Chapter 324: A Music Box Just for You, and Only You (3)
“I love you, Mister. Please go out with me.”
“Ah, that’s not possible.”
“Damn it!!”
The first thing I did upon hosting the Constellation was reject the Constellation’s confession.
[A Music Box Just for You becomes angry.]
Thump. Thump! The young fox stamped its feet on the floor in frustration.
Those who haven’t seen it wouldn’t know, but a fox playing whack-a-mole is incredibly cute. That means, my Constellation is cute.
“So, I’m not cute to you?”
“No. You are cute.”
“I’m not lovely to you?”
“You are lovely.”
“You like this form I’ve taken on, and moreover, Mister, you want to make me happy, impervious to any brainwashing or manipulation, right?”
“Your words just now are correct.”
“Then that’s love!”
The fox leaped up and grabbed my collar. Swing swing. Those who haven’t been grabbed wouldn’t know, but a fox hanging from a person’s collar and squirming is incredibly cute. You get what I mean?
“Hurry up and love me! Love me right now! Bestow upon me immense happiness, human! Make me happy!”
Hmm.
I hope you understand what I mean.
[A Music Box Just for You activates its skill.]
[‘The Universe’s Wild Expanse’ attempts to change your emotions.]
[Failed!]
[Skill conditions not met.]
“That won’t work, you know… God….”
The Universe’s Wild Expanse fulfills each other’s imaginations. If what I imagine is the happiness of the Constellation, and I wish for that happiness to be realized not as a delusion but in reality, no distortion occurs.
In short, I wished for the fox god to be happy in reality even without [The Universe’s Wild Expanse].
Until the end of our reality, until complete death arrives. Therefore, [The Universe’s Wild Expanse] will continue without adding any distortion to reality.
“Ugh…….”
The fox wrapped its head with both hands.
“……It’s strange. The weird one is Mister, but it’s as if I’m being treated like a childish and weird Constellation. Isn’t it strange? If this isn’t love, then what is love? What is it?”
“When you can ask that question, that’s youth.”
“Am I already in my thousands of years of youth? Damn. Spring is too long. I might die of pollen allergy before summer comes.”
“God, your speech has become a bit rough. You’re cute enough to smack around the cute things of the universe a few times, but isn’t there an error in your speech? Shouldn’t your speech sound more like a fox?”
“Disciple, then, do you know how a fox cries?”
“Ming ding ding ding ridi ding?”
“That’s outdated. And you got the rhythm wrong too.”
The young fox said coldly.
Foxes can also make expressions.
Today, I, Kim Gong-Ja, a Socrates among us gained another new insight while climbing the tower.
-Indeed….
Guardian Spirit suddenly sighed.
-The concentration of bullshit around Kim Zombie has thickened even more….
“What does that mean?”
[Shiny tries to butt into the conversation, asking what that means.]
[A Music Box Just for You deeply contemplates the sound of a fox’s cry.]
-Really, where did you gather all these 36-flavor crazies from? Is this even legal? Zombie, is your existence legal? To my eyes, it seems like it needs to be illegal.
The tiny 5-square-meter room was bustling.
Inside it were 1 person, 1 sword, 1 desert fox, and 1 ghost.
It was the most perfectly racially equitable 4-member party in history.
“There’s no need to stay here any longer.”
First off, it’s cramped.
“Peep. Peep.”
And the fox god answered. It seemed the young desert fox had finally decided how it should cry. From my perspective, it was evolutionarily and probably physically the wrong vocalization. But the fox god seemed quite pleased.
“Peep, peep.”
“What are you saying?”
“Peek.”
I immediately understood what the fox god was saying.
[A Music Box Just for You governs the 61st floor as a Constellation.]
[A Music Box Just for You assigns you a quest.]
Before me, the grains of sand moved with a swish.
The granules came together to form letters.
+
[Spoon-fed Quest]
Constellation: A Music Box Just for You
Difficulty: F
Objective: Stroke the head of the Constellation you serve.
