[New Constellation has entered Channel #fdl990. Current number of viewers: 10]
I noticed the alert window pop up and figured the next group had entered. It’s said that even forming a contract with a Constellation is rare, so to have this many gathered probably means they scraped the entire country to bring them here. Still, only a few specific Constellations were actively chatting. Why was that?
As if answering my question, Apollo spoke.
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun]: Because they’re low-grade.
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun]: Some aren’t even recorded in human mythology. Or if they are, it’s just a single vague line. Those kinds are useless to us, so they stay quiet. That, or they simply dislike noise.
[CH.#fdl990/Free Wind]: In short, this is your not-so-subtle way of bragging, huh~?
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun]: Get over here, you.
In the end, Apollo lost his temper at Hermes’s provocation.
Truly, they were a heartwarmingly quarrelsome pair of brothers. I looked around and saw more and more crumbling ruins the deeper we went in. The partially collapsed buildings in brownish tones resembled the once-noble forms of gods who had guarded their sanctity.
But what sprawled across the ground was not divine.
It was the corpses of monsters.
Undead-type monsters—zombies—twitched and writhed on the ground, their heads or limbs severed. Some were stripped down to nothing but skeletons. Blood was splattered everywhere, and a red puddle formed where falling water mixed with gore, hinting at the scale of the battle that had taken place here.
Baek Tae-beom suddenly covered my eyes.
“What are you doing?”
“Hyung, you shouldn’t be looking at stuff like this.”
“What are you talking about?”
I smacked his hand lightly to lower it and scanned the other hunters. Some flinched and avoided the monsters entirely, while others ruthlessly crushed the remains as if double-tapping to ensure they stayed dead.
Among them, I saw a hunter with blazing red hair that looked like it was on fire. She was brutally smashing a monster’s head with a hoe. I instantly knew who she was.
‘Information overview.’
[Displaying target’s information.]
[Echoing Aquila
[Titles: The Echoing, The One Who Cultivated the Field, The Awakened from Dreams, The One Who Accomplished…]
Rank: A
Status: Cannot be verified
Contracted Constellation: Warrior Who Protected Civilization
Coin Balance: Cannot be verified
Possessed Skills: [True Strength Lies in What Is Seen], [Farming], [Bull Rush], [Great Mountain]…
This is an awakened one contracted with a high-grade Constellation. Caution is advised.]
Aquila was a character from The Apocalypse Chronicles of Another World. She originally sided with the villain Baek Tae-beom before betraying him to support Kang Si-hoo. Based on her Constellation, I had suspected she might be here—but I hadn’t expected her to be this close.
After the previous group finished off the remaining monsters and turned them to dust, we resumed our journey. The ruins of civilization stretched before us: crumbling walls, massive cobwebs, and thick clouds of dust.
That porcelain over there looked expensive… Could I maybe sell it?
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Seeks to Escape Destruction]: What would happen if I tried selling that stuff?
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Seeks to Escape Destruction]: I mean, at the Shop.
But the answer came from elsewhere.
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Guides the Dead]: Because it is not yours. You may not.
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Guides the Dead]: That which you do not own. Cannot be sold.
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Guides the Dead]: This place has. Its own master.
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Seeks to Escape Destruction]: It has an owner?
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Guides the Dead]: I can feel it.
Anubis could feel it… That confirmed it. The deity I suspected was indeed here.
[CH.#fdl990/Warrior Who Protected Civilization]: And so what if someone is?
[CH.#fdl990/Warrior Who Protected Civilization]: We just need to fight and win, don’t we?
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun]: Shut up, you bastard.
[CH.#fdl990/Warrior Who Protected Civilization]: Alright, alright. I get it. You’re jealous. You want to chat too, but no one’s including you, so now you’re all mopey, huh?
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun]: That’s not it.
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Holds Two Snakes]: Bit of a shy guy,,, aren’t ya,,,,
CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun: I SAID THAT’S NOT IT!
