Return of the Shattered Constellation

“…It’s a mess,” the White Tiger Clan’s third-in-command Gwon Hyo-Hae, also known as the ‘White Cowl Tiger[1]’s Fang’, said, sounding dumbfounded.

Despite his sly nature, Executive Director Oh always had a gentle smile. In contrast, Director Gwon always maintained a straight face. Thus, he was normally perceived to be the most difficult executive to deal with. However, even he could not hide his shock today.

It was understandable, as the Secret Tiger Lab, which he had been about to inspect personally, had been blown to pieces, leaving nothing for him to inspect. All traces of it were completely gone, including the mountain range that had been hiding the Secret Tiger Lab.

Rumble…!

Whoosh, whoosh!

Swoosh, swoosh―!

The mountain peaks had been replaced with blazing pillars of flame. The fire had even spread to the nearby areas, swallowing up most of the mountain range. Smoke spewed forth and darkened the sky. The heat was also so intense that if the Inspection Department members and Director Gwon had not been sufficiently skilled, they would have been unable to even reach the lab site through the raging fires.

“Scour this place! Leave nothing behind!”

“Just find something! Come on!”

The Inspection Department members were quite perplexed, not having expected to find the lab blown to pieces. However, they reacted quickly, as they were used to office politics; they quickly went to search for any evidence related to the explosions.

After half a day passed, the Inspection Department Head approached Director Gwon, staring at the ground in shame; his expression was filled with bitterness and anxiety.

“Have you looked into it?” Director Gwon asked, biting down on a cigarette even though they were surrounded by fires.

Although the Inspection Department Head had been serving Director Gwon for over ten years, he still could not read what was on Director Gwon’s mind. Thus, he simply bowed and replied, “Yes, it seems they buried a massive amount of explosives.”

Director Gwon’s eyes shone sharply as he repeated, “Explosives?”

“Yes. All the traces we’ve found are from artifacts such as [Agni’s Yawn], [Tribulation Fire Zone], [Fire Forest], [Lightning Grenade]…” the Department Head trailed off.

“They were planning this from the start,” Director Gwon said, closing his eyes.

“And it looks as if the mountain fire was started by the Jigwi’s Eon Fire,” the Department Head cautiously suggested.

“Jigwi’s Eon Fire too?” Director Gwon remarked, chuckling in disbelief. He was well aware of what a Jigwi was; such a creature had constantly bothered him when he spent some time traveling through the ‘Black Blood Mountain Range’. Although he could easily kill one now, it had been very tricky to deal with one back then.

“They planned out every part of the lab before they even started building it,” Director Gwon concluded, as the artifacts listed by the Inspection Department Head were explosive items well-known among Players. Although other artifacts were also dangerous, the Council explicitly prohibited people from using [Agni’s Yawn] due to its exceptional killing power.

The more significant point was that the explosives had been placed in such a way as to amplify each other’s powers, as opposed to canceling each other out. In other words, an expert had intentionally placed them that way. Only a person like Executive Director Oh, who had been deeply involved in the lab’s construction from the start, could have done such a thing. That was why Director Gwon could say for certain that the lab members had been ‘planning’ this from the start.

From the beginning, Executive Director Oh had prepared to detonate the lab if things went south. Of course, the Jigwi’s Eon Fire had not been related to Executive Director Oh at all, but as there were no survivors, Director Gwon and the Inspection Department Head had no way of knowing that at the moment.

In any event, Director Gwon was certain that Executive Director Oh had been hiding something in the lab. What could it have been? Although Director Gwon wanted to know, he would never be able to find out, as not a single trace was left. He thought to himself for a long time, biting down on the cigarette; soon, however, he dropped it onto the ground and snuffed it out with the tip of his shoe.

“It seems the original plan was to wait for me to enter the lab and activate the explosives, but why were they activated before I entered? Did Executive Director Oh make a mistake, or did the explosives malfunction?” Director Gwon calmly muttered to himself, trying to figure out Executive Director Oh’s motive. However, he sounded as if he were talking about an accident that had happened to somebody else, even though he could have died.

The more Director Gwon behaved that way, the more scared the Inspection Department Head became. He could not raise his head as he said, “I don’t think he made a mistake.”

“Yes, you’re right. That Executive Director Oh is such a sly snake, he wouldn’t make such a mistake,” Director Gwon said with a frown, crossing his arms. “Then, that means another variable that Executive Director Oh wasn’t expecting must have appeared…”

The Inspection Department Head remained silent, knowing it was wiser to leave Director Gwon to draw his own conclusions in times like this.

“What could that variable be? Nothing is coming to mind right now,” Director Gwon wondered.

The truth was that Chang-Sun had blown up the research wing beforehand, and the shock had detonated the explosives before they were scheduled to go off, but Director Gwon and the Inspection Department Head had no way of knowing that either.

“Anyway, dig a bit deeper in case we find something,” Director Gwon said, gesturing at the Inspection Department Head

“Yes, sir,” the Inspection Department Head replied with an even deeper bow. However, neither he nor Director Gwon truly thought they would really find any evidence, as Executive Director Oh must have erased it all already. However, they could not just leave Executive Director Oh alone.

