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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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A sword swiftly cut through the air. With every movement, beads of sweat clinging to the ends of her hair fell and dampened the floor.
‘It needs to be faster than this.’
Yuseora couldn’t understand.
Why had she been so overwhelmingly defeated?
Her speed, strength, and technique were clearly superior.
Yet, she couldn’t help but lose.
‘I should have won.’
She knew better than anyone that her swordsmanship was flawed.
However, because it was so flawed, she had been confident that she could win in a single decisive match.
No one had ever lasted more than ten exchanges with her.
Except for that guy yesterday.
‘Was my swordsmanship wrong?’
It was only difficult to start doubting.
Once the doubt arose, it began to swell.
And that doubt eventually went beyond why she couldn’t beat Elsie, reaching a point of questioning her entire swordsmanship.
‘Is it really right to keep clinging to this swordsmanship?’
She recalled the reason she started using a sword.
The Crow Merchant Guild, reduced to chaos by the monsters of chaos.
Following her constellation’s command, she desperately escaped the scene and sought help from a nearby hero.
That hero happened to be a high-ranking, powerful one, capable of wiping out all the monsters of chaos there with a single sword.
But it was already too late.
The Crow Merchant Guild was crippled beyond recovery because of that incident.
Her constellation proposed that she pick up a sword herself, cultivate the strength to protect the guild, and rebuild it.
Having witnessed the miracle created by a high-ranking hero using a sword, the proposal was incredibly appealing to her.
After that, there was only the path of the sword for her.
Of course, she’d considered that the Crow’s emblem was more specialized for archery than swordsmanship.
In fact, it seemed like that Seo Yoo Rang guy was making good use of archery.
However, it wasn’t easy to doubt the constellation she had believed in all this time.
She was afraid that the moment she doubted her constellation, the entire path she had walked would betray her.
‘It’s too late to learn archery now…’
Her sword-wielding movements stopped.
She lowered her sword, breathing heavily.
She no longer felt like practicing swordsmanship.
‘What should I do?’
She didn’t know.
It seemed she couldn’t reach any conclusion on her own.
‘I…’
She couldn’t help but look up at the empty air again.
‘Please, say something, Constellation.’
But no answer came.
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‘I just can’t figure it out.’
I couldn’t understand what was so strange.
After pondering for a long time, I headed to the archery range to clear my head.
I thought maybe something would come to mind while shooting arrows.
‘Is that guy there again today?’
Wilhelm was at the first range of the archery class again today, shooting arrows.
Seeing him so consistent even after a month had passed since the semester started was impressive.
But even he should have other things to do besides archery.
‘Does that guy really not have a constellation?’
With that thought, I picked up my bow.
Even if Wilhelm was impressive, I could confidently say I’d practiced just as much.
The proof was the hardened calluses on my fingers, and Wilhelm’s slightly changed gaze.
During the first archery class, thanks to my disastrous shooting skills, he had paid me almost no attention.
But my archery had improved considerably, and now I could confidently say I could shoot at the class average, even without borrowing the power of the wind.
It was at the moment my arrow struck the bullseye.
“Seo Yoo Rang.”
For a moment, I doubted my ears.
But then the voice came again.
“Sorry to interrupt, but do you have a moment?”
It was Wilhelm.
It was the first time he had initiated a conversation with me during training.
That probably meant it was something important.
“What is it?”
I lowered my bow and looked at Wilhelm.
Wilhelm, who was usually serious, had a particularly grave expression.
In his characteristically serious voice, he said,
“There’s something I’d like to discuss.”
Discuss?
I couldn’t guess what he wanted to discuss.
But I had no choice but to accept.
“Alright. But what is it about?”
“It would be better to talk after we move somewhere else. Other people might come in here.”
Although a bit puzzled, I agreed to move locations.
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“Seo Yoo Rang, I know you have a constellation. I saw you using your inventory last time.”
It was definitely a topic of conversation that wouldn’t be good if anyone overheard.
I’d tried to hide it, but it seemed Wilhelm, the excellent archer, had caught me secretly using my inventory.
“Yes, I have a constellation. So what do you want to talk about?”
There was no point in denying it to Wilhelm any further.
I also wanted to hear what he had to say.
“First, I’ll confess. I also have a constellation.”
That was unexpected.
The way he’d been acting suggested he didn’t have one.
But apparently, that wasn’t the case.
“You have a constellation?”
“No, it’s more accurate to say I had one.”
Had?
It became even more difficult to understand.
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. My constellation definitely used to advise me. Sometimes we even communicated. But…”
He continued, his eyes filled with sadness.
“Lately, my constellation hasn’t responded at all.”
My first guess was just one thing.
His constellation had quit the game.
I felt bad, but if it was anyone other than Wilhelm, it would have been understandable.
“Do you think my constellation abandoned me too?”
He must have had some idea.
Wilhelm was a good archer, but that was it. He was a character with limitations in growth.
Furthermore, most of Wilhelm’s events were related to archery practice.
‘Many users considered him a boring character to raise.’
So it wasn’t impossible to think that his constellation had given up on raising him.
If it weren’t for the current situation.
“Wilhelm. When was the last time you contacted your constellation?”
I felt like I was getting closer to the source of the strange feeling.
But for that, the timing of when Wilhelm lost contact with his constellation was important.
“Probably…around last winter, I think.”
“Last winter?”
Last winter coincided with when I killed Libero and Gnaeus.
If my guess was correct, this wouldn’t be a problem only Wilhelm was experiencing.
Come to think of it, there was no reason for Elsie not to recognize me. If Elsie had a constellation, she could have easily accessed my information.
The same was true for Gwen.
…Of course, they could have recognized me and pretended not to.
But there was one more strange person besides them.
‘Yuseora.’
It was certain that she had a constellation.
But what if she was also out of contact with her constellation now?
It would explain why she was clinging to swordsmanship.
And I had the surest way to prove it.
Actually, I had a hunch.
Because…
‘Seo Yoo Rang, say something.’
My constellation had also been unresponsive for a while.
I thought it was just observing out of respect for me.
But maybe it wasn’t.
‘Seo Yoo Rang!!!’
There was no answer.
‘That means…’
I realized the source of the unease.
It seemed like the connection between all constellations and characters had been severed.
‘What the hell happened?’
I wanted to jump into the ordeal right away and demand an explanation from those so-called gods.
But there was something more important right now.
‘Yuseora’s situation might be more serious than I thought.’
My assumptions about Yuseora’s situation were based on the premise that she still had a constellation.
But if Yuseora had also lost contact with her constellation, her condition might be more serious than I imagined.
Checking on her was the top priority.
“Wilhelm, I’m not sure, but you’re not the only one whose connection with their constellation has been cut off. There must be another reason, so don’t worry too much. I’ll try to figure out the cause.”
I quickly concluded Wilhelm’s consultation.
Wilhelm seemed momentarily flustered, but quickly regained his composure.
Then he smiled and said,
“Is that so? Thanks for telling me.”
Judging by his reaction, there seemed to be no need to worry about Wilhelm.
I got up and said to him,
“Well, I have something I need to do.”
I remembered Yuseora’s face as she called out to me after the strategy meeting that day.
Her expression had already crumbled by then.
It might have been a last cry for help.
‘Damn it.’
It was my fault for complacently leaving it to her constellation, even though there were signs.
But I couldn’t figure out how I, an ordinary human, could persuade someone who had already lost faith in their constellation.
‘What should I do…’
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