The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 30

"Cut it out."

Geum Hyun-mo said, frowning before Lee Shin had even finished speaking.

If this had been outside his office, he would have spat on the floor.

At that, Lee Shin said with a disappointed face.

"What, you can't make it?"

"Are you seriously asking that?"

Geum Hyun-mo looked at him as if he were absurd.

"The order itself is insincere from the start. What kind of foolish head did that idea come from?"

"It's not that you can't make it because you lack the skill, right?"

"Oh? Now this kid is ignoring my skills? I was a pretty amazing blacksmith who went up to LV.5 in the game and even made it to the Thousand rank, you know? I'm on a different level from a snot-nosed kid like you."

Geum Hyun-mo clicked his tongue, and Lee Shin chuckled and said,

"Ah, I get it. So I just have to think about it properly and then tell you, right?"

"If you mess around again and say something strange, I'll just kick you out."

"Yes, yes."

Saying so, Lee Shin stated the item he had originally thought of.

"Simply, a light leather armor and a spear that's easy to use."

"Do you have a design in mind?"

"I have one for the spear, but not really for the armor."

"Is that so?"

Geum Hyun-mo, as if he had expected it, threw a book at him.

"There are pictures of various armors in there, so you choose the one you like the most and then tell me. And what kind of spear are you thinking of?"

"Something like this."

Lee Shin took out the tutorial spear from his inventory and showed it to him.

Geum Hyun-mo spun the spear around to lightly check its shape and then returned it to him.

"Is there anything else you want for the weapon besides the design? Like a specific option for the spear or a specific function you want."

"Hmm, for example?"

Geum Hyun-mo thought for a moment and then said.

"Well, things like wanting the weapon to glow or the armor to catch fire."

"The options are more modest than I thought."

"No matter how great I was, I'm LV.1 now. I'm still lacking in many ways."

Geum Hyun-mo looked at him with a "so what are you going to do" expression, and Lee Shin thought for a moment and then answered.

"For the armor, light and sturdy, so it doesn't interfere with movement. For the spear, sturdy and sharp, but moderately heavy. That's enough."

At those words, Geum Hyun-mo looked at him as if he were strange.

"Unexpected. I thought you'd definitely ask for some strange option to be added."

At his words, Lee Shin took out a picture from the book he was looking at, placed it on the table, and said.

"I told you. I'm thinking of starting to move seriously from now on."

Saying so, Lee Shin looked at him with a playful, slightly provocative smile.

"You have to make it at least rare grade or higher, okay? Anything below that will just be a burden."

At his words, which were full of provocation, Geum Hyun-mo chuckled with an arrogant smile.

"Don't state the obvious. No matter how I've become, my skills haven't gone anywhere."

It wasn't just bravado.

It was a statement born from absolute confidence in his own skills.

"I'll take the money after it's all finished. I'll contact you when it's all made."

"Ah, don't try to save the budget and make something mediocre. Just throw everything in and make the best one. I'll pay you back even if it's in installments."

"That's the best thing I've heard from your mouth today."

Tiririring-

Just as Geum Hyun-mo, who had finished speaking, was about to go down to the workshop to make the item, the phone on his desk rang.

He frowned as if his excitement had been broken, but he strode over and answered the phone.

"Hmm, Vice Guild Master? Right... right, he's here... right, I got it."

He hung up the phone after just a few words and then looked at him.

"Our guild master has something to say to you, so she wants you to come up to the guild master's office right now."

"Hmm, is that so?"

It was a sudden remark, but Lee Shin just smiled.

"I wonder if she'll tell me something interesting."

***

A long time ago, when he came to Wonderland to sign a contract, he had clearly shown his value to Cheon Yuhwa by achieving an overwhelming victory in a spar with the team leaders.

After that, she did not spare any form of support for him.

When he said he wanted a camping truck-style car, she had sent him a top-of-the-line camping truck on the same day.

And he was able to spend happy days.

When he was at home, he would roll around on the bed comfortably, reading novels or comics, and he would be automatically transported to a dungeon, and when he defeated a monster, Eun Yeon-woo would quickly dismantle it.

As a result, the numbers in his bank account were breaking new records every day and soaring to the sky.

That's not to say that she had suffered a loss for his sake.

On the contrary, thanks to his diligent clearing of dungeons, she had also gained a lot.

First, she profited by investing the byproducts of the monsters he caught in the guild's players and selling them, and she also profited from the ownership of the dungeons he had left behind.

Since he was bound by a contract with [Wonderland], the dungeons he cleared were recognized as their property.

However, this was a profit that naturally followed as the two worked together.

The contract, of course, was not written with only terms favorable to him.

Well, even if there were disadvantageous clauses, they were only bad conditions for others, not for him.

