The Main Characters That Only I Know

Chapter 315:

A Divine Spirit.

I had sensed that the giant was dangerous, but this was beyond my common sense.

Spirits could not descend to the lower realm directly.

They were beings of the upper realm, and the system strictly separated and distinguished the upper and lower realms.

Even if they were Divine Spirits born from this world, they could not fully come down to their own world.

They had to receive all kinds of adjustments to be able to send down their avatars, their split or incarnated bodies, to the lower realm.

But what I just saw was not something that could be called an avatar.

True body.

The Divine Spirit I just saw was its own self.

“I don’t know either.”

Lean was also confused by why the author was here.

“I heard that Georen sent the great five sisters to leave his power behind and gather candidates.”

Georen, the god of Glacalis.

The ruler of the northern continent, the idol of the guardians, and the Divine Spirit of this world.

Such a Georen was left in the lower realm in a hideous form like a frost giant.

“Why is Georen… there? And why is he like that…”

“…Whatever happened, it’s not a normal situation.”

I recalled the red jewel embedded in Georen’s chest.

In the center of it, where others could not see, there was a fragment of the Codex.

It had a sinister aura that made me uneasy.

‘This is crazy.’

I found the fragment. But it was not simply lying on the road.

It was stuck in the chest of the Divine Spirit of this world, who was said to be dead.

I compared Georen and the frost giant.

The frost giant looked like a degraded copy of Georen’s current appearance.

No matter how I tried to think positively, I could not help but think that the existence of the frost giant originated from Georen.

Then it was the same for this frozen land’s curse.

“Let’s go back. It’s better than staying here like this. We have to explain to the others…”

“How?”

“What?”

“How do you expect us to explain?”

Lean still could not erase Georen’s image from her mind.

To them, Georen was the god of this world.

Especially Lean, who was one of the candidates who had decided to succeed Georen as the god of this world, knew him well.

The god of great warriors.

He was the one who led them to the land of salvation when they died.

How would people believe it if they said that Georen was actually the root of this world’s curse and had degenerated into a monster?

No, even if they believed it, what then?

How would they react to the fact that the great god was trying to kill them himself?

“People will be in chaos.”

“So you want us to just sit back and do nothing?”

I frowned.

“You said you’ve been looking for it for 32 years. The cause is right in front of you, and you want to just ignore it? Besides, there’s a traitor inside… Sigh. Anyway, we can’t just leave it like this after we’ve finally found out.”

“Then what do you want to do?”

“We have to tell them. There’s a traitor, and the god of this world has become a monster.”

“There will be chaos. The people who are barely holding on to hope, what do you think they’ll do when they hear that?”

“We have to do it anyway. Or else we’ll all die.”

“We can’t fight Georen! He’s the god of this world!”

“If we don’t fight! Then do you want us to live for another 68 years without dying and then perish?!”

I couldn’t help but yell at Lean.

At my shout, Lean clenched her fist.

He knew that too. If they continued like this, the survivors of Gardian would inevitably face extinction.

But fighting Georen was another problem. They would die anyway if they fought against such a being.

It would be better to endure somehow with 68 years of grace than that.

Georen was absolute to them.

“Georen is a god. And we can’t win against a god.”

“God. God. You’ve been saying god since before.”

I glared at him with a scowl and bared my teeth.

“The ones you serve are Divine Spirits, not gods.”

“Then what are you saying if Divine Spirits are not gods?”

“They are just superior to us, not omnipotent. They obtained the power of stars by breaking out of their rank, but they are not immortal gods. They also die and decline in the end, and are crushed by greater powers.”

“But in this world, they are omnipotent.”

“Omnipotent? Such an omnipotent being sensed his end and chose candidates for his successor?”

I snorted at his absurd words.

“You and the others are all deluded. You think the Divine Spirits are great gods that you can’t resist.”

I didn’t like that word from the beginning.

It was the same when I was on Earth.

I hated seeing people who claimed that the World of Thought was a punishment from God and that they had to obey his will.

They were not gods.

They were just wearing the shells of gods.

“If everything is according to God’s will, if we, mere mortals, can never resist God, then why are we living?”

The weak want to be dominated.

Those who lack self-reliance or want to escape from the harsh reality look for something to lean on, and reaching the end of it is their blind worship of God.

They claim to serve them with faith and devotion, but

To Yu-hyun, it was all nonsense.

“They’re all just running away.”

They were ultimately relying on a colossal power.

How was that different from turning their backs and fleeing from the hard reality?

They submitted to the power and hoped that the God who ruled them was good. They wrapped their own weakness of being unable to resist them in faith, and drove away those who could not do the same as unbelievers.

They were like cowards.

The Divine Spirit is not God.

There is no God in this world.

There are only people who create the illusion of God and depend on it.

There was never a firm absolute being that humans could rely on absolutely from the beginning.

“Then, what do you want us to do?”

“We have to fight. Until the last one of us falls.”

“…Not everyone can be that strong. Some might prefer to die by conforming to that power rather than resisting it.”

“I know. That’s why I won’t force you. I won’t stop those who run away, and I’ll respect those who make that choice. But I will fight.”

Nothing can change without fighting. People had to break the wall that blocked their way with a hammer at some point.

Even in the past, in the midst of the apocalypse, Yu-hyun saved people to resist the world that wanted them all dead.

That was his fight. His struggle to resist the world that oppressed him with power.

That march of hardship could not stop even in this place that boasted a coldness that could freeze even his lungs.

“You…”

When Ryan met Yu-hyun’s unwavering eyes, he felt himself shrinking.

His appearance was no different from when he walked around with his head down, thinking he was worthless.

‘I haven’t changed even after decades.’

Ryan was ashamed of himself.

What was his effort for?

