The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 45

"Hmm, thanks to more people flocking in than I thought, the harvest is plentiful."

Cheon Yuhwa looked at Kim Jae-hyun while kicking the Chaotic Players who had collapsed on the floor, unable to even breathe properly.

At her silent pressure, he, who had been hitting the Chaotic Players with a hand made of aura, reported the situation so far one by one.

"Yeonhwa-nim, you, miss, and I have caught all the Chaotic Players who were fleeing to the east, south, and north."

"So you're saying only the guys in the direction that guy went haven't come back?"

"Yes, that's right."

Saying so, he expected her to grumble or get angry and curse at Lee Shin.

"Hmm... then there's nothing to worry about."

But she thought about something for a moment and then focused on kicking the Chaotic Players on the floor again.

"Aren't you going to get angry this time?"

"Yeah."

She said, frowning slightly.

"I don't know about other things, but that guy was a master at catching people. He must have already found all the Chaotic Players themselves."

"Then why isn't he coming?"

"He's probably playing with them, repeating the process of catching and releasing them, giving them false hope."

Hearing her words, Kim Jae-hyun raised his guard against his personality one more level and answered.

"The items taken from the Chaotic Players are being sorted by the support team in order."

"How much is there?"

"There's a huge amount. Judging by the high quality, it seems they were well-prepared to catch you, miss."

"Is that so?"

She kicked the Chaotic Players collapsed on the floor even more strongly.

On the outside, it was a light blow that wouldn't even seem to itch, but its effect was excellent.

"Keo-eok!"

"Kill... me..."

Every time she kicked the Chaotic Players with the tip of her foot, her aura spread into their bodies through the tip of her foot, shaking their insides.

Buuung-

At that moment, the guild members who had bought the goods and trucks from the city as she had ordered arrived, and at the same time, the guild members who had been having fun against the Black Jaguars inside the dungeon also came out all at once.

"Guild Master! You came out safely... Ugh! What is this!"

"No! But what happened while we were out on an errand for a moment?!"

The guild members all opened their mouths and chattered at the unexpected situation, and the place where they were was soon covered in a murmuring voice.

Watching the guild members, she moved her fingers toward them with a smiling face, pointing at them.

It was her hand signal to handle it well on his own.

"Haa~"

Kim Jae-hyun sighed at her command, but to calm the noisy guild members, he clapped his hands to draw their attention to himself and began to explain.

After confirming his appearance, she took out her phone from her pocket and called somewhere.

"Yes, Uncle. Hello."

"Yeah, it's been a while. Have you been well?"

The person on the other end of the phone answered her call very friendly and laughed lightly.

And she also spoke to the other person in a friendly manner.

"Hmm, it's a bit much to say it's been a while, but I've been well. Have you been well too, Uncle?"

Hahaha-

"You know my situation, but seeing you bring it up like that, you really take after your dad. Is this what they call 'blood can't be denied'?"

"Hehe, I'm his daughter, after all."

"And seeing that you called me like this, it seems you have something that can help my current situation, right? Isn't that so?"

"Was I caught?"

She laughed awkwardly but did not deny what the person on the other end of the phone was saying.

At that, the person on the other end of the phone laughed even louder and asked playfully.

"Alright, then our cute little miss. What is the problem this old man is facing, and what is the key to solving it? Our association is also doing quite well, though not as much as your guild. If you called for something trivial, there will be no birthday present this year."

"Oh? That's a big problem. Hmm~ Since I've already brought it up, I can't take it back, right?"

"Of course. If you've drawn the sword, you have to at least slice a radish."

The man on the other end of the phone laughed like that, then stopped laughing at some point.

Now that they had exchanged conventional greetings, it was time for a serious conversation.

"You and the Player Association are both walking a smooth path, receiving the envious gazes of the people and the support of the country. But will it be like that in the future?"

At her words, he said as if he had a guess.

"Are you talking about the Chaotic Players?"

"Yes, that's right."

She nodded as if to affirm.

The current Chaotic Players were just a rippling, nerve-wracking presence, but over time, they would surely flow back and overflow, creating a lot of damage.

She and the man on the other end of the phone, the head of the Player Association, were already convinced of that.

But he had no way to solve the current situation.

It was clear that they would be a problem in the future, but now they were just small, weak bubbles.

On top of that, it was an incident that appeared in a completely different format from existing incidents, and since it was a crime that occurred in the special situation of a dungeon, it was not easy to catch their tails.

She, as if she knew his thoughts, said in a voice mixed with laughter.

"I happened to catch their tails, so I'll hand them over to you, uncle. How about it?"

"Hmm? You can't make such a proposal with just a few. How many have you caught?"

She looked down and roughly estimated the number of people who had fainted.

"Hmm... about 100?"

"...That's a lot more than I thought."

He was at a loss for words for a moment at the number that exceeded his expectations.

She giggled and said.

"It seems they thought I was a very delicious prey."

"Heh, really."

He laughed as if in disbelief, then, to organize the situation, spoke again.

"Alright, so you're going to hand those guys over to me?"

