The Simmering Storm Strikes

When Kim Dokja went under due to the probability storm after destroying the 'Absolute Throne', he had not expected to wake up in what seems to be a theater of sorts with no doors. He wakes up in a chair front and center, as close to the screen as possible. Kim Dokja knows exactly what this is and he does not like it. He doesn't like it one bit.

or

I'm absolutely using this as a way to both shove myself out of writers block and start getting into writing Orv.

Notes:

Inspired by [Restricted Work] by Anonymous (Log in to access.)

I've been into Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint for a very long time now. I've enjoyed the entire journey that it's taken me on. Fair warning, all of my information comes from spoilers, video essays, fanfiction, and the webtoon that's been coming out. I will be reading the webnovel itself as I write this. This is the reason I've made it webtoon friendly.

I will be adding a lot of extra angst and personal headcannons for the love of the game. I will be putting these characters through so much agony. If you don't like, don't read.

Basic warnings (read tags for more indepth);
Mentions of sexual assault, indepth gore descriptions, vomit, domestic and general abuse, depictions of violence, Plus other canon compliant warnings.

I've had to redo the tags like- three times because my computer kept resetting. it almost made me give this up lol

Think of the preview as a taster, The actual chapters will be much much longer. It just has some pieces from the start of chapter 1.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: A Preview of What's to Come

Chapter Text

Kim Dokja stood before the the 'Absolute Throne' after addressing the incarnations around him, standing solid in the face of all the eyes that have been turned to him. Belatedly, he recognizes the fact that he's been here before, with all of the eyes on him. He's felt this way before, with a similar sense of aggression and a deep seeded feeling of helplessness curling up in his chest.

[Activating exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall']

He decides it doesn't matter. What matters is that this part of his plan is completed just as he had thought about over and over. He stares forward from the steps, looking over the streets covered in half-eaten corpses that lay to the wayside, a determined look in his eyes. It doesn't matter what these people think or feel. There is a point to this.

Thunder begins to rumble above, signaling the start of rain that drops on everyone stood before the stairs to the throne. Overhead, the dokkaebi begins to get more and more furious as Dokja ignores his instructions. The lightning serving as a backdrop to his red eyes and face curled up in a snarl. Looking upon the dokkaebi, Kim Dokja stares blandly with a dead look in his eyes.

o0o

The pain that comes with the storm is excruciating in a way that is hard to describe. He feels himself whole, but Dokja could also attest that it feels like his nerves are being pulled out from under his skin in a way that starts from the tips of his fingers through his entire body. His arms come up to cradle himself, nails tearing through skin, digging into muscle and dragging. Wet blood covers his fingers as he does so, dark red smearing on his forearms.. It feels like electricity bouncing around in his body, making his limbs stiff and his muscles jump.

Closing his eyes, he lets the pain ground him in his own body, feeling the most awake that he has since the apocalypse started. Blood drips from his nose and into his mouth. His open mouth. Belatedly, he realizes he's screaming. And that someone (Multiple people?) are talking around him. Yelling, really. The sound makes him want to curl further into himself.

Suddenly, there is relief. Just barely there, but growing, slowly but surely. The pain eases bit by bit, electricity pulling back and his nerves begin to right themselves again. Looking up from his curled over position on his knees, he sees the stars lighting up in a now clear sky.

o0o

He looks down and finds he is in some sort of recliner chair, looking up he finds there's rows of them. And his companions. His companions are up and crowded in a circle, talking to each other and suddenly, the world explodes in noise once more.

"-m not even sure wha-"
"Are we stuck here?"
"-t kind of scenario this is."
"You can't be serious?"
"Why is hyung still out while the rest of us are already awake?"
"For the last time, kid, no one knows."

His head throbs and, he tries to breath through the ache, he takes note that it's not just his companions in the room with him. Whatever this room is.

Purposely avoiding to look at anyone else in the room, he saw a head of familiar brown hair he would never dare to acknowledge, he does his best to observe exactly what else is in the room. Rows of leather recliners, a large projector screen, and felt looking walls.

A theater. They're in a theater.

o0o

"Gilyoung-ah, biting isn't nice." Dokja nervously brings his free hand up to gently grab Gilyoung's jaw, bringing it away from the protagonist's hand. Yoo Joonghyuk does not remove his hand from the collar of the robe. Rude and ungrateful.

"I don't want to be nice to that sooty bastard." Gilyoung spits from where he has now rested his jaw in Dokja's freehand, not looking like he will be moving it anytime soon. Sighing, Kim Dokja attempts to set th kid down again. Gilyoung lets him.

With the kid now out of his arms, Dokja raises his eyes to make contact with Joonghyuk's own, grabbing onto the wrist of the hand that is curled in his collar. He smiles once more.

o0o

And jarringly, it's like Kim Dokja had been thrusted at the very start of all of this, on his very last train ride with the very last chapter of TWAS in his hands. Standing amongst his companions, Dokja's breath hitches at the familiar words. Jerking his head to look over at Han Sooyoung, he finds an equally disturbed look. Shifting his sight to the people he is sandwiched in between, he hides his shaking hands behind him.

Everyone is looking at the screen, confused and curious. Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung had sat in some of the chairs, still tense but making an attempt to relax.

"It looks like... The ending of a book?" Sangah hesitates as she speaks, moving towards the recliners to take a seat herself. She chooses one by Heewon and even pops up the foot rest as she looks at the screen. Gilyoung grabs one of his shaking hands and pulls him along to sit in one of the chairs a well. He does not get his own personal space. Gilyoung curls up in his lap as soon as he sits down.

o0o

The man starts to rapidly refresh the page, scrolling down and then up again. He does it over and over as the look of despair grows on his face.

'Is... Is that it? Really?'

He looks up from his phone, seemingly staring straight through the screen at everyone with a familiar dead look in his eyes.

"Dokja-ssi, is that... Is that you? Right before the scenarios started?" Sangah pipes up from somewhere on his left and it startles him so bad that he jerks Gilyoung almost completely out of his lap. The kid just pats his arm, getting comfortable again. To his side, Yoo Joonghyuk is watching him. Kim Dojka doesn't dare look his way. He stays quiet for a bit.

[Many Constellations are surprised at the revelation]

"Yes." dokja curls up around Giloung, avoiding eye contact with the group around him. Sangah makes a face, as if confused. She opens and closes her mouth a couple of times before settling on one thing to say.

[Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' says she didn't know Incarnation 'Kim Dokja' looked so soft]

"I can't remember what you look like. From before." Sangah's face scrunches up more the more she tries to think about it. A look of realization hits her. "Was- Did we just hear your thoughts?"

[Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is alarmed]

o0o

After Heewon's outburst, Dokja finally looks at everyone with minimal turning of his head. This massive room filled with so many people, incarnations and constellations alike. Trapped here with the intention of enacting what? A reaction fic? A fucking reaction fic?

He refuses to think about the fact that it's obviously a reaction fic about himself. A plain nobody. For one cruel moment, Dokja thinks that it should have been Yoo Joonghyuk up there. The spotlight was made for someone like Joonghyuk, not him. He was already through with his life, who he used to be, before the scenarios. There is no reason to go back to that. In the background to his thoughts, more people begin discussing with words he can no longer hear so lost in his own mind.

Chapter 2: The Prologue to the Beginning

Summary:

It felt like it had been ages by the time Kim Dokja started to drift in from unconsciousness,
awakening to the sound of loud talking around him. Groggy and disoriented, he is late to take note of his surroundings, a throbbing headache persisting to hammer in his skull. Opening his eyes, he's forced to blink a couple of times and even squint to be able to see.

He is sitting, lounging really, in a chair that feels plush. Running his hands over it, Dokja takes note that it feels like leather under his sticky fingertips. Confused, he scrunches his face up and brings his hand up to his face, looking upon the tacky blood dried on his hand. Kim Dokja then decides to ignore it, setting his hand back down on the arm rests.

Notes:

I lied. I'm posting this as soon as possible because I'm actually very excited about it. I'll probably post updates as I make them. I hope you enjoy this! It's just barely getting into the story, but this is technically supposed to only be half of the first actual chapter, but it was getting pretty long and I was getting too excited. Therefore it'll be in two parts. Enjoy!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

[Activating exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall']

"I refuse to sit on the 'Absolute Throne'." He states once again assuredly, condescension in his tone as he speaks, staring at the dokkaebi with that dead unyielding look. He does his best to make is sound like he's talking to a child. The dokkaebi splutters angrily, fuming out that he should just sit on the throne as none of the incarnations will get past the 'Fifth Scenario' without a King.

The people around him pipe up in outrage, yelling at him to sit on the throne or to give it up to someone else who is willing to instead. The Dokkaebi begins a long winded speech in an effort to convince him, but Kim Dokja just stands there bored. To himself, and only in the own safety of his mind, he admits that even with 'The Fourth Wall' that the people are starting to get to him a bit. Just a little bit.

['The Fourth Wall' stabilizes]

Never mind, it seems to be working just fine now. Still zoned out of the dokkaebi's obnoxiously long speech, he thinks to himself about what the fluffy thing had said earlier.

While yes, the 'Fifth Scenario' does become more difficult if the 'Absolute Throne' isn't taken, that doesn't mean it becomes impossible. Impossible things aren't interesting.

[I am not a low grade dokkaebi. None of your crude tricks will work on me like you want.] The dokkaebi finishes his speech with a flushed face and blazing red eyes lighting up as he looks down upon Kim Dokja with the most disgusted face it looks like he could manage. Looking at the frazzled and frustrated creature of the star stream, he can feel a scoff bubble up in his throat. He keeps it there as he has an image he's trying to make here and a scoff would not fit it.

I know the underlying fact that the dokkaebi has left out, on purpose no doubt. If I use the 'Absolute Throne', I will not reach the end of the scenarios. I will miss the end I intend to forge with my own hands.

Thinking back on the unconscious Yoo Joonghyuk that is laying somewhere he can not see, he mentally admits that it was his 41st regression that had learned of this. For all he was an asshole, he had set things up to be perfect to Dokja's plans. Cursing the man in his mind, he purposefully ignores the jeering calls being made from the crowd as best as he can. It was rude to interrupt, didn't they know?

Sighing when asked why he doesn't want to be 'King', he turns around to question them back, pointing out the fact that he could just kill them all once he sat upon the gilded throne. Looking back to it, he swore he could see dark blood red threads leading away from it. A harbinger of doom, he would call it. He turns away from it again quickly.

"I refuse to be the representative for human beings like the lot of you." Dokja's eyes roll over the revolting crowd before lifting his eyes up to look through the clouded sky, addresses the constellations next. "Nor will I be taking any of you as a sponsor."

Through a blue tinted screen, an ominous figure with a blurry face watches the constellations back. For a moment, the screen glitches, in the figures place is a different outline. In that moment, starry eyes and the vicious unrelenting feeling of unease. It melts away and there stands Dokja once more. The label 'Bl-762' appears in the upper corner, multiple aggressive eyes settling on Kim Dokja.

Shifting himself from his relaxed standing into a proper fighting stance in front of the stairs to the throne. The dokkaebi floating above runs out of the thin string of patience he had left, angrily advising Dokja to stop his nonsense.

"I won't let any of you take a seat on it either." He states, looking at the yelling crowd in front of him. Yelling back at the incarnations, he throws a hand out in the direction of the dokkaebi. "How long with you let yourselves be lead along by the scenarios and dokkaebi? Do you even understand what sitting on the 'Absolute Throne' would even mean for any of you?!"

Looking back up to the sky with the very same stern look, biting back a sneer at the clouded sky. He talks to the constellations next, demanding to know how long they plan on stringing their incarnations along. How long they will play out history on this battlefield. In the process he acknowledges the work it takes to become different grades of constellation, but he ultimately backtracks.

"How long will you continue your selfish play with the descendants of this country before you feel you've gotten far enough? Done enough?!"

The dokkaebi grits his teeth, baring them in the process, and snaps his fingers. He aggressively states he's done with Dokja's performance as a sub scenario screen lights up in front of the incarnations gathered in front of the throne. I was a bounty scenario that called for incarnation Kim Dokja's head in return for the chance to have the throne for the victor. Greedy eyes turned away from the screen to Dokja standing at the stairs. He remarks he knew it would go like this, a sardonic smile on his face that turns sharp.

Jung Heewon emerges from the savage crowd, darting through the people and sliding in front of Dokja, yelling about how they would have to go through her first to even think of laying a hand on him. She growls where she stands, baring her teeth at the unrest crowd. Dokja stands there stunned, looking at her from where he's in his own fighting stance. More and more people he knows come up to stand in between him and the large mass of people wanting his death.

What's left of the prophets, Yoo Sangah who comes up with her belief of values no one should forgo, even Min Jiwon and Cha Sangkyung come forward. Standing there and looking at the backs of the people who have decided to defend him, Kim Dokja chokes back what he refuses to acknowledge as tears.

['The Fourth Wall' stabilizes]

As Kim Dokja stands in shock, the dokkaebi screams out a sound of pure fury, inciting the other incarnations into action while sounding like a toddler throwing a tantrum.

The scene continues as Dokja has planned out. All the elements he had gathered up until now were worth the trouble it took to obtain them. One after the other, the pieces he had set up start to fall in place like perfectly aligned domino pieces. Disregarding the blooding rolling down his face from his nose and mouth, he continues to his goal.

To sever the connection between the 'Absolute Throne' and an 'Outer God' - a deity that roams the dark dimension.

If they had used it, considering how it made the scenarios easier short term, it would have lead to the world's destruction in the long run. A destroyed world has no place in the end he wants to see.

The events play out as such, Dokja uses the help of 7 constellations to sever the connect of the 'Absolute throne' and he succeeds. The bounty sub scenario ends when the throne is destroyed. An outer god takes interest. The dokkaebi rages in a way that equates him to a child and Dokja prepares himself for the probability storm to come.

[''Is this the story you want to tell?'' The seven stars of 'The Big Dipper' asks, ''We will watch over you, dear 'King of a Kingless World'']

And with that, the stars fade from sight along with the rest of the world. His skin is still buzzing with the left over dreggs of pain. He can only hear his own breath in his ears, no more chatter that made no sense. With his hearing, Kim Dokja also starts to bleed out of consciousness.

[You have achieved an impossible feat.]

[A new 'Fable' has been created.]

[The Fable 'King of a Kingless World has been born.]

o0o

It felt like it had been ages by the time Kim Dokja started to drift in from unconsciousness,

awakening to the sound of loud talking around him. Groggy and disoriented, he is late to take note of his surroundings, a throbbing headache persisting to hammer in his skull. Opening his eyes, he's forced to blink a couple of times and even squint to be able to see.

He is sitting, lounging really, in a chair that feels plush. Running his hands over it, Dokja takes note that it feels like leather under his sticky fingertips. Confused, he scrunches his face up and brings his hand up to his face, looking upon the tacky blood dried on his hand. Kim Dokja then decides to ignore it, setting his hand back down on the arm rests.

"-m not even sure wha-"

"Are we stuck here?"

"-t kind of scenario this is."

"You can't be serious?"

"Why is hyung still out while the rest of us are already awake?"

"For the last time, kid, no one knows."

His head throbs and, he tries to breath through the ache, he takes note that it's not just his companions in the room with him. Whatever this room is.

A theater. They're in a theater.

Oh hell no.

They better damn well not be in what he thinks they're in. Jumping up from where he is sitting, taking a moment to stabilize himself when a spell of dizzy hits him, he hurriedly starts to look for an exit. The walls are all solid, not a dip or doorway to be found. Nothing. Just straight walls in a square box of a room. Frustrated, Dokja looks over to where his companions are only to get himself an armful of running child.

In his arms, hugging around his waist, is Lee Gilyoung who seems to be crying. Everyone else has begun to swarm him, asking all sorts of questions. Yoo Joonghyuk stands at the back of the group with a glare and his face set in an unusual frown. Or perhaps he's just waiting to get back at Dokja for knocking him out with one punch.

"What do you think this is, Dokja-ssi?" Yoo Sangah asks from his right, shuffling in place with a nervous look on her face. Humming, Dokja's initial panic begins to fade as he looks around once more. Placing a hand on the top of Gilyoung's head, he mulls his words over in his mouth.

['The Fourth Wall' Stabilizes]

"I'm not quite sure, it looks to be a theater of sorts." He looks to the screen again and dreads what looks to be a reaction fic that they have been shoved into. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Han Sooyoung hanging back from the rest of them with a similar look of realization on her face.

Kim Dokja picks Gilyoung up, putting him on his hip, and walks over to the plagiarist. They share eye contact for a little bit, Sooyoung shifting her eyes between him, the big screen, and the rest of the people gathered here. She snorts.

"I think you know what this is, don't you?" With a cheeky grin on her face, she vaguely motions to the things around them as she speaks. Nearby, Yoo Joonghyuk's face sours even further and his glare ramps up to full on rage.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean." Dokja sends a smile at her, his scammer smile (whatever that means.) He then tilts his head as if he's thinking of something, before grinning even wider and pointing at her with his free hand. "But you would definitely know what's going on, as a plagiarist and all."

The statement sends Sooyoung in a splutter rage, her face souring just as much as the sunfish bastard's, as she yells at him and waves her arms sporadically. To himself, he admits that it should have made his head hurt more, but it seems that his splitting headache has dulled to be barely there.

"Kim Dokja." It seems while he was dealing with the witch, Yoo Joonghyuk had approached with his murderous aura. Dokja has no idea how he missed that much killing intent coming up right by him. Gilyoung squeezes him harder, a more firm hold where he has his arms wrapped around Dokja's neck.

"Haha..." Dokja laughs nervously, shifting his eyes around before settling on the glaring eyes in front of him. Smiling, he backs away a step and attempts to put Gilyoung down to deal with the regressor. Gilyoung holds on for all he's worth, constricting Dokja's airways and making him give up and just continue to hold the kid. "Joonghyuk-ah, wonderful to see you awa-"

"Kim Dokja. What have you done." Yoo Joonghyuk bulldozes through anything he was trying to say, stepping forward to crowd him. With one hand on his sheathed sword, he uses the other to reach forward to grab the collar of the robe Dokja's wearing. In the process, he gets a mouth full of teeth sunk into his hand. He scowls at Gilyoung, but holds on anyway.

With the kid now out of his arms, Dokja raises his eyes to make contact with Joonghyuk's own, grabbing onto the wrist of the hand that is curled in his collar. He smiles once more.

"I didn't do anything, Joonghyuk-ah. There's no need to be aggressive." Dokja is as cheeky as he can be, trying his best to press the bastard's buttons without pushing him too far.

[Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk activates 'Lie Detector']

Kim Dokja scoffs.

['Lie Detector' determines Incarnation Kim Dokja is telling the truth]

Before Yoo Joonghyuk can say anything more the big screen lights up in a familiar blue light, at the top corner there is an indicator that says 'RF-864'. And suddenly, there is more than just the incarnations in the room.

[Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' has joined 'RF-864']

[Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' has joined 'RF-864']

[Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' has joined 'RF-864']

[Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' has joined 'RF-864']

There are more that he recognized, but the notifications passed too quickly to pick apart every modifier. He waves away the notifications, squirming out of Joonghyuk's grip and rushing quickly to the rest of his group to look at the screen.

['RF-864' has Begun Streaming.]

['Rf-864' Loading Content...]

And then the screen's light turns blindingly white. An then, there are words in a black text on a white background.

[There are three ways to survive in a ruined world. Now, I have forgotten a few, but one thing is certain. The fact that you who are reading this now will survive.

'The End'

-Three Ways to survive the Apocalypse (Final Episode)

TLS123]

Everyone is looking at the screen, confused and curious. Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung had sat in some of the chairs, still tense but making an attempt to relax.

Everyone else gets their own pick of the surrounding seats. Dokja somehow finds himself sat in between Yoo Joonghyuk and Shin Yoosung. Which, is jarring because they should not have met her yet. Looking her over, Dokja finds she looks to be about in good health, but he was never actually too good at telling with those things.

When they are finally sat, the screen abruptly changes.

Sitting on a subway bench squished by the other people around him is a man, his soft face is pulled up in a look of surprise before it flickers to despair as he curls over the old beat up phone in his hands. The ill-fitted suit crumples with him, a sharp noise of ascent leaving his cracked lips.

"huh?"

Kim Dokja flinches at his own voice coming in through whatever speakers are filtering the noise. He chances a glance at his campanions that are sitting around him, only to find astonished face.

['Demon-like Judge of Fire' swoons at the pretty face on the screen]

He chokes at the notification that pops up in front of him. His face flushing rapidly in a way that he can only cover by lowering his head. He also brings his hand up to the lower part of his face to cover it as well.

What was the fourth wall doing??!

['The Fourth Wall' starts shaking]

No! Stop shaking!

The man starts to rapidly refresh the page, scrolling down and then up again. He does it over and over as the look of despair grows on his face.

'Is... Is that it? Really?'

He looks up from his phone, seemingly staring straight through the screen at everyone with a familiar dead look in his eyes.

[Many Constellations are surprised at the revelation]

[Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' says she didn't know Incarnation 'Kim Dokja' looked so soft]

In the background, Lee Jihye calls out in a sound of despair, "Ugly Ahjussi isn't ugly anymore!"

"I can't remember what you look like. From before." Sangah's face scrunches up more the more she tries to think about it. A look of realization hits her. "Was- Did we just hear your thoughts?"

[Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is alarmed]

[Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse]

-Author: tsl123

-Chapters: 3,149 Chapters (Completed)

Kim Dokja looked again but the designation 'Completed' was unmistakable. The author had never redacted or revamped or set placeholders in place of an update. Even for typos in the chapters, there wouldn't be any changes made. The update frequency would have made it hard to do so. There had always been more than five thousand words, and here he was, having to settle with the remains of a mere Thirty-two.

It's then that it really hits him, sitting there on the crowded subway with his crappy electronic and his crappy last chapter, that this was the end. There was nothing more, nothing left.

I am Dokja. This is how I introduce myself to others. And more often than not, anyone I talk to misunderstands.

"So, you're an only child?"

"Well, I am. But that wasn't what I meant."

"Oh. Then, what did you mean?"

"My name. It's my name. Kim Dokja."

As he says his name, a layout like a character profile pops up on screen, this time the layout is white on black.

Kim Dokja; 28; Graduated from a third rate college and is currently employed as a contractor subsidiary of a large corporation; hobby is reading serialized webnovels on the subway from work.

But this days subway ride was going to be unlike any other.

"Is it you narrating, Dokja-ssi?" Sangah continues talking as the screen continues broadcasting, horror painting her voice and face. The look on her face looks disgustingly close to pity and he just sits there, no way to alleviate or reassure. He himself had been frozen in terror that he had not felt in a long time.

['The Fourth Wall' is shaking]

"I'm sorry, hyung." Gilyoung reaches up in his lap, squeezing a hand on his shoulder as honest eyes show sympathy. Kim Dokja blinked, looking over Gilyung to try and figure out what the kid could ever be sorry about. The hand on his shoulder reached to hold his hand instead. Belatedly, he remembers his hands are covered in his own blood.

"I don't know." Dokja answers Sangah as he tries to gently take his dirty hands away from Gilyoung. He leans down to ask under his breath, "Whatever for, Gilyoung-ah?"

He holds onto his hand tighter, his other hand picking a bit at the dried and flaky blood, Gilyoung's eyes locked onto the events playing out in front of them. He doesn't answer.

[Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' whines about the boring events being played]

Is this really it? Is there nothing else? What is he even supposed to do on his very last subway ride? Sit there in silence? A gentle voice cuts through his imminent spiral, a mistake cutting through the tense despair that's buried it's way into his ribs.

"Oh my, at this rate, you'll get sucked into your phone." When he looks up a pair of curious eyes are staring straight at him as well as a smile. A woman with familiar long chestnut hair is talking to him. It takes a moment for him to recognize who this is.

An employee from the human resources team. Yoo Sangah from HR? He realizes he has not answered back yet and hurries to do so.

"Hello." Is all he ends up saying, still a bit numb from the disappointment and subsequent spiral.

"Are you on your way home?" Yoo Sangah asks politely, a gentle smile stuck on her face. Kim Dokja just barely keeps himself from sighing at her.

Small talk now of all times? After all that's happened. I don't want to get to know someone for no reason. Not Today.

"This is such a big invasion of privacy!" The shouting from Jung Heewon started him into looking her way. She was on the edge of her seat, a snarl tugging at her lips and head turned in an attempt to stop looking.

[The Constellations who are curious just watch in intrigue]

"I'm sorry I didn't realize how uncomfortable you were, Dokja-ssi." Sangah calls regrettably, getting yelled over by a pissed Jung heewon. He ignores it in his best appropriation he has of avoiding his problems right now.

"I'm so sorry." The child in his lap says once more, followed by the other one sat to his right. Dokja glanced over at both Gilyoung and Yoosung, he finds them trying not to look at the events happening in front of them. What good kids. He brings his hands up, about to pat their heads, when his hands catch his attention. They're still dirty. He scrubs his hands on the robe he's wearing but it doesn't do much. He put his hands on the arm rests instead.

"You have no reason to be sorry, I'm not mad at you," he mumbles. relaxing into the chair beneath him. He might as well just give in. There isn't much he can do about it in the first place.

['The Fourth Wall' Stabilizes]

"Yes, you are too?" Kim Dokja does his best to keep up with the conversation while still refreshing the page to TWAS. There has to be something more. He could not be stuck doing small talk as his final conversation.

Yoo Sangah smiles and moves to sit down next to him, even as he reflecively flinches away. The bench was already crowded, but she squeezed in just fine. The places their thighs and shoulders touched make him uncomfortably warm.

"Yes, I got lucky. My team manager is away on a business trip." As she speaks, what Dokja knows about her starts to pop to the forefront of his head, making another character profile pop up. It is white on black once more.

Yoo Sangah; Came in as HR assistant manager; Recently promoted to team manager in finance; Competent; Reliable; A kind person with a loving family; Somewhat harassed at work since she's pretty.

Sitting there, he realized he had never seen her taking the subway home. He always took the subway home. Had he never even noticed her? "Do you usually take the subway home?"

As more and more pops up on screen, Kim Dokja does his best to melt away in his chair in embarrassment. Forget invasion of privacy, this was just plain humiliating. He takes a peak at Joonghyuk only to find him zeroed in on the scene.

Groaning, he ducks his head behind Gilyoung and avoids watching anymore. If he has to hear him talking anymore he swears he's going to explode. Or explode the room. He could figure something out. He's heavily considering it.

[Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' wonders what Incarnation 'Kim Dokja' is thinking about.]

Cursing him in his head, Dokja turns his most vicious glare up toward the ceiling. Grumbling under his breath, Dokja sits up straighter in his chair, jostling Gilyoung slightly as he does so.

"I'm trying to figure out a way to get us out of here." He waves a hand in the direction of the entire room, avoiding looking around in fear of what he might see. There are people he hasn't even met from TWAS here. People from future scenarios. He's not taking any chances.

[Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' looks on knowingly]

Knowingly? What does that bastard know? Scowling, Dokja does his best to tune out the rest of the Constellation notifications, but one of them catches his eye because it means that coins can be given here.

[Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' squeals at how cute Incarnation 'Kim Dokja' is]

[Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' sponsored 4,000 coins]

Huh. So he can scam them even here.

"No, actually," Yoo Sangah starts with a sigh. "Someone stole by bike."

Pursing his lips, Dokja is reminded of the chapter robbed from him and the upset swells up his throat once more. Without anything to really say to her, he asks the first thing that comes to his mind. "You commute to work to work on a bike?"

Her answer doesn't reach his ears. Or anything she says after that. His attention turns back to his phone and he keeps trying to refresh the page.

'I was wanting to read and re-read the final chapter on my way to my final stop. one final time. But there is nothing. No final chapter to read. I will never know if he makes it, if his suffering ends. With all that build-up I had expected a big glorious ending that finally, finally gave him the ending he deserved and tied up all of the loose ends. He survived, but to what end? I want his suffering to end. I want him to live. If this is all I'm given how am I supposed to just be okay with dy-'

"Puede prestarme dinero?" That same voice interrupts his second spiral of this subway trip, sweet but sounding downright nonsensical.

"Pardon?"

"Oh wow. That's a lot, ugly- pretty? ahjussi. Though, I agree a few sentences is a horrible ending." Lee Jihye perks up from where she's sitting to his left. Turning, he sees her leaning so far forward in her chair she's squished chest to knees. Her head barely peks past the protagonist. "You sure do like reading a whole bunch. Is that what you're always doing on your phone?"

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' admits that he is also curious]

Kim Dokja ducked his head and pouted, this just kept getting more and more embarrassing. Gilyoung shifts in his lap, wiggling and squirming until he has his feet on the ground. He pats Dokja's knee from where he is now standing in front of him.

"It's okay, hyung, I'll find you plenty of books to read." Gilyoung nods his head as he says this, eyes filled with so much conviction that Dokja wouldn't dare try to convince the kid otherwise.

"Okay, Gilyoung-ah. We can read them together." Smiling, Dokja actually does pat the kids head this time, ignoring the blood that is slowly flaking off in the process. It will go away eventually. He has to purposefully ignore the throbbing in his arms that reminds him just where the blood had come from in the first place. It's not important.

[The Constellations that like kids are cooing at the sight]

"And me too, Ahjussi." A quiet voice rings from his right followed with a little hand tugging at the sleeve of the robe he is wearing. "I'll get you books too, you seem to really like them."

He turns and takes a really good look at the Shin Yoosung before him. He uses his other hand to pat her head too, scrubbing his hand on his pants as hard as possible first. He smiles at them softly, such good good kids.

Gilyoung sent a stink eye to Yoosung, but decided that she probably needed comfort and let it go. He then climbed back up and sat right by Dokja, squishing them together in the process. Dokja sighs, but lets him do as he pleases.

"It's Spanish!" Sangah answeres him cheerily, "it means 'please lend me some money'."

Kim Dokja looks at her, astounded. 'Studying on the subway... She's a whole other breed altogether. What is the world doing, sitting such a productive person next to me on this day.' He remarks about her good habits, but is startled when Sangah leans forward into his space to glance at his phone. "what about you, Dokja-ssi? What are you reading?"

Reflexively, with memories of similar situations overlaying the scene, Dokja turns off his phone and jolts away. It was too late, however, as Sangah had already gotten a glimpse at his white screen with black text, guessing it was a novel. Dokja takes a moment to look at her before confirming.

"Wow! I love novels! My favorite authors are Murakami Haruki, Raymond Carver, Han Kang- Oh! Who's your favorite author, Dokja-ssi?"

'I wasn't expecting her to name off psychological repression story authors.'

"You know them! I hadn't known!" Yoo Sangah squealed from her seat, the foot rest being pushed down rapidly in her hurried rise. She excitedly, hopping her head up and around the other people sat around them with a big smile on her face. It made her eyes squinty, she looked so happy. "I apologize for being rude, but we should talk about them sometime!"

"Sure, we can do that." He agrees, knowing he will probably never actually talk with her about it. Reverting is eyes, he tries to remember what he was actually thinking of back then. It seems like it was a lifetime ago. At his side, Yoo Joonghyuk had turned weirdly non-hostile for all he was up in his face earlier. It could be that he was behaving in front of his sister. It was cute to see them curled up towards each other. Yoo Mia was whispering about something.

Kim Dokja chuckles nervously, tucking his phone close to his chest as he leans back out of the person to his right's personal space. "You probably wouldn't know even if I told you."

To himself, he admits that he could never tell her what he's reading. Though, it's not like she would recognize it. After all, he is literally the only reader.

A flicker on the screen and there is a scene change. In a dark corner of a school library, obviously looking sort of abandoned with dust and cobwebs in view, Kim Dokja sits in a shabby school uniform that doesn't look like it even fits him. The light from his phone lights up his bruised face and dull, empty eyes. There is a spot where blood glistens in the little light from a busted lip. He looks tired.

The scene changes back to the dingy subway, an older Dokja overlays the younger one. Similar ill-fitted clothes and the same look in his eyes. The bruises and busted lip are gone, replaced with sunken in eyes and cracked lips. He looks just as tired.

Any joy Yoo Sangah still had on her face from earliers interaction falls, her head dipping out of view as she sits back down in her chair. The scene said so much that Kim Dokja wishes it never had in the first place. He hopes no one says anything, but deep in his heart of hearts, he knows someone would.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' looks at the injustice in front of her and revolts]

He waves away the notification, 'x'ing out of the pop up. There is no use demanding justice for something that had happened so long ago. Uriel really should focus on other things more. A long silence rains in the theater as the screen fades to white once more.

It's Yoo Mia who breaks the tense silence, calling out from beside her brother.

"Ahjussi, why do you look so small. The bookshelves aren't supposed to be that big." She leans forward a bit to look at him while she speaks, peaking around the protagonist to do so.

"What do you mean, small?" Dokja scrunches his face up in confusion, thinking back to what he looked like in high school. He hadn't really been paying very much attention to how he looked.

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' says you look like you would break from a mere sneeze]

Thanks. What rude commentary. Even if it is right, he didn't have to say it like that.

"Kim Dokja. You need to eat more, fool."

The protagonists voice startled him into looking his way. Frowning, Dokja could have sworn he just heard Yoo Joonghyuk sound almost... concerned? The screen fades in black text.

The story 'Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse' has been my lifeline for years now. It has been there through the hell that was high school, when I failed my entrance exams and ended up at a third-rate college...

The same dead-eyed boy, now older, sits on a bench alone at a university reading with the same beat up phone. Multiple groups of people pass him, talking and laughing with their friends. No one goes near him.

...when bad luck got me stationed on the front line during my military service...

A man wearing an army uniform with hair cropped short sits in an empty room filled with computers. He is curled over the desk he's sitting at, eyes trained on the novel in front of him.

...and even now, as an unstable contract worker getting transferred from company to company... Damn it. What's the point anyway? I don't have a single happy memory. Anyway... I don't have a single happy memory. It's bittersweet that this fictitious world I've been following for so many years is now coming to an end. Today is the day it all ends.

A grand novel consisting of 3,149 episodes, with an average view count of one. Kim Dokja muses with melancholy, thinking about all of the times he sees update notifications from tsl123. The first chapter actually had around 1,200 views, but by chapter 10, there were only 120 views. Then the view count dropped to 12 by the chapter 50. And now, Dokja was the only one reading it. It ended up being a story written for him and only him.

"Huh." Han Sooyoung's noise of ascent is quiet, but still audible in the mostly quiet room. She also stands from where she's sitting, turning her body completely to stare at him with an expression he can't parse out. "You really did read it all."

"Of course I did. Did you think I lied about that?" Kim Dokja avoids looking at her, not wanting to try to figure out what Sooyoung is thinking. The more they talk about the actual story, the more his anxiety rises. It will get exposed eventually, but he wants to live in his world of ignorance for at least a little while longer. Sooyoung walks up to him, moving until she stood right in front of him. He is no longer able to avoid her eyes.

"You really read all of that garbage." Her face curls up in a smirk, her standing position letting her look down on him. Kim Dokja wants to take out her knees. That's his position to be in, damn it.

The others around him have been whispering to each other about things he can't pick up too well with the witch in his face and talking so loud. Even the notifications from the usual constellations seemed to elude him. It made him anxious, but there wasn't anything he could do about it here. Here where he had no idea of what would happen next. Not like out there in the apocalypse where he had the answer to everything. A guide to follow.

"That's rich. Aren't you the one who had plagiarized such a garbage novel? Does that make yours worse than trash?" Kim Dokja quipped back, making to kick at her shins. It landed, not as hard as he would have liked though. Scrunching his face up in confusion, he attempts to kick her again. He doesn't get the chance.

"Mine is so much better than that! I also didn't plagiarize shit!" Sooyoung grumbled under her breath, pushing and shoving Shin Yoosung out of her chair and into his, claiming her chair as her own. The upheaved Yoosung squeaks in surprise, almost headbutting Gilyoung if Dokja hadn't stepped in, steadying her and gently settling her in on his other side.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' admonishes Incarnation ' Han Sooyoung for her actions]

"Repent for your actions." Dokja demanded immediately, echoing Uriel in the process, reaching over and smacking the back of her head. Cursing under her breath, she glares at him.

"Dokja-ssi?" Yoo Sangah's voice cuts through his thoughts once again.

It seems he was quiet for too long... What else should he say? After stalling for way too long, Kim Dokja tries to change the topic. "Oh, come to think of it, it's already been a year since we started working at the company."

Once again, Sangah finds the need to apologize, sounding sheepish about her lack of social awareness. Dokja waves it away while thinking to himself he would rather not be here at all to begin with.

"We started around this time last year. Time sure flies by, doesn't it?" Dokja says, pulling his phone away from his chest and laying it along with his hand in his lap.

Sangah laughs, "Yeah, we had no idea what we-..."

As she speaks, he slowly drifts off back into his own mind, absentmindedly answering her as she looks for answers in him.

The screen fades to a white background once more with black letters showing up as the narration happens.

'Yoo Sangah is so cool. If we were characters in a novel, she would definitely be the heroine who gave it her all. If I were in a different genre... If the genre of my life wasn't non-fiction , but fantasy...'

The scene suddenly flashes to the opposite side of the subway cabin. There sits a boy, holding a bug-catching net and a cage that holds many grasshoppers in it. His hair is messy. His shoulder are hunched over as he looks to be half-curled around the cage. Dead eyes. He looks so familiar. Familiar to someone he refuses to acknowledge he used to know.

'...could I have been the protagonist? The type who can help a kid like him because they're strong?'

The scene swap back to where Dokja is sitting with his own shoulders hunched over. A busted up phone in his hands. Equally dead eyes.

'Only the strong can afford to be kind, to show kindness.'

Tugging on his left arm, Gilyoung grins up at Dokja, bouncing where he sits practically on the armrest of the reclining chair. "Did you really notice me that early, hyung?"

"That's right." Kim Dokja raises his arm out of Gilyoung's grip to pat his head. "You helped me a lot, Gilyoung-ah."

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' coos at the adorable sight']

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' sponsors 3,000 coins]

"Only the strong can afford to be kind?" Shin Yoosung's voice is soft as she asks, he other arm being hugged as she sits on the other armrest pressed into his side.

Dokja smiles, squinting his eyes on purpose to make the grimace look kinder, taking the hand from Gilyoung's head to pat her instead. "That's nothing for you to worry about...?"

He pauses as if asking for her name, his brain working overtime to remember he hasn't met her yet. Cursing, he tries his best from infecting these kids with whatever disease his thoughts may give them.

"Yoosung, Shin Yoosung, Pretty Ahjussi." She mumbles nervously, suddnely becoming aware how weirdly comfortable she's gotten with a stranger. She doesn't move though, so Dokja guesses it should be find.

"If you want, I could... tell you the name of the app I use." Sangah offers, continuing on a topic he doesn't even remember very well.

'But. Real life is non-fiction. And in this genre, I'm no protagonist. I'm merely a reader and a lone child, just like they cursed me with this name of mine.'

Dokja smiles vaguely while responding vaguely to her offer. "Thanks, but it wouldn't matter if you tell me about the language app. A Dokja will always lead a Dokja's life after all."

To himself, he continues the sentence in the comfort of his own head. 'Whatever remains of it'

His head wasn't so comfortable anymore.

"Dokja-ssi..." Sangah starts up, a concerned look on her face, but she gets interrupted by the protagonist.

"Kim Dokja." The gruff call is aggressive. When he looks over, the Sunfish Bastard is still watching the screen but his face is turned down in a heavy frown. It takes a moment for him to break contact with the screen, tilting his head look Dokja in his eyes. "What is this."

Kim Dokja isn't sure he should answer that truthfully, not with the way he's being looked at. He jerks his head away to break eye contact and lies out of his teeth like it's his job.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean, Joonghyuk-ah." He tenses when he hears the man shifting beside him, partially expected to be grabbed by the neck again solely for the amount of cheek he but into that, but he doesn't do anything. Or say anything for that matter.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watches a look flash over Joonghyuk's face before the bastard goes back to facing the screen once more. Kim Dokja doesn't have the brain power needed to unravel what just happens, so he leaves it be.

Kim Dokja's declaration makes Sangah stare at him for a moment. And then another. She seems sincerely worried about him, perhaps because she's from human resources. "A Dokja's life...?" she muses for a moment before brightening up once more. "You're such an inspiration, Dokja-ssi!"

Confused, he shoots her a look, trying to figure out what she's on about. "Sorry?"

Now seemingly rejuvinated, Yoo Sangah clenches her fists and declares, "I should also live my own life, A Sangah's life! Like you, I'll strive to live my life to the fullest!"

Nearby, an embarrassed groan mirrors Dokja's own earlier embarrassment. Sangah sounds like she's struggling over there where she is sitting.

Even hearing it for another time, with a little more retrospect, Dokja still can't parse out exactly where Sangah was going with that. He really doesn't know why she took anything to do with him as some sort of good example.

Dokja looks even more uncertain, still slightly disturbed at her words. Before he could try to formulate an answer to her nonsense, his phone vibrates where he has it pinned in between his hand and thigh. It's the notification of a new message.

A message from tls123 pops up on the screen.

- Thank you.

For a moment, Dokja stares at it before the identity of the message’s sender clicks in his brain. 'The Author-?'

- Thanks to you, I was able to finish my story. I also won a prize in a contest.

'TWSA Was in a contest? How did I not know about it?' Kim Dokja wonders to himself, re-reading the message a couple more times. He is confused. This is good news. But even so, he's wondering where this sudden information had originated from. Typing faster than he has in a good long while, his previous despair slowly melts away as he is buried in thoughts of his story once more.

-Congratulations! But what kind of contest?

Surprisingly, tls123 replied to him almost instantly.

-It's not a big contest, so you wouldn't have heard of it. Starting with the epilogue today, TWSA will become paid content. As a token of my gratitude, I would like to send you a special present. Could you tell me your email address?

[email protected] Thank you. Thank you for all you have written, Author-nim.

"Not even a moments hesitation!" Han Sooyoung reaches over Shin Yoosung to smack the back of Dokja's head, but misses when he leans forward to dodge. On his way up, he sticks his tongue out at her.

Jung Heewon cradles her forehead in one of her hands, throwing the other one out to motion at the screen. "Do you even know who they are?! Why would you just hand your email out like that?!"

"I don't think it's a good idea to do something like that, Dokja-ssi." Lee Hyunsung calls out, a little hesitant as he does so.

Sangah pipes up from where she's sitting as well. "I think I need to give you an online cyber security lesson."

Kim Dokja looks at them uncertainly, "I'm not a kid, I know what stranger danger is. This and that are different." He grumbles to himself. This was the auther that wrote his story for him, updating almost every day. How could he not trust them? It's not like it would have mattered if something did happen, anyway.

-I was only able to finish my story thanks to you.

Subject: Thank you for everything

Sender: tsl123 <[email protected]>

Mr. Kim Dokja,

Starting at 7 pm today, TWSA will become paid content. This will help you. I wish you all the best.

The black letters on a white background were inconspicuous but Joonghyuk tenses up beside him at the familiar time period. Kim Dokja does his best not to move, staying as still as possible.

Dokja blinks and then glances up at the corner of his phone for the time. Internally, he starts to panic. 'Starting at 7 pm? It's 6:55 right now, so that means I have five minutes let. I'll go into my favorite chapters and... huh?'

It's gone. All that's left of the novel is an empty webpage and an error notice. It has already been taken down. No more black letters to hide amongst. 'TWSA is... gone? Wha- Where? WHERE? WHERE DID IT GO? WHERE DID MY STORY GO?' The panic increases ten fold as he hurriedly tries refreshing the page over and over again. Nothing.

Nothing is left.

Notes:

This is 8,726 words long (or should be). It was supposed to be 6,000. That was the goal. I didn't even cover everything I wanted to cover.

Come yell at me at
https://x.com/AR3adz
And tell me what you think. I post extras and updates as I write.

Leave me comments! I love to read them and they motivate me to work faster!

Chapter 3: The Subway of the Beginning

Summary:

Here you go, enjoy ^^

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Kim Dokja should probably try to explain himself, maybe send some assurance to anyone who might need it that he had everything under control. But here? Reliving what he thought was the last time he would have access to the same story he's read his entire life? There were no reassurances that came to mind. No quick quip to subvert attention.

Nothing at all indeed.

The panic from before hits him again seeing the blank website. The error makes him cringe harder. Turning to Gilyoung, he makes a valiant attempt to avoid his problems. The kid isn't looking at him, though, solely focused on the screen. There goes that.

[Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' admits she's concerned about Incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

"Wow. That's... Dokja-ssi really loves that book." Lee Hyunsung asks in a quiet voice, hesitant and even a little wary. He seems to want to say something more, his mouth left open for a little bit, but nothing comes out and he just turns back to the screen resolutely. He mumbles something about a cartridge that Dokja couldn't quite catch.

"You're obsessed! No wonder you read all of it, you rat." Han Sooyoung snaps her head over to him, a disbelieving grin on her face that rapidly turns smug. "A five minute timer and you immediately go to reread over 3,000 chapters?"

"Is this what an addiction is like?" He can hear Lee Jihye in the background, talking to someone else. It's hard to hear them with Sooyoung yelling his ears, but he thinks Jung Heewon is he one to answer her. He can't make out the rest of what is said.

Purely for his own pride, Kim Dokja snarks back at her. "Are you pretending to be unfamiliar with bookmarking? Maybe it's because no body liked your trash novel enough."

Han Sooyoung doesn't deign him with an answer.

Grumbling, Dokja sits further back in his chair and pops up the recliners foot rest. He was about to curl his legs up, but Gilyoung and Yoosung invade is space more instead. Sure. They've been good kids.

The lights on in the cabin flicker a couple of times before going out. Restless muttering starts up as people start turning on phone flashlights and phone screen lights make it easier to see again. Yoo Sangah grabs onto Dokja's upper arm, squeezing tightly. "What- What is this? What's going on?"

'It's the usual story, probably.' Kim Dokja dismissed, actively staving off his imminent break down over the fact he no longer has access to his favorite story. "No need to worry. It isn't a big deal."

Many eyes are now on his, most of them scowling. Avoiding their eyes, Dokja taps his finger on his thigh. No one speaks for a good bit, a tense atmosphere that threatens to choke him.

['The Fourth Wall' stabilizes]

The room become infinitely more bearable, this quiet no longer bothering him and the eyes on him lessen to an easy to deal with feeling. There's no reason to be so uptight. It really is no big deal. It happens all of the time.

'What is going on with the Fourth Wall?? It's usually better than this.' Scrunching his face up, upset, Kim Dokja glares at the delayed messages coming in. The screens pop up late and it seems like the fourth wall isn't actually doing anything.

[K im Do kja is a n id iot]

Staring at the newest pop up, bewildered, Dokja pays little attention to what his companions are trying to say. Did.... Did it just talk?

"It is a big deal," The sharp tone Sangah took up could cut through anything like a knife. A freshly sharpened one. "It's tragic."

"A common tragedy." Kim Dokja immediately shoots back in a tone that is hard and bone-chillingly cold. She looks like she's about to say something again, upset as she looks, but she is interrupted before she can get another word in.

"So it's nothing else?" Yoo Sangah looks to him for reassurance, unsure and weary. Kim Dokja's vision fuzzes at the edge as a memory tries to resurface. He ignores it and snaps his head away from her hopeful eyes.

"Yes. It's probably just a disturbance from a suicide on the tracks. Someone will be on the intercom to make an announcement." The hopeful look in Sangah's eyes dies and something more somber takes its place.

It was then that he just so happened to check the time. He watched the clock tick from 6:59 to 7:00.

Red sparks flash in the air, looking similar to lightning, menacing and bright in the dark cabin. Dokja uses his empty left hand to shade his eyes from the light, squinting in the general direction. A loud message crackles to life, generating a fuzzy in both the air, and oddly, direction in his head as well. Flinching at the feeling, a wild look overtakes his eyes before it is chilled into a weary curiosity.

|"The free service of the 1612th planetary system has come to an end. The main scenario will begin now."|

Dokja watches as it starts, listening to everyone clamber about. They mumbled to each other, hemming and hawing about the first scenario in a way that sounds suspiciously like nostalgia, but everyone is too nervous for that.

[Many constellations are excited for the start of the scenarios]

[Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is excited for the action that's going to happen]

Raising an eyebrow, Dokja blows air out of his nose as his face betrays him with a smile. Yeah, yeah, you assholes are all ready to rewatch the first scenario. Bastards.

Only to himself, Kim Dokja admits he is also excited to be witnessing the first scenario as well.

Yoo Joonghyuk would kill him this time for sure. Kim Dokja was everything Joonghyuk hated. For all intents and purposes, he was just like the constellations currently watching his miserable self finally find his calling. Or whatever.

-Two small horns. A downy creature wearing a straw garment was floating midair. It was too peculiar to be called a fairy, too malicious to be called an angel, and too innocent looking to be called a devil. So we called it a "dokkaebi."-

More black letter on a white screen, this time though, it fades into the real thing floating in the air of the subway cabin. His novel had just disappeared, but Kim Dokja sees a creature exactly as described in TWSA appear in front of the passengers.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is watching with curiosity]

"Did you just? Have that memorized?" Han Sooyoung looks at him baffled, poking a finger into his ribs. Pouting, Dokja grabs her hand and reaches around Yoosung to shove it back at her. "How many times have you actually re-read it??"

"Well-"

"Is this where all of your knowledge comes from? This book?" Yoo Joonghyuk barks out the question, sounding more like a demand then a question at all. He still looks cute curled up with his sister, even with his scary face.

"Yes. It is." There is no point in denying it. It's not like this situation is going to get any better the more he lies about it. He dreads the reaction he will have when he finds out what TWSA is really about. When he looks down to pick at his hands, Dokja finds that most of the blood has flaked off by now. They're mostly clean, or well, as clean as they'll get in the situation they're in. It's important to him that he only touches the kids with clean hands.

"Is that why you're always calling yourself a reader? Was it not you making a joke about your name this entire time?" Jung Heewon asks in the process of dragging Lee Hyunsung to sit with her behind everyone instead of so far away. Dokja swears he can fell their body heat against his back. Which he is going to ignore. Just like he's going to ignore that question.

"You can tell me about your story, hyung. It must be good if you like it so much." Gilyoung slides off of the armrest to sit halfway on his lap, leaning up against Kim Dokja. He seems to look for something else to say, but fails to do so.

[Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is squealing at the cute interaction.]

"Is it like some sort of survival guide? With it's name, it sounds like one. Could more people have survived if they read it?" Lee Hyunsung asks innocently from behind him, his expression brightening slightly.

"That boringly long novel? No one else would read it except this rat." Sooyoung sends a scathing look to Kim Dokja, who just deadpans at her like she's stupid. Which she is. He thinks so over and over again as he makes eye contact, trying to sear the thought into her head. It doesn't work, but Sooyoung does glare back at him.

"It's- It's not that kind of book. The name is misleading in this context." Kim Dokja admits, grimacing.

Lee Hyunsung wilts in his chair, nodding along with a solemn look on his face.

The Dokkaebi goes to speak, it's mouth moving as it floats there, but the sound is delayed. When it does come, everything that it says is a garbled mess of gibberish. The people on the subway cabin look around to each other in confusion. The creature did something in the air, motioning and fiddling with something.

[Testing. Testing. Is it working now? Gosh, the language patch seemed to have malfunctioned there. Can everyone understand me now?] As the dokkaebi tries to get everyone's attention, the crowd of passengers starts up yelling over each other. Yoo Sangah frets about beside him, worrying as Dokja looks around. He knows what will happen next. 'Words on a page would never properly convey the real sounds of screaming and the putrid smell of blood. But, I am far from a stranger to either of them.'

Both of the kids leaned further on him, Shin Yoosung hesitantly taking up the space in his lap that Gilyoung had left. Grunting at the extra weight, Dokja stabilizes her when she nearly tips forward in her endeavors. He pinches Han Sooyoung's side when she snorts at him. While he was distracted, The kids made eye with each other, having a silent conversation.

The people who had stepped up, yelling and loud as they were, were separated from the others in his mind. As expected the dokkaebi when snapped it's fingers blood started to trickly out of their noses and eyes, panic filling their expressions before their heads imploded. One, two, three, four. The bursting heads were like fireworks announcing a new era. Blood sprayed on the onlookers, it was warm when it splashed on Kim Dokja. He just flung it off with a motion of his hand. He watches the scene with a bit of joy, a bit of guilt, and a mysterious feeling he couldn't place.

'This is new.' Dokja thinks to himself, watching on with a blank expression and empty eyes. There's a bad taste in his mouth. Why? Why was he so calm at the sight in front of him?

[All of you have had quite a cushy life until now, haven't you?] The dokkaebi cackles, presenting the level of an asylum patient ready to rampage. Thin, needle like teeth peak through the malicious smile splitting across the creatures face. [You were able to breathe, eat, excrete, and reproduce without paying the costs! Ha! You've all been enjoying privileged lives! But it's all over now. Nothing is free in life, isn't that right?]

"For a while there, I forgot about why I hated that ugly little thing." Jung Heewon growled in a similarly malicious tone, leaning forward to hunch over Kim Dokja, eyes on the screen. "Privileged lives? What bullshit."

[Many Constellations cheer at the bloodshed happening.]

The kids jumped, huddling in more towards him. He looked over and found Yoo Mia in her brothers lap doing the same. It seems the children are probably taking this the hardest. Bringing his arms around Gilyoung and Yoosung, he leans the recliner seat back, making more space for the kids to take up.

'Maybe I should kill them in such a way to make it excruciating. Torture those constellations to death.' Kim Dokja plots, humming as he watches everyone. In the process of leaning back, the top of his head hits Heewon's sternum and he mumbles an apology.

Unbeknownst to Dokja, many people are staring in incredulity at the face of pure feral murder that's overlaying his face.

'It's a practiced dialogue. Something they're given to memorize,' Dokja muses with a hint of mirth, 'but the genuine malice definitely sold it.'

The patrons left in the subway cabin were horrified, many cowering away in terror. A middle-aged man, Kim Dokja vaguely recognizes him as Han Myungoh, offers the dokkaebi money. The creature simply burns the money to ashes. It doesn't bother with any proper explanation and simply pops an announcement, declaring that Channel #BI-7623 has opened and that the constellations are now making an entrance.

Kim Dokja looks down at the main scenario requirements telling him to prove his value by killing one or more living organisms within 30 minutes. The reward was set as 300 coins. The penalty will be paid with his life.

The dokkaebi vanishes with a cackle that crackles like lightning. Kim Dokja is left to stew in his thoughts. In his new reality. 'Is this how I'm supposed to die instead? By his hands?'

[Constellation-...]

[Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is astonished.]

[Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is baffled.]

There is a lull of conversation around him. Where there were previously whispered conversations between the little group he's made, it has now been replaced with tense silence as his thoughts finally put a solid confirmation of what was going to happen that day. Nervously, Kim Dokja closes his eyes so he doesn't have to face the consequences of his actions. To himself, in his mind that he's not so comfortable in anymore, he makes a joke. 'At least I'm still alive and kicking.'

The two of his companions situated behind him stare on with horror as they remember a situation with a dragon. They look to each other. They are ignored.

On screen, the silhouette of a man in a long black coat appears, overlayed with ashes and fire. Despite being shrouded in the darkness provided by the backdrop of blinding light, it's obvious the man is attractive to anyone with eye balls.

'Yoo Joonghyuk.' Kim Dokja calls in his mind, sat still in his chair looking exhausted and already halfdead. He looks more relaxed than he has the entire time on the subway, a small smile on his face that looks minutely joyful. It mostly is drenched in nostalgia.

"It's oppa!" Yoo Mia calls. When Dokja looks over, he finds she has uncurled from her protection position from earlier. She's sat properly on her brother lap, pointing forward. Her exclamation inadvertently hides Yoo Joonghyuk's own sharp inhale at the sight of his own silhouette.

It takes a minute before the protagonist speaks up, unusually looking visibly upset. "I wasn't there with you."

And-... What was Dokja supposed to say to that? That he knew if the protagonist had been there, he would be dead as soon as the scenario had been issued?

"Dokja- Dokja-ssi? Dokja-ssi, should we call the police? Oh no!"

Slowly, Kim Dokja registers Yoo Sangah's presence. Who is still standing there. The latest model of a cellphone she holds in her hand laughs in her face, showing there was no service in the area. "Sangah-ssi, try to keep your head cool," he tells her, seeing the fear in her eyes as she nervously chews at her fingernails.

Internally, he wonders just how long until their heads are lopped off. He thinks back to the novel and frowns. 'Does he usually take this long?'

"Dokja-ssi," Yoo Sangah starts, frowning with a confused look scrunching her face. "What... what did you mean by that?"

"Nothing big. It's just that this bastard would usually be killing everyone in his cabin before the dokkaebi even finishes the scenario announcement. It just it turns out-"

"We were in separate cabins." Yoo Joonghyuks interrupts, somewhat slowly, an indication that he was confused about something. His eyes find Dokja's own, sharing intense eye contact. It soon becomes obvious what. "I was only able to see bits of the chaos from your cabin through the window. I am curious to see what actually went down."

Avoiding the mans eyes, Dokja looks back to the screen. "Your curiosity will disappoint you, then."

A mans voice cuts through the confused panic of the dwindled crowd. "Okay, everyone! Calm down. Take a deep breath, and stop what you're doing."

A tall, strong-looking man is trying to take control of the situation, drawing the attention of everyone in the subway cabin. He reminds everyone that they need to stay calm, and that it's easy to end up with heavy casualties in a national emergency situation like this. Not everyone is happy to hear that, and they question his credentials with claims like that. In response, he shows his ID.

'Lieutenant Lee Hyunsung,' Dokja identifies in his head, the genuine shock filling his face.

Lee Hyunsung lit up, his smile as wide as it would go and a sparkle in his eyes. It made Kim Dokja grimace and flinch away, bracing for what's to come. Hyunsung paid him no mind, rambling on.

"-I was never stationed on the front lines like the screen said you were, so I had no idea you knew of me! Know-" He just kept at it, digging Dokja's grave of guilt deeper and deeper the more he spoke.

'Maybe I really should have just died on that subway.' Dokja sulked, still not ready for everyone to know. He flips Han Sooyoung the bird as she snickers beside him. He's taking her down with him when they find out. If he's going down, he's going to drag her ass through the mud too.

'one of the supporting characters in TWSA,' Kim Dokja finishes his thought. 'But this wasn't how he was introduced in the original novel. What place in the time line am I in?'

Kim Dokja flinches hard at the sudden stop to Hyunsung's rambling. The quiet is so much worse.

[Many constellations are confused.]

[Several constellations are alarmed.]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is narrowing his eyes.]

[The constellation...]

The silence continues for much longer than he hoped it would. Curled up in the recliner chair with limited visual access to his companions, Kim Dokja is forced to stew in his anxieties. The notification windows keep popping up, the constellations expressing their confusion and alarm all one by one.

"Oh."

It was the only thing anyone said. Lee Hyunsung had spoken in the weakest voice Dokja thinks he has ever heard from him. And it was like he was being burned alive again. Hyunsung sounded so... disappointed. Kim Dokja never wanted to hear that from him ever again.

'Everything that's going on right now...' Lee Hyunsung attempting to calm the passengers to no avail. The national broadcast. The prime minister dying on the livestream. The dokkaebi who had reappeared ended up reducing the time limit to 10 minutes. The sheer pandemonium that is happening in this cabin. '...is exactly as I have always read it.' Kim Dokja thinks, strangely calm amongst the other passengers looking around anxiously. His palms feel cold. 'Except for one thing. Lee Hyunsung, one of the major supporting characters has already appeared... but why hasn't he killed everyone yet?'

The dokkaebi laughs, commenting on the state of several train cabins before deciding to show them the proof of what would happen to them if thy don't receive the first kill in their cabin in the next five minutes.

A large blue screen pops up, taking up a good bit of the cabin. At the top of the pop up window it reads 'Taepung Girls High School'. It depicts a classroom filled with chaos, several students on the floor without their heads and others running around. Front and center stands a girl with her hands around another girls throat. A menacing timer counting down from 00:03...

00:02...

00:01...

The rest of the people around the girl suddenly stop, blood dribbling out of the orifices on their face and running down. Their heads soon explode. Everyone in Kim Dokja's cabin can only watch, a single teenager left standing.

The scene of Jihye in the classroom overlaps with something from his memories, grainy and frayed at the edges. Instead of Lee Jihye by the window with her dead classmate, there stands a younger Kim Dokja looking out of an open classroom window. Only his back is visible, a ragged school brown school uniform and mussed up hair. Outside has the dwindling light of the setting sun. There are bruises visible on his neck and any other space left uncovered by his terribly fitting uniform.

Abruptly, there is nothing but a torn up looking backpack sitting in a neat classroom. Jihye fades back into view on the screen, her dead eyes looking right at whatever camera the dokkaebi had on her. The classroom is no longer empty. The older Kim Dokja looks away and ignores the implications.

What a familiar scene.

Kim Dokja launches over Yoo Joonghyuk, pushing off of his chest with his hand, and leans over Lee Jihye in an attempt to cover her eyes. He knows what they're showing on the screen. He tries his best to keep from bumping into Yoo Mia, but he's not sure he succeeded in his endeavor. His heart leaps in his ribcage, his chest burning with fear as Jihye's greatest regret plays out in front of them.

When the teenager realizes what kind of scene is being put on display, she reacts violently, jerking forward and trying to throw him off. He settles his body weight on her as he tries to comfort her. "BORI-"

Her anguished cries melt into sobs as Kim Dokja sits there, covering her eyes. He shushes her as he keeps an eye on the screen. When his younger self pops up, he turns his head so he doesn't have to look at it. Sangah gasps from somewhere nearby with a choked noise that can not be healthy. Looking over to her, she looks horrified.

"Dokja-ssi..." He avoids her gaze. Instead, he soothingly rubs Jihye's back as he covers her eyes. He looks to the kids to make sure he hasn't hurt any of them in his rush. Mia looks only slightly disturbed from her spot, probably moved by Joonghyuk. Gilyoung and Yoosung look to have been jostled, but he hadn't ended up throwing either of them to the floor, so it should be fine.

"Sorry about that." He mumbles an apology, slowly removing his hands from Lee Jihye. He gets up and backs away. He has no right offering comfort. She probably wouldn't even want it from someone like him. He stands in front of her, blocking her view of the screen with his body as he looks to see if she will continue to panic.

"...it's okay ahjussi." Jihye sniffles from where she is, curling in on herself. Yoo Mia extracts herself from Yoo Joonghyuk, crawling over the seats to sit by her, patting her arm soothingly. Deciding she's got that, Dokja moves back to his seat while avoiding anyone else's gazes. He picked up the kids, sitting where he was previously, and melting into the recliner. This is already exhausting. Yoo Joonghyuk beside him looked like he had something to say, browspulled together and lips held terse, but the next scene pays out.

The blue screen changes to just display the words. [The survivor of channel #BAY-23515 is Incarnation 'Lee Jihye', a second year student from class B at 'Taepung Girls High School'.] The dokkaebi grins, his eyes rolling over the restless public. [What do you think? Fun, right?]

'This wasn't in the novel,' Kim Dokja notes. 'Lee Jihye is another major supporting character that was supposed to be introduced later. One of the strongest swordswoman is having her trauma broadcasted... It's just cruelty. And it never happened. This is definitely TWSA, but why is it so different? I can't even find the protagonist.'

