“Ughh…….”
Blink—
[…Are you coming to your senses?]
As I opened my eyes to the sluggish feeling spreading through every corner of my body, I saw Eliya’s face, now wearing an expression of complete and utter bewildernt.
[…Your physical condition was no joke, so I took the liberty of purchasing a morize Paper enchanted with E-rank healing magic. It cost another coin.]
“……”
[Your internal mana was completely depleted and your muscles were all torn. If I had left you as you were, you would have been unconscious for days, so please don't be too upset……. You have plenty of money, after all.]
Pfft—
So that’s why. My condition felt a bit better.
It wasn't a bad call on her part.
If it had been just a hundred orcs as I'd written on my bucket list, I could have toughed it out. But because the ‘bite’ from the Constellation ca later than I expected, I had definitely overdone it.
…Though I hadn't expected to faint just from using a tiny bit of my Innate Ability.
“Brilliant, Iria.”
[…I told you. Please don't leave out a syllable……. My na is Eliya.]
“Sorry.”
[…Is that it?]
“Sorry, sorry?”
[Haa… Honestly…….]
Muttering with a sigh, Eliya looked up and asked again.
[Putting that aside… what on earth did you do in the First Gate?]
“Hm? What did I do?”
[Yes. What in the world did you do to co back with 193 Orc's Tokens, with your body in a state as if you’d been running at full speed for three days straight… and yet, for soone who supposedly fought so fiercely, you don't have a single scratch……. It's completely beyond my common sense.]
“Just… did what the trial told to do over there.”
[Did what it said? The trial guide sent by The Order clearly states it’s based on the assassination of orcs, in line with the current strategy of the War against Demons…….]
“Yeah. That’s right. Assassination. But now…”
[…….]
“I just increased the head count a bit.”
Eliya’s face was once again painted with a dumbfounded expression.
[So… you’re claiming you committed… mass assassination(?)]
“Sothing like that.”
[…Unless I've been living my life wrong until now, I think the word that cos after 'mass' should be 'slaughter', not 'assassination'…….]
“Well, aren't they the sa thing?”
Shrug—
“If there are no witnesses, it's an assassination.”
[…….]
A mont of silence passed.
[First of all, the idea that you caught 193 of them by yourself makes no sense no matter how I think about it… It seems there was so kind of error in The Order's design process……. I'll have to look into it. This could be a headache if sothing went wrong…….]
And with that, she gave up asking any more questions and offered her own speculation.
I didn't bother to refute her guess.
Of course, the truth was that I had caught them all, but it wasn't sothing she would believe just because I said so.
Well, in truth, it didn't matter to how the 'process' was defined.
■ Slaughterer (★☆☆)
[For each consecutive entity killed, the Slaughterer gains a stack of Slaughter. It can be stacked up to 5 tis, and each stack increases attack speed by 10%.]
Slaughterer.
The 'result'—the fact that the trait I had ripped off the Constellation in the First Gate was now embedded in my trait window—was what mattered.
.
.
.
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', expresses interest in your unusual actions.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', asks if you'd be interested in working for him.]
A nature that ignored the rules.
A temperant that acted on a whim.
A reckless way of speaking.
I didn't know who coined it, but 'Olympus's Ruffian' was a fitting epithet for him.
‘God of War, Ares.’
At the end of the First Gate, the Constellation who broke The Order's rule, [A Constellation cannot intervene in the First Gate], and spoke to was none other than the ‘God of War, Ares’.
One of the twelve Constellations of 'Olympus', which was considered the most legitimate of all, even among the countless Constellations that had existed in the Upper-Dinsional Plane since ancient tis.
I knew better than anyone what kind of being he was, but when the ssage popped up, I feigned ignorance and replied.
“And who might you be?”
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', states that he cannot reveal his na but emphasizes that he is a being so noble you would be lucky to see him once in your lifeti.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', dismisses such matters and demands you sign an Exclusive Contract first.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', promises he can give you imnse power and abilities.]
Just as I expected.
He imdiately pushed for an Exclusive Contract with sweet talk.
To put it simply, he was trying to get a head start.
Once I moved on to the Second Gate, where Constellations would begin to intervene in earnest, it was a given that other Constellations would also make their approach.
So, he was trying to lock down a Plane Transcendent he liked beforehand, even if it ant offering sothing extra.
In fact, if I were an ordinary Plane Transcendent whose goal was simply to survive, signing an Exclusive Contract now would have been the right move.
The twelve Constellations of Olympus were not lightweights.
And an Exclusive Contract with a Constellation wasn't sothing granted to just any Plane Transcendent.
…But.
“Hey now, a contract? How can we make a contract without even introducing ourselves? How am I supposed to know who you are?”
That didn't apply to .
Simply surviving.
I hadn't gone through Regression for sothing so trivial.
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', beats his chest at your frustrating remark.]
A ssage expressing his frustration.
I could feel Ares's impatience even from here.
It was certainly a situation that would be frustrating for him.
There were barely three minutes left on the First Gate's tir, and he had already intervened at a cost, yet here I was, spouting nonsense about 'introductions'.
If I were to be eliminated by so chance, there would be no situation more unfair from Ares's perspective.
He would have paid the price for breaking The Order's rules, only to end up with absolutely nothing to show for it.
Well, of course, objectively speaking, it wasn't a huge loss for a Constellation of Ares's caliber to miss out on one contractor.
But it's only natural for anger to boil over in haste.
Unable to control his fiery inner nature, he threw ssages at .
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', guarantees you will regret this.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', at your frustratingly dense nature…….]
