Otherworld Constellation Gallery Chapter 52

Otherworld Constellation Gallery 

Chapter 52.

Men hiding behind the building yawned lazily.

“Think those guys went in and got themselves killed?”

“How long do we gotta keep waiting like this?”

“Hey, bros, take a look.”

“Even a damn rat comes out when it’s done sneaking around.”

Three people trudging out of the building’s exit.

The armor of the one leading the front is especially bloody red.

The two behind him have pristine armor without a single blemish.

“Look at that man. His armor is drenched in blood. Did he do all the fighting?”

“That’s right. The two women next to him seem to be just trophies he’s carrying around.”

Kwak Man-ho narrowed his brow.

Survived the dungeon by fighting alone?

And his companions are perfectly clean?

“Didn’t I say it was a dangerous dungeon?”

“Yes. There were conditions attached. 10 high-grade entities.”

Even mid-grade is tricky, yet they casually return from a place that requires killing 10 high-grade entities to enter?

“They’re dangerous folks.”

“That’s right. Looking at it this way, that guy seems to be the one who fought with Brother Dae-ju.”

“It’s certainly dangerous to mess with them now. It’s a shame, but I’m itching to throw a punch.”

Kwak Man-ho put a cigarette in his mouth.

His right-hand man immediately opened his mouth.

“Boss. The smoke might give us away.”

“Alright, I got it. You keep a good eye on them.”

Kwak Man-ho completely hid behind the building and lit his cigarette.

“They must be tired after fighting, why don’t we ambush them now?”

“Who’s that?”

The right-hand man narrowed his eyes and turned his head.

One guy slightly raised his hand and spoke.

“Boss, now’s the perfect time. They just finished fighting, they’re completely exhausted. They just came out the door, and they must have let their guard down, right?”

“Are you crazy?”

“…Excuse me?”

“How can you think of charging in when we don’t even know their combat power? If we mess this up, we might all be done for.”

The right-hand man added in a serious voice.

“We move when we’re certain. That’s our way.”

“But we need to avenge Brother Dae-ju…”

“Because Dae-ju got taken out, we need to be even more level-headed. If we lose our minds now, who else will we sacrifice? Want to send me to the grave too? Think before you speak.”

The atmosphere became quiet as a dead mouse.

Everyone turned their attention forward again in silence.

But then.

“Boss, he’s disappeared.”

“Where did that bastard go?”

“What’s happening? The two trophies are still obediently there.”

They frantically looked around.

“Damn it, you made me look away with your useless talk. We lost him because of you.”

“If we just keep watching, won’t he appear again? His trophies are still quietly there.”

“You idiot, what if that bastard finds us first?”

“Uh, boss…”

“What is it?”

The right-hand man felt something strange.

A sinister presence that had come very close.

And that presence was at the end of his subordinate’s gaze.

“Hello.”

Someone’s voice was heard from right behind, right beside them.

“Are you looking for me?”

“…Holy shit!!”

The men screamed in unison.

The right-hand man reflexively drew his sword, but something was already at his neck.

***

I’m not playing a virtual reality game.

The reality I’m in is clearly real.

I know this in my head, but I keep getting confused.

The pain is momentary, and thanks to ‘Constellation’s Spirit,’ even that pain isn’t frightening.

So the world keeps feeling like a game.

I want stronger enemies to appear, I want to gain more varied abilities, I want to test them in real combat.

At this rate, I might end up acting like I’m playing GTA, no, more like Red Dead Redemption.

With no regard for the weight of life, I might just behead anyone who gets in my way without hesitation.

‘I clearly know that would just make me like the humans I despise…’

Tulip, Ha-rin.

If I didn’t have those two by my side, I might have broken on the first day.

I keep remembering what the Constellation Gallery said about ordinary people being devoured by the ‘Spirit’ in their egos, saying it’s not a scam.

I’m afraid I might be acting like a puppet.

‘I’m moving by my own will.’

While thinking that as I was coming out of the dungeon, I felt an unpleasant presence.

“Ha-rin.”

“Yes?”

“Is this the feeling you get when you’re being followed?”

Kang Ha-rin looked around and then tilted her head.

“I don’t feel anything right now.”

Is that so? That’s what she says.

I better check for myself.

[Title: What do we do about them OMG First hunter spotted them OMG]

They were smoking without thinking OMG.

Look behind you, guys OMG.

ㄴ It’s something you do when you need to concentrate.

ㄴ We’re screwed. It’s him; he’s here.

ㄴ Chill, he’s not gonna kill some random thugs for no reason, right?

ㄴㄴ You kidding? That guy’s insane. Don’t expect common sense.

There’s a group of guys who look obviously like trouble.

It’s a composition I’ve seen many times before.

“Damn it, you made me look away with your useless talk. We lost him because of you.”

Are they talking about me?

I quietly greeted them from behind.

“Hello? Are you looking for me?”

“…Holy shit!!”

One of them reflexively tried to draw his sword.

I was faster, and my sword was at his neck.

“You drew your sword first, so this is self-defense, right?”

“…Looking at the situation, it seems like you drew first, sir…”

The guy moved his tongue even as he gulped.

“No. I moved when I saw you reaching for your sword. I was just faster.”

Then, the oldest-looking one among them with a scar on his face opened his mouth.

