D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 91
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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 91
I was screwed.
Cold sweat poured down my back, but I pretended otherwise.
“No matter how much respect I have for Ulrim, how could you ask me to rewrite my thesis? You might as well just kill me.”
“I’m sorry.”
No, thank you.
At some point, Kim Gyuwun started looking at me with suspicion every time we met.
This entire world was under my brainwashing.
No matter how hard people investigated, they couldn’t find any connection between Landquake and Se-um.
‘Of course, all my efforts to prevent this have been in vain—no one even raises the possibility.’
Even in this information-saturated world, few paid attention to a mere C-rank Awakener.
Besides, even if someone reached the concept of Landquake and suspected my existence, they couldn’t find me now because of the brainwashing.
The ‘Ulrim Exhumation Challenge’ was only permitted because I knew everyone who attempted it would fail.
Moreover, the Constellations strictly forbade revealing other Constellations’ names, origins, or identities to their clients.
[ Revealing another Constellation’s identity, past, true nature, or epithets without mutual consent is deemed a serious violation of regulations.
The karmic repercussions of approaching the truth of a divine entity fall entirely upon the relevant world and the offending Constellation.
Forfeiture of 75% of accumulated karma is the minimum penalty, and the client world experiences accelerated apocalypse.
Should other Constellations’ clients or avatars suffer harm due to this karmic violation, the offending Constellation bears all compensation costs. ]
If you go around spreading others’ secrets, you’ll spend the rest of your existence repaying karma to fix the consequences.
A biting warning dressed up as ‘do well.’
Even a Constellation living only for today would fear such rules.
If they incurred that level of karmic debt, they’d be forced to repay it through client contracts.
No Constellation welcomes client contract activities transforming from entertainment into obligation.
Which meant the Constellations in this world would never reveal who I was.
“If my curiosity about your identity upset you, I’ll stop.”
“I told you not to, but you’re more than qualified to participate in the Ulrim Exhumation Challenge. I’d be sad if our Guild members were the only ones missing out on something this fun.”
But this man standing before me was different.
Before I even arrived in this world, he already knew of Se-um, a C-rank Awakener.
When studying Landquake, the name Se-um inevitably surfaces.
Sometimes described as ‘the sole victim,’ sometimes packaged as ‘a tragic young life cut short.’
Yet throughout this entire world, only Kim Gyuwun truly believed I had genuinely stopped Landquake.
[ Tasha: That’s what’s so strange about it. Honestly, if the Gate disappeared right after Se-um died, shouldn’t we research the causal relationship between them? ]
[ Tasha: It’s been 300 years and we still haven’t figured it out. ]
[ Se-um: They probably tried at first~ ]
They likely investigated whether my disappearance and the Gate’s vanishing were connected.
But no matter how hard they searched, they found no connection.
I’d never awakened any remarkable abilities in life, nor was I particularly noteworthy in any other way.
The last CCTV footage recording me probably just showed me eating instant ramen without incident.
[ Se-um: There were probably people who questioned it. But they lacked the technology or evidence to solve the mystery. ]
Time flowed relentlessly, and the few who had tried to uncover the truth eventually died when their time ran out.
Since nothing was uncovered, the research was never passed down, and the only missing person became more of an urban legend than a research subject.
[ Tasha: She’s different. ]
However, like Kim Gyuwun, I was already aware of Se-um’s existence, and brainwashing someone who had begun to suspect the Constellation’s true identity required considerable Karma.
I would have to scramble his brain and erase every trace of it.
But if I went that far, the boy would find it difficult to maintain his sanity anymore.
I didn’t want to go that far.
“But normally, people don’t think a C-rank Awakened could have blocked a Gate.”
I sat atop Kim Gyuwun’s desk, glancing sideways at the monitor.
He seemed to think he’d been caught investigating Se-um, and his gaze dropped slightly.
“Yes, generally speaking, that’s not what people think. I’ve tried explaining it to others several times, but it never worked.”
“But why did you call Se-um a ‘hero’ of all things?”
I emphasized the word hero deliberately, speaking each syllable with precision.
