Their blades and sounds of casting had stopped as they rushed to us with awe stricken faces.
They gazed above them as their eyes met with thousands of little floating lights, magical yet a sight to be baffled, like fireflies wandering in the dim surroundings, living a carefree life.
"Woah... It's beautiful." Namjoon stood there, admiring the view just right above us.
Hoseok then spoke with utmost curiosity. "What are these blinking lights? They're really bright for something so small, they almost look like fireflies."
"They're made from holy magic and it's usually used for healing patients with insomnia as they float above them, but I simply use them for illuminating our surroundings since it emits a large amount of light." I smiled.
"Although they do look like they take the form of fireflies, but they work quite like the aesthetic." I said as I also admired the view. "They can be even brighter depending on the surroundings."
"They're lovely." / "They're lovely." Jimin and I said in unison and it left a pinkish blush across his face.
I chuckled at his reaction as he tried to avert his gaze towards Taehyung, his eyes pleaded for him to change the topic.
Taehyung curved a mischievous smile. "Your complexion doesn't look good, Jimin-ssi~"
"S-Shut up." He subconsciously pouted.
"Alright, let's get rid of the sweat for now, you guys can take a shower after dinner." I made a small gesture from my hands and their sweat naturally evaporated.
I then spoke with a hint of confusion in my words as my eyes gleamed slightly, they returned back to normal almost immediately. "That's... odd. I think it's going to snow soon? Not that heavily though."
"Snow? Do the seasons still proceed with what's happening to the world?" Yoongi said, looking at the sky.
["Although it seems unlikely, it actually might happen."] The rabbit spoke but there were no such reactions like the last time they saw him.
"It's only November though.." Jimin spoke shyly as he tugged the hem of Taehyung's shirt and stood behind him.
"It's fine, it'd be best to prepare for it just in case." I smiled as I gestured towards the table. "In the mean time, let's light up the wood inside the grill shall we?"
Johannes let out a small chuckle. "I can't believe we were too excited to even notice the food on the table."
As soon their eyes laid on the food on the table, they widen once again.
"Barbeque??" Taehyung said as his face was filled with astonishment. "Wah! Banchan?"
[ Banchan is a Korean term for "side dishes". ]
"Hyung, you noticed the banchan, I noticed the samgyeopsal." Jungkook drooled as his eyes were constantly pinned at the plate of samgyeopsal.
Jin then proudly spoke. "I made the rice and was the first one to know we were going to have barbeque tonight."
"Hyung, anyone can make rice." Namjoon chuckled.
"Well AS IF you could without me having to NAG you for burning the ONLY usable pot when you could've used a rice cooker. And when you DID, it would've resulted everyone eating a hunk of black rock." Jin retaliated leaving everyone containing their laughter.
"Y/n, is this much really okay? I mean, this is a lot, even for us..." Hoseok asked, concern filled his once joyful voice.
I chuckled as I lightly brushed my fingers through his hair. "As I mentioned earlier, it's absolutely fine and you don't have to pay me back."
"I'm just glad I get to have some company without being discriminated." I abruptly retreated my hand as I realized my habit was a bit overboard. "Ah sorry, I think my habit of caressing people's heads might've caught it from Jin, his original habit is quite contagious."
"A-Ah no it's fine! You remind me of my noona." He beamed but slowly expressed a gloomy smile. "It's been a while since I last saw her, I hope she's doing fine in this condition..."
"I'm sure it'll be alright, we might just bump into her at the competition that is." I pat his back as I reassured him with a smile.
["Actually, your words do hold some credit."] The rabbit faked a cough as he excused himself for it.
"Hah?" I looked at him as he stared back at me.
["Don't tell me that you didn't know that guides have access to the list of players?"] He raised an eyebrow.
"And I thought I've heard you mentioned that not all guides have access to every single answer." It was my turn to mimic his gesture.
