Darkness Keeper (1)
Park Jinwoo was killing time, staring blankly at Kim Dokja as she stood on the subway tracks leading from Geumho Station toward Yaksu Station.
"Jinwoo-ssi."
"Hm?"
At the sound of his name from behind, he turned around to find Jung Heewon standing there, watching him with an oddly complicated expression.
"Heewon-ssi? Is something wrong? You look like you've got a lot on your mind."
"Umm… well. There's something I wanted to ask you, Jinwoo-ssi."
"Me?"
Jung Heewon carefully nodded, then looked him straight in the eye and spoke.
"Jinwoo-ssi… were you a gangster in your previous job, by any chance?"
"…Excuse me?"
"I mean, the way you handled those Cheoldu Group thugs at Exit 4, and how easily you took down Bang Cheolsoo just now… it really seemed like something a loan-sharking gangster or someone who works in the underworld would do…"
Constellations of the Absolute Evil camp look upon Incarnation Park Jinwoo with curiosity at Incarnation Jung Heewon's words.
Constellations of the Absolute Good camp watch Incarnation Park Jinwoo with anxious expressions.
Constellation, Demon-like Judge of Fire, regards Incarnation Park Jinwoo with cautious eyes.
Constellation, Prisoner of the Golden Headband, regards Incarnation Park Jinwoo with intrigued eyes.
Constellation, Abyssal Black Flame Dragon, steals a glance at Incarnation Park Jinwoo.
Constellation, Secretive Plotter, gazes upon Incarnation Park Jinwoo.
Constellation, God of Wine and Ecstasy, watches Incarnation Park Jinwoo while drinking.
"…………."
Park Jinwoo was thoroughly flustered — both by the flood of Constellation messages and by Jung Heewon carefully asking whether he'd been a gangster.
"Pfft—! Ahahahahaha! Wait, that's what you were so tense about asking? Ha… Heewon-ssi, you've got a cute side after all."
"Ugh…! Stop teasing me. So? What's your answer?"
After laughing himself breathless, Park Jinwoo looked at her with a fond little smile, as if he found her adorable.
Caught under that smile and that gaze, Jung Heewon seemed to grow a little embarrassed herself. Her cheeks flushed pink. She fanned her warm face with an open palm, then stole a sidelong glance at him and pressed for an answer.
"I was just an unemployed guy studying to become a civil servant. Not a gangster or anything like that."
"An unemployed civil service exam student? How does an unemployed guy act more like a gangster than an actual gangster…?"
A number of Constellations declare that they cannot believe Incarnation Park Jinwoo's words.
Both Jung Heewon and the Constellations wore expressions of utter disbelief. Park Jinwoo simply smiled and watched them all.
"I just… had a bad memory with gangsters once. A trauma, you could call it. That's probably why I reacted so harshly to the Cheoldu Group guys."
"Ugh… I've gone and bothered you again, haven't I. I'm really sorry, Jinwoo-ssi."
Even as he spoke, Park Jinwoo gave a bitter smile and looked up at the empty air. For reasons she couldn't quite name, Jung Heewon thought his expression looked especially desolate.
Realizing she'd made a mistake, she fidgeted anxiously and apologized again.
"It's fine, Heewon-ssi. If one of my comrades only got violent toward a certain type of person, I'd be curious about the reason too."
"Everyone has at least one secret they'd rather keep buried. And prying into those secrets without permission is just plain bad manners. Even if the world has gone to hell, forgetting something that basic… and toward my benefactor, no less. It won't happen again. I'm truly sorry, Jinwoo-ssi."
"If you're really that sorry, could you do me one favor?"
"Mmm… if that's what it takes to be forgiven. All right — what kind of favor?"
"Not right now. Can I tell you later?"
"Just so we're clear, that doesn't mean I'll agree to anything, okay?"
"Heh. I know. I'm not planning on asking for anything too difficult or outrageous, so don't worry too much."
"…You mean that? So you're forgiving me with this, then? Okay — I'm going to go check on Dokja-ssi for a bit."
Jung Heewon eyed him with a faint trace of suspicion, then walked off toward Kim Dokja standing on the subway tracks. Park Jinwoo watched her go with a sly little grin.
Constellation, Prisoner of the Golden Headband, asks Incarnation Park Jinwoo what kind of favor he intends to request.
"Ah~ nothing major. I just want to put Heewon-ssi in a bunny girl outfit and take a few pictures."
Constellation, Abyssal Black Flame Dragon, spits out the water he was drinking!
Constellation, Demon-like Judge of Fire, stares at Incarnation Park Jinwoo in utter shock!
"What? Any man would naturally want to dress a beauty like Heewon-ssi in an outfit that matches his tastes at least once. That's just common sense, right? The opportunity presented itself, and I have no intention of letting it slip by."
Constellation, Demon-like Judge of Fire, protests to Incarnation Park Jinwoo that such a thing is an indecent act!
