The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 55

"You, who are you?"

Alpha asked the man in front of her in a cold voice, raising her guard to the fullest.

Even at the cold voice, the man wearing a mask with a smiling mouth, Lee Shin, just tilted his head slightly, unfazed.

"Isn't it the other way around? I came here because I felt someone's gaze on me."

Alpha and Beta frowned at the androgynous voice, which made it difficult to tell if the speaker was a man or a woman.

They had noticed that the other party was modulating their voice through some means.

"Now, then I have something I want to ask."

Lee Shin asked in a playful tone, looking at the two who could be called an unexpected harvest.

"Your attire, and the mask that covers half your face... no matter how I look at it, it doesn't seem like you're here for a good purpose. What's the reason for the two of you being here?"

Thump- Thump-

Lee Shin asked the two, taking a step toward them one by one.

At that, both of them tightened their grip on their weapons and slowly got into their stances.

To immediately swing their weapons the moment he crossed their boundary.

Halt-

"You're not going to tell me?"

But Lee Shin stopped right in front of the boundary they had set, the attack range, and said so.

In that state, Lee Shin calmly observed the two.

'One uses two swords as a weapon, and the other uses two short batons as a weapon? Neither of them are common weapons.'

"......"

"......"

As Lee Shin was observing Alpha and Beta, Alpha and Beta were flustered by the situation that was turning out differently than they had expected.

They had expected Lee Shin to start a fight, but what he had started was a calm conversation.

Beta calmly thought and came to a conclusion.

'For now, it's better to at least pretend to have a conversation.'

Recalling the sense that had noticed their gaze from the [Black Money] building and the movement he had shown while jumping from rooftop to rooftop, he was not an opponent to be taken lightly.

"Alright, if we can solve this with a conversation, we have no intention of fighting either."

"Really? That's surprising. Usually, when I say this, they take it as a provocation and swing their weapons."

Lee Shin muttered, moving a few steps away from the two and letting go of his weapon, and Alpha and Beta also let go of their weapons from both hands, watching Smile with wary eyes.

Although both sides had let go of their weapons, no one in this place was unaware that this was just an empty courtesy.

But to have a conversation, it was necessary to show even an empty action to reassure the other party.

Satisfied that a stage for conversation had been set, Lee Shin said in the same playful tone as before.

"Now, then, start by telling me why you were looking at me in a place with no people."

"Aren't you leading the conversation too much in your own way? I said I'd talk, but I have no intention of being dragged along as you wish."

At Beta's cold words, Lee Shin said, smiling.

"If you're not happy, you can flip the table and we can have a go."

"......"

At Lee Shin's words, Alpha slightly lowered her body as if she were about to pick up her sword and rush at him, and at that, Lee Shin smiled lightly.

"Well, alright. Then let's set a rule."

Lee Shin said, looking at them with one index finger extended.

"Me once, you guys once. If we take turns asking questions like this, you guys will be able to understand enough, right?"

"Alright. Then I'll answer what you just asked."

Beta said, and before Lee Shin could ask a new question, she quickly opened her mouth.

For Beta, it was an action to gain even a slight advantage, but for Lee Shin, it didn't matter whether Beta gained an advantage or he did.

Because for Lee Shin, the current question and answer session was just a pastime to have some fun for a moment, nothing more, nothing less.

"It might be a little hard to believe, but the reason we were looking at you was simply a coincidence. We also came here aiming for that guild, just like you."

"Really?"

Lee Shin said lightly and tilted his head to the side.

'What's with that guy?'

Seeing Lee Shin like that, Beta felt something welling up inside her.

His playful tone and his actions, in Beta's eyes, looked like nothing but him making fun of them.

'Hoo, let's be calm.'

Beta calmed her welling heart and said to Lee Shin in a lower voice.

"Then now I'll speak."

"Go ahead."

Ppajik-

Sometimes you meet such a person.

A person who just by saying a word, just by breathing once, just by being seen, arouses a person's annoyance.

'Should I fight?'

Such a strong impulse momentarily arose in Beta's mind, but she tried to erase that thought from her head.

'No, no. I'm in the middle of carrying out a plan step by step, so there's no need to cause unnecessary problems.'

Beta closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them, composing her scattered mind, and then opened her mouth.

"Why did you attack [Black Money]?"

Beta said, looking at Smile.

"Don't make the excuse that it was simply for money. If money was the purpose, there are many better ways than to handle things so noisily. Above all, we confirmed that you were digging for information about something from the guild master of [Black Money]."

At Beta's words, Lee Shin stood still without saying anything, as if he had been caught off guard, and looked at Beta.