"Explain, Kim Dokja." Dokja flits his eyes over to the protagonist, the hard lines on his face and ticked jaw a perfect representation of how upset he is. And even with proof of a reason not to, Kim Dokja runs his mouth.

"What is there to explain, Joonghyuk-ah?" And honestly, he really does need to get that under control before his tongue gets him into anymore trouble. Yoo Joonghyuk's face doesn't change as he continues to stare, he just sort of sits there irritated as if to let Dokja get his bullshit out of his system. He immediately goes for teasing to avoid his problems. "You can see for yourself that you're from a novel, can't you? Have your eyes stopped working?"

Behind him, Jung Heewon whispers under her breath "I wish mine had." Kim Dokja ignores her.

"You see us as fictional." Yoo Joonghyuk doesn't leave any room for misunderstanding, being firm in his statement. And that's what it was. A statement, not a question. Dokja tries to dance around the feelings attached to the topic anyway.

"I do- well, I did." Kim Dokja flinches, avoiding the look both Joonghyuk and Han Sooyoung are giving him. He squirms in his seat, shifting around as much as he can with the kids squished up on him.

Kim Dokja turns on his phone again, looking back to the page where TWSA used to be. It is still removed, reminding him of the current predicament he is in. 'Damn it. If only I could read the first chapter again to check...'

"Even now?" Jung Heewon asks, leaning forward to look down from right over him. He curls further into himself, not deserving how comfortable the heat coming off of her is.

"That's... complicated. I see you as people, but my abilites distinguish who was apart of the novel and who was not. Not all of us here were apart of it." Dokja frowns, looking over to Lee Hyunsung who had been quiet since his revelation earlier. "I really do see you as people, but I have been reading about some of you for thirteen year..." He trails off, mumbling that last little bit to himself. They had to have heard. Some of them are just so close.

There's a solemn look to Hyunsung's face, like he's looking at something that has disappointed him. Dokja doesn't receive an answer from him, or from Yoo Joonghyuk for that matter. It made him nervous.

And slightly nauseous.

It takes him a minute to gather his thoughts, uncurling a little bit to be closer to Heewon who hasn't moved back yet, he decides to leave it there. It can't get any worse from here. It's better if he doesn't make it worse by babbling.

It's Han Sooyoung who speaks up from his right, scoffing and absolutely murdering the tense atmosphere. "Yeah, that's enough of that. Why should he have to apologize for reading a book?"

"I read 99 chapters of that shitty book." She dared to glare at everyone she could in the room, which only excluded Sangah who was sat behind her. Even at Yoo Joonghyuk. Sending a prayer to literally anyone who was listening, Kim Dokja hoped this would not end in a bloodbath.

"This rat wouldn't have even been able to tell any of you, if that's what you're really upset about." Sooyoung exhaled an aggressive huff, smacking one of her hands in his face. Dokja, affronted, smacks he own and pushes. It doesn't do much.

"It's not like any of his plans would have worked had, say, any constellations had been listening in." She grumbles, complimenting Dokja felt like pulling her own teeth. Her next words sounded slightly frazzled. "And you wouldn't have believed him in the first place."

At that, the room felt like a different kind of tense. And he hated not knowing the reason why it was different. The witch hadn't said anything new that everyone hadn't already known, but it felt like her putting actual words to it shifted it somehow. Kim Dokja hated it.

Unfortunately for him, warmth filled his chest. He didn't expect anyone- least of all her -to defend him. And to this extent?

'I'm jealous of the writer that had you as a reader.'

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is distressed]

Kim Dokja then remembers tls123's message about giving him a gift before. He checks his email and, to his surprise, the file has [ThreeWaysToSurviveTheApocalypse.txt] as it's title.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is alarmed]

"You lucky bitch." Han Sooyoung curses, squishing his face with her hand that she just left there, pulling his face to her face. Joonghyuk glares at her disapprovingly, but she obviously just bulldozes past that. "I can't believe you have a cheat sheet."

Kim Dokja tries to struggle away from her, grabbing her wrist and trying to pull her off. Han Sooyoung snorts a him and lets him go while mumbling about a 'wet cat.' He subtly flips her the bird, hiding it away from the kids. Gilyoung tugs at the sleeve of the robe so he, after finally pushing Sooyoung off of him, looks to the kid on his lap.

"I think it's okay that hyung uses the novel. Other people might not think so, but you use it to help us. Like the weapons from before, right?" The kid looks up at him with such innocent eyes he kind of wants to pull away from him just to preserve that innocence. "I don't think you're a bad person."

'How scary of you, Gilyoung-ah.' Kim Dokja pats his head. The kid has too much faith in him sometimes, but he also had a tendency to be extremely pragmatic. He's the one tha mentioned he viewed school as a place to practice pest management. With the pests obviously being the humans. Of course such a smart kid would hone in on the weapons from back then.

As he opens the file, a few system windows pop up to inform him that he has recieved an exclusive attribute and that a skill slot has been unlocked.

Curious, Kim Dokja tries to pull up his attributes by thinking 'Attributes Window'. Contrary to what he had expected, his attributes window does not pop up. In place of it, all that shows is an error window.

[Attribute window cannot be opened.]

Excuse me?

[Several Constellation are dumbfounded]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is wondering what Incarnation 'Kim Dokja' has for attributes.]

"Wait, what?" Jung Heewon asks, stunned from where she's leaning over him. Is she planning on sitting back anytime soon? That can't be comfortable. "You can't even access your attribute window? How does that work?"

"I don't know. I tried getting it fixed, but nothing did anything to change it." Dokja admits. "I have an idea of what some of my attributes could be, but I'm not sure about anything. I can't even see my stats. I have to rely on my memory for every time I use an ability or when I increase my stats using coins."

"That sounds like such a hassle, ahjussi." Lee Jihye pipes up, a grimace on her face. It looks like she's doing better now. That's good.

He tries over and over again, getting the same result each and every time. If he can't access his attribute window, he won't be able to learn what his attribute and skill are. He's doomed. He gives up and opens the text file instead. But then a screen pops in front of him. [Your attribute has been activated. You are now able to read at a faster speed.] Dokja's eyes widen as the words seem to fly past his eyes at a dizzying speed. All the information flew into his head effortlessly.

'Wha- Huh? That was my attribute? It just took me less than a minute to read the opening chapter of TWSA, but thanks to that... Bingo!'

Another white background shows up. This time, most of the black lettering is blurred but a single set of numbers is clear. The number 3707 is highlighted. The screen turns back to Kim Dokja sitting there reading. He looks up to the identification number for the subway cabin, realizing that he and Yoo Sangah are in cabin 3807. That's why the events taking pace around him are different from what he remembers reading. The protagonist of TWSA's prologue is actually in the subway cabin behind theirs.

'Then it's the people in 3807 that...'

"Dokja, shouldn't we try to stop them?" Sangah asked fearfully. Now knowing that the actual novel only talks about what happened in the next cabin, Kim Dokja realizes that this was the prologue of the canon prologue. 'Only two people are meant to live in this cabin. Lee Hyunsung, and...'

In the middle of the subway cabin, where most of the commotion has started, stands a white-haired teenager. He stands above an old woman who has been knocked to the floor, a wild smile on his face. 'Kim Namwoon,' Kim Dokja identifies the aggressive teen with a downright frosty look.

"Him?" Lee Hyunsung looked frozen in his chair. "Just me and that teenager? You really changed that much, Dokja-ssi?"

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is upset about the missed opportunity in Incarnation 'Kim Namwoon']

Dokja zones in just in time to hear Han Myungoh berate the teenager's disrespect. 'If that man ever had a clever thought, it died alone and afraid,' Dokja watches with disinterest. 'That's one group of people you just don't demand respect from.'

Predictably, Kim Namwoon glares at him and asks if Han Myungoh wants to die too. With a remorseless voice, he says, "We have to pick the ones to die, might as well choose the old bag who'd die anyway." He continues to punch the grandmother into the ground, looking like he had never been born as an innocent human child but rather some evil deity had spawned him into existence to ruin lives. Like a centipede, a smile crawled across Kim Namwoon's face. "We have new rules to follow in this new world."

"Sitting here and watching it again, it's just as brutal as the first time." Yoo Sangah's face pales, her hands shaking where she has them cradled in her lap.

Yoo Sangah cries out as more people join in to kick the grandmother. "They're going to kill her!" Observing the people, Kim Dokja notes none of them went for her throat. It was especially cruel to kill her like this.

Before she could move forward, Dokja stops her from rushing to help. Yoo Sangah looks back at him in shock, "Dokja-ssi!"

"You rush in recklessly and they'll just kill you too," Dokja explains to her, seeming almost indifferent and aloof. 'Some people really are destined to shine regardless of the genre they're in. But Yoo Sangah won't be able to change. Kindness means nothing and won't change anything here. Not Kim Namwoon. Not anyone as desperate as they are. There is no one here strong enough to be able to be kind.'

"That... I guess that was true." Yoo Sangah admits hesitantly, shifting her gaze to her hands in her lap. She clenches them and raises her head to look Dokja in his eyes. "However, Dokja-ssi, you've changed so much."

She raises one of her hands, no longer shaking, pointing to herself and then Gilyoung. " I survived. Gilyoung-ie too. He didn't. Does that not mean you are kind?"

"No." Her words were so jarring that he couldn't help but be brutally honest. He did not offer anything else, breaking eye contact with her to resolutely face the screen instead. It would be the thing to answer her question anyway.

Kim Dokja looks at the floating countdown. 08:11... 'I didn't get to die today and suddenly I'm in TWSA. In a cabin which story was never told in the novel. The novel that ended today, but never truly reached the end of the story.'

|If you're reading this, you will survive.|

'I want to read,' Kim Dokja thinks feverishly. He closes his eyes, ignoring the current happenings and Yoo Sangah straining against the grip he has on her. 'I want to read the end.'

'And to read the end, I'm going to have to survive.' Kim Dokja thinks with finality, opening his eyes once more.

And then?

And then Yoo Joonghyuk stood quickly, moving Yoo Mia to her own seat in the process. He turns and storms up to stand right in front of Kim Dokja. He is yanked up by his collar to look Joonghyuk in his face, the kids in his lap tumbled to the floor. They both let out noises of protest, but it made no difference to the protagonist.

"Be honest." Yoo Joonghyuk looks upset, every angle in his face contoured by shadows as the only real light is the one behind him. Joonghyuk lowers him to let his feet touch the floor, but he keeps a grip on the collar of the robe.

"What were you planning to do after reading the last chapter?" The intense gaze locked on him made Dokja want to shrivel up where he stands. When he tries to curl up to avoid Joonghyuk's gaze, he is shook a bit and made to straighten up by the protagonists other hand. "The way you said you're going to continue to survive because you're reading me."

Kim Dokja now really really didn't want to be here. He squirms some more where he stands, trying to get away while still keeping the robe on. He really wasn't interested in being half naked right now. Yoo Joonghyuk just looks at him with a stern face and shakes him.

"Answer me." He demands, looking down his perfect nose at the progressively melting Dokja. He grumbles and opens his mouth to do so, even if only to bullshit something, when the screen just continues to set the scene.

07:38...

"Yoo Sangah." Kim Dokja calls out sternly, avoiding her hurt gaze. "Stay here."

When Yoo Sangah tries to protest, Kim Dokja does what he can to reassure her. "Please, just do as I say for now. If you listen to me this once, I promise I won't ever bother you again."

A promise he wasn't able to keep.

Kim Dokja takes a deep, deep breath. He focuses on the feeling of his ribs expanding as he breathes in. He's nervous and this wasn't apart of his barebones plan. It's still too early for him to interfere, but...

The reason he hadn't interfered sooner wasn't because he was afraid of Namwoon or the others, stars forbid he condoned their savage ways. He was just waiting for the right moment to step in. He doesn't have to wait long.

Dokja avoids looking at him, just standing there. The protagonist eventually gets irritated enough that he just forces him to sit in his previous chair. Yoo Joomghyuk huffs and it oddly reminds Dokja of a toddler. He avoids thinking about it. He got away with his secrets(is it even a secret anymore?) this time.

A loud explosion from cabin 3707 rocks the entire subway cabin, deafening the constellations' messages that they've been ignoring. Kim Dokja rushes forward past terrified passengers toward the group trying to kill the old woman.

There is only seven minutes and thirty-two seconds left on the timer.

"...is that what you were waiting for?" Yoo Joonghyuk asked, breaking the tense silence left after his outburst earlier. "That's smart."

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' reluctantly agrees with Incarnation 'Yoo Joonghyuk' that Incarnation 'Kim Dokja' had a smart plan.]

That's... That's two different compliments. For the same half-assed plan. Kim Dokja stared in confusion first at the protagonist and then incredulously at the notification from the constellation. The hell is going on?

Confused, and slightly trying to convince himself he imagined it, Dokja focused back on the screen.

Mid-dash, Dokja shoulder checks Nimwoon and sends him flying using all of his body weight and momentum. The teenager crashes into the ground and starts yelling angrily, demanding to know what his problem is.

'It may have seemed like I had pushed Kim Namwoon to save the old lady, but that wasn't the only thing I had been aiming for.'

Admist the jeers of the people still trying to kill the old lady, Dokja glances around frantically while trying to catch his breath. 'Where is it? It must be around here somewhere.'

With a glint out of the corner of his eye, he catches sight of the young boy with the bug cage again. 'There we go. Found him.'

Dokja hurries over, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, and crouches down to speak with him face-to-face.

"Excuse me," Dokja pardons as he takes the cage from the boy who still hasn't said anything. He would guess the kid is in shock, but those eyes were remarkably sharp for that to be true. He continues with the task he set out to do anyway. Reaching into the cage and grabbing onto the first bug to brush his hand, Dokja places it in the kids hand, using his other hand to make the kid enclose his own hand around the insect. "Hold onto this, kid."

"Thank you, hyung." Lee Gilyoung spoke with a smile, his eyes curving up as he speaks. The kid presses himself into Kim Dokja's side. "It means a lot to me that you thought I deserved to live."

Looking at the kid, Dokja could barely muster up a smile in return, placing one of his hands on his head and ignores how heavy it feels to do so. Patting the kids head, he tries to shift the reverence somewhere else. He really shouldn't have such trusting eyes locked onto him. "It was your bugs that saved us. Of course you deserve one. It was your choice to kill it in the first place after all."

If the kid hadn't been on the subway, if there has been no other alternative, then Kim Dokja would have had to kill someone to live. He would never have gotten the 'King of No Killing' and would have died that day with the dragon. It also left his hands clean for much longer.

He felt Shin Yoosung cling tighter to him, her eyes turned to him with a similar reverence that Gilyoung had. He really has to nip that in the bud. He can't have two of the rascals running around idolizing him. That would be a disaster.

He stands straight, turning to the crowd but shifting so he's standing in front of Gilyoung to shield him from their greedy eyes. "Stop what you're doing! Killing the old lady doesn't mean you're all going to live!"

And suddenly there are all kinds of eye on him, zoned in on his every move and every breath. It makes it harder and harder to breath. And then, it's okay.

He completely misses the window that pops up behind him. ['The Fourth Wall' activates]

He reminds them that even if the old lady dies, that will only buy everyone else some time. Everyone who wants to survive has to kill someone, so who will they kill next?

At that, Namwoon laughs. "Isn't it obvious? We'll kill losers like you next! No need to worry about your turn beforehand. The chances are fifty-fifty anyways."

'Just as I knew you would say.' Dokja smirks, cold eyes curved upward. "Why gamble with our lives when there's a way to survive without becoming a murderer?"

Naturally, he has everyones curiosity. None of them really want to have blood on their hands, not many of them could live with that after all.

"Have you forgotten?" Kim Dokja asks, glancing around at the other. "The scenario didn't say we have to kill a human being. It said we have to kill one or more living organism."

In one of Dokja's hands is a grasshopper, and he's carrying the cage with the rest of the insects in his other. When they realize that he holds the solution, people rush towards him, clamoring to be given one of the few bugs left in the cage. The madness that had driven them to almost kill the old lady now came hurtling towards him instead.

'But why? Why is it that my heart beats with such joy while being in this precarious situation? Why am I smiling? Was... Have I always been this kind of person?'

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is surprised at the thought that Incarnation 'Kim Dokja' is having]

It was still an uncomfortable thought, sitting here in this theater with his entire person on display. He knew that he had definitely changed in the time that the apocalypse had taken place, but this felt wildly unnerving.

It's Yoo Joonghyuk that breaks through the feeling, glancing over at Kim Dokja with an oddly serious face. "It's the adrenaline."

He sound firm, convinced enough of the answer that Dokja himself started to feel convinced. Cursing the protagonists good looks, he nods, reverting his gaze from those stern eyes. Dokja really needs to get a grip on himself.

Reflecting on the moment, so far removed from that time, he lets the relief of Joonghyuk's statement wash over him. If it really was just the adrenaline, then he was still safe from turning into the very kind of person he despises. He hasn't turned into the type to rejoice in the suffering of others.

It takes a minute for another realization to hit him and he genuinely stalled at it. 'Maybe it was just something familiar. Hatred-filled eyes and the overwhelming pressure of being backed into a corner...'

The only that seemed to be missing to make it a perfect rendition was heavy hands and the faces that haunted his nightmares. The screen just continues.

Dokja wastes no time in crushing the bug in his fist as nearly feral passengers hurried to him. Immediately after, he throws the cage, setting the remaining grasshoppers free. He denies to himself the fact that he threw the cage towards Yoo Sangah in an effort to keep her alive. He wasn't the kind of person to be magnanimous like that.

['The First Kill' mission has been accomplished.]

[You will receive 100 coins as a bonus.]

Everyone rushes to find grasshoppers, on their hands and knees and getting blood all over their clothes. There are only three minutes left.

"Hey you, why did you do that?" Namwoon asks as he stretches and cracks his neck. "You could have just handed over the bugs."

No, he couldn't have. He needed a distraction to prevent them from figuring out too quickly that... "There were only three left in the box."

After a moment of shock, Namwoon laughs. "So you threw them since not all of us can live?"

That's not exactly the reason, Dokja muses, looking at the eccentric teen. Its important to him that he wins here and a swarm of upset people is not the effect he wants. But, he lets the kid think what he wants. "Yes."

"Don't be ridiculous," Namwoon laugh turns into a smirk. "No one in their right mind would pull a sunt like this for that kind of stupid reason."

Namwoon's face darkens, twisting into a terrifying expression, grinning hysterically. "Be honest, You just wanted to watch them fight for their lives, didn't you?"

That wasn't what he was going for when he threw the cage. It had more been about not being the hand that decided who got to live and who got to die. It's not by his hand that someone should live or die. It is only by their own determination and strength.

Kim Dokja's face twists up in a grimace, thinking of the chaos that had broken out at the time. It's not like he started it for just that sake of it. It was calculated, as little as it seems it had been.

He grumbles to himself that he should have ignored the teenager all together.

Behind him, Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon have started a conversation he can't quite hear. Heewon had sat back in her chair, no longer leaning over him. He thinks he misses the warmth. He says nothing about it.

Kim Namwoon is that kind of guy. He's cruel and rampant and enjoys situations like this.

[The exclusive skill 'Character Profile' has activated.]

The screen bleeds white as black lettering gets actively typed up on screen.

|Name :Kim Namwoon

|Age:19

|Constellation sponsor: None (Two constellations

|are insterested in this individual)

|Personal attribute: Edgelord (generic)

|Exclusive skills: Exceptional Adaptibility

|lvl.3, Knife Fighting lvl.1, Grimdark Awakening

|lvl.1

|Overall stats: Stamina lvl.3, Strength lvl.4,

|Agility lvl.6, Mana lvl.4

|General evaluation: A teenage edgelord whose

|dark side has awakened due to an extraneous

|event. It's best to not get involved with him.

The black on white text fades to a blue pop up window.

'Huh?' Dokja thinks in confusion, as he reads over the stats that appeared in front of him. 'I see... I think I know what my attributes are.'

'Most teen edgelords in TWSA couldn't handle the nightmare that became reality and commited suicide, but Kim Namwoon was different. This boy, who would later be bestowed with the fitting nickname of 'Delusional Demon' was no ordinary edgelord. He had been waiting for the apocalypse for a long time, and he adapted to this world at an unusual speed. And right now, that delusional demon...'

"Team up with me." Namwoon demands, a grin curling at the corners of his mouth. "What do you say?"

['Kim Namwoon' has expressed interest in you.]

[Your understanding of 'Kim Namwoon' has increased.]

'...wants to join forces with me.'

"What?! That's not fair!" Han Sooyoung splutters, jerking her head around to glower at Kim Dokja. "Is that how you knew who I was?"

Dokja avoids looking at her, a smug grin teasing at the edges of his lips. Like a self-satisfied cat, he preens at his own good planning. The mood of the room lightens further. "You were just really obvious."

"Like hell was! No wonder avatars had no effect on you!" She yells, leaning back a bit to point at him with narrowed eyes.

Snorting, he rolls his eyes at herand grumbles out, "That's not even how it works."

Scoffing, she turns her head away petulantly.

[Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is curious about the skill 'Character Profile'.]

"It seems to be similar to the skill 'Eye of the Sage'." Joonghyuk notes, taking a close look at the character profile on screen. Dokja guesses he isn't wrong, but 'Character Profile' has more constraints than 'Eye of the Sage' does...

His thoughts ae interrupted when another tug at his robe catches his attention. It's Shin Yoosung this time, looking up at him with sad little eyes. "You didn't team up with him right? He looks so mean."

"There's no need to worry, Yoosung-ah. I wouldn't team up with someone like that." Kim Dokja soothes, smiling at her while he nudges his head towards the screen. "Just watch."

"Right. You just teamed up with that asshole instead." Sooyoung scoffs, smirking as she jerks her head in the direction of the protagonist. He just glares at her. Han Sooyoung has some balls, it seems.

It seems things will turn out to be just fine.

Notes:

This is supposed to end up being like- 8,651 words or something lol

Chapter 4: The Beginning and Sponsor Selection

Summary:

[Anyway, I'm impressed. I didn't have any expectations for this cabin, but you all survived the first scenario. You have proven that even bugs deserve to live.]

Dokja catches what the dokkaebi is trying to say, calling them bugs. He guesses the creature isn't wrong, they are being treated like bugs here.

"Was that what he meant?" Hyunsung asks, a nervous edge to his voice as he realies he missed an underlying meaning to the dokkaebis words. Trying to be nice, Dokja answers as vaguely and brief as he can.

"It's a way someone can take that statement."

Notes:

Just barely on time. It's Thursday, ya'll! I'm trying to update once a week, but I can't guarantee timely updates while keeping up the quality.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

It's sitting there, amongst everyone, that Kim Dokja takes a deep breath and feels at ease. The whole TWSA thing didn't blow up in his face. His... friends? have seen the worst of him and have not left him yet. His worries so far, the ones digging in his chest and squeezing his lungs, slowly release their hold on him. There is nothing to worry about here.

He catches a familiar face out of the corner of his eyes and he snaps his head away. There is no point driving himself into another tizzy.

Amidst the fire and death in cabin 3707, a man in black boots and a long coat approaches the window dividing his cabin from cabin 3807. He's barely shown as he peers through the window, but everyone can somehow tell that he's incredibly attractive. On the other side, in cabin 3807, he sees nothing but chaos as people scream about catching something.

Surprised at the appearance of Yoo Joonghyuk again, Dokja looks over at him. "You were actually curious about that?"

He is ignored as Lee Jihye calls out instead. Her words are sorta whiny as she looks at the sunfish bastard with a slightly betrayed look. "You look so cool here, Master! How do you do it?"

The protagonist bastard always look cool, Dokja muses, thinking about the times Joonghyuk has done his epic entrances. He gushes in his thoughts, so happy he got to see it in person instead of as words on a page.

Yoo Mia turns her nose up haughtily, a smug smile on her face as she answers Jihye for her brother. "My oppa is always cool."

Rolling his eyes fondly, Dokja smiles at the scene. It's nice to be apart of these kinds of conversations.

"Sorry, I work alone." Dokja tell Namwoon back in cabin 3807. A look crosses the teenagers face before he just sighs in disappointment.

"Well, that's a bummer."

'If I really did team up with Kim Namwoon, my survival would be guaranteed for the time being. If I hadn't read TWSA, I probably would have agreed to the kids proposition, but I am the reader who knows about him and his future. And after seeing him in person...'

The screen bleeds into something new, going from the gory subway cabin to a school gym that looks mostly clean and tidy. There's a couple of students milling about in the area, groups just getting in some sports practice and some others just sitting around on the bleachers talking and eating. The atmosphere and calm and serene.

A group of boys leave the gym's storage room, some of their uniforms askew and ruffled, laughing and pushing each other as they walk. The last one to leave knock the door with his foot, intending to close the door. It doesn't close the whole way, leaving it open just a crack.

In the storage room, a frail looking kid is laid sprawled out on the ground. Dead eyes looking forward in the dark, the only light coming in a sliver from the partially closed door. The line of light aligns right with his eyes. His uniform is rumpled and dirty, shoeprints left all over him but focused on his stomach area. A thin line of blood dribbles down from his crooked nose. There are other bruises on the limited exposed skin.

Kim Dokja just lays there breathing slowly and watching the things happening out in the gym. He only moves when his phone dings, a notification sound he set up recently. Shifting so he can grab his device from where he hid it under himself, he pulls it up to his face slowly to check what notification decided to grace his phone.

|Novel 'Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse' has just updated!|

His eyes seem to brighten at that as he clicks on the pop up, quickly typing in his password to get to his novel quicker. He rolls over from where he was facing the door, the events in the gym outside blurring to nothing as Kim Dokja reads. When lunch ends and he leaves, he has cleaned himself up and has the smallest smile on his face.

It switches back to the cabin, Namwoon pushes past Dokja, ready to go back and kill the grandmother, even referring to her as a bug he caught. However, Dokja catches his wrist and stops him.

"Are you trying to act like a hero now?" Namwoon asks, frustrated. Dokja looks at him, eyes filled with disgust and then a certain coldness overtakes them.

'... I realized how much I hate his character in TWSA.'

Namwoon yanks his wrist out of Dokja's grasp and narrows his eyes. "People like you make me sick."

[Kim Namwoon despises you.]

[Your affinity towards Kim Namwoon has slightly decreased.]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is astonished at the events shown]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is infuriated at the bullies.]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter'...]

And with that, it's time for Kim Dokja to ignore everyone around him, actually. This is not what he was expecting when it had started again. Why did it keep bringing up unimportant stuff? This is really not helping his case with his companions here.

"Wha- WHAT THE HELL?" Han Sooyoung abruptly stands, throwing her hands out towards the screen. "THAT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU SHOW AT A TIME LIKE THIS! WHAT HAPPENED TO PACING?!"

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' reluctantly agrees with Incarnation 'Han Sooyoung']

"That's- that's horrible." A horrified Lee Hyunsung blurts out, wide eyes trained on the theater's screen. The scene passes easily as if it hasn't dropped vital information.

"No wonder you just let that guy die." Lee Gilyoung mumbles, squeezing Dokja's bicep a couple of times before letting go. Big eyes are turned toward his own, a little mischievous glimmer in them. "You made the right decision, hyung."

Under his head, Shin Yoosung turns to Gilyoung and whispers to him "Did ahjussi kill that guy?"

"No, hyung didn't even have to touch him." GIlyoung answers, puffing out his chest in a misplaced sense of pride.

Beside him, Joonghyuk grunts, grumbling something under his breath about wasted potential. Kim Dokja pointedly ignores that as he won't be entertaining trying to keep alive the guy that was trying to kill him. Han Sooyoung sits back down with a huff.

"I said move!" Namwoon yells as he throws a punch towards Dokja's head, his fist glowing with a dark purple energy on instinct alone. He seems impressed that Dokja could dodge it, but thankfully, Namwoon is exactly as Dokja imagined. He's predictable.

The teenager throws another heavy punch tha tDokja manages to block with his arm, and he recognizes the move as the skill of the [Edgelord] attribute.

[Grimdark Awakening lvl.1]

'He's already activated his skill!' Dokja thinks as he just barely dodges another heavy punch that leaves a dent in the metal floor of the subway cabin.

Namwoon cackles, already drunk on the feeling of power. "What's this? I'm so fucking strong!"

'This is probably why the protagonist still recruited him even though he's a little psychopath,' Dokja realizes, seeing just how much power the boy has even in the first scenario.

[Your understanding of 'Kim Namwoon' has increased.]

As Dokja tries to figure out what he should do, a new window pops up in front of his face that leaves him confused.

[You have unlocked level 1 of your exclusive skill 'Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint!]

'The fucking what?'

Kim Dokja dodges another hit thrown his way, bewildered at the pop up window in front of him.

'Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint? What exactly is that?'

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is intrigued.]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' sponsored 999 coins]

Now, what is that for?

"Omniscient? I guess that suits a rat like you." Sooyoung grumbles, whispering under her breath curses. Dokja imagines those are for him.

"What does that mean?" Yoosung asks, turning to the witch to their right. She continues her question, "What does omniscient mean?"

"An omniscient viewpoint is where the narrator knows everything. Things like the characters thoughts, backstories, and actions even if the character isn't physically there." Sooyoung muses, looking like she is getting lost in her own thoughts. "So I'm curious about how that translates."

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' commends Incarnation 'Kim Dokja' for such a useful skill.]

Yoo Mia face scrunches up, eyeing Dokja with suspicion. "Does that mean that ahjussi can spy on us whenever he wants?"

No. Why would he even want to do that? Mia-yah, be nice please.

The other passengers are still searching for the escaped grasshoppers, but some of them have gotten distracted by the fight taking place in the other half of the cabin. Namwoon swings wildly, his fists cutting through the air, but he can't land a hit and it's making him more and more frustrated. However, he won't be able to land a hit so long as Dokja's skill has activated.

Another punch comes flying towards him.

[Right Shoulder]

There's the echo of a voice in his head, sounding like his own. It reminds him of when he would read out loud to himself. Maybe that's what it is, Dokja thinks while he leans to the left just in time for the punch to miss him. Next will be an uppercut.

[In the face]

It's sort of weird hearing his own voice detached from his body. He leans back as far as he can, avoiding it, but falling backwards and landing on the floor.

'As soon as the skill activated, I was told what he was going to do, like I was reading from his mind.'

"So you are able to read minds!" Shin Yoosung called out in the most 'Aha!' voice Dokja has ever heard, smiling wryly he agrees while settling her in the chair again. These kids are so energetic.

'She doesn't know the half of it.'

A little smug, and slightly scared for when they find out exactly how much he can read their minds, Dokja settles into his chair with the kids once more. Heewon leans over him again and her body heat is a comfort. The children seem to enjoy it as well.

"Dokja-ssi, it seems like that would be very useful in combat." Lee Hyunsung said, looking more cheerful than he did earlier. He jumped back pretty quick...

It absolutely is very useful. Without that ability, there's no doubt he would be done for ten times over.

"It is certainly helpful." Kim Dokja agrees.

"Oh fucking hell! You slimy little jerk!" Namwoon roars, fed up with getting dodged, as he advances towards the prone man.

'But all I can do is dodge his attacks, I can't exactly retaliate here.' Dokja analyzes in his own head, trying to piece together a strategy. 'I just need to hold on a little longer.'

"You got just two minutes left, Kid." Kim Dokja tells him not even looking over at the timer. He knows exactly how much time is left. Kim Namwoon freezes and swears loudly, quickly glancing over at the old lady still trembling on the floor, heavily injured.

It's then that Dokja realizes an important fact that he's been overlooking. 'If that old lady dies, Namwoon will clear the scenario. Whatever happens, I can't let someone like him move onto the next scenario!'

Dokja stumbles up from where he was still on the floor, dodging past Namwoon and rushing over to the old lady with his hand extended. Namwoon smugly remarks that he knew Dokja would do that, a manic glint in his eyes as he reaches into his blazer and pulls out a pocket knife. Dokja is forced to react immediately as his own voice passes through his ears.

[Heart]

His eyes widen, jerking his head over his shoulder to look at the teenager. Kim Dokja just barely manages to move enough out of the way for the knife to slash against his shoulder instead of through his chest. He does his best to protect the old lady in the process. He succeeds. It hurts for a moment, throbbing along with his rapidly beating heart, before it ebbs away to a dull feeling that he can ignore. Dokja gathers the old lady in his arms and stands to carry her out of the way.

['The Fourth Wall' has numbed the pain] flashes up in a window but it goes away quickly. He doesn't see it.

Death is just around the corner, and Dokja wonders if he will die here too if he looses to Namwoon.

Several young wide eyes look over to him, the kids are worried for him it seems. How cute.

It's only Lee Gilyoung in his lap that is relaxed, looking like the cat who got the cream. Nudging the smug kid, Dokja looks at him with a raised eyebrow.

"No need to worry." Gilyoung states proudly with his head turned up. "Hyung was super cool. He won!"

'This kid...' Dokja chuckles a bit under his breath, watching as his words made several other people relax.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' dislikes spoilers.]

'What spoilers? You were there during the first main scenario. That's no spoiler.' Dokja huffs, a hand on Giloyung's head. Endearingly, the kid leans even further into him.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' coos at the cute scene]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' takes screenshots.]

Hey now...

This is a world that is simply based on the survival of the fittest. No, the world has always been like this. According to the law of the jungle, the strong prey on the weak.

The same kid with the scuffed up uniform from before is laying on his back, his nose broken and blood dripping down the side of his face towards the floor. Dead eyes look up, a ground of blurry faced gathered in a circle above him. Many of them are laughing and grinning. He just lays there, waiting for them to be finished.

Nothing has really changed. Rather, that rule has just become clearer.

This time, it's an older Kim Dokja stood bowing in apology. Many of his coworkers are watching the spectacle as pages of a rejected report are thrown at his face, fluttering to the floor around him. The same tired eyes as he looks to the floor.

I must also adhere to that rule if I want to survive.

"Come on, Mr. Smarty-pants. You don't even have the strength to run anymore." Namwoon mocks him, flicking his knife in his hand as he slowly approaches. "Do me a favor and let's just get this over with. We're running out of time."

There's a feeling that bleeds into his rational mind, a familiar feeling that he's had to kill over and over again. His calm facade fades into desperation that fades into a feral sort of aggression.

'If I hesitate...'

Dokja stands, still looking away. There's an adge to his voice that wasn't there before. "Kim Namwoon, second year student at Cheongil High School. Is an insect egg also an organism?"

"What? What the hell are you talking about so suddenly?" The change of topic throws Namwoon off guard, and that's what Dokja is counting on. He raises his fist, the body of his grasshopper clenched inside.

'... I will die.'

"The answer," Dokja starts, that manic glint in his eyes and a tug at the edges of his lips.

['The Fourth Wall' stabilizes.]

His expression is almost immediately schooled, turning back to the cold look and dead eyes. "is yes."

Without hesitation, Dokja crushes the grasshopper's body entirely. Notifications pour in that tell him he's killed an organism, awarding 100 coins each. There are so many that it's almost overwhelming.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' admires the actions of Incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

Ah, it seems someone appreciates his plans. Pleased, Kim Dokja swipes away the other star stream notifications. They're not as important as stroking his ego. The Secretive Plotter has been supporting him since the very beginning, even if the constellation occasionally mocked him for his poor decisions. He could mock himself for those well enough, though, so he really didn't need another person doing it.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' appreciates that Incarnation 'Kim Dokja' avoided senseless murder.]

[The Constellations of 'Absolute Good' feel favorably about Incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

It's always a good day when things he does gains some brownie points with those guys.

Namwoon seems confused, demanding how he's supposed to know that, and deciding to let his actions speak over his words as he swings the knife once more. Dokja steps back, ready to dodge when another pop-up window appears.

[You have obtained coins. Would you like a tutorial on coin usage?]

'Skip!' Dokja thinks as quickly as possible. 'Allocate 2,700 coins to the stamina stat!'

In an instant, his stamina level rises from 1 to 10, greatly increasing his durability. As Namwoon's knife meets its mark in the middle of his chest, it can't even penetrate Dokja's skin. The coins were used just in time.

Confused, Namwoon tries pushing harder before stumbling back. "What? How?!"

Smugly, Dokja informs him that grasshoppers lay over a hundred eggs at a time during their mating season. His eyes are harsh as he stares down the delusional demon, the power of hundreds of coins backing him up.

"I'm not the one who's going to die. You are."

The seconds continue to count down, everyone in the cabin was still scrambling to get a grasshopper to kill. For the first time, Namwoon looks nervous and he starts swimging his knife wildly out of desperation.

"Fuck!" He yells. "Die! Die you fucking jerk! Why won't you die?!"

The timer hits zero and Dokja watches emotionlessly as the fear in Namwoon's eyes peaks.

[Your time has run out. Proceeding with checkout.]

Many of the screams become louder, raising in pitch as people start bleeding from the different places on their face. It's unnerving to see it happen to Namwoon, the youth's face of desperate rage turning into pained despair. The blood on his face definitely didn't look like it belonged there. It's soon after that his head bursts, blood splattering everywhere in the cabin as the people dropped like flies around him.

"You were too close." Joonghyuk gruffed out beside him, frowning and looking at Kim Dokja with a constipated look. Miffed, Dokja pointedly looks away from him and back to the screen. Though, it was just as stressful watching it happen again.

"You were pretty lucky with the timing there," Jung Heewon remarked, remembering how if Kim Dokja was even a moment later with his coin usage, he would have a knife in his chest.

Kim Dokja pointedly ignore her. He doesn't want to think about that, actually.

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' grabs onto his hair with excitement.]

Right. The next scene is the sponsor selection Dokja muses, watching on with a critical eye. His best bargaining chip to come. His mouth tugs up into a feral grin as he thinks about it. Since the cat's outta the bag, it'll be fun seeing how everyone reacts to just how many things he has up his sleeve.

Lee Jihye leans up and over her chair, trying to get as close to Jung Heewon as possible. Heewon leans away from Dokja and towards the teenager to help.

"Is ahjussi planning again? He has that scary look on his face." She stage whispers, one of her hands held up to the side of her mouth as if to hide what she's saying. Heewon snorts.

"Yeah, the rats back at it again. He's probably trying to figure out a way to scam someone again."

Kim Dokja ignores their terrible whispering because the protagonist is looking at him again. Dropping his smile, he looks on wearily trying to figure out what the bastard wants.

"I wouldn't have killed Kim Namwoon." He began, pausing for a moment. No shit. You consistently worked together with him. "But, I understand why you did. Even if I think it was a stupid decision."

Joonghyuk didn't say anything else, resolutely looking at the screen. Kim Dokja sits in his chair stunned, not expecting that turn of events. This is too many compliments for him. Is something catastrophic going to happen?

Everyone is now on the edge of their seats, excited for 'Sponsor Selection' to happen. Though, if Dokja recalled correctly, a couple of things happened beforehand.

[Now, this is interesting. What in the world happened here?] the dokkaebi asks as it fizzles back into the subway cabin. [I was only gone for a minute, but look at all this mess!]

In the blood-covered cabin, only five survivors are still standing. Kim Dokja, Lee Hyunsung, Yoo Sangah, Han Myungoh, and Lee Gilyoung - the boy who had the cage with the insects. Every other passenger is a cold, bloody corpse left sprawled out on the ground.

Looking down at the body of Kim Namwoon, Dokja recalls how only moments before, the teenager had looked panicked, trying his best to find a way to live. The fingers of the kid are burned into his suit jacket from where he had tried to kill him, scrambling to try anything. It didn't matter how much he didn't want to die. Dokja had done nothing to save him and would still do nothing given the chance. He just stood there with coldly blank eyes as Namwoon had fallen to the ground in a bloody headless mess.

'You were right. I am just like you. I could have saved those people. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel guilty, but it's strange...'

Dokja glances over at one of the windows of the subway cabin and finds a splatter of blood on his cheek. There's a memory scratching at the back of his head that he can't quite remember. Annoyed, he raises his hand to his face in an attempt to wipe it off with the back of it. It's then that he realizes that his skin is still clean and that the blood is on the window. He pointedly looked away, not willing to think about how familiar the scene looks.

'How am I able to remain so calm? It feels like I'm just reading the novel instead of actually partaking in it.'

"Is that what that skill is, ahjussi?" Lee Jihye pipes up, several of his companions turning to Dokja in search for an answer. Han Sooyoung doesn't look to him, continuing to observe the screen in front of them. She speaks up soon after he looks to her. "Does it do something so simple as to change what you feel?"

Yoo Joonghyuk twitches from where he's strung up like a bow in his seat, the tenseness of his muscles entices Kim Dokja to ogle as he watches.

"The fourth wall, in literature, is the separation between the characters in the story and the person reading." Her voice is flat and her eyes narrow as she watches. She doesn't even turn to the teenager as she speaks. Rude much.

"It does more than temper my feelings." Dokja admits, thinking about what exactly 'The Fourth Wall' has done for him. He comes up with an increasingly extensive list that he is not willing to admit. "It might be easier for you to see than for me to explain."

Han Sooyoung snorts, finally looking over at him. She is totally judging him. "Yeah right. I bet it's just because you don't want to have to explain."

He is going to ignore that.

[You slaughtered 124 living organisms.]

[Slaughter details: 1 grasshopper, 123 grasshopper eggs]

The next popup informs Dokja that the coins he obtained have been halved since the organisms were non-resistant, but he still receives 6,200 coins even with the deduction. After taking away the amount he used for his stats, Dokja is left with a startling amount of 3,500 coins. Achievements, rewards, and the channel usage fee deduction popups are quickly sent away. There's something more important happening now.

The train begins to move again with a rattle, and the survivors wonder if this hell is over. If they can go home now.

'The world we once knew has collapsed, and a new world is being born. A I am-'

As the train leaves the tunnel, the survivors gather at the window only to watch in horror as giant sea serpents emerge from the river, enduring attacks from fighter jets.

"Wha- What in the world?" Myungoh mutters, his eyes wide as he watches on.

Yoo Sangah has been stunned into silence. "My god..."

The dokkaebi chuckles, a deep rumbling thing that crackles like lightning. [Now this is fascinating.]

'-the only reader who knows how this world will end.'

The train comes to a stop on a bridge under the looming shadow of a giant sea serpent. The darkness of the cabin returns as if they never moved from the tunnel. Fearing the worst, everyone inside braces themselves for an attack. Except for Dokja who stands right by the window, looking on with knowing eyes. The remaining passengers realize the monster isn't doing anything, though still wary as they watch through the window.

'That snake-like monster there is called an ichthyosaur. It's also known as a sea serpent. Later on, it will be classified as a grade 7 monster in TWSA.'

Hyunsung looks carefully out the window, still not sure he believes his eyes. "What on earth... What is that?"

The world of TWSA prioritizes scenarios over everything else. So, we won't be attacked by any creatures unless they are part of the scenario.

"Dokja-ssi, that would have been nice for everyone to know." Yoo Sangah says gently, looking over at him in a way that reminds him of the person who put salt in their boss's coffee. It sends a shiver up his spine.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' agrees that Incarnation 'Kim Dokja' should communicate with his friends more.]

She did have a point, for all it was inutile. At least everyone here will know that going forward.

'We're safe, for now.' Dokja thinks to himself before glancing over at the dokkaebi, who seems to be gleefully floating in the air and gleefully staring at some stars gathered around its head. Instinctively, Dokja counts them.

'One, two, three... twenty, twenty-one. There are 21 in total. No wonder he's so happy.'

The number of stars signifies the number of constellations that are logged into the channel.

-Constellations:

They are the most mysterious beings in TWSA and the masterminds behind this tragedy who livestream the scenarios from across the universe.-

In other words, they are the ones who watch the dokkaebis' channels.

For a newbie dokkaebi, Dokja is well aware that 21 constellations viewing his channel is a huge achievement. The dokkaebi is probably ecstatic.

In the original story, Namwoon killed almost everyone in this cabin.

[Due to the death of Kim Namwoon, two constellations feel slightly hostile towards you.]

Thinking about it rationally, Dokja realizes that some constellations are probably furious, and that the new system window popup that informed him that his payment is being delayed due to a scenario inspection is likely because he killed Namwoon. Well, as hands off as you ca kill someone at least. Now that the constellations' preferences are beginning to appear, he supposes that this is the officially the start of the story.

Kim Dokja walks away from the window, disregarding anything that may be happening outside for the moment. There is nothing that can harm them here while the next scenario has been stagnated. Approaching Namwoon's corpse- The neck stump looks way too cleanly cut and has blood that has started to congeal, it's sticky and thick and nothing he wants to touch. The rest of him is startling in tact with not a 'hair' out of place. If you ignore the stump for a neck, it would look like a person just laying there.- he bends over and grabs the knife from stiff fingers. It'll probably be useful in the near future. He stands and turns his body in the direction of the dokkaebi.

'It's just so hard to believe. I was in their position yesterday, but now they are the ones watching me.'

"That would have been such a risky thing to say. I'm bummed you didn't actually say it." Han Sooyoung says, cackling at the several offended messages from constellation on popup windows that Dokja can't see.

"I'm not stupid enough to do that. Not yet at least." He grumbles, sneering at her and pushes the kids heads down to flip his middle finger up at her as well. The kids struggle for a bit wanting to see what he's doing. He doesn't let them go until he has stopped any offensive gestures. "That would ruin so many of my plans."

The witch snorts, muttering under her breath about how his plans rarely ever actually work. In retaliation, he bites back that she's fallen for plenty of his plans. She reaches over and hits the back of his head. He swears at her.

Yoo Joonghyuk, along with several others in their group, are looking on unamused. The kids are plenty amused, even enjoying the bickering.

It's Lee Hyunsung that interrupts them, calling up from where he's sat with Jung Heewon. "To think that teenager would have killed everyone if he hadn't been stopped..."

His words bring down the mood, leaving the what-if's unsaid. He continues with a more upbeat tone. "Thank you for preventing that. And for letting my hands stay clean."

Kim Dokja doesn't look at him when he nods his reply. There is no need to be thankful to him.

[A few Constellations are impressed with your scenario.]

[The Constellations have sponsored 500 coins to you.]

'Of course, as long as there are constellations who hate me, there are also constellations who support me.'

With a smirk, Dokja lowers his head to stare at the floor. A feral gleam overtakes his eyes as his smirk turns into him baring his teeth in what could barely be considered a smile. 'I hope all of you enjoy the show, because sooner or later you'll end up paying the admission fee with your lives.'

['The Fourth Wall' stabilizes]

And there it is. The one thought that he hoped would have just stayed an inside thought.

[Many Constellations are offended at the audacity of the Incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

[Several Constellations laugh uproaringly at the ambitions of the Incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' sticks his finger in his ear with a smirk.]

That was about what he expected. If they knew how genuine those words are, backed up by so many of Yoo Joonghyuk's regressions, they probably wouldn't be laughing from their high horses. They will just continue to see humans as these little things they can just play with however they want, but they forget exactly what a repressed human is capable of.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' warns that the threats that Incarnation 'Kim DOkja' made are not to be taken lightly.]

That's quite curious, isn't it? That guy seems to be more aware and supportive of his plans, but it's interesting that he has taken such a declaration so serious. It's the next window popups that send him into a slightly baffled, slightly flustered mess.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' applauds Incarnation 'Kim Dokja' for both his wit and beauty.]

Now, what is this bastard on about? Dokja thought everyone was over the 'pretty' thing. Sitting there confused, he was not ready for Uriel as a whole.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' demands that Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' step very carefully or else he'll ruin the companionship.]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' does concede that Incarnation 'Kim Dokja' is both pretty and smart.]

What the fuck does that even mean? Jung Heewon and Han Sooyoung both burst out laughing and that's all the answer he needs about that. The kids also giggle a little bit, Yoo Mia definitely quieter than the others but he can still hear it. Yoo Joonghyuk looks slightly miffed for a reason Dokja can't really place.

"Dokja? Are you okay?"

At the sudden voice, Dokja looks over his shoulder and sees Sangah about to reach out for his shoulder. She looks tired, and her nice clothes are splattered with blood. He apologized for not being able to help the elderly woman, her headless body set aside in the cabin near where Namwoons own body is. It's a shame, but she wouldn't have survived anyway. Sangah turns the conversation back to him with a curious look.

"Dokja-ssi," she asks, "how are you so...?"

"Pardon?" Dokja is unable to understand what she's trying to say. Is there something wrong with him?

She purses her lips and shakes her head. "It's nothing. Thanks for earlier."

That's odd. He hadn't done anything to earn that. Sangah seems to clock his confusion, looking sheepish. "You, um... you threw the cage towards me."

With that, Dokja remembers he had in fact thrown it in the direction of Sangah. He recognizes the look in her eyes and decides right there that he has to stop that. "That was just coincidence. I won't do anything like that again."

'I don't know exactly what she's thinking, but she was smart enough to survive this chaos. She probably understood what I said. Because of my choice, some lived, while some died. I don't deserve the gratitude of those who survived.'

"Ah." A flustered Sangah looks away, the blush climbing up to her ears. She sits with her back straight in the chair, perfect posture and all. It seems she's embarrassed.

"Oh." Lee Hyunsung muttered behind him, a deep rumble that Dokja can't quite place the emotion of. He does sound embarrassed as well, though, so at least he has that to go off of. It's so hard to gauge what anyone is feeling when he's purposefully trying to avoid their gazes. This is already embarrassing enough for him as it is. There's no point in making it worse.

Lee Gilyoung is grabbing onto him tightly, those tiny eyes that know more than they should are turned onto him. It's slightly unnerving when Shin Yoosung does the same with almost equally wise eyes. What are they feeding these kids? What is this? Is it something in the water?

Ignoring his own unease, Dokja just rests his hands on each of their heads and ruffles their hair. It's nothing he should worry about... Probably. Ultimately, even though he had released the grasshoppers, it had been their choice to look for them. Their choice to catch and kill them.

"I'm glad you survived, with your own strength." Dokja mutters under his breath, smoothing Gilyoung's hair out of his face. The kid looked up at him with big watery eyes, leaning forward to settle into a hug tight enough to make him wheeze. Hey hey, careful, that probability storm earlier took a lot out of him.

Yoosung looked on with a frown, hugging Dokja from the other side with equal strength really making it hard to breath. Kim Dokja just sat there and did his best, letting the children do as they please.

Yoo Joonghyuk and Yoo Mia look on from where they're sitting next to him. Yoo Mia looks on with a sort of longing that slightly startles him. It's then that he thinks back, trying to remember if Mia had any real interactions with kids her age. It's the protagonist that cuts into his thoughts.

"Even so, gratitude would be due in such a situation, fool." The words are oddly kind for the insult tacked on to the end of that. Slightly miffed, Dokja decides to ignore the entire sentence. he has decided the sunfish bastard has gone crazy. Nothing new.

[Wow! So, did all of you prove your worth? I see there are many survivors,] the dokkaebi says smugly, his eyes narrowing as he smiles before turning his attention back to the channel. [Oh my! Thank you for the sponsorship, dear constellations! I can't believe there are 21 constellations watching my channel!]

While the dokkaebi is distracted, Dokja thinks over the number of survivors. Five is more than he expected, even if he knew Hyunsung would probably survive due to his strength and athleticism. He glances over at the kid, walking up to him and gently placing his hand on the boy's shoulder with a blank look.

"Hey, kid, do you want to live?"

The boy looks back at him with empty and exhausted eyes, looking so familiar it makes a certain kind of resentment bubble up in his throat and forces the back of his eyes to burn.

['The Fourth Wall' stabilizes]

He's not going to cry here. He speaks around the dead thing in his throat as he asks if the kid would like to team up with him. Gilyoung says nothing and just nods once, a sparkle filling tired eyes.

'This isn't sympathy. If I had to put in the words to describe this, I would call it hypocrisy.'

[A few Constellations are impressed with your good deed.]

[Constellations have sponsored 200 coins.]

'There is no shame to be felt here. It can't be helped with how the world is now. Because I, too, want to live. I must live to see the end.'

"Kim Dokja." Yoo Joonghyuk started harshly, snapping to look at him with eyes of molten fire and something more complicated. "Did you save the child just for coins?"

To his side, Han Sooyoung grumbles and mutters under her breath. "As if you don't kill an entire subway cabin for early coin advantage."

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is feeling uncertain.]

Jung Heewon also looked somewhat uncomfortable at the idea, leaning away from Kim Dokja again -he can feel the warmth leaving and pulling away intricately- to settle in her chair with a face that looks upsettingly contemplative. It makes sense. They're all good people, at their core.

Kim Dokja never claimed to be, or wanted to be for that matter, a good person. He won't try to explain himself here, just like he hadn't explained himself anytime before. It's better for them to draw their own conclusions.

Gilyoung leans his head away from where he had laid it when the hug turned into some form of cuddling(?), turning a hard look to the adults in the room and then looking at Dokja with a softer one.

"It doesn't matter to me that hyung saved me just for the coins." he states, as full of confidence as he could hold in that little body, looking self assured. "I'm glad I was useful to you, enough that you let me keep tagging along."

And, wow, this kid really needed a talking to. By literally anyone but Kim Dokja. That is a lot to touch upon and he honestly doesn't think he could really do any good there. He thinks Yoo Sangah would probably be able to help him. He smiles at the kid anyway, it's a sad thing that doesn't quite reach his eyes but he seems happy with it anyway, and sighs through his nose when he looks up and away again.

Considering what he knows of the story, DOkja knows he needs to get the constellations' attention if he wants to stand a chance. Gilyoung grabs onto his arm and Dokja reaches forward with a hesitant hand. After an internal battle, he sets it on his head trying to give him whatever small comfort he can. It will only get worse from here.

[A lot of interesting things happened today,] the dokkaebi remarks. [The guy in the next cabin was also a total nutcase.]

"Then are- are you going to let us go now?" Myungoh asks, and Dokja thinks that he has to be a really lucky guy for even managing to survive. However, he can't understand why the manager was even on the subway in the first place, considering how the man had been bragging about his new Mercedes lately.

The dokkaebi sneers. [Let you go? Haven't you seen what's going on outside? Are you sure you want me to let you go?]

It's then that a perfectly times roaring ichthyosaur interrupts the conversation, vibrating the subway cabin with the loud sound. It terrifies the manager, making him yelp in fear and back further away from the windows. Wimp.

[Anyway, I'm impressed. I didn't have any expectations for this cabin, but you all survived the first scenario. You have proven that even bugs deserve to live.]

Dokja catches what the dokkaebi is trying to say, calling them bugs. He guesses the creature isn't wrong, they are being treated like bugs here.

"Was that what he meant?" Hyunsung asks, a nervous edge to his voice as he realies he missed an underlying meaning to the dokkaebis words. Trying to be nice, Dokja answers as vaguely and brief as he can.

"It's a way someone can take that statement."

Dokja frowns at the thought. They're nothing but insects to the dokkaebi, and he knows it. The dokkaebi proceeds to gleefully explain that their reward for thus scenario is that they're qualified to be sponsored by a constellation. When no one seems enthusiastic, he tells them that it's a pretty big deal.

'Of course they wouldn't know.' Dokja thinks, deadpanning at the dokkaebi with really really tired eyes. 'I'm the only one here who even knows what a constellation or sponsor are.'

The dokkaebi continues, that haughty demeanor not diminishing even with the lack of expected response. [Let me break it down for you. All of you are so terribly weak right now. If you were to just move onto the next scenario in this state, you wouldn't be killed by a weak ground rat, let alone a kruk. But, there are great beings in this world who pity you and wish to sponsor you. Do you understand?"

It's here that Dokja zones out of the chattering coming from the dokkaebi, drifting off to think about what could possibly be going on for the next couple of scenarios. Right now, there are a couple of different things he could do. It's just important to determine what route will be the best for making it to the end.

A devious grin splits across his face as he continues to think. Of course, he'll go with his favorite plan... This is going to be fun.

The dokkaebi snaps and the window that pops up snap Dokja out of his thoughts, the sponsor selection screen that will set the course of their fates appear in front of everyone.

[Several Constellation are excited for the 'Sponsor Selection']

That does make sense, considering many of them will be featured in the upcoming events. After breaking the throne, it seems many of the constellations have taken notice of Dokja. Unfortunately. To make it worse, most people probably assume he had a constellation sponsor. This would be a prime opportunity for everyone to learn who he had chosen.

A shame, really, that there won't be anything for them to use against him in the end.

Dokja looks at the screen for the sponsor selection appraisingly, noticing that he has four options.

|Select a Constellation

|(The selected Constellation will be your

|reliable sponsor);

|Abyssal Black Flame Dragon

|Demon-like Judge of Fire

|Secretive Plotter

|Prisoner of the Golden Headband

[Several Constellations are surprised]

Yeah, that was about what he had expected. It's a reasonable reaction to the big names who had put their hat in to be his sponsor. Dokja watches in amusement at the shocked faces of the people around him. Yoo Joonghyuk's brow raised in surprised tickled him a little. It's nice that he's able to surprise the unshakeable man. There are many more surprises to come, he schemes.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' flutters her wings and hides her face shyly.]

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' picks his nose.]

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' declares he is the best of all of the options]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' smiles at Incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

Well, they have been there from the very beginning, Dokja muses while he looks on at the several windows displayed in front of him.

As he thinks, Sangah comes up to him nervously. "Dokja? Two strange options suddenly popped up..."

"I'm not sure about it either." The lie spills from his lips easily, "just think of it as taking an aptitude test."

As she thinks over her options, Dokja muses that she's lucky to have received two offers.

The ones who provide support to us are the constellations. And now, [Sponsor Selection], one of the main events in TWSA has started. The sponsor selection is a system in which the constellations who watch us through the dokkaebi's channels choose a human they like as their incarnation and sponsor them.

The streaming interface appears on the screen, the window has a piece of video focused on Dokja. The backdrop that surrounds it is filled with space imagery. It's depicting the star stream. There are four hands holding a coin over the screen, offering them to him as the constellations talk in the chat.

[Abyssal Black Flame Dragon: Why did he kill Namwoon?]

[Secretive Plotter: He shouldn't hve used his coins.]

[Demon-like Judge of Fire: Now that is justice lol]

[Prisoner of the Golden Headband: I just knew he would kill the grasshopper.]

Each of them has sponsored him 100 coins.

'And in my case, four constellations want to sponsor me as their incarnation. The constellations never reveal their true name, but I can infer who each of them are.'

Dokja knows that four options is no small number at all. The protagonist in TWSA had five options to start, so the amount he has here is truly impressive.

"Of course hyung would have so many awesome constellations!" Lee Gilyoung declared, looking like a preening peacock all fluffed up. " Hyung is impressive."

Shin Yoosung nods along with the boy, agreeing to anything he says. Dokja looks on unimpressed as they collude amongst each other. This is just ridiculous. He still smiles at their antics anyways, letting them have their little moment.

"Wait, we can't just move past that." Jung heewon calls out, looking to the ceiling. "Was that the interface that the constellations see?"

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' agrees that it is.]

"You guys just get a whole comment section to chat in ?"

Dokja is also pretty surprised, looking at how humanized the constellations seem with the display. It's slightly uncomfortable with how close to home it is to himself. He is going to ignore that because he can.

It's using the hints in their nicknames, like 'Abyssal' and 'Demon', that he can try to deduce their identities. Even if he hadn't known them from reading TWSA, he would have been able to know who they are criminally easily.

Picking apart 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' first, the image of an imposing and powerful looking black dragon extending it's wings menacingly is displayed. It's a sight that could make any chuunibyou cry tears of joy. Kim Dokja cringes instead.

'I'm pretty sure he was the constellation who supported Kim Namwoon in the novel, so why did he try to choose me?'

Dokja flits past that option, not even stopping to consider that one. All of his incarnations tend to go mad no matter how much of a hold on the world they have.

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is offended]

Yeah, as much as was expected. There's not much he can do now to soothe his ego. Not like he would want to in the first place.

'The second one on the list is...' He is amazed to see the next name on the list. 'Demon-like Judge of Fire.'

If you went based solely on the first part of the name, many would assume this constellation is a demon.

A horrifying visage fills the screen, twisting feature and a figure that is both massive and fierce.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is astonished.]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' assures that's not what she looks like desperately]

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' cackles at Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire's expense.]

But, ironically, the entire title 'demon-like' doesn't mean that this constellation is a demon. The words frie and judge also indicate that this entity makes judgement through fire. That means she's actually...

A brilliant golden aura fills the screen as wings unfurl to reveal an angel holding a sword and a set of scales.

Archangel Uriel.

'I remember someone chose her as their sponsor in the novel.' He notes contemplatively, going over her qualifications. 'Uriel wouldn't be a bad choice if I were to choose, though I probably wouldn't choose her in the end anyway. Constellations of absolute good are powerful, but they impose strict restrictions on their incarnations.'

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is flustered at her depiction.]

"Uriel-nim is very beautiful in the picture." Yoo Sangah says with an admiring glance, the picture of the angel staying up a little longer before the screen fades back into Kim Dokja.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' twirls her hair while blushing]

That's quite cute for an archangel that purges evil and defeats demons. This wasn't exactly how she acted in TWSA...

'The third is...'

'Secretive Plotter'

The constellation appears on the screen as a vague figure, shrouded in mystery backdropped with space. There are glowing white eyes shining through the veil worn over his head. There is similarly designed robes that cover any other physical detail. There is nothing distinct about him. A big old question mark.

Dokja narrows his eyes and frowns in confusion. He brings a fist up to his mouth as he tries to think. He's never seen this constellation anywhere in TWSA before, but it may have been a detail he glossed over when reading. Going back and reading the novel again would probably give him more of a clue. He could have totally missed a detail like that after rereading the novel so many times. He genuinely doubts it.

There is a slim chance this constellation had been mentioned offhandedly once or twice, but there isn't much to glean from just the moniker. Dokja doubts the constellation could be too powerful, he's never heard of them. And the adjective 'secretive' sounds like it would be so feeble...

'Well.' Dokja thinks with a grimace and a sigh. 'I guess that was going to be pretty par for the course.'

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is stunned at the thoughts of Incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is slightly offended]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' asks if Incarnation 'Kim Dokja' still thinks so.]

That was about what he was expecting. The insecure questions was not on his bingo card though. There wasn't exactly anything that happened to prove Dokja wrong yet. Still, he was forced to defend himself.

"Obviously not with the amount of coins you like to throw around." He grumbles, elbowing a snickering Han Sooyoung beside him. "It's not like I was able to tell in the beginning."

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' acquiesces but only because the pretty Incarnation 'Kim Dokja' is back on screen.]

Hey now...

Without further contemplation, or any other thought on it for that matter, he moves on. The last on is 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband'.

The name alone has him excited, showing up here on his list of possible sponsors. Dokja lowers his head with a rapid grin, eyes gleaming with mischief. He can't believe that this constellation has made an offer already.

'Prisoner'. This adjective may sound negative at first, but you have to pay attention to the proper noun. 'Golden Headband'. The smallest prison in the world. The owner of the Mount Huaguo who lives with the pain of the binding head shackle. The handsome monkey king with the golden gaze and furious eyes.

The screen shows the silhouette of the monkey king himself with glowing eyes, imposing and fierce.

The great sage, heaven's equal Sun Wukong. One of the characters was sponsored by him in the novel.

-He has the power to crush hundreds of incarnations with a single swing of his staff, and eradicate thousands of monsters with a single lightning bolt.-

The passage was extremely memorable to Dokja, considering how the author had emphasized it. The only problem is he really can't understand why someone so powerful would be interested in him.

'If I choose the great sage, heaven's equal as my sponsor...'

