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The buildings of the interstellar city glimmered like diamonds in a royal treasury, or funnily enough, stars in a clear sky. The civilization had clearly developed beyond anything of Earth’s capabilities. It was considered to be a pleasant atmosphere for residents and tourists alike, except perhaps to a certain group that had just arrived.
Kim Dokja’s company had been denied entry into Olympus and before they could decide on how to split up, a new scenario had popped up.
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[Sponsored Scenario - Galaxy’s Sweetheart]
Difficulty: ??
Clear Conditions: The Nebula Olympus has sponsored a scenario for the incarnations and constellations visiting Context of the Constellations. You will be able to participate in a beauty contest and fashion show! The judges will be split into three factions: 1) some constellations from Olympus 2) Constellations watching Olympus’ fashion show stream 3) audience members [any incarnations and constellations] attending the show in person. The judgement criteria will depend on the themes!
Duration: As long as it takes to display 3 Fashion Exhibits from each participating group
Compensation: A certain amount of Star Fluid – Nectar, Hidden reward — ??
Failure: Sisyphus’ fate, you’ll be pushing a boulder up for all of eternity ♡
* Two members, of differing genders, from each group will participate.
* Physical censorship will be turned off for event
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“Oh so they can’t open their gates, but they can judge and rate us based on our looks? What a joke,” Han Sooyoung snipped, rolling her eyes.
Kim Dokja’s hummed in thought, he didn’t know if they would be able to clear the scenario considering it wasn’t in the original novel, but if they were able to win, then they could potentially be able to save Yoo Sangah.
Eventually, he spoke up, “I think we should do it.”
The company grumbled at the thought of having to entertain and put on a show and dress up for constellations, but they didn’t object. They thought of Sangah back at the industrial Complex, unable to move after using Olympus’ powers far more than a mortal should. They thought of how she had always taken care of the company with warm smiles, even at times forcing Kim Dokja, residential self-sacrificial bastard to take care of himself. It had been perhaps one of the easiest decisions since the beginning of the scenarios. ‘For Yoo Sangah.' She would and had done this much and more for them, so it was only fair.
“Since, we agree, all that is left is to select the nominees. The male representative is obvious,” ‘Yoo Joonghyuk,’ “so we just need to decide on the female representative.” Dokja finished off with a glance at the female members of the group, deciding they would be able to choose for themselves.
“I would prefer not to, that kind of environment makes me uncomfortable.” The group nodded at Jung Heewon’s words, aware of her disdain for this kind of situation.
Jihye exclaimed, “I can! I’ve always wanted to try to be a model!”
The adults all responded with a resounding, “Absolutely not.” The audience would have quite a large amount of creeps they didn’t want to subject Jihye, who was still a teenager, to.
Dokja hummed again in thought, “I suppose that only leaves Seolhwa-ssi then, right?” he says teasingly.
Han Sooyoung growled, enraged, “Oi, I’m still here.”
The kids cackled and exclaimed similar phrases along the lines of, “But fashion shows are about charm and personality too! Seolhwa-unni/noona is much better than you, ahjumma.”
She nodded along with the thought of ‘fair enough’ before realising their exact phrasing. “Hey now, you do know we’re the same age right?”
They respond as if humouring a senile grandparent, “Sure, ahjumma, we believe you.”
Before the nebula could devolve into a further petty argument about Sooyoung’s age, Dokja announced, “Alright then. We have our representatives. Ah, very fitting. It’s Lee Seolhwa and Yoo Joonghyuk.”
Joonghyuk said, “I never agreed to that,” at the same time that Gilyoung said, “The sooty bastard has the same problem as ahjumma, he has no charisma!”
Dokja spoke to them as if he were a prophet imparting divine knowledge on the poor sinning mortals of a forsaken world, “Haven’t you guys ever watched any beauty competitions?” He ignored the blank looks of his company and continued, “A cold and standoffish personality like his is also in demand.”
Sooyoung muttered, “He’s not just cold, he’s the freaking arctic.”
“Yeah! I know that’s a type, but Master is probably going to threaten to kill the judges and get us expelled..." With that, Jihye nailed the final nail in the coffin.
Dokja, however, still wasn't convinced and said “Who, then? Hyunsung-ssi would get eaten alive by the judges, there’s literally no other representative we can send out other than Yoo Joonghyuk.”
