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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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The reason I wanted to meet Gaunis was because of her name listed in the credits.
The system doesn’t lie.
From my experience so far, I had accepted this as a fact.
And the ‘system’ was the most alien existence in this world.
It was the only thing that didn’t belong to this world, which was so similar to the novel “The Hero of Salvation” that I knew.
I thought that the being who created this system was the culprit who made me go through all this trouble.
I believed it was the being who brought me into the world of the novel.
Therefore, I had unleashed my justified anger on Gaunis…
But Gaunis wasn’t the creator of the system?
“Are you saying the system lied?”
I clutched my throbbing head.
“So what is this system?”
Gaunis asked as she swallowed the snack that had puffed up her cheeks.
Her innocent pink eyes were rolling around.
I felt a slight cold sweat.
If Gaunis’ behavior wasn’t an act… then I had attacked and beat Gaunis for no real reason…
“So what is this system anyway?”
Gaunis persisted tenaciously like a detective who had found a clue.
Ding!
[5 minutes left for the activation of the strongest sword according to the setting.]
To make matters worse, the sword’s activation was also coming to an end.
Perhaps reading my complex expression, a bright light shone in this arrogant constellation’s eyes.
“Don’t tell me!”
Gaunis said, bringing her widely spread hand to her mouth.
Her voice was gradually rising.
“You made some kind of mistake, didn’t you? Right?”
Then she grabbed my shoulders and shook them as if whining.
“That’s it, isn’t it! I didn’t do anything wrong, but you came here and spanked me and all that, right?!”
For a moment, I almost grimaced.
But thanks to my acting skills honed from dealing with Nias and Livia, I was able to endure.
‘I almost fell for it.’
I had nearly given her a weak point that would last a lifetime.
If I had made a mistake, I had indeed done something that deserved more than an apology.
‘The problem is that it doesn’t seem to be a mistake.’
Looking at Gaunis’ expression, she really seemed to have never heard of the system.
In fact, no matter how I thought about it, it was hard to believe that Gaunis had contributed to creating the system.
Among the main keywords that made up her settings, while ‘luck’ was there, ‘laziness’ also occupied a significant portion.
It was unthinkable from the start that someone like her would proactively create a system.
However, the system doesn’t lie.
Assuming that premise, it was certain that she had contributed something.
A way for Gaunis, who found everything bothersome, to contribute to the creation of the system.
A setting flashed through my mind like lightning.
“Celestial Network.”
I said, grabbing Gaunis’ cheeks and stretching them out.
“…Celeshial Netwohk?”
I nodded and released my grip on Gaunis’ cheeks.
“Ouch!”
There existed a communication network among constellations that played a role similar to the internet in my previous life.
That was the Celestial Network.
It was much more primitive than the modern internet, but simple communities and shopping were possible.
It was also one of the blessings I wanted to obtain first after coming here.
“How do you know about that?”
Gaunis rubbed her cheeks that I had grabbed and squinted her eyes.
“There’s a way to know everything. You just need to study hard.”
“You can’t know that just by studying hard! There’s a limit to the information mortals can know! That’s constellation-only information!”
Before I knew it, Gaunis had completely forgotten about being hit earlier and started arguing vehemently.
“You know because of that system thing! Hurry up and turn it on!”
I’m sorry, but I still needed to intimidate Gaunis.
When I raised my hand abruptly, Gaunis immediately curled up her body.
Then she turned on a hologram-like form of the Celestial Network and showed it to me.
“Ugh… y-you loser. I’m definitely not scared.”
It seemed the memory of the pain was still there.
It must have been the greatest pain Gaunis had experienced in her life, so the trauma might be severe.
Thinking that I should comfort her later, I looked into the Celestial Network.
The Celestial Network was quite similar to the internet.
Recalling memories from my previous life, I could operate the Celestial Network without much difficulty.
Among the various functions of the Celestial Network, I focused on one.
“Do you use something like email?”
In this world without cell phone texts or messengers, constellations mainly communicated through email.
But at my casually thrown question, Gaunis stuttered like a broken machine.
“Th-that…”
Not only that, but she was rambling incoherently with her eyes rolled upwards.
“O-Of course! I’m totally popular, so I have connections that are on a different level from other l-loser constellations…”
I was certain.
This one…
Has no friends.
To the extent of not even having friends on the Celestial Network.
Well, I suppose few people would want to have a close relationship with someone who wants to mock them as losers at every opportunity.
“…That makes it easier then.”
However, this time, her shallow relationships actually helped.
“Huh? W-What’s easier?”
“You probably don’t have many emails. It’ll be easier to search. Turn it on for now.”
“No way! It’s p-privacy! Trying to look at such things, you’re really a lewd pervert after all! Pervert. Pervert. Apologize for being a pervert… Kyaah!”
I couldn’t listen anymore, so I started operating the Celestial Network on my own.
“No. No. No!!! I don’t want to! I don’t want to! Stop it!!! I don’t want to show it to a loser like you! If you’re a hero candidate, you should listen to a constellation!”
“Kuk, to resist so fiercely even at this point…! I’m not interested in your personal affairs!”
