Local gremlin writer

I write stuff sometimes. Find me on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kelpiejz

[kelpiejz]

Timelines, timeloops, and time travel, oh my! - A (mostly) comprehensive breakdown of timelines in ORV

The following is a presentation I made for a powerpoint party that included some people who have never heard of ORV before, so I’ve replaced the character names with nicknames for simplicity, so don’t mind the nicknames all over the images because I am not redrawing them. Also, all the diagrams were drawn with a mouse in MS paint, which doesn’t allow editing of things already drawn, so please cut me some slack if stuff doesn’t make as much sense lol.

Before we begin, please note that this breakdown will contain both major novel spoilers—which is expected for something like this—as well as major Side Story spoilers—but I will mark where those begin for anyone who would rather not get spoiled if you haven’t read or gotten up to date on it yet. Also, I’m not perfect, and I definitely might have forgotten something as I was going through and making this presentation because this was done entirely from memory, so forgive me if that’s the case.

Since everyone reading this already knows what ORV is about (or, I certainly hope so), I’m obviously not going to explain it the way I did when I gave this presentation. However, because this is necessary context, just know that the nicknames I used for the rest of the presentation are squid, sunfish, and cat to represent Kim Dokja, Yoo Joonghyuk, and Han Sooyoung respectively.

For reference, this is how I described ORV to them lol.

(Art by theta_draw on twitter and u/crimsonsecret7)

Part 1: The Basics

As you can see above, we have one, simple timeline that goes from 1 to 1863, representing the regressions in TWSA. How simple. How neat. Very understandable. You all know this part because it really is ORV basics, so let’s move on to:

Part 2 - The Complicated

This is what the previous timeline would actually look like if I drew them out how they actually work in canon. The very first line on the top is technically the 0th regression, and every time Yoo Joonghyuk regresses, he creates a new branching timeline/worldline from the exact same point of his life—namely, around 7 pm on the day the apocalypse begins. He has only one life where he experienced the world before the scenarios, so that specific part of the line doesn’t exist anywhere else. Of course, trying to portray the regressions in this manner would make this diagram extremely messy to draw (as well as annoying), so let’s look at this from a different perspective.

Instead, we’re going to draw this timeline from Yoo Joonghyuk’s perspective as one very long life where the end of the 1st regression leads directly into the beginning of the 2nd, the 2nd into the 3rd, and so on, all the way until his 1863rd regression just to make it easier to draw. I hope you all understand why I did this, especially since I need to branch off of it for the rest of the diagram.

Part 3: The events of ORV’s main story

ORV begins in an altered version of TWSA’s 3rd round where suddenly all these people from the “real world” have now been introduced to events that previously only existed in the novel. As a result, this is not the original 3rd round, but a copy of it, that we can call Alt-3 for now. The original 3rd round from TWSA remains unchanged, and this round doesn’t replace it completely either. For the purposes of this diagram, these alternate rounds will be drawn parallel to the original timeline.

Sometime before we meet Han Sooyoung as a character in ORV, Han Sooyoung uses [Avatar] and her avatar that contains 50% of her memories (50% cat/1863 Han Sooyoung) goes rogue, makes a deal with the Secretive Plotter, and gets sent to the 1863rd round of TWSA to fulfill their covenant and gain the right and power to create her own world.

Naturally, her presence there was not part of the original 1863rd round, so a copy of 1863 (Alt-1863) gets created as a result. None of her actions in this round have any effect on the original 1863rd round since they have diverged. This is the round where 1863 Han Sooyoung essentially hijacks the story, paints Yoo Joonghyuk as the villain, and proceeds with her plans until the 95th scenario unhindered.

Unfortunately, 1863 Han Sooyoung is not left alone for long, because our dear squid gets sent there later in Alt-3’s timeline, and he arrives in Alt-1863’s 95th scenario, spending maybe a couple of weeks there. Overall, Kim Dokja isn’t there for long because of the 95th scenario involving the Apocalypse Dragon, and he thwarts 1863 Han Sooyoung’s plans.

Due to the meeting between Kim Dokja and 1863 Yoo Joonghyuk (1863), 1863 gains the [Avatar] ability and splits himself in two. One half of himself dies, while the other regresses and moves on to a round that Kim Dokja doesn’t know—1864. 

What is discovered later is that the 50% of 1863 that regressed remembered that Kim Dokja said that the round he comes from definitely exists, and had enough desire to go there himself that  OD got curious about that story. As a result, the worldline where he went “replaced” the 3rd turn that Secretive plotter had been observing until now. 

Because of this 1863 essentially combines himself with the Yoo Joonghyuk in that round—think of it as being the 3rd turn’s body, but with the fragmented memories of half of 1863 mixed into his own. This is the reason why “3rd Yoo Joonghyuk” had memories of events that shouldn’t have happened yet while still completely believing that it is actually the 3rd turn, and why someone like Anna Croft didn’t already know either. It’s revealed that ORV’s timeline is actually the 1864th regression.

Then, Kim Dokja returns from Alt-1863 and discovers that 3 years have passed since he left due to time between worldlines passing at different speeds.

We also learn later on that the Secretive Plotter went back to the 999th regression and either was always part of that round’s tragedy or took the place of the outer god that 999 Yoo Joonghyuk made a deal with. I still decided to include it, but it overall doesn’t have too much impact on the rest of our diagram (for now) because it’s essentially its own self-contained loop.

