Hidden Scenario - Escape from the Ichthyosaur's Stomach (1)
“I don’t… want to die….”
“……….”
Kim Namwoon mumbled those clumsy final words about not wanting to die, then met his complete end. Kim Dokja simply saw him off in silence.
Understanding of Character ‘Kim Namwoon’ has increased.
Bookmark No. 1 has been deactivated.
A message announcing the skill’s deactivation flashed through her mind, followed by a sudden wave of exhaustion and fatigue.
It was hard.
It really was hard, but—
What the hell is that guy doing?
Mentally and physically drained as she was, this was no time to dwell on it.
A short distance away, a man sat casually on the ground, watching her with leisurely ease while sipping a Bacchus energy drink.
His relaxed demeanor and easy smile made her blood boil, but she forced herself to take a deep breath, suppress the anger, and focus on figuring out who he was.
In the early parts of Ways of Survival, was there anyone besides Yoo Joonghyuk who massacred the possessed with such casual confidence?
No matter how hard she thought, there was no character in Ways of Survival who, during the first main scenario, doused the possessed in oil and leisurely set them ablaze.
…Who the hell is he? There was no character like that in Ways of Survival. Then is he someone from the real world, like Yoo Sangah or Han Myungoh?
Thanks to Lee Hyunsung, Yoo Sangah, Han Myungoh, and Kim Namwoon, Kim Dokja had learned how to use her skill. She activated it on the man in front of her.
Character List.
Information on this person cannot be viewed with ‘Character List’.
Just in case, she tried Character List on the man, but as expected, he was someone from the real world—like Yoo Sangah or Han Myungoh.
Still, it was infuriating.
Someone had deliberately sent Kim Namwoon her way, and she’d nearly died fighting him. Watching this guy sit there smiling and sipping Bacchus made her desperately want to drive a fist straight into that face.
But there was no need to make more enemies right now. She would just have to endure it.
Or so she thought.
“Hey there, first-time-meeting noona! Whoa—! You really went through hell, huh?”
Ha…?
She was still struggling to smother the rage boiling up because of this complete stranger, and now the guy was casually waving and walking over.
“Ha, haha….”
Ah, she couldn’t take it anymore.
“Huh? Why are you trembling like that? Did you get hur— urk!”
Ah, I did it.
She couldn’t hold back any longer against this stranger who kept acting so damn irritating. Her fist shot out and smashed into his face.
He looked back at her with an expression of pure injustice after taking the punch.
Seeing that wronged look actually felt pretty satisfying.
Ah, fuck!
I’d safely activated the Bookmark skill and taken out Kim Namwoon, then cheerfully walked over to tell Kim Dokja she’d done well—only for her to plant a fist in my face without a single word of warning. The spot where she hit me hurt like hell.
“Hey, why the sudden punch?”
“Do you really not know why you’re asking?”
I tried to protest the sudden sucker punch, but she just stared at me with those dead-fish eyes and a smile that said you seriously don’t know? It was terrifying as hell.
“No, ma’am. Everything was my fault.”
Kim Dokja must have figured out that I’d deliberately sent Kim Namwoon her way and gotten pissed enough to hit me. Yeah, all my fault….
So could she please do something about those dead-fish eyes….
“Huu…. I’m Kim Dokja.”
“Park Jinwoo. I’m really sorry about earlier.”
Maybe my genuinely apologetic look got through to her. She reluctantly gave her name and offered a handshake. I gave mine in return and shook her hand.
“You worked hard, so at least drink this.”
“…Thank you.”
I pulled a 500 ml bottle of water I’d bought for two coins with Shop User out of thin air and handed it to Kim Dokja. Her eyes went wide at the sight of a water bottle materializing from empty space, but she quickly composed her expression, thanked me, took the bottle, cracked the lid, and gulped the water down greedily.
Now what?
I watched Kim Dokja chugging water and looked out at the Han River beside the bridge, sinking into thought for a moment.
Any second now, our regressor—who hadn’t shown her face while I was running from the zombies or while I was burning them all to death—would arrive.
The bridge….
Even Bridge
A bridge of light created by the blessing of the Constellations.
Only an even number of people may cross.
If an odd number of people attempt to cross, the bridge will vanish immediately.
Same conditions as the webtoon.
That meant one of us would have to stay behind.
Should I just leave Yoo Joonghyuk and cross with the two of us?
If it was the regressor Yoo Joonghyuk, she’d find another way and cross on her own, right?
Wondering if Kim Dokja might know another method, I glanced over at her.
She’d already finished the entire bottle of water and was staring at the bridge just like me, lost in thought.
Anyone else would have been thrilled that the two of us could just cross right away.
She’s hung up on Yoo Joonghyuk, huh.
Right then, the sound of footsteps approached from behind—thud, thud.
I turned around and saw our Yoo Joonghyuk walking over, every bit of her form on full display.
“You’re here?”
“……….”
She ignored me completely and stared only at Kim Dokja.
What a piece of work.
“You. What are you?”
“Guhk!”
In the blink of an eye she moved in front of Kim Dokja and clamped a hand around her throat.
Look at our Kim Dokja, breaking out in a cold sweat from pure terror of Yoo Joonghyuk.
“Go easy. You’re scaring her.”
“Stay out of it.”
Or should I grab your throat instead?
Kim Dokja looked so pitiful sweating buckets that I tried to stick up for her, only for Yoo Joonghyuk to glare at me coldly again.
I shrugged at the icy glare—do whatever you want—and put some distance between myself and the two of them.
As I backed away, Kim Dokja shot me a look that screamed traitor. I felt a little bad.
Then the two of them started talking about something or other.
She was still being choked and somehow carrying on a conversation just fine. Impressive, Kim Dokja.
I pulled my gaze away from the pair who were managing just fine on their own and turned toward Kim Namwoon’s corpse, walking over to it.
Time to claim my personal hidden piece.
Of course, claiming a hidden piece required a bit of luck.
Honestly, one of the biggest reasons I’d sent the possessed Kim Namwoon to Kim Dokja was so she could learn how to use the Bookmark skill…
But there was another reason too.
“Activate exclusive skill ‘Extraction.’”
Exclusive skill ‘Extraction’ has been activated.
Please select an extraction target.
“I select the possessed Kim Namwoon.”
Currently extractable types from this target: byproducts and skills.
“Extract skill.”
There are currently 3 skills extractable from the possessed Kim Namwoon.
◈ [Abnormal Adaptability Lv.3, C] (Success Rate: 20%)
◈ [Knife Fighting Lv.1, D] (Success Rate: 40%)
◈ [Blackening Lv.1, B] (Success Rate: 20%)
When extracting a skill with exclusive skill ‘Extraction’, the probability fluctuates according to the skill’s grade and level.
Only one skill can be extracted from among the available skills.
Please select the skill to extract.
“I will extract the skill Blackening.”
Proceed with extraction? You only get one chance.
A man goes all-in even if he can’t eat.
“Proceed.”
God, Buddha, spirits, ancestral gods, gods of fortune—please, please let this gacha succeed!
Let’s gooooo—!!