# 060. Day and Night (14)
“Seohuryorang! If you’re waiting for me to tie fireworks to your foxes’ tails, that’s fine. I’ll show you a fireworks display inside the castle.”
“Kyaang… kurk kurk kurk…”
The fox hanging on Jaehee’s waist whimpered sadly at his words. This fox, the first one he had discovered, was too small to throw to the ground. When the fox whined, Jaehee unconsciously scratched under its chin. The young fox clung to Jaehee’s hand and whimpered.
“Seohuryorang. I’m not going to wait any longer. Everything’s been exposed, so what are you waiting for?”
“Sigh… Human. What kind of bad karma connects us?”
At that moment, Seohuryorang slowly descended from above. This time, Seohuryorang had taken the form of a woman. Unlike when they first met in the tutorial, she didn’t have blonde hair. She had twisted her red hair up and was wearing flowing long clothes that created a mystical atmosphere.
Jaehee looked at Seohuryorang with an unimpressed expression. Apparently, Seohuryorang enjoyed staging scenes like this.
If he had seen something like this when he first started the tutorial, he would have been stunned, but now it was just amusing.
“Seohuryorang. If you want to save your family, bring Jeongwoo. And you’re the one who cut off Jeongwoo’s connection to his Constellation, right? Reconnect it.”
“I bear no grudge against you. But that Zero is wicked and has made too many enemies. Do you think I’m the only one involved in this affair? This is all…”
“Are you talking about the Dawn of Whispers?”
Seohuryorang closed her mouth. She looked at her young kin with tearful eyes. She raised her hand toward the foxes. Thinking she was trying to take the foxes back, Jaehee grabbed a bomb.
But what Seohuryorang did was not retrieve the foxes, but slit the throats of the injured foxes.
“Kyaeeeeng kyeng kyeng!”
“Seohuryorang!”
Surprisingly, it was Jaehee, who had been threatening with the foxes, who was shocked. Seohuryorang wiped her tears with her long fingers.
“It was not I who ended those young ones’ breath, but you. How can you be so cruel to such young creatures?”
Jaehee’s mouth fell open. She had killed them instantly with her own hands, but then blamed Jaehee. It was absurd. The young fox hanging at Jaehee’s waist made a whining sound and covered its eyes.
“Ah, so there was one more here…”
“Kiiiiing. Kkng.”
“Oh dear… Mirang!”
Unlike how she had instantly killed the three foxes, Seohuryorang turned pale when she saw the fox at Jaehee’s waist and rushed over.
“Mirang, why are you there? Come to your mother quickly.”
Seohuryorang extended her hand, but the young fox didn’t move, keeping its eyes covered and head buried.
Then Seohuryorang looked at Jaehee.
“I now see that you are as wicked as that vile Zero. That Mirang is Seohuryorang’s child. Return it to me.”
“Then give Jeongwoo back.”
“Very well.”
Surprisingly, Seohuryorang nodded readily. Seohuryorang raised her hand and waved it in the air. Then, Jeongwoo began to slowly descend from above.
It was exactly as he had appeared at the train station when Jaehee lost him. He was still unconscious and looked like he was sleeping. But looking closely, his face was deathly pale, and his lips were completely purple.
“Seohuryorang! What have you done to Jeongwoo?!”
Seohuryorang shrugged her shoulders.
“Don’t say such things. I haven’t done anything. If you ask why he’s like this, it’s precisely because I’ve done nothing. Woo Jeongwoo cannot survive with his connection to his Constellation severed. Now, hand over my Mirang. All I can do is return this wicked one to you.”
Jaehee bit his lip hard.
He could understand why she was giving Jeongwoo back so easily. Anyway, if the connection to his Constellation couldn’t be restored, Jeongwoo wouldn’t survive.
Now he could understand the purpose of this strange dungeon. It was to stall for time. She had hoped that Jaehee would arrive only after Jeongwoo had breathed his last.
Jaehee set the fox he had been carrying on his waist down on the ground. The young fox whimpered, walked forward a little, then looked back.
