Chapter 98
The collapse of the world stopped as soon as they cleared the World of Thought.
The collectors who watched the scene were happy to be alive, but they were also pushed out as if they were driven away.
Only Yu-hyun and Kwon Jia remained.
[You have cleared the World of Thought ‘Ghost Land’.]
[You have acquired 15,000TP.]
[The story of the World of Thought is imprinted on you.]
[You two have shown an unbelievable story.]
[As a reward, you have acquired 10,000TP.]
[You have acquired the skill ‘Bright Clear Index’.]
[You have acquired the story ‘Liberator of List’.]
[Your stats increase by absorbing the story.]
[Your level increases slightly.]
Everything in Ghost Land turned into pieces of white letters from the end and slowly scattered.
Kwon Jia stood in the center and stared blankly, captivated by the sight.
Before she knew it, Yu-hyun approached her and stood by her side.
“I believed you could succeed.”
“You…”
Kwon Jia saw Yu-hyun’s face and turned her head away to avoid his gaze, as if her suppressed emotions were about to overflow.
It was an emotional turmoil that she could not easily suppress even with the trait of a regressor.
Yu-hyun chuckled silently and watched the scenery of the World of Thought that was breaking down from the end, just like her.
Some of the texts that made up Ghost Land gathered in front of Yu-hyun and formed a book.
A new book and a new story that was completely different from the one he made with Kang Hye-Rim.
Yu-hyun hesitated for a moment and engraved a title on the book.
“How do you feel?”
Yu-hyun asked Kwon Jia unexpectedly.
Kwon Jia hesitated for a moment, wondering what to answer, and barely opened her mouth.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know yet?”
“Yeah. I’ve never had anything like this before.”
Kwon Jia had repeated her life several times, but she had never had such a case.
She had never fought with everything she had, nor had she ever won in the end.
As far as she remembered, this was the first time.
And it was also the first time that her heart beat so fiercely.
She looked at Yu-hyun with a slightly flushed face and opened her mouth.
“So.”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t know much about this yet…”
Kwon Jia looked up at Yu-hyun who was standing next to her, clenched her fists with both hands nervously, and said with courage.
“I hope you can teach me more in the future.”
“…”
Yu-hyun was stunned for a moment by her unexpected words.
He was surprised not only by her answer, but also by the atmosphere.
She said that in a situation where only two of them were left in a white world that was disappearing.
‘It sounds like a confession.’
Yu-hyun felt embarrassed and scratched his cheek with his index finger, then relaxed his shoulders and nodded his head.
“Of course. Even if you don’t want to know, I’ll tell you until you get tired, so be prepared.”
“The Sea of Hope.”
Before they knew it, the World of Thought came to an end, and the dizzying settlement finally ended.
[Congratulations. You have achieved an achievement that was thought to be impossible.]
[Many spirits praise your achievement. This has become a standard that will not be easily forgotten in the Mixed Realm.]
[Your names spread throughout the Mixed Realm.]
Having their names spread throughout the Mixed Realm meant that rumors spread as well.
The more rumors spread, the more Yu-hyun and Kwon Jia’s names would circulate in the Mixed Realm, and such rumors would naturally become [stories] that would strengthen them.
[The spirits clap and congratulate your success.]
[You have received 74,300TP as a donation.]
As soon as the donation window opened, the accumulated donation points came rushing in.
They acquired about 20,000 points by clearing the World of Thought and receiving bonuses.
In addition to that, they received additional donations from the spirits.
And on top of that, new viewers came in as rumors spread, or maybe because they were still moved by their story.
Before long, the number of viewers in Yu-hyun’s library surpassed 5,000, which he thought was an impossible barrier.
Various sub-missions given only to tellers were cleared like fireworks.
[Cumulative acquisition points: 182,500TP]
That’s how much they earned through this chapter: 180 thousand TP.
That was just the simple donation amount.
The subscription fee from the increased subscribers, the commission from the stories of the spirits gathered in his library, and the additional advertising revenue from his recent contract.
If they added all that up, it would exceed 250,000 points.
‘I can’t believe I made this much with one chapter.’
This was not something Yu-hyun intended.
It was similar to when I had successfully led the siege of Constantinople with Kang Hyerim, but the scale was much smaller back then.
After my library showed some growth, I was able to surpass the limit and show another extraordinary story, and the rewards that came in were different.
‘If my library grows more, and I show another story of this level.’
Then I would be able to collect even more points than now.
And beyond that, a tremendous reputation.
Of course, it wasn’t something that I could easily do if I wanted to.
Even now, I barely succeeded at the end of a life-threatening tightrope walk.
Maybe, I wouldn’t be able to do it again if I was asked to do it right now.
‘But someday, if I don’t stop and keep moving forward.’
I was sure that I could create another exciting story.
I gripped the book in my hand harder.
The cover of the book.
In the space where the title should be,
[The Story of Dreamers] was written.
***
That day, when Yu-hyun and Kwon Jia cleared the Ghost Land thought world, several clans that were watching White Flower Management were able to obtain one piece of information.
They had heard the news that White Flower Management was aiming for Ghost Land, and they had sent their people to interfere and investigate what they were trying to do.
[Ghost Land Thought World Cleared Report.]
And the people who checked it showed different reactions.
Some were annoyed, some analyzed how this happened, and some thought about the impact this would have.
“They failed when we told them to interfere?”
“Thought world is clear? So, White Flower Management did this again?”
“I can’t believe it.”
But there was one common question that came to their minds after reading the report.
