I Accidentally Plucked a Star

It was four in the morning. The monitor was the only source of light, bathing the room in a soft blue glow.

And so on. Another peaceful day in the gallery’s daily life. Even the most famous hunters end up as fresh meat for the forums overnight. Having a known name just means it’s only a matter of time before it’s your turn to get ripped apart.

For someone like me—who spent the days clearing gates and the nights lying in bed doom-scrolling the gallery—I never had that kind of talent anyway. My ambition had died a long time ago. All I needed was ramen, a warm blanket, and the next juicy piece of drama. That was enough.

I liked this trash heap of a community. That is, until that window appeared.

“The hell?”

I bit my tongue. Ow.

“…Suitable vessel?”

Before I could even finish the thought, my body lurched. My vision dropped lower. Did my height shrink? I stared at my hand… No mirror needed. The slender, pale fingers were unmistakably feminine.

Star Wielder.Astral Glyph Magic.

What kind of ability was this? I’d never heard of it. Manipulating stars… Maybe something like this?

I slowly raised my hand and reached into empty air. A point of light bloomed at my fingertip—large, cold, and impossibly distant. It felt exactly like I had plucked a single star from the night sky and embedded it there.

I drew a line from point to point. Light flowed after my finger. The lines connected, forming constellations in the air. The instant the final line touched the first point, a star descended.

Light gained substance. Substance gained weight. The scales manifested.

BOOM.

The whole room shook. Everything on the desk flew into the air at once. A colossal golden scale that looked strong enough to hold up the ceiling appeared in the middle of my studio.

This was bad. The room was trashed. How was I supposed to clean this up?

I hurriedly sent the constellation back where it belonged and took a moment to think. If I registered this power with the Association… I’d be dragged into gate clears, forced to negotiate with foreign hunter teams, and stuck doing interviews every other day.

I screamed on the inside. Aaaaaaaaagh!

I just wanted to stay hidden, earn enough to live on, and come back to this room to rest in peace. That was my life goal.

Therefore, I decided not to visit the Association.

“My shut-in life is officially protected…!”

I clenched my fist and made a solemn vow.

Back then, I genuinely believed it would stay that way.

That was already a month ago.

“Haaaaah…”

Even when I looked in the mirror, it still didn’t feel like my body. But humans are creatures of adaptation, so I had grown surprisingly used to this new life.

The real problem was something else. The moment the sun rose, my power vanished and I became a walking corpse. Without stars in the sky, all my strength drained away and even moving felt exhausting. I used to stay up late browsing the gallery anyway, but it had never been this bad. In the end I had no choice but to take only night jobs.

Today’s job was cleanup on a C-Class gate. The Association had deployed hunters to hold the line while I handled the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠aftermath once the raid was over. The fact that the hunters were all low-ranked was a little worrying… but with so many of them, it should be fine, right?

That was what I had thought. As expected, the area in front of the gate was complete chaos.

Up ahead, the five hunters the Association had sent were barely holding back the monsters. The tank was struggling to endure the attacks, the dealers weren’t putting out enough damage, and the healer looked completely out of it. Overall, it was hopeless. The only reason they were still standing was sheer numbers. The Association had clearly screwed up the staffing.

Watching the mess, I squatted behind a rock a safe distance away.

If I just wait, it’ll end eventually.

Once the hunters finished the raid, I would drag out the corpses, pick up the debris, and head home. Simple, safe, and perfect for me.

As I sat on the rock thinking, my eyelids grew heavy. It was four in the morning—technically my prime time—yet I was sleepy. Being nocturnal had its limits; right now I was just chronically sleep-deprived.

“Hey, you.”

While I was dozing off, the injured dealer recovering in the rear spotted me.

“Cleanup crew?”

“Yes.”

“You’re a girl?”

Why was he speaking so casually? I didn’t bother answering.

“Ha, the Association must really be desperate. Sending a little girl out here.”

I let it slide. The world had always tried to bite me. The best thing was to stay unnoticed from the start.

“How much are they paying you?”

“Twenty.”

“Twenty? Hey, you should be grateful for fifteen. All you’re doing is dragging out a few corpses. Fifteen, yeah?”