Now, we have the infamous 51/49 split. 51% of Kim Dokja stayed behind in the train as the Oldest Dream, and 49% went back to 1864 with the rest of the group. After an amount of time I didn’t want to draw, Kim Dokja essentially created a 0th round completely disconnected from the events of TWSA (since the events of the original 0th that SP would have experienced were briefly described in the novel). In this round, Kim Dokja writes his attempt at a fix-it fanfiction, but never once considers what the characters actually want, or that his meddling will affect those wants.

I say that Kim Dokja 'created' it here because the worldline was “given the power of life from his consciousness”, so technically a better way of drawing it would have been a line for yjh's life before the scenarios splitting into the two 0s eventually connecting to the beginning of 1, but this diagram is messy enough already and this was an easier spot to put it.

Meanwhile, Kimcom have been left behind in 1864 and have a disaster of a picnic. As a result, they make the decision to do the group regression, leading to the creation of 1865. 1865, unlike other regressions, is instead specifically repeating the beginning conditions of alt-3/1864, therefore allowing “non-characters” to participate in the group regression, so long as they existed at the beginning of the scenarios.

Unfortunately, even after speedrunning the scenarios in record time, 1865 doesn’t work the way they want it to. Both 49% and 51% Kim Dokjas scatter into fragments across the universe, and kimcom returns to 1864 (1864 pt 2), now 20 years after they originally left.

By now, I’m sure this is probably exactly how I seem with all these diagrams (and trust me, this is what I looked like while presenting it irl), but don’t worry, it gets worse :)

All this worldline stuff is complicated enough as it is, but what’s that you ask? Another timeline?

Buckle up, everyone, it’s time to look at:

Part 4: What do you mean there are two 2s? ***SIDE STORY SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT***

One of the big things we know about TWSA is that the future Shin Yoosung aka the Disaster of Floods (DoF) appeared in Yoo Joonghyuk’s 2nd round to tell him information from the 41st round. However, she did not appear in the 1st round, which tells us that there must have been a timeline (Timeline A) where the DoF was not the fifth disaster in the 5th scenario—this theory was confirmed by the Side Story, though we never see what disaster was there in her place (because our dear main character had fainted, as usual). 

This means that the round where Shin Yoosung was sent back by Yoo Joonghyuk was not the same 41st regression as the one that appeared in TWSA (though according to the Dumplings made by others oneshot side story, SP and the 41 kkoma have basically no memories of that round, and it was not fully written in TWSA either). However, it is likely that the information on the round had some degree of influence on Yoo Joonghyuk’s choices once he actually got to the 41st round, such as using the spear because the 41 in [Hell of Eternity] also used a spear.

So, the Shin Yoosung of timeline A’s 41st regression was turned into the DoF and sent back to the second round, therefore creating a split timeline (Timeline B), and this timeline is where TWSA takes place. Other than the brief mentions of that 41st regression by the DoF, the ORV main story contains basically no information about timeline A.

So, let’s begin with our dear old man 0, who signed a sponsor contract with 51% Kim Dokja and ended up losing the majority of memories so he could essentially “overwrite” the original TWSA 0th round and join up with the 1st regression. These memories would eventually return to 1864, and it’s unclear if SP got the same memories, since technically he would have experienced the TWSA round 0 instead—the one recorded in the 4th wall library (chapter 266). As of right now, there is no evidence that SP has any of the memories of the 0 that Kim Dokja created, so I can’t conclusively say whether he is considered to have lived through this version or not.

On the other hand, because 49% Kim Dokja and 51% Kim Dokja both fragmented at the end of 1865 (I just really didn’t want to draw all the time in the train for 51% or all the fragments bc that is exhausting), parts of them went flying everywhere to all kinds of faraway worldlines. In particular, a meteor containing the soul of 49% Kim Dokja crash-landed in the Z865123 planetary system. This will be important later.

At the end of Alt-1863, 1863 Han Sooyoung and the dokkaebi king of that worldline travelled to the 1st worldline (hereby labelled with baby squid). I am sorry that it is yellow, MS paint only has so many colours and I was struggling. 

Anyway, this 1st worldline is essentially the “real world” before the apocalypse, where Kim Dokja, Yoo Sangah, Han Sooyoung, and Lee Gilyoung come from. This is the worldline where 1863 Han Sooyoung possesses her younger self and becomes tls123, fulfilling her dream of writing a story that will change someone’s life (paraphrased) and saves younger Kim Dokja in the process, therefore facilitating his ascent to the position of Oldest Dream and the continuation of the cycle. This isn’t pictured on the diagram, but the day before the apocalypse, 1863 Han Sooyoung’s consciousness fully disappears from this worldline, and those memories are sent back to 1864 Han Sooyoung. 

*Important Note: There are some discrepancies in the timeline between the novel and manhwa versions here that I felt were important to mention.

In the novel: The day before the apocalypse, the final chapter of TWSA is published, Kim Dokja has the conversation with tls123 where he’s told that the epilogue will be posted at 7 pm the next day, and he attempts to recommend the novel on a forum (ORV’s prologue). 

In the manhwa: The scene of Kim Dokja reading the final chapter of TWSA is located before the title card, and it’s unclear if this happens the previous day or not. Unlike the novel, his conversation with tls123 happens on the same day as the apocalypse, shortly before 7 pm (webtoon episode 1). 

But what does this mean? This means that the scene where 1863 Han Sooyoung reaches out to Kim Dokja on the train platform at the end of Author’s Words before her consciousness fully disappears does not happen on the day of the apocalypse in the novel, but it’s unclear in the manhwa when the final chapter was completed and posted. However, Kim Dokja was messaging the Dokkaebi King and not 1863 Han Sooyoung in both cases, since she would have disappeared by then.

