Chapter 140
“…That’s quite a surprising news.”
Yu-hyun could only say that.
‘I expected something like this would happen someday.’
Yu-hyun had cleared one world of thought after another for the future.
When one world of thought disappeared, a new one would eventually take its place.
There was no known time limit for when a new world would appear, but he had a hunch that it was about time.
“Is it just one for now?”
-Yes. That’s right. Currently, there is only one that is estimated to be newly added. But…
“So you’re saying that more will come out one by one soon.”
-Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying.
Yu-hyun had a good idea why Choi Jung Mo contacted him.
“Do you need the help of White Flower Management?”
-…It would be a lie if I said no.
“I guess so.”
Yu-hyun gave a bitter smile.
The one who would bear the most responsibility for the creation of the new world of thought was himself.
In fact, it was a ridiculous thing to blame someone for something like this.
The worlds of thought existed to be cleared.
Other people might think of the worlds of thought as geese that lay golden eggs, but that was nonsense.
This was not a goose that lays golden eggs at all.
“What kind of place is it?”
-I haven’t checked it yet. They said they would soon form an exploration team and dispatch them.
“You contacted me because you want our people to go with the exploration team.”
-Not right now. They don’t want to share from the first exploration. That’s the reaction from the top.
“That’s interesting.”
Excluding White Flower Management from the first exploration was a kind of check.
The new world of thought was created because of them, but they wouldn’t give up their rights to the world of thought so easily.
From the association’s point of view, they had to hope that the new world of thought would be a jackpot.
Maybe, if it was a decent place, they would try to secure their ownership under the pretext of dispatching.
“And yet, you seem quite desperate to contact me.”
-…Yes. That’s true. The upper echelon wants to monopolize the new world of thought under the excuse of checking it first, but I don’t agree with that. I feel uneasy about it somehow.
“Uneasy?”
-I’m someone who has experienced the field. I’m retired now, but I still have some memories and experiences from back then. That’s why. These new ones, they seem dangerous somehow.
Anyone who heard that would say it was a needless anxiety, but Yu-hyun didn’t.
He let out a very small exclamation when he heard Choi Jung Mo’s words.
‘What a keen eye.’
It was as Choi Jung Mo worried.
The new worlds of thought appeared as if to replace the empty spaces of the previous ones, but that didn’t mean they had similar contents.
Rather, there was a high possibility that they contained much larger ‘stories’ than the previous ones.
The clearing rewards would be bigger as well, but if they didn’t think about clearing, the danger would be much greater.
“What do you want from me?”
-If the first exploration team fails, I hope you can help us when the official order comes down next time. Of course, we will pay you properly.
“Are you sure they will fail?”
-…I hope not, but somehow I don’t think so. Just in case, I contacted the people who are going to be dispatched personally and asked them to check as safely as possible.
But I don’t know if they will listen to me.
“Okay. I understand. If I have time later, I’ll join you.”
-…Really? This is a request, not a compulsion.
“I know. But we have some responsibility too. Honestly, even if we just did what we had to do, someone will surely blame us for it. I’d rather volunteer than let that happen. It looks better that way.”
-I’m ashamed.
“Anyway, thank you for contacting me in advance. I hope everything goes well.
***
“Yes, of course.”
Click.
The call ended.
Yu-hyun slumped on the sofa in the living room of his new house.
He had expected this day to come eventually, but he never thought it would be so soon.
He would be lying if he said he wasn’t surprised.
But he was prepared for it.
It was something he had anticipated.
It just happened sooner than he thought.
This was not the time to hesitate.
Yu-hyun immediately summoned his office staff.
Baek Seo-ryeon and Kang Hye-rim, Kwon Jia and along with them, Sung Yoo-chan and Celine gathered in the living room.
“What’s going on?”
Kwon Jia asked as the representative of the group. Yu-hyun clasped his hands together.
“A new worlds of thoughts has appeared.”
“…Is that true?”
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“Yes. I just got a call from the association. They wouldn’t lie about something like this.”
Sung Yoo-chan tapped on his tablet as if to verify Yu-hyun’s words.
Soon, he widened his eyes and nodded at Yu-hyun.
“It’s true. They haven’t revealed everything yet, but the government has restricted access and there are testimonies of some key collectors being spotted there.”
“I see.”
“Yu-hyun, do we need to get ready too?”
Kang Hye-rim asked cautiously, and Yu-hyun nodded.
“The association said they would send an exploration team first, but there’s no guarantee they’ll succeed. If they fail, we’ll be the next ones to go.”
“A worlds of thoughts that no one knows about?”
Kwon Jia muttered with a heavy expression.
She had no information about this new worlds of thoughts in her memory either.
In her previous life, there had been a few changes in the worlds of stories, but they were very rare.
And the timing was not now, but when the end was near.
There was no assurance that the worlds of thoughts then was the same as now.
“Of course, you don’t have to worry too much. If the difficulty of the worlds of thoughts is too high, we’ll naturally be dropped from the list.”
Or if it was too low as well.
Collectors with many stories couldn’t enter low-level worlds of stories.
They were rejected from entering because their rank was higher than that of the stories in that world.
The worlds of stories that collectors could enter were fixed.
There was no certainty that they could go to this new one that had just appeared.
But why?
Everyone in this room felt it.
This new one was surely a place where White Flower Management’s collectors could go.
“If we really do end up going there.”
Yu-hyun crossed his legs and murmured.
