"Wah! It's food!"
"He brought food!"
Jesus.. These guys are like blood hounds.
Many hungry eyes fell on the convenience store bags, whispering callously amongst themselves. [Y/N] was about 90% sure she heard someone say,
"Screw the food, give me the guy!"
..Keep that stuff to yourself. She made a mental note to avoid whoever had tha audacity to say something like that aloud. The whispers began to disperse into silence as Cheon Inho spoke, as if he had been waiting, "He delivered it exactly to us. He's a rare good person."
It had yet to reach even a second later when the entire station snapped their gazes to Kim Dokja as if he was the next Messiah. Cheon Inho... [Y/N] always hated the man.
[ The constellation, 'Secretive Plotter' is excited. ]
[ The constellation, 'Lonely Daydreamer' rolls their eyes. ]
[ The constellation, 'Lonely Daydreamer' chides you for not accepting their bounty. ]
"Christ.." She muttered, dragging a hand across her hand in exasperation. "I already told you I can't."
Despite her words, [Y/N] was clearly considering it. It took a brief pause for her to once-over Cheon Inho before she said, ". . Maybe later."
[ The constellation, 'Lonely Daydreamer' cheers. ]
[ 350 coins have been sponsored. ]
As much as she didn't condone the violent behavior, some people just deserved it. Cheon Inho was clearly one of these people, and [Y/N] knew retribution would come to him. Maybe, she could hash out the terms of his death later one, but now wasn't the time to lash out recklessly as she did with Yoo Joonghyuk.
"Welcome to Geumho Station, Kim Dokja-ssi."
Kim Dokja glanced at the blue windows, taking notice of how despite the interference of Cheon Inho, the constellations didn't ask for a bounty scenario. Well, all except one. That constellation really was strange.
In any case, it wasn't the best time to deal with him.
[Y/N] sat with the rest of the group as Kim Dokja was caught up on the situation at the station. Gilyoung sat close to her and Kim Dokja, sitting in between the two. She let out a particularly loud yawn after a few hours of sitting around.
She didn't remember the last time she properly slept. She hasn't had a proper meal since..
Since?
The beginning of the scenarios. When you awoke on the train. There it was. The voice [Y/N] had been plagued with thinking about.
Ah, I was wondering when you'd show up. You went quiet after I interrogated you earlier. . If you could even consider it that.
I don't enjoy my privacy being invaded. Said the voice, sounding eerily similar to that of her own.
. . You literally live in my head. If I don't get privacy, I don't think you should either.
Also, one thing I've always been curious about since first encountering you. Why do you sound like me?
As you said, I live inside your head. I'm bound to sound like someone, am I not?
Yeah, but that's the weird thing.. I can hear other voices as other people, so why do you distinctly sound like me if you're another entity?
Yeah I'm out.
What?? Why? Wait, come bac--! . . And it's gone.
[Y/N] sighed.
She should get back on track now..
Despite her best efforts in paying attention, it took less than five minutes for [Y/N] to release another yawn, this one silent. She rubbed her eyes gently, attempting to ward off any remnant of exhaustion she exhibited. As she did so, she remembered something.
"Gilyoung.." She whispered, nudging the kid. The boy turned to her, face showing mild confusion. "Give me your hand."
As puzzled as he was, the boy did as he was told, trusting her not to do anything weird. She used the opportunity to give Gilyoung 50 coins.
"Noona?"
"For the chocolate," the woman smiled, turning back to the conversation. (Even though she wasn't paying much attention.)
Her effort to keep focus was in vain, head lolling to the side as her eyes continued to flutter shut, frustratingly so. Each time her body titled too far into one direction, the woman would snap upright. The behavior was continuous throughout the coversation, coming a bit distracting to those next to her. Or rather, the man to her left.
He quietly observed her inattentive form, wondering if he should step in to force rest on her. [Y/N]'s eyes were red and out of focus, most likely due to lack of sleep, judging from her eyebags. It was interesting how she smiled and welcomed him back as if she hadn't been tired at all. Judging by her sunken-in face, it seemed she hadn't eaten yet. In fact, it'd even be safe for Kim Dokja to assume she'd not eaten because she was busy feeding the others. He had to admire her for that one.
In the end, Kim Dokja asked Gilyoung to swap seats with him. The boy, ableit confused, obliged. The man tapped [Y/N] on the shoulder, quickly grasping her attention with little to no effort. The woman hums in question, brain feeling like mush. Her stomach had stopped the rumbling not too long ago, but it was beginning to cramp.
