Ch-354. **Constellation of Purity**
—
Basara did not even spare a glance for Choi Kang-nam, who had collapsed unconscious.
To faint over something like this.
It wasn’t even worth looking at him with a gaze of contempt—he was that pathetic.
Instead, her attention was drawn to the message that had appeared.
A notice that the Hall’s rankings had changed.
Everyone who had progressed through Main Quest 6 would have received the same message.
And every one of them, upon seeing the rankings, would have reacted just as she did.
《1st – Park Hyun-myeong (1,000+?)》
The score was—truly strange.
Just moments ago, first place had been claimed with 370 points.
Yet now a number nearly three times that had appeared, and as if that weren’t enough, it even had a question mark attached.
Which meant—
*Over a thousand points. Impossible to estimate through conventional means…*
It signified that he had accomplished feats so unfathomable that they could not be calculated using the system’s standard scoring methodology.
And yet, the “scoring method” Basara had experienced until now was remarkably rational.
It always produced results that anyone could understand.
It never displayed question marks.
Which could only mean one thing:
the data used as the basis for scoring had piled up like a mountain.
*Trials accumulated over countless ages, and the achievements of the heroes who overcame them—all recorded and used as the foundation for scoring.*
After taking over this body, Basara had grasped the nature of the “system.”
What she understood was that the system was a vast aggregation of information that had existed for unimaginably long ages.
Main quests were structured according to the footsteps of heroes who had left behind great achievements, and scores were assigned based on those precedents.
Naturally, there was an upper limit to the score assigned to each main quest.
Information accumulated across eons.
Every type of trial related to that quest—and every method of clearing it—would already be recorded.
Unless a trial was cleared in a way that had never existed in this world before, a completely new challenge simply could not exist.
*Which means he cleared a dungeon that does not exist in this world—or one of a type that has never appeared even once before.*
Yet the appearance of a question mark meant that an entirely new variable had been introduced.
Either a dungeon of a completely unknown category had appeared—one absent from the system’s records—or the dungeon had been cleared through an utterly impossible, unthinkable method.
Perhaps both.
Whatever the case, it was obvious that it far exceeded the bounds of normality.
Basara was genuinely curious.
“…Just what kind of dungeon did you clear?”
Park Hyun-myung.
What kind of dungeon had he conquered?
And—
*What… did you obtain?*
Even the rewards granted for reclaiming first place with 370 points had been far more extravagant than expected.
The reward structures of the system and the Hall of the Hundred Constellations undeniably contributed to strengthening humanity.
And moreover, the system was obligated to provide rewards commensurate with the score.
That was simply how it worked.
Which was why she couldn’t even begin to imagine it.
…What kind of reward would be granted to someone who had accomplished feats beyond calculation?
—
—
The Hall of the Hundred Constellations.
The Constellation of the Most Brilliant Hero felt dizzy.
It was as if every belief he had ever held had been shattered.
Unable to bear it alone, he spoke to the 101st Constellation—
the *Constellation of Purity*.
“Constellation of Purity. …Is The Hall of the Hundred Gods the predecessor of The Hall of the Hundred Constellations?”
The Hall of the Hundred Constellations—the dwelling place of countless stars.
There resided the great starlights known as constellations, watching the stories of humanity.
Yet no one truly knew the nature of The Hall of the Hundred Constellations itself.
Except for one.
The 101st Constellation—one that should never have existed.
“Oh? It seems you’ve finally reached the ‘hidden story.’”
The Constellation of Purity, whose face bore an enormous question mark, nodded.
He was a being that appeared when Randolph completed the hidden quest triggered by the trial *Owner of the Mountain of Trainee*.
Upon reaching Sword Mastery Level 32, he was born as the embodiment of “purity,” created by the *Owner of All Mountains*.
With his appearance, the constellations of this The Hall of the Hundred Constellation learned of the existence of other “The Hall of the Hundred Constellations.”
Even so, they were confused.
About the very reason for The Hall of the Hundred Constellation’s existence.
However—
while observing both Randolph and Park Hyun-myung, the Constellation of the Most Brilliant Hero came to understand through their stories.
“That’s right. The Hall of the Hundred Constellations is an imitation—modeled after The Hall of the Hundred Gods, where the gods once resided in ancient times.”
The Constellation of Purity nodded.
The gods of The Hall of the Hundred Gods bestowed trials upon mortals and granted them rewards—
so that they could navigate the world on their own.
And thus, humanity entered its golden age.
But after the emergence of Destruction, everything was engulfed in flames and vanished.
The Constellation of Purity also knew why The Hall of the Hundred Constellations had been recreated.
“The Hall of the Hundred Constellations was created for the resurrection of The Hall of the Hundred Gods.”
“The resurrection of The Hall of the Hundred Gods… Does that mean we become gods?”
“What nonsense are you spouting? You are already gods.”
“…!!!”
The Constellation of the Most Brilliant Hero’s eyes flew open.
What is a constellation?
A being that left footprints so great as to become a star.
And yet the Constellation of Purity claimed that even that wasn’t the truth.
That they were already gods—
only…
“…Forgotten.”
…Merely forgotten.
“You agreed to this as well. No—every constellation across the other The Hall of the Hundred Constellations agreed. To be forgotten. Only the constellations of the The Hall of the Hundred Constellation that preserved the greatest number of ‘stories’ would reclaim their names, and thus gain another chance to become complete gods.”
“…What… are you talking about?”
“The gods who faced Destruction regretted it. They regretted that even up to the very brink of annihilation, they had failed to unite. And even if given another chance, they all knew the outcome would be the same—fractured and chaotic once more.”