Kim Gyuwun’s expression was less panicked than sorrowful.
Why is he suddenly looking so sad when I’m not even trying to scold him?
“She’s just a C-rank Awakened. Not even a Hunter.”
“You shouldn’t speak of the deceased with such disrespect.”
No, that’s me anyway.
In other words, I’m essentially roasting myself.
Kim Gyuwun opened his mouth with a genuinely earnest, scholarly expression.
“There’s no evidence, but precisely because of that, I believe Se-um is all the more important.”
“From the perspective of delusion?”
“Well… it is a delusion. Just as everyone arbitrarily thinks that person is missing, I’m arbitrarily thinking about it too.”
Kim Gyuwun admitted it plainly.
That he too was arbitrarily thinking, judging, and forming opinions about the human called Se-um.
“Then do you think the Landquake Dungeon is objectively at a level a C-rank could block alone?”
“Hmm, actually, I don’t think she could have done it alone. But that Awakened might not have been alone, right?”
“Oh, an interesting perspective.”
It wasn’t mockery—it was genuinely intriguing.
There was only one actual missing person, and to my knowledge, there was no other human involved.
“…When I was trapped in the Dungeon and managed to escape, I thought the Guild Master was alone too.”
“Huh?”
“That… where the Guild Master and I first met.”
Ah, I remember.
That was the Dungeon where I had personally saved Ha Gyuhyuk with divine power.
Kim Gyuwun’s face was still flushed, as if he found it unbearably shameful that he had survived at the cost of another person’s life.
He wasn’t inherently a bad person.
He knew how to atone for his sins and was capable of shame.
But that didn’t mean his guilt would disappear, nor could I absolve it for him.
‘You must continue to feel guilty, believe you were wrong, and live diligently for the lives you may have sacrificed besides Ha Gyuhyuk.’
I couldn’t do anything about the guilt he carried in his heart.
“So?”
“What I’m saying is, there could have been another Constellation inside that Gate besides Se-um.”
“Then ultimately, that hero wasn’t a Constellation?”
“If the Guild Master cleared the Dungeon with Ulrim’s help and saved countless people, would that be Ulrim’s achievement?”
Tsk, look at this guy.
I caught the smile spreading across my lips before I could help myself.
“No, that belongs to humanity.”
“Being chosen by a Constellation is that person’s value too. And that value was created by them. So… I think that person stopped the Landquake, and I believe that person is who Ulrim is now.”
Kim Gyuwun wore an anxious expression, like a child waiting for their test to be graded after solving a problem.
“…Am I right?”
“You’re right.”
Yeah, what would be the point of saying no at this stage?
This was the only person who remembered that human from 300 years ago—someone I’d never met, whose photograph no longer existed—as a hero.
“But if you tell anyone, you’re dead.”
“…Yes, sir!”
Even as I drew my thumb across my neck in a cutting gesture, Kim Gyuwun laughed, overwhelmed with emotion.
“Then… could there have been another Constellation back then…?”
“I don’t know.”
If that distant voice back then was real, it would mean there was a Constellation watching over me.
But I never knew their title or identity.
“Why do you think that Constellation stayed hidden?”
“Who knows. Even if I don’t know who they are, if a Constellation saved me and is still hiding, their nature is obvious enough.”
“They didn’t want to be repaid?”
“A Constellation wanting repayment?”
If that being really was a Constellation and was watching over me, there would be one reward they’d want to hear.
I smiled and placed a hand over my heart, murmuring softly.
“Thank you for your help.”
[ Se-um: That’s what they wanted to hear, right? ]
[ Franson: Well, if they’re a masked Constellation, probably ]
Franson: He’s probably watching and feeling really proud.
[ Franson: If they’re watching, what would they say back?? ]
[ Tasha: Your smile right now proved my choice wasn’t wrong. I’m the one who should be grateful. ]
[ Tasha: Or something like that ]
[ Tasha: I bet that’s what they’d say?? ]
[ Se-um: Wow~ ]
[ Se-um: That’s romantic ]
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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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