The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 78

Thud- Thud-

Lee Shin, who had been walking for nearly an hour, relying on the faint light emitted by the glowing stones embedded in the wall, stopped and looked at the item he was wearing, [Black Curtain], with a wistful expression.

'Why do the armors I wear always turn into rags in less than a week? They weren't disposable like this when other players used them.'

Lee Shin, unaware that he was treating his body incomparably rougher than ordinary players, just tilted his head.

'Aigoo, if I use this just one more time, it'll turn into a rag and I won't be able to use it. But since it's still holding its shape, I should keep wearing it.'

The [Black Curtain] was quite unpleasant to wear because it was torn here and there and sticky from being hit directly by spiderwebs, but Lee Shin decided not to take it off because the item's effect was still there.

As Lee Shin was making a strange resolution not to buy armor anymore because it was a waste of money, Baek Hyun-woo, who was walking next to him, slowly opened his mouth.

"It seems these guys have prepared properly while we were resting."

"I know, right. To be honest, I was procrastinating a bit with the thought of dealing with them all at once, but it's more than I thought."

Even Lee Shin, who loved a life-or-death battle more than anything, clicked his tongue as he saw the scene unfolding before him.

The floor.

The ceiling.

The walls.

There was no place without spiderwebs, and the red eyes on the faces of the steel spiders were more numerous than the pebbles rolling on the floor.

The sight of the steel spiders filling the huge square and stirring their bodies was like a huge darkness coming to life and facing them.

"Hyung,"

As Lee Shin was admiring the transcendent scene with a broad smile, Baek Hyun-woo tapped his arm and called him.

"Why are you calling me?"

"Over there. Do you see the white cocoon in the distance?"

Baek Hyun-woo pointed his finger at the whitish shape that was faintly visible, wrapped in darkness.

It was a huge cocoon wrapped in spiderwebs.

But the word cocoon was a bit awkward.

Because no one in the world would call a ball of thread the size of a mid-sized car a cocoon.

Kkigigigik----

When Baek Hyun-woo pointed his finger at the cocoon, the guys in the square began to get excited, as if they had noticed what he was trying to say.

"Yeah. I see it."

But Lee Shin did not refute Baek Hyun-woo's expression of a cocoon and quietly nodded his head.

Because what was in front of the two was definitely a cocoon.

"That cocoon is probably..."

"It's probably holding a boss monster that's about to grow, so we have to deal with it quickly?"

At Lee Shin's words, Baek Hyun-woo's eyes widened a little and then he nodded.

"Yes, that's right. Seeing the LV.2 boss like that, it seems like it's trying to evolve to LV.3, so we have to deal with it quickly before that happens. Otherwise..."

Baek Hyun-woo was speaking quite seriously, but Lee Shin's tone in return was as light as a cloud.

"Hmm? I have no intention of doing that."

Lee Shin said in a tone as if to say, 'why should I do such a useless thing'.

"...Yes?"

"I said I don't want to."

Lee Shin said once more to the flustered Baek Hyun-woo at his unexpected reaction.

Kkigigigik---

The steel spiders, not knowing what the two were talking about, watched the two, ready to jump out at any moment.

Because for them, it was advantageous to drag out time and wait for their mother's hatching.

And thanks to that, the two were able to talk without being disturbed by anyone.

"No, no, no. If that cocoon changes safely, a LV.3 boss monster will come out of it."

"Yeah, I know that too."

"Then why are you not going to attack it?"

Baek Hyun-woo raised his voice, forgetting that he could provoke the steel spiders.

He was that frustrated.

At that, Lee Shin answered simply.

"Because, as you said, if we wait a little, a LV.3 monster will come out of there."

"Yes?"

Baek Hyun-woo looked at Lee Shin with a blank face, finding it hard to understand what he was saying now.

At that, Lee Shin looked at the cocoon once and then, thinking that he needed to kill some time, decided to answer kindly.

"Now, calm down and use your head for a moment."

"...Hoo, alright. Go ahead."

Baek Hyun-woo, who had regained some composure at Lee Shin's words, knew that this was not a situation to be having a conversation, but he felt that he couldn't just let it go without hearing him out, so he decided to listen.

"Now, have you ever heard of a LV.3 dungeon appearing anywhere?"

"No. I haven't."

