Return of the Shattered Constellation

‘Shall I just stab him?’ Shin Eun-Seo momentarily thought.

She hadn’t yet mastered the new power she had suddenly been given, but she knew that she was capable enough to beat the life out of Kim Hyeong-Jun, just like she had done with Lim Joo-Han. Ultimately she decided against it, as there were too many people watching. Things would become too complicated if the Clan decided to reprimand her for causing trouble, and there was a chance it would be a nuisance to Chang-Sun, who had saved her.

Above all, Eun-Seo knew Hyeong-Jun was the Clan director’s son because he had furtively let her know when they were in the training institute. At the time, she hadn’t been sure why he had mentioned it, but now it seemed that he had thought it would draw her interest.

To be honest, Eun-Seo had never been interested in Hyeong-Jun in the first place, despite the fact they were on the same team. Although he wasn’t actually capable enough, he overconfidently bluffed, which made him so unattractive to her. She was aware of how he looked at her from time to time. However, she didn’t care because business was business, and the team Adios was a good place to build her career.

She would have thought differently if Hyeong-Jun had blatantly attempted to seduce or harass her, but he hadn’t gone that far at the time. She had believed that as long as she drew a clear line, it would be okay. Now though, it seemed like she had misjudged how terrible of a man Hyeong-Jun truly was. Regardless, she didn’t want to cause a scene. She planned on ending with a simple warning, until Chang-Sun stepped in.

‘Op-oppa…?’ Eun-Seo thought in shock when she saw Chang-Sun silently watching Hyeong-Jun with a menacing gaze.

The air in the room was so suffocating that it was difficult for Eun-Seo, or any of the other team members for that matter, to speak.

Hyeong-Jun somehow mustered up the courage to challenge Chang-Sun, despite the fact that couldn’t bring himself to look him in the eye. “Wh-what…? What’re you going to do if you stare…Urgh!”

Chang-Sun interrupted Hyeong-Jun, grabbing his collar and holding him in the air without saying anything. Writhing in midair, Hyeong-Jun shoved Chang-Sun’s arm several times, but it didn’t budge one bit. It was as if Chang-Sun’s arm was made of solid stone.

“Be careful…!”

Walking on eggshells, Hyeong-Jun’s team members anxiously spoke up, but no one dared try to stop Chang-Sun. The air around him had become much more intimidating than before, making them feel like they would end up like Hyeong-Jun if they got on Chang-Sun’s bad side.

“Don’t…kill…me…!” Hyeong-Jun wheezed as his face turned pale from the lack of air. Using his magic, he tried to push Chang-Sun’s arm away by activating a skill. Although the Council prohibited using a skill directly on another person, Hyeong-Jun was desperate. It really felt like Chang-Sun might kill him if he did nothing.

[The skill activation has been canceled!]

[The skill activation has been canceled!]

The problem was, for an unknown reason, Hyeong-Jun couldn’t activate his skill, so he had no means to counterattack. He had once thought that he could take out Chang-Sun anytime he wanted, but his groundless confidence was long gone now. On top of that, there was something more scary than Chang-Sun’s firm grip around his neck.

‘His-his eyes…!’ Hyeong-Jun thought in fear.

They were hidden behind Chang-Sun’s long fringes, but his gaze sent shivers down Hyeong-Jun’s spine. Chang-Sun’s left eye was especially menacing, like a growling tiger that was about to eat Hyeong-Jun. Yes, his eyes were like that of a tiger. Hyeong-Jun had a thought that the White Tiger Clan’s instructors or even the Raid Team Leaders were not as scary as Chang-Sun…

The instructors and the Raid Team Leaders had made Hyeong-Jun feel overwhelmed, but they didn’t make him. However, he felt like Chang-Sun was going to kill him any second—no, Chang-Sun would easily shred him to pieces, leaving no trace that Hyeong-Jun even existed. The fear of death overwhelmed his body, suffocating him even more. His mind turned blank as the tiger named Chang-Sun opened his mouth and lightly bit his head.

“Urgh, argh…!”

[The ‘Cruel Tiger’s One-Eye’ holds you!]

It had only been a few hours after Chang-Sun had acquired the Cruel Tiger, the advanced [Tiger Form], from the stone chamber that he had chosen, but he already had the proper form of a veteran. Thus, it was only natural for Hyeong-Jun to fail in withstanding Chang-Sun’s [Tiger Kill].

[Cruel Tiger]

A tiger that only held two attributes; murderous intent and viciousness. With this, one was able to make an opponent feel the fear of death with just one look.

· Type: Trait.

· Effect: Fills user with murderous desire. Triggers fear.

Since only an raid team leader or an executive was allowed to have this skill, there was no way Hyeong-Jun could resist.

[You have fallen into the ‘Feared’ state!]

[You have fallen into the ‘Panic’ state!]

[You have fallen into the ‘Confused’ state!]

……

[Warning! You have fallen into the extreme ‘Panic’ state, so there is a possibility of your ego collapsing. You are advised to quickly exit your current location.]

……

“Argh!”

As messages continuously popped up faster than Hyeong-Jun could read them, he fainted, foam dripping from his mouth.

“Is-is he…?”

“The smell…”

A wet spot quickly formed on the crotch of Hyeong-Jun’s pants, leaking down until his urine created a puddle on the waiting room floor. Only then did Chang-Sun finally let go of Hyeong-Jun’s collar. With a splash, Hyeong-Jun pathetically fell into the yellow puddle.

“Let’s go.” said Chang-Sun, making Eun-Seo, who had been blankly watching everything, snap out of it.

She looked at Chang-Sun with rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes and answered, “Okay, oppa!”

