[Ohoo!!]
An exclamation full of excitement.
The beautiful golden eyes that looked like melted gold sparkled.
[Delicious! It truly is an astonishing flavor!]
Munch Munch—
The silver-haired goddess that had shrunk to around 30cm let out an exclamation while nibbling on a hamburger the size of her torso.
It looked as if a hamster was nibbling on a chestnut.
“…Celestials were able to eat as well?”
Ha-eun asked as a forced chuckle flowed out of her mouth.
Although she could’t see it, the sound was more than enough for her to get a grasp on the situation.
[Though there are no problems even if we don’t eat, that doesn’t mean we’re unable to eat.]
Wipe—
Vega ripped off a piece of tissue and cleaned her mouth.
Even though her simple motion of wiping the mouth was noble and elegant, thoughts of cute preceded over pretty when you looked at her size.
“Is this your first time eating a burger?”
[This is this lady’s first time trying human food.]
Dazzle—
Sprinkling some strange silver dust while floating through the air, Vega sat on top of Ohjin’s shoulder.
[It is also this lady’s first time taking in an apostle like this.]
She stretched out her tiny hands and pulled down on his earlobes.
‘It tickles.’
“…There’s one thing I just can’t get my head around,” Ha-eun said while furrowing her brows.
“Why Ohjin, out of all people? There’s nothing unique about him.”
North Star’s apostle.
No matter how much you thought of it, it was a title that didn’t suit him.
[What’s unique? There is no existence more unique than this child in the entire world.]
“Eh? What do you mean by that?”
[Fufu. That is something you cannot know.]
With crossed arms, Vega straightened her back.
[There will come a time you will know. No, when the entire world will know.]
She continued with a voice full of confidence.
[That this child will become an existence greater than any other.]
“…What?”
Ha-eun’s mouth opened wide; she thought the statement was absurd.
‘Just what did Ohjin do for a North Star celestial to say such things?’
“Lady Vega.”
[Fufu. It seems that this lady has chattered on for too long. I apologize.]
Vega shrugged while laughing gracefully.
[Also—]
The sparkling golden eyes headed towards Ha-eun.
[—aren’t you also a unique one?]
“…What are you talking about?”
Ha-eun and Ohjin both tilted their heads at what they thought was an outrageous statement.
They gazed at Vega with eyes full of doubt.
[Hmm. Are you not already aware?]
“What are you referring to?”
[Nevermind. It is… something that has no meaning right now. This lady seems to have misspoken.]
Gazing at Ha-eun’s eyes that had lost their light, Vega let out a short sigh.
[If only this lady’s powers could be of help…]
Vega shook her head in regret.
“Heh, help with what? I’m living just fine without it, so mind your own business.”
[Fufu. At least that confident attitude of yours is to this lady’s liking.]
Stretching her body, Vega turned around.
[Anyways, this lady should now take her rest. Even in this state, staying materialized this long will worsen the restriction.]
“Then will you only be able to move for around three hours per day?”
[Although it’s possible to stay longer if I overdo myself, there’s currently no reason to, is there?]
“Well, that’s true.”
There wasn’t anything Vega could do even if she stayed awake anyways.
[Well then my child, let’s see each other tomorrow.]
Vega floated up to him and gently patted his head.
Owooong!—
Vega’s entire body turned into silver dust and got sucked into the pendant.
“……”
Silence came down upon the room.
Bleakness lingered in the room like a storm had swept past.
“…Haa.”
Ha-eun exhaled a deep breath.
“Just how did this happen…”
“I didn’t know it would become like this either.”
He had explained that Vega was personally following him around in a materialized state because he was her one and only apostle.
As constellations following around their apostles in a materialized state was unheard of, Ha-eun being confused was a given.
“…Hey, Gwon Ohjin.”
“Sup?”
“Sit here.”
Tap Tap—
She spoke in a commanding tone, tapping the place next to her on the bed.
“Why all of a sudden?”
“Shut up and take a seat.”
After he sat down and tilted his head in confusion, Ha-eun immediately put her head on his thighs.
* * *
* * *
“…What are you doing?”
“Just sit still.”
“What the—”
“Oho. Won’t you listen to my words?”
Ha-eun, who had laid down on his thighs, curled up like a prawn and gently closed her eyes.
Awkwardly stretching out her hands, she placed them on top of Ohjin’s thigh.
Warmth spread to her hands.
She smiled bashfully from the familiar warmth she had felt for her entire life.
“Hehe! Laying down on our little Ohjin is indeed the best. You like it too, don’t you, you bastard?”
“It’s really fucking heavy.”
“What did you say?”
“I’m just kidding. Your head feels real fucking light, like it’s completely empty”
“…Huh? I feel even more like shit now.”
Ha-eun squinted and pinched his thigh.
‘Ouch.’
“Hm. That's right. This is the little Ohjin I know.”
Ha-eun exploded out in laughter for an unknown reason.
“I’m going to sleep now.”
“Wait, how will I sleep if you sleep there?"
“Age by two more years if you have any complaints.”
“This is unfair.”
“Ehehe.”
Jiggling her shoulders, Ha-eun snuggled more towards his body.
Not much later, only the soft sound of breathing resonated through the room.
“Haaa.”
‘I guess I won’t be sleeping comfortably tonight.’
* * *
Two days later.
Ohjin performed a final checkup before he headed to Mok-dong.
‘Two sets of flares and smokescreens, emergency rations, rope, and, lastly, three mid-grade potions.
Not to mention everything else, he had invested quite a lot of money into buying the mid-grade potions, but it couldn’t be helped.
