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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Opportunity is Given
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"Ha, fuck."
A building that had been perfectly fine just moments ago.
Now reduced to a pile of rubble.
In the midst of it all, Rimon brushed back his hair with blood-soaked hands.
He gazed calmly at the countless gun barrels trained on him and pondered.
'What the hell did I do wrong?'
If his opponents had been mere criminals, he wouldn't even have this doubt.
Whether it was the boss of some vicious mega-crime syndicate,
a politician pulling the strings of the nation,
or a general from a superpower.
When facing those who devoured the country and threatened humanity,
he had never hesitated to swing his sword.
Yet here he was, agonizing. For one simple reason.
The people pointing guns at him right now weren't criminals.
Some of them were even colleagues he'd shared meals with until yesterday.
"Guys, I've racked my brain and I still don't get it..."
That was why.
Rimon couldn't hold back the question.
"Why the fuck are you doing this?"
He'd spent his whole life fighting for humanity.
He wasn't about to claim he'd only ever done the right thing.
But he'd never committed evil for personal gain, not once.
His dedication had once earned him hero worship, even a position second only to the emperor.
Which made it all the harder to understand.
"Why dig a trap like this, frame me with bullshit charges, and try to kill me, you bastards?"
It wasn't lamentation.
Not mockery.
Not rage or despair.
Just pure incomprehension.
A simple question: why were they trying to kill him?
Especially when the frame-up alone wasn't enough—they'd sacrificed their own men just to take him down.
The gunmen said nothing.
A few simply stepped aside, as if on orders.
And from between them emerged one man.
The mastermind behind it all.
The moment Rimon saw him, it clicked.
"...Ha."
He let out a hollow laugh.
"Cunning Rabbit Dies, Good Dog Cooks..."
Such a simple reason.
A hunting dog no longer needed once the hunt was over.
Especially a mad dog running wild on its own.
Natural instinct to put it down.
Even if that mad dog had been the nation's top guardian until now.
"So you don't need a relic like me anymore, huh?"
He knew plenty of people found him uncomfortable.
He hadn't cared.
Villains' envy was par for the course in his life.
Above all, he believed the nation would never abandon him, no matter what anyone said.
But he'd been wrong.
Arrogant, even.
The country he'd defended through countless brushes with death no longer needed him.
In fact, they were pinning every crime on him as a threat to national interests, trying to dispose of him.
Maybe it was inevitable.
The days when Rimon was absolute were in the past.
The nation needed others now. He was just an outdated relic.
Even though he still wielded the world's strongest power.
"Yeah, my bad."
Once it sank in,
Rimon finally realized.
The reason he'd ended up in this mess.
His fatal mistake.
"The idiot was me, busting my ass to protect this shithole world."
He'd ignored wealth and power.
Lived by duty and responsibility.
Shown kindness and mercy to the weak.
Scoffed at blind patriotism, yet risked his life to safeguard the world.
That was Rimon's sin.
If he'd hoarded wealth and power.
Wielded authority selfishly.
Ignored peace and lived for himself.
...And accepted her offer back then.
He wouldn't be getting discarded like trash, feeling this filthy.
'If I got another chance...'
The thought crossed his mind.
If he could turn back time.
Live life over again.
Right then.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ A handful of constellations watching over you respond to your wish. 'Prankster Who Toyes with Fate' offers a contract. If you agree, you will gain the power to change your fate. 'Merciful Guardian of Resurrection' offers a contract. If you agree, you will gain the power to reverse death. 'Raven Watching Glory' offers a contract. If you agree, you will gain the power to seek glory. Which constellation will you contract with?
"...Huh?"
Three beams of light from the stars.
Messages popping up one after another before his eyes.
Rimon blinked.
What the hell was this?
His stunned mind couldn't process it right away.
Others freaked out first.
"What?! Constellations, why?!"
"That glow... N-no way, lord-class constellations?"
"Impossible! Not one, but three lord-class constellations offering contracts?!"
