The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 57

Joker, realizing he had become too emotional, lightly composed his breathing and opened his mouth again.

"We're short on money, information, and usable power. There are too many things we lack."

What came out of Joker's mouth was the cold reality surrounding them.

"I know it's dangerous. But unless we take a risky gamble, our revenge will forever remain just a dream."

Beta, who had heard all of Joker's inner thoughts, let out a light sigh.

It was Beta's own declaration of surrender, meaning she understood his words.

"I understand what you're saying. So you can stop talking now."

"Me too."

Beta and Alpha said, nodding their heads.

Seeing that, Joker's slightly stiff expression loosened, and he returned to his original expression.

"For a while, I'm going to focus on gathering information, so there won't be anything for you guys to do. So, take the day as free time, and at night, hang out with the guy named Smile."

"Alright."

Beta readily nodded, but Alpha sat still in her seat, quietly thinking about something.

Joker and Beta looked at Alpha.

Because after she organized her thoughts while looking like that, something important always came out.

"Hmm..."

Alpha, as if she had finished organizing her thoughts, lightly opened her mouth.

"I also agree to making a deal with Smile. But I think we need to handle that person carefully."

"Don't worry about that. I don't plan on fully trusting that person either..."

"No, that's not what I want to say."

Alpha frowned her usually relaxed eyes and shook her head.

"What I want to say is that we shouldn't be the ones to betray him first."

"What do you mean by that?"

Joker asked back, finding it hard to follow Alpha's words.

"Hmm~ This is just my guess, but he probably won't betray us first. I think we can at least trust him in that regard."

"Why do you think so?"

"Because he probably doesn't even care about us."

"......"

Alpha quietly and surely stated her thoughts.

"What I'm worried about is the person named Smile himself."

Alpha's voice, as she said that, was trembling slightly.

"Joker wasn't there, so he doesn't know, but Beta and I faced Smile's killing intent right in front of us."

At Alpha's words, a drop of sweat trickled down the back of Beta's neck.

She had once again recalled the moment she had faced Lee Shin's killing intent.

"A huge and heterogeneous killing intent that makes you doubt it's even being emitted by a person... he must have a past similar to ours, no, even worse than ours."

"Ah..."

Only then did Joker understand what Alpha was trying to say and let out a small exclamation.

"Just as we were, that person must be very broken. So I think we need to approach him carefully."

In Alpha's eyes, as she said that, a faint light of pity appeared.

***

"Hmm..."

Kyuuu-

Lee Shin pondered, hearing Irhegue's somewhat listless voice.

Originally, Lee Shin had no great interest in cleaning, let alone his own house.

But recently, the house was so serious that even Lee Shin, who was like that, thought this was not right.

He had been out a lot recently, so he had been late to notice, but dust had accumulated in various places in the house as if it hadn't been touched by a human hand for months.

On top of that, with the addition of various miscellaneous items that had originally been rolling on the floor, it looked more like a huge warehouse than a house where a person lived.

'Would it be better to move?'

Lee Shin's head, which had been contemplating how to solve this tragic situation, finally reached that conclusion.

Of course, there was also the simple reason that he didn't want to clean.

But besides that, he also thought it would be good to have a space where he could easily swing his spear.

Originally, he had no particular interest in moving his body, but now, he sometimes felt like he wanted to try swinging his spear.

Kyuuuuu--!!!

On top of that, Irhegue also had many complaints about the current house.

Irhegue was created based on Lee Shin's personality and the image he had.

So he had the same personality as Lee Shin and the personality of the dragon in the image he had.

To put it simply, he liked to fight strong opponents like Lee Shin and was as proud and arrogant as a dragon.

Well, it wasn't that everything was the same.

Far from eating the roots of the Flame Lightning Tree, he cherished that place as if it were his own home and was always curled up there.

Kyuuut-!

-Alright, I get it.

Anyway, to put it simply, Irhegue, who had a dragon-like enormous pride, was very displeased that Lee Shin was living in such a narrow, shabby, old, and dirty house. Therefore, he was pestering him to move.

Hmm~

Lee Shin, while showering and eating, continued to procrastinate and contemplate, and then came to a conclusion.

"Well, I've saved up a lot of money, and a lot more will come in in the future, so let's take our time and look for a new place later."

Kkyu-!

Lee Shin chuckled, feeling Irhegue's happiness through the connected line.

"Now, then, shall we go out and take care of the piled-up work?"

Click-

Lee Shin went out of the house to take care of the work that had been pushed back due to his other activities.

***

Click-

"It's been a while, old man."

"Hmm? What, is it you?"

The first place Lee Shin went after leaving his house was Geum Hyun-mo's [Wonderland] blacksmith.

Geum Hyun-mo, the team leader of the 6th team, the team of blacksmiths, glanced at Lee Shin's sudden appearance with a nonchalant face and then focused on examining the leather spread out on several tables again.

"So what brings you here today?"

"What would I come to a blacksmith for? I came to have an item made."

Lee Shin said, repeating the words he had heard from Geum Hyun-mo before, and sat down on a nearby chair.

"You cheeky brat."

At that, Geum Hyun-mo lightly clicked his tongue and put down the leather he was holding.

"So what item do you want me to make today?"

"Hmm, if you look at it in detail, it's not a request to make an item..."

