Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 287: Star, a Futile Dream (1)

Chang-Sun’s head hurt so much that he felt as if his brain would explode soon.

―Me!

―Me! Me!

―Get lost! Gnosis! Gnosis is mine!

―Me too…!

―I…!

Too many voices were echoing in Chang-Sun’s head. It was as if numerous souls swam out of the deep ocean inside Chang-Sun’s soul and reached out their hands as they screamed.

‘Did I really go through samsara this many times?’ Chang-Sun wondered.

What he found even more terrifying was the fact that many more of Chang-Sun’s past lives were probably talking right now but were just getting muffled by the others. No, Chang-Sun could actually hear even the muffled ones.

[The sixth chapter of ‘Prelati’s Spellbook’ has been opened.]

[Fulgurator has been applied!]

Pzzzzz!

Chang-Sun quickly utilized one of the Secret Darkness Techniques. He would lose himself amidst his past lives’ screams at this rate. To prevent that, he had to draw up his mana by force.

In the process, Chang-Sun’s Atra Fulmen lightning bolts spread all over the library, unleashing gales. Struck by the lightning bolts, the bookcases shattered and dropped books to the floor. The gales swept some of the books away and flung them elsewhere.

<Deus Ex Machina> giggled as he watched what Chang-Sun was going through with interest. However, when Chang-Sun swiftly turned the library into a mess, <Deus Ex Machina> turned pale. “Hey! What are you doing?! Organizing them according to the right categories takes a really long time—!”

Screaming, <Deus Ex Machina> reached out his hand to Chang-Sun, but it was too late. When Fulgurator didn’t work, Chang-Sun immediately resorted to the seventh chapter of [Prelati’s Spellbook].

[The seventh chapter of ‘Prelati’s Spellbook’ has been opened.]

[Cælo Fulgente has been applied, causing your lightning power to surround you!]

Cælo Fulgente meant “sky net,” which originated from a phrase[1] in the famous book Tao Te Ching[2]. The phrase meant that heaven’s net looked crude because it was big and wide, yet nothing could pass through it. In the same way, Caelo Fulgente meant “lightning web spread over the world.”

Numerous lightning bolts circled around Chang-Sun and chaotically danced, He turned into the pivot to attract the electromagnetic force, which was trying to endlessly stretch out, into one place. “Horrible” was the only word that could accurately describe its destructiveness.

Everything around Chang-Sun was destroyed in an instant.

Rumbleee―!

Wooosh!

Chang-Sun wasn’t sure if it was thanks to the havoc he was causing, but he managed to pull himself together and hold onto himself as his past lives tried to devour his consciousness.

―Just as expected.

―He’s not easy to deal with.

―Then…

―We should change the stage.

With Chang-Sun successfully holding out, his past lives seemingly began trying a different method.

‘What in the world are they trying to do?!’ Chang-Sun gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot.

He tried to shout at them, but…

Paah!

… he soon felt as if he was getting sucked into another place. At the same time, he lost consciousness, his eyes turning vacant.

Thump!

Chang-Sun helplessly fell to the ground. Losing its pivot, the large amount of lightning energy that he drew up spread in every direction.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

Boom boom, boom―!

Swoosh…

[Row D Sector 711 has been demolished!]

[Sector 712 has been completely demolished.]

[50% of Sector 713 has been demolished.]

[45% of Sector 714 has been burned down.]

…

The ‘Changgong Library’ was reduced to ruins before <Deus Ex Machina> could do something about it. Looking at the library’s state… he turned completely pale.

『... Hey, Jeong-Woo?』

The attendant had been working as the librarian for a very long time to help <Deus Ex Machina> and used to always talk gibberish. However, the attendant had to tiptoe around <Deus Ex Machina> right now, unable to make fun of him.

“… Sons of bitches,” <Deus Ex Machina> muttered under his breath.

The librarian, who now had to work all-nighters, grew furious.

“I’ll kill them.” Wrath blazed up <Deus Ex Machina>’s eyes. Pulling his hair out, he screamed, “I’ll kill them all!”

『… He’s lost it. He has completely lost it. His temper will act up again.』 Someone in the shadow shook their head and grinned. 『Well, I don’t mind. This will be fun to watch. Hehehe!』

* * *

Beep―!

Beeep.

Noises echoed all around Chang-Sun.

[You have entered an unidentified place…]

Beep―!

The message was restored from corruption.

[The system has failed to activate…]

[An update needs…]

[Using an Administrator privilege….]

Beep. Beep….

[Restoring…]

The messages repeated several times before a new kind of message popped up.

[The emergency system has been activated.]

[A part of the data is updating to ensure smooth progressA n update for a part of the data is updating smoothly.proceeding for smooth progress.]

…

[Update complete.]

[Your view has been brightened up!]

Chang-Sun opened his eyes after all the system restoration messages. With the world around him turning, he instinctively knew that he was not suffering from curses or bad status effects but rather experiencing the aftereffects of teleportation.

[You are in your subconscious realm!]

[The Channelings to the outside world have been terminated, preventing smooth communication with Celestials.]

[Escape this place.]

[Caution! A subconscious realm is completely different from a mind palace. You will lose yourself if you stay in your subconscious realm for too long, making it impossible to return to reality.]

