Otherworld Constellation Gallery Chapter 20

Otherworld Constellation Gallery

Chapter 20

Arrived in front of the mart.  

A bunch of thugs were standing like lumps, blocking the way.  

‘Aren’t they hot?’  

I found it strange that they were dressed in suits despite the sweltering weather and were staring at me just as strangely.  

“What the hell is that guy doing?”  

“Why does he look like that?”  

“Look at the tattoo on his arm.”  

Whispers slithered into my ears.  

“It’s not a tattoo, it’s embroidery.”  

“What’s this crazy bastard saying? Hey, kid. It’s dangerous, come over here.”  

“We’ll protect you. We’ll even make you pretty at night.”  

Tulip glanced up at me.  

Her face seemed to say, 

‘Are you really not going to change your clothes now?’  

I muttered nonchalantly.

“It’s fine. Looking dangerous is better.”  

“……You said you put away your weapons to avoid drawing attention.”  

“Well, that changes when the opponents are punks like these.”  

Tulip stared at me silently, then nodded.  

Meanwhile, the thugs frowned and whispered among themselves.  

“What the hell are those brats whispering about?”  

“Hey, the girl stays. You can piss off.”  

Ignoring them, I spread my arms and asked,

“Do you have big shopping bags like this in there?”  

“……What?”  

“If you do, can I have one? No, make it a few. I need to carry some stuff.”  

Silence fell for a moment.  

The thugs stared at me like I was insane.  

“Is this bastard really here to shop?”  

I looked up at the sign to confirm.  

“……This is a Supermart, right? For a second, I thought I came to the wrong place, you son of a bitch.”  

After a brief silence, one of the thugs spoke up.  

“Guess even the most pathetic lunatics show up in times like these.”  

He glanced around and added.

“What are you all standing around for? He won’t leave, so make him.”  

At that, another thug strode toward me.  

Twisting his wrist menacingly, he reached out and shoved my chest with his palm.  

“Hey, crazy bastard. Leave the girl and scram.”  

But my body didn’t budge an inch.  

Confused, he pushed again with more force.  

[Title: LMAOOO they’re picking a fight with First Hunter]  

Trying to use brute force on someone with 10 in Strength and Stamina? These crazy bastards really got guts. 

 ㄴ Lmao, typical gangsters.

 ㄴ These dumbasses act all tough, but why can’t they even handle a single ghoul?  

 ㄴ Bullies only act tough in front of weaklings.  

 ㄴ Early zones have lower difficulty, so ghouls are rare.

 ㄴ But other thugs scream like little girls and run when they see ghouls.

 ㄴ Meanwhile, they’re shitting themselves in front of First Hunter, who’s scarier than ghouls.

“What the hell…?”  

As the thug looked bewildered, another one watching frowned and spoke up.  

“Hey, what’re you doing? Stop playing around?”  

“N-no, bro. This guy… he must work out or something. He didn’t even move—”  

“Hey.”  

I cut him off.  

One of the thugs turned to glare at me, his face red with anger.  

“……Hey?”  

“Isn’t that what they call you? I just repeated it. Why so mad?”  

“T-this crazy bastard must’ve lost his mind from the heat.”  

Ignoring him, I stated plainly.

“Anyway, you pushed me first?”  

Then I shoved his chest in the same way.  

WHOOSH—! CRASH!!  

The wall shook from the impact.  

In the blink of an eye, the thug was sent flying and embedded into the wall.  

“……Huh?”  

I tilted my head at the sight of the man stuck in the wall.  

“My bad. Didn’t think you’d fly that far.”  

“W-what the hell?! You son of a bitch…! What’re you doing?! Get your weapons out, you bastards!”  

I was puzzled.  

‘Thought they’d be scared, but they’ve got more guts than I expected.’  

Guess they’re relying on numbers.  

If they’re still not backing down after seeing someone get thrown into a wall… just pulling out Manyō’s Tomb won’t be enough to scare them.  

‘Then the answer’s this, I guess.’  

I summoned my revolver.  

“What the—?!”  

One of the thugs’ pupils shook as he freaked out.  

“……Did you see that?! That bastard just pulled a gun out of thin air! Nobody else saw that?!”  

“I saw it too, bro.”  

“The hell, is he David Copperfield or something?”  

I quietly summoned bullets and loaded them one by one, muttering:  

“The generational gap in references is real.”  

They didn’t seem to hear me, whispering among themselves.  

“……Is that a real gun?”  

“Yeah, it’s real. But you’re not scared? What, you think numbers mean bullets won’t hurt? Or does fat repel bullets?”  

One of the thugs snorted.  

“Real my ass. You think we’ll piss ourselves over some toy?”  

“……Toys have color-coded parts by law, you know.”  

I checked the muzzle.  

“Does this look painted to you?”  

“What the hell is this guy even saying?”  

“Never thought I’d see someone threatening people with a gun in Korea.”  

Ah, maybe that law didn’t exist yet at this time?  

My trigger finger itched as the thugs snickered.  

“Cops get issued real bullets, right?”  

“Cops?”  

The thugs laughed harder.  

“So, what, you a cop? Or a soldier?”  

