“Chief of Public Safety?”
Hwaru blinked. Chief of Public Safety—that meant the head of the entire Imperial Security Bureau of the Hattengraj Empire. Currently, that position was held by the world rank #6 Constellation, the Fortune–Misfortune Constellation□.
“That’s right!”
The old man, staring at the photo with a hazy gaze, suddenly straightened his back and saluted. “Salute to the Chief of Public Safety! Chief! Safe!” he shouted, prompting the agents around him to laugh awkwardly.
“He’s got dementia, after all...”
Ah...
Just then, the old man glanced around.
“Chief! Safe!”
The agents played along, and Hwaru raised her hand in salute as well.
“Alright, sir. It’s time for your patrol now.”
“Mm? Oh, look at me, losing my mind!”
The agents gently escorted Grandpa Majayong outside.
Left alone, Hwaru pondered deeply.
‘Professor Dante... no one knows where he came from, right?’
Dominic, who was well-versed in information networks, had tried digging into Professor Dante’s background from every angle. But he said the man had no past. Not as an assassin, not as a professor. He didn’t even have a family.
‘But if this old man says he served under the Chief of Public Safety... 120 years ago......’
Hwaru thought hard. Professor Dante always said he was thirty years old. But how could a thirty-year-old be above Challenger rank, be the owner of a national treasure, be suspected of killing a Constellation, and publish a paper at the Soltia Conference that flipped the world upside down?
“Agent.”
“Yes?”
“Could I possibly get a list of Chiefs of Public Safety who served during Grandpa Majayong’s active duty?”
“Oh, yes, sure. If you’re curious, that’s not hard to check. But honestly, the old man’s mind goes in and out, so I wouldn’t take it too seriously...”
She checked it anyway. From around 100 years ago up to 60 years ago—Chiefs of Public Safety came and went every few years.
‘There are too many...’
Names of old-generation Constellations showed up: Cross Constellation†, Peaceful Constellation☮, Radiant Constellation⁺₊⋆, Struggle Constellationж... but none of them resembled Dante in the slightest.
Until—one set of eyes caught hers.
‘Huh?’
Those eyes.
The photo was faded and color-washed, as most were from that era.
But upon closer look... they were pink.
A faint pink, passed down only through the royal bloodline of Hiaka. The same color that hinted at Elise’s royal lineage.
‘......Is it this man?’
Fwoosh.
A wave of impulse surged up.
An overwhelming urge to scream it out loud.
But she had to hold it in...! She’d already been dragged in front of Professor Dante multiple times for running her mouth and getting chewed out by Dominic......
‘Ugh.’
But what now? Her damn mouth was twitching again on its own......
[ What Dominic Witnessed ]
It was a small territory in the southern empire.
With Professor Dante on his side, Dominic wielded near-dictatorial power.
“That bird’s a nuisance. (shoo)”
A flick of his hand, and the next day, every bird near the logistics center vanished.
“W-Wait, you didn’t kill them all, did you...?”
“Nope. Just drove them off. You said they were harmful.”
“......”
Dominic wiped the sweat off his chest. Whew... thank god.
Anyway.
While living in paradise like this, Dominic decided to expand “operations” in this industry.
‘Finally, an expansion.’
Outwardly, Dominic looked like just another underachieving assassin cadet. But in truth, he was a top-level user in this industry.
How high-level? He ranked just below the Chairman of Hiaka Academy.
Thanks to that experience, he was able to reach out into the empire’s side of this industry.
▶ This Industry│ㅅㅇ) Message Board
Access complete.
Upon connecting, Dominic realized—he ranked in the top ten even within the empire.
‘Wait, seriously? I might actually be amazing... ww’
Then he stumbled upon something surprising.
Among the high-level user chatrooms available to him, there was a group chat for the Constellations.
‘What?’
Dominic’s hand froze.
It was a private chatroom for neutral Constellations.
Current members: Fire, Water, Wood, Earth, Wind, Metal—and the name of the group chat was a title even Dominic recognized as belonging to a famous imperial faction:
“Elemental Banquet”
‘T-The Elemental Banquet chatroom...... gulp’
He got nervous.
One of the core features of this industry was its baseline of stealth│ㅅㅇ). You never knew when a chatroom like this would appear again. Even if you entered, your presence wouldn’t be noticed easily.
And you never knew when your stealth might break.
This industry ran on a principle—essentially, you were just borrowing the shared gaze of the stealth spirit│ㅅㅇ).
‘If I get caught... I might seriously die......’
This was the private space of Constellations.