At the end of ORV, Yoo Joonghyuk leaves 1864’s worldline to distribute the copies of ORV to other worldlines, and his first named stop is the Z865123 planetary system, where he connects the struggling web novel author Lee Hakhyun to the [Cloud System] before leaving to distribute the copies elsewhere (not pictured). He drifts around for a while too, and though it’s also not pictured bc I forgot to put the other arrowhead on the line, he eventually returns to 1864 just in time for something to happen in Kim Dokja’s hospital room.

Now, we get to the official beginning of the Side Story. Through an ORV fandom event, Lee Hakhyun and multiple ORV readers get sent to the 41st regression of timeline A, therefore creating Alt-41. Most members of kimcom also end up connecting to or observing the worldline in various different ways (with the exception of Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon, who are somewhere else).

Lee Hakhyun is also revealed to be the reincarnation of 49% Kim Dokja, who had wished to be reborn as anyone other than Kim Dokja in his next life as he was vanishing in the train at the end of 1865.

While taking a nap in the subway for plot reasons, Lee Hakhyun ends up spending 3 months in the 40th regression of timeline A, meeting the Yoo Joonghyuk of that round and making a deal with him to be allies in the next regression before returning to Alt-41.

Due to the deal made in the 40th regression, which 41st Yoo Joonghyuk references near the beginning of the Side Story, it can now be determined that the event that created the current worldline was actually Lee Hakhyun’s arrival in the 40th regression, therefore meaning that it was actually Alt-40. The Alt-41st regression was simply created by Alt-40th Yoo Joonghyuk regressing, not the arrival of extra people in the 41st.

Now, you may notice that weird moon-like thing on the right. That’s the Dark Dimension.

The Dark Dimension (where Yoo Joonghyuk trained for 100 years in TWSA’s 2nd regression, as mentioned in the main story) is a domain where time faults exist. The time faults are essentially like simulations of different regression turns in Yoo Joonghyuk’s life, but the events of the real turn are not overwritten by any changes made in the time fault. 

So, instead of creating alternate timelines, nothing changes. It’s like going back to re-clear levels of a video game, but it’s impossible for your original score to change, if that comparison makes sense. You’re basically in free play mode, but nothing you do will be saved.

And now:

Part 5: The Complete Diagram

Now, this is what I’d like to call the ‘Complete’ diagram, because it includes instances of characters travelling to/from worldlines that don’t necessarily cause any ripples, but I felt deserved to be there, such as:

The 999 gang travelling to the end of the 1864th regression

The 999 gang, SP, and OD going to a new worldline

The 999 gang and SP going to briefly help Yoo Joonghyuk while he’s floating in space all alone in ORV’s epilogue

After the hospital door is opened, it’s revealed that only 41% of Kim Dokja returned thanks to ORV, and he also goes off to Alt-41 to find the other remaining fragments so he can return to kimcom as 100% of himself so he doesn’t disappoint them again

Lee Hakhyun and 41st Yoo Joonghyuk go to the Dark Dimension for a little bit

41st Yoo Joonghyuk returns from the Dark Dimension (alongside other transcendents), but Lee Hakhyun does not return with him

Instead, Lee Hakhyun ends up in Alt-1863 during the 99th scenario and meets 1863 Han Sooyoung before she becomes tls123. Despite this fact, there are no ripples or different outcomes created as a result of his presence there (as of right now, at least) 

Lee Hakhyun leaves Alt-1863 after spending about a month there, and returns to Alt-41, where 8 years have passed

And that is basically everything, up until Side Story chapter 905 (though, as of chapter 922, this still seems to be accurate for the important parts).

Congrats, you survived! I hope you don’t have a headache now, and I’m sorry if you do.

I hope that my diagrams (of questionable quality) and my little explanations made sense, even though I tried to keep certain side story events more vague since I know most people haven’t read it yet. If there’s anything I missed or got wrong, please let me know.

With any luck, this chaotic disaster of a power point was helpful to you, and all my suffering in MS paint was worth it. I would also like to thank my friends in the side story group chat for looking this over and pointing out where I could be clearer, as well as putting up with my rambling for so long, they're all amazing.

[yourdragonisinanothercastle]

Either BakuDeku but it's apocalypse like ORV, or Joongdok but it's quirks and heroes

So this is longer than I had planned for these prompt fills, but I had an absolute blast with it. Thanks a lot tsuki! <3<3<3

This isn't beta read, it's barely alpha read. When was the last time I sent something into the world straight from the keyboard 💃

************************

Kim Dokja’s phone alarm bipped shrilly.

He groaned in protest. What? No. It was Saturday. It was definitely Saturday. Why had he set his alarm? Had work stolen so much soul and joy from him that he had forgotten about the existence of weekends?

He groped for the offending noise machine and turned it off. One half of his face still buried in his pillow, he squinted at the screen.

Friday.

What?

“Oh, fuck you, you sunfish,” he said, with feeling.

Yoo Joonghyuk was back on his bullshit.

***

It was really a scam how much having a Quirk mattered in this society. Kim Dokja’s desk neighbor at Mino Soft could make colored burps. It wasn’t just useless, it was outright distasteful (just like the guy himself, come to think out of it), yet Kim Dokja was the one who got told in no uncertain terms that he was hired to fill the company’s handicap quota and he could sit on the hope of ever receiving a promotion or a raise.

He wasn’t even really Quirkless. If he had been, he wouldn’t be going through the torture of living through two Fridays in one week. But a kid telling the family doctor that time occasionally went wonky around him apparently qualified him for ADHD tests, not a referral to a Quirk specialist.

