Night of the Prophets

Murmur, murmur—

"Looks like no one's claimed this place?"

"It's an agreement among the prophets. Meeting at a station someone already occupies could get dangerous."

We were at Anguk Station now.

After seizing Dongmyo and swallowing every remaining station it had held, only one station stood between Dokja and the end of her Path of the King scenario.

Guided by Lee Seongguk and Jeong Minseop—once prophets themselves—we had come to Anguk Station, where the Night of the Prophets was being held.

"Hey~ Number 1089!"

"Oh, Brother 763!"

"How've you been? Looking good!"

"Good? That 'Tyrant King' has me wishing I was dead."

"I told you not to push into Dobong-gu. Why don't you ever listen…"

The man called Number 763 exchanged cheerful greetings with Jeong Minseop. Then his gaze settled on Dokja.

"…By the way, h-hey… is that person perhaps…?"

When Jeong Minseop nodded, the man drew a sharp breath and bowed at a perfect ninety degrees.

"It is truly an honor to meet you, Yoo Joonghyuk-nim!"

"Huk—is that really her?"

"She's way prettier than I imagined!"

Anguk Station erupted into a sudden buzz. Even as people swarmed around Dokja and the others, not a single one approached me.

Well, of course. A guy like me wouldn't have appeared in Ways of Survival.

"Where's the 'weapon'?"

"Pardon?"

"The 'weapon' you people hid. Let's check that first."

"Ah, about that."

People soon pulled away the cloth covering something massive in the middle of the station. What was revealed was a rock with a striking red color.

"Is that… a 'meteorite'?"

"Haha, yes. Yoo Joonghyuk-nim at this point wouldn't know, but according to the 'Revelation,' a powerful 'weapon' is inside."

Weapon my ass.

That meteorite wasn't some lucky rock holding a weapon. It was nothing more than a chunk of stone cradling a catastrophe.

To make matters worse, the prophets had already supplied it with mana.

"Who gave you that info?"

"Pardon?"

"Who the hell brought that meteorite here?!"

Dokja's shout instantly threw the station into uproar.

Rumble—

And then Anguk Station began to tremble.

"Everyone, run!"

"What? Run? What do you mean…"

But Dokja's attempt to leave was blocked by a red barrier that sprang up.

They were really going all out.

Crack—

As cracks began to spider across the meteorite—

A message window floated before my eyes.

"Huh? What's this? Why is a main scenario suddenly…"

Sizzle—!

The heat blasting from the meteorite instantly claimed one prophet's head. At the same moment, Anguk Station plunged into chaos.

Gush—

Lava spilled through the cracks in the meteorite; it was ready to shatter.

And then—

Crunch—!

A red dragon smashed free of the meteorite. At the same time, sparks began to gather and coalesce above its head.

"Hmm, this is troublesome."

"How on earth did you all end up on this 'route'? You've been acting up a bit too much lately… honestly."

"You haven't even cleared the fourth scenario yet, and you go and wake a 'catastrophe'?"

"A few constellations are particularly fond of certain incarnations, so we can't just leave this alone… but we can't lower the difficulty either…"

What appeared next was a dokkaebi dressed in a sharp suit. The moment it showed itself, the Lesser Dragon froze.

"This is ridiculous! We still haven't cleared the fourth main scenario!"

"H-hey! Just shut up and stay still!"

"…I've decided."

"As expected, there will be no difficulty adjustment."

Oh, for crying out loud.

"Still, if all of you die like this it won't be any fun, so I'll use my discretion to tweak the scenario a little."

The dokkaebi snapped its fingers, and a message window appeared before our eyes.

"A sub-scenario with arbitrarily modified content has been added to the Hidden Scenario!"

"Well then, do enjoy the scenario."

The moment the dokkaebi began to vanish, Ignir moved.

"Everyone, run clockwise!"

Fwoooooosh—!

Flames erupted from Ignir's maw and incinerated those who failed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to move in time.

"Find the platforms!"

"What?"

"Number 5… or 2 or 3! Just make the total five, hurry!"

Before Dokja even finished speaking, the floor began to glow.

It was, in a way, the only means of surviving Ignir's area attack.

