Chapter 178:

Chapter 178:

Chapter 178

As I looked up at the stars, I made a vow to myself. But before I could finish, I received a call from Yeom Hwa.

-Yu-hyun! Yu-hyun, can you hear me?

-Kang Yu-hyun. Can you hear our voice?

‘Yes. I can hear you well.’

I realized that I should have contacted them sooner.

I was so engrossed in listening to Seo Sumin’s story that I forgot about them.

‘Where are you two right now? Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?’

-Yes. We’re fine. We don’t have any injuries.

-We’ve infiltrated the information department at the front line of the Heavenly Demon Sect.

‘What?’

I was surprised that they had joined forces, but I was even more shocked by the fact that they had sneaked into a place that I never expected.

‘How did you get there?’

-That’s not important right now. We’ve found out some things here, and there are some things that you need to know too.

‘What are they?’

Kwon Jia told me everything she had learned.

How the fight between the Heavenly Demon Sect and the Martial Alliance was going, and how the factions within the Heavenly Demon Sect were splitting and changing.

And how the Blood Eagle Group was preparing to betray the Heavenly Demon, and how the opposite faction had some traces of collusion with the Martial Alliance.

‘...I see. So that’s how it is.’

-You don’t seem very surprised.

‘I’ve found out some things on my own too. But thank you for telling me. The puzzle was not complete yet, but thanks to you two, I could fill in the gaps. You’ve done a great job without me.’

-Heheh. You’re welcome.

-Ahem. It was nothing.

They sounded modest, but their sincerity was evident.

Until now, I had helped them a lot with what they should do. But I also wondered if I had interfered too much with them.

If they were left alone without me, would they be able to handle things properly? That small doubt was put to rest by their actions just now.

Kang Hye-rim and Kwon Jia had grown splendidly as I wished.

They could do well on their own without me.

‘The incident will happen tomorrow at noon. It’s the decisive event that will determine the end of this world of thought. You two should keep acting as informants for the Heavenly Demon Sect and monitor the situation.’

-What about you? What are you going to do?

‘I’ve found the two people who were involved in this, so I have to decide what to do while protecting them.’

I didn’t tell them that one of them was the person who became the axis of this world of thought.

It was Seo Sumin’s personal matter, and it was not something that a third party should blabber about.

Still, I couldn’t keep everything secret from them.

They were my collectors, after all. I decided to give them some hints.

‘If you feel like something is dangerous, you have to get out of there right away. There are other tellers and spirits involved in this situation.’

-Okay.

-Got it.

‘That’s good enough. Then, see you tomorrow.’

I ended the call with them.

I stayed in my place for a while and looked up at the sky.

The moment of showdown was tomorrow at noon.

That’s when everything would be decided.

***

Shamath waited quietly in the room of the observer.

He was secretly observing the inside of the world of thought.

Where the flow came from and where it went.

And how the conflicts between the characters progressed.

How the fights broke out, who died, and who survived.

What was the final outcome of the story that unfolded in this world?

He saw all those things with his eyes and judged what would happen next.

Shikik.

Shamath licked his tongue.

His already sharp eyes with vertical pupils became even colder.

“The showdown is tomorrow.”

Shamath had been watching what Yu-hyun was doing in the world of thought, and where Seo Sumin was.

He couldn’t analyze what they were talking about or what they were doing exactly.

He was not opening his library right now, but secretly watching them instead.

But he knew that everything was going as he had expected.

‘It’s a pity that I can’t show this spectacle to my viewers.’

He felt bitter when he thought about the points he could earn by showing this to them.

Shamath decided to think positively.

He couldn’t risk opening his library and revealing that he had a connection with Paradise and that he had intervened in this boundary.

Instead of showing the story as it is, showing a story that has been ‘manipulated’ by someone is a taboo for a teller.

That was what the spirits hated the most.

If that was exposed, bad rumors would spread and the subscription spirits that he had barely gathered would all leave.

“Anyway. How do you like it?”

Shamath asked, looking at the air.

He had not opened the library, so there should have been no one here, but.

