[many constellations are wondering what will happen next.]
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' is tearing his hair out in excitement.]
Dokja sighs and asks what she'll offer in exchange for Dokja helping out, hoping that it'll be more helpful than 2,000 coins. Finally, the 'Lady of the Sleeping Brocade' settles on giving Dokja a historical-grade story for his aid in handling the demon earl. It's not a bad option for him, especially since he was already planning on defeating the earl regardless.
Having not heard Dokja's conversation with the constellation, Tentacio tells Dokja to stop muttering and asks if he's Joonghyuk or not. Hyunsung then walks up to Dokja, placing Gilyoung down carefully as he states that he'll handle it. His veins bulging as he clenches his fist, Hyunsung makes a declaration, "I refuse to lose any more bullet casings ever again."
Dokja's face twitches at the 'bullet casing' reference and Sooyoung whistles as Tentacio calls Hyunsung brave for an insect. When the demon attacks with a swift punch, Hyunsung covers his body in steel, meeting the earl's fist with one of his own. Seeing that Hyunsung has succeeded a fable, the demon grins wide and declares that he'll devour the lieutenant.
[the constellation 'lady of the sleeping brocade' is feeling hopeful.]
"Yeah, I'll help out," Kim Dokja sighed. It would have to be him either way, really. At this point, the only other people who would likely have the power needed to get rid of this guy—Yoo Joonghyuk and Jung Heewon—were most likely both already on the second floor. As a constellation, Kim Dokja was fairly confident that he'd be able to defeat Tentacio without too much issue.
Plus, if he really needed it, he had the fable from Eden that he had borrowed temporarily.
"The stories have grades too?" Jung Heewon asked curiously, glancing over at Kim Dokja. "Are they more effective if they're higher grades, or are they just more rare?"
Well… it was a bit of both, really. Stronger grade stories were always harder to acquire in the first place, but historical-grade wasn't the worst either.
"They do, but there are variations in the strength of stories of the same grade," Kim Dokja replied. There were some historical-grade stories that were surprisingly powerful or useful, while there were others that just… weren't.
[the constellation 'queen of the darkest spring' is nodding in agreement.]
"Hyung, are you scamming the constellations again?" Lee Gilyoung asked eagerly, his eyes glimmering in anticipation.
Shin Yoosung joined him only a moment later. "It's like what you did in Peace Land with that other constellation."
Ah… well… that wasn't entirely inaccurate…
"After all that, and he still doesn't know that you're not the protagonist," Han Sooyoung sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. Kim Dokja was feeling pretty exasperated, himself. He had already said that he wasn't Yoo Joonghyuk, but apparently Tentacio just hadn't been listening.
Yoo Sangah looked encouragingly at him, smiling as she did. "At the very least, if he can't even remember that, there's very little chance that he knows anything about your fighting style. Even if Jiwon-ssi had mentioned it, he'll either be prepared for Joonghyuk-ssi's fighting style, or he might have just forgotten it already."
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is extremely unimpressed by the demon earl 'tentacio'.]
[the constellation 'master of steel' is encouraging his incarnation.]
"Oh, I'm going to fight first?" Lee Hyunsung said in surprise, his eyes widening. "I'll do my best!"
Jung Heewon grinned widely and grabbed onto his hand again, squeezing it. "I believe in you."
Ah, and he was a tomato again. Poor Lee Hyunsung.
"Kick his ass!" Lee Jihye cheered as Lee Hyunsung rushed forward, covered in steel. Though Kim Dokja was still feeling a bit apprehensive because of the whole bullet casing thing, it was really breathtaking getting to see the man use his transformation now that he had more practice with it. This was only the first step for him, and he had so much further to grow in the future.
When Tentacio declared that he'd devour Lee Hyunsung to get his story, however, Yoo Joonghyuk narrowed his eyes and glanced over at Kim Dokja. When their eyes met, Kim Dokja knew that this was going to be a harder fight than expected. After all, no matter how strong Lee Hyunsung was right now, he wasn't prepared for fighting against someone of Tentacio's caliber just yet.
Kim Dokja already knew that he'd have to interfere in this match-up, but he hoped that Lee Hyunsung would put up enough of a fight that he wouldn't get discouraged afterwards.
