The gist of Hermóðr’s words was this: even his older brother, Baldr, seemed to have joined Angrboda’s side—so please save him.
The problem, of course, was how exactly to save Baldr.
“Constellations aren’t allowed to fight each other, right?”
“Correct.”
“Then that means… it’s up to me.”
“Right again.”
I let out a heavy sigh and rubbed my face dry with my hands.
“What happens if Constellations do fight each other?”
“They cease to exist.”
Apollo replied while still seated in his arrogant, lounging posture.
“Cease to exist?”
“Their personhood as a Constellation vanishes. Only their record remains. No one knows who made that rule, but it’s how it is. That rule’s been in place ever since we first opened our eyes.”
Their personhood vanishes. Only a record is left behind. I glanced around at the Constellations nearby.
These beings, who should’ve only existed within the pages of books, were now breathing right in front of me.
“Which is why, if you want to stop this Baldr guy, you—who are still half-human—have to step up.”
“My brother himself said he would generate a dungeon.”
Hermóðr, still on horseback, spoke.
My neck was getting stiff from looking up for so long.
“He’s going to generate a dungeon?”
“Yes. To bring suffering upon humans.”
Hermes spoke up, clearly incredulous.
“Hermóðr. Normal Constellations can’t create dungeons.”
“That’s true. Normal Constellations, that is. But my brother isn’t an ordinary Constellation. He’s received power from Angrboda! An unknown power… a power that uses humans as sacrifices.”
“What did you just say?”
I reflexively asked Hermóðr again.
“Power that uses humans as sacrifices? Say it clearly.”
“I-I don’t know all the details. But I definitely felt that kind of power.”
“From Baldr?”
“Yes. The Constellation who should be the noblest in the world now reeks of rot he can’t hide…”
“Don’t throw in weird metaphors like that!”
I grabbed hold of Hermóðr as if I was going to pull him off his horse. Hermóðr yelped and clung to Sleipnir’s head.
“What are you doing?!”
“You damn Constellations always act high and mighty, throwing around poetic metaphors for no damn reason—that’s why I’m pissed off! Just say clearly what the problem is!”
“D-Don’t pull me!”
“Ga-hyeon, calm down!”
Hermes tried to stop me, but I’d long since had enough of talking to these damn Constellations. They sat around watching people go through hell on TV like it was entertainment, tossing in their fancy words like that made them wise.
And in the end, I was the one who had to run around cleaning up every mess. Wasn’t something wrong from the very beginning? I shouldn’t have become a Constellation at all. No—hell, I shouldn’t have read The Apocalypse Chronicles of Another World in the first place. Or at least they could’ve shown me the damn epilogue!
As I tugged like I was really going to pull Hermóðr off, he hastily continued.
“The power—I felt it!”
“What kind of power?”
“A power that shouldn’t exist in Baldr. Do you know the Ragnarok recorded in myth? I felt an ominous energy tied to that!”
“And how do you know that power uses humans as sacrifices?”
“Because that energy was utterly evil.”
When I let go of him, Hermóðr straightened his hat and spoke calmly.
“It had no trace of mercy. It came from a root that was purely cruel.”
Dionysus, who had been lying on the ground, staggered as he sat upright. Hermóðr continued.
“Father Odin has no desire to see Ragnarok play out again. That’s why, Ga-hyeon, he said you’re free to use his name as much as you want.”
I remembered telling Park Gil-seon that my Constellation was Odin.
“…Well, that’s very generous of him.”
“From the beginning, Father Odin wanted to form a contract with you.”
Form a contract with me?
Hearing something completely new, I blinked in shock and stared at him as Hermóðr let out a quiet hum.
“But with his wisdom, he knew that wasn’t the right path.”
“…Wait a second. I can make contracts with other Constellations? Even though I’m a Constellation myself?”
“And you’re still half-human, aren’t you.”
I was momentarily speechless. I hadn’t expected that.
But Hermóðr, as if issuing a strict warning, spoke firmly.
“However, you must never form a contract with any other Constellation.”
“Why not?”
“Well… I don’t quite know Odin’s full intent either. But he told me to deliver this to you.”
Hermóðr reached out his hand. I hesitated for a moment, then grasped it.
Instantly, a rush of truths and knowledge streamed through my mind. A gentle wind stirred around us.
[You have acquired a new skill.]
[Skill: Wild Hunt]
[Summons a spectral hunt accompanied by horses and hounds. The strength of the hunt depends on the Constellation’s power.]
[The Constellation ‘One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction’ is now synced with its Holy Vessel.]
