There was something absolutely baffling about being saved by Gong Pildu of all people, especially considering the fact that the man wasn't exactly willingly following him. Still, he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Though it was a bit embarrassing to have someone else come to his rescue after he had declared that he definitely had a plan, Kim Dokja tried to just brush it off as best as he could.
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is praising the good deed of the incarnation 'gong pildu'.]
Dokja tries to hide the grin on his face as he muses about the fact that he's actually feeling happy to see that message. With the signature sound of bullets rapidly leaving their chambers, the rapid-fire barrage begins, hitting the Japanese incarnations hard and causing them to screech in pain.
Dokja watches as the multitude of turrets begin to change form, becoming a militarized version of Howl's Moving Castle, complete with shoddy looking attachments. Dokja looks up at it in surprise, in disbelief that the stigma evolved past level 10.
An [Armed Fortress], not an [Armed Zone].
Suddenly, an army of the little people appears and a man yells for them to charge. Under the cover fire of the fortress, the men advance smoothly as the Japanese incarnations are forced to duck and have their balance disturbed by the bullets piercing their flesh, allowing the men to easily begin their climbing ways.
"Don't invade private land, and buzz off," Pildu states, sounding cool for once. "This is my territory."
"He saved ahjussi this time, so he's okay," Shin Yoosung declared seriously as she watched the turrets unleash their barrage upon the Japanese incarnations.
Then, when the turrets began combining into a massive fortress, Kim Dokja had to stare in awe. "There's no way…"
[the constellation 'defense master' is exhilarated by the current events.]
"Past level ten!?" Jung Heewon gasped, glancing over at Kim Dokja in surprise. "They can do that!?"
"Yeah, it's not common this early in the scenarios, though."
Honestly, that was an understatement. Being able to raise a skill or stigma past level ten was incredibly rare and difficult at all, let alone this early. Hell, Kim Dokja was fairly certain that Yoo Joonghyuk hadn't managed to do that with any of his skills until several hundred regressions in.
"Could any skills be raised that high?" Lee Hyunsung asked curiously.
"Technically, yes," Yoo Joonghyuk responded firmly, "but it requires an exceptional amount of dedication."
[the constellation 'master of steel' is hoping to see some great displays of power in the future.]
Suddenly, Kim Dokja let a teasing grin cross his lips. "Joonghyuk-ah, do you think you could manage to get that cooking skill of yours past level ten again in this round? I bet anything you made would be delicious."
Well, of course it would, he was the protagonist. Anyway, Yoo Joonghyuk stared at him for a moment, his eyes slightly wider than before. Like that, he looked breathtaking—just a little bit unguarded, and a bit more genuine than his usual stony facade.
Suddenly, the protagonist glanced away, his ears burning red again. "We will see."
"That wasn't a no!" Han Sooyoung called tauntingly, but Kim Dokja was too caught off guard to care. A warm feeling rose inside of him, and he had to glance away as well. Hopefully his cheeks weren't red either.
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is jumping up and down excitedly.]
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' believes that he could cook better.]
[constellations who like gourmet food are licking their lips in anticipation.]
If he wasn't still holding onto the kids, then Kim Dokja probably would have slapped his cheeks to get his head back in the game. They were in the middle of watching a fight, dammit. He had to focus on something other than the protagonist's cooking skills.
"Wait, what's an army doing there?" Yoo Sangah wondered, drawing Kim Dokja's attention. Looking at them, they were seamlessly working with Gong Pildu, which just looked wrong. They were on the same side?
Of course, he had to sigh when the man tried to claim the land as 'his'. Honestly, what had he expected from the landlord?
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is cackling with glee.]
Dokja looks happy to see him when suddenly a woman's voice comes from above, on the fortress, asking when this became his territory.
The man in the oni mask sounds scared as he calls for his allies to retreat. As they flee, the little people let out triumphant cheers. "We won! We defeated the disaster! Hooray for the goddess!"
At this completely random mention of a goddess, Dokja looks up in confusion as the woman jumps down from the top of the fortress to land in front of the gathered troops. They immediately stand at attention and create a path from her to Dokja. Looking somewhat nervous and amused, Dokja sarcastically states that she's become quite successful.
