when I failed my entrance exams and ended up at a third-rate college…"
The screen flickered.
A new scene unfolded,quiet, almost mundane. A narrow university bench in a part of campus. The air was filled with the buzz of youthful laughter, students dashing between classes, couples pressed together in spring heat. The world was moving.
And then there was the boy,slouched, hunched like he was trying to fold himself out of view. Phone in hand. Eyes glued to the screen. A world in pixels held his focus with surgical precision.
Not one person passed him a glance.
But now, every pair of eyes in the theater was on him.
Awkward silence,once again,kill him please,he doesn't deserve this torment.
Han Sooyoung let out a bark of laughter loud enough to make Yoosung jump. "You failed your entrance exam? You?!"
Dokja groaned. "Can we skip this part?"
"No no no," she waved dramatically, "I need to savor this. Look at you. You've got that tragic gifted kid aura, like someone who wrote philosophical poetry in high school forums."
Dokja buried his face in his hands. "Why are you like this."
Jung Heewon squinted at the screen. "You read all the time. How did you not get in?"
"Because it wasn't a fantasy novel entrance exam, Heewon-ssi," Dokja muttered through.
"Ah. Then, yeah, you're screwed."
"Unnie," Yoosung whispered urgently. "That's so mean!"
Heewon shrugged. "What? I'm just being honest."
Yoo Sangah, ever gentle, offered a balm. "Everyone walks different roads. University doesn't define worth."
Dokja tilted his head toward her, he could almost feel the radiant glow that was always on sangah brightening.
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is baffled by the absurdity of human merit systems.]
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is nodding with aged wisdom.]
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is very unamused.]
"…when bad luck got me stationed on the front line during my military service…"
The screen shifted.
Dust, heat, and silence filled the frame. Fluorescent lights buzzed weakly in the barracks. The scene was claustrophobic—like the air had been vacuum-sealed in with the sweat and fear.
Kim Dokja—buzz cut sharp, face thinner, eyes too tired for his age—sat hunched over a yellowing computer terminal. His posture was rigid, like he didn't know how to rest anymore. His hands hovered above the keyboard, trembling slightly.
On the monitor: a forum post.
Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse Chapter ---
He clicked.
A faint smile curved his lips. Small. Shy. Like someone saying a prayer without expecting an answer,something small and quiet, like it was meant for no one but the screen.
"…You were on the front line?" Han Sooyoung's voice
"Of course he was," Heewon muttered. "This guy's luck is made of broken mirrors."
Dokja winced. "Why is that the part you're shocked about?"
"no offence buf..You look like you'd get medically discharged for anemia," she shot back. "I'm just saying."
Kim dokja's opened and closed like a fish
"I will have you all know I once carried 60 kilograms uphill during drills"
"Really...?" Sangah pressed.
"actually, wait, no. I think I faked a leg cramp halfway and got dragged back down by the sergeant. Never mind."
Aslan, stretched like a cat, grinning. "Still checks out. You're more brains than brawn, hyung,I bet your mental baggage weights more than you."
Dokja is,to say the east, speechless
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is panicking at the idea of Kim Dokja in active combat.]
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is scoffing. 'He would've crumpled like rice paper.']
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is reminiscing about his own war days.]
Dokja looks up,glaring at the sky while he can hear heewon-ssi and sooyung snikering away in the background.
"Traitors,all of you."
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is extremely still.]
.
He felt it crawl down his spine. A silence between words. A held moment before the world shifts.
he rubbed the back of his neck.
But he glanced toward the screen again, and the young soldier who smiled only at a world no one else could see.
His smile, though small, was genuine..
Yoo Joonghyuk, who had been silent the entire time,as expected, really; stoic silence was practically his brand, spoke at last, voice low and unimpressed.
"That man looked like a gust of wind could take him out."
Dokja froze. Was that… disappointment?
Before he could spiral, Lee Gilyoung turned to glare at Joonghyuk with more venom than a cobra. Shin Yoosung narrowed her eyes like she was preparing to smite him.
