A yellow, translucent barrier that was perfectly cuboid and shimmering like tempered glass erupted from the floor, encasing him in a soundproof vacuum.
『NOTICE: A PRIVATE AUCTION HAS BEEN INITIATED BY A "HIGHER CONSTELLATION."』
『SYSTEM: ALL EXTERNAL STREAMING, AUDIO, AND VISUAL FEEDS HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED.』
『PROBABILITY INTERFERENCE: 100%. NOT EVEN THE STARS MAY PEER WITHOUT CONSENT.』
Outside the cube, the Bazaar fell into a stunned, suffocating silence.
Assistant Manager Chaewon dropped her holographic tablet, the glass screen shattering against the obsidian floor.
She stared at the yellow box, her mouth agape.
"A Private Invitation?"
Someone whispered from a neighboring booth.
"That... that only happens for S-Rank relics or World-Class fables.
How can a Floor 1 rookie trigger a Constellation's Private Domain?"
"Is he being deleted?"
Another player asked, his voice shaking.
"Look at the mana density around that box.
If that thing explodes, the whole Sub-Hub B is going to become a crater."
"Absurd."
A guild scout from White Stars muttered, his face pale.
"Face to face with a Constellation?
If he breathes the wrong way, his soul will be extinguished before he can even hit the 'Accept' button.
Negotiating with those beings is nothing as trading..."
Inside the cube, Kang Min remained motionless.
His heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird, but his face remained a mask of iron-clad indifference.
He knew this yellow cage.
It was the 「Golden Sanctuary of Trade」.
A neutral space where the laws of the Tower were momentarily superseded by the laws of the Transaction.
Then, the floor vanished.
Kang Min didn't fall and was instead transitioned.
The yellow cube pixelated into golden dust, and suddenly, he was standing in the center of a vast, yawning void.
It was a place where nebulae swirled like spilled ink and distant stars flickered with a cold, judgmental light.
Surrounding him was a structure that defied the logic of geometry.
An invisible staircase, coiling and twisting like a strand of cosmic DNA, spiraled infinitely upward and downward into the dark.
And on every step stood a being.
They were draped from head to toe in heavy, dark garments that seemed to absorb the light around them.
The fabric flowed down like liquid shadow, pooling at their feet in strange, cuboid shapes that suggested they were standing on something solid yet unseen.
Their faces were the stuff of nightmares and wonder.
Some were of pure white light, revealing only the sharp line of a nose or a thin, silent mouth.
Others... their faces were windows into the void.
Instead of flesh, there were swirling galaxies, pulsating nebulae, and the cold vacuum of the abyss.
They stood one above the other, coiling around Kang Min in a silent, suffocating amphitheater of gods.
The pressure was immense.
It felt like the weight of a thousand oceans was pressing against his skull.
『WARNING: YOU ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE "GREAT ASSEMBLY."』
『NOTICE: THE PRESSURE HAS BEEN REDUCED BY 99.9% TO PREVENT "MORTAL COLLAPSE."』
Even with the reduction, Min's knees trembled.
He stayed upright only through sheer, stubborn spite.
At the base of the staircase stood a being whose garment glowed with the orange heat of a forge.
[The Artisan of Stellar Anvils].
He stepped forward.
Although his face was covered his gaze was fixed on the item floating in Min's inventory space.
"The 「Vestige of the Iron Lion Shield」."
"I recognized the resonance the moment you listed it.
I forged that relic in the First Age.
It was never meant to be lost to the 'Old World' debris.
I want it back.
For personal reasons...I'm sure you of all people understand that."
Min opened his mouth to speak, but before a sound could escape, the atmosphere changed.
The silent constellations on the staircase leaned forward.
A ripple of recognition passed through them like a shockwave.
Above Kang Min's head, a symbol materialized.
A floating icon of a blood-red skull with a jagged black slash across it.
「"Oh my..."」
[The Artisan of Stellae Anvils] said.
The silence broke into a riot of divine fury.
The very stars in the distance seemed to shake as the beings on the staircase began to murmur, their voices sounding like grinding stones and shrieking winds.
「"The Robber of the Warehouse!"」
「"The one who shamed the Artisans!"」
「"The mortal who walked through the Divine Gates and left them empty!"」
[The Artisan of Stellar Anvils] looked at Min with a mix of awe and disgust.
「"The only reason you have survived this long...
the only reason the bounty hunters haven't erased your existence... is because that mark is suppressed by the Tower's logic.
But her in the Private Space? You are exposed."」
「"I wonder..."」
A new voice drawled, smooth and shifting like desert sands.
A constellation stepped out from the shadows of the coil, his face a shimmering, ever-changing mirage.
「" The Constellation [Changing god]...I wonder why he took a liking to you.」
「Why he is always meddling in matters concerning this specific mortal."」
The other stars hissed in agreement.
「"The Changing God's toy."」
「"A puppet of the Shifting Path!"」
「"Enough!"」
A voice roared, and the system began to scream.
In Min's vision, the red windows began to fire like machine-gun bursts.
『THE CONSTELLATION [GENERAL OF THE CRIMSON ECLIPSE] WANTS YOUR HEAD ON A PIKE.』
『THE CONSTELLATION [JUDGE OF THE SILENT GALLOWS] IS CALCULATING YOUR SOUL'S WEIGHT.』
『THE CONSTELLATION [HUNTRESS OF THE STAR-VOID] HAS NOTCHED AN ARROW.』
『THE CONSTELLATION [LORD OF RUST AND RUIN] WANTS TO GRIND YOUR BONES TO DUST.』
『THE CONSTELLATION [ARCHITECT OF THE ETERNAL LABYRINTH] IS VOTING FOR YOUR EXECUTION.』
『THE CONSTELLATION [MONARCH OF THE FROZEN PYRE] IS INVOKING THE BOUNTY.』
『THE CONSTELLATION [SERPENT OF THE SEVENTH SUN] IS HISSING AT YOUR INSOLENCE.』
『THE CONSTELLATION [SCAVENGER OF GOD-FLESH] IS DROOLING AT THE SIGHT OF YOU.』
『THE CONSTELLATION [WEAVER OF DOOMED FATES] IS CUTTING YOUR THREAD.』
『THE CONSTELLATION [THE GREAT VOID-WHALE] IS PREPARING TO SWALLOW YOUR NARRATIVE.』
Kang Min felt the killing intent.
