The Main Characters That Only I Know

Chapter 173:

Chapter 173

After finishing her mental connection with Yu-hyun, Kang Hye-rim stayed still in her seat.

For the first time, she was left alone in the mental world.

Whenever she went to the mental world, Yu-hyun was always by her side. 

Except for the one time she moved with Kwon Jia, she had never been separated from Yu-hyun.

‘Ah.’

The moment she realized that she was alone and lonely,

She felt a strong sense of loss and dependence, wanting to see Yu-hyun desperately, as if something that was always there was gone.

‘Yu-hyun told me to find the survivors.’

She belatedly remembered what Yu-hyun had said.

Kang Hye-rim knew that, but she hesitated. 

She wanted to run to Yu-hyun right away.

And then, her reason told her that she shouldn’t do that.

Should she follow her heart and look for Yu-hyun first? Or should she follow Yu-hyun’s words and look for the civilians who were swept away by the mental world?

‘Anyway, they are not people I know. No. I still have to save them. But…’

Her emotions and reason clashed harshly.

While Kang Hye-rim was hesitating in her place, there was movement around her.

“Who is that woman? She appeared out of thin air.”

“I’ve never seen her face before.”

“Could it be…”

The people who surrounded Kang Hye-rim were beggars in shabby clothes. 

They were filthy and smelly, and even from a distance, they reeked.

They were also warriors belonging to the Open Sect.

The Open Sect beggars suspected Kang Hye-rim. 

She appeared out of nowhere, and her behavior was also very suspicious.

It had been about three months since the Dark Sects from the Hundred Thousand Mountains invaded the Central Plains and started a war.

There were fierce battles, and many cities fell into the calamity of war.

The place where they were now was also one of the defensive lines of the Martial Alliance to stop the advance of the Dark Sects.

The beggars looked at each other and turned their eyes to the leader who was here.

‘Leader Bunta. What should we do? Should we just leave her alone?’

‘You fools! What do you mean by that? We have to capture her first. She looks suspicious no matter how you look at her. Do you want to just let her go? They are off guard over there, so let’s rush over and hand her over.’

‘But still, it’s too much to attack a woman with many people. Shouldn’t we try to solve it with dialogue first?’

‘Think about it. How can a person who suddenly appeared in this front line, and a woman who acts strangely, be a normal warrior? Don’t forget. We are at war now. Do you have any mercy for your enemy in war? Then, did your enemies spare you because you are beggars? Wake up!’

‘Ugh. Okay.’

The Open Sect members exchanged their eyes and agreed on their intention.

They each took their positions and slowly approached Kang Hye-rim.

At that moment, Kang Hye-rim’s consciousness also returned to reality.

“…Ugh.”

Kang Hye-rim frowned.

She had barely calmed herself down when she felt a foul smell coming through the air.

Kang Hye-rim’s eyes sharpened.

The beggars she had glimpsed earlier had surrounded her by now.

‘What is this?’

Her expression turned cold as ice.

It was completely opposite to what she showed to Yu-hyun. 

It was the cold side that she showed as an ‘actress’ in front of the public.

Kang Hye-rim sensed a strong hostility from the beggars toward her.

Not only their will, but also their posture showed that they were ready to attack her.

Kang Hye-rim didn’t know why these smelly beggars suddenly wanted to attack her, and she didn’t care.

Swoosh.

Kang Hye-rim drew her sword.

She was very unhappy right now because she was separated from Yu-hyun. 

And on top of that, these beggars were attacking her with their stench. 

She felt sick to her stomach.

Kang Hye-rim bit her lips and spoke with anger in her voice.

“I’m already feeling dirty because I’m separated from Yu-hyun.”

Crack.

Her hand holding the sword tightened.

“I want to go see him as soon as possible. But I can’t ignore what he asked me to do, so I was holding back. I’m so anxious. I’m so annoyed.”

Zap.

Blue currents ran along the white blade, spreading like countless thorns. 

The space around them heated up with intense sparks.

Is that lightning power?

The beggars turned pale. Leader Bunta shouted urgently.

“We’ve been spotted! Attack her all at once!”

The beggars rushed toward Kang Hye-rim from all directions.

At the same time, Kang Hye-rim’s anger that had accumulated to the limit exploded.

“You smelly beggars dare to touch me!?”

With a loud bang, a huge light and a storm of blue currents swept over.

