The Celestial Returned From Hell

Lee Changsik had said that as a joke, but Choi Yeonseung felt awkward.

“Uh, so you can’t do it?”

“... Don’t tell me you actually want me to be a director…”

“Well, that’s exactly what I want.”

“... Why???”

“There’s nothing to lose from having a good clan in the SSL, right?”

Nowadays, hunters were more interested in sports rather than doing raids, and the SSL was a sport with extremely high stakes. Thus, it wasn’t surprising to see so many clans betting the rights to their ownership on this competition.

Moreover, Choi Yeonseung had another goal in mind. As a constellation, he wanted to gain more faith and prepare for the constellation battles.

‘I have to make a household in advance.’

Even though Choi Yeonseung was among the most inexperienced constellations, he had nevertheless gained a decent understanding of how constellations operated.

Household members didn’t just come into existence by making them. Signing a contract with another being didn’t mean that there was trust between the two parties. They had to be together for a long time in order to truly trust each other!

Of course, the constellation could threaten to undo the contract and destroy the household member’s soul if they weren’t loyal. That was usually how evil god constellations operated. However, Choi Yeonseung didn’t think that that approach was good, as hunters seemed to betray their evil god constellations the first chance they got. Unlike Abyssal races, humans were good at stabbing someone in the back and betraying the evil god constellations.

-Certainly, humans are not as afraid of constellations as Abyssal races are.

For the races born and raised in the Abyss, constellations were like gods, but for the humans on Earth, constellations were just some kind of powerful aliens. Humans would bow down when threatened with force, but they wouldn’t submit in their hearts.

Consequently, Choi Yeonseung had to work hard to establish his household. He had to take advantage of the momentum he had gained during the monster wave!

‘I have to act now while I’m still really popular.’

“What do you mean by nothing to lose...? I don’t want you to...” said Lee Changsik in a worried voice.

Choi Yeonseung was slightly surprised by his attitude.

"Is there a problem?"

“A problem? Not necessarily. It’s just that the director is more likely to get criticized.”

“...”

Choi Yeonseung had nothing to say against that. He felt the disheartening sincerity of Lee Changsik, who was reviled more than anyone else.

“It’s so pitiful,” said Illeya in a regretful voice from next to Choi Yeonseung.

“Well, it’s natural to get cursed at if you don’t get good results, but with those good players...”

“I don’t mind being cursed at.”

“Yes, you never really cared about it before,” replied Lee Changsik while recalling old memories.

Some hunters cared a lot about what other people thought about them, and some didn’t. Overall, there were more hunters that cared about public opinion, as it was hard to completely disregard it, given that they were still humans. After all, hunters only cared about themselves, so why else would they do volunteer work and save people from time to time?

However, Choi Yeonseung didn’t really care about that. He had followed his instinct no matter what the reporters had written about him.

“Well, it’s actually amazing. I thought you might’ve changed a bit since you started doing interviews and writing articles.”

“Ah. There’s a reason for that,” replied Choi Yeonseung. He then asked Illeya, “Can you leave us for a moment? I need to talk to him.”

Illeya wasn’t happy with that, but she nevertheless left.

Lee Changsik had grown curious about it. What could Choi Yeonseung have to say to him in private?

“Is this about Gyeongryong hyung? Did he say something to you?” asked Lee Changsik.

“He didn’t do anything.”

“Ah. I see. Then you...”

If Hwang Gyeongryong had heard this, he would’ve said, ‘What nonsense are you saying? I don’t care about you!’ Unfortunately, Hwang Gyeongryong wasn’t there.

Choi Yeonseung had borrowed the power of a constellation to prevent others from seeing or hearing them. It was necessary for what he was about to say.

“Hyung, the truth is… When I was missing in the Abyss, I became a constellation.”

“...”

Lee Changsik looked around. He wondered if Hwang Gyeongryong was waiting somewhere nearby in hiding.

“Gyeongryong hyung isn’t here.”

“I-I see.”

***

It took some time, but Lee Changsik finally understood after listening to the explanation, and ultimately felt sorry for himself.

“Um. I understand you, Yeonseung.”

“Thank you.”

“You didn’t have to tell me if it was that important, but I appreciate you trusting me. Yeah, thank you. Indeed, it couldn’t be helped.”

“...”

The fact that Lee Changsik pretty much said the same thing three times was proof that he was a bit disappointed. Choi Yeonseung tried to make him understand.

“It took me a while to tell you because I had to prepare for it and I also had to take care of many things in the United States first.”

“I see… So it couldn’t be helped.”

“... In fact, it took me a while because Gyeongryong hyung urged me not to tell you.”

“As expected...!”

Lee Changsik nodded as if he wasn’t surprised at all. With a cold and stern look on his face, he clicked his tongue and spoke in such an angry tone that he only had when Hwang Gyeongryong’s name came up. “That’s why he’s not an actual person!”

"Indeed. I had a hard time breaking through his stubbornness even though I’m a constellation.”

“That must’ve been difficult for you. Really...” Lee Changsik nodded in indignation before saying, “Alright, I’ll be part of your household.”

“Are you really okay with that?”

“Isn’t that what you want?”

“Hyung, you were planning to retire. You don’t need to do this if you want to rest.”

“What are you talking about? Even if I’m retired, I should step up and help.”

