“!!”

Skill acquisitions weren’t uncommon for hunters. They could obtain a skill as a reward for attacking dungeons, learn a spell through a magic book, or gain a secret martial art technique by killing monsters or by completing certain conditions...

The methods were endless. Through such ways, one could obtain magic skills, martial arts skills, or passive skills like Choi Yeonseung’s Impenetrable Skin and Immunity to Ten Thousand Poisons. The better the skill, the stronger and more valuable the hunter became. Even D-grade hunters would be welcome in any party or clan as long as they had unique skills.

Meanwhile, Eternal Regeneration was an A+ rank skill. He had no idea how much it would be worth.

[Eternal Regeneration]

[You have inherited the hydra's essence. Your immortal body is constantly regenerating.]

Recovery skills were of immense value, no matter how low their rank, simply because of their regenerative capabilities! Even D-rank skills, like Low-grade Regeneration and Healing Power, were valuable. The skill to heal oneself or others in a dangerous dungeon was worth a fortune.

‘I thought I can't obtain skills like this because I'm a martial artist.’

Choi Yeonseung got a strange feeling after obtaining Eternal Regeneration. He really didn’t know anything about the world. He thought he would only learn Origin of the Celestial Divine Arts in his life. Hence, he never expected to acquire so many different skills.

-Kkiing! Kkiiing!

“It has been a while, Onix.” 

 -Kkiing!

The rock snake approached Choi Yeonseung and shook its body happily.

“Is that your family behind you?”

 -Kkiing!

“It is nice to have a family. Congratulations.”

Choi Yeonseung looked fondly at the rock snake. He had spent an unimaginably long time in the Abyss, so his memories were blurry, but he was happy that the rock snake had met a mate and given birth to a baby.

‘I wonder if my clanmates are doing well.’

It wasn’t big or powerful, but it was still a good clan. Their clan firmly trusted and cared about each other! In this world where clans were full of conspiracies, schemes, and internal conflict, clans like Choi Yeonseung’s were rare. That was only natural, however, considering the huge amount of money and interests involved.

‘I hope I’ve only been gone a while by the time I get back to Earth...’

-Kkiing?

“Ah. No, it’s nothing. I was just reminiscing for a moment. So, you have a family now. You should give birth to children in moderation. If you use too much strength, you’ll suffer from muscle or internal energy loss... No, it’s probably rock loss in your case. That could happen.”

-???

The rock snake stared at him, seemingly wondering what he was talking about.

“Anyway, I’m thinking of cutting up this hydra. Do you need any of its meat, skin, or bones?”

-Kkiiing!

The rock snake shook its head with a disgusted expression. The hydra’s eerie corpse was visibly dripping with poison! It was dangerous to try touching something like that.

“It is too big to take with me. I’ll rip off its skin and eat all the meat here...”

“?”

[The artifact ‘Space Pocket Necklace’ has been obtained.]

The rock snake threw at Choi Yeonseung a necklace that seemed to be roughly made of chains. Its design was terribly rustic, but...

It had a very powerful effect.

A space warehouse! It was one of the artifacts hunters dreamed of.

“Are you... giving this to me?”

-Kkiing. Kkiing.

“Onix...!”

Moved, Choi Yeonseung hugged the rock snake. It was so big he could only hug the tip of its tail.

***

Dungeons started to pop up everywhere after gates connected Earth to the Abyss. Scientists said it was a ‘phenomenon where some of the Abyss’ spaces are temporarily connected to Earth.’ However, that didn’t matter to the hunters. All they cared about was that they would be transported to a dungeon if they entered any of the dungeon gates all over the world.

The dungeon’s interior was completely isolated from reality! Upon entering, hunters would no longer be able to leave until they had either found an exit or cleared the dungeon by killing the boss monster maintaining it. They had to survive with only what they brought with them.

As a result, the management of consumables such as food became a very important task. They could starve to death if they were transported into a large or complex dungeon. They never dreamed of luxurious meals. They mainly brought high-calorie emergency food with good preservation!

However, it would be a different story if they had a hunter in their party who could use space storage magic or had storage-related artifacts. Using the space of another dimension as a warehouse resulted in a lot more leeway. They could even put luxurious meals in the space storage...

However, there were very few hunters that had mastered space magic or had space storage artifacts.

“This is amazing!”

Choi Yeonseung was using a space storage artifact for the first time. When he opened the pocket dimension and put his hand in, he felt as his hand enter a different realm. It was like a large warehouse!

Choi Yeonseung used his concentrated energy to skin the hydra and cut its meat into large pieces. Afterward, he deposited them into the warehouse one by one.

‘I should also store the ore I’ve been carrying in it.’

He had accumulated quite a lot of adamantium now and would likely be able to make a frying pan and a cutting board for as long as he could melt them properly.

-Kkiiing!

Seeing the adamantium surprised the rock snake. This much had already been collected.

-Kkiing, kkiing.

Thud.

“?”

The rock snake came up with something new. It was a brilliant-colored gemstone that seemed to emit its own light, as opposed to the dark-colored adamantium that absorbed light.

Orichalcum.

“!”

Choi Yeonseung started hearing the world speaking to him when he began walking the path of a constellation. Hence, he quickly learned what type of metal it was the moment he touched it.

[Orichalcum is a metal that exudes its own pure magic power.]

Adamantium—the hardest metal that absorbed magic power.

Orichalcum—the sharpest metal that emitted magic power.

“Making a frying pan and a cutting board with adamantium and a kitchen knife and cutlery set with orichalcum would be perfect.”

-?????

