Chapter Text
Kim Dokja didn’t have the best upbringing. Although he knows he shouldn't complain, sometimes he couldn’t help but wonder how he would’ve turned out if he had a loving family or somebody who would’ve actually cared about him. But, no. He would never be allowed that blessing.
He used to believe that maybe God had wished him dead, the world would be better off without him. Only later in life he would realize he was only half right. God didn’t hate him (and didn’t even pity him) because the world was cruel and the only way for those to feel satisfied in their life was if Dokja was their “stress-reliever”.
God didn’t hate him because he was a vital component for building character in those who would become important, making them feel less inferior and perhaps turn out better after relieving their anger on him. After all, everybody knew he would never amount to anything.
Like the time in 8th grade when before being beaten to a bloody pulp by one of his bullies, he made eye contact and could see the pain and suffering behind his classmate’s eyes -- of course something had been wrong to make a child lash out like this.
Dokja had been thoroughly beaten into a black and blue shortly thereafter and felt the satisfaction and relief roll of the other, something he had never noticed before. They shortly left him there, bleeding on the ground as he righted himself on the brick wall and hissed in pain. He debated on leaving, but realized that nobody would miss him at his supposed “home”.
It was then he realized that God needed people like him to help people that would go farther than he could ever dream of by letting them lash out in a safe manner, as opposed to getting themselves in trouble or through the use of contraband. It’s not as if they would get punished for harming a murderer’s son, it wouldn’t be surprising to anybody if he ended up like either of his parents, an abusive drunk or a killer. Both were better off dead in this society. As was he, but without him, another sad soul would take his place.
It would have to be somebody who didn’t deserve it as much as he did.
That was the moment he realized he was wrong, only partially. It didn’t mean he didn’t try to lash out, he deserved to enjoy some semblance of life if he was going to be the universe's punching bag. He decided to enjoy his life through the use of books; he had always enjoyed the stories his mother would graciously provide to him throughout his childhood and decided he would try some of his own. He first started by checking them out via the school’s library, but he soon found out that they would be trashed by the cruel world.
So, he resorted to using his phone, it had always been on his person ever since it was the one luxury he was provided with by his aunt, he could only guess that she felt bad when he had constantly returned home with bruises marring his skin – so in reward for not complaining had received a very cheap smartphone from her, which was greatly appreciated, to read these stories.
Sometimes he would also wonder what would’ve happened if he had never come across his only luxury in life, but the thought quickly ended when he realized how short his life would be without it. It had already been many years since he moved out of that same house, yet the thought still lingered as it did most nights.
These thoughts often plagued him at unpleasant times, such as right now on a bus to his workplace, even if the pitifully paid desk job made life even worse, he had bills to pay.
He started this interesting web novel last night, and the clever writing had made him determined to finish it by the time he went to work -- which was admittedly way better than the way he had been treated throughout his schooling. Now, people had to have a sufficient reason to be mean to him, although it never stopped them from being rude.
His eyes glided over the small screen in his hand, he had finally made it to the novel's climax.
“The man, clad in black, was swift in his movements. He knew Yoo Sangha could only hold the binding spell on The Great Demon King for a few more moments; which was plenty of time for himself and Lee Jihye to finish the tyrant once and for all.
The world was destined to fall into his ruin; but, as of this battle, Yoo Joonghyuk would change the fate of this world.
Lee Jihye blatantly runs head-first into the fray, slashing rapidly against her opponent. Using her mana she infuses it into her blade inflicting even more damage on the Demon; in doing so she creates an opening for Yoo Joonghyuk to strike the final blow. He shunpos towards the creature, bloody and beaten, but not yet dead.
Sangah stumbles as her spell breaks, only caught by Seolwha while calling out to Jihye “WATCH OUT!”, but she is too late. Lee Jihye was blasted away from the Demon, Joonghyuks eyes widen as he watches his apprentice's body fly through the air and crash into one of the many stone walls. “Jihye!!” Namwoon cries out. He dashes over to her slumped body, Seolwha swiftly following behind, her mana already sparkling as she starts chanting, laying her hands over the slumped body.
Joonghyuk couldn’t look away, he couldn’t bear to lose one of his own so close to the end. “YOU IDIOT!” Sooyoung calls out while she blocks one of the Demon King’s fatal fiery blows with her own fire. Yoo Joonghyuk quickly leaps back head snapping to the fight in front of him. “This is no time to be distracted, you bastard!” Joonghyuk snaps out of his daze and quickly rushes towards the battle between Han Sooyoung and the Demon King, Sooyoung had been burned by the Demon’s Hell-Fire as he laughs, “YOU PUNY HUMANS SHALL NEVER DEFEAT ME!! I AM THE GREAT DEMON KING!” In the Demon’s gloating, Yoo Joonghyuk had a perfect aim towards his weak spot and made his move.
