Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 171: Star, The First Station (3)

Chapter 171: Star, The First Station (3)

“Wh-what…?”

“What happened?”

“Did he just… get another mission?”

The French volunteer Players were also watching when Chang-Sun and Jarapgu exchanged a few words and left, perplexing them. They had never seen or heard about Jarapgu exiting its store and guiding a Player to another place.

“Who’s going to give us quests now?”

“... Huh? Oh, yeah.”

“Shit! What the hell is going on?”

They were planning to earn Hounds by completing Jarapgu’s quests, so the current situation baffled them and left them unsure of what to do. Their original plan was to watch Chang-Sun and Woo Hye-Bin panicking in front of the store because they couldn’t earn Hounds, but the French Players were the ones who ran into trouble instead.

The desert train was only going to be in this station for a day, and there was a very limited number of quests that the Players could complete within that timeframe. They would be suffering a loss if Jarapgu was away from the store for a long time.

‘What if…’

‘Should I tail Lee Chang-Sun?’

‘He definitely found a Hidden Piece…’

The eyes of Nicolas Pouquet and several French Players started to gleam coldly. If Jarapgu was guiding a Player somewhere, then that would mean the Player was doing a very important Hidden Quest. Hence, they thought it might not be a bad idea to tail Chang-Sun.

Chang-Sun would likely have trouble solving that kind of Hidden Quest on his own anyway, so the French Players could freely interfere, saying they were going to help him. Above all, this Dungeon was part of France. They couldn’t let a smug foreign Player run around in their land.

Some of the French Players exchanged glances and were about to secretly follow Chang-Sun when the rabbit man who joined the Chang-Sun and Jarapgu’s conversation, suddenly sat in Jarapgu’s seat. The French Players initially put up their guard since they didn’t know who he was, but their eyes soon widened in surprise.

[The Administrator ‘Herald’ will temporarily take charge of the ‘Boiling Hell’ station store.]

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

An Administrator—one of the people who managed countless Dungeons on Earth and controlled the system to ensure the Players were rewarded—suddenly showed up in the store. They read the message again, thinking they were seeing things or there was something wrong with the system, but that was definitely not the case.

‘Wh-what is going on?’

‘Lee Chang-Sun definitely called that rabbit.’

‘Does that mean Lee Chang-Sun also has connections to the <Management Bureau>...?’

While the Players busily pondered about various things…

Tap. Tap.

… Herald rested his chin on his hand and crookedly leaned against the stall, revealing how bored to death he was. While tapping the stall several times, Herald quickly scanned the nearby Players with his red rabbit eyes.

[The Administrator ‘Herald’ is swiftly locating the nearby Players!]

The Players froze up.

“I have nothing personal against you all, but being stuck here despite already being busy as hell frankly deeply annoys me. As an Administrator, I’ll be as neutral and fair as possible, but I’m a being with emotions, which I can’t help being swayed by… You all know what I mean, right?” Herald elegantly enunciated every word.

Although his voice was quiet, the Players heard him as clear as day, and there was no way they didn’t understand what Herald meant: They shouldn’t get on his nerves and should just listen to him. Otherwise, things could get ugly.

Since it also sounded as if Herald wasn’t going to let it slide if he caught the Players who didn’t know their places following Chang-Sun, the French Players had no choice but to just quietly nod, causing deep silence to fall around the store.

* * *

Not every Player took the Administrator’s warning seriously, though. After all, not only did greed often blind people, but these Players were also filled with grudges.

‘They’ll catch up on their own,’ Chang-Sun thought

Ever since Chang-Sun beat up every French volunteer Player in the desert train, an ‘invisible wall’ had been formed between the French Players and Team L members. However, the same kind of wall also existed among the French Players, dividing them into two groups.

Shin Eun-Seo came up with cool bird names to name the groups. Led by Henri Bosque and Nicolas, the hawk group mainly consisted of the Revenant Clan Players whom Chang-Sun had beaten up. On the other hand, the dove group was led by the ‘Iron Mask’ Grizman, who managed to calm Chang-Sun down, albeit barely, and was composed of his colleagues from the Youth Fountain Clan.

The hawk group didn’t hide how hostile they were to Chang-Sun, while the dove group sat on their hands or pretended they didn’t see what Chang-Sun was doing. Right now, Chang-Sun knew part of the hawk group was secretly tailing him as he followed Jarapgu deep underground.

[The Authority ‘Monster Excursion’ has been activated, sharply detecting footsteps of people who are coming after you!]

[The Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ snorts, saying there are too many flies that do not know their places.]

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ wonders why you’re not getting rid of those flies.]

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ believes that you have already designed a trap for them.]

“There are too many flies… Hmm!” Jarapgu frowned and scowled at the area behind them.

