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Without rush, Kim Dokja opened the door to a dimly lit room illuminated by a singular bulb of light. He sat at the singular table made of smooth lacquered wood and tempered glass. He spent his sweet time getting comfortable with his seat, then aggressively planted his fist atop the smooth glass. A light thump can be heard within the silent room, vibrating between the two people seated.
Only then did Kim Dokja notice the camera further within the room, flickering a small red light. He moved his attention towards the mysterious figure that invited him here today. As he offered them one of his easy smirks, the singular light above reflected tiny dust particles all around them.
“I’m here now, what’s up?” he said nonchalantly. “You said this round would be simple. So just tell me what to do and let those money bags flow in,” Dokja made a ‘making it rain’ gesture with his hands.
Seemingly unimpressed, the person that invited him gave him a flat stare. “It won’t just be the two of us today, we also have an additional special guest.” Han Sooyoung said a bit ominously. She put her hands together like those cool (secretive) plotters of some sort. Oh, Kim Dokja could already tell she was planning something devious, but it’s sort of hard to tell because she’s wearing shades and a coat that he sees in those american detective films.
And just like that, the quick Kim Dokja daydreams of becoming rich-quick schemes came to a halt. No. What? He thought.
..He’s splitting the bill?
“Hey! I thought you said I was the special guest- the star of the show,” Dokja complained “Who else can you bring on to your show aside from me? I’m the Dentist Demon, it’s me- in the friggin flesh!” Dokja placed an offended hand atop his chest. And because Mr. Dokja likes validation; he couldn't resist the opportunity to gloat. “I’m legit the talk of the cosmos these days- everyone is talking about me, hell, I’m the biggest talk of the galaxy!”
Han Sooyoung, unbothered by Dokja’s talks of relished stardom, clicked her tongue and then shrugged, “Mmh, not exactly, have you seen the rankings recently?”
“Uh, well no?” Dokja replied as he began to clumsily pull up the live rankings of the star stream, unaware of this apparently new development. As he looked at the rankings illuminated in blue light, he saw that his ranking had stayed the exact same from this morning. “The rankings look the same, they’re exactly what they were for this month.” He stated matter of factly. “And there’s no way you could’ve convinced the person above my rank, so what in the Korean Peninsula are you-” Dokja began in protest.
Yet, Kim Dokja couldn’t finish what he was about to say. Because out of nowhere Mr. Kim had found that the open seat next to him was occupied by someone. From the angle where he sat, Dokja noticed a man with an immaculate jaw line, he was wearing all black, and wore a sternum belt across his chest. Why did Dokja need to mention that? Well he just thought it was very important to note for some reason?
Surprised by this guest’s unexpected appearance, or by how hard that sternum belt was working (like, damn), he yelped.
The man that Kim Dokja’s eyes were ogling at mind was just now registering, gave no audible sign that he walked into the room at all. No creaking of the door, or footsteps, or greeting, no nothing. All he did as soon as he sat down was stare at Dokja with a neutral expression. A contrast to Dokja’s surprised one. Then he slightly lifted his brow. And why? Is he confused? Kim Dokja isn’t sure on that one.
No. Because- No. way.
Kim Dokja couldn’t believe it. “What? Han Sooyoung,” Dokja slammed his fist on the table again. “You managed to get the Supreme King to reign on our parade for this collab?” Kim said offendingly but he was also hurt because he thought that the duo dynamics between the white coats (Called the White CO-AuThorS, in full, as pitched by himself, or The Foreseers Beginning As pitched by Han Sooyoung,) would surely last a lifetime. No one could ask for a better partner in crime to get the attention of the Star Stream like the XxEmpress of Black FlamexX. Now she was secretly hinting that she wanted to break their duo and make it into a trio. And we all know three is a crowd.
What are they gonna be called? The reverse oreo cookie now?
Han Sooyoung in reply, only continued her vague remarks, “It didn’t take much to convince the number one streamer to be here. I just needed to..” she shrugged, likely trying to hide her secret black market tricks. (Well that’s what Kim Dokja assumed anyway.) “..Ensure I pay him considerably and I’ll be fine.” Dokja could’ve sworn she said something under her breath like, “So you better give it your all in this recording.”
Dokja swallowed a lump in his throat, he can feel trickles of sweat fall down the side of his face. He wanted to pull her over and whisper to her ear, ‘does he even know what we’re doing?’ So he did that. He grabbed Han Sooyoung by the coat, shook her a few times and even though she began to fight back and told him to ‘fuck off’ he did not stop. He then got his vocal buttons mixed up and ended up shouting in her ear, “Does Yoo Joonghyuk even know how to play Dungeons and Dokkaebi?”
In truth, Kim Dokja is simply embarrassed. That’s his favorite streamer right there, about to play a DND round, with him. The silly, nerdy hobby he had for years to cope with the evilness of life and demanding corporate overlords.
“Of course I know how to play DND,” a gruff voice interjected. Yoo Joonghyuk, seemingly speaking up for the first time in this ominous room. “My sister taught me.”
Hearing this, the adrenaline that spiked up in Kim Dokja dwindled and he resigned back to his seat, making sure his posture was straight. He also made sure there was a good amount of space between him and Yoo Joonghyuk, because apparently, Han Sooyoung can afford a couch but not two individual chairs for them to sit in.
Han Sooyoung scoffed and gave a questioning look to the other man as she fixed up her appearance. Then, she turned to Dokja and gave him a death glare. “Dammit Dokja, you ruined the intro for this recording! And I’ll have you know I’ve been recording ever since you got here. I’m not going to restart all of that.” Han Sooyoung said, irritated. “And did you really have to shout at me?”
“Well I’m sorry, and for your other comment, well DUH. I’ve known the whole time!” Kim Dokja retorted. “Why wouldn’t I know the camera was recording with its obvious light on? We always record like this!” Dokja sputtered. “You just caught me off guard with this. guy.” he mouthed the last part instead of saying it out loud while pointing his fingers to the person at his side.
Meanwhile, the guy, the man, the ‘myth’, the legend, the Supreme King himself just sat there. Unbothered by their argument, seemingly bored or waiting for the game to start. He just stared at Dokja, and Dokja pretended that he did not notice. He might just die if he did acknowledge it.
Han Sooyoung gave a vague gesture of some sort (towards himself or Yoo Joonghyuk, Kim Dokja doesn’t know) then cleared her throat. Seemingly trying to get back into character for the camera:
“Welcome back to another episode of DND with your amazing host, Empress of Black Flame.” Han Sooyoung greeted, speaking close to her mic in a dulcet, sweet, tone. Well, that’s what Kim Dokja thinks is considered dulcet, for all he knows she was attempting a sultry tone but she has to know her audience isn’t into that. They’re all nerds.
“Today, I have with me two special guests that are quite well known throughout the illustrious Star Stream as of late. Introducing our first guest that you're all probably very familiar with by now.. the Dentist Demon himself," Han Sooyoung dragged her words in anticipation.
The game master eyed Dokja, signaling him to introduce himself, “Kim Dokja, in the flesh.” Though it was too close to the mic so it didn’t pick up his voice clearly, giving off a weird distorted quality. “Now don’t go spamming how I'm ugly in the comments now! Please, either that joke dies or I’m gonna kill myself like I did last session!” Dokja said impishly, smiling sweetly.
Han Sooyoung gave out a laugh “That certainly gave all of the fans quite the scare. Not to mention, I actually ended the season with that session. So they thought you were gone for good.”
Kim Dokja also laughed, he was in disbelief. People’s emotions are too easy to sway. “What no way? Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve definitely dramatized my acting if that were the case. Not gonna lie, that session was so hilarious.”
