Chapter 256:
Chapter 256:
Chapter 256:
Chapter 256
“Hello~.”
“…Yes. Nice to meet you.”
Yu-hyun scanned the tall teller who stood in front of him from head to toe.
A black uniform with beautiful golden embroidery.
A red cloak fluttering over his shoulders.
And on his head, a black helmet.
This teller looked like a mix of a European noble and a soldier, and he gave off a very impressive first impression.
“I’m Romulaxis, the manager.”
“…I’m Kang Yu-hyun, the manager.”“Nice to meet you. Wow, you really live up to the rumors. I’ve heard a lot about you, but this is the first time I’ve seen you in person.”
“Oh, really.”
“I’m really curious, so don’t mind me asking, but did you really give up your protection? And you really fight with the collectors?”
“…Uh, yes.”
“That’s amazing!”
Romulaxis exclaimed with admiration, spreading his arms in a Y shape as if he really meant it.
Yu-hyun hesitated on what expression to make at his reaction.
Kwon Jia and Kang Hye-rim, who were watching the scene, whispered to each other.
“I’ve never seen Yu-hyun react like that before.”
“Hmm. I guess that guy is too hard to deal with in his right mind.”
“He just seems crazy to me.”
“I think so too.”
“But don’t you think Yu-hyun’s reaction is refreshing?”
“It’s kind of fun to see him in a different way…”
“Hey. You two over there. I can hear you, you know?”
Kwon Jia and Kang Hye-rim coughed and avoided Yu-hyun’s glare.
Yu-hyun sighed and looked at Romulaxis again. Well, did their eyes even meet?
“So, what brings you here all of a sudden?”
“I just came to see who the teller of the rumors was out of curiosity.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes, why?”
Romulaxis replied with a pure expression that showed no ulterior motive. Yu-hyun felt a headache coming on.
But he couldn’t just treat him weirdly and ignore him.
‘What kind of book is that…’
The book floating above Romulaxis’ head was inferior to other chief tellers, but it had a golden potential.
He introduced himself as a manager, and there was no lie in that. But judging by his book alone, he was almost on par with a veteran deputy manager.
In terms of potential, he could even surpass the chief’s position.
In other words, Romulaxis was a teller who had great abilities but acted strangely.
‘He doesn’t seem to be hiding his abilities on purpose.’
He seemed to be just like that by nature.
Even if they were tellers, their personalities were different, so it wasn’t strange to have such an odd teller.
But then.
“Oh, right! I forgot something. Actually, I had a favor to ask you.”
“What? You said you came here just out of curiosity…”
“I forgot.”
“…”
Why is it that?
Just by talking to him, I feel my irritation rising.
Even Yu-hyun, who always uses polite language with a smile to anyone, feels like this Romulaxis guy is somehow crossing the line of his patience in many ways.
“Hoo. So what is the favor you need?”
“Director Celestina told me to help teller Kang Yu-hyun if he was having a hard time.”
“Director Celestina? Wait, are you from the Celestial Ice department?”
“Yes. Why?”
“…”
Being in that department, which aims for a small elite group, was proof enough of Romulaxis’s ability as a teller.
But why is it that every time he faces Romulaxis, he imagines Celestina swallowing her anger?
‘Did she send this teller to help me?’
Is this not meant to make me angry?
Yu-hyun seriously wondered if he had done something wrong to Celestina.
He couldn’t believe that she sent this kind of (?) teller to help him.
‘Isn’t this just dumping the trash on me?’
If she was going to send someone, couldn’t it be someone more serious and reliable?
Yu-hyun decided to think positively for now.
Romulaxis was still a teller of his level, and he seemed talented and capable when it came to books, so there was no harm in getting along with him.
“Please take care of me.”
“Yes. Please take care of me too!”
He also seemed like a nice teller, judging by his friendly attitude.
Then Romulaxis turned his head to the other side.
“Oh!”
And then he uttered that sound and moved at an incredible speed. He saw a familiar person where Romulaxis was heading.
The mad dog of the association, the special affairs department captain Yu Sung Ah.
As soon as he saw her, Romulaxis knelt down on one knee and repeated the same action he did when he first saw Kwon Jia.
