The Constellations' Game, Laika

My vision was swallowed whole by a blur of white light.

But through it, one thing still rendered with perfect clarity — the system messages.

And as I read through them…

No, why on earth is this making me so nervous?

They weren't wrong.

Guys.

Fun is not the priority right now, hyung-nims?

Something has very clearly gone wrong here?

Oh, come on!

Just let me take the Aether Thief!

That's a top-tier class!!

……?!

Now it's offering Lumen Hunter?

This is genuinely insane.

Constellations!

I am absolutely confident I can put that bow to good use!

I've always wanted to try a mana-infused archer, truly.

So please, just this once—

Whew.

Sadness washed over me, exactly as I'd expected. Wasn't it me who swore I'd never touch an archer class? True — but that was no ordinary archer. It was the GOAT of every archer class in existence, one that didn't even need arrows. To have it dangled before my eyes and snatched away… I felt so wronged I could cry.

In the beta server, I'd experienced this 'Altar's oracle' roughly ten times. But it had never once unfolded like this. The moment I stood upon the Seeker's Altar, advancement always completed within three seconds at the latest.

Messages about constellations doing this or that had never appeared either. Come to think of it, the beta server had no streaming feature — so of course this was my first time seeing any of it.

"……."

So among the constellations, there were apparently beings who could meddle with the game's system itself. At that point, you'd have to call them gods… which meant the spread in rank among constellations must be enormous.

Then is the 'Lord of Gold' a supreme-tier constellation capable of interfering with the system? Even among graduated constellations, there'd probably be gaps in authority…

Even the constellations were getting antsy. Or in a sense, even more antsy than I was — because for some reason, the system messages floating before my eyes seemed to be invisible to the watching constellations.

Yes.

Apparently so.

I'm terrified some absolutely absurd nonsense of a class is about to come out of this……

Did I seriously just sell my soul for fifty million won?

Whew.

This wasn't the beta zone. There was no reset button here. So if this gacha roll flopped, the road of suffering would stretch wide open, all the way to my 2nd advancement.

The value gap between a good class and a bad one from the Altar was, at minimum, more than twofold. Depending on the class, what you could earn in a single day might differ severalfold. One gacha pull deciding my future daily wage — suddenly I couldn't breathe.

So this was what it felt like… to be an office worker sitting down at a salary negotiation table?

"……."

Just as that thought crossed my mind—

At last, the message declaring settlement complete had arrived.

"……!"

Grrrrrooowwwl—!

I don't need a mega-corporation — I'd settle happily for a nice stable small company with a steady paycheck……

So please!

Constellations… could you possibly hand me something good? Pretty please?

……?

The instant I confirmed the class name, my brain short-circuited ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and I blinked twice.

A class I had never once seen across 1,200 loops of Laika life.

There was a 1st-tier class I didn't know about?

"Hyung-nims, by any chance… does anyone know a class called 'Alchemist of Light'?"

Whew.

I hadn't expected much, but… those useless constellations were no help at all. Which meant I'd have to fire up my own brain over the advancement stats and class skills instead—

Taking a guess: the 'Alchemist' wording, and the class's bonus stat lines, both gave off a definite production-class smell.

Hmm.

Plus, the class stat values looked pretty hefty…

Could it be… did the gacha actually succeed?

…So ran my happy little thought circuit — but honestly, I couldn't predict a thing until I took it into the field. Even reading the exclusive skill names, I genuinely couldn't tell what this class was supposed to do.

And for a 1st advancement, that was a first.

Riiing—!

I'm… going to be okay, right?

Well… it's still better than 'Jobless,' isn't it?

Belpherion, the stronghold city of the Demon Realm.

Vweeeeng—

Vwoooeeeng—!

A colossal portal tore open at the Plaza of the Burning Seal Stone — the sole safe zone in the entire Demon Realm — and players spilled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out of it one after another.

"Hahh… hoo."

"I honestly thought I was going to die this time."

Yet for some reason, the players were in an absolutely sorry state. Armor shredded to ribbons across their whole bodies was the bare baseline, and more than a few were painted head to toe in blood. Even among the priests and ranged dealers, who looked like backline support, there wasn't a single player who seemed untouched.

But their expressions were the exact opposite of their appearance. Every last one of them wore a look of fierce elation.

"I can't believe this actually worked. For real."

"Thank you for your hard work, Sword Princess."

"Wonderful work, everyone."

This party was the Ashen Citadel expedition, composed entirely of Korean rankers. Having just succeeded in the raid against 'Ashen Sword Saint Kaltador,' the eighth Calamity of the Demon Realm, no amount of exhaustion could have kept their spirits grounded.