At Baek Hyun-woo's words, Lee Shin nodded as if to say 'that's right'.

"Yeah. If it had appeared, there would have been rumors a long time ago, but there's no such news."

Lee Shin continued to nod like that and then pointed his finger in the direction of the cocoon.

"In other words, the guy over there could be the world's first LV.3 boss monster..."

Cheok-

"We can get a chance to fight a LV.3 boss monster without anyone's interference if we just wait until that guy comes out of the cocoon."

Baek Hyun-woo, who had finally understood the flow of Lee Shin's thoughts, looked at him with eyes that said, 'what kind of crazy talk is this'.

"...You do know that you could die, right?"

When the level goes up, the quality of the stats basically goes up and the power becomes stronger, and in addition, various abilities are enhanced.

Since the level is not yet high, the difference of one level is relatively small, but even considering that, the guy coming out of the cocoon would be a guy sufficient to be called a monster.

"Of course."

And Lee Shin also knew that.

Therefore, he said with a broad smile.

The smile was pure, without a single bit of falsehood or pretense.

"It's fun because I'm fighting an enemy strong enough to kill me, right? What's fun about a fight where I can definitely win and I can definitely survive?"

Bang-!

Lee Shin made his hand into a gun shape, brought it to his temple, and pretended to shoot.

"Enjoy it, like Russian roulette. There's a pleasure that can only be felt when you risk your life in such uncertainty."

It was a rare kindness from Lee Shin...

"Heo..."

But Baek Hyun-woo, who had heard his story, just looked at him with his mouth open.

As if he understood why Cheon Yuhwa had shown such an incomprehensible reaction when she saw him.

Baek Hyun-woo might look like he was having a life-threatening, dangerous fight to others.

But he basically went into a fight with the conviction of his own victory.

Whether rationally or instinctively.

But Lee Shin was the opposite of Baek Hyun-woo.

After judging rationally and instinctively that his death would be there, he was walking into that place.

'He's crazy.'

Lee Shin, who had seen through Baek Hyun-woo's expression, chuckled and patted his shoulder as if to tell him to get a grip.

"Well, I have no intention of dealing with the boss monster and the steel spiders over there all at once, so let's deal with them quickly."

Kuuung-

Lee Shin said, and took out the pile of pipes he had brought when he left the factory from his inventory and stood it up next to him.

"That's?"

"The pipes I brought on the way. I'll be throwing these from above, so you go down and catch those guys."

"You're entrusting me with a pretty big job very naturally, hyung."

"You're not confident?"

Baek Hyun-woo, seeing Lee Shin's provocative, broad smile, smiled like a beast before a hunt.

"It's a piece of cake."

Lee Shin, who saw Baek Hyun-woo like that, smiled lightly and said.

"For reference, if you try to burst that cocoon, this will fly at you, so be careful."

"...Yes."

Baek Hyun-woo, who saw Lee Shin's eyes, realized that he was serious and nodded his head slightly.

His nod was a little awkward because he had the intention of secretly bursting the cocoon when he readily accepted his proposal.

'I see why Alice-noona hates this hyung.'

"Aigoo~"

Baek Hyun-woo let out a small sigh and threw himself towards the hell where the steel spiders were swarming.

Baek Hyun-woo, who had thrown himself, clenched his hands that were falling according to the law of gravity and made a hammer.

Woooong-

Then, the aura moved and created ten huge cylinders behind Baek Hyun-woo.

"Elephant Legs."

Baek Hyun-woo, looking at the steel spiders that were gnashing their fangs as if excited to see him, muttered and brought down his fists.

Kung-! Kung-! Kung-! Kung-! Kung-!

Then, the huge cylinders that were behind him fell as they were and crushed and burst the steel spiders that were below.

Thwack-

Baek Hyun-woo landed lightly on the ground stained green.

Kkigigigik---

Numerous spiders rushed at Baek Hyun-woo, aiming for him.

The sight of the spiders rushing in from all directions created a terrible pressure, as if recreating a scene from hell.

Pajijijik-!!!

-Flame Lightning Divine Spear

-Lightning

-Five Branches.

The golden radiance falling from the sky looked endlessly sacred.

***

"Hoo..."

Lee Shin grabbed the steel pipe next to him, took a light stance, and looked at the scene in front of him.

