#79: Nonhyeon-dong Dungeon Explosion Incident (15) — The Constellation Hunting Life of an S-Class Porter

The moment she pulled out the skill card, Hyeonseong shouted.

“The head is fine! Hit somewhere else—anywhere but the head!”

“Not the head?”

Voices followed, puzzled by Hyeonseong’s new instruction.

“Yes! I’ll handle that spot!”

“Huh? How?”

In response to the Awakened ones’ questions, Hyeonseong answered by activating the skill card.

Three accumulated uses were deducted from the card, and three daggers were created. They were made of mana, but they looked exactly like real daggers.

Hyeonseong fired all three daggers at the Enemy Knight’s head. The Enemy Knight dodged the incoming daggers with nothing more than a slight tilt of his head.

‘Of course he’ll dodge something like that.’

Since she had fired them in an honest straight line, it would have been weirder if he couldn’t dodge. But she hadn’t thrown them intending a proper hit.

The real part started after that.

The daggers that missed stopped dead in midair at Hyeonseong’s mental command. The three daggers hovering in the air shifted direction and aimed for the Enemy Knight’s head again.

Swae-aek—

This time as well, the daggers failed to strike a vital point. Even though all three moved along different routes, the Enemy Knight dodged without much trouble.

‘Sure. Of course you will.’

Hyeonseong didn’t feel disappointed. Her opponent was an S-rank enemy skilled in physical combat.

Besides, this was Hyeonseong’s first time manipulating an S-rank skill in this way. Even if she had handled similar skills before, most of them had only been mid- to low-grade.

‘It’s kind of a handful… but I’m starting to get the hang of it.’

She manipulated the missed daggers again. The daggers, their course bent, targeted the Enemy Knight’s head just like before.

“What are you doing? Don’t just stare—keep attacking!”

Hyeonseong yelled at the Awakened ones who were gaping at the flying daggers.

For now, she could hold the bastard’s attention with the blade-control skill alone, but there was no way this trick would work forever. Having them all spaced out like that was a problem.

“Ah…!”

“His waist! Take the waist!”

“I just saw something that made no sense….”

She thought she heard something irritating, but in any case, even the stunned idiots snapped back to their senses.

‘Then I should focus again, too.’

She bent the direction of the three missed daggers again. As before, the attack continued, aiming for vital points in the head.

Buuung—

Every time a dagger fired, the Enemy Knight was busy dodging. He couldn’t simply knock them aside with his sword or gauntleted hand, because he also couldn’t afford to ignore the other Awakened ones’ attacks.

And that was exactly what Hyeonseong had been aiming for.

‘Your nerves are going to get shredded, you bastard.’

The guild Awakened ones’ attacks were powerful and accurate, but it was hard for them to spam them in a short time.

Hyeonseong’s attacks, however, could be fired in what was practically a barrage with only brief intervals. The accuracy didn’t seem great, but hitting wasn’t the point in the first place.

If she hit and dealt damage, even better—but even if she didn’t, she could keep chewing away at his concentration.

‘Even if your defense goes up, you’re bound to react on instinct to an attack that could kill you instantly if it lands wrong.’

All she needed to do was apply an annoying level of threat.

[‘Creator of the Four Fiends’ cackles and tells you to look at the Enemy Knight’s dopey state.]

[‘Authority of Fusion Life Sciences’ says it can’t hear the voice of a guy who’d be lucky to manage a draw…]

[The Rider of the Red Horse fell into the abnormal status ‘Confusion’.]

[Abnormal status intensity: Low]

The effect of constantly getting on his nerves showed up in an easy-to-read form.

Grr…!

When the status message appeared, the Enemy Knight let out a groan and shook his head sharply. With that motion, Hyeonseong’s blade-control skill missed again.

But it wasn’t bad news. Even after slipping the attack, his head wouldn’t stay still.

He couldn’t properly keep a grip on his mind. It meant the debuff was definitely taking effect.

“Song Jiwoo!”

Hyeonseong shouted while aiming her blade-control skill at the back of the Enemy Knight’s head.

“I was wondering when you’d call me!”

Song Jiwoo, who had been focused on keeping the Enemy Knight in check, widened the distance. A crimson aura gathered along Song Jiwoo’s greatsword.

