The Celestial Returned From Hell - Chapter 422

‘What?’

It was always nerve-wracking to receive a proposal from a constellation, especially if the person who received it wasn’t close to that constellation.

The Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place was a constellation who had worked in harmony with Choi Yeonseung a few times, but it was difficult to fully trust her.

–I still don’t know what this constellation is up to.

–I’ve encountered her in a constellation battle before, but it’s hard to completely trust her. She has a household member in the Icarus clan, but…

Illeya, the household member of the Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place, was a member of the Icarus clan, but Choi Yeonseung didn’t think that the observer constellation would be especially kind to him just because of that.

Constellations were such formidable beings that one couldn’t get in their good graces just by taking care of one of their household members.

“What’s the proposal?”

[The ‘Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place’ says you will find out if you go where she tells you to.]

“Hmm…”

“No, Chairman!”

“?”

Whittaker had said that in a low voice so that only Choi Yeonseung could hear.

“Why not?”

“It’s obviously a trap.”

“You have any proof of that?”

“That constellation is very dangerous!”

“…Is there anything else?”

“Listen!”

Whittaker noticed that Choi Yeonseung’s gaze quickly became colder and hurriedly made an excuse.

It might’ve been different in the past, but Choi Yeonseung currently had full power in the group. If he disliked someone, he could easily send them to the Hawaiian branch of Dragon Industry to pick pineapples.

“That…”

Whittaker explained what happened during the raid for the mechanical dragon. After listening attentively, Choi Yeonseung was puzzled.

“Didn’t she just tell you to fight hard?”

“…That’s what she said, but her tone was terrifying. She was going to kill me…”

“Well, if her household member is fighting and one of her comrades tries to flee, it’s natural for the constellation to be furious..”

“…”

–That human isn’t cool at all.

The goddess of sloth didn’t really buy into Whittaker’s warning, and Choi Yeonseung nodded in approval.

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ says that it doesn’t seem to be a trap.]

–Thank you, goddess.

Neither Choi Yeonseung nor the goddess of balance saw any significant threats after using Future Sight. Moreover, even if it was in fact a trap, Choi Yeonseung wasn’t too worried.

Wasn’t this Earth?

There were nine or ten Russian clans nearby. There were also raid groups that consisted of A-grade hunters from Japan and China. In addition, Illaphael was still present, along with the household members of the angel constellation…

‘Any constellation who tries to set a trap for me in this situation is an idiot.’

Indeed, no sane constellation would even consider that in those circumstances.

“Alright, where should I go?”

***

On the outskirts of Vladivostok, there was a hunter district called Eagle Street.

Every country had a specific area where all the clans and hunters gathered. The atmosphere of such districts was different depending on the security of the city.

The clan districts in Yongsan and Cheonggyecheon in Seoul were so clean and sophisticated that they attracted many tourists from overseas, but the Eagle Street located on the outskirts of Vladivostok…

“…”

“…”

The Icarus clan hunters who were following Choi Yeonseung frowned as they whispered to each other.

“You can almost smell the crime here…”

“Isn’t it worse than the slums?”

Their surroundings seemed decrepit at first, as though hunters were committing crimes as they were walking down the street.

Moreover, there weren’t just Russian hunters there. It was a diverse area where Chinese, Japanese, and Korean hunters could also be seen!

“People say that you can make more money by becoming a criminal rather than a hunter after awakening, but… This is ridiculous.’

Choi Yeonseung clicked his tongue as he witnessed the sheer scale of this.

People often thought that hunters lived lavish lives under the sun, but there were more hunters committing crimes in the dark than they thought.

After all, it was incredibly easy to get away with crime by using the simplest telekinetic or fire magic. If hunters also used alchemy, potions, and other illegal substances from the Abyss, the crime rate naturally skyrocketed.

“Shit, aren’t they from the Icarus clan?

“What are they doing here?”

“They aren’t here to bust us, right? They don’t have such plans, right?”

The hunters who were on the side of the road quickly went indoors, fear visible on their expressions.

That was only natural. The Icarus hunters were whispering to each other, but by no means were they afraid. They were strong enough to confidently stroll down these streets.

At first glance, a gang of criminals seemed scary and powerful, but that was just by the standards of normal civilians.

Icarus was a fierce clan, all members being B-grade and above.

There was no way that hunters who entered dungeons and killed monsters would be intimidated by some thugs. They were confident that their healer could deal with all these criminals by himself.

“Oh, you’re Korean? It’s nice to see you.”

Choi Yeonseung waved to one of the hunters passing by, but he replied with a frozen expression, “Kon-Konnichiwa…”

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says that the other person is probably Japanese.]

‘No, he seems like a Korean pretending to be Japanese.’

It seemed common for hunters to lie about their home country when causing problems abroad.

“Is this place right?”

Illeya nodded in response to Choi Yeonseung’s question.

“There are other household members of the Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place inside.”

“Oh…”

Choi Yeonseung’s expectations rose after hearing her explanation. Other household members of the observer constellation gathered here?

‘A place where the household members of the Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place are gathered… That’s just like a realm.’

Choi Yeonseung thought of the kingdoms of the constellations in the Abyss.

Creating an Abyss-like kingdom on Earth required a huge amount of power of existence, but it wasn’t that difficult if the space was narrow.

–There are many treasures that can be found in the extremely cold regions of the Abyss.

The goddess of sloth also seemed intrigued. If the observer constellation had created her own realm here and developed various elixirs and treasures…

The value would be significant.

Choi Yeonseung nodded and opened the door.

