Coins.
They were what empowered the Constellations within the novel even further. Although the Constellations were already nearly omnipotent entities akin to gods, possessing coins granted them even greater power. Coins were a special form of currency that couldn’t be obtained through ordinary means; one could only earn them by clearing dungeons or selling dungeon-acquired items through the system shop. Other than that, the only way to obtain coins was through the Constellations themselves.
Constellations would sponsor their Contractors or struggling Awakeners in the dungeons by giving them coins. Those who received such Sponsorships could use the coins to purchase rare items or skills unavailable through standard methods, using them to tackle dungeons more effectively.
So I, too, had planned to sponsor Baek Tae-beom, nudging him to buy skills so we could escape this place…
“You’re telling me we don’t have enough coins?”
In the novel, Constellations splurged coins like water for Sponsorships—so why didn’t I have a single one?
“Don’t tell me… I have to gather them myself?”
That made no sense. I had become a Constellation, and yet I lacked the most essential thing—coins—so I had to grind for them myself? And worse, it looked like I was going to die before I could even begin that grind.
“What the hell are you two whispering about!”
“Why do you care?!”
“What did you just say?”
I answered reflexively and immediately regretted it. The man with the face of an enraged goblin was now stomping over toward me.
Baek Tae-beom had just Awakened, so his body had become sturdier—he could take a hit and be fine. But me? If I took a punch from that guy, my nose would probably shatter like glass.
Thank god. Baek Tae-beom stepped between us.
“That’s enough.”
“You little punks…”
Baek Tae-beom was actually defending me. Like a vicious dog that barked at everyone else but suddenly became docile when facing me—it was oddly touching. I stood on tiptoes behind him and addressed the man.
“Judging by your reaction, I’m guessing we weren’t the only ones who saw those weird pop-ups, right? You and that old man saw them too? The ones about the dungeon?”
“So what?”
“That means this isn’t just happening to us, right? If you check your phone, you’ll see this is happening all over the world in real time. So instead of throwing punches, maybe we should all be thinking about how the hell we’re getting out of here.”
Then I quickly ducked behind Baek Tae-beom again. The man’s face clearly screamed that he wanted to punch the loudmouth hiding behind him.
Fortunately, he didn’t make a move. Maybe Baek Tae-beom’s stance, now visibly more intimidating, was giving him pause.
[Dungeon: Small Purgatory]
[Objective: Eliminate the Demon-Type Monster hiding within a human and escape the elevator.
Reward: 3,000 Coins
Penalty for Failure: Death
Time Limit: 60 Hours]
Eliminate a Demon-Type Monster hiding inside a person? That was way too vague. If one of the people here was a demon, we had absolutely no clues. That girl about to burst into tears again could be the demon—or maybe it was her father.
Sure, we had 60 hours, but who could last that long in a cramped elevator? And if the elevator collapsed from the aftermath of a fight, what a ridiculous way to die.
“So who the hell is the demon?”
“That’s what we need to figure out now! Sir, do you have any guesses?”
The man, who’d been glaring at us like we were the most suspicious ones here, suddenly turned toward the old man huddled in the corner. The elder hadn’t done a thing and looked completely consumed by fear, but to the man, he must’ve looked like a plotting demon.
Without warning, he grabbed the old man’s shoulders and started yelling.
“Hey, old man! You’re the demon, aren’t you?!”
“W-What are you talking about? I-I have no idea…”
“Fess up before I beat the truth out of you!”
“Hiiik—! I’m sorry! Please don’t hit me…!”
Baek Tae-beom turned to me with a troubled expression. He looked completely at a loss, unsure what to do. Seeing his innocent, handsome face somehow pushed me to step in.
“Instead of throwing punches like a brain-dead meathead, how about you use that lump in your head and THINK?!”
“What did you say?”
“…Sir!”
Polite speech. I used polite speech. But maybe the effort didn’t come across, because the man scowled and tossed the old man aside. Then he started storming toward us.
He looked straight at Baek Tae-beom.
“Move. I’m gonna smash that little brat’s nose into dust.”
“…N-No. You won’t.”
“Wanna get hit again?”
But Baek Tae-beom grabbed my arm and pulled me further behind him, speaking in a surprisingly firm voice.
“Go ahead and hit me. Then I’ll just assume you’re the demon.”
“What did you just say?”
“When someone insists on using their fists instead of words, doesn’t that scream ‘demon’? And the way you keep kicking up a fuss without even letting anyone think—it’s really suspicious.”
At Baek Tae-beom’s words, the man clamped his mouth shut. Apparently, even to his own ears, the logic made some sense. Luckily, his brain wasn’t completely smooth; the man, still huffing, turned back and walked over to where his daughter was.
I patted Baek Tae-beom’s shoulder and offered my thanks.
“You saved my life.”
“No, not at all. You helped me earlier too. But… are my eyes really yellow right now?”
I answered honestly.
“They’re seriously glowing. Like, golden and blazing bright as hell.”
“…Really?”
“But they’re beautiful, so don’t let it bother you.”
I meant it. Even to someone like me with zero aesthetic sense, Baek Tae-beom’s eyes were stunning. Of course, it probably helped that his face was ridiculously handsome too, which only made his eyes stand out even more.
Baek Tae-beom bashfully lowered his head and rubbed the back of his neck.
It would’ve been nice if that changed the situation—but, of course, it didn’t.
Time kept ticking.
I wasn’t particularly hungry, but the drowsiness hit me like a truck. Around 20 hours had passed, but the situation hadn’t improved in the slightest. The light on my phone blinked faintly.
The child curled up in the man’s arms whimpered like she was about to cry.