Lee Shin thought for a moment and then asked Geum Hyun-mo.

"Old man, is it possible to upgrade an item's performance while maintaining its performance?"

"To put it simply, you want me to make a normal-grade item into a rare-grade item?"

"Yes, exactly."

Geum Hyun-mo stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and then said.

"Although there are limits depending on the type, it should be possible. I've also leveled up recently."

"Huh? You've also reached LV.2, Hyun-mo old man?"

"Yeah, I just kept hammering weapons in the blacksmith, and my level naturally went up."

Geum Hyun-mo said and then frowned slightly.

"If you understand, don't be a nuisance and just tell me what you want me to make. You annoying brat."

"Hahaha."

Lee Shin laughed off Geum Hyun-mo's scolding and took out an item from his inventory, laying it out in front of Geum Hyun-mo.

A dagger that drips poison, [Poison Bird's Claw].

A one-handed glove made of some unknown leather, [White Hand].

An earring that looks like it was made by carving a black skull, [Black Ring].

"All of them are things that only guys like you would have."

Geum Hyun-mo clicked his tongue and frowned.

"Please raise all of these to rare grade. Ah, and I'd also like to order one piece of armor and a pair of shoes."

"Hmm? Armor? What happened to the one I made for you last time?"

"It was damaged beyond repair, so I just left it there."

"I see."

At Geum Hyun-mo's short answer, Lee Shin's head turned to the side.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No, since the weapon and armor were broken, I thought you'd get angry at me, saying 'You foolish brat!', 'Why did you break it!', but you're quiet, so it's surprising."

"Tsk, what does this brat take me for?"

At Lee Shin's words, Geum Hyun-mo lightly clicked his tongue and said.

"Although I pour my affection into making them, I don't get angry at a guy who breaks them. If it saved its owner, then those guys have excellently fulfilled their role."

'Hmm, if I told him I broke it while sparring with Yeonhwa, not while raiding a dungeon, he'd probably try to kill me right away.'

As Lee Shin was thinking that he should just keep this to himself, Geum Hyun-mo looked at Lee Shin with a strange smile.

"Besides, I didn't expect an inexperienced brat like you to be able to take proper care of it in the first place."

"Hooo."

Lee Shin, amused by the provocation he had heard for the first time in a long time, lightly raised the corners of his mouth, and Geum Hyun-mo laughed, satisfied that he had finally gotten one over on Lee Shin.

"So what kind of armor and what kind of shoes do you want?"

"I've written that down in advance."

Lee Shin said, holding out two folded pieces of paper to Geum Hyun-mo.

As Geum Hyun-mo took them and looked at them, Lee Shin said.

"Please make them comfortable, light, and with a good design. For reference, you can make the empty parts as you wish, old man."

"Alright, I get it."

Geum Hyun-mo, after roughly calculating the estimate, looked at Lee Shin and said.

"I'll call you when a reasonable amount of time has passed, so don't come looking for me before then."

"Ah, then please give me a business card. Come to think of it, I don't have your phone number yet."

"It's next to the table here, so just take one."

At Geum Hyun-mo's words, Lee Shin took out a business card that was on the table, looked at it for a moment, and then placed it back on the table.

At that, Geum Hyun-mo said, as if puzzled.

"Didn't you say you were going to take it?"

At that, Lee Shin lightly shook his smartphone and said.

"I've memorized the number, so I don't need that. Then please contact me later."

Click!

After finishing his words, Lee Shin went out the door.

Watching him, Geum Hyun-mo let out a small sigh.

"He's a noisy brat when he comes, and also when he leaves."

He wasn't a particularly likable guy on a personal level.

Because he was too light compared to Geum Hyun-mo, who had a serious personality.

But as a craftsman, he was a likable guy.

Although the armor was broken, the spear was still being used properly.

Because it was surprisingly rare to find a guy who had the skill to properly bring out the power of the equipment without killing it, and who also allowed the craftsman to infuse creativity.

Therefore, Geum Hyun-mo slightly raised the corners of his mouth and entered his blacksmith.

"Now, then, shall we begin?"

No matter what, his essence was that of a craftsman.

Therefore, Lee Shin's existence, which demanded only the minimum and then disappeared, was a precious existence that allowed Geum Hyun-mo to test himself as a craftsman.

***

More than a week had passed since Cheon Yuhwa had stopped coming to [Wonderland].

But [Wonderland] had no problems whatsoever.

No, beyond having no problems, it was experiencing explosive growth.

Through the teams led by each team leader, numerous dungeons were being raided smoothly, and the byproducts from them were at a level that could be said to be overflowing.

Since the recovery team swept up all the valuable things in the dungeons, the 6th team, where the blacksmiths were gathered, and the 7th team, where the alchemists were gathered, were always repeating research.

The close cooperation and support with the Samcheon Group, where Cheon Yuhwa's father was, was directly linked to the guild's capital power and supported all of them without any gaps.

On top of that, Cheon Yuhwa's knowledge of the future acted as a lubricant, making the organization called [Wonderland] flow smoothly.

Everyone in the world was amazed at the explosive growth of [Wonderland].

But no one knew.

"......"

Swoosh- Swoosh- Swoosh-

That [Wonderland] was able to grow like this because one man had worked continuously, without a moment's rest, like a heart.

(End of Chapter)