Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kim Rok Soo isn’t sure what’s happening.

One moment he had fallen asleep while reading the fifth volume of ‘The Birth of a Hero’ and the next, he was in this infinite black space all alone.

It wasn’t like there was nothing all around him- he could feel the ground beneath him just fine. It was just that everything was black. From the floor to the walls to the ceiling, everything was black. And as much as he preferred that color over all the others, suddenly waking up in a room that was entirely black was bound to scare the wits out of any ordinary person.

‘A dream? A nightmare?’

Only years of experience being thrust into all sorts of situations could help him be as calm as he was right now.

‘Let’s observe for a bit.’

He pinched himself in the arm.

Nope. It’s not a dream. And it couldn’t possibly be the afterlife, either, so he’s not dead. But then what could it be?

He warily looked around him for a moment but it was at that moment that a bright light suddenly appeared in the middle of the room right in front of him, causing him to back away quickly. As the light dimmed and disappeared, however, Kim Rok Soo could only hold his breath at the person lying on the ground in front of him.

The first thing that caught his attention was the dried blood all over the man who seemed to be in his late 30s. The second thing he noticed, though-

He and the injured person locked eyes for a moment at that moment, he noticed that both he and the surprised stranger had the same eyes. He would have written it off as a pleasant coincidence if the man was not bloodied all over like he'd been from some kind of war.

“Y-you…? Are you…”

'Hm?'  Kim Rok Soo tensed up as soon as the wide-eyed stranger opened his bloodied mouth upon seeing him, as if he had an idea who he was--which was impossible, no scratch that, too many impossible things had become possible for the past few decades now, so no, it could be possible but still what the hell? 

Kim Rok Soo almost wanted to ask the guy how he knew him and why the hell does he look like he was buried underneath a pile of shit, but couldn't do so in the end. 

Because exactly 60 seconds after he and that guy locked eyes, several flashes of light suddenly appeared all at once and more unfamiliar people dropped unto the black room one by one, with gasps, shrieks and swears, like babies delivered by the stork.

"Ugh...!"

"Paseton, are you alright?!"

"Hey, what about me?!?!"

"What in the--"

"Where the fuck is this????"

One by one, people appeared and stirred in agitation, confusion and sometimes fear--each addition to the crowd adding more layers to the noise of panic already ringing in Kim Rok Soo's ear, and that noise was only getting stronger. But still, the names--the names and the way people looked--

Kim Rok Soo felt a foreboding sense of danger as several things came to mind all at once.

And his suspicions were confirmed the moment the injured person in front of him gave out a horrified squeak at the sight of a confused black-haired black-eyed foreigner drenched in blood from very, very far away.

---

Clatter.

The bloodied sword made a loud noise as it fell on the floor but unfortunately all the strangers around it were louder.

'....Wh...what...?' 

Choi Han felt himself sway on his feet, eyes unfocused as he struggled to pinpoint where he was right now. His body still felt hot with almost unhealthy amounts of adrenaline and his mind felt like it was burning, unpleasant images of dead bodies being seared into his head. Looking around, he found that he was in a black room, black from the ground up to the walls and ceilings, and all around him was noise. All around him were people. They were definitely not dead people, probably, no, he's probably not too far gone yet, right? 

Earlier, he was slashing at the people who had hurt the ones who took him in. Blood had been shed in Harris village and so he shed some (a lot) of other people's blood in return in an almost blind frenzy.

That was earlier, and certainly by the looks of it, where he was earlier was certainly not where he was now.

His black eyes fell on the bloody shaky hand that had dropped the sword he had stolen from someone he killed during the massacre. He killed people for the first time- but those people killed his people too, but even so he still felt shaky. Everything feels unreal. He felt detached to everything around him. He knew it was noisy but he couldn’t feel a thing, couldn’t be bothered to think of everything going on around him right now.

Mind in chaos, he tried to open his mouth to speak but then he got pushed by some of the people who were starting to fight all around him due to the confusion and even though he was sure that he was stronger than this, he still fell to the ground, eyes fixed far, far away and unable to think properly for himself.

The people at Harris village died.

They died, all of them.

They-

His thoughts burned his insides and his fists as he stayed there on the ground on his fours, looking at the ground and yet looking at nothing at all. A little voice in his head, perhaps an echo of who he was before he got blood on his hands for the first time felt like it was telling him something. He wasn’t there when it happened- He could have stopped it, is what it said. A metallic tang entered his mouth as he bit his lips enough to draw blood, a vicious hateful look in his face, all emotions chaotically swirling within him and making it hard for him to breath as he remembered the bodies of the ones who passed and the bodies that he, himself, killed.

The former deserved more than just quick deaths.

He grit his teeth and clenched his fists, mind detached from the way everyone was actually literally starting to strangle each other.

“Ya. You, are you okay?”

His unruly thoughts abruptly stopped on their tracks.

That…

He whipped his head up, eyes wide, and when he met the gaze of a black-haired man crouching in front of him, the man he saw flinched and so did he.

Black hair. Brownish eyes.

Choi Han was at a loss of words. Almost everything that happened to him left his body due to the shock.

“You… you’re… you’re Korean?” He stammered.

The man wearing a black button-up shirt with long sleeves looked at him with what looked like a nervous expression but Choi Han was far too focused on the fact that this man just talked to him in Korean, a language he thought he’d never hear from anyone other than himself, to even realize the uneasiness in the man’s movements.

“…Am I not supposed to be?” The man said, carefully.

Choi Han felt an unexplainable feeling swell within him as he felt tears stinging his eyes and the man flinched again but Choi Han could not stop himself.

What is with the world?

He felt his brain slowly cooling down as he started to realize that this was not an interaction that he would ever have been able to hear if he was still in the world he’d been dropped on, but he’s sure that he didn’t die.

Did something happen to him again? Was he sent in some other place again? It’s hard to not believe such things when you’ve already experienced being transmigrated like that.

While he was thinking like this, there was someone else whose mind was running at almost the same, if not at an even more impressive, level.

‘…Fuck, I don’t want to die, yet!’

---

Kim Rok Soo was already doubting reality a little even before he recognized the blood red hair of the man who had first appeared injured in front of him.

Imagine the existential crisis he got when one by one people started appearing with flashes of light, and all of them had weird-colored hair or were wearing weird medieval-style clothing that could only come from a standard fantasy world.

This was weird. Too weird.

“HUH?! WHERE AM I?!”

A blood-soaked man with wild hair resembling a lion’s mane demanded as soon as he snapped out of the daze of the transportation. Behind him was a relatively clean man with a harmless-looking face looking around warily while sticking close.

“O-oppa!”

A blonde woman with a sword had immediately cried out before launching herself between a blonde man who looked a lot like her and everyone else in the room who had started to murmur in confusion. The blonde man looked startled but could only look around.

“Where is this? What is this place?”

A dark-skinned woman holding a spear muttered to herself as she looked around skeptically, hyperaware of the fact that she’d been brought to this place all alone. Not far from her, there was a man with princely features in a similar situation, looking around for his subordinates in panicked silence.

Almost everyone in the room were confused in their own unique way, just like how their appearances were unique as well.

They were like characters from a book.

Which Kim Rok Soo is starting to think they might actually be as he tensed up where he was standing.

Many things happened at once.

An old man had come running towards the bloodied redhead in front of him but he didn’t even hear it coming. A guy similar in age as Kim Rok Soo followed after, holding what seems to be a kitchen knife, and a whole family of people could be seen chasing after them.

Feeling an ominous fear creeping up his neck after that, Kim Rok Soo knew he had to flee.

If his guess about the identity of the bloodied redhead is on-point, then that old man should be an assassin capable of twisting his neck or gutting him on the spot no matter how sturdy his body was.

Without even thinking, he ran away without looking back.

Nope, nope, nope-

His mind raced as he ran for the nearest wall to steady himself and put some distance between his perfectly normal self and all these crazy characters that could only come from one place.

‘The Birth of a Hero’

Just a few feet beside him, a man with blue hair squawked ridiculously as he fell in mid-air after a flash of light only to be followed by a purple-haired person who sounded very horrified to crash land on the blue-haired guy but Kim Rok soo couldn’t care less.

These people all around him- It pains him to say that he can recognize a lot of them.

Records were playing in front of Kim Rok Soo’s very eyes as he remembered every single word regarding every single character and found himself leaning unto a wall with bated breath.

Rosalyn. Lock. Beacrox. Whale Queen Witira.

Many names flashed by his mind as he tried to calm his breath.

If he was in any other situation, he would have had the luxury to be able to be calm immediately but this was just too shocking.

Obviously, it couldn’t be cosplay, neither could it be a dream since he’s already checked that one out.

Something was in play here and he has no idea what that is.

“YOU! YOU’RE STRONG!”

Oh fuck, it’s Toonka.

Kim Rok Soo whipped his head to the side in time to see the barbarian, soaked in blood that was not his, picking a fight with one of the calmer people in the group, an elf with golden hair and golden eyes, and Kim Rok Soo felt his breathe leave his body.

He doesn’t know who that is but only incredibly strong people could maintain a face as aloof as that in this situation.

“FIGHT ME!”

“Are you crazy?!” A spectacled young man with grey hair ended up blurting out in fear at the sidelines and Kim Rok Soo can’t help but mentally agree.

They’ve been brought to who knows where and this stupid, stupid idiot was already trying to fight others.

This was the worst thing you can do in such a scenario.

Behind the gray-haired young master, two others seemed to be sticking close to him as if they knew him well, and even further behind him were two people who were relatively calm despite the concerned looks on their faces. One was a woman with short black hair and the other was a gentle-looking young man who was, for some reason, on a wheelchair.

Taylor Stan, Kim Rok Soo quickly realizes. There was only ever one cripple in this story.

“What the fucking-”

The loud cursing of a woman with a dog in one corner of the ordeal drew a lot of people’s attention.

“YOU! YOU’RE DOG IS ALSO STRONG!”

“Fucking shit- Get away from my dog, you barbarian! Do you want your fucking head to blow up?!”

This was very concerning. Everyone was starting to be agitated.

At this rate, with all these obviously strong people gathered in one spot, Kim Rok Soo is sure that if they all end up in a fight then he won’t be able to survive. He was going to die like a shrimp in a battle of multiple whales.

“Huh. This is interesting.”

Kim Rok Soo registered what seemed to be a man with purple eyes and whitish hair eyeing the scuffle that was about to brew with amusement, and could only shoot the man a look of incredulity.

Thankfully, that person never turned towards his direction and thus never saw the utter disrespect in the Korean’s face.

He quickly looked around the area to take note of everyone all around him- at least, the ones he could recognize.

There were two people with flowing blue hair akin to the ocean huddled together with their weapons out, an additional person with white hair positioned at the forefront, baring his teeth at all the humans around them that were fighting.

In contrast, there was a group of people at the near edge of the room who looked either calm or annoyed- the emotions on their face devoid of any kind of panic about the situation. This included a pink-haired boy who was curiously looking around albeit with some wariness in his eyes, a beige-haired woman wearing farm clothes and a man with a buzz cut wearing his pajamas.

Kim Rok Soo could guess who were part of the first group with just one look at the water whip on the woman’s hand and the white-haired gangster-looking guy at the forefront, but he has no idea who the ones at the latter group were.

He cursed under his breath but then remembered something important.

Right, if this place has the heroes from ‘Birth of a Hero’ then surely, that person should be here too. In fact, he must have been nearby earlier based on the reaction of the injured redhead from earlier.

The most dangerous and unstable person here.

“Hey, hey, break it up!”

A woman with hair as red as the sun got in between Toonka and the woman with the dog before blood could be shed but Kim Rok Soo’s tension rose even more because he knew that this woman’s interference could be a huge mistake.

Rosalyn of the Breck kingdom.

She was a genius mage and right now, she was face-to-face with Toonka, the mage-slayer.

The woman with the dog who was now right behind Rosalyn shot the barbarian a vicious look as she held her dog in her arms and though Kim Rok Soo has no idea who she was, he already fears her. That is not the face of an ordinary dog owner.

On the other hand, Toonka, this idiot, didn’t see the woman’s face as he was preoccupied gauging Rosalyn’s strength level in the most barbaric way ever.

He was sniffing her.

Rosalyn looked absolutely flustered.

After some thorough sniffing, Toonka retreated and gave her an unimpressed look, “Meh.”

Ouch.

This… to have a dog’s strength be more interesting than yours…

Though Kim Rok Soo was sure that Rosalyn was strategically concealing her strength from the barbarian, it still doesn’t help that he knows that the prideful Rosalyn must have gotten a hit to her pride. She was smart enough to read between the lines, after all, even if the other party doesn’t think much of their words.

Toonka casually shoved her aside to get to the woman with the dog, making her land on the floor with an “Ack?!” and while doing so, he also accidentally pushed another person to the floor.

Kim Rok Soo’s eyes widened as he saw the black hair and the general black-colored clothing the man wore.

Crazy-

The idiot Toonka shoved the protagonist, Choi Han, to the ground…!

This was bad. Very, very, very bad.

Kim Rok Soo felt himself sweating profusely as he sneakily slipped his way around the crowd of confused people just to get a better look at the man’s condition, and all this sweat turned cold the moment he saw the cold murderous look on the man’s eyes as he looked down at the floor.

Choi Han, the protagonist of ‘Birth of a Hero’, was covered in blood and staring at the floor like it had personally offended him.

No, that was a shallow way of putting things.

This punk looked like he had lost everything and Kim Rok Soo fears that his description might be literally what had happened to the guy.

Two words: Harris Village.

‘…there’s no way…’

There’s no way that this Choi Han had just lost Harris Village, right?

Kim Rok Soo saw the guy clench his fists and he knew that what he was thinking was just wishful thinking. With the state of this guy and the despair on his face, obviously Harris village was already gone and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

The worst-case scenario was that this guy would go berserk and try to pick a fight with everybody here.

And that was bad.

Bad for Choi Han because if this is him immediately after the tragic massacre, then he’s not nearly strong enough to fight a lot of the people here, and bad for Kim Rok Soo because he was a shrimp in this ocean of munchkin characters and ridiculously strong strangers with colorful hair and he has no way to defend himself.

It’s at moments as unexpected as this that <Record> and <Instant> can’t help him at all.

Mind racing, trying to come up with an idea to keep Choi Han from going rogue on everybody here, Kim Rok Soo thought of one thing but felt unsure.

He has no idea if this would work and he fears that it might even backfire.

Normally, Choi Han was a good person but right now his personality was a little twisted. What if he grabs him by the chin and just crushes his jaw on the spot or picks up his sword and slices him up at a moment of irrationality?

But the thing is that it could actually work-

Because Kim Rok Soo was Korean and Choi Han was a character who was abruptly spirited away from his home land, Korea, and was isolated for years.

Steeling himself, he figured he has no other choice but to try this.

“Hey you…”

He was crouching in front of the guy who had just frantically murdered a lot of people before being transported here, and he tried his best not to let his fear show in his voice as he asked in the language that probably only he and this guy can understand in this room.

“Are you okay?”

The punk visibly froze after hearing Korean words enter his ear.

He looked up so fast that Kim Rok Soo had to flinch. Big wide eyes that had not yet dimmed were looking at him in open-mouthed shock.

That… well at least he doesn’t look like he’s thinking of killing Kim Rok Soo right now.

“You… you’re… you’re Korean?”

Choi Han stammered out his words with a tremor that would have brought any other person who knew his story to tears. Unfortunately, Kim Rok Soo is not easy to drive to tears. Crying doesn’t come naturally to people like him.

The only emotion Kim Rok Soo could feel right now was fear.

“…Am I not supposed to be?”

He carefully crafted his reply and observed the scary Korean character’s facial expression for any hints that he should start running as soon as possible but saw none. Instead, the guy’s eyes became hazy as though he was going to cry, and that made Kim Rok Soo flinch once again.

Holy shit, that gave him a heart attack.

Choi Han, the protagonist of the paperback novel he’d read on his day-off, was suddenly in the verge of tears right to his face.

Kim Rok Soo feels like the world has officially done it.

This world has officially broken his brain.

‘…Fuck. I don’t want to die, yet!’

Not even because of shock! That’s a lame way to die!

Calming his scared confused heart screaming that everything doesn’t make sense and that everything is very weird right now, Kim Rok Soo strained to maintain his polite yet confused face as he took the opportunity to get to the protagonist’s good side.

“I’m Kim Rok Soo.”

At his introduction, the punk who looked like he was about to cry finally came out of his thoughts and introduced himself as well.

“Choi Han. My name is… Choi Han.”

‘I know.’

Kim Rok Soo internally sighed.

Amongst everyone here, he must be the only one who knows Choi Han’s name right now. The Choi Han in front of him has not become a hero yet. He’s still just some swordsman seeking revenge and to everyone here, he is probably nobody worth paying attention to.

“Hey, listen, this might not be the best place to chat.”

Kim Rok Soo started as he calmly gestured towards Toonka who was now being restrained by some fighters and some mana and was cursing out a cloud of swear words at the presence of magic-users.

Choi Han deadpanned at the chaos, probably only seeing it for the first time.

“Would you mind if we move to a more secluded location or… will you be helping them restrain that?”

Choi Han turned to look at Kim Rok Soo who was admittedly too calm-looking for a situation like this where a hunk of a man chained down by mana chains was roaring and bellowing like some kind of underground beast of ancient times that hasn’t eaten in a thousand years, but trust Kim Rok Soo when he says that he’s beyond calm.

He was actually scared as fuck.

But there’s no use letting that show right now.

Choi Han contemplated for a bit, looking like he was slowly recovering and returning to using normal and innocent reactions at an impressive speed, before eyeing Toonka who won’t shut up and saying:

“I will help for a bit but I will come back to you.”

Kim Rok Soo tried his best not to be frightened by the way he said he was going to come back to him after helping the others out. It was a hard endeavor but he didn’t fail.

Choi Han stared at him, looking him up and down and probably gauging his strength, before speaking.

“Please stay over here. It is dangerous.”

So basically, he just gave him one look and knew immediately that he was weak.

Kim Rok Soo is fine with that. He’s going to stay very still and not move away from here for as long as it takes for the protagonist to finish what he’s going to do.

Which was apparently not long.

Not even five minutes after Choi Han left him where he was now squatting on the floor, Toonka had been sent flying to the other side of the room, knocked out unconscious by Choi Han’s bare hands.

Kim Rok Soo felt the hair all around his sleeved arms stand up at the magnificent and terrifying scene that occurred and he was not alone in this. There were several other jaws dropped on the floor as the whole thing happened. Even the calmer ones in the room found their eyes widening in surprise at the inhuman strength that was shown.

‘…this guy… what is he planning to do by announcing his presence like this to the room?!’

While he was still rooted to where he was, stupefied by the unconscious Toonka who was being attended to by a frantic guy who must be chief Harol, the half-mage, Choi Han had already wiped his hands clean with his dark robes, picked up and sheathed his sword, and then returned to him with a serious determined look on his face, like he didn’t just beat up a barbarian known throughout the western continent as a crazy strong slayer.

“Okay, it’s done. Let’s go.”

“…Yes.”

Kim Rok Soo tried not to think too much about it even as several eyes were now staring at the both of them, the two men with black hair, thanks to Choi Han’s flashy stunt.

He led Choi Han to one corner that was relatively empty, occasionally having one or two people moving to make way for them deliberately, mind blank and feigning ignorance to the outrageous thing that just happened.

“Toonka- General Toonka! Wake up!”

Yeah, no, it will take some time before he wakes up, Harol.

Surprisingly however, Kim Rok Soo can spy that there were some people who were undisturbed by what happened just now as it seems that their attention was directed to something else. He saw a glimpse of blood red hair and found himself looking away immediately.

That guy… Cale Henituse.

If he was in such a bloodied state, could it be that he was transported here in the middle of getting beaten up by Choi Han?

He sneaked a glance at Choi Han who was shooting dangerous glares telling everyone to back off.

…Or was it that he was scanning the crowd to look for the trashy young master, Cale Henituse, to finish his score?

“Are you looking for someone?”

Choi Han blinked and then looked towards Kim Rok Soo. He shook his head, “No. I don’t think there will be anyone I know from here. I…”

His voice trailed off as his eyes darkened and Kim Rok Soo internally cursed.

He had stepped on a mine.

“I see. I don’t think I know anyone from here as well. It’s weird that I can understand these people’s words but I’m glad I’m not the only Korean here.” Kim Rok Soo hurried to change the subject.

Choi Han’s face quickly lost its dark cloud as he gave him a thoughtful look.

“You can understand their language? Immediately?”

Kim Rok Soo is sure that Choi Han already guessed that he was a Korean who came directly from Korea instead of someone like him, who was Korean but was thrown in a scary place to survive on his own for decades. Kim Rok Soo, unlike Choi Han, looked relatively clean and well-kept, but Choi Han would be surprised if he knew that Kim Rok Soo wasn’t from the Korea that Choi Han knew.

After all, the Korea that Kim Rok Soo came from was a destroyed place that was just starting a new.

They couldn’t even be called a state or anything of that sort anymore.

“Yeah. Weird, right? I had fallen asleep while reading a book on my day-off but then I found myself in this black room.”

Kim Rok Soo deliberately left those crumbs of information there.

He needed to appeal to Choi Han that he was weak, that he was just like him when he first got thrown into the fantasy world of ‘The Birth of a Hero’. Taken away from a normal life and spirited away to God-knows-where.

There was silence for a bit until they arrived to the corner that Kim Rok Soo was searching for and the two of them maintained that silence until they both sat down on the floor.

“…This might be presumptuous, but may I ask you a question?”

It was Kim Rok Soo who broke the silence.

Choi Han nodded, affirmatively and Kim Rok Soo made use of his question immediately before the punk could take it back.

“Can I ask why you have blood on you?”

“Ah.”

Ah, my ass. This punk, did he forget that he was covered in the blood of assassins?

The more Kim Rok Soo thinks about it, the more unlikely it seems that Choi Han had been brought here in the middle of beating up the minor villain, the trash of the Count’s family, Cale Henituse. He looked more and more like he had been directly plucked away from the battle in Harris village instead.

If he’d already met Cale, then he should have already washed the blood away but no.

This guy was practically parading himself as a murderer in front of everyone in this secluded black room.

Choi Han’s face turned sheepish.

‘Don’t go sheepish, you punk! Explain yourself!’

“Actually, I was brought here in… in the middle of fighting.”

“A war?”

“No.” Choi Han answered with a grim expression, “A one-sided massacre.”

Kim Rok Soo, who knew the details of the incident thanks to reading the novel that practically told the story of Choi Han’s life, nodded, glad at this confirmation, but the people around them with heightened senses that heard this all thought differently of the words of the guy who just blasted Toonka to the other side of the room.

Several wary stares were sent their way but at this point the Korean duo was already used to it.

What this did confirm however is the fact that the people all around them could also automatically understand what they were saying despite their conversation being almost completely Korean.

Kim Rok Soo just stayed quiet as he let it look like the information was still sinking in despite his nod.

Now he knows 3 things about the situation:

• He was the first one brought to this black room. He doesn’t know if that is in any way significant but he’s taking note of that.
• Choi Han was brought into the room in the middle of the fight against the people who massacred Harris village and has not met Cale Henituse yet, however, Cale Henituse, who arrived after Kim Rok Soo, was already heavily injured by the time he appeared here.
• He can understand the words of these people despite it obviously not being Korean and these people can also understand his words despite it being a language that none of them should know.

Whoever brought them here, whether it was a person a god or something like an event, it must be something big.

But the problem is that it looks like no one has an idea why they were brought here.

And that just makes Kim Rok Soo all the more anxious.

When enough time had passed, Kim Rok Soo decided that it was best to continue the conversation so he opened his mouth to speak but before he could do so, a projection appeared for everyone in the room to see, regardless of where they were in the black room.

Welcome.

“T-this???”

Various sounds of surprise, confusion and indignation spread across the people in the room as the words projected for everyone to see glitched and then changed in a blink of an eye.

It seems that an explanation is due.

Everyone in the room warily looked around and at their nearest companion, while the ones who were unfortunate enough to be all alone could only grit their teeth to handle the tension and not shrink away. First, they were abducted, imprisoned, and then now they were being forced to see things.

In the far corner of the room, a blue-eyed teenager with grey hair was staring at the projection appearing in front of him while clutching unto the ten or so children that were hugging him.

Kim Rok Soo stared at the projection that resembled a screen.

And then he stared at the person he saw beyond it.

Bloody red hair like the blood seeping through his injuries, the minor villain of the novel he was reading and the son of the wealthy Count Henituse had sat himself in one side of the room, his eyes that were weirdly the same color as Kim Rok Soo’s burning with an emotion that Kim Rok Soo couldn’t classify.

---

When Cale Henituse made a deal with the God of Death before the White Star could kill him, he included one more condition to his transfer.

‘I need insurance that everything will go well.’

He was dying and he was in no state to continue even if he survives. The Roan kingdom was gone- the Henituse family was gone- his family was gone, and he was one of the few people who were left in this destroyed battlefield.

If he was going to make this choice, he at least wants assurance.

He wants proof that the God of Death’s statement is true. That all he needs is to switch places with a man from another world with the name Kim Rok Soo and he’ll change many things. Though technically, the man named Kim Rok Soo is going to end up in his 18-year-old body and not this beat-up and scarred doll that was about to die.

Proof was what he wanted, yes, but he didn’t mean whatever the hell was happening right now when he said that.

“Y-you…? Are you…”

He stammered in surprise as soon as he caught sight of a black-haired man around the same age as him, albeit younger, looking at him from above with stoic cool reddish-brown eyes that were the same shade as his.

At the same time however, dozens of flashes of light appeared one by one all around him accompanied by various noises of surprise and confusion, people he could recognize and some that he could not appearing out of nowhere all of a sudden.

Then, he caught sight of a very familiar young man clad in black who looks the exact same as he did that night two decades ago when he gave him one heck of a beating and he subconsciously squeaked- a habit he developed whenever he saw the man, years even after that incident, whether it be as he is taking a leisurely walk around or in a battlefield.

‘…C-Choi Han-!’

The scar he got from getting beat up by the otherworldly punk tingled unpleasantly at the sight of him.

“Young Master!”

Cale flinched out of his thoughts as he heard a familiar voice approaching him, footsteps inaudible to almost everyone in the room. He tore his gaze away from Choi Han at the face of an even greater shock, knowing all too well the voice of the man who had suddenly disappeared from his life like smoke two decades ago.

A benign old man had rushed to his side with a rare expression of surprise.

“…Ron.”

He felt complicated feelings grow as he saw the old servant who was like a second father to him, right here, attending to him after almost 20 years of nothingness after watching over him for all his life. He looked just like how he did the last time he saw him- he was still old and a tad bit scary. For a moment, Cale wondered if this was all just a hallucination and this was a sign that he was about to die.

The old man didn’t answer to the weak murmur he was able to croak out in his condition.

“Father.”

Another surprised voice appeared somewhere behind Cale but he didn’t have the strength to look back. It was probably Beacrox, he thought, knowing that Ron only ever had one child whom he disappeared with that time so many years ago.

The surroundings were in chaos. People of all races and of different status were gathered at the same place without being given an explanation. Cale wanted to curse the God of Death.

‘This wasn’t what I meant by proof at all…!’

He didn’t understand what was happening, at all. He’s sure he didn’t get a head injury during the battle so why is he seeing and hearing things like this? Is this just really that bastard god’s interpretation of the condition he added to their deal?

Cale looked up at Ron with searching eyes, trying to look through the illusion.

A vicious flash of hostility seemed to appear on the old man’s eyes as he saw the desperateness on the young master’s face and he glanced at the chaos of confused people all around.

With a swift motion, he took off his outer coat uniform, covered Cale in it and then scooped the boy up like he was a child who needed to get to a doctor immediately and then he ran stealthily away from the crowd to not draw their attention. His son obediently followed right behind him, a stiff face unable to look away from the condition the young master was in.

“Cale?!”

“H-Hyung-nim!”

“ORABUNI???”

Cale struggled to open his eyes after being momentarily lulled to sleep by the comfort of being in a parent’s arms, and he saw a group of four people running towards him amidst the chaos within the black room. Thankfully, the other people were loud enough and yelling at each other too much to pay attention to the panicked screams of these people.

He vaguely registered being laid down on the ground some place away from the noise of other people fighting each other in angry-confusion, and hearing the conversation that quickly followed afterwards.

“Ron, what happened to him?!”

“Is it okay to be moving him like this???”

“Count Deruth, Countess Violan, do not fret. I checked his injuries and he hasn’t broken a bone. He’s bleeding excessively but we can patch that up. Thankfully, though he may have many wounds, none of them are particularly fatal.”

The sound of cloth being torn apart echoed in Cale’s mind and he felt himself being manually moved.

“Excuse me.”

This was a weird dream, he concluded to himself. He hopes he doesn’t wake up at all.

“P-p-p-potion! We need to find a potion…!”

“Orabuni, w-wake up! Orabuni!”

“Both of you, quiet down and give your brother some space! It’s already loud enough!”

Cale felt funny hearing the voice of his stepmother here. She was right, it was already loud enough and his head really hurt. He felt regretful that he could never really call his stepmother “mother” back when she was still alive. He lost that opportunity when their territory was hit long ago.

“…Mother…”

“….!”

A hand grabbed his as he felt the area around his abdomen feeling a bit pressured as if something was being tied around it. The hand gave him a bit of a squeeze.

“I’m here, Cale. Mother is here. I…”

Cale fluttered his eyes open properly this time and managed to make out the image of his stepmother’s face looking down at him within the dark room, hair weirdly a bit disheveled and eyes a little red as she held unto his hand like he was going to disappear at any moment.

As if it wasn’t them that disappeared, 20 years ago.

“Why is he in this state? No, what happened? Where are we?”

“…I do not know.”

He could hear the conversation between Ron and his father, and at the same time he could hear that goddamn voice.

-I told you. Your choice will change many things.

This motherfucking God of Death.

Suddenly, Cale’s head became clear after hearing that.

This wasn’t a hallucination; he could tell that now. Neither was it an illusion nor was it a dream.

The deal was for him to occupy the body of a man named Kim Rok Soo while the original Kim Rok Soo occupies the body of his 18-year-old self. Here in this place, almost everyone around him looked exactly the same as they did back when he was 18-years-old and acting trashy while drinking around like a horse.

Except for that guy who had the same eyes as him.

‘That must have been Kim Rok Soo.’

He could clearly remember the face of the guy who was here before everyone else. A person who was specifically chosen by the God of Death to replace him and change the story of the world.

Looking at the guy’s calm eyes even in this situation and how he slipped away from the crowd as soon as everyone else were summoned into this space, he was definitely not an ordinary guy.

Whatever the God of Death was doing, putting all these people in here with him and that guy, he’s sure it must have something to do with proving that everything will go well in the future if he leaves it to that guy and Cale doesn’t know what to feel about that.

“O-orabuni, are you okay?”

