Chapter 248:
Chapter 248
“Say hello. He’s the youngest.”
“Wow!”
Yu-hyun, who brought Yoo Young-min to the White Flower Management office, immediately introduced him to the family. By chance, Kang Hye-rim, Baek Seo-ryeon, and everyone else were gathered there.
Yoo Young-min opened his eyes wide at the sight of the beautiful women, and quickly bowed his waist at a 90-degree angle to greet them.
“Oh, hello! My name is Yoo Young-min!”
Seeing Yoo Young-min, Baek Seo-ryeon was the first to exclaim in surprise.
“Yu-hyun brought a man!”
Yu-hyun’s smiling eyes twitched slightly.
“…Seo-ryeon? Why are you shouting like that?”
“Huh? That’s obvious. You always bring women, and only pretty ones at that. I thought if you brought the fourth collector, it would be a woman too. This is unexpected.”
Yu-hyun’s smiling face cracked at the blunt words.
Then Kang Hye-rim, who had no sense of the situation, agreed with Baek Seo-ryeon’s words and spoke up.
“I thought so too. I actually assumed the fourth one would be a woman as well, and I was half-giving up on it. But I guess you never know what will happen in this world!”
“Hye-rim. Come here.”
“Huh? Why?”
Yu-hyun grabbed Kang Hye-rim’s head with both hands and squeezed hard.
“Kyaaak!”
A scream rang out, and Kang Hye-rim collapsed on the sofa.
Yu-hyun, who had vented some of his anger, glanced sideways at Baek Seo-ryeon.
Baek Seo-ryeon immediately shrank her shoulders and hid behind Seo Sumin.
“I’ll let you off this time, Seoryeon.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Hey, why are you only scolding me and leaving Seoryeon alone!”
Kang Hye-rim, who had fallen down, sprang up and shouted.
“Huh? That’s because Seoryeon is our management representative. How can I do that to the representative as a mere employee?”
“You had the awareness that I was the representative…?”
Baek Seo-ryeon asked incredulously as if she had just realized it.
Just then, Seong Yu-chan, who had sensed the commotion, came in to see what was going on and saw Yoo Young-min, who had just arrived.
He gave him a look of curiosity.
“Huh? Who are you? A new employee?”
“Oh, Yu-chan. Say hello. This is our management’s newly recruited fourth collector, Yoo Young-min.”
“Oh. This time it’s a man?”
“…Yu-chan?”
Yu-hyun’s expression turned cold in an instant at Seong Yu-chan’s clueless remark.
Seeing that, Seong Yu-chan turned pale and quickly clutched his stomach and ran out of the room as if fleeing.
Yoo Young-min watched Seong Yu-chan’s back as he entered and exited at once and wondered if he had really come to the right place.
Yu-hyun sighed after chasing away Seong Yu-chan.
“Sigh. I’ve learned very well what you all think of me in this short time.”
“What about me?”
“Don’t you have anything to say, Sumin?”
Seeing Seo Sumin smile playfully at him, he felt that the answer he would get from her was obvious.
Yu-hyun glared at Kang Hye-rim and Baek Seo-ryeon with a sharp look, and they avoided his gaze.
It was a very open-minded place, but somehow chaotic.
That was Yoo Young-min’s evaluation of White Flower Management after watching the whole process.
‘But it doesn’t seem as impressive as I thought it would be?’
He knew well enough about Kang Hye-rim, who was famous for being a former prosecutor, but what was up with that white-haired girl?
Seo Sumin sensed Yoo Young-min’s gaze and introduced herself with a confident smile.
“You said your name was Yoo Young-min? Nice to meet you. I’m Seo Sumin.”
She didn’t need to pretend anymore since they were now part of the same family.
Yoo Young-min was taken aback by Seo Sumin’s speech, which sounded like an older person.
‘Is she a middle schooler? She has a pretty face, but how did she end up like this?’
Feeling his gaze, Seo Sumin narrowed her eyes.
“That’s a hostile look. Don’t forget. I’m the third collector who joined before you. I’m your senior here.”
“What? Is that true, Yu-hyun hyung?”
“Hyung?”
Yu-hyun was slightly surprised when he called him hyung.