“Your delivery was actually quite good,” Han Sooyoung confessed. “Everyone was convinced it was the conclusion, no other season, just OVER. For the whole campaign, So I let them believe that for the past month. But HAHA LOL GUYS, you thought?” She pointed towards the camera with a cackle, eyes turning into crescents, “You thought that was the end? NO. I’m not done writing this campaign and I’ll promote every second of it -THAT WAS JUST THE PROLOGUE ya’ll are idiots!”
Han Sooyoung continued to laugh, staring at the camera for a prolonged amount of time that her special guests just didn’t want to interject and politely let her have her moment. Well, now Kim Dokja is getting bored and went to check on Yoo Joonghyuk since he’s been awfully silent. But he ultimately decided not to because, well.. He was still staring at him silently? What? Do you secretly want to kill me? Kim Dokja wanted to ask, but he fears he’ll put his life into jeopardy.
After Han Sooyoung sobered from her fit of laughter she cleared her throat and continued to speak in her totally calming podcast voice. “And aside from the Dentist Demon, we also have Yoo Joonghyuk, but you also know him as the Supreme King for those who follow him on his channel. The E-sports pro, and Diamond Rank in Capture of Kings!”
“Hello.” Yoo Joonghyuk said in greeting
“I mean who doesn’t know who Yoo Joonghyuk is?” Dokja questioned, the same time the Supreme King spoke.
Surprised he just talked over the number one streamer, he glanced towards him apologetically, only to see that the streamer was already staring at him silently. Their eyes locked for a slight moment.
“…”
“...”
“Uhh,” Han Sooyoung began awkwardly. “Is there anything else you want to say to my viewers Yoo Joonghyuk?”
A beat passed and Yoo Joonghyuk remained silent.
...
Then suddenly, he broke his gaze away from the older man and began to move closer to the mic to say, “Subscribe.”
Kim Dokja looked in front of him and saw how Han Sooyoung eyes lit with mirth yet again. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably at her side, and he knew she was resisting the urge to-
“AND YOU HEARD IT RIGHT THERE FOLKS!” She jumped out of her seat and shook the camera. Her face became so close that she hit the fishbowl look. “The Supreme King told all of you to subscribe so you definitely should!!”
“Game master, please. No shot we’re doing this again-”
“And make sure to hit that notification button.” Yoo Joonghyuk added and offered a thumbs up.
Kim Dokja dragged both his hands down his face. “Cut! We are not doing this again!”
[cut]
“Now, Yoo Joonghyuk,” Han Sooyoung began, her hands clasped together resting on the table. “You’ve never been on the show before and I’ll have you know DND works slightly different here. It’s to fit my vision I have for this campaign. But don’t worry! I’ll tell you the rules as you go along and you also have the Dentist Demon to help you out!”
“Why don’t you just give him all the rules beforehand like you did with the other guests?” Dokja questioned, repositioning his posture because he was slouching again.
“You’ll see why in a bit! Compared to our other sessions, this one’s going to be.. A bit different.” She replied cheekily. Kim Dokja, unsure how to feel about that, just quirked up his brow and showed his suffering towards the camera.
Yoo Joonghyuk looked at her as if he was unsure but seemingly gave the game master an affirmed nod.
“Will you at least let him create his character? Or..?”
Dokja tried to gesture something vaguely but ultimately stopped when he saw the game master send daggers his way that conveyed ‘oh please yappinator 3000, just please shut up,’ and so, that’s what he did. Stay silent. Just like how he did during his whole childhood. And look where that brought him.
“Three Ways of Survival, that is the campaign you all tune in for. All you viewers know it and love it.” The game master explained, “But to celebrate TWSA going into its second season, I decided that I’ll switch things up a bit.” She flashed one of her devious cat-like smiles and pointed her fingers between Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghuk. “As a matter of fact, you two won’t be playing DND at all. But rather, something else entirely..”
For the second time today, Kim Doja felt hurt from hearing this new reveal of information. “What?” Dokja began devastatingly. “We aren’t playing the TWSA campaign? That’s legit the ONLY campaign you made that you were genuinely cooking with gas-”
Han Sooyoung ultimately shot Kim Dokja with another death glare and summoned her admin abilities to shut him up. Dokja began to retort, wanting to argue in retaliation but no words could be heard from him. Great, now he wanted to sulk. Yoo Joonghyuk just patted him on the head as a form of comfort. Not gonna lie, he felt slightly better.
Looking at both of them, Han Sooyoung rolled her eyes and silently mouthed ‘you idiot.’ Then calmly continued her frequently disrupted exposition. “As I was saying.. Instead, the two will solve an interactive story that I pulled together less than 48 hours ago! Now hit the pre-recorded intro cutscene I made for this, go!” The game master lifted both her hands as if she was doing a ritual. “Cool transition!”
[Dungeons & Dokkaebi: Three Ways of Survival]
The Demon Realm. A forbidden area so unknown that it remains untouched by the Star Stream’s gaze. The Star Stream only monitors the 12 great universes and the Demon Realm isn’t one of them. And since this realm remains untouched by the stellar masses, the same rules that influence the world of TWSA don’t apply. One thing you should note is how the realm is governed. Not by Democracy but dictated.. By a conniving dictator! (Multiple Actually.) What secrets can be revealed by these mysterious unknown rulers? And what stories can be unveiled beyond what the stars can see?
You accidentally find yourself stuck within the Demon Realm after you experienced a close- to near- death experience. Now, if you, the white coated man, don't want to truly die, you must escape the Demon Realm before it’s too late. But fear not, for the Supreme King is also here to assist you. Though this is the first time you met -at this.. inconspicuous Demon Realm Junkyard, you got along great and are now considered Life and Death Companions!
We now look at the white-coated-famed protagonist present in the Junkyard that we all assumed was long dead, the Dentist Demon!
Despite earning the moniker, 'Salvation' from his feats from the previous season-
“Hey, now wait just a minute!” Dokja interjected.
[]
Dokja paused the audio recording the trio was watching and looked up at the amazing author. He stood up and pointed an accusing finger at her. “You made an extension to TWSA are you kidding me!?” Having read almost every readable and beta manual Han Sooyoung had lent him he thought he should be considered the Wiki-How of TWSA but he guesses not. “I was convinced that I was this close to uncovering the secret about the demons and now you’re just saying there’s a whole new area dedicated to them?” Dokja was about to lose his mind and expressed as much with whatever arm gestures he was doing.
“What?” he said dramatically. “Did I hyper-analyze all of your detailed readables for nothing??”
“Aren’t you supposed to be muted?” Yoo Joonghyuk questioned.
The game master seemed to know that the Dentist Demon would act this way and gave a condescending smile as if she was his mother, “It’s not for nothing. Just chill out, all your reading wasn’t done in vain.” She continued to play the recording with the click of a button.
[]
-Salvation’s skill set remains unchanged! Fourth Wall Breaking, Meta Yaps, and Amateur Swordsmanship are still his preferred playstyle.
Accompanying Salvation is the famed Supreme King, a mysterious time traveling regressor. He saved Salvation by offering free dental care to all the citizens of Dark Castle with his copious amount of farmed coins. He contains the skills: Stunted Memory, Ever Card, and Legendary Swordsmanship.
The goal of this scenario is to become king and safely make it to Star Stream observed territory. You may now begin the Main Scenario:
[POV: You are Stuck in the Demon Realm. Survive.]
The Supreme King and Salvation are found aimlessly walking through the endless expanse of the Demon Realm Junkyard, hoping to find an end to the boring scenery. But alas, to no avail, all that appeared in their peripheral vision was more abandoned items and honestly? Just boring junk scattered all around.
