[Mom is My Constellation] Chapter 88: "Stop!" Sung Hyun-sook Shouts!
"Uh, uh. Why?"
I was just about to seriously activate Spirit Summon when Mom's restraint came through.
Ice Mask first, before that!
— 'Sung Hyun-sook' advises ♡
"Oh, right. Almost screwed up big time. Thanks, Mom."
I'd gotten too excited about acquiring my first Pokémon and rushed ahead.
For reference, here's my plan.
Sneak into the gate they're raiding tomorrow, and inside, take down that Milo bastard.
To slip in undetected, I'd need to disguise myself with Ice Mask first, right?
And the target for that was this Paul Holt jerk.
While you're at it, check his memories too!
— 'Sung Hyun-sook' urges ♡
"Greed Photography? Really? I don't think peeking into this guy's head will give us any extra clues."
Being cautious never hurts!
— 'Sung Hyun-sook' emphasizes ♡
"Well... yeah, fair point."
I nodded quickly.
"Maybe this guy's memories have info on tomorrow's gate."
I don't expect everything to go perfectly according to plan.
The gate's environment could be a variable.
So, I first replicated the guy's appearance with Ice Mask, then peered into his head with Greed Photography.
Target's memories successfully preserved on the 'Film'!
Play back the photographed target's memories?
"Go for it."
And then.
Beyond the camera's viewfinder, a panorama of countless memories unfolded.
I filtered out the irrelevant fragments and kept playback going for a bit.
"...So that's how it is?"
After checking the memories, I let out a deep breath and smirked.
Yoon Chang-wook's memories didn't specify, so I hadn't known...
But the gate they planned to raid from their guild dimension tomorrow was no ordinary gate—it was a hidden gate.
"Hey, talk about perfect timing. Lucky break."
What do you mean?
— 'Sung Hyun-sook' tilts her head ♡
"Nah, nothing big..."
And I had a rough idea of what that hidden gate entailed.
I knew nothing about its internal environment, but instead—
"Feels like 'All the Bad Guys' Loot Is Mine!' season is back after a long hiatus."
—I knew exactly what spoils Milo the bastard got from that gate.
"Yeah. Come to think of it, that's right around when that guy got 'it'."
Don't say 'it'—just spill the details already!
— Constellation 'Sung Hyun-sook' demands the spoiler ♡
"Fine, got it. 'It' is..."
The spoils that gave wings to Milo Holt, the tiger himself.
I explained the loot to Mom, and as expected, her reaction came.
Isn't that an overpowered skill?!
— 'Sung Hyun-sook' is shocked ♡
"After getting it, the guy's world ranking jumped from 13th to 7th, I bet."
He especially shone in the war against the Legion of Pandemonium.
If I hadn't gotten deeply involved in tracking Milo because of this terror incident, I'd have let it slip by unnoticed...
Talk about heavenly luck.
See, this is why people should live righteously.
"Take down Milo the bastard and snag a cheat skill. Two birds with one stone."
Not two birds—three birds with one stone!
— 'Sung Hyun-sook' corrects ♡
"Why? ...Oh."
Yeah, there's one more harvest.
Now it's finally time for the real Spirit Summon.
'Spirit Summon only applies to targets I've hunted with my own hands.'
When I read the description about summoning a dead soul's spirit for 30 minutes, I once wondered about that.
Could I summon Mom or Dad as spirits?
Curious and excited, I activated the skill, and the system said:
Cannot summon spirits of targets not hunted personally!
Yeah, no dice.
...I must've sighed for a solid five minutes right there.
But,
Summon the designated target as a spirit?
"Yeah."
This guy I took down myself, so no reason it shouldn't work.
Whoosh—!
At that moment, a brilliant glow surged from Paul Holt's corpse.
The light streamed out in beams, converging at a point in the air, forming a golden orb that spat fierce sparks and pulsed like a heartbeat: thump! Thump!
The flashy skill effect beyond my expectations drew an involuntary gasp from me.
"Whoa, whoaaa..."
It could be dangerous—get back!
— 'Sung Hyun-sook' shouts urgently ♡
It looked just like a mini sun about to explode, so as Mom said, I started stepping back.
Flash—!
In an instant, a massive burst of white light blinded me.
"Ugh...!"
I reflexively raised my hand and squeezed my eyes shut. Then, a faint thud and vibration hit my ears as something landed.
I slowly opened my eyes.
And...
"...Haha."
The spirit has successfully responded to your call and been summoned!
"This guy looks way better dead than alive, huh?"
No wonder necromancers are popular in fantasy novels.
One of the world's top three art museums and London's premier tourist spot, the National Gallery.
One of its exhibition halls, alive with the vibrancy of the Renaissance, was now packed to the brim.
"A gate in an art museum? Inside a painting, no less?"
"You don't know? Hidden gates pop up unexpectedly in the most unlikely places."
"First hidden gate in England in nearly a year. And Sword and Glory is raiding it."
"This is definitely front-page material."
But the crowd wasn't tourists—it was reporters from media outlets, cameras and mics at the ready.
As they chatted while waiting eagerly for someone,
Clunk—!
"Here they come!"
"Milo Holt!"
"Get the interviews ready!"
The exhibition hall doors swung wide, and a procession entered with disciplined poise.
The murmurs stopped as if scripted.
Instead,
Click—! Click—! Click—! Click—!
The reporters' camera flashes filled the hall with dazzling light.
The fifty players of Sword and Glory strode in confidently, unfazed by the barrage.
