"Ahjussi, what will destroying all the Green Zones do?" Shin Yoosung asked curiously, deciding to sit back up and lean against Kim Dokja's arm.
Kim Dokja smiled and ruffled her hair. "Just wait and see, Yoosung-ah. I had a plan."
Though she pouted a bit, she sighed and resigned herself to watching instead.
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is pleased that no spoilers were shared.]
As Dokja and Hyunsung jump down into the hole that leads to the lower floor, they are greeted by the members of the other team coming over to join them, confirming that their part of the task has been completed.
"I didn't know 'Green Zones' could be destroyed like that. We just stepped on the floor and it was like 'Bang'!" Heewon declares with some excitement as a sped up flashback version of their destruction plays behind her.
Yoo Sangah, Jung Heewon, and Lee Gilyoung destroyed all the small Green Zones. Except for Gong Pildu's Green Zone, which is the biggest.
As Dokja congratulates them, a comedic blood spurt erupts from his ears as Bihyung yells at him through messages. Dokja covers his ears, as if it would make the yelling stop, confusing the others as he replies.
{Dokkaebis in Chungmuro are going crazy because of you!}
Dokja can't help but grimace, even as Hyunsung looks incredibly confused. {Shut up, I already have a headache because of the constellation's messages.}
As if to prove Dokja's point, a massive amount of pop-ups appear, many with positive messages from some of his usual supporters. Bihyung continues by stating that other dokkaebi channels are around, and he reveals that Pildu is in Biryu's channel.
Jihye casually approaches them soon after, also stating her job was easy.
Lee Jihye was asked to destroy Green Zones with 5-8 people. It was a task that Jung Heewon was incapable of clearing alone. She's indeed Yoo Joonghyuk's disciple… No, as expected of the incarnation of the Sacred Hero.
"I'll be honest, I was very confused at first about why you were going with such a crazy-sounding plan," Yoo Sangah admitted, glancing down with a resigned smile, "but I trust Dokja-ssi to get us through the scenarios alive."
Well, that wasn't his primary objective, but if he could accomplish it with the fewest casualties possible, then he would. All he wanted was to create an ending to his favourite story that he would like—to ensure that Yoo Joonghyuk finally got a happy ending. Still, having someone trust him like that… It felt nice. It wasn't something he was particularly used to.
"I'm going to try, at least," Kim Dokja admitted with a slight chuckle. "Still, in the apocalypse, there are no guarantees. Sometimes the best path isn't the easy one."
[The constellation 'Maritime War God' agrees with that statement.]
Lee Gilyoung pulled himself up and grinned up at Kim Dokja. "We did a good job at smashing them, right?"
"A very good job," Kim Dokja confirmed with a smile. After all, dividing and conquering was the only way they would have been able to accomplish all of that without getting stopped. Everyone had pulled off their part of the plan flawlessly.
Lee Jihye beamed as well and shot a pleading glance at Yoo Joonghyuk, clearly wanting praise as well. He raised a brow in her direction.
"I have nothing more to add," Yoo Joonghyuk stated, and Lee Jihye visibly wilted. However, he wasn't done speaking. "Kim Dokja has already said everything."
At that, she couldn't hold back the grin on her face again. "I'll keep doing my best to live up to your expectations, Master! And yours as well, Maritime War God!"
Just as she starts to question what he'll do with the landlords, they arrive. The mob of landlords soon surrounds them, much to Bihyung's amusement as a bounty scenario activates. A bounty of 2,000 coins has been put on Dokja's head by the constellations in Biryu's channel.
Jihye waves, stepping out of the way as she says she's not helping him this time, but Dokja simply smiles and says he doesn't need her help. Heewon then jokes about the bounty's reward not being enough to sway her into attacking him, while Hyunsung readies his shield at Dokja's back.
[Name: Lee Hyunsung
Personal Attribute: Person who has Regained Justice (Rare)
Stigma: Great Mountain Smash lvl. 1, Great Mountain Push lvl. 2
Exclusive Skills: Bayonet skills lvl. 2, Camouflage lvl. 2, Patience lvl. 1, Sense of Justice lvl. 2, Weapons Training lvl. 3.]
When Dokja asks about his skill, Hyunsung reveals he won't be able to use [Great Mountain Smash] more than once or twice. Seeing more people climb the stairs to their location, Gilyoung tenses, but he loosens up when Dokja reassures him that he won't need to fight alone.
Lee Hyunsung's eyes widened. "... [Person who has Regained Justice]? Me?"
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' praises the incarnation 'Lee Hyunsung' for acting when he saw injustice.]
Uriel was completely correct. Lee Hyunsung had seen his chance and he had taken it of his own volition. That was something that took an astounding amount of resolve and bravery, and Kim Dokja knew that far too many people would just remain as bystanders.
Even when seeing something horrible happening, or evidence thereof, the number of people who would actually step in and try to help was depressingly low.
"Still, I can't believe they really went so far as activating a bounty on you," Jung Heewon huffed, crossing her arms, "and for such a pitiful amount, too."
