[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is hoping for a big fight.]
Kim Dokja rolled his eyes. That dragon never changed. It wasn't the right time for a fight just yet; they'd need to plan and figure out what was going on first. Right now, they didn't have enough information to truly make a difference.
As Heewon grits her teeth at being unable to do anything, an old man walks over and tells her that resistance is futile as it's the law of Paradise. Seeing that the man clearly knows more than she does, she learns from him that the guards are leading the group to the dungeon—a place where it's prohibited to enter unless you're a guard. Sadly, he also informs her that not a single person who has been taken there has ever returned.
Heewon's eyes widen as she whips her head around to look at the young girl still crying for her mother. Though the guards had originally wanted to take her too, her mother had begged for them to spare her, and so she had been left alone on the street to sob. With Hyunsung at her side, the two of them walk over to try and provide some form of comfort. Seeing Heewon, the girl launches herself into the woman's embrace, her sobs never quieting. As they fall to their knees on the street, a thought runs through Heewon's head.
…This is Paradise?
"Fuck the law, seriously," Han Sooyoung scoffed. "Not that I gave a shit about it in the first place, but holy fuck the bar is six feet deep here."
It really was, and unlike most places, everyone was assumed guilty and was never given the opportunity to defend themselves. Unfortunately, everyone in that group of 'criminals' would end up dead despite not having done anything but protest.
[several constellations are feeling suspicious of the dungeon.]
"Only guards can enter…?" Lee Hyunsung muttered with a frown. "They won't even allow people to visit their relatives in jail?"
Oh, Lee Hyunsung, always so optimistic… he had no idea why that wouldn't be allowed, and Kim Dokja hated that he'd have to find out the awful truth sooner or later.
Lee Seolhwa's eyes narrowed worriedly. "And no one has ever returned, either… I don't like the sound of this."
As she shouldn't. It was a horrific human rights violation—not that any laws about that existed anymore, but still.
At the very least, the guards had spared the child after her mother's pleas, but Kim Dokja knew that things wouldn't be easy for her despite that. She was alone in the world now, a child left without someone to protect her. Kim Dokja remembered how that felt, and how utterly lost he had been after she had left.
Still, back then, he had been sent to live with relatives. This girl had no one.
[constellations who like children are feeling deep sorrow for the girl.]
"Oh thank goodness," Jung Heewon sighed in exhausted relief as she saw that she was helping the kid to the best of her ability. It wasn't much, but she was there as a trusted adult to let the girl cry until her tears ran dry. Jung Heewon might not have considered herself all that great with kids, but she was doing the best she could under the circumstances.
Kim Dokja let out a sigh. This was the reality of Paradise, and he had the distinct feeling that this would be her future self's final straw. He had no doubts that she'd soon be trying to uncover Paradise's dark secrets, even though he already knew that she wouldn't like what she would find.
Heewon's gaze turns haunted as the facade she built up about the place crumbles in an instant. As Jihye and the kids walk over, they look determined, like they've just found a new scenario to challenge. When Jihye stops in front of them, she puts a hand on her hip and declares, "I think I know what we should do."
Getting her meaning, Heewon stands with a look of determination, keeping a hand on the girl's shoulder as they discuss whether or not they need more people. Jihye declares that Dokja trusted them with this, since he's probably off working on some bigger plan like usual. Joining her, Gilyoung declares that Dokja must be fighting monsters alone with a serious expression, and that he must have left to protect them. To add to it, their imaginary versions of Dokja appear in the background, looking extremely cool. Everyone agrees—Dokja must be risking his life in a hellish scenario far away right now.
Just as their trust in Dokja is cemented and as they decide that they have to stop relying on him for everything, the scene abruptly changes to an obnoxious yellow sports car speeding across the open plains. In the passenger seat, Sooyoung casually calls it awesome as she snaps open a pair of black shades and puts them on. As she basks in the comfort and luxury, she asks why they didn't do this to begin with. They had spent the last three days clearing hidden scenarios, and Dokja hadn't had to bullshit to hide how he knew the enemies' weaknesses.
"I believe in you, Heewon-ssi," Yoo Sangah declared with a smile. "You'll definitely uncover whatever is happening here."
Jung Heewon nodded with determination. "Yeah, I'll do my best."