"S-Senior... This is my first time covering a major guild."
"That aura is no joke."
A few rookie reporters gulped, overwhelmed by the elite raid party's imposing presence.
But on the other hand,
"Huh, isn't the vice-captain missing?"
"Why's only Milo Holt up front? Where's Paul Holt?"
"Weird. The participant list definitely included Paul Holt..."
Watching them enter the press room, the reporters whispered doubts.
No matter how hard they looked, the guild's vice-captain, Paul Holt, was nowhere in sight.
'...What a pain.'
And Milo Holt was feeling the same doubt as the reporters.
His brother's whereabouts? Milo himself had no clue.
'The guy steps out for a smoke and doesn't show up even on raid day?'
He hadn't appeared even after the pre-raid party ended, so Milo had called.
Just an automated message that the phone was off.
'Already stressed from Yoon Chang-wook, and now my one reliable brother is giving me headaches.'
But they couldn't cancel the raid over one missing vice-captain.
Especially not for a hidden gate of inestimable value.
"Alright, then..."
Snap—.
Milo and his raid party halted before a famous painting on the wall.
"We have about 15 minutes till entry, so we'll take a few quick questions from you reporters until then."
That lit the fuse.
Reporters shot up their hands like wildfire.
As Milo was about to point one out,
Clunk—!
The exhibition doors burst open roughly.
Reporters and guild members turned to the entrance.
The room fell silent in an instant.
"Sorry. I'm late."
There stood Paul Holt, striding in with outrageous confidence despite being fashionably late.
Of course,
"Hey, brother. Why the molting sparrow glare? People can be late taking a dump."
"You..."
No one knew the Paul Holt they saw now was actually me in disguise.
He's glaring with such a murderously fierce look!
— 'Sung Hyun-sook' complains ♡
Right?
I had a perfectly valid reason for showing up 15 minutes before gate entry.
Simple.
'Ice Mask only lasts 30 minutes.'
After 30 minutes, the effect wears off, and I revert to my original form.
Fine inside the gate, but if it drops before entry? Disaster.
"Whoa, tons of reporters."
"You little...!"
I casually stood next to Milo the bastard, earning a death glare.
Hmm, talking more would just expose my poor English anyway.
"Where the hell have you been...!"
"......"
"Not gonna answer, Paul...!"
So I just ignored him.
His whispering eyes burned with brother-or-not-beat-you desires.
Whatever. Gonna curse me out in front of all these reporters?
"We'll settle this inside later..."
As expected, no such guts. Milo ground his teeth and forced a smile.
We'll settle it inside? Says who.
"We've wasted a bit of time unintentionally. Questions now."
The 15-minute press conference flowed smoothly.
Even a bastard celebrity is still a celebrity—he handled the questions with slick eloquence.
Naturally, questions flew my way too, as the vice-captain in disguise.
But,
"No comment."
「.......」
I faithfully followed the adage: "Keep quiet and you're halfway done."
Milo the bastard twitching toward the end of his patience was hilarious.
The flustered reporters... well, sorry, but your questions weren't rude or anything.
"...That's it for the press conference. Time for us to head in."
Milo wrapped up, facial muscles twitching.
Guy's pissed.
Constellation 'Sung Hyun-sook' can't stop laughing, clutching her stomach! ♡
Don't laugh, Mom. I'm barely holding it in myself.
Pretending to be calm but sweating bullets with bloodshot eyes—that face. Year's best comedy gold.
"Hoo..."
Milo spun around hastily and extended his hand toward the painting on the wall.
A light mana emission, and crackle—! Crackle—!
Cracks spiderwebbed across the seemingly ordinary masterpiece.
As the mana in his hand thickened, the cracks intensified until—boom—!
With a roar, space tore open, and a golden gate appeared where the painting hung.
Ooh—.
The reporters gasped at the mystical sight.
I was a bit impressed too.
Hidden gates opening is always fresh and wondrous, no matter how many times you see it.
"...Looks like our mana detectors weren't malfunctioning after all."
Milo smirked, his anger subsided by the successful gate opening.
Then,
Enter the hidden dungeon, 'Altar of Proof'?
The system prompt demanded a choice.
Following the others' nods of affirmation, I nodded too.
Whoosh—!
An irresistible suction pulled me into the rift.
"...Head hurts."
The sensation of being sucked somewhere lingered for a while.
Like I'd gotten hammered the night before, a splitting headache throbbed.
"Bad vibes from the start..."
I pinched my brow, waiting for the pain to fade, when something hit me.
'...In my first playthrough, how many of the 53 who entered here made it out alive?'
I couldn't recall the exact survivor count.
But this much I remembered clearly.
'...Fewer than ten.'
They'd died in droves, no question.
A hidden gate that nearly wiped out one of England's top major guilds.
Back then, Milo claimed the devastating losses came from unimaginably strong monsters.
'If even that bastard struggled while losing minions, it won't be easy for me either.'
Milo's a problem, but first, focus on clearing this place safely.
I shook off the thoughts and opened my eyes.
Vision still blurry from the lingering headache.
But even so,
"...Huh?"
I spotted something off.
"This place feels awfully..."
Chirp chirp—.
A sparrow's trill from somewhere cut me off.
As the headache vanished and my focus sharpened,
I realized where I was and blinked in bewilderment.
"...This is my room?"
No doubt. Not the old one-room I lived in after leaving Uncle, nor my current apartment.
It was my room in the house where I used to live with Mom and Dad.