What did he endure until here for?

‘What do I want to do?’

He wanted to save them. He wanted to restore this world to its former state.

He wanted to send the souls that were frozen and killed in this present world back to the land of salvation.

It was not Kaira’s will or someone else’s coercion.

He just wanted to do it himself.

“…Give me some time.”

“That’s surprising.”

Yu-hyun loosened his tense forehead.

“I thought you would just vaguely escape from reality.”

“I realized that I shouldn’t. Or maybe I knew it from the start. So give me some time to answer.”

“…I can’t give you much time. Time is passing by, and people are getting exhausted. You and me.”

“I know. It won’t take long.”

Ryan said so much that Yu-hyun didn’t press him any further. He didn’t even have any intention of doing so in the first place.

“Maybe Kaira really trusted you and left her traces like this.”

Kaira led her sisters and candidates to the source of the curse.

She must have done that. She must have recognized Georen. Kaira must have fought him. She must have given courage to her sisters who despaired in front of Georen, and stayed until the end to protect this world.

But she didn’t come back. She lost in the end in her fight against Georen.

But her traces remained.

She made a deal with the system, and used her appearance to save this world.

She still had hope.

Because Ryan, who could be called the last key of this world, was still alive.

“…”

Ryan neither denied nor affirmed Yu-hyun’s words.

***

After that, the two returned to Guardian.

After learning such shocking facts today, they had no energy left to explore other areas. They didn’t need to explore other areas since they already knew the truth.

They found out where the curse of frost came from and who caused it.

It should have been a happy thing to find out the cause they had been looking for desperately for 32 years, but solving it was a completely different thing.

Especially after realizing that there was a traitor inside, they had to be more careful than ever.

After parting with Ryan at the gate and plaza, Yu-hyun went straight back to his inn and locked himself in his room.

‘Who is it? Who deliberately erased those traces and blocked the way?’

He pondered as he lay on the bed that smelled of rags.

The traitor didn’t go to that place just once. He wandered around the area at least ten times, checking if anyone had noticed the secret passage.

The traitor was more careful and meticulous than he thought.

I had been hiding from others for a long time, so I could figure out the patterns of the scouts’ movements.

‘The first ones to suspect would be those who claimed to have explored this area.’

The key was whether there was a record at the scout headquarters. But what came to my mind was what Lean had said.

‘The Emperor of Frechen and his knights often wandered around there.’

What did the Emperor of Frechen want, leading his followers around the outside?

Could he be thinking of reviving the fallen empire?

If so, he was doing well in this Guardian, except for being hostile to Lean.

Without the magic circle, he couldn’t overcome the curse of the frozen land, no matter how much he reclaimed the empire’s territory.

Was he trying to restore a hollow empire? Or did he have another way?

‘The most suspicious one was the Emperor of Frechen. But I couldn’t be sure.’

More than anything, even if he was really a traitor, it would be hard to make him pay for it.

Considering the number and power of his followers, it wouldn’t be strange if the Guardian was split in half.

Even if his followers were shocked by Frechen’s betrayal and turned their backs on him, the imperial knights who had served him for 32 years were unlikely to do so.

Maybe they knew and kept silent.

If I accused Frechen of being a traitor as it was, a big fight would be inevitable.

Many people would die.

When I might have to fight with Geon as well, I couldn’t afford to cut my own flesh.

‘What does Lean think?’

I had a lot of conversations with Lean, but I still didn’t know what he really wanted.

What I knew was only the truth that I had guessed by forcing a few clues together.

Even if the rough things matched, I couldn’t know the details.

“Kaira! Come down and eat!”

Bella’s loud voice reached the second floor from below.

I didn’t feel like eating because my head was complicated, but I couldn’t refuse it.

Bella didn’t compromise on anything but starving. She couldn’t stand wasting this precious food.

As I went down the stairs, Bella greeted me and asked me when she saw my face.

“Huh? You don’t look so good?”

I smiled and shrugged it off lightly.

“It’s nothing. I just went too far and got a little tired.”

“That doesn’t sound like it.”

Bella said that and put a large pot of soup on the center of the table.

As I sat at the table, I wondered about Bella’s situation.

“By the way, I’m curious about something.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Bella, why did you open an inn here?”

There was nothing left in this world but Guardian. Well, maybe there were survivors in other parts of the continent, but for now, Guardian was everything.

The people who lived here had their own homes. So there was no need for an inn.

It wasn’t a place where outsiders would come.

“Oh. I’m sorry if it was a difficult question to answer.”

“No? No, don’t worry. It’s not like that. Yeah. You asked me why I run an inn?”

“Yes.”

“It’s because of my husband.”

“Your husband? You were married?”

Bella chuckled at my honest question.

“Yeah. I was married. A long time ago. When I was a young maiden.”

“But, your husband…”

“He died. More than 20 years ago. He didn’t come back after working as a scout.”

“…”

“I run this inn because of that. It was his dream originally. He wanted to run an inn and I wanted to cook in the kitchen. That was our goal, to welcome guests.”

Even though her husband didn’t come back and died.

She couldn’t quit this job.

It was not only hers, but also his dream that she loved.

“I believe that spring will come someday. I did before, and my mind hasn’t changed now. The dead man won’t come back. But someday spring will come back, and the country will prosper, and people will increase. Then I will continue this inn business.”

She inherited the will of the dead person.

So she couldn’t stop.

For them, as well as for the living people, they had to keep living.

“It’s not just me. Everyone who lives in Guardian probably has a similar thought. Some may have given up already, but at least there are some who haven’t. Even if the world freezes over, we are still alive.”

“I see…”

I nodded quietly and ate the soup.

The soup that I always thought was delicious and warm filled my body with more warmth than usual today.