{Kim Dokja POV}
[The constellations protest against the excessive filtering.]
[Many constellations’ eyes are shining at the ‘omen.’]
[The constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ is watching the situation with curious eyes.]
[The constellation ‘Secretive Plotter’ is expecting your brilliant strategy.]
The constellations were excited and sent me indirect messages.
The most dangerous situation in the world of Ways of Survival was one where the constellations were partying.
I asked the nervous Jung Minseob, “Was No. 1124 the one who suggested that you gather here today?”
“Huh? I don’t know. We all agreed together…”
I felt clogged up, like someone had fed me ten sweet potatoes. I couldn’t believe things had gone this far.
–Everybody move behind me.
I paid attention the meteorite while protecting them.
–Aren’t we running away?
–We can’t go. If you look behind, you can see a ward.
–Huh? What ward?
I didn’t answer as I stared at the meteorite in the centre of the platform.
[Meteorite] was the main event in the fifth scenario. The danger sleeping inside the meteorite would differ depending on the colour, brightness, size and type. However, the meteorite I was looking at now was one that should never hatch.
They seemed confused because the meteorite that gave the star relic in the third regression was ‘bright red’…
“I wonder what star relic will appear?”
“That…”
Some prophets hadn’t noticed yet and touched the meteorite.
[An omen of the fifth main scenario has appeared.]
Then the message popped up.
“Eh? What is this?”
“Why suddenly the main scenario…”
The surface of the meteorite cracked and a red light poured out. The first thing the light touched was the prophet staring at the meteorite with wonder.
The body of the prophet who lost his head slowly fell to the ground like a broken doll.
“What is going on?!”
The prophets screamed and retreated, but they were already unable to escape the crisis.
I took the party with me as I retreated to the edge and observed the situation. I remembered seeing this type of meteorite in Ways of Survival but it was tricky to know what would come out.
Please, don’t let it be that ‘disaster.’ The meteorite cracked and red lava poured out.
The surrounding platform burned and released a bad smell. Then the temperature of the air rose rapidly and breathing became painful.
The surrounding environment was changing. This… a lava zone? It meant…
[The 5th grade fire dragon species, ‘Lesser Dragon Igneel’ has appeared!]
“Fuck! What? The star relic…?”
Several confused prophets belatedly used skills. However, the meteorite stretched out a long tail and caught a few escaping prophets.
The body of the prophet that caught by the tail suddenly burned up. Some prophets used skills to attack the tail but their weapons started to melt.
“T-This monster…”
The meteorite was at most two metres in length, but the monster crawling out from the gap was over five metres long.
The remainder of the meteorite split apart and a dragon species entered this dimension.
A violent dragon that was just born. Despite being a deteriorated version of a hatchling, a dragon still reigned at the apex of all monsters.
A 6th grade monster could wipe out all the prophets here and this was a 5th grade fire dragon.
“Yoo Jonghyuk-nim!”
Some of the prophets called out to me and all attention was still focused this way.
I frowned. The incident was caused by them yet they wanted me to solve it?
“Get back to the edges.”
Like an obedient puppy, everyone moved to a corner of the platform. The guys who were quick were already running upstairs from the platform. But.
“Shit, there’s a ward!”
The lesser dragon was a ‘disaster.’ In a situation where a disaster appeared, the size of the despair was different. At least, this was the pattern I knew.
Among Yoo Jonghyuk’s numerous regressions, he had definitely faced this guy. At that time he had Cale Henituse group help, but for some reason Cale had a sad look when he saw the dragon. He never told him the reason but at first he tried to talk to the dragon but the lesser dragon keep attacking everything. He murmured and tells everyone to defeat the dragon. Choi Han attack was described as the most effective way to defeat the dragon but they let Yoo Jonghyuk to take the last hit that killed it. I don’t know if Choi Han attack being effective was because the relationship with the Constellation 'First Dragon Slayers'. But if it was the reason, I really wanted it for now. Ha...I don't even know where they are...
I looked at the party members.
–A hidden scenario will soon start.
–Hidden scenario?
–This is a guy who shouldn’t have come out in the fourth scenario. It has an unusual difficulty so there will soon be an intervention.
In order to respond to this disaster, various benefits were needed in the fifth scenario. For example, if the blue meteorite came out…But now we had nothing. Yes, something had to be given to balance us.
