Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sun leaked through the bottom gap of the curtains, illuminating the floor of the dark room. Crumpled papers and cans of soda lay scattered across the land. The laptop sat humming on the desk, the screen displayed a digital character reaching out towards a sleeping face. Various sheets with scribbles are trapped under the arms of a young man, who happened to use the arms as a substitute for a pillow. His chest rises and falls slowly, ignoring the bustle of the businessmen leaving for work from outside his window. 

Ttok ttok.

“Yong-Sun, breakfast is ready.” A gruff and low voice called out to him from beyond the door. The young man’s lids slowly flitted apart and exposed his grey eyes to the light from the hallway. 

The door creaked open as he blinked himself awake and stretched his limbs, cramped from the terrible sleeping position. He turned his head in the direction of the intruder, long hair fell to the side of his face and rested on his shoulders. 

An older man stood in the doorway dressed in all-black clothing. He looked menacing as the light from the hallway shadowed his face. However, Yong-Sun did not flinch. He stared at the older man for a moment before registering who it was.

“Oppa,” he greeted the man with a yawn. His only brother, Yu Jung-Hyeok. Dubbed “Supreme King” of the gaming world. “Did you wake up Mia-ah?” 

“Mm,” Jung-Hyeok hummed as an affirmative reply. Yong-sun nodded back to confirm that he had heard it. “I’ve already sent her to school.”

“What’s for breakfast?” He asked, rubbing his eyes.

The other ignored his question, “Did you stay up late again?” 

Jung-Hyeok inspected the littered room. The bed sheets weren’t done; the curtains were closed; a pillow was on the floor; and lastly, Yong-Sun had fallen asleep on his desk in front of the black laptop screen. The younger man had dark bags hanging under his eyes. 

“Yeah… my character designs weren’t done,” Yong-Sun pushed himself off the desk and walked towards the mess on the floor to start picking up the cans, “and I had a sudden rush of inspiration.”

He stuffed multiple cans in his arms before dropping them into the trash bin next to his desk. His brother stood sternly by the door with his arms crossed, his brows furrowed further at his explanation.

“Kim Yong-Sun.”

The owner of the name sighed, “I know. It's a bad habit.” 

Yong-Sun left the rest of his room as it was and opened one side of his curtains. He squinted at the harsh onslaught of sunlight finally breaching past the barrier. 

“What’s for breakfast?” He repeated his previously ignored question and slipped on a sweatshirt over the white-laced bra. Jung-Hyeok walked closer to him and helped him untangle the mess on his head before tying his hair into a braid. 

“Spaghetti.”

“Without tomatoes?”

“Without tomatoes.” 

Yong-Sun smiled and leaned back onto Jung-Hyeok’s chest, “Sounds good.”

It was a quiet breakfast for the two of them. It wasn't to the point where it was uncomfortable, but it did make Yong-Sun wish the kids were with them. Yi Ji-Hye and Kim Nam-Woon always knew how to make it exciting with their bickering over Yu Jung-Hyeok's attention. 

Yong-Sun was pretty sure that Nam-Woon had a crush on her but didn't have the courage to confess.

⸢Why was he being so reminiscent today?⸥

He continued to eat his carbonara spaghetti in peace with the soft clicking of their utensils hitting the plate. Yu Jung-Hyeok was a great chef, though the man refused to eat anything but his own handmade meals. It made the younger man believe that his brother’s food was spiked before. 

“Yong-Sun.” 

“Hm?”

“Help me with the editing,” Jung-Hyeok asked with a hint of shame. At least he knew to be careful while “asking” for help.

“If you buy me that squid I’ve got my eye on then I’ll help you with the next 3 videos,” Yong-Sun bargained confidently. He knew his brother wouldn’t pay him in money. Jung-Hyeok’s eyebrow twitched.

“8 videos.” 

“5 videos and a customised mousepad,” he offered, The man in black pondered silently for a few minutes.

“Fine…” he gave in and nodded. Yong-Sun flashed him a wide grin and thanked him. Jung-Hyeok sighed and shook his head. The older man would always give in to Yong-Sun’s deals. 

They fell back into silence after that, finishing their own plates. Yong-Sun picked up his empty plate and Jung-Hyeok’s then moved to clean them in the kitchen sink.

“Yong-Sun.”

“Hm?”

Yongsun didn’t turn to look at his brother this time.

“If I did something bad to someone… would you forgive me?” 

It was a strange question to ask in the morning. The water ran and hit against the plate he was holding as he thought over the strange question.

“Did they deserve it?” He asked in return. 

“Maybe he did.”

He rubbed the plate clean of any leftover stains.

“Then I would forgive you.”

Another pause. Then a small huff.

“Thank you,” Jung-Hyeok mumbled. 

“Mi-ah would hit you though.”

His brother’s hushed laughter rang clearly in the silence.

“She would wouldn’t she.” 

Yong-Sun left later in the afternoon. His brother stayed at home as always. Being a streamer meant that he didn’t have to leave the comfort of his house and could still earn money. 

Usually, Jung-Hyeok's lover would drive him to university, but the two of them had split up a few months back. He never found out the reason why. Perhaps Yi Seol-Hwa had enough of his brother's terrible personality.

Ping!

A notification came up on his phone screen. 

[You have an incoming message from the group chat ‘Ready, Set, Action!’.]

He opened the message in the messaging app. 

Uri♡ — [OMG!! YOU GYS!]

Chuuni — [wut?]

Uri♡ — [THE SUPREME KIGN’S NEWEST VID JUST PREMIERSD AND IS SO GOOD (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)]

Wongsung-i — [Wow im so surprised]

Yong-Sun sighed when he saw the messages from his friends. Uriel was always enthusiastic about Jung-Hyeok’s work. He typed in a reply.

OLoD — [glad you like it uri. it was hard work.]

Uri♡ — [TYSM YS!!! <33]

Chuuni — [i dont get the hype]

Chuuni — [he only shows his hands]

Wongsung-i — [Oh no…]

– Uri♡ is typing⋯

More messages popped up on his screen but he ignored them. They all met on an MMORPG. They were supposed to be a temporary party for an event but ended up bonding over the game. Yong-Sun appreciated that none of them usually asked about personal stuff or used him to get free merch of the “Supreme King”.

 “Chuuni” was the youngest of them all, being 16 years old. They were wise enough to not share their real name but he calls himself “Abyssal Black Flame Dragon”. Everyone calls him Dragon for short. He's a faceless streamer with a hard case of 8th-grader syndrome.

“Wongsung-i” was the second oldest of the group, standing at 30. It took forever to make him open up about his age. The man’s real name was Sun Wu-Kong. He was a well-known Chinese V-tuber.

“Uri” was older than Yong-Sun by a few years, being 27. Another foreigner who was very enthusiastic about keeping up with streamers and the media. She calls herself “Uriel” on the platform and is a popular indie singer.

There was someone else in their group, but they hadn’t said anything in a while. 

⸢He wondered if that man was still here.⸥

Ping!

Wongsung-i — [@OLoD Yongsun!! Save us from her wrath!]

Uri♡ — [NO LMEM BEAT THE SIH OUTA THSI CHILSD]

Chuuni — [IM A MINOR DONT TOUCH ME OLD HAG]

He sighed and texted back into the group chat. 

OLoD — [uri, please spare the dragon this once.]

OLoD — [he has a secret account for watching the supreme king.]

Chuuni — [NO I DONT HES LYINGN!!!]

Wongsung-i — [Who knew our dear dragon was a tsundere~~]

Chuuni — [I SWEAR I DONT! HES LYIGN!!!! LISTN TO MEEE]

Uri♡ — [Our dragon is so cute because he’s a tsuntsun~~<333]

Chuuni — [NOOOO MY REPUTATION]

Wongsung-i — [What reputation? Lmao]

Uri♡— [Dragon is so delulu sometimes XD]

Yong-Sun huffed out a small laugh then continued on his way to his university. 

OLoD — [i’m on my way to uni right now.]

OLoD — [i’ll be back later.]

– 3 people are typing⋯

He put his phone on silent and plugged in his earplugs to listen to music. It was a Korean song Uriel had recommended him to listen to. It was about a songwriter writing about a past lover. He liked it more than he thought he would. It had a nice melody and the singer’s voice was soothing.

He stepped onto the train and stood near the exit as the doors closed. His earplugs continued to sing into his ears as he closed his eyes and held onto the pole, swaying his head to the music.

Ping!

Yong-Sun reached for the phone in his pocket to open the notification but then he froze. 

⸢Didn’t he already turn the sound off?⸥

When he opened his eyes, there was a blue screen floating in front of his face. Random text that he couldn’t make out was written on it. 

+

[Hidden Scenario – ????
Category: Sub
Difficulty: S
Clear Condition(s):
1. See the end of the ??? Timeline
2. Help the constellation D3@m0n K!n¿ 0f S4lv@t!o?
3. Keep Incarnation 7u J¡n¿-Hy3o< alive (optional)
Compensation/Reward(s): Knowledge of the ??? Timeline, reunion with Incarnation K!m Y0n¿-5u?'' ■■■■■■, 10,000,000 coins
Failure: Death(?), Incarnation Kim ¥o?g-S¡n will not ■■■■■■]

+

The letters kept flashing and switching. It wasn’t the first time he had seen this message box but certain words were completely blocked out. His eyes strained to read it properly. 

This box would pop up and give him a task. No one but him could see it. At first, he ignored it, but it started to annoy him when it followed him around. He got the task done with and the box disappeared for a few weeks before it appeared again.

Yong-Sun eventually got used to having the box float around him. Sometimes it would comment on his everyday life. It was similar to having a digital version of Yu Jung-Hyeok follow him everywhere and nitpicking on every little mistake in his step.

[Will you accept this scenario?]
[ YES/NO ]

This new [scenario] was a bit unnerving. There was too much content that was cut off and he couldn’t understand what it was asking for. It was obviously a sign that he shouldn’t accept it. 

[ YES/NO ]

The blue box floated ominously before his face.

[ YES/NO ]

Then his mind wandered off to think. Would it be so bad to accept it? His previous tasks weren’t all that exciting. They were just minor tasks such as “Prepare Yu Jung-Hyeok a light meal” or “Help Yi Hyeon-Seong get a lover”. Yi Ji-Hye and Kim Nam-Woon would occasionally drag him into their teenage drama and make him solve it for them. Even Yi Seol-Hwa’s requests for his help in the hospital were more laborious and interesting.

⸢He should text his brother.⸥

Ping!

[ YES /NO ]

Everything went black.

Chapter Text

Kim Yong-Sun woke up to a throbbing headache and his breakfast coming up from his guts. Wheezes and coughs echoed in the space he was in. His vision was filled with blurs of memories that flashed through his head. He coughed up the rest of his empty stomach, throat sore and dry. His body collapsed onto the floor, drained of energy. Kim Yong-Sun didn't know where he was, but he didn't want to know either. He was so exhausted from spilling his guts out, that he could barely lift a finger. His body relaxed and slumped further down onto the soft surface of the floor. 

He roused again to someone calling out to him. It was familiar but he couldn’t quite remember why. Eyes daring to flutter open, a bright light entered his eyes as he adjusted to the morning rays. 

⸢Wait, was this even daylight?⸥

He blinked twice and squinted. Someone shining a torch in his eyes. Kim Yong-Sun’s vision cleared and he was greeted by the clearest obsidian eyes he had ever seen. Those eyes complimented the pale skin of the user. It was like he was in the presence of some kind of…

“Angel?” He mumbled under his breath. It seemed as though the other had flustered for a second but then their face was overcome with a normal smile. It truly was like he was being greeted into the heavens. 

“You’re awake,” it was the soft voice of a man. Though Kim Yong-Sun would say that he didn’t look to be packing much muscle. 

“You alright? It looked like you fell from the sky.” The man helped Yong-Sun into a sitting position.

“It would seem as though we both fell from heaven to meet, mon Lucifer.” He replied, not breaking eye contact with the angelic face. The other’s eyes widened slightly, taken aback by the nickname. Yong-Sun’s eyes softened, it was familiar. 

“I'm Kim Yong-Sun. Who are you?” He tilted his head to the side.

“Kim Dok-Ja.” The man, now Kim Dok-Ja, replied shortly. Yong-Sun nodded in acknowledgement. 

The name was just as pleasant as the man himself. If Yong-Sun were a girl, he would probably be grateful to fall into his slim arms. 

Kim Dok-Ja guided him into standing up.

“A fitting name for someone like you,” He glanced up and down Kim Dok-Ja’s body. “A reader who is rather pale. I’d be concerned, but I cannot talk.” 

Yong-Sun looked down at the back of his hands. They too were pale. 

“Dok-Ja-ssi, where are we?” Yong-Sun looked up to the sky, loitered with new stars he hadn’t seen before. 

“We’re in Seoul,” Kim Dok-Ja stated in an a-matter-of-fact-ly tone, as though it were obvious. 

Kim Yong-Sun wasn’t stupid. This Seoul looked, unlike the one he was familiar with. He glared at the sky that was lit up with stars.

“Excuse my accusation, but could it be that you are lying?” He turned to gently glare at Kim Dok-Ja.

“Why do you say that?”

“The stars. They don’t align as they should.” Kim Yong-Sun glanced back up to the sky. 

“It’s as though the stars were moving as per their command. See? The Big Dipper had moved southward.” He pointed at the constellation towards the south of the sky.

It was unusual and Yong-Sun was not enjoying the shift. Irregular patterns littered the sky. Then a window popped up in front of him like in a game.

[Many constellations are surprised by your statements!]

[The constellation who likes to change gender greets you warmly.]

“What the…” Yong-Sun stared at the pop-up windows. It was a similar design to those message boxes he'd get when he did something wrong. “Dok-Ja-ssi… Do you know what it means by ‘constellations’?” 

“Those ‘constellations’ are the audience.” Kim Dok-Ja explained briefly with a grin, but it was enough for now. Yong-Sun looked back to the sky.

“Greetings to you too,” Changing genders… “Prince of… um, Asgard?” 

