Chapter 7: You Are Not a Constellation

A chilling voice rang through.

The moment Gong Se-yoon’s gaze brushed over my face, a shiver ran down my spine, like icy fingers tracing my back.

–You don’t think I can do it, do you? Ah… Constellation, do you not want to contract with me? Just thinking about it makes me sad. I feel like I’m about to sink into depression.

Seeing Gong Se-yoon go that far, and repeat the exact same words as Baek Eun-hoo, made it seem the rumor was true: there could only be one contractor.

At that moment, one of Gong Se-yoon’s personality traits suddenly surfaced in my mind.

<Gong Se-yoon’s Personality Traits – Highly obsessive, and once he sets his mind on something, he will achieve it no matter what.>

Either way, whether there could be only one contractor or more, the conclusion was the same.

I couldn’t recklessly contract with Gong Se-yoon right now.

What should I do?

Trying to smooth things over with coins wouldn’t work, he didn’t care about them at all…

If I wanted to log out without earning his hatred, the only option was to placate him somehow.

<The Constellation, Creator of Sacrifice, tightly hugs Gong Se-yoon.>
<The Constellation, Creator of Sacrifice, asks for just one day.>

The cold, oppressive aura surrounding Gong Se-yoon slowly began to dissipate.

–One day? Why? If you really meant it, we could just do it right now. So… you really don’t like me after all?

<The Constellation, Creator of Sacrifice, shakes their head in denial.>
<The Constellation, Creator of Sacrifice, cups the cheek of the Awakener, Gong Se-yoon, and meets his eyes.>

–Tch… Just one day. No more than that.

<The Constellation, Creator of Sacrifice, logs out regretfully.>

“Phew…”

Letting them connect so easily just because I was worried they might be in danger, that was a mistake.

Logically speaking, they were all S-rank Awakeners with SS-rank skills, each holding over 1,000 coins.

How could they possibly be in danger?

If anything, the monsters fighting them were the pitiful ones!

“No matter how much they threaten me, I’m never logging in again. Except for Mo Jun-young…”

But when was the next quest supposed to appear?

It had been a long time since I’d completed the affection-gain quest, shouldn’t something have popped up by now?

Seong Ju-an wandered around the village, talking to NPCs, then returned home, repeating the process three times.

Yet the system window was filled with nothing but connection requests from Baek Eun-hoo, who looked furious, and threats from Gong Se-yoon demanding access by every means imaginable.

Mo Jun-young never appeared.

****

At that very moment, the Constellations, furious beyond measure at Seong Ju-an’s actions, had formed a temporary guild and were holding a meeting.

The guild’s grandiose name was The Constellation Assembly for the Preservation of World Order.

Its true purpose, however, was simple: to eliminate Tiphereth, the Creator of Sacrifice.

[Guild] Constellation, Observer of Wisdom (Binah)— Anyone succeed in contracting an S-rank? Joo Ji-chan’s a fail for sureㅠㅠ I got cursed out with words I’ve never heard in my life. His personality is f*cking insane.

[Guild] Constellation, King in Robes (Hesed)— Failed here too. Baek Eun-hoo straight-up asked how much support I could provide. You all know I’m poor, right? I couldn’t even mention coins, I was afraid he’d be disappointed.

[Guild] Constellation, Warrior on the Chariot (Geburah)— Same with the others. Gong Se-yoon’s summoning conditions are f*cking ridiculous. Even after meeting all of them, he doesn’t say a single word. Says something about keeping his damn “principles.”

[Guild] Constellation, Wizard Who Casts Off His Robes (Yesod): Mo Jun-young just stares. Like he’s going to burn a hole through the screen. Then he starts asking questions. I thought, wow, truly the kind-hearted Mo Jun-young… but the moment I brought up contracting, he said he was already in talks with another Constellation and rejected me. Then why ask all that stuff? ㅠㅠ

Without an S-rank, even forming a party wouldn’t be enough to clear high-level dungeons.

The Constellations had delayed contracting until the Awakeners leveled up and acquired advanced skills, only to swoop in at the perfect moment and steal the spotlight.

They couldn’t forgive Seong Ju-an, who had monopolized the interest of every S-rank Awakener without contracting with a single one.

[Guild] Observer of Wisdom (Binah)— I really don’t get it. Where did all those coins come from, and how did he match with every S-rank on the very first quest?

[Guild] Warrior on the Chariot (Geburah)— Is that what matters right now? I’m saying we crush them. If we leave them alone, who knows what they’ll do. Especially Se-yoon, he’s already fallen for them. Sh*t. He’s depressed all the time as it is, he barely ever feels happy!

[Guild] King in Robes (Hesed)— Binah, you really think too much.

[Guild] Wizard Who Cast Off His Robes (Yesod)— Agreed. And Geburah doesn’t think enough.

