The Reader's Fight (5)

Skip.

This was no time to be reading message logs. I swept aside the system messages crowding my vision and looked up at the night sky above.

Or rather, I looked up at Dokgak floating listlessly in midair with the face of a gambler who had lost everything — and I beamed a sunny smile at him.

I still had a mountain of things to extract from that bastard. Him looking that defeated already was a problem.

Using the dokkaebi communication line Dokgak still had open on me, I spoke to him.

【……………?!】

At my words, a spark of light returned to Dokgak's bleak eyes. He whipped his head around and looked down at me.

He stared at me with murder in his gaze and asked,

Dokgak looked down at me with a puzzled expression.

Snap!

Dokgak flicked his fingers, and a small portal bloomed open in front of me. My companions all stared at it in shock.

"What is this…? A portal, all of a sudden?"

I heard Kim Dokja muttering behind me, then turned and walked over to Han Sooyoung.

"Hey. After Dokja and I go through that portal, read the writing on this paper out loud to the Constellations and the dokkaebis."

"What? Hey, what the hell is this even—"

"I'm counting on you, Sooyoung!"

"Hey! Hey! Park Jinwoo!"

Han Sooyoung kept shouting my name from behind me, but I ignored her, grabbed the arm of Kim Dokja — who was standing with her head bowed in thought — and pulled her along as I called out,

"Dokja! Let's go finish this war!"

"W-what? W-wait—!"

I ignored the flustered protests of Kim Dokja and stepped into the portal.

Whoosh!

The moment we passed through, the scenery before our eyes began to shift.

"Ooh… pretty atmospheric room, huh?"

Dokgak's dokkaebi hat was a chamber that evoked a high-end Japanese inn. Tatami mats covered the floor, the furniture was traditional, and one alcove was stocked with every kind of liquor imaginable.

Japanese sake, Western beer, wine, champagne… wait, is that Korean cheongju too?

I was still looking around Dokgak's room when Kim Dokja's voice came from behind me.

"Hey, Park Jinwoo. What the hell are you doing without even explaining—"

Her grumbling cut off mid-sentence. Curious, I turned around and found Kim Dokja staring somewhere with a dazed expression.

No — more precisely, she was looking at something with a face full of awe. Wondering what it was, I turned my head in the same direction.

And then I, too, went blank-faced at the vista before us.

Beyond the endless darkness of space, stars shone with brilliant light. That sight — that landscape — was truly beautiful.

A breathtaking panorama, as if jewels (stars) nestled in a jewelry box called the universe were all glittering at once.

Every one of those countless stars lighting up the cosmos was a Constellation's constellation.

Damn, that's gorgeous.

I would have loved to sit there and drink while admiring the view. But this was not the time.

Right now, I need to end this war — this political war.

I wandered Dokgak's room, scooping up the bottles from the alcove, and spoke toward the small furry creatures behind me — specifically, the red one.

"I'm taking these. No complaints?"

【Do as you please….】

Dokgak hung limp, wearing the face of a creature that had achieved total spiritual liberation from sheer exhaustion. I sneered at him.

I was not so soft-hearted as to feel pity for the bastard who had started this political fight with a sucker punch.

Then messages started pouring in from Bihyung and Kim Dokja.

Bihyung and Kim Dokja both shot me looks that said what the hell are you talking about. But I couldn't explain it to them just yet.

Having collected every bottle lined up in the alcove, I sat down cross-legged on the tatami and opened my mouth.

"Dokgak. You want to live?"

I ignored the Constellations' indirect messages floating before my eyes and stared at Dokgak.

"I asked if you want to live, you son of a bitch. Last time. Do you want to live?"

【Yes… I want to live.】

I lowered my eyes, stepped up to the murmuring Dokgak, and patted his soft cheek with my palm as I whispered,

"Look at that. The big-shot dokkaebi who used to act so high and mighty gets real obedient the second his channel and reputation are about to get fucked, huh?"

Pat. Pat.

【……………….】

Dokgak's eyebrows twitched and his face tried to crumple as I slapped his cheek, but he forced the muscles to hold a sullen expression.

