Return of the Shattered Constellation - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

“Administrator?”

“What? Why is it appearing now?”

Jeong Choong-Jae and Kim Hyeong-Won both looked up at the same time. So did the other civilians, who had previously believed that they could relax for the remaining time, and Park Hae-Seong, who had been trying to anticipate what the quest in the second sector would be.

As the title implied, an Administrator was a being that managed Dungeons. Still, they were rarely seen, as each Administrator oversaw multiple Dungeons. Unlike deities or stars, they were beings who always gave people trials and tribulations, which meant even high rankers or apostles would avoid meeting Administrators. Why would such a being show up without warning?

Most people took a step back, their expressions filled with fear. However, Hae-Seong stepped forward to take charge as their leader.

Tap!

A pillar of light descended from the sky. When it disappeared, it revealed a rabbit-man wearing a tuxedo, standing quietly in place. He had a monocle over one eye and a pocket-watch in one hand, reminiscent of the White Rabbit from <Alice in Wonderland>.

“Oh my! I unintentionally disrupted your rest, didn’t I?” the Administrator began, greeting those present with exaggerated elegance. “It is so good to meet you all for the first time. I, Herald, am an Administrator responsible for the KR channel.”

“I’m Park Hae-Seong. I’m currently in charge of the safety zone,” Hae-Seong replied.

“Oh. I assume you are the famous player Park Hae-Seong,” Herald said.

“Do you… know me?” Hae-Seong asked.

“Of course I do. You are the sole survivor of the ‘Den of the Evil Dragon’, no? The <Management Bureau> is also keeping a close eye on you, Mr. Park Hae-Seong. It would be impossible for me not to know you,” Herald replied.

The name ‘Den of the Evil Dragon’ left a faint frown on Hae-Seong’s face, but he quickly hid his feelings and cautiously asked, “Thank you, but what brings you here…?”

“A matter has come up, for which I have to ask for your understanding,” Herald answered.

“By understanding, you mean…” Hae-Seong trailed off, his expression stiffening as he felt an ominous sense of foreboding.

“In truth, unlike the <Management Bureau>, my main principles are ‘non-intervention’ and ‘freedom’. I tried to not interfere with all of you… However, as you may know, it is difficult to act on one’s own beliefs inside an organization, is it not?” Herald remarked, before calmly continuing, “The transmission rate in this channel abruptly rose tenfold, making my bosses quite irritated… Thus, I am sorry, but it seems the difficulty level needs to be adjusted.”

“Wha…!” Hae-Seong began to splutter in protest, but Herald lightly flicked his fingers.

Flick!

[Reflecting the currently recorded achievements, the difficulty level has been revised significantly.]

[The Safe Zone has disappeared.]

[The monsters’ aggression has been increased.]

[The monsters’ damage and defense has been increased.]

…

The Safe Zone’s dividing line that had previously surrounded the civilians disappeared. At the same time, the concentration of mana in the air became so high that it was difficult to breathe. However, that was not what truly filled the civilians with horror.

Dozens of eyes that resembled will-o’-the-wisps began to appear throughout the forest surrounding the Safe Zone.

Krrr―

“W-What the…?!”

“Why all of a sudden?!”

The civilians could not help but be petrified with fear; for them, this was no different from their survival rate being lowered abruptly for no reason.

‘It’s just like back then!’ Hae-Seong thought desperately, biting down hard on his lower lip. He had experienced something similar before.

News of a super-talented novice’s appearance had attracted a lot of attention from the Celestials, and an Administrator had suddenly showed up. In an instant, a quest that had been about to end changed completely. Because of that, the evil dragon they had laid to rest with much difficulty went on a rampage, killing countless colleagues of his… The man once called the Hope of Korea had also vanished vainly in its wake.

After becoming the sole survivor, the only thing Hae-Seong had seen was a message casually thrown out by the watching Celestials.

[Disappointing.]

Later, Hae-Seong had found out that whenever a notable person of rare talent showed up, Celestials would raise the difficulty level of a quest significantly to gauge the person’s potential for becoming an apostle. They did not care one bit about the people who would be sacrificed in the process. The term they used seemed to be ‘The Filtering’.

All those who had the absolute power needed to be called high rankers had all gone through ‘The Filtering’, one after another. Hae-Seong had never imagined that the same thing would happen here!

