Remembering the upcoming scenario, Lee Gilyoung grimaced as he looked at the screen. Kim Dokja's heart hurt as he glanced down at the somewhat anxious boy. After all, their section of the plan had been even more nerve wracking than everyone else's.
"Be careful, ahjussi…" Shin Yoosung muttered as she watched the next segment begin to play, and Kim Dokja had to resist the urge to grimace. He had a distinct feeling that some people were going to be pretty mad at him again.
Then again, he should probably just expect that from now on, unfortunately.
The clear conditions for the third day of the third main scenario,
Bihyung then goes on to explain how people can occupy a Green Zone for safety, but that they can be stolen from others. If you don't find a Green Zone with space, you'll be completely unprotected against the monsters at night. Chaos breaks out almost immediately, as people begin attacking and murdering others to secure a spot in their Green Zones.
Sangah wonders if they'll need to fight like that, but Dokja reminds them that they just need to find a Green Zone of the right size to fit all of them.
Green Zones vary in size. Some house only one person, while others—like the one Gong Pildu is occupying—can hold up to 70 people.
Dokja turns to his group and splits them into teams of two—Hyunsung and Sangah, and Heewon and Gilyoung. He asks them to search for a Room, and when they ask about what he'll do, he states that he'll go alone. He explains that if they haven't found a Room by 11:40 pm, they should meet back up at their current location. Dokja watches on silently as the two teams eagerly run off to search.
They probably won't be able to find us a Room.
Dokja pulls out his phone and checks the novel, narrowing his eyes as his suspicion is confirmed right there on the page.
There are no rooms left in Chungmuro station.
"You knew there were no rooms left?" Yoo Sangah asked in disbelief, staring at Kim Dokja with wide eyes. "Why did you have us go search anyway?"
[Some constellations frown at the decision of the incarnation 'Kim Dokja'.]
That was a bit of a complicated question, but he glanced down and spoke while carefully trying to keep his voice steady. "Would you have believed me if I had told you they were all full?"
"Of course we—"
"Even when I hadn't left your side since getting to the station?" Kim Dokja cut in, looking at his former coworker seriously. "I guarantee that at least one person in the group would have wanted to double check to be sure."
No one had anything to say to that, because they all knew it was true. After all, it was easier to make sure there were no other options left to them before resorting to more difficult choices. The apocalypse wasn't kind to anyone, but Kim Dokja also hadn't wanted to suggest the other option (namely, murder) out of nowhere.
'That leaves us only one option, but could they really take innocent lives for the sake of saving ourselves?' Dokja thinks as the two groups are shown searching through the Green Zones for any empty spaces. As the thirty minute warning appears, Dokja sits down on a bench to read through the text file, somehow completely unbothered by the chaos around him.
{Hey, what do you think you're doing?!} Bihyung's message snaps Dokja out of his concentration and he glances up.
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is wondering what you're up to.]
'Come to think of it, it won't do me any good to let Bihyung or the constellations know that I am a reader of TWSA,' Dokja thinks as he nervously hides the screen with his hand.
{What are you doing, staring into a black screen? You're boring the constellations to death!} Bihyung's next message catches Dokja off-guard and his mouth falls open in surprise. Deciding to test it, he holds up his phone for confirmation, asking if that's what Bihyung meant.
The dokkaebi responds instantly, irritated. {Yes! Are you brainstorming or something? You'll die if you just sit there like that! What did I ever see in you..?}
So the constellations and the dokkaebi, who have the highest administrative power, must not be able to see anything on my screen…
Dokja realises that they would have commented on it earlier if they could see the novel, and this revelation leads him to wonder how powerful tls123 really is.
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is frustrated that he can't make fun of the incarnation 'Kim Dokja' for staring at a blank screen.]
Of course he would. Still, especially after everything happening in this weird scenario, Kim Dokja was asking himself that question even more now.
"A source of knowledge that not even the constellations can see," Yoo Joonghyuk mused, casting a strangely passive glance over at Kim Dokja. "Can other incarnations see it?"
Kim Dokja frowned, trying to think. "I'm not entirely sure, since I try to read it away from other people just in case."
Suddenly, he had a revelation and looked over at Han Sooyoung. "Hey, we should test that once we get out of here."
"Huh?" She asked with a frown. "Me?"
It had to be her.
"I wonder if you could see it because you've already read part of TWSA," Kim Dokja reasoned. "Maybe we should test it with you, Sangah-ssi, and then maybe Joonghyuk-ah?"
[Many constellations are asking the incarnation 'Kim Dokja' to explain his reason.]
Yoo Sangah sent him a confused glance. "I understand why you would ask Sooyoung-ssi and Joonghyuk-ssi, but why me?"