At the group’s pointed stares, he paused, “... What?”
“Are you dumb? You’re a male too aren’t you?” Han Sooyoung says while rolling her eyes.
“Well yes, but I’m not doing it.”
The group responded with a combined and frustrated exclamation of, “Why?”
“We’d be shooting ourselves in the foot, there’s a reason I’m called the ugliest king. Despite what our nebula may think of my appearance, the vast consensus is that I’m unattractive. As well as only people with extremely good looks will participate due to the severe penalty.”
Han Sooyoung rolled her eyes, “Bullshit. That nickname is a result of the censoring and you know that.”
Jihye added on, “Yeah, I know I called you ugly ahjussi but that’s because I couldn’t really see your face,” she mumbled the next part, “And the constellations gave me coins if I did.”
Dokja ignored Yoosung and Giyoung’s indignant cries at Jihye’s admission and responded, “Okay, I know I’m not ugly, but that’s not the point. Before the scenarios I was a plain-faced office worker. If you haven’t noticed, that’s not enough to win a beauty competition.”
Jung Heewon snorted, “Sangah-ssi told me that numerous of the ladies in your office admitted to her that they were attracted to you once they realised you were a worker, but you avoided everyone in the office,” she paused, “You only blend into the background because you want to, so don’t even try to pull that.”
‘Well that was unexpected,’ Dokja thought, ‘I wasn’t aware I was a topic of conversation?’
“You can’t expect me to believe that I would be better fit for a beauty competition than Yoo Joonghyuk.”
The group was silent for a bit, not expecting the sheer amount of self depreciation leaking out at his words. Of course, they needed to fix that, but how?
Han Sooyoung responded to Dokja, “Maybe, maybe not. The fact still remains that you are much more charismatic than him, even though you're both bastards. Personality, charm, and attitude matter a lot in these competitions and Yoo Joonghyuk has the personality of a wet blanket.”
Joonghyuk was irked at her words but remained silent, ‘If it helps that idiot…’
Sensing that Dokja was still unsure she continued, “Besides you can fake confidence, but you can’t fake a silver tongue. Are you really going to potentially hand off the chance to save Sangah because you were insecure?”
“... Alright.”
[Representatives and dress-up team from each nebula please stand on the circle platforms to be transported into the main location of the scenario.]
Since Kim Dokja’s company was a small group, they could all step onto the platform even though some of them were absolutely useless at makeup and fashion.
[Transportation will now commence.]
“Is it just me, or is this scenario proceeding too smoothly for Olympus’ doing? Don’t they like melodrama and causing trouble?” Although she said she had bad grades in school, Heewon usually immediately noticed when something was off, her sense being alerted.
Dokja nodded, “That’s right. I’m not sure what’s off, but something is definitely going to happen soon. Be on guard.”
[Scenario requirements have been changed. Only one representative is allowed from each group. One representative will have to rescind representative status.]
‘Ah that’s it. They intend to cause discord between the groups on who’s more attractive and who gets to participate.’
“Okay, I think it’s better if you participate, Seol-” Dokja who looked up to resign from the scenario through the window, paused, noticing Lee Seolhwa was already in the process of resigning.
“Please lead us to victory, Dokja-ssi,” Lee Seolhwa said with a smile, as if she hadn’t just surrendered the entire group to pushing a boulder up a hill for the rest of eternity.
[Representatives selected. Censorship will shut off 5 minutes after the first exhibit conditions are announced to prevent preemptive sabotage and withdrawals.]
Dokja lost his cool, something that didn’t happen often, and raised his voice, another rare occasion, “Seolhwa-ssi, why?! Don’t you know the potential consequences, this is really bad.”
Just as quickly, he started muttering, already planning ways to escape Tartarus. ‘Hmm.. It shouldn’t be too hard, with Persophone and Hades’ help.’
He was jolted out of his thoughts by a whack to the back of his head. He rubbed the stinging stop and glared at Joonghyuk, “Oi, what was that for, you bastard?”
“Stop overthinking. You have to perform well, or are you incapable of even that.” He was trying to encourage Dokja, in his sweet, emotionally-stunted regressor kind of way.
“Sure…” It was then when he noticed the oddly pleased atmosphere of the group, “There’s no way you could have rigged the scenario’s terms... Right..?”
[The constellation ‘Queen of the Darkest Spring’ is laughing quietly.]