[Guild] Observer of Wisdom (Binah)— No, something’s off. Joo Ji-chan hates Constellations. You can barely get a kind word out of him. Why would he show interest in that one?

The meeting dragged on in the same tedious pattern.

Eventually, they began to wonder why Tiphereth had captured the attention of every S-rank Awakener yet refused to contract with any of them.

The answer was known to Hesed, who had matched with Baek Eun-hoo.

[Guild] King in Robes (Hesed)— Baek Eun-hoo told me. He thinks Tiphereth can only contract with one person, so they’re weighing their options.

[Guild] Observer of Wisdom (Binah)— At least spreading false information to delay contracts was a good move.

[Guild] Warrior on the Chariot (Geburah)— Bullsh*t! How is that good?! That just means our Se-yoon’s obsession is getting worse!

[Guild] King in Robes (Hesed)— Exactlyㅠㅠ Baek Eun-hoo only said that because he wants Tiphereth too.

[Guild] Wizard Who Casts Off His Robes (Yesod)— Well, maybe. Still better than losing all four of them. Ugh, this is such a pain.

They began arguing again, each insisting on their own stance.

The longer the meeting went on, the further they drifted from a conclusion, leaving only deeper resentment toward Tiphereth, the Creator of Sacrifice.

Finally, Hesed, who had hidden his true nature until now, snapped.

[Guild] King in Robes (Hesed)— Enough! Let’s do what Geburah said and push them out. It’s time to use that. Does anyone object?

[Guild] Observer of Wisdom (Binah)— You mean the Voting Policy? Didn’t they say it could negatively affect us too?

The Voting Policy allowed Constellations to nullify another Constellation’s power through a vote if they committed a major offense or failed their role.

It required unanimous consent, and even imposed penalties on the voters themselves.

Because of the risk, it had never been used, not even during internal conflicts or when a Constellation harmed civilians.

[Guild] Warrior on the Chariot (Geburah)— So what if there’s backlash? The moment Mo Jun-young tells Tiphereth they can contract with all four, we’re screwed. Better to kick them out now.

[Guild] King in Robes (Hesed)— Exactly. If they’re not a Constellation, they can’t steal them anyway.

After lengthy debate, the Constellations agreed to invoke the Voting Policy.

Officially, it was because they couldn’t allow a rookie like Tiphereth to disrupt world order with infinite coins.

In truth, it was pure greed, they didn’t want to lose the Awakeners they desired.

And so, the Constellation Assembly for the Preservation of World Order disbanded after five hours, having reached a single conclusion: expel the rookie Constellation.

****

A splitting headache greeted me as I tried to open my eyes, only to fail.

Was I finally waking up?

Clutching my spinning head, I struggled upright.

Pain flared throughout my body.

After blinking several times through blurred vision, I vaguely saw my own body.

My body…?

My body?

Had I finally woken up from the dream?

Seong Ju-an hurriedly scanned his surroundings.

But the familiar office scenery was nowhere to be seen.

Nor was this the Village of Wisdom.

Towering buildings, a hospital, a bus stop, people rushing along the sidewalks…

This was clearly a modern city, one I had lived in before.

Yet it was unfamiliar.

And still, a strange sense of déjà vu lingered.

“Ah, my head. Where the hell am I?”

It didn’t feel quite like reality, but calling it a game felt wrong too.

Like dreaming within a dream, the uncertainty sent a jolt of fear through me.

“S-Status window.”

The status window appeared.

Then… it really was a dream?

Was I actually losing my mind?

Trying to understand the situation, Ju-an opened the skill window to match with Mo Jun-young, the one he’d been waiting for before falling asleep.

But for some reason, the Summoning Skill, which should have been there, was gone.

“…Why?”

The presence of the skill window, inventory, and status screen meant this wasn’t reality.

Yet the summoning skill I’d earned as a quest reward was missing.

That made no sense.

With a bad feeling, Juan checked the status window.

<Civilian: Seong Ju-an
Contractor: None
Party Members: None
Skill Grades:
None>

No.

This had to be a system error.

Panicking, Ju-an opened the inventory.

<Coins: 99999999999……>

Seeing the coins still there brought a wave of relief.

They said dreams became reality if they lasted long enough, yet I hadn’t even returned to the office, and I was relieved?

Scoffing at himself, Ju-an suddenly froze.

Without the summoning skill, he couldn’t sponsor anyone until he was matched.

Meaning: even with all these coins, he couldn’t use them.

Worse still, Gong Se-yoon’s messages, which had cluttered the system window nonstop until yesterday, had suddenly gone silent.

If only someone would match, he could test whether sponsorship was still possible…

Clutching his growling stomach, Ju-an stared anxiously at the system window.

Then, a message appeared.

<The Constellations mock you, saying you are not a Constellation.>
<You cannot sponsor 99999999999… coins.>