The rabbit stuttered as he had a drop of sweat on the side of his forehead. ["W-Well, t-that was a different situation! I was in a pickle okay?"]
I sighed as I met with his eyes once again. "I get it, but the words you've selected are... somewhat misleading sometimes. I might've misunderstood you from the beginning if you didn't clear them as you go on."
["It's not my fault that the system interpreted them weirdly!"] The rabbit rambled. ["You humans have so many languages that we had every single one revised and translated accordingly just for a mutual understanding in communication!"]
"I kinda agree with you that Korean is quite confusing sometimes." Johannes spoke as he unconsciously agreed with the rabbit.
["You see!"] He deliberately gestured his two hands towards Johannes. ["I have to explain the smallest details to you humans that have zero experience whatsoever, and deal with their stuttering flimsy acts every single day!"]
"Are you indirectly referring to me?" I raised an eyebrow.
["Not you, certainly."]
"Fine fine, enough of that. Back to what you were saying, is there a way for you to locate a specific person, I mean player, in your whatever-that-is you use with your authority you have?" I asked and continued with a slight pause. "...To check whether she's alive."
Jojo was silent for a few good seconds and finally spoke. ["...I shouldn't be doing this from a request of a player, but I can."]
「 The phantom ghost is curious about your request. 」
「 Jester is snickering at your bold request. 」
「 King of insects is somewhat questioning the guide's rationality. 」
「 The plotter of mischievous acts is grinning at your appeal. 」
「 Many constellations are closely observing you. 」
I turned around and asked him. "Hoseok, what is your noona's name?"
"J-Jung Ji woo."
"You heard him, her name is Jung Ji woo." I said as I diverted my attention to Jojo as soon as he said her name. "They may be many people with the same name, but look for the one which have blood relations to Hoseok here."
The rabbit didn't utter a word as he opened his system window and went through the records of the list of players.
Then suddenly, he paused at a certain name and opened his mouth to speak as I could see Hoseok holding his breath at the corner of my eye. ["Jung Ji woo, gender= female, age 30, matches the blood relation of player Jung Hoseok.
["Status..."]
["...Alive."]
Hoseok exhaled an enormous amount of air that tightened his chest, relieved as if he was about to break into a fountain of crocodile tears.
The boys went to him as they gave him a big group hug.
「 The phantom ghost admires your decision and liked how the situation unfolded. 」
「 The phantom ghost gifted you 100 coins. 」
「 The plotter of mischievous acts says he recently became a fan. 」
「 The plotter of mischievous acts wants to offer you to be his avatar. 」
「 Due to the Host's undercover constellation status, invitation automatically declined. 」
「 The phantom ghosts laughs at "The plotter of mischievous acts" for his flimsy attempt. 」
「 The phantom ghost says "I told you so." 」
「 Jester is cackling and joins "The phantom ghost" as she says, "She didn't even accept both of our requests, why would she accept yours~?" 」
They don't know that I really can't accept either of their requests even if I wanted to, right? I spoke to myself.
「 The plotter of mischievous acts pleads to know your reason. 」
"Uhm, I don't really have any." I shrugged my shoulders and mumbled the next sentence. "I don't have anything to gain from being your avatar."
「 The plotter of mischievous acts is frozen. 」
「 The phantom ghost snorts at your remark, sends you a thumbs up. 」
「 The phantom ghost donated 500 coins. 」
「 Jester slams the table as she couldn't stop laughing at your response and donated 600 coins. 」
"Don't have any what Y/n?" Hoseok asked.
"Ah, it's nothing. Let's eat our dinner now, all of you must be starving since a while ago and Jungkook is literally drowning in his own drool." I chuckled.
"N-Noona!" Jungkook's face reddened.
"Alright alright, I'll stop teasing you so that we all can eat." I chuckled, satisfied with his reaction.
「 The sitcom duo sends you a like and donated 50 coins. 」
They finally sat at the table as their faces were in awe after looking at the many dishes on the table.
