D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 87

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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 87
Ha ha.
I’m doomed.
Wait, why do I think I’m doomed?
My mind churned with confusion the entire walk back to my room.
‘After all, my privilege’s only purpose was to exacerbate your client’s greatest psychological weakness!’
‘You killed our child’s heart. That’s quite the heinous crime.’
‘I told you not to touch their life at all!’
‘How can a human whose heart is dead be said to truly live? You’ve forgotten the value of each fleeting moment in your eternal existence.’
I came back with nothing but empty words on my lips, my frustration unresolved.
In the end, I’d just tried to get a rise out of myself.
When I returned to the room, neither Franson nor Tasha was there. They must have gone out to handle their own affairs.
“Sigh…”
Truth be told, I had nothing to feel guilty about, so why did I feel like I’d been caught doing something wrong?
“Yeah, I have multiple clients. But I only did that to support you, Ha Gyuhyuk. This isn’t infidelity.”
It’s not as if he could blame me for having multiple clients in the first place.
This isn’t infidelity.
Of course, the fact that a client can only have one Constellation might seem unreasonable to some.
But since there’s nothing I can do about it, Ha Gyuhyuk will just have to accept it.
I slowly calmed my mind and checked the messages Ha Gyuhyuk had left me.
[ I miss you. ]
Look at this.
If it bothered him that much, he could just tell me not to take on other clients.
Instead, he’s acting like all he knows how to do is say he misses me.
I know.
Ha Gyuhyuk won’t say anything to me.
He’ll just give me that wet-dog expression and say, “Welcome back, Se-um.”
The reason it bothered me was that my having other clients was his ‘greatest psychological weakness.’
Whenever he seemed short on money, I gave it to him. When he lacked a foundation, I even established a Guild for him.
When he couldn’t sleep, I slept beside him. I made him strong in combat.
And in return, a hole opened up in his heart.
This is maddening.
I buried my face in the pillow and screamed with all my might.
“Argh! Aaaagh! What do you want me to do?! What are you asking for?! You have to tell me to understand!”
What do you want?!
Why did a psychological void open up?!
Why does my having multiple clients wound you?
Of course, I could forcefully probe his psyche, but I didn’t want to resort to such violent means.
“You’re not one to say what you want anyway.”
Whenever I asked what he wanted to do, it was always the same.
‘I want to be with you.’
‘Could we sleep in the same bed tonight?’
‘I… think I’ll be pulling an all-nighter in the Guild Master’s Office, so when you wake up in the morning, would it be alright if I came and lay beside you?’
‘Se-um, would it be okay if I went to see you right now?’
So I had no choice but to take the child around myself, showing them this place and that.
I let them taste this Dungeon and enjoy watching that Hunter’s prowess.
I even took them one by one to the hundred must-see locations humans should visit before death.
When I asked if they wanted something, they’d just tilt their head and then ask for something trivial.
‘I want the ballpoint pen you’re using right now, Se-um.’
‘This one? Should I buy you a new one? It was supposed to be a thousand won. I just picked it up from the lobby myself.’
‘No, the one you’re using right now…’
‘This one’s ink is running out soon though?’
‘Yes, that’s fine.’
Collecting such worthless junk and trash.
I showed them the pink diamond that supposedly existed only a few of in the world, and I even broke off the horn of another Constellation’s avatar who had picked a fight with me and made it into a necklace, but their reactions were all lukewarm.
It was obvious they preferred trash even while saying everything I gave them was good.
They loved collecting garbage and sneaking into my side in the morning after pulling all-nighters in the Guild Master’s Office.
But was there actually a hole in their heart?
Most of my clients so far had been clear about what they wanted.
For instance, wanting to achieve regression or receive a duke’s title.
Some had said they wanted to save the world, and others had said they wanted to find true love.
Ha Gyuhyuk was also clear at first.
The desire to save many lives.
So I remained faithful to that.
I trained those destined to die in Dungeons at the Touch One Training Facility and saved them, and I rushed to those caught in Dungeon Breaks and rescued them.
