"Kick the constellation's ass, Master!" Lee Jihye cheered excitedly with a massive grin on her face. It made sense why she was so excited since honestly, Kim Dokja would be more surprised if anyone here wasn't absolutely thrilled by seeing him cut off a few of those heads—with the notable exception of her because she would never be impressed by anything Yoo Joonghyuk did, naturally.
At least Yoo Joonghyuk seemed to be feeling pretty good about the whole thing, and Kim Dokja could tell because the tension in his jaw had released somewhat. It was still a shitty situation overall and he couldn't get ahead of himself, of course, but Kim Dokja definitely believed that Yoo Joonghyuk's confidence was justified.
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is eagerly awaiting more bloodshed.]
While the remaining heads of the 'Serpent' continue to howl, Joonghyuk turns to Dokja furiously and asks if he's just going to gawk after saying that he'd defeat the constellation. Running past Joonghyuk with an expression on his face that makes someone really want to punch him, the miniscule Dokja cheerfully states that he only meant that he'd deal the final blow, only angering the protagonist further.
The duration of [Gigantification] is about five minutes. Although I knew the reason why Yoo Joonghyuk was in a rush while losing steam, now wasn't the time.
After wiping some sweat and taking a moment to catch his breath, Joonghyuk leaps at the nearest head and severs it from the body in a swift movement. As he turns, he deactivates [Gigantification] to avoid the jaws of another head, instead allowing them to pass harmlessly over him.
The protagonist levelled him with an unimpressed stare as the Kim Dokja on the screen told him that he planned to kill-steal, and Kim Dokja tried not to shudder in response. When Han Sooyoung snorted in amusement, a sudden idea popped into his head. What was it that she had said before…? Something about 'batting his eyelashes'...?
That couldn't actually work, could it?
Plastering a teasing grin onto his face, Kim Dokja decided that if he was going to go for it, then what the fuck, he might as well go all out. Yoo Joonghyuk would probably murder him for it either way, so it would be funnier if he went a bit overboard with it in the first place.
Tilting his head down, Kim Dokja looked up at Yoo Joonghyuk through his lashes, fluttering them as he asked in as innocent of a tone he could manage, "Joonghyuk-ah, you're not really going to make me do all the work, right?"
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is screaming.]
[the constellation 'bald general of the peasant's army' is cheering.]
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is flabbergasted.]
[the constellation 'god of wine and ecstasy' is declaring that this round of drinks is on him.]
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is feeling faint.]
Han Sooyoung choked out a laugh before it turned more into a wheeze, and she actually laughed so hard that she somehow managed to topple over onto Yoo Sangah. She laid in the other woman's lap for a moment, sputtering and wheezing, while Yoo Sangah just seemed incredibly amused by the entire situation, as did Lee Seolhwa.
But Kim Dokja wasn't focused on that at all. No, he was much more interested in the way that Yoo Joonghyuk's back had gone ramrod straight, as well as the completely baffled expression on his face. He looked so caught off guard that Kim Dokja genuinely wondered if he had somehow broken the man.
"Oh my god, ahjussi broke Master," Lee Jihye stage-whispered, sounding both awed and horrified. The other kids seemed aghast for various reasons, and Kim Dokja really couldn't understand why they all looked somewhat disgusted or offended.
Jung Heewon snickered into her hand, and Lee Hyunsung seemed bewildered by what was happening in front of him. Without even turning around, Kim Dokja could tell that she was absolutely hating every part of this, and that actually made him feel a bit better about his impending doom.
"Y-you…" Yoo Joonghyuk said after a long while, sounding almost breathless, and Kim Dokja instantly looked back at him only to see the man's ears going bright red.
After a moment, and a sudden spasm of his gorgeous face that seemed almost like Yoo Joonghyuk had gone through about fifteen different expressions in the span of a second, the protagonist looked away harshly. "You will not be doing all the work, you fool. Not if we fight together."
Oh. Well, Kim Dokja supposed that was true…
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' is holding his stomach and laughing.]
[the constellation 'queen of the darkest spring' is very amused by the current events.]
[the constellation 'lily blooming in aquarius' is extremely concerned for the wellbeing of the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire'.]
Still, why would he join in now when he could sit back and watch Yoo Joonghyuk look like a vengeful god while fighting skillfully? The way he moved was mesmerizing, and it honestly looked like he didn't need any help for the moment. Heck, with how well Yoo Joonghyuk was fighting, Kim Dokja genuinely wondered if he'd just be in the way.
