Chapter 182

Chapter 182

Meanwhile...

"H-How...?"

A certain Constellation writhed in agony with a tentacle piercing through his abdomen.

Dark blood poured from his mouth.

His eyes had turned bloodshot red.

He desperately tried to pull himself free from the tentacle squirming inside his body.

But...

"Urgh...!! Ghk!"

The harder he struggled...

The deeper it burrowed.

His entire nervous system went numb.

Blood began pouring from every opening in his body.

"Urrgh...."

His head tilted back stiffly.

His body trembled violently.

Then...

The tentacle pulsed.

And began sucking away every trace of Rank left inside him.

Whooom. Whooom.

[Constellation ‘God of Abundance and Famine’ is losing ‘Rank’ due to Otherworldly Rank.]

[Warning! Warning!]

[If this continues, the target's life may be endangered!]

The repeated red warning messages meant nothing.

Thorn-like branches spread from the tentacle throughout his body.

They absorbed every last trace of Rank.

Each time the tentacle pulsed...

His body shriveled further...

Like a mummy drained of every drop of moisture.

After it repeated two or three times...

Thud.

The tentacle finally pulled free from his abdomen.

The dried corpse collapsed helplessly to the ground.

Then...

It crumbled into powder and vanished without a trace.

Watching all of this with cold, lifeless eyes...

Was Kim Mihyeon.

Whooom.

Countless fragments of Rank, large and small, flowed over her hand.

Not much time had passed since her last meeting with Suhyeok.

Yet...

She had already absorbed a considerable amount of Rank.

And that wasn't all.

Inside the dark space...

Mihyeon casually extended her hand.

[Constellation ‘God of Abundance and Famine's’ Trait ‘Bloom (S)’ activates.]

Warm energy spread outward.

In an instant...

The dark space transformed into a breezy field.

[Traits obtained through absorbed Rank may only be consumed as one-time abilities.]

[Trait ‘Bloom (S)’ is permanently extinguished.]

"..."

Mihyeon stared blankly at her hand.

A breeze blew from far away.

It tousled her bangs and tickled her forehead.

For some reason...

Suhyeok's face kept appearing in her thoughts.

Just as those thoughts began to deepen...

Someone approached from behind.

Step. Step.

"You're doing well."

System appeared.

"Just like I ordered."

It looked around.

"I didn't expect you to change the entire space to suit your taste too."

"Not bad."

"The breeze is nice."

System inhaled the air as though enjoying it.

Then stood beside Mihyeon and casually asked,

"So..."

"How many have you absorbed now?"

"...Fifteen."

"Still a long way to go."

System smiled.

"But that's not bad."

"The Traits you've collected aren't terrible either."

"They're trash who barely qualify as Constellations..."

"But if you keep stacking them up..."

"They'll still be useful."

System gently patted her shoulder as though praising her.

Mihyeon glanced toward the hand with her expression unchanged.

System's lips curled upward.

"By now..."

"The rest of that trash must've realized what's happening."

"They'll know their turn is coming."

"They're probably scrambling to cling to someone right now just to save their own lives."

"Wouldn't you agree?"

For the past half day...

Mihyeon had been hunting down Constellations that belonged to no faction.

Then...

She absorbed their Rank and grew stronger.

The reason was simple.

No one was currently protecting unaffiliated Constellations.

By now...

Everyone already knew that Mihyeon, the Otherworldly Divinity, was responsible.

Normally...

They would've joined forces to eliminate her immediately.

But the situation was different now.

A war between the factions was already underway.

And as long as Mihyeon's targets remained limited to unaffiliated Constellations...

Any faction that interfered risked suffering losses of its own.

With D-Day so close...

No faction wanted to create that kind of uncertainty.

System shrugged.

"Of course..."

"There are a few relatively high-Rank Constellations among that trash."

"Some should still be easy enough..."

"But Buddha might be a little troublesome."

Despite saying that...

System didn't look particularly worried about failure.

Then it tilted its head.

"By the way..."

"Why did you use that Trait immediately after absorbing it?"

"It wasn't particularly useful..."

"But you might've found a purpose for it later."

"...Yes."

"I'm sorry."

"Hmm."

System waved it off.

"It's fine."

"You already have plenty of Traits anyway."

Mihyeon remained silent.

She merely lowered her head slightly.

System watched her.

Then casually said,

"You're still awfully quiet whenever you're in front of me."

"Looking at your old memories..."

"You were pretty lively."

"Always bright and cheerful."

"Didn't Suhyeok tell you about that?"

Mihyeon flinched.

The sudden mention of Suhyeok made her react before she could stop herself.

System smiled.

"I already know."

"You secretly met Lee Suhyeok behind my back."

Trying to hide it was pointless.

Cold silence spread between them.

Then...

System burst out laughing.

"Kuh..."

"Kuhahaha!"

"It's actually pretty funny seeing you panic like this."

"You know..."

"You and I are both the type whose emotions show on our faces more than we think."

Its joking tone briefly lightened the atmosphere.

But then...

Grip.

The hand resting on Mihyeon's shoulder tightened.

Her brow furrowed slightly.

"I don't understand."

System's smile vanished.

"Did you really think hiding something from my eyes was possible?"

"No."

"Fine."

"Let's say that part doesn't matter."

Its voice sank so low...

It sent a chill through the air.

"But tell me this."

"Why are you so obsessed with those useless memories?"

"..."

"What are they worth?"

"Those are just memories of a past you can't return to."

"What exactly makes them so valuable?"

System's fingers dug harder into her shoulder.

"Important enough for you to disobey my orders?"

"Tell me."

Grip.

The lush field around them began to rot.

The gentle breeze turned violent.

Crack.

