(ง•̀ᗝ•́)ง
⏤ ⏤ ✎ .ೃ 𝖻𝗅𝗈𝗈𝖽𝗒 𝗀𝗋𝖾𝖾𝗇 𝗓𝗈𝗇𝖾𝗌 .
"well.. it's a little embarrassing to say.. but a number of the people here are reliant on jihye and (name)-ssi to provide for us. the two of them hunts monsters then asks either yoo junghyuk-ssi or (name)-ssi to cook them."
the young man responded to hyeonseong's question. he was busy writing the information down on a notepad, causing (name) and dokja to deadpan.
"then what about water? drinking water?"
"we make trades with the landlord coalition using food and coins." (name) responds this time. dokja turned his head to face the her, surprised. "the landlord coalition?"
"you guys can go ahead. i'll catch up with you guys later." (name) announced, checking her weapons. that left the others dumbfounded. "where are you going? i- we just found you! how will-"
(name) looks up once again, a small smile on her face. "it's okay. i won't be gone long, like i said, i'll catch up with you guys later." dokja was skeptical, but reluctantly let her go. helping the unconscious woman up his back, (name) left walking the opposite direction from where they were heading.
once they were out of sight, she hopped down to the train tracks. activating one of her skills, eyes of truth¹. a rectangular screen popped up, covering her eyes slightly, acting as glasses.
(name) scanned her surroundings, hoping to find the glowing book her constellation indirectly asked her to find. there was three different items in south korea, and the book was at chungmuro station. unless she finds it here, the location and what the item is remains unknown.
"where the fuck are you? it's a literal glowing book and i can't fucking find it!" (name) muttered to herself angrily. trying to make an effort to calm herself, she brought her two hands to the side of her face, and pushed them towards her cheeks, slapping herself. "the more i fucking whine, the less time i get to find it."
using the skill she activated earlier, she once again scanned the entire tunnel. in a distance, they picked up something glowing. with widened eyes, she ran to it, hoping to finally find the damned book.
when she got to it, she crouched down and extended her hand to grab it. the glowing book made a tingly sound before being forcefully stuck to (name)'s right hand.
a window popped up in front of her face.
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you have obtained the 'agathokakological' [item]
it is a rare item, only useful when the 'rame' is in possession.
it is one of the three items belonging to the constellation, the fallen angel of light.
[you have earned 3,500 coins.]
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"what the fuck-"
my dear (name), you have successfully obtained the glowing book, the 'agathokakological'! brilliant, hm by the way, what colour was the book when it was glowing? blue? green? red, perhaps?
"purple. it was a light shade of purple. why?" (name) responded in her head, wondering why her constellation was asking about the colour.
purple? oh my, that's new. purple hasn't been seen for quite sometime.. why you ask? well, the glowing colour of the items you find defines where you stand in terms of strength, stamina, and so on. there are four colours. yellow, blue, green, and red. yellow is the lowest, meaning you're considerably weak in your overall stats.
meaning the player either found the item by chance, or stole it. blue and green are average, though blue is lower and green is higher for some reason. red is the highest known level ever written down. that was before black was discovered, and noted down. though, it's extremely rare for someone to get black regardless of how much they've improved.
"then what did you get?" (name) decided to jog back to the station, feeling a slight uncomfortable feeling. she felt as if something bad was about to happen.
oh, my dear. the very first time i even got my hands on any of the three items that are now scattered throughout south korea, was blue. i wasn't very skilled then. but moving forward, it slowly changed to green, then red, and now black. i'm the only one who got the colour, hence why i was named, the 'fallen angel of light'.
my family was disappointed, and thought that black symbolised something bad, and thus threw me out. but it was quite the opposite actually. so, i don't think the colour purple is bad, i just don't know much of it. i don't think i remember anyone, who even touched any of the three items of mine, ever gotten a purple glow. so don't worry, i'll still continuously try my best to help my heiress, cho (name).
