Otherworld Constellation Gallery Chapter 16

  Constellation Gallery

Chapter  16

Time turned back slightly, to when I checked the ‘Random Weapon Box’ in my inventory.

[Random Weapon Box] When used, you will acquire a random weapon.

I summoned the box into my hand. What appeared was a small box about the size of my palm.

‘A weapon is inside this?’

Even a ghoul’s dagger would be bigger than this.

“Wow! What’s that?” 

“I don’t know either. I’m about to check it now.”

Tulip’s eyes sparkled beside me. 

And then she waited for my hand to move, as if telling me to hurry up and check it. 

Meeting her expectations, I held the box in one hand and opened the lid.

WOOOONG!

At that moment, an intense crimson light burst out from inside the box. The light soared into the sky, took form, and gradually condensed into a more specific shape.

“Wow! Are you a magician, mister?” 

“It’s neither a trick nor magic, I told you.”

A moment later, when the light gradually faded. The box had disappeared without a trace, and only a single sword was floating in front of me.

“……A sword?”

The blade had a somewhat rough texture remaining. Above it, faint patterns were dimly glowing as if they were alive and breathing. And embedded in the sword’s edge and the end of the handle was a crimson gem engraved with strange patterns.

──────────────────

 [Manyō’s Tomb (萬妖의 墓穴)] The sword’s inherent ability is sealed. The sword’s grade will change when certain achievements are accomplished. Durability is not consumed.

(Grade: Rare)

[Precaution] This sword becomes bound to the user immediately upon use and cannot be traded or transferred. The sword will disappear the moment the owner renounces ownership.

 ──────────────────

I gripped the sword. It was lighter than I expected. But the moment I held it in my hand, I felt a strange sensation. It was like holding something that was staring at me while holding its breath.

‘This doesn’t feel particularly good…’

To be precise, it leans more toward feeling bad. But I have absolutely no intention of giving up a rare-grade item with no durability consumption to anyone else. I swung the sword.

SWOOSH!

The blade cut through the air smoothly. It was much easier to handle than I expected. No, rather, the feeling of it fitting so well in my hand was strangely perfect.

‘Besides, it says it would be bound immediately, but there’s no change.’

Or perhaps ‘when used’ means when I use it to hunt something? I was thinking about that when:

“Wow! It looks like a really good sword, doesn’t it?”

Tulip said, looking at the sword in my hand.

“…I don’t know.”

I looked at the sword’s description again.

‘The grade changes when certain achievements are accomplished?’

Meanwhile, the Constellation Gallery was filled with all kinds of commotion. Some saying it was a scam, others that the balance was fucked.

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

I had no idea what achievements needed to be accomplished, how to accomplish them, or what changes would occur that made them act like that. Just as I was about to post and ask, a post appeared on the Constellation Gallery with perfect timing.

[Title: What kind of weapon is that, and why is everyone going crazy?] What’s the achievement? What happens when you accomplish it? Let’s find out together what’s so game-breaking.

ㄴHey, don’t reveal any information even if you know, because there might be Constellations who contract with First Hunter!!!!

ㄴ Everyone seems to know already, just tell us.

ㄴNope, go fuck yourself. There might be Constellations who don’t know, so absolutely not.

ㄴIf a Constellation who knows the information contracts with First Hunter, they’ll definitely max out and go for Revelation.

I trembled with anger.

‘No, fuck. Share the information, you bastards.’

Whatever it is, it seems certain that it’s good. 

So there’s a division between Constellations who know about this weapon and those who don’t? If I make the wrong contract, I might never get this information.

‘From the moment I become an incarnation, information about this sword will absolutely never be posted.’

Fuck, whoever you are, that was nice timing. Is there no way to find out about this? The atmosphere doesn’t seem conducive to getting answers by simply asking. That’s when another new post appeared.

[Title: But when will First Hunter contract?] I mean, looking at how he even told the girl how to accept, he must know, right?

ㄴWe want it to happen quickly, but from First Hunter’s perspective, it’s wise to just survive as long as possible dumbass.

ㄴWhy is that wise? Isn’t it stupid?

ㄴIt only looks stupid to an empty-headed person like you. In the later stages, more incarnations will die, and meanwhile, Constellations with accumulated divinity will send Revelations to decent players without Constellations to appeal to them, that’s a fact.

ㄴ Are you stupid???? If you have that much divinity, you could just make sure the incarnation doesn’t die in the first place??? 

ㄴOh my god idiot. If you don’t know because you’re a newbie, just shut your mouth and learn while getting beaten up.

ㄴOnce you make a contract, it’s over, so being cautious is right, you stupid newbie Maybe you’re the Werewolf Constellation, seeing how dumb you are.

ㄴIt’s constellation vs constellation, but truly great ones usually don’t send contracts in the early stages.

ㄴFor First Hunter, the right answer is to choose carefully among candidates with clear epithets after they’ve proven themselves and your options have broadened.

ㄴ For someone trying to carefully choose a Constellation, First Hunter hasn’t looked at a single contract, you idiots.

ㄴWe can’t even know if he’s reading contracts or not, how do you know he hasn’t looked? Are you showing your newbie status? 

