Food bags in hand, Kim Dokja passed by a woman lying in a corner.
"Help… help me."
She wore a gas mask and her side was bandaged. However, the toxic condition was quite superficial. Her state could be considered quite good for someone exposed to all this poison.
"Are you okay? Can you stand?"
"Uhhhh…"
Jung Heewon, who had run into a few troubles on the way back and ended up collapsing due to exhaustion, was carried by Kim Dokja.
Kim Dokja ran to Geumho Station and put the woman down on the floor.
[You have entered the safety zone.]
"Put this in your mouth."
Taking off Jung Heewon's mask, he replaced it with the monkey's lungs.
Soon after, he picked up the collapsed woman and the convenience store bags once more, wandering the underground passage in search of the group.
Fortunately, the woman was still conscious and gave him directions.
They didn't encounter anybody on the way.
Once he arrived, familiar faces ran over.
"Oh my god. Dokja-ssi! Dokja-ssi!"
"Yoo Sangah-ssi."
"I'm glad. Really, I'm really glad!"
Reuniting with Yoo Sangah, Lee Gilyoung and Lee Hyunsung, Kim Dokja asked, "That reminds me, there is one more person."
Yoo Sangah's expression turned awkward.
"Ah, the department head."
Something in her tone made him feel strange.
Mirroring her awkwardness, Lee Hyunsung replied, "He isn't here."
Why? Kim Dokja became confused.
At that moment, Yoo Sangah met Kim Dokja's gaze.
"A lot has happened."
Then, Kim Dokja belatedly noticed an unknown person by their side.
A man with an intimidating presence approached them and addressed Yoo Sangah.
"I have finished patrolling the area."
Yoo Sangah smiled, "Thank you, Gehrman-ssi."
Gehrman? Was there such an extra in Ways of Survival?
By the man's side, Kim Dokja saw a child shyly looking up at him.
"Oh, I should introduce you. Dokja-ssi, this is Gehrman-ssi, and this is Shin Yoosoung."
While Yoo Sangah introduced them, Kim Dokja peeked at their attributes window.
[This person isn't registered in Character List.]
Gehrman didn't work.
Then…
[Private Attribute: Beast Tamer (Rare), Reflexive Killer (General)]
Taming, Diverse Communication, Agile Feet, Hybridization…
Kim Dokja's eyes widened.
「Short brown hair without bangs and red eyes.」
It wasn't merely a child with the same name.
"…Dokja-ssi?"
「The one who would become the Disaster of Floods.」
How could 'that' Shin Yoosoung be here?
"Dokja-ssi, are you alright?"
This wasn't supposed to happen.
***
For around half a day, Kim Dokja focused on grasping the situation of Geumho Station.
"Gehrman-ssi threw out the mainstream group."
Yoo Joonghyuk had apparently stayed for three days and hunted food alone for the station before leaving. Then, the mainstream group, whose presence had been overshadowed by Yoo Joonghyuk, started to take control.
"Although Gehrman-ssi was also part of the mainstream group, he opposed their leader."
Lee Hyunsung could still remember Gehrman's cold stare as he said 'if you're offering your coins so willingly, I should take it'.
Lee Gilyoung nodded and supplemented, "Holes suddenly appeared in the heads of the men who didn't listen to him and they were forced to back down."
The insect-lover found it scary but cool.
Gehrman had fired air bullets in the heads of the ones rushing toward him and Cheon Inho surrendered. The mainstream group was thus disbanded and Cheon Inho had left with his men.
To his surprise, despite the whole station being scared of him, Yoo Sangah got along well with Gehrman and helped him take care of the people in the station.
Maybe it was because, although she didn't agree with murder, she understood that the ones killed by Gehrman were only the people who had done inhumane things to the marginalized group, or because she knew that Gehrman's actions had ultimately helped everyone.
However, Lee Hyunsung still shuddered a little when he thought of the scene that day. Gehrman's chilling smile after killing them as he said 'Praise the Fool'…
"So, Han Myungoh was thrown out along with the mainstream group?"
Snapped out of his thoughts, Lee Hyunsung nodded.
Kim Dokja was thoughtful.
'This never happened in Ways of Survival.'
At this point, it was beyond a simple butterfly effect that his interference could have caused. What there another variable at play here?
"Well… Gehrman-ssi didn't really throw him out, he was just… a little 'intimidated' by Gehrman-ssi…"
"That ahjussi was making a fuss so Gehrman threatened to 'shoot that ahjussi's head like the guys before if he continued being so loud'. That ahjussi got scared and ran away."
Thank you for the explanation, Gilyoung.
Lee Hyunsung scratched his head.
But, shooting? Was Gehrman carrying a gun, or was it a skill?
Hearing a cute sound from somewhere, Kim Dokja looked back and saw Yoo Sangah and Lee Gilyoung looking up at him. Their faces were like baby birds waiting for the mother bird, making him laugh.
"That reminds me, it is already evening. Aren't you hungry? Take this one by one."
***
On the side, Gehrman tried his best to keep a straight face as weird messages appeared in front of him.
[A constellation that likes to change genders finds you hot.]
[A constellation that loves romance says that they like this scary type of men.]
[A constellation that likes to change genders agrees.]
Ignoring the sky, he could only lampoon in his head.
[The constellation, 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon', approves of you.]
…Why were only this kind of constellations around him?
Out of the corner of his eye, Shin Yoosoung had fallen asleep.
[Some constellations who like found family tropes enjoy this situation.]
Since he was unable to access the gray fog, dying in this apocalypse would be dangerous. It wasn't guaranteed that he would be able to resurrect again. Moreover, he had to find a way to return to his world… The Tarot Club was probably waiting for him.
It was ironic.
How hard he had tried to return to Earth until now… Yet now that he was back, there was an apocalypse, and he was trying to leave it again.
