The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 34

"Now, you've already heard, but let's take some time to confirm once more while we're on our way."

Unlike a regular bus that prioritizes efficiency in how many people it can carry, this was a special bus that had been modified in various ways for the user's convenience.

The [Wonderland] guild members, gathered for the dungeon raid, sat on the bus and looked at Kim Jae-hyun, who was standing in front of a large monitor.

"First, this raid will be a mission involving a total of 29 people: the Guild Master, myself, the five team leaders, 20 guild members, and two freelancers contracted with our guild."

Hearing those words, the guild members swallowed nervously.

Recalling that dungeons were usually raided by one party, about 4 people, they guessed that this raid would be more difficult than they had thought.

"The 29 of us will be divided into a total of 6 parties and enter the dungeon."

As he spoke, the monitor screen changed.

On the screen, Cheon Yuhwa, the freelancers, the vice guild master Kim Jae-hyun, and the team leaders were each shown leading guild members.

"The team leaders and I will lead you in pairs of two. And the party led by the freelancer, Mr. Lee Shin, will have one less person than the other parties. For reference, the parties have already been formed."

As soon as he finished speaking, the guild members all looked at one place at the same time.

Zzz-

Where they were looking, Lee Shin, who had been mentioned in the explanation just now, was comfortably asleep, buried in his chair.

"Um..."

"Ah, it's fine. Let's just leave him be."

A guild member near him reached out to wake him up, but Kim Jae-hyun stopped him.

Having heard various anecdotes about him through Cheon Yuhwa, he knew very well that leaving him to sleep was the best way to help.

'It would be a relief if we could just go quietly until we get there.'

However, contrary to his intentions, the guild members made their own judgments based on his appearance and exchanged opinions with their eyes.

'He's definitely on the bad side, right?'

'Of course. Not waking him up during a meeting means he's in for a hard time in the dungeon.'

'I don't know who it is, but the people who end up in the same party as that guy are going to have a tough time.'

Kim Jae-hyun roughly guessed the guild members' thoughts from the atmosphere, but since it was awkward to step in now, he decided to just ignore it and continued his story.

"As a result of our investigation of the dungeon, it has the form of a tropical rainforest, and the monster that appears is a LV.2 Black Jaguar."

"A Black Jaguar..."

"Hoo, I didn't think I'd be catching this guy again..."

Even though it was information they had already heard, the guild members sighed.

"Haa, to think I have to fight that damn beginner killer again."

'Beginner Killer' was the Black Jaguar's nickname.

It was a nickname that came from continuously blocking the path of beginners who were just about to embark on their full-fledged adventure, with its powerful strength and trickiness.

"As you all know, the Black Jaguar often appears in a surprise attack, so you must always move with caution."

Kim Jae-hyun displayed a picture of the jaguar on the screen.

"And even if you manage to block the surprise attack, the Black Jaguar is a strong monster even when faced head-on, and it doesn't hesitate to call its companions when it's at a disadvantage, so you must be careful."

Kim Jae-hyun continued to release various information about the Black Jaguar after that.

The guild members listening to the story of the Black Jaguar had their faces stiffen like plaster statues with tension.

But none of them were trembling with fear.

Kim Jae-hyun, who had confirmed that, smiled faintly.

'Well, she's always had a knack for finding this kind of talent.'

After that, a period of trivial questions from the guild members who had heard everything continued.

Zzz-

And Lee Shin, sitting by the window where the warm sunlight was coming in, used the guild members' stories as a lullaby and fell into an even deeper sleep.

'...I don't like it.'

A guild member who was watching him from a distance frowned slightly and flicked his finger.

What was flicked into the air was a bear-shaped jelly that the guild member had bought to eat on the way, and the flicked jelly flew exactly to where Lee Shin’s forehead was.

Of course, since it was just a jelly, there would be no major injury, but it would be able to give a pain similar to being flicked on the forehead.

Thinking so, the moment the guild member was looking at him with a smiling face.

Swoosh-

Lee Shin's head naturally tilted to the right, dodging the jelly.

"Huh?"

The guild member looked at the scene with surprised eyes.

'Did he dodge it by chance because the bus shook?'

He decided to think so and turned his eyes from Lee Shin to look at the front again.

His instinct told him something was off and turned his back.

Then, the eerie feeling disappeared like a ghost, and the bus they were on moved peacefully, soon leaving the city and entering the intended mountain.

***

"Ugh~ I slept well."

After getting off the bus, Lee Shin stretched lightly and looked around.

Following the bus he had been on, two more buses arrived.

Unlike the bus he had been on, these were buses that prioritized efficiency in how many people they could carry.

It was the bus the supporter team was on.

'It seems everyone is here.'

Although Lee Shin had been sleeping all the way, he had heard a rough explanation once before, so he knew how things would move.

'Well, my role is just to prevent anyone from dying, anyway.'

Thinking so to himself, he looked at Cheon Yuhwa.