I looked down at him and sneered.

"But for free?"

【…Excuse me?】

"Ahh… if I just received a little sweet coin from a certain dokkaebi, my thinking might change a bit…."

I pressed my index finger and thumb together into the shape of money and whispered,

"If you give me and Dokja three hundred thousand coins each, I'll talk down our furious Constellation friends for you. That's my first condition. Sound good? Hmm? Our Dokgak. You're loaded, right?"

At my proposal, Dokgak's eyes lit up faintly. He stared at me and muttered in a trembling voice,

【Y-you really mean that three hundred thousand coins will persuade the Constellations who are so furious?】

"Of course! Obviously."

The old Dokgak would never have taken a deal like this. But after the political maneuvering and gaslighting I had put him through — after cornering him so thoroughly that no escape route remained — his mind was in tatters. He was backed into a dead end where rational thought was no longer possible.

Dokgak didn't even pretend to deliberate. He flicked his fingers and sponsored coins to me and Kim Dokja.

Snap!

"Whew~♪ Nice clean deal. Thanks, buddy Dokgak."

Smiling, I opened dokkaebi communication with Bihyung and Kim Dokja.

Having said everything I needed to Bihyung and Kim Dokja, I turned a bright smile on Dokgak and spoke.

"Alright. Second and final deal, Dokgak. Link your channel to Kim Dokja here."

【That would create a dual connection…?】

"Ah, you son of a bitch. So you're saying no?"

【N-no, not at all…. I'll do it immediately….】

Snap!

Fwoosh!

Dokgak flicked his fingers, and an opaque blue light rippled beneath Kim Dokja. She flinched for a moment, then quickly composed her expression, closed her eyes, and began speaking in a calm tone.

"Constellations of the Tokyo Dome — can you hear me?"

"Some of you may already have heard my story. I am Kim Dokja — the one who destroyed the Absolute Throne, the King of a World Without Kings. I am also a companion of Park Jinwoo, the 'new Constellation of the Seoul Dome' standing beside me, and the leader of the party he belongs to."

"For the record, I have no Sponsor… well. Anyway. Looking forward to working with you."

Watching Kim Dokja stumble awkwardly through her speech, I opened dokkaebi communication with Bihyung.

Kim Dokja glared at Bihyung and me once, then quickly composed her face and continued.

"That said — to commemorate connecting to this channel, I'd like to hold a small event."

【……?】

Even Dokgak looked at Kim Dokja with interest. He had no idea that what was coming would be a disaster that would swallow him whole.

"Call it a Korea-Japan joint event, if you like…. Anyone curious, please connect to channel #BI-7623 right now. Early arrivals will be entered into a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠coin raffle, and you can also receive something special that Park Jinwoo has prepared. So please make sure to—"

【W-what on earth do you think you're doing?!】

Click.

"Ah. Connection cut."

Perhaps he was finally coming to his senses. Dokgak hastily severed the link between Kim Dokja and his channel, then glared at us with a twisted face.

【What is the meaning of this! Park Jinwoo. You clearly said that if I accepted the deal, you would spare me. What is this behavior?!】

"Huh? I'm literally posting a defense thread about you in the chat room right now? What happened?"

I gave the shouting Dokgak a bored look and showed him the Constellation chat room I was currently writing in.

Watching countless Constellations all spamming nothing but "Nay" and "Yea," Dokgak stared at me with panicked eyes.

I shrugged at his gaze.

"See? I was defending you."

Then red stars began to glitter above Dokgak's head. Those glittering stars were all the Constellations that had been on his channel.

A moment later the red stars above Dokgak vanished, and golden stars began to sparkle above Bihyung's head.

The Constellations from Dokgak's channel were migrating over to Bihyung's.

I smiled at the sight and turned my eyes back to the Constellation chat room.

"…………This is a goddamn mess."

I had no desire to show this chat room to anyone else. Their illusions about Constellations would shatter so thoroughly they'd end up hating them.

"They're just actual streamers, for fuck's sake."

Apparently they noticed I was watching the chat, because the Constellations' messages started to change.

