Chapter 288. Celestial Time Realm (4)
“Your successor?!”
Jason’s eyes widened at my words.
“Nameless, what the hell are you talking about?!”
“I’m the only Constellation who came from the Material Realm.”
“And originally, I was nothing more than a powerless Contractor at the very bottom.”
If I had been some superhuman Contractor throwing around magic and internal energy...
Taigong Wang probably wouldn’t have paid any attention to me at all.
“If Taigong Wang, who rejects strange gods and supernatural beings, was searching among Constellations for someone to succeed him...”
“then I’m the only one who fits.”
"...!"
“Of course, I doubt he was dead set on making me his successor from the beginning.”
I kept my eyes fixed on Taigong Wang.
“Taigong Wang.”
“You were probably searching the Material Realm for useful people.”
"..."
“There’s no way you were watching the Material Realm twenty-four hours a day.”
“You probably created some kind of automated monitoring system.”
“That system detected my death, judged that I had the right qualities...”
“and selected me as a candidate.”
Perhaps the desperate wish I had made immediately before dying had been the deciding factor.
“I had no achievements, so my spiritual rank wasn’t high enough.”
“That’s why you put Lucifer’s soul inside me.”
“You used it to fool the system’s judgment and turn me into an S-rank Constellation.”
"..."
“You probably didn’t keep watching me afterward either.”
“You were too busy to personally monitor every successor candidate like me.”
Taigong Wang had been trying to perfect the Fantasy Realm into his ideal world.
That alone must have kept him extremely busy.
“You scattered people who followed your commands throughout the Material Realm and Spirit Realm.”
“You didn’t have time to personally watch every corner of what you considered a garbage dump, so you left it to your agents.”
“Then one day...”
“I got caught in that surveillance network.”
Alexei had carelessly mentioned the subject to Joo Minha...
and from that moment on, I became a target for elimination.
“Joo Minha, Nezha, and the others didn’t even know I was supposed to become your successor.”
“They simply tried to eliminate me.”
“From your perspective, that probably wouldn’t have mattered much.”
“But now that things have gone this far...”
“you can’t just ignore me anymore.”
“Yes.”
“That is correct.”
Taigong Wang, who had remained silent, finally nodded.
“You became a Constellation in order to become my successor.”
“And it is also true that I left you unattended afterward.”
“All of your deductions are correct.”
“So you admit all of it.”
“Yes.”
“There is nothing to deny.”
Taigong Wang looked satisfied.
“Meeting a few conditions does not mean I could simply appoint someone as my successor.”
“That is why I first made you into a Constellation.”
“By putting Lucifer’s soul inside me?”
“At that point, there was no human qualified to become a Constellation.”
“Even now, only one person truly has that qualification.”
“Kang Yujin.”
“Once a candidate was selected, the Constellation system was designed to automatically implant Lucifer’s soul into them.”
“They would then spend time as a Constellation, gaining an understanding of the structure of the worlds.”
“After sufficiently testing them, if they passed...”
“I intended to let them meet me.”
“A sufficient test...”
If I had never learned Taigong Wang existed and simply continued living as a Constellation...
then someday, I would have been given some kind of trial designed by him.
If I passed...
I would eventually have met Taigong Wang like this.
And if I failed...
“H-Hey, wait.”
Jason hurriedly interrupted.
“What exactly happens if someone becomes Taigong Wang’s successor?”
“What would Nameless have to do?”
“He would manage all worlds in my place.”
Taigong Wang answered for me.
“I have no intention of existing forever as the administrator of every world.”
“If I continued for eternity, eventually I would grow arrogant and begin mistaking myself for some absolute god.”
“Seriously?”
“You’re saying you don’t already think that?”
“At an appropriate time, I intended to entrust everything to my successor...”
“and erase myself.”
Several people, including Jason, flinched.
“W-What?”
“So you don’t actually want to rule forever?”
“I did not do any of this out of a lust for power.”
“If I had to describe it...”
“it was a sense of obligation.”
Taigong Wang spoke calmly.
Then he looked back at me.
“I did not expect matters to accelerate this suddenly...”
“but there is no helping it.”
“What do you think?”
“Will you become my successor?”
Before I could answer...
Jason jumped in again.
“Hey, Nameless!”
“Don’t tell me you’re actually thinking about accepting!”
“Jason...”
“Sure, if you inherit that bastard’s authority, you’d practically become the one God!”
“But that’s not something you’d want, is it?!”
Jason kept shouting.
“You’ve always carved out your own destiny!”
“You’re someone who struggles with his own strength and keeps climbing higher!”
"..."
“Sure, Taigong Wang is the reason you became an S-rank Constellation!”
“But everything after that...”
“the reason you climbed all the way to the top of the Spirit Realm...”
“was because you worked for it yourself!”
Jason grabbed my shoulder.
“Don’t even hesitate!”
“The Nameless King I like...”
“the Nameless King I respect...”
“isn’t someone who would nod his head at an offer like this!”
“Don’t praise me too much, Jason.”
I pushed his hand away.
“I already know that without you telling me.”
“Nameless...!”
Jason’s face brightened.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I’m not interested, Taigong Wang.”
I answered him coldly.
“Jason gave a long speech about it, but I’m not the kind of person who’d be tempted by that offer.”
“You spent your entire existence pursuing power and trying to climb to the top.”
“And now you would reject the opportunity to become the absolute summit of the entire universe?”
“If I inherit your style, it sounds boring as hell.”
I looked around at everyone.
“Don’t you agree?”
“The reason we supported the Nameless King all this time...”
“was because watching his actions was exciting and entertaining.”
Arjuna smiled.
“But if he inherited Taigong Wang’s position...”
“no matter how I think about it, his days would become unbearably dull.”
The others nodded in agreement.
“Is that truly your only reason?”
“No.”
“That’s not all, Taigong Wang.”
I glared at him.
“I have one question.”
“What is it?”
“Every Constellation in the Spirit Realm, except me, is a great figure from the Fantasy Realm.”
“Then where are the great figures from the Material Realm?”
"..."
“When countless afterlives disappeared, many souls must have lost the places they were supposed to go.”
“Some became Constellations in the Spirit Realm and now protect the Material Realm.”
“But what happened to the rest?”
Taigong Wang answered slowly.
“Ordinary souls cannot remain as souls for very long.”
“Only exceptional heroes and great figures who remain in the memories of people can endure for extended periods.”
“Among those, the ones originating in the Fantasy Realm became Constellations protecting the Material Realm, as you said.”
“The others became Constellations protecting the Fantasy Realm.”
“Sherlock Holmes once deduced the same thing.”
But that wasn’t the whole truth.
If Sherlock Holmes had been given just a little more time...
he might have uncovered all of this.
So now...
I would reveal it in his place.
“Do those Constellations still exist?”
Taigong Wang answered my question with silence.
