The Main Characters That Only I Know

Chapter 8:

Chapter 8

“It’s really amazing, you know. I used my hand to avoid being noticed by the tellers, but how did you manage to find me there?”

The being in front of me. 

In other words, the author whose identity I couldn’t figure out. 

Let’s call him the black man for now.

The black man seemed surprised that I spoke to him.

I thought about staying here longer, but I realized that I shouldn’t do that when I felt the sensation earlier.

‘It’s dangerous to linger here.’

Did he read my expression? 

The black man’s gaze changed. 

I couldn’t see his pupils, but I could feel his eyes on me.

“Ho. You’re quick-witted.”

“…What do you want?”

“I was just curious and asked. I don’t intend to harm you. Not right now, anyway.”

Not right now, huh.

That meant that his attitude would change depending on how I acted from now on.

‘This is bad.’

I ran away from this place, but it turned out to be a tiger’s den.

“So you won’t answer my question? How did you recognize me?”

The black man’s words might sound strange to others. 

It would seem like he was a lunatic if he asked how I recognized him when he was right in front of me.

But I knew what he meant by that question.

‘Even though we’re face to face, I can’t recognize who he is.’

He had a ‘normal’ face with eyes, nose, mouth and ears. 

But it was strangely impossible to describe his appearance in detail. 

I didn’t even know what race he was.

It was hard to even notice that such a being existed, even though we were looking at each other.

No one noticed him in the banquet hall where the tellers were bustling.

Except for me.

That’s why the black man asked me.

How did I recognize him?

‘He wouldn’t believe me if I said it was a coincidence, would he?’

What I found was not the black man, but the book floating above his head.

At first, I wondered why there was a book floating in the air. 

But as I focused on the book, I could see the black man’s figure faintly, and I realized that he was not invited to the banquet.

‘So I succeeded in getting out of there with an excuse.’

But now he was interested in me.

It would be easy to run away if he was just a normal person, but he was clearly an extraordinary being.

First of all.

‘I’ve never seen a book that’s black before.’

The black book floating above the man’s head.

I’m not saying that I’ve seen a lot of books, but I knew that it was far from what I could normally see. 

I never thought that there would be other colors besides bronze, silver and gold books.

‘But black means.’

The man in front of me was not a normal being. 

He was not human, teller or any other race. 

He was something higher than that, something beyond the category of life.

‘Star Spirit’

Suddenly, I remembered what Sasaramdor said on the space train.

‘Come to think of it, he said that this induction ceremony was held around the same time as the invitation ceremony for the star spirits.’

That meant that there were star spirits somewhere in this celestial corporation who were invited. 

The black man in front of me was a star spirit who escaped from there and sneaked into this side.

‘First of all, let’s confirm his identity.’

Reading the book that I couldn’t do because of the urgent situation. 

It seemed like the black book was the priority right now.

But something unexpected happened here.

‘I can’t open the book?’

I succeeded in getting the book. 

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t turn the cover of the book. 

It was as if the book itself was sealed with iron chains and wouldn’t budge at all. 

It was the same no matter how many times I tried.

I had a vague idea of why this happened.

‘The difference in level… is it?’

The difference in level.

In this mixed world, those with lower levels couldn’t do things that were beyond their status. 

The story itself had a mysterious power that didn’t allow it.

‘I can’t even read the book casually. I didn’t know there was such a limit.’

More importantly, it was quite a shock to see the limit of my ability at this crucial moment.

I couldn’t even get a chance to know his identity even if I wanted to.

What kind of reaction should I show in this situation? 

Should I apologize first?

“Will you not answer my question?”

The pressure from the black man grew stronger. 

He seemed determined to do something if I didn’t answer until the end.

It was a matter of life and death.

“My… special skill.”

“Special skill?”

He seemed surprised by my answer. 

The pressure from him disappeared as if the fog had cleared. 

But that didn’t mean he completely gave up his hostility. 

He just stepped back a bit.

I felt that if I went against his will even a little bit, the terrifying black mist would strangle my life.

I continued to speak, feeling the cold sweat running down my spine.

“I just saw it. I have good eyesight, so I can see things that others can’t. It was the same for you. At first, I wasn’t sure, but when I saw the reactions around me, it seemed like no one noticed you, so I approached you with that as an excuse.”

“Hmm. You just saw it.”

He didn’t seem to believe me easily, but it wasn’t a lie. 

I just saw him through the book.

I waited anxiously for his next reaction. 

But I didn’t feel the same sense of crisis as before, thanks to my honesty.

I didn’t know if he was friendly or hostile, but he was definitely interested in me.

“That’s hard to believe.”

“It may not be believable, but it’s true. I guess I’m different from the normal tellers.”

“Ah. I know that from the reaction of the banquet hall. You’re a teller who just became an employee, right? That’s amazing. I’ve never heard of anyone who gained a form so quickly.”

He seemed to have more than basic knowledge about tellers.

“…Anyway, I’m sorry for talking to you to get out of the situation earlier.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

The black man pondered for a moment, then clapped his hands as if he had thought of something fun.

“Well, since we met like this, it must be fate. How about a bet?”

“A bet?”

What kind of bet?

I wanted to get away from this place as soon as possible.

I didn’t notice it at the banquet hall, but when I kept looking at his black book in this quiet hallway, I felt like my soul would be sucked in. 

To be honest, I was nervous.

“I won’t stop you if you don’t want to do it. But if you refuse, you’ll have to pay the price for ruining my little amusement.”

“…Let’s make a bet.”

I had no choice but to accept his challenge when he threatened me so powerlessly.

He was a star spirit. 

I didn’t know exactly who he was, but I could tell from the book he had that he was not an ordinary star spirit.

But who was he really? 

