Chapter Text
Cale had once believed that he'd gotten used to waking up in dangerous situations.
Waking up on Wind Island with over a thousand gallons of dead mana about to detonate and fall on him. Opening his eyes as pain debilitated his body with his plate slowly shattering. There had always been a chance of dying whenever he woke.
However, this takes the cake.
How exactly did I get into this situation again?
Racing through a dark corridor at night was not his idea of fun. Running had never been his preferred form of exercise.
Nevertheless, he'd prefer running over dying.
After all, being alive is the best.
Almost immediately after he thought that, a creature emerged from the darkness of the corridor. With a wailing cry and eerie clicking noises, the monster lunged after him. Or perhaps, the person running next to him?
Cale glanced at the girl beside him. The girl looked terrified, but he supposed that dealing with a frightened girl with no combat experience whatsoever was easier to deal with than the creepy robot-zombie hybrid behind him.
Aigoo, my poor life, the exasperated redhead laments.
*+-----~{@}~-----+*
When he first woke up, it was because of a migraine.
Ugh, my head.
With a groan, the crimson-haired man rubbed at his temples. He felt sluggish and weak, his limbs trembling as he struggled to hold them up. The sensation, akin to that of a dragon rampaging in his mind, had not helped.
Arg… why does it hurt so much?
The person massaging his head frowned. He did not like pain, as he found it annoying. Nonetheless, it was something that he had to deal with quite often. However, after the berserk dragon in his mind calmed down a bit, something struck him as odd.
There was no reason for my head to hurt... What happened?
The former commander frowned, opening his eyes.
He immediately shut them again.
Ugh, too bright.
The man had no idea what time it was currently, but the painfully brilliant lamps were not helping either way. He feels his headache slowly getting worse.
This is annoying, the redhead grumbled to himself. He began to think.
So, what exactly happened again? He struggled to recall what had happened.
Right. I had been talking to Choi Han about the Hunters.
The former commander had been warning Choi Han about the Hunters.
I had wanted to warn him about how those Hunters had been killing tribulators, or as Mother called them, single-lifers.
They had been holding a meeting when everything abruptly went to hell.
The meeting room exploded.
The male withheld a shiver as he remembered the carnage in the room. Everyone had been caught off-guard. With the conference being held right after the war, they assumed there would have been a slight reprieve before anything else happened.
Of course, we should have expected it... but with everyone being so tired after the war...
His suddenly shot open. The bright lights assaulted his eyes, making his headache worse, but he ignored it.
What about Hyung? And the Choi Han?
There'd only been three people in the meeting, so everyone else should be okay.
Although, that's only if the assailants had not targeted anywhere else.
The man could feel himself spiraling, so he refocused. However, before he thought any further, he heard a strange noise.
Creak.
The redhead stared blankly at the ceiling. He observed blankly that it was a ceiling he had never seen before. However, he decided to focus on what was important right now.
... Footsteps? Wait. No. Even if they were footsteps, it shouldn't nearly be that loud...
Almost as if they heard him, the creaking footsteps stopped. Strangely, the fact that the footsteps had halted didn't reassure him. He felt a creeping sense of dread down his spine.
Wait a moment— this house shouldn't be able to creak like that... Judging by how new and luxurious everything looks, there's no way whoever's in charge of this house would allow the floorboards to creak like that!
Swallowing nervously, the man rolled off of the bed. Being as quiet as he could, he slowly stood up.
When did my life become a horror story?
He took a single step forward and nearly collapsed. His body quivered like a falling leaf in the wind as he struggled to stay upright.
Why is it so painful?
It appeared that the raging dragon in his mind has returned with a vengeance. His head throbbed as his breaths came out shaky. For a moment, he almost couldn't remember who he was.
Why is this happening? I shouldn't be able to forget anything. Not with 'Record' still embedded in my soul.
The man took a deep breath and reaffirmed himself.
Right. I am Cale 'Thames' Henituse, originally Kim Rok Soo. I don't know why my 'Records' are malfunctioning like this, but I need to decide on a course of action first. I can figure out what happened later.
Cale Henituse calmed himself down. However, if any outsider were to look at him, they would only see a stoic-faced man steadying himself and standing up.
Okay, so first of all, where the hell am I?
He was standing in an unfamiliar room, empty apart from a bedside drawer, a large bed, and some paintings on the wall. The window to the right of the bed showed nothing but darkness, his reflection staring back at him.
Moving towards the window, he examined himself.
Narrow, rust-colored eyes stared back at him. His shoulder-lengthed hair swayed softly in the air behind him, and he smiled at the familiar crimson locks.
So, I probably haven't switched bodies.
He had been slightly worried about that, as he did not want to live a third life as someone else. Seeing a familiar face, even if it was just his own, had helped a little.
Now, I have to figure out where I am. This is clearly not a place I've been to before.
Strolling over to the drawer, he noted the fragile-looking lamp on it. With a light pull, he opened the drawer. In it, he found a book. Looking at the cover, he shuddered slightly. The image of a strange man with empty eyes looked up at him, smiling as he held up a bleeding fish on a hook.
Vicious.
The man's smile reminded Cale of Ron. His hands shook as he continued studying the magazine.
G-4 Travel Guide?
Eyes narrowing, Cale continued gazing at the guidebook. Looking towards the bottom of the cover, he noticed the words "INSIDER ADVISE FROM EXPERT DINO" on the bottom. His ominous feeling grew worse.
I've never heard of this expert before. However, since he is on the cover of this magazine, he must have been someone famous enough to make others want to read this guide. Why else would he be advertised like this?
Shaking his head, Cale opened the book. Remembering the strange footsteps from earlier, he hurriedly scanned through the book. Turning to the very back of the book, he studied the map he found there.
