Chapter 3. Spirit Synchronization
My inner world was as dark as a night sky.
Yet, even in that darkness, twelve stars shone vividly. They were the stars symbolizing the one-star spirits I had contracted with.
‘Normally, you’d choose one star and dive deeper into it for synchronization…’
But I didn’t pick any single star, deliberately keeping my distance. I needed to perceive the twelve stars not as separate entities but as a single unit.
‘Not twelve, but one…’
How long did I maintain that state?
As the boundaries between the stars began to blur, whispers from the spirits they represented started to overlap faintly, like murmurs in my ears. No single voice stood out; each spirit revealed its own presence.
It was nothing short of incomprehensible noise.
My head throbbed.
‘Ugh.’
The urge to silence those stars surged within me, but I held it back.
‘So noisy…!’
Recalling the frustrations and pain from my future, I endured. If I fled now, climbing higher through spirit promotion or destiny awakening skills would be impossible.
Clinging to my resolve to change the future, I persisted.
Zzit! Zzit!
As time passed, the throbbing in my head intensified. Just as I faced what felt like an unbearable limit—
[Proficiency threshold met. <Multi-Synchronization: Resonance> blooms.]
One of the future skills lost in my regression reawakened.
Thanks to the skill’s effect, my mind cleared as if I’d just woken from a deep sleep, and the chaotic voices of the stars regained color and meaning.
‘Oh…!!’
With my consciousness as the center, the twelve stars settled at the vertices of a dodecagon. Their whispering voices sang, uplifting my spirit. Like pressing keys along a musical scale, my synchronization rate with the spirits gradually rose.
[Synchronization rate exceeds 50%. Projection of the spirits’ physical information begins.]
‘Now!’
Timing the moment when the synchronization rate crossed half, I fully opened the channel connecting me to the thirteenth constellation.
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu!
The twelve stars, arranged in a dodecagonal formation, began tracing a radiant trail of light, each star connecting to the next. The spirits’ formation acted like a massive vessel, embracing the fallen constellation onto my consciousness.
A constellation made of twelve stars.
[Unnamed Constellation descends.]
[Stigma 《Nine Lives》 blooms.]
Hwaaak—!
I saw a vision of a cat running across a film filled with my memories. As it stepped through the memories of my future with the constellation, the affection in its eyes grew deeper.
—Nya.
It was you. The child I gave up my name to help.
Having read everything up to my future ten years from now, the constellation, even after descending, unlocked its tightly sealed soul.
Only then did my consciousness, now directly linked to the constellation, expand rapidly, touching the twelve stars I had kept at a distance. Gathering their radiant starlight, my synchronization rate with the spirits soared past 90% in an instant.
[Proficiency threshold met. <deep synchronization:="" overimmersion=""> blooms.]</deep>
Another skill from my future was reclaimed.
Perhaps because overimmersion bloomed while resonance was already active—
[Conditions met. <Multi-Synchronization: Resonance> and <deep synchronization:="" overimmersion=""> are integrated.]</deep>
[Rare skill <multi-deep synchronization:="" overmind=""> is formed.]</multi-deep>
The two skills merged, evolving into a rare skill of the next tier.
Wooong!
As Overmind formed, a parallel connection was established, and two skills from each of the twelve spirits were etched into my soul.
Ziiing—!
