The Main Characters That Only I Know

Chapter 111

It had been a few days since I revealed my identity as a Teller. 

Since then, I could easily check how famous I had become.

“Hmm.”

Genesis Network. 

This place, commonly known as Genesis Net, had a bulletin board exclusively for Collectors.

Most Collectors used the internet, but there were also a few weirdos who preferred this place.

[Rumors about Kang Yu-hyun, the Teller. Is it true?]

[I heard from a Teller I know, and he said it was true.]

[He’s a Teller who gave up his protection? Wow, that’s no joke.]

Even in the Collector bulletin board where there were few people, the posts were frequently updated with rumors about me. 

On the internet, especially in the galleries where Collectors were active, I could easily guess their reactions without checking.

Of course, that was understandable. 

I had shown them that I was different from ordinary Tellers. 

A Teller who talked and worked with Collectors. 

There must be some people who couldn’t believe it even if they saw it.

Naturally, the rumors spread uncontrollably.

‘It’s understandable that people are interested, since the dam that was blocked has collapsed.’

I could feel it in my skin. 

The more people spread rumors about me, the more my story grew bigger, and that eventually came back to me as power.

[People remember your name.]

[Your stats increase slightly.]

The system window told me that my stats had increased.

Indeed, this mixed world was really indeed a mixed world. 

My abilities improved just by spreading stories like this. 

It was no wonder that Collectors were obsessed with popularity.

Fame was not just a matter of vanity, but a tangible reward in this world.

I felt different as I experienced it firsthand.

“Mr. Kang Yu-hyun.”

Just then, Celine appeared in the air and handed me a few documents.

“Here are the things you asked for.”

“Was there anything else?”

“No. There wasn’t.”

“Good. You did well. Rest.”

Celine bowed lightly and disappeared into the air again.

What I had asked her to do was to find out how the clans were moving and their trends. 

The documents she gave me contained their reactions and internal movements briefly.

‘As expected, she’s very neat in her work.’

I didn’t know if it was because of her peculiar nature as a Gikyeok or if Celine herself was originally competent. 

But the data she gave me was quite helpful. 

More than that, I felt that her attitude toward me had changed quite a bit from before.

‘Her tone and behavior seem to be the same as before, but I can sense a subtle respect for me in her attitude.’

At least she didn’t doubt or guard against me anymore, which was a relief.

I analyzed the data Celine brought me and shared my vision with Baekhyo, who was far away.

‘Baekhyo, how is it? What do you see?’

Hoot.

He answered like that. 

At the end of the vision shared with Baekhyo, there was a man who was busy making phone calls to someone else. 

A middle-aged man with a somewhat vile impression. 

A man I remembered.

Jeon Kwang-seok of Hanul Clan.

He was the one who threw insults at Seoryeon and got beaten up by me like a dog on his bad day. 

I wondered what he was doing and focused my hearing. 

I heard his voice on the phone.

-That man is dangerous. You can’t leave him alone just because he’s a Teller. How do you know what he’ll do if you let him go? We have to take some measures right now.

I heard my name vaguely.

I could easily guess what he was trying to do.

‘Bingo.’

Apart from asking Celine to find some data, I had told Baekhyo to fly around the sky and monitor some suspicious people.

The list of people was mostly those affiliated with Korean clans. 

I guessed that there would be someone who would definitely move among them. And that turned out to be true.

‘Well, I thought they would move roughly.’

The clans’ reactions to me were varied. Some were quite surprised, some wanted to wait and see, and some were curious.

But more than that, my existence made White Flower Management grow bigger and bigger, and there were not a few who were wary of our growth.

Of course, depending on their personalities, their actions differed. Some were cautious and wanted to wait and see, while others wanted to do something to crush us as soon as possible.

Jeon Kwang-seok belonged to the latter group.

‘Well, it makes sense that he would hold a grudge against me for beating him up.’

He tried to convince the other person on the phone of my danger. Underneath his actions was a strong hatred for me.

He had only one motive for moving so vigorously. He wanted to get rid of us somehow.

It was natural, considering his prideful personality that didn’t match his abilities. He had been humiliated in front of everyone, so he must have been holding a grudge in his heart ever since.

‘But, it’s useless to do anything now that he’s been caught.’

And even if he tried to do something right away, it would take some time before he actually acted.

Jeon Kwang-seok had no power to move others by himself. He had to ask his superiors for help, and that required time and effort to persuade them.

‘Even if some of them agree with him, we have plenty of time until then.’

That meant we had enough time to prepare.

‘Let them do what they want, we have things to do here too.’

White Flower Management’s growth in the past few weeks was amazing. 

A small management company that people didn’t even know existed had become a medium-sized management or more with an outstanding talent named Geomhu.

As the Hanul Clan’s influence waned, the buyers who had refused to trade with us changed their minds and eagerly reached out for deals.

There was a reason why the clans couldn’t mess with us so easily.

‘Kwon Jia is also getting on track now.’

The biggest problem for Kwon Jia was that her physical abilities were far inferior to her knowledge and skills. 

Normally, a collector had to hunt phantasms in various worlds of thought and absorb their stories, or buy stories from the [Dimensional Shop] to enhance their physical abilities.

But thanks to obtaining the [Water of Mastering Copper] from the world of thought last time, Kwon Jia was able to improve her physical abilities much faster than expected.

She might still feel inadequate, but compared to when I first met her, she was remarkable.

‘I need to go to a world of thought with Kang Hye-rim and Kwon Jia soon.’

I couldn’t keep them separate forever. 

The reason I chose a second was to prepare for the dangerous worlds of thought that I couldn’t clear alone.

If I thought about the third and fourth later, I had to narrow the gap between the first and second first.

To do that, they needed to work as a team.

