Cale group started to go to Seongsu Station, it usually takes about 42 minutes walking from Cheongdam-dong. But now they’re walking with group of hundreds peoples with monsters that could appear any time.
The fans are following to Cale every word like a child who always follow their parents every word and keep running to Yeongdong Bridge.
Some of them whispered to the other fans.
“Cale-nim is really awesome, he still so calm and elegant even in this kind of apocalyptic situation. I think my love grows bigger than before.”
“I know how you feels, but I think my love for Alberu-nim is bigger than before. His smile really calms me down and I feel that he’s radiating a ray of hope that helps me from the despair.”
“I think that Choi Han innocent smile was the thing that we need in this apocalyptic situation.”
“Clopeh-nim calm manner really makes me feel safe.”
“Mary-nim really a kindhearted person, she asked if I had eaten and giving me some food when I said I haven’t.”
Their discussion continues in small voice while still moving forward to follow Cale group.
Cale and Alberu look at Mary that using her large black robe that covers most of her body. After the first scenario, the dark veins that popped out all over her body, from face to toe, like black spider webs and the scar on her left arm was reappearing so she turned into her usual black robe appearance.
“Are you alright Mary?”
“I’m okay Young master-nim. I think I can use my power to help us to fight.”
“Don’t work too hard, you don’t need to overworked yourself until you get sick. Do it in moderation.”
Cale stop talking and listening to the wind elementals voice.
•Cale, there’s a monster coming from the left. It’s getting closer quickly.
•The corpses of the humans around this area started to moving and they were getting closer with us.
•Chaos, Destruction, Purification. Let’s destroy and purified the death.
-Kahahaha... let’s shows them the sea of fire.🔥
Cale quickly told everyone about the approaching dangers.
“Don’t worry Cale-nim I’ll destroy all of it so you don’t need to use your power.”
“Kekeke..., I’ll become a part of Cale-nim legends.”
“I can use Taerang now so you don’t have to fight Dongsaeng.”
“Don’t worry Young master-nim, I think I could try to purified the zombie.”
-It's karma. Karma. 🪨
With a sigh Cale said “Ha..., I’m really okay and I got stronger than before so I can also fight.”
“No, you just need to check the situations around us and the route to the Seongsu Station. We need to move quickly before the time limits run out.”
Cale decided not to argue with them because of their expression are quite vicious. Clopeh’s green eyes were shining like morning dew on a green leaf soaked in sunlight giving him goosebumps so he decided to ignore him.
Alberu shoot the monster that came closer with Taerang as soon as it appeared and killed the monster. It was a perfect example of head shot with the bullet pierced the monster eye and exploded to cause it instant death.
[You are the First to have successfully hunted a grade 7 species.]
[You have earned 3,000 coins as an achievement reward.]
Choi Han was keeping the rear of the group while sometimes attacking the zombie that came closer.
Mary two hands that were covered by the robe poked out. Her hands were covered in spiderweb-like black threads. Black threads started to flow out of her hands. Everything that had been covering the monster became wrapped up in the black threads and disappeared. Finally, only the monster's bones were left behind.
“I’m finished.” Said Mary in her GPS like voice.
It was at that moment. The fans watched as the large skeleton slowly stood up. The skeleton was like dinosaurs fossil, it was around 6 meters. It gave off a sense of pressure as everybody needed to look up at it.
[Some constellations are surprised by your skills. ]
[Some constellations are curious about your skills. ]
[Some constellations are thinking about wanting to be your sponsor. ]
[The constellations that rules death admired your skills.]
[Some constellations ask you about your attribute.]
[Some constellations are wary about your skills. ]
[Some constellations feel pressured at your skills. ]
.......
[1500 coins have been sponsored.]
“I’ve gathered one monster.”
“Yes.”
‘Gathered what?’
Everyone, including the Dokkaebi and Constellations feel that they listening to something ridiculous but it really happens in front of them.
“We need to increase the number of our soldiers as much as possible and we also can use it for transportation for those who have low stamina. We will move quickly and reach the destination quicker.”
