The Main Characters That Only I Know

Chapter 61

[Kang Yu-hyun has won the Deathmatch in the City of Fire.]

[The field will disappear.]

[The reward for the winner will be calculated. Please wait a moment.]

The clock tower of London crumbled like a sandcastle. 

The surrounding scenery melted away in the air like a watercolor painting. 

The shadows walking on the street, the fog filling the sky.

Everything seemed like nothing but an illusion.

The scene of Whitechapel vanished and the empty stage of the Colosseum welcomed me.

Kim Han-jung’s corpse was long gone. 

The system had removed his body along with the field.

In the end, the words of the loser were so futile.

‘But I survived and won.’

Whoosh!

A bright light like a spotlight floating in the air shone on me at the center of the Colosseum.

As if singing a hymn for the victor, the light revealed my existence to everyone.

Thousands of eyes in the audience were directed at me.

I silently turned my head and checked the spectators.

They all looked like white mannequins with no identity, but I didn’t care.

For a moment, there was silence.

The fight was over, but no one cheered or rejoiced.

I gently closed my eyes.

I decided to accept whatever reaction would follow.

Clap clap.

I heard such a sound from somewhere.

It was very small, but clearly applause.

And then.

Clap clap clap clap clap!

As if applause was contagious, it filled the Colosseum in an instant.

I opened my eyes that I had closed.

Wow!

The applause didn’t stop with cheers.

Everyone was ecstatic about me. 

No one in the audience looked down on me.

I felt the shower of applause on my body, and I couldn’t help but smile.

The attention I had received until now was nothing compared to this.

I had been on stage in the Siege of Constantinople and in the fight in Theodolant Swamp, but I was nothing more than a supporting role.

But now it was different.

I stood here as a complete protagonist.

And I finally proved my worth as a person.

Clap clap clap.

My heart pounded. 

Something seemed to overflow in my chest. 

I shivered with excitement.

This was how it felt.

This was what the protagonists had seen on stage until now.

Why didn’t I know this before? 

Why did I decide for myself that I didn’t belong here?

Being under the spotlight was so fun and thrilling.

I didn’t bother to hide the smile on my lips.

As I felt the ecstasy in my heart, I found another different gaze among the spectators.

The one who still looked at me with interest and amusement.

The devil who first spread applause on this stage.

I bowed my head slightly. 

Thank you for watching, and thank you for applauding me.

The devil nodded his head lightly in response.

[The City of Fire will end soon.]

The applause that seemed endless was cut off by the announcement that echoed throughout the Colosseum.

The spirits in the audience were reluctant, but no one complained about it.

They had witnessed today a great story that they could not easily see otherwise.

They might have regrets, but that was enough for them.

***

“You can’t stop him.”

In one corner of the audience. 

Michael, who had been watching Yu-hyun’s fight from afar, muttered as he shook his head.

But unlike his words, Michael felt somewhat relieved as well.

Kang Yu-hyun, he knew that man was different from what he had heard. 

And he was more convinced when he met him face to face and talked to him directly.

But even so, he didn’t expect him to show his true skills on such a stage.

He didn’t stop there either.

He made even other spirits who had ignored and despised him unconsciously fall into his story.

A charm that draws in spirits who are thirsty and hungry for stories.

Kang Yu-hyun had such a charm that other tellers did not have.

‘So that’s why other spirits were so interested in him.’

Michael thought he knew why Satan was interested in him and why he deliberately showed off their relationship.

His initial interest in Yu-hyun was because of Satan, but now Michael also felt a deep curiosity about Yu-hyun himself.

‘And he did such a thing in front of so many people.’

Yu-hyun’s opponent, Kim Han-jung, was a collector who Michael thought was not easy to deal with. 

But he broke him down as a teller in front of more than 3,000 spectators.

That was enough to break the fixed idea that tellers were those who did not fight but watch.

‘Surely, other major armies will target him.’

Eden and Pandemonium were already interested in him. 

And he had caused such a big trouble, so other major armies would not miss him.

Olympus, Asgard, Sun Garden, Sukhavati, Remegeton, Mabinogion, Rigveda, Anunnaki, Avesta and so on.

There were more than a few places that came to his mind.

Surely, there would be noisy things happening in the future. 

And more interesting things would happen as well.

Michael realized that he, who should be pure and selfless, was excited for the first time in a long time.

He smiled bitterly at himself, but he didn’t bother to deny it.

‘I look forward to it.’

He whispered softly to Yu-hyun.

***

“Ah, aah…!”

Jinpung tore his face and screamed.

“It can’t be! It can’t be!”

Jinpung lost his sanity as soon as he saw Kim Hanjung’s neck flying off. 

His face was twisted and distorted in a horrible way, and his cloudy eyes were empty like an endless abyss.

He had to save Kim Hanjung at least, even if he had lost the battle.

But Yu-Hyun didn’t give him a chance, and immediately cut off Kim Hanjung’s neck.

He couldn’t argue with that.

He wouldn’t blame anyone for dying, that’s what a deathmatch was.

“What do I do now…”

He lost the battle, and even the secret weapon that his department had given him.

Jinpung had already lost everything, but what he feared more was the punishment that would come from the Pentagram department.

“You were here.”

“Eek!”

Jinpung’s body trembled like a pine tree as Agael appeared.

He rolled his eyes desperately. 

Agael’s usual cheerful expression was so stiff that he could tell she was angry.

“Ah, Agael! Please, listen to me!”

“Shut up.”