Well, to be fair, 2,000 coins could go far in the third scenario. However, considering just how many coins Jung Heewon had gotten for her massacre at Geumho station, it made sense that she would feel that way.
"Speak for yourself," Han Sooyoung muttered. "I would have at least given it a shot."
Jung Heewon turned and glared sharply at the plagiarist, and it was so intent that Kim Dokja wondered how Han Sooyoung's grin hadn't faltered yet.
"What?" Han Sooyoung asked defensively, leaning back and putting her hands up, still grinning. "I'm just saying that it's not my fault if he's enough of a pain in the ass that the constellations want him killed."
Wow, thanks.
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is amused by the words of the incarnation 'Han Sooyoung'.]
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is tearing his hair out in excitement.]
What chapter was it? I'm sure I have read that scene. Yoo Joonghyuk who had gone mad from his regressions destroyed all the Green Zones as soon as he arrived in Chungmuro. And now, the conditions are identical.
Suddenly, windows appear in front of everyone, to their surprise.
[All the Green Zones in this region have been destroyed and the main scenario has collapsed.]
[The difficulty of the current scenario will be adjusted according to the remaining scenario duration.]
A final window appears, showing that the scenario has now been renamed [Emergency Defense], and that they have to survive a flood of all the monsters originally scheduled for the next few days over the next 8 hours instead. Of course, they have to overcome this challenge without the help of the Green Zones.
As soon as the windows disappear, the barriers at the ends of the station tracks come down and the monsters begin their rampage. They attack those on the lower levels first, and people run through the chaos as bodies and blood fly everywhere.
Yoo Joonghyuk frowned and clenched his fists. "When you say I 'went mad'..."
Kim Dokja grimaced. Some of Yoo Joonghyuk's later regressions hadn't been pretty in terms of his dwindling mental health.
"You weren't rational at all," Kim Dokja admitted. "I don't remember exactly which regression it was, but I don't think anyone other than you, Lee Hyunsung, Kim Namwoon, and Lee Jihye walked out of Chungmuro alive that time."
Yoo Joonghyuk was silent, his frown deepening. Knowing him as well as he did, Kim Dokja was certain that the regressor was struggling to come to terms with the fact that he had lost himself enough to do that. Unfortunately, compared to some other things he had done throughout his 1863 lives, that would be tame.
"Wait, Dokja-ssi, did you really have us do something that risky for everyone else in the station?" Yoo Sangah asked, horrified. "People already died during this plan, even though most survived. Was this really the best way to do this?"
[Constellations who enjoy moral questions are paying attention.]
Was it the right decision? Kim Dokja couldn't speak for anyone other than himself.
"People died, sure, but more lived than if we had continued killing each other over the Rooms for another four nights," he replied, carefully keeping his voice steady. "Plus, since I didn't know where any other Hidden Green Zones were for the fourth night, we definitely would have had to pay the landlords for a spot, or we would have had to kick someone else out of theirs."
Kim Dokja didn't want to be harsh to her, but this was the reality of their world. Yoo Sangah looked conflicted, and she didn't want to meet his gaze.
"And, since I'm trying to be more honest, I didn't care if anyone other than our group, Lee Jihye, and Gong Pildu survived."
His admission made her stiffen up and her lower lip trembled. Kim Dokja knew that would be hard on her, but she needed to face the truth. Yes, she had gotten to know many of Chungmuro's survivors in the fourth scenario, but ultimately, the vast majority of people would prioritize themselves over a group. Kim Dokja wasn't an exception to that rule, no matter how good people seemed to mistakenly think he was.
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is feeling troubled.]
Dokja immediately orders his group to run for the stairs, sending Hyunsung to the other stairwells. Noticing Dokja's group and Jihye on the stairs, people run after them in the hopes that they have a plan, and order them to move when the group stops and turns to look at them.
"I don't think you've grasped the situation yet" Dokja says, drawing his sword and thrusting it into the stone, shattering the lower stairs and cutting them off from an escape route. "Even if you come up, you won't be able to survive. There are no Rooms left in the station. There is only one way to survive."
People yell up at Dokja for answers and he tells them to fight back. This angers the people even more, and they frantically yell to find other escape routes; however everyone hears a loud crashing noise, and they discover that Hyunsung has destroyed the other staircases.
"Wait, ahjussi! This isn't what you said would happen! At this rate, everyone…" Jihye begins to confront Dokja, but he cuts her off, activating [Bookmark]. This time, he choses Inho as the one to copy and uses [Incite lvl. 2].
"Hey, Gong Pildu! How long are you going to stand there like an idiot? Shouldn't you be doing something to survive? If you do, everyone else around will survive too," Dokja yells at him from their safe spot.
"I'll admit it, Dokja-ssi, I felt conflicted about sitting safely up there too," Lee Hyunsung said quietly. "I did what you asked me to do because I trust you, and it was nice to not have to fight for our lives, but it doesn't feel right that we just had other people fighting for us."
Kim Dokja nodded. Lee Hyunsung was that kind of person, after all—of course he'd feel guilty seeing other people struggle. Curiously, he glanced over at Jung Heewon to see if she was equally upset, but surprisingly, she looked fine.
