The Constellation Returned From Hell

Chapter 316

This was the huge underground area in the Second Realm created by Endless Linked Explosions. The first Chinese hunters to enter were supposed to share information with each other and work together to find a way down...

Evidently, that didn’t happen.

“Dungeons are hard, you know. The deeper you go, the harder it is to turn back.”

Hunters who had conquered dungeons before knew how it was. The trickier and deeper the structure, the harder it was to turn around halfway through.

Getting out was difficult, and going back in after escaping was twice as hard.

At that point, no matter how low on supplies they were or how dire the situation was, many people just endured it.

“Is this place similar to a dungeon?”

“Yes. It has a very deep and complex structure... Besides, there are the orders from the Chinese leaders.”

The first, second, and third underground floor… If they got stuck while going down, they would have to give up and turn back, but even if they did that multiple times, they could still find answers. They could retread and return with other hunters, learn new skills, or find a different solution.

However, this time, the Chinese government had taken the lead and given them a clear order.

-You’re not allowed to retread. Go in there and obtain the holy relic at all costs!

...Because of that, all hunters got stuck and couldn’t descend further than the floor they were on. They also couldn’t go back up, so they moved to different locations on the same floor and tried this and that, but to no avail.

If anything, conflicts became more frequent as more hunters gathered.

“Is it because of the factions?”

“Yes. You know about this?”

“If they’re stuck with each other for long enough, all hunters, regardless of the clan, will end up fighting among each other.”

Choi Yeonseung knew it well. After all, it was difficult for hunters to maintain their composure when clearing a dungeon in a hurry. Moreover, what if they took a break along the way or got stuck? When that happened, hunters would lose sight of the objective and start thinking about other things…

-Wait… If I clear this, won’t I have to share the rewards with these assholes?

-These bastards pissed me off during the clan battle the other day...

The clans fought for profit, but as far as the Chinese factions went, it was more or less survival of the fittest. If a faction was pushed out, they would have to go somewhere else...

Because of that, the dungeon in the Second Realm had become a ruthless place with all sorts of fighting and scheming.

“Master was deeply saddened to see the humans of Earth getting preoccupied with trivial matters instead of doing raids.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

It was understandable. Choi Yeonseung, too, got frustrated whenever he saw hunters participate in clan battles instead of doing raids.

The angel constellation would’ve been furious if his hunters had started fighting among themselves in the dungeon instead of figuring out how to deal with the evil god constellation.

‘Is that why he’s trying to sober them up?’

“By the way… If I get the chance to attack, I won’t hold back.”

“Of course. Master knew that when he decided to bring you here.”

The angel constellation had been aware of that possibility when he had invited Choi Yeonseung to participate in this raid. It was understandable if Choi Yeonseung managed to clear the realm instead of him!

‘...No. I’m worried because I think he values me too much.’

Choi Yeonseung was a bit nervous. Given how highly the angel constellation thought of him, wouldn’t it be shocking if he fell short of expectations?

Thinking so highly of him at a time like this…

“How long are you going to talk about this? If you brought in the household member of another constellation, you should focus on learning things from him instead of engaging in useless chatter,” Illaphael retorted from behind, criticizing the hunter after sneaking up on them.

“Ah. I’m sorry, Illaphael… But we were having a really important conversation...”

“Oh, well if it’s important, let’s continue the discussion,” continued Illaphael. He tried to find a subtle way to join their conversation. That was what he had aimed for in the first place.

Choi Yeonseung shook his head. “Nah, I’ve heard everything I wanted. There’s no point in continuing this conversation. Let’s just go straight in.”

“...”

Choi Yeonseung was considerate of Illaphael. Given that he had the nasty temper of an angel, it was best that he didn’t stay with the household member of another constellation!

“Illaphael seems to be in a terrible mood.”

“You guys must’ve had a hard time serving an angel.”

“Haha...”

***

‘A hundred people...’

Around one-fifth of the household members of the angel constellation were interested in martial arts. Choi Yeonseung looked at the martial arts they were learning and kindly taught them how to improve.

