The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 84

"Wow~ Have you been well? Is the interpretation of the data you got from the factory going well?"

"Yes, the interpretation of the data is proceeding smoothly. Hahaha..."

Joker said, but he let out an awkward laugh because something was awkward.

A strange man's voice from over the phone spoke in a familiar tone.

At that, not only Joker, who was the one having the conversation, but also Alpha and Beta, who were listening from the side, had strange expressions.

It was strange for them to have someone they could call a colleague, as they had always been just the three of them.

"By the way, you're contacting me later than I thought. I thought you would contact me around last night."

"I was also doing some work while you guys were playing."

Joker thought he was still the same person and drank the energy drink next to him.

"By the way, the fact that you called like this, do you want to start sharing the interpreted data? If so, the timing is good. I just got some useful information."

But at Joker's words, Lee Shin shook his head.

"Ah, I didn't call because of the information. No, I will talk about the information, but I have a more important matter."

"Hmm, what is it?"

Joker couldn't guess what Lee Shin was trying to say, so he asked the other two who were listening to the conversation with his expression.

'Do you have any idea what he's going to talk about?'

'No.'

'None.'

But there was no particularly useful harvest.

"Hmm, well, since we're on the topic, can you tell me about that useful information first? I think it would be easier to proceed with the story that way."

"Yes, well. That's fine. First, since the interpretation is still in progress, let's just talk about the information we've obtained so far."

At Lee Shin's words, Joker looked at the letters on the monitor and calmly opened his mouth.

"...There were the names and a list of some of the organization members, the reason why [Dawn] extended its hand to Korea, and one plan."

"A plan?"

"Yes, it seems that the guys called [Underworld] that we met at the factory hunted too many of the Black Guilds that [Dawn] had made connections with, so the headquarters of [Dawn] is planning to send people here."

"Hmm, really? It seems the timing of my call was good, just as you said."

Lee Shin said, humming, in a voice mixed with laughter.

"Now, then, this is where my main point begins. It could be a serious talk, so I hope you'll think carefully and answer."

Lee Shin lowered his voice slightly and asked.

"Do you guys still want to get revenge after seeing that data?"

"Yes?"

"No, is this the wrong way to express it? Then you guys... realistically, how long do you think it will take to complete your revenge?"

"......"

At Lee Shin's words, the three couldn't say anything, as if they had been poked in an unexpected spot.

"You must have learned something about the vague enemy, so you must have realized."

But Lee Shin continued to speak alone, as if it didn't matter.

"Compared to the enemy's total strength, the power you guys have is too insignificant."

Hahaha-

Lee Shin laughed cynically, as if he had seen an absurd black comedy.

In fact, this was a black comedy and at the same time a terribly realistic story.

He had heard about their circumstances roughly through Alpha.

But while they were preparing in various ways, [Dawn] was not playing around.

Of course, [Dawn] would also have continued to grow by pouring in time and capital.

And their one step was clearly wider than the step the three had taken, struggling to survive.

"It's absurd, but such situations happen sometimes. When you can't accurately gauge the enemy's strength, you try, but when you face the overwhelming information obtained through that effort, your heart breaks."

"...I don't know what you're trying to say, but our will is the same."

Joker was speaking using honorifics, but it contained a cold hostility.

Of course, it had to be.

Because what Lee Shin was touching now was their sore spot.

"Hmm, to put it simply, I'm telling you to look at reality. You guys must have understood since you checked the information."

The laughter stopped.

But the laughter in Lee Shin's voice had not yet disappeared and was piercing their ears.

"I don't know for sure, but you guys must have tried incredibly hard. Literally, you must have grown to your current level thanks to your efforts, reducing your sleeping time. But..."

Lee Shin said, and gave a brief pause in the story.

As if to emphasize what he was about to say.

"With that, you can only follow behind. The possibility of succeeding in your revenge is infinitely close to the bottom."

"What are you trying to say?"

Heejuk-

"Well, don't be like that. I'm saying this because I'm worried."

Lee Shin, hearing the suppressed hostility in Joker's voice, lightly laughed it off.

"If I were still in a simple business relationship with you guys like at the beginning, I wouldn't have cared how much you guys grinded away for the goal of revenge. But it's not like that anymore, is it?"

Only after hearing Lee Shin's words did Joker realize he had gotten too excited and took a small, deep breath.

"Now that we're allies, it would be a little much for me to just leave you guys like that. I also personally like you guys and want you to succeed in your revenge."

"Yes..."

