Chapter – 17.
Trial Run of the Delphi Sanctuary
“Now what? Don’t hold back, Lord Constellation. We might all end up dying equally soon anyway.”
The Constellation ‘Prophet of the Sun’ promises that if the one and only SSS-class oracle ever gets distorted and leads to a new world line, he will fire one arrow for each of us.
“Chaam! It’s fine! When that day comes, you should meet the love you’ve been trapped with. Why are you worrying about such pointless things?”
The Constellation ‘Prophet of the Sun’ holds Lara and gazes vaguely down at the 12 core rifts.
Buff Activated!
The gaze of a god, ‘Bright Light’, shines down!
Temporary purification effect….
I let out a small sigh as I entered the cafe.
I picked up a half-read comic book from the shelf in the corner of one wall.
That shelf was filled with well-thumbed books the owner had acquired from somewhere, spanning all genres.
Among them were a few strangely old comic books related to Greek mythology.
I’m not from that generation, so I don’t know the details. But I understand it was once an incredibly popular series that took the nation by storm.
There were many missing volumes in between, but I was reading through what was available.
‘I have a rough idea of who the Constellation behind me might be.’
It would probably be easier to raise his favor if I learned some information about that Constellation.
By now, I’m such a regular that I have a stake equivalent to one or two sunny tables and about three windows in Garam Cafe, to the point where I even pull my own shots and drink coffee.
Tucking the comic book under my arm and picking up my iced americano with syrup, I remembered the moment I saw the suddenly changed oracle.
[……I’m thirsty……]
The dry words escaping parched, cracked lips.
The utterly exhausted voice kept popping into my mind, tormenting me. Especially when I was drinking something cool.
‘Just what state are they in there?’
That existence must have originally been human too. I wondered if they could even drink water properly inside the rift. A human sense of pity welled up inside me.
Thinking about this being, whose name I didn’t even know, and whether they were even human anymore, made my heart ache. It was a slightly different feeling from the pure fear I felt initially.
Feeling mentally cluttered, I didn’t even feel like opening the comic book.
While I was pointlessly feeling frustrated, I suddenly sensed a gaze and looked beside me. Nayeon was there.
“Hi, Nayeon?”
“…….”
“Your hair is pretty. Did your grandma tie it for you?”
“…….”
“Unni was going to read a comic. Do you want to look at it with me, Nayeon? Let’s look together.”
Nayeon gave a small nod.
It was the first response I’d gotten from her since we met.
Hiding my surprise, I internally pumped my fist and shouted with joy.
Just then, the cafe entrance burst open and a noisy crowd rushed in.
Of all times, troublemakers now! Seeing Nayeon, startled, run behind the counter, irritation flared up inside me.
“Oh my, are you alright, Fairy-nim?”
“We were so worried, we came back—! We were so shocked when you suddenly collapsed with your eyes rolled back back then.”
……However, the moment I confirmed they were my customers, my irritation instantly neutralized.
I guess it’s normal for humans to feel bad one moment and good the next.
To reassure Nayeon, who I felt even more affection for since we shared the same surname Kim, and mustering all my social skills, I greeted the ahjummas.
“You’re here? You must have been surprised back then? Sometimes I pass out when I communicate with the one in the heavens—.”
“Oh my, I heard you only recently received the divine possession. So it was true?”
“It’s not divine possession, and I’m not a Fairy-nim or anything. It’s a Awakener ability that receives oracles, but it seems many people misunderstand.”
“What’s the difference… Hmm, it’s just a slightly different method, right? It’s similar in the end, isn’t it? Right?”
“That’s right! It’s not divine possession, but she communicates directly with the one in the heavens, so her divine power is no joke!”
The Constellation ‘Prophet of the Sun’ expresses disbelief at what I’m saying.
“Then can we ask anything? Like getting a fortune told?”
“Let’s see… This is actually my first time taking customers? I’m currently setting up a separate sanctuary on the upper floor here, but it’s still under construction.”
I casually checked the Constellation guy’s reaction and raised my tone of voice a notch higher.
“It’s a bit shabby since I have nothing prepared, but thank you so much for coming to see me so many times. Today, specially! I’ll give all three of you a free oracle reading.”
“Really?”
“This is all on the house, a service—.”
The Constellation ‘Prophet of the Sun’ shouts in opposition, saying he doesn’t want to.
The middle-aged ahjummas, who couldn’t possibly see the Constellation’s frantic system windows, started chuckling among themselves and deciding on the order.
Seeing me, half-distracted, stably carrying on a conversation with strangers, Nayeon, who had run behind the counter, began cautiously peeking out, seemingly finding it新奇.
‘It should be okay if Nayeon sees this, right?’
Of all times, the owner wasn’t here. Had she gone to the bank or something? I pondered a bit more in my head.
‘Ah, let me show her directly and explain.’
I asked the ahjummas for a moment’s understanding and approached Nayeon. Bending down, I whispered quietly enough for only Nayeon to hear.
“Nayeon-ah. Did your grandma explain how Unni found you?”
“…….”
“You might have heard, but maybe you didn’t really understand.”
