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There are many things Shen Yuan wishes he hadn't done in his life. Buy his brother those sculpting lessons, for one, because he wouldn't stop gifting Shen Yuan the most astonishingly cursed stone figures he'd ever seen in his life for months. He also regrets his string worm phase, there was so much fuzz to clean up after he'd finally decided to get rid of all those two-eyed, no-legged bastards clogging up his room. But, above all else, Shen Yuan regrets ever picking up a certain novel by the name of Proud Immortal Demon Way; and then deciding to dive head-first into its 'fanbase'. More specifically, Shen Yuan really wishes he'd never played that accursed RPG fangame of that damn novel. Because now, 7 hours and 9 yogurt cups after he cleared the last available quest in the tentatively named 'Demon's Way of Adventure!!! ~ Proud School Life!!', Shen Yuan found himself sitting pretty as the vice president of the Cang Qiong Academy of Magic's student council.

Shen Yuan - now Shen Qingqiu - really wants to punch something.

---

Demon's Way of Adventure!!! ~ Proud School Life!!, to its credit, wasn't that bad of a game. It was a visual novel run-through  of a fantasy au, 'tragedy-free' version of the infamous stallion harem novel by Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky. Except that the 'tragedy-free' aspect of it only applied to all but one cast member. That cast member being Shen Qingqiu; who found himself caught in the uncouth machinations of the so-called 'Big Bad Ultra Villain', who was trying to take over the world (or something) and ended up dying a horrible death via public execution.

Ah, forget about that devilish Qingqiu character! It was his fault for attempting to collude with sinister demons when he was wrought with jealously at the sight of poor, innocent, mage-trainee Luo Binghe's clear magical prowess! But wait! Don't actually forget that terrible man Qingqiu, because now Shen Yuan is that cruel and evil character who attempted to collude with sinister demons! And he! Doesn't! Want! To! Die! (again)

Really, all Shen Yuan wanted was to pick up some fan merch from the post office; not get pancake-ified between two drunk drivers and end up in some fancy, ornate room he identified from the mediocre graphics of the RPG he stayed up all night finishing!

“If there are any gods out there, watch your fucking backs,” was the last thought the newly dubbed Shen Qingqiu had, before he promptly fell unconscious (to the great panic of his fellow council members).

---

Good news: Shen Qingqiu hasn’t colluded with sinister demons yet! He knows, because amongst the various paperwork he’d dug out of the cabinets of his room, he found only maps of known sinister demon residences and no actual list of sinister demon names. Which is good, because in-game evidence scrounged up by Luo Binghe and his many friends that found Shen Qingqiu guilty of colluding with the Big Bad Ultra Villain included a list of sinister demons names; along with their statuses, territories, relationships, artifacts, etc. So he’d thought of colluding with sinister demons, but hadn’t actually gotten to go through with his plans before Shen Yuan arrived.

Bad news: Shen Qingqiu has already begun thinking of colluding with sinister demons, which means Luo Binghe has already entered the academy. Which also means he can’t conveniently make his own exit from the academy to avoid creating any bad air between him and the unfairly op golden-haloed protagonist.

At the welcoming ceremony for the newest students of Cang Qiong Academy, Luo Binghe had a truly unfortunate encounter while trying to find his way to the academy’s auditorium. Stumbling confusedly through the halls, Luo Binghe ended up accidentally bumping into the dastardly Shen Qingqiu; and caused him to spill the tea he was carrying all over his own robes! Enraged, Shen Qingqiu had yelled <You uncouth fiend! Look at what you’ve done to my once pristine dress! Barbarians such as yourself should just stay on the streets where you belong!>, before throwing the cup he was holding dangerously close to Luo Binghe’s being, so that he was almost cut by the shards when it shattered. Watching Shen Qingqiu stomp indignantly away, Luo Binghe had steeled his heart to be not so kind to that man in particular!

That was the Shen Qingqiu of the past, who had no apparent goal in existing beyond being a resident bastard and a treacherous scum. The Shen Qingqiu of the now, however, is simply horrified to find the since-unwashed tea stained robes amongst the many, many other perfectly identical robes in his wardrobe; and realize that the horrid first-encounter with Luo Binghe had already happened. Well, at the very least that was all the interaction the two had had since lesson begun literally yesterday (according to his thankfully well-marked agenda, which was also used as evidence for the later Shen Qingqiu’s crimes; with such incriminating statements as “assassinate that one sinister demon lord by 9pm” and “meet with the Big Bad Ultra Villain to discuss how to break this very important treaty and pin the blame on Luo Binghe”).

(Also luckily, apparently the ‘magic archaic language’ used for reading and writing in this world is just english, which he knows. The gods would be quivering in their boots if Shen Qingqiu had to learn a whole entire language to survive in a world full of poisonous lizard-monkey flame-wielding hybrids and aphrodisiac slimes within the course of a day.)

With absolutely no plan besides getting on Luo Binghe’s good side so that no grudges are held when Shen Qingqiu graduates in a year so he can promptly fuck off into the wilderness, Shen Qingqiu steeled his nerves and walked out of the dormitory.

---

Following his ‘Elemental Spells in the Everyday Domesticities’ class, Luo Binghe found himself sitting by the fountain on campus, eating lunch and trading stories with his two new friends. Well, they were trading stories about their homes, but then Ning Yingying began arguing with Sha Hualing over whether steamed or roasted potatoes tasted better, and Mu Qingfang had busied himself with trying (and failing) to mediate between the two. So then it was just Luo Binghe and Mobei-Jun trading stories with each other, except they weren’t actually speaking.

But then, something really unexpected happened! That rude person who threw a teacup at him yesterday stopped in front of him!

“Luo Binghe…” He looked kind of nervous. Or confused. What was he doing?

“What are you doing?”

“I am… here to… apologize, for my behavior yesterday.” His words came out stilted, but… sincere?

“I… truly, regret the things I said to you, when we met… the other day. I was just, having a bad day, is all… and I… apologize, for taking my feelings out on you.” As he said that, his gaze tilted slightly downward, and landed on the fan held collapsed in his hand. As if he’d just realized he could use the fan, he opened it and held it in front of his face.

“He must’ve really wanted to seem honest while apologizing to me,” Luo Binghe thought, heart softening for the rude man with the fan.

“Very well… I accept your apology.”

The man nodded, “You have my gratitude.”

“If I may, can I know your name?”

“This one is called Shen Qingqiu.”

Shen Qingqiu…

---

Shen Qingqiu… is a bit shy, isn’t he? Well, Luo Binghe, at least, thinks he is. He always seems a bit more quiet and reserved than everyone else whenever Luo Binghe spends time with him. But, he must admit, Shen Qingqiu isn’t a bad person. Despite their unfriendly first meeting, Luo Binghe’s relationship with Shen Qingqiu has done nothing but improve ever since his apology.

Though Shen Qingqiu is often off campus grounds on various assignments from the teachers at the academy, what time Shen Qingqiu spends at the Cang Qiong Academy, he spends with Luo Binghe. It started when the two found out they were in the same ‘Exotic Magic Flora Applications’ class. Well, Luo Binghe was in the class, and Shen Qingqiu was a student aid for the class’s teacher. Not only that, but in his ‘Curses, Poisons, and Cures’ class, his ‘Mystic Creatures History’ class, his ‘Inter-Party Mages Relations’ class. It seemed that in every class he was enrolled in, Shen Qingqiu was also a part of (in some way or another).

“So if the Blue Moon Viperous Fox-Fish thrives in aquatic environments, and the New Moon Drifting Flame Stinging Beetle thrives in forested environments, then pitting the two against each other in a desert environment would result in…?”

“Such a match would result in the Blue Moon Viperous Fox-Fish’s victory, as the ‘Drifting Flame’ part of the New Moon Drifting Flame Stinging Beetle’s name refers to its naturally high body temperature, which is apparent when it stings. This causes the New Moon Drifting Flame Stinging Beetle to overheat rather quickly in hot environments, as its body already holds the close to the maximum amount of heat it is able to sustain. The New Moon Drifting Flame Stinging Beetle is a relatively recently bred creature, Binghe, so you must note that it has not yet acquired the same evolutionary advantages of other older magical creatures, such as the Blue Moon Viperous Fox-Fish, that would allow it to survive in a vast variety of environments.”

“Ah, I understand Shizun!”

“Shizun? I am not your teacher, Binghe. Would it not be imprudent of you to refer to me as such?” Shen Qingqiu fanned himself, shyly.

“Ah, I understand!” he thought. Leaning forward, Luo Binghe used both his hands to snatch Shen Qingqiu’s empty hand (lightly, so as not to harm him) and spoke fervently to him.

“I do not think myself rash for referring to you as my own Shizun, for you have already taught me so much! It is not without much consideration that I have come to the conclusion to think of you as someone of high intelligence, and hope that you would only do me the honor of teaching more in our time together! Do not let my sudden change of tongue concern you, for I do believe that the name of Shizun is a title you have earned, at the very least from me!”

At his words, Shen Qingqiu began fanning himself slightly faster; eyes drifting just the slightest bit away from Luo Binghe’s own as he spoke.

“This one thanks Binghe for his esteem. If he wishes so, I am willing to be regarded as your Shizun.”

Luo Binghe beamed, “Of course!”

---

What the fuck what the fuck what the fuckwhatthefuck-

This isn’t even Proud Immortal Demon Way, and Shen Qingqiu is still Luo Binghe’s Shizun! There were no named teacher characters in Demon’s Way of Adventure!!! ~ Proud School Life!!, so there shouldn’t even be anyone for Binghe to feasibly call ‘Shizun’ in the first place! For there to be such a divergence in the plot, something has to have changed! Hopefully, it’s for the better; as Shen Qingqiu has been trying his absolute best not to fuck shit up and die!

At least Luo Binghe doesn’t seem resentful over anything when they talk…? He’s still going to be cautious, though; better safe than sorry.

---

Dear mother,

Your Binghe is having a really nice time at Cang Qiong Academy! All the people here are so kind! And every new class is interesting and exciting to attend! Mother, did you know that the Summer Dripping Dew Flower leaves can be used to purify Acidic Pink Rose Slime remains? The resulting substance is said to make a good substitute for tomato in most recipes! My Shizun had collected some on his last excursion, and he was kind enough to gift it to me! I have sent a few vials of the substance with this letter, so you can try making something with it too, mother!

Speaking of my Shizun, this Binghe feels he must inform you of what new developments have occurred in our relationship! Recently, Shizun has been bringing back more and more gifts for Binghe when he returns from his assignments! Just the other day, in fact, Shizun had presented me with an ornate set of porcelain bowls for use in dining! And he even requested that Binghe would make him a meal to partake in, on occasion, presented in such fine bowls, knowing that I highly enjoy cooking for him! Shizun is so considerate!

Mother, I ask your forgiveness if you believe my next actions had been rash, but your Binghe truly felt there might have been something more to what his Shizun had been doing for him! It is true that Binghe has made many good friends during his time at the academy, but none have been as charitable and doting as Shizun! This Binghe had divulged into his relationship with his Shizun to a loyal confidant, I have mentioned her before as my friend Sha Hualing.

By assessing Shizun’s actions towards Binghe and what his intentions would have been, Sha Hualing had come to the conclusion that Shizun had the intention of courting this Binghe! I do not wish to believe such astonishing words so hastily, but mother, would it not be wonderful if such a sentiment were true? Shizun is truly a wonderful person, and if he were to care for me as more than just a friend, then this Binghe will take exceptional care to treat his Shizun as well as Shizun has treated him!

But Shizun is a rather reserved individual, seldom keeping company aside from the time he spends teaching and accompanying Binghe. If he were to harbor such feelings, then Binghe is prepared to wait for him to reveal such intentions at his own pace! I hope to introduce the two of you, one day, mother! I am sure you would be delighted to converse with him, as Shizun is quite the well educated and courteous individual! Binghe promises to write again soon!

Your loving son,

Luo Binghe

---

Field trips (not that anyone in this world would actually call them field trips, they’d rather use something like “off-campus observed learning experience”) at Cang Qiong Academy were, more often than not, pretty dangerous. Like, seriously, who thinks going into an old, abandoned, unmaintained and degrading cave to hunt a giant, volatile, sparkling and occasionally exploding earthworm with a class of fifteen students that don’t even have swords would be a good idea?!

The only thing they had going for them in this situation was that Shen Qingqiu was there supervising the trip; otherwise the only person watching over everything that could potentially go wrong in this situation at once would be Shang Qinghua.

Shang! Qinghua!

(He kind of wants to punch whoever planned this trip. Seriously, who thinks of Shang Qinghua as a capable supervisor for fifteen students at once?!)

Whatever, let's just forget about the highly concerning organization capabilities of whoever’s on staff at Cang Qiong Academy’s field trip planning committee, and instead focus on what’s actually happening on this terror of an excursion. For starters, the earthworm woke up. Or, as others would know it, the Elongated Subterranean Crystalline Light Serpent has entered its aggravated state. While the earthworm thrashed about, Shen Qingqiu was doing an excellent job throwing jabs at it, while the students observed (dodging all the rocks falling around them).

“Notice how the scales on the upper-left side of the Elongated Subterranean Crystalline Light Serpent’s neck are shining slightly more when it moves. That slight shine shows that the Elongated Subterranean Crystalline Light Serpent is strengthening the scales in that area, indicating that it is preparing to attack using that area. As I know that the Elongated Subterranean Crystalline Light Serpent will attack with its upper neck, I can then adjust my own strategy to attack at the rear end of the Elongated Subterranean Crystalline Light Serpent; where it will be difficult for the Elongated Subterranean Crystalline Light Serpent to adjust its course of movement to counter-attack me, as it is a slow moving monster.”

The students (and Shang Qinghua) nodded on, attention captured by the thrilling battle and informing lecture before them. He has to admit, it is pretty fucking cool. But, uh, then the earthworm started glowing and pulsating threateningly. Shen Qingqiu, knowing what was about to happen, immediately stopped attacking, and began hurriedly ushering the students away from the earthworm and out of the cave.

“Quickly, get as far away from the Elongated Subterranean Crystalline Light Serpent as you can! It has initiated its last defense, which will cause it to explode, and likely collapse the cave! Hurry!”

Even Shen Qingqiu’s famous composure can’t stand the risk of an entire cave collapsing on him and sixteen others! Which is completely understandable! In less than a minute, every last student had evacuated the cave (with Luo Binghe coming out last, having stayed behind with Shen Qingqiu to aid in getting the others out of the cave), and the earthworm exploded!

With Shen Qingqiu just at the cave entrance, he was close enough to be propelled by the aftermath of the explosion; and landed a short distance away, unconscious!

Mu Qingfan, a truly good physician-in-training, immediately rushed to his side to tend to him; while Luo Binghe stood, scarily silent. If it wasn’t for the shaky, stilted breaths he was so audibly making while looking at Shen Qingqiu, he’d think that poor Binghe would follow after his Shizun into dreamland!

(Though, he still wonders how Shen Qingqiu even got the title of Luo Binghe’s Shizun when there was supposed to be, what, two years of difference between the two? Well, this was a fanwork, so maybe the creator just took some creative liberties...?)

Anyways, someone will have to report to the academy about why one of their most prestigious students is now out of commission… could someone just convince Binghe to do it? As the protagonist, he should already have brownie points with the higher-ups just by existing and being great! But… well, Luo Binghe is kinda really out of it now that Shen Qingqiu is hurt… and he is the one with the most responsibility in the group, as the oldest one present besides Shen Qingqiu… so…

Shang Qinghua sighs, it seems another day, another battle with a horrid amount of paperwork to fill out.

---

Shen Qingqiu woke up with one lowkey pissed demon saintess by his bedside. He’s in the infirmary, it seems, after the conclusion of the off-campus observed learning experience where he fought the Elongated Subterranean Crystalline Light Serpent. It wasn’t surprising to him that he ended up needing medical attention after that explosion, hitting that rock hurt; but it was surprising to wake up with Sha Hualing glaring down at his sickbed.

“We’ve been waiting an awfully long time for you to wake up, Shen Qingqiu. We were terribly concerned about you, you know.”

Ah… she says such kind words with such a threatening tone! A true power! He feels very successfully intimidated! Message received!

In Demon’s Way of Adventure!!! ~ Proud School Life!!, the creator’s ‘tragedy-free’, feel-good ideology extended to reach even the character dynamics; having several characters who’d never even communicated with each other in the original Proud Immortal Demon Way become good friends in the RPG (through Luo Binghe’s influence, of course). One of the most notable of those relationships was that of Sha Hualing and Mu Qingfan; who had become close friends and gained their own (sort of) master-disciple relationship during Sha Hualing’s study in the medical arts. Fandom headcanon turned fanwork canon, it seems, as the widely accepted idea that Sha Hualing would be interested in humankind on a biological level had worked its way into the plot of Demon’s Way of Adventure!!! ~ Proud School Life!! through her choice of study; providing the amusing consequence of her growing close with Cang Qiong Academy’s best physician-in-training.

“I apologize for worrying you… young mistress Hualing…”

Sha Hualing’s eyes took on an amused look, like she was laughing at him.