Cutting my pay at four in the morning. Maybe it was because the raid was dragging on and I hadn’t slept, but today I actually got angry.

“The contract is posted on the Association app. It’s twenty. And that includes hazard pay.”

I answered firmly. The hunter’s face hardened.

“A mere cleanup grunt like you—”

The moment he tried to continue, the entire gate trembled.

KUUUUNG—

A massive collision sounded from the front line. The tank flew ten meters backward, shield and all, and slammed into the ground. The breached frontline collapsed, and something the size of a house charged toward the rear.

Why was something like that coming out of a C-Class gate? The rank assessment had clearly been wrong.

The hunters shouted in panic.

“Stop it from getting to the back no matter what!”

The situation had turned urgent. The rear was under direct assault. Tanks bled heavily as they clung to the monster. The hunter who had been harassing me fell flat on his rear.

I ran for my life while thinking, If they fail to clear it, my pay for today is gone.

A failed raid meant a failed request. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠No cleanup, no payment. I would feel wronged, but the only thing waiting for me at home was cold rice in ramen broth.

Still, I couldn’t use my power. What if someone noticed?

But right then, the dealer who had fallen on his butt was snatched up in a massive orc’s grip.

He was going to die.

Against my own will, my hand rose. A star quietly formed at my fingertip. I connected the lines.

Ah. It’s already too late.

The thought that I would be discovered felt meaningless as my hand kept moving on its own. When the final line completed, the night sky tore open and the scales descended.

RUMBLE.

The scales tilted to the right. The orcs were crushed to the ground by the weight of their sins. The monsters crumpled like tin cans. Moments later, the gate itself vanished. The golden scales slowly melted back into the night sky.

“Um… Maybe that was a little too much.”

I looked around. It didn’t seem like anyone had noticed.

Whew. If this ability had been discovered, my sweet, easy life would have ended right there. I’d have to risk my life clearing gates like those hunters.

I shook my head hard, trying to scatter the terrifying mental image.

When I turned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠back, the dealer from earlier was lying motionless on top of the orc corpse, lips twitching.

“J-just now… what…”

“What do you mean?”

“Who did that just now?”

I knew nothing. I only wanted to quietly maintain this peaceful life.

“I have no idea what’s going on either…”

I answered in the most clueless civilian tone I could manage.

The dealer exhaled a shaky “Ha,” his mouth opening and closing as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words.

By then the eastern sky was turning pale. The sun was rising. I immediately felt strength drain from my legs. If I stayed any longer I would collapse in some alley and have to wait until evening.

An Orc General’s magic stone would easily sell for two thousand. Twenty was nothing. I could just leave.

“Please handle the reward properly. I’ll be going now.”

Arguing over pay seemed like too much trouble, so I decided to head straight home. Someone seemed to be calling after me, but I didn’t look back.

Still, seeing the guy who had ignored me earlier staring with a speechless, aggrieved expression was incredibly satisfying.

I went straight home, stripped off my clothes, and collapsed into bed.

When I woke up and skimmed the real-time best titles…

“…Ah.”

I was in serious trouble.

At that same moment in Seoul, every astronomer at the National Observatory had fallen into complete chaos. A star had vanished from the sky just moments ago.

“Contact the other research institutes immediately!”

“The Japanese observatory reports the exact same phenomenon!”

“There’s no way a star could just disappear…”

Even Chief Researcher Kim Sanghyuk was in a state of utter confusion.

“Is what I’m seeing right now actually real…?”

Eight stars had vanished from the sky.

“We’ve identified the singularity.”

A researcher rushed over to Kim Sanghyuk.

“What is it?”

“All the vanished stars belong to the Libra constellation.”

Now that he thought about it, that was correct. The eight stars that formed Libra had disappeared.

Then, just as suddenly, the stars reappeared.

Kim Sanghyuk, who had been observing their exact position, fainted on the spot from sheer shock.

“Hup—”

“Chief Researcher Kim Sanghyuk! The stars have reappeared!”

“Haha…”

After witnessing the miracle of stars disappearing and then returning, Chief Researcher Kim Sanghyuk collapsed with a loud thud.

“Researcher! Researcher!!”

“The researcher has fainted!”

Urgent voices echoed around him.