Shunpoing close to the Demon King, he leaps in the air, and using his own skill – Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship – he lands the fatal blow. The Demon recoils in pain and tries to fight back, only to realize his core had been destroyed. He cries out “How - How could a mere human -”
Yoo Joonghyuk decapitates the “Great Demon King'' before he could utter another word, and quickly rushes off to check on his compatriots. He dashes over to Han Sooyoung, who is now wheezing on the ground, but luckily Lee Seolwha had enough mana left to heal the worst of the burns. Sooyoung peers up at him as one of her eyes is pinched in pain, “Remind me to beat you once I recover.” The subtle nods as a small smirk formed on his face. Then, their leader looks over to the fallen girl, the closest thing he had to remind him of his little sister her had lost all those years ago.
He then checks on Lee Jihye who is already up and fully recovered, Kim Namwoon holds her tight with tears in his eyes as Jihye tries to comfort him. “I thought you were dead.” He whispers to her. Jihye chuckles, “So did I. It sure felt like it.” Yoo Sangah swiftly steps back to leave the two alone, smiling at her young teammates.
Yoo Sangah sauntered over to him and leans over to talk to Yoo Joonghyuk, “Are you in need of any healing?” He replies curtly, ”No.” She sighs in relief, “That’s good at least, I don’t know if I would have enough mana left to heal you and it wouldn’t be near as efficient as Seolwha.”
He lets out a huff of laughter, “Lucky indeed.”
He peers back at the corpse of the Demon, the flesh had already begun to rot on the mass of red skin and death. He lets out a sigh of relief, and what feels like for the first time in his life, he finally has something to look forward to in the future.
THE END
Kim Dokja stares at the screen blankly, ‘ What a shitty way to end this book.’ His face furrows in disgust at the time and effort he put into this read just for it to end as lazily as that.
It was a waste for all of the previously fabulous writing to end on a subpar, and rather short climax without a decent resolution; it’s only open-ended. Throughout the entire story it had been foreshadowed that in order for Yoo Joonghyuk to defeat the Demon King, he would have to make a major sacrifice; and neither hide nor hair of that plot had been followed through to the end.
He also felt deeply upset that Jonghyuk didn’t even get to end with his love interest, which was so intricately crafted throughout the entire story, and the only one to make him truly happy for him to only barely speak a word to Lee Seolwha at the end. Even the background between Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon had been expanded upon! What the hell had happened in this last chapter? Even the actual fight had been subpar compared to the other, less important ones.
Not to mention the fact that the Kingdom of Murim had been struggling with political trials the entire time. Yet the author didn’t even bother to try and explain what would happen to the Kingdom after the defeat of the Demon King.
The only satisfying thing about the ending was Yoo Sangha, which had practically faded into the background, but it was nice for her to finally interact with the group without any fear. He had rather liked Yoo Sangha throughout the story, mainly because she had reminded him of a rather pleasant co-worker.
He places his head on the back of his seat, sighing from the exhausting day of work ahead of him and the subpar ending makes the day even worse. He closes his eyes, just wondering why such an abysmal chapter would be released -- and it was the ending no less.
Kim Dokja was quickly snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the squealing of the brakes on the train. His head quickly snaps up in attention, and he hears screams and cries from the other people on the train with him. Something was said over the intercom, but the mass hysteria had drowned out the voice. Trying to remain level-headed, he looks from side to side, peering around the entire space of the cart.
A woman next to him screams, “WE’RE GOING TO D-’
Crash.
His body is violently thrown and the world fades to black. As his eyes slowly close as he feels blood pool onto the ground below him he clutches his phone to his chest as a child cries out in pain as the sound of glass shattering seems to be never-ending.
Everything falls to white noise. Dokja would laugh if he could, the overwhelming joy flooding through him as he was finally able to escape his misery once and for all.
A smile crosses Kim Dokja’s face.
_________________________________
Kim Dokja’s eyes slowly flutter as he wakes up to a child slowly shaking him awake. The small hands are trembling as they are placed on his face, “Mister-” the child sniffles slightly “Mister please wake up.” The child's voice is quiet, but enough to wake him up, he quickly presses a hand to his temple as a throbbing pain course’s through him. He hisses in pain as he sets up from the cold, wet, stony floor. The child’s eyes follow his movement and the boy lets out a sharp gasp.
All things considered, he could’ve been worse off as he could only feel a small bump at the back of his head. His hand lifts to caress the bruise, his skin pale but rather clean; his clothes were a totally different story, however. He feels the same overall, still weak and tired.
He glances at the child, who looks at him with hopeful eyes. He tries to soothe the little boy with a kind smile and asks, “Where are we?” His voice sounds hoarse to his ears, either from dehydration or lack of usage. The kid furrows his brows at him and responds, “I’m not for sure, but I was brought here by a Demon.”