…And that.
Was exactly what I was aiming for.
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', demands a swift contract.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', persuades you that if you co under him, you can obtain anything, be it money, honor, or power.]
“Well… I don't know much, but just from your na, you don't seem like a big shot……. I'm not so death row convict, how can I work under a ruffian?”
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', snorts with rage.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', demands you retract your statent.]
“I an… the only thing I've seen are these system ssages. I have no way of knowing if you're a big deal or not.”
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', cannot bear the humiliation.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', checks his list of traits.]
Then, at a certain mont during our one-sided squabble.
The ssage I had been waiting for appeared.
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', sponsors you with a 'Trait'.]
“……!”
…Ares was famous in the Upper-Dinsional Plane for his fiery temper.
He was especially intolerant of those who ignored him or tarnished his honor.
And if it was like that in my past life, it would be the sa this ti.
Before my Regression, I had quite a bit of interaction with Ares, so I could see as clear as day what he was thinking and how he would react.
Therefore, from the mont he took the bait, it was no exaggeration to say that Ares was fated to leave sothing behind before he left.
‘…Got it.’
[ has been acquired.]
The system ssage confirming the acquisition of the trait.
As soon as that ssage disappeared, Ares's arrogant ssage popped up.
It was as if to say, ‘Now that I've gone this far, you have no choice but to make a contract with !’
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', tells you to feel his power, even if it is but a small fraction…….]
Well, of course.
…I had no intention of listening to him until the end.
“…Oh my. Look at the ti.”
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', displays a question mark above his head.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', senses an inexplicable foreboding.]
“Uh… sir.”
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', demands you shut that mouth at once.]
“It seems my ti is up, so I should get going……”
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', asks where you think you're going when the conversation isn't even over.]
“I'll make good use of (?) what you gave .”
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', tries to stop you.]
“Haha… well then, farewell.”
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', wears a dumbfounded expression.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', wonders what kind of absolute ruffian you are and…….]
.
.
.
[Mr. Seo U-jin… Mr. Seo U-jin……!]
“…Hm?”
[Are you listening to right now?]
Eliya's voice broke out of my reverie.
Judging by her expression, it seed she had been diligently explaining sothing.
“Ah, sorry. Where were we?”
[Up to the part where the 'Constellations' start to intervene from the Second Gate……. Haa. You weren't listening again, were you, Mr. Seo U-jin.]
“Haha……. I've always been terrible at listening attentively……. But I'm strong in a real fight, so don't worry.”
[How can you say that!? Do you know how many people died in the First Gate! You should at least know the bare minimum of information before you go.]
“Sorry, sorry. I'll try to concentrate for about a minute, starting now.”
[I just… don't understand how you even passed the First Gate…….]
“Stop sighing so much. You'll make the ground sink.”
[…I'll wrap it up in exactly one minute, so listen carefully.]
Eliya, ruffling her straight black hair in frustration, began to speak in a rapid-fire burst.
[If the key word for the First Gate was 'Hunting', the key word for the Second Gate is 'Survival'.]
“……”
[You've heard the na 'Cyclops' in the Lower-Dinsional Plane, right?]
“I know it. The one-eyed giant from Greek mythology.”
[That would be right. The myths prevalent in the Lower-Dinsional Plane are fundantally based on stories from the Upper-Dinsional Plane.]
Her words continued without a pause for breath.
[The setting for the Second Gate is the 'Cyclops's Vineyard'. Your job is to be dropped into that monster's farm and survive for a set amount of ti.]
[The farm is composed of three main elents. The farm owner, the 'Cyclops', the 'grapevines' he cultivates, and the Cyclops's 'hunting dogs' that guard those grapevines. Understanding these three key elents is the core to passing the Second Gate…….]
I felt bad for her, but it was hard to concentrate.
The reason was simple.
I already knew everything she was saying.
Would it be a similar feeling for a fresh Seoul National University graduate to go back to first grade and listen to an elentary-level lesson?
Regardless of the speaker's sincerity, my mind couldn't help but wander elsewhere.
[…Especially in this Second Gate, the Constellations from the Upper-Dinsional Plane begin to participate…….]
Right, and I just t one of them.
[…If I were to tell you the strategy I've devised…….]
I've already thought of a strategy, too.
[…I don't know what you did down there, but a stroke of luck like that only happens once…….]
And my strategy this ti will probably fall into her category of a 'stroke of luck'.
I couldn't help but think, 'What's the point of listening to this?'
It couldn't be helped.
[Hoo……. Okay, that's it. I've summarized everything from the importance of the Second Gate to the strategy as concisely as possible… Did you understand everything?]
Having finished her one-minute explanation as promised, she asked, catching her breath.
She had a rather satisfied look on her face.
How should I put it?
It was the expression of a mother who had packed a three-tiered lunchbox for her child going on a picnic.
It seed she had successfully cramd everything she wanted to say into that short summary.
In fact, even from my perspective, there probably wasn't a better strategy for a beginner whose main goal was to 'pass the Second Gate'.
To put it bluntly, her strategy briefing was excellent.
A summary that pinpointed the key aspects of the Second Gate and the precautions a beginner should take.
“Yeah. I get it.”
[I can really trust you this ti, right? So, to put it simply, there's no need to go all-out in the Second Gate. The Constellations usually make their final decision in the third gate anyway. The plan is to minimize risk…….]
“So what you're saying is……”
Well, of course.
“I just have to beat the crap out of everything, right?”
This ti, too, since I wasn't a beginner, her advice was dismissed.
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