‘Do they consider Lee Chang-Sun to have that much talent?’

While Second Lieutenant Park Hae-Seong was screaming silently, the Dungeon underwent the final stage of its transformation.

Thump!

[As the difficulty level rises, the remaining time has reached zero.]

[Free will has been granted to the monsters.]

[Currently, they are in the ‘Hungry’ state. Survive the hungry predators’ attack.]

[The <Form Party> function has been unlocked. The maximum number of members in each party is 10. Depending on individual contribution, various armaments may be acquired.]

[Successfully hunting monsters will cause them to drop a <Sarira of Fire> with a certain probability.]

[Each party requires 99 Sariras to earn the qualification to pass through the second sector.]

“Ahh! What is this…?!”

“I’ve never heard such a thing!”

The forest soon filled with people’s screams, as the monsters grew exponentially in number and their howls grew louder..

[The monster wave will begin in five seconds.]

[5.]

[4.]

“Then, I wish you all the best,” Herald said while watching people running around in confusion, before bowing elegantly and vanishing without a trace.

[1.]

[0.]

[The second sector has been opened.]

“S-Stop them!”

“S-Sh-Shit! What’s going on now?!”

Hae-Seong tried to cast the skill he had acquired across as wide an area as possible, intending to stop the monsters at all costs. As the system message announced the beginning of the monster wave, however, a large pack of fire-breathing dogs began to charge forth.

Woof, woof!

However, just then…

Pah―!

One person suddenly shot forward, passing Hae-Seong while thinking ‘This is my chance!’

It was Choong-Jae.

[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ blesses…]

Crackle―!

All of a sudden, there was an error in the message window, scrambling several of the letters on screen.

[The Celestial ‘Great #### the ### ####’ blesses you!]

* * *

[Acquired ‘Bloody Mamba’s Poisonous Fang’!]

‘I got it,’ Chang-Sun thought as he finished butchering the Bloody Mamba. When only the parts he wanted were left, his eyes shone. He had finally received the first clues toward achieving the [Impervious Body].

Of course, to use the Bloody Mamba’s body to the fullest extent, he would require other ingredients, along with fulfilling other necessary conditions. Still, the sense of accomplishment from finally achieving the first step brought him great joy.

However, that feeling came to an end quickly, as an incessant series of messages from the Dungeon suddenly appeared.

[The second sector has been opened.]

[The deities who show interest in you wonder about your future exploits.]

[The deities who show interest in you have placed wagers on how long you will survive.]

“What?” Chang-Sun muttered, narrowing his eyes. He thought ‘Have they already begun the Filtering?’

Celestials did not normally pay much attention to mere mortals’ life and death. After all, the vast universe overflowed with various civilizations, and each civilization was filled with countless intelligent lives.

All they wanted was more faith. In order to make that happen, they were only interested in acquiring talented apostles who could do their bidding in the Saha World.

Still, even if a fine candidate were to appear, that did not mean they could blindly bless the candidate and make them an apostle. Pabilsag was the odd one out; ordinarily, Celestials were particularly determined to choose apostles through a highly selective process.

Therefore, whenever they discovered a promising candidate, they went directly to the <Management Bureau> to make a request. They would drastically raise the difficulty level of the Dungeon to put the apostle candidate in harm’s way.

If they had superb <Talents> and <Traits>, candidates’ potential would flourish one way or another in a crisis. If not, they would just disappear, buried among the ordinary people, at which point the Celestials’ interest would fade away as if it had never existed. They would never care about the victims of such a crisis, either.

That was how the term <Tutorial> arose to describe such crisis scenarios.

Players had begun to consider them tribulations used by Celestials to awaken people into great Players, taking the word ‘tutorial’ to mean ‘instruction manual’.

‘It’s stupid to believe that.’

The ‘Tutorial’ was actually a special manual made by the <Management Bureau> for Celestials.

Therefore, Chang-Sun had assumed that as long as he was carrying out the quest in the Dungeon, the Tutorial would be activated in some way or another. However, he had thought that it would only begin when it was time for sector three or four to open.

‘Is this because I won the wager with Pabilsag?’ he thought. From the looks of it, he had attracted far more attention from the Celestials than he anticipated.

