Little Pink Starfish

“This has to be fate, hyung!”
Jeong Noeul clapped his hands loudly and shouted.

“…Fate.”
I let out a hollow laugh, turning away from his sparkling gaze.

I had made up a story — saying I came here to rest in nature and happened to stop by my relative’s place in Andong.

“Right? Right? Once the finals start, we won’t get to rest at all.”
Noeul nodded repeatedly, completely convinced.

But the real reason he was here—

“I didn’t come to relax. I’m on a journey of self-discovery. I wanted to deeply plant the roots of my identity in this harsh world.”

Oh, shut up. That was definitely a lie.

Judging by how he muttered it while staring into the void, it was obvious he was parroting something his constellation, Traveler from Asteroid B-612, had said.

Still, I had no choice but to nod and pretend to buy it.

“Wow, that’s amazing…”

Better to play along than deal with a headache.

“Then I’ll ask the host noona if we can share a room!”
Noeul grinned ear to ear as he drew a fire-breathing sheep in his spring notebook.

“Sure. Sleeping together sounds fun…”

Even as I said that, I kept wondering—
What’s this guy’s real goal?

South Korea might be small, but what are the odds we’d both end up in the same guesthouse, in the same city, at the same time?

Did Jeong Noeul know about Geahrzimen?

Even if he didn’t, his constellation probably did.

The constellations were likely aware of everything but were limited from interfering by The Savior Who Is One and All’s restrictions.

So maybe Traveler from Asteroid B-612 was willing to accept the penalty just to dismantle Geahrzimen?

But why?

World peace? Stat boosts?

Just how much does Jeong Noeul actually know?

I needed to ask The Star Hated by All for advice.

While I was lost in thought with my chin in my hand—

“Eunyul-hyung!”
Noeul poked my hand with the end of a colored pencil.

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Please take a look at this.”
With a serious expression, he held out his drawing of a fire-breathing sheep in his spring notebook.

A sheep with “KROOO” written beside it. Kinda cute.

“That’s really good.”

“Right? But this flawless drawing has one big problem.”

“…What?”

“The sheep doesn’t have a name.”

“Can’t you just call it ‘sheep’?”

“But this is a fire-breathing sheep. It’s special. It’d be weird if it didn’t have a name.”

That’s not the issue here…

I sighed.

Could his innocence actually be fake?

Even so, I decided to just name the damn thing and shut him up.

“How about Hwaryeok?”

“…Huh?”

“It breathes fire—hwa—and roars—ryeok. Hwaryeok. Not bad, right?”

“Hyung… you’re just trying to get rid of me, right?”
Noeul looked wounded.

“Is that why you gave it that name…?”

“What’s wrong with Hwaryeok? I like it.”

Okay, I was a little annoyed, but don’t diss the name!

“Do you really like that name?”

“Of course I do.”

“I guess it makes sense… You were the one who named our team Gemstone during the 3rd prelims, weren’t you?”

“Gemstone wasn’t that bad! It was second-best after Gravity!”

“Not at all, hyung… If you ever have a kid, promise me you’ll get their name from a naming service. Don’t make the baby suffer…”

“Why would my baby suffer just because of me?!”

Bang!
I slammed both hands on the table.

<Creature…>
The Star Hated by All groaned like he couldn’t take it anymore.

<Look… while I do enjoy watching you act like a clown, now is not the time. Can’t you behave like a normal person just once…? Just ask me already. “You… you know something, don’t you?” Please.>

To think I’m getting told to act normal… by The Star Hated by All.

You… you know something, don’t you?

My face flushed with embarrassment from how late that question came.

He sounded relieved.

Just then—

“Oh! You two know each other?”

The guesthouse host entered the snack bar, apron tied around her waist.

“Yes, noona! We’re really close!”
Noeul jumped from his seat.

“A-ah, it’s not like that! We just ran into each other! We’re not delinquents or anything…!”

I panicked, trying to explain myself. I’m still a minor—I couldn’t risk looking suspicious.

“I’ve been watching you two. It’s amazing.”
The host walked closer and spoke.

“The one chosen by The Star Hated by All, king of the lowest depths…”

What?

“And the reincarnation of Abrilah, Prince of the Otherworld…”

She sang her words like a melody, placing her hands on her hips.

“…standing right before me.”

She smiled coldly.

Flash!

Everything moved at once.

“Step back, creature!”
The Star Hated by All burst forth in his true form.

