SWNOVELXO Ch. 9
“Ughh…….”
Blink—
[…Are you coming to your senses?]
As I opened my eyes to the sluggish feeling spreading through every corner of my body, I saw Eliya’s face, now wearing an expression of complete and utter bewilderment.
[…Your physical condition was no joke, so I took the liberty of purchasing a Memorize Paper enchanted with E-rank healing magic. It cost another coin.]
“……”
[Your internal mana was completely depleted and your muscles were all torn. If I had left you as you were, you would have been unconscious for days, so please don't be too upset……. You have plenty of money, after all.]
Pfft—
So that’s why. My condition felt a bit better.
It wasn't a bad call on her part.
If it had been just a hundred orcs as I'd written on my bucket list, I could have toughed it out. But because the ‘bite’ from the Constellation came later than I expected, I had definitely overdone it.
…Though I hadn't expected to faint just from using a tiny bit of my Innate Ability.
“Brilliant, Iria.”
[…I told you. Please don't leave out a syllable……. My name is Eliya.]
“Sorry.”
[…Is that it?]
“Sorry, sorry?”
[Haa… Honestly…….]
Muttering with a sigh, Eliya looked up and asked again.
[Putting that aside… what on earth did you do in the First Gate?]
“Hm? What did I do?”
[Yes. What in the world did you do to come back with 193 Orc's Tokens, with your body in a state as if you’d been running at full speed for three days straight… and yet, for someone who supposedly fought so fiercely, you don't have a single scratch……. It's completely beyond my common sense.]
“Just… did what the trial told me to do over there.”
[Did what it said? The trial guide sent by The Order clearly states it’s based on the assassination of orcs, in line with the current strategy of the War against Demons…….]
“Yeah. That’s right. Assassination. But now…”
[…….]
“I just increased the head count a bit.”
Eliya’s face was once again painted with a dumbfounded expression.
[So… you’re claiming you committed… mass assassination(?)]
“Something like that.”
[…Unless I've been living my life wrong until now, I think the word that comes after 'mass' should be 'slaughter', not 'assassination'…….]
“Well, aren't they the same thing?”
Shrug—
“If there are no witnesses, it's an assassination.”
[…….]
A moment of silence passed.
[First of all, the idea that you caught 193 of them by yourself makes no sense no matter how I think about it… It seems there was some kind of error in The Order's design process……. I'll have to look into it. This could be a headache if something went wrong…….]
And with that, she gave up asking any more questions and offered her own speculation.
I didn't bother to refute her guess.
Of course, the truth was that I had caught them all, but it wasn't something she would believe just because I said so.
Well, in truth, it didn't matter to me how the 'process' was defined.
+
■ Slaughterer (★☆☆)
[For each consecutive entity killed, the Slaughterer gains a stack of Slaughter. It can be stacked up to 5 times, and each stack increases attack speed by 10%.]
+
Slaughterer.
The 'result'—the fact that the trait I had ripped off the Constellation in the First Gate was now embedded in my trait window—was what mattered.
.
.
.
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', expresses interest in your unusual actions.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', asks if you'd be interested in working for him.]
A nature that ignored the rules.
A temperament that acted on a whim.
A reckless way of speaking.
I didn't know who coined it, but 'Olympus's Ruffian' was a fitting epithet for him.
‘God of War, Ares.’
At the end of the First Gate, the Constellation who broke The Order's rule, [A Constellation cannot intervene in the First Gate], and spoke to me was none other than the ‘God of War, Ares’.
One of the twelve Constellations of 'Olympus', which was considered the most legitimate of all, even among the countless Constellations that had existed in the Upper-Dimensional Plane since ancient times.
I knew better than anyone what kind of being he was, but when the message popped up, I feigned ignorance and replied.
“And who might you be?”
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', states that he cannot reveal his name but emphasizes that he is a being so noble you would be lucky to see him once in your lifetime.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', dismisses such matters and demands you sign an Exclusive Contract first.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', promises he can give you immense power and abilities.]
Just as I expected.
He immediately pushed for an Exclusive Contract with sweet talk.
To put it simply, he was trying to get a head start.
Once I moved on to the Second Gate, where Constellations would begin to intervene in earnest, it was a given that other Constellations would also make their approach.
So, he was trying to lock down a Plane Transcendent he liked beforehand, even if it meant offering something extra.
In fact, if I were an ordinary Plane Transcendent whose goal was simply to survive, signing an Exclusive Contract now would have been the right move.
The twelve Constellations of Olympus were not lightweights.
And an Exclusive Contract with a Constellation wasn't something granted to just any Plane Transcendent.
…But.
“Hey now, a contract? How can we make a contract without even introducing ourselves? How am I supposed to know who you are?”
That didn't apply to me.
Simply surviving.
I hadn't gone through Regression for something so trivial.
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', beats his chest at your frustrating remark.]
A message expressing his frustration.
I could feel Ares's impatience even from here.
It was certainly a situation that would be frustrating for him.
There were barely three minutes left on the First Gate's timer, and he had already intervened at a cost, yet here I was, spouting nonsense about 'introductions'.
If I were to be eliminated by some chance, there would be no situation more unfair from Ares's perspective.
He would have paid the price for breaking The Order's rules, only to end up with absolutely nothing to show for it.
Well, of course, objectively speaking, it wasn't a huge loss for a Constellation of Ares's caliber to miss out on one contractor.
But it's only natural for anger to boil over in haste.
Unable to control his fiery inner nature, he threw messages at me.
