The Main Characters That Only I Know

Chapter 159:

Chapter 159

Yu-hyun left the residential floor and headed to the office floor.

The entire floor was dedicated to office work, where the management tasks were carried out.

It was early in the morning, so the office was still empty. 

Yu-hyun liked the quiet atmosphere of the place.

He sat on a sofa that was big enough to lie down on and opened his tablet and the Genesis Network window at the same time.

‘It’s been a day since we cleared the Moby Dick Worldview, so the internet must be boiling with excitement.’

He logged on to a portal site and saw that, as expected, there were countless stories related to the Moby Dick Worldview.

Most of them were curious about what had happened inside the Worldview, since the survivors had prioritized their rest and postponed their reports.

‘Hmm. The Association did release some information, but they only gave out the basic facts. Are they planning to tease us and then reveal everything at once?’

Yu-hyun remembered the warning he had received. 

It was a clause that forbade him from disclosing any information without the Association’s permission, in case they succeeded in clearing the Worldview.

Maybe because of the embargo, the other clan collectors who had survived also kept their mouths shut.

The community sites were buzzing with speculation and debate about the Worldview clearance.

-Ah, what the hell happened in there? Lol

-They failed miserably in the first and second attempts, and then they suddenly cleared it in the third? What happened to the intermediate stages?;;

-The Association bastards are really stingy with information lol

-I heard that Baekhwa clan played a big role again this time? Is that true?

└There’s an embargo, how would you hear anything? Lol

-I don’t know about anything else, but they said they’re going to have a press conference soon, so maybe they’ll tell us everything then.

-Yeah. They have to take care of the funeral for the dead first, and sort out the rewards. The aftermath of a Worldview is always complicated.

Yu-hyun understood why people were so eager to know more.

The third expedition team had assembled an impressive lineup, but most people were skeptical about their chances.

Sending more people into an unknown and dangerous world without reliable information was like sending them to their deaths.

That was why many clans had delayed sending their members, and why the Association had to force some people to join.

‘It must have looked hopeless to them.’

What the higher-ups had hoped for from the third expedition team was to bring back some valuable information at least.

They would have been satisfied with that, but instead, the third expedition team came back with a Worldview clearance as their result.

There were casualties, of course.

Out of 30 people who were sent, only 13 came back alive. 

More than half of them had died, which was a tragic loss.

But people were more interested in the survivors who had brought back something beyond their expectations.

What did they see and do inside that allowed them to clear the Worldview?

Everyone’s eyes were on the Association, who had all the answers.

“This is getting interesting.”

Yu-hyun turned on the TV on the wall and switched to a news channel. 

All of them were talking about the upcoming press conference of the Association.

[The Association said they will reveal in detail what happened inside through a press conference today…]

[While mourning for the deceased is underway, some are debating how to deal with new Worldviews that might appear in the future…]

[Some clans that lost many members are especially angry and grieving for their important talents, while Twilight Veil clan is protesting against how the Association acted that resulted in so many deaths…]

As he calmly watched the news, he heard the door of the office open and Kwon Jia walked in.

“Hmm? You’re here already?”

“Ah. You’re here too? Did you get enough rest?”

“I’m fine. I just came here to check what’s going on, but I didn’t expect you to be here so early.”

Kwon Jia said that and glanced at Yu-hyun with a sidelong look.

He had one hand on his tablet browsing through internet information, and another hand on his Genesis Network window accessing mixed-world information.

He also listened attentively to the news on TV. 

He looked like a ghost who was obsessed with gathering information.

“Take it easy.”

“It’s my nature.”

Yu-hyun smiled softly. 

Kwon Jia snorted and sat down on a sofa not far from Yu-hyun.

“Hellooo.”

“Oh? You two are here too.”

Soon after, Kang Hye-rim and Baek Seoryeon entered. 

Kang Hye-rim looked tired, barely opening her eyes. 

She moved slowly and quietly sat down next to Yu-hyun, opposite Kwon Jia.

“Yaaawn. I’m sleepy.”

“Are you still tired?”

“Yeah. Maybe it was too hard this time? I wasn’t like this when we went to Constantinople.”

“That’s normal.”

Especially for Kang Hye-rim, who had used the Heavenly Thunder Sword a lot this time. 

The sword was powerful, but it also consumed a lot of energy. 

Even with her great stamina, she was bound to get exhausted.

“You can go back and rest more if you want, Hye-rim.”

“It’s okay. Just, sigh. I’ll stay here.”

She said that while licking her lips, and Yu-hyun felt worried if she was really okay.

The atmosphere in the office didn’t change much even though more people came. 

Baek Seo-ryeon sat on the representative’s seat and reviewed the piled-up documents, Yu-hyun silently collected information, and Kwon Jia just sat quietly.

Kang Hye-rim, who was dozing off, tilted her head to the side and then rested it on Yu-hyun’s shoulder.

Feeling the warmth from his shoulder, Yu-hyun chuckled and lifted Kang Hye-rim’s head to his lap.

“…”

“Jia? Why are you staring at me like that…”

“…It’s nothing.”

Kwon Jia turned her head away quickly. But she seemed to be bothered by something, and kept glancing at Yu-hyun and Kang Hye-rim who was lying on his lap.

“It’s almost time for the press conference.”

No matter which news channel they turned on, they showed a podium full of microphones. 

The press conference about this world of thoughts would start in 10 minutes.

The person who was conducting the press conference was surprisingly Park Cheol-o. 

Yu-hyun didn’t expect him to be on the podium, since he had suffered a lot in the world of thoughts. 

He could have just sent a proxy.

Ring!