“Hah—!”

Ppuheong—!

The skill finished charging in an instant and fired with a battle shout. Crimson aura, honed like a sharp spear, pierced through the Enemy Knight’s neck.

Keok…!

[The Rider of the Red Horse’s triggered status ‘Ironwall’s Guard’ has been removed.]

She couldn’t take the head, but she succeeded in stripping the buff.

“Close in again! Keep going like we were!”

With that order, Hyeonseong released all of Nemesis’s communication skills. She redirected every ounce of mental stamina she’d been using to maintain and check skills back into the blade-control skill.

“Right side!”

“His back is open!”

Ppuheong!

As if they knew it was the final stretch, the Awakened ones’ momentum surged again.

Even without Hyeonseong giving detailed orders, they found the Enemy Knight’s openings and pressed the attack.

Hoo-uk—

Hyeonseong also focused on aiming her daggers at the Enemy Knight’s head.

Since she had released all of Nemesis’s skills, the frequency with which the daggers targeted vital points rose sharply.

And it was while Hyeonseong kept up that relentless assault—

Kagang!

At last, the Enemy Knight raised his sword and blocked the daggers. The three daggers that collided with the Enemy Knight’s blade bounced away in all directions.

‘Now!’

Her head rang from the recoil generated by the skill collision, but Hyeonseong didn’t care. She called Song Jiwoo’s name one last time.

At Hyeonseong’s final cue, Song Jiwoo immediately gathered aura into her greatsword. Dense crimson aura finished charging in an instant.

Ppuheong—!

With a violent tearing boom, the crimson aura struck the Enemy Knight’s neck.

[You have successfully eliminated the Rider of the Red Horse.]

[You have eliminated all monsters that escaped into the dungeon.]

[You have successfully contained the dungeon explosion. The Interstellar Network is currently calculating your contribution and rewards. Please wait a moment.]

[The entrance of the exploded dungeon is sealed.]

[Quest clear successful.]

The moment the Enemy Knight’s head fell, a flood of messages appeared before Hyeonseong’s eyes.

[‘Authority of Fusion Life Sciences’ falls into thought over what went wrong in the Rider of the Red Horse’s manufacturing process.]

[‘Lucky White Rabbit’s Foot’ asks what happens to the bet, then.]

[‘Creator of the Four Fiends’ insists it’s a draw because the Enemy Knight failed to meet the condition.]

[‘Authority of Fusion Life Sciences’ argues that, if you judge by the main body, then it still won anyway.]

[‘Creator of the Four Fiends’ says not to slyly change the story…]

[‘Steel’ tells ‘Lucky White Rabbit’s Foot’ that it might be time to change its concept from luck to discord and sowing division…]

‘Talking about “concepts,” seriously.’

She ignored the Constellations who were loudly broadcasting their own infighting to anyone who would listen.

‘For things that call themselves mysteries, gods, absolutes… why do they act no different from humans?’

Thinking what she always thought, Hyeonseong skimmed the messages quickly. The quest had been marked as cleared, so she needed to squeeze her reward out of ‘Prankster of the Beginning.’

[‘Prankster of the Beginning’ expresses admiration at the news of your successful request.]

[‘Prankster of the Beginning’ says, honestly, it didn’t think you’d really succeed.]

‘This bastard.’

The moment she found the message, Hyeonseong couldn’t help knitting her brows.

“Ah, yes. I didn’t think I’d really succeed either.”

[‘Prankster of the Beginning’ asks if you’re angry.]

[‘Hands Faster Than Eyes’ says, can’t you see the way she’s talking through clenched teeth right now?]

“Ha, ha. Of course not.”

Even if her words and behavior lacked dignity, ‘Prankster of the Beginning’ was still a god. Showing displeasure wouldn’t benefit her in the slightest.

[‘Prankster of the Beginning’ tells you to keep it up and pays the promised reward.]

[Quest rewards have been issued.]

[Reward details: 1,000 Ghost Coins]

At last, the long-awaited reward arrived. She was just about to level up the Infinite Corridor skill—

[Per Interstellar Network regulations, rewards of Ghost Coins above a certain amount are subject to tax.]

[The current tax rate is 22%.]