He glances back up again, his deranged smile gone but the glint in his eyes remained, and his gaze locks onto the window at the end of the cabin that leads to cabin 3707.

'... would I be able to beat the protagonist?' The thought finishes as Dokja cocks his head to the side with a newly blank look. He shakes his head and turns away. He doesn't even know what regression this is.

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' preens at his description.]

It wasn't like he was described as being able to slap Yoo Joonghyuk's cheeks, so he probably had a limit to how handsome he actually was. He grimaces at the last bit. Again, he really doesn't like his thoughts being on display.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' snorts but then frowns.]

Yeah, what's that about? Kim Dokja is not willing to loose the brain cells trying to decipher this mans nonsense.

[The Constellation 'God of Wine and Ecstasy' boasts he is more handsome.']

Yeah right. He would think so, wouldn't he?

Notes:

This should sit around 8,944 words. I hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 5: Sub Scenario - Extra (1)

Summary:

This is just little pieces, drafts, and drabbles that I feel would be interesting to share. I've use some already, but most of them are for later scenes that I wanted to try my hand at. I hope you enjoy! I'll still be posting the next chapter on the regular schedule.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Kim Dokja reaches his hand out past the crumbling mental wall that sets him apart, blood dribbling from his nose as he whispers. His arm is thin and smaller than he remembered. His hand is too, but it is also covered in bandages and his fingernails are split and bleeding.

"I'm sorry."

He reaches for his friends, the ones he's built up and protected with his life, with his bloody hands. Hands that have no right to reach out to such good and righteous people. They stand in a vast white plane and they have no faces. They stand there, clustered together and just looking in his direction.

"I'm sorry."

He pleads for forgiveness he doesn't expect to get, something his little family gives him in spades. He looks to his companion, his protagonist.

"This may be me at my best."

He curls his outreaching arm back towards himself, watching the wall build back up between himself and the characters he adores. There was nothing else he could do.

o0o

It was devotion. Devotion so deep Kim Dokja had no idea what to do with it. Or how to deal will having it. It made him feel a certain way. A feeling that builds up in his chest, pressing out on his ribs and bubbling up in his throat. It makes his eyes burn with the intent to water. It sends his head spinning. He is not worth this kind of devotion. He has done nothing of the sort do get it. He's just a reader. No someone who is supposed to be in this position in the first place.

He looks upon Jung Heewon and quite nearly weeps. There is nothing he can do but stand there and wait. Wait for her to understand he's not worth it. Make her see that she's chosen the wrong person. Wait for her to change her mind and pick someone else. He didn't want this. This raw feeling of inadequacy, and something else he can't quite place. He doesn't want to feel the sting of rejection when Heewon find him not worthy. When he proves he isn't worth the effort.

Instead of crying, or screaming, or just down right breaking down, he stands there. He watches. He looks upon her. He does what he's always done. He reads it again.

And then he's smiling, something placid that he just barely scrapes together. Dokja puts forth his hand and smiles and waits. That's all he can do. Wait.

o0o

It's standing here, in these dark tunnels and a kid staring at him with hopeful eyes, that he realizes just how much he's fucked up. Because even now with everything that has happened and everything he has done, Gilyoung still looks at him with eyes glittered in hope.

Hope.

A kind of hope that comes from one child of abuse that sees an adult that survived the same conditions and feels that there will be a better time. Kim Dokja's own survival has given this poor little kid some semblance of hope. And it makes a seething feeling crawl underneath his skin. It's not Gilyoung that stands before him anymore. This kid is thinner, more gaunt, with black hair and black eyes. It's a familiar sight, one that leaves Dokja's eyes cold and dark with loathing.

He looks away when the moment settles back into what it actually is. There is a kid standing in front of him that needs reassurance. Reassurances he doesn't exactly have. Lying to this boy will probably be the nicest thing he's ever done in his life.

It still feels like ash on his tongue.

o0o

The scene of Jihye in the classroom overlaps with something from his memories, grainy and frayed at the edges. Instead of Lee Jihye, there stands a younger Kim Dokja looking out of an open classroom window. Only his back is visible, a ragged school brown school uniform and mussed up hair. Outside has the dwindling light of the setting sun. Abruptly, there is nothing but a torn up looking backpack sitting in a neat classroom. Jihye fades back into view on the screen, her dead eyes looking right at whatever camera the dokkaebi had on her. The classroom is no longer empty. The older Kim Dokja looks away and ignores the implications.

o0o

[You have obtained 'King of No Killing']

'Hell yeah, now I can live out my dream as many times as I want.' Kim Dokja grinned, blood smeared on his teeth and a rabid look in his eyes. The waves of fire from the dragon's attack heads his way, leaving no time for him to dodge past it.

'Dying'

Large swaths of pain overtakes his nerves. He is sweating and burning and it hurt so much- There are tears brought to his eyes that immediately boil off of his face. The grin that stays on his face exposes the inside of his mouth to the flames, his flesh boiling up and peel away from his bones. He can feel the heat so deeply that he almost gives into the idea of letting the pressure out by screaming.

['The Fourth Wall' activates.]

But he can't. His companions are still around and he has to be strong for them. It seems like forever that the moment lasts. He can hear yelling, voices that sound near to screaming themselves. The pain abruptly stops and it kind of feels like he's floating.

[You have died]

No wonder.

o0o

'I'll do whatever you want. Whatever. Just... please. Please don't make me do this' It's difficult looking Yoo Joonghyuk in his eyes as he begs through his thoughts. There's blood running down his face from a cut near his hairline. Kim Dokja could swear there were tears as well. He looked as handsome as ever, even beat up and bruised like this.

"This is the end. Yoo Joonghyuk." Dokja calls softly into the crumbling ruins, wings splayed out and curling horns wrapped around his head. "Kill me, Joonghyuk-ah."

'I will die in your arms as many times as it takes for you to realize that I'm not worth saving'

Notes:

A little bit of a rant that I wanted to put somewhere, don't bother with this too much ^^

I imagine being a human being would be poetic. With such vital flaws and gleaming virtues the idea of being human feels like the perfect poetry. There are entire books, stories or other, that detail long winding adventures that are centered around the things that make a person human. That is to say, their strengths and weaknesses make up the perfect rise and fall of a story. There is so much to pick apart about what it means to be human. To be sentient. To be empathetic in such a way that it quite literally brings a new definition to humanity.

I find it hard to believe that I'm the only one who can spin countless poems and stories over the concept of humanity alone. I guess that's why the idea of an alien species is so novel to me. Would there be a concept likened to humanity? To the empathy we attach to our own species?

When it comes to myself, I find myself lacking certain parts of empathy or morality that tends to be apart of the mass populous opinion. I find there's poetry made of flowery words and gritty details to be made of that as well. I concern that my lack of what people consider humanity, the genuine empathy and blatant morals, sets me apart from the image of expression I make. Breaks down the points in my stories and creative pieces because there is little in those that I can connect to unless I break them down to their most basic ideal and tie it to something of my own.

But the more I read, the more I analyze and genuinely look into the media I make and consume, I find more and more of it is not something I lack. I find I place all of my feeling and sympathy into my words. I don't think it's as simple as most people want to make things seem. There is a disconnect there, with how broad the designation is. With bringing in exact feeling and honest debates of what empathy and morality mean, I look at my own work and find a tapestry of those exact things just in a different font than what other people explain it in.

Humanity is poetry and I'm a poem just like anyone else. I'm longer and more exact, with long paragraphs instead of small sentences, but I'm dipped in flowery language and honest truth just like everyone else. The story I sew is just the same as any other and I look on at all the people around me and see a similar struggle to connect themselves with the concept of humanity. It's not an exact cookie cutter ideal. It's bloody and messy and filled with deeper meaning. Just like the best poems you will ever read. And there will probably never be an exact mould to fit into. I don't think that's how people work in the first place.

I love the connect between the concept of a human and the outline of a story. The ride and fall. The negative and positive. The never ending hidden meaning behind every action, every word, and every letter. I love every single piece of poetry that I have both read and written that connect with the human mind in a way that makes it blatant. Not hidden or downplayed. But raw and unfiltered so downright that I can compare it to pieces of myself and still come back with something I relate to.

I akin this to the little blorbos and other people I write. I enjoy playing around with the idea that everyone is a different list of poems all put together and formed by their own thoughts, feelings, and actions. These characters are so important to me and I can't help but see them on everything I do and how I act. I like to imagine that I have some of their poems attached to my own list, like little sticky notes I've put on the little book that is my own life.

Chapter 6: Bridge of Crumbling Despair

Summary:

Sangah pauses, finally looking over at him with a sheepish smile. A good bit of their group looks over at her with astonished faces, Lee Jihye being the first one to burst out laughing. "Unnie! I didn't think you had it in you!"

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' agrees after getting over her shock]

Sangah's face has a rising blush as she's being stared at. She sits there quietly for a little bit before looking over at Dokja with her HR smile shining through in her embarrassment. She mumbles her answer. "I quite liked both, but there's a certain... enjoyment to participating."

Notes:

Okay, so this is technically not as long as I usually make them, but while I was writing this I realized there was a perfect spot to end it off to cause maximum pain and a delicious cliffhanger.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

When the Kim Dokja on screen glances toward cabin 3707, he takes note of the way Yoo Joonghyuk's expression took a turn for the worse, his frown deepening and a dark look crossing his face. Which- It's totally not like Dokja had been debating whether or not he would be able to kick the protagonists ass in certain conditions. His moodiness is probably justified in this instance.

It's only a few minutes later that another popup appears.

[The 'Sponsor Selection' has ended.]

The fluffy creature shows back up, gleefully remarking about a very interesting turn of events. He continues to say something about having another chance for this opportunity later on in the scenarios. Now that the Sponsor Selection is over, there should be a bit of a break considering how new the dokkaebi is. His guess is echoed by the creature declaring a short break and vanishes to prepare for the next scenario, calling out that they'll continue in ten minutes.

Dokja basks in the moment for a little bit, enjoying the little lull to think. It's so novel to be in this situation.

There's a snort to his side. "Hrnt- Novel-"

Han Sooyoung is so lucky Dokja has a lap full of too kids. But not lucky enough. He reaches over and smacks her upside her head. She is no longer chortling, cursing at him under her breath.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' reluctantly admits he agrees it is kinda humorous.]

Dokja is going to ignore that betrayal.

He bursts out of his tiny moment with himself and into action, gathering the people left in the subway cabin to get everyone acquainted. As he shakes Hyunsung's hand, he analyzes the strong grip and firm shake. No wonder he's the designate tanker in the early stages of TWSA, he has such a strong cadence. It's then that Dokja reaffirms that he needs to recruit the lieutenant.

Hyunsung thanks him profusely for what he did earlier, even mentioning that living through the murder of others would mean that they don't deserve to live as humans. Dokja's breath hitches at that, moving his shaking hand away from Hyunsung's own. Indeed. They wouldn't deserve to live as humans. He ignores the implications that holds to his not so heroic intentions with all the willpower he holds in his feeble body. His thoughts are interrupted by Han Myungoh slapping a palm down on his shoulder. As sleezy as ever, the man still demands the same respect he was used to in the workplace, even though the company likely no longer exists. Dokja is really getting fed up with this fucker.

"Shut up." The bastard startles with a baffled look on his irritating face. As cathartic as that was, there was still a point to be made here in the face of this mans delusions. "The company no longer exist. There are no such rules here. This is something entirely new. This isn't a joke or a dream."

He ignores the idiots spluttering and rapidly reddening face and turns to the rest of the gathered group. "There's a game-like interface, attribute windows and skills. Is there still anyone who doesn't understand what's going on?"

Jung Heewon whistles behind him, the sound is high pitched in his ears. She leans over him to look him down in his eyes. There's a level of mirth and mischief there that he really would prefer she didn't indulge in. This can not end well. "That's quite brutal of you, mister leader. Nearly as bad as that one time with those prophets. You really enjoy doing that authority thing you do."

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of fire' giggles at the teasing]

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' nods sagely]

He flushes at the teasing, looking back to the screen to avoid her gaze as Han Sooyoung cackles beside him. He knew something like this was going to happen eventually. They really can't leave him be, can they?

"I think it was nice." Yoo Sangah speaks up with a peaceful look in her face. She is still looking at the screen, not bothering to look over at everyone else. "I appreciate Dokja-ssi for letting me see such a liberating sight."

Nodding, Dokja just goes along with it. Then, he speaks up with his own piece feeling a little cheeky. "Is it better than the time you put salt in his coffee? Or was that better because you could do it yourself?"

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' appreciates a good revenge plot]

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' encourages Incarnation 'Yoo Sangah' to spill blood]

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' tears his hair out in surprise.]

Sangah pauses, finally looking over at him with a sheepish smile. A good bit of their group looks over at her with astonished faces, Lee Jihye being the first one to burst out laughing. "Unnie! I didn't think you had it in you!"

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' agrees after getting over her shock]

Sangah's face has a rising blush as she's being stared at. She sits there quietly for a little bit before looking over at Dokja with her HR smile shining through in her embarrassment. She mumbles her answer. "I quite liked both, but there's a certain... enjoyment to participating."

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' nods his head in agreement that revenge is best done by oneself]

Kim Dokja nods, musing in his own mind that having a hand in revenge makes it all the more sweet.

Everyone is silent until Hyunsung sighs and scratches the back of his head. "It's the kind of thing I read about in novels while covering the night shift. I still can't believe this is real. This isn't a dream, right?"

That hit a little too close to home. Dokja shakes his head. "Unfortunately, this is now our reality."

Since Dokja seems to be the only person who has any idea of what's going on, Hyunsung decides to ask if he has any plans. Suddenly, two popups appear in front of Dokja.

[The character 'Lee Hyunsung' has started to trust you.]

[Your understanding of the character 'Lee Hyunsung' has increased.]

Ignoring the windows, Dokja takes stock of their situation. There's only one thing to do. "We have to get out of here."

Everyone, except for a particularly starry eyed Gilyoung, stares at Dokja in disbelief. Outside, another ichthyosaur roars loudly. All at once, everyone begins to talk over each other, overlapping in a way that makes his head throb.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Dokja, I think that's a bit..."

"I also need to check on my unit... but I think it would be dangerous to leave the premises right now."

"Yeah! If we leave, we're going to get killed!"

"How do we do that, hyung?"

Gilyoung was the only one on board, a determined look on his face as he holds onto Dokja's hand. When did that happen? Dokja sighs. 'Uh oh. Even Hyunsung is against it, and I have to take him with me no matter what.'

Lee Hyunsung sends him a blinding smile when he looks back to try and gauge his mood. Dokja has to squint and raise his hand to be able to see properly. This man can not be anymore puppy-like than this. He doesn't think his brain could compute. "I'm glad Dokja-ssi finds my abilities useful."

The protagonist also looks at him, half of his body turned to the reader and he's just... looking at him. Not saying anything. Not doing anything. Just watching.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is looking at you.]

With a nervous smile on his face, Dokja nods along to what the bright man is saying. He still relaxes at the lack of tension from him. "I'm very glad that Hyunsung-ssi is so reliable."

They definitely wouldn't have been able to get as far as they had without him, and there was no way they could reach the ending Kim Dokja wanted if he wasn't there.

[The Constellation 'Master of Steel' is smiling.]

There's a loud noise that doesn't come from either side of the cabin surrounded by monsters, a sudden force rocking them as they stand. The noise sounds like something violently slamming on metal. Everyone turns to look for where the sound came from, but Dokja is more delayed in doing so. He knows exactly what is causing the commotion. There is no doubt in his mind that it isn't the dokkaebi coming with the next scenario. Someone is slamming on the door that divides their cabin from cabin 3707.

The person on the other side of that door is the only survivor of the subway cabin 3707.

A boot slams into the door even harder, denting the metal slowly.

It was quite obvious who that was.

The slams continue, and Dokja's eyes go wide. 'He's coming and I don't know what version of him I'll meet.'

The true protagonist of this story.

Immediately, he jumps into action. "We have to get out of here."

When Hyunsung tries to protest, Dokja cuts him off instantly.

Hyunsung looks nervous, but tries to reason with him anyway. "D-Dokja, we can't be sure that whatever is on the other side of that door is our enemy."

"He's the survivor who killed all of those people in his cabin," Dokja retorts with a deadpanned look. "Do you still want to meet him?"

Sangah and Hyunsung both pause for a moment, turning to each other to share a look, before they hurry to find a way to escape their subway cabin. Unfortunately, every door they check is broken, but at least the force field is gone. There has to be a working door somewhere. They only have so much time.

After all, the slams on the door are getting louder.

Kim Dokja dreads the meeting between himself and the protagonist. This does not feel like it will go over well with anyone. It's definitely memorable, if nothing else. The first time meeting his protagonist face to face.

Yoo Sangah chuckles awkwardly from her chair where she has reclined to curl up comfortably. She's wringing her hands in her lap. "Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi was quite frightening then."

And he isn't now? That face may be handsome, but it's also still very deadly. Was she really looking at the same man Dokja is?

Yoo Joonghyuk looked disgruntled at such an accusation, glancing over in her direction with a grumpy scowl. "I had to break through a steel door."

Well, fair enough. There isn't exactly a gentle way to kick down a door like that. It still worked in his favor. Though, he didn't say anything about the accusation against him about killing the left over passengers. Bastard.

He looks over at Dokja with that same scowl. "You didn't make the situation any better."

Pointedly looking away from him, Dokja refuses to feel any guilt for his actions. He needed everyone to get out as quickly as possible.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' scoffs at Incarnation 'Yoo Joonghyuk']

At least he still has someone on his side. Dokja settles into his seat with a smug air to him.

[Many Constellations are interested in the current event]

Oh right, there have been a lot of constellations joining more recently. They wouldn't have been able to see these events. They must be excited for something new and interesting.

"Dokja, over here!" Sangah calls, having found a door that still seems to be working.

Using the emergency button, they're able to get it partially open, but not even Gilyoung would have been able to squeeze through such a small gap. This door, too, is broken. Dokja glances at his 4,700 coins and knows that he could use them to increase his strength enough to pry it open himself, but he chooses instead to save his coins for when he will likely need them later.

They do have better options here and Dokja will be taking those because he can.

"Hyunsung, use your skill," he calls, making the lieutenant look at him in confusion.

As if on cue, Dokja's skill activates and pulls up Hyunsung's character profile.

"By skill, you mean...?"

|Name: Lee Hyunsung

|Age: 28

|Constellation sponsor: Master of Steel

|Personal attribute: Soldier who turned a blind

|eye to injustice (general)

|Exclusive skills: Bayonet lvl.2, Camouflage

|lvl.2, Patience lvl.2

|Stigma: Great Mountain Push lvl.1

|Overall stats: Stamina lvl.8, Strength lvl.8,

|Agility lvl.7, Mana lvl.5

|General evaluation: Lee Hyunsung has very good

|overall stats. Although how rapidly he turned a

|blind eye to injustice was surprising, a

|constellation still selected him. This is

|another opportunity for him.

'Thankfully, his constellation sponsor and attribute are the same as the novel,' Dokja ponders with relief after reading it. His eyes read over the window a couple of times, memorizing the words before him. The stat and skill levels will change over time, but it's good to figure out what exactly Hyunsung's strengths are.

Lee Hyunsung makes a wounded sound behind Dokja, likely reading his profile and not liking his personal attribute. It's perfectly understandable. When Dokja actually looks back at him, he seeing the lieutenants shoulders loose some of the tension that had been there previously. He still looks uncomfortable.

"This... This doesn't feel the same as looking at Kim Namwoon's 'Character Profile'." Hyunsung hesitated, returning Dokja's gaze. "Is it because it's my own?"

"That could be it." He concedes, lowering his head so he doesn't have to look Hyunsung in the eyes anymore. This is still so embarrassing. Is that ever going away?

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is curious about the skill 'Character Profile']

Han Sooyoung grumbles next to him. She complained in a long drawn out and whiney voice that grated on his ears. "It's an unfair skill to have at the start of the scenarios."

Dokja looks at her with the flattest face he could possibly make, taking one of his hands off of the kids just to point at the protagonist with a disappointed sigh. His finger ends up in Yoo Joonghyuk's face.

"That bastard is different! He doesn't count. He's the protagonist. He's supposed to be overpowered." Sooyoung takes on a scolding tone, reaching around him to tug his pointing arm down and out of Joonghyuk's face. "You got such overpowered skills, and for what? This is favoritism."

"Maybe it's because I'm not such a shitty writer." Dokja grumbled under his breath, shaking her hand off of him. He doesn't bother continuing to point at the protagonist. He can't be assured the bastard won't bite his fingers or something. He's made his point already anyway.

Her scream is worth the possible mangling he might have gotten for doing that. It's with a smug smile on his face that he turns back to the screen to watch, missing the looks his companions send each other.

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' rejoices at the banter.]

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' complains about the lack of violence.]

What a child.

"You probably checked your skill when you opened your attribute window earlier. You're in the army, so there must be a skill you can use right now." That's the best excuse he can come up with in such a stressful situation. But, it should work all the same.

Hyunsung looks confused. "Well, I do have one, but I don't know how to use it."

"You probably have to imagine yourself using it. They would have instructions attached if you needed to do anything else, right?" Dokja tries his best to sound unsure and unconfident. This is really going to be hard to act as clueless as everyone else. A little part of him wants to scream at the top of his lungs that he knows everything. That he will be the one to mould this story with his own hands. That would be counterproductive so he has to stay quiet. Hyunsung seems surprised by his words.

"Would they really?"

After a moment, Hyunsung places his hands on the doors and yells out as he begins to push them apart. His muscles tremble with the effort required, even using all his strength. An aura envelops him as his skill activates, and the subway doors finally creak open.

Instantly, sparkles seem to surround Hyunsung as he turns back to Dokja excitedly. "It worked! It really worked!"

[The character 'Lee Hyunsung' has begun to trust you.]

[Your understanding of the character 'Lee Hyunsung' has increased.]

'Looks like the stigma 'Great Mountain Push' successfully activated,' Dokja thought, but quickly encouraged everyone to run out of the now opened doors, the fresh air from outside slightly muddled with smoke.

"Dokja-ssi is a good actor." Yoo Sangah notes out loud, her tone reflective as she analyzes Dokja himself. It feels odd to be on the other end of that. With a light contemplative look, she slowly nods and continues. "Even during work, you have always been good at playing a role."

"What was ahjussi like during work, Unnie?" Lee Jihye chirped with a mischievous look that Dokja really wished would go away. Does that girl really have to go after every embarrassing thing of his?

Sangah nods, a mirthful smile crossing her features along with a look of nostalgia that is so familiar it makes him nervous. That doesn't bode well for him. "I can't tell you how many times Dokja-ssi has covered for me."

"How so, Unnie?" Jihye continues to badger, leaning into Yoo Mia's space in the process of trying to look at the woman across the way. He really needs to shut this down.

Yoo Joonghyuk does it for him when he speaks up to interrupt the girls talking to each other. His face has smoothed out to look almost peaceful and it makes Dokja nearly jealous. He wants to be that relaxed in this bizarre scenario. "Do you remember what that fool looked like before the scenarios?"

Never mind. That bastard wasn't helping at all. The screen is actually his savior.

The steel door between them and the man in 3707 would soon break. Listening to Dokja's advice, Hyunsung picked up Gilyoung and carried the reluctant boy on his back as they dashed down the empty tracks. It took a surprising amount of effort to convince the kid to go with the soldier.

'But, if my memory serves me right, the steel door isn't the problem,' Dokja recalls. He had originally said that to get everyone out of the subway cabin. The protagonist just played into his favor.

[...Gosh, I knew this would happen.]

Above them floats the dokkaebi, and he looks frustrated. [I told you earlier to stay put, damn it! I'm not done preparing the next scenario.]

Myungoh wails irritatingly that they should have just stayed inside, but everyone else stands firm. The dokkaebi sighs and snaps his fingers once.

[Well, I guess I have no choice. You've very lucky human beings.]

With a ding, the notification for the arrival of a sub scenario pops up. In the next 20 minutes, they have to get across a collapsed bridge and enter Oksu station on the other side. There's a reward of 200 coins for successfully completing the new scenario, but the penalty for failure is just three question marks.

'I knew it.' Dokja reads over the scenario window as quickly as possible while the dokkaebi continue to yabber on.

Sangah frowns and comments on how the scenario says 'collapsed bridge', even though the bridge is intact. In response, Dokja dashes past her, yelling at everyone to not worry and to just run. They need to be quick before whatever the creature has planned comes to fruition.

[A few Constellations are puzzled about the inaccurate setting for the scenario.]

Each of the members who had been on the bridge cringe, being reminded of just how that had gone. It was such a struggle even though it had been the second overall scenario they had participated in.

"It was... certainly a rough day." Sangah nervously comments, her eyes going distant as she thought about the events of that sub scenario. Especially just coming from going through the first scenario, it was just a day of compounded stress.

Lee Gilyoung nestles in closer to Dokja's side, burrowing grumpily into his ribs. "I'm upset you didn't end up finishing with us, hyung."

The kid is probably going to be even more upset when he finds out what exactly happened on that bridge. Dokja doubts that protagonist bastard had told them anything.

'Sangah is right. The bridge is still intact because we got off the train too early. In other words, the bridge will eventually collapse. And soon at that.'

The scene zooms out to show the entirety of the bridge. Their figures are very small from this distance. There is still quite a ways before they are able to reach the safety of Oksu station.

'It might seem underhanded, but it's imposible to clear this scenario without going around the rules.'

As they run, Dokja keeps an eye on everyone else. Though they're cutting it close, he's fairly confident that they'll make it in time. However, as if summoned by Murphy's law and Dokja's audacity to hope, a whirlpool forms in the river below and a massive ichthyosaur emerges to loom over the bridge.

'It's an Ichthyosaur! No, a sea serpent! Or maybe a sea commander, from its size?' Dokja thinks, slightly giddy to see such a monster up close and personal. It doesn't matter, the monster roars and rushes towards the bridge, preparing to collapse it. Everyone hurries to run across as quickly as possible, hoping to get to the other side before the bridge is destroyed. Dokja knows that the ichthyosaur shouldn't go after them this early in the story and its only goal is to break the bridge, but they're interrupted by the smug dokkaebi once again.

[It's no fun if the game is too easy, is it?]

This is bad.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire is excited for the upcoming scene between companions.]

[Many Constellations are excited for when the scenario increases in difficulty.]

Of course they would be. Yoo Mia chats to Yoo Joonghyuk under her breath, but Dokja can't be bothered to listen to it as Jung Heewon whistles behind him.

"How did you get past that, oppa? It looks much more difficult than what I had to deal with..."

Yoo Joonghyuk smiles softly at his sister. It's a small thing that would be easy to miss. Kim Dokja's eyes linger on the sight. The sight is nothing he could ever imagine. He sort of wishes the moment would last forever.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is squealing]

Dokja quickly closes the rapidly climbing amount of notifications Uriel is sending and averts his eyes. He has done nothing to deserve such a soft sight.

"You guys really had it tough, didn't you?" Heewon reclines back in her chair as she asks, popping up the footrest of the theater recliner. Her face grimaces at the size of the sea commander. "Damn."

"Tough is the least of it." Dokja grumbles, grimacing with her.

[What's the fun in you getting away safely? Let's shake things up a bit.] The dokkaebi laughs as he snaps his fingers once more. In an instant, the difficulty level displayed on the window holding the sub scenario changes from level E to level D.

[The evil thought of the dead have returned.]

[Black ether is rising from the surrounding earth.]

The screen switches to inside the subway cabin once more. The bodies start to squirm on the ground, creaking and groaning as they obtain their head back as if the pieces have sewn themselves together. The living corpses stumble to their feet, shuffling out of the cabin and towards the nearest group of survivors. The scene turns back to the surviving passengers on the bridge now being chased after by the dark undead.

"Huh? Zombies?!" Sangah exclaims as she looks behind them, the earlier fear rising back up in her again, threatening to overtake her reasoning.

[Demonic beings have been resurrected!]

Instantly, the zombies lunge forward to begin attacking. At the same time, thanks to the soldiers good stats, Hyunsung and Gilyoung have safely made it to Oksu station. Unfortunately, the rest of the group is left behind and surrounded. Glowing eyes cut through the darkness, and an aura of evil rises from the shambling corpses, and a shadow soon looms over them.

"Everyone, get down!" Dokja orders just before the massive sea serpent closes its jaws around the bridge, crushing the middle. Immediately after, Yoo Sangah's frantic scream of his name cuts through the air.

Dokja winces, that wasn't exactly their best moment. The bridge was destroyed too quickly. If they hadn't had the even bridge, this would have gone a lot worse than it had.

[A few Constellations are concerned for the incarnations.]

There wasn't very much he could have done here. Not with the difficulty of the scenario being raised. Under his breath, Dokja curses Biyhung and swears he'll make that little bastard pay.

Lee Hyunsung and Lee Gilyoung had made it across the bridge fine before it was destroyed. The kid got to safety just fine, which is the only good thing he could say about the situation. Between the humanoid demons, the bridge's collapse, and what happened afterwards that day was just stressful and downright exhausted.

"-ja!"

Amidst the smoke and rubble scattered across the bridge, Dokja slowly manages to get to his knees with great difficulty and a hand on his head. His ears are ringing and his vision is blurry at best, but he is alive. For the moment at least.

"Dok-! ...you -kay?"

It sounds like he's under water, the voices around him muffled and unclear. It takes him a minute to actually remember where he is, the thing that reminding him is the middle section of the bridge that is now gone. And he's on the wrong side.

He's on the wrong side.

Myungoh and Sangah aren't too far away from him, and they're leaning on each other as they stumble over, calling his name.

'The bridge has collapsed.' The thought is as detached from him as it could be, the feeling that were supposed to be there are missing.

[The exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' strengthens.]

Dokja raises from his knees into standing, stumbling a bit when his foot catches on a piece of rubble. 'I'd known something like this might happen, but I hadn't expected Myungoh and Sangah to survive. Gilyoung and Hyunsung made it to safety in one piece.'

A loud, chiming announcement cuts through the air. [Someone has received the blessing of a constellation.]

In a flash, a golden light slowly rebuilds the bridge, filling in the large gaping hole.

[The constellation's blessing has activated 'Deus Ex Machina' in this scenario.]

The 'Dues Ex Machina', the bridge of even numbers, can only be crossed by an even number of people at a time, and will collapse if an odd number of people attempt to cross it.

Sangah stutters and frowns, finally reaching Dokja with her awkward hobble -He takes a moment to check her for any real injury but finds none- she looks at him helplessly. "Dokja, in my head... this thing- it uh, it suddenly-?"

It was her constellation that used the 'Deus Ex Machina', then. A power that allowed them to directly intervene in the scenario at a great cost. Dokja is stunned by this revelation, knowing that even in the novel, this kind of direct intervention was rare.

'Did Sangah's constellation sponsor intervene in order to save her?'

[Several Constellations are shocked.]

Yeah, a 'Deus Ex Machina' is a huge surprise for such an early scenario. It's surprising even four scenarios in. Yoo Sangah squirms in her chair, curling her legs further to her chest in embarrassment. Her face is red. It's probably from all of the attention being turned to her. Dokja understands and sympathizes with her. Though, she was lucky that her sponsor seems to really care about her.

"So, that was why that was there." Yoo Joonghyuk muttered under his breath, faced turned to Sangah at a slight tilt. The suspicious glance he was shooting her was hard to notice with Joonhyuk leaning into his space a little bit. Did he know something about her that Kim Dokja didn't? Grumbling at the stingy attitude of the bastard, he ignores the fact that something is unsettling the protagonist. It's not important for right now. But he does file it away for later.

'What kind of constellation could be supporting her?' He wonders as he attempt to activate his character profile skill, trying to pull up her profile. Surprisingly, it fails.

[This person's profile cannot be browsed using 'Character Profile'.]

[This character does not have a registered 'Character Profile'.]

Frantically, he wonders why he can't see her profile with his skill. Maybe her constellation is blocking it, or perhaps she has a mental barrier skill? It doesn't seem likely, but he's thrown out of his thoughts when Sangah yells his name again.

"Dokja! Behind you!"

He turns just in time to see a fist flying at his face. Barely managing to throw himself out of the way, Dokja sees the zombie that attacked him rush past. The undead had completely slipped his mind. This is really not the time to be lost in thought. Quickly, he manages to catergorize his opponent using his knowledge of TWSA.

-Tier 9 Humanoid Demon

A mutant species infected by the black ether. Once normal humans, humanoid demons are no different from zombies, but they can be quite dangerous if their host happens to be someone who was powerful.-

Unfortunately, the humanoid demon that has set its sights on him just happens to be in the vessel of the 'Delusional Demon' himself, of all people. Namwoon's eyes glow as he snarls, covered in blood, and launches himself towards Dokja again.

[The exclusive skill 'Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint' has activated.]

Unfortunately, it also fails.

[This character does not possess a consciousness.]

[Deactivated 'Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint'.]

"You must be careful, Dokja-ssi." Jung Heewon gruffs behind him, her tone firm and sounding a little anxious for him. There's no need, he is right here isn't he?

Lee Jihye mumbles her agreement, not taking her eyes off of the segment playing on the screen, her fingers picking at her nails. She must be particularly anxious to be doing that.

Well, in both of their defense, neither of them had seen him after this encounter. They wouldn't know if he had been injured during this fight, or in general considering the types of healing items he had access to after all of this.

Han Sooyoung slightly nudges at Shin Yoosung, moving her out of her way so she's able to look Dokja in his eyes as he speaks. "That's such a sucky drawback for a skill to have."

That sounds pointed. The look she's giving him doesn't exactly seem like she's teasin him but he can't put his finger on what she's actually trying to say. He ignores it instead, as per tradition. If she really wanted him to understand she would just say it outright.

Shin Yoosung moved away from the hand that nudged her out of the way and leaned back into Dokja's side. She seemed nervous as she watches, resting her fingers on a part of his wrist. It takes a moment for him to realize that she's feeling his pulse. It seems the fighting on screen is getting to her, he barely escaped his first fight with Namwoon relatively unscathed. Gently, he takes his hand from her and pats her back with it instead. There's no need to be nervous, he's right here.

'Fuck.' Dokja swears to himself as he brings his arms up to block the next powerful strike that comes right for his face again. 'I had a feeling it wouldn't work!'

Their only option is to get across the bridge of even numbers, but there are three survivors still on this side of the bridge. One of them has to stay behind and die.

His very first thought is for him to stay behind, but his own thoughts revolt against that almost violently. He doesn't want to go down now, he has to reach the end. He muses for a moment, considering leaving Myungoh as he dodges several more attacks aimed at him. His rational mind catches up with him and reminds him there are other ways for him to get out of this. He doesn't have to sacrifice anyone.

Frantically, Dokja glances over his shoulder and call out to Sangah. "Sangah, get-!"

To his shock, Myungoh has already picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder like she's a sack of potatoes. She's kicking and struggling and trying to get him to let her go, but he has an iron grip around her legs.

"Let go of me! Let go!" She screams. It's so familiar it makes him queasy. "Dokja! Dokja!"

Myungoh doesn't even look sorry when he takes off running, just afraid. One of his legs drags behind him, but somehow he's as fast as a professional sprinter. Horrified and pissed off, Dokja comes to the realization that the manager is leaving him behind.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is impressed by your foolishness.]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is touched by your selflessness.]

[You have been sponsored 100 coins.]

Yeah, there's not very much selflessness in considering sacrificing the coward in the first place. He gets the pop up window he had expected.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is disappointed in incarnation 'Kim Dokja's thoughts.]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' comments on your thorough decision making.]

That react was curious though. That guy was originally belittling in his comment of the situation. What's with the contradiction?

"Dokja-ssi..." Sangah starts from where she's sitting, sound remorseful.

"There's no need to apologize. I understand." He really didn't need an apology, not with how many times she had already said sorry when they had met back up after this scenario. It was exhausting with the mental gymnastics he had to do while fighting with himself.

As fast as he could, Dokja tries to activate his character profile skill on Myungoh, but just like with Sangah, his profile can't be browsed.

Dokja grimaces. 'If I'm not mistaken, 'One-legged Swift Foot' belongs to the constellation 'Limping Trickster'.'

'That constellation does not bestow its incarnations with the mental barrier stigma, and since there's no way Han Myungoh could have that kind of skill, the reason my skill didn't work on Sangah or Myungoh is that...'

Dokja laughs to himself. How stupid of him, he should have realized this earlier.

'It's because they're not character that appear in TWSA.'

Yoo Joonghyuk looks at the screen with narrowed eyes. There seems to be things that he knows that the rat doesn't, with how his skill is limited. [Eye of the Sage] will give him information that not even Kim Dokja knows.

He starts to scheme in his seat, taking things into consideration and finally coming to terms with the fact that he is... was. Was a character.

And Kim Dokja was his only reader.

His thoughts are cut off by Namwoon roaring at him, veins protruding from his skin. Many other humanoid demons rush forward alongside him, trying to overwhelm Dokja with numbers, and he finds himself struggling to keep up. He thinks frantically even as he punches, kicks, and trips his foes, knowing that he can't cross the bridge alone. Would grabbing a demon to cross with him work? No, probably not. There are only fifteen minutes left until the end of the scenario, and the pressure is on. He could just go with that one tactic early.

[Wow, you're doing pretty well,] the dokkaebi calls, amused. [Okay! Is there any constellation who wishes to bless this poor incarnation?]

He waits a moment, eyes glimmering as Dokja fights desperately against the overwhelming hoarde of humanoid demons still approaching him.

[Oh me, nobody? How unfortunate.]

Sangah and Myungoh have reached Oksu station and reunited with Gilyoung and Hyunsung, at least. Little good news is still good news after all.

Dokja knows that his body can't handle much more of this fight. His back is against the wall-metaphorically, at least. In reality, he's pushed up against the edge of the bridge, with only a drop and a monster-filled river behind him. 'I might actually die this time,' he complains. 'Damn it. Can't I have any combat skill? I don't want to die right now.'

Dokja grimaces as everyone tenses up at the reminder of his previous thoughts. Wow. This can really not let him live his life in peace, can it? He almost deluded himself into believing everyone had forgot about that bit.

"Kim Dokja." The protagonist said no more, looking at him intense eyes. Fidgeting nervously, Dokja does his best to hide behind the kids that are crowding him. Wow, is it him or is the carpet really interesting? It's a really pretty shade of red.

There's a sigh behind him before a set of hands invade his space and grab onto Gilyoung by his armpits. It's Jung Heewon, who passes the disgruntled and squirmy kid over to Hyunsung. Han Sooyoung similarly grabs onto Shin Yoosung, passing her over to Yoo Sangah. It's like they're conspiring against him as he no longer has any way to hide the shaking in his hands or a viable way to justify looking anywhere else but Yoo Joonghyuk.

"Kim Dokja." He repeats himself again. And Dokja really can't take this right now. Where is the fourth wall when he really needed it?

['Sl eepy']

How can a wall even be tired?!

The screen continuing to play is his only saving grace, everyone around him forced to turn their attention to the big screen instead of him. He really can't handle all of those eyes on him.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' looks on at incarnation 'Kim Dokja' with a complicated expression.]

Don't join them!

As if summoned, a blue glow appears above Kim Dokja's head in the shape of a book.

[The exclusive skill 'Bookmark' has activated.]

The pages of the holographic book flutter as it opens, and several screens appear in front of Dokja in quick succession. The skill loads to show him 3 bookmark slots.

[List of Bookmarked Characters]

|1. Delusional Demon Kim Namwoon (understanding 25)

|2. Steel Blade Lee Hyunsung (understanding 35)

|3. Empty Slot

Kim Dokja grins, instantly understanding how to use the skill despite lacking access to any description. 'So this is what it's like to have a skill exclusive to you. I've never read about this skill anywhere in TWSA. This is made for me.'

"You're fighting is just even more reading."

"Activate [Bookmark] number one."

[The activation time has been shortened due to the low level of the 'Bookmark' skill. Activation time: 1 minute.]

Kim Dokja's eyes light up a foxfire blue, the glow setting light shadows on his face that make him look borderline ethereal.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' says the skill 'Bookmark' fits incarnation 'Kim Dokja' very well.]

There are mutters of agreement echoing around him, his little group all conquering with varying degrees of resistance. Yoo Joonghyuk seems the most hesitant to agree with the constellation.

Ignoring them, Kim Dokja watches in awe at the display of his skill. The bright blue pages falling open behind him is such a captivating sight. He is ignorant of the other hushed whispers around him until a window pops up in front of him with the usual chiming sound.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' compliments on incarnation 'Kim Dokja's beauty in such a dubious situation]

His face burns up at the compliment, embarrassment fuzzing up his head and making it hard to evade or redirect. That was so sudden, who does that guy think he is?

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' reluctantly agrees about incarnation 'Kim Dokja's beauty, but cautions constellation 'Secretive Plotter' to respect the companionship already in motion.]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' scoffs at constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire']

Please don't fight right now.

The pages of the floating book flutter as greyed out scenes of the sparse interaction between Kim Dokja and Kim Namwoon appear and fade. Instantly, an ominous purple aura surrounds Kim Dokja, exactly like the one Kim Namwoon had in the subway earlier. Behind the man is a faintly transparent hologram of Kim Namwoon.

'There's this feeling...' Kim Dokja starts, taking note of how he's become faster than what his last stats should allow, his body was moving as if he was Kim Namwoon.

'...it's- it's like-' His hand flicks out the knife he took earlier and slices into the humanoid demon's neck with one smooth movement that Kim Dokja was unfamiliar with, but he feels quite satisfied. It's quite poetic for a dislike character to fall by their own skill.

'It feels like he's puppeteering me.'

"That's..." Lee Jihye sounds uncomfortable, even without Dokja looking at her he can tell as much. Though, he's not quite sure why. "Ahjussi, that sounds scary."

Puzzled, he looks over to the teenager to find her looking kind of unsettled or... perhaps queasy? He can't quite tell when she's scrunched up so much in her chair.

"How so? I'm not sure I understand." He admits, watching her expression flicker between a couple of unidentifiable emotions before he can't see her anymore when she curls up further to hide her face in her knees. That's curious.

She doesn't answer him again, just turning her attention to the screen.

Kim Namwoon's body groans as it falls back to the ground. He somehow manages to form words in between all of those grunts and growls. "I- don't... want to... die-"

['The Fourth Wall' begins to shake.]

Dokja looks at the crumbled corpse that's laid amongst the bridge rubble, the state of the body now in a permanent death. 'Kim Namwoon, in TWSA, had been a character that lacked any sort of empathy or morality. It didn't really delve that deep into why, but it didn't matter to me why, I have never liked the cliche of a character that used the apocalypse as just a means to inflict pain onto others.'

The screen changes to the white background again, several excerpts from TWSA in black letters begin to fill it. Swathes of texts that couldn't be seen due to overlapping with other pages, but a few show up that are able to be read. These pieces of text depict scenes of Kim Namwoon killing people of vary ages on a whim. The overwhelming amount of text is now juxtaposed over the corpse of Kim Namwoon.

A new thing juxtaposed over the sight of the bloodied body, a familiar figure laid on the floor of some random location in a school. A smaller, younger Dokja is back on the screen. He looks even thinner than before, his bottom lip split in two different places and a crooked nose that eludes to a broken nose. His chest raises and falls in exaggerated breaths. There's bruises on his throat that shine in the florescent lighting of wherever.

"Oh, what the fuck." Han Sooyoung's voice is far away, drifting just barely out of reach of his attention. The video playing out on the screen doesn't even register anymore. There are more voices that he really doesn't want to put in the effort to try and figure out what they're saying.

He remembers that day. It was the anniversary of the day his mother had published... That Book. It had been a rough, rough day. He can feel the bone deep pains just sitting here in this chair. He remembers sleeping on one of the mats in the gym just to have somewhere semi-comfortable to sleep.

There are hands on him. Many of them. They're all coming from different angles and it's making his skin itch. It's almost as bad of a feeling as so many eyes being on him. There's pings from what he guesses is the notification windows. He can't make them out. Please, just make it stop-

And suddenly, there is a familiar pair of rough hands on his face and a familiar gruff voice talking to him. He can't make out what he's saying, but he relaxing into the hands anyway. Scarred and calloused thumbs wipe tears away from his cheeks.

He didn't even realize he had been crying.

[The exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' is quaking.]

He's trying his best to catch his breath, eyes unfocused and his throat spasming with each inhale. His ribs hurt and he's barely staying awake laying there. There's black splotches encroaching on his vision. He really doesn't need this right now. He looks outside and sees the sun had long gone down. There's no way he'd be allowed back in the house.

He lays there with his broken nose and creaking ribs to just try and breathe, bruises of both new and old smattered across his face. He's going to have to set his nose again. He crawls backward, still not quite willing to sit up completely yet. He eventually makes his way to a wall to lean up against, he still flinches when he sits up, the stutter in his ribs hurts just as much as the kicks that put it there.

He'll be fine. Yoo Joonghyuk always is. It's a chant that runs in his head over and over again as he tries to breath through the pain. He grabs the bottom of his uniform shirt and raises it to access the damage there. There's bruising and a bit of blood that he's not quite sure where it came from. A particularly painful bought from his right side forces him to bring his hand up to feel around to see if anything is broken. He winces but pushes through it. It hurts more than a surface pain to press on it, but he doesn't feel anything out of place so it's not broken. His ribs are likely just bruised.

He lets his shirt fall and he just leans back to relax for a minute. There's nothing better for him to do here. In a minute, he'll have to get up. In a minute, he'll have to set his nose. In a minute, he'll have to be okay again. A chime from the bag beside him has him reaching over. He knows that specific notification sound. He digs his phone out of where he hid it in his bag. There's a new update for 'Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse.'

But for right now, he'll read. And he'll read it again.

The most recent chapter update is focused on Kim Namwoon, to Dokja's greatest disappointment. He reads the words depicting violence that hits so close to home he debates to just leave this chapter for later and go reread some of his favorite ones instead. At least there will be comfort there.

"Just admit you like hurting people, you asshole." The voice is hoarse and barely above a whisper. Kim Dokja still breaks down in a fit of coughing. That's okay. He will finish this update about the asshole and go back to reading about his protagonist.

The scene returns to the adult Kim Dokja looking down at the mangles Kim Namwoon with cold cold eyes. There is a notification pop up from his skill.

['The Fourth Wall' skill stabilizes.]

[Your understanding of the character 'Kim Namwoon' has increased.]

Notes:

7,929 words is what this should be at. I hope you enjoyed it! And the extra chapter as well lol.

Chapter 7: Sub Scenario - Extra (2)

Summary:

Okay, so, I found these in my notes instead of where I usually draft my stuff. I know I had recently already made one of these but here's more for you. It's a little longer than the last one.

At this point I'm just putting these together to make extras every time I have enough to do so. I always have specific pieces I want to write in a moment, so these come to me as I gain motivation. These will probably show up in some more refined form in the actual storyline later. I hope you enjoy the new set!

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Standing across his mother, he doesn't dare sit down. If he were to sit down it would remind him too must of being a visitor in a prison he wanted nothing to do with. It would remind him of pain from his days in highschool that he is deliberately avoiding right now, thank you very much. It's hard to be around her, his chest is compressing inward in a way that convinces him he's up to his ears in deep waters.

He's not. He's going to act like he's in shark infested waters anyway.

There's a disconnect here that he can't quite destroy. There always has been. She doesn't talk to him. Doesn't try to get him to understand. He's the only one ever saying anything. He doesn't try to understand in the first place. He's not a little kid trying to get comfort from his mother anymore. He's looked apon her and find her lacking of the opportunity. She doesn't get to be that anymore.

"Dokja."

She drawls his name out in a way that sounds borderline affectionate. He almost forgot what she sounds like, it's been so long that he even started to forget the things he loved most about his mom. She used to read to him all of the time when they were home alone. It just sends a vile shiver up his spine instead. She doesn't deserve to be able to use that tone with him.

"It's time for you to come to reality again."

Her words claw into his chest and tear his ribs away to leave him open and raw. His breath catches in his throat and everything that he's been putting off while standing here, every feeling and scream and sob, begins to grate against every nerve on his body.

[The exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' shakes violently]

He's on the cusp of a breakdown. There is nothing he can do about it.

o0o

There's a very interesting difference in what it feels like to be torn apart as a couple of poorly seen together stories than what it actually is like to be torn apart as a body. Kim Dokja has felt both. Standing here in the belly of a Outer God, he has decided being a set of stories hurts more for some inconceivable reason.

His stories are being devoured, however minimally it is. 'The Fourth Wall' should kick in soon, just as it always does. But for now he's stuck letting the flesh of his stories be torn off of his bones in a process more painful than if it had been his flesh. But this, this is a feeling that is not new to him. He has felt similar things before, he reminds himself.

He still winces and groans at the staggering pain.

He's already missing his lower legs, the white hot agony it was has just turned into a static pins and needles compared to everything else. He thinks about the Yoo Joonghyuk that went through this exact thing. How must it have felt for him, he who had no skill to save him. Kim Dokja has to be strong, strong enough to hold a candle to what his protagonist had accomplished.

Belatedly, he realizes he is screaming. It's loud and hoarse, something that comes from deep in his chest and hurts his throat. He can't really hear it very well and his pain is getting further and further away the longer he's here. There are hot tears streaming down his face as he waits.

He just has to wait. He has to reread it again.

The fourth wall comes to his rescue soon after. There isn't much it can do with his broken body though. He must save his mother, as she had him all those times. It's a debt he has to repay. The debt of survival.

o0o

'Oh to see the look on their faces when I crash and burn and they finally realize I was never strong'

There's an itch at his fingertips. Kim Dokja smiles and laughs along with the celebration happening around them. Peaceland will be the last time they'll have to relax for a little while, so he lets them have their fun. The night smells of alcohol and grilled food. Lee Jihye has gotten her hands on some of the alcohol and is yelling and dancing around. She's probably at least tipsy.

He smiles and shakes his head. 'Teenagers.'

Yoo Joonghyuk is looking at him over his own mug of the constellation brew he concocted, eyes dark and intense. Dokja ignore it as he finishes off the heavenly skewer he's holding onto.

Time to get back to work. He walks back out to the balcony with a mug, ignoring the thoughts of his conversation earlier with Peacelands creater invading his mind. He has a goal here. He closes the curtains to the balcony door in an effort to not interrupt the festivities inside. Absentmindedly he hums along to the violin playing from the roof. It's the last he'll see or hear of the man he had called master for a little while.

Sitting on the smooth stone, he pulls out a vial from his coat and looks at it. The secret reward for defeating the constellation. He swishes it around a bit before popping the cork, he pours it into the alcoholic drink he snagged. Stirring it around with his finger, he cradles the drink close to his chest and bring his knees up as well. He hates alcohol.

'Well, I guess it's time for bottoms up.'

He brings the mug to his lips and tips backwards a bit to chug it. It burns as it goes down and continues to burn once it reaches his stomach. His stories start to sing, one after the next raising to meet the new power that's tearing him up from the inside out. The pain is manageable, but he's still sweating and breathing heavy. It starts to raise, making a familiar feeling of being boiled alive grip his brain. With a grunt, he doubles over and crumples to the floor.

Of course getting this skill was going to hurt this much. Nothing in his life could ever be so easy.

o0o

"Kim Dokja!"

He's hit. There's a hole in his side that has taken most of his organs with it. He doesn't feel most of the pain, if any at all, but he still falls to his knees and coughs up blood all the same.

Yoo Joonghyuk catches him, not very far from where Dokja had pushed him out of the way in the first place. The stupid sunfish was about to get himself killed. That guy never listens to him properly.

He does his best to avoid thinking about how much that is just an echo of himself.

Looking up, he finds the window for the bounty scenario still on display, there are a couple minutes still left on the timer. They could gain more from this. He just needed Joonghyuk to...

"...kill me." He barely manages to crack out. It's hard when he really just wants to fall asleep. His eyelids are starting to get too heavy to keep open. Dokja turns to the protagonist with a bloody smile and half lidded eyes.

"Joonghyuk-ah." He lays as much affection into his tone as he can. It's not the overly fake one he usually teases the regressor with. His voice carries all of the affection he's ever had for the bastard. There's so much there. It's hard to place into words. Instead, he begs.

"Kill me, Joonghyuk-ah."

It will never be enough.

'Are you getting bored of me yet?'

Notes:

These are just my rabid ramblings. More bits and bobs you don't have to read lol

I like being able to describe my aches in pains in a way that other people understand. I like putting my favorite characters through them even more. There's a twisted sense of joy I get through echoing my own misfortunes through the empty room that is a character. A character can be anything, twisted in any way. I can describe grinding joint and bruised bones in no way that completely encompasses and still join that gap by describing to you exactly how that character feels about it. You know the character, I know the character, and when I tell you how they react to such pain, you know exactly what kind of situation or genuine agony would make the character react in that way. It's why I find these funny little figures, who have their own pains, a perfect vessel for my own.

You'll never understand how I feel just by me trying my best to articulate it to you. Maybe you have a better pain tolerance than I do, maybe you don't, but I could never give exact details to you that you could connect to yourself and wince with me about the pain. We perceive things too differently as two different people. It's how it's supposed to be. No two people are the same.

But through this person? This character we both know? If I tell you this character wailed in agony at the pain they were feeling, you would know exactly how much pain that actually feels like. Because there's is already a story that character has told you, an adventure they have took you on. You know the ins and outs of this fictional person in a way that tells you how they think and how they react.

It's because of these already placed details that you can understand me. And I can understand you. Our connection, though brief, and our understanding, though minimal, all happens through this one thing we both know and love.

I hope you love and understand this story I'm giving to you, as an echo of myself, as much as you love the character and adventure of the original story. This may be my love letter to Kim Dokja, but this is also my love letter to you. As you are also apart of our beloved Kim Dokja just as much as I am.

I hope this story, as amateur as it is, gives you whatever you need. Whatever you are looking for. Whatever that is.

Chapter 8: An Aggressive Encounter

Summary:

"The high ground?! You thought you had the high ground?!" And now the witch is wheezing next to him. She is actively dying. Dokja just wishes she wouldn't do it so loudly.

"Dokja-ssi..." Hyunsung starts behind him, looking at him with such a disappointed set of eyes. Dokja is not at fault in this situation, why is he looking at him like that? "That's a bit-"

Notes:

Coming out a lot earlier than usual. I was rereading the comment and got a major boost of motivation. I've also been oddly happy this week. It's also longer than usual. Don't get used to it <3

I hope you enjoy!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

"...turn-"

Kim Dokja is tired. He's just so tired. He starts to think of easier thing, like his favorite chapters from TWSA. And his favorite regression. It's the 999th one, no doubt. Everyone almost made it to the end. He ignores the implications of what it did to Yoo Joonghyuk.

On screen, Kim Dokja's [Bookmark] skill runs out of time and deactivates. Still fresh with the muscle memory of Kim Namwoon's skill, he pivots to slash a few more humanoid demons that were still cornering him.

"-OFF!"

[The exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' stabilizes and strengthens.]

He drifts back into his surroundings, a body in front of him blocking the screen. The broad shoulders and silhouette are telling even with his still blurred eyes. He knows who this is. The scuffed hands on his face are even more telling. There's a faint buzzing in his ears that is starting to fade away. Han Sooyoung is yelling beside him.

"TURN IT OFF!" Her demands fall into the theater room and echo slightly, but there is no change. Dokja just looks into Yoo Joonghyuk's eyes. Eyes that look... oddly concerned. Concerned for him.

'He's late.' Kim Dokja curses in his head.

His voice on the screen is the next thing that actually gets to him. After that, it's the eyes on him. There are people whispering to him.

"Did you know that only about 20% of the ocean is explored?"

"Fruit flies were the first living creatures to be sent into space."

"Cats can't taste sweetness."

"Frogs use their eyeballs to swallow."

It's the kids. They're whispering random facts to him like they have been handed fun fact books. He doesn't feel crowded by them, oddly enough. That last one does startle him into looking away from the protagonist in front of him and croak out a faint, "what?"

Shin Yoosung perks up when he answers, her grip on his hands turning bruising. Her face is pale and her hands are clammy. She must have been scared. Yoo Joonghyuk is still holding his face. Dokja refuses to say anything about it in case it scares the sunfish off.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' worries about the incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'...]

He ignores the window as Yoosung continues. "Yeah! They close their eyes and pull their eyeballs down into the roof of their mouths to swallow."

His brain stalls for a moment, processing the bizarre information at a slower pace than he probably should. He looks back over to the protagonist and gapes at the soft look on the bastards face.

It doesn't go away as the scarred hands fall away from his face. The man stands there for a bit, awkward if Dokja had any say in it, before he grumbled and squished his way into the seat with Dokja.

He had not been expecting that.

He wriggles around a little bit, complaining about it perfunctory before just settling. Gilyoung makes a sound that sounds oddly like a yowling cat. It's totally not like it brought him some sort of comfort. Not at all.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' encourages you to push incarnation 'Yoo Joonghyuk' out of the recliner.]

That was not temping at all. He thinks like a liar-

The kids also complain, but sit back down. Yoo Mia, Lee Gilyoung, and Shin Yoosung sit in Yoo Joonghyuk's old seat. Lee Jihye has taken over Mia's old chair as well. Everyone else just watches. Even Sooyoung has gone quiet. Dokja fears everyone is going to start just doggy piling him at some point.

He ignores the fuzzy feeling that bubbles up at the thought.

When the thirteen-minute mark passes, Kim Dokja sees a handful of humanoid demons at the back were shoved back with a detached car door. The speed and strength of it causes the lot to fall, a few even over the edge of the bridge.

Dokja's hearbeat speeds up, the rushing of his own blood in his ears is loud.

There are still too many humanoid demons between them, blocking his line of sight. It's impulsive and illogical and not like him at all, but Dokja grins with unbridled glee as he continues to fight. The grin is nearly feral, the glimmer in his eyes shining brightly in the sunlight. He knows exactly just who he is about to meet.

"You look..." Jung Heewon is the first to break the weird silence that has taken over the theater. She seems to have a tough time looking for the words she wants to use. "You have never smiled like that before. Does he really make you that happy?"

A blush puffs up on his cheeks, he can feel it burning. The tips of his ears are also hot. Dokja grumbles at her unintelligibly, upset she dared to call him out on it. He avoids looking at her, but he becomes increasingly aware of just how closely squished together he and Joonghyuk are.

When he looks over at him, that bastard looks smug and self-satisfied. His pupils are also blown wide if he looked close enough. How dare that bastard be so smug. An itchy feeling covers his teeth and he finds himself really really wanting to bite him.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' has sponsored you 100 coins.]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is wondering why incarnation 'Kim Dokja' looks so happy.]

Kim Dokja reads the message in the same second he wields his knife to decapitate another humanoid demon. He hasn't directly replied to any constellation's comments before but, bolstered by his happiness, he doesn't see any reason to ignore the indirect message this time. Almost breathlessly, he enthusiastically answers, "Because the protagonist is here."

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' has sponsored you 400 coins.]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is surprised by the nickname.]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is looking forward to seeing your companionship.]

Kim Dokja is surprised at how friendly the constellation is acting towards him. Granted, this is Uriel, whose character designation as an archangel means that she is predisposed to generally favor incarnations who display good deeds, such as what he did with Lee Gilyoung. She is also one of the extremely small number of constellations that Yoo Joonghyuk ever allied with in TWSA, but that happened in his late regressions, less than half a dozen times, and only after the 50th main scenario. 'Come to think of it, what number regression am I in?'

"I successfully beat the 46th scenario after all." Joonghyuk mutters, his sharp eyes analyzing the events playing. His brow scrunches and his frown deepens ever so slight. He speaks up this time, probably actually talking to Dokja this time. "An ally?"

That sounded oddly interested for someone so hard set in his hate for the constellations. The character development required for that hasn't happened yet. Dokja looks over to him with an equally puzzled face. "It happens a couple times, and it always takes a while. She actually ended up being your most powerful companion in TWSA."

It feels weird actually being able to talk about it out loud, the story that is his alone. He can't exact just how it makes him feel, but it's probably somewhere positive. It should be, at least.

The screen pans out to give a bird's eye view of the bridge. Yoo Sangah, Lee Gilyoung, Lee Hyunsung, and Han Myungoh are locked inside Oksu Station's barrier and couldn't see anything happening on the bridge, but they could still hear faint sounds of Kim Dokja fighting off the hoard amongst the crashing waves.

At the corner of the bridge's edge where Dokja is slicing off heads one by one, the other end shows a dark figure of a man crushing three to five humanoid demons simultaneously with his bare hands. The two men are separated by the hoard of enemies between them.

Dokja fells another enemy as the scenario countdown approaches the 10 minute mark, and at the same time, Yoo Joonghyuk casually beheads four. Although Dokja can't see the man, he sees heads flying and estimates that roughly twenty of the humanoid demons are left, and takes on a couple with his increasingly slippery knife. The hand holding the knife is utterly soaked in the blood from all the neck slashes he had executed, and the weapon starts to slip from his grip. When he strikes upward at one of the humanoid demon's jaw, the knife slips from his hold completely.

Luckily, he's been getting donations from constellations while fighting on top of the coins from his kills, so he instantly invests more coins into his strength and speed. Grabbing the back of the head of the zombie in front of him, Kim Dokja crushes its skull with another one. When he lets go of the heads to let them drop to the floor, he finds that there are no more of the zombies left.

Dark hair flutters in the breeze and a black coat trails behind the man who steps effortlessly through the battlefield filled with corpses. His dull eyes glow gold through the smoky air, and his handsome face comes into view as he stops, looking at Dokja intensely.

"Master!" Lee Jihye yells, snapping her head over and pointing to the screen. She has a blinding smile split across her face, looking all the teenager girl she is. Fangirling squeals and all. "That's so cool."

The only response to her gushing that Joonghyuk gives her is a grunt and a nod, letting her do whatever she likes. Yoo Mia nods along with her with knowing eyes, though, so at least she isn't alone there.

Dokja refuses to tell the protagonist he's cool to his face. Just on principle.

The way tsl123 described the protagonist invades his thoughts as he's standing there across from him. The screen changes abruptly to black on white text.

-Yoo Joonghyuk is extremely handsome. He has black eyes with thin double eyelids and thick eyebrows. His right eye glows golden upon activation of the skill [Eye of the Sage]. His hair is black and slightly wavy, cut short. He has tan skin, a sharp nose bridge, and a strong jawline. He is extremely muscular; in particular, he has well-toned biceps and thighs. He usually wears a black coat and combat boots. As a protagonist, Yoo Joonghyuk naturally fights for the greater good. He is resolute and determined, aiming to accomplish his goals no matter the cost, in particular when aiming for the end of the scenarios. Yoo Joonghyuk was designated as someone 'tougher in body and nobler in heart than any creature in this world'.-

Dokja's own voice comes in to narrate the text section and he's forced to cringe at the description. He can feel the flush from earlier returning with a vengeance, even crawling down his neck and making his chest feel hot too. The protagonist being squished up next to him is really not helping here.

[A Constellation who likes handsome men is admiring the looks of incarnation 'Yoo Joonghyuk'.]

Join the club.

In his -not so humble- opinion, Yoo Joonhyuk couldn't be described with just the word 'handsome'. It felt like a insult to reduce him to such a simple word. The entire novel ended up using his beauty as a benchmark to describe how the other characters looked. There were few characters that could hold a candle to Joonghyuk.

