The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 59

"So..."

Merlin, who had heard all of Cheon Yuhwa's story, carefully opened his mouth to summarize the situation.

"Alice, you came from the future a few years from now, and what you showed us is a part of the formula that we will create a few years from now?"

"Yes. That's right."

Cheon Yuhwa said, nodding her head, and then pointed to the paper held in their hands with her finger.

"And that's the proof of my claim."

The three of them looked back and forth between Cheon Yuhwa's face and the paper in their hands, and then nodded with an incomprehensible sound of 'Keueung~'.

"Well, alright. To be honest, it's a little hard to believe, but since there's proof, I'll believe you."

At Merlin's words, Cheon Yuhwa lightly swept her chest.

Because it seemed that the first button had been fastened well.

'But their thoughts must still be complicated.'

So Cheon Yuhwa decided to pull out her trump card.

"And I have a lot of other data besides that. Because I've looked at most of the research data that you guys and unni have studied."

Flash-

At Cheon Yuhwa's words, the three looked at Cheon Yuhwa with intense eyes.

At the reaction that was exactly as she had expected, Cheon Yuhwa smiled in satisfaction.

Because for a magician, the research data of magic, especially the data that their future selves had created over several years, was a topic that they couldn't help but be interested in.

"If you want to know, I don't mind telling you everything I know."

Thump-! Thump-! Thump-!

As Cheon Yuhwa was saying that, they literally stood up with a force that seemed to break the table, and the chairs they had been sitting on were flung far away by the rebound.

"This wasn't the time to be leisurely eating here. We're going to Merlin's lab, which is the closest, right now."

The one who spoke first was Crowley, who had been the most silent.

Crowley, who had always been calm even while listening to Cheon Yuhwa's story, showed an excited expression but calmly assessed the situation and came up with the most efficient answer.

"Yeah, that would be good. Alice, I'm sorry about the food. But I know a really delicious sandwich shop near here. Actually, the sandwiches they sell there are more delicious than here, so let's eat there?"

Oz was trying to be considerate of Cheon Yuhwa even in that situation, but she couldn't hide her excitement and was rambling quite a bit.

"Let's go by car! No, it's too slow by car! Ugh! Why can't I use teleport yet? To have this hold me back at such an important moment!"

Merlin, who had been whining that he was hungry when they first met, was shining his eyes with excitement.

"Wait!"

Cheon Yuhwa shouted, even putting her aura into it to stop the excited them.

"There's a condition for handing over the data I know."

"What is it?"

"What?"

"Tell me."

At Cheon Yuhwa's words, the three urged Cheon Yuhwa to hurry up and tell them.

"First, cooperate in increasing the power of the players. As I said a moment ago, I want to make the players' power as strong as possible to prepare for the coming future."

The three's heads nodded as if they didn't even need to think about it.

"Second, the moment you discover a being that is eating away at the power of humanity, work to eliminate it. Black Guilds, corrupt politicians, criminal organizations, etc.! We'll get rid of the guys who get in the way as much as possible."

Once again, the three's heads automatically nodded.

"Finally, the third is... get stronger."

At Cheon Yuhwa's words, the three's expressions changed slightly.

"The decisive reason I'm telling you this is because I think that all ten kings need to become stronger to be able to twist the coming future. So please try to get as strong as possible."

At Cheon Yuhwa's words, which carried weight.

"Alright, I get it."

"Don't worry."

"I accept."

They answered without any hesitation.

Seeing the three of them like that, Cheon Yuhwa smiled.

Although the time was different, she felt a small sense of relief and comfort that the colleagues in her head were the same.

"Now, then, let's sit down for now. There are things I want to talk about while we eat, and after we eat, you have to spar with me. Ah, I'll hand over the information after the spar is over."

"Hmm? Spar? Not my lab?"

At Merlin's question, which was full of disappointment, Cheon Yuhwa nodded.

"Yeah, honestly, I told you to get stronger, but it's a bit much to just tell you to get stronger without any goal, right? So I'll set a clear goal for you. That way, you'll do your best to get out of your weak state now."

"...We're weak?"

At the words they had heard for the first time in their lives, all of their faces turned a little blank.

Chuckle-

But Cheon Yuhwa was serious.

"Do you know why the other people didn't say anything to you guys and unni?"

"Hmm?"

At Cheon Yuhwa's sudden question, a question mark appeared on the three's faces, and seeing that, Cheon Yuhwa smiled mischievously.

"The first reason is that they were embarrassed that they lost overwhelmingly in the spar with me, and the second is a spiteful heart that wants you guys to suffer too. For reference, I'll take you on as much as you want, so don't worry about that part."

At Cheon Yuhwa's words, the three were able to experience goosebumps for the first time in a very long time.

***

As mentioned before, [Wonderland] had achieved explosive growth and had now established itself as the undisputed number one guild in Korea.

And naturally, the guild members of [Wonderland] received all sorts of envy from other players.

It was a natural thing.

Because in their eyes, being a guild member of [Wonderland] meant that they had outstanding skills, received a huge amount of money, and worked in the best environment.

But as with all things, there is no place in the world that only has good points.

Money? They earn more money than most employees of large corporations.

Time? If they just clear the assigned level of dungeons, they are free to do whatever they want in their remaining time.

