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Chapter 136: Star, The Stigma (1)

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ joyfully hops around to see you finally wake up.]

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ tells her to stop since he can see you too.]

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ asks if you’re okay, ignoring a certain Celestial.]

When Chang-Sun read Pabilsag’s numerous messages, he felt like he had really woken up. Just then, with a worried voice, Baek Gyeo-Ul asked, “Hyung? Can you hear me?”

He sat up and looked around, noticing he was in a hospital.

“Huh? Uhhh, you shouldn’t suddenly sit up like that…!” Gyeo-Ul tried to stop Chang-Sun.

Chang-Sun just shook his head in response and lightly stretched his sore muscles, feeling his body recover little by little. “I feel a little sluggish, but I’m fine.”

Just in case, Gyeo-Ul continued to carefully observe Chang-Sun’s state as he explained, “Geum-Gyu and Eun-Seo were here until just a moment ago when I told them to go home for now because I wasn’t sure when you’ll wake up.”

“I see… Do you know who saved me?” Chang-Sun asked.

As the fog in his head cleared up, he could think more clearly and vaguely remember what had happened before he passed out. He didn’t worry much at the time because the Dungeon was already closing and Jin was by his side, but Jin wasn’t the one who saved him. The arms of the person who caught him were warm, and she smelled like fresh mint. Although she sounded as if she was grumbling, she seemed to have worried about Chang-Sun…

“Ah, that has to be Agent Cha,” Gyeo-Ul replied.

“Agent Cha…? Cha Ye-Eun?” Chang-Sun remembered the face of an agent whom he had only exchanged greetings with in ‘Yeti Hill.’

“Yes.” Gyeo-Ul nodded.

Chang-Sun vividly remembered Ye-Eun. She looked too lazy to do anything, but her eyes were sharp. Numerous deities had blessed her to the level that it was hard to think of her as an ordinary human, and she was holding a vast amount of powerful mana. The most impressive part was her ‘hidden side,’ which was barely noticeable among the numerous blessings she had received and her vast mana pool.

It was as if something gigantic was squirming—as if she was holding a colossal monster. ‘It’ emitted a sharp aura and looked at Chang-Sun ‘right’ in his eyes. Although it disappeared afterward as if it never existed, she had left a very memorable impression on Chang-Sun. He considered the possibility of her being a Celestial’s divine or sacred avatar, but that didn’t seem to be the case since he would’ve definitely noticed otherwise. After all, no one could easily bypass the causality.

Anyhow, Chang-Sun had never had a proper conversation with her aside. She had left a strong impression on Chang-Sun, but that was it. Hence, it was really odd to hear that she saved him.

“Why was she there?” Chang-Sun asked.

“She said she was looking for you to talk to you about something. However, when she saw the sign of a Dungeon Break, she entered the Gate.”

Finally understanding what had happened, Chang-Sun nodded. Gyeo-Ul continued, telling him that after he received Chang-Sun’s order, he ran into First Lieutenant Park Hae-Seong and escaped the Dungeon with the survivors.

“Wait, Park Hae-Seong?” Chang-Sun stopped Gyeo-Ul.

“Yes, do you know him?” Gyeo-Ul asked.

“A little, but he’s a first lieutenant? Not second?” Chang-Sun tilted his head.

“Yup.” Gyeo-Ul nodded.

“He’s been promoted, huh,” Chang-Sun said.

Although the soldier could just have the same name, Chang-Sun thought First Lieutenant Park Hae-Seong was the one that he had run into in the Tutorial Dungeon. Jeon Choong-Jae had continuously done evil deeds back then, but instead of giving up, Hae-Seng persistently tried to protect other people, leaving a good impression on Chang-Sun. Chang-Sun was reminded of that Hae-Seong when Gyeo-Ul told him more about the soldier.

“So?” Chang-Sun asked.

“After that…” Gyro-Ul continued.

Escaping proved difficult for them because of the Parasitic Divine Tree. While growing taller, it had turned the ground upside down and quickly desertified the Dungeon. There was also a chance that the vines could take all their vital forces.