“It wasn’t just me who was worried for you, Shen Qingqiu. Mu Qingfan and Luo Binghe were the ones particularly concerned about you, being your attending physician and… disciple, respectively. Can’t you see how distressed Luo Binghe, in particular, was while he waited for you to recover?” Sha Hualing said, directing her gaze towards the other side of Shen Qingqiu’s bed.

Now that she mentions it, he does feel something warm surrounding his hand. Looking towards the other side of his bed, Shen Qingqiu finally took notice of the presence of a sleeping Luo Binghe, who was clutching his hand like a young child with a plush toy.

“... It seems this one lacks the necessary perception to discern the presence of my own disciple beside me. I shall take care to thank Binghe for his concern, once he awakens. Until then, I can only thank you for aiding in keeping him company while I was recovering.”

Turning to bow his body towards Sha Hualing (as much as his position in bed and Luo Binghe’s grasp on him would allow), Shen Qingqiu spoke sincerely, “Thank you for watching after Binghe in my absence.”

She smirked, “It was no hindrance to me. You are welcome.”

Later, when Luo Binghe woke up, and promptly began to start crying tears of… relief(?) upon seeing his Shizun alive and well; Shen Qingqiu gave him a few light pats on the head, and also thanked him for staying by as he recovered. As Binghe’s tears (eventually) slowed down into small sniffles, Shen Qingqiu kept patting him until he was finally calm. And as Luo Binghe slowly began snuggling down into Shen Qingqiu’s side, Shen Qingqiu simply allowed the spent boy to make himself comfortable.

“Shizun… I know I still have much to learn… but… but I promise you, Shizun! I promise I’ll become a strong person! A mage so powerful, I could protect you from anything! Just, please, trust that I will, Shizun!” Luo Binghe looked like a man on a mission, which, being the golden-haloed protagonist, meant that he likely was. And whatever mission he was on, of course he’d complete it!

Shen Qingqiu nodded, “I always trust Binghe.”

---

Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky: author of the infamous stallion novel Proud Immortal Demon Way, broke young adult who wrote shamelessly for funds, single man who unabashedly projected all his ideals for his Perfect Man™ onto a character in his papapa-riddled universe and intentionally set his importance on the backburner so that none of his readers would decided that they were also in love with him! His critics called him a tasteless and repetitive hack of a writer; his fans called him a driven and vitalizing pioneer of papapa-literature; but everyone called him Airplane!

But now, everyone calls him Shang Qinghua!

Except, he isn’t Shang Qinghua! And if he was to be Shang Qinghua, then he wouldn’t be this Shang Qinghua! Who is this Shang Qinghua?! Airplane’s Shang Qinghua was a cannon fodder traitor played for plot convenience, and killed off as soon as his use ran dry! This Shang Qinghua is Mobei-Jun’s lab partner in ‘Experimental Properties of Enchanted Elements’! Because they go to school together! Because that’s totally something Shang Qinghua, an immortal human peak lord, and Mobei-Jun, a powerful demon lord, would do! Be schoolmates!

Clearly, while he may be Shang Qinghua, Airplane isn’t in the world of Proud Immortal Demon Way. Which is good! Because Shang Qinghua doesn’t want to die! And, hopefully, whichever Shang Qinghua he is now, he can avoid dying as!

(He has his own suspicions that he’s in the world of Demon’s Way of Adventure!!! ~ Proud School Life!!, a fangame of his novel recommended to him by his fans. Though, he can’t be 100% certain about that, because he never got the time to actually play the game himself; between writing and ensuring that all his finances were in order. But, according to what reviews he read about the game and its story online, the premise of being in a fantasy setting while attending a ‘Cang Qiong Academy of Magic’ with humans and demons alike is close enough to his current situation, that he’ll just accept that he’s in the world of Demon’s Way of Adventure!!! ~ Proud School Life!!, and deal with whatever problems jumping to that conclusion may cause when they come!)

But, well, back to the current situation. Shang Qinghua, Mobei-Jun’s lab partner, has to take a test. A test on a subject that he didn’t even know was a thing until literally twenty minutes ago, when he had to get a new schedule printed for him from the office (or whatever they call it) when he realized he had no idea where he was supposed to be going!

Basically, Shang Qinghua has a test he’s guaranteed to fail. Well, hypothetically he could cheat, but he has no idea how to do that! For one, the only person who sits close enough to him in class that he could even think of cheating off of is Mobei-Jun! Mobei-Jun! Trying to go against him would end Shang Qinghua’s existence faster than the third edition of Proud Immortal Demon Way sold out after releasing!

And second, everything in this world is written in english! The only hint of experience Shang Qinghua even has with the language, are the subpar at best bits of english he remembers from back when he was still learning it in school! And that was years ago! It’s been so long since he’d last had to use the language, all he even knows of it now is just the devolved amalgamation of what he deems to be his ‘chinglish’! Any actual english-literate person would just be able to recognise a few of what his words are, and deem the rest of them the ramblings of a perturbed man!

Wait a second…

---

Mobei-Jun is… perplexed. It is clear that the feeble human beside him is unprepared for the assessment they are about to take. Though their interactions are minimal for the close space they occupy, what Mobei-Jun knows of the feeble human can be concluded as follows: ambitious. Not kindly so. The feeble human would often ask him for answers on the majority of his assignments, and then claim independent completion of the work when submitted. When they were assigned a task to complete as a pair, Mobei-Jun would notice a lack of contribution on part of the feeble human. The year is young, but Mobei-Jun thinks he has a grasp on who this feeble human is. He is an ambitious, weak, scheming, and desirous man; and now that he is unprepared, Mobei-Jun would be foolish to think the feeble human would not attempt to cheat off his work for merit.

Except… the feeble human… isn’t doing that?

Mobei-Jun… is not sure what the feeble human is doing.

“- so… if this means… then maybe this can pass as… that’s… acceptable?... no… ok, yes?... maybe they’ll think this…?... that works! That kind of sort of really maybe works! Yes!”

The feeble human is mumbling to himself. He hasn’t taken the slightest glance at Mobei-Jun’s own assessment since he sat down, and now, he is saying confusing words to himself. Does he not have the intention of cheating from Mobei-Jun’s work for the assessment? Is the feeble human… completing the assessment by his own effort?

There was a slight surprise when they received their assessment scores. Mobei-Jun, of course, received an excellent score on the assessment. The human, however…

“Aw, man! A failure?! I was so sure at least some of those words made sense together! Is my writing really that illegible?! Someone should’ve been able to get at least something out of this! A zero is just really, really unfair! I tried, man, at least give me that!”

Mobei-Jun, while not impertinent, does find himself curious about what is happening with the human beside him. With as much furtive movement as his large build would allow, Mobei-Jun looked at what the human had done to his assessment. Indeed, what had the human done?

“Human.”

“Eh?! Uh- yes?”

“Your writing is atrocious.”

The human wailed, “I know! But I was hoping they wouldn’t notice! Or would think I was just, like, on another level or something!”

“They?”

“They… like, the people on top! They who’re above the grades! Who dictates our, uh, fate, or whatever!”

Mobei-Jun is amused. “You wanted to… trick, this, they? Into believing your… words?”

The human, sheepishly, responded, “Yes…?”

Interesting…

“This was your plan for completing the assessment?”

“Yes?!”

“Your plan is terrible. Not a single soul would believe what gibberish you’ve put on paper to be coherent.” Mobei-Jun allowed the slightest hint of amusement to cross his features. At his words, the human let out a pitiful wail.

“I know! I get that now! But what do I do?! I don’t know, like, most of english!”

“English?”

“Uh- magic language, whatever?!” Mobei-Jun’s suspicions rose.

“You could write in the runic language but a few weeks ago. Why are you unable to now?”

“Well- I- you see, I got cursed! Yeah! I got really, really cursed! My memory is just, mostly, gone! You see! So I, I don’t know the magic language anymore! Yeah!”

“Cursed?”

“Yep, absolutely!”

“Then you’d be able to describe to me which creature had cursed you, and what they had done to you to curse you so?”

“No! I can’t!”

Mobei-Jun raised an eyebrow.

“You see- the whole memory of me being cursed was probably also erased by the curse! Because I don’t remember it! Right! Which is also why I didn’t tell you that I was cursed until now! But believe me, I’m really, truly, definitely cursed!”

“Then you cannot remember the runic language?”

“Yes!”

“And you cannot remember the subject of our class?”

“That’s totally correct!”

Mobei-Jun nodded. “Very well. Then I will teach them to you.”

“Absolu- wait, what?!”

“We are partners in this class. We get assignments that we must complete together, often. If we are to ensure our assignments are complete, you must know the class, and you must know the language. As your partner, this Mobei-Jun will teach them both to you.” It was the clear solution to their issue.

“Oh! Ok, then! Thank you…?”

The human is quite slow-witted. Nonetheless, Mobei-Jun will help him. He nods.

“Of course.”

---

Oh shit.

Did- did Shang Qinghua just make a kind of acceptable, possibly good first(ish) impression on Mobei-Jun?! That’s! So! Fucking! Amazing! Ah, Mobei-Jun in the (demon) flesh is so much better up close! His face that looks like it was chiseled from ice, his eyes that look like they were made from sparkling frost, even his piercing stare that can make even the hottest heads freeze over in an instant! For a northern demon king of ice, Mobei-Jun is really fucking hot.

And now, they’re on a study date!

Well, less of a study date, and more of a personal lecture, but still! Ah, Mobei-Jun looks so good…

“- so ‘flame’ and ‘fire’ cannot be exchanged in spells. Human, do you understand?”

“Yep! Flame and fire, not the same. You’re very good, my king!”

Mobei-Jun nodded. If he was in any way off-put by Shang Qinghua’s way of addressing him, he gave no indication of it!

“Next, the order of elements in multi-element defensive formations. Pay attention to this, human.”

“Right!”

Smart, hot (cool), strong, and he even smells amazing! Really, the maker of this world did a super good job interpreting his ideal man! Ah, it’s really great being able to spend time with his king, even if it’s just for educational purposes!

---

It is possible that Mobei-Jun may have a budding fondness for the human who sits beside him in Experimental Properties of Enchanted Elements. He is… strange. But not bad strange.

Contrary to his initial evaluation, Shang Qinghua is not underhanded. He does not even seem to be ambitious, in any way. Above all else, Shang Qinghua is weak-willed. He cowers quickly, and praises Mobei-Jun without hesitance. And yet…

“Shang Qinghua! Erect the light mirage now!”

“On it, my king!”

No matter what he asks, Shang Qinghua goes through with it. Though what he asks may be dangerous, Shang Qinghua has never wavered at Mobei-Jun’s requests.

“Eek! It’s coming, very, very quickly! My king! Get it, fast!”

Shang Qinghua is a feeble, pitiful, foolish human. But he is reliable, so Mobei-Jun will keep him around.

“Aha! You did it, my king! That was so amazing!”

“Now we harvest the pelt for submission.”

“Right, right! Gotta get that grade! Let me, my king!”

Perhaps having a partner such as Shang Qinghua is not such a terrible situation to be in.

---

Finally. After a whole year of studying magic, speaking with Luo Binghe, and fighting whichever magical creature on assignment; Shen Qingqiu had graduated. Well, there is a graduation ceremony still for him to attend, his appearance at it isn’t mandatory, so he’s basically free to go!

He’s in a new world, for fucks sake! He wants to go out! He wants to explore all the crazy, strange creatures that roam this unbalanced world! Maybe he’ll find a Sharp Tongued Terrestrial Spring Frog? Or a Black Moon Rhinoceros Python?! Who knows! But after so long studying and researching all the enthralling monsters this world has to offer, all Shen Qingqiu wants to do is pursue some data of his own! Perhaps he’ll make a bestiary…?

Armed with his sword, magic, and ever trusty fan, Shen Qingqiu left the Cang Qiong Academy of Magic and set out into the world.

---

Shizun, Shizun, where is Shizun?!

Luo Binghe woke up extra early today to make his Shizun breakfast. It’s Shizun’s graduation today! He wants to leave a good impression on Shizun, so that he’ll be willing to stay in contact with Binghe even after he leaves the academy! But! Shizun is already gone!

Where is his Shizun?!

“Mobei-Jun! Sha Hualing! Have either of you seen Shizun today?!”

“No, are you looking for him?”

“I can’t find him! Please, you have to help me! Shizun isn’t here! I, I haven’t even said goodbye to him! I, I need to find him! Please, help me search for him!”

For the rest of the day, Luo Binghe practically tore apart the Cang Qiong Academy of Magic searching for Shen Qingqiu, his Shizun. But, despite how hard he tried to find him, it was all for naught. Shen Qingqiu’s presence at the graduation ceremony wasn’t mandatory, and so as of last night, nothing was keeping Luo Binghe’s Shizun at Cang Qiong Academy. Not even Luo Binghe himself.

With a heavy heart, Luo Binghe retired to his room. As much as he wanted to leave the academy and go after his Shizun, Binghe couldn’t allow himself to forsake all the effort of his adoptive mother by dropping out before his own graduation. Steeling himself for the next three years, Luo Binghe made a promise.

I will find you, Shizun. Please, wait for me!

---

After graduating, Shang Qinghua was a free man! Out on his own in the world to make a living! With the dangerous monsters that could definitely kill him! But, at least he knows magic!

Ok, career time. Fuck, he has to make a name for himself, by scratch?! Ugh, the things you have to do to make a decent living for yourself! What can he do, anyways, in this world full of deadly threats on his life and many other people who are infinitely more well-equipped to defeat them?!

The only thing Shang Qinghua kind of has going for him is the fact that he’s Airplane! Author of the world that this world is based on! If this was the original Proud Immortal Demon Way, he’d be rolling in profit from all the things he knows by now! But this isn’t his novel! This is the world of some fan adaptation of his story! Which is, well, admittedly a better version of the story for all the characters involved; but still! Shang Qinghua’s usefulness here is much more limited!

Shang Qinghua, however, is nothing if not a survivor! He worked his way out of debt through compelling words and pandering plotlines! He persisted through transmigration with a strong will and some very helpful tutoring sessions (courtesy of his king)! If what bits of knowledge being the author of the inspiration for this world is all he has to work with, then he! Will! Make! It! Work

After he finds somewhere to live!

Graduating from Cang Qiong Academy means no longer having a dorm room to live from; and being an irrelevant background character in the story means he has no backstory of his own to fall back on! Therefore, he’s currently homeless! Which! Doesn’t bode well for his aspirations of making a stable living for himself and not dying for a long, long time! What does Shang Qinghua do when faced with a trouble he can’t resolve on his own?!

“My king! This one apologizes for disturbing you after such a restless day, but I am abashed to admit that I seek your aid!”

“Shang Qinghua. Speak.”

“My king, this one is seeking a place to stay, now that I am no longer a ward of the academy! As this one is aware of the affluent background of his king, I find myself relying once more on your grace for assistance!”

Mobei-Jun stared at him, unimpressed. “Shang Qinghua believes he must ask my assistance in such a trivial matter?”

“Uhm- yes, my king!”

He scoffed. “This Mobei-Jun’s fidelity must seem rather tenuous for Shang Qinghua to assume he would hesitate to decide on such a matter, regarding his human.”

“Ah, apologies, my king?”

He nods. “Very well. Come back to this one’s quarters. Shang Qinghua is permitted to reside there until this matter is settled.”

“Such generosity, my king! Wait, your quarters? Like, me living in your dorm room?!”

Mobei-Jun cocks an eyebrow, “Is this not an acceptable solution?”

“No, no! It’s a wonderful solution, my king! And this one feels very lucky to be granted such an honor, as to live in the same space as you, my king! It’s just, uh, are you sure that you want me to live with you?”

“Shang Qinghua should not question this one’s decisions on such matters of accommodation. Let us not waste any more time discussing this matter, the sun is near set by now.” And with that, Mobei-Jun turned and walked away; leaving Shang Qinghua to scramble after him back to his (their?!?!!) room.

---

Six months post-graduation, Shang Qinghua has successfully completed his personal compilation of Proud Immortal Demon Way information! Monster habitats, habits and weaknesses! Character locations, backstories, and preferences! Personal secrets, hidden areas, and in-depth analyses and predictions about the future choices of practically every character he can remember dreaming up (excluding Shen Qingqiu, that guy’s been so out of character the entire time Shang Qinghua has been in this world, it’d be pointless to try and predict him now)! All that information, sorted by whether it was Proud Immortal Demon Way canon, foreshadowed or alluded to enough for diligent readers to pick up on it, or had been kept in the confines of his mind without ever truly making its way onto paper! Anything and everything Shang Qinghua would need to know to start off his own information brokering business was now completely compiled and ready for use!

Of course, Shang Qinghua wouldn’t have been able to accomplish all this without the help of Mobei-Jun! He couldn’t let Mobei-Jun know what he was actually doing while living in his room, naturally, but his king was totally supportive of him nonetheless! Mobei-Jun gave Shang Qinghua a place to stay! Made no complaint as the space Shang Qinghua carved out for himself in his closet grew bigger and bigger as the days passed! Even brought him meals to eat and snacks to chew on while he dedicated himself to his work! All proving to Shang Qinghua the undeniable truth that Mobei-Jun is most certainly the best man alive!

“Shang Qinghua.”

“My king! Is there something you must ask of me?”

