The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 63

That day, the [Wonderland] guild members who participated in the spar were given a day's vacation as a result.

Kim Jae-hyun, whose paperwork had been slightly reduced due to this, was delighted and drank a cup of coffee.

Nevertheless, there were still many things to be done.

After finishing his coffee, Kim Jae-hyun took out the documents from his drawer and looked at them.

Written on the documents were the simple movements of Baek Hyun-woo and Yeonhwa.

'Mr. Baek Hyun-woo seems to be still training after losing to the young miss, and Mr. Yeonhwa is working much harder than I thought. Well, even the young miss predicted that Mr. Yeonhwa would work hard because he dislikes the organizations of the underworld.'

Kim Jae-hyun added a comment to support whatever the two needed without reservation, and then read the rest of the report.

'Hmm, have all the organizations in the provinces been cleaned up already? Well, there will definitely be a need to clean up again, but it's certainly fast. Well, since they're the guys from [The School], their skills must be certain.'

[The School], this was not a term referring to a guild.

It was just a term referring to a place where orphans were gathered and taught various underworld jobs.

Since Kim Jae-hyun had also lived in [The School] and graduated, he knew roughly what the students' level was.

After reading all the reports, Kim Jae-hyun drew a picture for a moment.

The guilds of the light have finished their ranking, and the guilds of the dark are being cleaned up neatly.

"It will probably take about a week to clean up the provinces."

Thinking so, Kim Jae-hyun began to review the mountain of documents again.

***

Screech-

Screeeech-

Screeeeeeech--

***

'Hmm, what should I do now?'

Lee Shin, who had come out after finishing the spar at [Wonderland], went into a nearby all-you-can-eat conveyor belt sushi restaurant and mechanically inhaled the sushi while contemplating.

Everyone in the sushi restaurant was shocked at the sight of Lee Shin eating every single plate without leaving any aside.

Ignoring everyone's gazes, Lee Shin continued to contemplate.

He had originally planned to look around some real estate agencies to find a new house to move into, but the remaining time was too ambiguous, so it seemed difficult to go and see the houses in person.

But it was also awkward to go back home.

Since he had contacted a cleaning company before coming out, his house would be in the middle of a major cleaning right now.

Also, since he was already out, he wanted to use his time as sparingly as possible, so Lee Shin continued to contemplate and came up with a good conclusion.

'Should I go and check what those guys are doing while I'm not there?'

The faces of Eun Yeon-woo and Lee Hyun-seok came to his mind.

He had told them it was a week of self-practice, but human beings were originally creatures that slacked off when no one was watching.

'For now, I'll look around some nearby real estate agencies and check out some properties, and then I'll go and see if they're doing well.'

As he thought about teasing the two, Lee Shin, feeling good, smiled lightly and stood up from his seat.

"That was delicious. I think I'll remember it again."

"...Please, never come back, customer."

Tears were streaming down the manager's eyes, and on the table he was looking at, numerous plates were stacked up in a tower.

For reference, the number of sushi plates Lee Shin ate that day easily exceeded 300.

Although his fuel efficiency had improved a lot as he grew with [High-Speed Recovery], he still ate a huge amount.

***

Vroom-

A considerable amount of time had passed as Lee Shin looked around various real estate agencies, put his current house on the market, and looked for houses nearby.

It took longer than he had thought because Irhegue's taste was much pickier than he had thought.

Lee Shin, looking at the sky that was beginning to turn orange as the sun set, drove his bike to Lee Hyun-seok's house.

Eun Yeon-woo and Lee Hyun-seok felt a sense of kinship, sympathy, and familiarity with each other, who were in a similar situation.

Therefore, Lee Shin's prediction was that if they had continued to train until the dungeon ended, Eun Yeon-woo would have given Lee Hyun-seok a ride home.

"Hmm?"

As Lee Shin was riding his bike up the moon village, his ears detected someone's voice.

Screech-

Lee Shin stopped the bike he was riding on the street and raised his senses using his internal energy.

Then, the voice he had faintly heard was heard again, and Lee Shin unfolded the Thunder Wood Line Step and ran towards the place where the sound was coming from.

Thus, Lee Shin arrived at the place where the sound was heard in an instant.

"Ha."

Lee Shin let out a cold laugh for the first time in a long time, so long that it was hard to remember.

"What are you guys doing?"

A dark alley where the faint light of a streetlight replaced the moon and stars, as the moon was hidden by clouds.

There, Lee Hyun-young was being forcibly suppressed by three suspicious people, her mouth gagged, and tears streaming down her face.

As if knowing that it would not be good for what they were doing to be seen by others, the largest of the people who were hiding their identities with masks came up to Lee Shin, threateningly shouting.

"What, you bastard, get the hell out of here!"

Seeing that, Lee Shin indifferently punched the guy who was approaching him in the stomach.

A gentle blow, as if hitting tofu.

"Keoheok! Keuhaak!"

Thanks to that, the man who was approaching Lee Shin did not have his internal organs burst, but simply ended up with his internal organs twisted.

Lee Shin kicked the head of the guy who was sitting on the floor, vomiting, and then said coldly.

"I'm going to crush you guys a little now. But just... think of it as a bit of bad luck."

Saying so, Lee Shin slowly walked towards the two who were flustered, not knowing what to do.

"I've had a very dirty experience similar to this."

Lee Shin's face as he said that was endlessly expressionless, and the killing intent emanating from him was colder and quieter than usual.

