500 (2)

It was Skill Copy, which had appeared when he spun the first roulette after reaching level 100 before.

At the time, he had thought luck had followed him a great deal, but now, he felt it was a fortuitous encounter beyond the realm of luck.

It felt as if someone had swept away even the energy of misfortune and was pushing all kinds of good fortune toward him.

His chest felt full enough for that thought to arise, and his heart pounded at the golden opportunity he faced again.

The previous Skill Copy chance had been used on his master, Celestial Assassin. Heaven-and-Earth Dragnet - Kill was the proof.

‘Whose skill would be good to take this time? There are too many attractive copy targets to simply think of only Jang Si-hwan. There’s Shinwol, there’s Benny, and if necessary, there’s the Eye too.’

Because there were many possible targets, a happy dilemma continued. It was only a matter of choice.

At the current point, what drew him most impulsively was Jang Si-hwan’s spatial utilization skill.

With that skill, Kang-hoo would be able to open space himself and move while launching aerial-mobility attacks.

In other words, he would be able to do alone what Jang Si-hwan and Chae Gwanhyeong were currently doing as a pair.

An assassin who literally appeared here and there in a flash. Even vaguely picturing it made it seem plausible.

For now, his imagination stopped there.

To copy a skill, he had to see the target use it, so thinking about it now was useless.

Kang-hoo turned his eyes to the constellation contract side, another one of the benefits of reaching level 500.

In the constellation window, a newly added blank space in the slot symbolizing the main constellation was sparkling.

When a hunter reached level 500, any hunter could add one main constellation without restriction.

To be precise, no matter which constellation they contracted with, it did not take up a main constellation slot. It was treated as a separate matter.

Therefore, hunters above level 500 had at least two main constellations, no matter how conservatively one counted.

Of course.

Kang-hoo, who had expanded his main constellation slots in several ways and currently had five main constellations in six slots, belonged to the realm of irregulars.

In any case, Kang-hoo also gained one more room for a contract as a benefit of level 500.

In other words, the maximum number of main constellations he could possess became seven. And currently, two seats were empty.

When he examined the message displayed separately in the constellation window, it seemed to be giving him one definite chance to appeal himself.

Even excluding the Guardian of Balance constellation, whose contract status Kang-hoo was currently holding off on, one seat would remain no matter what.

If there were constellations worth contracting with at this opportunity, they would reveal themselves on their own once he appealed.

Since there was no reason to just uselessly test the waters, Kang-hoo announced his existence through the system.

‘I should turn this off.’

Because notifications showing what reactions the constellations who received the notice were having kept popping up nonstop, Kang-hoo pressed the collapse button.

Nothing would change by watching them, and there were too many displayed notifications for him to check them all.

How much time had passed like that? Around the time he began to feel slightly bored, responses started coming in.

“Ah.”

No sooner had the Chatterbox constellation’s reaction appeared than Dimension Plunderer, who had remained silent, cut in with cold words.

At that moment, Kang-hoo also realized a few things and decided to set conditions.

The interest of constellations was always something to be grateful for, but he could not carelessly give away a main constellation seat to just anyone.

A minimum qualification was necessary.

The minimum condition in Kang-hoo’s judgment was from rank 1 to rank 200. He thought there was no room to consider anything below that.

There might be a hidden gem-like constellation, but if it were such a constellation, its rank would have risen long ago.

When he applied the filter like that.

…….

The messages that had been pouring down quieted.

It was what he had wanted.

He could not face each of the countless constellations existing in the Grand Temple one by one. It would be better if only the worthwhile ones came.

Afterward, several major constellations appeared, but rather than wanting a contract, they gave an overall evaluation of Kang-hoo.

Perhaps it also had the meaning of publicity, informing others that they were high-ranking constellations while at the same time imprinting their existence on Kang-hoo’s main constellations.

What all those constellations said in unison was respect toward Dimension Plunderer.

They also added that if he was a contractor whom such a Dimension Plunderer had been drawn to and contracted with, there was no room to doubt his value and dignity.

Kang-hoo agreed as well.

If there was one choice he had made best after opening his eyes in this world, it was thinking of Dimension Plunderer and immediately calling her out.

