to break the wall in front of him.

"Do I have to go deeper?"

Lee Shin muttered so and looked down.

The space, which was originally a bright red color, was gradually turning blacker the further down he went.

The number of Blood People popping out had also increased, and their skills had risen to the level of peak martial artists.

'If I keep fighting and going down like this, I'll end up fighting guys who are at the transcendent level. If I fight and exchange things with them, will I see some hints?'

Lee Shin had come in with that expectation.

But as he continued to slaughter the Blood People and descend, a small doubt was planted in his mind.

An instinctive sense that just this much, just continuing to fight, would not be enough to break through the huge wall he had faced, continued to tickle his mind.

'I don't know what kind of dish I should make with these things.'

Killing the Blood People who continuously rush at him?

He was doing it continuously now, but it didn't even register.

Leaving this place and going deeper down?

He didn't know what would be there, but he wasn't very hopeful.

Fighting and winning against stronger guys?

That didn't seem to be it either.

In the first place, if that had been possible, he wouldn't have come down here.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?"

It was at that moment.

One of the guys belonging to the horde of Blood People that surrounded Lee Shin stabbed his body with the spear he was holding.

A red spear, the same color as their bodies, protruded from Lee Shin's stomach.

Seeing that, Lee Shin at first tried to just ignore it.

Although there was such a vivid image, this world was, after all, a mental world created by the combination of his own mind and the killing intent that was always in his head.

It was not a real space.

Therefore, even if he was attacked and injured, as long as he kept his mind straight, he could move as if nothing had happened.

And Lee Shin had enough mental strength to restore his body to its original state even if it were torn to shreds and turned into a single drop of blood.

So why had he bothered to dodge their attacks and deal with them until now?

Because devouring all of them was Lee Shin's goal.

But as his goal wavered, an opening was revealed, and he had inadvertently allowed one of them to attack.

'I was careless.'

Just as Lee Shin thought so and was about to pull out the blood spear that had pierced his stomach.

Lee Shin's expression distorted slightly.

Just as a drop of blood falling on a pure white piece of hanji paper seeps in and dyes its color red, the red spear that had pierced Lee Shin was now shaking his mind.

'What is this? Killing intent?'

No, if it were simple killing intent, there would be no reason for Lee Shin's mind to waver like this.

Lee Shin was confused by the sensation seeping into him, and taking that opportunity.

The other guys mercilessly stabbed Lee Shin with their respective weapons.

Lee Shin accepted it calmly.

As the samples increased, Lee Shin was gradually able to notice the identity of the things that were entering him along with them, behind the pain and killing intent.

Hate. Resentment. Jealousy. Grudge. Contempt.

What had made Lee Shin waver were the memories of the emotions that could be called the driving force behind the creation of killing intent.

Unlike before, where only killing intent followed, the emotions that had created that killing intent, their driving force, were stickily dyeing Lee Shin.

'What is this?'

And Lee Shin quietly accepted and observed them.

If he had to say, he felt more curious than disgusted.

Because until now, he had only received their killing intent, but he had no memory of receiving the emotions that had created that killing intent.

A mysterious feeling, as if he had seen the hidden back side of the moon, bloomed within him.

And that feeling naturally led Lee Shin to reflect on himself.

'How was I? Have I ever had such emotions?'

Lee Shin quickly shook his head.

No matter how much he thought, there was nothing like that.

He had been like this since he was born, and from birth, he had only possessed a killing intent with no destination.

And thinking so, a question arose for the first time.

'Have I ever really thought of killing someone else myself?'

And at the same time as Lee Shin had that question.

Flash-

A pure white light appeared in Lee Shin's vision, which had been filled only with red and black.

Seeing it, Lee Shin, without realizing it, reached out his hand and grabbed it, and at the same time, felt his submerged consciousness rise to the surface.

Thus, Lee Shin, who had escaped from the sea of blood, quietly opened his eyes.

"Do you know this is the second time you've held me like this?"

And he opened his eyes wide in surprise.

Because the moment he opened his eyes, he saw Cheon Yuhwa's face.

"...The first time was when I was fighting Ziz, I think?"

But Lee Shin quickly calmed down and said so.

"But can't you stop holding me like this? As a man, being held princess-style by a woman is kind of embarrassing."

"Unexpected. You knew about that too?"

Cheon Yuhwa said so and let out a small laugh, then tightened her grip on Lee Shin as if to say no.

"But why are you here instead of on Earth? Am I dreaming right now?"

"I'll explain it to you later until you're sick of it, so for now, just know that I followed you."

Cheon Yuhwa, having said that, flapped her huge wings of light.

At that, her body accelerated rapidly and flew up into the sky.

Lee Shin, held in Cheon Yuhwa's arms, quietly looked at her.

On Cheon Yuhwa's cheek, there was a cut that looked like it had been made by something sharp, a wound that looked strangely familiar to him.

Just then, Cheon Yuhwa spoke.

"You should be glad you have a good weapon. If your weapon hadn't sent a signal in Morse code, you would have been killed by me, not those two down there."

"Did I attack you too?"

"You attacked me as if to kill me."

Cheon Yuhwa said so and glanced at Lee Shin.

"It seems there are no side effects from forcibly waking you up. By the way, how is it?"

Cheon Yuhwa looked straight at Lee Shin and asked.

"Did you get any hints to climb higher?"

"...No, I haven't gotten anything that could be called a hint yet."

Lee Shin said so and swung the [Yagong] he was holding.

At that, the spear ki that wrapped around the spear cut down the sword aura that was flying toward the two of them.

"You..."

Cheon Yuhwa's eyes widened in surprise as she saw Lee Shin cut down the sword aura.

"But I've roughly figured out which direction to go."

Lee Shin, having said that, gave a small nod to Cheon Yuhwa and pointed down.

"Tsk, just eat one of Crowley's potions and go."

"Oh, thanks. I just finished eating, so I was chewing on some wild animal meat."

Lee Shin received a potion from Cheon Yuhwa and immediately swallowed it.

While Lee Shin was recovering his body like that, Cheon Yuhwa flapped her wings again and changed her flight direction from up to down.

At that, the two who had been chasing after Cheon Yuhwa and Lee Shin in their own ways also came down again.

"Hey, did you wait?"

The moment they landed on the ground again, Lee Shin broke free from Cheon Yuhwa's arms and gestured to the two.

"Is the walk over? It was pretty short."

"It was, but I didn't get nothing out of it."

Lee Shin said so and lightly swung the [Yagong] in the empty air.

Lee Shin's spear mark was engraved on the huge mountain in front of him.

Seeing that, Lee Shin said with a wide grin.

"Let's fight again.”

(End of Chapter)