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is excited for a good fight.]
Moving swiftly, Tentacio zips behind Hyunsung and grabs him while clamping his jaw down on the soldier's neck. Dokja remembers that in the later parts of TWSA, the strength of Hyunsung's [Steel Transformation] was directly connected to his strength of will—it wouldn't break until his willpower did. Unfortunately, this Hyunsung isn't that powerful yet. As the demon's teeth begin to pierce the steel skin, Hyunsung scrambles to grab his jaws and tries to pry them away, struggling from the effort needed.
On the side, Sooyoung asks what the hell the demon is as she uses [Avatar] to summon several clones, remarking about how easily he's breaking through [Steel Transformation]. Dokja explains that Tentacio is a Grade 3 demon, and those of this rank or higher all have their own fables. Gritting her teeth, Sooyoung sends her avatars into the fray as the demon earl crushes and completely mangles Hyunsung's hand.
Leaping into the air, the demon deftly turns while grabbing Hyunsung by the head and tossing him into an avatar upon landing. In less than a second, he swiftly dispatches the other avatars with a single attack each. Growling lightly, he turns to the group gathered by Hyunsung before laughing, "Keke. It's time for slaughter, you bugs."
Unfortunately, none of them were expecting Tentacio to suddenly rush behind Lee Hyunsung and try to make good on that promise of devouring him by biting into the man's neck. Lee Seolhwa gasped, going completely tense, and Kim Dokja couldn't blame her.
After all, if Lee Hyunsung hadn't been coated in metal, then that attack could have very easily ended with his death after getting his throat ripped open. It was a horrific thing to even think about, and they were lucky that Lee Hyunsung was as durable as he was.
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is expressing her great hatred for demons.]
[the constellation 'master of steel' is watching the current events with a worried expression.]
"My transformation is linked to my willpower?" Lee Hyunsung asked, looking down at his empty hand pensively. "In that case, I need to make sure that I will never falter."
Full of determination, he seemed to swallow down some apprehension and bowed his head in Yoo Joonghyuk's direction. "Joonghyuk-ssi, please help train me. My future self improved a lot after working with you, and I think that it will help me work on my resilience."
Kim Dokja looked at Lee Hyunsung like he was crazy. His future self had basically ended up traumatized after getting put through the Yoo Joonghyuk bootcamp, and now he was willingly offering to subject himself to that? Was he trying to think of the fear as another thing to overcome in order to build up his willpower or something?
[several constellations are praising the proactive nature of the incarnation 'lee hyunsung'.]
Yoo Joonghyuk looked back at him critically for a moment before sighing. "Fine. Don't try to run away when it's too much."
"I won't!" Lee Hyunsung declared confidently, but his composure faltered when his future self's transformation cracked. He looked almost paralyzed with fear for a split second before he steeled his resolve and took a deep breath. It seemed that instead of freaking out over his future self, Lee Hyunsung had decided to take this as proof that he needed to work even harder.
Yoo Mia shuddered. "A grade 3 demon? How do they have stories too?"
"Technically, the demon realms are just other worlds that have been invaded by the Star Stream too," Kim Dokja explained. "While some demons are spawned by the Star Stream itself to act as enemies in scenarios, others might as well be incarnations in their own right. The only difference is that instead of being sponsored by a constellation, most of them are subordinates to one of the 72 Demon Kings."
She nodded as she processed it. "So the Earl thing… that's an actual title and not something he calls himself to pretend to be cool?"
[the constellation 'lily blooming in aquarius' is amused by the words of the incarnation 'yoo mia'.]
"It seems like it," Yoo Sangah remarked, laughing slightly.
They were both true answers, technically. In the Dark Castle scenario, the titles were more ceremonial than anything else. Unlike the residents of the demon realms, who had land and political power equivalent to their title, the demons in this scenario had nothing but themselves and the stories they had built.
The light attitude couldn't last—not when Lee Hyunsung was getting crushed.
