Yu-hyun silently lifted the glass in front of him and took a sip of the drink.
He didnât know what it was made of, but as soon as it touched his tongue, a refreshing sensation spread from his mouth to his whole body.
Thanks to that, he was able to keep his sanity even after witnessing a shocking existence.
Or maybe.
âI had anticipated this situation from the beginning.â
Even so, it was hard to accept that the young-looking boy was one of the original Tellers and one of the four Kings of Stories.
But appearance didnât matter.
That wasnât his real form anyway. J
ust like the Divine Spirits created their own avatars, the blond boyâs appearance was also just a part of Oelo.
âYou donât seem surprised. I thought you would freak out.â
âI expected this to happen someday.â
âOf course, youâre not an ordinary Teller. Well. You have a fragment of Codex, so itâs natural, right?â
âCodex? Is that the real name of the Book of Genesis?â
âYes. Is this the first time youâve heard the name?â
âYes, it is.â
He had almost heard a trace of that name before, but this was the first time he heard the complete name.
He didnât expect to hear it so casually.
âSo why did you want to see me, Oelo?â
âLook at this guy. Honestly, I was watching you with interest, but you were the one who sent me a signal to meet first. I just responded to that.â
âYou must have responded because you needed something from me.â
âYouâre sharp. But youâre not wrong. Thatâs right. Just as you want something from me, I also want something from you. Thatâs why I said itâs a deal. A deal between you and me only.â
A deal with Oelo, who was equal to Chairman Lotfiout.
Yu-hyun objectively assessed the situation and inwardly clicked his tongue.
He had never seen the chairmanâs face, but he was sure he was a huge being that would make him breathless.
It was a dream that Yu-hyun of the past couldnât even dream of, to make a deal with Oelo, who was called a brother of the chairman.
âWhat do you want?â
âWait a minute. Before I tell you, I want to know what you want first.â
âReally? What if I just listen and shut my mouth?â
âIs that what you want?â
For a moment, Oeloâs eyes glowed eerily.
As he faced them, Yu-hyun felt more pressure than when he faced Chulapantaka.
He felt like he had seen his true form beyond the small boy.
In the abyssal space of the universe, something huge and indescribable looked down at him.
Yu-hyun quickly shook his head.
âDo you think Iâm crazy enough to betray someone who is equal to the chairman?â
âThatâs right. Youâre that kind of guy. You always show unexpected sides of yourself, but in this aspect, you stick to your standards strictly. Thatâs why Iâve been keeping an eye on your story. By the way, since weâre on the topic, do you know how much Iâve sponsored you?â
âUh, I donât know?â
âLook at this. Oh man. Iâm such a sucker. How much? More than 500 thousand points. Of course, some of that went to Lotfioutâs son as commission, but you must have gotten a lot too.â
âConsidering your wealth, Oelo, thatâs nothing, right? Besides, how did you get the same authority as the Divine Spirits?â
âThatâs because Iâm special. Iâm freer than anyone else and can go anywhere.â
Thatâs why he was called the King of Freedom.
Oelo didnât belong anywhere and didnât make any organization with his own hands.
This small factory was also just for fun and hobby, not his real purpose.
âI mostly look for cool and interesting stories to move around. If I had to choose a preference, I guess Iâm similar to Damcheon. But while Damcheon is somewhat selective about stories, I accept all genres well.â
âIs that so.â
âI used to enjoy watching the stories that were called Hall of Fame. But these days theyâre not like that at all. The lineage is broken. The Divine Spirits are the same. Whatâs with this cider? They always talk about cider. If theyâre a little frustrated or bored, they talk about sweet potatoes. Cider-pass kids.â
âThatâs proof that the world has changed.â
âThe world is always changing. I just donât like the way those bastards act as if they are right in the midst of that change. This story is a bit far-fetched, isnât it?â
Oelo smirked mischievously, resting his chin on one hand.
âWhat you want is information about the Codex, right?â
Yu-hyun nodded.
That was the only reason he came to see Oelo.
He needed to know what this Codex was.