It’s natural that large ventures require significant capital investment at the beginning.
The karma I scraped together from my clients through various channels was being invested in Ha Gyuhyuk, and the returns were coming back steadily.
Now it was at a level where I could operate sufficiently with just Ha Gyuhyuk alone, without needing to contract with others.
So once I send off these remaining clients, I’ll return to Ha Gyuhyuk.
[ Your client in world ‘685Dd’ crosses the River Styx amid the blessings of all. ]
[ Your client in world ‘de56te6’ embarks on a distant journey following their spouse, watched over by their children and grandchildren. ]
[ Your client in world ‘poe543’ departs for their final battlefield. ]
It was a bit of a loophole, but I took on clients whose lifespans were significantly shorter than humans.
So most of them are approaching death soon.
So if I just tell you not to worry from now on, that’s the end of it.
I know better than anyone that there’s no need to agonize over this.
“I don’t know what you want, Ha Gyuhyuk.”
If the goal was to save people, then the greatest weakness in your heart should be related to that.
For instance, worrying about the possibility of another Landquake occurring and countless people dying.
That’s something I can easily resolve.
Is this adolescence?
Is that why you’re keeping secrets from me?
While I was ‘away,’ there was only one thing you ever said to me.
[ I miss you. ]
[ Se-um, I miss you so much. ]
[ I miss you, Se-um. ]
[ I long for you so much. ]
The only thing you ever asked of me was….
‘I want to be by your side.’
‘I want to be the closest to you when you’re lonely, Se-um.’
So that means….
The realization struck me like lightning, and I rose to my feet.
So you were.
Always telling me what you wanted.
Because it was never something you took for granted.
* * *
The rooftop of the Touchone Building.
Standing there felt like ascending into The Sky itself.
From a building blessed with the Constellation’s sanctity, one could see everywhere.
Not just Korea, but far beyond—as if I were stealing the vision of an omnipotent star to observe the world.
Yet he stood there gazing not at the civilization spread beneath his feet, but upward above his head.
Stars stretching infinitely, their intentions unknowable.
Countless omnipotent beings looked down upon the man with supreme arrogance, and sometimes with tender affection.
Among them, there was only one star he wished to serve.
But as merely human, he lacked even the ability to recognize his own star.
He had simply climbed to the highest place, hoping to be one among them.
Perhaps if he touched a place closer to The Sky, he might be seen more clearly. Perhaps his voice would reach.
The position he should desire, could desire, was clearly defined.
He knew that emotion was greed, and greed was the shortest path to parting.
So he tried not to want, tried not to reveal it.
Yet the omnipotent and tender star never opened the door to the emotions sleeping deep in his heart.
But the star was like a bookmark firmly placed in the man’s life.
No matter how many other chapters he turned to, that one always unfolded.
[ I miss you. ]
The first words spilled from his lips.
Perhaps this was hope.
If I do this, that tender star will descend and reach out a hand….
“Ha Gyuhyuk.”
And call my name.
“…Se-um?”
Ha Gyuhyuk lifted his head.
At first, he thought he was hearing things—that his longing had conjured an auditory phantom.
But the golden luminescence dancing in the eyes of the figure before him spoke with unmistakable clarity.
“Now I understand what you truly desire.”
“Ah, I… well.”
“You said you were the reason my loneliness disappeared.”
The man nodded slowly.
His star.
The star smiled with breathtaking beauty, extending a hand toward him.
“Now I understand why you said those words.”
“….”
“You need me too, or else you would be alone.”
An outstretched hand that unfurled his life, a bookmark eternally clasped within the chapter of solitude, never to slip away.
“Yes, Se-um.”
A god, a salvation, the period at the end of loneliness.
Yet the prologue to a desire that should never be possessed.
The chapter’s name was love.
“I wanted to see you so desperately I could have thrown myself into the universe.”
The star laughed, spreading his arms wide.
“You mean you want to be held?”
Because I will be your universe.

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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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