[Your private channel on the <Constellation Communication Net> has been linked to ‘Horseback Herald’. You can now converse via <Constellation Communication Net> anytime, anywhere.]
Dionysus, still only halfway upright, murmured in admiration.
“Damn, that’s badass…!”
I’d bet my left arm he picked up that slang from Hermes.
Still, I was now connected to Hermóðr, not Odin, through the <Constellation Communication Net>. This skill was clearly granted by Odin himself, so… why? Curious, I looked up at Hermóðr, who answered quietly.
“Odin said that if you try to learn too much, your human body will almost certainly reject it.”
Okay, fine—I’ll accept that I have a delicate, premium-grade body. But what am I supposed to make of someone like Angrboda, the very one who harbors resentment, acting vaguely cooperative like this?
“…So then what do we do about Baldr?”
“You’ll find out when the time comes.”
Apollo replied in a bored tone.
“This is exactly why I hate those guys. It’s always ‘you’ll know when the time is right’, or some cryptic prophecy nonsense.”
That’s rich, coming from the god of prophecy. It’s not like he hasn’t issued a few oracles of his own. As I shot him a sidelong glance, Apollo met my eyes like, what, you got something to say?
Just then, someone tugged at my pants leg. I looked down to find Dionysus, who had somehow crawled all the way over here, reaching out his hand. I was dumbfounded.
“What are you doing?”
“Help me up…”
“Can’t even stand on your own?”
“Pleeease, help meee…”
I let out a sigh and grabbed his hand to pull him up—but Dionysus yanked the hand right back instead.
“……!”
[The Constellation ‘One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction’ is now synced with its Holy Vessel.]
[Your private channel on the <Constellation Communication Net> has been linked to ‘One Who Weaves Euphoria’. You can now converse via <Constellation Communication Net> anytime, anywhere.]
What the hell do you think you’re doing?!
Horrified at the violet glow spreading over my hand, I tried to pull away from Dionysus, but unfortunately, he was stronger. Only after the connection was firmly established did he let go, leaving me speechless as I stared at my hand, still tingling with the remnants of his energy.
Dionysus grinned slyly.
“Don’t go having fun without me…”
“You seriously think this is fun?”
This guy’s out of his mind. This is exactly why you don’t deal with drunks.
And he didn’t even give me a single ability, did he?
Maybe picking up on my thoughts, Hermes offered a bit of consolation.
“Honestly, it’s probably for the best you didn’t get anything from him, Ga-hyeon. Most of Dionysus’ skills are just things that make himself feel good.”
Apollo chimed in as well.
“There’s also one that makes himself go insane.”
“Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the comforting words.”
Just then, my phone rang. I checked the caller ID and answered.
“Tae-beom?”
– Hyung. Are you busy?
“Right now… not exactly.”
Wait a second—how do I even have signal in here? How is this call coming through? As I was puzzling over it, Hermes gave me a wink.
– Then can you come back now?
“What’s going on?”
– Lee Myung-won is here.
“Lee Myung-won? Right now?”
– He says it’d be better to talk face to face rather than over the phone.
Did he already finish investigating the orphanage? That seems way too fast. As these thoughts ran through my mind, I answered:
“I’ll be right there.”
After hanging up, I looked around. All the Constellations were staring at me.
“I’m heading out.”
“You’re seriously leaving without having even one drink…?”
Shaking off the clingy Dionysus, I waved at Apollo. Apollo gave a brief, snorting laugh and casually lifted his hand in return.
And with that, my vision shifted.
I was standing in the living room. Lee Myung-won, seated on the sofa, looked up at me in surprise, while Baek Tae-beom calmly patted the spot beside him, gesturing for me to sit like he was used to this by now.
[CH. Private / One Who Weaves Euphoria: Ga-hyeon, you’re so mean….]
[CH. Private / One Who Weaves Euphoria: You don’t even understand my feelings….]
[CH. Private / One Who Weaves Euphoria: Idiot. Idiot….]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction: Is there no way to mute this?]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: Sorry to hear that. I’ll try to build a feature for that next time.]
“The more I see of you, Mr. Choi Ga-hyeon… the more I feel you’ll keep surprising me every single day.”
“You’re surprised I teleported? After watching me come back from the dead?”
I replied coolly as I sat next to Baek Tae-beom.
“By the way, the front door looked a bit smashed up. Was that you too, Mr. Choi?”
Ask the guy sitting next to me about that one.
“So what brings you here? Already finished the orphanage investigation?”
“Ah, not quite….”
Lee Myung-won pulled out his phone from his pocket.
“It’s because of this.”
