[the constellations of the nebula 'olympus' are looking at the constellation 'god of wine and ecstasy'.]
While Kim Dokja wasn't overly fond of Dionysus in the first place—especially not after that bullshit he had pulled with Yoo Sangah and offering that orgy story—that didn't mean that he particularly wanted a potential ally to be under the nebula's scrutiny.
If he was coming here in good faith, or to warn Kim Dokja about his Fate, then it would be a bad thing if Olympus kept a closer eye on him from now on.
Putting away his sword, Dokja casually asks if he came to talk about the fact that he'll die, wondering if Dionysus was the one who read his Fate. Dionysus explains that it was Olympus who read it, but that he wasn't one of the ones that did. From this, Dokja is easily able to guess that Olympus has split earlier than usual.
Continuing on, Dionysus explains that many powerful constellations are after Dokja, calling them all cowards who are afraid of Dokja's influence. At Dokja's confusion, the god explains that Earth's scenarios are different and special as some constellations believe that this is the scenario they've been all waiting for, but Dokja appeared. Although Dokja still doesn't really get it, he understands that he must be a nuisance for these constellations. Nodding, Dionysus explains that Dokja is less affected by probability compared to other constellations while also growing in power much faster compared to other incarnations. As a result, some nebulae want him to either join them or be removed.
After digesting the information for a moment, Dokja asks why Dionysus is even telling him this. Laughing, he answers, "Of course, it's because I like your story."
Hearing this, the galaxies in Dokja's eyes brighten and spin. A look of longing appears, shrouded in Dionysus' gaze as his voice softens, "Some constellations, including myself, believe that you have the potential to reach the ◼◼."
"Well, it's good to know that he wasn't involved specifically," Jung Heewon remarked with a sigh. The fact that Olympus had read his Fate wasn't news to them, at least, even if Yoo Sangah seemed more uncomfortable by the mention of the nebula than ever.
However, even Kim Dokja was surprised by the fact that Olympus was already splitting up. They were always a bit messy, but normally those cracks wouldn't begin to show until after the 10th scenario had concluded. There were the odd regressions where they split early—usually related to some kind of domino effect started elsewhere—and the extremely rare ones where they didn't split at all, but even then, early usually meant during the 10th scenario itself.
Lee Seolhwa glanced over at him. "It's impressive that you could deduce that from such a small clue, Dokja-ssi."
It really wasn't; Olympus was such a mess that it was genuinely more surprising when they managed to hold themselves together past the 20th scenario on Earth.
[the constellation 'queen of the darkest spring' is unsurprised by this turn of events.]
Yoo Joonghyuk scoffed as Dionysus informed Kim Dokja that he was being targeted. Admittedly, he had a point; it wasn't a surprise that they were taking action, even if it was annoying that they had decided to do something this early. Couldn't they have waited until after the Seoul Dome was liberated, huh?
"The scenario they're all waiting for…" Kim Dokja murmured to himself thoughtfully. It was hard to guess just what that meant, even for him. Did they believe that Earth's scenarios were special in every regression, but that Kim Dokja was here fucking stuff up or something? If he took what he learned from Olympus before into account, then it was possible that they thought that he was influencing the events of the scenarios by not only being a second singularity, but also by changing the course of the original singularity—Yoo Joonghyuk.
Lee Gilyoung glared up at the stars with venom in his gaze. "Hyung isn't a nuisance!"
Han Sooyoung rolled her eyes, muttering that she'd beg to differ. As much as Kim Dokja wanted to deny it, he did kind of make it a point to irritate the constellations at times.
[several constellations are looking at the incarnation 'kim dokja' with disdain.]
Whatever, he wasn't going to worry about them for now. If their guesses were right and they were somehow actually inside his skill, then chances were that it would still be able to fend off the constellations if they tried to attack. It had dealt with 'King Heungmu the Great' pretty well last time, after all.
However, his eyes did widen in surprise when Dionysus mentioned that he wasn't as constrained by probability as other constellations tended to be. On one hand, that could be chalked up to the fact that he was still being evaluated so he didn't have the proper constraints yet. But on the other, if that wasn't what Dionysus meant by that statement, then it would be suspicious.