[Some constellations are complaining about the unusual scenario difficulty.]
Indeed. The next moment, sparks flew in the air and a small child-like presence appearance.
It wasn’t a low grade dokkaebi like Bihyung. He wore a tidy suit with two little horns on his head. He was an impressive guy with a small lump protruding from his side pocket.
I didn’t know his name but I knew what he was. He was an intermediate dokkaebi.
[Hrmm. This is difficult. How did you guys get this ‘root’? It was only installed recently…]
Once his voice rang out, the movements of the lesser dragon stopped. Indeed, it was possible for an intermediate dokkaebi to intervene in the scenario to this level.
[A disaster woke up in the fourth scenario?]
The emergence of an intermediate dokkaebi meant that the ‘early scenarios’ had almost come to an end.
As long as he took notice of this place, I would barely be able to see the contract benefits with Bihyung.
[Some constellations are poisonous so I can’t spare you… it is also hard to downgrade the difficulty…]
His gaze focused on me.
“But this isn’t right! We haven’t cleared the fourth scenario!” One prophet shouted.
I could see the prophets around him quickly covering his mouth. There was nothing good about yelling at a dokkaebi right now. If you are not Clopeh Sekka, you will never able to change the dokkaebi and you need Cale Henituse to keep Clopeh Sekka craziness in check. That’s why you need to read until the end.
[I have decided. I won’t downgrade the difficulty.]
The prophets glared at the dokkaebi. There was only the sound of breathing. They had read Ways of Survival so they would know.
The dokkaebi couldn’t overturn the laws. But they also knew this.
[Still… it won’t be interesting if you all die this way. I will use my discretion to change the scenario content.]
The dokkaebi was more talkative than I thought.
[The hidden scenario has arrived!]
The lesser dragon started moving again. The red leather-covered paws hit the floor of the platform. I avoided the scattered debris and looked at the scenario that arrived.
+
[Hidden Scenario – United You Die, Scattered You Die]
Category: Hidden
Difficulty: A
Clear Conditions: Within the time limit, hunt down the ‘lesser dragon Igneel’ or survive his attacks.
Time Limit: 20 minutes.
Compensation: 3,000 coins
Failure: Death
Hidden pieces are hidden in this mission.
+
A 20 minute survival mission. From the title to the contents, it was ridiculous.
Lee Hyunsung asked.
–Do we have to hunt him?
–No, don’t even dream about it.
This disaster is a disaster for a reason. Even the real Yoo Jonghyuk couldn’t catch a 5th grade fire dragon without Cale Henituse group in 4th scenario. I looked at the situation on the platform. Flowing flames started pouring out.
The prophets caught in the flames turned to ashes. The walls burned by the flames melted and distorted terribly. He was slowly moving to this side.
“Everyone run counterclockwise!”
I opened my mouth and ran ahead of the rotation direction.
Fortunately, Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung followed me well. Jung Minseob and Lee Sungkook were a bit behind but they still seemed okay.
This time, we avoided it because I knew the pattern. The problem was that this type of attack wouldn’t always occur. But how do we hunt down the dragon with this group, it’s really difficult just to survive.
[The 5th grade fire dragon species, ‘Lesser Dragon Igneel’ is preparing the ‘Flames of Destruction’.]
…It had started. We somehow avoided the general attack but the crisis came now.
“Look for a foothold.”
“Yes?”
“Number 5… or 2 and 3! Anyway, just quickly find something that adds up to 5!”
[A hidden piece is activated.]
[Numerical footholds are activated.]
[Once the appropriate number of people enters the foothold, ‘Absolute Shield’ can be activated in 10 seconds.]
[Absolute Shield won’t activate when the number on the foothold is exceeded.]
The prophets all heard this system message. At the same time, footholds the size of two pyeong appeared all over the station.
“Footholds? Ah, right!”
“There is a hidden piece!”
I looked at the moving prophets and bit my lips. The giggling constellations reflected in my eyes. Why did many constellations protest against the difficulty of the scenario?
It was simple. There was no fun in a story with ‘only death.’ They didn’t want ants being trampled by a giant. These guys wanted the ants to fight back to survive. In order to live, the ants would even bit at their kin. It really makes me angry and wish that they would be cursed by Cale Henituse group fanatical followers.
[Many constellations are watching the situation with excited eyes.]
