Chapter 17  

Unable to understand it, Choi Yeonseung became puzzled.

“But... You just said I still haven’t awakened?”

“It’s not that you aren’t a constellation already, but that you haven’t realized you are. Look. You still think you are just halfway there, right? That’s what I mean.”

“......”

Choi Yeonseung suddenly became anxious. He had felt this way before. It was right before hearing ‘Did the goddess deceive you?’ when he was fighting Barigos! In other words...

The anxiety of being mistaken and doing something useless on his own!

“I see. You are a very unusual being among the constellations.”

“Is it because of martial arts?”

“... That’s not it... It is extremely rare for a mortal to become a constellation.”

“?”

Choi Yeonseung cocked his head.

“Weren’t you a nightmare demon before becoming a constellation?”

Wasn’t she born a nightmare demon but trained extremely hard until she finally became her race’s master?

The girl smiled bitterly at his words. “No. I was just born as a constellation one day. The nightmare demons’ dreams and desires created me.”

It wasn’t just the soul that exuded power of existence. Little by little, every activity of one’s soul created the power of existence.

The jurisdiction of the ‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ was, as her name suggested, dreams and desires. The dreams and desires of the nightmare demons were enough to give birth to her, a new constellation that would reign over them. ?That was the norm.

“I heard that the Ruler of Blood and Brawls was born a long time ago when the Abyss was in the middle of endless blood and brawls. The same is probably true of the cat constellation. On the contrary, it is extremely rare for a mortal to become a constellation. This is my first time seeing it.”

“......”

Choi Yeonseung nodded silently at the girl’s words. Her informative explanation was easy to accept since the constellations had always felt so distant.

“We’ve been constellations since we were born, and our enemies had always been those of our kind. But you are different. That’s precisely why you still can’t accept that you are a constellation. Accept it, and you will awaken. It isn’t that big of a big deal. It’s simply acknowledging that you are one of us.”

“Is it that easy?”

“No... You have already gone through all the difficult roads. Becoming a constellation is hard.”

The girl spoke in a dumbfounded manner. She claimed he had walked incredibly difficult paths to become a constellation, but he thought it was easy. Was he a pervert who liked difficult things?

Choi Yeonseung closed his eyes without even realizing the Manipulator of Dreams and Desires thought of him that way.

Was this constellation’s words true? Did he have to just accept it? Was it that easy?

‘I am a constellation.’

[’Resonance From the World’ is activated. The world has received your call.]

[You can use your power as the constellation ‘Undefeated Incarnation of Training.’]

… It was.

Choi Yeonseung suddenly felt his presence expand far and wide. He was clearly in the Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ realm, but it felt like he could look and talk to those who were far from him if he wanted.

Everything felt natural—from what type of constellation he was to what he could do as a constellation. It was as if he knew them all from the beginning.

Choi Yeonseung shifted his perspective and looked at a nightmare demon, who was fighting a monster in a remote area. The nightmare demon was fighting fiercely.

[The ‘Undefeated Incarnation of Training’ has given you a blessing.]

Seemingly bewildered by suddenly being blessed by a constellation, the nightmare demon looked up at the sky and exclaimed. -Thank you, Constellation! ?I will surely repay your kindness!

‘Ah. This is how they do it.’

He could now tell how the other constellations looked at him and sent him message windows. And he could also give mortals great blessings using a bit of his power of existence.

“What are you doing to someone else’s race?” the girl asked him.

“Ah... Sorry. I didn’t think about that.”

“It’s fine since we’re allies, but that could cause problems if you did it to a different constellation’s subordinate. Be careful.”

The manipulator shook her finger, gesturing for him to be cautious. To be fair, even Choi Yeonseung would feel suspicious if someone contacted his apostles and sent them gifts.

‘Sigh. I have to put more thoughts into my actions from now on.’

Choi Yeonseung reflected on himself again, but not because he sent a message to a nightmare demon, one of the Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ servants. Rather, it was because he made a vain attempt to become a constellation even though he was already one. He still hadn’t learned anything despite not entering the goddess of balance’s training facility and wandering through the Abyss!

‘I’ll gladly turn a blind eye to anything for as long as I get a chance to train...’

In a way, his becoming a constellation was similar to when a magical storm swept him away. He would’ve come to the right answer if he had just given it a bit more thought. However, distracted by the chance to train, he just said, ‘Oh, then I have to train!’

Choi Yeonseung checked the personal broadcast system of the constellations (which the Manipulator of Dreams and Desires elegantly called the ‘Game of Stars.’ Choi Yeonseung refused to call it that).

The system that the constellations used to observe the mortals and their household members. The constellations could only see what was happening near them or their realm. They could see quite a distance away, but this range was too narrow compared to the infinite Abyss, which was far more vast than the universe. One of the reasons why the constellations?used their?household members was that they could see their servants’ vicinity.

“Ah. This is how you do it.” Choi Yeonseung listened to the Manipulator of Dreams and Desires and checked on the family of giant rock snakes, who were wandering and playing in the hydra’s realm. magic

‘They’re doing well.’

He could observe them since they were Choi Yeonseung’s household members.

“You can use your power of existence there to increase your field of view.”

“At that place? Isn’t that a waste?”

“You can replenish your power of existence. And you’ve probably felt this already, but a constellation’s power of existence can’t go beyond their limits. Saving it is pointless.”

For constellations, power of existence was like the MP resource in RPGs in that it replenished over time. The more souls a constellation had, the faster it could recover.

Power of existence could create various miracles. Just as one didn’t get any more MP than their total MP, constellations had to grow to increase the limits of their power of existence.

There were two ways for Choi Yeonseung to grow. Continue to train without being defeated or gather more souls.

“So this is why the constellations are so generous.”

