One week after officially joining the association.
Even though he had constantly been going in and out of dungeons in order to promote to 3-Star, he was unable to in the end.
‘Well, trying to reach 3-Star in a week in itself is having no conscience.’
Since it was something he had already predicted, it didn’t feel all that unfortunate.
“Fuu.”
A breath full of nervousness flowed out of his mouth.
He confirmed the date on his phone.
November 13.
It was the date he had promised to meet with Vega.
‘Sanctum.’
Star’s sanctuary.
The world the celestials resided in.
He had heard a lot, but it was the first time he had personally visited it.
“Ugh, I’m getting butterflies.”
Although he was sure he had prepared quite thoroughly, thinking about directly meeting and talking with Vega made his stomach start to fill with butterflies.
‘Let’s get ready and—’
Taking a deep breath in, he calmed his mind.
The moment he made a mistake here, his plans would all go to waste.
‘—take off.’
Slap!—
Lightly slapping both sides of his cheek, he moved his feet.
Murmur Murmur—
Seoul, Hongdae.
The street that used to be filled with youths’ passion was now crawling with another type of passion.
“Oh god, please accept my wishes!!!”
“Ahh, oh great celestial!!!”
“Bless this humble bug with the power of the constellation!”
The moment he took a step out of the station that had taken him an hour to arrive at, he was met with the ringing sound of prayers akin to madness.
‘Is this what I saw on the news before?’
In front of the gate that led to the sanctum were crowds of people that had gathered to try and win over the hearts of the celestials so that they could become Awakeners.
‘…Though if the celestials saw the state they’re in, they’d probably lose any desire to select them.’
Worn-out clothes and dark grime covered their bodies; a dreadful stench pricked his nose. They hadn’t bathed for days on end.
It was a world where the value of life became an amusing joke.
Life was nothing but an endless misery for those without power, wealth, and authority.
‘It is unfortunate, but…’
That’s all.
He had neither the obligation nor willingness to care about others' lives.
Owoooong!—
Passing by the people gathered in front of the gates, he headed towards the gate that led to the sanctum.
A humongous gate that seemed to reach over 30 meters.
Just by looking at the blazing blue fissures, he could feel the overwhelming pressure pouring out.
‘Did they say that there are hundreds of worlds like these?’
‘Well then.’
He moved his feet towards the gate without hesitation.
There wasn’t anyone guarding or confirming identities at the entrance.
There was no reason to.
It would be no different from a rabbit protecting the entrance of a tiger’s den.
What kind of insane Awakener would make a fuss at the sanctuary where hundreds of celestials were gathered?
‘Furthermore, they say that the commandment’s restrictions are much weaker inside the sanctum.’
If you carelessly caused a commotion, it would end in catastrophe.
Owooong!—
He passed through the fissure that blazed with blue light.
Along with the feeling of floating—
“…ho.”
—the scene of the cosmos unfolded.
Uncountable stars sparkled in the black darkness.
The Milky Way seemed to cut the cosmos in half.
In a place where the rivers flowed with starlight…
‘This is the sanctum.’
Ohjin unconsciously looked around with his mouth open wide in awe of the overwhelming beauty.
He slowly moved his feet along the road made of silver light.
Following the humongous silver road, he was met with a crossroad that split into several other routes.
Sanctuaries with various shapes and forms could be seen at the end of each road.
‘It looks like a tree made of the galaxy.’
He himself felt like he was a fruit dangling at the end of a massive tree stem.
“…But how do I find Vega here.”
How could he find Vega amongst the hundreds when he could see dozens of sanctuaries with just his eyes.
As he stood still with narrowed eyes, a passing Awakener struck up a conversation with him.
“Is this your first time in the sanctum?”
It was a youth with a friendly impression that seemed to be in his mid-late twenties.
“Ah, yes. That’s right. I came here to find my celestial, but I don’t know where to go.”
“Haha. I wandered around a lot at first too. Come this way. I’ll show you where the map is.”
* * *
* * *
As expected, there was a map.
Well.
It was a place that was impossible to navigate without one.
“Over here.”
‘Were there this many celestials?’
There were also many constellations he had never seen in his life.
‘Let’s see. Vega is…’
He searched for Lyra on the map.
Even though there were hundreds of constellations, it wasn’t hard to find Lyra.
‘The highest place in the sanctum.’
Since if you considered it a tree, it would be located at the peak.
‘I guess Vega really is an incredible celestial.’
There was nothing reaching her height except the other North Stars, Polaris and Deneb.
“Have you found it?”
“Yes. I’ll need to go way up.”
“Way up…”
The youths' eyes expanded.
“A-Are you perhaps an Awakener of the 12 Zodiacs?!”
He looked towards Ohjin with eyes full of envy.
Slightly lowering his head, he could confirm that the constellation of the 12 Zodiacs were located right under Lyra.
Smirk—
He nodded his head with a light smile.
“I was lucky.”
