The Main Characters That Only I Know

Chapter 39

I couldn’t easily know about the identity of the egg. 

What was inside it, what kind of creature would come out after breaking this shell.

But one thing for sure was that there was an extraordinary being sleeping inside.

“Thank you very much.”

It was a gift from the other side as a sign of friendship, so it wasn’t polite to refuse.

I thought it was already a good deal for me to make a connection with Eden through Michael, but I didn’t expect to receive an unexpected gift.

Well, people or tellers are good-looking and have things to see.

“See you in the library later.”

“Yes. Please have a safe journey, Michael.”

[The conversation with the one who resembles the brilliant light is over.]

With a short message, my body returned to where it was originally across the dimension. 

Baek Seoryeon and Kang Hyerim looked at me with wide eyes as I reappeared, and they were even more curious when they saw the egg in my hand.

“Where did you go?”

“I went to meet a guest for a while. I got a gift while I met him. Here it is.”

As I showed them the egg, their eyes were fixed on the egg.

The snow-white egg, slightly larger than my fist, exuded a sacred aura even when it was still.

“Wow. It’s pretty big. What will hatch?”

“I don’t know.”

I couldn’t find out any information about the egg even if I tried. 

Even if I tried to guess its identity through books, there were no books because the egg was still in the pre-hatching stage.

I could only guess by its size.

“Hmm. Well, if you think of the usual development, maybe a dragon will come out of this egg.”

“A dragon?”

“It’s just a cliché. It’s a rule that you have to name it Mir or Yongyong when a cute dragon is born. The newborn baby will recognize me as its owner and act cute. It’s boring now.”

Well, I said that, but I don’t think Eden gave me a dragon egg. 

Eden didn’t have a good relationship with dragons in the first place.

They regarded dragons, especially ‘red dragons’, as symbols of evil and ominousness.

“Whatever hatches, considering the person who gave it to me, it must be an extraordinary being.”

As I muttered that, the egg wriggled.

“Oh, oh? Yu-hyun! Look! The egg moved!”

“I saw it too.”

The frequency of the egg moving in my hand increased, and then cracks started from the end.

It was a sign of hatching.

“Oh, what do we do, what do we do! It looks like it’s going to hatch!”

“What on earth is trying to hatch?”

Seoryeon and Hyerim made a fuss. 

I silently watched the egg trying to break out of its shell.

The spider web-like cracks spread all over the egg, and soon the shell broke and revealed the new life inside.

…?

“Ow…l?”

“It’s an owl.”

What came out of the egg was a white baby owl. 

It had a small body that fit in my palm and round eyes. 

Its feathers hadn’t grown properly yet and looked like cotton balls.

It tilted its head and stared at me intently.

Hoot.

It hooted and then climbed onto my shoulder with its small wings.

“Oh my god. You’re so cute.”

“Can I pet it?”

The two women reached out their hands, but it backed away in fear and climbed onto my head. 

What are you doing? 

Come down.

“Huhu. It seems to hate us.”

“It’s natural to be wary because it’s just born.”

“But why doesn’t it leave Yu-hyun?”

“It probably recognizes me as its mother.”

I didn’t even think it would hatch right away. 

And what hatched was an owl.

I looked at the owl again as it came down to my shoulder. 

It opened its round eyes wide when it met my eyes and flapped its wings a few times. 

It was a clear gesture of affection.

‘Ha. I can’t believe he gave me an owl as a gift. I can see his intentions.’

At first glance, one might think he just gave me an owl, but I could easily guess Michael’s intentions.

Michael gave me this gift to keep Satan in check.

‘The beast that means Satan is a snake. And owls prey on snakes.’

Owls can see through even the darkness of night.

This was a kind of warning from Michael to Satan. 

He would eat him if he messed with him.

And this guy, he’s not an ordinary owl. 

His feathers are as white as snow and he even has a noble aura.

‘I thought he wasn’t an ordinary owl, but he was a heavenly owl.’

There was a small book floating above the head of the newborn.

There was no name yet, but it said heavenly owl in the race section.

It was amazing that there was a book for an owl, but that meant he wasn’t a normal beast.

‘If he’s a heavenly owl, is he a creature that Eden and Olympus collaborated on?’

If I had to name a representative of this heavenly owl, it would be Glaucos, the owl that Athena, the goddess of war and one of the 12 gods of Olympus, raised.

Owls are called ominous birds in the East, but they mean wisdom in the West.

The owl of Minerva only spreads its wings at dusk. 

It’s a famous philosophical phrase.

He was still a chick and not fully grown, so he was small and cute, but he would look quite impressive when he grew up.

“Anyway, I hope we get along well from now on.”

Hoot.

He made a sound as if he understood my words.

“By the way, we should give you a name.”

“How about Poo-ong? Poo-ong!”

“Are you kidding me right now?”

“Eh. It sounds cute.”

I was sure of one thing: Hyerim’s naming sense was terrible. 

I looked at Seoryeon for her opinion, but she shook her head.

“I think it would be better if you name him yourself, Yu-hyun. You’re his owner, after all.”

“Is that so?”

Hoot.

He also agreed with that and hooted as if to say yes. 

I closed my mouth and thought hard.

It wasn’t like I had a suitable name in mind. 

But I didn’t want to name him carelessly either.

A name is a kind of frame that defines a being. 

If I gave him a sloppy or silly name, it could affect his growth.