“Oh, beautiful lady. It must be fate that we meet like this. How about we go somewhere quiet…”
“Ah, what is this again! Get lost!”
“…”
A teller who flirts with women.
Yu-hyun thought that this was his chance while Romulaxis was distracted by Yu Sung Ah, and quickly left the place with Kwon Jia and Kang Hye-rim.
[Hehe. Even the great Kang Yu-hyun has someone he avoids!]
Baekryeon, who was watching this scene, laughed as if he couldn’t contain his joy and scratched Yu-hyun’s heart.
Yu-hyun clenched his teeth and vowed to get back at Baekryeon later, but he also wondered about Romulaxis’s attitude towards Yu Sung Ah.
Did that teller see her true nature?
***
A space where only tellers belonging to the relay can live.
For the Tellers of the Celestial Corporation, it was called the Room of the Patron, but the Tellers of the Comedy Troupe Faction were different.
They called this place the ‘Market’.
The Comedy Troupe Faction did not use individual rooms for their patrons like the Celestial Corporation did.
Unlike the Celestial Corporation, which divided its departments and ranks, the Comedy Troupe Faction preferred to be free-Divine Spirited.
They basically did not act individually, but formed small ‘gangs’ and operated together.
The Market was also the same.
One by one, the Comedy Troupe Faction’s ‘Moon Crackers Gang’ gathered at the Market.
“Oh. You’re here, bro? Did you finish sorting?”
“Of course. How about you?”
“I’m done too. Hey, those Walkers we found this time, they’re not bad, are they?”
“You’re right. They’re pretty interesting. I think we’ll get some fun pictures out of them.”
If the Tellers of the Celestial Corporation wore suits mostly, and the Tellers of Exodus covered their whole bodies with black robes,
The Tellers of the Comedy Troupe Faction were all dressed like clowns with masks on their faces.
The masks were all different in shape and size.
They laughed and giggled as they talked to each other, as if they found something very amusing.
“Hey! What’s all this noise!”
“Oh my! The boss is here!”
Soon after, the leader and the eldest brother of all the Tellers who gathered here from the Moon Crackers Gang showed up. A muscular giant who was close to 2m tall with a mask that twisted his face like a goblin.
He was Kanggo, the real owner of this Market.
“Alright, since you’re all here, let’s see what stories you’ve brought today!”
“Let me go first!”
The Tellers of the Comedy Troupe Faction sat around in a circle and bragged about the stories and points they had obtained through the Collectors they had contracted today.
How the Walkers suppressed the terrorists of Unleashed, or how they succeeded in clearing a Mental Realm somewhere else, or how other Tellers were doing.
They shared information like that.
“Ah, these Walker bastards are really sharp, aren’t they?”
“I heard before I came here that all the Collectors on Earth are cowards with big bodies, but I guess the rumors were wrong.”
“Boss Kanggo, do you have any good news?”
“Kuhaha! You asked well!”
Kanggo said that and showed his colleagues several stories he had obtained this time. The text he took out spread widely in the air and then showed one story.
“Lately, those Exodus bastards have been up to something on Earth. So I was curious and checked it out, and guess what? They’re doing something strange.”
“Something strange?”
“Boss. Don’t beat around the bush and tell us.”
“Cough. You know those Unleashed guys, right? The ones who do weird things like terror and stuff. Those tragedy freaks teamed up with them.”
Tragedy freaks was a nickname that the Comedy Troupe Faction used to mock the Tellers of Exodus.
Gloomy and dark, always talking about despair and stuff like that.
By the way, the Comedy Troupe Faction called the Celestial Corporation suit freaks.
They wore suits all the time and only cared about money.
“That’s old news, isn’t it?”
“Ah, listen to me till the end. The thing is, those tragedy freaks gave those Unleashed guys some seeds of stories.”
The other tellers gasped when they heard the phrase “the seed of the story”.
“Wow. This is something.”
“I knew those tragedy freaks were no good, but they crossed the line this time.”
“How can the boss stand it? Knowing his temper, he would have gone and smashed them up.”
“Hey, you! What do you know about my temper?!”
Ganggo pretended to be calm, but in fact he was not pleased with Exodus’s wicked actions.