Well, he wasn’t hyperactive. If anything, he was actively underactive most days.

By 1pm, Kim Dokja had finished redoing all the work he had already gone through the previous (now nonexistent) day. He spent an hour or two reading webnovels on his phone in the break room. When he started receiving stink eyes from his colleagues, he shuffled back to his desk and started scrolling through news feeds. He didn’t remember clocking off work before he woke up in his bed, so Yoo Joonghyuk should be showing up sometimes soon.

Ah, there he was.

BREAKING NEWS Quirk-user altercation in progress in Seongbuk-du. Vigilante “Supreme King” and American Pro Hero “Las Vegas Prophet” spotted. Caution recommended if you’re in the area.

Kim Dokja’s eyebrows rose. What was an American pro hero doing in Seoul? He opened a new tab and looked up that Prophet dude. Ah, it turned out Anna Croft was more of a prophetess. Which didn’t answer his question, but he wasn’t that curious. Yoo Joonghyuk hadn’t needed to turn back time more than once per fight in years. He would be done soon, and Kim Dokja could finally have his weekend--

His phone alarm bipped shrilly.

Kim Dokja jerked up in bed. The sun was just rising behind the window blinds. He scrambled for his phone, nearly sent it flying.

Friday.

Okay. Now he was mad.

***

It only took one more time loop before he broke.

“Yoo Joonghyuk is back on his bullshit,” he informed Han Sooyoung as soon as she opened her door.

She looked him up and down, unimpressed. She was wearing a ratty sweatshirt and her glasses were perched on her head, worsening the cowlicks she always got from running her hands through her hair. He had interrupted her in the middle of a writing spree, then. That was unfortunate. It always made her extra uncooperative.

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” she drawled.

“This is my fourth Friday, Han Sooyoung. If I have to go through Deputy Yoon’s weekly team-building garbage again before a full week has passed, I will stab someone. It doesn’t have to be Deputy Yoon or Yoo Joonghyuk.”

She rolled her eyes at him, but opened her door wider to let him in.

“I really don’t get what Yoo Sangah sees in you.”

“She’s a person of good taste.”

“Shut up. What do you want?”

“Anything you can write me on an American hero named Anna Croft.”

“You couldn’t look her up online?”

“I did. Everything about her is in English, and I need to check something.”

She swore and grabbed a single sheet of paper.

“I’m not writing you her damn biography. I have a fucking deadline. I wouldn’t whine aboutgetting more than twenty-four hours in a day.”

Kim Dokja didn’t even bother retorting. He’d like to see her have to rewrite the same chapter from the start every time she opened her eyes in the morning.

Han Sooyoung poised a ballpoint pen over the sheet. Her eyes turned sharp, her arm tensed. The pen began to glow, a dull blue shine. It flew across the surface. For a minute or two, its scratches were the only sound in the room.

Han Sooyoung’s Quirk, Character Analysis.

Han Sooyoung only bothered lowering her glasses onto her face once she had leaned back. She skimmed through what she had written.

“Huh,” she said.

Kim Dokja, reading over her shoulder, sighed in agreement.

‘Dedicated to upholding law and order,’ was written there. ‘Hostile to vigilantes.’ And even more damning, ‘Quirk: Future Sight.’

“No wonder a regressor would have trouble with her,” Han Sooyoung said. “It doesn’t matter what new tactics he’ll try, she’ll see them coming.”

“I just want to sleep in on Saturday mornings,” Kim Dokja lamented. “Is that too much to ask?”

“Get out of my house if you’re just going to complain. You know what to do, don’t you?”

“Ugh.”

***

The thing was, Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t particularly want to be a vigilante. A few years back, he had let Steel Sword convince him to go public. Only, becoming a Pro Hero meant being transparent about your Quirk.

No sooner had Yoo Joonghyuk’s info become available that his name was being dragged through the dirt. With a Quirk like Regression, you could get away with so many things, people had argued; you could murder and rape, then turn back time so no one would be the wiser; you could cheat your way into becoming a billionaire by betting on events you had already lived through; you could find out state secrets and then make it so no one was aware you knew. Could the guy even be held in a prison? Could he even die?

The public panic had been so overwrought that it had been obvious to Kim Dokja it was the result of a villain’s smear campaign.

Yoo Joonghyuk had initially powered through. That had impressed Kim Dokja, who remembered being six and going through five-minute-long time loops that could only have been provoked by a child’s temper tantrums. Yoo Joonghyuk used to turn on his Quirk for anything and nothing when they were young. He had calmed down as he aged and only rarely used it now. Kim Dokja could only speculate that Regression had some drawbacks Yoo Joonghyuk had become wary of over time.

Then the mob had turned on his kid sister.

That was the only occasion Yoo Joonghyuk had ever turned back time by a full week. Kim Dokja had woken up sick and dizzy.

He hadn’t blamed him.

So now Yoo Joonghyuk was once more a vigilante, and Kim Dokja was the only member of the public who hadn’t forgotten what he had learned back then. Supreme King’s name, his Quirk’s title, his family history, his face.

The face especially was annoying. The bastard could at least have had the decency of being ugly under that mask.

BREAKING NEWS Quirk-user altercation in progress in Seongbuk-du. Vigilante “Supreme King” and American Pro Hero “Las Vegas Prophet” spotted…

Damn it, why was this still happening? Couldn’t Yoo Joonghyuk just avoid Seongbuk-du? Surely he wasn’t that stupid.

At least it made them easy to find. It only took two more loops before Kim Dokja pinpointed the battle’s exact location. By that point, he had turned calling in sick to work into an art. He could have won an Oscar with that cough.

