Chapter 77
As soon as I finished getting ready to go out, Hye-rim also got up from her seat and said she wanted to come with me. I stopped her sharply.
“Hye-rim, you can’t. I’m going alone.”
“What? Why? Take me with you!”
“No, you can’t. Do you know what will happen if you go out now?”
The outside of White Flower Management was already swarming with reporters.
Some of them were even waiting all night for a chance to catch her movement.
That’s how much attention Kang Hye-rim was getting right now.
She was a walking scoop for the journalists.
They would do anything to find out something about her.
It was obvious that they would try to squeeze her for information.
Besides, the place I was going to was already crowded with people, and if Hye-rim came along, it would cause trouble for my work.
People would flock to see Geomhu, and they would bother her for autographs.
“This is something I have to finish quickly and without any interference. And you have to stay in the office for a while. As soon as you go out, the paparazzi will follow you relentlessly, you know?”
Being famous was a good thing, but it also brought a lot of hassle.
Especially from the media who were eager to get an exclusive story about Geomhu.
They would not hesitate to dig into her personal life, such as where she lives, what she likes, and what her family situation is.
‘Well, according to the Collector Information Protection Act, they could face legal consequences if they go too far.’
But there were always people who would do that anyway.
Curiosity often overrode consideration for others.
There was a reason why they were called paparazzi.
“You have to stay in this office until you find a new place to live.”
She had already left the goshiwon where she used to live a few days ago.
That was because more and more people recognized her.
She was currently staying at Seoryeon’s studio apartment, but she was planning to move to a new place soon.
“Ugh.”
Kang Hye-rim groaned as if she understood.
She must have realized her situation.
She also knew that being popular didn’t mean everything was good.
‘Well, it’s an excuse that I’m doing this for her sake.’
[Do you have another reason?]
Baekryeon asked me.
‘I just don’t want to be bothered by her.’
[…You’re really mean.]
‘Just think of it as a rational decision.’
I ignored Baekryeon’s nagging and left the office.
Some of the reporters who were waiting outside spotted me and their eyes lit up.
An unidentified man affiliated with White Flower Management.
In fact, I was also in their scope of interest, not just Kang Hye-rim.
“Oh? He’s out!”
“There he is!”
Some of the reporters who had been hiding for a long time shouted involuntarily.
Geez. Did they have to advertise their presence? I sneered at them inwardly and quickly entered a nearby alley.
“Is he trying to run away?”
“Follow him!”
The reporters followed me, but I had a skill that could hide my identity.
[Hide Presence]
It was one of the low-level skills sold in the Dimensional Shop, which reduced the user’s presence.
It didn’t work well on collectors or fantasy beings, but it was very effective on ordinary people.
“What? Where did he go?”
“Look for him!”
They couldn’t find me even though I was right in front of them, and they searched the wrong place. 𝖓𝑜ν𝔢𝒍b𝔦𝚗.𝚗ℯ𝙩
They didn’t recognize me even though I wasn’t just hiding my appearance, but reducing my presence.
I calmly left the place.
***
I sat on the outdoor terrace and looked at the busy outside.
Across the eight-lane road filled with cars, there was a building with a very large site.
That was the training center where collectors were trained by the association.
‘That’s the training center?’
The official name recognized by the state was Seoul Collector Training Center.
It was also called Prologue, because it was where the protagonists who started all stories were born.
‘And the other building next to it must be the Collector Academy where underage collectors are educated.’
There were usually no customers in that large site, but today it was full of people.
It was because today was the graduation ceremony that took place every quarter.
It was when the collectors who had gone through three months of hard training and tests earned their qualifications and entered society.
Naturally, there were many people who came to see the ceremony that was like a festival.
Most of the crowd that filled the site were ordinary people who just wanted to enjoy the process.
The rest were the families, friends, and people who wanted to recruit the collectors who had finished the graduation ceremony into their management or clan.
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[Look over there, Yu-hyun. There are other tellers in the sky too.]
“Yeah, I see them.”
The tellers who were looking for promising talents were also floating in the air above the site, watching the below.
Their eyes were moving busily, and most of them were looking at the collectors who had finished the graduation ceremony.
[There are so many competitors, can we find a good person?]
Baekryeon asked me with concern.
[It looks like a big deal. Not only tellers, but also people from well-known managements and large clans are all gathered here.]
“That’s right.”
[They must have already gathered some information, but you haven’t prepared anything yet. What if you clash with someone who wants to recruit the same person? Are you okay with that? From a rookie’s perspective, they would probably choose a bigger clan anyway.]
Baekryeon’s point was accurate.
Realistically, even if I found someone I liked, there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t overlap with another clan or management.
They also specialized in recruiting people, so they must have some discernment.
“That’s true.”
[But you’re so relaxed. Do you know someone who will come here from your future knowledge?]
“No? No one comes this time.”
[What?]
Future knowledge wasn’t perfect.
No, it couldn’t create something that didn’t exist.
