Chapter 251:
Chapter 251:
“Huh? Why is there a World of Thought here…?”
A World of Thought with a small entrance between the alleys.
Yoo Young-min, who recognized it, was full of panic as if he had seen something that shouldn’t be there.
It was the same for Yu-hyun.
‘A World of Thought here?’
Was it newly created recently? Or, was it there before?
His intuition leaned towards the former.
If the World of Thought had been there for a long time, it would have been eroded by now.
After the recent Second Phantasm Shock, the government had been keen on finding unidentified Worlds of Thought to make sure of their number and location.
No matter how empty the alley was, there was no way that a World of Thought would be left unguarded between the buildings close to the Association.“Hyung. What should we do? Should we report it to the Association first?”
“Wait a minute.”
Yu-hyun cut off Yoo Young-min’s words and put strength in his eyes.
His right eye turned red for a moment and read the information that others couldn’t see.
His power had been enhanced much more than before after clearing the Don Quixote World of Thought.
Thanks to that, he could use the fragments of Laplace’s Demon much more freely without wearing a mask.
[World of Thought ‘Nightmare of the Betrayed’]
‘Nightmare of the Betrayed?’
The first thing that came to mind was the name of the World of Thought.
It might sound like a big deal by its name, but Yu-hyun didn’t judge hastily.
His instinct, which was like intuition, told him that the World of Thought in front of him was peculiar, but not dangerous at all.
Yu-hyun put more strength in his right eye. His brown iris turned completely red, and new information came up.
[There are no entry conditions for the World of Thought.]
[The difficulty level of the World of Thought is very low.]
[It has been created less than a day ago.]
‘What?’
Yu-hyun felt more curious about the peculiarity of the World of Thought.
‘The difficulty level is so low that it’s very low, but there are no entry conditions?’
Usually, in the case of low and easy Worlds of Thought, the grade and quality of the story itself are low, so intermediate or advanced collectors with massive stories can’t enter them.
It’s because the World of Thought itself can’t handle the collector’s capacity.
That’s why each World of Thought has a minimum and maximum limit, but…
‘Very low but no limit. Is this possible?’
And, it hadn’t been long since it was created.
Yu-hyun suddenly felt that he had to check out the World of Thought.
He unknowingly approached the World of Thought and barely regained his reason and stopped his steps.
“Hyung? Are you okay?”
“…Yeah. Yeah. It’s nothing.”
Yu-hyun answered Yoo Young-min like that and recalled his attitude a moment ago.
‘I was drawn to something in that world without knowing it. The reason is… I have a guess.’
Golden light.
Yu-hyun remembered that and had no choice but to admit that the World of Thought had some connection with the golden light, and that he was drawn to it.
It wasn’t a trap or anything like that.
Even Laplace’s fragments told him that the World of Thought wasn’t dangerous.
‘Then…’
Yu-hyun glanced at Yoo Young-min.
“Young-min.”
“Yes, Hyung.”
“Let’s go in.”
“Huh?”
“Stop talking and just follow me.”
“Uh, uh?”
Yu-hyun dragged Yoo Young-min into the World of Thought.
As he felt something passing through his body, the scenery in front of him changed drastically.
The dark and damp alley disappeared and what appeared was a space that looked like an office in a company.
“Can’t you do your job properly?! If you keep doing this, get out of this company!”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
And, a harsh scolding voice.
A beggar in shabby clothes bowed his head repeatedly in front of his boss whose hair was half torn off.
The surrounding employees were watching him and laughing quietly.
“…Hyung. This is a World of Thought, right?”
“Yeah. Probably.”
Yu-hyun and Yoo Young-min were surprised to see a scene that they could only see in reality inside the World of Thought.
This was something that was absolutely impossible in reality.
The Mental Realm was a world where a clear story was realized with the power of the mixed world. Of course, even if it was a low-difficulty Mental Realm, there was a minimum standard.
Like the cobalt mine in the Anbar Mountains.
But what the hell is this?
I thought the name of the nightmare of the betrayed person was an exaggeration, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad.
If I had to name it objectively, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to call it the trauma of office worker Kim?
Yu-hyun’s thin eyes looked at the man who kept bowing his head.
“It seems that this person is related to this Mental Realm.”
The surrounding fantasy bodies were all office workers, but only that man was dressed like a homeless person at the train station.
It seemed necessary to check it out.
“Excuse me.”
“I’m sorry. Sorry… Huh?”
“I’ll just ask you one thing.”
“Who, who are you?”
“I’m here to clear the Mental Realm.”
At that, the homeless man’s expression, which had been crumpled up, brightened up.
“Fi, finally you came! He, help me! Please!”
The homeless man knelt down in front of Yu-hyun and grabbed his hem.
The fat old man who had been scolding the homeless man glared at Yu-hyun.
“What are you?! Huh? Do you want to die?”
“Sigh.”
Yu-hyun didn’t even feel the value of answering that.
Yu-hyun immediately swung his arm and tore everything in that range to pieces.
In an instant, a storm swept inside the company and all the fantasy bodies turned into text and scattered.
Yoo Young-min covered his face with both arms.
Then he saw the scene that Yu-hyun had created and exclaimed inwardly.
‘Wow, what is this? He just swung his arm once, and the power is…’
He had heard that he was a teller who fought directly, but the level of strength was amazing. If he had to compare, he was at least comparable to a high-ranking collector.
Yoo Young-min’s analysis was accurate.
[You have cleared the Mental Realm ‘The Nightmare of the Betrayed Person’.]
[There is no reward because the story is too poor.]
The Mental Realm disappeared and the three people returned to the outside of the alley.
The homeless man, who was happy to escape from the terrible world, asked Yu-hyun.
“Now. I’ve cleaned up around here, so let’s hear your story.”
