"I'm glad Dokja-ssi managed to get some rest after all that," Yoo Sangah said with a kind smile in his direction, and Kim Dokja appreciated that.
He nodded gratefully. "Yeah, it was exhausting. Thanks for just letting me rest, too."
"It was no trouble at all, Dokja-ssi!" Lee Hyunsung exclaimed, and Kim Dokja chuckled slightly as he remembered just how he had woken up.
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' declares that resting is boring.]
Resting is necessary, fuck you.
{Hey, for how long are you going to sleep?}
Dokja wakes up for the second time to a lovely message from Bihyung and he takes a moment to collect himself. Heewon notices he's awake and turns to him cheerfully while Sangah dozes off beside her.
"Lee Hyunsung, how are your thighs?" Heewon cackles jokingly, but the sleeping man who is currently serving as Dokja's pillow doesn't answer, save for his faint mumbles in his sleep of memories from his army days.
Absently, Dokja thinks to himself that he had a feeling that the height of a pillow wasn't right. As Dokja sits up carefully, he also notices Gilyoung sleeping on his lap, and Bihyung proceeds to send him the indirect messages and coin pop-ups that he missed.
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is sad about your trauma.]
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is interested in your past.]
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is wondering about your mother.]
'...Sons of bitches, they were trying to sneak a peek at my past,' Dokja thinks in annoyance as he looks over the messages before cheering up at the pop-up related to coins and achievements. Thanks to them, he now has over 22,000 coins. 'All right, I achieved the targeted amount…'
Kim Dokja shot a slightly shaky smile at the lieutenant, who seemed a bit flustered by his actions. "Don't worry, Hyunsung-ssi, your thighs are really muscular, so they were pretty good pillows."
For some reason, this cheered him up. "I'm glad!"
Jung Heewon narrowed her eyes in a calculating manner, her gaze almost examining as she gave Lee Hyunsung a once-over. "Was it really that good? Hm."
"Why, do you want to try?" Han Sooyoung teased, shooting the other woman a sly grin. Jung Heewon just laughed it off, but she didn't say no.
Huh. Maybe this would work out after all?
"Hyung is also a good pillow," Lee Gilyoung declared, pointedly flopping on top of Kim Dokja's lap. As he tried to figure out what he should do with a lap full of child, Shin Yoosung pouted and glared at Lee Gilyoung.
"Get off, I haven't had a turn yet!"
"So what? You snooze, you lose."
"Shut up, Bug Boy."
"Piss off, crybaby."
[The constellation 'Queen of the Darkest Spring' is amused by the children.]
Okay, Kim Dokja should probably step in. "Hey now, calm down. I don't know why you want to rest on my lap that much, but I have two legs. Each of you can take one, okay?"
Both children pouted, but relented. Lee Gilyoung shuffled off his lap and begrudgingly rested his head on one of Kim Dokja's thighs, while Shin Yoosung gleefully took the other. In this position, they'd have to watch everything sideways, but that was their problem now, he supposed.
Kim Dokja shot a slightly weak look over at Yoo Joonghyuk, who just raised an eyebrow in response. Yoo Mia simply scoffed. "You're both wrong—my oppa would probably make the best pillow."
Considering Yoo Joonghyuk's thighs were basically made of muscles carved by the gods themselves and Kim Dokja was a bony, scrawny mess—yeah, he believed that.
Thankfully, no one seemed to want to comment on what they had seen in the [Welcome Prison] any further, to Kim Dokja's relief. He wasn't sure what he would do if they did.
Dokja, with Heewon's help, carefully moves Gilyoung's head so he now rests on Sangah's jacket instead of his lap. Once Dokja can safely stand, Heewon stretches and asks if they're going to use the same tactic again, but Dokja says they can't.
Unfortunately, there was no detailed description about the locations of the Green Zones on day four in TWSA.
Dokja then declares they're going to complete the scenario that day instead, to Heewon's confusion.
