CH 13

“We are a body that originated from human beliefs, and is handed down through tradition, adding to the value of our existence.”

Apollo said as he ruffled his beautiful, curly fair hair backward.

“I don’t know how exactly something like you could become a constellation, but it’s probably because of what you know. The reason for ‘The End’.”

I took a breath without saying a word. My mouth was filled with the scent of blood. I gradually calmed my nausea. I scratched the floor with my fingernail. The pain dispersed as I was applying strength to my grip, and it felt as if my nails were going to break.

“So, what?”

“Don’t you understand? It means that I am willing to cooperate with you personally. By the way, the way you spoke before is gone. Is this how you usually talk?”

I barely caught my breath. I looked down at Apollo’s doll-like appearance with my upper body straightened. The doll had an angry face. It’s funny how it looked like a crooked sewing line.

“Hey, you just said that I was the only one who knew ‘The End,’ and that’s the reason why I became a constellation?”

“That’s right.”

“Then what do you think will happen if many people find out about it? What if all the constellations find out why the world is going to be destroyed? What if the only reason I became a constellation disappeared?”

I am the only one who knows for what reason and process the world is destroyed, and I became a constellation for that reason. If I made it known to others, the reason for my existence as a constellation would disappear, and no one knew what kind of ending it would bring. Isn’t there a possibility that I would die as soon as I spit it out?

The constellation, ‘One Who Is More Dazzling Than The Sun’ had no words. He simply stared up at me.

You already know the answer. I’m telling you to tell me.

“Are you saying your existence is more important than the end of this world?”

“Yes.”

I answered without hesitation.

“I am important to myself.”

I staggered up from my seat. I wiped the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand and stared at the wall in the air. The wall that Apollo had just torn down was slowly being restored.

Then, my nausea naturally calmed down. I suddenly realized why the name of this place was <Soul’s Sanctuary>.

As Apollo said, this little room is the size of my soul.

“Hey!”

Ignoring Apollo’s yelling, I went into the bathroom and wiped my mouth in the sink. The sensation of vomiting up blood was so painful that it was hard to say anything back.

After following me to the bathroom, I picked up the talking Apollo with my damp hands and stared at the fully restored wall.

Right now, I was obsessed with the thought that I had to see Baek Tae-beom.

[According to your will, the real-time streaming service of your contractor will proceed.]

Baek Tae-beom’s face became mirrored on one side of the wall. He ruffled his hair roughly and was packing something. It wasn’t until I saw him put some dolls in the bag that I knew he was going to the hospital.

Come to think of it, his bed was full of dolls. The lines of the novel came to my mind belatedly.

[Even if he never had the time, Baek Tae-beom came to visit his younger brother once a week carrying his brother’s favorite doll; for a child who might be able to open their eyes and look at themselves again. The dolls accumulated one after another, overflowed, and took over the bed.

But that was a thing of the past. Today, it was merely a luxurious memory for Baek Tae-beom. His loved one had already passed. Baek Tae-beom knew he could never go back to the past…]

“Is he your contractor?”

Suddenly, Apollo, who climbed out of my hands and up to my shoulder, laughed. It was a perfect laugh.

“He has no talent and is dull. If it wasn’t for you, he wouldn’t have been chosen by anyone. Since your contractor looks like this, it would be difficult to increase the size of your soul.”

“Is his ability that low?”

“It’s not a matter of being low. He gives me a strange bad feeling. I hate touching it. Do you know how strange it felt when your contractor was with my contractor?”

“You felt strange?”

Baek Tae-beom packed all his bags and left the house. His tall height, bleached white hair, and golden pupils caught my eye even from afar. Maybe I was the only one who thought so. As soon as he left the street, my eyes were on him. But he didn’t seem aware of it.

But you felt strange?

I’ve never felt that kind of emotion from Baek Tae-beom before.

“It felt so terrible. I felt like I was with dirty trash. It’s disgusting… To the point where I wanted to throw it into a fire.”

“Can a god really judge people that way?”

“God?”

Apollo snorted.

“We are not gods. A constellation is just a fragment of a star that stays in people’s memories.”

“However….”

“Yes, you’re human. That’s why I want to ask you more now. What is your true identity, and what is the story of the End?”

Apollo tapped my cheek and motioned for me to look at him. The cotton doll standing on my shoulder looked at me with a rather dignified face.