Well shit.
The true voice of Aphrodite, the goddess of none other than love and beauty, rang out.
[Will the contestants of each nebula come up to the platform? I am going to be the host of this beauty competition, of course! I would like to give you all a cursory assessment and then I will announce the theme for the first exhibit. Censoring will be lifted then, for you sly minxes that have hid your beauty~ ♡]
The witnesses to her presence ooooh-ed and ahhh-ed, awestruck by her inhuman beauty. She was fabled to have the looks to make a faithful man cheat. This was true, in part, but due the fact that she would appear to you as the one you love most romantically.
Kim Dokja decided resolutely to Not Look™ and thought, ‘Does she always end her sentences with a heart? how is she even pronouncing that?’ His confusion only grew as he tried to figure it out, ‘No wait… It's not after every sentence... Maybe after every time she speaks?’
He was jolted out of his musing when he found himself shoved towards the stage by none other than Han Sooyoung.
She looked at him with a raised brow, “Well? You’re not going to keep her waiting are you?”
He rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, I’m going.”
[Alright, looks like our contestants are all up on the stage now! Ah, before I forget, are any of the constellations going to be incarnating into the scenario? ♡]
She asked this purely for formality’s sake, constellations weren’t going to sacrifice a relatively hefty sum of probability to incarnate into a mere beauty competition where the contestants were mostly incarnations or lowly constellations.
However, she hadn’t considered that there was a certain group of idiots who had followed Kim Dokja’s Company from the beginning of the scenarios and stayed partly for entertainment, partly for bonds.
The fourth couldn’t come for certain reasons, but the 3 idiots had arrived.
“DOKJA-YAH! I’LL BE CHEERING YOU ON!” Uriel screamed in a surprisingly powerful voice. Many sweatdropped at the sight of the beautiful constellation, fitting of being an idol, fawning over Kim Dokja of all people. Maybe the world did really go insane.
“I believe you can do it! You didn’t receive part of my hair for nothing after all!” The crowd went ‘???’ at that, because what in the world did that mean.
“If you lose,” Abyssal Black Flame Dragon, who people noticed appeared awfully young for someone of his status, “I’ll kill you.” Then he added, “And I won’t need both arms to do it.”
‘Oh god they’re so embarrassing.' The trio was entirely decked out in 'Demon King of Salvation' fan gear, even Abyssal Black Flame Dragon, who had most likely been forced by Uriel, ‘Where did they even get that? I have to find the manufacturer and distributor and get rid of them discreetly.’
[Settle down now, everyone! I’ll arrange seats for you three near the front, as our esteemed guests. Now that that matter is settled, let's move on to the contestants. Everybody, take a good look at the participants. Anyone that catches your eye? Well, you’re in luck! We’ve set up a betting booth, run by Hermes himself! ♡]
One of the incarnations in the audience exclaimed, “That’s not fair, we should bet after the censorship is lifted.” Murmurs of agreement swept across the crowd before stopping abruptly. An intense chill permeated into their bones, coming from the direction of Aphrodite herself.
[Mortals dare question Olympus’ authority? Pitiful. If you can’t even predict the outcome of this contest now, you would never know beauty if it slapped you in the face. Bet now if you wish to make any money at all. ♡]
The silence remained for a few seconds, then the clamour rose once again. A few repeated phrases could be heard among them.
“I get the other contestants, but the Ugliest King? Really?”
“As if anyone would be stupid enough to bet for him.”
“Really? Why’d they even enter, people would be out of their mind to vote for him.”
Comments like that were continuously uttered, a resounding chorus of ridicule. The entirety of Kim Dokja’s company were seething with fury, except for the leader himself. Kim Dokja was just staring passively at the crowd, as if he couldn’t blame them for thinking that.
Joonghyuk clenched his fist.
[The character Yoo Jonghyuk is using Three Restraints Lv. 10.]
Kim Dokja’s eyes widened from his position on the stage, curious as to who Yoo Joonghyuk could possibly be holding such anger towards right now. Before Joonghyuk’s skill could fail or the crowd could get any louder, a voice boomed over the noise.
“1,000,000 coins on Kim Dokja,” Sun Wukong raised his voice, not even bothering to go to the booth to bet. As a myth-grade constellation, it’s not like the workers could force him, so they just wrote it down, expressions of disbelief apparent on their faces.