Damn constellation scum. I’ll laugh at you when you meet with those fanatics and meet your doom. I hope they will brutally cursing at you.
The prophets, who had called each other’s numbers in a friendly manner, now wielded their weapons against each other to fight over the footholds with the number ‘1.’ Some prophets collapsed bleeding as they approached a foothold.
The swift prophets were already stepping on the footholds, strengthening their alertness.
I kept an eye on them. Someone had clearly planned this trap. Maybe they were the apostles.
They knew the prophets would gather here and decided to use this opportunity to wipe out those who stopped reading early. It was a good idea. No matter how trivial the information, the fewer who knew the future, the better. Right, it was reasonable to stop the prophets from messing with the story. What they were doing now would makes it harder to find Cale Henituse group. Someone seems to knew about what happened to Yoo Jonghyuk when he was searching for them and they want to find them too. I think the one who found them first would have a chance for surviving safely without any problems.
Usually, the apostles would be laughing at the prophets from far away. If they were ‘ordinary’ people.
Those who read more than 50 chapters of a boring novel weren’t normal. They called themselves apostles and were greedy enough to control information.
‘If they were intelligent enough to use the red meteor as a trap, wouldn’t they know how to overcome the disaster?’
If I was like this…
–Representative-nim! There is no foothold.
–There is nothing here!
Jung Heewon and Jung Minseob cried out urgently. There were no footholds in the place where out party was located.
–Oh, there is one here! But…
The foothold that was barely found had an ominous number. Four. In other words, only four people could survive on that foothold. But our party had five people.
[The 5th grade fire dragon species, ‘Lesser Dragon Igneel’ is using the ‘Flames of Destruction’.]
A huge spark started from the centre of the platform and started to spread throughout the station.
It was a lesser dragon’s full attack skill. The heat was enough to burn my skin despite being so far away. If the shield wasn’t activated now, my party would be destroyed.
“R-Representative-nim?”
Lee Sungkook and Jung Minseob trembled as they met my gaze. I grasped the handle of Unbroken Faith.
At that moment.
“Yoo Jonghyuk-nim!”
I looked back and saw one prophet. The number ‘2’ was written on his foothold. Despite the urgent situation, this man still looked relaxed.
“Come this way!”
This guy…? A few memories passed by quickly. I ran towards him while shouting at the people behind him.
“Activate the shield!”
[Absolute Shield is activated!]
Then the flames burned everything on the platform. If it had touched me just a little bit then I would’ve melted.
“Sigh… I’m glad.”
The man who triggered the shield at breathtaking timing sighed with relief. I asked him, “Who are you?”
The man laughed lightly. “I’m disappointed. Have you already forgotten? I am No. 1168. About Asmodeus…”
I remembered. He was the one who spoke to me about Demon King Asmodeus.
“That isn’t my question.”
The eyes of No. 1168 shook.
I hadn’t thought about it before.
The scene of the confrontation between Demon King Asmodeus and Yoo Jonghyuk. To be precise, the second regression Yoo Jonghyuk was one-sidedly beaten by the demon king.
It was a scene I remembered because I really liked it. However… this recollection didn’t appear before chapter 50. I could say it with certainty as the full reader of Ways of Survival.
I pulled out my blade and opened my mouth.
“I will ask you again. Who are you?”
[Due to the effect of your exclusive attribute, the memory effect of some scenes have increased.]
The story of Demon King Asmodeus appeared exactly in chapter 57 of Ways of Survival. A crack started to spread in this man’s relaxed expression.
The self-styled No. 1168 looked at the flames beyond the shield and asked,
“My identity? What are you talking about suddenly…?”
“Have you forgotten? I have Sage’s Eyes.”
In fact, this guy’s information wasn’t available to me.
[The exclusive skill, Character List is activated.]
[The information of this person can’t be read in ‘Character List.’]
[This person isn’t registered in ‘Character List.’]
What was the difference between an updated person and a non-updated person? I still didn’t know the exact reason why.
But whatever the reason was, deceiving this person wasn’t difficult. It was because he believed I was Yoo Jonghyuk.
“…I didn’t think Yoo Jonghyuk-nim would notice.”
“You are an apostle. Right?”
“That’s right. You already knew it.”
The fact that he said it so easily meant there were ulterior motives.
“This is a trap. Is it because of the Butterfly Effect?”