Even Lee Jihye looked baffled. "Master isn't wrong though."
Dokja blinked at two little kids,having noticed their very intense staring"Wait—why are you both staring at him? What did he do?"
"He insulted you," Gilyoung said, scandalized.
"He always insults me," Dokja gestured wildly.
"That's true," Sooyoung mumbled around a lemon lollipop. Where she got it, nobody knew.
"That doesn't make it
better hyung!"
There was a pause.
"…and even now, as an unstable contract worker getting transferred from company to company…"
The lights dipped again. Click. Shift.
Dokja sat slouched in a creaking office chair, his back stiff from hours unmoving. On his monitor: half-finished spreadsheets. On his phone: the homepage of Ways of Survival. A blinking notification.
Chapter 3149 scheduled for release at 7 PM.
His thumb hovered. His eyes were glassy.
"Hyung…" Lee Gilyoung's voice cracked. He clutched the hem of Dokja's shirt. "I'll buy you books. All of them! I'll write them myself if I have to!"
There was a fire in the boy's eyes, fierce and trembling.
Dokja looked like he might fold into himself right there.
"Gilyoung-ah…" His throat caught. "That means a lot."
Yoosung flailed beside him. "Me too! Me too pretty ahjussi! I'll make a whole comic universe for you, like, like Marvel! Or—no—like Better than Marvel!"
[The exclusive skill fourth wall is subtly trembling]
Dokja swallowed hard, his throat tight. "Gilyoung-ah… Yoosung-ah… thank you."
Still, he leaned sideway ruffled their hair. "Thank you. Both of you."
[The constellation 'Who's Fond of Children' is smiling like a proud parent.]
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is sobbing into a tiny handkerchief.]
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is offering tissues to everyone in reach.]
[The constellation 'Maritime War God' is silently reflective.]
Back on the screen: office lunch hour. Groups gathered with bento boxes and jokes. Dokja stayed at his desk, untouched, smiling quietly at the glowing notification on his phone.
Chapter 3149. The Final Chapter.
'A grand serial consisting of 3149 episodes. A ten-year-long epic journey that began in my late teens and ended in my adulthood.'
"I can't believe it went on so long with only... one view."
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is staring intently.]
Dokja's entire body tensed,he himself isn't sure why.
The feeling was… wrong. Heavy. Like eyes on the back of his neck. Like a pressure sliding down his spine.
he's sure that it's his imagination.
"...You weren't lying," Sooyoung said. Her voice was uncharacteristically quiet. "The only reader, huh."
'The first chapter had 1200 views. By chapter 10, only 20. Then 12. And now…'
"…Just me."
'I wanted to support the author with a donation… but I could barely afford to make ends meet. So I left comments. I recommended it to everyone I knew, but they all laughed at me…'
"...That does explain why you're so stingy," Heewon muttered.
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' wants to donate coins but cannot.]
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' wants to donate coins but cannot.]
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is audibly growling.]
[Many constellations are thrashing in protest. They wish to sponsor Kim Dokja.]
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' wishes to donate all his coins.]
The room tilted.
Dokja's hands clenched into fists. He looked at the man onscreen him, Who sat surrounded by people yet unnoticed. Who had only one light left in the world and it was fiction.
The camera panned out: lunch breaks. Laughter. The movement of normalcy.
Dokja, at his desk, eyes on the screen. Alone.
The glowing text shimmered:
Today is the day the epilogue of Ways of Survival will be uploaded.
Sooyoung sucked in a breath. "Wait… you hadn't read it?"
"No," Dokja whispered, eyes locked on the screen.
"It was the day the epilogue would be released."
The others dare not question the reader and writer,dokja was glad for that. They probably had no idea what awaits them,what truth is going to be washed upon them and see just how.....different he is from what precieved him as.
"Dokja?" Sangah's voice cuts through his thoughts, suddenly making him turn to stare at her.
