Chapter 239 — Gourmet Association (2)

Persephone laughed softly.

[Why? Don’t you like it? The neighbouring archangel told me that this is your taste.]

“It is an absolute misunderstanding.”

[Hrmm...]

Persephone’s voice sounded regretful. For reference, Persephone was currently in the form of Yoo Jonghyuk. It was just fortunate that she wasn’t wearing a Chinese dress.

[Then how about this?]

“Wait...!” Before I could finish, Persephone’s appearance changed once again. I thought she would turn into Yoo Sangah in a Chinese dress but this time it was unexpected. “No, this...”

Persephone smiled and I flushed, despite knowing the other person was Persephone. Persephone was in the form of the ‘punisher’ that I had seen a while ago.

[I noticed that you couldn’t take your eyes off her at the time. Is it like this?]

The white skin was revealed through the side of the dress and I reflexively closed my eyes while shouting, “...Stop teasing!”

[Huhu, it is really funny.]

Persephone laughed like a child before once again transforming. This time, it was the appearance of Yoo Sangah. She had a tidy office look instead of the Chinese dress and garter belt. I saw this appearance from the days of Mino Soft and felt complicated. Yoo Sangah always spoke to me in this attire.

Yoo Sangah-ssi, please be well. I was a bit worried that she was with Han Sooyoung... still, it was Yoo Sangah so I believed she would be okay.

Persephone kept smiling.

[Follow me. I came to pick you up.]

I nodded and followed behind Persephone. I walked out of the waiting room and felt a bit nervous at some of the gazes of the constellations. I walked with Persephone and saw the constellations. I felt like I was her young servant for some reason.

Soon after, Persephone and I reached a huge elevator in the middle of the lobby. Maybe the Gourmet Association Festival would be held on the top floor of this castle.

The door of the elevator that resembled a huge crystal ball was opened and Persephone and I boarded. My body felt a bit heavier and the darkness of the Dark Dimension spread outside the transparent crystal wall. Beyond the horizon of the dimension, the magnificent world of the Star Stream was revealed.

[You are looking forward to it.]

“Rather than looking forward to it, I am a bit nervous.”

Persephone laughed as if she understood my heart.

[I’m glad you are alive. Last time you were an incarnation and now you are a constellation.]

“I’m still a newbie. I’m not sure it is okay for me to come here.”

I meant to be humble by Persephone’s expression hardened at my words.

[What do you think my position is in the Gourmet Association? Is it hard to take in a new member?]

“That’s not what I meant...”

[I’m just joking.]

“Please stop making fun of me.”

[Think of it as investing in advance since I don’t know how promising a constellation you will be in the future. It is something you will have to suffer one day.]

I felt it before but I didn’t know why this queen was so good to me. The only thing she asked for in exchange for taking the Breaking the Sky Sword Saint to Tartarus was to participate in this Gourmet Association Festival.

Maybe she knew. In fact, the condition of attending the Gourmet Association was beneficial for me, not her. She made a full-fledged debut for me as a constellation.

Persephone’s obsidian eyes were sparkling.

[How much is your status now? It can’t be narrative-grade.]

Perhaps the other constellations didn’t know that I was narrative-grade. I thought for a moment before replying, “I will be on the second floor at the next constellation banquet.”

Persephone’s eyes widened at my eyes. She guessed I would be great-grade at most. It was quite pleasurable to see the queen of the Underworld look so embarrassed. However, there was also deep concern mixed in her eyes.

[There will be constellations who feel jealous of you.]

“...”

[Some constellations will try to draw you to their side.]

“I’m expecting it.”

I was prepared. The constellations I would meet in the future wouldn’t be easy. They might be jealous of me or trying to pull me to their side. Either way, it was dangerous.

[However, most of the constellations will be indifferent to you.]

“...Huh?”

[Until now, you haven’t been able to feel it because you’ve gone to places where the influence of the Korean Peninsula scenario is great... Don’t forget, this is the Gourmet Association.]

The Gourmet Association. This was a grand gathering of high-ranking constellations in the Star Stream.

Suddenly, Persephone’s laughter seemed scary.

[I won’t act as a nanny like I did at the constellation banquet. This time, I want to see you act with your own strength.]

The door of the elevator opened with a ding and Persephone disappeared into the banquet hall. Left alone, I hesitated before getting out of the elevator.

[Some constellations show curiosity towards you.]

Some constellation glanced at me when I got off but the interest soon disappeared. It was rather fortunate. It would be hard to move if excessive interest was poured towards me.

Just as on the first floor lobby, there were no constellations who existed as symbolic bodies. Everyone was a humanoid or living being of this world. There wasn’t a single constellation here conscious about using probability.

Some of the constellations that occupied the banquet hall looked like those I read about in Ways of Survival. The first one to stand out was the man in a Viking outfit that occupied the centre of the banquet hall. It would be stranger if I didn’t recognize him with the giant hammer on his back.

[The best of the first generation stories is naturally the ‘Dragon Eating the Hammer.’]

The constellation of the nebula Asgard, Thursday’s Thunder was speaking in an excited voice. Then a woman replied from the other side.

[What do you mean? The best is obviously the ‘Children of Dawn.’ The rating is also the highest.]

She was a goddess wearing a white dress embroidered with stars. If I remembered correctly, she was a constellation of the Guardian Tree nebula, the ‘Dawn Star Goddess.’

