In A World Where The Scenarios Never Happened, A Different Kind Of Calamity Plagues Seoul. Doppelgängers

Now posted

Past/future swap with KDJ but instead of his middle school self, he swaps with 51% and 51% has to deal with /gasp/ EMOTIONS

A crossover no one asked for...

except me.

Everybody give it up for my friend that I got into orv

ORV SPOILERS but can u believe kdj bombastically spilled heracles' whole tea just to buy time for his own giant soldier

Drew a silly little comics for hallorvween on twitter ^^

i have many thoughts on lee gilyoung and kim dokja but i fear i may explode if i try to articulate them fully

there is something to be said in the way kdj and orv as a whole really tends to sidestep lgy. like kdj cares about lgy of course. and orv obviously wants us to care about lgy or else they would have killed him off for shock value or fridged him way earlier than they did or something. and yet he remains in the main story but still on the sidelines

i think there is something very sad to be said about how kdj very openly tends to love on/lavish attention onto sys and like consciously acknowledge that she is, in many ways, his daughter, yet doesnt really do the same for lgy. there is something very sad to be said about the way kdj tends to refer to sys individually, but only to lgy in the collective "kids." there is something very sad in the way kdj saw himself in lgy the first time he saw him on the subway and saw him both as a boy to be saved and a tool to be used and i dont think their relationship ever really recovered from this.

like he cares about them because he doesnt want to be a shitty father-figure but hes a shitty father-figure because he cares. and while sys is saved from the brunt of this to a degree because shes a character so he can just mimic how yjh treats her in worldlines where she's saved and get by on that, lgy doesnt have that kind of support. lgy is not a fictional wunderkid or pitiable, fragile little girl (however true or false that assessment of sys is). hes a snot nosed foul mouthed violent boy obsessed with bugs and death and kdj, i think, knows he ought to care for him but he doesnt know how and doesnt bother to learn and that, i believe, the not-bothering that is, is what truly incriminates him as a shitbag father. hes afraid so he doesnt try and lgy spends 90% of orv being terrified kdj secretly hates him and the worst part is hes almost right

thinking again about kim dokja's face censor and how its such a good mechanic. foreshadows the most ancient dream reveal. shows how his desperate wish to be a normal child effects him still to this day. functions as an extension of his reader-self-insert status. and most excellently shows exactly how much his disassociation and distancing from everyone and everything in his life affects him, to the point where his loved ones can't even recognize his face. that when they think of him it is with his back turned and expression obscured because they never knew anything else. no one can recall his features, be reminded of them when they look at his mother or see his familiar facial expressions in his kids. he's perpetually a blank slate, someone neither we nor his loved ones can see anything distinctive in because thats the point of his character and i so deeply adore it. someone needs to get sing shong out of the kitchen because they cannot keep cooking like this

Whumpril Day 6 - Distrust

On ao3

They were three years into the apocalypse. Through highs and lows, the Zarathustra had perfectly performed in all Scenarios, guided by their prophet who had experienced it all before.

Selena knew how hard it was on Anna. She knew how the prophet woke in the night, panicking that the regressor was going to kill her, was going to get his revenge. She knew how this led her to plan and plan and plan to get through this hellscape, trying to get a few steps ahead of the Demon King of Salvation’s plots.

She knew a lot of things about her leader, and would always place her trust in her closed off arms. That’s why she didn’t anticipate this.

She knew Anna refused to trust most, did it because she thought no one would put their faith in her if she revealed her hidden parts. Contrary to this, however, was the fact that Selena had seen these parts.

She was an animal lover, the kings guardian, and who was she to refuse to keep her king’s vulnerabilities safe. She would comfort her when she cried, listen to her ravings as she planned, giver her elixirs when she was injured.

Anna reciprocated. For every time she was comforted, she returned the same care when Selena was set adrift by the blood she had spilled. For every time she spoke to Selena of her plans, she didn’t leave out any necessary parts i̶g̶n̶o̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶a̶s̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶G̶o̶u̶r̶m̶e̶t̶ A̶s̶s̶o̶c̶i̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶b̶a̶n̶q̶u̶e̶t̶. For every elixir Anna drank, she gave back in her blood, now filled with the intoxicating powers from the healing and mana potions.

Tensions only clashed once, and for good reason. Anna, in the act of trying to get Iris a sponsor, had almost killed her. The girl only survived because of Kim Dokja’s interference. A debt they would never be able to pay, Anna said.