Leaving the babbling Constellations behind, I licked my lips at the sight of the glittering chests and antiques. And then, out of nowhere, Baek Tae-beom slipped his arm around my waist and leaned in close, his face just inches from mine.
“Hold on, what are you—”
“Do you want it?”
“What?”
“Overflowing wealth. Would you like your room to be filled with money?”
“What are you even talking about…?”
“You were practically drooling over that stuff.”
Baek Tae-beom smiled softly with his eyes as he gestured toward the treasure chests.
“I thought maybe you needed it.”
“Who’s drooling?”
“So you don’t need it?”
“…What’s going through your head right now?”
“I was thinking I’d fill your room with money.”
He tilted his head gently as he murmured in a hushed voice.
“I just get the feeling you really like money. So much that it makes me jealous.”
“…I don’t like it that much. It’s just… the more the better, you know?”
“Then why won’t you accept the money I give you? You never use the card, either.”
I had no rebuttal. With my lips firmly shut, Baek Tae-beom whispered slowly.
“You’re not… feeling inferior or anything, are you?”
“What?”
“Like, ‘I’m his damn Constellation but I can’t do anything for him, not even give him money or Coins, and that makes me feel pathetic and useless’… You’re not thinking stuff like that, right?”
He hit the nail so squarely on the head that I got chills. Was I that easy to read? I didn’t think I’d made it that obvious.
“You wear your anxiety like a giant neon sign.”
“…So what’s your point? That I shouldn’t feel guilty or whatever?”
“It’s fine if you do. It’s true, after all—compared to other Constellations, you really don’t have much you can give me.”
He spoke with a strangely serene expression, tracing a finger along the top of my hand. His touch glided across the pale skin, following the lines of my raised veins.
“But you have something none of them do.”
“What now?”
“I only need you.”
Baek Tae-beom closed his eyes for a beat, then opened them again, his voice slow and steady.
“I’ll give you so much money you’ll get sick of it. Let’s play our own little ‘Constellation game.’ But all I want is for you to stay by my side. You understand what I’m saying?”
“You do realize you’re kind of insulting me right now, don’t you?”
“Did I say something wrong?”
I shoved Baek Tae-beom’s shoulder in disbelief.
“You’re getting this all twisted. Whether you shower me with money or not, I’m staying by your side. So don’t get it confused. This isn’t some silly Constellation game to me—it’s dead serious.”
More than that, this was a matter of survival. Without Baek Tae-beom, I’d lose everything. All my strategies, my plans, they’d be gone in an instant. So right now, the most important thing to me wasn’t money—it was Baek Tae-beom.
I raised my voice.
“Money’s just an extra. What matters most to me is you.”
And I didn’t stop to consider how that might sound to others.
Yoo Ji-won was staring at us with his mouth hanging open. Oh Kwon-hyuk, standing beside him, looked equally stunned, glancing down at us with wide, uneasy eyes. The rest of the nearby hunters had more or less the same reaction—like they were watching some trashy love triangle in a bad drama, their faces frozen in shock.
[CH.#fdl990/Warrior Who Protected Civilization]: Oh my, oh my.
[CH.#fdl990/Warrior Who Protected Civilization]: Dear me.
Stop it.
[Constellation ‘One More Dazzling Than the Sun’ has sponsored you 5,000 Coins.]
[Current remaining Coins: 18,700]
I said stop.
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Holds Two Snakes]: So this is,,,,,,
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Holds Two Snakes]: The blazing,,, passion,,, of youth,,,, friendship,,, and,,,,,
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Holds Two Snakes]: Love,,,, is it,,,? Hh,,, Seems like it,,,,
“Did you all hear that?”
[Was that a love confession?]
[Wow no wonder they’re always together]
[So that’s why he can handle Baek Tae-beom]
[This is insane;;;]
Only when I saw Baek Tae-beom smiling smugly did I realize—he’d orchestrated this entire scene. At this point, I didn’t care about destruction or whatever. I just wanted to go home.
