Episode 1: Miracle
WHOOSH!
Torrential rain poured down in thick streams.
Yet miraculously,
The raindrops pounding this vast wilderness couldn't approach one particular spot.
Or more precisely, one particular person.
SWOOSH!
A woman cut through the rain in a straight line, creating a sonic boom.
“She’s escaping!”
“Don’t let her get away!”
The variously armed pursuers behind her tried to give chase when—
“Enough.”
At the cold-faced middle-aged man’s command, they froze as if turned to stone.
An unbelievable sight, considering most were proud Chinese rankers.
“Chasing would only waste blood. The ritual comes first.”
For Jong Li-Chu, master of China’s sole guild, Continent Star, this was effortless.
His icy gaze fell on a severed head rolling on the ground.
“Kim Si-Hyuk…”
A vicious smile twisted Jong Li-Chu’s lips.
“Impressive for a small-country bastard. But that’s all. A fallen nation’s hero should know his place.”
He turned toward the makeshift altar prepared by support guild members.
“Am I not the one worthy to become a god? Kehahaha!”
The guild members knelt in unison, as if paying homage to an emperor of old.
CRACKLE!
Crimson lightning flashed across the sky as Jong Li-Chu spread his arms wide.
“See? I, Jong Li-Chu, have kept our bargain!”
The pouring rain suddenly stopped mid-fall,
Droplets hanging frozen in air like around the escaping woman earlier.
The rain curtain parted to reveal intertwining crimson lightning forming—
An eye.
An enormous eyeball filled their vision,
Its slit pupil fixed on Jong Li-Chu with terrifying intensity.
-Yes. You’ve done well, Jong Li-Chu.
The voice carried an unnatural chill that made hearts plummet—literally.
Weaker guild members collapsed like puppets with cut strings.
“Now uphold your end! Make me Earth’s Constellation—its divine creator!”
-Good.
The crimson eye vibrated as black smoke enveloped Jong Li-Chu.
System messages appeared:
[Constellation ??? requests birth of No.274 Earth’s Constellation]
[Analyzing situation…]
“At last!” Jong Li-Chu beamed.
But—
[Target unqualified.]
[Expanding search…]
“What?” His expression froze.
The black smoke around him shot outward like tendrils.
[Confirmed death of qualified Constellation candidate.]
[Terminating Galaxy Arena operations on No.274 Earth.]
[Withdrawing planetary protection.]
The smoke vanished alongside messages around Kim Si-Hyuk’s head.
FLASH!
The sky briefly shimmered with aurora before returning to normal.
Jong Li-Chu looked around bewildered.
-Tsk. You lack qualification, Jong Li-Chu.
The crimson eye’s mocking tone laid bare the truth.
“You bastard! You tricked—!”
-I deceived no one.
CRACK!
A lightning tendril speared Jong Li-Chu’s shoulder. Guild members screamed as crimson lightning impaled them.
-I requested your ascension. Simply…
Jong Li-Chu severed the vein-like tendril piercing him.
-You were unworthy.
“Bullshit! You said killing Kim Si-Hyuk would make me—!”
-True. I said:
The eye curved mockingly.
-‘If qualified Kim Si-Hyuk dies, would you not become Earth’s Constellation?’
-Ah! This moment never gets old.
“NEVERRRRR!!”
-I’ll enjoy consuming your world.
BANG!
“Hey, sis is here.”
Go Mal-Sook barged into the shabby shack, nearly breaking the flimsy door.
Her eyes swept past books, flasks, and pipe networks resembling blood vessels.
“Bastard. What’re you brewing now?”
She found Kim Si-Mun hunched over glowing magic circles, skeletal-thin like a famine victim.
“Alchemy isn’t about fun. It’s about transmutation.”
Go Mal-Sook tossed a bag beside him. “Present.”
Si-Mun’s expression hardened seeing the iridescent vial inside.
“…What happened?”
“Jong Li-Chu backstabbed your brother. Tossed this my way after the slaughter.”
She hesitated. “Aren’t you…angry?”
“Could you’ve killed him surrounded by Continent Star’s elites?”
Si-Mun stored the vial. “That’s why Si-Hyuk sent this.”
“Mal-Sook.”
“Goddammit! Call me Heavenly Demon!”
“People have names.”
“Fucker.” She lit a cigarette. “We’re even now. My revenge got your brother killed—”
“No.” His interruption was sharp. “Your vengeance was just. This is separate.”
Go Mal-Sook stood with a faint smile. “Leaving?”
“Gonna fight. Saw Jong Li-Chu summon something…terrifying.”
She paused at the door.
Creak.
A whisper cut through the storm: ‘…Thanks for everything.’
Si-Mun smiled. “Even the ‘Heavenly Demon’ softens facing death.”
He resumed his 95%-complete alchemical circle.
The vial’s contents shimmered—[Elixir], a mythical panacea.
Si-Mun checked his status window:
[Class: Magic
Level: 1
STR: 1 | AGI: 1 | CON: 3 | Mana: 0
Trait: Mana Disability]
A miracle he’d survived this long.
Pouring the Elixir onto a cracked Emerald Tablet at the circle’s center, he triggered the final transmutation.
CRACKLE!
Lightning filled the room, revealing—
[Philosopher’s Stone]
Bound to Si-Mun, it pulsed in his chest like a second heart.
BOOOOM!
Go Mal-Sook’s severed head rolled in, still grinning.
-Ho? The Philosopher’s Stone?
The crimson eye peered through the demolished ceiling.
-This world truly could birth a Constellation.
Si-Mun’s hand moved autonomously. SNAP!
White light formed a cosmic stela as system messages flooded:
[+1,000,000 AP!]
[Title gained: Watched by the Beyond]
-IMPOSSIBLE! roared the eye as Si-Mun collapsed, smiling.
‘Got you, bastard.’