And very few of the descriptions held up to the real thing sitting beside him. There was no real way to describe how ethereally handsome this bastard is.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' insists that incarnation 'Yoo Joonghyuk' cannot hold a candle to incarnation 'Kim Dokja's beauty.]

Hey now...

'That's what he actually looks like?!' Kim Dokja's dark eyes widen, catching the strongest ray of the remaining sunlight and looked as if they had changed colors. The sparkle in his eyes is dazzlingly brilliant. He is awestruck.

'My imagination could never have conjured something so gorgeous. 'Extremely handsome' seems like a benchmark so below what I'm looking at right now. His entire body looks like chiseled marble, how does his skin look so smooth? Why is his jaw so sharp? He doesn't have a speck of blood anywhere but his hands. That makes no sense. Every strand of hair looks meticulously placed. Wasn't he in an explosion?!'

Maybe he can escape now and curl up in some hole to die from his embarrassment. Dokja curls in on himself, the blush getting worse. The kids grumble to his left, the sound like they are arguing in whispers. He catches none of it.

"I told you hyung likes men." Gilyoung states, smug at being right. Yoosung grumbles about being wrong. Mia looks sourly at him.

Heewon whistles behind him.

How many times is she going to do that?

Yoo Joonghyuk takes a step forward and his profile becomes clearer to Kim Dokja who starts to internally scream. 'Never mind his fighting abilities, his face alone is a disgustingly unfair weapon!'

Han Sooyoung starts to gag to his right, broken out of her weird silence. It was loud and exaggerated, she was moving her whole body as she does so. "That's so gross-"

"Dokja-ssi, that's..." Yoo Sangah looks to be slightly pink herself, mostly embarrassed for him if Dokja had to take a gander at what that expression means.

Hyunsung is just covering his face with his hands, he shoulders shaking slightly. He's laughing. He's laughing at Dokja's misery.

"Wow, I didn't know you were such a poet, Dokja-ssi." Heewon teases him, grinning at him with teeth out and it's feral. This is unfair. Everyone is ganging up on him.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'...]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' has sponsored 500 coins]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'...]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' has sponsored 500 coins]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'...]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' has sponsored 500 coins]

Dokja wasn't even going to try to read those, the windows going by way too fast for him to get any semblance of what they actually say. There's more notification pop ups for him to read that would make more sense anyway.

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' tears his hair out as he laughs.]

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' makes fun of you for being sappy.]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' says that incarnation 'Yoo Joonghyuk' only as his looks going for him and that means he doesn't truly deserve to be incarnation 'Kim Dokja's protagonist.]

Never mind. They've lost their minds too. He is not going to dignify the ensuing argument between 'Secretive Plotter' and Uriel with a response. Though, it does take a turn that he dreads.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' says that incarnation 'Yoo Joonghyuk' fails at being a good companion.]

"What are you talking about? Have you even seen him?" Jung Heewon cuts him, absolutely baffled at the argument going on. "He can't be that bad."

"Who the hell are you?" Yoo Joonhyuk's eyes flare, golden and deadly, at the living human across from him. He is rapidly approaching. His voice is deep and full, smooth and yet tinged with obvious hostility.

Dokja registers the hostility, but doesn't bother to make any move to run away or answer. 'That rules out his second regression, he's friendlier during that one.' As Joonghyuk walks closer, Dokja stays where he stands, not seeing any point in running away from the aggressive protagonist who would likely catch him anyway.

Instead of displaying any semblance of self-preservation, as the air unnaturally chills to negative degrees, Kim Dokja starts theorizing. 'Has he already unlocked the [Glacial Ice] skill? Or is it maybe the [Tiger God Aura]'s skill secondary effect?'

Heewon turns from the screen to look at Dokja with such a flat face it makes him nearly uncomfortable. He tries his best not to squirm. "On the other hand, Kim Dokja is that bad."

'Wait, wait, wait-'

The hopes of the people around him soared, hoping that the rat has finally gained a sense of self-preservation. They're hopes are quickly dashed.

'I want to see his profile!'

A chorus of disappointed sighs fill the theater and Dokja feels slightly slighted.

"Noooo-" Heewon moans behind him and he can hear her slowly sliding out of her chair onto the floor.

Han Sooyoung groans right along with her, holding her face in her hands.

[The exclusive skill 'Character Profile' has activated.]

[Too much information. Converting 'Character Profile' to 'Character Summary'.]

|Name: Yoo Joonghyuk

|Personal attribute: The Regressor <3rd

|round> (mythic), Pro Gamer (rare)

|Exclusive skills: Eye of the Sage lvl. 8,

|Weapons Proficiency lvl. 8, Mental Barrier

|lvl. 5, Crowd Control lvl. 5, Reasoning

|lvl. 5, Lie detection...]

The list of skills keeps going endlessly down and Kim Dokja continues to read, but before he can finish reading, a bloody hand reachs out right through the blue window he was reading. The hand covered in scars clasps around his throat. With strength that seems inhuman, Yoo Joonghyuk picks Kim Dokja up by his neck and holds him over the edge of the broken bridge.

"You are that back! What the fuck was that!" Heewon stands rapidly from where she was still on the floor, hurriedly leaning over the seat that holds both the protagonist and reader. There are also disappointed sounds from both Sangah and Hyunsung that sound like they finally realize just what happened.

Lee Gilyoung screams a garbled sound of rage, launching himself out of the chair he was squished into with the girls and toward Joonghyuk with teeth bared.

"Gilyoung-ah, don't-!" Kim Dokja raises up from where he's seated with difficulty, leaning over Joonghyuk to snatch the kid right out of the air. "Calm down!"

Gilyoung squirms for a little longer, long enough for the feeble amount of strength Dokja got back after the probability storm to deplete and leave him leaning on the bastard slightly. It takes a bit longer to soothe the kid, but Dokja eventually gets him back in the recliner with the other kids. He takes a moment to get comfortable again in his chair that the protagonist invaded.

"He's just suspicious. That's how the bastard is." Dokja defends him as best as he could in this scenario, though it's not like the Yoo Joonghyuk on the screen is making it easy. "I had to get him to work with me either way."

Han Sooyoung starts to make agressive hand motions at him while looking at everyone else, her face is curled up in a upset grimace. She looks like she's been proved right about something she didn't want to be right about.

The silent Joonghyuk beside him makes no move to defend himself. Bastard. Making Dokja do all the work.

There are a couple of blue sparks that surround Yoo Joonghyuk's golden eyes, causing it to fizzle out with a few quick blinks from the protagonist. While the skill turns off, Joonghyuk's eyes still reflect the color of the setting sun. Neither of them pay attention to the forced deactivation of the skill.

"How are you alive?" The gruff voice returns with a new demand, still just as aggressive but sounding even more pissed off.

Kim Dokja grabs the wrist of the arm keeping him suspended in the air, snorting and replies dryly within his own thoughts. 'By being rich? Without my raised stats I would definitely have been dead by now.'

'The first way of surviving the apocalypse. This man, who is strangling me, is living proof of the first method. Yoo Joonghyuk, the regressor. This is the man who will kickstart the tragedy that will turn this world upside down.'

He looks at the scenario detail window, looking at the sub-scenario's time limit counting down. It's currently at 10:01. 'The 3rd round Yoo Joonghyuk of all rounds. I'd prefer it if he just snaps my neck. Even strangulation is better than being chewed into fleshy bits by a kraken discount.'

The Joonghyuk before him doesn't seem to like the fact that his attention has strayed, cold eyes looking at him with a glare. The hand around his throat tightens, forcing Dokja to look him in the eyes again.

Joonghyuk's face scrunches up at that, turning to look at Dokja with such a offended look that it almost makes him feel bad. Almost.

That bastard still held him off of a bridge by his neck.

Yoosung and Gilyoung both look over with grumpy faces, looking upset over in their general direction. But when Dokja looks past them to Lee Jihye, she looks giddy and is excitedly bouncing around in her chair.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' enjoys the fact she can watch the companions special foreplay.]

Bewildered, he just sort of sits there staring at the notification window, avoiding Han Sooyoung's hands when she tries to grab onto him while cackling so hard she's wheezing.

Where is the Fourth Wall when he needs it?

He closes out the window with one hand and mutes any notification not attached to a donation. Dokja melted into the chair as well as he could without pushing more into the bastards space.

"Name." Yoo Joonghyuk demands again, his face hardens further and his usual upset looking face turns downright murderous. It's the sheer rudeness that catches Dokja completely off-guard. Did he just-?

'I know the protagonist is the type to go straight to the point, but this was more than I was expecting. He's such a mannerless brat.'

When he doesn't immediately answer, his attention straying once more, Joonghyuk continues to look at Kim Dokja as if he was offended he dared to exist in front of him. He repeats his question, enunciating like he thinks Dokja is slow. "What is your name?"

Dokja is sorely unimpressed.

"Could you not have made a better first impression, Joonghyuk-ssi?" Yoo Sangah asks the protagonist, her knowing eyes are now turned from Dokja to Joonghyuk. Thank fuck. She can be terrifying.

"You're just a bully." Gilyoung grouches, eyes glaring daggers into the side of joonghyuk's head. "Sooty Bastard."

"Gilyoung," Kim Dokja starts, exasperated. "Be polite."

The child grumbles at him. Which- Rude.

"He's hot until he opens his mouth." Han Sooyoung mutters to herself as quiet as she can, which he can still hear unfortunately, cackling under her breath. That witch really needs to shut her mouth.

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' sticks his pinky in his ear]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' says it must have been a disappointment to meet incarnation 'Kim Dokja's favorite character.]

Joonghyuk turns to where he's probably getting his own window notifications and glares at it. Confused, Dokja tries to figure out why the windows are pooping up for him. Every time he tries to change it, it doesn't work. That's just great.

Dokja's unimpressed face just deadpans at him. 'He's so full of himself. He's definitely acting the part of a protagonist.'

Dokja debates very very quickly the idea of acting mute, thinking of just holding his tongue, but Yoo Joonghyuk did at least ask properly this second time. Though it still sounded like a command more than a question. Bastard.

'Remember. He has the skill [Lie Detector]. Be vague' Dokja reminds himself as he opens his mouth. He swallows before he speaks. It's difficult. "Kim Dokja."

There is a pause. It feels absurdly long compared to how quickly everything has been happening so far. It's bizarre that the only time that he's had to stop and breath in the past hour or so is when he's literally being choked.

Or maybe it's because his protagonist is here and he knows that the only thing that could truly hurt him in these hands are the same ones holding him.

If Yoo Joonghyuk didn't want him dead, no matter how temporarily, then he wouldn't be dead.

There are a couple of whispers that go between everyone at that, little shifty looks are passed his way as well. He ignores it because he can't hear it very well and Yoo Joonghyuk has started to radiate his weird upset murder aura.

But he knows where this silence is going, has been through this so many times that it feels like a broken record. 'I hate this. I hate my name.'

"What a strange name." And there it is. The same thing that everyone says, same words just a different voice and a different tone. This isn't anything new or special.

For some reason, it hurts more coming from this man than it ever did coming from any sort of stranger.

'My name can be written with two different Hanja.'

The blank white screen is back, this time with 'Dok'(讀) and "Dok"(獨) being typed in black letters. The text continues to show up as Dokja thinks.

'My mother preferred to us 'Dok'(讀) as in reader. People called all sorts of fake name accusations because of it. My father used to write it with "Dok"(獨) as in alone. It made me have to clarify every conversation I had.'

The screen fades back into the scene of Yoo Joonghyuk dangling Dokja over the edge of the bridge, and he is no longer narrating but thinking aloud once more.

'But I refuse to get into the specifics of the etymology of my name with the protagonist's whose name literally means 'to kill a group'. I have the high ground in this situation.'

He pauses at that thought, the idea of what he probably looks like right now popping into his head. Metaphorically. He metaphorically has the high ground. Intellectually too, but that doesn't matter when the bastard looks like he's about to throttle him.

"The high ground?! You thought you had the high ground?!" And now the witch is wheezing next to him. She is actively dying. Dokja just wishes she wouldn't do it so loudly.

"Dokja-ssi..." Hyunsung starts behind him, looking at him with such a disappointed set of eyes. Dokja is not at fault in this situation, why is he looking at him like that? "That's a bit-"

"Dokja-ssi, I don't think you could have been any lower in the ground even if you died again." Heewon states bluntly, her eyebrows risen and a frown firmly set on her face.

Hey now...

"Died?" Lee Jihye pipes in, a startled confusion filling her voice as she hops up and turns around in her chair quickly to look at Heewon. Joonghyuk's semi-relaxed frame tensed up suddenly, molten intense eyes now trained on the rat in question. "When did ahjussi die, unnie?"

"A bit ago." Heewon reluctantly admits, grimacing and looking like she regretted bringing it up. "With how this is going, we'll probably see it eventually."

Han Sooyoung breathes in harshly, wide eyes turned to look at Dokja and a dropped jaw. It looks like she knew exactly when he died. "Is that... Is that from when I think it is."

"Shutthefuckup" He whisper yells at her, jutting his hand out to grab some part of her to hold up the threat he's trying to make. He ends up grabbing onto some of her hair close to her scalp.

She scowls at him and reaches out to grab a handful of his hair too. They both start pulling at the same time, rough housing as they try to squirm away from the other while still pulling. He can feel his hair pulling at his scalp roughly will little else he could do to escalate this to get the upper hand, his teeth begin to itch again.

Baring his teeth, Dokja was just about to lean forward to sink his teeth into her arm when a thicker set of arms reaches over and separates both of them.

"You two are worse than the children." Yoo Joonghyuk growls at the two of them, pushing Han Sooyoungs hands back to herself and gathering Dokja back to his side from where he had half sprawled into the plagiarists chair to reach her. Well, that's where that ends, he supposes.

Petty fight broken up by the protagonist, Dokja has reached a new low. 'No where to go from here but down. Time to start digging.'

[Ano the r gr ave m ayb e.]

There's the bitch!

He has been purposefully ignoring the conversation being had by the other adults, something not too hard considering the lengths they were putting in to make him stay oblivious.

"I get that a lot." Is what he lands on instead. It gets him a punch in the fucking stomach apparently. The violence knocks the wind out of him in a way that he hasn't felt in quite a long time. He coughs and gasps, spluttering his way to trying to catch his breath again. He might have fucked something up when the bridge came down. 'The bastard might as well have killed him at that point.'

"You have a strong body." Joonghyuk remarks, as if he couldn't have figured this out any other way. Like perhaps taking in the fact that Dokja still hadn't died from being held by his neck over the side of a bridge for this long.

He is totally not sour about that. Not at all.

'Oh, so you were just durability testing?' Dokja sneers testily in his head, just an inch away from gnashing his teeth at this bastard. Instead, he steels his voice to ask his question plainly instead. "Yeah, I'm assuming you also-"

Another punch, and Dokja groans as the impact ripples through his body. It was completely unnecessary this time. And he knows it. 'This fucking psychopath! You're already holding me over waters -that are infested with monsters- and by his neck no less! You don't need to keep punching me to prove a point! I'm being cooperative! This is the worst.'

Dokja even sneers outwardly, he blurry face the only thing saving him from another gut punch from this guy. 'The third roud of all rounds! After the disastrous end of his second regression, the Yoo Joonghyuk now standing here with him won't hesitate to do whatever it takes to get what he wants.'

"-Show me some respect." The protagonist makes another demand, the rude tone scratching at his already frayed nerves.

With that, Kim Dokja snaps. His lips curl up to bare his teeth and he debates just going down into the waters and dragging his protagonist with him. 'This brat.'

Looking at his past self, he nods in agreement, thinking he really should have taken that brat with him. Maybe he would have learned some manners in the stomach of an ichthyosaur. Knowing him, there wouldn't be anything that could teach Joonghyuk manners except for his own master.

Actually, now that he thinks about it, that would probably work in his favor. He should try to facilitate that meeting. Grinning at his own plan, he starts to try and think about the exact logistics to that.

Around him, the group are subtly sending dirty looks to Yoo Joonghyuk, silently scorning him for his actions. It feels like betrayal when Mia does the same. That quickly turns into looking at Dokja with fearful gazes as they see a horrifying of a smile that crosses his swarmy scamming smile and the feral grin from earlier during the subway scene.

Joonghyuk refuses to admit he was wrong when dealing with what was an anomaly at the time. The hostility had been warranted. But he is willing to apologize for being rude.

He doesn't like that that smile is turned in his direction.

Kim Dokja briefly contemplates just ignoring this asshole.

It was very brief. Instead, he impulsively replies. "Why should I?"

When Joonghyuk tries to apply his 'don't wanna talk, get punched' by sending another punch to his gut, Dokja blocks it with the empty hand hanging to his side as quick as a fire spark. There is a manic glint in his eyes as he watches the protagonist's face contort in surprise, a feral grin soon splitting across his face to match it. The blood that smeared on his face from the bastards soiled hands adds the perfect effect to make Dokja look all the more unhinged.

"Now that we can see his face clearly, doesn't that smile look a little... scary?" Shin Yoosung whispers to her seat mates, looking uneasy at the Dokja on the screen.

Gilyoung looks at her with a strange look before he just shrugs. He continues the trend of whispering though. "It's hyung. He's always been like that. We can just see it now."

Yoo Mia hums as she observes, tilting her head before turning to her peers. She has a stern look on her face. "Ahjussi seems to have been through a lot."

Both of the kids nod along to that, Jihye leaning in closer to nod as well. She decides to give her input. "I say it pairs perfectly with master. How else would ahjussi keep up with him?"

A chorus of 'ahhh's ring out quietly and there are more nods. They all come to the conclusion on their own and just settle back into their chairs to keep watching.

"Sorry, but you're younger than me." It feels odd to voice that out loud. He's made it. He has lasted long enough that he can hold this over the brat of a protagonist in front of him. It feels greater than he thought it would.

If TWSA had come to life when he was younger, Dokja wouldn't have this perfect opportunity to tease this guy. He also was in the perfect occupation to bullshit his way out of this volatile situation.

What volatile situation? It's just this volatile bastard...

"Pro-gamer Yoo Joonghyuk, you should be the one to show me some respect." Dokja replies with a smug grin, the feral edge melting off a little. The glint has been muted.

['The Fourth Wall' activates.]

"Oh wow." Lee Jihye blurt out as she watches, her mouth hung open and the rest of her rigid in her chair. She snaps her head over to Dokja with a completely baffled gaze. "Ahjussi, you were playing with fire."

Snorting at her surprise, Dokja smiled at her indulgently. This isn't the first she's seen of his antics after all. "What fire? There was no chance of being burned. I got the exact result I wanted."

This time, a surprised Joonghyuk snaps his head to Dokja in a similar way to how Jihye has just done. He's back at it again with the intense eye contact that he can't quite decipher without his skills. Maybe he's been relying on them too much.

"What is it, Joonghyuk-ah~?" He flips to his 'scammer' smile and slowly lets it more feral the longer the protagonist deigns to just sit there and look at him. He's not going to be the only one uncomfortable in this situation. If he has to be uncomfortably stared at, Dokja will just unnerve him just as much.

Yoo Joonghyuk just turns back to the screen reluctantly, a huffed out sigh that sounds something close to exasperation.

It's pleasing to see Yoo Joonghyuk's face twist in surprise. What a deliciously unexpected sight. He looks pristine and flawless despite the first scenario, contrasting the dirt, sweat, and blood that coats Dokja.

[The character 'Yoo Joonghyuk' has become cautious of you.]

When he demands to know how Kim Dokja knows him, he smirks and speaks with as much sarcasm as he can fit in that stick body of his. "I'm a fan"

'It's not a lie per say, since I'm a fan of the novel. I liked you. I hated you. I resented you. I cheered for you. I was with you throughout your three-thousand episode journey.'

The white screen with black text is back, this time the thought is written out as well as read. The voice sounds unsteady. It fades back to the regular scene quickly.

"A fan." Yoo Joonghyuk mutters. The earlier grin returns when he takes the bait. "I haven't heard that in a while. I'll forgive you for your impudence, but that won't change anything. How did you survive the subway?"

It's here that Dokja realizes how uncomfortable this must be for the guy who just figured out about the novel. Trying to slowly extricate himself from the chair, he mumbles. "Sorry- this... this must be uncomfortable for you-"

He is interrupted twice.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' declares you have nothing to be sorry for.]

Where did this guy come in?

Yoo Joonghyuk pulls him back into the chair completely, squishing him up against his side even further than he had been before. There is a scowl plastered on his face, but it looks sort of sad. "You fool."

When he goes to try to talk more, leaning away from the protagonist in his best attempt to make space. He's trying to actually do something to fix this before it ruins everything. He is thwarted again.

"Shut up, Kim Dokja."

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' implores you to stop apologizing.]

"They're both whipped as fuck-"

"Shhh Heewon-ssi."

'He's not dropping me or punching me again. At least not yet.' Dokja rapidly constructs a plan as he hangs there.

'If this is his third regression, his main priority must be getting past the 46th scenario. After succeeding quite far ahead by mirroring his previous actions in the early regressions, Yoo Joonghyuk's go to plan has been closely replicating the actions he took in previous turns to go even further. His repetitiveness is the reason why everyone else dropped TWSA and called it a flop.'

The scene glitches multiple times, showing different versions of Kim Dokja throughout his life in the exact same position he is in. They are all greyed out. It eventually stops back on his previous self.

'I don't think I could ever consider his story a flop. When this world went from bad to worse, Yoo Joonghyuk never gave up trying. He keeps going. Keeps fighting. Keeps at it. Even when he kills himself just to regress, he only did it because those rounds couldn't be salvaged anymore and so he looped back to the very beginning and repeated all those days just to get to the last save point and move forward.'

This time, it's as if both Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk have entered an entire separate plane. It's a plain white expanse that looks to go on for miles. A place where only the two of them exist.

A wind starts at Dokja, blowing past him and ruffling his hair. It moves towards the protagonist, but as it moves past him, Yoo Joonghyuk seems to rapidly duplicate. The others are all shadowy and greyed out. Exactly like he had been before. The previous blank world had been filled up with just copies of the man in front of him.

Although there looks to be too many to count, an endless amount that goes to the eye can see and possibly futher, Dokja knows exactly how many are standing here. There are one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.

'One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three regressions'

No matter how he looks at it, 1,863 was an ugly number that Yoo Joonghyuk couldn't wrap his head around. He was only on his third. He was only on his third and he was already so tired. That number meant so much.

Much more than he wanted it to. It was a record of the time it took to reach the end. It was how many times it took to get it right. It was the very same amount of lives Dokja himself read about.

It was the record of how many times he had failed. Over and over and over again.

He was already so tired.

There is an abrupt silence. Nobody moved, nobody spoke. There was no longer any whispering. No small talk or the restless hemming and hawing. It had gone stark quiet in the theater. They didn't speak while the screen kept running.

Dokja knew better than to say anything, this would be a big blow to the protagonist no matter the state of mind he was in. And he was not doing good mentally this round.

He ignores the hand squeezing his arm. If that's what that guy wanted to do, then his arm could take a little bit of abuse.

'The one standing before me. This was only his third.'

That thought shocks him out of his own thoughts as a feeling of terror skitters down his spin and takes a grip on his lungs.

'If he regresses, I won't be able to see his story.'

The idea feels like a blade slotting in between his ribs. It knocks him out of his mind enough for the scene to change back to the current Yoo Joonghyuk with various state of mutilated corpses behind him replacing the shadows of the regression iterations. The world snaps suddenly, jarringly, back to the bridge.

It's then that Dokja remembers that he was asked a question. Yoo Joonghyuk was expecting an answer. Even knowing the answer, he decides to ask a question anyway. "Are you going to let me live if I answer?"

"Depends on your answer." The response was immediate and there was no give or change of emotion in those steely eyes.

'Liar.' Dokja snorts out in his head, a little knowing smile on his face. He looks like he's ready to hand ship me to whatever afterlife would accept me. Not like any would. 'I'd believe it from second round Joonghyuk, definitely the 81st and 999th ones, but third round Yoo Joonghyuk has zero intention of letting an anomaly like me live.'

Joonghyuk isn't watching the screen anymore, hasn't been for a bit now. He has been watching every slight change in Dokja's surprisingly clear face. It's only when he hears about other regressions does he flit his eyes over to glance at it for a little bit. His neutral face turns down into a frown. 'Does he always do that? Compare me to those that haven't happened yet?'

A window pop up takes over a good half of his vision, reverting his attention from Joonghyuk.

[Your understanding of the character 'Yoo Joonghyuk' has increased.]

[You already have a high understanding of this character.]

[You have unlocked level 2 of your exclusivr skill, 'Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint'!]

A couple of confused hums pipe up from the group, a whole bunch of eyes turning to where Han Sooyoung is sitting. She is looking back at everyone with an unimpressed stare.

"So, ahjumma?"

Sooyoung scowls at the teenager, but opens her mouth reluctantly anyway. She's interrupted.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' warns you not to spoil the show.]

"It's not even a good show." Sooyoung grumbles, taking a sweet from her pockets and popping one in her mouth with a grumpy face.

Kim Dokja's eyes widen as Yoo Joonghyuk's voice filters into his own head, narrating his thoughts.

['Only Lee Hyunsung and Kim Namwoon were supposed to survive. But Kim Namwoon is dead and four other people survived instead. And at least one of them has a powerful enough constellation to have paid the probability for a deus ex machina. It has to be this man who stayed behind. Who is he? I need information. If I deem him a threat... I will kill him.']

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is shocked.]

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is dumbfounded]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is astonished.]

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is baffled.]

[The Constellation...]

[Many Constellations are alarmed.]

That was to be expected, though he had expected more outrage from his ability than he got. The looks being aimed at him tells him he'll be getting it from his companions rather than the constellations.

Arguably, a worse outcome.

"Dokja-ssi..." Yoo Sangah trails off, sounding unsure in herself and even a little uncomfortable. But she doesn't say anything more, averting her gaze from him and towards one of the people that this actually affects.

Yoo Joonghyuk says nothing yet, just watching with a mostly neutral look on his face. That was the most surprising part out of any of this actually. Dokja should probably be more anxious about this. Nobody is really saying anything, just looking.

['The Fourth Wall' has activated.]

He is going to resolutely ignore it until somebody makes it his problem. It's not like he's doing anything wrong here, he's just using his skills just like everyone else.

He's just using his skills like everyone else-

"That's actually kind of cool, ahjussi." Lee Jihye call out in the middle of the weird silence the adults have blanketed the room in. She rolls her eyes when wide eyes are turned on her. She points to the screen, a cheeky grin on her face as she attempt to break the tension. "You can actually read minds! Not the weird one word thing from earlier! And it's in masters voice!"

She's slightly bouncing in her chair, a wide grin on her face. She has turned her attention solely to Dokja, a proud look on her face. She did it on purpose, it seems. In his own mind he admits he's thankful to her for that.

"Jihye-ie," Heewon starts, her lips pursed and eye calculating. Her tone is slightly gentle, but still stern. "This... It's not as cool as you think it is. It's an invasion of privacy."

Heewon's words kind of hit him where it hurts and it sounds like she doesn't exactly trust him anymore. Dokja tries to lean away from the protagonist again, this time sure that violence will follow. Jihye's face sours quickly.

"But aren't we listening to ahjussi's thoughts right now?" Her question is more of a statement and it catches the group off guard, Heewon actually flinching back at that. She says it so resolutely as if it negates his invasion of privacy. "And it's apart of his skills. It doesn't look like any of ahjussi's skills give people privacy."

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' agrees with incarnation 'Lee Jihye']

The protagonist huffs, nodding once along with her words. He grabs the back of Dokja's robe, yanking him back to his side and into the chair proper. He looks a little grumpy now, but he removes his hand from the readers collar all the same. Joonghyuk does pin him down with a look though, so maybe he should stop trying to leave the recliner.

The other kids have been mostly quiet throughout this whole thing, mostly just whispering between each other. Yoo Mia looks a little grumpy though.

Dokja looks at Joonghyuk warily. Could he really read his mind? A smirk crosses his lips, and he decides to answer.

"Insects." Dokja admits and the sudden change in tone throws the protagonist off a little. "Insects are also counted as living organisms in the first scenario."

The regressor is clearly surprised that they cleared the first scenario by killing insects, judging by how his eyes widen in shock. It's not a large reaction, but Dokja knows that this is the equivalent of bafflement from anyone else.

Inexplicably, the corners of Dokja's mouth tick upwards in delight, finding it unexpectedly fun to bewilder the man. Well, if he's going to make sure that Yoo Joonghyuk doesn't regress, he'll have to find a way to convince the man that he's useful, and Dokja knows so many ways to let the protagonist cheese through at least more than a dozen scenarios. "I spotted them because of the explosion that happened in the other cabin."

['The future has changed.']

"The explosion... the insects...']

Dokja knows this information will be a shock to him, considering how there was supposed to be a battle to the death in cabin 3807 with only two survivors. Joonghyuk looks away, exposing his excellent side profile. Even in the middle of the apocalypse, the man really is handsome.

['Did I cause this? Was it because I started out by killing them with an explosion, unlike in my previous runs?']

A fuzzy image of Joonghyuk staring at the carnage in his cabin appears, and he seems long desensitized to the gore that surrounds him.

'Maybe dropping into the third round isn't too much bad luck after all,' Dokja contemplates with a thoughtful look.

'This is still when Yoo Joonghyuk tends to deviate in the beginning. In the fourth round, he kills the bomber before killing one person to clear the scenario and leaves everyone to make the choice for themselves. In the fifth round, he intervened in the middle of the struggle to eliminate the ones that tended to turncoat. After he found that basically no one in cabin 3707 would even make it past the early scenarios, that's when 21st Yoo Joonghyuk and later regressions would mercy kill them.'

Dokja's thoughts are borderline obsessive again, rambling on and on about the different regression rounds. Around him, several people groan as he continues his thoughts. Dokja grumbles, embarrassed, and brings his legs up to curl them close to his chest. The sunfish bastard can just deal with him being closer in his space. If he didn't like it he can move to his own chair.

Yoo Joonghyuk doesn't say anything about it.

But Sooyoung does say something in his place, turning and looking over Dokja's head to make contact with the protagonist. She makes the same long whistle that Jung Heewon had made earlier, a shit eating grin on her face when she finishes.

There is a meaning there that Dokja can't catch at all, but a nod from the bastard beside him means that Joonghyuk had. When he tries to ask either of them, he only gets a low grunt and an enigmatic smile as a result.

Fine then. Not like he wanted to know anyway.

[Su lki ng]

Shut up you.

['Something is wrong here.']

Crap. That's not good.

['He's too calm for a newbie. The world has turned upside down, and he's taking it in stride. Abnormally so. He must be the one who kill Kim Namwoon.']

This jerk! Just because he's not melting in horror at the situation, he's 'abnormally calm'?! Dokja grits his teeth as he looks over at the scenario window to check the countdown. It's only getting lower.

Yoo Joonghyuk's black eyes sharpen as hostility seeps into his thoughts, leveling Dokja with a piercing glare.

['He's not just useful... He's dangerous.']

Many deadpanned faces have been turned to Yoo Joonghyuk. He can feel his ears turning hot as he ignores them. It's none of their business. He doesn't have to explain his thoughts to them.

Dokja risks saying something, bringing back the earlier sass with a vengeance. He knows exactly where this is going to go, how this is going to end. There's no point in coddling this bastard. Might as well have some fun. "If you're done with your questions, can you let me go? Let's move on to Oksu station together. We're running out of time."

His breath hitches and he chokes when Joonghyuk closes his hand around his throat tighter. A dissatisfying result, but the expected one nonetheless. "Not so fast. Everything fits together too perfectly."

Joonghyuk's right eye begins to glow golden again, activating a skill that Dokja easily identifies.

'It's the skill [Eye of the Sage]. It allows you to see someone's attribute window and their hidden information. It's the highest grade detection skill.'

He had wondered why the bastard had turned it off earlier. This is a blessing in disguise considering Dokja's own lack of access to his own attributes window. He doesn't know what his skills or other attributes are other than whatever he's been able to accidentally use. The downside is Joonghyuk learns about them, the upside is that he can finally figure it out by reading the bastards mind.

[The exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' activates.]

The window popping up surprises him. Never mind the fact it popped up earlier and he just barely missed it. The next window is just as much of a surprise.

['The Fourth Wall' has detected the detection skill, 'Eye of the Sage'.]

A blue crackle of light interferes with the protagonist's skill, making it backfire and fail. The protagonist couldn't read the reader and has to close his eye, staggering back in pain. The fingers curled around Kim Dokja's throat loosen ever so slightly and he takes the reprieve to breath a lot easier.

[The exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' blocked the skill 'Eye of the Sage'.]

Yoo Joonghyuk flinches, his eye inflamed and a bit red. Veins protrude on his temple, raising slightly from the skin here, but he's still somehow unbelievably attractive.

"You..." His face twists up in upset, his jaw setting in a way that tells Dokja he's currently seething. Good. That bastard needs to be cut down a little bit.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' agrees with you]

"What are you?"

Dokja is too stunned to respond, just staring ahead while reading and rereading the notification windows. 'I have a skill that can block the [Eye of the Sage]?? First it's [Bookmark], and now I have a skill called [The Fourth Wall]? Do all of my skill have to do with the fact I read the novel? What even is my attribute?'

[Several Constellations are curious about your exclusive skill.]

Han Sooyoung groans in her chair, muttering under her breath constantly while glaring at the Dokja on screen. He can barely make out the most recent statement. "It's all literature themed."

She spat it like an insult.

Kim Dokja is unamused.

Lee Hyunsung perks up in his chair, getting up to lean over the chair that holds both Dokja and Joonghyuk. "Dokja-ssi, how do you fight without knowing your skills or anything? You at least know your stats, right?"

Dokja looks up, leaning his head back and letting it fall against the headrest. He turns and rolls his answer in his mouth, debating actually telling the soldier just how little he knows of himself. He admits it anyway. "I don't know my stats. Wait- that's a lie. The only reason I know what my stats are is because of the last time I upgraded them."

Hyunsung face falls, he sucks in a breath and looks majorly concerned. "How do you fight so well, then?"

Dokja smiles at him, trying to be comforting. "I have a really good memory."

Notes:

Should be around 9,080m words.

Had a thought the other day. I'm now more like Han Sooyoung than I am Kim Dokja now that I've started this. It was a weird feeling, but it doesn't really change that this is a love letter so that realization didn't have as much of an effect as I thought.

Chapter 9: Trial by Ichthyosaur

Summary:

"Hyung is scamming the dokkaebi?" Gilyoung asks, clambering over both Yoosung and Mia to get closer, a familiar gleam in his eyes. Sighing, Dokja just lets everything happen around him. When he looks at Gilyoung, the kid looks so happy and cheeky that he can't begrudge Sooyoung for her unsolicited assistance. She got the protagonist to calm down easily enough after all.

Lifting his face out of Joonghyuk's grip, Dokja sighs when he gets away with his life. This was not how he imagined that would end. He still reaches over to knock his closed fist on the top of the witch's head.

Notes:

Okay, I swear this is the last time I'm posting an extra long chapter and it be earlier.

I'm probably going to be a liar.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Lee Hyunsung's face scrunches up, looking concerned and worried all at once, but it changes quickly to just be firm. He nods his head once resolutely and turns back to the screen. Maybe he has come to a decision.

Kim Dokja shrugs it off, his shoulders hitting his squished in seat mate. He puts a hand on the protagonists face. His hand lands on his cheek and Dokja pushes Yoo Joonghyuk to try and get some more space in the chair. With a glare that turns into a scowl, the bastard grabs his wrist and gathers all of Dokjas limbs to himself before making a vaguely threatening gesture.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' encourages you to try again.']

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' takes screenshots]

This brat really needs to go back to his own chair. He grumbles but keeps his hands to himself again. Han Sooyoung snickers beside him and he has to reel in the want to reach over to attack her again. He does not need to know what that threat from earlier meant.

"Is she really an angel?" Heewon teasingly ponders with a flat look. There are a couple of pop up windows that are Uriel defending herself, but they are half hearted at best.

Kim Dokja is forced to rapidly think as the look Joonghyuk is sending him gets increasingly terrifying. 'Okay, gotta make a pivot in my plans. Whatever this [Fourth Wall] is, the fact that it prevents his detection skill means that there's only one route for me to feasibly take here.'

Joonghyuk's thought filter into his head again, the contradicting gruff voice and closed mouth making his head spin.

['I have to kill him here and now.']

"You'll regret killing me." He sends more coins into his strength stat, tentatively letting go of the hand holding onto his throat and begging his throat to not cave in. He places a really limited amount of trust in the durability given to him via the coins.

Making himself unable to talk put him in the perfect place to die right here. he reluctantly puts his hands up in a vague motion of surrender, attempting to placate the asshole holding him by the throat.

"You need a trust worthy ally-" the hand around his throat clenches tight again, but it doesn't affect him like it did earlier. "- You can't clear the 46th scenario on your own."

The scowl from earlier softens in surprise again, the hand relaxing a little. There's a new unease in the protagonists eyes, something cautious that means he's getting through to him.

Joonghyuk's eyes narrow at him, his gaze looking him over with pursed lips. "How do you know that? Are you also a regressor?"

Dokja nearly scoffs at that. If he had been a regressor, Joonghyuk would know damn well that he was. That bastard was perceptive for as little as he actually strategizes. He can get away with brute forcing his way through anything. Dokja can not.

He contemplates his sole option for a split second. This is another 50/50 chance, but it's the best one he's got. The odds could be worse.

"It doesn't matter who I am, not to you and not right now." His words are hurried and he's speaking almost too fast to be intelligible. There is still a knowing smile on his face, a slow provocative curve of his lips. "What's important is that I can be of use to you."

He decides to go all in. If he's going to be working with this bastard to get through this hell, he might as well set expectations here at the start of this. The feral glint to his smile returns, something sharp at the edges and dripping in confidence he shouldn't have. "I know the future that you don't"

He has surprised Joonghyuk again, it seems. The regressor's eyes go wide and her immediately activates the [Lie Detection] skill. It declares that Dokja is telling the truth. The revelation makes the other freeze, a complicated mix of emotions filtering over that face in a way that he can't quite place.

['This can't be... could there be another [Prophet] other than Anna Croft in Korea?']

'The attribute [Prophet].' Dokja muses to himself, thinking about what was said about it in the story. 'A legendary attribute for sure. It's the only attribute in TWSA that allows a character to see into the future, and the only attribute to passively neutralize detection skills. Only Anna Croft possessed the attribute in TWSA. And she had just betrayed Yoo Joonghyuk in his last regression.'

"Well..." Lee Hyunsung starts in a contemplative tone. "Dokja-ssi is technically a prophet."

Dokja's face twists up at that, turning a grimace towards the soldier. "I don't think you know what a prophet actually does. I don't know the future."

"You kind of do." Heewon jumps on the bandwagon, her tone teasing instead. It's on purpose. She's doing this on purpose. He can tell. Dokja sends her a glare and it does nothing.

"Yeah right. He just knows stuff he shouldn't." Sooyoung scoffs, biting down on the candy in her mouth and breaking it. She mimes holding a book with her hands, pointing at the imaginary paper. "It's only because of that shitty novel anyway."

Jihye spins in her chair to look at the writer, her face set in a determined look. "But you can argue that prophets only know anything because of their abilities, ahjumma."

Han Sooyoung scowls at the teenager, about to call her out on her term of address but gets cut off. Again.

"I'm not a prophet. I don't have the skill and I don't have the attribute. Can we please stop talking about this?" Kim Dokja asks exasperatedly, a large sigh heaving out of his chest. This argument is already just so tiring.

"I agree." Sangah concurs with him, nodding her head long as he speaks. Then, a smile crosses her face that looks slightly ominous. "Dokja-ssi would be a prophecy."

There's a reason that smile was ominous. What does that even mean? She doesn't elaborate, but everyone who was originally arguing start to agree one at a time as they think it over. Even Yoo Joonghyuk seems to be considering it.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' admits that makes sense for incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

No it doesn't! It doesn't make sense at all!

Joonghyuk recovers relatively quickly, not giving him very much time to think. "So you knew I would be here."

['I can use him against her.']

Dokja makes his face neutral and sets it there, observing the facsimile of Enemy Mine trope being enacted right in front of him. 'How interesting. I'm technically making a bad move by associating myself with on of the two people the third round protagonist hates the most, but he has always been pragmatic at heart.'

While he thinks, see through greyed out images of the events of the day overlay the scene on the bridge. The flit in and out of his mind as he tries to make an estimate of everything Yoo Joonghyuk should know about him from this interaction.

'He considers me a [Prophet]. Considering how much of an achievement hunter he is, merely allying me wouldn't be the most efficient. He witnessed me kill off a good amount of humanoid demons. He suspects I killed Kim Namwoon both times. He tested my strength, however unnecessary the punching was. He assumes that- my? -constellation favored me enough to pay for a deus ex machina.'

Kim Dokja looks at the protagonist with a critical eye, observing his actions and thoughts hand in hand. He pieces together a couple of ideas before taking note of the setting. 'We're surrounded by ichthyosaurs- Oh.'

A face splitting grin creeps up on Dokja's face, gleaming eyes looking down on the man standing before him. His smile softens a but the look in his eyes stay the same. 'I know exactly what he'll do. It's exactly what I wanted him to do.'

"Yoo Joonghyuk, I know you have a special ability." He's not lying if he tells half truths. He's not lyin- "You also know what's going to happen in the future, right? ut you also know that the knowledge you have of the future is incomplete."

Dokja grabs his wrist again, this time less for support and more as emphasis, he had raised his strength after all. He looks Joonghyuk in his eyes as he makes a demand. "Make me your companion, and I can complete your knowledge of the future."

It's amazing to watch himself work through problems in real time, satisfying to see the steps of a plan coming together. Dokja smiles, a soft thing that is followed by squinty eyes. The kids look at him, Yoosung and Gilyoung in awe and Mia looking at him with wide curious eyes. The protagonist is stiff for a moment as the screen plays, but he relaxes as it goes.

Han Sooyoung leans over to Sangah, getting an incredulous and suspicious gaze. The writer ignores it as she starts to speak. "That rat is too good at that."

Sangah snorts, quieting her giggles to not alert their subject of discussion. She nods and whispers quietly back, "Dokja-ssi has always been like that. Analytic, if I had to put a word to it."

The writer grimaces, side eyeing the weirdly content reader. Her mouth tugs down and she makes a final comment before leaning away. "I refuse to believe he's that smart with all the dumb shit he's done."

"That's really smart, ahjussi!" Yoosung leans forward and smiles with all of her teeth at Dokja, looking excited. The amount of adoration in her gaze turned his way is criminal. Lee Gilyoung's is two times worse.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' croons about companionship]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' applauds your quick thinking]

"You really read that sooty bastard like the book he is, hyung!" There is a more feral glint to the kids grin, a certain look in his eyes as he looks at the protagonist.

Rudimentarily, Dokja tries his best to scold Gilyoung for his lacking manners with a "Gilyoung-ah..." but he doesn't get that far with it before the protagonist himself looks his way with intense eyes. Very intense eyes. That's very unsettling.

To himself, while they're here and his thoughts are safe from Kim Dokja's skill, Yoo Joonghyuk finds himself amazed at the careful maneuvering the reader does. The insight into his mind is eye opening, a window into seeing just how much thought gets put into every single one of Dokja's actions. And his own. How often does he think about Joonghyuk and his actions, anyway?

['If he is indeed a [Prophet], it would be helpful to bring him along. Not just for the 46th scenario, but also for fighting the Zarathustra. But... can I trust him?']

He looks down as he keeps thinking.

['...a companion.']

"Hey, ahjussi, what is the weird heavy weight you guys keep put behind the word 'companion'?" Lee Jihye enquires, her head tilted and eyes trained on Dokja. Bright blue windows start to rapidly pop up, the notification sound ringing out so much it turns into one noise.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' says the companionship between incarnation 'Yoo Joonghyuk' incarnation 'Kim Dokja is different than between the rest of the group]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'...]

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' tears his hair out in exasperation]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'...]

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' complains about Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire']

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'...]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' asks incarnation 'Kim Dokja' to step in.]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'...]

[Many Constellations demand Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' stop]

"Uriel-" Dokja starts, not even able to catch half of her messages. The sound and windows are making his head spin. He hangs his head and brings his hands up to cradle it. He sighs and just lets the angel do whatever she wants. He's too tired to deal with it at this point.

"Jihye." Joonghyuk turns to the teenager, face stern looking slightly irritated. When the teenager sends him her guiltiest looking face possible, he sighs and softens a little. "Later."

Jihye nods rapidly, a smile on her face as she ignores the chaos she has caused. Dokja tries to mute the constellation notifications again, but is once again unsuccessful.

[Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' has been put on a cool down for -1 hour- in channel 'RF-864' for excessive messages.]

Oh thank fuck. Dokja sighs and slumps into a relaxed lump of human being in the seat, relieved that the windows would stop.

[Several Constellations are relieved.]

[50 seconds remaining until the end of the scenario.]

[40 seconds remaining until the end of the scenario.]

Joonghyuk looks up at Dokja with searching eyes, and whatever he finds seems to satisfy his appraising action.

"I've made up my mind," he finally speaks, keeping his gaze on the hanging man. "I will make you my companion."

The lack of reaction from Uriel is odd, and it sort of makes the room seem empty even with all of the people here. He knows she would have been shrieking with delight at that claim alone.

Without waisting another second, Joonghyuk switches the hand he has on Dokja, grabbing him by his collar instead to drag him across the bridge. There's an underlying meaning to find here, with their first obstacle being a bridge they have to work together to cross, and the reader in him seems to preen at the connection.

It's also because he's an avid reader that Dokja knows that his feet won't be touching solid ground for a long time to come. After they cross the bridge he only has a couple of minutes to check in on the others that had crossed before him. They're safely behind the scenario barrier, almost completely out of sight. They won't see what is happening here. The protagonist walks back to the edge of the bridge and dangles him again.

The group are speechless, everyone looking at Yoo Joonghyuk sitting squished into Dokja's chair. He doesn't exactly look happy with himself, but he doesn't look remorseful either.

"Joonghyuk-ssi, was that... was that really necessary?" Yoo Sangah's voice is clipped no matter how hesitant it is. She looks upset, with her lips pursed and her eyebrows drawn tight. She starts to bit at her lower lip, chewing on it as she watches the volatile scene playing out on the big screen.

Lee Jihye joins the bandwagon of concern, her face more open then upset but her voice is tight with worry. "What were you even doing, master? Ahjussi is too fragile for this."

The protagonist seems equally as hesitant to answer as Sangah sounded to question him, eyes averted to just look at the screen. He does answer though. "I was testing him."

"Testing him?" Jung Heewon calls out, baffled, stuttering out a couple of unintelligible things before she takes a deep breath and sighs out loudly. "Why- Why would you test him during such a tight scenario? Couldn't you have done that anywhere else?"

Joonghyuk looks stunned, jaw unclenched and mouth slack to the point his lips are just barely parted, his eyes slightly wider than they usually are. Dokja snorts, finding the situation a little funny. The bastard isn't used to being put to question, not like this at least. Heads turn to him instead with the exact same look.

"Don't get me started with you, Dokja-ssi." An equally stern voice is turned to scolding him instead. It seems it's his turn even though he's the victim in this situation. "You knew this was going to happen!"

The equally guilty and scolded duo ignore the fuming group around them, the screen continues.

"If you really are a [Prophet], then you'll be able to tell your own future, right?"

An ichthyosaur more gigantic than the rest of its kind waits impatiently under him.

"Prophecy." Joonghyuk states coldly, eyes watching the hanging man closely. "Will I let go of you, or will I not?"

"Let me tell you a couple of things first." Dokja's own face hardens, a dramatic change from his more recent easy going attitude throughout this entire interaction. His eyes narrow, the glint from earlier returning, and his mouth is hard set. One side of his upper lips curls a little and the stern expression quickly turns into a snarl. He flashes his teeth at the protagonist.

The protagonist's eyes widen, looking wearily at the reader. He hadn't expected anything from Dokja except for an answer or a plea for his life, had he? The words that bubble out of Joonghyuk are quiet. "What?"

The snarl his mouth had twisted up in quickly turns back into a feral smile. His narrowed eyes turn squinted instead. This was more fun than he thought it would be. Kim Dokja reaches forward and grabs the collar of the protagonists coat, curling his fist into the fabric with an equal amount of strength the bastard is holding onto him with.

"First, I'm not your lackey. You must treat me as your equal."

'I'm not just some ally for you to watch over.'

"Second, just as I will cooperate with you, you must agree to cooperate with me."

'If I had it my way, I would have the two of us swear an [Oath of Existence]. This bastards word means nothing to me right now.'

"I see." Yoo Joonghyuk answers, a different kind of calculating look in his eye. He's considering it at the very least. "So, your answer?"

Kim Dokja grins even more savagely, a crazed look in his eyes as he lets go of his collar. "Just let me go and get lost, you bastard!"

Without wasting a second for anymore conversation or banter, Yoo Joonghyuk releases his grip and Dokja plummets from the bridge to the river below. The most gentle and please smile that Kim Dokja would never had expected from him appears on Joonghyuk's face. He's beautiful -almost serene, even- bathed in the golden glow on the sun, The relaxed expression almost looks out of place on his normally stern face, but at the same time, it looks like it should belong there.

"I believe you," The protagonist calls after him with a light voice and an airy chuckle, "your really are a [Prophet]."

The reader can't believe his eyes, never had imagined to see such a soft look on his protagonist. He can't help but smile in exhilaration at the sight even as he gets swallowed by the massive ichthyosaur.

'Brat.'

Jaws close in front of his face, blocking his view of the amazing view he just had. In the darkness of the monster's mouth, only the ping of a system window remains.

[You have failed to clear the scenario.]

A couple of long suffering sighs echo in the theater from the adults in the room, Jung Heewon being the loudest out of them all. The kids had vastly different reactions, each having their own complaints about the situation.

"You absolutely are that bad-!"

"Master how could you-"

"You sooty bastard! How-"

"That's so mean-"

"-throw ahjussi like that-"

"-dare you do that to hyung-"

"-poor ahjussi didn't even do anything-"

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' states he was right.]

They kept talking over each other, with Gilyoung looking like he was going to make another bid for attacking the protagonist. Dokja trues to get them to stop, or at least to calm down, when Yoo Mia decided it was her turn to speak.

"Huh." She looks at Dokja with eyes that make it feel like she's trying to dissect him with her gaze alone. When Mia is done slightly freaking him out, she turns to her brother with a slightly disappointed face. Like she was disappointed in her brother. "You really do like that ahjussi, don't you oppa?"

With that public evisceration by the only person who could pass accurate judgement, Joonghyuk's horror is blatant on his criminally good looking face. A betrayal that he had never expected to happen, he muses as he lowers his forehead into one of his hands and rubs at his temples with his thumb and his middle finger.

Chaos erupted from that single comment, even more overlapping voices making it even harder for Dokja to think or even hear what everyone is trying to say. Han Sooyoung is not saying anything, just smiling at him from her chair like the witch she is. She really gets on his nerves.

He does his best to ignore the fact that Joonghyuk hasn't tried to deny the accusation from his sister. There's no way she could be right, no reason for her to be right. The voices around him start to just bleed into background noise as he gets lost in his own thoughts.

Maybe he should get up and find a new seat, he considers it and even tests trying to get up. There's no reason for him to be allowed to share a seat with his protagonist, he hasn't done anything to deserve it. Dokja's eyes have dulled, he doesn't hear the comments around him.

When he attempts to get up, a hand grabs onto his bicep, tugging him down from the little he managed to get up. An arm snakes around him and keeps him there. Turning his head, Dokja makes eye contact with the oddly knowing eyes of Yoo Joonghyuk. What does that bastard think he knows.

"Stay." A lot, apparently. The bastards apparently knowns a lot. Scowling at him, he doesn't get to say anything before the protagonist turns away from him to pay attention to the kids who are complaining. He doesn't get a word in edgewise.

Sooyoung leans over into whatever he has left of his personal space. She whispers to him. "Hornyy~"

Not willing to just take that, he snaps out of his own head to jerk his head forward to headbutt her on her forehead. She yelps, cursing at him as she brings her head to her forehead to soothe the area there. He gives him a stink eye and he sends a grin her way. That's what she gets.

Inside the ichthyosaur, Dokja struggles to continue holding his breath as it submerges. He floats down its throat, willing himself to avoid passing out for as long as possible and to keep holding on. Soon enough, he's deposited into the monster's stomach, alongside large pieves of rubble and assorted corpses from the bridge.

Dokja coughs and retches as he surfaces, looking exhausted already. He pulls his phone out of his pocket, surprisingly not waterlogged, and uses the flashlight feature to survey the scene around him.

"Damn it." Dokja mutters as he wades through the waist-deep water to clamber on top of a large piece of intact concrete. "Ugh, what a psychopath. Companion, my ass. Is this supposed to be some kind of test? Does he want me to prove my worth as a companion to him?"

'I was expecting this, wanting this even, but his motives in this situation are important.'

He collapses on the concrete, sitting there and shedding the suit jacket he had on. He tosses it aside and grabs the end of his tie to stuff it in his button downs breast pocket so it's out of the way. He should probably take it off too, but it's a comfort at this point.

As little of a comfort it could be.

'I do understand why he's doing this, though. He's never made a true companion since he failed his first-ever round.'

The image of Joonghyuk's smile flashes through Dokja's head as he thinks back to that moment. He hums as he rests, wringing some water out of his shirt and pants.

'Being a regressor, he was powerful and people revered him as their savior. Because of this, he naturally became a lone wolf. To him, all humans are either his subordinates or his enemies. So, this is most likely a test. He wants me to prove myself if I want to be treated as his equal. Son of a bitch.'

"You did." Joonghyuk says quietly, leaning even closer to Dokja to say so. The whisper sends a shiver up his spine, the breath against his skin makes him very very aware of how close they actually are. This can not be real.

"Oppa has people he can rely on now." Yoo Mia says sternly, sounding so sure of herself as she sits proudly in her seat. "The ugly- hmmm... pretty ahjussi is making sure of it."

She had changed her words mid sentence, a concentrated look on her face as she tries to find something new to call him that isn't ugly. When she decides on 'Pretty' instead, she looks even more proud of herself. And slightly smug. Like a cat. She looks like a little kitten.

"Pretty ahjussi." Lee Jihye repeats after her, nodding along as she agrees. The teenager looks like the thought hadn't even crossed her mind.

"You mustn't take all of it on yourself." Mia demands of her brother, she's upset and it shows clearly on her face. "It's hard to do things on your own all of the time."

It's nice to see these moments play out right in front of him. The relationship between Yoo Joonghyuk and his sister has always been the softer moments of TWSA. And the softer moments will always be among his top favorite.

"I won't." Joonghyuk assures his sister, the soft look returning and melting away the hard edges on his face. It makes him look even better than he usually does. Gorgeous bastard.

Dokja sighs, but opens his message log and surveys the results. There are the expected messages for failing the scenario and the channel usage fee being deducted, but there are also a few indirect messages from the constellations that he hadn't been able to focus on at the time.

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' agrees with your provoking remarks.]

[You have been sponsored 100 coins.]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' nods at your decision.]

[You have been sponsored 100 coins.]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is disappointed with your flippant remarks.]

Dokja just brings his legs up to sit cross-legged on the concrete silently, trying to ignore the incoming messages. Soon enough, the ichthyosaur begins to move, and the contents of its stomach start shifting.

'According to TWSA, the stomachs of these ichthyosaurs start secreting acid around three hours after they ingest their prey. In other words, I don't have a lot of time left to get this started.'

Red sparks appear in the air behind him, and Dokja glances over his shoulder at the dokkaebi, who laughs at him.

[I'm a bit disappointed. It was starting to get interesting.]

The dokkaebi is understandably disappointed that Dokja doesn't seem very flustered, despite the situation. When Dokja reveals the reason why is because he was waiting for the dokkaebi to appear, he seems visibly confused.

"You knew that guy would show up?" Lee Hyunsung asked, a frown adorning his face. He must be confused. "How?"

Dokja snorted and shrugged. Nothing else he could really do. "It's not like he had any other choice. I was doing something weird. And I sort of engineered it that way. I needed to be able to talk to him in private."

Hyunsung doesn't look like he understands anymore than he had before Dokja's answer, but he seems to light up when he's told that it was on purpose.

'Just you wait, Yoo Joonghyuk. Not only will I get out of here in one piece, but I will also obtain the power to stand as your equal. You will have no choice but to accept me as your companion.'

Back on the bridge, the screen shows a birds-eye view of Joonghyuk watching the ichthyosaur swim away with a serious expression on his face. After a moment, he turns and leaves for Oksu station.

And the scene is back to the inside of the sea monster, the dokkaebi floating in the air as Dokja continues to sit. The reader uncrosses on of his legs and pulls it to his chest to rest his elbow on. He leans back and props himself up with his other hand.

[You've been waiting for me?] the dokkaebi asks. Dokja smiles a familiar grin, his lips curling up around his teeth and they seem almost too sharp. He reminds the creature of the coins he needs to collect as a penalty for failing the scenario. When the dokkaebi laughs at the idea of taking coins instead of a life, Dokja reminds him that the scenario penalty didn't say death. Therefore, there's room for negotiation.

The dokkaebi is impressed that he was able to come to that kind of comnclusion from such a small clue.

[No wonder all the constellations have their eyes on you. As you've said, you can buy your way out of failed sub scenarios using coins.]

The price that was asked of him? 5,100 coins. Dokja knows the fluffy thing just asked for the exact amount that he has, and immediately rejects the offer he was given. It's too expensive and not something he's willing to pay.

The dokkaebi shrugs. [Then you can go ahead and die. I'm doing you a favor here.]

If he doesn't want to pay, he can just give up right here, according to the streamer. However, Dokja has a different idea, the perfect plan for just this situation.

"Just kill me, then."

There's a low murmur that has underlined the group, a couple of eyes landing on him as they whisper to each other. Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung aren't saying very much, but their eyes are the heaviest of all the ones on him.

They both remember what happened the last time Dokja had bet on something like that, the dread that scare had given the both of them. It worked out, it always works out with Kim Dokja, but that doesn't make it any less of a traumatizing situation.

They can both tell the rat is avoiding looking either of them in their eyes, but he'll be forced to acknowledge it at some point. He avoided it last time, having to tell everyone, but they'll see it when it plays on the screen either way.

The dokkaebi freezes, eyes going wide clearly caught off guard by how easily he said that with such a bored tone. [What?]

Dokja settles further in where he is sitting, obviously getting even more comfortable. His grin turns smug, this is going just about how he expected it to. "I said, kill me."

When he doesn't get a reply from the creature, Dokja continues on. "you can't, can you?"

'He won't dare to lay a finger on me because I'm drawing in quite the crowd for him right now.'

The constellations watching the channel are having a great time because fo him, and Dokja is well aware that id the dokkaebi was going to kill him, he wouldn't have bothered coming all the way into the stomach of an ichthyosaur just to see him.

Fangs glistening, the dokkaebi snarls. [You're pissing me off. Hey, just what is it that you're trying to pull?]

The smugness melts away, leaving only a feral smile and slightly off eyes as he looks at the dokkaebi. It's unsettling and looks off on that pretty face. Then, the feral grin drops too just leaving crazed eyes that stare at the floating creature. He cocks his head to the side and deigns to speak.

"Low-grade dokkaebi Bihyung," Dokja says suddenly in a monotone voice and unwavering look, instantly drawing his attention with the use of his real name. "How's your career as a streamer going?"

Despite the dokkaebi's shock, Dokja just comments on how the channel probably isn't doing too well due to stingy constellations. The feral grin returns offsetting the off-putting atmosphere that the reader held previously. Naturally, this just makes both the streamer and spectators suspicious of him.

[The Constellaiton 'Secretive Plotter's eyes sparkle at your plan.]

Dokja's voice drops to a whisper to address Bihyung directly. "Why don't you shut off the channel for a minute so that we can talk?"

It's surprising when Bihyung does so, not a hint of resistance or hesitance. Surrounded by the flesh of the monster's stomach, murky water, rubble, and dead bodies isn't the best setting for a meeting, but it's the best they can do for now. Still, Bihyung decides to hear him out.

[How do you know about the Star Stream when you're only a human?]

The white screen shows up again to display words start to show up like they're being typed in real time.

-Star Stream System

Also known as the Star Stream, the Star Stream System is the means by which footage is broadcast over the entire galaxy.

The subscribers are constellations who reside in galaxies far, far away and the actors are humans like myself. The dokkaebi are called streamers and they are the storytellers that bridge the two.-

"Dokja-ssi." Yoo Sangah is the one to talk, her legs no longer curled up and she's no longer picking at her fingers. She is looking very hard at the screen, probably trying to do her best to memorize it. "These are the kinds of things you should be telling us."

Properly scorned, Dokja looks away from her to go back to thinking. This is probably information that could help some people understand the new world they have been put in better.

It would have been a good thing to have a basic guide filled with these kinds of information, but that would get rid of any edge that Dokja could have with it. Humans are selfish and, he too, is no exception to this. There is nothing he would do for just doing a good deed in this new world.

Closing the channel was a tactical choice, he couldn't have his plans broadcasted to everyone like that. There were so many different kinds of things that could stunt his plans so early. It was good Bihyung had listened.

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is complaining that incarnation 'Kim Dokja' is a coward for closing the channel when it was getting good.]

"That's not important right now," Dokja bulldozes the question, not bothering to actual answer it. There's no way he would show his hand so early.

Bihyung seems confused until Dokja continues, a scheming smile splitting his face. He was going to make this gambit worth it.

"Bihyung, don't you want to be the Dokkaebi King?"

[What are you-?]

"Don't you want to surpass the likes of Dokgak or Gildal and become the best streamer there ever was?" The comment is technically out of left field, the context is something only the dokkaebi themselves would know at the moment. It's showing off that he knows much more than he should. It's the only trump card he has in this situation.

Dokja reaches out the hand that was resting on his knee, and the scheming smile runs wider. "I'm asking you to enter a contract with me, and I will make you the Dokkaebi King."

Bihyung's eyes are sparkling in disbelief, but somewhere within those depths a small kind of hope starts to stir there.

[Several Constellations are amused by the claims of incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

[Many Constellations are baffled at the idea.]

Many of the people in his group started to pipe up with complaints, calling him out on his reckless actions. Joonghyuk, being the closest, grabs onto his face by his jaw and forces to look at the protagonist. That face looks angered, twisted up and darkened. He is shook by his jaw.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The question is more of a demand, like all of the bastards questions are. He seems genuinely upset, more than usual. His tone is gruff and low. Dokja really needs to get out of this situation and he needs to get out of it immediately.

"Yeah, what kind of scam are you running this time?" Sooyoung chimes in, a smug grin on her face and voice chirpy as she teases him. She sort of breaks the tension, Joonghyuk's face mellowing out a little as he loosens the grip he has on his jaw.

"Hyung is scamming the dokkaebi?" Gilyoung asks, clambering over both Yoosung and Mia to get closer, a familiar gleam in his eyes. Sighing, Dokja just lets everything happen around him. When he looks at Gilyoung, the kid looks so happy and cheeky that he can't begrudge Sooyoung for her unsolicited assistance. She got the protagonist to calm down easily enough after all.

Lifting his face out of Joonghyuk's grip, Dokja sighs when he gets away with his life. This was not how he imagined that would end. He still reaches over to knock his closed fist on the top of the witch's head.