***

"Are you... a little calmer now, kid?"

"Yes..."

Lee Hyun-young answered weakly and took Lee Shin's hand to get up.

Her eyes, which were trembling as if in an earthquake, were looking at the three people who had collapsed on the floor, unable to even breathe properly.

"Hmm? Ah, this? They've gone a little crazy because of the pressure of the killing intent I let out. Their hair turning white is probably because of stress and fear. They probably won't even remember what happened here, and they'll probably spend the rest of their lives in a white house on a hill."

Hearing Lee Shin's words, Lee Hyun-young couldn't easily open her mouth.

"Why did you come out of the house?"

"Oppa went to the dungeon with that person and I thought he would be late, so I came out to do some grocery shopping by myself..."

"Do you know who these people are? Seeing that there's a woman mixed in, it doesn't seem like they came for that purpose."

"They're people who lived in our neighborhood... They said our family had too much and that we should share a little, and then they suddenly tried to kidnap me..."

Lee Hyun-young, although she was conscious, muttered weakly like a squid.

"Hmm..."

Lee Shin, who had been watching her for a moment, lightly tapped Lee Hyun-young's forehead with his finger.

But Lee Hyun-young didn't show any reaction, as if she were ignoring it.

Normally, one would stop out of embarrassment, but Lee Shin didn't.

Lee Shin, as if he had expected it, hit Lee Hyun-young's head once more.

Thump- Thump- Thump-

Continuously, as if to see how long Lee Hyun-young could endure.

Snap-

"Ah! Why do you keep hitting my forehead!"

Finally, unable to hold back, Lee Hyun-young shouted so loudly that the neighborhood could hear, and panted.

In a situation where her mind was already disturbed and she didn't know what to do, Lee Shin kept getting on her nerves, and her annoyance flared up, and tears even welled up in her eyes.

Seeing Lee Hyun-young who was panting and swinging her fists at him, Lee Shin smiled broadly.

"Your punches are sharp. If you've recovered this much energy, you should be fine."

"Huh?"

Hearing the unexpected words, Lee Hyun-young was at a loss for words for a moment.

But Lee Shin, as if not giving her time to think, immediately spoke to her.

"For now, let's go to where my bike is. You said you were going grocery shopping, right? I'll help you."

"Uh... thank you."

"What, no need for thanks. Then, get on my back."

"Excuse me?"

Lee Hyun-young asked back as if to say, 'why is the conversation going that way?', but Lee Shin, as if not allowing any questions, offered his back to Lee Hyun-young.

"Ah, no, what is this all of a sudden..."

"Ah, it's good that I came here after hearing your scream, but I didn't lock my bike."

"S-so?"

Lee Hyun-young said with a confused face.

"Simply put, if I don't go quickly, someone might steal my bike, and there's no way you can walk quickly with your weak steps. So get on my back."

"Ah, no, but still..."

As Lee Hyun-young made a gesture of refusal, Lee Shin smiled broadly and said in a theatrical tone.

"Ugh~ My bike! My bike, which I've been riding since high school and which holds many memories, is being stolen~"

"Eugeuu..."

At Lee Shin's words, Lee Hyun-young, as if she had no choice, got on his back.

Lee Shin, with a 'you're caught' smile, stood up from his seat.

"For reference, if you throw up on my back, I'm going to drop you."

"Excuse me? What does that meaaan!!!"

Lee Shin, without giving Lee Hyun-young time to answer, unfolded the Thunder Wood Line Step and jumped high from that spot.

At Lee Shin's sudden movement, Lee Hyun-young was startled and screamed, but the scream did not last long.

The house where Lee Hyun-seok and Lee Hyun-young lived was in a moon village carved out of a mountain.

So the night view of the city was quite visible, but Lee Hyun-young thought that the night view she was seeing now was more beautiful than any night view she had ever seen.

"Wow..."

As Lee Hyun-young was a little moved by the beautiful night view, Lee Shin said with a voice mixed with laughter.

"Hold on tight."

"Excuse me?"

Lee Shin, leaving only those words, unfolded the Thunder Wood Line Step to its limit and moved as splendidly as possible.

Thanks to that, Lee Hyun-young, feeling as if she were on a roller coaster for the first time in her life, couldn't come to her senses and just screamed.

At that, Lee Shin, satisfied, smiled and deliberately did not run straight to where the bike was, tormenting Lee Hyun-young.

"Now~ We've arrived!"

"I... I think I'm going to die..."

Thanks to that, when Lee Shin arrived at the place where the motorcycle was, the night view of the city that she had seen at first had faded in her mind.

...And so had what had happened in the dark alley.

"Now, then, since we're going grocery shopping, get on the back."

Seeing Lee Hyun-young who had not yet calmed her breathing, Lee Shin smiled broadly.

"Someday... you'll die from being hit by me."

Lee Hyun-young said and got on Lee Shin's bike.

"Say that after you become a player first. And I want to eat pork belly today."

"...Oppa, are you going to eat before you go?"

"Yeah, and while we're grocery shopping, I have a favor to ask you."

"What is it..."

At Lee Hyun-young's soft words, Lee Shin said with a smile.

"I'll tell you at the supermarket."

After saying that, Lee Shin started the bike and moved to where the supermarket was.

Lee Hyun-young, telling herself it was to avoid the wind, hugged Lee Shin's back.

The back of a stranger she had hugged for the first time in her life was bigger and more reliable than she had thought.

(End of Chapter)