***

Kwon Jia looked down at the city from the bamboo forest on the high ground.

It was a fairly prosperous city, but it was spewing black smoke everywhere. Kwon Jia sensed that this place was not an ordinary world of thought, seeing the aftermath of a storm called war.

‘Are you telling me to find two civilians who were swept away in this mess?’

As she mulled over what Yu-hyun had said, Kwon Jia felt a strange sense of incongruity.

Surely, it was natural for her to save ordinary people who were swept away into the world of thought as a collector.

But, Kwon Jia felt that Yu-hyun was somewhat impatient.

‘Is it my imagination? No, it’s not.’

Her intuition was sharp. Even if Yu-hyun didn’t show it, she could feel it. She had been paying more attention to him lately.

His expression was more serious when he saw the people who were swept away by the CCTV than when he found out about the seed.

‘Could it be, someone he knows?’

Was it someone he knew?

Then, his reaction made sense. If the two students who were swept away were really related to Yu-hyun, then there was more reason to find them.

Maybe if she found them first, Yu-hyun would praise her more.

‘No, wait. Why do I have to do that to impress him? This makes me look like I’m interested in him…’

Kwon Jia belatedly felt doubtful about her actions.

She shook her head. Her cheeks were slightly flushed.

‘Let’s not think weird things. I’m just trying to save people who are in danger as a collector. Yeah, that’s it. Just that. I don’t have any ulterior motives.’

Having calmed her emotions, Kwon Jia decided to start searching from the city where there were many people.

Then, she felt a presence in the bamboo forest.

“Who’s there?”

Kwon Jia turned around and narrowed her eyes.

The ones who showed themselves through the bamboo were soldiers in armor.

At first, she thought they were unmanned, but considering that martial artists only wore light clothes, their outfits were out of place. Kwon Jia quickly figured out who they were.

‘Are they imperial soldiers?’

There are also armies in the martial world. This is a world where an emperor exists, and he needs an army to follow him.

Kwon Jia wondered why the imperial soldiers were here.

‘I heard that the imperial court doesn’t interfere with the martial world, so why are they here?’

What’s more, their attitude was not good.

Their eyes were half-filled with hostility and murderous intent, as if they were piercing her skin. Kwon Jia reflexively reached for her sword hilt.

“Stop.”

Then a voice intervened between the soldiers and Kwon Jia. 

The soldiers who seemed ready to attack immediately stopped and stood still.

Kwon Jia looked at the owner of the voice.

Unlike the soldiers, he wore a more splendid armor, and even emitted an ominous aura. He was a middle-aged man.

‘His outfit is not normal either. Is he the commander of this group?’

Kwon Jia tensed up and gripped her sword tightly. 

The aura that emanated from the man who seemed to be the commander was similar to that of the skeleton general she had fought before.

He was not at the level of leading a squad or a platoon of soldiers.

The soldiers were also quite elite, judging by their appearance. 

The commander must be higher than that. 

He must be someone with a high rank in the court.

The commander greeted Kwon Jia with a bow.

“I apologize for being hostile all of a sudden. Soldier.”

“…What brings you here?”

Kwon Jia spoke as respectfully as possible.

The martial world was a place where etiquette and formality mattered, and speaking casually could cause friction with the other party.

“We came here to check on the enemy’s movements.”

“Enemy?”

“Hmm? That reaction sounds like you didn’t know. Of course, I’m talking about the martial alliance and the demon sect who are fighting each other.”

Kwon Jia’s mind spun rapidly.

The imperial court intervened in the martial world. 

Why? 

Because of war. And war broke out between the martial alliance and the demon sect.

The Great War of Justice and Evil.

That was the word that came to Kwon Jia’s mind.

‘Did the Great War of Justice and Evil happen? And did the imperial court intervene to prepare for any possible situation? No, judging by their fierce reaction, they must have already fought a lot.’

The situation was not normal at all. She had to find two girls in this war zone.

She felt that the difficulty of her mission had increased.

“So, what do you want from me?”

“We heard that there was a suspicious person in this bamboo forest from our scouts. We came here to check it out.”

“Is that so. Well, you must have satisfied your curiosity by now, so it doesn’t matter.”

Kwon Jia tried to brush it off, but the other party didn’t seem to have that intention.

“Huh, soldier. Do you think you can get away with this so easily? Right now, you are the most suspicious person here. You act like you don’t know about the war, and you are watching the city from this remote place. Don’t you look like a spy?”