If the hunters had any shortcomings in their martial arts, Choi Yeonseung fixed them or taught them new stances. Similarly, if someone was trying to learn a martial art that didn’t fit their style, Choi Yeonseung would recommend something more appropriate.

Most of those hunters ranged from C to B-grade.

[The power of martial arts possessed by the household members of the ‘Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons’ has grown stronger.]

[Your power of existence has increased!]

The more hunters learned and improved in martial arts, the more rewards Choi Yeonseung received.

Choi Yeonseung was lost in thought.

‘How will I get a hundred people in there?’

Dragon Industry had many hunters at its disposal, but there was a surprisingly small number of hunters who were readily available for a raid.

There was a constant need for talented hunters, and dealing with company matters was hard enough as it was.

‘Aside from the Icarus clan hunters, can I bring the Mount Hua Sect clan hunters? This place seems pretty safe now that I’ve received information about it… Uh, I’ll have to think about it. Could the hunters from the Demon clan use their full strength? They don’t have much practical experience...’

Choi Yeonseung also intended to mobilize the large Korean clans like Golden Blood Fish, Bulgae, and the Six-Eyed Turtle clan. Unlike other prominent clans in the US, the big clans in South Korea were quite close to Choi Yeonseung.

-Is that so?

The goddess of sloth wondered about that. To her, it didn’t seem like Choi Yeonseung had that kind of relationship with those clans.

-We are close. First of all, I’ve known Jeong Wonuk, the leader of the Golden Blood Fish clan, since I was a low-grade hunter.

-There are some things about human friendships that are really hard to understand.

Of course, from Jeong Wonuk’s perspective, Choi Yeonseung was a troublesome adversary who knew about his dirty past. However, Choi Yeonseung didn’t think of it that way.

-The Bulgae clan is like Changsik hyung’s clan. I can talk to Kwon Yeongseung about the Six-Eyed Turtle clan. So you could say I have connections with them as well.

-I see.

Of course, from the perspective of the parties involved, it would be absurd to suddenly come to them and ask them to mobilize their hunters… However, Choi Yeonseung didn’t care.

They would benefit from this as well!

‘Speaking of which, I should contact them first. And then... I’ll go to my realm for a while’

-What are you going to do?

“I’m going to meet with the wandering constellation.”

***

[The ‘Wandering Merchant Who Sells Destiny’ is delighted to see you!]

‘I’ve felt this for a long time, but does the merchant have no customers?’ wondered Choi Yeonseung. Most constellations were so busy that it was hard to contact them. Meanwhile, the wandering constellation always responded almost instantly when called.

That served as proof that he wasn’t doing much.

-Well, normally, a constellation makes their own treasures or has their household members make them for them. They almost never try to buy it from others.

-Even so, I feel like he should have more customers than that.

It wasn’t like Choi Yeonseung didn’t understand how this treasure business worked.

The constellations that could afford to purchase such things with soul stones already had a certain amount of power on their own. Thus, they didn’t have to make such shady deals for treasures.

On the other hand, the weak constellations couldn’t afford to use their soul stones like this.

Therefore, the only customers of the wandering constellation were those who focused on combat abilities, like Choi Yeonseung.

[The ‘Wandering Merchant Who Sells Destiny’ asks what you are going to buy.]

The wandering constellation’s voice was filled with anticipation and excitement. At first, he had thought that the incarnation of training was a pest with no abilities. However, the incarnation of training had basically become his most important customer.

He constantly bought products from him even though his power of existence had risen tremendously!

[The ‘Wandering Merchant Who Sells Destiny’ says that he has prepared an advanced box for the constellation.]

-...A high-grade box.

[...?]

-I want to buy a high-grade box.

[The ‘Wandering Merchant Who Sells Destiny’ is surprised!]

It was amazing!

A high-grade box cost one million soul stones.

