D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 187

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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 3-3
“What do we do?”
“About what?”
Tasha clearly didn’t grasp the gravity of the situation either.
She had no idea how catastrophically things were spiraling downward.
I raised both hands as if to explain something, then let them drop limply. Franson, meanwhile, was already nodding in complete sympathy.
“Ha Gyuhyuk is experiencing this kind of situation for the first time since becoming a High Priest, so he must be panicking.”
“Right.”
“He’s trying to contact Se-um right now, but messages won’t go through and he can’t come up to this layer either—he’s stuck in a helpless state.”
That’s exactly what I meant.
Communication breakdowns between the High Priest Layer and the Constellation Layer happened more frequently than one might expect.
While explanations were always provided for the reason, only Constellations like Tasha bothered reading through those system update notes.
I habitually just hit the skip button.
“He’s probably trembling, thinking I read his message and ignored it.”
“You know Se-um isn’t the type to worry about something like that.”
Tasha voiced her doubt in a tone that seemed to say, ‘Ha Gyuhyuk, you still don’t understand him that well?’
But this wasn’t simply a matter of knowing or not knowing someone. My Constellation was truly as emotionally parched as they came.
The thing is, I knew better than anyone that the other person wouldn’t be hurt by this and wouldn’t take it to heart—yet I still found myself worrying.
Tasha began braiding my hair with her tentacles in practiced motions.
At some point she’d become obsessed with creating various hairstyles with my hair, and lately it had reached nearly an artistic level.
As long as she didn’t shave my head, I didn’t mind.
“Well, I’ve been through this situation a few times, so I know he’s not deliberately ignoring me. But this is his first time experiencing it. And there’s no way for me to let him know right now that everything’s fine.”
“He’s not a child. He’ll figure it out on his own.”
“He’s not even fifty yet, Tasha.”
“Hmm… I suppose he is young.”
What was I expecting from someone who hadn’t even lived a hundred years?
But hearing that disinterested tone kept making me sigh.
Yes, what could I possibly expect from this cold, rational Constellation?
“How long do you think this will last this time?”
“The longest disconnection I’ve experienced between the High Priest Layer and here was probably 71 years ago.”
“Ah, yes. There was a time like that.”
“71 years?”
My voice shot up, and both Constellations’ gazes snapped toward me.
They seemed to be asking why 71 years was such a shock.
Objectively speaking, it wasn’t an extraordinarily long time, but it was still several times longer than the entire span of Ha Gyuhyuk’s life.
“Yeah, probably. So while they were fixing that, there was such a backlog of karma settlements and compensation payouts that the customer service system crashed the moment it came back online.”
“The High Priests really had it rough back then.”
“That was because of the galactic collision, so this time probably won’t be that severe. The next galactic collision isn’t supposed to happen for another 4 billion years, right?”
When they talked about scientific matters like galactic collisions, I couldn’t follow along.
I just stared at them with a blank expression.
Franson’s face suggested he didn’t care whether I understood or not, while Tasha’s eyes conveyed the certainty that I wouldn’t comprehend anyway.
“From what I can tell, everything I’ve experienced so far has lasted about a month at most.”
“Right? If it’s just a typical glitch, it’ll probably happen again this time. So you don’t need to worry too much. The High Priests would’ve needed even longer than that month.”
If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve just logged into a different server and wasted some time there.
At this rate, I’d be stuck doing nothing but waiting for Ha Gyuhyuk here.
Noticing my expression growing gloomy, Tasha shifted her tone to something more soothing.
“You know how quickly a month passes, Se-um.”
“I know.”
But the problem is that a month here works differently than it does on Earth.
On Earth, you can fast-forward through a month, but I can’t control the Constellation System’s clock as I please.
I can’t even contact him, and I can’t comfort our anxious clients back home either.
“What’s the point of living without Ha Gyuhyuk?”
“Want to play cards?”
“Do you really think my 368th consecutive loss would be entertaining?”
“No, I thought Se-um actually enjoyed it.”
Franson’s expression turned somewhat shocked.
