Kim Dokja frowned as he looked back at the screen, remembering just what he had to go through in order to get that contract. It hadn't been a fun few days, that was for sure, and he wasn't particularly thrilled with having to relive it like this.
Upon hearing Dokja's confident declaration, Bihyung's eyes go red and he begins to laugh uproariously. He can't believe his ears.
[You're crazy! You must be out of your mind!] He cackles, completely ignoring the deadpan seriousness on Dokja's face. [I should have realized when you rejected all the offers from the constellations!]
That's right. During the
[Many constellations are shocked.]
What, could they not imagine someone who had received offers rejecting them? Sure, some incarnations were still sponsor-less after the fourth main scenario, but those were probably just the people who either didn't get any offers in the first place, or who were unconscious during the first Sponsor Selection.
To be fair, Kim Dokja probably would have thought he was crazy too, especially considering that one of those offers was from the Prisoner of the Golden Headband. That had been almost painful to turn down, if he was being honest.
"Dokja-ssi, your constellation really isn't the 'One-eyed Maitreya?'" Jung Heewon asked, shock evident on her face. "Or did you get an offer that you accepted later?"
Kim Dokja shook his head. "You shouldn't be able to get a sponsor outside of the Sponsor Selection event, and I still don't have one."
"Isn't that putting you at a disadvantage since you don't have a stigma?" Lee Hyunsung asked with wide eyes. He was worried, and Kim Dokja appreciated that, but it wasn't necessary here.
He tilted his head in thought for a moment, but smiled and glanced back at Yoo Joonghyuk. Considering the only stigmas Yoo Joonghyuk had been given by his mystery sponsor were [Regression] and [Transmission], which only had extremely situational uses, he might as well not have a sponsor or stigma in the early regressions and scenarios before he built up a catalogue of skills to regain using [Transmission].
"Not necessarily," Kim Dokja admitted with a smile. "Yeah, it's annoying that I don't have a stigma sometimes, but you can get both stigmas and skills as scenario rewards too."
That was a surprise to Lee Hyunsung, and his eyes widened as he seemingly began thinking of how to acquire a few for himself too.
[I don't know how you know about the Star Stream, but I can't accept your offer,] Bihyung tells him with a shrug. [I'm a dokkaebi, not a constellation, so I can't be your constellation sponsor.]
At that, Dokja smirks. "I don't think you get it. I never asked for you to sponsor me."
When Bihyung looks confused, Dokja continues. "It's not your power I'm after, but your channel."
Bihyung crosses his arms as he floats above Dokja, cocking his head to the side as he thinks. [My channel?]
"Let me break it down for you. I want to enter into an exclusive contract with your channel," Dokja says seriously. At that, Bihyung's eyes widen and he makes a noise of surprise.
[Wait, are you saying you want to enter into a
"Yes."
Stream Contract
A contract between constellations and the dokkaebis.
For a share of the coins earned, a dokkaebi hosts an incarnation of a constellation on their channel.
In return, the dokkaebi who owns the channel receives a share of the coins earned by the incarnation as commission.
Usually, incarnations have no say regarding this contract. Although they are "sponsored," the truth is that constellations view incarnations as slaves.
Lee Jihye's eyes went wide as her jaw dropped open. "Is.. is that true?"
[The constellation 'Maritime War God' says that some constellations do, but not all.]
Kim Dokja nodded in agreement. "Just because I was the only person who read all of TWSA doesn't mean you can, or should, take my words as the absolute truth, you know. Some constellations care more than others, and some absolutely see their incarnations as disposable tools or just for entertainment."
He sighed and glanced over at Yoo Joonghyuk for a moment before continuing. "You already know that this novel followed Joonghyuk-ah here, and was mostly in his perspective. Because of that, a lot of the information wasn't necessarily portrayed objectively."
"Master hates the constellations," Lee Jihye murmured, realization dawning on her face. "That… that makes sense. I can't see him having too many positive thoughts about them."
Yoo Joonghyuk nodded at her in something like approval. "Some constellations are… tolerable," he admitted in a way that sounded like he forced himself to vocalize it.
Wow, was that character development Kim Dokja spotted? Incredible.
