Otherworld Constellation Gallery Chapter 15

Otherworld Constellation Gallery

Chapter 15

“When the ghouls appear later, try hunting them one by one as archery practice. They’re slow so they won’t reach us quickly, so don’t be too afraid.” 

The kid nodded with sparkling eyes.

“Still, if you think it’s dangerous, I’ll handle them before they get any closer. Got it?” 

“Yes!”

The kid answered with what seemed like an excited face. But moments later.

“KYAAAK!”

As soon as the ghouls appeared, the kid let out an ear-splitting scream.

“Why are you scared when they’re that slow?” 

“They’re gross! And being scared is natural!”

I sighed indifferently.

“We don’t have time for this. The scarier it is, the calmer you should be. You need to get them when they’re still far away, even if just one step.”

The kid drew an arrow with a terrified face. I wasn’t sure if she could pull the bowstring properly with shaking hands, but she quickly pulled the arrow and immediately released it.

PSHH!

The arrow precisely pierced the ghoul’s head.

“UWAAAK!” 

“Why are you making painful noises when it’s the one that got hit?” 

“It’s not a pain noise, it’s because they’re gross…!”

The kid flinched and clutched the bow.

“By the way, I got 10 gold as a reward for killing it!” 

“Do you understand now? How precious sponsorship is.” 

“Huh? Why?” 

“You need to kill 100 ghouls to earn just 1,000 gold. Does that give you perspective considering the sponsorship units you received?” 

“Ah….”

The kid’s face suddenly showed realization.

“Don’t space out. Keep hunting. They’re approaching.”

The kid raised the bow again.

PSHH! PSHH!

With each arrow the kid fired, a ghoul’s head was pierced. It was almost machine-like precision. But that didn’t mean there weren’t any problems.

“UGHHH…!”

The kid trembled after each ghoul she killed.

“Sponsorships are nice, Aren’t they?” 

“Yeahhh…!”

The kid shuddered with disgust.

“Blood… is that real?” 

“What, did you think we were filming a movie or something?”

The kid let out a small groan.

The kid used all 30 arrows, and not a single one missed its target.

“Wow, you’re good with a bow. Is your constellation Jumong?” 

“I don’t really know.” 

“I was just joking…. Anyway, I’ll take care of the remaining ghouls, so you stay put.”

The kid nodded.

[Title: First Hunter is crossing the line]

How dare you compare me to Jumong! The archery skills of my incarnation isn’t just better than Jumong’s incarnation, it would blow even Jumong himself out of the water!

ㄴTsk?

ㄴTsk?

ᄂThen you should’ve given her your main skill, lolol.

ᄂYou’re lucky we’re raising your incarnation by the scruff of their neck, you should be grateful, not complaining.

ㄴ I’m actually grateful for that.

Whether the Constellation Gallery was in an uproar or not. I started hunting the remaining ghouls.

KWANG! KWANG!

Is it because I raised my strength by one? Or did my basic strength increase as my health improved? They drop after just two hard hits to the head.

Sometimes there were ghouls that still needed three hits like before, but I could definitely feel the growth. Moreover, I didn’t even feel strained, and the biggest change I noticed was…

KACACK!

Though it’s a rusty dagger, the blade gets blocked by my skin. At most, it leaves a slight scratch.

‘Besides, it feels like I lost 300 gold by giving 30 kills to the kid.’

I shook my head. The sponsorship reward I got for saving the kid was so much more.

‘Let’s stop thinking so pettily.’

Just then, an alert window appeared before my eyes.

[Achievement <First Massacrer> unlocked!] 

[You have defeated 100 monsters for the first time!]

[Reward: Stat Points +5, 10,000 Gold]

Massacre achievement? There’s something like this too? But that wasn’t all.

[Achievement <First Ghoul Massacrer> unlocked!]

[You have defeated 100 ghouls for the first time!]

[Reward: Random Weapon Box 1, 10,000 Gold]

[Achievement <Ghoul Massacrer> unlocked!] 

[You have defeated 100 ghouls!] 

[Reward: Your abilities increase by 10% when facing ghouls. Opponent ghouls’ abilities decrease by 20%.]

What is this? Rewards are pouring in? Were achievement completions this important?

‘This is amazing!’

The corners of my mouth creep upward. I just got free stat points, earned gold, and received a random weapon.

‘Will I get a scroll again at this rate?’

But that wasn’t the important part.

[A massacrer has been born in this area.] 

[The rank of this area will rise.]

What does this mean?

“Mister, it says the rank of this area will rise, What does that mean?”

I wonder.

“…I think it means the difficulty will increase.” 

“What?”

Damn, if the difficulty increases because I killed too many, should we all have just stood still? I’m curious. I’m so curious I can’t stand it. If my guess is right, it would be best not to hunt monsters at all.

‘I have no choice but to ask….’

[Title: What does it mean for the area’s caliber to rise?] Does difficulty increase because a massacrer was born? So if we don’t hunt monsters, will the difficulty stay the same?

ㄴYeah, difficulty increased because of First Hunter over there.

ㄴNot hunting doesn’t help either. 

ㄴTrue difficulty increases with time anyway.

ㄴ Then why does it increase early? 

ㄴA divine revelation to not solo farm.

ㄴIt’s common sense that rank rises if you play well.

ㄴAnd it’s common sense that difficulty increases when rank rises.