Their power of existence would just recharge after they had used it!

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ is grumbling and telling you not to forget who is making the kitchenware now.]

“Thank you, thank you. Wait. Is that constellation using the power of existence to observe us? But this isn’t its realm, is it?

“Ah, the Cat of Lava and Magma has made an agreement with me.”

“?”

“We’ve agreed to?exchange fields of?view with each other. Alliances are rare in the Abyss, but agreements to share partial fields of view are common. Whenever a decent soul appears, all the constellations near them will make a pact and observe them. The Abyss is vast, so we need others’ vision.”

The girl’s words reminded Choi Yeonseung of what happened on Earth. Those chosen by constellations claimed that other than their master, other constellations also observed them.

‘That’s right. Did the constellations near Earth enter an agreement?’

They clearly made a pact to observe Earthlings fairly and not to secretly steal talents.

“Now that you have allied with me, let’s exchange visions.”

“Are you sure? I have very few household members.”

“I wouldn’t have formed an alliance with you if I wasn’t certain. Of course, I might prevent you from seeing some things or places.”

Using skills or the power of existence, they could block the vision of other constellations.

Choi Yeonseung looked around. The Manipulator of Dreams and Desires had obscured the places in the realm where the nightmare demons were locked up. “Why are you blocking those areas?”

“It’s embarrassing.” “......”

It was an unexpected reason, but it was convincing. Choi Yeonseung nodded.

“Is there anything else you are curious about?”

“No. I think this is enough. Thank you for teaching me.”

Choi Yeonseung expressed his gratitude, and the girl smiled. She felt more refreshed the more she looked at him. Such a constellation now existed in the Abyss. She didn’t know what would happen when more time had passed, but she wanted him to remain like this a bit longer.

“As a constellation, you’ve just taken your first steps. You already seem to be quite the powerful combatant even among our kind, but you should still be careful. Battles between constellations aren't determined by how well we fight.”

“How are they determined, then?”

“No matter how good a ruler is at fighting, they can’t win wars without a country to support them. High-ranking constellations with many household members and overwhelming power of existence ultimately have an advantage. And that only becomes clearer the longer the fight drags out. You’re certainly quite strong, but you’re only among the lower-level constellations when it comes to power of existence.”

“I see. I’ll use that as a reference point.”

The sky beyond the sky. Such was the world of constellations. The world that Choi Yeonseung rose to after so many years of training was just the starting line!

“Ah. Do you know anything about Earth?”

“Earth? I think I’ve heard about it before. Isn’t it one of the planets outside the Abyss?”

Earth, one of the planets inside the universe?but outside the Abyss. She had heard rumors that it had a huge number of souls and that powerful constellations were looking forward to its gate opening. The greedy constellations weren’t satisfied with the souls in the Abyss alone. They also wanted to rule the souls in the universe. For the constellations, the gate connecting the Abyss and the universe was a golden opportunity!

“I’m from that planet,” Choi Yeonseung told her.

“Is that so? Has its gate opened?”

“Yes.”

“I see… That had to have been chaotic.”

“Not exactly. Fortunately, the constellations noticed each other.”

Now he knew why the constellations created household members instead of invading Earth when its gate opened. They were keeping each other in check. They would lose if they fought each other, so they came to an agreement instead. Before Choi Yeonseung left, hunters and ordinary people were desiring to catch the constellations’ interest and obtain power...

Their strategy to get more worshippers worked. Still, thanks to that, Earth got the chance to adapt by raiding the Abyss’ dungeons and slaying monsters.

‘Then the future that the Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead saw... The future where the evil god constellations near the gate will invade Earth is real.’

Evil god constellations like the Ruler of Blood and Brawls didn’t like such lukewarm agreements or concessions. They didn’t need the agreement made by the constellations near the gate! They would subdue Earth’s humanity with their own strength and dominate their souls!

“You were lucky. There were probably relatively good constellations nearby.”

“I think so as well. However, it is too disturbing to just believe in them. Manipulator of Dreams and Desires, my goal is to get back to Earth.”

The girl nodded in response. Considering he was from that planet, it was understandable that he would be so attached to it. In addition, if the rumors were true, there had to be more than a billion souls on Earth. A constellation’s rank would rise tremendously if all the souls there worshipped them.

“That’s a good goal. If there is anything that I or the cat can do to help, we’ll gladly do so.”

“Thank you.”

“Can I give you one piece of advice?”

“Say it.”

“If the gate on Earth has opened and nearby constellations are observing that planet, then you probably shouldn’t reveal that you’re a constellation and return to Earth. No matter how good a constellation’s nature is, they will still keep you in check. Besides, the power of constellations strong enough to target such a planet isn’t a joke. They will be many times stronger than constellations like us.”

Other constellations would be forced to be vigilant toward a constellation that came from Earth. No matter how anyone looked at it, Choi Yeonseung would have the advantage. They would naturally suspect he was trying to monopolize the souls on Earth.

“No matter how good a constellation is, they won’t back down if it involves losing souls... It is better to hide your identity if you don’t want to be kept in check.”

“You want me to hide my identity as a constellation?”

“You can’t use the power of existence. You will get caught the moment you use it.”

“... That’s for certain. Once I’ve hidden it, what then?”

“Of course, you should be worshiped. If you’ve become matchless on that planet and its inhabitants start to worship you, their souls will naturally belong to you. It will be too late by the time the constellations realize that the souls have been taken away from them.”

The Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ strategy was excellent.

“Earth is so far away, but won’t the constellations near its gate know your identity?”

“The plan for me to secretly go back to Earth and win an Academy Award as an actor to attract the world is definitely a good plan, but...”

“Ah, no. I didn’t say that.”

“Huh? Isn’t that what you meant?”