‘Because I don’t know what rank the monsters that will appear from the new dungeon will be.’
Forcefully saving money here could end up in an unnecessary disaster.
“Fuck. But it really is disgustingly expensive.”
His body trembled while grasping the mid-grade potions which could go for a couple grand each.
Even if you called it a future investment, just thinking about the ridiculous price made his gastric fluids reflux.
‘Crazy pharmacist bastards.’
‘Roughly shoving in some of the stigma’s mana on top of starstone powder is all it takes, so why is it so fucking expensive?’
‘I’ll make sure to get the stigma of Aquarius some day.’
‘If I can get a hold of the stigma of Aquarius, just making potions and selling them will earn me big money.’
[Are your preparations complete?]
“Yes.”
After putting on the hefty backpack, Ohjin opened the door.
The fresh dawn wind tickled the tip of his nose.
‘Star relic.’
Although the ability and rank of star relics varied, they all shared one thing in common.
‘That they’re really fucking expensive.’
Just one 1-Star relic would go for over $10k.
A 3-Star relic would be over $100k, and it would be over $1M starting from 5-Star relics.
‘If it’s a 6-Star…’
Minimum of millions, maximum, up to $10M.
The guilds didn’t search for star relics with fire in their eyes for no reason.
“Hehehehe!”
Excitedly shaking his shoulders, Ohjin licked his lips.
His footsteps towards the station were light.
—One hour later.
Ohjin, who had taken the first ride and arrived at Mok-dong, headed towards a tall building nearby.
“I’m Awakener Gwon Ohjin from the association. Sorry for the inconvenience in this early morning, but could you open the rooftop door for me?”
“Ah, yes. But is there perhaps a problem?”
“There is a matter that needs to be investigated in this building.”
“Hm… I understand.”
The security guard that had first looked at him with vigilance opened the rooftop door for him with no special suspicion after hearing that he was from the association.
Swoosh—
Coming out onto the rooftop, the entire scene of Mok-dong could be seen as the cool breeze brushed past his cheek.
‘Belonging to the association is indeed great on occasions like these.’
Leaning on the rooftop railing, Ohjin took a bite out of the calorie bar he had brought.
[Are you waiting for the fissure to open from here?]
“Yes. Since even though I know it’ll open today, I’m not entirely sure of the location it’ll appear at.”
It wasn’t like a Regressor had to know everything about the future; being unaware of this much didn’t matter.
[Hmm. Well then, this lady should release her materialization and head inside.]
“I’ll tell you when the gate opens.”
[All right.]
Vega once again turned into silver dust and headed inside the necklace.
“Fuu.”
Sighing deeply, he shook his head.
‘As expected, sticking together makes a lot of things uncomfortable.’
Having to pay attention to every single word and sentence was very cumbersome.
‘However—’
That didn’t mean that it was purely negative.
‘—I can borrow her strength in emergency situations.’
It was one of the reasons he could challenge a newly formed dungeon where one couldn’t predict how powerful of a monster would appear.
‘Even if a variable appears, receiving her blessing and running away should be possible.’
“Now, come out already.”
He muttered while looking down the railing.
Around three hours later.
-Owooooong!!!
Blue rays of light soaring up could be seen from far away.
‘It’s here.’
The sign of a new gate appeared.
After confirming the location of the blue rays, Ohjin went down the building in a rush.
“Kyaaaaaa!!”
“G-Gate!! It’s a gateeee!!”
“H-Hurry, contact the association!!”
“The association’s useless nowadays!! Guilds! Contact the guilds!!”
Civilians could be seen running away while screaming as he approached the location where the blue rays shot up.
‘What a mess.’
Eight years ago.
It felt like he had returned to when gates first appeared on Earth.
At that time, he was also one of those people running away with an expression of horror, but…
‘Now it’s different.’
Ohjin continued his footsteps with a smirk.
-Owoong!!
He threw his body into the newly formed gate.
A feeling of nauseousness brushed past his body while his vision was distorted.
“Fua!”
As his distorted vision returned to normal, the dungeon unfolded in front of his eyes.
A jaw-dropping spacious cave.
Stalactites spiked up like the canines of wild beasts, gray streams of water flowed down their sides.
Although the interior was dark, you could still somewhat distinguish the surroundings with the orange light that seeped out from an unknown place.
“Lady Vega, we have arrived.”
Tapping on the silver necklace, a silver-haired goddess appeared together with rays of silver light.
[Ho-oh. So this is the inside of the fissure you talked about.]
Vega floated around the surroundings in interest.
Although she looked around with sparkling eyes, she didn’t seem all that surprised by the fact that a gate really opened as he had said.
‘Does that mean she believed me that much?’
It appeared that she believed a gate opening on that day was natural, as it was the words from who she believed to be a ‘Regressor’.
‘…I’m not sure if I should be happy about this or not.’
Of course, it was good that she was already completely trusting of him, but simultaneously, it felt hollow; since his plans of getting rid of all suspicious became meaningless.
‘Well, whatever. Good is good.’
You shouldn’t complain that Plan A worked when you had prepared Plan B as well.
‘That doesn’t mean I can let my guard down.’
By nature, the thing called trust was hard to build but easy to lose.
No matter how much she believed him to be a Regressor, he was sure that the trust would break down if suspicion continued to stack up.
“Then let’s head a little deeper inside.”
[All right.]
Ohjin moved deeper into the cave before the other Awakeners could catch up.
As he was following the subtle orange light—
Gloop—
—the echoing sound of sticky mucus entered his ears.
“That’s…”
Ohjin’s face stiffened after he turned his head towards the sounds.