Kim Dokja’s eyes practically burst out of his skull at the mention, then thoroughly scans his surroundings. It was dark and damp, and he and the little boy were in what seemed like a cell with minimal amounts of hay thrown in with only a stone wall surrounding them – aside from the iron bars – and the only form of light was a torch that flickered somewhere along the wall outside.
He then remembers it from the novel, it was the first place Yoo Joonghyuk had been introduced; it was a human trafficking service run by Demons, but by the time Yoo Joonghyuk got here, all that was left were corpses. The Demons had been unwilling to be caught and killed their stock since they would be unable to transport them in time. Kim Dokja gritted his teeth as he remembered the tragic fate of all the inhabitants here, before a small hand “Mister, what's your name? Mine’s Lee Gilyoung.” He places a hand on top of Gilyoungs head and ruffles the child's dirty hair, the boy had obviously been here much longer than he had. “I’m Kim Dokja.” He says softly. The child furrows his brows at the strange name, but it doesn’t seem to bother him, “Don’t worry,” He says, trying to comfort the boy, “I’ll get you out of here.”
The child lights up, eyes shining before dissolving into tears, and buries his head into Dokja’s shirt, whispering ‘ thank you, thank you’ through sniffles. Dokja’s heart aches for the little child as he rubs a hand delicately up and down the boys back.
Dokja hears another voice, a little girl, call out, “Hey, Gilyoung, who are you talking to?”
Gilyoung’s head snap’s at the sound, “None of your business Yoosoung!”
The girl scoffs, what Dokja can only assume is from another cell, “As if Bug Breath, I just heard that guy say he can get us out of here.”
Gilyoung almost growls as he clings tighter to Kim Dokja, “No, he said he was gonna get me out of here!”
The girl practically yells back, “And what? You're gonna leave me here ?”
“That’s the plan bird-brain!”
There was a slight pause before Dokja hears the girl sniffle slightly and whispers, “I don’t want to be left here.”
Gilyoung quickly realizes what he did was wrong and apologizes to the little girl, “Hey Yoosoung, I’m sorry.”
She sniffles a little, “You better be!”
Lee Gilyoung sticks his tongue out in retaliation, even though she can’t see it.
The girl introduces herself as Shin Yoosoung, and tells him quite a similar story to Gilyoung’s; meaning she too had been kidnapped right off the street of a nearby Kingdom Murim, just as Gilyoung had been. The same kingdom Jonghyuk had been the Crown Prince of.
Good to know .
Kim Dokja bites down on his lip in thought, based on the lack of other hostages; the time for their death was coming shortly. In the novel, The Begotten S+ Class Prince, in the first few chapters it was revealed that the Demons soon realized they had been found out and sent most of what they deemed worthy of already; which, of course, meant that not all of their captives received such a fate -- like two grubby, underfed children and a weak adult male.
Kim Dokja needed a way out, running through all possible thoughts in his mind -- but didn’t have time to linger on any coherent thought before the thudding of footsteps was heard down the hallway. A breath caught in his chest as he pulled the little boy closer to him.
Thump, Thump, Thump, drawled the lumbering Demon with a double-sided axe in hand and a fat, round belly that pudges out from the makeshift pants from animals’ pelts. Keys jingle and chime with each step, on the Demon’s hip hanging off of a chain that kept said pants from falling off his hips.
The Demon looked rather human, aside from the blaring horns that stuck out from his head and sheen yellow-eyed that held black slits.
It huffed and looked at Kim Dokja with disdain. In the novel, it was a known fact that the two races had been at war for millennia, that is before the first Angelic-hybrid was born, Yoo Joonghyuk. Kim Dokja didn’t have time to reminisce over the cheesy names as the Demon smiled greedily at him, ready to spill his blood.
Kim Dokja scuffled back, dragging Gilyoung along with him as he scans the hallway the Demon had come from; and to Dokja’s pleasure, there had been no backup, meaning that if his shenanigans fail, the children might still be able to escape.
The Demon lurched forwards, Dokja’s back pressed against the stone-brick wall and he pushed Gilyoung away from him. The boy rolls back and cries out as his head hits the metal bars between his and Yoosungs cell. Dokja winces in pain for the boy, but can’t even dare apologize at the moment.
The Demon hefts up the axe, snarling while doing so and drool gets stuck in his beard, and Dokja turns to the side and raises his arms to protect his side. Then, the Demon swings down only his shoulder is caught in the blow.
Hooray.
He cries out in pain, it felt as if the Demon sliced through his collarbone as well as he growls and closes his eyes at the pain. It was the preferable outcome, but it didn’t stop it from hurting like a bitch .
