The Main Characters That Only I Know

Chapter 45

“Are you curious about what happened over there?”

“Ah, that…”

Han Yong-woon seemed to still not understand what was going on.

I understood. 

To him, Baek Woo-hyun and his companions must have looked like the most terrifying monsters in the world.

He must have been worried when he heard that Kang Hye-rim stayed with those three.

“Nothing to worry about. Rather, our lady here was more wild than I expected.”

The sound that had been ringing out until a moment ago stopped abruptly like a ghost. 

It didn’t seem like much time had passed since I gave the signal. 

They were quite fast. 

They didn’t kill them all, did they?

“Let’s go.”

I took the lead and Han Yong-woon followed me with his reluctant steps.

We cut through the fog and arrived at the place where we had rested before. Kang Hye-rim greeted me lightly when she saw me.

“You’re here.”

“Yes. What about the rest?”

“Over there.”

Kang Hye-rim pointed to one direction with the sword in her hand. 

There were three scavengers lying on the ground, covered in wounds. 

They were still breathing, judging by their twitching shoulders. 

She had listened to my words and subdued them without using too much force.

“What, what is this…”

Han Yong-woon, who followed me, couldn’t close his mouth as he saw Baek Woo-hyun and his companions lying on the ground.

He looked at Baek Woo-hyun with trembling eyes, then quickly shifted his gaze to Kang Hye-rim.

She had mercilessly subdued three people by herself, but she looked calm and composed as if she hadn’t even broken a sweat. 

That paradoxical normalcy only highlighted the feelings he had for her.

She seemed like someone who lived in a different world, someone he could never reach.

The emotion Han Yong-woon felt right now was fear.

“Hmm. Judging by their condition, there’s no need to tie them up to prevent them from resisting.”

I checked Baek Woo-hyun and the other two, and it was hard to find a spot that wasn’t injured. 

The sword marks all over them were just a bonus. 

Maybe because Kang Hye-rim had been quite aggressive in subduing them, their arms and legs were broken.

The spirits cheered and clapped their hands as they saw the scene.

“Miss Hye-rim. Did they say anything to you?”

“Well, I didn’t really listen to them. I just thought something was fishy over there when Mr. Yu-hyun sent me the signal, so I moved right away.”

“I see.”

I nodded calmly, but I was secretly impressed by Kang Hye-rim’s bold action.

I thought she would show some weakness when fighting against other people, but she was rather ruthless in beating them up.

Hmm. 

But why does it seem like the woman over there got hit more than the others? 

Is it my imagination? Her face is completely smashed.

“Mr. Kang Yoo-hyun, what are you planning to do like this…?”

“Just watch.”

I left Han Yong-woon behind and approached the three who had fallen. 

They were in too much pain to regain their senses. 

It seemed like there was no point in talking to them like this, so I went over to the leader, Baek Woo-hyun, and stepped hard on his thigh that was half-submerged in the water.

“Aaargh!”

He woke up screaming as I stepped on his broken bone.

“Oh, you’re awake. Mr. Baek Woo-hyun.”

“Wha, what the hell… What is this! You, why did you…!”

He stammered as he saw me alive and well. 

Then he noticed Han Yong-woon over my shoulder and his forehead vein popped.

“Tha, that traitorous bastard! Was it you? Did you spill everything? You son of a bitch! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”

“Hoo.”

I sighed and put more pressure on his thigh with my foot.

Crunch.

“Ughhh!”

“Mr. Woo-hyun. Mr. Woo-hyun. Mr. Baek Woo-hyun. It seems like you don’t understand the situation right now. Shall I make you understand again?”

“Hurk! Hurk!”

He gasped for air as I lifted my foot from his thigh. He glared at me with hatred in his eyes.

I don’t like his eyes at all.

“You guys, did you think you could get away with this?! Just try to get out of here! You’re all dead!”

“Go on.”

I didn’t even blink at his boring threat. I even urged him to say more.

He twisted his face and spat out all kinds of curses.

The mask of a smile he wore when we first met was long gone.