“Look at yourself, you dumbass.”  

I glanced down at my outfit.  

‘……Logical.’  

Insulting, but I couldn’t argue.  

But I could argue—with my finger.  

BANG!  

“Holy shittt!!”  

The thug stumbled back as sparks flew at his feet.  

“B-bro, that’s a real gun?!”  

“Y-you think you can threaten us with just six bullets when we outnumber you?!”  

Then—  

DING! DING! DING! … DING!  

[Some constellations have sponsored ‘Russian Roulette Bullets (6 rounds).’]  

[Some constellations have sponsored ‘Russian Roulette Bullets (6 rounds).’]  

.  

.  

[Some constellations have sponsored ‘Russian Roulette Bullets (6 rounds).’]  

These sadistic constellation bastards.  

They’re sponsoring me to shoot heads, huh?  

‘Well… thanks anyway, you bastards.’  

Smiling, I held out my palm.  

CLATTER!

Bullets poured onto my hand.  

A perfect silence followed.  

The thugs’ faces turned pale.  

“Seems like I’ve got plenty of bullets now?”  

Then, grinning, I added.

“Oh, and this isn’t a threat—I called my friends.”  

“……What?”  

“They know where I am and are on their way. If you wanna live, run now.”  

I aimed the gun at them.  

“BANG!”  

I just playfully mimicked the sound, but one of them trembled so hard he wet his pants.  

“Scared already? My friends are probably scarier than a gun, though.”  

“EEK!!”  

As soon as I finished, the thug who’d been giving orders was the first to bolt.  

“Bro! If we’re running, at least grab some food!”  

“……You idiot! Is food important now?! What if his friends have guns too?!”  

I raised a hand lightly.  

“Ah, they don’t have guns. Just daggers and bows.”  

“……!”  

The thugs exchanged glances, their faces completely drained of color.  

“……Hear that?”  

“……We’re dead if we get caught in a war.”  

“Couldn’t he be bluffing?!”  

“You fucking moron!”  

One of them screamed almost hysterically.  

“That gun’s real, you dumbass! And even if he’s lying—what, you didn’t see bullets falling out of thin air?! His outfit was weird from the start!”  

I nodded.  

No wonder he was the one giving orders.  

At least his judgment’s decent.  

[Title: UGH, First Hunter you bastard!]  

Sponsored bullets to shoot heads, but you’re just hoarding them and screwing around like a dumbass.

 ㄴ You too?

 ㄴ You too? Damn it .

 ㄴ You too? My fucking gold. 

 ㄴ Fr, wanted to see him go solo with a revolver.

 ㄴ Gotta pay First Hunter in gold to make him use it  

 ㄴ Why won’t he just kill them already? Starting to smell like hypocrisy.

 ㄴ Maybe he doesn’t wanna scare his companion? Such a saint!  

Knew it, you crazy bastards.  

If Tulip wasn’t here, I’d have just mowed them down.  

Anyway, the thugs scattered.  

As Tulip and I were about to enter the mart, someone walked out.  

“What’s all this noise?”  

A man with patchy stubble and messy, swept-back hair.  

He looked around irritably.  

“Where’d all these bastards go?”  

Noticing the thugs were gone, he clicked his tongue and grumbled.  

“Told ‘em to guard the place, but they’re slacking off. Can’t even smoke on the job. Useless brats.”  

Then his eyes met mine.  

His gaze swept over my hands.  

But I’d already put away the revolver and bullets.  

The only odd thing was my outfit.  

He fell silent for a moment.  

“Even if it’s the apocalypse, what’s with the crazy getup?”  

“Not crazy.”  

I replied flatly.  

“Just wanted to ask if you could spare some food.”  

He scanned me again, then declared bluntly:  

“No men allowed.”  

“……?”  

“Only women can come in. Healthy men can scavenge on their own.”  

His tone was indifferent, but his attitude felt like an order from ‘higher-ups.’

In other words, annoying as hell.  

“I am scavenging. That’s why I’m here.”  

“This place is taken. Find somewhere else, kid.”  

“Ah, so you’ve claimed this as your base?”  

“Stop yapping and piss off.”  

“Why do these bastards keep using informal speech?”  

“What’d you say, brat?”  

“Oh, you heard that? Thought I was muttering.”  

Then—  

A faint groan came from inside the mart.  

“……?”  

I tilted my head and glanced inside.  

Then looked back at him.  

“By any chance, is the ‘women only’ rule for something shady?”  

I asked innocently.  

His face stiffened instantly.  

A beat later—  

“Mind your own business and fuck off. You wanna die?”  

His tone was threatening.  

But to me, it just confirmed my suspicions.  

“Yeah, thought so.”  

As I muttered, his brow furrowed deeply.  

Whatever.  

Well, I could just force my way in…  

But since Tulip’s here, maybe it’s better to handle this ‘politely’?  

‘He’s probably got more thugs inside, so just pulling out Manyō’s Tomb won’t scare him.’  

I quietly summoned the revolver.  

“Let’s talk, shall we?”  

“Mister, if you keep this up, can I pull out my bow too?”  

“No.”