Episode 1 – Starting the Paid Service (4)

The subway station was quiet for a while as if giving the survivors time to grieve about their actions. Some people adapted to this world quickly while some did not.

The ones that failed to adapt to the new world were laying on the ground without their heads. Indeed, this place has become a bloodbath.

[Compensation settlement is delayed due to an unexpected scenario check. Please wait.]

The compensation settlement should've started right now but only an error message floated in the air.

The cause was unknown. Wait... I think what might have caused this error message.

[Due to helping a major character survive, a few constellations look at you with interest.]

Constellations. It was a name I was expecting to hear. If there was scenarios, there will obviously be constellations watching the show. Those bastards above watching from their distant nebula were the masterminds of the tragedy.

Once the constellations arrived, the tragedy will start in the earnest.

[A handful of constellations admire your scenario.]

[The constellations have sponsored you 500 coins.]

Bloody bastards. Once they were given a good show, they will throw some coins as if they were watching monkeys in a cage. Despite my hatred for the constellations, I could do anything about them.

However, that didn't mean I will let them go. Once I gain enough strength, I will climb up there and stab their throats. That I promise.

"Hey, are you okay?"

The woman I survived run up towards me. Blood covered most of her clothing. She must have had a hard time killing.

The woman looked past my shoulders and saw the dead grandmother laying on the floor. Her expression stiffened.

"Don't feel sad. That grandma was going to die anyways."

"W-Who is feeling sad? You're talking as if I did not know. Geez, everyone went crazy."

The woman scratched the back of her head and then opened her mouth.

"Anyways, thank you for before. Here, take this."

She tried to return the knife but I just pushed it away.

"What are you doing? I said I don't need that, keep it."

"Hey now, don't be stubborn. Just take it back."

"Aren't you the one being stubborn?"

"You... Fine. But don't come asking for it later."

That was not going to happen. I ignored the woman for the time being and stared into the empty space. That bastard was going to appear soon.

[Wow, amazing.]

The dokkkaebi appeared and looked around in shock.

[Did something happen when I was watching the other carriages! This place is a mess.]

There was a mixture of delight and surprise on the dokkaebi's face. The dokkkaebi didn't care about human suffering and only cared about the channel.

[What's this? So many people connected to the channel. Isn't this amazing? Gosh, thank you so much, dear constellations! Hey, all of you! Did you properly prove your value?]

The remaining survivors gritted their teeth against the dokkkaebi but didn't say anything. They were afraid of having their head explode so they just silently cursed the dokkkaebi.

[Isn't the number of survivors high here? Maybe even more than the carriages. What an interesting story.]

The dokkkaebi manipulated something in the air and the list of all the survivors appeared.

[Survivors from Hongdae subway station to Bulgwang station: Park Junghyuk, Han Sooyoung, Saeki Masumi, Lee Kihyun and Guk Yongsun. A total of five people.]

Once the names were revealed, everything became clear. I took a close look at the woman next to me.

A small face with sharp canines and white skin. Short black hair that reaches her shoulders and a beauty mark underneath one eye. Indeed, this person was Han Sooyoung.

What an interesting development.

"Will you release us now?! You got what you wanted, Isn't that right? What's the point of keeping us here."

Lee Kihyun shouted with a torn shirt. One of his cheeks were swollen and he had a black eyes as if someone had given him a beating.

Speaking of which, what happened to that other guy? Did Lee Kihyun manage to kill him? I guess a famous pop singer still has basic survival instincts.

[Outside? You want to go outside? Pfff! I guess you haven't seen outside so you don't know.]

"What are you saying? Hey, don't ignore me!"

Lee Kihyun flared his arms around but the dokkkaebi ignored him and continued speaking.

[Still you struggled so much, don't you all deserve a reward? Yes, there is a reward for something like this. The reward is the entitlement to the constellation sponsorship. Hahahaha! Hm.. hm.. hm?]

The dokkkaebi looked confused and tilted his head here and there. Wasn't that the cute behaviour of a penguin?

[What's with your lack of reaction? This is a pretty big deal, you know?]

The reaction was natural. Nobody here knew what a constellation sponsorship was except from me and Han Sooyoung.

"Sorry for our lack of reaction, but nobody here knows what a constellation sponsorship is?"

[Ah! That's right. Oh silly me! I forgot to explain again. Anyways, so it's basically like this. Right now, you are incredibly weak. If you are suddenly thrown into the main scenarios, you will be eaten alive by small ground rats. But there are some great beings in the universe that pity on you and would like to sponsor you. It's simple, right?]

"I don't understand. Who is sponsoring whom? And what are these great beings?"

[Geez, why are you so slow? How did you manage to live your life with that empty head? Anyways, you will be experiencing it shortly.]

Everyone suddenly became silent. I knew why because a small system window had appeared infront of me as well.

[Sponsor Selection]

-Please select your sponsor

-Your chosen sponsor will be your strong supporter.

*Queen of the Darkest Spring

*Demon-like Judge of Fire

*Secret Plotter

*Devil of Lust and Fury

There were four options appeared before me. It meant there were four constellations that wanted to turn me into their incarnation.

The sponsorship contract was simple. Once I was turned into the incarnation of a constellation, I would receive their support throughout the scenarios until I perish. However, once a sponsorship contract with a chosen constellation has been established, it was impossible to choose another constellation as your support constellation.

But there were a few instances where an entire nebula supported a single incarnation. For example, look at the Prophet of Olympus.

In any case, I looked through my options one by one. The constellations never revealed their true name. Therefore, all contractors must infer the identity of the constellations on their own.

Okay, let's see.

First, we have the 'Queen of the Darkest Spring'.

Hmm, this one was a very big constellation. I wonder how I even caught her attention. Her name is Persephone, the wife of Hades and the Queen of the 'Underworld' nebula. It is said that she has equal status of Hades in the Underworld as ruler.

She was good constellation to have a sponsor but I will have to pass.

The second one, Demon-like Judge of Fire.

Once I saw this one, I was confused. Despite her misleading modifier, she was actually a constellation belonging to the Absolute Good Faction.

If I recalled corrected, her name was Archangel Uriel... But why would a constellation of absolute good be interested in me?

No matter how I thought about it, it was really strange. Either way, I was not going to choose her. The constellations of 'absolute good' imposed ridiculous constraints if you wanted to use their enormous power.

The third, Secretive Plotter. Who the hell is this? I haven't heard of this constellation even when I was a Disaster. Maybe I must have heard its name and forgot about it. After all, thousand years was a very long time.

Then lastly, Devil of Lust and Fury

Wait, did I just see that right? My eyes opened very wide to a dangerous level.

Asmodeus. The master of the 32rd Demon World and the 13th ranked Demon King. Not only did I manage to attract too top constellations, I even managed to attract the attention of a Demon King.

But that was not the main reason why I was acting this way. Coincidentally, I knew this dark constellation because he was one of the few constellations to watch me when I was still the 'King of Disasters'.

How did he manage to find me on Earth? This guy was bad news. I have to avoid him at all costs.

Thankfully, I already knew the support constellation I was going to pick. None. In fact, I already decided that I will not receive the help of a support constellation.

[There is one minute left to complete the Sponsor Selection.]

Time was running out. I folded my arms and quietly watched the timer count down. It was a nonchalant attitude but there was a good reason for my decision. In the first place, the sponsor contract was never fair to begin with.

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait for long.