Otherworld Constellation Gallery Chapter 12

Otherworld Constellation Gallery

Chapter 12

“Wait a moment, don’t tell me you’ve already pressed accept?” 

“No, not yet. But is this really not sent by you, mister?”

The child’s eyes sparkled.

“The medicine you gave me made my body feel miraculously better! And you were so skilled at hunting those monsters! Mister, are you… maybe a god sent to save me?”

“…Well, you could say that.”

Since I’m eavesdropping on the conversations of constellations, and I have information befitting a constellation, couldn’t I be called a god?

[Title: You could  say  that ] Showing off in front of a kid  Or is it like preserving a child’s belief in Santa? There’s something romantic about preserving innocence in the face of destruction.

ㄴThere are many kinds of gods .

ㄴIdiot .

ㄴMoron.

ㄴBecome a fucking Incarnation at least, you asshole!!!

ㄴSanta is real though? 

ㄴHe’s a constellation too.

The gallery was already excitedly mocking.

“But anyway, it’s not me, so don’t accept it.” 

“Pardon?” 

“Check who sent it and read the contract details.”

The child, though confused, stared into empty space to check the contract details.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ [Constellation Contract: One Who Smiles in the Red Twilight]

「I am one who walks the path of light. One who navigates the world where day and night intersect. However, I cannot reveal all of myself, so what you choose is merely a ‘possibility’.」

「I desire your survival, and you will too. If you become my Incarnation, I will help you so that you never regret it. But growth is your responsibility. I merely illuminate the path, while walking it is up to you yourself.」

「I am skilled in arts. Not the art of alcohol (酒) but of techniques (術). For example, artistic skills (藝術), medical techniques (醫術), archery (弓術). Before me, there is no falsehood or darkness. If you desire light, come to me.」 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

…Wait a minute, One Who Smiles in the Red Twilight? It was a familiar nickname. The constellation who sponsored me first.

‘But why did they choose her instead of me?’

Because I didn’t accept the contract? Or are they after my life again?

Gallery, let’s check the gallery. Similar questions were already pouring into the constellation gallery.

[Are they trying to catch the First Hunter again and absorb his skills?]

 [I know who this is  But they’ve conscientiously left out a few characteristics?] 

[If it were me, I would have said ‘Legendary Master of Prophecy’] 

[So why suddenly send a contract to that kid?]

‘The prophecy constellation? Could it be Nostradamus?’

Nostradamus was a doctor famous as a prophet. He also worked as a writer, so he’s connected to art. But I’m not sure about archery. Still, the probability is quite high.

That’s when it happened. A new post appeared.

[Title: I sent the contract.]

The one who really sent it showed up. I read through the content.

「Skill absorption, deletion, all wrong. I’m not stupid enough to bet on terrible odds. I know that even if I send a revelation, as long as the chess piece has self-awareness, such an Incarnation cannot kill the benefactor of their life.」

「Then why attempt the contract? The era is 1999, and First Hunter can skillfully handle the system and, thanks to skills, acts and judges without delay.」

ㄴSo why not the First Hunter but that kid instead?

「Ignorant one. Right now, placing her next to him is the fastest path to growth. Picking off others would take time to get the hang of it, and if I get frustrated and try to teach directly, my divine power will be depleted. If she proves to be a useful companion, the First Hunter will naturally take them along and teach her.」

ㄴBut the First Hunter’s ability to check is insane? How will you handle it?

「When he first saved them, I thought it was simple compassion. But when he said ‘earn your keep,’ I realized. He’s thinking of using them as a companion. That means there’s a high possibility he’ll help them grow.」

「Afraid I won’t trust her because she might betray me once she becomes an Incarnation? Right. That depends on the First Hunter. But I’ll place my bet. It’s okay if I fail. As long as she’s well-developed, since I contracted early.」

“……”

At least for now, they have no hostility toward me. Of course, I still feel uneasy. But as I saw in the gallery posts earlier, if I’m too suspicious, I can’t move forward. I’d never be able to make a single trustworthy companion for life.

I looked at the child again.

“I think it’s okay to accept.” 

“…Should I accept?” 

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Honestly, I was curious about what results this contract would bring too. The child’s face mixed with tension and hesitation. Finally, as if having made a decision, the child turned and looked at me.

“How do I accept?” 

“You can just press something like an accept button, or sincerely think about accepting.”

