Chapter 28
“Are you ready, Hye-rim?”
When I asked her, Kang Hye-rim nodded her head as an answer.
Since there were eyes watching us, she was acting as the character of Geomhu right now.
At first, she was whining about how hard it was, but after doing it a few times, she got used to it and did it without any complaints.
No, rather, she seemed to enjoy the reactions of the people around her.
‘But I don’t think she was like this before.’
Actually, it was partly thanks to Baek Seoryeon that Kang Hye-rim found this fun.
In my case, I just dressed her up as much as I could because I needed her, but Baek Seoryeon had a natural talent and passion for this kind of thing.
She put a lot of effort into creating the character of ‘Geomhu Kang Hye-rim’.
She didn’t just stop at how to dress her up.
She also calculated how she should speak or act at what timing, and even how she should walk.
Baek Seoryeon composed and researched all those things, and how amazing she would look to others.
‘It’s truly madness.’
It was a level that I couldn’t even imagine.
The problem was that Kang Hye-rim was also a woman with a lot of imagination, so she actively adopted Baek Seoryeon’s suggestions and tried hard to match them.
A collector full of delusions and a manager full of madness joined forces, and they created a great synergy effect.
That’s how Kang Hye-rim gained a lot of fame in the past week.
‘How much did she gain that her popularity among the general public increased more than the reactions of the spirits?’
And this rumor didn’t just spread among the general public.
Just look at the entrance of the World of Thoughts we were about to enter.
There were quite a lot of collectors who were interested in us.
“Is that the Geomhu they’re talking about?”
“Geomhu? The new collector who’s clearing World of Thoughts like crazy?”
“He already cleared four. Most of them are low-level World of Thoughts, but among them there’s also Labyrint of Crete, which failed even when the Association tried it before.”
“I heard the rumor, but it was true. And look at her appearance and aura. Tsk. Isn’t she very pretty?”
“Should we talk to her?”
“Don’t bother. Look at her aloof expression. Do you think she’ll listen to us?”
I overheard the conversation of the collectors around us, and it seemed like Kang Hye-rim’s image making was working well.
What would they do if they knew that her appearance was all made up, and that behind her silent expression, she was wondering how to look cool?
‘It’s strange. I made her like this, but I feel like punching her in the face.’
Especially lately, whenever she looked at me, she smiled smugly.
I didn’t want to compete with her, but something bothered me.
Well, that’s not important right now.
The most important thing today was the World of Thoughts we were about to enter.
‘The World of Thoughts that Kang Hye-rim cleared so far were mostly places that collectors gave up on.’
They were either too easy to bother clearing them, or they just used them for farming or ignored them.
But the place we were going today was different.
As proven by the number of collectors gathered at the entrance, the place Kang Hye-rim was going today could be considered a major World of Thoughts.
It was bigger and had more rewards, but… it was also more dangerous.
The collectors who had some experience were checking their weapons nervously before entering the World of Thoughts.
‘It’s quite crowded.’
Considering that most World of Thoughts were explored by one person or at most a party of four or five people, the number of people gathered here was definitely large.
Roughly counting, there were about 50 people.
And they weren’t going in separately, but all at once.
‘That means this World of Thoughts is unique.’
I glanced at Kang Hye-rim.
Unlike the other collectors, she didn’t seem very nervous.
The book floating above her head had a faint silver color now.
“Are you fully prepared?”
“Yes. I’m ready.”
“As I told you on the way here, this World of Thoughts is quite dangerous. It’s not for nothing that so many collectors are entering at the same time.”
There were 50 collectors who had some experience.
Even with that number, they didn’t look relieved.
They were worried if they could do it properly, rather than thinking about dividing the rewards.
Kang Hye-rim seemed to be curious too.
“Exactly, what kind of place is it that makes it so?”
“It’s a place where a large-scale battle takes place.”
As I explained to her, a World of Thoughts was not a simple place.
It was a place where anything could happen inside.
Just look at the mysterious labyrinth Labyrinthos.
It was a place where the stories that spread among people became reality.
It was hard to accept it with normal perception.
The World of Thoughts we were going to was like that too.
A place where a large-scale battle took place.
There were dangers everywhere, and you never knew when or where you would be hit by a blind attack and get hurt or die.
And unlike other places where you could enter freely at any time, the World of Thoughts we were going to today only allowed access once every three months.
The most peculiar thing was that once you entered and failed, you couldn’t enter again.
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If you fail once you enter, it’s over.
It literally means that the mark of failure will haunt you for the rest of your life.
“You only have one chance. If you fail, you won’t even have a chance to try again. It’s a place where a single failure is very painful for collectors. That’s where we’re going today.”
“Why did you choose this place today, if it’s so dangerous?”
“Because I think you need some experience, Hye-rim.”