How was it not obvious? "To have a control test—to see if people who aren't from the novel, but who also haven't read it, can see the text file."
"Oh, I see!" Yoo Sangah exclaimed as she clapped her hands together. "I would be happy to help, Dokja-ssi."
And Yoo Joonghyuk would be the tester for whether 'characters' could see it, since he wanted to learn about the unchanged third round anyway. Everything was working out perfectly, and he mentally went over a few different combinations they could try to test how far they would be able to read, if they could even see the file in the first place.
Suddenly, Jung Heewon furrowed her brow. "Wait a minute, didn't your phone get destroyed after the uh… the dragon thing? Do you even have the file anymore?"
Kim Dokja expertly ignored the concerned yells of "What dragon thing!?" and the multiple confused indirects that poured in to nod once at Jung Heewon.
"That's another thing, the text file seems to be connected to me as a person, and not the phone itself." When no one seemed to understand what that meant, judging by the confused stares, Kim Dokja elaborated. "It transfers itself onto whatever phone I have automatically, which is another reason why it's incredibly suspicious, and why tls123 might be way more powerful than any of us thought."
No one seemed comforted by that thought.
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is frowning with narrowed eyes.]
A scream catches his attention as he sees the boy who led them around earlier kill someone with a bat in order to take over a single-person Green Zone. When the terrified boy pleads with Dokja to not come any closer and threaten him, Dokja assures him that he won't take his Room. Jihye casually strolls up behind Dokja and comments on how laid back he seems, and when Dokja replies that she also seems relaxed, Jihye states that she's not worried since no one would risk taking over her Room.
'Well, the only people who could fight against Jihye here would be the Landlord Coalition or Yoo Joonghyuk,' Dokja notes as Jihye continues telling him that she doesn't want him to die, and that she was impressed by his attitude towards Joonghyuk.
Dokja reassures her that he won't die, and shares a little tidbit of information. "You don't necessarily have to find a Room to survive the night."
Jihye is obviously shocked, and she feels compelled to ask if he's as strong as Joonghyuk. While she's speaking, Joonghyuk walks up behind her and reminds Jihye that she should go back to her Room. As she's leaving, Joonghyuk asks if Dokja plans to fight the monsters, and reminds him that everyone in his group will die if they do. When Dokja tells him that he'll have to see in an almost cocky manner, Joonghyuk narrows his eyes and turns away.
Lee Jihye turned to Kim Dokja with a large grin on her face. "So you really think I'm that awesome, right ahjussi?"
Was she just fishing for praise? Well, it wouldn't be entirely unwarranted—Lee Jihye was a formidable opponent no matter what, and he wasn't lying when he thought that.
Fine, he could humour her just this once. "Yeah, I do."
She seemed almost overjoyed, and she even did a little fist pump in the air. Clearly she hadn't yet reached the phase of being a teenager where she would find all adults (who weren't Yoo Joonghyuk) utterly boring.
Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung frowned and glanced up at him with pleading eyes, and Kim Dokja was compelled to pat their heads and remind them that they were great too. Goodness, were kids always so high maintenance?
"Also, no one died," Lee Gilyoung said pointedly, shooting a glare at Yoo Joonghyuk. "Take that, sooty bastard."
Yoo Mia instantly jumped to his defense, glancing judgmentally between Kim Dokja and Lee Gilyoung. "Ugh, how stupid are all of you?"
Lee Gilyoung narrowed his eyes at her. "And what do you mean by that?"
"He was concerned!"
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' squeaks in excitement.]
Concerned? Ha! As if.
No, that wasn't possible. Even though Yoo Mia was Yoo Joonghyuk's little sister, she was still getting used to Yoo Joonghyuk, the regressor. Kim Dokja was absolutely certain that Yoo Joonghyuk had just been calling him a dumbass in his own roundabout way. It's not that Yoo Joonghyuk couldn't or wouldn't care for people, but it wouldn't make any sense for him to care about Kim Dokja specifically.
When she noticed that Kim Dokja didn't seem to believe her, Yoo Mia rolled her eyes and scoffed. "See if I try to help you again, ugly ahjussi. You really don't deserve my oppa."
And Kim Dokja was still pretty sure that Yoo Joonghyuk didn't want anything to do with him anyway, so what did that matter?
As the protagonist leaves, Dokja turns around when he hears Heewon ranting about the prices the Landlord Coalition are charging for an open spot in a Room as they return and admit that they couldn't find any with enough space for everyone. Dokja then states that they have two options moving forward, and he tells them that the first option is easier, while the second could lead to someone's death. This makes the group immediately side with option one without even hearing the second, but Sangah reasons that Dokja should share what they are before they make a final decision.