Yu-hyun’s phone rang. 

He saw that it was from Choi Joong-mo and answered it right away.

“Yes. What’s up?”

-I heard you came back safely from the world of thoughts. I tried to contact you yesterday, but you didn’t answer. Maybe you were busy.

“Ah. That’s right. We were so exhausted from the inside that we all passed out.”

-I see. I’m glad you’re safe. I heard that White Flower Management played a big role in this one too.

“Well, I won’t deny it. We did work hard.”

Yu-hyun looked at the press conference hall where the atmosphere was getting warmer and asked Choi Joong-mo.

“The press conference is about to start, but is it okay for you to call me like this?”

-It’s not a big deal. The embargo will be lifted soon anyway, and I’m not the one who’s doing the conference. And the reason why I called you is to let you know officially that White Flower Management helped us in this press conference. I just wanted to tell you in advance, in case you didn’t know.

Yu-hyun laughed and said it was a great service.

“That’s very generous of you.”

-It’s only natural. You guys are the lifesavers of Cheol-o.

“You and Park Cheol-o were acquaintances?”

-We were colleagues when we worked on site. I retired from the field and came here, but Cheol-o is still working.

As the press conference was about to start, Choi Joong-mo said he would hang up.

-Oh, by the way. I almost forgot.

“What is it?”

-This press conference will be quite interesting for you.

Yu-hyun imagined Choi Joong-mo smiling on the other side of the phone.

“That sounds like exciting news.”

-Well then, take care.

“Yes. You too, Mr. Choi.”

As soon as the call ended, someone stepped onto the podium.

He had sharp eyes and a strong jaw, and his muscular body stood out even under his neatly dressed suit.

Park Cheol-o stood straight and announced the start of the press conference.

[Dear citizens of this country. First of all, I would like to express my condolences to the victims who applied for this exploration team. They bravely did their best in their roles, and they left without any shame.]

Park Cheol-o’s voice was heavy and solemn.

And then, a moment of silence followed.

The reporters had their fingers on their laptops, ready for the next information.

[This new world of thoughts was more dangerous than any other place. Because it was a fusion-type world of thoughts that we explored this time, which is hard to find anywhere in the world.]

The hall buzzed at the word fusion-type world of thoughts.

[There were three stories in this world of thoughts. Moby-Dick. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. And Pinocchio. It was such a dangerous place that if we failed to understand even one of these three stories properly, we would have practically impossible to clear it.]

[The inside was made up of an endless sea, and there was only one fantasy creature in this world of thoughts. It was Moby-Dick, the legendary giant whale. The clear condition was to hunt down this Moby-Dick. We confirmed that, but we couldn’t go back right away. The world of thoughts itself had a ‘condition’ attached to it.]

Park Cheol-o calmly revealed the information about this world of thoughts one by one.

The story of how they all worked together to hunt down the legendary whale Moby-Dick.

The people were all drawn into his words, and their nerves were tense.

[Especially, I would like to thank White Flower Management for their great help in clearing this world of thoughts. If it weren’t for them, this third exploration would have failed too, and I wouldn’t be standing here.]

Whisper whisper.

White Flower Management’s name came up in the press conference that the whole nation was watching.

The people were confused.

It was normal for a famous clan’s name to come up in this situation, but it was a small management’s name that came out of nowhere.

-Question! What exactly did White Flower Management do?

[They have made a great contribution to discovering important information about the world of thought. And they fought bravely against a huge monster without sparing their life. Our collector association has decided to raise the collector rank of Kang Hye-rim by two levels and Kwon Jia by three levels based on this exploration.]

The people who had applied for the press conference together were surprised.

“Wow. Yu-hyun, did you hear? They said our ranks went up.”

“Seo-ryeon, I heard it too, so calm down.”

The press conference soon proceeded to questions and answers.

-Some people say that the association was not prepared enough and that there were casualties. What do you think about that?

-Some survive and some die. Some people also say that the survivors didn’t really fight well, did they?

The reporters seized the opportunity and attacked with sharp questions and accusations.

They indirectly said, ‘Isn’t it true that you barely survived because you didn’t fight hard enough?’ while bringing up the victims.

“Wow, look at them. They’re attacking us while using the dead as an excuse.”

Baek Seo-ryeon gritted her teeth at the reporters’ behavior. 

She felt angry just listening to them.

“They’re just being trashy journalists. And some of them, I suspect they have someone behind them.”

“Someone behind them?”

“Somebody who suffered the most damage in this world of thought, and who tried to assert their rights by bribing the reporters.”

Yu-hyun knew one such place.

‘Well, how will they deal with it?’

Yu-hyun looked at Park Cheol-oh’s face on the screen with an expectant gaze.

[Actually, I was going to talk about that too. There were many casualties in this world of thought. Especially our association’s people suffered a lot of damage. We lost most of our large monster weapons, such as Cheonmang and Cheonjachongtong, and we lost our precious colleagues.]

-So the important thing now is to compensate for the victims…

[Are you talking about the Twilight Curtain, the victims you mentioned?]

As soon as that name came out, the reporter who was about to ask a question shut his mouth. 

He didn’t expect Park Cheol-oh to say the name of the clan he received money from so accurately.

[Twilight Curtain. They sent three mid-level collectors this time. I think it was a considerable expense for the clan. So we, the collector association, would like to take this opportunity to tell the Twilight Curtain clan.]

Park Cheol-oh looked at the camera intensely, as if he had his opponent in front of him.

[Twilight Curtain clan, you will be held responsible and severely punished for deliberately interfering with the exploration of the world of thought this time.]

It was a huge declaration of war

to bring down a clan.