The Constellation Returned From Hell

Putting aside how quickly Choi Yeonseung responded, the goddess of balance glossed over this matter.

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ says that your voices always give her courage.]

-I’m not joking. The situation right now...

The goddess of sloth couldn’t help complaining. She couldn’t believe that they had managed to convince the goddess of balance with that...

‘The future I just saw... It’s a bit shocking.’

Choi Yeonseung was equally shocked. Normally he would only get glimpses of the future, unclear fragments of what was to come. However, this time he had seen the vivid vision of a terrible disaster.

The images had been so terrible that he naturally thought to himself, ‘Did I see that wrong?’ Of course, he wouldn’t deny reality out of fear.

‘It’s unlikely that both the goddess and I are wrong about the same thing.’

-Certainly, you are becoming more and more accustomed to the power of glimpsing into the future, Successor.

The goddess of sloth agreed with him.

The power to foresee the future was extremely rare and unstable in the Abyss, which was why it was so difficult to accurately predict what would happen.

However, Choi Yeonseung had adjusted quite well to the power he had received from the goddess of balance.

Was that because the power was a good match for him, or because he was very compatible with the goddess of balance, or perhaps because he and the goddess were unknowingly influencing each other?

‘It’s very likely that there’s a synergistic effect between them if they activate the power at the same time,’ the goddess of sloth thought to herself.

It was extremely rare for constellations to properly coordinate with each other, but that didn’t change the fact that two constellations were stronger than one.

Choi Yeonseung and the goddess of balance were a very rare example of top-ranking constellations fully trusting each other and working together.

Of course, their relationship was rather peculiar and somewhat twisted, with one of them acting like a stalker, but...

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ asks if you have any advice.]

-Nope. Nothing.

The goddess of sloth stopped thinking and replied swiftly. They were both constellations, so the more they talked to each other, the more they were aware of each other’s disposition.

The goddess of sloth felt like she had to be more careful about gossiping.

-But... You got the vision when the hunters from the Ghost Tree clan, who received skills from the Beast of Swords and Spears, attacked. Isn’t it related?

-Could be.

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ agrees.]

There was no such thing as a complete coincidence. Choi Yeonseung went over all the clues and used his intuition to deduce things one by one.

The Beast of Swords and Spears and the other evil god constellations didn’t suspect a thing, but their plans for the great invasion were slowly being uncovered.

***

-The hunters of the Ghost Tree clan attacked Choi Yeonseung! They drew their swords and attempted to kill him!

“?!?”

Han Gyeongjun, who had been taking it easy, was so shocked by the news that his eyes almost popped out.

“What nonsense are you saying?! The Ghost Tree clan is crazy!”

“Agh...! Ugh, th-this is really...!”

Han Gyeongjun grabbed the subordinate who had delivered him the news by the collar, causing him to choke. He had once heard that a person couldn’t think properly if they were extremely shocked, and he realized that it was true because he felt exactly like that.

‘What the... What is this?!’

Han Gyeongjun wanted to go and find out what kind of grudge the Ghost Tree clan had against Namhyeong Group to do something like this, but there was no time for that.

Bam!

Nam Hakgi burst through a door across the corridor, his expression livid. It seemed that he had also heard the news.

“So this...”

“Let’s go now!” Nam Hakgi exclaimed.

“Y-yes!”

Han Gyeongjun was about to make an excuse, but he quickly shut his mouth after hearing Nam Hakgi. At first, he wondered why Nam Hakgi wasn’t saying anything, but he quickly realized why.

‘He’s shaking!’

Nam Hakgi was also panicking over this unprecedented situation.

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung, I know you won’t believe anything I tell you, but please listen! I swear I called you here just to...”

“Calm down,” Choi Yeonseung cut it, trying to calm them down with a composed attitude. “I didn’t think you set me up.”

“...I-is that so?”

“Yeah. A trap would’ve been more clever than this.”

Nobody with any quantity of neurons would’ve publicly invited Choi Yeonseung in the name of Namhyeong Group and then have the hunters of the group ambush him.

Logically speaking, it was clear as day that this wasn’t a trap, but most people wouldn’t be able to think rationally after almost being stabbed in the back.