It seemed there was a controversy over which story was the best. Fighting over which story was the best, it was exactly the same as what I read in Ways of Survival. It was clear what this place was like after seeing the high-ranking constellations that were hard to see on the Korean Peninsula. Even the powerful ‘Persephone’ was just a normal constellation in the Gourmet Association.

[The constellation ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’ is cheering for you.]

Luckily, the sole comfort was that the ‘channel was still functioning. Yes, I couldn’t be discouraged in a place like this.

I quietly approached one of the central groups in the Gourmet Association and talked to one of the surrounding constellations.

“Ex...”

However, no one looked at me. It was as if I didn’t exist to the constellation here. I gathered my courage and tapped on the shoulder of the constellation besides me.

“Excuse me.”

This time, there was a reaction. The constellation looked at me before brushing past my shoulder and walking to the centre of the hall.

「 Kim Dokja knew this feeling very well. 」

I felt like I was alone in this world. Suddenly, the voices of the many constellations felt distant. They were clearly in the same place but they were elsewhere. I understood what Persephone meant by ‘indifference.’ The Gourmet Association was building their own barrier to prevent new people like me from entering.

[The constellation Demon-like Judge of Fire is looking at you with sad eyes.]

...But I couldn’t give up. I had to somehow create a crack.

I broadened my vision and looked around the periphery of the Gourmet Association. In addition to the constellations chatting in the centre of the banquet hall, there were also people standing alone. They were also members of the Gourmet Association and would certainly be powerful.

The edge of the banquet hall contained numerous panels like those seen in the waiting room. They were videos of scenarios taking place all over the world. I looked closer and saw the moment I became the Demon King of Salvation displayed on a small screen in the corner.

However, no constellations were watching it. The Korean Peninsula scenario that I went through was just one passing story. The panel next to it was showing a real-time broadcast of the Korean Peninsula. It seemed to be Bihyung’s channel.

On the screen, a good-looking girl with a bob was speaking nonsense.

-That jerk Kim Dokja, I’m sure he is feeling delighted right now.

I couldn’t help smiling at the familiar voice. Han Sooyoung wouldn’t be able to talk this crap if she knew where I was right now.

-Hey, are you doing well picking up the Abyss Stones? You have to gather it well. You will be glad when you need to use it later.

-...Did Dokja-ssi really give this order?

-Of course!

I felt great longing as I saw Han Sooyoung and Yoo Sangah on the screen. I thought I would be more depressed if I kept watching and turned to another panel.

The screen contained a common ‘mass-produced story.’ The story was called ‘Legend of the Legendary Return from Another World.’ It had a third-rate smell just from the title and the contents were obviously about a returnee who saved the world and was happy Still, it was worth watching. It somehow resembled Ways of Survival... the protagonist’s speech was similar to Yoo Jonghyuk. I watched the story and a message emerged.

[Do you want to enter a star rating?]

Oh, it was a system that gave stars to every story. I placed my hand carefully to the ‘star point’ box next to it. At this moment, someone’s voice was heard.

[This is my favourite story.]

I looked back and saw an old man standing there. I responded lightly, “It’s an interesting story.”

[Huhu, is that right? This friend has good taste.]

In fact, it was a story that didn’t fit the Gourmet Association that I knew. The Gourmet Association didn’t like these mass-produced stories. The constellations of the Gourmet Association were sick and tired of it once concepts such as ‘ninth circle’ and ‘sword master’ came out. This Legend of the Legendary Return from Another World had both of them.

“Are you the contributor of this story?”

[That’s right. Keke. I show it every year. I just wanted to know one more person to know the story. It is a really nice and fun story but I don’t know how to say it.]

“That feeling, I understand it.”

Somehow, I was glad. I also posted about Ways of Survival on every community site I went to while reading it. Most people just swore at me but... in any case, this old man was similar to me.

The old man sighed and added, [These guys just scoff if I recommend it. The younger ones already have high eyes... they are busy with the first generation stories.]

It was a really unexpected remark. Certainly, there was an uptight part to the Gourmet Association. The higher their position in the Star Stream, the stronger the tendency.

At this time, the mutters of passing constellations were heard.

[The steady person is here again.]

[Tsk tsk, he has no idea about a good story because of his age...]

...Steady person? It seemed to be a nickname for the old man by my side. I recalled that there was a constellation with a similar nickname in Ways of Survival...

[Get this thing off! It isn’t a story and should fuck off!]

At this moment, the star rating attached to the Legend of the Legendary Return from Another World changed.

★ 1.3/5 -> ★ 1.1/5

The rating became lower. It was obvious who was doing it.

[T-These guys!]

It was the so-called ‘star point terror.’ The old man screamed at the disappearing constellations. I thought I understood the old man’s feelings and brought a hand to the star point section.

“I don’t think the story is terrible enough to get this score.”

There was a beep and the star point increased. The old man turned his head towards me at the sound.

“In fact, I’m not sure why there is a score on the stories. Every story has value. It is a story that is interesting to some people and salvation for others.”

The old man was startled by my words. He licked his lips a few times before murmuring with admiration.

[You aren’t like young constellations these days... you have a great sense of value...]

“It’s nothing.”

Everyone would think like me if they endured a story like Ways of Survival. The old man’s mood relaxed and he smiled at me.

[You seem to be good company. What’s your modifier? I didn’t have a chance to ask.]

Was this going to be a good story? I smiled and declared, [I am the Demon King of Salvation.]