5 Episode 2 - Apocalyptic World (1)

In the space of a short moment, and without even giving us enough time to recover from all the emotions we had felt, the subway train started to move from right to left before finally starting to move forward once again. Several minutes passed, where all the survivors remained silent and preferred to observe what was taking place, looking at the outside which was in no way what they had known before

"My God... What is this?"

It would be a lie to say that I didn't feel a certain amount of nostalgia as I watched the city of Seoul, where I had worked and lived for many years, on fire and in ruins, with collapsed buildings everywhere. Yet I couldn't help but feel that all of this was predictable to a certain extent, especially after the appearance of the dokkaebi and its main scenario. One of the few things that managed to worry me even a little bit was that I managed to keep a semblance of calm in such a catastrophic situation

[The settlement of the compensation has been delayed due to the sudden appearance of a scenario. Please wait]

I looked at the error message floating in the air for a few seconds before coming to look at the other people who had managed to survive, mainly Lee Seolhwa. Through cooperation between the two of us when we barely knew each other, we had both managed to pass the first scenario that had been imposed on us

[Due to your cooperation with the incarnation 'Lee Seolhwa', many constellations have a slight preference for you.]

Faced with the sudden message that appeared right in front of me without any warning, I was somewhat taken aback by it all before finally thinking logically again. The term constellations was not unfamiliar to me, of course, but the fact that it was used in one of these messages must surely mean that it had another meaning. So, as I was just beginning to formulate the question in my mind, I heard a voice echoing inside my head

- Information. The constellations are the most mysterious beings of this new world. They observe sitting, from their distant nebulae, the tragedies that happen in the world as a commonplace entertainment

Thus, if I trust what has just been explained to me, even if it is somewhat difficult to admit, there would be powerful entities that would take pleasure in watching us trying to survive from their so-called nebulae in the sky. Involuntarily, I raised my head and looked at the ceiling of the subway train, before letting a short sigh be heard. Of course, the fact that we were actually being watched was not something I particularly appreciated, but if I was to believe the message I had received earlier, some constellations were looking at me favorably

"Jakga? Is everything really okay?"

As I lowered my head, my eyes met Lee Seolhwa's and then her face in its entirety. A little blood was on her face, and her hands were shaking slightly despite the fact that she was trying to hide it. She had to kill another human being in order to continue living, this is not something that can be forgotten, and it can even cause trauma to some people

"To be honest, I'm not sure myself. By the way, thank you for cooperating with me earlier, I really don't know if I could have survived alone in all this chaos"

It was a lie, because I knew that I was perfectly capable of killing a person without any difficulty because of the years I spent in the army, but I wanted to appease her a little. Maybe Lee Seolhwa had noticed, because she looked at the dead bodies on the ground and then looked at me with a somewhat stunned look

"I think I should thank you instead. Thanks to you, I am still alive"

[Oh, I didn't expect that.]

The dokkaebi appeared out of nowhere in the air, right in the middle of the subway train, while his eyes scanned our faces as if we were mere insects to it

[I honestly thought it would have been boring, but you've outdone yourselves, it seems...]

The dokkaebi was silent for a moment, then, with a big smile, he quickly spoke again

[So many people connected to my channel. I didn't expect it! Thank you so much, dear constellations! Hey, all of you, did you properly prove your worth in this scenario ?]

Even as other survivors gritted their teeth at the dokkaebi's words, I simply remained silent, but the dokkaebi didn't seem to mind as he began to manipulate something in the air before a list of all the survivors suddenly appeared

[Survivors of train 5621 to Cheongnyangni, car 1548: Choi Jakga, Lee Seolhwa, etc. A total of four people]

When I heard the number of survivors that had just been proclaimed, I was somewhat surprised that the previously chaotic subway train had only seen four people escape. It had to be said that we had to take the lives of many people to avoid dying too, so that in itself was not so surprising

[Please know that you are now just common earth rats who will die horribly in the next few scenarios, but there are incredibly generous and wonderful people in the universe who do not want to see this happen and want to take you under their wings to prevent it. Do you even understand what I'm explaining to you? No? Well, you'll understand it all better if you experience it firsthand, won't you?]

Without even giving us time to say a word in the face of these strange words, the dokkaebi snapped his fingers powerfully, causing a window to appear in front of each of the four survivors on the subway train. Everyone then started to read what was written, and I obviously did the same

[Sponsor Selection]

- Please select your sponsor.

- Your chosen sponsor will be your biggest supporter

1. Queen of the Darkest Spring

2. Demon-like Judge of Fire

3. The Peaceful Dragon of Eternal Wisdom

In the window that was now in front of me, there were exactly three choices, which therefore meant that the three constellations that the dokkaebi had spoken of a few seconds before wanted to protect me from what might happen in future scenarios. I was obviously grateful for this, but I couldn't help but remember my own words about them. So, I then went through the names of the three entities that wanted to take me under their wings as best I could, since that was all the information I had on them at the moment

Queen. Judge. Dragon...

I stared at the window in front of me, trying to figure out which would be the best choice to survive, but I had no idea who to choose. It was kind of like someone asking you to choose between two or five things, which one you liked the most and yet you don't know any of them.

- Remark. It is possible, if desired, to obtain the true identity of the proposed constellations by exploiting the metaphors they use to hide their names

For several seconds, I stood silently watching the other survivors as they too made their selections from the constellations that wanted to sponsor them. Could I really believe such a skill? Would I not regret it in the future? Several questions popped into my head, but I quickly made a decision. I didn't know anything yet about this new world I was in, so I had to trust my own skill, or I wouldn't get very far

'Please do so'

- Understand. Analysis in progress...

Only half a second passed before suddenly the voice of my skill was heard again

- Analysis complete. Here are the true identities of the constellations: Queen of the Darkest Spring is the Greek Goddess Persephone. Demon-like Judge of Fire is the Archangel Uriel. The Peaceful Dragon of Eternal Wisdom is Bian, one of the nine children of the Dragon King

Taking into account everything that had just been explained to me, it seemed that I had succeeded in attracting the attention of particularly large and powerful constellations, yet I was not happy about this since I still had no idea what was best for me. I quickly ran a hand over my forehead, which was beginning to itch a little, and it was then that I heard a small noise as I read with some surprise what was in the messages that had just opened before me

[A new constellation has entered the channel!]

[A new constellation is participating in the selection of sponsors!]

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4. Secretive Plotter

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