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', guarantees you will regret this.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', at your frustratingly dense nature…….]
…And that.
Was exactly what I was aiming for.
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', demands a swift contract.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', persuades you that if you come under him, you can obtain anything, be it money, honor, or power.]
“Well… I don't know much, but just from your name, you don't seem like a big shot……. I'm not some death row convict, how can I work under a ruffian?”
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', snorts with rage.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', demands you retract your statement.]
“I mean… the only thing I've seen are these system messages. I have no way of knowing if you're a big deal or not.”
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', cannot bear the humiliation.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', checks his list of traits.]
Then, at a certain moment during our one-sided squabble.
The message I had been waiting for appeared.
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', sponsors you with a 'Trait'.]
“……!”
…Ares was famous in the Upper-Dimensional Plane for his fiery temper.
He was especially intolerant of those who ignored him or tarnished his honor.
And if it was like that in my past life, it would be the same this time.
Before my Regression, I had quite a bit of interaction with Ares, so I could see as clear as day what he was thinking and how he would react.
Therefore, from the moment he took the bait, it was no exaggeration to say that Ares was fated to leave something behind before he left.
‘…Got it.’
[
The system message confirming the acquisition of the trait.
As soon as that message disappeared, Ares's arrogant message popped up.
It was as if to say, ‘Now that I've gone this far, you have no choice but to make a contract with me!’
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', tells you to feel his power, even if it is but a small fraction…….]
Well, of course.
…I had no intention of listening to him until the end.
“…Oh my. Look at the time.”
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', displays a question mark above his head.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', senses an inexplicable foreboding.]
“Uh… sir.”
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', demands you shut that mouth at once.]
“It seems my time is up, so I should get going……”
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', asks where you think you're going when the conversation isn't even over.]
“I'll make good use of (?) what you gave me.”
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', tries to stop you.]
“Haha… well then, farewell.”
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', wears a dumbfounded expression.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', wonders what kind of absolute ruffian you are and…….]
.
.
.
[Mr. Seo U-jin… Mr. Seo U-jin……!]
“…Hm?”
[Are you listening to me right now?]
Eliya's voice broke me out of my reverie.
Judging by her expression, it seemed she had been diligently explaining something.
“Ah, sorry. Where were we?”
[Up to the part where the 'Constellations' start to intervene from the Second Gate……. Haa. You weren't listening again, were you, Mr. Seo U-jin.]
“Haha……. I've always been terrible at listening attentively……. But I'm strong in a real fight, so don't worry.”
[How can you say that!? Do you know how many people died in the First Gate! You should at least know the bare minimum of information before you go.]
“Sorry, sorry. I'll try to concentrate for about a minute, starting now.”
[I just… don't understand how you even passed the First Gate…….]
“Stop sighing so much. You'll make the ground sink.”
[…I'll wrap it up in exactly one minute, so listen carefully.]
Eliya, ruffling her straight black hair in frustration, began to speak in a rapid-fire burst.
[If the key word for the First Gate was 'Hunting', the key word for the Second Gate is 'Survival'.]
“……”
[You've heard the name 'Cyclops' in the Lower-Dimensional Plane, right?]
“I know it. The one-eyed giant from Greek mythology.”
[That would be right. The myths prevalent in the Lower-Dimensional Plane are fundamentally based on stories from the Upper-Dimensional Plane.]
Her words continued without a pause for breath.
[The setting for the Second Gate is the 'Cyclops's Vineyard'. Your job is to be dropped into that monster's farm and survive for a set amount of time.]
[The farm is composed of three main elements. The farm owner, the 'Cyclops', the 'grapevines' he cultivates, and the Cyclops's 'hunting dogs' that guard those grapevines. Understanding these three key elements is the core to passing the Second Gate…….]
I felt bad for her, but it was hard to concentrate.
The reason was simple.
I already knew everything she was saying.
Would it be a similar feeling for a fresh Seoul National University graduate to go back to first grade and listen to an elementary-level lesson?
Regardless of the speaker's sincerity, my mind couldn't help but wander elsewhere.
[…Especially in this Second Gate, the Constellations from the Upper-Dimensional Plane begin to participate…….]
Right, and I just met one of them.
[…If I were to tell you the strategy I've devised…….]
I've already thought of a strategy, too.
[…I don't know what you did down there, but a stroke of luck like that only happens once…….]
And my strategy this time will probably fall into her category of a 'stroke of luck'.
I couldn't help but think, 'What's the point of listening to this?'
It couldn't be helped.
[Hoo……. Okay, that's it. I've summarized everything from the importance of the Second Gate to the strategy as concisely as possible… Did you understand everything?]
Having finished her one-minute explanation as promised, she asked, catching her breath.
She had a rather satisfied look on her face.
How should I put it?
It was the expression of a mother who had packed a three-tiered lunchbox for her child going on a picnic.
It seemed she had successfully crammed everything she wanted to say into that short summary.
In fact, even from my perspective, there probably wasn't a better strategy for a beginner whose main goal was to 'pass the Second Gate'.
To put it bluntly, her strategy briefing was excellent.
A summary that pinpointed the key aspects of the Second Gate and the precautions a beginner should take.
“Yeah. I get it.”
[I can really trust you this time, right? So, to put it simply, there's no need to go all-out in the Second Gate. The Constellations usually make their final decision in the third gate anyway. The plan is to minimize risk…….]
“So what you're saying is……”
Well, of course.
“I just have to beat the crap out of everything, right?”
This time, too, since I wasn't a beginner, her advice was dismissed.