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is feeling proud of her incarnation.]
Lee Jihye laughed and Kim Dokja felt a small smile grow on his lips as she grinned widely. "Unnie, you're not gonna do this alone! We're all going to help you."
Sure enough, Lee Jihye and the kids joined up with Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon. Even though they were debating recruiting more people, Kim Dokja had the feeling that they'd fare just fine on their own for now. He did feel a bit awkward when he was brought up because he definitely wasn't available to help.
"Sorry, I'd rather avoid Reinheit, if I can…" Kim Dokja said with a slight laugh. There was no way in hell he was going to let himself get caught off guard and then consumed by Paradise. "I have faith that all of you will do just fine."
"Yeah, don't worry about us, ahjussi!" Lee Jihye exclaimed, and he really hoped that she was right about that.
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' is curious about what the incarnation 'kim dokja' is doing.]
Did everyone really have those kinds of assumptions about him? Well, he did look pretty cool in those thoughts…
"Kim Dokja is probably being a fool again," Yoo Joonghyuk scoffed, which made his sister giggle. Kim Dokja forced a smile onto his face. That didn't hurt at all, nope.
"Says you, sooty bastard," Lee Gilyoung grumbled with a glare in the protagonist's direction. "Hyung is totally doing something super cool right now!"
Kim Dokja really hoped that the kid wouldn't end up disappointed. To be fair, he and Han Sooyoung had been gathering hidden pieces, which meant that was definitely a possibility. The second floor of Dark Castle was absolutely crawling with monsters too, so they were guaranteed to fight some of them at some point.
He wasn't sure how to feel when they decided not to rely on him for everything, though. On one hand, it was a relief—they would get stronger on their own, and they'd get better at making judgments for themselves without having to defer to his opinions. On the other hand, however, he found himself nervous. They wouldn't eventually decide that they didn't need him anymore, right…?
Not even a second later, Kim Dokja blinked at the screen in shock as the scene suddenly changed to something not even he could have predicted.
[many constellations are baffled.]
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' cannot believe his eyes.]
"... What?" Yoo Mia asked as she blinked at the car on the screen. "Ahjussi, where did you even find a car!?"
"Oh, right, there was that hidden scenario…" Kim Dokja muttered to himself. Yoo Joonghyuk had picked up the car in a few rounds, but most of the time he hadn't bothered because it was more trouble than it was worth. However, when combined with an item from another hidden scenario…
"Holy shit, that's fucking awesome!" Han Sooyoung cheered with a boisterous laugh. "I haven't been in a car in so long!"
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is thrilled by the current events.]
Yoo Joonghyuk scowled. "You suck at driving."
"Well, sorry," Kim Dokja muttered. "It's not like I could afford a car before the scenarios, so why the hell would I bother getting a license?"
That was just more time and money than he'd like, plus the fact that he didn't have a car to even take a test with. No, everything he knew about cars was from reading about them and watching them drive past him with jealousy while he trudged to the train station after work in the rain.
Did the protagonist think he could do better? Actually, wait, no… he was the protagonist—Yoo Joonghyuk could probably do donuts in a convertible and his hair would turn out perfectly windswept without even a single strand out of place.
For some reason, though, Yoo Joonghyuk looked more pissed off at the situation as a whole than by Kim Dokja's shitty driving—though that probably contributed. What was the big deal? He had gotten that car fair and square.
The relic that we obtained from clearing a hidden scenario, the 'SSS-Class Ferrarigini'.
As they continue to zip around in the car that also has their other relic—the SSS-Grade Magic Turret—installed on the front and back Sooyoung lets out hoots of joy while Dokja just looks tired. As he drives recklessly, Dokja busies his mind thinking about Joonghyuk and blaming him for enjoying these kinds of luxuries while he was clearing the scenarios. In her excitement, Sooyoung ignores road safety by standing up on the passenger seat as she happily declares that she'll never be a pushover and live selfishly for herself from now on. Unimpressed, Dokja declares that that's not a change for her, she's been doing that all along.
Sitting back down as their car-mounted weapon explodes several monsters around them, she tells him that he should also say something, asking when he'll ever get a chance like this again. Countless flashbacks of his life before the scenarios zip by as he thinks of how he lived before—an overworked and underpaid salaryman who couldn't even afford a used car.
