The Player Who Became a Constellation

Loki was able to hear a lot from the girl named Kankun. This was a small island in the North. A frozen land.

It was inhabited by people called the Nord tribe, who lived in cold regions year-round and survived by raiding for a living. However, he couldn’t gather many details about his own situation.

“Then what am I?”

“…What?”

“This isn’t the game world I created and set up. Is this another world?”

“…Game? Another world?”

“……”

A fruitless conversation. In the end, he couldn’t figure out what was happening. Loki looked at Kankun and rested his chin on his hand. It was a strange world, but a truly cruel one.

‘She must have a tragic fate, born into this life.’

A rebellion had occurred in Kankun’s tribe, the Ragna tribe. Her uncle had killed her father, and she had fled to this temple as her last hope.

As Loki remained silent, Kankun, who had been observing him, cautiously stepped forward and spoke.

“Um…”

“……?”

“What should we do now?”

‘We?’ It wasn’t ‘I,’ but “we.”

She was probably asking on behalf of her village. But what should he do with that?

Loki had the answer on the tip of his tongue but chose to remain silent. There were too many things he needed to think about.

He tried to organize the situation in his mind. Five minutes… ten minutes passed. But even then, Loki couldn’t find an answer.

What bothered him the most was the look in Kankun’s eyes, full of fear and anticipation, as she kept glancing at him.

‘…Why is this girl still here?’

“How long do you plan to stay here?”

“…What?”

“Are you not going back home?”

“Well… should I just go back…?”

“……?”

Loki tilted his head in confusion.

“……?”

At his confusion, Kankun tilted her head in the same direction.

“…What do you want?”

Loki’s question left Kankun with an awkward expression. What should she want, if not from the demon in front of her?

She had made a wish, and as expected, he had awakened. Logically, he should be taking her soul, but instead, he was trying to send her back.

“Should I just go?”

“Do you think I want something from you?”

“…Huh?”

“What can you give me?”

“Uh… my soul…?”

Kankun spoke hesitantly, with a questioning expression. Loki shook his head.

“I don’t need it.”

Kankun’s face showed signs of shock.

“Then leave. I have much to think about.”

Kankun became upset. She had expected something, but it felt as though she was being shooed away like a bug, which left her feeling frustrated.

Loki glanced at the sword Kankun was holding and spoke once more.

“Later.”

Kankun looked back.

“I’ll call for you when I need you.”

“…Yes!”

Kankun turned to leave the chamber, casting one last glance at the massive temple.

‘Did I survive…?’

Loki watched Kankun with a faint smile. She seemed so full of curiosity and hesitation, yet there was a unique spark in her eyes—an energy Loki couldn’t help but find amusing.

The words spoken were strange, yet the situations were becoming clearer now, even though there were still more mysteries than answers. He needed to act.

As Kankun continued to stare at him, Loki slowly broke the silence.

“Are you ready for what comes next?” he asked, his voice steady.

Kankun’s face shifted between surprise and uncertainty.

“Wha… what do you mean by that?”

“Do you not understand the gravity of what you’re about to do?”

Her breath hitched as she struggled to form the right words, but the air felt thick with tension. Loki leaned forward, casting a look at her weapon. The blade glinted faintly in the dim light.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Loki said softly, “But what you have in your hands… might just be your future.”

Kankun’s grip tightened around the sword, and for a moment, she hesitated.

“I… I still don’t understand,” she muttered. 

“Is this all real? Is there no way back?”

Loki didn’t answer right away, letting the weight of her words hang in the air.

“You’ve already crossed a line. Now, you’re part of something much bigger than you ever imagined.” He paused, eyes narrowing, “And there’s no going back from here.”

Kankun’s eyes darted around, processing the depth of his statement. The sense of fear still lingered, but a part of her seemed to accept it.

Loki gave a soft sigh, almost as if he were disappointed in how easily she had succumbed to her fate.

“Do what you must,” Loki muttered. 

“I’ll be here when you need me.”

Kankun didn’t respond, but a flicker of understanding seemed to pass between them. It was a strange sort of truce, an unspoken agreement.

She turned away slowly, her eyes lingering on the distant horizon before she made her way out of the chamber.

“Th-That is…”

“Ahhhhhh!”

A sudden scream echoed through the air. The villagers hiding in the forest began running in panic.

And from behind them, a giant horse emerged from the underbrush, carrying a warrior. A cavalry unit armed with large spears burst out of the woods.

“What’s going on?!”

“It’s an ambush!”

“Is it Kudan again?!”

Screams rang out from every direction. Kankun saw it clearly. A heavy cavalry force clad in golden-scaled armor and mounted on warhorses.

 Among the raiding Nord tribes, there was only one tribe known for possessing high-quality equipment.

 “Golden Lion… The Partas Tribe?!”

 The Nords were raiders. Their typical slave-hunting raids were about to begin.

❃

The Partas Tribe was ruthless.