With only a flashlight to rely on, Chang-Sun and Jarapgu walked down the spiral staircase in the pitch-black space. The underground floor was filled with obstacles so dangerous that even Jarapgu was reluctant to go down, so he couldn’t help but be on edge and worry about what could jump out at any moment. Having uninvited guests tailing him and Chang-Sun didn’t help. Rather, they only made him really frustrated.

“Don’t mind them and just go down.” Chang-Sun gestured at Jarapgu.

Chang-Sun didn’t seem to care, so Jarapgu just stayed quiet. Still, Jarapgu clearly planned to crush them if they did something.

‘I don’t have to get rid of them now since they’ll naturally be busy surviving once we get down there anyway,’ Chang-Sun thought.

If he didn’t expect this outcome, he wouldn’t have bothered provoking Jarapgu and getting the Hidden Quests in front of that many people. Moreover, Chang-Sun also had another goal in his mind.

‘The Killer Overlord should be among that group.’ Chang-Sun assumed.

He could say with certainty that Czestochowa had hidden her identity and blended into the group trailing them. Xue Yong’s apostle would never let her target go, after all, especially if it also meant getting the [Fifth Cryptical Book of Hsan] back.

Chang-Sun’s plan was to lure and take out the Killer Overlord at the ‘Rhaegaren,’ where he would be leaving no witnesses since neither Players nor Celestials could see what he was going to do in there. That was how careful and secretive he had to be when sealing Celestials.

?M-Mireille is with them…!?

He felt the ‘Wind-Hating Daughter’ writhe when Chang-Sun detected Mireille’s presence with [Monster Excursion]. When she shouted at the top of her lungs, Chang-Sun had to silence her by force by putting more energy into his [Stigma]. Soon after, he reached the end of the spiral staircase.

“We’re here,” Jarapgu said.

Chang-Sun could feel incomparably severe heat beyond the door than aboveground.

[You have found ‘Surtr’s Main Artery’!]

[You have found a Hidden Piece, accumulating Merits.]

…

[You have gained a high fever.]

[You have been surrounded by the energy of death.]

…

[You have been afflicted with the Fire Toxin!]

[You have received the Curse ‘Burn.’]

[You have received the Curse ‘Sunstroke.’]

…

“Gosh…! I really can’t get used to this place. Each time I go here feels like the first time.” Jarapgu was soaked in so much sweat it was as if someone poured a bucket of water over him. He clearly didn’t want to go past the iron door.

When Chang-Sun looked over Jarapgu’s shoulder, he immediately understood why the Hobgoblin was reacting that way. Beyond the door was the boiling furnace of hell—a long, gigantic cave and a slow-flowing river of fire.

Although Chang-Sun hadn’t entered the ‘main artery’ yet, the Fire Toxin still reached him and gave him all sorts of curses, serving as some sort of preview of how rough the cave’s environment would be. The white smoke rising from the river of fire was very toxic as well. Breathing it in would definitely damage his lungs and other organs.

‘So that’s the deceased Surtr’s blood,’ Chang-Sun thought.

[Blood of the ‘Destruction-Calling Fire Giant.’]

The deceased Giant King’s blood is extremely hot, which is why it keeps flowing instead of clotting. None can tell what kind of ecosystem is built inside the blood unless they see for themselves.

‘It’s certainly magnificent,” Chang-Sun thought when he saw ‘Surtr’s Main Artery.’

Following Jarapgu, Chang-Sun had walked down the spiral staircase, which the sentries made in the past to create a straight passage from Surtr’s skin to his main artery. They believed that once they reached Surtr’s vein, they could somehow reach his heart, where the ‘Rhaegaren’ was. In fact, it was a perfectly logical conclusion, but it turned out the sentries were mistaken.

‘He died long ago, so the sentries could never have thought his blood would still be flowing.’

Although it was slow, Surtr’s blood continued to flow since it was so scolding hot when he was still alive that it couldn’t solidify now even though he was already dead.

“This is far as the sentries could go. To get to Surtr’s heart, they would have had to dive into the boiling blood, so they got stuck at the entrance.” Thanatos shrugged.

“And you’re saying I can do that,” Chang-Sun commented.

“Yes, that place will actually feel like paradise for someone who has Eon Fire and the Jigwi Attribute.” Thanatos grinned.

That was why Thanatos claimed Chang-Sun was the only one who could acquire the ‘Laevateinn.’ Would there really be another person who could swim in the river of boiling fire?

[The Effect ‘Single Eon Fire’ has been activated, burning up all the toxins!]

[You have been detoxified.]

[Your Curses have been undone.]

…

[The new type of Fire Toxin has been added to the Skill ‘Blood Toxin.’]

…

[The Eon Fire has grown a little bigger after absorbing a significant amount of heat.]