“Oh, I just feel more comfortable calling you that. Is that okay?”
“No, it’s fine. You can call me whatever you want. It’s the first time someone called me hyung.”
“Oh, then you can also talk to me casually.”
“Should I?”
As soon as Yu-hyun relaxed his speech, Kang Hye-rim got up.
“That’s not fair! You never do that to us even when we ask you to!”
“Hmm. I can’t help but butt in on this one.”
“No, why are you suddenly picking on me for this?”
Yu-hyun asked incredulously, but their heated reactions did not seem to die down easily.
He felt that the conversation would not end at this rate, so he quickly changed the topic.
“Come on. Let’s welcome Young-min, who joined us as the fourth member.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Yoo Young-min. I hope we can get along well.”
“Hmm. Nice to meet you too. I’m Kang Hye-rim, the first one here.”
“I’m Seo Sumin. The third one.”
“I’m Baek Seo-ryeon. The representative here.”
They each introduced themselves, and Yoo Young-min asked curiously.
“Uh, then where is the second senior?”
“Jia is resting in her room right now. She has some work to do.”
Yu-hyun vaguely explained that she was asleep for now.
Yoo Young-min nodded and moved on.
He wondered why they didn’t question him about joining their elite team so suddenly.
‘I thought they would at least be a bit hostile at first.’
Wasn’t there a cliché like that?
When an F-rank protagonist joins a team, the B-rank members don’t acknowledge him and act arrogant.
But looking at their reactions, they didn’t seem to be wary or suspicious of him.
Yoo Young-min soon realized why.
‘They all trust Yu-hyun hyung.’
The eyes of everyone in this place were filled with infinite trust towards Yu-hyun.
They firmly believed that there was no way he would bring or choose someone who was lacking.
Even though Yoo Young-min was new here, he could clearly feel that atmosphere.
In fact, the existing members had similar reactions to Yoo Young-min.
The fact that Yu-hyun brought him was enough to prove that he was different from ordinary people.
“Hmm. But it would be a bit awkward if you don’t know anything when you just joined.”
Seo Sumin stepped forward and said that.
“Uh, yes?”
Yoo Young-min unknowingly used honorifics and asked.
She was clearly a young girl, but he didn’t know why he spoke politely.
Seo Sumin smiled faintly at him.
“It’s a test. I was the youngest until now, so I need to check the level of the new one. Is that okay?”
“As long as you don’t go too far, it’s fine.”
Yu-hyun also said that, and Yoo Young-min felt a slight sting in his pride.
“Hey, hyung. I’m not that bad, how can I take a test from a kid?”
As soon as he said that, the atmosphere around him changed.
Baek Seo-ryeon and Kang Hye-rim looked at him with disbelief, as if he was crazy.
Yu-hyun shook his head as if he had messed up.
Only Seo Sumin smiled more brightly as if she was amused.
Yoo Young-min was confused by the change.
“Uh, uh? Why are you all like that?”
“Young-min, you don’t know anything, so let me tell you.”
Yu-hyun whispered to him so that only he could hear.
“You know our management’s third member Sumin, right?”
“Yes.”
“She was a heavenly demon in her previous life.”
“What?”
Yoo Young-min didn’t understand what that meant.
This girl was a heavenly demon in her previous life?
As a web novel writer, Yoo Young-min knew what a heavenly demon was.
Who was a heavenly demon?
It was an entity that led the trend of martial arts novels, and basically it was someone who held the position of the strongest in the world whenever they appeared.
The appearance of Seo Sumin and a heavenly demon did not match.
“A joke, right?”
“If you think so, I won’t force you. Just try it and see for yourself.”
“Okay. Our teller has given us permission. Let’s go to the training room. Newbie.”
“Huh?”
Yoo Young-min was dragged to the training room by Seo Sumin with a bewildered expression.
The people who remained at the scene saw him as a lamb being taken to the slaughterhouse.
Aaaah!!!
Soon after, Yoo Young-min’s scream echoed throughout the building.
This was how Yoo Young-min’s first induction ceremony went splendidly.
***
Leaving behind Yoo Young-min who was groaning in pain, Yu-hyun visited Kwon Jia’s room.
