NOVEL NEXT 2. When a Blood Relative Suddenly Gives You a Gift, Be Suspicious
“So you’re really not going to tell me?”
What rank of Hunter he was.
Which organization he worked for.
Clink.
“Well, the moment I tell you, I might have to take back the money I gave you…”
“Come to think of it, I’m not that curious anymore!”
“…See?”
All according to plan.
While Hyun Siwoo secretly grinned with hidden intentions, Habin had to suppress her trembling curiosity.
Setting aside the money, how could she keep asking when he said he couldn’t tell her? There must be reasons.
“But it’s not related to any crimes, right? You’ve been living cleanly…”
“Ah, I told you it’s clean money. Don’t you trust me…”
“Nope. I don’t trust you. In fact, I find this all very suspicious.”
Habin shook her head decisively and rolled her eyes.
Whether it was safe work, whether giving so much wouldn’t be a burden.
She was genuinely worried. Part of her wanted to press further. In truth, she had her suspicions.
‘Could it be… something like the National Intelligence Service?’
Government agencies that had to keep secrets even from family. There must be at least one such place even after the Gate incident. If it really was something like that, it would be troublesome to pry.
‘When the time comes, he’ll tell me himself. I’ll just wait a little longer until then.’
Just a little. Really just a little.
This absolutely wasn’t because the money had softened her resolve. Absolutely not!
As she was about to finish her meal, Hyun Siwoo spoke up, watching Habin’s reaction. His tone was uncharacteristically cautious.
“And that thing you asked me to get for you, I managed to obtain it with great difficulty. I put it in your room, so take a look later.”
“Hey, you entered my room without my permission… Oh, no, wait.”
Habin, who was about to snap out of habit, composed herself and calmly asked.
“Something I asked you to get?”
“Yeah.”
Habin tried to recall.
‘Was there such a thing?’
Given that their last meeting was five years ago, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to forget. But something felt off.
To begin with, Habin wasn’t the type to ask Hyun Siwoo for favors.
Habin’s eyes narrowed.
“…Was there really such a thing?”
“Yeah. I didn’t expect you to remember. Let’s just call it your birthday present. It’s way early, but consider it this year’s birthday gift. I got it with great difficulty, so don’t go selling it.”
Hyun Siwoo said this as he smoothly rose from his seat. Habin looked up.
“Wait, where are you going?”
“I need to get to work too. I’ve already wasted too much time waiting for you.”
“Hunter work?”
“Yeah. Well, I’ll come again sometime.”
‘What do you mean, sometime?’
Sensing an ominous feeling, Habin called out to stop him.
“Hey, you are coming back, right? Hey, Hyun Siwoo! Wait…”
“I’ll KakaoTalk you later!”
“Hey!”
Whoosh.
Instead of a proper answer, Siwoo just shouted something like ‘I’ll message you!’ and fled like he was escaping.
A speed impossible to catch up with using ordinary human agility.
Having lost sight of Hyun Siwoo in an instant, Habin stood up with a serious expression.
‘He’s definitely hiding something major.’
There was clearly something Habin didn’t know. It was only natural, thinking about it logically.
If she were to post this situation on HunterNet…
Title: My Brother Suddenly Appeared as a Rich Man
Body: Gave me 10 billion won as pocket money. Clearly a high-ranking Hunter, definitely hiding his power.
└ Yeah, and my family lives in a Gangnam The Hill penthouse
└ Hello, oppa from the phone
└ Please recommend a web novel with this plot
└ LOLOLOLOLOL If you’re going to make stuff up, at least put some effort into itLOLOLOLOL What is this
“Sigh…”
There was no helping it.
‘It just means something this extraordinary is actually happening.’
But getting answers from him directly was already off the table, and as for something else to speculate on…
‘Ah.’
At that moment, Habin recalled what Hyun Siwoo had said.
‘I brought that thing you asked for with great difficulty. I put it in your room, so take a look later.’
Hyun Siwoo had left a gift.
Everything else was suspicious too, but somehow that moment’s atmosphere felt particularly odd. The way he fidgeted and looked nervous.