As the pair walked, one incarnation thought himself clever, and began to click his tongue and hollered toward the sky, “Oh Empress of Black Flame, our beloved game master, I think you’re running out of new material! Doesn’t □ □ □ □ ‘s campaign already have multiple side scenarios on ‘starting with nothing and aura farming your way to the top’ like two or three times by now?” Salvation spoke in mockery, it was filled with the pure intention to irritate the being above.
The incarnation named Salvation waited for a response beyond the stars. After a few seconds, the incarnation assumed that he wouldn't get a reply until a sudden message popped up illuminated in blue light.
[XxEmpress of Black FlamexX]: Cliches are fun, now stfu
Salvation pointed a middle finger in the air out of retaliation.
The Supreme King looked at Salvation confused. “Dokja, Why did you just do that?”
“What?” Salvation said, confused at what he was getting at before realizing what was amiss. “Oh, when we get into a DND session, the game master likes to hire an animator, they draw out all our interactions. To make it immersive for the viewers, I like to act out the scenes as if we’re actually in □ □ □ □ ‘s world.” Salvation casually explained to the Regressor.
Then, Salvation requested the game master to send the Supreme King a message
Supreme King received 2 new messages:
[XxEmpress of Black FlamexX]: I lay out the groundwork via narration, and you simply interact with what I give you. Think outside the box, you can literally do anything and I can make it connect to the loose outline I created for the session.
[Dentist Demon of Salvation]: I know we’re actually in a booth right now, and acting out things is low key cringe, but just do it and have fun, okay? Everything will make sense once you view the final product.
After the Regressor looked at the messages, he saw Salvation nod his head furtively and flash him two thumbs up. He doesn’t seem to really get it. “Okay Dokja, let’s continue, ..walking.” The Regressor sighed and continued walking.
If Dokja’s past experiences are anything to go by, he knows that there are three ways to go about clearing this scenario. And he explained as such to the Supreme King.
“Becoming King is a classic and fairly easy scenario to clear. First, you can gain favor of the citizens by talking to locals and fixing their problems,”
Salvation placed one finger up in gesture.
“Second, Utilize the power of democracy, false promises, and arguments to persuade citizens to your side,”
He placed another finger up.
“Or lastly, replace one of the evil dictators that occupy the Demon Realm.”
He placed his third finger up.
“Oh,” The Regressor replied. He looked across the horizon, as if he saw something in the distance. “That’s easy then. Let’s just beat up a guy and win.” He turned on his heel and began walking towards something gaze was fixated on. “I.. see some sort of civilization ahead of us, let's go there.”
“You know what?” Salvation gave a laugh, “This may be too easy. This might be my fastest DND clear in history. I just need Mr. Supreme King here to slice and dice our way to victory.” Feeling relaxed and believing he’s got everything in the bag, like an overconfident douche, the incarnation began to walk with his hands resting behind his head.
“Salami.”
“Huh?”
“You forgot to mention salami,” Yoo Joonghyuk all but clarified.
“Okay?”
“You're welcome.”
The Regressor and Salvation entered the nearby town that the Regressor claims he saw in the distance. And in fact, isn’t that crazy? He was right! Lo and behold they found themselves within the bustling town of Sweets Industrial Complex!
The Sweets Complex has been going through a long period of odd social tension. All of the citizens are less chatty and keep to themselves, as if they’re scared of one another. This is because for the first time in 500 years, the King’s seat is occupied by a new ruler. Known to be the cruelest of them all. But the citizens have never seen their new ruler. They want to overthrow them, but oh no! How can they when they don’t know who it is?
“Wow, that sounds like such a shame,” Salvation says with a yawn. “Are you sure all of this doesn't sound familiar game master? I swear you’ve already done a scenario like this. Were you sad that I didn’t get the 'King' moniker from last round?” The one who dubbed themselves ‘Dentist Demon’ asked quite backhandedly to their very nice and beautiful game master who’s trying not to break the immersion of the world.
And for his rudeness, the game master decided not to answer.
“Ugh, whatever.” Salvation rolled his eyes then looked at the Supreme King. “So, does anyone look interesting or potentially interesting? We just need to talk to anyone who doesn’t look like an NPC.”
“..How am I supposed to know what things look like?” Yoo Joonghyuk thought pensively, at a lost for words. Then, he saw Kim Dokja mouth something out like ‘make it up’ so then he decided to say, “I don’t see anything so far, lets continue towards the.. shopping district if we can find anything.”
The duo find themselves across a bustling shopping district. As they strolled along, a particular shop caught their eye. It was a flower stand maintained by two children because of course Demons don’t care for child labor laws! (You can blame the evil dictator for that one!) You see a young boy with fluffy brown hair adorning a green apron organizing the front of the stand, while a young girl with short blonde hair and a pink apron busy making bouquets in the back.
Salvation and the Supreme King made their way up to the stand “Excuse me, do you need help with beating up a king” the Supreme King inquired.
“Hello,” the boy said defaultly, which sounded an awful lot like Han Sooyoung’s shonen boy impression. “Welcome to Titano’s Flower Shop! What is it that you need?”
Yoo Joonghyuk, with all his aura gave the boy a serious look and asked him once more, “Do you need someone beat up?”
“Excuse me, what?” the boy replied, seemingly confused. “I’m just a boy, why are you asking me such a dangerous question?” The boy had a frown on his face, and his hands began to slightly shake at his side, terrified by the man in front of him.
Why would the little boy be terrified of Yoo Joonghyuk? Kim Dokja questioned in his head. If he’s known the game master’s writing antics well enough, whenever she’d describe a character shaking in their boots, things would never turn out well. So to alleviate the situation he decided to cut in.
“What the Supreme King here meant to say was that do you need- oh I don’t know, help with anything? If we gain your favor we might be able to dethrone the current tyrant of a king.” Kim Dokja explained.
“Wow, that’s so chivalrous of you, Mister!” the blonde girl with a super high pitched voice interjected. She jumped off the stool she sat at and ran up towards both of you with pleading eyes. “Yes! We are in a dire need of help!”
“You have a sub scenario for us?” The Supreme King asked. Staring at the kids.
The blonde child nodded. “Here at Titano’s Flower Shop, we personally cultivate all of our own flowers. But lately however.. Our flowers are being trampled! So when we go to pick them, there are hardly any good ones left to sell!” The girl began to wobble her words, as if grief stricken.
“Sounds like a you problem.” The aura-ful Supreme King said flatly.
Kim Dokja needed to wheeze with how funny this guy is.
The young girl looked like she was on the verge of tears. The young boy, seeing how the girl was crying interjected. "H-hey! T-that’s rude! Shin Yuseung, get behind me! We can’t talk to evil ahjussis like him." The boy asserted. The boy began to growl and bark.
“Wow game master, I never knew you’d make a little boy bark,” Dokja commented
The boy continued to growl and then ended up choking. “Goddammit I need water, can someone head to the back and get some?” The boy asked but for some reason sounded like a woman in a dire need of water.
[cut]
The blonde girl cleared up her coughs sniffles and began to speak. “Anyways.. If you would be so kind and HELP. ME. Can you investigate our garden and defeat the pest that is trampling all our flowers? If you do, we’ll definitely vote for you in the King’s Selection!” She swinged and held her hands in front of her very sweetly.
“Of course,” Yoo Joonghyuk replied “I turn towards the direction of the garden. Then I look back and say, ‘See you soon, Maria.’”
Huh what? Kim Dokja was confused and knitted his brow. He’s pretty sure that wasn’t the little girl’s name. But then what was it? “Since when did the game master say her name was Maria?”
“Uhm, Mister, it’s not Maria!” the blonde girl all but screeched.