"That's a good thing, right ahjussi?" Shin Yoosung asked curiously, and Kim Dokja looked down at her hopeful expression. Though he nodded and smiled to reassure her, he wasn't certain that it actually was.
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is looking curiously at the incarnation 'kim dokja'.]
Now that he thought about it, didn't things seem to go well for him too often? At the time, it just seemed like sheer dumb luck or things lining up due to his good planning—Yoo Joonghyuk not immediately murdering him, being able to get the 10:0 contract with Bihyung, the exact item he wanted arriving in his mailbox exactly when he needed it, the random item box, King of No Killing still being available despite Chungmuro's late start, [Cold Resistance] happening to be on the list of Yoo Joonghyuk's skills he could choose from, not instantly dying from the probability storm at the throne, Persephone agreeing to his deal in the first place, actually being able to kill 'Sovereign of Eight Heads'...
There were others, of course, but Kim Dokja wasn't sure how to feel about it. He had never been a lucky person before the apocalypse, after all.
Once he started lining things up, Kim Dokja began to grow suspicious of just how often it had happened. There were so many times when he rightfully should have failed or encountered more trouble, and while it wasn't like he hadn't struggled with some of them, it was still weird that he had succeeded at all.
"Could it be because Dokja-ssi just knows more secrets about how this world works?" Yoo Sangah wondered, glancing over at his pensive expression.
Han Sooyoung shook her head. "If that was true, then I'd be doing about as well as him, but I'm not, so it's probably not what's going on."
That was true—Han Sooyoung and the other Prophets were nowhere near as lucky as he was. While he still couldn't match up to Yoo Joonghyuk's growth, that wasn't a surprise either. The protagonist was in a league of his own when it came to potential, but the fact that Kim Dokja had been able to catch up even as a constellation was downright strange this early in the scenarios.
[the constellation 'maritime war god' is contemplating the words of the constellation 'god of wine and ecstasy'.]
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' dislikes complicated things.]
"Does it really matter?" Yoo Mia asked, cutting through Kim Dokja's contemplation. "They're basically telling ahjussi to join them or die, right?"
"That seems to be the case, yes," Lee Seolhwa muttered worriedly. "And since Dokja-ssi has already created a temporary nebula, they must have realized that he had no intention of joining anyone's side."
That was exactly what had happened.
Kim Dokja wasn't expecting Dionysus to say that he liked his story, though, and he found himself staring at the screen in bafflement. He was just Kim Dokja; his story shouldn't have been interesting enough for anyone to care. He wasn't kind and wise like Yoo Sangah, nor was he powerful and headstrong like Yoo Joonghyuk. Kim Dokja was a character meant to blend into the background, or to merely be a footnote in someone else's story. He wasn't meant to star in one of his own.
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is declaring that she also likes the story of the incarnation 'kim dokja'.]
[several constellations are nodding in agreement.]
"Huh?" Lee Hyunsung asked only a moment later after Dionysus said something that was filtered. "Did… did anyone else understand that?"
Kim Dokja shook his head. "I didn't, but it sounds familiar…"
Where had he heard it again…?
"Oh, that's right," Yoo Sangah exclaimed, her eyes widening. "The messages at the beginning of the scenario mentioned it, didn't they?"
Ah, that was true, wasn't it? It was still just as incomprehensible back then, but the way it was worded… Kim Dokja closed his eyes and thought. Hadn't the message referred to it in a possessive way—almost as though whatever it was had already been achieved?
[the constellation 'scribe of heaven' is getting more suspicious of the hidden scenario.]
[many constellations are confused by the current events.]
Back in Paradise, Heewon utilises the
When they reach a gate at the bottom, the guards push the prisoners into the large and heavily reinforced cell while refusing to go further themselves, running out quickly as though afraid of what's to come.
As Heewon takes off the cloak, she looks around in confusion at how large and dark the cell is, as well as how empty it is, thankful for her [Night Vision] as she wouldn't be able to see without it. As the prisoners begin wondering about food, Heewon takes note of the fact that there aren't any toilets either.
"Huh, it's changing already?" Lee Jihye asked, blinking in surprise. "You can't just do that!"
Kim Dokja clicked his tongue. He also wanted to get more information about what strange things Dionysus was talking about, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice in the matter, either.
