"Ahjussi, is it bad that I want to punch that man in the face?" Shin Yoosung asked during the break between segments, looking up at Kim Dokja with pleading eyes. No matter how much he wanted to say no…
"Yoosung-ah, you can only go around punching people who are being mean to you," he replied, trying to be a responsible adult for once. Shin Yoosung just pouted and exchanged a glance and a nod with Lee Gilyoung.
The young boy looked up at him too. "But he was being mean to hyung, so that's reason enough to get punched."
Kim Dokja sighed and tried to send Yoo Sangah a pleading look to ask for her help. All she did was cover her mouth as she tried to stifle a laugh. Well she was not being helpful right now, so he just did the best he could.
"Kids, no punching."
Lee Gilyoung rolled his eyes. "Fine, no punching."
Good, at least they were listening—
"But if he was still alive, I would put cockroaches in his socks."
Kim Dokja just sighed in exasperation and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was not cut out for babysitting.
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.'
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."
Han Sooyoung barked out a laugh. "Ah yes, the scammer strikes again! Is your goal to rip everyone off?"
Well, no, but…
Kim Dokja shot her a deadpan look. "I'm not stupid enough to believe that people wouldn't take advantage of my goodwill if I offered it. At least this way, I'm still getting something out of the deal."
"Oh, I'm not saying you should have given things for free," she said offhandedly, waving away the thought, "I would have done the same."
Well, now he wished he hadn't done it.
[Constellations who love capitalism are interested in this plan.]
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 filled with faces of despair as they realize what he meant by that.
Despite the people beginning to question his choice, Dokja refuses to budge on his answer.
[The eyes of a few constellations are sparkling.]
[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. "...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 still 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 favourites.]
[A small number of constellations have given 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 better condition than before, but still not perfect. Her neck is still bruised and she still looks tired, but she seems to be in better spirits—or at least, 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.
Heewon then 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 puppy duo reply mournfully.
"I'm sorry, I was thinking too selfishly. I don't need any charity either," Sangah apologises, turning back to Dokja.
"I'll pay from now on too," Hyunsung agrees immediately after.
"Looking back at it, we really should have offered to pay first," Lee Hyunsung muttered. "We definitely appreciated your generosity with the discount then, Dokja-ssi."
True, he could have had everyone pay full price, but he would have felt bad doing that. He had some conscience, okay?
Yoo Sangah nodded. "Yes, especially after you went out of your way to get food in the first place. We would have been much worse off without you."
Jung Heewon grinned, but turned to them slightly apologetically. "I'm sorry for being so harsh back then too, it was just a rough day."
Yoo Sangah's eyes immediately softened. "Heewon-ssi, we completely understand."
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' hopes that the incarnation 'Jung Heewon' feels better now.]
Jung Heewon laughed and gestured over to the rest of the group. "Thanks. I do, thanks to these guys here."
'Yeah, this is better,' Kim Dokja thought as he looked over at the members of the party getting along. This was how things should be.
"If you guys insist. You know how to transfer coins, right?" Dokja asks while lifting his pointer finger to meet Sangah's for the coin trade. She confirms she had learned a few days prior. Dokja explains the transfer process as Gilyoung begins his transfer.
[The character 'Lee Gilyoung' has transferred 20 coins.]
"Huh? Why did you give me that much?" Dokja asks the younger boy, who just looks up at him with a small frown.
"It's for the chocolate bar you gave me this morning," GIlyoung replies curtly. 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 see 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 station is just a marionette in the Major group's hand.
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.
[Several constellations think that this is a cute image.]
Lee Gilyoung's cheeks flushed and he hid his face in Kim Dokja's robe, which was oddly cute of him considering how ready he was to torment Cheon Inho with bugs earlier. After a moment, he looked up, embarrassed.
"Sangah-noona, Dokja-hyung, thank you for making sure I slept comfortably," he muttered, glancing away. Kim Dokja had the very strong urge to pinch his cheeks for some reason.
Shin Yoosung pouted a bit before tugging on his sleeve and whispering, "Ahjussi, could I sleep on your lap and use your robe as a blanket? It's not fair if Gilyoung is the only one…"
Wait, what? The fact that a kid wanted to use his lap as a pillow aside, how should he break it to her that the robe wasn't just a jacket that he could take off and lend to people? He wasn't wearing a shirt underneath it, and he'd rather not be bare-chested anywhere around people like Han Sooyoung (because she would laugh at him) or Yoo Joonghyuk (because he knew the man had at least a six pack, and there was no way Kim Dokja was exposing his lanky body to the protagonist again or he would literally die of shame).
Before Kim Dokja could say anything, Lee Gilyoung's head whipped around to glare at her. "Just because we agree on some things doesn't mean you get to steal hyung away whenever you want."