“Didn’t you hear me?! I’ll kill you all! I’ll kill you all!”

“Wow. That’s really interesting. Holy Spirits. Did you hear that? He’s threatening to kill me and Ms. Hyerim.”

“You bastard! Do you think I’m joking?! Ugh! You’re nothing to me, I can just…”

“Just what?”

I asked him sarcastically as I lowered my voice. 

At the same time, I lightly stepped on his wound.

He tried to grit his teeth and suppress his scream, but I mocked him and put more pressure on his broken bone.

In the end, he couldn’t bear the pain and let out a scream.

“Aah! Stop! Stooop!”

“Stop? Stoop? That’s a bit short, don’t you think?”

Crack!

“Please, please stop! Aaah!”

He was reduced to tears and snot by the pain, and I finally lifted my foot off him.

The other two who had fallen on both sides also came to their senses at his scream and looked at me nervously.

I walked over to the crushed Baek Woo-hyun and crouched down to meet his eyes.

“Name. Baek Woo-hyun. Collector rank is Class 7. You’ve been roaming around with a bunch of people, slicing and dicing people like a scavenger, and you’ve killed more than 10 people already. Not satisfied with that, you’ve also been involved in assault, robbery, and human trafficking with some thugs?”

“Tha, that’s…”

He shuddered as I recited his criminal record.

He seemed to realize that he had messed with the wrong person.

“So, this time, you were planning to kill a nameless man and a woman named Geomhu who recently became famous as a sword master.”

“Tha, that’s…”

“What, you didn’t intend to kill us nicely, did you? Given your dirty preferences. Right?”

“No, no!”

He answered hastily, thinking that he would be in trouble if he answered wrong.

But I know. 

He’s pretending to be humble, but his eyes are still shining with malice.

Yeah, you must be angry. 

And humiliated.

When I was in school, I lived as a bully. 

I beat up and bossed around anyone who annoyed me.

I thought I was the best. 

And just as I was about to become a member of society, I awakened as a collector.

I never tasted the bitterness of reality. I only soared higher and higher.

What did I have to fear in my life? 

I had my brothers who supported me from behind, and I was a collector who was superior to ordinary people.

Of course, I didn’t have the most important thing for a collector: a teller contract. 

But even without that, I committed murder.

I never intended to change. 

And then, one teller offered me a request, and I accepted it.

‘How interesting. You’re trying to eat your life in one bite, aren’t you?’

Well, let me show you today.

I realized how narrow my world was, and whom I had messed with.

“Who are you?”

“Me? Me?”

“Who’s the one who paid you from behind. Who is it?”

“That’s…”

He trailed off, rolling his eyes. 

As soon as I saw that, I sprang up from my seat and pressed his shoulder with one hand. 

And I stepped on his broken bones, grinding them with force.

“Aaaah!”

“Didn’t you like my question? Did I ask you something difficult?”

“Aah! Aaah! Stop! Stop it! You bastard!”

“Why can’t you answer such a simple question? Do you still look down on us?”

“Krrrrr!”

It was only 10 seconds. 

That was all it took, but Baek Woo-hyun lost his nerve. 

He gasped for breath, drooling from the corner of his mouth.

“Huhu. I’ll, I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you.”

“You’re still saying that in this state?”

“Kuhuhu. So what. Are you going to kill us? Do you have the guts to be a murderer?”

“How shameless. Aren’t you afraid of the law?”

“Kukuk. Afraid of the law? Kuhuhu. The law, you say. The law. So what, are you going to sentence me to death? There’s no such thing in this country. By the law? Sure, let’s do it by the law. A measly prison, I can handle that. But do you know what? When I get out of prison, I’ll find you and kill you. All of your people and family.”

Baek Woo-hyun spat out words of curse at me, as if he was possessed by evil.

He seemed to firmly believe that I would never kill him.

“Then heal us right now. If not…”

“This is really funny.”

I chuckled at the brazen Baek Woo-hyun.

“How the world works. You guys tried to trick us and kill us secretly, but when you got overpowered, what are you doing? If you don’t want to die, get lost? Did we look that pathetic to you?”