Mr. Dokja, seemingly pretending not to hear the little girl’s clarification, waved bye to her. “Bye Coco, don’t worry, we’ll be back in a bit!” Then, he began to laugh and talk to himself. “Huh. Coco. Coco.. What did you draw? TELL ME, CoCO What spell did you draw?-coco what the heck did you draw coco- what did you draw?!”
Yoo Joonghyuk grinned “How do you write like you’re running out of time?”
Kim Dokja nodded.
[The Supreme King] and [Dentist Demon of Salvation] both received a message
[XxEmpress of Black FlamexX]: This is the 3rd time we recorded this and you still won’t shut up about this?
The two arrived at the garden, and as they looked around, they saw nothing out of place. Hooray. No creatures ran amok, and the flowers looked pretty much fine. So what were the two children going on about? Oooh ahhhh mysterious.
Guys you can take a look now.
“I’ll look at the toolshed!” Kim Dokja offered and (What? Shashayed? Waltzed? Skipped?) his way towards its green door. “Bro, Han Sooyoung, it’s just a casual walk.” Kim Dokja casually walked his way towards the shed's green door.
“I’ll inspect the garden of yellow flowers,” Yoo Joonghyuk declared, hoping they would offer a clue. As he inspected the patch of Dons, he noticed an ashy colored tuft of fur. And it certainly stuck out like a sore thumb.
“Dokja, take a look at this.” Yoo Joonghyuk presented his findings.
“Oh my gosh!” A gasp. “Could it be? A clue??” Kim Dokja exclaimed dramatically as the Regressor handed him the tuft of fur.
As Salvation looked at it, he knows he’s definitely seen it before. The ash color looked reminiscent of something during a ‘Stuck in the Youngest Nightmare” scenario he once had. Now he just has to remember what they were called..
All he knew is that it always made him hungry for cereal. Not that cereal is good, it’s pretty bland. “Aww man, oh shoot, not this thing again.” He ended up saying in dismay, even if he can’t fully remember why he hated them.
“What, is it a platinum ranked enemy?”
“No, something even worse.” Dokja shook his head in dismay. Then, Dokja began to explain what felt familiar about that piece of fur. “There is a special class of enemies that the game master absolutely loves, the Fallen Circus Troupe.”
He paused for dramatic effect.
“The readables say that they are all creatures that came from abandoned homes. To find somewhere to belong, they decided to go full on chunni, naming themselves the Fallen Circus Troupe,” Kim Dokja flashed a confident smirk towards the sky. “Isn’t that right, game master?” He snapped his fingers up in the air.
[Personal Skill, Meta Yap, Has Been Activated.]
After a few seconds Salvation received a ui pop up message. The message lit up green, verifying what he stated to be confirmed true.
Dokja shouted out a small, victorious “yes!” for knowing the game master’s world so well. Ah yes, he always forgets how good he is at this game. He has such GREAT memory. It’s not like he was present for every single session. He just reads a lot!
“I just can’t remember what the creature is named..” Dokja said a few seconds later. “But I heard they are specifically attracted to yellow flowers, like, look here,” he pointed to an assortment of pretty flowers with intricate petals. “There’s Yukis, and Cicis in this flower field too. That creature should usually be out during this time-” Kim Dokja's wise words got cut off.
Because then suddenly a creature appeared! Coming out of nowhere, it attacks the Supreme King right in the face. Punching his face in hopes of decreasing his immaculate beauty. It was an ashen grey creature resembling a monkey with red eyes.
“I immediately retaliate with my fists.” Yoo Joonghyuk announced.
The creature is immune to the Supreme King’s actions. It’s as if he doesn’t have the skill to attack things with his fists.
“That’s Ridiculous. Then what do I have?”
[Personal Skill, Stunted Memory, Has Been Activated.]
Kim Dokja sighs and hands a sword that he’s been hogging in his inventory. “Here Yoo Joonghyuk, you can borrow my sword Breakable Doubt.” Dokja didn’t really want to give him the sword since it's his favorite, but hey, the Supreme King is his favorite streamer so he guesses it won’t hurt. Maybe his swordsmanship skill level could increase in this way.
The creature continues to wrestle with the Supreme King. screeching out its war cry:
Grumble
Grumble
As Dokja heard its grumbles, (where the game master makes her voice sound like a cat whose lost its voice,) he began to remember the name of the creature and all of the horrible encounters he’s had with them in the past. “You know what, I was going to tell you to give it a quick death,” Dokja handed Yoo Joonghyuk his sword. He then began to leave the garden.
“But now, go apeshit. Be my guest. Just get that thing out of my sight.”
“I raise the sword and do a triple attack, killing the creature in one go.” the Supreme King declared as he destroyed the depressed monkey.
“I just hate Brans.”
[cut]
Salvation and the Supreme King reported their findings back to the child workers of the flower shop and explained to them who the culprit was. When SHIN YOOSUNG, I repeat, SHIN YOOSUNG heard the news, she could not believe her ears.
“Oh dear, that’s terrible!” Shin Yoosung said, wiping a fake tear. “So you’re saying that these Brans look corrupted and this isn’t how they usually are? Regardless, thank you so much for getting rid of them.” she gave a polite bow.
“Erm actually, I don’t think that will fully get rid of them,” Gilyoung chimed in, holding a tiny bug on his index finger. “Titano is familiar with the Fallen Circus Troupe, they usually don’t act this way, they’re actually quite friendly. They pick flowers and give them to others. It seems like the Demon Realm’s influence is corrupting them! Demonic corruption causes them to quickly multiply and clone itself. So, they might come back if you didn’t destroy the true Bran.”
“So, what? Did we do the job Bug Nerd? Will you vote for us in this king selection or whatever?” Yoo Joonghyuk looked at Gilyoung skeptically.
“Yeah, I'll do it. I just thought I’d inform you of some very important information that totally won’t be important in the future.” the boy began to cough. “Man, why did I make his voice so low?” Gilyoung apparently said, under his breath.
“Cool. If we didn't get the original, call us back tomorrow.” The Supreme King then walks away from the flower shop. “I then walk away from the flower shop.”
The Supreme King walked away from the flower shop at a fast pace, subsequently making Salvation lag behind. Salvation tried to speed up but he kept on bumping into others. Hell, he almost bumped into someone who said, “Alright, let’s get you home grandma,” to their grandma.
[Personal Skill, Fourth Wall Breaking, Has Been Activated.]
[]
Dokja gave the game master a questioning look.“Why on the Korean Peninsula did you add that?”
Han Sooyoung just shrugged and began to drink her water. “The things you do when you don’t know how to transition scenes.”
[]
Okay, it seems like helping others sorta helped Dokja and Yoo Joonghuk in their ‘becoming King campaign’ question mark? Well, Coco and Gilyoung said they were voting for them so that’s good. Mr. Dokja is a bit confused on how the system works here in the Complex but he decides its best not to question whatever their game master has cooked up for them. Smiley face :)
The second way to become king is by persuading the masses. So he thinks it's best to utilize that now:
“How do you feel about debating with the locals, mmh Yoo Joonghyuk?” Dokja prodded. “Think you’re up for the challenge?”
“Why do you want me to do it? You’ve been doing most of the talking today. Why do you want me to start now?” Yoo Joonghyuk knitted his brow.
“That may be true, but think about it this way,” Dokja adamantly points at his head. “You’re the Supreme King, the supposed ‘Regressor’ in this world. To cure that depression of yours you got to talk to others, and don’t just simply kill them all the time. Make some friends for once you grumpy man!”
“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk warned, in that specific tone that you could only know when he’s only personally talking to Kim Dokja for some reason and you just automatically know the octave of his voice. He began unsheathing his sword. “I unleash Breakable Doubt and I begin to chase down Kim Dok-”
“Oh wow would you look at that! A tavern, we are bound to find someone there. If you still want to fight, go ahead and use verbal abuse.” Frantically, Kim Dokja runs away towards the tavern because he doesn’t want to wither and die by the hands of the Regressor. While said Regressor is chasing Dokja as if he’s a soccerball.
