Chapter 9 : Association President (3)

As the person before her tilted their head, Hong Yuon, finally coming to her senses, quickly apologized.
“My apologies. You’re just so beautiful…”
This was sincere.
Although Hong Yuon was Aphrodite’s contractor, she had never seen anyone as beautiful as the Silent Calamity.
She thought she could understand why she chose the form of a jellyfish.
Sky-blue eyes that seemed to have captured the clear autumn sky, the sun shimmering like a cloud within them, snow-white hair that looked as if it were spun from the finest thread in the world.
A matching fair complexion.
Long, white eyelashes and a sharp nose gave a beautiful impression, and the slightly upturned corners of her eyes exuded a moderate sensitivity that made her both difficult to approach and yet desirable to approach.
It was a look that could make someone fall lovesick with just one glance.
Even if an angel descended from heaven, it couldn’t be more perfect.
‘But saying all this to the Constellation would be rude.’
She probably chose the form of a jellyfish because she knew her appearance stood out.
Why her human incarnation had descended to the mortal world, and why that incarnation was in the form of a jellyfish, she didn’t know, but…
‘She must have her reasons.’
Constellations were inherently high-dimensional beings that humans couldn’t understand.
They could be playful, cruel, or kind, and though many had tried to understand them, no one had truly succeeded.
So, although she couldn’t understand this one either, she must have her reasons, Hong Yuon thought.
The mouth of the Constellation, who had transformed from a jellyfish into a human, slowly opened.
“Your point.”

I was surprised even as I spoke reflexively.
Didn’t they say the beginner mode wasn’t lifted?
Of course, what I meant to say was ‘So, what is it you want to say?’ but!
An incredibly arrogant, informal phrase came out!

[Beginner mode has been partially lifted, so you can speak only a few words. However, it is restricted if it has a clear, tangible form.]
[Example: Apple, Destruction, Cash]
I roughly understood.
If I say apple, an apple will appear, and if I say destruction, destruction will occur, so that was blocked.
But if I say destruction, destruction will occur?
Isn’t that a total cheat?
Maybe I really am an awesome Constellation.
Perhaps due to the veil’s influence, my pounding heart had calmed down a bit, and I was able to have such nonsensical thoughts.
Just then, Hong Yuon continued to speak.
“Excuse me, but…”
She knew it was rude, that’s enough.
I pulled the veil on both sides and looked at her.
“By any chance… are you thinking of taking on more contractors?”
Contractors?
“Why?”
Of course, I was willing.
Now that I had an S-rank contractor, I wouldn’t have to worry about earning coins, and it was true that the more talented contractors I had, the better.
It was also true that I was thinking of looking for more contractors now that I could afford it.
But if the association president was requesting a contract, even calling out a Constellation, should I agree to it?
The answer was NO.
‘If my heart were trembling, it would have been an endless YES.’
If my heart were about to leap out of my mouth, I wouldn’t be able to think this rationally.
It would have been an unconditional yes without any preamble.
In that sense, the veil felt like a divine move.
‘Calming the mind, that’s awesome. I don’t know who you are, but thank you.’
The system window suddenly popped up, nodded, and then disappeared.
What’s with that?
“It’s my niece.”
“Nie…?”
My words were cut off.
Is this not allowed either?
If I say niece, will I get a niece?
What are the criteria?
As I grumbled, she continued on her own.
“She’s a magician.”
My ears perked up.
“She got a perfect score on the magician’s written test at the association when she was 7. Not once, but for 5 consecutive years. But no one has made a contract with her.”
‘Wow, isn’t she a genius?’
I haven’t seen the magic test questions of this world, so I don’t know, but still, even if it looks primitive to me, it wouldn’t be for the people living in this world.
Just because a high school student says addition and subtraction are easy, how would a preschooler understand?
It’s that kind of feeling.
But if there was a preschooler among them who got a perfect score in addition and subtraction, and was doing geometry and vectors, not just multiplication, then she was a genius.
I asked with a pounding heart.
“So?”
Is she asking me to contract with that genius?
It was an incredibly profitable deal, but Constellations were picky.
If they hadn’t made a contract, there must have been a reason.
As expected, Hong Yuon hesitated.
I urged her.
“So?”
“I’m sorry.”
I was puzzled by her sudden apology, but I had no choice but to understand.
“She has Mana Disharmony Syndrome.”
Mana Disharmony Syndrome is when the blood flowing in the body rejects mana.
Basically, mana flows with the blood.
Although a separate mana circuit exists, that wasn’t all.
There were already well-circulating blood vessels in the body, so why would you create a separate mana circuit and only circulate mana there?
If the circuit went berserk, you’d be a cripple in one go.
So, great magicians used both mana circuits and blood vessels simultaneously, which boasted an unbelievable efficiency and was the safest method.

