Chapter 15

**Contract (4)** is the fifteenth chapter of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

## Summary

Kim Dokja continues to hang on to the stomach wall of the ichthyosaur for an unspecified amount of time, waiting for it to die. The constellations sponsor him coins for his tenacity. As he waits, he grows hungry; he drinks fluid from the stone hog's thorn, which has absorbed the ichthyosaur's life energy, and gains levels in his physique stat from the absorption of the ichthyosaur's power. He marvels at the absurdity of the current situation, and his mind drifts to his mother, who he reassures himself will be fine. He sleeps fitfully in the next few hours, resting and waking with the ebb and flow of the river water and ichthyosaur's digestive fluids. Eventually, the ichthyosaur succumbs to the thorns and dies. Bihyung appears and commends Kim Dokja on his creativity; they go back and forth describing the effect of the stone hog's thorns and the seahorse mucus. The constellations now understand Kim Dokja's actions, and both they and Bihyung are surprised at the extent of Kim Dokja's knowledge; he ignores them, drinking more fluid from the thorn and leveling up his physique stat to level 12.

After the exchange, Kim Dokja receives the reward for completing the hidden scenario, earning 10,000 coins (plus 500 coins from the constellations' sponsorship). Bihyung directs the constellations to watch an ad and takes advantage of the break to speak to Kim Dokja privately, informing him that 4 days have passed. Kim Dokja is surprised, having lost track of time, but is unworried as he took the same time that Yoo Joonghyuk would have. He's pleased at his success, having defeated a high-grade monster with the skills of an ordinary human and the knowledge of a once-useless novel. Bihyung points out that he's talking to himself, a trait picked up in order to appease the constellations, but Kim Dokja tells him to shut up and open the Dokkaebi Bag again, stating that he plans to sell instead of buy. Bihyung complains that he'll have to cut the ad short but complies.

Kim Dokja uses the remaining thorn and breaks through the ichthyosaur's stomach wall, which has hardened and become brittle upon its death, until he locates the Ichthyosaur's Core (to Bihyung's amazement). He has Bihyung put it up on the dokkaebi auction, selling it for barter instead of coins and requesting that the exchange item be Broken Faith. He then goes to buy other items, but Bihyung interrupts him, wanting to talk about something else. He turns up the advertisement again, to the constellations' dissatisfaction, and offers Kim Dokja a draft of their stream contract. The contract requires Kim Dokja to not choose a sponsor, to only appear on Bihyung's channel, to split any revenue with Bihyung, and a number of other conditions, placing both parties subject to destruction should they break any of the contract requirements.

Kim Dokja is surprised but not upset at being assigned the 'gap' (larger contractor) in the contract. He argues with Bihyung about the pay ratio, eventually whittling him down to a 10:0 arrangement where Kim Dokja receives the entirety of his sponsored coins and Bihyung only receives the commission fee. He also bullies a 5,000 coin down payment out of the dokkaebi, which a thoroughly-frustrated Bihyung pays without argument. A pleased Kim Dokja pats him on the shoulder and begins planning how to leave.

## Features

### Characters

* Kim Dokja
* Sea commander ichthyosaur
* Demon-like Judge of Fire (indirect)
* Bihyung
* Yoo Joonghyuk (mentioned)

### Objects

* Mucus of the Hammer Seahorse
* Stone Hog's Pointed Thorn
* Ichthyosaur's Core
* Broken Faith (mentioned)

### Locations

* Han River, inside the ichthyosaur's stomach

## Trivia

* Though not explicitly mentioned until later, this is the first of multiple chapters in which Kim Dokja's clothes are somehow destroyed or lost, leaving him partially or fully naked while the channel is live.