In the end, Executive Director Gwon had to leave the site without finding anything. The Inspection Department Head kept bowing until he completely disappeared from view. As he heaved a sigh of relief, however, Director Gwon suddenly stopped walking, making him gasp in surprise.

“By the way,” Director Gwon said.

“Yes, sir!” The Inspection Department Head promptly answered.

“I heard some useless rat talked,” Director Gwon said; his tone was flat, but at that moment, the Inspection Department Head felt a shiver running down his spine.

“I’ll take care of it right away,” the Inspection Department Head replied, bowing as deeply as he could.

As if to indicate he was leaving the matter to the Inspection Department Head, Director Gwon lightly waved his hand and exited the site. However, until he completely left the site—no, until the Inspection Department Head could no longer hear his footsteps—the Department Head could not stand up straight. Although a long time had passed, Director Gwon’s residual energy continued to give him pressure.

* * *

[Are you logging out?]

As he entered the Gate that led outside, Director Gwon looked up toward where his deity would be watching him. He quietly murmured, “I hope he’ll at least give me a hint.”

[The Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ is happy that the Dungeon is full of turmoil.]

“I knew it,” Director Gwon muttered, shaking his head; he had always known that his Guardian was not merciful to his followers.

Instead, their deity made them fight constantly. After such fights, he granted power to those he considered ‘gems’, and authority to those he considered ‘jewels’; however, if those ‘gems’ and ‘jewels’ were to crack by accident, he would simply discard them without any hesitation. Then he would search for replacements, as he could find many ‘tools’ that could be his fangs and claws anywhere.

If he could gain sturdier claws and fangs through ceaseless battles, Director Gwon’s Guardian would do anything. Although Director Gwon had initially joined the White Tiger Clan because he liked that aspect of it, the older he got, the less sure he felt that he was on the right path.

‘I’ve got no other choice,’ Director Gwon thought with a shrug.

As he was his Guardian’s priest, he could not defy his Guardian; no matter what the deity’s doctrine was, a priest’s duty was to obey it. In order to do so, Director Gwon eventually had to get rid of the obstacle in his path named Executive Director Oh. Thus, his deity naturally wanted him to achieve his ambition. Smiling bitterly, Director Gwon entered the Gate.

* * *

Baek Gyeo-Ul quietly opened his eyes.

‘I’m…?’ Gyeo-Ul thought absentmindedly.

His head was filled with fog, leaving him unable to remember where he was or what he was doing. The same way anyone would feel disoriented after waking up from deep sleep, Gyeo-Ul’s mind felt foggy.

“Are you awake?” Chang-Sun asked, suddenly bringing Gyeo-Ul back to reality and making him remember everything, from where he had been to what he had gone through.

Gyeo-Ul saw Chang-Sun faintly smiling right before him, but he was unsure where the other man had returned from, because Chang-Sun’s clothes were all ragged. As if Chang-Sun had gone through a fire, he had several scorch marks on his clothes and soot on his face.

There was also an unfamiliar woman on Chang-Sun’s back. Seemingly sound asleep, she her calm breathing was so unlike Chang-Sun’s own that it looked as if Chang-Sun had brought her out of another world.

“And she’s…?” Gyeo-Ul cautiously asked.

“I met her nearby…!” Chang-Sun explained.

“Is she your missus… Urgh!” Gyeo-Ul fell backward in the middle of his sentence because he was hit with something blunt, leaving a red mark on his forehead.

Smash!

“Judging from how you’re speaking nonsense, I see you’ve completely healed,” Chang-Sun said, leaving Gyeo-Ul shocked again.

Fixated on the phrase ‘completely healed’, he quickly stood up and looked around to find something that could be used as a mirror. Then, he noticed an item lying by his feet—it was a bronze mirror, and the item that had just hit his forehead. He quickly thanked Chang-Sun and picked it up. When he looked in the mirror…

“…Ah!” Gyeo-Ul exclaimed inadvertently, not realizing he was starting to sob.

The sullen Chang-Sun smiled faintly again.

Gyeo-Ul found a totally different person looking back at him. His jawline was chiseled, and his facial features were well-defined. Although his looks seemed a bit sharp, he looked like a traditionally trustworthy, stout, and handsome man with his robust physique and 190-centimeter height; he left a completely different impression from Chang-Sun, who looked like a pretty boy.

Gyeo-Ul’s eyes teared up. After he turned back to Chang-Sun, he wanted to say something; however, he hesitated, not knowing what to say. As he had never received anyone’s favor as he grew up, he had barely said ‘thank you’ to anyone; thus, he could only react that way. Chang-Sun was well aware of that reason, so he said nothing.

The absence of hideous burn marks was not the only change. As the half-spirit curse that previously tortured Gyeo-Ul had completely melted down, his energies had greatly stabilized overall.

“You worked hard,” Chang-Sun said quietly.

That one sentence was enough.

Drip!

A streak of tears ran down Gyeo-Ul’s cheek as he bowed silently, expressing his gratitude to his savior, Chang-Sun, to the fullest extent possible.

1. This tiger appears in Korean mythology. A monk wearing a white cowl turned out to be the leader of a tiger pack that caused tiger disasters, so Gang Gam-Chan (a famous general in Korean history) ordered the leader to take his pack and leave the village or else he would kill them all. The leader obeyed his command, and the villagers no longer suffered from tiger disasters. ☜