The woman walks forward, her short bob flouncing with every step before she stops in front of him. With her pointer finger, Sooyoung lifts his chin and smugly states that he's still ugly. Dokja just scoffs, looking unimpressed.
"Wait a second, isn't that…" Lee Jihye muttered, furrowing her brow as she listened carefully to the voice that suddenly appeared.
Yoo Mia nodded once, and her expression was blank as she flatly stated, "It's ahjumma."
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is ecstatic.]
Kim Dokja sighed and allowed his shoulders to relax as the incarnations began fleeing, but his eyebrow twitched when he heard what the people of Peace Land were saying. A goddess…? What were they even talking about?
Whatever, it's not like Yoo Joonghyuk cared enough about lore to pay attention to whether or not the people in another world were religious. For all Kim Dokja knew, maybe they had always worshipped some kind of goddess—likely some kind of harvest goddess, considering Peace Land's genre.
Still, something about that didn't feel right.
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' is scratching his head in confusion.]
"What's going on?" Lee Seolhwa wondered as the soldiers suddenly arranged themselves to form a clear path to Kim Dokja.
He just sighed. 'Successful,' huh?
"Oh man, I look amazing," Han Sooyoung said confidently with a large grin on her face. "Never thought about that kind of outfit before, but damn, I look pretty hot in it."
She looked okay, Kim Dokja supposed. The dress suited her quite well, but it wasn't anything particularly special. Now, if she wanted to look great, she really needed to take a page out of Yoo Joonghyuk's book of special protagonist privileges. Though she might be on track with the ego and confidence she had, there was no way she could measure up to the sheer presence he possessed.
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is frowning at the incarnation 'han sooyoung'.]
"Did you really have to do that?" Kim Dokja sighed, shooting her an unimpressed glance. "It feels very condescending."
Han Sooyoung just shrugged. "Eh, I call it as I see it."
"Hyung isn't ugly," Lee Gilyoung protested, glaring at her. "You need to get glasses."
To be fair, his face was still weirdly blurry to her in the future—what was up with that anyway? While he couldn't entirely blame her for assuming that, now that he was aware of it (even if he still looked normal to himself), that didn't mean that her comment suddenly didn't hurt.
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is insisting that the incarnation 'kim dokja' is very pretty.]
As much as he appreciated the reassurance, Kim Dokja had to sigh. Whatever, he could ignore her statement and not let it affect him too much.
After a short time skip, while they're walking back to their base of operations, Sooyoung explains that she got isekai'd when she got run over by a bus full of survivors while she was walking down the road. Dokja looks at her with a face that clearly displays a form of disgusted judgement while she tries her best to ignore him with a blank stare straight ahead. Trying to confirm the facts, Dokja asks how Pildu got here after not believing her story that she just woke up in Peace Land after that. She responds with the same story Sangah told earlier, that he fell into the Han River.
Dokja foolishly asks if she thinks this is some sort of fantasy novel. Like a cat that got the cream, she circles him to ask if he forgot where they are right now. Looking completely unamused, Dokja stays silent before asking about the goddess thing, asking if she ordered them to call her that.
Kim Dokja's jaw dropped as he listened to Han Sooyoung's explanation of how she had gotten here; it sounded so baffling that even in a ruined world like this, it was unbelievable.
"Oh my god, ahjumma got isekai'd," Lee Jihye whispered in bafflement, and several of the less-chronically online adults (namely Lee Hyunsung and Yoo Sangah) looked confused. Of course, Han Sooyoung looked flustered, since she absolutely knew what that entailed.
She crossed her arms and pouted. "At least it wasn't a fucking truck…"
Ah yes, the infamous isekai truck. Truly a classic.
[many constellations are wondering what an 'isekai' is.]
Yeah, Kim Dokja wasn't going to even start getting into that one. Hadn't it sort of been explained when he was talking with Michio Shoji anyway? It wasn't his problem if they hadn't been paying attention back then.
"Um… that sounds rather unpleasant," Yoo Sangah said awkwardly, unsure of how to respond. "I'm glad you're alright, Sooyoung-ssi."
"Thanks, I guess," Han Sooyoung sighed. "At least I didn't fall into the river like that geezer, though."
