I Made a Game Featuring Constellations-Chapter 120

The Next Day

I met with [Temperance] alone in a separate space.

"Constellation. About what happened yesterday—"

"Enough. Don’t say another word."

[Temperance] covered her face with both hands.

"I’d prefer it if you forgot about yesterday. I made a mistake, and I apologized for it. The Constellation of Dreams accepted my apology, and that’s the end of it... Please."

"...Understood."

I nodded at her request to let the matter drop.

She had said some unpleasant things about my Constellation, but in the end, she had humbled herself and sincerely begged for forgiveness.

There was no reason to dredge it all up again.

What was more surprising was that she wasn’t making an issue out of what had happened.

Sure, she had said some offensive things about my Constellation... but strictly speaking, she was more of a victim in all of this.

The Demon God had unilaterally used force to abduct her.

My Constellation had smacked her over the head with a toy hammer.

And I... I had lost my temper and grabbed her by the throat.

Looking at it from her perspective...

...Weren’t we the villains here?

I felt a twinge of guilt.

Just a little.

"So, you intend to look into my past? Is that it?"

"Yes, that’s correct."

With the Demon God, I had been able to hear her inner thoughts.

That allowed me to detect the presence of sin within her.

But [Temperance] gave off no such sound.

For a moment, I had considered the possibility that she wasn’t tainted by sin at all.

However, according to the Magitech Engineer’s analysis, the sin was indeed present within her.

Wisdom suspected that this particular sin was manifesting differently, which was why I couldn’t hear it.

[Avarice.]

A sin that hoarded wealth without sharing it.

A concept that shouldn’t have anything to do with someone whose very essence was Temperance.

To understand and purge this sin, I had to do what I had done with the other Constellations—

Use the power of dreams to enter her inner world and witness her past.

"You certainly have a rather depraved nature. Entering a woman’s most intimate depths like this... Well, an appreciation for the opposite sex is hardly a flaw in a hero."

"...What?"

What?

I mean... she wasn’t wrong, but saying it like that made it sound so much worse.

"It was a joke," she said with a smirk. "I understand what you meant. You intend to look into my past to recreate it as a game, as you did with the other Constellations."

"Exactly."

"......."

She fell silent for a moment, seemingly deep in thought.

"Do you understand what you’re asking?" she finally said. "Having someone peer into my life is not a decision to be made lightly. My deepest secrets will be exposed. And those secrets will be laid bare for the entire continent to see. This isn’t something I can decide on a whim."

She had a point.

If someone asked me to turn my entire life into a game for the world to witness, I wouldn’t exactly be thrilled.

Most people would lose their minds if they had to expose nothing more than the contents of their hard drives or photo galleries—let alone their entire existence.

It was no wonder she was hesitant.

Honestly, the fact that so many of my previous investors had been eager to have their lives turned into games was the real anomaly here.

"You may look into my past," she said. "But I will not allow it to be shown to the general public."

"I see..."

She was willing to let me see it, but not to turn it into a game.

"This is already a significant concession on my part," she continued. "Allowing my story to be made public would mean giving up my divinity."

My past investors had all gained tremendous divinity and faith by having their stories immortalized in a game.

Each of them had been noble heroes with nothing to be ashamed of.

Well... except for Wisdom.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.

...And maybe Thystina.

Anyway.

If she was refusing, despite seeing the benefits firsthand, it could only mean one thing—

That revealing her past would do more harm than good.

Wait.

If it’s that bad, then why is she willing to let me see it?

Does that mean... she trusts me?

But after what I did to her yesterday...?

[Temperance] wore an expression of practiced nonchalance.

She met my eyes for a brief moment... and then quickly looked away.

Well, if she trusts me, that’s a good thing.

"Understood. Then, if you’ll excuse me for a moment."

I activated the power of dreams and stepped toward her.

Unlike my previous investors, I wouldn’t be able ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) to purify this sin through the perceptions of the game’s players.

I’d have to find another way.

Should I ask Wisdom for help, like I did with Gaizerus’s [Lust]?

With those thoughts swirling in my mind, I was sucked into [Temperance]’s inner world.

***

Fwoosh!

The first thing I saw was a small village engulfed in flames.

