D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 23

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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 23
“Ah, of all times….”
Two conflicting emotions cross through me. Perfect timing! and Terrible timing! both at once.
I’d already been worried that if the server expansion kept dragging on endlessly like this, my Karma reserves might eventually run dry—and now the timing couldn’t be better.
But someone’s targeting Ha Gyuhyuk, and I have to leave his side right now.
I’m grateful I didn’t say something like “I’ll always be by your side, so don’t worry.”
I began typing frantically on the screen at the fastest speed I could manage.
I had to transmit as much as possible while he slept.
[ For the next month or so, it’s best not to plan any Dungeon expeditions. Humans are quick to get swept up in rumors and trends, so lay low until you’re forgotten by the general public. ]
I quickly purchased and began transmitting items.
[ Sponsored ‘Subspace Training Ground’ to the client. ]
[ Setting the Subspace environment to ‘Shadow of Sungdo’. ]
A training ground carved from an otherworldly subspace that no human body could ever enter.
All enemies are created virtually, and your mental strength recovers when you stay at the base camp.
And what else might you need?
[ You just need to enter here and train in the meantime. I won’t tell you to learn new skills. Leave your other stats as they are and only raise your mental strength. ]
[ I might be gone for anywhere from a few days to several weeks, so if you have anything to say, leave it here. I’ll answer when I get a chance. ]
[ P.S., feel free to send me selfies. ]
[ Sponsored ‘Hand? Phone?’ to the client. ]
The precise name is ν$η?λφ%ω, but after transmitting the communication device that translates and sends messages in the language of each world, I got to my feet.
[ I’m heading out. Wait for me obediently, sweetly, and prettily. ]
Your sister’s just going out to earn some money.
I stood up and tied my hair back with the black rubber band around my wrist to steel my resolve.
Since I was wearing it on my wrist when I died and died with it, I’ve kept it on my wrist even after becoming a Constellation.
My hair doesn’t get matted even without washing and doesn’t grow any longer, so I rarely use it otherwise.
But using it like this whenever I need resolve has become a habit somewhere along the way.
“Tasha! Franson! You’re heading to the Client Competition, right? Let me join you.”
As I walked eagerly down the corridor, I spotted a tentacled being moving sluggishly and a winged human walking alongside them.
Franson, who loves competitions, must have convinced Tasha to go this time as well.
Upon hearing my voice, the two turned their heads and made room for me.
Sungdo has no beginning and no end, but a center does exist.
Most Constellations stay in their own chambers, while the Divine Officials at this center were usually bustling about with work.
“I thought you were busy with Earth matters, but I’m so glad…!”
“Because of Earth, I’m about to become Karma-poor, so I need to go earn some quick.”
“This is the first time I’ve heard Se-um say she’s short on Karma.”
Already, numerous Constellations had gathered in the center, watching the Divine Officials working busily in the middle.
The Client Competition—a kind of event held to save a world on the brink of apocalypse, proposed by a Constellation attached to that world.
If only one Constellation intervenes and changes a world’s fate, that Constellation and world must bear the consequences alone.
But when numerous Constellations get involved, the Karma burden is shared among them, so the backlash from causality is relatively lighter.
Karma is provided as prize money under the condition that the Constellation System bears the burden proportional to each participant’s contribution to preventing the apocalypse.
“Competitions like this are usually only done by rookie Constellations unless they’re gamblers like Franson. Ugh, this stings my pride.”
“Se-um, are you hurt?”
“Tasha, who’s hosting this one?”
“A tiger yokai living in the room next to mine. After their world was destroyed, they found a similar world with their kin and invested heavily in it, but it’s being ravaged by natural disasters. Apparently, yokai like them die if the Divine Shrine that worships them collapses.”
I folded my arms, letting Franson’s grumbling fade into the background.
I’d heard of the tiger yokai in the room next to Tasha’s before.
There was that time I jokingly asked if they smoked and got scolded for it… but let’s not think about that.
Competitions are events where the proposing Constellation must contribute a substantial portion of their Karma to host, with minimum thresholds established.
Since Constellations can’t participate in competitions while depleting their own Karma, the proposer and the Constellation System’s shared Karma are consumed instead.
In other words, if a Constellation doesn’t have basic Karma, they can’t even propose one.
“So if we just keep the Divine Shrine from collapsing, we’re good?”
“Well, there’s apparently a massive Divine Shrine that maintains the world itself. If that collapses, it’s complete annihilation, but the pillars are already cracking.”
The Divine Officials moved busily about, distributing participation devices into the hands of the gathered Constellations.
If I had to compare it to something from Earth, it would be like a smartphone.
“We will now begin the Apocalypse Client Competition proposed by Constellation Sungho. There are a total of 1,567 participating Constellations. Information regarding the situation in World 8p6wJ, the conditions for overcoming destruction, and the list of available clients can be found on your devices. All Constellations will be granted one confirmation token each, valid only for this competition.”