He took in the familiar sight of the room that he had seen once before and looked at Kwon Jia who was sound asleep on the bed.
Contrary to his optimistic thought that she would wake up in half a day, she had been sleeping for more than a day without any sign of waking up.
Yu-hyun placed a chair next to the bed and sat down.
[When will she wake up?]
‘I don’t know.’
Seeing her not waking up, he wondered if he had done something wrong.
She was a collector, so she would be fine without eating or drinking for three days and nights, but that didn’t mean it had no effect.
Yu-hyun wished that she would open her eyes and get up as soon as possible.
[Wow. Anyone would think you’ve been in a coma for years. It’s only been two days, what are you so worried about?]
That’s what Baekryeon said, and Yu-hyun gave a bitter smile.
‘I know. But I can’t help being worried.’
[Sheesh. Really. You look like a father to her.]
‘That’s how I raised her.’
[…The other kids would be so jealous if they heard you say that.]
‘Why?’
[I don’t know, okay?]
Why is Baekryeon being like this?
Yu-hyun ignored Baekryeon and checked on Kwon Jia’s condition.
She was sleeping peacefully, like a princess in a sleeping forest.
Yu-hyun’s gaze soon moved to the top of Kwon Jia’s head.
A bookshelf filled with various books.
It was the number of lives that Kwon Jia had lived, and the traces of the hardships that she had endured.
Over 600 books.
Some of them were locked with iron chains, making them impossible to open or read.
‘The ones that I think are the most important are the first book and the next ten books.’
Those books had dazzling golden covers.
They must have been the times when she was the most enthusiastic and hopeful, living more diligently than anyone else.
Maybe because she failed in the end, the books after that were thinner and barely maintained a silver color.
But Yu-hyun didn’t think that was bad.
Even if she lived in pain and despair every day, it was still a life.
‘It’s meaningless to be miserable here.’
He was wondering when she would wake up, when he heard a sound.
Clang.
The sound echoed in Yu-hyun’s ears.
It sounded like something made of metal had broken, and Yu-hyun thought it was some construction noise nearby at first.
But it wasn’t.
Clang. Clang.
With the following sounds, Yu-hyun realized that they were coming from very close by.
‘The chains on Jia’s books are breaking?’
The noise he heard earlier was the sound of the chains on the books that only Yu-hyun could see breaking.
And only the chains on the books related to Kwon Jia’s memories within the tenth cycle, which Yu-hyun had been paying attention to.
The chain on the tenth book broke completely.
The change didn’t stop there.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Ninth. Eighth. Seventh.
The books that had been trapped until now began to emit brilliant light as they were freed from the chains.
As they did, the speed of the chains breaking slowed down.
Sixth. Fifth. Fourth.
And when the chain on the fourth book broke, Kwon Jia also changed.
“Ugh.”
She opened her eyes with a groan of pain, after sleeping like a dead person until now.
Kwon Jia grabbed her forehead and sat up, and Yu-hyun got up from his seat and approached her.
“Jia. Are you okay?”
“What, what is this…”
Kwon Jia was confused as the memories she had forgotten flooded in like a tsunami.
Meanwhile, the chain on Kwon Jia’s third book was shaking violently.
The water of memory was trying to force open the sealed memory, and the chain was resisting it.
But the third chain couldn’t last long.
Clang.
With a clear sound, the chain shattered into pieces.
And unlike the other books, the third book emitted a radiant rainbow light.
At the same time, Kwon Jia finally remembered what she had forgotten and jumped out of bed.
She hurriedly went to Yu-hyun and grabbed his arms.
Yu-hyun was surprised and asked.
“Jia? What’s wrong with you? Did you get your memory back?”
“No, no!”
“What do you mean no?”
Her fingers that held Yu-hyun’s arms were trembling with anxiety.
‘Is Jia scared?’
She was a regressor who could survive even her own death, and she was afraid of something?
Something was wrong.
“Jia. It’s okay, just answer me. What happened?”
“It was a mistake. It was a mistake to regain memories that I didn’t know.”
“A mistake?”
“These memories are not something I forgot over time.”
Kwon Jia said the truth with a pale face.
“I sealed them on purpose.”
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