Since she was also looking at him, he sent her a telepathic message.

-I'll be counting on you tonight.

-Don't worry. I keep my promises.

After receiving her confirmation, Lee Shin moved his steps to where the three players were gathered.

"Now, I'll be moving with you. From the looks of it, you seem to have finished your preparations, so let's go in."

"Uh... already?"

"Yes, the supporter team has also arrived, so there's no need to stay here any longer. Well, are you trying to go to the bathroom or something?"

At least in Lee Shin’s common sense, there was no need to stay here any longer and waste time.

But they were hesitating to enter the dungeon, fidgeting as if they were anxious about something.

"No, but... what should I say, after preparing my mind a little more..."

"You'll do that automatically while wandering around in the dungeon."

"I don't feel like being the first one to go in."

"If you could not do something just because you don't feel like it, the world would be a much more beautiful place."

Lee Shin was starting to get a headache.

'What is this? Are they trying to use this as an excuse to argue that since I didn't do anything, there will be no spar?'

In his own opinion, it was a reasonably plausible deduction, but in fact, this was not a scheme by Cheon Yuhwa, but a result created purely by his own actions.

'This person isn't a particularly famous player, and he looks incredibly weak at a glance.'

'Haa, if I go in with this person, I'll go through all sorts of hardships and come out.'

'Ah, so this is why you have to meet good party members. My friends, I miss the times when I partied with you.'

A distrust of his skills.

That was what was holding them back, preventing them from entering the dungeon.

An ordinary person would have had to go through a lot of trouble to solve this.

It was not an easy task to erase a prejudice that had been embedded in one's mind.

But Lee Shin had a very simple way to solve such a thing.

"Hoo?"

He activated [Madness] with a light smile and, controlling the energy flowing from his body, sent it to the three people in front of him.

Controlling [Madness] more finely.

It was a kind of byproduct obtained from getting used to using [Madness] in the dungeon.

"Heuk!"

"Eup!"

"Hikkeuk!"

As he sent out his energy, the reaction was immediate.

The three were flustered, feeling the atmosphere around them suddenly change, but they still couldn't move their bodies.

To the three of them, he said with a kind smile.

"I understand what you're saying. Then, until we enter the dungeon, I will stay with you, all of you, continuously. Come to think of it, you must be tired from riding in the car, so it would be okay not to enter the dungeon for a day. Right?"

'If I say the wrong thing, I'll be in big trouble.'

The three, who had instinctively realized that fact, trembled and desperately shook their heads left and right.

At that, he withdrew [Madness] and smiled brightly.

"Really? Then let's go into the dungeon. Right now."

Bolt upright-!

The moment his words ended, all of them stood up straight like new recruits with sharp discipline.

Seeing that, he smiled in satisfaction and entered the dungeon with the two supporters.

"Wow, that party really went in."

A guild member looked at the scene as if it were absurd, then asked the team leader as if in protest.

"Is it okay to leave that person like that? To just go into a LV.2 dungeon without any preparation like that. The only armor that person was wearing was a simple light armor!"

"...Do you think our party will be defeated by the monsters while wandering around this dungeon?"

"Excuse me?"

The guild member was momentarily flustered by the answer, which seemed completely unrelated to the question he had asked, but he soon came to his senses and answered Choi Seok-ho's words.

"Ah, no! Since the two team leaders are with us, I think there will be no problem."

At the guild member's words, Choi Seok-ho also nodded calmly.

"Right. We think so too. Although it's a LV.2 monster, we are confident that we can prevent the worst from happening."

Swoosh-

"So, discard the thought that that party will be in danger."

"Excuse me?"

Clank-

Choi Seok-ho, who had stood up, said as he put on various armor items on his body.

"Because that one person is stronger than the two team leaders combined."

"!!!"

At his words, the guild member looked at the dungeon he had entered with disbelieving eyes.

Looking at the guild member, he lightly patted his back.

"So, instead of worrying about other parties, you should worry about yourself. Honestly, I'm most worried about you in our party."

"Ah, yes!"

Hearing his words, the guild member hurriedly began to put on items all over his body, and a short while later, the team leaders and guild members also entered the dungeon.

And after watching them for a moment, Cheon Yuhwa asked Kim Jae-hyun.

"You told the kids in the party that you can't go with them today, right?"

"Yes, so I've arranged for them to help with the supporters' dungeon investigation."

"Hmm, well, then it probably doesn't matter."

The two, who had finished their arrangements with a few short words, turned their backs on the dungeon and moved their feet.

"Now then, let's get moving quickly too. You've prepared the car in advance, right?"

"Yes, since you said it's a bit of a mountain road, I've prepared a special vehicle so you can be comfortable. I've also filled it with the gift you mentioned."

At his words, she smiled and said.

"Good, well done. First impressions are the most important, so we have to show this much sincerity."

With those words, she got into the car he had prepared, and the car carrying the two moved quickly toward somewhere.

(End of Chapter)