Chapter Text
Dokja was flirting with a slow and painful death. His muscles felt as if made of liquid ember, his lungs were aching for shallow breaths, the grip of his finger was so stiff he wasn't sure he'd be able to open his hand later on, and his stomach was wailing for food. For the sake of survival, he'd extend his neck and nip at the liquid dribbling down the thorns as it appeared to be a concentrated mixture of the life force preemptively absorbed by the ichthyosaur.
[Your physique has been reinforced after consuming some of the ichthyosaur's essence]
At least there was such a benefice to drinking the putrid liquid day after day.
[A few constellations appear admirative of your determined spirit]
Sponsored: 100 coins
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is impressed with your strong will]
Sponsored: 100 coins
Dokja scoffed, feeling like a circus animal in a cage, but he was still grateful for the sponsored coins as this was the reality he had to live with from now on. Like everyone else, he'd have to put his shame aside and play into the constellations' game long enough for him to survive more or less comfortably.
While his body was almost in a state of pain-induced numbness and his brain at the borders of a syncope, thanks to Jinwoo's fantasy-themed stories, his head was at least filled with dreams. He'd imagined handsome men and women in shining gear, armed with their world-saving might and all-powerful abilities. He dreamed of a system where one's strength was determined haphazardly and where constellations acted as stars in the sky and not as sadistic stalkers. He played with the idea of Jinwoo's role in the world he talked of as so bitter-sweet. Dokja even heard snippets of a bratty sister the man loved to death and of a caring mother he had finally seen smile after so many years.
Dokja mused with that idea —the one of a smiling mother.
While not all of Jinwoo's stories evoked a positive feeling in the reader, at least they made him feel human rather than a seashell stuck to a rock. The hunter fed Dokja's mind with pieces of his reality, making the reader infinitely more curious about him. Jinwoo had never mentioned anything concerning his own existence after all.
From Jinwoo's point of view, having to witness Dokja suffer for days on end without being able to do anything to alleviate his pain was simply akin to torture. Not particularly because of his inexplicable interest in the ethereal reader, but rather due to a feeling of uselessness. The proud hunter had already been in this world for five days and hadn't been able to do anything meaningful yet.
Jinwoo was used to having control over his actions; he had always made the decisions affecting his livelihood as a hunter, even when some nearly cost him his life. Never once had he let someone else blindly guide him towards an unknown he could not seize at least partly. However, that was exactly what he had to do now —follow and listen so he wouldn't accidentally damage the gears of this wrecked worldline.
The hunter would lie if he said his pride wasn't bruised, but the price was too great for him to fuck it all up. So, he'd swallow the useless ego he had curated over the few months he'd spent amassing power to keep the reader out of death's way. Only then would he reach the goals and rewards Lucid had mysteriously set up for him.
The monster's cavity's temperature was decreasing fast enough for the mismatched pair to begin seeing an end to their torture. Dokja wished he'd have the powers of a protagonist, this way, he was sure he'd have been met with sudden luck of any sort to shorten his penitence. But no, the reader was no god-sent hero; he was simply a spectator —an existence that should've remained as an outsider.
Then all stopped, no more white noises, no more acidic tides. The stomach's lining solidified, and the ichthyosaur had died.
[A few constellations finally understand your extravagant decisions]
Sponsored: 100 coins.
[A few constellations expect you to keep them informed in the future by speaking about your plans with 'The Dark Figure']
Dokja wished he could chuckle but focused his remaining energy on swallowing one last drop of the putrid life essence.
[Your physique has been reinforced after consuming some of the ichthyosaur's essence]
[Pysique level has increased: Lv. 11 —> Lv. 12]
"You fucking did it!" Jinwoo cheered, catching the reader in his arms as the last of his energy left him. "Dokja, you fucking did it!" He repeated in a cheerful scream, feeling proud of the smaller one.
"Mh... my ears like it better when you speak in my head," Dokja mumbled, lips barely parting and eyelids glued together. "I'm gonna take a nap. You're oddly comfortable right now." He sighed, sleep already taking his consciousness away.
"I'm not surprised. Your limbs must be cramping too." The hunter grimaced, observing the claw in which Dokja's fingers were stuck.
[Wow... I'm impressed.] Bihyung intervened in a slow clap, traits condescending. [I've never thought of such a use for the stone hog's thorn! I believe it must be the same for you peerless constellations, right?] It snickered, gliding over Dokja's sleeping form.
Jinwoo sucked onto his teeth and caught the creature by the horn, securing it in a choke-hold under his arm.
"Shut the fuck up and stay here. Now, you wait with me until Dokja wakes up." Jinwoo smiled dangerously. "Don't you agree with me, oh peerless constellations?" He slurred, visibly sarcastic.
[Let me go! You abnormality!] It wiggled around, seemingly forgetting the prior fear it held towards the hunter.
"It 's almost as if you forgot my face while I kept myself hidden away?" Jinwoo chuckled, strangling the dokkaebi into submission. "You stay there and act like the fur ball you are, alright?" He added, rubbing one strong noogie into its skull.
[A few constellations chuckle in front of the dokkaebi streamer Bihyung's humiliation]
Sponsored: 100 coins.
"See! Even they agree!" He grinned, setting the streamer in his lap like a cuddly toy so Dokja could use it as a pillow.
[I hate this... but my viewers love it... so fuck it, alright.] It grumbled, defeated but strangely satisfied. [He better not rip me off further when he wakes up.] It continued, crossing his tiny arms across its chest.
[I wouldn't count on that.] Lucid's amused voice interjected.
"Yeah... I wouldn't dream too much if I were you, little voyeur." The hunter laughed loudly, violently patting the dokkaebi's head.
[Fuck this.] It grumbled more but did not move. [He better give me a good offer after all that shit.]
"We'll see." Jinwoo chuckled, voice rauque. "Rest well, for now, little reader." He added more fondly than he wished it to be through their psychic link.