Lee Hyunsung's face scrunches up, looking concerned and worried all at once, but it changes quickly to just be firm. He nods his head once resolutely and turns back to the screen. Maybe he has come to a decision.
Kim Dokja shrugs it off, his shoulders hitting his squished in seat mate. He puts a hand on the protagonists face. His hand lands on his cheek and Dokja pushes Yoo Joonghyuk to try and get some more space in the chair. With a glare that turns into a scowl, the bastard grabs his wrist and gathers all of Dokjas limbs to himself before making a vaguely threatening gesture.
[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' encourages you to try again.']
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' takes screenshots]
This brat really needs to go back to his own chair. He grumbles but keeps his hands to himself again. Han Sooyoung snickers beside him and he has to reel in the want to reach over to attack her again. He does not need to know what that threat from earlier meant.
"Is she really an angel?" Heewon teasingly ponders with a flat look. There are a couple of pop up windows that are Uriel defending herself, but they are half hearted at best.
Kim Dokja is forced to rapidly think as the look Joonghyuk is sending him gets increasingly terrifying. 'Okay, gotta make a pivot in my plans. Whatever this [Fourth Wall] is, the fact that it prevents his detection skill means that there's only one route for me to feasibly take here.'
Joonghyuk's thought filter into his head again, the contradicting gruff voice and closed mouth making his head spin.
['I have to kill him here and now.']
"You'll regret killing me." He sends more coins into his strength stat, tentatively letting go of the hand holding onto his throat and begging his throat to not cave in. He places a really limited amount of trust in the durability given to him via the coins.
Making himself unable to talk put him in the perfect place to die right here. he reluctantly puts his hands up in a vague motion of surrender, attempting to placate the asshole holding him by the throat.
"You need a trust worthy ally-" the hand around his throat clenches tight again, but it doesn't affect him like it did earlier. "- You can't clear the 46th scenario on your own."
The scowl from earlier softens in surprise again, the hand relaxing a little. There's a new unease in the protagonists eyes, something cautious that means he's getting through to him.
Joonghyuk's eyes narrow at him, his gaze looking him over with pursed lips. "How do you know that? Are you also a regressor?"
Dokja nearly scoffs at that. If he had been a regressor, Joonghyuk would know damn well that he was. That bastard was perceptive for as little as he actually strategizes. He can get away with brute forcing his way through anything. Dokja can not.
He contemplates his sole option for a split second. This is another 50/50 chance, but it's the best one he's got. The odds could be worse.
"It doesn't matter who I am, not to you and not right now." His words are hurried and he's speaking almost too fast to be intelligible. There is still a knowing smile on his face, a slow provocative curve of his lips. "What's important is that I can be of use to you."
He decides to go all in. If he's going to be working with this bastard to get through this hell, he might as well set expectations here at the start of this. The feral glint to his smile returns, something sharp at the edges and dripping in confidence he shouldn't have. "I know the future that you don't"
He has surprised Joonghyuk again, it seems. The regressor's eyes go wide and her immediately activates the [Lie Detection] skill. It declares that Dokja is telling the truth. The revelation makes the other freeze, a complicated mix of emotions filtering over that face in a way that he can't quite place.
['This can't be... could there be another [Prophet] other than Anna Croft in Korea?']
'The attribute [Prophet].' Dokja muses to himself, thinking about what was said about it in the story. 'A legendary attribute for sure. It's the only attribute in TWSA that allows a character to see into the future, and the only attribute to passively neutralize detection skills. Only Anna Croft possessed the attribute in TWSA. And she had just betrayed Yoo Joonghyuk in his last regression.'
"Well..." Lee Hyunsung starts in a contemplative tone. "Dokja-ssi is technically a prophet."
Dokja's face twists up at that, turning a grimace towards the soldier. "I don't think you know what a prophet actually does. I don't know the future."
"You kind of do." Heewon jumps on the bandwagon, her tone teasing instead. It's on purpose. She's doing this on purpose. He can tell. Dokja sends her a glare and it does nothing.
"Yeah right. He just knows stuff he shouldn't." Sooyoung scoffs, biting down on the candy in her mouth and breaking it. She mimes holding a book with her hands, pointing at the imaginary paper. "It's only because of that shitty novel anyway."
Jihye spins in her chair to look at the writer, her face set in a determined look. "But you can argue that prophets only know anything because of their abilities, ahjumma."
Han Sooyoung scowls at the teenager, about to call her out on her term of address but gets cut off. Again.
"I'm not a prophet. I don't have the skill and I don't have the attribute. Can we please stop talking about this?" Kim Dokja asks exasperatedly, a large sigh heaving out of his chest. This argument is already just so tiring.
"I agree." Sangah concurs with him, nodding her head long as he speaks. Then, a smile crosses her face that looks slightly ominous. "Dokja-ssi would be a prophecy."
