Cale truly did not feel remorse as he watched the massacre happening in front of him. The others could only stare at Kim Namwoon mercilessly slaughtering the thugs with shaking pupils.

None were paying attention to the black haired man, so the water bunny hopped out of his pocket to give him a pocky stick.

He nibbled on the pocky, silently thanking the animal that decided his shoulder feels more comfortable.

Blood were flying like rose petals, and Namwoon's sadistic laughter dominated the area aside from the pained screams of dying men.

"Gruesome, isn't it?" He commented to the beaten up man, and as expected, he didn't receive a response.

Everyone was frozen in place, absolutely scared sh*tless.

In all honesty, Cale was thinking of using these people. It wasn't exactly the main plan, so knowing it failed didn't bother him. After all, these bastards deserve no mercy for what they've done in the novel.

'Using women, dishonoring and not keeping their words, as well as killing weak people by fooling them. They're worse than me, who's a complete and utter trash.'

Meanwhile, Namwoon grinned as more blood splattered in the air, the pools of red danced and formed a sinister looking whip in his other hand.

Cale stared at the window that has been blinking for a while.

[The exclusive skill, 'Weapon Mastery Lv.1' of incarnation 'Kim Namwoon' is activated.]

[The stigmata, 'Bloodthirst Lv.1' of incarnation 'Kim Namwoon' is activated.]

[Bloodthirst has increased the strength of skill, 'Weapon Mastery'.]

He could more or less figure out what the exclusive skill is.

Every time Kim Namwoon made his enemies bleed, the blood would become his weapon, and he would be able to wield it to its full potential.

It's a frightening skill. Something that the Namwoon from Ways of Survival and Omniscient Reader definitely did not have.

Glancing at the indirect messages, he asked, "Did you give it to him?"

[Everlasting Shelter of Bloodshed nodded in confirmation.]

'What a scary ability.'

However, there's still one concern...

The stigma.

Other than the obvious name, Bloodthirst, there's nothing out of place about it aside from the extreme bloodlust.

He decided to regard it as a simple stigmata.

Unbeknownst to Cale, and contrary to the vicious sounding name, the stigma would become more powerful the stronger the user's desire is to protect someone.

So when someone had stealthily approached Cale with killing intent, Namwoon immediately swung the blood whip, pulling the person towards him and slashed. The red aura around him became more dangerous, fluctuating wildly as if it wanted to swallow anyone who takes a step closer towards them.

Not like there was any person left alive.

[Sovereign of Eternal Rest whistled at the sight.]

[Benevolent Light of Judgement smiled widely.]

[Everlasting Shelter of Bloodshed is proud of his incarnation.]

[A lot of constellations are cheering!]

[A few constellations winced at the sight.]

[Bounty Scenario #1 - Remove the Distasteful Scumbags has ended.]

[10,000 coins have been sponsored as compensation.]

[The exclusive skill, 'Weapon Mastery Lv.1' has leveled up to 'Weapon Mastery Lv.2'!]

Kim Namwoon was breathing heavily as his aura slowly dissipated. He could feel his skill turning off and the blood dripping down his chin, though it wasn't his. If he wasn't so exhausted, he would've scrunched up his face in disgust.

Just then, a handkerchief touched his cheek, and his eyes flickered to meet a pair of brown orbs. Cale gently wiped his face. And for once, Namwoon allowed himself to indulge in the warmth that the older male provided.

"Did you get hurt?" The black haired man asked, and the teen shook his head with a joyful grin.

The latter seemed to be happier through the apocalypse. That made Cale feel iffy but he decided to ignore it.

When Namwoon's gaze drifted to Cale's shoulder, he blinked.

"What is that?"

"A water rabbit."

"Huh?"

"It's a rabbit made out of water."

Kim Namwoon surrendered.

"I should probably give up on trying to understand you, Hyung," He grumbled with a small scowl.

'Is he sulking?' Cale thought.

But more importantly, the slip of 'Hyung' wasn't acknowledged. However, instead of the unusual calling being completely ignored, the man seemed to have accepted it and acted like it was normal.

"Just go get changed, won't you?"

Namwoon looked at the others who cowered under his gaze. It was obvious that they're avoiding him, most likely due to his current appearance and the scene that they just witnessed.

"Tsk, fine," He agreed half-heartedly, aware of his own state before he walked away.

This time, Cale turned on his heel to look at them coldly, the opposite of the slight warmth that he had subconsciously shown to Kim Namwoon.

"You've all killed someone, haven't you?"

At his blunt question, all of them froze.

"What we did was not an act to protect you. We had no intent of defending you nor take you under our wings, and we have no time to do such a useless thing," He stoically said, devoid of emotions. All the others could feel were chills.

Cale slowly opened his mouth, and his words overlapped with the sentence that Kim Dokja had once said in the novel.

[ “Wake up, everybody.” ]

[ "The scenario has just begun." ]

He smiled brightly.

"If you want to survive, get rid of your hypocrisy. This is a world where we either kill or be killed. There's no time and place for mercy and kind-hearted people who are willing to help. But if you truly want to live, I might be able to teach you something that could be beneficial for the future and support you through your journey. So tell me...

Do you want to survive?"

• • •

Most people had settled down in the station. Moments after the previous horrid scene, the scenario seemed to have swept away the leftover corpses and blood, so they didn't have to bother cleaning up the mess.

Cale is currently alone inside a tent that Namwoon had brought using the coins of the group he killed. The teen managed to gain access to the stream's store called the Star Shop (—apparently it sells many of basic human necessities, different compared to the dokkaebi bag), which wasn't surprising. A person his age is familiar with games, so it's not difficult to conclude that there's a purchase and bargaining system.

