The Constellation's Game [Laika]

After going through the shocking incident with the scavenger and finally recovering some peace of mind (?), the very first thing I did was not, in fact, contacting Leo.

"Hey, Keyel."

[Do not dare to speak my name so carelessly, Master punk.]

"I'm the one who gave you that name, you know?"

[Even so, I hate it.]

What I did first, you see, was win over this so-called 'secret weapon' — the one whose power might well dwarf everything else in my arsenal combined. With my pitiful mana pool, I could at least keep him summoned outside of combat for a few minutes at a time.

"Keep that up and I won't summon you at all."

[Nrrgh… you despicable Master punk!]

"I burn through precious mana just so you can breathe fresh air out here… you ought to be grateful, brat."

But sure, whatever — mana's too low, so in combat you can't even last five seconds. Right, fair point.

True.

And it's not like you have enough to fire off even a single skill, so you're actually useless, aren't you?

That's also true.

Whew.

And yet… the problem was that this guy's specs were far too good to just shove into storage and forget about. Setting everything else aside, his raw specifications were the 'real deal'.

Word to the wise: forcing a player who's already obtained a hidden class to run around basically classless, all because he's only decent at refinement (?) — that's just unfair. I couldn't keep letting such an absurd situation stand, so I had no choice but to come up with some kind of solution.

His DPS alone has to be tens of times mine. Land even one skill and it'd hit a hundredfold.

Now, it's not as though his specs actually dwarf my attack power by dozens or hundreds of times — but in Laika, stat values always work relatively. If my attack power is low relative to the target's weight class, DPS plummets. Conversely, if my attack is high relative to their weight class, DPS skyrockets in proportion to that gap.

Which means, realistically, the difference between this overgrown lizard's DPS and mine would be no exaggeration to call tens of times over.

And so I had no choice but to shell out the princely sum of 500 LP for a single accessory — for one purpose and one purpose only: putting this guy to work.

Honestly, I never imagined I'd end up buying this pretty piece of garbage. Strip away the single fact that it extremel— that it radically solves my mana shortage, and it carries absolutely no combat value whatsoever. And it's supposedly a Hero-grade item, no less.

If it had even 3 attack power on it…

Of course, if it did, no way I'd have gotten it for 500 LP.

Either way, this necklace let me scrape together the bare minimum specs needed to actually use Keyel.

With mana topped up to the brim before summoning Keyel, I'd secured just enough to fire off one Dragon Fear. Naturally, the moment the skill went off, my mana would bottom out and he'd get un-summoned right away — but that much was unavoidable.

"So from now on, time to earn your keep, Keyel."

[Keyel has never once freeloaded a meal in his life.]

"Do you even eat?"

[I don't get hungry, but I do eat.]

"…."

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is: after one whole circus of desperate measures, my negotiations with this high-and-mighty summon finally reached a dramatic conclusion. And how did I manage it, you ask?

[Wh… what is this?]

"Try it first."

[A food… that glitters like jewelwork…]

Dragons love anything that sparkles.

"Heh heh. It's exceedingly rare. I prepared it specially, just for you."

And they love to eat.

[Perhaps worth a taste.]

Which is why this — selected through my ice-cold analysis and keen insight — was my trump card. One bite of this, and even the most insolent summon alive would have no choice but to bend his pride.

Crunch—

And my prediction struck true.

[Th… this! Such sweetness, I can even sense the nobility within it…!]

His eyes went round as saucers, golden pupils trembling.

"…."

Frankly, I found it a little uncanny — but with results like these, who's complaining?

"From now on, this is your daily wage."

[W… wage? What is that?]

"It means I give you exactly one for each day you fight alongside me."

There was a bit of resistance at first, mind you…

[Ho… how DARE you! Attempting to bribe my noble self in such a manner…!]

Was it because, by dragon reckoning, he was roughly kindergarten-aged? This kid absolutely could not resist a sweet treat.

"Don't want it? Then don't eat it."

[Th… that is not what I said, Master punk.]

Heh heh heh.

A kindergarten dragon, thinking he could out-eat a battle-hardened rice-farmer?

That said… it must genuinely be delicious. The way he squeezes his eyes shut and chews, savoring every bite — it reminds me of Siyul's face the first time I took her to a fine-dining restaurant.

[Nnngh… what IS this sensation that sets my palate ablaze?]

It's sugar, you idiot.

[It is as though I were chewing a mana crystal, carved with exquisite precision by a master jeweler.]

Attaboy?

Crunch—

[That a mere foodstuff could produce such sharp, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠resplendent crackling…!]

"…."

[Behold the essence of life condensed within this crimson orb (it is a strawberry). Its shell is hard as a dragon's scale, yet within, juices hot and sweet as volcanic lava come bursting forth.]

