Sub Scenario — Escape (1)

"Hell yeah—! Thank you for the 1,250 coins, Constellations!"

As a reaction for the Constellations who'd sponsored me, I formed a heart with both hands and thrust it toward the floating messages.

Ugh. Men shouldn't make hearts. Heung~ — came the replies in message form.

Even when I give them a reaction, they lose it.

More importantly, who the hell sent that last "heung~"?

Yeah, these Constellations were definitely our ancestors. When the old folks were this unhinged, of course their descendants turned out the same. I was once again forced to confront the truth that the absolute freaks you saw on the internet and the news didn't just spawn out of nowhere.

"We've got the coins now, and the Sponsor Selection scenario is over. Shall we head out?"

I'd already milked everything there was to milk from this passenger car. Time to smash that door already.

"…Are you giving me an order?"

Insolent bastard.

Thanks to the Dokkaebi Bihyung showing up, Yoo Joonghyuk had stopped kicking the door. I told her to get back to work — and she took it as a command, glaring at me like she wanted me dead.

Or maybe she just hated my tone?

"Aww…. Already worn out, huh? Want me to do it?"

If you're tired, just say so. What pride are you trying to protect in a situation like this? Move. I'll handle it now.

I rolled up my sleeves, stepped toward the door, and needled her pride with a tone that asked whether she was struggling.

And then—

"……Who said I was tired."

You're in the way. Move.

A grin spread across my face.

Just as planned.

As expected, when you pretended to worry about the prideful Yoo Joonghyuk just enough to scrape that pride raw, she took the bait. Legs braced with power, she brushed past me and resumed her assault on the steel door.

The door, already crumpled under her previous kicks, finally gave out. With a thunderous crash, it tore free and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠went tumbling across the floor.

"………."

Having smashed through into car 3807, Yoo Joonghyuk paused for a moment, scanned the interior, then fixed her gaze in a particular direction.

They're already gone.

I followed her into car 3807 and turned my head the same way she was looking. There, forced open by sheer strength, was a subway door.

That was how Kim Dokja's party must have gotten out.

"Looks like a few people from car 3807 escaped outside through there?"

So what are you going to do?

Even at my question, Yoo Joonghyuk only furrowed her brow and stayed silent.

I watched her chew on the question in silence, sighed, and approached the open door to look outside. In the distance, I could make out five people.

On the far side of a bridge that hadn't collapsed yet stood a large, powerfully built man, and beside him a boy who looked like an elementary schooler.

Thank god. Just like in the webtoon, Lee Hyunsung and Lee Gilyoung made it across before the bridge went down.

And three more figures were sprinting hard toward the far side of the bridge.

A woman in a beige suit and a man in a striped suit raced for the opposite bank — and ahead of both of them, one more person ran even harder.

They were giving it everything they had, but then a massive ichthyosaur erupted from the river beside the bridge. Startled, they skidded to a halt right where they stood.

Between the panicking Yoo Sangah and Han Myungoh, one figure kept her composure, carefully studying the empty air above.

That one's Kim Dokja.

The person called a protagonist alongside Yoo Joonghyuk in Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint. Just like in the webtoon — long black hair, a black suit — a woman who… wait.

Hold on. First Yoo Joonghyuk went from man to woman, and now Kim Dokja is a woman too?

Did that mean the four devoted fans who'd watched Kim Dokja from the very beginning were about to change?

Uriel, bearer of the modifier Demon-like Judge of Fire, was an Archangel who loved BL.

But with Kim Dokja as a woman… would Gabriel, with the modifier Lily Blooming in Aquarius, take Uriel's place among the four devoted fans instead…?

There was talk that Gabriel, unlike Uriel, preferred yuri — so it was possible?

I wrestled my spiraling thoughts under control as I watched the newly female Kim Dokja, staring at her party frozen mid-bridge.

And somehow, without me noticing when she'd moved, the Dokkaebi Bihyung was hovering directly above Kim Dokja's group.

The distance was too great to catch what they were saying, but at this timing, the ichthyosaur should be about to smash the bridge, and the zombies should be rising to charge at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Kim Dokja.

Wait a second…?

Zombies were what you called moving corpses, right? Which meant the corpses would be getting up. Corpses?

I whipped my gaze back toward the subway cars, where plenty of bodies still littered the floor.

A blue aurora-like light bloomed over the corpses sprawled across the subway car floors. One by one, they planted their hands on the ground and began to rise.

And somehow those zombies had standards — they completely ignored Yoo Joonghyuk standing right next to them and locked onto me alone, drooling.

"Ah, for real, cut the crap."

Why aren't you looking at her? You little bastards—!