Cale inclined his head lightly from where he belatedly realizes that he was lying on a makeshift blanket that combined Ron's and his father’s outer coats and he sees his young half-sister, barely a teenager but still tall, her bluish gray eyes showing the same concern as her mother’s.

It was hard to look at the face of the young Lily who would have been past her 20s already if she had not died during the attack on the Henituse Territory.

‘Orabuni, RUN!’

He couldn’t help but see the overlap between the look of sharp alarm that his little sister, who was both stronger and nobler than him, gave as she yelled the moment the wyverns descended and the look of concern that his same little sister was giving him now.

Cale couldn’t look at them right now. He needed to breathe for a bit before he does.

“Potion! I have a p-potion!”

Just in time, a ginger-head in a butler uniform and one of the Henituse knights frantically came running to join the Henituse company at one corner of the big black room.

They practically doused it all over their young master in their panic, but thankfully they had more than one high-grade potion in hand and the ones who applied the next few bottles was the old and trusty Ron. In an instant, the wounds started to heal on the spot. It goes to show how amazing magic truly was.

But after the wounds had healed and the blood had been wiped away by the meticulous family members who insisted on contributing something to the situation, all these people who were brought here out of nowhere with no explanation were faced with something far more baffling.

“…You…”

Deruth was the first to speak up as everyone else, including the subordinates, could only be silent as they stared at the young master in front of them that had been treated and cleaned.

“…You look older…”

Cale gave a sorrowful smile at that and his family members felt their heart clench as they dreaded what exactly was going on to them.

“Yeah. It’s nice to see you again, Father. Mother. Basen and Lily, too.”

He looked towards the subordinates, starting from the ones he wasn’t really close to until Ron and his son, who’s been with him since practically the day he was born.

“…It’s been around 20 years since I last saw you. All of you still look the same.”

There were several sharp intakes of breath.

The family members could piece together what he meant and what he looks like from that alone.

Last night, all of them clearly saw Cale drinking a concerning amount of alcohol and parading himself around the territory as usual. He wore flashy clothes and had a flashy red-faced shit-eating grin and he was definitely, definitely, younger than he was right now.

Wounded and clad in tattered clothes, not only did the current young master in front of them look more worn out and roughed up than any of them have possibly imagined, he also looked way older.

Violan gripped her son’s hand tightly to anchor herself within this sea of uncertainty and confusion. She knows she shouldn’t be doing this. She doesn’t even know if Cale sees her as a mother knowing that he has a different mother still engraved in his heart.

But she still asks, because he was her son now, even if he never acknowledges her as his mother.

“Cale… Cale, can you please explain what’s going on right now?”

They just needed a little explanation. That’s all they want.

‘Please. Please let it not be what I think it is.’

She desperately pleaded in her heart, as her mind pieced together the things he’s said so far and the condition of his body.

Cale stared at her in silence for a minute, still lying on the ground.

In truth, he has no idea what exactly is going on as well- but he’s probably the one with the most information about how they ended up here, among this sea of people.

But when he decides to open his mouth and explain, a screen suddenly flashed in the air at the center of the room, startling everyone and turning everyone’s eyes.

Welcome.

A single word floated in the air for everybody to see, no matter where they were on the space where they’d been brought into.

Not even a minute later, however, this same word glitches and changes in the blink of an eye.

It seems that an explanation is due.

Cale abruptly sat up, causing his family members to try to stop him immediately, but he could not lay down any longer after hearing that goddamn voice in his head once again.

-You’re going to have to explain half of your experiences to all these people before I show you proof.

‘This motherfucking god of-’

Cale’s eyes burned with resolve to bring down the heavens at the outrageous thing that this so-called deity was telling him to do. If this guy was going to pull something like this, he should have just done this on his own rather than dragged him to do shit.

Looking around, he could recognize the younger versions of various big shots staring at the projection with varying degrees of bafflement.

How can a god half-ass explaining to these people???

Biting his lip, Cale called out to his trusty servant with a grave expression on his face, “Ron.”

“Yes, young master-nim.”

The way Ron naturally came to his side made Cale’s heart twist knowing the future, but he couldn’t let himself be swayed by his reminiscing right now. A fight seems to have already broke while he was out of it, seeing that Toonka, that barbaric man that doomed the Whipper Kingdom, was just waking up from passing out.

“Help me up.”

“…!”

“Orabuni, no! Stay still, we’ll handle everythi—”

“No, I need to stand up. The bastard god needs me to explain some things for him.”

At Cale’s matter-of-fact words, the people around him stared at him in shock.

First of all, god?

Second of all, bastard god?

Those two questions were written all over their faces. Cale just sighed.

Standing up to his feet with Ron’s aid, Cale ignored the twinge of pain in his body as he gave the projection an intense stare.

Like it could read Cale’s thoughts, the projection changed again.

Cale Henituse, if you would please.

All eyes fell on the direction of the injured redhead who was barely standing with his old servant’s help and Cale internally swore the god so much that if that guy’s church knew, they’d have already tried to stuff his mouth with their lousy scriptures.

“Henituse?”

“Isn’t that the eldest of the Count?”

“Cale Henituse? Who’s that?”

Murmurs spread across the room but Cale pretended he couldn’t hear them.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to put a little bit of trust in the God of death’s work rather than the God of death himself.

He wouldn’t have saved him only to let him die here, when he’s trying to persuade him.

“My name is Cale Henituse. In your world, I’m supposed to be still 18 but I am from a time 20 years after that, as you can see from the difference in my look.”

He started, trying his best to ignore the looks that his family members were giving him as he spoke.

“I came from a time 20 years later where my home, the kingdom of Roan and several other countries both in the eastern and western continent have been razed to the ground.”

A hidden person in the crowd flinched at this statement at the same time everyone else reacted violently to the information they were provided with.

“WHAT?!”

Cale plainly ignored the outburst of a blue-haired guy with glasses in the crowd.

“A few years from now, a secret organization hit each and every country openly and discreetly one by one, and slowly destroyed all of us. In the end, the remains of most countries banded together in a last-ditch effort to defeat the man behind all this. I, the sole survivor of the Henituse family whose territory was the first to be attacked, enlisted myself to this movement, but in the end… we had fought in vain.”

Silence enveloped the crowd now.

The shock on his family’s faces at the mention of ‘sole survivor’ is something that he does not want to see.

“We were defeated but I managed to survive, albeit barely, because I’d been stuck under the corpses of my allies.”

Cale continued and this time, pitying looks were sent his way. He closed his eyes to acknowledge this as he can still feel the pressure from the bodies of the dead piled up on him. In the end, that horrifying experience was the only thing that kept him alive enough to get this opportunity.

“That was when I witnessed the true defeat of our allies when our best bet against the White Star, who was the mastermind behind it all, was held by the neck in front of a decimated battlefield in Puzzle city.”

The words that came out of his mouth next came smoothly and naturally.

“When the White Star found me and sent a blast to kill me, the God of Death interfered to make a deal.”

Some people in the crowd perked up at the mention of a god.

Meanwhile, a certain woman in the crowd standing just behind a man on a wheelchair scowled.

“The offer was to allow me to regress back to when I was 18 years old, the time where you all live in right now, to reverse and completely erase the severe damages, but in exchange, I have to switch bodies with a man named Kim Rok Soo.”

“Kim Rok Soo?”

“Who?”

“What kind of name is Kim Rok Soo?”

Another individual far away from the crowd flinched as a certain black-haired black-eyed swordsman turned to stare at him with very wide eyes.

“However, I did not want to make a decision in vain and asked the God of Death to give me an assurance. Some proof that if I follow as he says then the world I live in and my family will not succumb to the same fate that they did during my time.”

The ends of Cale’s lips twitched upwards.

“…Truthfully, I had no idea what I was hoping to get when I asked that. Whatever the heck that bastard god does is his thing and his thing alone. I don’t really understand why he had to drag all of you people here.”

A pair of blue eyes hidden in the crowd of people curiously listened to his last words.

“But I would like to hope that whatever that bastard shows us while in this place, there must be a reason why you were brought along. So, I hope we can all cooperate and not send each other flying to the other side of the room.”

Knowing glances went towards the black-haired duo that were sitting in one corner.

‘Ah, so that’s where that Kim Rok Soo guy was.’

Cale’s grin grew as he locked eyes with the man that he would have become if he hadn’t asked for this little condition to the negotiations, apart from seeing his mother.

Then, he beamed as he tossed the ball straight back at the God of Death.

“Anyway, that’s all I know! Ask the bastard instead if you have more questions because I didn’t even know that I would see my family and the people of my household alive before I go.”

“Hyung-nim…”

“Young master…”

At that moment, the projection that had disappeared had flashed into existence once again.

As the regressor says, 20 years in the future, a great war happens. One which leaves the world desolate and in the mercy of someone that could break the sky.

The people who still couldn’t come to terms with what’s been said held their breath.

But all of you can be provided a new opportunity thanks to his decision.

Eyes shining with gratitude were thrown at a certain direction and the certain redhead who happens to be in that direction shuddered, feeling goosebumps all over his body.

I have gathered all of you here today to show you the proof of that.

The words glitched and changed quickly to a very long message that looked more like a guideline rather than a message in itself.

While in this room, time has stopped in the real world. Your bodies can get injured however you cannot die while in this place, and you can naturally recover as you stay. There is no need to eat or drink, no need to sleep. Your forms in this room have been manipulated to be like that.

Cale gripped his injury a bit harder.

Chief Harol let out a sigh of relief from behind a dazed Toonka who still doesn’t understand what’s going on but is trying anyway.

The things I will show you are the things that would happen if the deal between me and the human who was born as Cale Henituse goes smoothly.

Choi Han’s hand around the hilt of his sword became tighter.

Meanwhile, the look on the man who’s supposed to be Kim Rok Soo became odd.

Cale can understand the feeling.

Shit, this bastard god just knows how to press the wrong buttons with his words.

The story of a world that could be will now begin.

“Huh?”

Everyone, including Cale, had to blink.

Wait.

“Now???” The redhead sputtered but unfortunately, he was a beat too late.

At that moment, whatever light was making every single person in the room visible to each other-

It went out.

And everything became covered in darkness.

Chapter Text

Kim Rok Soo couldn’t help but tense up at the sudden blanket of darkness.

The fact that he was supposed to be switched with the minor villain of a novel he was reading spooked him enough when it was mentioned, but what’s spookier is that apparently, he has no say in this because he’s never received a memo about it before waking up here.

That goddamn deal with the god that Cale Henituse is rightfully calling a bastard was a one-sided deal that would have thrown Kim Rok Soo into a fantasy world that was about to die and it shows.

Kim Rok Soo thought it was good that no one here knew who he was except for Choi Han, right now.

He had a bad feeling about what was going to be shown in these projections.

“Rok soo hyung.”

Kim Rok Soo almost jumped and hit his head on the black wall behind him.

“…? Rok Soo hyung, are you okay?”

Goodness, he thought he was going to have a heart attack.

“…I’m fine.”

‘But Choi Han, why the fuck are you calling me hyung so fast?’

This punk…

Tuk.

“Huh?”

Tuk.

Several people lifted their heads within the darkness as they heard the sound of footsteps within the silence of the black room.

Tuk.

Even Kim Rok Soo had to lift his head to see if he was hearing things right.

If it was any ordinary sound, then he and everyone else would have just assumed that someone must be walking all over the room, but the thing is:

That was not the case.

Every single person in the room could hear the sound quite well no matter where they were in the room.

‘That is just scientifically impossible if not for the fact that we’ve been brought here by a god.’

Kim Rok Soo smiled wryly in the darkness just in time for a small light to make its way and light up the black room, albeit dimly.

It was a projection.

Except instead of words, the countless eyes within the room could see a moving image being shown.

There was a young man with unruly red hair tied with a black ribbon until past his shoulders. The man was quietly walking down the halls of a temple with only his back showing to most people.

“Ah, isn’t that…”

Some people in the crowd exclaimed as they stared at the frail figure of the young man who looked like he was near his 20s but was exuding an aura that made him seem older.

The projection continued with no care for their musings as the person stopped in his tracks.

Everything around turned silent in his wake.

One of the people watching this scene curiously wondered who he was.

Before anyone could speak the question out however, the room was plunged in abrupt darkness once again and this time only a grim voice could be heard echoing.

-Cale Henituse, you are a fake.

Several people flinched at the reminder that in this world someone has supposedly switched places with the eldest son of the County.

Meanwhile, a golden-haired elf narrowed his eyes.

Light and colors came back to the room as the contents of what seemed like a diary appeared for everyone to see to be followed by a shift that showed them a red-leafed tree and a cemetery.

<If there is someone reading this diary, I wish to ask them a question.>

Kim Rok Soo thought he heard someone from the Henituse side of the room suddenly draw a sharp intake of breath at the sight of the elegant hand-writing.

< The person in my son's body, who are you? >

“It’s been a while, ma’am. I kept saying that I needed to come back, but it ended up taking a while.”

The scene shifted to that of a hand outstretched unto an ordinary-looking tree, a voice that seemed familiar and yet unfamiliar flowing as the scene continued.

– I am able to get rid of a reincarnator? How surprising! I never even imagined such a method! There is still so much I do not know in this world!

The golden-haired elf stared at the ordinary-looking tree towering over the center of the room, eyes wide.

The beige-haired woman who was wearing farm clothes echoed with a concerned look on her calm face as he held the pink-haired teenager with her close.

“Reincarnator?”

It was then however that a familiar yet unfamiliar voice that seemed a bit younger than the one who explained a bit of their situation to them not long ago started to speak in the middle of the darkness once again.

“…It shouldn’t hurt that much, right?”

Everyone shrieked as a bright light flashed and showed them a magnificent white temple.

But the next second, the scene had already shifted to a white monster with the body of both a lion and a dragon as well as a shield letting out a roar.

Then before anyone could even pick up their jaw from the ground at the immense pressure, strength, and loudness they experienced from said-monster on the screen, the scene quickly changed once again.

This time showing several people riding different kinds of monsters and fleeing, and as they passed by Kim Rok Soo’s side of the room, his eyes widened, recognizing one of the several people on top of the monsters.

‘Choi Jung Soo…?!’

But the scenes changed quickly and they changed even more.

“HEY, WAIT-”

Screeeech—

A black orb surrounded by an army.

“Fire!”

A sinkhole.

Then an avalanche.

As the scenes changed more and more around them in such a quick manner that they could only see a glimpse of some things before they could disappear, Kim Rok Soo’s heart rate quickened in panic as he realized:

‘Hey, isn’t this too fast?!’

The silhouette of a young child holding a beating heart on the screen only laughed at him in response.

A flash of light as a man with bloody red hair and a white half-mask fought explosively with someone wearing full armor.

A map drawn.

An explosion on an iceberg.

“P, please save me.”

“THIS-” A blue-haired woman burst out of their corner in shock and Kim Rok Soo belatedly figured that he was right about the woman’s identity.

The scene shifted as they could see someone rushing forward under the night sky, headbutting a knight with clasped hands and somehow producing a bright and holy light.

“OPPA?????”

A ginormous fire in the jungle and a pillar of red light in the desert.

The woman with the spear and the crown prince right behind her paled at the deadly red light.

Then they all saw a familiar face smiling and bubbling with laughter as he drank wine a top of a tower, only to see a pile of skeletons underneath him.

Someone hidden in the crowd took a shaky breath as he saw this.

“That bastard-”

“ADIN?!”

The crown prince behind the woman with the spear was hit by another round of shock at the sight.

A band of floating sharp feathers pointed at children inside a nest.

“Fuck?!” The woman with the dog shrieked.

Choi Han with an aura shaped like an Asian dragon circling around his very form and stature.

The black-haired punk who was frozen stiff and speechless by Kim Rok Soo’s side stiffened even more.

The loud cheering of festivity as countless people raised silver shields to the sky.

A shiver passed through Kim Rok Soo’s spine for some reason.

He frowned as he backed away and pressed his back against the wall, overwhelmed and yet still trying to record every single detail flashing by their eyes.

A black bone dragon. A huge shield against flying monsters.

There was a gasp in the crowd.

Rosalyn casting spells while carried over a fleeing young man’s shoulder.

“Hm?” The said-mage blinked in surprise.

Snow falling as a small white dragon appeared behind closed gates with clear blue eyes.

The golden-haired elf and the other people who had been weirdly calm from the very beginning of this ridiculous divine phenomena suddenly stood attentively, eyes a bit wider.

Barbarians raising their hands and then throwing and breaking a small orb to the ground.

Harol’s gaze became confused.

Red lightning falling down with a flash to the ground.

Everyone gasped, and some of the people who had been phased through by the bloody flash of thunder fell on their butts, startled.

Then there was darkness once again.

“Crazy- This is, hehehaHAHA, THIS IS CRAZY…!”

A blue-haired man barked out in mad laughter, eyes shaking, while the Henituse family near him just huddled together closer and protectively around their injured member. The two ordinary Henituse subordinates who were there with them, a ginger and a knight, looked so white in contrast to the darkness, rooted to the ground.

<Cale Henituse>

Both Kim Rok Soo and a certain red-head from across the room raised their heads without thinking at the sound of the name.

<Cale Barrow>

Everyone’s eyes went wild and perplexed.

Who???

A book fell to the ground after slipping through trembling fingers.

<The Birth of a Hero> by <Nelan Barrow>

Kim Rok Soo stared at the projection with eyes blown wide.

Two individuals could be seen floating in the air while surrounded by water, wind, fire and more, their identical bloody red hair tossing and turning in the chaotic night sky on top of the desert.

Those same individuals appeared facing each other once again inside a temple with nothing but their bodies on the line.

Their eyes held contempt against the other.

That was the only feeling that was mutual between them.

“Wait, wait, wait, are there two Cale Henituses?!”

“NO! That’s the fucking WHITE STAR!” The real Cale Henituse practically screamed in horror at the idea of fighting a copy of himself, hand still gripping the part of his injury where the blood was seeping out of the bandages.

It’s at moments like this however that he forgets that these people have not fully processed who the white star is.

The redhead with the long hair raised a hand holding a dagger and then many things happened all at once. He had stabbed himself in the heart, disappeared in everyone’s sight and then could be seen already stabbing the other by the collarbone.

A non-lethal hit.

Everyone gasped in a mix of panic, shock, horror, and fear.

Cale Henituse just blankly stared at the screen and so did Kim Rok Soo, who was taking in everything while thinking that the Cale Henituse on screen might not be the Cale Henituse here with him in the room but instead, himself.

‘I… what.’

Their thoughts were both similar.

They had nothing to say.

Even then, however, when the brown eyes of both individuals shown in the projection locked for the last time, one was filled with horror while the other, despite being bloodied, was cold and calm.

People felt themselves get goosebumps at the uncanny contrast.

But then a young voice flowed into the room.

“I will destroy everything if you touch our human! I will destroy the entire world!”

Several people were shocked stupid by the vicious statement that they heard from a voice that sounded too young to be saying such things, while a man with a buzzcut in some corner promptly sneezed in the middle of the commotion.

The darkness made way to light as words started to appear in the projection one by one.

<When I opened my eyes, I was inside a novel>

Kim Rok Soo frowned.

But those were the only words that came out as the projections disappeared altogether and light returned enough for everyone to see each other within the black room.

A silence spread throughout the crowd so loud that it physically hurt.

“What… the fuck did I just witness?”

The woman with the dog broke the silence with an unbelieving expression on her face, but everyone could share her sentiments.

Not even a second later, everybody had already followed and blurted out their own thoughts.

“What the actual fuck…?!”

“H-Hannah…”

“Orabuni, did you just stab yourself-?!”

“Paseton- P, Paseton are you okay?”

“…I need some booze.”

“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK…?!”

It was inevitable for chaos to happen as soon as the projections disappeared.

For one, Kim Rok Soo was also at a loss of words, unsure how to react to the information he just received.

‘It’s like a trailer to a movie.’

Even though he has spent decades in a ruined world after the apocalypse, technology had technically already returned to half of what it was before the destruction of the world and in some aspects it also seemed better.

The things they saw being projected all around the black screen just now reminded him of a trailer- a kind of brief summary of a story made in a way that it would catch attention while also not providing too many answers.

Having recorded everything, Kim Rok Soo has the advantage of remembering every single detail of the series of projections shown to them but…

‘The things we saw don’t necessarily mean what we think.’

It was hard to try and anticipate what could happen if something like a trailer was shown beforehand because the explanation behind the actions is neither shown nor discussed. Trailers put together snippets to make people misunderstand a situation in the story or have expectations about the story before they actually read or watch it.

But he doubts that any of these medieval-time people would understand that.

Not to mention, the shock that was inevitably written in every person in the room thanks to being hit by this left hook right after getting an information bomb from Cale Henituse that the world was gonna die in 20 years because of one man.

He could see some leaders in the group standing very still with looks of horror, still processing things.

It was a very understandable reaction.

Kim Rok Soo, who has personally experienced the apocalypse himself around two decades ago, can relate to the way they seem to be unable to process everything that was shown to them.

To know that your country is going to be dragged into a war and to see it with your own eyes is very different, after all, and if Kim Rok Soo’s guess is right, then all this will be shown to them in this room, whether they like it or not.

“Rok Soo Hyung.”

Kim Rok Soo turned to look at Choi Han who was staring at him with a complicated gaze.

It would have been a nice sight to see if not for the obvious presence of blood all over him right now but Kim Rok Soo maintained himself as the black-haired black-eyed punk started to speak carefully, “The book you were reading… could it be?”

A bitter smile made its way to Kim Rok Soo’s face.

‘Goddamit.’

He was caught pretending like he didn’t know who the protagonist was and he was exposed by a goddamn god, of all things.

“Don’t be mistaken by the words that appeared at the last second of the projection.”

Choi Han flinched but Kim Rok Soo calmly continued.

“The story I was reading was <The Birth of a Hero> by <Nelan Barrow>, the same book that appeared falling to the ground. Though it may look like I’d been transported into a novel, chances are I might have just read the story of your world in preparation… to be switched with that guy.”

It felt iffy knowing to know that the book you were reading could have been written specifically to spirit him away. It was like someone was playing with your fate.

Choi Han, who would understand this the most, went quiet after hearing that.

But Kim Rok Soo wasn’t done talking yet.

“The author’s name is Nelan Barrow. The name of the guy who was fighting Cale Henituse in the projection was Cale Barrow. If my guess is correct, then the author of the story might be a person who lives in this world as well and might be related to the villain that Cale Henituse called the White Star.”

Choi Han blinked at the onslaught of information.

“That means you’re not a character in a novel, Choi Han.”

Eyes wide, the black-haired punk ended up staring at Kim Rok Soo right in the eye at surprise. The korean’s words were blunt and were said in a matter-of-fact way, but the message it sent could not be altered by the tone of the speaker’s voice.

“Someone merely wrote your story and had me read it.”

“….Mn.”

‘….Shit. Was that not what I was supposed to say?’

Kim Rok Soo nervously started to sweat before hurriedly adding in, “I’m sorry about pretending I don’t know you, mm, I was trying to pretend I don’t know anything.”

It was the truth and he was being honest, but the next thing that happened scared the wits out of him.

Choi Han whose faces until now were either blank, chaotic or complicated, beamed at him.

“It’s okay. I understand!”

This punk was forgetting once again that he was covered in blood right now. Kim Rok Soo could tell that the smile was genuine and wasn’t hostile, but seeing the face of a guy covered in blood suddenly bloom, he felt an inexplicable chill run over his body.

“…Great. Okay.”

Moving on.

Kim Rok Soo shot a look around the room, feeling several eyes looking at their direction.

Well, with so many strong people inside the room, he’d have guessed that there would be someone with extra-ordinary hearing or some sort. By now, they’ve already probably heard of the things he said and concluded:

‘You.’

The eyes that were looking at him seemed to glint with something knowing.

Kim Rok Soo internally sighed.

‘Yes. Me.’

So much for people not knowing who he was and why he was here.

Some particularly sharp munchkin characters are all around him right now and they already know.

As he scanned the ground to take note of these people, he caught sight of a bit of movement far lower than he thought anybody would be in and blinked in confusion.

Hm? Was there a character in the novel who was shorter than half a normal person?

Skimming through his records, he could only find a half-dwarf half-rat character named Muller fitting the bill but he’s sure that the thing he saw was a tail.

Wait.

Lowering his gaze a little, Kim Rok Soo felt a foreboding feeling as he combed through the ground level of the crowd with his eyes in search for the same movement that was only possible to notice thanks to his sharp eyes.

There was another character who fit the shoe perfectly, actually.

But that…

His shoulders stiffened as he caught sight of a black blob of something trudging carefully while seemingly growling silently at everyone all around.

That character.

Wasn’t that character a crazy baby dragon?

---

Choi Han really shouldn’t be happy that his fellow Korean was being dragged to a fantasy world without his permission.

But he’s been the only Korean he’s ever known for countless decades and he can’t help it.

The guy in front of him, Kim Rok Soo, seemed to be a sharp and smart individual even though his strength seems a little bit on the average side despite the evident muscles on his body. He looked like a real adult- like a fully grown adult- unlike Choi Han who was practically the embodiment of 17 forever.

It would be rather dangerous if this guy falls into the forest of darkness like him, so he’s a bit glad that he’s going to switch bodies with a nobleman instead.

He’s not very strong but he is obviously smart in many ways.

Now that he thinks about it though, this was actually his first time meeting a lot of strong people today. Fighting the assassins at Harris Village was child’s play- he balls his hands into a fist at that- but with the strength that he could sense from the people all around him…

‘Strong.’

A lot of the people around him were stronger than him.

If they were to pick a fight with him right now, then there’s a chance that he would lose.

And that was very bad for the current him.

Because he needs to make sure that nothing bad happens to this guy beside him whose looking through the crowd intently with an observant gaze.

‘Some of the people here aren’t even human.’

It was a dangerous place to be for a normal Korean guy like Kim Rok Soo.

Choi Han was wholly convinced that this was true.

Maybe he should teach Kim Rok Soo some tricks while they’re here or teach him a bit of the sword so that when he comes out, he’ll better protect himself.

Choi Han nods to himself while unaware that this would be Kim Rok Soo’s greatest nightmare if it ever occurs.

It was then that something at the corner of his eye caught his attention, though.

A black thing that was far shorter than everyone else here. Whatever it was, it was a moving thing so it must be alive, but it could only seem to stay on ground level. A beast?

“Hey.”

As expected, Kim Rok Soo whose shoulders had stiffened up significantly, probably noticed it as well because he started to speak in a low voice that only the two of them could understand.

“Can you lend me your sword?”

Choi Han blinked before nodding, “Sure.”

Kim Rok Soo, who received the sword that was particularly lighter than normal ones as they were originally owned by the assassins from Harris Village, held the sword by its hilt, albeit awkwardly, as if he was going to stab the ground and then after a few seconds of adjusting, he slashed quietly and moderately at the ground.

He was carving words, Choi Han realizes, and it was brilliant because it was written in Korean as well.

No one would be able to understand it besides the two of them unless everyone’s eyes had some sort of automatic translation sorcery in it.

He looked over to see what Kim Rok Soo wrote and…

<The bastard god didn’t say that we can’t damage his property.>

…was the first thing that Kim Rok Soo had written in Korean.

Choi Han gave it an odd look.

He felt like he should probably say something about that iffy sentence but it was then that the words disappeared as if the black room was healing itself and he looked at it with mild surprise.

Kim Rok Soo smirked lightly before raising the sword once again to write some more.

<Have you ever seen a dragon?>

Choi Han tilted his head to the side, not having expected that question.

“I think I’ve seen something similar.”

<What was it like?>

The words disappeared just as Choi Han contemplated his answer. He looked up and saw that Kim Rok Soo was holding out the sword for him to take.

Ah, so he has to write it.

Could it be that there might be a dragon with them in the room right now, for him to do this?

After some thought, Choi Han decided to write on the ground easily with his sword.

<It was a monster. In appearance, strength, and everything.>

“Hah… Is that so?”

Choi Han perked up at the sudden sigh that came out of his fellow Korean’s mouth.

Kim Rok Soo brushed his hair back and gave him a pointed look while extending his hand forward as if to ask for the sword and despite being confused, Choi Han complied and handed it over.

The words that were carved next unto the black floor was short and simple.

<Then you’ve never seen a dragon before.>

---

Cale Henituse can’t help but tense up at the sudden onslaught of nagging he was getting for something that hasn’t even happened yet and was technically done by someone else using his body.

“Orabuni, did you just stab yourself-?!”

It all started when Lily blurted that out in disbelief at the sight of the last moments of the projection.

Cale can’t blame the little girl.

The last moments shown to them was far too bloody and shocking- far more than everything they’ve seen projected combined. Even Basen looks like he’d been traumatized by the one scene he actually made sense of, and Basen was normally a calm guy.

Ron’s gaze was still fixed on where the projection had been before it disappeared, as if waiting for it to appear any time soon, but that probably won’t happen immediately.

If the God of death wants these humble humans to actually understand what he was showing them, then he would have provided them some time in between each projection to process the information they received.

Cale estimates that they have some 30 minutes to get comfy before it starts again.

If it is any less than that, then he’s going to be really disappointed in the God of Death.

“Deruth. Deruth, breath.”

Violan was supporting Deruth who seemed to be having trouble processing the images he saw.

Cale, who saw this, could only stay quiet even as his little half-sister, Lily, was still staring at him intensely looking for answers that she won’t be able to find from him.

He remembers the handwriting that was briefly shown in the projections before the chaos began.

<If there is someone reading this diary, I wish to ask them a question.>

‘…mom.’

< The person in my son's body, who are you? >

Cale can remember her mother telling her that she had an ancient power herself. It was a secret that only the two of them knew. 

She knew that it would eventually happen to him, huh.

A body switch.

“Jour…”

The shaky breath that his father let out as he tried to steady himself was heart-breaking. No matter how many years has passed and no matter if he’s found new love or not, there really was a special place for Cale’s mother in his heart.

He wasn’t in tears but he looked like he was visibly shaken to know that his dead wife was somehow involved in whatever was happening here.

“Y, y, young master- That-”

The deputy butler looks like he’d been shaken up by the images as well.

“There was another y-young mas—”

“No. Heck no.”

Cale quickly cut off the ginger before he could finish that sentence, horrified.

“Don’t even say that shitty guy looks the same as me- So what if we both have red hair?! At least I didn’t raze Roan to the ground!”

The ginger flinched after his young master who no longer looks very young raised his voice at him.

“T, then who?”

“Cale Henituse. Cale Barrow.”

Everyone turned to look at Basen who finally snapped out of his stupor though he still looks a bit too pale. He was holding unto the hem of his shirt as he tried his best to remember more of the projection, concentration furrowing his eyebrows.

"That other man who had the same hair as Hyung-nim. He must be Cale Barrow.”

That’s right- No, wait, Cale isn’t sure.

He never really knew that shitty White Star’s name, but seeing as it was shown here, does that mean that switching with Kim Rok Soo would get humanity farther than they had back in his time?

“I’m not sure if his name is really Cale Barrow but that guy- He goes by the name White Star and he’s the one behind everything. He’s a maniac with a lot of ancient powers to boot and it hurts me to say that even after 20 years of fighting against him, we knew little to nothing about him.”

