Why Are You?
No, what the fuck.
Why is even she a woman now.
At this rate I’m starting to get scared I’ll turn into one too.
“You two. What are you?”
A chill shot through me—!
Her sheer presence crashed over us in an instant, and for a second I flinched hard.
I couldn’t win.
Even with an Identity equipped right now, that was impossible.
Kim Dokja seemed to feel the same thing; her face had gone pale as she locked eyes on the woman.
She was probably about to use Character List…
Thud—
Before I could even register the movement, the woman had already seized Kim Dokja by the throat.
“You. How the hell are you still alive?”
She—Yoo Joonghyuk—held Dokja by the neck and dangled her right at the edge of the bridge.
“Name.”
“What?”
“I asked for your name.”
“Kim Dokja.”
“Strange name.”
“I hear that a lot.”
Thud—!
Yoo Joonghyuk drove a fist into Dokja’s stomach, then turned her gaze on me.
“And you?”
“…Park Hayeon.”
Thud!
The second she heard my name she slammed a kick into my gut.
“Ghk…!”
“Solid body.”
“Looks like you’ve already figured out how to use coins.”
“You’re one to talk…!”
Crack—!
Another fist landed.
Yoo Joonghyuk clearly had no intention of listening to anything Dokja said; every time Dokja opened her mouth, another punch followed.
“Spare me the useless answers.”
“From now on you answer only what I ask. Understood?”
She kept moving her lips, apparently interrogating Dokja about something.
I didn’t have the luxury of listening.
The remaining demons were so terrified of Yoo Joonghyuk that they were all swarming toward me instead.
“Tch…! You corpse bastards!”
“Gwooooar!”
While I was busy cutting them down, Yoo Joonghyuk and Kim Dokja continued their back-and-forth.
Probably the same scene from the webtoon—Dokja claiming to be a prophet.
After a few more exchanges, sparks suddenly crackled around Yoo Joonghyuk’s face and she staggered.
Up to that point it was identical to the webtoon.
Then she hauled Dokja up by the collar and started walking toward the Deus Ex Machina.
“Hey! Wait! I’m here too!”
“Figure it out yourself.”
“You fucking—!”
Look at that absolute bitch of an attitude.
No one could ever mistake her for anyone but Yoo Joonghyuk.
At least I’d managed to charge a little power.
I hurriedly stabbed a dagger into empty air, then slashed, tearing open a rift in space.
Destination: the far side of the bridge.
I threw myself into the violet-glowing crack and an instant later my body was already standing on the opposite end.
“Hayeon-ssi?!”
“Wh-what… teleportation?”
“Hah… almost got wrecked there.”
Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes went wide when she saw me cross dimensions.
What, didn’t see that coming?
Once she finished crossing the bridge herself, she lifted Dokja again and dangled her over the edge.
“Should I let go of this hand right now, or should I not?”
This crazy bitch—!
But Kim Dokja took a deep breath and opened her mouth.
“…First, two things.”
“What?”
“One. I am not your subordinate. So from now on, treat me fairly.”
“Two. Just as I will cooperate with you, you will also promise to cooperate with me.”
“…I see. And your answer?”
“Let go of this hand and fuck off already, you bastard.”
Thud—
“Ugh… Aaaaaah!!!”
“Kim Dokja!!!”
“I believe you. You really are a prophet.”
I threw myself after the falling Kim Dokja.
Someone was shouting something behind me, but that didn’t matter right now.
And just like that, Dokja and I were swallowed by the sea dragon that had been waiting with its jaws wide open.
Scenario Clear Failed.
We were swept along by the current, sliding down the esophagus.
Just as my lungs started to burn, we finally passed through and arrived in the stomach.
I swam over to a relatively intact slab of concrete and caught my breath for a moment.
“Hah… hah… Are you all right, Dokja-ssi?”
“Haa… Yes. I think I’m fine…”
I looked around. The sea dragon had apparently swallowed all sorts of things; the stomach was packed with every kind of junk imaginable.
Scenario Clear Failed.
Paid Settlement has begun.
100 coins have been deducted as channel fees.
Constellation, ‘The Librarian of the Library’, shakes their head.
