Otherworld Constellation Gallery Chapter 9

Otherworld Constellation Gallery

Chapter 9

“…Ah, damn it.”

Finding thread and needle upon arriving at the hospital. It’s been roughly 30 minutes since I sutured the wound by myself? This pain never gets easier to bear.

Having to stitch with one hand was the problem. I’m not even skilled at sewing, and having to rush meant the result couldn’t possibly look good. When I pierced the wound with the needle, intense pain surged through my entire body.

The pain felt like it was pounding my heart. Each time the curved needle pierced through flesh, the sensation became sharply vivid. So this is what it feels like to stitch raw without anesthesia. No wonder surgeons say they can’t imagine operating without anesthesia.

However, even this pain was merely ticklish compared to the shock of drinking the potion. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t hesitate at all while piercing through live flesh.

‘Rather than simply the difference in pain levels, I guess…’

[Title: The Constellation’s spirit is Really Tough] No matter how strong his mental fortitude is, isn’t this self-harm? It’s not like he doesn’t have potions or gold.

ㄴFor real, he’s tough, so tough .

ㄴIs he trying to save potion money right now?

ㄴWould he be doing this if he were a masochist? lol.

ㄴMaybe the potion is too painful? 

ㄴConsidering the Constellation’s spirit, I doubt he can’t use potions because they hurt? 

ㄴHe’s just being stingy lolololol

[Title: Does First Hunter Think This is a Game? lol] That’s going to turn to shit if he keeps saving it. This guy didn’t learn anything from watching the werewolf lol.

ㄴSeriously, just use what was generously sponsored lol .

ㄴYeah posting here doesn’t reach him anyway lol

ㄴOh lol if you’re annoyed, speak through revelation lololololol.

ㄴHe’s saving it because he knows it’s not a game, you idiots.

ㄴFirst Hunter is smart, for real.

ㄴHe’s not wasting resources because he doesn’t know when he’ll need them, but these newbie know-nothings giving advice lol.

‘Feels like I’m watching idlers rather than constellations.’

Watching idlers, no, suturing while browsing the gallery was like what? Like knitting while having a video playing? Anyway, I tied the final knot while looking at their nonsense.

‘It’s quite crude.’

If things get worse, I’ll have to use a potion. But I can endure for now. Except for the throbbing wound site, fatigue from the intense battle, and feeling like I’d fall asleep if I closed my eyes.

I sighed, holding the surgical needle and thread in my hand. Eventually, taking the time to stitch with this would be more wasteful. But for now…

‘Store in inventory.’

As I thought quietly while looking at the items in my hand, their forms silently disappeared. The vanished needle and thread should be safely in my inventory. I brushed off my behind and stood up.

‘Where haven’t I explored yet?’

Even though I’ve already been around once, there might still be useful things left here and there. Especially medicinal items – the more the better. The problem was that many were difficult to identify their purpose… Still, I needed to check the floors I hadn’t explored yet.

I headed upstairs following the stairs. Then I heard familiar groaning sounds. I immediately stopped walking and looked toward the source of the sound.

‘Ghouls again?’

They definitely weren’t there when I came up. Is their spawning location random?

‘It’s annoying since my body is tired…’

It’s that feeling in Pokémon games when you want to spray bug repellent once you’re comfortable. But this isn’t a game now. It’s a situation where survival is at stake.

‘Still, I should earn gold when I can.’

I firmly gripped the frying pan. The familiar weight in my hand helped me establish a solid combat stance. And I quickly subdued the ghouls. As the ghouls collapsed to the ground, 10 gold notifications appeared before my eyes.

‘It’s not much, but at this rate, potions will be essential.’

It’s true that I’ve become accustomed to killing ghouls. But there’s the physical fatigue I feel as a human. If battles continue without rest from now on, I’ll definitely lose with my current body’s lack of stamina.

Even now, my arms were tingling. After swinging the frying pan at dozens of them, I felt my senses gradually dulling.

‘But I can’t just ignore gold right in front of me.’

I kept moving with just that thought, but I started to feel my stamina running out.

‘I’ve already killed dozens, am I really leveling up?’

Is all this talk about leveling up just lies? Is this what they meant by only raising facts, not stats? Or maybe… do I need to kill thousands of ghouls to gain one level? Is this why people use guns?

Such shitty thoughts were piling up when suddenly. I remembered the werewolf from earlier. On the constellation gallery, they said even though he maxed out his stats as soon as he became an incarnation, there was some limit to early stats or something.

‘So there definitely is a way to level up.’

How is that possible? Do I need to make a contract first to raise stats?

Even so, the method can’t simply be hunting. Judging by the gallery atmosphere earlier, that werewolf seemed to have rushed toward me right after making his contract.

‘I’ve killed nearly 70 and haven’t felt any level change, so there’s no way the werewolf could have killed hundreds in such a short time, right?’