His family members looked at him with a defeated expression.

It was at that moment that they all heard a voice.

“E-excuse me.”

A woman holding a spear in one hand came forward hesitantly.

Cale feels like he’s seen her in some battles before but she… hm, she didn’t exactly last long.

“I am Litana, the queen of the jungle. It may be presumptuous of me to ask this however would it be alright if me and another person were to stay here and discuss with some things with you regarding the projection?”

Oh, she was bold.

“It’s just that, we’ve figured that it would be better to have the opinion of the regressor who’s seen the future as we piece together the meaning of the projection. In truth, I’ve only seen glimpses of some things and the only thing in my head right now is the one that pertained to my own kingdom, but I believe that if we were to put together what we all saw then we’ll be able to ascertain a few things about the story.”

Queen Litana of the jungle.

She was currently standing firm on the ground but you can feel the tension in her eyes as she did.

Her point made sense, too. If the story of Cale Henituse about the 20-year war is to be trusted, then the chance of this story taking just as long if not half as long would be high. It would be better to have some judgments now and just have them checked later instead of waiting for that long.

“Oh, and this is the other person I was talking about.”

Behind her, Cale recognized the Crown Prince of the Caro kingdom fidgeting a little.

A friendly smile managed to appear in the Crown prince even then as he introduced myself.

“Crown Prince Valentino of Caro. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

These two must have been transported here without any of their subordinates and decided to band together in order to save their kingdoms which, according to the projection, suffered similar scenes relating to fire.

The jungle that was filled with trees that could easily burn and the desert that had little to no water for putting such fires out.

Cale looked towards his father as if to ask for permission.

Deruth Henituse weakly smiled.

“We do not mind. We’d be glad to exchange help about the parts we could not pay attention to, your highness, and that would be a good thing for all of us.”

“Please, just call me Miss Lina. I look forward to discussing things with you.”

“Same here, Mister Valentino is fine. There are no enforcers of such formalities in this room, anyway.”

The two royalties made themselves comfortable in the Henituse side of the room, as Lily curiously looked at the two of them with her blue eyes from behind her mother. Basen nodded to the two of them in acknowledgment and the royal duo smiled at him.

“Young master-nim, you should sit down for now.”

“Right. Thanks, Ron.”

The entire Henituse family aside from Beacrox and Hilsman sat down alongside their new additions, forming a circle in their small space in the room.

Cale huffed as he plopped down with the help of his old servant and then turned towards the duo.

“So, shall we recount what we’ve all seen from the beginning?”

Litana and Valentino nodded.

Cale started explaining.

“The very first scene that we all saw, with the man with long red hair with the ribbon. I have reason to believe that may be my body after the supposed body switch. As you all know, the future the God of Death is showing us is not the future I experienced but rather a future where I transmigrated into the body of a man named Kim Rok Soo, who will then have to occupy my body, whether he likes it or not, so as we proceed, I hope you take into mind that the person you saw is not me and I have no idea why he will be acting the way he does in the future.”

“That… Hyung-nim, do you think that one of us would have figured out the body switch?” Basen interjected uneasily.

Everyone remembers the voice that said Cale Henituse was a fake.

Cale sighed a little.

“I can’t say, but the one who figured it out in the snippet we saw doesn’t seem to be any of you. That voice was unfamiliar, if any of you had been the speaker, I would have known.”

“Then, how about the writing that had come after?” Litina asked as respectfully as she can.

Deruth shook his head in her direction as he quickly clarified, “That… was the handwriting of my deceased wife. I do not know how she could have known since she died when our son was 8, but she had asked me to bury something with her in her grave. A magically secured box meant to be opened only by our son when he seeks it out.”

“There must have been a letter for him of the future there, then.” Valentino muttered.

Cale also shook his head after hearing that, “Actually, it sounds more like the letter isn’t for me but for the guy who will be inside my body.”

“Yes, then after that, there was the thing about a reincarnator or something and then…”

Everyone went silent.

It was because everything that happened after that was too much of a blur.

‘Damn it.’

People say that when witnessing an event, most people remember the beginning and the end much clearer than the things that happened in the middle. Cale can’t say for sure that those people were right but this situation of theirs was not helping very much.

Putting his hands together and resting it in front of his face, Cale decided he might as well get everything that everyone can remember and make it a pile.

“Okay, everyone who remembers a part of the projection raise your hand and speak up.”

“Oh! Me!”

The deputy butler raised his hand enthusiastically and then vaguely answered with a serious expression.

“I remember there being an avalanche, then an explosion then a parade.”

“Next.”

“Hyung-nim, I saw a white temple flash for just a brief moment after I heard your voice after the part about the reincarnator.”

“A temple?”

“I saw a kid around my age laughing while holding someone’s heart!”

“What the hell?”

“Young master-nim, I saw a bright light.”

“Please be more specific than that, Vice-Captain Hilsman, I think we all saw a lot of bright lights.”

“I saw the young master-nim stab himself with a dagger.”

Everyone went quiet.

Then they turned towards the one who spoke.

Ron benignly smiled at all of them as if he hadn’t said anything.

Cale was speechless. He literally just told them that they should think of the man on the screen as someone who has his body but is not him, but this vicious old man over here seems very keen to scold him.

“You…”

“Hm?”

“Nothing. Nevermind. Moving on.”

“I believe I saw a map.” Violan calmly stated, pushing the discussion forward from behind her exquisite fan, “That and a young man with black hair surrounded by an odd power.”

“Oh, me too, Young master-nim. I saw the map too. It was before the explosion!”

“Hans, please.”

“Um…” Litana raised her hand, following the instruction Cale gave that nobody else in the room seemed to be following after the first time.

Cale gave her a grateful nod and the queen of the jungle took it as a sign to continue.

“I believe I saw the jungle on fire.”

“Ah, yes.” The redhead in the middle of the group discussion exclaimed, “I think that one must be the same as the one that originally ravaged the jungle in my time. It was eventually stopped by a shaman from the east but…”

The blood on Litana’s face drained.

She was probably thinking that there is a chance that the jungle of this time was not saved.

Valentino gave her a sympathetic look before raising his hand and offering his own information as well, “I am 100% sure that I saw a pillar of something red and bright in the desert. That must have been lava, I assume. Did that also happen?”

“No. Not that I heard of.” Cale’s face turned confused.

How in the world would lava appear in the desert, in the first place?

“I also saw… the crown prince of the Mogoru empire, a friend of mine, except…”

“He was laughing while drinking on top of a pile of skeletons.”

Everyone turned towards the one who spoke.

It was Ron again.

Now that Cale has the luxury to remember it, Ron actually ends up being a cold-blooded and vicious assassin who leaves him years into the future, doesn’t he?

He can somehow understand why the old man was working so hard to kill the mood, now.

“Yes…”

Valentino wilted as he looked at the harmless-looking old man, a bit unwilling to admit it himself.

“There were… a lot of skeletons.”

“Yeah, the Mogoru empire only stood by the side while the Roan kingdom was eradicated back in my time. I’m afraid that their Crown Prince isn’t someone that I can say is on our side.” Cale explained as he recalled some moments from his time, a bit regretful he didn’t know more.

Both royals in the group looked to be disheartened by the half-confirmation.

A leader of one of the bigger countries in their continent could potentially be working with the evil trying to destroy everything they’ve worked hard to build, so there was no way they wouldn’t feel this way.

“Hm? What’s going on here?”

A female voice made everyone look up to the side and see a noble-looking woman in green clothes, carrying a cute dog in her arms.

Cale squinted his eyes.

“…You are?”

He’s not sure he’s ever seen her before.

“Oh, sorry for the late introduction. I’m Princess Jopis of the Molden kingdom. You might not know me because I’m from the eastern continent, but it’s surprising that you can understand the way I speak.”

“Ah, no. In truth, we suspect that language barriers have been supernaturally broken while we are here.”

“Is that so? How interesting.”

The woman looked elegant and refined, reminding Cale a bit of his stepmother who had a similar aura, but for some reason Vice Captain Hilsman and the Deputy Butler were staring at her weirdly as if they didn’t expect it at all.

Cale brushed it aside thinking that they must be surprised that even the Eastern Continent royalty was involved, but in truth, that was not the case at all.

“Fucking shit- Get away from my dog, you barbarian! Do you want your fucking head to blow up?!”

The two, who had actually noticed the small scuffle between her and Toonka earlier, were having the flashback of their life.

“Anyway, will it be alright for me and my dog to join in here, too?”

Princess Jopis smiled like a noble and asked for permission like a noble.

Thus, Litana and Valentino, the royals who’ve already joined the group, could only have a good impression of her as they returned the respect, “Of course. You can sit here in our side, if it’s alright with the Henituse family.”

“It’s alright.” Cale quickly allowed it, “In truth, we need a few more heads. We’re trying to reconstruct the series of images that appeared in the projection.”

“Ah, I believe I can shed light to one particular scene that I saw there.”

Seated next to the two royalties, Jopis face suddenly turned cold as she spoke her next words.

“I saw my younger siblings looking terrified while inside what seemed like a man-made nest.”

“Ah…”

Sounds of sympathy automatically left the lips of those who were soft-hearted among them.

Cale could only close his eyes.

‘In the end, the eastern continent was dragged along.’

He didn’t even want to know what the little kids were doing inside something like a nest.

While more people in their group supported Princess Jopis’s statement with their own testimony about that particular scene, Cale could only space out for a bit and turn his head to look at all the people who were having discussions of their own all around them.

It would have been more efficient if everyone could work together to solve the puzzle but alas, he had no expectations for this group.

Because they’ve ultimately failed at that once already and he witnessed it.

It would be nice if the future could actually change if he makes this one decision and have somebody else live in his body. He’s hoping that some things could at least be avoided in this new future, but of course, time can only tell him to wait.

“…Hm?”

The redhead blinked as his eyes stopped at something in the room.

“Young master-nim? Is there something wrong?”

Cale ignored the worried question of the deputy butler who had glanced his way in favor of staring at the ridiculous-looking thing that was happening before him.

Two black-haired men in similarly black attire, one bloody and the other clean, were tip-toeing around the crowd like suspicious people, crouched and scouring the ground for something, and Cale couldn’t stop the incredulous look on his face from appearing at the utter confusion he felt watching it.

First of all, that’s Choi Han and that guy named Kim Rok Soo, right?

Secondly: holy shit, are they already friends?

Now that Cale was thinking about it, trying to avoid getting beaten up by Choi Han was one of the main things that this Kim Rok Soo guy should do, but it looks like he worried for nothing. The two were doing well.

Too well, in fact, that he has no idea what the hell they were doing.

Are the two of them bonding?

“Cale, are you okay?”

“Sorry?” Cale snapped out of his thoughts as soon as he heard his father’s question and then he smoothed out his face as he remembered what they were doing, “Ah, right.”

Group discussion. Projection. Me stabbing myself. Yes.

“Is there something in your mind, Young Master Cale?” Litana asked, brows furrowed.

Well, you could say it was like that.

“No, no, it’s nothing. I just thought I saw something funny.” Cale flashed one of his signature laid-back smiles, one of the many smiles that would be deemed disrespectful in noble gatherings should anyone try to poke at him.

“Oh…”

“Alright.”

“Um, actually, there was also this one scene…”

The discussion continued normally as everyone started exchanging opinions on what happened again but in the middle of it, when Cale figured that some things were already being repeated and his information is no longer necessary, the redhead peeked at the place where he last saw the two black-haired punks.

No longer there.

Hm.

Shrugging to himself, Cale figured it’s none of his business.

He quietly listened to the rest of the discussion after that.

---

‘Please don’t bite me, please don’t bite me, please don’t bite me-‘

Let it be known to all that Kim Rok Soo has little to no good experience with small creatures that bite- much less, small creatures that can destroy everything and everyone in a crazed killing spree, but at the very least he is trying.

All the monsters he had to deal with during the apocalypse doesn’t count. They were much bigger than him most of the time, if not as tall as him.

The bloodied black dragon that was growling in his arms as he and Choi Han escaped the center of the room after scooping the little thing off the ground was neither bigger than him nor as tall as him but Kim Rok Soo knew more than anyone in this room that this little thing was more capable of obliterating everyone here at the cost of his own lifeforce than the current Choi Han.

At least, Choi Han has become a tiny bit stable since finding a fellow Korean.

“Rok Soo Hyung, I got the potion.”

“Wait.”

Kim Rok Soo put down the black dragon before doing anything.

He has no idea if the dragon would bite him or not, given the situation, but since he was still on mana-restriction chains and he was a dragon, Kim Rok Soo thinks that he might not do anything but he will if he finds the need to.

The black dragon glared at him as he put him down on the black floor where he could almost camouflage himself with, but Kim Rok Soo ignored it, a bit glad that at least the young dragon’s gaze was still strong.

At least it doesn’t look like it’s given up on life just yet.

“Can you cut the chains around him with your sword?” He asked Choi Han as he held unto the end of one of the chains attached to the dragon’s limbs.

The black-haired swordsman took a step forward and wordlessly did so with little effort.

Kim Rok Soo watched as the chains fell to the ground, neatly cut, and then extended his hand towards Choi Han as if asking for something, and the punk quickly produced a potion from where he had hidden it inside his robes.

Ah, that’s right.

Choi Han pickpocketed this one from Toonka’s group.

Kim Rok Soo doesn’t know why Choi Han seems to dislike the idiot mage-slayer so much that he’d send him flying one second and then steal a potion from his side in another, but it’s working for their favor so he doesn’t complain and just pours the magic healing liquid over the dragon’s wounds.

The results came quickly. The dragon’s wounds healed very fast.

It was the first time Kim Rok Soo saw something like a potion being utilized even though he’s seen many healing-related abilities back in Korea, so he was a bit mesmerized by its effectivity.

This seems to be the dragon’s first time as well as his curious gaze said the same.

A potion must have never been used on him before back when he was being tortured and abused in the Stan territory.

Clicking his tongue, Kim Rok Soo ended up muttering, “Heal properly and hide yourself.”

It would be complicated if this baby dragon starts a fuss in this place right now, especially with how he looked. No one must have noticed it until now because he mixed in with the black surroundings and his presence was restricted by the mana restriction chains around his neck and limbs.

“As long as you’re properly hidden and don’t hurt the others, no one will hurt you here.”

The black dragon looked at him with a face filled with skepticism, then his clear blue eyes gradually moved towards Choi Han who was like him just a moment ago, covered by blood.

Choi Han was clenching his fists and looking at the dragon with an apologetic expression.

It’s not like it was his fault that the dragon was tortured and abused, but as expected, he was really a good person, just a little twisted.

“I don’t believe you.”

“…!”

The black dragon gave the Korean duo a death glare as he stood on guard against them, and Choi Han looked surprised, but Kim Rok Soo remained calm. Too calm.

“Humans are liars. I don’t trust them.”

“Good. Don’t trust anybody. Just do whatever you want.”

“…?!”

Choi Han’s eyes darted between Kim Rok Soo who had smoothly fired back without batting an eye and the black dragon that seemed surprised by this turn of events. There was some kind of communication going on here and he’s not sure if it’s a good one.

The black dragon raised its voice.

“You’re lying!”

“Think what you will.”

Was Kim Rok Soo’s unfettered response.

Now the black dragon was looking at him weirdly but Kim Rok Soo really did not care.

As long as the black dragon minds his own business and doesn’t start murdering random people in the vicinity as revenge against humanity, then it’s fine. This dragon in front of him maybe young but it was smart, seeing as how it didn’t trust immediately. Dragons truly cannot be compared to mere beasts with their intelligence.

Even though it’s saying what it’s saying now, such warning will still be kept in mind, for sure.

And that’s enough for Kim Rok Soo.

As he said, this young dragon was smart. He’ll know what and not what to do.

It may have been imprisoned for 4 years and treated differently compared to other dragons, but a dragon will always be a dragon, no matter what they are forced to endure. As such, Kim Rok Soo trusts that the dragon can get by on his own.

Just for safety measure though, he adds in:

“It’s your life. Do what you want with it.”

And the black dragon’s blue eyes now started to look like they were truly looking at him now.

Kim Rok Soo let out a small smile in satisfaction before standing up.

“Choi Han. Let’s go.”

“Hm? Ah, yes…”

The surprised Choi Han quietly followed after his fellow Korean as they both left the black dragon to do as he’d like in the space where Kim Rok Soo and Choi Han used to stand. The black room was small but it had plenty of space for them to hang around.

“…Rok Soo hyung.”

At Choi Han’s odd whisper, Kim Rok Soo leaned behind his shoulder for a bit, “Yes?”

“What will you do if the dragon follows you around?”

What.

Kim Rok Soo felt the chills and blurted out, “Are you crazy?”

“Yes?”

No, don’t answer that.

Frowning, Kim Rok Soo could face forward immediately and insist, “That’s a ridiculous notion. Dragons are prideful beings, and this one was hurt by humans, and thus, will hate humans. Don’t even think about it. It’s delusional. Wishful thinking.”

“…Okay?”

Kim Rok Soo does not like the way Choi Han’s voice sounded unconvinced.

He huffed and ignored it.

“Let’s just find a spot for the rest of the event. Come on.”

“Mn.”

They both trudged onward to find themselves a good place to rest for until the next projection starts.

---

‘Fuck.’

“Rok Soo hyung. Rok Soo hyung.”

If Choi Han thinks he’s being discreet with his whispers and secretive glances towards a supposedly empty spot near their newly claimed space in this black room, then he is failing.

Kim Rok Soo felt like he’d eaten bitter medicine for breakfast and he doesn’t like it.

He mechanically moved his head to face the punk next to him and say that ‘Yes, I heard you call my name the first time’ and ‘yes, I can see that you’re looking at that spot’, but he had to stop because he saw someone about to pass by the supposedly empty space that Choi Han has been eyeing since a few minutes ago.

The guy passing by doesn’t trip over anything invisible.

Kim Rok Soo sighs in relief.

He then turns to Choi Han and asks with a stoic face, “What.”

“I think it’s following us.”

‘What a frightening thought. Why do you have to share that with me, goddammit.’

Kim Rok Soo put a hand over his forehead as he draped over his knees where he was sitting in their side of the wall.

About half an hour has passed since the first projection.

If his calculations are right then the next one should be just around the corner, already being prepared for them.

He feels a bit anxious about it, considering that the story might be focused on him.

To what extent will the future and his life in another body be shown? Will people be able to hear his thoughts? Will it be like a movie?

He’s already anxious enough about the next projection, he doesn’t need this dragon-related problem too.

“Let it be. Let it do what it wants.” Kim Rok Soo murmured.

Choi Han nodded and continued with what he was doing- which was, by the way, people watching.

Kim Rok Soo already explained to him that the first projection was merely just a trailer and that we couldn’t trust everything that we see there because most of the time those scenes are taken out of context and mean differently in the actual story.

For now, instead of discussing what they’ve seen like what the others are doing, the two of them were observing the other strong individuals in the room as much as they can.

So far, they’ve pinpointed those who were weaker than Choi Han.

The grey-haired young master who should be Eric Wheelsman and his group of Northeastern nobles.

A blond guy who is being protected by a blond girl with a sword.

There were a few more but it’s not really important to have them listed out. It’s fine to just have them vaguely recognized.

Oh, but obviously, Toonka was on the list as well.

That guy was throwing a tantrum in one corner of the room because Chief Harol Kodiang was trying to make him stay still. He probably wanted to find Choi Han, the guy who beat him with just raw strength, and ask for a rematch.

Not because of some petty pride, no.

Just because he wants to.

That’s the kind of person that Toonka, the idiotic muscles-for-brain mage-slayer, is, after all.

For reference, only Choi Han is looking out for the ones who are weaker than him, with occasional input from Kim Rok Soo’s novel knowledge, but since Kim Rok Soo never got past volume five, he can’t recognize everyone present in the room.

Both have silently agreed that there is no need to tell if there’s anyone weaker than Kim Rok Soo here.

They’ve both silently agreed that there is none.

“It should start soon…”

Kim Rok Soo muttered to himself as he scanned the crowd of people that were probably thinking of the same thing as they all find seats for watching.

He could see that the Queen of the Jungle and the Crown Prince of Caro had joined the Henituse family’s little group, along with the vicious woman with the dog from earlier. She looked very behaved for someone who threatened to blow up Toonka’s face.

There was also the whale trio, whom he guessed comprises of the Whale Queen Witira, the half-blood Paseton and the Killer Whale Archie. They’ve found a good spot and settled there comfortably, though their weapons were still out.

In the far left, the noblemen and the relatively normal people seemed to have gathered together under Eric Wheelsman. It was only possible because they had a lot less trust issues compared to most people here and because Eric was a good albeit plain guy that can’t really harm anyone.

Meanwhile, the calm people, who according to Choi Han must be ridiculously strong, have formed a group of their own though they seem to be sharing less words towards each other compared to the other groups.

When the people in the room have made groups like this, it becomes more and more apparent who are on their own.

It was while Kim Rok Soo was looking around like this that the light illuminating everyone went out again.

‘It’s here.’

Kim Rok Soo could hear Choi Han subconsciously grabbing the hilt of his sword at the same time everyone in the room lifted their gazes in anticipation for what they will see next.

And then as the people of the black room waited for sound and pictures to flow in…

Words suddenly flashed in the screen-like scene.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: When I Opened My Eyes (1)

‘Hm?’

Kim Rok Soo looked up at the words being projected in the air, mildly surprised by this development.

He wasn’t the only one who was surprised.

Everyone had been expecting something like the short projection of images and sounds that they saw earlier, so what was this? A chapter? Was this like an introduction before the images come in?

But more importantly…

‘It says chapter 2.’

A normal narrative flow would obviously start with Chapter 1 if not a prologue or maybe Chapter 0 depending on the writer’s style, but the projection ultimately skipped to Chapter 2 from the get-go.

Kim Rok Soo found himself in deep thought as murmurs spread all around him.

If he were a god and he were to show this many people glimpses of the future, then surely, he could be caught and punished for messing with the future unfairly, right? To show the future itself to strong people who could change the flow of time would definitely be seen as an abuse of power in the eyes of whatever higher-up there could be up in the realm of the divine.

He already showed them short snippets of the future that didn’t even last 5 minutes so there must have been a price if he was caught…

So, was this it?

Is this the loophole that the God of Death found to inform them about it fully?

Truly, it would be harder to monitor if someone was reading the future instead of watching it through a prophetic dream of sorts. Guess he was going to go for a novel style to entertain at the same time as inform them too.

But why would he skip Chapter 1?

Was it just not important or is it something that they could go back to later on?

Kim Rok Soo couldn’t go far with his thoughts as the projection glitched and then changed again, colors flowing into the room as it did.

But even as that happened, moving pictures never appeared on the screen again.

The colors just flowed into the darkness of the room as if to create an atmosphere conducive to reading.

Some seemed a bit disappointed but they figured that this was fine as well as they directed their attention to the words appearing on the screen instead of waiting for something that would never occur.

The man could feel someone gently tapping his body.

Several people perked up.

This was a peculiar way to start the story of how their world may or may not die.

The rough hand made the man think of the hands of an exhausted parent. It was that warm.

“Huh.”

Kim Rok Soo felt a foreboding feeling at the sight of the words. At the prickling sensation of being watched, he turned his head slowly to see Cale Henituse, staring at him and that made him worry a bit more.

“Young master, it is morning.”

“Oh.”

The Henituse family blinked in realization as the words of greeting flowed in.

But the voice was very profound. The man felt the chills throughout his body and his eyes subconsciously opened. Rather than the bright sunlight coming in through the window to warm the man’s eyes, what he saw was an old man standing there with a satisfied expression.

“It’s Mr. Ron.”

A ginger from the Henituse group exclaimed not-so-quietly, leading to many people turning their eyes towards the group, specifically towards the old servant by their side who seemed to fit the description of the words well.

‘So the story starts at the Henituse estate.’

Many looked like they were taking note of that as they returned to staring at the projection that quickly changed.

“It is surprising to see you wake up after a single attempt.”

“Huh?”

A certain redhead smiled bitterly. He understood the situation quickly since he had been told beforehand.

“The master wishes to dine with the young master since it has been a while. It looks like it will be possible today.”

The man could see a mirror past the old man’s shoulder. Inside the mirror was a red-haired man who seemed to be confused looking back at him.

“Orabuni, I think that’s you.”

There was only one red-haired young master in this room and everyone did know that this world will have a bit of focus around Cale Henituse thanks to the trailer, but that didn’t stop them from feeling a bit disoriented about the words that appeared next.

‘I guess that guy is me.’

…either Cale Henituse has a weird way of thinking of things first thing in the morning or something else is happening here.

“Young master Cale?”

The man turned toward the source of the worried voice to find the old man, who looked like a servant, looking toward him. But the concerned man was not the problem.

The man clearly heard it.

Young Master Cale. It was a familiar name.

“…Did you hit your head or something—oof!”

A purple haired robed man elbowed his blue-haired companion before he could say anything more and break the immersion of the audience.

He slowly blurted out the name.

“Cale Henituse?”

Slowly, a few people seemed to be starting to understand what was going on.

The old servant was looking at him like he was looking at his own grandson.

“Yes. That is your name, young master. I’m guessing you are still a bit drunk.”

The ones who knew what the 18-year-old Cale Henituse was doing in the real world just a moment ago found no fault in believing that. They had seen the redhead down too many bottles for a person to take before they ended up here.

Listening to the concerned response of the old man, the man naturally thought about a name that was even more important than the name Cale Henituse.

“…Beacrox.”

“Who?”

People around the room

The Henituse side of the family stared at the man who’d been mentioned.

Cale snorted in his seat.

Seriously? More important?

“Are you talking about my son?”

“…Chef.”

“Yes. My son is the chef. Do you need him to make something for your hangover?”

The man felt his surroundings turn dark and he started to feel dizzy. He lowered his head and put it into his hand.

Kim Rok Soo, who was sitting in one side of the room, was quietly doing the same.

“Young master, are you still drunk? Should I call the doctor? Or will you wash right now?”

The man looked at the red hair that was falling in front of his face. It was a bright red color, much too different from his original black hair.

At the mention of this, many people started to scan the crowd for that same hair color.

Their eyes landed on Choi Han who was still covered in blood, and a black-haired man next to him that seem to be burying his head in his hands as if he could not watch, but that man’s action was useless.

Since apparently, you can still see the projection even if you close your eyes.

‘Fuck, this is driving me crazy.’

Cale Henituse. Beacrox. Beacrox’s dad, Ron.

They were the characters that appeared at the beginning of [The Birth of a Hero], the novel the man was reading before he fell asleep last night.

There was a gasp in the crowd.

“That! It’s that! That’s the title of the book that was falling earlier!”

The nobles felt a bit iffy about this novel being about them, but they’d like to think it was about them rather than them being fictional characters. That’s an existential crisis they’d rather have on a different day.

He jerked his head up and looked around. He could see the bedroom that was completely different from a typical Korean design. It made the man think about Europe. Every single thing in the room was extremely extravagant and luxurious.

“Ko…huh?”

“Eu… eu-what?”

“Why, thank you.” Cale joked shamelessly as he leaned back on the wall behind him and read about the compliments about his bedroom, while the people around him felt stupefied by the alien words being used in the projection—no, in a certain person’s thoughts.

“Korea is a country in our world. Europe is a continent that is from there as well.”

Kim Rok Soo purposely ignored the fact that Choi Han was discreetly explaining things to the empty space near them, like a crazy person, and just attentively read the projection.

“Young master?”

The man responded to Ron, the old man who was pretending to be concerned and worried.

“Pardon me?” The old man in question was slightly taken aback.

“Cold water.”

“Excuse me?”

He needed something to clear his mind. He could see the face of Cale Henituse in the mirror behind old man Ron.

‘Still looks normal.’

‘I guess Cale hasn’t been beaten to a pulp by the main character just yet.'

“Beaten to a what?!”

Count Deruth suddenly looked like he was ready to stand up and throw hands, only to be held back by his wife.

“Ah, right. That happened.” Cale simply declared like it wasn’t big of a news.

His family stared at him in disbelief.

“It seems that the one in your body is no longer you, Young Master Cale.” Litana observed, taking note of the way the person’s thoughts were referring to Cale as just “Cale” instead of the normal way of referring to one’s self, which is naturally “I”.

His handsome face caught his attention.

Both Choi Han and Cale Henituse stared squarely at Kim Rok Soo, who in turn turned away from them without saying anything.

The man had become Cale Henituse when he opened his eyes.

Cale Henituse. The trash who was beaten to a pulp by the main character in the beginning of [The Birth of a Hero]. That was who he was.

“Trash?” Valentino raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Cale explained immediately, face beaming, “Oh, you may have not heard of my reputation since you’re not from Roan, but I am well-known as the trashy young master of the Count’s family in the country.”

The Crown Prince of the Caro Kingdom gave him a look that wanted to say that that wasn’t something to be proud about, but wisely kept his mouth shut, while Count Deruth was once again glowering at the screen and saying, “What do you mean, he gets beaten up?!” just behind him.

“Young master, I presume you will not be bathing in cold water. Are you asking for drinking water?”

Cale turned his gaze toward Ron. Ron may be pretending to be a benign old man, but he was actually hiding his true identity as a cruel and vicious individual.

“What.”

Eyes turned towards the old man in shock and seeing the old man’s expression unmoved by the revelation, chaos descended the room.

“WHAT?!”

“Mr. Ron, if I may confirm this…?” A suddenly behaved Count Deruth sitting on his seat on the floor carefully asked his subordinate, who just sighed and shook his head before answering.

“I believe that the screen will confirm it on its own, my Lord.”

Cale stared at Ron from the side before whispering to the air in a voice that only the skilled individuals in the room could hear.

“I already knew.”

The old man seemed to stiffen for a moment before relaxing.

Cale quietly returned to staring at the screen just in time to see the next scene unfold.

He made the request to Ron.

“Please get me some drinking water.”

He needed to drink some cold water and clear his mind first.

“I will prepare it right away.”

“Great. Thanks.”

“Oh, that’s really not the young master-nim.” The deputy butler announced laughingly before realizing he just badmouthed his employer and quickly adding in, “Not because the young master-nim is known to never say thanks or anything like that! It’s totally not because of that!”

“Hans.”

“Yes?”

“Please shut up.”

Ron flinched for a second and had an odd expression on his face, but Cale did not notice it.

“You were this close to being found out as soon as you woke up because you didn’t know how trash is supposed to act.” Cale whined under his breath as he glanced at the faraway figures of Choi Han and Kim Rok Soo who would obviously not be able to hear his complaints.

It didn’t stop Kim Rok Soo from glaring at his direction even if he didn’t hear what he was saying.

‘I can tell you are talking shit about me just from the look on your face.’ Is what the Korean thought.

***

Ron had to leave the bedroom as there was only warm water in the room. Once he was left alone, Cale got off the bed and headed to the bathroom. If he really was inside of the novel, he knew that there should be a large mirror inside.

