D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 25
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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 25
[ Warning: Chat contains forbidden words. ]
[ Forbidden words: Se-um, Se-um ]
[ Constellations cannot reveal their names through chat. ]
[ To reveal your name to a client, you must establish a ‘Covenant of Silence’ with the guarantee of Sungdo through an avatar or true form. ]
“Ugh.”
That won’t work.
It meant I had no choice but to convey it directly through an avatar or use a true word or true form.
And I’d have to establish a Covenant of Silence on top of that.
Since I’d never had reason to reveal my name to a client until now, I didn’t even know such restrictions existed.
Though I suppose it makes sense—there were worlds where, after revealing their names in the past, certain Constellations were treated like traitors in history, sparking anti-Constellation movements.
‘Will they hate me if they find out who I am?’
If they discover I’m a C-rank awakened who never even registered as a Hunter, rather than an S-rank Hunter, my authority might crumble entirely.
No one knows I blocked the Gate—I’m just the sole missing person from the Landquake incident.
My plan to reveal my name coolly as he left has become utterly pointless.
Ha Gyuhyuk walks out without seeming to notice or care.
I was really trying to look impressive just now.
With no one watching, I felt oddly embarrassed and clicked my tongue once.
‘Avalokitesvara, a name you’ll remember until death. Ah, that’s disqualified.’
Se-um, Se-um.
I rearranged my name in different combinations and even pulled out honorifics to ponder.
I became a Constellation because of Dungeons and Gates, and I am the Constellation of Spectation and Care.
Countless pieces of information flickered through my mind.
I watched him watering what appeared to be a flower he’d brought from the Dimensional Space, then typed into the chat again.
[ Call me Ulrim. ]
In the end, Landquake was the cause of my death and the beginning of my existence as a Constellation.
The only being in this world who knows why I died here.
It was almost absurd that I hadn’t thought of this word until now.
I felt Ha Gyuhyuk, who had been carefully watering the imaginary flower, jump in surprise.
It’s become an almost fixed pattern by now. But there’s no way to give him advance warning so he won’t be startled.
– Constellation! When did you arrive? Oh, how long have you been watching? Anyway, if I call you Ulrim, Ulrim… or wait, welcome back? Was everything alright? I missed you. No wait, so calling you Ulrim…
He clearly didn’t expect me to appear so suddenly.
He seems more flustered than usual.
Humans typically panic severely when someone witnesses a side of them they’d rather hide.
If that’s the case, then he must have some aspect of himself he wanted to conceal from me.
Watering flowers is harmless enough.
‘Idiot, I could just rewind and see everything he did anyway.’
[ Why are you so flustered? It’s no different from usual. ]
– Oh, no, well. The thing is, if you see me eating, bathing, and sleeping here for days, you might think I’m some kind of shut-in hermit… I looked it up and heard that Constellations prefer clients who accumulate Achievements or accomplish things out in the world.
It’s harder to build karma if you don’t act outside, after all.
In the martial arts world, one must continuously engage in duels and make a name for themselves in the jianghu to become the greatest swordmaster under heaven.
In the hero’s world, one must rehabilitate villains or save people’s lives, and naturally, Hunters gain karma more efficiently by clearing Dungeons.
But that simply means it’s advantageous—it doesn’t mean there’s no other way to accumulate karma without it.
Constellations who prefer the easy path tend to choose clients whose fundamental nature is different, but I’m not a Constellation of Korean origin for nothing.
I can’t always take the easy route.
Because I myself was a client with a rotten foundation.
[ I gave you a Quest to complete, didn’t I? You simply carried it out faithfully. ]
[ If you had done nothing, that would deserve punishment, but if you were here performing what I ordered, I’d actually like to praise you. ]
‘Of course, I can only give proper praise after confirming the results.’
Every living being has a limit to how much their reason and body can endure when encountering other species and divine entities.
For instance, suppose I were to speak a mantra through an avatar body.
If I left them as they were afterward, those who heard my voice would suffer aftereffects for at least several months.
If I spoke a mantra without an avatar body, most would die instantly, and the survivors would go mad.