“Your work… is that it?” He gestured down to the 1724+ page manuscript in Shang Qinghua’s arms.

“You’re correct, my king! With this, all my preparations are complete!”

“Preparations? For?”

“Oh! Right, I forgot to tell you! I’m planning on starting a business, my king!”

“A… business?”

“Yes! An information brokering business, to be exact, my king!”

“And your plan was to do this… while living out of this one’s closet?”

“Eh- well, kind of? Only really until word of my services got recognition, my king! Once people find they can rely on my work, then I can get an office of my own, and stop concerning you with housing me!”

“Very well then…”

“My king?”

Mobei-Jun looked at Shang Qinghua intently, as though sizing him up for… something? Finally, he reached into his coat, and held an envelope out to Shang Qinghua.

“... What is this, my king?”

“Keys. Instructions.”

“Keys? Instructions? For what, my king?”

“To your office, Shang Qinghua. Keys to open it. Instructions to get there.”

“Huh- office?! Did you buy me such a place, my king?!”

“Of course. Shang Qinghua will need somewhere proper to complete his work. It is natural for this Mobei-Jun to be the one to provide a worthy building to act as so.”

“But- did you buy me an entire building, my king?! Is that not too much?!?”

“Nonsense. Are you displeased with the offer?”

“No! No, of course not, my king! Nothing you could do would ever displease me! I swear! It’s just, this offer was quite sudden, my king! This Shang Qinghua is simply stunned by the generosity!”

“Shang Qinghua will be accepting my gift, then?”

“Yes! Yes, of course, my king! This Shang Qinghua will accept any gift his king wishes to give him! It’s just that…”

“What?”

“This Shang Qinghua merely wishes to repay his king for this gift! And all his hospitality, in these last couple of months! My king has done so much for me… I ask what I might be able to do to repay what I owe him, in turn?”

At his words, Mobei-Jun scoffed, like he’d just heard something so incredibly dumb he had to clear his throat of idiocy before answering. “All this Mobei-Jun asks is for Shang Qinghua to make himself reliable to his king. Nothing more is necessary.”

“Then… then this Shang Qinghua promises to do his absolute best to make himself reliable for you, my king.”

With a smirk, Mobei-Jun replied, “I trust that you will.”

---

The “office” that Mobei-Jun bought for him is really no joke! Three floors of solid blue marble construction! Pre-decorated with fine plush carpets and polished wood furniture! Desks for him to work in virtually any part of the building! Enough filing cabinets to store all the information he needs to- and then some! A personal office to meet his potential clients in! And, to top it all off, the building comes equipped with all the commodities he’d need to live in it! A kitchen for food, bathrooms for washing up, and even sleeping and living areas available on the top floor! His king really thought of everything Shang Qinghua might need when he bought this building! Truly, truly, truly amazing! He’s really not going to let any of this amazing space go to waste!

To get his business off the ground, Shang Qinghua first had to get customers! And he actually knew how to do that! Identifying the stray wife character off the street and fixing whatever issue Luo Binghe resolved for them in Proud Immortal Demon Way was easy game for Shang Qinghua, who had painstakingly thought up and written all those scenarios and their solutions himself! Rare magic omni-cure to find? Already in stock! Familial dispute to resolve? He’ll be done by sunset! Long-lost heirloom to track down? Give him a new pair of shoes, and he’ll be back before you can say “treat those well, they were expensive!” After that, Shang Qinghua just let the rumor mill run its course! And, eventually, word spread of an all-knowing miracle working figure who resides in a pristine tower by the edge of town had begun making its rounds!

Mobei-Jun also graduated around this time! Using the profits he’d been making from his work, Shang Qinghua was able to set aside enough funds to reward his king!

“Here you are, my king!”

“... What is this?”

“Money, my king! It’s for you!”

“Money? Why?”

“You’ve graduated, my king! And this Shang Qinghua is proud of you for doing so! I thought, now that you’re officially out of schooling, it’d be a good time for me to finally pay back what I owe you!”

“What Shang Qinghua… owes?”

“Yep! I tracked down the people you contracted for my building, and got them to say how much you paid for them to construct it! Then, I saved up that same amount of money, and then some, and am now giving it all back to you! As a graduation reward!”

“Shang Qinghua.”

“Yes?”

“You are an idiot.”

“Wha- my king!”

“Shang Qinghua need not pay this king back. The office was a gift, and this king requested only reliability from you.”

“So… you don’t want the money?”

Mobei-Jun shook his head, “Shang Qinghua is enough.”

“Oh! Oh! My king, you are too kind! If there is anything this one can do, instead, to show his gratitude and loyalty, then, really, just say what!”

Mobei-Jun got an odd look in his eye at that, somewhere between hungry and pleased. “Anything?”

“Uh, yes! Anything, my king!”

“Then…” Mobei-Jun strode closer to him, using his hand to lift Shang Qinghua’s head towards him. “I ask that you remain my partner, indefinitely.”

“Pa- Partner, my king?!”

He nodded, “Partner.”

“Like, uhm. Do you mean, like, lab partners? We haven’t been in Experimental Properties of Enchanted Elements in a while, though, my king… so, well, this Shang Qinghua is not sure if he still remembers how to properly contain the base elements… my king?”

“No. Not lab partners. Partners.”

“So, uh, you mean you want to be, like, romantic partners?”

“Yes.”

“With me?!”

“Yes. It is established that this Mobei-Jun is capable of providing for Shang Qinghua, and Shang Qinghua possesses several abilities that have proven useful to this king. If he were to accept this offer, Mobei-Jun swears to be as reliable a partner to Shang Qinghua, as Shang Qinghua has been to him.”

“My- my king…”

“Uh- yes! Yes, of course! If you will have me, this partner will act for you!”

Mobei-Jun smiled, like, basically fucking beaming (for him) smiled. “This is satisfactory.”

---

For the past two years, Shen Qingqiu has been fulfilling his dream; traveling the world and examining all the strange, unique creatures in it! From harvesting the teeth of Sword Devouring Sour Stalks in the far northern lands, to investigating the evolved Sky-Flying Blue Water Gulls around the eastern island continents! Shen Qingqiu has been having the time of his life learning more about not only the mystical creatures mentioned in Proud Immortal Demon Way; but also the typical monsters you’d find in a fantasy world! Goblins! Gryphons! Dragons! And so many variations of slime! It’s absolutely fascinating how creatures of both universes are able to cohabitate in (relative) peace!

Currently, Shen Qingqiu finds himself in the southwestern woodlands, hunting down a hoard of Shining Red Rock Melting Sun Slime! Though their names suggest flame-based abilities, the Shining Red Rock Melting Sun Slime are actually creatures with metal affinities. They attack by manipulating parts of their gelatinous bodies into dense, metal-like formations; which they propel at their enemies like arrows. The Shining Red Rock Melting Sun Slime can also recycle their weapons, reabsorbing the hardened slime and melting it back down using their high body temperatures to become part of them once more!

They were rather easy to defeat with the use of ice magic, lowering their temperatures so they can’t recycle their weapons, and then striking precisely for their hearts. So now, after a rather brief battle against the hoard of five, Shen Qingqiu is running tests on their remains.

“... denser than water, acid resistant, non-permeable, would it conduct electricity…?”

All of a sudden, a plain looking man in a white coat ran out of the bushes and directly at him. Coming to an abrupt stop in front of Shen Qingqiu, he took quick notice of the man’s frantic appearance, before the man spoke.

“Hello there, well, my name is Kim Dokja, nice to meet you, there’s a guy following me- don’t worry, he probably won’t try to kill you- he may try to kill me, though- anyways! I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend, please!”

Not a minute after the man, Kim Dokja, finished speaking, another, much angrier (and attractive) looking man in a black coat burst into the clearing.

“Kim Dokja…” the man growled.

“Woah, hey! What’s the angry face, eh, Yoo Joonghyuk? I told you I wasn’t lying about what I was doing! Honest! Look, see! That’s my boyfriend!”

Kim Dokja turned to look at him, eyes pleading to go along with the act. Sighing internally, Shen Qingqiu opened his fan and put on his ‘dignified and aloof’ persona.

“So this is the Yoo Joonghyuk you have told me about…”

Yoo Joonghyuk turned to look at him, threateningly, “What do you know?”

Quick assessment of this ‘Yoo Joonghyuk’ character told Shen Qingqiu three things immediately. First is that he is a powerful combatant, the sword he wields practically radiates power, so that much is obvious. Second is that he is a skilled survivalist, both the calluses on his hands and the practicality of his clothing (large coat, probably enchanted for storage, concealing a stocky inner dress, which is likely armored) tells of many long nights camping out in the face of danger. Third is that he has anger issues. So obviously, Shen Qingqiu said…

“Enough. Sheath your sword, Yoo Joonghyuk. This lover has been waiting to meet his boyfriend’s companions.”

As expected, his words had the intended effect of successfully silencing Yoo Joonghyuk by thoroughly enraging him. Raising his fan slightly higher to prevent Yoo Joonghyuk from reading his eyes, Shen Qingqiu strode up beside Kim Dokja, and took up his arm using his own free one.

“Kim Dokja. Would you please show me to your current place of residence?”

“Gladly.”

Giving him a look of sheer  relief, Kim Dokja used their intertwined arms to tug Shen Qingqiu fervently away from Yoo Joonghyuk; and towards, presumably, his camp. As they moved further away from where they could hear the aftermath of… ‘localized destruction’ would be a good way to describe it, Shen Qingqiu shifted his fan over to cover where he spoke into Kim Dokja’s ear.

“When we get to your place, you will tell me everything.”

“Understandable. Thank you for your help?”

Shen Qingqiu scoffed, “Of course.”

---

Turns out Shen Qingqiu will have to wait a while for that explanation, because when he arrived with Kim Dokja at his camp, the two were immediately swarmed by the five other people who were already there.

“Ahjussi!” A little girl with red eyes cried, “You’re back! You… you brought your boyfriend!”

“Huh, surprising. I was convinced that story was fake.”

“Mia! Ahjussi is a good man! He wouldn’t make up a story as emotional as that! What would he even have to hide?!”

“Kim Dokja, welcome back to camp. Care to introduce us?” A woman with white hair asked.

“Ah, yes. Everyone, this is Shen Qingqiu, my elusive lover. Shen Qingqiu, this is Lee Seolhwa, Jung Heewon, Lee Hyunsung, Shin Yoosung, and Yoo Mia. Say hi.”

“Hello, again, Qingqiu!” Shin Yoosung said, smiling, but looking at Shen Qingqiu like a lion waiting to pounce. And what’s with that ‘again’? “Welcome to our camp!”

Not one to submit to intimidation, Shen Qingqiu bowed, “It’s an honor.”

“Well then,” Jung Heewon spoke, “why don’t we give these two lovebirds some time alone? We still have to get Yoo Joonghyuk back before nightfall, so he can take the first watch.”

“Ah, the sunfish bastard is blowing off steam on the forest. He’ll probably be back in a bit, anyhow.”

Jung Heewon scoffed, “Of course he is. Hyunsung and I are going out to get more food then.”

Eh, searching for food? He could use this to get on their good side.

“Here,” Shen Qingqiu said, sweeping his hands into his sleeves, before offering out a collection of vials.

“Hm? What’re these?”

“Edible slime. They can be used for cooking.”

“How would you know that?” Yoo Mia asked, suspicious.

“This Shen Qingqiu is a researcher of the world. Learning such things is what I do. For reference, the light purple slime can make a decent broth when stewed with the dark green slime, it tastes like mushroom stock. And the reddish-pink slime can be used as an adequate substitute for tomato in most recipes. If asked, this one would be willing to draft a list of uses for these slimes.”

Lee Seolhwa breathed, “You know your stuff. Got anything in there for medicinal use?”

Nodding, Shen Qingqiu reached into his sleeves and pulled out a collection of pouches, which he gave to Lee Seolhwa. “Dried Moonlight’s Dawn Tropical Beanstalk leaves, Heavenly Spider Dark Earth Flower petals, Swelling Water Forgotten Green Summer Toad tongues, Falling Night Broken Wisteria seeds, Northern Star Toxic Stone Ice Boar ashes, and other such materials. You know what to do with them?”

Intrigued, Lee Seolhwa answered, “I actually cannot recognize a good portion of these materials. And of what I do recognize, some I cannot discern the medical properties of. Would you care to draft a list of the uses for these, as well?”

“But of course. Now, Kim Dokja, love; would you kindly show me to your quarters?”

“Yes! Certainly, right this way, dearest!”

And finally, Kim Dokja waved goodbye to the group, and walked away towards his tent; closer to Shen Qingqiu’s goddamn answers. Once they were situated on the cloth-laden ground, Kim Dokja began.

“This may be difficult to believe, but I... am a prophet. Of sorts.”

“Of sorts?”

“Yes. I have knowledge of these people, and what their fates would’ve been in many different situations. But this world is unrecognizable to what my divinations have described to me, and I lack the authority to know what has been changed. As of now, I am accompanying these people in order to ensure they will reach a satisfying end.”

That sounds suspicious as fuck.

“You say this world is unrecognizable. Does that mean this world has been warped, somehow?”

Kim Dokja shook his head, “I cannot be certain of what has changed in, relation to my divinations and reality, but the world whose story I know is certainly not the one we’re in.”

“Story, hm?”

“Yes,” he smiled oddly, “a story is a good way to describe it.”

“And these... divinations, of yours. May I inquire how you receive them?”

“I have been gifted with an otherworldly device, powered by electric magic, which produces mysterious text I, alone, can read. Through these texts, I receive knowledge of these people, and can thereby direct them to where they need to be. These texts are my divinations.”

Shen Qingqiu folded his fan, still suspicious, “May I see this… otherworldly device.”

Kim Dokja nodded, reached into the folds of his coat, and pulled out a fucking smartphone.

He then turned the smartphone on, passed it to Shen Qingqiu, and let him read the fucking Korean on screen.

Now, Shen Qingqiu isn’t a naive man. He doesn’t want to jump to any conclusions here, especially after so little time knowing Kim Dokja. But…

“Tell me one thing, Kim Dokja.” Shen Qingqiu looked him dead in the eye.

“Does the word ‘transmigration’ mean anything to you?” he asked, in Korean.

Kim Dokja’s eyes grew comically wide, before a large smile broke out across his face. “How’d you know?”

“You showed me a fucking smartphone, dumbass. And you literally told me you could read it! Everyone in this world speaks and reads english, so logically, you shouldn’t know Korean! Unless, of course, you were a transmigrator, like me.”

“Wait, you’re a transmigrator too?!”

“Of course I am! What did you expect when I called you out?!”

Kim Dokja shrugged, “Who knows?”

Shen Qingqiu sighed, “Whatever. I’ll let it go. In return, you tell me what actually happened when you transmigrated here.”

“Fine, fine. Only if you do the same!”

“Sure, just tell me.”

“Ok, well…”

---

One second, he was on the subway, headed home from work and waiting for the release of the final chapter of Ways of Survival (time really flies, huh?); and the next, he was sitting on a massive throne.

What the hell.

“Your lordship Oldest Dream!” A… man? In the strangest red robes, with markings all across his body, said. In english. Kim Dokja thinks he may have horns, too. Wait. Strange location, strange person, in strange robes, with strange markings, speaking a foreign language… Fuck, he’s been kidnapped. Probably by a cultist. A foreign cultist. Somehow. He doesn’t remember. Shit.

“Our units have returned from the settlements along the Gandol River. We have occupied the major port settlements, and slaughtered any resisting people there, as you have ordered. What compliant settlements remain have been paid, to ensure their silence.”

Is… is this cultist giving him a report? Of a slaughter? Is this supposed to be some show of power? Are they trying to scare him? Wait- the cultist said it was done under his orders. Wait.

Kim Dokja, for the first time since waking up, looked at himself. What the fuck-

He’s wearing a large, white coat, overtop of a very ornate suit that was absolutely plastered in bejeweled ornaments. And, he had wings. Large, black, feathered wings. That he shouldn’t. Have. He touched the top of his head, and felt horns. Why does he have horns-

Also on his head, he felt a hat. It felt like it had a lot of edges, so Kim Dokja removed it, and brought it to his eyes. Turns out, it wasn’t a hat; it was a fucking crown. Very ornate, like his clothes. Did the cultists put him in these?! Did they do some kind of human experimentation on him while he was unconscious?! Why even him?!?

(It’s just his kind of luck to get kidnapped on the subway by a cultist, be experimented on, and then given amnesia. Because of course this is what he has to go through. Thank you, life.)

“Your… your lordship?”

Oh, are they trying to pull a bit of psychological warfare on him? Is this supposed to be some odd, cultist form of torture? Treating him like some kind of royalty, just to pull the rug out from under him to make him despair, or something? Well, newsflash, crazy cultist! Your tricks won’t work on him! Kim Dokja is not a man that gullible!

“Tell me… who am I?”

“My, my lord! You are the Oldest Dream, the best of all the sinister demons! You are our king, and we worship your power! You are so powerful, my lord! The strongest sinister demon of all! And I! I am just a servant at your feet! A mere messenger to such great power!”

Wow. This guy is really playing the suck-up card on him. Is he trying to get a response out of him? Trying to read him based on his responses? Well, Kim Dokja wants answers, too!

