Chapter Text
Breaking news: Han Sooyoung, the author of the best-selling novel “Three Ways to Survive in an Apocalypse”, promises to finish her masterpiece this year!
Yoo Joonghyuk huffed and glowered at the screen of his phone. No matter how talented Han Sooyoung was, even she couldn’t possibly make good of this promise. There were too many unfinished plotlines, too many characters without a resolution to their stories. Even if she skipped the final fight in the 99th scenario, which Yoo Joonghyuk doubted would be a smart choice, that still left the epilogue, and of course, the protagonist’s flashback, which had been hinted at but never explored, much to the chagrin of the numerous fans. True, it was possible that Han Sooyoung grew tired of the story and no longer cared for the quality, but giving TWSA a half-assed ending would be a travesti. After all, the novel and the manhwa based on it simply had too many fans, Yoo Joonghyuk’s little sister included. Mia would be devastated if her favourite book failed to deliver…
The train carriage shook, pulling Yoo Joonghyuk out of his musings. Right, a few more stations to go, then he’d exit the train, get home and start cooking. Perhaps he’d even find some time to work on a FAQ video he planned to upload soon… No, hardly. It was almost 7 PM. Mia was about to come home from her English class. Damn it, Yoo Joonghyuk was supposed to be home early! He’d just gotten distracted in the shop.
That wouldn’t happen again. Mia needed him to be his best self. He was supposed to take care of his sister, not to let her feel the consequences of him being unable to deal with his bullshit…
The train carriage shook again, then stopped with a screech. Yoo Joonghyuk frowned. Damn it, what now? Was there an accident? Theoretically speaking, if the train arrived to the nearest station, he could get home on foot, but how long would they have to wait for that? Hopefully there would be an announcement…
Someone laughed hysterically. Yoo Joonghyuk scrunched his nose: whatever moron was throwing a fit now was clearly seeking attention. It’d only been a moment! No reason to panic and incite other passengers. Asshole.
“I see someone chose to start before me! Can’t I ever be the first? Can’t you give me this one simple thing?! I’ve spent my whole life being insignificant, and now that I’ve decided to change it, you must take the chance away? I’ll show you! All of you!”
What sort of chuuni bullshit?.. Yoo Joonghyuk slowly turned towards the ranting man, reminding himself that he should leave dealing with crazy people to someone better equipped to do so, but froze at the sight of a simple brown bag the man was waving around. Were those wires? Damn it, don’t tell him…
“Fine. Fine!” the man kept ranting. “Once a loser, always a loser, right? Well, even if I go down like a loser, I’ll take you all with me!”
Someone started shrieking. The man’s laughter turned from hysterical to gleeful.
“Now you see me! Now you’re all looking at me!”
The carriage suddenly went dark. Yoo Joonghyuk clutched the handle as hard as he could. If the bomb went off, he’d hear the explosion, right? He’d at least have a split second to realise he was dying… which meant he was still alive. Good. He’d hate to leave Mia all on her own. That’d make him a shitty brother and a shitty guardian.
Something lit up in the middle of the carriage. Something tiny and fluffy, with a horned head and glowing eyes.
“Ahem… is the patch working properly now? Oh my… look, dear constellations, we have an anomaly after an anomaly! First the other carriage, now this? We haven’t even begun yet, and those pitiful incarnations are already fighting for your amusement!”
Yoo Joonghyuk froze. This couldn’t be. This couldn’t be, right? He was hallucinating. There must be a reasonable explanations. Anything.
“A dokkaebi?”
“Constellations?”
“Isn’t that from the manhwa? And the animated show?”
“Do you think it’s an advertisement?”
“They wouldn’t disrupt the train schedule for the sake of an ad, would they?”
“Quick, look for a hidden camera!”
The other passengers’ excited voices made Yoo Joonghyuk snap back to his senses and take in his surroundings properly. They were in a subway. 7 PM sharp. Carriage… 3707.
Then the passenger’s heads started bursting like overripe watermelons.
Yoo Joonghyuk frantically looked around. If this wasn’t an elaborate stunt… if the story that he’d been following for a decade somehow became a reality… then the protagonist…
Would be in carriage 3807.
And everyone in carriage 3707 would be dead, save for the Mad Bomber.
No. No, there must be a way to survive. And if there wasn’t, Yoo Joonghyuk could create one for himself, at least. He just needed to think. To stop panicking. To take a deep breath and ask himself one question.
What would Kim Dokja do?
Talk the bomber’s ear off. Use his silver tongue to stall for time, to pacify other passengers. Lay the ground for the constellations to become interested in him.
Except there was no way Yoo Joonghyuk would be able to pull off something like that. He hated talking. He was shit at convincing people. He could give out orders and hope someone would follow, but that strategy failed him fifty percent of the time.
And yet the old mantra soothed him, just like always. Yoo Joonghyuk took a deep breath, his head somewhat cleared. He knew what he had to do.
Kill the bomber.
It was self-defense. The guy was a terrorist, intending to kill everyone in the carriage. And…
And if the dokkaebi was real, then none of it mattered anyway. There were no laws in the broken world of TWSA.
Yoo Joonghyuk moved towards Choi Hanggyu with a full intention of smashing the man’s head against the wall, but quickly saw a wrench on the carriage floor. Even better. A weapon was a weapon. Now, Yoo Joonghyuk just needed to grab the bag with one hand, hit Choi Hanggyu on the head with the wrench and hopefully be done with the biggest problem, at least for now…
He overestimated himself. Yes, his response time was higher than most people’s, and he was fit enough, but he’d never had to fight in real life, not behind a screen. Choi Hanggyu lost his balance and stumbled, the wrench merely leaving a scratch on his forehead. The bag flew off Choi Hanggyu’s shoulder, hitting the wall at full speed. Yoo Joonghyuk still managed to land another hit on the bomber’s head before the force of the explosion threw him to the other side of the carriage.
Shit. He couldn’t die, not now…
His ears hurt. His head hurt. His everything hurt. Yoo Joonghyuk groaned, but didn’t hear his own voice. Were his ear drums damaged by the explosion? Was he dying? Was this the end for him?
A blurry shadow with shining eyes approached him, stepping over the bodies of other passengers. Then it leaned over him and touched his shoulder. Yoo Joonghyuk raised his hand and grabbed the shadow’s wrist.
He had to survive, damn it. Mia was waiting for him. He couldn’t leave her.
The shadow turned its head, and Yoo Joonghyuk slipped into oblivion, as if the shadow’s burning gaze was the only thing keeping him conscious.