The Main Characters That Only I Know

Chapter 99

At first, I thought it was an enemy invasion. 

Then I realized how crazy it was for some lunatic to do such a thing, and when I saw a being appear after the light that tore through the space vanished, I was even more stunned.

“…Teller?”

The one who showed up with the light was a woman who looked like she was in her mid-twenties.

She was hovering about 50cm above the ground, and she was clearly a teller like me.

Her suit fit her body perfectly and was so neat that there was not a single wrinkle. 

Her skin was so pale that it seemed transparent. 

Her hair was braided and tied up in a neat bun, shining with a brilliant golden hue.

But the most peculiar thing about her was the strange wings that glowed like magic circles behind her back.

I knew of a race in the mixed world that had wings like that.

“A Wing Clan?”

At the same time, the Winged-like woman’s gaze met mine.

Her eyes, which stared at me intently, were translucent emerald that reminded me of the sea at a resort.

She landed on the ground and bowed her head to me.

“Are you Mr. Kang Yuhyeon, an assistant manager of the Teller Department?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

The fact that she addressed me with respect meant that she was lower in rank than me. 

But what surprised me more was her existence.

Before I could ask anything, the Winged-like woman introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Celine, a teller from the Support Department. I’ve been assigned to assist you with your teller work from today.”

Yeah. 

That’s right, her name was Celine. 

She was exactly like the one in my memory.

“The Support Department?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

She looked at me as if she didn’t know anything and asked.

I hid my confusion and shook my head.

But inside, I wondered how this could happen.

“I’ve never heard of the Support Department before.”

The Support Department existed to assist the Teller Department. 

I knew that too. 

The tellers in the Teller Department would get help from the Support Department as they rose in rank.

But usually, the Support Department only sent people to tellers who were at least in the middle of their assistant manager level. 

I had only been an assistant manager for a few days. 

There was no way I could get support from the Support Department already.

But then, she suddenly showed up like this? Without any official notice?

“This is a special case.”

Celine answered without hesitation.

“A special case?”

“Yes. You are an unprecedented case in Celestial Corporation who became an assistant manager at an incredibly fast pace. This is almost the first time ever, and because of that, the higher-ups decided to make some ‘exceptions’ for this case.”

“So that’s why they sent me a teller from the Support Department?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Hmm. 

I stroked my chin and carefully analyzed the situation.

I was a teller who became an assistant manager at an unheard-of speed in Celestial Corporation. 

It was natural for the headquarters to pay attention to me.

So they sent me a teller from the Support Department under the name of a special case as soon as I became an assistant manager.

It would normally take a teller who was in the middle of their assistant manager level to barely get help from the Support Department. 

This was almost an enormous privilege.

‘But it’s too sudden to accept it happily.’

In this situation, Celine’s appearance was welcome to me, but I wasn’t someone who would easily accept such a perfect coincidence.

It might seem like they were generously supporting me because they found an excellent teller in their company.

But I didn’t think Celestial Corporation, which forced competition, would give me such a one-sided benefit as an individual.

‘There must be some kind of deal behind this.’

They sent Celine from the Support Department without any notice to me, and it felt like they rushed things. 

Maybe it was because I cleared Ghost Land with Kwon Jia and made a name for myself again in the mixed world.

I showed them a teller work that drew great reactions from the spirits.

They had no choice but to be interested in me.

‘Are they watching me?’

They wouldn’t have sent me help out of pure goodwill. 

If I were right, they would surely have her monitor me as well.

An unintended involvement. 

Maybe she was pushed out by the company politics and assigned to someone like me.

She didn’t hide her dislike and spat it out.

‘I guess this will be interesting.’

She was so bold to say that in front of me.

She probably knew that she was involved in something political and didn’t like it.

“Okay. Nice to meet you, Celine. I was a bit surprised because it was so sudden. But, well, since it’s a privilege, I should be grateful.”

“I’d like to tell you in advance.”

Celine said, with a hint of tension in her eyes.

“This is purely because of the order from above, not my personal will at all. I hope you don’t ask me to do anything unreasonable using this as an excuse.”

“Huh.”

Did she really say that to me?

Looking at her tone and attitude, she must have hated being here and blamed me for it.

An unwanted entanglement. 

Maybe she was pushed out by the company politics and assigned to someone like me.

She didn’t hide her dislike and spat it out.

‘I guess this will be interesting.’

If Celine was suspicious, I wouldn’t mind kicking her out. 

But since the support room had already decided to help, sending Celine away would only bring another support room teller.

Whoever came would surely be under the strong influence of the higher-ups.

Rather, it was much better to keep Celine with me.

‘Besides, Celine is a teller I know.’

I recalled the past. 

The face of a teller who taught me various things with a blank expression and a stiff tone.

A teller who was cold on the outside, but strangely sentimental on the inside.

‘Is this fate too?’

More than anything, this was an opportunity that I could use to my advantage.

Hiding my intentions, I smiled brightly and offered her a handshake.

“Sure. Can I call you comfortably as a junior? Celine junior. Let’s do well from now on.”

“…I look forward to working with you.”

Celine shook my hand with a rigid expression.

The people in our office who were watching the situation made a slightly disgusted expression.

“No matter how I look at it, that expression. Surely, there’s something fishy.”

Especially Baek Seoryeon, who had a keen eye, seemed to have read something from my smile and shivered. 

Hey, can’t you be quiet?

“Is there anything I need to do?”

“Is this your first time doing this?”

“I received some basic training from the support room.”

“So this is your first time in the field.”

“…You could say that.”

The teller they sent as a favor was practically a rookie. 

Well, I was also practically a rookie in terms of my experience as a teller. 