"That's such a cool name!" Shin Yoosung exclaimed. "It's a bit silly, though."
[a constellation who has a lot of coins is laughing in amusement.]
Kim Dokja nearly snickered as he saw that his future self had also picked up that other relic and attached it to the car. Oh, that was awesome. He had theorized about it back when he had first found out about them—Yoo Joonghyuk had picked them up in separate regressions—but Kim Dokja had always wondered what would happen if he combined the car and the magic turrets. Clearly, his hunch had been right because this was amazing.
[the constellation 'god of wine and ecstasy' is greatly entertained by this spectacle.]
"This is insane," Jung Heewon muttered, still sounding baffled. "How do you even come up with things like this, Dokja-ssi?"
"I had way too much time on my hands," Kim Dokja replied, ignoring the fact that he had read TWSA instead of studying for his exams and that was probably the reason why he didn't get into a good university.
Yoo Mia sighed and looked at Kim Dokja in disappointment as her brother's scowl deepened when he was accused of enjoying luxuries during the scenarios. "Ahjussi, my oppa definitely hasn't been doing that."
… Okay, fair, so maybe Yoo Joonghyuk hadn't been slacking off that much. Even though his future self was understandably frustrated about Yoo Joonghyuk's protagonist benefits, the last thing he wanted was another argument.
[the constellation 'queen of the darkest spring' is sighing and shaking her head.]
As soon as Han Sooyoung stood up on the seat, though, Lee Seolhwa instantly looked disappointed. "That's very dangerous, Sooyoung-ssi."
Yoo Sangah nodded nervously. "Seolhwa-ssi is right, and Dokja-ssi even admitted that he doesn't really know how to drive. Please be more careful."
"Ugh, you're no fun," Han Sooyoung sighed. "Fine, okay, whatever."
Kim Dokja doubted that she'd actually bother listening. Now, if Yoo Sangah had pulled out her HR smile, then that might have been a different story. Of course, he also found himself completely unsurprised by what she had decided to yell.
"But ahjumma," Lee Gilyoung said bluntly, "that won't change anything."
As she stared at the kid in offense, Kim Dokja had to hold back his urge to laugh. Lee Gilyoung was absolutely right—Han Sooyoung literally didn't give two shits about anything that didn't benefit her somehow. That wasn't even a critique of her behaviour because it was a classic way of ensuring your own survival. Since she was working alone most of the time, she had to be selfish and prioritize herself over literally everyone else.
[the constellation 'lily blooming in aquarius' is disapproving of selfishness.]
"Yeah, ahjussi," Shin Yoosung urged, tugging on his sleeve, "you should say something too!"
As he thought about what he should say, completely uncertain about what his future self would decide on, Lee Gilyoung tugged on his other sleeve. "And make sure it's cooler than ahjumma's."
Well, that one was a given fact. He had spent so long reading Yoo Joonghyuk's story that he absolutely knew what would be cool. The protagonist was the coolest part of the whole novel, of course.
Doing his best to muster his courage, he opens his lips and lets out a shaky breath before yelling in a timid and cracking voice. "I-I, am the protagonist!"
As his yell echoes across the pains, Sooyoung gives him a bombastic side-eye and Dokja turns bright red from embarrassment. He regrets it immediately, and his state doesn't improve when the constellations also give their input. While Uriel and Sun Wukong are flustered and debating leaving over the cringe, respectively, the worst comes from 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' who absolutely approves of Dokja's level of chunni-ness. Trying to calm himself down, Dokja guesses that based on the original timeline, something must have happened in Paradise by now.
Given the plot of the original novel, my companions will do fine. I'm surprised things have been going so smoothly.
And then his future self completely betrayed him by yelling the lamest thing possible. Fuck, that wasn't what he meant when he thought that the protagonist was the coolest!
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is flabbergasted.]
[many constellations are laughing at the incarnation 'kim dokja'.]
"I can't believe you just said that," Han Sooyoung wheezed, her face going almost purple from how much she was laughing. Even Yoo Sangah and Lee Seolhwa looked amused, and Jung Heewon was covering her mouth to keep herself from laughing.
Kim Dokja wanted to die.