When it comes to myths and legends, there weren’t many about changing genders. But whenever he found one, it was about Prince Loki of Asgard.

More windows popped up.

[Many constellations of the nebula ‘Asgard’ are left aghast!]

[The constellation who likes to change genders is smiling fondly at you.]

Kim Yong-Sun shifted to glance at Kim Dok-Ja. He was ever-so-slightly surprised, but he held an interested gaze. 

Dok-Ja ruffled Yong-Sun's hair, "You seem to be an expert at myths, Yong-Sun-yah."  

He nodded slightly, not wanting to speak up. Kim Dok-Ja had a similar presence as his brother did, but more gentle. 

⸢He liked the head pat.⸥

"We should get going. I have a lot to do." 

The two of them made it off of the top of the building and into the lower floors. Kim Dok-Ja was looking for a charger, whilst Kim Yong-Sun looked for any food or clothes to wear. It wasn't for himself, more for his Hyung than anything. Dok-Ja was just wearing a dirty robe. Without any luck, the two didn't find anything. 

Then they were found by someone. Dok-Ja knew them, however, Yong-Sun didn't deem them trustworthy. The new man led them downwards.

"It reeks," Yong-Sun mumbled, just loud enough for Dok-Ja to hear.

"And you know what? I killed our team-leader-Kim myself," The new man, named Yoon or something, spoke to Kim Dok-Ja. "The same guy we'd wish would die every day… I stabbed his neck with a ballpoint pen and then his blood went everywhere–" 

"Deputy Yoon-Nim…" Kim Dok-Ja cut him off, worried about the state of Yong-Sun's mind. He took a quick glance over to the younger to find Yong-Sun glaring daggers at the back of Deputy Yoon's head. 

"M-My bad, you're still not used to all this? Haha…" the man awkwardly apologised, ignoring the fact that there was the presence of another.

"So, are you here alone?" Kim Dok-Ja inquired hoping to get information.

"Hm? Ah, no. I'm not alone. I'm with a few other people," The man replied, not cautious at all. 

"But where have you been Dok-Ja-ssi? You managed to get yourself a chick as well," He winked at Yong-Sun, who cringed in disgust and moved subconsciously towards Dok-Ja. 

"I haven't seen you around at all, until now. Did you two get here after clearing the main scenario?" 

"Well, yes. Something like that," Kim Dok-Ja spoke briefly. "We were supposed to be in Gwanghwamun, but something happened." 

"Aha, so that's how it was. You've been unlucky so far, Dok-Ja-ssi." Dok-Ja made a confused face. "There's no need to clear the scenarios, you know? Just hide well and use a few tricks here and there, then sooner or later other people would've cleared the scenarios for you." 

Kim Yong-Sun's glare hardened. How dare this man say that as though not participating hadn't led to death. 

"What bullshit," He grumbled. He gripped Dok-Ja's hand tightly. 

The deputy's monologue continued until they reached the exit of the building. A cluster of people was huddled around outside. 

“Yoon Seong-ssi, who are the people with you?” A strange man started to talk to Dok-Ja and the other weird man. 

Yong-Sun tuned them out and observed his surroundings. People were littering around cages. The smell was wretched, it made him want to spill his guts out again. A message appeared again. This time, it wasn't so pleasant. 

[The constellations who like colosseums are delighted.]

He glared at the stars in the sky. He was certain these constellations were related to Ancient Greece. Yong-Sun whipped his head to Dok-Ja, hoping to find some answers as to why they were being held in cages like animals.

“You’re using the coin sponsorships from the constellations?” Dok-Ja’s expression appeared to be calm, despite his eyes darting to and from Yong-Sun. 

“That’s right. Some twisted constellations like seeing this sort of content.” The Yoon man grinned. “We get our coin supply from these guys.” He pointed at the people in the cages. “In exchange, we give them food to eat.” 

It was a cruel process. Yong-Sun was inclined to destroy the place and leave no man supporting this farm alive.

[Many constellations are bored with the sight of steel cages.]

Yong-Sun agreed for once with the stars. Someone called Dok-Ja over to watch something. He followed after his Hyung, hoping Dok-Ja was going to put a stop to this soon. A man was pushed into a cage with two others. 

“Didn’t they work at our company?” Kim Dok-Ja asked the Yoon man.

“That’s in the past.” The men inside the cage were yelling, pleading to be freed. “I remember what you’d said once, Dok-Ja-ssi.” This caught Yong-Sun’s attention. “That all of today’s games play it safe and that gamers don’t want to play common mass-released stories.” Had the angelic man actually said that? “Once I thought about it, it made a lot of sense.” A short sword was thrown into the cage.

[Some constellations wonder what is about to happen.]

The Yoon man riled up the man who was holding the short sword. Dok-Ja’s face was slowly becoming grim. 

[A handful of constellations announce that the ‘Colosseum’ has begun.]

The despicable man continued to encourage the poor man in the cage to commit homicide. The other two men, former seniors of their company, yelled at the Yoon man. More messages from constellations came pouring in.

[Some constellations sympathise with the new employee.]

[A constellation who seeks revenge wants the new employee to take revenge.]

[Some constellations are radiant at the sight of a new narrative.]

The messages continued to flow into the field. Yong-Sun clenched his fists. It felt as if they were only playthings to the constellations. He wished he had a blade in his hand to slaughter all the people outside the cages, encouraging the torture to continue. His ears muffled the sounds around him.

“I don’t mind introducing you to my group if you want. But in exchange, please stop all of this right now.” Kim Dok-Ja’s heavenly voice rang out clearly, even though people were still yelling and screaming, Kim Dok-Ja was the only sound Yong-Sun heard. 

When the Yoon man was busy convincing Dok-Ja to take the statement back, his senses returned to him. His face mutated into a twisted grin as he recalled Kim Dok-Ja's past. He continued to roar at Kim Dok-Ja proudly about the coin farm’s profits. Yong-Sun had never had the urge to kill anyone more than that man right now. The tension fell when the shaken voice of the employee in the cage spoke up.

“I-I can’t… I just can’t.” The employee cried. “I can’t do this!”

“This is pathetic. Now the game’s been ruined.” The Yoon man was angry. “Hey.”

[Some constellations are disappointed by the sudden change!]

[The constellation who likes to change genders is urging you to do something.] 

The indirect message appeared in front of Kim Yong-Sun. He nodded and looked at Kim Dok-Ja. 

“If you want to earn coins that badly,” Dok-Ja gripped the Yoon man’s shoulder, “I have a method that’s much better.” 

He gave a quick glance at the younger. A signal. Yong-Sun swiftly stole a pocket knife from someone. 

“How? Is there a way to make this more entertaining?” 

“You can do something that excites the constellations.”

“Oho, there’s something even more exciting than this? Just as expected of you Dok-Ja-ssi. It’d be great if you shared~!” The men in the cage quivered in fear of what the angelic man’s intentions were.

“What the constellations like seeing…” Kim Dok-Ja unsheathed his sword, and a holy power coursed through the blade. A hole was cut in the side of the cage, “is something like this.” 

The people around them panicked. Yong-Sun’s respect for Dok-Ja grew. He followed Kim Dok-Ja’s steps and assisted him in disabling the cages and supporters. The man grinned, gracefully wielding the blade. “And, they like this too.” 

“Wh-What the hell is this?! Dok-Ja-ssi…!” 

“Thank me.” The constellation’s messages came rushing in as the older Kim smiled peacefully. “Now constellations were able to see " a situation that they like ".” 

[Constellation ‘ Demon-like Judge of Fire ’ is delighted by the incarnation Kim Dok-Ja and your judgement.]

[Constellation ' Prisoner of the Golden Headband ' snorts at the relentless retribution.]

[Many constellations who dislike the brutality of some constellations are very satisfied with the incarnation "Kim Dok-Ja" and your judgement.]

[8000 coins had been obtained.]

Yong-Sun felt lucky to be able to witness his "Lucifer"s actions. It was like they were destined to meet. Kim Dok-Ja spoke a bit and managed to rile up the crowd. Yong-Sun easily disarmed the people charging at his Hyung. Dok-Ja went to pick up a woman from a cage, it looked like they were acquainted from the way they spoke casually to each other. 

"If you save me, won't the constellations in your channel leave?" The woman in black spoke. Her voice sounded forced. "Don't you know that constellations hate such unoriginal developments the most?" 

"I disagree, Unnie. Viewers tend to like this kind of development, hence why this is such a popular trope in many stories." Yong-Sun gave his opinion. He wasn't a fan of these stories, being too overboard most of the time. "Do you want to be saved by Hyung or not, Unnie?" The short-haired woman groaned. 

"This is a cliché. Can't you both tell?" She reasoned, not convincingly at all. "This is when the Protagonist saves the beautiful maiden from trouble." Kim Dok-Ja's annoyance was visible on his face. "If you really do hate clichés, why don't your actions and words match?" 

Yong-Sun was agitated by her behaviour. How come she wasn't glad to be rescued from that hell hole? And by Kim Dok-Ja!

"... Firstly there are two things wrong with your statement." Dok-Ja kicked a man who was running at him, and Yong-Sun punched another man in the face. "Number one, I'm not the protagonist;" Surprisingly. Kim Yong-Sun was now curious as to who was the protagonist of their story. "Number two… you aren't a beautiful maiden." 

"Put me down!" The woman yelled, and so Kim Dok-Ja did. He dropped her onto the floor and Kim Yong-Sun held back a laugh. "How could you put me down like that?!" 

"You should fight too since you like that sort of cliché." They turned to the group of wanderers surrounding them. "This is a winning hand." 

This was Yong-Sun's sign to stand down. He tossed a sword, with his foot, next to the short-haired woman. 

"No matter how much I may like clichés," she glanced at Kim Yong-Sun, "isn't 'two enemies fighting a common enemy side-by-side' an overused plot?" 

Kim Dok-Ja didn’t reply. 

"Fine," she took the sword and stood up, "let's end this as quickly as possible and move towards the next story."

"If you're trying to sound cool, then you are doing the opposite." Kim Dok-Ja commented. Yong-Sun would like to disagree but didn't want to ruin their moment.

[A total of 12,000 coins were obtained.]

Kim Dok-Ja and the woman, whose name he knew not, made quick work with the wanderers. 

Yong-Sun assisted with the ones they didn’t finish off and tried to attack them from behind. He received quite a great deal of coins from donations from the constellations and from accidentally killing a few people. He had not known that stabbing someone in parts other than the heart and lungs could kill them.

“Woah! Look, look, isn’t this a very tasty profit?” The woman delightedly looked at the coins she earned. Kim Dok-Ja stared at her. Yong-Sun continued to stare at the surroundings, the Yoon man was on the floor, steadying himself to sit up with a sword. 

“Haha… psychopathic bastard,” he cursed Dok-Ja. “So you were always this kind of person. I should’ve realised it back when the company spread rumours that you—” 

The man was cut off by the short-haired woman cutting off his head.

“What’s with that, dumbass. This fucker talked too much for a minor character.” She cursed, and Yong-Sun approved. The woman turned to look at Dok-Ja, which then made her pause. “What’s with that face? Are you upset that he’s dead?” 

“No.” Yong-Sun glanced at his Hyung. He looked so…

“Then why do you look so hurt?” Yong-Sun wanted to ask the same thing, but no words came out. Why was he concerned for a man he just met? Was it because he was similar to his brother? 

“You stood there and listened to his bullshit without uttering a word.” The woman interrupted his line of thought. “Why’d you just listen?” 

Was she too worried for Kim Dok-Ja?

“Constellations don’t like heavy shit like that! Refreshing content is what they want now!” 

Yong-Sun had spoken too soon. She held no hint of sympathy in her soul. He glared at the woman. 

“I don’t think you’ve realised it yet, but-” Yes, Dok-Ja Hyung, go against her words, “listening to that kind of bullshit before killing them is what gets you the most coin donations and satisfaction.” 

Kim Yong-Sun will remember that.

“You can’t relish a refreshing cider without a side of sweet potatoes.” He interrupted their little moment, feeling left out and in need of slapping the woman across the face. He found a dagger item on the ground.

+

[Item Information]

Name: Kasaka's Venom Fang

Rating: Heroic Relic

Description: A dagger made from Kasaka’s venom fang. Kasaka’s venom remains in it, thus causing paralysation and bleeding when used on a being with a bloodstream.

+

What’s a dagger like this doing in a place like this? Such a waste. He threw away the pocket knife and kept the blade strapped to his belt.

“No? Don’t most read- I mean constellations prefer the satisfaction of killing them off right away? You’re just a kid either way! And I doubt you’re a writer, so how could you possibly know better?” The woman scowled at him. Not that it bothered him, he was used to people giving him nasty looks. 

“I’d like to agree with Namdongsaeng. I should know better since I am a reader.” Kim Dok-Ja spoke while stripping a man from his clothes and changing somewhere neither of them could see. 

Yong-Sun was curious about what the man’s physique was like under the clothes. 

The group of freed captives were approaching them, Yong-Sun was not looking forward to caring for all these people because they saved them. Luckily, Dok-Ja stepped up to stop them. 

“I can’t help you from here on. Survive by yourselves.” The injured group fell into despair.

“There are many dropped items remaining. We aren’t going to hog them all to ourselves.” Yong-Sun quickly added, not wanting to seem like a devil. “Split them responsibly.” He ended with a glare and turned his back to them. 

Kim Dok-Ja told them to go to Chungmuro station if they had free time. The new wanderers scavenged the place for items, fighting each other again to get said items. Were they deaf or just stupid? Yong-Sun had told them to split it responsibly . Was humanity this disappointing?

“Do you all want to die early?” The voice of the short-haired woman rang aloud. “Are you stupid? Pull yourselves together. If you want to live, use your heads. You don’t know when you will meet other bad people, yet you still want to cut down the number of people?”

“T-That...”

“In this world, the underdogs have to be united. You want to fight over a few garbage items instead of combining forces?”

So she did have some sort of sympathy. 