“Stop. Finish your report.”

“Of course, your lordship! The settlements along the Gandol River are now completely under our control, unbeknownst to the other demons. We have charters scouting out the river currents for us now. Before too long, we predict that we’ll be able to begin planning sieges on the southern demon tribes that live downstream. And finally, your lordship, our people have brought you back a gift.”

“... A gift…”

“Yes. Men, bring her in!”

Two other people in cultist robes walked into the room, dragging a child dressed in rags into the room behind them. What. The. Fuck. The cultist on the right tugs at the child’s arm, while the cultist on the left forces her to meet his eyes.

“Your lordship. We present to you a child, with red eyes, who we have captured for you. She was traveling with a small gang, who had savagely killed our men! We incapacitated her, while she was separated from the group, and have brought her to you now, as a gift!”

The fucker sounded proud of himself. Kim Dokja was mad. Kim Dokja was absolutely fucking pissed, in fact. Sure, those cultists can drag him into their deranged ongoings, he had nothing else going for him, anyways! No one to miss him, nothing to do with his life (besides reading the final chapter of Ways of Survival, but that was ending, anyways)! But to kidnap an innocent child. A little girl who has her whole life ahead of her! And to present her like some kind of gift to be used! As though her life is forfeit, in the ‘grand scheme of things’! That shit. Is unforgivable.

Feeling pure, unadulterated rage coursing through him, Kim Dokja stood from the throne.

“Leave.”

Panicked, all three cultists bowed down to him quickly, and bolted out of the room. Ignoring those scum, Kim Dokja walked over to the little girl who had been left behind. He extended a hand to help her up, before he realized. His arm, all the way down to the tips of his fingers. It was covered with… something. It looked like electricity, he could see sparks coming from it, but it was extremely condensed. The little girl had also seen the thing around his arm, and hesitated to take his hand.

When Kim Dokja was looking at his body earlier, there was nothing encasing his arm; so something must’ve caused it to change. Thinking fast, Kim Dokja quelled his anger, and looked at his arm again. No electricity. Nice.

“Can you stand?”

Still hesitating to take his hand, the little girl replied, “Yes,” in a sore, but strong sounding voice.

“Why don’t you stand, then?”

She shakes her head, “I will not.”

“And why not?”

“Because you want me to. And I, I don’t want to be here! If, if I can’t be where I want to be… then I won’t do what you want me to do!”

Stubborn child. Strong-willed, definitely, with courage to match. She’d make an amazing deuteragonist in a revolutionary plotline, if allowed to grow up. And, well, who’s Kim Dokja to prevent a child from growing up well?

“Who says I want you to be here at all? I already lack what I truly want, as well; so we are balanced on that front. Now, will you stand?”

Not taking her eyes off Kim Dokja, probably to make sure he isn’t going to do anything shifty (which, he isn’t, but he’s not going to blame her for assuming), the girl took Kim Dokja’s hand, and stood.

“If you don’t want me here, then… what will you do to me?”

Kim Dokja hummed in consideration, before shrugging, “I guess I’ll just take you to where you want to go. That way, if I ever do want something from you, you’ll owe it to me.”

The little girl, incredulous to the point of shaking (just slightly) now, proclaims, “I can’t trust you!”

Against his own will, a laugh slips out. Of course she doesn’t trust him! She’s just a little kid, a little kid who was kidnapped for fuck’s sake! And, based on everything she’s heard so far, she was kidnapped for him. Not on his orders, but Kim Dokja doesn’t know if she even cares about that part. He can’t blame her for being suspicious. Although he’s been told he has a plain, unassuming appearance, those closest to him have always described his presence as off-putting; as if he brings bad luck just from being there. They say it’s hard to trust him, that it’s difficult to believe he won’t be psycho, manic, a murderer, abuser, heartless bastard just like his parents- that he won’t be bad. Hell, at this point, Kim Dokja would be concerned if this girl just gave in and trusted him!

With a small cackle, he says, “Of course you can’t!”

And then, with a small, manipulative grin, he says, “Now, where do you want to go?”

---

“-and that’s how I met Yoosung.”

“Wow. Did you really think you were kidnapped and experimented on by a cult before jumping to transmigration?”

Kim Dokja shrugged, helplessly, “Can you blame me? All I remember is one second, I’m on the subway, going home, and the next? Throne room of some castle, wings on my back, crown on my head, and a weird man in robes saying he destroyed a couple villages at my feet. How was I supposed to know I’d changed worlds?!”

“You said you read webnovels, right? ‘Reader’ is literally your name! You have to have read at least one isekai story back on earth!” Shen Qingqiu said, a tad judgmentally.

“Well, I’ve really only been reading Ways of Survival for the past thirteen years. Growing up, right? Having to make a living, and all that; I was even drafted at one point, y’know? Lost the time to keep reading all the novels I wanted to, so I kept making cuts. Until, eventually, only Ways of Survival was left. There are transmigrators in Ways of Survival, though. It’s just that all the transmigrators in the story were told by the Star Stream that they were going to be transmigrated before they actually changed worlds. So…”

Shen Qingqiu sighed, “Ok, I get it. Does this mean Shin Yoosung knows you’re actually an op sinister demon king?”

“Yep.”

“Hm. You said you came-to in a castle?”

“Yeah?”

“And the sinister demons there called you the best, most powerful sinister demon in the world?”

“Uh huh. Where are you going with this?”

“I think I know which sinister demon you are.”

“Really? How?”

“There was really only one sinister demon relevant enough to the plot of the RPG to be given a description like that.”

“Oh. Wait- RPG?”

“Right, you probably don’t know. The world we’re in now, it’s the world of a fangame. A fantasy au RPG of the stallion novel Proud Immortal Demon Way, to be specific.”

“You know this how?”

“I played the actual RPG, then ended up transmigrating right into the main plot of it. Originally, Shen Qingqiu was supposed to be a villain character who got executed before the final boss battle of the game. I, of course, didn’t want to die; so I acted differently than the original goods. And look, I’m alive and well now.”

“Nicely done.”

“Thank you.”

“So, which sinister demon am I?”

“The originally unnamed ‘Big Bad Ultra Villain’ of the game; though, it seems you’re referred to as the ‘Oldest Dream’ now.”

“That… doesn’t sound good…”

“It’s not. Your castle gets raided a year from now by the protagonist and all his friends as revenge from trying to take over the world.”

“Hm… can that not happen?”

“I don't think it will, actually. As you haven’t actively been trying to take over the world, Luo Binghe has no reason to go after your head.”

“‘Luo Binghe’ is the protagonist, I presume?”

“Correct. He’s a half-human, half-heavenly demon who’s absurdly handsome, op, and has a golden protagonist’s halo. In the original Proud Immortal Demon Way, he became a blackened protagonist that ended up collecting a harem of over 600 wives, of all races. If you ever encounter him, you’ll know.”

“Wow, that many wives? Even Yoo Joonghyuk only had one wife throughout the course of his lives, and he only actually got married in his second regression.”

“Yoo Joonghyuk’s a regressor?”

Kim Dokja gestured to his phone, still held by Shen Qingqiu, “He’s the protagonist of Ways of Survival, that sunfish bastard. You could read it, if you want. You can see the text on my phone, anyhow, so there should be nothing stopping you from doing so.”

“You wouldn’t mind?”

“You think I would mind someone reading my favorite story? I’ve been trying to push that story into popularity for years online, but everyone always complained it was too long and complicated and whatever; so the average view count always stayed around one. I’d be thrilled for you to read it, then I can finally discuss all the later regressions with someone!”

“Ok then, if you don’t mind, then I’ll just keep your phone with me until I finish reading it.”

“Go ahead!”

“Alright. But first, finish your story. How’d you even meet up with the rest of these people?”

“Ah, it's pretty simple, actually. Yoosung told me she wanted to go back to the people who were protecting her, so I snooped around the castle for a bit to figure out how to leave unnoticed. A servant mentioned something about the Oldest Dream locking himself in his room for extended periods of time for ‘planning’; so I brought Yoosung to my room, locked the door, and left through the window.

“Once we were past the castle walls, I actually thought to ask Yoosung for her name, and I realized she was a character from Ways of Survival. Thinking the people she called her ‘protectors’ would also be Ways of Survival characters, I concluded Yoo Joonghyuk would be one of them. Then, thinking he wouldn’t take kindly to a sinister demon king returning one of his party members directly after supposedly kidnapping her, I worked out how to will away my horns and wings to disguise myself.

“Then, following Yoosung’s directions, I found where their campsite was at the time. When I got there, everyone was drafting a plan on how to track her down and get her back. I bought Yoosung a bunch of sweets in the towns we passed through on the way there, so she wouldn’t tell them my identity, which she didn’t, like a good kid. Then, she insisted that I stay with them and join their party; and Yoo Joonghyuk, for whatever reason, agreed!

“So, I stayed with them. But occasionally, I had to break away from the group to fly back to the Oldest Dream’s castle and reassure his followers that I’m not dead, they shouldn’t go look for me, and also to raid the castle library for information. Eventually, thanks to the library, I was able to figure out that I’d transmigrated into a fantasy world. The whole ‘mysterious lover’ thing was a cover story for why I was always leaving the group.”

Shen Qingqiu stared at him, blank faced. “You ranted to me for forty minutes about how odd it was to wake up in a castle, the audacity of the demons in said castle, and the complete indignity of Shin Yoosung’s situation when you first met her; but spit out how you met and joined their entire party in less than ten.”

Kim Dokja shrugged, “I’m a reader, not a writer. Descriptive consistency isn’t really my thing.”

Shen Qingqiu used his closed fan to rap Kim Dokja once, quickly (but bitingly) on his head, before sighing. “You said you came up with having a lover as a cover story for why you were constantly leaving. Care to elaborate?”

Kim Dokja grinned, sheepishly, “Ah, you see…”

---

“Kim Dokja.”

“Ah, Seolhwa! And Heewon! And Hyunsung, Mia, sunfish. Do you need something?”

“We have something to ask you,” Lee Seolhwa began.

“And you can’t get out of answering us, ok?!” Yoo Mia added.

“Ok, then? Ask away!”

Yoo Mia huffed, “Why are you constantly leaving? It’s really shifty, you won’t tell us where you’re going!”

“Oh, you see, that’s a long story. It’ll take a while to get it all out, and I know you all have plans to hunt today before the sun sets; so, maybe another time!” Kim Dokja laughed, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet.

Before he could actually brush through the people interrogating him to leave, though, Yoo Joonghyuk stopped him in place with a glare. “We have time. Abridge it.”

Fuck, he’s really not getting out of this without a story.

“Well, you see, I have a lover! From childhood, we’re childhood lovers. And I can’t tell you a lot about my lover, in respect of their privacy, but I can say that we’re totally legit! My lover was raised by a very traditional family, they were even homeschooled for the majority of their life! So, they don’t even have so much as a scholarly record for the public to know of! Back when we were children, we would rendezvous in secret to prevent scorn from their family. But, uh, recently, last year- in fact! Their family found out about our relationship! And they forbid it! So, in an act of rebellion, I helped my lover pack their things, and we escaped into the night! Their family is still trying to hunt them down to punish them for eloping with me, so they’re constantly on the run! I’m always leaving to meet up with my lover, and spend some quality time with them! I was, uh, actually on one of these excursions when I ran into Yoosung, who I helped escape from her captors! Then I returned her to you, and you all insisted I stay; but I still wished to visit my lover! Which is why I occasionally break away from the group and go off on my own; to meet with my lover! You all can’t follow me to meet them, though! All the scorn and prosecution from their own family has made my lover rather distrustful; so they wouldn’t take kindly to meeting you all so suddenly! Uh, maybe someday, though...?” Kim Dokja trailed off, laughing nervously at the end of his ‘explanation’. A beat of silence passed.

“Sounds fake, but ok,” Jung Heewon declared.

“Eh- eh?! It’s not fake! Everything I said is absolutely the truth!”

“And what, we’re just supposed to take your word on that?!”

“Ah, Yoo Mia! Maybe you should calm down? Kim Dokja has been with us for a year now, right? If his absences have been due to some malicious intention, surely we would’ve caught on by now?”

Wow. Bless Lee Hyunsung, truly. He was always one of Kim Dokja’s favorites.

“You said you met Yoosung while on an excursion with your lover?” Dammit, sunfish!

“Yes, I did?”

“Then Yoosung should be able to corroborate on your story.”

“Oh! Well, that was so close to the time when my lover had run away; so my lover was very paranoid, then! They actually broke away from me in paranoia, once I decided to aid Yoosung! So, uh, they might not have made an impression on her?”

Yoo Joonghyuk gave him a long, hard, suspicious look. “Let’s ask Yoosung.”

That damn sunfish bastard! Why can’t he just let him leave?

---

“- Lucky for me, though, Yoosung went with the lie and told them I really did have a childhood lover on the run. I’ve been using this story as a cover for my trips to the Oldest Dream’s palace for the last two years, but the damn sunfish bastard finally had enough of it today. When I told him I was meeting with my lover again, he demanded that he be allowed to meet them! And then chased me through the woods to make me agree! And then I bumped into you, and that’s about it!”

Shen Qingqiu stared at him. “So now I’m not just your elusive boyfriend, but also your childhood lover?” He said, raising his fan in irritation.

Kim Dokja put his hand up placatingly, “What do you expect me to do about that now?! That lovely story has been the truth for two years now, it’s too late to change!”

“Ugh, this whole situation is terrible. I want to take a nap.”

“You can use my bed, I’ll wake you up when dinner is ready.”

“Cool, now kindly fuck off?”

“Sure,” Kim Dokja laughed, that bastard.

---

After a delicious meal cooked by Yoo Joonghyuk, with skills that could rival even Luo Binghe’s food (who knew such a frustrated man could cook?), Shen Qingqiu was cornered by one Shin Yoosung.

“You.”

“Yes, me. Is there any reason why you wish to speak with me alone, Yoosung?”

She gave him a calculating look, looking at him up and down several times, “You say you’re Ahjussi’s boyfriend?”

Shen Qingqiu opened his fan, keeping it at chest level. “I am,” he said, fanning himself, “is there any issue with that?”

“I just want to know if you understand what that means. Being Ahjussi’s lover.”

Ah, she’s testing what he knows. “I understand, it is quite the responsibility. To keep our love alive, we must spend quite a bit of time together, no? This one is reluctant to spend much time in the company of unfamiliar people. I’d become rather uncomfortable. A quiet trip with him is something this lover would certainly request, on occasion.”

Finally, Shin Yoosung nodded, “I’m glad Ahjussi was able to find such a caring, dedicated match.”

“Your approval is welcomed, but unnecessary.”

Shin Yoosung smiled at him, which meant he probably wouldn’t be dying tonight of suspicious 11 year old threats on his life.

---

“Qingqiu! You’re back! I forgot to tell you earlier, but Yoo Joonghyuk arrived in this world with amnesia and a voice in his head telling him that the only way to regain all his memories is to kill the Oldest Dream,” Kim Dokja greeted him, when he returned to their shared tent after his encounter with Yoosung.

Shen Qingqiu’s fan snapped closed, “What the fuck, dude?”

“We’ve camped close enough to the Oldest Dream’s castle to start planning infiltration, so you may be asked to help out with tactics from time to time,” Kim Dokja continued, as though he weren’t telling Shen Qingqiu that all the people in this camp were unknowingly plotting out his fucking death.

“And you’re just going to let them kill you?”

Kim Dokja, that goddamn idiot, shrugged, “Yoo Joonghyuk’s the protagonist! An unstoppable force, when he actually gets his shit together. If he wants his memories, he’ll get his memories.”

If Shen Qingqiu’s fan weren’t magic, it would be broken from how hard he was clutching it now. “You. Stupid. Fucker.”

“Hey, that was uncalled for.”

“Are you really just going to lay down and accept your death?!”

“Well, what other option is there? I don’t know this world well enough to sway the plot another way.”

“You. You may not know this fucking world. But I. Do,” Shen Qingqiu bit out, bringing out one of his magic organism compendiums from his sleeve, and turning to a certain page. “Now sit the fuck down, and take a look at this.”

---

It’s been roughly two months since Shen Qingqiu joined the group. He’s been integrated in rather well, having proven both a knowledgeable man on the various magical elements of the world, and a skilled fighter when needed. He and Kim Dokja still occasionally depart from the group for a ‘secluded date’, but Shin Yoosung knows where they’re really going. She can’t be completely sure that man won’t betray Ahjussi, one of these days; but, as far as it goes now, Shen Qingqiu can be trusted.

At least Shen Qingqiu is an interesting man, Shin Yoosung thinks. He knows a lot about monsters, has an entire handmade compendium on them; which he shows to Shin Yoosung with trace amounts of pride. When she asks about this monster or that, Shen Qingqiu goes into a full-on lecture about what it is, it’s habits, habitats, strategies for defeating it, and so on.

At some point in time, Shen Qingqiu comes to Shin Yoosung with an offer.

“I have noticed that you are rather well adjusted to having peaceful relations with the creatures of this forest. Are you aware that such behavior is reminiscent of mages who practice communication magic? Not many know of it, since few are fit to actually practice it; but those who do are rather powerful.”