Selena understood that Anna was only working to what she assumed to be best, but the concern she felt watching that screen, watching as Iris was stalked down like prey by that Demon King, the one that caused a fair few of Anna’s nightmares, the one that killed the regressor last time.

She understood, but she could not accept. Why was there such a need to put a child at risk? Yes, a sponsor would be helpful, but was Anna’s intentions not to kill all the constellations in the end anyway?

They had talked, throughout the time together. All three of them. In a brief respite from the Starstream’s pervasive view, she had set out all of her goals, her reasons, and how she would achieve what she sought out to do. The Great Demon’s Eye was spinning with a vigour not unlike live wires, processing everything and taking even more information in.

The waters settled, and that was how Selena found herself in the place she was now. The 46th Scenario. This was where Anna had forever tarnished her relationship with Yoo Junghyeok. This was where Selena would face the same thing.

As soon as she had gathered her baring, she saw her leader reaching for the star, having not wasted a moment. Her hand closed around it, simultaneously declaring that she wished for control over Selena Kim’s Life and Death.

Selena didn’t fight it. Did her leader not realise that she would always follow. Did her leader not realise how unending her devotion was, only shaken temporarily and only shaken once.

She sank to her knees, exiting the room and waiting until the rest of the Zarathustra arrived. Anna was anxious, but desperately hiding it behind an uncaring facade. There was a reason the woman was so good at poker.

This woman. She had fallen for the most stubborn and strong willed person she possibly could. Maybe she would end freedom from her bindings, those Incarnations from the Korean Scenarios would never let it stand, but before then, she would relax into the comforting knowledge that though her leader didn’t trust her, she still wanted to hold her close.

kim dokja and bihyungs dynamic before they get used to each other is so funny. me and the guy i keep trapped in my torture dungeon for entertainment (he keeps torturing himself and the others in new and creative ways i hadn't thought about before. hes actually kind of better at this than i am. im kinda scared)

This may not be exactly what you were imagining, but:

The Kim Dokja Company receive a strange scenario, but the titular leader isn’t being as truthful as he may (not) seem.

It came early in the morning.

[Sub-Scenario - Cause and Consequence

Type: Sub Scenario

Difficulty: F-S

Clear Condition(s): A member of your nebula will swap positions with a version of their past or future self from a significant life event. Work out what this event is.

Time Limit: 24 hours

Reward: 10 000 coins

Penalty for Failure: The member of your nebula remains lost in time]

An emergency meeting was called.

“Kim Dokja, what do you know about this scenario?” Inexplicably, Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja were the first two to arrive. Han Sooyoung was unable to sleep and thus was lingering in the communal space, while Kim Dokja had most likely been ignoring his needs in favour of scenario planning in his nearby room

After the fact that this world was from from a novel had been revealed, the two could be more open about where their information came from, and Han Sooyoung took the opportunity to freely discuss what they would do.

Kim Dokja did not respond to Han Sooyoung’s question, instead seeming to grow more pale in his already sickly pallor.

Now she looked again though, she realised something was off. His face, while normally rather blurry, was now shrouded to the point where it looked like static covered it, and his usually well-fitted coat was now hanging onto his shrunken frame.

Disturbed, Han Sooyoung walked over to be in front of him.

“Hey, do you know where you are?” If what Han Sooyoung thought had happened was true, it would probably be best to tread with caution. A ‘significant’ event, was likely to be a traumatic one, and given how Kim Dokja had reacted when they saw Song Minwoo…

Reaching over to grab his shoulder, Kim Dokja finally reacted.

“W-We’re in the apocalypse, aren’t we?”

“We are, have you read a book called Ways of Survival?”

Despite it all, the man seemed to grow even paler, and after some slight hesitation, gave a small nod.

So he was old enough to know about WoS. The man in front of her couldn’t be from the future because the Kim Dokja she knew… he was never this… this small.

This man looked weak, defenceless, nothing like the confident man she has gotten to know. He was shaking where he stood and there was a line of sweat on what she could see of his brow.

Before she could interrogate him further, the door slammed open with a sharp thud.

It was the rest of the company, though Yoo Joonghyuk was notably missing, due to the fact that he had taken a far-away hidden scenario in the lull between main scenarios, and was still travelling back after completing it.

“Do either of you know which one of us it is?” Jung Heewon said as soon as she entered the room, looking ruffled from the sword training she had been doing with Lee Jihye, who spoke next.

