Chapter 28:

Chapter 28:

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.”

‘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.

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.