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Chapter 04
A massive dimensional rift on the brink of exploding due to a gate overload.
Surging from that rupture were waves of mana radiation that warped both mind and body, making even approaching it a monumental task. To make matters worse, A-rank and higher magic beasts poured out like a swarm of enraged hornets.
Even experts couldn’t predict what would happen if that rift burst.
It was a catastrophe that could, at the very least, ruin the entire nation—a crisis where everyone had to fight as if their lives depended on it.
Because it was such a monumental event, the tale of those who resolved the crisis was widely known.
However, in that story, there was no “sacrificed savior.”
When I couldn’t hide my skepticism, the Constellation burst into a noisy torrent of complaints. The gist of it was something like this:
[You’re telling me that giant red thing is trapped? You want me to save him? Why? Based on the future you showed me, he’s a ticking time bomb. Why should I save him? Did you show me the wrong future or something?]
“I’ve never day-drank before.”
I pulled a gift out of my inventory. The liquid inside the crude bottle sloshed back and forth.
“There’s no way to open the cork. I don’t have a corkscrew at home. I’ll drink later, so you go ahead, have a glass, and let’s talk.”
.
.
.
“I mean, why are you sighing like that?”
Well, considering the SSS-rank revelation, I suppose the Constellation couldn’t help but sigh either.
However, reading the Constellation’s next lament made me doubt my own eyes.
‘Yep, I got hitched to the wrong Constellation.’
I swept a hand down my face, swallowing a heavy sigh and a string of curses.
Apparently, it hadn’t been long since this damned Constellation found out about the ‘sacrificed and forgotten red savior’ before he became the ‘Red Demon God.’
It happened when the Constellation chanced to look down into the seal of the 12th Core Rift.
Seeing the ‘sacrificed and forgotten red savior’ desperately trying to escape, the Constellation fell in love at first sight, feeling a heart-wrenching mixture of pity and adoration…
‘This is absolute garbage.’
Whether human or Constellation, love is always the damn problem.
I closed my eyes tight and lay back on the bed, clutching the wine bottle. I was desperately holding back the impulse to smash the bottle open and down the wine then and there.
Ah… Right.
Now that the contract was formed, the Constellation’s messages automatically beamed into my mind even with my eyes shut.
A stream of tear-soaked status windows poured in, pathetic and needy.
Panic-stricken, the Constellation had received a divine revelation: the day the ‘sacrificed and forgotten red savior’ was finally freed would be the day of his birth as the Demon God.
At that moment, all gods and humans would try to destroy that pitiable soul.
The Constellation went on and on at length—like a midnight advice post on an internet forum—lamenting that its own cold-blooded ?????? would definitely try to kill him, and that it was probably the only divine being in existence who felt any goodwill toward him.
I let the words pass through one ear and out the other. Even so, I found it strangely fascinating that I could feel the other party weeping hysterically through a mere status window.
“Why did you fall in love at first sight?”
Quit acting so foolish!
Since nothing but curses filled my mind, I simply kept my mouth shut.
I hadn’t said a single word, yet the other side was working itself into a frenzy all on its own.
Figures. When it comes to giving relationship advice to someone else, the best approach is to keep your mouth shut and just nod along politely.
‘As a result, their favorability went up, so… I guess I should consider this a relief?’
I decided to be magnanimous and ask about another curiosity.
“To the saddest Constellation in this neighborhood right now: you said all gods and humans would try to destroy that being, right? But that’s a bit different from the ending of the SSS-rank revelation I saw. Wasn’t it an ending where it was just that red thing and me left alone?”
“You said one of the reasons you chose me was that I’m a ‘mortal capable of enduring causality.’ Does it have something to do with that?”
A sigh escaped me naturally.
Considering the atrocities that bastard had committed, if I didn’t accept this quest, it would undoubtedly keep showing me a hellish destruction ending without pause.
It was a relief that my favorability with it was still low, meaning I couldn’t see the details of the revelation clearly, but even watching this low-resolution nightmare over and over would drive me insane from stress.
Why did it have to be me? Was there really no other suitable candidate?
This was the shared thought among all victims of Constellation contracts.
Why me?
‘Is this the route where I become Victim #1?’
A comment I had seen on an internet forum crossed my mind. Was I not just bitten by a tiger, but swallowed whole?
‘More than that, a conspiracy theory is starting to take shape at this point.’
It seemed almost certain that something rotten was going on inside the Yongseon Guild.