I really hope that I'm in District G-4. After all, that's the only district I've got knowledge of, although only a little. Where even is this place? I have never seen this 'District G-4' on any map, which is strange. Unless this place is so secluded that barely anyone knows about it, there is no way the Henituse Library wouldn't have any information on it. And yet, this is the first time I'm hearing about these districts.
Shaking his head to rid himself of these scary thoughts, Cale continued to examine the map.
...City Center? Docks? Wait, never mind all that— what's up with the Industrial Zone? As far as I know, the technology on both continents isn't half as advanced as this!
Suddenly, Cale turned back to the lamp that he had seen earlier.
Wait a moment— That lamp doesn't have a candle in it!
Cale had thought that something had been off with the lamp. At first, he thought there may have been a candle under the lampshade, but then he realized that he had seen no lights with those designs in any kingdoms he visited. Electricity hasn't even been developed yet!
Unless... This is another world.
Cale felt cold sweat gradually gathering at the back of his neck.
Creak.
Cale froze. It's that noise again! The noise similar to that of a foot stepping onto rotting floorboards echoes through his room. With a new sense of urgency, he silently rushed to the window. With luck, he can figure out where he was from there.
Looking out the window, he noticed how quiet it was. Although he was used to it as a resident of the Castle of Light, he knew that this silence was not something that would be available in a city. However, he felt strange as he looked outside. The silence felt unsettling, as if a predator was trying to lower his guard so they could pounce.
He could see the dark silhouette of trees outside, with no buildings in sight. Adding that to the unnatural silence, he is most likely in the suburban area of G-4. Assuming, of course, that he really is in the G-4 district. Then, he glanced down.
What in the world is that ?!
Some part of his mind pointed out rather amusedly that he might not be in his world anymore. However, a much larger area of his brain told that part to shut up, since continuing that terrifying line of thought would not be good for his mental stability.
Backing away from the window, Cale kept an eye on what had startled him. The creature on the bottom of the window tilted its head, mouth widening even more than it already has. Hollow eyes stared out at him, the creature's fingers slowly scraping at the glass. A bit of blood slowly slid down the side of its head.
... Yeah, nope. No. I am definitely not going to stay here. Time for plan G; Get the Hell Out of Here.
Cale scrambled to the door, not taking his eyes off the monster even for a second. The monster's smile grew impossibly larger as it stared at him. Its head soon tilted to an impossible angle — a human's head cannot have its smile parallel to the ground like that- and slowly pulled its other hand up. Flinging open the door and shutting it closed behind him, Cale speedwalks through the dark corridor.
That. That was terrifying. Even White Star was not as creepy as that thing. Actually, White Star was more lame than creepy and scary, but still. There's no way I am going back tonight, I can find a room without an eerie doll-mask-face-homunculus hybrid instead.
As Cale meandered through the corridor, he gradually calmed down. He's still on guard and jumping at shadows but also cool-headed enough to try and analyze his situation now.
So... Maybe that wasn't the best idea. I should have probably slammed a chair through the window instead. Or maybe just guard the window...
As he wandered through the corridor, Cale laments his previous bad decision. The hallway was dark and dreary, and he has no idea where he is.
No drawing the curtains though. While it would have been less terrifying to not see that face, denying things when they're shoved point-blank in my face would not help me survive.
Cale pointedly ignored that he had been denying his lack of a slacker life for a while now.
Now I don't even know if that monster's gotten through my window yet... And who knows? Perhaps the monster just wanted to be friends. Although the likelihood of that happening is probably close to zero.
Shaking his head, Cale rids himself of the unnecessary thoughts. There was no use regretting his previous thoughtless actions; determining his next course of action would be a better use of his energy.
With another sigh, Cale walked faster, entering a bar-like room. Then he froze. In the corner of his eye, he notices a shadow approaching. He quickly scanned the room for any place he could hide.
No, not there, that place isn't good either- maybe under the bar counter?
He eyed the bar for a split second before changing his mind.
No, who knows what's behind there?
Instead, he slid deeper into the shadows of his corridor. Hiding in known shadows would be safer than an unknown hiding spot, even if the hiding spot would make him less noticeable. Then, he made eye contact with the silhouette. Which turns out to be a human.
I guess not everything inhabiting this mansion is a monster. Although, I guess we would now have to see if they're aggressive as well.
The two stared awkwardly at each other.
Judging by how she isn't trying to bite my head off, I'm guessing she isn't aggressive?
After maintaining eye contact for a while, the two both stiffened up. A terrifying noise echoed through the room, chilling them to the bone.
Cale looked up while the human- a girl, he believes- looked behind them. A monster stared back.
The creature was terrifying. Blank eyes stared at them, lips cracked up in an unsettling grin. The creature's skull was cleaved open( How is it still alive?! ) and he could see metal where bone should be. Blood and pus dripped off its body, which was twisted and contorted in a way that looked extremely painful. The creature stared at them. And lunged.
Run? Cale stared at the girl.
Run. The girl silently agreed with her eyes.
And that's how all this happened, with Cale dashing after the girl, avoiding the creepy love-child-between-Frankenstein-and-an-android that's chasing them with the vengeance of a broken doll who's trying to murder their careless owner.
Actually, this is an insult to the Frankensteins and the androids, isn’t it? Wasn't Frankenstein described as extremely beautiful?
"You know where we're going, right?" Cale whisper-shouts towards the girl. Even if a monster was already chasing them, it would be better to not draw more attention.
"Yeah, we're going back towards my room," the girl whispers back.
At least she seems to have a brain.
Panting, the two raced into a room. Immediately after, they shoved all the furniture they could towards the door and dove under the bed. They can hear the loud creaking and wailing noises of the monster passing by their room. It seems to have stopped for a moment, as if listening to where the two are, before continuing onwards. The two people under the bed then stared at each other.
Now what?