Ch. 23 Someone’s Guiding Light (2)
by AfuhfuihgsChapter 23 – Someone’s Guiding Light (2)
“Ah.”
When I regained consciousness, I felt a sensation similar to when I was crushed on the 150th floor and woke up in the hospital.
It’s enough to be alive. The upper floors have healers who can instantly treat most injuries.
So, without bothering to get up, I immediately connected to Fate Road.
After all, once the Continuous Bloodbath was over, I was planning to relax for a few days, lazing around and browsing the community.
‘Satisfactory.’
As expected, the atmosphere in the gallery was like a festival, just as I had anticipated.
Even though a storm had already passed through during the two days I was unconscious, the heat hadn’t cooled down, and the posts and comments were as lively as could be.
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[The Reason Reina Could Break Through 125 Stages]
[Reina seems to be the first to improve by 10 Stages at once]
[Sylvia’s Meme of Denying Reality After Hearing Reina’s News ㅋㅋ]
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I moved far beyond the last page I had seen and slowly read through the worthwhile posts.
They had made photos and videos of me defeating enemies and uploaded them, admiring them or giving feedback, enjoying them in their own way.
And I was the same.
Embarrassingly, I enjoyed peeking at their reactions to my own image, a behavior known as “ego-surfing”.
Frankly, I thought I had reason to be proud. Especially at stage 125, making a decision and actually fighting against the formidable Ulvaruk.
Moreover, I could look back on my actions and listen to the Constellations’ feedback in the comments, so it was a win-win.
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ㄴ“I knew I was watching Reina for this”
ㄴ“Her headbutt is the real deal”
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In the process, I could see why so many constellations had chosen to support me.
That my struggle to catch up with Jung Chan-soo and survive in this crazy world had not been in vain. And that there were people who actually liked and supported it.
Everyone is afraid of walking an unknown path.
I was the same, but since there were so many who illuminated that unknown path, that alone was enough for me now.
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ㄴ“No, I just like her because she’s pretty”
ㄴ“ㅇ.ㅇ Waiting for her to strip”
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…There were also many who weren’t, but anyway.
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[By the way, the Star’s Origin reward on the 125th floor. Can Reina ever complete it?]
ㄴ“Seems possible if she tries hard enough”
ㄴ“This is a huge reward, but no one who’s climbed the Tower has ever gotten it, so they don’t realize how big it is ㅋㅋ”
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As I was browsing the gallery with a somewhat light heart, a story about the reward on the 135th floor caught my eye.
One of the rewards on the 125th floor, and the very reward I was trying to get by being in the top 5.
「Star’s Origin (S): An engraving imbued with the power of the stars. Those who have it engraved on their soul can later draw on the power of the stars and possess its fragment.」
The Star’s Origin is an S-grade engraving on par with an inventory.
The brief description might sound vague, but I already knew what it was, how to use it, and the power and meaning it held.
Because it was one of the key devices in the original work.
[Breaking News) Jung Chan-soo First to Break Through 135 Stages]
At that moment, a news update appeared in the latest post. Seeing it, I involuntarily closed my eyes tightly.
While I barely broke through the 125th stage by raising 10 stages beyond the previous record and was knocked out for two days, Jung Chan-soo had continued to fight during that time and finally surpassed the 135th stage.
All the futures that the regressor Jung Chan-soo and I, the possessed, knew had long been twisted by the two of us, but even so, it was fast.
Now it’s the 150th floor, and he’s broken through the 135th stage of the Continuous Bloodbath? I was aware of it myself, but from the 120th stage onwards, each stage was a magical wall in itself.
I thought I had barely caught up, but he was 10 stages ahead of me.
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ㄴ“Jung Chan-soo will get the Star’s Destiny reward if he keeps this up.”
ㄴ“I can’t stand this. Isn’t that guy going to come to Fate Road anyway? Those who aren’t qualified can’t awaken even if they eat all the Star series from the start.”