‘Hae-Seong is just as talented as Gyeo-Ul? That’s unexpected. Did he find a teacher or something?’?Chang-Sun wondered.

At that moment, Ye-Eun and some giant wolf saved the group that had fallen into trouble, and Ye-Eun parted ways with the rescue team because she felt an abnormality in Chang-Sun’s mana wave in the sky. While the rescue team escaped the Dungeon, following the wolf’s lead, Ye-Eun headed to Chang-Sun’s location.

‘… She felt that?’ Chang-Sun narrowed his eyes.

He, the Elfin Root, and the Birdfolk man were quite high in the sky. No matter how much she had developed her senses, Chang-Sun still couldn’t begin to fathom how high her mana affinity was if she detected mana waves from that far away.

‘There is definitely… something with that woman. She’s too different from ordinary people.’?Chang-Sun stroked his chin.

Listening to Gye-Ul’s explanation, Chang-Sun thought he should look into Ye-Eun—no, perhaps it would be better if he went and met her himself.

‘I should express my gratitude for saving me anyway.’?Chang-Sun shrugged.

According to Gyeo-Ul, she was the one who applied first aid to Chang-Sun, who was exhausted at the time. In fact, she had helped Chang-Sun in many ways this time. Under normal circumstances, he would’ve had to be treated for at least four weeks. He recovered this quickly thanks to her.

‘I can consider this agenda done for now. There’s a far more pressing matter at hand.’?Chang-Sun narrowed his eyes.

[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ is carefully observing you.]

How was the ‘Geminus,’ who had lost a high-ranking subordinate, going to react?

* * *

Moonlight illuminated a sportscar driving roughly in the dawn.

“If you’re going to drive at this hour, you should have just waited until he woke up.” Jin Seok-Tae kept grumbling in the passenger seat.

Without budging, Ye-Eun kept her hands on the steering wheel. There were only two of them in the car. Joachim Wolff and Ernst Mach had been sitting in the back seat, but they had returned to their hotel to rest since it was already late.

From what Ye-Eun and Seok-Tae heard, Joachim and Ernst were going to visit Chang-Sun in the hospital the following day, which was when Chang-Sun would likely wake up. Hence, Seok-Tae could currently whine as much as he wanted without worrying about what other people would think. Pouting in discontentment, he said, “Do you know how hard it is to get a thank you from the Tyrant? People even made a TV show out of it!”

Ye-Eun didn’t answer.

“Or are you just too embarrassed to hear it, seonbae-nim?”

Ye-Eun still stayed silent.

“Awww, I’m right, aren’t I? I’m right! O.M.G. I never knew the famous Iron Witch is shy…! Urgh!” Seo-Tae teased Ye-Eun nonstop, so she smacked the front part of Seok-Tae’s neck, making him cough several times.

[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ agrees that it is definitely embarrassing to brag about how one executed justice.]

[The Celestial ‘War-Loving Fighting Deity’ tilts his head, believing you are not embarrassed for that reason.]

[The Celestial \'A Blacksmith in a Volcano’ says their sister making a wrong guess isn’t new news.]

[The Celestial ‘Madness Infuser’ nods in agreement.]

…

[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing’ scowls at her too-talkative brothers.]

[The Celestial ‘War-Loving Fighting Deity’ looks elsewhere.]

[The Celestial ‘A Blacksmith in a Volcano’ looks elsewhere.]

[The Celestial ‘Madness Infuser’ looks elsewhere.]

…

As usual, the great deities of <Olympus> sent very distracting messages. Ye-Eun would normally have chimed in on their conversation, but she currently had a lot on her mind.

‘He definitely saw it.’ Ye-Eun’s eyes shone coldly. She now felt more uneasy about Chang-Sun. ‘Who in the world is Lee Chang-Sun?’

* * *

[The Curse ‘Changgwi Cave’ has been activated!]

…

[Survive for 48 hours, starting now.]

[48:00:00]

[47:59:59:99]

[47:59:59:98]

…

[Current Location: The Thirty-Second Sector of the Fourth Floor.]

