Chapter 15:

Chapter 15

As I expected.

No, more than I expected, Kang Hye-rim fought well.

‘She already reached the deepest part of the mine.’

I vaguely thought it would happen, but Kang Hye-rim’s growth rate surpassed my expectations.

I was proud of having a better eye than others after rolling around with Choi Do-yoon for 10 years in the apocalypse, but I guess a sword master is a sword master after all.

I didn’t regret that my eyes were wrong, or feel sorry for it.

Rather, I was happy that the contractor I chose showed a performance beyond my expectations.

How could I not be happy?

[Acquired points: 2,050TP]

I was confident that I would wake up laughing even in my sleep if I saw the huge amount of points that came to me.

A part of the sponsorship that Kang Hye-rim earned, and the library fee that I earned through the viewership of the library.

It was a feat achieved in just 3 hours after opening the library.

‘Besides, this is not even the end of the settlement.’

I put away my interest in the points and looked at Kang Hye-rim beyond the screen.

She reached the deepest part of the mine and took a break to catch her breath.

No matter how much she went crazy with the power of her trait, today was her first battle.

Her body couldn’t keep up with her trait’s power.

‘Should I also give her some physical training later? For now, is this it?’

I came out of [The Observer’s Room] and approached her.

She was panting for breath, but when she saw me, she smiled brightly like a puppy greeting its owner.

“Don’t get up yet, just sit down and rest for a while.”

“Heh. Heh. Ah, yes.”

“How was it? How did it feel to wield a sword?”

“Hoo. It was awesome.”

Kang Hye-rim answered with a flush on her face despite being quite exhausted.

I glanced at her book.

Her book, which had been a dull brown color, was now a much brighter bronze color.

The story and history that she achieved in this world of thought changed her book.

But it was still far away.

Her potential was huge.

There was still a lot left to reach there.

“This is the last step.”

She nodded her head with a determined will at my words.

She crossed the boundary line and reached the heart of the mine.

Kang Hye-rim had no hesitation, and the kobolds couldn’t stop her.

They eventually switched their stance and ran away from Kang Hye-rim.

Deeper inside, deeper down.

And this was their final place.

“They’re probably all gathered here waiting for you.”

They were fantasy creatures that used tools.

They had basic intelligence.

They wouldn’t be stupid enough to rush at Kang Hye-rim recklessly.

So they must have gathered all their remaining forces and set up a siege at their final place.

“Judging by their movements, it seems like they have a leader.”

There was a king of the kobold pack that had ruled this mine for a long time.

The fight would be harder if there was a commander. I subtly warned her about that.

“What will you do? Will you stop here?”

I asked her respectfully, respecting her thoughts.

She heard my words and widened her eyes, then burst into laughter with a ‘pah!’.

“Kukukuk. Yu-hyun-ssi. You’re joking right now, right?”

“Did it sound like that?”

“I’ve come this far, I have to go all the way. You’re not going to pretend you don’t know me after making me cross that boundary line, are you?”

“How could I do that? I take responsibility for what I say. So are you going?”

“I can’t eat it but I want it.”

She seemed to have recovered some of her strength, as she grabbed her sword and got up.

Her eyes were burning with an intense will that I had never seen before.

If she had shown even a little hesitation, I would have tried to dissuade her somehow, but it didn’t seem necessary if she was so eager.

“But it could be dangerous, so we need to set a goal first. Do you know how to clear this world of thought?”

“Yes. Well, I did get some training.”

“Then it’s easy to explain. The clear condition for this world of thought is subjugation. It’s best to kill all the kobold pack, but considering the size inside, you should aim for the leader first.”

The world of thought was a space where [stories] were realized as reality.

Of course, there were various genres of stories, and the ways to clear them differed accordingly.

Sometimes you had to perform a given role.

Sometimes you had to uncover the hidden source of the story.

Sometimes you had to remove the core that composed the story.

Among them, subjugation, which only required defeating a specific fantasy creature, was the simplest one.

‘It’s no wonder that the government doesn’t care much about clearing the world of thought. The good thing is that the kobold pack in this mine is simple to clear.’

The clear condition for this world of thought was to kill the king of the kobold pack.

Her mood that had been high also plummeted because of that.

Naturally, Kang Hye-rim’s anger was directed at the kobold pack.

“It’s all your fault that my sword broke!”

If the kobolds understood her words, they would have exploded with injustice.

But they didn’t know why Kang Hye-rim was angry, and they could only prepare to fight while being confused by the king’s order.

Krrrung!

The king, who was three times bigger than a normal kobold, held a pickaxe in each hand and growled.

He burned with hatred for Kang Hye-rim who threatened his domain.

But Kang Hye-rim also didn’t back down and glared at him.

She lost her points because of that kobold, so she wanted to make up for it with him.

Watching that scene from afar, I licked my lips and shook my head.

“Well. It’s good for me if she motivates herself like that.”

As soon as my words ended, Kang Hye-rim rushed towards the kobold pack.

***

[You have cleared the world of thought ‘Anvar Mountain Range Kobold(Cobolt) Mine’.]

[You have acquired 2,000TP.]

[An unbelievable achievement! You cleared the world of thought by yourself.]

[You have acquired an additional 1,000TP.]

[The story of the kobolds sticks to you.]

[You have acquired the skill ‘Bright Eyes’.]

[You have acquired 582TP.]

[Your stats increase.]

[You have acquired some by-products related to the world of thought.]

...

Kang Hye-rim must have been dizzy by now from seeing the system windows popping up and disappearing in front of her eyes.

It didn’t take long for Kang Hye-rim to sweep away all the kobolds.

She swept them all away as if she was enjoying her new sword, and finally brought down the king as well.

The spirits went crazy with enthusiasm at her great achievement, and they sponsored points to Kang Hye-rim.

And some of the spirits even sent me personal messages saying they wanted to become subscribers of my library.

[Current viewers: 34]

[Current subscribers: 22]

[Settled sponsorship amount: 4,230TP]

[Sub-mission-10 viewers achieved!]

[You have acquired 300TP as a reward.]

[Sub-mission-5 subscribers achieved!]

[You have acquired 500TP as a reward.]

[Sub-mission-15 subscribers achieved!]

[You have acquired...]

I also swept up my bangs lightly as I looked at the rising message windows.

My eyes were busy too.

A huge amount of points came to me, and some of the spirits who were moved by the story I showed signed up for subscriptions.

‘But, this is not the end.’

The rumor would spread.

The rumor about Kang Yu-hyun teller and Kang Hye-rim collector.

New guests would keep coming to confirm and prove it.

“Was the first start a moderate success?”

The world of thought disappeared.

Kang Hye-rim’s body was moved back to reality, and the letters that built the world of thought were absorbed into her body.

It was the process of converting the accumulated text of the kobold mine into points.

But not all the text went to Kang Hye-rim.

Some of it crossed the space and came to [The Observer’s Room] where I was.

I reached out my hand.

The clump of text gathered on my hand and soon turned into a book.

On the cover of the book was [Sword Master Chronicles], which I wrote as the name of my library.

The first story I created.

And the first story I showed.

I walked to one side of [The Observer’s Room].

There was an empty white bookshelf there.

I proudly put my first book on the shelf.

The bookshelf was wide.

And there was only one book on it right now.

Compared to this empty space, one book was pitiful.

But someday.

‘I’ll fill this bookshelf.’

It wasn’t just the story of the next five years.

After that, I looked further into the future.

The story of a more distant future where the apocalypse didn’t come.

The story of a new world that I couldn’t reach in my previous life.

‘My story is just beginning.’