The rock snake looked at Choi Yeonseung with an expression that said, ‘What crazy nonsense are you saying?’ It had felt it the last time they met. This human being was strong and good-natured, but he seemed a bit crazy. Precious metals such as orichalcum were being used to create such mundane items!

-Kkiing...

The spouse of the rock snake twirled its tail beside its head. The baby snake did the same thing. They were a different species, but the meaning of their gestures was obvious! Fortunately, Choi Yeonseung didn’t see it since he was busy organizing and putting items in the warehouse.

“Oh, the warehouse is full.”

Even though he carefully arranged the items and hadn’t stored that many yet, the warehouse had already reached max capacity. That was only natural, though, considering the hydra was big enough to turn a planet upside down.

“I’ve already stored the adamantium in it, though, so... I’ll just eat the rest. Onix. I’ll let you give you some too. Don’t worry.”

-Kkiiing!

Disgusted, the rock snake tried to get away from him. However, Choi Yeonseung was far too kind.

“This guy. Don’t avoid it and just eat. You have to eat things like this to nourish yourself.”

Choi Yeonseung used to take all types of supplements back on Earth. From wild ginseng to snakes, he ate everything that was rumored to be good for the body! Of course, most of them had little effect. Even the expensive wild ginseng only slightly raised his internal energy.

But that was to be expected. Before being connected to the abyss, Earth had no magic power. There was no way its animals and plants could increase their magic power. The cheap elixirs or inner cores that could be obtained from dungeons were much better for such goals.

Nevertheless, the sensation the dish would give its consumer was important. Just like eating ginseng chicken soup in the summer made him feel healthier, so did eating the hydra.

Thinking about it, the hydra was a huge spiritual creature! And Choi Yeonseung was the Undefeated Incarnation of Training. If Choi Yeonseung believed so, then eating the hydra was also a form of training. Hence, he should definitely eat it! Avoiding it despite considering it training was an act that didn’t fit his existence.

-Kkiing kkiing kiiing!

Of course, that only applied to Choi Yeonseung. To the rock snake, it was just nonsense. Why should it eat that poisonous meat? Meat wasn’t even its staple food. Stones were its main diet.

“I will turn this raw meat as thin as possible to make it easy to eat. Go ahead and eat, Onix. You have to make up for the rock loss from having children.”

Choi Yeonseung’s words contained a determination not to allow rejection. Hence, at Choi Yeonseung’s warm voice, the rock snake cried and opened its mouth. 

Gulp.

“Are you okay?”

—!

The rock snake was startled. The moment it ate the meat, a powerful magic power spread throughout its body. The magic power that the hydra had in its body! That was only natural, considering the meat he had just ingested was a part of the hydra. Every piece of it was an elixir.

“Is it good? Large serpents like this hydra are traditionally believed to be healthy food.”

-???

That wasn’t the reason why Choi Yeonseung gave the rock snake some, though. He just fed it because it was his old habit... 

Nevertheless, it was a really great elixir!

-Kkiing? Kkiing?

“Why isn’t it poisonous? I took care of that. I couldn’t just keep the poison in it since you're going to eat it.”

-Kkiing...!

The rock snake cried out emotionally. Such careful consideration.

I’m sorry for thinking you were crazy!

[The giant rock snake and its family now believe in you and worship you.]

[The number of followers that serve you as a constellation has increased.]

[Your strength and power of existence as a constellation has become stronger.]

Choi Yeonseung became thrilled upon feeling the power of existence rising inside him. His strength was boiling!

Choi Yeonseung could feel the power that the rock snake family sent him. Was this why the constellations chose apostles and made humans worship them? The constellations that appeared after the Abyss’ opening had always been mysterious and amazing.

They were truly like gods!

Starting with the religious groups, everyone began taking an interest in what the constellations were like. Why help humans? What was their purpose?

Now, Choi Yeonseung could fully understand their hearts. Being worshiped as a constellation was something they could never abandon. The good constellations gained worshippers through peace, while the evil constellations did so through coercion... No matter the method, their goal was the same.

The rock snake family's belief in him already had this much effect. What if he got his hands on Earth? This made it obvious why the Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead feared the future where the evil constellations ruled Earth.

‘... But when can I return to Earth?’’

He wondered if the goddess had forgotten about him. Well, he did get caught up in a magical storm and disappeared, so there probably wasn’t any way to find him.

‘If only we signed a contract in advance... No, I wouldn’t have been able to walk the path of a constellation then. This is fine. I’ll find a way.’

The Abyss was infinitely vast, but if he kept wandering around, he should be able to find a gate connected to Earth one day. Choi Yeonseung didn’t know at this time that he would have to wander for a few thousand more years.

***

Choi Yeonseung and the rock snakes stayed in the hydra’s realm for over a month to consume the remaining meat.

Upon waking up in the morning, they ate raw hydra for breakfast. For lunch, they had hydra tartar steak (egg and no seasoning), then drank hydra fluid juice for dessert in the evening. The dishes didn’t taste that good, but the rock snake family loved it. It was healthy food!

“...Onix. You look bigger.”

Nod nod.

The giant rock snake nodded. It hadn’t been that long, but the family of rock snakes had grown several times in size!

Choi Yeonseung was surprisingly right.

“Why did you become bigger?”

-Kkiing.

The rock snake pointed to the hydra’s meat. Filled with an enormous amount of condensed magic power, the meat increased the rock snake’s body size.

“Are you sure that isn’t a strange side effect?”

-Kkiing!

The rock snake made noises that seemed to say he was being ridiculous and how could he spit nonsense about such pure magic power!