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The number 135 in the Continuous Bloodbath was not the only thing that mattered.
Even in our gallery, where public opinion of Jung Chan-soo wasn’t very good, something big was coming that made everyone stir.
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ㄴ“It’s coming. A new Constellation.”
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I and the comments held our breath as we watched the video.
There, Jung Chan-soo, with a battered body, was finally receiving the reward for the 135th floor.
.
.
.
The Star’s Origin and Star’s Destiny each play the role of a key and a lock.
The two engravings, which can only be obtained as special rewards, show the subject the path of destiny the moment they are combined.
The fragment of the constellation that the challenger who climbs to the top of the Tower will eventually possess.
‘To see this with my own eyes.’
A giant storm that covered even the sky and the earth, split in half with countless lightning bolts breaking the earth, revealing a sun like an eye that seemed to see through everything.
Jung Chan-soo stood in the air with the sun behind him.
A ruler who has never bowed to anyone or any situation since entering the Tower.
A person who has never been defeated by countless powerful enemies.
Literally, an emperor.
The constellation that can only be obtained by breaking through those extreme conditions, the Emperor Odin at the end.
That is the destiny he chose for himself.
‘Someday, I will…’
It was the moment of the protagonist’s awakening that I had seen in the original work.
It was normal to feel overwhelmed, and I was indeed overwhelmed by his transcendent appearance, but apart from that, a corner of my heart felt heavy.
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ㄴ“Wow gotta admit, he’s cool”
ㄴ“He’s awakening into a constellation that’s just like him”
ㄴ“Odin? What’s that?”
ㄴ“He only looks good on the outside, he doesn’t seem that great…”
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On the other hand, the comments’ reactions were different from mine.
Perhaps because they were Constellations who had already obtained their own constellations in their own worlds, most of them were lukewarm.
Well, even Jung Chan-soo, who looks so powerful in this Tower, will be one of the countless Constellations in Fate Road once he climbs the Tower, so I suddenly felt calm again.
‘Wow, it doesn’t suit him at all.’
Jung Chan-soo posting strange things on the community while acting like that? I couldn’t even imagine it.
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[What constellation do you think Reina will awaken into? She looks like a goddess-type, right?]
ㄴ“How would we know that”
ㄴ“ㅇ.ㅇ The constellations that are assigned are different for each Tower”
ㄴ“No one really knows. Even Reina herself probably doesn’t know”
ㄴ“Still, you can draw some connection based on what she’s shown and the path she’s taken, but the problem is that we don’t know what constellations exist in that world ㅋㅋ”
Naturally, the discussion about my awakening started to spread in the gallery.
The Star series was a power that I had to obtain from the moment I was first possessed, but while I knew Jung Chan-soo’s future, I didn’t know my own.
‘There are a few conditions I know, but…’
Constellations have conditions that are not known to anyone.
In the original work, the conditions that were revealed in detail were only for a very few people, including the protagonist Jung Chan-soo.
Therefore, I was not in a position to pick and choose like Jung Chan-soo. I was just hoping that if I somehow completed the Star series, I would get one.
“Hoo, that was fun.”
When I enjoy the community in this unconscious state, it feels like the concept of time is shattered, but I can still get a sense of it through the posts that are uploaded.
I sat down and checked the posts and comments for at least a few hours, and I was slowly preparing to get up.
Jung Chan-soo’s awakening, it’s definitely a good stimulus.
The next 150th floor raid was likely to succeed.
Thanks to the return of the Continuous Bloodbath cycle, it seemed that I, as well as others, had become quite strong.
[Hey, check your messages]
“???”
That was when a notification arrived.
It was a private message, a feature that was prohibited for ordinary users and could only be used by administrators.
My heart sank. If I were an honest ordinary user, it wouldn’t be this bad.
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ㄴ“You can talk here, so reply”
ㄴ“…What’s going on?”