"So we're the first domestic party to pull this off, then?"

"Most likely."

"There haven't even been five parties total — us included — that ever took down Kaltador as a single-nation raid."

"Hahh…!"

On top of that, the clear rewards worked out to over 100,000 LP in value per person, on average. Even judged by rankers' own standards, that was a considerable haul. The ear-to-ear grins spreading across some of their faces were, frankly, only natural.

"But if you asked me to do it a second time… I genuinely couldn't."

"Same here. Heh heh."

"Honestly, if it hadn't been for Sword Princess at the end, we were looking at a full wipe. Well — we'd have torn our return scrolls before that happened…."

The players each slumped down across the open ground, tending to their gear and trading remarks. The Sword Princess watched them for a moment, steadying her ragged breath, and sank briefly into thought.

Having recalled Kaltador's words, the Sword Princess gazed quietly down at the ashen shard of metal in her hand.

Zerathus's Flag and the Fragment of the Ashen Sword. Having at long last obtained both items, the rest of the quest would be a road she had to carve out alone.

'I gathered the quest items faster than I expected. Now, if I just do my part… I might manage the advancement within a month.'

Right up until this expedition, she hadn't been certain this quest was a hidden 3rd advancement quest at all. But now — having cleared the Ashen Citadel and witnessed Kaltador's words with her own two eyes — she was certain, down to the hidden class's very name.

Long, long ago… the paladin Kaltador, who held the frontmost line and waged bloody battle against the monsters. Having confirmed that the 'Ashen Sword Saint,' eighth Calamity of the Demon Realm, and the ancient mythic hero 'Paladin Kaltador' were one and the same person, there were no variables left to account for.

'I was right after all. Completing Kaltador's saga of salvation and advancing into the Radiant Sword Saint… that was the final purpose of this quest.'

No information on the 3rd advancement class 'Radiant Sword Saint' existed anywhere yet. But it was all but certain that this class stood at the very summit of the hidden classes. Every 3rd-tier class bearing the 'Sword Saint' modifier that had appeared so far… had all been monstrous enough to be rated 'beyond spec.'

So the impatience that had gnawed at the Sword Princess could finally settle, just a little.

"Hahh… so our Varga's finally getting a 3rd-advancement ranker, huh?"

"Do keep your voice down, Ranker Ryu Kang-ho."

She fielded even Kato's usual needling — the kind that would've earned a snap on any other day — with the relaxed ease of someone tossing back a name as familiar as her own.

"Hey, so that's settled then, right? You've gotta keep your promise."

"The Dragon Knight raid?"

"That's the one."

"Don't worry. When have you ever seen me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠break a promise?"

Which meant there was now just one more thing left to resolve.

'By the way… Silver Knights. Why on earth haven't these people contacted me?'

The original owner of Zerathus's Flag, whom Silver Knights had promised to trace down and identify. She still hadn't received so much as a whisper of his identity.

'They're not usually this slow with a commission, are they?'

The reason she hadn't cancelled the request even after obtaining the flag herself was a new fact she'd learned. Something she'd stumbled upon by chance, the last time she'd discussed the commission with Silver Knights.

'A Numbered Gear… So there really was something to this after all.'

Whoever it was had done their farming on the Island of Beginnings, so they'd clearly be a low-level player. And yet, by every indication, this was anything but an ordinary person.

Which meant the Sword Princess's desire to find him was, decidedly, not born of being sore about paying a small fortune for Zerathus's Flag.

In any case — that was that.

'If I'd never known, fine. But now that I do…'

Finished with her checks, she rose slowly to her feet.

"Why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are you getting up? I told you we wait until the Master arrives."

"There's somewhere I need to be. Just remembered."

There was still time to spare before the quest could proceed — enough to go looking for the seller herself. With that thought, the Sword Princess decided to log off for now.

'The Management Bureau first, I suppose.'

In a way, searching for him personally might well be the fastest route. After all, she was the only one who knew the seller's player name — she was the one who had bought Zerathus's Flag with her own hands.

"Put in a good word with the Master for me, will you?"

"Hey—!"

Her player name had been… Dave, was it?

'Hmm.'

If this was someone meticulous enough with information work to pin a false charge (?) on her… and if that same someone had also gotten their hands on unique equipment…

Then perhaps they held other information she needed as well. Special information related to Zerathus's Flag, for instance.

'They might know more than I expect.'

And, remarkably enough…

her guess was, in a certain sense, astonishingly accurate.