“Powerful? What do they do?”

“Mages who practice communication magic can speak with magic beasts, and give them orders. They can fight through these beasts, use them to guard precious things, and ever have smaller creatures act as spies for them.”

“And you think… I could learn communication magic?”

Shen Qingqiu nods, “Indeed, I believe you can. Though I don’t know the practice well myself, the academy I attended required all students to learn the basics of every kind of magic; to discern which magics best suit each individual. I can teach you the basics of communication magic, but you will have to figure the rest, after that.”

Shin Yoosung stares him in the eye, before bobbing her head, “Alright. Teach me.”

From Shen Qingqiu, Shin Yoosung is able to learn how to project her voice onto creatures to give them commands. She learns different inflictions to use on her voice to highlight her commands, and experiments with giving out several unique orders with various monsters under Shen Qingqiu’s guidance. Shin Yoosung will admit, Shen Qingqiu is a good teacher. But that won’t make her any less upset about how close he sits to Ahjussi, whenever he comes to watch their lessons. Not even though she knows it’s all part of the act to make everyone else think they’re dating.

Shen Qingqiu stands far too close to Ahjussi, far too often!

---

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me Yoo Joonghyuk married Lee Seolhwa?!”

Kim Dokja shrugged, “You were going to get to that part eventually.”

“Yeah, but they’re both fucking here! You could’ve warned me that there could be romantic tension in the air!” Shen Qingqiu fumed, fanning himself rapidly.

“Eh, there isn’t really, though? Nothing that happens between Yoo Joonghyuk and Lee Seolhwa here is romantic. They might’ve had a thing in the past, before I came, but there doesn’t seem to be anything between them now, at least.”

“Ugh, fine. What about Shin Yoosung, then?”

“Yoosung? What about her?”

“She’s the disaster of floods! Super powerful!”

Kim Dokja looked at him, defensively, “Is there a problem with that?”

Seeing his expression, Shen Qingqiu scoffed, “Calm down, Dokja. I was just knocking you over all the untapped potential she has! So much power, and no one’s training her! You could have a real powerhouse on your hands if someone would get their shit together and mentor her!”

“Well, no one here really knows all that much about what kind of magic would equate to animal manipulation in this world. All our fighters just use swords without magic, Lee Seolhwa only knows about healing magic, and I am a demon king.”

“Being a demon king isn’t a good excuse for being ignorant!”

“Let me elaborate: I’m a demon king in an RPG spin-off of a reportedly ‘shitty fucking excuse for a xianxia stallion novel, all papapa with no actual background’. That quote came from a rather trustworthy source, you know?”

“Fine, I’ll give you that,” Shen Qingqiu sighed, “Does that mean I have to be the one to teach Shin Yoosung communication magic?”

“Huh, is that what it equates to?”

“That’s a yes, then... Hey, don’t give me that look- !”

---

Lee Seolhwa’s inventory has never been so well-stocked. When Shen Qingqiu first arrived at their camp, she was, admittedly, suspicious of his reliability. Having him around meant another mouth to feed, another set of hands to keep out of trouble. Lee Seolhwa may be biased, after having to babysit Kim Dokja so many times at camp.

But, unlike the disastrous being that is his partner, Shen Qingqiu proves himself a reliable man. He supplies her with a plethora of magic organisms, artifacts, recipes, and the like for medical use and study. And, every now and again, Shen Qingqiu even joins her in running experiments with his materials on the local organisms of the forest.

“The difference between medicine and poison is dosage,” Shen Qingqiu says, using his collapsed fan to point at a nearby tree stump covered in glittering teal moss.

“Lee Seolhwa, could you please pour the Wilting Willow Smothering Swallow blood on that Midnight Shining Crystal Reflecting moss? You see, the Midnight Shining Crystal Reflecting moss is a staple in the diet of the Glass-like Crying Angel Dove’s diet; and is said to help harden the Glass-like Crying Angel Dove’s wings when digested, so it can fly north in the warmer months. In the north, the Glass-like Crying Angel Dove hunts and consumes Wilting Willow Smothering Swallows for its meals. The blood of the Wilting Willow Smothering Swallow is said to clear the remaining toxins in the Glass-like Crying Angel Dove’s system after eating so much Midnight Shining Crystal Reflecting moss, and even works with the remaining attributes of the Midnight Shining Crystal Reflecting moss to aid in promoting the fertility of the Glass-like Crying Angel Dove. What I would like to know, is how the Midnight Shining Crystal Reflecting moss would react to the Wilting Willow Smothering Swallow’s blood, without the mediator of the Glass-like Crying Angel Dove’s internal system?”

Listening to Shen Qingqiu’s explanation, Lee Seolhwa pours the blood on the moss; and watches as the moss seems to wiggle for a second, before growing an inch upwards.

“Ah, I see,” Shen Qingqiu fans himself, “The toxins of the Midnight Shining Crystal Reflecting moss aren’t an inherent part of the plant, they must be absorbed from the Midnight Shining Crystal Reflecting moss’s surroundings. When the Wilting Willow Smothering Swallow’s blood purifies the toxins, the Midnight Shining Crystal Reflecting moss is able to flourish; as the toxins must’ve been harmful to it, as well. If we can deduce which toxins are being purified by the Wilting Willow Smothering Swallow’s blood, then we can reason whether the Wilting Willow Smothering Swallow’s blood can be used as treatment for any kind of poisoning.”

“This is some truly insightful information, Shen Qingqiu. Thank you for sharing your conclusions, I will be sure to run further tests on this subject; when I have the time.”

“No need for thanks, Lee Seolhwa. It was my pleasure. Now, let us return to camp to begin preparations for lunch, before Dokja decides to take the task upon himself.”

Shen Qingqiu, contrary to Lee Seolhwa’s fears of the kind of character someone loved by Kim Dokja would have, is a savvy, dignified, and sensible man. He helps her study medicine, stock her inventory, and even babysit Kim Dokja himself.

“Dokja! What do you think you’re doing in the kitchen?!”

“Oh, uhm, nothing; Qingqiu dear!”

“Dokja,” Shen Qingqiu threatens, moving closer to loom over Kim Dokja, and glare scoldingly at him.

“I’m an innocent man, love! You can believe me, this time!”

“Then would you let me go through your spatial coat pockets?”

Caught, Kim Dokja looked to the floor and emptied out his coat pockets, spilling many tomatoes to the floor. Shen Qingqiu rapped him once on each hand once he was done, chastising him.

“You can’t just throw away all our tomatoes and expect us to simply forgo making meals with them! It costs money to replace those, you know? We can use Acidic Pink Rose Slime as a substitute in the soup today, but the next time we’re making a recipe with tomatoes, we’re using actual tomatoes. You need to get your nutrients, got it, Dokja?”

Kim Dokja slumped, “Ok, sweetie.”

“Just for that, you’re doing the laundry tomorrow.”

Kim Dokja let out a pitiful wail, as Shen Qingqiu and Lee Seolhwa entered the kitchen to make lunch. Shen Qingqiu, Lee Seolhwa notes, is quite the stern, but caring individual. A good partner to keep Kim Dokja in line, but still make him feel loved. She approves.

---

“- Oh, holy shit,” Shen Qingqiu chokes out between laughs, rolling around on his and Kim Dokja’s shared bed.

“Hey! Watch the sheets, you’re wrinkling them! I don’t want the sunfish bastard insisting I get them pressed again to be ‘fresh’ or whatever!”

“Ok- but, consider,” Shen Qingqiu laughs, “In my defense, I just read the part where Yoo Joonghyuk forgot about Kim Namwoon’s birthday, and jumped down the throat of an ichthyosaur to avoid his complaints.”

“Right, that happened! That is hilarious, let me read it again!” Kim Dokja said, jumping on the bed and moving close to Shen Qingqiu’s side to get a good look at the phone screen. Obligingly, Shen Qingqiu moved the phone closer to Kim Dokja, so that they could both get a good look at the screen.

“Which regression was this one?”

“The 76th. They finished the 6th main scenario and returned from Peace Land a couple weeks ago, and Yoo Joonghyuk is trying to decide between killing Nirvana and subjugating him later.”

“Huh, is this the timeline where the disaster of questions got vored?”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, guess not. Don’t worry about it, you’ll get to that chapter eventually.”

“Bro how dare you I’m so curious now but you know I won’t tolerate spoilers- ”

---

Seven months after Shen Qingqiu arrived in their group, they were practically finished with scouting the Oldest Dream’s castle. Every hidden tunnel, servant’s passageway, guard’s rotation schedule, and other information that’d be necessary for them to execute a successful infiltration had been documented; and now they were focused on gearing up to attack. They still send pairs back to the castle, at intervals, just to ensure the information they’d gathered remains consistent over time. But most of the time now, Lee Hyunsung, Jung Heewon, and Yoo Joonghyuk are all at camp.

Due to their previous schedules keeping them away from camp during the day, Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon hadn’t been able to become well acquainted with Shen Qingqiu in months when he first arrived. Now, since their schedules consisted only of making plans for infiltration with everyone in the mornings, confirming when the next scouting interval will be, and meeting for the three basic meals of the day; Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon have time they can spend getting to know Kim Dokja’s (formerly) elusive lover.

They found him with Kim Dokja, at the back of the tent they shared. Shen Qingqiu had a scroll and calligraphy set out on the ground before him, while Kim Dokja was digging in the dirt.

“Why are you sitting there writing and not helping me dig?! I thought you said you’d help me with the planting…” Kim Dokja complained, clearly dissatisfied with the work he was doing.

“I’m making a talisman, Dokja. It’ll help speed up the actual growth of the seeds, once they’re in the ground. The number of times a certain design on the talisman is repeated correlates directly to how much it’ll speed up growth. If we want these things to sprout in time, I’ll have to alter this talisman to be extremely repetitive. So, just dig, Dokja.”

Watching as Kim Dokja resigned himself to digging in the ground, and Shen Qingqiu began drawing his talisman, Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon made their presence known.

“Hyunsung, Heewon! Were you looking for me? Need me for something?” Kim Dokja asked.

“No, actually, we’re here for Shen Qingqiu,” Lee Hyunsung explained. “We haven’t had the chance to really get to know him, because we were out of camp scouting the castle so often; and we thought that, since we have the time now, we could join you two in what you’re doing? To, uh, familiarize ourselves with Shen Qingqiu.”

Kim Dokja shrugged, going back to digging in the dirt, “I have no problem with that! Do you, dearest?”

Shen Qingqiu shook his head, “It will be no hindrance to me. Feel free to aid Kim Dokja in digging his pit.”

Turning to Kim Dokja, Jung Heewon sighed, and asked, “So, where do we dig?”

“We’re trying to make a pit, around four inches deep, from that tree stump,” Kim Dokja pointed to a tree, roughly seven feet away from where they were, “to that tree stump,” he pointed at another tree, six feet away from the first tree, “to those two stakes in the ground.” The last two places he pointed at were both seven feet from the trees he pointed at.

“A seven foot by six foot, four inch deep grave, basically,” Kim Dokja finished.

“It’s not a grave, Dokja, it’s a garden bed. It’s not even deep enough to be a grave, anyhow,” Shen Qingqiu chided.

“Humor me?”

“No, get back to work. I’ll have to finish this talisman by dark, and it’ll only be successful if activated within a few hours of finalization; so I expect you to finish digging by then as well.”

“Aw, ok, ok I got it.”

Getting to work, Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon grabbed some shovels and began digging alongside Kim Dokja. They dug for hours, as Shen Qingqiu diligently wrote out an extensive talisman nearby. When it was time for lunch, Kim Dokja excused himself from work to grab all their food, and brought it back to where they were working. While Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon also took a break from digging to eat, Shen Qingqiu kept writing.

“Qingqiu, it’s lunchtime! You should eat with us,” Kim Dokja called to him.

“Can’t,” Shen Qingqiu replied, not taking his eyes off the paper, “still have to draw this damn circle and its 365 separate parts another fifteen times before sunset.”

Lee Hyunsung glanced at the scroll Shen Qingqiu had been working on, and saw that he’d been drawing a lot of circles with many intricate, yet identical, details drawn in them.

“Ok, but you should still eat. Proper nutrition, remember?”

“This one can eat later, no need to concern yourself. Let me finish my work.”

Kim Dokja huffed, looking at his own food, and getting an impish look in his eyes. Carefully, Kim Dokja cut a small bite out of his slice of pie, before calling, “Shen Qingqiu, dear!”

“Dokja, what- ?” But before Shen Qingqiu could give a proper protest, Kim Dokja was already shoving the bite of pie into his mouth.

“Mmph- !”

“Isn’t this something lovers do? Feed each other? Is it nice, Qingqiu love?”

“Blegh, your fingers taste revolting; I think there’s still dirt on them. Urgh, did you even wash your hands?!”

“Oh. Must’ve forgotten to do that. Oops?” Kim Dokja gave Shen Qingqiu a helpless smile. Hand twitching, Shen Qingqiu set his brush down, and sighed irritably.

“Alright. This one will take a break to eat, but Dokja. Never do that again. And, wash your hands, love.”

Smirking triumphantly, Kim Dokja passed Shen Qingqiu his plate of food, and then left to go wash his hands. Lee Hyunsung, Jung Heewon, and Shen Qingqiu ate together for a quiet moment, before Jung Heewon asked, “So. What’re you two doing, digging a ditch back here?”

“Ah, I see Dokja provided no explanation for you two?”

Seeing Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon shake their heads ‘no’, Shen Qingqiu continued, “Hm. Then I will explain. Our anniversary is approaching, and we have decided to plant a garden for the occasion. We first met in a garden, you see, and bonded over our mutual interest in plants. Dokja admired their appearance, while I was currently studying a bit of botany. As this is the first anniversary of ours we’re sharing in a secured location, we thought to plant a garden here; as a memento of our first meeting.”

“Oh,” Jung Heewon said, “That’s actually kind of sweet. What kinds of things are you planting here?”

“I have collected the seeds of many magical plants I’ve encountered on my travels. Initially, I dedicated myself to studying the seeds alone; but I have since exhausted all tests I can think to run on just seeds. Dokja is helping me plant the seeds now, so I can study their grown forms as well. This one wishes for the garden to be in bloom at the date of our anniversary, which is why I am creating the talisman; to speed up growth.”

“When is your anniversary?” Lee Hyunsung questioned.

Shen Qingqiu gave a small, almost shrewd smirk, “In five months.”

Once Kim Dokja rejoined their group, the four finished eating their lunches, and resumed work. Working diligently, they were able to finish both the pit and the talisman before the sun set. Watching as Shen Qingqiu handed a bundle of seed pouches to Kim Dokja from his robes, Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon bid the two farewell. From what they’d seen of Shen Qingqiu today, they could tell that he is a responsible, thoughtful, and dedicated man.

“... They’re not a bad match,” Lee Hyunsung admits, while they’re heading back to their tents.

“No, they aren’t,” Jung Heewon acquiesces, “But I get the feeling we’re missing something, with them.”

---

“Qingqiu~ !” Kim Dokja drawls out, “Which regression are you on now?”

“The 111st,” Shen Qingqiu replies, fanning himself leisurely, “Yoo Joonghyuk is currently doing a shitty patch job on his own body.”

“Oh, so he’s in the ‘garbage dump’ now?”

“Yep. I’m interested to see how Ways of Survival interprets the existence of a remote demon realm, as compared to that of Proud Immortal Demon Way.”

“Proud Immortal Demon Way has a separate demon realm?”

Shen Qingqiu levels him with an ‘are you serious’ look, “The protagonist is literally a half-demon, of course there’s a demon realm for him to dramatically fall into and awaken his powers.”

Kim Dokja shrugged, “I just thought since the demon and human realms are fused in this RPG world, they would’ve been the same realm in the original novel, too?”

“Nah, the RPG makers just fused the worlds and eliminated all the common demon prejudice to cut down on the protagonist’s angst levels. The two were separate realms in the original novel.”

“Hm… Hey, Qingqiu?”

“What?”

“Which is better, Ways of Survival or Proud Immortal Demon Way?”

“... Are you seriously asking me that?”

“I just want to know!”

“Ugh. In terms of quality, they’re both bad novels. They spend way too long on descriptive prose, utilize an truly excessive amount of ‘red herrings’ in their storytelling, and have their plots drawn on for far too long. But, admittedly, they both do have consistent characterizations in regards to personality, something rather difficult to achieve in novels as lengthy as these two are. Though, the world of Proud Immortal Demon Way doesn’t allow for their characters to develop like the world of Ways of Survival does.

“And, where Proud Immortal Demon Way skips over worldbuilding whenever it isn’t absolutely necessary to the plot, Ways of Survival keeps up its overly descriptive prose with all the different settings the characters end up at; but this does have the added effect of making it a sweet potato-y story that’s difficult for most to read by the sheer extent of the detailing. As the story drags on, you also can feel a shift in the tone of narrative in Ways of Survival, as both Yoo Joonghyuk and the author themself seem to express dissatisfaction with what they’re doing.

“Words flip back and forth between being an overpopulated jumble of descriptive cushioning, and simply describing what’s happening plainly for the reader. It seems that the author writing the story is growing tired with the story itself, but still continues writing, despite this; as Yoo Joonghyuk continues to attempt reaching the end of his story. This shift in tone by the author isn’t present in the story of Proud Immortal Demon Way, however, as the monster-of-the-week format of the story and widespread serialization of the story binds the author to a consistently extravagant tone that permeates into all the chapters.