“Wow… you were really an apostle of the 12 Zodiacs.”
His voice was filled with envy.
“12 Zodiacs?”
“Where?”
Was it because the surroundings heard the youth?
He could hear the nearby Awakeners starting to murmur while looking towards their direction.
“Ugh… I’m so jealous.
“If only I had one of the 12 Zodiacs…”
Steaming gazes mixed with clear jealousy were focused onto Ohjin.
The gazes from the novice Awakeners that had entered the sanctum for the first time were especially focused on him.
Observing the gazes focused on him, Ohjin turned his body.
“Well then, I’ll take my leave. Thank you for showing me the way.”
“Ah, here is my business card! Please contact me if there’s anything you want to ask about!”
As he was about to take his leave, the youth with the kind impression lent out his business card.
The intention of wanting to make a connection with an apostle of the 12 Zodiacs could be felt.
Ohjin took the business card and nodded.
‘The prestige that comes with the constellation’s name really is important.’
Without needing to say anything, the opposing side would bow down and do everything for him themselves.
“Haha. Then I’ll contact you later.”
“Yes, sir!”
The youth replied with a salute like a private that had just entered the army.
At this point, it was hard to tell which person was the one who either received or gave help.
“Well, then.”
‘Should we go to meet our goddess?’
Ohjin slowly climbed the road made of rays of silver light.
“Ugh.”
“When will I be able to climb that road?”
“Wake up. How would we ever be able to go up the road towards the 12 Zodiacs.”
Ohjin could slightly hear the murmuring sound of the Awakeners.
‘Constellation of the 12 Zodiacs, huh?’
Smirk—
Ohjin moved his feet.
Past the 12 Zodiacs,
towards the Star of the Weaver Girl’s sanctuary.
* * *
[You’ve come.]
After entering the silver light sanctuary at the peak of the sanctum, the beautiful voice echoed out in his head.
Religious symbols and glamorous murals were nowhere to be seen in the empty sanctuary.
Inside, a brilliantly shining silver-haired goddess was floating.
“I wanted to see you, Vega!”
Smiling brightly, he headed towards her.
“Ah.”
Suddenly shaking his shoulders, he stopped his steps.
“…I apologize.”
He dropped his head with a painful expression.
Softly biting his lips, he clenched his fists.
[…It seems that your mind is still in disorder.]
With a bitter expression, Vega slowly floated through the air towards him.
The future memories that didn’t exist for her.
Looking at the appearance of the Awakener suffering from the gap between that memory and reality, her heart became one step heavier.
[This lady isn’t the same woman you remember.]
“…No.”
Ohjin shook his head with a gentle smile.
“The Vega within my memories… was beautiful, no different from the present.”
[Mmh. You’re saying such embarrassing words again.]
Khmm—
Vega cleared her throat and looked away.
[Even if you flatter me, there’s nothing this lady can do for you.]
He could see the golden eyes that shone like gems slightly waver.
‘Nice start.’
It seemed to be working out, even though he felt sick enough to his stomach to throw up the calorie bar he had eaten that morning.
[That’s that.]
She urgently changed the subject and put her hands on top of Ohjin's stigma.
[To be promoted to 2-Star in only the week I didn’t see you… Indeed, you are the Heaven-Defying Star.]
“Since it’s something I’ve done once before,” Ohjin replied nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.
[Fufu. That makes sense.]
Vega nodded her head with a satisfied smile.
[First of all, I want to hear a detailed explanation about the future you know. Won’t this lady need to know what happens in order to be of help?]
“……”
Fuck.
At last, the time had come.
Gulp—
Swallowing nervously, he slowly started the story he had prepared.
“In the near future… an existence known as the Heavenly Demon will appear.”
[Heavenly Demon?]
“Yes.”
This was the title he had roughly come up with from Vega’s words, ‘The one possessing the Black Heaven will end the world’.
The demon who carries the Black Heaven, the Heavenly Demon.
Although it couldn’t be more simple, it was said that the simplest and easiest to understand lies would work the best.
‘Not like there’s any way I was actually called the Heavenly Demon.’
‘Heavenly Demon?’
‘It’s not like this is a B-grade Wuxia story; why would anyone use a title like that.’
[Then are you saying that the Heavenly Demon is the one who possesses the Black Heaven?]
“That’s correct. However…”
Fuu—
Taking in one deep breath.
“As the Heavenly Demon had thoroughly hidden his identity, we were unable to identify his face, name, and not even if he was a human being or not.”
[Are you saying that, even as the Regressor, you don’t know?]
“Yes. Even though I’ve tried to find out up to the point of my regression, I failed in the end.”
[Hmm?]
As if she couldn’t understand, Vega tilted her head.
[If you used the ‘Pledge of Stars’ to regress to the past, it would mean that you killed the Black Heaven’s owner… Are you saying that you were unable to confirm his face even after his death?]
“Huh?”
‘What the fuck is the ‘Pledge of Stars’?’
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