Chapter 76
The stadium was engulfed in a strange heat.
The duel was nothing like what I had expected, but it was still a duel.
The winner and the loser were decided, and the outcome was indisputable.
It was natural for the people to be ecstatic, and for those who had various interests involved to rack their brains.
A rookie Teller had defeated an intermediate Collector Artist.
No matter how much Ju Kyung-soo had secured his position more by popularity than by fighting among the intermediate Collectors, he was still a title holder of the intermediate level.
He had been maintaining his status firmly, but he was caught up by someone who came from below.
Everyone was shocked by this fact.
“Ha.”
Agael, who had been watching the situation from her [Room of the Observer], could not help but sigh with annoyance as she surveyed the stadium.
She did not expect that Kang Hye-rim would win.
That Teller with that Collector, if you could call them that.
Kang Hye-rim had also hidden her power like Yu-hyun, and she revealed her claws at the most crucial moment.
“How cunning.”
She knew that method.
She could clearly tell who had instructed the Teller to do that.
Agael swung her cute legs on top of a cushion that was bigger than her body.
She had watched the duel out of curiosity, but it only ruined her mood.
She had hoped that Yu-hyun would fail, but instead he gained more ground by winning this fight.
She was already annoyed by the rumor that he would be promoted to deputy soon, and now she had to see this spectacle.
“I wish I could tear his face right now, but I can’t do that.”
Agael knew.
The more she acted rashly, the more Yu-hyun would use it as an excuse to corner her.
She could not treat him as a normal employee-level Teller.
He was much more dangerous than any of the enemies she had faced so far.
To get rid of Yu-hyun, she had to be careful.
“But surely, someday there will be a chance.”
Agael decided to wait for that day to come.
***
[You have achieved an overwhelming victory in a fair duel.]
[The Spirits are happy with the Story you showed.]
[The Spirits cheerfully throw their points at you.]
[You have acquired 8,200TP.]
I could not hide my joy at the messages that appeared before my eyes.
I bowed my head in gratitude to the Spirits who donated points to me.
[100TP donation!]
[Our Collector Kang Hye-rim, walk on the flower path!!]
[100TP donation!]
[I didn’t expect you to win in this situation. When did you learn to use that lightning sword?]
[100TP donation!]
[You said you would come back with a changed look, but it was more than I expected.]
All kinds of Spirits used messages to express their opinions.
Most of them were happy about Kang Hye-rim’s victory and admired her [Thunder Sword].
Especially, when Kang Hye-rim used the Thunder Sword that she had never used before, the Spirits’ reactions were very passionate.
“Haha. Didn’t I tell you? There was a reason why I took a break from painting.”
[The Spirits nod their heads and agree with your words.]
[The Drunkard of the Tavern donated 100TP!]
[Cheers~. I believed in you, Teller sir!]
“Yes. Thank you for your donation, Drunkard of the Tavern.”
[The One Who Laughs in the Darkest Place donated 1000TP!]
[I look forward to your interesting paintings in the future.]
I didn’t expect Satan to come and watch too. I smiled softly and nodded my head.
“Of course. I will show you more fun paintings in the future, so please look forward to it.”
[The Spirits inflate their expectations at your bold declaration.]
From a prudent perspective, this kind of action of planting expectations could be a burden later on.
But this kind of seasoning with a bit of bluffing was very effective in making the Spirits who were happy right now even happier.
More importantly, this was the timing when new Spirits entered my library through this duel.
If I don’t show them something more here implicitly, it will be hard to keep them hooked.
‘Well, I don’t think I really need to do that.’
The Spirits seemed to be already captivated by Kang Hye-rim’s fight.
Her appearance using the Thunder Sword was beautiful and cool.
She attacked relentlessly without stopping while wrapped in blue currents.
My choice of giving her a Hidden Piece was not wrong.
[Current Viewers: 4053]
The number of viewers had already surpassed 4,000.
Of course, this was a temporary number that appeared because of the current issue, but as time passed, this number would become a fixed layer in my library.
There might not be many Tellers who could maintain this many viewers even among the deputy-level ones.
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Maybe it wouldn’t take long for me to get promoted from deputy to manager.
‘Well, that’s enough for the Spirits. Now what about the people in reality?’
The reporters were already waiting outside the waiting room with their necks stretched.
And that commotion reached its peak when Kang Hye-rim, who had returned from the stadium to the waiting room, appeared in the hallway.
“Collector Kang Hye-rim! Please give us an interview about today’s duel!”
“How did you feel when you fought? Your opponent was an intermediate Collector Artist after all!”
“What was that lightning? Is it your trait?”
I opened the door to the waiting room right away, knowing that Kang Hyerim would be flustered by the noisy reporters.
Some of the reporters who were crowded on one side turned their eyes to me.
I gave them a bright smile and pushed through them to stand next to Kang Hyerim.
“Wh-who?”
“Wait a minute. Didn’t you just come out of Geomhu’s waiting room?”
Some of them muttered.
I nodded and introduced myself.
“Ladies and gentlemen. I am an employee of White Flower Management. I know you have a lot of questions for our Geomhu, but he is tired after just finishing the duel, so could you please step back?”
“…”
“…”
The reporters said nothing.