He was not his main body, but an avatar. 

In other words, a projection. 

That made it hard to guess his true identity.

“Well. Since you agreed, I don’t need to say much. The bet is simple.”

The black man pointed at himself with his finger and smiled wickedly.

“You just have to guess who I am.”

“…”

He asked me to guess who he was out of the blue. 

He had a very bad hobby.

“There has to be a reward for the bet. If you win this bet, I’ll give you a gift worthy of it.”

“What if I’m wrong?”

“If you’re wrong… You’ll have to take responsibility for interfering with my little amusement.”

‘Damn it.’

He was basically saying that he was sure I wouldn’t be able to guess who he was.

I was a newbie who had just joined the Celestial Corporation. How could I have any prior knowledge to guess who he was among the countless star spirits?

‘Well. That would be true if I were a normal teller.’

I calmed down my racing heart and analyzed the situation calmly.

First of all, his identity was a star spirit. 

But I didn’t know exactly who he was or what kind of star spirit he was. 

There were no clues either.

‘No. There are clues.’

I recalled the contents of the books I had read at the banquet hall.

‘The Star Spirit Invitation Ceremony. Many of the star spirits who gathered here were from famous star clusters.’

Star clusters were organizations formed by star spirits. 

And among these star clusters, there were huge organizations called great star clusters.

There were five great star clusters that were officially invited to this star spirit invitation ceremony.

‘Eden’s Heavenly Paradise, Asgard’s Eisensöldner, Hermopolis’ Solar Garden, Olympus’ Pantheon, and Pandemonium. 

There were others from various places, but these are all the biggest ones.’

The places where the main characters of the ‘myths’ that topped all stories existed.

I had to choose which one of them the being in front of me belonged to.

‘He’s not his main body, but an avatar that can’t even open a book. That means he’s a star spirit belonging to one of the great star clusters I mentioned.’

It became easier to narrow down his identity when I narrowed down the examples. 

But I couldn’t help but feel more tense.

The more I tried to analyze the black man in front of me, the more I felt like I was glimpsing his enormity hidden in the darkness.

Maybe it would have been easier if I didn’t know.

‘This restless energy that makes me feel suffocated just by being near him. The book with a color that is nothing but ominous. Anyone who’s not an idiot would know which one of the five examples he belongs to.’

Pandemonium.

He was a star spirit from the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons.

That meant he was one of the star spirits belonging to this place among the seven star spirits.

If I looked at his aura alone, he was definitely one of the first generation star spirits. 

I had felt the aura of a first generation star spirit in my previous life, but it wasn’t like this.

‘There are seven first generation star spirits in Pandemonium. So even if I narrow it down as much as possible, there are still seven choices? This is driving me crazy.’

I couldn’t find any clue about which one of the seven star spirits from this place visited here in the book’s information. 

In other words, this was my limit for guessing right now.

It was good that I narrowed down thousands or tens of thousands of star spirits to seven examples. 

But that wasn’t enough. It wasn’t just seven, it was still seven.

I wondered if there were any more clues. 

Then my eyes suddenly turned to the black book that was given to me.

‘Wait a minute, this…’

This black book. 

The cover was so black that I didn’t notice it at first, but there was a picture engraved on it.

The picture on the cover was a snake. 

A snake with three heads.

‘A snake with three heads? Could this be…’

I could think of one being that pierced through my mind.

“I know your identity.”

“Hmm? Is that true?”

He seemed surprised by my answer. 

He reacted with disbelief for someone who suggested the bet.

I nodded my head. 

This was a bet that involved my life. 

I had no intention of lying about this.

I took a breath and revealed his identity.

“You are… Satan, from Pandemonium, aren’t you?”

Satan.

Actually, this wasn’t his real name either. 

This word Satan meant ‘adversary’ in Hebrew.

Sometimes he was the serpent that corrupted.

Sometimes he was the red dragon that burned to death.

He was the one who was closest to the brightest light, and in the end, he fell to the darkest place.

His real name was…

Clap clap clap.

At that moment, a clap sound rang in my ears and woke me up.

The black man, or rather Satan’s avatar, clapped his hands as if he couldn’t contain his joy.

“Correct! Correct! I can’t believe you really guessed my identity. This bet is your victory.”

I felt more relief than joy that I had won the bet.

He was still in a state of excitement and said in a high-pitched voice.

“I was surprised. I didn’t think you would really guess it. It was half a joke, you know.”

“A joke?”

“I can’t really hold you responsible for this kind of thing, can I? This is the Celestial Corporation. The home base of the tellers you belong to. And I came here as an invited guest. Rather, it would be strange if you guys held me responsible for sneaking in here for fun.”

“…”

He said that, but I didn’t believe him completely. 

Who in the world would hold him accountable?

No. 

There were beings who could do that. And they were close by.

“As soon as I show my power, those annoying guardians of light will chase after me. They’ll say they caught a big fish. I don’t want to see them happy.”

Eden, the old enemy of Pandemonium’s great star cluster. 

And Heavenly Paradise, where only the best of them gathered.

They couldn’t act recklessly as long as they were here.

But I knew. 

He said it jokingly, but he would have given me a punishment worthy of the bet in some way if I had really lost this bet.

That’s why I did my best for the bet rather than trusting the power of this company.

‘Because he was a star spirit who kept his word for sure.’

I felt that for sure at the end of the world.

Anyway, the bet ended with my victory. 

That was a relief.

“Hmm. It started as a joke, but I lost anyway. I have to keep my promise no matter what. The winner deserves a reward.”

Satan’s avatar said that and reached out his hand to me.

“You’ll open your library soon and show your story, right? Then, let me do this. I’ll be your generous patron for your library.”

And that was, for me, an offer that was hard to imagine even in my dreams.