The hole he had come through was connected to the wall that formed the side of the huge square.

In other words, he was now in a perfect position to throw the pipes.

"Shall I cut the spiderwebs in the air first?"

Lee Shin made the internal energy in his dantian into [Lightning] and flowed it into the pipe he was holding.

From the part where his hand and the pipe touched, five streaks of lightning stretched out, intertwined, and wrapped around the pipe.

Ppudeuk-

The moment the golden radiance wrapped around the pipe, his twisted whole-body muscles were released at once, creating a great explosive force.

He put that explosive force into the pipe and threw it with all his might.

Pajijijik--!!

The pipe, making a sound of tearing through the air, cut the spiderweb that was acting as a bridge connecting the walls and then got stuck in the ceiling.

But it was a meaningless act.

Chyureuk- Chyureuk-

The moment the spiderweb was cut, the steel spiders that were falling instantly restored the broken bridge.

"They even made it stronger than the original."

Lee Shin grabbed the pipe he had stood up next to him again and smiled lightly.

"I guess there's no other way than to kill the guys who are the source of the problem all at once with a force they can't resist."

Lee Shin, who was humming and muttering like that, focused his internal energy on his eyes and enhanced his vision.

To the point where he could clearly see the expressions of the wriggling spiders, the location of the spiderwebs everywhere, and even the surface of the cave walls.

"Agh! That hyung said he would support me, so why is he just standing there!"

Meanwhile, Baek Hyun-woo was rampaging in the midst of the spiders and killing them.

But it was impossible for him to deal with the continuously rushing spiders one by one.

He needed a big technique that could sweep everything away.

Jalgeurak-

The moment Baek Hyun-woo thought so, his aura moved and began to form a shape, and at the same time, the golden bracelet on his wrist resonated.

The bracelet made of three intertwined rings, the unique grade item [Three Fangs], amplified his aura and at the same time helped with its implementation.

"It seems impossible to distinguish between friend and foe..."

Grin-

"Since hyung didn't help me, you can't complain."

Muttering so, Baek Hyun-woo, who had smiled brightly, took a deep breath as if to fill his insides with air.

And the moment the aura of the bracelet created the shape he was thinking of, he stopped breathing in and swinging his fists and stood still.

Kkigigigik--

The steel spiders, thinking it was an opportunity, rushed at him.

But that was the wrong choice.

They should have struggled to get as far away as possible, not rush at him.

The Roar of the White Tiger.

"Uwaaaaaaah!!!!!"

Kwaaaaaaaang!!!!!

The moment Baek Hyun-woo opened his mouth and shouted loudly, the huge white tiger that had formed behind him revealed the momentum of the king of the mountains and roared loudly.

The roar of the person and the white tiger instantly filled the huge square.

The sound was amplified by the aura and then amplified once more, increasing its sound and at the same time containing a slight physical force.

An indiscriminate wide-area attack that did not distinguish between friend and foe, attacking all living things that heard the sound with the aura.

It hit the walls and ceiling of the cave and was amplified once more, returning and digging into the bodies of the spiders.

Peong-! Peong-! Peong-! Peong-! Peong-!

The steel spiders that had rushed to attack him first collapsed.

The main organs such as the heart and brain were concussed and burst by the huge sound that dug into their bodies.

The spiders that were on the ceiling or walls also fell to the floor in agony, and the spiders on the floor could not make any move and just crawled on the ground like bugs.

Even seeing that, Baek Hyun-woo did not stop roaring.

The cave environment was maximizing his technique.

He knew instinctively that this was the greatest opportunity.

A huge sound violence that lasted for about a minute.

"Keoheok! Kkulreok!"

Only half of the guys who had survived it were left.

Because of the aura that had been used up to the bottom in an instant, his body trembled as if it would collapse on the floor at any moment, but Baek Hyun-woo, in order not to show his exhausted state, smiled and looked at Lee Shin who had approached him.

"I've done this much, so I believe you'll show me something too, hyung."

Grin-

"Don't worry. Thanks to you, I think I can show you something hot one by one."

Lee Shin said with a broad smile.

"It seems the time is ripe."

His eyes, which were curved like a crescent moon, were looking at the white cocoon that was slowly starting to crack.

(End of Chapter)