The Constellation's Game [Laika]
To the northeast of Lumis Territory lay a mountain range of staggering scale, easily counted among the most colossal on the entire Alterion Continent.
Known by the nickname "the Roof of Lumis," the Grenis Mountain Range was one of the most familiar hunting grounds to countless players — for the simple reason that the best hunting spots for players between Levels 30 and 60 were concentrated there more than anywhere else.
And by the same logic, the Lumis Meadow served as something of a meeting square for those very players. Situated between the territory and the mountains, it was where players gathered before heading off to their hunting grounds.
To be precise, it was the Lumis Return Stone at the very center of the meadow that stood as holy ground for players — for it was also the first resurrection point for anyone dwelling on the continent.
Which meant that, by simple common sense, no player on the mainland could avoid passing through this place.
"Once you've set foot on the continent, there's no way you don't show up here eventually……."
For Zayd and Sera, hunting for a player who had crossed over to the mainland, there could be no more certain a location than this. Especially when their target was a newbie who had succeeded in advancing to a hidden class.
"Zayd, is it possible we missed them? I'm starting to wonder if camping out here like this is…… really the right call."
Zayd shook his head at Sera's question. Two full weeks had passed, so he couldn't rule out the possibility that they'd let their 'target' slip by once. Even so, no option offered a higher chance of finding him than waiting here in front of the Lumis Return Stone.
The proof? They'd already tracked down one of the two they were looking for, easy as anything. Unfortunately, the man hadn't been carrying the 'target' with him.
"Even if they've already entered the territory, they'll have to come back out within a few days."
"Why? You need to be at least Level 30 to leave the territory……"
"They're a hidden class."
"Ah… right."
"If only for the class quest, they'll show up here sooner or later. Guaranteed."
Having convinced Sera, Zayd drew a small stone from inside his coat. Far more than a mere pebble, this 'Scale of the Star' was a rather pricey artifact — the item players called an appraisal stone.
Having paid a steep fee to borrow the thing all the way from Duskport, he had no choice but to find the target and secure it, whatever it took. Once they had the 'target' in hand, the rental fee for the appraisal stone would be pocket change — less than nothing.
"Just hang in there a little longer, Sera. The moment we get our hands on 'it'…… joining the Black Whale becomes entirely possible."
"Phew. Understood, Zayd."
The Black Whale, always ranked within the top thirty guilds worldwide, was among the very apex of Western Europe-based guilds. And Zayd had already secured admission approval from one of the Black Whale's executives — on the condition that he acquire 'it.'
In other words… the Night Chaser.
For a dark-attribute assassin like Zayd, the Night Chaser was an item that would multiply his power severalfold over.
'So please…….'
Zayd had no intention whatsoever of letting this once-in-a-lifetime gift from heaven slip away. If he became a member of the Black Whale, wealth and prestige beyond anything he could currently imagine would fall into his hands. And rising from the shadows into the light went without saying.
'If I secure the Night Chaser and get the Black Whale's backing, even becoming a ranker wouldn't be a dream.'
At that thought, his fist clenched without his noticing. A ranker. Just imagining it made his chest swell.
And it was at that exact moment—
Vmmm—
The appraisal stone in Zayd's hand suddenly began to glow red.
"Huh?!"
Both of them shot to their feet instinctively, then frantically scanned their surroundings. And in the next instant—
"……!"
Before the return portal, they spotted a single player in shabby clothes.
"I'd say… that's him."
"Heh heh. Found him."
Zayd began to walk, and the closer he drew to the man, the deeper the appraisal stone's red glow became. Confirming it, Zayd allowed one corner of his mouth to curl upward. It seemed heaven really was on his side.
I was in a genuinely foul mood. Because I'd just been subjected to an insult(?) at the hands of my own summon, of all things.
[Something feels terribly wrong.]
-Like what?
[There is no way the master of the great Kiel could be such a pathetic human.]
-……?
[Bring me my true master at once, human.]
-I am the master, I'm telling you.
[Impossible.]
-Why is it impossible?
[You are far too ugly.]
-Are you freaking serious?
Look, I'd lacked the mana to send the creature back, so in effect I'd spent a whopping 30,000 LP to summon a problem child. That sour feeling wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Sure, in the final moment the thing had grudgingly(?) acknowledged me as its master — but still.
-Just go back for now.
[I refuse.]
-Well, I refuse too. Go back.
[Aaargh! I said no, you master-punk!!]
So when a bunch of random punks suddenly blocked my path — well, I wanted it noted that my failure to be in a welcoming mood was entirely understandable.
"You there. Could you step this way for a moment?"
That was why it took me a beat too long to notice that these two were radiating considerable hostility toward me.
"Hello? Can you not hear me?"
When I'd torn the scroll and arrived at the Lumis Return Stone, my head had been full of exactly one thought: somehow, some way, I had to tame that insolent lizard.
"Whew. Talking it is, then. Fine."
But the moment the man who'd been quietly approaching drew daggers into both hands—
Shiing—!
—there was no missing it, no matter how distracted I was.
"What is this?"
The fact that this man and woman, complete strangers, held serious hostility toward me. And……
"We have some business with you, see."
The fact that I was apparently meeting scavengers far, far sooner than I'd expected.
'Well, this is a bit of a problem.'
I'd known a day like this would come eventually, but the timing was way too early, and the location was nothing I'd predicted. So no, not just a bit — this was a genuinely serious problem.
The Constellations had clearly caught on to the situation right away, because the chat started rolling in.
└ Whoa what the hell, scavengers??
└ No way, this openly lol
└ Streamer, didn't you register the Night Chaser? How'd they know?
└ Streamer, you're soooo cooked.