"Oh, come to think of it, it's already been a year since we started working at the company," Dokja says all of a sudden, internally cursing that he got so into his thoughts that he forgot she was even there. He really needed to change the topic. "We started around this time last year. Time sure flies by, doesn't it?"
Sangah laughs. "Yeah, we had no idea what we were getting into back then."
"Yeah, it seems like it was only yesterday. I can't believe our contracts are ending soon."
sangahs smile faltered
"Oh, I…"
Right,sangah was promoted full time employee for her diligence.
"Who cares about jobs now anyways." Aslan.
"Jobs are stupid ahjussi." Gilyoung nodded along with Yoosung
Were they trying to cheer him up?
(Why?)
Panicking, Dokja brings up a hand to rub at the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Ah, that's right. Sorry for the late congratulations. I guess I should have learned a foreign language too."
"No, it's fine, Dokja," Sangah replies almost too quickly, "I haven't completed my performance assessment yet, and…"
I don't want to admit it, but Sangah is so cool. If we were characters in a novel, she would definitely be the heroine. It was obvious. I didn't try, but Sangah gave it her all. I read web novels, while Sangah studied, so it was obvious that she would become a full-time employee and I wouldn't.
There was a pause in the theater.
And then, bright red blooming slowly across her cheeks,Yoo Sangah turned to him, startled. "Ah… I never knew Dokja-ssi thought so… highly of me."
He blinked. "Ah. Well. I—I didn't mean it like— I mean, not in a weird way—"
He was already praying for the earth to swallow him whole. A crater. An earthquake. A sudden divine punishment from the heavens, or constillation even bereau would do right now.
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is silent.]
That wasn't comforting. That silence had weight.
Lee Jihye leaned forward, brows furrowed in visible alarm,as she screeched with a high pitched voice "Ahjussi, are you cheating?!"
Dokja whipped around,"wha-what?! On who?! With what?!-"
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' raises her sword in outrage. She does not approve of this companionship!]
[Constillation of Eden are trying and failing to calm constillation"demon like judge of fire']
[The constellation 'Who Likes Harems' is furiously scribbling notes.]
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is hesitant about the route involving Yoo Joonghyuk.]
At that, the kids immediately devolved into a miniature war.
"She's better than the sooty bastard."
"But can she fight monsters while holding a frying pan?!"
"At least she won't yeet him off a bridge—!"
"…HE THREW AHJUSSI OFF A BRIDGE?!"
Kim Dokja barely had time to react before the air shifted beside him.
He didn't even need to look. He felt it.
Yoo Joonghyuk's presence grew heavier, denser. Like gravity decided to localize itself entirely in one man's shoulder. He didn't speak, but his silence had spikes.
Dokja dared to glance over and saw it Joonghyuk's shoulders, tense. His jaw, tight. That particular look in his eyes that usually preceded someone getting roundhouse-kicked through a concrete wall.
And the scary part?
He wasn't even denying it.
"Yoo Joonghyuk..…" Dokja said slowly, trying to test the water,only to be viciously glared at
Han Sooyoung, naturally, was having the time of her life. "You're a real player, Kim Dokja," she said, popping the lollipop out of her mouth with a snap. "Spinning all these routes. Should I start calling you 'main character-nim' now?"
"I am literally begging you all to shut up," Dokja hissed,because apparently he's the only one who here who appreciates joonghyunks self restraint to not kill anyone He looked to Heewon.
But Jung Heewon looked deep in thought. "Actually, it is kind of impressive. You've got the brooding CEO, the cool secretary, the childrens..."
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is conflicted on whether to feel pleased or irritated.]
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is offended no one has considered him a romantic rival.]
[Constillation 'demon like judge of fire' glares at constillation abyssal black flame dragon']
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' demands the protagonist route be purified.]
[The constellation 'Who Likes Harems' is intrested where this is going.]
Dokja buried his face in his hands again.
Above him, constellation chaos reigned. Inside him, dread bloomed. Beside him, Yoo Joonghyuk remained murderously silent.
Suddenly, she speaks up again. "Um, Dokja?"
