The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 42

"Regular report."

In the deep, dark forest of the night, where even the moonlight and starlight could not properly penetrate, someone opened their mouth in a small voice.

-How is it today?

At the cold voice of someone coming from the phone, the masked man holding the phone answered in an even more subdued voice.

"Except for the fact that the vice guild master has returned, there is not much difference from yesterday."

-Specifically?

"In the morning, they enter the dungeon, lightly gather information about the dungeon, and deal with the monsters. Then, they come out at lunchtime and rest. After that, they enter the dungeon once more and do not come out until night."

-You still haven't figured out what's going on inside the dungeon?

At the man's words, which were as cold as a dagger, the masked man bowed his head as if he had forgotten he was on the phone and answered.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't confirm the information because none of the guys who went into the LV.2 dungeon came back alive."

-Tsk, well, it probably doesn't matter. Looking at their behavior at the campsite, it seems they haven't noticed that we're watching them. By the way, is it certain that they will raid the dungeon tomorrow?

"Yes, it's certain."

At the masked man's words, the man on the other end of the phone muttered in a much gentler voice, as if he were finally satisfied.

-It took three days. Well, since it took a long time, I think I can rip off a good chunk of money.

Hearing the man's laughter, the masked man remained silent.

-The plan will proceed as scheduled, but we will add more personnel. We will send the new slave guys who just came in.

"The new guys who just came in will only be meat shields."

At the masked man's words, the man on the other end of the phone laughed.

-Hehehe, right. At best, they'll only be meat shields. And that's what I want. Our side also needs to have some visible damage to be able to rip off more money.

"Ah, I understand."

The conversation between the masked man and the man on the other end of the phone continued for a while and then ended.

The masked man left the spot and returned to his original surveillance position, and the story the two had shared seemed to be buried in the darkness and disappear.

'Tomorrow, I see. Fortunately, it seems there's no change in their plan either.'

'I can finally go see my mother.'

'A pity. What excuse will I have to fight those guys now?'

If only the three people, each with different thoughts, hadn't been there.

***

Three days had passed since the [Wonderland] guild announced that they would raid the LV.2 dungeon.

During those 3 days, the number of LV.2 dungeons gradually increased, and they began to appear one by one even in the city centers where people were.

"Is this really going to be okay?"

"The government said that as long as they prevent the mana from accumulating by leaving the monsters in the dungeon alone, a Dungeon Break won't happen. It'll be fine."

"Right, and they said it would take twice as long for a Dungeon Break to happen in a LV.2 dungeon than in a LV.1 dungeon."

"Still, it's a little scary."

Looking at the LV.2 dungeons, people felt anxiety and fear, unlike before.

If the original dungeons were perceived as places to mine very expensive resources like gold mines, after the Dungeon Break, people considered dungeons to be time bombs that could explode at any moment.

And in response, people quickly adapted to the changed world.

[Magic Tower], [Sabbath], [Meister].

As the manufacturing method of the dungeon detector, created by the combined efforts of these three organizations, spread to various governments around the world, it became possible to easily detect the existence of dungeons, which could only be known through people's reports before.

The governments were not happy with the current situation where a huge amount of funds was being concentrated on the three guilds, but they couldn't help it.

It was more profitable to lose some money than to have the city collapse and hear the people's complaints due to a Dungeon Break.

The players continued to grow.

As they became accustomed to the world that had changed from a game to reality, and as more people began to use their game experience and knowledge in earnest, the growth of the players accelerated as if they had received a boost.

As the average level of the players rose, the number of cleared dungeons gradually increased, and a huge number of monster byproducts flowed into the market.

As a result, non-combat class players such as blacksmiths and alchemists also began to appear in earnest.

Thanks to that, a situation was created where it was not very difficult to obtain player items as long as you had money.

"Hey, do you see that sword over there? If I had a weapon like that, I could clear the boss room by myself."

"Hmph, so I broke my savings account and even took out a loan to buy one."

"What? Are you crazy?"

Tsk- Tsk-

"You idiot, even if you don't enter the boss room and just go around the dungeon, you can pay back the loan quickly. With this, the speed of going around the dungeon will be much faster."

"Th... then should I just close my eyes and buy one?"

The increase in players' skills, the expansion of the market, and the get-rich-quick mentality that was rapidly spreading among the players.

As these things began to form a single loop, the players' market grew at a rapid pace with the influx of huge capital.

A certain merchant once said that the time when you can earn the most money is when a war breaks out.

The current world was proving that merchant's words.

The players went into the dungeons every day and fought a war with the monsters, and after that, they invested the money they earned to repair their potions and armor.

And since they still had money to spare, the players spent money on various things to relieve the stress they got from the dungeons.

In response, the government also actively operated the Player Association and began to reap profits.

For the government, it was an event like a revolution.

The military was originally a place created to spend money, not to earn it.

It was a structure that required endless investment, to the point where even if you invested in various places, there would still be places to invest.

The military, which had only recorded deficits, began to record a surplus for the first time with the appearance of the dungeons.

"Ahem, first, it would be good to awaken the soldiers as players, right?"

