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Chapter – 02
Something in my stomach twisted.
The reason constellations are called “stars” is because they are literally shaped like stars.
And their heads are a field of stars too.
I glanced sideways at the 3D, floating star-shaped character drifting beside me with eyes, nose, and mouth.
“Can you shut up? What can a data scrap even do?”
【I’m not AI—I’m a real constellation, damn it! At this point, I can’t even replace this insolent human bastard.】
That was something it kept repeating.
It always claimed it was too superior, that even if it searched the entire world, it couldn’t find another player with a matching rate as high as mine.
Then my message box flashed.
When I checked, it looked like my ranking had gone up again, and I received a reward with a congratulatory message.
[
Congratulations! ChickenPuncher has improved their 1v1 World Ranking! We will continue to support your amazing battles!
—Reward 1: 100,000 Star Dust
—Reward 2: 10 Outfit Purchase Coupons]
“Whoa.”
My world ranking in GOF 1v1 was now a whopping 12th.
I opened the ranking list and smiled brightly in satisfaction, but then realized something and immediately frowned.
“Damn it.”
【What now.】
“What’s the point of a high ranking if it doesn’t help in real life? They should at least give cash rewards.”
【Since when did you start calling it ‘real life’?】
“You need money to live in real life, and you need real life to keep playing games. Guess I’ll use this star dust to summon a new star.”
【Hah.】
The star let out a mocking laugh.
A beautiful dome-shaped transparent building floating in the middle of space.
This place is the GOF waiting room.
As I walked deeper into the windowless waiting room, the space lit up, recognizing my movement.
【How many times do I have to tell you it’s a waste of resources? Even if you roll a trillion times, you’ll never summon a constellation stronger than me.】
That might actually be true.
No matter how many times I rolled, nothing above this guy ever appeared.
From the beginning, this guy had strange features that didn’t exist in the system—so strange I once thought it was a bug when I first summoned him.
“At least there should be others in your tier.”
Constellations have ranks.
From the lowest Dirt Star (Ion), to Trash Star (Bronze), Silver, Gold, and White Star (Diamond).
Their size increases with rank.
One strange thing is that the higher the rank, the more these star bastards talk—and the more obnoxious they become.
Among them, this guy was completely different from the moment he first appeared.
‘And of course, his attitude was the worst.’
A transparent diamond-like body shimmering with blue energy.
On his back were flashy wings that normal Diamond-tier constellations didn’t have, and his chest was covered in unknown medals that changed outfits from time to time.
It almost felt like he wasn’t an AI, but a player acting as a constellation.
Maybe that was the “hidden class” concept.
【There are others in my rank. But no matter who they are, none of them can surpass me in combat skill—】
I pressed the button.
[Do you want to summon constellations?]
[Yes]
【Hey, are you even listening?】
Nope.
[Summoning constellations.]
The space surrounding the summoning room sparkled beautifully with sound effects, and stars from all over the universe began falling like meteor showers.
Swoosh— swooosh—
“No matter how many times I see this, it never gets old.”
GOF summoning animations were so good I could watch them endlessly.
The universe rippled like waves of colorful nebulae, and glittering stars sparkled like sand grains, making it feel like I was actually inside space.
Flash!
Light exploded in the constellation exhibition hall, and various 3D star characters poured in.
‘This is the only moment where constellation voices are muted.’
Brightly glowing stars filled the hall in silent chaos.
[Summoning complete.]
[Maximum number of constellations per summon: 21. Re-summoning costs 1 Star Fragment (21,000 Star Dust).]
[Select constellations to gain special skills and buffs and enter ranked matches.]
Constellations.
AI personality entities that claim to be great and famous “gods of battle” from different universes.
Their official name is “Constellations,” but players also call them “stars.”
Because of this system, the VR battle game is called God of Fighters (GOF).
The concept is that gods from the universe lend their power to humans.
Humans then participate in various combat formats (1v1, conquest, raids, etc.) alongside their chosen constellation.
The summon was complete.
The constellations in the display hall blinked and looked up at me.
And I widened my eyes.
“Finally!”
Two hidden-class stars—transparent, diamond-like bodies glowing with green and red light respectively.
There were two of the same hidden class.
【……Why are you two here?】
The voice sounded extremely flustered.
As if responding, the green diamond and red diamond emitted brilliant light.
Apparently, hidden-class constellation AIs know each other well.
I looked at them with satisfaction, then gently patted the head of the constellation beside me who had clearly been working hard and was worn out.
“Good work so far. Go home and rest for a while.”
【?】
What was this guy’s name again?
I tapped the info window, and his nickname and profile appeared.
[<Nickname: bwièk��kppk>
—Rank: Unmeasurable
—Combat Experience: Unmeasurable
—Total Combat Power: Unmeasurable
—Match Rate with You: 91%
(View Constellation Skills)]
Ah, I remembered.
I once tried calling him “Park Golgap,” but he went crazy, so I ended up just calling him “that star bastard.”
Most constellation nicknames are edgy things like , , <The 44th Rusted Compass of Death>, .
But for some reason, the developers gave hidden-class constellations glitch-like names.
Golgap looked stunned by my words.
【…You’re not seriously thinking of not using me just because those two appeared, are you? Are you insane? Do you even know who I am?!】
“Oh, their match rates are decent too. One’s 88, the other 78.”
The red diamond, wearing a crown and red cape like an emperor, had an 88% match rate.
The green one, with golden laurel crown and refined features, had 78%.
Considering that high-rank constellations usually have much lower match rates with players, these were objectively excellent numbers.
Of course, compared to Golgap’s 91%, they were slightly lower.
【……】
Golgap, unable to respond to my clean dismissal, circled around me anxiously.
【…Think carefully. From 90% upward, it’s destiny.】
What nonsense.
From the beginning, my summon rates had always been high, so I couldn’t even laugh at that claim.
I only realized how high my match rate was after browsing the GOF community.
Most players struggled to exceed 50%.
Also, while not always the case, many constellation AIs in this game had terrible, aggressive personalities.
So some players desperately studied “constellation dating sim” guides just to get strong but difficult high-tier constellations to cooperate.
Meanwhile, high match rate constellations were known to become unusually kind to their players.
But—
“When have you ever been nice to fate? You looked down on me from the moment we met.”
【Th-that was—!】
Golgap had appeared with an 89% match rate and immediately treated me like a “worthless human,” acting arrogantly from the start.
His personality was so bad I originally planned to discard him after a few matches—but the combat synergy was just too perfect.
So I ended up sticking with him while beating him into shape.
“Who said I’m never pairing with you again? I’m just telling you to take a break while I play with these guys.”
【……】
Golgap glanced nervously at the red and green diamonds, clearly unsettled.
He was worried.
Especially because one of them had an 88% match rate with me.
But compared to him, these two seemed much calmer.
Of course, I didn’t know their true personalities yet, but I wanted to try using these newly drawn hidden-class constellations immediately.
After sending friend requests, both accepted.
Then I looked at Golgap again.
“Go rest now.”
[Do you want to remove Constellation <bwièk��kppk> from the waiting room?]
[Yes]
【W-wait—】
The moment Golgap disappeared, a notification appeared.
You received 100 coins from .
I paused.
“…Huh?”
The reason I was confused was because the notification wasn’t from GOF’s usual system—it was a completely unfamiliar color and format.
Almost like the Hunter system hunters talk about.
“Coins?”
GOF doesn’t even have a coin system.
I opened my inventory, but nothing new appeared except the star dust and coupons I had just received.
“What the hell.”
Did Golgap try to pull some trick to stop me?
I lost interest in the strange phenomenon, closed the unknown notification, and immediately started a new match.