"Shit," Jung Heewon swore, holding Lee Hyunsung's hand so tightly that she might as well be on the verge of crushing it herself. The man in question was looking a little bit pale, but Kim Dokja didn't know if that was because of how hard she was squeezing his hand or because of watching himself get tossed around like he weighed nothing.
Han Sooyoung glowered, her lips curling into a sneer. "Ugh, no shit he's tearing through my avatars if he can just fling metal man around like that."
[the constellation 'maritime war god' is hoping that everything will turn out alright.]
Of course, as soon as Tentacio brought up bugs again, Lee Gilyoung looked more feral than ever. Eyes wide, teeth bared, somehow still restraining himself from doing something concerning… yeah, Lee Gilyoung was taking this badly, and Kim Dokja loosened his grip just a bit. As much as he wanted to make sure the kid was okay, Kim Dokja also didn't want to end up elbowed in the face or gut if he lashed out impulsively.
As he activates his fable, words in the form of dark energy wrap around everyone, causing most of the group to feel dizzy and faint. As he leaps forward to deal the final blow to Hyunsung, a hand easily catches his fist as Dokja steps in front of the soldier.
Seeing that Dokja is unaffected, Tentacio attributes it to Dokja's mental fortitude. Shaking from exhaustion and pain, Hyunsung still tries to get up to fight, seeming to feel that it's more important to protect Dokja than his own life. Not letting him finish his sentence, Dokja cuts him off with a kind smile, "Hyunsung-ssi. For things like bullet casings, they're much more difficult to lose than you think as long as you keep an eye on them. So keep your eyes open, and watch me."
"Wait, stories have actual effects?" Yoo Sangah asked in surprise. "I thought it was something like the stage transformation, where they activated when their stories were relevant…"
Honestly, for someone unfamiliar with the Star Stream and how it worked, that was actually a pretty reasonable guess. Nobody had really used stories in a fight before, with the exception of Kim Dokja quoting Eden's, and that one didn't really count either in this context.
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is praising the incarnation 'yoo sangah' for her good attempt.]
"Stories are essentially skills that are earned through feats," Yoo Joonghyuk said, crossing his arms over his chest. "The harder the feat, the more powerful the story."
Kim Dokja nodded. "Exactly what Joonghyuk-ie said. Some stories' effects are passive, and others have to be specifically activated, too. To keep it simple, think of it as the next stage of the skills system."
"So does that mean that I can get a kickass story and be super powerful?" Lee Jihye asked eagerly, clearly imagining something incredibly unlikely, if the glint in her eyes was any indication.
[the constellation 'maritime war god' is reassuring his incarnation that she will earn good stories in the future.]
They could discuss that later, but for now, they had Tentacio and his [Bug Slaughter] story to worry about. Kim Dokja had no doubts that it would incapacitate everyone except for him, since they were weaker than the demon was. Thankfully, Lee Gilyoung was already unconscious in the future because he didn't want to see the kid struggling to deal with this on top of his fury because of bugs getting insulted.
"Thank goodness, Dokja-ssi is alright," Lee Seolhwa sighed in relief, putting a hand on her chest as she exhaled.
Jung Heewon gritted her teeth as Lee Hyunsung still tried to persevere and keep fighting before she turned to him with worry written all over her features. "What are you even doing?"
"I'm trying to protect Dokja-ssi," Lee Hyunsung admitted, sounding more hesitant than before. "He just revived, so—"
"Wow, I didn't know that his self-sacrificial bullshit was contagious," Han Sooyoung drawled, shooting a judgy glance in Lee Hyunsung's direction.
Jung Heewon inhaled sharply, but pursed her lips. "She's right. Right now, Dokja-ssi can handle himself, and you're the one who's injured. It's okay to not be on the front lines every time, Hyunsung-ssi."
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is reminding the incarnation 'lee hyunsung' that her incarnation would be sad if anything happened to him.]
Apparently, the threat of Jung Heewon's sadness was enough to make Lee Hyunsung rethink that since his eyes went wide. "Oh, um, I'll try not to do that…"
"It'll be okay, really," Kim Dokja reassured him as best as he could. "I'm a constellation in the future, and that means that I'm a lot harder to kill."
As Lee Hyunsung nodded in understanding, Shin Yoosung curled in a bit closer to Kim Dokja. "Good. you're not allowed to die anymore, ahjussi."