There's a reason that smile was ominous. What does that even mean? She doesn't elaborate, but everyone who was originally arguing start to agree one at a time as they think it over. Even Yoo Joonghyuk seems to be considering it.
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' admits that makes sense for incarnation 'Kim Dokja']
No it doesn't! It doesn't make sense at all!
Joonghyuk recovers relatively quickly, not giving him very much time to think. "So you knew I would be here."
['I can use him against her.']
Dokja makes his face neutral and sets it there, observing the facsimile of Enemy Mine trope being enacted right in front of him. 'How interesting. I'm technically making a bad move by associating myself with on of the two people the third round protagonist hates the most, but he has always been pragmatic at heart.'
While he thinks, see through greyed out images of the events of the day overlay the scene on the bridge. The flit in and out of his mind as he tries to make an estimate of everything Yoo Joonghyuk should know about him from this interaction.
'He considers me a [Prophet]. Considering how much of an achievement hunter he is, merely allying me wouldn't be the most efficient. He witnessed me kill off a good amount of humanoid demons. He suspects I killed Kim Namwoon both times. He tested my strength, however unnecessary the punching was. He assumes that- my? -constellation favored me enough to pay for a deus ex machina.'
Kim Dokja looks at the protagonist with a critical eye, observing his actions and thoughts hand in hand. He pieces together a couple of ideas before taking note of the setting. 'We're surrounded by ichthyosaurs- Oh.'
A face splitting grin creeps up on Dokja's face, gleaming eyes looking down on the man standing before him. His smile softens a but the look in his eyes stay the same. 'I know exactly what he'll do. It's exactly what I wanted him to do.'
"Yoo Joonghyuk, I know you have a special ability." He's not lying if he tells half truths. He's not lyin- "You also know what's going to happen in the future, right? ut you also know that the knowledge you have of the future is incomplete."
Dokja grabs his wrist again, this time less for support and more as emphasis, he had raised his strength after all. He looks Joonghyuk in his eyes as he makes a demand. "Make me your companion, and I can complete your knowledge of the future."
It's amazing to watch himself work through problems in real time, satisfying to see the steps of a plan coming together. Dokja smiles, a soft thing that is followed by squinty eyes. The kids look at him, Yoosung and Gilyoung in awe and Mia looking at him with wide curious eyes. The protagonist is stiff for a moment as the screen plays, but he relaxes as it goes.
Han Sooyoung leans over to Sangah, getting an incredulous and suspicious gaze. The writer ignores it as she starts to speak. "That rat is too good at that."
Sangah snorts, quieting her giggles to not alert their subject of discussion. She nods and whispers quietly back, "Dokja-ssi has always been like that. Analytic, if I had to put a word to it."
The writer grimaces, side eyeing the weirdly content reader. Her mouth tugs down and she makes a final comment before leaning away. "I refuse to believe he's that smart with all the dumb shit he's done."
"That's really smart, ahjussi!" Yoosung leans forward and smiles with all of her teeth at Dokja, looking excited. The amount of adoration in her gaze turned his way is criminal. Lee Gilyoung's is two times worse.
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' croons about companionship]
[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' applauds your quick thinking]
"You really read that sooty bastard like the book he is, hyung!" There is a more feral glint to the kids grin, a certain look in his eyes as he looks at the protagonist.
Rudimentarily, Dokja tries his best to scold Gilyoung for his lacking manners with a "Gilyoung-ah..." but he doesn't get that far with it before the protagonist himself looks his way with intense eyes. Very intense eyes. That's very unsettling.
To himself, while they're here and his thoughts are safe from Kim Dokja's skill, Yoo Joonghyuk finds himself amazed at the careful maneuvering the reader does. The insight into his mind is eye opening, a window into seeing just how much thought gets put into every single one of Dokja's actions. And his own. How often does he think about Joonghyuk and his actions, anyway?
['If he is indeed a [Prophet], it would be helpful to bring him along. Not just for the 46th scenario, but also for fighting the Zarathustra. But... can I trust him?']
He looks down as he keeps thinking.
['...a companion.']
"Hey, ahjussi, what is the weird heavy weight you guys keep put behind the word 'companion'?" Lee Jihye enquires, her head tilted and eyes trained on Dokja. Bright blue windows start to rapidly pop up, the notification sound ringing out so much it turns into one noise.
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' says the companionship between incarnation 'Yoo Joonghyuk' incarnation 'Kim Dokja is different than between the rest of the group]
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'...]
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'...]
[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' tears his hair out in exasperation]
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'...]
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'...]
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'...]
[The Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' complains about Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire']
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'...]
[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' asks incarnation 'Kim Dokja' to step in.]
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'...]
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'...]
