D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 79

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 79
For a moment, words escaped me.
After a long time has passed since death, human emotion becomes something understood only in theory.
So when it suddenly approaches me like this.
I don’t know how to react, as if I’ve suddenly become human myself, swept up in emotion.
“….”
My expression must have been quite a sight, for Ha Gyuhyuk’s face flushed crimson.
“W-was that too much like a confession just now? If it made you uncomfortable, I-I’m sorry.”
“No.”
Rather than seeming like a confession, I thought it was a definite one.
But the moment that emotion crashed down upon me vividly, I found myself at a loss for what expression to wear.
A statement that I myself should never be like that.
‘Humans never forget the one who extends their hand during their loneliest and most solitary moments.’
That statement was telling me that I had become someone he would never forget.
It wasn’t my first time experiencing such a thing, but why did I feel strange whenever I saw Ha Gyuhyuk?
Reactions that weren’t typical of me emerged.
As if I were truly alive, as if the loneliness that was the source of my existence were being denied, I was engulfed in a peculiar sensation.
Ha Gyuhyuk seemed to have misunderstood again upon seeing my face.
“But your expression looked so flustered, Se-um.”
“Don’t worry—your words aren’t what flustered me.”
Out of habit, I gently brushed my hand through his hair.
Suddenly, the name “Se-um” that he calls me becomes vivid and clear.
A word that would sound like Ulrim or Constellation to everyone else in the world.
A name only I can hear and only he can speak—until now I thought it was merely a secret.
“Then shall we go see the Training Ground again?”
“Yes.”
But I kept finding myself distracted.
Each time I heard that name, a strange sensation—as if something resonated from my still heart.
Literally, a certain “resonance” was reverberating within me.
“Ha Gyuhyuk.”
“Yes, Constellation.”
As we walked toward the Training Ground, he answered as if he’d been waiting.
He was pretending otherwise, but it seemed he had been waiting for me to speak.
I scratched my cheek slightly before continuing.
“Thank you for thinking of me.”
“Pardon?”
An expression I’d never seen before appeared on Ha Gyuhyuk’s face.
He looked surprised, and also bewildered.
That expression soon transformed into one of profound emotion—a face that seemed unable to contain the overwhelming feeling.
“You just thanked me, Se-um….”
“Anyone watching would think I’m some shameless Constellation, constantly indebted and never uttering a word of gratitude.”
My voice rose without my realizing it, embarrassment flooding through me.
Fortunately, no one was around—if someone had overheard, they’d have thought I was abusing my client and come running.
I furrowed my brow, desperately trying to compose my expression.
“And honestly, I’m grateful you called me by my name.”
“Called you by your name?”
“Yeah. You were probably used to calling me Ulrim or Constellation, but after I told you my name, you kept calling me Se-um. You probably didn’t think much of it, but what it means to me…”
What did it mean?
I trailed off without meaning to.
What did it mean to me that someone remembered my name and kept calling it?
“Se-um.”
“Yes.”
I answered reflexively, but my thoughts drifted elsewhere.
Someone calling my name. What it meant to me. I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“Se-um, Se-um, Se-um.”
And because Ha Gyuhyuk kept calling me relentlessly, I finally snapped out of my reverie.
“Why do you keep calling me? Say something if you’re going to speak.”
I laughed helplessly and looked at his face.
His eyes were filled entirely with me.
As always, there was only me.
Ha Gyuhyuk smiled brightly at me and replied.
“I’ll call you every day. Se-um.”
“Thank you.”
“If my voice ever fails me, I’ll write your name somewhere and call you that way every single day.”
Ha Gyuhyuk spoke to me with his whole heart.
He was vowing to do his absolute best to etch my existence into himself.
It was like a pledge—no matter what, he would never forget that I existed.
“Ha Gyuhyuk, I just realized something.”
“Yes? What is it?”
I think I finally understand why my heart trembles every time he calls my name.
I resumed walking slowly.