Salvation and the Supreme King enter the tavern. They were greeted with the scent of three day old plum soju and the mild chatter of its patrons. But what caught the pairs’ eyes was towards the center of the room, where a few occupants were sitting on bar stools.
At the center of the tavern, there was a woman decked out in formal garb befitting a royal knight. She was a total baddie of a lady with dark monolid eyes and long ebony hair held in a loose bun. She was sharpening her gear with a S-grade whetstone, and you can legit see the sweat trickling off her neck and forearms. And oh my gosh she looks so pretty. If I didn’t have bad taste in women with a very specific taste for light brown haired baddies I totally would’ve dated her. As for the person next to her-
[Personal Skill, Fourth Wall Breaking, Has Been Activated.]
[]
Kim Dokja spams his skill, which is basically a pause button at this point. “STOP. PAUSE. REWIND. PLAY.”
The two other people in the booth with him turned to look at the Dentist Demon.
“Ugh, what is it now Dokja? Gosh why are you so talkative today? Han Sooyoung snapped. Then she backtracked because she knew better; he’d never give her an answer. “Actually you know what? Just speak your truth, what is it?” She slammed her face on the table.
“No shot.”
“What?”
Dokja sputtered, he had the urge to stand up but he ended up looking towards Yoo Jooghyuk’s direction hoping he'd be at least a little surprised or give him some sort of response. Yoo Joonghyuk in turn was seemingly unphased. “Is it just me who’s surprised by the news?”
Yoo Joonghyuk decided to feign indifference and provide a deadpan response. “This is my first time here. This is the first time I’m collabing with you both. And I don’t know any of your friends, Kim Dokja.”
Having gotten no useful input from the nonchalant man, Dokja refocused his attention on the game master. “Well, uh Han Sooyoung!” Dokja said in what sounded like a chide. “Did you come out of the closet just now? Or uh, out yourself? You never told me that you liked women or Sangah no less?!” He raised both of his arms to his sides like he was surrendering (are you guys here to kill me too?) or watching The Prophecy for the first time.
Then he proceeds to have a crashout.
“Not saying I don't support you, but you didn’t tell me? Your legit bestie for the restie? Man ok -HEY I thought we were friends- us being co-authors of this campaign and all.. And us having intermission talks after each session, I thought what we had was special.” He struck the ‘woe is me’ pose.
For some reason, after Kim Dokja said his piece, Yoo Joonghyuk looked slightly irritated but he said nothing and just rested his chin on his palm and looked away to his side.
A sharp inhale of breath from Han Sooyoung. “You know Dokja, I thought that it was pretty obvious.” She argued, also propping her chin up. “You saw how I was when I invited Sangha here a few months ago.”
Yup, Kim Dokja does indeed remember. The most pain inducing moment of his life. She absolutely hated Sangah. They did not get along, at all. “Yah, you kept on arguing and yapping nonsense like a stupid person and always made accidental eye contact with her, that was pure awkward hatred.”
“Uh huh gee boy, you seem to be the expert here.” Han Sooyoung snorted. “Say Dokja, if you had a crush on someone, how would you act?”
Dokja didn’t know whether to laugh or scoff. The absurdness of this question! That was so easy to answer. “Pah, I'd sweep them off their feet with my trademark Dokja charms.” He then lifted his leg and presented it on the table with pride. “Behold what the Europeans are SO jealous of; ankles-”
[XxThe Empress of Black FlamexX Has Canceled The Skill, Fourth Wall Breaking.]
[]
The sword lady at the tavern was none other than Huiwon, a member of the knights serving under the conniving, evil, dictator of a king. While the person beside her was one of the generals. He has tank abilities compared to Huiwon’s flame wielding. Allegedly.
Huiwon, seeing that the duo was walking over to her, placed her equipment down and saluted them. The tank followed suit. “Fellow citizens, do you have need of my assistance?”
Kim Dokja waited and didn’t say a word. Though Yoo Joonghuk forgot to kill him the second they changed scenes, he still hoped that he was gonna do most of the talking. And so, he stared at Yoo Joonghuk expectantly.
“We need to kill your king.” Yoo Joonghuk said deadpan.
“Sorry?” The absurdness of the question caught the knight off guard. “That’s extreme. Why in Sweets’ name would you commit such a felony?”
“Because, I’ll be a better king.”
“Oh really?” She inquired, not believing the man in the slightest. “And why is that, pretty boy?”
“I’m the Supreme King, obviously.”
Kim Dokja nodded, validating the man’s statement. “Yah, have you seen this guy? He’s in diamond rank.”
“Diamond rank, what's that?”
The tank raised his hand to speak.
“Okay, how about this.” Dokja butted in. “Is there anything WE can do for YOU so that we can win your favor in our goal to become king?”
Huiwon thought for a moment, the light in her eyes slowly fading. “I do have one thing,” On the counter top, she places down a bounty for a fire breathing dragon.
“Aside from being a knight, I’m also a bounty hunter. Specifically for dragons,” she explained, though her words seemed detached, because war flashbacks. “You see, one time when I was a child, a dragon ravaged my home. It took my mommy, my daddy, and everyone away. Ever since then, I’ve been searching for the dragon who stole all the lives of the people I love, and avenge my family. But alas, to no avail I could never find that dragon. And I was hoping.. this might be the one.”
“You want us to help you clear a boss mission?” Yoo Joonghyuk stared at the fuzzy image of the dragon.
Huiwon nodded. “Precisely. And you’re not taking any of the gold. All that shit is mine.”
“□ □ □ □ □ ” the tank added.
Yoo Joonghyuk looked at Dokja. “I told you killing solves everything.”
Dokja ignored the Regressor. “Now, where do we find this dragon?”
And so, the tank began to
Salvation and co went dragon hunting within the Demon Realm’s Ancient Volcano of Scarlet. It is a very hot volcano, and… and sometimes I wonder how other game masters write immersive descriptions for volcanoes. Uh, Supreme King, Salvation, what would you like to know about it? It was scorching hot and many things definitely died in here and.. Turned to amber. Due to the unique properties and evilness that dominated the volcano?
Yoo Joonghyuk hiked along the trail as the game master began on a long description of how deep the lore goes for this specific volcano. But it seems like she just pulled that out of her ass. And just like how Kim Dokja had done it, he looked up, seemingly at nothing, or the sky. He doesn’t really know. He gave the Empress of Black Flame his own death glare.
The Supreme King received a message
[XxEmpress of Black FlamexX]: Count your fucking days.
The company just did more walking. Until they reached the central cave within the volcano.
At the center of the volcano lay a sleeping dragon. It had shimmering red scales like the color of rubies, smooth with a pearlescent sheen. At the center of the dragon’s head between its eyes lies a small horn that looks fragile, as if it could be its weak spot. But, the most attractive feature was its amber eyes. But.. it's sleeping and how would you know it had amber eyes?
[Personal Skill, Fourth Wall Breaking, Has Been Activated.]
[].
“Oh, was it fake sleeping until we got here? Has it already shut its eyes?”
“Since when did it decide to see?”
Han Sooyoung smacked her face then pointed at the bounty drawing she handed them earlier. “Guys. Before you left the tavern, the bounty was in color. You know. CMYK or RGB I don’t know, that thing! They have it in the Industrial Complex. This isn’t the renaissance. I swear to god you guys are blind sometimes!”
Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk looked at each other.
“Yellow.”
“Blue.”
“Thank you for understanding me Yoo Joonghyuk.”
Mkay?