Bihyung holds his head in one of his hands, remarking that Dokja really does have a sense of humour. How dare a mere human mention the contract, regardless of where he heard about it? It's not something for mortals to know about or to desire—especially when they don't even have a constellation of their own.
However, Dokja isn't willing to back down. "That's exactly why you should accept my offer."
[What?]
Hook, line, and sinker.
"Why do you think constellations join Star Stream channels in the first place?"
The subscribers of the Star Stream can be divided into two groups. The first are the thrill seekers who hop through the channels looking for entertainment. The second are the incarnation seekers who are in search of an incarnation to sponsor.
"If you want your channel to flourish, you have to satisfy at least one of the two groups," Dokja argues smartly. "Either make your stream as entertaining as possible, or try to find an incarnation that interests your subscribers."
Bihyung thinks for a moment, but he can't understand why anything like that concerns Dokja in the first place. Dokja, however, is not amused. No wonder Bihyung's channel only has subscribers in the three digits.
A smirk crosses Dokja's face. "What if there was a channel that could both entertain its subscribers and showcase interesting incarnations?"
Bihyung looks at him blankly, crossing his arms. [There's no way that's possible.]
"Constellations who are looking for incarnations to sponsor eventually leave the channel as soon as the
Bihyung's mouth drops open as thoughts fly through his head. This mere human couldn't be insinuating…
"And what if that incarnation outperforms all other incarnations despite not having a constellation sponsor?"
Dokja looks smug. He's got a bite, and all he needs to do is reel in the dokkaebi.
[I-is that why you didn't choose a constellation sponsor!?]
Yoo Sangah sighed and shook her head. "I should have realized that Dokja-ssi was planning right from the start."
Well, it's not like he made it obvious at that point, and she wouldn't have known what to look for in the first place anyway.
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is tearing out his hair in shock.]
"Having knowledge of what's coming helps a lot in that regard," Kim Dokja admitted with a sly smile and a shrug. "I admit, it's a bit more fun than I thought to play a strategist role."
Considering all the planning and maneuvering that went into the fourth scenario, it wouldn't have been possible at all if he hadn't known where all the pieces were thanks to TWSA.
She laughed gently, finally smiling genuinely. "I suppose that's a good reason to take advantage of Dokja-ssi's future knowledge, especially if it gets us out of the scenarios as relatively unscathed as we have been so far."
She was right, of course. Their group hadn't had any casualties (yet, a small voice in his head reminded him), and everyone had grown and learned. Compared to most other incarnations of the Seoul dome, they were doing significantly better. Still, there was no guarantee that they would stay that lucky in the future as the difficulty level of the scenarios began ramping up.
Dokja confirms that the dokkaebi has the right idea, and he offhandedly mentions that the constellations are probably in an uproar right now since the channel is closed. Bihyung flinches violently.
Dokja shrugs and grins. "They're all probably dying to know who it was that dared to stand up against the regressor. Can he see the future? Why did he get eaten by the ichthyosaur? Is he really a prophet?"
Bihyung frantically checks the channel, screens popping up rapidly in front of him.
[Stop, what are you— You're full of yourself! Mere humans don't stand a chance against incarnations with constellation sponsors!] He shouts. It's a fact, but Dokja is firm in his stance that he'll prove it to Bihyung from now on.
"All you have to do is shut your mouth and do what I say," Dokja tells him, once again reminding Bihyung of his promise to make him the dokkaebi King. As they stare at each other, Bihyung seems to falter, and Dokja is too smug for his own good.
In an attempt to get back on track, Bihyung demands 5100 coins from Dokja as payment for failing the sub scenario, but Dokja only stares at him blankly.
"What are you on about? I didn't fail."
[Huh?]
Dokja slowly gets to his feet. "I must have fulfilled the condition… right about now."
The concrete beneath his feet wobbles as he stands, and he carefully holds out his arms to try and keep his balance. Glancing up at Bihyung, he demands that the dokkaebi opens the channel again. After all, it's going to start soon.
To Bihyung's shock, there's a loud ding that rings through the air.
[A hidden scenario has arrived.]
[Many constellations are surprised by the appearance of a hidden scenario.]
"So you were aware of it," Yoo Joonghyuk said, glancing at Kim Dokja out of the corner of his eye. "I assume you knew how to beat it too."