ㄴ“I don’t know if you know, but the photos you uploaded are getting a very good response. It’s a real newbie trap ㅇ.ㅇ”
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The sudden opening of a 1-on-1 conversation with Serpina made my mind go blank.
Especially with the addition of confusing internet terms that were completely different from her usual solemn and dignified tone.
Would Serpina really talk like that? Is it just being translated strangely to me?
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ㄴ“Well? I’ve been working diligently according to the rules”
ㄴ“No, it’s nothing much or anything related to the rules”
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I was trembling with fear of being exposed, but Serpina was calm.
I was glad that we were communicating through chat. Considering my pathetic acting skills, I would have been exposed the moment I spoke out loud.
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ㄴ“Do you want to be an admin?”
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‘Did she find out?’
However, the moment I saw the following chat.
I felt like my heart, which was already about to burst, had stopped completely.
No, it felt like the world had stopped. Time, my thoughts, everything.
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ㄴ“Wait, I know you hate it. Even a newbie would have heard all sorts of rumors, so it’s understandable.”
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Serpina hurriedly started adding replies because I was frozen and couldn’t answer.
I was shocked to think that my identity had been exposed, but the thought of becoming an admin was also scary.
Because it generally didn’t have a good image.
The same was true of the fan gallery where the Constellations gathered.
I could see the other users panicking and avoiding it the moment Serpina declared that she needed to pick an admin.
No matter how much they were Constellations, they just wanted to have fun and enjoy themselves lightly, they wouldn’t want to work as unpaid slaves and spend their lives in a war-like state with the trolls who invaded.
Perhaps people like Serpina and Perbas were enduring that difficult task in the name of being my contracted Constellations.
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ㄴ“Despite how it looks, we get paid, you know?”
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“It wasn’t unpaid labor?!”
However, Serpina hit me in the back of the head again.
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ㄴ“When the fan gallery’s level goes up and its ranking gets higher, points are paid to the administrators ㅋ Those points will all go to Reina anyway, though”
ㄴ“S-So, do I get them too?”
ㄴ“No. Points are only paid to contracted Constellations. It’s literally like a performance bonus”
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The world of Constellations is shocking the more you learn about it.
But Serpina’s offer wasn’t the only thing.
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ㄴ“I’d be grateful if you did it out of love for Reina, but I can’t force you to. If you really want to, I’ll share the points”
ㄴ“W-Why would you do that?”
ㄴ“I told you. That ability you have is a newbie trap. I don’t want to let go of you from my position. You don’t have to do anything even if you have the admin badge. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing so far and follow the rules and post in the gallery. That’s enough.”
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Only to keep me.
Serpina honestly revealed her intention. It’s not easy for people affiliated with the admin to go to other galleries.
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ㄴ“I’m fine with just quietly fangirling over Reina like I’ve been doing, but it seems like the people around me won’t let me. Reina wants to grow more on her own, and the more she grows, the more people will try to keep her in check. You might not understand because you’re a newbie, but it’s quite fierce here.”
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And the fundamental reason why Serpina was doing this was ultimately for me, who she was looking at.
More fandom, more firepower. If that supports her, she can give me more help.
‘…I chose well.’
I had known it from the moment I first peeked into the gallery, but the corners of my mouth went up for no reason.
The thought that I had done the best thing by finding her myself was still valid.
Author Note
A/N (Author’s note):
Thank you for reading.
Translator Note
T/N (Translator’s note):
Serpina is what you’ll call a respected member of a fandom.Oh yeah, the newbie trap thing. It’s not really the newbie trap that you are thinking.
It’s more so similar to something like a tourist trap: Reina or Riverstone’s ability to take funny haha selfie like screenshots is something unseen and could potentially attract new users to enter the fan gallery to see it and potentially get hooked/become a real member.
I could have made a footnote for this but yet again, I’m too lazy, so you are getting an extremely bloated TL’s note here…
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