"It's necessary for other plans." Dokja says in leu of explanation, giving a shifty explanation. He would prefer not to answer too much just in case they leave before his plans are splayed out fully in front of everyone. "Besides, Bihyung doesn't come out of this with the long end of the stick."

He mutters out a "or any stick at all" and Sooyoung cackles out when her accusations are proven correct. "So you did scam him!"

Moving on.

Upon hearing Dokja's confident declaration, Bihyung's eyes go red and he begins to laugh uproariously. He can't believe his ears.

[You're crazy! You must be out of your mind!] He cackles, completely ignoring the deadpan seriousness on Dokja's face. [I should have realized when you rejected all the offers from the constellations!]

'That's right. During the <Sponsor Selection> right before the sub scenario, I didn't choose a constellation.'

[Many Constellations...]

[Several Constellations..]

[A couple of Constellations...]

[Many Constellations are shocked at the revealed actions of incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

Well, it's not like they could imagine anyone rejected the offers of help given to them. There aren't many people who don't have a sponsor, considering how fundamental they are for surviving in the scenarios.

Though, it's not like Dokja really needs a sponsor. Nor does he want one. There's only a couple of ways to defeat a constellation, and transcendence isn't exactly in the cards right now...

He's broken out of his own head when Jung Heewon leans over him again. He can feel her body heat. It mixes with Joonghyuk's own body heat and Dokja has never been so warm. His fingers no longer shake from the cold and he melts in the chair. He never wants to leave this.

His fingers are totally only shaking from the cold. No other reason.

[K im Do kja is dum b]

The insulting wall is not helping here. He resolutely ignores how uncanny it is to have a skill talking to him like this.

"You really don't have a constellation, Dokja-ssi?" The judge asks, a critical gaze left on him. She looks slightly let down. "Or did you get the constellation 'One-eyed Maitreya' later?"

Dokja looks at her with dead and tired eyes, he knows what this is. She bet on it, didn't she? "You're not able to get a sponsor outside of <Sponsor Selection> unless you have a work around. I don't have a sponsor. It's a feature, not an accident."

"Wouldn't Dokja-ssi be at a disadvantage without a stigma?" Lee Hyunsung also leans over, concern scribbled onto his face. He seems genuinely worried even with all of the proof that the reader is doing just fine without. He appreciated it, but the worry is unnecessary. There is no need.

Dokja smiles at the soldier, then glances over at Joonghyuk with the same smile. The only stigmas Yoo Joonghyuk had been given by his mysterious sponsor were [Regression] and [Transmission] -which only had extremely situational uses- he might as well not have a sponsor or stigma in the early regressions and scenarios before he built up a catalogue of skills to regain using [Transmission].

"Not exactly," Kim Dokja says, the smile turning thoughtful, "Yeah it can be annoying that I didn't have any stigmas at the beginning, but you can get both stigmas and skills as scenario rewards too."

That actually surprised Hyunsung, his eyes widening and he leans away. There's a determined look that crosses his face. He's probably thinking of how he can acquire some for himself. Heewon leans away with him, leaving the space she occupied to start to get colder. He ignores it. He's just gotta ignore it-

[I don't know how you know about the Star Stream, but I can't accept your offer,] Bihyung tells him with a shrug. [I'm a dokkaebi, not a constellation, so I can't be your constellation sponsor.]

At that, Dokja smirks. "I don't think you get it. I never asked for you to sponsor me."

When Bihyung looks confused, Dokja continues. "It's not your power I'm after, but your channel."

Bihyung crosses his arms as he floats above Dokja, cocking his head to the side as he thinks. [My channel?]

"Let me break it down for you. I want to enter into an exclusive contract with your channel," Dokja states, as serious as he can be in the situation he's been stuck into. At that, Bihyung's eyes widen and he makes a noise of surprise. It sounds suspiciously like a cat yowling.

[Wait, are you saying you want to enter into a <Stream Contract> with me?]

"Yes." His words are unshakeable.

Another white background. More words.

-Stream Contract

A contract between constellations and the dokkaebis.

For a share of the coins earned, a dokkaebi hosts an incarnation of a constellation on their channel.

In return, the dokkaebi who owns the channel receives a share of the coins by the incarnation as commission.-

'Usually, incarnations have no say regarding this contract. Although they are 'sponsored', the truth is that constellations mostly view incarnations as slaves.'

"Pretty Ahjussi, is that... is that true?" Lee Jihye stutters out her question, her voice hesitant and it actually cracks a little bit. When Dokja turns his head to her, she looks conflicted.

"Not quite." Kim Dokja will be nice, for there is nothing else he can do here. "There are some constellations who truly cherish their incarnations. Some constellations see their incarnations as disposable."

He hums, tilting his head as he tries to soothe her hurt a little more. "The novel was in Joonghyuk-ah's perspective for the most part. There wasn't a lot of strictly objective information."

He is helped when her sponsor decides to step in.

[The Constellation 'Maritime War God' says that constellations are diverse.]

Nodding along, it seems that Jihye has been comforted at least slightly. Since he isn't talking to the teenager, he leans back to be comfortable in the recliner once more. When he gets a view of the protagonists face, it's very particular. He can't say in what way, but Dokja feels like he's seen that face before.

He doesn't get long to think about it when Joonghyuk starts to lean his weight on the reader, effectively squishing him. Dokja manages to get out a strangled garble but it doesn't change anything.

Fucking bastard.

Bihyung holds his head in one of his hands, remarking that Dokja really does have a sense of humor. How dare a mere human mention the contract, regardless of where he heard about it? It's not something for mortals to know about or desire. Especially when they don't even have a constellation of their own.

However, Dokja has gotten this far and it wasn't by backing down. "That's exactly why you should accept my offer."

[What?]

Hook, line, and sinker.

"Why do you think constellations join Star Stream channels in the first place?"

'The subscribers of the Star Stream can be divided into two groups. The first are the thrill seekers who hop through the channels looking for entertainment. The second are the incarnation seekers who are in search of an incarnations to sponsor.'

"If you want your channel to flourish, you have to satisfy at least one of the two groups," Dokja points out, strategically throwing out the net to catch this dokkaebi in his plan. "Either you make your stream as entertaining as possible, or try to find an incarnation that interests your subscribers."

Bihyung thinks for a moment, but he can't understand why anything like that concerns Dokja in the first place. Dokja, however, is not amused. No wonder Bihyung's channel only has subscribers in the three digits.

The feral grin replaces his unamused deadpan, the glint returning to his eyes as this plan plays out just as he needs it to. "What if there was a channel that could both entertain its subscribers and showcase interesting incarnations?"

Bihyung looks at him blankly, crossing his arms. [There's no way that's possible.]

"Constellations who are looking for incarnations to sponsor eventually leave the channel as soon as the <Sponsor Selection> is over, but what if there is an incarnation who refuses to take on a constellation sponsor?"

Bihyung's mouth drops open as thoughts fly through his head. This mere human couldn't be insinuating...

"And what if that incarnation outperforms all other incarnations despite not having a constellation sponsor?"

Dokja's grin widens, watching the dokkaebi fall into his trap in real time. That fuzzy little face doesn't hide a thing of it's emotions. He's got a bite, now all he needs to do is reel in the creature.

[I-is that why you didn't choose a constellation sponsor?!]

Sangah hums from her seat, evaluating that actions of past Dokja that are being played out on the screen. Her critical eyes observe ever twitch, every smile, every word. "It seems Dokja-ssi has always been like this."

"Pardon?" A baffled Dokja snaps his head over her way, his face slack in confusion. That's... Has Sangah always been like this?

She doesn't look like she meant to say that, her eyebrows raised and eyes wide. She purses her lips and continues anyway. "You're... calculative. You have always been excellent at planning. Especially when you have to work around other people."

When he goes to protest her continuing, a deep hum of curiosity from the protagonist makes him pause. The rumble from that guys chest shakes him with it. Dokja can feel it in his bones. He completely forgot what he was doing to just enjoy the moment.

"-t's actually amazing to see it happen right in front of you." Ah, she has been talking this entire time. Trying to tune into the conversation again is hard. He doesn't even bother.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' encourages you to push incarnation 'Yoo Joonghyuk' out of the chair.]

There goes that moment.

Dokja confirms that the dokkaebi has the right idea, and he offhandedly mentions that the constellations are probably in an uproar right now since the channel is closed. Bihyung flinches violently.

Dokja just sits there and grins, as nonchalant as ever. "They're all probably dying to know who it was that dared to stand up against the regressor. Can he see the future? Why did he get eaten by the ichthyosaur? Is he really a prophet?"

Bihyung frantically checks the channel, screen popping up rapidly in front of him.

[Stop, what are you- You're full of yourself! Mere humans don't stand a chance against incarnations with constellation sponsors!] He shouts. It's a fact, for as much as the dokkaebi knows, but Dokja is firm in his stance that he'll prove it to Bihyung from now on.

"All you have to do is shut your mouth and do what I say," Dokja tells him, once agin reminding Bihyung of his promise to make him into the Dokkaebi Kind. As they stare at each other, Bihyung seems to falter, and Dokja is too smug for his own good even with the edge to that smile.

In an effort to get back on course -and more familiar territory- Bihyung demands 5,100 coins from Dokja as payment for falling the sub scenario, but Dokja only stares at him blankly.

"What are you on about? I didn't fail."

[Huh?]

Dokja slowly gets to his feet. "I must have fulfilled the condition... right about now."

The concrete beneath his feet wobbles as he stands, and he carefully holds out his arms to try and keep his balance. Glancing up at Bihyung, he demands that the dokkaebi opens the channel again. After all, It's going to start soon.

He stands and stretches, cracking a couple of his joints. To Bihyung's shock, there's a loud ding that rings through the air.

[A hidden scenario has arrived.]

Gilyoung cheers when the scenario window pops up on the screen, jumping up from his shared chair to throw his hands up in excitement. He jumps in place.

The weight leaning on Dokja increases, Joonghyuk leaning further into him. Coughing, the reader brings up one of his arms to push at the buff asshole trying to suffocate him. Grumbling at the asshole, Dokja misses the looks being shot at the two of them.

[Many Constellations are surprised by the hidden scenario]

Yeah, be surprised you fucks.

The hidden scenario, <Commander Slayer>, instructs Dokja to slay the sea commander ichthyosaur and escape within 10 days. It has a diffrculty level of A+, far beyond the previous two scenarios, and the penalty is death. If he succeeds, however, he will receive 9,000 coins.

[Oh, dear constellations, please calm yourselves,] bihyung says, playing innocent. [The stream was shut down because of a server error! I didn't turn it off on purpose.]

He explains that he couldn't give preferential treatment to this incarnation -he's only a dokkaebi, after all. You know, like a liar. Dokja would know, he plays the role perfectly.

However, he manages to get Bihyung to open the dokkaebi bag for him (through threats, of course), an extensive online star stream cash shop. He looks over the options with a careful eyes, wondering if there's a search function. It's very easy to see, even on the homepage, that the prices are exorbitant.

'It can only be used while the channel is open. That's why he has his hands full explaining what happened. The hidden scenario arrived while the channel was closed, too...'

Bihyung is practically in tears as he endures the berating of the constellations. Dokja ignores his struggle, and asks for a bit of help, to which Bihyung tells him where to find the search button. He looks exhausted.

"Search item, <Ancient Dragon>," Dokja says, absolutely terrifying Bihyung and making the dokkaebi demand to know where he heard about that. Dokja just lies and says he was just calling out any cool name that came to mind at the moment. After all, names like that are very common in video games.

Unfortunately, the SS-grade item <Heart of the Ancient Dragon>, which would grant the user the [Hellfire] affix when implanted, is already sold out. The price? One and a half million coins.

'According to TWSA, the owner of this heart is in Italy. He's one lucky guy. His sponsor is filthy rich and bought this for him. At times like this, I regret not choosing a constellation sponsor.'

Dokja sighs and crosses his arms. Onto the next items, then. "Search <Arch-demon's Eyeball>. Search <White Star Weapon Aura>."

Bihyung screeches again, questioning the mysterious incarnation arrogantly standing in front of him unfazed.

A few moments later, he seems completely unimpressed by Dokja's purchased items -four bags of hammer seahorse mucus and four stone hog thorns. When Bihyung asks what Dokja plans to do with those, he just replies to wait and see. Altogether, they cost him 800 coins, and Bihyung reminds Dokja that there are no refunds.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is curious about your plan.]

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is displeased with your every move.]

Dokja just holds the same grin as earlier, excited to get this started. He presses the 'x' on that last message. There is no one here forcing the dragon to watch him, there are other places he could be. Other places he could watch.

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' complains about incarnation 'Kim Dokja' and says it is a privilege to have him watching.]

There is no privilege to have there, no reason for that to be a good thing either. Other than the constellation being another bargaining chip, he has barely started to grow on him. He's still a nuisance.

"Pretty ahjussi, why did you buy those things?" Shin Yoosung asks, her big curious eyes are shiny. She's borderline giving him puppy eyes at this point. "Won't you explain it to me? I don't understand?"

It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a-

More puppy dog are being turned on him by the kids, the teenager even joined in on it. They all stare at him expectantly, and the rest of his companions are suspiciously quiet.

He sighs, running one of his hands through his hair. The skin on his arms are still tender, but the blood has completely flaked off at this point. He really contemplates it, genuinely considering it. It's not like this is too far into the future...

They'll definitely be watching what he does, so there is no real reason not to tell them. And then, a reason pops up right in front of his face.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' declares his dislike for spoilers once more.]

The kids around him pout, even Mia stuck her bottom lip out toward the sky. It looks like they are trying to get the constellation to change his mind. There's no way that would work.

They all start to genuinely look upset about it, heads hung low and the kids eyes are starting to tear up. Mia even scrunches in on herself in a show of displeasure. He can see a smirk on her face once she's out of view of mostly everyone. Those cheeky little shits. They're doing this on purpose. For a reason he can't quite place, too.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' concedes and agrees that incarnation 'Kim Dokja' should explain his plan.]

And it worked. What?

Notes:

This should be 9,091 words

Yeah, here, have another early chapter. I hope you guys enjoy! ^3^

A fun little game for you guys, if you want to participate. I'm currently in college right now, try to guess either what classes I'm taking or what field I'm going to go into! :D

Here's a hint: I'm actually in a theory class right now but I'll be doing hands on work within the next couple of months.

I'm actually really enjoying making this, so I hope you're enjoying reading it as much as I enjoy making it! I'm thinking of making a tumblr for extra content that isn't the drafts and more like ideas I'll flush out further. Lemme know if that's something that sounds interesting! Y^Y

Chapter 10: Scammin a Streamer

Summary:

"That-" Hyunsung's voice behind him knocks Dokja out of his own musing, his past self in the background also doing so. "Dokja-ssi, that skill... it's kind of- scary?"

The soldier sounds unsure of his words, as if he's not quite sure it's the one that accurately describes the situation. He seems to decide it isn't, shaking his head and correcting himself. "Maybe not scary, but it is oddly powerful. I thought it was just a mental barrier but it seems like so much more than that..."

Notes:

I lied. Is it even early anymore if this is about the time I update now? Doesn't matter. In my brain I still technically should be updating on Thursdays so it's early. It's also longer than usual. Enjoy ^^ <3

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

He is teaching the kids bad things, apparently. Yoo Mia had just used a child's greatest weapon against the constellations. And it worked.

Dokja is so proud.

Humming as if in thought, the reader lets a mischievous grin curl on his face. Now time to teach these kids their next greatest lesson. Nothing ever goes exactly as planned.

"No, no. He's right. It would be considered spoilers. You should wait. They'll show it and I'll explain whatever isn't said." The scam smile is back. The kids all groan, complaining about all the work they put into that. He gives them a softer smile as they talk amongst each other.

It was a good try, but they'll need more than one plan in place for things to go right.

Bihyung frowns and quickly closes the channel, reminding Dokja that he hasn't yet agreed to the offer. They'll negotiate the terms of the contract after the successful completion of the hidden scenario. After sarcastically wishing Dokja good luck with the blessing of the story, Bihyung disappears and reopens the channel.

Immediately, Dokja gets to work putting his plan into action. It's 9:41 pm.

'There isn't much time until the stomach acid is secreted.'

He removes his tie from the pocket on his shirt, loosening it until he can pull it over his head. There's no point in keeping it on. He takes some of the mucus from the first bag and rubs it along the length of the first stone hog thorn. Every bit of its surface needs to be covered. As he finishes with his task, a strange hissing noise catches his attention, and Dokja turns to see small holes opening up in the sea commander's stomach lining that will allow the acid to flow.

Liquid comes gushing out, and Dokja takes a deep breath as he grips a thorn tightly in his hand, ready to stab it into the beast's flesh.

There's only one thought on his mind.

'I will make it out of here alive.'

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' reminds incarnation 'Kim Dokja' of the upcoming scene.]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' reminisces about the scene.]

Oh. Oh, wait, no. That's...

Dokja knows exactly what they're talking about. They're probably reminding him of this so that he makes sure the kids have their eyes covered. Uriel isn't here to do it after all. This is going to absolutely devastate any image he's built thus far.

A couple of curious eyes turn his way, imploring him to explain what the constellations are talking about. He ignores them best he can, which is pretty easy considering he's in the front seat and has to actually turn to see any of them. Except for Joonghyuk. Who is sitting right nest to him. And sending him a look with narrowed eyes.

"Kim Dokja." His name is said like a demand, giving him the perfect idea of what this bastard is going to say next. He's proven right very quickly. "What did you do."

That, too, is a demand instead of a question. This protagonist bastard really needs to learn how to speak politer. Unwilling to actually explain, Dokja just tells him to wait and see. He does turn to the kids though. "Yeah, we're not doing this. You're all going to be closing your eyes. Cover them or your ears I don't care."

He makes sure his face and stern in a way that tries to convey how serious he is. He would rather not have the kids see any of the debauchery that must be coming up. Han Sooyoung snorts at him.

"It can not be that bad." Her voice borders on being a chortle, her smug face curled up in an amused grin. Feeling the flush crawl up his neck at what he possibly could have looked like, he ignores her. She's about to see exactly just how bad it was.

Honestly, he wants to try and see if he can get everyone to avert their eyes and not just the kids. He eyes them to make sure they're all doing as their told. Dokja has to reprimand the teenager when he finds her peeking through her fingers. "Please, Jihye-yah, listen to me just this once."

He's essentially begging her, his pride will already be in shambles. He doesn't need it to be worse. The sunfish bastard is still just glaring at him, the arm around him squeezing him in what he can only assume is a threat.

Inside the ichthyosaur's stomach, Dokja clings to the wall of the lining in a precarious position. Below him, the corpses and humanoid demons are gradually dissolving along with the concrete rubble that was floating around. Some of the demons are still conscious and he can hear the pained wails as they melt.

Despite escaping the worst of the situation, Dokja isn't left unscathed. His clothes are torn apart, barely hanging onto him, and his shoes have completely dissolved. There are light acid burns across his skin and it's making the areas red and inflamed.

The puffed up skin just makes it easier to see the slightly shiny scars marring the expanse. They're seen relatively easy through the big holes in his deteriorating clothes. There's a lot of them and they would have been harder to see if not for the discoloration caused by the acid burning him. There's a particularly bad scar running up the side of his ribs that ends around his sternum.

Cringing at his almost half naked body, Dokja sticks the tip of his tongue out of his lips in displeasure. He was right, this is unpleasant to see. Snapping his head around, he checks to make sure the kids are heeding his words. They are, but they look unhappy about it, Lee Jihye especially looks upset. She's pouting in her seat.

Lee Seolhwa, who is sat closer to the back of the theater, looks at the screen with concern. She... she doesn't know this man. They have never met. And yet she still looks at his condition on the screen and hurts for him. Those burns are not good, but they're not life threatening like they could be.

What really tugs at her heart strings are the scale of those scars. They have been given more than enough explanation for where those could have come from, but she realizes they were there when she had watched him pull his shirt up to access his ribs.

Kids like that shouldn't know how to check for broken ribs. They shouldn't.

The one along his ribs looks to be the worst, but there could be any number that are hidden by the clothes he has left. It looks old, though it's still thick and ropey. With pursed lips, she reluctantly tries to recall if she's seen anything similar.

Yoo Joonghyuk, who has leaned even further on him, seems to be trying to either crush him to death or trying to hide him from view. Whatever he's trying to do it doesn't matter because he's making it hard for Dokja to breath right. He grunts at the brute, grumbling about the fact that he can't breathe.

Around him, stone hog thorns coated in mucus plug the holes where the stomach acid had previously been flowing free, creating a safe spot. Dokja clings to the horns, pressing himself up against the stomach lining, knowing that this will take a while.

His limbs starts to cramp and get tired a long time ago. His fingers burn in a way that lets him know it's exhaustion and not the acid. Dark circles underline his eyes, Dokja is panting from the exertion of holding on for his life.

'How long has it been? Did I overestimate myself? I'm just an ordinary reader; I'm not the protagonist of this story.'

His thoughts are slow and mulish, dragging through his head as a way to distract himself from his vision going blurry and his muscles screaming at him. He's been here for hours, probably days on end at this point.

'I wonder if mother is fine. She should be, since it's mother of all people.'

Sooyoung looks at him with a slack jaw and mouth wide open. Her face is slightly flushed and she splutters trying to find something to say in the aftermath of that. Eventually, she gets her words. "That can not be you. There's no way."

Her face scrunches up, still red, and she reaches over to pinch his cheek. Sooyoung pulls at it. "Why do you look like that, you rat."

Slapping at her, Dokja is able to make her let go and evade her next move to grab him again. The effort knocks him into the protagonist -who had only recently stopped trying to squish him- and when he looks over Joonghyuk that guy looks like he's had an epiphany.

Her face makes Dokja look away, not willing to try to make sense of that for his own sanity, he looks to the other members of the room. Yoo Sangah catches his eye first. She isn't laughing like some of the others, her eyes are trained on the screen with dangerous eyes. There's a threat there that he doesn't want to know who will be on the other end of that.

He continues to rotate his head, his gaze finding Heewon next. She's melting in her chair with chuckles, genuine mirth painted all across her face. One more funny thing and she might break down in giggles. He's glad she's having fun.

Lee Hyunsung is next, the soldier is colored like a cherry and avoiding his gaze. There isn't much for him to look for when he can't really see his face in the first place. He moves on to the kids but they're still covering their eyes so there isn't much for him to get from them.

He turns back to the screen and cringes all over again.

[Many Constellations are surprised.]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' compliments incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

Now what is this bastard complimenting him on? That's too broad of a statement. Scowling at the sky is just about all he can do in this situation unfortunately.

There are more constellation notifications that he ignores, looking to his companion instead. It looks like he's gathered his thoughts as Yoo Joonghyuk is now staring at him intensely.

Nope. Back to the screen.

Dokja blinks, but his eyes struggle to open after. He's exhausted.

'This can't be a dream, can it? I hope it is. The world before wasn't all that great, but risking my life in the stomach of this monster is not on the list of dream activities.'

He thinks about it a little harder, his eyes actually opening again. He stares at the flesh of the stomach lining.

'It has been nice to be here though.'

He doesn't know how many hours have passed, but he's somehow still clinging to one of the thorns on the wall. The only change, however, is that it seems drier inside the stomach than before. Dokja can barely move through his exhaustion and screaming muscles, but he turns his head when Bihyung appears behind him.

[Wow. I have to hand it to you.]

[Several constellations are impressed by your survival skills.]

[You have been sponsored 100 coins.]

It's the fourth day of this hell called a hidden scenario and Dokja barely look like he's alive anymore.

"Four days?!" Jihye shouts, dropping her hands from her eyes and getting an eyeful of a half naked Dokja. She doesn't even pay attention to it, snapping her head to look at the current Dokja instead. "How did you do that for four days, pretty ahjussi?"

He hums, a little upset she didn't listen to him, but sighs in acceptance. He wasn't actually expecting her to listen to him anyway. It was a pipe dream. He thinks back to what it actually felt like. "Through coin upgraded stats. And the fluids I was drinking upgraded my stats too."

His answer doesn't seem to satisfy her, Jihye puffs her cheeks up and crosses her arms with a huff. She looks at him expectantly as if she want him to elaborate. The other kids have uncovered their faces and are looking at him with the same eyes. He decides after letting the kids down earlier he can tell her.

"I'm used to staying up for days on end with little sleep." Dokja is reluctant to admit it, reminded about how badly his companions were appalled at his lackluster appetite. He waves away her concern as he continues. "My coin upgraded stamina is the major factor though."

[I had no idea you would use the thorns like that. That was unexpected.] Bihyung mutters, but Dokja can't hold on anymore. He lets his eyes fall closed, his grip slipping as he relaxes his tired arms. The reader falls to the fleshy ground with a squishy thud to the dokkaebi's alarm. The ichthyosaur is dead and the hidden scenario has been announced as over. In total, Dokja gets 10,000 coins.

He lays there breathing heavily and splayed out on the ground, taking a moment to rest while he can. He's exhausted. He's amazed he is even alive. He opens his eyes.

His plan was simple -use the thorns of the stone hog that usually preys on sea creatures by drying them out, and coat them in the mucus of the hammer seahorse that evolved to avoid being dissolved by the ichthyosaurs' stomach acid. The giant sea commander has been entirely dehydrated, and it' now only a lifeless husk. This wasn't a plan that Bihyung had been expecting and he says as much in shock.

[A few constellations smile knowingly.]

[Several constellations now understand your decision.]

[The constellation complain, asking you to day what you'll do out loud so they are made aware of your actions beforehand.]

'As if.' He snorts to himself, reading the pop up windows as he closes them out. There is no way Dokja is going to say his plan out loud before he goes through with it. Plans barely get past first contact anyway, it will only be worse when he has people working against him.

'Before the stone hog's thorn started working, I covered myself in what was left of the hammer seahorse mucus. I drank the bodily fluid of the ichthyosaur that was funneled through the horn to appease my hunger.'

Yoosung sticks her tongue out at that, her face scrunches up in what can be disgust. "What does that even taste like, ahjussi?"

Probably not as bad as she's thinking. It was salty, but that's the worst part about it. It kept him from withering away in that stomach and that's about all that mattered at the time. Dokja tries to really think about the taste but he can't quite remember.

[The exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' thickens.]

Maybe he doesn't want to know.

He smiles at her but doesn't answer. There's no real answer to give her, but he knows well that she'll try to push for one anyway. He tells them to close their eyes again instead. Warning them against peaking. The kids obey, but grumble while they do it.

The imagery of this scene is particularly lewd -Dokja is sweaty and trembling while pressed up against the wall of the stomach lining. His bck is arched as he tries to keep his balance while not relying on his arms and legs as much. His mouth is open beneath the leaking horn that he's tightly gripping in order to catch any drops of fluid with his tongue that he can.

His eye are half-lidded and a bead of sweat rolls down the side of his neck and down his chest, which heaves laboriously at the effort he is exerting. This only brings attention to his outfit, or lack thereof. The torn and dissolved clothes barely draped on his body reveals pale skin and a lean figure, reddened by the acid's bite. Overall, the scene looks like one big innuendo.

There it is. That was what he was expecting earlier. From an outside point of view, it's weird seeing what his suffering actually looked like. It was bordering on sexual. Frowning, Dokja eyes his thin arms and visible ribs. At least it's him and not one of the ladies. They don't need anymore fuel for people to sexualize them...

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is admiring the view.]

[Many Constellations are shocked.]

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' says that incarnation 'Kim Dokja' looks weak.]

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' complains that incarnation 'Kim Dokja' doesn't eat enough.]

[Some Constellations are looking lecherously.]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire is screaming!]

He wants to curl up somewhere and die in a hole.

[The skill 'The Fourth Wall' thickens.]

It looks like Uriel is back. And at such a moment too. There are many more messages floating around in front of him that he gets rids of. None of the others really matter as much. Though the amount of pop ups is getting annoying. Some of them are confusing. Secretive Plotter needs to get better eye balls.

Joonghyuk watches the screen and is hit with realizations that he would rather not have in the first place. How is man supposed to be sensible in these conditions? He feels like he's ready to scream. He's so close to the reader and there isn't anything he can do about it but sit here and be cozy squished up next to him.

Hindsight is a bitch.

Dokja checks on the kids, ignoring every other adult in the room with as much animosity as he can while not talking to them, to make sure that they still have their eyes covered. It's not hard to see Jihye peaking but the rest are doing as he asked. Damn it. Teenagers.

Han Sooyoung knocks into him, her whole body curling up a she wheezes out cackles breathlessly. This witch. She's practically falling over where she's sitting. She absolutely nudged into him on purpose though. He sneers and pushes on her face to get her away from him. He used her nose to do it. How dare she.

She splutters in her chair, accidentally breathing in her own spit, and starts to choke. She's still sort of laughing while she coughs. There's a flush creeping along her cheeks that is worse than earlier.

[You have absorbed the strength of the ichthyosaur. Your stamina level has increased.]

[Stamina lvl. 11 → Stamina lvl. 12]

'After that, it was a test of sheer willpower.'

Dokja glances over the acid burns that cover his body. The mucus allowed him to survive the stomach acid, but it still hurts like hell.

[Your pain is partially nullified by your exclusive skill, 'The Fourth Wall'.]

Bihyung floats near him. [That was an amazing survival drama, don't you think so, dear constellations?]

Dokja groans a he unsteadily gets to his feet. "Just open the damn dokkaebi bag."

Taking on of the thorns in hand, Dokja slashes through the dried stomach lining to reveal the sea commander's glowing nucleus. Taking it in hand, Dokja turns to Bihyung.

"I'm going to sell this," he states bluntly too tired to elaborate or give the creature anything more than that. "Put it up for trade on the dokkaebi auction house. I won't trade it for anything but <Broken Faith>."

Bihyung can't believe his ears. Seriously, how does a human know all of this?

Well, that's not exactly a mystery anymore, Dokja muses exasperatedly. This entire scenario is screwing with his plans. How is he supposed to do anything right when everyone already knows how he's going to be swinging the scenarios?

Dokja starts figuring out what he wants to buy, but Bihyung cuts him off by triggering another advertisement on his channel with a cheeky grin. Only a second later, the stream contract pops up in front of his face.

Overall, the terms look pretty good. Dokja can't get a constellation until all the scenarios are over or he dies, he can only be active in Bihyung's channel, and the two od them have to share all profits. There is one problem, though...

"The contract is missing the most important part." Dokja tells him, his smarmy smile painting his face. It's not a seal, nor a verbal agreement, despite what Bihyung thinks. It's the ratio at which the profits will be divided.

Bihyung is offering him fifty-fifty and no fee for channel usage. That's barely crumbs. It's not good enough.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Dokja asks, offended at this creature who's trying to one up him. It doesn't matter what the 'market rate' is, because he knows better.

'A constellation's incarnation makes an appearance on the dokkaebi's channel, and the constellation shares the coins gifted by the other constellations with the dokkaebi who owns the channel. That's how it usually goes, but-'

Dokja narrows his eyes, letting them drag over the creature with a stern gaze. "I don't have a constellation sponsor, and when constellations gift coins to an incarnation without a constellation sponsor, they have to pay a hefty commission fee to the dokkarbi."

Bihyung can't help but flinch as Dokja continues his accusation. "I'm sure you've already made quite the profit, thanks to me. I'll take all the coins."

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is surprised at the events]

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' laughs in astonishment at your actions]

Han Sooyoung chokes beside him, and so does Heewon, turning too point an accusatory finger in his face. One of these times he's just going to bite whatever she's sticking in his face and see how she feels about that. She's laughing while she points at him, stuttering through her words just barely able to get them out.

"You-" The laughing sounds like Sooyoung is loosing her mind at this point. "-really"

Now this is just disappointing. She can do better than this. Be better than this- no wait. Dokja genuinely doesn't think she could be. He snorts at her anyway.

She reduces herself to giggles, finally able to get out what she was wanting to say. "You really used all of that knowledge you have just to rip off the dokkaebi?"

Jung Heewon, who had started to calm down by this point, is now a puddle of loud cackling laughing once more. Jihye has even joined in on clowning on him, her own high pitched giggling filtering in through the adults.

"What else do you want me to do with it?" He scoffs at her, leaning forward a bit to gnash his teeth closer to her finger. Sooyoung jerks her finger away from his snapping teeth but doesn't do anything else. She's still making fun of him. She won't be laughing when she sees just how many coins he was able to gain from this deal of his.

[Many Constellations protest at the unfair advantage of incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

"Dokja-ssi..." Sangah is laughing behind her hand, he can see her shoulders moving up and down. That's a betrayal that stung. She has no trouble speaking though, so it's not as bad as the rest. "I see you still have your... hmmm, special touch? when it comes to deals."

She's smiling, but as much of it is amusement there's also something that could border on nostalgia in her expression. Avoiding that, he turns to his seatmate who has been characteristically silent this entire conversation.

Dokja sees mirthful eyes and decides he doesn't want to know what the protagonist thinks about this situation.

Bihyung's shocked face morphs into a snarl instantly. [What?!]

Dokja smiles like a scammer as he happily informs the dokkaebi that he'll be fine with just the commission, since Dokja won't be giving up a single coin. Of course, Bihyung thinks this is preposterous. He offers different ratios, but Dokja turns them all down. It's all or nothing, and he'll just move on to a dokkaebi who will accept his terms.

When Bihyung tries to keep negotiating, Dokja reminds him that the advertisements will be over soon and that the constellations are complaining again.

After a moment of agonizing, Bihyung sighs and gives in. [Fine. Damn it. So you'll sign the contract under these terms?]

"Oh, and one more thing." Dokja speaks again, his scammy smile turning cheeky as his eyes turn up. "I get a contract fee, too. Give me 5,000 coins."

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is impressed by the audacity of the incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

[You have been sponsored 666 coins]

Once the contract is signed and sealed, Dokja sits down on the fleshy ground. He has to rest. His eyes are heavy and they are starting to fall close very quickly. He soon falls back, landing on the dried out floor, and looses consciousness as soon as he does. In front of his asleep body, there is a blue window that can't be read.

Suddenly, he finds himself seeing an unexpected sight.

Outside the body of the dead sea monster, meteors streak across the starry sky in a brilliant shower. Though it's beautiful, it isn't a sight that Joonghyuk wants to admire. After all, this is the harbinger of the third main scenario. which is destined to destroy the city of Seoul.

Joonghyuk looks up at the sky before bowing his head and looking at the Han River below. The group of Ichthyosaur had moved downstream not too long ago, and the area was deserted.

'It was too much,' he thinks, knowing it may have been a mistake to ask Dokja to kill one of them this early in the scenarios. It had already been three days since Joonghyuk threw him off the bridge, after all. However, it won't be worth taking the man along with him if he couldn't do even this much. Anything less, and Dokja would just be a hinderance to him.

'A prophet isn't a big deal.'

Joonghyuk closes his eyes in disappointment, knowing that he would once again be fighting through the scenarios without any companions. Once more, he would be alone.

It wasn't a big deal. He had been alone all this time.

'This time I will definitely change it.' He thinks as he turns away from the river, leaving without another word.

But maybe he had turned away too soon.

"Master did... did you wait there for ahjussi all that time?" Jihye asks hesitantly, turning big curious eyes over to Joonghyuk. The protagonist looks over to her before averting his gaze and nodding. His ears are red.

"Wait, you really did?" Kim Dokja speaks up this time, his own curious eyes on the man squished up against him. This time, Joonghyuk doesn't look at him like he did Jihye. He does nod his head again and actually give him an answer this time.

"I did."

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' cheers for the companions.]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' says he would have waited longer for incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' tells constellation 'Secretive Plotter' to but out.]

With that simple confirmation, it feels like Dokja's world had been turned on it's axis. That... he didn't think the protagonist had actually waited for him. And for that bastard to be genuinely disappointed-

[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' sticks his finger in his ear']

The great sage needs to learn to have better timing.

"Wait...!" Dokja shouts as he jerks awake, still inside the Ichthyosaur. Everything that he saw just now- was it a dream?

"Is that another one of your skills, pretty ahjussi?" Shin Yoosung pops her head forward so she can be seen around the protagonist. She is pointing to the screen and has her head tilted to the side like a confused puppy. Why does everyone here like pointing so much-?

"Yes, it is, Yoosung-ie" Dokja gives her confirmation, but doesn't expand on his answer. A more in-depth explanation would probably come later anyway. A deep seeded irritation at having everything exposed sweeps over him again.

Still, regardless of whether it was or not, Dokja has more important issues to worry about, like getting out of here.

He decides to go up the way he went down, climbing through the esophagus of the sea monster. When he got to the mouth, it took him considerable effort to open it. The water that immediately invaded the dry cavern almost threw him off balance.

Dokja gathers as big of a breath of air as possible, inhaling deeply despite the absolute horrendous smell of both him and the corpse. He moves against the current of incoming water and dives into the river water. He swims away from the mouth, looking at the corpse when he has completely left. It looks, oddly, intriguing from the outside. He's forced to turn away and swim in what he thinks is the upward direction when his chest starts screaming at him.

He gasps when he reaches the surface of the river, furiously swimming to the edge after escaping the corpse. The air is fresh -or at least, as fresh as it gets in a city that's burning- but at least it doesn't smell like death and decay. It's Dokja's first time breathing fresh air in four days.

'I thought it would only take me two days. Still, four days isn't bad, considering it took Yoo Joonghyuk four days on his fourth round. I also managed to sign a stream contract with a dokkaebi, and made quite a few coins in the process, so it's not a bad start.'

He muses on his life before the scenarios, when he wouldn't have been able to get anyone to sign anything associated with his name. Now, just for having read TWSA, he's become someone extraordinary. Still, no amount of future knowledge will allow him to summon clothes into existence to replace his ruined outfit.

[The exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' is still active.]

That skill... he had tried to get Bihyung to fix his broken attributes window earlier, but not even [System Interface] could do anything. His skill had appeared and blocked any and all attempts to disable it. Offhandedly, Dokja considers that he will probably make for a great con man, since no one can see his attributes window.

"That-" Hyunsung's voice behind him knocks Dokja out of his own musing, his past self in the background also doing so. "Dokja-ssi, that skill... it's kind of- scary?"

The soldier sounds unsure of his words, as if he's not quite sure it's the one that accurately describes the situation. He seems to decide it isn't, shaking his head and correcting himself. "Maybe not scary, but it is oddly powerful. I thought it was just a mental barrier but it seems like so much more than that..."

Now that he thinks about it, the [Fourth Wall] is sort of weird. Dokja can't think of a skill in TWSA that was anything like it. It's sort of like the skill has a mind of it's own. With a shiver, he looks over to Sooyoung to see what she thinks.

Her face is scrunched up, and not in the good way like when she smiles mischievously or is laughing. Sooyoung's face is a map of concern as she is thinking, her mouth opening and closing a few times before remaining closed with pursed lips. She doesn't say anything.

Dokja doesn't have anything to say about it either.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is intrigued.]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is concerned.]

He steps through the barrier that separates him from the next main scenario area, and he's instantly affected by the poisonous fog in the city.

[The scenario is highly contaminated.]

[Hold your breath and quickly get underground.]

Dokja's skin starts to get mottled with purple spots as he breathes in the poison, and a pop up confirms that he's been exposed.

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' smiles insidiously.]

As he looks down at the abandoned street, Dokja knows something for sure. 'The real game begins now!'

As dawn breaks over the nearly deserted ruins of Seoul, the silence is shattered by a gigantic rhino-like monster charging down the street to attack a massive praying mantis. Their cries and screeches echo through the early morning air as they fight, providing an unpleasant soundscape for Dokja, who is in a nearby abandoned convenience store.

He swipes food and supplies off the shelves haphazardly into plastic bags, grabbing whatever he can. Bottles, packets, and cans gradually fill the plastic bags until he can't carry anymore. Somewhere, he's also found a new set of clothes to wear that could replace his ruined ones.

When he had been looking, he had purposefully passed over the section that had socks and shoes. Dokja doesn't have to conform to societal norms now that the apocalypse hasn't started. Fuck you, society. You've done nothing for him since the day he was born except for crash and burn.

"Is that why you haven't had shoes, ahjussi?" Yoo Mia is judging him, and she's judging him hard. Dokja refuses to look at the eleven year old. It's absolutely not because he's being petty.

"I noticed that, actually." Jihye mutters, raising her voice to actually speak to him with a question. "Aren't you worried about your feet getting hurt ahjussi?"

Eyeing the teenager, Dokja hums as he thinks of an answer that would satisfy her. It, admittedly, takes him a bit to actually think of one. "Not really. my stats are too high for me to worry about that.

Mia is no longer looking at him with judgy eyes, she's looking back at the screen instead.

The protagonist is looking at him, though. Dokja shifts a little, nervous about what the man might have to say. It takes a long awkward moment, but Joonghyuk does eventually deign to grace him with his voice.

"Shoes are protectants. Wear shoes."

And that was it. The bastard also turned back to the screen, not even bothering to let Dokja rebuke him.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' regrets to agree with incarnation 'Yoo Joonghyuk' but he says that incarnation 'Kim Dokja' should wear shoes.]

Well it's not going to happen so fuck off.

[The surrounding land area for the scenario is heavily polluted.]

[Hold your breath and get underground as quickly as possible.]

Dokja stands and hoists the bags up, preparing himself for going outside into the contaminated atmosphere.

'These should be enough, I should head to the basement now since the item's effect is almost gone... I spent too much time putting on the clothes.'

The item in quesition in <Elian's Monkey Lung>, which, is held in the mouth can purify poisonous substances for 20 minutes. As he leaves the store, however, he hears a weak cry from somewhere to his left.

"-elp..."

Dokja startles at the voice, and he instantly realizes that there's someone else in the store. He pauses for a moment, genuinely debating just leaving whoever it is where they are, but turns away from the door and follows the sound of the woman's voice.

"Help-" There's a couples moments before the voice continues. "Help me..."

"Heewon-ssi, is that-?" Hyunsung leans over toward the judge, asking his question under his breath in a whisper. He stops abruptly so Dokja glances behind him to see Heewon's face is pale and she is tensed up in her seat. He can also sort of see her hands shaking in her lap where she's trying to hide them.

Pursing his lips, Dokja clenches his own fists in his lap. He's frustrated he couldn't have done more for her. Heewon got her revenge, but it doesn't erase what was done to her. This must be hard for her, having these awful things replayed before her.

She deserves better than this.

"Don't look, Heewon-ssi." Dokja finally says, his voice stern as he looks her in her eyes. Her pupils are shaking, lips trembling. He is determined to make this better in any way he can. "You don't have to watch this."

He tries to soften his expression, giving her his nicest smile as he raises from his chair a bit to try and cover her view of the screen. That's all it takes for her to snap her head away to look at one of the walls instead. She covers her ears and curls up further in her chair.

Nodding, Dokja turns and sits back in the chair properly. He's now sitting slightly on Joonghyuk instead of squished up in the chair, but it's not really noticeable so he ignore it.

Joonghyuk notices just fine.

He turns around a shelving unit and sees a trembling woman lying on the ground, and she's not in good condition. Though she's wearing mask to try and slow the spread of the airborne poison, it isn't enough.

Dokja looks down at her in shock. 'There's someone who survived..?'

The woman looks up at him with a pleading gaze. "Help me... Please."

She's begging him. It makes him feel like he's going to throw up. It's too familiar of a sound, of a sight. There's a memory tugging at the edge of his thoughts and he packs it away quickly.

Between her torn clothes, the bruising marring her skin, and the dark splotches from the poison, she looks pitiful. However, her eyes are fierce despite the desperation and exhausted clearly seen in them.

[Exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' thickens.]

"Oh, Heewon-ssi..." Yoo Sangah almost starts a sentence, but she falls quiet after that. She sounds like she's sympathizing though, not wanting to continue the conversation from earlier. The theater is dead quiet now.

"You helped me." Heewon is the one to break the silence, the only acceptable person to do so. Her voice cracks once, but she doesn't let it dissuade her. She powers on like she always had. Her hands are no longer shaking when he looks back, they are closed in fists and her eyes are trained on him.

Dokja doesn't say anything, just gazing at her and waiting for her to say her piece. It's important that he refrains from interrupting. Even the kids don't say anything. Her voice is more solid this time around, no longer wavering. "You didn't have to-"

He's about to argue, a scowl crawling up his forehead. She doesn't even give him the chance. "But you did. I'll never forget that. I'll never forget how you helped me when I was only a liability."

Heewon's voice gets more and more stable, ending on a stern note as she nods solidly at him with a determined look on her face.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' commends incarnation 'Kim Dokja' for his good deed.]

There is no good here. Dokja stubbornly looks back to the screen. He is not good.

A few moments later, Dokja has her held carefully on his back, and he runs down the sidewalk while still carrying the bags of food. Bodies are littered on the ground, decomposing and leaving all sorts of fluids among the rubble. He steps around it pointedly having to look closely because of the toxic haze obscuring his vision.

He thinks as quickly as he can, needing to get underground fast for her sake as well as his. 'Oksu station is already destroyed because it's above ground. The next closest underground station is... Geumho station!'

Dokja skids to a stop above the closest station exit, but it's gated shut.

He can't help but mentally curse at his awful luck. 'Shit, it's blocked. Then maybe the other side...'

Dokja has never been the most athletic of people, so he's out of breath and panting when a voice comes from over his shoulder.

"..four-" She coughs. "Exit number four-"

The woman's voice is weak, but it's clear she must have come from inside the station and would know where an open gate is located. He follows her directions instantly, rushing over to the aforementioned exit.

At exit four, some men are closing the gate when a thorn is suddenly stuck underneath before it can fully close.

"Wha- What the fuck?!" One of the guys says while backing away, not sure what to make of this new development.

"Open the door." Dokja doesn't have the time for this.

The men startle and yell at him from the other side, refusing to let him in even though he has a wounded person with him.

"This place is already full! We don't need anyone else!"

Dokja just sighs, irritation bubbling up born from his lack of rest and reaching his limit of just how much bullshit he's willing to deal with. "That's not my problem."

'This is strange. They aren't taking anymore people because the place is full? Was there a development in the novel like that?' He thinks carefully, frowning around the <Elian's Monkey Lung> in his mouth.

Grabbing the thorn and making full use of his upgraded stats, Kim Dokja uses it to lift the gate and get inside.

[You have entered the safety zone.]

"It is weird they didn't just let you in." Lee Jihye comments on the oddness, looking confused at the scene on the screen. She chews at her bottom lip, turning around to ask Heewon about it. "Was the station really that full? It must have been really hot with all of those people."

Heewon just stares at the teenager, taking a long moment to gather her words, and eventually answers in a grave tone. "The station wasn't full."

Confused, Jihye tries to gather exactly what that means, but Dokja explains it to her before this gets out of hand and she makes something up that is no where near what the answer actually is.

"Any new people in the station put the hierarchy of power into question. There were people there that wanted to stay in power and newcomers were unknowns they couldn't risk."

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' agrees with incarnation 'Kim Dokja's assessment]

His tone is just as serious as Heewon's was, not bothering to turn to meet the teenagers eyes. Joonghyuk next to him nods along with his words, giving his statement weight in Jihye's world.

That's so unfair.

Carefully, he lets the woman off his back and sits her down against the wall, offering the item to her when she gasps for breath.

"Put this in your mouth. This won't fully heal you, but it'll help for as long as it lasts."

The woman takes it gratefully, and starts using it to help her breathe. As she does so, Dokja observes her carefully while thinking a few things over. 'Was there an extra like this is the novel? If this was the original novel, then there would've been a high chance of her dying there. Should I look into this?'

His thoughts ae interrupted by the men's return as they shout, "There! It's him!"

A bright light falls over the two of them as the thugs' apparent leader approaches with a pissed-off expression on his face. He's backed by multiple people, all geared with assorted makeshift weapons.

The man demands to know who he is in what should probably be a fierce voice, but Dokja just looks thoroughly unimpressed while a window pops up. He doesn't even know why the random man is asking when the scenario requires everyone to get to an underground station or die.

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' frowns down at the uninvited guests.]

Still, he decides to humor them anyway. "Kim Dokja."

"Kim Dokja? That's your name?"

"Yes."

The lead thug gets angry and tries to act tough to intimidate the two of them. It's a pathetic attempt. There's no way that would work on him. "Who the hell is asking about that? I asked what kind of bastard you are?!"

One of the other men notices the woman beside Dokja and points her out in shock. "A-ah! That woman..!"

The lead thug notices her as well and makes a remark. "Huh, that's the girl from the minor group. Didn't she come back with you guys?"

"The- The thing is-" The other thug stutters through a reply with an awkward grin that clearly shows whoever was responsible was up to no good.

The lead thug realizes something and smirks. "Ah~ I see. So it's about That, isn't it? You little bastards should have gotten my permission first."

[Many Constellations are angry at the injustice.]

A wave of cringes flies across the people in the room. Yoo Sangah inhales a sharp gasp and Han Sooyoung sucks air in through her clenched teeth. The sunken atmosphere from earlier becomes even heavier as more of the truth is revealed.

Dokja knows exactly what happened. He's seen this situation before. He would have known even if Heewon herself hadn't eluded to it like she had. It's a pain to watch each and every one of the people in his group slowly understand exactly what this situation means.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' calls for blood of the perpetrators.]

The kids are more ignorant, at the very least. But Gilyoung's eyes are more knowing than they should be and Jihye in grimacing in her seat. It's good for them to know, but Dokja feels bad that they have to know about it in the first place.

He assures himself that none of his companions will have to deal with such a disgusting concept ever again if he had anything to say about it. The women of the group have shuffled around a bit. Sooyoung is still sitting next to him but Sangah has switched with Hyunsung so she's closer to Heewon. They're whispering, so he imagines Sangah is comforting her.

The woman still looks weakened from the poison, but she seems incredibly wary of these men, and Dokja notices it. It's disappointing that such obvious villains are appearing, but even if it's cliche, people will use the apocalypse as an excuse to commit horrific crimes.

The men laugh amongst themselves and say that someone named Chulsoo should have been the first to have her.

'Chulsoo? Was there a character with that name? If I can't remember him, then that just means he isn't very important.' Dokja thinks as he observes them with a serious gaze.

The men stop talking amongst themselves and turn to address Dokja once more. "Hey, just hand over that girl... Huh? What's that?"

One of the others notices the other things Dokja brought and he points out the bags from the convenience store, and Dokja is immediately told to hand over the food as well so that he can leave with his life.

As fucking if. He was getting away with his life either way and he sure as hell wasn't handing over his new friend and the food he was able to gather. Eyeing the group, he debates with himself about the situation he's gotten himself into.

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is pissed off at the thugs.]

Yeah, Dokja can't believe the audacity of these bastards either.

[the Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is furious at the injustice happening in front of her eyes.]

[At the constellations' request, a bounty scenario has been generated.]

The bounty scenario tells Dokja to get rid of the men delaying the storyline within 5 minutes. Crouching to settle the woman on the floor as softly as he can so as to not jostle her, Dokja stands with a grin, holding onto the thorn he used earlier. 'Not bad for me, but too bad for these losers.'

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is waiting for justice.]

"Ha, that shit thinks he got something..." Chulsoo remarks, clanging his brass knuckles together. Then, he slicks back his hair in a poor attempt to look cool. "If you don't scram now, I'm going to kill you."

"Ahjussi, please tell me you fucked them up." Jihye really needs to stop looking at him with such expectations. One day he's not going to be able to reach them.

"Of course Hyung does." Gilyoung scoffs at the teenager, a sour look on his face as he borderline glares at her. She glares back and both of them stick their tongues out at each other. Children.

"Please watch your language, Jihye-yah." He says instead of answering her, leaning over the protagonist to reach as far as he can so he's able to pat the kids head. She pouts at him, but leans into his hand anyway.

"But yeah, they didn't stand a chance." He takes back his hand and smugly answers her, a self-satisfied smile on his face. Those fuckers got what was coming to them.

In what is likely less than a matter of minutes, Chulsoo is brutally punched into the wall, and many other thugs now lie beat up on the ground surrounding Dokja. Of those who remain standing, some are wondering how he's still fine after getting hit, while others wonder if he secretly has a gangster background.

'The difference in stats like stamina, health, and agility make a huge difference in battles. My overall level is 33, while most of their stats are still in the single digits.'

"Crap, the bastard went for our legs so that we can't move!" One of the thugs wail, already on the ground and cradling his injured leg.

Dokja moves in front of Chulsoo once more, clearly looking down on him.

'Even if he's getting support from the constellations, he can't easily overcome the difference between him and me.'

Without wasting a moment, Dokja pulls up the man's profile.

|Name: Bang Cheolsoo

|Age: 34

|Constellation sponsor: Monarch of the Small

|Fries

|Personal attribute: Assault Force Captain

|(ordinary

|Exclusive skills: Dogfight lvl. 2, Bluff lvl. 2

|Stigma: Threat lvl. 1

|Overall stats: Stamina lvl. 6, Strength lvl. 7,

|Agility lvl. 6, Intelligence lvl. 2

|General evaluation: He was lucky to get a

|constellation sponsor. He has a tendency to

|overestimate his fighting skills.

Noticing his sponsor, Dokja immediately thinks the man is fucking stupid. 'Why did he choose this constellation?'

Suddenly, he notices something on the profile and speaks out loud. There's a vicious grin on his face. He knows what's going on now. "The Cheoldu group's Bang Cheolsoo?"

"What? You knew about that?" The man grits out, nearly spitting his words through clenched teeth.

'He is the shittiest bastard amongst the Geumho station group- wasn't he supposed to be killed by Yoo Joonghyuk..? Why is he still alive?'

Chulsoo, thinking he found a kindred spirit, says, "Oh ho! So you're also from That category? You've also killed your fair share of people, haven't you? No wonder I felt something similar from you."

"Dokja-ssi, you're not the same at all." Sangah tries to comfort him, reaching forward to rest a hand on his shoulder. He lets her even though the touch feels like it's burning through his skin. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think-

"Yeah! Ahjussi is so much better than those scumbags." Yoo Mia nods along, shoving her own opinion into the mix. Yoosoung nods along with her, turning her pleading gaze to Dokja as if her eyes alone could make him believe them.

This starts up a chorus of people around him assuring him that he isn't like what the bastards are saying, the kids are the loudest as they have started to yell over each other in a competition to see who can get Dokja to believe them more.

Gilyoung ends up being the loudest, caught up in a shouting match between him and Jihye. It's loud enough that he naturally filters out their squabbling.

Yoo Sangah's hand has removed itself from his shoulder, but Heewon had at some point leaned over him to try and get her opinion in through all of the chaos. Her body heat is back and soo is the burning feeling. He has become violently aware of how much the protagonist is touching him.

He is now violently ignoring it.

Dokja's eyes widen in surprise that slowly melts into a feral kind of anger.

Maybe.

Scenes flash by- the screen overlaying the events that have been happening so far in the scenarios over Dokja standing in front of the bastard. Dokja in the subway holding the container of bugs as people desperately reach for him. Dokja watching coldly as Namwoon dies. Formless people made up of accusatory eyes and arms grasping outwards.

I could have saved...

Namwoon accusing Dokja of liking the sight of chaos, a moment that had shaken him to the core.

...those people.

Everything around him starts to blur and it becomes hard to process anything in his sight as Dokja descends into panicked memories and-

[Exclusive skill 'Fourth wall' has negated the effect of the skill 'Bluff' from the character 'Bang Chelsoo'.]

Everything falls silent until there's the wet schlick sound of blood splattering on the wall/ Chulsoo's right arm is pinned to the wall using the thorn, causing him to scream out in pain. Dokja looks down on the bastard with cold eyes and a straight face. He tilts his head and grin maliciously at him.

"You're not in a situation where you can talk." Dokja purrs, his hand twisting the thorn stuck in the assholes arm.

[The Constellation 'Monarch of the Small Fries' is excited.]

[The Constellation 'Monarch of the Small Fries' has sponsored 100 coins.]

'Unfortunately for you, the 'Monarch of the Small Fries' is infamous for not even caring about his own incarnations.'

Kicking Chulsoo to the ground, Dokja muses to himself. 'I was originally going to leave him, but this changes things.'

[2 minutes until the scenario is over.]

'This constellation is a masochist that enjoys seeing is own incarnations get beat up.'

"Is that the kind of constellation you were talking about earlier, ahjussi?" Dokja looks over at Jihye who is sat leaning back in the recliner chair with her legs curled up underneath her. She no longer sounds as devastated about how some constellations view their incarnations at least.

He hums, one long note. She isn't wrong, these are sort of the type of constellations he was talking about. Just not quite. "Almost. This type wouldn't have a streamer contract. He just likes the violence against his own incarnations."

Joonghyuk pops up their chairs foot rest, shuffling around in the chair a little bit. It distracts Dokja while he tries to answer.

Sooyoung snorts at the oblivious rat, understanding exactly what the protagonist bastard is trying to do. A hard glare is turned her way at the noise and she knows that he knows she knows. This bastard is trying to get Dokja in his lap.

She lets him do as he pleases, not saying anything about it. Dokja will need his comfort character if this show is going to follow the mould it's created so far. Sooyoung doesn't appreciate getting glared at though.

The incapacitated thugs watch on in horror as the air is filled with the sounds of a one-sided beatdown.

[The Constellation 'Monarch of the Small Fries' is having a great time.]

Finally, one of the thugs begs for Dokja to stop and let Chulsoo go.

'Humans are weak, but why can such weak humans do something so violent? If it because the world is in chaos?'

Grasping by the front of his shirt, not caring about the blood pouring from his nose in such a familiar sight-

The scene fades to another, a greyed out overlay of a memory that blurs at the edges.

Pain blooms across his face with the impact of the incoming fist, a fuzzy feeling that curls up his nose and radiates in that area. He can feel blood slip down the back of his throat and he has to cough some of it up so he doesn't choke. The blood sprays from his mouth. His eyes water and his nose is going numb.

Those assholes broke his nose again.

Dokja is only kept up by the fist holding onto the blazer of his school uniform, his legs limb under him and he's nearly kneeling on the ground from how close he is to it. Another fist comes to hit him on the exact same spot and he can't really feel it anymore. The blood doesn't go down his throat, trickling out of his nose. It flows down to his lips either way.

He can taste it, almost. There's mostly the taste of ash on his tongue, but blood is always strong. He cringes when copper becomes the only flavor in his mouth. It's gross. His blood is gross.

They hand throws him into a desk nearby with a snicker. There's a decently large group around him, about six or so kids. Most of them are just standing by or keeping watch. It's not like the teachers would have done anything in the first place, but apparently they like to keep a certain image. Dokja doesn't get it.

The main perpetrator is no one new, Song Minwoo, the same person who's been doing this since middle school. He's sung this song and danced this dance before. It will be over before there's any actual damage done. They haven't dragged him to one of the alley ways yet, so this will be all they're willing to do.

He just lays on the floor with his eyes lowered. To resist is to get his ribs broken. To look them in their eyes will only get his nose punched again. It's better to just stay where he is.

The snickers die down quickly, a couple of bystanders groan. Minwoo scoffs, obviously getting bored of this. He grins and grabs Dokja by his hair to make the reader look him in the eyes. "You really are just a waste."

"Not even worth the effort." The bully groans, yanking Dokja down by his hair to smash his face into the floor. They've been focusing on his face since they found out no one will report the obvious violence on him. "Might as well just jump at this point."

He gets up and leaves, taking his weird posse with him. Dokja stays on the floor with his face down no matter how much it hurts to have his nose being squished. It takes a good long moment before he's willing to rise once more.

He sit up from where his face was against the floor, leaning back into the desk he had been thrown into. Blood trickles down from his nose and he slips his tongue out to lick it from his lips. He hates the taste of his own blood.

He slowly gets up, raising to his feet with slowly and staggering movements. He finds his bag, torn even more than usual, sat where they had thrown it against the wall. It's right under an open window. When he swallows thickly he can feel his throat catch from where they had their hands there earlier. It hurts. He ignores it.

Might as well jump at this point

Maybe he can finally make it stop hurting. Stepping up to the window, he stares out of it with dull eyes. The sun had started to set a while ago. It's a beautiful sight, something pretty for him to see last. He keeps looking out into the open air, a contemplative look on his face.

Suddenly, there is no one at the window. The sun is no longer in the sky, the stars are bright lights shining in the night. Outside, Dokja is walking awkwardly on the sidewalk, keeping his head down as he goes.

No matter that there shouldn't be any stars to see this far into the city.

-Dokja pulls him close and looks at him with a scary expression on his face. "Why did you do it?"

'Or is it because of instinct?'

Chulsoo is quiet a moment before he manages to reply weakly. "Fuck... Just kill me you son of a bitch. Fuck- Fuck this shitty world-"

'So that's how it is.' Dokja thinks after a moment.

'He didn't do it on instinct. He was messed up even before the chaos.'

He focuses on Chulsoo's beat up face, covered in blood and bruises. His own, younger, face is overlayed over it like the memory from before and he's disgusted by how similar they look.

'Just like me.'

Dokja stands up, musing on the man's words. 'The same... He might not be wrong.'

Notes:

Should be around 10,081 words

I hate shoes.

I'm giving Dokja the 'just like me fr' disease.

Dokja hates shoes. He's not wearing them. At all. He's going to be barefoot the entirety of this fic. From this point onward anytime he gets shoes in any clothing package he just doesn't wear them. I hate shoes with a burning passion. If walking around barefoot wouldn't get me glass in my feet I would not wear shoes ever again. I hate socks too.

It's not really going to change very much, but I just wanted you to know. It might just give me some more dialogue to write. That's all. I needed you to know tho

Goose: lmao i dont know whats going on. Not my circus not my monkeys

Two things

1- Got the tumblr! I even posted a little tidbit about the kids. Go check it out at:

https://www.tumblr.com/ar1cruz-r3adz

2- I'm thinking I'll probably make these into audio books after I finish each of these (They're based off of arcs and you can see what each pertain in the series description.) I really like fucking around with audio design, but I'm not exactly sure my voice would be pleasant for an audio book. I might try to get one of my friends to do it or something, but it'll be there either way. Sort of like a little treat in between. Lemme know what you think about it!

Chapter 11: Sub Scenario - Extra (3)

Summary:

Another pile of stuff I have. I know I'm behind right now, but I'll tell you why when I post the actual next chapter in a little bit. I hope you enjoy this!

This is only like 800 or so since I wanted to get this out as an apology for a late chapter. I didn't have very many on hand this time.

Chapter Text

Kim Dokja wasn't a good person.

He knows what he's training them for. He's calculated the risk. He knows every possibility and has factored in all of the details he has been given.

He knows exactly who is going to kill him. Who is meant to. And he knows that it will be soon. There is no better time for them to push for fate then in the next coming up scenario.

He's making it easier for his people, his companions, to kill him. And with the look Han Sooyoung is giving him, she may have an idea of what he is doing. There's no point in stopping him.

Kim Dokja wasn't a good person.

Standing to the side as he watches everyone train in the patterns he's drilled into their heads, he knows they will be the ones to kill him. He knows it's Yoo Joonghyuk who will be the one to lay the last blow.

He knew then just as he knows now. Spiraling horns and black cracks on his face. He has fulfilled the condition. He has become the demon king.

And now his most beloved people will have to fight him. Will have to wear him down with the exact strategies he put in their heads and will lead to his death.

Kim Dokja wasn't a good person.

He knew that much.

o0o

[You have gained notoriety in the 'Demon Realm']

His heart stops.

His brain stutters.

He freezes in place with his sword loosely in his hand.

