D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 140

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 140
“I want to die.”
“You can’t die yet. You haven’t fulfilled the conditions.”
Behind Tasha’s excessively rational response, I buried my head in despair.
Franson offered a hesitant word of comfort.
“Try thinking positively, Se-um. There might be a way, you know.”
“I should just kill myself.”
“I said positive, not static.”
“Oh, you mean passive versus active.”
I lifted myself up from where I’d been wallowing in despair in Tasha’s embrace.
Right, moping around like this won’t solve anything.
I sprang to my feet.
“I’ve decided.”
“Decided what?”
The way I recovered and stood up in a single second seemed to amuse Tasha, her voice tinged with delight.
Well, it would be funny—me, three hundred years old, acting like this in front of Tasha, who’s over a thousand.
“I’m going right now to trigger the Landquake.”
“Huh?”
“No, listen. If Ha Gyuhyuk can’t resolve it even after fifty-four years, why not trigger it now instead, split the rewards, grow stronger, and keep accumulating karma?”
If the Dungeon doesn’t work out, I can just take Ha Gyuhyuk and travel through other worlds.
Being a transcendent, what’s the big deal about crossing into another dimension?
“That actually makes sense?”
And Franson, with his thin resolve, was actually nodding seriously at my words.
Honestly, even I think this argument has some merit.
I just want to get it over with as soon as possible.
But Tasha, as if to stop us both in our newfound enthusiasm, extended her tentacles and spoke firmly.
“First, you don’t have enough karma to handle the aftermath right now. I said you’d need at least double.”
“I can earn it by going there.”
“Didn’t you tell your client you wouldn’t create other vessels? Are you trying to juggle multiple projects again?”
“No, I mean…”
But there must be other ways to accumulate karma, right?
There could be another competition, or I could obtain fragment karma.
“Second, even if your client acquires transcendent-level power, his strength as a Hunter won’t match the others.”
“He’s A-rank though. If you round up, that’s practically S-rank.”
“Who rounds up grades?”
Tasha never takes my side in these moments.
When I whine, she draws the line: “Someone has to wake you to reality from beside you. This is how I love you.”
“So triggering the Landquake now would only net me a pittance of karma?”
“Right. For a Dungeon of that scale, they’d naturally gather the strongest talents. Your client might not even be able to enter in the first place.”
This isn’t an era where S-rank hunters are scarce anymore.
We could even assemble a raid team with just S-rank Hunters.
If Ha Gyuhyuk were to join a raid team, it wouldn’t be because of his own abilities—it would be because the Constellation of the Entangled Apocalypse’s Finalizer stands behind him.
I am Ha Gyuhyuk’s strength and ability, but karma doesn’t settle so easily.
“And finally, your client won’t agree to this.”
“Does that matter? I never agreed to become a Constellation either, yet here I am.”
Tasha sighed and changed the monitor’s display.
A crudely drawn human pictogram was holding a heart.
“Ha Gyuhyuk wants to become a Constellation because of his love for Se-um. Right?”
“Yeah.”
Admitting it out loud made me feel embarrassed.
“But Ha Gyuhyuk also loves humanity. In fact, long before he came to love Se-um as a person, he harbored an inexplicable affection and compassion for the world and its people.”
“There are people like that.”
“Franson is one of them too.”
Perhaps because it sounded like a romantic tale, Franson quickly became absorbed in the conversation.
I had a rough idea of where Tasha was going with this, but I waited without interrupting.
A pictogram of a woman with purple hair appeared on the screen and destroyed everything around her.
That’s me.
“But that very Se-um forcibly opened Landquake to handle just herself alone, putting the world in danger. Of course, she’ll say it’s fine. But her karma is completely depleted, and humanity suddenly has to deal with a catastrophe not seen in three hundred years.”
“I could just say I didn’t open it. Or erase their memories.”
“Then how do you explain becoming a karma pauper overnight?”
“Don’t pick apart the flaws in my logic so mercilessly. Can’t we settle this with good old-fashioned fabrication and stubbornness?”
The more I spoke, the smaller I seemed to shrink.
Even if Ha Gyuhyuk didn’t know, those around us would surely understand the connection between my karma’s state and Landquake.