Well, it wasn't like he wanted to.
With that, Dokja completely twists the demon's hand around, causing Tentacio to become alarmed and jump back. As Tentacio strengthens the fable, he's shocked to see that Dokja is still standing strong when all the others can no longer get off the floor. Not answering the demon on how he can resist the compulsion of [Bug Slaughter], Dokja immediately describes exactly how the demon's fable was obtained by killing at least 100,000 people with weak stories and calls it a fairly useful fable, but only on weaker enemies.
Without moving, Dokja completely negates the skill, making Tentacio realize that Dokja must be equal in strength to at least a marquis. In a panic, the demon starts to wonder if Dokja could be a Demon King—since Demon Kings are normally equivalent to a fable-grade constellation—or a returnee, but remarks that there's no way a returnee could be here. Using his status to gaze at the earl, Dokja remarks that he's neither, causing Tentacio to shriek that it's impossible for a constellation to be here. As Dokja draws
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' is cheering excitedly for the incarnation 'kim dokja'.]
[the constellation 'god of wine and ecstasy' is greatly entertained by the current events.]
Lee Gilyoung's gaze sharpened. "Hyung, if he wants to squish bugs so much, you have to crush him for me."
"I'll try," Kim Dokja replied, feeling a bit genuinely afraid of the kid. He knew that Lee Seolhwa wasn't a psychiatrist or anything, but he really wished that she was right about now. What had happened to the sweet yet slightly unhinged kid from the first few scenarios!?
Thankfully, even though Tentacio was pushing his story to its limits, Kim Dokja's status as a constellation allowed him to remain unfazed. At the very least, the fact that he was completely unaffected meant that his opponent was getting unnerved and would be more likely to make impulsive mistakes.
As Kim Dokja described the requirements for earning that story, Yoo Mia shivered and glared at the screen. "You have to kill him, ahjussi."
Suddenly, Kim Dokja was struck with a thought. If Tentacio had truly gone after the real Yoo Joonghyuk, then Yoo Mia would have absolutely been affected by this story even though the protagonist wouldn't be. Of course, he probably would have tried to end the fight before Tentacio could even activate [Bug Slaughter], but it wasn't a guarantee that he'd have been able to do it if he was too busy protecting his sister to go on the offensive. Kim Dokja wasn't thrilled that his group—including the kids—were affected either, but at least they had more people to watch each other's backs.
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is cackling wildly.]
Just as he expected, Tentacio began to panic. He was reaching with his guesses, of course, and it was honestly a bit amusing. Kim Dokja was nowhere near being a Demon King—he was borrowing a demon-killing fable from Eden, for goodness' sake!
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is furiously glaring at the demon earl 'tentacio'.]
"Ha! Eat shit!" Han Sooyoung cackled as the demon only panicked more at the realization that he was face-to-face with a constellation.
[the constellation 'lily blooming in aquarius' is approving of the choice of the incarnation 'kim dokja'.]
Ah, right, his sword did have the holy attribute. It wasn't one that he used often, but it would be the most useful option against a demon. Of course, it wasn't anything compared to the story or Jung Heewon's stigma, but it would work well enough.
[many constellations are excited.]
Yoo Joonghyuk let out a sigh as Kim Dokja poured tons of coins into his stats, but he didn't say anything. Maybe he was finally beginning to approve of how Kim Dokja did things, after so long. It's not like he couldn't afford it.
While Dokja knows that he can just borrow [Messiah's Path] again, he doesn't need to use it against something like [Bug Slaughter]. There are two reasons for this—one, there is a limit to how many times Dokja can quote the story, and two, he wants to check what his abilities are without the assistance of a story.
As the two clash, Dokja uses his heel to try and injure the demon, but it has barely any effect. Tentacio, now knowing that his story won't have any effect on Dokja, must have used his remaining mana to strengthen his body. They continue to fight, and Dokja gets hit a few times, but thankfully the injuries are rather minor. Realizing that it's quite hard to fight without any skills, Dokja jumps back to create space between them and activates [Miniaturization], quickly followed by [Bookmark] as he chooses Kyrgios' bookmark.