As expected, the full body mirror was inside the bathroom. Cale Henituse, who had a lot of interest in his appearance and physique, had this mirror set up in here. Nobody else in the household had such a mirror.

“Okay, I’m getting more and more convinced that the novel he read wrote that mirror in for this very moment.” Princess Jopis’s lips quirked into a smile as she caressed her dog while watching from her seat. She shot a quizzical look at Cale Henituse and asked, “Young Master Cale, do you really have a full-body mirror inside your bathroom?”

“Yes, I do.” Cale smiled, “At least, I did until my house was runover by wyverns.”

Silence fell upon the Henituse group.

“Ahem.” Princess Jopis faked coughing into her hand before giving a small, “I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. It’s been decades.”

The man in the mirror had red hair and a pretty fit body. It wouldn’t be wrong to say he had a body that would make any style look good.

“Well, he’s not wrong.” A blue-haired guy eyed the man supposed to be in the mirror.

“Bud. Please.” His companion sounded very tired.

“I really am Cale.”

The man in the mirror indeed was Cale Henituse from the novel. [The Birth of a Hero] was very descriptive about each of the character’s appearance. That was why the man had no choice but to agree that he had indeed turned into Cale Henituse.

“Again. It was written for this moment, for sure.” Princess Jopis grinned.

“I’m sure the only thing written was ‘red-hair’ and ‘handsome’ when they were talking about my appearance, though.” Cale smugly smirked as he crossed his arms.

Do people usually become calmer when they are surprised and shocked?

Everyone’s thought was one and the same.

‘No.’

Cale, no, Kim Rok Soo, calmly thought about the night before.

That was it. The confirmation that a different person was living in this Cale Henituse’s body.

It was a typical day off. It had been a while since he had read an actual book instead of on his phone, so he went to the library to check out some books. He borrowed the entire series since he planned to read all day long.

The name of that book was, of course, [The Birth of a Hero]. He managed to finish the fifth volume before he fell asleep. But when he woke up, he had turned into Cale Henituse, the individual that the main character mercilessly beat up in volume 1.

“I will ask it again.” Count Deruth calmly took a deep breath while staring at the screen, “Why?”

“Mercilessly is just about right.” Cale informed them callously while internally digesting the information about this Kim Rok Soo and where he comes from, just in case he ends up agreeing in the end.

First of all, the guy seems to have a job if he could get a day off.

Second, whatever the hell a phone might be, it seems that you can use it to read things.

And lastly, this Kim Rok Soo individual…

‘He didn’t finish the story.’

The words specifically said he only read up until the fifth volume before falling asleep.

Is he going to be okay?

‘Will things go the way they did in the novel?’

He felt unnaturally calm. Once he got past the point of shock, his mind had calmed back down. He started to remember the contents of volume 1.

Many felt a bit unsettled with how straight to the point this Kim Rok Soo possessing Cale Henituse’s body was, but eagerly waited for more information about this so-called “novel” to appear in the screen.

[The Birth of a Hero.]

This novel was about the birth of the heroes in the Western and Eastern continents, as well as their trials and growth. The main character was, naturally, Korean. He was a student who had been transported into the world when he was a freshman in high school. Furthermore, his lifespan became as long as a dragon’s lifespan, making him pretty much never age.

“Ho!”

“As long as a dragon’s lifespan?!”

Gasps and mutterings bubbled up from the audience at this piece of information. Whoever this person was, it was fitting for someone deemed to be a main character for a hero’s story.

The calmer group who had the golden-haired elf at the very front seemed to have become more interested in the story after the mention of dragons as well, and Kim Rok Soo took note of that very faintly while the people all around them started processing the words and asking what “Korean” was.

“… This is bad?”

He was going to be beaten into a pulp by such a person.

Choi Han, who had half of the brains to know that he was the person being described in the past few sentences, could only stare pointedly at Kim Rok Soo. Kim Rok Soo, as always, used tactic evasion and pretended not to see.

The important thing, however, was that he had not been beaten up just yet.

Cale took his eyes off the mirror and walked into the tub that was full of warm water. He leaned against the tub and looked up at the ceiling. It was that expensive marble that was described in the novel. The estate that Cale lived in was actually full of marble.

There was a whistle of envy from the crowd as the Henituse family around the real Cale Henituse puffed up with pride. Only the most expensive luxury items for this wealthy family.

“Did the novel need to say something about this one though…”

Cale started to mumble as he looked toward the ceiling.

“It’s not like there’s much I’ll miss.”

“Hm?”

His life as Kim Rok Soo. There really wasn’t much to it. He was an orphan and didn’t have much money. He also didn’t have a person he loved to death, nor a friend he would give his life to save. He only continued to live because he could not die.

Yes, he could not die.

He completely hated the thought of death or pain. He became an orphan after both of his parents passed away from a car accident when he was little.

He didn’t like pain or death. No matter what it was, even if he was rolling in a pile of dog shit, it was still better than being dead.

‘For that reason, I need to first make sure I don’t get beaten up.’

Cale Henituse took some time to come to terms with this new knowledge he gained about his potential future body.

An orphan. Didn’t have much money. Didn’t have a person he loved to death.

This… kinda sounds like an awful life, if he has to say so himself.

All of this will end up being his own story as soon as he switches places with this guy so he couldn’t help but feel a bit bitter.

Well, at least there was plenty of room for change.

‘And mother would be there, too.’

Meanwhile, in the Korean side of the room…

“Rok Soo hyung.”

“…yes?”

“May I ask why I beat this man named Cale Henituse up?”

“…I’m sure it’ll be explained. Just keep watching.”

“…okay.”

Cale did not know what day it was in the novel right now, but he was sure that he had not met with the main character just yet. The reason was simple.

‘I don’t have the scar on my side.’

Cale Henituse, the trash of Count Henituse’s family. A few days before meeting the main character, Cale was drinking and causing a ruckus. He was flinging things around and got stabbed on his side by a broken desk leg, resulting in the scar.

What an interesting character. He didn’t get the scar from fighting someone else. He got it because he got angry that the alcohol didn’t taste good and threw a tantrum. He meets the main character after he gets the scar, and, after a short discussion, he gets beaten to a pulp.

“Ahem. As I said.” Cale cleared his throat as he read the words, fighting back the mortifying feeling rising up from the pits of his stomach at the reminder of his juvenile years.

Valentino stared at him as if he finally understood the secrets of the world, before hesitantly nodding.

“Mm.”

Cale crossed his arms and started to think.

He did not know what happened to Cale after getting beaten to a pulp in volume 1. All he knew was that the main character, Choi Han, has many fateful encounters and overcomes a lot of trials to grow into a hero along with his party members.

Thus, the era for him to prove that he is a hero will begin. The Roan Kingdom that Cale currently lives in, as well as many other locations in the Eastern and Western continents, will be filled with war. It truly will turn into the time for the heroes to show their full potential.

Everyone who had heard the future from the real Cale Henituse already couldn’t help but frown at the reminder of the 20-year-long war that ravaged the two continents.

At least the novel got to inform him about that.

Cale started to frown. Kim Rok Soo, the man who became Cale. His life motto was pretty simple.

Living long without pain. Enjoying the small joys of life.

Living a peaceful life.

Deruth Henituse flinched at this statement.

It was far too reminiscent of the Henituse family’s own motto that he felt as though, if this man were truly to replace his eldest son, he would actually fit right in.

He shook this thought out of his head quickly however.

He still didn’t like thinking about the whole body-switch and how it could potentially go right under their noses.

“… As long as I make the story proceed like normal while taking out the fact that I get beaten up, the main character will take care of the rest.”

“Is it really that easy?” Rosalyn skeptically wondered.

“…we all saw him stab himself in the heart and floating with different elemental powers in the first projection, didn’t we?”

Princess Jopis didn’t say it very loudly but many people still heard her statement and internally agreed.

Unless that was part of the novel, then no, the story is definitely not going to go how this man thought it would.

For some odd reason, he could recall every single line in the book without any issue. Cale relaxed in the warm water while coming to a final conclusion with his now clear head.

“It’s worth trying.”

It was worth trying to avoid the continent’s war and living peacefully. This trash’s situation was much better than when he was Kim Rok Soo. The location of this estate was also in the corner of the Western Continent, making it an ideal location to avoid the war. In the novel itself, there were many nobles who managed to avoid the influences of war. Even if he could not completely avoid it, he should be able to at least reduce the damages to a minimum.

People somehow ended up flashbacking to the white monster they saw at the beginning, the fire in the jungle and the various scary fight scenes that had happened in the blink of an eye.

…Will he really be able to reduce the damages though…?

“Young master, are you inside the bathroom?”

He could hear Ron’s voice coming from outside. Cale thought about Ron’s true identity.

Welp, there goes almost two decades of laying low.

Ron was an assassin who crossed over from the Eastern Continent by sea. He pretended to be a benign old man, but the true Ron was a cruel and merciless man.

The strong individuals in the room blankly stared at the words on the screen. Well, they did expect it because they’d been told beforehand but…

“A man like that is working for a certain County?” A white-haired man with purple eyes said what everyone wanted to say out loud, voice laced with amusement as he smiled showing his fangs, and Ron and his son both lower their heads at the implication, biting back the vicious expressions that would have crept unto their faces otherwise.

The Henituse County has been nothing but kind to them, taking Ron and his son in despite their lacking background.

“Yes. I’ll be right out.”

His natural response was to talk informally to the old man. Cale realized what he was doing and made up his mind about what to do in the future.

He needed to push that old man to the main character and send him away.

This time, Ron couldn’t quite conceal the vicious smile that appeared on his face after reading that this new person impersonating the boy that he has raised is so eager to push him away.

Kim Rok Soo sneezed.

That old man could easily kill Cale with a single blow, but treated Cale like a puppy you left alone because you felt bad for it. He was smiling gently, but there was not an ounce of care about Cale on the inside. In the novel, Ron leaves with the main character and his son after Choi Han beats Cale to a pulp.

Suddenly, all thoughts inside Ron’s head stopped on their tracks.

His eyes flashed towards the real young master he was serving, the 40-year-old injured redhead who was sitting lazily on the floor without showing any outward reaction to the words that could be interpreted in the worst ways if you try.

Cale just threw him a short uncaring glance before snorting, “What? I wouldn’t blame you, I’m a handful and I know that.”

No, but that’s not what Ron—

Cale put the bathrobe on as he quickly exited the bathroom. Ron was standing there with a smile on his face and a tray with a cup in his hands.

“Young master, here you go.”

Cale picked up the cup and walked past the old man. He did not want to make eye contact with such a dangerous old man.

Ron wisely shut his mouth and continued reading instead of arguing.

Things must have happened.

He always knew that he couldn’t stay in the County forever, especially since they were being chased by Arm, so he could think of many reasons for the him from that novel to act the way he did, so he didn’t bother anymore.

It was just bound to happen, and well, it did, in another time.

“Great, thanks.”

“He’s doing it again…” A certain ginger whispered a bit to himself, unable to imagine the trashy young master thanking anyone, but he underestimated the wonders of the human ear.

“Hans, I thought I told you to shut up?”

“Yes, young master. This Hans will start shutting up now.”

Ron’s expression turned odd once again, but Cale had already walked past him. Cale took a drink of the cold water as he started to think.

‘There are too many strong people here.’

‘Here, too.’ Kim Rok Soo grimaced as he observed the many ridiculously strong people in the room, some of which might even be stronger than Choi Han.

“I share the sentiment.” A blue-haired guy with glasses scoffed, and Kim Rok Soo quickly made a mental note that this particular person was strong enough to figure out the same things Choi Han did. He doesn’t know who he is but better be careful.

In fact, there were too many of them. No matter where the main character went, there were either strong individuals or individuals with hidden secrets. These individuals were both human and other races.

A hooded person in the crowd shifted uncomfortably while thoroughly tucked in one spot behind a similarly covered person with dark features who seems to be looking after her.

‘I at least need the strength to protect myself.’

In order to live long without pain in the continent that will soon be filled with war, you needed a decent level of strength. Of course, you could not be too strong. Then other complicated things will happen.

Cale thought about the different fateful encounters that occurred in the beginning parts of the novel. The powers that strengthen the main character and his party members. He was thinking about the ones that would help him live long without pain. There were a couple that came to mind. He just needed to pick one of them.

As much as the audience wanted to applaud him for his wisdom, the fact that this version of Cale Henituse was thinking of going and stealing something that should be another person’s power cancelled that out.

“Young master, we will start to dress you now.”

“Oh, right. Thanks.”

The deputy butler made a point not to say anything after the warning look he received from the young master.

The door soon opened and couple servants entered to help Ron dress Cale. Cale did not notice that Ron had a stoic expression unlike his usual self as he looked at the clothes the servants were bringing in.

“Ah, something simple today.”

He hated really complicated attires. Simple clothes that let you relax comfortably were the best.

“Yes, young master.”

“How dull.” Cale commented with a lop-sided smile.

If it was any other person, they’d have been glad for his immaculate and impressive wardrobe that had almost every single color from the rainbow and the void, but this person he’s about to become after this was looking at it in such a way.

Cale was sure he’s going to have to upgrade this man’s closet once they switch places.

The servant in charge of the attires quickly pulled out some simple clothes and Cale changed into the simplest of them all. He lightly frowned after finishing getting dressed. Even this, ‘simple,’ attire was extremely extravagant and not to his liking.

However, the reflection in the mirror was quite handsome.

‘He really is handsome and makes any clothes look good.’

The face really was the final piece to fashion.

“Heck yeah, it is.”

A certain redhead smugly and shamelessly smirked from his seat and one look at him, who despite being battered and roughed up by the years still looked catching to the eye, was enough for anyone to decide that he was right.

It was such an unfair world for those who actually need to dress up instead of relying on their face.

He looked in the mirror and fixed his sleeves before turning around to look at Ron.

Ron was once again smiling like a gentle old man.

“Ron, let’s go.”

“Yes, young master.”

Cale walked behind Ron. It was nice that he did not need to know the layout of the estate. He just needed to follow Ron wherever he needed to go.

“That…”

Everyone could only sigh at the convenience of the situation.

All of the servants that Cale saw flinched and bowed respectfully before they seemed to run away.

‘Why are they so scared? Cale never hit people.’

“Is that true, Young Master Cale?” Litana cautiously asked the real Cale Henituse, finding him a much more dependable source than the impostor.

“Unless you are a gangster or a scammer, I will not even think of hitting you.” Cale announced.

Litana didn’t know if she should be relieved or not.

“However, young master-nim, sometimes words hurt more than broken bones.” Ron interjected with a tone that made everyone in the vicinity who couldn’t cope well with the reveal of his secret identity and his act of abandoning Cale flinch.

Not quite understanding the context of this, Valentino, Litana and Jopis all turned to Cale as if asking him to explain. The young master flashed them a bright smile.

“Let us just say that if you try to wake me up in the morning in a bad day, many words can come out of this mouth.”

Deputy Butler Hans, who has once upon a time overheard a sample of this words while passing by the Young master’s room one morning, shuddered remembering the sheer crispiness in every single word that flew out of the window that day.

He just liked to drink and play. Sometimes, when he was drunk, he did break things. But that was why he was the trash of the family. He also did not treat people like people, other than the few people he liked.

“…I’d like to guess that you’ve grown out of that?” Jopis boldly arced an eyebrow towards Cale, who in reply gave a face that was the embodiment of stunned amusement.

“…I think? Maybe? War can change anybody.”

Dark faces appeared in their group at the reminder, especially since they knew that the Henituse territory was the first to be hit.

‘Well, it’s better if nobody talks to me.’

Cale thought about it peacefully. It would be more difficult if he was in the body of a model citizen. A trash can do as he pleases without worry. It was only possible because there was no desire to live as a model citizen.

“I will now open the door.”

“Sure.”

“Glad my reputation pleases you.”

Cale nodded his head toward Ron. The book mentioned that Cale treated Ron, someone who raised him like he was his own grandson since he was little, as nicely as he treated his own father. It mentioned that he always responded to Ron and treated him like a person.

Ron’s eyes grew dark at these words and as he expected the next words cut like a knife.

Of course, Ron did not really think that way.

Deruth and Violan both glanced at their trusted elderly servant with complicated expressions but Ron did not seem to want to enlighten them or elaborate or even explain it. They both weren’t very willing to believe the contents of the novel just yet, however, it was alarming for them to imagine what Ron could do to their child now that they know what kind of person he was.

That was why it was easy for Cale to talk to Ron. He just needed to answer Ron’s questions and treat him like a human being.

“I hope you enjoy your breakfast.”

“Thanks. Ron, make sure you eat a good meal too.”

Cale walked past Ron and into the dining room.

“…Was I so bad that I wasn’t even treating you like a human being, Ron?”

The sudden question managed to snap out the old and vicious servant from his trance, and he saw his puppy young master staring at him with an indifferent face.

Ron deigned the look of a benign old man by habit as he answered.

“Of course, not, Young master-nim. I’ve seen worse.”

“But I was still bad, nonetheless. Got it.”

Cale clicked his tongue.

He could see his family sitting there. His father and the current head of the Henituse household, Deruth. Next to him was Cale’s step mother, the Countess, as well as her son and daughter. The four people looked toward Cale.

“You are late again, today.”

Cale’s gaze turned toward his father who spoke.

“Oh! It’s us.”

The 7-year-old Lily bounced in her seat a little with hidden excitement at the mention of her parents, sibling and herself. At least she thinks she’s concealing it well, but to everyone else who could see this, she was practically vibrating with excitement.

However, Kim Rok Soo who knew the description of Cale Henituse’s relationship with his family, could not feel very good knowing that the child won’t really see much good things from it.

[The Birth of a Hero] described Cale’s feelings for his father like this.

‘His father was the one person that Cale listened to. The reason the trash did not leave the area and got everything he wanted inside the Count’s territory was because of his father, Count Deruth Henituse.’

Count Deruth didn’t know if that was supposed to be a compliment or an insult to him.

Paint him in black or white properly, why don’t you?

But, unfortunately, Cale’s father was unlike the other strong fathers in this novel. He did not have any special skills or influence. He just had a lot of money.

Deruth had no argument against that.

However, Cale liked this a lot. It was the perfect family environment to live a simple life.

The real Cale Henituse sadly smiled.

Then there were the other three individuals.

The individuals in question all sharply turned their attention towards the words being projected to everyone, feeling their introduction to the story approaching.

His stepmother who knew that he did not like her and avoided him.

Her smart first-born who found it difficult to deal with his much older brother Cale.

And the cute youngest of the family who avoided her older brother Cale.

The three members of the family gaped at the merciless description of their relationship with Cale, faces contorted in many different ways. There was a cough somewhere in their group, but no one could tell if it was from their own subordinates or from the royals they took into their little crowd.

‘…I was called cute.’

Only Lily could acknowledge the positive part of her description as Basen seemed to be a bit too preoccupied wrestling with himself about his own, because well, it wasn’t wrong.

But it wasn’t like Cale bothered them or they bothered Cale. They just treated each other like strangers.

Cale thought this was such a great environment to quietly live alone.

There were many family-related people transported into the black room and so several dubious glances were thrown the Henituse’s way. Some of the families here seemed to not be able to understand how family could be this way, but there were a few people in the crowd who saw this family dynamic better than most noble family’s family situation.

“It is really a great environment, isn’t it?” A black-haired woman with a tattoo whispered with a rueful smile at her dear friend.

The cripple on the wheelchair nodded with a similar smile on his face.

‘At least his younger siblings weren’t trying to break his legs.’

“Take a seat.”

“Yes, father.”

Cale looked at the feast on the table that did not meet his definition of breakfast and sat down on his seat. He then felt something was odd and lifted his head up.

“Is there something you need to say, father?”

“… No, I do not.”

Deruth was staring at Cale. The rest of the family was doing the same. Cale made eye contact with each of these family members. They all quickly turned away whenever he made eye contact and continued to eat.

“…well, this is awkward.”

One of the whales blurted out only to be lightly hit on the shoulder by his half-blood superior.

He was telling the truth, though. From the looks of it, that must have been a very awkward breakfast for the Henituse family.

‘I guess they find me really difficult to handle.’

“Cale…”

Violan started with a tone that seemed to be a parent about to scold a young child, and the redhead raised his hands up in the air and smiled, unfazed.

“Hey, hey. We all know it’s the truth.”

‘No, in fact, we don’t know.’

The three royals who had ended up being stuck in the middle of the Henituse County’s family issues somehow could only think that as they tried to make themselves as unnoticeable and inconspicuous as they could.

The Henituse County subordinates couldn’t have a more awkward expression on their faces as they heard the words of their young master. Only Beacrox could keep a straight face even though he was remembering all the shit he’s had to deal with when the young master doesn’t like his meals.

Cale turned his head toward the table as well. This luxurious feast that was different than the breakfast he used to eat just to fill his belly made him start to smile. He first started by cutting the sausage in half with the knife.

‘It is so juicy.’

He didn’t know if juice flowed out as soon as he cut into it because it was handmade or because it was cooked well, but the color on the sausage made him hungry. Cale started to smile without realizing it.

Clang.

He heard something fall down and made eye contact with his younger brother Basen. He could see that Basen had dropped the fork in his hand.

“My apologies.”

Basen calmly apologized like the personality described for him in the novel. The servant in charge of the meal quickly came over to hand Basen a new fork and picked up the fork on the floor. Watching that made Cale think that it was nice to be a noble, before he focused once again on the food in front of him.

Cale had found the first good thing about coming into the novel. This breakfast was extremely luxurious and so tasty that his stomach was completely happy.

The smile on his face could not disappear.

Beacrox snapped out of his trip to memory lane.

‘He likes it?’

Ah. Right, right.

This wasn’t the young master he knows.

To his side, Basen was staring at the screen while battling the iffy feeling that settled on his chest. He knew deep inside that he’d have acted that way if he was to see his brother smile during breakfast out of nowhere, too. His brother almost never smiles around them, after all, and always complains about the food.

The 15-year-old stole a glance at his older brother’s face that had been weathered by the years.

He wonders what his Hyung-nim thinks of that.

“…Ho?”

That was why he did not hear his brother Basen’s shocked proclamation.

Basen’s cheeks burned in mortification at the phrasing of his reaction, but right after that, no other words were projected onto the screen even after a minute passed.

After those words, the projection simply disappeared altogether as light illuminated everyone properly in the room, once again.

---

‘The chapter must have ended.’

Kim Rok Soo deduced as he remained on the floor even when many people stood up and started stretching and making groups once again as if they were elementary schoolers being assigned to do group discussions. It was way funnier than it should be considering that no one exactly told them to do that, but they still did it anyway.

‘It’s good in its own way that they’re making sure they process the information right.’

As he had this thought while staring at the various groups being created in the room, he felt a hand land on his shoulder and then felt a chill run down his spine.

“Rok Soo hyung.”

He slowly turned his head to meet eye-to-eye with Choi Han who had a fairly neutral expression on his face, but the sight of the now blackened-color of dry blood on him wasn’t setting up a very favorable atmosphere for a Korean-to-Korean conversation right now.

“It didn’t say the reason why I beat up that guy, in the end. Can’t you just tell me?”

That was what Choi Han was saying but his face said something more along the lines of “Instead of discussing what happened just like the others, can’t you just tell me what happens in the novel so that I can understand your thoughts beforehand?”

Kim Rok Soo was already feeling bitter that his thoughts were being presented to such vicious individuals, but the subtle wheedling underneath of Choi Han’s innocent face wasn’t helping him feel any better.

“…Yeah. Yeah, sure.”

Kim Rok Soo gives up.

It’s not like it’ll take him too long to explain and they won’t be able to reflect on the things they’ve learned so far.

You know.

Like grade schoolers.

---

“Cale, we need to talk.”

It was Violan once again who tried to start a private family conference in the middle of their sparse free time, eyebrows drawn and fan shut close on her lap. Cale smiled at her sweetly but fakely, a smile that he’s never ever shown her in the past decade and a smile that really hurts.

“Yeah, a lot of surprising information came out in this projection, after all. Of course, we all need to talk.”

‘…it was actually fewer than the projection with pictures though.’

The uninvolved parties didn’t say that even though they really wanted to. They just let the young master who was smiling fakely at his stepmother do and say what he wants. It doesn’t take an expert to know that he was trying to avoid a touchy conversation.

“No, Cale. We need to talk. The five of us. Right now.”

Of course, the Countess was stubborn and insistent, her eyes levelled such that she looked like a noble through and through and a crack appeared in Cale’s smile at the sight of this.

In the end, the red-haired young master could only sigh.

“…Does it have to be now?”

“Yes.”

“We aren’t the only ones here, mother, there’s—”

Cale suddenly bit his tongue, realizing his mistake long after he’s already committed it.

Countess Violan was staring at him with coin round eyes filled with surprise.

In the past 10 years since becoming part of the Henituse family, Violan never heard Cale call her “mother” no matter the situation. Not even once did she hear that word come out of the boy’s name since she first met him when she became her husband’s new wife.

Her eyes turned glassy.

A red tint crept up Cale’s face as he saw that.

“…you know, it’s a bit weird to see a 40-year-old young master calling the Countess, ‘mother’.”

“Hans.”

“Yes, young master?” The obnoxious ginger chirped, batting his eyelashes.

“This is the third time.”

“Understood, young master. It really won’t happen again.”

Chuckles burst out of their small little group, particularly from the royal people who had been tense until now. The atmosphere felt a bit more relaxed thanks to the cheery deputy butler’s antics.

There were two people, however, who could not be moved by this.

It was Ron and Deruth who were staring at each other in silence.

“Mr. Ron. I will be willing to listen to you and your son’s story if you are willing to share it.” Deruth proposed with serious eyes as he managed to hold his own in front of the now-revealed ruthless assassin from the eastern continent, “My wife and I do not trust a novel that appeared out of nowhere, divine means or not, more than a servant who has perfectly done his job for the last two decades without fail.”

The old man’s eyes seemed to shake at his employer’s words.

Deruth already understood that if Ron was an assassin, then his son, Beacrox, must know a bit of the trade as well, considering that the man was not too surprised by his father’s secret coming out in the open.

“You and Mr. Beacrox have served us well for the past several years. This is the least that we can do.”

Finally, people started to notice the conversation that the two were having and all eyes turned towards the duo who were still staring at each other as if they were having an old man’s only staring competition. Litana personally admired the Henituse County’s level-headedness even after learning their trusted employee's true identity, and so did Valentino. Princess Jopis just watched while patting her dog in the head, indifferent to the situation.

Lowering his gaze, Ron spoke after some time.

“I am the patriarch of the Molan household, Ron Molan.”

Princess Jopis almost dropped her dog.

Her wide eyes searched the old man for any sign of his words being just a really bad dad joke, but alas the old man’s eyes were clear.

She shrieked, realizing the realness of the situation, “YOU’RE A MOLAN?!”

The loudness of her voice showed no mercy.

Almost everyone in their half of the room heard her outburst, and a purple-haired individual from the other side of the room could be seen turning to their direction with a shocked expression. The blue-haired guy with the glasses was sticking close to him as if to make sure he doesn’t stagger on the spot with a similar expression though his jaw was lying deserted on the floor.

Ron flatly looked at Jopis, face devoid of hostility, just open judgment.

“Yes, your highness. I’m a Molan.”

Jopis sheepishly smiled as she tried to hide behind her dog.

“Me and my son are the only Molans left.”

Everyone in the group except for Ron and Beacrox flinched.

“Around two decades ago, our household had been attacked and razed to the ground. Everyone, including my wife died at that time. Only me and my son escaped from our household all the way to the western continent.”

Not a single soul made a sound.

They all knew that the story they were hearing was one that was deeply ingrained in the old man’s memory, much more to his son’s who was probably a young boy at that time.

“In order to avoid being caught, we fled to the Roan Kingdom whose only special characteristic was its long history of standing. The Henituse County, that was all rocks and had the Forest of Darkness in it, ended up being the place we went to in the end. Count Deruth took us in and offered us jobs and ever since then, we’ve been maintaining a low profile.”

Ron finished up his story with a tired look on his face.

“Surviving is enough.”

Silence was the only response he received as his audience were still too taken aback by what they’ve learned to be able to make a reply.

“I didn’t know that.”

Cale broke the silence, clear reddish-brown eyes staring at Ron, face seemingly apathetic.

Ron gave him a benign smile, “Of course, you wouldn’t. We wouldn’t have survived this long if we couldn’t keep that from the people we held close.”

The people they held close.

Cale didn’t reply anymore and tore his gaze away from the old man.

“No wonder the Molan household suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth…” Jopis exclaimed breathlessly, “No one in the Molden Kingdom would dare try to climb up the mountain range to check what happened so we were none the wiser. But how could such a famous assassin household…”

“They’re keeping their job, right?”

“Hm? Sorry?”

Surprised by the sudden interjection during her ramblings, Jopis cocked an eyebrow at Cale, the culprit, only to realize after following the young master’s eyes that it wasn’t her that he was talking to but someone else.

“Naturally.”

Count Deruth answered with a tone of finality and the father-son duo who’d been hanging their heads low like sinners in church suddenly raised their heads with wide eyes. Their reaction in itself was proof that they should keep their job even more.

They were capable of just killing Deruth right here and now for abandoning them after their secret identities have been revealed but no, they were waiting for the verdict like criminals.

“This background of theirs does nothing but just add more use to them in the future.” Deruth spoke plainly and acceptingly as if he was stating a fact, not even a little bit disturbed by the father-son duo’s identity. He shot the duo a careful look as he added, “That is if the two of them still want to keep working with us even after this.”

Ron and Beacrox were speechless.

It’s true that assassins could be a pretty great asset to the Henituse household, especially with the incoming war in the horizon, but still, to accept this so easily-

“I’m fine with them staying.” Basen vouched albeit hesitantly. “Mr. Ron is an essential part of the Henituse administration even if he was just a servant to the family’s eldest son, and his wisdom has proved to be helpful many times before.”

On the other hand, his little sister gave a thumbs up to show her own support for the duo.

“Mr. Beacrox’s cooking is great.”

“Ah, yes. It’s going to be our household’s greatest culinary loss if they leave.”

Cale sighed dramatically as if to humor his little sister’s statement, making the chef pointedly glare at him, but Cale only quirked his lips into a smirk.

He actually meant every single word he said.

He never appreciated Beacrox’s cooking until it was gone.

After they left and after the County was razed to the ground, Cale realized that he could not eat such cooking just anywhere. He had taken the food he was provided with for granted and actually missed it dearly.

Just to make sure the message comes across properly, he let his smirk fall into a much more genuine smile.

“I mean it. When the two of you left and then when I had been on the run as the only survivor of a noble household, the food could never be the same.”

Beacrox regarded him with doubtful eyes, but Cale spoke the truth and nothing but the truth.

Violan cut in to save her stepson the embarrassment of sharing his feelings in public, her stoic face hidden behind her fan, “I’m fine with them as well, as long as they still wish to serve us.”

She shot a look at their two subordinates-turned-assassins.

“Do you still wish to work in our Henituse County, Mr. Ron, Mr. Beacrox?”

