The Main Characters That Only I Know

Chapter 274:

Chapter 274:

The World Association revealed the existence of the Shredder to the world.

They broadcasted the footage captured by drones on the internet, and people all over the world witnessed the scenes of the Mental Realm being torn apart by the Shredder.

Of course, they edited out the parts where the collectors collapsed afterwards.

They didn’t want to lose face by showing that.

However, even if they had shown those scenes, the reaction of the people would have been still heated.

The fact that the Shredder could destroy even those dangerous phantasms with ease gave a sense of relief to those who were afraid of possible threats.

“This was totally unexpected.”

Shena Lynch, the main shooter of Unleashed, was frustrated by the five-fold Mental Realm incident and the appearance of the Shredder that played a huge role in resolving it.

It was a Mental Realm created by using three medium seeds and two low seeds.

But, a secret weapon that appeared out of nowhere ruined their entire plan.

“Captain. What should we do about this?”

Shena asked, but Jin Cheong-woon didn’t seem too flustered.

Rather, he had a faint smile on his lips, as if he had predicted this situation.

“…Did you know about this from your prophecy?”

Jin Cheong-woon nodded, and Shena asked incredulously.

“Wait. So you did this knowing that we would fail?”

“No. We didn’t fail.”

“We didn’t fail? We did cause some alarm, but we didn’t inflict as much damage as we expected…”

“No, Shena. Look at this reaction.”

Jin Cheong-woon said that and showed her several screens on a large tablet.

Shena stopped her complaint as she saw the various scenes on the screen.

“This is…”

“Protests by the citizens.”

People were gathering and shouting loudly.

And this was not happening in just one place.

The protests were a common phenomenon all over the world.

Shena couldn’t understand why this happened.

Shouldn’t they be happy that they survived a dangerous situation?

“You don’t seem to understand why they are angry.”

“Well, that’s…”

“Shena. And you guys. Look carefully. Why do you think these people are angry?”

None of his subordinates could answer his question.

They didn’t consider the thoughts of ordinary people at all, so they couldn’t understand why they were angry.

“It’s rage.”

“Rage? Why?”

“Specifically, rage towards the collectors.”

Jin Cheong-woon explained kindly to his clueless subordinates.

“This Shredder was something I already expected. It was in my ‘prophecy’ after all. This Shredder literally shreds texts, so it can erase any Mental Realm we create, no matter how twisted it is.”

But, there was a big drawback to this Shredder.

“Only collectors can activate it. But collectors who are swept by its aftermath lose a significant portion of their power. The Shredder is a powerful weapon, but who would want to use it?”

“If it’s a Mental Realm that requires using the Shredder, then it must be carried by a high-level collector who can enter it. That means at least an upper-class collector. Can they carry it alone? Of course they need someone to assist them. Shena. Do you think those people are willing to sacrifice their power?”

This was the hottest debate in the collector industry lately.

No collector wanted to become weaker.

Especially upper-class collectors, who had put in countless efforts to gain their strength, tended to be more obsessed with their power.

They were asked to sacrifice their hard-earned achievements. Who would accept that easily?

Naturally, upper-class collectors argued that they needed to think more calmly about this matter.

The mid-class collectors also agreed with them to some extent. They also weren’t sure if they would be affected by carrying the Shredder. Of course, there were some exceptions.

The problem occurred after that.

The lower-class collectors who hadn’t become strong yet were actively in favor of introducing the Shredder.

For them, they wouldn’t be affected by it anyway, and even if they lost some of their power, it would be easy to recover.

They also had some malicious hopes that those above them would become weaker and fall down because of jealousy.

They were even more enthusiastic about introducing the Shredder.

“The civilians also couldn’t stay still.”

The ordinary citizens also rose up. Various groups demanded that collectors practice noblesse oblige and act heroically.

They claimed that they should pay back for the benefits they had received so far.

The upper-class collectors felt offended by these words. They had been praised as heroes until now, and now they were being pressured to sacrifice themselves?

Especially, upper-class collectors were the biggest force of each country. If they lost their power, who would take responsibility for what happened next?

Of course, a heated debate ensued over the text shredder.

That was exactly what Jin Cheong-woon had planned.

“The world will be more divided than ever. The gap between the ordinary citizens who have not awakened and the collectors who have will only deepen.”

Some of the collectors had experienced firsthand how the awakened ones were treated as monsters in the early days of the past integration.

Some even brought up those events to justify their claims in this crisis.

“Isn’t it interesting? In a situation where the whole world should welcome them with open arms, they are fighting each other over their own interests.”

“Captain, are you saying… you were aiming for this?”

Jin Cheong-woon nodded and smiled faintly.

“It hasn’t spread too much yet, but there’s enough tinder piled up. All it takes is a small spark to make it explode.”

A world that can’t unite, and endlessly opposes each other.

Could there be a more fitting situation for the word chaos?

The officers of Unleashed agreed that he was indeed their captain and became more confident in his prophecy.

Only Shena Lynch watched Jin Cheong-woon with a wary gaze.

‘Captain. Is this really your goal?’

Everyone in this place knew that Jin Cheong-woon had personally moved to get rid of Kang Yu-hyun Teller a while ago.

But Kang Yu-hyun Teller came back alive as if to show off. Jin Cheong-woon didn’t say anything about his return.

Shena wondered if this crisis was to cover up what happened then.

‘No, no. Don’t doubt him. Because he’s the benefactor who led us here, who were discriminated against.’

So she had to trust him. She shouldn’t doubt the captain.