“...?”

‘How can he be this calm?’

Han Gyeongjun and Nam Hakgi looked at him with bewildered eyes. He seemed so calm that anyone else would’ve thought that he had actually attacked the two of them.

No matter how smart and level-headed a person was, staying calm after being attacked out of nowhere was incredible! This was the difference between him and other hunters...

“I think this is a conspiracy of the evil god constellations.”

“Oh... Is that so?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“...”

The two didn’t react immediately to Choi Yeonseung’s shocking explanation.

A conspiracy of the evil god constellations... On second thoughts, given that normal clan hunters had suddenly attacked Choi Yeonseung...

‘...Doesn’t it make sense?’

‘Indeed, Hunter Choi Yeonseung has probably made many enemies among the evil god constellations...’

“I think it’s possible.”

“I agree.”

“Right?” Choi Yeonseung laughed. “The evil god constellations aren’t only plotting to attack me, but they’re also planning to invade the whole world.”

“...”

“...?!”

“I hope you can help me stop their scheming”

“N... No...”

Han Gyeongjun forgot the situation he was in and unwittingly opened his mouth. The conversation had escalated too much!

The evil god constellations were trying to launch another invasion? What did that even mean...?

“Don’t tell me you’re going to refuse,” said Choi Yeonseung with a smile.

A cold sensation pressed down on Han Gyeongjun’s heart, and it didn’t seem to go away. He instinctively shook his head.

“Th-that’s not it! It's just... It sounds so absurd...”

Bam!

“!!”

The two of them turned their heads in surprise when they heard the door of the training room being smashed open.

Han Seha finally arrived as well, and she was glaring at them with venomous eyes.

“You finally showed your true colors, you dirty bastards!”

“N-no... No, wait...!”

“How dare you do this?!”

“Calm down, Seha.”

***

After calming Han Seha, Choi Yeonseung accurately conveyed his request. There would soon be an invasion by the evil god constellations, so they all had to do their best to cooperate and stop it!

It wasn’t about mobilizing money or hunters. Choi Yeonseung could easily do that by himself. What he was concerned about was public opinion.

‘It’s sad, but there’s a good chance people won’t listen to me.’

As a skilled and experienced Korean hunter, Choi Yeonseung was well aware of how difficult it would be to persuade people to prepare in advance to prevent a disaster.

After all, people preferred sweet words to bitter advice.

-Everyone! We have lived in peace for decades, but the evil god constellations are finally making a move. They’re going to invade us! We need to stop all ongoing events, conduct evacuation drills, and fortify key strategic points! Hunters, stop the drug parties and be on standby for each clan to gather! This way, you can react as soon as monsters appear!

...Most people would hate such a proposal. No matter how many people believed in Choi Yeonseung, there would be a lot of opposition. fre(e)webno(v)el

‘I can’t even count on politicians to help me.’

There was no way that politicians, who cared the most about public opinion, would help Choi Yeonseung with his sudden declaration. It would be a relief if they just watched, but in the worst case scenario, they could hinder him like they had done before.

Hadn’t Choi Yeonseung already experienced it once?

‘I can’t go through that twice.’

Whether through force or ruses, Choi Yeonseung was going to do his best to resolve this tricky situation.

“So... That...”

Han Gyeongjun wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. It wasn’t even hot, but he felt like he was sweating all over.

Persuading the politicians who had connections with the group and mobilizing the media to help Choi Yeonseung... What if they did that and the invasion didn’t happen?

‘...And what if there really is an invasion?’

Both scenarios were terribly grim, but Han Gyeongjun wasn’t sure which was worse.

“Hey! Are you suggesting not making a public warning to cover your ass? You truly don’t know how to repay someone’s grace!” Han Seha shouted furiously after the two executives fell silent.

Her anger didn’t subside even after she heard the details. A person who was usually hated would continue being hated no matter what they did.

The Blocker siblings, who had followed Choi Yeonseung, also shouted from the side, “If you were in the United States, you’d already be sued!”

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung generously agreed to overlook this matter as a fellow Korean, but you’re completely disregarding his gesture of good will!”

“No, it’s not because we’re both Koreans.”

