The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 83

Baek Hyun-woo, who had been eating his meat absentmindedly, looked at Lee Shin with a flustered expression when he was suddenly pulled into the conversation.

In response, Lee Shin signaled to Baek Hyun-woo with his eyes as if to say, "Just trust me."

All the while, Lee Shin's mind was spinning.

'If I hog this reward all to myself, this guy will definitely go blabbing somewhere. I should include him to make him an accomplice. It's not like it's coming out of my own pocket anyway.'

Having finished his thought, Lee Shin looked at Kim Jae-hyun with a confident gaze that asked, "So, what are you going to do?"

"Hmm..."

Meeting Lee Shin's eyes, Kim Jae-hyun looked up at the sky for a moment to gather his thoughts.

Judging by Baek Hyun-woo's reaction, it seemed there were a few exaggerations mixed into the claim.

However...

'It probably doesn't matter.'

The information Lee Shin had given him was valuable enough to cover the cost of those exaggerations.

Besides, the only things that mattered to Kim Jae-hyun right now were the appearance of a Lv. 3 monster and the various benefits that came with it.

And Lee Shin had noticed that as well.

In other words, this meeting was, strictly speaking, a transaction where Kim Jae-hyun was trading for the information Lee Shin possessed, under the pretext of additional compensation.

'I'll have to contact the young lady about this matter.'

Nod-

"Very well. We acknowledge our mistake and will provide some form of compensation at the guild level. Is there anything specific you would like as a reward?"

At Kim Jae-hyun's words, Lee Shin nodded as if he had been waiting.

"Yes, I don't know what this guy wants, but I have something in mind."

"If it's an item or something monetary like before..."

Lee Shin shook his head at Kim Jae-hyun's words.

"Ah, I'll tell you about that separately. There's something else I want to talk about."

At Lee Shin's statement, Kim Jae-hyun looked at him as if to ask if there was more to say.

Looking at Kim Jae-hyun, Lee Shin spoke a single word telepathically.

-[Dawn]

Upon hearing the word, Kim Jae-hyun's face was instantly colored with bewilderment.

Seeing this, Lee Shin grinned as if things were going just as he'd thought.

'Bingo~ So the reason that Yeonhwa was making those moves was because of [Wonderland]. Well, I don't know what his purpose is, though.'

Lee Shin offered a small thanks to Alpha, who had told him about the existence of [Dawn], and decided to give her more pointers on dual-wielding swordsmanship when they next met.

-I don't know what you're doing with the Yeonhwa, but I'd like to get a foot in the door, too.

-That... even if I am the acting guild master, that's a bit...

Strictly speaking, it was Cheon Yuhwa who managed that area, so it was difficult for Kim Jae-hyun to touch it on his own.

-Hmm~ I was willing to provide the information that Yeonhwa failed to obtain this time, and I was even thinking of introducing some hardworking people if you let me in.

However, the moment he heard Lee Shin's follow-up, Kim Jae-hyun realized he couldn't refuse this offer.

"Haa..."

A low sigh escaped Kim Jae-hyun's lips.

Grin-

Hearing the answer he wanted in that sigh, Lee Shin smiled brightly.

***

Plush-

It wasn't an overly enveloping 'poof-plush,' nor was it a barely-there 'plush-'.

It was a 'plush-' that gently enveloped the body, not too much, not too little.

Like a cloud floating in the sky.

The pleasant scent wafting from the blanket gently soothed Cheon Yuhwa's body and mind.

"Ufufu..."

Just being able to lie in bed like this made Cheon Yuhwa feel so happy she could ascend to heaven at any moment.

However, to fill a slight sense of lack, Cheon Yuhwa reached to her side, took a sip of a latte made incredibly sweet to her taste, and then took a bite of a sugar-coated donut.

"Ufufu... Ufufufufu..."

Cheon Yuhwa let out a happy laugh, as if her lungs were filled with air, feeling a sense of bliss that pierced through the ceiling as she stretched her body out like a star.

The family-sized, extra-large bed enveloped her body.

"Ufufu... sob..."

Gulp-

Cheon Yuhwa was so happy that tears welled up in her eyes.

When she first returned to the past, Cheon Yuhwa thought she was seeing a hallucination just before her death and expressed her innermost desires.

Well, most of it was binge-eating.

However, when the situation didn't change even after a day of sleep, Cheon Yuhwa was finally able to accept the fact that she had returned to the past.

After accepting that she had returned to the past, Cheon Yuhwa had literally run nonstop.

And now, Cheon Yuhwa had taken care of all the things she absolutely had to do.

'Merlin, Oz, and Crowley must be holed up in their respective labs, conducting their own research.'

For reference, the trio of mages had set up their own research labs and experiment rooms in their respective guilds, citing that they never knew when inspiration for research might strike.

