Though the other members of his group seemed apprehensive, Kim Dokja did his best to stay calm as they prepared to watch the next segment. He clearly remembered which few events were coming up soon enough, and he still hadn't figured out what he could say to try and minimize any backlash.
Of course, the dragon issue was weighing on him, but Kim Dokja couldn't help but clench his jaw when he remembered something potentially even worse than that.
He had impersonated Yoo Joonghyuk, and the regressor still had no idea he had done that. Breaking his legs would be the least of his worries, once that secret came out. Kim Dokja internally repeated his plea for Bihyung to let him write a will.
[some constellations are curious about what the incarnations will do.]
The representative of Myungdong Station activates the effect of the red flag, which affects his group as Dokja approaches.
The key to the 'Capture the Flag' scenario is the flag's colour.
A series of multicoloured flags appear on the screen.
It starts out as white, and then changes to red, indigo, brown, then purple—until it finally turns black. Each time the colour changes, the flag can provide a greater number of improved effects.
'If his flag is red, it can only mean that he's occupied more than one station, or that he stole the flag by killing another station's representative,' Dokja thinks as he observes their combat strength. He very quickly realizes that they are clearly underestimating how powerful the incarnations of Chungmuro are.
Pildu, through gritted teeth, swears at the intruders as he activates [Militarized Zone lvl. 6] and [Private Property lvl. 6]. The intruders are caught off guard by the strength of the blasts coming from the turrets, easily gunning down their front line and causing them to panic.
Their representative tries calling for the remaining attackers to retreat and regroup, and another one of their group members mentions in a panic that this wasn't in their gathered information. As they start to retreat, they get cut off by Dokja cutting through the tracks between them with the flaming aura of
They're forced to pause in their retreat due to Dokja's attack, and that's enough for the turrets to lock onto the remaining members of Myungdong Station's group. Pildu easily takes them all down and sends the red flag fluttering through the air to the ground.
"Yeah!" Lee Gilyoung cheered. "We kicked their butts!"
They absolutely had, and Kim Dokja couldn't be more proud of them for it. Between Gong Pildu and Yoo Sangah, he had no doubts that they would be well-protected. Of course, he hadn't expected Han Sooyoung and a full-frontal assault, but they would have fared decently well against anything less than that.
[the constellation 'defense master' is proud of his incarnation.]
"Hmph, serves them right," Yoo Mia scoffed as she watched the attacking group run off. She seemed completely unimpressed with the other incarnations, and Kim Dokja had to admit that he found it amusing.
Shin Yoosung looked up at Kim Dokja with wide and admiring eyes. "Ahjussi, your attack was super cool, too!"
It certainly didn't hurt that he got a bit of praise too, every now and again.
"Thanks," Kim Dokja told her with a smile and a ruffle of her hair. He hadn't been doing that for the coolness factor, but he had to admit that she was right. He did look pretty cool, on occasion.
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' says it would be cooler if the incarnation 'kim dokja' used the power of the black flame instead.]
Hell no.
As the dust settles, Pildu seems to have gained keener senses as he locks onto the fallen flag with gleaming eyes. Knowing that this could be his chance to gain some authority, he starts to run towards it with an outstretched hand. Unfortunately for him, Dokja is right there, stopping him in his tracks with the threat of stepping on him yet again.
Once Dokja picks up the flag, Pildu slinks back up onto the platform, once again swearing under his breath at the situation. With the flag now in Dokja's grasp, Chungmuro's white flag turns red and a window lets him know that he is one step closer to the 'King's Path'.
Once they turn red, all flags can buff the stats of not only the representative, but also every member of their station group. It's one of the main reasons why even the stations which are not the 'target station' of a group are invaded. Representatives with multiple stations—AKA the 'King Candidates'—will all fight a full-scale war just to upgrade their flag colour.
Dokja notes that Pildu showed no restraint in killing every invader, promping Pildu to retort that he has no reason to show mercy to those who run in blindly. Unfortunately, this means that they can't pry any information out of any survivors. As they hear footsteps behind them, Dokja and Heewon look back as Hyunsung and Sangah return with Ilhun as their hostage.