"I swear, whoever's running this scenario is a sadist," Jung Heewon muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. Lee Hyunsung looked a little bit sad when she let go of his hand, but Kim Dokja was sure that he'd be fine.
At the very least, they were getting to see just what was going on back in Paradise while all of that was happening. Narrowing his eyes, Kim Dokja did his best to ignore the anxiety in his gut as he watched Jung Heewon try to infiltrate the prison on her own.
As Uriel's incarnation, it was definitely better that it was her than anyone else, but Kim Dokja knew what was down there. Yoo Joonghyuk did too, and Kim Dokja didn't miss his glance over in Jung Heewon's direction. Though he'd never admit it, he was worried as well.
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is cheering on her incarnation.]
Lee Seolhwa frowned as the stairs just kept going down into the darkness. "Keeping people that deep underground can't be good for them; they still need sunlight to get vitamins..."
Kim Dokja almost wanted to laugh. The lack of sunlight was the least of their problems in that hellish place. The tensions seemed to rise as the group of prisoners finally arrived at a single door, deep underground.
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' thinks that this is a lame dungeon.]
Lee Gilyoung scowled as he read the indirect message, but nodded anyway. "Why is there only one?"
"Yeah, it's weird," Lee Hyunsung admitted hesitantly as he watched everyone get pushed into the cell. "Why have a single gigantic cell in the first place? Normally you'd want to keep prisoners in small groups or separated to prevent too much scheming for escape attempts."
"Exactly! And since everyone here is an incarnation, wouldn't it be pointless if one person has a skill good for digging?" Lee Jihye pointed out urgently, her expression brightening up immediately.
Yoo Sangah looked pensive for a moment, but she frowned. "I think what's more worrying is that the guards are running away, but also the fact that the cell was empty when Heewon-ssi and the others arrived. Since people are getting arrested so frequently, it doesn't make sense that no one was in there."
Kim Dokja restrained the urge to suck in a breath. They were getting closer to the answer, but they weren't quite there yet.
"Maybe it's just a temporary holding cell?" Lee Seolhwa wondered for a moment before shaking her head. "No, that doesn't make sense. There isn't anywhere else for the prisoners to go, and if they were only there to wait to be transferred somewhere else, then someone in the city definitely would have seen or heard something from the people being transferred."
[the constellation 'bald leader of the peasant's army' is not liking the current turn of events.]
"Sometimes the simplest answer is the truth," Yoo Joonghyuk stated gruffly as he narrowed his eyes at the screen. "You're overthinking things."
Han Sooyoung glanced over at him as she raised a brow. "Wow, a brute like you knows about Occam's razor?"
Yoo Joonghyuk glanced at her with a frown. "I don't know what you're talking about."
She rolled her eyes. "Right, why the fuck did I raise my expectations again? Whatever."
Though Lee Hyunsung looked a bit confused by Han Sooyoung's words too, he looked at Yoo Joonghyuk after a moment. "Joonghyuk-ssi, what do you mean by that?"
"The answer is obvious."
Joonghyuk-ah, why are you like this?
Kim Dokja sighed and decided to try to salvage things. "What Joonghyuk-ie is trying to say is that everyone is making one big assumption here—that people deemed to be 'criminals' by Paradise are worth keeping alive."
[the constellation 'lily blooming in aquarius' is horrified by this revelation.]
"Wait, is that why there isn't any food or bathrooms in this place?" Jung Heewon gasped, her eyes widening in shock. "They don't expect anyone to live long enough to need it?"
So she did put the pieces together, good. As a grave silence hung over everyone's heads, Kim Dokja glanced around at the various stunned and horrified expressions on everyone's faces. The kids' grips tightened and he held them closer, trying to offer whatever meagre comfort that he could.
Yoo Mia sucked in a breath and glanced over at Jung Heewon nervously. "Will you be okay?"
Though she paused for a moment, Jung Heewon grinned widely. "I'm Uriel's incarnation, I'm not going to be afraid of whatever they have planned."
[many constellations are impressed by the confidence of the incarnation 'jung heewon'.]