They'd been silent like they couldn't speak.
Now they were in chaos.
Watching them, Rimon finally got it.
What was happening.
And what he needed to do.
"Kill him! Stop him before he contracts!"
Fear of the changed situation.
The mastermind's shout spurred them to attack Rimon in a panic.
But too late.
Before they could pull triggers, Rimon was already moving.
Slash!
"...!"
The sight that followed dropped jaws.
Not because of the sword suddenly in Rimon's hand.
The three radiant beams.
Shattered to pieces, crumbling down.
That horrified them.
"Fuck off, you scamming bastards!"
Amid the fragments he'd slashed away, Rimon roared.
He flipped off the stars in the sky.
"My fate's mine! I'd rather die than hand it over to cheapskates like you!"
'Th... that madman...!'
They were dumbfounded.
Just contracting with a constellation was a dream most couldn't touch.
A lord-class one? Pure luck of the draw.
Every player's fantasy.
To reject it—no, slash away their blessing?
Unheard of.
And actually doing it? Unbelievable.
But beneath the shock, it made sense.
This was Rimon Asfelder.
Once at the world's peak, humanity's hero—and its worst mad dog.
"What're you staring at, assholes? Think I'll let you play spectator now?"
Rumble rumble rumble.
"Huh? What's this shit now?"
As the mad dog rolled his eyes and charged,
a storm of light clawed the night.
Fragments from the beams he'd cut.
Going berserk, swirling around him.
"What, you door-to-door salesmen?! Hey, I said no contract—piss off! Why're you sticking?!"
The encroaching light remnants drew a bellow from Rimon as he swung again.
But they just scattered, refusing to vanish.
Condensing around him.
An unprecedented phenomenon left Rimon—and his encirclement—in dismay.
But the most panicked were elsewhere.
⚙ SYSTEM ERROR ⚙ System error, code k94o0a4. Bug triggered by forced system severance during contract. Damaged constellation fragments absorbed by target. 'Prankster Who Toyes with Fate' has lost one hand and is tumbling about. 'Merciful Guardian of Resurrection' has lost one wing and is panicking. 'Raven Watching Glory' has had one eye pair stolen and rages.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Like victims mugged while shopping,
three stars flashed wildly, whipping up gales and shaking the earth.
But the light's flow didn't stop.
"What? Hey, you bastards! Who said you could shove this into my body?! Get out! Won't get out?!"
As the others gawked,
light dust from the stars swirled into the rampaging Rimon.
Until the last beam sank into him.
—The world collapsed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
It was a bizarre sensation.
Exhaustion like he hadn't slept in a century, mingled with the haze of wandering dreams for just as long.
Not quite dream, not quite reality—yet all the harder to escape that liminal border.
Drifting endlessly there, forgetting himself, until a voice yanked Rimon back.
"Team leader, team leader?"
Rimon pondered.
Who owned that voice.
Why it felt so familiar yet so alien.
"Stop sleeping and get up already. People are calling you a total slacker...!"
Snap!
"Kyaa?!"
"Who're you calling a slacker, punk."
Head fuzzy or not,
his body reacted on instinct.
Flicked his finger the moment he heard "slacker," smacking the forehead of whoever was shaking him.
"Ow! Why the face?! If I can't get married because of this, you're taking responsibility, team leader?!"
The spot must've stung bad.
She clutched her red forehead, groaning, then yelled with teary eyes.
Rimon stared, expression odd.
He remembered her now.
"Yuna Kyung?"
"What!"
"That Na Kyung from my team?"
"Who else would be on your team but me? You got another Na Kyung?"
Name: Yuna Kyung.
Age: twenty-six.
Job: specially appointed civil servant.
Status: his team member.
Traits: subtly cheeky.
Height 158, weight... skip that.
Like a dam breaking at her name, memories flooded back.
But Rimon brushed them aside.
Asked what mattered most.
"Why are you still alive?"