“…”

“If you follow me obediently, I promise I won’t harm you.”

The man in front of her was suspicious of Kwon Jia.

Her appearance, her sudden appearance, and her reaction that seemed to not know about the war.

Objectively speaking, Kwon Jia had no excuse to defend herself.

‘Sigh.’

Kwon Jia sighed inwardly and looked around. 

The captain’s words made his subordinates grip their spears again and start to guard her.

Kwon Jia admitted that she had no choice but to arouse suspicion. But she didn’t intend to follow them willingly.

‘If I follow the soldiers, it might take a lot of time. Maybe I’ll be imprisoned until the war is over. In the worst case, I might die because of my unknown identity.’

It didn’t seem like it would end well. Then there was only one way left.

‘I can’t waste time here.’

The commander sighed with pity when he saw her determined eyes.

“Soldier. Think again. You are a very suspicious target right now. The moment you draw your sword, the situation will be irreversible.”

“I have someone to find.”

Kwon Jia returned to her original tone. She drew her sword.

“I can’t waste time here.”

“Is that so? I can’t help it then.”

The commander also drew his sword from his waist. The soldiers also switched their spears for swords.

The wind blew in the bamboo forest.

Swoosh.

The sound of the swaying bamboo leaves was noisy in their ears.

Who would move first? 

The moment when their tension reached its peak as they rolled their eyes.

Kwon Jia leaped back.

“Catch her!”

The soldiers chased after her.

***

Yu-hyun arrived at a shabby temple on the outskirts of the village following Hwang’s old man’s guidance.

“Do you stay in a place like this?”

“It’s not a bad place to stay for a while.”

Hwang’s old man entered the room and sat down, and Yu-hyun also followed him and sat down in a suitable place.

“So what are you curious about?”

“Are you sure it’s okay to bring me here? What if I’m a spy for the Martial Alliance?”

“If you were a spy for the Martial Alliance, you wouldn’t have said that.”

“That’s true.”

Yu-hyun chuckled and nodded his head.

He was not an ordinary old man. He tried to talk to him, but he got it back in one shot.

“Then, can I ask what happened in this area?”

“War.”

Hwang’s old man said casually.

“War?”

“Isn’t it obvious? The Heavenly Horse Sect, which covets the Central Martial World, has revealed its ambition towards the Central World. That’s how the war broke out between the Martial Alliance and the Sect.”

Yu-hyun focused on the words war and Heavenly Horse Sect.

‘The martial world. The war between the Martial Alliance and the Demon Sect. The Heavenly Horse Sect.’

And, swept up in this place was reincarnated Heavenly Horse Seo Sumin.

Was this a coincidence?

It couldn’t be. That meant that this worldview itself was related to Seo Sumin.

‘The seed of the story. It ate Seo Sumin’s story and created a worldview based on her memory. Was this what happened when the seed, a simple text collection without directionality, came into contact with someone?’

Then maybe the old man in front of him had something to do with Seo Sumin when she was a Heavenly Horse.

He didn’t look like an ordinary person anyway.

If this world was strongly reflected by her memory, even more so.

“As a member of the Heavenly Horse Sect, you must know a lot about the current Heavenly Horse.”

“Well. What would this old man know much?”

Yu-hyun read something hidden in that answer.

Yu-hyun hesitated for a moment. He was still a guest. It seemed hard to get information from Hwang’s old man by talking to him here.

“You seem to have a lot of curiosity.”

“I have an inquisitive personality.”

“I see. That’s why you traveled around the world. But how can I casually mention the sect leader as a member of the sect? I’ll pretend I didn’t hear your previous question.”

Hwang’s old man said firmly. Yu-hyun hesitated for a moment. The old man in front of him surely held a key that he didn’t know. If he let him go here, he felt he would regret it for sure.

Yu-hyun decided to press Kangsu.

“I heard a rumor, you see.”

“What rumor?”

“They say that the current Heavenly Horse, he has some serious mental issues.”

“…”

The old man Huang’s expression slightly cracked. A reaction that came from his sincerity, not an act.

As expected.

Yu-hyun confirmed that the old man Huang had some kind of relationship with the current Heavenly Horse, Seo Sumin, when he showed that much of a reaction.

Maybe the old man Huang was even the cause of the horrible trauma that Seo Sumin had.

Yu-hyun was going to find out that answer, right now.