[Many constellations are excited to see what you will do.]
That's right—Bihyung's original channel was pretty small, so most constellations wouldn't have seen their scenarios before they joined up with larger channels in the stations. With the exception of their sponsors and the four loyal constellations that watched Kim Dokja, all of this would be new and interesting.
"Dokja, over here!" Sangah calls, having found a door that still seems to be working.
Using the emergency button, they're able to get it partially open, but not even Gilyoung could squeeze through the gap. This door, too, is broken. Dokja glances at his 4700 coins and knows that he could use them to increase his strength enough to pry it open himself, but he chooses instead to save his coins for when he will likely need them later.
After all, they have a better option.
"Hyunsung, use your skill," he calls, making the lieutenant look at him in confusion.
As if on cue, Dokja's skill activates and pulls up Hyunsung's character profile.
"By skill, you mean…?"
[Name: Lee Hyunsung
Age: 28
Constellation sponsor: Master of Steel
Personal attribute: Soldier who turned a blind eye to injustice (general)
Exclusive skills: Bayonet lvl. 2, Camouflage lvl. 2, Patience lvl. 2
Stigma: Great Mountain Push lvl. 1
Overall stats: Stamina lvl. 8, Strength lvl. 8, Agility lvl. 7, Mana lvl. 5
General evaluation: Lee Hyunsung has very good overall stats. Although how readily he turned a blind eye to injustice was surprising, a constellation still selected him. This is another opportunity for him.]
'Thankfully his constellation sponsor and attribute are the same as the novel,' Dokja thinks with relief after reading it.
Lee Hyunsung studied his listed skills on the screen with a frown on his face. It seemed he wasn't too pleased with his attribute, which was perfectly understandable, but he seemed to release some of the tension in his shoulders upon seeing the final line of his profile. Still, he looked uncomfortable.
"I'll admit… This feels different to when Kim Namwoon's 'character profile' was shown," Lee Hyunsung said quietly, glancing at Kim Dokja. "Maybe that's because I don't know him personally, so it didn't feel as invasive."
Jung Heewon nodded before humming to herself in thought. "Dokja-ssi, does this skill just translate your knowledge of the main characters into an easily accessible format? I mean, you knew all his information already anyway, after all."
Kim Dokja had to fight back an instinctive grimace. It would have been far less invasive if that had been true. With a sigh, Kim Dokja hung his head. "No, that's not how it works. It would have been a reasonable assumption if it only worked on the main characters of TWSA, but it's worked on side characters who aren't around for long, and on people who were never even named in the novel."
He did everything he could to avoid glancing at her when he said that, knowing that Jung Heewon probably wouldn't take it too well, either.
"Basically, I get a real time look at their attributes page," Kim Dokja explained, "but there are other skills in this world that can do the same thing, so it's not just me."
When the others looked curious, Kim Dokja decided to throw the protagonist under the bus. He gestured over his shoulder towards Yoo Joonghyuk with his thumb. "Like this guy, for example. He doesn't get the evaluation section that I do, but he can see information on more people overall."
Yoo Joonghyuk didn't say anything, but he nodded once to confirm it. That was about all they could expect out of him, really—Kim Dokja never thought he would elaborate on the [Eye of the Sage] in the first place.
[Several constellations are curious about the skills of incarnation 'Yoo Joonghyuk'.]
Lee Hyunsung cleared his throat and glanced at the rest of the party who had stuck together since the beginning, a shaky smile on his face.
"Still, I'll do my best to make everyone proud," he declared despite his discomfort. "Please continue relying on my strength in the future."
Jung Heewon laughed and playfully slapped his back with way more force than she probably meant to. "Of course, Hyunsung-ssi! I'm happy to fight beside you."
"Agreed, Hyunsung-ssi is a very reliable protector," Yoo Sangah added with a smile. Lee Hyunsung practically beamed in response.
It was good to have someone like him around, Kim Dokja thought. Slowly but surely, their trust was being rebuilt.
"You probably checked your skills when you opened your attributes window earlier. You're in the army, so there must be a skill you can use right now."
Hyunsung looks confused. "Well, I do have one, but I don't know how to use it."
"Just imagine yourself using it," Dokja tells him. Hyunsung seems surprised by that.
"That's all it takes?"
After a moment, Hyunsung places his hands on the doors and yells out as he begins to push them apart. His muscles tremble with the effort required, even using all his strength. An aura envelops him as his skill activates, and the subway doors finally creak open.
Instantly, sparkles seem to surround Hyunsung as he turns back to Dokja excitedly. "It worked! It really worked!"
[The character 'Lee Hyunsung' has begun to trust you.]
[Your understanding of the character 'Lee Hyunsung' has increased.]
'Looks like the stigma 'Great Mountain Push' successfully activated,' Dokja thought, but quickly encouraged everyone to run.
Lee Hyunsung glanced over at Kim Dokja again. "Thank you for telling me how to use my stigma. We probably wouldn't have gotten out in time otherwise."
Well, that wasn't true, but Kim Dokja wasn't going to tell him that Yoo Joonghyuk would have practically said the same thing. Instead, he just smiled slightly in return.
"It was nothing, really."
The steel door between them and the man in 3707 would soon break. Listening to Dokja's advice, Hyunsung picked up Gilyoung and carried the younger boy on his back as they dashed down the empty tracks.