“Oh my, there seems to be a misunderstanding. You suddenly appeared, and the boys were startled and moved. Let’s calm down first…”

Why does he look so tough?

His face, the fact that he’s smoking alone – he’s definitely the leader.

More importantly, whether he’s an awakened one or not is what matters most.

I thought toward him.

‘Party invite.’

No message saying I can’t invite him.

‘Shit, he’s at least an awakened one.’

Still, since I’m holding his subordinate hostage, he probably won’t move rashly.

No.

He could be someone who doesn’t care about his people, like Lee Dae-ju.

‘I need to check the rest of their strength first.’

I look at each one and try sending party invites to all of them.

‘…What? Most of them can be invited? Are they all awakened ones?’

Just as I was about to get goosebumps.

DING!

[‘Kwak Man-ho’ has accepted the party invitation.]

Why did this bastard accept the party invite?

Doesn’t he know what’s what?

“But how… even with an Intelligence of 10, it should have been impossible to detect from that distance…”

“Ah. So you know about intelligence. My intelligence is 11.”

“E-Eleven…? T-Ten should be the maximum… that can’t be possible…”

While we were having this conversation.

Another one.

And another one.

Suddenly, there was only one spot left until the party was full.

[Title: LOL sudden reinforcements LOL]

Party members increasing rapidly LOL

ㄴ Look at them accepting first and asking questions later LOL.

ㄴ First hunter is already stingy with gold, and now he has more mouths to feed LOL.

ㄴ Yeah, he’s gonna ruthlessly abandon them~.

Why are these crazy bastards all accepting? Do they even know what this is?

There’s a high probability they’ve also received contracts before.

So they think accepting anything will be beneficial, and they’re just accepting first without even knowing what it is.

‘More importantly, what should I do with these guys?’

Once they’ve become party members, we can’t attack each other.

But keeping guys who are like time bombs next to you, trusting only the flimsy fence called a ‘party,’ doesn’t make sense.

The problem is that I have no justification to kill these guys.

What if they really were drawing their swords as a defensive mechanism?

‘…It definitely doesn’t seem that way, though.’

I can’t decide to kill them based only on suspicion.

It’s crazy to judge and kill someone just because they look evil.

If I start beheading people just because they annoy me, that’s truly the end.

‘At least all the guys I’ve killed so far had some minimal justification.’

If I cross that line just once, I might start taking lives based on my mood alone.

Of course, all these thoughts and pretenses right now.

Everything is my rationalization, my excuse, my hypocrisy.

Still, I want to believe that I’ve only killed those who were ‘definitely bad guys.’

‘That’s because I still want to feel human.’

That’s when it happened.

“You bastard!! Take your hands off the boss right now! Before I tear up all your women!”

‘…What?’

As I turned my head, I saw one of them holding a knife to Tulip’s throat.

This is dangerous. If he’s also an awakened one…

DING!

[This person cannot currently be invited to the party.]

That’s a relief, at least.

More importantly, how weak is this guy’s presence that I couldn’t even detect him?

I couldn’t feel any dirty presence at all.

[Title: Oh shit I can’t watch this…]

He’s touching the comrade that  First hunter risked his life to protect…

You… have touched his reverse scale… farewell…

ㄴ First hunter’s reverse scale is gold though?

ㄴ Ah LOL I risked my life to protect you from Pimuk, so you better risk your life to get me those keys LOL.

ㄴ Ah LOL You’re my precious comrade so pick up those arrows LOL.

ㄴ PinkuPojjak) It’s time to dance~.

ㄴ Dindindindindin) He touched the reverse scale, let’s toast!

ㄴㄴ This guy is seriously so random.

ㄴㄴㄴ He’s always like that, don’t try to understand him.

That’s when it happened.

“Hey, you bastard! Put that knife down!”

“Boss! Don’t worry! I can stab her neck through the gaps in her helmet! I’ve got their lifeline in my grasp!”

“You crazy bastard!! Don’t get ahead of yourself!!”

Instead, the leader hurriedly tries to stop the guy.

Kwak Man-ho turns to his subordinate with a horrified face and barks at him, then turns to me.

“No, sir, that’s not what—!!”

Is this guy the troll position in his team, like me?

Whatever.

Thanks for clearly confirming that they’re definitely bad guys this time.

‘First, I’ll kick you out of the party.’

You too.

And you, you, you.

And you too.

‘Kick everyone out except Tulip and Ha-rin.’

The guys who got kicked from the party have bewildered expressions as they check the alerts.

While they’re confused, I’ll end this quickly.

“Swift Speed.”

The moment I push off the ground, my vision stretches out.

Starting with the ones who looked most dangerous.

SLASH. SLASH. SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH.

The sound of necks falling echoes with a time delay.

THUD. THUD. THUD THUD THUD THUD.

Bodies staggering and collapsing belatedly.

It was instantaneous.

Meanwhile, the bastard who had taken Tulip hostage.

His face, which had shown astonishment, quickly turned bright red.

Then he gritted his teeth.

‘What’s this?’

In an instant, his demeanor changed.

Clear killing intent.

A sensation I couldn’t feel until just now.

“You son of a bitch!! You die, I die!!”

He roughly raised his knife.

And just as he was about to stab Tulip’s neck.

CRACK-!

Confusion flashed in the guy’s pupils.

Then those eyes that met Tulip’s began to fill with fear.

“W-What is this……?”