They must have known what would await the intruders on our station all along. Kang Ilhun was puzzled to hear that I was the representative here, and the Myungdong group attacked without hesitation. Were 'The Prophets' the source of their information?
Han Sooyoung's lips curved into a slight frown before she seemingly caught herself and shook her head with a sigh. For an instant, Kim Dokja almost wondered if she regretted trying to ambush Chungmuro, but waved it away a second later. Of course she didn't regret it—this was the First Apostle he was talking about.
Glancing down at his lap, Lee Hyunsung frowned. "We really didn't have any idea how bad the fighting between the Kings would get…"
"Was it that brutal in the novel at all, Dokja-ssi?" Yoo Sangah asked hesitantly, worrying her lip between her teeth. He could tell that she was incredibly bothered by everything that had happened in the fourth main scenario, and she didn't even know half of what had actually gone on behind the scenes.
'Well,' Kim Dokja thought with a sigh, 'it certainly wasn't the same as in TWSA, that's for sure.'
"It depended on which regression it was, but in all honesty, most of the time the fourth main scenario just ended up featuring Yoo Joonghyuk bulldozing his way through all the other Kings. The only one who ever even stood a chance was the Tyrant King, on a few occasions," Kim Dokja told them, to their surprise.
And even the Tyrant King only posed a small challenge in the beginning. By the later regressions, Kim Dokja hadn't even been surprised when Yoo Joonghyuk could effortlessly squash the guy like a bug.
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' raises his eyebrows in shock.]
[several constellations are impressed by the strength of the incarnation 'Yoo Joonghyuk'.]
Lee Jihye's eyes glimmered and she fist pumped excitedly. "As expected of Master!"
Sometime later, Ilhun—now tied up—asks what they'll do to him in an almost cliché way. Dokja then asks for information, preventing Heewon from torturing the man by saying that they'll just kill him instead if he won't talk. As he begins to count down, Dokja activates the aura on his sword as a threat, giving Ilhun little time to make a decision.
"Dongmyo!...D-Dongmyo Station! There were some people there who gave us information about Chungmuro…! T-they call themselves 'The Prophets'..."
As soon as the words finish leaving his mouth, Ilhun begins to look as though he is being strangled. His eyes roll back, drool pools in his mouth before overflowing, and tremors wrack his body.
Through Dokja's quick instructions, Sangah gags Ihun with her threads, keeping him from biting down on his tongue or closing his mouth and choking. Dokja instantly realises that 'The Prophets' used [Suggestion] on the man, noting how cautious they are.
[Suggestion] is a skill that can only be used on someone who has seen the user's face. As long as I have this guy, it'll be possible to identify at least one 'Prophet'.
"Truly despicable," Yoo Sangah hissed, her hands clenched so tightly that Kim Dokja absently wondered if she would draw blood.
Jung Heewon frowned, remembering just what all this had led to, and Lee Hyunsung looked anxious as he glanced over at Kim Dokja with a pale face. Kim Dokja was just going to ignore that for the moment—it was best not to seem too suspicious yet.
Han Sooyoung closed her eyes for a moment and exhaled as unnoticeably as she could, as though she was preparing herself for the inevitable fallout. She had somewhat managed to integrate herself into their group so far, and Kim Dokja wasn't entirely opposed to that, but he had no doubts that there would be a massive crack forming soon enough. He didn't have much hope that this recording would show something he had missed the first time around that would redeem her enough in Jung Heewon and Yoo Sangah's eyes.
Only he and Yoo Joonghyuk knew who she truly was, but even then, the protagonist didn't know the entirety of the issues the 'Fake King' had caused.
[a constellation who values caution contemplates the use of 'suggestion'.]
