The Constellations' Game — Laika

This Lord of Gold character. Something about him was decidedly off. Unlike every other mission-giver I'd dealt with so far, he seemed to know a genuinely surprising amount.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Apparently, the other Constellations had concluded that this Lord of Gold was simply pulling a prank. Probably because they had no idea that the option of "choosing nothing" even existed.

Well.

Some of the Constellations who'd been keeping quiet did look like they understood what this mission actually meant — but honestly, that didn't matter. What mattered right now was a single choice: did the fifty million won go into my pocket or not?

Gulp.

Only now did the Constellations sense something off and start voicing their confusion — but I had no spare attention to answer them. My brain was running at full tilt.

How was I racking my brain, you ask? Naturally, I was walking through every single scenario this choice might bring down on me — one by one.

In other words, the hidden option the Lord of Gold had proposed was the classic high-risk, high-return variety. And it pointed in a completely different direction from the route I'd already half settled on.

Originally I was planning something safe and steady — a route where I could keep using the Moonlight Sword. The Tempest Blader advancement... that was the idea.

The Tempest Blader was, of all the 1st hidden classes I'd ever taken, among the highest-tier and by far the most reliable. Among close-range 1st advancement classes, it boasted the largest roster of efficient evasion and gap-closing skills, and its DPS output rivaled even that of a berserker. It was a little hard to get your hands on one, sure, but if you managed to secure a wind-attribute sword, the class's potential climbed dramatically — and it kept plenty of solid options open for the 2nd advancement too. When it came to swordsmen, this was one of the very best tech trees in the game.

But even this class couldn't be acquired by simply choosing nothing. The advancement conditions were: first pick the Navigator's Sword from the initial choices, then hunt down the Winged Horror of the Firmament during the quest and claim its tail feathers.

"Haah."

Truthfully, most of the other hidden classes worked the same way. You picked one of the offered options first, then fulfilled additional conditions as the quest unfolded — that was the standard formula. Which meant that, as far as I knew, there was exactly one route in the entire game you could walk without choosing anything at all.

The insane class-random gacha... So the day I'd have to agonize over it on the live server is finally here.

Had it not been for the Lord of Gold, I wouldn't have even considered this option. And yet — why? The longer I chewed on it, the more attractive it became.

Worst case, if a production class gets rolled instead of a combat one... that's actually fine, isn't it?

The reason I'd never given this option a second thought was the memory of suffering through it during beta. Since it was a hidden option in the first place, it almost always spat out a hidden class — but even hidden production classes were a death sentence. Rolling one meant writing off an entire run of the game.

I mean, how the hell is a production class supposed to take down the Demon King that even a 0-tier hidden combat class couldn't kill?

But think it through, and the situation now was completely different. Here, there was no need for anyone to slay the Demon King. The other talented little heroes would slice him down for me, no sweat.

Besides — viewing it through the all-seeing eye of cash-farming, wasn't a production class arguably the peak? The thought was starting to feel less like a rationalization and more like a revelation.

"Hmm."

After all that agonizing, I squeezed my eyes shut.

Yeah. This had to be it.

Absolutely not. I did not sell my soul for fifty million won. This was a thoroughly rational decision, a perfectly ice-cold judgment based on nothing but logic. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠...Anyway. That's the story I'm going with.

That's right. Since it's come to this, might as well aim for the ceiling.

Who knows? Maybe my luck will go berserk and spit out some broken class I never even got to touch in beta. A god-tier blacksmith who can repair equipment at zero cost, say. Surely one of those exists, right?

Clouds, at their essence, are just a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠form of water vapor, not so different from fog. Seen from afar they look like solid white masses, but the closer you get, the more their shapes dissolve and scatter. Which meant the blindingly white mass looming right in front of us might not truly be a cloud at all — perhaps only something shaped like one.

We pushed through it, climbing the sheer cliff face, and when we crested the top, a dreamlike, otherworldly landscape spread out before us. This was the Sea of Heavens Dock. And there, half-submerged in the clouds, hanging in the sky like something out of a fever dream, floated that colossal ship —

The Celestial Ark — the very ship that every player who graduated from the Island of Beginnings was destined to board.

"We're lucky, hyung-nim."

"We are."

Leo was right. We'd drawn a good hand here. The Ark didn't stay permanently moored at the dock — the length of its stay was completely random, amounting to only about four hours out of every twenty-four. Normally, if you came here for your advancement, you'd be waiting around two hours or more. But it seemed we wouldn't need to wait at all.

"Hyung-nim, I think it's this way?"

"Yeah. We go in over there."