(name) smiled warmly, grateful she chose the right constellation. but her smile disappeared as fast as it appeared. the moment she reached the station, her heart started beating fast. and she felt anxious and worried.
spotting the staircase dokja and the others used to go up, she rushed up only to find most of the people who usually surrounds the used-to-be-bathrooms scattering away and keeping a distance. she spotted gilyeong, the group, as well as the private property of someone who claims to be gong pildu.
"gilyeong!" (name) was about to rush over to him when sangah held her back. "hold on! the property is expanding!"
true to her words, it expanded up til where she stood. sangah then let go of her former colleague's, causing her to rush over to gilyeong. "sangah, look after huiwon for me." with that, dokja too, entered the red marked private property.
realising two shadows casted above him, the crouched man looked up, only to see (name) and dokja. "oh? you must be his parents. then why don't you.. pay me five hundred coins instead? could split between you two, of course."
as the man got up, gilyeong rushed in between the two, gripping onto (name)'s hand and dokja's right leg. (name) still had her usual stoic expression, though her eyes tell a different story.
the land scaled down to just in front of the three. "why are you collecting coins from people? isn't chungmuro station a public facility?" dokja spoke up.
"haha, it was. until eight days ago. but not anymore." man, this guy sucks in being scary. widening your eyes don't mean a single thing, you dipshit. still glaring at the man, (name) decided to speak up, wanting to get this over with. "fine, i'll pay. so bring me to the man himself, hm?"
the man was dumbfounded. "what?"
"you're not gong pildu." dokja answered, glancing at (name) slightly before calling out to the actual gong pildu. "dokja, you're gonna trespass the property- ah, forget it." her words didn't reach him fast enough as he stepped onto private property. he continued calling out for the man, completely ignoring that the machine guns pointing at him.
"stop right there." dokja halted in his steps. "take another step, and you're dead."
"i haven't seen you around here before. " of course you haven't. i rarely even see you get up and move. are you glued to the bench? "you've got quite the nerve. especially you, cho (name). i always wondered why you like to isolate yourself with that hunter."
(name) lazily turned around, staring right into the real gong pildu. "i don't no shit problem with that."
"why should i be nervous when i'm just here to do what needs to be done?" the raven answered after (name). she decided to walk over to the raven, making sure gilyeong was safely in the hands of hyeonseong. feeling her presence next to him, dokja didn't hesitate to intertwine their hands, lightly squeezing it.
upon hearing his reply, pildu slammed the magazine he was previously reading on the bench and sat upright , scoffing. "a smartass, i see. don't get too cocky. so, what business do you have with me? it doesn't feel like you're here to just pay me." he asked, entirely directing the question to dokja.
nothing, i'm actually just here to pay you. i don't want to stick around here any longer.
"you better not have any crazy ideas, if you know what i mean." pildu eyed the sword in dokja's left hand carefully. eyeing the man suspiciously, both dokja and (name) turned around, realising that their group was surrounded by possibly pildu's men.
dokja's hands rose, as well as the one intertwined with (name)'s. she cursed under her breath, before lifting her free hand. "now, now. what else would a tenant want from a landlord?"
"how do you know yu junghyuk?"
"he is a companion of mine. we have been through life and death on our own." with a deadpanned look on her face, she blocked out the whole conversation, leaning her head on the raven's shoulder. it was a clear lie, as (name) was junghyuk's actual companion. but she didn't care as much to correct him.
she snapped back to reality when dokja started moving, turning back to pildu in confusion. "wait, you two. where do you think you're going? you still need to pay me."
dokja tried to bargain, but the moment pildu casually said die, (name) was pushed behind dokja, as hyeonseong came to their aid and shielded them. "dokja, (name). i don't think i can hold it much longer!"
"hold on, hyeonseong!" (name) deactivated her skill from earlier, whilst pushing dokja behind and letting go of their intertwined hands.
purple energy started surrounding both her hands as (name) immediately directed them to the machine gun directed at them, immobilising it. sensing a two familiar presences, (name) turned around, only to be met with junghyuk and jihye.
