Chapter 4: Incarnation academy

Lee Yujin, breathing heavily like a pervert, took out a notebook and started taking notes.

Lee Yujin, also known as the Constellation otaku.

A crazy woman who organizes and analyzes abilities and Constellations as a hobby.

Her perverted tendencies kicked in again, and she started bombarding me with questions.

“Again! What rank did you say it was?”

“…SS-rank.”

“Grrrreat!”

Lee Yujin rolled her tongue and gave me a thumbs-up.

I frowned at her unsightly appearance, but it didn’t faze her.

She just excitedly scribbled in her notebook.

“What’s the price? You can’t get an SS-rank ability for free, can you?”

“There wasn’t one….”

“Holy crap! They just gave you an SS-rank ability from the start?!”

Lee Yujin was shocked.

It’s understandable.

Not all SS-rank abilities are good.

Well, they are good abilities, but there’s usually a price to pay for getting them early on.

For example, abilities that activate at the cost of lifespan are already well-known.

Lowering her excitement, she cautiously asked, as if afraid my beloved Constellation might hear.

“Is the ability… bad?”

“It removed my growth limit.”

“What?”

“It said I can grow infinitely.”

At that moment, Lee Yujin froze stiff.

It was as if time had stopped.

Even when I waved my hand in front of her face, she didn’t react.

“Th…”

“Yeah?”

“Please accept this ugly girl as your Incarnation too!! I’ll even offer my virginity!”

“You crazy woman! He’s my Constellation! And I’m a virgin too?!”

At that moment, Lee Yujin immediately looked up at the sky and bowed.

I stopped her right away, but….

[Atheist Human is flustered!]

[Atheist Human is embarrassed!]

“See! The Constellation is mine!”

[Atheist Human denies!]

There was a brief commotion, but anyway!

Lee Yujin, finally calming down, looked at me and said:

“Aside from the fact that there’s no risk… anyway, having no growth limit is an ability beyond measure.”

“Really?”

“Of course!”

Like a true Constellation otaku, Lee Yujin shared her knowledge.

“Even Constellations can’t give away all of their abilities.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course! They either nerf their abilities before giving them… or they split their original abilities.”

I listened to Yujin’s story with interest.

Honestly, when she usually talked about this stuff, I just tuned her out, thinking I’d never have anything to do with Constellations….

But now that I have my beloved Constellation, it’s interesting.

Lee Yujin put her hands on her wide hips and said:

“In other words… the Constellation who bestowed this incredible ability might be.”

“Might be?”

“F*cking amazing!”

“Oh….”

I gave a short exclamation and clapped perfunctorily.

[Atheist Human affirms.]

[Atheist Human shrugs.]

My cute and lovely Constellation reacted as well.

Anyway, as I nodded, Yujin said:

“Tomorrow, report that you became an Incarnation. Prepare to go to the Incarnation Academy.”

“I heard it’s like the military.”

“Still, it’s better than nothing.”

As I nodded at her words, a message from my Constellation arrived.

[What is the Incarnation Academy?]

I tilted my head.

“Incarnation Academy?”

This world is modern.

Very similar to the world of 2020, when the zombie outbreak happened.

But because of the existence of Constellations, there’s so much I don’t know.

However, the young woman on the screen, Lee Yujin, the Constellation otaku, would kindly explain it to me, so I typed a chat message.

[Atheist Human is curious.]

“Huh? The Constellation is curious!”

As if she’d been waiting for this….

You know those over-talkative baseball players who start with, “When I was in LA…”?

With the same look in her eyes, she started to spill everything.

“In the past, after Incarnations appeared, those who didn’t know how to fight died one after another. So, to reduce such accidents, the academy was established to teach the basics for a year!”

Oh….

A more reasonable system than I thought.

But once an over-talker’s mouth opens, it can’t be closed without some kind of reward.

She blurted out various TMI.

“But there aren’t only Incarnations, there are also trainees hoping to become Incarnations! There’s a training center where elites receive education in advance and wait to be chosen! I don’t know how it works, but I recommend you check it out!”

I see.

If I have to choose my next Incarnation, I should choose from the academy.

I stored the knowledge in my head and watched Lee Yujin and Kang Arin bickering.

“You crazy woman! Why do you keep recommending other people?! He’s mine!”

“Heehee! I’m so useful!”

They seem close.

I typed a message saying I understood.

Then I tried web surfing.