As we stepped onto the dock, a familiar figure entered my field of view. Hair woven of silver and gold in delicate, shifting interplay. An outfit that hovered somewhere between an ancient sailor's coat and a sacred priest's robe — an immaculate white uniform embroidered with golden constellations, worn by a tall man.

"A new navigator has arrived."

This was the master of the Ark itself — and the 1st advancement quest NPC, Lumiel.

"Ah...!"

Standing face to face with him, Leo wore an expression of unmistakable awe. And who could blame him? This NPC called Lumiel possessed a mystique and sanctity that stood alone, even within the world of Laika. Word in the awakened-hunter communities had it that he was the single most popular NPC of them all. The reason was plain enough at a glance: a face so delicately beautiful that you honestly couldn't tell, at first look, whether he was a man or a woman.

I probably wore much the same expression as Leo the first time I'd stood before Lumiel. That's how striking the man was — how seamlessly he fit into this extraordinary backdrop. Of course, having set foot on the Island of Beginnings more than a thousand times, every sight before my eyes now felt so familiar it bordered on déjà vu. I could recite even his very first line to us word for word.

Not memorized. Just... burned in.

"Are you truly prepared to leave the cradle of dimensions behind?"

Yep. Not a single syllable out of place. Just like always.

Oh, and by the way — the "cradle of dimensions" he speaks of is this very Island of Beginnings.

"The moment you set foot upon the Ark, there is no road home. All you may leave behind is a single footprint."

Whatever we did or didn't react, Lumiel continued with that same impassive face.

"Are your preparations for departure... complete?"

As I always noted: this being spared players not one ounce of genuine interest. He simply stood where he'd been placed, turning the same wheel, performing the same duties, over and over. Perhaps that very quality was the secret of his popularity. Because once we boarded the Ark and crossed to the continent, NPCs like him would be gone for good.

What do I mean by that? Simply this: unlike the NPCs of the Island of Beginnings, the locals of the continent were practically indistinguishable from real people. I'd heard that some players found the continent genuinely hard to adjust to for that very reason.

"..."

I was still mulling that over when Leo — who'd entered the dock ahead of me — naturally stepped up in front of Lumiel. The moment he crossed past him and onto the deck, the 1st advancement quest, Voyager of the Firmament, would begin. And the instant a player accepted that quest, they'd be pulled away into a dimension entirely their own.

Was the whole party dragged in together? No. This quest could not be attempted as a party. Which, honestly, made sense — but Leo, who knew that fact, hesitated ever so slightly and glanced my way. Our eyes met, and I offered him one last word.

"Go on in first. And don't forget what I told you."

"Yes, hyung-nim. I'll message you the moment I arrive."

"Okay."

Watching him go, Lumiel added one more remark — likely having sensed that Leo was hesitating at the threshold of the Ark.

"Fear is only natural. But a wind that stands still is a wind that rots."

Hmm. It's been a while since I've heard that one too.

"I will board the Ark."

At Leo's declaration, Lumiel gave a slow nod.

"Your resolve is set, then. The heavens shall guide you."

With his words finished, Leo set his steps toward the deck. And the instant his foot touched the Ark —

Vmmm—!

His form was swallowed by a radiant wash of light and slowly vanished from sight.

Which meant it was my turn now.

Step.

Without a moment's hesitation I moved forward and, just as Leo had, drew close before Lumiel. He opened his mouth with that same flat, unreadable expression.

"This Ark sails upon the footsteps of those who seek freedom. Will you count yourself among them?"

Another line I knew by heart. I nodded and answered.

"I am. I will board the Ark."

"Very well. May the God of Light walk beside you."

As his words faded, a path opened before me onto the deck, just as it had for Leo moments before.

But this was where I could not simply follow Leo's lead and charge straight into the quest.

Because, of course — this was the buildup to the class-random gacha.

"Before we begin, Lord Lumiel — I have one request."

At my words, something like an actual expression stirred across Lumiel's face for the first time.

"There are not many requests I am in a position to grant. Very well. Let us hear it."

Meanwhile, the Constellations who'd sensed something afoot had begun showering the chat with sycophantic buzz.

Then I drew a single item from my inventory and held it up.

The luck-based, broken-class gacha. Or rather — the Seeker's Altar route. A special trinket I'd purchased from the exchange for the princely sum of 500 LP, right after making up my mind to take that path.

The moment Lumiel laid eyes on the small fragment in my hand, his eyes widened dramatically.

"...!"

And to him, I added one more line.

"I wish to make a stop at the Pilgrim's Ruins."