"hey, junghyuk! how are you? looks like you've been doing good, especially after dragging (name) with you!" dokja cheerfully greeted the man, who was surprised at his appearance. "these people don't seem to believe that you and i are friends. can you please talk to them for me?"
"i-" junghyuk started, but dokja cut him off. "and it'd be great if you could make them let us use the toilet!" (name) rubbed her forehead in distress, knowing the outcome of dokja, who talked over him. immediately, junghyuk's hand was at his sword, ready to unsheathe it and decapitate the raven.
while hyeonseong was trying to stop him, jihye was encouraging him. (name) sighed frustratedly.
"junghyuk." his eyes immediately went to the person who called him, (name). the killing intent in his eyes vanished, instead replaced with a calm one. he didn't unsheathe his sword, his hands instantly leaving the hilt of the sword.
no one said a word. they just stared at (name) in shock and disbelief. out of the blue, she was awarded a thousand coins from the constellations, who were surprised and in disbelief, too. "thank you."
with eyes still on junghyuk, she nudged her head towards pildu. just from that, he unsheathe his sword and pointed his blade at pildu.
the unconscious huiwon was back on dokja's back, as he carried her. reluctantly, (name) managed to make a deal with pildu, which resulted in him letting them go for the time being.
(name) leaned against the wall of chungmuro station, feeling her energy drain. that was a whole lot of talking. i think i've used up what was left of the energy i saved to talk to the others. (name) slid down and laid her head on her arms, hoping to take a quick nap. feeling a presence next to her, (name) reluctantly shifted her head to face whoever it was.
"hi unnie!" jihye.
"hello, jihye. what is it?" (name) mumbled. jihye widened her eyes, surprised. "you're already tired from talking to pildu?! was it even that long?!"
"ah, fuck it. i'm never going to deal, challenge, or do whatever that makes me talk as much as i did earlier." (name) groaned, lifting her head up to lean against the wall. "unnie.. that was less than three sentences you spoke.. are you just going to give people short answers?"
"yes."
"wait, starting from now?!"
"yes."
"b-but, i haven't gotten to know you as well as i wanted!" jihye panicked, whining in the process. she really wanted to know (name) more for some reason. to jihye, (name) was exceptionally cool compared to junghyuk, or anyone in particular. "too bad."
"jihye, (name). let's go." junghyuk commanded. "hold on, lemme just.." jihye got up and grabbed onto (name)'s ankle. with that, she slowly pulled her, dragging (name) across the floor. she didn't try to stop her, since she was too tired to even stand.
"(n-name)! jihye! put her down!" dokja quickly made his way to the two, easily grabbing (name) and carrying her bridal-style. wrapping an arm around his neck, (name) leaned her head on his shoulder. jihye stood next to junghyuk, dumbfounded. with an irritated mark at the side of his face, junghyuk snatched (name) out of his hold and turned back on his heel and started walking.
"hey!"
"noona!"
"could you put me down? i know i'm supposed to go with you, but for once let me stay with gilyeong and the others." junghyuk turned his head towards her, staring aimlessly before sighing. he put her down, before handling her a bracelet. "you can teleport to jihye or me with this."
nodding, (name) patted his shoulder and jihye's before returning to dokja, gilyeong and the others. gilyeong immediately hugged her waist, causing her to pat his head gently.
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[1 hour remaining until the third scenario is activated.]
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"let's worry about gong pildu later. we should also start looking for a room." dokja announced, helping (name) up her feet.
"well, well! let's begin the third day of the main scenario, shall we?" the same dokkaebi from the train appeared, glancing towards dokja's group. "i see some new faces here today. aren't you all excited? hahaha!"
with a snap of its fingers, an attribute window popped up in front of everyone.
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<main scenario #3 - green zone (day 3)>
category : main
difficulty : c
clear conditions :
occupy a green zone in the station and survive the monsters that emerge each night at midnight. this scenario lasts for 7 days.
duration : 8 hours
reward : 1,000 coins
penalty for failure : -
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[1 hour remaining until the third scenario is activated!]