[The constellation ‘Secretive Plotter’ has bet 2,000,000 coins on contestant ‘Kim Dokja’.]
Dokja looked up, slightly surprised, at the mysterious constellation who had sent him into the 1863rd round’s worldline.
Sun Wukong’s eye twitched, the only visible response to Secretive Plotter’s bet, ‘Damn one-upper.’
Abyssal Black Flame Dragon broke into slightly deranged laughter and exclaimed, “500,000 coins on the squid bastard.”
At the incredulous looks from the crowd and judging stares from his own seatmates, he spoke up again, “What? I’m not rich like you assholes.”
Uriel jumped up and down on her seat slightly, “800,000 coins on my sweet Dokja-yah!”
[The constellations, ‘Queen of the Darkest Spring’ and ‘Father of the Rich Night’ have bet an undisclosed amount.]
An anxious and confused whisper spread in the crowd, making them doubt themselves. Kim Dokja did not look capable of winning this beauty competition in any way, but with such a high number bet on him, 4.3 million coins plus the unknown amount from the Underworld, surely there was a reason they were betting on him.
Amongst the confusion, someone loud spoke up, “Come on, is it that easy to fool you guys? You know Aphrodite has to make enough money off this scenario to prove it’s worth it to Olympus. Obviously she’d enter fake bets to raise the bets and mayhem, like in auctions. Don’t fall for it.”
The speaker was an underling of a Demon King who was known to love chaos, her words couldn’t be fully trusted, but the seed of doubt had been planted. The people were being swayed back to the other contestants.
Seeing the remaining doubtful faces that weren’t convinced, she stoked the fire once more, “The fact that constellations of Olympus are betting on him is proof enough. They’re trying to artificially raise demand to make money off of him when he loses.”
That was the nail in the coffin, convinced by the lady’s words one by one everyone had bet until there was no one left. Only six people had bet on Kim Dokja, and although they had put in large sums, the amount of participants other than them was so great that the coins bet on other contestants largely outweighed the amount under Dokja’s name.
It was then that the crowd was shushed by little cherubic cupids, the conditions of the first fashion exhibit were about to be announced.
[Just a note, the overarching theme of this fashion show is royalty, so you will get points for relating to the theme. However! If you relate to the theme, but the judges deem your outfit lacklustre, points will be taken away. If you didn’t follow the main theme, you’ll receive points based on your costume, none can be taken away. The first fashion exhibit has the theme of 'Ancient Egypt.' The Nebula ‘Papyrus’ has lended us numerous props for you to be able to use in the scenarios, as well as a number of precious jewels in order to make your costumes more authentic]— Dokja immediately had thoughts of stealing— [so try your best! Life skills such as moisturising are allowed, as well as disguising certain features of props or animals to make your exhibit more alluring. Well, then let the censorship lift. ♡]
Everyone had been excited to see the removal of censorship, but there was one person in particular they were looking to judge, and perhaps mock and jeer. Instead of ridicule, when the crowd looked at Kim Dokja, they could say nothing.
Uriel was squealing unintelligibly and waving around a 'Demon-King of Salvation' themed lightstick. (‘Where did she even get that from?') Abyssal Black Flame Dragon had been rendered speechless for once, mouth slightly open. Sun Wukong’s eyes were wide, face slightly red.
Kim Dokja’s company collectively sweatdropped, ‘They had bet on Kim Dokja without knowing what he looked like?’
Yoo Jonghyuk stared at Kim Dokja. Most of the company had already been able to see Dokja relatively clearly, if not perfectly, so it wasn’t a big reveal. Still, they didn’t get much time to hang out casually in between all the scenarios and the times their lives were constantly in peril. Now was the perfect time to observe him without consequences.
Kim Dokja was beautiful. Not in the conventional sense, but in the way that drew you in and didn’t let go. Thin eyebrows drawn not by a famed artist, but one who had fallen hopelessly in love with their art; a nose and a chin that were pointed slightly, seemingly nondescript but alluring nonetheless; a pair of sly eyes that matched his face shape such to give him the feeling of a fox that was fooling around with you and somehow exuded a great sadness at the same time, containing all the burdens of the world; long eyelashes framed his eyes, highlighting their sheen; the dark circles did not detract from his countenance, but instead the mysterious warmth found in his eyes. Kim Dokja knew a secret and you could only hope to share it.