Shena shook her head and erased the uneasy thoughts from her mind.

Jin Cheong-woon glanced at her with a sidelong glance and then managed his expression naturally.

***

A huge power surged from Yu-hyun’s body.

A black aura that felt like looking into an endless abyss.

It moved naturally according to Yu-hyun’s will.

Yu-hyun was now able to freely control the energy of Seven Demons Black Sky Divine Skill, which was said to be difficult to handle.

“Congratulations. You’ve reached the stage where you can learn the first technique.”

“It’s all thanks to you for teaching me so well.”

“No, stop that. It’s all because you have outstanding talent and worked hard.”

With this, all the basic preparations for learning Seven Demons Black Sky Divine Skill were over.

“The main focus of Seven Demons Black Sky Divine Skill is to use the enormous and endless power to crush any enemy in one blow. You’ve seen it yourself, right?”

Yu-hyun nodded.

The power she showed was clearly a torrent of pure power, without any tricks or techniques.

But he could tell how great her skill was just by handling that power. A power that could never be handled without solidifying the basics.

That was Seo Sumin’s unique martial art.

“Seven Demons Black Sky Divine Skill consists of seven demons, as the name suggests. The first one I’ll teach you is this.”

Demon (??) disaster flower (??).

A technique that creates black energy like petals and spreads them in all directions.

Its power was comparable to the song that Chulapantaka recited, as Yu-hyun had seen for himself.

Seo Sumin continued to explain.

From the second demon to the seventh demon.

What kind of techniques they were, and what kind of power they had.

“That’s it for now.”

“It’s a bit… difficult.”

“I know you can’t understand everything at once. That’s why I’m going to drill it into you thoroughly for a long time in this case.”

“Hmm. Then I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Why don’t you just make it into a story and give it to me?”

That was what Yu-hyun had been wondering since a while ago.

All skills in this world can be used by buying stories. But Seo Sumin stubbornly taught him everything one by one in person.

It seemed rather inefficient, no matter how he looked at it.

So it was just a question, but maybe it touched Seo Sumin’s nerve, as she crossed her arms and snorted.

“So, you’re saying you don’t want to accept the kind teacher who is trying to teach you kindly? A pretty and cute girl like me is offering to teach you?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. And why are you bringing up being pretty and cute?”

“Right. Let me put it this way. Let’s say you can use all the skills you learn for the first time with the power of stories. But do you really think that’s your own power?”

“…”

Yu-hyun couldn’t answer rashly.

The skills obtained by stories cannot be activated when the stories are lost. Because they are not really their own power.

Even if you get a skill, if you can’t digest and master it as your own, it’s practically no power at all.

Power that is not your own, but borrowed from outside.

There is no ability more unstable than this.

“If you truly want to awaken your skill, you must build a solid foundation from the basics. You can only build a proper house if the base is well laid. It’s like renting a house and saying you bought one. It’s not entirely yours. Don’t you know the structure of the house, the size of the rooms, the materials used? You have to know everything to call it truly yours.”

“…You’re surprisingly good at metaphors.”

“Listen well. You never know what will happen in the future. There may come a time when you can’t handle the story. The world is full of dangers. Then you’ll realize how helpful my teachings were.”

“I understand. I understand. I was just joking. You seem very busy these days.”

“Ugh. Did you know?”

Seo Sumin was visibly flustered. She must have tried her best to hide it, but she couldn’t fool Yu-hyun’s keen eyes.

“You have something on your mind, right?”

“…It’s just my personal problem.”

“I know. I can’t say anything about that. Not just you, but Hye-rim and Jia too. They must have realized something.”

Yu-hyun didn’t bother to mention who was behind it.

Seo Sumin pouted her lips.

“That’s enough. Even if you say so, I won’t allow you to reduce your time here out of consideration for me. You have to know that. I teach thoroughly when I teach. This is a matter of my pride.”

“I understand.”

“…That’s enough.”

Seo Sumin left the training ground as she was.

She was always teasing her, but she got teased back and gave her an excuse to be embarrassed.

She looked like a typical person of her age on the outside.

Yu-hyun chuckled inwardly and recalled the formula she taught him.

‘Seven Demon Black Sky Divine Skill. One Demon Disaster Flower.’

Yu-hyun remembered the fight between Chulapantaka and Seo Sumin.

A fight between two people who had reached their limits. Even though they both fought in a weakened state compared to the transcendent level, they shook the world.

‘More than that, they used other skills too.’

It was a variation formula, a skill that changed the existing formula and unfolded it in a new way.

Among them, the one that pierced Chulapantaka’s heart, the Flower Point Piercing that gathered nine whirlpools into one and stabbed the center.

Yu-hyun recalled it and took his stance.

‘The energy is controlled to a minimum, and what I’m imitating is the overall flow of the formula. It doesn’t have to be exactly the same. What I’m trying to do now is to see how well I can do it.’

He muttered to himself as if to reassure himself, and Yu-hyun unfolded the formula that he had only heard from Seo Sumin.

Knowing something by mouth and actually unfolding it with your body was literally a different dimension of problem.

Just like knowing something in your head and actually doing it with your body are different, this too had to be repeated countless times to master it.

Yu-hyun knew that too, so he didn’t expect much.

Swoosh!

Very small, nine tiny whirlpools that sprang from the tip of his right hand.

They merged into one and scattered into thin air.

The moment he saw that.

Yu-hyun couldn’t help but be surprised.

‘What? Why did it work?’