"………Haa."

This was genuinely unhinged. Five minutes from total chaos… no, it already was total chaos.

I tore my eyes away from the disaster of a chat room and looked at Kim Dokja, who was hard at work promoting the channel.

"Quite a few of you have come. Thank you. You're here for the event, right?"

"……………."

The indirect messages I usually received had been the refined version, huh?

I narrowed my eyes and shot the Constellations' sponsorship messages a thoroughly disillusioned look.

Kim Dokja waved her hands at the clearly excited Constellations' indirect messages, trying to calm them down.

"Whoa, whoa. Don't rush me. We'll do it in a bit. But think about it. Is pocketing a coin or two really that important? If you don't have an Incarnation in the first place, you don't even have anywhere to spend coins, do you?"

Kim Dokja stretched both hands toward the ceiling and continued.

"In case some of you missed it earlier, let me say it again. I am Kim Dokja — an Incarnation with no Sponsor."

She smiled brightly as she spoke.

"I won the War of Kings, and before the disasters could even begin, my companion and I stopped two of them. Search the whole world and you won't find many Incarnations stronger than me. Among Incarnations without a Sponsor, other than my companion, there are none at all."

Kim Dokja lowered her hands and covered her face with one of them.

"But… this is starting to get exhausting."

【W-wait! Stop!】

Kim Dokja sneered at Dokgak as he tried to stop her, then opened her mouth again.

"The Seoul Dome is currently standing before the fifth scenario. Smart as you all are, you know exactly what that means. That's right. Soon you'll get the second Sponsor Selection event you all love so much."

The awkward gestures and expressions from earlier had vanished completely. Kim Dokja was working her tongue for all it was worth.

She looked every bit the con artist.

"So, to commemorate, I'd like to run a little surprise event of my own. If, by the day of Sponsor Selection, the subscriber count of this channel surpasses ten thousand…."

"I will take one of the Constellations of this channel as my partner."

【W-wait!!】

Kim Dokja glanced at the frantic Dokgak and smiled. Constellation channel messages swarmed around her in response.

"Anyone is fine. I will be waiting for you here. Ten thousand. You remember that, right?"

Right now, a considerable number of Constellations in Bihyung's chat room were all saying the same thing.

And that was the cleaned-up version. Looking at the actual chat, most of them were complete lunatics.

Then Dokgak clutched his head with both hands and let out a scream of pure rage.

【UAAAAAAAAAH!!】

Rumble!

Along with Dokgak's scream, a massive red bolt of lightning cracked through his hat. With the face of someone who had made a terrible resolution, Dokgak glared at me and Kim Dokja.

【Incarnation Kim Dokja, Park Jinwoo. The two of you will die here.】

Kim Dokja looked up at him with tense eyes.

"A lot of Constellations are watching this right now. Not afraid of the fallout, are you? Especially Park Jinwoo here — he just became a Constellation."

【I have nothing left to lose. Because of you, my channel is on the brink of collapse. So if I take you with me and die myself, there will be no problem at all.】

Crackle!

"Idiot."

I stepped in front of Kim Dokja and pointed behind Dokgak with my index finger.

"Look behind you."

【You think I would fall for something like th—】

【Hey. Japanese dokkaebi.】

Bihyung's body was vastly larger than before — roughly four or five times his previous size.

He looked down at Dokgak with murder in his eyes. Dokgak flinched, panic written all over his face.

【B-Bihyung! What did you just call me?! I am Dokgak, master of the Japanese Dome! A mere low-grade dokkaebi dares talk back to me?!】

【Low-grade? You just had a lot of subscribers. You're low-grade too.】

【I deliberately chose not to promote—!!】

I walked up behind Dokgak and smashed a liquor bottle over his head.

Crash!!

【Guh…!!】

"This motherfucker is so goddamn loud."

I grabbed Dokgak's reeling body out of the air and shouted at Bihyung.

"Hey, treat him like a punching bag and beat the shit out of him! Until he passes out!"

【Alright. Hold him steady.】

Crack. Crack.