“Taking all this into account, Ways of Survival is the better story. Not by any means of quality, but content-wise, the characters in Ways of Survival are actually able to develop, the world around them gets the same amount of attention as the characters themselves, and the author’s own shift over time being apparent in the story adds a layer of charm to Yoo Joonghyuk’s situation; as observant readers can pick up on and be gripped the projection of the author’s similar experience writing out the story as a ‘story behind the story’ bonus to the actual plot.”

“Huh. That was unnecessarily detailed; I would’ve just taken one of their names, you know?”

Shen Qingqiu shrugged, “You asked me to judge them, don’t knock me for putting in the effort. I used to be something of a critic of Proud Immortal Demon Way, so I’m used to dissecting the faults of a story.”

“Well, at least now I know Ways of Survival truly is the most superior novel!”

“It’s still pretty stuffy, though. Not fit for mass serialization like Proud Immortal Demon Way was.”

Kim Dokja waved his hand dismissively, while grinning. “You said Ways of Survival is the better novel, though! That’s what really matters in this competition!"

---

Yoo Mia didn’t believe Kim Dokja actually had a lover, until Shen Qingqiu arrived. In her eyes, having Shen Qingqiu around is much better than just having Kim Dokja alone. Whereas Kim Dokja lounges around most days, when he’s not helping with their planning or hanging out with Shin Yoosung; Shen Qingqiu makes himself useful, by constantly supplying them with exotic materials, helping cook meals, and teaching her and Yoosung small, but practical magic techniques to use when fighting. Objectively, Yoo Mia thinks having Shen Qingqiu around camp isn’t a bad thing.

But, then she looks at her brother. Yoo Joonghyuk seems more tense, now that Shen Qingqiu is here. He gets angry more easily, irritated near constantly, and spends less time with them all; always being the first to leave when they’re eating meals and planning as a group. Yoo Mia sees how her brother’s eyes linger on the closeness of Kim Dokja and Shen Qingqiu’s bodies from where he sits across the table, stares at Kim Dokja when he teases and laughs at Shen Qingqiu’s behavior, and glares at their backs every night as they retire to the same tent.

In terms of practicality, having Shen Qingqiu at camp is a good thing. But Yoo Mia also gets that him being around upsets her brother. Though Shen Qingqiu is the stern and responsible kind of man that does well helping their group, Yoo Mia can’t approve of him; because his presence makes her brother agitated. She knows it’s not his fault, really, but she can’t help it.

Yoo Joonghyuk is jealous of Shen Qingqiu. It’s so obvious, and no one notices it. Yoo Mia has always been the best at reading her brother, so maybe it’s just not that apparent to others. But she still doesn’t like it, because her brother is strong, and he saves people, and he is good to her; so why does he have to be so peeved all the time, at his own camp?

Yoo Mia knows she shouldn’t be upset with Shen Qingqiu for her brother’s crush on his boyfriend; but being mad at Yoo Joonghyuk for his behavior isn’t really an option for her.

---

“Regression round?”

“The 236th. He’s having another training montage to go fight Olympus, again.”

“The sunfish can really hold a grudge, eh?”

“Hm. He is pretty stubborn, but that dedication to just defeating Olympus is probably going to bite him in the ass later.”

“Eh? Why’d you say that?”

“He’s forgetting about Anna Croft. She knows what he’s doing, right? I wouldn't be surprised if she’s actually been planning some kind of takedown from the shadows while Yoo Joonghyuk is focused on Olympus. He really needs to learn to see the biggest possible picture, if he wants to reach the end of the scenarios.”

“That’s fair. Hindsight isn’t really the sunfish bastard’s thing. It’s why he ended up going through so many regressions, after all!”

---

A whole year after Shen Qingqiu joined their group, they’re ready to storm the Oldest Dream’s castle. Weapons in place, all stocked up on medicine, and with enough training and practice to defeat whatever armies the Oldest Dream throws at them, the group is ready to go! Except…

“Hey! I think I left something, back at camp; I’m going to double back and get it! You guys go ahead without me, I’ll catch up!” Kim Dokja says, before promptly running back the direction they came.

Yoo Mia voices a couple complaints, but Yoo Joonghyuk keeps moving forward; so she stops before long. And, a few minutes after Kim Dokja leaves, he returns.

“Ok, I got it! Let’s go!” he enthuses.

“Huh? Where’s your coat?” Heewon asks.

“Oh, that? I left it at camp! I don’t want to get blood on it, you know? That stuff is really hard to clean out! So, are we going or not?”

Shen Qingqiu stopped to give him an unreadable look, but the group marched on, nonetheless.

---

The battle is certainly tough, from when they breach the boundary of the Oldest Dream’s castle, all the way up to when they get to the throne room. Wave after wave of sinister demons pour out at them, slashing and biting viciously, trying to kill them. Lee Seolhwa is constantly moving, weaving through angry demon bodies to slap some medicine there, shove a poison cure there, wrap a wound there. Yoo Mia follows behind her like a small shadow, using some of the herbs Shen Qingqiu gave them to paralyze a couple demons in Lee Seolhwa’s way as she works. Lee Hyunsung fights defensively with his own sword, keeping demons away from where Shin Yoosung is using her communication magic to control the small monsters lurking in the hallways and grounds to attack against the sinister demons. Yoo Joonghyuk and Jung Heewon move with force, with Yoo Joonghyuk utilizing powerful slashes and shockwaves to blow back and damage their enemies, and Jung Heewon following after him with her own quick slashes, finishing off whatever stunned demons are left.

Even Shen Qingqiu gives his all to the battle, elegantly slicing any demons in his range with his sword in one hand, while he imbues wind magic into his fan and sweeps his enemies back with the other. After hours of fighting their way through the halls, the team reached the throne room. In it, they saw several long tapestries of the Oldest Dream’s legends lining the walls; a large throne at the end of the room, made of pure gold, and embellished with various jewels that shined with magic power; and a rich, blood red carpet, lining the floor from the door, all the way up to the throne. But the Oldest Dream wasn’t there.

Leading the group, Yoo Joonghyuk walked up to peer at the throne; or, more specifically, what was on it. A solid black metal crown, with several spikes running up off the top of it, and intertwining to form a wall of thin, webbed metal. Even without knowing exactly what it was made of, Shen Qingqiu could tell it was very expensive.

Picking up the crown, Yoo Joonghyuk looked over the throne, and yelled, “The Oldest Dream, you bastard! We have come to kill you, as punishment for all the people you’ve hurt! Show yourself now, or we will destroy your crown! And with it, your entire goddamn castle!”

And then… they hear clapping. They all turn, looking to the source of the sound; and they see Kim Dokja. Clapping from where he stands, still by the door of the room. He doesn’t have a speck of blood on him, despite the terrible battle they’d all just been through. Even Shen Qingqiu has blood on him, but Kim Dokja is completely clean. Like he didn’t fight at all.

“Very well,” Kim Dokja says, in a voice no one in their group thought could ever sound so evil, “Fight me.”

And then, he transforms. Dark horns grow from his head, twisting upwards like branches. His eyes, arms, entire body begin glowing; surging with pure magic power. Large, black, feathered wings sprout into existence on his back; and soon, he is circling them in the air. No one in their group moves, all of them too stunned by what is happening. Kim Dokja is the Oldest Dream. Kim Dokja is going to fight them.

Then Shen Qingqiu moves, pulling a long, pulsating white string out from his sleeve, and launching it at Kim Dokja. It wraps around his body, tying his arms to his sides and pressing his wings to his back, as Shen Qingqiu pulls it tighter. Caught in the string, Kim Dokja falls to the floor, unable to fly.

“Ngh! This… what is this?!” Kim Dokja rages from the floor.

“Immortal Binding Cable, a rare treasure from the northeast. You have likely never encountered it before, hm? Well, no matter. Yoo Joonghyuk, are you going to finish it?” Shen Qingqiu gave Yoo Joonghyuk a sharp look, asking him to complete what they came here to do.

And Yoo Joonghyuk, mind still raging, but body trained to fight, does. At Shen Qingqiu’s request, and the sight of his enemy on the ground, Yoo Joonghyuk’s body propels itself forward; and his sword finds its way into Kim Dokja’s chest. Shen Qingqiu releases the Immortal Binding Cable, as Lee Seolhwa slowly makes her way forward to check for a pulse. Shin Yoosung is wailing into Yoo Mia’s shoulder, and she has tears streaming down her face. Lee Hyunsung is choking down sobs, and Jung Heewon is shaking as Lee Seolhwa shakes her head, wiping her own tears away. The Oldest Dream is dead.

Yoo Joonghyuk is oddly still. And then…

“Kim Dokja- !”

---

This is what Yoo Joonghyuk remembers, when he wakes up in the forest:

There’s a man. Not human. So similar to him, but just unluckier. He’s yelling, but his words are broken.

[W-y -ou?! H- di-n’t c-me for me, wh- w-uld he st-y for y-u?!]

Even without understanding what he is saying, Yoo Joonghyuk knows the man is a mess. He wears a white coat. He, the man? Or, he Yoo Joonghyuk? Both?

[D-d we n-t suf-er th- sa-e? Am I no- as t-rt-red -s -ou?!]

Before this, Yoo Joonghyuk remembers a life. Lived 1863 times over. Filled with pain, loss, sacrifice, death, broken promises, grief, and so much madness. Then, in the 1863rd iteration, there was a woman. He’d never met her before, but she told him, if he became the villain, let her run the show… then they would all survive. And he? All he had to do was die.

Yoo Joonghyuk, in his 1863rd life, was a villain. The common enemy all his friends would unite against. They wouldn’t remember all the dinners eaten after grueling battles, all the months spent fighting side-by-side in this war or the next, every choked laugh, anguished cry, grateful tears- they wouldn’t remember it. But they never do. In his 1863rd life, Yoo Joonghyuk was alone; but his companions were not. All according to the woman’s plan, he would really, truly die; with not another life to live.

But then, another person came. Another someone Yoo Joonghyuk had never seen before, in all his lives. This person was obnoxious, confusing, and made him eat dirt. This person told Yoo Joonghyuk to think happy thoughts, remember the good times, and not give up on his story. This person, Yoo Joonghyuk would know from reading his memories, had come from a world where all his companions were united. Where they fought, but did not lose. Where he stood, though not alongside them, still with them in their efforts. The Yoo Joonghyuk of that world, he was the closest to whole he’d ever been-

Yoo Joonghyuk, of the 1863rd regression, wanted that world. Wanted to be that Yoo Joonghyuk, who might’ve lost his party, but only to the man who’d die for him. Again and again and again. That man would die for him. In his arms, at his hands, for his protection, that man would die. But he’d come back. Though he’d die, he’d come back, he always came back. In all his lives, not one of his companions had returned after death. Not one, but him.

Yoo Joonghyuk, of the 1863rd regression, wanted to die. He wanted to end the suffering that came with an eternity of living and witnessing death. All his loss, and grief, all his mourning in all his lives would end. Every stab of pain, thinking of another time years ago, thinking of another world centuries earlier. He wanted to die, according to the woman in white’s plan, and finally, finally leave a world without another Yoo Joonghyuk to reset it.

Yoo Joonghyuk, of the 1863rd regression, split in two. He wanted to live. He wanted to die. He wanted to go to the better world, where that man would be there to plot and scheme and save. He wanted to rest, like he’d never been able to before. So, he did.

Now, in the void between worlds, Yoo Joonghyuk is stopped. By this man, this figure, who was raging at him, blocking his path to meeting that man. To his 1864th regression, where he would find the end of his story with that man.

[I-’s n-t fa-r! W-y ju-t you? Wh- do I h-ve to g-ve y-u th- one thi-g I w-nt?! Why do you get the happy ending, because of me?!]

As the man continues to speak; Yoo Joonghyuk grows restless. He wants to go, go to the 1864th life. Go to that man, go to his ‘happy ending’. But the man here, he won’t stop talking. He won’t stop blocking the way there. His fingers are dissolving, Yoo Joonghyuk notices. As he grows more frustrated, the man’s fingers shortens, and from them, sparks fly into the air. Soon, his hands are gone. Then his arms. The man is spending… spending…? Yoo Joonghyuk can’t remember what he’s spending; his memory is not working like it should. He just knows that, whatever the man is spending, he’s spending a lot of it; and it’s doing something very, very powerful.

The last thing Yoo Joonghyuk hears from the man who stops him, he hears clearly.

[This ending that could’ve been mine, this ending we wish to be ours! Because we’ve both suffered, there is no fair way to decide! Who gets the happy ending?! Who gets that world?! If it can’t be me, then I won’t let it be you because of me! Suffer more, like I have! Seek the Oldest Dream again, try to find answers through that bastard's death! Go back to being a fool, Yoo Joonghyuk, and pursue the answers you’d hurt so much to find!]

Then, the man uses everything he’s spent, and disappears. And Yoo Joonghyuk feels himself falling. Away from the path to the happy world, to that man who could save what he could not. He feels tugged, pulled, dragged and falling away from that happy ending; and something his, not yet, there with him; screams.

< Story ‘Companions of Life and Death’ is screaming >

< Story ‘Companions of Life and Death’ is screaming >

< Story ‘Companions of Life and Death’ is screaming >

Yoo Joonghyuk is (not) the owner of this story. Yoo Joonghyuk has not (yet) been able to remember its contents. Yoo Joonghyuk found this story…

He found it…

< Story ‘Companions of Life and Death’ is tugging >

< Story ‘Companions of Life and Death’ is pulling >

He found this story in the memories of that man. That man…

< Story ‘Companions of Life and Death’ is dragging >

That man…

< Story ‘Companions of Life and Death’ is… >

Who was he?

< Story ‘Companions of Life and Death’ is bargaining for a large amount of probability >

Yoo Joonghyuk can’t remember that man’s name. Nor his face. Nor his voice. Yoo Joonghyuk just remembers that man’s world, the feeling of his memories.

< Story ‘Companions of Life and Death’ has obtained a large amount of probability >

Yoo Joonghyuk is still falling, he is getting the sense that he is going away. To somewhere he shouldn’t be going. He wants to meet that man again. That man… who could save him. Yoo Joonghyuk wants to meet that man. Yoo Joonghyuk wants to meet that man. Yoo Joonghyuk wants to meet that man.

< Story ‘Companions of Life and Death’ is enacting a miracle >

Suddenly, the fall is irresistible. Yoo Joonghyuk can’t stop falling. But now. Now Yoo Joonghyuk feels the inevitability of it. And the story in him sings at what awaits, what it's accomplished.

Yoo Joonghyuk falls. And when he lands, he knows 1863 lives worth of suffering, and nothing but the existence of a man who could’ve saved him. As he always does, Yoo Joonghyuk stands.

---

This is what Yoo Joonghyuk does, after he wakes up in the forest:

He travels. He encounters monsters, which he first kills with rocks, and branches, and his bare hands. He finds metal, coins, and sometimes jewels that are left in the remains of what monsters he kills. Yoo Joonghyuk walks, and eventually, he arrives at a town.

In the town, Yoo Joonghyuk sells his metal and jewels for coins. He uses his coins to buy a new set of clothes, some sturdy boots, and a sword. He finds flyers for monsters to kill, and he kills them for reward. With his reward, he buys better clothes, a better sword, and enough food to sustain himself.

Yoo Joonghyuk leaves the town, after a short time there. He’s back in the forest, and he thinks he’s searching.

Something cries to him, to find the man who’d save him. Is he even here?

While he’s walking through the forest, Yoo Joonghyuk hears a man cry. He makes his way to the sound, finding corpses in the clearing. Corpses, large, poisonous, wolf monsters, and one man still standing. One man…

Lee Hyunsung.

A good friend, and a strong ally, in what lives he’d been with Yoo Joonghyuk. In that man’s world, he was a dutiful comrade. Strong, and determined to protect the man when he couldn’t be bothered to protect himself. Yoo Joonghyuk thinks, if he finds that man, having Lee Hyunsung there to protect him again would be useful.

He watches, as Lee Hyunsung struggles to fight against the five monsters still alive in the clearing. Yoo Joonghyuk takes out his sword, and slices all five in the throat in under a minute. Lee Hyunsung explains the corpses in the clearing were his teammates. That they used to be a hunting party.

Yoo Joonghyuk helps him bury the bodies of his old teammates, and then offers Lee Hyunsung a place in his party. Tells him he’ll help Lee Hyunsung become strong, to prevent another slaughter, in return for his company. Lee Hyunsung accepts, and they move on to the next town.

A few months later, Lee Hyunsung is still with him. They go to a new town, and Yoo Joonghyuk hears word of a sinister demon by the name of ‘Oldest Dream’. He remembers the figure who spent for power, mentioning answers in the death of the Oldest Dream. Lee Hyunsung locates a bar in the center of town, and the two enter to hear the rumors.

Hours in the bar tell Yoo Joonghyuk what he needs to know about the Oldest Dream. He is a sinister demon, an evil being that does harm to the world. He is the most powerful sinister demon, a king among them. He is rumored to have a castle somewhere in the far southwest; of which he nearly never leaves, staying there to plot out his evil deeds, and give orders out to his subordinates.