Before leaving Chungmuro for the next stage of their plan, Dokja heads back up to the roof. As he approaches Jihye from behind, Dokja startles her when he suddenly observes that Joonghyuk, whose head is now resting on her lap, has not yet awoken. He answers Jihye's questions about how things are down in the station and lets her know that Joonghyk may be a bit traumatized after that experience.
As they talk, the screen focuses on Joonghyuk, lying on the grass. The morning sun shines upon him gently, as though the sunbeams themselves are unable to resist reaching out towards his handsome face. The shadows cast by his brow and bone structure are elegant and regal, right out of a classical painting. His expression is also serene, as though in his sleep, all worries have washed away. His hair falls just so, not perfectly in place yet not messy, and it only adds to this uncharacteristically gentle aura that surrounds him.
Dokja goes on to call Joonghyuk mentally fragile, saying that he just needs to rest a little longer as he starts to write something on a notepad. This makes Jihye remark that he seems to know Joonghyuk very well.
"I know him better than anyone else in this world," Dokja says honestly before passing a folded note into her waiting hand, instructing her to give it to Joonghyuk without attempting to read it.
She's definitely going to read it later anyway. But there's no point, since all I've written are things only Yoo Joonghyuk will understand, after all.
Dokja wonders whether the note's contents will be censored to the constellations, and his thoughts are seemingly proven correct by the Prisoner of the Golden Headband complaining about the censorship.
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is jumping around in excitement.]
Yoo Joonghyuk furrowed his brow as he shot Kim Dokja a judgmental glance. "Mentally fragile?"
What? It wasn't wrong.
"You always neglected your mental defenses," Kim Dokja remarked, trying to keep his voice steady. "It'll end up costing you eventually, just like this. Maybe take some time to improve your [Mental Barrier] skill in this turn."
The protagonist looked away, but he didn't protest. Maybe he was actually listening to Kim Dokja's advice, for once?
Shin Yoosung studied the screen intently. "Unnie, we forgot to rank you in the thigh pillow competition earlier!"
That was a competition…?
"I could never compare to Master," Lee Jihye replied with far too much seriousness. "Besides, there are more important things to focus on—like how well ahjussi and Master know each other!"
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is nodding rapidly.]
It wasn't that important, but it was true that Kim Dokja knew basically everything there was to know about Yoo Joonghyuk. He knew all the protagonist's highs and lows, and all of his struggles. He knew how Yoo Joonghyuk had shut down his emotions to sacrifice his companions in the 41st round, and how he had done the complete opposite and sacrificed himself in the 999th. The only regressions he didn't know that much about were the first and the second, but he shouldn't have been too different from the Yoo Joonghyuk he knew now in the 3rd round, personality-wise.
Kim Dokja just sighed and shook his head, believing that trying to argue with Lee Jihye would take more effort than it was worth.
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is scoffing.]
Suddenly, Jihye glances up at him and looks nervous before she begins speaking. "...Um, is it ok if I ask you something? Earlier this morning, when you and my master had been…"
As she trails off, unsure of how to word her question, Dokja begins to panic about running his mouth and the fact that she might have heard what he was saying too. His expression is anxious, displaying his nerves even when he tries extremely hard to pretend nothing is wrong as he deals with the way Jihye only manages to stutter out the beginning of sentences for a while.
After a pause, Jihye seems to have gotten her words together as she yells out in an almost sappy sounding voice, "... Don't drown because of your feelings!"
Dokja's facade of calmness cracks as he's taken off guard, beginning to shake in horror as he asks her not to re-enact it with that tone. Jihye, however, doesn't listen to him at all and continues.
"Your resolve… after our first time! How could you lose that?!"
…Huh?
Kim Dokja buried his face in his hands as Han Sooyoung began cackling. That woman… did she seriously have to relish in any given opportunity to mock him?
"What?" Lee Hyunsung asked absently, eyes wide and completely blindsided. "I don't understand—"
[the constellation 'queen of the darkest spring' is amused by the words of the incarnation 'lee jihye'.]
