章 324: A Music Box Only for You (3)
4.
"I love you, Gong-ja. Please go out with me."
"Ah, I can't do that."
"Damn it!!"
The first thing I did after becoming the Constellation's follower was to reject the Constellation's confession.
['A Music Box Only for You' becomes enraged.]
Thump. Thump! The young fox stamped on the floor with its paws, puffing angrily.
For those who have never seen it, a fox playing like a mouse is incredibly cute. Which means, my Constellation is cute.
"So, I'm not cute to you?"
"No. You are cute."
"I'm not lovely to you?"
"You are lovely."
"So, you like this form I've taken, and moreover, Gong-ja, you want to make me happy with all your heart, without any brainwashing or manipulation involved, right?"
"Your words just now are correct."
"Then that's love!"
The fox leaped up and grabbed me by the collar. Shake, shake. For those who have never experienced it, a fox hanging from a person's collar and whining is extremely cute. You get what I mean, right?
"Love me now! Love me right this moment! Give me the utmost happiness, human! Make me happy!"
Hmm.
I wish you could understand what I mean.
['A Music Box Only for You' activates its skill.]
['Universal Sovereign' attempts to change your emotions.]
[Failure!]
[Skill conditions not met.]
"It won't work, you know… God…."
Universal Sovereign fulfills each other's fantasies. What I'm imagining is the happiness of the Constellation, and as long as that happiness is not a delusion but something I genuinely wish to be grounded in reality, no distortion will occur.
In short, I wished for the fox god to be happy in reality even without the 'Universal Sovereign'.
Until the end of our realities— until complete death arrives, therefore, the 'Universal Sovereign' will also continue.
"Ugh...."
The fox clasped its head with both hands.
"...It's strange. The strange one is Gong-ja, but it feels like I'm being treated like a childish and strange Constellation. Isn't it strange? If this isn't love, then what is love? What is it?"
"You're still in your youth until you can ask that question."
"Have I been in my youth for thousands of years already? Damn. Spring is too long. I'll suffocate on pollen before summer even arrives."
"God. Your speech has become a bit rough. Though you're cute enough to punch the cheeks of the universe's cuties a few times over, but don't you think there's something a little off about the way you speak? Isn't there something more fox-like. A bit more FOX-like in how you speak?"
"Follower. Then do you know how a fox cries?"
"Mingdingdingdingrididing?"
"That's outdated. And you got the rhythm wrong too."
The young fox said coldly.
Foxes can make expressions, too.
Today, too, I, Kim Gong-ja have gained a new enlightenment as the only Socrates who is climbing the tower
-Indeed….
Bae Hu-ryeong suddenly sighed.
-The density of bullshit around Kim Zombie has thickened even more….
"What does that mean?"
[Shiny tries to join the conversation, asking what that means.]
['A Music Box Only for You' deeply contemplates the sound of a fox's cry.]
-Really, where did he find and gather these 36-flavored crazies? Is this even legal? Zombie, is your existence legal? To my eyes, it seems like it needs to be illegal.
The small 5-pyeong (about 165 square feet) room was bustling.
In that place, there were 1 person, 1 sword, 1 desert fox, and 1 ghost.
It was the most perfectly racially equal 4-member party combination in history.
"There's no need to stay here any longer."
First off, it's cramped.
"Peep. Peep."
And the fox god answered. It seemed that it had finally decided on what the cry of a young desert fox should sound like. In my opinion, it was evolutionarily off the mark and probably physiologically incorrect as well. But the fox god seemed very pleased.
"Peep, peeyak."
"What did you say?"
"Ppyak."
I could immediately understand what the fox god was saying.
['A Music Box Only for You' is the Constellation that rules over the 61st floor.]
['A Music Box Only for You' assigns you a quest.]
Before my eyes, grains of sand moved.
The granules gathered to form letters.
+
[Feeding Quest]
Constellation: A Music Box Only for You
Difficulty: F
Mission Objective: Stroke the head of the Constellation you serve.
