D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 84

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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 84
I caught myself staring at Tasha lost in some bittersweet reverie, and I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
My laughter—aha, aha, aha—filled the entire room.
“Tasha, what are you thinking about so hard that you got that wistful look? First love?”
“Something like that.”
“What.”
This wasn’t a moment to be laughing.
If Tasha’s first love was what I thought it was, the odds were high that it was someone she’d never see again.
Judging by the way she was talking about a client, it seemed she’d loved that client, and wow.
What do I do—they must be dead.
And here I was, laughing while thinking of such a person.
I’m the worst trash in the world. Se-um, you don’t deserve to call yourself a friend.
“….”
“Trash.”
Franson added a single word with a contemptuous expression.
How could he laugh along with me just moments ago and then say that?
But he was right—I was trash—so I had nothing to say in my defense.
As I sat there unable to shake my gloomy expression, just watching nervously, Tasha gently tapped my head with her tentacle.
“You don’t need to make such a sad face. Don’t worry about it. These things happen.”
“So you really did love your client?”
“Well, yes?”
I’d heard that feeling such a fateful love for a client usually became a laughingstock.
I studied Tasha intently.
My friend, who was always struggling with a shortage of karma, had she bet everything she’d accumulated on that client?
Did she have any regrets?
“Se-um, if you have questions you want to ask, now’s your chance.”
“I have so many questions that my head can’t organize them… Is there a time limit on this?”
“Until your fated client dies, you should ask.”
Right.
Asking after Ha Gyuhyuk dies would be pointless.
I impulsively slammed my head against the desk with a loud thunk that made both Tasha and Franson flinch.
“What’s wrong?”
“Now that Se-um’s been to the human world, she’s hit her adolescence.”
“Franson, it’s rare for someone over 350 years old to go through adolescence.”
“That’s only because humans rarely live to 350. If the average lifespan were actually around 500 years, wouldn’t some humans experience adolescence at 350?”
“That’s actually… an interesting perspective.”
They suddenly abandoned me and began debating when adolescence would occur if human lifespans increased.
Completely forgotten by both of them, I gazed quietly at the countless windows before me.
Not just Ha Gyuhyuk, but the lives of my other clients whom I’d contracted with temporarily were also progressing steadily.
“Do you think a Constellation has obligations to fulfill toward their clients?”
This wasn’t a question directed solely at Tasha.
I wanted to ask Franson, and if possible, countless other Constellations as well.
Tasha, who had seriously argued that puberty arriving around age 350 would be appropriate for a species with an average lifespan of about 742 years, turned to look at me.
Franson’s answer was concise.
“There isn’t one.”
“There wouldn’t be, would there?”
“Right. A client’s life fundamentally originates from the assumption that Constellations don’t exist in the first place.”
Just as we happened to meet them by chance, they met us the same way.
They simply encountered us by accident while diligently living their own lives.
Since they happened to receive help from a god, there’s no obligation a god must fulfill toward them.
“Se-um’s been dwelling on something obvious lately, haven’t you?”
“What would you know about it, Franson?”
“But I think clients fundamentally expect something from Constellations. So, what they believe is our obligation.”
Franson rose from his seat without much concern.
He seemed like the type who usually acted lightheartedly without much thought, but he had once been a prince of an entire world.
And he had lived as a Constellation for countless beings across an immeasurably long time.
“What they believe is our obligation?”
“The obligation to grant what they desire. They often mistakenly believe that’s what gods are obligated to do.”
“But most Constellations don’t do that, do they?”
“That’s exactly why gods get cursed. ‘You came to help but do nothing! What kind of god is that!’ they say.”
Franson, speaking with utter composure, let out a dry laugh.
“Do you think they’d consider that an obligation?”
“Most do. Though gods and Constellations are supposedly different concepts, people won’t bother distinguishing between them.”
I recalled the conversations I’d had with many clients just before this.
Perhaps Franson was right.
They certainly had demands for me.
Knowledge, strength, compensation for what they’d lost, survival—and more.
They were all different kinds of requests, but there was no disagreement that they needed ‘help’ from me.