When night begins to fall, he and Lee Hyunsung decide to leave with their newfound information. Lee Hyunsung calls over the barmaid who’d served them that night, to ask for a name to thank. She tells them her name is ‘Jung Heewon’.

Jung Heewon was never present in Yoo Joonghyuk’s lives. He’d learnt that she had met her end in all his lives before the two could ever meet. But, in that man’s life, Jung Heewon was a dedicated warrior; and someone as close to that man as Yoo Mia was to him. She was that man’s sister, who’d fight for him until her last breath. Unfortunately, that man would always breath his own last before she could ever move to intercept. Perhaps, if he finds that man, Jung Heewon can be faster this time; if she learns with him.

Lee Hyunsung thanks Jung Heewon for her service, and Yoo Joonghyuk leaves her a sizable tip, in the form of one of his old swords. It’s a bit battered, but still sharp, and sturdy enough to fight. Yoo Joonghyuk tells her that she has a fire in her eyes, and invites her to join him in killing the Oldest Dream.

Jung Heewon used to live in a village, she’d tell them later. The village was raided by the Oldest Dream’s people. The residents’ houses were taken over, their crops stolen, and their people captured for labor. Jung Heewon was able to escape with her mother, but her mother was sick. She took up work as a barmaid to pay for her mother’s medicine, but the money wasn’t enough to sustain the both of them. Her mother passed, one night, with Jung Heewon whispering meaningless assurances by her side. That night, Jung Heewon swore vengeance against the Oldest Dream for what he’d done, what he’d caused.

Jung Heewon agrees to join their party, despite barely knowing the two of them. She brings them back to her room, and they help her pack. All three of them are out of town before sunrise, making the long journey southwest to find a hidden castle. Along the way, Yoo Joonghyuk teaches Jung Heewon to fight. He shows her how to use her sword to cut fast, but sharply. When she can do that, Yoo Joonghyuk buys her a better sword; and teaches her how to cut faster, sharper.

Another few months after Jung Heewon joins their party, they’re passing through another village, when Yoo Joonghyuk hears a little girl scream. He recognizes that voice, and he runs towards it, as fast as his legs will carry him. He winds up at an alley, and sees the body of a little girl in dirtied, ruined clothes. She is surrounded by dozens of shiny snakes, each around the length and thickness of Jung Heewon’s arms. With Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon acting alongside him, all the snakes are dead in seconds. Yoo Joonghyuk picks the girl up, and sees Yoo Mia, his sister.

She had been hurt by the snakes, when they attacked, but clutches a sharp rock she had used in an attempt to defend herself. She is covered in bites, with some slashes along her arms and legs, where the snakes hit her with their tails. She might be poisoned, but for a moment, she is conscious, and she says, “Oppa-”

Later, Yoo Joonghyuk will learn that Yoo Mia had no memory of her life before the attack. Her first memory would be fighting against monstrous snakes, with only a sharp rock to act as her defense; and then three people being there to save her. She will tell him that she doesn’t know why she recognized him as her brother, just that something in her knew that’s who he was.

Yoo Joonghyuk carries Yoo Mia in his arms, and runs to the nearest medical institute, with Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon at his sides. He ends up arriving at a small clinic, and Yoo Mia is treated by a woman with white hair. Lee Seolhwa.

Many, many lives ago, Lee Seolhwa used to be his wife. He loved her, but then he lost her, and it tore him apart. In some times, she’d become deranged, and fight against him with deadly poisons at her hands. In other times, she’d join him on his adventures, and heal any injuries sustained by him and his team with skillful efficiency as they were received. That man was never close enough to her for them to be considered anything other than acquaintances, at best. But that man had saved her from becoming the Poisoner, from becoming one of the 10 Evils, in his world, because she used to be Yoo Joonghyuk’s wife. That man respected her medical prowess, and trusted her to heal those who needed it most. That man got hurt a lot, Yoo Joonghyuk thinks. If he finds that man, Lee Seolhwa can heal the worst of what injuries he incurs.

When Yoo Mia is stable, and the clinic is closing, Yoo Joonghyuk invites Lee Seolhwa into his party. He tells her they are going to kill the Oldest Dream, and she joins them. Lee Seolhwa tells them that, in the southwest, so close to where the Oldest Dream’s castle is said to be, many people get hurt. She is rich, because she sees many patients. As a doctor, she can only heal her patients after they have been hurt; that she cannot prevent their pain before it happens. Lee Seolhwa goes with them, because to kill the Oldest Dream is to stop an untold amount of people from ever getting hurt at his command.

Yoo Joonghyuk, Lee Hyunsung, Jung Heewon, Yoo Mia, and Lee Seolhwa journey far southwest together, searching for the Oldest Dream’s castle. They finally get a good lead, when they come across several river settlements being attacked by the Oldest Dream’s people. Yoo Joonghyuk and his party kill as many of them as they can, telling what civilians survive the raid to flee in the direction of the nearest village that isn’t being attacked. It’s while they’re moving from one settlement to the next, fighting against the Oldest Dream’s men, that Yoo Joonghyuk finds her.

Shin Yoosung.

She is hiding behind a stone bear-like monster, that is sheltering her from the burning ashes moving into the area from the ruined settlement. The Shin Yoosungs in his lives were gifted tamers, capable of getting even legendary beasts to obey her will. In his second regression, Shin Yoosung, as the disaster of floods, gave him valuable information for survival. He got very far in that regression, thanks to her. Farther than he was able to get in the next tens of regressions, in fact; as the disaster of floods turned against him when the timeline failed to change.

In that man’s world, Shin Yoosung became that man’s incarnation. She had forgone power, to trust the man who was kind to her. The disaster of floods caused that man’s death, and Shin Yoosung wept for him. That man saved the disaster of floods, when he returned to life, despite her causing his death; and had her reborn as his daughter. Shin Yoosung was an incarnation ward, and daughter to that man. She, as both an 11 year old girl, and a centuries old wanderer, turned disaster, turned dobaekki child, was that man’s family. If he finds that man, then he would be pleased to be in the company of family.

Yoo Joonghyuk approaches Shin Yoosung, and gives her a proper shield. It is big enough to cover her entire body, and she takes it from him with weary eyes. Yoo Joonghyuk tells her he knows she’s fought many battles, but this time, there are other people here to fight them for her. Shin Yoosung is young, scarcely older than Yoo Mia herself. Yoo Joonghyuk, Lee Hyunsung, and Jung Heewon will fight in her place.

Shield in hand, Shin Yoosung steps out from behind the stone bear-like monster, and does something so that it walks away. She stands, holding the shield in front of her, beside Yoo Mia. Behind Yoo Joonghyuk, Lee Hyunsung, and Jung Heewon; where Lee Seolhwa can keep an eye on her.

They move on from the settlement, going to the next one up the river. Their team kills the Oldest Dream’s people, as they try to kill the innocents in the settlements. It is at the last settlement on the river’s side that it happens. The battle is fierce, as the last of the Oldest Dream’s people either put their lives on their lines to stop them, or use dirty tricks to turn tail and escape back to the Oldest Dream. Lee Seolhwa is busy, patching up a nastly gash on Jung Heewon’s arm, as Yoo Mia uses a dagger to slice the legs of any demon getting too close to the pair for comfort. Lee Hyunsung fights ahead of them, with Yoo Joonghyuk. In the chaos, they lose track of Shin Yoosung.

After the last demons in the area are dead, they realize Shin Yoosung is missing. The shield Yoo Joonghyuk gave her is on the ground, several paces away from where Yoo Mia last saw her. They search around the settlement frantically, failing to find hide nor hair of Shin Yoosung for three days; before he arrives.

Kim Dokja arrives at their campsite with Shin Yoosung at his side. She tells them that he defeated the men who were bringing her towards the Oldest Dream’s palace, and ran with her, according to her directions until they were here. Kim Dokja is plain, unassuming, and suspicious. But he is kind to Shin Yoosung, and she wants him to stay. Yoo Joonghyuk thinks he should stay, as well.

So Kim Dokja joins them, and Yoo Joonghyuk’s party is complete. Shin Yoosung remembers which direction the Oldest Dream’s people were taking her, so they start moving that way. They walk, and comb through nearly every area in their way as they move; trying to find where the Oldest Dream’s castle actually is. And, after a long year, they finally find it.

They set up camp once more, this time for a long term stay. Lee Hyunsung, Jung Heewon, and Yoo Joonghyuk himself scout the castle in alternating pairs, while Kim Dokja stays at camp to teach Shin Yoosung (and Yoo Mia, on occasion). Lee Seolhwa stays behind to keep an eye on all three of them, and take stock of their materials. They’re making plans to infiltrate the castle, to regain Yoo Joonghyuk’s memories.

Kim Dokja leaves, every so often, and Yoo Joonghyuk doesn’t trust where he goes. He insists on meeting the ‘elusive lover’ Kim Dokja claims to be meeting; and eventually, he does. With Shen Qingqiu at their camp, planning goes faster. And before long, they’re finally going to kill the Oldest Dream.

And then, they do.

---

This is what Yoo Joonghyuk remembers, as the Oldest Dream, Kim Dokja, dies in his arms again:

The man who could’ve saved him had an unlucky smile; like everything good that bastard did was serendipity, and everything bad was providence. He wore a white coat, and had a plain, unassuming appearance. The man who could’ve saved him, his name was Kim Dokja.

In his memories, Kim Dokja had an unlucky life. Father murdered, mother incarcerated, passed between uncaring relatives and bullied by his peers to the point of attempting suicide. He passed day after day, waiting for another chapter. Another update of one story, he loved so, so much.

When the last chapter didn’t come, and the apocalypse did, Kim Dokja had a plan. He had a plan to trick, swindle, and save who he could. Kim Dokja survived, trying to help Yoo Joonghyuk all the way, up until he died. Though Yoo Joonghyuk spurned and dismissed him, Kim Dokja still helped Yoo Joonghyuk survive; still sought to help finish his story. And when Kim Dokja did die, he had another plan in place to come back, and continue Yoo Joonghyuk’s story for yet another chapter.

In his memories, Kim Dokja could save everyone Yoo Joonghyuk himself could not. His dedication to the single story that was Yoo Joonghyuk’s life made him a force of nature, in what the world became. And, in that mess of a world, Kim Dokja could save anyone he wanted.

But now, Kim Dokja is dead, again. Now, they are not in the apocalypse. They’re not even in Ways of Survival. Kim Dokja wouldn’t know any tricks, in this world.

Kim Dokja wouldn’t know how to come back, in this world.

In the world that had been fused with Ways of Survival, a story Kim Dokja cared more for than his own life, Kim Dokja could save anyone. But, given the choice between saving only Yoo Joonghyuk or himself; Kim Dokja would never choose to save himself.

When Yoo Joonghyuk realized this, every fiber of his being screamed. Every word, in all his stories, screamed. They screamed in sadness, grief, loss, mourning for Kim Dokja.

Yoo Joonghyuk screamed with them, as the body of another demon king slumped lifelessly in his arms, killed by his sword.

---

Yoo Joonghyuk starts screaming, Shen Qingqiu notes, just slightly before Lee Seolhwa pronounces the Oldest Dream dead. It’s a loud, thundering, agonizingly desolate scream. A sound that was probably ripped from the very depths of his soul.

“Kim Dokja- !” Yoo Joonghyuk screams, like a man whose entire world is dying.

Interesting, Shen Qingqiu thinks, as Yoo Joonghyuk clutches the corpse in his arms, pressing it deeper and deeper towards his chest; as though if he presses hard enough, he can start the limp body’s heart up, once more. He can’t, of course; that body is really, truly dead.

I’ve seen something like this before, Shen Qingqiu thinks, as he watches large tears make their way down Yoo Joonghyuk’s completely and utterly stricken face. His throat makes a sharp, grating noise, as it's been screaming too long. Still, Yoo Joonghyuk doesn’t stop that noise from sounding; so caught in his grief, he can’t even care about the damage the sound is doing to his own throat, as long as he can keep screaming.

Wait, I’ve read something like this before, Shen Qingqiu realizes, as Yoo Joonghyuk’s body tips over; falling unconscious in exhaustion. Lee Hyunsung approaches, gently prying Yoo Joonghyuk off the Oldest Dream’s corpse to carry his prone figure. Shen QIngqiu raises his fan high, completely obscuring his expression from view; as Jung Heewon moves to grab the Oldest Dream’s body for burial.

Yoo Joonghyuk… is acting like a maiden who fell for Luo Binghe, just to learn he was captured by some ‘terrifying’ and ‘inescapable’ villain to protect her.

… Fuck, that’s hilarious!

---

They bury the Oldest Dream’s body in the courtyard of his castle, between two bushes of Blood Gathering Old Tomb Cloud Roses. The walk back to camp is silent, as they all come to terms with what happened in the battle. Yoo Joonghyuk regains consciousness once they were already well on their way back, walking silently with the rest of them, as he stares, miserably, at his sword. Yoo Mia looks upset, as she tries to calm down Shin Yoosung next to her with comforting shoulder pats. It proves ineffective, as Shin Yoosung continues to sob the entire time they walk.

Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon try to keep the tears off their faces, but fail to do so. Lee Seolhwa, no stranger to losing patients, but still struck by the sudden betrayal, maintains a blank face. Shen Qingqiu is at the very back of their group, trodding slowly, with his face carefully hidden behind his fan. Every so often, they hear his breath hitch, but nothing more.

When they finally arrive at camp, they don’t know what to do. The Oldest Dream is dead, defeated; so where do they go from here? They stand before their tents, debating whether they pack their things, or begin making dinner. Finally, Shen Qingqiu moves.

With heavy steps, Shen Qingqiu carefully makes his way to the tent he’d shared with Kim Dokja; and he enters.

Not a minute later, Shen Qingqiu is running out of the tent. His fan is no longer hiding his face, and they can all see his wide-blown eyes; the bewildered expression he wears almost comically.

“Seolhwa, come with me!”

Obligingly, she follows. As does the rest of their party, as they go into Kim Dokja’s tent. And there, resting on his bed, still in his favorite white coat, is Kim Dokja. Looking like he’d simply gone to sleep there.

Lee Seolhwa quickly checks him over, using combination after combination of health-checking talismans Shen Qingqiu had shown her, until she gets a hit.

“He’s alive, but he’s been poisoned. Southern Eversleeping Mist Butterfly Daisy pollen, he’ll wake up 72 hours after ingestion.”

They’re all stunned. They saw Kim Dokja, the Oldest Dream, die. They watched as Yoo Joonghyuk killed him, as he screamed, cried, and they mourned for him.

“Sh- Shen Qingqiu,” Yoo Mia utters, loud enough to be heard in the silence.

“Explain this. You, you’re his boyfriend, right?! You’ve known him since you were children, right?! What’s happening?! He was the Oldest Dream, he died, but- but he’s here! What- what?!” Her words are broken, but ring true. They all turn to look at the man, who has a resigned expression on his face.

“I promised Dokja not to tell you all this without him, but I feel you deserve to know now,” Shen Qingqiu said.

“The Oldest Dream is not Kim Dokja, but his brother. They were twins, identical ones, at that. But while the Oldest Dream was committed to doing evil, Kim Dokja didn’t wish to conquer the world. Despite his wishes, though, the Oldest Dream would force Dokja into helping him commit terribly evil crimes; eventually spurring Dokja to run away from home, to escape what his brother was making him do.

“It was while he was on the run that Dokja met me. We got along well, and eventually began courting. My family, however, was unapproving of our relationship; as he had no status and felt unfortunate, to them. And so, Dokja helped me run away from them, as he had with his own family, and we lived for a couple weeks traveling from town to town.

“But then, one night while I was out researching, Dokja disappeared from our inn room. I ran out into the forest, searching for him; and that’s when I found him with Yoosung. He told me that his brother, the Oldest Dream, had captured him; and forced him onto the throne. He’d escaped from the castle, and brought Yoosung, who he’d rescued, with him. At the time, I did not completely trust that Yoosung would not be a spy planted on Dokja by his brother, and watched from afar as he brought Yoosung back to you all; not letting myself intrude on the situation.

“I went back to an inn Dokja would know I’d stay at, and when he found me again, he told me that he had joined your party. We arranged to meet every now and again, and went our separate ways. From there, you know how Yoo Joonghyuk chased Dokja until he encountered me in the forest, and what has happened since I’ve joined you all here.

“Dokja being here now, though, implies that he was not with us during the battle at the Oldest Dream’s castle. The poison leads me to believe he was ambushed while returning to camp, prior to the battle. That would explain why he left behind his beloved coat, seeing as I enchanted it several months ago to be stain resistant. This means the ‘Kim Dokja’ who was with us during the battle, and who we fought as the Oldest Dream, was not actually our Dokja; but his brother, who drugged him, and took his place in our party. Likely in an attempt to catch us off-guard, and kill us.”

By the end of his explanation, everyone in the room was dumbfounded. It was a wild story, sure; demonic twin entities, one evil one good, the good one running away from home, meeting an accomplice, getting captured, escaping with a rescue, and joining a small party that was determined to kill his evil twin brother. But, it made sense, with everything they knew. And so, with no choice, the group accepted Shen Qingqiu’s explanation; and hunkered down to wait for Kim Dokja to wake up.