Curiosity kills the cat.
‘But I’m a pig.’
Dominic hit [Enter].
After that, Dominic occasionally spied on their conversations, but they were... surprisingly disappointing.
‘What the hell.’
He’d expected discussions on the laws of the universe, end of the world prophecies, strategic dominion over royal capitals, or the locations of ancient national treasure-class artifacts...
But all they talked about were real estate prices, hot restaurants, and trash-talking other Constellations. That was it.
Disappointed by the contrast, he was about to give up.
Fire: You guys there?
A previously quiet member spoke up.
Fire: Someone answer. There’s a huge issue right now.
Fire: Like, really huge.
Ice: ??
Wind: What is it?
Fire: The Death God Assassins are heading to Legorian.
Legorian?
Dominic blinked.
Legorian was where the Imperial Legorian Research Institute was located. The very place Professor Dante had gone for his paper interview and presentation.
And the Death God Assassins were one of the deadliest assassin groups on the continent.
A cult assassination group led by the Constellation of DeathΩ.
There was a well-known case: world rank #5, the “Grand Duke of the North, Rewohyadan,” was killed by a surprise attack from five Challenger-level assassins of the Death God Sect.
That was how lethal this group was.
Ice: Why would the Death God go there?
Fire: Apparently Dante Hiakapo is there. For an interview and presentation.
Reactions exploded.
Ice: Dante Hiakapo... that pink drug guy?
Water: Why? Because of the paper? That thing’s blown up.
Wind: This is interesting.
After that, Blazing Constellation Fire—Uki—remarked that Dante was probably working in disguise, but the Death God Assassins would surely try to track him down and kill him.
Gasp...
Panicked, Dominic hurriedly informed Hwaru and Forte of the situation.
Forte, just as shocked, rushed to relay the news to Professor Dante as well.
That an assassin group was coming after him.
Meanwhile, an odd, intriguing conversation continued in the chat.
Wind: But this is strange.
Fire: What is?
Wind: Ω usually targets people who try to transcend humanity. Those who try to become stars. Four Constellations have been assassinated already.
Wind: But Professor Dante isn’t even registered in the rankings, right? Sure, he seems decently powerful, but if he’s not even a [Constellation], why would Ω target him?
Various theories flew around. Among them, someone offered this:
Ice: Maybe it’s not Dante they’re after. Maybe it’s something else.
***
The reason I, who had always maintained my air of mystery, ended up heading to the Imperial Legorian Research Institute was just one thing.
“Professor. Welcome.”
This handsome, good-natured professor—Hicks Bohr—had extended the invitation.
He was the young professor who had carried considerable influence at the Soltia Conference. Upon further investigation, I learned he was already well-known for his independent research in magic. And surprisingly, he had strong ties to the imperial family.
‘On top of that.’
There was something even more surprising.
‘He was the first in the Empire to insist that we must be wary of something pretending to be human.’
As a player, I move with the certainty that demons exist, but he, an NPC, had discovered traces of demons and issued warnings about them.
‘This could be a real opportunity.’
Currently, the Pink Drug had no influence in the Empire or Kreutz. I needed to expand that influence.
【 Hicks Bohr: “What a fine man you are.” 】
Also—Hicks Bohr wasn’t a demon.
The appearance of a 【Script】 was the proof.
“Thank you for the warm welcome.”
“Nonsense! It’s I who should thank you for gracing Legorian with your presence. Come, let’s not linger here—let’s dine.”
The place he led me to was, surprisingly, a restaurant aboard a massive anti-gravity yacht.
The yacht glided along the beautiful imperial river, floating above the water without touching it, tilting gently as it moved.
A feast was laid out on the snow-white deck.
It was a world of the rich—something I had never seen even in-game.
The meal was pleasant.
Despite being on water, it was calm. No rocking. Soft music by musicians set the mood perfectly.
Among it all, the pink-lacquered, exquisitely prepared lamb chops were the crowning jewel.
As a specialist in [Illusion], someone who understood the sensory limits of the human body, I could tell—this was brushing up against one of the absolute peaks of what human taste could register.
Even the light champagne was delightful.
“Professor. The Pink Drug is truly a magnificent study.”
Bohr finally broached the real topic.
“My wife... was killed by something wearing human skin. What you’d call a ‘demon.’”
“I slaughtered that thing and began researching what they really are. But strangely, the Empire showed no real interest in those monsters.”
“From the Security Bureau all the way up to the royal family.”
I nodded.
“Did you know? After you revealed the Pink Drug, the major meetings of the Empire’s Security Bureau and royal family all came to a halt.”
