Chapter 123:

Chapter 123:

Chapter 123

“...”

“...”

“...”

The three of them were silent at my explanation.

Two of them were shocked by disbelief, and one of them already knew the seriousness of the situation.

Honestly, I thought no one would believe me if I explained it like this, but it seemed that it was just my delusion.

“What we are doing now is like letting out the air from this balloon that is filled to the brim. So that it doesn’t burst from being too inflated.”

It was a ridiculous analogy, but it was the truth and reality.

If we don’t clear the world of ideas, the earth will eventually be destroyed.

That was an immutable truth that I could be sure of because I had experienced the future.

‘Of course, there is another real reason.’

The end of the world happened because we didn’t clear the world of ideas, but it also had to do with the will of the spirits who had witnessed this state.

The collectors didn’t clear the world of ideas.

They didn’t want to adventure and settled for reality, living off what they were given.

Out of hundreds and thousands of worlds of ideas, would you believe that less than 10 were cleared in the next five years in my previous life?

That means the clear rate was less than 1%.

As adventure, romance, passion, and anticipation disappeared, the spirits naturally lost interest in the earth.

‘A world full of huge and massive stories, but if you don’t use them, the audience will eventually leave.’

The spirits dwindled, and the value of the earth in Genesis Net also started to hit rock bottom.

Eventually, the Celestial Corporation, which was in charge of the earth, made a big decision.

They sold this world that no longer gave them any profit from points.

‘Companies move for profit. It’s natural to dispose of a business that doesn’t generate profit quickly.’

That’s how the earth’s time rights went from Celestial Corporation to Exodus.

Exodus’s tellers led the earth to its end as soon as they got its time rights.

They made the stories inside run wild and blended them with reality, causing a rampage.

That’s how the world changed.

Exodus sorted out and arranged these rampaging stories, creating their own order and process.

That was the ‘trial’ that unfolded in the midst of the end.

‘And unlike before, when only certain people could become collectors and do time painting, they awakened all surviving humanity to be able to do time painting.’

The sudden end.

The awakening of the survivors.

All kinds of trials unfolding without any kind explanation.

I lived in that for 10 years.

I watched my precious people die, missed them and sent them off while fearing death.

I ran desperately, looking only ahead.

“That’s why I insist on clearing the world of ideas.”

I didn’t bother to mention anything about the interest of the spirits and the profit of the company. It would have been too much of a burden for them to explain this as well.

“Then...”

Baek Seoryeon opened her mouth hesitantly.

“Everything that each government and clan in this world is doing is...”

“Yes. That’s right. They are bringing about the end of the earth.”

“But why?”

She still looked incredulous.

Of course she would.

From her point of view, it was an incomprehensible action.

But this was reality.

“This earth now has developed various industries using the power of stories. But do you know what? The situation of the earth before the change. Back then, there was a terrible future called global warming looming over us.”

“That...”

“How were people back then? The companies? The nations? They knew that the resources they consumed were strangling their own necks, but they didn’t stop. For the sake of corporate profit, for human greed. They knew but thought it would be okay and let it go.”

But back then it was better.

There were at least some people who recognized the seriousness of the situation and carried out environmental movements and tried to fix it.

But now it’s different. It’s worse than back then.

“People don’t know. How their actions lead this world.”

“I don’t understand. If you know, shouldn’t other tellers know too? Why don’t they explain?”

“Not all other tellers know.”

I had to tell them that I came from the future to convince everyone here. But that was too risky to reveal.

“Hah. I still can’t believe it.”

Baek Seo-ryeon leaned back on the chair and rubbed her temples.

“World destruction and whatnot. The scale is too big. Really, I just wanted to make a lot of money.”

A bit annoyed, a bit disappointed.

She muttered that and straightened up again.

“But we’ve come this far, so we can’t stop.”

The moment I met her unwavering eyes, I couldn’t help but nod with a smile.

“What about you, Hye-rim?”

“I can do anything if Yu-hyun wants me to!”

“Is that your will? Or mine?”

“It’s my will. I do it because I want to.”

There was no lie in her words. I nodded at her as well, and naturally moved my gaze to Kwon Jia next to me.

“Well, then we’re done?”

“Wait. Why don’t you ask me?”

Kwon Jia suddenly tackled me. No, you already know, right?

I gave her that look, but she looked dumbfounded and unconvinced. Did I do something uncomfortable?

[Hey, you idiot. No matter what, at least play along a little. It’s so disappointing when you’re left out.]

Then I heard Baek-ryeon’s voice scolding me.

‘Is that what it was?’

Kwon Jia already knew everything, so I thought I didn’t have to ask her.

But thinking about it, it was too selfish to think that she would understand without saying anything.

Sometimes I had to express myself even though I knew.

‘Thanks. Thank you Baek-ryeon.’

[Hmph. If you’re grateful, be nice to me too! After all, I’m your companion.]

‘Yeah.’

I asked Kwon Jia.

“Jia, you can do it too?”

“Of course.”

She answered with a slightly softened expression. Maybe my action was right after all.

“So, what are you going to do from now on?”

I shrugged at Kwon Jia’s question.

“Well, if you want to keep the balloon from bursting as the wind rises, you have to let some air out. For us, that means clearing one world of ideas at a time.”

“Then how long do we have to keep doing that?”

Baek Seo-ryeon asked sharply. Yeah. If you know the ‘why’ and the ‘how’, then the next question is ‘how long’.

That is... I don’t know either.

“I don’t know exactly either, but I have some guesses. Do you know how the worlds of ideas are made up?”

“Just stories?”

“There are many kinds of stories. There are ‘facts’ or ‘history’ that actually happened, and there are ‘tales’ or ‘folktales’ that were passed on by people’s mouths and writings. And there are ‘legends’ engraved in everyone’s memory, and ‘myths’ that everyone idolizes.”

The worlds of ideas are composed of these various things.

“Among them, most of the worlds of ideas that came out are based on ‘history’. Occasionally, folktales and tales are mixed in, and very rarely, there are stories of legends and myths. However, these are very weak compared to the real myths and legends.”

I pointed to the inside of the earth, where the stories were trying to expand fiercely.

“The very heavy and important, [real stories] haven’t come out yet. The important thing is, these real ones.”

The most important world of ideas composed of myths.

The core story that would determine the fate of this earth.

It would decide the future of this world depending on whether we clear it or not.

Will we feel the potential of the earth and leave it as it is?

Will we think that the earth is no longer recoverable and brand it and discard it?

“It all depends on our success.”

And judging that is not our role.

The ones who value it are the beings above the sky, the high celestial beings.

They are the viewers who watch our play, the audience who watch the stage, and the judges of the end.

To entrust my future to someone else.

It was nothing but an anxious and nauseating thing.

‘But I have to do it.’

I have to smile and endure it even if I don’t like it.

‘At least for now.’

As I imagined a future that might come someday, I quietly suppressed my emotions.