D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 175

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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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Side Story 1-5
— The Dreams of Hunters
Of course, even if I understood it now, my feelings might differ when I actually faced the situation.
Human emotions shift in an instant, after all.
So I decided to take Ha Gyuhyuk with me and search for clients on this Server myself.
“Find them yourself.”
“But they’re your clients, Se-um?”
“Still, you choose. Consider it as if I’ve delegated the authority to you.”
Ha Gyuhyuk’s face brightened at my words, delighted.
From the start, he would have whined for the authority anyway—why pretend to be so dignified?
“Your clients must be perfect, Se-um.”
“You’re perfect.”
“…Your clients must be perfect from now on, Se-um.”
Conscientious in the strangest places, this one. I buried my face in his shoulder and burst into laughter.
“What if my taste actually leans toward imperfect clients?”
Looking back at my clients’ histories, many of them were lacking in some way.
Some lacked their environment, others had ambiguous talents, and many simply didn’t stand out in others’ eyes.
Ha Gyuhyuk was a child who fell into my peculiar taste by chance.
That’s why I came to love that child, and it became the reason we met.
“That’s exactly why it won’t work.”
But Ha Gyuhyuk understood me better than I understood myself.
Because he knew better than anyone that I love such clients, he instead tries to bring me even more perfect ones.
“You can’t give them affection.”
“That’s why beings who understand what affection is are so terrifying.”
Tasha still finds the emotion of affection ambiguous, but Ha Gyuhyuk, being Korean, had already internalized it.
Perhaps love begins from the emotion of affection.
“But how do you save those children without giving them affection?”
“What?”
“How do you save your clients without giving them any heart?”
Of course, I can.
Selecting clients without any emotion and providing them rational support is something I do very well.
How many times did I do such things when gathering karma for Ha Gyuhyuk?
Faces of those who met their end as if they were saved, receiving only the most basic support, flashed through my mind.
For some reason, my conscience pricked.
“Then couldn’t I give them affection instead?”
“Hm?”
“I mean, a dedicated High Priest does their best for the Constellation’s safety and happiness anyway. Your clients’ wellbeing is your happiness, Se-um.”
So he was saying he’d manage the clients and give them affection in my stead.
“You think I won’t get jealous?”
“…”
Ha Gyuhyuk was staring at me with an oddly sullen expression.
His eyes held the look of someone saying, “No matter how jealous you get, you’ll never be as much as I am.”
Even if he looked at me that way, what could he do about what I was born with?
What I truly felt was just a slight joy that Ha Gyuhyuk was doing his best to earn my affection.
“Se-um, do you understand the emotion of jealousy?”
“Of course. Why do you think I keep you by my side? You think I do this as a joke?”
I’m the type with higher possessiveness than jealousy, which is why it probably doesn’t show much to Ha Gyuhyuk.
If I make it so only I can see him, there’s no need to worry about being stolen away or losing him to anyone else.
“Then even my attempt to manage your clients must be… must be…”
He had been speaking well until the very end, when his face suddenly flushed red.
Now that he’d poured it all out, he seemed a bit embarrassed.
“Honestly, that doesn’t bother me. It just means you’re focusing on me. There’s your reason. Were you thinking of taking interest in my clients?”
“No, absolutely not. To be honest, if I could just be with you, I’d rather spare the time I’d spend on clients.”
“Then that’s why you and I can’t go to Earth.”
“Exactly. Anyway, the assumption that I might like or think about some other existence besides you seems a bit…”
“A bit?”
“Like a sacrilegious delusion.”
I made a genuinely stupid expression at Ha Gyuhyuk’s serious words.
So, did I just get called sacrilegious by my own believer for making a joke about him worshipping another god?
I’m his god.
“Se-um, why are you making that expression?”
“Talking with you makes me feel like I’m actually becoming an idiot.”
“Y-yes?”
“You don’t need to understand. Just stay cute.”
* * *
Even though I narrowed down the candidates to dozens in the newly entered Server, it took two days before the final client was decided.
In that time, several were claimed by other Constellations, and several died.
Ha Gyuhyuk was being incredibly picky, insisting on choosing a client with perfectly ideal conditions.
‘Let’s just roll the dice and pick whoever comes up!’
I pushed back Franson, who came at me with that kind of attitude, with an iron defense.
‘Want some help?’
I politely declined Tasha’s offer to lend me her power.
‘When will this be done? I’m literally dying of boredom.’
‘This time, let’s have a proper fight.’
I even turned away the Magic Tower Master and the Duke who suddenly appeared. It was surprising how many Constellations came looking for me over those two days.
Ha Gyuhyuk treated it as if it were the most important decision of a lifetime, not even letting me approach.
But these are my clients—is this really okay?
It felt like I was undergoing some kind of blind audition.
Finally, on the day that filled out the full two days, I spoke first.
“Ha Gyuhyuk, when will this be done?”
“It’s all done now.”
“All done?”
At my delighted tone, he smiled softly.
“His name is Remitory.”
“That name seems to be trending.”
I felt like I’d heard it somewhere before. Perhaps it had flashed across a Server that Franson was watching.
Of course, there were countless lifeforms bearing the same name scattered across this vast Universe.
“Currently, due to insufficient environmental support, he’s unable to achieve his dream.”
“What’s his dream?”
“To become a painter. Apparently, this world hasn’t developed its artistic aspects much, so everyone just works like machines.”
“I see.”
“This society apparently has an atmosphere that looks down on spending time on art. So only those with enough means can learn or attempt it.”
“People?”
“Ah, lifeforms, I mean.”
He quickly corrected himself at my point.
Sharp.
I was somewhat surprised that he’d conducted more detailed research than I’d expected.
Ha Gyuhyuk earnestly explained what benefits could be expected if this client were selected and what potential he possessed.
It almost seemed like he was trying to persuade me.
“…So, what do you think?”
“What do I think about what? I already told you I’d go with whoever you choose.”
“You don’t have any doubts?”
“None. If I mess something up this time, it’s my mistake, not yours.”
I thought Ha Gyuhyuk was speaking at greater length partly because he genuinely wanted to help this candidate client.
While his unconditional trust in me was incomparable, Ha Gyuhyuk looked moved.
“Actually, there’s a more certain way to persuade me than you talking at length.”
As I lowered my voice like I was sharing a secret, Ha Gyuhyuk quickly leaned in.
The way he lowered his body and tilted his head to listen intently was a habitual gesture for him.
“What is it?”
“Just say: ‘Because I want to do this.’ That’s all.”
He hesitated, as if he didn’t understand my meaning at first.
After several seconds passed, his face grew increasingly flushed as if heat had risen to it.
“Is that really all it takes?”
“Yes. I want to do what makes you happy. That’s how I make my Constellation content.”
Besides, even if I squander a client or two, my karma won’t be depleted immediately.
Running out was just something I said in jest.
Some High Priest had been earning far too much for me.
Ha Gyuhyuk set down the documents he’d been clutching, apparently having prepared secondary and tertiary documents to persuade me, and murmured.
“I really like you, Se-um.”
“I’m very well aware of that fact.”
That day, I completed a Constellation contract with my client Remitory on the Eio95 Server.
As a bonus, I received a substantial settlement of karma in recognition of my contributions to producing a great figure who had perfected the art.

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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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