*However, you must stroke with all your sincerity.
+
“…….”
“Peep.”
The fox god lifted its chin confidently and triumphantly.
“Yes. Understood.”
I smiled and stroked the fox god’s head.
As my hand brushed over it, platinum fur rippled softly.
With all sincerity.
[Quest Completed.]
[Stage Cleared.]
Perhaps, there has never been a hunter who completed a quest this quickly.
If this were a speedrun, then it’s a speedrun.
Not counting the half-lives of Raviel and my master that I had to spend.
[Congratulations.]
[You have cleared the 61st floor!]
And I was enveloped in a sight different from before.
Swish.
A sandstorm blew. It wasn’t irritating to breathe in, nor did it sting the eyes as it brushed by. It merely carried the sweet scent of desert roses. The delicate fragrance of flowers that bloomed by feeding only on dew under the sun, lingered at the tip of my nose.
‘It’s not a dazzling light.’
Until now, whenever I headed to the next stage, I was enveloped in white light.
‘Perhaps because I truly have a Constellation now.’
I smiled.
Now a Constellation that cannot use any powers and has nothing to do but stay by my side, but perhaps that’s what constellations in the night sky are meant to be.
The wish I have for my Constellation is already enough.
If I could smell the scent of roses with every floor I climb.
‘That’s fine.’
I drowned in the sandstorm.
[You are being transferred to the next stage!]
Tick.
The last thing I heard was the moving sound of the wall clock left in the tiny room.
[You have entered the 62nd floor.]
A new floor.
Although it had only been about a week in reality since I stayed on the 61st floor, my arrival was announced with a clamor.
[The Eyes Dwelling in the Labyrinth re-detects your presence!]
The Constellations must have been tracking me continuously.
After causing such a spectacle on the 50th floor, I even managed to simultaneously contract with up to ten Constellations, albeit temporarily.
Whether it was Constellations I had contracted with or not, it was difficult for them not to be interested in my tumultuous actions.
[The Eyes Dwelling in the Labyrinth notifies other Constellations of your arrival!]
And then, my presence on the 61st floor disappeared.
Thanks to [The Universe’s Wild Expanse ] activated by the fox god, we were completely isolated, locked in a world just for the two of us.
Even other Constellations didn’t know about the fox god’s existence, nor its powers. Maybe the Constellations were just stomping their feet, not knowing what on earth had happened?
And now, as if nothing had happened, I’ve returned, hence their hasty messages.
[The Eyes Dwelling in the Labyrinth proposes that you become their official disciple.]
[The Warhorse of the Eternal Plains offers you a disciple’s position.]
[The Lonely Seeker offers you a disciple’s position.]
[The Incarnation of Love and Lust proposes the position of Apostle to you!]
It’s been a while.
Quite a few familiar names appeared one after another in the messages.
I gave a broad smile to the invisible Constellations.
“Have you all been well?”
[The Eyes Dwelling in the Labyrinth questions where you had been hiding all this time.]
“I wasn’t exactly hiding. The details are private, so let’s keep it a secret…”
[The Incarnation of Love and Lust is proposing the position of Apostle to you!]
“Ah. Right. About that.”
Boing.
The fox god leaped onto my waist and climbed up to my back.
“I’ve already become a servant to a Constellation.”
The fox god coiled itself around my shoulder. And then, it wrapped its fox tail gently around my neck. From afar, it might look like I was wearing a golden scarf.
“Peep.”
The fox god nuzzled its head against my cheek.
[The King of Death is a disciple of A Music Box Just for You.]
[A Music Box Just for You politely requests other Constellations not to mess with you.]
A deep silence enveloped the heavens.
[The Lonely Seeker falls silent.]
[The Warhorse of the Eternal Plains falls silent.]
[The Incarnation of Love and Lust falls silent.]
Only the sound of the fox god’s tail swishing and its eye-smile quietly flowed.
After a while, one Constellation sent a message.
[The Eyes Dwelling in the Labyrinth politely asks what kind of trouble you’ve been rolling in.]
