Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 2

Player as a Constellation – Episode 2 (2/250)

Episode 2

“I asked who you are.”

My head is spinning.

The voice echoing through the splitting headache felt utterly foreign.

‘What… is… this?’

‘Loki’ looked ahead.

His mind was hazy, as if waking from a long sleep.

‘What… happened to me? Is this… a hallucination? Or am I in the afterlife…?’

The last thing he remembered was being in an accident with a junior colleague while developing an indie game.

After that, his vision went dark, and he remembered nothing.

In the slowly brightening vision—.

He was facing an unfamiliar space, an unfamiliar atmosphere, and unfamiliar people.

Dressed in armor and attire like Vikings.

With dirty beards and sharp weapons in their hands.

Dozens of such men were pressing down on a young girl.

It was a truly bizarre sight, and the old man standing next to them seemed out of his mind, tearing at his hair in fear.

Everyone stared at Loki, and everyone trembled in fear.

As if seeing a giant monster, their eyes were filled with deep-seated terror.

“You’re not going to answer?”

Even amidst the confusion, his voice was calm.

The voice was cold, yet it carried a weight that seemed to press down on the surrounding air.

With each word, the men flinched and stepped back.

Only one person, the girl, stared blankly at Loki.

“I asked who you are.”

At Loki’s words, the girl stammered a reply.

“I, I am Ka… Kakun… Kakun Ragna!”

She looked up at Loki, terrified yet pleading.

Tears welled up in her eyes and streamed down her cheeks.

She spoke as if making a wish while gazing at the stars.

“I am the priestess who serves you.”

Loki narrowed his eyes at those words.

“Ah, the demon has been resurrected-!”

Loki raised his head at the voice he heard.

With screams, the men trembled, yet gripped their weapons and pointed them at Loki.

No, not just Loki, but also at the undead monsters around the sanctuary.

Loki gently rested his cheek on the back of his hand.

The feeling of the clanking armor was transmitted through the helmet.

It was a familiar action, as if it were natural.

‘…Where is this?’

Even in his hazy state, he recognized the familiar scenery from somewhere.

The game he designed, [Ragnarok].

If he wasn’t mistaken, it was ‘Valhalla Palace,’ where the final boss monster was sleeping.

‘A dream?’

Perhaps. Otherwise, there was no way he would be speaking or acting in such a peculiar way in this space.

There was no sense of rejection. It felt natural, as if it had been his personality from the start.

“D, don’t be ridiculous!”

Then, one of the men shouted.

“There’s no way there’s a demon-!”

He trembled as if denying reality, yet gripped a large mace.

“I’ll take care of that demon-!”

The man roared and charged forward.

He raised the mace and lunged at Loki.

At that moment, Loki’s eyes met his.

“……!”

The man’s face froze, and Loki naturally reached out and flicked his finger.

Crack-!

The weapon the man was holding, the arm he swung, his head filled with shock, and his rigid upper body.

All of it ‘exploded’ and vanished.

Thud.

The man’s corpse, with only the lower body remaining, fell to the floor.

“O… One hit?”

“Oh, my god!”

The fear of those in the sanctuary intensified.

“O, demon! Please calm your wrath!”

The old man in a unique black robe screamed, covering his head and prostrating himself.

Loki turned his gaze to the man’s corpse on the floor.

‘…It’s not a dream, it’s reality.’

The haziness in his mind began to clear.

At the same time, he could recall the strange sensation he felt in his body.

The sound of his racing heart.

Even the cold temperature that had settled around him.

Everything was telling him it was real.

But he felt no fear at the sight of the corpse, even though he was bewildered by the changed reality.

He was indifferent, as if looking at an NPC [Non-Player Character; a character controlled by the game, not a human player].

It felt like he was playing a game.

Loki raised his head and observed each of the people in the audience chamber.

He could feel hostility from most of the men.

Fear, dread, but also blatant murderous intent.

Of course. Their comrade had been killed, so wouldn’t they want to retaliate?

However, there were two who did not.

One was the old man covering his head and wailing, and the other was the girl holding the mythic item ‘Brutgang,’ which he had planned and created.

‘…It’s even like being in the game?’

The one who called herself a priestess.

She seemed to be the only one he could talk to in this situation.

Loki pointed his finger at the girl, Kakun.

The men who were pressing down on Kakun were frightened by his gesture and stepped back.

“Kakun, was it?”

“Yes? Ah, yes, yes!”

Kakun cowered in fear.

“Come here.”

When he beckoned with his finger, Kakun swallowed hard and tried to get up.

“O, oh… I’m, I’m sorry. J, just a moment… Oh? Oh?”

But her legs gave way, and she collapsed on the spot.

“Yes, yes! Priestess! You shall be the sacrifice! Appease the demon, a, no, the Constellation’s wrath! Only you can save the Nord tribe!”

The old man, Shaman the High Priest, shouted.

Loki couldn’t help but question those words.

What was he talking about?

A priestess? Wrath? A Constellation? What was this about saving the Nord tribe?

As far as he knew, there was no such setting in the game’s world.

Loki gently turned his head to look at Shaman.

“Hieeek-!”