"Yes?"
"If you want… I could… tell you the name of the app I use…"
"Honesty? This is just pitiful" han sooyung yet with no sympathy what so ever.
If I were in a different genre… if the genre of my life wasn't non-fiction, but fantasy…
The camera turned.
A boy stood across the train aisle.
Bug net. Grasshopper,eyes soleum
... could I have been the protagonist?
That's me! That's me! Hyung, look—it's me!"
Lee Gilyoung practically bounced in his seat, pointing excitedly at the boy onscreen. Small frame, bug net clutched tight, a cage full of grasshoppers held like treasure. His expression was solemn, serious.
"Yea, yea," Shin Yoosung muttered beside him, arms crossed.
Gilyoung whipped toward her, eyes narrowed. "You're just jealous. I was there from the beginning. You didn't even show up until way later!"
Yoosung stiffened.
Just for a second. Barely enough to notice. Her arms folded a little tighter, chin ducked down just a bit. A flicker of something in her eyes,hurt, maybe. Insecurity.
But Dokja saw it.
He always did.
Before the silence could stretch, he reached out without thinking and gently placed a hand on her head. Not too heavy. Just enough to be warm.
Yoosung blinked. Then leaned into the touch like a flower into sunlight.
[The constellation 'Who's Fond of Children' is smiling softly.]
Just for the show. For the constellations. Nothing more.
The train rattles as it surges forward and
"Dokja?"
"It's okay, Sangah." he reassures the other.
I don't know. If one thing was certain…
Resigned, Dokja thought. "It wouldn't matter if you told me the name of the app."
it's that the genre of my life is non-fiction. And in this genre, I'm no protagonist. I'm merely a "reader".
"Quite the wordplay you've got there," Han Sooyoung said.
Dokja groaned. "Please."
"You say that like it's not true," Jung Heewon chimed in, tilting her head. "But you do that a lot, you know. Keep reducing yourself to Just a reader, huh?"
He didn't answer.
"I have to live my own life," he declares, causing Sangah to stare at him for a moment.
Your own life…" she echoed in thought.
Then something shifted. Her posture straightened. Her eyes sparkled. And with a soft gasp of revelation, she beamed.
"You're so inspiring, Dokja."
Confused, he glanced back
"Sorry?"
Sangah clenches her fists and declares: "I should also live my own life!"
Dokja seemed so lost it was almost funny.
"Like you, I'll strive to live my life to the fullest!"
"Hyung," Lee Gilyoung muttered. "Did you accidentally start a slice-of-life subplot?"
Han Sooyoung burst into laughter. "Dokja, your life really is a dating sim."
Sangah ssi just.looked on embarrished
Gosh what was wrong with herself!
Dokja dragged his hands down his face. "You people are insufferable."
Yoo Joonghyuk who'd been quiet this whole time crossed his arms and muttered, "This is nonsense."
"Hmm?" Sooyoung perked up. "Why? Are you jealous?" she grins.
The air dropped ten degrees.
The strange glint was in jihyees eyes again.
Joonghyuk's eyes narrowed like a blade unsheathing.
Dokja coughed violently.
[ The constellation 'Who Likes Harems' has begun live commentary.]
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' disapproves strongly of the harem route.]
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is radiating silent, ambient hostility.]
The quiet buzz of the train was interrupted by the soft ding of a notification.
Dokja blinked down at his phone.
I had no idea back then…
A new message had appeared on the screen. The sender ID:
TLS123.
His thumb hovered. Brain paused.
Then, like a puzzle piece snapping into place—
Wait… isn't that the author of TWSA?
The message was short.
- Thank you.
Dokja stares at it before the identity of the message's sender clicks in his brain. 'Huh? Is this the author of TWSA?'
- Are you the author of TWSA?
The reply came immediately.
- Thanks to you, I was able to finish my story. I also won a prize in a contest.
'What? TWSA was in a contest?'
... what would happen to me next.
[Many constillation are excited for the start of the scenarios]
- Congratulations! But what kind of contest?