A boy wrapped in a long scarf… the exact image from a storybook—

Traveler from Asteroid B-612 appeared beside Jeong Noeul.

“Hyung! It’s dangerous!”

Noeul spread his arms and stepped in front of me.

“…Huh?”
He muttered in surprise.

“Shaman-nim…?”

He was staring at the human form of The Star Hated by All.

…What the hell is going on?

I clenched my strawberry latte can.

So hard, the aluminum crumpled and droplets started falling.

The Star Hated by All and Traveler from Asteroid B-612 both pointed magic-charged hands at the host’s neck—

“E-Eunyul-hyung, wait for a chance and run. Okay?”
Jeong Noeul, now wearing a very familiar crown, whispered.

“To think you’d all come greet me in person.”

Despite the situation, the host—

“The Star Hated by All. Traveler from Asteroid B-612. It’s an honor. Let me properly introduce myself.”

…Geahrzimen was unfazed.

“Welcome to Walking Hell.”

Silence.

“So you’re still alive.”
The Star Hated by All was the first to speak.

“Shameful. Was it because I’m a manifested avatar with reduced power? I didn’t even notice your filthy aura was this close…”

“Please don’t call it filthy. Do you know how hard I’ve worked to keep this place clean? The city even gave me an award.”

“You dare mock me. I could end your life as easily as blowing my nose.”

“I know. But….”
Geahrzimen looked around the guesthouse.

“As you know, my real body isn’t this woman’s. It’s the entire building. Taking the lives of the innocent people inside would be just as easy for me.”

Traveler from Asteroid B-612 said gravely.

“Yup. Pretty, right?”

So that’s it.

Just like The Star Hated by All manifests through an avatar, the Geahrzimen in front of us wasn’t the real body.

The real body was the entire guesthouse.

Every guest inside was a hostage.

Traveler from Asteroid B-612 turned to The Star Hated by All.

“If I wanted you dead, I’d have done it myself. Why send you to Geahrzimen?”

“Besides, I’m always cool.”

He sneered, then looked back at Geahrzimen. So did The Star Hated by All.

“…Tch. A joke of fate.”

Everything was strange.

Unlike Muddorok, who was weak and starving, Geahrzimen seemed fully functional.

And unlike normal constellations, Traveler from Asteroid B-612 was visible and active—something that should’ve been impossible.

But most shocking of all—

“Noeul, that crown…”

The same one Abrilah wore during the performance in Jeju.

Now it sat atop Jeong Noeul’s head.

The resemblance I felt with Abrilah… was because Noeul looked just like him.

“Hyung, this is…”

Noeul’s voice trembled.

The reincarnation of Abrilah.

That’s what Geahrzimen said…

“Now, now. I have no intention of fighting you.”
Geahrzimen raised both hands in surrender.

“Why should we believe you?”
The Star Hated by All asked.

“I’ve been running this guesthouse peacefully for over fifty years. Regulars just think the original owner passed it to her daughter. Both of them… were me.”

“Fifty years isn’t enough to prove your innocence.”

“That’s practically my entire lifetime, you know.”

Traveler from Asteroid B-612 interrupted.

“Probably? But even if not, it doesn’t matter. My body was made by burning thousands of demons. It’s practically a mass of magic energy. If I die, that magic goes wild. Think you can handle that?”

…So even if we kill her, the magic energy would run rampant and poison the area.

We had to admit—we were at a disadvantage.

“I think… she really doesn’t intend to fight.”
Jeong Noeul spoke.

“…I don’t see any spirits nearby.”

Spirits…

I’d seen plenty when I went to the Incheon Wharf to collect Muddorok’s core.

But Noeul could see them without an artifact?

<…Got it.>
Traveler from Asteroid B-612 lowered his magic.

“I don’t care if the humans die. But…”
The Star Hated by All glanced at me.

I shook my head.

“…Tch. Consider yourself lucky, thanks to my contractor’s mercy.”

He also withdrew his magic.

“I’ll make a deal.”
I looked at Geahrzimen.

“If you don’t harm the guests, we won’t attack you. So tell us… why are you…”

I looked around.

“…running a guesthouse?”

“Sure!”
Geahrzimen smiled brightly.

“But not right now. I’ve still got rooms to clean, dinner to prepare, group guests to manage… If you don’t like waiting…”

She listed her schedule like a true host, then grinned.

“Want to try some unpaid part-time work?”