Just one person.

He had a guest that he secretly invited.

[What answer do you expect from me?]

A voice that seemed to resonate even with his soul, and Shamath thought ‘as expected’.

Paradise did not just entrust him with something.

Seo Sumin clutched her head in pain.

Yu-hyun couldn’t ask her what was wrong. Or if she was okay. Because the house they were staying in was shaking as if there was an earthquake.

That wasn’t all.

The book that Seo Sumin had also shook violently.

Dududududu!!

[What is this? What’s going on?!]

‘I don’t know.’

As he panicked, the scenery around him changed.

The shape of the building became blurry and slowly changed into something else.

Soon, the shabby house disappeared and the ruined city also disappeared.

It seemed like it collapsed due to an earthquake.

And everything returned to nothingness.

And then, as if time was rewinding, the collapsed things began to rise again.

However, when they were reassembled, it was a very different background from before.

“Where is this...”

It was a lush forest with a huge monument as a backdrop.

Yu-hyun was startled by the sudden change of environment.

This kind of thing never happened in his memory of this world.

If he had to guess, it was because this world was different from normal ones.

And the reason for that was none other than Seo Sumin, who was the origin of this world.

“Sumin!”

“Ugh.”

Seo Sumin still suffered from a headache and clenched her head.

Yu-hyun looked at her and confirmed it.

This world was leading Seo Sumin somewhere like a living being.

Like a child who doesn’t know anything shows their parents the toy they made.

The world also invited Seo Sumin here to show her the story it wanted to show her.

Without knowing what consequences it would bring.

Yu-hyun quickly sent a message to Yeom Hwa.

‘Jia! Hye-rim! It’s an emergency! Come to where the assassination of Heavenly Demon is happening!’

-What? Yu-hyun. Why are you suddenly...

-I got it. I’ll be right there.

Yu-hyun only said what he had to say briefly to Kang Hye-rim and Kwon Jia, and then checked on Seo Sumin’s condition again.

[Most of the spirits are curious about what’s going on.]

[Some spirits recognize that something bad has happened.]

“Sumin. Are you okay? Wake up.”

“I’m fine.”

The scenery changed completely and Seo Sumin’s headache ended.

She lifted her head that had been bowed down. Seo Sumin’s pupils dilated. Her lips trembled.

“Here, here. Why are we suddenly here...”

“Sumin. Now is not the time to ask that. Let’s get out of here quickly.”

“No. No. It’s too late.”

Seo Sumin muttered hopelessly as if she realized what was going to happen next.

Before Yu-hyun could ask what she meant by that,

Kwaang!

A loud explosion rang out.

A huge explosion occurred in the forest far away.

It was not an ordinary explosion.

A deep darkness rose like a pillar tens of meters high, making my skin crawl just by looking at it.

“It’s too late.”

Bang! Bang!

Aaah!

Screams and blasts followed one after another.

The intervals between them became shorter, and they got closer to this side.

Darkness was approaching.

A darkness that was deeper and purer than anything else.

Shhh!

The first ones to show themselves from beyond the forest were people in black outfits.

I knew who they were.

They were the warriors who moved with the old man Huang on the first day I came here.

They were the Blood Shadow Squad, one of the combat units of the Heavenly Demon Sect.

Their condition was not good, to say the least.

Many of them had torn or bloodstained clothes. Some had serious injuries, such as missing an arm or a leg.

‘That means.’

My eyes turned to the inside of the forest where the Blood Shadow Squad had emerged from.

A sticky darkness flowed out of there like a newly bloomed dawn mist.

I felt the same chill as when I first saw the black pillar.

‘I’ve seen few things as ominous as that even in the apocalypse.’

Soon, a person appeared from the forest.

She was a beautiful woman with a terrible magic power wrapped around her body like a cloak, and black eyes that showed no trace of reason.

The current leader of the Heavenly Demon Sect.

The peerless warrior above all others.

“Heavenly Demon...”

It was Seo Sumin, who had once stepped on the threshold of transcendence.