"Didn't you already get weapons and essentials? Did you really think that gaining more items," she strode over to Kim Dok-Ja, "would make you as strong as this rat bastard?" 

The survivors came to their senses and stopped fighting. Yong-Sun wanted to applaud but didn't deem it necessary. 

"Say, that line just na–" 

"GOT IT?!" The woman cut off Dok-Ja before he could say anything else and then took off. The two "Kim"s quickly ran after her. "Why the hell are you coming after me?!"

"Are even things you normally say plagiarised?" Dok-Ja questioned the run-away. Yong-Sun did not understand what was being said, but he assumed that the woman was a writer who copied another story Dok-Ja read. 

"How is that even plagiarism?! Everything I said is from my own novel!!" 

"If so, then why are you running?"

"... Because! Why are you chasing after me?!" She changed the conversation's path. Guilty , Yong-Sun concluded.

"Since I saved you," Dok-Ja caught up to her and grabbed the hood of the woman's hoodie, "I demand compensation."

"Ack–! Wh-What kind of compensation!?" She seemed panicked. He would laugh if his Hyung didn't look so serious.

"Give me some spare batteries. You ought to have plenty."

She grimaced and scowled at him.

Kim Dok-Ja had, unfortunately, let go of the woman when she confessed to having lost many of her possessions back in Gwanghwamun. The woman, now known as Han Su-Yeong, was being held back by Yong-Sun as Dok-Ja looked at the writer's novel.

"Wow, you really have no conscience." 

"Hah?!"

"The ' Character Information ' panel is exactly the same as in ' The Ways of Survival '," the angelic man deadpanned. "If you're a writer, couldn't you have at least changed the wording?" 

"... Well, ' The Ways of Survival ' used ' Constellation Sponsor ' while mine used ' Star Contractor '." Han Su-Yeong argued. "It's totally different!" 

"But a constellation is made up of stars. And getting a sponsor was the same as signing a contract." Yong-Sun was not impressed. He wasn't a writer but he definitely knew the difference between inspiration and plagiarism. 

"Shut up kid. I bet you don't even know what synonyms are!" 

"Unnie… I’m learning Literature." He sighed. Han Su-Yeong stayed shut for a bit before grumbling.

"... Alright, let's pretend what you said is true, Han Su-Yeong." Kim Dok-Ja continued his critique. "But isn't your protagonist's name going too far? Towards the end, you even made a typo and wrote ' Jun-Hyeon '," he cringed. "If the author of ' The Ways of Survival ' ever sees this, they'll want to cry." 

"I… No, wait, what's it to you? What do you want to know?" Han Su-Yeong wiggled free from Yong-Sun's hold, regretfully.

"Say, how many chapters did you read?" 

"Ninety-Nine…" Han Yu-Seong immediately regretted answering. Yong-Sun let out a huff of laughter but stopped anymore from coming out of his mouth with his hand. The black-haired woman tried to jump Kim Dok-Ja. 

"Oi! Isn't it time to give it back?!" The other just shoved her away. 

"... Does that mean you know where the ' Meteorite ' of the fifth scenario will be located?" The vocabulary caught Yong-Sun's attention. "Did you also add that into your novel?" 

"There are no such things as ' Meteorite 's in my novel!" Han Su-Yeong denied. "Mines had ' Sealing Stones '!" 

Dok-Ja wasn't impressed.

"Mon Lucifer." He called out to his Hyung.

"Please don't call me that."

"What are these ' Meteorites ' you're talking about?" The angelic man's pleas were left unheard, he tilted his head to the side to emphasise his confusion. 

"Hold up. Who even is this chick who keeps following you?" Han Su-Yeong interrupted his question. 

"He's not–"

"It's fine Dok-Ja-Hyung. I can introduce myself to the manyeo." Yong-Sun smiled at Dok-Ja. He faced Han Su-Yeong.

"It's Kim Yong-Sun and I am not a ' chick '," he glared at Han Su-Yeong and crossed his arms with a huff. "I was born male." 

Han Su-Yeong looked befuddled. 

"Then, why are you in a skirt?!" She complained.

"I wear what I want, manyeo-unnie." He scowled at the woman but softened to stare at Kim Dok-Ja. "So what are ' Meteorites ', mon Lucifer?"

"Again, stop calling me that, Yong-Sun-yah." Dok-Ja sighed. "' Meteorites ' are like fossilised eggs that have either a guide or a disaster of this scenario sealed in them." 

Yong-Sun nodded.

"Are you going to find one?" Dok-Ja nodded. "How are you going to unseal it?" 

"You can hatch it early by pouring a lot of mana in them." Yong-Sun paused to think. 

"So, we need the manyeo?" He pointed at Han Su-Yeong.

"Oi! Don't act like I'm going to follow what you say!" She hissed in defiance. "I'll gather the ' sealing stones ' but not for you guys!" 

"You mean the ' meteorites '?" Dok-Ja raised a brow as the group started to walk. 

"... Let's use common terms," Han Su-Yeong huffed. "Anyways, didn't you already get a meteorite?" 

Kim Dok-Ja ignored her and stopped to think for a while. 

[Many constellations are complaining about the sudden advertisements.]

"Su-Yeong-Unnie. Do you write many novels as an author?" Yong-Sun took this time to freely talk with the writer.

"I've only ever written a few. Most of them were for school either way," She replied with little hesitance. "Why do you ask, kid?" 

"I wanted to read one," he confessed. Han Su-Yeong wasn't like many people she knew. But she did share similar traits with her brother as well.

They probably wouldn't get along. 

Han Su-Yeong looked surprised and gladly whipped out her phone for Yong-Sun to read her novel. He quickly became engrossed with the storyline.

"Oi, why are you tagging along with me anyway? I'm sure you'd easily manage to be on your own." Han Su-Yeong spoke up to Kim Dok-Ja.

"I- wait, 'on my own'? Are you going to keep Namdongsaeng captive?" Dok-Ja wasn't going to let the younger one go anytime soon. He deemed Yong-Sun a great asset in gaining the attention of more constellations. He also felt that Yong-Sun wasn't used to the new Seoul yet and needed someone to help guide him.

"Fuck yeah, I'm keeping the kid! They're actually enjoying my novel." She stood with pride as she pointed at the youngest of the trio clinging onto her phone like it was his lifeline.

Kim Dok-Ja felt the urge to get Kim Yong-Sun to read the ways_of_survival.txt he had just to spite Su-Yeong, but then he remembered how he couldn't share the contents with anyone due to the censor.

"Either way, I'm just following your advice. The most important thing to survive is to have dependable companions," a screen came up in front of Han Su-Yeong. "Now make this pledge." 

[The item ' Temporary Pledge ' has been used.]

+

Temporary Pledge

1. Kim Dok-Ja (Ga-ap) shall sign a contract with Han Su-Yeong (Eul).

2. Kim Dok-Ja (Ga-ap) and Han Su-Yeong (Eul) shall not bring harm to each other during the current scenario.

3. During the contract period, Kim Dok-Ja (Ga-ap) and Han Su-Yeong (Eul) will take turns sleeping in preparation for the ' Sleep Penalty '.

4. (EXPAND)

5. (EXPAND)

6. During the contract period, the group's guidelines will override Kim Dok-Ja’s (Ga-ap) orders.

7. During the contract period, Han Su-Yeong (Eul) will cooperate with Kim Dok-Ja (Ga-ap) to clear the scenarios. She will follow Kim Dok-Ja’s orders as long as her life isn’t in danger.

8. During the contract period, Kim Dok-Ja (Ga-ap) will protect Han Su-Yeong (Eul).

9. The contract shall expire when the sub-scenario ends. In any case of violation of this contract, the offender’s body shall be dealt with.

+

"... And why would I ever sign something like this?" Han Su-Yeong questioned after reading through the contract message. 

"If you don't want to then refuse it," Dok-Ja responded as if stating a fact.

"And why is the Eul me? Why am I the inferior, huh?? I've never been the inferior one in my whole life!" 

"Great. First-time experiences are valuable." 

"Why you f–"

"Su-Yeong-Unnie. Your phone," Yong-Sun interrupted and handed the mobile phone to the woman. "The plot was familiar but I'm not complaining. Though the descriptions could use some work." 

Kim Yong-Sun was oblivious to the slightly tense atmosphere. 

"... Fine. I'll sign it." Han Su-Yeong took her phone back and glared at Kim Dok-Ja. "But, I have two conditions." 

"What are they?" 

"One, that kid has to be included in our contract," She gestured to the confused Yong-Sun, "Two, we have to share our information. How's that? I have a lot to ask you. It'd be wise not to lie because," she grinned, "I have ' Lie Detection '." 

[The incarnation ' Han Su-Yeong ' has activated the skill ' Lie Detection Lv. 1 '.]

"So tell me, what are all of your attributes?" 

Chapter Text

"So tell me, what are all of your attributes?" 

The atmosphere around the two became dense.  No sound dared interrupt the silence until the question was answered.

"To be honest… I have no idea." 

[The incarnation ‘Han Su-Yeong’ has confirmed that the incarnation ‘Kim Dok-Ja's’ words are true.]

"Huh? What the hell… Is this broken?" She knocked on the side of her head.

"No, it’s working fine. Hurry up and ask your next question," Kim Dok-Ja ushered her, trying to answer as quickly as possible. "For the record, I’m only going to answer three questions." 

"No– How can someone not know their own attributes?!" Han Su-Yeong yelled in frustration.

"As I said: no clue. Next question." 

Kim Yong-Sun surveyed his body language and facial expressions.

"He’s not lying," he intervened. "His body shows no signs of lying. Neither do his eyes." His declaration managed to soothe Su-Yeong's frustration to a certain level.

"… What’s your reason for giving up the ‘ throne ’?" 

Yong-Sun froze. Was Kim Dok-Ja a prince? That would explain his face and attitude but… Han Su-Yeong covered her face as she shook in irritation. 

"You made a mess with all my plans. If only you weren’t there…" From just those words, Yong-Sun concluded that Hyung was not a prince, but was probably given the opportunity to become a king.

"Do you have any idea… how annoying it was working with those block-headed apostles to stop the destruction?" She lifted the hand off her face, contorted with a strained grin. "If I just had the throne, I’d be ready for the next scenario by now."

"If you had the throne now Seoul would be destroyed," Kim Dok-Ja deadpanned. 

[The incarnation ‘Han Su-Yeong’ has confirmed that the incarnation ‘Kim Dok-Ja's’ words are true.]

"… Just why does this skill keep breaking down?" She was doubtful that Dok-Ja was telling the truth again.

"It’s not broken down," Kim Dok-Ja spoke apathetically. "And even if someone other than me or you had it, all of us would still have to face destruction." 

[The incarnation ‘Han Su-Yeong’ has confirmed that the incarnation ‘Kim Dok-Ja's’ words are true.]

Han Su-Yeong’s face was full of dismay. Yong-Sun wasn’t sure of their situation, but it probably wasn’t great.

"… How do you know this? At, but which chapter did you get off?" Her voice became stern, "How can you know something that I don’t?"

"Because I’m not someone who got off." 

[The incarnation ‘ Han Su-Yeong ’ has confirmed that the incarnation ‘Kim Dok-Ja's’ words are true.]

Han Su-Yeong’s jaw almost went slack down onto the floor. Yong-Sun was curious as to what "got off" meant. Were they talking about novels again?

"You...  just how much of the novel did you read?!"

Oh. They were.

"You've used up all of your questions," Kim Dok-Ja tried to run away. 

"But this is necessary to know! Answer me!" She attempted again, to no avail. As the two were bickering, Yong-Sun was on alert from the swiftly approaching sound of heavy thumping. He became impatient. 

"What kind of maniac-" Han Su-Yeong was cut off as she was pulled into an alleyway by Yong-Sun, Kim Dok-Ja following suit. 

[The exclusive skill ‘ Silent Disguise Lv. 10 ’ has been activated!]

The skill was a reward for Yong-Sun in one of the earlier "scenarios". The skill could make it seem as though he and the people he was physically in contact with didn’t exist, as long as they weren’t yelling. He wasn’t sure if the skill would function properly since earlier he couldn’t check his attributes. 

The two adults peeked to the edge of the alleyway to see what was approaching, while the only student remained behind the two. The smell was already sickening to Kim Yong-Sun, he didn’t even need to see it to tell it wasn’t human. The foul scent of the beast was rotten and metallic. He tried his hardest not to let go of Han Su-Yeong's forearm to turn and puke. 

Kim Dok-Ja and the writer were talking about the Alpha of the pack wandering past. Something about meteorite powers and novels. Yong-Sun wasn't too focused on their conversation, he was more concerned about the scent of the beast. It was familiar, but not in a good way. As though he had met the person before. 

The youngest ignored that feeling and turned his focus to the angelic man. Kim Dok-Ja's face was horrified and uncomfortable. He let go of the man as a reflex. Terrible decision considering the fact that the beast was right in front of them. 

"Found you," The ominous and inhuman voice spoke out along with the notification.

[The Grade 6 Inhuman species ‘ Werewolf Song Min-Wu ’ has searched his territory!]

A Korean name? Was he transformed into that beast intentionally? Or accidentally? Unfortunately, those questions weren't going to be answered soon. The beast had started to attack them ruthlessly. 

Han Su-Yeong coughed up blood, Yong-Sun was sure that he had broken a rib or two and his head was pounding. Nothing new, but definitely not pleasant. Kim Dok-Ja was currently not getting any rest from the assault. 

"Were you the ones who destroyed my 'coin farm'?" The beast questioned. Its furry fist trembled as he held Dok-Ja up by the neck.

[The Grade 6 species ‘Werewolf Song Min-Wu’ has activated ‘Predation Fear lv. 5’!]

[You have used the stigma ‘Psyche's Mind’.]

[The stigma ‘Psyche's Mind’ has offset some of the influence of ‘Predation Fear’!]

"What are you doing?! Just kill him quickly Kim Dok-Ja!" Han Su-Yeong yelled desperately from the ground. Yong-Sun was enabled as he was trapped under a collapsed wall and ran out of energy trying to fight back against the beast. 

