Chapter Text
It had been a fairly good day. Well, as good as a day in a mid-apocalyptic world where they had to clear scenarios for the sake of entertainment of lazy geezers who should've just bought a television set instead of ruining people's lives if they were so bored. So, yeah it had been a fairly good day. They had just passed a lot of main scenarios at once so they were given about a week of break before the next main scenario. Most of the people in their Nebula decided to take a small break before the next main scenario, but like normal workaholic maniacs, Kim Dokja and Yoo Jonghyuk decided to clear various sub and hidden scenarios that give rewards useful for the future scenarios.
What they hadn't expected, was them failing at a scenario, that too a fairly simple one, and be stuck in this mess. Let's take a look at what had exactly happened.
A few hours ago...
Kim Dokja and Yoo Jonghyuk were wandering around the Industrial Complex together searching for some useful hidden pieces or some scenarios with good and useful rewards. Now, normally they would be doing this separately, but Kim Dokja felt like annoying the sunfish so he decided to tag along and follow him, meaning he had an indirect death wish that day. So, as Kim Dokja was about to go into another rant about something completely useless with Yoo Jonghyuk just on verge of actually killing him, a screen appeared in front of the both of them.
[ Hidden Scenario
Category: Hidden
Difficulty: ???
Clear Conditions: Find the person you treasure the most and express your feelings towards them.
Time limit: 2 hours
Compensation: Star relic of choice, ???
Failure: ??? ]
What a weird scenario, but the reward was something that couldn't be ignored. Kim Dokja glanced at the stone-faced sunfish and asked, "Are you going to do this scenario or not?"
Ignoring Kim Dokja, he silently pressed 'accept', followed by Kim Dokja who did the same.
Now came the harder part.
Who in the world did Kim Dokja cherish the most?
Jung Heewon was someone outside the original characters of the book, someone he picked up and nurtured himself, but that's as far as it could go. Lee Hyunsung, although he was a really nice and warm person, he loved him like any other member of his nebula. Han Sooyoung, no, why was she even on the list. He silently crossed her out. He cherished the kids like his own, but he was doubtful that he cherished them the most. Yoo Sangah, although she was someone who knew him even before the scenarios had begun, she was more like a sister. Yoo Jonghyuk... no, he was not an option.
Deep down, Kim Dokja knew the answer, he just refused to accept it. Kim Dokja turned his head towards the overflowing indirect messages, reading some of them.
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' tells you to believe in the power of comradeship.]
[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' feels like smacking you on the head.]
[The Constellation 'Abbysal Black Flame Dragon' says that you're an idiot]
[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is amused]
[The Constellation 'Queen of the Darkest Spring' says that the answer is closer than you think.]
Ignoring them again, He looked towards Yoo Jonghyuk, who for once, looked troubled and seemed to be contemplating something. It seemed like, he too, had trouble figuring out the person he cherishes the most, which was odd considering there are only two, maybe three people he could even tolerate on a daily basis. Perhaps, he was confused between Lee Seolhwa and Yoo Mia. Whatever it was, it felt good seeing the oh-so-perfect protagonist act like a human for once.
He decided to annoy the already troubled protagonist and said, "Having trouble figuring out who you cherish the most, Yoo Jonghyuk?"
Instead of his usual death glare and death threats, Yoo Jonghyuk simply looked at Kim Dokja with a weird expression. It was truly unnerving.
Choosing to ignore the weird look, Kim Dokja further continued, "Don't worry, we're on the same boat. I haven't figured out who I cherish the most either."
This time Yoo Jonghyuk decided to speak up, "What about Yoo Sangah?"
That confused Kim Dokja. He voiced his confusion, "What about her?" When Kim Dokja understood what he was talking about, he hurriedly replied, "She's like a sister to me. Nothing more, nothing less."
Weirdly enough, somehow Yoo Jonghyuk looked less troubled after that. Or maybe it's just Kim Dokja's imagination.
Looking up, Kim Dokja saw that they had around 30 minutes left. As Kim Dokja couldn't think of anyone, he decided to resign to his fate, and wait for this scenario to end. He decided to just wait for whatever punishment he will receive. Worst case scenario, the punishment would be death, which is like an everyday occurrence for him now.
Looking at the punishment now, Kim Dokja decided that the punishment is worse than death.
[You have failed to meet the clear conditions in the Time Limit]
[You will now receive the punishment]
[Failure: Speaking your thoughts out loud for 24 hours]
At that time, both Kim Dokja and Yoo Jonghyuk both said one word together.
"Shit."