"Yes, it might be impossible to hand over all of them, but I think I can hand over most of them. Then it would be about 90... that should be enough to start an investigation, right?"

Grin-

"More than enough."

At his confident words, she smiled in satisfaction.

"Now then, what do you want from me? You must have made this proposal because you want something."

He spoke as if to say 'let's hear it', but at her following words, he made a slightly blank expression.

"Ah, I don't need anything in particular. Just think of it as a gift."

"Haha, right! I get it, so hurry up and tell me!"

"No, it's really a gift."

"...Are you serious?"

"Yes."

When she didn't say anything even after waiting, he let out a gasp of surprise.

"Heot, really. Are you saying you'll put it on my tab?"

"I don't particularly want anything right now. If I ask you for a favor later, just look after it well."

After finishing the call, she smiled with satisfaction.

On the corporate side, her father and her older brother were occupying the top and growing day by day.

On the political side, she had made connections with several people, including the president.

Also, as a player, her own value was also growing.

'I've come this far.'

The moment she was about to be immersed in her thoughts.

Rustle-

From the direction of the forest, Lee Shin came out, humming a tune.

In one hand, he had a rope that tied the fainted people together, and although they were covered in scratches from being dragged on the ground, he didn't care at all.

He threw the guys he had dragged as they were in the direction of the other fainted people.

"Good work... hmm?"

"Yeah."

The moment she was about to give him a dry greeting, she suddenly stopped.

Because he, who had gone to hunt the Chaotic Players, was carrying someone on his shoulder.

"Who is that kid?"

"Ah, this kid?"

Lee Shin shook the boy who looked to be about a high school student, slung over one shoulder, with one hand and laughed.

"He just looked interesting, so I caught him. Ah, I'm not giving this one away. I'm taking him."

At that, she looked at the child with eyes full of pity, as if to say 'how did you get caught by that madman', and then nodded at him.

It meant 'do as you please'.

'He's going to catch another person.'

Even in the future, he had enjoyed catching and rolling people around for the sole reason that they looked interesting.

For the absurd reason that they gave off a similar feeling to a game character or a novel protagonist.

'Still, seeing that he says he's interesting, he must have some talent. Well, he was a guy who had a strange eye for people.'

"Do as you please. I welcome the increase of strong people. You can introduce him to our guild later."

"Right, well. Tell Yeonhwa I'll contact him later."

With those words, he walked in the direction of the car as if he had nothing more to say, and she told the guild members to tie up the fainted Chaotic Players.

***

Lee Shin, who was in the camping truck driven by Eun Yeon-woo, looked at the items he had obtained from catching the Chaotic Players one by one.

On top of that, he decided to look at the items he originally had once more.

[Steel Spear]

-Rare

-A spear that focuses only on the basics that a spear should have. It has no special abilities and is made faithful to the basics.

-[Hardness of Steel] Always applied. This spear has a hardness that cannot be compared to ordinary steel.

-[Sharpness of Steel] Always applied. The sharpness of this spear is beyond the limit that ordinary steel can produce.

[Heart Protector]

-Rare

-An armor that assists the user's movements to the maximum, created with the purpose of protecting only the minimum parts.

-[Heart Clad in Steel] Always applied. This armor protects your heart from powerful attacks.

-Agility stat +5.

Although none of the things on the two items could be called particularly good options, he was satisfied.

It was enough for the weapon and armor to just do their job, rather than having some clumsy option added.

'And it's not like these are the only items I can wear.'

[Poisonous Bird's Claw]

-Normal

-A dagger made using the claw of a bird that slowly paralyzes a person's body and leads them to death. A dagger that confuses a person's mind and continuously secretes a poison that leads to death if continuously exposed.

-[Poisoned Claw] Selectively applied. This dagger will secrete poison the moment you infuse it with ki.

[White Hand]

-Normal

-A single leather glove made of white leather. It doesn't get dirty easily despite being white.

-[Suction Power], prevents the object held in your hand from falling easily.

[Black Ring]

-Normal

-An earring made by tying bones together. It looks like an ordinary ring, but it's somehow ominous.

-[Sensitive Ear] Always applied. It raises your overall senses and at the same time, raises your hearing even more.

[Smiling Mask]

-Normal

-A mask with a white curve drawn on a black half-mask with no special features.

-[Attention Focus] Always applied. People who look at you will see the mask instead of you, and instead of seeing the mask, they will see the smiling mouth.

Although they were all normal grade items, he was satisfied.

Since he could just ask Geum Hyun-mo in [Wonderland] to make things like protective gear, he liked these kinds of peculiar items more.

'First, I'll wear the dagger on my waist, and should I just wear the glove and earring normally?'

As he put on the items one by one, he felt his senses become sharper than before.

His senses, which were already like a wild animal's, were sharpened even more with the help of the items.

Grin-

"Usable."

After expressing his short satisfaction, he opened his eyes, which he had closed for a moment, and looked at the bed.

On the bed, a boy was lying quietly as if dead.

"Shouldn't you be getting up soon? I know you're conscious."

(End of Chapter)