Chapter 165:

Chapter 165:

Chapter 165

“I was a Heavenly Demon.”

Seo Sumin calmly revealed her identity.

There was no point in hiding it anymore, now that she had come this far.

It was not in her nature to deny the obvious truth shamefully.

“...I see.”

A Heavenly Demon.

Yu-hyun was slightly surprised, but he could accept it after reading her book.

What was a Heavenly Demon?

It was a being from another world, but Yu-hyun had heard of its name before.

In this hybrid world, there were various worlds, and among them, there were worlds where humans used qi to display transcendent martial arts.

In the hybrid world, such worlds were called the Central Plains Martial World.

Among them, the existence of the Heavenly Demon was ranked as the most feared existence in the martial world.

It was a demon of the sky, a supreme being of the earth.

It was the ultimate state that those who worshipped all kinds of power reached, and the authority that they praised.

It was not something that was given to one being, but a title that was given to those who surpassed a certain level.

That was what a Heavenly Demon was.

‘The girl who was so meek at first?’

A Heavenly Demon? That high school girl?

The Heavenly Demon who stood at the peak of all martial artists?

Yu-hyun could not believe it, but he did not deny the reality either.

She was definitely a Heavenly Demon.

And a reincarnated one at that.

“I see.”

“You believe me so easily.”

“Are you lying?”

“No. It’s true.”

Yu-hyun thought so too.

But what was important now was not her identity.

Seo Sumin might not know it, but Yu-hyun caught various clues from every word she said.

‘Seo Sumin is a reincarnated Heavenly Demon. But she died in her previous life, and now she lives a new life as Seo Sumin.’

That was fine.

He could even get over the fact that Seo Sumin hid her power and tried to live normally.

But her reaction.

The moment he heard her say that there was someone who was targeting her, Yu-hyun realized that he had faced a case.

‘Why did she guard against me when she had already reincarnated and lived in another world?’

The answer was simple.

There was someone.

Someone who had been targeting Seo Sumin, until now.

And someone who was strong enough to make Seo Sumin wary.

What he could tell from here was that the enemy was not just an individual, but a group.

Maybe even two groups.

Information and clues fit together like puzzle pieces in Yu-hyun’s head.

“So, what should I do now that you know my identity?”

“Is that some kind of lame threat at this point? If you’re a Heavenly Demon, you should be more dignified...”

“I gave up on that.”

Seo Sumin answered sharply.

The moment he saw her expression harden coldly, Yu-hyun could not say anything.

“I gave up on everything, in the past.”

“...I see.”

He could only guess that there was something in her attitude that spoke of pain, as if she was biting her teeth.

There was a deep scar somewhere in Seo Sumin’s heart that ordinary people could not see.

She was still suffering from the pain of that wound that had not healed yet.

Seo Sumin’s appearance, which seemed to be tormented by that pain, stimulated Yu-hyun’s strange feelings.

“I’m just an ordinary person now, Seo Sumin.”

“...I understand. Miss Seo.”

Yu-hyun nodded his head and respected her wishes.

He did not call her a Heavenly Demon, but by her name, Seo Sumin.

That was also his intention to treat her as she is now.

Seo Sumin nodded her head.

“That’s how it is, so keep it a secret from Yura. Oppa.”

Her voice changed instantly from arrogant and sharp to calm and gentle.

Yu-hyun could not adapt to the changing tone of voice.

It felt like he was looking at someone with a split personality, but then again, Seo Sumin’s appearance was so gorgeous that any behavior suited her well.

“That’s right. I’m not the type to blabber either.”

“You can be comfortable with me. It’ll be less awkward that way.”

“...Okay. I’ll do that.”

“Yes. I think you understand well, so I’ll go now.”

Seo Sumin bowed her head lightly and turned her back.

Yu-hyun looked at her disappearing figure and lamented the headache-inducing situation.

And the monster that was wailing at the sky in the center of it all.

‘I am.’

Seo Sumin looked at her friends and made a firm resolution as she saw another precious day of her life.

‘I’m not a Heavenly Demon anymore.’

From the moment that incident happened, and after she lost everything.

She gave up on everything.

