abcnovels
Chapter 276:
Chapter 276:
Chapter 276:
As soon as he escaped from the Wonderland, Yu-hyun remembered something he had forgotten and took out Baekryeon.
[What? What’s going on?]
“I need to check your status window for a moment.”
[Status window? Mine? Why?]
“My rank went up, remember?”
[Oh, right.]
Baekryeon was originally a mythical weapon, but because Yu-hyun, the actual user, had a low rank, its actual ability was not yet at the level of a myth.
Baekryeon had several special abilities, but most of them were locked because of the low rank.
The most recent one that Yu-hyun unlocked was a special window that greatly increased the limit of mass and volume for shape-shifting.
Yu-hyun was confident that Baekryeon had also undergone a second change after he gained the power of aporia and his rank rose.He opened Baekryeon’s status window and moved his eyes to the special window.
[Special Window]
-Breakthrough
-Story Absorption (NEW!)
-(Locked due to low user level)
As expected, it was as he had predicted.
The second special window of Baekryeon, which had been locked until now, was unlocked.
“Story absorption, huh?”
[What? What is this? When did I get a new ability?]
“What if you don’t know that?”
[Well, I don’t know how to check my status. I’ve been so busy lately.]
“True. It must have happened recently.”
Yu-hyun chatted casually and thought about what story absorption was.
There was not much to ponder.
If this unlocked special window was true, then Baekryeon could literally eat stories and grow stronger.
‘Then what exactly are stories?’
Yu-hyun had a hunch and took out White Whale Bone Harpoon .
[What? What are you going to use that bone harpoon for?]
“I have something to check. Story absorption activate.”
Yu-hyun held White Whale Bone Harpoon to Baekryeon and shouted the trigger word.
A light flowed from Baekryeon’s blade.
The pure white light, similar to Baekryeon’s color, moved like a wriggling snake and wrapped around White Whale Bone Harpoon .
Then something amazing happened.
White Whale Bone Harpoon , wrapped in light, slowly decomposed into text and scattered like dust, following the light into Baekryeon’s inside.
[Wow.]
Baekryeon let out a strange exclamation at the intense power that filled his inside.
A comfortable and cozy feeling that filled his empty inside.
Baekryeon had never felt such a sensation before, so his reaction was even bigger.
Soon after Baekryeon finished absorbing White Whale Bone Harpoon , he looked much more radiant than before.
‘So this is what story absorption is.’
Baekryeon, who had absorbed the story of White Whale Bone Harpoon , became much sharper and harder.
Even if he swung it as usual in the form of a sword, the power would have increased considerably.
[Hey? Wait a minute. It’s fine that I feel good by absorbing stories, but are you okay? Wasn’t that bone harpoon a good weapon?]
Baekryeon belatedly worried that Yu-hyun had consumed White Whale Bone Harpoon too easily.
White Whale Bone Harpoon was an excellent weapon made from Moby Dick’s bone, and more importantly, it was the best medium for activating the skill [Whale Killing].
He gave it up willingly, so Baekryeon couldn’t help but be confused.
“It’s fine. I can activate Whale Killing skill even without White Whale Bone Harpoon .”
[Still…]
“More importantly, you have the story that White Whale Bone Harpoon had.”
Yu-hyun proved it by changing Baekryeon’s shape slightly.
From a sword to a harpoon.
Baekryeon took on the same appearance as White Whale Bone Harpoon he had absorbed. But the energy he held inside was incomparably stronger than White Whale Bone Harpoon .
“This is enough. It was just a sub-weapon anyway, and there’s no need to use it separately in the future.”
Yu-hyun said so firmly, and Baekryeon didn’t say anything more.
Yu-hyun finished experimenting with Baekryeon’s new special window ability and moved outside.
He also didn’t forget to wear glasses that hindered recognition, since he had become such a famous person who caught people’s attention.
He walked along the street and arrived at the meeting place.
“So why did you ask me to see you?”
Yu-hyun stopped at his seat and asked the air.
At that moment, a teller appeared in front of Yu-hyun as the space tore open.
He wore a black uniform and a black helmet that covered his face.
He also had a cloak that fluttered behind him, as if to show off his entrance.
Romulaxis stood in front of Yu-hyun and scratched his head awkwardly.
