The Fifth Scenario (3)

"Done cooking yet?"

I cracked open the lid of the oversized steamer to check on the small spiral crab legs I'd left inside. A deep, vivid red greeted me — the kind of color that would make any crustacean lover lose their mind.

I pulled a pair of thick kitchen mitts from My Room, slipped them on, and hauled the steamer over to where Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung were waiting.

"Hey. Food's up."

"So when are you going to tell me about— huh?"

Han Sooyoung cut herself off mid-sentence at the mention of food and turned to look at me. Her eyes landed on the massive steamer in my hands.

"Oh, damn. That smells amazing. You can actually cook?"

"I'll have you know I've been living on my own for two years."

I set the steamer down beside the Guide Meteorite and lifted the lid. Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung hopped down from the meteorite and crowded in to peer inside.

"Looks perfectly done."

"Whoa… I saw you handing these out to the Wanderers, but up close they're huge."

Both of them stared at the small spiral crab legs — each one the size of a human head — with glittering eyes. I peeled off the mitts, pulled two large plates from My Room, plated a couple of the cooked legs, and handed them over.

"Go ahead and start. I'll go grab Yooseung."

"Okay. Thanks for the meal."

"Crustaceans after all this time… Hell yeah, I'm digging in!"

I watched Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung smile as they took their plates, then opened a door to My Room and stepped inside.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Click.

Inside, Shin Yooseung was sprawled across my bed, snoring softly in a deep sleep. I gently shook her awake.

"Yooseung. Hey, Yooseung?"

"Mmh…"

She scrunched up her face and rolled over. I knew full well she hadn't gotten a proper night's sleep in weeks since the scenarios started, and part of me wanted to just let her keep sleeping. But food first, then rest — that seemed like the better call. I let out a quiet sigh and carefully scooped her up into my arms.

"Our Yooseung's really sleepy, huh? Still, let's get a little food in you before you go back to bed."

"…Okayyy."

She buried her face against my neck with a tiny answer, and I smiled as I carried her back outside.

Out by the meteorite, Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung were already working on their crab legs. Well — more precisely, Kim Dokja was casually cracking the shells open like it was nothing, while Han Sooyoung was grunting and straining just to break through hers.

Spiral crab legs have thick shells like hermit crab claws — you have to smash them open. Yeah, that tracks.

That was why, whenever I handed these out to the Wanderers, I usually cracked the shells for them first. So why hadn't I done the same for Han Sooyoung? Because she was a queen, and I'd figured her Strength stat had to be decent. I genuinely hadn't expected her to struggle this hard.

Anyway — time to feed Yooseung. I pulled a table and two chairs from My Room, set them up, and settled our girl into one of the empty seats.

"……………"

"……………"

Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung, watching this unfold right in front of them, stared at me like I'd lost my mind.

"What?" I tilted my head.

"You… ha… If you had a whole table, why didn't you bring it out earlier?"

Han Sooyoung glared at me, lips working soundlessly for a long moment before the words finally came out in pure disbelief. Kim Dokja nodded along beside her in full agreement.

"You could've just asked. Want chairs now?"

I said it with complete shameless confidence. Both of them looked like they'd forgotten how to speak. I ignored their crumpled, murderous stares, pulled out two more large plates from My Room, fished two more crab legs from the steamer, and set them down.

I gave the shoulder of the half-dozing Shin Yooseung a gentle shake.

"Our Yooseung still really sleepy?"

"Mmh… No, I'm totally awake…"

Anyone looking at her would have known that was a lie. Her eyes were swimming with sleep. I smiled, lifted her portion of crab leg, smashed the shell open, peeled out the meat, and arranged it neatly on her plate.

"Eat up, then get some real rest."

"Yes… Thank you for the meal, Oppa."

"Good girl. Enjoy."

"……………"

"……………"

Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja stared at the two of us like they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Han Sooyoung squinted and started grumbling.

"Seriously, what… Are you actually father and daughter? Why are you babying her like that? Look at her — he's cracking the shells by hand and even clearing away the pieces."

"…That too, but I'm more shocked he even has a side like this."

"Right? Everything he does makes him look like a complete lunatic."

They kept muttering as they finished off their crab legs. A little while later, the meal was done. I was about to carry the yawning Shin Yooseung back into My Room to put her to bed when—

Ding!

"Huh?"

"I never agreed to that… you son of a bitch?"

I scowled at the Bureau's high-handed nonsense. But what was done was done. With a look of pure resignation, I opened the door to My Room.

