D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 162
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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 162
I found myself reassured by those words of love.
Whether I should be shocked that it actually worked, or astounded at myself for devising such a method.
Or perhaps I should be smug about my foresight.
Before the other Constellations could hear and mock me, I quickly turned him to face forward.
“Prepare for entry.”
Kim Gyuwun amplified his voice with a skill, drawing everyone’s attention.
He feigned composure, but I could see the tension in him. Of course he was nervous.
This was likely his first time commanding an operation of this magnitude, and the weight of such responsibility was probably both his first and last experience with it.
Was there a single Hunter living on this land who had never heard the name Landquake?
They had all grown up hearing tales of that legendary Gate.
“Constellation.”
Realizing everyone was ready, Kim Gyuwun looked toward me.
I nodded and stepped forward to the very front.
In that moment, Ha Gyuhyuk’s hand gently squeezed mine. As if to say it would be fine.
Who was comforting whom here?
Yet I couldn’t deny that his touch had soothed me. My expression grew sullen without reason.
“From now on, I’m going to remove the power I’ve been using to seal this Gate. When I do, all of you will be forcibly pulled into the Dungeon. Are you ready?”
My voice divided the crowd, and the silence that followed was even deeper than when they’d heard Kim Gyuwun speak.
Their eyes gleamed with countless emotions.
Curiosity, awe, distance, fear, anticipation… profoundly human sentiments.
“I asked if you were ready.”
As I repeated myself, they responded with a thunderous affirmation, their rhythm slightly uneven.
Affirmations in countless languages poured into my ears.
I didn’t know how far these people could truly go, or what they were capable of.
They were merely human, and while they were intoxicated with anticipation now, would that remain true if one looked deeper inside?
I recalled Ha Gyuhyuk’s negative karma—so overwhelming it made my head spin—and let out a bitter laugh.
Negative karma, and the Constellation System.
By the end of this path, which would Ha Gyuhyuk draw closer to?
【 Humans, I myself open the gates of apocalypse—doubt what you see. Fear the path you walk. This is the ending you have forsaken. 】
Through my avatar’s proclamation, the humans’ expressions wavered instantly.
Though it might seem a curse, this was protection granted in the name of a Constellation.
It announced that what lay within was no trivial danger, while fortifying their mental resolve.
【 Now I grant you the chance to write new footprints in your own names—relish it! Savor this fleeting moment called life, and fight! And finally, end the ruin and forge history! 】
At my resounding words, the Hunters’ morale surged and they erupted in cheers.
Now, at least those from the Other World weaker than me could not harm their spirits.
I turned and began withdrawing the violet aura that had been sealing the Gate.
As my sacred power—which had been forcibly suppressing the Dungeon’s opening—returned to my body, the black Gate yawned wide open.
In that same instant, it swallowed the dozens of humans and Constellations stretched out before it.
The people groaned as the sudden environmental shift overwhelmed them.
“I’ve been to countless Dungeons, but I’ve never felt anything like this….”
“I agree.”
A voice strained with severe headache filled my ears.
If they’re already struggling this much from just entering, what will happen later?
The surroundings shifted in an instant.
“Everyone, combat positions!”
Kim Gyuwun, standing at the vanguard, was the first to react.
The instinct to lead people seemed to have overcome the headache that assailed them upon entering the Dungeon.
At his thunderous command, people reflexively moved into position.
They drew their familiar weapons and scanned their surroundings, ready to respond to anything that might emerge.
“Duck your head!”
With a booming shout, Dan Yibum thrust something violently into the empty air.
With the violent sound of flesh tearing, a body pierced through by Dan Yibum’s weapon went limp.
While some marveled at his quick reflexes, those who recognized what Dan Yibum had struck were seized with horror first.
“Wait, that….”
Dan Yibum froze, staring at what he had attacked.
With a vital point narrowly missed, the pierced body was none other than Dan Yibum himself.
More precisely… it looked like Dan Yibum from his teens, far younger than he was now.