“The basic rules are: prohibition on killing your own or another’s client. If your assigned client dies, you are disqualified. Accessing the world through other devices is forbidden, but you may freely send down avatars. Contribution rates and apocalypse-overcoming progress will be displayed on the Constellation System’s main screen. We will now begin!”
All of us, myself included, logged into the world simultaneously.
I wondered how shocked the inhabitants of this world must be.
With the sky splitting apart and all of us suddenly logging in at once, they probably had quite the fright.
Everyone was busy trying to claim their own client first.
“Franson, who are you choosing?”
“A new yokai. There are so many with torn wings—it breaks my heart. What about you, Tasha?”
“I’m not sure… I’m thinking of using some Karma. What about you, Se-um?”
Me? This time, I’m naturally going to choose a client who can save this chaotic world in a pragmatic way.
That way, my contribution will be high, and that way I can support Ha Gyuhyuk.
Fortunately, my dear friend Tasha’s exclusive Karma turned out to be quite useful.
Exclusive Karma is like a superpower created based on memories from one’s past life.
It’s formed from unfulfilled goals and such from that Constellation’s life before death, and it’s extremely taxing to use.
There’s no benefit to using it frequently.
I, who died alone and lonely in an interdimensional dungeon, never got to enjoy anything.
That’s why I was granted a power with the paradoxical name Carpe Diem.
I possess Karma specialized in interfering with interdimensional laws—the very thing that became the decisive cause of my death.
When I actually use it, the voice I last heard in Landquake echoes like a phantom.
“Tasha, this one…”
“…”
“Got it, someone else.”
As for Tasha, she possesses Karma that allows her to read the potential of all living things, including clients.
When I point someone out to her, she responds with the color of her tentacles—something like “that one’s a bit…”—and helps guide me.
Since I mostly choose clients by intuition rather than logic, there’s not much I can do about it.
In the end, with Tasha’s help, I chose a fluffy white-furred puppy yokai.
“But if I give this kid to you, is Tasha really okay with that?”
“Tasha never liked this kind of thing anyway. She’d prefer to just watch.”
“Yeah, I’m not taking on Client Contracts. I’m just going to save the ones who look like they’re about to die….”
‘What is this? Why does this creature feel so familiar? I’ve never seen it before.’
The yokai that had been trembling in the corner agreed to a Client Contract the moment I offered to save it.
This is a world of yokai governed by sorcery—not Hunters, not ability users, not heroes.
But with the Divine Shrine, the center of this world, in such peril, there’s no way individual yokai sorcery would be effective.
Should I send down an Avatar instead?
“Why is my name Se-um when I can’t even become the Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara?”
“What’s the Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara?”
“It’s someone like a master of Karma.”
The other Constellations were in chaos—creating barriers, hiding their Clients in safe places.
Those with some experience had already sent down their Avatars.
The Clients don’t know it, but this Competition is ultimately a race against time.
It’s a matter of who descends first, finds the source of the disaster, and saves their Client from the crisis.
[ Don’t you want to become a hero, child? ]
[ Tell me what you wish to do. ]
For a Client to receive my blessings, they must possess the desire to save others.
Without that heart, potential alone means nothing—my fists clenched unconsciously as the yokai finally opened its mouth.
– I want to protect the yokai I love…. I, I know where this earthquake started!
Now I understood what “exceptional potential” truly meant.
At this level, I just need to send down an Avatar and handle the cleanup.
I was preparing to transmit the Avatar when another device vibrated.
The device I gave Ha Gyuhyuk to contact me with. I should just call it a phone.
“Looks like our kid woke up. If he doesn’t contact me right away, I might even write a public notice, so I’ll reply. Let’s go together with the Avatar, Franson. I’ll share the epicenter coordinates with you.”
“Hurry, hurry. I’m running low on Karma.”
Sure enough, a message from Ha Gyuhyuk came through on the phone.
[ Constellation, it’s Ha Gyuhyuk. I just woke up and I’m sending this reply with the item you gave me. I’ll enter the Subspace Training Ground as you instructed and train hard. Don’t worry about me—focus on your work. ]
[ (photo) ]
I tapped the photo, wondering if he’d sent a picture of the Subspace Training Ground.
What filled my vision was fluffy white hair.
More precisely, the crown of a head.
“….”
I compared it with the face of the yokai Client on the other phone, and sudden enlightenment struck me.
I got it. The source of this familiarity.
This yokai certainly wasn’t my choice, but it resembled Ha Gyuhyuk to an uncanny degree.
At this point, white fur must be my lucky charm.
[ Work hard. ]
I sent the reply and rose to my feet. It was about time for the Avatar transmission to complete.
Franson and Tasha nodded, ready to depart. Even as I poured part of my consciousness into the Avatar, questions lingered in my mind.
‘But why did she send her head?’
A thunderbolt of realization struck me once more.
“…Could it be a selfie?”
Primordial Celestial Worthy One, Avalokiteshvara, God of Karma—it seems our child is truly nothing but a beautiful fool.

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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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