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After Chi-Woo finished explaining, Aida asked, “Would I also get to meet her?”

“I’m afraid not. She’s no longer in this world as a result of revealing the prophecy…”

“Ah…”

Their conversation grew longer than expected because he had to explain Boboris’ prophecy to Aida, but also due to the various unexpected encounters that kept interrupting them. For example, while walking down the street, a woman timidly approached and greeted Chi-Woo.

“He, hello!”

“S-Sir, do…you…remember me?”

‘Who is she?’ Chi-Woo looked at her questioningly before suddenly widening his eyes a fraction. She was the daughter of the middle-aged couple who had sacrificed themselves. At that time, he had handed her considerable wealth at the former capital of Salem, saying he couldn’t forget her parents’ sacrifice.

Chi-Woo asked, “How have you been?”

“Ah, I’ve been well!” The woman’s expression brightened when Chi-Woo greeted her. “You remember me!”

“Of course. It’s nice to see you again.”

“Me, me too…!” The woman fidgeted and smiled brightly. She talked about various topics like how thanks to him, she and the villagers were able to make a living, how they heard news about his amazing achievements not long ago, and how she was grateful to him for always working hard for them. After showering him with praises, the woman caught herself and apologized for interrupting him while he was busy working. Then she withdrew while glancing at Aida, who was tightly clutching Chi-Woo’s arm.

When she left, Aida smiled brightly and said,“Maybe I should have let go of your arm for a while.”

“Ah, are you feeling uncomfortable?”

“No, that’s not what I meant…” Aida didn’t finish, and Chi-Woo shrugged as she chuckled.

“Where was I? Ah, so that time…” Chi-Woo tried to resume his explanation, but the native woman turned out not to be the last to approach him. He’d only taken a few steps before several scary-looking people saw Chi-Woo from a distance and came up to him.

“It’s been a while, sir.”

“Sir, have you been well?”

And all of them bowed deeply at a perfect right angle.

Chi-Woo answered, “Ah, it’s been a while. How have you been?” “Sir, thanks to you, I’ve managed to live like a hero.”

“I’m still lacking a lot, but I’m working very hard to reach even the tip of your toe.”

“Sir, I heard the news a while ago. Congratulations on your success. As expected of a great hero.”

There had been a time when Chi-Woo went around working with struggling heroes to help them grow. He did it in the hope of finding precious pearls in the mud, but regardless of his reason, dozens of heroes had been able to sign a contract with a god and raise their tiers thanks to Chi-Woo. Since Chi-Woo helped them gain the strength to live in a hopeless world like this, they considered him their benefactor. However, the problem was that there were too many heroes like them. As news spread that Chi-Woo had finally shown his face after a long while, people continuously came one or two at a time to greet him. Due to accepting everyone’s greetings, it took him a long time to explain the meaning behind the name Seven Stars.

“…I’m sorry.” Chi-Woo apologized to Aida because their conversation was unintentionally cut off, but she didn’t show even the slightest sign of irritation. She simply smiled quietly whenever people came to visit Chi-Woo.

“No, it’s fine,” Aida replied with a smile. “I actually liked it because I was able to see what type of person you are.” In general, the evaluation of a person from others was more accurate than self-evaluation. “From what I heard, you seem like a good person.”

“No, I’m not a very good person…”

“In a way, you may be right, but you are a good person in the way I want you to be.”

In the way Aida Odelia wanted him to be? Chi-Woo tilted his head.

“It’s a relief,” then Aida continued, “That the one I’m entrusting that child to is a good person.”

Chi-Woo stopped walking. Who did she mean?

“I’m talking about Yunael,” Aida said calmly.

Yunael Tania. Chi-Woo frowned. He had noticed that Yunael got a lot of attention at the drafting event, and he had also seen their user information. It was better than expected—but that was the extent of his thoughts. If he remembered correctly, Yunael’s potential was three stars, wasn’t it? It wouldn’t be a bad idea to recruit them, but having heroes like Ru Amuh and Emmanuel around him, Yunael didn’t leave a big impression on him.

