I Have Contracted Too Many Constellations

Chapter 17 Treasure Vault (2)

The energy within my body was overflowing.

A change that raised my rank by one level.

That change alone was enough to feel tremendous.

I could now use the Techniques of the Nine Heavens Sword several times without any burden.

But why?

“Why now of all times?”

Why now?

[Skill, ‘Green Shade Divine Art’ mastery has increased.]

A coldly succinct message.

I ignored the message.

With a trembling heart, I checked the [Ring of the Forest] in front of me.

I could no longer feel any magic power from that item.

[Name]: Ring of the Forest

[Rank]: –

[Effect]

– None.

[Detailed Description]

– The magic power has been absorbed, losing its effectiveness.

The absorption of magic power.

This item had completely lost its life force as it was drained of its magic power by me.

It had become an ordinary ring, albeit a beautiful one.

This all happened in an instant before I could do anything.

“What should I do?”

What do you mean, what should I do?

I should just take this and leave.

I was momentarily flustered, but… this might actually be a gain.

A potion that raises one’s rank from C to B instantly.

Most of these are at least A-rank, or at the very least, top-tier B-rank.

They’re not something money can usually buy.

And a B-rank potion that raises a rank?

This was pure luck.

I went over my thoughts again.

“Well, there isn’t another way.”

I could just leave this and take another item, but that’s not easy.

Simply put, the risk is too high.

What if I get caught?

I didn’t underestimate the academy’s security system.

“It’s unfortunate, but it can’t be helped.”

I could always obtain items later.

There would still be plenty of opportunities to acquire artifacts.

I should be satisfied with my rank increase.

“But why did it activate suddenly?”

The ‘Green Shade Divine Art’ activated on its own without me thinking about it.

The sudden activation of the skill left me bewildered.

A skill activating on its own.

I’ve heard of passive skills, but I’ve never heard of a magic control skill activating on its own.

Neither in the original story nor in this world.

Above all, I had no idea why it happened.

It could be because my mastery level was low, or it could be a characteristic of the skill itself.

There was no way to pinpoint the exact reason.

“Should I check it out later?”

But I couldn’t just leave this phenomenon alone.

I needed to investigate it thoroughly later.

For now… I should just take this ring and get out.

“Are you taking that, Jinwoo?”

“Yeah, I like this one the most.”

“It’s a pretty ring…!”

The artifact had now become just an ordinary ring.

I left the treasure vault with her, carrying the ring.

I wondered if there was a technique to identify what artifact one carried out.

Fortunately, the overseer didn’t directly check what we had taken.

“Where are you going now, Jinwoo?”

“Probably the training ground? There’s nothing special to do.”

There wasn’t enough time to go anywhere special.

And there was still plenty of time before the next ‘event’ in the original story.

If everything went according to the original story, there wasn’t much to do during this period.

I planned to train until that incident.

“Then, would you like to have lunch at my place? It’s been a while since we ate together.”

“Lunch?”

“Yes! We haven’t had a meal together recently.”

As she said, it had been a while since we last ate together.

We were both busy.

There hadn’t been an occasion.

I also wanted to taste her food again after a long time, so I had no reason to refuse.

But one thing concerned me…

“What about Jin Juha?”

Jin Juha.

She always wanted to join whenever Sung Harim and I met.

It should be fine now, but I should still invite her.

She would definitely complain if I didn’t.

“Juha? Should I invite her?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“Then what about Se-ah?”

“Se-ah?”

Now that I thought about it, she also mentioned wanting to join us before.

It was left unsettled back then.

Since Sung Harim was inviting us to her house, I didn’t mind if she didn’t.

“Let’s invite everyone! The more, the merrier.”

With that, we headed to her house.

#

Both Jin Juha and Lee Se-ah agreed to come.

It seemed they were both training when Sung Harim called them, but they replied immediately.

No, perhaps Jin Juha was coming because of me?

Anyway, about ten minutes after we sent the messages.

Jin Juha arrived at the house first.

“Jinwoo, can you get the door?”

“Sure.”

Since Sung Harim was cooking, I opened the door as she asked.

As soon as the door opened, I saw Jin Juha’s face.

She looked cheerful until she saw me.

“Why are you answering the door?”

“Harim is cooking.”

Knowing and seeing are different things, it seems.

Her expression was quite amusing upon seeing me in Sung Harim’s house.

“I should have just told her not to invite me!”

“Isn’t it too harsh to treat your savior like that?”

“That’s separate from this. I even gave you a wish token! When are you going to use it?”