“Hi there. Long time no see.”
“Is it really that long?”
“Oh. Was it not?”
He calculated and realized that it wasn’t that long ago since they last met. He smiled as he looked at Yu-hyun, who was trying hard to figure out his intentions.
Romulaxis was a teller who claimed to be sent by Celestina, but he acted so strangely that Yu-hyun couldn’t trust him at all.
He had a bad impression of Romulaxis since their first meeting, and when he suddenly contacted him through the Genesis Network and asked to meet, Yu-hyun decided to use this opportunity to find out more about this teller.
‘But still, I have no idea.’
He couldn’t understand his behavior. He couldn’t see his face because of the helmet, so he couldn’t read his expression. And he couldn’t analyze his emotions by the tone of his voice, because he was always high-Divine Spirited.
Yu-hyun eventually concluded that there was no answer except to ask him directly.
“Why did you call me?”
“Hey. What reason would I have? Well, if I have to answer, it was because I wanted to get along with you better.”
“Get along better?”
“We’re going to run into each other a few times in the future, right? So I thought we should get familiar with each other. You don’t have to be formal with me either.”
“I’m comfortable with this way of speaking.”
“Then I don’t care.”
Yu-hyun was quite puzzled by Romulaxis’s words.
Get along better? Was that really why he called him?
But, there seemed to be no lies in his attitude. If he was sincere.
‘Romulaxis is a teller who is an unbelievable optimist and acts on his own whims.’
He wondered what Celestina’s intention was to send such a teller to help him.
Just then, Romulaxis clapped his hands as if he remembered something.
“Oh, right. Look at my mind. I haven’t been on Earth for long, you know?”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. But I’m a teller, so I need a collector who can show me the world, right? So I’ve been looking around for collectors lately and managed to find some contractors.”
“Contractors? Not just one, but several?”
“Hey. It’s not that many. It’s only three. They were people who were worried about extending their contracts with other tellers because their contract periods had expired. So I showed up there and tried to recruit them.”
“…”
Yu-hyun knew something about the contracts between collectors and tellers.
They specify a rough contract period when they make a contract. From a minimum of one year to a maximum of ten years.
Yu-hyun also specified a reasonable contract period and recruited Kang Hye-rim, Kwon Jiah, Seo Soo-min, and Yoo Young-min.
Of course, there are cases where collectors either look for new tellers or extend their contracts with existing tellers after their contract period ends.
‘But he brought three?’
Usually, collectors tend to extend their contracts with existing tellers even after their contract period ends.
Unless the relationship deteriorates during the contract period and they hate each other, the average extension rate is over 90%.
Romulaxis said he recruited three.
It was an impressive achievement for a teller who had just landed on Earth, even if he was a manager.
‘And if they were collectors whose contract period ended, they would be at least mid-level.’
The 18 grades from Grade 1 to Grade 9 that were connected by the Second Phantasm Shock disappeared, and only the level replaced the level of collectors.
Mid-level collectors were those who achieved the title by exceeding level 50.
That was not a bad level for a first contract.
“Come on, let me introduce them to you. And later, please introduce me to your collectors too.”
Romulaxis led Yu-hyun to a nearby cafe while saying that. His bizarre appearance made the passers-by look back at him, but no one paid attention to him.
Romulaxis also had the power to scatter his perception like Yu-hyun.
“Here they are. Say hello everyone.”
Romulaxis introduced the three women sitting in front of Yu-hyun.
Yu-hyun came here just to get acquainted with them, but he realized that they were all too familiar and widened his eyes slightly.
The same was true for the three women sitting across from him.
“Huh?”
“Hmm?”
“Huh?”
“…Why are you all here?”
Yu-hyun was surprised not only because he knew all three of them, but also because the composition of the members that Romulaxis gathered was amazing.
Bang Sang-shi.
Black Iron Knight Huang Se-eun.
And, the Mad Dog of the Association, Yoo Seong-ah.
The sight of the three of them sitting shoulder to shoulder in a strange atmosphere was like a mismatch of paintings drawn by different artists.
“Oh. Do you know each other? That makes things easier.”
“…How on earth did you manage to gather all these people?”
“Me? Um. Just?”
Romulaxis claimed that he didn’t do anything special to recruit the three of them.