Meanwhile, as the Constellation fell silent in thought, Hong Yuon began to break out in a cold sweat.
‘Did I say something wrong? No, if I deceive a Constellation, I don’t know what kind of divine punishment will fall. I can’t be any more rude here.’
A Constellation, and one that had turned a nobody Scavenger into an S-rank in an instant.
An Awakener’s individual capabilities were important for their grade, but the Constellation’s ability was also crucial.
In Hong Yuon’s view, Han Sion’s talent wasn’t bad, but if she had to pick a decisive reason for his S-rank confirmation… it was the Silent Calamity.
‘I must never make an enemy of her.’
And although her speech was a bit short, she didn’t seem like a bad Constellation.
It wasn’t because she looked like an angel; the proof was that no divine punishment had fallen even though she dared to ask a favor of a Constellation.
The Silent Calamity, who looked like a white angel, opened her mouth.
“Where.”
“Pardon?”
“Where is she.”
She was short, with pretty and cute features, but her indifferent expression made her difficult to approach.
Every time she received that gaze, Hong Yuon’s heart pounded.
So she dared to ask again.
“Ah, my, my apologies! Forgive me for asking again…!”
“Security.”
“Of course, I will protect it. Your appearance, and anything related to you!”
“Location.”
“Does that mean you’ll make a contract…!”
The Constellation, who was pulling the white veil on both sides, said indifferently.
“We’ll see.”

In reality, Mana Disharmony Syndrome wasn’t such a big problem.
The cure for Mana Disharmony Syndrome was simple.
All you had to do was inject clean blood from another source.
However, it had to be the blood of a different race.
If a human had it, they needed elf blood; if an elf had it, they needed celestial blood; if a celestial had it, they needed divine blood.
But on Earth, the only other race was monsters.
‘It’s practically incurable, but it’s not a big problem for me.’
I wasn’t human.
Blood flowed through my veins.
And I live in the mortal world.
The Constellations of the starry sky could also provide a cure.
But they say that to manifest in the mortal world, they have to endure enormous costs and damage in coins.
They could cure it properly if they manifested, but should they?
For one human?
Next was the second-best option.
As a test, I asked the system if it could cure Mana Disharmony Syndrome while remaining in the starry sky, and it said it would cost 1 billion coins, so I understood perfectly.
‘They don’t want to invest in a human who might or might not be a jackpot.’
There was a high probability of a jackpot, but the opportunity cost was too high to know if it could be recovered.
But for me, the only opportunity cost, besides the contract fee, was physical bleeding.
But separately, I couldn’t go see her right away.
As I rolled around on Han Sion’s head, I thought about the short conversation I had with Hong Yuon earlier.

“I’m sorry to ask, but you can’t meet her right now…”
“Why.”
“She’s currently trying to cure her Mana Disharmony Syndrome on her own, artificially creating a place full of mana and doing something. She’s screaming that it’ll fail immediately if the door is opened…”
I understood.
A Constellation contract was an urgent matter for the person involved, but for me, well, it wasn’t that urgent.

“Okay.”
After giving a simple reply, I turned back into a jellyfish and headed for Han Sion.
Hong Yuon, who had been a little nervous and polite, returned to her relaxed self as soon as I left the association president’s office and broke the soundproof magic.
It was a change of attitude worthy of a 10-year veteran actor.

“It’s over.”
“What did you talk about with Pion?”
“Nothing much. Just asked how her master was.”
Han Sion’s expression became strange.
It was a look that said why would she go to the trouble of having a private meeting with a monster just to ask something like that… but it was also strange to pry, so he soon dropped it.

“Then I’ll be going.”
Hong Yuon caught Sion, who was about to leave with me.

“Ah, wait a minute.”
“Yes? I have to go pray now…”
“Pray? No, anyway, what I wanted to say was…”
For the record, that prayer was a prayer to the Silent Calamity that he did whenever he had a spare moment.