“Daddy… I’m hungry…”
“I’m sorry, sweetie. Just hold on a little longer, okay? The firefighters will be here to rescue us any moment.”
But the dungeon had already formed. Unless something miraculous happened, no one from the outside would be able to enter. Anyone could see that charging in would just mean dying for nothing.
More importantly, the dungeon we were trapped in, Small Purgatory, was a scenario-type dungeon. That meant it was sealed off—outside entry wasn’t even possible.
There were only two ways for an external party to enter a dungeon that had already been closed: either everyone inside died and the dungeon reset, or it was cleared and transitioned into a completed state.
“Fuck. What the hell can I do?”
Maybe Baek Tae-beom felt bad seeing me dozing off in a corner like that, because he spoke up.
“Want to borrow my shoulder?”
“No, I’m okay.”
“I may not look it, but I’m pretty sturdy. You can lean on me.”
Not look it? What was he even talking about? Anyone could see how built he was. Just look at those Pacific Ocean-sized shoulders. But I didn’t feel like arguing, so instead of answering, I just rested my head against his shoulder.
“Daddy… I’m hungry. Really, really hungry…”
“Sweetie, let’s think about what to eat once we get out of here.”
“Can’t I just eat now? I’m sooooooo hungry…”
But something about the conversation felt… off. It wasn’t just a kid whining—there was something unsettling in her tone. I lifted my head, and my eyes met Baek Tae-beom’s.
“What is it?”
“It’s just…”
Was I imagining it? I tried to shake the feeling, but then—
“Can’t I just eat Daddy instead?”
“What? Wait—gghk!”
I snapped my head toward the sound—and was greeted by an utterly grotesque sight. The girl had opened her mouth unnaturally wide and was swallowing her father’s head whole.
“Uwaa—ah, ghhk…!”
I felt the blood drain from my face. Scrambling to my feet, I staggered back, and Baek Tae-beom caught me, pulling me close behind him.
The child—no, the thing—wasn’t content with just chewing on her father’s head. She lowered her head and began ripping into his limp body.
The more she ate, the more horns sprouted from her head, and wings unfolded from her back. A perfectly formed demon.
The old man watching from the corner collapsed in trembling horror. I, too, was about to pass out from the sheer insanity of the scene unfolding before me.
[The Constellation, ‘One Who Knows of Destruction,’ is synchronizing with the Holy Vessel.]
But passing out here would only make me the demon’s next meal. I gripped Baek Tae-beom’s wrist tightly.
“Now. We have to kill it now!”
“B-But how…?”
“I’ll draw its attention. You attack from behind.”
I had no idea where that sudden burst of confidence came from, but I said it anyway. Releasing Baek Tae-beom’s hand, I slowly stepped forward toward the demon.
Blood dribbled from the child’s lips as she flapped her newly grown wings, still feasting.
Her eyes, long and vertical like a slit, curled in a smile as she tilted her head at me the moment our gazes met.
“Are you hungry?”
Disgustingly terrifying. And yet, strangely, I wasn’t trembling.
“Did no one teach you any manners? You eat your meals off the floor like that?”
“Human?”
“Yeah, human. I don’t know why I’m even doing this, but hey, look at this, yeah?”
I turned on the flashlight on my phone and waved it furiously in front of the demon’s face.
“Bright, isn’t it? Pretty annoying, righ—urk!”
The demon lunged at me in a flash, and I fell back in shock. Even as I toppled over, I shoved my phone into the demon’s face and screamed at Baek Tae-beom.
“Now! Do it now!”
Baek Tae-beom immediately charged at the demon, but the tail that whipped out from the demon’s backside struck him and sent him flying in one hit. I gasped in disbelief and shouted recklessly.
“Are you even really an Awakener?!”
“W-What…?”
“You have skills, don’t you?! Use your skills! Don’t tell me you don’t have any?!”
“S-Skills…? What are those…?!”
Crunch. The sound of my phone being crushed inside the demon’s mouth echoed through the air. I shrieked in horror.
“You motherfucker! I still had payments left on that thing!”
But this wasn’t the time to be worrying about a phone. What I should’ve been panicking about was my life. At this rate, getting eaten was only a matter of time.
Then suddenly, a plan popped into my head.
[The Constellation, ‘One Who Knows of Destruction,’ proposes a contract with Baek Tae-beom.]
[The Constellation, ‘One Who Knows of Destruction,’ warns Baek Tae-beom that bad things will happen if he refuses.]
[The Constellation, ‘One Who Knows of Destruction,’ is now screaming at Baek Tae-beom.]
“U-Um… I’m seeing this weird window in front of me right now…”
“Accept it! I don’t care what it is—just hit accept!”
I spammed messages at Baek Tae-beom while yelling at the top of my lungs. Never in my life did I think I’d end up contracting with the man who would destroy the world—but if it was between that and dying right here, the choice was obvious.
[Baek Tae-beom has accepted the contract with the Constellation, ‘One Who Knows of Destruction.’]
[You have gained a new Contractor.]
[You will now share part of your emotional state with your Contractor.]
[Congratulations! You have successfully secured your first contract. You have received 5,000 coins as a reward.]
I frantically pulled up the shop page and bought an item in the split second before the demon could tear out my throat. I dropped it into Baek Tae-beom’s hand just in time.
[You have sponsored an item to your Contractor.]
A brilliant slash of light severed the demon’s neck. Baek Tae-beom looked startled, as if he’d swung the sword without even realizing it. As the demon was cleaved in two, the blood that splattered toward me instantly turned to dust and vanished.
[Congratulations! You have cleared the dungeon. Rewards have been granted.]
What a goddamn insane world.
As Baek Tae-beom helped me up, I muttered curses under my breath.