"Have you eaten, [L/N] [Y/N]-ssi?" He asked, head turning her way.
The woman nods in response, adding, "Just my first name is fine, I think you're older than me anyways . ."
A pause.
"Right."
She thought that would be the end of it, but was almost immediately ratted out by Gilyoung, who stuck his head out from behind Dokja. "I haven't seen noona eat anything. Besides the chocolate bar I gave her. ."
God damn it.
Then, apparently Yoo Sangah had heard them and thought it was a great idea to speak up about [Y/N]'s eating habits as well. "That's true. I haven't seen [Y/N] eat a proper meal since we got here!"
The woman fiddled with her fingers as she added, "She would go outside and look for food for the group, and always insisted on us eating first."
"Yoo Sangah-ssi. ." Please stop exposing me, this is extremely embarrassing I might implode. .
Damn snitches. [Y/N]'s face was growing warm out of sheer embarrassment from her poor eating habits being brought to light, especially with them making it sound like a big deal. As they continued to point out times when the woman hadn't eaten, she turned her face away, finding the whole thing a bit overwhelming.
The situation only seemed to worsen as [Y/N] turned and saw Kim Dokja, only to find him staring at her with a deadpan look. It was similar to his usual look of nonchalance, but it was laced with disappointment. It was such a vivid image, that [Y/N] had she not known better, she would've thought he'd been through this with her before.
But that's impossible.
Right?
Either way, I don't want to hear ANYTHING from you about it, mister let's-go-sacrifice-my-life-every-chance-I-get.
"Please don't look look at me that way, Kim Dokja-ssi . ." She frowned, shame seeping into her words. The familiarity of this situation struck her at random. It's strange. She always got that feeling whether it was interacting with him, or (as much as she regretted to say it,) Yoo Joonghyuk. Why, she didn't know. Though, it seemed as if he'd always had this effect on her.
His face looks so pretty right now . . [Y/N] elected to ignore that thought. What is wrong with her today? Is it the lack of sleep? Is it the poison fog?
"In any case, here." Kim Dokja said, handing her two nutrition bars; as she read the packaging, her eyes began to sparkle. The bars had chocolate chips with dark chocolate drizzle . . It didn't take long for her to snatch them from his hands, taking a brief moment to transfer 40 coins to the man with a smile.
"Thanks, I love dark chocolate," she smiled, looking up from the bars to her fellow reader (not that he knows it).
He smiled back for a very brief moment, but quickly noticed something was off with the amount of coins he received. The man called her attention. "[Y/N]-ssi, you miscalculated."
"Really? How so?" she asked, knowing full well why he mentioned it.
"You gave me 40 coins."
"Yeah . . For the bars."
"I only gave you two?"
It was then that [Y/N] nodded, turning to the man with a cheeky expression. "It's nowhere near enough, but consider the extra coins a part of the payment for saving my life."
He seemed to be considering something when she told him that. In this case, she owed the man her life (in more ways than one) so [Y/N] was quick to ask, "Ah, is that not enough?"
"If not, I do have more, I don't mind giving them up. Just give me your hand--"
She was cut off when the man chuckled quietly, covering the bottom portion of his face using a hand. "Don't think so hard about it . . Paying for the food is more than enough for now. You should save your coins for later scenarios."
He laughed. [Y/N]'s face grew warmer. She absentmindedly nodded, already lost in her own world. The woman knew it was rare for him to show any emotion because of what she liked to call the 'mental barrier debuff', so she felt it was strange that he seemed to express himself so easily just now. Either way, her heart leaped in her chest, internal turmoil brewing in her mind for many different reasons. One being;
HE LAUGHED??
WHAT THE--
THAT'S SO WEIRD! WHY'D HE LAUGH? DID I DO SOMETHING EMBARRASSING??
Shut up!! What the hell are you screaming about??
HE LAUGHED. LIKE, AT ME. DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT A BIG DEAL THIS IS??
.. Get a life. You're a grown ass woman. Can't you handle someone expressing normal emotions?
Don't tell me you have a crush on him or something.
. . I don't.
Oh my god.
The voice was gone as soon as it came. Jokes on it, she didn't want it in there anyways. Actually, now that she thought about it,
Hey, you!
What.