“If you don’t want to talk because you’re worried about your disappearance, I will solve it myself, so you can just give it to me. If we eliminate the cause, it will all be over. Isn’t that right?”

I was shocked to hear that, so I didn’t say anything. The back of my head felt tingly. I licked my lips, but even that didn’t make a sound. Apollo was right.

Eliminate the cause.

That being said, killing Baek Tae-beom might solve everything.

I would have never thought that this world would become the world of a novel. I still couldn’t imagine such a thing even after seeing the villain who would destroy the world right in front of me. Of course, I thought that we should not let the world develop the same way as in the novel.

However, if I eliminated the cause, I didn’t know what annoying things I had to do. Even if the world does not return to its original state, I would still be able to play, eat, and become a decent Awakened Constellation. It wasn’t necessary to follow Baek Tae-beom and worry every moment when he will turn evil.

But….

I looked back at the silhouette of Baek Tae-beom on the subway. As the sun went down, the beautiful skyline descended along his outline. Still, Baek Tae-beom seemed to be in the rain. I could see his emotions flowing down like a thunderbolt. I didn’t know why I was feeling like this, maybe it is because I am his constellation. Or, because I knew that I am now a character in a novel.

People cannot live without people. For Baek Tae-beom, his everything was his younger brother. To him, his brother is worth the entire world. On top of that, he takes it for granted to help others, and burns with a sense of justice. He doesn’t want to do anything bad, and he lives on his own.

“…No, no. I’ll figure it out, so just help me.”

“Being prideful that you can do it isn’t enough.”

“Aren’t humans always prideful?”

I asked, didn’t the gods always punish humans? Apollo laughed as if he were amazed by my own arrogance.

“Then, I must punish you too.”

“Are you going to spit in my mouth? If not, are you going to pierce arrows into my body?”

Apollo once said that a human named Niobé insulted his mother Leto and shot and killed 14 of his children. He also gave his beloved Cassandra the power of prophecy, but when Cassandra rejected him, he spit in her mouth and cursed her.

It was rather strange that such a constellation did not immediately cast a curse on it because it did not listen. Are quarrels between constellations forbidden?

“I’ll give you something more than that.”

At that moment, I felt a hot stimulus spreading from my fingertips. They felt numb, as if they were on fire. It spread like a long thread, lingered on the back of my hand, and wriggled into place as if connecting with my epithelial tissue.

TL/N: The epithelium is a type of body tissue that forms the covering on all internal and external surfaces of your body, lines body cavities and hollow organs and is the primary tissue in glands.

It stayed deep in the back of my hand like a tattoo and then disappeared.

[A new skill has been acquired.]

[Skill : Hand of the Golden Sun]

[You can use the power of the sun to fire arrows. The strength of the force depends on the constellation’s ability.]

[The constellation, ‘The One Who Knows The End’ is synchronized with the body.]

[The personal channel of <Constellation Communication Net> has been connected with ‘One Who Is More Dazzling Than The Sun’. You can chat with <Constellation Communication Net> anywhere.]

I took a step back, embarrassed by the rising message windows.

“What, did you really think I was going to punish you?”

“You said you would.”

Has this bastard been playing tricks all this time? It was ridiculous. I lifted up the cotton doll as it floundered and stared back at me.

I think it’s cute to see the big doll’s eyes twitch.

“Constellations cannot fight each other. That’s the rule.”

And, my guess was also correct. I was worried that Apollo would turn me into an arrowhead right away. It seems to have been a misunderstanding.

“However.”

Apollo said with an expressionless face.

“I will give you a prophecy.”

It felt like a heavy stone was placed on top of my chest. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

“My prophecy must come true, little constellation.”

Apollo’s eyes gleamed beautifully in gold like that of Baek Tae-beom.

“You will regret not telling me someday.”

TC :

Ake: Ah…. I feel sad in this chapter. And hyped. Holy. On another note, I’m thankful for the fact that constellations cannot fight each other. At least the power scaling in this novel won’t be so large like ORV’s. Eh… Actually, it could be pretty big if constellations help in powering their contractors, like, a lot. *cue the rich bitches

HoshiMiya: Does this mean someone believes ‘One Who Knows the End.’? There’s a huge chance for that. Then, again, Apollo will act like a parent figure. In the Later Chapters. In this chapter, you are seeing him teaching the ways of being a constellation.