When he finally turned up in time to catch the entire thing, he had to groan.

It was a fucking dog. A dog who slipped its leash and attempted to run into a busy intersection. Supreme King swooped out of nowhere, scooped up the mutt and shoved it into its owner’s arms. The poor lady was gaping. It wasn’t every day a six-foot-tall wall of muscles in a flapping black coat with an actual sword strapped to his waist blinked into existence to glare at you for your poor dog-handling.

And Kim Dokja could see it now. The pile-up that had probably happened during the first loop.

That was the other thing about Yoo Joonghyuk. If he couldn’t be a Pro Hero, he didn’t have to be a vigilante either. He could just let people sort themselves out.

But no. Of course the sunfish wasn’t capable of doing that.

Damn it. He wasn’t feeling fond. No matter how many drinks Han Sooyoung plied him with, he was admitting to nothing. (He ignored the nagging feeling that he already had, because he couldn’t remember spilling Supreme King’s birth name to her, but she sure was fond of using it to his face. Surely that was because of her Quirk.)

His act of dog-sitting accomplished, Yoo Joonghyuk whirled around to leave. Kim Dokja caught a glimpse of his face and realized he wasn’t wearing his mask. Was he attempting to mislead Las Vegas Prophet by showing up as his civilian self? He might have wanted to ditch the sword if that was the case.

“Stop right there, Supreme King!”

A tall blonde woman in a black and gold costume sailed through the crowd on the sidewalk. Yoo Joonghyuk stopped, his jaw tight and a vein beating at his temple.

“Are you speaking to me?” he said.

The words sounded like gravel in his throat, and he didn’t seem to have much hope that the Prophet would let him speak his way out of this. He turned to face her. As he did so, his eyes slid over Kim Dokja. He frowned.

Kim Dokja’s heart skipped a beat. He slipped behind a corner before Yoo Joonghyuk could do a double take. Had the jerk really already memorized all the faces standing at the intersection during his fight?

Either way, showing up without his mask could only be a desperate move on Yoo Joonghyuk’s part. That whole unmasking fiasco back then had spooked him too much for him to risk his identity casually.

Other costumes materialized out of the crowd to back up the American heroine. She really was well prepared. Yoo Joonghyuk wasn’t usually the type to back out of a fight, but that wasn’t what he had been trying to achieve in this loop. If his identity was compromised, that was it for him.

Kim Dokja was unsurprised when he blinked and found himself back in his bed.

Wow, he hated this alarm. He’d replace it as soon as the loop was over. Something with bird song and chimes, maybe.

***

So. At least this was an easily solvable problem.

Frankly, Yoo Joonghyuk could have solved it in a heartbeat if he had just been willing to trust one single person with his Quirk. Literally all he had to do was tell Steel Sword Lee Hyunsung he knew the future, and ask the Pro Hero to rescue the stupid dog.

“Excuse me,” Kim Dokja said, smiling politely at the middle-aged lady. “Your dog is adorable. Do you mind if I pet him?”

Not at all, she said, smiling back, please go ahead. He likes chin scratches. Kim Dokja sank into a squat, gave the squirming fur ball chin scratches, and took advantage of the thick fur to reclip the leash properly with her none the wiser.

“Thank you,” he said as he rose. “You two have a good day.”

The lady and her dog went on their way. He scowled at the pale fur stuck on his gray suit jacket. He wasn’t much of a dog person.

When he looked up, Las Vegas Prophet was standing right there. She was staring at him.

“Who are you?”

“Excuse me?” he said innocently.

Suspicion sparked in her eyes.

“Hmm… Forgive me, but may I ask what your Quirk is?”

“No?” he said, pitching in his voice exactly the right mix of confusion and vague outrage of a peaceful citizen getting interrogated out-of-the-blue. “Am I under suspicion of something? I’m going to need to see a Pro Hero card if so. I’ve never seen you in the news. Are you even official?”

Being accused of vigilantism, of all things, must have hit her hard. Color rose in what could be seen of her cheeks around the mask.

Nevertheless, she managed a tense smile. This Las Vegas Prophet didn’t remember all her altercations with Supreme King. She only knew that her Quirk had expected to find him here, and he wasn’t. It wasn’t exactly reasonable to make a scene about it to a random Korean pedestrian.

“My apologies. I must have mistaken you for someone else.”

She walked around him, her eyes scanning the street. Kim Dokja waited until she was gone before stretching languorously.

Finally. Saturday, here he came.

He hadn’t taken two steps down the sidewalk before a fist closed around his collar and yanked him into a side alley. His back hit the wall. A black mask was shoved into his face.

“Who are you?” came the guttural growl.

Ugh. There had really been no way to do this without being noticed. Still, the bastard could have done him the courtesy of letting it go.

“You’re welcome,” Kim Dokja hissed back.

Supreme King pulled him back from the wall and slammed him back against it. His other hand was wrapped tightly around the hilt of this sword.

“Knock it off,” Kim Dokja whisper-yelled, now fully indignant. “She’ll find you just as easily without her Quirk if people report you!”

Supreme King froze. His eyes flitted between Kim Dokja and the busy street a few feet from them. Kim Dokja squirmed free. Supreme King allowed it with a freezing glare, but blocked his way back. Kim Dokja rolled his eyes.

“Come on,” he said, heading deeper into the alley.

That was obviously not what the vigilante had been expecting. It took him a few seconds to start following him. Kim Dokja stopped once they were fully out of view.

“Now, what do you want? I need to go get the dog fur out of this suit.”

“I saw you yesterday.”