That wasn’t the case for Aida Odelia. Although she was also a three-star hero, her innate ability was intrinsically different. In a way, she was like Shersha in the Demon Empire; a precious treasure that was irreplaceable. But…

Chi-Woo said, “Come to think of it, you two seem quite close.”

“It’s been a little over 10 years since we met and began working together.”

Ten years was a significant time, enough for a mountain and landscape to go through tremendous change.

“Are you saying that I need to also recruit Yunael if I want to recruit you?” Chi-Woo decided to ask directly to be sure.

“No, I didn’t mean that.” Aida shook her head. Then she asked, “Haven’t you told me that the meaning of Seven Stars was to become a bright star that rises in the night sky and removes the darkness that befell Liber, thus lighting up the world?”

“Yes, but I want you—”

“No.” Aida shook her head again. “I’m not the star you’re looking for.” She repeated with a more determined tone. Chi-Woo’s expression turned blank. He thought the person he had been looking for was definitely Aida, but she was telling him that wasn’t the case.

After a short silence, she continued with a soft voice, “Sun and moon. And also stars. All of them become meaningful only when the sky exists.” Aida said apropos of nothing and slightly shook her head. “Do you know?” she asked while looking up at the sky. “There are relatively few stars in the universe that can really be called stars.” People often said there were many stars while looking at the twinkling lights in the night sky, but technically speaking, this was not a completely accurate statement.

“The same is true for this planet.” It was the same for Liber and Earth. Aida continued, “I know we call all of them stars colloquially and in literature since we’ve used that term from when the difference between planets and stars was ambiguous, but…” [1] However, in an astronomical sense, Earth and Liber could not be called stars.

“I think that only celestial bodies that can shine on their own deserve to be called stars. That’s what I think of as a star.” A planet that receives light was not a star; a celestial body that emitted light and heat on its own like the sun was a star. “If I’m the planet that knows how to distinguish stars,” Aida said, placing her hand on her chest. “And if you’re the sky that allows stars to exist as stars…” Then she pointed at Chi-Woo and finished, “Yunael Tania. That child is a star that knows how to shine on their own.” Then she looked back at the looming tower in the distant light.

Chi-Woo stared at Aida. He understood what she meant. Initially, he had thought that Aida’s position was the same as his, that Aida was someone trying to find a star like him. However, after listening to her, he realized a subtle difference between them. The word ‘find’ could have multiple meanings. It could mean looking around to get or discover something after deliberately searching for it, or it could mean recognizing or discovering a certain information or knowledge. Aida’s goal was more toward the latter, and her ability allowed her to perform this task. Chi-Woo’s goal was closer to the former and went beyond just finding certain people. Therefore, while it was true that their goals fell into the same greater category, their roles were different.

“…” Chi-Woo had nothing to say. He was busy organizing his thoughts.

Aida seemed to have read his confusion as she quickly added, “Haven’t you told me that Boboris made a prediction like that as well?” Boboris had told him to make sure to catch the first person he met from the tenth at all costs. After listening to Aida, Chi-Woo was able to consider the different interpretations of Boboris’ words. ‘Meet, meet…’ To face each other, to run into each other by chance, or to make eye contact. ‘Meeting someone’ could had all those implications, so Chi-Woo tilted his head and asked, “Didn’t you run into me too, Ms. Aida?”

“Did you forget? I can’t see.”

“Ah. But—”

“Of course, I also felt your presence in my own way when we first met.” With her heightened senses, Aida was able to recognize Chi-Woo by smell and sound. “What do you think it means to meet in general?”

“Well…meeting someone shouldn’t be limited to seeing them.”

Aida continued softly as if she was comforting a child, “Think about it carefully. In the banquet hall…” At that time, Aida had said, ‘We meet again.’ And Chi-Woo had been confused. He looked baffled, wondering where they had met each other before. When Chi-Woo saw Allen Leonard, he had merely wondered, ‘Why is he averting his gaze and looking so flustered?’ and hadn’t been able to recall ever meeting her. He had only managed to successfully recall their encounter after seeing Yunael Tania.