Yeah, like one of those was so much more embarrassing than the other.
Jung Heewon just snickered as Kim Dokja asked if she thought it was a fantasy novel. "I mean… technically, isn't everything?"
"Technically, the genre of TWSA was apocalyptic," Kim Dokja retorted teasingly. Still, the genre of Peace Land was certainly an attempt at a classic fantasy, even if it hadn't turned out quite that way.
Jung Heewon shrugged, but she looked rather amused anyway.
"Oh, that's right," Lee Seolhwa said when Kim Dokja brought up what the soldiers had said earlier. "Were they referring specifically to Sooyoung-ssi when they were talking about a goddess?"
Kim Dokja paused for a moment and pursed his lips. That definitely couldn't be ruled out, considering her track record.
[the constellation 'lily blooming in aquarius' disapproves of lying.]
Deigning not to answer about creating another cult, Sooyoung just scowls and says that he talks a lot and that she maybe shouldn't have saved him. Pildu, finally having enough with their bickering, blandly states they sure do have chemistry. Dokja turns to stare at him before genuinely apologizing for not taking good care of him.
Pildu freezes before looking at Dokja like he's mentally ill and asking him what bullshit's coming out of his mouth, and if his brain has shrunk. Dokja looks away while raising his shoulders like an animal getting defensive, explaining that he's actually sorry before awkwardly thanking the other man for rescuing him. At this, Pildu looks even more disturbed and Dokja specifically looks away.
I boasted to the Defense Master that I'd be his patron, but I wasn't able to take care of him properly, so I was honestly really sorry.
Okay, wow, her silence was rather telling. Kim Dokja turned to stare at her in disbelief, his gaze boring into her as he did.
"What the fuck do you want?" she hissed, looking rather defensive.
Kim Dokja just stared at her, deadpan. "You do realize that you just created another cult, right?"
"I did not!" Han Sooyoung yelped, leaning further away from him, but her expression didn't look as confident as before.
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is declaring that cults are cool.]
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' is tearing out his hair in excitement.]
"No, this makes sense," Jung Heewon snickered, "you only got there during the last scenario, and somehow they're calling you a goddess!?"
"That's like… cult 101," Kim Dokja taunted, a sly grin on his lips. "Admit it, you saw the first chance to create another loyal cult and you took it."
Han Sooyoung sputtered, but even the kids were looking at her doubtfully. When she turned to look at Yoo Sangah for help, the woman just looked away with an awkward laugh.
"Well… it is classic cult behaviour, Sooyoung-ssi…"
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is agreeing that this is a cult.]
Han Sooyoung gasped and began pouting. "Traitors, all of you."
Had they ever truly been on the same side to begin with, though?
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is disappointed in the words of the incarnation 'han sooyoung'.]
"Wow," Kim Dokja drawled, "you'd really just let me die so easily?"
Han Sooyoung barked out a laugh. "Fuck, I'd sell you to Satan for half a corn chip! Not that it would mean much anyway—you're such a scammer that he'd get sick of you and send you right back to life, and he wouldn't even get the corn chip back."
Okay, that was actually kind of funny. Kim Dokja genuinely had to bite his tongue so he wouldn't laugh because there was no way he was giving her that kind of satisfaction.
At the very least, Gong Pildu seemed to take his apology better than expected—which was to say that he didn't outright deny it.
"I'll do better this time," Kim Dokja promised, looking up at the ceiling.
[the constellation 'defense master' is huffing as he accepts the promise of the incarnation 'kim dokja'.]
Pildu then smirks and tells him to do better next time, sounding quite pleased. At the same time, 'Defense Master' reluctantly nods after Dokja gives him coins. Dokja looks over the two in relief that they're still alive even after being miniaturized.
Huh? Wait a minute.
Dokja stumbles a bit as he comes to a realization, his eyes widening.
Even though they've become miniaturized…?
Dokja stops, dumbfounded as he wonders why they chose to forfeit their statuses as disasters when neither of them are the honorable type. As he thinks this, his mental image of the two being absolute menaces appears behind him while the two actually walk in front of him, looking exhausted after five minutes of being in Dokja's presence.