Gilyoung and Yoosung cry out to him, “Mister!” He couldn’t hear them over the blood rushing to his head at the unbearable agony emanating from his shoulder.
The axe had gotten stuck in his body, the Demon not expecting him to move out of the way of the finishing blow -- moron. Never relenting, the Demon began to try and pry it out of him by the hilt -- leaning so close Kim Dokja could smell his putrid breath and gags.
Kim Dokja swings out his hand, feeling his pulse drop as he focuses on flowing energy -- mana -- to the appendage.
It’s scalding hot when he says, “Bryners Pyr!”
Yeah, he knows it’s cheesy and lame, but that’s the only beginner spell learned in the entire book and beggars can’t be choosers. It was only a little sputter compared to the full might of the fireball that would’ve come with mastery, but it did what it needed to do. Thankfully, the Demon had either been too stupid or undermined humans so much that the flame traveled just far enough to make direct contact with the Demon’s eye.
Said Demon goes sprawling, crying out in pain as -- with newfound strength -- Dokja rips off the rusty keys connected to the metal chain of the Demon. The Demon lowers the hands that were clutching at his face and swings wildly out when he feels Dokja grab ahold of the keys, but Dokja’s quick to clear the Demon’s arm radius.
Hissing out a breath, Dokja grabs his bad arm, the right one, and uses a slight nod to motion to Gilyoung to follow him. Gilyoung was still slumped against the bars, watching with horror at the Demon sprawled on the ground and clutching onto the bars for support. Noticing Dokja, he looks at the man with wide, teary eyes, then back down at the Demon. The boy then puts a singular index finger up to his mouth and looks questioningly at Kim Dokja. Understanding the boys asking if he should remain quiet, he nods. The boy then lowers his hand, and with a face of determination quietly crosses the room to Kim Dokja.
The boy flinches whenever the Demon curses out in pain, but the said Demon made no move to get up. Not wanting to invoke its wrath, either way, Gilyoung sped up and quickly clung to Dokja’s side. Dokja releases a breath, and using his good arm points at the door, lifts the keys in his hand, then points at Gilyoung. The boy nods at Kim Dokja and takes the keys, politely, from the man’s hands, and tries multiple times to unlock the door.
The Demon then growls in anger, “You bitch! I will slice your throat and feast on your organs!” Gilyoung lets out a sob, desperately pushing another key into the lock until he hears a click . He swings the door open, the creaking hinges alert the Demon and he gruffly hollers at the humans, “Get back here! Or you’ll regret it.”
Kim Dokja rolls his eyes, and still holding up his arm, follows Gilyoung out of the cell. Gilyoung looks at him, eyes wide as Kim Dokja then makes a motion to lock the door behind them, which Gilyoung does so. Then, without question, Gilyoung opens Yoosungs cell door and both kids let out sobs while hugging each other before Dokja kneels to their level and quiets them. “We will get out of here, but I need you two to be as silent as you can. Can you do that for me?” He whispers, and already picking up on his message, both kids only nod. He smiles at them, and he can hear their heart rates slow as he raises to his feet. He mouths out, Follow me , which both kids easily comply too, and they walk soundlessly down the hall.
He alerts the kids to stand against the wall as somebody runs past the hallway, hollering something. Kim Dokja relaxes slightly, knowing Yoo Joonghyuk is here he could breathe easily. He knows it wouldn’t matter if they were caught before they were found by the protagonist. As soon as he thinks that, the Demon that had been blinded yells back to the passing Demon for help and Kim Dokja knows he has to get himself and the kids out of there.
Before the other Demon doubles back, he makes a bee-line to the other side of the hallway, since his cell had been located on the far left it would give them some time. He quickly peaks his head out to examine the hallway, trying to decide if they should go left or right, and his eyes catch on a lone wooden door in the middle of the hall. Bingo .
Without a word he send the children out first, and, thankfully, being the fastest in the group, he managed to clear wondering eyes when he hears the two Demons screech in horror at losing the humans.
Gilyoung, and bless that child, knew exactly where to go and quickly swung open the door for Yoosung and only kept it open long enough for Dokja to slide in before promptly shutting it and collapsing onto his butt.
Yoosung makes to turn on the light switch for the lantern located on a desk in, what he assumes to be a cleaners closet based on the chemical smell and shelves stacked with cleaning supplies-- which was surprising considering the filth some of the Demons lived in. Dokja catches her hand, and she turns to look at him. He softly squeezes the hand in his grip and eases her to the floor with him next to Gilyoung.
In the softest voice he can manage, he tells them, “We need to remain undetectable, okay?” And his eyes easily adjust to the darkness as they nod frantically and begin to clutch onto him. “Mister,” the boy speaks up, “I- I can’t see anything.” Dokja uses a hand to caress the boy’s head to comfort him, “It’s okay, your eyes will adjust shortly.” The girl speaks up, “Will mine?”