On the other hand, a good name, a splendid name could help him grow more.

“Baekhyo. Your name is Baekhyo.”

It was simply a name that meant white owl, literally based on his appearance.

But he seemed happy with it and wagged his body, then rubbed his head against my cheek.

It felt nice to feel his soft feathers on my cheek.

This was how a new family member was added to White Flower Management.

“Oh, by the way, Hye-rim. Did you sort out the rewards for clearing the Worldview this time?”

“Oh, yes.”

The Siege of Constantinople was a Worldview that no collector had ever cleared before. 

It was impregnable. 

So naturally, the rewards were huge.

I received them too, but Kang Hyerim, who contributed the most to the victory, must have received even more.

She probably absorbed different skills or stories than me.

“Can you show me your status window?”

“Here you go.”

I checked Kang Hyerim’s status window.

Name: Kang Hye-rim

Traits: [Swordmaster of Goryeo Era] [Sword-Body Unity ] [Azure Sky Sword Path]

Titles: [Knight without Honor of Holy Roman Empire] [Sword Master]

Stories: [Maid of Orleans] [Apostle of God] [Survivor of Labyrinth] [Kobold Slayer]

Skills: [Three Disaster Sword Technique] [Alzor Mercenary Swordsmanship] [Sense Maximization] [Bright Eyes] [Counter Sword Technique] [Strength Enhancement]……(More)

-Stats-

Strength: Low

Agility: Medium

Stamina: Low

Intelligence: Low

Magic (Qi): Low

“Hmm.”

I looked at Kang Hye-rim’s status window and stroked my chin with a sound.

First of all, there was nothing to say about her traits, titles, stories, or skills. 

They were more than enough for her current level.

But there was one thing that bothered me: the stats section.

“Why are you like that? Is there anything wrong?”

“No, not really…”

I pointed at the stats window and said.

“The stats are very vague. Considering your physical abilities right now, isn’t it strange to divide them into low and medium like this?”

Kang Hye-rim’s physical abilities had increased tremendously by absorbing texts.

She looked like a slender woman on the outside, but she could easily overpower muscular men with her strength alone. 

She could probably break bricks with her bare hands, right?

But her stats were still low.

“That’s… true. It’s weird.”

“It’s not just weird, it’s a big problem. If you display your stats like this vaguely, both Teller and the collector won’t be able to estimate their exact level.”

I knew it already, but seeing my collector’s stats directly made me realize how serious it was.

It would be easier to rank them with alphabets instead. 

If all the stats were divided into low, medium and high, it would definitely cause trouble.

‘Come to think of it, it’s strange.’

The status window didn’t even tell me whether my trait was protagonist or main character or supporting character or even extra.

It was as if it was deliberately hiding information from me.

In my previous life, after the apocalypse, there was a major overhaul of the status window. 

I remember that the stats were clear and detailed then.

‘Maybe it’s that.’

I had a hunch why the collectors on Earth were stuck in a rut.

The status window display had a lot to do with it.

Kang Hye-rim’s strength or stamina being low meant that weaker collectors were also low.

The problem was that the gap between the weakest collector’s strength and Kang Hye-rim’s strength was quite large.

Even so, if they were both classified as low-rank, it would be hard to guess the difference between them at a glance.

Let’s say there was someone who had just become a collector.

He worked hard to absorb the text and increased his physical abilities. 

When he opened his status window with confidence, what he saw was the same stats as before.

What would that collector think?

Oh, I’m still lacking! I need to work harder! Would he think that?

No way. 

He would surely despair after seeing the numbers that didn’t rise even after working hard.

‘They deliberately made the numbers vague to lower the collectors’ motivation.’

They would think that their stats didn’t change even if they worked hard.

Even if their physical abilities actually increased, the system didn’t show any change in the numbers.

Even the skills and story digestion were not properly displayed.

It was a trivial thing, but it had a big impact.

Then why was the system so unfriendly?

‘Something is interfering with this place.’

I didn’t have any clear evidence yet, but I was sure.

It was obvious just by looking at how the status window remained like this until the end of the world and then changed drastically right after.

The more I dug into the irrational system of stats, the more my expression hardened.

‘I didn’t notice it then, but now that I think about it, it was definitely strange.’

Until now, I had only thought of the end of the world as a disaster caused by the collectors’ negligence.

It wasn’t exactly wrong. 

One of the reasons why the end of the world came was certainly the collectors’ dereliction of duty.

But.

‘What if there was another reason why those collectors became like that? What if someone was secretly behind this process, manipulating it?’

If that was true, then there was something else in this world that I didn’t know yet…

‘No.’

I shook my head.

‘Let’s not jump to conclusions. The evidence is not clear enough to make a hasty decision. It’s absurd, but I can’t rule out the possibility that this is a coincidence.’

But, it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.

If, just if.

My ridiculous speculation was true, then…

‘I could see it as an opportunity to use it to my advantage.’

Could a single individual really bring about such a huge end of the world?

Even if many people were involved, could they achieve it in a day or two?

It must have taken a lot of manpower, time, and effort to create that outcome.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

The result that someone had painstakingly built up one by one.

The thought of smashing the crystallization of their blood and sweat made me so happy that I felt like I was going crazy.

‘Ah, please.’

You who follow the end of the world.

You who plot in the shadows to destroy this world.

Move with all your might.

Only then.

‘I will have the pleasure of devouring you.’