And like a festering wound finally bursting, that rotten truth was bound to be laid bare for all to see—bringing with it a second crisis of world destruction.
Could I report this to a government agency… though?
‘Would I just get arrested instead?’
No, would they even believe me in the first place?
The Yongseon Guild. A private guild originally formed by a large gathering of highly capable hunters from the start.
With incredible ability, tact, and teamwork, it had rapidly grown into a mega-corporation-level entity following its founding.
All of its guild members consisted of world-renowned A to S-rank hunters, and out of the nine S-rank hunters in South Korea, both the Korean #1 and World #1 hunter belonged to that very guild.
There were many S-rank hunters across the globe—the US and China alone boasted over twenty S-ranks each—yet even among them, Korean S-rank hunters made up more than half of the world’s top 10 rankings.
And with the #1 spot being held by a Korean as well, that said everything. True to form for the country of efficiency and value.
An S-rank hunter was treated as a ‘walking conglomerate’ on their own, and this guild possessed the absolute best of them… What would happen if someone like me waltzed in, blabbering about seeing the future, and asked: “Hey, are you guys hiding something? It’s going to cause the end of the world, what is it?!”
‘If I just get ignored, I’d be lucky. A lawsuit would be a absolute certainty.’
A cold sweat broke out.
Aside from a few media outlets and streamers who thrived on gossip, no one wanted to cross the Yongseon Guild. Even high-ranking political figures couldn’t treat Yongseon lightly.
The world was now divided into two eras: before and after the gates appeared. Power had been restructured according to an awakened person’s rank and abilities.
If the Yongseon Guild was truly putting on a righteous facade while pulling all sorts of dirty tricks behind the scenes…
Kidnapping me one day and slitting my throat would be child’s play for them.
Vizzz—
Unable to hold out any longer, my phone began to vibrate.
‘Since it’s come to this, let’s wrap things up quickly.’
I needed to clear my head for a moment.
I immediately sent a text to my boss asking if he had time to call. The moment a reply came saying yes, I called him right back and announced my resignation. When he asked for a reason, I gave a vague explanation.
I told him I had a family situation.
Suddenly, reflecting on the past left a bitter taste in my mouth.
There had been a time when my mother came looking for me at the company.
‘I found out right before stepping into the breakroom that almost everyone in the company had heard about the huge fight my mother and I had right in front of the entrance.’
Even now, thinking back on it made anger flare up, and I gripped the wine bottle tightly.
Why had my mother come all the way to my workplace?
Before that incident, my brother had asked to borrow money, which resulted in us hurling profanities and throwing punches at each other.
Knowing my family would barge into my studio apartment, I stayed over at a friend’s place and didn’t show my face at home for a whole week—so she came hunting for me at my job instead.
My boss seemed to remember that incident too. When I mentioned it was a family matter, only a basic exchange took place, and the call ended swiftly.
‘Besides, that bastard doesn’t even know what my marketing team actually does.’
He probably won’t even give me my severance pay properly. I already knew that much from company rumors. Not that I cared. He could keep his chump change and his patronizing attitude.
And with that, it was truly over.
I tossed my phone onto the floor of my room. And this time, I shot a mana bullet right at it.
BANG—!
A strange sense of satisfaction washed over me. It was a phone I had used for four years with a cracked screen until it was practically a rag, so I had no regrets. When else would I get to smash a phone like this? I felt completely refreshed.
‘What should I do now?’
I stared blankly at the smoking phone as it fizzled out, then looked around the room.
It was an absolute mess. Sighing deeply, I opened the window to air out the burnt smell. Then, I washed up thoroughly and changed into clothes that smelled less like smoke.
I slapped my own face with both hands—Clap!
After hesitating for a moment about where to direct my voice, I leaned my face out the window and pointed a finger directly at the sun so the prophet of the ‘Sun’ could hear my warning loud and clear.
“This quest isn’t a scam, right? It really gives wealth and health, right? I don’t care about honor. I just want to live quietly as a rich mortal #1.”
“If I got scammed with an unfair contract, I’ll commit suicide faster than you can stop me, turn into a star, and come straight for you first!”
“Then I’ll go find a Constellation that’s willing to kill me and offer everything I have just to have them put me down!”
As I shouted toward the sky by myself, people down below looked up at me with wide, startled eyes, whispering among themselves.
Whether they did or not, I didn’t care.
‘First off… I can only spend money while I’m in my right mind, so I’ll start with what can be solved with money.’