Shoving the [Bloody Mamba’s Poisonous Fang] into an inner pocket, Chang-Sun quickly inspected his physical condition.

[HP: 151/448]

[Mana: 8/250]

‘It’s a mess.’

Only a third of his HP was left, and his mana was almost gone. He could refill his HP with [Soul Exploitation], but there was not much he could do to restore mana, which he needed to use his skills.

However, there was a bigger problem giving him a headache…

[Stamina: 2/30]

‘My stamina is almost depleted.’

No matter how much mental fortitude Chang-Sun had, it would be strange for his physical condition to be normal. He had acquired his first class and killed a Bloody Mamba in less than half a day with his wasted body. That was why he had really wanted to rest during the break period.

‘I guess things aren’t going to work in my favor.’.

Pah―!

As soon as Chang-Sun reached his conclusion, he firmly gripped [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] and shot forward.

In the past, he had more often than not been forced to face crisis situations in poor physical condition, rather than having the luxury of taking them on in peak condition. Each time, he had been victorious. That was how the legend of ‘Divine Twilight’ had been born.

Rustle, rustle―!

“A Fire Lizard?” Chang-Sun remarked.

A large reptile leaped out of a nearby thicket. It resembled an ordinary gecko, but it was two meters long. It had a violent nature, seeking to burn everything in its sight.

‘First came biotoxin, and second came flame toxin. Will it be in the order of ice toxin, mineral toxin, and corpse toxin next?’

Chang-Sun recalled the pattern that would manifest based on the quest theme as he tried to hit the lizard with a sliding tackle. In response, the Fire Lizard spat out a fireball.

‘Then what I need to do from here is…’

Chang-Sun ducked, narrowly dodging the fireball. Then, he struck with [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth], aiming for the Fire Lizard’s lower body.

‘Accumulate fire energy!’

Slash!

[Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] quickly slashed through the Fire Lizard’s leg, just beneath the joint. It wailed in pain and twisted its body in an attempt to bash Chang-Sun’s head in with its tail. However, Chang-Sun had already rolled away, well out of striking distance.

Thud!

The Fire Lizard’s tail pounded down on nothing but empty ground. Once again, Chang-Sun closed in on it, slashing toward its vulnerable carotid artery.

Rip―!

Squirt!

Kiee! Kieeee!

The Fire Lizard struggled, spitting more fireballs as blood poured from its body. However, the fireballs did not hit Chang-Sun even once, passing harmlessly through the air. In contrast, [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] unleashed several quick, deep cuts, only striking the fire lizard’s weak points.

Slash―!

Rip, rip!

Boom―!

Thump!

[Successfully hunted a Fire Lizard!]

[Level up!]

The Fire Lizard collapsed onto the ground, completely helpless to resist.

‘It has way more HP than the Black Mambas… If these things moved in groups, I would have a hard time hunting.’

While trying to think of easier ways to hunt the Fire Lizards, Chang-Sun butchered the dead monster as quickly as he had the Black Mambas. Soon, he uncovered a red marble located in its left chest.

[Found ‘Sarira of Fire’.]

A Sarira of Fire was the fruit and essence of all the fire energy that Fire Lizards carried. To pass through the sector, it was a must-have.

Chang-Sun stuffed it into his mouth as if it were nothing.

Crack!

As soon as he bit down on the sarira, it was as if a burning ball of fire filled his mouth. A horrible pain accompanied it, but he simply swallowed it whole without regard for it. It left a burning trail from his esophagus to his stomach, and he could smell the stench of his own scorched flesh.

[Successfully swallowed ‘Sarira of Fire’!]

[Acquired Lesser Fire Resistance.]

[Fire energy has increased by 2.]

After checking the message, Chang-Sun quickly headed toward the second area, where Fire Lizards and other fire-type monsters roamed.

In part, he did intend to minimize the damage for the unlucky people who had to experience the Tutorial because of him. More importantly, however, if others were given a chance to achieve brilliant exploits, that would mean fewer sariras for Chang-Sun, and he would never let that happen.

That was because he planned to accumulate as much fire energy as possible by eating many more sariras than the quest required. They were the hidden piece he needed to achieve the second condition for acquiring the [Impervious Body].

‘[Heat of the Eight Trigrams Brazier]. I’ll get the ember needed to light the brazier here.’