- It's not a big contest, so you wouldn't have heard of it.
- Oh, and the series will become paid content soon.
- Starting with the epilogue today, TWSA will become paid content.
- As a token of my gratitude, I would like to send you a special present. Could you tell me your email address?
What was about to happen to this world.
- A present?
Han sooyoung narrowed her eyes.
- After all, I was able to publish my story thanks to you.
'Wow, TWSA won a contest?' Dokja thinks,. 'A present? Is it a gift card? It would be great if it's a $50 gift card.'
"A present?" jihyee muttered aloud.
"That's your first thought?" Heewon asked flatly.
"You're really broke, huh," Sooyoung said, scrutinizing him as if he was pathetic.
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is now attempting to sponsor Dokja 50,000 won in coins.]
[The constellation 'Who's Fond of Children' wants to buy Kim Dokja ten lunches.]
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon': "This is embarrassing."]
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' continues to observe without comment.]
"I was a contract worker!"
Suddenly, a notification pops up on his phone.
[You have one new message.]
'I-it came! The present!' Surprised and excited, Dokja opens the message immediately.
Subject: Thank you for everything
Sender: tls123
Mr. Kim Dokja,
Starting at 7 pm today, TWSA will become paid content. This will help you. I wish you all the best.
He stops reading to think. 'StarWhat's the novel even about ahjussi?" Jihye
"It's about...well....you'll find out soon enough."
Han sooyoung passed a concern glace at kim.dokja tho he missed it
[Exclusive skill fourth wall is shaking.]
The others narrow their eyes
Suddenly, a loud announcement over the loudspeaker cuts through the tense atmosphere.
"Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. P-please, evacuate… evacuate..!"
Now a bit more freaked out, Sangah looks around the train cabin nervously. "Dokja, what's going on?"
As Dokja glances towards the front of their cabin and stands to evacuate with his coworker, red sparks flash in the air, menacing and bright. He shades his eyes with one hand and squints in their direction as a loud message crackles to life, seemingly being broadcast both into the air and directly into their heads.
"The free service of the 1612th planetary system has come to an end. The main scenario will begin now."
It was at that moment that the genre of my life changed.
Notes:Everyone held their breath.
No sound remained but the noise coming of the screen.
No whispers. No banter. Not even Han Sooyoung.
Because everyone knew.
They knew what this scene was. What it meant.
Where it was going.
What truth lay just a frame away.
Kim Dokja felt a tiny hand clutch the fabric of his sleeve.
He didn't look down.
If he looked down,
it might make it real.
But the pressure,Lee Gilyoung's fingers was grounding in a way that hurt more than it soothed.
He ignored it.
For the boy's sake.
Or maybe…
maybe for his own.
Because if he acknowledged it.
if he comforted the child, it meant he saw what was coming too.
He isn't sure he can handle that.
[✶ Many constellations are excited for the start of the scenarios.]
A dozen system messages flooded the air like electric sparks.
Jung Heewon's grimace, Hyunsung's jaw tightening, Sangah's parted lips.
Dokja's hand curled into a fist in his lap.
A tremor ran through his knuckles.
I'll destroy it.
The Star Stream.
The constellations.
The system.
The theater.
No matter what, I'll destroy every single one of you.
And the subway came to a halt.
The interior lights died.
The carriage was plunged into a suffocating quiet dark.
Someone on screenexclaimed, "It's a dokkaebi!"
Such a simple, ridiculous sentence.
No one on that train knew.
But here in this theater, everyone did.
The air was tight with it.
His breath stuck.
'that sentence came randomly in my mind'
'no way,subways stop all the time'
His own voice his inner monologue was betraying him to the room.
The opening lines…
Of that familiar story.
That terrible, precious, beloved, cursed story.
TWSA.
Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse.
A story only he had read to the end.
Until now.
"Huh?"
A quiet sound from someone behind him startled confusion, probably jihyee or Heewon but Dokja couldn't turn around.