The wish token she gave me to express her gratitude.

I was a bit hesitant about it back then and still am now.

There were so many ways to use it.

I could think of more than ten things right away.

All of them were useful.

But if I kept hesitating, I would never decide, so I recently made a decision.

This was my answer.

“Can I use the wish token for a visit to the Constellation at the end of this semester?”

A visit to the Constellation.

This was the wish I had decided on.

I could have asked for an artifact or help with something personal.

But thinking about the future, this seemed the most useful choice.

A visit to a constellation was not just a visit.

It meant being temporarily affiliated with that constellation for a period.

That was the nature of a visit in the society of contractors.

And the reason I wanted to visit was simple.

“I need to be part of the team to hunt Fafnir.”

Fighting Fafnir one-on-one was impossible.

That creature was a mythical beast manifested in this world.

Only the contractors of a myth-level constellation could talk about hunting it.

In the original story, Lee Shinwoo didn’t fight alone but formed a raid team for a group hunt.

It wouldn’t be much different in this world.

“At least three teams should be enough.”

The lower the number, the more frontline the raid team would be.

I needed to be in at least the top three teams.

There was enough justification.

A legendary-level constellation.

And quite decent stats.

Lastly, the ‘holy’ attribute, which was Fafnir’s extreme nemesis, and the power of dragon slaying that I would soon acquire.

By the time of the Fafnir raid, I would be fully prepared to kill it.

At that time, I would be no different from a high-ranking contractor.

“The problem was how to join the raid.”

I had the ability to join.

But there was no opportunity.

Unaffiliated contractors weren’t excluded from raids, but they had no chances.

The large constellations would take all the credit for the frontline efforts.

Most contractors would end up fighting small fries in the rear.

After the fight, all they’d get was some money.

If I just joined, I wouldn’t even get to see Fafnir.

I was still a regular academy student.

“That’s why I’ll borrow Thunder’s name.”

This was my plan.

At that time, I would join the raid as a member of Thunder.

And Jin Juha would pave the way for me.

“It’s possible. But why a visit all of a sudden?”

“I just want to experience it once. I don’t need to use lightning for a visit, right?”

“A visit is fine… I’ll talk to them.”

Jin Juha was the most likely successor of Thunder.

There were other candidates, but she had the highest chance.

In a constellation that valued ability over inheritance, she held significant power.

Sending me on a visit should be easy for her.

“What are you two doing?”

As our conversation wrapped up, Lee Se-ah approached from the hallway.

She carried a gym bag, having just finished training.

“You’re quick. Weren’t you at the academy’s training ground?”

“I came right after wrapping up.”

As we entered the house with Jin Juha and Lee Se-ah, we saw that Sung Harim had already finished cooking and the table was full of food.

There were various dishes from Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Western cuisines.

“You’re here? You came together?”

“Harim… Your cooking has improved again?”

“I tried hard since many people were coming.”

We started eating without delay.

And I had a thought.

It was delicious.

I always felt this, but her food was really good.

If there were no constellations in this world, she would have made an excellent chef.

“This is really good.”

“Yeah, it’s delicious.”

“I was worried since I made it in a hurry, but I’m glad you like it.”

She smiled faintly, seemingly pleased to hear it was delicious.

Though I often saw this face, Sung Harim was beautiful every time.

Maybe ‘beautiful’ was the right word.

Of course, this was more admiration than romantic interest.

“Stop! Why are you staring at our Harim?”

“Is it a crime to look?”

“Of course! Harim is mine!”

Jin Juha shouted, hugging Sung Harim from the side.

That girl was truly consistent.

I’ve never seen her as a romantic interest,

nor did I plan to, yet she kept saying this.

“I should have used the wish token to ban you from seeing Sung Harim.”

“W-what! That’s so harsh…!”

Jin Juha’s face turned to shock.

Like Sung Harim, her expressions were also clear.

Maybe it’s because they’re friends.

Both were fun to tease.

“Once a wish is made, it can’t be changed.”

*Ring, ring, ring!*

Just as she was about to argue back, my phone rang, interrupting her.

A call.

‘Who could it be?’

There were few who would call me at this time.

In fact, almost no one had my number.

Seeing it was an unknown number, I hesitated.

“Hello?”

After a brief hesitation, I decided to answer.

The voice on the other end was male.

“Is this Yoo Jinwoo?”

“Yes, it is.”

“The information requested by the headmaster is ready.”

The call was about the information on the Broken Dragon Scale.