Hidden Scenario - Escape from the Ichthyosaur's Stomach (6)
"Hey, you son of a— mmph!!"
"P-Please calm down! I'll handle this myself!!"
Just as I was about to rain a full-throated stream of curses down on Bihyung—that conscience-free albino fur-ball whose greed put even old Hokburi to shame—Kim Dokja urgently clamped her hand over my mouth.
My mouth was sealed by her palm, yet I still thrashed and grunted, determined somehow to get those insults out at the dokkaebi. Kim Dokja kept her hand firmly in place, looking thoroughly exhausted by the whole ordeal.
【It's weird for a dokkaebi like me to say this, but… have you actually lost your mind…?】
First you flip off the Constellations and me on the train, and now you're trying to curse me out in the open. What a completely insane Incarnation.
Bihyung stared at me with tired eyes as I continued to mumble and struggle behind Kim Dokja's hand, then shook his head slowly.
"What?!"
Kim Dokja's face went blank with shock at the dokkaebi's near-muttered words. She whipped her head toward me as if she must have misheard.
"Is the dokkaebi telling the truth? You flipped off the Constellations and a dokkaebi?! Do you have a brain or don't you?!"
"Mmph!"
I stopped thrashing at her question, closed my eyes demurely, and gave a slow, deliberate nod while still muffled. Kim Dokja stared at me with the look of someone who had just confirmed she was dealing with a genuine lunatic.
"I'll take care of this, so stay quiet. Okay? Got it?"
"………."
My interruption had derailed the conversation with Bihyung. Kim Dokja decided that if things went wrong we would either dissolve in stomach acid or get killed by the dokkaebi—either way, we were dead. With a look of grim resolve she pressed the knife she had picked up on the subway against my throat and fixed me with a frigid glare.
The cold steel and her ice-cold eyes made it clear she was dead serious. I nodded rapidly and repeatedly.
"…Haa. All right. Let's pick up where we left off, dokkaebi."
【…Fine.】
The same Kim Dokja who had just held a blade to my neck with a murderous stare now turned to Bihyung with a bright, pleasant smile. Even the dokkaebi looked slightly cowed by the whiplash.
【I'll say it one more time. Pay 5,850 coins each and I'll at least spare both of your lives.】
"That's way too much."
Coins in possession: 5,850 C
Kim Dokja glanced at her current coin balance, then protested with an expression of pure disbelief.
【Haha, then just die. Offering to take coins at all is entirely at my discretion.】
Bihyung sneered and shrugged at her complaint.
【If I feel like it, I can just end things right here.】
He spoke as if he truly did not care either way, then floated lazily in mid-air in a posture that looked exactly like someone lounging on a beach. The whole pose reeked of mockery aimed straight at Kim Dokja.
"Then go ahead and kill us."
【Excuse me?】
"I said kill us."
Bihyung dropped his relaxed pose, straightened up, and looked down at her with a suddenly serious face. Kim Dokja simply smiled up at him.
【Haha, this is actually pissing me off. Hey, right now you and I are—】
"Low-grade dokkaebi Bihyung. How's the storyteller work treating you these days?"
A crack appeared in the dokkaebi's stern expression. His round eyes flew wide open and he stared at Kim Dokja in pure shock.
【W-What?! H-How do you know my name?】
"Broadcasting hasn't been much fun lately, has it? The Constellations are so damn stingy with their spending."
【W-What the hell are you? How does a mere human know about that…!!】
Bihyung's entire body trembled as he pointed an accusing finger at her, face twisted in horror. Kim Dokja only smiled more brightly.
A few Constellations regard your existence with suspicion.
The Constellation ‘Secretive Plotter’ sparkles his eyes at your plan.
How about we close the channel for a minute and talk?
The Constellations had clearly taken an interest in the exchange; their messages were popping up. Kim Dokja mouthed the suggestion to Bihyung.
Bihyung hesitated for a moment, then manipulated something in the empty air. A burst of static crackled, and a system message appeared.
The channel has been closed.
【All right. Talk. How does an ordinary human know about Star Stream broadcasts?】
"That's not important right now."
【What? What could possibly be more important than—】
He had closed the channel and put on a serious face again to demand the source of her information, but Kim Dokja's next words made the stern expression melt away into pure incredulity. Still, a tiny spark of curiosity flickered underneath.
"Bihyung. Don't you want to become the King of the Dokkaebis?"
"Y-You! What are you—!"
"I'm asking if you want to become the greatest storyteller of all the spirits and dokkaebis—someone who surpasses even Dokgak or Gildal."
Bihyung's face and complexion kept shifting as Kim Dokja pressed on.
"Dokkaebi Bihyung. Make a contract with me. Then I'll make you… the King of the Dokkaebis."
She offered a soft smile and held out her hand toward the floating Bihyung for a handshake.
Kim Dokja was seducing a dokkaebi with a handsome expression even though she was a woman.
"…This is an important moment, so shut up."