Suddenly, Yoo Mia's eyes widened when Kim Dokja's did in the future. "Wait, ahjumma is a terrible person; why is she small too?"
"What the hell, why is everyone coming after me today?" Han Sooyoung griped, pouting in an exaggerated fashion.
Still, that was a good question—why were both of them small?
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is wondering if the incarnations had a change of heart.]
[several constellations wonder if it was an accident.]
Okay, that sounded more likely than either of them suddenly deciding to be selfless. Neither of them were the kind of people to do something that nice for the sake of being nice—they weren't Yoo Sangah or Lee Hyunsung, after all.
Speaking of those two, they both looked oddly touched that Han Sooyoung had been nice, and Kim Dokja wasn't sure what was funnier—the fact that they thought it was intentional, or the expression of slowly growing horror on Han Sooyoung's face.
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' is snickering.]
He's brought out of his thoughts when he hears an excited and emotional call of 'Kim Dogeza' and turns to spot Michio happily waving over at him. Hyunsung thanks the two of them for saving them, so Sooyoung pastes a likely fake angelic smile on her face in response and says that she only did what was necessary. Behind her, Dokja narrows his eyes in disgust at her shamelessness.
Seeing their interaction as Sooyoung demands to know why Dokja is looking at her like that, Jihye stares before moving forward and asking which group Sooyoung was affiliated with. Jihye remarks that Sooyoung's strength is similar to that of the 'Kings', but seems incredibly confused that she's never seen Sooyoung before. Both Dokja and Sooyoung's eyes widen in alarm as Dokja has a very sped up flashback of all the things the 'First Apostle' did at Chungmuro while remembering that his companions don't know about it, especially with how badly Jihye was hurt. He's especially concerned considering the fact that Jihye isn't the type of person to just stand by after finding out something like that.
The two kids sitting next to him turned to look at Han Sooyoung with the driest expressions that he had ever seen on their faces.
"Wow, ahjumma," Shin Yoosung muttered. "You're lying to Hyunsung-oppa."
Lee Gilyoung nodded. "Lying to Hyunsung-hyung should be illegal or something."
Lee Hyunsung looked genuinely touched, with wide, teary eyes that seemed to sparkle with his brimming emotions. Jung Heewon looked a little bit concerned, to be honest, but Kim Dokja agreed with them too.
[the constellation 'master of steel' is agreeing with the children.]
"Oh, that's…" Yoo Sangah muttered awkwardly when Lee Jihye began questioning Han Sooyoung.
Right, yeah. This… was extremely awkward.
"Oh," Lee Jihye said with a wince. "Uh, sorry ahjumma, but you really couldn't be memorable in disguise like that."
And Lee Jihye hadn't seen Han Sooyoung's face during the King selection either, so they hadn't met past the disastrous attack on Chungmuro.
[the constellation 'god of wine and ecstasy' is eagerly refilling his wine.]
"I wish I could say that she wouldn't attack you over that, but…" Jung Heewon said awkwardly, "honestly, I would probably do the same if I didn't know you."
Honestly, fair. Not even Han Sooyoung could say anything against that.
Sooyoung looks away awkwardly, like a kitten who has been caught doing something wrong, when Dokja speaks up. "Ah, she is… just my friend, but her personality is a bit twisted, so she likes to roam around by herself."
Sooyoung's eyes widen and she turns to Dokja while the man has a self-deprecating spiral over using the word 'friend' and whether he can even call her that, before deciding that it doesn't particularly matter since it's not like he has any friends in the first place. For a bit, an awkward conversation about their supposed friendship looms over the group before Asuka raises her hand and apologizes for interrupting.
Han Sooyoung's eyes widened, and she looked both stunned and weirded out that Kim Dokja had decided to cover for her. Honestly, he was a bit weirded out too, but if it meant that Lee Jihye wouldn't be out for blood, then it would be worth any awkwardness.
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is wrinkling her nose in disapproval at this companionship.]
Yoo Joonghyuk both pursed his lips and nodded his head, which was giving extremely mixed messages. Was he agreeing or disagreeing with Uriel's latest bullshit??
However, when Kim Dokja declared that it wouldn't matter if he called her a friend because he had none, suddenly all eyes were on him instead.