Choi Yeonseung was slightly moved by Lee Changsik’s words. There was no one more trustworthy than Hwang Gyeongryong, Lee Changsik, and those from his old clan.

They sometimes fought with each other like kids, but...

[Lee Changsik has become your household member.[]

[Thanks to his strong faith, your power of existence has become stronger!]

[...]

“Good. Let’s start again from the beginning.”

Lee Changsik made up his mind. He had been exhausted in many ways due to his being in charge of the Korean hunters, but he felt refreshed hearing Choi Yeonseung’s words. He could start over and do what he wanted all along!

“Now, follow me.”

“What are you going to do?”

“We have to gather the hunters first.”

***

“...”

Choi Yeonseung looked with a grim expression at the hunters who had just arrived. He hadn’t expected over a dozen hunters to come like that just because he had posted a recruitment advertisement.

“Has it always been this easy to find talented hunters?”

“No, it’s actually hard to find useful hunters,” said Lee Changsik coldly.

Several decades had passed since the gate opened and the number of hunters had increased tremendously. However, there were only a handful of hunters with the proper skills and weapons that actually wanted to clear dungeons. Most of them preferred to gain profit safely than to risk their lives fighting.

“That’s why I told you to hide our names before posting the recruitment.”

Lee Changsik had suggested that they don’t write their names on the recruitment notice. They should’ve just pretended they were a new clan. Choi Yeonseung had not known why Lee Changsik wanted to do that, but now he understood why. If all the good hunters were already part of a clan, wouldn’t more hunters come to meet them if they added their names?

“If we do this, we could filter them out a bit. We could test these hunters and see who stands out. After that, we’ll have our first set of skilled hunters.”

“Ohh...”

Newer clans usually operated like this.

If the clan leader had connections, there would be some investments. If there weren't any, they created a new clan and tested a bunch of hunters that were available. If they had the proper skills, they would be recruited, and if not, they would be rejected…

That way, a clan could more or less be established. They would be able to gradually increase the number of hunters and increase their strength.

It didn’t take long for the hunters to start asking questions.“So how much money will you offer?”

“We don’t have to participate in the competition to get paid, do we? I should get paid even if I don’t play, right?”

“Aren’t you establishing this clan in order to participate in raids? My living expenses are high, so I have to take part in raids, and even if I don’t, shouldn’t I receive a share of the raid rewards as long as I’m a member of this clan? If I ever find out that you’re hiding rewards, I’ll kill you. Don’t underestimate me just because I’m only E-grade. In a one on one fight, I...”

“...”

“...”

There was yet another problem. These hunters were much worse than expected. Lee Changsik started sweating as he heard the hunters saying one terrible thing after another.

“My judgment was wrong.”

“At this rate, I think they’re really going to fight each other regardless of the competition.”

“Umm.”

They were worse than expected, so Lee Changsik immediately came up with another plan.

“In fact, there’s a good way to go about this...”

“Oh. What is it?"

“Acquire a good clan.”

“Aish...”

Choi Yeonseung looked disappointed. Hwang Gyeongryong had already suggested that to him, but there were quite a few problems with that method.

First of all, if the clan was really good, then it was almost always impossible to buy them. As long as the clan leader wasn’t a pushover, they would never just hand over the clan. Even if due to some unique circumstances the clan leader was forced to sell the clan, the cost would be astronomical. No matter how much money Choi Yeonseung and Hwang Gyeongryong said they had, they didn’t want to waste it like that.

At any rate, if the clan was weak, purchasing it wasn’t going to be any different than creating a new one...

“I know about that method, but isn’t it practically impossible?”

“Um. It’s actually possible. I know a clan.”

“...!”

***

Demon.

It was a fairly old clan from South Korea. While Choi Yeonseung was active, the clan had already been established, so it was no exaggeration to say that it was a first-generation clan. They had many fans who supported them because they had achieved a lot and had been involved in many things, but everything was bound to decline.

During the raid, several of their main hunters got seriously injured. As a result, they were defeated in the SSL because they didn’t have enough power. The clan was running out of funds and their hunters were leaving because of the dreadful atmosphere.

Their situation kept getting worse, like a snowball that kept rolling and growing bigger.

“There are quite a few hunters left, but they’ve experienced too many defeats recently. Investors who have made bets on them want to give up and leave. We could get our hands on them if you want.”

Lee Changsik managed to intrigue Choi Yeonseung with his explanation. How could they get a clan like Demon so easily?

Of course, they had to buy the shares, but that didn’t cost that much money… It would’ve been almost impossible to do something like that in the past.

“I can’t believe I only have to pay this much to buy a clan like Demon.”

“Yeah, that’s what I also thought at first, but things have changed, Yeonseung. A clan is like a business. It operates with money. There have been countless cases where clans have been disbanded and sold after mismanaging their money. You’d better be careful about that. There’s a reason why it’s said that some companies are above the hunter clans.”

Lee Changsik had participated in the management of a clan before and knew exactly how scary money could be. Even the most proud hunters could be humbled by the power of money.

“Ah. Then... There’s another reason why I didn’t tell you about the Demon clan at first.”

“What is it? Are they in a lot of debt?”

“No. The fans... They’re a bit...

“?”

“They’re over the top.”

“Even if they’re excessive...”

“They’re going to be ten times worse than what you’re imagining now.”

“...”

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