Beta, seeing Lee Shin like that, slightly raised the corners of her mouth.

'It's fine if you don't answer. It'll just be us giving away information, but if this situation ends here without any incident, that's for the best.'

Beta wanted to end this situation here.

That's why she had asked a question that Lee Shin was unlikely to answer, so she could use that as a pretext to end the conversation.

That's why if Beta had known what Lee Shin was thinking inside, she would have grabbed the back of her neck.

'What lie should I tell to make the situation more interesting?'

Although it was a short time, Lee Shin had a strong feeling from the question and answer session with Beta that these guys in front of him were about to do something.

In a short moment, Lee Shin's head spun violently.

Although it was a fact that only Cheon Yuhwa, who had experienced the future, knew, because Lee Shin usually ignored rational and reasonable choices and only chose choices that seemed fun, Lee Shin was very smart.

Especially in the moment when reason and instinct pointed in the same direction, he displayed an amazing wit.

Thump-

'Judging from the previous answer and the current question, these guys definitely came to [Black Money] with some purpose.'

That could be narrowed down to roughly two things.

Money or information.

And Lee Shin was putting more weight on money.

Although it seemed like a statement made to cause a stir, judging from the way she talked about there being many ways to steal money, it seemed like they had come with several plans to take the money in advance.

Well, there was a possibility that it was information, but it was a very low possibility.

Because if that pig-like guy had information so important that other people would invade, he would have tried to secure the information first, not the money in the safe.

Thump-

'In that case, what I have to do now is... find a way to ride the wave of the incident these guys are creating, or to greatly increase the scale of the incident they're about to cause.'

About 2 seconds passed as he organized his thoughts, tapping his thigh with his fingertips.

After that, Lee Shin opened his mouth, using his mask as a cover.

"The reason I attacked that guild... well, alright. I'll tell you just in case."

"......"

Beta was shaken by Smile's suddenly calm voice and looked at Lee Shin.

But even if she faced him head-on, it was impossible to see Lee Shin's expression hidden by the mask.

So Beta didn't know that Lee Shin was smiling playfully, unlike his voice.

'I hope it's the right answer.'

Although he had thought about various things and come to a conclusion, in the end, it was a guess.

Lee Shin opened his mouth, hoping that his choice would bring a jackpot.

"There are guys I need to find and deal with."

Lee Shin said as coldly as possible, but with his eyes, he checked if his words were a hit.

Lee Shin's eyes were directed not at Beta, who was talking, but at Alpha, who was quiet.

It was Beta who had opened the conversation table and had been negotiating with Lee Shin until now.

In other words, the character of Alpha, although she might be superior to Beta in combat power, was inferior to Beta in areas like negotiation.

And as Lee Shin had expected, a momentary tremor passed through Alpha's pupils.

'Bingo.'

At that, Lee Shin gave a deeper smile.

'Probably, these guys' purpose is revenge. And it's revenge or terrorism against a huge organization that requires a considerable amount of money.'

Lee Shin smiled happily at the fact that he had hit the jackpot, and that appearance was seen by Beta as him changing the atmosphere because he didn't want to give a detailed explanation.

"Ah, for reference, which organization it is is a secret. You guys can understand that much, right?"

"......"

Beta was silent at Lee Shin's words, but her silence was tinged with affirmation.

"Now, then it's my turn, right?"

"...Yeah."

Beta, whose head had become a little complicated by Lee Shin's words, thought for a moment and then answered.

"But honestly, I don't have any particular questions now. So I'm making a proposal... I want to make a deal."

"A deal?"

"Yeah, a deal."

Lee Shin nodded.

"The organization I mentioned a moment ago, I'm in the middle of collecting information by searching various Black Guilds to find that organization, but the efficiency is dropping. Ah, of course, it's not just a proposal."

Lee Shin said, taking out a carrier from his inventory and showing the two a part of the goods he had brought from [Black Money] a moment ago.

"What I want is as much information on Black Guilds as possible... if you have information that summarizes the locations and characteristics of Black Guilds, could you hand it over?"

-Yes, that's fine.

At that moment, a man's voice was heard from Beta's direction.

Lee Shin expressed interest in the sudden situation, and Beta frowned and took out her phone.

The same man's voice as before flowed out of the phone Beta had taken out.

-We will accept that request.

"Hmm~ I don't know who you are, but can I assume you're a colleague of these two?"

-Yes, I am a colleague of the two people in front of you. You can call me Joker.

Thus, Joker introduced himself in a calm voice.

(End of Chapter)