[Your movement has been slowed due to the effect of ‘Predation Fear’.]

[‘Predation Fear’ has decreased your will to fight.] 

There was that too.

The beast was conversing with the angelic-faced man, the two probably knew each other but it was obvious that Kim Dok-Ja was not friendly with the man-beast. 

"It's crazy that even a loser like you survived up 'till now! You just sat around, reading novels all day," the beast continued with his monologue about the past. 

Kim Yong-Sun struggled to get pieces of the crumbled wall off of him. His Dok-Ja Hyung was in danger, and he had to help him. Not that his Hyung wasn't capable, it just looked like all of his mental walls came crashing down the instant he recognised the man-beast. 

In a split second, Kim Dok-Ja was flung into a wall by a fist to the guts. Yong-sun became frantic and tried to fight against the restraints of the debris. Luckily, Han Su-Yeong had recovered and quickly stepped onto the battlefield, protecting the unstable man. 

"I believed in you, so what is the meaning of this?" She yelled frustratedly, knocking some sense into the dazed Dok-Ja. The man stared up at her, then scoffed and stood up.

"I was in the middle of my inner power awakening," his voice was steady, without a single tremble of a chord. Yong-Sun’s tension fell from his shoulders. The college student had regained some energy so he managed to shift his body into a less bone-crushing position. He still couldn't lift the debris. Not under all these conditions. 

Hopefully, the dagger’s effect would be useful. Speaking of which, he could spot a shine from the black blade not far off from his position. Good. It was still retrievable.

Kim Dok-Ja and Han Su-Yeong were conversing despite being in the situation they were in. The writer’s nosebleed came from, he’s assuming, the overuse of her avatar skill. Yong-Sun wondered if her head was alright. 

[Many Constellations are relieved.]

[The Constellation who likes to change genders is urging incarnations "Kim Dok-Ja" and "Han Su-Yeong" to finish quickly.]

Somehow, Yong-Sun felt glad that Loki was looking at him. Even if they were a spectator, he was still grateful for the Constellation who was assisting him.

[Some Constellations are against this idea and tell the incarnations to take their time.]

"Dok-Ja-Hyung… Su-Yeong-Unnie!" He called out to the two conversing adults. They seem to have finally noticed the state he was in.

[The Constellation who likes to change genders has sponsored 1,000 coins to the incarnations " Kim Dok-Ja " and " Han Su-Yeong ".]

"Ah… fuck. You better beat the shit outta your trauma quickly, Dok-Ja. I actually like that kid. Can't have him dying on us," Han Su-Yeong encouraged the older man. Kim Dok-Ja was taking deep breaths to calm himself down and come to a resolution. 

[The Constellation who likes revenge plots has revealed his nickname.]

[Constellation, 'the One Who Overcame the Trials a Little Too Late', is rooting for the incarnation 'Kim Dok-Ja'.]

"Wipe that bloody nose of yours and stand back," The man calmly stated, taking a step forward with his hand on the hilt of his sword. "If you really want to do something, go help Namdongsaeng get free. You've helped out enough here."

"Hey! Are you going to be alright?" Han Su-Yeong worried about that man. Yong-Sun never thought of the writer as someone to be concerned with people she wasn’t familiar with.  

"I'll be fine. I've finished awakening my inner power," Dok-Ja unsheathed his sword and carefully walked towards the werewolf. 

"Quit worrying about me and go help Namdongsaeng," he commanded, now running towards the beast and slashing its neck.

"Fucking bastard…" Su-Yeong mumbled, swiftly moving over with her avatars to help Yong-Sun out of the debris. 

"You feeling alright there, kid?" She asked, pushing a few pieces of the caved wall off of him. The young man simply nodded, too tired to move. His stamina was already running low as his adrenaline had been depleted. Something warm rolled down his face and onto the floor. He didn’t bother to see what it was.

"'m fine… jus' hungry," he slurred softly. Yong-Sun turned to look at where his Hyung was. Kim Dok-Ja seems to have managed to knock down the werewolf. Then his chest was no longer being suppressed by debris. Han Su-Yeong lifted him up carefully, as though he were fragile. 

"Thank you… Su-Yeong-Unnie," Yong-Sun smiled at the woman who just grinned back at him. 

"It's nothing. Just promise to be my helper from now on!" She declared, Yong-Sun now felt like his thanks were given for nothing in return. 

He turned to look back at Kim Dok-Ja again. The man was mauling the beast's face like a maniac. Then he suddenly stopped and started laughing. 

"What a fucking psycho," Su-Yeong commented. The comment was ignored. 

Kim Yong-Sun stared at the sight before him, heart beating loudly in his ears. Kim Dok-Ja’s smile was serene like he was an angel bringing down punishment to a mortal who dared to cross his path without remorse.

But then… Why was it so familiar?

—

Kim Yong-Sun's eyes flew wide open as he immediately flipped over to cough and vomit bile and blood; his stomach had long run out of food. Once his coughing ceased, he glanced around his surroundings. The person who was holding him earlier was the Manyeo, his Hyung was right next to her.

"You alright? Your body took quite the toll from that attack," Dok-Ja's voice eased him out of a dazed state and he felt the pain in his chest return. "Su-Yeong, you must have water in that bag, right? Give it to him."

"Hah?! Why are you commanding me? I was going to do it either way, asshole," She grumbled then took off her bag and reached inside to take out a water bottle. Su-Yeong then handed it over to Yong-Sun who gladly took it and started to slowly gulp down the water.

[Constellation, ‘Demon-Like Judge of Fire’, is enjoying this wholesome relationship.]

[500 coins have been sponsored.]

[The Constellation who likes to change genders is relieved.]

[1,000 coins have been sponsored.]

"But seriously, you're such a freak," Han Su-Yeong directed the sentence to Kim Dok-Ja. "How can you kill a werewolf with your own hands? The rest of the pack scattered 'cause you scared the wits out of them."

"He's not dead yet," Dok-Ja stated matter-of-factly. Yong-Sun just finished the bottle of water and gasped for air, he held his breath for too long. 

"Unnie," he called for Su-Yeong's attention. She turned to him with a raised brow.

"What do I do with the bottle?" He held the empty plastic bottle in his hand. The Manyeo just rolled her eyes, took it and stuffed it into her bag.

"I'll get rid of it later," She replied.

"Okay…" he muttered, then he remembered something, "Unnie."

"What?"

"The dagger. Have you seen it?" He grabbed her shoulders with surprising strength. Perhaps it was panic.

Her eyes widened a little, "Uh, yeah. Here."

She dug into her bag and pulled out the dark dagger. The young Kim’s shoulders immediately relaxed as he took the blade into his own hands. He slipped it back onto his belt.

[Constellation, ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ is rolling on the floor laughing.] 

Huh?

"What happened, Dok-Ja-Hyung?" Yong-Sun stood up carefully, stumbling slightly, causing both adults to move and support him. The pain in his chest lit up again, forcing him to hiss and grit his teeth to hold in his groan.

"Sorry…" he felt a little ashamed to be such a nuisance. 

"Don't be. Just relax, Namdongsaeng. We'll take care of most of this," Kim Dok-Ja rubbed his back gently. He does feel like his older brother. Just much more gentle. Yong-Sun nodded silently, feeling heat rush up to his face. 

"Then, are you going to take care of that?" He pointed at the passed-out werewolf. It would certainly be of good riddance if Dok-Ja did kill the beast. Fewer threats to watch out for. 

[Werewolf ‘Song Min-Wu’s’ supporting Constellation is glaring at all of you.] 

[Many Constellations want to see the incarnation ‘Kim Dok-Ja’ take revenge.]

"Nah. Let's just go," He scooped up Yong-Sun - who was surprisingly light - and turned around to walk away.

"What? Just like that?! You're really not going to kill him? He probably has a lot of coins," The Manyeo called out to him. 

"You're right about that." 

[Many Constellations are puzzled by the incarnation ‘Kim Dok-Ja 's’ decision.]

[Constellation ‘Secretive Plotter ’ is silently watching this play out.]

If you're silently watching it then why send a message? Yong-Sun really couldn't understand these constellations sometimes. 

"Will Hyung let me kill it then?" The young man asked, staring up at his face. Kim Dok-Ja shook his head.

"If Han Su-Yeong wants the money then we should let her have it," He glanced at the woman who was standing next to the unconscious body. 

"Damn right, I want that money!" She declared, unsheathing her sword.

"You're going to regret it though," Dok-Ja warned her. She just looked at him with a raised brow and he responded by shrugging. 

"Well, since you won't do it yourself or let that kid do it…" the sound of a sword stabbing flesh rang out. 

Ping!

"What's up with these notifications… wait, what the hell is this?!" Her face changed into one of horror.

"I told you you would regret it." Kim Dok-Ja laughed with a bright smile. 

"YOU BASTARD!"

---

"You prick. I can't believe I trusted you," Han Su-Yeong glared at Kim Dok-Ja. Yong-Sun was laying his head on Dok-Ja's chest as he was still being held by the older man. 

"Glaring at me won't fix anything," Yong-Sun looked up at his Hyung.

"Hyung," he called out, "what happened to Manyeo-Unnie?" Dok-Ja almost laughed at the nickname while Su-Yeong scoffed, "Is it something bad?"

"You could say that. She's just been cursed by a Demon King," The former salaryman explained, Yong-Sun’s expression morphed into one of concern. "Don't worry, she isn't going to die yet. I know someone who was cursed like Su-Yeong and he didn't die immediately." 

"Are you trying to console me?! Cause it's not working!" Su-Yeong hissed at him. Dok-Ja rolled his eyes.

"You'll be fine. The Architect of Discord isn't even high in the ranks. Being cursed means you'll get a lot of donations by gaining favours from the Constellations of Absolute Good." He reasoned, Han Su-Yeong crossed her arms.

"I don't care about the archangels!" She declared, "The Constellation I'm aiming for isn't exactly on good terms with them." 

Yong-Sun raised an eyebrow at her choice of wording. Before Kim Dok-Ja could retort he spoke up.

"You can aim for a constellation? What does it mean to get a constellation?" He questioned the two adults. He was still quite young, being 21 and all, so having two older people who seem to be more aware than the regular people is a good thing for him. 

"Hyung? Unnie?"

Dok-Ja cleared his throat.

"Well, Namdongsaeng, when you get a constellation interested in you they will offer to sponsor you. This means they will support you throughout the scenarios," The older man briefly went over what it meant. Yong-Sun nodded and hummed in thought.

"So there are good constellations and bad constellations?" He asked again, curious about the affairs of their viewers. He watched the stars in the sky for an answer.

[The Constellation who likes to change genders is nodding.]

[Constellation 'Demon-Like Judge of Fire' states that she is a constellation of good.]

That constellation is? Even though she's "Demon-Like"? 

[Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon ' scoffs at the Constellation 'Demon-Like Judge of Fire's' attention seeking.]

[Constellation 'Demon-Like Judge of Fire' states that she is not seeking attention.]

[Some Constellations are doubting those words.]

This feels like a livestream chat…

"With that out of the way… Han Su-Yeong. You don't have a supporting Constellation yet, do you?" Dok-Ja turned to the short woman. 

"It's not that I couldn't have. I just haven't chosen yet." She excused herself. At least to Yong-Sun, it sounded like excuses. "You only get one shot at it, why should I be hasty on my first try?" 

She's got a point.

"Well, you're right. But who's the one you're going for?" Kim Dok-Ja asked as he surveyed their surroundings. Yong-Sun was taking a few photos of things with his phone. Speaking of his phone… he doesn't seem to have any service. That means he can't contact his brother. 

What a bother.

"You'll be shocked to hear it. They've even shown interest in me!" Han Su-Yeong proudly declared as though she were a hotshot. 

"Then, who is it?" Yong-Sun asked, "One of the Constellations watching over us right now?" 

"You got that right kid. Do you know of the Constellation named ' the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon '?" She turned around with sparkles in her eyes as if she were an excited little kid going to the amusement park for the first time. 

[Constellation 'the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is looking at your reactions.]

"Such an edgy name… got 8th grader syndrome or something?" Yong-Sun commented quietly.

[Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is cackling.]

[Constellation 'Demon-Like Judge of Fire' feels avenged.]

[500 coins have been sponsored.]

[Some Constellations agree with your statement.]

[2,500 coins have been sponsored.]

[Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is nodding at you.]

[Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' roars for retribution.]

He has caused quite the uproar, hasn't he?

"Oh wow. Good thinking. He'd make a great supporting Constellation." Kim Dok-Ja deadpanned while trying to hold in his laughter. 

[Constellation ' Abyssal Black Flame Dragon ' is disappointed in the incarnation ' Kim Dok-Ja '.]

"You don't sound sincere… and why are you all laughing?!" She glared at the two of them. Yong-Sun felt the need to put his hands up in place for Dok-Ja. She pointed an accusatory finger at the older man. "Who do you have as a supporting Constellation to make you act so high and mighty!?"

"It's nothing. I was just jealous," He started to back away. 

[The incarnation ' Han Su-Yeong ' has confirmed that the incarnation ' Kim Dok-Ja ' is telling a lie.]

"Get back here you-" Han Su-Yeong's words were cut off by the loud cries of people and wolves. The two adults quickly make their way towards the direction of the sound, only to be greeted by empty bloody cages and a foul smell. 

"This is it. The werewolf headquarters," Dok-Ja claimed. Yong-Sun covered his mouth with his hands to muffle the smell from getting to his sensitive nose. He always hated the smell of blood and most raw meats, but now this stench was of both meat and blood. Maybe even rotten meat.

"Looks like someone's already been through here. There aren't even any guards," Su-Yeong remarked, observing the area. The three continued inwards.

Yong-Sun felt that something was off and looked up. 

Oh, how he'd regret it. 

He could feel bile resurface in his throat and pushed himself off of Kim Dok-Ja. He puked again for the third time today. He coughed and gagged as his empty stomach continued to be emptied. Yong-Sun could feel himself run out of even more energy but pushed himself up from the bloodied floor.

