Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – Constellation VS Constellation (2)

Normally, it was impossible for a Contractor to speak directly with a Constellation.

That was because the system itself prevented a Constellation’s voice from being transmitted directly.

However, it wasn’t absolutely impossible.

By using special methods, a Contractor could communicate directly with a Constellation.

Of course, the Constellation had to agree to it, and the Apostle who acted as the intermediary also had to be paid a considerable fee.

Because of that, directly speaking with a Constellation was something only top-tier Contractors who had developed an extremely close relationship with their Constellation could normally do.

“It’s been a while, Cheon Muhyeok.”

A voice came from inside the mirror held by Apostle No. 36.

At this moment, Cheon Muhyeok was engaged in real-time, two-way communication with the Spirit Realm where the Constellations resided.

Naturally, an enormous amount of Coins had to be paid as a communication fee.

Still, being able to speak directly with a Constellation was a significant advantage.

“It has been a long time, Hero of the Golden Reins.”

Hero of the Golden Reins.

That was the Constellation name of the A-rank Constellation Cheon Muhyeok had contracted with.

“I heard the situation from Number 36. You said there’s been a problem?”

“Yes.”

Cheon Muhyeok carefully began explaining.

“He’s somewhat dangerous. He might actually ruin everything.”

“Is he really that dangerous?”

“I heard he killed the undead of a massive carnivorous dinosaur with a single blow. There’s a possibility he might kill Echidna.”

Echidna.

That was originally the name of a monster from Greek mythology, but in the Fantasy Realm, it was an actual living creature.

Just like the Echidna of Greek mythology, her upper body resembled a beautiful woman while her lower body was that of a serpent.

She also possessed the traits of the so-called Mother of Monsters, capable of giving birth to all sorts of monstrous creatures.

One such Echidna had established a nest in this region and was continuously producing monsters.

“If he simply kills Echidna, everything we’ve done will become meaningless. And he might even… discover the Hidden Piece.”

“That cannot happen.”

The Constellation’s voice turned harsh.

“No matter what it takes, we must obtain the Hidden Piece.”

“I know. That’s why I’m planning to move immediately.”

“Immediately?”

“We were planning to use Kang Yujin as bait anyway. If Kang Yujin attacks Echidna’s nest, all we have to do is follow behind him.”

Cheon Muhyeok smiled faintly.

“And then we stab him in the back.”

“A good plan.”

“I’ll take the Contractors with me, including Seok Taejun. That should make it even more reliable.”

After saying that, Cheon Muhyeok lowered his head.

“So I would appreciate as much support as you can provide.”

“Cheon Muhyeok, there is a limit to how much support I can give you.”

“Yes. I’m only asking for whatever is possible.”

“You’re well aware of my current situation.”

“Hero of the Golden Reins, however…”

Cheon Muhyeok smiled.

“We are already in the same boat.”

“If I fail, it will become extremely difficult for you to make a comeback as well.”

“You insolent bastard.”

Despite hearing those provocative words, the Constellation didn’t sound particularly offended.

“Cheon Muhyeok, I trust you.”

“I trust that side of you that ruthlessly pursues your own interests.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“That is precisely why I will not tolerate another failure.”

“…”

“You told me we needed a Contractor strong enough to serve as bait while hunting Echidna, yet naive enough to be easily manipulated by you.”

“I accepted that argument and waited for quite some time.”

“It was difficult to find someone like that. Seok Taejun and the others still aren’t strong enough.”

“It would have been best if you had properly recruited Kang Yujin, but there’s nothing we can do about that now.”

“Do not waste this opportunity.”

“Understood.”

“You must obtain the Hidden Piece.”

With that, the communication ended.

“…”

In the suddenly silent room, Cheon Muhyeok frowned.

“So in the end, he didn’t even tell me how much support he’s actually going to give.”

“Cheon Muhyeok-nim…”

“It was just me talking to myself. Don’t worry about it. You can leave now.”

After saying that to Number 36, Cheon Muhyeok entered the room farther inside.

A gigantic device with an extremely complicated structure filled the room.

At its center was a staff connected to the machine, with a crimson ore embedded at its tip.

The staff pulsed as though it were alive.

Cheon Muhyeok grabbed it without hesitation.

“It still hasn’t been fully charged, but I have no choice.”

It was an item he had continuously strengthened by pouring Coins and life force extorted from the civilians of this region into it.

Cheon Muhyeok was a magic-attack-type Contractor.

To bring out the full extent of his combat ability, he needed this staff.

“But why hasn’t Seok Taejun come yet?”

Cheon Muhyeok stepped outside.

There, he saw Seok Taejun’s companions gathered together in small groups.