They arrived at the Yeongdong Bridge and see the bridge had collapsed. The Han River was red with the body of soldiers, while among the fallen buildings, a monster was trampling on a K1 tank like it was a toy.
They saw a monster that look like giant sea serpent were eating the wreckage of a fighter jet that had crashed into the Han River.
One of the sea serpent monster looked into this direction.
“U-Uwaaah! It’s coming!”
Some of the fans screamed with fright.
“Don’t worry it will be ok.”
Their friends quickly calm them.
“If you still afraid just look at Cale-nim, Alberu-nim, Clopeh-nim, Choi Han-nim or Mary-nim. Trust me that you will full of hope and try your best to survive and watch them closely.”
That word strangely burns the spirit of the fans and also calm them down.
The monster came closer and there’s two other monsters started to get closer too.
“Choi Han. Kill it cleanly. ”
“Yes, Cale-nim.”
Choi Han run to the river bank then he kicked off the ground jumping to the direction of the monster.
The fans could not help but gasp.
Choi Han was flying.
The black-haired young man flying as he jump to the monster that approached them. His sword was covered by a black aura that was shooting up into the sky.
Choi Han swing his sword horizontally at the monster.
His sword was moving slowly, albeit with a significant amount of strength. The sword move from left to right. Then the monster head cleanly cut and fell down. He also did the same thing to the two other monsters.
[You are the First to have successfully hunted a group of grade 7 species.]
[You have earned 5,000 coins as an achievement reward.]
Mary walked to the river bank and she does the same thing as she did to the monster that now turned into black skeleton monster. The skeletons of the monsters stood up without a head and picked up the skull and placed it back in the proper location as black threads tied the two parts together.
While everything happened Clopeh was recording everything using the automatic video storage device he had in his spacial pocket and the fancafes and fanclubs high rank members were recorded everything with the video cameras that given by Clopeh when they were distributing the weapons.
The fans are very excited about Clopeh request.
“We should show the other about their (Cale group) exploits. We should share this with all the of the fans members. We should show them that it was a greatest blessing that we know about Cale-nim and the other great exploits.”
“That’s right, I feel like they are my reasons to live in this world. I only need to appreciate their beauty, kindness and their everything and it will give me the strength to live.”
“I have faith that our Cale-nim is greater than a God. With those powers and kindness and also that beauty that will make the God of beauty jealous. Beside we can interact with them directly like this, so they are much better than a God.”
“What we’re watching now makes those action movies look like a trash.”
The Dokkaebi feels really helpless with the views in front of him.
They really doing whatever they want.
____________________________________________
{Kim Dokja POV}
It would be quite a ludicrous sight if anyone else saw it. A large adult man was being grabbed by the neck and hanging like a monkey.
I could see Lee Hyunsung looking this way from across the bridge. His expression was anxious but he couldn’t actually see what was going on here. It was due to the safety ward. I could see over there but they couldn’t see here.
“Name.”
“What?”
“What is your name?”
Look at this indifferent way of talking, just like a main character. But it wasn’t good to provoke him here.
“Kim Dokja.”
“A strange name.”
“I’ve heard that a lot.”
At this moment, my stomach sank in and felt turned inside out as Yoo Jonghyuk’s fist hit it.
“…Ugh.”
Despite having skin that a knife bounced off, the attack was very painful.
“You have a solid body. Have you already mastered the use of coins?”
“It is the same with you…”
Bam. There was a hit to my stomach again. I barely managed to swallow back a groan.
This guy, the level of his strength was at least 15. It was at this scale despite only one main and one sub scenario occurring.
Indeed, natural born monsters were different.
“Stop the unnecessary answer. Only answer what I ask from now on. Understood?”
I didn’t answer. I thought maybe this might happen. However, this was the worst situation that I desperately hoped would never happen.
In the beginning, Yoo Jonghyuk was more intimidating than any other figure.