[From the Courier ‘Pheidippides’ (★), general skills <fatigue resistance="">, <high-speed sprint=""> acquired.]</high-speed></fatigue>
[From the Petty Thief ‘Hugh Guild’ (★), general skills <stealth>, <appraisal> acquired.]</appraisal></stealth>
[From the Young Serf ‘Hans’ (★), general skills <farming knowledge="">, <stamina boost=""> acquired.]</stamina></farming>
[From the Blacksmith ‘Non Smith’ (★), general skills <smithing knowledge="">, <basic repair=""> acquired.]</basic></smithing>
[From the Herbalist ‘Blundel Violet’ (★), general skills <herbal knowledge="">, <pathfinding> acquired.]</pathfinding></herbal>
[From the Nun ‘Hannah’ (★), general skills <theological knowledge="">, <vow> acquired.]</vow></theological>
[From the Doctor ‘Alter Gools’ (★), general skills <medical knowledge="">, <lie detection=""> acquired.]</lie></medical>
[From the Tomb Raider ‘Lian Shin’ (★), general skills <ancient knowledge="">, <trap detection=""> acquired.]</trap></ancient>
[From the Swordsman ‘Duren Spirit’ (★), general skills <slash>, <steadfast mind=""> acquired.]</steadfast></slash>
[From the Jester ‘Rough’ (★), general skills <disguise>, <acrobatics> acquired.]</acrobatics></disguise>
[From the Village Girl ‘Henrietta’ (★), general skills <monster language="">, <monster affinity=""> acquired.]</monster></monster>
[From the Primitive Man ‘Utanka’ (★), general skills <hunting knowledge="">, <physical enhancement=""> acquired.]</physical></hunting>
‘Arghhh!’
A burning pain seared through my soul.
But the reward that followed was sweet.
Wooong!
The twenty-four general skills, etched all at once, resonated, creating a synergistic effect. The diverse knowledge from the stars broadened my perspective. The varied sensory skills expanded my vision. The changes applied to my body widened my range of actions.
[The intensity of projected starlight exceeds the threshold. 【Bone-Shedding Rebirth】 begins.]
[During Bone-Shedding Rebirth, protective measures by starlight are automatically applied.]
The issue was the physical transformation.
Changes in knowledge or senses posed no problem, as my future mind was already accustomed to them. But my body was different.
Thump! Thump!
My heart raced, blood flow accelerated, and my body grew hot. It was the onset of Bone-Shedding Rebirth.
I braced for the pain that would soon follow, staying vigilant.
Crack! Snap!
A torrent of starlight, starting from my heart, coursed through my body with a heat that felt like it was melting my bones. Using the spirits’ projected physical information as a base, it supplemented my deficiencies with starlight.
“Ugh…!”
Despite my preparation, the pain was hard to suppress. <steadfast mind=""> protected my psyche from the burning sensation of melting bones and flesh, but if it could fully block it, <steadfast mind=""> wouldn’t be just a general skill.</steadfast></steadfast>
Suppressing my groans as much as possible, I prayed for the rebirth to end quickly.
The week-long gap between spirit contracting and first synchronization was meant to give the body time to adapt to starlight. During the first synchronization, spirits poured starlight into the contractor, granting skills along with a baptism. This ‘starlight baptism’ caused immense pain and physical strain.
In the early days of the Great Cataclysm, unaware of this, many who synchronized immediately after contracting succumbed to the pain, with half dying from shock. That’s why the adaptation period was established.
Conversely, those who survived gained superior bodies compared to those who took the adaptation period. Noticing this, well-prepared or highly talented individuals underwent starlight baptism without the adaptation period, a process called Bone-Shedding Rebirth.
‘Bone-Shedding Rebirth, my foot. It’s just a stronger starlight baptism.’
Knowing the true conditions for Bone-Shedding Rebirth, I used to scoff inwardly whenever someone boasted about it. Their so-called rebirth wasn’t the real thing indicated by system messages.
True Bone-Shedding Rebirth required not only conserving starlight that would be wasted on adaptation but also a high synchronization rate achieved through deep synchronization. In an era where raising synchronization rates was avoided, true rebirth was rare.
Had I not gambled on deep synchronization in my previous life, I wouldn’t have known about true Bone-Shedding Rebirth. I would’ve lived believing fake rebirths were real, like everyone else.
But this time, perhaps because I synchronized simultaneously rather than sequentially, the pain was far worse than before. Even trying to distract myself with other thoughts couldn’t dull the relentless pain.
If my previous rebirth was like boiling oil, this one was molten lava. Receiving the starlight of twelve spirits at once was inevitable.
‘This is the path I chose. Grit your teeth and endure.’
All I could do was persevere.
Lick—
No, I wasn’t alone.