Dokja agrees and takes them up the stairs, where he points to a filled Green Zone for five people. "The first option is this, the Room they're occupying can house five people but their stats aren't very high. Just a few of us will be enough to–"
Dokja is then cut off by their incredulous exclamations as Dokja confirms that killing and taking over a Green Zone is option one. The adults all look haunted at the idea, but Gilyoung doesn't seem bothered at all.
"I'm up for it as long as you're willing to do it." After saying these words, he grips his mace tightly and begins to walk towards the Green Zone. "I'm not scared. I'll do it."
Sangah stops him with a hand on his shoulder to keep him in place as Heewon confronts Dokja, and he reminds everyone that those people likely killed for the Room as well. He knows that staying pacifistic won't allow them to complete future scenarios.
"Dokja, I killed someone in Geumho Station," Heewon says angrily, even putting her hand on her chest as she speaks with conviction. "I did so out of my own volition, and I don't regret it one bit. But…"
She pauses for a moment contemplatively before her voice turns to a whisper. "...Just because I killed someone doesn't mean that I enjoy doing it. I don't want to become a monster."
"You're not a monster, Heewon-ssi," Lee Hyunsung said firmly. "No matter how many people end up dying to your sword in the apocalypse, you're not the kind of person who would forget or target innocents. That's the furthest thing from a monster."
Jung Heewon's slightly strained expression settled into something more fond as she glanced over at the lieutenant. Oh? What was this?
Well, Kim Dokja had never particularly considered Lee Hyunsung getting a love interest while reading TWSA, but he had to admit, this wasn't bad.
Han Sooyoung mused on what the screen had shown for a moment longer before glancing over. "So, you gave them the shittiest option first so they would be more likely to pick the less morally shitty but more dangerous option?"
Well, yes, but also no.
"I was planning to explain both of them at once, but I got cut off," Kim Dokja told her honestly. "Since everyone disagreed with the first option before hearing the second one, I didn't really have the time to explain what it was."
He was pretty sure that Han Sooyoung didn't know about the Hidden Green Zones in Chungmuro since those were only used during later regressions. She would be surprised for sure.
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is tearing out his hair in excitement.]
Heewon shakes with anger as Hyunsung asks about the second option instead. Dokja smiles and says that he understands her feelings, so they'll go with the second option. Heewon laughs weakly and slaps him on the shoulder, asking why he tested them.
"I wasn't testing you," Dokja says honestly before looking towards Gilyoung, who's gazing at him with a guilty expression. "I would have respected your choice no matter which path you chose."
Dokja continues by telling them that they must follow his exact instructions for the second option, otherwise they'll all die. The atmosphere is instantly tense, but everyone agrees. There are only five minutes left, so they have no other choices now.
Looking down the tracks, everyone can see a glowing red barrier in the tunnel, just past the station.
As Heewon, Sangah, and Hyunsung stand on the tracks facing the barrier, they all remember what Dokja told them before this plan began. He informed them that the monsters would spawn from there before rampaging throughout the station and the building's ground floor. They have no chance of fighting off the monsters and would certainly die, so he also stated that the group has to split up. For the first group, their only certainty is that they have to trust 100% in Dokja's instructions.
The clock hits midnight and monsters begin to spawn in front of them, making the team of three tense up as they remember Dokja's instructions—to run directly at the monsters the moment they begin appearing. Dokja yells for them to go and they sprint forwards towards the oncoming tide of monsters. Seeing that they've done what they need to, Dokja turns the other way and carries Gilyoung on his back as he runs further down the tracks.
"Wait, you ran at the monsters!?" Han Sooyoung shouted, almost choking on her latest lemon candy. "Are you fucking insane?"
To be fair, everyone else probably thought he was too.
[Many constellations are questioning the sanity of the incarnation 'Kim Dokja'.]
Well, his mental state aside, did people seriously think he would send his companions off to get slaughtered?
"It's not insanity if it's tactical," Kim Dokja muttered before pinning Han Sooyoung with a glare. "Unlike the dragon stunt."
She glared right back. "Fuck you, the dragon was tactical."
Kim Dokja just rolled his eyes in response. If he had been the real Yoo Joonghyuk, the world could have ended right then and there if he had regressed.
"Once again," Yoo Sangah said, glancing between the two of them suspiciously, "what dragon?"
… Kim Dokja didn't feel like answering that question just yet, so he deflected with his trademarked scammer smile on his lips. "Just cult stuff, don't worry about it yet, Sangah-ssi."
"For the last fucking time, Kim Dokja, it was not a fucking cult!"