He felt exposed. Skinned. Pinned to the seat like a butterfly on display.
They were watching.
He was watching.
Yoo Joonghyuk.
A man who was never supposed to know.
Now would they all realize?
That Kim Dokja wasn't some clever prophet.
Not some cool-headed tactician.
He was just a reader.
A nobody who read too much.
A parasite riding someone else's story.
Maybe… maybe Yoo Joonghyuk would finally have a reason to kill him now.
Wouldn't that be a relief?
"...A dokkaebi?" Sangah's voice sounded from the screen, timid and uncertain.
It really shows how much she's changed now.
Dokja turned to look at her past self.
And the present one, who sat beside him now, also turned to him.
She flashed him a smile.
"Sorry?" his own voice answered, weakly.
Realistically speaking, there was no way this could be true. It was completely impossible, but…
'Two small horns.
A downy creature wearing a straw garment was floating midair.
It was too peculiar to be called a fairy, too malicious to be called an angel, and too innocent looking to be called a devil. So we called it a "dokkaebi."'
It floated into view.
And with it, fiction and reality collided.
The murmur of confusion on screen was almost identical to the present.
Gasps from passengers mirrored the slight intake of breath in the theater.
On both sides, people were watching something they shouldn't be able to believe.
"reality and fiction collided.....?"
[Exclusive skill forth wal is shaking]
He hadn't realized he was breathing too fast.
Han Sooyoung was staring at him.
They both already it was coming yet she was still asking in way of he's gonna reveal it now.
Dokja couldn't answer.
He tried to smile, but it felt like more twitch of his lips.
"You'll find out soon enough," he finally mumbled out.
Yoo Joonghyuk's eyes, sharp as a drawn blade, narrowed a fraction. His silence spoke more than words ever could a quiet threat, a question he would revisit later, with interest.
But for now, he let it go.
"So, Dokja-ssi," sangha-ssi voice cut through the rising tension, "I've been meaning to ask you this. Are you a prophet or not?"
That question...
"Well… I have...intell on the future?" Dokja forced a smile, brittle and strained at the corners. It looked wrong on his face, as if his muscles were rebelling against the gesture.
He wasn't sure why he was still trying to stall,delay it,it was inivitable yet....yet...,
Whoever set this scenario up probably hates me, definitely
Jung Heewon's gaze softened despite herself. She'd never admit it aloud, but watching someone like Kim Dokja someone who never opened up,(it was quite visible too,the man was a mystery itself, sometimes it almost felt as if...as if a wall was between them one which couldn't be crossed,no matter what, ) be exposed like this? It felt wrong. Like peeling back skin to see the raw, bleeding thoughts underneath.
But sometime you need to rip the bandaid off to treat it and see if it's healed or not, sometimes you need to open the cloth you tied on your wound when you found nothing else to stop the bleeding, because the cloth has long since been soaked in blood and maybe...it's doing more harm than good
She just hoped this wasn't breaking him apart piece by piece.
"Well....it'll be revealed soon anyways won't it?" Dokja tried to smile,it came out strained and wrong.
The dokkaebi, meanwhile, hovered midair, trying to speak but every word came out garbled and twisted, a warped mess of static and broken syllables. Confusion rippled through the cramped train cabin like a stone dropped in still water.
No one knew what was going on. No one except me. It was the dokkaebi that appeared in the opening paragraph of TWSA. This creature heralded the tragedy that carried on for thousands of chapters throughout "Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse."
Lee Jihye hummed beside me, eyes bright with intrigue but not nearly enough understanding. Not yet.
Now it was infront of me,floating in the air,having that amused smile on his face like all this was mere entertainment to him.
Maybe it was.
Before the tension could thicken further, Yoo Sangah's calm, reasonable voice cut through.
. "I think it's speaking Spanish. Should I try talking to it?"
"You don't even know what that thing is,"I hissed under my breath, trying and failing to keep the panic out of my voice. "Are you going to ask it to lend you money?"