I gestured my hand and the meat dishes hovered to the table along with the cheese I made a while ago.
"I also made cheese, but it's just made from a simple recipe though." I smiled as the plate of cheese halted on the table.
"This is a full course meal, what 'simple' are you talking about exactly? The food or the accommodation we're staying at?" Namjoon widen his eyes as their gazes pinned at me and gave me the 'are you serious' look.
「 The phantom ghost says he agrees with them. 」
「 Jester nods at his reasoning. 」
Again, I spoke to myself. I swear these two came in a pair.
I had grilled the war bullock's meat first. I brushed the grill with some butter I purchased from the shop as sizzling sounds were heard by placing them on the hot metal pieces. Once the flavorful juices oozed from the meat as I flipped them over the grill, a notification popped up in front of me.
「 ✦Congratulations✦ 」
「 Host has achieved an incredible feat. 」
「 Host obtained a new achievement! 」
「 Host was the first ever human to accomplish a complete set of dishes using the abyss ingredients! 」
「 Host gained a new title: "Abyss home-cook". 」
「 Host gained 100[+1000] coins for obtaining a title. 」
「 The phantom ghost drools at the sight of the grilling meat. 」
「 The plotter of mischievous acts swallows his overflowing saliva. 」
「 Hell's chef is proud at the table setting. 」
"By the way, rabbit. You said you have access to the list of players and their information from their system windows, so can you perhaps access mine?" I diverted my gaze to him as he sat at the opposite side of the table, in front of me apparently.
「 Jester jumped out of her seat in excitement. 」
「 The phantom ghost is shocked while listening closely. 」
「 The constellations that are observing you are curious. 」
["Sure, give me a second."] He ran through his system window once again and abruptly paused. ["U-Uhm, h-hang on-- A-Any second now--"]
He furiously swiped the blue window in front of him as he broke out in cold sweat.
"Is there a problem?" I raised an eyebrow.
「 ★Jojo is requesting a system chat with Host★ 」
[ Accept/decline ]
I was the type to talk to oneself.
That's weird. Why is it asking me for permission? This is the first time the system asked me whether I will accept his private chat request.
"Jin, would you man the grill for me?" I beamed a smile as the utensils hovered above my hands.
"Of course!" He grabbed the tongs and scissors.
[ Will you accept the request? ]
[ Accept. ]
★Jojo : ["I-I kept on refreshing the screen b-b-but nothing is showing up--"]
★Y/n : "It must be quite serious if the system asked me to choose between accepting and declining your request for a private chat. I guess it's something can't be discussed with the eyes and ears of the constellations around."
★Jojo : ["I-I-I can't find your stats! M-More importantly, your general information!"]
★Y/n : "How so? Is it partly because I'm a half constellation or something?"
★Jojo : ["I-I know you're a constellation b-but it should show up even if you're one!"]
★Y/n : "Hang on."
I told the boys to eat without us. "Guys, you should eat up, we'll join you all in a minute."
★Y/n : "Alright, go on."
★Jojo : ["B-B-Because i-if a participating constellation wants to register as a sponsor, their details are automatically inscribe onto the system records!"]
★Y/n : "Ah, so that was the problem."
★Jojo : ["What is?"]
★Y/n : "The problem was that I didn't register into anything, well, in particular."
★Jojo : ["B-But even so, you're still registered as a player in the list of players! I s-should be able to access your status window."]
★Y/n : "Yeah you would be able to, if that was ever the case."
★Jojo : ["W-What case?"]
★Y/n : "Even the constellations can't access my status window."
★Jojo : ["What!? E-Even so, constellations have a considerable amount of authority in the system compared to us guides. Since they are sponsors, they are given the permission to do so..."]
★Jojo : ["They can't access skill levels and personal details but still are able to gain access to specific details, like a player's overall stats and their sponsors--"]
★Y/n : "But I'm able to access them apparently. I've looked into some of the boy's stats when we've met, I didn't get to their personal details. And of course, I did feel guilty at some point."
