To England (3)

‘King of Destruction must mean the Demon King. So if Jang Si-hwan contracts with the Demon King, I’ll be able to know.’

It was essentially a kind of contract notification.

Not only that, but he had also gained an ability that could counter Jang Si-hwan specifically.

When he checked the detailed tooltip, wondering what Heart Crush was, it was an ability that sealed all skills and constellation abilities.

The duration itself was short, at 5 seconds, but honestly, that was long enough for anything to happen.

In a battle where countless mental exchanges occurred in a fleeting instant, 5 seconds was much longer than it felt.

Just from Demon Tracker’s second privilege alone, he could tell how serious Demon Tracker was about finding the Demon King and his underlings.

‘All or nothing……?’

The third privilege was also quite interesting.

It seemed to make hunters with a high contract ratio with evil-aligned constellations fall into a kind of qi deviation.

Of course, there was also a phrase attached saying that the opponent could instead use it as an opportunity for a great awakening, in other words, a chance to grow.

However, if it was a hunter contracted with many evil-aligned constellations, the chance of them easily maintaining composure seemed very low.

The difference in alignment—good, neutral, and evil—did not divide constellations into good or bad.

However, the more evil-aligned they were, the more often they had radical or extreme thoughts.

A hunter who had no choice but to be directly influenced by such constellations would naturally become swept up in those thoughts.

As a result, hunters who contracted with many evil-aligned constellations also had a high chance of leaning extremely to one side.

‘Right. I thought there was one person who should have come to mind but didn’t. Now I know. Frenzied Demonlight is for sniping Chae Gwanhyeong.’

Kang-hoo thought of Chae Gwanhyeong.

His contract ratio with evil-aligned constellations, as mentioned in the third privilege, exceeded 90%. It was data already shown in the original work.

That was also why he was a hunter who could skillfully handle Dark Energy. He handled it just as well as Jang Si-hwan.

If he could trigger the Frenzied Demonlight effect on Chae Gwanhyeong, it seemed he might unexpectedly be able to subdue him early.

If he could merely create a situation where Chae Gwanhyeong fell into confusion or could not properly use his power, dealing with him would become very easy.

The expression written in the tooltip was rampage.

Rampage meant a situation where one could not control one’s own power at all. In short, it meant he had broken down.

A Chae Gwanhyeong who could not use his abilities was the same as having his hands and feet cut off. If Kang-hoo wanted to kill him, he might be able to.

‘I’ll have to make a plan.’

Now that he had obtained the Frenzied Demonlight ability, there was no need to weigh things for long.

Since it was an effect that could be triggered through contact anyway, he thought the sooner he tried it, the better.

However.

Since there might be a situation where he had to immediately make a move against Chae Gwanhyeong depending on circumstances, he thought he needed to set the board well.

If possible, it would be even better if it was an environment where Chae Gwanhyeong could be isolated from nearby help.

For example, when he had gone to a dungeon separately, or when he was in a private space where he stayed alone…… something like that.

Kang-hoo skimmed the privileges further.

The ones opened at the time of contract went up to the third, and as always, the fourth and fifth had a constellation trial.

The contents of the message were structured exactly as written: they seemed easy, yet were absolutely not easy.

Showing everything meant the same as showing every world he had thought about and experienced.

In other words, if this happened, Demon Tracker would come to know that he, as the original author, had possessed Shin Kang-hoo.

‘I don’t care. I have nothing to hide, and nothing will change just because Demon Tracker knows. We’re already a community of shared destiny anyway.’

Kang-hoo decided to properly step on the accelerator now that he was at it. There was nothing to hide at this point.

Rather, he thought Demon Tracker might be taken aback if they came to know everything.

But since they were an existence living in the Great Pantheon, a world that transcended human order and providence, they would likely accept it quickly.

He did not think any further.

Worries like whether this was okay, or whether this was the right method. If he had such doubts, the connection would never be made.

Kang-hoo trusted Demon Tracker.

They were an existence brought by Dimension Plunderer, and an existence she had guaranteed while staking herself. Not trusting them would be stranger.

He also thought that if they came to know his essence, they might show even more ability than they did now.

To put it simply.