At Joker's subdued answer, Lee Shin said with a smile.

"So I'll just ask you one thing."

The power contained in Lee Shin's voice coming from over the phone had not changed at all from when they had first met.

A voice that seemed to play with a person's heart as it wished.

"Are you willing to give up your ideals and compromise with reality to achieve the revenge you want?"

An infinitely playful but strangely reliable voice.

***

Beep-

Lee Shin, who had successfully finished his conversation with Joker, said, looking at Kim Jae-hyun who was reviewing numerous documents next to him.

"We're meeting at 12 tonight, is that time okay?"

"Yes, it doesn't matter. I don't sleep well at night recently anyway."

Kim Jae-hyun answered, but inside, he was thinking that the current situation was quite strange.

Kim Jae-hyun was using not only his five senses but also his sixth sense to review and process the documents, but a part of his vision was intermittently directed at Lee Shin.

That's why he could see the shape of Lee Shin's mouth.

'To think the name Joker would come up here... well, there's a possibility that someone else is using that name, but seeing that he's involved with [Dawn], it's probably the person the young miss was talking about.'

The future information Kim Jae-hyun had heard from Cheon Yuhwa also included information about a man who had single-handedly overthrown a part of a country.

The name of the man who had brought down the guild with thorough movements, as if a single wolf were hunting, was 'Joker', and the name of the fallen guild was [Dawn].

'Haa, should I call this fate or coincidence.'

Kim Jae-hyun took his eyes off the documents for a moment and looked at Lee Shin.

'It seems that including Mr. Lee Shin in the plan wasn't such a bad choice after all.'

"Hmm~ by the way~"

Unaware of Kim Jae-hyun's thoughts, Lee Shin looked at the person in front of him as if he were very dissatisfied.

"It's been a while. Is this the first time since we saw each other at the masked party on a moonlit night?"

"That's not for you to say."

Yeonhwa said in a cold tone, looking at Lee Shin who was smiling broadly at him.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, and don't open your mouth to me. I'm having a hard time holding back from swinging my sword at you right now."

Yeonhwa said, and then closed his eyes and suppressed his emotions, recalling the reason why he had to be like this.

His mother's comfortable life and the martial arts that his future self had continuously built up.

There were various other things, but compared to the two things mentioned earlier, they were not very important.

But it was undeniable that he had received too much and too many things from Cheon Yuhwa.

And for Yeonhwa's pride, it was very unpleasant to be in a state of continuous debt.

Because it reminded him of the shameless beasts of the past.

That's why Yeonhwa was helping Cheon Yuhwa, enduring the annoyance and inconvenience.

Lee Shin, seeing Yeonhwa who was constantly explaining to himself why he shouldn't cut him down as if a monk were chanting a prayer, laughed as if it were funny.

Lee Shin's unique laugh that scratched at a person's heart pierced Yeonhwa's ears, but Yeonhwa endured it.

"Shall we have a spar after a long time?"

"......"

But he couldn't just let the last words slide.

"I'm saying this because I can roughly guess what you're thinking. With this, you'll have no problem, right?"

"......"

It was the correct answer.

Lee Shin looked at Yeonhwa as if to say, 'what are you going to do about it'.

"Now, well, there was such a thing in the past, but I also had my own circumstances. In the end, neither you nor I had any particular loss."

"......"

"So let's just have a go at it this time and let it all out."

"......"

"How about it?"

Thwack-

Yeonhwa said, ignoring the hand Lee Shin had extended.

"Alright, come at me right now."

Grin-

Yeonhwa said, and smiled brightly as if a flower were in full bloom.

What appeared from the fully bloomed flower was a single, sharply refined sword.

"As you already know, don't think you can end this in one piece. It won't end until you're crawling on the floor like a worm."

"If you can, then by all means. This time, there's no one to interfere because it's dangerous, so be careful."

Lee Shin also smiled, and Yeonhwa also smiled.

Kim Jae-hyun, who had become tired from seeing the smiles of the two, let out a soft sigh and stood up.

"I will prepare a place for the spar. If I guide you to the training room, the training room will be completely destroyed, so I'm thinking of a dungeon, is that okay?"

"I don't mind."

"Me neither."

"Then I will search for a nearby dungeon and start the control work so that other people can't enter. Since it seems neither of you want your names or faces to be known."

Saying so, Kim Jae-hyun naturally started to call somewhere.

It was the moment when his competence was imprinted in the minds of both him and her.

Chills-

It was also the moment that was the starting point for his workload to increase even more.

(End of Chapter)