"That's certainly… uh… unique?" Lee Hyunsung managed to say, and Kim Dokja felt his soul wither away a bit more.
This was humiliating. While he couldn't say that it was worse than that whole discussion with Uriel, it was pretty damn close.
Lee Jihye snickered, "Ahjussi, your voice! That was amazing, do it again!"
Fuck no.
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is vehemently agreeing with the incarnation 'lee jihye'.]
Kim Dokja buried his face in his hands. He couldn't even bring himself to look over at Yoo Joonghyuk and see what kind of face the man was making. Knowing him, it was probably one of absolute disappointment, and his sister would only double it.
[the constellation 'maritime war god' is praising the judgment of the incarnation 'kim dokja'.]
At least the Admiral had faith in his ability to track timelines, so that was something, he supposed. Thankfully, or maybe worryingly, the previous embarrassing atmosphere completely dissipated the second that Kim Dokja mentioned Paradise, instead falling into a grim silence.
"We'll get it done, Dokja-ssi," Jung Heewon vowed solemnly.
Yoo Sangah nodded, but she looked hesitant and winced. "Dokja-ssi, I think you may have just unintentionally invoked Murphy's Law there…"
Ah fuck, he did, didn't he? His future self must be really thrown off to do something like remarking how smoothly everything was going. Something terrible was going to happen now, he just knew it.
Dokja is relieved that the scenario will be cleared soon enough, he looks both exhausted and dead inside as Sooyoung keeps staring at him judgmentally. However, just as he lets himself relax, the universe decides to throw a wrench in his plans as a notification blares in his mind and his eyes widen sharply.
[An enormous Fate is hoping for your death.]
… What?
Slamming his foot on the brakes so abruptly that the front of the ferrarigini actually gets air time, Dokja stops the car in a panic to look at the message. Shutting up Sooyoung's attempts at questioning what he's doing, he reads the multiple copies of the message that appear in front of his face.
Three times… the 'Fate message'... appeared three times?
Finally answering Sooyoung, he says, "Someone read my 'Fate'."
"Ahjussi, why do you look so worried now?" Shin Yoosung asked as she glanced between him and Yoo Sangah.
He gritted his teeth and cringed. "Murphy's Law states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. In other words, I might have just set myself up for something bad to happen."
"Huh, is that really true?" Lee Jihye wondered, her eyes going wide. "I know this world used to be a book, but that can't actually happen, right?"
As though the universe was responding to her words, not even a second later, Kim Dokja slammed on the brakes as he received a very strong notification.
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is fretting nervously.]
[constellations who like literature are shaking their heads with a sigh.]
"Oh shit, something bad did happen," Jung Heewon muttered in surprise as Lee Hyunsung gaped next to her.
Reading the message, Kim Dokja let out a loud sigh. That was probably connected to the Fate that Yoo Sangah had seen, but the fact that it appeared three times was worrying. Just how much probability was invested in this thing!?
[the constellation 'queen of the darkest spring' is narrowing her eyes at the 'fate messages'.]
Lee Hyunsung glanced around nervously after composing himself. "This is probably really bad, but at least we know that Dokja-ssi is aware that someone has read his Fate, right?"
That was true, even if his future self didn't know the contents just yet. Still, remembering what they were, and the fact that the message appeared three times… was he going to be forced into loving someone by probability? Wracking his brain, he was pretty sure that there wasn't any kind of monster or scenario within the Dark Castle that could force infatuation upon an incarnation.
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is looking at the incarnation 'kim dokja'.]
As Dokja tries to recall if there was ever a time where a Fate message appeared three times in TWSA, his expression turns grim. There was only one time that he can remember, and it was in the 71st round where the king of hell, Yama, had imposed a Fate on Joonghyuk. Sooyoung takes a moment to digest it, seeming to remember something that could be related. Turning to Dokja, she asks if it's like [Future Sight]. He explains that while [Future Sight] is looking at a possible future, 'Fate' is the power that enforces that possible future on its target through the power of constellations spending a massive amount of probability.
As Dokja gives an explanation of how it works using a car analogy, the childish doodles illustrating it appear on a paper once more. If he steps on the accelerator, then according to [Future Sight], his car will be moving, but he can choose to avoid stepping the accelerator to change that future. However, in the case of Fate, if it declares that he will step on the accelerator, then he will be forced to do so.