Ha Gyuhyuk didn’t rush me, even though I said nothing until we reached the Training Ground.
He seemed to know that someday I would tell him everything I was thinking.
He waited for me patiently.
“Every time you call my name, I… it’s like…”
“Yes, Se-um.”
I gazed out at the vast Training Ground.
Starting tomorrow, countless people would enter here, and they would anticipate a better future.
Imagining themselves becoming S-rank despite being C-rank and lacking even a Constellation’s aid.
Of course, to reach that point would require truly grueling effort, but for some, the mere possibility is enough.
I turned to face Ha Gyuhyuk.
“It feels like loneliness is disappearing.”
You couldn’t possibly understand what that means to me yet.
We who are governed by the flow of stars and destiny have only one path to escape that world—obliteration.
And it’s safe to say that few ever reach their destined end.
“…Se-um.”
“You make me feel less alone. And this sensation… it’s truly unfamiliar to me.”
It’s a feeling I never experienced once throughout my entire existence—born as a human, dying, and living on as a Constellation.
Every flow of stars coursing through my body pulsed, speaking to me.
That Se-um’s reason for becoming a Constellation was wavering.
“Truth be told, you’re my client, so I tried not to be greedy about anything.”
“What kind of greed?”
“If you were to live out your human lifespan and had to depart, I resolved to let you go without clinging to you.”
A Constellation’s life is an endless succession of farewells.
Even among fellow Constellations, it’s different from clients I’ve nurtured by pouring out karma and heart.
Raising a client stemmed partly from a desire to compensate for what I couldn’t give them in my past life.
Of course, it’s possible I feel this more acutely because loneliness was the reason I became a Constellation in the first place.
“But that’s a distant future, isn’t it?”
“It may be distant for you, but for me, it won’t be a long time at all.”
I remain here while my children grow old and draw near to death.
“You’ll live a long life, Se-um.”
“That’s not what I want, Ha Gyuhyuk.”
And so I become lonely again.
This is how I come to understand the algorithm of Sungdo.
‘I keep raising clients to avoid loneliness and reach obliteration, yet when I part with them, I become lonely again.’
I once spoke of this to Tasha and Franson as if lamenting.
They laughed as if they’d just realized it.
‘The more I know, the more I want to know.’
‘The more people I save, the more I regret those I couldn’t save.’
Accumulating so much karma, one becomes more acutely aware of the very source of one’s existence.
The more this happens, the more Constellations devote themselves to karmic work and distance themselves from obliteration.
This is how Sungdo has been maintained and continues, and how it will exist going forward.
I stared intently at Ha Gyuhyuk’s face.
He gazed back at me as if desperate to know what I truly wanted.
As if the answer were written on my face.
I extended my hand toward him. Very formally.
As if inviting him to dance.
“Will you become a Constellation like me and live an eternal life?”
“Se-um.”
“This is my greed. Even if you refuse, I won’t mind, and no matter how hard you and I try… the probability of failure is high.”
If it were possible to artificially achieve this and succeed, why would so many clients have died following the natural order until now?
Among them were those who genuinely yearned to become a Constellation, and they received considerable support.
Yet not once did any of them succeed.
So I cannot be certain whether Ha Gyuhyuk can achieve it either. In the first place, he might not even accept my request.
But Ha Gyuhyuk reached out immediately.
He cradled my hand in his own, then brought it to his lips with utmost reverence and kissed my palm.
“Yes, I’ll do my very best.”
“You’re not hesitating?”
I was delighted.
The way he grasped my hand without a moment’s delay.
“Not at all.”
“Why?”
Yet I wanted to ask anyway.
I wanted to hear his answer.
Ha Gyuhyuk smiled at me, and the glow of twilight scattered across his face.
“Because I want to be by your side, Se-um. For an eternity.”
[ The source of the stars trembles. ]
[ The flow of the stars is shaken. ]
[ There is a possibility of annihilation. ]
“I want to be the reason you’re never alone, Se-um.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————