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"the rules are simple. occupy a green zone before anyone else. you can also steal someone else's green zone, of course. you better hurry. if you can't find your own green zone by midnight, you'll be in deep trouble!" the dokkaebi announced, causing others to make a run for any green zones they see and find. "well, good luck then!"
"do you really think.. we'll have to fight like that?" sangah questioned, hoping they won't. "there won't be a need to. we just need to find a room that can hold us all."
"let's split up and find a room. hyeonseong and sangah can team up.. huiwon and gilyeong can go together, while i'll team up with (name)." dokja turned his head towards the female in confirmation, hoping for her to agree. she nodded. "alright. if none of us have found a room twenty minutes before the scenario starts..we meet back here."
while everyone rushed to find a room, dokja sat down on a bench while (name) followed suit and leaned her head on his shoulder. "there won't be any, right?" dokja nodded.
he whipped up his phone, and started scrolling. (name) didn't know why he was scrolling on a blank screen, but shrugged it off. dokja abruptly turned his head towards (name), shoving his phone in her face. "do you see anything on it?"
glancing at dokja weirdly, she responded while observing the others, who were killing to get a green zone. "of course not. it's a literal blank screen, why would there be anything on it? and i was starting to wonder why you were scrolling on it too."
his eyes widened, nervously chuckling. "no reason! just trying to come up with a plan to survive this scenario-"
"aaaaah!" hearing a yell, the two shifted their heads to where they heard it. dokja grabbed (name)'s hand, intertwining them as he pulled her to her feet. they calmly trudged towards the male from earlier, as he stared at them with tears in his eyes. "don't come any closer."
"don't worry, i won't steal your spot. it's not like it holds enough for the two of us anyway." dokja reassured the male. "hello again, jihye."
"darn it, i thought you didn't notice, unnie.. anyway, you seem quite laid back old man. maybe you don't want to live anymore. and this is the person you'd rather stick to, unnie?" (name) glared at the former student. dokja's ears went slightly red, as he turned to face jihye. "you seem as laid back as i am."
jihye grinned. "no one dares to come near my room. they know very well what's going to happen to them if they do." jihye casually swings her sword around. "but i don't want you to die. i was impressed by how you stood up to master, and quite learnt a few things about unnie too."
dokja reassured her that he'll be fine. "you don't necessarily have to find a room to survive the night." with shock on her face, as she glanced at (name). "are you.. really that strong? as strong as master and unnie?"
(name) checked the time on her watch, realising how long they had left before midnight. "jihye, i think you should start heading back to the room. it's almost midnight." jihye nodded, but just as she turned, junghyuk was behind her. "are you going to fight the monsters? you'll die. so will your buddies."
"we'll have to see about that." dokja grinned as he shrugged. "(name)."
"i'll be fine." (name) reassured the moment her name was called. junghyuk glanced at their intertwined hands for a brief moment before nodding and turning away. "what? that's ridiculous!"
the two of them turned back around, spotting the whole group back together. "two thousand coins per night? are they kidding? i ought to split their heads open!" (name) sweatdropped at huiwon's outburst, not surprised. "dokja, (name).. we couldn't find a room."
huiwon continued complaining, causing the freckled guy from earlier to flinch, causing (name) and hyeonseong to notice. he looked away guiltily. "okay. we now have two options." dokja concluded, holding up to fingers. "the first option, in which we all live, is the easier of the two."
"when that's the case, people usually end up going with the second option... what's the other option?" huiwon deducted. "the second option will be arduous. and one of us could even end up dying."
he lead them up the stairs, pointing to a green zone that housed six people. "the first is... over there. the room they're occupying can house six people... but their stats aren't very high. just a few of us will be enough to-" one of them cut him off, realising what they had to do if they chose the first option. "wait! dokja, are you...?"
"yes, the first option is to... kill them and take their room." (name) scanned their faces. they had equally shock and horrified faces, whereas gilyeong, was the opposite. "i'm up for it as long as you're willing to do it. i'm not scared. i'll do it."
