I Entered the Novel

I entered the novel.

It was a development so overdone it was hard even to call it cliché anymore. Yet the window that floated up before my eyes told me otherwise.

A system window.

A staple of every fantasy story out there. Naturally, it was a piece of pure fiction that had never existed for someone living an ordinary life like me.

"What the hell is this."

At first I thought I'd been kidnapped. When I woke up, I wasn't in my house; I was somewhere else entirely. My body hadn't changed—I was still myself. This wasn't possession either. And more than anything, what reason would anyone have to kidnap me? I'd lived a perfectly ordinary life without ever doing anything particularly sharp-edged. A sudden big event like a kidnapping? The fact that it was happening at all was the strange part.

"And this isn't a dream."

My cheek, swollen bright red and still burning hot, proved that much. Only after that proof that this was no dream did my gaze return to the system window.

Trait. And constellation.

Words you would never normally encounter in an ordinary world. Then maybe that other thing existed too. With that thought, I quietly spoke the idea aloud. In a situation like this, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wasn't there something everyone tried shouting?

Status window.

"It's real."

I'd already guessed as much from the trait window earlier, but seeing it for myself felt different. A hologram that refused to vanish no matter how I waved my hand, floating in my line of sight. A single window packed full of my information. The moment I saw it, I had no choice but to accept it.

I had come to another world. And not just any world—the novel I'd been reading for fun, Constellation of Black Flames.

I hadn't written any long-winded comments, hadn't harbored any real complaints; I'd just found it pretty entertaining. Not quite a life-changing masterpiece, but a novel I'd thoroughly enjoyed. That was exactly why I couldn't figure out the reason I'd been dropped into this world.

It wasn't even finished yet.

I'd entered this world right as the final episode was getting underway. Calling that a "reason" felt shaky at best. Thousands of people had been reading it, myself included. The idea that I'd somehow beaten odds of several thousand to one didn't sit right with my usual luck.

A transmigration, then.

I recognized it for what it was, yet my heart barely stirred. I hadn't been particularly attached to my original world, and I had no real complaints about this one either. If I'd landed in some post-apocalyptic hellscape on the brink of world destruction, maybe it would have been different. This world was a bright academy youth story. And even if I did have complaints, what could I do about them? There was no method to go back.

"More than that, this status window is something else."

Having resigned myself, I looked at the status window again—and it was more impressive than expected. In the bad direction. Four Ds and one C. That alone was enough to declare it with certainty.

My stats were wrecked. Seriously wrecked. Considering that even a first-year Academy student usually had at least a couple of Cs, this was downright pitiful. Mentality was a little higher, but in the low-rank range it wasn't a particularly useful stat. Just a notch below even an extra.

Still, the stats side was manageable. Low-rank stats weren't that hard to raise. The real problems were the complete absence of a patron constellation and the fact that I didn't have a single skill.

"I've literally just awakened and I'm no different from a regular person."

Constellations. Beings who, in the distant age of myth or in the modern era, had made their names so great that they accumulated divinity and became stars themselves. They formed contracts with people and shared their power. A constellation contract was strictly one-to-one. Both constellation and contractor could have only one patron and one incarnation. In return, the power a contractor received was enormous, and who you contracted with became the measure of strength in this world. Put simply, depending on which constellation you contracted with, your entire life could change completely. Even a homeless person rolling in the street could reverse their entire fate if they met the right constellation. Of course, constellations valued talent above all else, so the odds of that happening were nearly zero. But still—no patron constellation at all? It was enough to drive a man insane.

"...Maybe I should look at the trait again."

I pulled back the trait window I'd set aside for a moment and read it carefully.

The description wasn't particularly long. Name: Contractor of the Constellations. No grade. Effect: the ability to form contracts with multiple constellations. Multiple constellations. In other words, not one—many.

"What kind of broken trait is this?"

The rotten expression I'd been wearing until a moment ago flipped into shock and pure delight. Nothing else even registered. Only one single effect seized my entire attention.

Allows contracting with multiple constellations.

Multi-contracts? Able to contract with several at once? That alone was broken performance. I hadn't finished the novel, but I'd read up to the latest chapter, and I knew exactly how broken this effect was. The variety of skills you could receive would explode. You wouldn't have to dance desperately around a single constellation anymore. I knew just how much ass-kissing a contractor had to do just to squeeze one skill out of their constellation. For someone who knew that, this was an enormous windfall.

There seems to be a limit on the number... but ten is still ten.

While other people contracted with a single constellation, I alone could contract with ten. A limit of ten barely even registered as a restriction. The one real drawback was that contracts were only possible through holy relics.

Normally a constellation simply offered a contract directly to a contractor they liked. No special conditions—just acceptance, and the contract was sealed. Compared to that, my restrictions were severe. A holy relic was a divine object containing a constellation's power. Naturally they were few in number, and even when they existed the prices were insane. It was easy to understand why the previous me in this world had never managed to contract with a constellation.

But...

Who was I? A reader who'd followed it all the way to the latest chapter, even if it wasn't finished. Not quite a life novel, but one I'd read devotedly. A reader who knew most of the settings and plot developments, if not every last detail. On top of that, I'd read it recently, so the information was still fresh. I had more than enough knowledge about holy relics that hadn't been discovered yet and could still be obtained relatively easily.

Three weeks should be doable.

From now until three weeks later—looking at the date, that was how much time remained until the Academy entrance exam. Since I'd come to this world, I at least had to see the faces of the main characters, right? So exactly three weeks. Forming a contract with my first constellation before the entrance exam—that was my goal.

Holy relics came in many kinds, their locations were just as varied, and the power contained in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠each was different. Most of the ones sitting in easy places had already been claimed by someone. So the remaining relics were the ones sitting where no one's footsteps ever reached.

"I almost actually died."

The Ilcheongeom I'd brought back was one of those relics.

One of the swords used by Gucheon Hyeonnyeo, a figure from Taoist mythology rooted in China. According to the description, its performance wasn't particularly outstanding. It had the absolute rank-up effect, but nothing else. At least in the early stages it wouldn't be much help.

But this is enough.

The whole reason I'd gone after a holy relic was to form a contract with the constellation tied to it. Gucheon Hyeonnyeo was a full Legendary-grade constellation. According to the novel's setting, she also took a fair amount of interest in her contractors. There could hardly be a more suitable first constellation.

"I'd prefer a Mythical-grade if I could get one... but I'd need the relic first."

The relics of the already powerful, major constellations were long gone. Mjolnir, Astrapé, Excalibur, Vasavi Shakti—anything whose name alone was famous already had an owner. Famous things were famous for a reason.

I barely managed a Legendary-grade. Mythical is...

Honestly, even obtaining a Legendary-grade constellation's relic had been a near thing. Climb to the summit of Seoraksan, then turn down a stone back path and descend underground? No wonder no one had found the relic. That didn't even count as a path. Why a Chinese mythological relic ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was sitting in Korea was a bit of a question, but the original was a Korean novel, so... convenience, probably.

Thanks to that, I got it like this.

Of course, I'd nearly fallen to my death more than once or twice along the way. The full three weeks it had taken was mostly spent mapping a route down there. It almost felt like I was pioneering a new sea route. I'd mixed up the stats the protagonist Lee Shinwoo had when he obtained this with my current stats. Just because the protagonist got it easily didn't mean I could too.

"Time to make the contract."

Enough reflection. It was time to collect the reward for three weeks of effort. The moment I laid my hand on the Ilcheongeom, another system window rose before my eyes.

There was no reason to refuse.