The moment I stepped outside, Han Sooyoung smirked at me.

"Aww, if it isn't Yooseung's daddy. Did you tuck the little one in okay?"

"I'm her oppa."

"The way you act? That's a dad."

"Guess I need to find her a mom, then. Want the job? For the record, I've also got a candidate for a son named Gilyoung."

"…I can't even joke with you."

"I was joking too."

"For real?"

At the message that she'd fired off Lie Detection, I casually looked away and pretended nothing was happening.

"……………"

"…Hey. You gonna answer or what?"

"…Looks like some Wanderers over there need help. Be right back."

"Ha. Unbelievable."

I could hear Han Sooyoung muttering something behind me, but I ignored it and sprinted off toward the Wanderers calling for assistance.

Han Sooyoung snorted as she watched Park Jinwoo go, then put on a supremely self-satisfied look.

"Ahh, as expected — the popularity of this genius beautiful girl author never cools off."

She snickered, got to her feet, and wandered over to Kim Dokja by the Guide Meteorite.

"Hey."

"You're back?"

"Park Jinwoo cut me off earlier. So when are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"That thing from before."

Kim Dokja realized Han Sooyoung wasn't talking about the meteorite — she meant the Wanderers they'd seen earlier.

"You're still hung up on that?"

"How am I supposed to not be? There are two 'Dropouts' I don't know about, and somehow the two of you are connected?"

Kim Dokja was quiet for a moment, then let out a small sigh.

"I know them. Probably."

"…You said you didn't earlier."

"Not the woman who spoke to us. I mean the leader of that group you mentioned."

"The King of the Wanderers?"

Kim Dokja thought of the masked King of the Wanderers — her own mother — and spoke carefully.

"That person isn't a Dropout. Strictly speaking, she's never even read the original."

"What? Then how does she know the original's contents?"

"I told her myself."

Han Sooyoung blinked, then stared at her in open shock.

"You told someone else about that boring story? Why?"

"I needed something to talk about when I met her."

Kim Dokja lowered her head slightly, her voice going dark.

"…Because that was the only thing I had to say to her."

Pat.

"?"

Kim Dokja flinched at the sudden warmth on top of her head and looked up. A palm rested on her hair. The owner of that hand was Park Jinwoo.

He grinned down at her, then turned a teasing look on Han Sooyoung standing beside her.

"Why's she all droopy like this? Did Sooyoung pick on our Dokja again?"

"When have I ever picked on her?! I'm the one who's been getting wrecked this whole time!"

"Oh yeah? When?"

"I got completely cleaned out at Chungmuro, had the Sainchamsageom and the flag stolen, and even ended up signing a master-servant contract with her!"

"Those first three were entirely your own fault, though…?"

"…A-Anyway! I've been the one taking the hits!"

Even as she said it, Han Sooyoung looked a little guilty and avoided Park Jinwoo's eyes. He gave her a thoroughly unimpressed look.

Kim Dokja turned her gaze up at Park Jinwoo.

"…More importantly, when are you taking this hand off? It's getting heavy."

"Aww, just a little longer."

"…You don't just casually touch a woman's head. Take it off. Now."

"Ehh. Shame."

Park Jinwoo grumbled as he finally lifted his hand from Kim Dokja's hair.

"Oh, right."

Something seemed to occur to him. He looked between Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung.

"Can I ask you two just one thing?"

"Us?"

"What is it?"

They both tilted their heads at him. Park Jinwoo hesitated a beat, then spoke slowly.

"Why do you two call the 'Prophets' 'Dropouts'?"

"……………!?"

"……………!?"

At that single question, the color drained from both Kim Dokja's and Han Sooyoung's faces.

I can practically hear the gears grinding from here.

I watched the two of them roll their eyes around with deeply awkward expressions and snickered inwardly. Normally, this was the kind of question you didn't ask — better for everyone that way. But these two had started calling the Prophets "Dropouts" so casually, whether I was around or not, that I figured it was time to put a little healthy fear into them.

"That's…"

Kim Dokja's lips moved as she shot Han Sooyoung a desperate look. Han Sooyoung stared at me with trembling eyes, then flicked her gaze right back to Kim Dokja. They were clearly trying to shove the problem onto each other.

I sighed.

"Haa… You're lucky it was me who caught you. If it'd been anyone else, you'd be in serious trouble. You get that, right?"