"Huh? How is simply putting someone in a bunny girl costume and taking a few photos an 'indecent act'? Are you calling every professional cosplay photographer a pervert right now?"
Constellation, Demon-like Judge of Fire, frantically tells Incarnation Park Jinwoo that she didn't mean it that way!
Crackle—!
"U-Uwaaaah!!"
"A d-Dokkaebi…!"
Midway through his exchange with the Constellation Demon-like Judge of Fire, sparks crackled through the air. The empty space split open, and a Dokkaebi emerged. Screams erupted from every corner of the platform at the sight of it.
Looks like Bihyung got disciplined just like in the webtoon after all.
The Dokkaebi originally in charge of this area's channel was Bihyung. But because Bihyung had been put on disciplinary leave, a temporary Dokkaebi had been assigned to manage his channel — and if Jinwoo remembered right, that Dokkaebi's name was Biryu.
Unlike Bihyung, this one had fluffy black fur, round ram-like horns, and a rough cloak that looked like it had been stitched from tiger hide. Dokkaebi Biryu.
Low-ranking Dokkaebis are weirdly cute-looking, I'll give them that.
He looked different from Bihyung, but his appearance was still oddly adorable. The problem was that everything he did was pure horror.
Whether it was just his personality or pure nerves, the Dokkaebi was sweating coldly as he carefully surveyed his surroundings.
Suddenly, the Dokkaebi snapped his tiny fingers. A chime rang out, and scenario messages appeared before everyone's eyes, leaving them wide with shock.
Food stockpiling is now restricted.
All existing stockpiled food has disappeared.
"W-wha…?"
"What the…? The f-food…!"
Every scrap of anything that could be called food — belonging to both the Mainstream Group and the Marginalized Group inside the platform — floated up into the air. People stared and screamed.
Timidly avoiding everyone's eyes even as he snickered, Dokkaebi Biryu continued.
Snap!
At the Dokkaebi's finger-snap, every last bit of floating food crumbled into powder and vanished.
The people who had just watched their entire food supply disappear with a mere gesture stared blankly up at the empty air, faces hollow with despair.
And then more messages rose before their eyes.
A 'Survival Fee' item has been added.
From now on, every night at midnight, a Survival Fee of 100 coins will be automatically collected. Failure to pay the Survival Fee will result in death.
The Survival Fee penalty will remain in effect until the Second Main Scenario is cleared.
Despair settled over the faces of everyone reading the messages. Or more precisely — it was the Marginalized Group who looked truly hopeless. Those people almost certainly didn't even have a hundred coins to their names.
"Give us back our food, you damn Dokkaebi bastard!!"
"How… how could this happen…."
"I-I don't even have a hundred coins! What are people like me supposed to do?!!"
The Marginalized Group gathered on the platform shouted up at the empty air where the Dokkaebi had already vanished. Even the Mainstream Group was thrown into confusion by the sudden food crisis, murmuring among themselves and glancing around in panic.
Amid the chaos and panic gripping nearly everyone, Cheon Inho alone maintained a calm expression as he began gathering people back together.
"Everyone, please gather around. I have an urgent announcement."
At his words, the murmuring died down. All eyes turned toward him.
"Given the situation, it seems we'll need more personnel for the 'Scouting Party.' From now on, anyone who does not participate in the Scouting Party will not receive a food ration."
People muttered among themselves at Cheon Inho's declaration, but no one openly opposed him.
Hmm… should I just buy food from the general store again and sell it to people…?
Park Jinwoo snuck a glance at the murmuring crowd, then shook his head.
If I sell food right now, I might end up making an enemy of Dokkaebi Biryu.
In the early scenarios like this, picking a fight with a Dokkaebi was practically suicide. If it had been the pushover Bihyung, selling food to people would have been fine…
Park Jinwoo pulled his gaze away from the Geumho Station crowd gathered before Cheon Inho and walked toward Kim Dokja's group clustered beside the subway tracks.
"Dokja-ssi, what should we do now? Should we join the Scouting Party too?"
"No. We won't be joining the Scouting Party."
Kim Dokja said this to Lee Hyunsung, then looked over at Park Jinwoo as he approached.
"We already have a cheat key that can solve this food shortage."
"Ah! Ah… but Dokja-ssi. Relying on Jinwoo-ssi for everything is a little…"
"Hyunsung-ssi is right. We can't keep putting the entire burden on Jinwoo-ssi."
Kim Dokja nodded at Lee Hyunsung's words, then turned her gaze toward the tracks leading to Yaksu Station.
"Wait a second, Dokja-ssi. Don't tell me…"
"That's right."
Following her line of sight along the tracks, Lee Hyunsung looked back at Kim Dokja in shock. She simply nodded with a deadpan expression, confirming that his guess was correct.
"The world has changed — so what we eat has to change too."
Kim Dokja spoke as she looked at her companions, who were all wearing expressions of stunned disbelief.
"We're going to hunt monsters."