***

"Do you remember the contents of the contract?"

Cheon Yuhwa, whom he had met after a long time, asked him while still drinking a sweet cafe latte.

"Roughly."

"Since you say you remember, it'll be easier to talk."

Saying so, she handed him a copy of the contract he had signed back then.

When he took it and read the part underlined with a highlighter, it said this.

-Once a month, [Wonderland] has the right to request a dungeon raid from Lee Shin. If this is refused due to unavoidable circumstances, the right is transferred to the next month, but it is impossible to transfer it twice in a row.

'Hmm, right, something like this was written in the contract.'

At the time, he was in a period of joy from hunting dungeon monsters, so he had signed without hesitation.

He placed the contract he had finished reading on the table and opened his mouth.

"Well, it's written in the contract, and I don't have anything particularly busy right now, so I'll accept it... but it's still strange."

"What is?"

At her words, he said as if it were obvious.

"Well, even if I'm added to a guild with so many skilled people, it's not like something will dramatically change, right? Am I really necessary?"

Even while thinking inwardly that most of the guild members in [Wonderland] were small fry not even worth chewing on, he frowned as if he genuinely found it hard to understand.

Of course.

'That bastard is at it again. How is it that he's the same now as he was back then.'

It didn't work at all on Cheon Yuhwa, who already knew his true nature too well.

She cooled her heart, which was about to burn with annoyance, with a soft cafe latte, and then calmly opened her mouth.

"It's true that our guild can handle most dungeons easily. But this time, it's not a dungeon that can be handled so easily."

At her words, he thought for a moment and then opened his mouth.

"You want to grow your guild members. But you lack a guardian who can protect them safely. So you want me to lend a hand. Is that what you mean?"

"Yes."

At her clean answer, he nodded as if he understood.

In his opinion, there was no dungeon that she couldn't clear at her current level.

No matter how much they had lost their strength from the game, the level they had reached did not disappear, and they would even have the special unique grade items that the system had mentioned.

'But if they're borrowing a hand to clear a dungeon, it's more accurate to think that there's a problem with clearing the dungeon rather than that they want to do something in that dungeon.'

Thinking so, he felt a little disappointed.

If it were an interesting guy like Eun Yeon-woo, it would be fun to watch, but from his experience, most people were not that pleasant.

It would probably be a continuous process of just dragging out time over a single monster.

'Just imagining it is boring.'

Seeing him lost in thought, scratching the table without any change in expression, she clicked her tongue.

Through her experience, she had realized that if she left things as they were, the work would not be done properly.

'Is this the timing?'

So she decided to take out the carrot she had been hiding.

"As a result of checking with the newly acquired dungeon detector, that dungeon was different from the ones so far."

"Specifically?"

"LV.2."

At those words, he raised his head and looked at her.

He had half-expected it when she called him, but still, the difference between just expecting and actually confirming was big.

Noticing that he was a little interested, she offered another reward this time.

"And I heard you requested to have a weapon made."

"Yes. Since I've accumulated some money, I thought it wouldn't be bad to buy one at a reasonable price."

"Then, as a reward for this job, we'll make that weapon and armor for you for free. Of course, top-of-the-line."

Her proposal was not bad.

No, considering that the top-of-the-line items made by blacksmith players now easily exceeded one billion won, it was not just a matter of not being bad.

'Hmm, I can roughly see what you're thinking.'

But even looking at her, he was just indifferent.

If she had cultivated the ability to negotiate with people based on business, he knew his own way of handling people.

'It's obvious that you'll give me a better weapon or armor, so I should work harder inside the dungeon.'

Thinking so, he felt his interest wane even more.

"Hoo, are there any other conditions you want?"

She, judging that her true intentions had been revealed by his reaction, sighed and said.

He was a person whose head worked well in strange parts, even though he seemed to be just lazing around without any particular thought.

"Hmm... a reward."

At her words, he thought for a moment, then, as if he had thought of a reward he liked, he grinned.

Seeing that, she guessed that he had thought of something troublesome again and clicked her tongue inwardly.

"Then let's do this. If you just grant me one request, I won't take the reward."

"What is that request?"

"Ah, it's nothing much."

At her words, he smiled lightly and said.

"From the looks of it, you're going to the dungeon to improve the skills of your guild members. Then, in the meantime, please spar with me in the morning and evening. Simply."

He recalled the video he had seen on his way this morning.

His heart pounded at the thought of being able to actually experience what he had seen in the video.

"Alright."

And Cheon Yuhwa, who had heard his proposal, readily nodded.

'I was just about to go see that guy anyway, so this is great.'

For her, his proposal was not a bad one either.

(End of Chapter)