If someone saw those features and did not get immediately drawn in by them, then there must be something wrong with that person.
Dokja’s beauty wasn’t contained to his face however. He had a relatively slender frame, having no need for muscles, yet his shoulders still seemed broad, as if they were capable of carrying the entire world. Compared to his broader shoulders, his waist was surprisingly slim. It was as if Kim Dokja had been made to be cherished.
If Yoo Joonghyuk was the best selling sculpture of an artist, then Kim Dokja was that same artist’s magnum opus. Unlike Joonghyuk’s slap in the face, it was a subtle beauty. It would lull you into a false sense of security and then drown out your senses all at once, overwhelming you.
Yoo Joonghyuk was shook out of his stupor by the chattering of the crowd. They were all wondering if it was too late to withdraw their bets.
[A reminder. The timer has started, parties have 4 hours to prepare their participants. ♡]
A pocket-dimension had been created for each entering party so that the audience didn’t have to wait four actual hours. They would be waiting around twenty minutes, during which they would be entertained by performances by Olympus’ finest.
“Come on, let’s go.” Han Sooyoung said as she dragged Dokja into their designated ‘room,’ the rest of the company following suit.
“We have 20 minutes left,” Yoo Joonghyuk said as his way of warning the group to hurry up.
Han Sooyoung hummed from behind the curtain; she and Lee Seolhwa had rushed everyone else out after the initial clothing and props were set up in order to keep his final appearance a surprise while they put makeup on him.
A few minutes later, Lee Seolhwa announced, “We’re done!” and pulled the curtain back.
Joonghyuk’s eyes widened, heart pounding and blood rushing past his ears. The breath had been stolen completely from his lungs. ‘This feeling...’ Of course he recognized it, having been with Lee Seolhwa for the past two rounds. It felt like he was drowning in Kim Dokja’s eyes.
Dokja was currently sitting lazily on an ancient Egyptian styled throne chair, legs spread out. The clothing they had put on him was mostly reminiscent of the stylization of ancient Egypt, except for the fact that he was missing the head-dress typical of a pharaoh, which was instead placed in his lap. (“As much as it pains me to not be entirely accurate,” Han Sooyoung had said, “The crown would draw away from his complexion.”)
Dokja was wearing minimal clothing as typical of the royalty; he wore a broad collar, or usekh, full of patterns and stripes of royal blue and gold, and a kilt, or schenti, that was a soft plain white with more blue and gold accents. From the collar hung gold chains, connected to the back, draping over his bare abdomen. Dokja didn’t have abs exactly, as per not being able to build much muscle and not needing to, but his stomach was toned and showed the beginnings of muscles. Evidently, Sooyoung had also oiled parts of his body, insisting it was necessary. On his feet were golden sandals, shining brightly, but more attractive were the jewel-adorned anklets, bringing attention to his pale ankles.
Most stunning of all, perhaps, was his face. Lee Seolhwa and Han Sooyoung had done his makeup in order to emphasise his features. They had added kohl to his eyebrows to darken them a bit, and also used it as eyeliner for his eyes, which had a layer of golden eyeliner above it. They had also given him faint blue eyeshadow and reddened his lips, contrasting with his pale complexion. Lee Seolhwa had even gone as far as to paint and darken his nails with henna.
They had given him a beautiful mix of the female and male traditional apparel of ancient Egyptian times.
Of course they weren’t Kim Dokja’s company if they didn’t go all out, Dokja has been given a golden staff with an ankh at the top and Yoosung’s beast dragon had been transformed into a pharaoh hound, sitting faithfully at the bottom of his throne.
At the group's exclamations and praise, Dokja reddened, turning away. Heewon smacked him lightly, making sure not to ruin the preparations, and said, “Oi, you’re going to have to be more confident out there you know? You’re usually a smug bastard so bring out that energy now. Besides, I don’t think you have any right to be shy when multiple people, including me, have seen your… Black Dragon.”
Her words had reassured him slightly, but now he was spluttering in further embarrassment. A dark look had settled over Joonghyuk’s face and he glared at Dokja, who shivered slightly. ‘Is he going to kill me for being shameless?’
Sooyoung snorted, “What, jealous?”
“I’ll kill you.”
[10 minutes remaining.]
