"You said all we have to do is wait like this, right?"
"Yeah. We just wait like this."
More precisely, I followed Dokja's instructions and drove the slime-coated spike into the hole in the ichthyosaur's belly.
"Still, we've got a little breathing room now."
"This is what you call breathing room?!"
"At least we can talk now."
Since we had the chance, it was probably better to take a proper look at my attributes and skills and tell her about them.
Dokja definitely had plans for what came next, and if she knew my attributes, she'd be able to make better use of me.
That would be far better than me, with my half-baked knowledge, trying to make plans and move on my own.
"Dokja."
"What?"
"I was going to tell you about my attributes and skills. I think that's for the best."
"Huh? You shouldn't tell people things like that so easily."
"You're not just anyone. It's you, so I'm telling you."
There would be plenty of times from here on out when we'd have to deal with people like Kim Namwoon.
And those would be fights with our lives on the line.
So what mattered most in battles where life and death were at stake?
Crushing the other side with overwhelming stats, like me?
Handling them with experience and skills, like Yoo Joonghyuk?
Or, like Dokja, using whatever was around you to create variables?
But all of that required one condition.
That the other side didn't know your information.
If Yoo Joonghyuk had known that I would keep raising my stats and eventually surpass her, she would've either made sure to finish me off or tried to win me over and steer things in a direction that benefited her.
That's why it was important not to let information like attributes leak out.
"Is that so? Then tell me. I'll have to use oppa until you nearly die in whatever comes next."
"That's exactly why I'm telling you."
But Dokja wasn't a stranger, and we'd survived together even through situations harsh enough to kill us. Would she really betray me?
And even if she did, she'd have a reason for it, so I didn't care.
'Let's see. What the hell? My attributes, my skills... why does every single one of them have Dokja's name in it?'
"What's wrong? You said you'd tell me."
"No, it's just... there's some pretty embarrassing wording in here."
"Just hurry up and say it."
"...Don't regret it."
Ah... this was humiliating. If I'd known it'd be like this, I should've kept my mouth shut.
"Exclusive attribute. [Support Raised with an Abandoned Dream]. Against targets that pose a direct threat to Dokja's life, all stats increase by 10."
"...? Ah, you read 'blood relative' as 'Dokja,' didn't you?"
"No, I really read it exactly as written. That's what it says in the attribute."
Dokja's expression froze as she stared at me.
And just like always...
Ding!
Ding!!
The Constellations' messages started pouring in at a ridiculous rate.
There they went again. Again, again, again.
"...Oppa?"
"Sorry. The Constellation messages keep coming in."
"Me too. I get it."
Part of it was because we were family, but I was probably visible on Dokja's screen too, so the ones who only watched Dokja's side seemed to be sending her messages as well.
"That's not the end of the effect."
"...This is already kind of scary, but keep going."
"I take the damage Dokja would receive from physical harm, mental harm, and status abnormalities instead. The pain is reduced, though."
"..."
"...And that's not all. When it comes to Dokja, all of my stats are fixed at 0."
This was it.
This was why Dokja's smacks landed perfectly on my back even though my stats were higher than hers.
'But doesn't that mean once Dokja gets stronger later, she could kill me in one hit?'
It seemed the one I needed to be careful of from now on wasn't Yoo Joonghyuk, but my little sister Kim Dokja.
Honestly, that one did deserve mourning.
"...Is there more?"
"There are skills."
"Tell me."
"There are three— no, two. The first is [Unfair Equivalent Exchange], and the second is [Unbroken Red Thread]."
Dokja was looking at me with an uneasy expression.
'...There's no way I can tell her this.'
In this Star Stream, stories were the most important thing.
Memories were, in other words, stories of the past.
An attack that consumed those stories would naturally be more powerful than any ordinary attack.
If I told her, she'd definitely tell me not to use it, and she'd be anxious all the time, wondering if I might.
It was just a feeling, but I was sure the time to use that skill would come sooner rather than later.