It was physical and felt like needles of ice piercing his skin.
He swallowed hard, a nervous, jagged smile spreading across his face.
"You... you can't kill in a private auction space."
He choked out, his voice thin but defiant.
"Even for beings like you... that's intervening too much.
It's against the 'Constellation Stream' protocols.
You'd lose your 'Channel Integrity' if you murdered a host during a sanctioned trade."
The fury of the stars intensified.
Their gazes became heavy, burning pillars of light that slammed into Min's shoulders.
He crumbled to his knees, his hands digging into the invisible floor.
He heaved for air, sweat drenching his shirt.
'Damn it.'
He cursed inwardly.
'Did I push them too far...'
「"Robbing the Gods' Warehouse is a sin that cannot be overlooked!" 」
A deep voice boomed.
「"Even if you are a story from the 'Old World'... we cannot wrap our ways around how you appeared here after the introduction of the Stream."」
「"It has to be the doing of the [Changing God]." 」
「"He is mocking us through you."」
[The Artisan of Stellar Anvils] stepped between Min and the angry mob.
"This is my private auction!"
「"I have the rights to what happens here!」
「The mortal and I have entered a mutual space...」
「...that means, even he also has rights on what happens.」
「If you interfere, you interfere with the CS!"」
The riot simmered though the hatred remained.
「"He must be punished!"」
「"He carries the greatest bounty in the Stream. He cannot walk away with just a trade!"」
「"I agree..."」
A new voice said...this one feminine, melodic, and chillingly sweet.
On one of the steps of the coiling staircase, a female constellation sat with a casual, predatory grace.
Her body was a stark, luminous white, and her dark garment was draped loosely, leaving half of her legs exposed.
Her ankles were adorned with heavy, golden anklets that chimed with every movement.
[The Mother of the Abundance].
On her palm, a small, golden star materialized.
She encased it in a sphere of glass-like crystal and flicked her wrist.
The sphere floated toward Kang Min, settling into his trembling arms.
「"That..."」
The [The Mother of the Abundance] said, her face covered as well.
「"is a Star.」
「It is infused with the blood of the Old World sycthe that reaped your throat.」
「It also contains the blood of a half-god...which is myself."」
「"And..."」
She added, her smile widening.
「"...it contains your blood."」
Min looked at the sphere that was supposedly a star.
「"To atone..."」
「 The Mother of the abundance 」 said, her voice dropping to a whisper that felt like silk ribbons tightening around his throat.
「"...you must become the Soil for this Fallen Ember. 」
「You shall tend to the flicker in the dark, and when the shell finally shatters to reveal the First Dawn, you must be the Pillar upon which it leans.」
「To become the Cradle for the very Scythe that once reaped your thread... that is the only weight that can balance the scales of your debt."」
Min stared at her, his mind reeling.
Soil? A cradle for a scythe?
The words felt heavy, layered with a divine double-speak that bypassed his understanding.
He looked at the pulsing star in his arms, the golden light reflecting in his trembling eyes.
He knew it was a punishment, but the true nature of the "Dawn" she spoke of remained locked behind the Goddess's cruel, knowing smile.
Min stared at her, uncomprehending.
The other constellations went silent, a dark, cruel amusement rippling through them.
They understood.
It was the perfect cruel punishment befitting him.
Before Min could protest, multiple white glowing chains shot from every step of the staircase.
They passed through his flesh and wrapped around his heart.
-CLANG!
『SYSTEM: A "LIFE-BINDING CONTRACT" HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED.』
『NOTICE: PLAYER KANG MIN IS NOW THE "WARDEN OF THE STAR-SEED."』
『CONTRACT TERMS: 「YOU SHALL NURTURE THE SEED UNTIL BIRTH. YOU SHALL RAISE THE OFFSPRING AS YOUR OWN. YOU SHALL PROTECT THE NARRATIVE OF THE CHILD WITH YOUR LIFE.」』
『WARNING: IF THE CONTRACT IS BROKEN OR THE SEED IS DESTROYED, YOUR VERY BEING WILL BE ERASED FROM THE WORLD!』
"Wait... what?!"
Min gasped, clutching his chest.
"I didn't agree to—"
「"The trade is concluded!"」
[The Artisan of Stellar Anvils] rumbled, his voice sounding distant now.
The void shattered.
The yellow cube dissolved into pixels.
Kang Min was back in Partition 42.
He was slumped on the floor, his chest heaving.
The silence in the Auction House was deafening.
Thousands of eyes from players, scouts, managers were fixed on him.
『SYSTEM: PRIVATE AUCTION CONCLUDED.』
『NOTICE: ITEM [VESTIGE OF THE IRON LION SHIELD] HAS BEEN EXCHANGED.』
『NOTICE: ITEM [STAR-SEED OF THE CALAMITY] HAS BEEN ADDED TO YOUR PERMANENT INVENTORY (CANNOT BE DROPPED/SOLD).』
『CALCULATING TOTAL AUCTION REVENUE...』
『PRIVATE AUCTION BONUS WILL BE APPLIED.』
『AMOUNT WILL BE CALCULATED AND DEPOSITED TO PLAYER'S ACCOUNT.』