However, their leader, Seok Taejun himself, was nowhere to be seen.

“Everyone’s here. But where is Seok Taejun?”

“Cheon Muhyeok-nim, about that…”

One of the men nervously spoke.

“Just now, Taejun-hyung was… taken away by Kang Yujin.”

“What?”

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Cheon Muhyeok, huh…

I stared into the Observation Device alone, lost in thought.

I didn’t expect to run into Cheon Muhyeok here.

I had been somewhat surprised when I learned that the Contractor ruling Seok Taejun’s hometown was Cheon Muhyeok.

Although I had never met him personally, I already knew his name from the past.

He was once one of the Eight Divines.

The Eight Divines.

They were an alliance of elite Contractors who controlled the metropolitan area.

Just as the name suggested, the organization consisted of eight Contractors, each ruling a portion of the metropolitan area.

But Cheon Muhyeok was kicked out of the Eight Divines.

He had lost a power struggle and fallen from his position.

Another Contractor took his place, and Cheon Muhyeok was eventually forced to leave the metropolitan area.

I hadn’t known what happened to him after that.

I certainly hadn’t expected him to end up in a place like this.

Cheon Muhyeok isn’t the type to be satisfied with simply playing guardian to a bunch of civilians.

He’s probably trying to build up his strength here so he can make a comeback.

And he’ll use any means necessary to do it.

Because I knew that…

I had been able to devise this plan.

A Constellation can observe any place they want.

Of course, we can’t hear the audio, but… I was still able to roughly figure out what Cheon Muhyeok was planning.

The moment I discovered that Cheon Muhyeok ruled this region, I immediately began observing him.

Almost everything Kang Yujin had pointed out earlier had been correct.

While controlling and exploiting the people of this region, Cheon Muhyeok was also trying to defeat Echidna, the leader of the monsters, in order to obtain some kind of item.

Because I had already figured that out, I sent a message to Kang Yujin through Number 49 and deliberately caused him to clash with Cheon Muhyeok.

Now everything is ready for me to recruit Seok Taejun.

A man possessing an Awakening Skill capable of discovering Hidden Pieces.

For now, Seok Taejun was nothing more than an ordinary low-level Contractor.

However, if I used my Constellation Skill to trigger his Origin Awakening, he would become an absurdly powerful existence capable of finding every Hidden Piece.

That was why Seok Taejun was someone I absolutely needed.

The problem is whether I can completely make Seok Taejun one of my people.

Even if I awakened Seok Taejun with my Constellation Skill, I would be the only one who lost out if he later betrayed me.

Just making a contract isn’t enough.

His situation is completely different from Kang Yujin’s.

I need to make him follow me completely.

But now that I had learned about Cheon Muhyeok…

The scenario for recruiting Seok Taejun was already complete inside my head.

Good.

Let’s give it a try.

This opponent was on a completely different level from the guards of that religious facility or the undead monsters we had dealt with so far.

Cheon Muhyeok was a highly capable Contractor.

And the leader of the monsters was also quite a powerful existence.

On top of that…

Behind Cheon Muhyeok stood the A-rank Constellation known as the Hero of the Golden Reins.

When I observed him earlier, Cheon Muhyeok had been speaking directly with that Constellation.

I couldn’t hear what they were discussing, but the two of them clearly seemed to have a very close cooperative relationship.

If I seriously screw over Cheon Muhyeok here… that Constellation may start interfering directly.

Normally, Constellations simply watched their Contractors and occasionally provided blessings or sponsorship Coins.

But there were probably quite a few Constellations like me who used their Contractors to accomplish specific objectives.

Just as I interfered in events to help Kang Yujin, the Hero of the Golden Reins would most likely interfere to create an advantageous situation for Cheon Muhyeok.

In the end…

This would become a war between me and the Hero of the Golden Reins.

A battle between Constellations.

Back when I had still been a human Contractor, I couldn’t even have imagined something on such a massive scale.

But strangely enough, I didn’t feel particularly pressured.

Let’s do it.

If it meant obtaining what I wanted, I was more than willing to take on a Constellation or two.

Thinking that, I adjusted the Observation Device.

The screen began showing Kang Yujin and Seok Taejun fighting their way through the wilderness.

“K-Kang Yujin-ssi, slow down a little!”

Seok Taejun panted heavily.

“How the hell are you so strong?!”

“Then come slowly. I’ll go ahead.”

“You don’t even know the way! We have to go together!”

Kang Yujin shrugged and sat down on a nearby rock.

“Seriously… Kang Yujin-ssi, you’re amazing.”

Countless monster corpses were scattered throughout the surrounding area.

Seok Taejun had killed some of them, but Kang Yujin had taken down most of them.