The two went quiet at the blatant support of the Henituse family.

And then after exchanging glances, Ron knelt in front of the family to be followed by Beacrox immediately.

“Thank you. My son, he likes cooking far more than the assassination techniques passed down in our family. It would be our honor to keep serving the Henituse County.”

Beacrox, who apparently didn’t get the memo that he was going to be thrown under the bus, made a surprised noise of indignation, “Father.”

Ron ignored him, a true smile crinkling his eyes as he bowed to his employers.

“This Ron will make sure to serve you to the utmost of his abilities until the last day of his life.”

“Ooooookay, cut the crap. You still have many years to live, old man.”

A chuckle came out of Ron at the violent reaction of his puppy young master to his statement.

Cale rolled his eyes before shifting on his seat and clapping his hands together.

“Okay, okay. I think this conversation is now over. Shall we now review what the heck we all saw today?”

For some reason, Violan feels like she’s forgetting something.

“Sure.” Deruth shrugged.

“As you wish, young master.” Ron bowed again.

“If you would please.” Valentino smiled.

Having been forced to watch another country’s noble family issues, the three royals in their group were smiling far too warmly for people who’ve been shoved to the background during a sentimental event.

“Okay, then, I’ll start. First of all!”

Cale fixed the position of his legs with a huff before starting.

“…That guy was not me.”

Silence.

“…We could tell, young master-nim.”

“I’m sure we already established that.”

“No, no, you need to sear it into your brain even more because I’m 100% sure that that guy is the main character of this story and not me, even though he has my name. I don’t want any of you scolding me for the things he does just because he’s in my body and using my name, but I also don’t want you to be hostile to him because the switch was probably mostly my choice.”

There were incensed responses from the audience at the implication that they would be hostile at all.

But in the end, the Henituse family established two rules:

1. Whatever the fuck the man named Kim Rok Soo does in Cale Henituse’s body, the real Cale Henituse will not be to blame, and
2. No matter what happens on screen, they must absolutely not harm the Kim Rok Soo in this room even if they feel like it

“…We don’t even know which person in this room is Kim Rok Soo, Hyung-nim.”

‘I know. But I’m not telling any of you.’

Cale shrugged of his thoughts as he answered with a quick “it’s just to be safe”, but it was at that moment that Princess Jopis started muttering to herself.

“It would be a bit more convenient if we did know, though, because at least we can observe the guy.”

“Do you need my help with that, friend?”

“…? OH, FUCK-”

Swear words reflexively poured out of the Eastern continent princess’s mouth after being jump-scared by a blue-haired man with glasses who was crouching right behind her.

Her dog started aggressively barking at the stranger, even going as far as almost trying to pounce on him if Jopis had not been able to hold the pup back.

“Who the hell???”

“Hello, Princess Jopis of the Molden Kingdom, Queen Litana of the Jungle and Crown Prince Valentino. Hello to the Henituse County, as well. My name is Bud Illis, the mercenary king, at your service.”

The guy flashed a smile that looked very opportunistic and the people around him started to warily look him up and down.

The mercenary king, huh?

He… hm.

Well, he did look like he had the muscles.

They all turned to look at the regressor in the group as if to ask for guidance but unfortunately, Cale Henituse was just blankly staring at him just like the rest of them, squinting his eyes, face scrunched up trying very hard to remember him to no avail.

“To what…”

Violan started with a sigh before her eyes narrowed at the so-called mercenary king from behind her fan, “To what do we owe the pleasure of talking to the mercenary guild’s mercenary king?”

The smile on Bud Illis’s face grew wider.

“I couldn’t help but overhear- or more like, oversee earlier during the projection that the young master of this County can hold his liquor well. You see, I’m a bit of a drunkard myself-”

“Get to the point.”

Deruth tossed formalities aside the moment that last sentence came into the conversation.

Bud laughed as he slapped his thigh, “Okay, okay, haha, actually, I’m here because I overheard the talk about not recognizing who this Kim Rok Soo person is.”

He raised a finger as he dramatically wiggled his eyebrows, “But you see!”

“Finding out who that guy is… it’s actually pretty simple!”

The group perked up at the enigmatic statement.

The enigmatic statement of, take note, a guy who technically just swooped in and joined their group without asking permission nor giving a warning.

This Bud Illis will do very well performing in the streets.

It was while Bud was about to explain himself proudly, however, that Basen suddenly gasped in realization.

The course of action they should take was truly simple all along.

“Have everyone introduce themselves to each other to verify their identities!”

“Announce to everyone that Kim Rok Soo has to step… huh?”

Basen and Bud stared at each other for a very long time.

The mercenary king slowly blinked before shrugging his shoulders, amused.

“Well… that works too, I guess.”

Chapter Text

The method that the mercenary king suggested was truly simple.

The conclusion that the now-mortified Basen had arrived to was a bit more complicated because his way needed the cooperation of the audience— which means there should be politeness and understanding and well, willingness to participate.

Despite being a complicated plan, it was a very civil plan.

Bud’s method was much easier and ruder than that.

“Just yell it and see who reacts!”

The Henituse family pointedly stared at the Mercenary king in silence, as the blue-haired man beamed like he just said the wisest, simplest, and most intelligent plan ever conceptualized by humanity.

And the simple part wasn’t wrong.

In fact, it was so incredibly simple that it hurt Cale’s brain to comprehend it because he’s sure that such a method would horrify just about anyone, thus blowing one’s cover immediately, but at the same time, Cale isn’t sure why he was listening and considering the opinion of a guy who just came out of nowhere and suggested they out Kim Rok Soo in front of all these strangers.

Didn’t they just establish a rule that there will be no hostility towards that Kim Rok Soo guy? Does yelling his name and demanding him to come out count as hostility? Does it?

‘Well, fuck.’ Cale grimaced as he put his face unto one hand, ‘It’s not even 15 minutes yet and the rules already have a loophole.’

“Well, what do you think, young master Cale?”

“Hm?”

Cale snapped out of his stupor at that moment and looked up at the mercenary king whose face quickly fell as soon as he realized that he talked his mouth off to an audience that was all stone and no ears.

The redhead blinked and went “Ah.”

Ah, indeed.

He bowed shallowly, as if that was all the emotional compensation one would need after being disregarded so openly.

“I’m sorry, can you repeat that again? I wasn’t listening.”

Bud Illis looked like he wanted to cry but he reiterated everything he had said from the very beginning, anyway.

“Well, you see, all we really need to do is gather everyone’s attention and then yell ‘KIM ROK SOO, WE KNOW YOU’RE HERE!’ and then see which person among the crowd reacts violently!”

“Ugh…”

There goes Cale’s mind, suffering a headache once again at how simple it all seemed out of the so-called mercenary king’s mouth.

His face twisted with repulsion towards the plan that seemed to violate the rule he just established with his family but Bud Illis, who was unaware of the thoughts going through his head, saw the look on his face differently and tried to further convince him, almost obnoxiously.

“Think about it, friend. There are enough people in our side to look out for everyone in the room!”

“Our side?” Jopis questioned disbelievingly.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that, princess. Of course, it’s our side because I’m part of your side already! I’m an alcoholic!”

…That was most definitely not a requirement, if we were basing off the fact that there were two underage kids in this side of the room. Not that being underage had ever stopped Cale from drinking back in the day.

In truth, Cale can see what the Mercenary King really wants to do here.

‘He’s trying to use sophistry to convince us, a relatively large group of people, to find Kim Rok Soo.’

Because he was obviously lacking the numbers to do it himself.

Cale glanced at the purple-haired man who was staying perfectly quiet behind the rowdy Mercenary king.

This person was not someone he has seen in the future he knows of, but if he’s sticking with the Eastern Continent’s Mercenary King, then he must be from the Eastern Continent as well and must play an important role in the Mercenary Guild.

But what could two people do on their own in a place like this where strong people and monsters seemed to be gathered together?

Cale’s eyes were fixed on the purple-haired man for a bit until he suddenly realized that the man was looking at someone with a complicated gaze, and he stopped. He turned to look at where he was looking.

“?”

Ron’s brows furrowed as he caught his young master staring at him.

“Young master is there something you’d like to say?”

‘… Damn. Don’t tell me he’s a surviving Molan, too?’

Cale felt a sense of crisis at the idea of three Molans reuniting like this and quickly opened his mouth.

“Actually, yes, there is. Thank you for asking, Ron.”

He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his eyebrows and looked toward the so-called Mercenary King’s direction, face serious.

“Sir Bud, what do you think will happen if we go through with your plan?”

“What do you mean? We’re going to find the guy, get him on our side, and then the whole viewing will be a whole lot easier to understand.”

“There’s some impressive gymnastics on your logic back there. But you’re forgetting one thing.”

The Henituse side of the group all turned towards Cale curiously at the same time Bud quirked an amused eyebrow up. To be honest, the Henituse family reluctantly agreed with what the self-acclaimed Mercenary King planned to do because it made sense to them that things would be easier if they could refer to the main character of the story in real time.

It does seem as though the viewing would be nicer should they meet this ‘Kim Rok Soo’ guy in the flesh.

‘Why did you act this way?’

‘What do you think you would do next?’

‘Who are you?’

‘Can we trust you?’

All those questions could easily be answered once they find the guy.

“Sir Bud.”

However, Cale’s next words made them snap out of their trance quickly.

The red-head’s sharp eyes seemed to glow within the dim light of the black room as he donned a bright yet vicious smile on his face and asked.

“Why should we trust you?”

In a snap of a finger, all the thoughts about siding with the blue-haired mercenary was wiped away from everyone’s mind as they remembered the situation. Their eyes became hardened with cold wariness as they realized this.

Although Bud had a point, he was first and foremost a person of suspicion.

If Bud Illis was truly the Mercenary King, then surely his senses have been heightened enough for him to hear most of their conversation, including the rules they have set on themselves. Even though not everyone in the group liked the rules they’ve established as some implied that they would even think about harming a man they don’t even know the identity of, they had no intention of breaking rules set by the young master who until now was still bloodied up and sitting on the floor.

Was it a coincidence that at the moment when they were still grumbling over the rules, this man showed up out of nowhere and proposed a plan that seemed too easy and too simple that it was almost enticing?

In addition, thoughts similar to Cale’s came to the group’s mind.

The plan that Bud proposed in itself may look innocent, funny and rather harmless, such that it made it hard to think of it as hostility rather than a joke, however it was one that would obviously coerce Kim Rok Soo and force him to reveal himself whether he liked it or not.

It was a situation where the group would be putting uncomfortable pressure on him.

Would it still be harmless even if they knew this now?

None of the Henituse family members felt enthusiastic about the plan that Bud Illis nor Basen presented anymore. In fact, Basen himself felt his head cool down quickly as his mind simulated what would have possibly happened if they implemented his or the mercenary king’s plan.

‘The protective anonymity covering the man named Kim Rok Soo would have been tugged off a bit, if not completely.’

Kim Rok Soo would have been exposed to the world.

At this moment, the Henituse family members who initially thought Bud’s plan was a good plan changed their minds and inched a bit further away from the big blue-haired guy, feeling a bit of shame in themselves for almost falling for the guy’s deceit.

Bud Illis was just a man who swooped in out of nowhere, claiming he was the Mercenary king.

How are they supposed to trust him and do as he say, so blindly?

“Young Master Cale is right.”

Litana, the queen of the jungle, stepped up and joined the conversation belatedly as the members of the group individually pondered on their own opinions.

“Not to offend you, Sir Bud, but you must understand our perspective on this method of yours. It hasn’t even been half an hour since we all agreed that we will not cause the man named Kim Rok Soo any harm, and yet, you are already proposing that we put him in danger by revealing his identity?”

She spoke in a manner that made her no less than all the other strong individuals in this room. It was as expected from the queen who unified the jungle.

With her support, Cale finally managed to put out his point with a light heart.

“Let’s say we find the guy through your method.”

Cale’s voice was heavy as his eyes locked unto the blue-haired mercenary’s.

“Do you think that everyone in this room would be as kind as us and not do anything to him, no matter what appears inside the projection?”

Even though the scope of the search has been greatly limited to two people thanks to the projection’s statement about black hair, the projection can never really confirm nor debunk who between the two is Kim Rok Soo and who is not. That is because the projection takes on the form of a novel—and thus, the exact face of this Kim Rok Soo would be unknown to them.

‘Not that his identity will stay hidden for long.’ Cale sadly thought to himself.

Cale knew there would surely come a time during the projections where Kim Rok Soo would eventually meet Choi Han, and when that happens, people will realize it for themselves.

Who is Kim Rok Soo and who is Choi Han. It would be easy to pinpoint who is who by then.

If they could just figure out who Choi Han is between the two, then they can figure out who Kim Rok Soo is by default. And trust Cale when he says it’s kinda easy to differentiate the two if you already know how Choi Han is beforehand.

However, just because it will eventually happen doesn’t mean that Cale should just let it happen, immediately.

By taking away the veil of anonymity, they would be indirectly exposing Kim Rok Soo to danger.

Cale came to the same conclusion as his younger brother, unknowingly, and gave a bitter smile.

‘And that would be bad for me and my agreement with the god of death.’

If by any chance he is convinced to go forth with the agreement, which he hopes he would be at the very least, then Kim Rok Soo’s safety will become one of the things he’ll need.

In addition, it wasn’t like that guy Kim Rok Soo had done anything wrong. Although his family members were still having a hard time realizing it, by the looks of the previous chapter, it was obvious that Kim Rok Soo had no idea that an exchange was going to happen in the first place. In other words, the blame can only fall on either Cale or the God of death.

At this moment, Cale steeled his resolve as he faced the Mercenary King Bud Illis head on.

‘Stall for time.’

He needed to stall the reveal of Kim Rok Soo’s identity until the final moment—until the time when Choi Han is introduced to the story. It was the least he could do to protect the guy who was suddenly thrown into all this because of his plea.

As Cale was planning ahead to make sure to protect Kim Rok Soo properly, Bud stumbled through his words after being hit by a left hook that made sense.

‘How dare you try to seduce us with your words?’

That was the expression on the Henituse family’s faces as Bud was casually painted in light of deceit, causing the mercenary king to be confused.

He didn’t really think that far, you see.

Deceit? What’s that?

“That—Well, I didn’t think of that, but- I mean, a god brought us here so I thought-”

“You thought that a bastard with the moniker ‘God of Death’ won’t put him somewhere with people who can kill him?”

Bud clamped his mouth shut.

He felt that it was totally unfair.

‘What? I was just suggesting it, why are they all looking at me like I’ve committed a great sin???’

He couldn’t understand why the gaze of the people around him changed so drastically with only one line from the red-haired young master in front of him. It was a pure kind of confusion like he wasn’t intending any malice with his plan at all—which was probably true.

Bud may be the mercenary king but he was a free-spirit that didn’t like politics that much even though he knew much about its key players in the eastern and western continent, considering his job as a mercenary. He just knew the players and knew what was the safest thing to do but he wasn’t very good at actively trying to hurt someone through indirect means.

If you’re going to hurt someone, hit them upfront or curse their mother to their face. Why go around the bush for it? Bud didn’t understand that malice—at least, not the Bud of today.

In other words, if we may borrow the words of a certain mage friend of his…

‘He is the pinnacle of all mercenaries in the world.’

Specifically— the not very smart ones.

The poor mercenary king who was suddenly antagonized by the nobles of the west could only pout as the piercing glares he got from the other side, especially from a small little girl, continued.

It was then that the person behind him finally spoke.

“…Well, what do you say we do then?”

It was the man with purple hair. The mage who was trying to hide his identity with a big cloak but was unable to hide his purple hair stood with his head slightly lowered, face saddled with a dark expression.

“This war takes 20 years.”

The man’s dull eyes were fixed at the ground as he pointed out one of the first pieces of information given to them by Cale and the God of death.

“Are we gonna be stuck here reading the same years’ worth of texts as well? Will we have to stay here for 20 years? Will we even understand every bit of information we receive from here effectively without that Kim Rok Soo’s help?”

20 years was not a short period of time. Sure, maybe to a god, it was, but not to humans.

The purple-haired man’s words made questions form in everyone’s minds.

Would they even remember everything that they learn by the time it’s time to go back? Would they even be the same person by the time such a number of years pass by?

“Who said it’s going to take 20 years this time around?”

The thoughts could not continue as Cale suddenly spoke casually as if he was just freely speaking out his mind.

“…Hah? What? Are you saying it’s going to take less?”

“It’s not going to take 20 years. At least I believe that it won’t.”

“You believe?”

The purple-haired man shot him a dirty look upon the use of a ridiculous term towards a perfectly logical thing to be worried about, but Cale merely flashed him a smile.

“I don’t really believe in the God of Death, but at the very least, I believe in his work ethic.”

The God of death.

Who was he to Cale Henituse who suffered for 20 years in a hopeless and one-sided war?

He was an individual—no, he was an obscure deity that Cale didn’t worship even once during his 40 years of life. Who in their right mind would worship a God that presides over death, unless they wish for their own death so badly, after all? Surely, only crazy people would serve such a god.

In the other side of the room, a certain priestess sneezed loudly, alarming her crippled friend.

However.

At the moment when Cale needed a miracle, the God of death arrived and offered him a deal. No, it was more precise to say that the moment when Cale was about to die, the God of death intervened. Cale had no idea what the God of death truly did apart from, well, governing the dead, so he thought that surely he of all people would be delighted by the war that had brought thousands upon thousands of life to be embraced by eternal rest.

What does it matter to a god of the dead if people had become dead, after all? Was that not a means to get stronger?

He had misunderstood it because the White star, too, called himself a god and done exactly that, offering up countless innocent lives to his path to godhood.

A God of death that prevented death and wanted to prevent more deaths.

Cale still has not known the God of Death that much, but he listened to his unreasonable request, allowed him to reunite with his dead family and then gave him an opportunity to glimpse the life of the one he would one day replace, if all things go well.

That didn’t mean that Cale developed goodwill towards him, though, oh no, he still thinks the God of death is a crazy bastard.

But nevertheless, he felt obligatorily grateful.

Turning back time and interchanging two souls were no ordinary feat and could go wrong if the wrong people were switched together. It was risky, but it was also proof that the God of death trusted both Cale and that guy Kim Rok Soo to do their job well.

And so at this moment, Cale decided to trust that the God of death would do his job well, too.

“Think about it. If the God of death is trying to convince me—someone who witnessed 20 years of war—that this timeline would be much better, wouldn’t the war in this timeline have to take less than 20 years for such persuasion to work?”

It was a conclusion he came to through simple deductive reasoning.

Surely, no man would settle for another timeline with another 20 years of war if they’ve already gone through the horrors of it once. No sane man would be able to do so, at the very least.

“That…”

Silence descended among the group as they shifted uncomfortably.

Cale’s point made so much sense that they were convinced, but just like Cale, they didn’t know the God of death very well, apart from his church’s mainstream use—the Vows of death. They felt a bit hesitant to trust such a God but Cale already said it. They did not need to trust him.

Looking back on the Vow of death, one of the most iconic things the God of Death’s church was known for, it was originally a tool that allowed one another to trust each other knowing that the moment that trust is broken, the God of Death will reap the traitor’s soul.

Don’t trust him. Trust in his work ethic.

It was a complicated thing to do but they decided to go with that, instead.

The mercenary king and his friend however seemed like they wanted to say more.

Bud Illis scrunched his nose up.

“You—”

The light illuminating everyone in the room disappeared abruptly once again, cutting off the mercenary King before he could even start his sentence.

“?!”

Heads lifted to the air and eyes flashed around within the room in anticipation—

The next projection was about to begin.

Cale internally sighed in relief for its great timing and then turned towards where the Mercenary King and his friend should be within the darkness.

“We won’t mind if you stay with us for now, Sir Bud. As long as you don’t do anything funny, you’re welcome to join us. However, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to learn both of your names before that?”

He was referring to the purple-haired guy. No friend of the mercenary king could be a normal guy—that is, if Bud Illis really was the mercenary king.

The purple-haired guy didn’t hesitate to slowly put down his hood to introduce himself, not that the hood did anything to hide his hair color before, and didn’t beat around the bush with his introduction.

“My name is Glenn Poeff.”

‘Hurrah! He’s not a Molan!’

“Nice to meet you then, Sir Glenn. I’m Cale Henituse.”

Cale gave a very political smile while he internally cheered and praised the stars above as he spoke. Thank the stars, he wasn’t a surviving Molan. Cale was not sure he can handle more than the two he already has—and he was less sure that Kim Rok Soo will be able to do so, too.

Ron stared at Glenn thoughtfully while Cale was shaking the mage’s hand but then disregarded it as he faced toward the center of the room where people were starting to form again.

Words flashed in front of everybody’s eyes once more within the dark room.

Chapter 3: When I Opened My Eyes (2)

‘Finally.’

Cale grinned to himself as the words appeared in his mind just like it did to everyone else.

The next part of the story was about to start.

---

Kim Rok Soo is scared. It’s not showing on his face right now but he really is.

It was natural. He had just finished telling Choi Han about Cale Henituse, the infamous trash of the count’s family, after all.

He expected Choi Han to exhibit some form of anger or displeasure towards the red-haired alcoholic after he explained what Cale exactly did to get beaten up by him, and he did! Choi Han really did!

For a full few minutes, Choi Han’s face became murderous in a way that it made him fear that the Korean guy would stalk over to the redhead from across the room and then punch him mercilessly across the face, and that was the last thing Kim Rok Soo wanted to happen right now.

After all, he wasn’t dumb. That face was probably going to be his face—but more than that!

Sending Toonka flying was one thing but beating up a matured and already-injured version of Cale Henituse who has come to learn many things in life and is even working to save the world and his family was just not very good.

Not that Kim Rok Soo cares for much ethics anyway! Choi Han can do whatever he wants, really- but it’d be very bad if the stronger people in this room decide they’ve had enough of Choi Han and his violence.

Kim Rok Soo was ready to calm the Korean down and even admonish him if he brought up the idea of punching the guy just once for emotional compensation, but then five minutes passed.

Then twenty.

Then it was already half an hour.

And suddenly, this black-haired punk was beaming and smiling to himself while sitting on the black ground.

‘What the hell? Why is this scary punk smiling like this…?’

Kim Rok Soo was getting goosebumps in fear and confusion.

A personality disorder? Does the main character of <Birth of a Hero> have a personality disorder that he didn’t know about? Oh, hell no.

Kim Rok Soo shook his head and willed himself to forget that ridiculous thought. There was no way that Choi Han would have one. Sure, he might be a little crazy but a personality disorder was not something that was ever developed.

‘Anyway, it’s a good thing.’

It felt iffy that Choi Han wasn’t exhibiting the reaction he thought he would have shown after finding out about Cale insulting Harris village but, in the end, this was for the better. Kim Rok Soo may as well have single-handedly saved Cale Henituse’s rude ass from merciless destruction.

Kim Rok Soo quietly patted himself in the back to acknowledge a job well done.

Little did Kim Rok Soo know that Choi Han’s sudden calm demeanor had little to do with his influence and more to do with what Choi Han was hearing from the other side of the room.

“Let’s say we find the guy through your method.’

Choi Han was a highly skilled individual.

“Do you think that everyone in this room would be as kind as us and not do anything to him, no matter what appears inside the projection?”

Though he may not know instances of the original future like this Cale Henituse guy and his Rok Soo Hyung, he had the skills and smarts to gather the information needed on his own and make his own conclusions, one of which was this.

‘He’s alright.’

Choi Han overheard the entire length of the Henituse family conversation, from start to finish, witnessed Cale speak up many times against putting Kim Rok Soo on the spot, and came to acknowledge that this 40-year-old punk is tolerable.

It was a kind of favor that the 18-year-old Cale Henituse might not have ever earned no matter how much he tried. It was only possible to gain Choi Han’s favor like this due to the unique situation and the existence of Kim Rok Soo mediating the two.

Choi Han didn’t miss the way the so-called trashy young master of the Henituse family took Kim Rok Soo out of the conversation and changed the topic to the God of Death.

This was enough for Choi Han, who was still unstable after the massacre of Harris village, to decide that maybe he won’t beat up Cale for now.

That was, of course, a decision open to reconsideration in the future.

“….?!”

The light that illuminated the room disappeared in a flick of a finger once again.

Many people exclaimed in surprise and relief. Some had been scared that it would take far longer than the previous rest time or that the God of Death would betray their trust and suddenly trap them here, but all of these were buried by the words that appeared within their vision.

Chapter 3: When I Opened My Eyes (2)

“I don’t really believe in the God of Death, but at the very least, I believe in his work ethic.”

Those were the words that Choi Han heard from Cale Henituse from across the room, and he felt like there was no better way to prove it than this consistency that brought relief to the weary minds of those who were transported here out of nowhere.

Confirming the reappearance of the light, both Choi Han and Kim Rok Soo exchanged glances.

Choi Han was at high alert and Kim Rok Soo was already using record, although Choi Han didn’t know it yet.

It was time for another projection to be put into their minds.

---

Cale looked around at all of the dishes in front of him. He then moved his fork towards a salad made of fruits that he did not recognize. After filling his stomach with meat, soup, and bread, he wanted to try something new.

“Well, someone’s getting comfortable.”

Bud Illis, who was resting on Glenn’s shoulder, found the first paragraph that appeared in the projection amusing.

“Oh, I woke up in a world that will go into a war as the character that the protagonist is going to beat to a pulp.”

Princess Jopis of the Molden Kingdom pretended to swoon in distress from across the blue-haired mercenary king, one arm over her dog and another theatrically placed over her head.

“Let me try this cool-looking fruit that I don’t recognize first.”

The eastern continent princess and mercenary king broke into snickers while Glenn rolled his eyes at them.

Cale thought that the eastern continent trio were surprisingly getting along well.

The fruit looked like an orange, but the color was closer to that of grapes.

“…Isn’t that just a pomegranate?”

Cale put the fruit in his mouth and took a bite.

“Okay, no, that couldn’t be one.”

“Dodori.”

“Yes, mom. I’m shutting up, now.”

“Mm.”

In that instant, sweet fruit juice filled his mouth. He really hated sour fruits, so this extremely sweet flavor in his mouth made him subconsciously start to drool.

“How is this information in any way important…?”

A person within the crowd muttered in disbelief, as he read the paragraph, but the ones who knew the young master well caught on to this detail quickly.

“Oho?”

Cale, the one who would know the relation of such a paragraph to his own tastes better than anyone, quirked an eyebrow up with an amused smile upon reading the passage.

Well, that saves him from explaining how his tastes have changed if he and Kim Rok Soo were to switch places.

He absolutely abhorred sour fruits as well.

At that moment, he made eye contact with his father Deruth, who was looking at him.

“Cale.”

The Henituse family shrunk back nervously now that their alternate future selves were speaking up with so many people to witness it.

Deruth quietly called Cale’s name before hesitating. He then started to frown and move his mouth. Cale did not like that awkward atmosphere and started to speak.

“It’s delicious.”

“Yes, it tastes like trash…huh? Did you say it is delicious?”

Yes, yes he did.

Everyone in the room felt a bit sheepish as they read the interaction between the father and the impersonated son in the projection. They first felt it awkward to have to read the personal interactions of a noble family to save the world, but now it felt even more awkward because turns out the personal relationship between father and son were just full-on awkward in the first place.

The embarrassed Henituse family could only stay silent and look towards the now 40-year-old Cale with varying degrees of funny expressions on their faces.

“Yes. Everything tastes wonderful.”

Cale picked up a different fruit this time and smiled after tasting the sweetness in his mouth once again. The trash, Cale Henituse, never cared for etiquette anyways.

Smiling was something that the Cale Henituse of before never cared to do, too, but look at what he’s doing now.

He probably shouldn’t do this while speaking with his father, the head of the household, but whatever. He’s just trash in the first place.

“Ah.”

‘It really is best to be the trash.’

Cale’s face started to contort at that moment as he continued reading the lines of words in his vision.

Nobody really cared no matter what he did. As long as he can prevent himself from getting beaten up by the main character, it will be a good life.

‘… I can’t watch this.’

As Cale expected, nobody criticized his lack of manners. In fact, Deruth actually had a smile on his face as he started to nod his head.

“Yes, it really is delicious. It is nice to see you enjoying food so much.”

Deruth really seemed like the only person who cared for Cale. He didn’t even seem to care about Cale’s lack of manners. Well, a truly caring father should probably try to fix this personality of Cale… but this Cale did not care as he was not the real Cale Henituse.

Deruth smiled ruefully.

“Yes. Please make sure you eat a lot as well, father.”

Basen let out another, ‘Ho,’ and Cale, who heard it this time, turned his gaze back to the dishes.

The 15-year-old Basen.

The three years younger brother of the Cale that he possessed was difficult to handle.

‘Difficult to…’

Basen’s face became disgruntled.

Unlike the trash Cale, Basen was smart, sincere, and very responsible. The people of the family were pushing for Basen to be the next head of household. Kim Rok Soo agreed with this sentiment even after turning into Cale.

“I whole-heartedly agree, as well.” Cale declared with a straight face and a raised hand, causing Basen to become conflicted between pride and offense. It was because of the words that had flowed out of the projection right after.

‘Rather than having a complicated life being in charge of this territory, I’d rather use my position as the Count’s older brother to laze around and live peacefully in a section of the territory.’

Cale did not try to argue with Basen. He could hear Basen’s gasp of shock and knew that Basen was looking down on him, but what could he do about it?

“H-hyung-nim, I don’t look down on you…”

The 15-year-old Basen was stupefied by the things he was reading. Although they were not brothers by blood nor brothers who chose to be despite it, he had thought of Cale as his older brother and respected him. He still thought the same even after Cale became known as trash in their territory and started drinking.

It was a result of having been taught by Cale albeit harshly when he was first adapting into the Henituse family. The blunt words that would not have been considered encouragement by everyone else—these words that came out of Cale’s mouth years ago had led Basen to where he was now, and so it was natural for him to respect Cale.

Cale gave him a long look before putting a hand on the brown-hair of his younger brother.

“I know.”

“…….”

Once Basen becomes the head of the household, his personality was one that he would probably not kill Cale, but in order to not get hurt and quietly move to a small village, he needed to not get on Basen’s nerves.

“Basen, remember. That person named Cale is not me, okay?”

It was important to establish and ingrain it into everyone’s heads early on but Cale thought he should sincerely do it earlier than everyone else to his family. It was the only way to avoid hurting both them and Kim Rok Soo needlessly.

Basen understood this naturally, as well.

Smart, sincere and responsible. The words that the novel used to describe him were not empty by any means. Basen was a smart boy compared to other people, especially nobles, his age.

“….Yes.”

His reply was weak but his determination was strong.

He did not want to needlessly drive a wedge between himself and his brother over something that a stranger in his brother’s body would do.

‘If that’s not possible, I’ll just make some money beforehand and go somewhere that the war will not reach.’

Cale pretended not to hear Basen’s gasp and continued to eat.

Once the meal was over, his father, Deruth, was the first to get up. He seemed to have been satisfied with breakfast, as his face was filled with a smile.

‘It really was delicious.’

