Chapter 41: The Essence of Traits (2)

Seo Ye-rin was confused.

Choa, who had been watching the situation from the side, was no different.

What in the world was happening right now, and what was that constellation?

Seo Ye-rin’s pupils trembled as she stared at the constellation quivering in Cheon Hwi’s palm.

‘I can feel a connection.’

She didn’t know how or why, but she strongly sensed that the constellation was linked to her.

It felt strangely familiar, like something that had been with her for a long time.

Perhaps that’s why it didn’t feel like something she was seeing for the first time.

Seo Ye-rin swallowed hard and tried her best to stay calm.

If she didn’t keep her emotions in check, she felt like she might start throwing out questions nonstop.

Seven crimson stars, and the bright yellow lines connecting them—anyone would call that a “constellation.”

And Seo Ye-rin, too, recognized it as a constellation.

The strange thing was, visual information didn’t seem to be the main reason she thought so.

“Avesta…?”

At those murmured words, Cheon Hwi suddenly paid close attention.

“You recognized it after all?”

“I’m not sure what’s going on, but… somehow, my mind feels connected to it. Through that link, I keep getting the sense that it’s my Trait.”

It was like someone was whispering in her heart, and yet it also felt like accepting an obvious fact.

Even though the words were coming out of her own mouth, the situation was hard to fully grasp.

Just as Seo Ye-rin finished speaking with a frown and began to feel a slight unease.

“That’s exactly right. This is your Trait, Ms. Seo Ye-rin. To be precise, it’s the source of your Trait—the existence that has been giving you strength in the form of a Trait until now.”

Cheon Hwi gently clenched his hand with a bit of force.

It was only a slight motion, but the constellation resting on his hand reacted differently.

Wooooong—the constellation vibrated.

It shook and flickered like it was trembling, scattering a bright light.

It looked like it was screaming.

Even though it had no vocal cords or way to communicate, everyone present could feel its scream.

The sudden burst of light from the constellation was as clear as a cry to anyone watching.

“Well, it’s just an outer shell, though.”

Cheon Hwi, who had been staring down at the constellation with a chillingly cold expression just moments before, let out a quiet scoff.

His lips curled into a mocking smile.

His eyes bent like a crescent moon, showing signs of amusement, but his pitch-black pupils were still cold.

His gaze was like someone eyeing a sharp blade.

Cheon Hwi’s gaze pierced through the radiant starlight as he looked down at the constellation.

The constellation trembled as if struck by that gaze.

Its gentle yet bright light flickered and vibrated, looking as if a blade had been stabbed into it.

“Mr. Song Cheon Hwi, may I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

Seo Ye-rin narrowed her eyes at the constellation, now unable to move.

Her lips opened with difficulty after hesitating for a long time, silently shaping words.

“What exactly is that?”

What kind of being could it possibly be?

That was the only question filling Seo Ye-rin’s mind.

To think that her Trait originated from something like that constellation, and that it had remained hidden somewhere in her body all this time, connected to her.

She was the team leader of the Audit Division at the Hunter Association, a promising A-rank Hunter in Korea.

To discover that the essence—the very source of her power—had been borrowed from another being.

Cheon Hwi’s earlier remark, that what had been drawn out was just a shell, offered a small sense of comfort.

But still, the confusion and anxiety lingered.

“What kind of constellation is it, that it would grant Traits to me… no, to Hunters in general?”

What brought her some relief was that Cheon Hwi seemed to recognize something resembling that constellation.

Seo Ye-rin asked the question in hopes of easing her doubts and fear.

And Cheon Hwi, after a moment of silence, carefully chose his words and softly spoke of the constellation’s identity.

“The poetic name used by those who taught me about beings like this one… is ‘Seongjwa (Constellation).’ It literally means a star constellation.”

“Then I suppose there’s a less poetic name too, isn’t there?”

“…That’s correct.”

What kind of name could it be?

Seo Ye-rin looked at Cheon Hwi with pleading eyes, silently begging him to tell her.

But Cheon Hwi frowned at her gaze, hesitating to answer.

He seemed to be genuinely questioning whether revealing it was the right thing to do.

From Seo Ye-rin’s perspective, it looked like Cheon Hwi was debating such a dilemma.

“I’ll take responsibility. It came from my body, so the responsibility is mine too. Please… tell me what that being truly is.”

Her words were both earnest and resolute.

Cheon Hwi, sensing her determination from her sudden reply and serious tone, finally let out a quiet sigh, and gave the answer that continued from his previous words.

“If it were truly the kind of being that deserved a romantic name like ‘constellation,’ I would’ve had no problem with it myself. But unfortunately, once I reached a higher realm, I began to perceive things that are better left unknown.”

It was a being so thoroughly hidden that even Cheon Hwi hadn’t noticed it—until he came into direct contact with Seo Ye-rin’s flow of mana.

Though it was immediately exposed once its mana was grasped, that was only possible because it was Cheon Hwi.

This was definitely not a being that other awakened individuals could take lightly.

