PC: Yoo Joonghyuk

[voltadomar]

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Weekend 0, Saturday

[voltadomar]

[What up, Joonghyuk, Kim's loitering nearby when he sees Joonghyuk trailed by inquisitive children. He wears a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, and his face is covered in bruises. A skua sits perched atop a nearby wall, looking down on them all.

When the younger man comes within earshot, he speaks.]

Mmh. It's usually unwise to tempt such forces.

[CHILDREN... He shakes his head, sympathetic.]

Were you able to get any information out of them?

[If the children haven't left, he talks like they're not here. Ignoring them and being boring seems like a surefire way to lose their interest.]

[malewife]

[ Joonghyuk has been trying to separate himself from these children that keep asking about other worlds. They've even waited for him to dress out of the nun outfit, so he's in all black like a real goth. His wolf daemon is sticking here, too... The kids don't want to pet it, though. ]

... I do not know why they find my so fascinating.

[ Anyway. ]

They mentioned the adults were driven out by spectres yet it's something they can't see.

[voltadomar]

Spectres?

[He can't quite suppress a scoff.] Of course. A supra-natural mystery. I love those.

[He hates those.]

[malewife]

[ Joonghyuk is also not keen on mysteries, but the kids huff! It's not their fault they can't see them? ]

I was hoping to learn more from the books here, but it's in their language.

[ ... ]

And these children either don't know how to read or don't want to read.

[ USELESS!!!!!!!!!! ]

w1 monday

[malewife]

[ So... New room! And Joonghyuk is here with his wolf daemon, just looking at the room. Mostly at this luminescent critter that is slowly crawling across their ceiling. ]

They're in the walls.

[voltadomar]

[Flatly:] Wonderful. Even more roommates.

[malewife]

Kim Kitsuragi.

[ He doesn't seem prickly or anything, but he looks at him for a good moment. Not going to say anything yet. ]

[voltadomar]

[A pause... and he nods. Yes, that sure is his name.]

And you are Yoo Joonghyuk, correct? Is there a particular way you'd prefer to be addressed?

w2 thursday

[malewife]

[ It seems like Joonghyuk is trying to figure out a place to stay for curfew, albeit trying to narrow his decision rather early. He's careful not to bump into any strange glass that might be hiding on the steps or the walls, but his daemon is having more trouble with four paws. A memory plays.

Your name is Yoo Joonghyuk. You are twenty-eight, a professional Esports player, and you're on your way to pick up your younger sister, Yoo Mia. It is busy on the subway, as it always is in Seoul. You're used to it and keep your eyes on your smartphone... Looking up the report the private investigator you hired has finally sent you. It is then the subway abruptly stops. It's then when the world changes. A white fluffy goblin shows up and tells you the stage is ready for the upcoming apocalypse.

A blue system message pops up to every person on the train.

< Main Scenario #1 – Proof of Value >
Category: Main
Difficulty: F
Clear Conditions: Kill one or more creatures.
Time Limit: 30 minutes
Reward: 300 coins
Failure: Death

Of course, people protest. They try to ward off the goblin with yells and screams in their panic, but it makes an example of them. Pop pop pop, three heads explode. Participate in the scenario of die the exact same way. Blood splatters onto people and the window panes... You're scared. There's... Only people here. In less than a minute, fights start breaking out around you. No one was spared and eventually everyone chose to kill to survive—elderly, men, women, and children. You, too, choose to take another's life.

More system messages flood.

[ Great Sage, Heaven's Equal has donated 200 coins for your first kill! ]
[ Maritime War God has donated 100 coins for your perseverance! ]
[ Abyssal Black Flame Dragon demands more carnage! ]

You don't want to die. Mia... Will she be okay? You have to return to her. You have to find her.

But you don't last long. By the time you and the other survivors could get out of your train cart, the dead start rising and snarl. The only thing they know is hunger now, so they swarm their prey: you and the others. Screams ring again in your ears, but they taper out. You can't tell if it's because they've been caught or your senses are fading.

You've taken someone's life to live for how long? Ten more minutes? On the floor, you can feel your blood pool beneath you as human teeth snag onto your neck, eating away at your flesh. You die from blood loss.