âI guess so. You must be curious if youâve already collected more than ten fragments. I chose you because you had the most fragments among them.â
âWhat is the Codex, the Book of Genesis?â
âItâs the source of this world. The beginning and the end of all stories.â
âThatâs a very metaphysical expression.â
Oelo laughed out loud at that.
âYeah. Right. It might sound like that. But I canât explain it any easier than that. Itâs a fact that itâs the source of all worlds. Well, if I had to say it, the Codex could be seen as the universe itself.â
The universe is a book.
The book was made up of small letters, or typefaces.
The fact that the text was the foundation of the world was also because of the influence of the Codex.
âWho made the Codex?â
âLogos.â
âWho is Logos?â
âOur omnipotent father who existed before the universe was born. Yeah. From your point of view, heâs literally âGodâ.â
âOmnipotent?â
Yu-hyun frowned at that word, thinking it was strange, and Oelo shrugged.
âWell. If our father knew everything and could do everything, it wouldnât have turned out like this. Forget about omnipotence. But itâs still true that he was close to it. Heâs much more superior than those Divine Spirits you worship so much.â
ââŠI see. And since you called him father⊠are you and our chairman also perhaps.â
âYeah. Logos, our father created us. Lotfiut, Damcheon, Catharsis, and me. We were called the Tellers of Origin, and we were created by our father himself. We were made to help his work.â
ââŠâ
The story of the origin of the Teller flowed out as if it was nothing.
Oelo said that it wasnât something that had to be hidden.
He didnât tell anyone.
He just said that Yu-hyun had the right to hear it.
Logos, the owner of the Codex.
He was the origin of the Teller, and he created all stories and kings of stories.
âHe made four kings of stories. Thatâs amazingâŠâ
âI can understand why youâre surprised. But you seem to have a little misunderstanding. My brothers are not four.â
âWhat?â
âThe world doesnât know, but we have a fifth one.â
âWhat on earth is thatâŠâ
A fifth one? The Tellers of Origin were not four?
âHave you ever wondered why the Codex was torn apart and shattered?â
ââŠI heard there was some kind of incident.â
âYou donât know what it is exactly, do you? The Codex is the foundation of this world. But it was torn apart and scattered all over the universe. You have a fragment, but it wasnât supposed to be a fragment in the first place.â
âIs that incident related to the fifth one?â
Oelo nodded.
âOriginally, we five had different purposes, so we were made by our fatherâs hand. Our father recorded various stories in the Book of Genesis. Thatâs the foundation of the world. But doing everything by yourself is inefficient, isnât it?â
So we were born, Oelo said.
âWe five brothers were made to inherit our fatherâs will. We gathered various stories from the world and sent them to the Codex.â
âI seeâŠâ
âBut not everyone did the same thing. We donât need to rank our birth order, but the fifth one, who was called the youngest, received our fatherâs favor more than anyone else among us. He had to. When me and the rest of us scraped up stories, he sorted them out and put them in the Codex. If thatâs not favoritism, what is?â
âSo he could manipulate the Codex more freely than anyone else.â
âYes. And if he wanted, he could make the Codex in any way he liked.â
Lava flared up inside Oeloâs eyes.
It was not a glare at Yu-hyun, but a fierce rage towards the traitor who could no longer be found anywhere.
âHe received fatherâs favor, but he tore up the book that father created. He ripped the Codex to shreds and scattered it across the mixed world.â
âWhy, exactlyâŠ?â
âI donât know why. Neither do the other three, except me. Why he did that. But the result is that the Codex was broken and scattered everywhere. And he ran away, as if he knew this would happen.â
âWho is the fifth one?â
âPraytion.â
Oelo calmly uttered that name.
âHe is a Teller of the Beginning like me, and an unforgivable sinner who tore up the Book of the Beginning. If we all had the title of king, he should also be called this.â
The Betrayal King Praytion.
That was another truth that was not revealed to the world.
Yu-hyun listened quietly to his words.
It was not a complicated story.
What the Book of the Beginning was, who the Creator who made it was, and who betrayed him.