And, oh, how his heart aches for these desperate children who probably haven’t had another human interaction or even seen the sun in months if not years.
“Yours will too Yoosung, don’t worry.” He says, and wipes off some lingering dirt on the girl’s cheek as she buries her head into his side and cries softly, “ Okay .”
Kim Doka withholds a sigh and, instead, surveys the room and locates a singular vent at the top of the room that faces the door, or whatever the equivalent of one is in the novel.
Hm .
He can tell from the width that he would not be able to fit through the opening, but the children might be able to. He pats them slightly and rises to his feet, still holding his injured arm, and raises on his toes to get a better look at the vent, when a waft of air smacks him in the face.
It smelled of fresh rain and bitter earth and Kim Dokja couldn’t have been more relieved.
He climbs onto the table that held the lantern and a few other objects, which looks like a screwdriver and he’s quick to swipe the thing. He’s quiet as he stands on the rickety table and manages to balance on the balls of his feet and gets to work trying to either pry or unscrew the grate blocking the vent.
“What are you doing Mister?” The boy asked.
He turns to the two children, who clutch at the table he is currently standing on with wide eyes. He opens his mouth to answer, but swiftly closes it when he hears the thundering of feet and yells of, “ Find them! ” It startles the kids, but they remain quiet, and after a few moments of silence, he replies, “Getting you two out of here.”
The girl tugs at his pants, which look torn to shreds at the ankle, but the action catches his attention, “But, what about you Mister?” Her wide brown eyes look at him with distress as tears well again. “I’ll find my own way out.” he debates if he should say the next part, but decides he’d rather have the kids hate him than have them killed , “It’ll be easier if you two are out of the way once I escape.”
Thankfully, neither child takes offense to his statement, only looking at him with determination.
After a bit more fiddling with the metal covering, he gets the damn thing off. It does make a loud clattering noise, so he’s quick to silence it and lower himself off the table, and tucks the screwdriver into his pants. The children’s eyes follow his every movement as he presses an ear onto the door to listen. He’s grateful to hear screams of anguish and harsh curses as Demons run to and fro -- but it’s far off from where they are and they are obviously busy dealing with a certain Protagonist.
He kneels down to be at eye level with the kids, Gilyoung clutches the hem of his own shirt, while Yoosung bites her lip. Kim Dokja gives them the best smile he can and speaks, “I need you two to crawl through that vent to find one that leads outside and get as far away as you can, or find a person to help you. Can you guys do that for me?”
Dokja realizes they may misunderstand him since he’s probably speaking rather crudely compared to what they are used to -- but it seems it doesn’t even matter to them. “Mister, will we ever see you again?” It’s said with a morose tone from the little boy, whom Dokja can now only imagine watched many shed blood and fall lifeless to the floor, this must be the child's way of making the man promise he too will not die. Dokja smiles at him as he rises to his feet and leads the two to the vent, “Of course! It may take a while though.”
It hurts more than he thought it would to lie to the child.
The little girl, far more untrusting than the boy who lit up at Dokja’s words, crosses her arms, “Do you promise?” She says with such sincerity it makes Dokja’s facade break ever-so-slightly. “I promise.” He says resolutely. And the girl then takes his answer seriously.
He helps them onto the table, and can only do so much to help them through the opening to the vent, but they were smart and strong and eventually figured out how to manage such a feat. Gilyoung, being the taller one, got on Yoosung's shoulders -- much to her disgruntlement -- and managed to shimmy his way into the vent with a helpful push from Dokja. And, Dokja isn’t sure how, but the boy manages to turn back to Yoosung and dangles a hand out of the vent to grab her. “Come on bird-brain!” Gilyoung says quietly as Yoosung jumps and rattles the whole table while doing so, “Shut it!” She says. Dokja manages to lift her just enough that she could reach Gilyoungs hand, and between the three of them, get her into the vent.
Once she manages to get in, he cups his hands and gets as close as he can to the two and manages to whisper-yell, “If you see a tall man with black side-swept hair in armor, tell him what happened to you two and he will take care of you. Okay?” Dokja knew the protagonist, Yoo Joonghyuk, had a soft spot for children due to his little sister and would help the two.
“Yes sir!” Says Gilyoung and with soft goodbye, the two children shuffle out of the area and towards the outside world.
All is quiet for a moment, as Dokja leans against a bare wall his head tilted so he can look up at the glum ceiling, and lets out a sigh through his nose. He slides down to a seated position and titles his head to look at the cracks on the floor. A silent prayer leaves him since he can only hope the kids make it out safe.