★Jojo : ["Argh-- I don't know anymore!"]
「 Jester is confused at the sudden long silence of the guide. 」
★Y/n : "We'll discuss this some other time. For now, just mention that the system is currently updating to refresh the status for a better experience. Well, if there's something like that. That'll deal with the constellation's interest for a while."
★Jojo : ["It's actually quite terrifying if you think about it."]
★Y/n : "What is?"
★Jojo : ["The amazement that I have for you on how your prediction is on point almost every single time."]
★Jojo : ["I-If the GM hears about this he'll most probably consider this as a bug a-and--"]
★Y/n : "And what? Exterminate the cause?"
★Jojo : ["Oh definitely not. Actually, I'm not so sure myself."]
★Y/n : "You almost got me there."
★Jojo : ["Maybe--"]
★Y/n : "Don't jinx it."
I sighed as I ended the chat and gave the food on the table my attention.
"Ah, I almost forgot." I plunged my hand into my inventory and pulled out a few bottles of green as I placed them onto the table.
[ Not an advertisement :)) ]
"Soju??" Yoongi said as he beamed with twinkling stars in his eyes.
["Soju~!"] The rabbit hummed.
I chuckled. "We can't not have soju when there's grilled meat, can't we?"
I got some shot glasses from the portal connected to the convenient store and poured the liquid alcoholic drink into them one by one as I passed everyone a glass.
"And if some of you don't drink," I gestured my hand and some lemons with a jar of sticky sweetness hovered over to the table as I smiled while I spoke. "I'll make some lemonade with some honey. Like lemon punch?"
["Honey?"] The rabbit said. ["I didn't see you purchasing any honey from the shop, where did you get it?"]
"I did, the queen's nectar is a form of honey." I showed him the label of the jar.
Then, the lemons in the air were extracting the juices themselves and poured into a large orichalum bowl.
"That's a lot of lemons." Taehyung chuckled beside me. He got some of the boar's meat, some ssamjang and placed in a ssam as he wrapped it in a small adorable package.
[ Ssam, means "wrapped". Using leafy vegetables to wrap a piece of meat or other filling. ]
He brought the wrap in front of me, then smiled with a hint of reddish color around his ears and across his cheeks as he wanted to feed me. "H-Here.."
[ In Korea, feeding is a gesture of affection (but does NOT always mean romantically). Feeding someone is expressing how you care and how close you are. ]
I smiled and let out a small chuckle as he was panicking when his eyes met with mine.
I opened my mouth and munched the whole wrap as I happily chewed. "Its delicious, you really know how to make your wraps."
Taehyung seemed proud as he beamed a smile while the others gave him a thumbs up.
["Why did he feed you? For my knowledge, other places on Earth don't have customs like that."]
"It's common for others to feed you in Korea but not in all countries." I placed my hand on top of the lemonade bowl and formed some ice as it dropped into the drink. "Other people from different places found it weird though."
["Well, it is."] He raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms.
"Sigh, just get your chopsticks and eat some samgyeopsal." I got my chopsticks as I picked up pieces of meat and placed them on his plate.
"Here, eat." I said as all of them looked at me like I'm actually serious.
"Noona," Jungkook whispered to me as he was seated on my left. "Can the guide even eat?"
Jojo glanced at him as he said, ["I can hear you, brat."]
With an uninterested face and a drooling mouth, the guide reached for the chopsticks in front of him but before he could even pick them up, Taehyung spoke.
"Y/n..." Taehyung whispered on my right. "Does the guide know how to use chopsticks--"
The rabbit loudly spoke. ["DO I LOOK LIKE SOME KINDERGARDENER TO YOU??"]
I held my stomach and bent over as I contained my laughter.
「 Jester laughs maniacally at the hilarious player-duo. 」
"Noona, a constellation sponsored me 50 coins!" Jungkook jumped in excitement as he looked at me with his awe-filled eyes.