"Hyung, we're your friends!" Lee Gilyoung insisted, tugging on his sleeve to emphasize it further.
Shin Yoosung nodded vehemently. "You're not alone anymore!"
"Gilyoung-ie is right," Yoo Sangah said with a gentle smile. "We all consider ourselves your friends too."
"Exactly! Dokja-ssi, we're all bound by comradeship and teamwork!" Lee Hyunsung exclaimed passionately, and Jung Heewon nodded beside him, though she looked more amused by his words than anything else.
"I think you can be cool sometimes, and even ahjumma has to admit that you're not bad," Lee Jihye exclaimed, gesturing over to Han Sooyoung as well, who scoffed but didn't deny it.
Yoo Mia's cheeks reddened as she glanced away. "I guess you can be my friend, since you suck at making them."
Kim Dokja looked down at his lap and tried to swallow down the instinctive urge to let tears well up in his eyes. This was bizarre and unprecedented, and he couldn't imagine so many people being adamant that they wanted to be his friend, especially not when they knew the truth.
"Kim Dokja," Yoo Joonghyuk said, and he glanced up to stare into the protagonist's eyes. "We are companions. Do not forget that."
Right.
"How could I forget?" he laughed, allowing a genuine smile to come onto his lips. It was strange, feeling this happy. It felt like he was floating, and it was a sensation that Kim Dokja wasn't familiar with at all.
[many constellations are feeling endeared by the current events.]
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is grinning gleefully.]
Happy for any change of subject, Dokja gestures for her to go ahead. Jihye, seeing another pretty woman, rushes up to him and whispers that he's quite the chick magnet. Less than pleased by her remark, he puts on a blank face and answers that Asuka is a Japanese incarnation who he saved from captivity. Jihye immediately jumps to the thought of her being an enemy, but Dokja cooly responds that it's a fight between the people of 'Peace Land' and the disasters.
As Dokja says the two sides, an image of soldiers looking at insurmountable odds is placed on a split screen with men who's smiles are too deranged to be seen as 'human' anymore.
Sooyoung zips over and fills the space that Jihye vacates, asking if Asuka was from TWSA. When Dokja asks if Sooyoung doesn't know who she is, the woman just claims that the reason she doesn't know is that because she has such a twisted personality, she can't read boring novels until the end.
Dokja assesses her, thinking that she should have the early turns like the 3rd and 4th regressions memorized since she read up to chapter 100, before wondering if Asuka didn't play a major role until later.
[a constellation who likes harems is interested in the words of the incarnation 'lee jihye'.]
Kim Dokja sighed, dragging a hand down his face. "Jihye-yah, I am not a 'chick magnet', and I have no idea how you came to that conclusion."
Lee Jihye chuckled awkwardly. "Uh… well, I know that's not true now!"
Clearly. She'd had no choice but to see exactly what had happened.
Lee Seolhwa looked amused as she shook her head. "It's alright, Dokja-ssi. We understand."
… Understand what, exactly?
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is scoffing.]
Anyway, that wasn't important when they had to discuss Asuka Ren's identity. Kim Dokja rolled his eyes when Han Sooyoung admitted to not remembering her, but he couldn't entirely recall when she first appeared. Maybe the author had a valid reason this time.
Asuka asks how they already occupied the Northern Region of 'Peace Land', which Dokja translates for Sooyoung as asking how she became the goddess.
A day on Earth is three days in 'Peace Land'. Since roughly a week has passed since we separated, Han Sooyoung has already spent three weeks in 'Peace Land'.
The scene changes to show crowds of happy people showering Pildu and Sooyoung, who are standing back-to-back, with petals as onlookers raise their weapons to cheer.
She's someone who became the 'King of the Prophets' within a week even among human beings, so it's not strange to see her acting as a 'Goddess' in three weeks time…
Sooyoung's flashback starts as she explains that the two of them landed in the middle of Veronica Castle while they were under attack by the first wave of people from Japan. While the two of them went to loot the dead bodies, some of the Japanese walked over and tried to talk to them, with unhappy and disapproving looks on their faces which quickly morph into mocking looks.