All Kim Dokja could do was smile weakly. He wasn't sure what Yoo Joonghyuk was expecting to see here, but a show of combat talent would not be it. He hoped that his methods, crude as they were, would be acceptable.
"Mhm," he nodded, "it still wasn't easy, though."
As for how difficult it had been, well, everyone would have to see it in a moment anyway.
The hidden scenario,
[Oh, dear constellations, please calm yourselves,] Bihyung says, playing innocent. [The stream was shut down because of a server error! I swear I didn't turn it off on purpose.]
He explains that he couldn't give preferential treatment to this incarnation—he's only a dokkaebi, after all. You know, like a liar.
Dokja, however, manages to get Bihyung to open the dokkaebi bag for him (through threats, of course), an extensive online star stream cash shop. He looks over the options with a careful eye, wondering if there's a search function. It's very easy to see, even on the homepage, that the prices are exorbitant.
It can only be used while the channel is open. That's why he has his hands full explaining what happened. The hidden scenario arrived while the channel was closed, too…
Bihyung is practically in tears as he endures the berating of the constellations. Dokja ignores his struggle, and asks for a bit of help, to which Bihyung tells him where to find the search button. He looks exhausted.
"Search item,
Unfortunately, the SS-grade item,
According to TWSA, the owner of this heart is in Italy. He's one lucky guy. His sponsor is filthy rich and bought this for him. At times like this, I regret not choosing a constellation sponsor.
Dokja sighs and crosses his arms. Onto the next items, then. "Search
Bihyung screeches again. Just how does this incarnation know all of this!?
A few moments later, he seems completely unimpressed by Dokja's purchased items—four bags of hammer seahorse mucus and four stone hog thorns. When Bihyung asks what Dokja plans to do with those, he just replies to wait and see. Altogether, they cost him 800 coins, and Bihyung reminds Dokja that there are no refunds.
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is curious about your plan.]
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is displeased with your every move.]
Dokja just grins and presses the x on that message. No one is forcing the dragon to watch him.
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is saying that he has to watch if he wants to laugh at you.]
Well, Kim Dokja didn't expect anything less from that constellation.
"Ahjussi, I understand stabbing it with the thorns, but what are the bags of slime for?" Shin Yoosung asked curiously. Kim Dokja honestly wasn't sure what to tell her, but he also didn't particularly want her—or any of the kids, really—to see him covered in the mucus. He had no doubt that Yoo Mia would be extremely grossed out and that she wouldn't hold back her comments on the matter.
Instead, he just patted Shin Yoosung's head with a smile. "It was to protect me; you'll see in a moment."
Maybe if he established that first, they wouldn't be so vocal about it.
Bihyung frowns and quickly closes the channel, reminding Dokja that he hasn't yet agreed to the offer. They'll negotiate the terms of the contract after the successful completion of the hidden scenario. After sarcastically wishing Dokja good luck with the blessing of the story, Bihyung disappears and reopens the channel.
Immediately, Dokja gets to work putting his plan into action. It's 9:41 pm.
There isn't much time until the stomach acid is secreted.
He takes some of the mucus from the first bag and rubs it along the length of the first stone hog thorn. Every bit of its surface needs to be covered. As he finishes with his task, a strange hissing noise catches his attention, and Dokja turns to see small holes opening up in the sea commander's stomach lining that will allow the acid to flow.
Liquid comes gushing out, and Dokja takes a deep breath as he grips a thorn tightly in his hand, ready to stab it into the beast's flesh.
There's only one thought on his mind.
'I will make it out of here alive.'
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is screaming as she remembers the upcoming scene.]
Oh god no. Kim Dokja instantly knew exactly what Uriel was thinking of, and his face paled considerably. That was going to be humiliating.
[The constellation 'Lady of the Sleeping Brocade' is wondering what scene the constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is talking about.]
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' says that it was the best thing she has seen in ages.]
[The constellation 'Lily Blooming in Aquarius' is sighing and preparing to plug her ears.]
Yoo Joonghyuk's eyes narrowed. "Kim Dokja, what did you do?"
It was all he could do to bury his face in his hands and let out an agonized groan.