Hmm.
I couldn’t ask for a better first impression.
“Now, everyone. Calm down a bit…”
[A Music Box Just for You nonsensically responds that it really likes snake liquor.]
“……Snake liquor? Why bring up snake liquor all of a sudden?”
Guardian Spirit answered my question.
-The Eyes Dwelling in the Labyrinth, that is, Hisimet Cretsu, is a serpent god, Zombie. In short, your Constellation lord has just insulted a serpent with racial slurs.
“Ah. So that’s why…”
[The Eyes Dwelling in the Labyrinth swears to kill you!]
“……They react so violently. Hmm.”
Indeed.
It seems our fox god intends to make enemies of other Constellations right from the start, to ensure they don’t mess with me.
[The Incarnation of Love and Lust says they have never heard of such a Constellation like yours.]
[A Music Box Just for You responds that’s because your rabbit ears are rotten. A Music Box Just for You expresses sympathy for you, who lacks someone to regularly clean your ears.]
[The Incarnation of Love and Lust swears to tear you apart.]
Remarkable.
“……Perhaps Babbit is.”
-A rabbit god. From what I know, they take pride in believing their ears are the most adorable in the universe. They laugh off insults to their parents and character, but for some reason, they go berserk if their ears are insulted.
“I see. Can you explain it in simpler terms?”
-Um…
Guardian Spirit pondered seriously.
-As if someone insulted Raviel to you?
What?
That’s catastrophic.
Are you planning to destroy the world, fox god?
[The Warhorse of the Eternal Plains says everyone is too excited and suggests restraint.]
[A Music Box Just for You worries that seeing your long face makes it feel like its own face is getting elongated.]
[The Warhorse of the Eternal Plains prepares for war.]
This is serious.
The forces hostile to us are increasing at an alarming rate.
I had no other choice but to give a taste of hell to those who insulted Raviel, except to talk it out first by giving them hellish pain.
The Constellations would probably do the same.
How can we correct this misunderstanding and delusion?
-No. With a Constellation that manipulates the world for its own pleasure as your god, what misunderstandings or delusions are there to correct…? Did you really think it would respect other beings? It probably regards all life in this universe as mere ants…
Let’s ignore Guardian Spirit’s words.
They’re not good for my mental health.
“Let’s, let’s focus on conquering the stage for now, God.”
“Peep.”
“Wow, the 62nd floor. What kind of place might it be? Is a force like the Magic Tower reigning here? I’m curious. So curious I could go crazy. Really, I’m going crazy with curiosity! I’m just going insane!”
I desperately tried to divert the fox god’s attention.
“There must be a Constellation governing this stage, right? Who could it be? It would be nice if it were a somewhat normal and friendly one this time. Really curious who it could be…”
“No need to be curious.”
A voice was heard.
“And you won’t need to know.”
At that moment, the ground shook.
The reason the ground shook was that something had plunged from the sky. Exactly in front of me. More precisely, where my head would have been if I hadn’t used my movement technique to dodge.
Koooom!
I immediately put distance between us. The spot where I had just evaded was smashed again. Bang! Bang! As I swiftly flew away, lightning-like strikes followed me as if a flyswatter was being swung three, four, several times to catch a fly.
“Looks like you’re worthy to be called a king.”
After a total of eighteen attacks, taking 2 seconds in time, the one who attacked me finally spoke.
“King of Death. You’re the one who killed my Apostle.”
It wasn’t a human.
It resembled a human, but with giant tooth-like horns on both sides of its forehead.
Golden eyes devoid of emotion were directed at me.
“Pay for your arrogance with your death.”
Creak.
The Constellation was carrying a massive hammer, overly large, on its shoulder.
[The Ruin-Harvesting Cow attacks you.]
Ruin-Harvesting Cow.
[The Ruin-Harvesting Cow swears to annihilate you.]
In the past, Silvia Evanair…
It was the Constellation that Lady Goldencup had worshipped as a god.