He stands in place above his fresh kill and just reads that one line. Over and over and over again. It doesn't go away nor does it change in any way. Yoo Joonghyuk has only ever gotten that message because of one person. A person who's supposed to be dead. A person he killed himself. There's no way he could be alive. No one should be able to survive being removed from the scenarios. There was no way for it to be possible.

He still got the message.

He nearly collapsed right there, his legs weak and knees wobbly. He's alive. Kim Dokja, his Kim Dokja, is alive. That guy made it out. It takes him a little bit to gather his bearings. He hasn't actually been thrown off balance, but Joonghyuk gathers himself like he had. He walks away from the finished scenario he was participating in a daze. He's supposed to go on to the next one. He doesn't.

Instead, he gets a new window popping up in front of his face.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is interested in your thoughts.]

o0o

Dokja pushed open the door to where the incarnations are supposed to wait, the vestige of the constellation's unfiltered gaze frays at the ends of his ironclad nerves. He's still grinning sheepishly at Bihyunh when he shuffles into the room and lets the door close behind him.

Turning around to get a grasp on who exactly is sat waiting in this room, his scammer grin on display, he gauges who here could be useful to him. There's many things to be done, since he has gained this privilege. He's interrupted by his own name being called out in a familiar gruff voice.

"Kim Dokja?"

Freezing at the sudden call, Dokja slowly turns to his left to find You Joonghyuk sitting on one of the couches. He's... He looks fine. The protagonist has his usual outfit -does he ever wash that?- with one legs crossed over the other one.

He looks surprised, his eyes blown a little wider than usual and his lips parted slightly. It's-

Dokja looks away, but walks towards his companion. He probably has quite some explaining to do. Not that he's going to actually explain anything. If this sunfish bastard wants to know anything, he'll have to ask about it.

Dokja is too afraid he would just spout off whatever is on his mind and give away too much.

o0o

"Sit." The protagonist growled out, his mouth set in a hard line and his eyebrows twitching inward. Oh he really is upset. Dokja is forced into the chair, the dining table laid before him. He's sat to one of the sides at about half way. The table has six chairs on each side. Joonghyuk makes another demand. "Stay there."

Dokja watches him go, his gaze tracking every move made to the kitchen. When the bastard is far enough away, a feral grin splits across the readers face and he immediately jerks out of his chair to silently start running off. Like hell he was going to listen when he had better thing to do than eat. Like plan. Making plans for upcoming scenarios is very important.

He nods to himself as he keeps his pace, whisping in and out of shadows and sheltered areas to make sure anyone tracking him would have a hard time.

Chapter 12: A Leader's Chess Game

Summary:

Sighing at himself, Dokja leans back from where he had subconsciously leaned forward. Maybe it's only because it's in hindsight, but he swears he should have been able to predict that slimy bastards moves.

Grumbling, he complains about his own ignorance. That was a critical slip up that he made there. It won't do too much, considering he handled it fine, but it rubs him wrong that he hadn't been able to predict that man.

Notes:

Welcome to the next part! Sorry about the delay!

My mom ended up in the hospital this week, so it's been a hassle to keep up with everything. I ended up prioritizing my school work, but everything's over so I was able to get this out.

It's out tho! The next chapter!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

'The same... He might not be wrong.'

"NO!" The scream startled Dokja, loud and shrill enough to make his ears hurt. That one word echoes in the theater long after it was said. He didn't jump in his chair, not at all shut up-

When he turns his head to the kids, he finds them near sobbing. Even Jihye has water in her eyes, no matter how much she's trying to keep them from falling. It wasn't Gilyoung that had yelled, but he can't tell very much past that until he gets a good look at a heaving Shin Yoosung. He smiles at her sweetly in an attempt to get her to calm down. That was loud. "Yoosung-ie, it's okay. Why did you yell?"

[The Consellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' says...]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' disagrees with how incarnation 'Kim Dokja' views himself.]

"Ahjussi isn't- Ahjussi-" She's crying hard. Hiccups are bubbling up in her chest and it's just making it worse. Dropping his smile, grimacing instead, Dokja leans up and over Joonghyuk to grab her under her arms and bring her to him. She's going to hyperventilate herself into passing out if he doesn't stop this soon.

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' says incarnation 'Kim Dokja' is not the same.]

"Ah-ah, it's okay. It'll be okay. There's no need to cry." He leans back into his seat, this time with a lapful of sobbing child. He rubs her back to soothe her as he hums to her. She just cries harder, bit fat tears rolling down her face and neck. They're starting to soak the collar of her shirt.

Around him there are so many eyes. So many eyes looking at him, watching his every move. He's ignoring just how many other people in the room have water in their eyes or tears on their cheeks. It's better this way, if he acts like he can't see. Like he can't hear. It's easier with the kids, it's easier with a distraction.

"Come on, settle down a little." He just smiles at her, wiping at her red blotched cheeks. She closes her eyes and leans into his hands, a couple more hiccups coming every so often but she's starting to calm down.

The other kids, are not.

They start to head their way as well, Gilyoung purposefully stepping on Joonghyuk as he scrambles to make his way to Dokja. Yoo Mia is also making her way over, but she curls up with her brother instead.

The adults of the room are leaning towards each other and whispering, talking about the implications that can be taken from the memory they were shown. They don't say anything outright, worried that either one of the kids or Dokja may overhear while they talk.

"That's not very..." Heewon chews around the rest of the sentence in her mouth, running through her vocabulary to try and articulate her feeling on what they've been shown. It's not really anything new. The room has been shown memory after memory, but there was something extra to this one.

It felt like the prequal to the memory they were shown when Jihye killing her friend scene had played. It's... it's not a great feeling being able to pull together a time line of what the childhood of Kim Dokja was like.

He is now back to two kids in his lap and half the space. Gilyoung is blubbering as he cries, tugging at Dokja's arm and crowding into Yoosung's space. They don't argue or squabble they have been, just settling into his space.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' frowns at incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

They're trying to talk to him, he's sure, but with their cracking voices and being interrupted by hiccups it's hard to parse out an actual sentence.

"Kim Dokja." Joonghyuk is pressed up so close that the reader can feel his voice vibrating in his own chest. Grimacing at the grave tone, Dokja leans away from the protagonist a little before turning to him.

His face is stormy and he doesn't say anything else, so Dokja just rubs the backs of Gilyoung and Yoosung. He hums to them, letting them slowly become calmer and calmer in his lap. He really does appreciate that they're comfortable enough to find comfort in him, but he would really like his personal space back.

Yoo Mia is the first to move back to the chair the kids had been sharing. She sort of just- gets up from her brothers lap and grabs onto Shin Yoosung's sleeve. She tugs at her while mumbling something about a new plan. Gilyoung hesitates with a death grip on Dokja's forearm, it's obvious he doesn't want to move.

He gets up anyway. The kids squish back into their own crowded seat, Jihye sniffling a little before leaning in and whispering to the little ones. The screen, that had momentarily stopped, continues on.

[10 seconds left until the scenario ends.]

Dokja lifts his leg to ready himself for a kick, aiming for this assholes balls. His goal is maximum pain here, as this bastard deserves.

'The world is destroyed.'

[You have met all the conditions to clear this scenario.]

[You have been rewarded 300 coins.]

[The Constellation 'Monarch of the Small Fries' is satisfied.]

[You have been sponsored 100 coins.]

The thugs crawl towards Chulsoo where he has passed out, asking how Dokja could have done this.

'And now I have to adjust here, in this new life I've been given.'

Dokja picks the woman back up alongside the bags of food. He turns to the group of men once more, eyeing each of them as they hobble around. Having proven his superiority, he doesn't bother with politeness.

"Take me to the group."

He's taken further into the station. Inside, many people are gathered and are sitting in circles, standing, or lying on newspapers with dirty blankets. When the Cheoldu group's return is noticed, everyone can immediately see how injured they are.

People crowd around them in an attempt to help, while Dokja assists the woman from the convenience store down the stairs and into the station proper.

"Dokja?"

"Ah." Sangah looks away from the screen with embarrassment, fiddling with her hands at the sound of her own voice. She hums a little before looking back towards Kim Dokja despite her flushed face. "We had been waiting in the station for a while. We were- We were worried you wouldn't, uh, make it back to us."

It was obvious she was dancing around saying that they thought he had died. Which would have been an understandable assumption considering how long it had taken him to kill the ichthyosaur. Four days. They had been waiting to see if he was alive for four days.

"I can imagine waiting must have been horrible." Jung Heewon speaks up, and when the reader turns to look at them, she is leaning against Sangah to give her a side hug.

Dokja turns back around, firmly ignoring the burning line that connect the protagonist to him.

He looks up, recognizing the voice. Sangah, alongside Hyunsung and Gilyoung, emerges from the crows. She seems surprised to see him, calling out once more. "My god- Dokja! Kim Dokja!"

Gilyoung then sprints through the crowd, crashing into Dokja with a tight and desperate hug. Sangah and Hyunsung run up behind the kid. They're clearly relieved and overjoyed to see him after losing him on the bridge a few days earlier.

"Dokja! You're okay!" Sangah continues while Hyunsung happily calls out Dokja's name. "You're okay!"

"I'm so sorry about what happened. I left you behind." Hyunsung remarks with remorse, somehow resembling a kicked puppy.

"It's okay. You had no choice." Dokja replies. It's the truth, after all. There isn't anything Hyunsung could have done.

Still, Hyunsung keeps talking. "Thank god, Yoo Joonghyuk was right."

That makes Dokja pause, tilting his head and looking at the soldier with interest. He takes out a chocolate bar from his stash he got from the convenience store, forking it over to Gilyoung. "Yoo Joonghyuk?"

"Oh, he uh, he said you were probably still alive." Hyunsung replies sheepishly.

"Where is Yoo Joonghyuk?"

"Well, he's not here right now." Hyunsung answers nervously. "Yoo Joonghyuk left the station yesterday."

As he says this, a scene of Yoo Joonghyuk walking off down the train tracks plays. His black coat trails behind him like a robe of a god of death, and it's clear that anyone accompanying him would have only been in the way.

'Ah... I get it now.' Dokja ponders, putting the pieces together in his head.

'The Cheoldu group members should have died at the hands of Joonghyuk, but it seems they're still alive because he left the station in a hurry. Yoo Joonghyuk's a regressor who relives his life over and over again, but he rarely ever makes changes like these...'

"You made me wait." The protagonist starts, grumbling and sounding petulant, he continues in the same way. "There wasn't enough time to do everything I wanted to do."

He doesn't sound angry, not in his usual murderous way. It more sounds like he's... pouting if you would believe it. Dokja looks at him incredulously, side-eyeing him. Does Joonghyuk really care that much about what he thinks of him?

Laughable, honestly. The reader snorts and turns back to the screen.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' begs to know what you are thinking.]

You already know too much about that , Uriel. This much is enough.

Dokja, sighing at the angel, just waves her notification window away. Suddenly, more pop up windows fill the space in front of his face. Groaning, he ex's out of most of them.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is interested in how incarnation 'Kim Dokja' thinks.]

Okay, that's enough of that. The reader ex's out of the rest of them with the wave of his hand. "Will you give it a rest?"

[The Constellation...]

Nevermind, that just made it worse. He ignores them to continue watching.

Dokja looks off into the station where the Cheoldu group members moving through are causing people to flinch away as they pass, clearly afraid of them.

'He's in his third round right now, and has been reborn as a monster who monopolize everything. He must've left without a backward glance to achieve his goal...'

"...but he's still someone who'd tie up any loose ends." Dokja ponders out loud, continuing the thought with a mumble. He wonders why the regressor is being so impatient this time around.

Hyunsung is curious about what he meant, but Dokja just waves him off anf says that he's thinking out loud.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is pleased that you are talking out loud.]

Of course he is.

"Come to think of it, there's one person who's missing." Dokja muses, sounding not at all concerned int he slightest.

"Oh, Mr. Han-" Sangah starts, her feet shuffling where she stands, before she is interrupted by a yell.

"Everyone out of the way!"

A few moments later, Dokja and his group are surrounded by a bunch of thugs wielding bats, pipes and other improvised weapons. Among them, the reader notices an unpleasantly familiar figure.

He stands as his biggest reminder of the mundane life that used to be. Dokja hates it.

"Y-you!" Myungoh shouts out while pointing a shaky finger at him. "Get him out of here! He's the worst of the worst! Downright evil, in fact! He shouldn't be here!"

Right. As says the man who had basically kidnapped a woman and ran for it only a few days ago.

The entire time Myungoh is complaining and trying to convince everyone that Dokja deserves to be thrown out with the trash, Dokja's entire party looks varying shades of deadpan to exhausted. They are clearly very unimpressed with the sniveling man.

"Yeah, it doesn't get better seeing it for a second time." Dokja mumbles, grimacing at the downright embarrassing scene. Myungoh is essentially a toddler having a tantrum in the middle of the train station.

Yoo Joonghyuk hums out something that sounds like agreement, he leans onto the reader again. What is it with this bastard and crushing him! Dokja tries to push against him to lift some of the weight, but all that he gets out of that is more of the protagonist's weight on him.

Sighing, Dokja just relents to his sentence of being crushed, wheezing when all of the weight is crushing him down instead of being against his arms.

Han Sooyoung snickers at him, her haunted look from earlier is completely gone and she looks to be doing better. That witch laughed at him.

That witch laughed at him.

Leaning over so he has a good reach, Dokja gently places his hand on Sooyoung's shoulder with as serious of a look as he can manage. He can't look like he's scheming anything or else she would catch on.

She looks at him weirdly, equally as serious as he must look. It's odd not seeing her smile. Just to get rid of that face she's making, he suddenly smiles at her and pushes her with all of the strength he has recovered.

"HEY!" Sooyoung yelps as she's shoved out of her chair, trying to grab onto Dokja's arm and drag him down with her. He jolts back in time to avoid getting grabbed.

Laughing at her, the reader turns to the screen again. The kids are laughing along with him. It's a warm feeling.

Someone approaches and pats Myungoh on the shoulder. "Haha, come on, Han. You should play nice. We're all survivors, after all."

The tall man, clearly the one with the power in the group, continues to speak. "Pleased to meet you. You must be the new guy. Mind telling me your name?"

Making the sleaziest grin known to man, and that is saying a lot, he introduces himself as Cheon Inho.

'Cheon Inho?'

'I've heard that name somewhere before.' Dokja thinks while reaching out his hand to shak Inho's. He replies with his name, just to be polite. "Kim Dokja."

'He has a constellation sponsor... and is probably the leader of this group. IT seems that the Cheoldu group works under him as well. He's probably going to make me pay for beating them half to death.'

Dokja grips the thorn in his hand tighter just in case as Inho continues talking. "The others who came with you told me that you fought the monsters and saved my men."

That takes Dokja off guard, freezing him in his spot as he takes another look at the man in front of him. '...what?'

"Everyone gather around!" Inho calls out with merriment. "This brave new member here has gathered food for us!"

The crowd of hungry civilians begin to gather around Dokja, calling out to him upon noticing the bags of food in his hands. Inho just makes another sleazy smile. "Welcome to Geumho station, Kim Dokja."

'What the-?' He forces a smile, the corner of his mouth ticked up in irritation. He looks like he really wants to punch someone. 'I see now. So this is how it's going to be, is it?'

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is excited.]

Sooyoung climbs back into her recliner, cursing Dokja as she does so. She looks at him with narrowed eyes. Good, she should have never gotten so comfortable in the first place.

He sticks his tongue out at her.

"It was nice, to be able to fight like this." Dokja hesitates to mutter, watching the conniving bug on the screen try to use people against him.

"Like what, hyung?" Gilyoung pipes up, leaning forward so he can have a clear view of Dokja around the girls. His eyes are lit up again, nothing like the dull and shiny look they had earlier when he was crying. That's good, he must be feeling better.

Humming, the reader tilts his head as he looks at the kid trying to figure out a way to explain his thoughts. He starts with a very simple fact. "I'm not very strong-"

"That's not true! You beat those guys up earlier!" The kid immediately denies what Dokja has deemed a simple fact, kicking up a fuss. The boy huffs when the reader holds up a finger to get Gilyoung to let him finish.

This kid really has no chill.

"Gilyoung-ah, I'm not very strong. Sure, I may have upgraded coin stats, but I don't have any skills or weapons of note." It's insane to him that he has to actually explain what he means when he says he isn't strong. He's always been considered weak- "When fighting, I like something that requires strategy more than brute force."

Dokja uses his thumb to point at Joonghyuk, who is just watching him talk to Gilyoung like a creep, and continues his train of thought. "That's this guys thing. I don't have enough strength to do that."

"But..." Gilyoung seems conflicted, probably unwilling to admit that Dokja could be anything but the most powerful person he knew. "Hyung, aren't you strong enough to be kind now?"

Dokja pauses, taking a look at the kid with new lenses. That...

"Yeah! Ahjussi saved that Unnie!" Yoosung chirps in, pointing her finger behind her at Jung Heewon who is sat behind Dokja. Reaching over, he lowers her hand and scolds her a little.

"Pointing isn't polite, yoosung-ie." He's not quite willing to continue this conversation. He hasn't really been given a chance to stop and really think about himself recently, so the image he has in his head is still a wimpy office worker. He likes that he doesn't have much time to think about other things.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' says she thinks incarnation 'Kim Dokja' is strong enough to be kind!]

Uh oh, the kids have gotten Uriel in on it now. The screen continues playing.

'This will be quite the fun game we play here, Leader Inho.' His forced smile morphs into a grin, the feral look is back at he borderline bears his teeth at the man in front of him.

Later, Hyunsung explains the station's situation to Dokja while Sangah checks on the woman sitting nearby. There are only 87 people in the station, including Dokja, which is fewer than he had been expecting.

"Only those who were in the cabin and those who were near the station survived." Hyunsung is glum and downcast as he talks, a heaviness to his words. "Nobody talks about it, but since everyone cleared the first scenario..."

'Everyone here survived by killing others. Everyone here is a murderer.'

"Right now, Geumho station is divided into the Major group and the Minor group." Hyunsung continues, looking out at the crowd.

The Major Group.

He glances over at Myungoh posturing for the thugs and spouting hot air. "Just trust me! The chairman is doing what he can. We'll be rescued soon."

"As expected of the young master of Hangyeong Corporation!" One of the thugs remarks, seemingly Myungoh's new groupie.

The Minor Group.

On the other side of the station, a mother cradles her young child who whimpers about being hungry. They're dirty, covered in drying blood and other unmentionable things he doesn't want to think about.

She attempts to soothe them in a hug. "Just hang on a little longer. We'll be rescued soon."

It does seem to do a little, though the effect has to be diminished from how long the mother must have said that same thing. It's a familiar sight.

A feeling twists in Dokja's chest and he turns away quickly.

Meanwhile, others are talking amongst themselves, reassuring each other that things will get better and the government is doing what they can.

'Even when a hundred murderers gather, they divide themselves into the strong and the weak. That's what humans are like. Did everyone think there was no other way?'

It's a harsh truth that many people had to come to terms with very very quickly. It must have been new to the lot of them.

Inho puts his hand on Myungoh's shoulder once more. "He's right everyone. Don't lose hope. We'll leave this place." With that last sentence he looks over his shoulder at Dokja's group.

"The distribution of food is decided by the Major group. But, since we're running low, we've been assigning people to go scavenge for food." Hyunsung's voice buts back in, pulling Dokja's attention from the events happening around them. "Heewon's a part of our group and she was assigned too."

"Who's Heewon?" Dokja questions.

"The woman you saved. Her name is Heewon," Sangah answers him. "To be exact, there were a few others who went too, but only those from the Mino group never returned."

"I see you didn't join the Major group, Hyunsung. I'm sure they would've wanted you as a member of their group." Dokja states, analyzing the situation and coming to the realization about what exactly is going on in the station.

"Oh, that..." Hyunsung pauses. "I thought I should be in the Minor group. I don't know much about ethics or morality, but something didn't feel right about the Major group."

Interesting. The soldier seems to be quite sensitive to the situation.

Hyunsung continues while looking down pensively. "But I guess I'm a hypocrite for worrying about right and wrong after everything that's already happened..."

Dokja taps his fist against Hyunsung's chest to get him to stop putting himself down. This guy...

"It's better to worry about right and wrong as a hypocrite than not at all. Don't ever forget that." Dokja reassures Hyunsung, who proceeds to tear up as his surroundings get weirdly sparkly.

Hyunsung leans froward from where he's sitting beside Sooyoung, his face mirrors the one he's wearing on the screen. He sends a smile Dokja way as he speaks quietly. "I appreciate the effort you put into comforting me, Dokja-ssi."

The reader, suddenly very uncomfortable sitting here squished up in this recliner with the protagonist, tries to squirm away from the look Hyunsung is giving him.

He is unsuccessful.

With a heat crawling up his throat that he's sure must be a blush, Dokja gathers himself to answer. He should not be this affected. Where is the fourth wall when he needs it? "It's- well- right and wrong are... subjective."

[The Constellations of 'absolute good' frown at incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

Rolling his eyes, Dokja speaks with a renewed calm. "You're the one who decides what right and wrong are to you."

Right and wrong were always just things that have been agreed on by the masses. People are told what is wrong and what is right and they just believe it most of the time. Morality is made up rules that most people agreed upon. It's not something that holds up in the chaos brought on by an apocalypse. These imaginary rules don't hold up here.

[The Constellations of 'absolute good' disagree.]

He's not willing to try to explain all of that. The question of morality is a soft spot in the situation they are in.

Dokja leaves it at that and turns away, no longer flushed at the soft gaze turned on him.

"Dokja-" Hyunsung begins before being rudely interrupted by someone who has walked up to their side.

"Kim Dokja."

Turning to look, the speaker is revealed to once again be Inho, who asks to have a word with him.

'Just because the situation was unavoidable doesn't mean it didn't happen, and it must not be forgotten that what happened can never be justified'

"I'm going to get straight to the point." Inho continues. The scene focuses on Gilyoung and Sangah sitting by Heewon while holding onto the stash of food gathered by Dokja.

"Join our group." Inho is making a demand of him, like it's an expectation and not an offer. Hyunsung gasps.

'So, that's how it's going to be?' Dokja thinks, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I can offer you a high position. I hope you will lead this group with me."

"And if I refuse?" Dokja asks, clearly unimpressed. He's no fun, making demands like that.

An unappealing close up of Inho's frozen face pops up,-

There are several gagging sounds beside Dokja, and when he looks over the kids are looking at each other and making exaggerated grossed out faces.

-his eyes narrowing into slits as he chuckles. "Refuse? Now, that's funny. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind."

He tries to guilt Dokja into leading the group by claiming that he's a hero. It's a classic pressure tactic and Dokja knows it. He's actually disappointed that this is all this man seems to be able to do.

"I'm not talking about something grandiose. I'm asking you to cooperate for everyone's survival. Can't you see those poor people suffering?" As Inho's words continue, the camera pans over the crowds of people looking hopefully over in their direction. It cuts back to Dokja's face, which looks thoroughly unimpressed.

Han Sooyoung bursts out in high cackles, she hits her knee with her fist as she just keeps laughing. Another laughter joins her. Snapping his head over to the left, Dokja finds a laughing Jihye. She's not as exaggerated, but she's still laughing at the screen.

"What are you even laughing at?" Dokja snips at them a little. They're being very loud. Jihye pouts at him once she has her giggles under control.

"Ahjussi, your face looks- it's-" Jihye whines at him, obviously trying to fight off more giggles. Used to her complaints about his face, he rolls his eyes and waves at her to continue quickly.

"Your face compared to the other guy is just funny, you rat." The witch gripes at him, gasping for air, her laughing dying out.

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' agrees it's funny.]

Dokja is then suddenly shook a little as Yoo Joonghyuk chuckles. Snapping his head over incredulously, he looks on in shock.

That's- This is betrayal!

Later, Dokja and Hyunsung are sitting on some chairs, going through the bags of food, as Hyunsung peeks around nervously.

"Should you have refused like that?" Hyunsung asks.

"Did you want me to accept the offer?" Dokja replies flatly.

"No, of course not- I can't stop thinking about what Inho last said to you."

He clearly remembers what the man had said: "Come find me if you have a change of heart."

Though Dokja had thoroughly shot him down, Inho hadn't seemed convinced.

The quick flashback ends as Dokja continues the present conversation. "It's as he said. We'll see what happens."

"Anyways, it's dinnertime. Aren't you all hungry?" Dokja asks Gilyoung and Sangah, offering some fo the snacks he found at the store. "Here, take one."

"Really? Can we?" Sangah asks, thankful to be getting some food.

"Hey!" A voice calls out, causing them all to pause in their snack acquisition.

They look up to see an angry crowd of people looking at them. Multiple people then begin yelling at them simultaneously, accusing them of monopolizing all the food for themselves and stealing it. They want the food to be controlled and distributed by a central government force -someone like Inho.

'The most dangerous type of person in an apocalyptic world isn't someone driven by despair like Bang Cheolsoo.'

Through the crowd, Dokja can clearly see Inho on the other side.

'Yes, I remember now. Cheon Inho from Geumho station. The truly dangerous type is the type that uses other people's despair as a fertilizer for power,' Dokja muses while his party members attempt to defuse the situation.

"Choose."

That's what Dokja can clearly read from Inho's scummy lips as he wordlessly questions whether Dokja will become a hero after sharing his food, or if he will become the villain who monopolizes it.

Dokja's face twists in anger, his lips curling up and his eyes narrowing. He sees now. This was why he backed off so easily. This is the type of person he is dealing with here. 'Cheon Inho!'

Sighing at himself, Dokja leans back from where he had subconsciously leaned forward. Maybe it's only because it's in hindsight, but he swears he should have been able to predict that slimy bastards moves.

Grumbling, he complains about his own ignorance. That was a critical slip up that he made there. It won't do too much, considering he handled it fine, but it rubs him wrong that he hadn't been able to predict that man.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is wondering what you're thinking.]

"Maybe-" Joonghyuk mumbles, narrowing his eyes at the screen. "-I should have killed him."

Yeah, that's what Dokja had been hoping the protagonist would have done. It was unfortunate that he had to deal with it on his own, but he got a powerful ally out of the situation at the very least.

The crowd only gets more and more riled up the longer Dokja stays silent, yelling for Dokja's hard earned food to be either shared or given to Inho.

'Now, Kim Dokja-ssi. Make your decision. Making the people act is nothing to me.' Inho smirks in the most unappealing way, knowing that Dokja is backed into a corner in this situation. 'You must have realized by now that you can't survive here if you don't follow me.'

Inho then approaches the crowd, pasting a placating expression onto his face. "Everyone, please calm down. I think all of you must have misunderstood. Kim Dokja-ssi agreed to share food with us."

"Of course, we will be in charge of distributing the food properly." Inho says while glancing at Dokja, and it's obvious that he feels incredibly smug. 'Now you have no option but to follow me.'

Like hell he would do that.

Thinking everything is going according to his plan, he proceeds with the rest of his manipulative statement. "And I promise I will work for our safety till rescue comes-"

"Fine." Dokja states, cutting Inho off with a flat voice.

Dokja is seated with his head down, still surrounded by the crowd, but he begins to speak. "I'll share plenty of my food with you all."

'Isn't that obvious?' Inho thinks, naively believing that Dokja has fallen into his trap.

"But," Dokja continues firmly, "it won't be for free."

"Like hell he would be able to manipulate you." Sooyoung barks out while laughing. It sounds a bit strained if Dokja listens hard enough. "Did he really think that he had you backed into a corner?"

Jung Heewon snorts, leaning forward above Dokja. She hangs her head so she can look the reader in the face, her eyes full of mischief. Her smile is blinding, but it makes him sorta nervous. What is she-?

"You've scammed too many people already, there's no way that simpleton was going to one up you." She chuckles, knocking her forehead into his own before pulling back to speak again.

Dokja brings his hand up and rubs the spot on his forehead that got hit. He scoffs at her, but doesn't say anything. He just listens. "He is not smarter than a dokkaebi, apparently."

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' snorts.]

"Is that our new benchmark for who this guy tricks?" Sooyoung points an accusatory finger at the reader, actually jabbing him with it on his shoulder. That actually kind of stung.

[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' remarks that it would be a fun game.]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' declares that it would be funny.]

Dokja grumbles at the notification windows, waving them away with an annoyed hand.

He smacks at Sooyoung's hands, rubbing at the spot on his shoulder that she had been poking at. Scowling at her, he snaps his teeth around air in a proclamation of a threat.

They just laugh at him. Heewon leans back and Sooyoung returns to looking at the screen while chuckling. This is bullying. They're bullying him.

Inho freezes, his hands half raised and eyes wide, and his now-strained smirk is still present on his face as he processes what Dokja said. The crowd behind him fill with faces of despair as they realize what he is implying when he declared as such.

Despite the people beginning to question his choice, Dokja refuses to budge on his answer.

[The eyes of a few constellations are sparling.]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' snorts.]

"That's right. I'm not a volunteer..." Dokja says as his gaze lands on Inho's face, noticing his clenched jaw and frustrated expression. He nods in the direction of the upset man. "...and I don't trust him."

As people begin to ask how much money it will cost to get food, Dokja informs them that it's not money he wants in return, but coins -50 coins per food item, to be exact. Despite that, even his friends think that the cost is too high, and mention their concerns.

"Speaking of coins, you guys owe me 10 each," Dokja reminds them, glancing over at all three of them who are clutching some food items Dokja brought back, while Hyunsung and Sangah pull innocent looking faces.

[A few constellations are relieved that you're not playing favorites.]

[A small number of constellations have sponsored you 100 coins.]

"Yeah, it's no issue. I'll pay you right now," Heewon states, speaking up for the first time since their return. "I don't need any charity."

Heewon seems to be in a better condition than before, but still not perfect. Her neck is still bruised and she looks as exhausted as ever. She does seem to be in better spirits at the very least. Or, as good as it could get in the middle of the apocalypse.

"I'm Jung Heewon. Thank you for saving me this morning." She shakes Dokja's hand in greeting.

"Don't mention it." Dokja replies, still looking her over to try and see if she has anymore lasting damage. She looks okay for the most part, if what little he can see is anything to go by.

Heewon them turns to the rest of the group firmly. "Yoo Sangah-ssi, Lee Hyunsung-ssi. You two need to wake up. This isn't the time to make stupid faces. This guy risked his life to get this food. Surely you guys didn't expect to get handouts like everyone else did?"

Hyunsung and Sangah glance at the floor remorsefully, looking like twin kicked puppies at Heewon's chiding words.

"Ah." The duo reply glumly, moping as they just stand.

"I'm sorry, I was thinking too selfishly. I don't need any charity either," Sangah apologizes, raising her head to look at Dokja once again.

"I'll pay from now on too." Hyunsung immediately follows Sangah's example and agrees after her.

"If you guys insist. You know how to transfer coins, right?" Dokja asks while lifting his pointer finger to meet Sangah's foe the coin trade. She confirms she had learned a few days prior.

This is good. This will assist him with his current plan. Since they're cooperating with him, it will be easier to unravel the amateur scheming that Inho is trying to do...

Dokja explains the transfer process as Gilyoung begins his transfer, lifting his finger to touch it to the kids own.

[The character 'Lee Gilyoung' has transferred 20 coins.]

"Huh? Why did you give me that much?" Dokja asks the younger boy, laying his hand on the kids head as he asks. The kid looks at him with a small frown and the reader picks his hand up from his head. Maybe that wasn't the best action.

"It's for the chocolate bar you gave me this morning." Gilyoung replies to him curtly. Ah, so that's what it was. This causes Heewon to remark that Gilyoung is much more mature than some of the adults as he walks away with his pocky, leaving Dokja and the other adults stunned.

[A few constellations are showing interest in the incarnation 'Lee Gilyoung'.]

"Those people can't even soo that the Major group is the one monopolizing all the food," Heewon scoffs. With a sigh, she begrudgingly compares everyone sitting around and accepting handouts to pigs being brought to a slaughter, including herself. Everyone in this situation is just a marionette in the Major group's hand.

"I know there wasn't very much we could have done at the time," Hyunsung speaks up, wringing his hands with a complicated look on his face. The soldier bites his lips, probably trying to find the words to continue his thought.

"There wasn't much I would have let you do either." Dokja interrupts him. It's not that he doesn't want to hear what he has to say, but it's no use trying to put insecurities into words. It never comes out right. "I already had a plan by the time this situation had rolled around."

The reader points behind him to Heewon, looking Hyunsung in the eyes as he does so. "Sometime soon I will check her profile and find something that I like. The things that happened needed to happen."

Dokja is not sure he said that right. It sounds off as it leaves his lips, not resembling how it sounded in his head. Biting his cheek, he resolves to finish the thought anyway. "Heewon needed to get stronger."

Hyunsung gets this certain look in his eye, something that looks halfway between sadness and halfway to determination. Dokja... He's not quite sure what that means or how he should take that, but Hyunsung says nothing further.

He just stares at the reader, not bothering to look away to the screen like everyone else had. It's a little off-putting, Dokja admits to himself, to have someone observing him in the same way he does everyone else. It makes his skin itch.

Dokja scratches at his forearm, flinching when his nails catch on scabs there. Ah, so they haven't gone away yet. Yes, it takes longer for things like that to heal. He knows that.

"I wish there was another way." Hyunsung finishes his statement from earlier, his voice firm and stern. Snapping out of his earlier trance, Dokja nods along.

[Exclusive skill 'Fourth Wall' stabilizes.]

There was no reason to be so unsettled by a mere gaze. It was just Hyunsung.

It was just Hyunsung.

Hyunsung agrees, stating that's why Dokja's declaration was important, but that he still can't understand why their party was offered a discount, since he's truly a good person and believes that they shouldn't be the only ones who benefit from it. Dokja simply tells them to wait a little longer.

Hours pass and it's nighttime. Sangah and Heewon are sleeping seated against the wall, and Gilyoung, as a child, is getting the best treatment of the group -he's lying down with his head on Sangah's lap, and he's covered with Dokja's filched coat as a makeshift blanket.

"Dokja, you should get some sleep too. I'll stay up and stand guard," Hyunsung says to Dokja in an attempt to convince him, but Dokja disagrees and says that there's something he has to do first. This confuses Hyunsung, but before he can get any answers from Dokja, they are interrupted by a few people approaching them.

In the morning, Heewon is looking at something, stunned.

"You've got to be kidding me..." she says in surprise, shaking an empty bag upside-down as Sangah and Gilyoung watch on. "You sold out overnight?! All those people finally gave in and paid you?!"

'I'm starting to wonder if you're the same woman I met before,' Dokja muses in amusement, refraining from smiling in case he makes her more upset than he's about to. "Well, it wasn't just the Minor group."

They glance over, seeing Inho and Cheolsoo standing in front of a sectioned off area. Inho announces that they are limiting food rations to one biscuit pack a day, causing outrage among the Minor group as he tells them that to get more they must join the scouting teams. However, considering the high fatality rate of scouts from the Minor group, they're only getting angrier. In response, Inho informs them that they can either hunt for themselves or find other ways to get food.

"I don't want to do this, but... yesterday, Kim Dokja over there made a good point." Inho states with a slimy smile plastered on his face.

'Hmm, I wonder what it is now.' Dokja wonders, observing the man making the announcement with a tilted head and a blank expression. He has a bad feeling that this will be a move that requires a good bit of maneuvering from him.

Dokja thinks of what Inho had told him, about how he had made a terrible choice and that he was going to regret it. Naturally, the scumbag would find a way to turn the public opinion against him.

'Last night, the Major group bought more than half the food I was selling. Of course, they paid in full.'

Ooo, yeah, that wasn't going to go over any better than it had the first time. There was even a bigger group to be upset about it.

"You just... let them have a bigger monopoly on the food?" Yoo Joonghyuk is surprisingly the first to say anything about it, hostile in his questioning. He sounds upset.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is upset with incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

Dokja snorts at him, genuinely nearly cracking up. He doesn't laugh though. That would get him killed he thinks. "Did you forget the food ended up getting removed anyway?"

A calloused hand suddenly grabs the collar of his robe, nearly going for his neck. Dokja is jerked around to face a scowling Joonghyuk. Maybe that was a little to sarcastic.

"It's not like anything I would do could change what he was planning. I just got coins out of him in the process." Maybe that's a better answer.

It was not.

Yoo Joonghyuk is still glaring at him. He look likes he's expecting something, the protagonist's muscles coiled up in wait. Dokja doesn't really have much else to say to him...

"I knew the food would disappear." Dokja relents. Grabbing onto the bastards wrist, he digs his fingernails into the skin there. That guy doesn't even blink.

"You were smiling." Joonghyuk states, not even asking at this point. "Did you plan this?"

Dokja is hesitant to answer. "Something like that."

"Just what comes free in this world? Especially in a world like this?" Inho continues. "If you want food, you have to prove your own worth. We'll exchange food for whatever we think is valuable."

[The character 'Cheon Inho' used the skill 'Incite lvl. 2']

"Because that's how this naturally works," He says, smiling while surrounded by clearly misplaced sparkles.

'This is how you use your skill, isn't it?'

"Thank you for enlightening us all, Kim Dokja." As Inho continues to speak, the crowd on the screen transforms into shadowy figures. Their eyes turn red, filled with murderous intent and on full display. The figures turn slowly, pining their gazes on Dokja. Their bloodlust is almost palpable, looking almost like a red haze settling over everyone.

'I was wondering why everyone was acting so gullible. It was because of the [Incite] skill.' Dokja muses, slightly impressed that Inho is so good at using his skills this early into the scenarios.

Heewon speaks, breaking Dokja out of his thoughts, "So basically, the Major group managed to stay in control of the food. Wasn't the point of selling the food instead of giving it away to everyone to undermine the Major's monopoly?"

"That's right, I wanted everyone to take action on their own," Dokja replies while mentally praising Heewon's perceptiveness. It will serve her well in the upcoming scenarios.

She then demands to understand why Dokja would sell to the Major group in that case, since they're now right back to square one. He simply replies that he couldn't refuse the amount of coins offered.

'In total, I managed to get 1,450 coins.'

"He's not being serious, right? Sangah, can we really trust this man?" Heewon asks while DOkja stands in the background with a deadpan expression.

"Yes, we can trust him." Sangah just smiles at her, her eyes squinting up.

"You still have enough food for yourself at least, right?" Heewon asks Dokja, nearly frantic.

"Nope, I sold it all." Dokja clarified in that same deadpan, leading to Heewon yelling out in shock. Looks like she's lost all faith in him in a simple instant. Leaving her to her dramatics, he thinks about the outrage that will be cause when the food is set to disappear...

Heewon grumbles behind him, reaching forward a bit to land a head hand on the top of Dokja's head. "You need to tell us these things next time."

Frightened for his life from not one, but two individuals now, Dokja just stays silent in his shared recliner.

"You need to eat more, fool." Joonghyuk continues to scowl at him with his fingers still curled up in his robe. When is this bastard going to let him go?

"How can you believe in a guy like this?!" Heewon shakily asks Sangah, whose smile is now slightly less confident than before. Dokja is then poked on the cheek with a stick of pocky, which makes him look over and notice Gilyoung offering him the snakc.

"You want me to eat it?" he asks Gilyoung while patting his head. The kid nods, but Dokja insists that he eat it instead.

"Ah! Speaking of which... Do you all still have some food leftover from yesterday?" Dokja questions the rest of the group. "If you do, you should probably finish it. It would be for the best if we can get rid of all of it before today ends."

On the other side of the station, there's a crowd of people lining up for the even more overpriced rations that are nwo being sold by the Major group. Instead of Dokja's 50 coins per foof item, the prices have been hiked up to 200 coins each. If anyone refuses to pay the new price, then they're told to just get out.

Later, Dokja looks down the subway tracks curiously, likely planning their route to the next station.

"People who go that way never come back. Even those from the Major group." Heewon says from behind him, which causes Dokja to look back at where she's crouched by the edge of the platform. "Surely you're not thinking of going there yourself."

She pauses for a moment, hesitant. "Did I properly thank you yesterday for-"

"Yeah, you did." Dokja cuts her off before she actually has to say anything.

"Well, I still appreciate what you did." She says again, standing up when Dokja starts climbing back onto the platform.

Heewon gestures over to one of the shady men from the day before, her voice somehow unwavering despite the awful memory she's surely recalling. "You see, that guy over there, with the lame leg? He was the one who attempted to assault me yesterday. No matter what happens, don't lay a hand on him."

The screen sort of flickers a little bit, a red overlay over it as the scene fuzzes at the edges a little bit. There's something there that no one can really make out. It quickly rights itself as Dokja is knocked out of the trance he was submitting to.

[Exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' stabilizes.]

When he glances back over at her, Heewon's expression is frightening. She looks almost psychopathic inn her fury as she speaks a promise into existence in a cold voice. "I'm going to kill that fucking bastard myself."

Taking a good long look at her, he understands what she means. Dokja knows what she wants from him, what she really wants. Nodding along, he places a hand on her shoulder and gives her a soft smile.

Jihye hops up in her chair, spinning around quickly to look at Heewon when she starts speaking to her. "You got him, right unnie? Did you get back at that bastard?!"

A glittering grin plastered on her face, she hops in her chair as she waits for an answer. When Dokja looks back, Heewon and Sangah are leaning up against each other. Heewon's face is a little pale and her hands are shaking a bit.

"...yeah- yeah I got him." Her voice is low and cracks when she tries to answer the teenager. Heewon's smile is shaky but she seems a little more solid than when they had talked about it previously.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' cheers you on!]

Jihye throws her arms up and cheers, congratulating Heewon on getting her revenge. When DOkja looks over at her, there's a knowing look in her eyes.

Ah, he sees. She trying to make her feel better in the only way that kid knows how.

Dokja's palm itches.

'Jung Heewon, a woman who would have been destined to die if I had not intervened. She might have been a strong candidate based on her background, but why is she registered as a 'character' of the novel?' Dokja wonders, confused, as he pulls up her character profile.

|Name: Jung Heewon

|Age: 27

|Constellation sponsor: None (Three

|constellations are showing interest in this

|person)

|Personal attribute: Crouching Figure (Ordinary)

|Exclusive skills: Demon Slaying lvl. 1, Kendo

|lvl.1

|Stigma: None

|Overall stats: Stamina lvl. 4, Strength lvl. 4,

|Agility lvl. 7, Magic Power lvl. 4

|General evaluation: She is a 'crouching figure'

|with great potential. The attribute information

|has not been verified as the attribute has yet

|to manifest.

Heewon notices the Major group taking women and elderly into the tent as well, feeling outraged. She knows they will never return if they go to the surface, and she prepares to rush in to stop them.

"Then will you let them starve?" Dokja asks suddenly, causing her to stop in her tracks and look back at him with a horrified expression.

'The personal attribute [Crouching Figure]... going by just the name, it seems like it would be a lackluster attribute. In reality, it's one of the few 'super evolutionary' type attributes in TWSA'

Mentally, Dokja also remarks that there was an incredibly powerful incarnation in TWSA who had this attribute, known as the Mad Butcher. They were so powerful, in fact, that they were considered one of the top 100 most powerfil incarnations of the novel. Clearly, [Crouching Figure] is a very impressive attribute to have.

"Should we just stand around and do nothing?!" Heewon yells, clearly frustrated with his nonchalance.

"Yes. As things are, that would be for the best." Dokja answers calmly, but Heewon doesn't seem to take it very well.

Right now there wasn't very much they could do that wouldn't put them in immediate danger. That guy could easily turn a crowd on them with just a few simple words. Those people won't listen to any of them no matter how much they make sense. They'll just get rid of them and go right back to the way it was. It's best to wait for a more ideal moment.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Heewon's glare is incredibly fierce, and she seems more furious than ever before.

'The [Crouching Figure] attribute itself might start out ordinary, but depending on the occasion... Not just 'Rare' but even a 'Legendary' class can be reached.'

"It means that stopping this right now won't solve the actual problem. This is happening because of a lack of food. As long as people are scared of going hungry, this will continue." Dokja elaborates, weaving a careful web of information around Heewon. She must understand by now.

'Jung Heewon, I thought you were just a passing character, but maybe I should consider taking you as a colleague after all. The only thing that bothers me is she's a [Crouching Figure] that has the [Demon Slaying] skill. If I'm not careful, she could turn into a reckless killer...'

Notes:

Should be around 8,661 words

Let me tell you, it's rushed so let me know if there are any inconsistencies or grammar errors.

I hope you enjoy! ^3^

Chapter 13: Train Tracks To Freedom

Summary:

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' applauds you for telling the truth.]

The constellations ganging up on him was concerning though. Uriel sounds borderline condescending, but Dokja knows she means well...

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' sticks his finger in his ear.]

Notes:

Aaaand we're back on track.

Welcome back everyone! I did it differently this time, so let me know whether or not you like the change!

I hope you enjoy!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Lee Jihye turns around in her chair to gape at Kim Dokja, still sitting up on her knees and holding on to the back of the recliner. She stutters in outrage, trying to talk a little too quickly. "Unnie would never!"

Well, he knows that now...

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' tears his hair out.]

Looking away from the fuming teenager, that has continued to yammer on at him angrily, Dokja huffs. How is the him now to blame for his past thoughts? It's just not fair for them to constantly be doing this.

"I'm not- I wouldn't-" Heewon has leaned forward to make Dokja look her in the eyes, spluttering out at least four different starts to a sentence she doesn't look sure she's wording right. Deigning to have mercy on her, the reader just reaches a hand up to pat her head and nod along.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' stands with incarnation 'Jung Heewon'.]

"I know. You don't have to explain it to me." It's not quite empty platitude, he does genuinely mean it. She has no reason to explain. He understands the kind of person she is. Dokja knows he's good at that at the very least.

Jihye is still talking at him, nearly yelling at this point. Sighing, he turns back to her again and finds a bright red face and downturned lips. That's... That's probably not good. He should answer her at the very least.

"Jihye-ie." It's- His voice was stern enough, right? Dokja tries to catch the girls attention best he can while she looks like she's working herself up into a tizzy. She stops suddenly, looking at him with big eyes and a red face. "It's okay. We're watching the past, remember?"

"I wouldn't have gotten so upset about something like that." Gilyoung puffs his chest out, bragging to the kids he's sharing his chair with. He's whispering. "Hyung is always right about these things."

Yoo Mia scoffs at him, pinching his arm and whispering back at him. "That's not how it works. Pretty ahjussi is just good at people."

Gilyoung grumbles at her, cursing a little even with the absolute withering glare he is sent by Joonghyuk.

She's considerably quieter, pursing her lips and nodding along. Jihye sits properly on the chair and brings her feet up to curl them against her chest. When she talks next it's in a mumble completely contrasting her aggression from earlier. "Yeah, I know ahjussi."

And that's that, it seems. Dokja smiles at her softly before turning back to the screen. He would rather get this over with. It shouldn't be too much longer since they're almost to the road of the king scenario.

Just a little longer.

"Heewon. The root of the problem here is the food, isn't it?" Dokja asks her carefully, watching as her aggressive stance slowly turns confused. Her face that was twisted up in fury relaxes a little as he talks.

She's hesitant when she answers him, furrowing her eyebrows. He can almost see a question mark situated over her head. "I- I guess it is?"

Humming at her statement that sounds more like a question, Dokja shoves both of his hands in his pocket as she looks at him still curious and stunned. He answers Heewon's questioning tone with a question of his own. "Then what if we were to get rid of the root of the problem?"

"What? What do you..." Dokja honestly isn't really listening to her anymore, pulling one of his hands out of his pocket. In his hand is his phone that he turns on quickly. He glances at the time.

'He should be here any minute now.' He analyzes the time, thinking over what he remembers of this point in the novel off the top of his head. The air around them crackles and sparks in yellow lightning, filling the atmosphere with tension.

Some people in the station scream and others yell about the dokkaebi. Dokja raises his head and finds himself looking at a fluffy creature that he doesn't recognize.

Huh. That's not Bihyung.

"What happened to the other guy?" Yoosung leans up again Mia, pointing at the new dokkaebi floating in air on screen.

Dokja chuckles, reaching forward to place his hand on her head, and pats her. "Why don't you keep watching and you'll see, hm?"

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' appreciates the lack of spoilers.]

The little girl grumbles at him, complaining about he's no fun at all. The other kids look just about ready to pipe up to ask as well, but the screen continues playing.

[H-hello. How- How have you all been doing?] Electric sparks fly across the room and through the crowd. Many of the people shuffle around nervously, Dokja can see the heads of Hyunsung and Sangah. He can't see Gilyoung from here because of the people, but he hopes they have him.

[Y-You see, the dokkaebi who was in charge of this channel...] Heewon stands wearily beside him, braced for anything that could happen. Dokja himself is relaxedly standing there, his phone held in a fist at his side. Maybe he should put that away- [...is currently being disciplined s-so I will be in charge of the current scenario.]

'Disciplined?!' Dokja purses his lips as he looks at the new dokkaebi who keeps stuttering. The creature has black fur and ram horns curling at the side of it's head, they're small. The cloth covering it's lower half has a print similar to a tiger. The dokkaebi looks like it's sweating.

'Is... is this a nervous dokkaebi? A nervous one?!' It's such an outrageous thought that Dokja never thought it would be possible.

Sangah hums in the chair beside Heewon, tapping her chin with her pointer finger. "I didn't know they could be nervous..."

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' says she was surprised too.]

Dokja... He does not want to know what she plans to do with that information. He's actually very nervous considering her tone. That's the very same tone she had when she plotted her previous plans.

Shivering, the reader decides he doesn't wan to know what plan she is making this time. It can't be worse than salt in coffee. He doesn't think she would survive making a dokkaebi upset.

That's his job. Making those storytelling fuckers angry so he can get his way. Dokja will also be slightly willing to admit that it's also to keep any attention off of his companions. They're important to him now.

Oh fuck. They're important to him now. This is so not going to go well.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' wonders what you're thinking.]

As if Dokja would expose himself.

[B-but everyone. How is it that you all look so peaceful?] The dokkaebi's softer face twists up and their eyes are turned down. Probably upset. The next thing they say is mumbled, but Dokja is just barely able to hear it. [Damn- Damn it, Bihyung. What has he done with the scenario...?]

The fuzzy little things hand raises into the air, uncurling from it's chest and snapping in the air. The lightning from earlier when it had popped up fizzles in the air as notification windows show up in front of the incarnations.

[An additional penalty has been added to the scenario.]

[Foods may no longer be stockpiled.]

[All foods will be removed.]

That's about what Dokja had been expecting, he muses, watching as the food everyone has been holding onto raises into the air covered in yellow light. The crowd under start calling out.

"Wha- What...?"

"What's going on? The food!"

The food keeps raising, no matter how many people try to reach for it or hold on to what they have. It's useless for them to resist the penalty that has been given to them. Dokja sighs as people keep yelling. All it's doing is giving him a headache.

[H-hehe, you should- should have worked harder to completed the scenario.] The scrunched up face of the dokkaebi softens a little as they laugh. Curling it's outstretched hand back to their chest, they continue rambling. [Stuff- Stuffing your face isn't going to get you anywhere, right?]

The sclera of the creature turns a bright red, their face scrunching up aggressively again in an ugly expression. They uncurl and bring their other hand up, this time closer to their head. They snap, eliciting more yellow sparks, chattering on more. [You worth- worthless earthlings...]

[Scum.] The last word is spit with no lack of venom, not a stutter in sight. The food floating up near the ceiling disappears in black mist and a quick burst of air that should not be possible down here. Dokja rolls his eyes at the added dramatics, they really are just putting on a show.

Sooyoung splutters, snapping her head over to the rat sitting right next to her. She reaches over and curls her hand into the collar of his robe on the side that Joonghyuk isn't hold. Shaking her hand, she shakes him with it. What is it with people and grabbing the collar of the only thing keeping him decent right now?!

"Did you just roll your eyes? Right in front of a Dokkaebi?! AT THE DOKKAEBI?!" She slowly raises her voice, incredulous and getting more upset. The angrier she gets, the more aggressive she is with shaking him. "Do you understand how dangerous that is?!"

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' encourages you to do it again.]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' demands you be more careful.]

He lets go of Joonghyuk's wrist and reaches over to smack at her face. Pushing against her, he tries to unfurl her fist with his other free hand. "Let go of me!"

She just keeps shaking him, grabbing onto him again when he succeeds in peeling her fingers off of his robe. He's about to shove her as hard as possible with the hand he has squished up against her face, but he's interrupted.

Yoo Joonghyuk, who is very obviously getting very tired very quickly of Dokja knocking into him as he's getting shook, sends a withering glare their way. It's downright murderous and the reader fears for his life once again.

They just sort of sit there, both frozen and looking at the protagonist to try and guess what he's going to do next.

He doesn't stop trying to make Sooyoung let go.

Nor does he remove his hand from her face.

Dokja is forced to do so soon enough when the protagonist reaches around him and makes them let go of each other. The reader was shuffled around in the process.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' encourages you to push incarnation 'Yoo Joonghyuk' out of the chair.]

Oddly enough, he suddenly feels a little taller than he was a bit ago.

Sooyoung send that bastard a glare, knowing damn well what that smug look on his face means. Yoo Joonghyuk looks away from her, reveling in his victory. He's getting to his goal, slowly but surely.

The plagiarist just sighs and ignores the sunfish bastard. He's not worth the stress, especially not when it comes to that rat.

The crowd stills very quickly, astonished that all of the food is gone like that. There are a couple of devastated whispers about the food.The screen zeros in on Inho momentarily before turning back to the floating creature. The dokkaebi curls it's arm back to it's chest and talks once more. [N-now, everyone. Let's get the party started.]

Dokja stands calmly in the outraged crowd, watching as several more windows show up in from of him, a dinging sound invading his ears as rapidly as the pop ups cover his eyes. His calm face twists up into a smirk, tilting his head to the side a little as he reads.

'Now this is more like the TWSA I know.'

[An additional penalty has been added to the scenario.]

[The category 'Survival Fee' has been added.]

[100 coins will be withdrawn daily at midnight as a 'Survival Fee'

-You will die if you have insufficient

funds to pay the 'Survival Fee']

[The 'Survival Fee' will be collected until the Second Main Scenario is cleared.]

[You have entered the Second Scenario area.

-Find and move to the location where the

scenario will be activated.]

Inho calls for everyone to gather in front of the closed off area that had been set up earlier. The Major group lines up next to Inho up against the blockade, standing across from the Minor group who are all just gathered haphazardly in a crowd.

"Gather around, everyone." Inho walks forward from where he was standing with his group. His arms sweep out as he talks to the people in front of him. Dokja watches the man with a critical eyes. The crowd is muttering to each other. "I have an emergency announcement to make."

Dokja just looks on with a blank face as the Minor group quiets down. He tilts his head as he carefully analyzes the situation. Inho continues talking loudly. "Given our current situation, it looks like we'll need more people for the search party

"From this point on, we won't be sharing any food with people who refuse to join the search party." An expected outcome considering the circumstances. It's interesting that no one has spoken up against the man yet, but Dokja imagines he has them wrapped around his slimy finger.

Dokja's voice comes through wherever the audio has been playing through. No one on screen reacts, so it's something that is being said in his own head.

Damn it. I didn't expect there to be an additional penalty.

The screen shows an unsettled Inho with his jaw clenched and eyes narrowed into slits. Behind him are the two pop ups that had shown up when the dokkaebi had first put the penalty in action.

[Foods may no longer be stockpiled.]

[All foods will be removed.]

Could he have known this would happen?

"My biscuit..." Heewon and Dokja are back on the screen, the woman holder her hands out with a disappointed look on her face. She mopes quietly. The reader looks over at her with a chortle. He peers down at her empty hands as well. "That's why I told you to eat them."

There's a snort behind Dokja, but he can't quite place who did it just by hearing it. He can guess who it is though. Heewon wouldn't laugh at herself after all.

It's nice to know that Sangah is laughing about this instead of being worried and concerned. It's going to be fine.

If anything this is the perfect break away from the threat of death that usually comes with the scenarios.

It does suck that they've been shoved into a reaction fic situation though. Dokja curses whoever started this excessively in his mind.

Heewon admonishes Sangah in a whiney voice, they whisper to each other as the screen continues to play the next scene.

No, that's not possible.

'That's probably what Inho is thinking right now.' Dokja slide his eyes over to look at Inho out of the corner of his eyes, predicting what that bastard would be thinking right about now based off of what he knows about him.

[You have successfully read the mind of Inho Cheon.]

[Your understanding of the character 'Inho Cheon' has increased.]

'He may be suspicious about me, but he can't be certain that I knew about the food penalty beforehand.' Checking the pop up windows in front of him. Heewon turns to him as he thinks. There isn't much Inho can do to him anyway. 'I didn't know something like this would increase my understanding of him.'

"How do you do that, Dokja-ssi?" Hyunsung asks him, watching with wide eyes as he predicts what that bastard is thinking. The soldier turns those wide eyes his way. "You must be so good at reading people..."

It feels nothing like it did earlier. No longer does it make him want to curl up and hide away. Which is weird because it's no different from earlier. There is no change in how the soldier is looking at him. It's still those wide eyes and he can almost see the-

"Hyung is just the best!" Gilyoung answers when Dokja takes too long, puffing his chest out and smiling big and bright. The kids eyes squint up enough that they seem closed. Dokja smiles softly along with the kid.

Chuckling a little, he reaches past Joognhyuk to put his hand on the kids head and runs his fingers through his hair. Had it always been this easy to reach him? "People are always telling you things. You just have to look close enough to understand them."

"Can you do that for anyone ahjussi?" Yoosung interrupts whatever Gilyoung was going to say next, pushing the kid out of the way to press her own head up into his hand.

The reader snorts and runs his fingers through her hair all the same. He smiles at her in the same soft smile and his tone is just as kind as earlier when he answers her. "Not everyone, and sometimes it's more difficult to do it then other times."

The kids nod along even as they start pushing and fighting with each other. Yoo Mia gets involved when she gets hit during a particularly harsh shove.

It takes him a minute to break them up because they're so focused on themselves and on nothing around them. He has to ask Mia to sit in between them so they don't keep bickering while he's trying to rest.

There won't be such a peaceful scenario like this for a good long while. It's best to make the most of it while He can, Dokja muses.

"Did you know something like this would happen, Dokja-ssi?" Heewon asks him nervously, watching him read the air.

"I had a suspicion that it would happen." He places one of his hands on his hip, waving away the pop up windows to get this out of his sight. She looks at him incredulously, so he elaborates with some bullshit that sounds accurate enough. "I though of what the dokkaebi would do to make us suffer the most."

'But I didn't expect them to add a 'Survival Penalty'.' That must have been something new that Dokja had caused by his contract with Bihyung. Did it really change the story that much? 'TWSA would definitely pull something like this, but this wasn't in the original novel.'

"You have to have been expected things to be different when you've already changed so much, Dokja-ssi." That sort of sounds like disappointment from Sangah. Dokja shivers. He never wants to hear that again.

She hasn't really spoken to him like that ever, it was mostly just a polite or scared tone since the apocalypse started. She was always polite before that. It's weird to hear anything else.

He sulks a little in his less squished seat. Which is a new development. When did the seat get bigger...

Joonghyuk pats him on the back and Dokja sort of leans forward. What is this bastard trying to do now, he sends him a suspicious glare. The protagonist sighs but glares back all the same.

How dare-

"Dokja!" A voice from behind Dokja snaps him out of thinking about the effect he has on predetermined events. He looks behind him to find the rest of his group coming towards him. It was Hyunsung who had called out to him.

"What do we do now? Should we join the search party too?" The soldier walks ahead of Sangah, one of his arms a little outstretched towards Lee Gilyoung a bit in front of him.

Dokja turns his body to look at them proper, placing his hand on Gilyoung's head when he gets close enough. "No, we won't go aboveground. That place is a death trap."

"But we need to go there for food-" Hyunsung is taken aback, raising on of his hands to accentuate his point. He's obviously nervous about the situation just like everyone else.

"We'll need to find a new food source since the world around us has changed." Dokja interrupts him, shifting to look towards the area that he and Heewon had just come from. The entrance to the tracks is clear. Hyunsung is still looking at him but his concerned gaze has melted into confusion. "Sorry?"

The rest of the group turns to see where Dokja is looking, turning weary faces around to look at the ominous subway tracks. The Geumho station plaque is clear within view. Hyunsung startles, jumping a bit and turning so quickly back to Dokja that he worries he would have hurt himself if he was any faster. "Wait, Dokja-ssi. Don't tell me-"

Hyunsung wrings his hands in his lap, laughing nervously as he twists a little in his chair to look past Sooyoung. "I think we were all surprised when Dokja-ssi suggested going on the tracks..."

Sangah and Heewon are nodding along when he looks back, still leaning against each other. "So many people went there and they never came back."

"I get that," He starts, turning so he is looking over Joonghyuk's shoulder, looking them face to face as he talks. "but there was no other way to get the food we need."

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' protests about you not telling the whole truth.]

There is a long silence, it's sort of charged. The atmosphere is heavy and Dokja tries to stay quiet as long as he can. It wouldn't be hard if a whole bunch of windows didn't immediately pop up in front of him. Even the dragon chimed in.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is looking at you.]

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is looking at you.]

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband is looking at you.]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is looking at you.]

He fails to do so for long.

"I also needed to get that weapon." The eyes trained on him turn away and he sighs when the pressure lifts from him. At this point they're just going to stare him into telling the truth and he'll have no more card up his sleeve to play. "The one from the ground rats hideout."

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' applauds you for telling the truth.]

The constellations ganging up on him was concerning though. Uriel sounds borderline condescending, but Dokja knows she means well...

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' sticks his finger in his ear.]

"That's right." Dokja confirms with a calm face, staring ahead with a relaxed demeanor. The gleam in his eyes is back, his mouth twitching up into a grin slowly as he stands there with everyone's incredulous eyes on him.

"We're going monster hunting."

Dokja walks forward, stepping down onto the tracks with his little group following him. Once he's hopped down, he turns and grabs Gilyoung by his armpits and lifts him up to set him gently on the ground.

"You're going to follow the rails?" Inho's voice from behind him irritates Dokja, that guy is looking down at him from up on the platform. Dokja's group is gathered relatively close to him, each of them listening to the slimy bastard talking to them. "I guess we do need a team who will work on completing the scenario."

"Ugh, he pisses me off even now." Heewon whispers to Sangah, groaning and grumbling complaints about the bastard. She keeps clenching and unclenching her fists. "Especially the way he treats Dokja."

Sangah nods, mumbling her own complaints about him. She sighs but makes a little motion with her hand when the scene on the screen shifts.

The Major group is crowded around behind Inho, blocking off the entrance to the tracks in a way that borderline seems purposeful. The smug guy is standing above them with his arms behind him and his eyes squinted up with a smile.

'That jerk. Does he think he's the leader?'

'I thought he'd lash out at us for not joining the search party,' Dokja thinks about it, taking into account everything Inho has been doing so far. This serves to only irritate him all over again. 'but I guess he feels reassured that I'm staying away from his group.'

[Your understanding of 'Cheon Inho' has increased.]

[Your understanding of 'Cheon Inho' has passed a threshold level.]

'Now that I think about it...'

The screen splits in two and the scene with Inho on the right and one of the scenes of Kim Namwoon on the other side. They're both moving, but the colors have been replaced with black and white. At the bottom of each shows the [Your understanding of '...' has increased.] on the usual pop up windows.

'Every time I make a favorable impression on a character, or earn their trust, or guess what they're thinking the level of understanding seems to increase.'