“Sumin? Are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s nothing. I’m just, a bit sad.”

“Hey. What’s there to be sad about? We can still keep in touch, right? And we can meet when we go out.”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

Sumin smiled at Yura’s words.

Yura narrowed her eyes at her unique aura.

“Ah. Sumin is smiling like that again.”

“Uh, me?”

“You know, when I look at you, you smile so kindly? Like you’re our mom or something.”

“That’s right. I felt that too.”

“Me too.”

The other friends chimed in with laughter. Sumin awkwardly smiled and said ‘Really?’

Yura shouted playfully and hugged Sumin.

“Sumin mama!”

“Hey, hey. What are you doing? What mama?”

“I want to do it too! Sumin mamang!”

“Me too!”

The place became noisy in an instant.

***

After meeting with Kang Yura, Yu-hyun was welcomed by Kang Hyerim, who was studying hard by reading a book.

“Oh. You’re back?”

“Yes. You’re doing well studying as I told you to.”

The book that Kang Hyerim was reading was a thick one that contained the history of the world.

At Yu-hyun’s words, Kang Hyerim pouted her lips.

“Yu-hyun~. Do I really have to do this? It’s so headache-inducing just by looking at it.”

“You can’t just look at it. You have to remember everything, and be able to recall it at important moments.”

“Aww. Why do I have to do this?”

“To survive in the world of thoughts, you have to do this.”

Yu-hyun had recommended studying to Kang Hye-rim and Kwon Jia during the break.

The two of them reacted with ‘What study?’ when they heard that. Yu-hyun had strongly suggested studying more than personal training to them.

“I told you, right? The world of thoughts is where the stories of the world are realized. The stories can be history, legends, folktales, myths, etc.”

“I know that. But still...”

“Well, I can’t blame you for not being convinced. But there’s no choice. From now on, we will clear the Worlds of Ideas that no one has ever seen before. But don’t you think it’s dangerous if you don’t have basic knowledge?”

It was exactly what happened to the exploration team.

They needed skills, but more than that, they also needed a lot of knowledge about the stories.

She remembered what happened in the Moby-Dick world of thoughts and couldn’t argue back. Yu-hyun was right.

“But wouldn’t it be better to call an expert in this field when that happens? Like some old scholars or professors. It would be easier if we had them.”

Kang Hyerim timidly retorted. She was convinced by her own words, thinking that it wasn’t a bad idea.

Yu-hyun looked at her and shattered her complacency.

“There used to be such a method.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. But it changed nowadays. Do you know why? Because the survival rate was terrible. Especially when those non-collectors entered the world of thoughts, 99 out of 100 died. Just look at the Theodolant Swamp we went to last time, isn’t it obvious? Ordinary humans would have suffocated from the spores and died.”

Collectors could withstand the environment of the world of thoughts. But not those who couldn’t.

Like what happened in the Twilight Curtain and Hanul incident, ordinary people could enter the world of thoughts too. It wasn’t impossible. But they didn’t go because it was dangerous.

“In the past, when they formed an exploration team, they always brought along expert scholars with them. But they died too much, so there was a problem. After all, intellectuals are valuable resources, and it was too much to send them to dangerous places.”

So the method changed.

Instead of sending professors or doctors to risky places, they just raised collectors smarter.

“There weren’t any new Worlds of Ideas lately, so you might not have felt the need to study, but until then, the amount of study required for collectors was really huge.”

And that was still maintained in the Academy, albeit weakly.

In the world of thoughts where stories were realized, information was the biggest weapon.

That was why Yu-hyun made Kang Hyerim study.

“So don’t complain and do it.”

“Hmph.”

“Don’t pout your lips and act cute either. It makes me want to hit you. Just be defiant instead.”

“Really? Should I be defiant?”

“Yes. Do it, please do it. You must do it. You understand?”

“Ah, I understand. I said I understand!”

Kang Hyerim finally gave up and immersed herself in reading again.

Yu-hyun nodded satisfactorily and took care of Baekryeon.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to stop by the headquarters for a moment.”

He had to submit an application for the expansion of his study room to the headquarters.

‘And.’

He also needed to find out about Daeseong Group, which might be related to Seo Sumin.