He could hear Han Su-Yeong gag at the sight of the severed thighs hanging from rubber bands. As if they were to be sold by a butcher to the people. Is this their definition of finding food? It's just inhumane.

"You seem upset," Kim Dok-Ja stated. 

"Of course. How can you not after seeing all of this?" The witch replied, gritting her teeth. Yong-Sun could feel someone wrap their hand around his waist and support him up. 

"I heard from the apostles that your goal is to dominate the world by using the information you have," The heavenly man's voice rang from beside his ear. The young man placed a hand on Kim Dok-Ja's shoulder to stabilise himself. 

"Who the fuck told you that? That's as absurd as when you call me a plagiarist," Su-Yeong sneered and continued. "World domination sounds cool and all but I'm more focused on saving the world from its destruction. Why else did you think I gathered all of those people?"

"Who are the apostles..?" Yong-Sun's voice was back to being raspy. This question seemed to get both of the arguing adult's attention.

"The apostles were shady people who knew of a revelation and dressed strangely. They also followed that shortie," Kim Dok-Ja supplied him with an answer. 

"Hey! It's not my fault for how they acted!" She reasoned, "And I'm not a shor-" 

Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang!

The three reflexively held their breaths and reached for their weapons. The loud sound came from somewhere ahead.

Tatang!

Now that Yong-Sun listened closely, it sounded like gunshots. They all silently agreed to start running in the direction they heard the gunshots from, Kim Dok-Ja moving ahead by a few steps.

"Dok-Ja-Hyung," Yong-Sun started and his hyung looked at him, "Is the military still functioning?"

"No. They should've been wiped out ages ago," Dok-Ja shook his head. "Either way, you shouldn't be able to kill Werewolves with normal bullets." 

The trio finally reached their destination. A pile of werewolf carcasses towered over them as if it were a mountain. The bodies all had bullet holes but looked as though they were burnt to a crisp.

"Attribute bullets."

"Bullets with the holy attribute?"

Both Kim Dok-Ja and Han Su-Yeong spoke at the same time. Yong-Sun was still lost as to what that meant but he turned to their left to see a group of people holding guns in the distance. They were all wearing prisoner's uniforms. The group seemed to have been walking closer. Han Su-Yeong moved closer to whisper to Kim Dok-Ja.

"So, you remember me telling you about how there was someone like you from the Sondaemun prison?" 

"Yeah?"

"They are her forces," She pointed at the group of convicts, or more specifically, a woman wearing a mask. 

"She must be the leader then," Kim Yong-Sun joined in the conversation. "You two keep talking about a novel so I'm assuming what you mean by 'like Dok-Ja' is that she has read this novel?" 

Both of the adults blinked at him. Was it not censored for him?

Han Su-Yeong cleared her throat, "Y-Yeah. You're sharp for a kid!" 

"Unnie… I'm 21," Yong-Sun deadpanned. The witch coughed and waved it off, face burning slightly.

"A-Anyways, that woman acts like a renouncer. But when I look at her profile, nothing of the sort pops up," Her demeanour returned to a serious one as she spoke of the leader. Yong-Sun stared at the woman she was talking about. For some reason, he felt as if he had seen her before. But where? The only woman he knew that’d be closest to her age would be Yi Seol-Hwa and she had white hair.

"They are also wanderers. The most powerful I know," Han Su-Yeong added. He noted her words down in his head.

A woman holding a gun approached them and, more accurately was approaching Kim Dok-Ja. She wasn’t the leader but was probably a lieutenant of the group. Dok-Ja unsheathed his sword, Su-Yeong was preparing to cast an avatar and Yong-Sun lowered his form, ready to pounce at the woman if she showed signs of being a threat.

She raised her gun and shot at the mountain of werewolf corpses. The bodies collapsed and revealed what was hidden underneath.

A large yellow egg-shaped stone that was radiating light. Yong-Sun didn't recognise what it was. Then he recalled the talk about meteorites with his Hyung. If he was right, there should be something inside it.

The armed woman stared at the meteorite before turning to face his hyung.

"Are you Kim Dok-Ja?" She asked. Did she know him? Or was he a popular figure? Considering how Han Su-Yeong first interacted with Kim Dok-Ja, that must be the case. 

Dok-Ja cleared his throat.

"You are mistaken. Kim Dok-Ja is the name of the guy I hate the most," He blatantly lied. "My name is Yu Jung-Hyeok." 

Yong-Sun's eyes widened at the claim. That was his brother's name… Was it just a random choice? Did Kim Dok-Ja know another Yu Jung-Hyeok? Kim Yong-Sun never knew of a "Kim Dok-Ja" until now. It was unlikely that Dok-Ja had taken his Oppa's name. They didn't know each other after all. It must've been a coincidence. Yeah, a coincidence.

"... Yu Jung-Hyeok?" The woman looked confused at Hyung's claims. 

"Yes. So tell your leader who got off to stop with the nonsense. It doesn't matter if you don't understand what I mean." Kim Dok-Ja spoke in a calm and demanding voice. Oddly similar to her brother's. 

Yong-Sun turned to look at Han Su-Yeon's reaction to this.  Her face looked as though she had been defiled multiple times by one person. He then looked back at Dok-Ja, who was sending them both a look to play along.

"No need for the unnecessary lies. I already know that you are Kim Dok-Ja." The woman spoke again. 

[The incarnation ' Han Su-Yeong ' has confirmed that the statement is true.]

"The king said she will entrust the yellow meteorite to you." The woman continued. Yong-Sun's earlier guess was correct. 

"Who are you?" Kim Dok-Ja asked.

"We are the people of the wanderer king," the woman replied.

"Is that woman your King?" Dok-Ja glanced at the masked woman further behind. The armed woman followed his line of sight and nodded. Dok-Ja faltered for a second, "King… I don't see a flag on her."

"The king doesn’t dwell on such trivialities," his eyes widened slightly at her words. She continued, "Our king leaves this message to you: 'We will deal with the disaster in the north. The remaining four, you will have to deal with yourself''."

Kim Dok-Ja's mouth opened as if to ask a question but the group of wanderers were turning their backs and leaving. Han Su-Yeong managed to yell at them through her shock.

"Oi! You can't just drop all of this on us all of a sudden! Explain yourselves!" Despite her demands, the group of wanderers kept walking without turning to look back at them. Su-Yeong glanced at Dok-Ja.

"Do you know that lady?" Kim Yong-Sun asked his hyung.

"Do I?" He then went silent for a few moments. Yong-Sun took this moment to breathe and recollect his disarrayed thoughts. The Manyeo approached him.

"You alright there kid? You don't look too hot," She commented and tapped his shoulder. He slowly nodded.

"I'm fine… just hungry," he carefully replied with the same excuse. His throat still burned but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. "What about Su-Yeong-Unnie?" 

She scoffed and stated that she was much better than how Yong-Sun looked. He smiled weakly to try and ease her "worries". It didn't work as well as he thought it would. Yong-Sun glanced at the angelic man to see if anything had gone wrong.

Kim Dok-Ja's expression screamed louder than his silence.

"Dok-Ja-Hyung?" Yong-Sun reached out to touch his shoulder. He seemed to have been snapped out of his shocked state and was breathing again. "Hyung…?"

"Oi. What's up with you?" Su-Yeong voiced her concern anxiously. Dok-Ja shook his head and waved it off. 

"Never mind me," The younger adults doubted his words but didn’t question him further. 

—

After a moment’s rest, Kim Dok-ja went to inspect the yellow egg. A meteorite, or so it was called. 

Yong-Sun was still resting with Han Su-Yeong, who was surprisingly worried about his health. The Manyeo handed him another drink and some close-to-expired bread. He appreciated her care. She then went to attend to the other survivors lying around the area. Perhaps this new behaviour had something to do with her curse.

[The Constellation who likes to change genders asks if you are alright.]

[Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is telling you to take your time to recover.]

[Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' feels the need to state that you should eat more.]

The messages made Yong-Sun smile. It was good to learn that not all constellations were only looking at them as entertainment but as people with their own lives. 

[Constellation 'Abyssal Black-Flame Dragon' wonders when the action will start again.]

That dragon is annoying.

"I'm fine," he replied to the constellations. Yong-Sun still had a minor pain from his probably broken ribs but it hadn’t punctured his lungs. He would live. 

[Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' says you should buy a healing skill.]

[2000 coins have been sponsored.]

His eyes widened at the donation. It was quite a considerably large amount. Yong-Sun wondered if he could return the money. 

"Thank you…" It was a bit touching for the constellation to send so many coins. What did she mean by [buy a healing skill] though? 

"Ugh… I feel like a volunteer." Han Su-Yeong grumbled as she returned from her quest to help the bystanders. Her avatars were still scattered around with the survivors. She looked at Yong-Sun up and down. "How are you, kid? Better?" 

[The constellations of the Absolute Good system are touched by the incarnation ‘Han Su-Yeong's’ good deeds.]

"I'm better, but," he glanced at the sky and then back at the woman, "do you know how to buy skills?"

Han Su-Yeong raised a brow at his question but nodded. 

"The Demon-like Judge of Fire told me to buy a healing skill," the younger man felt the need to explain his unprecedented curiosity. Su-Yeong opened her mouth in a silent ‘ah’. 

"Hey, Kim Dok-Ja!" She yelled, walking towards the older man who was wandering around the yellow meteorite. The two of them started a conversation that Yong-Sun couldn't hear, casually peeking at him every so often. He felt as though he was being unhelpful at the moment and moved to stand up. His ribs acted up and made him sit back down with a wince, grasping tightly at his chest area as he hissed.

It hurts.

Chapter Text

“...Is it okay to leave her alone? If there are more people other than us who know the future…” Han Su-Yeong trailed off. It was lucky that the constellations were busy swarming around the young man of the group and not listening to them, otherwise, it would cause a lot of complaints with the censoring. 

Kim Dok-Ja knocked on the meteorite, “Rather, there are more pressing matters. We'll wake this up.”

Su-Yeong stared at him with repulsion. She shook her head, “You insane man… push that aside. That Namdongsaeng needs to be healed.” 

Dok-Ja's eyebrows raised as he tilted his head to get a look at the youngest. Yong-Sun sat with his legs crossed, hand clenched near his chest as if it were in pain. His form was bent forward like he was going to vomit again. The reader had forgotten that, out of the three of them, Yong-Sun was the one who was the most physically damaged. 

“... Do you have a healing skill?”

Han Su-Yeong scoffed, "If I did I wouldn't be talking to you about it. That archangel is telling him to buy one. She even donated a lot of coins for it." 

Dok-Ja bit his bottom lip. He should've watched over Yong-Sun a bit closer. From what he could tell, the younger man had not been in this world for long. Yong-Sun had probably been forced to transmigrate to the apocalyptic Seoul. For what reason? He didn’t know. The younger Kim probably didn’t know either.

He messaged Bihyung to prepare the ads.

He sighed, “I'll show him the Dokkaebi store. Drink this if you have no magic.” 

The reader tossed her a high-grade mana potion. She took it and popped the lid open to let it rejuvenate her mana.

Kim Dok-Ja walked towards the one sitting on the ground.

—

[The Constellation ' Demon-Like Judge of Fire ' wants to tell you a story about the incarnation ' Kim Dok-Ja '.]

That got Yong-Sun's attention, “A story? About Hyung-nim?”

[The Constellation ' Demon-Like Judge of Fire ' is nodding.]

[The Constellation ' Prisoner of the Golden Headband ' is sighing.]

[The Constellation ' Abyssal Black Flame Dragon ' is complaining about the Constellation ' Demon-Like Judge of Fire 's' attention seeking.]

[The Constellation ' Demon-Like Judge of Fire ' is denying those claims.]

[Many Constellations doubt the Constellation ' Demon-Like Judge of Fire 's' words]

“Can you tell me the story, Judge-nim?” Yong-Sun stared up at the sky. These constellations acted like a live stream chat. It makes him miss his brother.

[The Constellation ' Demon-Like Judge of Fire '–]

[Many Constellations are annoyed by the sudden advertisements.]

[The Constellation ' Demon-Like Judge of Fire ' is crying.]

[The Constellation ' Prisoner of the Golden Headband ' is relieved.]

The younger Kim looked away from the sky to see Kim Dok-Ja approaching with a furrowed expression.

“Yong-Sun-yah, how are you feeling?” The angelic man crouched down in front of him. 

“… My chest hurts,” he answered hesitantly but truthfully. Although Han Su-Yeong was kind to him, or as kind as she could be, he trusted his hyung more. 

“I heard that the 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' told you to buy something to heal you.”

Yong-Sun nodded.

“I'll show you how,” The younger Kim watched as a screen opened up in front of him with sparkling grey eyes. Kim Dok-Ja's gaze softened. “This is the Dokkaebi bag.”

“It's just like c*upang¹,” he commented and played around with the store, navigating the bag with surprising ease. 

“It doesn't look like you'll need my help with this…” Dok-Ja uttered with a bit of shock.

Yong-Sun snapped out of his curious trance and blushed shamefully. He gave back his hyung's control over the Dokkaebi bag with a quiet “sorry”.

Dok-Ja ruffled his hair, “It's fine, Yong-Sun-yah. Don't forget to buy a high-grade healing potion or elixir. Though they can be a bit pricey, it'd be good for healing broken bones.”

His cheeks flushed a light red, clearly when compared to his pale skin. His brother used to touch him a lot to show his affection since the man wasn't the best at communicating, while his younger sister would both say it aloud and cuddle with him. Yong-Sun was used to being physical with affection, yet Kim Dok-Ja's head-pats made his chest warm. 

“Yong-Sun-yah?” He snapped out of his thoughts.

“Huh?”

“Should I buy it for you?” The question caught him by surprise, “I'll take that as a yes.”

The angelic man confidently clicked around the Dokkaebi bag for “Ellain's Forest Vital Force” and bought two. It was one of the best healing elixirs minus the fact that it puts the user to sleep for two hours. He gave one to Yong-Sun, who looked at him like he was a god.