Without her, the current Shin Kang-hoo might have been only half, no, not even a quarter, of what he was.

Since the contract was a fate that would have happened three years later, the fact that he would meet her itself would not have changed.

But until then, the growth of the person called Shin Kang-hoo would have been terribly low.

Just imagining it made his heart sink.

At that moment.

Suddenly, a constellation that had not shown even a trace until now spoke to him.

The activated constellation window immediately displayed that constellation’s information.

‘That’s a name I’m seeing for the first time.’

It was the name of a constellation that had never been mentioned in the original story. Even the reactions of Kang-hoo’s main constellations were different from before.

The Seeker of Pure Darkness and the Strategist of the Wasteland each gave their guesses about Observer.

Perhaps because it was a constellation none of them had ever met before, all reactions were in the realm of speculation.

He had expected Dimension Plunderer to say at least one thing, but unexpectedly, she was quiet.

She was not the type to stay silent because she was scared, or to shut her mouth because she wanted to avoid the other party.

Then it probably meant she wanted to quietly watch what Observer would say next.

Kang-hoo answered Observer’s question.

‘Strength. Because justice without strength cannot even exist in the first place. But I have never thought about what justice is. It is an ambiguous concept.’

Just by looking at the words and tone it chose, he could guess that this was not a constellation approaching with goodwill.

He was not that oblivious. No, even someone oblivious could read the nuance at this level.

‘I think humans are the beings most faithful to emotion. And since most emotions contain many negative tendencies, I think they can appear that way.’

‘However, seeing that you define that as evil, it means there is already evil that you yourself have concluded exists. Of course, I doubt that matches my thoughts.’

“…….”

Kang-hoo fell silent for a moment at the strangely flowing direction of the conversation.

It felt as if he were being interrogated. A feeling of one-sidedly asking questions and obtaining answers. It was not a conversation.

Kang-hoo instinctively became certain that the constellation called Observer seemed related to the Demon King ending.

Because the ending had been exactly like that.

In the world that had ended with the Demon King ending, everyone except the collaborators who would be loyal to the Demon King had been killed.

Struggle and resistance had been thoroughly trampled, and the traitor who arose within it blocked the Flames of Revival.

The overwhelming power of the Demon King, which made it impossible to even raise one’s head! Beneath it, the collaborators could do nothing but obey.

Frighteningly, Observer’s thoughts and words were oriented toward the same thread that led to the ending. Whether that was intentional or not, he did not know.

He finished organizing his thoughts.

Observer’s words were merely sophistry that plausibly packaged greed.

Fear gave birth to another fear and paralyzed all reason and thought. A world like that was not a living world. It was a world where everything was dead.

‘I do not. In the end, the being with that power would also have to obey the being who gave that power. I hate that.’

Kang-hoo’s answer was directed toward Observer, but at the same time, it was also a message to his main constellations.

It was an expression of his will to pioneer his fate himself rather than be dragged around by someone.

‘If you have nothing more to say, I will end the conversation here. I do not want to continue a conversation that will one-sidedly make me feel unpleasant.’

Kang-hoo unilaterally closed the message window linked to Observer.

Even after that, the outer border of the closed message window sparkled. It meant there were words continuing.

However, since it had been a twisted conversation from the start anyway, he did not want to receive more irritating stimuli that would make him feel worse.

No matter what it babbled, there would be no chance of joining hands with Observer.

The conversation ended like that.

His heart pounded at the thought that he had unintentionally obtained a clue related to the Demon King.

Perhaps there might be a connection between Wind of the God, or the power behind Wind of the God, and Observer.

For now, there were more hidden areas than areas where the fog had cleared, so he had no choice but to layer speculation upon speculation.

But at least he felt certain he could tie Wind of the God and Observer together through the common denominator called the Demon King.

Kang-hoo nodded at Dimension Plunderer’s reaction, which broke the silence. He could feel the purpose of reconnaissance.

Level 500.

The heated moment that seemed likely to flow with pride and a pleasant atmosphere froze coldly because of the presence of an uninvited guest.

The Demon King.

It was a moment when he once again felt the existence of the greatest enemy, one he could not forget even if he tried, and must not forget.