[]
As the party of four crept in further in the Dragon’s Domain, Huiwon stilled. She stared at the Fire Breathing Dragon of the Demon Realm that slept atop a brittle flooring. Pillars align the entrance with candled light. She was standing face to face with the dragon. With the dragon this close, Huiwon's life flashed before her eyes. She remembered the agonizing cries of her family. ‘Ahhhh save me’ ‘It’s like I was never around’ ‘One day, Huiwon, I hope to see you here’ Their voices, swept away by the embers of fire.
Huiwon shifted back slightly. “T-This has to be it. I cannot believe it.” She began to take out her sword, determination filled her eyes. “The Dragon is asleep and I shall make this quick. I must attack its weak spot and-”
“Dragons don’t have weak spots.” Kim Dokja said flatly. Huiwon halted, quickly glanced his way confused. Kim Dokja snapped his fingers towards the sky. “Fact check.”
[Personal Skill, Meta Yap, Has Been Activated.]
A ui popup message appeared in front of Salvation and lit up green.
“Wha-”
“The horn at its center? That won’t make the dragon die. It’s like lizards, it can live without its tail. Survival tactic, you know?” The "□ □ □ □ know it all" explained without batting an eye. Man, some people need to get good.
Then suddenly.. the Fire Breathing Dragon was stirred awake! It let out a mighty roar and flailed its arms. The strength of the dragon was too much to maintain and the whole bottom floor fell through, causing all the party members to fall in mid air.
Oh great. Kim Dokja thought as he saw everything around him fall at a rapid pace. This isn’t the first time he's been in a situation like this. The world is starting to blur and fade out. (Dokja!) You know, when he thinks about that day, when he hippety hopped off, why was he sort of grateful? (Kim Dokja!) Well, he didn’t die but he was bed ridden at the hospital for goodness knows how long. He was so bored, but wasn’t that the time when he- (Kim Dokja!) Oh wait is someone calling out his name?
A faint voice starts to speak. Becoming clearer and clearer. And a blurry figure can be seen in his peripheral vision.
“I’ll be.. Your bullet casing-” someone began to say. Odd.. no one had a voice like that in the party from what he knows. Was it that silent tank guy?
The general, still stuck falling in the sky like Salvation, was about to scoop Dokja in his arms and protect him from the fall-
"Only for the Supreme King to say 'Nope', and swoop across and save Kim Dokja. Carrying him bridal style. Because I can." The Supreme King interjected.
The tank guy dissipated from Kim Dokja’s mind completely. For, in that moment it was only him and Yoo Joongyuk that mattered. That, and them falling in the sky at a slower pace now. But it was okay, Dokja seemed to think. He looked like a falling angel. Because the Supreme King was with him, staring at him full of concern and gently carrying him in his arms. ..The Supreme King has always been with him. Yeah, that sounds about right..
Yoo Joonghyuk led Kim Dokja safely toward the ground, hopping down the sky with pretty purple steps to illuminate his way. “You have to stay back for this one, Kim Dokja. Too bad your sword skills are amateur.” Dokja would’ve argued but he said nothing, still trying to gain his footing.
“I raise Breakable Doubt towards the heavens and begin attacking the dragon,” the Regressor declared as he was attacking the dragon. Kim Dokja simply stared in awe. This must be why he has Ever Card.
Not so long afterward, Kim Dokja watched as Huiwon and the tank also charged into the fray, leaving Kim Dokja behind like some hopeless, useless, and lonely child. This made Kim Dokja actually start to regret some of his life decisions. He wasn’t always just the brains of the group, actually. He had phenomenal combat powers once upon a time. No joke. It was like enlightenment levels high. And yet he traded it all, all to become a tooth extractor. Man, if only he had that shape shifting ability where he dies and becomes another creature. Too bad. He could've been useful.
“Ughh,” Kim Dokja groaned in frustration. “I want NIRVANA,” He kicks a pile of rocks, “all the time!”
Yoo Joonghyuk subsequently paused in his movements, turned to look at Dokja and asked, “And not me?” looking hurt.
“..But-” Kim Dokja paused, exasperated and at a loss for words. “Ugh, NEVERMIND!”
The fight continued on. Huiwon continued to aim for the horn, still believing that it was its weak spot. Yoo Joonghyuk striked near the dragon’s face with finesse movements, and the tank
Kim Dokja, still inherently useless in this situation, sat down and sulked. Getting bored of that three seconds in, he observed his surroundings. When did the setting change? He must’ve forgotten that the area changed since he was falling down for what felt like eternity. Dokja noted that there are now 6 pillars supporting the cave now. And there was one very close to the dragon. The base of that pillar looked crumbled, as if it was on its last limb. If it bonked the dragon perfectly in the head, it might cause enough brain damage to kill it! Oh yes Mr. Salvation is so smart.
Dokja glanced to where his party members were, and noticed Huiwon dodging at the side. She can get close to the pillar. “Huiwon! Aim for the pillar!” Dokja hollered.
“Sorry?”
“The. Pillar.”
Now that the team knows what they're aiming for, a cool fight scene ensues. However, it breaches the Star Stream NDA contract I signed with them. Yahh.. since I’m not an action focused channel, and I’m more known for the very shitty, cliche, contrived plots, I’m not allowed to describe fight scenes in great detail haha! Funny! I know! But we shall fast forward to the end of the battle!
After Yoo Joonghyuk gave the killing blow, cleaning the dragon’s head perfectly off, the dragon disintegrated into black smoke. It was similar to how Bran had died as well. Why do I keep on coughing? I must need water again..
Huiwon fell to her knees and huffed, “So, it’s really over.. I can’t believe it,” the other guy (?) in the party began to comfort her.
Yoo Joonghyuk sheathed Breakable Doubt. He looked down, fixated on something. Kim Dokja walked over to the distracted swordsman.
Yoo Joonghyuk received a message
[Dentist Demon of Salvation]: You did a good job, Yoo Joonghyuk-ie :D
Yoo Joonghyuk read the message and gave a quick glance towards the shorter man but didn’t reply to him. He only knelt on the floor and picked up the remains of the dragon: its amber eyes. Yet. unlike what the game master said. These eyes weren’t amber at all. They were scarlet red. And the pupils were thin almond slits.
When Kim Dokja saw this, he was breathless. No Way. Frantically, he activated his skill, fact check- I mean Meta Yap. “Is this dragon actually a demon type enemy?” Dokja asked urgently and then snapped his fingers towards the sky. He waited for a response.
Then, a ui pop up message appeared in front of Salvation. The light illuminated a green color. He stared at the illuminated screen in disbelief. He thinks he might be sick. “No way.. I didn’t know demons can be sub classes like that. Dragon Demons.. They can exist..” He began to falter.
[Personal Skill, Fourth Wall Breaking, Has Been Activated.]
[]
Han Sooyoung put down the green construction paper she held from a dingy popsicle stick. Then she picked it back up and pointed it at Kim Dokja accusingly. “Dokja, why are you crying? Hey, if you’re upset that I didn’t go over this new mechanic with you before I implemented it, I’m sorry. I know how much you love beta-reading.”
“No, it’s not that,” Dokja wipes his eye with the sleeve of his coat. “Not gonna lie, I thought it was pretty cool it’s just, -I’m just,” He wobbled his words.
“I’m just.. Furious.” he doesn’t look at Han Sooyoung, his face darkens.
What?
“Han Sooyoung.” Dokja said calmly.
“What??”
“Han Sooyoung. Don’t you know who I am?”
“You’re-” The Black Flame Empress was about to reply but Yoo Joonghyuk interjected, halting her with his hand.
“Stop right there.” Joonghyuk said sternly.
They both don’t know what has overtaken Kim Dokja. But it seemed like he needed their undivided attention.
