Chapter 300:
Chapter 300:
Chapter 300:
Yu-hyun had a lot of conversations with Oelo after their encounter.
He didn’t explain in detail what he was going to do next, but he made sure Oelo understood enough.
Oelo’s reaction after hearing everything was neither amused nor skeptical of Yu-hyun’s possibilities.
“You’re crazy.”
Oelo looked at Yu-hyun with an expression of boredom and threw a snack into his mouth.
“You’re insane. Truly insane. Only you could come up with such an idea.”
“But, there’s no better way than this. Didn’t you tell me yourself?”
“Don’t drag me into this. You’ll contaminate me. I may be proud of living long, but I wouldn’t do what you do.”
“You’re being too harsh.”
“I thought you were a tiger among tellers, not a normal one, but I was wrong. You’re immeasurable. All I told you was the location of a fragment in another dimension, not on Earth.”“Yes. And there’s one fragment in ‘that place’.”
Oelo, who knew better than anyone where Yu-hyun was talking about, glared at him with half-closed eyes.
“You’ll die. You don’t have to use that method. There must be another way. But you’re risking your life for this?”
“But, that would take too much time. The enemies are not easy either. If we give them time, they’ll have the advantage as well as me.”
Yu-hyun thought of Demiarios.
The octopus-headed creature who smiled at him.
But, what was really horrible was not just Demiarios.
There were also the tellers of Exodus who joined him, and more importantly, there was another traitor in the headquarters who was more formidable than Demiarios.
Unless he knew their true identity, Yu-hyun thought his path would be very perilous.
They wanted Yu-hyun’s destruction as much as he wanted Pentagram’s.
“I had to take drastic measures too.”
“…I felt it while watching your stories, but hearing your determination in person makes my brain unable to keep up.”
Oelo had seen Yu-hyun as a freak among tellers, a gambler who was crazy enough to risk his life.
His stories always showed that.
From the time he gave up his protection in the Constantinople siege, to when he pulled out the stake of the name list without escaping the collapsing Agido, to when he defeated the mad sea demon.
It was the same afterwards.
When he thought of what Yu-hyun had done, looking back at his footsteps made him wonder how he could do that even with several lives.
But, he survived until now because he succeeded in all those gambles.
‘If he succeeds this much, I wonder if it’s really a gamble at this point. He only succeeded after all. But then when I hear what he’s going to do next, it’s definitely a gamble. A gamble with a very low probability.’
Oelo didn’t like those who only cared about their own safety and well-being and stayed in their place, but Yu-hyun was so extreme that even he felt disgusted.
Yu-hyun smiled as if he praised such a reaction.
“Then, I’ll get up now.”
“Are you leaving?”
“Yes. It seems like we’ve finished talking. Please let me know when you need a name.”
“Is that so? Oh, wait a minute.”
Oelo said that and called his robot secretary again.
Maybe because he gave him a hint beforehand, the robot secretary brought five pieces of stories with him when he came in.
Oelo released the transparent barrier that blocked Yu-hyun and the collectors and got up from his cushion.
“What is this?”
“You’re still a guest, so you should take a gift before you go. I have some pride too, you know. How would it look if I just sent you away after inviting you?”
“A gift?”
“It’s a specially made story. It will be very useful for you guys.”
It wasn’t just an empty word.
Even to Yu-hyun’s eyes, the white lumps that the secretary brought were filled with great power.
One of the Tellers of the Beginning, Oelo, had said it himself: that he had something useful for them. Considering his reputation, no one could deny the value of his stories.
“Take these. I chose them to suit each of you.”
“Thank you for your generosity.”
To Kang Hye-rim, who could manipulate brainwaves, he gave the story of [Brainstorm], which would greatly increase her output.
To Kwon Jia, who never gave up and craved for endless battles, he gave the story of [Indomitable Berserker], which would amplify her attacks as she got wounded and exhausted.
To Seo Sumin, whose body was still weak compared to his will and inner power, he gave the story of [Limitless Body].
And to Yoo Young-min, who specialized in long-range attacks, he gave the story of [Overload], which would enhance his offensive power.
They were all stories that even high-level collectors could not easily obtain.
And Oelo casually gave them as gifts, making them realize once again how amazing he was.
“And for you… I don’t know if you’ll like this, but it’s better than nothing.”
Oelo said that and handed a story to Yu-hyun.
“This…?”
“You’ve been using some impressive martial arts lately. To maximize their power, you need to go beyond the next level. They call it ‘will’ in Murim World, right?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Then this should be somewhat helpful for you now.”
The story that Oelo gave to Yu-hyun was [Will Focus].
It might seem like the most humble story compared to the others, but Oelo didn’t think so.
“The simpler it looks, the more upright and intense its effect is. Besides, considering the crazy things you’re going to do in the future, this might come in handy.”
“Why? It doesn’t matter anyway. Once I get there, these stories will be meaningless.”