[Caution! You are currently alone in this realm, but many people are after you.]

[Warning! Leave your subconscious realm quickly.]

[Warning! Quickly restore the system to its original state.]

Chang-Sun’s first impression of his subconscious realm was a wasteland.

The black plain that stretched endlessly was as cracked up as a tortoise shell. Dust danced along with the dry winds that brushed past the ground. Chang-Sun couldn’t see a single hill.

‘This is my subconscious realm?’ Chang-Sun gritted his teeth. ‘They’re hellbent on taking over my body.’

Chang-Sun immediately concluded that Odin and his other past lives dragged him into this place.

‘I’m already busy trying to acquire [Brilliant Vermillion Light]. I have to go back to reality as soon as possible.’

Chang-Sun had no time to lose. He was going after Heoju, so he could not afford to waste time in his subconscious realm. Hence, despite how furious he was about his past lives putting him through this, he had to prioritize coming up with a way to escape.

[A Sudden Quest(Escape the Labyrinth) has been created!]

[Escape the Labyrinth]

· Type: Sudden.

· Description: Your past lives have long since existed in your subconscious realm as tiny memory fragments. However, as you got stronger, they regained their identities little by little. When you started accumulating gnosis through your ‘Gnostic Eye,’ the speed of their recovery increased.

Their goal right now is to rise again using the gnosis you accumulated. Your discovery of the ‘Changgong Library,’ a place with piles of gnosis, only further fueled their desire. Your past life fragments wish that you will gather a lot of gnosis in the ‘Changgong Library.’ If you are unwilling to grant their wish, they are ready to drag you down and bury you in your subconscious realm.

Break away from them and return to reality. Failure will trap you in your subconscious realm forever, causing you to lose control of your body.

· Time limit: 48 hours.

· Requisite: ―

· Quest Reward: Freedom from your Escape your subconscious realm. Mind Reinforcement. Class Improvement.

· Quest Failure Penalty: Mind Incarceration.

‘Accumulate gnosis through my [Gnostic Eye]...’ Chang-Sun briefly frowned after reading the quest description. ‘Odin is behind this.’

Up until now, Chang-Sun used the [Gnostic Eye] whenever he ran into trouble. It was useful in many ways, considering it contained the great knowledge that Odin saved before his death.

However, all this time, giving Chang-Sun [Gnostic Eye] seemed to be Odin’s scheme to rebuild himself in Chang-Sun’s subconscious realm. The more Chang-Sun experienced gnosis, the more he used [Gnostic Eye] and the more Odin synchronized with him. That ultimately allowed Odin to observe the outside world.

‘At the same time, my other past lives also started rebuilding themselves little by little.’

Still, despite how much they had strengthened their identities, they couldn’t be much of a threat to Chang-Sun, the main personality.

‘They would have already eaten me if they could.’

The fact that they couldn’t eat him only meant one thing.

‘They have neither become powerful nor increased their Classes enough. They probably can’t work together either, so they’ll most likely end up fighting among themselves most of the time.’

Memory fragments were basically beasts left with nothing but instincts. They didn’t have rational judgment or enough information to think for themselves, so they behaved and responded based only on the algorithms engraved in them.

On top of that, memory fragments left by Celestials required way more information to gain the ability to think for themselves, which was why Chang-Sun’s past lives needed gnosis from the ‘Changgong Library.’

The fact that his subconscious realm was disorganized made it obvious that they fought in it. As a fiend’s past lives, they probably had indescribable levels of belligerence. That was why Chang-Sun didn’t notice the changes in them nor did he need to.

‘But the Akashic Record changed everything.’ Chang-Sun bit his lower lip.

The gnosis in the ‘Changgong Library’ could grant even most Celestials two more levels. Hence, Chang-Sun’s past lives stopped fighting and joined hands to drag him down to where they were instead.

Of course, none of Chang-Sun’s past lives were capable of replacing Chang-Sun.

‘They’ll keep me here and offer a deal when I get tired.’

The moment Chang-Sun lost himself here, his body would fall into a coma. From that point on, it would only be a matter of time before he died.

‘Unless...’ Chang-Sun’s eyes became cold. ‘... they have a way of devouring me given enough time.’

No matter what they had in store for him, he didn’t plan to go down without a fight.

Tap.

Tap―!

Chang-Sun slowly moved forward. Although nothing in this place even remotely resembled roads, he couldn’t care less. Wherever he went would be the right path. However, his past lives had to be watching him from somewhere nearby.

“Come,” Chang-Sun said, the space behind him distorting.

Pzzzz―!

[The ‘Changgwi Cave’ has opened!]

Thick fog ominously spread around him. An army of black shadows then appeared in the fog along with ghastly wails.

Riding Ghost Devil Horses, the Undead Army appeared before Chang-Sun. They were blessed by Ithaca’s <Starlight> and were wearing gray shining armor.

“Knock everything down,” Chang-Sun commanded.

『Yes, master!』

『Yes, master!』

Jin Prezia and Sinmara shouted in unison. The Undead Army’s horses soon began to gallop.

Woosh, woosh, woosh!

An intense sandstorm raged.

1. The raw is 천망회회소이불실(天網恢恢疏而不失). ☜

2. It’s a Chinese classical text written by Laozi the sage. ☜