Chapter 5: Sleepy Days
An unknown length of time later, Klein yawned, and stood up.
Hmm? He blearily looked around the small room, which appeared to be part of a small clock shop. There were errant gears and miscellaneous scraps of metal and glass pieces. This reminded Klein vaguely of a young, black-haired girl he knew. He smiled.
Klein then left the clock shop, absently nodding at the androgynous young person that attempted to stop him, as well as the kind elderly woman with callused hands.
"Are you looking for Kim Dokja?" she asked.
"Am I?" Klein mused.
He then wandered into the street, and seeing some chaos, followed the current of the crowd, which was roaring and seemed oddly excited. The scene eventually became quite bloody and chaotic. Then, Klein naturally moved forward, and came across a familiar black-haired man.
Ah….
Vague details filled his brain, of a young, black-haired boy holding his shirt, crying, as Klein softly consoled him. The boy then rambled on and on and blurted details about a story about a man named Yoo Junghyuk. The boy looked a little different now and older, but Klein could recognize him.
This is my cousin.
Klein smiled warmly, and patted his head.
His now-adult cousin whirled towards him in bewilderment, then touched briefly at his hair.
"Klein?"
"It'll be okay." Klein looked absently around. There seemed to be some kind of war going on, and humans were ferociously fighting demonic figures. Hmm? This must be Celestial Worthy trying to shake me… No, this is the novel Three Ways to Survive a Ruined World, which my cousin always rambled to me about…
Contradicting interpretations arose in Klein's mind, and without realizing it, Klein nodded and accepted them both.
Klein then looked up, seeing a big, scary-looking robot on top of a metallic complex that was rapidly being crushed and ruined. A demonic voice cackled and taunted the crowd from the robot.
Klein glanced at his cousin, who looked like he was quite literally falling apart, flecks of light falling off his face, and knew this was bad.
"I will handle this," Klein told him.
"Huh? No, I am handling this," Kim Dokja said stubbornly.
Klein looked up at the robot uncertainly.
Ah, no, can I even handle this? I am only a Sequence 9 assassin. No, I am a Sequence 9 seer. No, or is it a Sequence 5 Marrionetist…
Klein felt a little confused, so he didn't say anything when Kim Dokja stepped forward again, running into the chaos.
Another robot came from the sky.
The demons were defeated.
Kim Dokja proclaimed, "I am Yoo Junghyuk!"
Klein was very confused.
However, the first bad demon robot was defeated, so everything was fine.
But then his cousin collapsed, and his face was suddenly almost gone, and light was falling off his body everywhere, like he was disintegrating.
"Hey! Bring more story packs, quickly!" the clockmaker, who had at some point appeared, cried out.
Klein was alarmed, and just started to feel more awake, when suddenly his cousin's face stabilized and began slowly patching together again, looking vaguely healthier.
Klein relaxed, and a deep exhaustion fell over him again, causing his eyelids to slowly shut. The danger has passed.
"What the… his cousin came all the way here? Why do I have two patients again?" the clockmaker exclaimed, sounding stressed.
.
Klein woke up somewhere inside, and then saw that his cousin was leisurely reading on his smartphone. The time had passed strangely, as people intermittently came and either helped patch up Kim Dokja, or had some strange, incomprehensible conversations with him.
Then his cousin abruptly jolted up, and said seriously, "That guy is in danger."
"That guy?"
"Yoo Junghyuk."
"What? Aren't you Yoo Jungyuk?" someone asked.
"Yoo Junghyuk is the owner of this complex. I am not Yoo Junghyuk. I need to save him."
Kim Dokja began to ask the cieling for ways to quickly travel, but he began to look more and more frustrated. Klein, seeing that his cousin was still safe, slowly began to close his eyes, feeling immensely tired.
"Klein? Klein? You have a way to travel to places quickly, don't you?" Kim Dokja then asked urgently, shaking him.
Klein blinked.
"What are the coordinates?" he asked blearily.
"It's the Gilobat Industrial Complex."
"The spiritual coordinates," Klein elaborated.
"What are they?"
Klein considered. "I don't know?"
"Then why do you need them?" Kim Dokja asked, frustrated. "No, nevermind. I have a way."
His cousin fell asleep again.
Klein frowned, and tried to think for a long time.
Yoo Junghyuk is in trouble… Yes, this is the main character of TWSA, who Kim Dokja always talks about…
He is in the Gilobat Industrial Complex…
A vague sharpness seemed to return to Klein.
Klein reached into the air, and blinked when a mirror appeared. He asked the mirror a question, and then answered a question in return. The mirror disappeared, and Klein snapped his fingers, and his surroundings temporarily became deep, but bright like crayon drawings, and then Klein stood somewhere else.
For a moment, he was very alert and very clear as he looked around, but then he relaxed as there was no obvious danger.
The Gilobat Complex looked similar to the Syswitz Complex which he had come from, but subtly different.
There were some dangerous booming voices emerging from the complex rooftop. They sounded vaguely familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
Is it up there?
Klein used a rat marionette to observe the situation, and saw Yoo Junghyuk and an eerie young girl talking. Yoo Junghyuk however was talking oddly, with the same intonations as Klein's cousin, and there was a burnt doll on his shoulder. The eerie young girl, similarly, gave off a strange impression of being much older than she appeared. Her eyes momentarily flickered to the rat Klein was controlling, and Klein quickly abandoned the marionette.
Klein then divined the danger levels of the situation.
The situation seems stable, he evaluated. I am not needed.
