[The idea of soulmates had always seemed romantic to Kim Dokja. A person you'd spend your whole life searching for, and someone who would fill your life with meaning and happiness once you found them. He'd occasionally read stories about soulmates, and he'd always felt for their characters as they expressed their longing for someone they didn't even know. They talked about an emptiness, a void inside of them, and he'd always been able to empathise with that feeling. And so he'd celebrated with them when they finally met that person, the moment to make all their suffering worth it. He'd shared their joy. They'd fought for it and they'd earned it.
But another part of him always thought it was a bit of a cop-out. These characters never worked to deserve that love - once they found it, it was theirs. And in some ways, it seemed a bit too easy to him. What if they fought? What if they were too different to get along? If everyone in these stories had soulmates, then what if your soulmate was a terrible person, and you were doomed to love them anyway? For someone like him, who had never dated anyone, it could seem like a dream to be able to just bump into someone at the supermarket and have them declare their love for you, but he wasn't naïve enough to think something like that could be real.
He'd commented a few times in the idea of soulmates in Ways of Survival. He'd asked the author why there was a soulmate system when the protagonist didn't have one. Why couldn't someone like Lee Seolhwa be his soulmate? He'd once suggested that she become his soulmate in a later regression, that Yuu Joonghyuk's death somehow finally unlocked it. Or maybe his soulmate was on a different world, and his tattoo would only appear once he travelled there. The idea of his soulmate not being born yet was one he'd thrown aside without ever bringing it up, because the age difference would be too much of a problem. But there were ways to include one, even in later chapters.
So he knew that soulmates existed in Ways of Survival, but when he suddenly found himself caught up in the story, it was the last thing on his mind. His first priority was survival, and he found himself almost detached from the deaths around him as he came up with strategies to get himself and the others out of the train car alive. He blamed it on adrenaline, because he knew that could affect people like that in emergencies, and he'd never considered himself a cold person. But before he knew it, Kim Namwoon was dead, and they were out of the car... And then he was alone, fighting zombies.
But he wasn't worried. It was time for him to arrive.
As much as he dreaded this moment, knowing what a psychopath the protagonist of Ways of Survival was, he found himself excited for it, too. He'd spent so much time reading about him. Ten years of his life he'd dedicated to the story of this man. He'd wanted to be him, as much as he'd hated him, because that ruthlessness might have helped Kim Dokja do more with his life. He'd admired him. He'd wanted to yell at him. And now finally he'd get to confront him... If he'd even survive their meeting long enough to get to say anything at all.
Those are the thoughts going through his head as he sees the zombies start to fall. Only one person would be able to defeat them all so efficiently this early in the story. It's him, and Kim Dokja tries to see between the zombies to catch a glimpse of the man.
Of course that bastard is as handsome as he was described to be.
He's tall, too, he notes, mainly by the fact that those long legs have already caught up with him. Kim Dokja doesn't even have time to react before he's suddenly grabbed, and immediately he's struggling to breathe. He reaches up instinctively to grab the arm of the man holding him, trying futilely to pry him off. He activates Character List, waiting for the information to be summarized... There's already so many different skills, and already at a high level. He already knew which skills he'd have, but it was different experiencing the effect of those high stats in person. He can feel his panic rising.
There's no way I can go up against this person.
He's so caught up in his own analysis that it takes him a moment to parse the words actually being spoken to him.]
What? --
I'm Kim Dokja.
[He squeezes the words out past though his throat feels like it's being crushed. He doesn't notice the flash of colors from the tattoo on Yuu Joonghyuk's wrist, because the angle is all wrong. He doesn't notice something similar happen underneath the cuff of his own shirt. He's focused on breathing, trying not to think about the high drop behind him, and the fact that this psychopath wouldn't hesitate to kill him.
He can't die here. Not when the story has barely begun.]
no subject
But another part of him always thought it was a bit of a cop-out. These characters never worked to deserve that love - once they found it, it was theirs. And in some ways, it seemed a bit too easy to him. What if they fought? What if they were too different to get along? If everyone in these stories had soulmates, then what if your soulmate was a terrible person, and you were doomed to love them anyway? For someone like him, who had never dated anyone, it could seem like a dream to be able to just bump into someone at the supermarket and have them declare their love for you, but he wasn't naïve enough to think something like that could be real.
He'd commented a few times in the idea of soulmates in Ways of Survival. He'd asked the author why there was a soulmate system when the protagonist didn't have one. Why couldn't someone like Lee Seolhwa be his soulmate? He'd once suggested that she become his soulmate in a later regression, that Yuu Joonghyuk's death somehow finally unlocked it. Or maybe his soulmate was on a different world, and his tattoo would only appear once he travelled there. The idea of his soulmate not being born yet was one he'd thrown aside without ever bringing it up, because the age difference would be too much of a problem. But there were ways to include one, even in later chapters.
So he knew that soulmates existed in Ways of Survival, but when he suddenly found himself caught up in the story, it was the last thing on his mind. His first priority was survival, and he found himself almost detached from the deaths around him as he came up with strategies to get himself and the others out of the train car alive. He blamed it on adrenaline, because he knew that could affect people like that in emergencies, and he'd never considered himself a cold person. But before he knew it, Kim Namwoon was dead, and they were out of the car... And then he was alone, fighting zombies.
But he wasn't worried. It was time for him to arrive.
As much as he dreaded this moment, knowing what a psychopath the protagonist of Ways of Survival was, he found himself excited for it, too. He'd spent so much time reading about him. Ten years of his life he'd dedicated to the story of this man. He'd wanted to be him, as much as he'd hated him, because that ruthlessness might have helped Kim Dokja do more with his life. He'd admired him. He'd wanted to yell at him. And now finally he'd get to confront him... If he'd even survive their meeting long enough to get to say anything at all.
Those are the thoughts going through his head as he sees the zombies start to fall. Only one person would be able to defeat them all so efficiently this early in the story. It's him, and Kim Dokja tries to see between the zombies to catch a glimpse of the man.
Of course that bastard is as handsome as he was described to be.
He's tall, too, he notes, mainly by the fact that those long legs have already caught up with him. Kim Dokja doesn't even have time to react before he's suddenly grabbed, and immediately he's struggling to breathe. He reaches up instinctively to grab the arm of the man holding him, trying futilely to pry him off. He activates Character List, waiting for the information to be summarized... There's already so many different skills, and already at a high level. He already knew which skills he'd have, but it was different experiencing the effect of those high stats in person. He can feel his panic rising.
There's no way I can go up against this person.
He's so caught up in his own analysis that it takes him a moment to parse the words actually being spoken to him.]
What? --
I'm Kim Dokja.
[He squeezes the words out past though his throat feels like it's being crushed. He doesn't notice the flash of colors from the tattoo on Yuu Joonghyuk's wrist, because the angle is all wrong. He doesn't notice something similar happen underneath the cuff of his own shirt. He's focused on breathing, trying not to think about the high drop behind him, and the fact that this psychopath wouldn't hesitate to kill him.
He can't die here. Not when the story has barely begun.]