“Congrats,” he grumbled, rubbing at his sleeve. “Not many people can pick me out of a lineup.”

“Is that your Quirk? Some kind of invisibility?”

“No?” Kim Dokja said in incredulity. He wasn’t sure what was more offending: people’s obsession with Quirks or the fact that he was a perfectly forgettable man, no mind’s tricks necessary, and had just admitted as much himself. “How would that make sense in this scenario? Are you even using your brain?”

Supreme King thumbed his sword out of his scabbard by a few centimeters.

“You’re very free with your words,” he grunted, shoulders tensed in anger.

“Counterpoint: you lose a lot of your intimidation factor when people know how much of a softie you are, Supreme King.”

The sword unsheathed fully and caught an errant ray of sunlight on its sharp edge. Kim Dokja huffed.

“It’s Time Displacement,” he said flatly.

“… What?”

“My Quirk. Isn’t that what you were so up in arms about? A friend of mine described it as ‘standing a step to the left of the normal flow of time, or whatever.’”

Han Sooyoung was the closest he had come to an actual Quirk assessor. Whatever, at least being labeled Quirkless had gotten him a stable job. You couldn’t spit on that in this kind of economy.

“What does that mean?” Yoo Joonghyuk asked.

“What do you think it means? Time-based Quirks go wonky around me. That’s it. Not exactly anything to write home about.”

Kim Dokja smirked.

“Although knowing it works on precognition Quirks… Did you see Anna Croft’s face?” he said in relish.

So sue him, he had a bit of a petty streak.

Yoo Joonghyuk paced deeper into the alley, then back.

“She can’t see me because you’re here?” he said finally.

“Because I caused your future to change, and she can’t see the new one. I don’t think the effect will last once I leave, though, so try to avoid her from now on, Yoo Joonghyuk.”

Yoo Joonghyuk stopped mid-step.

“What did you call me?” The words came out of his mouth like gravel.

Kim Dokja ignored him.

“Or at least do your hide-and-seek routine on a weekend. I know you don’t have a nine-to-five, but some of us aren’t so lucky.”

Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t answer. He was staring at him, his grip tight on his sword. Kim Dokja shrugged and leaned against the alley wall.

“Relax,” he sighed. “I’m not fucking Asmodeus.”

“… You know about that.”

Notorious villain Asmodeus had mysteriously ended up dead not long after the whole ill-fated reveal incident. It hadn’t been hard to connect the dots.

“I remember about that. And I haven’t said anything that whole time, have I? You want to stay anonymous, it’s no skin of my back.”

Yoo Joonghyuk just looked at him.

“Your name?” he said after a long moment.

“Huh,” Kim Dokja said, blinking. That’s right, he hadn’t introduced himself. Well, Yoo Joonghyuk had been rude first, dragging him into dark corners like that. “It’s Kim Dokja.”

The sword went back into its scabbard. Yoo Joonghyuk took his mask off. Dark eyes landed once again on Kim Dokja, evaluating.

The years had been kind to the bastard. Kim Dokja had long held the theory that Regression made him age faster, as he had noticed Supreme King gaining a few premature white hairs over the years, but it was impossible to tell for sure from that face. That jawline was still infuriatingly beautiful.

Kim Dokja looked away and swallowed.

“Anyway, this loop was messy. It was just a dog, Yoo Joonghyuk. Even your sister could have taken care of it.”

“If you know, you know I don’t want her involved in this. And she has school today.”

“And I had work!” Kim Dokja complained, throwing his hands up in frustration. “Where am I going to get a doctor’s note, now? They aren’t going to fire me, but-”

“I’ll get you one.”

“Huh. Wait. Really?”

“I know someone.”

Kim Dokja stared. Yoo Joonghyuk seemed serious. Look at that? Wasn’t the jerk unexpectedly helpful?

“How about making it last until Wednesday? I think you owe me a long weekend,” he said, never above pushing his luck.

“Fine.”

Huh! What was he supposed to say to that? Kim Dokja was never that lucky. There had to be a catch. He narrowed his eyes.

Yoo Joonghyuk smiled.

Which was, for the record, a magnitude of unfairness never before seen in this life. Surely that smile had to be illegal. It bloomed slowly until his teeth showed, confident amusement lighting up his eyes.

“She’ll help if she knows it’s for someone who will help me in the future.”

“That… No?” Kim Dokja sputtered. “That was a one-time deal! How are you trying to rope me into vigilantism? I’m basically Quirless!”

“You were the one complaining it would be simpler if I had someone in the know. Are you saying you’re registered as Quirkless?”

“Yes!”

“Good. Nobody will suspect you.”

“They won’t, because I’m not going to do anything! Saving puppies and orphans is your thing, not mine.”

“I made you regress through six Fridays in a row.”

That was factually what had happened. But said like that, it very much sounded like a threat. Kim Dokja bit his tongue, fuming.

“You remember all of them,” Yoo Joonghyuk deduced, darkly satisfied. “Phone.”

He held out his hand in command.

“I hate you,” Kim Dokja said in wonder.

“I’ll make your note last all of next week.”

“Bribing me, now?” Kim Dokja said, examining Yoo Joonghyuk keenly.

Yoo Joonghyuk gave him a placid blink.

Kim Dokja dropped his phone into the waiting hand.

“Bribing is fine,” he sniffed. “Carry on.”

Yoo Joonghyuk snorted as he input his number. One dark eye stayed on Kim Dokja, looking him up and down. Unused to the attention, Kim Dokja stared at the sky.

Damn it. At least he’d get to see a nice view once in a while.

