Chapter 98: Ancient Constellations (9)

Kwon Oh-Jin's eyes widened at the message window floating before him.

I completed the quest?

He had absorbed the Starstones to replenish his drained mana, but also unexpectedly completed the quest.

I expected the Starstone quality to be too low to make any progress.

Each individual creature was only around a four or five-star. Not a low level by any means, but he'd failed to progress the quest before with Starstones from comparable monsters like the Murlocs.

A quality adjustment, huh?

He'd always considered the possibility of a mysterious connection between the Black Heaven and the Black Stars.

But this isn’t the time to think about that.

He focused on the blue messages before him. The progress bar had reached a hundred percent, indicating he would randomly acquire one of the Ancient Constellations. Strings of text danced before him in a blur.

Ring!

[Kwon Oh-Jin has acquired the Stigma of the Hourglass as the quest reward.]

Hourglass?

It was a constellation name he had never heard before.

Well, that’s to be expected.

Ancient Constellations had existed before the Black Heaven destroyed the world in the distant past. It wouldn’t make sense for any familiar constellations to come up.

What kind of ability will it have?

His eyes gleamed with anticipation as he activated the Stigma of Hourglass, which shone brightly. A halo of blue light surrounded him, and the world came to a stop.

“What the...?”

The swirling ash and smoke, the viscous blood flowing on the ground, and the flies swarming over mangled flesh all froze in an instant like someone had pressed the pause button on a video.

What's... happening?

Within the frozen world, Kwon Oh-Jin dazedly tried to move his arms. However, even his own limbs didn't respond properly.

Just then, a voice echoed faintly, stretched and distorted like a recording from a warped tape.

“Whaaaaaat...”

Turning toward the sound, he saw Park Geon-Woo wide-eyed and frozen in place. To be precise, he wasn’t completely frozen. His movements were just incredibly slow.

Ah, so that’s how it works. The Stigma of Hourglass slows down perceived time.

In other words, everything around him—including movements and sounds—was slowed down like a slow-motion video, except for his own thoughts.

This is insane.

While others spent a minute thinking, he could spend an hour or even an entire day in his own head.

Suddenly, the frozen world began to move again, and Park Geon-Woo’s voice returned to normal.

“—The hell have you done?!”

Kwon Oh-Jin clicked his tongue, disappointed.

I guess it’s not quite there yet.

At its current level, the ability seemed to slow time for only about five seconds.

And that felt like twenty-five seconds to me?

He determined his perception of time was about five times slower when he used the new Stigma.

Ring!

[The Stigma of Hourglass can be used up to three times per day. Usage limits and effectiveness may improve with the Stigma’s proficiency.]

This is the perfect Stigma to use in case of emergencies.

Having five times the perception of time could be a game-changer in combat situations, turning the tide of an unfavorable battle in an instant.

Park Geon-Woo anxiously glared at him. “You bastard... did you receive a blessing from the Weaver?”

He was understandably on edge since Kwon Oh-Jin’s flickering mana had suddenly surged explosively.

“

Pfft!

I told you, I don’t need to rely on my goddess’s power,” Kwon Oh-Jin replied.

“If that’s the case, where did you get such a massive amount of mana...?”

“Who knows?” Kwon Oh-Jin shrugged, readjusting his grip on his spear. He couldn’t really start explaining about the Black Heaven anyway.

Park Geon-Woo nervously bit his lip before his eyes flashed with fierce resolve. “I don’t know how you managed to do it, but...”

The black feathers covering him stood upright and wrapped around his spear, mana concentrating at its tip.

Whoosh!

“You're going to die here nonetheless.”

With a powerful leap, he charged forward with his spear, which radiated a dizzying force as it aimed straight for Kwon Oh-Jin at a blinding speed. A violent gust of wind followed.

Stigma of Hourglass.

Once more, the world came to a halt. Although Kwon Oh-Jin's movements were also limited in this slowed-down reality, he could still track the trajectory of Park Geon-Woo’s spear and time its arrival, making evasion simple.

Park Geon-Woo, who hadn't expected this, gaped at Kwon Oh-Jin in utter shock.

“Huh?!”

Clicking his tongue, he desperately swung his spear again.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

To Kwon Oh-Jin, the attacks felt so sluggish they nearly made him yawn. He dodged each strike with ease.

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

“Damn it! H-How?!” Park Geon-Woo frowned in panic as his attacks continued to miss. Soon, he thrust his spear in a frenzied attempt.

Kwon Oh-Jin deflected the incoming weapon upward with his own spear before delivering a swift kick to Park Geon-Woo's abdomen.

“Kugh!”