His personality had worn out after going through regression three times. His principles were cut away in order to maintain his sense of self. The current Yoo Jonghyuk would never hesitate for the sake of his purpose.
“Your answer?”
“…I will.”
“Use honorifics.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
This time, I raised both hands to block the fist. The pain felt like my bones had broken but the shock was dissipated. Yoo Jonghyuk’s eyes widened like he was a bit surprised.
[The character ‘Yoo Jonghyuk’ is on guard against you.]
Then it didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to be a punching bag just because he was the main character.
“I’m sorry but you are younger than me, pro gamer Yoo Jonghyuk-ssi. Therefore, you should be the one using honorifics.”
“…You know me?”
“I know. I am the employee of a game company.”
It was a lie. Even if I worked for a game company, it was impossible to memorize the names of all professional gamers. In addition, until recently, ‘Yoo Jonghyuk’ was just a character in a novel.
“You are famous. At one time, I was a fan.”
Being famous was just a setting of the plot. However, it wasn’t a lie that I was a ‘fan.’
I liked, hated, grumbled and cheered Yoo Jonghyuk on. That’s why I stuck with Yoo Jonghyuk for over 3,000 chapters.
“Fan. I haven’t heard that in a long time.”
Yoo Jonghyuk had a look of nostalgia in his eyes, like he was locked in his memories. However, it was only for a moment.
“I’ll forgive your impudence this time. But your situation hasn’t changed.”
“I can see that.”
I looked down at my two legs swaying over a blank space.
“I have only one thing I want to ask.”
“Ask.”
“How did you survive on the subway?”
It was the question I expected.
“Will you spare me if I answer?”
“I’ll see.”
It was a lie. I could tell just by looking at his face. I was the only reader of Ways of Survival. Numerous possible repertoires were simulated in my head. What could I say to convince this damn regressor?
[Your understanding of the character ‘Yoo Jonghyuk’ is increasing.]
[Your understanding of this person is already very high.]
…Huh?
[The conditions of use for the exclusive skill ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ stage 2 has been reached!]
[Do you want to activate the exclusive skill?]
Then after a moment, I was able to read someone’s thoughts like a waterfall in my head.
「 Only Lee Hyunsung and Kim Namwoon should’ve survived in that carriage.」
「 Yet Kim Namwoon died and the others survived. 」
「 How did you survive? 」
「 Who the hell is this guy? 」
「 Dig up information. Then if I find any disturbing elements… Kill. 」
A dense flicker of thoughts.
It was obviously a crisis situation but I couldn’t prevent the corners of my mouth from going up.
The time remaining until the scenario ended was 5 minutes.
I started the story. I told the story using as much concise, short and accurate vocabulary as possible.
It was from the first moment the ‘dokkaebi’ appeared in the subway to the end of the first scenario. Of course, I excluded the skills I got and any important issues.
“…You cleared the scenario by killing insects?”
“We were lucky.”
Yoo Jonghyuk was so surprised he seemed to have forgotten that his mouth was open.
「 The future has completely changed. 」
He was shocked. Originally, the people in carriage 3807 would kill each other in a battle royale, with only Lee Hyunsung and Kim Namwoon surviving.
“You have keen eyes. How did you know there were insects in the carriage?”
Killing Intent filled Yoo Jonghyuk’s eyes as thoughts brushed through my head.
「 Is this guy also a regressor? 」
「If so, I have to kill him right now. 」
A person who commits a fault thinks that everyone speaks of it.
I wasn’t surprised that he misunderstood me. I quickly opened my mouth.
“An explosion.”
“Explosion?”
“I was able to find an insect due to an explosion from the carriage in front.”
Yoo Jonghyuk’s body stopped at these words.
“Explain it in a simpler manner.”
“When the explosion occurred, a kid fell and dropped his insect collecting net. I picked it up by chance.”
“…It is a suspicious coincidence.”
“Coincidences are always suspicious. If you don’t believe me, ask the people beyond the ward. The boy standing there dropped the net.”