She had reached a stable point by now.
She could have chosen the same path as other collectors, just farming points and getting stronger slowly.
But she couldn’t do that. She shouldn’t do that.
“Hye-rim, you became a collector because you wanted to succeed, right?”
“Yes.”
“So did I. I’m a teller, but my goal is not much different from yours. I want to succeed and reach higher than anyone else.”
And I could do anything for that.
“I think that’s the same for you, Hye-rim. Your purpose and motivation are very personal and full of desire. But I don’t think that’s bad. I actually want to praise you for that.”
“Yes…”
“But do you know that? That half-hearted desires will eventually devour you. That if you really want something, you shouldn’t give up even if your bones break and your flesh bursts. That’s why I’m asking you. Are you sure you can do that, Hye-rim?”
“That…”
Kang Hye-rim couldn’t answer my serious question right away.
“I’m not asking for an answer right now. But you’ll have to answer soon. For me and for yourself. That’s also why I chose this place today.”
As soon as I finished speaking, the collectors who had been waiting started to move.
The white entrance floating in the air suddenly emitted light.
It was a signal that the World of Thoughts that had been closed until now was open again today.
“Let’s go! Let’s succeed where others failed!”
“Let’s see how great this place is!”
The collectors shouted as if to boost their courage and headed to the World of Thoughts.
Dozens of people entered at once, and Kang Hye-rim followed them.
The entrance where people disappeared became an empty space in an instant.
I looked around.
There were not only collectors here, but also tellers who came to watch their contracted collectors.
Some of them gave me curious looks, but none of them approached me to talk.
The tellers were also very nervous and didn’t have time to care about other competitors.
There were 50 collectors here.
If you add up the size of the libraries here, the number of spirits would be quite impressive too.
But all these libraries were showing the same World of Thoughts at the same time.
An unintended collaboration.
And a big stage that was rarely made.
‘There is only one place at the top.’
Who would be the protagonist who would get the spotlight on this stage?
Today was the day when the result was decided.
***
Kang Hye-rim felt curious about entering a World of Thoughts with other people for the first time, after clearing them alone until now.
And as soon as she entered, she was surprised by the scenery that changed in an instant.
Waaaaah!!
The first thing she heard was a huge roar that shook the sky.𝕟𝗼𝘷𝒆𝑙𝚋𝓲𝔫.𝘯𝖊𝑡
Kang Hye-rim realized then that she was standing on top of a huge wall.
The other collectors also had similar reactions to hers.
The warm wind of May that was starting to get hot.
What came from beyond was a giant dust cloud made by hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
‘That is…’
Kang Hye-rim scanned the battlefield without losing her composure in this situation.
She was standing on a wall made of thick walls.
And there were some illusions who were trying to protect this wall.
And on the opposite side, far away, there were illusions who seemed to be invading this side.
Kang Hye-rim instinctively realized what this World of Thoughts was about.
‘Do we have to protect this side from those enemies?’
What made her worry more than just protecting it was the scale of the enemies.
Kang Hye-rim understood why Yu-hyun didn’t tell her about this place beforehand.
It wouldn’t have helped anyway.
And maybe she wouldn’t have come here because of fear if he had explained it in detail.
Kang Hye-rim looked at the other collectors.
They were pale with fear as they saw the enemies who were clearly visible from afar.
The collector who was burning with enthusiasm before, dropped his weapon without knowing it.
Kang Hye-rim swallowed her saliva nervously.
At that moment, she received a communication from Yu-hyun.
-Can you hear me?
“Yes, I can hear you.”
It was amazing.
She wanted to collapse right now.
But as soon as she heard Yu-hyun’s voice, she felt a surge of courage.
Yu-hyun, who was watching the situation from [The Room of the Observer], clicked his tongue.
-I only heard about it briefly, but it’s not easy to see it in person.
“Do you know where this is, Yu-hyun?”
-Do you see what’s around you?
“Yes. They’re all tired, exhausted, and scared already.”
The illusions who were protecting the wall wore armor and spears, but their faces were worn out by fatigue.
If you looked closely, you could see that this iron fortress-like wall was damaged in many places, and there were traces of battle.
What about the numbers?
The illusions on the wall were not few either.
Rather, they were so many that they made her eyes wide open, but numbers were relative after all.
The number of enemies who were trying to invade this place was… no matter how she looked at it, they were more than ten times this side.
It was understandable that the collectors were scared.
“Looking at the time period, it seems like they’ve already fought several times. Where is this…”
-It’s a battlefield.
Yu-hyun’s calm voice echoed clearly in Kang Hye-rim’s head.
-A siege that marked the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Age, one of the most famous battles in history.
The last war where the Ottoman Empire’s army of over 150,000 attacked the last stronghold of the Eastern Roman Empire.
-The Siege of Constantinople.