"And who says he's just yours, bug boy?" Shin Yoosung nearly snarled in return.
Seriously, what should he even do?
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is hoping for a fight.]
Yeah, not happening. Kim Dokja placed a hand on each of the kids' heads and sighed.
"No fighting, please. Yoosungie, I can't lend you the robe, but I'll see if I can find you an actual blanket later; it'll be much nicer than the robe anyway. Gilyoungie, you have to share, I don't belong to anyone."
Both kids seemed to wilt, even as they nodded in understanding.
"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 even the same woman I met before,' Dokja muses. "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.
'What's he trying to do?' Dokja wonders, getting a bad feeling about this as he remembers Inho telling him that he was making a terrible choice and that he'd regret it. Naturally, the scumbag would find a way to turn public opinion against him.
Last night, the Major group bought more than half of the food I was selling. Of course, they paid in full.
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is frowning.]
Yeah, Uriel was probably hoping that he wouldn't sell the food to the Major group, even though she probably already knew the outcome here. Still, it was the best he could do in this situation.
"You just let him monopolize it more?" Yoo Joonghyuk asked with slight hostility, and Kim Dokja just shrugged. He didn't have anything more to say, really.
Cheon Inho would have done it with or without his input, and it's not like Yoo Joonghyuk had stuck around long enough to deal with the problem himself in this round. What right did he have to be upset about it?
"Look at it this way," Kim Dokja said in return without looking back at him, "he did what he was planning to do anyway, but at least I scammed him out of some coins in the process."
"So you admit you're a scammer?" Han Sooyoung asked with a wide grin, like she had just caught him in a lie.
Kim Dokja just shot her an odd look, wondering why she seemed so pleased. "I never said I wasn't one."
All she could do was click her tongue and look back up at the screen.
"Just what does come free in this world?" 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' has 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 seems to transform from people into shadowy figures, their murderous eyes on full display. The figures slowly turn, pinning 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.
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 group's monopoly?"
"That's right, I wanted everyone to take action on their own," Dokja replies while mentally praising Heewon's perceptiveness.
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. Dokja 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 smiles.
"You still have enough food for yourself at least, right?" Heewon asks Dokja, nearly frantic.
"Nope, I sold it all." Dokja replies in a continued deadpan, causing Heewon to yell out in shock. She looks like she's lost all faith in him in a single instant.
Yoo Mia sent him a deadpan stare. "Ugly ahjussi, sometimes you're as smart as you are pretty."
Now wait just a minute…
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is rolling on the floor laughing.]
"How can you believe 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 snack.
"You want me to eat it?" he asks Gilyoung while patting his head. Gilyoung 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 now being sold by the Major group. Instead of Dokja's 50 coins per food 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 has to actually 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 memories 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."
When he glances back over at her, Heewon's expression is frightening. She looks almost psychopathic in her fury as she speaks a promise into existence in a cold voice. "I'm going to kill that fucking bastard myself."
"Yes! Go for it, unnie! Kick his ass!" Lee Jihye cheered with a wide grin on her face. "That asshole isn't going to get away with it."
Jung Heewon chuckled slightly, but Kim Dokja could tell that her hands were trembling. Having to see a person like that—someone who hurt you so much—could sometimes feel like a knife in the gut. The fact that she was keeping it together this well after a traumatic event that happened so recently was genuinely impressive.
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' says that the incarnation 'Jung Heewon' should ████ him up.]
Wait, did Eden seriously have a profanity filter on their indirect messages? That was hilarious.
[The constellation 'Scribe of Heaven' looks at the constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' in disapproval.]
'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.]
"Huh, three constellations?" Jung Heewon muttered as she glanced over her stats page. "I wonder who they could be."
[A constellation who likes companionship says they are interested.]
Well that wasn't obvious at all. What was the point of using an anonymous indirect message if Uriel wasn't going to hide in the first place?
"[Crouching figure]…" Yoo Joonghyuk said thoughtfully. "You're lucky she got the attribute she has."
Oh, Kim Dokja was well aware of that. Having a [Judge] on their side was incredible.
Heewon notices the Major group taking women and elderly into the tent as well, feeling outraged. She knows that 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 powerful 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 replies calmly, but Heewon doesn't seem to take it very well.
"What the heck 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 explains.
'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.'
Jung Heewon narrowed her eyes and set her shoulders. "I promise I won't, and if I ever break that promise, then please kill me yourself."
After saying that, she glanced at the other members of the group seriously. Yoo Sangah seemed hesitant and unsure, Lee Jihye couldn't meet her eyes, and Lee Hyunsung just looked as if Jung Heewon had punched him in the face. Kim Dokja honestly wasn't sure what to feel.
She couldn't be talking to him—after all, he couldn't be the one to kill her because of being the [King of No Killing].