“How many did you even kill? I was sweating like crazy just dealing with five or six.”

“You don’t have any hair, so the sweat must run straight down your head. That sounds rough.”

“I don’t have no hair! I shaved it!”

Seok Taejun’s face turned red as he covered his bald head with both hands.

“Ugh, seriously. Why did I even come all the way out here?”

“You agreed to come.”

“I only came because you said we had to leave immediately. I told you we should get some proper rest first.”

He was going to kill the leader of the monsters.

When Kang Yujin told him that, Seok Taejun had been shocked.

He already knew from Cheon Muhyeok that there was an existence controlling the monsters in this area.

Cheon Muhyeok had specifically warned him that it was an extremely powerful monster and that they should never approach it.

And yet Kang Yujin had suddenly declared that he was going to hunt that very creature.

“I told you that you could stay behind if you didn’t want to come.”

“You did…”

Kang Yujin hadn’t dragged Seok Taejun here by force.

He had simply asked whether Seok Taejun wanted to accompany him.

And yet…

As though under some kind of spell, Seok Taejun had followed him.

“Kang Yujin-ssi.”

“What?”

“Do you think I could become as strong as you someday?”

“Who knows?”

Kang Yujin’s answer was cold.

“What if I formed a contract with the Constellation you contracted with?”

“What Constellation are you contracted with right now?”

“A D-rank Constellation. Its name is ‘Nephew of the Greatest Hero.’”

“Maybe if it was the Greatest Hero itself, but the Greatest Hero’s nephew?”

“Pretty pathetic, right? Haha.”

Seok Taejun laughed bitterly at himself.

“It gives me a blessing that boosts my physical abilities, so I became somewhat decent at fighting… but it still wasn’t enough.”

If possible, he wanted to cancel his contract with that Constellation and form a new contract with a different one.

However, Contractors could not simply terminate contracts whenever they wanted.

A contract with a Constellation normally lasted until death.

There was one exception.

If a higher-ranked Constellation offered—

‘Discard your existing contract and serve me instead.’

—then the Contractor could break their previous contract and form a new one.

Of course, that wasn’t something that happened often.

It only applied to exceptionally talented prospects who were desired by multiple Constellations.

“Would something change if I formed a contract with an amazing Constellation like yours?”

“…”

“Just in case, I even tried praying to the Nameless One… but I guess it didn’t work.”

After saying that, Seok Taejun gave a bitter smile.

“Sorry. That sounded really pathetic.”

“Seok Taejun.”

Kang Yujin stared directly at him.

“Why do you want to become stronger?”

“Huh? Well… I’m a Contractor, so isn’t wanting to get stronger natural?”

“If I become stronger, I can kill stronger monsters, receive better rewards from events and quests, and…”

“…”

“And then I could make more money and succeed…”

The more he spoke, the more pathetic his reasons began to sound.

Eventually, Seok Taejun simply shut his mouth.

“There’s nothing wrong with making money.”

“There’s nothing wrong with succeeding either.”

“But I don’t think those things alone are enough to make a human truly strong.”

“Then…”

Kang Yujin spoke.

“Humans become strong because they have no choice but to become strong.”

What did that mean?

Seok Taejun found it difficult to understand.

“I have received that person’s blessing exactly three times.”

“T-Three times?”

“Yeah.”

Kang Yujin rose from his seat and looked down at the ground.

“The first was when I was trapped in the depths of despair inside a dark basement.”

Then he raised his head and looked toward the distant fields.

“The second was when I was covered in blood from my enemies’ attacks and couldn’t cross the final gate.”

Finally, he looked toward the sky.

“And the third was when I was clinging to a gigantic monster, gritting my teeth and desperately holding on.”

Kang Yujin’s eyes were clear and unwavering as he spoke.

“That person always reached out to me when I was pushed to my absolute limit.”

“And because of that, I gained the strength to fight.”

“An extreme… situation…”

“I need to become stronger if I want to overcome this hardship.”

“Therefore, I have no choice but to become stronger.”

Kang Yujin looked at him.

“Maybe that’s the kind of situation in which a human can truly become strong.”

Earlier, Kang Yujin had said that humans became stronger because they had no choice but to become stronger.

Now…

Seok Taejun felt like he could understand those words, at least a little.

“Seok Taejun.”

Kang Yujin continued calmly.

“That person is the guardian of everyone struggling at the very bottom of this world.”

“…”

“If you ever find yourself pushed into a truly desperate situation and call out to that person…”

Kang Yujin spoke with quiet certainty.

“That person will definitely answer you.”

“Because that’s the kind of person they are.”

His voice was filled with absolute conviction.