“Is that so? No matter what, he’s willing to overlook this incident with your crazy hunters, and you’re being ungrateful!” Dan Blocker yelled again.

Nam Hakgi was overwhelmed, and he eventually nodded. “Okay. We will help.”

“!”

Han Seha was genuinely surprised. She had expected him to either drag it out a bit longer or hold his ground and talk back.

“What? Really?”

Nam Hakgi pretended not to hear Han Seha and said, “I fully trust your intuition, Hunter Choi Yeonseung. I don’t think someone like you would make such a risky prediction without any basis.” He then turned to Han Gyeongjun. “Don’t you think so?”

“B-but Executive Director... If it doesn’t happen...”

“What? Won’t it be great if the invasion doesn’t happen?”

“Thank you,” responded Choi Yeonseung. Instead of continuing to listen to this nonsense, he held out his hand.

Nam Hakgi shook his hand.

‘Oh, he’s shaking.’

Choi Yeonseung realized that the other person was shaking and drenched in sweat. He was sure that Nam Hakgi was very worried about the decision he had just made. In that regard, he was quite remarkable.

-Not all humans get in the way.

The goddess of sloth was also relieved that this human decided to cooperate.

-Indeed, he deserves praise.

-Why don’t you praise him? You seem to have a lot of respect for him, Successor.

-Ah. I’m afraid Seha would be upset if I did that.

-...

As he walked out, Choi Yeonseung spoke to the Blocker twins.

“I will go to South Korea right away and begin preparations, so you can go back to the US and do the same. It’s probably going to be easier to mobilize everything there than in South Korea. People will listen to you.”

“Huh?”

“??”

The Blocker twins immediately looked at each other, taken completely by surprise by Choi Yeonseung’s words.

“Who... knows?”

“I don’t think so?”

“?!”

***

Before the evil god constellations realized that their plans had been uncovered, Choi Yeonseung was already on the move.

He had to contact the three largest clans in South Korea to get them ready for battle, check the defenses set up around the big cities that the evil god constellations would most likely target, check the available hunters...

He would make an official announcement the moment everything was ready.

“Is it okay?” Lee Changsik asked with a worried expression.

"What do you mean?"

“You’ll be attacked.”

“Ah, it’s okay. I don’t really care.”

Choi Yeonseung laughed at Lee Changsik’s words. He had endured much harsher trials than the booing of some imbeciles.

“What I’m worried about...” Lee Changsik paused and thought about it for a moment before continuing, “...is that the evil god constellations won’t invade after they see that you’ve prepared for them.”

Lee Changsik felt a bit ashamed even as he spoke. He couldn’t believe he was worrying about this out of all things.

However, he had a point. If the evil god constellations didn’t invade after Choi Yeonseung took charge and made a huge deal out of this, the reaction of the public would be unimaginable.

Lee Changsik didn’t want to see Choi Yeonseung, who had devoted himself to the people, being reviled by everyone.

“Wouldn’t that be a good thing though?”

“!”

Lee Changsik was stunned, feeling as though he had been hit in the head with a hammer. He hadn’t expected Choi Yeonseung to say this.

‘It’s embarrassing...!’

Lee Changsik was deeply ashamed. Like other hunters, he also took pride in living without shame, but he always felt embarrassed before Choi Yeonseung, who was younger than him.

What did the opinion of the world mean? Those who knew the truth knew that this was necessary, and that was all there was to it.

“You’re right. You’re doing the right thing. There’s no need to be afraid. No matter what the world says, you’re on the right path!”

‘...Actually, I saw in my vision that the evil god constellations will attack even with my preparations.’

Having missed the timing to explain, Choi Yeonseung felt slightly awkward.

There was no way the evil god constellations, who had been waiting for a long time, could tolerate their plans being leaked before the invasion.

A bunch of constellations would interfere the moment Choi Yeonseung let his guard down. He had given a distressing warning based on a bleak vision of the future, so he had to properly prepare for the invasion...

“...Exactly. It’s the right way!”

[The ‘Seed of the Realm’ is vibrating.]

[’Cooperation’ is engraved on the seed.]

[The ‘Seed of the Realm’ is starting to take shape more and more!]

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