Chi-Woo’s eyes became as big as saucers after realizing this fact, ‘Yeah, she’s right.’ Although all of his attention had been focused on Allen Leonard, he had also taken notice of two other people with him. He had glanced at them and thought they were Allen Leonard’s colleagues or adventure guild members. But above all, the fact that he could only remember their encounter after seeing Yunael Tania was clear proof that Chi-Woo had seen Yunael first. Because Yunael was right before his view, and Aida was to the side.

“…After we first met, Yunael asked me about how I felt about you while we followed that hero.” Yunael had clearly recognized his presence as well.

“…I see.” Chi-Woo could no longer refute her point. “That’s right.” In the end, he had no choice but to admit and accept her words. The person that Boboris said was his fated encounter and the first person he met among the tenth reinforcements was Yunael Tania, not Aida Odelia.

‘But…’ Chi-Woo couldn’t understand it. Even if it was not 100 percent, his intuition was right most of the time. However, it missed at such an important time like this. It was too much of a coincidence unless fate was playing a crude joke on him. Even now, his intuition was leading him to Aida and not to Apertum, where Yunael was. Why did he feel this way?

“Fate is really mischievous.” It was as Aida said. He had thought he was going to have it easy this time, but looking back, there had never been a time like that. Aida read his confusion again and softly continued, “Fate is essentially a mirage in the desert. Like a fairy with a penchant of playing jokes on people, it disappears when you try to hold it.” Aida continued with a sing-song voice, “But an oasis definitely exists in the desert. Therefore—” She straightened her posture and faced Chi-Woo.

“Now, I’d like to ask sincerely.” She was making a request to the one looking for stars, to the sky that allowed stars to exist as stars—to the Heavenly King, Chi-Woo.

“Would you scout Yunael Tania for Seven Stars?”

* * *

At the same time.

Eval Sevaru believed that the most important factor in determining the success of a deal and negotiation was a good poker face. Despite this belief, Eval felt his belief in this iron law waver in real time. He had known that he was at a disadvantage, but when the competition for recruitment began in earnest over Yunael Tania, Eval Sevaru had to click his tongue. Everyone was going all out, and the conditions and offers that people made was nothing short of generous. Full support for growth was the basics, and the real gunfire was shot by Ho Lactea. She generously announced that she would give them divine blood if Yunael joined Ho Lactea. Then Apoline matched that by saying she’d teach Yunael how to strengthen their bloodline and a special breathing method passed down in her family to train mana. Their competition was so fierce that the adventure guild couldn’t even properly get a word in.

Even Eval Sevaru thought that anyone would eagerly jump in at the chance of receiving any of those offers. Of course, Seven Stars had a way to appeal to Yunael, but there was only one way to do this—to reveal that Chi-Woo was from the Choi family. However, Eval Sevaru had no authority to make the decision. And even if he revealed it, there was no guarantee that Yunael would believe him. Even if he was delegated full authority as Chi-Woo’s stand-in, there was a clear difference between the leader and their substitute coming out to negotiate.

Eval Sevaru had prepared himself before coming in the first place, but the situation was worse than he thought. Although he had thought the situation couldn’t possibly get worse than this, things suddenly took a strange turn.

‘What…?’ Eval Sevaru’s reaction verged on terror as he saw Yunael Tania’s responses constantly shift during the negotiations. ‘No way…was this also part of his plan? He thought of this in that short time?’ Chi-Woo’s actions had been way too precise and calculative to be a coincidence. But how could he have accurately guessed Yunael’s disposition and way of thinking after one glance? ‘It makes no—‘ Then he thought, ‘…No, It might be possible.’ Chi-Woo had led Eval to think in the direction he wanted with just one word and eventually caught him in his trap.

“I…want to hear the conditions Seven Stars offer again…I was wondering when that person will come again…”

After hearing Yunael Tania anxiously say this, Eval Sevaru clutched his body with both arms. He shuddered and screamed internally. ‘What the hell…! Those Chois…What the hell are they made out of…!’

1. In Korea, Earth and other planets are sometimes called stars in certain contexts. For example, ‘Earth star’ is just Earth. ☜