Color returns to the screen, a close up of Inho's slightly shadowed face assaults everyone's eye balls. His eyes are blank and his lips are turned up in a strained people-pleasing smile. 'I've probably done the latter. Thanks to that, I can read his mind and know his feelings with this increased level of understanding.'

['Cheon Inho' is suspicious of your intentions.]

"It's really cool that your skills tell you this kind of stuff, ahjussi." Jihye pipes up. She has uncurled her legs and has them propped up on the recliners foot rest. She's playing with something in her jacket pocket.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' agrees with incarnation 'Lee Jihye']

Dokja just shrugs, running his fingers along the marks on his forearms. "I guess so. It's definitely useful."

The teenager smiles and nods rapidly. She taps her temple with her pointer finger while she talks next. "Does that mean you can read my mind?"

She looks so excited about the idea that he's almost unwilling to tell her that he really can't right now. But he has in the past so he's not really lying to her when he tells her this.

He just really doesn't want to talk to her about the time he used it to cheat at (rock paper scissor shoot). Dokja really hopes they don't play that part. They don't seem to be skipping very much, but he hopes all of the same. Just this once.

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is intrigued.]

"Yes, I'm able to read your mind." It's weird watching her jump up out of her chair and cheer. Everyone had previously been wary that he was able to read their minds, looking at him wearily, but here Jihye is cheering at the fact that he can read her mind.

He's- He really doesn't get it.

"Could you perhaps let a member of our group join your party?" There's the twist he had been expecting. Dokja knew it was too good to be true that he was just letting them go. 'Of course. There's no way he would have let us off that easy.'

"We'd also like to know how the scenarios can be cleared." The group behind Inho shuffles around a little bit, whispering to each other as they push someone through the crowd. Han Myungoh is the one that pops out from between the people.

Inho places his hand on the shoulder of the man with a grin and Dokja is forced to sigh and accept the man into their entourage. He'll be useful at the very least.

A little ways down the track, after they had long escape the heavy gaze of one(1) Cheon Inho, they come across the corpses of the people who had gone down this way before them. Dokja looks at them carefully, observing their wounds and trying to see what they could have been killed from.

Sooyoung scoffs and points to the screen, tilting her head and giving Dokja a sleezy smile. "I guess that's where all those people went."

He purposefully exaggerates rolling his eyes. That witch. They all already knew that. There's no reason for her to point out obvious things.

"You rat! How dare you!" She reaches over again, curling her fist up and setting it on his head. She rubs her closed fist aggressively on the top of his head. Is she-

She fucking is.

Snarling, he bears his teeth at her and gets ready to lunge for her. He grabs her by her wrist and is about to go for her when a gruff voice interrupts him.

"Kim Dokja."

Uh oh. That doesn't sound very happy. Dokja twist a bit to see Joonghyuk with a tick in his jaw and he can see his teeth are clenched when the protagonist goes to talk again.

"Sit still."

Dokja doesn't immediately let go of Sooyoung, but she twists out of his grip anyway. Sneering at her one last time he lets her go. That's no fun.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' looks on knowingly.]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' shrieks.]

"What-?" Why is Uriel shrieking? Is she excited that he just got threatened? Grumbling, Dokja admonishes the angel under his breath.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' greatly encourages you to kick incarnation 'Yoo Joonghyuk' out of your chair.]

He really should, shouldn't he...

Han Myungoh shrieks from behind, jumping a foot in the air, and backtracks away from the bodies on the floor. "Cor- Corpses!"

"Sangah! It's dangerous here! Hold my hand!" He backtracks enough that he's almost completely Sangah, coming closer to her.

"You look more scared than I am." Sangah's voice is flat and she's trying to slowly retreat away from the shouting man. Everyone else just looks on at Myungoh embarrassing himself.

"N-No, I'm fine!"

"...are you sure about this?" Hyunsung walks a little closer to Dokja, eyeing Myungoh cowering behind Sangah as they just stand there. Gilyoung watches the scene with a blank face. Dokja continues past the corpses, walking further down the tracks. He does tilt his head towards the soldier as he answers him. "He's no threat to us. So it should be fine."

"What about you, Heewon?" Hyunsung turns his head over to Heewon who is walking alongside them. She tilts her head and sends him a questioning gaze. "You haven't even fully recovered yet."

Scoffing at him, she lags behind a bit to be closer to him as they converse. Dokja walks a little bit ahead of them. "You should be worried about Gilyoung, not me.

She continues to talking, kicking a severed limb out of her way as the tunnel slowly gets darker and darker. The only light they have is from a flashlight that Sangah is holding onto. "The road ahead is dangerous. We're not just going to charge ahead, are we?"

"I've been worried about that as well." Hyunsung turns away from his conversation momentarily to look forward at Dokja's back to make a comment. "It might be a good idea to send Gilyoung and the women back..."

Heewon, in her outrage, talks louder than she should in these monster infested tunnels. Dokja shoots a look behind him, but they're too busy talking to take any cues from him. "Listen, Hyunsung. I may not be as good as you are, but I still know how to fight. I used to practice kendo."

"But-" The soldier starts to object to her, startling a little at her harsh tone and stumbling a bit when his foot lands halfway on one of the rails.

Dokja interrupts, not willing to listen to whatever Hyunsung may say next to justify his prejudice. It's just better to get this over with now before they end up attracting something they're not ready enough for yet. "You two must be forgetting something.

"A few days ago, the world we lived in changed completely." His voice isn't harsh, that's not what he's going for, but it definitely is stern. They must learn now before it is too late for them to do so. He's not going to get attached to them just for them to die due to their own outdated ideals.

"No one is weak anymore. Those ideas are outdated and only aim to hurt the people you speak about." Dokja turns to Hyunsung as he admonishes him, trying to make his voice stern like earlier. He rearranges the collar of his robe when it slips.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' agrees with incarnation 'Kim Dokja']

"If you sideline people like that they will never get stronger. The longer this goes on the more dangerous it will get." He thinks about all of the scenarios to come, how they will get progressively more and more difficult to pass while keeping everyone alive. "If you keep them away from danger, you keep them from getting stronger. The longer they go without getting stronger, the more likely they are to die."

Hyunsung stays quiet, shamefully averting his gaze and turning his head away from the rest of the group. Sangah sighs and leans forward, tucking her hair behind her ear when it falls in her face. "Dokja-ssi..."

"He needs to hear it again." The reader gives no leeway, not willing to let anyone see that he wavered slightly when she called out to him.

That... She nearly sounded like his mother with the tone she used. He really needs to get a grip on himself. Dokja will be no use as a leader if he can't get himself together.

"I- I understand that now." Hyunsung mumbles, once again wringing his hands in his lap. His legs is moving up and down with the balls of his feet kept on the floor. He's jittering his leg, he must be nervous.

"It's just hard having to watch people go through things just to make them strong enough to continue to survive..." And doesn't Dokja know it. He's already had to do that several times, watching the people around him getting hurt so that he knows they will survive is difficult. It's so very difficult.

But if he doesn't, he knows he will loose them no matter how much stronger he gets or how many powerful allies he makes. There will always be a chance, a mess up or mistake that will put the people around him into copious amounts of danger.

He even forces himself through similar situations so he may stand by his protagonist proudly.

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' complains about the lack of fighting.]

Unfortunately, the dragon is going to get his wish for violence soon. There were corpses, isn't that enough for you?

"Saying women and children are physically weak is prejudice. Anyone can become strong when they increase their stats." Dokja stops walking, turning cold eyes on the group he's leading. The rest also slow to a stop, watching him closely as he speaks.

Turning his whole body around, he waves Gilyoung over. The boy comes forward a bit. The cold eyes melt away, softening while looking at the child. Dokja asks something of him. "Gilyoung-ah. Show them."

Gilyoung nods, lowering himself down into a crouch and placing his hands on the floor in front of him. Where his fingers brush the concrete there is a thin light green line that flows out and further into the subway tunnel down the tracks.

It travels out of sight of the flashlights radius, flowing into the darkness. It only takes a moment for something to crawl into the light, the green light connecting to a cockroach that comes into the light of the flashlight. Heewon pipes up from beside him. "Oh fuck- What is that?"

Many of his group shivers at the sight of the bug. Heewon makes a sound as the shiver chitters up her spine. "You should have warned us. That was actually kind of disturbing."

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' nods her head rapidly in agreement.]

Now, that's actually a pretty dramatic reaction, isn't it? Bug aren't really that bag. Dokja really thinks about it before amending his thought. The flesh eating ones really are that bad. He hates anything to do with mosquitos.

"I wouldn't know why," Gilyoung turns cold eyes and a blank smile to the grown up behind him, he's probably pouting now that Dokja thinks about it. "bugs are great, noona."

[A few constellation agree that bugs are cool.]

"No they're not! They're not cute at all!" Both Yoosung and Mia start to squabble with him, debating about whether bugs are good or not.

Dokja sighs and cradles his forehead with one of his hands. Rubbing at his temples with his fingers, he just lets them do what they want as long as they don't get physical.

Kids.

"D-Damn it! It's a cockroach!" Myungoh shouts out, scuttling away from Gilyoung as the bug gets closer. A couple of the adults of the group cringe at the sight of the pest.

"My attribute is called [Bug Collector]. I can have simple conversations with insects." Gilyoung leans in closer to the cockroach, vague light green particles float around him as he activates his skill.

['Lee Gilyoung' has activated the 'Interspecies Communication' skill.]

"That is a pretty cool skill..." Yoo Mia grudgingly admits, not sounding at all happy to do so.

She does soften a little bit when Gilyoung turn a bright grin at her with all of his teeth on display.

It's cute to watch them when they get along.

It's also cute to watch them fight, but he wouldn't dare tell them that. Dokja bets they would fight purely for that reason alone with how this has been going so far.

The kid stays crouched down, holding his hand out so the bug crawls onto it. Gilyoung brings it closer to his face to look at it better. "It says there's nothing up ahead. We'll be safe for at least another hundred steps."

"Thank you for your concern, but I didn't come all the way here to be a burden to you all." Gilyoung sets the roach down, watching it scurry away down the tracks. He looks up at Hyunsung with blank eyes. He's still just crouched there.

"Oh... Sure." The soldier slowly nods along, looking at Dokja with big round eyes. He snorts to himself and looks away from the Hyunsung. Did he really think everyone was so weak in an apocalypse? Getting rid of the women and children would half their group.

Gilyoung gets up from the floor, scampering over to stand by Dokja. While they look at each other, Dokja rests his hand on the kids head.

Heewon cautiously stepped around the bodies on the rails, hopping over a thick puddle of blood when it looked necessary. She jogs to catch up, looking around the tunnel while still following along. "It looks like human corpses aren't the only corpses here."

"No wonder this place reeks of blood..." She mutters under her breath, wearily looking around. Sangah points her flashlight forward, smacking it a little when it doesn't light up the tunnel any further. "The road up ahead looks pitch black as if there's a wall blocking the way."

Hyunsung reaches his hand forward, brushing one of his fingers against the black wall stopping the light from going further. A loud ding follows windows that pop up in front of all of the group.

"Why would you touch something when you don't even know what it will do?" Sooyoung asks a quivering Hyunsung, throwing her hands out as she speaks. She's actually quite aggressive with it.

[The Constellation 'Master of Steel' asks you to be nicer to his incarnation.]

The writer points at the screen with one hand while still flailing the other around. "You didn't ask the rat -who is supposed to be leading you by the way!- whether it was safe to tough it or not! What if that one move killed you all!"

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' says you should be more careful!]

The more she yells at him, and she is yelling at this point, the further the solder sinks into his chair until Dokja can't even see him very well anymore.

Scoffing, Dokja grabs onto the witches arm that is still moving and turns her to look a him. Which was oddly easy to do. It's sort of funny watching her get manhandled by someone. At least it's not him for once. "As if you haven't done equally stupid shit so far. Like the dragon?"

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' sighs as he remembers the dragon.]

Sooyoung flushes quickly, spluttering and peeling his hand off of her arm. She turns around to him properly, forgetting all about poor Hyunsung who has melted to the floor. "That's different! You weren't supposed to be there!"

"Yeah, but you should have had a couple of back up plans. Were you expecting everything to just go your way first try?" Dokja taunts her, dancing around the subject in a way that only the witch, Heewon, and Hyunsung would understand.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' tells incarnation 'Han Sooyoung' to plan better.]

They'll probably get to it eventually, but it's funny seeing the plagiarist squirm in her seat because he's so close to exposing her.

She grumbles at him and nearly goes to grab him again in her flustered state, but the scene continues and she gives up.

[A new sub scenario has arrived.]

As he had expected, the scenario window in front of him displays the scenario he was looking for. It was rated 'E' and it was about hunting and cooking an edible monster. The time limit doesn't exist and they get a reward of 500 coins. The penalty for failure is just three question marks.

"Yikes! A Mon- Monster!"

When the wall disappears, there's monster corpses covering the rails. They're about as big as they were, two sets of spines on their upper backs. Dokja walks forward a bit and uses the light from Hyunsung's flashlight to look a little close, the corpses are a weird fleshy color.

'Tier 9 Subterranean Ground Rat'

"Who could have done this?" Heewon asks, walking forward to observe the dead monsters as well. Dokja stands there with the thorn in his hand. He knows those slashes, plus there's only one person who could do this as early on as they are.

'Ground rats live underground, are pack hunters, and are known to be extremely persistent in hunting their prey. It won't be easy to move about since the tunnels that connect the different stations are full of monsters.'

'Who else but Yoo Joonghyuk' Flashing a sly grin, Dokja starts to form a plan. Walking forward and crouching down before the corpse, Dokja eyes the mostly intact bodies.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' declares he could do so much better than incarnation 'Yoo Joonghyuk.]

Well, yes, Dokja hopes he can considering he's a whole ass constellation while the protagonist is an incarnation. It seems he has to be specific. There's no incarnation besides Joonghyuk that could do that.

Sooyoung rolls her eyes at the cheesy guy sitting next to her. Actually, you know what. She fake gags in the most exaggerated way she can.

She gets smacked for her efforts. She snickers behind her hand anyways. Dokja cusses her out under his breath, aggressive even when he's whispering it.

Joonghyuk sends him a dirty look, side-eyeing the kid. The reader gives him a smarmy smile, leaning in closer to the protagonist.

Joonghyuk's heart jumps as Dokja leans closer into him, leaning forward to meet him halfway. He doesn't completely miss the mischievous smile but he's hoping that there is no need to worry about that.

He was sorely, sorely wrong.

Grinning, Dokja stops just before his nose hits the protagonists. He lets the suspense sit in the air for a couple of minutes, not bothering to say or do anything except look. He opens his mouth and bursts the illusion. He whispers as low as he can so the kids can't hear him. "Bitch."

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' tells you to insult that guy again.]

Done with his shit, Joonghyuk reaches his hand up to grab at his throat and only gets thwarted when Dokja starts to shout about the kids being here.

Like that asshole actually cares, Dokja just cursed on purpose to irritate Joonghyuk. That constellation is also starting to seriously piss him off.

"Won't these be enough for us to clear the scenario?" Hyunsung asks good questions, at the very least. The reader still shakes his head.

"The clear condition said that we had to hunt, so probably not." Shuffling a little closer to the monster, Dokja prods at it's back with the dull side of the thorn he holds. The bodies are still. He is asked another question, the soldier coming forward to stand just behind him. "I guess you're right. How are we supposed to cook them? Over a fire?"

Ignoring the question Dokja tilts his head up in Heewon direction. She ended up standing close by to his left. "Heewon, you said you were good at Kendo, right?"

She chuckles nervously, raising her arm to rub at the back of her neck. Heewon reverts her eyes to look just above him instead of in his eyes. "Well I'm not good to be exact..."

Dokja smiles at her with a feral grin and a gleam in his eyes. He turns back to the corpse, twirling the thorn in his hand so it's sharp side is pressed up against it. Digging the thorn in, he shoves his hand into the body and pulls out the spine still covered in tendons and muscles he cut through.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' applauds your thinking.]

"I still can't believe you knew how to do that, Dokja-ssi." Sangah taps her pointer finger on the recliners arm rest, humming as she thinks through the events of the past. "Was that also from the book? It's amazing you can do that just from reading it."

Dokja laughs nervously, a little embarrassed about being called out on it. Seriously, where has the fourth wall been when he really needs it? This is getting ridiculous. He hasn't had to regulate his own emotions in a while. "The descriptions were detailed."

"That's still an amazing feat!" Heewon chimes in, make motions like she's snapping something in half. "You even just stuck your hand in there like it's nothing."

"Ah, I'm just- I'm used to blood and stuff like that." Dokja mumbles picking at the blood left under his fingernails, being particularly rough with one he gets a layer of skin out from under his nail. Did he really scratch that hard...?

The atmosphere immediately turns a lot heavier as everyone is reminded about some of the scenes they had been shown earlier. Joonghyuk snakes an arm around Dokja and squeezes him a little. Right, they're still not over that. Heewon just mumbles, "oh, right."

It makes him feel a little guilty about bringing it back up. He tries to joke a little. "Besides, I don't any of you would have been able to do it considering how squeamish you were about a bug."

"That's different-!" Heewon stutters, shivering at the reminder of the pest.

"Of course it is."

"It feels as if we've traveled back in time to the stone ages." Everyone is standing with a weapon, Heewon looking at her own bone sword with curious eyes. Everyone has a sword except for Gilyoung, who was given a hammer made out of one of the skulls.

"They'll need to be sharper, so try sharpening them on a rock laying around nearby." Dokja stand after shaking off his hands of what little blood was on them. The bodies didn't have much so they were probably here for a little bit.

[You have successfully obtained weapons using your intellect.]

[A few constellations are interested in this primitiveness of humans.]

[The constellations have sponsored 100 coins.]

"You seemed clumsy but you've somehow managed to make yourself a fine weapon" Heewon sounds surprised, chattering on to him as he look at her deadpanned.

'I know what to do because TWSA had a detailed chapter on butchering monsters.'

"It really does just have everything" Sooyoung mutters, kind of wishing she read more of that trashy novel if only to know these kinds of things.

"All of you have some coins left, right?" Dokja turns to ask the group, standing up from his crouching position and looking at each of them. Sangah mutters to herself curiously "They gift coins for something like this?"

"Invest all the coins you have into strength, stamina and agility. Leave behind only enough to pay the survival fee." He looks carefully at the people he's gathered so far, looking at their profiles when he can and guessing their stats when he can't. It'll be close... "This may sound cruel, but I don't expect all of you to survive."

They startle, snapping their head over to him with their eyes blown wide. Each of them looks to be in come varying levels of disbelief. It's only Gilyoung that looks more determined than anything. "But still... Try to keep yourselves alive."

Loud scuttling from further down the tracks echoes in the tunnel, startling the rest of his group. Dokja turns away from them, his back the only thing they can see of him. He says one last thing as a growl rings out close.

"Please."

That... Dokja tries to laugh off how desperate that sounds to his own ears. Did he really sound like that when he had asked the first time? Scratching at his forearm again, he attempts to brush it off by making conversation. "Well, you'll be putting those new weapons to good use at least."

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is excited about the on-coming violence.]

"Yeah, but those things were disgusting..." Heewon says with a shiver, there's a break in her voice like halfway into her sentence. Dokja hums, thinking his answer over. He is quickly bulldozed.

"We survived, hyung." Gilyoung talks when the conversation lulls a little, he's making solid eye contact with the reader. His gaze is filled with a wisdom that Dokja really wishes he didn't have. It does the kid good when he has to survive in a world like this, but Dokja really doesn't like that it means the kid is so good at reading him.

"Yes, we survived Gilyoung-ah." He just agrees with the boy, hoping he doesn't elaborate on what he was trying to hint. Dokja is sorely tempted to pray that no one else catches on.

They don't say anything about it, so it's his win this time. The screen lights up again with a new scene. Time to continue this charade.

Notes:

Should be about 8,462 words

This time instead of using the novel and other things like the fandom wiki to make sure I have the tone and characters properly characterized, I used the webtoon and wrote based off of what I saw/how I wanted the characters to seem.

Let me know if you like this version or the usual way I do it better!

A little extra piece for you!

The truth stood behind him, staring on as he handed everyone something prettier. The truth, harsh and upset, wondered why he never gave them to anyone. Why they sit behind his teeth as he spill pretty lies to the people he loves.

"No matter how much they say they want you, they don't." Dokja tells them, cold and dead eyes staring on blankly. He uses his own body to shield his companions from the truth as he makes a statement set in stone. "I would never hand them so ugly."

I hope you're all having a great day! <3

Chapter 14: Sub Scenario - Extra (4)

Summary:

This is just something to put out while I work on an extra long chapter. It's mostly just scenes that I've written in advanced because I was excited to write them. These will probably be pretty word for word when actually posted in a chapter. There's only one little drabble thing in here, but I posted it in one of the notes in a previous chapter. Not sure if anyone saw it so I'm putting it up here too. I know it's in both places. I hope you enjoy!

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

There's a line up pain slowly raising up his back, going up further and further. It hits his ribs and makes it harder to breath. Dokja is wheezing at this point.

The pain threads up his spine like a needle going through the muscles and wrapping thread around it. It comes and goes in waves, going from sharp stabbing to dull throbbing. A needle going in and out, dragging string across his blazing nerves when it's not stabbing through them. He can even imagine it purely based off of the feeling. In and out. Pulling, dragging. In and out. Pulling, dragging.

"D-Dokja! Something doesn't feel right!"

It's making him sort of sleepy, the repetitiveness of the motions. In and out. Pulling, dragging. There's- He thinks there's something else, another feeling there but his spine feels the most he thinks.

"Dokja! Are you there?!"

He's... Where is he? Dokja tries to look around but he finds his eyes closed and it's a herculean task to open them again. It hurts.

A sudden throbbing overtakes his head as a red drenched room is shown before him. His ears aren't working. They hurt too. He can't really hear very well, everything is muffled. Had his ears been sewn up too?

In and out. Pulling, dragging-

Focusing in on what he can see since he can't hear, he sees-

He sees his mother standing over an incomprehensible figure laying on the floor. Everything is tinted red, but there is a pure red liquid seeping into the floor under the body. He knows where he is. He knows where this is.

He knows what this is.

His mother turns to him and it's like she's gliding forward to him. She open her chapped lips, bruises on her cheek and over one of her eyes. Her hands raise up and caress his jaw.

"Dokja-"

[Exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' is activated]

[You have become immune to the effects of 'Illusory Prison' due to your skill.]

He's no longer there. There is no pain going up his spine. His ears are not sewn shut. He is back in the subway tunnel.

In and out. Pulling, dragging.

[Exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' stabilizes]

'Wow... I see.' Dokja grimaces, gritting his teeth. The uncomfortable feeling of sweat running down the side of his face nearly makes him shiver. Bright lines of electricity flash in the air around him, a shocking blue.

The scene is overlayed by a black background this time, white letters popping up on the screen as Dokja turns back to look at the others in his group.

[Illusory Prison] is a zone that uses images of your trauma to drive you insane by showing them over and over. Even Yoo Joonghyuk would have had a hard time here. It's the most dangerous obstacle he could have faced.

"Everyone! Calm yourself and take deep breaths!" Dokja throws his arm out, looking at each of the people following him one by one.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is impressed by your mental fortitude.]

[You have been sponsored 100 coins.]

[A curious constellation is sad that they did not get to peek into your past.]

Like hell he would have allowed that. He didn't even want to look at that. Scoffing, he watches closely to try and see if anyone was able to get out of the prison.

o0o

It's mostly dark, so very similar to the ground rat tunnels, but there's a small sliver of light filtering in somewhere behind where they are being shown. In front of them is a familiar kid, short black hair and a white T-shirt that has shown up quite a few times.

In the little light shining in this spot, Dokja is curled up on the floor under hung up clothes. The clothes look distorted and longer than they should be considering they look exactly like the clothes he's wearing currently. He looks no older than six, though he is probably older than that. He looks younger just being curled up like that either way.

He's- he's not quite quiet, there's tiny hiccups and sniffles that the kid can't entirely muffle, but he's trying his hardest. Little Dokja's hands are pressing against his own mouth hard enough for his knuckles to be white. There are tears streaming down his cheeks, coming from dull eyes that are unfocused and staring at nothing.

The screen suddenly switches to looking at the closet doors that are cracked open slightly. The room beyond the doors isn't fully visible, but it's clear the light is coming from somewhere outside a window. It's too soft to be from an overhead light.

The room looks about normal for a child, a small bed shoved up in one of the corners and there's a dresser right in line with the closet. It would be just a normal room if not for the lamp on the ground with a broken light bulb. There's glass shard on the floor that are shining in the outside light.

They sort of look like stars on the hard floor.

The soft light starts to bleed red, still looking like it's from outside. The slats in the closet door do nothing to block the light from getting into the closet. The sound of a door opening out of view screeches in the room, interrupting the peaceful silence. The closet isn't so dark as the opening door lets in more red light.

A figure, completely blacked out with not a deciding feature on display, walks into the room. It carefully edges around the glass on the floor, making it's way to the bed. It crouches down slowly and reaches a hand under to feel around under there. A haunting voice calls out to shatter the comforting silence. "Dokja-"

The voice cracks and the figure coughs. She, for all her voice was hoarse it was definitely feminine, taps around a bit longer but stands when she finds nothing. The figure turns to the closet. She walks forward.

The scene turns back to the tiny Dokja, now completely quiet as he watches and waits. The red light filters in through the cracks in the closet door as he scrunches up further and curls back even more into the clothes. No matter how long they are, they don't cover him at all.

A shadow caused by the figure blocking the light falls over Dokja's face, hiding his fright from the screen and leaving his expression unseen in the darkness. The doors of the closet open and more of the light pours in. The shadow gets bigger as the figure gets closer. Her voice echoes as the last thing heard.

"There you are, Dokja."

o0o

The truth stood behind him, staring on as he handed everyone something prettier. The truth, harsh and upset, wondered why he never gave them to anyone. Why they sit behind his teeth as he spill pretty lies to the people he loves.

"No matter how much they say they want you, they don't." Dokja tells them, cold and dead eyes staring on blankly. He uses his own body to shield his companions from the truth as he makes a statement set in stone. "I would never hand them so ugly."

Notes:

About 1,203 words.

It's sort of interesting having to find different ways to describe pain. Let me hold you close as I whisper to you aches you may never have to experience. I will encourage you to empathize with the person I've placed in front of you. They are in agony, can you hear their screams? They can't breath, can you see the way they writhe? I will place them before you like a cat with a dead mouse, waiting for you to see the pain I've cause them. These people are not quite dead, but they wish they could be. Do you like my pretty words and the way they paint your nerves alight with the blood they depict?

Chapter 15: Dark Comforts in Dark Tunnels

Summary:

Several people breath in harshly at the ambiguous scene. They had been expecting something, but this was tamer than the other ones.

"That's... That's very ominous." Hyunsung says, still fiddling with his hands in his lap.

Dokja looks at him and considers the scene. That wasn't anywhere near as bad as the other ones, but it does leave a certain flavor in his mouth. "I don't see how."

"You absolutely do." Sooyoung scoffs at him, raising her voice up a couple of pitches as she mocks him "I dOn'T sEe HoW."

Notes:

We're back on track everyone! School has been kicking my ass lately lol

Electrical is such a hard topic to learn. It's almost entirely theory and nearly nothing hands on. Wish me luck

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

[Sub Scenario 'Hunting for Food' has begun.]

Lee Hyunsung stands at the front of the group with Jung Heewon, cutting down the waves of monsters as they get closer. He's panting, slashing left and right to try and hold up the front line that they've made together.

Blood is splattered everywhere, soaking into the fighting duos clothes and the floor beneath them. Corpses lay at their feet.

The sounds the ground rats make when they are hit with the bone swords is one of agony, a mournful sound like a wounded dog. Kim Dokja does his best to focus on how Heewon is moving instead of the sound the monsters are making.

His companions move fast, but not fast enough. The growling things are slowly starting to overwhelm them. Heewon accidentally lets one of them through, stabbing into one of the quicker rat she yells over her shoulder. "Damn it! I lost one!"

The beast that passed her growls loudly, rushing forward to the rest of the group on fast feet.

Gilyoung raises his weapon high above his head and brings it down on the ground rats head with devastating force. His eyes are focused on the kids target, hand steady around the makeshift hammer he holds.

Sangah comes up behind the boy, stabbing down into the stunned monster. Her arms are shaking and she's panting from the effort this endeavor is taking from her.

Dokja slices clean through a different ground rat that got past Hyunsung and Heewon, his expression a cool calm as he looks over his shoulder. The organs of the rat spill on the ground with it's blood, reeking of iron. 'They're not doing so bad.'

Yoo Joonghyuk sends him an incredulous gaze, side eyeing him from where he is taking up most of Dokja's seat. Seeming reluctant, the protagonist nods slowly.

That bastard?

'I was expecting worse.' He admits to himself, eyeing the teamwork they're showing. No one has really said anything since they started fighting. This is wonderful for no instruction.

"You know, maybe we would have done better if you had -I don't know- included us in the plan to start with?" Jung Heewon snarks from behind him, leaning closer as she sasses at Dokja. He scoffs, raising his hand up and behind to smack at her.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' agrees with incarnation 'Jung Heewon']

He misses, of course, because he didn't bother to look at her when he tried to hit her. Well, he can't really turn because if he does he'll have to come to terms with some facts he really doesn't want to bother with. "You were fine. You worked excellently."

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' says you should say your plans out loud from now on.]

He's going to ignore that one. It's stupid that guy even tried that in the first place.

Screaming silently in wordless rage, Heewon leans back to form her hands in the air as if she's grabbing him by the throat. She shakes her hands back and forth before sighing loudly and leaning back in her chair.

Which Dokja saw none of because he's staring straight ahead like he should be.

"No- No it has to be on purpose. He has to be doing it on purpose now." Heewon strangles out, leaning over to whisper her complaints to Sangah sitting beside her. Yoo Sangah is nodding along with a tight smile stretched on her face.

"Yes, he's probably doing it on purpose." Sangah agrees, gazing at the back of Dokja's head with cold eyes and her HR smile. Heewon kind of shivers at the sight of it. "We just don't know why."

"Fuck why, I need him to just stop doing it." Heewon grouches, sitting in her seat proper again. She aggressively kicks up the recliners leg rest and settles as best as she can.

He raises from his position hunched over the corpse of the monster he just killed, looking further into the tunnel to try and see if there are any more coming for them. There aren't any, judging by the way that Heewon is rushing back to check on everyone.

"Are you all right?" She checks on everyone as she moves back to where Dokja is standing, looking at the corpses of the monsters that have piled up. As she gets closer, Heewon looks at the reader with surprise in her eyes. She looks impressed at least. "Oh wow... How many did you kill, Dokja-ssi?"

Stepping away from the dead monster as she comes closer, he shakes some of the blood off of his boots and answers her. His eyes don't leave the pool of blood that is slowly growing. It's getting closer to him. "Four."

"Damn. I only got two." Heewon looks at him with a sour face as she mutters that. Her arm is hanging at her side with her weapon.

Hyunsung trots up to them, smiling widely as he holds up his bone weapon covered in blood. The big guy jumps into the conversation with a voice filled with excitement. "I killed three of them!"

Dokja jerks in surprise at that answer, turning blank eyes on the soldier. Staring on incredulously, the reader keeps looking as Hyunsung makes polite conversation with Heewon. 'Three?!'

'I wasn't using my full power so they could get some kills for themselves, but that's only one less than me!'

Dokja understands why Heewon was looking at him with a sour gaze, turning his own on Hyunsung as he cheerfully talks. 'I've been investing a fortune into my stats, what are they feeding this guy!'

Joonghyuk jerks the reader a bit, looking at him with discerning eyes. His hands come up and poke Dokja in a couple of different places before scoffing. "You need to train more you fool."

"It's no wonder you'd fall behind." That guy nods and speaks as if that was final. Dokja scowls at him, pushing the fingers poking at him away. He's so tempted to bite at this fucker. Pulling his lip up into a sneer, the reader decides fuck it and does just that. Dokja leans forward quickly to snap his teeth in the air close to Joonghyuk, leaning back just as fast with a satisfied smug face.

"Not all of us can have your stupidly fast protagonist power ups. You were overpowered at the start." Dokja grumbles, pushing away from the bastard who over took his seat.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' laughs and encourages you to push harder.]

He doesn't get very far with it, but how far he does get is a victory in and of itself. The protagonist just raises a perfectly groomed eyebrow and grabs his hands to hold instead.

Spluttering, Dokja tries to get his hands back from that guys iron grip. It fails, obviously. Grumbling, he turns his attention to the pop up window instead. "This is all your fault."

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' doesn't know what you're talking about.]

Yeah right.

Confused, and slightly offended, Dokja pulls up Hyunsungs 'Character Profile' to try and get an idea of why this guy is so strong. There's a couple of new things, like higher stats and new skills from the last time he checked, but one thing catches his eye pretty quickly. He purposefully skims over the evaluation. That's not what he's looking for. -the word trust makes something particular skitter up his spine and die in his throat- 'Starter pack?'

'A starter pack is a premium package incarnations can use only when the average of all of their stats is below level ten.'

Dokja thinks back to the times he remembers it being used in the novel, trying to recall what it does as a whole.

'It increases the level of each stat by one and grants incarnations the skill [Weapons Proficiency], which is very useful when they're starting out.'

'I envy him.' The reader continues to watch Hyunsung and Heewon talk, thinking about the soldiers constellation. 'No wonder he's strong! It looks like [Master of Steel] has taken quite a liking to Hyunsung.'

"My constellation did that?" Hyunsung looks on at the screen in amazement, bringing a hand up to his chest to rest it there. Dokja hums at the sight.

"Yeah, you got a good one I must say." Dokja turns to look at the soldier and smiles, pointing at the new notification window that has popped up.

[The Constellation 'Master of Steel' rubs the back of his neck in embarrassment.]

"Thank you." Hyunsung mumbles, equally embarrassed. The reader averts his gaze from them. He looks to the screen instead.

It's not like he's disappointed seeing someone surpass him so easily. He's- There's more to him than his strength. He's more than his fighting power-

Lee Jihye gasps, whipping her head over to where Dokja is sitting half on Joonghyuk's lap with her mouth hung open. "Ahjussi, you're a lot more than fighting power, but you have that too!"

She sounds actually offended on his behalf, deeming it necessary to defend Dokja from himself. Jihye was also very loud about it. It hurt his ears, she was yelling.

"Jihye-ah-" He tries to say something, but is almost immediately interrupted.

"We wouldn't have been able to save master from that theater guy without you!" She is still shouting, but no one is stopping her. Not one of the other adults have tried to soothe her or get her to calm down a little bit. "And that time with the throne, no one else would have been able to do that!"

Jihye is slowly leaning closer and closer the longer she goes on. She keeps talking, bringing up more and more things she has seen him do. It eventually gets to the point that he's just nodding along to get this over with.

Yoo Joonghyuk does finally decide that he has something to say after several minutes of the teenager yapping on about whatever comes to her mind. Dokja was not expecting what he did say though. "Fighting is not all there is."

Is? Is that supposed to be comforting? Because fighting is just about all that brute knows how to do. Side eyeing the protagonist, Dokja just smiles at them both and hopes to get this over with soon.

This is getting really tiring.

Joonghyuk doesn't take well to being ignored, squeezing Dokja hard enough to make him wheeze. The reader smacks at the bastards arm to get him to loosen up.

Motherfucker-

Behind them, Sangah bends over slightly to look over the rats, poking it with her makeshift sword as she brings up a good point. Gilyoung is watching her, poking at the corpse as well. "So, how are we supposed to cook these? I don't think we can eat them raw."

"We can't eat them now, but I'm sure we'll find a way." Dokja turns a little to answer her, watching them both poke and prod at the ground rat. They really are just beating a dead horse at that point, it's not going to make them magically turn into food.

Everyone suddenly turns to Dokja, fixing their eyes on him. They're quiet, not really saying anything to him. And wow- that's actually really uncomfortable.

[Exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' stabilizes.]

Averting his eyes away from the group, he breathes as deeply as he dares with the smell filling the tracks. It makes him lightheaded regardless. He muses to himself. 'Hmm, did my answer sound too nonchalant?'

"Hey, I've always wanted to ask you this." Hyunsung interrupts Dokja's thinking, stepping forward a little to catch the readers attention. He snaps his gaze over to the soldier. He can see Myungoh hiding behind a corner for only a moment before his vision is blocked. "Dokja, do you perhaps... know something about the situation we're in?"

'This is how the regressors must have felt in the novel.'

'Some of them claimed that they just had a hunch, or just lied, like I lied to Yoo Joonghyuk.' Dokja thinks, roving his eyes over the group before him. They don't look like they're going to be willing to let this go... 'From the reader's viewpoint, the best way to handle a situation like this was...'

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' looks forward to your decision.]

[Several Constellations are looking forward to your answer.]

The tension is immediately cut through by a shrill scream off ot the side, loud and alarming. Myungoh is the one who screamed, when the group looks over his ankle is caught by one of the monsters.

'...to keep putting yourself in situations where you don't have to answer any questions.' Keeping his face carefully blank, Dokja watches as that guy is yanked by a ground rat. 'Well done, the perfect distraction.'

Han Sooyung scoffs, giving Dokja the most bland look he's seen on her witch face. She is leaned back in her recliner like she's resting on a throne. She has one of her legs hooked on the arm rest at the knee and her face is rested on her fist. "You know they were going to figure it out eventually. Or at the very least they're going to keep asking. Were you just going to keep finding ways to distract them?"

"It's worked so far." He argues, not willing to admit he was just never going to tell any of them. Eventually it would have gotten to the point that they didn't bother asking him about it anymore. If this whole theater thing didn't happen at least.

The plagiarist scoffs at him, waving her free hand around in a circle. She then shoves her pointer finger in his face. "Right. And what were you going to do when they eventually found out? There are so many ways that can go wrong."

Dokja was actually trying his hardest to avoid thinking about that, actually. Snapping at her, he shoves Sooyoung's hand out of his face.

"We would have understood, Dokja-ssi." Sangah pipes in when neither of them say anything else. Her voice is soft in the way you would talk to a scared animal and he really just wants to scream. "We're understanding now, aren't we?"

The reader glances over his shoulder quickly, to look at her sitting behind him. Her face is just as soft as her voice is, melted in a menagerie of emotions he can't pick apart from each other. Finally, he looks back in front of him and gives her a cursory acknowledgement. "I guess so."

"He- Help me!" The coward is dragged with his ankle in the jaw of the monster, screaming as he hold his hand out to try grabbing onto something.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' nods in agreement.]

Sangah, the sweet and polite person that she is, holds out her bone sword for Myungoh to grab onto. Dokja is about to tell her not to, but he's too late when she is yanked forward and taken with Myungoh by the monster rat.

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is upset at the near certain cliffhanger.]

The duo is dragged into a tunnel by the ground rat. Hyunsung tries to run forward and grab onto them to help but he's too late as the monster is faster. Surprised, the soldier stands there with his arm held out saying nothing.

"Ugh, damn it. I just knew he'd get us into trouble..." Heewon sighs in exasperation, resting her forehead on her hand to cradle it. She looks like she's trying to soothe a headache.

Gilyoung is looking at Dokja behind the other two, big knowing eyes turned to the only mellow adult. The reader watches on with a blank face as the others stress over the turn of events.

The kid inches closer, grabbing onto the bottom hem of Dokja's black button up. The image out of the corner of his eye is a trick of the light. It must be. He no longer sees brown hair and a tan shirt. Instead the thing he catches without glancing down is black hair and a white shirt.

"Wasn't ahjussi wearing that white shirt in those memory things?" Yoosung whispers to Gilyoung reluctantly, not wanting to talk to the bug boy but also not wanting to disturb Dokja while the movie is going on.

Tilting his head to the side, Gilyoung is quiet as he thinks. "He was."

"He keeps seeing a little version of himself in place of you when he's not looking properly." Yoosung pouts, feeling left out. Maybe it's because Dokja has known that kid longer.

"I- I don't think that it's a good thing." Gilyoung mutters, turning to continue watching the screen once more. "I don't like what this is trying to say."

He tries to ignore it, but the insistent needling in the back of his mind begs him to look over at the boy. To prove the familiar sight is wrong. It's Gilyoung standing there, not a memory long gone.

[Exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' strengthens.]

He looks down at the kid, an excuse already on his tongue. There isn't anything to reason with though. "We'll be after them then, Gilyoung-ah."

The kid nods at him silently.

"I still can't believe you only took the child." Heewon grumbles, motioning vaguely at Gilyoung who is squished in with the rest of the kids.

Hyunsung looks behind at her, grimacing at the way she said it. "Heewon-ssi..."

"I have a point!" She defends herself, not willing to listen to that disappointed tone.

[The constellations who like children agree with incarnation 'Jung Heewon'.]

"Well, sort of, but you could have been nicer about it." The soldier concedes, picking at his nail beds as he shoots a glance at the kid they're talking about.

Heewon huffs, but acquiesces at his point. Jihye replaces her in the conversation instead. "Why did you just bring bug boy with you, ahjussi?"

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' wishes you would not spoil future events.]

Well, Dokja is sure the answer will be coming soon. He doesn't exactly ignore her, sending the teenager a smile, but he doesn't answer.

She squabbles at that, her face flushing up in upset, trying to find something to say to get Dokja to answer her. Jihye is very obviously glaring at the air, most likely at the notification that was sent in by that plotter guy.

The screen continues playing before she can get it out.

"Is it really okay for them to go on their own?" Heewon asks on the nearly empty rails, looking down into the dark tunnel that their leader and youngest member just jumped into. She stands with her arms crossed over her chest and her teeth worrying at her lower lip.

Hyunsung stands with her, looking into the tunnel with just as much nervous energy as she is. He looks down the tracks every so often in case of another attack from the monsters. There is nothing. He remembers the conversation they just had with Dokja very well.

A flashback flickers onto the screen, showing what had been skipped over.

"You're only going to take Gilyoung with you?!" Heewon has her hands thrown out to the side, leaning forward slightly as she is forced to just watch Dokja crouch at the edge of the tunnel. Her lips are pursed and her eyebrows are drawn up in frustration.

"Gilyoung's ability will help us track them." Dokja looks over his shoulder to the duo, replying to her. Heewon tries to cut in, stepping forward in disbelief, but Dokja bulldozes past anything she might try to say. "And Hyunsung, look after Heewon, please. She's not fully recovered yet. I can tell that she's tired."

Hyunsung glances to the side a little, taking stock of how Heewon looks to be doing. She's sweating and panting, the poison spotting on her skin has yet to fully recede. She really isn't doing so well.

The flashback ends there, returning to just Hyunsung and Heewon standing there at the entrance of the rat tunnel. He reminds her that Dokja had said that he would send a signal in case of any issues while she just grumbles about being fine.

Down in the darkness, the only sounds that Dokja and Gilyoung can hear are the faint sounds of their footsteps. Here, in this space where he can hear little and see little, he finds comfort he hasn't found in a long while.

The screen sort of flickers in that familiar way that makes the screen feel like an old tv playing a vhs tape. The next scene is fuzzed at the edges and skips a bit.

Dokja squirms in the chair, grimacing at what he knows will come next. He remembers what he was thinking about at the time. His skin burns at the pressure of the protagonist being pressed up against him. The reader is very tempted to climb out to get his own space for a little bit.

The rest of the adults share knowing looks with each other, watching the rat wiggle in the chair. Sooyoung makes a couple of vague gestures after leaning away from Dokja so he doesn't catch it.

He's too distracted to do so, but it's not unprompted to be cautious with this guy.

Heewon shrugs at the writer, making her own gestures. She's not as careful about it considering she's behind the subject of their silent conversation.

Sangah actually speaks, whispering to Heewon to pass it along. "It's something important."

That's just a guess based off of how uncomfortable Dokja looks when he's been fine before this. His lips are turned down and he's squinting at Joonghyuk.

Yup. Definitely important.

They sort of look like stars on the hard floor.

"There you are, Dokja."

The screen fizzles back into the dark tunnels. Maybe it's better not to think about that for now. Dark and quiet doesn't quite mean safety anymore.

Several people breath in harshly at the ambiguous scene. They had been expecting something, but this was tamer than the other ones.

"That's... That's very ominous." Hyunsung says, still fiddling with his hands in his lap.

Dokja looks at him and considers the scene. That wasn't anywhere near as bad as the other ones, but it does leave a certain flavor in his mouth. "I don't see how."

"You absolutely do." Sooyoung scoffs at him, raising her voice up a couple of pitches as she mocks him "I dOn'T sEe HoW."

Dokja does a double take, sneering at the face she is making. Sooyoung's face in pulled down exaggeratedly in every place she can control. It looks so obnoxious.

[Exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' strengthens.]

There's that skill again. That notification has been popping up constantly whenever things like that show up. Sooyoung looks to Heewon and Sangah, seeing if they noticed it too.

They did.

"It showed up again." Sangah mumbles, leaning in towards Sooyoung to whisper to her. Dokja is too busy zoning out looking at the screen to hear them.

The kids do look at them though.

"Do you think ahjussi is okay, unnie?" Yoosung sits up on her knees to lean towards them in the row behind, her face covered in concern. Gilyoung and Mia nod along, as if they had talked about this beforehand and agreed to ask.

Sangah's own face twists up,she inhales deeply with pursed lips and turns away as she answers. "We can hope."

Gilyoung gives a wounded sound, but doesn't say anything further. It seems his worries earlier are coming to fruition.

'The Dark Fold. This place is where ground rats reside. It's called the Dark Fold because all light is absorbed to the point it is difficult to tell which way is up or down.'

Little faint whisps of green lights flutter around them, highlighting Gilyoung's hand that is clinging to Dokja's own. He just has to focus on that sensation. "This way."

'If it hadn't been for Gilyoung having the [Interspecies Communication] skill, I would have had to use coins unnecessarily here. It would have been a waste that would set me back.'

They keep walking, but Gilyoung turns his head a little to look over his shoulder at the reader. Even as he leads them forward, the kid speaks to him. "Tell me, hyung."

"Yes?" Dokja is not certain about what the kid wants to know, but he has a few guesses. He was looking at him earlier after all. He was just really hoping he wouldn't have to confront the consequences of his actions so soon.

Gilyoung watches him as they walk, never once looking away as they moved. Eventually the kid asks the question Dokja really didn't want to answer. "Did you do that on purpose?"

"..." The reader doesn't say anything, just watching as Gilyoung turns to watch the way as they walk. The kid is smart, Dokja will give him that. Cocking his head to the side, he tries to think of an answer.

"When the monster dragged noona and that ahjussi, you didn't help them on purpose." Gilyoung is assured with his conclusion, certain that he is right. Dokja can hear it in his voice. His steps pause slightly, faltering at the idea of being read so easily. So this is how it feels.

'I hate it.'

"I guess you can't handle having your own tactics turned on you, can you?" Sooyoung breaks in through the scene playing on the screen, looking at Dokja with a blank face. She's just staring at him.

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' declares you must be able to take what you dish out.]

'You really aren't helping.' Dokja avoids her gaze, mumbling something or other about how it's his job to know people and not the other way around.

Sooyoung rolls her eyes at him, but doesn't push any further. Everyone has been trying to get him to answer them less. It's starting to get suspicious.

Especially with the looks they've been sharing over his head like he's a child who can't recognize this stuff. Dokja was built on that kind of silent communication.

"I was looking at you, at your face when it happened. Why did you do that?" The screen returns to the time Gilyoung had been staring at Dokja when Myungoh and Sangah had been dragged into the rat tunnels for a mere moment. Then it was back on Gilyoung. He didn't really sound accusatory.

[The Constellations of absolute good frown at your evil deed.]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' looks at you and encourages you to explain yourself.]

'He was watching me while that was happening? In the middle of all that ruckus?' Dokja muses, one side of his mouth raising in amusement. Interesting. 'What a scary kid...'

'He was able to catch on so quickly, I probably shouldn't lie.' Pleased with the boy, Dokja smiles down at the back of his head. This is making him consider things more. 'He would probably catch on to that as well.'

"It was more useful to let them go." It's not too much of a hassle to explain now that there isn't much to do but walk. -A small part of him wails at the idea the kid may think different of him because of this- "The ground rats have a habit of keeping their prey where they keep their treasure. It's usually impossible to find their lair unless you directly follow the paths they have burrowed themselves."

[The Constellations of absolute good admonish you for your evil actions.]

"Did-" Sangah's voice cracks and she is forced to gather her composure. Dokja refuses to look back at her, already able to imagine the look she must have on her face. "Was it really necessary to do that?"

She sounds... heartbroken? If he had to put an emotion to it. It makes his chest hurt. Dokja can feel his ribs curling in, it's making it hard for him to breathe.

He- He's not a good person. They have to know this by now, right? There can't be any disappointment when he does things that prove it.

The pain in his chest doesn't go away as he keeps quiet.

Sangah sighs behind him, a sharp sound in the suddenly quiet theater. Where was everyone else's conversations? They were all whispering to each other only moments ago.

She doesn't sound as disappointed as the reader had expected her to sound when she talks next. "It's okay if it was, Dokja-ssi."

He still doesn't answer her.

He doesn't bother trying to explain away how he knows this. Any answer he would give the kid would be half truths at best. The truth is the least he could give to this child who he saved due to his own hypocrisy. That got him thinking about books again.

He would love a genuine monsterpedia if he could get his hands on one.

"Hyung really likes books." Gilyoung mutters with furrowed eyebrows, trying to think of a place he could get a book like that.

Yoosung nods along, eyeing him as she resolves to get Dokja a monster book first.

Lee Gilyoung stays quite for a little while as they keep moving, making small steps as the insects around them lead them through the rough tunnel. Eventually, he does speak up again. " Does that mean you did this on purpose? Planning for one of us to be taken as bait when we set out on the tracks?"

One of the fireflies that had joined their entourage flies closer to his face, lighting up one of Kim Dokja's eyes. They are blank and cold, but no longer as tired as they once were. It's so small. The kid is too. "I saw your face when they dragged Sangah-noona and that guy. You didn't look very surprised, more like you had even expected it."

Dokja wonders if there is something more wrong with him or Gilyoung. The boy hasn't let go of him at all throughout this conversation, no matter the heinous thing he confesses to. He keeps searching for Dokja like he'll add logic to the new world the apocalypse has put them in. Kim Dokja has sacrificed people's safety in the name of reaching the end of this fantastical story.

Maybe it's equal, but the reader is concerned that Gilyoung can hold his hand in a place like this as if he's safe. As if he's a safe person to be around. Like he hasn't killed people just to make things easier for himself. Like Dokja hadn't killed-

Dokja can spin many lies, any tale to uphold whatever story he wants the public to pass on. However, walking here with this child who believes in him even with all the things he's done, he finds himself incapable of lying in the face of such a direct question.

"I expected them to grab Myungoh, allowed him along for that exact reason." Kim Dokja answers honestly in a way that he hasn't in a very very long time. It's- It's a weirdly raw feeling.

"You should be honest more, ahjussi." Jihye calls him out on the feeling really quickly. She's just straight full of obstinance. "It doesn't have to be something new."

"Jihye-ah." Dokja regrets taking the lighter atmosphere of earlier for granted. This is still so uncomfortable. "It's... It doesn't work like that."

"It can." The teenager immediately rebukes him, her chin proudly in the air as she just keeps watching him. "It's good you were just planning on sacrificing that mean ahjussi. I would have been upset if you had left Sangah-unnie"

Sighing, Dokja nods along. "I didn't take into account the way the rest of the group would have reacted."

"Maybe you should think about that more, ahjussi." That skitters something weird down his spine that he can't really find the words for.

He stays silent as the screen starts to play again.

'The ground rats have an uncanny ability to sniff out the weakest person in a group. If Myungoh hadn't been with them, their next target would have been Jung Heewon. She is still recovering from the poison fog. It's the exact reason why he hadn't been against Cheon Inho tacking that guy onto their little group.'

Sangah giving her helping hand to the person who had harassed her the most during her time working was not in the plan though. Dokja bites the inside of his cheek, letting the kid tug him along and guide him in the dark as he thinks. 'That wasn't on my bingo card.'

"It's not like they're in immediate danger. Rats don't tend to kill the prey they kidnap, they have a habit of leaving their prey wherever they keep their treasure." The readers foot crunches on the next step, breaking something apart under his foot. It's too dark to see what he's stepped on, but Gilyoung seems fine so it can't be any of the bugs. "They took two humans, so the burrowed paths are a bit bigger than usual."

Gilyoung stops in his tracks as Dokja keeps talking, turning with his hand still clasping the reader's own. He doesn't loosen his grip, if anything he just squeezes harder. "Then your true purpose isn't to save them from the rats, but to get items?"

That kid is way too calm for this, there is no hesitation in those eyes. There really isn't a reason to save the kidnapped people of their group from the rats. The ground rats aren't actually that dangerous. People mostly starve to death in these tunnels anyway since they can't find their way out.

The demonic species that the rats intend to sacrifice their prey to is a whole other story altogether.

"Yes." Dokja didn't bring them into this tunnel to save anyone. Yoo Sangah wasn't supposed to be grabbed in the first place, but that was just an unfortunate coincidence. His goal is the treasure, no matter how much he wants to twist it to justify himself. "Are you disappointed in me?"

"Never, hyung." Gilyoung pushes past the girls to grab onto the sleeve of Dokja's robe. The grip is ironclad and Joonghyuk even leans back to let the kid do his thing. Gilyoung lowers his voice when he speaks next. "I will never be disappointed in you."

Dokja places his hand over the kids, giving his unlucky smile as he just looks at him. He doesn't have anything to say to him that hasn't already played out on the screen.

They are currently getting the deepest dive into Kim Dokja that they will ever get.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' looks on at you with sorrow.]

Uriel, please. Not now.

"No." The kid continues to surprise him, squeezing Dokja's cold hand even tighter as he looks the man in the eyes. It's uncomfortable to be seen like this. "You're bad at lying, hyung. If it was just the items you were after, you wouldn't have saved me in the subway."

"I believe in you." And Kim Dokja believes it. Can tell he's telling the truth by the way Gilyoung's grip doesn't falter, doesn't even soften a little.

[A few constellations are beginning to tear up.]

[You have been sponsored 200 coins.]

'Huh.'

Dokja looks into those eyes filled with trust and it's weird. There are things he doesn't say, things that are too tender to bring up here.

'You, sweet thing, had to have been lied to your entire life.' The reader squeezes the kids hand back, his expression carefully crafted into a blank mask. Gilyoung shouldn't put his trust into someone for something as simple as that.

"This and that are two different things, hyung." Gilyoung insists, not letting Dokja say anything about it. The kid sounds sort of upset. "It's not just that. It's-"

The kid makes a strangled noise, the sound very animalistic in nature. He's frustrated from what the reader can tell, sounding like he's three steps away from screaming.

"Hyung is really really stupid." Gilyoung finally says, still holding onto his sleeve. The girls have been squished into the other side of the recliner, switching around how they had been previously sat. Yoo Mia is no longer the closest to Yoo Joonghyuk.

Gilyoung is leaning towards Dokja, probably one more melt down away from invading their chair again.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' encourages you to listen to incarnation 'Lee Gilyoung'.]

Joonghyuk covers Dokja's mouth when he goes to argue with the boy.

How dare he-

Kim Dokja didn't save anyone in that subway cabin that day. There was never a chance that he would be able to, it's not the kind of person he is. He merely extended the idea of survival to a kid stuck in a new world that forced people to kill to live another day.

He did not save anyone. He merely extended a liars version of mercy.

Dokja knows what this is, knows what this entire conversation will end with. He knows the connection that has been made here. He just doesn't want to think about it.

'I thought he was mature for his age, but he really is still just a kid. He can only say that because he's oblivious to the fact that this world is full of vile grown-ups who would take advantage of that "Maturity".'

"The end is close." Gilyoung tells him, a look in his eye that gleams with the light from a firefly that flies close to his face. The kid points in a direction, the bugs are in a vague line set in the direction Gilyoung points.

[A few constellations hold their breath in anticipation.]

The kid doesn't continue walking, holding eye contact with the reader as they just stand there. There isn't a time limit for now, but it's starting to make Dokja antsy just standing here.

"Hyung," Gilyoung speaks up again, ignoring the messages coming in from the constellations. "are you the god of this world?"

Sooyoung snorts, laughter bubbling up and out of her chest. She's cackling when Dokja turns to confront her. "What is so funny?"

"You're no god." She stops her laughing, reduced to just giggles, and looks at him with a smug smile. "You're just a scammer."

Dokja rolls his eyes at her, letting her laugh in his face for a minute. "Right, at least I don't start a fanatic cult."

The plagiarist splutters, no longer laughing at him, and turns her full body to look at him. "It's not a cult!"

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' cheers you on to fight again.]

"Uh-huh, and I make fair contracts with people." The reader deadpans at her. She has got to know she ended up making a cult.

Sooyoung, still set on squabbling with him, sneers at Dokja as she tries to think of something to say back at him. She looks to the rest of the group to see if they have figured out who she is from that hint. She doesn't really get the chance.

"Do you two ever stop fighting?" Heewon grumbles, sighing in annoyance at the childish fighting between those two adults. "The kids are doing better than you two and they have still been at each others throats."

Flushed in embarrassment, Dokja resolutely turns away from that witch. He wasn't the one who starts them! It's not his fault.

He thinks, like the liar he is.

Dokja nearly snorts. There is no god here. Not in this kind of world. He just blinks at the kid with a blank face. He's honestly actually surprised that Gilyoung even believes there is a god. Let alone one that would lend people like them any kind of held. That sort of thinking is the first thing that goes with the kind of violence they have been subjected to.

It's the kind of thing beaten out of them early on. He really is just a child after all.

Heewon winces, grabbing onto Sangahs arm with a strong grip. She looks at the other woman with a question in her eyes.

Sangah looks at her, nodding at the question she sees there. She angles herself closer and whispers to her in a low voice. "He has confirmed it for us."

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' worries for incarnation 'Kim Dokja'.]

Heewon wheezes out a low wounded sound, looking back to the reader sitting in the arms of Joonghyuk. The protagonist is watching them, listening in to their conversation.

The more he learns about his companion through this stupid invasive scenario, the more Joonghyuk understands about the person that has turned the current round on it's head.

"..." The reader doesn't deign to answer, just leaving room for Gilyoung to continue talking. They obviously won't move forward until all questions have an answer.

When he doesn't receive an answer, the kid tilts his head to the side and then back to just look up. It breaks the tense eye contact they have been holding. Another firefly floats by and illuminates his expression. He looks like he figured something out. Sounding slightly discouraged from silence being his only answer, Gilyoung mumbles out his next question. "Could you be the main character?"

'Oh wow.' Dokja looks closely at that new look on the boys face, marveling at him. That's quite the heart punch. Leaving his grip on Gilyoung's hand loose, the reader looks on in detached interest. 'Isn't that a thought.'

'I'm not the main character here, I'm not even supposed to be here in the first place. That's a title for a very special person. I'm just here to see the end of the story. My knowledge of the story will only go so far. Gilyoung-ah, don't you see I am only a means to an end?'

The image of Yoo Joonghyuk's back is displayed on the screen. He's on the bridge with the wind gently swaying through his black coat. When that guy goes to turn, the screen glitches and goes back to the tunnels. The scene is focused on Dokja once again.

"Kim Dokja." Joonghyuk speaks up, his eyes on the reader in a heavy gaze. Dokja shivers, really not liking being looked at like that.

"Later." Dokja mumbles, placing a hand on his cheek and forcefully trying to turn that guys face to look at the screen instead.

His pushing doesn't really do anything, the protagonist looking at him for a little bit before turning back on his own.

"Neither." Kim Dokja finally says, sticking his thorn in his belt loop. He steps forward and rests his hand on the kids head, running his fingers through the greasy trestles. "I am not a god. I am not the main character."

Shuffling an unlucky smile onto his face, he leans in closer to the kid and lowers his voice as if they had any privacy here to have in the first place. He puts his finger in front of his lips like he's telling a secret. "Don't tell anyone, but I've always been jealous of those protagonist's"

"Kim Dokja." This time, he's more stern when he says it. Joonghyuk is looking at him wtih furrowed eye brows and more intense eyes.

"Not right now, Joonghyuk-ah." The reader is the one who looks away this time, trying his best to zone out so he doesn't have to deal with this.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' wants you to talk about it.]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' tells constellation 'Secretive Plotter' to leave incarnation 'Kim Dokja' along.]

He can feel the protagonist huff right against him. Dokja is lucky that Joonghyuk lets it go.

The smile turns a little sour as he keeps thinking, leaning away again and straightening up. A protagonist, the main focus of a story. The beginning, middle, and end of the journey. The main character gives a story it's meaning, the journey it's set to take.

Kim Dokja doesn't even give his own life meaning, let alone a story. He is the single sentence of a character you never see again, the one that got cut from the final story all together because there wasn't a point in the first place.

"But you do know a lot about this world, isn't that right, hyung?" Gilyoung is looking at him in the eye again, lowering his head from looking at the ceiling. The kids eyes are scrutinizing him, or perhaps he's just looking for an answer on his face again.

There's no need, Dokja answers the kid easily enough. The sour smile he was holding onto turns blank instead. He's not trying to fool anyone right now. They're long past that. "That's... That's right."

"Then, when we reach the end of the scenarios, will we be able to make a wish?" He has turned to look in the direction they're supposed to be walking. Suddenly, the kid looks like his age. Young, sounding like the child he is with a crack in his voice. Dokja can see Gilyoung's shoulders shake in the flickering light from the insects.

"There's- they usually get a reward at the end of a story like this, don't they?"

[Exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' shakes violently.]

Nausea creeps up his throat, his stomach going queasy. Dokja has to forcefully abort yanking his hand out of that stronghold grip.

Listening to this sounds just like-

"Omma!" Dokja is careful to whisper-shout, not getting any louder than a low talking voice. His shirt has a trail of blood down the shite surface and his eyes are a little tired. He looks small. He's missing a tooth when he smiles wobblily, blood dripping down the corner of his mouth. His little bloody tooth is laid in the palm of his hand, turned up and shoved towards his mother. "Look, it came out!"

The figure in front of him is shadowed over, the light of the room backlighting her in an eerie red. Her cracking lips are the only thing actually visible of her face. She's on her knees as she cups both of her hands right below his own. His tiny hand is dwarfed easily.

'That's...' Jihye looks back to try and gauge how Sangah and Heewon are reacting to the weird thing on the screen.

Is that really how ahjussi sees his mother? Why does she look like that? The teenager thinks back to the memory from earlier, making connections to the figure looking for a hiding baby ahjussi and the one kneeling before him in the current memory on screen.

The ladies behind her have werid looks on their faces, the kind that adults do when they've seen something upsetting but don't want to show it.

Then Jihye is right that this is weird. She's not the only one unsettled.

"I see it." The voice is raspy and it sort of echoes in the memory. She speaks just as low as he does. One of her hands raises from beneath his own and wipes away the blood from his chin. "You're growing up well, Dokja-yah."

He giggles at the feeling, overturning the hand holding his tooth so it drops in her hand. He beams with a hole in his smile and blood still on his teeth. He bounces where he stands. "Does that mean I'm the knight now?"

The figure drops the smile she was barely holding onto, her mouth turns down and her lips purse. She only keeps it for a moment before it's smoothed blank. The figure continues to wipe away the blood best she can, but she speaks sternly next. "The dragon is still too powerful for you, little knight."