Did his family exist here? Were they still alive? Gehrman, no, Klein's thoughts wandered.
Further away, he could see the man from Yoo Sangah's group who had arrived today. He was currently selling the food he had brought with him to the survivors for coins.
'He somehow looks like a scammer…'
Of course, not giving away precious resources for free was the right answer. In an apocalypse, ordinary people had to find ways to survive and couldn't afford to selflessly give all they had to others. That was also the reason why he had agreed to cooperate with Cheon Inho's group at the beginning.
After managing to sleep for a few hours, Gehrman got up and patrolled Geumho Station's underground passages, checking that no shutter were open or broken—since that would mean monsters would be able to enter.
Then, he started to help Yoo Sangah ration the food brought back to the surface by people who had volunteered to do so—of course, as they risked their lives, the volunteers in question would receive more rations as a reward. After all, although Cheon Inho's group had done some evil things, his rules still had some merits.
In the first place, he couldn't have been recognized as the station's leader if he had been tyrannic. He only did bad things out of people's sight—like killing people above the surface.
"Can I help as well?"
The woman saved by Kim Dokja seemed to have mostly recovered and also offered her assistance.
"Should you really move around? You should rest a bit more." Yoo Sangah looked at her wound with concern.
Jung Heewon also glanced at the injury.
"It's fine. Thanks to someone, I treated it in time so it didn't get infected. It should heal soon. Also, I don't want to feel useless."
Yoo Sangah nodded, empathizing.
However, it was clear that the wound still made her uncomfortable.
Gehrman approached and reached out toward it, startling Jung Heewon.
Then, he swiped the wound and moved it to her arm.
"What are you…"
Jung Heewon noticed that the wound on her side had disappeared. Instead, her non-dominant arm hurt.
"It would be a hindrance if the injury gets in the way of your movements."
After saying this, Gehrman went back to his task.
Jung Heewon examined her arm. The wound wasn't located in any vital area and seemed less serious than before. At this rate, it would take even less time to recover than before.
"That's a useful ability. You're nicer than I thought."
Keeping Gehrman Sparrow's settings, Klein didn't answer.
"By the way, isn't Gehrman Sparrow a fake name?"
Yoo Sangah, who didn't play video games, didn't understand Jung Heewon's words.
"What do you mean?"
Not having anything to answer to that, Klein chose silence.
Right, this was Earth. It seemed that the same references existed here.
'…I made a mistake.'
It was too late to regret choosing Gehrman Sparrow as his name here.
Fortunately for him, Yoo Sangah unknowingly helped him by changing the subject.
"But, Heewon-ssi, are you alright? You…"
Yoo Sangah was concerned about the other woman's mental health. She must have noticed that the injury wasn't caused by a monster.
Seemingly understanding Yoo Sangah's gaze, Jung Heewon reassured her.
"It's fine. The ones who did this are already dead anyway."
Although it wasn't by her hand, revenge had already been taken.
"Ah."
The three didn't say a word after this.
Then, a yawning Shin Yoosoung interrupted the silence. Rubbing her eyes, she approached them.
"Can I help too?"
Lee Gilyoung was staying with Kim Dokja, who had finished selling his rations, and Lee Hyunsung was surrounded by women admiring him.
Escaping them, the former soldier ran to Yoo Sangah.
"Is there any way I can help?"
At this point, Yoo Sangah was practically acting as the station's vice representative—with Gehrman being their representative due to having thrown out their previous leader (Cheon Inho) and everyone being too scared to face him.
Everything was relatively peaceful.
Too peaceful for an apocalypse.
Kwajijijik!
That was when it happened.
[H-How are you all doing? Haven't you been free for a while?]
The air split apart, revealing a dokkaebi. People screamed once they noticed the creature's presence.
"A-Aaaagh!"
Unlike the pure white fur of Bihyung, this dokkaebi had black fur.
[M-My friend who was originally in charge of this channel is undergoing disciplinary action… S-So, I am responsible for this scenario.]
Klein silently looked up at the dokkaebi, frowning.
[T-Then everyone. D-Don't you look very peaceful? T-That Bihyung, he pretended to be pretentious only to set this level of scenario difficulty…]
"W-What are you saying? Tell us what you want!"
[H-Hik. Don't be angry, everyone. A-Anyway, I came for you guys…]
"For us?"
"T-Then give us food!"
[F-Food? Aha… if you want food…]
After his words ended, the dokkaebi moved his hand.
[A scenario penalty has been added.]
[From now on, food stockpiling is limited.]
[All existing stockpiled food has disappeared.]
"U-Uhh! What?"
[He, hehe. Then everyone. You can't. Y-You have to think about how to break the scenario.]
The canned food, biscuits, calorie bars, etc. The emergency food gathered by the people were destroyed with one gesture from the dokkaebi. The people's expressions became grim when they saw the food disappearing.
[Y-You want to eat? In any case, Earth trash…]
His tone suddenly changed.
Out of the corner of his eye, Klein saw Kim Dokja's face. His calmness felt almost unnatural amidst other people's confusion.
'Did they say his name was Kim Dokja?'
For a brief moment, their gazes met before Kim Dokja quickly looked away.
"Thankfully, I listened to Dokja-ssi and finished what I had on me…"
Yoo Sangah's murmur caught his attention.
What if that wasn't a coincidence?
His spiritual intuition told him so.
'Does he know something?'
For the first time after following his divinations and being guided to Geuhmo Station, Klein found a clue.
[A scenario penalty has been added.]
[The 'survival cost' clause has been added.]
[From now on, 100 coins will be deducted every night for the 'survival cost'. If you can't pay the 'survival cost', you will die.]
[The 'survival cost' penalty will be maintained until the second main scenario is cleared.]
Kim Dokja laughed.