“Mon Lucifer.”

“I thought you got over that…”

Yong-Sun opened his mouth to say something but he bashfully looked away and paused, “... thank you.”

With flushed cheeks, Dok-Ja fondly smiled and ruffled the younger Kim's hair again, “There's no need for that.”

The young man quickly drank the entire potion and his muscles went slack. The weight in his chest had lifted while the pain disappeared. For a moment, his fatigue came in by tenth fold and he almost fell over unconscious. Until a specific notification popped up.

[The stigma ' Psyche's mind ' has offset the side-effects of using ' Ellain's Forest Vital Force '.]

His eyes snapped open wide and he sat up. He touched his chest to feel for any discomfort but it felt perfectly fine. Dok-Ja seemed to startle for a second when he sat up after almost falling forward. The man's arm was held out to support his body if he had fallen asleep. Yong-Sun wasn't at all offended that his hyung didn't tell him about the effects of the potion, though if it was his brother he probably would've hit the man. 

“Hyung.”

Dok-Ja blinked twice then responded, “What is it, Yong-Sun-yah?”

“What's your next plan?” Yong-Sun cocked his head to the side, eyes shining in curiosity. Dok-Ja looked at where he previously left Han Su-Yeong. The younger followed his line of sight to see the woman glaring at the yellow meteorite.

“Are you waking it up?”

“Yeah.”

“I'll help,” he stated. Kim Yong-Sun wouldn't take no for an answer and Kim Dok-Ja knew that. Dok-Ja sighed and nodded, he deduced that Yong-Sun had felt useless ever since he first got here. 

It would make sense. But Yong-Sun didn't know much about their world at the moment so Dok-Ja was a bit hesitant, surprising himself in the process. He had never hesitated or second-guessed himself since the apocalypse started. Maybe it was due to Kim Yong-Sun's unprecedented arrival. 

He pushed away those thoughts to the back of his mind. It didn't matter for the time being. He had more important things to do.

The older man stood up and helped Yong-Sun get on his feet. 

“Do you know your magic power level?” 

“My MP? I think it's around level 40,” he estimated. He didn't have time to check his stats until now. Something about updating it to match with the new system. The newer the better he supposed. 

“That's more than enough,” His Hyung patted his back and walked towards Han Su-Yeong yelling to get her attention.

“Shut up!” She hissed back, “Is it really okay to just awaken it? The main scenario hasn't even opened. What'll happen if a plausibility request occurs?”

Dok-Ja rolled his eyes, “That won't happen.”

“The intermediate Dokkaebi hates you.”

“I'll deal with him then,” He shrugged. Yong-Sun followed obediently behind him, “Anyways, I've done the calculations. We should be done infusing the mana in ten hours.”

The youngest of the group stared at the stone with interest. He wondered what slumbered inside the stone from another star.

Dok-Ja continued with his explanation, “Me and Yong-Sun-yah will be doing three hours each, you will take four.”

“Wait, why am I doing more than you?”

“You have more magic power than me, don't you?” Dok-Ja raised a brow at the woman, her avatars had dwindled in numbers at this point.

“What level is your MP, Unnie?” Yong-Sun jumped into the conversation. Su-Yeong looked at him weirdly.

“I still don't get why you're calling me Unnie²,” she uttered under her breath, then spoke louder, “Why should I tell any of you that information?”

[The provisions of the Temporary Contract will take effect.]

Han Su-Yeong clicked her tongue, “... Level 55.”

Yong-Sun clapped his hands honestly. She deserved the nickname of being a Manyeo. Dok-Ja on the other hand had covered his mouth and gaped like a fish out of the water.

“I'm changing it. You're doing 6 hours and Yong-Sun-yah and I will do 2 hours,” he grinned. Now it was Han Su-Yeong's turn to gape.

“What?! How's that fair? My poor mana's already drained enough!” She complained, but then Dok-Ja tossed her more potions. 

“Take more of these then.” 

“Your supporting constellation sure is nice… spending this lot of money, and you're just giving this stuff to me? Is it poisoned or something?” She scoffed, picking up one of the rounded bottles. 

“I'm the one who paid for it,” The man replied and touched the meteorite. “I'll be starting my round now, so don't bother me when I sleep unless it's waking up.”

Yong-Sun silently nodded while Su-Yeong rolled her eyes and mumbled a “whatever”.

“If we die from this disaster, I'm blaming it on you.”

Disaster? Does that mean Hyung is going to awaken a monster?

“It's not a disaster.”

“Then what is it, Dok-Ja-Hyung?” The man peeked over his shoulder to make eye contact with Yong-Sun. He smirked and shrugged, glancing at the only woman in their party.

“Ask that witch. If she really can't remember, then she certainly slacked off while plagiarising the Ways of Survival,” he passed the mic on. 

Su-Yeong grumbled and picked up her phone, scrolling through what Yong-Sun assumed to be her novel. Her eyes widened as she read a particular section in the chapter, “This is…!”

Kim Dok-Ja ignored her amazement and continued to infuse his mana into the stone. 

“What is it, Unnie? What's in the stone?” He questioned, curious to know what made the two of them so invested in waking the thing inside. Han Su-Yeong, to no one's pleasure, shook her head.

“You'll find out in ten hours,” she helpfully supplied.

The youngest pouted and huffed, he was starting to become annoyed by his seniors, “Will it be something I'll like?”

“What's your favourite animal?”

Yong-Sun frowned, “Does it matter?”

“Why else would I ask?”

“To change the subject.”

Han Su-Yeong shut her mouth for a few minutes after that.

“You should stop calling me Unnie,” she butted in with a new topic. Yong-Sun tilted his head to the side.

“Why?”

“Because people will keep thinking you're a girl.” 

“But I'm clearly not…” he argued. The witch raised a sceptical brow and looked at him up and down, she never got a chance to give the man a fit check yet (not that she needed to, she just wanted to).

The state of Yong-Sun's clothing was less concerning than his health. His white crop top was in perfect condition while the black jacket over it was a little worn down; his skirt wasn't ripped down the side and fell to just above his knees. His hands sported a pair of fingerless gloves, Han Su-Yeong approved. Her gaze drooped down to his shoes and lingered for a long while. The man was wearing heeled boots. It's the apocalypse, and that young man decided to wear the least practical shoes ever created.

“Did you not think to change your shoes at all?” She sneered and nudged the monstrosity with her foot. How did she never realise that those were there?

Yong-Sun frowned, “Why? I like them and it's not like I haven't run in heels before.” 

“But doesn't it hurt your feet?”

“I found a way to run without them hurting.”

“Still! It's easy to trip and stuff.”

“I have a fast reaction time.”

Su-Yeong glared at him and he stared back at her. They would've continued to argue if not for Kim Dok-Ja joining their conversation.

“I think Yong-Sun-yah looks good with them on,” he added yet still kept his back to the two squabbling adults. Yong-Sun's heart preened at his Hyung's compliment and gave the writer a victorious smirk. She returned it with a middle finger and lay down on the floor.

“Whatever. You two Kims keep guard, I'm sleeping,” she announced and shut her eyes. The younger Kim watched as her body slowly relaxed and her breath evened. It was rare to find someone able to sleep so comfortably on a floor like this.

 “You should rest too, Yong-Sun-yah,” the older Kim stayed facing the yellow stone. 

Yong-Sun stared at his back as sparks induced from his palms as he continued to feed the meteorite his mana. 

“Will you wake me up?” He shuffled closer to Dok-Ja's side and rested his head against the angelic man's back. It was warm.

“Of course.”

With that, he closed his eyes and fell into a wanted slumber

—

“Yong-Sun-yah?” Kim Dok-Ja called out. There was nothing in response. He turned his head slightly and looked in the corner of his eye to see a mop of black hair on his shoulder. He assumed it was the younger Kim since Han Su-Yeong was heard snoring somewhere further behind him. 

⸢ He smiled. ⸥

[The constellation ' Demon-like Judge of Fire ' is grinning fondly at the wholesome scene.]

[500 coins have been sponsored.]

[The constellation ' Prisoner of the Golden Headband ' groans at the constellation ' Demon-like Judge of Fire 's interruption.]

His lips evened out. He shook his head and tried to ignore the constellations' notifications. He wondered if they had stayed quiet this entire time to be respectful of their moment.

[The constellation ' Secretive Plotter ' wonders what you are thinking.]

There it was. The ever so mysterious message from a constellation he hadn't heard of once in the novel. Dok-Ja could never figure out who it could be. It was likely that the constellation wasn't a constellation at all, but rather an outer being. It wasn't only the constellations that could access the star stream after all. But why would they be pretending to be a constellation in the first place?

[The constellation who likes to change genders is politely asking if the incarnation ' Kim Yong-Sun ' is asleep.]

[1000 coins have been sponsored.] 

Loki was a lot more vocal now. All the more that benefits him and Jung-Hyeok’s party, “He is. Why do you ask?”

[The constellation who likes to change genders is curious to know your thoughts on the incarnation ' Kim Yong-Sun '.]

[The constellation ' Demon-like Judge of Fire ' also wants to know!]

[500 coins have been sponsored.]

“My thoughts…?” It was a question he never expected. From Uriel? It would be less shocking but it was from a constellation of Asgard. 

Yong-Sun was an anomaly, to say the least. The younger man wasn’t anyone harmful to him or Han Su-Yeong. If anything, Dok-Ja would’ve thought he wasn’t capable of killing anyone if it weren’t for his excellent handling of the small blades earlier. He first assumed the young man was some kind of model with how his face was and would never believe it if he wasn’t a celebrity in his world. Smooth and clear skin that could rival the glasswork of the countless glass-smiths in the world. A frame selectively designed to accentuate the best features a human can have. Even without his way of dressing, it would be hard to discern his true gender. His facial structure made it so that he came off as both masculine and feminine simultaneously; even with those tired narrow eyes, the man would be able to slap Yu Jung-Hyeok once if not twice. Dok-Ja wouldn’t be surprised if the young man were the son of Aphrodite.

[The constellation who likes to change genders is waiting for your answer.]

Dok-Ja snapped out of his thoughts and stared at the notification. He smiled mischievously at the stars.

“I think I’ll keep him with me; if that’s what you were wondering,” he replied in his usual sly tone while speaking to the constellations. “But, why exactly are you asking me this?”

[The constellation who likes to change genders states that she is purely curious.]

He doubted that was all there was to the question. 

[The constellation who likes to change genders wishes that you will keep that child safe.]

Dok-Ja hummed. He was already planning on doing that.

—

White. Everything was white. Why was everything white if he was asleep? Yong-Sun wondered as he lay alone in the space he called his dream world. 

Now that he thought about it, everything was familiar. That dragon had the same title as his friend. The Demon-Like Judge used to be Uri’s nickname in-game. Even if it was a coincidence, Kim Dok-Ja had used his brother’s name.

Yu Jung-Hyeok… He wondered how he was doing. His one and only brother. Yu Mi-Ah’s school time was probably over. He must’ve picked her up by now.

He needed answers. Yet the more he thought the more questions gathered. Maybe that was why thinking was such a problem. It just brought up more questions that he would forget by the time he was out of there.

This white barren land. No other traces of colour other than himself. 

Sometimes, he would be sleeping on someone’s lap. Someone whose face he couldn’t remember. The faint feeling of someone touching his head, or rubbing his back remained. Their fingers were gentle as they played with his hair, twirling it around as their mouth opened and closed yet not a single word fell out of them. 

Still, his ears recognised the silent voice. It was one he heard a long time ago. 

The floor beneath him started to sink into his ever-growing shadow. Eventually, everything went dark and he heard his name in the distance.

⸢ “Yong-ie.” ⸥

—

“Kim Yong-Sun!”

The young man sat up as his eyes blew open. It was like he was startled out of his sleep and yet his expression remained still. 

“Kid. It's your turn,” Han Su-Yeong sat beside him with one hand on the meteorite and the other holding his shoulder. 

“…Okay Unnie. Where's Hyung?” He pushed himself up, and his neck was surprisingly not aching like when he fell asleep on the floor. He still massaged it as his usual waking-up process. 

“God, you’re like a lost puppy. Look behind you,” she huffed with a smirk. 

Yong-Sun furrowed his brows in slight annoyance and turned his head around. On the ground behind him lay Kim Dok-Ja with his arm out as if it were acting as a pillow. The arm was placed somewhere Yong-Sun’s neck would’ve been. His heart stuttered for a moment. 

“Did I…?” He hesitantly faced Han Su-Yeong again.

“You sure did, kid.”

⸢ Ah fuck. ⸥

His face burned a little in shame. He had fallen asleep on the angelic man. Yong-Sun needed to fix this sleeping habit of his before he started to have an unsteady sleep schedule again.

“He didn't wake me up?”

“Nope.”

The woman’s gaze wandered towards the resting man and a soft expression flashed across her face. It was strange, to say the least. Han Su-Yeong always rubbed off as a sharp woman. Someone who didn’t open up to people easily, like his "Lucifer". Perhaps that was why the two of them were compatible.

"You said it’s my turn, right?" He asked for confirmation while he shuffled closer to the stone egg. 

She nodded so he pressed his palm to the rough surface and closed his eyes. Yong-Sun felt something from his core flow towards his hand and outward. A warm feeling enveloped him once more as his mana was fed to the meteorite. 

How soothing.

—

Han Su-Yeong watched in stupefaction as a flood of mana split from Kim Yong-Sun’s palm. Looks like they’d be done earlier than that rat predicted. A stream of blue and golden particles circled the meteorite in waves, eliciting a warm breeze around it. 

The woman couldn’t help but gape.

She shook the man on the floor violently to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. Kim Dok-Ja woke up with a groan.

“Didn’t I tell you not to… wake me…” his voice trailed off. 

There was a moment of silence.

“You’re seeing this right?”

“Yeah.”

“What did the kid say his mana level was?”

“... Around 40.”

“Around?” Su-Yeong turned her head away from the scene in front of them to look at the man beside her. 