‘But then, we’re already so famous that we can’t ignore the surrounding eyes, right?’

I leaned back on the chair and glanced out the window.

Thanks to the engraving I carved on the glass, no one could spy on us from outside, but I could see the outside very well from inside.

I saw several reporters and fans of Geomhu in my sight.

‘They’re amazing for keeping their positions for days.’

Geomhu’s reputation was very impressive. 

She showed an overwhelming victory in a duel with a higher-ranked collector, and now Kang Hye-rim had become the most famous rookie collector.

Wherever we went, people followed us with their eyes, and whenever we tried to do something, people reacted fanatically. 

The problem was that it didn’t bring only good results.

‘The clans will be more wary of us and watch us closely. And if they don’t like it, they’ll take action.’

We had to clear the worlds of thought somehow, but the clans wouldn’t leave us alone.

And we couldn’t sneak around either, because we had already attracted too much attention.

It was a dilemma, to say the least.

‘But there is a way.’

There was one suitable place.

It was the world of thought that the Twilight Veil Clan secretly owned.

‘It’s time to use it.’

I remembered an important piece of information that I had unintentionally obtained when I went to meet Choi Do-yoon’s mother and clashed with some gangsters.

It was written that the Twilight Veil Clan secretly owned a world of thought without the government’s knowledge.

‘They bought the land around it under the pretext of redevelopment and drove people away for that reason.’

They were the first ones to discover a world of thought that was created in a place where people didn’t come and go often, and they built a wall around it under the pretext of building a building to monopolize it.

And they hired gangsters as if they were subcontractors to prepare for any possible situations.

They must have thought they hadn’t been caught. In fact, I never heard of such a thing happening in my previous life, so it was certain.

‘So, I have to use them a lot.’

I felt like something fun was going to happen soon, and I unconsciously smiled with my lips pursed.

“Ugh.”

Suddenly, Baek Seo-ryeon, who was organizing the documents, shuddered as if she saw something horrible.

I pretended not to know and asked her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Do you know how evil your smile is right now?”

“What did I do?”

“I’ve felt this before, but you always smile like that when you’re planning something serious. Like you’re dreaming of world domination or something. It looks like you’re thinking of doing something bad, so please warn me in advance. So I can be less surprised.”

“…”

She muttered as if she was used to it by now. I coughed and got up from my seat.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to work.”

“Work? What kind of work?”

“Well. You could call it a preliminary survey.”

I needed to check what kind of place it was before I moved with Kwon Jia and Kang Hye-rim. 

It was too risky to take them both right away, so I thought I’d check out the situation by myself first.

“Do you know how famous you are right now? I’m happy that our agency has grown so much because of this incident, but if you go outside now, reporters will recognize you and stick to you.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Seo-ryeon. Do you see this?”

I held up a hat that I had bought in advance, thinking that this situation would come.

“It’s a hat.”

“If I wear this, people won’t recognize me.”

She narrowed her eyes at my ridiculous joke.

“That’s it?”

“It’s just a hat now.”

But when I engrave it, it will be different.

***

Dal-dongne, a place where people didn’t come and go often.

I stood there and took in the scenery that hadn’t changed much from before.

The lack of people was the same as before. 

The only difference was that the gangsters who used to roam around in groups were gone.

‘Maybe the Twilight Veil Clan withdrew them, just in case.’

They knew I took the vault. 

They weren’t stupid enough to not expect the contents to be exposed. 

So they must have dismissed the gangsters they hired as subcontractors.

‘But they haven’t given up completely.’

At the end of my sight, there was a construction site with a veil over it.

That was the world of thought that the Twilight Veil Clan secretly owned without the government’s knowledge.

‘Baekhyo. Can you check it out?’

Hoo~

Baekhyo hooted with a dissatisfied voice. 

I realized then that I had been overworking him lately.

He was a nocturnal owl, and I made him observe and monitor people during the day. 

Even if he was a divine beast, Baekhyo was still a chick. 

He needed to eat well and grow well at this age, but doing this kind of work would tire him out.

‘I’m sorry. I’ll buy you something delicious later.’

Hoo!

He seemed satisfied with that and hooted happily.

Soon, various things caught my attention in the [Shared Vision].

‘The gangsters are gone, but there are still people guarding the place.’

There were four of them. They were clearly collectors, not ordinary people.

And as if that wasn’t enough, there were more than 100 CCTV cameras installed around the construction site. 

There were no blind spots. 

The security was so tight that they would notice me right away no matter which direction I approached from.

‘I didn’t expect them to stay so stubbornly, even though they were exposed.’

That meant one of two things.

One was that they were confident enough to deal with the government with their own power.

The other was that there was something so attractive inside that they couldn’t give up even if they were exposed.

I was sure it was the latter.

‘This is making me drool.’

There were four collectors guarding the area near the construction site. 

Surely one of them had a story related to detection. 

They would be able to tell by their abilities even if they hid their appearance.

‘But can they see through my [Engraving] that I invested a lot of points in?’

My [Engraving] was very versatile. 

And its power changed depending on how much points I spent, so I was confident that I wouldn’t be detected with a lot of points in my hand.

As expected, no one noticed me even though I entered through the front door boldly.

It deceived the senses and hindered cognition. 

It fooled not only modern devices but also collectors with sharp senses.

‘That was easy. Maybe if they were intermediate collectors, they would have noticed me, but they wouldn’t use such high-level personnel for just guarding the entrance.’

I approached the entrance of the world of thought that was raging fiercely inside the roughly built steel frames behind the veil.

I didn’t know what was inside, but it would be enough to just check it out and get out quickly.

Shwoo!

As soon as I entered, the scenery changed in an instant. 

I couldn’t help but open my eyes wide at the sight that unfolded before me.

“Ha. These guys. No wonder they went this far.”

They were hiding this?