(name) quickly grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled him back towards her. "woah, woah, slow down, gilyeong. i'm not surprised that you're up for it, but we have to take note of the others' opinions too. they don't seem all too confident to do so." gilyeong stayed silent, but spoke up last minute. "but noona-"
"i knew it! why test us like that?" huiwon continuously slapped dokja's arm. "i wasn't trying to test you...and that hurts." (name) gently ruffled gilyeong's hair as she stood up. "i would have respected your choice... no matter which path you choose. now that we've all agreed on the second option, you'll have to do exactly what i tell you."
"please trust me, no matter how ridiculous i sound. if you fail to do that, we will all die."
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[5 minutes remaining until the third scenario begins]
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hyeonseong, sangah, and huiwon stood in front of dokja, gilyeong and (name). dokja had gilyeong on his back, and (name)'s hand intertwined with his. five minutes earlier, he had intructed the three adults instructions that caught (name) off-guard. running towards the monsters? that'd get them killed. though, there must be a reason why he asked them to do so anyway. he did say to trust him, so...
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[the third main scenario is activated.]
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"now!" the raven yelled, just as the monsters spawned out the red shield of sort. "go!"
"wait, what about dokja and (name)?!" once the three of them safely touched the green zone on the wall, they looked back at where the two, or three used to be. (name) grunted as the monsters caught up to the three-member group, fighting off the monsters. she switched between her sword and dagger-like boomerang, careful not to hit dokja or gilyeong with it. annoying fuckers.
"hahaha! this has turned out interesting!" the dokkaebi appeared once again. "shall we bring on the penalty?" the scenario penalty was applied, and some green zones in the area were deactivated. hopefully sangah's group's green zone isn't affected. she tried her best to block out the screams of the freckled guy, whose green zone was deactivated and was now being attacked by the ferocious monsters.
"hyung, noona." gilyeong spoke up as they continued to slaughter the beasts."not- the right time- gilyeong!"
"you can leave me behind." he told them simply. that made (name) stab a beast and unintentionally pressed a button she didn't knew existed. sharp blades surrounded the end of the sword, instantly puncturing into the body of the beast. least to say, it was killed instantly. "what?"
"i don't get it. why are you two going out of your way to help us? you would have done much better if you didn't. and noona would have done better if you stuck by ahjusshi." (name) conjured up a more danger-like boomerang, immediately throwing it towards the monsters.
but with a snap of her fingers, sharp blades surrounded the whole boomerang, instantly killing the beasts. "that's considerably true, but sometimes, it's better to stick by what you think is right."
dokja hoisted gilyeong up his waist, and wrapped an arm around (name)'s waist, pulling her closer to him. "hold on tight." gilyeong, in response wrapped an arm around dokja's neck, the other holding on to (name)'s arm which was around him. (name)'s other arm was wrapped around dokja's waist.
knowing what he was going to do next after a heads-up from her constellation, (name) activated one of the skills that she thought was quite useless, especially from the name itself- light as a feather². as dokja dashed forward, (name) helped slay the monsters with ease, hoping to help him get pass easily.
"hold on tighter this time!" with that, he jumped up high, finally spotting the three housed green zone. his eyes widened spotting someone he wished wasn't there, resting in the zone. junghyuk. and because he was there, that meant there was only two spots left. and (name) inwardly sighed.
as dokja landed onto the ground safely, (name) didn't hesitate to push them both towards the green zone. she had all three of them glued to the zone with the help of her purple forcefield.
"n-noona!" gilyeong.
"hey, (name)! get me out of here!" dokja.
"why can't i bust this forcefield?! (name)!" junghyuk.
"sometimes, it's better to stick by what you think is right." (name) simply told them, with a small smile on her face. causing gilyeong and dokja to widen their eyes even more, if it was even humanely possible.
that was when all the beasts still being spawned dived in for her.
˗ˏˋ ray speaks! 'ˎ˗
eyes of truth¹ : a skill that reveals the true identity of an object, or person
example : revealing an item's hiding spot that is invisible to the naked eye
light as a feather² : a skill that lightens the weight of anything
example : lightens the weight of a person