The child’s eyes turned toward empty space again. And soon after, the air changed.

Light gradually began to seep from the child’s body. At first it was a faint glow, but it gradually became clearer, and a soft golden light spread across the skin. A gentle aura rippled as if absorbing light under the sun. I almost let out an exclamation at the mysterious scene unfolding before my eyes.

‘Wow… that’s fucking cool.’

But I didn’t let it out in the end. I don’t know what this is… but the visuals are approved. A few seconds later, as the light subsided, the glow that had formed on the child’s body gradually disappeared.

“Don’t you feel any changes?”

At my question, the child looked down at their own body and looked around.

“Hmm……”

She  stretched out her arms to check front and back, clenched and unclenched her hands a few times, then tilted her head and said,

“I’m not sure.” 

“Then open your status window.” 

“Status window?”

The child’s eyes widened.

“Oh! Something appeared!” 

“Do you see any skills or something there?” 

“What are skills?”

……Ah, this is like having to explain everything from scratch, from ‘this is how you click.’

“Look for the word ‘skills’ in the window you see.”

“Skills… skills….”

The child’s finger traced through empty air. She seemed to be looking for the word ‘skills’ somewhere in the status window.

“Found it!”

I felt slightly expectant.

‘I wonder if there’s something like prophecy? Being able to see the future would be sweet.’

The child’s gaze crossed through empty space. Then she opened her mouth.

“Archery, medical skills…?” 

“…?” 

“Archery and medical skills!” 

“That’s it?” 

“Yes!”

‘Don’t answer so unnecessarily energetically. I was expecting something special like the werewolf…. Fuck, power befitting a god? This is my first companion, did I just get scammed?’

“And I’m not sure what it means… but both skills have the word ‘passive’ written in front of them.”

I frowned.

‘What? There’s not a single active skill?’

Last time, the werewolf’s ‘howl’ was active, I think. I’m not sure if ‘mimicry’ was passive or active. 

So the abilities this child gained… are just a combination of healer and ranged dealer? That feels really ambiguous.

“Can you heal me?” 

“Heal?” 

“Treatment or healing.” 

“I thought you said you were a god, sir.” 

“……” 

“…How am I supposed to do it?”

Right. If it’s passive, shouldn’t it just work?

“Try thinking about healing me. Or think about using the passive skill ‘medical technique’.” 

“……”

Silence fell for a moment. During that time, there was no feeling of being healed or health being recovered.

“Ah! I think I could heal if I had supplies.” 

“Supplies?” 

“Like medicine, or surgical tools……”

……Ah, direct treatment method? A snicker escaped me.

In this kind of game-like world, the skill of medical technique is direct treatment? What are you, Chopper? When forming a raid party in a game, healers need to heal right away on the battlefield, but this is like telling me to stitch myself up one by one if I get hurt during combat.

‘Fuck, is this a god? You idiots.’

These scammers, really.

‘Huh… No. The child is thinking positively too, so let’s think that having some ability is better than none.’

With a sigh, I took out medicines from my inventory and spread them on the floor.

“But it’s hard to distinguish what’s what since they’re not labeled.”

However, the kid didn’t seem to hear my words.

“Sir, are you a magician?” 

“…What?” 

“The way you make things appear from nowhere, show me again! It’s so amazing!” 

“…It’s not magic.” 

“Then are you really a god?” 

“…Actually, I’m not a god either. More importantly, did you hear what I said? Even I don’t know what these medicines are.”

The child looked over the medicines with shining eyes.

“This is enough.”

After saying that, She began preparing something. She drew a transparent liquid from a small glass bottle and slowly sucked it into a syringe with a needle.

“…What are you doing?” 

“Preparing for treatment.”

I watched without much thought at first, but gradually anxiety crept in. She seemed quite skilled, whether in disinfecting or tapping the needle tip, but can I trust her?

Since it’s a skill, I should be able to trust her, right? She’s using the skill now, right? Please. I don’t want to be a guinea pig.

“Give me your arm.” 

“…What?” 

“Your arm. Quickly.”

I felt uneasy but obediently extended my arm. The child gripped my arm firmly and tried to insert the needle.

“…What is that? You can’t just stab me with something you don’t even know what it is.” 

“I’m certain it’s fine.” 

“No, what is it? First tell me and then…”

SHINK!

“…Hey.”

Fuck. Before I could stop her, the needle was inserted into my forearm.