※ However, you must stroke with all your sincerity.
+
"...."
"Peep."
The fox god raised its chin confidently and proudly.
"Yes. Understood."
I smiled and stroked the fox god's head.
Following the path of my hand, the platinum fur rustled softly.
With all my sincerity.
[Quest Achieved.]
[Stage Clear.]
Perhaps, there's no hunter who has completed a quest faster than this.
If this is a speedrun, then it's a speedrun.
Not counting the half-lives I had to spend as Raviel and my master.
[Congratulations.]
[You have cleared the 61st floor stage!]
And now, I was enveloped in a scene different from before.
Swoosh.
A sandstorm blew. It wasn't choking to breathe in, nor did it sting the eyes. It merely carried the sweet scent of desert roses. The delicate fragrance of flowers that bloomed, drinking only the dew under the sun, wafted to my nose.
'It's not a dazzling light.'
Up until now, every time I headed to the next stage, I was surrounded by white light.
'Maybe it's because I became a follower to the Constellation.'
I smiled.
Now a Constellation who cannot use any power and has nothing else to do but be by my side, but perhaps the constellations in the night sky are originally like that.
The wish I had for the Constellation was already enough for me.
If I could smell the scent of roses with every floor I climbed.
'It's nice.'
I drowned in the sandstorm.
[You will be transferred to the next stage!]
Tick.
Listening to the sound of the wall clock left in the small room for the last time.
5.
[You have entered the 62nd stage.]
A new floor.
Although in reality, I had only stayed on the 61st floor for about a week, the noise announcing my arrival was loud.
['The Eye Living in the Labyrinth' re-detects your presence!]
The Constellations must have been continuously tracking me.
It's me who made such a spectacle on the 50th floor. Even if temporarily, I had made contracts with up to ten Constellations.
Whether it was Constellations I had contracted with or those I hadn't, it was difficult for them not to take an interest in my tumultuous journey.
['The Eye Living in the Labyrinth' notifies other Constellations of your arrival!]
That was when my presence on the 61st floor was cut off.
Due to the [Universal Sovereign] activated by the fox god, we were completely isolated, trapped in a world just for the two of us.
Even the other Constellations were unaware of the fox god's existence. Nor could they understand its power. Perhaps the Constellations were clueless about what had happened and were just stomping their feet in frustration?
And now, as if nothing had happened, I've returned, hence the flurry of messages coming in.
['The Eye Living in the Labyrinth' proposes you become its official follower.]
['The Warhorse of the Eternal Plains' offers you a follower position.]
['The Lone Seeker of Truth' offers you a follower position.]
['The Incarnation of Love and Lust' proposes you the position of Apostle!]
It's been a while.
Names I missed appeared one after another in the messages.
I gave a bright smile to the unseen Constellations.
"Have you all been well?"
['The Eye Living in the Labyrinth' asks where you have been hiding all this time.]
"I wasn't exactly hiding. The details are private, so let's keep it a secret…"
['The Incarnation of Love and Lust' is offering you the position of Apostle!]
"Ah. Right. About that."
Plop.
The fox god jumped onto my waist and climbed up to my back.
"I, I've already become a follower of a Constellation."
The fox god curled up on my shoulder. And then, it softly wrapped its tail around my neck. From a distance, it might look like I was wearing a golden scarf.
"Peep."
The fox god rubbed its head against my cheek.
[The Death King is a follower of the Constellation 'A Music Box Only for You.']
['A Music Box Only for You' politely requests other Constellations not to mess with you.]
A deep silence enveloped the heavens.
['The Lone Seeker of Truth' remains silent.]
['The Warhorse of the Eternal Plains' remains silent.]
['The Incarnation of Love and Lust' remains silent.]
Only the sound of the fox god fluttering its tail with a smile flowed quietly.
After a while, finally, one Constellation sent a message.
['The Eye Living in the Labyrinth' politely asks where you've got this stray dog from.]