He’s certainly capable enough. But even though he made loud noises to attract them, only about 60 gathered. So if he had wandered around killing hundreds, he couldn’t have appeared so quickly.

Then there’s only one answer.

‘Stats window.’

With that thought, a translucent window unfolded before my eyes.

─────────── 

[Stats]

Stamina: 3 (+) 

Strength: 3 (+) 

Agility: 2 (+) 

Intelligence: 1 (+) 

───────────

What stands out is the [+] sign.

‘So it was this after all.’

Although I don’t see any stat points, I understand that I need to press that to increase them. Right now my Stamina is lacking, so I should increase Stamina first.

[500 gold is required to increase your level.]

‘500 gold?’

Killing one ghoul gives 10 gold. So I need to kill around 50 to raise one stat?

“Well, it’s an investment I’ll have to make anyway to survive.”

I spent 500 gold to increase my Stamina.

[Stamina +1]

Looking at the stats window, my Stamina changed to 4.

‘Hmm… I don’t really feel the difference yet.’

When I drank the potion, my fatigue completely disappeared, but I don’t feel anything like that right now. Still, since it’s the first day and I don’t know what will happen, it seemed good to invest in about double.

[Title: Whoa lol First Hunter Finally Started Leveling] So this is why the bastard was saving money? lololol.

ㄴSpend all your money on full stats? 

ㄴI feel cheated… even leveling is made easy 

ㄴSeriously, close your eyes on my future incarnation.

[Title: Why We’re Screwed] Watch First Hunter and contract with an ordinary incarnation? How the hell do you raise that? And we can’t even send revelations, damn it.

ㄴCome on, First Hunter, open the door you bastard!!!! 

ㄴI was praying he wouldn’t be able to level up at least.

 ㄴFirst Hunter please contract with me. Please contract with me. Please contract with me. Please contract with me.

└ He’s probably investing in stamina to widen the gap even more.

ㄴIs he doing this to earn more gold after increasing Stamina? lololol 

ㄴSeriously lol just a gold-obsessed bastard lololol

“Stamina is national power.”

When I tried to increase Stamina again, the required gold was displayed differently.

[1000 gold is required to increase your level.]

“…What?”

The leveling is this harsh even at the beginning? Isn’t it standard practice that you level up by killing just one snail as a beginner?

Damn, 1500 gold just to raise 2 levels. If I hadn’t received gold as First Hunter, I would have needed to kill 150 monsters just to raise 2 stats. And that’s only if I didn’t spend gold elsewhere.

“Hah… damn.”

Despite grumbling, I invested again anyway.

[Stamina +1] 

[Your Stamina level has reached 5, enhancing your overall physical endurance and vitality to the next stage.]

As the system alert appeared, my body felt lighter. The heaviness in my arms and accumulated fatigue from just before disappeared. Not completely gone, but it felt as if my stamina had recovered to some extent.

‘This makes quite a difference, more than I expected.’

I hope it doesn’t mean I need 2000 gold from now on to increase strength or agility? I should check quickly when I have the chance.

[500 gold is required to increase your level.]

[500 gold is required to increase your level.]

[500 gold is required to increase your level.]

Upon checking, fortunately strength, agility, and intelligence all cost 500 gold for the first increase. Moreover, intelligence is probably not just about becoming smarter.

‘In a world with skills and such, that must certainly be related to magical power.’

At least some of my curiosity has been satisfied. I’ve put out the urgent fire called Stamina, so I’ll invest in the rest depending on the situation.

I dusted off my hands and continued exploring the hospital. Then I stepped into the inpatient ward.

“……”

The scene before my eyes made my mouth taste bitter. Blood stains were dripping down the walls, and the floor was soaked with congealed blood. Furniture was overturned, and each bed had torn sheets along with traces of something being dragged away.

To think such things happened even inside the hospital. I sighed, clicked my tongue, and moved on.

‘Well, this wasn’t a safe zone either.’

That’s when I noticed a small movement from one of the beds. I stopped walking and looked in that direction.

A girl who looked about high school age was curled up on the bed.

With her body tightly contracted and unable to even cover herself with a blanket, she had her eyes tightly shut and was trembling.

‘No way… pretending to be dead?’

The slightly trembling fingertips. Shoulders that jerked slightly from too much tension.

‘This low-level pretending worked?’

Is it because we’re currently in what the constellations call the initial event stage that such a sloppy method works? I don’t know for sure, but it seems to have been effective on the rather stupid ghouls.

While thinking this, I made eye contact with the girl who had slightly opened her eyes to check the situation. Her eyes widened at meeting my gaze.

“Ah, ah…!” 

“Calm down. As you can see, I’m not a monster…”

“Behind you, behind you…!”

Behind me?

 As I turned my head in confusion. A blade was swung right in front of my face.