Constellation, ‘The Clock-Headed Administrator’, ticks.
Constellation, ‘The Demonic Judge of Fire’, admires your sacrifice.
Constellation, ‘The Prisoner of the Great Odyssey’, laughs heartily.
Haa… those bastards still think this is entertainment…
Crack—
“Haha, what a shame. It was getting really exciting.”
“…A dokkaebi?”
“Yes, that’s right. Huh? You’re not panicking at all?”
“Of course not. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“…Huh?”
“Dokja-ssi? What do you mean…”
“Just wait a moment, Hayeon-ssi.”
The dokkaebi made an incredulous face at Kim Dokja’s words and asked,
“You were waiting for me?”
“Yeah. You’ve got coins you need to collect from me, don’t you?”
“…Coins?”
Ah. So that’s how it is.
“Dokja-ssi. Could you wait just a second?”
“Huh? What are you—”
“Identity Equipment.”
I opened the Identity window and selected one.
Among everyone I knew, the absolute best at gaslighting.
“Is this the belly of yet another whale?”
“Hayeon…-ssi?”
The W Corp uniform vanished, replaced by new clothes.
A captain’s hat settled onto my head in place of the W Corp cap.
A long harpoon was strapped firmly across my back.
A pipe cigarette was clenched between my teeth.
Pequod Captain Identity
Current Enkephalin: 50/100
“I don’t know what you’ve done this time, but there are no irregularities.”
“What are you talking about. I failed the scenario, so of course you have to take coins as the price.”
“Hmm~? Not my life?”
Kim Dokja ignored my transformed appearance and continued negotiating with the dokkaebi.
Looks like it’s almost my turn to step in.
“Pay 5,100 coins. Then I’ll at least spare your lives.”
“That’s too much.”
“Then die, I guess~? Offering to take coins at all is purely at my discretion.”
“If you keep pushing it I’ll just end things right he—”
“This is your fault, dokkaebi!”
“Hayeon-ssi?”
“Huh?”
Both Kim Dokja and the dokkaebi froze at my sudden outburst.
“The fact that we’re trapped in a sea dragon’s belly!”
“The fact that we’re in this situation at all!”
“All of it is your fault, dokkaebi!”
“What are you even—”
“If you had managed that person properly, we never would have ended up like this!”
“I don’t have any means of controlling that human…!”
“You had plenty! Scenarios, whatever—there were plenty of methods!”
Faced with pure facts, the dokkaebi shut his mouth as if he had nothing left to say.
“You’re telling us to take responsibility for a situation that exists because of you? Unbelievable!”
“Haha, this is really pissing me off. Hey, right now you’re—”
“Low-grade dokkaebi Bihyung.”
“How’s the storytelling business treating you?”
The dokkaebi looked stunned at Kim Dokja’s words.
And Dokja just kept pressing him.
I hadn’t thrown the blame at the dokkaebi for no reason.
Kim Dokja already had Bihyung by the throat, so he had no choice but to listen to us.
“How about we close the channel for a bit and talk?”
“!”
Bihyung did something, and the atmosphere shifted again.
“All right. Speak.”
“You. How does an ordinary human know about Star Stream broadcasts?”
“That’s not important right now.”
“Excuse me?”
“Bihyung, don’t you want to become the ‘King of Dokkaebis’?”
“Don’t you want to become the greatest storyteller among all the imps and goblins, surpassing even Dokgak and Gildal?”
“Dokkaebi Bihyung, make a contract with me. Then I will make you…”
“…the ‘King of the Dokkaebis.’”
Once it reached this point, my job was done.
I left Dokja and Bihyung behind and looked around.
No useful materials in sight.
No exit either.
Kim Dokja would get out just fine, but whether Bihyung would offer me a contract as well was still up in the air.
I hadn’t chosen a sponsor just in case, so I could only hope Bihyung would notice and extend the offer to me too.
Or I could just gaslight him some more.
“I-I’ll settle the failed scenario first. If you just give me 5,100 coins…”
“What are you talking about. We didn’t fail.”
“…Huh?”
“The conditions should be met around now.”
“Dokja-ssi. What are you saying this time…”
“Open the channel. It’s about to start.”