"[Unfair Equivalent Exchange] is a skill that lets me unilaterally exchange the other party's disadvantage for my own benefit."
"This one's a little vague. The part where you can exchange something without the other person's consent doesn't sound bad, but only within the bounds of disadvantage and benefit? I don't like it."
"Well, since it's equivalent exchange, I'd probably have to offer up something of similar value."
Kim Dokja disliked everything about her older brother Kim Dokyun's exclusive attribute and skills.
The first exclusive attribute and skills a person obtained were tied to that Incarnation's life.
She had only heard one attribute and one skill so far, but all of them pointed back to Dokyun's sacrifices.
Of course, Dokja knew about Dokyun's sacrifices too, and she had no intention of denying them.
But all of this meant that Dokyun, who had done nothing but sacrifice himself until now, would have to sacrifice himself for Dokja all over again. And it reminded her that she still had no power to stop it. That was why she hated them.
'I thought if I got into Mino Soft and just held on a little longer, oppa and I could finally live comfortably together.'
Even if this world had changed into the one she knew best, she still couldn't stop her brother's sacrifices. That helplessness weighed on her.
Just like earlier, when he judged that saving Yoo Joonghyuk would benefit Dokja and, without a moment's hesitation, saved Yoo Joonghyuk and sacrificed himself to protect Dokja—she hadn't been able to stop that either.
That made Dokja feel even more miserable.
"Lastly, [Unbroken Red Thread]... it's a skill that lets me know whether someone with the same skill is alive or dead, and lets me contact that person."
"Hmm... just from the description, it sounds good. If it didn't have the penalty that the other person has to possess the same skill, it'd be perfect."
I agreed with Dokja.
It meant conversations wouldn't leak through the broadcast like they were now.
"The problem is that I don't know who has it."
Exactly.
I'd have to know who I could use it on before I could actually use it.
Of course, judging by the skill's name, I could make a rough guess.
In the East, a red thread usually symbolized fate—love, in other words.
So it felt likely that I could connect to Dokja, the person tied to me by fate.
"Should I try activating this skill once? It doesn't seem like it'll cause any major problems."
"Yeah, try it."
'Activate skill. [Unbroken Red Thread].'
'It really is a red thread.'
Just as the name suggested, a red thread connected me and Dokja.
And there was one more red thread stretching toward somewhere very far away.
Who was this thread connected to?
'Mom has it too...'
Dokja's voice broke through my thoughts.
"Did you try it?"
"Looks like I can connect to you. You still haven't checked your attribute window?"
"Huh? Ah, yeah."
"Check it later. I'll try connecting with you."
"I'm curious, so hurry up and do it."
'Connect to Kim Dokja.'
Dokja, I'd need to know what a secret tryst in broad daylight was before I could react to it.
"It has limitations, but it seems useful."
"That's a relief."
"Why are you acting surprised now of all times?"
"Oppa, let's really focus on just hanging on now. Look below."
The ichthyosaur's digestive fluid was swirling beneath us.
"Aren't you being a little cold?"
Ever since Ways of Survival became reality, it felt like the distance between Dokja and me had been growing.
Was it because I killed Kim Namwoon so brutally?
'Why... why the hell is this happening?'
Everything had been confusing and unpleasant for a while now.
Oppa had said, "someone with the same skill."
And if he could connect to me, that meant I had the same skill too.
'Activate skill. [Unbroken Red Thread].'
Mom was connected too.
Something in front of oppa had been censored.
She was confused.
It was unpleasant.
Why hadn't oppa told her this?
She knew it was for her sake, but still—why?
Maybe... was there something else he was hiding from her?
She had kept plenty of things secret from her brother all this time, yet the moment her brother had a secret from her, nothing felt more unpleasant.
Why had she felt anger toward oppa, not Yoo Joonghyuk, when she watched them fight?
And why had she envied Yoo Joonghyuk?
Her thoughts were a complete mess.