“What’s this? Has everything already been looted?!”

“Capture everyone! Kill the old ones if you have to!”

A frenzied laughter echoed through the area. The cavalry swept through, leaving countless corpses behind, as heavily armored infantry in golden armor walked calmly in their wake.

The sight made Kankun’s face go pale.

“Wh-What are you doing?! Run, quickly!”

Kankun shouted to the people of the Ragna tribe, but they stared at her in despair.

“W-Where are we supposed to go?!”

“Kankun, it’s hopeless. There’s nowhere to run!”

The village had already suffered greatly from the rebellion of her uncle, Kudan Ragna. Only a few were capable of fighting, and their numbers were too small to stand against the Partas Tribe.

She felt hopeless. The hope of surviving was fleeting, only for another calamity to strike!

“Ahhhh!”

The men who resisted were pierced by spears, screaming in agony.

“No, no! Not the child…!”

A woman’s hair was pulled as her child was forcibly ripped from her, and she was dragged away somewhere. Seeing this before her eyes, Kankun’s mind went blank, and she unconsciously thought of one person.

“The Temple…”

The demon, the lord of the Cursed Throne, the ruler of the temple. He had harmed only those who showed hostility towards him, sparing both her and the shaman.

Perhaps… he wasn’t such a dangerous being to those who did not show hostility. Kankun shouted desperately to the tribe members.

“Go to the Temple—!!”

The Ragna tribe members looked at Kankun.

“Go to the Temple! It’s safe there!”

“…!”

The tribe members started running in a panic. Was it because her voice was so loud?

The Partas warriors began to stare at Kankun. Kankun broke into a cold sweat and quickly retreated.

“That child, capture her—!”

Kankun turned and began to run. She had to escape. As fast as she could… to the Temple where the Cursed Throne was—!

❃

Loki gazed at the skeletons in front of him. The skeletons were covered in pitch-black armor from head to toe.

From massive greatswords, shields, spears, bows, daggers, and even military bands holding instruments. There was a full array of military units. These were the monsters he had placed to guard the Valhalla Palace when he was a game designer.

‘Hmm…’

With a slight motion of his fingers to the right, the skeletons lined up in that direction. With another motion to the left, they aligned in that direction as well. Their movements were perfectly synchronized.

‘…Interesting. Are they following my orders?’

Loki snapped his fingers. The air split and a glass-like barrier appeared, reflecting Loki’s image.

A horned iron helmet, resembling that of a goat, symbolizes the demon. Fiery, red eyes glowing through the eye slits.

Heavy black iron armor, a fur cloak, and black smoke rising from the seams of the armor, occasionally forming shapes of snakes and wolves.

‘As expected… this is my character.’

He was the leader of the armies of death, the one who led the giants to bring about the world’s end, Ragnarok. Loki, he had become the very character he designed and conceptualized for a game.

‘But…’

According to Kankun, this world wasn’t just the world of the game. It was a completely different world.

‘But since the settings are established, they must be following my orders.’

Loki looked at the skeletons before him. And behind them, more powerful figures emanated a stronger energy, beings made of black bones, exuding “death” itself.

Death Knights and Liches, 50 of them, forming an undead legion.

‘It seems they are following me too.’

Loki lowered his gaze. Below the Valhalla Palace. Beings are still under development.

‘What about the King of the Giants?’

He had been constructing their settings up until just before coming here, so he wasn’t sure how they would respond. As Loki narrowed his eyes…

“D-Demon… no, Lord of the Cursed Throne!”

Loki raised his head. Shaman, the priest of the Nord tribe, stood before him, sweating profusely as he spoke.

“Uninvited guests have arrived.”

“Uninvited guests?”

“They are the people from the Ragna Tribe. Should we drive them away?”

The Ragna Tribe?

“I… I am Kankun Ragna… the priestess who serves you.”

Loki remembered the girl he had just sent away. She had the surname Ragna. Could these people be related to her?

“Why have they come?”

“…It seems the tribe was attacked.”

Loki remembered the first time he met the girl. She had been attacked by unknown men back then as well.

‘That girl.’

She had been holding the divine sword, Brütgang. Loki drew a finger through the air.

As a result, the space split, and a magical mirror was summoned. The mirror began showing an image.

A map around the Valhalla Palace.

There, he could see the girl holding Brütgang, fleeing, while golden-armored men chased after her.

“…She’s not using the sword?”

‘Or maybe she doesn’t know how to use it?’

Loki tapped the armrest with his fingers.

‘Brutgang recognizes its wielder as its master from the moment it’s held.’

A mythical item blessed by the gods. If someone other than the god or its rightful owner wields it, they will burn to death in a burst of intense light.

‘However, if the master dies, the story will change.’

If that girl dies, those chasing her will become the owners of the mythical item. Loki stood up.

He would find Brutgang. And he had many questions for them about this world. Loki began to walk, and the skeletons who had been kneeling and bowing before him followed.

❃❃❃