“Haha, that’s right.”
I wondered if my words were funny as No. 1168 smiled and looked at the other people around.
“If there are a lot of flying butterflies, unnecessary storms will happy.”
The prophets who couldn’t find a foothold were melting like moths in the midst of the flames. The terrible screams and the information they knew disappeared into dust. It was the price they paid for trying to obtain a star relic without the proper information.
“You are killing the larvae before they become butterflies.”
“The larvae that are about to become pupa are the easiest to kill.”
The fierce heat died down and the chemical reactions in the surrounding area were subsiding. The Absolute Shield was soon turned off.
[After one minute, the positions of the footholds will be recreated.]
The hidden scenario would end when footholds appeared 10 times and they survived the attacks. We had just passed one so there were nine left.
I tried pressing against the shield with my feet. The heat was high but it was enough to endure.
–Representative-nim!
I waved my hand to stop those running from afar. Now wasn’t the time to take care of them.
–The attack patterns are familiar so please learn them and avoid them on your own. I can’t take care of you right now.
The party members noticed something strange and stopped moving. In a situation where the power of the apostles wasn’t clear, it was dangerous to drag them with me.
No. 1168 looked at me and said, “This isn’t like what I saw in the Book of Revelations. Is this really your third regression?”
“Shut up. Where did you get off?”
“Hrmm? You would know if you checked it yourself.”
“I like a person who is the same on the outside. I can’t make a deal with a person who has two different sides.”
The apostles’ eyes widened. “How interesting.”
“There must be a reason why you would so easily identify yourself.”
The tail of the lesser dragon flew through the air and struck the spot where we were. It was easy for me to avoid it with my over level 30 agility. However, No. 1168’s astute movements were amazing.
I triggered Calm Observation that I got from Theatre Dungeon. It was a skill I saved for those who Character List didn’t work on.
His perspiration, speed, breathing interval… The sum of his physical body stats was around 49~50. It was a significant level among the prophets I had seen.
I moved behind him and he opened his mouth. “I’ll formally greet you. I’m No. 1195. Among the apostles, I am the 5th Apostle.”
The number of views for Ways of Survival’s first chapter was 1,200. If he was 1,195, he was among the top five of the latest people to stop reading. Then he knew about the ‘red meteorite.’
“What is your purpose? “Do you also need my help?”
“Huhu. To save Yoo Jonghyuk-nim… what would you say to that?”
"It is more plausible than the lie about mosquitos becoming butterflies."
“Indeed, you have Lie Detection.”
He licked his dry lips. Should I do it now?
…No. A little bit more. Just listen a bit more.
“However, I’m not lying about my desire to save Yoo Jonghyuk-nim. Things would be difficult if you die here. The revelations will be greatly ruined.”
“You knew I was coming.”
“We discovered it a few hours ago. Therefore, we hurriedly revised the plan.”
There were sparks and a few more prophets near us died. There were still those who were hanging on. It was like they knew the patterns of the lesser dragon. I kept an eye on those people. I’m thinking about the best way from this situation.
“Originally, we had no plans to participate. If only you Yoo Jonghyuk-nim wasn’t here.”
“So?”
“Don’t you already know the answer?”
__________________________________________
At Gyeongbokgung Station.
“It’s very vexing that we can’t follow them.”
“That’s right, but I also don’t want to be their burden. What will you do if you cause them any injury? How can we cause any scar on their divine bodies. I stop washing my hands because I shake my hand with them.”
“I even put my jacket in a save place because they pat my shoulder when I trained.”
“If I was stronger, maybe I can follow and try to protect them.”
"Right, I also will kill myself if I caused any stains on their white robe priest uniforms. I don’t have enough strength and coins like the main members of CRSF. I need to get much stronger and kill all the ugly things that have a possibility for even staining their clothes with a little bit of dust."
Suddenly all the fans realize something and started to have a burning motivation. They started training themselves and some of the male survivors feel like they need to leave Gyeongbokgung Station and went to another place for their mental health.
<to be continue>
Author’s note: The power of 'belief' is really awesome and everyone could have it. So I will upload some pictures to help you feel the fans feeling.
https://pin.it/2GLZW3F
https://pin.it/7ivMplD
https://pin.it/2OUl3eY
Thank you for reading, votes and comments. I hope you enjoy the story and have a nice day. GBU.