[the constellation 'scribe of heaven' is frowning at the decision of the incarnation 'kim dokja'.]
He didn't want to owe Eden that much, especially not against something of this level. He was already basically immune to Tentacio's main crowd control skill, and the fact that he wasn't affected was completely throwing the demon off his game.
"Dokja-ssi, I understand that you want to test yourself, but please don't take too long. Everyone else is still dealing with the effects of the story," Lee Seolhwa reminded him gently, and Kim Dokja felt a bit scolded.
Thankfully, it seemed that Tentacio had withdrawn the story to reinforce himself, but it would still take everyone a while before they had recovered. By that point, the fight would almost certainly be over.
Lee Jihye punched the air in her excitement as she gave a running commentary of her thoughts as the fight progressed. "Come onnnn! Get him! Yeah, just like that!"
[the constellation 'goryeo's first sword' is entertained by the incarnation 'lee jihye'.]
"Stop being foolish, Kim Dokja," Yoo Joonghyuk said with a frown, narrowing his eyes at Kim Dokja as his future self revealed that he had avoided using any skills on purpose. "The time for testing yourself doesn't have to be now. Focus on efficiency."
Okay, fair, maybe he should have tried to just off this guy before Lee Hyunsung got halfway to being incapacitated.
Finally, his future self activated [Bookmark], going with Kyrgios. At the very least, he was going to try to end this fight in a single strike now.
Just like before, Dokja still gets the notifications saying that the skill's level has been adjusted since Kyrgios' status is higher than his, but he also gets a new one. The new notification tells Dokja that his synchronization with the character has increased due to his increased status, and it allows him to activate [Electrification lvl 11 (+1)].
The suddenness of the size change briefly catches the demon off guard, but he moves to attack the much more bug-sized Dokja. Unfortunately, Tentacio had never tried to crush a bug like Dokja or Kyrgios before, resulting in the demon's head going flying into the air as his body becomes riddled with electricity-filled holes.
The kids cheered as Kim Dokja's body started crackling with blue lightning, and they were all clearly looking forward to an easy victory. Han Sooyoung, on the other hand, was narrowing her eyes at the notifications popping up on the screen.
"Holy fucking shit, how powerful is that tiny guy!?" she muttered in disbelief. "You're a goddamn constellation, but your status is still lower than his!"
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is nodding his head in understanding.]
[many constellations are impressed by the abilities of the returnee 'kyrgios rodgraim'.]
Huh…? Level 11? Kim Dokja's eyes widened in surprise at the number. He wasn't a transcendent himself, but since Kyrgios was… by borrowing his skill, was Kim Dokja essentially able to use a transcended version of [Electrification] that would grow in strength as he got closer and closer to Kyrgios' level?
Oh. Oh. That was going to be dangerous.
[a constellation who likes grasshoppers is immensely pleased to see the insolent demon get defeated by a bug-sized foe.]
[the constellation 'lady of the sleeping brocade' is eternally grateful for the assistance of the incarnation 'kim dokja'.]
"Yes!" Lee Gilyoung hissed as his eyes went wide in ecstatic glee. "You killed him, hyung! That was amazing!"
"Thanks," Kim Dokja said weakly, hoping that his smile wasn't faltering. Lee Gilyoung was breathing hard, his eyes blown wide, and his cheeks were flushed. His grin was wide to a concerning degree, and he looked almost as freaky as he did that first time he met Antinus. Except, in this particular case, the focus of his attention was Kim Dokja himself, and that was unnerving as hell.
Unsure of what else to do, Kim Dokja patted Lee Gilyoung's head hesitantly. The boy blinked, and in an instant, his smile turned bright and childish as he threw himself against Kim Dokja's chest to hug him tightly and mumble into the fabric of his robe. "You're the greatest, hyung."
Okay, fuck, it was kind of terrifying that Lee Gilyoung could just flip a switch like that. He seemed okay now, but Kim Dokja's heart was pounding in his chest from anxiety.
It was fine. He was fine.
He had beaten the demon, no one had died, and Lee Gilyoung was acting like a normal kid again.
Everything was just fine.