Her head nodded faintly.
“You know the comic book we were about to read? It’s about Greek mythology. Do you know Greek mythology? The way Unni delivers prophecies is similar to how they do it in those stories. That’s how I found you.”
“…….”
“What I’m about to do with the customers over there is the same as that. If you’re curious, do you want to watch from here?”
Her head nodded again.
Back then, I had no idea such an explosive reaction would come from the customers.
I also didn’t know that my little spectator would be included among those reacting.
Honestly, I didn’t expect the reaction to be this good.
I pushed the reluctant Constellation guy to somehow deliver a service oracle without any offering.
Luckily, my luck was good.
The better the clarity, the more room there was to interpret the oracle, and the customers would combine the information on their own.
In the way they wanted to see it.
And then they found it utterly amazing.
[My son is preparing to retake the college entrance exam this year. Will he do well?]
[A university in the mountains, the largest place in this country, so vast it’s hard to walk on two feet… I see the Chemistry department! No matter what your son does, he won’t have to worry about money! …By the way, why are there so many people around?]
Even with just these disjointed words.
[Where is that? Where was it. Oh my, perhaps? It seems he might really go to Korea University this time! Will he get a scholarship?]
[Lots of people around probably means he’ll join a large department.]
…That was the kind of response I got.
‘Is this accurate?’
And so, as a service, I gave them oracles without offerings or payment.
The customers were thrilled, saying it was miraculous, and left extremely satisfied.
Only after the customers left noisily, just as they had entered, did I slump face down onto the table.
‘I’m tired.’
I was so tired. It was a good thing I tried delivering oracles consecutively as a test run before officially opening that damn Delphi Sanctuary.
Even though it was an ability gained through the Constellation, the mana consumption was considerable for an F-rank like me to handle.
Talking for so long made my throat hurt, and I let out a dry cough.
The smoke that spontaneously rose from the ground when receiving the oracle was only新奇 the first time; as time went on, it made my mind hazy.
‘Is this okay?’
I suddenly felt scared. Seeing how my mind gets hazy like I’m drunk, it seems like the smoke has hallucinogenic properties.
Is it really okay to keep inhaling this smoke?
As I was about to ask the Constellation in my slightly hoarse voice, a child’s voice I was hearing for the first time came from across the room.
“Me, me, me too! Me too!”
No way.
My weak neck instinctively whipped around.
Lying face down on the table, I looked towards the source of the sound. Nayeon was sweating profusely and staring at me.
Her small, tightly clenched fists were noticeable.
“Me too, please do it for me—!”
With her next words, shouted at the top of her lungs, it was my turn to break out in a cold sweat.
Oh my god.
I really didn’t expect this. If it had been a passive skill, I would have been mentally prepared.
“Please do that thing for me too, from earlier!”
What Nayeon was strongly insisting on could only be one thing.
“You want me to deliver an oracle for you too?”
It seems curiosity about life’s path is universal, regardless of age.
But is it okay to receive an oracle for Nayeon, who’s only ten?
I felt like I needed to get permission from Park Il-sook, Nayeon’s current guardian.
If I did it without the owner’s permission, and if the owner had negative feelings about me giving Nayeon an oracle… would I get kicked out?
‘Just when I’m barely building trust with the people in this scene?’
While pondering this, I suddenly realized one fact.
Nayeon had spoken.
“You can talk?”
Nayeon’s face turned pale, whoosh. She seemed startled by herself for having blurted out words in her urgency.
Stay calm. I’m an adult. I have a duty to reassure a child who’s only been in this world for about 10 years.
“Um… well… You can talk too! Right? You don’t have to if it’s hard!”
“…….”
The Constellation ‘Prophet of the Sun’ remarks that the sight of me coaxing a child is pathetic.
I had a lot to say, but I held back. What to do. Stay calm, let’s create the most natural situation possible first.
“Nayeon-ah, you want to receive an oracle?”
“…….”
“But, you know? Grandma might not like…”
“You can just do it for me secretly!”
You’ve got some nerve, kid. You have no idea how scary your grandma can be…
“Hmm, Nayeon, what do you want to know? Tell me first.”
Honestly, it was a remark made without thinking ahead.
Nayeon suddenly started crying, tears streaming down her face, and managed to ask an unexpected question.
“Sob… I want to know… where my mom is….”
This is a crisis.
The most difficult, embarrassing, and unfamiliar crisis moment I’ve ever faced in my life.
‘This owner, really. She didn’t tell the child?’
I had just heard the day before yesterday that Nayeon’s mother had passed away.
Just what did she tell the child for a question like that to come up?
For three seconds, I searched for all the gods I knew. Starting from the gods of the three major religions in Korea…
And also to the Constellation I contracted with.
“What would a god have done?”
I muttered quietly, but the answer that came back was incredibly simple.
The Constellation ‘Prophet of the Sun’ says, from the perspective of the contractor ‘Kim Eun-sol’, why are you so worried about the life and death of mortals when everyone will be dead soon anyway.
Damn it.
In the end, I grabbed my head with both hands.
