Constellations don't die.
They fight each other, but the loser only falls into a near-death state.
Like when Hecate suffered mana exhaustion on the island.
Still, constellations feel pain.
And naturally, they feel fear too.
"Nameless constellation, I am Sobek, hunter of the Nile. Name your star system. We could make a decent deal…"
Pomi ignored her words.
She just crouched low on all fours.
Her movements were more canine than human.
"Grrrr…"
Her fluffy tail swayed gently.
Normally adorable, it now signaled pure aggression.
The moment Sobek reached for an axe at the waist—
Pomi launched forward, pushing off the ground.
Whoosh—!
Faster than sound?
A delayed gust of wind marked her charge.
In an instant, Pomi reached Sobek, slashing with her long claws.
Sobek barely dodged.
But goddessified Pomi's claws were more devastating than they looked.
Crackle!
Ice formed along the claw's path.
The razor-sharp strike grazed Sobek's cheek.
"Ugh!?"
It must've hurt like hell.
Her body froze momentarily from the blow.
That split-second hesitation decided the fight.
Pomi bit down hard on Sobek's neck.
Splatter—!
A blue arc of blood sprayed into the air.
Sobek collapsed, transforming into a small, cute crocodile plushie— Sobek's pre- humanized form.
"Eek…?!"
The tiny Sobek crawled away, hiding in the shadows.
"Master, that was too easy."
Pomi wiped the blood from her lips, her tail still swaying.
"Yo! You a hunting genius or what?!"
Pomi approached me, her heels clicking against the warehouse floor.
Clack—
Still bloodied, she slowly licked my neck.
"Sounds nice. Got more compliments?"
Her playfulness remained, but goddessified Pomi was… sultry.
Honestly, this was my first time seeing Pomi's goddessification.
I'd only seen her humanization after possessing this body, so goddessification was new.
A Pomi with a sexy voice and moves…
I'm losing my mind…!
"Pomi, hold up. We're not done yet."
Sobek was down.
But Crocodile was still standing.
"Want me to hunt that one too?"
"Nah, I wanna stretch my legs. Just lend me your stigma."
The stronger the constellation, the stronger the hero.
Thanks to their stigma.
Zzzzt—!
Ice gauntlets formed on my hands.
Pomi's stigma: Ice Armament.
A stigma that creates weapons imbued with powerful ice magic.
Goddessified Pomi's ice armaments were leagues above her humanized ones.
"Yo!"
I slammed the ground, sending massive ice spikes surging toward Crocodile.
"Guh…!"
He couldn't dodge, pierced clean through.
I charged, smashing a fist into his face.
Freeze Punch!
"S-Stop…! I surrender…!"
"Yo, forgot what I said already?"
"…?"
"I said I'd fucking kill you!!"
BOOM—! BOOM—!
I pounded him relentlessly.
Still, Crocodile didn't go down.
He's not the type to fall easily.
Crocodile has two phases, after all.
WHOOSH—!
A sudden torrent of mana surged.
Swirling around Crocodile, it raged like a flooded river.
"Master?"
Crunch—
From the surging waters, massive crocodile jaws emerged.
I knew this pattern and had already backed off.
A blinding light flashed from the water, revealing the god form of Sobek.
"I am Sobek, hunter of the Nile… I'll hunt you all in my river!"
Crocodile's a mid-tier boss.
Sobek's godification is part of the event.
But as the first godified constellation in the story, Sobek's not that strong.
Just there to introduce the concept.
In the game, Sobek attacks are weak, but Sobek health is stupidly high.
You know, those annoying enemies that aren't threatening but make you think, "How do I whittle down this HP pig?"
Still, players don't even need to finish Sobek.
Beat him up a bit, and Tomoe shows up to clean house.
So, all I need to do is pretend to fight for now.
—That's the veteran strategy.
But something's off.
A flash of light and a thunderous roar hit my eardrums.
CRASH───────!
"?!"
When I came to, a massive lightning bolt had struck between me and Crocodile.
A classic, iconic Z-shaped bolt.
It pierced the factory ceiling, crackling with electric discharge.
Could this be…?
"Master! Get back!"
Pomi yanked me away.
Crocodile tried to flee with his constellation, but lightning bolts blocked his path.
The factory's ceiling was half-destroyed.
Rain poured through the gaping hole.
"Follower! Clear a path—!"
Sobek's desperate cry was last.
BOOOOM───────!!!
A colossal lightning bolt crashed from the sky.
The impact was explosive.