Beyond the safety barrier on the way to Oksu Station, people were looking over at this side. The scenario wasn’t over yet so they couldn’t approach or talk to us.
Yoo Jonghyuk looked over but showed no signs of moving. His eyes changed and memories that seemed to belong to Yoo Jonghyuk crossed my mind.
「 I see. 」
「 Explosion. 」
「This guy isn’t a regressor. 」
「He isn’t the one who changed the future. Rather, the future changed…」
「 Because of me. 」
I saw people dying painfully in a powerful explosion and Yoo Jonghyuk blankly watching it.
「 It is because I started killing them, unlike the other turns. 」
Due to the impact of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, I could feel Yoo Jonghyuk’s mental pain and suffering.
“Are your questions over?”
“…Yes.”
“Then can you let me go? And let’s go to Oksu together. There isn’t much time remaining to clear the scenario.”
‘It is difficult.”
However, a protagonist was a protagonist for a reason.
“Everything you said makes perfect sense.”
I have never seen a protagonist as careful as Yoo Jonghyuk.
「 A beginner can’t be so calm. 」
「He is abnormally well-adjusted to this changed world. 」
「He probably killed Kim Namwoon. 」
「 He has gone beyond being useful to being dangerous. 」
Yoo Jonghyuk’s right eye started shining with a gold colour. I quickly realized what he was doing. In fact, it would be weird if this guy didn’t use ‘that.’
Sage’s Eyes. Yoo Jonghyuk’s strongest detection skill. Sage’s Eyes was the SS-grade skill that showed the target’s attributes window as well as hidden information.
As long as he used it, I couldn’t avoid revealing my identity. On the other hand, I thought it was a good thing.
I still didn’t know my ‘attribute’ and ‘skills’. If Yoo Jonghyuk discovered my information, I would also be able to know about myself. Then hopefully, I would be able to use the information I learned to escape this situation.
[The exclusive skill, ‘Fourth Wall’ is activated!]
[Fourth Wall has detected the use of the detection skill Sage’s Eyes!]
Sparks flew in the air and Yoo Jonghyuk’s body staggered.
「…Kuk, what? 」
Yoo Jonghyuk covered his right eye and watched me with confusion.
“You…what is your identity?”
I’m sorry but I was wondering the same thing.
[The exclusive skill Fourth Wall has blocked Sage’s Eyes!]
I didn’t know that I had a skill that would defend against Sage’s Eyes. After Bookmark, it was Fourth Wall.
This complicated things. Yoo Jonghyuk wouldn’t believe me now.
「 I must kill him here. 」
He was a person who didn’t trust what he didn’t know.
“Yoo Jonghyuk.”
Then I also need to change plans.
“You need a reliable companion.”
“…What do you mean?”
“You can’t break through the 46th scenario alone. Shouldn’t you be well aware of it?”
Yoo Jonghyuk’s eyes narrowed.
“How do you know this? Perhaps you―”
“It doesn’t matter how I am.”
I stared straight into Yoo Jonghyuk’s eyes and said.
“The important thing is that I can help you.”
「 He isn’t a regressor. If he was a regressor, I wouldn’t be unware of him. 」
「 Then who is this person? 」
「 …Perhaps? 」
If I couldn’t hide my hand and if I didn’t possess the best hand, then there was only one way out. It was to show a hand that would make the other person misunderstand.
“Yoo Jonghyuk, I know the future that you don’t know.”
[The character ‘Yoo Jonghyuk’ has used the ‘Lie Detection’ skill.]
[Lie Detection has confirmed that your words are the truth.]
Yoo Jonghyuk’s eyes slowly widened.
“…How?”
“How else?”
「 No way. There was a prophet other than Anna Croft? It is also in South Korea? 」
Prophet. In Ways of Survival, it was the only attribute that could see the future and had the passive of ‘nullifying all detection skills.’ In fact, only one person had the attribute of ‘prophet’ in the world of Ways of Survival.
「 Only a prophet can defend against my Sage’s Eyes. 」
I didn’t answer and Yoo Jonghyuk bit his lips.