Whenever the pain threatened to overwhelm me, my constellation licked my soul, sharing the burden. It alleviated only a fraction of the pain, but knowing I wasn’t alone sustained me.
‘For my constellation, I’ll endure.’
***
Crack. Snap. Whoosh!
How much time passed in that agony?
“Ha… Ha…”
Finally, the Bone-Shedding Rebirth ended.
The constellation, nestled deep within me, seemed to have fallen asleep from exhaustion, its presence quiet.
Breathing heavily, I steadied myself and moved my body slightly.
“Oh?”
Even a light movement revealed a body far superior to my previous life’s. Before, synchronizing with spirits one at a time caused their physical information to overlap, wasting starlight due to conflicts or redundancies.
But now, it was different.
“It’s like I’ve taken only the best traits of the spirits…”
Their distinct qualities harmonized without clashing, forming a cohesive body. In terms of pure physicality, it rivaled a one-star awakener’s.
But my joy was short-lived, as a foul stench wrinkled my face.
“Ugh, the smell.”
The black, viscous waste expelled during the rebirth had turned the surroundings into a mess. I had anticipated this and chosen the bathroom for my first synchronization, naked.
Shaaa—
After a quick shower and cleanup, I turned on the ventilation to clear the odor. When I stepped out—
“Man, you’re insane. The adaptation period exists for a reason, and you synchronized on the day of your contract?”
Jin Yu-seong, apparently woken by the water, was looking at me in awe.
“Did I wake you? Sorry.”
“No need to apologize. I got to see something interesting. Never thought I’d witness a Bone-Shedding Rebirth in person.”
Jin Yu-seong seemed intrigued, noting that I was unscathed despite attempting rebirth.
“They say you only see someone’s true worth when they hit rock bottom. You’re way cooler now than when you were arrogant, banking on your twelve-star vessel.”
His words made me feel embarrassed, recalling my dark past.
Before my spirit contract, as a twelve-star vessel apostle candidate, I was arrogant and narcissistic—a textbook case of chuunibyou, if you will. It’s no wonder I ended up friends with a betrayer like Kim Jin-ho.
“I was a bit immature back then…”
“Ha, you know it.”
Noticing my embarrassment, Jin Yu-seong chuckled and made a proposal.
“The way you are now, you’d be a good fit for my party.”
“Party?”
“Yeah, assuming you complete the training camp and pass the qualification exam, of course.”
A party referred to a hunting team of two to five members. In other words, Jin Yu-seong was indirectly offering to help me awaken.
“Why?”
“I told you. The old you was a jerk, but I like the current you.”
“Uh… thanks?”
I accepted his offer awkwardly, wondering why his attitude had changed.
In my previous life, we were roommates too, and I had attempted synchronization on the first day as well. But back then, he never made such an offer.
What had changed?
‘Probably my reaction after parting ways with Kim Jin-ho.’
Back then, had I been angry? Had I denied reality or rationalized it? Unlike then, he must have appreciated that I didn’t despair despite becoming a one-star contractor and kept moving forward.
No, there was one more difference.
In my previous life, I passed out for three days after the rebirth due to the pain.
‘That’s it.’
I stopped dwelling on my past life. Comparing every change between then and now was pointless.
What mattered was the present.
‘A party with Jin Yu-seong, one of the promising candidates… Not a bad idea.’
But that was a possibility only after completing the training camp. I had no intention of delaying spirit promotion until then.
There was an opportunity to awaken before that.
‘Six days from now, a sudden rift will open in the training camp.’
Dimensional rifts, said to connect to the otherworld where monsters dwelled, included sudden rifts that opened without warning.
‘The monsters that came out were dire wolves and goblin riders, right?’
They were one-star and two-star monsters, respectively. While not high-level, the rift opened during the adaptation period before the first synchronization, and the monsters’ agility led to many casualties among trainees, including a promising candidate, causing significant repercussions.
But this time would be different.
I knew the future.
‘With my constellation and the help of the other promising candidates, I can stop the rift without any casualties.’
And I had my constellation, which had always supported me.