Cheon Hwi knew that better than anyone.

With a vision shaped by his transcendent level, he could clearly see what Seo Ye-rin couldn’t—the constellation’s true identity.

It was a truth so immense it surpassed societal scale and could shake the entire planet.

A truth so overwhelming that it might be better for most people not to know it.

After a deep sigh, Cheon Hwi finally spoke the shocking truth.

“Beings from another world who used stars as vessels, containing their achievements, their concepts, and their very existence within them, then ascended.”

As Cheon Hwi continued, Choa and Seo Ye-rin’s eyes grew wider.

Their calm breathing turned shaky with confusion, and their steady breaths became shallow.

“To put it more bluntly—”

And at last, as Cheon Hwi finished his explanation and revealed everything.

“They are gods… from an external world.”

The two women were left speechless, unable to say a word.

Cheon Hwi’s gaze deepened as he looked down at the constellation, or rather, the god from an external world.

Ever since his return, he had been wondering.

And now, he had finally uncovered the key to a mystery with no starting point.

‘A world war… No, this is less a war and more of an invasion.’

Why did the Great Cataclysm happen?

What exactly is awakening?

How do Traits function as powers?

All of those questions were answered.

All it took was discovering a single parasitic constellation residing within Seo Ye-rin’s body.

But from that one clue, Cheon Hwi had deduced the entire truth.

‘It doesn’t belong to the world I came from. I never saw or felt anything like constellations there, and even the knight who told me about them described them as beings from another world.’

The constellation Cheon Hwi had heard about from the wandering knight of the Western lands had been a rather romantic existence.

After all, it was a being who, with the body of a mere human, achieved great feats and hung their own star in the night sky.

One who eventually linked multiple stars and ultimately ascended.

In that sense, they were similar to a martial artist who had reached the realm of transcending mortality.

‘But… its power is not that impressive.’

Cheon Hwi narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the constellation twinkling in his palm.

If ascension truly meant the same as transcendence, and if the constellation was a being on par with the Realm of Wish-Manifestation, there would’ve been no time for peaceful contemplation like this.

By now, not just Korea, but all of Manchuria and Japan would’ve sunk into the sea.

After all, battles between transcendent beings always come with that level of destruction.

Even at the Flame Realm, a single strike holds the destructive power of a nuclear weapon, and martial artists of the Profound Realm can reshape entire terrains with one blow.

Back in the martial world, wars like the Great Demon War and the Blood Demon Battle
had crushed mountains and lands, forcing the Central Plains to redraw its maps multiple times.

There’s no need to even explain the level that comes after transcendence.

The Realm of Wish-Manifestation—where a single thought could slice a planet like tofu.

‘Should I be relieved this one’s weak? I don’t know if all constellations are like this, or if I’m just lucky that this one is pathetic…’

Even as he felt some relief, Cheon Hwi still harbored doubts.

He activated his Eye Technique.

It was a martial art modeled after the noble face of a certain dragon he used to quarrel with.

Through it, he probed deeper into the true nature of the constellation.

He perceived the concepts and feats embedded in each star.

He observed the history imprinted in the moment the stars were formed.

He grasped the innermost image—the core of the constellation’s will.

Having seen through every layer of the constellation’s structure in order, Cheon Hwi took in a shallow breath.

“Stop flickering and hurting my eyes. It’s time you revealed your true form.”

In that instant, Cheon Hwi’s mind transformed into a single sword.

He released a technique that severed the world’s order by imposing his mind’s image upon reality.

The mental sword cut through the star’s concept, its feats, and even its core in one stroke.

It pierced forward without resistance, and finally reached the constellation’s true form.

Cheon Hwi clearly felt the shock and fear of the constellation as it flinched in panic.

He withdrew the mental sword, but as he did, he hooked the constellation’s true form with the tip of the blade and dragged it into reality.

From the start, Cheon Hwi hadn’t planned to simply cut it down.

He intended to talk with it first.

Thanks to that, the constellation that had been hiding inside Seo Ye-rin’s body was pulled out by Cheon Hwi’s mental sword without sustaining any real injury.

“Step back.”

The moment Cheon Hwi said that, the constellation that had been gently glowing in his hand suddenly burst into a blinding light.

It looked as though the stars of the constellation might explode entirely.

Just watching it made Choa and Seo Ye-rin worry that something catastrophic was about to happen.

“Gaaah!”

As the light began to fade, a strange wail echoed through the room.

And then, a woman with crimson-red hair—just like Seo Ye-rin’s, was flung violently onto the hard floor of the training room.

Cheon Hwi’s gaze turned cold as he looked down at the true form of the constellation.

The presence he felt was weaker than expected, and she was groaning in pain from being pulled out by nothing more than a mental sword.

It was far too pitiful a sight for something he’d once heard described as a noble, mighty being by the wandering knight he once called a companion.

Sure, hero stories tend to exaggerate, but still—there should be a limit.

“…This is a constellation?”

Cheon Hwi let out a sigh of disappointment and muttered without thinking.