And that was an obligation they’d arbitrarily imposed upon me.
Then what did Ha Gyuhyuk want?
‘I’d be happy if you’d stay by my side, Se-um.’
Listening to what he said, it seemed his answer was always only that—making it difficult to discern his true feelings.
He didn’t desperately want money, and he preferred to achieve growth through his own strength whenever possible.
He wanted to save people, but not by borrowing my power—he wanted to save them with his own hands.
Franson, standing beside me with my serious expression, tilted his head in bewilderment.
“Is it because of Ha Gyuhyuk?”
“Yes, he only ever says things like wanting me to stay by his side or asking me to find him in the future.”
“Then I suppose that’s what he needs.”
“What? But that’s hardly what I’d call help, is it?”
How could simply being there beside someone count as help?
I’m not some totem that makes good things happen just by being nearby.
Actually, on Earth, being around those with power tends to draw you into more incidents and accidents.
Even Jang Deuk-sung is like that, isn’t he?
“That’s what helps him.”
“Just being there for him?”
“Yeah, what he needs most right now is Se-um. It might not have been that way before, but that’s how it is now.”
Franson laughed, saying things could change in the future too.
“Your client really loves you a lot, Se-um.”
“I know, right? He really does love me.”
I pondered it carefully.
What I would feel if what Ha Gyuhyuk needed became something other than me.
Honestly… I think I’d feel a little disappointed.
No, I think I’d feel quite sad.
That kind of feeling where he said he liked me, that he’d do his best so I wouldn’t be lonely.
“Love doesn’t change as easily as Se-um is worried about.”
“Can you read my expression?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s easy to see.”
Clients’ hearts do tend to change easily, after all.
One day like this, the next day like that—I think I was the same way when I was human too.
They say a frog doesn’t remember being a tadpole, and that’s exactly what this is.
“Do you understand?”
“Yes, well, normally I wouldn’t even have a reason to worry about this, but why do I end up thinking about it whenever it involves Ha Gyuhyuk?”
That’s when Tasha’s tentacles started patting my back vigorously.
It’s similar to a massage, but the more I receive it, the more it feels like there’s emotion behind it.
If I keep getting hit like this, it’s going to hurt a bit, isn’t it?
When I turned around with an aggrieved expression, Tasha let out a deep sigh.
“What do you think we’ve been talking about this whole time?”
“Huh?”
This time, even Franson was shaking his head as if he couldn’t take my side.
“You love that client a lot too, Se-um.”
“Ah…”
Ah?
* * *
Touchone Building.
More than a month had passed since Se-um left Earth for Sungdo.
I’d been sweating bullets trying to appease the Guild Members who felt betrayed by the Constellation who disappeared without even properly saying goodbye.
‘Not even knowing who’s hurting the most.’
By the second week, I was tossing and turning on a bed that was excessively spacious, barely managing to fall asleep—and that was the most painful part.
Se-um sent me messages sporadically.
But if I sent a hundred messages, she’d reply with one—her responses were incredibly sparse.
She’d said she had things to attend to and was heading up, and it seemed she really was busy.
I didn’t want to bother Se-um and lose points in her eyes, but…
I missed her.
[Se-um, did you have lunch today? It seems Touch One’s reputation has spread—not just for the Training Ground, but for the cafeteria’s excellent food too.
Even Hunters who book the Training Ground from outside often pay extra to use the cafeteria. So we’ve separated the dining area for Guild Members and outsiders.
We’ve expanded the Legal Team and Accounting and Finance Team staff, and the Guild Members are all working hard.
And many other Constellations have been visiting too. Especially requesting conversations with me frequently.
I have so much I want to tell you that words can’t convey it all. Most of all, I want to see you and hear your voice.
I’ll wait for you.]
I’d attached a selfie—one I was fairly proud of now, though it was still objectively terrible—and sent it off.
Every morning, I’d start my routine by reporting my day to Se-um like this.
I thought this peaceful time would continue, but suddenly the door burst open without a knock.
If someone could breach all this security and barge in, they probably weren’t human.
“Who on earth…?”
“Your Constellation’s gone wild.”

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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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