For Yu-hyun, it was a hard-to-believe story.
“Besides, did all three of you have your contracts expired?”
“Me and… my sister… yes.”
“Yes. Bang Sang and I had our terms just ended.”
“What about you, Yoo Seong Ah?”
Yoo Seong Ah answered with a bit of annoyance, crossing her arms.
“The teller I had contracted with was so annoying. I hated how he always tried to move me around according to his whims. Even though I still had some time left, I just broke the contract.”
“Is that okay? If one side breaks the contract unilaterally, the penalty should be severe.”
“Oh, that’s fine. He paid for it instead of me.”
The one who stepped in and paid for Yoo Seong Ah was Romulaxis.
Yu-hyun looked surprised. For a collector like Yoo Seong Ah, the penalty points she had to pay for breaking the contract would be quite a lot.
And Romulaxis paid for all of them.
Yu-hyun thought that he could do it too with the points he had now, but that was because he was special, not a normal teller at the manager level.
‘How does this teller have so many points?’
Come to think of it, the members he recruited while hiring were also dazzling.
They were not comparable to Yu-hyun, who worked at White Flower Management, but weren’t those three all collectors with great potential?
Yu-hyun looked at Romulaxis again.
‘His actions may be strange, but his ability is undeniable. No wonder Celestina sent him.’
But from Yu-hyun’s perspective, he couldn’t empathize with the three collectors.
“No matter how you look at it, he’s not just suspicious, he’s downright shady. How did you manage to sign a contract with him?”
“…”
“…”
“…”
Bang Sang, Huang Se-eun, and Yoo Seong-a remained silent, as if they couldn’t deny it.
The first one to open his mouth was none other than Bang Sang.
“He’s…unique.”
“What?”
“Ah, our Bang Sang has a different perspective from normal people. She’s a bit…peculiar.”
Clank.
Huang Se-eun, the Black Knight, intervened as if to make an excuse for the flustered Yu-hyun.
She was wearing a black armor over her entire body, even in the cafe where she should have been sitting.
You’re the one who’s peculiar.
Yu-hyun reflexively held back the words that almost slipped out of his mouth.
“He’s not very expressive, but he’s surprisingly sensitive to other people’s emotions. He can sense it like a ghost if someone looks at him or treats him negatively.”
“So that’s why you chose him?”
Bang Sang nodded silently. He said he chose him because he was unique, but the most fundamental reason was that Romulaxis was not a bad being, and he didn’t feel any aversion to him instinctively.
And that was the same for Huang Se-eun.
She also felt uncomfortable dealing with other tellers or people in general, but strangely enough, she didn’t feel that way with Romulaxis.
‘That’s amazing.’
He never expected that the two people who had extremely picky eyes for people would accept Romulaxis.
Yu-hyun’s gaze naturally turned to Yoo Seong-a.
It was a look that meant how did you end up accepting this?
“Me? I just thought it wouldn’t hurt to try.”
“You don’t have a reason?”
“A reason…well…”
Yoo Seong-a trailed off.
If she had to say it, there was a reason. It was because Romulaxis called her a beautiful woman when he saw her.
Her trait made her look ugly to Mrs. Park and other people and tellers around her.
But Romulaxis saw through her trait and recognized her true appearance in an instant.
She used to think that she didn’t care about her appearance, but ever since she showed her true face to Yu-hyun, she couldn’t help but be conscious of him.
Her mindset of ‘I don’t need to wear makeup or care about how I look since they won’t know anyway’ changed to a sense of anxiety that she might have to show her bare face someday.
And then Romulaxis appeared, who recognized her true appearance after Yu-hyun.
He may not be trustworthy, but she thought he wasn’t a bad choice for the next contract because he recognized her true self.
“I don’t have anything like that.”
She couldn’t say that honestly, so Yoo Seong-a vaguely brushed it off.
Yu-hyun raised his evaluation of Romulaxis. The three collectors he was facing now were all outstanding in their personalities and talents.
The more so, the harder it would have been to recruit them, but Romulaxis had done it in such a short time.
“So, Manager Romulaxis, what was the reason you chose these three?”
Yu-hyun asked Romulaxis, who was sitting next to him.
The answer that came back was outrageous.
“Because they’re all pretty.”
“What…?”