Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 76

Player as a Constellation – Episode 76

30 minutes ago.

Prince Thorsen of the Kingdom of Nordrian ran a hand roughly over his face.

It was a dark night. Heavy rain poured down.

The wind was fierce. The sea surged violently.

Arriving in Asgard by crossing the sea in what was little more than a small sailboat felt like a miracle.

Thorsen had accomplished that miracle.

He almost thought that if there was a god spoken of on the continent, that being had truly guided him.

However, he was now witnessing a scene that completely disregarded his hardships.

“What are you doing!? The speed has decreased! Row! Overcome the headwind with spirit!”

Flutter-!

A massive wave crashed against the ‘steel hull’.

“Ugh-! Ugh─! Ugh──!”

In sync with their breathing, the Nord warriors rowed.

Cutting through the massive waves, a majestic warship of enormous size soared and plunged, racing across the sea.

“Good! Good-!”

At the dwarf’s shout, the Nord warriors curled their lips into smiles.

Their writhing muscles mocked the heavy rain.

“…….”

A galley [a type of ship propelled mainly by oars or sails].

A dwarf was at the helm, and about 200 Nord warriors rowed to the beat of a drum.

‘It’s not a normal ship.’

It was utterly incomprehensible to Thorsen’s common sense.

‘Why….’

Clearly, the deck he was standing on was made of ‘stone.’

‘How….’

The oars the Nord warriors held were made of wood, but the outer panels crashing against the waves were made of ‘steel.’

‘Is it floating!?’

A ship of stone and steel.

The first level was for rowing, the second level had spaces for rest, food storage, and an armory.

The third level was lined with ballistae [ancient missile weapon that launches projectiles] on both sides.

A ship that couldn’t be built with current technology, something out of mythology.

If someone said such a ship existed, others would laugh, saying their delusions had gone too far.

‘A ship that can withstand such a load must have been designed with magic or….’

Materials of that caliber must have been used.

‘But such a ship….’

Thorsen recalled the port of Asgard.

More than a dozen steel ships being built in the massive harbor.

The Nord people had said.

Their country was the ‘country of gods.’

That was right.

“…I’m glad I came. It would be nice to go fishing when I have some free time to unwind.”

A voice suddenly spoke.

A man stood tall at the center of the ship’s bow.

Wearing a raven mask, with a large longsword resting in his hand, he stood tall.

Judging by the color of the hair sticking out around the raven mask, he wasn’t a Nord.

But everyone called him.

‘The King of the Nords.’

‘…It took me more than a month to reach the frozen lands of the North.’

With insufficient food and water, and even facing attacks from sea monsters, he had barely reached the North.

That hardship aside, it seemed he would arrive within two weeks.

‘No, no. I mustn’t mock the sea.’

The sea is dangerous.

The sea is a place humans haven’t conquered. It is teeming with monsters who could even be called rulers of the sea.

Wishing to warn him of this, he approached Loki, the King of the Nords.

“Great King of the Nords.”

Loki turned his head to look at Thorsen.

“Thank you for responding to Nordrian’s request.”

Even as he spoke, Thorsen was filled with doubt.

Why had they accepted the dispatch request?

‘…The scale is different.’

He had thought they would receive support forces of about 50 Nord people and 100 continental slaves at most.

But more than twice that number, 300 Nord warriors.

Moreover, an elite ‘army’ that had clearly been carefully assembled was dispatched.

This was no different from a village chief petitioning the emperor of an empire.

Thorsen broke out in a cold sweat.

The price they would have to pay them.

He had to rack his brains to think about it.

“We are not a charity.”

Thorsen flinched.

“So, make sure to repay us well.”

“…O-Of course… Yes. I will try to do so….”

“Our Asgard needs food and horses.”

“I-I will do my best!”

“Good.”

“A-And… Your Majesty. It might be dangerous to continue like this.”

“Dangerous?”

Thorsen nodded. He hesitated to speak, then opened his mouth.

“The ruler of the sea lives ahead. A monster that has lived for hundreds of years.”

He had thought they were absurd stories from sailors, but.

The monster was real.

“The monster’s tentacles have terrible suckers, and once caught, you can never escape.”

Thorsen’s face turned pale as he recalled his comrades dying.

“Hundreds of teeth shred people to pieces-.”

Yes, my comrades were ground into that mouth.

“The ink it spews from its mouth melts eyes, making you unable to see.”

The murky ink created a fog, digging into their eyes and causing pain.

It was truly a terrible monster!

At those words, Loki blinked and tilted his head.

“That… could it be.”

“Yes. The legendary monster known to sailors.”

“Isn’t that an octopus?”

“…Kra…ken [a legendary sea monster said to dwell off the coasts of Norway and Greenland]?”

“Are you afraid of an octopus or something?”

“N-No! It’s not just an octopus!”

“It has tentacles, suckers, and spews ink. Isn’t that an octopus?”

No, it is an octopus, but… it’s not a being to be called that!

But he couldn’t object.

Yes, it was in the form of an octopus!

“Or is it a squid?”

“P-Please, don’t underestimate it. That monster mercilessly sees anything that invades its territory as prey…!”

“Wait.”

Loki raised his hand.

Thorsen stopped talking.

As if signaled by him, the drumming and the shouts of the dwarf, Ruran, also stopped.

The ship, which had been rushing forward, gradually slowed down.

“The rain has stopped.”

Only Loki’s voice was heard in the silence.

“The wind has also disappeared.”

The wind wasn’t blowing either, and the waves had calmed down.