If breakfast was like this every day, Cale would probably give up some sleep to come eat breakfast all the time.

Deruth looked around at the family members who got up after he did, before resting his gaze on his first-born son, Cale.

“Cale, is there anything you need?”

Everyone’s attention became alert as soon as this question was suddenly asked out of nowhere.

Cale was confused at Deruth’s sudden gesture, but he decided to honestly answer.

This was because it was the perfect time to assess what kind of person Kim Rok Soo was and how he will be in the future. Many people tested their children as babies by making them choose over a variety of items, believing that their choice will reflect their identity in the future. Right now, the Count Deruth of the projection just gave them a great opportunity to do the same to Kim Rok Soo.

Kim Rok Soo had information about the future, about the Henituse county, and about the war.

There were many things he could do with this information however what will he actually do in the very end? What would he say to the Count Deruth who was giving him a golden opportunity to prepare for what was going to happen in the future?

Everyone was paying so much attention to the projection that they didn’t notice a certain black-haired man smile knowingly.

“Please give me some money.”

“…..”

There was silence.

‘Money….’

Certainly, it was a practical thing to be stocking up on during a war but… um…

“I don’t like this person.”

Queen Litana was the first to show her discomfort.

“Sure, I’ll give you a lot.”

Deruth answered without any hesitation.

“So easy?”

Bud Illis blurted out in disbelief, baffled by the quick answer that the so-called trashy young master received.

As someone who has needed to work with various nobles as an ordinary mercenary before climbing up the ranks and becoming the mercenary king, Bud was familiar with noble families that had trashy young masters like the red-haired one just a few feet away from him.

Don’t noble families usually restrain their rebellious son’s spendings instead of support it unconditionally like this? That was what Bud has commonly seen in the noble families he’s had to bodyguard, but then there was this.

Was the Count really this generous towards his trashy son?

This really was a well-off family.

As a territory that mined for marble and grew grapes for wine, they were overflowing with money right now.

“Great. Please give me as much as you can.”

“Ah.”

‘It wasn’t that he was generous, probably.’

Is what Glenn thought at that moment as he silently contemplated next to Bud whose chin was digging deeply on his shoulder.

Why put restraints when you have overflowing money to burn?

Glenn’s cynical nature made it so that it was open to the possibility that perhaps the Henituse county is just rich enough to be frivolous like that and neglect their territory.

Of course, others felt differently.

Particularly, those who personally knew Henituse like the young masters from the northeastern territories were quiet. They have been like that for a while.

Cale could feel his two younger siblings looking at him, but there was no need for him to be embarrassed. Wasn’t it better to ask for money instead of drinking and causing a ruckus?

No, that wasn’t necessarily the problem…

Furthermore, he needed money to proceed with his plans. That fateful encounter to get himself a strong enough power to keep himself safe. He needed some money in order to cause that fateful encounter to happen.

“Sure. I’ll give you as much as I can.”

Cale started to smile after being satisfied with his father’s response. However, he was at a loss of words after returning to his chamber and receiving the cheque from the deputy butler, Hans.

The cheque that was issued through a partnership with the treasury department and the magic department made Cale’s heart run wild.

‘So much money?’

This family didn’t seem to only have a bit of money. In fact, they seem to have a lot of money.

A few heads inclined their heads at the reaction, curious about the exact value.

The novel did mention that Cale received a large allowance, but it did not mention the exact amount. However, he could realistically understand how large it was based on the amount listed on the cheque.

“…How much can it be-”

‘10 million gallons.’

Bud Illis sputtered. Glenn Poeff spaced out. Princess Jopis whistled, impressed.

“Oh my.”

A man on a wheelchair sheepishly exclaimed in surprise at the big number that he couldn’t hope to get from his father ever. At least, not anymore.

A slightly recovered Toonka muttered gibberish under his breath as he tried to count how many zeroes that would be while Harol Kodiang stared at the number in awe and started calculating.

10 million gallons would be enough money to help in the Civil War in the Whipper kingdom. No, more importantly, if they consistently received this kind of allowance, it would be enough money to help them reconstruct and stabilize the kingdom afterwards.

It is about equivalent to 10 million Korean won. If it is like this, Cale could change his plans. Cale’s brain started to quickly think about his options.

There was the foreign name again…

“What the heck even is a won?”

A white-haired man with sharp teeth grumbled towards his companions.

“It’s obviously money, Archie. Please shut up, I’m trying to read.”

“I’ll be heading out now, young master.”

The deputy butler delivered the cheque and bid goodbye, but Cale did not respond. Deputy Butler Hans just treated this as normal and headed toward the door. However, he soon stopped moving.

It was because Cale had gotten up from his seat and said something to Ron.

A certain ginger-haired fellow nervously laughed.

“Ron, let’s go to the study.”

Cale covered his face with one hand, feeling utterly disappointed.

Hans then became anxious at Cale’s words. Ron was the same.

“…Did you say the study?”

Cale found this odd. This sly old man’s voice was shaking a bit. Was there a reason he could not go to the study?

“It’s not that there is no reason, young master.”

The Ron outside of the projection spoke leisurely, ignoring the sly that was attached to his old man moniker before adding in with a pointed glance at the redhead.

“It’s just that you never go there at all.”  

“Yes.”

He needed to go to the study to form his plan. There were no desks or even any paper in his chamber. There were a lot of expensive looking alcohol bottles though.

Cale held back the curses he wanted to pour into his younger self.

“Excuse me, young master.”

“What is it?”

Cale looked toward the anxious looking deputy butler.

“This, we have not been able to do our morning cleaning of the study just yet.”

‘Nor the one from yesterday’s. And the other day’s.’

Hans shrunk back as he dutifully counted how many years it’s been since they gave up cleaning a room that was never used.

“Is that so? It’s fine if it goes a day without cleaning.”

“No sir. We cannot let that happen.”

The deputy butler was extremely pushy about this for some reason. He then smiled brightly and put up a single finger.

“Please just wait one hour! I will put my name on the line to make sure that the study is completely clean, not like a study that has not been used in ten years, but one that was used just yesterday!”

“Sure, whatever.”

He didn’t mind waiting an hour.

“…Is this Kim Rok Soo guy actually dull?” Glenn Poeff carefully asked.

‘Someone is talking shit about me.’

A black-haired man frowned as he scratched at his itchy ear.

“Great. Then I will go report this to the master.”

“No need to do that, but go ahead if you want to do so.”

“Yes, young master. I will be off now.”

“Okay. Sure.”

Like a well-trained deputy butler, Hans closed the door without making any noise and disappeared. He seemed to be in a rush. Cale knew that there were three deputy butlers vying to become the official butler. Maybe that was why Hans was so passionate about it.

‘That’s not it.’

It was like a prelude to seeing the young master suddenly deciding to forgo the trashy path and moving on to a journey that was much better. Putting aside the fact that this was all just because of a study that hasn’t been cleaned for ten years, how could a deputy butler like Hans not be glad that his employer’s son is finally thinking of changing for the better?

“Ron.”

“Young master?”

“Why are you blanking out like that?”

“My apologies, young master.”

“No need to apologize.”

“Pfft.”

Cale muffled out his snort as he imagined the image of the scary old man spacing out in shock. Perhaps Ron was having flashbacks of all the times Cale should have used the study but instead went out and caused a ruckus and threw bottles at scammers and gangsters.

Ron had another odd expression on his face, but Cale put the precious cheque in his inner pocket as he asked. There was so much going on that he did not even have any time to ask about today’s date.

“What is today’s date?”

‘Ah, come to think of it…’

Cale snapped out of his thoughts as he remembered the date of the day when he was beaten up by Choi Han but failed. It was so long ago to him that he could only say it was 20 years ago, but not which season and month it was.

This question would seem odd coming from anybody else, but the servant Ron answered in a gentle voice.

“It is the 29th day of the 3rd month in the 781st year of the Felix Calendar.”

The people all around the black room stared at the date in awe.

It was just as they had thought.

It was the night of the 28^th when they all saw a flash of light and found themselves here. They knew that the projection showed the future, but most hadn’t thought that it would start with the immediate future, just a day away.

“Mm, that is a problem.”

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing.”

Cale tightly clenched on the 10 million gallon in his pocket once more. The only thing he could trust was money.

Was there something with the date?

‘Don’t tell me… is it the day he gets beaten up?’

Although Deruth Henituse knew that the man named “Cale” in the projection was not his son, he felt a bit of worry for the man.

Yesterday, the 28th day of the 3rd month in the 781st year of the Felix Calendar.

That was the day that the villagers of Harris Village, the village that the main character Choi Han went to after escaping from the Forest of Darkness, the place that Choi Han felt human affection for the first time in this world, made friends, and created a second family….

Were all murdered by an unknown group of assassins.

Even Cale, who had read until the fifth volume, did not know the true identity of this secret organization that murdered the villagers.

A certain black-haired man’s breath hitched from across the room.

The Henituse family’s eyes widened, and for many reasons too.

There was no way that the employees and important administration members of the Henituse family such as Deruth and his wife wouldn’t know about that village. As the territory lord and lady, they had a duty to know all the settlements in their territory and protect them, meanwhile as the trusted servants of the leader (and future leader) of the territory, Hans and Ron had a duty to have extensive knowledge about the territory as well, in order to better help them.

Harris village, in particular, was a territory that they could not forget about.

It was a settlement that was far too close to the forest of darkness, barely separated from it by a stone wall. As a territory filled with mostly rocks, the forest of darkness was one of the only tree communities in the County so it made sense for a rural village to settle close to it, but there was a reason why it was coined as a “Forest of darkness” in the first place.

The forest of darkness was one of the forbidden regions of the western continent, with peculiar monsters roaming about within it. Although it has been a rather peaceful place for the past 150 years for unknown reason, the Henituse Family has always been wary of the possibility of monsters reappearing and recking havoc to the innocent village that has placed itself far too close to the forest.

But what was this?

It wasn’t monsters from the forest who killed them but a group of assassins? And it happened within the past 24 hours, too, under their nose?

While the Henituse county members processed the shocking information about the massacre of a village under their jurisdiction, the eastern continent people and the royal people in their group who knew of the infamous Forest of Darkness but not of Harris Village, focused on something else entirely.

‘That guy… he escaped from the Forest of Darkness?’

Crown prince Valentino and Queen Litana’s eyes shook as they read the paragraph shown by the projection. As leaders who had a forbidden region within or near their territory as well, they knew how high the reputation of such regions were.

The Path of No Return next to the jungle and the Land of the Dead next to the Dubori Territory of Caro.

The two royals were familiar of the disappearances that would often occur in their territories due to these forbidden regions. Whenever people fled to these dangerous areas, none of them would come back. That has always been consistent for as long as those regions existed, and they certainly thought that the Forest of Darkness would be the same.

And yet this man named Choi Han managed to come out alive.

‘… He is deserving of the title of protagonist.’ Valentino bitterly thought as he smiled.

“Mr. Ron?”

At that moment when everyone was in deep contemplation, the voice of the little lady of the Henituse County snapped them out of their thoughts.

Lily Henituse who didn’t understand much about the situation yet, being young and all, was staring at the old servant who was frozen like a statue as he stared at the projection. Beacrox, his son, was also staring shakily at the words on the projection.

Maybe it was because it was a similar situation to what they had to go through but they couldn’t shake the ominous feeling they were having.

Some readers may be saying something like this while reading about this situation.

‘I thought he was really strong. What was Choi Han doing while they were murdered?’

It is only natural to think like that.

“Is it?”

A blonde young man in white robes quietly murmured to himself as he is tucked in one corner with his twin sister, his hands folded together as if in prayer.

However, there is a reason this novel is called, [The Birth of a Hero], and not, [The Strength of the Hero], or, [The War of the Heroes].

The faces of the people all around turned dark as they realized the direction of the sentences.

Birth.

A word that pertains to something being made through labored experience and time.

It was the story of a person who overcame all sorts of obstacles and carried the pains of his past as he became a hero.

---

Something that cannot be missing from a story is the, ‘awakening.’

“Choi Han.”

Kim Rok Soo carefully called out to the quiet Korean guy who was staring blankly at the words at the projection with an expression that was hard to see.

He may have explosive talents and have lived for tens of years in the Forest of Darkness, but, through all of that, Choi Han was still an innocent and gentle person who could not kill another human being. He had no issues killing monsters, but Choi Han had never hurt another person.

In order to turn someone like him into a hero, the novel had created a situation for Choi Han. In order to heal the lady who treated him like her own son, Choi Han had gone into the Forest of Darkness to find some precious medicinal herbs.

‘No, goddammit.’

Kim Rok Soo gritted his teeth inside but tugged at Choi Han’s robe rather roughly with a stoic expression anyway, although there was a fire in his reddish brown eyes. Kim Rok Soo wanted nothing else right now but to curse at his projection self—no, his future self, for thinking of such absurd things.

Although he knew that there was no way for his future self to have known that he was in a real world rather than a story that operated according to story logic, to think that he would imply that the villagers were sacrifices that were made for Choi Han…

“Ya! Choi Han!”

He called out again but the man was still unresponsive, as if he was too immersed in the words that flowed out of the projection to even hear him.

No, it was like he was too immersed in the horrible memories of something that had just recently happened.

He had to travel deep into the forest to find it, and, when he finally managed to find the herb and headed back towards the village, he found the corpses of the murdered villagers, the burning houses, and the assassins who were about to leave.

Choi Han went berserk after seeing this and killed someone for the first time. Of course, the people he killed are the members of this secret organization, and this secret organization clashes against Choi Han every so often throughout the novel.

Choi Han only returns to normal after killing all of the assassins from the secret organization, before falling into a state of despair as he is unable to gather any information from the dead bodies.

“Choi Han, get a hold of yourself!”

Choi Han still didn’t budge as he remembered the bloodied corpses, the smell of burning wood and the sight of the men in black taking out a dagger from where it was impaled on the village chief, and his own insanity that came afterwards.

He then buries the bodies of the villagers before making a promise to himself.

The dirt on his hands as he personally buried them all underground one by one in between tears of anguish, and the vow he took as he stood in the ruins of his home that had been thoroughly and utterly destroyed.

‘I will kill them all. I will kill all of the people that made this happen.’

That’s right. He will kill them all. He won’t leave a single bit of them behind.

Choi Han realized what the sadness of death was at this moment, but his first kill starts to twist his mind.

Choi Han’s hand was slowly inching towards the hilt of his sword when at that moment.

He felt a smack at the back of his head and something cold and scaly hitting the front of his stomach.

“YA?! Are you listening to me now?!”

-Stupid human, the other human has been calling for you, are you bad at hearing?!

Choi Han slowly blinked as he felt the tingling sensation at where he’d been hit both at the front and the back, his mind coming back to reality to see his fellow Korean huffing while secretly rubbing his now throbbing hand and feel the incessant tapping of what seemed like an invisible claw at his thighs.

“Everything you read just now are all speculation of a stupid bastard who doesn’t know shit!”

Kim Rok Soo’s words that practically cussed at himself brought Choi Han out of the dark and dull embrace of his memories. The tapping at his thigh stopped and the young voice that he heard alongside Kim Rok Soo’s had gone quiet but two blue eyes that could not be seen were still looking at him.

Of course, he starts to feel again and starts to become more human-like after meeting his party members later in the novel, and grows to become a true hero.

Choi Han flinched and he stared at the words of the projection again but this time with shock rather than the drowning grief and self-blame he had felt before.

‘Party members?’

Kim Rok Soo saw his reaction and rolled his eyes, “Yes. Party members.” He paused and then corrected himself, “No, actually, not party members.”

Choi Han glanced at him in confusion and Kim Rok Soo stared at him indifferently as he declared.

“Friends.”

Not party members, but friends.

Family.

“They should be here right now.”

Kim Rok Soo started while Choi Han felt his heart swell, and the guy’s eyes scanned the room to see a woman with red hair as bright as the sun curiously and attentively looking up at the air where the projection should be in her vision and a certain grey-haired teenager drowning in what seemed like a flock of almost a dozen kids.

‘…No wait, is that kid okay?’

Kim Rok Soo’s eyes squinted a bit when he saw the poor teenager disappearing underneath 11 hyper children and thought that maybe it was a family tradition or something and averted his gaze to look at Choi Han.

“You… would you like to meet them later?”

He offered it because he thought that it was for the best for him to meet them now. They were the ones who managed to bring back who Choi Han originally was after some time, after all. Although the meeting wasn’t the same as it was before, he thought it wouldn’t hurt to try.

Choi Han’s eyes turned red as he looked at Kim Rok Soo and he nodded his head.

“Yes. Yes, yeah. I think I’d like that.”

A certain young black dragon huffed from where he was next to the Koreans and started to curl up into a ball once again.

“…Ron.”

“Yes, young master.”

“A cup of cold water please.”

“… I understand.”

After Ron left and he was alone in the room, Cale covered his face with both of his hands.

Choi Han actually burst out in laughter after reading that and Kim Rok Soo’s eyes sharpened as he felt like he was suddenly being made fun of, but he let it be. At least the punk was laughing.

The problem was that the city that this twisted Choi Han arrives at after leaving Harris Village is the city called Western, located in the center of the Henituse territory.

Cale who happens to run into Choi Han annoys Choi Han and ends up getting beaten up. That is when Choi Han gets his first subject/party member, the reliable chef Beacrox.

Yeah, Choi Han already heard it from his Rok Soo hyung.

A smile spread in Choi Han’s face as he faced Kim Rok Soo, who has helped him a lot since entering the black room together, and said…

‘… I was going to head there in advance and help him out.’

“Thank you.”

‘The best scenario to not get beaten up is no longer available. I did care more about potentially saving the people of the village, but there is nothing I can do about it at this point.’

No matter what all the other people in the room felt about Kim Rok Soo, Choi Han knew already. Despite his attitude that seemed like it was complaining about everything and yet also scared of everything, he was a guy with a good heart.

‘Now, all that is left is to make sure I act in a way to avoid getting beaten up by the angry Choi Han, who is moving at a crazy speed to arrive at Western City by tomorrow.’

“I promise I won’t beat you up in the future.”

“Hahaha…”

‘That means you were thinking of doing it before.’

Kim Rok Soo didn’t know if he should be happy or not by the weird statement that suddenly came out of a scary punk’s mouth.

‘Avoiding the main character is not a good idea.’

He needed to run into Choi Han so that Ron and Beacrox run into him as well. That was the only way for the three of them to leave this place together to start their official journey. Then that left just one course of action.

‘Have them run into each other and then get out of their way.’

With the best possible first impression, if possible.

Choi Han read the words on the projection and then quickly added as if concerned.

“The first impression is good enough so please don’t avoid me.”

‘I wasn’t planning to.’

Kim Rok Soo thought to himself as he shrugged casually and finally took back his seat next to Choi Han. Choi Han was technically his bodyguard and the only one he can trust here in the Black room right now, after all.

“Young master.”

“Ah, thanks, Ron.”

Cale took a sip from the cup that Ron brought over. He then started to frown.

“It’s not cold water?”

“It is lemonade.”

He really is an insidious man.

He knows that, just like Kim Rok Soo, the original Cale hates sour things. But he still chose to bring lemonade, which would take more work to prepare than cold water. Cale wanted to be angry at the sour taste, but he could not do so because he was afraid of that assassin old man. He could only drink the lemonade.

Kim Rok Soo’s good mood after getting Choi Han to snap out of it disappeared as he scrunched up his face at the idea of a drink so sour.

“Thanks, it was wonderful.”

“No problem. Young master. We should be able to head to the study soon.”

“Great.”

Ron’s benign and gentle smile caused Cale to have the chills. He once again clenched onto the 10 million gallon cheque for support.

Money really was the only thing you could trust.

Chuckles came about from around the room at the imagery when finally, the darkness subsided as light came back within the black room.

It was the sign that the chapter was over.

“…Well that was incredibly boring—AH!”

Toonka’s yell was promptly ignored by the majority of people in the room as chief Harol Kodiang did God’s work and pulled at the bandages over his internal wounds rather tightly, causing the big man to squeak.

Kim Rok Soo let out an exasperated sigh as he stood up while all the others started to form groups again for discussion. He gestured for Choi Han to stand up as well and the blinking Korean did so although he was a bit confused.

“Come on.”

“….? Roksoo hyung, are we not going to analyze what we’ve seen…?”

“There wasn’t really much to analyze to begin with and even if there was, I’ll remember every detail. Besides, didn’t you say it?”

“….?”

As Choi Han cocked his head to the side, Kim Rok Soo raised an eyebrow as he calmly spoke.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to meet your friends?”

“…..!”

Choi Han’s eyes lit up while Kim Rok Soo continued to shrug.

“We have a lot of free time, anyway, so shouldn’t we form connections with who we can?”

“…Yes! That is a good idea.”

It was like looking at an energetic puppy. There was no denying how excited Choi Han was. If he had a tail it would certainly be wagging at a speed enough to make him viable to become a helicopter.

“I agree, that is a very good idea, too.”

“….?”

Kim Rok Soo and Choi Han blinked as a third voice came to their conversation. It was a rather mature-sounding voice that couldn’t be the invisible dragon that was with them.

Turning around, Kim Rok Soo saw two cloaked individuals approaching them.

The one at the forefront with brown hair and brown skin like that of a southerner grinned politely like that of a fake doll as he coolly took off his hood to show brown eyes crinkled into a smile.

“My name is Shawn, a southerner. Would you be willing to form a connection with me and my cousin, too, Mr. Choi Han?”

Chapter Text

It was after the black room returned to normal, signaling the end of a reading session.

A cautious Bud Illis slowly turned away from the center of the room to look at the people in the Henituse side one-by-one.

“Soooo…”

Starting from the frozen stiff Molan father-son duo who seemed to be contemplating something to the pale faces of the Henituse subordinates who knew of Harris Village and ended up being shocked, it was safe to say that unlike Kim Rok Soo who deemed the information in this chapter not worth talking about, the ones in this side of the room thought differently.

However, since the mercenary king just recently shot himself in the foot, he didn’t dare speak recklessly.

In the last chapter, the identity of the old butler Ron and his son were revealed, causing a stir among them. However, this was something that has been going on for some time now and so in the end it was a bridge that was easily crossed with the power of trust that had long been established.

This time though, it wasn’t a deep hidden secret that was revealed but something else.

In fact, the content of this chapter was 100% information that the Henituse County would have known after a few days. It was no secret.

And yet it still stirred them deep in their cores.

‘A massacre.’

“Deputy Butler Hans.”

The ginger, whose face had turned slightly green at the mention of such indiscriminate bloodshed right under the count’s territory, struggled to maintain himself as he responded to Count Deruth’s call immediately, like a proper butler.

“Yes, my lord.” He said in between shaky breaths meant to steel himself.

If he wanted to be of use to the people in this black room, like how a butler should, he can’t have himself being dizzy like this by just the mere mention.

“Take note of this incident.” Count Deruth’s deep voice resounded in a morose manner as he gave his order. He had a slight frown on his face as he spoke, “After we get back, the first thing we must do is go to Harris Village to investigate and give everyone a proper burial.”

It was the least they could do for the people they could not protect.

‘There’s no changing it now.’

Deruth felt regretful that they couldn’t have learned of this before the incident happened but he quickly got rid of this emotion. There was no use dwelling on circumstances that were far beyond one’s control. Just as he was thinking this, another voice firmly supported his sentiment.

“It should not just be a burial. We must set up a proper cemetery and engrave their names.”

It was the meticulous Countess Violan who spoke these words as she fanned herself lightly.

“Please take note of this Sir Hans.”

Hans was about to nod vigorously and bow in acknowledgment but then paused when he realized something. He patted the pocket on his chest, the ones on the front of his pants and the ones on his butt only to blankly stare at his empty hands and then at the Countess.

“….Countess, I think I do not have any writing materials to do so, but I can take note of it in my memory!”

“Just keep it in your memory.”

The Countess let out an exasperated sigh. She then tossed a look towards the person to her side.

“Sir Ron.”

“Yes, my lady.”

The old butler’s response came quickly as if he was never shaken by the chapters at all. It was the kind of professionalism you could only find from someone who has become an assassin, a father and a babysitter of one hell of a guy in one lifetime.

Violan gave him an examining look from behind her fan before asking normally.

“What are your thoughts about the massacre of Harris village?”

What are his thoughts?

Ron’s face wrinkled a bit as his lips suddenly felt his benign smile become tight at the question.

To others, this question would have been a ridiculous thing to ask an old butler. Why ask for the opinion of a man with frail bones regarding something like a massacre, after all?

However, the people in the Henituse side of the family, including the adopted royals, already knew.

“…In this servant’s humble opinion, my lady…”  

The old man who was one of the top assassins of the east continent before his household’s downfall gave his opinion freely and openly as his face went from the benign old butler Ron to the cold face of an assassin who’s taken many lives, his eyes narrowing.

“It is suspicious.”

The members of the group gravely nodded their heads in agreement. It was truly suspicious.

Something like a massacre… there have been many of those before, however, there was always something that caused these indiscriminate killings.

Whether it be a child starts to suddenly murder everyone he sees due to unquenchable anger or a cunning strategist wiping out an entire platoon to gain achievements in war, there was always a reason, even if it was the kind of reason that was far too twisted to be considered one.

However, what could these assassins get from killing a group of peaceful villagers living besides the Forest of Darkness?

Dismissing the fact that the Kim Rok Soo guy seemed to wholeheartedly accept that it just had to happen to “awaken” the man named Choi Han due to his story-world mentality, the assassins must have killed the villagers for something. May it be as a sacrifice or as witnesses that need to be erased from the world, there should be a reason behind why they killed them.

Now, there were many reasons that Ron could think of, but right now, there was no actual way to prove if any of them are truly the reasons behind it.

‘We are still in the 3^rd chapter.’

There was still a long way to go and there was little to no information in their hands right now.

However, instead of disheartening the group, this made them all the more motivated to read and read and read and remember.

From here on out, it was the future after all.

Clap.

“Alright then, everyone.”

Everyone blinked out of their thoughts as a certain red-haired young master clapped his hands together to catch everyone’s attention. Upon garnering them all, he grinned leisurely, utilizing his handsome face to the maximum as he spoke up.

“Who shall lead our discussion this time?”

“Ahem, ahem… If I may…” Bud Illis weakly raised his hand, expecting to be met with intense glares and the likes, only to find that no one was objecting to let him speak. He turned surprisingly bashful at this as he cautiously asked. He, a man in his 30s, bashfully asked, “May I do so?”

Cale’s smile widened as he huffed a laugh, “Feel free.”

Bud Illis punched the air in victory at the permission and the chance to redeem himself and quickly got to work to start the discussion with an enthusiastic spirit. Starting the discussion used to be Cale’s job but for now, the redhead let him have his moment.

After all, Bud Illis is the mercenary king.

If anyone would know about the different organizations to be wary of all over the world, then it would be him and the thousand records compiled by the previous mercenary kings. With Ron actively participating in the discussion, there was a chance that even with little information from the chapters as of now, they could get a hold of concrete leads thanks to their knowledge.

Cale smiled to himself as he finally got a moment to relax his brain and his still injured body.

He was leaning on the wall while sitting on the floor as the discussion of the group really went off when he noticed something surprising.

‘Basen…?’

….Dongsaeng, where are you looking?

The redhead was mildly surprised to find his usually level-headed, focused and competent younger brother not participating in the discussion at all. Not even once.

It would have been understandable if he just didn’t input much since he was younger and had less experience and knowledge in the current topic, which happened to be “Secret organizations”, but right now the young Henituse was not only not adding anything to the discussion, he seemed to not be listening at all!

Even Lily was participating in the discussion, but Basen was just… truly gone.

Look to the side and you would see it clearly. The second young master of the Henituse Family, Basen Henituse, looking towards the opposite direction of the discussion, intently staring at something far in the distance as if to scrutinize it.

Unable to help himself, Cale shifted in his seat, causing the wounds to rock a little and making himself wince before he called out.

“Basen.”

“Hm? Yes, hyung-nim?”

The response was immediate. Good. Maybe he was actually still listening, just multi-tasking. However…

“What have you been looking at for a while now?”

Cale still felt the need to ask.

In his current position, it was hard to get up and adjust himself to allow him to look at where Basen was looking at. It was made even more difficult by the fact that some of the groups have started to camp a little bit further left or further right than they did before, causing many visible places in the room in Cale’s position suddenly become blocked by groups of people.

An example of these blocked views was Choi Han and Kim Rok Soo’s group which he previously could sneak glances at effortlessly in the previous chapters and discussions.

Due to a bunch of whales thinking it was a great idea to migrate south and absolutely ruin the view Cale used to have, he was unable to look at them as easily as he did before without stretching his wounds too much and undoing the healing he’s managed to receive in the past few hours.

This made Cale uneasy. He felt way less stressed and more reassured whenever he saw those two Koreans doing random things together because that meant that Kim Rok Soo would be safe, and Choi Han, the scary but pitiful guy, would have a companion.

To be unable to see them as easily made him feel as though one of the two, or maybe both, would somehow get in trouble one day inside the black room and he won’t be able to fix it with another regression.

That’s why when Basen was looking at the general direction of the Korean duo, Cale felt a bit tense.

“Oh? Um, that…” Basen was surprised by the sudden question but didn’t neglect to answer, “I just thought it was strange. There seemed to be another southerner like Miss Lina in this place…”

A southerner?

Cale’s worries suddenly dispersed as he realized.

Ah, it must be one of Queen Litana’s subordinates. Maybe they got lost trying to find her?

It was then however that his brother appended something to his statement.

“…However, they seem to be wandering about and avoiding our spot on purpose.” 

“……?”

‘A southerner is avoiding us even though their queen is here?’

Cale went from worried to relaxed to pleasantly surprised to very confused in a matter of seconds.

Wait, so it’s not a subordinate of Litana? But if it’s not someone from the jungle, then who…?

Impatient, Cale was about to call Ron to help him up so he could see this suspicious person for himself but then remembered that the old butler was busy talking with Bud Illis about different organizations and so clammed his mouth shut.

In addition, Hans and Hilsman were both eagerly active in the conversation too and looked like they were too immersed to even hear Cale even if he yelled. Well certainly, they seem to be having fun.

Left with no other choice, Cale looked to the side, towards the towering figure beside him and tried his best not to frown as he spoke.

“Beacrox.”

“…….yes.”

The man, Ron’s trusty son, looked like he didn’t want to answer but answered anyway, his expression sullen. Just as much as Cale did not particularly like Beacrox, Beacrox did not particularly like him either. It was mutual dislike that could fester into hatred anytime but never really grew more than that due to their inherent master-servant circumstance.

Despite this however, Cale and Beacrox were actually sometimes alike.

“Help me up.”

Among the Henituse subordinates, Beacrox was the only one who could possibly help him up properly without making much of a fuss about it in this situation.

“………….”

This time, Beacrox the chef didn’t give an answer but gave out a long and deep sigh that seemed to contain the frustrations of the world before doing as he was told and helping Cale up.

“Hyung-nim?”