They were gods who had grown too large.
The prejudices and stubbornness accumulated over countless ages could not be discarded.
And there were simply too many gods.
Selection and concentration were necessary.
“So you abandoned your names?”
They abandoned their names and chose to be forgotten in order to *start over*.
To unite without prejudice.
To resurrect only a fixed number of gods and forge stronger bonds.
In the golden age, there had simply been too many gods.
The Constellation of Purity nodded.
“Yes. We agreed that only by starting again—completely from the beginning—could we unite, could we have a chance. Only then…”
He shrugged, then continued.
“Only then could we shatter the ‘Celestial Realm’.”
Bloody vengeance.
To destroy the Celestial Realm that had annihilated their beautiful world.
They abandoned their names.
They chose to forget all memories.
And the Constellation of the Most Brilliant Hero had agreed to this as well.
“How do you know all of this?”
“Didn’t I tell you? I’ve already entered the ‘Gate of Truth’ once and returned.”
“Could it be… that ‘mouth’ I saw… was Truth?”
The Constellation of the Most Brilliant Hero had once come close to losing all his starlight—on the brink of annihilation.
Yet within the darkness of death, he saw a ‘mouth,’ and by offering up the stories he had accumulated, he was reborn—from the Constellation of the Brilliant Hero into the *Constellation of the Most Brilliant Hero*.
At that, the Constellation of Purity shook his head.
“No. That was a key. Still incomplete—but a tool capable of opening the ‘Gate of Truth.’”
A key?
And yet something felt off.
The Constellation of Purity had said with his own mouth that he had entered and exited the Gate of Truth.
Now that the truth was known, a question naturally arose—
one for the being who knew secrets even he himself had not known.
“…Who are you, really?”
“Hm. Unfortunately, I don’t know who I am either. But there is one thing I do know.”
“And what is that?”
“That capturing Park Hyun-myung is the only way to win the struggle among the hundred The Hall of the Hundred Constellations!”
In this world, there are as many as one hundred The Hall of the Hundred Constellations.
A total of ten thousand constellations reside within them, granting trials and rewards to countless mortals.
By watching mortal stories, they gain starlight—Golden Scale—and grow stronger.
And now—
Park Hyun-myung had achieved a feat the system itself could not calculate.
It was obvious that every The Hall of the Hundred Constellations would rush to witness his story.
They would be desperately hoping that he would reach out and accept *their* rewards.
“What kind of reward should our 13th The Hall of the Hundred Constellation offer him? Among countless options, what would make Park Hyun-myung choose ours?”
“…Are you saying there are a hundred The Hall of the Hundred Constellations like this one?”
“Not only those for humans exist. But now the situation has changed. Even the The Hall of the Hundred Constellations assigned to other races have begun to focus on Park Hyun-myung.”
He was different even from Randolph.
The only achiever whose feat the system had abandoned scoring.
Until now, it had always produced a number—somehow.
They did not yet know that Park Hyun-myung was Randolph.
But whichever The Hall of the Hundred Constellations offered him the reward he chose would likely learn that truth as well.
Competition would only intensify.
And there was even a chance that Park Hyun-myung would leave their embrace entirely.
The Constellation of Purity shrugged.
“So then—what reward shall we offer him?”
—
—
After hearing the hidden truth and reaching my conclusion, I left the dungeon without delay.
At that moment—
《Party Dungeon Cleared!》
《You have acquired 267 ‘Souls of Forgotten Knights.’》
《Excess prestige beyond 1,000 points is converted at a rate of 1 ‘Complete Golden Scale’ per 100 points.》
《Additionally, the party leader may select one of the Forgotten Honorable Knight Orders within the dungeon and resurrect it.》
《Their souls and will awaken as ‘Sacred Knights.’》
《‘Sacred Knights’ are counterparts to ‘Knights of Destruction’ and exert greater power within ‘Holy Land.’》
《‘Holy Land’ is automatically applied to the site where a ‘Forgotten God’ is resurrected.》
《Alternatively, you may grant 1 Sanctification to sanctify land where a god resides.》
……
……
《O pioneer who cleared the first dungeon.》
《Supreme being who achieved an incalculable trial!》
《Total Score: 1,000+?》
《Accurate calculation is difficult.》
《Achievement unlocked: ‘One Who Conquered a Primordial-Grade Dungeon.’》
《You obtain 3 Sanctification.》
《Achievement unlocked: ‘One Who Restored the Name of a Forgotten God.’》
《You obtain 1 Sanctification.》
《You obtain 3 ‘Complete Golden Scales’ and ‘Fragments of a Broken Golden Scale (3,000h).’》
《You obtain 5,000 Interest Points.》
《You possess a Lucky Die.》
《Reward tier increased by a total of 101 levels.》
《All constellations of every The Hall of the Hundred Constellation have gathered their starlight to finalize the reward tier.》
《Please select one from the following 100 reward options.》
《Nine Nights》, 《Source of Mana》, 《Feather of an Outer God》, 《Two Moons》, 《Stone of Tananush》, 《Completed Star Map》, 《Jurn’s Jewel》, 《Ouroboros》, 《Primordial Arrow》, 《Purity》, 《Courage》……
Endless messages flooded in.
“……”
Looking at them, I was left speechless.
More than anything, the final reward list was overwhelming.
A full hundred rewards, pouring forth.
I had never even seen a list of this size before.
But even more shocking than the number—
were the *names*.
Not just equal to the number of entries—
but surpassing it in sheer impact.
“…This is absurd.”
I was, quite simply, overwhelmed.
