The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 3

"Hoo."

Lee Shin let out a small exclamation and looked ahead.

A green meadow, as if from a painting, stretched out before him.

After looking at the meadow for a moment, Lee Shin took a step back.

At that, the meadow disappeared, and a temple made of white stone appeared.

"This is amazing. Is something like this possible?"

Lee Shin asked as he passed through the mass of light again, returning to the meadow.

-It is possible.

The system replied, dropping a sword in front of Lee Shin.

"This is a little less amazing."

Lee Shin said, picking up the sword stuck in the ground.

The heavy weight of iron and the sharp aura of the blade were transmitted through his hand.

'It's heavy, but not so much that I can't swing it. By the way, this is the first time I've held a real sword.'

-Then we will begin the tutorial.

As Lee Shin was tapping the blade with his finger, marveling at it, the system announced the start of the tutorial.

Rustle-

At that moment, Lee Shin heard something stepping on the grass and turned his head in that direction.

However, the moment he identified the creature that made the sound, Lee Shin let out a deflated voice without realizing it.

"A rabbit?"

-The correct name is Horned Rabbit.

At the system's explanation, Lee Shin realized that the rabbit before him was the trial of the tutorial.

'The least I was expecting was a wolf...'

Looking at the Horned Rabbit with eyes full of disappointment, Lee Shin asked the system.

"Can't you change it to something else?"

-It is possible if you defeat the Horned Rabbit.

"Sigh, then I'd better catch it quickly and move on."

Lee Shin let out a small sigh and, as usual, walked lazily toward the Horned Rabbit.

Kkyu?

However, the moment the Horned Rabbit, which had been peacefully grazing, raised its head and their eyes met, Lee Shin stopped in his tracks without realizing it.

"That..."

He had found a sense of unease in the eyes of the Horned Rabbit looking at him.

"Those aren't the eyes of an herbivore."

Within the eyes of the Horned Rabbit looking at Lee Shin was the wildness of a predator.

-Yes, the Horned Rabbit is fundamentally an omnivore and also eats meat.

Paaat-!

At the same time the system's words registered in Lee Shin's ears, the Horned Rabbit that had been grazing moved.

It had recognized Lee Shin, who had invaded its territory, as an enemy.

The Horned Rabbit moved in a zigzag pattern, as if to confuse Lee Shin, closing the distance between them.

Its position kept changing with light and nimble movements, but the Horned Rabbit's horn remained steadily aimed at Lee Shin's heart.

Lee Shin made no move, watching the approaching Horned Rabbit with playful eyes, as if looking at a toy.

-Was he caught off guard by the Horned Rabbit's appearance?

And the system, observing the whole situation, began its analysis of Lee Shin.

The player didn't know it, but the system was analyzing the player's behavior.

Sending the analyzed data to the main system, the system had so far classified players into two main types.

Those who lose due to carelessness, and those who win with outstanding talent.

-Is he the former?

The system predicted as much, watching Lee Shin stand still in his spot.

It wasn't an incomprehensible situation.

Considering the image of a rabbit in their minds, it was natural to be careless.

However, the Horned Rabbit was a completely different creature from a normal rabbit.

The combination of its explosive hind leg strength and sharp horn could pierce a person's heart in an instant.

In fact, the players who had their hearts pierced due to carelessness didn't even realize what had happened to them until the very last moment.

Just as the system predicted Lee Shin's defeat.

Pah-!

The Horned Rabbit, which had been causing confusion with its swift movements, suddenly shot up into the air.

The place its gleaming horn aimed for was the heart, the weak point of all living creatures.

Seeing Lee Shin make no move, the Horned Rabbit envisioned its victory.

Puk-!

"Huh? I can feel all the tactile sensations, but I don't feel any pain? There's no blood either?"

However, the future that actually unfolded was completely different from what the Horned Rabbit and the system had expected.

The moment the Horned Rabbit put strength into its legs, Lee Shin slyly took a step back.

At the same time, Lee Shin extended his hand into the trajectory where the Horned Rabbit would fly.

It was not a reflexive movement, but a thoroughly calculated one.

Lee Shin's eyes never lost sight of the Horned Rabbit for a single moment, and the corners of his mouth continued to rise even as his palm was pierced by the Horned Rabbit's horn.

The system was flustered by this unexpected development.

It wasn't because he had calmly dealt with the Horned Rabbit.

There were many players with that level of talent.

What surprised the system was Lee Shin's action.

To use his own arm as bait without any hesitation, not even knowing that there was no pain, was abnormal even in the system's view.

"Hmm, it would be more fitting to call this a dagger rather than a horn."

Unaware of the system's thoughts, Lee Shin grabbed the creature's head with the hand that had been pierced by the Horned Rabbit.

In that state, he examined the Horned Rabbit's appearance as if it were fascinating.

Kkyu-! Kkyu-! Kkyuuuu--!!!

The Horned Rabbit, dangling from Lee Shin's hand, struggled violently to escape, but it was impossible.

Aside from its sharp horn and explosive leg muscles, the Horned Rabbit was no different from an ordinary rabbit.

