Sponsors?
"What are you looking at?" Nam-Woon spat in anger making Dok-ja jump back.
'How is he still alive? There were only three insects in the net, how come….' Dok-ja looked at Haru.
"The Grasshopper Resha found had some eggs in them which were also considered as a living creature, I used two of them," Haru spoke as Dok-ja blinked not knowing what to say. The grandma and Nam-woon were both alive.
[Compensation settlement is delayed due to an unexpected scenario check. Please wait.]
'...I didn't expect that, it looks like Haru-ssi did it because he couldn't see them die, he is really kind but sooner or later that kindness might be fatal to him and he is lucky enough to find the grasshopper that laid the eggs,' Dok-ja thought, he wanted to team up with Haru since the later was dependable but his kindness was the problem.
"I am sorry Dok-ja-ssi," Sang-ah who was bandaging up the old lady said. Dok-ja not understanding what it was for looked confused.
"Even after you threw it towards me, I wasn't…." Sang-ah's words stopped because of fear but Dok-ja understood as he remembered that when he threw the insect box it was in Sang-ah's direction and from the looks of it she wasn't able to get an insect.
"It was a coincidence….." Dok-ja said making Sang-ah look down before she nodded. Dok-ja came to the conclusion that it was Haru who gave her an egg so that she could pass the scenario. This only showed that Haru was a good teammate but also had a weakness.
[Two Constellations are unhappy with how you handled Incarnation 'Kim Nam-woon']
Haru looked at the message without any change on his face.
[Some Constellations are satisfied with your scenario]
[The constellations have sponsored you 500 coins]
Haru's brow twitched slightly at this message.
'Are you fucking serious? So it is like a fucking twitch stream, so that means that Dokkaebi was a streamer and the constellations are the viewers with us being the entertainment, And here I was overthinking it,' Haru sighed and covered his face to Dok-ja and the others it might look like he is in stress because of what happened but to Queresha.
'My Dear is Livid, I don't care who it is, I'll make that person suffer,' Queresha renewed her to-do list.
[Wow, amazing.]
The Dokkaebi appeared in the air.
[What on earth happened here? I was just watching the other carriages…]
There was a mixture of delight and surprise on the Dokkaebi's face. Twinkling stars floated over the Dokkaebi's head. Dok-ja counted the number of stars. One, two, three… Twenty, Twenty-five, Twenty-nine, Twenty-nine in total.
[For 29 Constellations to be connected to my channel… Haha, isn't this quite good? Gosh, thank you for your sponsorship, Constellations. Haha, everyone! Did you properly show off your value?]
'You know me calling you newbie is just me taking the piss but you really are one, aren't you? No that doesn't matter right now, They are using us as entertainment, right? I wonder if they can pay the price for that,' Haru looked at the Dokkaebi or more like at the stars about his head.
[Gezz, No need to look at me this way, I know you are angry but can you do anything? You all are nothing by insects.]
The Dokkaebi scoffed while looking at Haru's gaze, this was noticed by others in the carriage.
[Some Constellations are impressed by your sense of justice]
[500 coins have been sponsored]
[Some Constellations are amused by your foolishness]
[200 coins have been sponsored]
'Everyone is misunderstanding something, right?' Haru thought with a flat look on his face.
[The number of survivors is quite high. The fellow in the next carriage was a nutcase as well… It seems that things are quite interesting today.]
The Dokkaebi manipulated something in the air. A moment later, a list of survivors came up.
[Survivors from the 3434 Train to Bulgwang, Carriage 3807: Tsugikuni Haru, Calistria Queresha, Kim Dok-ja, Lee Hyun-sung, Yoo Sang-ah, Han Myung-oh, Kim Nam-woon, Sung Min-hye, and Lee Gil-young. A total of nine survivors.]
'This is a lot more than the original,' Dok-ja thought, he knew that if he was alone there would only be five survivors including him, the one who caused the number to increase was Haru using the insect eggs he found.
Haru looked around and saw the survivors, Lee Hyun-sung a tall and well-built man it looked like he found an insect faster than the other people.
'He looks like someone who has good motor skills, and that kid,' Haru turned his eyes towards the little kid who should be named Lee Gil-young, the boy's hand had fluid on them.
'Dok-ja did give him a grasshopper before throwing the box,' Haru thought while looking at Dok-ja, some people never get the chance to do things they are good at because of them being born in the wrong time or not having the proper resources. At work Dok-ja was mediocre at best, he only joined the company a year ago and his contract was about to end as well since he didn't achieve anything considerable during his year.
He was an ordinary man in an ordinary world, but now? He changed or should we say that the world changed and it fit him perfectly.
The red light in Haru's eyes went unnoticed by everyone.
Dok-ja put his hand on Gil-young's shoulder and asked.
"Do you want to live?"
The boy trembled with a force that couldn't be resisted. Then little by little, the boy's head moved.
"Then let's go together," Dok-ja said as the boy nodded and came near him.
Dok-ja can feel the eyes of everyone, and he wanted that. He could see how Haru and Sang-ah looked at him with small smiles. Although he felt a little guilty his real reason was to stand out and this misunderstanding might help him.
"Tch," Dok-ja looked at Nam-woon clicking his tongue at him but he decided to ignore him.
"W-Will you release us now? Didn't you get what you wanted?" Han Myung-oh, whose shirt was torn, shouted from half a dozen steps away.
Department Head Han Myungoh. He was a lucky human. Dok-ja couldn't help wondering:
Why was Han Myung-oh riding the subway when he had so much money? This was the man who had shown off a new Mercedes-Benz S-Class not long ago trying to compete with someone, too bad he lost miserably. But he was still loaded.
[Hrmm, release you? Haven't you looked outside? Do you really want to go out there?] The Dokkaebi chuckled.
[It is somehow admirable. In fact, I didn't expect much from this carriage but you managed to pass the first scenario. This proves that even bugs deserve to survive.]
The Dokkaebi looked around before speaking his next words.
[Now now, shouldn't there be a reward for overcoming the hardships? As a reward for the first scenario, you are entitled to the sponsorship of the 'constellations'. Waahhh! How about it? Aren't you looking forward to it? ....Hmm, you are all unenthusiastic. This is really a big deal, you know?]
'That is natural they don't know what it means, after all, Sponsor Selection is one of the key events in Way of survival(WOS/TWSA) as it sounds, The constellation will send an offer to sponsor the incarnations they are interested in,' Dok-ja thought as this being the same world as the novel solidified.
'I have no words here, So are the Dokkaebis The middlemen? Since the constellations are looking for a possible subordinate/pawn with the Dokkaebi doing the screening and the scenarios being an interview/tests of sorts to see if the person is worth being sponsored? Though it can also serve as entertainment for some I guess,' Haru thought.
[Hmm, everybody has confused expressions. I can easily tell that right now, you are incredibly weak. If you are thrown into the scenarios that will take place, you will be killed when you meet a weak ground rat before you can react, let alone a 'kruk'. Benevolently, there are some great people in the universe who pity you and would like to sponsor you. Do you understand what I am saying?]
"What are you saying? Who is sponsoring whom…" Lee Hyun-sung finally couldn't stand it anymore and opened his mouth.
[Hmm, my words are just entering dirty ears. Isn't there an old saying in South Korea? It is better to see it once than listen a hundred times. So experience it directly. Well, the less fortunate ones might not get the chance. Hahaha!]