What should I address you from now on? It's a bit weird just calling you an it all the time in my head.
Why does that matter? Just... Continue addressing me as you have before.
That was where the conversation ended. She decided not to bother it any longer, feeling as though she may have pressed on a sensitive topic.
For the rest of the time, the group focused on helping Kim Dokja to grasp the situation of Geumho Station. Well, more like the group excluding [ Y/N], who now stayed 6 feet way from the man. While she hung back in the corner somewhere, she checked her stats.
Another thing of note, despite not having the same skill as Kim Dokja, [Y/N] was listed as a character in her own attributes screen. Why it was that the star stream allowed her to be aware of her status as a 'character' (did she even count as one at this point?), she didn't know.
Regardless, she took a minute to examine her skillset.
「 <CHARACTER SUMMARY>
Name : [ L/N ] [ Y/N ]
Age : 26
Supporting Constellation : none
Personal Attributes : transmigrator (myth) , shut-in (common) , introvert (common)
Personal Skills : weapons proficiency lvl. 4 , manipulation lvl. 1 , stealth lvl. 1 , strategy lvl. 3 , intelligence lvl. 4
Stigma : Manipulator of Light and Matter lvl. 1
Overall Stats : stamina lvl. 4 , strength lvl. 13 , physique lvl. 9 , mana lvl. 1
Total Coins : 4,010
General Evaluation : An ex-corporate worker who struggles with social anxiety and ADHD. Fortunately for her, combat requires no conversation. Proficient in close-quarters combat. It is not recommended to make an enemy out of this person. 」
[Y/N] had less coins than she expected. In any case, she would be able to obtain more. Right now, she wanted to have enough overall strength for all of her stats to exceed level 20. She wasn't sure if she'd have enough coins for that, though. There was still a survival fee to pay in the future.
For right now, she decided that increasing her stamina and physique by a bit would be more than enough.
[ 270 coins have been spent on physique! ]
[ Physique Lvl. 9 --> Lvl. 10 ]
[ 540 coins have been spent on stamina! ]
[ Stamina Lvl. 4 --> Lvl. 6 ]
Now, [Y/N] had about 3,200 coins remaining. In her situation, it was plenty in order to survive. She would have to spend more time increasing her stats in different ways later on.
Now.. there was one more thing she's got to address.
The stigma that she so randomly has. As far as [Y/N]'s aware, a stigma is a part of a constellation's powers that they're able to lend to the incarnation they sponsor, or in special cases like Kim Dokja, obtained through a sub/hidden scenario.
In either case though, it still came from a constellation. So, who's stigma is this, and why does she have it? As a matter of fact, how did she receive this without knowledge of it in the first place? If only she could ask someone and receive the answers she needs.
Oh, wait.
Hey dickhead! She called to the voice that always pops up at random times. No dice. It figures that the voice wouldn't come whenever she beckoned, even if they lived in he--
What do you want now?
Do you know how or why I have this stigma? Or even whose it is?
That . . I'm actually not sure myself.
Are you lying to me . .?
What? No, what reason do I have to lie about this? Can't you just read the description of the stigma to find out who it's correlated to though?
That's a thing in this world?
No, of course not. Not usually anyways, but as far as I'm concerned, our situation isn't very 'usual,' is it?
You know what? You're right. That actually makes sense.
Of course I'm right.
Thanks, I really appreciate it. Maybe I can pay you back by getting you your own body. Like a Han Sooyoung type of situation.
Yeah, thanks but no. If you really wanna pay me back, let me take control of yours for a bit. There's some things I've been meaning to do.
Hell no.
Thought so. Bye.
Then, as per usual, the voice dissipated into the back of [Y/N]'s mind. It was still strange, talking to some random being in her head. Maybe she had some kind of psychotic break. Either way, it was time to confirm one of her greatest fears.
.
.
.
.
.
“I’ll show off everything as it is.”
.
.
.
A/N : I've proofread this and the last chapter so many times, and I still hate both. Being an author sucks sometimes. I tried my best to push the plot in, but the reader still has to interact with everyone eventually, so it ended up being mostly filler. Don't even get me started on how cringed out I got writing the whole thing, I wasn't sure how accurate I was with the personalities, but I'm sure I botched it 💀
I'm getting off topic though- I have state testing next week, so this book will unfortunately be on hiatus until the week after it's over! When that time comes, prepare for double updates!
Bye bye everyone!