Chapter – 05
How Do I Get to the Underworld?
First, I rushed to the nearest convenience store near my studio apartment and bought a readily available cell phone. I even changed my number and blocked my family’s numbers.
Just the thought of not having to answer my family’s calls made a corner of my heart feel cool and clear, as if a blockage had been removed…
But then, when I thought about the ending of the latest SSS-class prophecy where I completely lost my mind, curses came to my lips involuntarily.
Compared to that damn future, the S-class items I received from the contract were a paltry consolation, no bigger than a mouse’s tail.
But you know what they say? It’s better to cry in an expensive car than to cry while riding a bicycle.
‘I want to change my fate, even if just a little, even if it’s late.’
After visiting the item exchange yesterday and seeing a large sum of money deposited into my account, which instantly cleared up all my various debts, I got a call from my main bank.
They wanted to check if I had been scammed, or if *I* was the one scamming others.
But when I mentioned ‘Constellation’, they understood.
It’s a world where all sorts of crazy things happen. There were numerous cases where someone brought back a magic stone from a dungeon, and it turned out to be an incredibly high-grade rare stone, making them an instant fortune.
Right. It’s a world where everything has been turned upside down because of Constellations and Gates.
Even if all other Awakened are going crazy and coming to me, an F-rank, out of desperation. Even if the survival of humanity rests in my insignificant hands!
I’m confident. I am absolutely not hero material.
‘Just looking at the current world ranking number one, Ki Hae-jin, is in the Yongseon Guild…’
I don’t want to be some hero. I just… I’m only doing this to try and straighten out my twisted fate a bit.
There’s absolutely no reason to regret this.
“Okay. I’ll accept the quest.”
I returned to my studio apartment, half-seeing, half-ignoring the ‘Prophet of the Sun’s’ delight.
Unfortunately, my credit rating didn’t go up.
Even high-ranking Constellations were essentially no different from natural disasters. They were too unstable to help raise my credit rating, apparently.
‘But that’s actually better.’
For the time being, I shouldn’t recklessly go around announcing that I’ve contracted with an S-class Constellation.
If I wanted to stir up the Yongseon Guild, it was more convenient to remain an inconspicuous F-rank Awakened.
If my face ended up on broadcast news and my family found out, or if the Yongseon Guild side became aware of my existence, it would just be a hassle.
‘Then the conclusion is, as expected.’
I need to find someone from the underworld who can work in my place, standing in front of me.
Then, only one problem remains.
How do I get to the underworld?
* * *
I bought a large pay-per-bag trash bag. I packed my bags, resolutely throwing away things I couldn’t carry. I left the window open to air out the smell of the burnt TV.
I had to leave immediately, as my family could come barging in at any moment.
But where should I go?
“Gasp, that’s right! Let’s do that!”
I had a long-held fantasy. Being a long-term guest staying at a 5-star hotel!
Being a freelancer—who knows what they actually do, but they look ridiculously rich—sipping morning coffee in the lobby every day!
It’s best to realize your fantasies while you’re still somewhat in your right mind.
I hastily packed only the necessary luggage into a carry-on, rushed out of the studio apartment, and hailed a taxi first.
“…Hello? I’m the tenant living in unit 305.”
When I asked to go to the famous hotel I’d wanted to visit for a long time, the driver expressed concern that the fare would be at least 50,000 won. Fortunately, money was no longer an issue.
I reassured the driver and checked the photo I had taken earlier.
It was the building owner grandfather’s number, printed alongside the ‘Tenants Always Wanted’ notice outside my studio apartment.
“I’m vacating the room starting today.”
Naturally, that stubborn building owner threw a fit.
I frowned, feeling like my ears were about to burst, and looked in the rearview mirror. I could tell the driver was subtly conscious of me while driving.
“I have some circumstances. I won’t ask for the security deposit back. Yes, you can keep it all. Really. I’ll keep paying the monthly rent steadily until a new tenant moves in. Ah, what was that transfer just now?”
I had transferred 2 million won for repairs—for the broken TV, my 4-year-old phone that also broke, and the scorched wallpaper.
Anyone seeing it might be surprised at the excessive amount, but considering what happened in the past, it was a simple gesture of goodwill towards the building owner.
“If my family comes looking for me, please don’t tell them any details. Just tell them I fled in the middle of the night because of debt collectors. Yes? Please.”
The story from before went like this.
Back when I had that fistfight with my brother. My mother had stubbornly tracked me down to my studio apartment in another city.
In Korea, with parental rights, they can find out your address even if you register as the head of household elsewhere, so there was nothing I could do. Last time, keeping that in mind, I had temporarily taken refuge at a friend’s house.
Back then, as I was leaving my studio apartment laden with luggage, I happened to run into the building owner and explained my situation.
I have serious conflicts with my parents. They might come find me directly, so I’ll be staying at a friend’s place for a few days. They’ll probably try everything to get into my studio, so please, under no circumstances let them in, I pleaded.
The elderly, gray-haired building owner sighed and said he understood.
Eventually, the day my mother came. She said to the building owner, ‘I’m the mother of the kid living here, give me the master key so I can get into the unit.’
The temperamental building owner refused to give her the master key. He even got furious, demanding she prove she was family.
If she had gone and gotten a family relation certificate, it might have been a disaster, but whether my mother didn’t want to go through that hassle for me or something else, she instead lied, saying she was worried because her child’s mental health hadn’t been good lately.
