Chapter – 03
I’m Confident I Can Lose My Mind Faster Than Anyone Else!
The day before yesterday.
After receiving the problematic SSS-class oracle, I was seized by an insane fear and fled to my studio apartment, hiding under the blankets and trembling alone.
Noticing that my condition wasn’t great, the Constellation was the first to offer an explanation.
Why it came to me, and not some other Constellation.
Not the full reason, but a limited part of it, but it was something.
‘Because my causality itself isn’t that of an ordinary person. So, I have the qualification to change the future… But the other higher-grade candidates went insane along the way, so it came to me, the remaining candidate.’
I could understand how the other candidates ended up like that. It made sense.
Even the fragmented future I saw without a contract was incredibly destructive.
My brain and heart accepted it all at once. This intensity was real. This was truly the future to come.
The contents of the insane SSS-class oracle were as follows.
Three years ago, when the top hunters sealed the 12 core fissures in Korean territory, there was an existence they unofficially sealed along with them. The day would come when that existence would break through the seal and run rampant.
On that day, one-third of the Earth, including Korea, would burn, and that event would become the beginning of humanity’s extinction.
‘And I get this kind of future sight right after receiving some items as a “power trial version”?’
That’s why I could so calmly lie to my mother like that. Because I wasn’t in my right mind.
Right. My current self is half-crazy. How could I possibly provide for my family when a cataclysmic apocalypse is imminent?
On the other hand, some questions remained.
“I don’t get the whole causality thing. But I’m just an ordinary, talentless F-grade? I might lose my mind in record time.”
I’m confident I can lose my mind faster than anyone else…!
Furthermore, I’ll become the happiest madman in this world.
My lifelong wish—cutting ties with my family—I just did it!
The Constellation ‘Versatile Handsome God’ ?????????????.
Warning!: Section with non-contractor communication impossible & interpretation impossible due to insufficient favorability
The Constellation ‘Versatile Handsome God’ says it had no choice as there isn’t much time left.
“Yeah, you said there were two months left.”
An SSS-class oracle that made an S-class Constellation cling to an F-grade. The blinded sections were very unsettling.
This oracle ability was something received directly from the Constellation. But the importance of the received content varied.
The first oracle I received was D-class, so it was manageable enough to barely get my emotions under control, but the next SSS-class oracle was different.
It was impossible to accept with just a few days.
By yesterday, Monday, I had barely managed to hold onto my sanity and went out.
Anxious that the S-class items I received as a trial version would disappear, I went to the item exchange in a haggard state and sold 2 Black Dragon Gailard’s Essences.
And immediately paid off all the debts under my name.
It was something I should have toasted to, but I couldn’t.
Having eaten nothing for two days due to excessive fear and stress, I collapsed as soon as I got home and moaned in pain all day.
Perhaps because I was so shocked, even though I only managed to drink two sips of water before calling my mom, I felt nauseous.
Naturally, I couldn’t sleep well due to fear and anger.
I was absent from work without notice. Calls from the company came in like crazy since yesterday, but I couldn’t answer them. It was the same until this morning.
I couldn’t function in daily life at all.
The phone started vibrating with a call notification again.
Must be the company. I tried to blast the phone with my awakener’s unique ability, the F-class Mana Bullet… but then I remembered the things I needed to do with that phone and belatedly changed its direction.
Unfortunately, with my ability, I couldn’t even cancel the Mana Bullet once it was about to be fired.
Bang—!
The TV that came as an option with my studio apartment got hit by the Mana Bullet. The center of the screen exploded nicely, and a small fire started.
I sat on the bed, staring blankly at it. I just watched the small flames rise, like staring at a campfire.
I’d never actually been camping because I was always working my ass off.
‘What do I do now?’
Actually, there was a crucial problem.
What if I, an F-grade, ultimately fail to change the SSS-class oracle?
In that case, I’d want to sell all the items I received from the Constellation, spend money lavishly, and face death together with humanity…
But the story is very different if I’m the only one surviving in a world turned into hell.
Right, I survive alone!
In about two months. In a living hell, I, alone, engulfed in madness as a human, unable to die, live on!
“Whyyy—?!”
I grabbed my head, lay down on the bed, and screamed.
Lying on my side, I blankly watched the smoke rising from the TV, which was starting to die out. Like a pitiful protagonist in a drama. Well, even if not the protagonist, the circumstances of a pitiful character fit.
I replayed the Constellation bastard’s message from a few days ago.
Actually, this situation wasn’t all bad for me.
First, according to the Constellation, the probability of changing that future wasn’t zero.
“SSS-class oracle… It can be changed, right? Really?”
The Constellation ‘Versatile Handsome God’ says yes.
“Really? I searched it up earlier. You’re saying you can change an oracle that even Zeus, the king of gods, can’t do anything about?”
I looked up some information briefly. I couldn’t pinpoint it recklessly, but when I searched online, apart from economic-related stuff, that Oracle (神託) from Greek mythology came up first.
An unavoidable flow of fate that even the gods cannot defy, something that comes true no matter how you twist and turn.