Based on facial expression and tone alone, they pissed off both Sooyoung and Pildu, which led to Sooyoung summoning her [Avatars] to massacre them. Her disappointed narration kicks back in as she laments the fact that killing those guys caused them to shrink, stating that she wouldn't have done so if she knew that would happen. Dokja looks absolutely unsurprised by this fact.
The Kingdom of Veronica, falling into ruin due to the disasters. The two people who fell into the center of the castle, suddenly killing those disasters.
Soldiers and citizens alike point at them, gathering around them in their joy. Dokja then understands why they were seen as gods and why the soldiers attacked so fiercely the moment they were seen.
"The days are faster here?" Lee Hyunsung asked in shock. "It really is just like a novel!"
Well, yes. That's because it kind of was, technically.
Kim Dokja grimaced when he realized just how long Han Sooyoung and Gong Pildu had been in Peace Land. Three weeks, huh?
"I don't know if it's scary or impressive that you really made another cult in only three weeks," Jung Heewon admitted, to Han Sooyoung's exasperation.
[several constellations believe it is impressive.]
[a few constellations are debating about the benefits of leading a cult.]
Kim Dokja groaned when her flashback played, explaining what happened. He should have expected something like this, honestly. Yoo Joonghyuk looked equally unimpressed, and Han Sooyoung was as shameless as ever, even going so far as to nod along with her future self's explanation.
"So, essentially, they tried looting bodies, then attacked when the friends of the deceased incarnations got upset," Yoo Sangah stated bluntly before sighing. "Sooyoung-ssi, maybe be a bit less rash next time?"
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is completely supporting the actions of the incarnation 'han sooyoung'.]
Still, even if it made sense why this came to be the case… did she really have to lean into it so hard?
"I don't see Gong Pildu calling himself a god," Kim Dokja muttered, shooting Han Sooyoung a judgemental look. She just glanced away, looking completely unrepentant.
"So? His loss."
Kim Dokja grimaced again. Why was she like this?
As they exit the forest, the injured common folk of 'Peace Land' come into view, crying tears of joy and running over towards them while celebrating their return and calling out for their 'Goddess'. As the darkness settles in, they're welcomed to the brightly lit Veronica Castle.
"We're already here," Sooyoung states as her tone takes on an ironic note. "At this damned place they call 'Peace Land'."
The people in this world are similar to the people of the old world on Earth. Not only do they not have a swordmaster or a ninth circle archmage, it's a world where the use of the 'System' is limited.
As Dokja's narration plays out, the common folk are seen going about their evening—talking, trading, and spending time with family.
No matter how hard they try, they are fated to be the fragile citizens of a 'typical fantasy' who suffer at the hands of invaders from another world. And I know whose 'work' this world is.
"Asuka Ren," Dokja states, causing the woman to freeze and look at him with apprehension, "join the Korean group. We need your help."
[the constellation 'queen of the darkest spring' is glad to see that the incarnations have arrived safely at their destination.]
Thank goodness for that, though if he was going to have to put up with hearing Han Sooyoung get called a goddess for much longer, he might just rethink going there. Her ego did not need to get any larger.
"So everyone here is super weak?" Yoo Mia wondered curiously upon hearing Kim Dokja's explanation that they can't really use the system here.
"They are," Yoo Joonghyuk confirmed, looking down at his sister with a softer gaze. It suited him, and Kim Dokja found himself smiling involuntarily as he watched the heartwarming scene.
Yoo Mia hummed and slumped further into her brother's embrace. "That's sad."
It was. In a way, Kim Dokja related to them, knowing how it felt to be powerless like that. Maybe that was why he had never even considered taking the easy route and hurting the small people himself.
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is looking curiously at the incarnation 'asuka ren'.]
[many constellations are wondering what the incarnation 'kim dokja' is talking about.]
"If she joins up with us, then the rest of this scenario will go much more smoothly," Kim Dokja said confidently.
Considering that she likely considered herself in their debt, he could relax slightly. With her on their side, they wouldn't have anything to worry about in terms of navigation, and she also had information on the Japanese side that would be essential.
Unlike before, when everything had seemed like it was falling apart, Kim Dokja was finally feeling like their chances were beginning to look up.