Kim Dokja placed an offended hand on his chest then pointed at the Empress. “I’m the FRIGGIN Dentist Demon. YOU KNOW what that means right?? My abilities only works on demon class types. And this was a demon class boss. I could've gotten the final hit, AND the extra boons despite this being a requesting side-mission from Huiwon. AND, do you know what a dentist demon does?” he began to gesture vaguely and flail his arms. He was also laughing manically and gasping for air. “Yes, that's correct. EXTRACT TEETH. And, I have you know that it has a 100% success kill rate and I could've shown Yoo Joonghyuk here just how cool I am in this game despite having no combat abilities- hell this is my only combat ability! FAHHHH-”
Dokja was upset and couldn’t help but have another tantrum over what his mom supposedly calls “just a game.” Because no mom, it's legit: no game OR no life for him. At least I don’t consider my real life like some sort of novel. He was going to attack the game master across the table but Yoo Joonghyuk held him back.
“Kim Dokja..” Yoo Joonghyuk said with a sigh. “Please don’t attack the game master. What if she puts a penalty on you?” Kim Dokja stopped resisting and Yoo Joonghyuk brought him back to his seat.
Kim Dokja can feel his throat becoming dry. Now he’s tired and all he wanted to do was sulk. But, he couldn’t, he still needed to finish the campaign. So instead he opted for leaning his head on Yoo Joonghyuk’s shoulder. He can feel Yoo Joonghyuk slightly adjust his sitting position to get more comfortable. And then he could’ve sworn he felt Yoo Jooghyuk plant a soft kiss atop his head.
As for Han Sooyoung.. What she saw didn’t actually exist. Nope. All in her head. Because from what she knows, in the only clip she saw of the Supreme King, it was him saying that he “wasn’t interested in men.” It was a full-on dead pan. And duh, of course she’s going to take that seriously. He said those words so earnestly! So what she saw just now was actually fake. Gawd man, stupid corporate! It’s getting her eyes so blind.
[]
Without the presence of the dragon, the volcano felt oddly quiet. Yoo Joonghyuk gave the amber eyes to Huiwon, hoisted Kim Dokja up because he’s too devastated to walk and began to leave the volcano. “Let’s go home,” he said. And everyone nodded without a word, following the Supreme King into the light of day.
When the Life and Death Companions reached the complex, they parted ways with the knight and the
[cut]
Now at the center city of the Complex, the duo have to think about what they should do next to gain the favor of becoming king.
Yoo Joonghyuk is still logging around the renown Dentist Demon around the city, looking around for what they should both do next. “Kim Dokja, are you okay?”
“Yah,” he croaked. “Uhm is it okay if you did more of the talking? I’m too tired.” He hit the thousand yard stare.
At the center of the complex, the Supreme King had a few options to further their kingly reputation. (And since I feel bad, I'll give you three options Yoo Joonghyuk.) There was a mysterious shop with a stopwatch as its sign board, a creepy corridor that seemed to lead to the slums of the complex, or a kendo school.
With Salvation incarcerated, the Supreme King had to execute the third way of survival on his own. Out of these three options he has to decide where he should go for a lead.
“I walk towards the mysterious shop,” the Supreme King declared, heading in the shop’s direction.
The Supreme King has entered a watch shop with Salvation in tow. Clocks covered the shop walls in myriads of shapes and sizes. To traditional, miniature, colorful and absurd. Everything smelled like pine sandalwood, it was quite a comforting scent. At the front, they were greeted by a red haired lady with rectangle framed glasses and a dusty green apron. On her apron, embossed in gold, read the name: Aileen.
“Ey well lads, what’s the story?” Aileen asked, the game master adopting an Irish type accent. “Er, that gobshite yer carrying, how’s she cuttin’?” She pointed at Kim Dokja seemingly concerned.
Kim Dokja couldn’t see the clerk’s face since he’s being hogged around like the north pole's beloved white old man that carries a red bag of presents, so he just attempted to flash her a thumbs up as he stared at the exit door. Or.. windows?
“I need your help,” Yoo Joonghyuk said.
“Ah class, c’mere to me. What can I do for you lad?”
“Do you know who could be the king of this complex?”
Aileen took a moment to think. After a short moment she gave a sigh. “Gah, m’sorry. Amn’t pretty sure on that one,” she pondered a little further.
“How about a rumor I heard recently about these blokes?” Aileen offered, “Well they call themselves the time witches. The lot of them have been coming out of nowhere recently, collecting old stories. If ye want to dethrone the king, they may give you a clue.”
Yoo Joonghyuk pondered in thought, then nodded. He thanked the store clerk and began to quickly exit the shop.
“And if you could kick those maggots out, that'd be sound,” Aileen hollered, casually waving back as the duo shrink out of her sight. She caught sight of Kim Dokja’s tired face as he also waved back at her. When she was alone, she spoke under her breath. “Those witches, feckin melters.”
Once outside, Yoo Joonghyuk thought it best to go looking for any witches within the complex. “Okay Dokja, do you have any idea on how to witch hunt?”
“Nope, no clue.” Kim Dokja replied dully.
Yoo Joonghyuk pulled out a map of the city, thinking about- fantasing about where witches would mostly likely be seen. “We didn’t go to the corridor, do you think we could find some there?”
“Mhm. Yah. Sure, let’s go.”
“Kim Dokja.”
“Yah?” Kim Dokja didn’t turn to look at him, he was too occupied.
“Are you distracted? What on the Korean Peninsula are sounding so zoned out for?”
“Yoo Joonghyuk…”
“Yes?”
“Why is this guy cleaning the store windows with shit?”
No longer being carried by the Regressor, and walking side by side, Kim Dokja took the last turn to enter the Creepy Corridor. He’s been thinking about the whole campaign thus far. Frankly, he’d finish the session by now. But it seems like now he won’t get that new record. He's over his other sulking phase. But, now he's puzzled. It’s just that he’s been unable to piece everything together.
Nothing. None of the three ways of survival have been working. What is it that they’re missing?
Kim Dokja fixed his eyes around his surroundings.
The corridor looked shady, dusty, and full of debris, crawling with rats and reeks of three day old whisky. People of the slums line the street, exuding a type of magla.
Kim Dokja continued to ponder all of the stuff the game master has given them. Not wanting to trip or get lost, he went to hold Yoo Joonghyuk’s hand. It wouldn’t hurt to try, really.
Then, with his free hand he blocked the sun, -it was too bright and it was ruining his focus. He then shifted his hand away from the sun and he almost got blinded. Then, he began to repeatedly move his hand like that.
Sunny, not sunny. Sunny, not sunny. Sunny, not sunny.
He got lost in the sauce with his odd “trying to figure something out” rituals that he didn’t notice that the area suddenly became more crowded. Huh. The corridor must’ve ended. He continued to walk with Yoo Joonghyuk. And then, he froze.
Seemingly, out of nowhere, the city and its people and the city and its people all abruptly came to a halt.
A cold, boney hand with long nails and warts latched onto his wrist. The hand continued to curl onto his wrist and he sharply turned his head to see who was holding onto him. It looked like a grandma. White hair, a black cloak and warts- what Kim Dokja means to say, beauty marks.
He shifted his glance further up and he saw the face of someone that made his blood run cold. Shoulder length brown hair, held in a low ponytail. A mostly shave-cleaned stubble, an easy going expression, an old navy blue apron, and worst of all, two scars on his right cheek in the shape of an X.
“Mark Xavier," The Dentist Demon of Salvation, Kim Dokja said omnipresently. “Or should I say, X-Mark?”
Mark gave a grunt and smiled. “Took you that long to find me out, Dentist Demon.”
“Where were you? Usually, the game master would put you in an obvious place two hours ago.” Salvation responded coldly.