Change that?
The Constellation ‘Versatile Handsome God’ flinches.
The Constellation ‘Versatile Handsome God’ says it must be done even if it seems impossible.
“Why?”
The Constellation ‘Versatile Handsome God’ states that since it’s an emotional topic, it wishes to reveal it once our favorability has increased to a level where proper communication is possible.
“What if I refuse the contract? What if I just take the items I received upfront and run?”
The Constellation ‘Versatile Handsome God’ laughs.
Go ahead and try.
A chilling premonition made all the hairs on my arm stand up. The things I’d been through because of that bastard came to mind involuntarily.
“Sigh.”
The fate of humanity entrusted to an F-grade. The world must be about to end. Before that, I should try checking off my bucket list…
“Oops.”
A sudden, lightning-like realization caused a small sigh-like sound to escape my lips.
‘I’ve never even thought about making a bucket list…’
Apart from wanting to run away from my family.
Something lumpy welled up inside me, blocking my throat.
‘Even if the world is about to end, wouldn’t it be okay to do a few things I want to do in the meantime?’
I have money in my hands that I probably couldn’t spend even until just before the doomsday predicted by the SSS-class oracle. This money, wouldn’t it be okay to spend it thoughtlessly on myself?
‘If the future does change, it said it would provide more wealth, so I guess I can spend lavishly.’
Even after the contract, it will provide something as patronage. This stalker Constellation bastard, if the upfront payment is this much, what about after the contract?
‘Let’s flatter it appropriately while working hard, and while I’m still somewhat sane, let’s spend money lavishly and try this “flexing” thing.’
Since the problem of the entire world has fallen into the hands of an F-grade like me, the world is highly likely to end anyway! Sorry, people of the world!
“Let’s contract.”
The Constellation ‘Versatile Handsome God’ is satisfied.
Will you accept the contract?
Yes / No
‘If it seems like it won’t work out after gauging the situation, I’ll just flee abroad early.’
The amount of money I currently have is an absurdly large sum, and compared to that, the time is too short, so if I’m going to leave, I need to go quickly.
So, where abroad should I go?
The place that immediately came to mind was a desert said to have amazing scenery during the rainy season. I don’t know what the future holds, but if I can go, I want to.
I’ve never even been on a plane.
Will you accept the contract?
Yes / No
SYSTEM : Contract established
S-class Constellation ‘Prophet of the Sun’ has become your patron!
The Constellation ‘Prophet of the Sun’ is satisfied.
Some sort of document-like thing unfurled in front of me before disappearing instantly like a hologram.
A single word, composed of just one consonant and one vowel—’Yes’—was all it took to establish such an important life contract.
The moment I thought that.
As if denying that possibility, status windows began pouring down.
SYSTEM : The Constellation’s halo descends.
An intense sunlight, so strong I genuinely worried if the small ceiling of my studio had been blown away by a typhoon, shone down heavily. It was dazzling, making it impossible to even keep my eyes open.
I barely managed to open my eyes slightly and checked the status window.
SYSTEM : Syncing between Constellation and Awakener in progress
30%…… 80%…… 100%
Individual ‘Kim Eun-sol’ is eligible to receive the Constellation’s patronage.
Individual ‘Kim Eun-sol’ inherits a portion of the Constellation’s unique abilities.
Passive skill automatically activated at all times!
[Oracle (神託)]
Favorability with Constellation is 5%. Partial visual support is possible.
“W-what is this?”
The Constellation ‘Prophet of the Sun’ is satisfied.
This is strange. Receiving a Constellation…
‘It feels this reassuring?’
The halo of someone who would protect me no matter what was shining down upon me.
The Constellation contract scam cases I’d seen until now were utterly disastrous, being regular topics on internet communities, but this definitely felt different.
Just then, an unexpected status window intruded, disrupting my emotional moment.
Quest added!
Description : The Constellation ‘Prophet of the Sun’ desires the individual ‘Sacrificed and Forgotten Red Savior’ trapped within the 12th Core Fissure.
Reward for safely rescuing the individual ‘Sacrificed and Forgotten Red Savior’, who is soon to become a Demon God: Brilliant wealth, a guaranteed healthy old age, unraveling life’s karma and twisted causality.
Preserving humanity’s future is a bonus!
Will you accept?
Yes / No
I hadn’t accepted it yet. I couldn’t just accept it happily, because as a Korean, the quest content itself didn’t make sense.
“Really, the 12th Core Fissure? Seriously? Someone is trapped there?”
The answer came back affirmative. My mind was filled with absurdity.
“Eh, no way… Go do some internet searching or something first. For a Constellation, you sure have no interest in what’s happening in Korea, huh? You’re like a guy who invests his entire fortune in stocks based on rumors alone.”
And what’s this about a sacrificed savior? Sacrifice? Is it related to stories about the early days of the Yongseon Guild?
It didn’t make sense.
The great heroes who stopped the bursting dimensional core fissures three years ago. The legends about the parties involved, the famous Yongseon Guild—no Korean could possibly not know about them.