"What?" She asked when she noticed Kim Dokja staring. "Are you expecting me to be all torn up over that?"
She huffed out a laugh. "Fuck no, those landlords can go to hell. I still haven't forgiven them for those disgusting comments, and I don't care if people think that's wrong of me."
Han Sooyoung looked at her appraisingly before nodding. "Yeah, I would have fucked off at the first opportunity."
Yeah, that wasn't a surprise.
[The constellation 'Bald General of the Peasant's Army' is worried about the survival of the common people.]
"Using [Incite] was a good move here," Yoo Joonghyuk said suddenly, "they wouldn't have had the courage to fight, otherwise."
Yeah, he was right. Gong Pildu preferred to stay in the back lines, relying on his defenses to protect him rather than going on any form of offensive. He especially struggled with being caught off-guard like this, so [Incite] had been necessary to snap him out of it, and to take advantage of crowd pressure.
Pildu, understandably annoyed, starts to curse him out. However, everyone around the landlord has already started calling and begging for him to do something.
"The third scenario isn't as difficult as you think. Once everyone gives up on the rooms and participates in the defense, there will be enough people to handle the monsters," Dokja tells him casually as the light blue figure of Inho behind him gives off sparkles.
Half of it is true. If Chungmuro had united before I got here, there would have been far fewer victims. The real trap of this scenario was the Green Zones.
People rush at Pildu as Dokja continues to goad them by saying that if Pildu fights with them, they'll survive.
[The sponsor behind 'Lee Jihye' agrees with your wisdom.]
[The constellation 'Maritime War God' nods his head.]
Pildu finally gives in and calls out for everyone to gather to protect him while he sets up his [Militarized Zone].
"Ahjussi, the sparkles do not suit you," Lee Jihye said blankly, a strange look in her eyes that seemed to be caught somewhere between disgust and judgment.
They didn't suit Cheon Inho, but that hadn't stopped him either. A skill was a skill. Kim Dokja just rolled his eyes.
"The Green Zones were a trap, huh?" Han Sooyoung said dryly. "Easy for you to say when you literally know all the secrets. No one else would have dared or even thought to smash up the place like that."
[Several constellations are in agreement.]
… True. Any normal incarnation would think it's a death sentence. They had thought that. Kim Dokja frowned and looked down at his open palm in his lap for a moment.
Things that were obvious to him wouldn't be to anyone else. To most others, this world was new and terrifying, not something familiar. For all they knew, destroying the Green Zones could have instantly killed everyone for failing the scenario, or it could have spawned a higher-tier monster like a boss.
Though his plans looked logical to him, they would be batshit insane to anyone else, and Kim Dokja was forced to fully realize this. If he had been thrown headfirst into TWSA without having read it, Kim Dokja probably would have struggled too.
Sometimes it was too easy to forget just how much more knowledge he had than anyone else. Things that were considered old news to Yoo Joonghyuk by his later regressions would be unheard of otherwise.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "I guess you're right."
Han Sooyoung blinked and looked genuinely shocked for a moment. "Wait, did you just agree with me? You did, didn't you?"
Kim Dokja grimaced. "And it'll never happen again."
While this happens, a man gets viciously slashed by a monster's claws on his back. Dokja notices and calls for Sangah to pull him out of there with her thread. The guy thanks them but looks towards Dokja, clearly debating whether he should attack and get the coins. However, Dokja just smugly points out that unfortunately the bounty scenario's time limit has run out. The man apologizes while getting pointed looks from Heewon and Sangah, as well as a murderous one from Gilyoung.
Finally, Pildu yells for people to get out of the way as the [Militarized Zone] and its turrets erupt from the floor, immediately showering the approaching monsters with a rain of bullets. Hyunsung rejoins them, but he wonders whether they should help since Pildu must be expending a lot of Mana. Dokja just replies that they'd just distract him, then says they can rest in the meantime. Sangah looks concerned, wondering if that's really alright.
"Think of it as being in the right lane," Dokja comments as Heewon asks about those below. "They just got in the wrong lane."
Yoo Sangah looked over at Kim Dokja, though she wasn't smiling. "Thank you for at least letting me rescue him."
There hadn't been any particular motivation in it, really. At least, not for him, personally. Still, Kim Dokja had known that Yoo Sangah would want to save as many people as she could.
"I'm sure that Sangah-ssi would have rescued him regardless," Kim Dokja replied seriously. "You don't need my permission to do things, you know?"
"I know," she murmured. "Even if we don't always agree on everything, I still trust your plans, Dokja-ssi. I wouldn't want to mess them up."
Well, he could think on his feet in a pinch—after all, even the best laid plans can still go awry. (See: Han Sooyoung's cult dragon stunt that he was not going to mention aloud again.)
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' laughs at the struggle of the incarnations.]
"I don't really like that landlord ahjussi, but it's good that his skill finally started working," Shin Yoosung muttered, watching the screen cautiously. Lee Gilyoung nodded along with her before catching himself and looking peeved that they had the same opinion.
Seriously, what was up with kids these days?