However, there was no point in arguing with them, since they were bound to be ignorant fools, and he would only vent his anger.
“I have a plan for this. What are they doing? They are defying the natural order of things that is already set. They are forcing something that does not exist into existence. Damn. I can’t just sit and watch.”
“So what did you do, boss? Don’t tell me, you destroyed something that already existed.”
“That’s exactly what I did.”
“What?”
“Boss. Are we hearing this wrong?”
“No. You heard it right. What did those tragedy freaks do? They created a new Mental Realm that did not exist. Then what should I do? The answer is obvious, isn’t it?”
Ganggo’s choice was the exact opposite of Exodus’s.
He destroyed an existing Mental Realm.
The other gang members sighed and shook their heads when they heard that.
“Oh boy. Boss, have you gone mad?”
“It seems like our boss has lost his mind. He’s paying the price for messing with them.”
Ganggo snapped at them.
“Hey, you guys! Why are you picking on me? Do you think you would have done any better?!”
“Well, that’s…”
“Uh…”
“Come on. And before you say anything about me, change your eyes first.”
As Ganggo pointed out.
Among the gang members gathered here, there was not a single one who sincerely wanted to stop him, even though they verbally called him crazy.
Because.
“It sounds so fun, why should we stop him?”
“Right. Destroying an existing Mental Realm, what could be more fun than that?”
“We honestly want to see it!”
It was fun.
The most primal instinct engraved in the minds of the Comedy Gang members was only this one thing.
Anything was possible if it was fun.
As Yu-hyun warned, they thought nothing of creating and destroying something for fun.
Even if a massacre occurred, they would laugh and clap their hands. That was the Comedy Gang.
“But boss, can we handle this matter on our own? I’m a bit worried about that.”
One of the gang members said that.
As he pointed out, the Comedy Gang was a free-Divine Spirited group, but still a part of an organization. And one of the three major teller organizations at that.
No matter how powerful Ganggo was, he could not deal with such a matter on his own.
“Hey, you idiots. Do you really think I’m crazy enough to do such a thing by myself? Of course I got permission from above!”
“Oh my. From above, you mean… from the leader?”
“That’s right.”
“Really?”
The tellers of the Comedy Gang usually called each other brothers and sisters.
But among them, there were some special tellers, who were at least equivalent to the deputy director level or higher in the Celestial Corporation. They were given the titles of sub-boss and boss.
And above them. Those who matched the level of directors and executives. They were called leaders.
“Hey! Even for a leader, messing with a Mental Realm is not easy, you know?!”
“Then, don’t tell me, above that?”
“Wha, what? The supreme leader?”
The top of the organization called the Comedy Gang.
The one who was much higher than the sub-boss, boss, and leader.
The supreme leader and big father of the Comedy Gang, the king of humor, Damcheon.
He was the one who approved this matter.
So Ganggo secretly passed on the ability to cut off and pulverize the story of a Mental Realm to a man who could do it.
To Kim Hakjang, the director of the Korean Collector Association.
“Got it?! The supreme leader approved it! So don’t be scared and we just have to give those tragedy freaks a taste of their own medicine!”
“Kya! With the supreme leader’s backing, we’re unstoppable!”
“Let’s go and have some fun!”
The market quickly turned into a festive atmosphere. Ganggo laughed heartily with his subordinates.
But while he was laughing, there was one thing he had not told them yet.
‘Was his name Kang Yu-hyun?’
The one and only teller who had turned the place called Earth, which the Comedy Gang had ignored, into a huge market in no time.
Ganggo had been watching Yu-hyun’s actions today from afar.
He did not go into his library directly. That would show up on Yu-hyun’s access history.
So he secretly watched him.
‘He knew I was watching him.’
He admitted that he was a bit obvious, but he did not think he would be caught even then.
Yu-hyun did not show any signs that he knew he was watching, but Ganggo could tell.
He could tell that Yu-hyun knew from the start. And knowing that, Yu-hyun did not react, and knowing that, Ganggo also let it slide.
‘I thought the Celestial Corporation was full of boring suit-wearers who only cared about money.’
Ganggo snickered.
‘Well, well. There was a very interesting guy among them.’