He hears clamoring outside of the door and doesn’t think anything of it before the door is pulled on so hard it’s thrown off of its hinges. He’s quick to make it to his feet before the twisted faces of 3 or so Demons grab at him and pull him out of the closet. “ There you are !” He scowls at them, disgusted that he can hear a lick of joy in the voice of the Demon.
Kim Dokja placed on his knees, both his shoulder stretched and turned out so far they are almost pulled out of the socket. His neck is fully exposed, and while trying to turn away and struggle, his face is slashed by a sword of one of the ones holding his arms. The other, all while giggling, runs his own sword straight through his calf, just barely misses the bone, and plants it into the ground, giving Kim Dokja no hope for escape.
He cried out in pain, unwilling and unable to keep it held back. Tears slid down his face as he breathes rapidly in pain, and bites down his lip so hard it draws blood. The throbbing coming from his leg makes him gasp every so often, even if he isn’t bleeding out it is utterly unbearable.
His head is hung low, trying desperately to keep calm, before a hand lifts him by the chin and he is met face-to-face with the Demons ring leader, “Say your goodbyes.” The Demon says gruffly. The hand holding his head, caress his chin before lowering his head back to his slumped position; the movement sent a shiver up Kim Dokja’s spine.
He hears the swish of a sword being held high, and Kim Dokja waits for the end, and … nothing happens.
What does happen is clamoring of battle that heads right towards Kim Dokja and the surrounding Demons. He feels the Demons holding him flinch away from the screams of their allies, tweaking his shoulder joint even further. He can feel them quiver as an overwhelming presence makes itself known.
Yoo Joonghyuk.
Kim Dokja cranes his head to look at the protagonist, eyes slightly watery -- but if Yoo Joonghyuk sees him he doesn’t make it obvious as the Demons holding his arms drop the appendages and charge at the MC, on their leader's orders who swiftly follows them.
They let out battle cries, which Dokja is not paying attention to. He, rather, focuses his attention on the sword impaling his leg and manages to pull the entire thing out of his leg, even in the odd position that required such a feat. He cries out in pain, he managed to also make the injury worse while pulling the damn thing out, which catches one of the Demon’s attention. Kim Dokja watches in terror and awe as the Demon's belligerence is taken advantage of, Yoo Joonghyuk in one powerful swing cuts the Demon's head clean off the Demon's shoulders.
Kim Dokja doesn’t even gag at the sight as the body collapses to the ground and arteries begin to spurt out blood, he just feels relieved to know one of the damn bastards was dead. He allows himself to sit back and land on his ass, Kim Dokja is able to scooch himself to the nearest wall to help himself get to his feet, even if he’s bleeding profusely.
He takes a breath in his nose, then out of his mouth. He feels weary, but in a life-or-death situation, he doesn’t bother to acknowledge that fact and presses forward. It’s a horrible shambling movement, that gives him a terrible headache in all honesty, but he will have time to recover elsewhere.
Right now he has a promise to keep with two kids.
He slides against the wall, back turned to the scuffle between the protagonist and the Demons. And, even in the few moments he saw his face, Yoo Joonghyuk was by far the most attractive person Kim Dokja had ever seen. The way he is described in the book does him no justice than seeing his beautiful, breathing form.
Kim Dokja, in a moment of weakness, looks back at the man. Each movement is perfectly executed a dance of the utmost impeccable skill. His lack of armor shows for that, only a breastplate displayed on the man’s chest. The shining metal gleams in the lowlight, looking just as impeccable as the Prince himself. It holds the insignia of the Murim Kingdom a snarling wolf, eyes always the most detailed thing about the creature that would strike fear into Murim’s opponents.
Fitting.
The sound of charging footsteps brings Kim Dokja back to reality and his head snaps to the Demons barreling towards him and Yoo Joonghyuk. He stops the stumbling motion that would’ve guided him right to their clutches, and in a moment of desperation probably does the stupidest thing he could have managed.
Wide, quivering eyes shone with power as Kim Dokja casts his hands out before him calling out, “Disaperen Meigh!” And a thick, dark purple fog comes forth from every surrounding angle it possibly could have. It’s effective at blinding everyone of their sight, as seen by how even the clashing of swords and metal stops, all deprived of their sight except Kim Dokja.
Kim Dokja, thankful his rashness actually paid off, makes the fastest escape possible. This isn’t saying much since his leg had a hole in it and he had to hobble along a wall as quietly as possible in order to avoid the wild slashes of the Demons who begin to release battle cries and curses.
He doesn’t pause in his stride, but he does look toward Yoo Joonghyuk, only for a moment. Even the Protagonist couldn’t see through the fog and made for the wall Dokja was also relying on. Kim Dokja feels the man’s hand slide past his shoulder, his bad one, and he hisses out in pain.