“That would be quite fun.”
***
A few days later, news came out.
[The emergence of a new worlds of thoughts has attracted everyone’s attention. In the meantime, the association has sent two exploration teams, but they have not achieved any results, and there are even no survivors…]
The association announced the emergence of a new worlds of thoughts, but the problem was that they still hadn’t revealed what kind of place it was.
The first exploration team consisted of seven collectors, including one with a rank 5 artifact.
They never came back after entering.
The association then formed a new exploration team, with one rank 4 artifact collector, one rank 5 story collector, and one rank 7 story collector who had expertise in exploration.
The number of people they sent this time was 13.
They left yesterday.
They hadn’t come back yet either.
[This worlds of thoughts only allows up to rank 4 artifacts to enter, but there were still no survivors. Could there be something wrong inside, or is it a completely different structure from the existing worlds of stories? Some opinions are being raised.]
Yu-hyun, Kang Hye-rim, and Kwon Jia watched the news with serious expressions in their living room.
The situation was worse than they had expected.
[The government decided to form a third exploration team, and this time they said they would recruit people from each clan. However, some people argued that it was too dangerous to enter the new world of consciousness without any information, and that it was a waste of human resources…]
The internet was quite noisy about this matter.
The newly emerged world of consciousness was also a world of consciousness, but people were more interested in the fact that there was no news from the two exploration teams that had been sent there.
-Wow. Is this okay? The new one looks pretty dangerous.
-If there is no news even after sending the strongest collectors they can afford, shouldn’t they just give up?
-Let’s think about it. If the exploration team didn’t come back, maybe they didn’t have enough manpower.
└Are you kidding me? People might have died, and you want to joke about it?
└But seriously, at this point, I think it’s true that they need more manpower.
└What if they die too? Are you going to take responsibility?
-How did this happen? There is no such thing as a new world of consciousness.
-What was his name? Geomhu or something. He cleared the world of consciousness and made it like this ㅇㅇ
-Then he should take responsibility and check it out. Why did he mess with the peaceful world of consciousness?
└Shut up, idiot. The world of consciousness is there to be cleared. It’s the ones who have been slacking off who are weird.
-Honestly, shouldn’t White Flower Management take the lead on this? ㅇㅈ?
└Shut up, moron. Don’t try to send our Geomhu-nim to such a dangerous place.
└Geomhu-dan, come back soon.𝗻𝒐νℯ𝒍𝗯𝔦𝓷.𝖓𝚎𝐭
The comment section of the article was a mess.
There were different opinions on who should be held responsible for the incident.
Some blamed White Flower Management, some claimed it was inevitable, some said it was the will of the gods, and some just tried to stir up trouble.
Some even brought up politics and blamed the current government for no reason.
It was a total mess.
But the opinions on Genesis Network’s Teller board were not much different.
The Tellers, who usually did not like Yu-hyun, argued that he should be held accountable if he had to go to the new world of thought.
‘They are not stupid, they know how to play their cards.’
Normally, the Tellers would volunteer to go to a new world of thought out of greed, but this time there were few of them.
That meant they all recognized the danger.
The new world of thought that appeared was something that should not be touched rashly.
Yu-hyun called Sung Yu-chan.
“You know why I called you, right?”
“…Yes. First, please check this.”
Sung Yu-chan handed him a tablet.
On the screen of the tablet, there was a document that compiled as much information as possible about the new world of thought.
“We haven’t heard from the second exploration team yet. Even if we assume that the first one was poorly organized, the second one had some reputable people in it, but they are still missing. The association is also clueless, so they are racking their brains.”
“…Is that so. What about the clans’ movements?”
“The clans are keeping silent and watching the situation. They seem to be laying low because of the strong sanctions imposed on Twilight Veil and Hanul Clan before. They don’t want to suffer any more losses either. But some of them are showing some signs of activity.”
“They are trying to take over the exploration themselves if they see an opportunity.”
The situation was quite interesting.
The association was more cautious after losing their people, and so were the clans who were just watching.
They were hoping that White Flower Management would be the next batter.
‘But they haven’t contacted us yet. I thought they would call us right away after the second exploration failed, but they haven’t. What are they waiting for?’
Yu-hyun stroked his chin and thought of one possibility.
What if the second exploration team was still alive?
And the association knew that fact, so they were waiting for any result they could get?
‘That would explain why they haven’t looked for us yet. Some of the clans must have gotten some information from their spies in the association.’
That’s when it happened.
Ring!
A phone call came through Yu-hyun’s phone.
The caller was Choi Joongmo.
“Yes. Mr. Choi Joongmo.”
Everyone held their breath and watched Yu-hyun’s conversation.
-Have you seen the news?
“Yes, I’m watching. It seems that the worst-case scenario has happened. Are we the next ones to go in?”
-Yes, but you don’t need to be so hasty yet.
“Are you considering the survivors of the second exploration team?”
-…There’s no point in hiding it. Yes, that’s right.
Choi Jung-mo nodded obediently.
He didn’t even know what had happened to the second exploration team inside, but he was considering the survivors.
“Judging by your reaction, the association has some way of confirming the survivors inside.”
-…Let’s just say that. The details are confidential.
“I don’t ask for that either. Anyway, since there are still people alive inside, you’re waiting for them to come back…”
-That’s actually why I contacted you.
Yu-hyun’s eyes widened at Choi Jung-mo’s next words.
-Just now, a survivor from the second exploration team arrived.
