The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 85

"Now, the spar will take place here. The control work is done, so you don't have to worry about anyone coming in."

Kim Jae-hyun said, and sat down on the plush chair he had brought, and began to drink lemonade.

"What? Are you going to watch us fight from here?"

"Hmm..."

The two felt like they had become a spectacle at Kim Jae-hyun's comfortable posture, but they decided to just let it go.

Because they had both watched from the side as Kim Jae-hyun found and controlled the dungeon.

"Now, then..."

The two, who had turned their eyes away from Kim Jae-hyun and faced each other, lightly swung their respective weapons and warmed up.

At that, Kim Jae-hyun also narrowed his eyes and looked at the two with a serious expression.

These two were people who far surpassed the average player right now.

Although Kim Jae-hyun was not a martial artist, there was no harm in watching.

"Now, then, shall I go first?"

As Lee Shin said that, he created flames at the tip of his toes and the tip of his spear.

Flame Leaf Returning Step.

Lee Shin's figure, rushing towards Yeonhwa, blurred and turned into countless leaves, scattering.

In that state, with his presence killed and seeped in, Lee Shin swung his spear towards Yeonhwa.

Like maple leaves falling in the autumn wind, red leaves scattered from each of Lee Shin's movements and spread into the surrounding space.

'He's grown.'

Yeonhwa, seeing that, calmly acknowledged Lee Shin's skill.

It wasn't just that Lee Shin had blurred his presence and seeped into this space.

Each of the red leaves swaying in front of him had become the spear that Lee Shin was holding, emitting killing intent towards Yeonhwa and dyeing this space itself with his own.

"But this is not enough."

Yeonhwa muttered, with the corners of his mouth raised, and took a step forward from where he was.

Toong-

The place where they were was a green field.

But the moment Yeonhwa's foot touched it, the green field turned into a lake, and a single ripple spread out from the center of where Yeonhwa had stepped.

The ripple that started from the tip of Yeonhwa's toes spread out calmly and at the same time strongly, pushing back the leaves that were fluttering on all sides of Yeonhwa.

"Hmm, was it called Ripple Step? That's still annoying."

Then, Lee Shin, who had hidden his figure among the leaves, revealed himself and swung his spear towards Yeonhwa, and at the same time, Yeonhwa also swung his sword towards Lee Shin.

Kaaang-

The weapons of the two clashed strongly, baring their teeth at each other.

'Irhegue.'

Kyuuu-!

The moment the sword and spear clashed, Lee Shin erased the [Flames] and brought out the [Lightning].

Yeonhwa, who had sensed that faint premonition, slightly tilted his wrist.

"If you were going to thrust, you shouldn't have let your sword touch mine in the first place."

Faster than the lightning could wrap around Lee Shin's spear, Yeonhwa's sword moved like the stem of a lotus flower and entangled Lee Shin's spear.

The moment Yeonhwa, seeing Lee Shin whose weapon's movement was blocked, approached and was about to swing his sword.

"You shouldn't be careless."

Pajijik-

Lee Shin's right foot shot up like a flash of lightning and tried to kick Yeonhwa's chin.

But Lee Shin's desperate blow could only achieve the result of grazing the tip of Yeonhwa's chin.

But at that result, the two smiled.

The fact that there was an opponent who could pierce each other's openings elated the two.

"What the hell were you doing in the game, a guy like you? Did you start the game late?"

"No, I started from the first day."

"Then why are you still at that level?"

This was not sarcasm or a provocation, but a pure question.

There was no big difference between Lee Shin's talent for martial arts and Yeonhwa's talent.

In other words, if Lee Shin had started Pantheon from the beginning, he should have reached a similar level to Yeonhwa.

But Lee Shin's spear had not yet climbed a single step.

In words, it was just one step, but the difference that separated Lee Shin and Yeonhwa was not so trivial.

Because the wall that separated the peak (LV.4~LV.6) and the absolute peak (LV.7~LV.9) was so thick and solid that it could not be contained in the word 'one wall'.

'Thinking about it normally, the most likely thing is laziness. But...'

In Yeonhwa's view, it was hard to imagine Lee Shin living a life away from fighting.

That's why he was asking.

What the hell did you do while I was swinging my sword?

Grin-

"Well? Maybe I just stayed deep in the mountains and kept training only the basics?"

Lee Shin gave such a vague answer and smiled broadly.

"By the way, you're talking a lot. Are you scared of me or something?"

Chuckle-

"I was wondering why that mouth was so quiet."

Pajijijik--!!!

Toong-

The two, who had finished their short conversation, rushed towards each other and swung the weapons in their hands without hesitation.

***

'It's strange.'

Lee Shin, swinging his spear according to his instincts, felt a part of his mind go blank.

In fact, this was an absurd story.

The reason Lee Shin had been able to gain some ground against Yeonhwa in the fights so far was because Lee Shin knew Yeonhwa's fighting style and Yeonhwa had been going easy on him.

There was also the help of the environment.

But now, there was nothing to limit Yeonhwa's skills, and as if in response, Yeonhwa was fully displaying his skills and swinging his sword at Lee Shin.

And the gap between the two was revealed as it was.

Hoodoo-dook-

Lee Shin was being cut here and there by Yeonhwa's blade and was scattering a great deal of blood.

Perhaps this daze was a feeling he was feeling simply because he was short on blood.

Grin-

'But I can't back down.'

Thinking so, Lee Shin, at the amusement that suddenly filled his mind, pulled the corners of his mouth and threw himself at Yeonhwa.

'It's strange.'

And Yeonhwa, seeing him, narrowed his eyes.

'He's slowly following my movements.'