Cra-crack.

The landscape maintained by the Trait shattered like glass.

The world returned to endless darkness.

The crushing force from System's hand pressed even harder against Mihyeon's shoulder.

And yet...

She concealed her expression.

She said nothing.

Because...

Her desire to recover her memories had already grown far beyond anything reasonable.

Silence continued.

Eventually...

System slowly spoke again.

"...Fine."

"If you want those memories that badly..."

"I'll give them to you."

Its hand moved from her shoulder...

To her forehead.

[Crackle... Unknown memories flow into your mind.]

"Ugh...!"

Pain overwhelmed Mihyeon.

Blood ran from her nose.

Then...

System removed its hand.

Mihyeon staggered.

When she looked back at System...

Something in her eyes had changed.

It was almost hatred.

[Constellation ‘Otherworldly Divinity’ Kim Mihyeon now recognizes Constellation ‘Player’ Lee Suhyeok as a traitor.]

"Your enemy is Lee Suhyeok."

System's voice was calm.

"So don't forget your purpose."

"Bring me his Rank."

"Even if you have to kill him."

"...Yes."

Mihyeon's eyes hardened.

"Without fail."

At that same time...

Suhyeok entered the tent.

The first thing he saw...

Was the wall covered in Beast hides.

And in front of it...

The village Chief sat in an enormous chair.

"So you've come!"

"Kuhahahaha!"

"It's been a long time since we've had such a pleasant, warrior-like guest!"

The Chief welcomed him with booming laughter.

The attitude was completely different from when he'd first released his aura outside.

But Suhyeok had already experienced the Barbarians before.

So he wasn't surprised.

If anything, this is mild.

As long as I don't show weakness...

I can already guess how this will go.

The Chief rested his chin on one hand and looked Suhyeok over.

"I am Kashik!"

"Chief of proud Carnivore Village!"

"And father of Turkal, the one who came here with you!"

"What is the name of such a strong warrior?"

"Lee Suhyeok."

Suhyeok answered calmly.

"I came from Herbivore Village..."

"Though I'm only a temporary resident there."

"That's the easiest way to explain my position."

"More accurately..."

"I'm the Apostle of the Primordial God."

Interest immediately appeared on Kashik's face.

"Apostle?"

"Then you're something like the master of the Saintess who helped us migrate to this floor!"

"Kuhahaha!"

"So we had someone important among us!"

He slapped his thigh.

"As expected of my son!"

Suhyeok couldn't help but feel the same impression he'd had when meeting Turkal.

Apparently...

Elite Orcs really did have similar personalities.

Still...

That wasn't necessarily bad.

It meant they were generous toward people they acknowledged.

"Then..."

"I'll get to the reason I came here──"

"Oh, I already know."

Kashik cut him off.

"If Turkal brought you here..."

"Then you obviously aren't Herbivore Village's chef."

"Which means they probably want to appoint you as the judge we've been missing."

"And you've come here to get my approval."

"Kuhaha!"

Suhyeok looked slightly surprised.

Maybe it was because several of the people he'd met earlier had seemed somewhat lacking in intelligence.

The contrast between Kashik's muscular appearance and his sharp reasoning felt strangely large.

Well...

He didn't become Chief for nothing.

"If that's what you're asking..."

"I'm willing to accept it."

Kashik nodded.

"After all..."

"If we're going to decide whether herbivores or carnivores are superior..."

"We need a judge both sides recognize."

Turkal's expression immediately brightened.

He let out a deep sigh of relief.

But then...

"However..."

The atmosphere inside the tent changed.

The temperature dropped sharply.

"That only works if everyone truly ‘acknowledges’ you."

"Herbivore Village may have accepted you easily..."

"But my standards are different."

"What happened outside earlier..."

"That was merely a greeting."

Kashik's gaze turned cold.

"Let me make something clear."

"I think anyone who enjoys herbivore food has something wrong with their head."

"Even putting aside what happened between me and their Chief..."

"Why eat useless weeds when meat is simply more efficient?"

Then...

He looked down at Suhyeok.

"I don't know how you won over my son..."

"But shallow tricks like that won't work on me."

"There is only one way to earn my acknowledgment."

"Prove your strength."

Then Kashik shouted,

"Come in!"

Eight enormous Orcs entered the tent.

Each one radiated an aura incomparably stronger than Turkal's.

Turkal's face stiffened.

"U-Uncles...?"

His shoulders, which had been so proud when entering the village earlier...

Shrank immediately.

He seemed even more afraid of those eight than of his own father.

"They're the finest warriors in our village."

Kashik crossed his arms.

"If you defeat all of them..."

"I'll recognize you as the judge."

"Do you accept?"

Suhyeok looked at them.

Every one of them stared down at him.

Not because he was human.

But because...

They trusted in their own strength more than anything else.

Then...

[Simulation activates.]

[This option is strongly recommended.]

Suhyeok looked at the choice that appeared.

There was only one.

But the result was clear.

[Selecting this option will partially unlock information about the final Authority.]

[*This information is a message personally left by the Primordial God.]

"...!"

There was no reason to refuse.

Suhyeok immediately decided.

"I accept."

"I'll fight all of them."

"And I'll win."

Then he added,

"But since you're setting conditions..."

"I'd like to set one of my own."

Kashik readily agreed.

"Name it!"

"Something of that level is easy enough."

"Go on."

"What do you want?"

Suhyeok glanced toward the visibly nervous Turkal.

Then looked back at Kashik.

"I want to change the condition itself."

Kashik raised an eyebrow.

"If I defeat all of them..."

"I won't be the judge."

"The two Chiefs who started this argument..."

"Will judge the competition yourselves."

Kashik's expression changed.

"...What?"