└ Those are clearly 2nd-advancement high-levels lmaoooo
└ Rip bozo lol you're not getting far, streamer lol
Biting down lightly on my lower lip as I watched the Constellations snicker at my expense. Their chat was all fun and games, presumably, because they knew I carried insurance.
As long as I had Horus's Feather, even if the Sword Princess came to kill me herself, I'd survive at least once. And from the Constellations' perspective, nothing could possibly be more peak entertainment than watching me burn through Horus's Feather (read: 100 million won).
└ Wow lmao today is a absolute goldmine lmaooooooo
└ Lmaooo even for Dave, scavengers who've done their 2nd advancement are a no-go lolol
Whew. Seriously, what is with everyone today?
└ You got infinite glazing all morning, so now it's your turn for the hate train lol
└ Isn't this all because you're 'too ugly,' streamer lmao
└ Pfft lmaooo true true so true lmao
└ ???
└ If you were handsome, Kiel would've helped you.
└ Oh yeah lol your ugly mug was the problem all along lolol
"……"
The Constellations were roasting me, but honestly, I wasn't even angry. I even found myself nodding along.
If I'd been able to actually make use of that insufferable lizard bastard… the situation would've looked very different from how it stood now. Even if it only lasted five seconds.
└ Just plan on using the feather and let 'em have it, streamer, fr
└ At Dave's level, couldn't you at least take one of those trash rats' arms with you?
└ If you time a counterattack on their opening, maybe?
└ Nope lol Dave-stans, y'all are overrating the streamer so hard lol
└ For real lol
Honestly, I'd never believed I could keep the fact that the Night Chaser was in my hands a secret forever. That was exactly why I'd bought Horus's Feather while I had the money.
Even so… I couldn't just burn Horus's Feather this pointlessly. Which meant I had to do something.
"Hey, you're not thinking of tearing a scroll, are you? Tearing one would just drop you right back here anyway."
"You won't escape that easily. We just need to confirm one little thing, and then we'll let you go — so why not come this way first?"
I took a quick inventory of my two scavengers. By the Constellations' assessment, they weren't opponents I could trade blows with…… but if pure survival was the goal, I didn't think every option was closed yet.
Granted, if they attacked outright, there'd be no answer left besides Horus's Feather. But judging by the look of them, going loud was a little costly for them too.
After all, if they killed me in a crowded place like this and inherited the Night Chaser, they'd be the scavengers' next target. No — they'd be the next target of whoever came scavenging after them.
'They'll want to drag me somewhere quiet first, as quietly as possible.'
Exploiting that psychology to buy as much time as I could — that would be plan number one.
"I think you've got the wrong man."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I've never made an enemy of anyone, you see."
"That's true. We don't exactly hold a grudge against you either."
"Then why is this happening, may I ask?"
"Told you already. We just need to check one thing. Something like, say… the unique item sleeping in your inventory."
The situation just got worse. Mentioning the unique item out loud was as good as declaring they'd kill me right here if push came to shove.
"A scrub whose return point is set to the front yard of Lumis, carrying an item like that? Impossible."
"If that's so, why is it shining so prettily?"
Vmmm—!
Having now confirmed the appraisal stone as well, I forcibly swallowed down the sigh trying to burst out of me.
'Whew.'
Well. That settles that. Every other plan was hereby scrapped. Even if I fought and the Feather triggered mid-fight, I'd just have to trade blows as best I could.
Shring—!
So I drew my sword first. The insolent lizard bastard just became an even greater loss.
"What's this? You actually planning to take us on?"
"You're not in your right mind."
Not an ambush, not a sneak attack — why on earth would I draw my weapon out in the open? Simple: my objective in this fight was never to deal damage to these two.
Ambushing them might net me a scrap or two of an opening…… but the fight itself would probably end too quickly, too cleanly.
By my rational judgment, what this situation demanded was a fight that was as loud and as desperate as possible.
There were other players around, after all. I'd be fighting while praying for a miracle — the kind of miracle where a player from some major guild just happened to be out in the field. Something like that.
Goooooo—!
They seemed to have given up on talking me down too, because they began preparing for combat. First, the female scavenger who looked like a mage. As she brought both hands together, mana began gathering at speed.
Judging by the scale of the mana I could sense, she intended to go all-out from the very first spell.
'A ranged spell will definitely come first. I just have to survive exactly one turn with a block.'
Drawing my shield into my free hand, I poured every ounce of focus into the fight. Magic with relatively slow projectile speeds was very much blockable with a perfect block. And if things went my way and I could deflect it straight back at that man, I might buy even more time.
"You brought all of this on yourself."
The red-haired scavenger murmured in a low voice. As her hands swept through a rapid sequence of motions, orbs of flame shaped like bullets spilled from her fingertips—
Boom— tatatatang—!
—and my face crumpled the instant I saw them.
'Of all spells — Flare Bolt?'
Flare Bolt sat at the very top of the fire school for projectile speed. In other words, the single hardest spell in the game to block had just made its entrance.
"……!"
Deflecting this on timing would take every scrap of mental focus I possessed.
Right. And so, focused on exactly that, I had gathered all my concentration. And in fact—
Paaang—!
I succeeded in perfectly blocking the first fire bolt to come screaming in.
'Huh. Maybe this is actually doable?'
But at the very moment that thought crossed my mind—
KWAAAAANG—!
—something I had not anticipated in the slightest unfolded before my eyes.
"……!"
A presence so colossal it felt as though space itself were warping — something I hadn't felt even once since my return.
"Halt."
And that was—
"If you don't want to die, why not stop right there?"
—the arrival of a savior. One who had come to protect my precious LP.