Dokja looked at Joonghyuk, curious as to what he would say. The rest of the group had already made comments of reassurance and praise.
Joonghyuk gave him an appraising look and then said, “When we win the scenario, you will train with me. You don’t have enough muscle.” He had said the words with a sneer, but the meaning was clear. ‘I believe you will win.’
Dokja smirked, “No, you’re the one who needs less, it’s like you take steroids.”
He received a grunt in response and would probably have received an eye roll too if Joonghyuk was the type. Instead Joonghyuk just said, “We’re ready.” before rolling the curtain out of the drawn square on the floor.
The competition had been set up such that every group would be summoned in an order. The groups had to affirm they were ready before the time limit, otherwise they were disqualified. Then, the individual rooms would be summoned. Everything inside the box on the floor would be summoned to the stage, all the props outside would be put back into the scenario’s catalogue, and the people would be put in a separate place, off the stage but close in proximity.
A little time went by and nothing happened, it seemed Dokja’s group wasn’t the first to go up.
They made conversation until finally the floor in the square began to glow slightly.
[Prepare yourself! 3... 2... 1!]
And with that, the entire group was transported to their locations.
Kim Dokja had steeled himself at the message and was now smirking lazily, one hand resting on the headdress in his lap and the other gripping the staff loosely in place beside his throne. He then got up, placing the headdress on the throne and walking forward with the staff in a horizontal position, leisurely making his way towards the judges. The hound trotted in place slightly behind him.
Arriving at the front of the 'catwalk' he paused and stamped the staff down, sneering slightly at the judges in the way people in power tend to look down at you, which was made easier by his vertical advantage.
He turned around without another glance and walked back at the same pace, as if they weren’t worth his time. The crowd, which had been arrested into a deafening silence by the appearance of this ethereal beauty, quickly rose in clamour at his exit.
“Do you think he’d step on me if I asked?!”
“How do I get his number…”
“How is that even possible?”
“I’m going to start a Demon King of Salvation fan club, anyone wanna join?”
Under his breath, Joonghyuk muttered, annoyed, “The audacity.”
Uriel, who was near the group because of her front row seat, agreed, “I know right?! If anything I should be the president of Dokja-yah's fanclub!”
“It’s the clamoring of fools,” Abyssal Black Flame Dragon noted on the comments the crowds had been making. They hadn’t cared about Kim Dokja at all before, and had only now assigned worth to him because of his realised beauty.
Before anyone could say anything further, a voice spoke, “So, how’d I do?”
The group jumped slightly, not noticing Dokja had come so close. He had addressed the question to everyone, but was staring at one person in particular.
Joonghyuk stated, “Satisfactory,” while pointedly not staring at Dokja. His ears were red.
The rest of the group ignored the regressor’s emotionally constipated declaration and answered his question honestly. He had done amazing, even the assigned judges were slightly stunned. They stayed together while watching the remaining exhibits for the first part get presented.
Evidently, no one else had gone with the royalty theme, for fear of losing points when they could go with the much safer choice of definitely getting points no matter how little they were. The other groups went, and while there were definitely beautiful contestants, none of them made the impact Kim Dokja had.
[Will the audience members and judges please submit their scores for the contestants. You will be handed a pamphlet with all of their exhibitions. Remember, scores will not be announced till the end of the show. ♡]
There was minimal noise as people submitted their scores. Yoo Joonghyuk nudged Abyssal Black Flame Dragon and said, “Give me your pamphlet when you’re done.” He had evidently gone for him because he assumed him to be the weakest between the three constellations.
In response, Abyssal Black Flame Dragon clipped in indignation, “Hah?! No way, get your own, lover-boy.”
Yoo Joonghyuk’s eye twitched. He did not want to talk to the crowd at all, still annoyed by the earlier display and his pride not allowing him to.
“I’ll give you mine Joonghyuk-ie! I know you want to commemorate your love,” Uriel exclaimed. She didn’t want to give such a precious picture of Dokja up, but she would be able to ask a crowd-member for one. They would willingly give it up, entranced by her other-worldly, idol-like beauty.
Joonghyuk grunted, ignoring the latter half of the sentence, and instead held his hand out.
The group watched the exchange, kids snickering.
“I didn’t know Master was so weak to love! This should be useful,” the words were innocent enough, but Jihye had said it with an evil expression.