[The amount after deducting 22% will be issued as your reward.]

[Final reward details: 780 Ghost Coins]

“What?”

At the continuing messages, Hyeonseong couldn’t hide her disbelief.

“Hey, no one told me about this?”

[‘Prankster of the Beginning’ says it forgot and isn’t sorry.]

Anyone could tell it had done it on purpose.

[‘Prankster of the Beginning’ says it thought you’d naturally know something like that.]

[‘Hands Faster Than Eyes’ says that pathetic bastard has ever earned enough to get taxes withheld in the first place?]

[‘Prankster of the Beginning’ proudly says that, unlike someone else, it didn’t skim your reward and paid the full listed price properly.]

[‘Hands Faster Than Eyes’ asks if it’s talking about it right now…]

‘In the first place, that line where taxes kick in seems absurdly high.’

From the way the Constellation spoke, it was definitely something written in the Network rulebook.

But she didn’t remember ever hearing about it properly. Which meant it wasn’t the kind of thing most Awakened people ran around talking about like common knowledge.

If that threshold had been in the hundreds, she could understand it. At that amount, even a proper S-rank Awakened wouldn’t find it easy to obtain in one go.

‘Then again, not many decent high-tier items went over 1,000 Ghost Coins. Same with quest rewards.’

With a sliver of suspicion, Hyeonseong searched the Interstellar Network for the regulations. As expected, the tax threshold was exactly 1,000 Ghost Coins.

‘It’s not like this is outright fraud… but it still pisses me off.’

[‘Prankster of the Beginning’ says it looks like you’re becoming rude again through its eyes.]

“No way. You’re imagining things.”

“Huh? What is it?”

A puzzled voice reached Hyeonseong’s ears. She turned her gaze toward where it came from.

Among the Awakened ones who had been fighting the Enemy Knight and Do-ol, a few who looked oddly familiar had approached. They were Sinwol guild members who had briefly accompanied her early on.

“Ah, I wasn’t talking to you. I was in the middle of a conversation with a star up there.”

[‘Prankster of the Beginning’ complains that you shouldn’t use a needlessly cute word.]

“Oh, then… are you done talking?”

The Awakened ones who quickly understood the situation asked.

“The important part is done. But what’s up?”

A few familiar Constellations protested that the conversation wasn’t over yet, but Hyeonseong cleanly ignored them. After she received the quest reward, nothing meaningful had followed.

“Ah, so….”

“Our team leaders asked us to pass along their greetings for them.”

It was a message from Geum Seoa and Ha Seongchan. It seemed neither of them could come in person because they had tasks to handle after the fight.

‘Right—just because the fight is over doesn’t mean everything’s over. Cleanup matters, and that’s the leader’s job.’

The Sinwol guild member who explained the purpose held out two thin cards. They were special business cards with Geum Seoa’s and Ha Seongchan’s names written on them, respectively.

“They told us to tell you that, if it’s something minor, they could help you at least once.”

The guild member said that as Hyeonseong accepted the cards. Hyeonseong inspected them briefly.

‘As expected, they’re items.’

A contract-type item—something like an IOU token—that well-known Awakened people often made and used.

It didn’t have the overwhelming effect of a proper IOU token, but it had enough force to turn a polite “let’s eat sometime” into an actual appointment.

‘Still… even so, people don’t usually hand these out that easily…’

She checked Geum Seoa’s card info first. The item information included Hyeonseong’s own name and Geum Seoa’s signature. It clearly meant it had been issued directly to Hyeonseong.

Next, she checked Ha Seongchan’s card. It was the same—Ha Seongchan’s signature attached to similar promised conditions that included Hyeonseong’s name.

“Tell them I received it. And tell them I’ll talk to the people in charge and leave after disposing of the byproducts, too.”

The Sinwol guild members replied that they would. After greeting Hyeonseong, they left.

‘Come to think of it, I should sort out the corpses and junk I hurriedly cleared away earlier. The settlement and distribution staff…’

As she was thinking that, a new message arrived before Hyeonseong’s eyes.

[Contribution and reward settlement has been completed.]

[Your contribution rank is tied for 1st place.]

[Dungeon clear rewards based on contribution will be issued.]