I Made a Game Featuring Constellations-Chapter 116

"- If the Grassland map is followed by the Great Forest map, one of the Abyssal Assassins is guaranteed as the boss."

"- How to get the Radiant Flame Rune buff at the mid-run recovery point, 'Rune's Spring.'"

"- You'll eventually max out all enhancement points, so pick whatever you want. But if you want efficiency, prioritize Abyss Corruption Resistance early on."

It had only been a day since the roguelike content launched, yet an avalanche of tips and strategies had already flooded the community.

It was as if the oil barons who had been starving for new content had finally been set loose, rampaging without restraint.

And leading the charge was none other than the Constellation of [Sacrifice], Ren.

Each time she reset her run in the Hidden Space, she was greeted by the starting screen.

But more than the visuals, her eyes were drawn to the real-time rankings displayed beside it.

Ranking Leaderboard

1st: CuratorCuratorCurator

2nd: Wendy

3rd: BoilingFrictionLavaGod

4th: PerfectHouseHusbandRealWaifu

5th: ObviouslyRen

A scoreboard displaying the total accumulated points earned by clearing runs of the Hidden Space.

Ren, who played under the in-game name Wendy, was currently ranked second.

She had jumped into the game early and played relentlessly, yet she still wasn’t first.

Her pride took a hit.

And to make matters worse, the arrogance of that first-place username—mentioning the Curator so blatantly.

She didn’t know who that person was, but she refused to lose.

At first, her goal had simply been to complete the story and uncover the Curator’s secret.

But now?

This had become a battle of devotion.

Losing here meant losing in her love for the Curator.

That was unacceptable.

Without hesitation, Ren dived back into the Hidden Space.

A vast array of environments unfolded before her.

Barren wastelands. Underground caverns.

A shadowy alleyway in a forsaken city. Dense forests teeming with overgrown foliage.

A testament to the fact that this world was a fragmented fusion of multiple stories.

But her objective was simple.

Destroy anything in her way and move forward.

That was something she excelled at.

Her chosen character? [Knight Ren].

Modeled after her own past, her version of [Knight Ren] was on an entirely different level from anyone else's.

Flawless swordsmanship.

Unmatched mastery of magic.

No one could utilize [Knight Ren] better than her.

She advanced relentlessly.

Events appeared, granting buffs or inflicting debuffs. Strong foes dropped enhancements and relics upon defeat.

She accumulated points to further empower herself.

At the end of each run, a boss awaited—one that she cut down without hesitation.

A straightforward cycle.

The enemies changed each run. The environments shifted unpredictably.

Yet Ren pushed forward.

Every opponent, no matter how formidable, was crushed beneath her blade.

And as she continued, she amassed enough points to fully unlock every skill in the passive skill tree.

That was when a new mode was unveiled.

[Ascension Mode]

The same Hidden Space content as before—except with the difficulty dialed up to an extreme level.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is frёeωebɳovel.com.

"Ascension..."

It had fifteen levels.

With each tier, enemies received massive buffs, while players suffered equally devastating debuffs.

An insanely challenging mode.

Ren didn’t even hesitate.

She entered immediately.

She would be the first to clear Ascension 15.

The first to claim the top ranking spot.

Stage 1.

Stage 2.

Stage 3.

. . .

With each level, the difficulty escalated exponentially.

The weight pressing down on her shoulders felt crushing, as if she were being physically restrained.

And her enemies only grew stronger.

Ren refused to surrender.

She pushed forward with unwavering determination.

Until she hit her limit.

She had to admit it—

With just her strength alone...

She could not progress any further.

***

"Seriously, do these people do anything besides eat, sleep, and play [Akashic Archive]?"

It was still the first day.

The very first day since the roguelike mode had been released.

Most players weren’t even familiar with the mechanics yet, and yet their progress defied expectations.

It was as if they had been starving for this kind of endgame content all along.

Had Ascension Mode not existed, the community would have been flooded with complaints about running out of things to do already.

Maybe adding real-time rankings had been a mistake.

The leaderboard displayed not only player rankings but also the character compositions, relic selections, and buff setups of the top players.

It had been designed to encourage competition and interaction, letting players refine their own strategies.

But perhaps that was precisely why players were grinding so obsessively.

Still, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t bad.

The sheer enthusiasm meant the new content was being well-received.

And with Ascension Mode’s brutal difficulty, the game had achieved the ideal balance—easy to play, but hard to master.

Besides, all the major lore drops regarding the Curator were locked behind clearing Ascension, meaning it wouldn’t be completed too quickly...

Or so I thought.

That assumption didn’t last long.

Because soon, something far bigger would shatter all my expectations.

Meanwhile...

"Thank you!"

Ren shouted her gratitude to the Goddess of Wisdom before bolting back to her quarters.

Armed with the answer she had obtained, she raced to claim first place in the rankings.

The Goddess of Wisdom simply smiled and reclined lazily on her bed.

The solution she had provided the Constellation of Sacrifice was simple.

She had revealed one specific relic and buff combination inside the Hidden Space Tower.

Use a relic that reduces max HP as a debuff.Combine it with another relic that increases damage at the cost of max HP until the character’s max HP becomes 1.Equip a relic that prevents one-hit kills as long as HP is at max.This relic was normally single-use, but if max HP was permanently set to 1, the effect became infinite.

A simple exploit of the game’s mechanics.

But in Ascension, where enemies dished out absurd damage, this strategy would allow Ren to survive indefinitely while dealing insane amounts of damage.

With this, the Constellation of Sacrifice would quickly clear Ascension 15 and take first place.

It was a gift—a strategic alliance meant to shut out competitors like the Queen of the Night and the Constellation of Dreams.

Of course, the Goddess of Wisdom herself also wanted to be the top player.

This was, after all, the first content update featuring the Prince.

To take first place in the first season of the Hidden Space Tower...

That would be glorious.

But the moment she entered the game, she immediately realized something.

No matter how brilliant her strategies were...

Her absolute max placement was rank 4.

Her pathetic mechanical skills meant she could never climb any higher.

There was no way she would let the Queen of the Night take first place instead.

Absolutely not.

So, she closed her eyes and accessed the shared viewing function, watching Ren’s gameplay instead.

It would take too long to reach this scene with her own skills—

But she couldn’t wait any longer.

And through the screen, she saw it.

Something that not even the game’s creator, Rian, had intended.

A truth that even he had not known about his own past.

Back to Ren...

"...What is this?"

As Ren struck down the final boss, smoke erupted, engulfing her surroundings.

And through the haze, ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ a vision began to take form.

It was the Curator.

But older than she had ever seen him before.

"I didn’t expect this."

The Curator stood, his body drenched in blood.

Wounds covered every inch of his form.

"Give up. Your Constellation is dead."

Surrounding him were countless figures, each exuding divine authority.

They radiated power—clearly Apostles or higher beings.

"...Is that so."

"Yes. So, just surrender. It'll be easier for everyone."

"Exactly! Your chance of winning is zero!"

The Curator’s expression darkened.

"...You really think so?"

A power surged around him.

The Authority of Dreams.

"You think my chances of winning are zero?"

"Kill him!"

"Don't let him do anything!"

"Out of all the countless dreams...

...you really think I wouldn't find one?"

A multitude of dreamscapes unfolded.

In every single one, the Curator died.

Over and over.

Again. And again.

Until finally—

He found the world he was searching for.

Drip...

Drip...

Every single one of his enemies lay slaughtered, their bodies mangled beyond recognition.

And standing at the center of the carnage—

The only survivor—

Was the Curator.

"...No. It wasn't zero."

CRACK

Ren stared at the vision.

Her lips parted, but no words came out.