I knew they wouldn’t leave easily with just words, so I used my momentum and intimidation to make them back off.
They only rolled their eyes and swallowed their saliva.
The hallway in front of the waiting room, which was noisy a moment ago, was suddenly silent as if cold water had been poured over it.
The atmosphere had calmed down a bit, so I opened my mouth right away.
“Of course, I know how curious you are about this matter. I’m not unaware of that feeling. You must be very interested in Geomhu, the rookie collector.”
Some of the reporters nodded unconsciously at my words.
I held back a laugh at their foolish appearance and continued.
“You can see what you are curious about in the next issue of Collecting Magazine, which will be released soon. There will be an exclusive interview with Geomhu in detail.”
“What?”
“Hey, wait a minute. What are you talking about right now…”
They didn’t expect me to bring up such an advertisement at this place, and they looked confused.
I didn’t care about their reactions and said what I had to say.
“By the way, those of you who want to recruit her. You’re just watching from behind, but I don’t think it will work. Oh, of course, if you want to collaborate with her on business-related matters, you are always welcome. But not here. I’d appreciate it if you could visit our White Flower Management in person.”
“Gasp!”
The people who were secretly watching from behind choked on their breath at my words.
They wondered how I knew, but it was hard to ignore them when they were floating books around.
Especially, there was one more familiar face behind them.
Hanul Clan, where Baek Seoryeon used to belong.
It was the face of the bastard who got beaten up by me.
I smirked at him when our eyes met and gave him a sarcastic smile.
“Well! That’s it for us! Thank you all for coming and have a nice day!”
I grabbed Kang Hyerim’s wrist and dragged her back to the waiting room, in case they tried to stop me.
The people outside who were still bewildered could only stand helplessly in front of the waiting room.
***
[Breaking News! The emergence of the elusive rookie Geomhu!]
[A collector who clears the worldviews. Is this the beginning of change?]
[An interview with Geomhu, all in the upcoming Collecting Magazine…]
“Geez. They’re making such a fuss. Right, Yeri?”
“Be quiet and focus on the meeting.”
“Hey. Why are you always like that? They’re going to fight each other anyway.”
Various opinions flew around in the meeting room.
Some argued that they should eliminate him harshly, some said they should watch him carefully, some said they should try to persuade him cautiously.
If Kang Hyerim had been an insignificant low-level collector, there would have been no need for such disagreement.
But she had grown rapidly through this duel, and more importantly, they didn’t know what kind of power was behind her.
‘Surely, someone is secretly supporting her.’
‘There’s no way she can do that on her own. White Flower Management? Don’t make me laugh. It’s obviously a dummy they put up as a deception. The important thing now is that. Who is the real one?’
The people gathered here didn’t trust each other. They thought that maybe the person who secretly raised Geomhu was somewhere here.
They looked at each other or subtly challenged each other with their words.
Of course, there was no consensus, and the meeting only went on aimlessly.
A man who watched the scene sneered.
“Sigh. They’re all working hard. Right, Yeri?”
“Be quiet and focus on the meeting.”
“Hey. Why are you always like that? They’re going to fight each other anyway.”
He was a man in his mid-thirties who looked quite rough.
He had a neatly trimmed beard that matched his unique vibe.
He was Lim Geonwoo, a senior collector who came to this meeting instead of his clan’s request.
His behavior annoyed the people from other clans.
“Mr. Geonwoo. I know you came here reluctantly, but please focus on the meeting.”
“What is Nemesis Clan doing? Tsk tsk.”
Nemesis Clan was one of the top clans in the country, but the most distinctive thing about them was that they had gone for a minority.
They were a team that pursued elite members, unlike other clans that had many collectors.
The number of collectors they had was small, but their skills were at least rank 4.
Lim Geonwoo was one of them, a rank 3 collector with a senior title.
He didn’t like this meeting from the start.
How pathetic it was to see grown-ups acting like that because of a rookie.
He hated the old men who tried to exclude Geomhu by manipulating the worldviews as they pleased.
If it wasn’t for the clan leader’s order, he would have left this place long ago.
But he stayed still because he wanted to respect the clan leader’s face.
‘What do they want me to do in this place where greedy pigs snort more greedily?’
He just waited for the time to pass indifferently.
***
“It’s time.”
“What is?”
Kang Hyerim, who was playing with Baekhyo in the office, asked me.
Baek Seoryeon, who was sitting on a chair and organizing the documents piled up in front of her, didn’t even answer.
“The graduation ceremony will be held soon.”
“Oh. You mean the training center. Come to think of it, is it already that time?”
The graduation ceremony referred to the collector training center.
The ages of people who awakened as collectors varied, but for adults, they went to the training center when they awakened.
They trained there to become collectors who could work in the future and held a graduation ceremony when they finished.
That was when clans and managers looked for potential candidates.
“So we have to go and see if there’s anyone worth picking.”
I was about to be promoted to an Assistant Manager soon and I could sign contracts with collectors.
The maximum number of people I could sign was four.
Considering that a full-time employee could only sign one person, it was quite serious from an Assistant Manager level.
Of course, I didn’t plan to fill them all right away. But I couldn’t not choose anyone either.
‘Well, if there’s no one, I can’t help it.’
My promotion ceremony was not far away either.
So I had to find at least one person in advance.