“We have a problem if Master got it, he might have been in the middle of a fight when the message got sent.” There were flames in both of their eyes from the ‘Demon Slaying’ skill, the embers not quite dead yet from the recent use of it.

Kim Dokja nervously raises his hand, “I think I have it, is it the…” He pauses to check, “‘Cause and Consequence’ scenario?”

“What does your window read?” The more information the better, and if this normally tricky man was choosing to be cooperative, then Han Sooyoung would take all the advantages she could get.

“It says that-” A lightning strike of probability strikes where he stood. He appeared to have sensed something amiss because he stopped talking and dove out of the way only a short time before it hit.

Lee Hyunsung jumped to help Kim Dokja up as soon as Han Sooyoung had gotten him up again. She pondered, whatever constellation had suggested this scenario obviously didn’t want the details to be let out. What kind of constellation was strong enough to send a concentrated bolt of probability though…

“It doesn’t want me to say.” Kim Dokja said, his tone lacking the shake that had been present since this past-self of his had arrived. Instead it sounded defeated, as if he had given up on trying to be understood.

What had he gone through to get to this point… What time did he come from?

~(*-*)~

Yoo Joonghyuk had been enjoying a pleasant morning in the apocalypse. He had just finished a monster hunting hidden scenario, and his companion had been messaging him throughout the night about upcoming plans.

He was cooking some monster meat over the fire when a scenario arrived.

[Sub-Scenario - Cause and Consequence]

Quickly, he finished what he was doing and activated ‘Red Phoenix Shunpo’ to sprint back to the Industrial Complex. Kim Dokja’s messages had cut off abruptly before the notification arrived.

When he got there, not slamming the door due to it already being open, he saw the rest of the group crowded around a figure wearing a white coat.

His quieter than normal entrance had not yet been noticed by the group, and as he pushed through to get to the cloaked figure, he abruptly stopped.

The figure met eyes with him, and he saw galaxies upon galaxies crowded into teared up eyes. Losing himself to the ethereal gaze, Yoo Joonghyuk felt a presence that had long been absent, with only echoes of it through his ‘Regression’ stigma.

It was the connection of sponsor and incarnation. Yoo Joonghyuk felt the connection gently shifting through his mind, as if looking through papers, and he didn’t fight it because it felt just like Kim Dokja’s skill when he possessed him.

\(0_0)/

Han Sooyoung was still trying to figure out what was happening. Kim Dokja didn’t look young enough to be from when WoS first came out, but he was not the age he was when the scenarios started.

The situation got worse after Yoo Joonghyuk arrived. He must have rushed from wherever he was to get here, but he arrived near silently and suddenly went still the second he got a look at the other Kim Dokja’s staticky face.

Both of them were completely unmoving, just staring at each other unresponsive to any other stimuli. Han Sooyoung went to shake Kim Dokja but stopped when probability sparks flared around the two of them, backing away so as to not get hit as well.

Suddenly, the two leaders dropped to their knees on floor. Kim Dokja curled into a ball, clawing at his face, tears streaming down it. Yoo Joonghyuk just had this look of awe on his unexpressive face, staring in wonder at Kim Dokja.

This was not good, with the two people who feasibly knew the most out of commission. Working herself up to try again, Han Sooyoung walked over to Yoo Joonghyuk and covered his eyes.

If he only got like this when he looked at Kim Dokja, then maybe making it so he couldn’t look anymore would help? This seemed to work as Yoo Joonghyuk’s expression went back to its normal scowl, though he still seemed a little bit out of it.

“Bastard, what made you do that!?” He didn’t respond, instead he pulled Han Sooyoung’s hand away from his face and activated the skill ‘Eye of the Sage’ with his head turned away from the prone man still on the floor, now positively covered in sparks.

With a flick of just his eyes he looks at Kim Dokja before looking away again, seeming to not want a repeat of what just happened. There were sparks around his eye, which had started to tear up from pain.

“His skill is still active, it won’t let me look at his stats.”

That can’t make sense, if the Kim Dokja in front of them hadn’t partaken in the scenarios then he wouldn’t have any skills… perhaps they didn’t just swap places, but also swapped skills, in which case they hopefully the Kim Dokja from the present was okay, given his lackluster combat skills and reliance on coins.

Deciding to leave this for later, Han Sooyoung went to comfort the crying man, keeping wary of the probability.

End for now but may be more

Past/future swap with KDJ but instead of his middle school self, he swaps with 51% and 51% has to deal with /gasp/ EMOTIONS