Even if the Goddess of Mercy herself had shown up instead of Se-um, she wouldn’t have been welcomed with such a losing streak.
Tasha, who had been toying with my hair, blinked and sat down across from Franson.
“Then I’ll play against you for a while.”
“Huh? You, Tasha?”
“Se-um keeps losing and says it’s not fun. So it wouldn’t be bad to sit back as a spectator for a bit.”
That actually sounded somewhat interesting.
As I showed interest, Franson unwittingly dealt cards to Tasha.
“You don’t need me to explain the rules. I know all the card game rules from your world.”
“Confident, aren’t you?”
“This time you should be a little nervous too. Prince Germain.”
Franson’s face brimmed with confidence.
“No matter how much of a genius you are, this is one of the things I do best. Do you know how many people lost their entire fortunes to me at the casino? Brace yourself, Natalia.”
Out of a total of 100 games, Franson lost 99 of them.
The final game only ended in a draw because Sallen Constellation suddenly burst in.
“You two! Oh my… Did I interrupt?”
“Not really an interruption.”
“Welcome, Sallen Constellation…”
Franson, looking as though he might burst into tears at any moment, gathered up the cards scattered across the floor.
Ever since this Magic Tower Master Constellation visited Earth once, she’d been dropping by to see us fairly often.
She claimed it was because she found the Hunter World—where the concept of ‘skills’ had taken the place of magic—fascinating, but truthfully, she seemed utterly captivated by Korean spicy food.
“I’m heading down to Earth, so I thought I’d ask if you wanted to come along. You’re coming with me, right?”
Sallen, who had flopped down beside me as I lay sprawled out with all motivation drained, naturally folded her arms.
“I’m not really in the mood to go down today. Communications with the High Priest Layer are cut off anyway.”
“Right?”
“My High Priest is trapped there.”
“Oh my, oh my, you mean that white-haired kid? What do I do? In my memory, there was a gap around year 98!”
A number spanning 71 years had emerged. Things were getting worse by the moment.
I still had so much less time left to live.
Everything was fine at first, but as time went on, it became increasingly bleak.
Ha Gyuhyuk needed me more than I needed him, but without that kid, my existence as a Constellation became unbearably tedious—utterly unbearable.
I exhaled a long, heavy sigh.
“Time simply isn’t passing fast enough.”
“That’s exactly when you need to get out and move around more. Come on, Earth! Earth! Earth!”
She was determined to keep pushing until I agreed to go. That much was clear.
I had wanted to quietly stay in bed, eat something delicious, break expensive things, and chew on my solitude.
When I examined my own expression, Franson quietly wiped away tears and rose to her feet.
“Right. Going down to Earth and passing time wouldn’t be so bad, would it? Let’s all go together. Tasha too.”
“Yeah, okay.”
In that brief moment, whatever decision Tasha had reached, she agreed with surprising simplicity.
With everyone else in agreement except me, I couldn’t very well say I couldn’t go because my High Priest was trapped in the High Priest Layer.
I exhaled deeply and pushed myself up from the bed.
“Fine, then. Let’s head down.”
Spending time on Earth might actually help me feel a bit better.
I was curious about what the kids were up to anyway.
* * *
“Se-um! Tasha!”
Ji Chae-ah threw her small frame at us with all her might, embracing us both at once.
Tasha managed to catch her somehow, but I could barely hold half of her.
As I gently stroked the hair of the girl who had buried her face in my chest, I looked up at the Touchone Building.
“The building has… grown a bit since I last saw it?”
The Touchone I remembered only had up to Branch 2.
The name of the building we had all teleported to just to find Ji Chae-ah was…
Touch One Branch 16.
“Yes! We’re currently constructing branches 17 through 21 in regional areas! Kim Gyuwun has been looking into expanding overseas too, but it seems he hasn’t found anything quite right yet.”
I stared blankly at her cheerful, unsuspecting face.
I hadn’t wanted to talk about work from the start, but I had to ask.
“Did we decide to run a franchise instead of just our Guild?”

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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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