[tsukithewolf]

I'm being so serious as a fan of ORV:

The Side Story is REQUIRED. You literally don't understand the Main Story if you don't read it. Everyone who said the Main Story is only half the story are right.

If you haven't read the Side Story, you have not read ORV. You're not done. It's literally not optional for someone who wants to read the story of ORV.

And if you're someone who ACTUALLY wants Kim Dokja to come back, you must read it.

It's not supposed to be an open ended story.

[tsukithewolf]

The Side Story is not "optional reading" for an ORV fan. It's only "optional reading" in the same way all stories are technically "optional reading" where you can drop it anytime.

If you stop at the end of the Main Story, I now consider it dropping ORV. That is to say, if you stop at the end of the Main Story, are aware of the Side Story's existence, and still choose to believe you have finished ORV and that you don't want or need to read further, I now consider you as someone who has dropped ORV midway.

The Side Story has been going since 2023, and there are GOOD TLs in English out there for it. There is no excuse.

[tsukithewolf]

I really love that we're seeing the consequences of Han Sooyoung in action while I'm reading the Side Story. Han Sooyoung makes mistakes. That's being human. I think it's a very humbling thing to notice how your selfish actions can have a negative impact. I think it's what you do from there that proves who you are. Knowing Han Sooyoung, I'm sure she'll try to rectify things in her own way. It wasn't her intention to hurt 49, but she absolutely dehumanized him. She looked at what was essentially an amnesiac person and went "You are not who I once cared about", completely ignoring the fact this is still Kim Dokja. She cared most about the promise that was made to her, and the fact their bond was forged through TWSA and writing/reading (which I understand her perspective) but that narrow viewpoint and her selfishness resulted in breaking 49 and, potentially, even causing to some extent the twisted ending that they got (it's hard to tell how much of 49's thoughts and feelings impacted how that scene in the epilogue went at this time since I'm only in season 2 of the Side Story and there are at least 5 right now).

I like Han Sooyoung and her selfishness. I don't think that's a flaw or bad, but selfishness CAN cause harm to those you care about, and it's fun (and heartbreaking) to see it in action.

I'm starting to understand why a particular brand of Han Sooyoung "fans" refuse to engage with the Side Story. Guess you can't support (or at least love while criticizing) your fav's wrongs too.

[tsukithewolf]

Honestly, I just would like to see more people who claim to be Han Sooyoung's biggest fans engage with the things she's done wrong too. And I see a lot of crossover between a particular brand of fan that glorifies her while simultaneously rejecting/giving up/refusing to start the Side Story (which is NOT A SEQUEL. IT'S PART OF THE ACTUAL STORY. NOT A SEQUEL. A CONTINUATION UNDER A DIFFERENT NAME) because they're afraid of the "perfect" ending "created by Han Sooyoung" and don't want to admit that Han Sooyoung herself considers it a failure.

[levia-san]

kkoma library

guess who started and caught up sidestories… its moi!

[orvretranslationproject]

The reuploads we were aware of have been taken down. We thank those who helped to make this happen, and we're grateful to the website for being accommodating. Let's all do our best to have no more slip ups from here so we can all enjoy the Project to is fullest!

Our retranslation of V6 will be done soon, and we'll be entering the editing phase, so we're on target to get the new volume out most likely next week. Please look forward to it.

[orvretranslationproject]

Reposting

It has come to our attention that our retranslation documents have been uploaded onto a public archive. As we did not seem to be clear in our explanations of what not posting on public platforms entails, we want to give the archiver a chance to take down the documents.

We do not want out documents on ANY public platforms, including archives. Please take down the documents. We don't want to have to shut down this project.

[orvretranslationproject]

Will the ebook side stories and the exclusive physical side story be translated too?

Someone else is currently doing the official Side Story, but we'll be in talks with them further down the line about collaborating. They're a friend.

As for the 4 individual side stories, not sure yet. We haven't actually discussed it. It would be something the team would have to agree on, and both are a little too far off in the future to know for sure yet.

[orvretranslationproject]

For those of you who do not know, chapters 1-551 are the Main Story. This is the story of the Kim Dokja Company.

There are 4 small side stories that are like additional content. They are called the Yoo Mia Side Story (a story about Pre Scenarios Yoo Joonghyuk. "Yoo Mia" can be read as "Lost Child"), Dumplings Made By Another (a story about Yoo Joonghyuk and his master in the 2nd turn, as well as his birthday), Someone Who Remembers You (a story about Han Sooyoung and Yoo Sangah, reflecting on Kim Dokja), and Treasure Hunt (a story about Kim Dokja and Yoo Sangah's first meeting as they do their job interview for Mino Soft).

These are extra/exclusive material, I believe, so they're more difficult to find.

Spoilers from here. Don't read beyond cut if you haven't completed the Main Story

Then there is the Side Story, which is the official continuation of ORV from chapter 552 onwards. It is currently in the 800s for chapters and still ongoing.

The Side Story is not optional/additional content. It is the second half of ORV. It is called the Side Story because the Main Story is the story of the "Kim Dokja Company", and the Side Story is more focused on Kim Dokja (among other things that won't be discussed because of spoilers).

You can choose not to continue from the Main Story into the Side Story, but you are choosing to leave the ending ambiguous and not find out what truly happened to Kim Dokja. It's your choice. But the Main Story is not the end.

You can contact @orviposition about the translation of the Side Story.

[kelpiejz]

The above is great info, but I have one small correction to make lol - the side story is 553+ (552 is dumplings made by others), and we're actually in the 900s right now. The side story is usually updated 3x per week, and as of August 8th, the most recent chapter is 915.