“This one looks like nothing at all, so no one thinks it’s great. And if they don’t think it’s great, they can’t see its value.”
Oelo only explained that much and closed his mouth.
The rest was up to them now.
Oelo bid farewell to Yu-hyun as he left.
“Good luck.”
“Yes. See you again.”
“If you can call me, that is.”
There was a lot in those words.
He implied that he wasn’t sure if Yu-hyun’s plan would succeed and that he might even die.
Yu-hyun didn’t feel the need to correct him.
He just chuckled and briefly pondered what he had to do next.
And so Yu-hyun returned to Earth with his companions on the space train.
***
“What did you talk about?”
When they came back to the office, Kwon Jia called Yu-hyun aside and asked him that question.
She didn’t know what Yu-hyun and Oelo had talked about behind the wall. Even if she tried to figure it out with her poison tongue skill, the transparent wall completely changed their lip movements.
She only knew that the blond boy was a really amazing being and that he had made some deal with Yu-hyun that they didn’t know about.
She felt regretful and impatient about that.
Until she called him separately and asked him before they returned to Earth, Yu-hyun didn’t say anything about what they had talked about.
‘Are we still not enough for him?’
Not only her but also Kang Hye-rim, Seo Sumin, and Yoo Young-min had become stronger.
They had worked hard and harder after seeing his past, not to hold him back.
Their efforts paid off and they grew and became stronger than before.
They were proud of themselves for that.
But they couldn’t reach him.
He was so close in front of them, within reach of their hands, but they couldn’t touch him.
‘Is this not enough?’
Kwon Jia never thought she would regret forgetting her past so much.
Surely her memories from then were so horrible that she wanted to erase them from her mind.
But on the other hand, it was also the time when she was the strongest, when she didn’t bow down to anything and worked hard.
Strength gained with pain.
Kwon Jia wanted that more than ever at this moment.
‘I am…’
“We had a lot of conversations.”
Yu-hyun’s voice brought Kwon Jia back to reality.
“Is there something we can’t know?”
“Yes.”
His short and firm answer made Kwon Jia’s heart ache.
She suppressed her emotions for a moment and glared at Yu-hyun with slightly raised eyes.
Was it because we were not enough, she wanted to ask, but Yu-hyun spoke first.
“It’s because you all are too precious to me.”
“…!”
Kwon Jia widened her eyes at his response, as if he had read her mind.
“Honestly, I want to tell you too. It’s hard for me to carry this alone, and it’s also… hurting you. But you know, Jia. There are things in the world that we can’t do as we wish.”
Yu-hyun also wanted to tell her about the Book of Genesis. He wanted to inform her about the fragments, and gather them all together.
But the world did not allow the existence of the fragments to be revealed.
Especially Kwon Jia, who knew about the fragments and what they had done. If he told her the truth about the fragments, he couldn’t predict what would happen when she reacted.
What if her memory didn’t recover slowly, but woke up all at once? What if she had sealed her memory herself to prepare for danger, and told Yu-hyun that she should never regain it?
He couldn’t tell Kwon Jia everything.
The moment he spoke, he would inevitably affect the memory that she had sealed herself.
“But the reason why I don’t say anything more is because I was asked by you, Jia.”
“I asked you?”
“That’s all I can say. You shouldn’t try to find out more.”
“…”
Kwon Jia put away her thoughts of questioning him when she saw his face.
This man was not indifferent to the collectors, including herself.
He was always consistent.
He always worried and cared for them, and thought of them.
She knew that, but how shameful it was to only receive his kindness and not repay him.
She also wanted to do something for him, to help him, but she had to stay still because of something unknown.
Kwon Jia couldn’t stand it.
“I hate it. I hate being only a burden to you and not doing anything.”
She honestly expressed her feelings.
The regressor’s trait rang an alarm and suppressed her from shouting, but Kwon Jia clenched her teeth and endured it.
She hated being dishonest with her feelings because of the trait.
“What should I do? How can I help you?”
She was tired of only receiving. What did she go through that hellish regression for?
To save the world, and to break free from this cursed bond.
She saved others with altruism, and came this far even though she was hurt.
It was all her will.
“When will I ever stop being a burden…”
“Then let’s have a serious talk about it.”
“…What?”
Kwon Jia was stunned by Yu-hyun’s sudden change of tone.
Wasn’t this a serious conversation? Didn’t Yu-hyun listen to her earnestly?
“I understand your feelings, Jia. So I decided to offer another solution.”
“Another… solution? Is there such a thing?”
“There is a truth that you shouldn’t know, Jia. And I can’t tell you what’s going on because of that. Right?”
“That’s… true…”
Kwon Jia nodded unconsciously at his words.
“But you and the others want to help me. Then the solution is simple.”
“There is a solution?”
“Knowing and helping are two different things. Then there is only one option. Don’t try to know, just help.”
“Don’t try to know…”