While Chang-Sun was still hospitalized, the Changgwi Cave curse activated again.

「You don’t look so good. Are you okay?」

Grinning, Jin rested the [Frost King’s Greatsword] on his shoulder as his eyes shone sharply. He was ready to pounce at Chang-Sun as soon as he laid himself open to attack. In ‘Blue Jewel Island’, he had been so cooperative that he had shown no sign of wanting to stab Chang-Sun’s back, but he was different now. Chang-Sun actually liked Jin’s attitude, so he didn’t really mind it.

“It’s not like the enemies go easy on me when I don’t feel good, so nothing can be done about it.” Chang-Sun shrugged.

「Hehe! I really like your spirit.」

Jin chuckled.

“Anyway, where is the [Mana Core]?” Chang-Sun asked.

「I knew you would ask that, so I prepared it in advance.」

Jin turned back and gestured at his subordinates with his chin. One of his subordinates, who were down on one knee while on standby, approached him and handed him something that was as big as a human head. Reddish hot air billowed from the surface of the sapphire-blue Dungeon Core, which was also the Parasitic Divine Tree and the Elfin Root’s [Mana Core].

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ is extremely curious about how you’re going to use the ‘Mana Core.’]

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ looks into his knowledge archive if there is a way to control the deceased deity’s subordinate.]

[The Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ hideously smiles and looks at the deceased deity’s fragment.]

The Celestials were very eager to see how Chang-Sun was going to use [Mana Core] because taking a deceased deity’s subordinate under one’s wings rarely happened. Some had certainly done it, but it was the subordinate who chose another Celestial to be their guardian. There was no precedent to changing a subordinate’s Guardian by force like this, but Chang-Sun acted as if it was possible, and Jin had said he found a way. Hence, the Celestials were really curious.

“What’s the method you found?” Chang-Sun asked.

「Hehe! I’ve run around really hard to find this in a short amount of time—」

Jin was about to brag, but having zero intention to hear about it, Chan-Sung coldly answered, “Cut to the chase.”

Jin frowned hard as he grumbled.

「You must be made of ice. You have zero empathy.」

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ nods in agreement.]

[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ bitterly smiles, silently agreeing.]

[The Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ says that is why he likes you.]

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ timidly refutes the Celestials who agreed, saying that her ‘subordinate’ isn’t that bad.]

‘… Those guys…’ Chang-Sun frowned as Jin grumblingly explained the method. He pointed to his subordinates. There were six of them now.

「Feed [Mana Core] to one of them. That’s it.」

“What?”

Chang-Sun tilted his head in confusion, finding the method far too simple. However, Jin continued as if the method should be common sense.

「How did you make me and these guys?」

“I made you with Hohwan Mama.” Chang-Sun shrugged.

「Elaborate.」

“I purified the <Starlight> of the <Forgotten Star>... Ah! I get it now.” Chang-Sun could finally understand what Jin meant.

Jin and his subordinates, whom he had made in the Changgwi Cave, were created from purified <Starlight>, so they didn’t have special attributes or characteristics. Since they were attributeless, they were basically empty ‘vessels.’ It was up to their master, Chang-Sun, to fill them up.

「I’m confident I’ve made sturdy vessels, so don’t worry about breaking them.」

Jin shrugged, and Chang-Sun nodded. Having been made and trained by Jin himself, they were all becoming better at their jobs. Chang-Sun couldn’t have paid attention and trained each of them as Jin did.

‘I was right to entrust Jin with this,’?Chang-Sun thought.

He hadn’t made any apostles or had followers during his ‘Divine Twilight’ years, and few worshipped him. He essentially existed alone, so he naturally didn’t know much about this area. In contrast, Jin had learned to rule other people as the heir to a prestigious noble family. Moreover, he had actually ruled over thousands of Changgwis in the Changgwi cave, making him very experienced in this area.

‘So who should I give this [Mana Core] to?’?Chang-Sun wondered.

It was important to find a vessel that would suit the Elfin Root, but all of Jin’s subordinates had different characteristics. Just then, one of them caught Chang-Sun’s eyes. ‘Hmm?’