Even if they knew everything, it was not as if Demon Tracker could cancel the contract with him or run away.

Since they were already a community of shared destiny with their souls bound as one, having one more knot added was definitely a good thing.

Closing his eyes tightly.

Kang-hoo accepted the connection.

The next moment.

A new existence entered his inner world, one he had never once shown to anyone until now.

He could feel Demon Tracker’s presence carefully examining the fragments of his memories.

He could not directly see their appearance, but he could perfectly feel the fact that they were with him.

And everything about Kang-hoo that Demon Tracker was examining was visible to Kang-hoo himself as well.

Demon Tracker was seeing his life from the time when Kang-hoo had lived as the original author. He saw himself typing diligently.

The contents of the novel he was writing.

He could feel that the story was almost the same as the flow of his current life. Demon Tracker felt it too.

Demon Tracker’s thoughts were conveyed through an inner voice. It was the first sentence that had accurately seen his essence.

The reason he had no choice but to quickly assimilate with Shin Kang-hoo’s dry personality the moment he possessed him.

Was because he, who had lived as the original author, had also been extremely serious and, on one hand, had lived a lonely life.

Having lost his parents when he was young, he had been extremely pessimistic and poor at communicating with people.

For him, the only window of communication with the world was the novel. At least inside it, he shone brilliantly.

But because he made the wrong ending, he had fallen from the brilliant sky to an underground world like a fiery hell.

And that fiery hell became reality. As he came to possess Shin Kang-hoo’s body, it became karma he had to face.

It was a short sentence, but Demon Tracker’s single remark made his chest resonate. Yes, it was certain that he had been lonely.

The continuing journey through the past.

Inside the life of the original author that Demon Tracker was peering into, Kang-hoo realized the meaning of life again.

‘Now Shin Kang-hoo’s life feels more like mine. Rather, the original author’s life feels like someone else’s life. So I don’t feel much about it, and I don’t feel like returning either.’

This was his current attitude toward Shin Kang-hoo’s life. He was not the original author who had become Shin Kang-hoo.

Shin Kang-hoo was him. It was just that the original author’s life existed within memories of a previous life. Like faded memories.

On the other hand.

‘Even if I lose my companions, I don’t even have time to wail and grieve. Because every moment has to be fierce. And without me, there is no bright future in this world anyway.’

He confirmed his dry emotions once again.

Perhaps he was consciously trying to erase his humanity too much. It was to minimize emotional exhaustion.

But he thought coldly.

He was the only one who at least clearly knew the identity of the darkness hanging over this world.

In a world where Shin Kang-hoo disappeared, there was no such thing as hope. Without him, nothing had meaning.

That was why.

He had no room to be pained over things that had left his hands and been lost. He had to fill the gap with something else somehow.

Demon Tracker, who had looked through all his memories in the meantime, spoke to Kang-hoo in a tone that felt sympathetic.

‘I don’t want to deny it.’

‘I feel the same. I want to correct the mistaken world I created with my own hands.’

‘You now know more about me than Dimension Plunderer does. Congratulations.’

‘I think this will be the best collaboration.’

Demon Tracker’s constellation trial ended like that.

He had wondered whether there might be an instinctive rejection reaction rising up from deep inside, but it was needless worry.

He thought that perhaps he had wanted to show his previous life to someone in a refreshing way.

That was why, when an opportunity like today came, he had been able to show everything without wavering.

Soon, two more privileges opened.

They became the additional privileges that had opened the fastest among all the main constellation trials and privileges he had experienced so far.

‘This is too good. If it had applied retroactively, it would have been a cheat, but even without that, it’s unconditional profit.’

The moment he saw the fourth privilege, the word “cheat” came to mind.

The ability to double hard-to-obtain divine power and Dark Energy rewards was beyond imagination in terms of rarity.

Especially if he utilized Conviction of the Dark King, he could produce a sixfold amplification effect on the divine power side.

‘Does that mean my sensitivity to hidden stats rises along with it? Usually, a dense area means there is some special issue, so it’s a good detection ability.’

Just looking through the fourth privilege made him feel full already. But the fifth privilege still remained.

‘This is…….’

The fifth privilege made his eyes widen as he examined it! It was definitely another “cheat.”