As Kim Dokja tried to remember if something like that had ever happened in TWSA, he could feel Yoo Joonghyuk staring at him. Thankfully, his memory came through, even though he couldn't remember the exact contents of that Fate.
"I don't know who that constellation is, but I don't like them," Yoo Mia muttered as she glowered at the screen. Kim Dokja remembered not being particularly happy either; the 71st regression had been going well until that point.
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' is grimacing as he remembers commiserating about the taste of molten copper.]
Huh? What was he even talking about? Whatever, Kim Dokja had better things to worry about than a monkey speaking nonsense.
As his future self began explaining how exactly Fate worked, Kim Dokja held the kids closer. They seemed nervous, especially as he talked about how it could compel someone into doing what the Fate decreed. In other words, Kim Dokja would be killed by the person he loved the most, no matter what. The very probability of the universe would shift to enforce it, especially with three notifications. Judging by that alone, Kim Dokja wouldn't be surprised if several nebulae had actually contributed probability for it.
"So you can't avoid it at all?" Lee Seolhwa murmured, narrowing her eyes. "That's worrying."
It was very unlikely that he'd be able to avoid it, but there was nothing Kim Dokja could do about it for now. Just thinking about it was uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as her intense stare boring into the back of his head. He couldn't tell what she was thinking at all, either.
[a few constellations are thinking that the incarnation 'kim dokja' should not be so arrogant.]
[some constellations are looking forward to a beautiful tragic story.]
As Dokja explains that the only people who could read his fate belong to the large nebulae because of how much probability it costs, a bolt of lightning strikes the ground near the car. As they get out to investigate the strong presence that they can feel approaching them rapidly, Sooyoung asks what the 'Fate' was, only for Dokja to reply that it was about his death.
As Sooyoung panics and prepares to get the hell away from him so she doesn't get caught up in everything, Dokja gets ready to fight the figure who emerges from the smoke, only to stop when he smells the scent of wine coming from them. As the smoke clears, a man looks up at him with glowing golden eyes, and Dokja realizes that he's an incarnation of Dionysus. Speaking through his incarnation, Dionysus states that he has something to tell Dokja.
[the constellation 'bald leader of the peasant's army' is shaking his stick at the large nebulae.]
Yoo Joonghyuk's hatred of constellations was out in full force, apparently, considering the way the man was positively glaring at the screen. He was used to being targeted—or, at least, he would be eventually—but this was the first time that Kim Dokja could recall where one of Yoo Joonghyuk's companions had been singled out by the constellations.
Yoo Sangah bit her lip and looked down at her trembling hands. She had probably already figured that Olympus was likely involved, but that wasn't her fault at all. She wasn't responsible for the actions of the nebula she was contracted to.
"Something's coming?" Lee Hyunsung remarked nervously as they got out of the car. "I don't like the look of that lightning bolt…"
That was probability, so a constellation had to be doing something.
Han Sooyoung clicked her tongue. "If I didn't know what the hell that Fate was, I'd probably be trying to get the fuck away from you too."
Ah, right. Her future self had no idea that he was being targeted specifically to die in a certain way. For all either of them knew in the future, he would die because of being overwhelmed by monsters or some other thing. Honestly, he couldn't blame her for wanting to leave.
Everyone seemed tense as someone came rushing towards them, but Kim Dokja wasn't exactly worried. He wouldn't be dying here to some random person, according to the Fate. Maybe the nebulae were sending an incarnation to intimidate him?
[the constellation 'god of wine and ecstasy' is surprised by this turn of events.]
As the smoke cleared, Kim Dokja wasn't sure how to feel as he processed the scene in front of him. Dionysus had possessed his incarnation…? That guy wasn't exactly on great terms with the rest of Olympus either, so maybe he was actually there to warn Kim Dokja about the Fate.
Well, whatever he had to say would be important regardless. There was no way the god would throw away probability to possess his incarnation like that if this was a message that he could just entrust to someone else to pass it on. Still, Kim Dokja had no faith that it would be anything good.
Sighing, he patted the kids' heads to try and keep them calm as he prepared himself for what would surely be a difficult conversation.