Lee Jihye clenched her fists and her jaw, but she seemed to be holding herself together remarkably well, all things considered.
"Unnie, are you alright…?" Shin Yoosung asked quietly, glancing over at the older girl.
Despite everything, Lee Jihye forced a smile onto her face, grinning as widely as she was able to.
"Hey, don't worry! It was rough for a bit there, but everything worked out in the end!"
Thankfully, that seemed to be enough to satisfy Shin Yoosung's worry, but Kim Dokja could tell that she hadn't noticed just how much Lee Jihye was trying to suppress her own trembling.
"Hey, so how'd you get chosen by the Duke of Loyalty and Warfare when you're afraid of the sea?"
Just like with the scene of Joonghyuk earlier, a version of Jihye from TWSA appears on the screen, in the process of sheathing her sword.
"I'm not sure either. Apparently one of my ancestors was an admiral. Maybe that's why?"
"...Could it be, you're a descendant of Admiral Sunsin Lee?"
The scene changes back to the movie, where Dokja is looking around for Jihye.
Around chapter 40 of TWSA, when Lee Jiye and the Duke of Loyalty and Warfare were being discussed, there was considerable backlash from the few remaining readers about whether it made sense for the great duke to be so fixated on a thing such as bloodline.
"Huh?" Lee Jihye muttered, blinking away her confusion. "People really thought that?"
Kim Dokja nodded with a slight grimace, remembering just how big of a mess the comments section had been at the time. It was especially ridiculous, considering the truth of the matter.
[The constellation 'Maritime War God' is baffled.]
[Several constellations are wondering about the truthfulness of that theory.]
[The constellation 'Maritime War God' denies choosing the incarnation 'Lee Jihye' for a reason as simple as bloodlines.]
Well, not for a reason as simple as his bloodline, anyway.
Dokja spots Jihye kneeling on the ground and covering her ears as she groans out in pain. The Maritime War God watches on with sad eyes and sends an indirect message stating that he's feeling pity for her. Tearfully, Jihye stutters out that she can't do it even as Dokja and the Maritime War God encourage her to get up.
He knows that those words aren't meant for him, so Dokja continues to attempt to get her to stand up despite her protests, she tells Dokja that he doesn't know shit.
'Don't know shit…' Right, that's almost a catchphrase for her, but I have no intention of entertaining her buffoonery.
Dokja gets down to the point, stating that she's not acting like this because she's seasick, but rather because her dead friend liked this movie. Jihye's eyes widen as she recalls the first scenario before she turns towards him slowly, asking how he would know.
That's nothing. I know pretty much all there is to know about you—that you hate the sea, as well as the reason you were chosen by the Duke of Loyalty and Warfare, despite not particularly having an interest in justice. Lee Jihye is a descendant of Jeonju's general Lee Eokgi, a companion of the Duke of Loyalty and Warfare. The Duke of Firmness and Compassion, Lee Eokgi.
A general dressed in red appears on the screen as Dokja narrates.
He led the navy to victory in the battles of Tanghongpo and Hansan-do alongside the Duke of Loyalty and Warfare, and when the Duke of Loyalty and Warfare was arrested on unfair charges, he was one of the few who defended him. However, because he didn't have enough myths surrounding him, he was unable to become a sponsor.
Lee Jihye fidgeted uncomfortably and let out a laugh that sounded more hollow than anything. "I guess I know now how you knew all that stuff, ahjussi."
Kim Dokja ignored the ugly feeling in his gut at her despondent expression and nodded once. "Yeah. This isn't exactly how I wanted anyone to find out if I ever decided to talk about it, but it's not like we have a choice now."
"Though I want to believe that Dokja-ssi would have told us eventually, was that something you ever considered?" Lee Hyunsung asked quietly, looking almost nervous. Honestly, it was a difficult question, and Kim Dokja wasn't certain how he should answer it.
[Some constellations are curious to know the answer.]
Though he was willing to stoop to the level of letting countless people die just to pave the way for the ending he wanted, that didn't mean he wanted to hurt the people and characters he had grown to care for. He didn't want them to hate him for it either, and Kim Dokja had always known that he would keep his sources a secret until he couldn't do it anymore.
"I guess it would be circumstantial," Kim Dokja said instead, trying to brush off the question. "If enough things change, what I know might not even be relevant anymore anyway."
He really didn't want to answer any further questions, so he turned back to Lee Jihye. "Still, I'll apologize for being so harsh with how I talked to you there, but not for doing it in the first place. If you hadn't snapped out of it, we all would have died."
Lee Jihye nodded, looking almost as though she was barely holding back tears. "Yeah, I know. I'm not mad at you for it, ahjussi. It's still hard to think about Bori, but she wouldn't want me to wallow like this. Looking back at it, she would have wanted me to make her favourite movie as great as I could."