'But, if my memory serves me right, the steel door isn't the problem,' Dokja recalls.
[... Gosh, I knew this would happen.]
Above them floats the dokkaebi, and he looks frustrated. [I told you earlier to stay put. Damn it! I'm not done preparing the next scenario.]
Myungoh wails that they should have just stayed inside, but everyone else stands firm. The dokkaebi sighs and snaps his fingers once.
[Well, I guess I have no choice. You're very lucky human beings.]
With a ding, the notification for the arrival of a sub scenario pops up. In the next 20 minutes, they have to get across a collapsed bridge and enter Oksu station on the other side. There's a reward of 200 coins for successful completion of the scenario, but the penalty for failure is just three question marks.
'I knew it,' Dokja thinks as he reads over the scenario window.
Sangah frowns and comments on how the scenario says 'collapsed bridge', even though the bridge is intact. In response, Dokja dashes past her, yelling at everyone to not worry and to just run.
[A few constellations are wondering about the scenario setting.]
It made sense, considering Yoo Sangah had been curious about the same thing. The group who had been on the bridge all cringed at the reminder of how much they had struggled, even in their second overall scenario.
"That certainly was a rough day…" Yoo Sangah mused, her eyes going distant as she remembered the events of that sub scenario. Especially coming right off the end of the first scenario, that one was just stressful.
Lee Gilyoung nestled in closer to Kim Dokja's side. "I'm still mad that you didn't finish that scenario with us, hyung."
Well, Kim Dokja wasn't sure how much Yoo Joonghyuk had told them, but he had a distinct feeling that the rest of the party wouldn't be too pleased with him after seeing what had happened.
Sangah is right. The bridge is still intact because we got off the train too early. In other words, the bridge definitely will collapse.
The scene zooms out to show the entire bridge, and they have a decent distance to run before reaching the safety of Oksu station.
It might seem underhanded, but it's impossible to clear this scenario without going around the rules.
As they run, Dokja keeps an eye on everyone else. Though they're cutting it close, he's fairly confident that they'll make it in time. However, as if summoned by Murphy's law, a whirlpool forms in the river below and a massive ichthyosaur emerges to loom over the bridge.
'It's an ichthyosaur! No, a sea serpent! Or maybe a sea commander, from its size?' Dokja thinks quickly. But it doesn't matter, since the monster roars and rushes towards the bridge, prepared to collapse it. Everyone hurries to run across as quickly as possible, hoping to get to the other side before the bridge is destroyed. Dokja knows that the ichthyosaur shouldn't go after them this early in the story and its only goal is to break the bridge, but they're interrupted by the smug dokkaebi once again.
[It's no fun if the game is too easy, is it?]
This is bad.
[Several constellations are excited for the increase in scenario difficulty.]
"Oppa, how did you manage to get through all that?" Yoo Mia asked quietly, glancing up at her brother and carefully grabbing his larger hand in hers. "It looks so much harder than anything I had to deal with."
Yoo Joonghyuk glanced at his sister and sent her a small smile as he replied. Honestly, Kim Dokja almost had to rub his eyes at the sight; he couldn't believe what he was seeing, and he was in such disbelief that he didn't even hear anything the man had said. It was hard to tear his eyes away from the rare sight, and he couldn't help but lament that a smile only made the protagonist's SSS-tier looks even more attractive than usual.
Seriously, did tls123 have to make him so handsome? He was a pro gamer before the apocalypse began, so why did he have to be so good-looking, huh? The world just wasn't fair.
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is squealing.]
Kim Dokja managed to tear his eyes away from Yoo Joonghyuk's smile to shoot an odd glance at the archangel's indirect message. Seriously? What was she squealing about anyway?
[What's the fun in you getting away safely? Let's shake things up a bit,] the dokkaebi laughs as he snaps his fingers once more. In an instant, the difficulty level of the scenario has been raised from level E to D.
[The evil thoughts of the dead have returned.]
[Black ether is rising from the surrounding earth.]
The bodies scattered throughout the subway begin to creak and groan as they stumble to their feet, shuffling off the train and down the bridge towards the group of survivors.
"Huh? Zombies?" Sangah exclaims as she looks behind them, fear beginning to overtake her again.
[Demonic beings have been resurrected!]
Instantly, the zombies begin to attack. At the same time, thanks to his good stats, Hyunsung and Gilyoung have safely made it to Oksu station. Unfortunately, the rest of the group is left behind and surrounded. Glowing eyes cut through the darkness, and an aura of evil rises from the shambling corpses, and a shadow soon looms over them.
"Everyone get down!" Dokja orders just before the massive sea serpent closes its jaws around the bridge, crushing the middle. Immediately after, Yoo Sangah's frantic scream of his name cuts through the air.
Yeah, that hadn't been their finest moment.
[The constellation 'Lady of the Sleeping Brocade' is concerned for the incarnations.]
At the very least, Lee Hyunsung and Lee Gilyoung had made it across the bridge to safety before it had broken. Still, Kim Dokja wished that things that day had gone a bit differently. Between the humanoid demons and the bridge's collapse, let alone what had happened afterwards, that had been an exhausting day.
[Several constellations are excited to see some fights against the humanoid demons.]
Well, Kim Dokja supposed that they wouldn't find themselves disappointed once the next segment of the story began.