The Seventeenth Love (3)

Fortunately, there were no visible injuries.
“Don’t worry about this old woman. I’m perfectly fine. But I can’t seem to find the door to the other place.”
At those words, I looked behind me.
The door I had entered through had disappeared without a trace.
Pirong, a sound like a cheap imitation of a system rang out.
“…”
The system window that appeared before my eyes was pink.

[No.?? Love Love♥ Break through the difficulties with your future family!]
You and some people are trapped in this white cube-shaped maze. Cooperate with each other to break through this difficulty!
Success: Escape, 1 million Coins
Failure: Unable to escape
I thought.
‘What is this different kind of coin-crazy Constellation?’
1 million coins is too much to just give away.
Didn’t even The Crow’s Ruins tremble at a few million coins?
Although he did end up losing 50 million coins to me.
“1,000 coins, I never thought I’d see a scenario window again at this age.”
The old woman muttered.
I was startled and looked at her.
“1,000 coins?”
“That’s what it says on my scenario window.”
“Were you an Awakener?”
“Well, it’s understandable that you wouldn’t know. This old woman’s Constellation specializes in concealment.”
The old woman said.
Hehehe…
With her characteristic laugh, she took out a bazooka from her inventory.
A bazooka.
I was more dumbfounded than surprised that this old woman was the contractor of a Constellation with such excellent concealment skills that it could even hide her from my eyes.
“It says here that the partner changes every time you leave a room. And that you can create an exit by any means necessary.”
It didn’t say that on mine.
“Then I’ll have to help my grandson’s love life a little.”
The old woman aimed the bazooka at one of the walls.
A golden magic circle shimmered at the end of the bazooka.
It was a magic circle for accuracy correction, explosion enhancement, destructive power enhancement, and penetration.
Since it was too much and too complicated for the old woman to calculate on her own, it was probably a part of her unique ability.
“Miss, I don’t know if we’ll meet again, but I hope it’s for a family meeting then.”
“It’s not like that-“
The old woman pulled the heavy trigger.
The bullet, shot like a beam of light, hit the white wall and destroyed it with a loud roar.
KWAAAAAANG-!
With a sound so loud it hurt my eardrums, the wall collapsed, and the old woman and I were separated and moved to different spaces.
The sound of jingling coins was heard.

[1 million Coins earned! ><]
It was absurd enough to give a scenario to a top-tier Constellation who wasn’t even a contractor, but it was even an accumulation type?
‘Thank you.’
I needed coins like hell to be with Yeon Taeseon anyway, and to think they would give them to me like this.
Of course, I had never heard of a Constellation who scattered coins like this, but…
‘Let’s not worry about it.’
Who in the world worries about where the money of someone who gives them money comes from?
As long as the money comes to me, that’s all that matters.
She’s like that rich aunt who is unemployed but mysteriously gives a lot of pocket money when you visit your grandmother’s house on holidays.
‘Come to think of it, her love for love and whatnot is also similar.’
Anyway, so who is my partner?
I looked around.
There was nothing to see but a pale room.
At least there was the old woman before.
‘What is it?’
It was then.
Woong-
A sound of something activating rang out, and a clear sky was visible in the white space.
When I looked to the side, I saw a window, and I soon realized that it was a building’s window.
The floor had become asphalt.
The hot summer air stung my nose.
“Miss, you shouldn’t be standing in the middle of the road like that.”
“Ah, sorry…”
……?
I did move out of the way, but I was bewildered for a moment.
At some point, people had even appeared.
All of this was so identical to reality that I was momentarily confused.
If I hadn’t realized that the mana concentration inside was much thicker than in reality, I might have been completely fooled.
‘What on earth is this?’
Was it not a gate that just gave missions like ‘hold hands’ and let you rake in coins?
Of course, the possibility of it being such a gate was low, but since the Constellation who had intervened was that Constellation, it was true that I had had some expectations.
‘…First, I need to find out what this place is trying to say.’
Even if it was made for fun, and even if its grade was low, a gate is a gate.
I shouldn’t judge it too carelessly.
‘Then I should move rather than stand still.’
The scent of summer, the scorching sun.
Underneath it, I took a step.
Alone.