[Many Constellations demand Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' stop]
"Uriel-" Dokja starts, not even able to catch half of her messages. The sound and windows are making his head spin. He hangs his head and brings his hands up to cradle it. He sighs and just lets the angel do whatever she wants. He's too tired to deal with it at this point.
"Jihye." Joonghyuk turns to the teenager, face stern looking slightly irritated. When the teenager sends him her guiltiest looking face possible, he sighs and softens a little. "Later."Jihye nods rapidly, a smile on her face as she ignores the chaos she has caused. Dokja tries to mute the constellation notifications again, but is once again unsuccessful.
[Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' has been put on a cool down for -1 hour- in channel 'RF-864' for excessive messages.]
Oh thank fuck. Dokja sighs and slumps into a relaxed lump of human being in the seat, relieved that the windows would stop.
[Several Constellations are relieved.]
[50 seconds remaining until the end of the scenario.]
[40 seconds remaining until the end of the scenario.]
Joonghyuk looks up at Dokja with searching eyes, and whatever he finds seems to satisfy his appraising action.
"I've made up my mind," he finally speaks, keeping his gaze on the hanging man. "I will make you my companion."
The lack of reaction from Uriel is odd, and it sort of makes the room seem empty even with all of the people here. He knows she would have been shrieking with delight at that claim alone.
Without waisting another second, Joonghyuk switches the hand he has on Dokja, grabbing him by his collar instead to drag him across the bridge. There's an underlying meaning to find here, with their first obstacle being a bridge they have to work together to cross, and the reader in him seems to preen at the connection.
It's also because he's an avid reader that Dokja knows that his feet won't be touching solid ground for a long time to come. After they cross the bridge he only has a couple of minutes to check in on the others that had crossed before him. They're safely behind the scenario barrier, almost completely out of sight. They won't see what is happening here. The protagonist walks back to the edge of the bridge and dangles him again.
The group are speechless, everyone looking at Yoo Joonghyuk sitting squished into Dokja's chair. He doesn't exactly look happy with himself, but he doesn't look remorseful either.
"Joonghyuk-ssi, was that... was that really necessary?" Yoo Sangah's voice is clipped no matter how hesitant it is. She looks upset, with her lips pursed and her eyebrows drawn tight. She starts to bit at her lower lip, chewing on it as she watches the volatile scene playing out on the big screen.
Lee Jihye joins the bandwagon of concern, her face more open then upset but her voice is tight with worry. "What were you even doing, master? Ahjussi is too fragile for this."
The protagonist seems equally as hesitant to answer as Sangah sounded to question him, eyes averted to just look at the screen. He does answer though. "I was testing him."
"Testing him?" Jung Heewon calls out, baffled, stuttering out a couple of unintelligible things before she takes a deep breath and sighs out loudly. "Why- Why would you test him during such a tight scenario? Couldn't you have done that anywhere else?"
Joonghyuk looks stunned, jaw unclenched and mouth slack to the point his lips are just barely parted, his eyes slightly wider than they usually are. Dokja snorts, finding the situation a little funny. The bastard isn't used to being put to question, not like this at least. Heads turn to him instead with the exact same look.
"Don't get me started with you, Dokja-ssi." An equally stern voice is turned to scolding him instead. It seems it's his turn even though he's the victim in this situation. "You knew this was going to happen!"
The equally guilty and scolded duo ignore the fuming group around them, the screen continues.
"If you really are a [Prophet], then you'll be able to tell your own future, right?"
An ichthyosaur more gigantic than the rest of its kind waits impatiently under him.
"Prophecy." Joonghyuk states coldly, eyes watching the hanging man closely. "Will I let go of you, or will I not?"
"Let me tell you a couple of things first." Dokja's own face hardens, a dramatic change from his more recent easy going attitude throughout this entire interaction. His eyes narrow, the glint from earlier returning, and his mouth is hard set. One side of his upper lips curls a little and the stern expression quickly turns into a snarl. He flashes his teeth at the protagonist.
The protagonist's eyes widen, looking wearily at the reader. He hadn't expected anything from Dokja except for an answer or a plea for his life, had he? The words that bubble out of Joonghyuk are quiet. "What?"
The snarl his mouth had twisted up in quickly turns back into a feral smile. His narrowed eyes turn squinted instead. This was more fun than he thought it would be. Kim Dokja reaches forward and grabs the collar of the protagonists coat, curling his fist into the fabric with an equal amount of strength the bastard is holding onto him with.
"First, I'm not your lackey. You must treat me as your equal."
'I'm not just some ally for you to watch over.'
"Second, just as I will cooperate with you, you must agree to cooperate with me."
'If I had it my way, I would have the two of us swear an [Oath of Existence]. This bastards word means nothing to me right now.'
"I see." Yoo Joonghyuk answers, a different kind of calculating look in his eye. He's considering it at the very least. "So, your answer?"