As expected, things were moving just as I had hoped.
“That must mean...”
“The demons sitting in those rooms have begun scrambling to survive.”
At my words, Hicks Bohr gave a slow, heavy nod.
“Can you identify the one in charge? It must be a demon.”
“That would be difficult for now. In the Empire, the royal family and Security Bureau wield absolute power.”
“I heard you’re of royal lineage yourself, Professor Bohr.”
At that, he pulled down his collar to reveal his chest. There, glowing faintly, was a blue imperial sigil.
「 ✯ 」
It was the sigil of Transcendence✯.
“I may not look it, but I’m part of the royal family. Though, I’m politically inept, so my standing is quite low.”
He sighed and leaned back in his chair.
“If only someone like Shadowless Constellation○ were still around, they could infiltrate the palace and uncover who the demons are. But that person vanished more than ten years ago.”
Shadowless Constellation○, huh...
Come to think of it, Elize had recently gathered a huge number of Dante Assassination Squad patches, saying she’d soon be able to exchange them for an S-class patch.
She’d probably ask me to help find her father.
“How extensive is the demon infiltration in the Security Bureau?”
“Ah, that’s still unclear, but I suspect the Chief Inspector or even the Chief himself.”
The Chief or the Inspector?
That meant the very top.
“If the current Chief is the Fortune–Misfortune Constellation□...”
“Yes. In the worst-case scenario, it could be them. Otherwise, there’s no reason for every top-level meeting to suddenly shut down like this.”
He brought out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth with a grave expression.
“It’s shameful. That I’m discussing my country’s affairs with a foreign professor.”
“There’s no shame in it. This isn’t a matter of nations—it’s a matter of humanity.”
“Thank you.”
Hicks Bohr smiled.
Main Story Paradigm 4 had ended in a complete success.
Thanks to that, many things were beginning to change. And more and more, the Constellations’ points of contact were starting to revolve around me.
“Let’s drink to it. For humanity.”
Bohr raised his glass.
“For humanity.”
Clink—
At the moment our glasses met, a beautiful light burst and shimmered between them.
What was this?
“Aha, Radiant Constellation⁺₊⋆ is blessing us with a Stigma!”
Bohr’s eyes lit up in delight.
He was right.
Radiant Constellation was blessing this meeting.
At the same time, this appeared:
┃ Gift from [Radiant Constellation⁺₊⋆]
┃ Reward: Star Fragments ×10
‘Here we go again...’
In truth, this had happened several times over the past six months.
For example, at Adele’s birthday party. Or whenever I was agonizing over research. Radiant Constellation⁺₊⋆ had been sending gifts.
I turned my gaze and checked the status window I had buried at the bottom.
< Would you like to become the Human Companion of Radiant Constellation⁺₊⋆? >
It was still there.
Radiant Constellation⁺₊⋆’s Constellation Proposal.
‘Why won’t he give up?’
It had been nearly half a year since I rejected the offer. But the proposal remained, not withdrawn. In the meantime, there hadn’t even been any rumors of a new companion being chosen.
‘He still wants me.’
It was strange.
‘Why does he want me this badly?’
It didn’t seem like it was just about accomplishments. If it were, the stars would’ve favored stronger candidates.
I hadn’t even registered on the Rankings yet, and even if I did, I’d barely scratch into the top 200.
‘Main Story 5 is probably going to be [Ranking War].’
I’d finally enter the official rankings and begin the competitive climb.
‘Maybe...’
That was when a strange thought occurred to me.
The reason Radiant Constellation⁺₊⋆ made a Constellation Proposal to someone as insignificant as me.
Maybe... he already knew me.
‘Shadowless Constellation○ has always been passed down through the Xikos bloodline.’
Eventually, Elize would inherit the next Constellation seat.
Same with the Black Star⚉—it was passed down through the Nibelung family.
Stars recognized lineage as well as power.
“Would you like another drink?”
At that moment, Professor Bohr personally offered another glass of champagne.
I reached for my glass, then paused.
Because of the [Minimap].
“Professor Bohr.”
“Yes?”
“Can you fight?”
“Of course. I may not look it, but I’m a [Grandmaster].”
But...
Something felt off.
‘Why are there so many?’
The red dots on the [Minimap]—far too many.
Not just ten or twenty.
‘At least forty......’
The target was ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) probably me.
But it wasn’t just one group.
‘They’re coming from both sides.’
One group seemed to be from Kreutz.
I set my glass down.
“Let’s get up. An assassination is coming.”