Ch.0Prologue

Countless heroic tales tell us:

No matter where you stand, if you look up at the vast night sky, you’ll see constellations. And those constellations are the traces and lives of heroes who once raced across this land.

This was half right and half wrong.

Heroes who truly achieved great deeds do indeed engrave their stars in the night sky, becoming transcendent beings called Constellations. In that sense, the part about “constellations being the lives of heroes” was correct.

So which part was wrong?

It was the part that said “no matter where you stand, if you look up, you’ll see constellations.” I raised my head and looked at the sky. More precisely, I looked at the ceiling of the city that I had considered “sky” my entire life.

What reflected in my eyes wasn’t a vast night sky, much less brilliantly shining constellations.

Thick smoke. Numerous minerals precariously embedded in the ceiling. Only the artificial light created by those minerals reflected in my eyes. This city had neither sky nor constellations.

‘Well, of course not.’

A sneer escaped from the corner of my mouth.

As if stars would be visible in this city.

…Underground city, Attman.

A place rejected even by the sun that shines equally on all things in the world. A place perpetually shrouded in darkness day and night, all year round. A city dependent on artificial light from minerals because the sun never rises.

People from the upper town called this place:

The landfill.

A place where discarded trash is buried.

2.

Underground city, Attman.

The people living in this city generally fell into two categories, with the criteria being as follows:

Either they were banished from the upper town.

Or they were children born between two banished people who found each other.

I belonged to the latter category.

It meant I was destined to live in this city for my entire life despite not having committed any crime. Of course, that was just my opinion; the folks from the upper town seemed to think differently.

The offspring of trash mating would naturally be trash as well. By being born, they polluted the world, so their very existence was a sin.

That was the average mindset of the upper town and their general attitude toward this city. According to their logic, I was a criminal from birth, so I should rot in this city for my entire life.

“How pitiful.”

“Poor child, what a sad fate.”

Many people sympathized with me. However, their sympathy wasn’t particularly welcome. After all, I had never known what the outside world looked like.

The warm sun they spoke of.

The vast green fields.

The blue sea that supposedly stretched beyond the horizon.

I had never seen any of it, and couldn’t even imagine what they looked like. It’s difficult to yearn for things you can’t even picture in your mind. So, honestly, I wasn’t very interested in the outside world.

Except for just one thing..

If there was anything I was interested in…

“Stars.”

I muttered absent-mindedly.

“Stars, constellations, heroes.”

I reached out and grabbed a fairy tale book.

It was a book I had acquired by chance when I was very young. A book titled “The Chronicles of Arthur.” I opened the worn-out book that I had read countless times.

“The Chronicles of Arthur” is a heroic tale.

A heroic tale about the life of a hero who lived more than hundreds of years ago. In the story, Arthur pulled out a sword embedded in a rock that no one else could extract, and traversed the continent with just that one sword in hand.

As a knight. And as a hero.

After saving many people and slaying numerous demons, Arthur became a Constellation at the end of his journey. The thirteen great deeds Arthur accomplished became stars engraved in the night sky.

“His constellation.”

I opened the last page of the fairy tale book.

It was the page I had opened the most. It was the page with an illustration of Arthur’s constellation. I silently gazed at the constellation that filled the entire page.

Thirteen stars.

A sword-shaped constellation formed by connecting star to star.

As I stared at that constellation, a brief passage written beside the illustration caught my eye.

“No matter where you stand on this land.”

“If you look up at the sky, you will see stars.”

I raised my head and looked at the sky.

Of course, there was no way I could see anything like stars.

“I can’t see shit, you bastard.”

A sigh escaped from the corner of my mouth. Yes, I wasn’t interested in anything else from the outside world… but there was just one thing—I wanted to see those constellations with my own eyes.

I don’t know why.

I just wanted to see what stars looked like.

It was simple curiosity, a delusion. It was probably no different from a fantasy since it was a dream I could never fulfill.

“Life.”

Looking up at the sky, I suddenly thought.

Come to think of it, there was also a saying. Don’t insult the stars while looking up at the sky. They say stars can hear your voice as long as you’re looking at them, no matter where you are.

‘As if they could hear my insults when I can’t even see them.’

Picturing Arthur’s constellation in my mind, I raised my middle finger toward the sky. I uttered a light curse to go with my middle finger. A provocative insult that Arthur couldn’t ignore if he heard it—that he was just someone who took opportunity in troubled times.

1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds… 1 minute passed like that.

Naturally, no divine punishment fell upon me. Well, that’s that. I sighed and got up from my seat. I had a lot to do today.

“Sigh.”

I wished some divine punishment had fallen. It seemed better than living such a boring life.

3.

Shortly after the boy left.

Above the underground city Attman, above the massive city built on top of it, a constellation twinkled in the vast night sky. It wasn’t Arthur’s constellation that the boy had seen in the fairy tale book.

Not the sword constellation made up of thirteen stars.

But the constellation by its side, one that was like a calm lake..

A calm lake cradling stars so that its king could close his eyes in peace during his deep sleep. That constellation, which had always been calm, suddenly scattered brilliant light. It was almost like the anger of a star.

Constellation, Staff of Selection.

The constellation that accompanied Arthur from the beginning to the end of his journey.

The Magician of the Lake, Merlin.

Merlin’s constellation, shaped like a lake, rippled violently. Her true form, seated deep within the constellation, stared down at the ground with wide eyes. In Merlin’s ears echoed the voice of an impudent boy.

Arthur was just someone who was born in the right era.

If he were born in this era, he would have been nothing.

Annoyed? Want to refute?

Then come down and bring some divine punishment.

It was an extremely insulting remark that she didn’t even know where to begin criticizing. Merlin felt the back of her neck grow hot for the first time in a long while.

“Wow.”

Merlin swept back her hair with a hollow laugh. Her blue-white hair rippled through her slender fingers.

“What kind of lunatic is this?”

Blood vessels popped in Merlin’s eyes.