“Yes, yes! Anything!”
“What’s your relationship with this Mental Realm?”
The homeless man explained everything he had experienced to Yu-hyun, his benefactor.
“I, I’m a homeless person as you can see. I lost my job and just lived like that. The Mental Realm just now was my nightmare that came true. I used to have a decent job, but that damn deputy chief in the company framed me and… Sob!”
The homeless man’s name was Choi Woo-jin.
Contrary to his worn-out appearance, he was still in his mid-30s.
He was originally a promising talent, but his jealous deputy chief framed him and played office politics to kick him out of the company.
Choi Woo-jin had a panic disorder from being betrayed and lost his motivation and wandered around the streets.
“But why are you in a Mental Realm, let alone one related to you?”
“That’s because of the seed I picked up recently.”
“Seed?”
Yu-hyun’s eyes narrowed.
“Don’t tell me, you mean that seed is black?”
“Yes, yes! That’s right! That’s it! As soon as I picked it up, a light came out of the seed and letters popped out and swallowed me. Inside was a horrible past that I never wanted to remember again. I didn’t know what to do and I was trapped there.”
“Where did that seed come from?”
Yu-hyun’s voice became heavy. Yoo Young-min, who had been listening quietly next to him, also sensed that this was not an ordinary incident.
The Mental Realm was not naturally occurring but artificially created!
He didn’t remember writing anything like that in his content.
“Some strange people dropped it as they passed by. I don’t know who they are. It was dark and they were all hiding their faces… They looked dangerous and suspicious so I stayed away from them.”
Choi Woo-jin shivered as if he felt cold just thinking about them.
“Then later when those people disappeared and left their place, there was one seed left. At first I didn’t know anything so I just picked it up, but suddenly, suddenly…!”
“I understand.”
Yu-hyun decided to stop asking any more questions since he already got an important clue.
Anyway, he had already secured the most important clue.
‘The seed of the story. That was what the Pentagram Department used to try to kill Sumin.’
Yu-hyun first suspected the Pentagram Department.
They had a history, so they were a strong candidate for the artificial Mental Realm.
‘But, what’s strange is that the Pentagram Department is hiding their bodies right now. Shamat, who ruled China, disappeared and a large number of channels opened up there, and tellers from other departments came and took over the empty space.’
In addition, the Pentagram’s position had narrowed infinitely due to the Paradise of the Earth’s Chulapantaka incident.
The Twilight Veil Clan, which the Pentagram used like limbs, also shrank so much that they could hardly find their former glory, and there was talk that they would be gone today or tomorrow.
***
Collectors brought various items from the Mental Realm, and an industry that used and processed those items developed in various parts of society.
However, there were few cases where collectors could make weapons or items that matched the ones they used.
Most collectors just used the [Dimensional Shop] verified by the Tellers.
But there were always people who were restless and wanted to express their overflowing talent and creativity.
And those people tried to manipulate the stories they acquired from the Mental Realm and apply them in a different way to reality.
A story that represented the mixed world.
A material that represented the material world.
They harmoniously mixed those two things and made one item.
And among them, there was one who succeeded and obtained a position.
He was Kim Hakjang, an inventor affiliated with the Association.
He was also a collector who was close to 60 years old, but rather than fighting in the Mental Realm, he was a person who had the ability to make items through stories.
The name of his trait was [Scientist of the Joseon Dynasty].
He had the story of Jang Yeong-sil, a very famous Korean scientist.
A net for catching giant phantasms, a firearm called Firearm Heavenly Control, and even a walkie-talkie that could be used inside the Mental Realm.
All these items used by the Association were made by him.
He had the ability to make items, the talent to succeed in making them, and an endless obsession with making items that he had no interest in anything else.
Even now, when the second Phantasm Shock erupted and the world was in turmoil, Kim Hakjang was focused on making a new invention.
“This time, please…!”
Kim Hakjang had been working on one thing for days without sleeping properly.
He had been using old-fashioned items like firearms and nets, and enhancing them by adding stories.
He gradually moved on to modern items and managed to make some changes to the walkie-talkie.
But what he was trying to make now was something he had only vaguely imagined before.
A bomb.
Kim Hakjang was combining a story with a modern time bomb to make a new item.
“Just a little more, just a little more…!”
His voice sounded almost insane.
But the bomb Kim Hakjang was making was not an item to threaten people.
Rather, it was the opposite.
A bomb that would only decompose the ‘story’ of the mixed world instead of material when it exploded.
That was what Kim Hakjang was making right now.
If this could be successfully used, it would be possible to eliminate the Mental Realm without clearing them directly.
In fact, it was an absurd item in theory.
Kim Hakjang had come up with this idea, but he had to discard it right away.
It was such an outrageous item that he couldn’t make it.
But now it was different.
Now that the influence of the mixed world had become stronger on Earth.
It became possible to make things that he couldn’t make before.
‘Before, these stories wouldn’t have fused together, but now they’re so natural. Is this the effect of the Phantasm Shock? Is it because the material world Earth is gradually merging with the mixed world?’
Kim Hakjang didn’t care much. Rather, he welcomed it with open arms as he got the opportunity to realize his many ideas that he had only thought of.
Of course, unlike his mad scientist-like appearance and madness, he only made very good items for the safety of people and collectors.
He was a very diligent man despite his appearance.
“I did it!”
Kim Hakjang jumped up from his seat.
He had found a clue to his new item and wanted to show off his achievement to someone right away.
But who?
‘Choi Jung-mo!’
A colleague who had been close since his days as an active field agent.
Kim Hakjang didn’t know what Choi Jung-mo thought of him, but he considered Choi Jung-mo a great friend.
He wanted to brag about his achievement to Choi Jung-mo right away.
And Choi Jung-mo was now…
Having a conversation with Yu-hyun.