[Then you have no reason to come here right now.]
“I don’t just look for people who are verified.”
If they have talent, I’ll recruit them right away.
I couldn’t just pick whoever I wanted from the people I knew in the future.
“Like you said, I’ll end up competing with other people anyway.”
[Do you have the confidence to win against clans that have information?]
Most of the clans had already analyzed the rankings of this graduation class and decided on the optimal recruitment targets.
They also had several tests internally, and the rankings were determined accordingly.
The training measured how well they did, how good their abilities were, what their traits were, and how good their practical sense was.
In fact, clans only had to look at the rankings and judge.
“That’s true. But remember that Hye-rim was also considered unrecruitable by the clans at first.”
[That’s…]
“Of course, the higher the ranking, the better the ability. But even if the state has set up a great curriculum, you can’t fully grasp one person’s talent. There’s no such thing as a perfect net in the world.”
Did people succeed according to their grades at the training center?
I didn’t think so.
The rankings were based on what could be evaluated at the moment.
They didn’t take into account the person’s potential or future possibilities.
But I could.
I could see what kind of potential and talent they had.
That’s why I came here.
[But there are so many people.]
“Right.”
The only thing I didn’t expect was that there were too many people.
Everyone had their own book.
And because of that, when so many people moved around, the books also mixed up.
It was hard to check below from the third floor cafe terrace, because my eyes were confused by too many people.
I couldn’t check all the books at once, and it was hard to see properly because of the books that emitted light here and there.
‘At least it’s better near the entrance where they’re lining up. They’ll eventually come out this way.’
I just had to quickly check the colors of the books of the people coming out.
The good thing was that most of the books were silver, so if there was a book that stood out a little bit, it would catch my eye right away.
‘I hope there’s at least one gold one.’
But even as time passed and people dwindled, I didn’t see anyone I wanted.
The festival was ending, and people were slowly returning to their places.
There should be at least one person if there were so many people gathered like this.
‘Hmm. Is there no one?’
I muttered to myself inwardly at that moment.
“…!!!”
I opened my eyes wide and got up from my seat.
No, that wasn’t enough. I kicked off my seat and ran out of the building.
Baekryeon, who I had brought with me, called me anxiously from behind, but I couldn’t pay attention to that.
I ran out as if I was possessed and looked at the entrance where people were coming out.
Among the sparse crowd now, I could be sure that I hadn’t seen it wrong.
I saw a light.
As if enchanted by something, I approached the light.
I thought that brilliant gold was the limit of talent or potential or value of life.
Silver, gold.
Among them, gold was the highest, and its limit was the intensity of gold.
That’s what I thought.
‘What is that?’
I lost my words as I saw something that emitted a brighter light than gold.
A dazzling rainbow-colored light mixed together was
a color I had never seen before in my life.
‘Is that possible?’
And the one who had that book was a gloomy woman who walked alone without anyone by her side.
The light that flowed out and the reality of her appearance contrasted terribly.
I swallowed my saliva as I looked at her.
It was amazing enough that her book emitted such a brilliant light, but what shocked me the most was the state of her book that I could see as I got closer to her.
‘What the hell… how many books does she have?’
If a normal person had one book.
The woman in front of me had at least hundreds of books.
Did she feel my intense gaze?
The woman who was walking on the street looked up and met my eyes.
Her hair was messy and unkempt, and her bangs covered her eyes.
But even through the gap, I could see that her eyes were cold and intense like frost in midwinter.
As our eyes met, I felt like we were the only two left in this world.
The pedestrians around us stretched out like a panorama, and only she and I stood still facing each other.
It was actually a short time that lasted less than a minute, but it felt like an hour to me.
The first one to move was her, who had the bookshelf.
“Excuse me!”
I grabbed her hastily as she tried to pass by me.
When I blocked her way again, she stopped and lifted her head slightly to meet my eyes.
At the same time, an immense pressure came from her.
She was a head shorter than me, but her presence was not at all.
Violent.
It was like a very fierce beast.
I felt her pressure on my body, but I didn’t stop analyzing.
‘Rainbow book. No, rainbow bookshelf. If she has that many books that one person can only have one of… Infinite reincarnation? Or infinite regression?’
Reincarnation didn’t fit, because she looked so wounded and miserable.
That meant it was more likely the latter.
A regressor.
She was similar to me, but she had a number of cycles that I couldn’t compare to.
I calmly spoke to her who urged me for an answer with her eyes.
“Hello? Nice to meet you. My name is Kang Yu-hyun. What’s your name…?”
“Get lost.”
She snapped at me before I could finish my sentence.
If I heard that kind of words from a stranger, I would have frowned even if I was a mature adult, but I nodded my head with confidence instead.
‘She’s a regressor.’
And not just a second or third cycle one.
The hundreds of books she had were the number of lives she had lived.
I sensed it.
The gemstone that I had been looking for all this time was the woman in front of me.
She was the second protagonist of my library.
