Chapter 354:

Chapter 354:

The fire did not burn the whole village. Thanks to Yu-hyun, who extinguished the flames before they reached the corners, the damage to the village was miraculously less than half.

The house of the oldest person in Thorbo village, who was called the village chief by others, was one of them.

“Here, here’s something to drink.”

The village chief offered water to Yu-hyun with trembling hands. He could not shake off his anxiety.

He had every reason to be afraid. He had seen this man wipe out hundreds of soldiers under the Black Thunder Lord in an instant. How could he not be nervous?

The village chief wanted to send Yu-hyun out of the village if he could, but he had no power to do so.

Besides, Yu-hyun was the benefactor of the village. Whether he looked or acted differently, or had a different power, it was undeniable that they owed him their lives.

Even if the wolves were gone and the tigers came in, they had to bow their heads.

“I have a lot of questions, actually.”

Yu-hyun smiled at the woman sitting across from him.

Jimmy’s older sister, Kate, felt a strange sense of incongruity at Yu-hyun’s smile.

When he wore a mask and swept away the soldiers of the legion, he looked like the most terrifying being in the world. But now that he was sitting face to face with her, he seemed like nothing more than a polite young man.

She wondered what his true nature was, but she did not let go of her tension.

“So, what are you curious about?”

Kate gestured to the village chief that she would take care of this, and told him not to worry and leave.

The village chief left the room with a grateful word, as if fleeing. In the end, only Yu-hyun, Kate, and Jimmy were left in the room.

“I’m curious about how the world has changed in the last five years.”

“The last five years? That’s after the Great Explosion. Why are you suddenly curious about that? You seem to have enough skills to know everything.”

“I woke up after a long sleep. Everyone I knew was gone, the surroundings were different, and even the common sense around me changed completely. I was quite flustered until I met Jimmy here. Is that enough for an answer?”

“...Yes. So what exactly do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

“Everything?”

“I heard a rough outline from Jimmy, but I still don’t know much about the details. What is the Black Thunder Lord, what happened to the Divine Spirits, where did the tellers go? Everything.”

“Okay.”

Kate told Yu-hyun everything she knew.

“Where should I start? After the Great Explosion, Earth became fully integrated into the mixed world. Because of that, the mental realm blended with its surroundings and became part of the world. And the tellers who had been roaming around Earth could no longer perform their stories on Earth.”

“Because it was no longer a business place.”

“That’s right. Earth is no longer a lower world. Of course, it’s not fully part of an upper world either, but compared to before, the contact with Divine Spirits became much more smooth. The number of direct contractors increased tremendously.”

Direct contract.

As Earth entered fully into the mixed world, Divine Spirits began to contact collectors they had been eyeing.

The indirect support that used to send only points through tellers disappeared after the Great Explosion.

Instead, direct contracts that gave power and stories and all kinds of tools became popular. Spirits increased their followers.

“Of course. People who didn’t catch the eye of Divine Spirits were no different than before. The fate of those who were not chosen was always miserable.”

Even ordinary people who had not awakened before awakened, but not everyone received the choice of Divine Spirits.

Even in a changing world, talent made a difference.

Those who became followers of Divine Spirits rose to high places in an instant, but those who did not remained stuck below.

The gap between people widened rather than narrowed after direct contracts became popular.

People who wanted to rise up somehow clung to those followers. The relationship between lords and legions was always like that.

“This village is like a refuge for weak people who didn’t receive such a choice and gathered in remote areas.”

“But you said you were under the lord’s rule.”

“We have no choice. Everywhere that is not ruled by Grand Army or Normal Army is no different from lord’s land. There is no ownerless land in this mixed world.”

“But I heard stories about rebels or something. What is that?”

Kate answered without hesitation despite being a difficult question.

“What do you think? It’s people who want to resist against lord’s plundering or oppression. The legions under Black Thunder Lord call them rebels, but they themselves introduce themselves as liberation army.”

“Hmm. I see. The world has changed so much in five years...”

“Do you have any more questions?”

“Not really. I want to ask more about the Black Thunder Lord. Please tell me everything you know about her.”

“...The Black Thunder Lord. In other words, Kang Hye-rim, the Demon Sky Empress, is one of the rulers who dominate this area. Her power is so overwhelming that even other ruler-level beings don’t dare to mess with her. She’s notorious for that. But why does she rule over this remote and marginal place, instead of a core area? I still don’t know the reason.”

Kate said.

“Kang Hye-rim was a famous collector in a country called South Korea, back when the earth was still intact five years ago. I didn’t know her then, because I was on the other side of the earth. But that’s what I heard.”

Yu-hyun smiled slyly and showed his empty cup.

“You did a rude thing. Putting some drug in the water.”

“Th...that’s...”

Kate’s face turned pale in an instant. Jimmy, who was listening quietly next to her, looked up at his sister.

“Sis? What are you talking about? A drug?”

“No, no. I don’t know anything about that...”

“It seems like you really don’t know. Then it must be the village chief’s doing.”

Yu-hyun got up slowly from his chair.

Kate’s mind raced. She didn’t put any drug in the water. She never had such a thought. But Yu-hyun said that, which meant someone else did it behind her back.

She panicked.

“Wa...wait a minute! There must be some misunderstanding on our side...”

“Misunderstanding or not, look at the people outside. Aren’t they from your liberation army? They surrounded me secretly.”

Yu-hyun felt the presence of people moving around outside. They seemed to be trying to be quiet, but they couldn’t fool his sharp senses.

They didn’t seem hostile, but that could change at any moment. How could he be sure they wouldn’t suddenly attack him and try to kill him?

In this situation, Yu-hyun didn’t trust people easily.

He wished it wasn’t so, but that was the world he had come to.

“I’ll go out and talk to them!”

“What do you trust in them?”

Yu-hyun stood up in front of the door and snapped at Kate.

Kate couldn’t say anything and froze in her seat.

“I think I’m being patient enough by not getting angry at you here. Am I wrong?”

“N...no. You’re right.”

“You seem to have no such intention by your reaction. But the others are different.”

“I...I...”

“You should have done well when I asked you politely and respectfully. You rely on my kindness and this is what happens. Just stay there and watch.”

You can’t do anything anyway.

At his words, Kate bit her lip and lowered her head. Jimmy still looked confused and glanced back and forth between his sister Kate and Yu-hyun.

“Savior...sir?”

“Tell your brother too. I can’t leave him alone without knowing anything.”

Yu-hyun left those words and went out of the village chief’s house.

As soon as he went out, he was met by many people. Faces he had never seen in the village. And they all looked formidable.

They wore various outfits. Some wore armor and some wore comfortable clothes for movement.

Among them, he saw the village chief.

He widened his eyes when he saw Yu-hyun walking out normally even though he had taken the drug.

“You have a bad attitude for a guest.”

“Surrender.”

The man in front said bluntly.

Yu-hyun laughed as if he heard something funny. He looked at the village chief.

“Village chief. Didn’t you tell them? What happened to the soldiers who invaded here?”

“He told me everything.”

“He told you and you still say that to me?”

“They were only 300 men at best.”

“Hmm. Strange. When did 300 men become so insignificant?”

He had been asleep for five years, so he couldn’t tell how the standards had changed.

“Surrender. If you surrender, we will respect you and treat you with dignity. If not, we will subdue you by force.”

At his words, Yu-hyun’s smiling face turned expressionless.

Then or now, people always had to show their strength properly or they would act like they were better than him.

Yu-hyun put on Aporia’s mask on his face.

Four red eyes glowed with rage.

“Try it.”