"……………"

"……………"

Both of them lowered their heads and bit their lips. I shrugged and stepped closer, speaking quietly.

"From here on, this is just my speculation. You don't have to answer. Just listen."

I moved up beside Kim Dokja and continued.

"From the moment this whole mess started, there was a ton of stuff that felt off. First, our Dokja here, who knows way too much — plus Lee Seongguk and Jung Minseob, who we ran into before. Then I met more Prophets at Anguk Station, and the suspicion only got worse."

I propped my chin on my hand.

"What exactly is this 'Revelation' they keep talking about? What did they read that makes them call it that? And how do they know about 'Yoo Joonghyuk' when they've never even met her? Just because they read the Revelation? That doesn't hold up — they knew her name but not what she looked like. At Anguk Station, the Prophets went wild the second they saw Yoo Joonghyuk. Why? Just because she shows up in the Revelation?"

Kim Dokja's shoulder gave a tiny jolt. I circled around Han Sooyoung next.

"A question for our book-loving Dokja-nim and our genius beautiful girl author. Ah — no need to answer, of course."

I glanced at their frozen faces.

"Doesn't this plot feel familiar?"

"………?!"

This ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time it was Han Sooyoung's shoulder that jerked. Both of their eyes started shaking like an earthquake had hit.

"Believe it or not, I used to enjoy novels and web novels myself. And this setup? It shows up all the time in novels, web novels, Japanese light novels. Doesn't it?"

I leaned in and whispered to the two of them, who were now breaking out in cold sweat.

"Say, for example — an apocalypse novel. The people who'd been reading it, the 'Prophets' — or rather, the 'Dropouts' — get dropped into that novel's world alongside people who've never even heard of it. And so the Prophets latch onto the protagonist who appears in that novel, Yoo Joonghyuk, trying to use her for all she's worth. Something like that?"

"Hic…!"

At my (supposed) deduction, Han Sooyoung jumped so hard she started hiccupping. I glanced at her, then checked Kim Dokja's face. It was drenched in cold sweat. She looked so tightly wound I let out a long breath.

"…Could you two at least try to look like you're hiding something? Anyone walking by right now would take one look at your faces and know you'd just had some massive secret blown wide open."

Kim Dokja stared at me blankly with a face like stone. Han Sooyoung was still desperately trying to stop hiccupping.

"Here. Water."

I handed her a bottle. She snagged it like she was snatching it out of my hand, cracked the cap, and chugged.

"You— you— you…!"

Once the water was gone and the hiccups finally stopped, Han Sooyoung stared at me in pure horror, stumbling over her words. I snorted at her and at the still-frozen Kim Dokja, then spoke calmly.

"Just so we're clear — I have absolutely zero intention of telling anyone else about this. I swear it on the name my parents gave me. And if that's not enough for you, I'll take an Existence Oath."

"………Can the two of us talk for a second?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

At my permission, Kim Dokja hurriedly grabbed Han Sooyoung's arm and dragged her a short distance away, where they started whispering. I could practically hear the conversation: Can we trust him? Should we make him swear an Existence Oath? Or should we just eliminate the variable?

Actually, I'm a pretty valuable asset. Maybe "eliminate" wouldn't come up?

But how much of that got filtered?

I remembered reading that the filtering started loosening little by little around the Disaster of Floods arc. So for now, I was betting it was still working properly.

And sure enough—

The Constellations' messages more or less confirmed it.

After a long stretch of staring at each other and whispering, Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung seemed to reach some kind of agreement and started walking back toward me. I smiled faintly.

"Talk it out? So what's the verdict? Existence Oath? Or elimination?"

"……………"

"……………"

They looked at me in silence for a moment. Han Sooyoung scratched her head with a small sigh. Kim Dokja fixed her eyes on me and spoke slowly.

"I'll trust you."

"What?"

"I said I'll trust you. That you won't tell anyone."

"………I feel weird saying this, but you really shouldn't go around trusting people so easily, Dokja."

"I'm just trusting the you I've seen up to now."

Kim Dokja looked at me with a small smile at the corner of her mouth. I was the one who ended up flustered. I glanced over at Han Sooyoung beside her. Sensing my gaze, she looked away and muttered under her breath.

"She kept insisting you'd be fine to trust. I was against it the whole time."

"So what were you originally planning to do to me? Eliminate the variable?"

"…No! I just suggested making you swear an Existence Oath!"

