Otherworld Constellation Gallery Chapter 46

Otherworld Constellation Gallery 

Chapter 46.

An unknown heat surged through my veins like wildfire. 

I could feel my muscles swelling. 

A sensation as if each muscle fiber is emitting a silent roar.

“Has this guy lost his mind? Should I laugh?”

THWACK!

It doesn’t hurt. No, of course it hurts. 

It hurts, but compared to earlier, it feels too light.

‘This much, I can easily endure until his active skill ends, with plenty to spare.’

But I have no intention of doing that. 

There’s another reason why I harmed myself.

Sprinters intensely train their leg muscles.

The reason is explosive power.

Acceleration is ultimately a battle of how quickly you can ‘push yourself off.’

In other words, when muscle strength increases, acceleration follows. 

And now, I… can put that theory into practice.

This time he disappeared to the right. 

I can see it.

I’ve grown accustomed to his speed.

‘Now I can catch you.’

In an instant, my entire body responded like lightning. 

My heart pounded as blood circulated rapidly, and my swollen muscles drove my legs forward like a bullet.

BOOM!

As I stomped my foot, the ground cracked. 

Dust rose like waves, and my body shot up like a bullet.

“……!”

He’s surprised.

His pupils dilate and tremble.

At the moment his fingertips were coming toward my chin. 

My right arm, this hand holding the sword, Moved.

SWOOSH!

In an instant, the air tore apart. 

The blade cutting through the air caught his wrist.

Red petals scattered in the air. 

It was blood. 

It was pain. 

And it was proof that his arrogance had been cut away.

“AAAAARGH!”

Not a scream, but a pathetic shriek. 

He clutched his severed wrist with his remaining hand.

“You, you bastard… how, how is this possible…?”

The face, confronted by fear, turned pale.

In his eyes, the man before him was death itself.

STAB!

Manyō’s Tomb answered in his place.

There was no need to listen further.

The shock of having his speed matched. 

The carelessness that resulted.

Even without that, he was finished.

What could he do with both hands damaged?

No more naive thoughts.

The guy could have worn shoes with hidden blades or used some unknown skill.

‘The danger from a constellation’s incarnation is something I must guard against myself.’

The reason why ‘Constellation’s Spirit’ that the constellations spoke of isn’t a fraud. 

Those taunts about dying alone by being recklessly bold—I’m starting to truly understand them now.

Well, even if I’ve realized it now, it won’t be easily fixed like flipping a palm. 

People repeat the same mistakes even after gaining insight, and even with ‘Constellation’s Spirit,’ I’m still human after all.

“Such… insolence…!”

STAB-

“You’re not dead yet? Scary.” 

“COUGH…!”

There’s still killing intent in his eyes even as he coughs blood. 

But it didn’t last long. 

As the light gradually faded from his pupils, the pattern within Manyō’s Tomb blade flickered with a bright yellow light.

DING!

[‘Skill Runestone’ has been acquired.] 

[Player kill reward: 300 gold]

‘Wait a minute… so this is how it works?’

As soon as I saw the alert, a feeling of elation enveloped me.

This must be the skill absorption the gallery users were talking about.

‘Incredible.’

I need to see just how great this skill is that made me suffer.

[Skill Runestone]

A runestone condensed with the energy of skill ‘Swift Speed’. 

Effect: When used, the skill is absorbed. 

Usage Limit: Disappears after one use

‘Use.’

Soon, a subtle light emerged from the runestone, then quietly crumbled away like dust. 

At the same time, a slight yellow aura circled around my body.

‘Check skill.’

[Swift Speed]

Dramatically increases flexibility and speed momentarily. When used, it increases agility by 30% for 1 minute. 

Type: Active

What? 30 percent?

There’s no way a normal person’s speed increased by 30 percent would exceed level 11 agility.

‘Does it become a degraded version when absorbed?’

If that’s the case, I don’t understand the gallery users’ fuss.

Then suddenly.

‘The gold I received from him is 300 gold….’

Something’s off. 

The gallery users clearly said that at a very low probability, ‘gold and skills’ could be absorbed.