“Should I call this web surfing?”

Of course, the internet doesn’t work.

All I can do is browse items and abilities I can buy with coins.

The items mainly consisted of equipment and consumables.

Things I can literally provide support with.

“If I get more coins, I could give her some starting equipment.”

The abilities are for strong Constellations.

What about Constellations like me with extraordinary abilities?

In the beginning or when they’re broke, they can’t even give abilities.

These are basic abilities that can be purchased and given to Incarnations, considerate of the veterans who don’t have coins.

“Haste? Rock Body? Not bad.”

Abilities to momentarily accelerate or turn the body into rock to deflect attacks.

They seem pretty good, but they’re only C-rank abilities.

This is why they’re obsessed with SS-rank.

I glanced at the shop page and looked back at the screen.

Lee Yujin had gone home, and Kang Arin was packing for the academy.

She was muttering to herself.

“Heehee… you might have heard earlier, but they say you can talk to your Constellation at the academy! I’m so excited.”

Sorry, I didn’t hear.

But I’m relieved that I can finally escape this frustrating chat system.

I left a message saying I was also looking forward to it and got up.

“Now Kang Arin will go to bed… what should I do?”

I’ve been watching Kang Arin since she was working at the barbecue restaurant last night.

But there’s nothing to do when she’s sleeping.

The TV was just an extension of the computer screen and, of course, it didn’t work.

There’s nothing to eat either.

“Should I just sleep?”

There’s literally nothing to kill time.

I should make a second Incarnation as soon as I get some coins.

As I started to stretch, I heard a knock at the door.

-Knock, knock.

The nerves in my body stood on end, sending warning signals.

Is it because the person outside the door is strong?

No.

“…….”

Because I couldn’t sense anything at all.

Is it a leftover habit from the zombie era, the distrust of humans?

I instinctively picked up a kitchen knife and hid it behind my back.

“How foolish.”

A habit from a time when I had to be constantly vigilant to survive.

I clicked my tongue at myself, put down the knife, and went to the door.

“Who is it?”

“An investor.”

An unknown voice.

Judging by the voice, it seemed to be a woman, and judging by the location of her breathing, her height was about 176cm.

Judging by the sound of her shifting weight, her weight was about 55? No, 54kg.

But her body balance was excellent, so it seemed like the weight was concentrated in her chest area.

The rustling sound when she moved her neck… well-maintained, glossy long hair.

Her center of gravity seemed to be slightly back, was she carrying a sword? No, a bow.

I roughly assessed the person outside.

Even if she launched a surprise attack, I could respond sufficiently.

Not that a surprise attack would do much damage anyway.

After finishing my assessment, I cautiously opened the door.

“Wow, this newbie is handsome.”

As expected, it was a woman.

She wore revealing, hunter-like clothing made of cloth.

A golden bow with intricate patterns.

A beautiful woman with light blue hair and yellow eyes.

“Nice to meet you, newbie. Can I come in?”

She brushed past me and entered the house.

She put her hands on her hips and walked around the room.

She opened her mouth and started to look around.

“Oh… similar environment to the Incarnations. It seems you became a Constellation recently, unlike us.”

She muttered to herself as if intrigued.

After looking around for a while, she turned to me and asked slyly, in a smooth and playful voice:

“Oh my, why are you so tense?”

And then, in a cold voice:

“Makes me want to hunt you.”

A sudden surge of killing intent washed over me.

I calmly endured it and looked at her.

I clenched and unclenched my fists, preparing for a possible fight.

But she quickly withdrew her killing intent.

Like a gangster older sister, she laughed heartily and eased the tension.

“Hahaha! You’re cute! I’m just kidding, kidding!”

“Haha…”

I hate gods.

So I forced a smile and replied, and the woman said:

“I’m called ‘Hunter of the Moon.’ Know what that means?”

“Artemis.”

“Correct!”

She plopped down on the sofa and crossed her legs sensually.

“And a big shot like me came to invest in you!”

“What nons…”

Artemis spoke arrogantly in a playful tone.

I’ve said it many times, but I really hate gods.

They were the driving force behind my anger, and although it’s a past I regret, my feelings haven’t disappeared.

So I sat on the opposite sofa and was about to speak seriously, but she said:

“So, shall we start with 70,000 coins as a base?”

“I’ll hear you out.”

There might be good gods in the world, after all.

It wouldn’t hurt to listen to her story.