Basen was immediately alarmed by the sight of his injured older brother trying to get up, but Cale was quick to wave him off with a subtle grin on his face, “I’m fine, I’m fine. I just wanted to take a look. Basen, can you show where this southerner is right now?”

The boy hesitated but gave way anyway.

He pointed towards a direction as Beacrox helped his brother walk over from his spot. His index finger was accurately pointing towards a group of two people that Cale was unable to see in his previous position, and this made the redhead squint in enquiry.

‘… I don’t know them.’

Actually, it was more like Cale was too far to actually recognize the two people in the far distance who were shifting through the crowds to get towards somewhere.

But even if he could not recognize them up close, that would be totally normal.

Cale doesn’t even recognize at least half of the people in this room, what could two more possibly entail?

Although their evasiveness seemed suspicious, Cale couldn’t just walk over to them, shake them by the shoulder and ask who the heck they were and why they were acting so shifty—half because, who knows, maybe they were someone like Ron and Beacrox, hidden experts, and the other half because he literally can’t.

His wounds tingled as he craned his neck to get a proper look of the two people, especially the dark-skinned one that Basen called the “Southerner”.

After some thinking, he glanced to his side and called out, “Basen.”

“Yes, hyung-nim?”

“Take note of that man for now, but don’t be too bothered.”

In the end, this was the course of action that Cale decided on.

He could not shake the feeling of untrustworthiness in the southerner and his companion’s movements so for now, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to have the competent Basen watch over them from afar.

“I understand, hyung-nim.”

Basen’s expression turned firm as he nodded. His brown eyes flickered back towards the two suspicious people from afar. He’s set on watching them as much as possible from now on, not too openly to be noticed but not too lax that he will lose sight of them either.

Cale looked at the serious expression on his little brother’s face as he turned to look towards the direction of the “southerner” and he had to stifle a chuckle from getting out of his mouth.

Although he was no expert, he knew that anyone above a certain degree of excellency in martial arts or fighting experience in general would be able to quickly notice his brother’s intense 15-year-old gaze.

However, it wasn’t like no one else was eyeing others within the room so openly.

A smile crept in his face as he glanced at the prime examples:

Harold Kodiang of the Whipper kingdom looking at Rosalyn the mage who seemed to be meditating all alone in one side of the room.

A woman with beige-hair and farmer clothes looking at a handsome elf with long silky golden hair and an aloof demeanor.

And then there’s the white-haired man with purple eyes exchanging looks amusedly with a woman who seemed to be a priest.

‘Watch them well, then, Basen.’ Cale thought to himself, satisfied, his smile widening by a fraction as he stared at his brother who was, in turn, intensely staring at the suspicious “Southerner” from afar.

Personally, he wasn’t too worried about that southerner for now.

After all, he didn’t remember a southerner who was much of note during the war apart from Queen Litana, and Litana was already with them. How big of a person can this southerner really be?

Ah, well.

Cale shrugged to himself as he gestured to the quiet Beacrox to help him back down.

He could always just ask the queen of the jungle, herself, later.

---

An hour or so before the present time… when everyone first arrived.

It was during the time when some of the young masters of the Roan Kingdom’s northern territories found themselves stumbling into existence inside a black room.

“W-what..?”

“W-where is this?!”

“Eric, you’re looking really good in your pajamas there.”

“Gilbert?! Thank you, but what are you doing here?!?! GYAH?! AMIRU, LOOK AWAY!”

“Oh, wow.”

Eric Wheelsman, Gilbert Chester and Amiru Ubarr of the northeast.

“Oh my…”

“….What the actual fuck?”

Taylor Stan and an unidentified short-haired woman in the clothes of the God of Death’s church.

“Basen! Lily!”

“F-father!”

And finally, the Henituse County.

Suddenly, these people from the Roan kingdom appeared in this mysterious black space out of nowhere through a flash of light. They were baffled and in chaos, not knowing why they were suddenly brought here.

And sure enough, it was the same for the brown-haired brown-skinned individual hidden amid these perplexed people.

“…Shit.”

Sweat fell down the man’s face.

‘The one time I took off mother’s necklace to take a comfortable bath…’

Yes, this person was none other than Alberu Crossman, the shining star of the Roan Kingdom, the Crown prince that lights up the day of every citizen. It was Crown Prince Alberu Crossman in his quarter dark elf form.

The shining star of the roan kingdom had just finished a batch of paperwork for the upcoming national celebration of his father’s birthday. It was hectic, it was very much so, and so after all that hassle, he decided to treat himself to a warm bath without using his mother’s special necklace to hide his appearance.

It was mostly so to help him relax a bit more after such a stressful day. It’s not like any of the servants would dare take a peep, anyway, no matter how neglected he was as the crown prince.

He had just gone out and started wearing the basic clothes that were his pajamas and was about to take his mother’s necklace to put it on again when it happened.  He saw a flash of light out of nowhere and found himself here with his mother’s necklace nowhere to be seen.

‘No, how can something like this happen out of nowhere…?’

Alberu was hit by a wave of agitation instantly when he came to and recognized the people who’ve been brought to this mysterious place along with him.

His eyes flickered towards the northeastern nobles who were making a fuss at each other like neighborhood friends rather than young masters and held his breath. All around him were people who could very much find his face familiar if they looked hard enough. They were, after all, mostly people of his generation whom he’s had to meet a few times during important events and official banquets.

Thankfully, everyone seemed to be preoccupied with being confused.

The crown prince took this opportunity to slip away from their vicinity while he could, almost like a thief running out into the dark night.

As he made his way around the crowd of people, he recognized a few more familiar faces.

There was Rosalyn of the Breck kingdom, Toonka and Harol Kodiang of the Whipper Kingdom, Rock Sekka of the Paerun Kingdom, Valentino of the Caro Kingdom, and finally…

The Sun twins of the Mogoru empire.

There were key figures from almost every nation within the area.

If anyone were to find out of his dark elf lineage here, he would be dead. He would die on the spot.

‘This was the worst way to be found out.’

Two men with blue and purple hair respectively crashed unto each other after a beam of light while Alberu was passing by and avoiding the important people all around him, but he didn’t give them a glance as he prioritized finding a safe place to hide for now.

But unfortunately, there were no exits, nor were there any entrances nor doors of any kind in the room. It was a full-fledged closed box scenario, with black walls reaching as far as one could see from left to right and top to bottom.

Alberu bit his lip as he took a turn upon being met with another doorless corner, but it was then.

“….!”

He bumped into a person wearing a black robe, accidentally making said-person fall to the ground.

“Ah-“

An apology almost slipped out of his lips naturally after mistakenly not minding where he was looking due to his panic—Normally, if he were to bump into a servant as the crown prince who fell out of his majesty’s grace, the servants would spread malicious rumors about him in retaliation if he didn’t give the proper apology for it. It wasn’t like he was above apologizing, though, so he never had to suffer through that more than once.

However, in this situation where people might recognize him just from the sound of his voice…

“Your highness?”

Alberu was trying to rationally think of what to do when a mechanical and monotone voice flew to his ear.

“….?”

The crown prince blinked and then looked down towards the person he’d accidentally knocked down to the ground.

Purple eyes upon a face covered in black lines resembling spider webs greeted him, shaking in mild surprise. Alberu was sure that there was no royalty nor nobility in Roan with purple eyes so he became baffled for a moment when he realized just what this person called him, but it was during this time that he realized, too…

Although this person does not look like someone he’s seen before, they look vaguely familiar???

Wait a second…

“…Mary?”

Alberu took a wild guess and shot the question.

“Yes. I am Mary.” The hooded person nodded naturally and then inclined her head, curiously, “I am surprised that your highness knows me.”

‘Oh dear, it really is her.’

Alberu felt a trickle of sweat fall down the side of his forehead as he tried to maintain a polite smile by reflex.

Mary.

The necromancer that his Aunt Tasha took in.

The one who survived the land of the dead. He didn’t personally know her because of the scarce opportunity for him to visit his aunt’s and great-grandfather’s place as the Crown Prince of Roan and due to her inability to get out of the Land of the Dead without putting herself at risk, but that doesn’t mean that he couldn’t get to know her through other means.

In his perspective, she was like a cousin—someone who was raised by his Aunt Tasha and the entire Dark Elf family—and thus was like an extension of his family. He naturally made sure he would at least recognize her based on Aunt Tasha’s accounts so that should anything happen, he would be able to recognize her out of a crowd of people and help her find a safe place to stay.

“No, but what are you…” What are you doing here?

Alberu completely ignored her question, instead growing confused upon chancing upon her in this place. So far, he’s seen many prominent figures from all around the continent and so assumed that must have been a pattern of some sort. Then again, there was that unidentified priestess accompanying Taylor Stan of the Stan march, but even if he didn’t know her, she must have something special about her too, to be brought to this place along with all of them.

Unlike all the others here, Mary has been cooped up in the Land of the dead for at least a decade, so why was she chosen to be here? In this place where the Sun God twins were present?

Not knowing Alberu’s inner worries, Mary could only tilt her head to the side but it was then.

“FIGHT ME!”

Both Mary and Alberu were startled by the loud bellow that came from somewhere in the room. Alberu’s eyes were quick to assess the situation—The bellow originated from where the Roan kingdom nobles were, the place where he had escaped from.

He shot a grave glance at Mary as a fight started to actually happen due to General Toonka and said with a sense of urgency.

“Let’s get out of here, first.”

It was better if they found some place safe before talking.

Without wasting any time, he grabbed Mary’s arm and led her away quickly. He can only imagine how pissed his Aunt Tasha would be if he did otherwise and left her all alone where people could harm her—not that he underestimates her capability to defend herself, of course.

‘Now that I think about it, there is merit to being the only necromancer to exist.’

Mary being the last necromancer had always been just a theory of theirs back then because surely, one can’t fathom the entirety of the world’s population, right? But if she really was the only necromancer to exist in the current era, then it would make sense why she was brought here. Being the last necromancer was a special enough title to warrant an invitation to anywhere supernatural.

By the time the fight in the middle of the room started in full, with incessant roaring from what seemed like a hungry ancient beast and fluctuations of mana in the air, Alberu and Mary found a secluded spot behind a few calm people—respectively, a farmer, a blond elf-like person and a teenager with pink hair—and retreated there.

As soon as Alberu let go of the black robed Mary’s arm, the last necromancer wasted no time to ask.

“What is going on?”

Even though she had her hood up, the necromancer’s shaky eyes were still visible.

Mary was someone who has been inside the Land of the dead since she was ten. She was around 25 already this year, and, not once did she ever step foot outside of the land where she was being protected during those 15 years since becoming a necromancer. It was in consideration to the dark elves who had grown to care for her like their own—she didn’t want them to worry about her being alive or dead outside the realm where they could protect her.

But now she was not in the Land of the Dead. She was probably not in the Caro Kingdom at all, anymore.

She has no idea where she is, but she had gone out of the desert.

Although she’d always dreamed of it, this… this wasn’t what she expected to have.

“Unfortunately, I can’t say I know any more than you in this situation.” Alberu truthfully explained, keeping his voice low, “All that I know right now is that this is not a safe place for people like us. Do you know the Sun God twins, Mary?”

“Yes, I do. Are they here?”

‘A quick-witted child.’ Alberu’s lips almost quirked up as he remembered the few things his Aunt Tasha would call the innocent Mary and then nodded, “Regretfully, yes.”

“I see. Then, may I ask one more question, your highness?”

“You can drop the honorifics. Speak casually.”

“Why are you in this form?”

Mary didn’t beat around the bush. Much like how Alberu knows a bit about Mary through Tasha, Mary naturally knew a bit about Alberu through her, too. She knew that the crown prince was not normally in this dark-skinned form.

“I had just finished taking a bath and was about to change back to blonde before going to sleep when I was taken here.”

“Ah. That explains a lot.”

“….?”

Alberu blinked at how Mary readily accepted his answer, but the necromancer did not speak further and instead pulled out something from inside her black robes.

It was… another black robe.

“Please take this, your highness.”

“….? Thank you, but why do you…”

‘Why do you have another black robe with you…?’

Alberu was genuinely puzzled.

“I have a lot of it. Aunt Tasha always told me to bring an extra when I go meet the humans in the city of death. Just in case something went wrong and my robe gets torn.” Mary answered in a text-book-like manner.

Well, that makes sense.

Alberu shrugged to himself and started to wear it as soon as it was handed to him. He didn’t question why the necromancer handed it to him, in the first place, just accepting the goodwill naturally. Seeing this, the necromancer couldn’t help but show a bit of a smile while the crown prince was not looking.

She had guessed that maybe it was because of the initial confusion of being brought here, but Alberu was…

Hm, he was wearing his sleeping attire in a place where at least 9 out of 10 people were wearing clothes that ranged from decent to expensive.

Mary doesn’t know much about politics but Aunt Tasha taught her that there is an appropriate time to be wearing certain clothes, and so when she saw the shining crown prince of the Roan Kingdom wearing some shining white pajamas during a seemingly dangerous situation, she figured that she might as well lend him one of her robes.

As soon as Alberu finished closing the robe around his shoulders, many things happened at once.

Toonka got sent flying to the other side of the room, words suddenly appeared in the air, an older version of the infamous trashy young master of the Henituse family spoke and then a series of rather shocking visions appeared one by one.

 The two dark attribute persons stuck together even as they heard the demise of the roan kingdom through the mouth of the witness of the future and saw lava loom over the desert where the dark elves stayed.

Alberu’s eyes were bloodshot as he watched the snippets of events—the scenes of war in front of him.

He only had one thought as the vision ended and lines of paragraph came shortly after, denoted as “chapters” of a “story”.

‘That is my kingdom you’re fucking with, you bastards.’

He doesn’t know what the God of Death wants from them to make them see this future with their very eyes, but he knows that he’ll be making use of every single word from this “story” of his and change it with his own hands.

---

And that brings us to what’s happening right now.

“My name is Shawn, a southerner.”

Alberu politely smiled from inside the comfort of his black hooded robe, Mary quietly standing right behind him with an incredulous expression as soon as he spoke. In front of him where two men—the only black-haired men in this room, one of which should be Choi Han, the “protagonist” and Kim Rok Soo, the “new Cale Henituse”.

Both men were staring at him warily and he understood their feelings. After all, he just came out of nowhere and barged in on their conversation after all, but that was nothing a glib tongue couldn’t fix.

“Would you be willing to form a connection with me and my cousin, too, Mr. Choi Han?”

He crinkled his brown eyes as he sweetly offered a hand.

“…..”

Silence descended as soon as his words came out.

The two black-haired men in front of him and the black robed Mary behind him were quiet.

‘Good, you should be at least this cautious to be the protagonists of the future.’

Alberu’s smile widened, satisfied. He already knew that being upfront like this was stupid, but he simply had to size up these two black-haired people—or should he call them “Koreans”?—before trying to win them over. Even though he was smiling, his eyes were cold and calculating as he spoke.

Personally, Alberu has no use for people who are too soft that they wouldn’t even reject a stranger under completely reasonable circumstances.

That was just being a pushover.

‘And the world doesn’t need any of those.’

Now, will these people be so stupid as to just casually let him in without proper investigation or scrutiny?

Taking full advantage of the fact that no one can die within the premises of the room, Alberu had no fear in his methods. He was eager to know how the two men would react to him and deal with him accordingly.

It was while he was waiting for a response…

“… Choi Han, wait, wait, wait—Put that back—”

A scary-faced Choi Han was already halfway through drawing his sword when a white-faced Kim Rok Soo urgently stopped him.

“Hyung, he knows who I am.”

“Well, duh? It was obvious from the get go.”

‘I’m right here and I can hear the both of you pretty well, you know.’

Alberu didn’t know whether he should be disappointed or not by the reaction he received. He was glad they didn’t seem so foolish as to trust him immediately, but he couldn’t help but feel concerned by the fact that the protagonist’s first course of action was to try and slice him with a sword in an effort to hide his identity, and now, the two were even talking to each other without bothering to lower their voices in front of him.

Is it because they had their own language that they subconsciously thought he wouldn’t understand them? Well, sucks for them, this room was apparently built to break both the barriers of space and time and the universal alphabet.

On the bright side, however, it seemed like Kim Rok Soo was a quick-witted person.

Immediately after whispering to Choi Han in a volume that could still be naturally heard, the man’s reddish brown eyes glanced towards Alberu dangerously, locking eyes with him for a moment. In that short moment, Alberu seemed to get a message from the Korean.

‘I know you can understand us. But, so what?’

It was almost provocation on Kim Rok Soo’s part. Kim Rok Soo didn’t even know who he was, much less who the person behind him was.

“Mr. Choi Han, if you have to know, it was truly obvious from the get go who you were.”

Alberu plastered on a very political smile as he started talking again even though the two Koreans were yet to face him properly. He gave the two of them a look and pitifully smiled.

“At least after the mention of recent events.”

Choi Han shot him a frosty look the moment he as much as alluded to the Harris Village massacre.

The crown prince would be joking if he said that he wasn’t shaken by the news of Harris Village. Although he may not know as much as the Henituse County regarding their existence, they were, in the end, citizens of the Roan kingdom as well. Just the idea that they were sacrificed for something like character development made Alberu’s blood boil, but he knew that it couldn’t have happened just because the “protagonist” needed an “awakening”.

‘We’re not characters from a damn story.’

The picture of the falling book and the words that accompanied the first projection were proof enough that they were living breathing creatures even though, to others, their world might look to be only a fantasy.

Alberu eyed Choi Han who still had traces of blood in his figure, calmly.

From the moment “black hair” was associated with both Choi Han and Kim Rok Soo, he already had a feeling as to who was who between the two people who suddenly stuck to each other like glue amidst the crowd of people. One was a man in his 30s and the other was a young man in his 17s—it should have been easy to guess who was who but it was only after the Harris Village massacre information that Alberu became sure of it.

“Please let us in your group for the duration of the projection.”

“….!”

Choi Han and Kim Rok Soo seemed to be surprised by the shameless proposal that the stranger they encountered suddenly put forth.

Alberu merely smiled, however, as he negotiated further.

“You need information outside of the novels you’ve read, don’t you, Mr. Kim Rok Soo?”

There was confidence in his tone of voice—and how could there not be? Alberu was the crown prince of the Roan kingdom, but unlike the other two princes, he was not spoilt. Not everything was handed over to him on a silver platter. Not all of the people assigned to his castle supported him as the crown prince even though he was the official one.

Growing up, it was strange. Was he really the future king of the kingdom when he was being treated this way?

He chalked it up to his ancestry but did not blame it.

Instead, he worked hard and became diligent. With the help of the few people who were loyal to him, such as the family members from his mother’s side like Aunt Tasha, he studied what he could and made the effort to excel in all aspects and prove his worthiness to the throne.

He wanted to make sure that he would undoubtedly be the only option for King—not through petty assassination attempts, but instead through molding himself into someone who would be better than all the other options in every way that mattered.

“I cannot tell you my identity as of now, however, I can assure you. Me and my cousin will not do anything to disturb or harm you and will only work to help you as much as we can. You are even free to use as errand runners of sorts, if you wish, or treat us as though we are not there. All that we want in exchange is…”

Alberu gave a sad smile as he finally admitted their one true goal for approaching them.

“Our safety.”

Kim Rok Soo and Choi Han regarded him with interest as soon as that came out of the open. Although the latter was still a bit too suspicious, with one hand hovering over the hilt of his sword dangerously, the former looked like he was in the process of being convinced.

“I see.” Kim Rok Soo stated, “That is quite nice of you to offer yourselves up, but you are mistaken about one thing, ‘Mr. Shawn’.”

“Hm?”

Alberu blinked, not having an idea what the hell this Kim Rok Soo guy could mean.

Kim Rok Soo pointed at himself with an uncaring expression before finally announcing for all the sharp eared individuals in the room to hear.

“I am not Kim Rok Soo.”

“……..”

‘And I’m not the crown prince of the roan kingdom, no shit.’

Alberu gritted his teeth, “….Mr. Kim Rok Soo, there is no need to deny it anymore. If this man is Choi Han, then of course, your identity could only be…”

“My name is Bob.”

‘Ah, what kind of nonsense is this?’

The determination to be Bob was strong and firm.

“It is nice to meet you, Mr. Bob. I am Mary.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too, Miss Mary. I am Bob. You can call me Bob hyung.”

‘No, Mary, why are you introducing yourself as well?’

Alberu was having a serious headache while Mary and Kim Rok Soo regarded each other casually, the former doing so in her signature mechanical voice and the later doing it with his signature poker face, when the blinking Choi Han spoke up with a rigid face.

“I. Am. Also. Not. Choi. Han.”

‘What a terrible actor! Like hell I believe you!’

The perfectly maintained smile on the crown prince’s face cracked, becoming strained as he listened to the nonsense coming out of the “protagonist”’s mouth.

‘Kim Rok Soo, you bastard.’

In the corner of his eyes, Alberu could faintly make out the mirth on the stony-faced Kim Rok Soo’s eyes.

‘It’s only fair now, is it?’

This was Kim Rok Soo’s thoughts as he locked eyes with “Shawn, the southerner” once again.

 “I cannot tell you my identity as of now…”

These were the words that “Shawn” had said earlier. He said he couldn’t tell them his identity, but didn’t he already do so? He shot himself in the foot when he said that piece of truth without even thinking. Kim Rok Soo already found it weird when a southerner came here instead of towards the place where Queen Litana was after a few chapters into the story, so it was the one thing he needed to confirm that “Shawn” was not this mysterious brown-haired man’s real identity.

Despite this revelation, however, Kim Rok Soo was calm and unbothered.

‘If you’re not gonna admit your real name, then I won’t admit to mine.’

This was the magical power of something that humans like to call “Denial”.

“By the way… about your proposal, ‘Mr. Shawn’.”

Kim Rok Soo smiled brightly, a direct contrast to his indifferent demeanor just a while ago, and Alberu found himself suddenly shivering ominously, as though he sensed a dark future ahead. He had half the brains to know that Kim Rok Soo most definitely already knows about his name being fake.

But unlike his intuition, the smiling Kim Rok Soo shrugged to himself, uncaringly.

“Sure. You’re free to join us.”

Alberu blinked, stupefied by the green light he just received from the Korean, but the Korean just smirked to himself as he added leisurely.

“As long as you keep your promise of answering to us and our demands, of course.”

‘………’

Suddenly, Alberu feels like it would be wise of him to second guess his decisions. He doesn’t like the look on this Kim Rok Soo bastard’s face. He had a bad feeling upon looking at it.

Unfortunately for him, before he could even say anything, Mary spoke for the two of them from behind him.

“Of course. We keep our word.”

The necromancer said it with so much confidence that Alberu almost bit his tongue.

‘Mary…. Why…’

“Good, good! We’re a group now, then. As per the agreement, we have our first order for you guys.”

‘Wait! This is going too fast…!’

 Alberu felt himself get flustered at the speed in which the conversation was going without his input and tried to promptly interject and get one word in when Kim Rok Soo looked him in the eye and said innocently.

“You’ll keep your word, won’t you?”

……..

……..

……..

“They left us.”

“Mm. But they said they’ll be back so it will be fine, your highness.”

Alberu dully sat down on the ground feeling like he somehow got played while Mary continued to stand and dutifully do her job as the watch, her rather robotic demeanor becoming a bit more chirpy as she responded to the frowning Crown prince.

Mary can’t see what’s wrong with holding out the fort like this.

“Your first order is… stay here while we go make more connections in this place.”

It was after all the first order they’ve been given and Alberu did say both Kim Rok Soo and Choi Han can use the both of them as they please. Little does Mary know, Alberu was at least hoping he still got a say on some things.

‘Words are just things you can say.’

The crown prince thought blithely.

No matter if they said they’ll be back or not, who’s to say they would actually do it? Doesn’t this whole thing look like a ploy for them to just ditch them and escape?

Bitter thoughts were forming in Alberu’s thoughts and so he shut his eyes close and rubbed his temple.

Maybe it was because he did this.

He didn’t notice when something suddenly changed within the black room earlier than expected.

---

“Hyung, are you sure we should leave them there?”

“Completely sure. Think of it as a test.”

A distance away from their usual spot, leisurely walking across the black room while everyone else were discussing things with each other was the Korean gang, Kim Rok Soo and Choi Han. Choi Han had a complicated expression on his face while Kim Rok Soo sported his usual expression—one of utter stoniness and indifference.

“A test?”

“Yes.” Kim Rok Soo nodded to Choi Han as they traversed the room side by side, “They said they would follow our orders, right? But I doubt that Shawn guy truly meant it. Maybe Miss Mary is different but that Shawn guy just felt so fake.”

“I see.” Choi Han thoughtfully muttered.

He sees Kim Rok Soo’s point since the way they met the Shawn guy out of nowhere did start of with a rather off-putting smile that almost felt forced.

Step.

Choi Han stopped on his feet as soon as Kim Rok Soo’s hand came in front of him. The reddish brown eyes of Kim Rok Soo were sharply looking at a certain person in the far distance.

“That’s her.”

Red hair as bright as the sun.

The noblewoman casually keeping to herself in one side of the room was boredly moving one mana-covered hand over the air, causing fluctuations to trail behind it.

‘Princess Rosalyn of the Breck Kingdom.’

In <The Birth of a Hero>, she was Choi Han’s first ever party member, having bumped into her by coincidence while working as a mercenary after the Harris Village incident and the Beat-Cale-Up Scene. Fresh out of some perspective-altering moments in their life, both were not very eager to know each other that much at first, but they do become comrades after going through some things together.

Choi Han said he wanted to meet them—the people who he would treat like his second family in this future world that hasn’t happened yet—and so here they are, rewriting how they were originally supposed to meet.

'At this point, she probably hasn’t experienced the assassination attempt yet.’ Kim Rok Soo noted down.

He doesn’t know how much the attempt changed Rosalyn’s outward attitude and personality or if it changed anything at all, but this was a clear change of direction just like when he had approached Choi Han as a Korean and got the man’s trust somehow along the way in a matter of hours.

It seemed to Kim Rok Soo that these kind of changes were only possible because of the black room.

“Well?”

Kim Rok Soo turned to look over at Choi Han.

“Aren’t you going to go say hi?”

Choi Han grimaced, his face twisted in a way that looked pained after hearing those words. He looked a bit nervous—he was excited yes, but there was also that underlying anxiety as he glanced at Rosalyn from faraway and then at Kim Rok Soo.

“…. Please wait for me here.”

Clenching his hands, Choi Han finally steeled his resolve and started walking towards the mage and princess after leaving with those parting words.

‘I was planning to just wait here, anyway.’

Kim Rok Soo thought briefly as he watched the scary Korean protagonist walk away.

‘Good luck, Choi Han.’

He wished him success in his social endeavors internally.

Rosalyn from <The Birth of a Hero> was shown as a rather cold and calculating individual. Before she had formed a connection with Choi Han and then later on with Lock, there was a frosty aura in the way she carried herself, contrasting her bright red hair.

Some part of Kim Rok Soo wonders if the assassination attempt may have tempered her personality a bit, but one can never be sure.

Maybe it was just how she was. There was no judging that.

“Hm, I wonder how the conversation would go…” Kim Rok Soo muttered to himself as he squatted down on the ground and made himself comfortable.

He was a distance far away enough to not be able to hear what Choi Han and Rosalyn would talk about, unless they decided to speak really loudly at each other, but he was still close enough that if anyone suddenly charged at him randomly, Choi Han can still reach him before then upon exercising around 70% or so of his true power.

To not have to carry on the emotional hassle, Kim Rok Soo prepared himself mentally to stay for the long run and maybe even prepare to rush over to perform a social intervention in the two people’s conversation.

But honestly?

There was no need for that.

“Hyung, this is Rosalyn, a princess from the Breck Kingdom.”

“It’s nice to meet you, sir. I’m Rosalyn.”

Kim Rok Soo looked at the smiling Choi Han who was excitedly introducing Rosalyn over and the red-haired princess mage who was politely smiling as she introduced herself, her expression sunny.

‘…. What the actual heck.’

It only took 5 minutes. Only 5 fricking minutes.

“Hyung?”

Choi Han inclined his head, curiously when Kim Rok Soo just stared at him with a look of disbelief, and Kim Rok Soo quickly shook himself out of his thoughts as he responded accordingly.

“Ah, nice to meet you, too, your highness.” He bowed lightly as per custom.

“Please. Rosalyn is just fine. You must be… hmm, Kim Rok Soo, right?”

‘Aish, this room is filled with too many quick-witted people.’

Rosalyn gave him a once-over and for a moment Kim Rok Soo felt a bit tense. He was remembering all the scary things that Rosalyn from <The Birth of a Hero> was capable of. In particular, he remembers what happened to the ones who orchestrated that one assassination attempt she had to deal with shortly before the story truly kicked off.

After a beat of silence, the red-haired princess put a finger to her chin as she said in an almost confounded tone.

“So this is what they call the Korean style…”

‘…..Hm?’

Kim Rok Soo wondered if he heard her wrong by any chance but upon seeing Choi Han suddenly start beaming, he was no longer sure.

‘What the heck.’

What did these two people talk about for them to easily become friends?

Could it be that Choi Han is actually a god at socialization? The guy who almost pulled a sword at the Shawn guy is actually good at making friends when he’s not high key suspicious of you?

…Or is it that it was originally supposed to be this easy for them to be friends… And the assassination and the cold-blooded massacre of Harris village just stalled it by making both unwilling to try their hand at friendship the first time they met?

Rosalyn must have noticed the contemplative look on the korean’s face because she soon gave him a reassuring smile.

“Rest easy. I am not looking to cause you any trouble. In fact, I think I could be of help to you.”

Smart and straight to the point. What an intelligent woman, indeed.

From what Kim Rok Soo could tell, it seemed that she was able to quickly figure out that she would play an important role in changing the future just by being here and that in order to better do that, she would need to foster a good relationship with Kim Rok Soo, who has a good chance of becoming the Cale Henituse they were reading today, and Choi Han, the so-called “protagonist”. She was indeed a quick-witted woman through and through.

She must have also figured out why Kim Rok Soo searched her out first instead of someone like, for example, Lock.

Princess Rosalyn, after all, was by heart and talent—a mage.

‘Altering the hair color, the eye color, the skin color, or even turning me invisible.’ Kim Rok Soo noted all the appearance-altering magic skills that Rosalyn demonstrated during covert missions in the novel as he stared right into her calculating eyes.

She was just as useful to him as he, the sole reader of <The birth of a hero>, was to her who lived its story.

‘But she probably wouldn’t have guessed that she was actually one of Choi Han’s closest party members.’

Although he knew already that there was no way someone like Rosalyn would haphazardly announce his identity to everyone in the room, Kim Rok Soo’s face still formed a smile as he accepted the words of the princess and extended his hand.

“Please. Call me Bob.”

Rosalyn didn’t even question the ‘Bob’ alias. She nodded her head, acknowledging the Korean’s alias.

Kim Rok Soo would have appreciated this cooperative gesture much more if not for what she resolutely said next.

“Bob-oppa it is, then.”

‘…………’

No matter if it’s an alias or what not, hearing Bob and Oppa in the same sentence just doesn’t click.