That means it’s not a reward for killing him, but the gold he possessed.

‘But, would someone who designated this place as his territory have only 300 gold?’

It’s one of two things. Either he only killed six goblins. Or he used it to level up. And judging by the situation, it’s highly likely the latter.

‘Did he allocate everything to agility considering skill compatibility?’

That means he knew how to allocate stats. 

If I had dealt with him a little later, it would have been much more troublesome.

‘That’s not the issue though.’

Someone appeared who knew how to use active skills and level up on just the third day.

I guess such people are starting to emerge one by one.

Meanwhile, the constellation gallery, which was already bustling with posts, was now overflowing with a tremendous amount of content.

[Title: SONOFA BIIIITCH LOLOLOLOL] First Hunter absorbed that again, are you crazy lolol Is this because he sucked off the admin?lolol He must have sucked it in exchange for maximizing his luck.

ㄴ He’d suck it even without luck maximization. 

ㄴ Gay gay hey!

ㄴ Get out.

ㄴ Has a submarine patch been implemented? 

ㄴ At this point, it might not just be First Hunter’s luck.

ㄴ For real, did this designer make it so other incarnations definitely get absorbed when killed? 

ㄴ Maybe not definitely, but the probability seems way higher?

[Title: Fuck admin sir, come out here;] I’m OK with putting in someone from the future; But this is too much; He absorbs everything he kills;

No balance patch?; If the probability has been patched overall, release the patch notes; you bastard;

ㄴ Somehow First Hunter’s luck is insanely good. 

ㄴ This is definitely admin favoritism. 

ㄴ Woowoo! Special investigation now!

[Title: If you’re jealous, just quit~] Go wait a thousand years for matching~ If you’re not confident, why play the game?lol.

ㄴ Honestly, this is too much.

ㄴ Fact) I don’t care lol.

ㄴ I’ve decided to accept your advice.

ㄴ I’ll just quit the game and watch First Hunter.

These bastards are completely flipping out. I understand. It’s amazing even to me.

‘Am I actually a web novel protagonist?’

As the world goes crazy, such delusions come to mind.

[Title: But honestly First Hunter is frustrating] I don’t understand why he doesn’t raise intelligence. Is his intelligence dropping because he solves everything with luck? Is his intelligence so low that he can’t think of raising his intelligence?

ㄴ Friend, intelligence has nothing to do with capability.

ㄴ First Hunter probably has higher intelligence than bastards like you.

ㄴ People who go on about intelligence seem more stupid than the newbies who say such things.

ㄴ Fact) No, fuck. With higher sensory values, he’d be able to respond better, you thick-headed idiots.. 

ㄴ Are you an idiot? 

ㄴ Look at it again from a constellation’s perspective. 

ㄴ If you don’t know anything, please shut the hell up?

ㄴ Fact) The morons can’t refute so they just bark lol. 

ㄴ Idiot, there’s nothing more frustrating than when your hands can’t keep up with what your head knows, that’s nonsense.

ㄴ First Hunter was already tracking with his eyes. His stats just couldn’t keep up. Understand? If not, you’re stupid.

ㄴ Didn’t you see him cut the guy down as soon as his body could keep up? 

ㄴ That means he was already detecting enough to cut him if only his body could follow.

ㄴ In other words, it has nothing to do with raising sensory perception through intelligence, you fucking idiot lol.

ㄴ Fact) First Hunter fans are disgusting. 

ㄴ You’d lick his toes if he contracted with you lol

ㄴ If I point out that your logic is complete bullshit, that makes me a First Hunter fan? lolol.

[Title: First Hunter, intelligence aside, the fucked point is] He’s already tracking and figuring things out with his eyes Honestly, he would have been screwed if he just tried to endur.

ㄴ Honestly, it could have been a passive skill, so enduring would have been stupid. 

ㄴ Fact) So he didn’t endure and cut him down, idiot.

ㄴ I understand saving gold. He’s always been stingy lol.

ㄴ Still, he has over 300,000 now? Intelligence to level 10 would cost about 20,000, so why not? It seems weird.

ㄴ Hey above comment, maybe First Hunter is preparing for that.