"First, let's change the landlord," Dokja declares as the scene pans over to Pildu's Room before zeroing in on him.
Later, once Hyunsung is awake, Dokja tells him that he was talking in his sleep. Though he's ashamed, Hyunsung reveals that he has trauma from his time in the army. As they keep discussing it, their voices fade out into Dokja's mental narration.
In the first place, does anyone leave the army with good memories? Lee Hyunsung's military life was never mentioned in detail in the novel, so I don't know much, but I'm certain it was very tough.
'Let's cheer him up,' Dokja thinks as he looks at Hyunsung's downcast face.
"Ah, you didn't have to do that, Dokja-ssi…" Lee Hyunsung said awkwardly, even though he had a small smile on his face. Clearly, he was happy that he was being appreciated enough for people to care about his well being, even if he was a bit unsure.
Jung Heewon slapped him on the back, right between his shoulder blades, and scoffed. "Of course we did. Just accept that we don't want to see you sad either."
[The constellation 'Master of Steel' is appreciative of the incarnation 'Jung Heewon'.]
"I'm glad to have Lee Hyunsung here. I feel relieved when you are the vanguard. It's like I'm being protected," Dokja tells him honestly, which causes Hyunsung to brighten up a tiny amount. Dokja then walks over to the rest of the group and quietly encourages them to follow his lead in cheering up Hyunsung.
According to the original development of the third round, Hyunsung's attribute evolved in Geumho Station. He had to protect others from the monsters and had an evolution. but that opportunity was taken by Jung Heewon.
'Now that I know Yoo Joonghyuk is up to something, I can't just leave things as they are. Gong Pildu will have to stay on guard…' Dokja thinks as he looks towards where Hyunsung is now polishing his shield, a slight smile adorning the larger man's face. 'Right now, we need to evolve Lee Hyunsung's character. As they say, 'compliments can even make whales dance'.'
[The character 'Lee Hyunsung' has started to feel responsible.]
Sangah is naturally very willing to help cheer him up, but Heewon just asks if Dokja's sponsor is the 'One-eyed Maitreya'. An overlay of Gungye appears as Dokja questions who he is before denying her hypothesis and telling them that he has a skill that allows him to understand others better.
Han Sooyoung wheezed out a laugh at Kim Dokja's use of the idiom, and glanced over at Lee Hyunsung. "A puppy might have been a better word to use there."
Well, she wasn't exactly wrong. Lee Hyunsung was occasionally like a large, friendly dog. Unfortunately, he seemed to wilt slightly at that. He opened his mouth, likely to apologize, and Kim Dokja cut him off quickly.
"Don't even try to say you're sorry or anything," Kim Dokja told him firmly. "As Heewon-ssi said earlier, we want you to be in a good mood."
Lee Gilyoung glanced over at the man with an odd look before he said something truly strange. "Hyunsung-hyung, you can hug Titano when we get back. That'll cheer you up."
Lee Hyunsung's smile got a bit strained and Kim Dokja had to try so hard to keep a straight face when Lee Hyunsung whispered to Yoo Sangah to ask who Titano was.
"Titano is one of Lee Gilyoung's bugs," she replied, and his face went pale. Unfortunately for Lee Gilyoung, most people didn't exactly think of hugging gigantic bugs as their first choice of comfort.
At least he was trying?
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is laughing.]
Heewon is the first to make an attempt to cheer up Hyunsung by calling him as dependable as a pine tree. Thankfully, this seems to work and he proudly declares his favourite song is 'Green Pine'. He immediately becomes sullen, like a kicked puppy, when Heewon bluntly states she didn't ask. From where they're hiding out just around the corner, Dokja facepalms.
Sangah goes next and says Hyunsung is the most righteous person she's ever met. This makes him wonder about what justice means to him, but he thanks her all the same. Behind the wall, Dokja fist pumps in victory and Heewon realises where she went wrong.