Kim Dok-Ja grinned like a maniac while he watched the younger Kim pour out their mana like a flood. He looked like he was coming up with a new plan in his head.

“You aren’t going to use the kid as a scapegoat or something right?” 

With that, the smile faded and he frowned at her, “Of course not. I already promised to keep him with me.”

“Alright… but why’d you specifically say around?” She crossed her arms.

“I don’t think Yong-Sun-yah knows what his attributes are.”

“So, like you?” 

Dok-Ja shrugged. Neither of them knew what Yong-Sun’s situation was. Su-Yeong didn’t even know where the kid came from, but since he was interesting she tolerated him. She wondered how he adapted so easily to their apocalyptic Seoul. 

According to the older Kim, Yong-Sun had fallen out of a portal when he first showed up at his old workplace. It was odd enough with that alone, now the young man had clearly demonstrated he had an inhumane amount of mana inside his body. It would be dangerous to have someone like that too close to her, she knew that well. But a part of her didn’t want to leave.

⸢ Why didn’t she? ⸥

They were strangers and she wasn’t someone who needed companions. Kim Yong-Sun wasn’t even someone important in the novel. She should leave at any chance she gets. 

[Many constellations are amazed by the incarnation ‘ Kim Yong-Sun’s ’ display.]

[The constellation ‘ Prisoner of the Golden Headband ’ is pulling his hair out in shock.]

[The constellation who likes to change genders is smiling fondly.]

[Some constellations wonder if the constellation who likes to change genders has inside information.]

[The constellation who likes to change genders denies the claim.] 

The egg then started to crack and the shell fell apart with a blinding light. They all shielded their eyes from the shine. The pressure exerted from the being inside the moonstone was overwhelming, even if one was simply looking at it. Something from out of this world was hatching.

Chapter Text

With the remains on the ground, the trio stared at the beast. A wolf with silver fur, stood on its hind legs upright. Yongsun stayed in his sitting position, enamoured by the otherworldly being. Now he understood the manyeo’s question. 

[You are the first to encounter a creature from another world in this scenario.]

[Affinity with otherworldly species has increased.]

[2000 coins have been rewarded.]

[You have been gifted with a skill for smooth communication.]

[‘Other World Interpreter Lv. 1’ has been acquired.]

He openly gaped. It was his first time seeing anything like this happen in front of his eyes. The entire time he had been here, he felt like he was inside a game or some hyperrealistic dream. Alas, his theory has come to a close.

[‘Other World Interpreter Lv. 1’ has been activated.]

Yongsun scrambled to stand up and step behind the only people he could trust. The two seemed to have bought something from the store, but that didn't matter to him. He needed to get some space between himself and that... thing.

“%#$#… ∆@mn αlrƐady?” A low voice came out of the wolf's mouth, distorted from the messy translation of the skill.

The beast then stood up in all its glory, making the younger Kim notice that it was previously crouching. Now it was twice his size and leering down at them. 

“I @m the gr3at firßt wolf,” it declared, “Lycaon of the Imyuntar.”

There was a great silence that spread across the area they stood in. Not a single squeak was to be heard. Han Sooyoung hid behind Kim Dokja, avoiding the beast's vision, while the younger Kim was processing those words.

Lycaon…?

“Isn’t that the name of the king in that one Greek myth who got turned into a wolf because he sacrificed his son?” Yongsun muttered quietly, only loud enough for his hyung and Unnie to hear. 

Dokja's fingers twitched, and Sooyoung turned to look at him strangely. Had he said something wrong?

The wolf's blue eyes narrowed, and its ears leaned slightly towards the back of its head. 

“You three are the ones who woke me up.”

It was a statement. Not a single hint of doubt was to be found.

“That is correct..” Dokja firmly nodded.

“I see.” It paused. "Then it's time. Congratulations on clearing the tutorial scenarios, warriors of this world.”

Tutorial? More scenarios were happening in this place before he got here? That would explain why Dokja and Sooyoung were familiar with the constellations and everything. He thought it was just in a post-apocalyptic setting.

Though the phrase felt odd to him, a tutorial that costs lives should not be called a tutorial at all. He wanted to snap back at the beast, but alas, the writer noticed and gripped his shoulder tightly. He frowned but stood down for a moment.

“Those who are facing extinction. First, I deeply regret that the ‘disasters’ have fallen upon your world.” 

Lycaon faced the swirling vortex at the centre of Seoul's sky. Yongsun had not noticed such a storm when he first arrived, but he noticed that it was slowly expanding as the beastman spoke. There was something ominous about it, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. 

“Since I am here, you can rest assured. I am a ‘guide’ to stop the destruction of this world. I will train you to prepare for the disaster and give you the necessary instructions.” The words sounded robotic as if he were reading off a script. It wasn’t terrible, but he’d rather listen to his brother’s friends’ screams in the game than hear the robotic tone of voice the wolf was using. “And… By the way, are you the only one who woke me up?” 

“It’s just us,” Kim Dokja responded with confidence.

“Strange… Hasn’t the fourth scenario been cleared? If it had been cleared properly, then all five of us guides would have hatched in the same space,” Lycaon looked at the surrounding area and asked, “Where is your ruler?”

Dokja spoke again: “There is no king.”

Yongsun wondered if this was about the same thing Han Sooyoung questioned earlier. Seeing as it was only his Hyung speaking, perhaps the witch didn’t have any words to say or she couldn’t fully understand the wolf.

“No King… Then did the master of the throne die? But that shouldn’t be possible. At where you are now, there shouldn’t be a way to kill the king,” Lycaon glowered at them in disbelief. 

“There was never a king in the first place.” Han Sooyoung rolled her eyes and talked back to the beast-man. 

“You… What does that mean?”

Sooyoung was about to answer again; Dokja beat her to it: “We cleared the fourth scenario without getting the Absolute Throne.”

A fire sparked in the wolf’s eyes. 

“Is this a lie? That isn’t possible! The fourth scenario doesn’t come to an end until someone takes the throne,” Lycaon argued like a child in a losing fight.

Yongsun felt a bit left out. He tried to piece together the puzzle with the little amount of information he had. There was a throne, and Kim Dokja was supposed to take over it, but he didn’t because it would make everyone doomed in the future. The throne had to be sat on to complete the scenario. Then, if he didn’t take the throne...

“Destroying the throne is an option...?” Yongsun supplied it hesitantly. He glanced at his hyung. The angelic man smiled at him and nodded, making his chest swell with pride as he looked back at the wolf.

“Well… Perhaps?” He appeared to be embarrassed, and his silver fur stood up to express such shame. “But with this many constellations... surely you didn’t...?”

“I did,” Dokja confirmed.

“How could you do such a horrid thing? Do you know what you have bestowed upon your world?” He proceeded to spit out curses that the system could not translate into Korean. “Why did you do that? So there is no one under the watch of the great god? Not even one?”

“Nope.”

Lycaon let out a roar. “The constellations of the Star Stream never cared for Chronos! Now this world, too, is doomed to fall! Living beings with less intelligence than a kobold’s should do as they are told!!”

The younger Kim felt the need to punch this otherworldly being back to its destroyed universe deep in his soul. He was starting to wind up his shoulders to go in for a punch but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. It was his hyung’s. 

“Prince of Imyuntar, Lycaon Isparang. It is too early for you to give up on this world.”

Said prince growled in response, “Cheeky human. Show respect-!”

“Shut up! Let Hyung talk!³ You may be a prince or whatever, but this is Earth! This is Seoul. Not your stupid ruined planet or your home kingdom!” Kim Yongsun snapped, fuming at the wolf’s arrogance. His two seniors stared at him with wide eyes. There was a pregnant pause while he glared at Lycaon with gritted teeth. 

The audacity of this beast stood on its two hind legs, acting as if it were greater than any other living creature. ‘Guide’ or not, respect was a two-way thing. If the wolf was demanding such a thing from them, Yongsun was not going to comply. 

Sooyoung-Unnie stifled a chuckle beside him, and Dokja-Hyung let out a deep sigh. Did he do something wrong?

“Yongsun-ah is right. The world you were ruling was Chronos, not Earth. Did you lose your senses for a second there?” The older Kim jested, but he didn’t wear his devilish smirk, “There were five disasters that destroyed your world. The southern continent of Chronos was destroyed by the dragon, right?” 

“How do you know this?”

“The fire dragon Igneel. The disaster born in the blazing depths of hell. The one that destroyed your home planet.”

“What a nerd,” the witch whispered, leaning in towards Yongsun. “I wonder if he re-reads the chapter until the new one is released.” 

He frowned but didn’t respond. It’d be bad for him if he didn’t focus on the conversation between his hyung and the beastman. He was a clueless young man in a ‘Seoul’ he wasn’t familiar with. Any form of information would be good for him. 

“You are taking this too lightly. You’ll regret it. Soon, your world will be lit in that hot hellfire, and all your bodies will be consumed by that flame!” Lycaon howled.

“Don’t worry. Igneel won’t be descending into this world.”

The wolf blanked.

“What?”

“It’s already dead. I killed it. There will be no ‘Hellfire’ disaster in this world.” 

Now it was the youngest to gape at the oldest. The angelic man slayed a dragon. Of course, that man did. He was the most powerful man Yongsun knew other than his older brother; he might even have the audacity to say that this man would be able to beat his brother’s ass in real life. In all honesty, Kim Dokja looked like a frail man, but his stats were second to none if his observations were correct. 

“What a cruel joke,” the wolf finally said. “Is it fun to joke about your world that is soon to be extinct?”

The older Kim pulled out a golden medallion with a blue ribbon wrapped around it in a pattern, it looked much like a wish catcher. He held it up for Lycaon to see. 

“H-How… Why do you have that?” It looked bewildered, eyes wide, as it looked between Dokja and the medallion.

“Lycaon of the Imyuntar. Pay respect to the protector.” 

The beast-man slowly got down to the ground. First, his knee touched the road, then, followed his head. Yet, there was a lot of resistance against the facts, and his head refused to join his knee on the floor. It gritted its teeth and shook, withstanding Dokja’s authority.

“Do it properly, wolf.”

Yongsun’s eyes narrowed; he glared down at the otherworldly being. Han Sooyoung watched in disbelief as its head reached and touched the ground. 

“Great dragon hunter... Please forgive my rudeness. May I have the honour of knowing your name?”

“My name is Kim Dokja.”

⸢ A name Kim Yongsun would follow until the day he finds his way home. ⸥

“So, that was the drop you got when you beat the dragon,” Sooyoung was now caught up with the situation, “and that medallion thing is important to the Imyuntar?” 

“Correct,” Dokja responded curtly.

“So, we will only stop 4 disasters in this scenario and not the original 5.”

“Also correct. What don’t you get? What is there not to get?” He sighed and turned to look at the youngest one in their current group. “Yongsun-ah, do you get it?”

Kim Yongsun slowly nodded his head and said, “You killed the dragon. The dragon was a disaster. There is one less disaster!”

“See? It’s not that hard to understand,” he slipped in a snide comment towards the woman with a bob cut. 

“But what you fought was the ‘ Lesser Fire Dragon Igneel’. How does the system count that as a disaster?” She argued and was confused for whatever reason. 

He paused and sighed, “Whatever hatches from a disaster meteorite will be counted as a disaster. That thing came out instead of Igneel, so the original Igneel won’t appear in this scenario. Even in TWAS, it wasn’t Igneel that hatched from the egg, but it's hatchling. It’s only the fifth scenario either way; how could something like that appear so early on? We wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

“Pop off, I guess. What are you, the author’s agent? Just tell me you’re the author at this point,” she scoffed at his long explanation. 

Dokja had the feeling to give her an even longer explanation just to spite her but kept it to himself. Had she and he been closer, he would’ve done it without delay. Han Sooyoung was not someone he would trust enough to share his whole life with, so why should he waste his time feeding her dull mind? She did try to slaughter his group back in the fourth scenario. He just kept her around for now since she also knew the novel and her avatar skill was useful.

“Hyung,” the man snapped out of his thoughts to look at the youngest, “was it easy fighting the dragon?”

“It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t hard either.”

Kim Yongsun hummed, “Then won’t the other disasters also be at the same level?”

“Yeah! If you of all people could kill it, then they aren’t as horrifying as TWAS made them sound,” Sooyoung chimed in with another nonsensical thought: “Looks like they aren’t that big of a deal.”

“I just got lucky with the dragon. The rest of them will be as disastrous as the novel depicted them to be,” he stated nonchalantly. The plagiarist’s face paled at his words, it amused him a little.

“Then what do we do?” 

“Well,” he pointed his gaze at the previously acquired ‘Guide’, “we use that guy.”

Lycaon was clearing out an area and preparing for Dokja’s training a bit further from their trio. He had just picked up a whole car and tossed it across the floor like it was nothing. It was a rather peculiar sight for such a mighty being to be doing so.

“Is it fighting for us then? It looks strong enough,” Yongsun commented with a mumble. The young man still seemed to dislike the wolf after the disrespect Lycaon directed at them. He can’t blame Yongsun for thinking such. They had just wasted their mana to hatch the being after all.

“That guy is a coward. Nonetheless, the guides are prohibited from fighting the disasters of another world,” he shrugged in response. 

“Master. I am ready to teach,” Lycaon called out to him. 

“Can’t you call me anything else? It sounds weird.” He was getting tired of hearing that title. It didn’t fit him.

“But it fits you, Hyung!” The youngest chirped with more excitement than normal, “If the wolf doesn’t call you master, then can I, Hyung?”

“Please don’t. It really doesn’t.”

He could hear Han Sooyoung cackling from behind him. Dokja shook his head and made his way towards the ‘Guide’. 

“Won’t you just call me by my name?” He looked up at Lycaon, who towered over him.

“I cannot do that. I cannot sour the name of the one who holds the symbol of protection,” Lycaon argued back with just as much obstinacy as his cowardliness. 

“So then he says ‘Master’,” the plagiarist chuckled to nobody’s amusement other than herself.