"Same here!" Taehyung looked at me as he beamed.
"That's great~" I finally stopped my reflex tears and chuckled but mumbled right after. "Quite stingy of the constellation if you ask me."
「 The phantom ghost snickers at the constellation, Jester. 」
「 Jester is at loss for words and quickly says that you are more worthy for a hefty sum of coins than any other player she have ever seen. 」
「 The phantom ghost silently agrees. 」
"I'm flattered, but be fair next time. I promise these guys will become a powerful force in the near future." I spoke and munched on some food.
The rabbit uttered a barely audible mumble. ["I can't believe you actually dared to lecture a constellation."]
「 Jester sighs and says she can't promise that, but will try to do so. 」
「 The phantom ghost silently nods. 」
"Y/n, who you're talking to?" Yoongi asked as Taehyung interrupted.
"Uhhh hyung, can you pass me the ssamjang?" Taehyung said as he nervously chuckled.
"Sure..." Yoongi eyed him suspiciously.
I chuckled at the situation and spoke, "anyway, have you guys tried the cheese on the grill with some honey?"
"Not yet, it'd be better to eat together so..." Namjoon said with a small smile plastered on his face as he scratched the back of his neck.
I was dumbfounded for a second and realized I had this anticipating smile curved up the corner of my lips.
"Sure, let's enjoy the meal together."
The rabbit huffed as he grabbed his chopsticks and swiftly held them in hand. He then picked up the piece of meat on his plate and put it in his mouth and started to chew.
He abruptly paused and got more meat in his plate as he downed a shot of soju.
["Kyaa~!"]
"How is it?" I chuckled as I asked the rabbit.
["I-It's fine I guess..."]
"It's not very convincing after you got a large variety of foods on your plate." I raised an eyebrow.
["..."]
["...Can you pass the ssamjang?"]
Johannes then decided to speak. "Y/n, I've been meaning to ask you for a while now, but can I call you noonim?"
Everyone choked, either on their drinks or the food in their throats and Yoongi was suffering from the non-stop choking from the soju in his shot glass.
"D-Don't get me wrong, you seem more mature than you look so I thought you were older than me." Johannes laughed nervously.
I chuckled at his conclusion and decided to tease him a little.
Then, I showed a glum expression. "Do I look that old?"
They all started to panic, as if an entire havoc broke out.
Johannes blinked repeatedly and stuttered as he spoke. "N-N-No, t-that's not what I meant!"
I giggled as I finally spoke. "Jesting once in a while wouldn't hurt won't it?"
「 Jester chuckles at the resemblance of the word 'jesting'. 」
Their expressions relaxed and expressed a strong reaction of relief.
"I may be mature mentally but in reality, I'm just nearly 26." I chuckled. "My appearance doesn't align with my mental age I suppose."
"Does that mean you haven't had your birthday this year?" Namjoon asked as he slightly parted his mouth.
I nodded my head, "I suppose so."
"Then, when is your birthday Y/n?" Jin smiled as he questioned.
"I don't really keep track on my birthdays, but not to the point I forgot about the date." I chuckled. "December 30."
"Wow, you have a birthday twin then!" Jin said as he repeatedly raised his eyebrows.
I chuckled at his behavior, "ah really?"
"I wonder who's the lucky guy~" Jimin used his elbow and jabbed the right side of Taehyung's arm as his cheeks were rosy.
"S-Stop it guys.." Taehyung faked a cough as he averted his gaze and stared at his plate.
Then the rabbit spoke. ["Ah~ now I get why player Jimin and Hoseok wanted the seating position to be like this--"]
"Ahem." I glared at Jojo.
Then my expression lightened as I chuckled. "I never knew you guys like to play matchmaker."
"But to be frank, I don't celebrate my birthday. I think it's about... fifty... years since I last celebrated it?"