It was difficult to open the mailbox because Gaunis was clinging to my arm and wrestling with me.
Only after using magic to make Gaunis float in the air and forcibly detach her could I look into the email window.
“Nooooo!!!”
The email window was full of spam.
It seems that wherever electronic media develop, spam is sent. That’s no different even for constellations.
“There’s nothing much here.”
“It’s not nothing at aaaaaall! You’re just a novice who doesn’t know the Celestial Network well! They’re all in hidden status!”
Gaunis shouted, flailing her body in mid-air.
I started searching the email window.
‘System’
There was nothing.
There should be system messages saying something was purchased, but it seemed that the word ‘system’ wasn’t used on the Celestial Network.
After thinking for a moment, I entered the next search term.
‘Production’
There was quite a lot of spam, but still nothing came up.
Was my guess wrong?
A chilling sensation briefly came over me.
“You see, you came to me because you misunderstood something, right? Loser, loser. I know my power will recover soon anyway, you know?”
Gaunis’ protests were still intense.
Moreover, thinking she had gained the upper hand, an arrogant smile was again forming at the corners of her mouth.
“Apologize now! Apologize! Say you’re sorry for being stupid and disrespecting the wise Gaunis! Then maybe I, in my mercy, might go a little easy on you. With only 100 spanks!”
I couldn’t take 100 spanks from this arrogant constellation.
I was starting to get a sense of what had happened anyway.
My prediction couldn’t have been wrong.
If so, then…
I typed one word into the search box.
‘Gaunis♡’
And there was a trace of a reply.
The content was oddly long for a contract promising to give a prize.
Of course, it was a fraudulent contract document to temporarily receive Gaunis’ ability and use it for the system.
In this email that anyone could see was a scam, Gaunis had signed ‘Gaunis♡’ as usual.
In fact, it wasn’t entirely Gaunis’ fault for falling for it.
After all, Gaunis’ life had been a series of wins.
Even if she suddenly won something, she naturally wouldn’t doubt it.
Rather, because it was so ordinary, she might just accept it even if the content was a bit suspicious.
It was sent by someone who had properly grasped what kind of person Gaunis was.
I looked at the sender, but it was hidden in an unreadable state.
Like the credits on the system window, it was marked as ■■■■.
It seemed that whoever sent this email had stolen Gaunis’ ability and arbitrarily created the system.
“…Anyway, you did cooperate.”
I glared at Gaunis and said.
“I-I didn’t know! I still don’t even know what this system is!”
Gaunis, realizing she had indeed done something wrong, started making excuses.
It seemed I would need her cooperation now that I knew Gaunis wasn’t my main enemy.
As the opponent was likely also a constellation, the help of another constellation would be essential.
Moreover, Gaunis might be able to read this ■■■■.
“The culprit who put you in that state is the one who sent this email.”
I said, pointing at the screen.
“Because you replied to this email, I’m suffering greatly. You too.”
“I’m suffering greatly because of you!”
“No, it’s different. The responsibility lies with the one who arbitrarily used your power to create something like the system.”
I completely shifted the responsibility to ■■■■.
Gaunis, being a constellation, reacted to those words.
Using a constellation’s power without permission was something that greatly lowered the constellation’s status.
A constellation’s power must not be ‘universal’.
It should only work for limited beings permitted by the constellation.
If not, for example, when someone steals and uses a constellation’s authority, the constellation’s uniqueness disappears and inevitably results in damage to their status.
Occasionally, when a constellation becomes a ‘god’, they may bestow blessings widely to the priests who serve them.
In such cases, there’s no problem because the prayers and devotion of the priests to the god replenish the status lost by the constellation.
However, for ordinary constellations like Gaunis, the leakage of authority was a big problem that greatly damaged their status.
“…W-Wait, then were you able to remove my authority because of that too?”
Gaunis asked, her eyes wide open.
I was able to remove her authority thanks to the ability of the strongest sword according to the setting, not because of the leakage of authority.
The more I used the system, the more Gaunis’ status would have been damaged.
It was probably so subtle that she hadn’t noticed.
But Gaunis, so shocked that her authority was easily removed by a mortal, seemed to want to believe it was due to fraud between constellations.
It was a complete misunderstanding, but it worked out well.
“Yes. So come here and try reading this.”
I said, pointing to the Celestial Network.
And just then.
Ding!
[The activation of the strongest sword according to the setting has ended.]
The sword’s activation time was up.
The great flow of the threads of fate began to envelop Gaunis again, and her luck returned.
As Gaunis’ authority as a constellation returned, my magic naturally disappeared, overwhelmed by her status.
“Eek!”
Gaunis fell onto the soft bed.
Whether due to her constellation authority returning or not, a pillow that hadn’t been there before was now placed under Gaunis.
Plop.
“…Hey! You! Apologize now. I told you I’d get revenge when my power returned-!”
I pointed to the Celestial Network screen to Gaunis, who was about to lose her temper.
“Can you read this?”
Gaunis narrowed her eyes and looked at the screen.
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Did she really fall for a phishing email LOL?