Besides, I wouldn’t have any karma left to manipulate their memories after forcibly opening Landquake.
I finally surrendered, raising both hands.
“Fine. I’ll find another way… But there’s no reason to wait fifty-four years. I need to make Ha Gyuhyuk the strongest in the world quickly.”
“Then just cultivate your client through attributes.”
Franson, who had been watching us with a serious expression and a flower bud in hand, opened his mouth in confusion.
As if asking why we were even worrying about such a thing.
“How exactly would that work?”
“Now it’s my turn to step in…”
“At this point, I’m thinking Franson shouldn’t have been exposed to Earth’s media.”
“I’m not trying to defend my homeland, but this doesn’t seem like an Earth problem.”
If I could ask someone for advice, I would.
Is there such a thing as middle school syndrome hitting after a thousand years?
“Alright, go ahead and tell us.”
“You know there’s a Client Cultivation Tournament being held down at the lower levels, right?”
“No.”
“That’s still going on? I heard it’s been four thousand years. I’m sick of it, absolutely sick of it.”
“Se-um might not know. There’s no reason for her to go down to other layers.”
“Yeah.”
Most of Sungdo’s daily life revolves around cultivating clients through the Server, but for Constellations who find eternal life tedious with just that, there are plenty of other activities.
For instance… competitions like guessing a Server client’s initials when their name is at least thirty characters long.
I dabbled in a couple for fun at first, but when I saw that each round lasted about 150 days, I lost interest and left.
“There are competitions like that?”
“They have quite a history. Constellations who love showing off participate every time.”
There are also gatherings where Constellations play together like hobby clubs, and many incomprehensible competitions.
Some are held privately by Constellations with Sungdo’s permission, while others are officially hosted by Sungdo itself.
This place is both a daycare and a retirement community for Constellations.
“Down there are retired Constellations.”
“Retired Constellations?”
“Yeah, they’ve achieved their dissolution conditions but don’t want to disappear, have no interest in clients anymore, so they vacate their rooms and just lounge around sightseeing the Universe.”
“I see…”
“They hold competitions using the Karma those Constellations possess as prizes—it’s basically younger Constellations bragging about how well they raised their clients.”
It’s like an alumni fund from a university.
Where graduated seniors pool money to provide support.
“But there’s a limit to how much you can grow attributes with Karma.”
“On top of that, they pass down some of the abilities of the strongest client they raised. Including stat values.”
This is tempting.
Even receiving only a portion would be extraordinary, wouldn’t it?
I sprang up from where I’d been lying on the ground.
Suddenly, hope kindled in my previously gloomy heart.
“How can I win? Is there some guaranteed strategy built from data?”
Then I could show off Ha Gyuhyuk there, right? But what if they make him do something like a death match?
My boy would be swept away like autumn leaves.
He’d die without making a sound.
My boy is truly worth less than dust when viewed from a cosmic perspective.
“It’s a competition based on how much the client loves and respects their contracted Constellation.”
“Pardon?”
* * *
‘In 54 years, could you become a transcendent capable of stopping the Landquake alone?’
Ha Gyuhyuk was lost in deep contemplation.
For about a week since Se-um returned to Sungdo, he hadn’t been able to send even a single message.
His Constellation hadn’t reached out first either, waiting for him.
He understood it wasn’t her position to do so, but still felt a little disappointed.
‘The Landquake opens in 54 years? By then I’ll be over eighty, and I might not be strong. More than anything, Se-um might not like me anymore…’
What if Se-um discovered someone more obedient, more patient, more modest?
Could he even continue his career as a Hunter until then?
Waiting around for hundreds of years like the Constellations hadn’t even been an option from the start.
He wanted to stay by Se-um’s side for the rest of his life.
The more Se-um loved, the closer she drew to death—yet in that moment, she felt a sharp sting pierce through her chest.
‘Am I really asking for something so presumptuous? To have him stay by my side?’
“Ha Gyuhyuk.”
He thought he was hearing things.
When he lifted his head abruptly, Se-um stood before him with flushed cheeks, extending her hand.
“Let’s go. It’s urgent.”
“What?”
Has a Dungeon already opened?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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