I was a little moved, honestly. I never imagined I'd hear the words "I trust you" from either Kim Dokja or Han Sooyoung. Especially Han Sooyoung — we'd barely met in person as our real selves, and she was still willing to trust me. Or maybe she was just trusting Kim Dokja.

Either way, it was touching.

"Thanks for trusting me. Dokja. Sooyoung."

"…If you get it, then start treating us better from now on."

"…If you go blabbing about this anywhere, I won't let it slide."

I beamed at the two of them. Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung both turned their faces away, looking embarrassed.

"…Ahem."

Kim Dokja cleared her throat softly, then pointed at the yellow meteorite beside us and began to speak.

"Well, that settles one thing. From here on, we need to wake this up."

Han Sooyoung's face went blank with shock at the sudden declaration.

"Wake this up? You're saying we should wake a Disaster right now?"

Kim Dokja gestured for us to sit. Han Sooyoung and I exchanged a look, then dropped down onto the ground. Seeing us seated, Kim Dokja sat as well, placed a hand on the meteorite, and continued.

"Starting now, we're going to pour mana into this. By my calculations, about ten hours should be enough for it to hatch. I'll take two hours, Jinwoo takes five, and Han Sooyoung, you take the remaining three."

"Why do I get five hours…?"

"Because right now, you've got the highest Magic Power level here. Be honest. What's your Magic Power level?"

"…Sixty plus three."

"What? Sixty-three?!"

Han Sooyoung yanked on my shoulder, her voice jumping an octave.

"The max you can raise a stat to at this point is sixty! How did you get three more on top of that?!"

"…Do I really have to say?"

"We trusted you, remember? And you're not going to tell us?"

Her airtight logic left me with nothing. I worked my mouth for a second, then closed my eyes and answered honestly.

"You remember the minor disaster Ignir that showed up at Anguk Station? I got its heart in skill form. That thing slapped an extra three onto all my overall stats."

"Ha… You really are a damn silver spoon. Getting something like that in the early scenarios?"

Han Sooyoung looked hollowed out, muttering to herself with a self-deprecating edge. Kim Dokja nodded at me, then turned to Han Sooyoung.

"What about you? Magic Power level?"

"…I'm at fifty-five."

Hearing both our levels, Kim Dokja looked briefly impressed.

"Then we stick to the plan. Me for two hours, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Park Jinwoo for five, and finally Han Sooyoung for three."

"No, no. Hold on a second!"

"Hm? What?"

Kim Dokja tilted her head when I cut in. I scowled.

"We told you ours. You should tell us your Magic Power level too."

"Hear, hear! That's the first sensible thing he's said!"

Han Sooyoung vigorously backed me up from behind. Kim Dokja looked at the two of us for a long moment, then smiled faintly.

"Mine's only twenty-five. Happy?"

"Hey, Sooyoung. Is she telling the truth?"

I twisted around to ask her.

"…Yeah. She's telling the truth."

Having run Lie Detection on Kim Dokja and confirmed it, Han Sooyoung answered gruffly and nodded. Then, out of nowhere, she raised her voice in protest.

"Hey! Three hours is too much for me! My mana's completely drained right now! Just make him do seven!"

"Excuse me?! You're throwing me under the bus?! How could you of all people—!"

"How is this a betrayal?! Just take one for the team! You've got sixty-three Magic Power!!"

As Han Sooyoung and I glared daggers at each other and bickered, Kim Dokja sighed quietly. Then she pulled several Intermediate Mana Recovery Potions out of thin air and handed them to Han Sooyoung.

"Then drink these while you work."

"What are these?"

"Coin shop items."

Han Sooyoung held up one of the Intermediate Mana Recovery Potions.

"…Your Sponsor must be ridiculously generous. You can just hand these out? No, more importantly—"

She whipped her head around and growled at me.

"Why aren't you spending any coins?"

"On what?"

"We already know you can buy stuff from the Dokkaebi Bag. You should be treating us too. You made a killing earlier!"

"Come to think of it… how many coins have you got right now?"

Kim Dokja narrowed her eyes at me. I shrugged.

"Me? A million."

"What……?"

"What……?"

"And it's about to go up."

"What's about to go up?"

Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung both tilted their heads at my cryptic tone. I just smiled and said nothing.

And right then, the system chime rang out.

Ding!

"A system message all of a sudden?"

"What the… hell?"

"Making a million coins is this easy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— I honestly don't get why everyone else is so bad at it."

I smiled kindly at the two of them staring at me in a daze, and teabagged them with everything I had.