“I’ll call you ‘Master’ too if you’re embarrassed, Hyung!” The youngest offered with a smile. Yongsun was oddly persistent with this nickname.

“No need, Yongsun-ah. Really. Please, don’t ,” he strained and emphasised his rejection. The youngest didn’t seem to be offended by this and nodded to his words.

“Master. Let us get started,” Lycaon called, and a breeze drifted into the area, “I will now teach you the secret technique of my clan. The ‘Way of the Wind’.”

In the first hour of Kim Dokja’s lesson, Han Sooyoung had gotten a much-needed nap while leaning on Kim Yongsun. The second hour passed, and the oldest of the group was still learning. Sooyoung was asleep, and Yongsun continued to watch his hyung enthusiastically. By the time the third hour passed, a realisation dawned on the youngest.

⸢ They were going to be here for a while. ⸥

Another hour and a half passed, yet there wasn’t a hint of progress from Dokja. Sooyoung slept like she was dead; Yongsun had moved her to lie on her bag instead of his shoulder. His enthusiasm thinned, yet his belief in his hyung didn’t waver. The angelic man will figure out how to use it eventually. Maybe he needed a little more danger? Would it be easier to unlock it by fighting?

He nudged Sooyoung awake, shaking her body and poking her face with his finger. 

“What do you want?” She groaned and sat up, hands out, to push away Yongsun’s insistent prodding. 

“Try attacking Hyung with your avatar. It might help trigger the skill faster,” he pointed at the man struggling to follow Lycaon. On the other hand, the wolf seemed to be rather disappointed by Kim Dokja. 

Han Sooyoung snickered and patted Yongsun’s back. “That’s a great idea, Yongsun-ie!” 

The witch grabbed her daggers and created three avatars. She yelled a short warning at Dokja before the avatars pounced at him. The man dodged the attacks.

“Han Sooyoung! What the hell?!”

“I’m just trying to help you out, Kim Dokja!” She snickered at his struggling.

“How is this helping me?!” He pulled out his divine sword and defended himself, “You’re making it harder to focus!”

Yongsun shrunk. He just wanted to help his hyung. His brother often said that to gain XP, it was easier to fight monsters than to do simple quests. He also said that the higher the level, the more XP they dropped. He wasn’t one to playtest his game code. Why would he, when he had a perfectly able gamer brother, do it for him for free?

“Don’t ask me! It was Namdongsaeng’s idea!” Han Sooyoung yelled while pointing at Yongsun’s dejected expression. “Your precious Hoobaes are looking out for you!”

“Why are you including yourself?” Dokja scorned while squinting at her before directing his attention to Yongsun. “Namdongsaeng. I didn’t mean to upset you, but a heads-up would’ve been useful.” 

The younger Kim dejectedly nodded his head. He felt a hand on his head. 

“Don’t sulk, Yongsun-ah. I’ll get it eventually, so don’t be too worried,” the angelic man said, ruffling his hair. He felt his heart thrum louder in his ears. 

He paused before responding: “Okay, Hyung.”

“Good. Now make sure that Han Sooyoung doesn’t do anything again, will you, Namdongsaeng?” 

“Yes, Hyung.”

Yongsun could hear Han Sooyoung rolling her eyes just from the scoff she let out at their one-on-one conversation. He deliberately ignored her to listen to his hyung’s words. He could wait for one more hour.

Another hour passed.

“Master, I’m sorry to say this, but...” Lycaon looked at Dokja with a grim expression.

“But what? Is it over?” He looked up at the wolf prince.

“No, it’s just...”

“Then what’s wrong? My technique?” 

“Well, to be exact...” 

“Quit dragging it on; just spit it out.”

“Everything. Everything is wrong, Master.”

His tone was so honest, it felt like he took the brute force of Yoo Joonghyuk’s punch. He dramatically sat on the ground and stared up at the vortex in the sky. Was it just him, or did it look bigger?

“Master, you aren’t fit for wielding the way of the wind. No, to be completely clear, you don’t have any qualities to learn any skill.”

The world was crumbling upon him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

—

The days went on without any progress from the oldest member of the group. Han Sooyoung and Kim Yongsun took turns finding food and necessities while idling around. Sooyoung considered bothering Dokja again; the youngest stopped her by keeping her occupied with retelling him stories she had written. It was a pleasant break for Sooyoung from all the chaos and tragedy the world was going through; it helped her get her thoughts back in place. 

A groan came from Kim Dokja as he clutched his head in frustration. 

“Protector… I think you should give up.” The wolf repeated.

“Why can’t I learn it?” 

“Maybe because you’re talentless?” Sooyoung giggled and nudged his body with her foot. 

“There’s no way that’s it.” He denied, pushing away her leg and sitting up. 

“Why not? It’s not like you’re the protagonist.” She shook her head. “You haven’t been thinking that just because you’re doing well you’ve become Yoo Joonghyuk now, did you?” 

“Who’s become who?” Yongsun popped up behind them with a bag of non-expired foods.

Sooyoung glanced at the rat, who sat on the ground with a pensive expression. 

Dokja didn’t want Yongsun to find out about Joonghyuk yet. The handsome bastard might win over the young adult’s loyalty by only using his face. That ticked him off. He shook his head and stood up, patting Yongsun on the head.

“Nobody, Yongsun-ah. Don’t worry about it.” 

“Yeah! Don’t worry about him, Yongsun-ah,” Han Sooyoung said with a grin. “He’s just bitching and moaning about his talentlessness.” 

He groaned and shoved the plagiarist out of spite, making her stumble. “I told you there’s no way that’s it! I understand all of the theory.”

“Yes, yes. And everyone thinks they can get into Seoul National University,” she mocked.

“I’m telling the truth. I understand it all on a theoretical level. There is a gale in the right hand and a storm in the left hand. The way of the wind is opened when the curves and straight lines meet.” He recited a passage of how Yoo Joonghyuk described it in the novel.

“Y-You… really understand it!” Lycaon commented in surprise and admiration at his description. 

“If Hyung understands it then why can’t you get it?” Yongsun approached him and grabbed his hands, taking a look at his palms and tracing the lines with his thumbs. “Your hands are rough but they’re not cursed.”

He flinched and watched as Yongsun played with his hands. His fingers were flexed and his palm was pressed; then he realised that Yongsun’s hands were soft and gentle as he prodded his hands for an answer. It felt like a nice massage.

Nobody interrupted the youngest for some reason. Han Sooyoung glanced back and forth between the hands and their faces with confusion written all over her expression. He also understood her befuddlement, he felt the same after all; there was no reason for the younger to assume something was wrong with his hands when this was just a skill to be taught. 

Dokja eventually had enough of Yongsun playing with his hands and slipped them out of his grasp, patting him on the head again. 

“I’ll figure out how to do it, Yongsun-ah. Thanks for checking my hands for me,” he said with a small smile. The younger’s ears turned red as he nodded to his words. He figured there would be no problems with meeting that depressed bastard since Yongsun seemed rather fond of him.

“Figure it out? But, you just said how…” The wolf interrupted, making Yongsun frown.

“No, that was just a metaphor.” He denied.

“Those words are not a mere metaphor! That’s the most accurate representation of the Way of Wind in words!” Lycaon argued. 

God, he’s about to go mad. The explanation supplied by TWAS was absolute nonsense to him and his Forth Wall skill was useless in this situation; it only helped him mentally, not with his talents. 

“Then how about this: ‘One wind will meet another to form Yin and Yang. Once again, one wind will meet another to form the principles of negative and positive.’” He recited another passage from the novel that spoke of the Way of the Wind. 

Despite the concept of Yin and Yang originating from Earth, Lycaon understood it instantly. Winds from different directions formed around the wolf, the two winds swirled with both hot and cold energies. He was starting to think this situation was a bit ridiculous. Lycaon only heard the words and could use the technique immediately. Then why can’t he–?

“Hyung, Hyung,” Yongsun tugged on his arm and cut off his thoughts. “Do you have any other metaphors?”

“His words are not metaphors!” Lycaon roared to deaf ears. The youngest had both ears on his hyung. 

Dokja cleared his throat, “Yeah, I do. Try this: ‘Four winds meet and form a defense. Then another four are added, making it the Eight Trigrams. Therefore, wind exists everywhere and nowhere.’”

This described the enlightenment Yoo Joonghyuk gained in the 9th Round. Finally, Dokja saw the puzzled expression on the guardian’s face. Just as he was about to demean the wolf, he spoke back.

“Protector… thank you. I really appreciate it.” 

Huh?

A notification popped in front of them.

[The 5th Grade Other World Species ‘ Prince Lycaon of Imyuntar ’ has received much enlightenment.]

[You have committed massively to the evolution of ‘ Prince Lycaon of Imyuntar ’.]

[‘ Prince Lycaon of Imyuntar ’ feels a great appreciation towards you.]

[Some constellations from the ruined world, 'Chronos', thank you.]

[2,000 coins have been sponsored.]

[The Constellation ‘ Prisoner of the Golden Headband ’ admires your patience.]

[The Constellation ‘ Secretive Plotter ’ is disappointed in your weakness.]

How did it turn out like this?

—

Han Sooyoung cackled loudly behind Kim Dokja with her hands on her belly. Kim Yongsun felt as if he had some fault for Dokja’s silence. He fiddled with his fingers and picked at the skin. As if sensing his anxiety, Sooyoung patted his back while calming her laughter. 

“It’s not your fault, Dongsaeng-ie. That guy’s just got no talent for stuff like this.” She reassured him of his concerns. “I’m sure he’s just thinking right now or something.” 

He still doubted her but nodded. If Dokja minded, then it would be more obvious, probably. He couldn’t get a good read on his hyung’s emotions, it was as if there was a barrier between them. However, since Unnie said no harm was done, he could brush it off for now. The two acted like they’d known each other for a long time. He knew it was supposed to be odd, considering they all met simultaneously, but perhaps fate had a role in their closeness. 

“Unnie.”

“Don’t call me that…”

“Can’t I learn it instead of Hyung if he can’t?”

The woman stared at him. Did he ask something wrong?

“Are you reading my mind?” She narrowed her eyes at him. He frowned. 

“… No?” 

She eyed him suspiciously.

“Can I then?” He hesitatingly asked. She shrugged in response.

“I was about to say the same thing to the rat.” 

“Don’t call him a rat.” He frowned even more and glared at her.

“I’ll call him whatever I want. It’s not like I’m wrong, he looks like one.” She stated with a grin. He usually never punched first, but at a moment like this, he might just. If only Dokja hadn’t been at the scene.

“Let’s just go ask Hyung,” he sighed and dragged her to the older Kim who appeared to have finished doing whatever he was doing. “Hyung!”

He turned to them with a questioning look. 

“If you can’t learn the skill, can I do it for you? I’ll only use it when you want me to.”

Dokja’s eyes widened at his words. The reaction made Yongsun a bit disappointed; not because the man was surprised, but because it looked like he didn’t think Yongsun was loyal. Dokja smiled and sighed.

“Sorry, Yongsun-ah, but you can’t. Only people with ownership over the medallion can learn the skill.” 

“Oh…” the younger Kim trailed off into thought before continuing, “and the ownership can’t be transferred?”

Dokja shook his head. 

“How disappointing,” he thought. “I’m useless again.” 

Sooyoung slapped him on the back, getting rid of his negative thoughts.

“Is it really untransferrable, rat?” She questioned, again.

Dokja frowned at her.

“Yeah, it is.”

[The incarnation ‘ Han Sooyoung ’ has confirmed that the incarnation ‘ Kim Dokja's ’ words are true.]

Dokja made an unpleasant expression, or, well, an unpleased expression. Yongsun believed nothing could be unpleasant about his hyung’s face. 

“You’re even more sceptical than that bastard.” The angelic man stated.

The woman shrugged.

“Oh, right. Now that you bring him up, didn’t that guy originally learn the skill?” 

“Yeah.”

“So why go through all this trouble? Just leave it up to that guy. There’s still time to find him. We could level him up and get through this.” 

“That bastard doesn’t listen to others.” 

“I’ll just seduce him.” 

That one declaration created an awkward silence between them. Yongsun looked her up and down.

“Hyung, does this guy like short or tall women?” He looked up at the older man.

“Definitely taller.” Dokja looked back at him.

“Hey! Don’t talk like I’m not here!” 

“Unnie’s personality is also bad,” he continued, ignoring the woman. Dokja snorted.

“Don’t ignore me, you Kims!” She fumed.

“Either way, there’s another problem if we find that bastard. I punched him pretty hard earlier. He’ll try to kill me when he sees me.”

Yongsun flinched and held onto Dokja’s arm. 

“Don’t worry, Hyung. I’ll protect you from any bastard who tries to kill you!” He declared.

“What about me? That guy also cut off my head without any discretion.” Sooyoung added.

“Unnie looks strong. Hyung looks fragile. You can take care of yourself.” 

She snickered, which confused Yongsun. He wasn’t wrong. Was it funny?

“Yongsun-ah… Thanks, but I’m not weak, you know?” Dokja patted his head. 

“I know but–”

“HELP! SOMEONE HELP!” He got cut off by someone yelling in the distance. “SOMEONE IS INJURED, PLEASE!”

[The constellation ‘ Demon-like Judge of Fire ’ looks forward to a scene of camaraderie.]

[Some constellations are hoping you will help the injured.]

Camaraderie? What was that constellation saying? It was probably directed at Kim Dokja.

Dokja and Sooyoung both started dashing towards the crime scene. The confused younger Kim followed after them with less urgency but kept up the pace. They arrived and the older two looked surprised to see the injured, however, they also blocked Yongsun’s view of whoever it was. He had to peek around them.

Laying on the ground was a man, around a head taller than Dokja, with disarrayed black hair and a scratched-up face; though, it didn’t affect the utter beauty of the man. His clothes were all in the same shade of black, and a sword lay next to him, the scabbard attached to his belt. His brows were furrowed and teeth gritted as if he weren’t unconscious. Blood leaked from his nose, mouth and ears. That wasn’t the worst part.

The worst part was that he looked exactly the same as his brother.