Environment? On the grounds that they had to care for the players who were tired from the dungeons, there were facilities in the guild that were at the level of a 5-star hotel's service, and if you were a guild member, you could use all of them for free.

What was the big disadvantage that made people hesitate to enter [Wonderland] despite all these advantages?

That was very easy to find out.

Because when they first signed the contract to enter [Wonderland], the most important condition written in that contract was that.

Mandatory participation in the morning spar.

That was the cause of their suffering.

If an outsider heard this, they might think, 'What? They're complaining about just sparring in the morning? They're spoiled.'

But even if you think that, I hope you don't say that in front of the guild members of [Wonderland].

Because you will literally be beaten to a pulp.

Of course, there was a time when they also thought lightly of this thing called sparring.

"Wow, sparring? With the team leaders?"

"Ah, it's to improve the skills of the guild members! As expected, a first-class guild is different from such a trivial policy!"

"Hmm, the fact that I have to participate every morning unless there's a special reason seems a little tough, but it's just once at 10 o'clock. Besides, even if we spar, it'll probably be over in about an hour."

This is what they had said after checking the contents of the contract when they entered [Wonderland].

Because they had thought so lightly, they had thought about it for a while and then signed the contract without any hesitation.

Grin-

And that was exactly what Cheon Yuhwa had been aiming for.

When the new guild members came in, Cheon Yuhwa welcomed them with a bright smile.

"Now, then, to the guild members who have newly joined our guild, welcome!"

"Waa~"

"From today, you can use the facilities in the guild as you please, so if you want to try them out, you can use them. And from three days later, there will be a spar with the team leaders of each team, so please be sure to participate."

"Yes~"

The guild members, whose spirits were lifted by Cheon Yuhwa's simple welcome, enjoyed the fact that they had joined [Wonderland] for three days while raiding dungeons and matching their teamwork.

"Wow, this sauna is the best... I feel like my tired body is melting away..."

"No, what kind of guild gives out steak for free? It's even incredibly delicious!"

"No?! That's the 10th volume of the super rare manga 'Pure Girl Akira-chan'! I... I never thought the day would come when I would see this with my own eyes! Keuk! I'm glad I joined this guild!"

The top-class shower facilities that greeted them after they came out of the dungeons, the buffet dishes of skilled chefs that filled their hungry stomachs, and various leisure facilities that could reduce their stress.

The various paradises that unfolded when they returned to the guild after raiding a dungeon!

The pleasure they gave seeped into the hearts of the guild members who were tired from raiding the dungeons and melted their bodies and minds.

So there were not a few guild members who lived inside the guild.

Because there were also lodging facilities for the guild members near the guild.

"Hey! You wanna go to the sauna today, get a massage, and then have some smoked eggs and cider?"

"Hmm, I was thinking of watching anime today. Well, I'll hang out with you for a bit."

"I'm hungry, so I'll have a steak and pasta."

After three days, their bodies had become such that they could not imagine a life without the various facilities of the guild after the dungeon raid was over.

Grin-

Just as Cheon Yuhwa had wanted.

To them, who had experienced the warmth of heaven, a hell called sparring came.

"Shibaaaaal!!!!!"

The man gathered his internal energy with all his might and swung his sharp, real sword.

It was an attack that was beyond his own limits.

Even though it was a form that he had unfolded with a tired body that seemed about to collapse at any moment, the sword he was swinging now was the sharpest of all the swords he had shown in the sparring so far.

Because it was the final blow that he had created by scraping up everything.

But as some witches said, life doesn't always go as you think.

Kaaang-!

"Amazing, I can't believe you surpassed your limits at that last moment. I almost missed it."

The man who had surpassed his own limits fell down, hearing the words that pierced his ears.

Even as he fell, his two eyes moved to check the identity of what had blocked his sword.

And he despaired.

'...A finger?'

The man's all-out blow.

It was blocked by the four straightly extended fingers, Choi Seok-ho's hand-blade.

"Since informal speech is officially recognized during sparring, I'll let the informal speech pass. Since I understand you guys, I won't say anything about you swearing."

Choi Seok-ho muttered and looked at the falling man.

"Instead, I'll just lightly tell you what you need to fix."

Choi Seok-ho said and then punched the falling man in the stomach.

"Keoheok-!"

"If you attack with such a big motion while shouting like that, of course I'll notice and block it. So next time, come back after learning how to control your emotions a little more."

A single word from Choi Seok-ho entered the man's fading ears.

"And while you're fighting, cultivate a mind that doesn't waver no matter what shocking things happen."

'You're just pissed off because I swore...'

The man thought and lost consciousness.

Beep-

The video that had been flowing from the huge screen stopped as Choi Seok-ho turned his back.

And next to the monitor where Choi Seok-ho's video had stopped, there were four more monitors with their videos stopped.

The screens each contained the images of Shin Ye-eun, Jo Yu-hyeon, Ja Yi-hyeon, and Ja Yi-yeon.

And the many people gathered in the room were looking at the images of the team leaders shown on the monitors with eyes full of burning emotions.

Screech-

At that moment, one person sitting at the head of the table stood up and wrote on the huge whiteboard.

-11th Revolutionary Meeting Held

"Now, then, since we've finished watching the video, let's start the meeting to defeat those monster-like team leaders and get a bonus today."

At the man's solemn declaration, everyone in the room nodded.

(End of Chapter)