[Attention! The voting period has finished, it is now time for the second fashion exhibit’s preparation period to commence. This exhibit’s theme will be “Death.” Since you don’t have any sponsored props this time, you will receive an additional 3 hours to create them. As such, this time’s intermission will be 45 minutes. ♡]
Jung Heewon had snickered as soon as they entered the pocket dimension, “This one shouldn’t be hard, with how often Dokja-ssi dies.” She had said it cheerily enough, but there was a note of bitterness in her words.
Dokja rubbed his neck sheepishly and instead of addressing her statement, chose to say, “I’m not sure if we should do royalty this time. After all, we don't know what score I received.”
Yoo Joonghyuk said “Don’t be ridiculous,” and then abruptly cut off as if he was about to say more, but decided against it.
Lee Seolhwa seemed to agree, “It’s not a matter of if we should incorporate the theme, but how we can. Royalty and death aren’t exactly topics that go together. Most of the groups will probably choose to go after subjects like ghosts and vampires or more subtle interpretations like autumn and winter.”
At that, Dokja muttered something too quiet for the group to hear, his face slightly pink.
“Spit it out, we need to get to work,” Sooyoung said while kicking his leg.
“I said, I’m the heir of the Underworld,” he said while looking away, not seeing the sparkles in the kid’s (and Lee Hyunsung) eyes.
Seolhwa nodded, “That’s perfect, we can dress you up as a dark prince.”
“If... You’re sure,” Dokja resigned himself to his inevitable fate as the ladies’ mannequin.
Once the crew had designed the pieces Dokja was to wear, they realised they had a slight… No, large, problem.
“Does anyone know how to sew?” Han Sooyoung asked a bit desperately, disappointed they didn’t realise earlier. No one replied in the affirmative, but Yoo Joonghyuk snatched the designs from her and briskly walked towards the crafting stations.
“You—" Dokja couldn’t contain his laughter, “Not only are you good at cooking, but you can sew too? Man, you really are the perfect housewife.”
“Ahjussi sure is praising Master a lot,” which promptly got him to shut up.
“Woah, as much as I hate the sooty bastard, he really outdid himself… You look so cool, hyung!”
Shin Yoosung immediately exclaimed in agreement, not one to be outdone, “Yeah! And your makeup looks so pretty too... Like you belong in a painting.”
Everyone knew of the kids’ worship of Dokja, but they couldn’t help but agree. The design Joonghyuk had made for Dokja was perfectly tailored to him, giving him a look of ruthless elegance. If he had a few bloodstains it wouldn't be so out of place, and instead add to the atmosphere of cool cruelty he emitted.
They had assumed Joonghyuk knew how to sew fabric, but what he had made went beyond just sewing. He had created an all-black armour which still had fabric at some points. It looked like Dokja was ready to lead a country to war. In his hand, he held unbreakable faith, which Sooyoung had put the ‘Darkness’ attribute into, making it black with a faint white glow. There were also faint glowing accents all around Dokja’s armour pieces. (‘How did he even manage that?') It truly was fit for royalty; that as well the obsidian crown placed on top of his head, dark but catching the light and showcasing the delicate craftsmanship.
Joonghyuk had made the armour to cover every vulnerable part of the body, like a real armour would, but had left two slits on the back. The group had decided that the ‘heir of the underworld’ look would be more complete with the black wings and demon horns.
This time the makeup they had put on him was lighter, only some kohl for darker lashes and eyebrows, as well as slight red on his lips. His pale countenance only added to the theme.
Joonghyuk looked at him intently again, ‘I think… He looks even better like this, somehow.’
Dokja coughed, uncomfortable under the scrutiny, and said, “Well then, should we announce that we are ready?”
The kids giggled, as if finding it funny. Yoosung spoke up, “Ahjussi… You’re forgetting something.”
And then at his curious tilt of the head (‘Cute,’ Joonghyuk thought.), “Your wings! And horns.”
Once he brought them out, the group announced they were ready and stepped out of the square.
Dokja was much readier to confront the audience this time, having not heard jeers and boos the last time he went out. His presentation would be a little different this time. Instead of a lazy power he would present a cunning air of dominance.
He stood at the beginning of the catwalk, twirling his sword a bit, before walking towards the judges, speeding up as he went. During his path, he gained altitude as he gained speed, wings flapping. Right before he reached the judges he slammed the sword into the floor and entered a sort of three point landing.