Bihyung loosened his hands and approached Dokgak. Dokgak stammered in terror,

【U-uuuh, if you do this, it won't be good for either of us…!】

Bihyung smiled at Dokgak's words. But contrary to that smile, the veins on his face stood out.

Then his eyes blazed red, and he threw a fist at Dokgak.

【Like I give a damn! You bastard!!】

BOOM!

【Guhk?!】

Fortunately, Bihyung seemed to be holding back. Dokgak could still take it. I beamed and shouted,

"Yes, you son of a bitch! Hit him more! Just turn him into absolute pulp!"

【Oh!】

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

【Guhk! Graaagh! Uuurgh! S-spare me…!!】

After several minutes of continuous fist massage, Dokgak's head drooped. He seemed to have lost consciousness. I shook his body a few times, but he didn't come to.

Thud.

I let go of the body I'd been holding and walked over to Bihyung. He drifted slowly toward me as well.

The two of us faced each other, smiled, and high-fived.

Slap!

"Damn, nice punching power."

【Thanks to you, ten years of pent-up frustration just cleared right out. Appreciate it.】

Kim Dokja, who had been quietly watching from the side, muttered under her breath,

"…Is this okay?"

Hearing that, I walked over to her.

"It's fine. We won't be seeing that bastard's face for a while."

"What?"

I picked up Dokgak's body and rolled my eyes toward the Constellation chat room.

"Hey, let's go outside. A VIP has arrived."

"【What?】"

"Hurry. We're gonna be late."

【A-alright.】

At my urging, Bihyung reluctantly generated a portal leading outside. Kim Dokja and I stepped through it.

Returning through the portal to where we had been, I lifted my gaze to the sky above.

There stood a dokkaebi with his back to a massive blue portal.

Taller than both low-grade and mid-grade dokkaebis, dressed in a suit, with a mature beard and horns.

He was the branch manager of the Seoul branch of the Dokkaebi Management Bureau — the high-grade dokkaebi, Baram.

【Is that the one? The Japanese Dome dokkaebi who dared hurl every manner of curse and insult at the Constellations, and slandered them behind their backs?】

"Yes, sir. This is definitely him. Just now he declared he would kill me — a Constellation so new I don't even have a modifier yet — and Incarnation Kim Dokja here, and was actually gathering power to do it."

Twitch.

At my words, Baram's eyes twitched, and he glared at Dokgak with a savage aura.

I could feel the bodies of every Incarnation present, including myself, flinch under that ferocious presence. Noticing this, Baram gave a small cough and bowed his head to us in apology.

【This old fool failed to contain a moment of anger and raised his aura. I am truly sorry, Incarnations.】

Baram drifted slowly through the air toward us and flicked his fingers.

Snap!

Clatter-clatter-clatter!

When Baram flicked his fingers, the Characters of Binding — the same ones Dokgak had used on Bihyung in the webtoon — wrapped around Dokgak's body. Baram looked down at him and spoke.

【Dokgak. You cannot hear these words, being unconscious, but just now a great many Constellations have filed reports against you. Insulting speech toward Constellations, curses, contempt, discrimination, and — newly added — hostility and assault against a Constellation without a modifier, as well as death threats. For the many crimes you have committed, you will not be released easily.】

Swoosh.

Baram turned his gaze to me and bowed his head in apology.

【I will personally ensure that low-grade dokkaebi Dokgak is punished. I am truly sorry for the inconvenience, Constellation.】

"Ah, come on! It's fine, it's fine. I'm the reason a high-ranking dokkaebi like yourself had to come out to the field in person. No need to bow."

I pulled out the most expensive bottle among the liquor I'd looted from Dokgak's hat and held it out to Baram as I continued.

"Just make sure he gets a proper punishment like you said. You can do that for me, right?"

Nod.

【Leave that to me. Now then, I must go attend a meeting regarding this one's punishment….】

Baram carefully accepted the bottle I offered and, together with Dokgak, vanished from sight.

"Heh heh… nothing beats calling in a superior, after all."

This time it's a real goodbye. You one-horned piece of shit dokkaebi.