…

“You really… seem fine.” Jarapgu’s eyes sparked with amazement as he looked at Chang-Sun, who didn’t shed a single drop of sweat. Just like what Herald said when he vouched for Chang-Sun, Jarapgu was beginning to think Chang-Sun could really accomplish it.

“I’ll get going, then.” Chang-Sun passed by Jarapgu without saying anything else and putt the [Fire Protection Bead], the red bead he had bought with credit, in his mouth.

[Fire Protection Bead]

This mystical bead will protect its user from the adverse effects of fires, but its durability is limited.

· Type: Tool. Miscellaneous goods.

· Durability: 300/300

· Effect: Detoxify Fire Toxin. Scorching Heat Immunity.

Even if Chang-Sun could control the Eon Fire, Surtr’s blood would be much hotter than being outside. Besides, Surtr’s divine name was ‘Destruction-Calling Fire Giant,’ which meant he was a destruction deity who triggered <Extinction>. If so, then perhaps Chang-Sun’s Eon Fire would also disintegrate once he dove into the blood. Surtr’s blood had luckily gotten much colder since his death, but there was no harm in being careful.

[The Title ‘Jigwi’s Demonic Incarnation’ has been applied!]

Spreading the Jigwi’s wings wide, Chang-Sun buffed himself up several times by drawing up <Darkness> from his [Stigma].

Splash!

Right after, Chang-Sun dove into the blood. Meanwhile, Jarapgu could only blankly watch Chang-Sun, having witnessed something none of the sentries would have expected would actually happen. ~

[You have entered ‘Surtr’s Main Artery’!]

[The durability of the ‘Fire-Avoiding Bead’ is quickly decreasing.]

[The intense heat prevents you from thinking straight. You have fallen into the ‘Dizzy’ state.]

[You have fallen into the ‘Panicking’ state.]

[You have fallen into the ‘Confused’ state.]

…

[Warning! The intense heat is weakening the Eon Fire. You are advised to quickly get out of the area.]

[Warning! The strong pressure is making you tremble. You are advised to quickly get out of the area…]

…

[The Skill ‘Kalokagathia’ has been activated, temporarily increasing the stat points you lack!]

‘… Hup!’ After diving deep into Surtr’s blood, Chang-Sun had to try really hard not to lose consciousness. The blood was so hot that Chang-Sun’s Eon Fire was rendered ineffective, but the pressure it applied on him was far more enormous. ‘I thought it’ll be a little easier since I have the Eon Wind, but it’s not helpful at all.’

It was impossible to swim toward Surtr’s heart in this state.

Badump! Badump!

Feeling his heart racing, Chang-Sun began to ‘pull’ Surtr’s blood instead of pushing it away.

‘Since I can’t resist it anyway,’ Navy-blue fires started in Chang-Sun’s eyes. ‘I’ll just absorb it!’

[The Authority ‘Soul Exploitation’ has been activated, absorbing the remaining energy in the corpse!]

Although he was in a Dungeon, it was also Surtr’s corpse, so depending on how Chang-Sun handled it, absorbing the energy of Surtr’s corpse could be possible.

[The Authority activation has been canceled.]

[The deceased’s Class is too high.]

[The Authority activation has been canceled.]

[The deceased’s Class is too high.]

…

[The Authority ‘Soul Exploitation’ has been activated, attempting to absorb only the energy you require!]

…

[Successfully absorbed the energy.]

[The process to absorb the energy of the ‘Destruction-Calling Fire Giant’ has begun.]

[The Effect ‘Single Eon Fire’ has been activated, absorbing the nearby fire energy!]

[Absorbing the Giant’s blood.]

[Absorbing the Giant’s blood.]

…

Woosh!

The slow-flowing river of fire started to swirl around Chang-Sun, turning into a fierce whirlpool that held the strong tenacity and energy of the great Celestial Surtr. As he absorbed the blood that was coursing toward him like a flowing tide, Chang-Sun quickly recalled the conversation he had with Thanatos.

“Okay, I get that I have to get to the ‘Rhaegaren,’ but didn’t you say ‘Laevaeteinn’ chooses its own master? How am I supposed to prove myself to that sword? More importantly, only a Giant can pull it, right?” Chang-Sun asked.

“Well, you can make yourself qualified enough.” Thanatos chuckled.

“Like I said, I don’t have the qualifica…” Chang-Sun growled.

When Thanatos replied as if the answer was obvious, Chang-Sun frowned and was about to snap back at him, telling him to stop being absurd, but he changed his mind halfway through, having realized what Thanatos meant.

“Wait, you mean…” Chang-Sun narrowed his eyes.

“That’s right.” Thanatos nodded.

“… That’s crazy,” Chang-Sun muttered to himself.

Thanatos just chuckled.

“You can just become a Giant.’

[You have acquired the Giant factor.]

[The Modification process has begun!]