Without even glancing at the fainted Hyeong-Jun, Chang-Sun exited the waiting room as if spending one more second there was a waste of time, and Eun-Seo followed closely behind him. Meanwhile, Shin Geum-Gyu looked at the fainted Hyeong-Jun for a moment before spitting on him and walking off. Baek Gyeo-Ul was the last one to exit the room, but he didn’t pay much attention to Hyeong-Jun.

“…”

“…”

Hyeong-Jun’s team members, now left alone in the waiting room, busily tried to figure out their next move. But, when the stench of urine reached them, they quickly exited as though nothing had happened. They had instinctively realized that there was no need to get on the wrong side of Chang-Sun’s group by continuing to interact with Hyeong-Jun. So, in the end, Hyeong-Jun was left alone in the waiting room for a long time.

* * *

In the first-floor lobby, many people turned their heads to see Chang-Sun, who had set the Clan on fire, walking across the room with his group.

Humming with delight, Eun-Seo took the lead as she hopped around. Suddenly, she turned to Chang-Sun and asked, “Oppa, what do you want to eat?”

“What do I want to eat?” Chang-Sun repeated.

“Yeah, let’s have a group dinner since the training is over, please?” said Eun-Seo, looking at Chang-Sun with a twinkle in her eye.

Gyeo-Ul, who had been silently standing by Chang-Sun, opened his eyes wide when he heard the words ‘group dinner’ and glanced expectantly at Chang-Sun. Geum-Gyu stood at the rear, and hesitantly looked at Chang-Sun’s back as if he was guilty of something.

However, Chang-Sun answered, “Not today.”

“Huh? But…!” Eun-Seo was about to insist.

“There’re too many people watching, so let’s have a group dinner later. I don’t like noisy places.” Chang-Sun interrupted and explained.

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

Eun-Seo, Geum-Gyu, and Gyeo-Ul tilted their heads in confusion. When Chang-Sun pulled out sunglasses—the three weren’t even sure how he had gotten them—from his inner pocket, they grew even more confused, but after they crossed the lobby and passed the main entrance’s revolving door, the three belatedly understood.

Click, click, click―!

A swarm of reporters who had all been waiting for this moment bombarded them, taking photos of Chang-Sun and blinding the group with their camera flashes.

“Mr. Lee Chang-Sun, can you comment on how you feel about clearing the dungeon for the first time in the history of the White Tiger Clan—no, in the history of Korea!”

“The White Tiger Clan announced that they weren’t planning on filing a claim for compensation regarding the current incident, rather they are going to assign you to more missions. Have you by any chance talked with the Clan about this…!”

“With the occurrence of many events like your SSS+++ Magic grade, media outlets around the world are talking about you, Mr. Lee Chang-Sun. Can you comment about…!”

“As far as I’m aware, you’ve received several offers from foreign Clans! Is there a reason why you’ve chosen the White Tiger Clan…!”

“Can you tell me about your life after you’ve retired..!”

“Mr. Lee Chang-Sun!”

“Mr. Lee Chang-Sun, a comment! Can you give me a comment!”

So many people threw themselves at Chang-Sun with questions. If the bodyguards hadn’t formed a blockade in advance to prevent a commotion, they would have surely glued themselves to Chang-Sun. Gyeo-Ul gaped hard, and Geum-Gyu was rendered speechless. They had never seen such a sight.

Eun-Seo smacked her forehead as she recalled, ‘Oh, yeah. This is my oppa’s daily life…!’

With his splendid gaming skill and arrogant way of speaking, Chang-Sun often became a trending topic whenever he did interviews. As a former actress’ son, he had looked especially attractive under the spotlight, and now he had cleared the dungeon that had remained uncleared for a long time. It was like pouring oil on a fire that was already spreading wild. Behind the reporters, many young fans were cheering and waving banners with all kinds of messages on them.

<Lee Chang-Sun is the fairest of all!>

<I’m drunk on my love for you!>

<Do you know the fact that you’re perfect?>

<When my company had a blackout, I hung Chang-Sun’s picture since he’s so radiant.>

The banners were filled with cheesy, embarrassing lines.

‘Arggh! Why did those crazy guys come here…!’ Eun-Seo thought as she hurriedly covered her face. Among those fans, there were members of the fan club that Eun-Seo had joined.

Since she had met up with those people as the fan club manager, they would become frantic and call her non-stop if they saw her in the same picture as Chang-Sun. In the midst of all this chaos, Chang-Sun stayed nonchalant, as he was used to it. Some reporters even put their microphones right up against his mouth, but he just ignored them.

Instead, he turned his head and waited for something. A limousine happened to break through the crowd and arrived in front of Chang-Sun. When the bodyguard opened the limo door, Chang-Sun gestured at the group with his chin. “Get in.”

Due to the sudden arrival of the limousine, Gyeo-Ul, Eun-Seo, and Geum-Yu were hesitant, but they quickly got in the car after Chang-Sun stepped in. After the bodyguard closed the door, the limousine departed right away. The reporters rushed forward to at least take one more picture of Chang-Sun, but the limousine swiftly exited the White Tiger Clan’s head office.

After getting through the crowd, Eun-Seo furtively looked out the window to figure out whether or not the fan club members had seen her. On the other hand, Geum-Gyu dumbfoundedly asked, “What-what’s this limousine…?”

“My car. Executive Director Oh gave it to me along with a chauffeur.” Chang-Sun calmly explained.

Geum-Gyu had heard that the White Tiger Clan had offered a shockingly good compensation package, but he had never expected the Clan to provide a car—no, a limousine to a mere rookie. Geum-Gyu gawked at Chang-Sun as looking at a being from another world.