“Who the hell is Kwon Jia?”
They thought that it was Geomhu’s doing again when they heard that Baekhwa Management had caused trouble again.
But when they checked the report that came up, there was no Geomhu, but a collector’s name they had never seen before.
And when they checked the additional information that came in, it was even worse.
Kwon Jia was a new collector that Baekhwa Management had recently recruited.
She had just graduated from the training center and finished her graduation ceremony, and she had just been assigned the rank of ninth-grade collector.
And she cleared Ghost Land, which they hadn’t paid much attention to.
And she did it despite the clan’s interference.
Even the existence of the underworld prisoners hidden inside Ghost Land, and the story of the skeleton general who commanded them, made deep furrows on the foreheads of the people who read the data.
Should they believe this or not?
They didn’t think the report was wrong.
There was no way that personal opinions could be included in this document that had gone through several reviews before coming up here.
That meant that this was an undeniable fact and reality.
‘Was there such a collector? But no one knew?’
‘What is the recruitment department doing? Did they miss this talent with their eyes open?!’
‘How could they just…!’
Even amidst the rage towards those people, the current situation engraved one undeniable fact deep in their minds.
That another great collector had joined White Flower Management after Geomhu.
***
“Hmm.”
I sat on the sofa in the office and took a break.
It was too exhausting to prepare for the next thought world after Ghost Land.
I didn’t realize it when I was fighting like crazy, but when it was all over, I didn’t feel like doing anything for a few days.
Of course, I didn’t take a few days off just because of that.
I only gave myself two days of vacation.
And even during these two days, I showed off my skills in handling various tasks.
‘Well, it wasn’t too hard.’
Maybe it was because I had been running non-stop until now, but even though I wasn’t really resting, I felt rather uncomfortable instead of relaxed.
‘Is this okay?’
I even thought.
I didn’t stop for a day even in the apocalypse, and it was the same after I returned.
Now, living like this, doing my work reluctantly, had become my life.
I felt so anxious when I rested that I couldn’t stand it.
‘If you ask me if that’s bad, it’s not.’
Was it adaptation, or was it numbness?
Whatever it was, I was practically a workaholic now.
For me, taking two days off was something that required a lot of determination.
But thanks to that, I was able to have some chance to recharge, and it wasn’t too bad.
‘But still, I should start moving again soon.’
With that thought in mind, I glanced at the two women sitting across from me.
Kang Hye-rim, who would normally sit next to me naturally, was sitting on the opposite side for some reason today.
And next to Kang Hye-rim was Kwon Jia sitting quietly.
Both of them were beautiful women with wide eyes open, and they were red clothes who had made a contract with me.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that?”
It felt strange to be stared at by them since a while ago.
“Wh-what? What are you talking about?”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
The two of them answered at the same time.
In Kang Hye-rim’s case, it seemed that she had no intention of pretending, since Kwon Jia had become one of the family.
Well, even if she acted as Geomhu in the office, she was no match for the real charisma of Kwon Jia.
“Real and fake?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Real? Fake? What are you talking about, Yu-hyun?”
“No, never mind.”
Kang Hye-rim was the fake concept, and Kwon Jia was the real concept.
But I wasn’t stupid enough to say this out loud.
However, I was bothered by their gazes that kept staring at me since a while ago.
What was the reason?
Why were they looking at each other like that?
No, they weren’t?
They didn’t?
How many times did they exchange glances like this?
“Ah, really.”
In the end, Seoryeon, who couldn’t stand it anymore, sighed and put an end to this strange atmosphere.
“Both of you, stop beating around the bush and just tell Yu-hyun to take you to the thought world!”
“Se-Seoryeon!”
“Ahem.”
Kang Hyerim made a surprised expression, and Kwon Jia coughed and looked away slightly.
I finally understood why they were acting like that.
“Don’t tell me, you two were both protesting to me to take you to the thought world?”
“No, no we weren’t.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Ah!”
Kang Hyerim, who was trying to deny it, was startled when Kwon Jia confidently retorted, and quickly changed her attitude.
“Yes, that’s right!”
“Hmm.”
I looked at their actions and finally understood why they did that.
“Well, it is time to go to the thought world.”
“Right? Then it’s obviously me!”
Kang Hyerim stood up from her seat and pointed at herself.
“You went alone with this ‘junior’ the day before yesterday. It’s only fair that it’s my turn.”
“No. I can’t let that pass.”
Kwon Jia also stood up from her seat and made her argument.
“I’m still lacking. It was my first time in the thought world last time. To get stronger quickly, I think it’s my turn again. I’m still a ‘junior’ who needs guidance. You can understand that, right ‘senior’?”
“Ugh!”
Kang Hye-rim, who received her own words back, made a strange sound like someone who was shot by an arrow, but she didn’t back down.
“No! If you think about the proper order, it’s me!”
“You have more chances than me anyway. It’s me this time.”
As I watched the two of them who wouldn’t budge an inch, I asked in wonder.
“I haven’t said who I’m going with yet?”
Of course, I felt the need.
As the number of collectors I was in charge of increased, I had vaguely expected that this would happen.
What I was doing now was different from a normal teller.
Naturally, unlike a normal teller who covers multiple collectors, I only had two of them, and I was quite busy.
This was a problem that I had to solve.
As I wondered what to do about this in my mind, a strange thing happened.
A mysterious light flowed out in the air between me and Kwon Jia and Kang Hyerim, creating a space.
‘What is this?’
I couldn’t help but open my eyes wide at the sight that followed.
‘What’s going on?’