Suddenly, she realizes ever since she stepped into this place, her sword began crying out more violently. Her senses going off, she whips her head around to see a wall of glowing red eyes looming eerily in the dark behind several other prisoners. Calling out for everyone to run, she launches herself forwards while drawing her sword. In seconds, the horrific monsters leap onto the nearest incarnations, pinning them to the ground and starting to claw and bite at them.
With the hilt of her sword, Heewon pushes them off the incarnations before easily slicing through their flesh. Just as the people start to thank her for her help, Heewon notices the face of the monster she just killed. Her gaze darting around, she notices that all of the monsters' faces resemble humans that have been altered to horrific levels. A shiver goes down her spine, and reflexively, she rushes further into the darkness.
"Since your sword is crying, there's definitely something wrong," Yoo Sangah muttered shakily. "We have faith in your strength, but please be careful, Heewon-ssi."
"I always am," she replied, but Kim Dokja didn't fail to notice how her hand instinctively found its way back to Lee Hyunsung. Though she was doing her best, she was still nervous, and it made sense. Jung Heewon had gone in there alone, and they didn't even know if she had told the others in advance.
[the constellation 'master of steel' is telling the incarnation 'jung heewon' to watch out.]
"Monsters!" Shin Yoosung yelled as soon as the glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness.
Kim Dokja let out a breath, focusing intently on the screen. Jung Heewon would be able to handle something like this, even if she wouldn't be able to reasonably save every single incarnation there. There were simply too many of them for her to handle at once, especially since her control over her stigma wasn't quite at the level that she could use it in this chaotic of a space without catching someone in the crossfire unintentionally.
Lee Gilyoung clenched his hands into fists. "Why didn't we go too? I want to help noona."
Kim Dokja patted Lee Gilyoung's head. "She only had one cloak, Gilyoung-ah. With any luck, the rest of you will show up sooner rather than later."
It would be hard to signal for backup, but maybe they had a pre-arranged meetup time. Lee Hyunsung was the kind of person who would insist on having a plan like that, and would act the second she was late—of course, that was assuming that she had told them about this plan in the first place. Kim Dokja really hoped that she had.
[several constellations are thrilled by the fight.]
Unfortunately, Jung Heewon happened to notice the faces of the monsters and that meant that everyone else got to clearly see it too.
"Oh god," Lee Seolhwa muttered, horrified. "That's…"
Lee Jihye's shoulders were shaking in anger as she gritted her teeth. "Is that what happened to everyone else? Is that why there was nobody there?"
She looked frantically over at Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk, but they both stayed silent and that was enough of an answer for her. Kim Dokja hated that everyone had to discover the ugliness of even the most peaceful places like this, but it was unavoidable.
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is calling for blood.]
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is expressing his distaste for the current events.]
Don't tell me…
She comes to a stop when she reaches a massive cavern that houses a gigantic tree. In the walls surrounding the flora, more of the demented and grotesque former humans linger, watching her movements. There are so many monsters here that it seems more like the boundary to a Demon Realm than anything else.
This.. this is Paradise?
Though Heewon had come here to save the woman from Geumho Station, she now realizes that the woman has likely already been killed, or worse. Heewon hasn't seen her at all this entire time.
[the constellation 'god of wine and ecstasy' is confused by the appearance of a tree.]
So she had really found it. From this angle, it was truly hard to believe just what that tree actually was, and Kim Dokja found himself feeling even more disgusted than before.
"All this time, there were so many monsters beneath our feet," Lee Hyunsung said angrily, clenching the hand not holding onto Jung Heewon's into a fist. "We need to stop this, no matter what."
Yoo Joonghyuk inclined his head slightly, and Kim Dokja was glad to see that he approved of their stances. More than anyone else, Yoo Joonghyuk knew exactly the kinds of things that would happen in this place, after his last two rounds.
"This is a fucking nightmare," Han Sooyoung mumbled. "Thank fuck I'm far away from here, even if it means spending time with that asshole."
Wow, it wasn't particularly flattering to make it seem like spending time with him was just barely better than a monster-infested underground cave. Truly the greatest compliment that Han Sooyoung could have ever given him.
[the constellation 'queen of the darkest spring' is sighing in disappointment.]