Gilyoung walks up last and straightforwardly compliments Hyunsung's muscles with a thumbs up. Somehow, this raises Hyunsung's self-esteem, which shocks the three behind the wall to various degrees as they didn't expect this method to work.
As Gilyoung walks away, Hyunsung leans back against the wall and looks up.
[The character 'Lee Hyunsung' is waiting for a chance to evolve his attribute.]
As Gilyoung rejoins the others, Dokja commends him on a job well done and asks if he found what Dokja asked of him. Gilyoung nods and reveals that 'noona' is on floor B1. Thanking him, Dokja waves and heads off to find the other crucial team member for this mission.
Shin Yoosung studied Lee Hyunsung for a moment before grimacing. "I don't want to agree with Bug Boy, but your muscles are pretty awesome."
Thank goodness, Lee Hyunsung looked a lot happier now. It did, however, come with the side-effect of him being incredibly flustered by his actions in the station. Well, you couldn't win them all, Kim Dokja supposed.
"Lee Hyunsung has always been reliable," Yoo Joonghyuk said suddenly, his gaze distant. It was obvious that he was talking about more than just this Lee Hyunsung, and Kim Dokja couldn't help but note the tinge of sorrow underlying his tone. Had Yoo Joonghyuk ever had the time to properly mourn his previous turns?
Kim Dokja couldn't be sure. After all, words on a page could say one thing, but he had no guarantees that the living, breathing Yoo Joonghyuk in front of him had truly been able to stop for long enough to grieve. Maybe this was one way he could still acknowledge the existence of his previous companions, even in a new turn.
Lee Hyunsung's voice turned soft. "Thank you, Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi. I'm glad you were able to rely on me before, too."
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' smiles fondly and reminisces on his own former companions.]
'Now, then,' he thinks as he starts to climb the steps towards Jihye's location, a determined expression on his face.
Let's go steal other people's skills.
"Haha, who is this? If it isn't the illegal tenant," Some of the members of the Landlord Coalition call out as Dokja walks around the floor.
Dokja tunes them out as they heckle and declare that Joonghyuk must have helped him survive the night without a Room. Dokja continues to ignore them, simply counting the Green Zones on the floor before climbing to the next one. The landlords continue taunting him, even going as far as to state that they can join the group only if they bring all the girls.
'Eleven in total,' Dokja notes, and the landlords are annoyed that he seems to be ignoring them. Dokja just tells them to inform Pildu that he'll think about their offer, which makes them begin to chuckle among themselves. 'Yesterday's scenario decreased the number of Rooms by a lot. Still, it's almost time to start the plan.'
Dokja begins to climb to floor B1 when a sword suddenly shoots out right next to his face. Jihye stands behind him with a serious look on her face and proceeds to declare her disappointment in him.
'When did she get behind me? I didn't even feel anything,' Dokja thinks. 'Is it the concealed movement skill, [Ghost Walk]?!'
Lee Jihye cheered as soon as she appeared, her eyes glimmering as she took in how cool she looked on the screen.
Turning around excitedly, she pointed up at herself with one hand. "See, Master? I told you that I was able to sneak up on ahjussi!"
Yoo Joonghyuk seemed amused by her antics and nodded. "So you did."
Yeah, Kim Dokja couldn't even say anything to defend himself when his thoughts were right out there for anyone to see.
She beamed. "I guess I'm so awesome that ahjussi went out of his way to recruit me to help."
Well, her skills were pretty impressive.
[The constellation 'Maritime War God' is feeling proud of his incarnation's progress.]
"Do you think unnie could teach me that skill if I asked?" Shin Yoosung wondered, looking up at Kim Dokja with hopeful eyes. Unfortunately, [Ghost Walk] wasn't the type of skill people could just learn that easily.
Kim Dokja shook his head, but smiled down at her. "You have your own talents, Yoosung. You don't need to copy her just because she's older and managed to catch me off guard once."