Was it because of the night? It seemed like the ship was floating on black ink.

Maybe that’s why.

Thus, the name given to this place was….

“M-My god… H-Have we already reached the Swamp of Death!?”

The Sea of Death.

The people of Astoria Island called this place the Swamp of Death.

“Swamp of Death?”

“It’s named that because once you enter, you can’t escape-!”

“…Didn’t you escape?”

“W-Well, yes, but… that was a miracle-! Unless God helps you, it’s impossible to escape this place-!”

Loki looked at the dwarf Ruran.

“It seems like you can escape if God helps you, so we’ll definitely escape. Ah, if I’m not here, does it just sink?”

“Hahaha! You’re making funny jokes!”

Whether it was to Ruran’s taste, he laughed heartily.

Thorsen stared at them blankly, as if shocked.

What’s so funny? Is that a joke?

Thorsen felt a chill down his spine.

That sea where his comrades had died.

They had reached the territory of the sea’s ruler!

But the people in front of him were leisurely chatting and laughing!

Kuuuuuuuuu-.

A small noise was heard.

Small ripples arose in the sea, which had been as calm as a plain.

And, with the moonlight reflecting, the shadow of something huge passing beneath the surface was revealed.

Something the size of the giant warship.

“Damn it, th-that’s it!”

Thorsen recalled the nightmare of that day.

Thorsen shouted at the Nord warriors on the deck, as if in a panic.

“That thing sank our ship!”

A massive surge of water rose in the middle of the sea.

“We’re all going to die! Quickly, we have to run away-!”

Loki looked ahead.

A huge black shadow began to cover the ship.

“Q-Quickly, we have to row…. Uh, Aaaaargh!”

As Thorsen spoke and turned around, he saw the huge monster rising and fell on his butt.

“Th-That thing!”

He pointed and shouted.

“It’s here!”

Hundreds of sticky tentacles and huge eyeballs. A monster with hundreds of teeth.

The legendary sea monster!

Kra-

“It’s an octopus.”

Thorsen looked at Loki.

‘Still making jokes…?!’

Loki smacked his lips and raised his longsword.

A considerably large sword that was on the ambiguous borderline between a greatsword and a longsword.

“It’s a shame there’s no gochujang [Korean chili paste]-.”

Loki’s eyes flashed.

“But I’ll get to eat all the octopus sashimi I want for the first time in a while.”

「Kooooooo-!」

As some of the hundreds of tentacles flew towards the ship, Loki swung his sword upwards from below.

It was a simple motion.

Thorsen squeezed his eyes shut.

To him, it looked like Loki was swinging his sword in the air.

‘Everyone’s crazy!’

Crazy. They were too complacent, trusting in this warship.

Especially the King of the Nords, whose arrogance pierced the sky.

Now, he, the King of the Nords, and everyone on this ship would be sucked into those swirling gears and driven to their deaths.

“……?”

But it was too quiet.

Thorsen cautiously opened his eyes.

The tip of a tentacle was right in front of his eyes.

‘Hiiiik-!’

The tip that looked like it would pierce his forehead any second now-.

Thud.

-Fell to the ground.

And a roar echoed in the air, and space split.

“……!”

Bang-!

The atmosphere split, and the wind struck Thorsen’s face.

‘Space split!’

No, it looked like it split.

That’s because hundreds of intangible blades had cut off the tentacles!

Crack-! Crack-!

Not only that, but the Kraken’s body was also scarred.

「Kuoaaaaaaa-!」

Instead of blood, ink was spewing from the wounded areas.

“Ah….”

Thorsen looked at the Kraken in disbelief, then looked at Loki, who was standing tall in front of it.

Loki picked up the Kraken’s tentacle that had fallen to the ground and was wriggling.

And bit into it.

“……!”

Crunch, crunch-.

He filled his mouth and chewed.

At the way he deliciously bit into it, Thorsen felt an unknown fear.

Not just Thorsen.

The Kraken, who was suffering from its wounds, was also staring at Loki with its huge eyeballs wide open.

It must be shaken.

The humans it had always eaten were now eating it instead!

“Oh! This is….”

Loki’s gaze turned to the Kraken.

“It’s delicious.”

「……!」

“If I want to keep eating it fresh, it has to stay alive.”

Loki blinked and looked at the severed tentacles connected to the Kraken’s body.

Writhing, the tentacles were slowly growing back.

“Its regenerative ability is excellent.”

Loki raised his hand.

As if that was the signal, the ballistae were all aimed at the Kraken.

“By the way, we had a food problem, but there’s food that regenerates even when cut?”

The Nord warriors’ eyes flashed.

The Kraken’s body trembled as it saw the green glowing eyes in the darkness.

“This is the creative economy.”

As Loki lowered his hand, harpoons shot out.

Harpoons with chains attached to the ends were embedded all over the Kraken’s body.

「Kuoaaaaaaa-!」

The Kraken thrashed to escape, pushing the ship with its legs.

At that, Loki swung his sword, and the Kraken’s legs were cut off again.

But as they slowly regenerated, Loki was satisfied.

In the face of a food shortage, an infinite supply of food was created?

“Aum would like this.”

Besides, that octopus, it definitely popped out of the sea quickly, right?

“A movie comes to mind.”

It was definitely Caribbean… what was it?

Loki looked at the Kraken and curled up the corners of his lips.

“They were raising octopuses there. I don’t know if it’ll work in reality.”

Loki stepped on the bow and looked down at the Kraken.

“You, you’re going to have to pull our ship.”