ㄴI smelled something sexy and came running.

Why are these bastards fighting and causing a fuss? Besides, I was postponing the contract because there was no one to trust, but instead, they’re praising me for being smart.

‘So there’s nothing good about rushing, that’s for sure.’

Even if that weren’t the case, now I need to be extra cautious because of this sword. Should I have contracted when I knew nothing?

I shook my head. No way. What if I had contracted with a stingy Constellation like me? Someone said that some bastards just consume divinity and discard you without any rewards.

“Besides, this sword… feels really ominous.”

I put the sword back in my inventory. Both the fact that it becomes bound upon use and the inexplicable ominous feeling. I was going to use it right away without thinking, but once my head cooled a bit, I changed my mind.

‘A frying pan is better than a sword anyway.’

As I gripped the frying pan again, a post appeared.

[Title: Can someone confiscate that bastard’s frying pan] Is it a durability-enhanced frying pan? Why is it so sturdy when it’s neither a shop item nor a reward item?

ㄴFrying pans are originally sturdy, idiot.

ㄴ No matter how sturdy, First Hunter has killed over a hundred ghouls, want to argue about it? 

ㄴif we hit your head with a frying pan 3,000 or 30,000 times? Which will break first?

I shook my head as I looked at the Constellation Gallery. Idiots. Fighting over completely useless things.

‘I should give them what they want as fan service.’

I took out the sword again. But I didn’t put away the frying pan.

“Mister… are you going to go around like that?” 

“Yes. Do you know what dual-wielding is?” 

“…What?” 

“Never mind. Let’s go find food.”

I put the sword away again. Tulip kept looking at me with strange eyes.

***

“Has this place already been looted too?”

I sighed as I looked around the empty shelves of the supermarket. Only dust had accumulated on the shelves, and torn packaging and broken display stands were scattered on the floor. It meant someone had already looted everything they could.

‘Why do they believe so much in that damned apocalypse?.’

They must have prepared in advance. Right. This madness has been going on for about a month now. That’s why I’ve stocked up on food too, afraid I might not be able to buy any for a while.

But that wasn’t to prepare for the apocalypse. I only stocked up enough to last for about one more week. Because I thought everyone would sheepishly return to their normal lives tomorrow.

“Then what do we do?” 

“What else? We’ll have to live by eating ghouls.” 

“UGH! I don’t want that!” 

“I don’t want it either. So now we either pin our hopes on the mart, or use our precious gold to buy food.”

The kid swallowed dry saliva with a tearful face. I wasn’t feeling particularly good either.

At this rate, there’s a high possibility that the mart has been looted too. But just in case, I searched the store once more.

In the current situation, not only edible things but also sellable things are important. And luckily, I found one item.

“Oh! Today’s my lucky day!”

At those words, Tulip brightened up and ran toward me.

“Did you find something to eat?” 

“No, cigarettes.”

The kid’s face filled with disappointment.

“I guess they didn’t take what kids like you can’t eat.”

I said that as I picked up the last remaining carton of cigarettes. I didn’t think there would be any cigarettes left in this situation.

“Do you smoke, mister?” 

“No.” 

“Then why bother taking them?” 

“I’m going to sell them to people who smoke.”

The kid looked puzzled.

“What’s the use of getting money? It’s a world where we can’t use such things anymore.” 

“Maybe I can trade them for food. For them, this might be more precious than rice.”

Tulip’s eyes became bright again. That’s when it happened.

“Hey, buddy.”

An unfamiliar voice. I turned my head to see a rough-looking man staring at us. No, to be precise, he was staring at my hand.

“If you don’t want to die, put that down gently.”

I looked down at my hand.

‘Store in inventory.’

In an instant, the carton of cigarettes disappeared from my hand.

“…W-what?” 

“What?” 

“Are you a magician? Playing tricks with your hands? Take it out now! Make me smell tobacco now!”

I looked at Tulip.

“Tulip.” 

“Yes?” 

“I guess people think the world is easy because I only carry a frying pan, right?”

The kid carefully looked back and forth between the man and me, then nodded. At that moment, the man took something out from his coat.

CLICK!

With a soft friction sound, what unfolded before my eyes was a folding knife. Not long, but it could be quite threatening if wielded at close range.

“Are you underestimating me?”

I looked at him indifferently.

“Excuse me. That doesn’t scare me, so put it down.”

 “Still not understanding your situation and being arrogant? I knew you looked like a crazy guy from your clothes.”

The man added with a vile smile.

“In this world now, there’s no law to protect you.”

I slowly nodded.

“That’s right.”

At those words, the man curled his lips and approached with newfound confidence. However, I immediately continued.

“And that applies to you too, mister.” 

“What, you little shit!” 

“Manyō’s Tomb, summon.”

The sword summoned into my hand. 

So ‘Manyō’s Tomb’ stuck firmly to my hand. 

The blade was emanating a crimson light.

“Ah, what kind of trick are you playing…?!” 

“Trick? Mister, you threatened me with a knife, didn’t you?”

The man’s face turned pale.

 I said, lightly tapping the blade.

“From your perspective, which one looks more dangerous?”

The man gulped.