He lied on the bed (another thing that Namwoon had bought), arms sprawled open with his eyes closed.

There was silence, until he broke it.

"How long are you planning on watching me so intently? It's uncomfortable," He commented to no one in particular.

Just then, a familiar cream-colored creature appeared, and Cale slowly opened his eyes.

[ You noticed? ]

The dokkaebi asked, not even flustered upon being found out.

"It's hard not to."

Cale had gotten used to being stared at, so the feeling became quite familiar.

"Aren't you supposed to watch all incarnations in your channel?"

[ Hm. It's been a while since I last saw something entertaining. I figured observing you would be worthwhile. ]

"Then, is it?"

[ So far, you've exceeded my expectations. It's truly amazing. ]

The way they talk was the same. There weren't any emotions in their voices, but the spark of interest and amusement was evident in the dokkaebi's tone.

"Is that the only reason why you decided to follow me?"

The dokkaebi shook his head.

[ No. Well, I suppose I should express my gratitude. Your actions and behavior have attracted many constellations. My channel's worth is increasing rapidly. ]

Cale begrudgingly sat up, his expression showed nothing but he felt extremely confused.

There weren't many dokkaebis that appeared in the novel, but this one is a bit strange. Showing gratitude to a mere incarnation is one thing, but what set the alarm in his head was the way the dokkaebi always seemed bored.

Dokkaebis getting bored was near impossible, because they're the creatures who live to watch the stories of others. There's no way they'd even get the chance of feeling unentertained.

"Is that so?" Cale hummed. "What's your name?"

[ Is my name of any use to you? ]

"Yes."

At his firm answer, the dokkaebi paused, slightly taken aback.

[ ... It's Saga. How about you? ]

Cale's lips twitched upward.

'He's pretending not to know my name. Is he trying to be polite?'

What a weird dokkaebi.

"Can't you just check my window? Dokkaebis can do that, no?"

[ Of course. Wait, how did you kn— ]

The dokkaebi, Saga, cuts himself off with a shake of his head. He knew even if he asked, the human would not answer him truthfully.

'He really is interesting.'

[ Alright. Then excuse me. ]

[The dokkaebi ‘Saga’ has used ‘System Interference’ on you.]

[ Notice ⚠ ]

[Target's information is unavailable.]

[The system is currently collecting target's information.]

Saga frowned.

[ What...? ]

Upon seeing the window, Cale's face was the same.

[ How could this— Hey, did you know about this? ]

The stoic black haired male shakes his head. "I'm as lost as you are. I haven't opened my window until now."

[ I see. Hm... ]

Saga hummed, stroking his chin with his hand thoughtfully.

[ How odd. This never happened before. ]

"Is it bad?"

The dokkaebi glanced towards the place where they're shown to the watchers, seemingly contemplating about something.

[ It might be. To you, in particular. You won't be able to keep up with your progress if this continues. And you can't even check your own skills. ]

Cale pursed his lips into a thin line.

'That does sound bad.'

Then he gave Saga a side look.

'I can understand why he looks conflicted, but why does he also seem excited?'

He wasn't wrong. The dokkaebi's interest has been piqued.

First, it was Cale Henituse gaining the attention of many constellations and upper gods. Then it was his knowledge about scenarios and even the dokkaebis. Now, Cale's attributes are currently unknown.

Aren't those enough reasons for an indifferent dokkaebi like Saga to feel intrigued?

"Can you fix it then?"

[ I'll try to console to the higher dokkaebis about this. Personally, I'm not sure we can do anything since even the system interference cannot. However, it might finish collecting your information soon enough. Until then, you just have to focus on the scenarios. ]

Cale slowly nodded, plopping himself back onto the bed and closed his eyes.

"You can go."

Saga's expression twisted into one of disbelief.

[ You're kicking me out? ]

"Yes."

The dokkaebi was silent and dumbfounded, but all Cale cared about was the fact that the creature still hasn't moved an inch.

"Why are you still here? Do you want to stare at me while I sleep?"

[ Wha... ]

Saga scowled— which looked like a pout since he's pretty small (it was cute) before sighing.

[ Fine. Before that, I wanted to inform... or warn you about an incarnation from my colleague's channel. His name his Yoo Joonghyuk. He's a regressor and since the second main scenario will take place here, it's quite obvious that he'll be— ]

Cale's eyes shot open and he abruptly sat up once more.

"What did you say?"

The dokkaebi smiled.

[ Unexpected, right? But he's indeed a regressor and— ]

"No, no. Not that."

[ Eh?? ]

The black haired man massaged his temples upon remembering the most important and dangerous person in this story.

It wasn't the main character, Kim Dokja who he needed to avoid the most, but the original protagonist, Yoo Joonghyuk.

The aggressive and cruel individual who won't hesitate to kill the ones he deemed to be useless to his plans to reach the end of scenarios.

'He hadn't gone through his journey with Kim Dokja. Right now, he's a completely unreasonable man. He will no doubt kill me if I step out of line.'

... This is going to be a problem.

———

a/n: i swear, i actually rested this time...

also, is the story different and enjoyable enough so far??? i don't feel quite confident about it-

anddd, thank you for those who voted and especially people who commented! you have no idea how much that truly motivates me to continue (since i get bored and abandon things easily lmao).

next part, we might be able to see how kim dokja is doing 👀

p.s i don't intend to make cale henituse to be the only main character in this crossover since dokja and cale are both the protagonists of their own stories. in my eyes, they are both equal and will possess their own minds and spotlights without the other constantly stealing it.