The screen turns back to the tiny Dokja, who is pouting at the figure-

There are many ways to survive the devastation of the apocalypse. Some people go mad...

Kim Namwoon stands crazed, his eyes blown wide and blood on his face. He's smiling viciously.

...some people turn into zealots...

An image of the people who had all banded together to kill the grandmother on the subway pops up into his head.

...and some people become irrationally optimistic.

Gilyoung is pouting, tugging at Dokja's sleeve. He's pulling down the collar of the robe. "It's not irrational, hyung."

Dokja just sighs, pats the kids head, and tugs his collar back into place. These children need to start remembering that he doesn't have anything on under this.

The boy just keeps pouting at him, complaining under his breath.

Dokja is back to looking at Gilyoung who has a hopeful look on his face. But it's not really Gilyoung. In front of him stands the same boy from earlier, beaming with a hole in his smile and blood on hsi teeth. The line of blood going down his shirt quickly turns into a splatter instead before Dokja is back to looking at brown hair and a full smile.

It's standing here, in these dark dark tunnels with the kid staring up at him with a smile and hopeful eyes, that Dokja realizes just how much he fucks up the things he touches. Even now that they've stood here, had a conversation about how he sacrificed people for a selfish cause and everything else he has done up until now, Gilyoung stands there and looks at him with a smile. Still looks at him with eyes glittering in hope.

Hope.

The kind of hope that comes from knowing there's more. An abused child looks at an adult who survived the same fate, the same conditions, and sees there is a future. Kim Dokja's own heinous survival has given this poor little kid some twisted semblance of hope.

Once again it's not Gilyoung that stands before him anymore. This new kid is thinner, more gaunt, with black hair and black eyes. The eyes are duller but the blood isn't gone. It's a familiar sight, one that leaves Dokja's eyes cold and dark with loathing. A seething feeling that crawls underneath his skin.

"Yeah, that pretty ahjussi seeing himself is not good." Yoo Mia speaks up, bringing akc the conversation from earlier. Gilyoung looks to the left to pay attention to her.

"I don't think ahjussi likes himself very much." Yoosung mumbles, her heart breaking even as she says it. She grabs and squeezes Mia's hand. The girl says nothing about it.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is devestated.]

Jihye, who had been distracting while listening in, inserts her own opinion. "Doesn't it seem like he hates only the child him? We didn't see that same animosity to his teenage self..."

Jihye brings up a good point. Gilyoung scrunches his face up, his expression souring quickly. "And I remind hyung of child him?"

"It seems so." Jihye nods along as she talks, trying to understand her own observations.

Suddenly, he snaps his gaze away when the moment settles back into what it actually is. There is a boy standing in front of him that need reassurance. Reassurance that he doesn't exactly have. Lying to Gilyoung will probably be the nicest thing he's ever done in his life.

It still feels like ash on his tongue.

"Yes, you're right." He says the words he doesn't believe. He slips his hand out of the kids grip and lays it on his shoulder instead.

"There's so much wrong with this." Sooyoung pipes up, groaning when soem of the other adults try to hiss at her to be quiet. She waves them off easy, keeping on even as everyone tries to get her to not.

"You can't expect yourself to not lie. The situation you're in is delicate." The plagiarist makes a good point. A good point that Dokja doesn't want to listen to. "It's like telling a kid that santa is real."

Dokja scoffs at her, refusing to look her in the face as he averts his eyes. "It's still-"

"Don't even start with that bullshit." Sooyoung snarls at him, bonking him on the top of his head with one of her closed fist. "You're just trying to find ways to blame yourself."

The reader stays quiet at this.

'I'm lucky that we're in the dark. Gilyoung can't see m expression right now.' They start to walk forward again, getting closer and closer to the end of this ordeal that Dokja has put himself through. 'You can point fingers at me all you want. I am a despicable grown-up and this kid has decided to live on in this world.'

They reach a barrier like the one from earlier when they started the hunting sub scenario, the fireflies being unable to light up anything past it no matter how close they got. They walk forward and push through. A window pops up soon after.

[The Sub Scenario has been updated.]

Notes:

About 9,331 words.

I hope everyone's having a good week!

Chapter 16: The Dark Warden of Doom

Summary:

Joonghyuk makes a loud, strangled noise. He jerks forward in his chair as if he would be able to reach forward and change what's going on displayed on the screen. Dokja grabs onto his arm, but it was unnecessary. The protagonist didn't actually go anywhere. But he did jerk his head to look at the reader with wild eyes. "Kim Dokja!"

"It's fine!" Dokja yells back, squeezing that guys arm. He keeps eye contact with him, slowing his own breathing so that Joonghyuk will match him. The next time he speaks, it is significantly softer. "We're fine. I didn't kill it. Sangah didn't kill it. Gilyoung wasn't awake to do it."

Notes:

I actually hated writing this chapter and I ended up fighting tooth and nail to be able to get through it. It's like pulling teeth. I actually sped through this pretty quickly both when reading the novel and when reading it for the Manhwa. I might have missed a couple of details I wanted to add, so if I go back at a later time and rewrite it that's why. The scene always makes me want to gnaw at the bars of my enclosure every time I read it. I also had trouble portraying Dokja the way I wanted to here. I gave up with the constellations about halfway through, so I might go back to change that later. This chapter is a nightmare

Frothing at the mouth

Going absolutely bonkers

The original go go go motivation I had when I started writing this has dwindled since my classes have begun to get increasingly harder with increasingly stricter instructors so chapters may lag a bit here and there.

I will be making the chapters longer as a consequence. The longer it takes me to get a chapter out, the longer it will be. This one is only a little longer than usual, but I hope it makes up for it anyway.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Han Sooyoung keeps looking at Kim Dokja, her mouth twisted up like she ate something sour. He averts his eyes to avoid her gaze, looking to the kids instead to ignore his problems. It doesn't help him too much. He can still feel her eyes drilling into the back of his head.

The kids have switched around in the chair again. Gilyoung is still the closest to him, holding onto the sleeve of his robe causing it to slip on his shoulder. Dokja tugs at the robe's collar so he remains decent. He's sort of tempted to peel his hand off of his clothes. Dokja thinks better of it. The girls ended up switching where they sit.

Yoo Mia is sitting closest to Jihye, whispering to her in hushed tones about something Dokja can't quite hear from where he is sitting. Yoosung is leaning up against Gilyoung, crowding him to try and be close to Dokja as well.

There are several other eyes on him. He can feel the hair on his arms raising at the feeling of being watched so thoroughly. He tries not to look around, wanting to avoid making eye contact with anyone, but is unable to resist. He regrets it when he sees a very familiar set of eyes that makes bile crawl up his throat. He turns away quickly.

Han Sooyoung is decidedly the safer option bizarrely enough.

"You won't be able to keep avoiding things when we get out of here." Sooyoung finally says something, her arms are crossed when he looks over to acknowledge what she said. She continues her threats before he can say anything. "Once we get past the throne stuff, we'll be shoved right back into the scenarios."

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' agrees that incarnation 'Kim Dokja' should open up to his companions more.]

She's not exactly wrong, and the smug face she's making lets him know she knows it very well. He can still try his hardest. Dokja knows very well he will be hunted down after they are done with this scenario and back in the Seoul dome.

If they left in the first place.

The screen lights up with the next scene and Dokja is saved from having to answer. This time.

The black barrier that prevented them from proceeding melts away in glitched pixels, opening up to a decently large cavern. Roots are inlaid into the walls, lining the area and scattered in the floor as well. Slowly, blue flares are revealed as the dark bleeds away from the scene. A large black treasure chest is sat right in the center of the place, runes etched into outside of the chest that glow a faint purple.

Yoo Sangah and Han Myungoh are intertwined in the roots behind the chest, tied up tight and obviously unable to escape on their own. Kim Dokja watches them struggle with blank eyes for a good minute, only interrupted by the star stream notification that pops up catching his attention.

[You have entered the 'Ground Rat's Treasure Room']

"This! Hyung...!" Gilyoung snaps his head over to look at him, those big eyes shaking as the kid starts to raise his arm to point at cavern. Dokja quickly reaches towards the boy and covers his mouth, bending over so it's easier to do so.

The reader slowly raises his other hand to his mouth, a single finger coming up to cover his lips. Those blank eyes are staring at Gilyoung. "Shh, not too loud, Gilyoung-ah."

"It's not a normal treasure room." Dokja whispers as quietly as he can, slightly worried he's mumbling too low to be heard. Gilyoung nods, so his worries are assuaged, and so the reader looks carefully around the room to be extra cautious.

"At least you finally say something." Jung Heewon titters at him from behind, her voice lilted up in a teasing tone. Dokja knows she means it all the same. "You can't be silent about things all of the time."

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' wishes you would explain yourself more.]

She leans forward and digs her fingers into his hair, ruffling it aggressively when Dokja doesn't stop her. He squawks at the motion that jerks his head around, leaning away as soon as he can to get away from her reach.

"I can't tell you everything." The reader finally grumbles out, grabbing onto her wrist and gently pushing it back towards her. She doesn't deserve the roughhousing he gives that plagiarist.

Dokja is stared at with incredulous eyes, so he sighs and pats his hair down from where it was frizzed up. "It would give away my only advantage, my knowledge."

With knowing eyes, Heewon stares at him and just hums as if considering his answer. For a moment, it looks like she's about to disagree with him. However, She doesn't say anything more, tilting her head as she continues to stare.

Heewon slowly leans in a little closer to Sangah with a sigh. "So he really is doing it on purpose."

She just looks ahead, smiling pleasantly as she looks as the screen illuminating the room. She leans in as well, putting a hand on Heewon's arm that has taken up the armrest. "Yes. He is doing it on purpose."

Why does it seem like everyone is always staring at him now? This is really uncomfortable...

It's a good thing he did.

Familiar green eyes light up in the shadowed areas of the cavern, it's obvious they're ground rats when one passes by a blue flare on what looks like a patrol route. Stepping back a little from the connection of the tunnel and the cavern, Dokja avoids one of the patrolling rats. Being spotted now would lead to more trouble than they need.

"This is all your fault, Yoo Sangah!" Han Myungoh's voice is loud and shrill in the small area. The reader watches a couple of the rats jerk towards the noise before continuing on their routes. That guy has probably been at it for a while considering the monster's reaction.

Dokja carefully rubs at his temples, a headache already blooming behind his eyes. Does this guy have no sense of self preservation?

He watches Yoo Sangah's face as it flits from mildly annoyed to heavily offended. He keeps an eye out for the monsters passing them by every so often, but Dokja has an ear turned to the conversation happening in the background.

It's painful having to listen to Myungoh accuse the poor woman of being at fault in this situation, saying something about her taking the subway. Dokja slowly comes to the same conclusion as Sangah does, based off of how her expression are quickly forming into just plain upset, that Myungoh had been the one who stole her bike.

Jihye makes an affronted noise, something high pitched and disbelieving. She turns in her chair to look at Sangah. Her face starts to scrunch up into pure hatred the longer she listens to the conversation on the screen. "Unnie, did that asshole really steal your stuff?"

Dokja considers admonishing her for her use of cuss words around the kids, but Joonghyuk doesn't look or say anything about it, so he decides this is an appropriate time for her to do as such. He still sends a warning glance to Gilyoung and Yoosung as they are both turned to the teenager and listening closely.

"Yes. He was the reason I was on the train with Dokja-ssi that day." When Dokja looks over his shoulder to see what kind of expression she is making, he finds a complicated look on Sangah's face. She sounds mostly bitter though, so it probably has to do with that guy.

"That's horrible. I can't believe you had to deal with that..." Jihye's lips curl up into a pout as she sympathizes with the older woman's plight.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' calls for justice!]

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' disapproves of the actions of incarnation 'Han Myungoh'.]

"Yeah, like Angel-unnie said, he needs to pay for his crimes." The sympathy bleeds away into indignant anger, makes the vague gesture of stabbing someone with her hands. Sangah's eyes dance with mirth, the corners of her mouth lifting as she smiles.

She's probably thinking about what happens just a little while after this, Dokja muses. That guy did pay his dues, eventually.

"I believe he ends up paying enough." Jihye tries to ask her more about it, but the scene on the screen starts to progress again.

Rolling his eyes, Dokja sighs as he thinks of a couple different ways for him to get everyone out while still getting what he wants. The argument continues in the background, with Myungoh stating that it didn't matter and that she should have just agreed to let him take her home. Dokja is severely unimpressed.

Sangah is just trying to get the truth out of that slimy bastard.

There's a muffled shriek of rage behind him that he is sure comes from Heewon, if the whisper yelled curses are anything to go off of.

Dokja is surprised when a quieter voice joins in. Sangah seems to be letting out some steam in equal measures. Good for her.

'It's no wonder the guy who drives a Mercedez-Benz took the subway on this random day. Poor Sangah.'

Two different windows pop up in front of his face. Dokja nods along as he reads them, waving them away once he had. This situation is very... enlightening. If he really had to put a word to describing it.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' dislikes incarnation 'Han Myungoh']

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' has grown tired of the petty argument.]

They slowly get louder and louder, yelling to the point that the rats don't even bother with their little patrols anymore. Most of them have scuttled away into other tunnels that he didn't see earlier. Sighing, Dokja tightens his grip on the thorn in his hand.

"I like that guy even less now." Han Sooyoung scoffs, crunching on a lollipop that Dokja isn't quite sure where it came from. "I didn't like him to start with but it just keeps getting worse and worse."

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' agrees wholeheartedly.]

The reader side eyes her, slowly turning his head to look a her. His face is deadpan as he makes eye contact with her. "Do you enjoy stating the obvious? No wonder your writing was always luck luster."

The witch splutters, eyes blown wide and her mouth hanging open in surprise. She snaps her hand forward to grab onto the collar of his robe and tugs him forward. "You rat! You haven't even read my glorious writing! You take that back!"

What is it with everyone and tugging around the only top he has on.

"Witch!" Sneering at her, he grabs onto the hood of her hoodie and tugs it backward so it chokes her. She coughs, loosening her hold on his robe for a moment.

When she's done choking, she glares at him with venomous eyes that scream of a scheme. Her other hand jerks forward to grab onto the other side of his collar, brushing off the hold Gilyoung had on him. Staring at her incredulously, Dokja tries to figure out what she's trying to do.

All he gets is a very mischievous smirk before she turns and braces her feet on the foothold of the recliner. Suddenly even more suspicious than earlier, the reader tries to pry her hands off of him in the best form of struggle he can in the limited space he has of chair.

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' cheers for the break in the monotonous events.]

It's pointless when she pulls at him with all of her might, hauling his ass out of his chair and twisting so he's dumped on the ground int he most ungraceful fall.

How dare she.

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' encourages you to hit harder!]

Many windows pop up, the constellations laughing and jeering at the scene.

The kids are also cheering them on.

Exasperated, Dokja grabs one of the plagiarists arms, dragging her down on the floor as well to wrestle with her on the floor. Heewon is laughing, a loud and full belly thing that has the reader distracted for a moment, long enough for the writer to kick him in his ribs. He rolls over and onto his back so he can try to catch a moment to breathe, out of breath from the hit.

"Are you okay, Dokja-ssi?" Hyunsung's concerned words were the only thing actually said to them throughout this whole thing, snapping Dokja out of the trance he had been put in. The reader has to nod, still heaving for breath.

He does recover before Sooyoung is able to, getting up and stealing her spot before she could even get a word in edgewise. He's won this one, at least.

The writer grumbles at him perfunctorily, but ultimately joins Heewon and Sangah in the row behind instead of arguing with him for the seat.

Yoo Joonghyuk does look to have one of his worst glares since they got here, so maybe it was best the fighting didn't continue any longer.

'I didn't want to come forward this early, but this is getting tiring.'

Raising from where he is bent over, the reader braces himself and changes the grip he has on the thorn. He only really has one chance to get this right. There's a memory that fuzzes at the edge of his eyes, one that he brushes off quickly.

[Exclusive skill 'Fourth Wall' thickens.]

'This whole thing is bringing up some things I really wish it wouldn't'

Myungoh claimed that it Sangah's fault for refusing so many times and Dokja throws the thorn with more strength than he probably should have. The thorn is jammed into the wall right by that guys head, barely missing him and quickly stopping the yelling. The cut roots start to bleed an odd liquid.

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is pleased by your actions.]

[You have been sponsored 100 coins.]

Myungoh yelps out a shocked shriek, making a strangled noise as he starts to actually struggle in the restraints put on him. Sangah looks over to them, lighting up with a blinding smile once she sees them. "Dokja-ssi!"

Gilyoung is about to get up, the kids face is dark when Dokja takes a glance at him, and the reader himself just stays braced while looking into the cavern. He puts a hand on the kids shoulder to get ready for the thing he's provoked. 'Here we go.'

The wall near to the two tied up people cracks, a large pressure growing in the place the bigger the cracks form. Eventually, the pressure in the room gets so bad that Dokja's head starts to subtly ache.

[Exclusive skill 'The Fourth Wall' numbs the pain.]

When his head clears, Dokja takes on the sudden weight of Gilyoung collapsing on him. Looking down, the kid has puked on the floor in front of them. There are many dead bugs around them. He's gasping for breath as he holds onto the reader.

'Poor kid.'

Gilyoung, who is now forced to sit by just Joonghyuk, leans around to be able to look at Dokja. With bright eyes and an even brighter smile, the kid rocks in the chair a little. The girls grumble at him a little bit, but it doesn't start a fight. "Thank you for taking care of me, hyung."

Shin Yoosung scowls at the boy, shoving at him while he talks to the reader. She sounds indignant and borders on yelling. "Pretty ahjussi doesn't take care of just you!"

"You would take care of me too, right ahjussi?" Another set of big round eyes have been turned on him and Dokja is powerless to those weapons of mass destruction. He can't really tell if she's just trying to start something or if she really wants to know.

Either way, he decides a fight will be worth it if it ends with both of them knowing that he will care. "Yes, Yoosung-ie. I would take care of you too."

The girl turns to look at Gilyoung with smug triumph, looking like the cat who got the cream. She's silently gloating, Dokja is sure, but he doesn't care enough to watch whatever fight he's participated in.

Yoo Joonghyuk is still sort of glaring at him. Dokja hopes he isn't planning the perfect way to kill him.

Han Sooyoung snickers at the poor protagonist bastard. He had been so smug previously when he had gotten what he wanted. Leaning back in her recliner, the writer kicked up the foot rest and lounged to watch the drama that is Yoo Joonghyuk's failing love life.

She gets a harsh glare from said protagonist, but it hardly fazes her. (She's not willing to admit that guy makes her nervous.)

The overlay of white background and black text overtakes the screen again. Dokja cares narrates with a detached tone.

'Even considering that this is within the depths of the 'Dark Fold', black ether overflows to the point of manifesting black flames in the nucleus of the 'Dark Root'

The flue flames around the room burn brighter as the cracks grow. A large figure begins to melt out from the wall, straitening once it's in the cavern proper. It's stature is large, towering way over any human height.

It has a skeleton head that peaks out from a dark robe, the hood pulled up to the point of obscuring it's eyes. Weird fleshy tentacles emerge from behind the creature.

It's arms, that are adorned with a single bangle each, hang low. They're unnaturally long, reaching past what would be it's knees.

And this creature appears wherever there is a 'Dark Root'.

[The 'Warden of the Dark' has appeared.]

[The sub scenario has been updated.]

[The sub scenario <Defeat The Warden> has begun!]

"You-!" Joonghyuk snaps his head around to stare down the reader with wide eyes, the previous glare long gone and replaced with what Dokja dares to call worry. The protagonist reaches a large hand over and grabs the rat by the face, squishing his cheeks with one hand as he turns him this way and that to get a good look at him.

Laughing nervously, Dokja lets him do what he wants, loosely wrapping his hand around the wrist of the hand that has confiscated his face. He tries his best to placate the frazzled protagonist. "I'm okay, I'm okay. I didn't kill it."

With searching eyes, Joonghyuk just keeps staring at him and turning him this way and that. It's starting to get obnoxious. Dokja still doesn't say anything about it. He smiles in the most relaxed way he can muster. This guys anxiety is getting to him now. "I know better than that, remember?"

That guy stays quiet, still looking at him for a bit, and then lets go of his face. "You fool."

Dokja's eye twitches. Is this what he gets for trying to help him?

Dokja gently rests Gilyoung against the wall of the tunnel, mumbling to him to rest as he thinks. 'All the insects that were connected to Gilyoung exploded. He must have taken considerable mental damage from that.'

Dokja leans in close, whispering to the kid while he keeps an eye on the new enemy that has appeared. He hates to ask Gilyoung this while he's so distressed, but... "How many more times do you think you can use [Interspecies Communication]?"

"Maybe-" The dazed eyes before him clears a little, the boy bringing a hand up to wipe his mouth of the left over vomit from earlier. "Once? Or twice..."

"Okay, rest here for a while then." The reader nods, moving away from where he had Gilyoung resting against the wall. Dokja accesses the situation and then makes his move.

Yoosung shifts uncomfortably in the chair, squirming as she watches that kid get what she wants. She wishes she was there, for all that she would hate being in that situation.

Yoo Mia looks at her with a specific look in her eyes and a face that pities her.

Shin Yoosung turns resolutely to look at the screen again. She will avoid her problems. Just like pretty ahjussi.

Keeping a careful eye on the Warden, Dokja swiftly avoids it and hurries over to the people still restrained. He takes Namwoon's knife out and starts to cut them loose, watching as the knife slowly sizzle and melt away in his hand as he does so. he stares with dull eyes.

'This much was about what I had expected, this is the power of a demonic species.' Picking up the bone sword that Sangah had probably dropped earlier, Dokja muses about the situation that they have found themselves in.

'The one before us is the grade 7 demon type species, 'Warden of the Dark'.'

The skeletal figure turns slowly to face where they are, a debilitating pressure raising in the atmosphere. The Warden has turned a golden gleaming eye on the now freed group.

'Even among the countless different species of creatures that come along with the star stream, the demonic species is the most unique.'

Dokja gestures for Sangah and Myungoh to stand back, not wanting to have to pay attention to protecting them too much. He inches away from them, going to the side to bring more attention to him, settling into a guard with the sword set in front of him. He's probably the biggest danger here, so the Warden's attention should be focused on him.

'The "treasure" that the ground rats gather is actually meant to be sacrifices to the demonic species like this. Demonic species are simply a higher grade than usual monsters, even a creature with the same grade wouldn't hold up to it's demonic species counterpart.'

Dokja muses to himself as he watches closely to what the Warden might deem it's next action. He is severely disappointed when the one thing he didn't want to happen ended up happening.

[The 'Warden of the Dark' has received the Demon King's blessing.]

Yoo Joonghyuk sucks in a very violent breath of air. His hands are shaking in his lap.

Dokja just hums and pats the protagonist's bicep. This must be hard for him, since he knows what the connotations behind those words are.

The reader has to deliberately avoid thinking about how that guy looks when he's in his own memories. It's not interesting. This isn't just something he's reading anymore.

Kim Dokja's face is a carefully curated blank canvas. It's the greatest act of mercy he can have for Joonghyuk at the moment.

The creature starts to grumble out things in garbled speech that the reader isn't able to understand, dark streaks of lightning flies about in the air around the Warden.

'This fight was one I wanted to avoid at any cost...' Dokja chews at the flesh on the inside of his cheek, grimacing when the talking monster assaults his hears again. It just sounds like the Warden is talking in tongues, but he knows well it's probably actually saying something. 'But what, I have no idea.'

Belatedly, he realizes there is a face splitting grin on his face. Subtly, he brings his hand up to his mouth as it turns nervous instead. 'I may be a little too excited for this-'

Suddenly, the Warden garbles out a low shriek, activating a skill as it stands there just staring at the reader.

[The 'Warden of the Dark' spews an aura of 'Fear'.]

Startled, Dokja braces himself further as the skill hits him. His heartbeat ramps up in his chest, roaring in his ears as the ability takes effect.

[Exclusive skill 'Fourth Wall' has nullified most of the effects of the skill 'Fear']

And like water off the back of a duck, the skill sweeps past him and the effect disappears soon after. Sighing out in relief, Dokja raises empty eyes to watch the Warden once more.

When the skill fails to affect him, the Warden seems to get cross and screams out in the same language as earlier. One of it's boney hands are raised and pointed in Dokja's direction, it's jaw hinged open and the tentacles behind it thrashing about.

All around the room, the blue flames burst into a full on blaze lighting up the entire space in the process. Dokja dares a glance to check on Gilyoung who is still surrounded by bug corpses while recovering. The kid is hard to spot unless you're really looking. That's the only upside to this situation it seems.

The Warden continues shrieking in that language that makes his head hurt if he tries to think too much about it, probably yelling something but Dokja is not willing to humor deciphering it.

Sangah doesn't seem to have the same reservations as him. Her voice breaking through the loud noise in the cavern slightly startles the reader, surprised she can be heard in the first place.

"Moth- Mother?" She's is very obviously confused, speaking hesitantly under her breath. Dokja inches a little further away from the two, trying to keep the Warden's attention while she makes noise. Sangah is making this harder than it needs to be.

"Maybe stand a little further back if you're going to try to translate whatever it's saying-" He's interrupted as she keeps mumbling translated words, enough that the Warden actually turns to her. The next garbled speak sounds like it's responding to her.

Baffled, Dokja stands there with his jaw dropped while she converses with the demonic species in front of them. This is such a bad idea.

'Well, I guess it's not just Spanish. A language skill is always useful, but this really isn't the time.'

[The Character 'Yoo Sangah' has activated the skill 'Interpreter lvl. 3']

"That's actually amazing, Unnie!" Jihye throws her head back to praise Sangah, kicking her legs back and forth while she's all twisted around in her chair. It makes Dokja's back hurt just looking at it.

Sangah laughs, a bright joyous thing, and smiles at the teenager who is squirming around in her recliner. "Thank you, Jihye-ie, I worked hard for this one."

They're smiling at each other, Dokja observes. He watches from the sidelines as they interact. They aren't particularly close, he hasn't seen them interact much, but they still look so comfortable.

Dokja's head starts to hurt, so he looks away to view the screen instead.

There's the 'character' indicator again. An interpreter skill wouldn't really help their situation, considering the monster they are up against, but Dokja really can't deny his curiosity. "What... What is it saying?"

"It just- It keeps repeating the words 'become mother'" Sangah hesitates, finally stepping away from the Warden as if she's just now recognizing the kind of danger she is in. Excellent self preservation skills, round of applause ten out of ten.

The thing is still yelling in the background, it's attention purely on Sangah. It doesn't seem quite completely hostile yet, the Warden just standing around and shrieking at them.

"I won't become a mother!" Sangah yells back at it, ignoring the delicate situation that they have gotten themselves into. She looks like she's trying to find a reason to get the Warden to leave her along. "I'm-"

"I'm not even married yet!" She finally screams, crossing her arms over her chest and shaking her head rapidly.

Yes, because the demonic species is going to listen to reason in a situation where they are the prey. Dokja braces himself, shifting his weight so he can push forward and react based off of the Wardens next move.

Sangah flushes at his sarcastic remark, stuttering as she tries to defend herself. She does well, Dokja imagines, but he's not really paying attention to her right now.

He can't when Joonghyuk is looking at him with fire molten eyes again. Does this guy ever stop glaring? Seriously, this is getting ridiculous.

Instead of attacking Sangah, the Warden raises a spindly hand to point at Myungoh yelling at him instead. Dokja stalls, his mind buffering at the fact that she actually got that thing to change targets.

"Me?! I am not a mother!" The coward, Myungoh, yells over the Warden. The man is shaking where he stands, a little closer to the Warden than Sangah is. This is his downfall. "I can't be a mother!"

Dokja watches, tense but fascinated as the Warden gets more aggressive. It seems to ignore him and Sangah, the tentacles that were writhing in the space around it eerily stop moving as it's focus shifts. Grimacing, the reader knows well what will happen next. He still keeps his eyes glued to the scene. It's like watching a car wreck happen.

One of the tentacles shoots out, going straight for Myungoh's throat, cutting off his access to oxygen. Another one restricts his hands that he has raised ot struggle against the thing keeping him from breathing. The appendage wrapped around that guys throat slithers up disgustingly to force its way into Myungoh's mouth. Sangah gasps and Dokja is finally able to look away with a cringe and a full body shiver.

'Right, demonic species give birth through implanting their offspring into another species body. That's what this is about.' Dokja moves to the blind spot that the Warden has shown him, whisper shouting to Sangah to get away from it while it's distracted. He quickly ushers her to remove herself from where he will be fighting. The best he can do for her right now is encourage her to hide.

Dokja pushes off on his back leg, launching himself forward to swing the bone sword at the tentacles wrapped around Myungoh. He's able to free that guy before having to dodge tentacles trying to attack him. The Warden is screaming and whether it's because of pain or rage, the reader isn't able to tell.

Another attack is sent towards him and Dokja is barely able to raise the sword in time to block it, forced to widen his stance to absorb the force behind it. The reader yells at the coward to step back and find somewhere out of the way.

The sword in his hand is slowly starting to crack and chip, bending under the relentless assault of appendages from the Warden. Dokja dodges out of the way of the next attack, worried his only current weapon would break under the stress. An attack from his blind spot forces him to block. It unfortunately shatters the bone sword in his hand, knocking Dokja back as he has to move quickly to avoid the tentacle clipping his shoulder.

'Unlike the Ichthyosaur, this thing can't really be hunted, not with how I am currently. It's a fight of attrition I just can't win.' Dokja analyzes as he is forced to keep dodging, dancing away from countless attacks that would surely be his ruin if they hit. 'This is why the original plan was to offer up a sacrifice and get the treasure once that thing had already left.'

The reader is hit when he moves a little too slow, getting knocked away and forced to roll so he doesn't get hurt further. 'Plans never survive first contact, unfortunately.'

"This is why I never tell anyone any of my plans." Dokja points to the screen and leans back in the chair. He watches closely as the fight plays out on the screen, his scattered thoughts relaying through the speakers. "If I spoke every plan I ever had out loud, not only would people be able to counter any of them easily but I also would have to constantly tell you updates."

Vaguely motioning to the fight happening on screen, the reader proves his point as the initial plan he had was bulldozed at the very least twice. "It's not as bad here because the thing I'm up against isn't too smart and I had a back-up plan."

Yoo Mia makes a very complicated face, scrunching her eyebrows up and pursing her lips. "What do you mean too smart?"

"The more we get into this, the more enemies I will make. One day, I will have to outsmart someone I have no right outsmarting." Dokja hums as he leans forward to look at the kid while he talks, Joonghyuk blocking his view when he was relaxing.

"Does pretty ahjussi mean the constellation?" Mia asks, a glint in her eyes as she thinks about earlier when Dokja had promised to be the downfall of the constellations earlier on when the scenario had just started.

Looking at her with a new light, the reader nods slowly and waves away the pop up windows being spammed in front of his face. "Yes, I'm talking about the constellation."

Joonghyuk isn't glaring anymore, just silently watching Dokja and his sister talk about one day felling the higher being watching them on the star stream.

"Very good, then." Mia nods resolutely and turns back to the screen to keep watching. "Ahjussi can keep some of his secrets."

Dokja smile bitterly, not at the kid but at what she said. He won't have any secrets by the time they're done in this room.

When he rises back into a defensive stance, Dokja finds the floor covered in cracks and craters. The Warden really packs a punch. He is really really getting tired of this.

"Oi! Dokkaebi!" Dokja snaps his head over to look at the corner where the nervous thing is hiding, frustrated as he is forced to dodge quickly once again. The creature is just not willing to quit. "You're still here, aren't you?!"

The dokkaebi from earlier, with his uneasy face and nervous countenance, appears where the reader has been looking. Dokja ignores the few surprised notification he gets from some constellations, more focused on staying alive while his attention is already split. [You- You knew?!]

"There should be something for me in the mail!" His shoulder gets clipped by one of the tentacles when he dodges this time, getting out of the way too slowly. "Give it to me quickly!"

[Thats- hehe, that's not my responsibility. Bihyung should do that.] The dokkaebi grins at him, chuckling as he struggles to continue his cat and mouse game with the Warden.

That's bullshit and Dokja damn well knows it. The dokkaebi that subs in has the exact same responsibilities.

Sneering at the floating creature, he rolls to avoid another attack. Frustrated and nearly at his limit, Dokja starts to shout berating words at the guy. Slowly getting louder and louder the longer it takes to get his item. Pop ups are starting to ring out as well, making that guy flinch as they cover his vision.

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' wants to scold the dokkaebi 'Biryu'.]

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' threatens the dokkaebi 'Biryu'.]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' wonders how the bureau would react to the current shirking of duties.]

[Okay- Okay, I'll... just this once.] The creature reluctantly concedes, obviously intimidated by the messages sent by the constellations. Dokja narrowly dashes past aa tentacle aimed for one of his feet.

[An item from the auction has arrived.]

Finally, he has been waiting for this for quite some time. Things will be easier from now on with this.

[You have acquired the item <Broken Faith>]

"All the way back? You've been planning since all the way back then?" Hyunsung asks in disbelief, watching the course of events very closely. The entire auction thing happened back when Dokja had been in the Ichthyosaur. That was quite a while ago.

The reader looks over at the soldier, taking in the astonishment written all over his face. It's actually really thrilling that he's been able to surprise them even with them watching his every move. Smirking, he answers the big guy. "I have a plan that was started as soon as the start of the scenarios. A couple of them at that."

Hyunsung looks at him with a mix of fear and astonishment. Heewon interrupts their conversation easily, trading seats with Sangah so she's sitting behind Dokja again. "You're really good at that."

"Good at what?" He thinks they've already established he makes good plans, though they tend to be poorly executed if they require other people that he can't predict. Free example, Sangah trying to save Myungoh. So there wasn't a reason to repeat it.

"You're good at predicting things." Heewon admits, resting her chin on the top of his head. Her body heat travels down his spine and warms his back. It's nice, like a hot bath. Comforting in a way that makes Dokja uncomfortable.

It's suddenly too hot.

Heewon continues, her voice causing vibrations that he can feel through his head. "And good at the whole people thing. You used the constellations to pressure the dokkaebi."

Hissing through his teeth, Dokja tries to get her to be quiet about that. If they know about it they'll be harder to manipulate in the future. Heewon looks at him wit a look that screams 'Are you serious?'.

He knows all of this is being broadcasted, all of his thoughts and motives, but she really doesn't need to point it out verbally.

In front of him, a bright light shimmers, taking shape as it slowly morphs into the look of a sword. A broken sword. Dokja grabs it out of the air by the handle as it fully solidifies.

[Due to the established contract, brokerage fees have been waved.]

In his hands now sits the D rated 'Broken Faith'. The blade is broken, snapped off not too far past the grip. This sword looks to be old and worn down past repair.

[How- How will you even fight with that old thing?] Biryu stutters out, obviously irritated he was pressured into giving an incarnation such a lackluster thing. [That's broken... not to mention it can't be used if you don't have a special skill. It's virtually useless.]

Dokja just listens to the dokkaebi laugh at him, sighing as he hops out of the way of another tentacle. He puts enough power into the move so that it propels him further away from the Warden than his other dodges. 'I knew that much when I bought it.'

[This item is too old for any use. Achieving any performance will be difficult as its durability is low.]

The reader is forced to concentrate on the blade, the distance he put between himself and the demonic creature crucial in this step. A brilliantly bright light emanates from the sword, extending out and completing the sword from the break. The word is now partly a phantom construct, fixed up with solid light.

[What!] Biryu exclaims his surprise without a stutter in sight this time. [Ho- How?!]

'This was the skill I bought from Bihyung after killing the Ichthyosaur.' He answers the dokkaebi in his head, admiring the new blade in his hands.

[The skill 'White Star Weapon Aura' has been activated!]

[The item <Broken Faith> is responding to your magic power!]

[The <Blade of Faith> has been activated!]

Dokja isn't given much time to enjoy the new weapon in his arsenal, immediately having to intercept another attack from the Warden of the dark. This time, he's able to counterattack and slices through the offending tentacles with his new magical blade. The shriek that echoes through the cavern as a result just nearly makes his ears bleed.

"Kim Dokja." A gruff voice bleeds through the silent theater room, the contrast a little jarring. Dokja pulls himself out of paying attention to the scene being displayed to take a glance at the protagonist.

Joonghyuk's face is pale.

"I know. It's going to be okay." Dokja decides it's in his best interest to soothe him. Many of the people sitting around them are obviously curious, Heewon humming curiously from where she is still resting her chin on his head.

"What's with this inside conversation?" The judge huffs, sort of chuckling when the breath of air makes the readers hair move around. The blows on it deliberately this time. "Want to share with the class."

Dokja doesn't give her a response.

Dokja muses as he looks at the writhing tentacles he cut, kicking them away with a perfunctory look of vague disgust. 'With this, I have a better chance. The <Blade of Faith> is the best weapon I can have when up against a demonic species.'

'I don't have the 'Fighting Sense' skill.' Dokja sucks his teeth as he tries to find the best way to attack the Warden that will limit his own injuries. 'Not the 'Weapon Training' skill either...'

He can intimately feel the drag that's occurring in his body the longer he keeps up the blade, the little energy he had being used up quickly. Dokja is starting to feel light headed. 'I don't have the stats to keep this up.'

It's not the weapon that makes a powerful person. Dokja is not a swordsman. He is just a reader after all. His eyes dull as he thinks, cutting the tentacles of another attack that had been sent his way.

In the air behind him, where he isn't looking, a window pops up as Dokja is lost in his own thoughts.

[Exclusive skill 'Fourth Wall' has been activated.]

Suddenly, around him there are lines of blue text that flash around him, glowing in that eerie blight blue. It illuminates Dokja eyes, giving them back the shine that had been missing earlier.

[The effect of your exclusive attribute is improving your memory of pages you have already read.]

He is only able to catch the sight of the window out of the corner of his eye as more attacks force him to pay attention to the situation at hand instead.

[The exclusive skill 'Bookmark' has been activated.]

"It's that skill again! The one that let hyung use that chuuni guys power!" Gilyoung bounces in the recliner, shaking the girls along with him.

Yoosung, after hitting him upside the head to get him to stop, hums thoughtfully as she watches. She scrunches up her face, looking like she's trying hard to think of something. "I wonder which person ahjussi would pick... I don't remember what the options were."

"It was the people he knows really well." Mia answers automatically, remembering the qualifications for using the skill. "He might end up using train guys powers again."

He just has to fight the way a reader would fight.

"Ugh, that's so cringe." Sooyoung complains, teasing Dokja for being so dramatic with his thoughts.

The reader just points out her making a cult and just ignores her trying to defend herself.

Behind him, a familiar translucent book flutters open it's pages as the skill activates. The blue catching in his eyes, making them the same dazzling color.

[Bookmark number two has been selected.]

The Warden shrieks in anger, sending more attacks focused at Dokja's feet, trying to get to him before his skill properly activates. It is unsuccessful.

[The usage time of the skill 'Bookmark' will be shortened since the skill level is low.]

[Usage time: 1 Minute.]

[Only a few skills of the character can be activated since your understanding of the selected character is low.]

The book closes as the blue light start to ombre to a green instead, quickly changing forms to a familiar figure that stands in a defensive posture. Dokja naturally falls into the same position.

[The skill 'Weapons Training lvl. 1' has been activated.]

The green figure is Hyunsung, his blank face still holding the same facial features as the alive one. The figure melts into Dokja quickly as the windows finally stop popping up. The reader rushes into the battle, changing his previous defensive style to offensive.

"Oh." Hyunsung flushes at it hsows that he was the one chosen by Dokja to use his abilities. Bringing up one of his hands to his face, the soldier scratches his cheek, suddenly embarrassed. "I'm glad Dokja-ssi chose me to help you."

Dokja wants to bang his head on a wall. Is this what they're calling it now, helping him? The strange feeling from when Jihye celebrated the fact Dokja has read her mind comes back, this time sticking around for longer.

He could have sworn they would have at least been outraged that he had.. cheated? Dokja doesn't really have a reason for them to mad at him, other than the lack of privacy.

That they somehow... don't mind-?

Dodging the single attack that had been sent to intercept him, Dokja bends away from it to be able to rush the main body instead. The next ones sent his way are sliced up as they could not have been avoided as easily. Thankfully, he is closer to the Warden.

'An opening!' Narrowing his eyes, Dokja looks closely at how the creature is moving to try and get an edge in. Lunging in quickly, he slices deeply into the Warden of the Dark, watching as the magic blade burns away at any of the flesh that it touches. He cuts away at most of it. The sound is sickening and the smell nauseating.

Joonghyuk makes a loud, strangled noise. He jerks forward in his chair as if he would be able to reach forward and change what's going on displayed on the screen. Dokja grabs onto his arm, but it was unnecessary. The protagonist didn't actually go anywhere. But he did jerk his head to look at the reader with wild eyes. "Kim Dokja!"

"It's fine!" Dokja yells back, squeezing that guys arm. He keeps eye contact with him, slowing his own breathing so that Joonghyuk will match him. The next time he speaks, it is significantly softer. "We're fine. I didn't kill it. Sangah didn't kill it. Gilyoung wasn't awake to do it."

He keeps repeating it, over and over again, long enough that his mouth goes dry.

Heewon was jostled from her spot, leaning away from the interaction between Dokja and Joonghyuk with curious eyes. Sooyoung taps her and makes a gesture that is aggressively 'No.'.

The room is now completely quiet. Dokja doesn't notice, he's too busy keeping Joonghyuk from getting violent.

The body of it falls to the floor and writhes like the tentacles he had cut off earlier. Dokja flicks the sizzling blood off of his blade and steps away from it quickly. It's still alive after all.

He's not stupid enough to kill that thing.

The Warden of the Dark starts to gurgle words as it lays on its back, the tentacles twitching every now and again but not attacking anymore. It sort of looks pitiful with no fight left in it.

The people he had left at the sidelines starts to gather a little closer, and he nearly sighs aloud. It may be down now, but that doesn't mean it's safe to be around it.

He's glad they at least have enough sense to be weary at the very least. Sangah helps the injured Myungoh a little closer, hemming and hawing to herself before she starts to translate what the thing says. "How did- How did you know where I'd attack, is what it said."

The warden lays there, gravely injured. Dokja winces as the effect of his skill wears off and the vague wisps of green that had been wavering off of him like vapor starts to fizzle out. Hyunsung's skill is no longer in effect. With blank eyes, the reader turns to look the thing in it's eerie yellow eyes.

"I read a lot, is all."

[Oh- Oh wow! Constellations, did you all just see that? Is- Did I see that right?!] Biryu chitters above them, his voice disbelieving as he talks to the notification window popping up in front of him.

[Many constellations have started to doubt their eyes.]

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' applauds your forward thinking.]

[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is grumbling grumpily.]

[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is pulling his hair out in astonishment.]

[You have been sponsored 500 coins.]

[Such a thing...] Biryu floats closer in, rotating around to take a closer look at the sword in Dokja's hands. Even with how exhausted she is, Sangah sets Myungoh down and runs over to the reader. [...so early in the scenarios?]

He wipes the sweat off of his forehead, the strain finally getting to him as he is no longer fighting for his life. Glancing at the circling dokkaebi, Dokja just heaves a heavy sigh and stares at the floating thing with unimpressed eyes. "This isn't quite a real <Ether Blade>. A real one is much stronger than this."

[R-right! That's right! If we're talking about technicalities, it's a <Broken Faith> that has been used with 'White Sword Weapon Aura'...] Biryu freezes his movement as he speaks, thinking about the implications of that.

[The item <Broken Faith>'s durability has ran out. The item can no longer be used.]

It was nice while it lasted. The rest of the sword that had been formed with light starts to deteriorate in particles. In Dokja's hands is the same broken blade from before.

[It's amazing- To think that guy has such an incarnation in his channel...] Dokja soon interrupts the dokkaebis mumbling, demanding the scenario completion rewards with impatience and a sneer. He has a kid to get back to and check on.

[You have met the conditions to clear the sub scenario!]

[You have earned 500 coins.]

[A couple of constellations admire how you completed the scenario.]

The reader walks away from the twitching body of the Warden, keeping an eye out from the corner of his eye to make sure he won't be attacked as soon as he turns his back on the monster. It doesn't move, so his worries are unfounded. Sangah reaches him and starts to quietly fuss, looking him over to see if he got hurt in the process of fighting the Warden of the Dark.

[Are you not going to kill it?] Biryu floats around in front of him to ask him the question.

Raising an eyebrow, Dokja acts as if he doesn't know exactly what would happen if he kills that thing. He stills Sangah's hand when she goes to do it instead. IT may looks like easy pickings, but it's more trouble than it's worth. "I'm not here to kill anything, I don't kill so easy."

He's pulling this straight out of his ass and lying to this mischievous creature.

[Wouldn't you want such good rewards?] Biryu asks, obviously very surprised, motioning rapidly at the prone Warden of the Dark. [You'll be the very first person to kill a Grade 7 demonic species! That's a 7,000 coin reward!]

Joonghyuk snarls at the dokkaebi on screen that is trying to push Dokja into killing the Warden.

The reader just sighs.

"I know what happens when you kill it, you Sunfish." Now that they're out of hot water, he is letting himself feel a little offended that the protagonist thought he would be stupid enough to kill a demonic species with a patron. "There's no need to worry about the curse."

That guy just huffs at him, sassily turning away from him as if he wasn't just worried that Dokja had been cursed by a Demon King.

In the background that Dokja has turned his back on, the Warden stirs a bit as a figure approaches. Myungoh has started to inch toward the felled monster with a manic look in his eyes.

[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' has been filled with admiration for you.]

[You have been sponsored 100 coins.]

The dokkaebi is starting to look frustrated, it's little arms moving around even more rapidly than they were a minute ago. [You- You do realize how much 7,000 coins is worth, right?!]

Dokja continues to insist that he will not kill it, quoting a pacifist route while snickering to himself about how much he's lying to Biryu. And getting away with it. The reader waves the dokkaebi away, trying to get to the thing that he was here for in the first place, when a familiar sickening sound of flesh tearing rings in his ears.

When he turns his head, Dokja finds Myungoh standing over the dead body of the Warden, something stabbed through the things head. That guy has a twisted smirk on his face, looking all smug about getting to kil the demonic species.

Myungoh laughs, sounding frantic and high pitched, as windows start to pop up in front of Dokja.

[A Grade 7 Demonic Species has been hunted for the very first time.]

"You stupid son of a bitch! Why wouldn't you take the kill?!" He hunches over the kill that he didn't work for, the gleam in his eyes and smile glinting in the little lighting of the cavern. "I can now be strong too! Why would killing ever matter in this kind of world, you dumb fuck!"

Dokja watches that guy with dull eyes, completely different from Sangah's frantic worrying. This was about as much as he had been expecting. Another window shows up in the air, declaring Dokja and Myungoh as the contributors of the 'impossible feat'. They are rewarded with coins.

"Someone like you could never succeed!" Myungoh yells venomously, snarling and spitting as he gloats in his victory. Dokja just sighs and watches.

The next windows immediately dampens that guys excitement. Each of them spelling out his doom in fine print. Dokja reads them slowly, the patron of the Warden of the Dark has noticed the person who dealt the final blow. Myungoh now has a curse placed on him. The reader knows the Demon King Asmodeus will follow him until death.

"Oh, so that's what happened to him." Jung Heewon watches on, her eyes glinting as she sees that coward panic. Sangah smiles and nods along, pointing out details to the judge through whispers that the reader can't catch very well. "I was wondering about that."

"Yes, well, he got what he deserved." Dokja doesn't say this lightly, knowing the kind of agony that a curse like that had cause 2nd round Yoo Joonghyuk. He does feel kind of bad that the protagonist was forced to worry while he danced around what very well could have been himself getting that curse.

Dokja swears he's smarter than that.

Which is officially not his problem, Dokja decides.

'Demonic servants worship different Demon Kings and inherit some of their power through the 'Dark Root'. If you kill a Demonic Servant, you get cursed by whatever king lent their power. Among all of the kings, receiving the curse of the Demon King Asmodeus was the worst possible outcome of them all.'

He turns away and lets whatever just happen slide off of his back. Nothing for him to worry about, since it's no person of his own. It's time to focus on what he came here to do.

'Nobody really quite knows what exactly the curse is, but it is definitely something terrible.' Dokja muses, placating Sangah with empty platitudes as she keeps rapid firing questions at him. He sort of brushes her off as he looks her over to see if she got injured in the scuffle from earlier. He finds nothing but dirt.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' admires your cunning nature.]

Dokja smiles, waving away the pop up window and moving past Sangah to go toward the tressure chest in the room. "Well, I guess it's about time we look at the spoils of our efforts, hm?"

The reader doesn't bother looking at the coward that had fallen perfectly into his hands. Lifting the lid of the chest, he lets Sangah pull out the <Magic Power Recovery Bracelet> and the <Old Iron Shield>. She starts to fuss about the items, worried that they were not as good as she had been expecting. Dokja nearly snort.

'Yoo Joonghyuk already passed through here and took all of the good stuff, probably yesterday if I had to guess.'

"It's fine, the thing we need is still here." He soothes her worries, pulling out the <Magic Power Stove> out of the purple treasure chest. Sangah looks curious as she looks at it and Dokja is forced to say he thinks that he knows how to use it.

It's a stove, of course he knows how to use it. The <Magic Power Stove> is actually the key item to complete the food sub scenario.

Dokja puts the stove down on the ground, telling Sangah to watch it. Walking over to the place he left Gilyoung to rest. The kid is still leaning up against the wall, but he looks better. His face is less pale and he's breathing easier.

"You were so cool, hyung." Gilyoung immediately praises when the reader got close enough, stary eyes glinting in admiration. Sighing, Dokja bends over to rest the back of his hand against the boys cheek. He's not as clammy as he was, so the kid is probably doing a lot better than he was.

"How are you feeling, Gilyoung-ah?" He keeps his voice soft, resting the hand that was on the kids cheek on his shoulder instead. It's supposed to be comforting but Dokja isn't quite sure the meaning hit.

Gilyoung leans into him, no longer looking queasy and sending big ole puppy dog eyes at him. "I'm okay, hyung."

Yeah right, like he's going to believe that for a second. Scooping the kid up, Dokja takes him over to where Sangah is sitting by the magic stove. He sets the boy down to get started on cooking.

Soon enough, Dokja is roasting a large leg of Ground Rat over the magic stove while the other two drool at the smell. It has been a while since they have had food that wasn't processed. It's been a while since they have had food in general. Sangah asks if they would actually be able to eat it.

Smiling, the reader pulls the leg away from the stove and brings it to his mouth. His teeth sink in easy and he tears away some of the flesh. He chews thoughtfully for a little bit before his smile fades into a feral smirk. "It's delicious."

Dokja passes the leg he took a bite out of to Gilyoung, both him and Sangah putting another one on so they can eat as well. A couple of windows pop up while they eat, the constellations curious about things like the taste. He ignores them.

'It's different when I'm actually tasting it. The writer didn't do this justice.' Dokja, pleased with the food, just takes the time to enjoy the moment of rest. 'It's rich, juicy, and perfectly greasy.'

The reader ignores Myungoh, who is starting to creep closer to them, letting him get close and cook his own food. Dokja muses aloud while looking that guy in his eyes, that feral grin slipping onto his face as he looks at the coward like he's prey. "This may be the last meal you eat, so savor it."

Looking away from the frightened man, Dokja eats quickly while paying attention to his group. Everyone seems to be doing fine with all things considered. He looks to the broken sword sat on the ground beside him, thinking about his next move now that their lives are no longer in danger.

He is interrupted by Sangah, who has asked a very difficult question for him to answer. Many people seem to be doing that recently. "Dokja-ssi... How- How do you know all of this? You fought that thing and you are able to cook monsters. And the bone swords."

She's ranting, throwing question after question at him. Gilyoung is looking on with knowing eyes, his own questions already been asked. Dokja is quiet as he tries to find an answer that would satisfy her, but she seems to have started to answer her own queries in his silence.

"It must be because you read so much, they must be fantasy stories after all." She starts to trail off into frantic muttering, a set of eyes trained on him like they're trying to see through his skin.

Or dissect him.

"Ehh, haha-" Sangah laughs nervously as the version of her on the screen just nearly hits the nail on the head. "Well, I wasn't quite wrong."

"And what a scare that had given me, Sangah-ssi." Dokja thinks back to the struggle it had been at first when everyone was still asking him questions about things he either didn't want or couldn't answer.

What a scare indeed.

"You were the one that translated what that thing was saying, it's sort of like that." Dokja does his best to put this to rest so they can continue on. There isn't very much time for them to dawdle around. It works, Sangah turning away from him a little bashful.

She has gone suspiciously quiet.

Dokja raises his head from where he had lowered it to look at the sword again, finding that she is now turned to the tressure chest and concentrating. It looks like she's reading, her eyes trailing along something slowly.

Following her line of sight, he sees the glowing demonic text. She can't be- Is she seriously trying to read that?

"Random item box?" She, in fact, was reading the tressure chest. Bihyung, that is such a lazy thing to do. Dokja raises a hand and drags it down his face. Is it really worth it anymore?

"Oh come on! That's so lazy!" Heewon complains, sighing exaggeratedly at what Sangah had translated off of the tressure chest. She doesn't actually look upset about it, mostly just mildly annoyed. And even that was a stretch.

Sangah agrees with her, laughing as she nods. Jihye is the one to complain next. "It could have been anything, maybe even some random gibberish. Did it really have to be just the name of the chest?"

"Bihyung was quite lazy with it, wasn't he?" Dokja pipes in, reminding them of just who had made the chest in the first place.

"Yes. But what's so special about the chest, ahjussi?" Jihye asks him, squirming around in her seat still looking for a comfortable way to sit in the chair. Humming, the reader wonders why she's so sure it's special.

"Why do you say it's special, Jihye-ah?" Might as well get some fun out of this while he's here. And figure out what exactly she worked out for herself. Dokja can't give away too much now.

The teenager heaves a heavy, bone tired sigh as she finally just curls her legs up to her chest and turns to look Dokja in his eyes. She look unimpressed. "Pretty ahjussi went there for the treasure, but the good stuff was already taken by master."

The reader raises his eyebrow at the girl, wondering where she is going with this.

"You knew master would have gone through there, so you knew the good stuff would be gone." Which does make sense, Dokja concedes that she is making some good points. She is talking to him like he's stupid though. He really doesn't appreciate it. "You went there anyway and even stayed after getting the stove, so there has to be something worth staying there for."

Jihye points her finger to the screen. "The only thing there that you have focused on other than the monsters is the treasure chest. That means it has to be special."

She looks so self assured. Dokja smiles at her and wishes for a moment he was closer so he could pat her head.

"You're right, the chest does something special. You'll have to wait to figure out what, though." Dokja uptakes his scammy smile, his eyes squinting up and the corners of his lips rising.

Notes:

Appr. Word count 10,686

With this one, we have officially passed 100,000 words! Only very many to go!

I recently found out my favorite place to read light novels has been shut down (R.I.P) and that has actually devastated me. I found a new one, which seems to have the same things I was reading, but I miss my old one.

I hope everyone had happy holidays, whatever you celebrate! I also hope you have happy future holidays in case I don't make it to congratulate you on time for the next one.

Notes:

Orv has gotten a very special place in my heart and brain. I relate to a good bit of the characters a lot and I love the different messages that can be taken from it. Please be gentle with me as I haven't written in a while. I will be posting this one first and waiting until I have more before I continue this. I hope you enjoy this. If there are any tips or anything headcannons or other you think would fit, feel free to let me know! Any catch of typos or errors is greatly appreciated as well!

Come yell at me at
https://x.com/AR3adz
And tell me what you think. I post extras and updates as I write.

Leave me comments! I love to read them and they motivate me to work faster!

Series this work belongs to:

Part 1 of What went wrong?

Actions

Kudos

Foxicefire21, Pan_cake_yummy, Arssi_Dr_Guston, SpaceOreo16, Korrex, Improv_Reader4951, Kashue, 27Tsunahime_sama27, Violet_Book, slouching_artist, illuminateer, liliesandlavender, emme_wyler, ValeAlguien, Ezra_4951, Lolyallwild, torimouto, Mafuyulove, DollDragon, BewareBerry, summer164, vivinoss, Ake_Hyu, dmroll6, nhathoxuandieu, ToxicResonance, Pvtt_Luna, Fluttllaby, Kisarena, Sphiiii, Spiffeegl, Oggy_the_great, hannhan, AgentKittypaws, karma_daemon, BoundlessBlood, once_and_4ever, Gay_Potatoe, Rinory, GC12, N_Tropy, ashenii, Hidden_Angels57, Ivanalstlovertrust, vea17, MoxiePoxy, IA0, TheDanishWeirdo, Cazador_Glow, Yazashimura, and 545 more users as well as 324 guests left kudos on this work!

Comments

Pages Navigation

cos (Guest) on Chapter 1 Wed 10 Sep 2025 11:31AM UTC

love and kudos <3

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
zombiedragonlover on Chapter 1 Wed 10 Sep 2025 12:37PM UTC

❤️❤️❤️

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
Glfrax on Chapter 1 Wed 10 Sep 2025 02:24PM UTC

The more reaction fic of orv i see the more i ask myself why there Is no ship between han sooyoung and Kim dokja. There Is bettwen yoo joonghyuk, secretive plotter and not jan sooyoung. I know that nit everyone have the same ships but cmom not even One persone? Still good start, i willseee how It Will continue ,... If It Will

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
1. HabaneroYellow on Chapter 1 Wed 10 Sep 2025 09:11PM UTC
  
  A maioria das pessoas associam Han Sooyoung a "irmã de Dokja" ou "Confidente de Dokja", principalmente se você ler a webnovel, você vê que Dokja pensa constantemente em Yoo Joonghyuk, quase obsessivamente, é por isso que é difícil imagina-lo com Sooyoung.
  Kim Dokja, respira, bebe, fala e veste Yoo Joonghyuk de dentro para fora.
  
  Para mim, os três, Yoo Joonghyuk, Han Sooyoung e Kim Dokja deveriam ter sido fim de jogo, o desenvolvimento da conexão entre eles era perfeito.
  
  A "autora" que escreveu um romance somente para um "leitor" e o "protagonista" que decidiu espalhar essa história - mesmo que estivesse destinado a revive-la por 1864 vezes, e com ela todas as tragédias - por todo o universo para que assim ela nunca morresse, para que Kim Dokja continuasse vivo.
  
  Comment Actions
2. Ar1cruz_r3adz on Chapter 1 Thu 11 Sep 2025 01:53AM UTC
  
  Thank you for the feedback! I've taken your account on it into consideration and I might just add a new relationship tag soon •°^°•
  
  I do like me some Han Sooyoung/Kim Dokja, but if I add your input, I'll probably end up with Yoo Joonghyuk/Han Sooyoung/Kim Dokja
  
  Comment Actions
3. 1. Glfrax on Chapter 1 Thu 11 Sep 2025 02:15AM UTC
    
    Ah. I can see the ship but i feel Only han sooyong and Kim dokja ship work. Yoo Joonghyuk and han sooyong feel strange. Still thanks for having listen toy comment. I Will look foward to the next chapter
    
    Comment Actions
ChaoticSweet on Chapter 1 Wed 10 Sep 2025 03:57PM UTC

['Constellation Chaos is Sweeter with friends' Says since you got their attention, to feed they a great story]

I really like to see those, never saw this, then noticed was posted today

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
WishingToBeAnonymous on Chapter 1 Wed 10 Sep 2025 09:21PM UTC

I wish you luck on this honourable journey that you set forth for. The way you write is fascinating, it almost feels like a trailer… if that was what you were going for it’s really well executed! Thank you for writing this, I would like to see where it goes!

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
1. PonyJein on Chapter 1 Fri 12 Sep 2025 10:24PM UTC
  
  🫡💞🎉
  
  Comment Actions
PonyJein on Chapter 1 Fri 12 Sep 2025 10:24PM UTC

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
PonyJein on Chapter 1 Fri 26 Sep 2025 01:29AM UTC

🎉🎉🎉

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
Cinbunito on Chapter 1 Wed 22 Oct 2025 12:34PM UTC

I like it so much that he immediately knows that this is a “reaction fanfic”

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
zombiedragonlover on Chapter 2 Thu 11 Sep 2025 05:11AM UTC

❤️❤️❤️

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
Kakku123 on Chapter 2 Thu 11 Sep 2025 05:54AM UTC

It was beautiful author. You have a great talent in touching ones heart with words in an already overplayed trope. I am loving this. ❤❤

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
danirob123 on Chapter 2 Thu 11 Sep 2025 12:15PM UTC

🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
Glfrax on Chapter 2 Thu 11 Sep 2025 12:44PM UTC

Good chapter.
Good start

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
Yamsyy on Chapter 2 Thu 11 Sep 2025 01:54PM UTC

That was so good, author-nim! Can't wait for the next chapter! Thank you for writing!

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
MnBao3 on Chapter 2 Thu 11 Sep 2025 02:19PM UTC

this is amazing, I love how u are expanding on the story instead writing the exact words from the book, I also really like that kin dokja 1. Knows he's in a reaction fic and 2. Knows what a reaction fic is. Great work, thank you so much! <3

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
Creator of Alternatives (N0vaM0rs) on Chapter 2 Thu 11 Sep 2025 03:15PM UTC

[The Constellation ‘Creator of Alternatives’ is giggling and agrees that The Incarnation ‘Kim Dokja’ is a pretty ahjussi.]

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
Aerian9779 on Chapter 2 Thu 11 Sep 2025 04:51PM UTC

So far I have loved the reaction fics done by other writers for ORV, definitely looking forward to this one as well!
Hoping to see more interactions with other side characters like Lee Jihye and Lee Hyunsung!
I'm excited for the next chapter, but make sure to take your time and not over exert yourself!

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
Dreamysite05 on Chapter 2 Thu 11 Sep 2025 09:09PM UTC

💕💞🩷💞💕

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
ChaoticSweet on Chapter 2 Thu 11 Sep 2025 10:51PM UTC

[Constellation Chaos is Sweeter With Friends' Says I was laughing... Until they starting to catch up with his toughs and then started cursing out loud]

I was tough it is so funny... Why they judging him when they didn't even knew him at the time... Just cuz September is all painted over in yellow, doesn't make happiness suddenly get into the brains of who needs it... It's not like happy moments ever made someone change their mind when the thoughts are already settled...

Hmm... Anyways, I'm sorry for damping the mood...
Thank for the chapter, Hun 😘
Love ya 💓

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
1. Ar1cruz_r3adz on Chapter 2 Fri 12 Sep 2025 12:55AM UTC
  
  I love your thoughts on it! Thank you so much! (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)
  
  Comment Actions
Kelpiejz on Chapter 2 Fri 12 Sep 2025 12:32AM UTC

This looks interesting so far! Btw, I think chapter 1 got copied in along with chapter 2, so the entire beginning section is exactly the same.

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread
1. Ar1cruz_r3adz on Chapter 2 Fri 12 Sep 2025 12:53AM UTC
  
  The first chapter is supposed to be a preview of sorts while the actual chapter 1 was in the works! I'm just leaving it up even after I posted the actual chapter 1 (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)
  
  Comment Actions
Kumo64 on Chapter 2 Fri 12 Sep 2025 02:11PM UTC

❤️❤️❤️

Comment Actions
- Reply
- Thread