"W-well, no, but…"
Han Sooyoung snorted from behind me, arms folded and mouth tilted in that usual infuriating smirk. "Let her try. Maybe the dokkaebi needs help setting up a bank account.
[Testing, testing. Can everyone hear me? Gosh, the language patch was malfunctioning for a bit. Can everyone hear me now?] The dokkaebi calls, only to be cut off by passengers who just want the train to get moving again.
Passengers around the train groaned, irritated, some shouting for the train to move already, as if this entire situation was just another public transit delay.
But I knew better.
I am certain. I know exactly how this story goes.
No one in the room spoke,ancipition shining in their eyes,no matter how much they deny it dokja was someone who never opened up and so his thoughts being shown even without the persons consent they wished to see.
His thoughts were out in the open now, whether he wanted them to be or not.
And deep down, even they wanted to know.
Who was Kim Dokja, really?
But I couldn't focus on that.
I couldn't afford to.
Not when it felt so similar to-
[Several constillation are curious what you mean]
[Constillation 'prisoner of the golden headband is scratching his head in confusion']
Messaged flooded in as his thoughts exposed him.
Dokja's mind went back to the days of his childhood,
Cameras shoved in my face as a child. Microphones demanding answers to questions I never wanted to hear.
I knew this feeling.
Being observed.
Stripped bare.
Prodded for entertainment
,asking ridiculous question just for the sake of it,just to get a reaction just to-
[The fourth wall is activating strongly]
[Several constillation are looking on with mirth in their eyes at the starting of the first scenario]
a passenger,some brave, foolish man,stepped forward, demanding the dokkaebi explain itself. The dokkaebi barely even blinked before the man's head exploded like a ruptured fruit, spraying crimson across the metal floor.
Screams erupted.
Blood painted the ground in sickening strokes.
The metallic tang flooded my senses.
[We're not filming a movie. This isn't a dream, or a novel, and it certainly isn't the reality that you are all familiar with! Do you understand!?]
The dokkaebi's voice rang out, chipper and cruel, as bodies hit the floor one after another. It swatted humans aside like bothersome flies, painting the cabin in shades of red and terror.
No one spoke.
Everyone had a some level of solemn expression on their faces as ..this was the moment their life became hell ll,perhaps not the same place but the same scenario.
My thought continued on.
I hated to admit it, but this was real. My doubt and disbelief slowly faded away as I watched the floor quickly become painted in blood.
The sight was not a pretty one okay,different people,and many things have happened since then get he can still see the flinch of people,how hyunsung-ssi flinched and averted his gaze along with jung heewon.
Jihyee,was looking on,dazely perhaps her own first scenario was coming to her? Ah that's going to be.....
[All of you have had quite a cushy life until now, haven't you?] The dokkaebi cackles. [You were able to breathe, eat, excrete, and reproduce without paying the costs! Ha! You've all been enjoying privileged lives! But it's all over now. Nothing is free in life, isn't that right?]
Everyone in the cabin is terrified, but a middle-aged man steps forward and offers the dokkaebi some money. Dokja and Sangah recognize him as Han Myungoh, the manager of the finance team at their workplace. The dokkaebi, however, is unimpressed despite how much money he offers. Without wasting a beat, the stack of won is burned to ashes.
[Ha, there's no time for chitchat. Your debt is piling up as we speak,] the dokkaebi sighs. [I won't bother explaining it to you. It will be faster for you to try and earn the money yourselves.]
The dokkaebi's horns grow, and an announcement pops up declaring that Channel #BI-7623 has opened and that the constellations are now making an entrance. System windows appear in front of everyone in the train that proclaim that the main scenario has arrived.
They're going to know soon...
...It doesn't matter either way.
The ending he wish for...it doesn't effect it so..
[Prove your value]
'kill one or more organism'
Category: main
Difficulty:F
Reward: 300 coins
Penalty: death
The dokkaebi cackles and wishes everyone good luck before grinning darkly.
[I expect to see an interesting story.]
With that, the dokkaebi vanishes, leaving all the passengers to their despair.