Then you wake up again, on that train, and repeat. Again, you must take a life. Again, you have to survive. This time hopefully longer than the last.

Ah, this time you hesitated. You couldn't take the life of a small girl... She reminded you of Mia and you hesitated, so her mother took that chance to kill you instead.

You wake up again, on that train, and repeat. Again you must take a life. Again, you have to survive. This time hopefully longer than the last.

The man that helped you against those that attacked you ended up strangling you when you let your guard down. Those messages keep popping up. You're getting the sense that your life is like a drama to these... Constellations—gods—who tuned into the livestream. White hot disdain swelled inside of you, mixing in with the smell and taste of bile and blood before your eyesight goes.

You wake up again, on that train, and repeat. Again you must take a life. Again, you have to survive. This time...

He frowns, but at this point he's gotten used to it. Even expects it. ]

[voltadomar]

[Kim looks horrified.]

God... What in the world was that?

[malewife]

[ oh no kim. Joonghyuk sighs. ]

... A memory of a nightmare. [ To clarify: ] A nightmare of the first "entertaining" event.

[voltadomar]

A nightmare sounds right.

[... He composes himself.]

This was "entertainment," for someone?

w3 friday

[malewife]

[ After the headcount, Joonghyuk will show up wherever Kim is. How convenient. Niah is also here, ear flickering when looking up. ]

I need you for a task.

[ An exchange, obviously. ]

[voltadomar]

[Kim gives him a sideways look.]

... Okay. What do you need?

[malewife]

[ why does kim always judge everyone. Anyway, Joonghyuk looks tired. ]

I am to tell people secrets. [ Hm. ] I do not remember anything before the age of twenty-eight. It is like I only started to exist at that age.

[voltadomar]

[Wow he's not judging he just has Resting Judgment Face.]

Ah.

... Wait, really? Like some sort of severe retrograde amnesia, or...?

w5 tuesday

[malewife]

[ Joonghyuk was passing by, but comes over to see Kim handle some of the snow mobiles for his expedition. Niah pads over in his wolf form and looks curiously at the devices. ]

Will your group be going out soon?

[voltadomar]

[Kim's currently filling up the fuel tanks, making sure they've got as much as they can. Cecile's perched on a handlebar of the nearest vehicle. When he looks up, it seems his face is covered in bruises -- possibly familiar ones, from the first week of all of this.]

Yes, once we're ready.

[malewife]

[ Ah... Bruises, he sees. Well, past wounds are just like this. ]

Hopefully, you'll find something out there. Make sure to bring extra fuel, maybe a flare, in case of emergencies.

[ ... ]

How do you feel about being more involved, Kim Kitsuragi? So to say, if you are given information to interpret, piece together, and maybe spread to see if others can connect more to it.

Week 5, Friday

[voltadomar]

[Sometime after all kinds of horrible things went down, Kim finds Joonghyuk at the dining hall. He approaches, looking about as worn out as anyone else is today.]

How are your injuries?

[malewife]

My actual injuries are fine.

[ But the weekly effect is back on. It's hard to see because he is all covered, but he is bleeding profusely.

That doesn't stop him from eating. ]

Who's dead?

[voltadomar]

[The bleeding gets an uneasy look, but he nods, accepting that. There's some hesitation before he answers.]

Susato is missing. But the Watchers could not confirm if she has died.

w6 friday

[malewife]

[ i hope kim is resting in his room or something

Joonghyuk is checking up on him to make sure he's feeling better. If necessary, he can change his bandages or help him around. ]

Will you be able to eat at all?

[voltadomar]

[Yeah, let's say Kim's just left the door ajar while he's resting. He's been napping on and off, but it doesn't seem like he's fallen into any deep sleep, as his eyes open immediately when there's a presence in the doorway.

In addition to the arm that was sliced clean off and then cauterized, there were cuts on his arms and legs, a bullet wound in the back of his shoulder, and what looked like electrical burns. And so, so many bruises. The good news? The bleeding's stopped, everything's bandaged, and there's even a little bit of colour in his face now.]

Yes, I think so.

[malewife]

[ damn making joonghyuk a criminal just coming in but it's fine. Since Kim is looking good and there are no more bullets in him, Joonghyuk stops the small amount of fussing. ]

Porridge?