yjh and flat

[escardos]

Comments

w0; sunday; post execution

[escardos]

[ perhaps returning to the courtyard is not the safest decision...this, even flat knows.

but he can't help but feel curious when he sees yjh--why is he sticking around after everything that happened? ]

Sir? [ he says it from a couple meters away. ] Is everything okay?

[malewife]

… No.

[ He recognizes it is Flat, the little weirdo, but only Niah looks over. The wolf daemon watches for a bit then looks back to the spot. ]

It feels like all of this was intended.

[ And he doesn’t like that? ]

[escardos]

...

[ his smile is strained for a moment, before he looks to the side. jack turns from a crow to a wolf, but still sticking close to flat's side. ]

Suriel didn't look like they liked what happened...and Baraqiel too. I'm not sure who would choose something like that when they could have just put Qi Rong in some sort of jail.

[malewife]

The one the Watchers report to, if we want to believe they were not aware of any of this.

[ That is the only answer he can piece together right now. Niah's tail swishes back and forth, agitated. ]

... The jail was barely anything. When I visited him, he was already badly beaten.

[escardos]

...He did look pretty bad when he came out today.

[ what the fuck??? even flat is shocked. ]

Did he tell you who did that to him?

w2 tuesday

[malewife]

[ Well, since they're here. Joonghyuk is kind of minding his own business, but Niah accidentally tips over a strange glass shard... And we are in memoryville.

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 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...

Eh... At this point, he's kind of used to this happening. ]

[escardos]

[ that is....a hell of a memory. even flat is taken aback by it, staring at joonghyuk with wide blue eyes.

jack, as a ferret, chitters nervously. ]

Sir...?

[malewife]

Yes, what is it?

[ He's not at all unsettled, just a little bit annoyed. Sometimes you just kill and die and live then kill and die. ]

[escardos]

I—I’m sorry for looking into your memory, sir! I-

[ flustered, flat takes a step back on one of the crystals, revealing a memory of his own. ]

[malewife]

[ a baby... ]

... Of course you'd be how you are if you had such cowardly parents.

[ Insults start. They really do. ]

w3 friday

[malewife]

[ Joonghyuk is here! At the outpost after headcount. ]

Flat Escardos.

[ Why are you here? ]

[escardos]

Yoo Joonghyuk.

[ he smiles at him, blankly. ]

Are you feeling better?

[malewife]

[ MY NOTIFS ]

Yes. Are you also here for relevant information?

[escardos]

[ HEI YOUR NOTIFS ]

Eh? You have information?

[malewife]

Every trip seems to come with some information as a reward. Whether it's the truth is to be debated.

[ Yes. ]

w4 ; pre curfew

[escardos]

[ when they see yjh, flat(?) does not...call out to him.

in fact they do nothing at all, other than watch impassively. ]

[malewife]

... Flat Escardos.

[ ?? He approaches. ]

[escardos]

Is not here at the moment.

[ they watch. ]

[malewife]

[ huh ]

... Who is this?

[escardos]

Names don't matter.

w6 ; friday evening

[escardos]

[ flat will...be half-heartedly looking for joonghyuk throughout the day. it's like he's trying to find, him, but also not really.

but when he sees him in the park, late in the evening, flat hesitates for a moment, before making his presence known. ]

Mister Joonghyuk. Can we talk?

[malewife]

Yes.

[ He's just here, hating on the stars that are slowly coming out. ]

What is it?

[escardos]

[ flat looks...serious? it's a rare treat, hopefully yjh appreciates it while he hates on the stars. ]

Remember when we talked about making both Temporals and Celestial numbers even? Did you ever tell that to Reze?

[malewife]

[ Oh. We don’t like that.

He frowns. ]

… I did not, no. It was a conversation between Kim Dokja and I, then I posed the possibility to the roles.

She told you something similar?

[ What exactly? ]

[escardos]

...

[ flat nods. ]