Hmm.
Such a good first impression.
"Now, everyone. Let's calm down a bit…"
['A Music Box Only for You' answers out of context that it really likes snake liquor.]
"...Snake liquor? Why suddenly snake liquor?"
Bae Hu-ryeong answered my question.
-'The Eye Living in the Labyrinth', that is, Hishmith Kritz, is a snake god. Zombie. In short, your Constellation was just was using a racist insult against snakes.
"Ah. So..."
['The Eye Living in the Labyrinth' swears to kill you!]
"...So that's why it's reacting so violently. Hmm."
Indeed.
It seems our fox god is intent on making enemies of the other Constellations from the start, ensuring they don't mess with me in any way.
['The Incarnation of Love and Lust' says it has never heard of a Constellation like yours.]
['A Music Box Only for You' responds that it's because your rabbit ears are rotten. It expresses sympathy for you, saying you don't have anyone to regularly clean your ears.]
['The Incarnation of Love and Lust' swears to tear you apart.]
Remarkable.
"...By any chance, Babit."
-Is a rabbit god. As far as I know, it takes pride in its ears being the loveliest in the universe. It laughs off insults to its parents and personal attacks, but for some reason, it goes ballistic if you insult its ears.
"I see. To put it in more understandable terms?"
-Um…
Bae Hu-ryeong seriously pondered.
-It's like someone insulted Raviel to you?
What.
That's the end of it.
Are you planning to destroy the world, fox god?
['The Warhorse of the Eternal Plains' suggests everyone calm down as they are all too excited.]
['A Music Box Only for You' worries looking at your long face might make its own face elongate.]
['The Warhorse of the Eternal Plains' prepares for war.]
This is serious.
The number of forces hostile to us is growing at an alarming rate.
I had no choice but to show the person who insulted Raviel the torments of living hell. If words were necessary, they would come only after delivering a hellish pain first.
The Constellations would probably do the same.
How am I supposed to correct this misunderstanding and confusion?
-No. A Constellation who manipulates the world for their own enjoyment is your god's temperament, what's there to misunderstand or mistake? Did you really think they would respect other beings? They probably consider all life in this universe as insignificant as ants, except for you.
I ignored Bae Hu-ryeong's words.
They're not helpful for my mental health.
"Le-Let's focus on conquering the stage for now, God."
"Peep."
"Wow. What could the 62nd floor be like? Is it dominated by a force like a Magic Tower? I'm curious. So curious I could go mad. Really mad with curiosity! I'm just going crazy here!"
I desperately tried to divert the fox god's attention.
"There must be a Constellation governing this stage too, right? I wonder who it is. It would be nice if this time it's someone normal and kind. I'm really curious…"
"No need to be curious."
A voice was heard.
"And you don't need to know."
At that moment, the ground shook.
The reason for the shaking was something had plummeted from the sky. Precisely, in front of me. Even more precisely, where my head would have been if I hadn't used lightness skill to evade.
Kuuuuuung!
I quickly created distance between us. The place I had just escaped from was smashed to pieces again. Kwang! Kwaaang! As I swiftly moved, like swatting a fly with a swatter three or four times, searching for a bug, lightning-like strikes followed me.
"Seems you're worthy of being called a king."
After eighteen combined attacks, taking up about 2 seconds in time, the one who attacked me finally spoke.
"Death King. You're the one who killed my Apostle."
It wasn't a human.
Though it looked human, it had gigantic tusks like horns on both sides of its forehead.
Golden eyes, devoid of emotion, were fixed on me.
"That arrogance. Pay for it with your death."
Creak.
The Constellation was shouldering a hammer, magnificent and seemingly too large.
['The Ox that Harvests Ruins' attacks you.]
The Ox that Harvests Ruins.
['The Ox that Harvests Ruins' swears to obliterate you.]
In the past, Sylvia Evanail.
The very Constellation that The Lady of the Golden Silk revered as a god.
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