「 The phantom ghost dropped his jaw. 」
「 Jester is confused. 」
「 War maniac panics on how you were able to go into a battlefield at that age. 」
「 The constellations are alarmed. 」
All sorts of notifications were flooding into my system, appeared right in front of my eyes non-stop.
I sighed as I explained to the boys and half of the reason was for the constellations. "Don't get me wrong, I'm physically young but mentally old."
「 The Great Archmage nods as he understood and explains to the other constellations. 」
「 Jester is relieved. 」
「 The phantom ghost says 'ah, so that's possible.' 」
「 War maniac says 'whatever. As long as you have the power, old age is nothing!' 」
「 The Great Archmage shakes his head at the 'meathead' he refers as War maniac. 」
「 War maniac is furious and demands a battle with The Great Archmage. 」
「 The Great Archmage kindly declines the offer. 」
Namjoon's eyes showed a hint of pity, glazed by a thin layer of transparent gloss. "Fifty years... that's... long."
Everyone except Taehyung and the rabbit were confused by Namjoon's words.
"Why... didn't you?" Namjoon looked at me straight in the eye as he tried to find the right timing to speak.
The rabbit looked up at me and just stared. I had no idea what was going on inside his head as his expression was unreadable.
"Because... it's rather, bothersome." I shrugged. "Besides, I don't pay much mind to it."
I shrugged off the thought and decided to change the topic. "It's getting fairly late, you guys should head into the showers and come right back here. I promised to teach you all the better techniques that can be used in battle."
"Then let us help you with the dishes." Yoongi said while crossing his arms and surprising everyone with his unexpected words as they looked at him.
"What? Wanna go?" Yoongi raised an eyebrow.
[ "Wanna go?" means "wanna fight?" informal/(slang). ]
I chuckled at his unique way of speaking. "Alright, but make sure you all head into the showers after you're done."
They all vigorously nodded as the dishes hovered above them.
"Are you sure you guys want to help? The dishes can be self cleaned though." I spoke as I looked at them.
"We'll help with the leftovers." Hoseok finally said as he raised his hand.
"Great, pack and put them in your inventories to prevent them from rotting." I beamed a smile. "Oh, and leave your equipment here when you guys shower."
After they were done packing the leftovers one by one, they left their equipment on the table.
The rabbit hovered slightly above the ground as he moved beside me.
["You're not thinking what I'm assuming you're going to do, right?"] He crossed his arms as he raised an eyebrow at me.
"A slight upgrade wouldn't hurt, won't it?" I smirked as I raised my hand. "Besides, the weapons they have now wouldn't be able to withstand their powers later on."
"A mini version of chaos, but not as menacing as the name suggests though."
["It sounds as if you're creating monsters."]
"It's not like I'm creating chimeras."
[ A chimera is comprised of different body parts of different animals/beasts/monsters into one living experimental organism. ]
["That'd be disgusting."]
"I'm just reinforcing them, that's all." I chuckled and the mana dissipated as soon as I was done with them.
I sat by the table and asked the rabbit as I heaved a sigh. "I still don't get how other people are unable to perceive other's system windows while they take a look at them."
["Actually it's not that they're not able to, it's because the information you see is not there in the first place."]
"Elaborate please."
["Sigh, fine. Since you offered me a meal, I'll gladly explain to you."]
I sardonically laughed. "You still have to even if I didn't, but I'm not all that bad y'know."
["Sure."] The rabbit rolled his eyes as he sighed. ["Alright to be exact, the information is actually seen through your eyes, but a window would appear to act as a holographic whiteboard if you were to see your stats or anything else."]
["In short, your eyes project the information in your head."]
"Oh... Is that so?" I paused and I thought for a while.
「 The phantom ghost wonders why you 'd asked that. 」
Then, the thought rose in my head.
It won't be suspicious if I were to open the constellation server out in the open then. I wonder what are the constellations talking about, I didn't get notifications about it so I'm starting to get curious.
「 Anonymous abyss has entered the server #098135. 」
End of chapter 11.