“That’s impossible! There must be another department behind him! Yes, that’s right. He must have a backer! There must be another department that supported him to check us…”

“I said, shut up.”

Agael interrupted him with a voice that sounded like she would bite him.

Jinpung’s face turned pale as he tried to spit out an excuse.

“Do you think your excuses will work in this situation? You idiot. Open your eyes and look. Do you know how many spirits are in the audience right now? It’s 3,000. And if you add the number of people who watched it on the broadcast, it’s over 5,000. This is almost the same level as the library of a teller who is at the peak among the executive class.”

Agael’s words poured out without stopping.

“You were completely crushed in front of so many spectators. And by a rookie teller who doesn’t even know the basics, who we secretly raised as a collector! Do you still not understand what this situation is?”

“That…”

“Hoo…”

Agael sighed and lowered her head as she regained her reason.

“Anyway, even if the opponent had the support of another department behind our backs. This situation won’t change at all.”

“Then… is there no way?”

“Way? Way out? You’re saying something funny, Jinpung. There’s no such thing, right? Yes, that’s right. There’s no way. All we can do is to prevent this situation from getting worse!”

“What is that?”

“That is, to hold someone responsible for this whole mess.”

Agael smiled again with a cackle. 

But her eyes were not smiling at all. 

The eyes of the wicked fairy girl were looking at Jinpung as if he was already discarded.

Jinpung immediately fell to the floor.

“Agael! Please spare me!”

“From the beginning, what value do you have for losing the secret weapon we gave you and failing the mission?”

“No, no! I haven’t shown my true abilities yet! Agael! How long have I been working under you for years?! It’s too much to throw me away so easily!”

“Did you say it’s too much? Hey Jinpung. Do you know how much damage you’ve done to our department? It’s not something that can be measured by money. Even if you try to pay it back, you can’t do it in your lifetime.”

“That can’t be true! I can’t be worth only that…”

“Ahh. You’re so pathetic. And Jinpung. You’ve lost all your rights to the library because of this defeat. You got it? All rights. That means not only the ones you’ve been regaining in our department, but also the remaining ones we still had. Jinpung. What should we do? We lost our promising prospect that we raised with great effort and time, and even one of our public goods like the library. Huh? Jinpung. What do you say? Huh? Huh?”

“…”

“If you have a mouth, answer me!!”

He couldn’t answer. 

As she said, the price he paid for this failure was too great.

But there was another reason why he couldn’t speak.

“Cough! Cough!”

The energy flowing from Agael was strangling Jinpung’s neck.

Jinpung was desperately kicking his legs, but Agael’s strength was not something he could resist with such actions.

“I’m doing this out of honesty and mercy for my junior. After all, you have to live a life worse than a slave, so I’m freeing you from it, right?”

“Sa, save me…”

“But there’s nothing I can do about it. Someone has to take responsibility and leave.”

“Yo, you bitch…!”

Crack.

Jinpung’s neck snapped weakly.

Even if he was under the protection of Genesis, he couldn’t be saved from his superior in the same department. 

In fact, Jinpung had lost ‘all’ his rights as a Teller and was in a state where he couldn’t even receive that protection.

Scatter.

Jinpung’s corpse dispersed into countless letters.

The Tellers, who were made of text instead of flesh, were eventually decomposed when their stories lost their power as focal points.

They left nothing behind even in death.

That was what the death of a Teller meant.

Agael glanced at the spot where Jinpung’s corpse had disappeared and pondered over the next steps.

First of all, Kang Yu-hyun’s existence was the biggest obstacle for her.

This insolent bastard had dared to pick a fight with the Pentagram department. 

And not just any fight, but one that humiliated them in front of everyone.

The responsibility was taken by Jinpung and he disappeared, but that didn’t mean that the damage to the department was completely gone.

Now that it had come this far, there was no turning back.

“Sigh, this is really. If our director finds out about this, we’re in big trouble.”

The only lucky thing was that she had dealt with Jinpung before sending him to Yu-hyun. 

If Yu-hyun had tried to dig up information about the Pentagram department, Jinpung, who had been stripped of his life-and-death authority, would not have been able to refuse to answer.

Jinpung was at the bottom of the department, but he wasn’t completely ignorant about it.

That was why Agael had killed Jinpung.

Clank.

At that moment, the door of the waiting room opened and Yu-hyun came in.

“Hmm? Where did Jinpung go?”

Yu-hyun asked Agael as he looked at her. 

He had come to meet the defeated Jinpung, but he was gone and only Agael was there instead.

Agael’s eyes sharpened as she saw Yu-hyun, but she soon smiled brightly and cheerfully as usual.

“Oh my. Nice to meet you! I’m Agael Kang, a senior manager of the Pentagram department!”

“Yes yes. Agael Kang senior manager. Nice to meet you. I’m Kang Yu-hyun, an employee.”

“Aha ha. I saw your fight earlier. You were really amazing!”

“This is really. I don’t know what to do with your interest in me.”

Yu-hyun smiled and said ‘but’ as he continued.

“Where is Jinpung employee? I want to talk to him.”

“He’s gone now. He lost in a life-and-death story battle, didn’t he? That means he died as soon as he lost.”

“Hmm. That’s strange. I only held his life-and-death authority, but I never thought he should die.”

“Aha ha. You’re new to story battles and don’t know much about them~. That’s how it is.”

“Oh. That’s how it is?”

“Yes. That’s right!”

Yu-hyun quickly dropped his smiling mask and glared at Agael with a cold expression.

“Cut the crap, will you?”

Agael’s face cracked at Yu-hyun’s sudden change of attitude.