Awareness again drifting, Klein wandered the Industrial Complex, chatting with some of the tired people, and learned that this was the Kim Dokja Industrial Complex, since Kim Dokja had led the revolutionaries here to overthrow the old demon duke Gilobat. Except Klein had clearly seen Yoo Junghyuk standing at the roof instead. This was a bit odd.
Ahh… Klein realized. So this is the style. Kim Dokja and Yoo Junghyuk impersonated each other, and using each other's names, each took over a different complex. This is what stabilized Kim Dokja in the end.
Klein thought this was quite a clever idea.
He then spent some time in this area, using his coins to sample the odd dishes of the new Kim Dokja industrial complex. Most of them were very spicy.
The day passed without change and listlessly. Back in his own industrial complex, technically now the Yoo Junghyuk Industrial Complex, his cousin was still peacefully sleeping for over a day. Klein had divined this in a dream.
Yoo Junghyuk however had not appeared to take leadership of the Kim Dokja complex, so the citizens had become uneasy. This disturbed Klein's leisurely eating and resting.
In fact, some people were now claiming to be Kim Dokja in order to falsely take over the complex, and a sub scenario had even begun where the constellations were voting as to who was the real Kim Dokja. Klein, who had been absently wandering around until then, watched this scene unnoticed from the industrial complex rooftop.
Klein felt he grasped the situation better now, and felt a little less muddle-headed.
Yes, I am the Fool, and I need more believers… I have already been preaching in this manner for some time…
Klein watched the acting scenes with some amusement, then from the shadows, passed a hand over his face.
When he stepped into the light, his face, body shape, and habits resembled his cousin exactly.
There were many strange and exaggerated imposters out there, pretending at the heroic, mischievous, or wicked sides of Kim Dokja's personality, to the various constellations' delight, but when Klein stepped on the stage, he managed to convince them all he was the real Kim Dokja by embodying his cousin's contradictory attributes and outward confidence.
"What are you all doing? I am Kim Dokja," said Klein Moretti, smiling, as he watched everyone believe he was, in fact, his cousin.
[The Demonic-like Judge of Fire claps her hands excitedly!]
[The constellation that likes to switch genders squints and feels amused.]
[Secretive Plotter warmly welcomes back Kim Dokja.]
[The Prisoner of the Golden Headband smiles and congratulates Kim Dokja for his healthy return.]
[You have been awarded 1000 coins.]
My cousin is very popular. Klein felt very proud.
Then it was time to give a speech to everyone in the dukedom, as part of stepping up as the owner of the industrial complex. This was the important part.
Klein smiled, then raised his arms dramatically like Kim Dokja did when he was being silly.
"Do you want to hear about our lord and savior, Mr. Fool?"
[Some constellations are shocked and now wonder if you really are Kim Dokja!]
[The constellation that likes to switch genders laughs and says he knew it.]
Klein lectured on and on.
He mentioned without shame that the revolution was all due to the grace of the Fool.
[The Demonic-like Judge of Fire wonders if she should convert to this strange new religion.]
"Praise the Fool!" Klein finished, and then the crowd echoed after him. He felt this project was a success.
Abruptly, Klein noticed a handsome, fierce-looking man staring at him from the corner of the complex.
This was Yoo Junghyuk, who wasted no time in marching forward and grabbing Klein by the scruff of his neck and dragging him away from the podium. The masses below murmured, but Yoo Junghyuk and Klein were soon inside, behind some curtains.
"Kim Dokja, what are you doing?" the man asked tightly.
Klein raised a finger.
"Ah, you're not trying to kill me! That's an improvement."
"I asked what you are doing," the man growled, leaning closer.
"Would you like to learn about our lord and savior, Mr. Fool?" Klein blinked innocently, feeling that this was somewhat fun.
"Have you finally gone insane?"
"I'm not sure."
Yoo Junghyuk looked deeply at him, then frowning, softly lifted him up and bodily placed him on a nearby velvet couch. He then touched Klein's forehead as if checking for a fever.
This was becoming a little too intense.
Klein abruptly felt very embarrassed.
Kim Dokja, cousin, am I intruding on your love life?
"Wait," Klein blurted. "I'm not Kim Dokja."
"Don't be absurd," Yoo Junghyuk said. "Stay here."
Klein obediently stayed, wondering what to do. His lids fluttered closed momentarily, and he yawned, feeling tired. He then drifted about on the couch peacefully; it was very comfortable.
After a while, Klein heard some sizzling sounds, and a delicious smell wafted over. He subconsciously flickered his eyes open and leaned towards the smell, and his stomach growled. Unable to become unaware of the smell, he settled back into a sitting position. Is this a new type of torture?
Then Yoo Junghyuk returned with a plate, and the smell became stronger.
"Eat this," he said, placing the plate in Klein's lap.
[The Demon-like Judge of Fire is having a nosebleed.]
[The Prisoner of the Golden Headband respectfully looks away.]
[The constellation that likes to switch genders laughs uproariously.]
[1000 coins have been sponsored.]
[500 coins have been sponsored.]
… Cousin, they seem to be giving you coins like water for this scene.
Klein, feeling a bit perplexed and embarrassed on behalf of his cousin, picked up the fork, and tentatively took a bite.
All other thoughts vanished away.
The flavor of the soft tomato complements the braised pork… the noodles have a soft, home-cooked flavor, while also having the sharp and subtle aura of a professional chef… the bok choy adds a cleansing, refreshing, but crunchy texture to the mouth…
Before he knew it, the entire plate was gone.
Klein looked up, then froze.
Yoo Junghyuk was smiling.