Squeeze-

Lee Shin easily suppressed the Horned Rabbit's struggles by adding more force to the hand holding its head, then brought it toward the hand holding the sword.

The Horned Rabbit screamed and struggled as it saw the blade slowly approaching, but nothing changed.

"Still, it was more fun than I expected."

The moment the Horned Rabbit's neck and the sword touched, Lee Shin pressed them together and scraped them strongly in both directions, as if sawing a tree.

Then, the Horned Rabbit turned into particles of light, just like what came out of Lee Shin's wound, and scattered into the air.

Amidst the beautiful scene of light particles scattering in all directions, Lee Shin smiled brightly.

The innocent smile of a child who had gotten a toy and the twisted smile of a monster revealing its hidden fangs.

Those two smiles appeared on Lee Shin's face at the same time.

***

The vast majority of players are not suited for combat.

That was the common opinion of the systems.

This was not about physical factors, but mental ones.

The Horned Rabbit was a monster that could be defeated easily if dealt with without panic.

However, most players were defeated by the Horned Rabbit due to various mental shackles such as fear, hesitation, and carelessness.

But this was already expected.

The reason the system had prepared the tutorial was to help players cast off the shackles that bound their minds.

That was why Lee Shin's existence was so alien.

The ease he had from beginning to end.

The mindset of using his own body as bait without any hesitation.

The decisiveness to sever the Horned Rabbit's neck in one go.

The shackles that existed in all players, regardless of talent, were absent only in Lee Shin.

At that, the main system designated Lee Shin as an Irregular and enhanced his system authority.

It was a directive to help Lee Shin climb to greater heights.

And that decision by the main system.

"Something a little stronger."

It produced a result that no one had expected.

***

"Hmm, should I try facing a larger number? That seems like it would be fun."

After defeating the Horned Rabbit, the system retrieved the internal energy from Lee Shin and then sequentially infused mana and aura into his body.

Thus, Lee Shin once again fought against the Horned Rabbit.

The system thought that after a few fights, Lee Shin would get a feel for each power and stop fighting.

-.......

But Lee Shin didn't stop and continued to fight.

This was despite him handling the power skillfully enough to enhance his strength with the internal energy in his dantian.

"This time, with internal energy."

-......Understood.

At Lee Shin's words, the system summoned ten Horned Rabbits this time.

The Horned Rabbit was a monster that hunted in packs, and its difficulty increased as its numbers grew.

In the first place, the system hadn't summoned the Horned Rabbits for Lee Shin to catch.

The reason it summoned ten was to kill Lee Shin once and calm him down.

"Hoo~ It's definitely more fun when the numbers increase."

-.......

However, Lee Shin, with a smiling face, won against the ten Horned Rabbits, once again surpassing the system's expectations.

"Next, with mana, please. Oh, and the same number of Horned Rabbits, ten."

-......Yes.

The system, whose purpose was to help the player grow, wanted Lee Shin to hurry up and go to the main game, but in that situation, there was only one thing the system could say.

After that, Lee Shin continued to enjoy the fight for a while longer, then fell into thought for a moment.

Seeing this, the system waited to transport Lee Shin's character.

However, the words that came out of Lee Shin's mouth once again went beyond the system's expectations.

"Even if I quit the game while doing the tutorial, it won't be processed as if the tutorial is finished, right?"

-......? Yes, that is correct.

"In the main game, if you die, you have to wait a day to resurrect, but here you can resurrect immediately even if you die?"

-......Yes.

Only then did the system realize that the situation was taking a strange turn, but nothing changed.

The system had to answer the player's questions honestly.

At the system's answer, Lee Shin nodded his head greatly, as if he had made up his mind.

"Then I'll enjoy the tutorial before moving on to the main game."

In this unexpected situation, the system subtly intervened.

-Player, this is the tutorial. The main game has much more to enjoy than the tutorial.......

"But you can't do the tutorial again once you finish it, right?"

-.......

Since Lee Shin was right, the system couldn't say anything.

"So let's enjoy the tutorial to the fullest and then move on to the main game. By the way, can you tell me some basic knowledge about martial arts? I'm curious."

-......That much is possible.

At the system's words, Lee Shin nodded as if things were going well.

"Then please explain it to me."

-Yes, understood.

Although it was a completely unexpected situation, the system created a hologram screen and began to explain according to Lee Shin's words.

***

Among people, one game spread like a flame fanned by the wind.

Pantheon.

A game that realized a perfect virtual reality.

However, Pantheon was not simple enough to be described merely by the word 'game'.

It was, literally, a new world.

On top of that, time flowed five times faster than in reality.

At first, because of the stunt they had pulled in various countries, some nations banned access to Pantheon.

However, even in those countries, they reversed that policy in less than a day.

That's how priceless a treasure Pantheon was.

Literally, people from all over the world flocked to Pantheon, and as many people gathered, corporations naturally caught the scent and began to move.

Some corporations were already considering aggressive investments in the new world called Pantheon.

This was the impact Pantheon had on the world in just a single day.

(End of Chapter)