Yoo Sangah's laughter, light like the tinkling of a bell, joined in and Kim Dokja wanted to dig himself a grave and lie down in it to perish. Why was she so amused anyway? Did she enjoy his suffering?
"After what!?" Jung Heewon gasped in disbelief.
Lee Jihye puffed out her chest in absolutely unearned pride. "Their first time, unnie! It's exactly what it sounds like!"
No, it very much was not—!
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is getting overwhelmed.]
"Does 'your reality was a novel until a few weeks ago' mean nothing to you?" Kim Dokja groaned, his cheeks probably as red as the tomatoes he so hated. "It literally couldn't be possible."
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' says that with the power of love, anything is possible.]
That is definitely not the case, Uriel.
Yoo Joonghyuk was being oddly quiet in this kind of situation, but Kim Dokja couldn't bring himself to look over in the protagonist's direction. Knowing him, Yoo Joonghyuk was probably dismissing everything as the bullshit it was and/or internally seething. Kim Dokja didn't know which option would be preferable.
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' is wheezing with laughter.]
"I came here for you! How could you say you're alone! We're together!" Jihye goes on, getting more passionate with every line, like a member of a high school drama club trying to win the lead role of a doomed romantic comedy.
"No, hold up," Dokja tries to interrupt, but Jihye is on a roll and just keeps going.
"I've always been there with you! Don't lose hope! Think of our baby!" She clenches her hands into fists as she calls out her final—and most tearful-sounding—words.
Dokja tells her that's not what was said as he wonders how badly the censoring screwed up for her to even hear it like this.
"So, that's how it is, right? You and Master are, you know…" Jihye seems confused before jumping immediately to being supportive, eagerly declaring that she'll deliver Dokja's love letter.
Apprehension roiling in his gut, Kim Dokja finally glanced over at the Yoo siblings. Yoo Mia seemed to be blinking rapidly as though she couldn't believe anything she was seeing or hearing, but it was her brother's reaction that really caught Kim Dokja off guard.
Yoo Joonghyuk, as far as Kim Dokja could tell, seemed to have broken. He was completely frozen, with wide eyes and a bewildered expression on his face. His mouth was slightly opened and his perfect jawline seemed almost more pronounced like this somehow. Yoo Joonghyuk's eyes shook and his hands went limp and he looked so shocked that it was almost unbelievable.
As soon as an indirect message came in, though, Kim Dokja was forced to tear his gaze away from this one-in-a-million sight.
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is gagging.]
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is burying his face in his hands.]
"Think of your baby! A love letter!" Han Sooyoung wheezed. "Oh my god this is amazing."
Lee Jihye nodded with a far-too serious expression on her face. "I know what I heard! The truth will not be denied any longer!"
"That is not what I said!" Kim Dokja protested, trying desperately to convince the delusional teenager that he was telling the truth.
"It's true that Dokja-ssi didn't say those exact words, if this recording is to be trusted in the first place," Yoo Sangah said in a worryingly amused tone, "but he also never specified who the person Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi loved and had a child with was."
"Right! He never said it wasn't him!" Jung Heewon laughed as she shot Kim Dokja a teasing glance. "Plus, Jihye-yah wasn't wrong when she declared that you had always been there with him, right?"
Well, that last part was true, since Kim Dokja was the only one who had followed the entirety of Yoo Joonghyuk's long journey, but he couldn't help but despair regardless.
Sangah-ssi, Heewon-ssi… don't encourage her!
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is vehemently agreeing.]
Kim Dokja lamented everything internally. If only they had met Lee Seolhwa already, they wouldn't even be joking about this! Just one look at her would tell them that she was, without any doubt, the perfect person for Yoo Joonghyuk. If they thought that Yoo Joonghyuk liked him, they were so incredibly wrong—he was 110% certain that the protagonist would rather toss him off another bridge than kiss him. Lee Seolhwa would effortlessly surpass Kim Dokja's six-foot-deep bar just by smiling!
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is glaring at a certain incarnation.]