---

A day after the battle, Jung Heewon found Shen Qingqiu looking at the garden bed behind Kim Dokja’s tent. It was destroyed. All the plants were either trampled, or uprooted; and there was a large hole in the ground in the center of all the plants; like something had broken apart the ground and rolled around in it.

Shen Qingqiu sighed, “It looks like Dokja’s brother made his attack atop our garden. It’s a shame, this one wished to be able to see the flowers in full bloom.”

“Maybe you can replant them?”

“No,” Shen Qingqiu shook his head, “I doubt I will remain here long enough to see another bed in bloom.”

“Eh? Are you and Dokja leaving, after all this mess? We won’t persecute you for your situation, y'know?”

“It’s nothing like that, Heewon, do not worry. It is merely…” Shen Qingqiu trailed off. He looked contemplatively at the ruins of his garden, before continuing.

“I no longer believe Dokja and I are a good match.”

“Huh?”

“Do not get this wrong, I do find my time with Dokja enjoyable. But now, without the pressure of his brother forcing us to keep together for safety, this one finds it… unnecessary, to remain. With Dokja, that is.”

“So… you’ve fallen out of love?”

Shen Qingqiu smiled, gently, “You could say that.”

---

They’re all crowded in the tent when Kim Dokja stirs. His eyes blink open blearily, and his hand twitches. Slowly, Kim Dokja tries to sit up in his bed. Moving to help him with the action, Shen Qingqiu braces Dokja from behind.

“I’ve told them about your brother,” he says, “Were you attacked?”

Kim Dokja nodded, “Y-yeah. I went back to camp… I forgot… something; I can’t remember what, now. But... he came up from behind me, and shoved something down my throat. I, I tried fighting him off, but he was stronger than me. The last thing I remember is falling down; on the garden bed.”

“I see. Dokja, your brother took your place in the battle. He revealed himself once we reached the throne room, and Yoo Joonghyuk killed him. You are free.”

Kim Dokja’s eyes widened, and a large grin broke out on his face. “I guess Joonghyuk is my hero, then.”

Yoo Joonghyuk himself looked constipated, hovering by the side of Dokja’s bed. He looked between Shen Qingqiu, who had since stopped supporting Dokja, and Kim Dokja, who was sitting up on the bed and looking right at him. Sensing plot development in the air, Shen Qingqiu raised his fan.

“You two must have much to say to each other, I presume?” Shen Qingqiu said, casting meaningful glances between Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk. “We will leave you to speak, alone, then.”

Ushering everyone out of the tent, Shen Qingqiu sent Kim Dokja a subtle wink, and left him alone with the man who killed him.

---

When Kim Dokja exits the tent, in time to join the rest of them for lunch, he is leaning against Yoo Joonghyuk’s side. They’re both blushing, and while Kim Dokja looks happily stunned, Yoo Joonghyuk looks stricken, delighted, and more than just a tad confused all at once. It’s quite the expression, on Yoo Joonghyuk.

Seeing the looks on their faces, Shen Qingqiu looks right at Kim Dokja, and a conversation passes between their eyes. Speaking at the same time, they both say, “I’m breaking up with you,” and nod at each other.

“This one also wishes you well with your new boyfriend,” Shen Qingqiu adds. “Though this Qingqiu advises you to ensure he knows the consequences he will incur, if he is to ever make another attempt on your life, Dokja.”

Kim Dokja grinned, “I’ll keep that in mind.” Yoo Joonghyuk nodded, still looking stricken, but also with a new kind of liveliness to him.

“Now,” Shen Qingqiu gestured with his fan to where the others were watching the interaction, mouths agape, as they had to stop eating their salads, “Lunch?”

---

The day has finally come! After three long years of studying, training, and fighting day after day Luo Binghe is graduating from Cang Qiong Academy! He attends the graduation ceremony, and lets his tears fall freely when he meets his mother’s eyes in the audience. Mobei-Jun and his partner, Shang Qinghua, are there to congratulate him when he walks off the stage; presenting him with a gift to celebrate.

“Hm? What is this?”

“It’s a coupon, Binghe! For my business! I’ll do one job for you, for free!”

Shang Qinghua’s business was infamous, by now. According to the rumors, he could complete any task you gave him; be it resolving a personal matter, finding an ancient treasure, getting a large job completed quickly, or anything else you could ask. If you paid Shang Qinghua an appropriate(ly humongous) amount of money to work, he’ll complete whatever job he’s given! And now, Luo Binghe won’t have to pay him!

“Thank you, Qinghua! This Binghe greatly appreciates your gift, very much! Can I cash it in now?”

“Eh? Now? Uh, sure! What do you want me to do?”

Beaming widely, Luo Binghe proclaimed, “Shang Qinghua, I request that you find my Shizun!”

Shizun had graduated from Cang Qiong Academy three years ago, leaving before attending his graduation ceremony, and losing contact with Binghe. For the last three years, the absence of his Shizun had been weighing heavily on Luo Binghe’s mind. Every assignment he had trouble completing, every odd question he couldn’t find the answer to on his own; even just returning to the academy after completing an off-campus assignment, and not having his Shizun there to critique his performance; the lack of Shizun in Luo Binghe’s life was unignorable.

From the moment Shizun disappeared from his life, Luo Binghe felt his absence like an aching in his heart. When he looks at the various books his Shizun passed down to him, the bowls and cutlery his Shizun gifted to him; Luo Binghe remembers how kind his Shizun was. How intelligent, caring, and generally beautiful he was. Luo Binghe missed his Shizun like an amputated limb, something so important to him that was simply gone. Luo Binghe swore to himself; when he graduated, and was free to go out into the world, he would find his Shizun, he would hold onto him, and he would never let go again!

“Your… Shizun? Huh, that was, uhm, Shen Qingqiu, right?”

“Yes! Please, Qinghua, can you find my Shizun?” Luo Binghe gave Shang Qinghua his best puppy eyes, something that has been proven to be completely and utterly irresistible.

“Uh, yeah! Ok, sure! I’ll find your Shizun for you, Binghe!”

Elated, Binghe cheered, “Thank you, Qinghua.”

“Aha, of course, Binghe!”

---

Shang Qinghua might be screwed. When he gave Luo Binghe his graduation gift, he was expecting Luo Binghe to ask for something easy! Like locating the legendary sword Xin Mo! Or pinpointing the perfect peak for Luo Binghe to build a mountainside retreat for his mother! Not tracking down the single most OOC character in this messed up world, who’s been missing for the past three years! Where does he even start?!

Ok, stop panicking, Shang Qinghua tells himself. That’ll get you nowhere, and you’re supposed to be getting closer to wherever Shen Qingqiu is! Going through the locating artifacts he has on stock, a good 89% of them are automatically useless, as they require the target’s blood, bones, or hair to work; and they have none of that from Shen Qingqiu. Another 9% of what’s left only works on tracking down the personal effects of women, which Shen Qingqiu is most certainly not…

Or is (s)he...?

Nope! No, he would not be! The creator of this world didn’t genderbend any other characters of his, so why would they genderbend just Shen Qingqiu?! They wouldn’t! Besides, if Shen Qingqiu was actually a woman, there’s no way she’d be able to hide that fact the entire time they were in school together!

Moving on!

The last artifacts Shang Qinghua has that could, potentially, locate Shen Qingqiu, are the Tri-Window Whispering Herd Shards; a set of three mirror shards that can be used to discern rumors in circulation that match a given description. The only problem is, if Shen Qingqiu has no rumors about him currently in circulation, then the Tri-Window Whispering Herd Shards will have no effect.

Still, a chance of something is better than absolutely nothing! Going through with the ritual to activate the Tri-Window Whispering Herd Shards, Shang Qinghua inputted the description of ‘a dignified man with a fan’, and waited.

Then, after a mere moment, Shang Qinghua was bombarded.

{Did you hear? A group of adventurers defeated the Oldest Dream! One of them had a fan!}

{A man with a fan was seen in the southwest, moving into the Oldest Dream’s castle!}

{The Oldest Dream has been killed! He was restrained by a man who cast spells with a fan, and killed by the leader of their team!}

{Wow, who would’ve thought the Oldest Dream would be done-in by someone who fought with a fan, of all things?}

{A dignified man who held a fan put an end to the biggest bad in the land~ !}

{What is that team doing now? I think they’re moving into the castle, like it’s their prize!}

{The Oldest Dream’s castle under new occupation? Let’s hope whoever’s moving in won’t try to take over the world as well!}

Well. That was successful. How did Shen Qingqiu even join an adventuring party, anyways? And they killed a demon king? Damn, what the hell has he been doing?! Eh, Shang Qinghua will find out, anyways. Digging through his things once more, Shang Qinghua found an all-telling map of the world, and headed towards the Oldest Dream’s castle.

---

A week after Kim Dokja woke up, they were heading back to the Oldest Dream’s castle. This time not to break in, but to move in.

“We have a perfectly good and vacant castle to ourselves, now!” Kim Dokja had said, “If we just clean up all the corpses and blood, we could live there for free!”

And, since no one could argue with him besides saying “Our enemy used to live there, Dokja!” (to which he would simply reply, “But he doesn’t live there anymore, right?”), they all (eventually) agreed to claim the now-abandoned castle as their own. After two trips to and from their camp and the castle, the party had moved all their belongings to the castle grounds; and Kim Dokja was now showing Shen Qingqiu around the more interesting places in his ‘old family home’, while the rest of their group was unpacking.

“And if you follow that path down there, you’ll reach the underground hot springs!”

“Wow, do you have a hidden indoor beach, too? Then we can have all the OVA episodes!” Shen Qingqiu mused.

“Eh, no beach, but there is a separate cold spring! It’s on one of the higher floors, though.”

Shen Qingqiu scoffed, “Of course it is. Architectural stability is of no concern in a fantasy world, after all.”

Kim Dokja laughs, “Magic really can do so much! Now, do you want to see the secret study under the front gate?”

“You put a ‘secret’ location that close to the entrance?”

“Hey, I’m not the one who designed this place! I just inherited it!”

“Whatever, just show me the way.”

When they arrived near the front gate of the castle, however, the two men noticed a third man loitering there. The man, having taken notice of them, immediately perked up.

“Shen Qingqiu! Is that you?”

Kim Dokja looked at the new man, curiously, “You know my ex-boyfriend?”

“Wh- ex-boyfriend?!” The man’s voice immediately turned stunned, and a bit panicked.

“Don’t tease him, Dokja,” Shen Qingqiu reprimanded, whacking Kim Dokja (not too hard) on the back of his head. Taking a good look at the man, Shen Qingqiu was able to identify him.

“Shang Qinghua,” he greeted, “What brings you here?”

“Ah, right! Shen Qingqiu, I have been sent by Luo Binghe to find you!”

“Luo Binghe…” Kim Dokja muttered quietly. “Didn’t you say he was the protagonist? What business does he have with you?”

Shrugging slightly, Shen Qingqiu repeated the question, “Why does Binghe seek me?”

Shang Qinghua shook his head, helplessly, “This one does not know! I was merely hired to find you. Though, if I may be allowed to predict his intentions, this Shang Qinghua believes Luo Binghe has intentions to court you, Shen Qingqiu!”

Dumbfounded, Shen Qingqiu stops fanning himself. “Come again?”

“It’s just that, Luo Binghe has stated several times his longing for your presence in the years you’ve been gone. And, now that he has graduated, Luo Binghe has expressed the fervent intention to meet you, once more. You really cannot miss the besotted look in his eye when he speaks of you, Shen Qingqiu! That is why this one believes Luo Binghe seeks you with the purpose to court!” Shang Qinghua elaborates, as though he’s not flipping Shen Qingqiu’s entire world upside down. Luo Binghe, the golden haloed, unfairly op protagonist of the story; wants to court him? The scum villain, turned minor character who was present for one year, and absent for three?

Kim Dokja, snickering, like an asshole, says, “So, are you going to get a new boyfriend, Qingqiu?”

Shen Qingqiu turned to him, gritting out angrily, “Just because you got with your protagonist doesn’t mean the same will happen to me! I was supposed to be a villain, for fucks sake, you just appeared!”

“Wait, protagonist? Villain?” Shang Qinghua asked.

Clearing his throat, Shen Qingqiu began fanning himself once more, “It is of no concern to you, Shang Qinghua. Please ignore those words.”

“Ah, sure, Shen Qingqiu,” Shang Qinghua laughed, nervously, “This one was just curious if you had ever heard a story by the name of Proud Immortal Demon Way?”

The fan snapped abruptly shut.

---

And so, after a successful trip the Oldest Dream’s castle, in which he found two more transmigrator bros(!!) and also almost got lectured to death by Cucumber bro (really, of all his readers to send to this world, why his worst critic?!), Shang Qinghua returned to Luo Binghe with good news!

“Binghe! I have fulfilled your request, and found Shen Qingqiu!”

Then, after a long hour of teary eyed thanks and speed-packing all of Luo Binghe’s belongings, Shang Qinghua was off again; back to the Oldest Dream’s castle, with Luo Binghe in tow!

---

When Shang Qinghua returned to the castle with Luo Binghe, Shen Qingqiu was eating lunch in the courtyard with the rest of their group. Upon seeing him, Luo Binghe promptly dropped all his luggage to the ground, and lunged towards Shen Qingqiu.

“Shizun!”

Standing in time to catch the overexcited man flying towards him, Shen Qingqiu braced Luo Binghe by his sides, and said, “Binghe. It has been quite a long time since this master has last seen you. Have you been well?”

At his question, Luo Binghe immediately nodded; before stopping, and shaking his head, “Shizun, this disciple has graduated, but has done so miserably! This disciple has missed you very much, Shizun; and he has realized that his life cannot be well, unless you are in it!”

Luo Binghe said this with a shine in his eyes, gaze filled with hope, adoration, and pleading as he looked up at Shen Qingqiu. The moment seemed to stretch for an eternity, as Shen Qingqiu processed what Binghe meant by his words.

“Hey, Qingqiu! Who is this guy? And why does he call you Shizun?!” Yoo Mia asked.

Before Shen Qingqiu could answer her, Luo Binghe spoke up, “This Luo Binghe was Shizun’s junior at the academy! Whenever this one could not grasp a topic, Shizun would take it upon himself to explain it to him; which is why I refer to him as Shizun! When Shizun graduated from the academy three years ago, and lost contact with this Binghe, I realized just how much Shizun means to me! Now, this one has come to ask to join Shizun, wherever he may go!”

“... Wait, three years ago, wasn’t Shen Qingqiu supposed to have been running away from home?” Jung Heewon realized.

“And… Dokja did say his lover was homeschooled… but Qingqiu had attended an academy?” Lee Hyunsung added.

Shen Qingqiu shot Kim Dokja a conflicted look, who sighed.

“The ‘childhood lovers’ story was a lie I made up to disguise my visits to my family, who insisted on seeing me; else they’d send demons to hunt us down. Shen Qingqiu is someone I happened to run into in the forest when the sunfish was chasing me, and agreed to pretend to be my lover.”

Hearing this, Luo Binghe had tears well up in his eyes, “Sh-Shizun! Did, did you really agree to court this man?!”

Alarmed by the sight of the innocent and adorable protagonist Binghe distressed, Shen Qingqiu spoke. “While it is true that this one agreed to be in a relationship with Dokja, the agreement was founded entirely on the understanding that the relationship was to be a fallacy. All feelings this Qingqiu has for Dokja are platonic, I can assure you.”

Completely ignoring the shocked, exasperated, disturbed, mystified, shaken, and baffled looks directed to him and Kim Dokja by Lee Hyunsung, Yoo Joonghyuk, Yoo Mia, Shin Yoosung, Jung Heewon, and Lee Seolhwa respectively; Shen Qingqiu turned his attention towards comforting Luo Binghe; gently patting him on the back, while keeping him in his embrace. Content to be in his Shizun’s arms, Luo Binghe ceased his tears and snuggled closer to him. Eventually, Shen Qingqiu broke the silent stare-fest by speaking.

“Binghe, you ask to join this master everywhere he goes, with the intention to court him?”

Luo Binghe nods, “If Shizun will have me, then this Binghe will gladly follow him!”

“And if this master wishes to go to the end of the scenarios?”

“Though Binghe does not know where that is, he will go with Shizun anywhere! No matter how long, or difficult the journey!” Luo Binghe answered him, smiling brightly; with more joy and enthusiasm than any human should be able to possibly convey (but, lucky for him, Binghe is only half-human). Seeing such a hopeful and happy face on Binghe’s (really too charming) face, Shen Qingqiu sighed, resigning himself to his fate.

“Very well. Then this Shen Qingqiu will accept Binghe’s offer of company.”

As Kim Dokja and Shang Qinghua both cheered, and the rest of the group seemed to be roused from their stupor, and immediately start lecturing Kim Dokja about why he shouldn’t just bring any stranger he runs into in the woods back to camp as his boyfriend, even if the relationship is fake; Shen Qingqiu sighs, and runs his hands through Binghe’s hair. It is, truly, very fluffy. Shen Qingqiu does not regret this action.