It was a simple story.
Only, its scale was far beyond his imagination.
âYou told me about Praytion, which means you have something to ask of me regarding him.â
âOf course. If not, I wouldnât have told you this.â
âWhat do you want from me?â
âTo find Praytion. And to collect all the torn fragments.â
The answer he had expected to some extent came back.
But why?
Why would a Teller of the Beginning ask him, who was nothing more than a Teller, for that?
Oelo smiled bitterly as he read the disbelief in Yu-hyunâs eyes.
âYeah. It must feel strange to you. Why I donât move myself when I know everything, and why I ask you for that.â
âTo be honest, yes.â
âItâs because I canât do that.â
âWhat?â
âThe Codex is not something I can find if I try to. The torn fragments can only be collected by the ones they choose. Itâs that kind of book. The ones who can collect them, and who can find them, are ultimately you. Youâve already collected more than ten fragments.â
âSo youâre saying Iâm perfect for this. But how do you plan to find that Praytion?â
âYou donât have to worry about that. He will show up to you on his own, even if you donât try to find him.â
âWhat?â
âI donât know what his exact purpose is, but Praytion, that bastard traitor, doesnât want the Codex to have its original form. Thatâs why he tore it up and spread it across the universe. So naturally, as you collect more fragments, he will also try to stop you.â
ââŠSo maybe heâll come after me if I collect them all.â
âThatâs right. Thatâs why Iâm telling you this. You might be able to collect them all, and then that hidden traitor will appear. Iâm waiting for that moment.â
He meant to use Yu-hyun for an undercover investigation.
âIt wonât be bad for you either, right? You were going to collect all the fragments anyway.â
âThatâs what I thought. But now I know that if I collect them all, a transcendent Teller who existed from the beginning will come after me to kill me.â
âSo youâll stop?â
âIâm not sure. But let me ask you one thing. If I collect all the fragments, what will happen then?â
âThe world will change.â
Yu-hyun frowned.
âI donât like such abstract answers.â
âWhat can I do? I canât be sure either. Even if you collect them all and the torn book is reunited, I donât know what will happen. There was never such a case before.â
âSo this is all unprecedented?â
âBut, you can predict it. Maybe, all the laws of the world will change. Faster and more intensely than anything else. They say a new era is opening.â
âA new⊠era.â
Yu-hyun felt slightly uncomfortable with that word.
To him, a new era meant nothing but the end of the world that brought him despair.
Even if the earth changed now, the memories of that time still remained like a nightmare and annoyed Yu-hyun.
âItâs not like a big bang will happen if you make it. Maybe, you could become the owner of a new book. The owner of a book that can rewrite the foundation of this world.â
ââŠIsnât Logos the owner anyway?â
Oelo smiled bitterly at Yu-hyunâs words.
âFather has been hiding in his own space since he lost the book. He must have lost interest in the worldâs affairs because of the shock of betrayal. But he still created the Genesis Foundation to maintain the minimum work he used to do.â
ââŠDoes the foundation replace the role of the Book of Genesis?â
âYes. Thatâs why the three companies that showcase Sihwa send their stories to the foundation regularly. But thatâs ultimately an incomplete thing. The original universe was made by the existence of Codex.â
âSo you want me to recover the fragments?â
âRight.â
Yu-hyun stroked his chin at that word.
Oelo had taught him many truths he didnât know.
He answered everything Yu-hyun asked kindly and without omission.
But Yu-hyun felt something was wrong.
There was something else, something he didnât realize and missed.
âWhat did I miss?â
Was Oelo lying? If so, could he verify it?
It didnât stop there.
âYes.â
Yu-hyun recalled what Satan had said.
And he also remembered what Jin Cheongwoon had said.
Oeloâs words were certainly filled with the hidden truth of this world, but it was the truth that Oelo saw.
He had watched the fragments scatter, so he must have known more about this situation than anyone else, but Yu-hyun felt strangely that he was lacking compared to Satan.
âThereâs something else.â
Something else related to Codex that Oelo didnât know.