The reason they were relatively unharmed in the last Dungeon was because I used an avatar body and my client’s buff applied to them as well.
Ha Gyuhyuk remained fine because I protected him separately with my power.
– Ah, I did my absolute best with what you asked.
Strength, stamina, mana, skills—these can generally be resolved through items or supplementary techniques.
But human willpower must be trained through one’s own effort alone.
Of course, when I first saw him, there were all sorts of books and videos scattered throughout his room.
His other stats could have improved without willpower if his desire to advance remained unchanged.
Humans believe that because they’re born S-rank, they go less mad and collapse less when seeing divine beings compared to others.
But that’s a complete misconception.
They’ve become mentally stronger unknowingly because they face races far more alien to humanity in higher Dungeons.
‘The higher the Dungeon, the more monsters appear that are distant from humanity and closer to divinity, and to survive in such places, one must cultivate willpower.’
Normally, my avatar body would simply drift along and provide protection, but right now I can’t even descend there.
So I deliberately placed him in the Dimensional Space and had him train.
Though it’s not obvious, the very air there isn’t from Earth, making it a place where one could gradually become accustomed to non-human existence.
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, Ha Gyuhyuk had no one to call him, no company to contact, no family to ask after his well-being.
Here, where everything from food to shelter was provided, he simply remained until I returned.
What I’m most grateful for is that he’s lived a life where he’s seen the depths of human nature through all manner of trials.
For a D-rank Awakened, his willpower was at quite a high level.
People dismissed such things as mere venom or stubbornness.
‘…Now that I’ve listed it all out, I really can’t tell if it’s fortunate or unfortunate.’
[ I want to check once, so call up your status window right there. ]
– Yes!
Unaware of my sudden pity for him, Ha Gyuhyuk obediently summoned his status window.
His original willpower was at a high level even by C-rank Awakened standards.
I enlarged the screen to examine the details.
There was almost no development in strength or mana.
The skills I gifted him filled it densely, and thanks to feeding him good potions and items and outfitting him well, his bonus stats were respectable.
However, the proficiency level of my skills exceeded my expectations.
That’s right! Our boy has a naturally sharp mind, but the circumstances just aren’t cooperating!
Yes, expecting all these basic stats to change after just a few days of training is absurd.
Since mental fortitude is the main focus, it seems like that alone should be sufficient.
After confirming his stats, I fell silent.
[ Ha Gyuhyuk, what exactly have you been doing in this place? ]
– Pardon?
[ Wait. ]
He looked up at me in apparent confusion.
If his mental fortitude hadn’t improved at all, I wouldn’t have been this bewildered.
But his mental fortitude was on par with the S-rank Hunters I had witnessed within the SA-rank Dungeon.
They too couldn’t be considered particularly remarkable since they had never seriously faced monsters from another dimension, but the fact that Ha Gyuhyuk had reached the mental fortitude of an ordinary S-rank Hunter was a different matter entirely.
Only then did I begin to retrace the past hours.
Upon entering this Dimensional Space, he had first unpacked his belongings at the Base Camp and wandered about.
Whenever there was a dangerous monster, he never attacked.
‘And whenever the opportunity arose, he would contact me.’
I could tell from the fact that he kept reaching out even while being chased.
He was a sincere and curious human.
If there was an unknown creature, he had to verify it, and if there was something beautiful, he had to share it with me.
For him, curiosity took precedence over fear, and he never carelessly despised anything else.
Could this vast acceptance have been the source of his formidable mental fortitude?
Fear is the first step toward the collapse of the human spirit, after all. I understood.
Then Ha Gyuhyuk’s voice reached me.
– Um, Constellation, ah, no, Ulrim. Actually, there’s something I need to tell you…
[ Mm. ]
Looking anxious, he displayed a different window before my eyes.
– The truth is, I received something like this, and I hid it because I was worried it might trouble you. I’m sorry.
I enlarged the window.
[ Sungdo grants client ‘Ha Gyuhyuk’ qualification for the awakening of the trait ‘One Beloved by Divine Grace’. ]
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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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