The building owner, of course, didn’t believe her. In the end, my mother gave up and left, which says it all.
‘If she had gotten in, who knows what she would have done, ransacking that tiny studio.’
That incident weighed on my mind, so I sent extra money as a token of gratitude. He probably got the gist of it just from this.
Sure enough. After hearing me out, the building owner clicked his tongue a few times and ended the call with an ‘Alright.’
Anyway, this was a good thing about him. As long as the villa’s rules and interests were strictly maintained, he didn’t meddle in the tenants’ affairs.
“……”
The taxi driver clearly had a lot he wanted to say but was firmly keeping his mouth shut. Unlike the driver, my newly acquired ability wouldn’t leave me alone.
“Gahk! Ah, shit…!”
A scene abruptly forced its way in, startling me into cursing out loud.
Passive Skill Activated!
**Prophecy (B)**
*Debuff due to the Veil of Night restricts vision!*
*Clarity: 61.29%*
The scene was less unfamiliar than I expected.
I saw a familiar train station, and the street that appears if you turn off to the edge of that station.
Near a fairly large central market. A cafe on the second floor of an old building, next to a chicken restaurant.
‘A cafe? Why?’
When humanity was facing extinction and all, the first prophecy I see after the contract is just a random cafe location?
It was absurd.
But that tacky cafe was on fire. Blazing fiercely.
So much so that the fire was spreading to the ginkgo trees lining the narrow alley.
“What are you showing me this for? To go put out the fire?”
The Constellation ‘Prophet of the Sun’ explains that all prophecies the contractor ‘Kim Eun-sol’ will see from now on are ultimately connected to the SSS-class prophecy.
It warns you not to take even the smallest thing lightly!
A question I had been harboring surged up.
When you say ‘prophecy’, you can’t help but naturally think of the Greek ones.
Moreover, considering the previous message about ‘playing the lyre’, it seemed highly likely that the Constellation attached to me was related to that mythology.
But in Greek myths, the prophecies and fate they deal with… no matter how hard humans try to avoid them, going crazy in the process, they somehow always come true.
And it’s not limited to humans.
If my shallow knowledge is correct, I recall that even the great Zeus, the famous king of the Greek gods, couldn’t do anything about it.
In a word, it was an absolute, unchangeable flow.
I wonder if Zeus knows about this situation. That a Constellation, possibly his own child, is talking about love and trying to change the future?
‘A mere human, getting involved between gods and getting struck by lightning? What if I turn to stone?’
Now that things have come to this, let’s ask him to take a look. Let’s ask him to kill me and turn me into a constellation. I’ll have to design it myself and show it to him.
‘Let’s focus again.’
I shook my head roughly and concentrated on the B-class prophecy.
According to what I saw, the nameless, old cafe would soon have a major fire.
Right now, my connection with the Constellation is unstable because it’s evening, and the affinity is low, so I couldn’t see the cafe signboard clearly.
If I somehow find it and warn the cafe owner in advance, can I change the future? And what does this have to do with the SSS-class prophecy anyway?
I guess I won’t know unless I take action myself.
“What’s wrong, miss? Are, are you okay? Should I pull over for a bit?”
I shook my head like crazy to erase the scene dominating my vision. Looking ahead, I could see the taxi driver’s anxious eyes in the rearview mirror.
“No, I’m fine.”
“W-well, I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop on your call, but I couldn’t help hearing. Seems like you have some family issues?”
He seemed to want to ease his anxious mind, wondering if he’d picked up the wrong kind of passenger, by making conversation.
“Well… something like that.”
“Aigoo, everyone’s having a hard time these days—.”
I could sense the driver was about to unleash some ‘old-fashioned advice’ disguised as comfort.
“But still, there’s nothing like family— don’t be like that. The world is tough enough as it is, family should trust and rely on each other. Huh? You know, the only people in this whole wide world who will accept you even without money are your parents!”
“My parents aren’t like that.”
“Ah, is that so?”
A brief silence.
“Are you still a university student? You look young. The area I picked you up from, isn’t Taeseong University there? My son also graduated from that university…”
“I’ve already graduated from university.”
“Ah, so you’re an office worker?”
“I’m unemployed.”
Another silence.
But this driver had an indomitable will and opened his mouth to the very end.
“Well… don’t get too stressed—. These days, with Gates and all that, decent jobs have been created. Lower your standards a bit! Then there’s nothing you can’t do in this world!”
“My standards aren’t high.”
“You look like you have high standards.”
Seriously? Saying I have no eyes in front of me, who’s blind to everything?
“Miss, you’re an Awakened, right?”
“How did you know?”
“You just have that look! I can tell just by looking!”
“……”
“Go get counseling at the National Awakened Personnel Center. Ah, have you already been?”
My eyes lit up at the unexpected suggestion.
‘I didn’t think of the personnel center.’
An Awakened with the guts to dig into the Yongseon Guild, good skills, and an immediate need for a large sum of money. Someone who, if paid, would even do dirty work for me.
Let’s try finding such a person at a private Awakened personnel agency.
“……Mister. I have a criminal record, so it’s a bit hard to find the right place for me.”
“W-what?”
From the moment I received the SSS-class prophecy, I let go of something inside. Things like shame, or conscience, or whatever.
“So, about that… if you know any good private agencies, could you recommend one to me?”