"Cough… You…! You okay?!"
"I'm fine. What about the lady?"
"I-I'm okay too."
No one was hurt.
As the smoke cleared, two silhouettes emerged.
One was the fallen godified Sobek.
The other was a massive man.
A middle-aged guy with bronzed skin.
Piercings that defied his age, tattoos crawling up to his jaw.
Dressed in a sleek all-black suit, oozing high-class swagger.
"Yo! Son!!!"
"Huh…?"
Kim Taegun stood before me.
"Not bad, huh?! Tracking down this deadbeat debtor?!!"
In his hand, he gripped Crocodile's hair.
"M-Mr. Kim…! How'd you get here…?"
"Huh? To collect my money, obviously!! Yo!! Cough up my cash! Spit it out!!!"
Kim Taegun slapped Crocodile's cheeks.
Meanwhile, Sobek rose and aimed for his back.
"Yo, Dad! Watch your back!!"
"?"
But Sobek's attack never landed.
A lightning bolt struck her head.
"Argh…!"
Sobek reverted to a crocodile plushie.
"Yo, electric bitch, hurry it up! You scared my son!"
"Heh, it's gotta be dramatic to be fun."
Finally, Kim Taegun's constellation appeared.
Tall, with flowing blonde hair.
Sporting outrageously large assets on her chest and hips, she was unmistakably…
"Zeus?"
The god of the sky, Zeus.
Kim Taegun, obsessed with stealing women.
Zeus, whose hobby was sowing his seed.
It kinda makes sense, but it's still absurd…
I'd always wondered about Academia.
The game's constellations include original characters, but many are drawn from mythology.
Yet the famous Zeus was nowhere to be seen.
And he's Kim Taegun's constellation?
Guess Kim Taegun's no ordinary human.
"Hey, so you got the money or not? Huh?!"
"Y-Yes, I got it! Please, anything but that…!"
"Huh?! I know you're broke!! Your debt's way past the principal—how you gonna pay that back?!!!"
This guy's obviously a villain, yet he's Zeus's hero.
Is he some hidden final boss or what?
"Some orphan with no girlfriend to steal!! You know how you're gonna pay, right?!!"
Crocodile, trembling like a fly-possessed coward, rubbed hands together.
But Kim Taegun wasn't having it.
"Yo, Zeus, stigma."
"I love this part♡."
Zzzzt—!
A pink lightning bolt formed in Kim Taegun's hand.
Not your average lightning—this was pink.
Is this what I think it is?
"Yo!!! TS Thunderbolt!!!!"
"Arghhh—!!"
BOOOOM—!
Pink smoke filled the area.
When it cleared, Crocodile was gone.
In his oversized clothes sat a sultry female, collapsed.
"Yo."
Kim Taegun leashed her and approached Jung Yoona, who backed away, startled.
"W-Who are you?"
Unexpectedly, Kim Taegun handed her a business card with a gentlemanly air.
"Greetings, I'm Kim Taegun, CEO of Money Mountain."
"H-Hello…"
"Are you a widow, perhaps?"
"No…?"
His eyebrows twitched.
Then he cheered like an excited kid.
"Wooow~ Found a smokin' hot married lady~☆ Lucky!!! Super lucky!!!!"
Kim Taegun, thrilled by a taken woman!
This guy's insane…!
"Yo, old man! What're you scheming?!"
"Oh, my son's got dibs? Shame. Heh."
At least he doesn't touch his son's women?
Don't let your guard down.
He's worse than any villain I've met…
"Excuse me! Don't you know me? I'm Jung Yoona, chairwoman of Samgeon Group!"
"Whoa! Didn't recognize a big shot! Haha! My bad!! Son, you're killing it!! Hooking up with Korea's top CEO?!!"
"What are you talking about?!"
"Oh, you haven't fucked yet? My boy's a beast like me! Huge, well-shaped, and a sex-obsessed monkey! I'm bad, but he's worse! Let your guard down, and he'll rail you!"
"Tch, that's…"
"Hahaha! Kidding! Son, good luck!"
Kim Taegun slapped my shoulder, then scooped up Crocodile.
"Yo, Dad, shouldn't that criminal be punished?"
"Huh? I'll handle it my way."
"?"
"Yo, bitch! 300 million won per pregnancy! Pop out 11 kids non-stop, and you're free!"
"Please… just send me to jail…!"
"Woo~ That voice got sexy, huh? Kekeke. Yo! You're a baby-making machine starting today!!"