Only my rank was higher, but my skill level was very low.

In a way, Celine, who had just started working in the field, might be the most suitable teller for them to send me.

“Well, you must have learned this and that from the support room, right?”

Celine nodded at my question.

“Yes. You don’t have to worry about that part. I proudly ranked first in the basic training.”

“Oh. I thought so.”

“Huh? How did you…”

Celine was puzzled by the answer that slipped out of my mouth.

I quickly added an explanation.

“Of course, because you ranked first, they sent you to me. No matter what, I just became an assistant. What support room teller would want to work with a teller who has only a higher rank and lower experience than them? If they have to send someone, they would send a rookie who just started working in the field. But they can’t just send anyone who is incompetent, so they sent the best one among them.”

“…”

For the first time, I saw a slight fluctuation of emotion in her emotionless eyes. 

She must have looked at me again for deducing the situation from just that.

“Anyway, I’m glad you came. I was having trouble working alone and needed some help.”

“I am…”

“Don’t be so stiff. It’s not good to be grumpy from the start, right? I won’t make you do anything you’re worried about, so relax.”

The support room tellers usually do the dirty work of the field tellers when they first get assigned. 

It’s called dirty work, but it’s basically handling all kinds of annoying and hard chores.

That’s what Celine was worried about. Of course, I didn’t have such intentions.

‘I can’t trust someone who doesn’t trust me yet.’

First of all, simple tasks. 

I only planned to make her do things that were reasonable and convincing to her.

My eyes naturally turned to Kwon Jia and Kang Hye-rim. 

They were flustered by Celine’s appearance, but they quickly realized what was going on.

I could only move with one collector at a time. 

There was quite a gap between Kang Hye-rim and Kwon Jia’s levels, so we couldn’t move together as three.

That meant that one of them would be left out if I chose one.

But now that Celine appeared, there was no need for that.

The important thing was that depending on who I chose, the collector that Celine would take care of would naturally be decided.

They both looked tense.

I smiled slyly and asked.

“So, who wants to go to the world of thoughts with me?”

Kwon Jia and Kang Hye-rim raised their hands at the same time.

Only Celine looked confused by the situation without understanding it.

***

To put it simply, the person who was chosen by me this time was Kwon Jia.

It was an obvious result. Kwon Jia was still weak. 

Her skills, experience, and knowledge were certainly more impressive than those of an upper-class collector, but the problem was her specs.

She barely achieved the basic conditions with the points she borrowed from me, but it was not enough considering the future tasks.

She needed to become stronger than she was now.

‘Besides, she needs to pay back the points she borrowed from me as soon as possible.’

She earned a lot of points from clearing this Ghost, but it was still not enough to pay off my debt. 

She also needed to get new weapons and equipment, and the huge amount of points she earned from her first fieldwork soon ran out.

It was a pity that the points were consumed so quickly, but there was always a return for the investment. Kwon Jia was able to wield her sword in a much better condition than before.

“How do you feel?”

“…Not bad.”

She was about to say good, but maybe the filter of the cold tone that was typical of returnees kicked in, and she gave a curt answer. 

Not bad for her meant very good for ordinary people, so I shrugged my shoulders lightly.

‘By the way, how is her condition now?’

I glanced at Kwon Jia’s status window.

Name: Kwon Jia

Trait: Infinite Regression

Title: None

Stories: [Liberator of the List] [Tough Outside, Soft Inside] [Dreamer]

Skills: [Fate Perception] [Sensory Amplification] [Unstoppable Will] Sky-Biting God Style

-Stats-

Strength: Low

Agility: Low

Stamina: Low

Intelligence: Low

Magic(Ki): Low

Even if she was a returnee, she was still at the beginning stage, so her skills and stories were lacking. 

Her stats were almost at the bottom, and she only had one trait.

But even if it was just one trait, that [Infinite Regression] alone was enough to overpower any other protagonist-level trait, and there was one more skill that caught my interest.

‘Sky-Biting God Style?’

‘It bites the sky.’

It was a skill that I had never seen before, even with my knowledge of the future. 

I didn’t know everything, but if it was such a skill, I should have heard of it somewhere.

‘Baekryeon.’

[What?]

‘Do you remember the skill that Kwon Jia used in the Ghost island?’

[Oh, that.]

Baekryeon seemed to recall that time and clicked his tongue.

[That was the most vicious skill I’ve ever seen in my life. Even if I don’t remember much from the past, I can tell by the feeling. That skill is definitely one of those absurd martial arts.]

‘Really? I guess returnees are returnees after all. They still have their ultimate skill left.’

[But, she seems to have trouble using it. And on top of that, there aren’t many weapons that can handle that kind of energy. I managed to endure it because I’m me, but mediocre weapons will easily break.]

‘I see…’

Even if she was a returnee, everything was reset at the point of regression. 

But she still used such a skill, which meant that she either received some kind of special favor or it was one of the effects of the trait of regression.

I wanted to ask her directly, but she didn’t seem like the type to easily reveal her secrets. It was also rude to ask such things even if we were allies.

“Hmm. Anyway, let’s go. Let’s finish this world of thoughts quickly.”

“Let’s do that.”

As I was about to open the library with her answer, I remembered something that I had forgotten.

“Ah, right. Wait a minute.”

“Hm?”

“I haven’t opened the gifts from the spirits yet.”

The incident in the Ghost island was so big that I forgot about the gifts for my promotion to assistant.

They would surely ask me how the gifts were when I opened the library, but I still hadn’t opened them yet.

‘I should check them out beforehand.’

I immediately moved to [The Room of the Observer] and opened the gift window to check the contents.

Michael and Satan.

I opened my eyes wide as I saw what they had sent me.