It wasn't that he couldn't parry Yeonhwa's sword from the beginning.

But that was only when Yeonhwa was not using his full strength.

As Yeonhwa slowly began to swing his sword with all his might, Lee Shin could not react properly and was slowly cut here and there, ending up in his current state.

That wasn't what was strange.

What Yeonhwa found strange was that Lee Shin, who had been in that state, had suddenly started to parry Yeonhwa's sword without any injuries.

It wasn't the same kind of growth he had seen before.

It seemed more accurate to say that he was gradually starting to predict Yeonhwa's sword.

'What is it?'

As Yeonhwa was worrying, facing an incomprehensible situation, Lee Shin was also worrying about a similar topic as Yeonhwa.

A strange sensation that wrapped around his entire body.

As he focused on Yeonhwa's movements, his whole body naturally moved, parrying Yeonhwa's sword and trying to swing his spear, aiming for an opening.

His instincts, not his reason, told him how to move.

'To think that I can naturally think of how to move just by looking at Yeonhwa's movements, what kind of comic-like...'

No, it wasn't just about parrying Yeonhwa's sword.

Lee Shin focused a little more and watched Yeonhwa swing his sword.

Then, it seemed as if he could see the path that Lee Shin should take in the future, the direction that his martial arts should go.

Like inferring the other half of a puzzle while looking at a half-puzzle.

Kagagak--!!!

"Ha, so that's what it was."

Yeonhwa, who had noticed Lee Shin's state, let out a chuckle in disbelief.

'Was this the identity of the sense of incongruity I felt when I first read the martial arts manual that Cheon Yuhwa had given me?'

-You and that guy? You guys fought a lot in the future. From the first time you met until the last moment.

The words he had heard from Cheon Yuhwa before echoed in Yeonhwa's mind.

It seemed that those words were not a lie.

'To think that he set the direction of his martial arts with the focus on breaking through that guy's martial arts. Was the future me conscious of that guy even in a situation overflowing with monsters?'

Yeonhwa, who had noticed the cause of the change that Lee Shin was showing, pulled the corners of his mouth in amusement and swung his sword.

'The martial arts I'm using now is a martial art that I developed with the focus on breaking through that guy's martial arts. And now, is that guy finding the traces of his future self in my martial arts?'

He walks towards the place where his future self is, using the faint scent he smelled from his rival's martial arts as a milestone.

"Interesting."

Yeonhwa, with a bright smile, continued to swing his sword as if to test Lee Shin to his limits.

Just as Lee Shin liked the moment when life clashed and his heart pounded like crazy, Yeonhwa liked the moment when the martial arts they each had clashed.

That's why Yeonhwa couldn't stand the current situation, the situation where Lee Shin was eating his martial arts to grow his own and at the same time chasing after him, because it was so enjoyable and fun.

Hwoooong-

From a certain moment, in Lee Shin's eyes, instead of Yeonhwa's figure, the back of a man began to appear.

The way he walked forward, thud-thud, was playful, but it had its own weight, and the smile that could be seen at a glance was so bright that it was annoying.

Grin-

'The grown-up me.'

Lee Shin, with a bright smile, fiercely rushed down the path that his future self had walked and paved, and continued to swing his spear.

Lee Shin's spear moved unpredictably, from [Flames] to [Lightning], from [Lightning] to [Flames].

Yeonhwa responded to that and moved his sword faster and faster.

Yeonhwa guided Lee Shin with his sword and at the same time, using Lee Shin's gradually growing movements as a milestone, he also rushed down the path that his future self had created, just like Lee Shin.

Before they knew it, the two began to exchange blows as if they were performing a martial dance, and naturally fell into a state of self-forgetfulness.

One hour, two hours, three hours, four hours, five hours.

"Huh?"

Lee Shin, who had been in a state of self-forgetfulness, came to his senses.

The reason was simple.

The body that had been attacked by Yeonhwa at the beginning was slowly crying out its limits.

'Is this it?'

Lee Shin sighed, feeling a sense of disappointment.

'Haa, it was a really fun time. Well, if I spar with that Yeonhwa guy, I might be able to experience it again, so I guess I'll stop here for today.'

'I was happy to have gained enlightenment in an unexpected situation. Well, if I spar with that guy, I'll be able to get it anytime, so I guess I'll postpone it for later.'

-Kyuuu~ Then can I move now?

As Lee Shin was trying to compose his disappointed heart, a cheerful, child-like voice came from within him.

Hearing that voice, Lee Shin dodged Yeonhwa's sword and at the same time rolled his eyes to check the watch on his wrist.

The time he had been in a state of self-forgetfulness was longer than he had thought, and the clock hands were already pointing to 11 o'clock.

"It's certainly the right timing."

Pajijik-

Lee Shin created a distance from Yeonhwa and then took out the potion he had put in his inventory and drank it.

Yeonhwa, who had woken up from his state of self-forgetfulness following Lee Shin, and Kim Jae-hyun, who had been watching the situation, looked at Lee Shin, who was drinking a potion during a spar, with dumbfounded eyes, but Lee Shin was confident.

Kyuuuuu--!!!

Irhegue spread his wings wide and held his tail straight, then roared with excitement and anticipation.

Lee Shin, at the sight of him, who had grown much larger than before, when he was about the size of a medium-sized dog, chuckled and swept back his bangs, which had come down annoyingly, wet with blood and sweat, with one hand.

Swoosh-

And his eyes, which had disappeared for a moment and then reappeared.

"You show a strange appearance every time I meet you."

They were the same eyes as Irhegue's, reptile-style odd eyes that shone red and gold.

(End of Chapter)