“…”

“…”

Choi Yeonseung, Illeya, and the other hunters were speechless when they saw what was inside.

Inside the shabby, factory-like building, there was a mountain of artifacts.

***

Lee Cheolgyu, a Korean E-grade hunter, scratched his head. He had been here for six months, but he still wondered if he had made the right choice.

-Hunter Lee Cheolgyu, our company needs a talent like you!

–Huh??But I’m only E-grade?

-The rank doesn’t matter! It’s your potential that impressed us, Hunter Lee Cheolgyu!

-A… Alright!I see!

For Lee Cheolgyu, who had always been despondent over the fact that he was merely E-grade and had no skills, this scouting offer was very tempting.

If he didn’t accept it, he would probably have to join a group of hunters so small that one couldn’t even call it a clan. He would have to hunt pathetic monsters that were almost harmless…

Indeed, no matter how he looked at it, this offer was a lifeline.

…That was what he thought back then.

The problem was that the foreign company turned out to be a sham. It was located on the sketchy outskirts of Vladivostok, and it was owned by several criminal gangs!

Smuggling artifacts from place to place, erasing traces, changing the appearance, repairing broken parts and selling them cheaply to hunters—that was what this company dealt with.

Hunters and clans were probably aware that their artifacts had been smuggled, but they would turn a blind eye as long as the price was right.

That was how this business thrived.

…But now the A-grade hunters who were on the news had just barged into their factory…

“???”

“W-what? Who are you?!”

[The ‘Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place’ apologizes.]

[The ‘Goddess of Discord and Estrangement’ is extremely angry! She asks the observer constellation if she’s betraying her!]

[The ‘Giant with the First Flame’ warns that he will hold you accountable.]

‘…’

–What the hell is going on…?

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ is getting excited!]

The constellations were growling at each other, and Choi Yeonseung quickly realized what was going on.

It was impossible for one single group to smuggle so many artifacts here. Multiple organizations had to be involved, and they had to cooperate with hunters and clans from various countries.

Organizations that were involved in such dirty work usually served evil god constellations.

The evil god constellations must’ve joined forces to run this factory… But the Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place had just revealed it to Choi Yeonseung.

It was absurd from the viewpoint of the evil god constellations. The efforts of their subordinates had been wasted!

“I’m sorry,” said Choi Yeonseung before stepping aside.

It didn’t matter if there was a fight among constellations. He had to take away these artifacts.

‘I’ll take everything with me.’

–Are you going to find the owners and return the artifacts to them?

–What? What kind of nonsense is that?

-...

The goddess of sloth was taken aback by Choi Yeonseung’s blunt reply.

[The ‘Goddess of Discord and Estrangement’ warns you not to approach.]

[The ‘GIant with the First Flame’ warns you not to approach.]

Of course, Choi Yeonseung paid no heed to their warnings.

The Goddess of Discord and Estrangement and the Giant with the First Flame were very prominent evil god constellations, but Choi Yeonseung wasn’t scared of them.

“Go in and grab the artifacts.”

“Roger!”

The Icarus hunters stormed in, checked the artifacts, and proceeded to gather them.

“Stick to the wall! Stick to the wall and don’t move!”

“I’ll blow off your head if you move a finger!”

The hunters from the factory were terrified and didn’t dare to stop them or make any moves.

[The ‘Goddess of Discord and Estrangement’ suggests a compromise!]

[The ‘Giant with the First Flame’ criticizes you for dishonorably stealing other people’s wealth!]

‘The constellations are noisier than I thought.’

A constellation like the Warrior Stained with Madness and Blood would’ve probably attacked him, but these two constellations weren’t the type to fight, so they just kept warning him.

Of course, they were wasting their breath. Such insults didn’t work on humans in the first place.

[The ‘Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place’ asks how you like his gift.]

“It’s great! Thank you.”

Choi Yeonseung was frankly satisfied.

Even though he hadn’t found any hunters to join his kingdom or special items only found in the extreme cold, he was pleased with this mountain of artifacts.

[The ‘Goddess of Discord and Estrangement’ proposes a deal. She promises to reward you if you release her subordinates.]

“What reward?”

Choi Yeonseung had been ignoring the loud constellations while taking the artifacts, but he paid attention to this offer.

The constellation didn’t ask him to return the artifacts, but just to turn a blind eye to what her subordinates were doing here. It wasn’t that big of a request.

[The ‘Goddess of Discord and Estrangement’ says that she knows the location of the nightmare demons who escaped from the dungeon.]

‘Nightmare demons?’

The Russian clans, who were heavily indebted to the overseas hunters, burned with motivation as they heard that.

–There’s nothing to worry about.Now that we know about these monsters, there’s no way we can’t beat them!

–We’ll kill them all.

Choi Yeonseung also thought that the Russian hunters wouldn’t lose against the nightmare demons after obtaining so much information about them. Besides, weren’t there many A-grade hunters among them?

But…

‘It won’t do any harm to at least listen.’

“Tell me. Where are the nightmare demons hiding?”

[The ‘Goddess of Discord and Estrangement’ confesses that they are by her household members’ side.]

“Ah, so they’re following your orders?”

[…The ‘Goddess of Discord and Estrangement’ confesses that her household members aren’t listening to her orders because they are possessed by nightmare demons.]

“…”

-…

[…]

Choi Yeonseung thought to himself, ‘All the goddesses I’ve met are a bit strange.’

–Successor?

–Ah, of course, I wasn’t talking about you.

-…How many goddesses do you know?