ㄴ How would First Hunter know and prepare for that, you idiot.

These bastards are fighting over me again. Some like me, some hate me, quite a balanced mix. More importantly, what is ‘that’?

I don’t know what they mean by ‘that’, but the reason I don’t raise intelligence is simple. 

I don’t know when the level restriction will be lifted, but the cost to get strength-agility-constitution to 20 is 227,500 gold. 

And that’s assuming the cost only increases by 500 gold each time.

‘If it suddenly doubles, I won’t be able to afford it.’

I might not be able to level up at the most critical moment. 

Of course, it might continue to increase by just 500 gold each time. 

But because the future is uncertain. I’m stockpiling just in case.

‘I can’t believe even those who became constellations don’t understand that using resources without knowing what will happen is more foolish behavior.’ 

‘If I’ve been saving meticulously to use only when absolutely necessary, frantically allocating stats when encountering someone like him would make all my endurance meaningless.’

In retrospect, I could have easily caught him just by enduring. 

That 1 minute felt long, but he wasn’t Tyson—he wouldn’t have died from taking hits for a minute. 

I didn’t feel such fear even when being hit by Pimuk.

Anyway, it means I didn’t need to use it in this situation. And as the gallery users said, intelligence wouldn’t have changed the situation. 

That’s why I didn’t use it.

Even though I’ve acquired an active skill, nothing will change. 

Obviously, the stats directly linked to survival are the other three: ‘Stamina-agility-constitution.’

‘There’s no need to raise intelligence right now.’

But what they say makes sense too. While raising intelligence doesn’t increase your actual intelligence, it’s useful for things like detecting someone following you. And I can’t completely rely on Kang Ha-rin for such things as she’s not entirely trustworthy.

‘For now, I’ll raise intelligence to 5.’

DING! 

[Intelligence level has reached 5, evolving your overall sensory perception to the next level.]

For a moment, it felt like I had goosebumps. The sensation was like all my body hair standing on end and then calmly settling down. That was all.

‘Those constellation bastards are probably complaining again that I was stingy enough to only raise it to 5.’

Didn’t the old man say? Those who live only for tomorrow die at the hands of those who live only for today.

No? If you endure until tomorrow against someone who lives only for today, the one who sees tomorrow wins. I see tomorrow.

‘I have absolutely no intention of letting the 100 gold I spent turn into regret.’

If I decided to save, I’ll save until the end. I pick up arrows, don’t use potions. Gold is only to be used when absolutely necessary.

As I was strengthening my resolve. A post appeared from what seemed to be the constellation of the deceased incarnation.

[Title: I’ll vent briefly then quit (with reason)] I’ve never seen my incarnation retire so quickly, so pathetically… I was so shocked when he died that my mind went blank… Simply put, I’m having a major reality check… For that reason, I’m quitting the game for a while, goodbye…

ㄴ Hey, cheer up, it wasn’t pathetic.

ㄴ Pitiful lol Does First Hunter look like Jaws to you? 

ㄴ You just had a bad matchup.

ㄴ You had nothing extra to offer anyway? No awakening like the others.

ㄴ Was that you? No wonder he had such a good skill for an early one lol.

ㄴ You’ve done well enough with your speed-only build. 

ㄴ For real, that’s the limit of a speed-only build lol.

ㄴ If you’ve had your fun, stop whining and get lost if you’re leaving lol No one cares if you quit or not lol.

ㄴ For real lol.

ㄴ For real lol.

Is this the constellation of the guy who just died? What’s his identity that he’s having such a reality check?

‘If he’s having a reality check, he must be someone notable…’

Is a 30% speed increase that impressive? Or does he think he’s ‘Flash’ or ‘Quicksilver’?

“Mister! Are you okay?”

Tulip was looking at me with a tearful face. And then he stretched out both hands.

“Whoa, stop. Don’t use your healing active skill.” 

“…What?” 

“Magic power is precious. So forget about that and pick up the arrows you shot.” 

“……” 

Even at this moment, my body was healing. 

“I said don’t use your skill.” 

“What? I’m not using it.” 

“……?”