Especially when Siwoo said he ‘obtained it with great difficulty’, the slight frown of sincerity on his face was unforgettable.
‘What could it be that was so hard to get?’
Creeeak-
Habin slowly opened her bedroom door. It seemed Siwoo hadn’t been lying about ‘cleaning for two hours’, as the desk appeared neatly organized.
And on top of it sat an old wooden box.
‘Is this it?’
A long, rectangular box.
The long lid on top was tightly wrapped with gleaming chains. The weathered wood had worn away at the corners.
It gave off a strangely imposing aura.
“…I feel like something terrible will happen if I open this.”
Whatever it was, she had a strong premonition that messing with it would lead to severe consequences.
Seriously!
“Hmm…”
Habin frowned, crossing her arms with a wary attitude. This was clearly no ordinary object.
‘Given this atmosphere, could it be an item?’
High-value equipment, an item for Hunters.
With Hyun Siwoo strongly suspected of being a high-ranking Hunter now, the chances of this being an item were high.
Other people would probably see notification windows above it.
Especially for an item exuding such an oppressive aura that weighed down the entire room, there would surely be some impressive alerts.
Habin bit her lip.
‘Of all things…’
Yes. Of all things.
Ironically, she was someone who couldn’t see notification windows.
Perhaps the only person in Korea, no, the only person in the world who couldn’t see the ‘system window’. A defective product without even the minimum level, a completely powerless individual.
So this time too.
She couldn’t see the ominous flood of alerts.
Terrifying alerts that would make anyone who heard them recoil in horror. Warning messages that would dye one’s vision blood red.
But Habin, unable to see any of this…
‘Well, I don’t remember, but he said I asked for it. Surely he wouldn’t give me something dangerous?’
Swish.
‘Let’s just take a quick peek at what it is.’
It should be fine if I just look through the gap, right?
She slipped off the chains and very slightly opened the gap…
Click.
And so she opened the suspicious box.
And then…
ERROR!
ERROR!
[Not a pLaYer! Forbidden partic%&ipant!…]
[Level verification impossible!]
[Failed to apply re+striction! ERR#$#!]
[The se#Al is released!!! Viewing approved-]
@(!*)(%)(@ &%)(%#&%)(#%&)
The box opened wide with a bright light.
[Error-193#]
[……Minimum communication necessary. From now on, error…… ‘System Window’ will be specially provided to ‘Hyun Habin’.]
A bizarrely large, fluctuating transparent window.
[Warning! The current situation is beyond the system’s permissible range.]
You have accessed the [Forbidden Constellation-Usurper’s Sword Ahezar].
Do you wish to acquire the Forbidden Constellation?
[Y/N]
‘…I can see it?’
Habin encountered the ‘System’ for the first time in her life.
◆◇◆◇◆
“……”
How should she interpret this?
Habin pressed her forehead as she looked down at the wooden box sitting innocently before her.
The lid of the box remained open, just as Habin had left it.
‘…It’s a sword.’
Inside was a pristine white longsword.
A soft, gentle white body with elegant curves. Even a glacier-cold blue aura.
According to the notification, this must be the ‘Usurper’s Sword Ahezar’, right?
It was clearly no ordinary object.
‘I never asked for something like this!’
What did he think this was?
Before the Gate Crisis, Habin didn’t even know about the existence of items, let alone weapons like swords.
Then there was only one answer.
‘Hyun Siwoo, that bastard, did he lie to me?’
On top of that, seeing the notification window for the first time and a forbidden constellation… It was a series of unbelievable events.
Well, setting aside for now how she was finally able to see the notification window she’d never seen in her life…
Constellation.
This was the most important content right now.
‘By constellation, does it mean the constellation I know?’
A post that had recently become a hot topic in the Hunter community.
Title: I got a constellation today
Body: B-rank constellation. No lie, for real, as soon as I got it my ranking and rank all changed LOL I broke my brother’s savings to celebrate. Now I’m on the path to becoming a ranker, so I’m off to splurge on items.
└ Congrats!!!
└ What’s the constellation’s name?
└ Idiot, you think they’d reveal that here?