Yoo Joonghyuk flicked his gaze over her way, as if he wasn't sure if she was talking to him or not. They didn't know each other very well or anything, but maybe that would be for the best if this worst-case scenario ever came to pass.
"Okay," said Lee Gilyoung instantly, and everyone stared at him for a moment. "What? She asked."
Jung Heewon smiled slightly and tried to diffuse the sudden tension with a chuckle. "That's right, I did. Still, [Crouching Figure], huh? I guess I got a good attribute out of it, after all."
Oh, she had no idea just how good it was.
"Heewon, the key problem here is food, right?" Dokja asks, snapping her out of her anger by confusing her. "Then we just eliminate the cause of the problem."
"Huh? What do you…" Heewon begins as Dokja checks his phone, thinking that 'he' should be arriving soon.
Shortly after this thought, a crackle of sparkles erupts through the air, surprising the occupants of the station as it reveals itself to be a different dokkaebi.
[Um.. H-How has everyone been? You've all been bored, haven't you?] Dokja's companions stare up at the new arrival in a mixture of shock and fear, but the dokkaebi continues. [T-The guy who's usually in charge of this channel…. Was disciplined…]
'Wait, disciplined?!' Dokja thinks in shock.
[T-That's why, for this scenario… I-I'll be in charge.] The form of the dokkaebi—a nervous looking little guy with black fur and a tiger striped outfit—is revealed.
It's not Bihyung?!
[Y-You know, y-you all look really peaceful. That B-Bihyung, Acting all cocky and leaving the scenario difficulty this low…] The sweating dokkaebi snaps his fingers with another crackle of probability.
[A scenario penalty has been added.]
[Food reserves will be restricted from now on.]
[The existing stockpiles of food will disappear.]
People begin to let out sounds of confusion as all the gathered food begins to glow and float into the air. As more and more food joins their brethren in the sky, the dokkaebi speaks once more. [H-Hehe… I-If you start the scenario.. You should a-always be thinking about how to clear it. I-It's not right to just sit around and eat, right? Th-This planet is full of trash..!]
Sparks gather around the dokkaebi's horns, and in an instant, the flying food is obliterated. As people watch in shock, the dokkaebi continues. [N-now then, everyone, let's h-have fun from now on…]
A new window then pops up in front of everyone present, scaring some people, but not Dokja. Reading the window, he begins to smile nervously.
Yeah, this is more like TWSA...
[A scenario penalty has been added.]
['Cost of Survival' clause has been added.]
[From now on, 100 coins will be deducted at midnight. Failure to pay will result in death.]
[The 'Cost of Survival' penalty will remain until the main scenario is cleared.]
Lee Jihye glanced over at Kim Dokja as soon as the screen went dark. "Hey, ahjussi, was TWSA really that brutal?"
Kim Dokja wasn't sure how to respond to that. The 41st regression alone was enough to earn it the brutal moniker, but the 2nd regression flashbacks were just as bad. Then there was the 8th, where Yoo Joonghyuk died in the theatre dungeon, the 111th where he was cast outside of the scenarios, and of course, the 999th.
Each and every one of his regressions was tragic, even the 81st where he gave up on clearing scenarios to focus on cooking instead. It was so early in his regressions, not even a tenth of the way through his journey, and he was already so exhausted that he didn't want to fight anymore. But Yoo Joonghyuk persevered anyway, no matter the cost.
That wasn't even mentioning his companions. How many times over those regressions had Lee Jihye even managed to outlive Yoo Joonghyuk? How many times had she died young?
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is wondering if the incarnation 'Kim Dokja' is alright.]
At the sound of the indirect message, Kim Dokja blinked away his thoughts, realizing that the teenager had gotten up to wave her hand in his face since he hadn't been replying.
"Ahjussi?"
Shit, had he really gotten that caught up in his own mind? That was sloppy. Still, it wasn't him that needed to be checked on. Yoo Joonghyuk was the one who had—and would—live through it all. What was him getting lost in his thoughts in the face of the protagonist's insurmountable trauma and suffering?
"Ah, yes, sorry," he said quietly. "That… that was still tame for TWSA."
Yoo Joonghyuk wasn't contributing his own opinion either, as the only other person here who remembered anything more, but Kim Dokja couldn't blame him. He recognized that haunted look in the man's eyes, and bit his tongue. Kim Dokja was far too familiar with what a flashback looked like, and he didn't want to draw attention to the protagonist's distress if he could help it.
At the very least, it didn't seem that he was slipping into regression depression just yet, which was good, but Kim Dokja knew that it would probably happen sooner or later. After all, no matter how strong Yoo Joonghyuk's body was, his mind wasn't anywhere near as well-guarded.
'Ah', Kim Dokja realized suddenly. 'This entire scenario is like a hell personally made for the both of us.'