“I guess this time, she didn’t. But it isn’t over, now that you found me. You got to face the king, since he's the focus of this scenario.”
“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk turned, looking back to see what the hold up was “Who is that?”
Mark Xaiver, or commonly known as ‘X-Marks the Spot.’ He’s a common villain in the world of □ □ □ □. If red herrings are known to deviate the players to mess with them and confuse them, then Mark Xaiver does the exact opposite. He’s meant to lead the player, straight to the key to clearing the scenario. He is the 3rd way to survive all scenarios. But the catch is that he’s hidden in plain sight.
“So he’s been walking with the dictator of a king the whole time?” Yoo Joonghyuk asked.
And that god forsaken hag was the king?
“Precisely. But here’s the catch.” Dokja didn’t break his eye contact with Mark for a second.
Mark huffed and folded his arms, gesturing in inquiry. “Since I’m the jail out of free card, you have to answer his majesty’s only question: “What is his name?”
What is the King’s name?
Their name, his name? Huh what is it? None of the citizens even know. Nothing Kim Dokja did this whole scenario made sense. They all felt disconnected and sporadic. Kim Dokja is confused he doesn’t know, he doesn’t kno-
[Personal Skill, Fourth Wall Breaking, Has Been Activated.]
[]
Kim Dokja was complaining and hitting his head on the table. This is his favorite table top game and he is absolutely going through it. “Han Sooyoung stop attacking me. I don't get it, I can’t think right now,” he dragged the syllables of his words.
He aggressively scratched his head. “Gardens, bounties, clock shops, witches, corridors, kings.. There’s no clear string putting all of these out of pocket mini-scenarios together!”
Yoo Joonghyuk went back to simply staring at Kim Dokja. He seems to be unbothered if they can’t finish this Main Scenario.
As for Han Sooyoung, she was laid back. Surely believing she was cooking with gas coming up with this idea 48 hours in advance and it shows. “Oh, Dokja. Dokja, Dokja, Dokja, Dokja.” she clicked her tongue. “You’re missing something.”
Kim Dokja began to stare into space.
“Think. Long and hard.”
This is something you have to answer on your own.
You know, it's funny.
Dokja realizes that he was speaking shit this whole campaign. But why? Okay nevermind, that isn’t the question he’s supposed to be thinking about right now. What is he supposed to learn from all of this?
Salvation and the Supreme King stumble across a flower shop. There, they find the key culprit of the damaged flowers to be Brans from the Fallen Circus Troupe. Due to the Demon Realm’s influence, it caused the Brans to have an odd infliction. In order to stop the spread of multiplying Brans, you have to kill the source. That’s the only way to stop them from propagating, to put in another sense.
Then, Salvation and the Supreme King traveled with the royal knight Huiwon to the Ancient Volcano of Scarlet to take down the Fire Breathing Dragon. There, Salvation devastatingly found out that dragons can also be a part of the demon class. Which makes them vulnerable to ‘demon’s bane’ like attacks.
Lastly, while Salvation was tuned out, the Supreme King was supposed to learn that the Sweets Industrial Complex has been overrun with the witches of time as of late. Witches that enjoy eating old stories. Not to mention, X Mark was with a time witch, confirming that they are the King.
If Mark is saying the time witch is the king, what could their other name be?
A creature, a demonic like creature, that when dies multiplies, that is part dragon and looks ugly and warted..
Kim Dokja has found his answer.
[]
When Salvation realized what the name was, it felt like the dust cleared, and the world was filled with clarity, his crops were watered, and he was a billionaire. It was like he achieved Nirvana once again.
Mark stood speechless, overcome by Salvation’s cool aura.
The King (grandma?) stood speechless.
And Yoo Joonghuk, also stood at a loss for words.
The Dentist Demon raised his extraction forceps towards the sky.
He began to quote, “Not incarnations that split the skies, not whims of fate, no savior king, no constellations,” he smiled smugly. “It’s Salvation, the Dentist Demon, That’s the name you’ll fall to.”
And full of confidence, the Dentist Demon declared his next patient:
“It’s time for your extraction, King of the Sweets Industrial Complex, Wen of all Men.”
The accumulated memories of every way of survival blended together surging to power exuding from Salvation’s extraction forceps. The King shed a tear as his lights got knocked out.
[Archaic Attribute, □ □ Of Every Story, Has Been Activated.]
He then extracted the wen from the man.
[Main scenario complete!]
[You have survived □ □ □ □ ‘s Demon Realm!]
[]
Han Sooyoung popped a confetti popper right in front of Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk’s faces as soon as the King’s name was announced. “Woohoo!” she cheered, “And that’s the end of today’s campaign congrats! Great job for your first time Mr. Supreme King.”
Kim Dokja simply smiled happily and clapped, he was able to use his only combat ability, and heck yeah it’s still cool using it like it was last season.
Yoo Joonghyuk was speechless. “What just happened in the span of three minutes?”
“You cleared the main scenario,” Han Sooyoung said matter of factly. “The end of these sessions can get a bit absurd, but hey don’t blame me. Can you tell us why that is, oh Dentist Demon of Salvation?” She eyed said man.
As if he was going to say the word kneel, Kim Dokja crossed his legs and shrugged. He didn’t really have an answer to that. At the latter half of the session he was beginning to question his whole behavior today. But it sort of dissipated after he got to use his favorite skill. But don't all the recordings he’s done become sporadic, random and deviate off topic? Sure, the sessions are longer but it’s gas. “Uh I don’t know. I just like making things epic. It’s just fun that way.”
[cut]
The trio wrapped up the recording with their final thoughts and grilled the hell out of Han Sooyoung for taking them on the weirdest DND campaign of their life. While Han Sooyoung just gave vague answers saying that she can’t say too much because it’ll spoil the seeds she's sowed.
As Han Sooyoung waved goodbye and walked towards wherever her home was, it left the other two standing at the curbside. Alone. Just the two of them. Yup.
Ultimately, Kim Dokja decided to break the deafening silence. “Uhm, I’m just gonna head home now. See you later, Supreme King.” Kim Dokja quickly began to march away, heading the opposite direction of his apartment. He halted when Yoo Joonghyuk grabbed his wrist. Gasp Kim Dokja said in his head for some reason.
Yoo Joonghyuk raised his eyebrow in confusion. “What are you doing Dokja?” Don’t go somewhere I can’t follow. A pause. “You know you could drop the act now, right?”
And suddenly, if Kim Dokja was holding in any sort of tension, it all flew out the window in one second with a sigh. “Oh my God thank goodness, it was so hard to divert Han Sooyoung’s attention. I think I slipped up a few times but I’m pretty sure she didn’t suspect us.”
Yoo Joonghyuk was really doubtful about that statement and raised a brow. “Oh, you ‘think’ so?”
‘Oh yeah.” Dokja replied confidently. “She’d never know we’re together, not in a million years.”
Yoo Joonghyuk loosened his grip on Dokja’s wrist and made his way to lift Dokja’s left hand so he could see it. “And your wedding band isn’t on your middle finger. Just so you can flip her off.”
What a weird thing for Yoo Joonghyuk, his Yoo Joonhyuk-ie to say. Kim Dokja sputtered, “How else am I gonna flex that I won big?” pshaw “It sucks to be everyone else oh my God, I feel so bad.”
The younger man only gave out a sigh and Kim Dokja just laughed. Kim Dokja got out of Yoo Joonghyuk’s grip so he could properly hold his hand, locking them together perfectly. Then, he began walking with his husband to the direction of his car.
“Also, do you think I was acting weird in today’s recording?”
“No, not really.”
“Wait, really?” Kim Dokja tilted his head, genuinely curious.
"Kim Dokja."
"..yes?"
“You always speak bullshit Dokja.”