My companions and I desperately searched for platforms.

The number carved into the platform we finally found was 4.

"…Only four people can get on."

Our group numbered six in total. Far too few for everyone to fit.

There was no time to hesitate. Flames gathered in Ignir's gaping maw.

"Yoo Joonghyuk-nim! This way!"

A desperate voice called to Dokja. But the platform there only held the number 2.

"My lord, let's go."

"What? But…"

"Don't worry."

Crunch—

A grotesque sound rose as the shape of my legs began to change. Dokja, seeing it, seemed to grasp my intent; she sprinted onto the platform. And then—

Fwoooooosh—!

Flames poured from Ignir's mouth.

Flash—

But through Black Water Transformation I dodged the attack without much difficulty.

The platforms etched across the floor vanished, and Ignir began to rampage.

"Kraaaaaah!"

"Not a chance."

Boom—!

I forcibly stopped Ignir as it charged toward Dokja. Being only Grade 5, the Identity I was using with insufficient stats could barely hold it back.

Whoosh—!

"…Damn it."

Boom—!

While I was still reeling from the recoil of blocking its charge, its tail whipped around and smashed me clean away.

Shatter—!

"Gah…!"

The sound of breaking glass rang out, and my appearance snapped back to normal.

So even here, taking more than a certain amount of damage would cancel the Identity?

"Hayeon-ssi! Over here!"

"Kh…!"

Without giving me time to think, the creature prepared another area attack. I barely managed to reach the platform where my companions stood.

Fwoooosh—!

A message window that only piled more despair onto an already hopeless situation.

This wasn't the time. I had to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠re-equip an Identity—

"…What the hell is this."

Among the windows listing my Identities, the one for Myo that I had just been using was shattered.

"Damn it… so if it cancels like this, I can't use it anymore…?"

But there was no time to lament. Ignir was rampaging again. I frantically searched for other Identities.

To make things worse, I only had one usable Identity left—two if I was lucky.

"Huu… this is driving me insane…"

The injuries from the last attack and the life-or-death situation piled on top of each other until my thoughts refused to work properly. First I had to get onto the platform with my companions and dodge the next attack—

"Yoo Joonghyuk-nim? What are you doing?"

"Please enter the Hidden Piece at once."

Wait—what are you trying to do right now, Dokja?

She turned her back on the platform and instead faced Ignir.

Dokja dove into Ignir's embrace, dodging the area attack. And then—

As the window floated before my eyes, Dokja stood before the flagpole, unmoving, with Ignir's open maw right in front of her.

"?! Dokja-ssi, what are you doing?! Get out of there!"

"Representative!"

Then the flames swallowed her whole.

"…Dokja…?"

Where the flames cleared, nothing remained.

Dokja was dead.

Even knowing she would revive through the reward of the barely completed Path of the King scenario, my thoughts refused to function and rejected the reality before my eyes.

Emotion surged. I wanted to tear that bastard apart right this second.

Crunch—

The taste of blood filled my mouth as I ground my teeth.

Reason had already stopped making normal judgments, and emotion screamed at me to kill the thing in front of me.

And there was no reason anywhere not to obey.

Bang—!

"Hayeon-ssi!"

I threw myself forward on the propulsive flames erupting from Heaven-Shaking Star Blade. Sensing me, the creature swung a foreleg.

Clang—!

Screeech—!

Borrowing even the thrust of Fierce Tiger Bullet, I wasn't pushed back by its strength.

If I could just reach its neck—

Thud—!

"Kh…!"

A tail swung from a blind spot and sent me rolling across the floor again.

Shatter—!

The sound of breaking glass rang out once more, and my appearance returned to normal.

But there was no time to hesitate. I had to kill that bastard right now—

…What.

"…If you've got something to say, say it, Dante. Stop just ticking."

…Mental strength?

"…So what am I supposed to do about it."

"That bastard killed Dokja. So I have to kill it…"

"Shut up…!"

Strange voices began to echo inside my already chaotic head. And the moment I opened the Identity window to fight again—

Along with the voice ringing through my mind, black liquid poured from the Identity window and engulfed me.