"Dammit," Jung Heewon hissed, grimacing as she stared at the floor. "Why didn't I do something sooner? That poor girl…"
Kim Dokja closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "That girl will have to find something to live for. You can't change the past, Heewon-ssi, and it would have been worse for you to charge in less prepared than this."
"I know that," she snapped before stopping. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I know that, Dokja-ssi, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."
"Let this motivate you to take action sooner in the future," Yoo Joonghyuk told her firmly. "We have not arrived at Paradise yet."
Lee Jihye nodded eagerly. "Master is right! We can get there and burn the place down before that Rain-heart—or whatever his name is—even has the chance to react!"
That was certainly… an idea. Kim Dokja really didn't know how effective it would be, but to be fair, Reinheit probably wouldn't expect someone who had only just arrived to be prepared for an all-out assault on his seemingly peaceful city. An ambush might actually work in their favour.
[many constellations are eager for the chaos.]
The sounds of murmurs from the prisoners who've followed her snap Heewon out of her stupor, quickly turning and yelling for them to stay away. Unfortunately, the monsters move quicker than the incarnations can follow her words, easily tearing many of them to shreds. Setting her sword alight, Heewon draws a line of flame to separate the monsters from the fleeing incarnations.
Absently, she thinks that she shouldn't have come here alone before stopping and reconsidering. It's good that she came alone, because she doesn't want Hyunsung or the children to have to fight against these horrors. Noticing that a monster has stopped behind her, she whirls around ready to fight, when a voice stuns her momentarily before further stirring her fury.
Smiling kindly while standing by the tree, Reinheit speaks as though they're standing in a calm field of flowers and not surrounded by the evidence of acts that definitely go against the Geneva Convention. "You've come, incarnation of the archangel. Are you finally willing to become the guard captain now?"
"Are they stupid? Why did they follow her?" Yoo Mia asked, narrowing her eyes even as she pressed herself closer to her brother.
Kim Dokja let out a sigh. They probably thought that staying near the strongest person there would be the safest option, but in this place, nowhere was safe. In fact, if they stuck too close to Jung Heewon, she would actually struggle more with fighting in order to avoid hitting them too.
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' is tearing his hair out in excitement.]
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is thrilled by the bloodbath.]
"You can do it, unnie!" Shin Yoosung cheered, leaning forward eagerly. Even under these circumstances, Jung Heewon was doing what she could to protect the innocent, even if it might end up futile in the end.
However, as soon as she thought that it was good that she came alone, Lee Hyunsung went rigid. "Heewon-ssi, please don't do that in the future. I would rather be fighting at your side than know that you went into a place like this by yourself."
"We want to help too!" Lee Gilyoung insisted, pouting as he did.
Kim Dokja wanted to contradict what she had done, but honestly, he agreed—when it came to the kids, that is. Even if she had only taken Lee Hyunsung with her and left Lee Jihye to babysit the other two, it would have been a better situation than this. Lee Hyunsung was an adult, and someone she could trust with her back, after all.
"I'll accept Hyunsung-ssi, but not the kids," Jung Heewon said flatly, thankfully thinking the same as Kim Dokja was. "Besides, what if there's something going on up top? We can't guarantee that things won't get chaotic up there too."
Even as Lee Jihye grumbled, she had to admit that they couldn't be sure that Reinheit didn't have some kind of plan that would come into effect the second things started getting bad in the dungeons.
[constellations who like strategy are debating various plans.]
Yoo Sangah looked over at Jung Heewon as well. "I definitely would have helped too, if I was there. We'll all have to go together in our future."
"I agree," Lee Seolhwa said with a smile. "It's best to work as a team."
Kim Dokja felt extremely proud for a moment, but he couldn't focus on that when Reinheit appeared from literally nowhere.
"Oh fuck off," Han Sooyoung hissed. "Shitty-ass demons and their lousy gardening…"
Kim Dokja stared at the screen in bafflement. "Seriously? I didn't think he still had the audacity to ask you something like that, especially under the current circumstances."
"I'd rather die first, you sick fuck," Jung Heewon hissed, looking like she was barely restraining herself from flipping off the demon on the screen. Honestly, Kim Dokja wouldn't have blamed her if she had done it.
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is furious.]
[the constellation 'lily blooming in aquarius' is looking forward to the reckoning at the hands of the incarnation 'jung heewon'.]