However, as Joonghyuk dodges to the side, one of the constellation's necks slams into him. Though he coughs up blood, Joonghyuk uses his quick thinking to activate [Tiger God Aura] to mitigate some of the damage as he's sent flying into a nearby wall. His sword goes tumbling through the air before sticking into the ground near Dokja, whose hand is in his jacket, clearly having been up to something. Whether Joonghyuk threw it at him intentionally or if it just ended up next to him by coincidence, Dokja takes note of the sword and quickly makes a plan.
Dokja looks towards Joonghyuk as the other man pushes himself up, while bleeding heavily from a head wound, and angrily yells at him to do something. Dokja cuts him off and states that he's going to help now. Naturally, this isn't what Joonghyuk had meant, so he proceeds to call Dokja an idiot for thinking that he can take down that thing alone, and tells him to retreat for now.
"You did your best," Dokja says calmly as he takes off his training braces and drops them to the side while the 'Serpent' advances on him. "Now just watch."
"Oh shit," Jung Heewon exclaimed as soon as Yoo Joonghyuk got smacked into a wall. "Okay, the fun part is over I guess."
Fuck, okay. So maybe the protagonist would actually need backup here. Damn.
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is scoffing at the incarnation 'yoo joonghyuk' for not paying attention to the other heads.]
Hey, he was doing significantly better than anyone else would—including Kim Dokja—in the same situation.
Lee Seolhwa winced, and her expression was apologetic as she glanced over at Yoo Joonghyuk. "It's a good thing that you tried to reduce the impact the way you did. That could easily have been some broken ribs and internal bleeding."
Kim Dokja tried not to wince in sympathy, knowing full well how awful that felt. At least the protagonist had a recovery skill and Lee Seolhwa to help so he wouldn't have to heal the normal way, but he was probably going to get back up as soon as he could.
"Sorry, sorry," Kim Dokja said quickly, all the teasing gone from his voice. "I'm sure I'm going to help now."
Apparently, that wasn't the right thing to say either, because—just like his future counterpart—Yoo Joonghyuk pinned him under a glare. Seriously, did that man want Kim Dokja to help or not? What was up with the mixed messages?
[several constellations are amused by the reaction of the incarnation 'yoo joonghyuk'.]
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is weakly sobbing over such a beautiful display of companionship.]
… being called an idiot was companionship, now?
Han Sooyoung groaned. "Oh my god, you read so many novels, and yet you can't understand something this fucking simple."
What was she even on about?
Yoo Mia stared at him blankly. "Ahjussi, I'm only going to do this once, but I'm going to translate oppa-speak for you because you're so bad at this."
Wow. Kim Dokja sighed. "He told me to help, and then he told me to run away. What's so complicated about that?"
"This is why you're stupid, ahjussi," she said with a shake of her head. "Oppa wanted you to fight with him and win together, because you're companions. And now that he can't fight, he doesn't want you getting hurt in front of him. Again."
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is sobbing harder.]
"I'll be fine," Kim Dokja said as steadily as he could despite his heart thudding in his chest, forcing the rest of what Yoo Mia had said out of his thoughts for the moment. He didn't want to unpack what any of that meant right now. "Future me is confident, so I must have some kind of plan."
The girl just rolled her eyes and muttered something about him being stupid again, and also what weirdly sounded like something about how her oppa deserved better. He was probably just hearing things, though.
[the constellation 'maritime war god' is hoping that the incarnation 'kim dokja' does actually have a plan.]
No one had any faith in him today, did they?
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is sighing and feeling exasperated by the current events.]
Dokja pulls the sword from the ground and activates Kyrgios' [Bookmark], which tells him that only a portion of the skill can be activated due to the character's level being too high.
It's fine. Even just a bit is fine.
[The selected skill can only be used by a 'small person'. The current composition of your body is similar to that of the selected figure.]
As the notifications pop up, an icy blue phantom of Kyrgios materialises behind Dokja.
I only need one skill, after all.
Lightning crackles around Dokja and the blade of the sword as he activates [Electrification lvl. 10]. As he leaps high into the air, the scene fades back to his training, where Kyrgios speaks while Dokja looks like death warmed over. "The magnitude of the consciousness determines the status of the being, such that the smallest being is capable of observing the universe remotely. Therefore, the beginning is but one point, and thus, there is greatness in small things."