└ B-rank constellation means… life’s set.. Haa.. I wonder when I’ll get one…
└ Probably never, even if you spend your whole life trying
A constellation that only a tiny fraction of Awakened could obtain.
Spirits, gods, stars, heroes. The true nature of constellations varied greatly, and while the details weren’t clear, one thing was certain.
‘Having one is a hundred times better than not having one.’
Even among Awakened, their talents and ranks fluctuated based on the types of skills they possessed or their class advancement directions. In such a situation, the existence of a constellation was an enormous variable.
Awakened with constellations tended to show far greater achievements than other Awakened.
‘How many Awakened with constellations are there in our country?’
The first one that came to mind was Chae Jise, the National Healer, ranked 2nd domestically and an SS-rank Awakened. According to what was known, she was said to possess a constellation presumed to be the Sun God.
‘Anyway.’
It was a cheat key existence that was a jackpot if obtained.
There were two ways to obtain a constellation. Either you’re lucky enough to catch a constellation’s eye and form a contract first,
Or through a special item or event.
If this was the latter type, formed through an item…
“I guess he left the wrong one by mistake.”
Habin coolly concluded. Hyun Siwoo had clearly said he brought ‘the item I asked for’.
‘I don’t remember asking for something like this?’
Since it looked like just a wooden box on the outside, he probably brought the wrong item in a similar box. So I should just tell him to take it back.
Moreover, it even had the modifier ‘forbidden’ in front of it. If it was a suspicious item, all the more reason to decline.
Habin approached the box to close the lid.
Now that she looked closely, the sword was slightly tilted, perhaps due to a mistake when opening it.
‘It’s not even mine, I don’t want to get scolded for touching it.’
The moment Habin touched the sword to put it back in place.
You have chosen to acquire it!
The notification window cheerfully blinked.
‘What? No!’
Did it count as acquisition just because I touched it? Is that how it works?
While Habin was flustered, notifications began to appear as if they had been waiting for this moment.
[You will now acquire the Forbidden Constellation, ‘Usurper’s Sword Ahezar’.]
[Your profile is being updated. Registering new Awakened…]
[The ‘Excluded One’ trait activates in opposition to this.]
[Still ignoring level]
[Still ignoring system]
[Warning! Not a player-!!! Forbidden part1cipant!!! Critical flaw in the system!
[Critical flaw has exceeded the limit!!! Overload warning]
Ding ding ding. The notifications started to tremble dangerously.
[SySTem overload occurRIng]
[Fa:iled to re$cover]
[EOOROROR- Value that @)($cannot [email protected] exist occurred! System overload RUD!rn ing ! PUT:OVERfLLoW:)]
Habin didn’t even have time to react. The windows appeared and disappeared faster than her eyes could follow.
[Calculating ranking… 1st (Incompatible)…Tied for 0th (Incompatible)…]
[Calculating rank… SS (Incompatible)…SSS (Incompatible)…]
[Calculating stats…65535 (Incompatible)…4294967295 (?nC?oMpaTibLe??)]
[Calculation complete. Displaying final-val_ue%…]
Ding!
Finally, as if finishing everything, the notification window displayed its final strike.
[Status]
Name: Hyun Habin
Level: Unable to confirm
Class: Guardian of Deception
Reciprocity: Ahezar
Rank: X (Final)
Ranking: -1st
Key Skills: Deceiver’s Wish, Void Contagion, Deactivation Release…[See More]
Health: 2.14 billion (Inactive)
Mana: 2.14 billion (Inactive)
Attack Power: 2.14 billion (Inactive)
Defense: 2.14 billion (Inactive)
[Forced participation of a forbidden participant has been confirmed.]
[This is power obtained through a forbidden route.]
From now on, the System Administrator will be hostile towards you.
With that cheerful notification, the window closed.
Habin murmured the ranking she had just seen.
‘Minus first place? The administrator… is hostile to me?’
Whatever it was, it really seemed like she was screwed.
Not just her rank, but her entire life.
“C-Can’t I cancel this?”
Habin belatedly poked the sword with her finger.