It was not just me. 

The spirits in my library were also furious at Baek Woo-hyun’s shameless face. 

They shouted at me to kill him right away.

[Spirits scream to kill Baek Woo-hyun.]

[Some spirits frown at Baek Woo-hyun’s disgrace.]

[The one who resembles the brilliant light says that he must punish the wicked.]

The atmosphere in the library was unanimous.

That is, to kill Baek Woo-hyun and his companions.

I was very satisfied with their reaction.

‘It was worth letting him show his disgrace on purpose.’

If I had killed him right away without waking him up, the spirits might have said that it was too boring or that I did not deal with him harshly enough.

Some merciful spirits might have argued that killing was not the only solution, and that they should be made to repent.

But the behavior that Baek Woo-hyun had shown so far was enough to wash away the reactions of those spirits.

Even I, who had deliberately provoked him, was starting to get angry. 

How much more would the spirits feel?

Maybe, if they could, they would have cut his throat themselves.

“Why? Are you scared now? Who would dare to challenge me without fear…”

“No. That’s enough.”

“What? What do you mean…”

“I guess you haven’t grasped the situation yet, so let me tell you. Did you think we couldn’t kill you? But, do you know? Except for the Holy Spirits, no one knows what happened here.”

My voice, which had given up on honorifics, was filled with killing intent. 

Maybe he sensed it, because Baek Woo-hyun’s expression became desperate.

“St, stop joking! There’s a witness! Hey, Yong-pal! Hey, you bastard!”

“That guy? Do you think he can go outside and tell the truth?”

Swoosh.

I deliberately drew my sword to show off. 

The faces of Baek Woo-hyun and the other two turned pale.

“You thought I couldn’t kill you? Then I’ll show you.”

Thud!

I immediately stabbed my sword into his colleague next to Baek Woo-hyun.

The male scavenger gasped as the blade pierced him unexpectedly.

But I didn’t blink an eye.

Rather, as if to show off, I slowly pushed the sword deeper into his ribs.

“Ugh!”

Finally, my sword pierced his heart, and he dropped his head, unable to move from the intense pain.

The female scavenger who saw that scene trembled in fear.

“Hiik! Pl, please spare me!”

“Th, this crazy!”

The two finally realized the seriousness of the situation. 

But it was too late, way too late.

“Why did you mess with this side?”

“Pl, please spare me! I, I must have gone crazy for a moment! Please!”

“Ge, Geomhu unni! Unni please! I didn’t do anything wrong! It was all this bastard’s fault! Please!”

The female scavenger, thinking that I wouldn’t spare her, begged Kang Hye-rim for help. 

Her arrogant expression was gone, and she was a pathetic sight with tears and snot running down her face.

Seeing that, Kang Hye-rim came to my side.

“Hye-rim?”

Was she going to stop me?

Well, I’m sure from her perspective, what I was doing right now looked pretty scary.

But what Kang Hye-rim did was far beyond my expectations.

Thud!

“Ugh! Wh, why.”

She drew her sword and pierced the female scavenger’s abdomen. 

She looked at her with disbelief, and then fell to the side. 

Baek Woo-hyun was stunned by the sight.

Kang Hye-rim, who had killed without hesitation, looked at me and said.

“Yu-hyun. You were trying to spare me by taking care of this alone, right?”

“…”

“You don’t have to do that. I’ve realized it clearly since that fight.”

“…I see.”

The siege of Constantinople.

In the midst of that fierce battlefield, Kang Hye-rim realized what she had to do.

And she resolved to never stop for it.

‘Amazing.’

She wasn’t just pretending to be strong. 

Kang Hye-rim looked truly indifferent. 

It might have been her first kill, but she acted as if she was just removing a stone on the road.

I guess I underestimated her too much.

“I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Be my guest.”

It was a welcome thing for me that Hyerim took care of it.

As I stepped aside, Kang Hye-rim moved forward.

“Ah, aah.”

Baek Woo-hyun looked up at Kang Hye-rim with trembling eyes.