A dull sound echoed as Park Geon-Woo was sent flying backward.

Lightning Feathers.

Feathers made of lightning shot toward Park Geon-Woo, who lay sprawled on the ground and rolled frantically to avoid them.

“Agh!”

It was a humiliating blow to his pride as a warrior, but he was left with no other choice to survive.

“

Pfft!

See? Stop rambling about the laws of the universe or the principles of taiji and fight properly,” Kwon Oh-Jin said. He used the spear shaft as leverage to propel himself into the air before slamming the spear down like a bolt of lightning.

All those lofty ideals of honor and virtue you see in martial arts novels are nothing but illusions, he thought. In real combat, you have to roll on the ground and crawl around to avoid a blade to the head. Real fights are messy and unsightly.

“Forget the bravado and the pride,” he uttered. He always used any means necessary to win, no matter the price. That was how he had always lived and would continue to live.

“If you want to kill me, put everything you’ve got on the line, you bastard,” Kwon Oh-Jin said with a fierce grin and brought his spear crashing down on Park Geon-Woo.

Boom!

Park Geon-Woo barely dodged the strike by rolling across the ground once more and began to crawl away to create some distance.

“

Haa! Haaa!

D-Damn it!”

His face twisted in humiliation as he staggered to his feet. Even with the blessing of the Black Stars, he'd been reduced to such a pitiful state.

“... I’ll kill you.”

Such disgrace and shame were unbearable for a warrior.

He bit his lip, adjusting his grip on his weapon. He glared at Kwon Oh-Jin with fiery murderous intent.

“I’ll make sure to kill you!” he bellowed, charging at Kwon Oh-Jin once more.

“

Tsk, tsk

. You really aren’t getting what I’m saying, motherfucker.”

In truth, how many problems in the world were ever resolved through words? No one really listened to others. They only saw what they wanted to see, heard what they wanted to hear, and remained trapped in the narrow walls of their own thoughts.

Stigma of Hourglass.

For the last time in this battle, the world paused yet again. Kwon Oh-Jin calmly examined the trajectory of Park Geon-Woo’s spear.

The right side of my chest.

He noted the angle of the spearhead and began counting in his head.

Three seconds.

Sliding backward, he widened the distance between them.

Two seconds.

He raised his left arm and aimed at the incoming spearhead.

Now!

His eyes gleamed as he activated his wire shooter.

Bang!

The wire’s weighted tip struck the spear, altering its trajectory.

Clang!

Deflecting an eight-star Awakener's all-out spear thrust was harder than shooting a bullet at a fly’s wing midair, but the Stigma of Hourglass made it possible.

“H-Huh?”

Before Park Geon-Woo could regain control of his disrupted spear, Kwon Oh-Jin activated a different Stigma.

Back to the Stigma of Lyra.

As time reverted to its normal flow, a fierce blue lightning surged from his spear.

“I won’t be the one dying here,” he said, bracing the spear shaft against his side and pulling his right foot back. Using his left foot as a pivot, he twisted and aggressively thrust the spear at Park Geon-Woo’s exposed side.

Slash!

The spear struck true, piercing through Park Geon-Woo’s side and tearing upward in a clean arc toward his neck.

“Gah! Ugh! Kugh!”

Blood foamed in his mouth as he rabidly convulsed.

Kwon Oh-Jin twisted the spear violently, puncturing through his adversary's flesh.

Crack!

The light in Park Geon-Woo’s eye slowly faded away.

Kwon Oh-Jin exhaled, his breath slightly ragged. A grin crept onto his lips.

“Phew.”

He recalled the sensation of when the world paused in his mind.

This is better than I imagined.

He had high expectations since the "Ancient Constellations" sounded grand, yet this surpassed even his lofty hopes.

Well, the three-use limit is a bit of a downside, but that might change if my proficiency improves.

Considering its potential, the Stigma of Hourglass was an incredible gain.

“Great.”

Kwon Oh-Jin approached Park Geon-Woo’s corpse with a satisfied smile. Having won the fight, it was time to claim his reward.

Black Heaven.

Black clouds engulfed Park Geon-Woo’s body, and a massive flow of mana surged into Kwon Oh-Jin.

“

Pfftt!

As expected, the mana from an eight-star Awakener is on another level.”

In the past, he would have been satisfied with his existing mana reserve, but his recent adoption of mana-intensive skills like Exceed and Lightning Flames had left him struggling. The new loot brought an involuntary smile to his face.

Sizzle.

A familiar sensation washed over him as he absorbed the mana, and his vision blurred.

“Hmm?”

Am I getting more memories?

He squinted sharply, focusing on the images flowing into his mind.