She turned to Kim Dokja with a teary, yet wide grin. "I think I managed that, huh?"
"You did," Jung Heewon said with a grin of her own. "You really did."
That was a relief. Lee Jihye really was handling everything far better than anyone could have expected, and that spoke volumes to the strength of her spirit.
Yoo Joonghyuk watched her passively from the corner of his eye with something akin to approval in his gaze as she looked up at the starry ceiling. "Also, sponsor-ahjussi, thanks for looking out for me! My ancestor had good taste in friends, huh?"
[The constellation 'Maritime War God' is smiling at his incarnation.]
Dokja notes that choosing the descendent of a person who fought for him, rather than his own descendant, is quite fitting for the Duke of Loyalty and Warfare. Dokja goes on to think about how hard watching Jihye's first scenario must have been for the constellation.
Suddenly, a bounty scenario comes in from the Maritime War God, asking Dokja to help Jihye and win the battle in exchange for one of his stigmas. This reward immediately catches Dokja's attention, especially because this means he can get a stigma without signing a
Suddenly, grappling hooks fly over the railing and dig into their ship, attaching them to the enemy ships nearby. This snaps Dokja back into action as he grabs Jihye by the shoulders and urges her to get up, even continuing to speak as Jihye tries to interrupt him through her tears.
"You killed your friend to save your own life, and you plan on throwing that life away here like this? You're not going to be forgiven whether you run from here or not. If you get up now, you'll at least be able to save a few people."
Across the ship, Heewon and Gilyoung are fighting back to back as Dokja blocks some more gun fire with the shield. Calling out to Jihye once more, he tries to get her to stand up and fight. Jihye, however, is still mentally trapped in her own memories of her friend as tears continue to fall down her cheeks.
"I, I'm revolting," she sobs desperately. "I… I don't deserve to be alive…"
Yeah, you are revolting.
'And so am I, for using you,' Dokja thinks, blocking more bullets with a grimace.
It's disgusting that I know the circumstances of the 'characters', and that I am using them to survive, and it's disgusting how I treat them. I'm no different from Lee Jihye, who killed the villains of the movies without hesitation.
"You're not disgusting," Lee Gilyoung stated firmly. "Not noona, and not hyung either."
Lee Jihye shot a faint smile in Lee Gilyoung's direction. "Yeah, we're just doing the best we can, right? I'm still not comfortable with everything, but ahjussi was right. I can't change the past, so I just have to keep fighting to save as many people as I can."
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' agrees.]
Jung Heewon looked troubled, though. "I didn't know you were struggling with the same things, Dokja-ssi."
All he could do was shrug a bit in response.
"This might sound bad, but I'm kind of relieved to see that Dokja-ssi wasn't as unaffected as we thought," Lee Hyunsung admitted with a nervous glance towards Kim Dokja.
Han Sooyoung raised a brow. "You mean you're relieved to know that he has a conscience?"
It took everything he had to suppress a flinch, even as Lee Hyunsung tried to reword Han Sooyoung's remark in a less offensive way.
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' scoffs.]
No… nothing was that simple. Deep down, Kim Dokja had to wonder if anything was his fault. After all, he was the only reader of TWSA for over a decade. If that novel hadn't become a keystone in his life, and if he hadn't continued reading it, would the story have ever even been finished? Would tls123 have entered it in that contest if he hadn't been the sole person offering feedback and telling them that it was worth writing?
Would the apocalypse have started at all?
Still, even if they knew about the novel's existence and bits of his knowledge, they didn't know anything about just how much it had been his lifeline. They didn't know that he had sustained himself for years using Yoo Joonghyuk's suffering, desperation, and determination as fuel.
All his life, he had been like a constellation, consuming whatever stories he could get his hands on.
"As that woman said earlier, you're not that different from me."
What?
Kim Dokja glanced over to find Yoo Joonghyuk looking back at him.
"No, you're not—" Kim Dokja tried to protest, actually offended and panicked that Yoo Joonghyuk would even imply that. Sure, Han Sooyoung had said something of the sort earlier, but the two of them couldn't be more different. Yoo Joonghyuk was a protagonist—someone meant for something greater, filled with determination and the willingness to improve. Kim Dokja was… himself.
He was pathetic and miserable and hopeless, clinging to something that wasn't real for years. He had to pretend he was someone else just to get through the rough days. Kim Dokja could never be anything more than a pale imitation, no matter how many times he adopted the identity of 'Yoo Joonghyuk' just to get a boost of confidence.
"If you're disgusting, then so am I." Yoo Joonghyuk's tone was firm with a note of finality. It was clear that he wouldn't accept any protests from either of them, considering the way Lee Jihye looked like she had been about to cut in herself.