“…Hey!”
‘It’s noisy.’
‘It’s hot. Why is it hot? It was a cool autumn weather.’
“…on! Sion!”
An unfamiliar voice was heard.
No, is it familiar?
Han Sion opened his eyes.
The hot summer air, the humid humidity.
A clear sky without a single cloud.
He saw the face of the friend who had followed him, insisting on talking to him more, from the first day of middle school.
In front of his house where he lived with his mother.
A lowered line of sight.
Han Sion was momentarily confused.
‘Was it all a dream?’
The fact that I became a guild leader, that I awakened, was it all a dream?
He was momentarily mistaken by the perfect summer scent.
But soon, he looked up at the sky and knew that this was the gate’s trick.

[No.?? Love Love♥ Break through the difficulties with your future family!]
You and some people are trapped in this white cube-shaped maze. Cooperate with each other to break through this difficulty!
Success: Escape, ???
Failure: Unable to escape

[Hint: Do what you want to do!]
A white text, barely visible, floating in the sky.
This was inside a gate.
‘Then I should wake up from the dream.’
He poured out the backpack on his back.
From the pencil case that poured out with the books, writing utensils leaked out.
He picked up a utility knife from among them.
“Hey! What’s wrong with you? You were acting up because your brother was coming today.”
He ignored his friend’s words.
He was a person he would lose contact with in the future anyway.
‘Stardust.’
Instead of the usual sparkling blade, a cheap, pinkish system window appeared.

[Warning!]
[If you use your unique ability as is, you will fail the mission.]
[Escape is impossible.]
[Are you sure you want to use it?]
Han Sion clicked his tongue after reading the warning message.
‘A troublesome gate.’
He looked up at the sky again.

[Hint: Do what you want to do!]
‘Do what I want to do?’
If I were to go back to my first year of middle school, there was nothing I wanted to do.
At most, I wanted to punch Han Siyoon.
‘Ah, is that it?’
Is this a gate that ends when I punch Han Siyoon in the face after telling him I’ve awakened?
After making his judgment, Han Sion put on his backpack again.
The person who was supposed to be his friend looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.
“You’re really strange.”
“Yeah. Bye.”
“Ugh, alright. See you tomorrow!”
According to that guy’s personality, he wouldn’t have just let it go so easily and would have teased me here and there, but since it was a gate, the implementation was a bit disappointing.
Han Sion opened the old gate and went inside.
It was the house where he had lived with his mother.
Both nostalgic and something he didn’t want to see again…
“Found you.”
His body stiffened.
A white figure was visible beyond the old gate.
Ah, come to think of it.

[You and some people are trapped in this white cube-shaped maze. Cooperate with each other to break through this difficulty!]
It said to ‘cooperate’.
He was curious about who he had to cooperate with, but to think it was…
“O Calamity…”
“Sion, it’s strange for you to say that with that face.”
Saying that it was strange for him to say something so worshipful with his younger face, the Silent Calamity smiled.
It was a very clear and pretty smile.
“How… is my collaborator the Calamity?”
“I’ve been looking for a very long time. I barely found you thanks to the starlight I got from contracting with you.”
Although this place is full of starlight, her smiling face, saying that her starlight is special, filled his vision.
“But where is this? Little Sion’s house?”
“Yes. It’s my house. Where I lived with my mother…”
“Then I should meet her before I go.”
For a moment, he thought of a family meeting, but Han Sion slapped his cheek to get rid of the strange thought.
“It’s strange if you keep calling me Calamity…. Ah, I shouldn’t tell anyone the true name of a Constellation.”
While he was not in his right mind, she spoke.
“Let’s just say my name is Lee Seonbaek. To clear the gate, we have to go inside, right?”
“Yes…”
Probably, the problem would be solved if he punched Han Siyoon in the face.
The Silent Calamity, Lee Seonbaek, said ‘Let’s go then’ and held Han Sion’s hand.
In that moment, her appearance became that of a black-haired girl in a school uniform.