With its abdomen pierced, it coughed blood and trembled violently, yet still reached out toward Dan Yibum.
Blood dripped like that of a real human, spattering across his face.
Though he had experienced countless situations, killing a younger version of himself could hardly be pleasant.
But the real crisis was likely something else.
“Ah….”
With a short groan, Dan Yibum staggered.
Blood began seeping from his abdomen. From the very place he had pierced.
“Can you hold on?”
“…Yes.”
Dan Yibum, forcing himself to respond to my calm question, gritted his teeth.
He retrieved a healing potion from his inventory and drank it in one gulp.
The wound closed instantly, but cold sweat still beaded on his skin.
Tasha, who had been watching this situation with an expressionless face, stepped forward and surveyed the group with the same impassiveness.
A grand voice flowed from her small frame.
“This place has three waves in total. The first is a battle to save me, the second is a battle where I must survive, and the last is a battle to save the world.”
To avoid defying causality, information could not be shared until entering the Dungeon.
We had agreed to provide explanation once someone triggered the switch, but I hadn’t expected it to be Dan Yibum.
It felt somewhat bitter.
“What does that mean?”
“Just listen.”
A battle to save me.
I must fight against my past self. In this phase, the two are connected—an attack on one returns to the attacker.
Even drinking a healing potion would erase the wounds, but the pain persists until the wave’s end.
If I kill them, I too would suffer a fatal wound bordering on death.
For Dan Yibum, it would have been fortune.
More precisely, someone’s power deliberately shook the spear’s trajectory.
So I must endure until they naturally fade away.
“Can you save your past selves? Don’t carelessly attempt to kill them. The past and present are connected.”
A battle I must survive.
Similar to an ordinary monster wave, but far stronger entities will emerge.
The opponent is likely a Transcendent.
And the final battle to save the world….
Will truly pit me against the apocalypse itself.
With countless Constellations now intervening, its form remains unknowable.
And regardless of what comes, I can no longer aid them.
My karma is zero.
Can this be resolved without the Constellations’ help?
In that moment of worry, a spear unfolded before my eyes.
[ The Constellation-exclusive karma ‘Authority Over Life and Death’ activates! ]
Simultaneously, enormous dice tumbled across my vision.
A voice flowed forth—seeming to lament the situation while savoring it.
【 Divine One, grant mercy so that your arrogant sons and daughters may draw breath. 】
The broken-winged prince who walked through empty air placed his hand reverently upon his heart.
As he knelt on one knee and bowed his head, golden radiance poured down like baptism.
Light filtered through the Constellations enveloped the humans once more.
The dice, rolled thousands upon thousands of times, finally bore the infinity symbol on every face.
【 Your sinner beseeches you—extend their eons-long lives. I take their suffering as my own and entrust their deaths to you. Let this foolish young sinner sin no more. 】
And all eyes blazed with gold.
The power of Authority Over Life and Death.
They would not die for a time, and would see what Franson saw.
The line between death and life that the prince who shaped one world’s future had witnessed.
Franson’s crimson eyes beheld the countless small things approaching.
“Fool.”
I muttered without thinking.
The Competition truly began from the third wave onward.
A Constellation willingly expending their own karma without reward for suffering humans.
The broken-winged gatekeeper who bore their pain with their own karma instead.
The reason for his choice was clear.
He was concerned for these mere mortals.
To allow them to ‘survive’ a little more freely.
The regret of those he could not save made him a Constellation.
So he would eternally save the remaining lives in place of those he could not rescue.
And Ha Gyuhyuk spoke the words I would have said.
“What are you doing now! Fight back. Hold your ground. You must survive!”
At that same moment, as if awakening from a stupor, the Hunters began to confront their past selves.
At last, the Dungeon conquest had begun.
[ The Constellation of the Entangled Apocalypse’s Finalizer has logged in. ]
[ The Beloved of Solitary Knowledge has logged in. ]
[ The Gatekeeper with Broken Wings has logged in. ]
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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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