It didn't matter, Kim Dokja told himself. The protagonist would eventually realize that he had been wrong.
As Dokja, Heewon, and Gilyoung fight off waves of enemies, Dokja continues to speak to Jihye. "The right to live isn't something you're given! You must earn it while you're still alive! It doesn't matter whether you atone for your past or keep living a despicable life—what matters is that you survive!"
Jihye, sobbing on the ground, closes her eyes as Dokja continues speaking with a genuinely terrifying expression on his face. "Or do you really want to die here?"
After finishing his words, Dokja gets a notification that his understanding of Jihye has increased and that [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Level 2] has activated.
「I don't…want to die.」 Jihye squeezes her hands into fists, and slowly stands up.
[The constellation 'Maritime War God' is reacting to Lee Jihye's strong will.]
Wiping away her tears, even as they continue to spill down her cheeks, Jihye's eyes no longer look lost and defeated. Her spark of determination has been relit, and she's finally ready to fight for her own life again.
The constellations are fickle. They don't always send support when requested and there are countless bastards who don't give a shit about whether their incarnations die. But no constellation ever misses the chance to help their incarnation when their 'Story' is involved.
Yoo Sangah nodded. "Those were wise words, Dokja-ssi. Especially in the world we live in now."
They hadn't been intended as some kind of philosophical speech, but Kim Dokja had just remembered things that he had tried to learn through experience. He knew how it felt to live a despicable existence, dragging himself forward day by day no matter the cost. TWSA had taught him what it meant to want to live, and he had hoped that he could teach Lee Jihye the same lesson.
"It was up to her to make that decision," he said quietly. "She deserves all the recognition for it, not me."
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' is touched.]
"Ahjussi…" Lee Jihye seemed tearful as she looked at him with wide eyes. "Thank you. I was ready to give up, and…"
'I know,' Kim Dokja thought helplessly. He knew all too well.
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' says that giving up is for losers.]
For once, Kim Dokja could agree with the dragon.
[Many constellations are looking forward to the Story of the incarnation 'Lee Jihye' and the constellation 'Maritime War God'.]
And oh, what a glorious story it had been.
As Jihye draws her sword, she unlocks a new stigma.
[The character 'Lee Jihye' has activated the stigma 'Ghost Fleet lvl. 1'!]
Even as Dokja laments that this development will only help Joonghyuk in the end, he still rejoices in the fact he'll get something out of it.
"I still have twelve ships left to fight with."
Some soldiers move to attack Jihye, however they are suddenly thrown off by the sudden choppy waters and the formation of several massive water spouts that block the enemy ships.
"If it would allow me to get vengeance, I could die here without regrets."
A translucent flag, with the word "Commander" written on it, flutters in the wind as it comes into being from nowhere. Within an instant, their attackers are surrounded by a fleet of translucent, ghostly ships.
Heewon, Gilyoung and all the soldiers watch on in various degrees of shock and awe. Meanwhile, a smile begins to grace Dokja's features.
As Jihye stands, her face finally free of her tears, her sponsor's shadow appears behind her, as if to support her directly. In unison, they raise their swords and point them directly at their enemies.
"Fire!"
With those words, the barrage begins.
[The constellation 'Maritime War God' is cheering for his incarnation.]
Lee Jihye beamed, and she brightened up even more when Yoo Joonghyuk's lips curved into the slightest smile. He hadn't said anything, but he didn't need to—that was approval enough, and earning a smile from the protagonist was high praise. Truly, Lee Jihye had come into her own power here, and Kim Dokja couldn't be more proud either.
For an instant, he wondered if this was how proud parents should feel before instantly banishing the thought. Lee Jihye would definitely laugh at him until she couldn't breathe if she ever found out he had thought that—and he knew Han Sooyoung would do the same but ten times worse. Yeah, he was never mentioning anything about that thought to anyone.
"You're amazing, unnie!" Shin Yoosung exclaimed with glee as she watched Lee Jihye's fleet begin their counterattack. Lee Gilyoung and Yoo Mia agreed with her, talking over each other to try and compliment the older girl next. In fact, Kim Dokja was surprised when Lee Gilyoung even clambered over him to rush over to Lee Jihye excitedly.
Well, she could babysit next.
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is tearing out his hair in excitement.]
[The constellation 'God of Wine and Ecstasy' proposes a toast.]
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' says that this is entertaining even if he doesn't like boats.]
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is smiling.]
Yes, this was how it should be. The spotlight should be on the characters, and their moments should take centre stage. Kim Dokja was always meant to be separate from them, watching from the sidelines. It didn't matter what he had said, she had been the one to stand up and keep fighting on her own, and that was something that couldn't be taken from her.
This was truly Lee Jihye's moment, and she deserved every second of it.
[The constellation 'Maritime War God' is unbelievably proud of his incarnation.]