Chapter 273:

Chapter 273:

[Text Shredder]

That’s what it translates to.

A shredder for letters.

The first question that the collectors had when they heard that name was only one.

What on earth was that cylindrical metal that they called a shredder?

It didn’t look like a weapon that could handle this situation.

“This text shredder is our new weapon with a performance worthy of its name. It is a bomb itself, and when it explodes, it shreds only letters, not matter.”

“A bomb that shreds only letters? Is that possible?”

“Don’t tell me, they made something that can erase the Mental Realm?”

Everyone was puzzled, but Yu-hyun was quietly admiring inside.

‘Could it be, they finished all the improvements?’

Judging by the fact that they confidently brought out that thing in front of everyone, it seemed that Director Kim had worked hard and completed the improvements properly.

Otherwise, there was a possibility that they had brought out an incomplete thing to defuse the urgent situation.

Everyone’s eyes turned to Choi Jung-mo, and he immediately showed another screen.

It showed the real-time scene of Tokyo becoming a ruin as the Mental Realm invaded.

“This is what is being filmed from high altitude by Japan’s military drones right now. These are all happening in real time. Look.”

In the corner of the camera screen, soldiers and collectors were moving busily.

As everyone expected, the operation of the Japanese government and the World Association began.

Shoo shoo shoo shoo.

Countless missiles flew through the air with white tails.

And from a distance, red-hot cannons spewed flames.

In an instant, high-temperature explosions burst over the heads of the phantasms that were gathered around the ruins.

“That’s some firepower.”

“But that won’t be enough to take down those phantasms.”

Someone muttered unknowingly, but phantasms were monsters that could not be eliminated by modern weapons.

Fantasy creatures were beings formed by the aggregation of texts from the mixed world.

No matter what they did with material things, they could only destroy their shapes to some extent, but they could not kill or erase them.

They knew that, but they did so for a reason.Updated chapters at novelhall.com

“It’s buying time.”

Everyone’s eyes shifted to Yu-hyun and then back to Choi Jung-mo.

Choi Jung-mo nodded his head as if to confirm his words.

“The core of this operation is these collectors here.”

Choi Jung-mo pointed to one side with a laser pointer and the screen zoomed in on it. Even without doing that, there was no collector here who didn’t recognize them.

In the center of the screen, about 10 collectors were running hard towards the Mental Realm with text shredders in their hands.

One person carried a text shredder and the other nine desperately opened the way for him.

“Those people are...”

“They’re Japan’s top collectors, aren’t they?”

“Huh. There’s even a guy called Pung Shin.”

The ones who performed this important operation were the ones who ranked in the top 10 among collectors in Japan.

Among them, the man who carried the text shredder on his back was Pung Shin, the man who was called Pung Shin and ranked first in Japan.

Indeed, they had gathered only the strongest collectors in their country, and their momentum was unstoppable as they broke through.

The place where a barrage swept by was left with phantasms who had not regained their senses.

The 10-man suicide squad broke through the phantasms at an incredible speed and reached the ruins.

Their final destination was obviously the entrance to the Mental Realm.

“Other collectors are also supporting them.”

The suicide squad did not stop at 10 people.

At least mid-level collectors stepped forward and drew the attention of phantasms or opened up paths by throwing themselves directly at them.

Their number was over 1,000.

Large-scale battles broke out everywhere.

They seemed to have gathered all the collectors in Japan overnight, and their numbers were considerable.

As a result, phantasms were strong and numerous, but they were pushed back so much that it felt refreshing to watch.

That’s how the last 10-man suicide squad arrived at the entrance to the Mental Realm.

Two collectors followed Pung Shin, who carried a text shredder, and went inside, while the remaining seven went to clean up phantasms near the entrance.

“My goodness.”

***

The five-layered worldview incident that occurred in Japan disappeared with the appearance of a text shredder.

A memorial service was held for Japan.

They managed to end the situation quickly, but the damage caused in that one day was astronomical.

More than 3,000 people died and more than 100,000 were injured.

The buildings in the largest downtown area collapsed, and the area near where the worldview was located was devastated as if a bomb had fallen.

This huge damage was also less than one-tenth of what they should have experienced, which indirectly showed how dangerous this five-layered worldview incident was.

But the citizens cheered.

After all, they cleared the worldview, and they learned that they could clear any worldview without much risk with the emergence of the shredder.

Each country in the world showed interest in wanting to somehow secure at least one of those great weapons.

But there was a very big flaw in the shredder.

“The power of the collectors who were in the range of influence of the shredder has weakened?”

“That’s right.”

Kang Hye-rim, Kwon Jia, Seo Sumin, and Yoo Young-min gasped when they heard the truth from Yu-hyun.

The collectors who were swept away by the explosion of the shredder looked fine at first glance, but soon they couldn’t bear something and fainted.

It was later revealed that there was a very serious problem with the shredder.

“Maybe it’s because this bomb that shreds stories is too powerful. It also erased all the stories possessed by collectors within its range.”

“...Then what happened to those collectors who lost their power? Did they lose it completely? Or partially?”

“Fortunately, they didn’t lose everything. Especially as they got farther away from the range of explosion, their power loss was less. But still, weakening is weakening.”

The collectors on site lost more than 30% of their power on average.

It may sound like 30%, but for those who were at least high-ranking collectors, it couldn’t be anything but a terrible loss.

It’s like a level 80 collector becoming 56 by simple calculation.

And if they were closer to the range of explosion, they lost more stories.

“The Japanese collector Pung Shin, who was estimated to be level 88, fell below the middle-ranking collectors.”

The average was 30%, but for those who detonated the shredder right in front of them, it was much more serious.

They lost more than 50%, half of their power.

This news was a bolt from the blue for the Japanese government.

They gathered all the collectors in their country to get rid of the five-layered worldview. And to make it elite, they only called those who were at least level 55.

All those collectors lost their power due to the influence of the shredder, so how bitter would it be for the government?

Originally, Japan boasted a collector power that ranked among the top 10 in the world as a collector powerhouse.

But, because of this incident, his rank plummeted all the way to the bottom.

“Then Japan is completely doomed, right?”

There was no better way to describe Japan’s situation than what Yoo Young-min said.

The collectors who lost their power could regain it if they tried again, but how long would it take until then?

More than anything, the helplessness of those who had lost what they already had could not be solved by anything.

“The important thing is what happens next. When the multiple worlds of consciousness appear, who will be the one to break the shredder in front of them?”

“...”

“...”

The faces of those who realized the seriousness of the situation naturally darkened.

Yoo Young-min, who had been cheerful, also shivered at the fact that he might lose more than 30% of his power.

There was a high probability that there would be a heated debate on this part.

‘It was good that they stopped the Unleashed guys from doing their thing, but this has its own problems.’

But, what bothered Yu-hyun the most was the empty seat in the conference room.

Many collectors gathered in the association conference room, and most of them were high-ranking collectors. Most of the few who could not attend were overseas and could not attend because they had no choice.

But, only one person.

A man who did not show his face at all even though he was in Korea.

‘Woo Moo-hyuk, the Godless. He didn’t come.’

If he hadn’t always been like this, he would have let it go.

The important thing was that Woo Moo-hyuk was a man who always showed his face at least in such important places.

Yet, he did not show his face without any complaints about a huge matter that plunged a country into crisis.

‘There must be something.’

He had been suspicious that something smelled bad from before, but he was sure of it with this case.

Woo Moo-hyuk had some connection with the Unleashed.