Kim Dokja winces at his action, fully well expecting to lose his life in the next few seconds, but he was wrong. The protagonist flinches back instead, which was odd, but Kim Dokja didn’t question his action at the moment.
Whatever had happened at the moment, the Prince looked down at his hand, then up at Kim Dokja in wonder; as in, such direct eye contact that it was Kim Dokja’s turn to flinch away from the Prince.
As if trying to placate a wild animal, Yoo Jonghyuk raises his hand that wasn’t holding his sword -- the protagonist's eyes every so often glance over to the direction of the screaming Demons, who had managed to start fighting each other due to their stupidity and lack of sight -- and the Prince began approaching Kim Dokja.
Knowing this didn’t happen in the original novel, despite Yoo Joonghyuk acting way out of character, Kim Dokja made a run for it. Kim Dokja was certain Yoo Joonghyuk gave chase but had been stopped due to the fog clearing and the last few remaining Demons.
Kim Dokja knew he wasn’t in his right mind, it was fogged by pain and even further exhaustion -- part of the reason he knew he wouldn’t be well equipped to handle a protagonist of Yoo Joonghyuks magnitude at the moment. Still, Kim Dokja gave credit to the Prince where credit was due, mid-stride, he glances over his shoulder to watch the other man: Yoo Joonghyuk made quick work of all of the lumbering, frighteningly strong, Demons.
His leg continued to cry out to him in pain, but Kim Dokja could not stop moving. He tried to steady his breathing; knowing he was so close to being free of the prison as he followed the corpses, grotesque as they were, that Yoo Joonghyuk left in his wake of the raid of the slave prison.
Kim Dokja found it strange that Yoo Joonghyuk came in alone but soon discovered he hadn’t. There were also at least a dozen dead soldiers littered among the Demon corpses. Kim Dokja wished them an easy passing and hoped their deaths were short-lived as he kept going, desperate to find an out of the hellhole he had awoken in.
He wasn’t far off either, the closer Kim Dokja made to the outside world the more torches there had been. He sighed in relief and sagged against the wall for a moment when he saw the moonlight peering in from the singular door that led to civilization in the prison.
Morale renewed, Kim Dokja made for the door a soft smile coating his face, but he heard the steps of the Protagonist. Damn, the man was quick on his feet, soon on the other man’s tail and Kim Dokja slightly panicked. However, with his relief came a clear mind, and he was quick to rip off a cloak held by one of the fallen Murim soldiers, a silent thanks since it was a non-descript brown color, and threw it on himself to the best of his abilities.
The sweet scent of grass and rainwater assaulted Kim Dokja’s nose in the best possible way. He didn’t realize how musky and rather nauseating the prison had been, at least in comparison with the fresh wind that felt like freedom on his skin.
Listening to the footsteps draw ever closer, he managed to slink out of the prison metal door; not unnoticed. The kids, and bless them for listening to every word he said, ran to him screaming, “Mister!” and tackled him to the ground. It was like the pain subsided as the kid's bright smiles met his face and he managed to smile himself. A hulking man was quick to make his way over to the children and him, the kids also scrambled off of him and tried to help Kim Dokja to his feet - which he was very grateful for.
Kim Dokja met eyes with the soldier.
“Are you alright? Your wounds seem rather grievous for you to be standing.”
Ah , so this is the voice of the sweet Lee Hyunsung.
“No worries. It sincerely isn’t as bad as it looks.” And, Kim Dokja is now lying through his teeth for his own safety and to put the kid's minds at ease. He knows he’ll have to leave shortly, the cloak will only mask his identity for so long until Yoo Joonghyuk either gets a good look at his face or at his blood seeping through the material.
The guard stands stiff, unsure of what to do with Kim Dokja’s words. The large man does take ease in the other man's presence since the kids are clinging to the end of the hooded cape and smiling brighter than they ever had when they were saved from such a wretched place.
Kim Dokja would’ve loved to kneel back down to send off the children he saved but knows if he settles on the ground again there is no chance of him getting back up. He does settle, through gritted teeth due to the pain, to place his hands on the children's heads and soothe them by brushing his fingers through their dirty hair. They look at him with admiration, ready to easily abide by his next words and Kim Dokja hopes it still stands.
Kim Dokja jumps and turns as the metal door behind them is swung open with such force, the pristine metal hinges fly off and the door lands on the ground with a dull thud.
Shit.
Kim Dokja needs to wrap this up shortly and be on his merry way away from the danger the Yoo Joonghyuk will bring.
At this point in time is when Yoo Joonghyuk is most volatile, aside from when he loses his sister, he just found out about his parent's abandonment of the kingdom and betrayal of the Demon King to give them wealth a riches on an entirely different continent. They had been, instead, killed once done handing over most of the Murim Kingdoms' war plans; which led to a brutal defeat for the Murim Kingdom’s army.