"N-No…"
Now I get it.
Why villains quake at Kim Taegun's name…
"Well, son! I'm off!! Stay rock hard!!!"
FLASH!!!!
Kim Taegun vanished as dramatically as he arrived.
"..."
A storm-swept silence lingered.
What a whirlwind…
Kim Taegun's Kim Taegun, but I've got my own business to finish.
"Yo, lady, you good?"
"…Thanks to you, I'm alive. Thank you."
My goal was to win over Jung Yoona.
Saving her life should've lowered her guard a bit.
[NTR Solution]
[Jung Yoona]
[Close Relationships: Seol Hajeong / Seol Harin / Seol Woowon]
[Traits: Maternal Love / Passionate Woman / Chronic Fatigue / Pent-Up Desires]
[Solution]
+ Her hatred for you has significantly decreased!
+ But she's still wary.
+ Fulfill her remaining deficiencies to steal her heart!
+ Rape remains the best method!
+ There are milder options too!
+ Use a drug infusion skill to alleviate her chronic fatigue, and her favor toward you will slightly increase!
I do have a drug skill to ease fatigue.
But as the solution says, it'll only slightly boost her favor…
Mindless sex isn't an option either.
So, I'll use a little trick.
A method to exploit both her pent-up desires and chronic fatigue at once…!
Dual-wielding…!!!
***
Manager Kim handled all the messy aftermath.
Thanks to him, Jung Yoona and her daughter could return home quickly.
"Your friends got back okay?"
"Yeah, they just texted."
Kim Taeyang and the others returned to Ark.
Seol Harin decided to spend the weekend with her mom, at Jung Yoona's request.
"Harin, let's talk for a bit…"
The mother and daughter sat across from each other on the sofa.
Despite the ordeal, Jung Yoona's mind was still fixated on Kim Taeyang.
"That Taeyang kid. I'll admit he's better than I thought."
As someone who makes cold, rational decisions for a corporation daily, she could acknowledge his heroism, even if she disliked him.
A situation even S-rank hunters couldn't handle.
Only Kim Taeyang breached the barrier and saved them.
"But I can't accept you living as a sow under him."
That didn't mean she could hand over her daughter.
"You're my precious daughter. I want you to meet someone who'll treat you even better."
She spoke softly, but her heart was unyielding.
If her daughter didn't comply, she wasn't sending her back to Ark.
Surprisingly, Seol Harin nodded.
"Okay. I'll properly break things off with Master."
"…Really?"
"For real. I already told him I'm done being a sow."
"Good job, Harin. Thank you so much."
She hugged her daughter.
It hit her how long it'd been since she last held her like this.
"You know Mom loves you, right?"
"Yeah."
Seol Harin hugged her back.
A rare moment of warm family bonding.
Then, the doorbell rang.
"Oh? He's here!"
Seol Harin bolted up excitedly.
"Harin? Your dad's on a business trip."
"Yeah, I know!"
"?"
With her husband away, no one else should be visiting.
'Maybe a delivery…?'
Curious, Jung Yoona followed her daughter.
Seol Harin, humming, unlocked the front gate and waited at the entrance.
"Who is it?"
"Someone I was expecting."
A bad feeling crept in.
'No way…'
The door opened.
Bad premonitions never miss.
Standing before the mother and daughter was a giant with a face Jung Yoona loathed.
"Yo, I'm crashing here for a bit—"
"K-Kim Taeyang…? Why are you here…?"
Kim Taeyang.
Dragging a suitcase.
Like he planned to stay for days.
"Huh? Sow, didn't you tell her?"
"Yeah, wanted it to be a surprise."
"S-Surprise? Harin, you said you were cutting ties with Kim Taeyang!"
Seol Harin clung to his arm.
"Yup. So we're here for a breakup party. It's the last time, so we're gonna catch up over the weekend…♡"
"???"
Jung Yoona blocked Kim Taeyang as he tried to barge in.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Got some business in Seoul, but no place to crash, so here I am."
"N-No… Why my house…?"
"Huh? You're not gonna offer a room to the guy who saved your life? Pretty stingy for a top-tier CEO, huh?"
"..."
Her eyes met her daughter's.
"Mom, you'll let him, right? It's just two days."
If she kicked Taeyang out, Harin would likely leave with him.
'Maybe it's better to keep him where I can see him. He wouldn't try anything with me around…'
"…Come in."
Jung Yoona let Kim Taeyang in.
And so, she crossed a river she couldn't return from.