The three of them were continuing their research in their private labs at the Mage Tower.

'It seems the others are also growing in their own ways using the information I gave them.'

The information Cheon Yuhwa had passed on wasn't just about the future situation or the strength they possessed in the future.

She had also scattered a lot of information that would help with growth, like various fortuitous encounters, so they would be working hard to make those opportunities their own and elevate their status.

'Seeing as there are no calls for me, it looks like Jae-hyun is also moving along with the plan without any major obstacles.'

Nom- nom- nom-

Cheon Yuhwa giggled as she ate the chocolate donut next to her.

"I've steadily raised my power through training up to Lv. 3, so I can afford to move a little more leisurely now."

Cheon Yuhwa muttered to herself and raised the latte glass high into the air.

It was a toast to her hardworking self.

With that in mind, Cheon Yuhwa did absolutely nothing with all her might.

After all, it was just as important for a person to rest properly as it was to train properly.

Perhaps thanks to being somewhat mentally at ease, she hadn't been having nightmares about her memories of the future recently.

As a result, she was able to rest comfortably for a long 16 hours without doing anything.

'But maybe because I've been doing too much in a day, I'm a little bored.'

Vibrate- Vibrate- Vibrate-

"...I shouldn't have had that thought."

As if reading her mind, her smartphone vibrated softly the moment she had that thought.

'A text message?'

Cheon Yuhwa briefly debated whether to check the message before reaching for her smartphone.

She had planned to rest properly without getting out of this bed for a day, but just checking a text message should be fine.

Swipe-

On the smartphone she checked, the three letters of Kim Jae-hyun's name were displayed.

The content of the message was simple.

-I have something to report. Please contact me when you have time.

Cheon Yuhwa hesitated for a moment.

She debated whether it was better to call or not.

The deliberation was short.

She had nothing to do anyway, and it seemed fine to just listen to what he had to say, so she called Kim Jae-hyun.

Seeing the text made her a little curious about the situation over there, too.

-♩♪♬

"Hello?"

-Yes.

A man's voice, weary with fatigue, came from over the phone.

Hearing that voice, Cheon Yuhwa wore a pleasant, smiling tone.

"Yes, I saw your message and happened to have some free time, so I called. By the way, is something wrong? I can feel the exhaustion in your voice even over the phone."

Kim Jae-hyun was not so dense as to miss the laughter brimming in Cheon Yuhwa's voice.

In response to Cheon Yuhwa's bubbly laughter, Kim Jae-hyun also let out a dry laugh, like a barren desert.

-Ahaha, nothing's wrong. In fact, you could say I'm living quite happily these days. My workload has decreased a bit, so I can get about three hours of sleep a day. Ahaha.

"Ahaha, is that so? That's great news. By the way, you are training properly, right? Even though I only put you in charge of paperwork, you still need to do some basic training."

Cheon Yuhwa was in the best of moods.

Just as chicken tastes best when eaten in front of someone on a diet.

Talking on the phone with someone being crushed in real-time by a waterfall of work, while she was leisurely spending time lying in bed, felt like something was moistening her weary heart.

'Is this happiness?'

Twitch

However, Cheon Yuhwa did not know.

-Ah, you asked why I called, right?

"Hm? I did."

She didn't know that her actions had completely pulverized the small amount of guilt that had been in Kim Jae-hyun's heart.

-It's nothing much, just that Mr. Lee Shin brought some news.

"...That guy?"

Cheon Yuhwa's floating mood suddenly began to plummet to the ground.

To Cheon Yuhwa, the existence of Lee Shin was, in many ways, an awkward presence, like a "chicken rib" (something not great but hard to throw away).

Grin-

And Kim Jae-hyun knew that.

-Yes, I made a decision with the on-site authority you gave me, but I thought you should be aware of it, so I called.

"...What is it?"

With just one word from Kim Jae-hyun, the tone of their conversation completely reversed.

Kim Jae-hyun's smile deepened, while Cheon Yuhwa's voice trembled slightly with anxiety.

-First, there are two pieces of news to report. One, Mr. Lee Shin has joined the plan to clean up the black guilds, which was being carried out through Mr. Yeonhwa. He demanded to be included.

"...Don't tell me you."

-Yes, I figured he could be useful somewhere, so I agreed and accepted him.

At Kim Jae-hyun's words, Cheon Yuhwa frowned in displeasure but soon nodded.

"Huu, alright, you did well. Now that he's found out, it's cheaper to accept him than to leave him be and cause unnecessary trouble."

Kim Jae-hyun had accepted him thinking the same.

Although, it was also calculated that Cheon Yuhwa would soon return and lend her strength to this side.

"Then what's the other one?"