Kim Dokja grins even more savagely, a crazed look in his eyes as he lets go of his collar. "Just let me go and get lost, you bastard!"
Without wasting a second for anymore conversation or banter, Yoo Joonghyuk releases his grip and Dokja plummets from the bridge to the river below. The most gentle and please smile that Kim Dokja would never had expected from him appears on Joonghyuk's face. He's beautiful -almost serene, even- bathed in the golden glow on the sun, The relaxed expression almost looks out of place on his normally stern face, but at the same time, it looks like it should belong there.
"I believe you," The protagonist calls after him with a light voice and an airy chuckle, "your really are a [Prophet]."
The reader can't believe his eyes, never had imagined to see such a soft look on his protagonist. He can't help but smile in exhilaration at the sight even as he gets swallowed by the massive ichthyosaur.
'Brat.'
Jaws close in front of his face, blocking his view of the amazing view he just had. In the darkness of the monster's mouth, only the ping of a system window remains.
[You have failed to clear the scenario.]
A couple of long suffering sighs echo in the theater from the adults in the room, Jung Heewon being the loudest out of them all. The kids had vastly different reactions, each having their own complaints about the situation.
"You absolutely are that bad-!"
"Master how could you-"
"You sooty bastard! How-"
"That's so mean-"
"-throw ahjussi like that-"
"-dare you do that to hyung-"
"-poor ahjussi didn't even do anything-"
[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' states he was right.]
They kept talking over each other, with Gilyoung looking like he was going to make another bid for attacking the protagonist. Dokja trues to get them to stop, or at least to calm down, when Yoo Mia decided it was her turn to speak.
"Huh." She looks at Dokja with eyes that make it feel like she's trying to dissect him with her gaze alone. When Mia is done slightly freaking him out, she turns to her brother with a slightly disappointed face. Like she was disappointed in her brother. "You really do like that ahjussi, don't you oppa?"
With that public evisceration by the only person who could pass accurate judgement, Joonghyuk's horror is blatant on his criminally good looking face. A betrayal that he had never expected to happen, he muses as he lowers his forehead into one of his hands and rubs at his temples with his thumb and his middle finger.
Chaos erupted from that single comment, even more overlapping voices making it even harder for Dokja to think or even hear what everyone is trying to say. Han Sooyoung is not saying anything, just smiling at him from her chair like the witch she is. She really gets on his nerves.
He does his best to ignore the fact that Joonghyuk hasn't tried to deny the accusation from his sister. There's no way she could be right, no reason for her to be right. The voices around him start to just bleed into background noise as he gets lost in his own thoughts.
Maybe he should get up and find a new seat, he considers it and even tests trying to get up. There's no reason for him to be allowed to share a seat with his protagonist, he hasn't done anything to deserve it. Dokja's eyes have dulled, he doesn't hear the comments around him.
When he attempts to get up, a hand grabs onto his bicep, tugging him down from the little he managed to get up. An arm snakes around him and keeps him there. Turning his head, Dokja makes eye contact with the oddly knowing eyes of Yoo Joonghyuk. What does that bastard think he knows.
"Stay." A lot, apparently. The bastards apparently knowns a lot. Scowling at him, he doesn't get to say anything before the protagonist turns away from him to pay attention to the kids who are complaining. He doesn't get a word in edgewise.
Sooyoung leans over into whatever he has left of his personal space. She whispers to him. "Hornyy~"
Not willing to just take that, he snaps out of his own head to jerk his head forward to headbutt her on her forehead. She yelps, cursing at him as she brings her head to her forehead to soothe the area there. He gives him a stink eye and he sends a grin her way. That's what she gets.
Inside the ichthyosaur, Dokja struggles to continue holding his breath as it submerges. He floats down its throat, willing himself to avoid passing out for as long as possible and to keep holding on. Soon enough, he's deposited into the monster's stomach, alongside large pieves of rubble and assorted corpses from the bridge.
Dokja coughs and retches as he surfaces, looking exhausted already. He pulls his phone out of his pocket, surprisingly not waterlogged, and uses the flashlight feature to survey the scene around him.
"Damn it." Dokja mutters as he wades through the waist-deep water to clamber on top of a large piece of intact concrete. "Ugh, what a psychopath. Companion, my ass. Is this supposed to be some kind of test? Does he want me to prove my worth as a companion to him?"
'I was expecting this, wanting this even, but his motives in this situation are important.'
He collapses on the concrete, sitting there and shedding the suit jacket he had on. He tosses it aside and grabs the end of his tie to stuff it in his button downs breast pocket so it's out of the way. He should probably take it off too, but it's a comfort at this point.
As little of a comfort it could be.
'I do understand why he's doing this, though. He's never made a true companion since he failed his first-ever round.'
The image of Joonghyuk's smile flashes through Dokja's head as he thinks back to that moment. He hums as he rests, wringing some water out of his shirt and pants.