Damn, so it increases one way or another? I don’t know when or how it increases, but if that’s the case, I should finish hunting the remaining ghouls. Whatever happens, I definitely need to keep growing.

Is it because of the bonus effect against ghouls? My body definitely feels lighter. And the already slow ghouls’ movements have become noticeably more sluggish.

Thanks to this, I easily dealt with the remaining ghouls. Though no scrolls appeared.

“It’s over.”

At that moment, the kid looked at me with shining eyes and shouted.

“Mister, you were so cool!” 

“Was I?” 

“Except for your outfit!” 

“…Collect the arrows.” 

“What?”

I said while pulling arrows from the ghouls’ heads.

“It’s wasteful. We should collect and reuse the arrows.”

Maybe because the kid had just experienced firsthand how hard it was to earn gold. She seemed to understand immediately and moved quickly.

As I pulled arrows from the heads, it suddenly occurred to me, if I continue traveling with this kid, will I have to share my prey from now on? Right now I’m comfortable thanks to sponsorships, but later on, gold earned from hunting will become important.

It’s like dividing what I’ve been earning alone in half. No, maybe… I might lose it all.

‘If the kid has enough arrows, she’ll likely hunt down all the prey before I get a chance.’

While I was thinking about this, the kid suddenly spoke in a surprised voice.

“Huh? A constellation sponsored me 1,000 gold!”

The kid’s eyes sparkled as they added.

“Arrows! Aren’t they saying I should just buy new ones?” 

“It seems like it.” 

“Then…!” 

“Still, collect them. Maybe in emergencies it’s different, but when we can collect them, we should.” 

“…Yes.”

I held the arrows I’d collected and fell into thought. Then suddenly, if reality has changed to be like a game… would ‘forming a party’ be possible too? 

Maybe ‘whispering’ or ‘trading’ would be possible as well. I looked at the kid and thought about sending a ‘whisper.’

‘Can you hear me? Raise your hand if you can.’

But the kid didn’t show any reaction. What? So it’s not possible after all?

‘But this should work.’

I looked at the kid once more and thought.

‘Form party. Party invite.’

But nothing happened.

‘Ah, maybe I need to create a party first?’

The moment I thought that.

[Party has been created.]

Huh? Why did that work? For a moment, I stared blankly at the system message.

‘This is not the time.’

I turned to look at the kid. And inwardly thought ‘Party invite.’ At that moment, the kid immediately reacted.

“Huh? ‘Yu Ju-han’ is suggesting a party invitation.”

“That’s me. Accept it.” 

“We’re going to party?” 

“This isn’t that kind of fun party.” 

“I see…”

The kid cautiously reached out into the air.

[‘Lee Tulip’ has accepted the party invitation.]

I tilted my head and muttered.

“This really works…? So your name is Lee Tulip?” 

“Huh? How did you know?” 

“I’m a god, remember?” 

“You said you weren’t.” 

“Actually, your name appears in the party window.”

But what effect does forming a party have? It’s not like there’s separate experience points or anything. Also, why didn’t the constellations post any articles or comments about me forming a party with a companion?

After thinking about it briefly, I got the answer. The answer is restraint. But the target isn’t me. It’s not restraint against me due to suspicion that humans might be looking at the gallery, but restraint against the newbie constellation.

‘It’s clear that someone among the constellations might use revelation forcefully, so they’re not releasing information.’

If the party system is reliable, there might be a chance that betrayal between companions isn’t allowed. But not knowing how to use such a function? It’s obvious that even if they have companions, they’ll continue to doubt and be anxious like I was before.

‘A group that doesn’t know the party function and has weak bonds will collapse easily. That’s what they’re aiming for.’

[Title: At this point, isn’t it certain that First Hunter isn’t seeing the gallery?] How did he already discover that function? 

This time, if someone had posted about it with good timing they would have been super suspicious But he avoided it

ㄴFirst Hunter is a god.

ㄴDidn’t you know? First Hunter’s a constellation? 

ㄴThe people here are pathologically suspicious.

ᄂBut did he really use the feature with that intention?

ᄂObviously. You think he used it by accident?

ㄴWell, in that state, they’d find out soon anyway, so whatever.

What do they mean by targeting ‘that’? What other functions are there here? Cunning constellation bastards.

‘Whatever it is, I’ll find out eventually.’

More importantly, should I calculate the rewards while I have time? The stat points from rewards can definitely be used to increase stats instead of money…

‘It’s definitely best to save these for later.’

I can use them for maximum efficiency when leveling up stats becomes unaffordable with money. So what’s left is the random weapon draw.

‘I’ve already gotten a constellation’s Spirit and two low-probability scrolls.’

Plus, no scrolls dropped while hunting ghouls this time, so I’ve saved up some luck. Could I get a sacred relic or something?

“Mister, why are you smiling like that?” 

“It’s nothing. Just checking something.” 

“Weird…” 

“Go to the dentist.” 

“…What?” 

“If your tooth hurts, go to the dentist.” 

“Ah… That’s really not funny.”

Yeah, but I’m about to have fun. I’m planning to check out the rewards from this great gacha right now.

And when I used the random weapon box. My head tilted.

[omg this game’s luck is shit][27]

[Seriously, balance patch this from a constellation perspective][115] 

[Let’s say First Hunter won and start a new game?][86] 

[First Hunter please contract with me!!!!!][79]

 [I’m not contracting with anyone other than First Hunter now][314]

Why are they making such a fuss? Is it good?