"That's right. I heard that if you grow too easily by using weapons like guns, your stats don't go up well..."

"Ahem! Then let's arm them mainly with cold weapons!"

"In that case, the byproducts of the monsters..."

"Ahem! First, let's just take the support soldiers and give 8 to that side and we'll take 2..."

For these reasons, the employees of the Player Association and the soldiers gradually turned into players, entered the dungeons, and brought profits to the country.

Now, for people, level was considered a kind of spec, like the university you graduated from or your college entrance exam scores.

There were cases where excellent players, without even having to enter a dungeon, branched out into various fields such as bodyguards or healers and made a lot of money.

-Hercules, advancing while destroying numerous dungeons with the guild members of [Lion].

-Merlin, [Magic Tower] declares that its doors are open to all magicians.

-Crowley, [Meister] are the artisans who write the history of items.

-Oz, [Sabbath] welcomes new witches (and warlocks) with knowledge and passion.

-Uriel, doing volunteer work with the guild members of [Judgement].

Thus, the number of people who admired players increased, and in proportion to that, the number of people who dreamed of becoming players also increased.

But people's anxiety had not disappeared.

The cause of the anxiety was the LV.2 dungeons, which were too dangerous for most players because of the powerful monsters.

In the midst of that, one piece of news spread among the people.

-Cheon Yuhwa, declares to raid a LV.2 dungeon with the guild members of [Wonderland].

It was the news that Cheon Yuhwa, currently the only [King] in Korea, had declared to raid a LV.2 dungeon with her guild members.

***

Cheon Yuhwa looked at the guild members standing in neat rows in front of her.

Through the 3 days of training she had planned, a burning will that had not been there before was engraved in their eyes.

"Now then, today we will raid the dungeon you have been entering until now."

Flinch-!

At her words, the guild members' bodies flinched greatly.

"You may be disappointed, but it has been decided that only the minimum number of people possible will enter the boss room."

She then called out people's names in order.

Choi Seok-ho, Shin Ye-eun, Jo Yu-hyeon, Ja Yi-hyeon, Ja Yi-yeon, and Kim Jae-hyun.

And including herself, Yeonhwa, and Lee Shin, there were a total of 9 people.

Since they already knew from her words that 10 people could enter the LV.2 boss room, no one among the guild members questioned why 9 people were entering the boss room.

After designating the people who would enter the boss room, she looked at the supporters and said.

"The members of the support team, please prepare to be able to provide immediate treatment in case a guild member comes out injured."

"Yes!"

"And the members of the recovery team, please prepare in advance so that you can enter the dungeon right after we clear the boss room."

"Yes!"

At the guild members' loud answers, she smiled with a satisfied face and took a candy out of her pocket, putting it in her mouth.

The sweet taste of the high-end candy enveloped her mouth and moderately relaxed her mood.

It wasn't a very appropriate appearance to show just before entering a dungeon, but it didn't matter.

Since she had taken measures to avoid the situation of reporters flocking in advance, the only ones present here were the guild members of [Wonderland] and uninvited guests not worth paying attention to.

Finally, she looked at the guild members of the combat team and opened her mouth.

"Your role is to exterminate all the Black Jaguars in the dungeon while we are clearing the boss room. Unlike usual, the team leader will not be with you, so please be especially careful."

"Yes!!!"

Satisfied with the guild members' loud answers, she nodded.

At that, the guild members began to enter the dungeon in order.

"Team 1 is entering!"

"Team 2 is entering!"

"Team 3..."

"Team 4..."

"5..."

After all the guild members had entered, she entered the dungeon with the remaining eight people.

After all the guild members had entered the dungeon, the support team quickly began to prepare what she had said.

"Everyone, hurry up and prepare!"

"Now, now! In 30 minutes, by the guild master's order, there are things you have to go to the city and buy, so remember! She said you have to bring a few trucks too."

"Recovery team, organize your tools!"

Swoosh-

And the leader of the uninvited guests on the tree nodded cautiously, watching the guild members.

'As expected, they have no idea that we've been watching them from the tree for the past 3 days. Thanks to that, I can aim for the perfect timing.'

The leader of the masked uninvited guests had clearly seen the moment the [Wonderland] guild members' bodies trembled when they heard her speech.

On top of that, seeing her so thoroughly preparing for injuries, the masked man was convinced.

'Those guys are currently conducting a raid accompanied by an adventure. They must be in a state where their combat power is greatly reduced after being seriously injured. Hehehe, this might be easier than I thought.'

But the thought the masked man had was wrong.

The reason the guild members' bodies trembled at her words was not because of their fear of the Black Jaguar, but...

"Today is the day we make butterfly soup!"

"Come out, you beggar-like butterfly bastards!"

"Hahaha! This is the special catnip smoke bomb that the guild master thought of and our guild's alchemists made for today!"

"Hahaha! I'll make you die in a state of bliss on your last journey! I'll send you to heaven with a 'pyong'!!!"

It was a tremor of excitement at the approaching time of revenge, where they could repay the humiliation they had suffered so far.

(End of Chapter)