Had it been attacked by bandits? The devastation was horrific.

"Mom..."

A little girl, covered in dirt, stood frozen, staring at the ruins of her home.

It had to be [Temperance]—back when she was still mortal.

A group of children, likely her friends, stood beside her, their faces pale with shock.

The scenes flickered past rapidly.

When the fire finally died down and daylight returned, [Temperance] and her friends searched through the wreckage for their families.

What they found...

Was something too cruel for a child to endure.

"...Let’s go to the city."

That was what [Temperance] told them, her tiny hands still caked in dirt from burying their loved ones as best as they could.

"If we go to the city, we’ll find food. And there are guards—so we’ll be safe there."

The children braved a harrowing journey to reach the nearest walled city.

As expected, the guards refused to let them in.

But [Temperance]—quick-witted even then—managed to sneak them inside by blending in with a group of merchants.

That, however, was only the beginning of their struggles.

Surviving in the city’s slums, with no protection and no power, was no easier than fighting a war.

"Get lost, you filthy beggar!"

"This is mine!"

Every single day was a battle.

The children who had entered the city full of hope slowly wasted away.

"Rachel... no..."

The first child to die succumbed to disease.

The grueling trek, malnutrition, and unsanitary conditions had taken their toll.

"Hans...!"

The second was killed by a vagrant—his neck snapped over a fight for a piece of bread.

A tragedy born from sheer desperation.

"...It’s my fault."

[Temperance] blamed herself.

If she had made better choices, her friends wouldn’t have died.

She had been too naïve.

Too weak.

Too lacking.

She hadn’t been able to protect them.

Bit by bit, [Temperance] became numb.

The pure, kind-hearted girl she once was vanished.

Those who tried to take from her received no mercy.

Anyone who opposed her faced relentless retaliation.

Before she knew it, she had become the undisputed ruler of the slums.

Vagrants feared and obeyed her.

She was certain she could finally protect the friends she had left.

"Die!!!"

"...Lukio!"

But then, an enemy faction—one that still held a grudge—struck back.

A blade pierced her friend’s chest before she could stop it.

"You did nothing wrong, Eliza."

Her last remaining friend tried to comfort her, but the words never reached her heart.

She had been careless.

Still too weak.

And because of that weakness... she had lost another friend.

The slums were no good.

She had to move into the light.

If she wanted to protect her last remaining friend—

And so, [Temperance] severed her ties with the underworld.

She started a legitimate business, swearing to leave the darkness behind.

It flourished.

For a time.

Until—

"Anna!"

"It’s... not your... fault..."

Her final friend died in an explosion—collateral damage in a terrorist attack orchestrated by a rival company.

"...Because of me."

If she showed even a hint of kindness, it would be used against her.

If she displayed even a sliver of mercy, it would be taken from her.

If she allowed herself even a moment of weakness, she would lose everything.

She would give no more.

She would lose nothing.

And she would never love again.

Thus, [Avarice] took root.

Something felt off.

All of my past investors had lived glorious lives before being tainted by sin.

But this...

It felt like the sin came first.

[Temperance] had already been consumed by [Avarice] long before she ascended to divinity.

And I was supposed to purge it without using the [Akashic Archive]?

This was...

Impossible.

I struggled to think of a solution.

For a long time.

Then, an idea hit me.

I had never tried this approach before...

But it might just work.

If I pulled it off, I might be able to break through that fortress-like mindset of hers.

And if I failed...

Well, I could always try something else.

There was just one problem.

"If this isn’t a game, does that mean I have to act?"

The thought of playing a dog was... discouraging.

Well...

No choice, I guess.

***

Dream-bound and adrift in her own subconscious, [Temperance] had built an empire.

Having lost all her friends, she had buried her emotions.

She had expanded her business until it ranked among the top ten on the continent.

She had just secured yet another lucrative contract and was on her way home.

Whimper...

A faint cry reached her ears.

A dog, barely clinging to life, lay sprawled on the street.

"......."

Normally, she wouldn’t have spared it a glance.

And yet...

For some reason...

She couldn’t ignore it.

"You there."

She called out to her carriage driver.

"Pick up that puppy. Be careful not to hurt it."

It was unlike her to add such a cautionary remark.