As Kyrgios states his final line, Dokja leaps up into the air as his body becomes engulfed in pure white lightning, shining like the brightest star in the sky as he darts forward and cleanly slices off three of the remaining heads before Yamata no Orochi can react.
"Dokja-ssi, I know that's a good skill, but the enemy was good enough to hurt Joonghyuk-ssi that badly…" Lee Hyunsung fretted, looking extremely concerned.
Kim Dokja wasn't worried; Kyrgios' skill was extremely powerful, and he was such a small target right now that he would be much harder to hit.
[many constellations are curious about the bookmark of the returnee 'kyrgios rodgraim'.]
"That looks so cool, hyung!" Lee Gilyoung exclaimed as Kim Dokja launched himself into the air. "So much cooler than the sooty bastard!"
"Ahjussi might be cool, but he's not that cool," Lee Jihye chided, gently pinching him to tease. Shin Yoosung seemed to vocally disagree with this, naturally, and Kim Dokja decided to tune out their whispered bickering for now.
Yoo Sangah carefully listened to Kyrgios' words, and she was somehow nodding along like she was actually understanding it. When he finished speaking, she nodded and smiled brightly. "I see, that's a very interesting philosophy!"
"You actually understand that?" Kim Dokja wondered, probably looking as baffled as he sounded.
"Of course," Yoo Sangah replied with a slight laugh. "It's all about seeing things from a different perspective, really."
Yeah, how she had gotten that from whatever string of nonsense Kyrgios had spouted, Kim Dokja would never know.
[constellations who like philosophy are eagerly debating this worldview.]
As Kim Dokja proceeded to slice off three more heads in a swift motion, Shin Yoosung peeked up from over Lee Jihye's shoulder to smile brightly at him. "That was amazing, ahjussi!"
He couldn't help but smile back, feeling a pleasant warmth bubble up inside of him.
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is cackling and enjoying the fight.]
The only living head left lets out an anguished cry as the 'Sovereign of Eight Heads' throws a tantrum in indirects. Dokja spits up blood as he coughs and staggers from the use of his skill, but he still has the ability to smirk and taunt the constellation. "Shouldn't I be the one to question the fairness of it all?"
Though the duration of [Electrification] was three minutes, I don't have the confidence to take more than three steps with the current state of my body.
With shaking hands, Dokja pops the lid off a mana potion and chugs it before facing the enraged constellation, mentally swearing and knowing he has to win in these three steps.
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is alarmed by the blood.]
[the constellation 'guam divine doctor' is frowning deeply at the incarnation 'kim dokja'.]
Lee Seolhwa immediately looked at Kim Dokja harshly. "Dokja-ssi, I know the situation is dire so I won't scold you too much, but you need to make sure that your body can handle your own skills."
He nodded, not even trying to protest. If he said anything, he had no doubts that Lee Seolhwa would only glare at him more harshly.
"Wow, he's the one fucking with the scenario, and now he's sobbing about it like a goddamn crybaby?" Han Sooyoung scoffed, looking completely and utterly unimpressed by the constellation.
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' is mocking the constellation 'sovereign of eight heads'.]
Yoo Sangah glanced over at Kim Dokja worriedly. "Only three steps… Dokja-ssi, you won't be able to get out of the way if it attacks you again!"
Fuck, that was true. Yoo Joonghyuk instantly started glaring at him—likely to conceal the apparent worry that Yoo Mia swore was there. At least he had mana potions, but that wouldn't be able to fix him physically.
"You fool," Yoo Joonghyuk hissed. "You should have told me in advance that your body would be left in this state."
And what would he be able to do about it? Not get hit so he could still help out?
At this moment, Ganul decides to appear, remarking on the sorry state of the 'Sovereign of Eight Heads'. As it cries out to her, she tells it to calm its tantrum as all the probability allotted to the constellation for this scenario has been used up, and that 'they' won't lend any more.
As it continues to yell, Joonghyuk slowly moves forward while holding onto his injured side, before the scene pans over their fainted companions.
At the sound of yelling from behind him, Dokja turns to see some disasters advancing his way in order to protect their ruler. Before he can do anything, a figure steps in front of him, and he realizes that it's Hyunsung standing strong and brandishing his shield despite his obvious weariness. From atop another part of the wall, awakened soldiers call out to stop the disasters while Pildu grits his teeth and brings back the turrets.
Though everyone tensed up at the dokkaebi's reappearance, Lee Hyunsung let out a sigh of relief as she began scolding the constellation for its actions. "If the constellation ran out of probability to use for the scenario, then it's going to be okay now, right?"