Dokja maintained the pose for a little while, before rising to his feet and giving the judges a cold glare as opposed to the lazy smirk he had sent last time. He twirled the sword a bit more once his back was turned and walked off with a brisk pace, as if on a mission.
“That was… Woah..”
“I seriously need to know if anyone has his number.”
“Forget that, is he single?!”
“Yah, that doesn’t matter either, I can share.”
[Voting begins now! Refer to your pamphlets and choose the most dashing contestants! ♡]
Sooyoung looked over at Joonghyuk who was gripping his sword tightly and noted mildly, “Maybe you should activate three restraints, mm?”
He looked as if he was considering it, and was perhaps about to activate the skill, when Dokja reached them.
“Just one exhibit left,” Dokja said, slightly tired. He did after all spend 10 hours purely in the other dimensions and then go up in front of a large crowd twice; it was bound to be draining.
“I believe in you, Dokja-yah!” Uriel cheered, and then handed her pamphlet over to Joonghyuk who accepted it without a word.
Dokja raised an eyebrow and was about to comment on it, when he was interrupted by Aphrodite.
[And the votes are in! That was really quick, it seems people were sure of their choice. The final exhibit’s theme is ‘Ancient Greece,’ or ‘Olympus'—]
Before Aphrodite could even finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a large CRACK! It seemed Zeus did not like the idea of mere mortals playing at Olympus and was refusing. Her face paled.
[Plans have changed. The third exhibit will be cancelled unfortunately. Fortunately however, it seems the scenario gained traction so we have a large number of votes and meticulously judged points to assess the winners. ♡]
[The constellations ‘Queen of the Darkest Spring’ and ‘Father of the Rich Night’ are disappointed at not seeing their son in their traditional clothing, but understand the situation.]
When there were complaints at not being able to see certain contestants dressed up again by audience members, they were met with a harsh glare.
[Would you like to keep insisting and receive Zeus’ fury. I thought not. ♡]
Everybody shivered at the thought of facing the constellation who had even powerful constellations like her gripped in fear.
[Now that we can continue, the nymphs of Olympus will be totaling the scores. Good luck to the contestants, life in Tartarus is hell after all~ ♡]
The group waited for the judgement, but it felt like the only one nervous was Dokja. Of course it could be the fact that they would not be receiving the penalty, but it didn’t feel like that. It felt more like they had faith that he would win no matter what.
Joonghyuk noticed his anxious gaze and spoke softly to him, “The announcement is merely a formality.”
[The scores have been tallied up! And the winner is…] She paused, drawing out the anticipation as much as possible. [The dark horse with only 6 bets on his victory, Kim Dokja, the Demon King of Salvation! ♡]
Dokja was in shock, but quickly snapped out of it by a smug, “I told you so.” from Joonghyuk. He bickered with him even as cheers erupted all around them.
Abyssal Black Flame Dragon smirked, “So you’re good for something after all. I made money off of you.” And then his face soured as a thought crossed his mind, “That bastard made even more money.”
[The constellation ‘Secretive Plotter’ says that he knew this outcome would happen with Kim Dokja’s looks. He says Kim Dokja can probably make money off of his body.]
Dokja spluttered, face flaming red, “That— you—” In the end, he didn’t manage to get a sentence out.
Joonghyuk noted his blushing response to the constellation and glowered slightly, ‘Why not me, but him?’
Jung Heewon took offence to the comment, “Hey, there are children here! And Dokja-ssi isn’t an object, you know!”
[The constellation ‘Secretive Plotter’ states that he only meant modelling and photo shoots.]
“Sure,” she said as she levelled the sky with a suspicious stare.
The group escaped while everyone was still occupied with their lost money and the other contestants that were currently trying to bargain for their freedom with increasing desperation.
Dokja took a survey of his group once they were back outside of the scenario and noticed an odd scene, “What… What are those two up to now?”
“Vetting marriage proposals.”
At Dokja’s blank look, Jihye continued, “I know, I thought it was ridiculous too. As if you would marry anyone other than Master.”
Dokja’s confusion only grew, “Wait, no that’s not the problem...”
But his complaints fell on deaf ears, Jihye had now joined their conversation and started rejecting any offer that didn’t come with money or some other reward.
“This girl...” He shook his head and left the kids to their devices.