At least one constellation was on his side and thought that Lee Jihye was spouting bullshit. He wasn't sure why the Secretive Plotter didn't just name her in his message, but there weren't any other obvious options than Han Sooyoung, who probably deserved a bit of glaring herself.
Dokja seems completely done and dead inside as he practically gives up while explaining again that she's got it wrong. The constellations, on the other hand, are eating up her narrative to varied reactions. Notably, Sun Wukong is respectful of his orientation, Uriel is delighted, and the Secretive Plotter is flabbergasted.
"But wait! How could you have a baby? Adoption?" Jihye exclaims as though this is clearly the most important point to clarify. Dokja, stumbling depressingly back to the stairs, just tells her to just ask Joonghyuk later.
"You realize what that sounds like, right?" Han Sooyoung asked with a sly grin. If this was anything like the last time, it was certain to be humiliating.
The kids ended up answering in his stead as Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung crossed their arms over their chests and shot glares at Han Sooyoung. "Like what?"
She glanced down at her nails casually as her grin widened. "Oh that was absolutely a 'go ask your father' moment. Kim Dokja isn't beating the dad accusations anytime soon."
What the actual fuck was she talking about!? A dad? Since when? Wasn't he just some kind of glorified babysitter?
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is delighted.]
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is baffled by this turn of events.]
Lee Jihye gasped. "Ahjussi… don't tell me…"
Whatever she was thinking was definitely, absolutely, completely wrong.
Her eyes watered as she placed a hand on her chest and looked at him as though she was seeing him in a new light. "I'm truly honoured you think of me like your own daughter, but…"
Okay, Kim Dokja needed to cut her off right there. "I—"
"No!" Shin Yoosung yelled suddenly, interrupting Kim Dokja's retort. "Unnie, you can't!"
Huh?
"Yeah! That's our job, not yours!" Lee Gilyoung protested as he clung to Kim Dokja's arm with a too-tight grip. "You can take the sooty bastard though, I don't care about him."
[many constellations are confused by the current events.]
Kim Dokja was also very confused, thank you very much. Had everyone forgotten about the fact that two different realities seemingly collided? Also, what did the kids even mean by that, and why was it worth arguing over?
Yoo Mia even jumped into the argument a moment later, ready to argue in favour of her brother's awesomeness. However, she also didn't seem like she wanted to share Yoo Joonghyuk with anyone—least of all with Kim Dokja—and she had vocally exclaimed that she hated the thought of being an aunt to Shin Yoosung or Lee Gilyoung, which was just… what? Where the fuck did that even come from?
"No, no, it makes sense!" Lee Jihye exclaimed gleefully. "If Master and ahjussi are married, and the two of you are ahjussi's kids, then that means that Yoo Mia is your aunt now!"
All three kids gagged at the thought and turned on her in an instant.
What followed was this: Lee Jihye adamantly defending what she 'heard', Yoo Mia listing off reasons why she would never accept any more people in their family, and Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung seemingly teaming up for once to convince her and Yoo Mia that Kim Dokja was not to be shared with Yoo Joonghyuk anyway.
This, of course, meant that all three of the younger kids were actually all on the same side of this argument and were still squabbling for some reason about which adult was better, even as Lee Jihye continued spouting her bullshit. The whole argument was utterly ridiculous, so Kim Dokja tried to avoid paying any attention to it—or to Han Sooyoung and Jung Heewon who were laughing so hard that they couldn't breathe, for that matter.
It was just incredibly hard to ignore when they were being so loud. Kim Dokja wondered if he'd be able to access the dokkaebi bag here to buy some painkillers for the inevitable headache.
"So that was why…" Yoo Joonghyuk muttered suddenly, and Kim Dokja's gaze shot over to him immediately, able to pick out the man's voice even amongst the chaotic arguing that had broken out between all the kids.
Kim Dokja wondered what the protagonist was talking about for a moment before he had a moment of horrifying realization. Had Lee Jihye actually asked Yoo Joonghyuk about this nonexistent child? What had he replied in that case? No—Kim Dokja probably didn't want to know the answer to that question.