"It should get hit by a probability storm," Yoo Joonghyuk confirmed, narrowing his eyes at the screen. He was probably wondering who 'they' were just as much as Kim Dokja was in this case. He couldn't be absolutely certain, of course, but it was a tense situation nonetheless.
[many constellations are wondering about the size of the imminent probability storm.]
Yoo Mia brightened up as soon as her brother appeared on the screen once more. "You're okay!"
He was injured, but somehow, he still managed to look like a perfect protagonist despite that. The very image of someone in the process of triumphing over adversity, as he should.
Then, several incarnations began running at Kim Dokja, who was practically stuck in place.
"Kim Dokja!" Yoo Joonghyuk exclaimed, sounding a bit more frantic than Kim Dokja would have expected.
Huh, was Yoo Mia actually right…? He only let himself contemplate that for a split-second before shaking off the thought and focusing back on the screen. Was Yoo Joonghyuk going to swoop in to save him, despite his injury?
"Come on…" Han Sooyoung muttered anxiously, tapping her finger on her thigh in a quick rhythm. "Get your protagonist ass in there to save your damsel in distress."
Even though he was probably in distress for real this time, he was most definitely not a damsel.
[the constellation 'god of wine and ecstasy' is passing out free wine to any constellations who want some.]
[several constellations are shocked by the identity of the saviour of the incarnation 'kim dokja'.]
"Me!?" Lee Hyunsung gasped, pointing to himself in shock. "How did I make it before Joonghyuk-ssi did?"
"Why is everyone assuming that Joonghyuk-ie was going to come to my rescue, huh?" Kim Dokja wondered aloud, raising a brow and completely ignoring the fact that he had also thought the same thing only a moment ago.
Jung Heewon sighed and shook her head. "He's hopeless. Anyway, great job, Hyunsung-ssi! You look very cool there, and it's great that we have Pildu-ssi's backup too!"
Lee Hyunsung went beet red and started stammering, and Kim Dokja had to restrain the urge to snicker. He was so gone for her already that it was hilarious. Naturally, distracted by those two—as Jung Heewon gleefully slapped Lee Hyunsung on the back to encourage him—Kim Dokja completely missed the sight of Han Sooyoung barely managing to hold in her laughter at the sudden irritated expression on Yoo Joonghyuk's face.
[No, Wait! Excuse me, Constellation-nim! Just what are you…!] Ganul calls out in a panic, returning Dokja's attention to her as she swiftly calls the Bureau due to the emergency situation. Dokja looks up as a massive storm materializes above the constellation's shadow, the omen of the aftermath of plausibility. In the hole that's opening in the sky, strange limbs seem to writhe around—a hallmark of an Outer God.
Dokja guesses that he's planning to use Izumi, whose body he gained through an unfair contract, to revive the Pandemonium of the Hundred Yōkai.
The 'Serpent's' body grows and glitches, its shadow looming over the castle, as its roar reverberates through the storm. Suddenly, a window appears, declaring that someone has interfered with the scenario's system.
[the constellation 'scribe of heaven' is extremely alarmed.]
[many constellations are very concerned about the current scenario.]
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' is tearing out his hair from stress.]
Fuck, what was happening!?
"Oh, this isn't gonna be good," Lee Gilyoung muttered anxiously as the massive hole began to open up in the sky. He didn't even protest when Lee Jihye managed to scoop both him and Yoo Mia up into her lap next to Shin Yoosung to hug like they were living stuffed animals.
Kim Dokja felt extremely nervous about the whole thing. The fact that she was contacting the Bureau was a really bad sign. They weren't contacted for something like this unless it was an emergency, but even that didn't guarantee that the response time would be good. If things went wrong, then they could all end up dead before the Bureau could even respond to the situation.
Even in the apocalypse, bureaucracy still fucking sucked.
"Fuck, someone needs to get their shit together quick," Han Sooyoung hissed, looking more and more stressed with every second. "I don't even know where the fuck I am in this mess, and I don't want to end up as snake food."
Of course she didn't. Selfish motivations or not, though, Kim Dokja had to hope that something would be done to fix this complete and utter disaster before it could get any worse.
[several constellations are hoping for the interference to be on behalf of the incarnations.]
[a few constellations are eager to see the constellation 'sovereign of eight heads' win against the arrogant incarnations.]
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' says that he doesn't care so long as the incarnation 'han sooyoung' survives.]