“Can you perhaps use ‘Future Sight’?”
“It is something similar.”
“You knew I would come here.”
“Yes.”
「 I see. If this man is a prophet, all his actions are convincing. 」
The flow was changing. Yoo Jonghyuk’s fluctuation was conveyed straight away. This was the only chance.
“I know that Yoo Jonghyuk has special powers. You also know things about the future. Isn’t that right?”
“…”
“But that knowledge is never perfect.”
The only weakness of a regressor.
It meant that the future changed when they used their information of the future. In other words, all those who regressed would eventually live in a ‘world they don’t know.’
“Make me your companion. I can fill in the parts you are missing.”
There was no companion as good as a ‘prophet’ to the present Yoo Jonghyuk. In fact, my present self could play a role similar to a prophet. It was because I was the only reader of this story.
[There is one minute to the end of the scenario.]
Yoo Jonghyuk bowed his head and started to think.
「 A prophet will certainly be helpful. 」
[There are 50 seconds left to complete the scenario.]
「Not just the 46th scenario, but later when fighting the ‘chalatustra.’ But… can I really believe him? 」
[There are 40 seconds left to the end of the scenario.]
「 Companion. 」
Finally, Yoo Jonghyuk raised his head as I stared at the clock with an irritated heart.
“I have decided. I will make you my companion.”
[Excessive immersion has severely worn out your mental strength.]
[Exclusive skill, Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint has been turned off.]
I wasn’t sure if it was due to fatigue or relief but the exclusive skill was released. Now Yoo Jonghyuk’s face was as difficult as a philosophy book with no commentary written.
Yoo Jonghyuk started to take me across the ‘Even Bridge.’ Of course, I was still held by the collar but…I thought things would be all right now. I persuaded this damn regressor and was in a good position.
We had almost crossed the Even Bridge and were right in front of the safe area when Yoo Jonghyuk suddenly stopped.
“I will ask you one last thing.”
“What?”
“If you are really a prophet, you should know your future. Isn’t that right?”
The moment I saw Yoo Jonghyuk’s serene eyes, goosebumps broke out. His test wasn’t over yet. The grip holding my collar tightened.
His hand raised me up a little bit and a gentle wind passed by my feet. Underneath me was completely empty.
The smell of blood mixed in with the smell of Han River as the ichthyosaurs jumped towards their prey with open mouths.
“Will I let go of this hand or won’t I?”
For the first time, I started sweating. Let me think. Even without his thoughts, I knew this guy more than anyone else. I closed my eyes and thought about Yoo Jonghyuk.
[There are 20 seconds left to the end of the scenario.]
Then I came to a conclusion.
“Yoo Jonghyuk.”
I was certain about what he would do. No matter how I thought about it, there was no other ending when it came to Yoo Jonghyuk.
I talked as I watched a sea commander approaching in the water.
“I will tell you two things first.”
“…What?”
“One, I’m not your subordinate. So I hope you will treat me fairly from now on.”
“…”
“Two, I will cooperate with you but you also have to promise to cooperate with me.”
Yoo Jonghyuk looked at me with interest and nodded.
“Well, what is your answer?”
I replied with a smile. “Get your hand off me and get lost, you damn jerk.”
Then the power holding me disappeared. I was grabbed by the force of gravity. I saw Yoo Jonghyuk’s face as I was falling. Yoo Jonghyuk was smiling brightly like something made him happy.
Son of a bitch.
“I believe you. You are definitely a prophet.”
Waiting for me at my crash point was the mouth of the giant sea commander.
I closed my eyes from the shock of the impact along with the cold water of Han River. As I sucked in a breath, a warm and enormous darkness swallowed me up.
[You have failed to clear the scenario.]
<to be continue>
Author's note: I really hope that I could publish 2-4 chapters every week, but I can’t promise it because of the problem that suddenly popped up. If I have 2-3 hours I'll try to upload the next chapter. I hope you enjoy the story.