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Ah, Kim Dokja thought as the world seemed to turn pitch black around the four of them. I had almost forgotten about this hidden scenario.
He had just been rescued from the Secretive Plotter and the Living Flame. Kim Dokja’s Company were supposed to be having a day off when Kim Dokja noticed something strange happening nearby. The first one he called out to was Yoo Sangah. He wasn’t too sure what exactly their relationship was - it wasn’t romantic, but it seemed different from a friendship. With Yoo Sangah came Han Sooyoung and, to Kim Dokja’s surprise, Yoo Joonghyuk. He gave the regressor a nod, then turned back to the strange thing.
“It’s a tree, dumbass,” Han Sooyoung said. “Did you hit your head while you were a dumpling?”
Kim Dokja felt the urge to smack her.
Yoo Sangah was thankfully taking the investigation more seriously. “It’s not a normal tree, though. Dokja-ssi is right about that. It’s too… dark.” She looked at him. “You know something about this, don’t you?”
Kim Dokja nodded. “Yes. It appeared in Ways of Survival.” He gave an uncomfortable glance at Yoo Joonghyuk. “One of the later regressions. But it only appeared once, and Yoo Joonghyuk died because of it.”
Yoo Sangah flinched. Han Sooyoung’s eyes darkened. Yoo Joonghyuk said nothing.
“You have to tell us more, Kim Dokja,” Han Sooyoung snapped. Someone was in a bad mood. Probably because the one time they got to relax, it was interrupted by a dangerous tree.
“It’s related to some hidden scenario,” Kim Dokja said, studying it. “It took advantage of Joonghyuk-ah’s weakness.” He glanced at Yoo Joonghyuk.
“...I see.” Yoo Joonghyuk brought out his sword. “And if I cut it down?”
Kim Dokja looked at the tree again, warily. “Not sure. Like I said, it only appeared once, and you didn’t cut it down that time. But maybe we shouldn’t try such ri-”
He cut himself off as Yoo Joonghyuk cut down the tree.
Then the darkness spread over all of them.
Really, Kim Dokja couldn’t believe how he had almost forgotten about this hidden scenario. It had impacted Yoo Joonghyuk for the next few regressions, as he was always looking out for that one tree that had killed not only him, but Yoo Mia as well.
Yes - the only time the tree had appeared, Yoo Mia had climbed it, and as Yoo Joonghyuk had been climbing up to get her, the darkness had consumed them, and the Yoo siblings had been plunged into a hellish nightmare.
Kim Dokja had hoped that the tree would never appear in this regression turn. He had grown too careless, though.
In Ways of Survival, the tree had appeared pretty early on. It was most definitely not early on right now.
“Dokja-ssi?” a voice called out to him from the darkness.
Kim Dokja let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding, and turned around. “Sangah-ssi.”
Yoo Sangah was right behind him. She looked around, but Kim Dokja knew that other than himself, she would see nothing but blackness. “Where are Sooyoung-ssi and Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi?”
“We’ll have to find them,” Kim Dokja said with a sigh.
Yoo Sangah nodded, moving to stand beside him. They were so close that they were almost touching, but for them, that was natural. Kim Dokja didn’t quite have the words for it, but he knew that this was right. They should always be like this.
Yoo Sangah gave him a comforting smile. He didn’t need it, but he appreciated it anyway.
Together, they moved forward.
They found Han Sooyoung and Yoo Joonghyuk together.
“Good thing I convinced him to wait for you guys,” Han Sooyoung said, quickly getting up from where she was laying on the invisible floor, apparently out of boredom. “If anyone knows what to do, it’s our omniscient reader.”
“You read the hidden scenario screen, didn’t you?” Kim Dokja questioned.
Han Sooyoung grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, but I figured it would be better if you did all of the work instead. You and Yoo Joonghyuk, of course.”
Kim Dokja sighed and pulled up the screen. Same as in the novel. Soon enough, some of their worst memories would come to haunt them. They had to complete the scenario beforehand if they wanted to survive - especially Yoo Joonghyuk.
“It’s not going to work with just Joonghyuk-ah and I,” Kim Dokja said. “We need all four of us.” That’s how Yoo Joonghyuk ran out of time before the nightmares arrived in the original novel. He tried to complete the scenario by himself, but if he had just worked with Yoo Mia instead, they likely would have escaped.
“Kim Dokja.” Yoo Joonghyuk spoke, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “Tell us what to do.”
Ah, you’re asking me to lead you now?
“We need to get to the roots of the tree,” Kim Dokja said.
“The problem is that there isn’t any tree,” Han Sooyoung pointed out. “It’s all just blackness.”
“Then what is it that you were laying on?”
Han Sooyoung’s eyes widened.
Yoo Sangah bent down and felt the texture of the ground. “He’s right,” she breathed out. “It’s a tree.”
Kim Dokja nodded. “We’re on the trunk right now - and yes, we’re sideways, though you can’t exactly tell.” He then motioned in one direction. “If I’m right… then the roots should be that way.”
[The constellation ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ is interested in how you will complete the scenario.]
[The constellation ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’ urges you to trust your companions.]
“We can get to the roots by ourselves,” Kim Dokja said. “But in order to complete the scenario, all four of us must reach them at the same time. The instructions don’t say it, but that is how it’s intended. The darkness will only spread from here on, and soon, we will not be able to see each other.” He extended his hands. “Let’s hold on to each other. Then at least we will know where the others are.”
The nightmares had already started to invade their minds when they finally reached the roots.
All Kim Dokja could see was his father, dead in front of him. But he could feel Yoo Sangah’s hand in one of his, and Han Sooyoung’s in the other. “Joonghyuk-ah?” he called out.
“I’m here,” Yoo Joonghyuk replied from Han Sooyoung’s other side.
Kim Dokja breathed out in relief. “Good,” he said. “Let’s step forward together, okay?”
His companions all made sounds of acknowledgement. Kim Dokja counted them off, then all four stepped forward together.
The hidden scenario had been completed.
The light from the sun almost blinded him.
Kim Dokja squinted and looked at his companions. On his left was Yoo Sangah, already getting up. She gave him a gentle smile, which Kim Dokja reciprocated.
What exactly is our relationship?
On his right was Han Sooyoung, still lying on the grass. On Han Sooyoung’s right was Yoo Joonghyuk, staring at where the tree once was, but there no more. The lighting hit the two of them perfectly, and for a moment, all Kim Dokja could think about was how handsome Yoo Joonghyuk was and how beautiful Han Sooyoung was.
His relationship with Yoo Sangah was not romantic, but maybe his relationship with these two was.
“Sooyoung-ssi, do you need help getting up?” Yoo Sangah asked.
Han Sooyoung looked as if she could get up on her own, but she said, “Yeah, thanks,” and accepted Yoo Sangah’s offered hand.
As Kim Dokja noticed the light flush on Han Sooyoung’s cheeks, he wondered what the relationship between these two women was.
He wondered what the relationship between all four of them was.
But that wasn’t important. Not right now.
The hidden scenario was a test of trust, to be exact. And he and the other three had proved that they trusted each other.
That was how they would survive the apocalypse.
He could deal with these feelings afterward.