Kim Dokja faltered under the weight of Yoo Sangah's disappointed stare. There was a reason this woman had been such a force in HR, and part of it was because absolutely no one wanted to make her upset. She was just too nice for that. And now he'd done it.
Fuck.
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 pieces of rubble and assorted corpses from the bridge.
Dokja coughs and retches as he surfaces, looking exhausted already. Somehow, his phone isn't completely waterlogged and he uses the flashlight feature to survey the scene around him.
"Damn it," Dokja mutters before 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 some kind of test? Does he want me to prove my worth to him as a companion?"
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.
Being a regressor, he was powerful and people revered him as their saviour. 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.
"And you did," Yoo Joonghyuk said quietly, to the point that Kim Dokja almost didn't hear him. Still, there was no way that could have been real. He had to have been hearing things.
Yoo Mia tugged on her brother's sleeve. "It must have been hard with so many people relying on you, oppa."
Well, hard was a bit of an understatement, but Yoo Joonghyuk nodded at his sister anyway. "It's not easy, but I'll do the best I can."
Unfortunately, even his best hadn't been good enough, Kim Dokja thought. The 999th round had been the true pinnacle of that, and even now, it still broke Kim Dokja's heart to think about it. That regression turn was held in a special place in his heart, and he would be lying if he said he didn't have a major soft spot for the 999th Yoo Joonghyuk.
"Oppa always does his best," Yoo Mia replied with a smile and hugged him quickly. "Just rely on other people sometimes too, okay?"
Yoo Joonghyuk could only nod. "I will."
Now wasn't that heartwarming? Kim Dokja couldn't help but smile to himself. Through all of the pain and suffering, TWSA always managed to make those softer moments hit so much better. This was exactly in line with the story he wanted to see.
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.
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' agrees with your provoking remarks.]
[You have been gifted 100 coins.]
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' nods at your decision.]
[You have been gifted 100 coins.]
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is disappointed with your flippant remarks.]
Dokja just sits cross-legged on the concrete silently, maybe trying to ignore the 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 minutes after they ingest their prey. In other words, I don't have a lot of time left.
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 that the reason why is because he was waiting for the dokkaebi to appear, he seems visibly confused.
"You knew Bihyung would show up?" Lee Hyunsung questioned with a frown. "How?"
All Kim Dokja could do was shrug. "It's not like he had many other choices when I was doing something weird. Besides, I needed to be able to talk to him in private."
Not that their deal would stay private now, but still.
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, Joonghyuk watches the ichthyosaur swim away with a serious expression on his face. After a moment, he turns and leaves for Oksu station.
[You've been waiting for me?] the dokkaebi asks. Dokja grins and reminds him 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 conclusion 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? 5100 coins. Dokja knows that's the exact amount he possesses, and instantly rejects the offer. It's just too expensive.
The dokkaebi shrugs. [Then you can go ahead and die. I'm doing you a favour.]
If he doesn't want to pay, he can just give up right here, according to the streamer. However, Dokja has different ideas.
"Just kill me, then."
Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung froze, remembering what had happened the last time Kim Dokja had bet on something like that, then turned to him with wide and frightened eyes.
Kim Dokja, who also very clearly and viscerally remembered what had happened, pointedly ignored them and hoped that no one else noticed. Thankfully, everyone else seemed to be paying too much attention to the screen to realize what was going on.
The dokkaebi freezes, eyes going wide. [What?]
Dokja stands up and a smug grin spreads on his lips. "I said, kill me."
When the dokkaebi doesn't reply, Dokja continues. "You can't, can you?"
He won't 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 of him, and Dokja is well aware that if 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.
"Oh, that's true," Lee Jihye muttered, glancing over at him. "Ahjussi, you're smarter than you look."
Hey, what was that supposed to mean?
Frowning, Kim Dokja shot her a confused glance. "And how do I look, huh?"
The teenager pursed her lips and squinted at him. "A bit less blurry than usual, to be honest."
Okay, seriously, what the fuck was that supposed to mean?
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' says that the blurriness has charm.]
Kim Dokja just glanced at the weird starry sky that replaced the ceiling with a bewildered look. Even the great sage thought he looked blurry? Just kill him now.
Fangs glistening, the dokkaebi snarls. [You're pissing me off. Hey, just what is it that you're trying to pull?]
"Low-grade dokkaebi Bihyung," Dokja says suddenly, 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. Naturally, this just makes both the streamer and spectators suspicious of him.
[The eyes of the constellation 'Secretive Plotter' sparkle at your plan.]
In a whisper, Dokja addresses Bihyung directly. "Why don't you shut off the channel for a minute so that we can talk?"
Though he's surprised, Bihyung does. 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?]
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.
Yoo Sangah narrowed her eyes, seemingly making a mental note of this new information. Most incarnations wouldn't have any idea about any of this, and Kim Dokja begrudgingly wondered what could have happened if those incarnations who did have some clue had put together a guide of basic things to know and understand, or something. Not that they would have, though. Humans in general were too selfish to give up an advantage like that for the sake of others, and Kim Dokja wasn't an exception.
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' says that the incarnation 'Kim Dokja' was too much of a coward to keep the channel open.]
Hey, he was just being tactical, okay? There's no way he could have made a contract with Bihyung with the Bureau and the constellations listening in.
"That's not what's important right now," Dokja says, plopping back down on the concrete and finding a comfortable position.
Bihyung seems confused until Dokja continues.
"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?"
He reaches out a hand, and smiles. "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, some kind of hope stirring in their depths.
[Many constellations are laughing at the idea.]
Fair, they probably didn't think that it would be possible for a 'mere incarnation' like himself to have any kind of say in who the next Dokkaebi King would be, but he did know that there was a way. It wouldn't be easy, of course, but Kim Dokja was prepared to do whatever it took to get to the ending he wanted.
Yoo Joonghyuk seemed a bit angered by the fact that he had proposed a contract, and honestly, he had more reason to be upset than anyone else. He had suffered the most under the dokkaebis throughout his past turns, compared to everyone in the room, and Bihyung's arrival had always heralded the beginning of a new hell for him.
"I know it looks bad," Kim Dokja admitted to everyone, wanting to try and get some of the misunderstandings out of the way in advance this time, "but this is something I needed to do in order to plan ahead. I already said that I used any resources I had at my disposal, and let me just be clear on one thing—Bihyung did not walk away with the upper hand in this contract."
Yoo Sangah seemed conflicted, but eventually sighed and nodded once. "I'll believe you, for now. Let's just wait and see, to be sure."
Though some of the others grumbled, and Han Sooyoung called him batshit crazy at least once somewhere in there, everyone seemed to settle down enough to wait for the next segment to begin.