It seemed as though it didn’t want to leave Jaehee’s arms. But now was not the time to worry about a young fox.
Jaehee ran to Jeongwoo.
“Jeongwoo! Jeongwoo! Are you okay?”
Even knowing that he couldn’t answer, Jaehee kept calling out to Jeongwoo. He placed his finger under Jeongwoo’s nose. It was weak, but he could still feel breath. However, when he held his hand, there was no warmth at all.
Looking at Jeongwoo like this, Jaehee bit his lip until it bled.
“Oh my! How sad. But what can you do? That’s the life of mortals. From now on, remember your limitations and please don’t oppose the high ones. No matter how exceptional your abilities, in the end, a mortal is just a mortal.”
“I, I won’t let it be like this!”
“Hahaha, how amusing, mortal. Even that one, though a Zero, could not escape this fate. What talent do you have that you think you can prevent it?”
Jaehee no longer cared about Seohuryorang.
And inwardly, he called a name.
Ouroboros! One Who Swallows Its Tail! Keep your promise!
The moment he called that name, darkness slowly gathered.
The white castle darkened instantly, and at some point, light existed only in the center. Through the light shining down from above, a giant snake could be seen.
Jaehee looked around. Everything had stopped.
The triumphant expression on Seohuryorang’s face, the young fox looking at Jaehee from beneath Seohuryorang’s feet, Jeongwoo lying like a corpse—everything was frozen.
Jaehee, having experienced this before, knew what it meant.
“One Who Swallows Its Tail!”
It was beyond description with just the word “enormous.” The black snake covered the entire sky. That snake was the world itself, a complete universe. In fact, calling it a snake was just one facet of Ouroboros.
Was it always such an immense being?
Jaehee trembled as he looked at Ouroboros.
When he had seen it before, he hadn’t felt its presence this strongly. But now, regardless of his will, his body was shaking so much that he couldn’t speak even if he tried.
[What do you desire? Speak what you want. I will fulfill it according to our agreement.]
Ouroboros, seeing Jaehee trembling, slowly reduced its body size. It was just a simple reduction in size, but even that decreased its presence enough that it became much easier to breathe.
[This place is not part of the protected planet Earth, so my existence is revealed to you directly. Now, speak.]
“Ouroboros! Please save Jeongwoo! Please restore the connection between Jeongwoo and his Constellation!”
Ouroboros silently gazed at Jeongwoo without saying anything.
[Is that all you desire? The promise I gave you can only be used once. Would you use it for someone else rather than yourself?]
“Yes! So please save Jeongwoo! Please restore the connection between Jeongwoo and his contracted Constellation. Is, is it possible?”
Ouroboros twisted its body once. As the massive body moved, the space seemed to distort. Jaehee looked at Ouroboros with desperate eyes.
He never thought the promise would be used like this. But right now, Ouroboros was the only thing he could think of.
[Very well. This involves Constellations entangled with each other. It’s troublesome, but not impossible. You are fortunate. Not any Constellation can neutralize another Constellation’s interference and restore the original relationship.
I will restore the relationship between Woo Jeongwoo and his contracted Constellation and bear the burden myself. This relationship is complexly tangled, but I suppose it doesn’t matter.]
Ouroboros opened its enormous mouth and blew, “hoo,” at Jeongwoo. Jaehee saw the illusion of something like a thin membrane that had been wrapping Jeongwoo being removed.
And at that moment, something like particles of light began to enter Jeongwoo. The light that instantly filled Jeongwoo converged into one place and began to emit a strong light. And when it became a thin point, it was shot upward.
“Haa—”
Jeongwoo’s mouth opened, and a rough breath was exhaled.
Only then did Jaehee realize that Ouroboros’ descent had ended.
“Jeongwoo! Jeongwoo! Are you conscious now?”
When Jaehee called Jeongwoo’s name, Seohuryorang let out a shrill scream.
“That’s impossible! This can’t be happening. This is impossible.”
Jeongwoo frowned and slowly raised his body.