"You should totally look up to me still," Lee Jihye cut in. "I'll be the best unnie you could ever ask for!"
Kim Dokja couldn't help but smile at the way Shin Yoosung grinned widely. For a child who had always been alone, having an older sister figure was probably a dream come true for her. Plus, that was probably a step up from Kim Dokja's unintentional babysitter-type figure.
Jihye asks if he knows what will happen to the women if he makes a deal with the landlords, and Dokja simply states that he does.
'They will get their head chopped off by Jung Heewon,' he thinks with slight amusement, but his voiced answer seems to anger Jihye, who retorts that he should have just died the night before. Dokja ignores that comment and continues by saying that he just came to talk, which shocks her.
Jihye moves in front of him, blocking the turnstiles before asking what he wants to talk about. He asks her why she's standing there.
"Master told me to protect this place. So don't come any closer than this," Jihye replies.
'...That Yoo Joonghyuk, surely he wasn't trying 'that' route?' Dokja questions worriedly. 'I think we should move on quickly with this.'
"I'm here because I need your help," Dokja states, which piques Jihye's curiosity. "I'm planning to destroy Gong Pildu's group today."
"… for real?" Jihye asks as an awkward smile crosses her face.
[Your understanding of the character 'Lee Jihye' has increased.]
"Damn straight," Jung Heewon muttered with a grimace at the thought of any of the landlords even trying to lay a hand on her or Yoo Sangah. Of course, Kim Dokja would never have let it get to that point anyway, but it was a relief to know that he had already known her that well by then.
Yoo Joonghyuk shot Kim Dokja an odd look. "You figured out where I went just from that?"
Kim Dokja had to nod. "I wasn't expecting it, but you're lucky I figured it out when I did."
Yoo Joonghyuk pursed his lips, but he didn't say anything in response. Probably because that bastard knew that Kim Dokja was right.
[Several constellations want to know the context of this conversation.]
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is warning the incarnations not to spoil.]
Really? The spoilers again?
Later, after Dokja has returned to the rest of his group, Heewon wonders whether Jihye will actually join them. Dokja replies it won't be easy for her to make a decision, since she puts on a cold blooded facade.
Jihye leans against the turnstiles and mentally goes over what Dokja told her. He let her know that most people here would die without her help, as well as the fact that those on the subway had seen her first scenario. After he revealed that he knew she didn't want to do that, Jihye demanded him to stop talking and nearly had a rage-induced breakdown. However, it's Dokja's last comment that haunts her thoughts the most: "If you turn away today, you will definitely regret it for the rest of your life."
At 7 pm, Dokja tells his team to set off as planned, and they split into two groups —Dokja and Hyunsung, and Heewon, Sangah, and Gilyoung. Elsewhere in the station, Jihye looks up with a determined expression, finally having made her decision.
"For what it's worth," Kim Dokja said, shooting her a sympathetic glance, "I'm sorry for being so harsh. I hope you didn't feel that I was guilt-tripping you into joining up with us temporarily."
Lee Jihye shook her head at that, a small smile crossing her lips. "No, it's fine, ahjussi. I know I didn't take it so well in the moment, but it's something I needed to hear."
She sighed and leaned back, keeping herself upright with her hands, and stared at the ceiling pensively. "You were right—I think I would have regretted not helping."
Like master, like disciple, Kim Dokja supposed. Both of them cared far more than they pretended they did, and both of them were the type to blame themselves for things that went wrong, or for things they didn't do. They liked to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders and forgot that they could ask for help.
[The constellation 'Maritime War God' is smiling fondly.]
"Jihye," Yoo Joonghyuk said suddenly, "good job."
The sound that left her mouth just then was somewhere between a gasp and a squeal, but her eyes were frozen as wide as they could go. Clearly, she hadn't been expecting that at all.
A massive grin overtook her face a moment later, and Kim Dokja instantly wished that the apocalypse had never started just so she could have always smiled like that.