Above all, this was coming from Choi Yeonseung, for whom it had been difficult to buy even low-grade boxes. In spite of that, now he wanted to purchase a high-grade box…

‘I never thought I was greedy, but this is a bit nerve-wracking.’

-It is the same for me.

The goddess of sloth agreed from the side. For her, the goddess who had once ruled the Abyss, one million soul stones didn’t mean the same thing as it meant for Choi Yeonseung. He had spent a lot of time collecting this many soul stones.

On top of that, he had also received a large amount from the angel constellation, which made it even harder to believe that he was about to spend all his soul stones at once.

-Don’t you think it’s a waste?

-It kind of is, but... I have to invest them in something. I realized this when I looked at other household members.

Choi Yeonseung had realized this by looking at the household members of the angel constellation. The angel constellation had bestowed on them various artifacts.

Constellations with a long history had many treasures and showed off their strength by giving them away as rewards, but Choi Yeonseung didn’t have many artifacts.

Of course, there were many artifacts stored in the safes of Dragon Industry, but those artifacts were good only by human standards. Choi Yeonseung needed to surpass that limit and acquire some artifacts that were good by the standards of a constellation.

[The Everything Box (High-grade, Chaos):

1,000,000P.

Primordial chaos is swirling inside. If you open this box, something that a constellation needs will come out.]

‘...A household member who can create artifacts or a building that can create it… Or a skill that lets me create them.’

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ strongly suggests that you learn blacksmith skills.]

-...That would take too long.

Last time, Choi Yeonseung had received help in making the artifacts. However, it would take too long to become a good blacksmith by the standards of the cat constellation, and Choi Yeonseung wasn’t in a situation where he could focus solely on that…

‘So if I buy this, I’ll have two thousand three hundred points left, huh?’

[The ‘Wandering Merchant Who Sells Destiny’ says it has been a long time since he last sold this box.]

[He says he will give you a present since you bought this box!]

Choi Yeonseung couldn’t see the face of the wandering constellation, but he could feel that he was jumping up and down with joy.

The wandering constellation hadn't expected to sell the high-grade box. He was so glad that he even gave Choi Yeonseung three advanced boxes as a gift.

That was his gratitude for the consistent support!

‘...Ah, now I suddenly regret this...’ Choi Yeonseung clicked his tongue.

Of course, receiving three boxes as a gift was great, but humans were complicated. He suddenly felt downcast after he received them.

-Let’s open the advanced box first.

Choi Yeonseung nodded and opened the box.

[Opening the box!]

[Chaos flows and destiny is decided!]

‘Most of the things in my realm now are specialized in farming. It isn’t bad but I need to get artifact crafting.’

[’Soul-Infused Smithy’ has come out!]

“...!”

This was the first box, and yet he already got something for crafting…? At least that was what he initially thought, but something was strange.

‘Wait. It’s not a dwarf. It’s a smithy.’

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says it is good! Let’s take this opportunity to make things together!]

‘...’

Choi Yeonseung frowned. Still, there were two left...

[Opening the box!]

[Chaos flows and destiny is decided!]

[The ‘Sacred Sanctuary of Asceticism’ has come out!]

-Ah. This one is really good.

The goddess of sloth was glad to see the sanctuary, which was familiar to her.

The sanctuary had been built by a constellation during an Abyss war in the past. Even if someone was suffering from all types of curses and temptations, they could overcome all of it by entering the sanctuary and passing through the trials.

-...No. What I need now are methods to create artifacts.

-Well, since you’ve received the smithy, don’t you already have what you want, Successor...?

-......

Choi Yeonseung got a chill. How did that make any sense?

He opened the last advanced box with determination.

[Opening the box!]

[Chaos flows and destiny is decided!]

[The ‘Necklace to Tempt Constellations’ has come out!]

The goddess of sloth exclaimed. She couldn’t believe she was seeing this dangerous treasure again!

-Oh my god! I can’t believe I’m seeing it here!

-...Please tell me it’s not what I think it is.

-It’s most likely that.

[The ‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ says she can help with this.]