The Main Characters That Only I Know

Chapter 91

I visited Ghost Island once before, and I saw many other collectors besides us.

Yeah, there were collectors in the world of thoughts.

That was not strange.

It was natural for collectors to enter the world of thoughts.

But, it was suspicious that there were people on this island.

“What’s going on? I see a lot of unfamiliar faces.”

Kwon Jia seemed to have the same thought as me, and she spoke with a slightly wary tone.

I nodded and glanced at the collectors who were wandering around.

Until recently, this place was quiet and had no visitors.

But, today, there were unusually many collectors.

Was it just a coincidence?

‘No way.’

The books floating above the heads of the collectors who were looking at us with strange eyes.

The answer was right there.

I quickly grabbed a few of their books and flipped through the pages.

They had a lot of content, but I only had to read the parts I wanted, so it was not too hard.

Thud.

I closed the book that only I could see and returned it to its original owner.

I immediately realized what was going on.

“It’s a checkmate.”

“A checkmate? No way…”

“Their target is not you, Miss Jia. It’s me, and the White Flower Management.”

In fact, I already knew that there were more eyes watching our White Flower Management after the duel.

Among those gazes, there were some who had bad intentions besides those who were simply curious about us.

“Those bastards. They are sent by the giant clans.”

“The clans sent them? For what purpose? I don’t remember such a thing in my memory…”

Her cold eyes turned to me.

“It’s you.”

“Like I said, don’t call me that.”

“What did you do before you made a contract with me?”

“Didn’t you hear the rumors?”

“That…”

I understood her reaction.

She had repeated the same thing hundreds of times, so she didn’t need to listen to rumors.

Whatever she did, her past would have been similar.

But, what she overlooked was my existence.

And the world that had changed because of what I did.

“I’ll explain it to you kindly, since you might not know. Right now, several clans are subtly trying to checkmate our White Flower Management. The reason is simple: it’s because of the world of thoughts.”

“…”

She flinched at my words, but she didn’t react as violently as before.

She probably had a vague idea of what had happened.

I told her that it was true, and that Kang Hye-rim and I had eliminated several worlds of thoughts so far.

Kwon Jia looked around for a moment, conscious of the surrounding eyes, and then asked me in a low voice that only I could hear.

“Do you know what you’ve done?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“The world of thoughts is something that the clans try to keep at all costs. Saying that you’ll destroy it is like declaring war on them. And if they came out like that, it means that they might attack us soon.”

“You seem to know well.”

“…I’ve experienced it before.”

Well, that makes sense.

She must have had some stories about clashing with the big clans in her many lives.

But, judging by her expression, the outcome was not very good.

“You moved too fast. If you had taken some time and done it slowly…”

“Too fast? No. That’s wrong. This is not too fast. You know that we don’t have much time left, right?”

“That…”

“I understand that you’re cautious because you failed before. But you seem to have forgotten something. You were alone back then. But not now.”

“You… are confident that you can fight them?”

“I wouldn’t have done this if I was afraid of fighting.”

The world is wrong.

They don’t know what the real threat is, and that it’s already approaching them.

They won’t listen even if we try to tell them, and they won’t believe us even if we do.

They will dismiss our words as lies and try to get rid of us.

Then we have no choice but to fight back.

We will win, crush them, and make sure they know who’s above and who’s below. Then we’ll tell them the truth.

“Then they’ll have to listen even if they don’t want to.”

“…Sigh. Yeah. That’s probably the best way. They were never going to listen anyway.”

“I need your help for that.”

“It’s just me and Geomhu.”

“And me. That makes three.”

“That’s not enough.”

“We’ll gather more people.”

There are still two more collectors that I can make contracts with.

That means I still have two more spots left, and they will be filled only by people who suit me like Kang Hye-rim or Kwon Jia.

Because I will make it happen.

“Let’s focus on this place for now.”

I felt the eyes of the collectors who were trying to checkmate us and gripped my sword.

“Do you want to fight?”

“They don’t seem to have that intention yet. Then we don’t need to react to them either. Let’s go safely.”

The situation has not crossed the line yet.

And their coming to this island today was not to directly interfere with us, but to subtly pressure us.

We wouldn’t be shaken by such a thing.

“In a way, it’s a good thing. I thought it would be a bit too much for the two of us.”

“…You’re planning to use them.”

Maybe it was because she was a regressor, but she was quick-witted.

Or maybe she had the same idea as me from the beginning.

“Actually, it was too much for us to go to the ‘inside’ alone.”

I didn’t think we would fail.

But even considering that, it was a different matter whether we could do it without getting hurt.

The slightest mistake could put us in danger.

That was the ‘hidden piece’ this time.

“Do you see those people? They’re not moving yet. They’re probably waiting for us to move, and then act accordingly.”

The method was obvious.

They would either catch the Ghosts that we were hunting first, or block or hinder our way to the other side of the border.

Their goal was to somehow stop our hunt.

It was undeniable that they came here for that purpose.

“So… what are you going to do? Give up like this?”

“That’s an interesting provocation.”

She seemed to have hurt her pride just by asking me that, and Kwon Jia ignited her fighting spirit strongly.