The sweet-toothed kindergartner dragon savored it for a long while, then went ahead and reached his own grand conclusion.

[This is no longer a mere snack.]

Then what is it?

[Mmm. This is the very pinnacle of alchemy — a triumph worthy of dragonkind's aesthetics!]

And so the dragon fell head over heels for the 'Narcotic Tanghulu' sold at the convenience store in front of our building — and in the end, he surrendered his loyalty to me.

And this is precisely… why I'd been able to confidently slap a full 1,000 LP down on the table.

[Serve me another skewer at once, Master punk!]

"I said, it's a daily wage."

[Screeeech…!]

"You work, you get paid. Capisce?"

The Corrupted Lord of the Aqueduct.

Its gimmick was, honestly, on the simple side. Once its body dropped below a certain damage threshold and it executed a specific pattern attack, it would tumble into a stagger state for just the briefest of moments — and during that window, a weak point called the 'core' would be exposed.

But exploiting that weak point was anything but easy.

The problem was the thick crust of filth shielding the core. Unless you punched through that massive layer of defense, your attacks could never even touch the thing itself.

Worse still, during the stagger phase the thing pulls its scattered filth back in and starts regenerating health — so if you fail to finish the job properly, you're actually better off never having tried. That's exactly the kind of gimmick this is.

But when the Constellations start chattering this much, what does it mean?

It means they're nervous.

And I was fully prepared to live up to their expectations.

"Leo, now!"

"Yes, sir!"

Answering my signal, Leo's blade plunged sharply into the inner seam of the boss's armpit, and with a tortured shriek from the Lord of the Aqueduct, the stagger phase began.

Kuwaaaaah—!

Which meant it was finally time for our dear summon to earn his dinner.

—Hey. Ready?

[Damn it all. To think such a trivial, vulgar creature stands as my opponent…!]

—Two skewers of tanghulu.

[…!]

—It's your first day, so consider it a bonus.

[Leave it to me, Master punk.]

And so, thanks to the benediction of Narcotic Tanghulu, I finally summoned my infuriating summon into combat for the very first time.

And true to his word, the moment he materialized on the battlefield, he promptly let loose with Dragon Fear.

Groooooar—

An overwhelming draconic cry that shook the entire aqueduct to its bones. And in the same instant, my mana was siphoned out through every inch of my body in one long, dragging pull.

"S… sir?!"

Sensing the enormous surge of killing intent, Leo whipped around to look at me —

KWAAAAAAAM—!!

In that instant, a colossal storm of mana condensed into a single blade and tore across the chamber, ripping straight toward the boss's exposed core.

KRAKAKOOM—!

Shattering—!

In other words, this was devastating power on a scale far beyond anything I'd allowed myself to hope for.

It's this strong?

KWAKWAKWAKWANG—!!!

But I wasn't exactly walking away unscathed either. With my mana drained near to nothing in a single instant, dizziness washed over me and the strength poured right out of my limbs.

Whiiine—

But none of that mattered anymore. I wasn't alone down here — I had Leo, a rock-solid party member, right beside me. He was the kind of smart, dependable partner who could carry his weight without me lifting a finger.

SHWAAAAACK—!

The core, stripped of its barrier and left hanging by threads, had been cooked so beautifully that one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tap of Leo's blade-tip would have popped it like a balloon.

And a shattered core meant a dead boss.

Which also meant the outcome of my bet had just been decided.

After the system notification chime rang out… a brief silence fell. Things had happened so fast that even the Constellations' chat had frozen solid.

But a moment later—

Once they came to their senses, the Constellations' chat messages began erupting like a storm.

But amid all that deafening noise, one single line of system text stood out above the rest.

Yes — the lovely settlement message. And the moment I laid eyes on it, I became the happiest man alive.

"Ahh."

Yes. This. This is the sweetness of capitalism, isn't it?

Watching the foolish Constellations who'd tried to skim a measly 10% and lost everything instead — it made my mood all the more refreshing.

—Didn't I tell you, hyung-nims? I said three minutes, clearly. Repeatedly.

I never lied once, did I? You all dug your own graves, didn't you?

And just as I was trading warm parting words with the Constellations…

[Master punk, this 'wage' business… when exactly do I get paid?]

My dear summon's impatience rang through my head.

—Right after we clock out today, first thing. Just hold on a little.

Suddenly remembering that a single convenience-store tanghulu costs five thousand won, my heart gave a twinge of pain… but no matter how much of a penny-pincher I am, I'm an adult who keeps his promises.

Besides, it's the 1+1 tanghulu promotion period right now, you know?

That's why I mentioned a bonus in the first place — it wasn't for nothing.

So don't you worry, buddy.