According to Singshong, the current season (s5) is the final season of the Side Story, but we don't know yet if there will be epilogues to finish tying up loose ends. I personally suspect that they'll have to do that unless this season ends up being very long. However, for those of you who want to wait until it's done to read it, hopefully it'll be finishing within the year.

[orvretranslationproject]

Reblogging this post since we have many new followers and it is still a very common misconception that the Side Story is extra content. It is not.

There is also a 5th additional side story called Apocalypse that has been added since we made the original post which focuses on Yoo Joonghyuk during the epilogue. We won't explain more because of spoilers for those who haven't finished the Main Story, but you can probably guess what time we are referring to if you have already finished.

[kelpiejz]

Just an update to my part of this post: "within the year" was totally wrong, it is now March 26, 2026 and the side story is still ongoing. The current most recent chapter is 997, and we have no idea when singshong are going to finish it. It is most definitely not extra content, and 551 is only the halfway point of the complete story of orv.

[sincerelysamedt]

I hope the 41st Regression Turn of Yoo Joonghyuk crashes the FUCK out when he learns he's god's least favorite.

[kelpiejz]

And then you read the side story and realize that he's actually loved so, so much and that we never truly knew anything about him.

[levia-san]

It was supposed to be ORV canon Uriel but pivoted into drawing her in the isekai AU clothes because its easier to draw gjklsadjlsj Uriel my beloved 🥺

You can read the prologue of said AU on either tumblr or ao3 !!!

(please mind that updates for it is incredibly slow but i'm working on it, i promise!

[tsukithewolf]

sometimes, tbh i hate shingshong for giving some fuel to toxic joongdok shippers so they can harassing people who see kdj as strong person, i see so many big name and ss translator itself shading other people very harsh on public account.

The authors only wrote what they wanted. How people react to the content isn't on them.

The fandom as a whole needs to take a step back and realize we're all playing with Barbies over here. Some are more focused on canon to base their interpretations on, and some would rather make fanon interpretations of fanon. There will always be heads butting with each other. I think as long as they're complaining in their own homes (on their own social media) without going after others (meaning, aren't purposefully tagging anti stuff in tags meant for positive shipping, like tagging joongdok when your post is about hating it. Or they're not actively seeking out shippers/ideas to qrt and sic their followers on them publicly) then just block and ignore them. There really is far too much going on in life to worry about what others are whining about in a fandom. It's better to find a private space to rant about people you dislike, keep it in your own home (as in, don't let the bitching spill into public on social media where idiotic people can jump on board to fan the flames) and move on. You can't control what other people do, but you can control what you see and what occupies your mind.

Its annoying and frustrating, but take it from an old head weeb who has been in fandom spaces for over 20 years, you'll find that catering your feed will fill you with joy. Marie Kondo your TL.

[kelpiejz]

Anon, maybe take a step back from fandom for a while and examine why you're saying that you hate singshong simply because they're writing what they want to write. That's an absolutely insane thing to say about the authors.

To me, at least, it sounds like you don't actually like the story of orv they want to tell because it doesn't conform to your headcanons and idea of what orv should be. Fans are always going to have fun with the story and interpret it in their own ways within the scope of fandom, but that doesn't change the text that was written by the authors.

You can imagine kdj is a strong buff man all you want, it doesn't hurt anyone, but no amount of imagining will make that true in canon because that's just not what singshong have written. People acknowledging the canon facts on their own accounts is not an attack on your preferences. It's as simple as that.

[levia-san]

PSA to all Joongdok writers:

Most of you likely know already, but for the ones that don't:

There's been a person on ao3 going after specifically JD fics, spamming several rape & death threats. Most threats are made via the guest account function and this whole ordeal has been happening for over 6 months already.

So, since they're clearly not planning to stop, it's recommended to either A) lock your fic for regristered users only B) disable guest comments C) moderate your comments

This serves not only your own peace of mind but also your commenters', since the perpetrator is also replying to commenters to maximize the spam and harrassment caused.

Unfortunately this won't necessary stop all abuse happening, since the perpetrator is also creating regristered accounts, but most of the threats are being sent via guest comments, so you'll at least be able to limit majority of the abuse.

For now this is the best we can do as community to protect ourselves, so please take care!

[orvretranslationproject]

If you guys are still taking requests, could I request that one scene from the constellation banquet with Kim Dokja and Uriel?

That's our MVP constellation right there.

[cavyette]

Happy birthday to our squid 🐙 🎂

Other versions I had made lol

[coffee-scrub]

♥️CODE RED♥️

Client 1864 has taken possession of their assigned Cupid’s bow and landed a shot on CPID-9158! All arriving personnel, do not engage in combat! I repeat, do not engage in combat!

[levia-san]

Courtesy of @tsukithewolf

Bonus:

Putting the rough sketch and the final result next to eachother is incredibly funny

[orvretranslationproject]

Hey so there was a line in the novel where it was stated that apparently kdj had a crush on Lee jihye. It was a mistranslation allegedly because what he actually meant was admire. I don’t remember the specific chapter but maybe you know you know which one I’m referring to is it Canon that he romantically liked Lee jihye?

The line you're thinking of is in chapter 367, and it is a mistranslation. This is the currently available TL:

This was back when Yoo Joonghyuk was going through his 164th turn. I was in the 3rd year of middle school, and in love with Lee Jihye back then.

The word used here is 동경하다 and it is a word that means deep respect and wanting to be like that person.

A more accurate translation would be closer to this:

It was during my third year of middle school and Yoo Joonghyk's 164th turn. I, who had been aspiring to be like Lee Jihye, was writing a comment.