She looked like a veteran who had fought for a long time, not a novice who had just finished her graduation ceremony and got her collector badge.

“Don’t hold me back.”

Kwon Jia grabbed her sword and ran into the inside of the island without any preparation.

I followed her closely, as I had been waiting for this.

“Wha, what?”

“Hey! They’re moving!”

“What are they doing! We have to move too!”

I heard the confused voices of the people who were watching us from behind.

But their figures were long gone, hidden by the ash wind.

They probably didn’t expect us to suddenly run out.

“You know the direction, right?”

“How many times do you think I’ve been here?”

As we ran ahead, some Ghosts sensed our presence and blocked our way.

They were phantoms that suffered from endless hunger and naturally sought prey to fill their stomachs.

As soon as they saw us, they moved instinctively and attacked.

Kwon Jia and I increased our speed at the same time.

Kyaaak!

The Ghost screamed and swung its hand.

It had sharp claws at the end of its strangely long fingers.

They covered both sides like wings.

I gripped my sword and defended first.

I blocked one hand with my sword, and stopped the other wrist from swinging by kicking it up.

At that moment, Kwon Jia seemed to know that I would block it like this, and stabbed her sword into the Ghost’s empty body.

The Ghost fell in an instant with a smooth combo attack.

The appearance of the Ghost was not over yet.

It was a minor commotion, but already three more showed up.

Kwon Jia kicked the ground and ran towards them as soon as she saw them.

[Wow. She’s very aggressive.]

The spirits who were watching this scene murmured quietly.

[Some spirits are amazed by her boldness.]

That reaction was natural.

Kwon Jia was a veteran of battle who had fought for a long time.

And her fighting style was very rough, without considering her own life.

It was beautiful and graceful, but subtly efficient, unlike Kang Hye-rim’s fighting style.

She swung her sword.

The Ghost’s body was torn along the path of the sword.

It looked like a beast had scratched it roughly.

Maybe she had a story related to combat that was clear.

The gap between her slender appearance and her fighting style fascinated the spirits.

[The spirits give Kwon Jia collector a generous evaluation.]

[You received 3,200TP as a donation.]

We finished off three more Ghosts and took a breath, when we heard the sound of weapons clashing from behind.

The other collectors who were following us also encountered Ghosts.

The Ghosts, which instinctively detected living beings, naturally targeted them as prey and dispersed.

Thanks to that, our movement became much easier.

“What, what is this!”

“Damn it’s an Ghost! Everyone fight!”

‘Tsk tsk. Who told you to follow us?’

I was a bit annoyed when they first came here, but now I felt lucky.

Thanks to them, the Ghosts’ attention was diverted, and we could go to our destination more smoothly.

Kwon Jia and I crossed the rough wilderness like cutting through it.

A few more Ghosts appeared in the middle, but they were not threatening enough to handle easily.

After all, Ghosts were not that dangerous, they just looked disgusting.

They were only rank 9 creatures that Kwon Jia, who had just graduated, could come to.

But, the inside was different.

Whooong!

As I crossed the slightly sloped ridge, a hot wind blew and irritated my skin.

I covered my face with both arms and waited for the heat wave to pass.

When the wind that seemed to burn my skin subsided, I lowered my arms and saw the sight that spread out in front of me.

Squeak!

Hot sulfur spewed out, making a loud noise and a foul smell.

There was only one path made of wooden planks over the ground made of sulfur, and beyond the path, there was a large building that looked like a mansion.

The building beyond the sulfur path had an atmosphere that seemed like a monster would live there.

“That’s…”

“Yeah. That’s where we have to go today.”

Kwon Jia stared at the building with a much sharper gaze than before.

She was a regressor who had experienced this several times before, so she knew better than anyone how dangerous they were.

The ones we had to face now were quite threatening, enough to make her nervous.

[What’s there, anyway?]

‘The jailers of the underworld.’

People might think that Ghosts are the only ones in Ghost Island, but that’s wrong.

Ghost Island is connected to the underworld.

It’s linked to the River of Fire, so the direct subordinates of Yama, who governs that place, roam around for management purposes.

Unlike Ghosts, who are just phantoms, the jailers of the underworld are not easy to see.

‘There must be a hidden piece hidden inside.’

And the number of jailers who protect the hidden piece is at least dozens.

One jailer can fight against ten Ghosts.

Considering that, they have the power equivalent to hundreds of Ghosts.

And that’s the minimum.

The soldiers of the underworld who guard the list are powerful, even if they are phantoms.

‘And we have to get through this sulfur path.’

There was a path laid out to go there, but it looked old and unstable.

If we step on it wrong, we’ll fall into the sulfur stream.

No wonder collectors don’t come here.

[Then we can’t do anything.]

‘No. There’s a chance.’

[A chance?]

‘The jailers here will patrol Ghost Island from time to time. That’s the only time when the security inside is weak.’

Kwon Jia and I were waiting for that opportunity.

How long did we wait near there?

The main gate of the mansion in the distance opened with a creaking sound.

And as I saw the jailer who came out with a spear in his hand, I narrowed my eyes.

The time has come.