But still, why did the protagonist look almost pensive!? He didn't seem outwardly angry, but maybe he was just still too confused for the all-consuming cold fury that would overcome him later? Maybe he was waiting for this scenario to end so he could gut Kim Dokja (or Han Sooyoung) and prove to everyone that everything was nonsense?
At the very least, Lee Hyunsung looked just as lost as Kim Dokja felt.
On the way down the stairs, in what is most likely a way to recover from Jihye's madness, Dokja reads over the novel and mentally notes that there is no mention of other prophets, which leaves him with two possibilities.
One is that due to a new variable I have no knowledge of, a prophet other than 'Anna Croft' has appeared. And the second one is that there's another 'reader' besides me.
In Dokja's ignorance, he wonders if they gave up on the novel halfway, forgetting that only he persisted past chapter 100. He believes that the second option is much more likely due to the scarcity of the [Prophet] attribute, though.
Meeting back up with the others, he takes Hyunsung and Sangah to head back out. As Hyunsung wonders if it will be enough, Dokja tells him that they won't be fighting, and instead just deciding what to do with the members of Myungdong station, since they won't be able to survive on their own.
Unless they're very lucky, 'wanderers' who lose their group are soon killed by people from other stations. Just like those five Landlord Coalition members who left Chungmuro.
Dokja looks to the side, noticing that Sangah looks downcast and correctly attributes it to the alliance situation. He reminds her that most people aren't trustworthy and that things likely won't follow the optimistic outcomes.
"I know, but still… I wanted to believe in them if I could. It's because I've trusted others that I was able to come this far," Sangah says as she looks Dokja in the eyes. Dokja seems stunned into silence, only breaking out of it when Hyunsung calls out his name.
Ahead of them, the Myungdong remnants are all lying on the ground, massacred by three men decked out in combat gear who—upon noticing their arrival—jump on motorcycles and rush away. Through Hyunsung's confusion, Dokja narrows his eyes as he realizes that the men seem to have run off because they knew he was coming.
Climbing onto the platform, Dokja walks over to the flagpole base and places his flag into it, officially occupying the station. This causes the 'King's Path' hidden scenario window to appear, letting him know that he will need to occupy 10 stations within ten days to complete it.
Finally, this hellish scenario has begun.
Lee Hyunsung shuffled uncomfortably and shared another glance with Jung Heewon, who had finally quieted down as soon as her laughter got cut off by actual serious things happening on the screen. The two of them were probably counting down the moments until the dragon incident—and Kim Dokja was too, but for a different reason.
Yoo Sangah looked down and grimaced. "I'll never forgive those fake prophets for planning to come after us like that."
Kim Dokja carefully schooled his expression. He hadn't intended on saving most of these people anyway, but he could understand why she was so upset. Still, that was their reality now. People were going to die, and there was nothing they could do to prevent it.
They would lie and betray each other and kill. Society had already crumbled, and it was time to let go. This was a world where base survival instincts ruled and where only the strong survived. If you didn't have the willpower to live and the skill to back it up, you would end up as another corpse left to rot by those who kept going.
Kim Dokja glanced back over at Yoo Joonghyuk, only to see him staring back with an eerily calm expression on his face that gave away absolutely none of his emotions. For all Kim Dokja could tell, Yoo Joonghyuk was pissed off or mentally plotting Kim Dokja's demise. Either was equally likely at this point.
Maybe he was still pissed off about Kim Dokja stealing the scenario and making him have to do more work, or he was frustrated that Kim Dokja had just left him on the roof with Lee Jihye and her inane questions.
"Um… sorry?" Kim Dokja said with a helpless shrug of his shoulders, not entirely sure what he was apologizing for, but figured it might curb the protagonist's temper slightly.
Instead, Yoo Joonghyuk's expression morphed into a scowl and he turned away with what Kim Dokja could only describe as disappointment. Fuck. That had backfired, and Kim Dokja didn't even know what, exactly, he had fucked up.