-This is also about Mr. Lee Shin.

"What is it?"

-A Lv. 3 grade monster has appeared.

"What?"

At Kim Jae-hyun's calm words, Cheon Yuhwa was so surprised that she sat up involuntarily and questioned him.

-To be more specific, it's not that a Lv. 3 dungeon appeared. Mr. Lee Shin said it absorbed the magic stones of other monsters and surpassed its original grade.

"No... even so, that's strange."

Although it had only been a short time, about two months, Cheon Yuhwa had already changed many things.

Therefore, she didn't rely solely on the future she knew.

She intended to use her memories of the future merely as a kind of hint.

But the news she just heard was too abnormal.

"Dungeons basically appear in a way that their level gradually increases. For something like this to happen, at least a mid-level dungeon should have appeared when the lowest-level Lv. 2 dungeons appeared."

At Cheon Yuhwa's words, Kim Jae-hyun thought for a moment before speaking.

-In other words, you're saying that something has caused a change in the dungeons that should have appeared in the same way as in your memory, for reasons unknown, because your actions couldn't have had any effect on them.

"That's right."

Cheon Yuhwa agreed with Kim Jae-hyun.

'Then how many of these anomalies have occurred?'

Kim Jae-hyun asked in a low voice.

-Shall I organize the data on the dungeons and send it to you?

"Yes, please do."

Cheon Yuhwa nodded and was lost in thought once again.

The reason for this situation was unknown.

But even if she knew the reason, this was not the kind of problem that could be solved.

'In that case, I'll proceed with the original plan more quickly.'

Establish a system and power strong enough to cover all minor errors.

Having reached that conclusion, Cheon Yuhwa organized her thoughts.

"Jae-hyun."

-Yes, Young Lady.

"That guy, Lee Shin, don't worry about trivial things like information leaking or him being unpredictable. Throw him into the roughest place and work him to the bone without mercy."

-Will he accept that?

"That guy would love it, saying even something close to impossible looks fun."

Originally, Cheon Yuhwa was wary of Lee Shin.

Not the wariness of a dangerous enemy, but a wariness similar to monitoring a troublemaking student to prevent them from causing trouble.

The reason she didn't tell Lee Shin about the future was for a similar reason.

Although, the Lee Shin of the future only teased Cheon Yuhwa and didn't share any information.

In any case, in Cheon Yuhwa's original plan, she intended to only monitor Lee Shin's movements and not use him much.

However, it seemed the situation was not so leisurely.

***

Clatter-clatter-clatter-

Just as Lee Shin had gone straight to the mountains to spend time with the spiders after they parted at the factory.

"Hoo, I've finally deciphered some of the information."

Alpha, Beta, and Joker also returned to their base and poured their efforts into deciphering the data obtained from the factory.

Gulp-

To be more specific, they were tapping away at their computers through the night like new employees at a sweatshop.

Joker mechanically brought an energy drink to his lips while his other hand tapped the keyboard.

Even as both hands were busy, his two eyes remained fixed on the monitor.

A series of letters and numbers; Joker was disassembling and interpreting each one when...

"Joker, come here for a second."

Beta, who was next to Joker, also looking at a monitor and organizing the information Joker had obtained, called him over.

For reference, Alpha, who only had basic computer skills, was away from the two, diligently practicing his martial arts.

"What is it?"

"I think I found something concerning. Can you check this part for a moment?"

Hearing Beta's words, Joker slid his chair over and checked the monitor Beta was pointing at.

"What's this? An exploration plan?"

"Yes."

Beta listed some information above the monitor.

"The organization called [Underworld] that we ran into at the factory seems to have taken down too many black guilds connected to the [Dawn] guys. Well, it seems like they're just taking out all black guilds."

"Hmm, so?"

At Joker's words, Beta pointed to a few sentences on the monitor with his finger and said.

"Looks like the organization's headquarters in Japan is planning to dispatch some people."

"Time and place?"

Joker, realizing the gravity of the matter, asked in a low voice.

"It's written here, but... now that the factory has been compromised, they probably won't use this as is."

"Haa, I guess so."

Joker said with a small sigh of disappointment.

"In any case, we've learned that the guys who felt the fire on their tails are trying to move to put it out."

"Right, but we don't have any clues to catch them."

"Haa, what should we do?"

This was an opportunity.

But they lacked the ability to seize it.

The saying "a flower blooming on a cliff" could not be more fitting for this situation.

Click-

As they were contemplating how to handle the situation, Alpha opened the door and came in.

"Hm? Alpha, what's up? Is your training already over?"

"No, a call came, so I came to let you know."

Alpha said, handing her smartphone to the two.

On the smartphone, the three letters of "Smile" were written.

(End of Chapter)