But before he could even ask a question, Shaman met his eyes and immediately slammed his head into the floor.

It didn’t seem like a conversation could be established.

“How dare you-.”

Loki felt a tingling sensation on his skin.

It was intense bloodlust.

Bloodlust filled with anger and hatred, driving out even fear, was erupting.

Loki turned his gaze to the middle-aged man who was the largest among the men.

“Kakun as a sacrifice-.”

A bear-like man wearing chainmail and holding a giant axe that seemed impossible for a person to lift.

The traitor who had beheaded Kakun’s father, the chieftain, and tried to take Kakun away.

Kakun’s uncle.

Kudan Ragna.

“Do you think I’ll offer her-!?”

His body muscles swelled abnormally and expanded.

The carpet that had been laid towards the throne burst its red seams, scattering around.

He sprinted and charged at Loki, lifting the axe with all his might.

The veins wriggling over his swollen muscles showed that it was an all-out strike.

‘…But that man from before was weak.’

Loki turned his gaze to the man who had died just by flicking his finger.

Just a slight application of force had caused his upper body to explode.

So—.

‘Control my strength….’

“Oooooooo―!”

Kudan’s all-out strike…!

But….

Thud-!!!

“……!”

The strike was blocked far too easily.

Kudan stared wide-eyed at the demon who had blocked the battle-axe with his hand.

The hem of Loki’s cloak fluttered in the wind pressure caused by Kudan’s strike.

‘What… power…?!’

Not only was his all-out strike being suppressed with one hand, but the battle-axe, which Kudan was trying to pull out with both hands, didn’t budge.

Loki’s red eyes narrowed, and he quickly swung the back of his hand towards Kudan.

It was a single gesture, as if catching a bug nearby.

Thud!

Clang!

The battle-axe shattered like glass, and Kudan couldn’t withstand the impact, flying away as he was.

Only after rolling several times on the floor and crashing into a wall did Kudan stop, coughing up blood.

“Uaaaaaagh-!”

‘I just pushed him slightly….’

The effect was considerable.

Loki looked at his hand and wiggled it.

And he couldn’t help but be surprised.

‘A scratch?’

There was a small scratch on the gauntlet covering his hand.

He had left a small wound on the hand of the game’s final boss.

That was how famous Kudan was as a strongman, and everyone was shaken by his defeat.

The men who had harbored hostility were stained with fear and dread, and they began to carry the fallen Kudan and flee.

“K, Kudan-nim [honorific suffix in Korean] has fallen!”

“Retreat…! Retreat!”

The men disappeared.

Loki looked at his hand again.

The small scratch on the gauntlet had disappeared before he knew it.

The armor had regenerated itself.

Loki turned his gaze to Kakun.

Torn clothes. And despair was dyed deep in her eyes. She was trembling, gripping a sword.

“First.”

Loki said, looking at the girl.

“Let’s hear your story.”

Now it seemed like he could have a conversation about this situation.

What was going on, and what had happened to him….

To find the answers to that….

Loki began to talk to the girl.

***

Not far from the cursed sanctuary.

Numerous tents were set up among the snow-covered, wooded forests.

Between the tents, men were building fires to withstand the cold, and in some places, women were managing golden armor.

They were all armed and looked extremely rough.

They had a unique culture of adorning themselves with bronze armor, makeup that covered their faces, and everything in gold.

They were the Partas tribe, who had recently begun to make a name for themselves among the Nord.

The chief of this tribe, Histon.

He took off his golden helmet and stroked his beard with his right hand.

“It’s not enough! It’s still not enough! Gold, and warriors too!”

Before his eyes was information about his tribal warriors.

At the sight of Histon frowning, the slave who recorded the information sighed deeply.

‘He doesn’t even know how to read, so he doesn’t even know what’s written….’

The slave, Hans, only clicked his tongue inwardly. He didn’t reveal it outwardly.

Given Histon’s personality, he would surely be cut in half if he said such a thing.

“Th, then what should we do…?”

The slave Hans said with as much of a smile as possible.

Histon shook his head.

“Hans! I plan to create a huge tribe! A great tribe that integrates all the Nord people! No, I plan to build a country made of gold! So I will increase the number of slaves even more to grow my power!”

“Th, then what are you going to-.”

Thwack-!

Hans’s head turned to the side, and his body flew away.

His nose bone was crushed. His teeth shattered and flew out of his mouth.

Histon, who had thrown the punch, trampled on Hans’s buttocks.

“That’s what you have to think about. I’ve been giving you hints since earlier, but you can’t say it!!”

“I, I’m sorry! I, I’ll think about it! S, so… please don’t hit me!”

Hans crawled and grabbed Histon’s trouser leg and begged. Histon seemed satisfied with his submissive appearance and lifted his foot.

“Hmph, don’t touch my temper again!”

“I, I’m sorry.”

“Hmm… Are there any tribes around here with a lot of gold or slaves? Some guys who are suitable to be annexed!”

Hans carefully watched Histon’s expression and continued to speak.

“I, if it’s around here, there is one tribe. I don’t think their power is that great.”

“Where is it?”

Hans said, watching Histon’s expression.

“It’s the Ragna tribe!”

It was the tribe where Kakun was.