It’s never specified in the novel of why after such a loss they would raid one of the Demon's human trafficking systems, but it’s implied that it was Yoo Joonghyuk's way of ‘blowing off steam’.
How terrifying.
Kim Dokja speaks in a soft hushed tone, as thankfully Han Sooyoung berates Yoo Jonghyuk for killing all of the Demons just as Lee Jihye -- his apprentice -- happily drags the last remaining Demon out of the same opening Yoo Jonghyuk had come from, and Dokja tells the kids, “I will see you shortly, please behave.” He then turns away from the children, knowing this would be for their benefit and that he is unable to help the two children any further than this.
He is unfit too.
And especially in the midst of Yoo Joonghyuk who seems to be searching for him among his soldiers. He pushes his advisor, Han Sooyoung, to do so but she is just as stubborn as he is and is hot on his coat-tails, which slows the Prince down enough for Kim Dokja to say the equivalent of goodbyes.
They still cling to him, overlapping pleadings of, “Where are you going?” and “You can’t leave us!” Kim Dokja is at a loss of words at their actions, he had never been in a situation like this before. He channels his best acting skills and hides his melancholy emotions, “Trust me, I will come back for you.”
He really hates to lie to them so belligerently; he hopes he can make good on his promise one day.
They take his word so easily and let him go. They look nervous to watch him go, but look to each other for comfort and turn back with smiling faces and waving hands as he leaves.
“Halt.”
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck oh-
Something grabs onto his cloak's hood, since he is now speed-walking as fast as he can away from the voice, it pulls him back and chokes him. Kim Dokja is practically lifted off the ground when he is whipped around to face the protagonist himself.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Far, far away from you and your crazy ass.
But as deep gray eyes stare into his own murky black ones, Kim Dokja is able to take in the full being of the man in front of him. Yoo Jonghyuk isn’t just a character within a novel, he is now a fully-fledged human being -- who is currently holding Kim Dokja by the scruff.
Kim Dokja allows his eyes to flit over the man's shoulder and to the kids who look rather confused and disheartened by Yoo Jonghyuk manhandling him. He currently has the protagonist's full attention on him, and he then locks eyes with the man yet again, and something softens the protagonist's gaze; and like the horrid bastard he is, he uses it against the Protagonist.
“Take care of them. They deserve it.”
And in a small voice, Kim Dokja says, “ Disaperen Meigh .” Yet, the man keeps hold of Kim Dokja and actually raises his other hand to grip Kim Dokja’s good shoulder, which Kim Dokja thanks the gods of the world for. The rest of Murim's party does not handle the spell nearly as well as their prince, they all become rather spastic and panicked. Much to Kim Dokja’s surprise, the spell had been implemented for at least a mile from where he was.
Kim Dokja doesn’t bother to admire his work and tried to wriggle out of the Prince's grasp, only to have it tighten and Yoo Joonghyuk’s baritone voice says, “Stop struggling, it is futile.” Kim Dokja rolls his eyes and uses his good leg to kick Yoo Joonghyuks precious sword out of its sheath and it clatters on the ground. That manages to startle the Protagonist enough to loosen his grip, which Kim Dokja slips out of.
As soon as he turns to make his daring escape, Yoo Joonghyuk uses his bullshit Main Character reflexes to catch hold of the back of the cloak.
Damn, this bastard. Why can’t he just give up?
Usually, in the novel with similar conflicts, Yoo Joonghyuk would allow said prisoner to escape his grasp with promises to just track the escapee down later. It was never made true, due to the author's lazy writing and the many plot holes, so Kim Doka began referring to the Protagonist similarly to a Sun Fish due to his easy giving up of vital information and characters for the sake of the plot.
Instead of trying to fight with Yoo Joonghyuks strength, Kim Dokja instead just slips out of the cloaks entirely; leaving Yoo Joonghyuk stunned as he flees into the surrounding woods. It isn’t the most gracious escape, but this spell seemed to have lasted longer than his previous and Kim Dokja did not feel as if he was on the brink of collapse, so that was a plus.
It does make Kim Dokja wonder, still running to the best of his ability away from the Protagonist shouting, “ Come back here !”, how he managed to actually use multiple spells. The ‘Disappearing Mist’ was a spell of medium class users, draining any novice of mana entirely, yet Kim Dokja was still standing and actively fleeing.
Aside from that, there’s a tug on Kim Dokja’s heart as he remembers the sight of the children he had saved watching him go. Kim Dokja never had a great affinity with kids, but perhaps he related to the two in the novel due to their similar trauma.
It was something for another time since Kim Dokja needed to find the nearest town and seek help for his wounds, still bleeding with no sign of stopping.
Kim Dokja could also swear, even a good mile away from the prison, he heard Yoo Joonghyuk click his tongue in distaste.