Suddenly, Kim Rok Soo understood why that “Shawn” guy’s face twisted like he bit through a lemon when he heard “Bob hyung”.

“….Just Bob, please.”

An exasperated looking Kim Rok sighed as the two exchanged a more business-like greeting as they shook hands with each other, and Rosalyn’s smile turned even wider.

“Young master Bob, then. Surely you do not mind?”

…. For the record, Kim Rok Soo was in his 30s.

“...You can... do as you’d like.”

Kim Rok Soo gives up. It doesn’t matter what name he’s called anyway.

‘Let’s just hurry up and get back to the…’

ZZZT—

Kim Rok Soo’s hand stilled from where it was still connected with Rosalyn’s in their exchange. His reddish-brown eyes widened by a fraction as he stared at it.

Was it just him or did the light on their hands disappear for at least half a second?

“Bob hyung.”

Choi Han’s grave voice said otherwise.

Kim Rok Soo retracted his hand and looked around the black walls of the room and the people within it. Rosalyn, too, retreated her hand and scanned the surrounding as she felt a sudden change occur within the room, and it wasn’t just her.

Several other people sensitive to mana simultaneously raised their eyes as they felt it—a disturbance.

“What is going on?”

One of those people, a golden-haired elf, frowned slightly as he felt the mana in the air move unnaturally.

It was like something was being forced within the black room. The steady mana that had been emanating the room since they all arrived, only momentarily changing before a chapter arrives, was running wild. It was almost nauseating for the few human mages in the room, and uncomfortable for those that were beyond it.

The light illuminating everyone blinked once again—turning dark one moment and coming back the next, and it was at this moment that those who couldn’t sense mana as great as those who’ve already noticed the situation finally realized that something was happening.

‘This can’t be good.’

A frown marred Cale’s face as he looked at the flickering light covering everyone, a million things running in his head as he did, and it was then that his worst fear came into fruition.

Chapter 4: They Met (̶̠̈́1̷͙̔)̶̮͂

A broken projection appeared in front of everyone’s eyes.

Bud Illis looked at the projection in disbelief from where he was sitting on the floor formerly discussing things with the Molan Patriarch and exclaimed in confusion, “No wait, but it hasn’t even been 15 minutes yet…!”

As murmurs suddenly broke out of those who were actively keeping the time even in this secluded blank room despite the absence of sun and moon to tell the time of the day, panic broke out of those who stared at the projection that had a clear crack upon its figure.

It was as if something had forced it to be pushed out against its will. What was happening?

“……..”

Kim Rok Soo stared at the projection in a concentrated manner while Choi Han and Rosalyn hovered around him with vigilant expressions as chaos descended in the room of people.

Although his expression was that of a calm man, his inner thoughts swayed differently.

‘You motherfucking god.’

When times are dire, he could only glare at the person behind bringing them here in the first place.

---

“What is the meaning of this.”

In a place far away but close by, a place inaccessible to most people of ordinary origins and places in life, a man stood fiercely with cold eyes in front of another.

One who was younger. More impatient. More… mm, merciless at the keyboards.

The younger man was leaning over a computer, hands hovering above the keyboard, but every now and then he would type speedily in one go, so much so that it felt like the keyboard might end up breaking. He had a build of someone who obviously had gone through many fights before, and wore clothes that were of the modern times, and his facial features were something that the man scolding him knew very well.

After all, his time was always, always, taken up by watching people like him.

“Maybe it’s because you’re a god, but you don’t have much sense when it comes to time, do you? It might not be 20 years but it’ll still take them at least 2 years to finish reading it at this point. Do you think you can just make every important person in that world age by 2 years and get away with it when they come back?”

“Aigo, you Koreans, really…”

The God of death, the man who looked like an office worker whose son had hacked into his account to access a site prohibited to his age, finally let out a sigh after hearing the rude string of words that came out of the young man’s mouth.

“Hey, keep your cool. That’s just racist.”

The young man leaned over his shoulder and flashed him a big smile but the God of death wasn’t affected by the slightest.

“Don’t worry, I’m just making the breaks shorter for the useless ones. I'm not skipping anything.”

“…You’re breaking it.”

“Well, you can always just order another computer if you have a problem with that. Don’t worry so much. After all, you only started this to prove something. If it’s Rok Soo, 10-15 minutes in between chapters or less is enough.”

‘The problem is that it’s not just for Kim Rok Soo, you dolt!'

“….Haaa.”

As the computer screen showed new contents and glitched a little here and there, the God of death could only sigh.

Maybe taking more than one Korean to work with him was a mistake.

Unfortunately, that's a decision that you just can't undo.

Chapter Text

He could not think about anything else while food was in front of him. He could not even prevent the admiration that was flowing out of his mouth.

“Ha. It’s so delicious.”

“Ah, damn, it’s really starting already?!” Bud Illis scrambled to his feet from where he was sitting before next to the Molan Patriarch and the Henituse Deputy Butler.

Not long after the lighting in the room started going funny like something from a horror movie, the projection had suddenly appeared earlier than it usually did the past few times. It wasn’t really something worth the anxiety if not for the scary way in which it presented itself as soon as it came back, cracked.

But only the expressionless Kim Rok Soo probably picked that up.

“What the hell?!”

The people in the black room became agitated—but no matter their thoughts, the projection just pushed forward as though there was nothing wrong… which was probably the case if not for the cracks. Some of the people weren’t done with their discussions yet and were startled out of their conversations.

They weren’t quite mentally ready for a new chapter just yet, so why?!

The deputy butler Hans flinched at the words that came out of Cale’s mouth. Cale was sitting alone at the table, with Hans standing next to him.

Other than breakfast, Count Henituse’s family tended to take care of the other meals freely. To be honest, it was mainly because they each had their own responsibilities.

Count Deruth frowned at the forced naturality in which the words on the projection flowed. His son’s face however not only formed a frown but also darkened at the sudden unplanned change of schedule.

Although it was never an established rule along with all the others that the insufferable bastard, the God of Death, mentioned at the beginning of their stay here, to suddenly change things like this without warning especially when they were starting to grasp the patterns was rude and off-putting.

Nobody said that it was easy to be a noble.

“Everyone, hold yourself together.”

Countess Violan’s composed voice managed to drag most of the people in the Henituse group, including some royals, out of their nerves.

What’s done was done. The projection was already here and so the audience had no choice but to just take it. In the end, it could be their loss if they don’t pay attention.

Countess Violan’s words thankfully did the trick. Valentino and Litana exchanged awkward smiles as they saw what the countess meant and tried their best to redirect their efforts to reading instead of worrying, but the same couldn’t be said to the other people in the room.

Especially if you were in administration or politics, you had to follow a strict schedule, dropping everything else if you received an order from someone above you.

Count Deruth had responsibilities as the lord of the region, making it difficult to share other meals together, while Cale’s younger siblings timed their meals based on their studies. The Countess was busy interacting with the wives of the influential households in the region, as well as other tasks.

‘Now that I think about it.’

Cale put the fork down after suddenly remembering something.

Hans started to get nervous. He was worried because he did not know when that fork may fly toward his face.

War flashbacks of flying kitchen utensils played repeatedly in the back of an agitated Hans’ frazzled mind.

Cale did not care whether Hans was nervous or not as he got lost in his own thoughts.

‘There are a lot of experts hiding as artists or craftsmen.’

“Oh, you don’t say?” Princess Jopis flatly stared at the Molans, to which Glenn Poeff to her side muttered “Oh, hush you” under his breath.

Glenn was stressed enough by the uncanny form of the projection, he doesn’t want the Molans’ ire in his general direction, either.

The Roan Kingdom was pretty advanced in construction and the arts, especially sculpting. It was because there was a lot of marble in the Roan Kingdom. Thanks to that, the Henituse region became the fifth best marble mining region, bringing in a lot of money.

Furthermore, a mountain range took up most of Count Henituse’s region. Even though it was located in the northwest, the mountains were extremely fertile, allowing the residents to grow grapes in between the mountains for wine. Although there was not a large quantity of wine from these fields, it was still treated as one of the best wines in the entire continent.

However, Cale’s mind was filled more about the, ‘strong individuals,’ and not these facts. He had even missed lunch as he sat in the study thinking about that all day.

‘Why are there so many experts on this stupid land? This isn’t the murim.’

“Ho?” A golden-haired elf shifted an eyebrow skeptically at the mention of strong individuals, while Glenn sighed as soon as he heard another Ho?” from a certain interested blue-haired man but for a completely different reason.

“What’s the murim?” Lily innocently blurted out, nose scrunching up.

There were so many hermit experts here like in the murim.

There it was again. A few heads wanted to ask that same question about this murim, too because of the scary implication that it was a land filled with experts, but they gave up voicing their questions out loud. They knew no one would be able to answer them.

(Except for Kim Rok Soo.)

That was why Cale came to a conclusion: Do not mess with just anybody.

“Wise.” A man on a wheelchair smiled lightly while the short-haired woman holding his wheelchair snorted.

An average looking chef could be a poison expert, and the person working in the repair shop could be someone who viciously killed people with his wires. This was that type of land.

“…Wait, is that the type of land the Murim is?!”

“No, Lily, he’s talking about our world.”

Basen’s off-handed correction did not quite help the Little Lily’s complexion.

A deep sigh came out of Cale’s mouth.

“Young master.”

Cale, who wanted to let out another sigh, turned his gaze to the source of the cautious voice. It was the deputy butler Hans.

“What?”

“Should I get them to make something else?”

“Huh?

Hans held back his sigh after seeing Cale frowning and opening his eyes widely.

He was thinking that Cale would now flip the table.

“…Were you really that bad?” Valentino reluctantly asked Cale who was still feeling a tad bit upset over the schedule change when everyone else in their little group had already found themselves moving past it, and the redhead’s response mirrored his annoyance in perfect clarity.

The redhead drew his brows together with irritation on his face and said in an almost scornful manner.

“Hah?”

“………….”

It was only one word that didn’t say much but Valentino felt like his question had already been answered.

Hans didn’t know why the Count would assign him to take care of Cale, but held back his rising despair as he waited for Cale’s response. And Cale did respond.

Now, that gets nervous laughter out of a sweating ginger head whose thoughts were thoroughly being exposed.

“Why would you remake something this delicious?”

“…Excuse me?”

Cale picked his fork back up and sliced the meat. Dinner was even fancier than breakfast. It was not delicious because he had never had something like this when he was still Kim Rok Soo, but because it was an extravagant taste, even for the original Cale.

Kim Rok Soo didn’t know how Cale grew up, but the original Cale had issues with anything that was not fancy. He liked that fact quite a bit. Everybody knew that was the case and only brought the best of the best.

Beacrox’s eyes turned to slits as he read that.

Cale put a piece of the well-cooked, but still juicy, piece of steak in his mouth as he asked Hans. His attitude was one that said he did not care about etiquettes at all.

“Hans, who made this meal?”

“Ah, it was second chef Beacrox.”

…Cale suddenly lost his appetite.

….Well, the chef knew that his name would come up again sooner or later so he wasn’t surprised.

Beacrox. He was clean cut and was the son of the servant Ron. However, unlike his father, he specialized in the way of the sword and not assassinations.

Beacrox was also obsessed with cleanliness and sharpened his spotless blade every day, using that same sword to slice the heads of his enemies off their bodies.

Several faces that have visited and taken part in the Henituse family meals before turned a bit sickly only for Ron to give them an unimpressed gaze.

“The novel never said he used it for food, too, good sirs and madams.”

‘…He also specializes in torture.’

The faces did not quite regain their color even after that, though.

That kind of guy ends up admiring Choi Han’s sword skill and chooses to follow him. His father Ron makes a deal with Choi Han to help him, and chooses to leave with the two of them for the sake of his son. Although he may not look like it, Ron cherishes his son quite a bit.

Both father and son suddenly stare at the projection, eyes wider by a fraction.

Beacrox, because of the idea that he’d follow after some random guy with not-so-half-assed sword skills and abandon his culinary career for it, and Ron, because of the reveal of what made him leave the Henituse family in the first place—But for some reason, it felt like there should be something more.

The two men felt uneasy.

If only this wasn’t just a passing thought in some guy’s head, then maybe it would have had more details on what exactly that “deal” was.

Cale looked down at the medium rare steak that was still slightly pink on the inside and gulped a few times.

‘I can’t allow my blood to shed like this steak.’

“A wonderful comparison!” A white-haired man with purple eyes practically laughed. The people around him quietly took one step away from him as he did, except for a woman in peculiar priest clothes.

He turned his gaze toward Hans who was still looking at him before cutting another piece of steak and putting it in his mouth.

“It is delicious. He is Ron’s son, right? I did not know he was such a talented chef.”

Eric wheelsman raised an eyebrow where he was sitting with the other northeastern nobles. Putting the transmigration and the novel in light…

“Did he really, though?”

“…I will deliver your message to chef Beacrox. I’m sure he will be very happy to know that young master Cale complimented his cooking.”

“Is that so? Let him know that I truly enjoyed this delicious meal.”

“…Yes, sir.”

Hilsman consolingly patted a certain ginger’s back as the ginger covered his face in a feeble attempt to not read any more. It was useless—as checked by a certain Korean before, there was no escaping the projection and the embarrassment that your projection self would bring. Hans could still see the words even through the skin that covered his eyes.

Oh, he just wishes he doesn’t get a deduction in his salaries for a parallel self’s behavior.

Hans was looking at Cale with a stiff expression, but Cale had made up his mind. He was not going to mess with Beacrox and would work to make a good impression.

Cale enjoyed the meal once again with a relaxed heart. Everything will be settled once he made Beacrox run into Choi Han and leave the region.

Cale had already made what he thought to be a pretty good plan to make that happen.

Ron and Beacrox both turned rigid.

Snippets of the future came to mind quickly as they remembered that, as a matter of fact, both of them did not appear even once in the future of this “Cale Henituse”.

If it was only that, they would have thought that the man probably succeeded in getting rid of them, but then again, the Henituse family didn’t exactly appear in the future now, either, did they? In addition, if they weren’t part of this man’s future, then why were they even here?

A bit of coldness crept into their hearts as they thought to themselves… were they just here for a god’s entertainment?

Just like during breakfast, Cale completely emptied the dishes. He had a satisfied smile on his face as he got up and looked toward Hans.

“Hans, why did you suddenly end up being assigned to me?”

“Oh, please stop focusing on me already and go to the plot.” Hans exasperatedly muttered from behind his hands which were strongly pasted to his face.

Hans had mentioned before dinner that his father, Deruth, had sent him to personally handle Cale’s needs. Although Cale did not know about the situation in Count Henituse’s family once Choi Han leaves, Hans was extremely skilled and probably had the best chance of all the deputy butlers in becoming the official butler.

The extremely skilled individual in question suddenly perked up at the praise.

Hans slightly bowed his head and answered the question.

“The Count-nim was concerned after hearing that young master had missed a meal while working in the study and ordered me to make sure that the young master makes sure to eat every meal. As a result, I will be overseeing just the meal-related duties for the young master.”

“Is that so? My father did something he didn’t need to do. I would eat properly on my own. But I guess I would not have realized it was time for dinner if Hans did not come tell me.”

Cale had been busy writing down all the fateful encounters in the first five volumes of the novel in Korean.

“…At least he’s taking the future seriously, I guess.” Glenn Poeff mustered quietly.

“…Although it is mostly if not entirely for himself, yes.” Litana dryly commented, not even withholding her disagreements with this “Cale Henituse” on screen.

After leaving the dining room, Cale smiled toward Hans.

“Hans, take good care of me.”

“Ah, of course. Please take good care of me as well. I will do my best.”

Hans stumbled a bit as he answered, but Cale just let it be.

Hilsman covered his mouth with a solemn expression as he continued patting Hans whose expression once again fell at the small embarrassing things his projected self was committing. It wasn’t because he was solemnly sympathizing with the ginger but because he feared he might end up laughing himself if he did not internalize and overdramatically reconstruct the ginger-haired man’s grief.

Cale saw Ron standing there as soon as he opened the door and started to frown.

“Ron, didn’t I tell you to go eat?”

The real Ron read the sentence with a coldness akin to the north lands, face so blank it was scary.

Cale told him to go away because he did not want to see this old man’s face, but he would not leave.

He just roamed around Cale like a fly.

Ron had been waiting outside the door when he was in the study, but even that got on Cale’s nerves.

‘Well, that’s technically his job.’

 Cale thought to himself in the midst of his unease as he glanced at the face of the old man whose face was growing colder and yet whose lips were slowly turning upward as time passed on.

He looked away quickly trying to suppress a shiver and instead, tried to look for the usual two—the two Koreans who, according to Basen, had talked to the “southerner” and then parted ways with them almost immediately.

‘What are you up to now?’

Cale combed through the room once again with his eyes in search of the two only to be surprised.

“Young master, it is my duty to take care of you.”

Cale clicked his tongue after seeing Ron smiling at him.

He then threw a bit of a tantrum.

While the people from the Henituse family who knew his tantrums well suddenly flinched, the redhead quickly found the two Koreans side by side… with another redhead.

Choi Han and the woman seemed to be looking at Kim Rok Soo dubiously, probably because of the mention of throwing a “tantrum”, and Kim Rok Soo was resolutely not looking their way, pretending to be reading the panel intently when he clearly wasn’t really paying attention. The two were probably finding it difficult to put the word “tantrum” right next to the man who was visibly in his 30s.

It was a nice-looking scene, a bit funny, but the thing is…

Why are they walking while reading the projection?

Do they have no fear of missing anything important? Or did they simply just decide that the current scenes in the projection weren’t worth noting?

“Enough. I don’t need it so go eat. Why don’t you go eat even when I tell you to go eat? Don’t follow me. You know my temper if you do, right?”

While the others sported amused looks on their faces at what they were reading, especially Hans, Ron, and Beacrox, Cale was sitting on one corner visibly confused if not intrigued, eyes fixed on the two Koreans and the red-haired woman.

…Hold on, wait a second, is that woman Princess Rosalyn from the Breck Kingdom????

Cale threatened Ron with his gaze to reinforce that he did not want Ron to follow as he headed back to the study. When he peeked back, Ron was standing there with a stiff expression while Hans was looking towards him with shock.

‘Should I not have thrown a tantrum?’

“Huh, to be honest that was cute compared to the real thing." Hans absent-mindedly pointed out, before turning to their young master’s direction, “Don’t you think so, young mas—”

“Shhh! Shut your mouth for a moment.” Cale hissed without even looking at the ginger as he watched the Koreans—he was busy enough trying to spy, no, trying to observe the two Koreans.

Cale was scared of the assassin old man’s stiff expression and turned his head back around before speeding back to the study.

“Huh.” One of the whales’ lips seemed to quirk up at the imagery.

The desk was completely empty.

Cale blinked as he saw those words in front of him.

No one could truly not pay attention to the projection, Cale knew that. Since the projection was always there wherever you look even if you close your eyes, there was no way you would miss it. But it was a projection whose contents kept changing so even though you’d never miss the projection itself, it was easy to lose sight of the words inside it.

The document that he had been working so hard on to write in Korean was already burnt in the fire.

Cale had done so himself.

There was nobody here who knew Korean, but he had to be careful. He had also told all the servants not to enter the study without his permission as well.

Earlier it had been mentioned that the man had written down as much as he could remember of the plot that he read, and yet he burned it with his own hands even though there was no guarantee he would remember it completely.

Cale couldn’t know what was going on in his head.

To him, these actions were something that could only be done by someone who had full confidence in their memories. But there’s no way someone could actually remember anything clearly even after a long time has passed.… Right?

Bridled with sudden uncertainty, Cale’s eyes flickered back towards Kim Rok Soo’s direction only to meet eyes with reddish brown, the same shade as his.

Kim Rok Soo stopped for a bit in his tracks as he walked just to stare.

And then out of nowhere, as if he saw the worries in Cale’s face, the man gave a reassuring smile almost the same time the cracked visage of the projection once again changed.

‘I remember everything anyways.’

Kim Rok Soo had always been good at remembering things he enjoyed.

If Kim Rok Soo had any doubt that this person who became Cale Henituse was truly him, then every trace of that was gone now. It sounded just about right, you see. Not completely though.

Comic books, novels, movies, no matter what it was, as long as he enjoyed it, he was able to remember the names and appearances of the characters.

Of course, if he didn’t like something, he would not remember anything about it at all.

‘…I wouldn’t remember it at all, huh?’

Kim Rok Soo had just turned away from his eye-to-eye with the real Cale Henituse when Rosalyn suddenly called out to him, not-so-quietly, as they ventured around the room again.

“Young master Bob.”

“Bob hyung, are you sure this is okay?”

Both Choi Han and Rosalyn were following after him surprisingly obediently as they slipped past certain groups of people, some of which Rosalyn recognized at one glance, although both seemed unsure about not giving the projection 100% of their attention. Kim Rok Soo can understand why Choi Han would, but maybe it was because Rosalyn somehow clicked with the scary punk, being a pretty scary person herself, but she was being really compliant for someone with pride as a princess.

The questions that two had were written all over their faces. It was the same question blatantly written on the real Cale Henituse’s face just now, actually.

Will they really be alright not focusing on the projection?

Although it was sent to them in such a ridiculous novel format, both heroes were keenly aware that every single word from the projection was like a prediction of the future—not exactly a prophecy but a means to gain information about the future.

Cale leaned his back onto the chair and thought about what he needed to do in the future.

‘First, I need to see Choi Han tomorrow and do that.’

“It’s fine.”

Kim Rok Soo’s answer didn’t really placate the two, but Kim Rok Soo knew what he was doing.

It had only been 3 chapters so far, but if there was anything that Kim Rok Soo understood from it, it was that the chapters’ pacing were especially slow. Kim Rok Soo knew a few post-apocalyptic novels that had a faster tempo to their plot than this. Maybe it was because it was still peacetime and technically still the beginning of the story, but the speed was a bit unimpressive. Kim Rok Soo couldn’t help but think that if this was published as an actual novel where he lived, it would be the kind of novel that people who didn’t have much patience would drop because of the lack of… exciting elements in the beginning of the story.

He really can’t understand some people sometimes. What’s so wrong with having a boring but peaceful life where you can just do what you want to do or do nothing at all?

Anyway, if Kim Rok Soo is guessing right, then the pacing of the story wouldn’t bring in anything too important right now. Not to say that he doesn’t think nothing particularly significant will happen in the next few chapters or something (the future is always hard to predict), of course. But even if something like a closed room murder suddenly happens in the next chapter, Kim Rok Soo thinks that the three of them will still be fine just skimming through it, really.

Since, as the projection has already pointed out, Kim Rok Soo would remember everything nonetheless.

It was only after he explained this to his two companions that both Choi Han and Rosalyn saw his point and slightly relaxed. Of course, Kim Rok Soo told the pair that they could just do whatever they want regardless of Kim Rok Soo’s advice and read while walking if they want—they just have to please make sure they don’t trip on anyone or anything.

Especially Choi Han. Kim Rok Soo doesn’t trust that bastard’s strength, even if he’s just walking.

The trio needed to take a stealthy detour around Toonka and Chief Harol Kodiang’s little group because he didn’t know what was worse: Him tripping on the wounded Toonka? Rosalyn the mage tripping on the wounded mage slayer? Choi Han tripping on the same guy he kind of sent flying with one punch?

Nope, nope, nope. Not risking it.

Besides the memory part though, if they ever do miss a bit of the projection then Kim Rok Soo can always just guess.

“Guess…?”

Rosalyn and Choi Hun scrunched up their noses, as if they wanted to say something about that. The future was a very important matter for everyone, and yet Kim Rok Soo was just going to guess what happened?

The corners of Kim Rok Soo’s lips started to slowly rise.

The corners of his lips started to slowly rise.

No one would know Kim Rok Soo’s train of thought more than himself.

“I’m going to pick up the shield.”

Both Rosalyn and Choi Han blinked at the same time as they walked side by side behind Kim Rok Soo who had started walking again, simultaneously blurting out, “Hm?”

‘I need to pick up a shield.’

The words on the projection almost matched his own.

Kim Rok Soo grinned to himself devilishly like a person with the power over spoilers, while the two people trailing behind him stared at him with round eyes.

‘How convenient that I’m the very person in that body, huh?’

“To live long without dying…” Kim Rok Soo started as naturally as one would breathe it almost seemed like it was the projection repeating his words instead of him foreseeing it himself through introspection and guesswork.

To live long without dying.

That was Kim Rok Soo’s very goal. A slacker life.

He had no intentions of fighting.

“First the shield. Second, the healthy heart. Third, the wind. And fourth, some firepower.”

The important thing is that we’re far, faaar away from the killing.

He turned towards Choi Han and Rosalyn after leisurely trying to guess his other self’s course of action in an almost half-assed manner—but can you really call it half-assed when he ends up right?

In order to achieve that goal, the first step was raising his defenses. Second was finding a recovery method. Third was being faster than anybody else. Fourth was a strength that does not hurt him but can kill others.

Of course, the most important thing was to avoid the battlefield or anywhere where there may be bloodshed.

Kim Rok Soo’s smile couldn’t help but grow wider, just like his companions’ eyes.

Let’s just say that it was only now that both Rosalyn and Choi Han were starting to realize the true advantage there is to have Kim Rok Soo by your side as the projection continued, despite the latter having been by Kim Rok Soo’s side for most of their time spent here in the black room

Cale thought about these so-called plans of his as he slowly closed his eyes with satisfaction. He was thinking about it even as he fell asleep.

‘At least, I will not be beaten up even when the time comes for it in the novel.’

The mention of that scene snapped Choi Han and Rosalyn out of their epiphanies as the latter turned to squarely stare at Choi Han who faked an almost chronic-sounding cough.

The Indestructible Shield.

Cale was thinking about this first shapeless strength he was going to get as he fell asleep. The corners of his lips that had gone up did not seem like they would ever come down.

With this, Rosalyn and Choi Han were forced to acknowledge that they didn’t really need to sit still like sitting ducks throughout the entire reading in order to gain information, but they kept an eye open for the contents too, just in case.

Fateful encounters did not have an owner.

Kim Rok Soo tuned out the sudden noises of disbelief that stirred the crowd once that line—his personal belief—had been dropped, while his two companions stared curiously at him. For some others, there would always be rightful owners to everything, may it be a title, some land or even a mighty 4-year-old dragon.

It was a first come first serve type of deal.

As the projection continued, Kim Rok Soo could just tell that a spike of irritation is going to plague some goody-two-shoes in the crowd, so he decided not to bother listening at all and just walk and read. Just as they might find his mindset disagreeable, he finds the concept of “rightful owners” for the most questionably independent things just as displeasing.

The important day. What did he need to do in order to calm his nerves and be successful? Cale thought the first step was to have a hearty breakfast.

Rosalyn’s face turned funny as they walked while Choi Han chuckled a little. All around them, the disgruntled sounds of some people were quickly drowned out by groans and a bit of shy laughter.

They were seeing some sort of food obsession here, now. Was the Henituse county’s food that good?

He felt like the only thing he did after coming to this world was eating, but he was going to enjoy the meal since he will be busy for a while starting tomorrow.

“Well, at least he’s self-aware.” A blonde woman muttered under her breath from where she was huddled together with her identical brother, her face disgruntled and still wary but her body obviously less tense than she was before when she first arrived.

This was the same for most people in the room—although the circumstances in which they’d been summoned here all varied, it was quite a mess of an entrance, with everyone panicking and getting into fights early on (Courtesy of General Toonka, I guess).

Compared to the panicked frenzy that seemed to have possessed most of them when they first got here, everyone had significantly gotten more comfortable with the place.

“Mm, ahem. I heard you fell asleep in the study last night.”

“It somehow ended up that way.”

He casually answered his father’s question and continued to focus on the food. The fact that he did not even look at his father probably seemed rude, but it was fine since he was known for being the trash.

Cale finished eating first and stood up. The screeching noise of the chair made everyone focus on him.

“I will head out first.”

“Damn, why is the family breakfast always so awkward…” A white-haired man in between two blue-haired people, who looked like a brother and a sister mumbled as he sat with his legs crossed, like some kind of delinquent. The woman next to him with hair flowing like the sea was quick to shush him with one pointer finger, but it didn’t make him less irritated of having to sit through these kinds of scenes in the first place.

It was not proper etiquette, but Cale’s father Deruth just seemed to like his son no matter what. He looked back and forth at Cale and the empty plates before starting to smile.

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“Thank you.”

“Bah…”

“Family is family, Archie.” The other sibling scolded before the killer whale could say anything more but then paused before hissing soon after, “Also, take your elbow off of my knee, it hurts!”

“Well, if it hurts, that just means you’re not—”

“Will the two of you shut up or would you both rather have water forcibly flushed down your throats.”

The two men clamped their mouths shut faster than the speed of light.

Cale needed to quickly leave because he had a lot of things to do today. But Deruth held him back for a second.

“You don’t need any allowance today?”

“…I do need some.”

This really was a family with a lot of money.

“Oh, there it goes.”

Some people were sure they would never be able to get over the Henituse family’s wealth. And the utter shamelessness of “Kim Rok Soo”’s apparent interest in it, too, for one.

Ah, how lucky is it to be transmigrated into the body of such a rich noble household?

Cale held back his smile after hearing that his father will send him the allowance through Hans and left without even saying thank you. He did make eye contact with his brother, Basen, for a moment, but Cale just ignored it and headed toward the dining room door.

‘Why do you have to mention that?’

The real Basen wanted to internally cry, feeling wronged for some reason.

He saw that Ron was following him and shooed him away.

“Ron. I’m going out. Don’t look for me.”

Don’t look for me. That was Cale’s code for letting Ron know that he was leaving the estate that was located near the rear of the city to go drinking. Whenever he did this, Ron just smiled and told him to have a safe trip.

“Will you not go to the study today?”

But for some reason, Ron asked a rare question today. Cale started to frown.

“Ron, I don’t think that is something you need to be curious about.”

“…I understand, young master. I will be waiting for you.”

Cale’s forehead started to show even more wrinkles after hearing that Ron will be waiting for him.

“Don’t wait for me.”

Meanwhile, back at the group carefully traversing through the black room.

“Miss Rosalyn.” Kim Rok Soo’s voice interrupted the concentration of the red-haired princess who was reading quietly even as their small group continued to walk across the wide room bit by bit, not really hurried.

“Yes, young master Bob?”

“Bob…” Kim Rok Soo’s face darkened for a moment, his face momentarily looking like someone who seemed to have hung their own head, but he shook it away in favor of asking in a steady tone, “Mn. How good are you at disguises?”

Rosalyn’s eyes lit up.

She quickly understood the reason for this topic. It wasn’t just Kim Rok Soo who was feeling the curious eyes headed their way after all, and it was starting to be really troublesome.

It surprises her though that the man would say the question loudly given how much they didn’t know about the capabilities of most people in this room. Just like Choi Han and Kim Rok Soo did during the first few chapters, the mage had also gauged the strength of those present in the room and was able to find a handful of people of whom she could not figure out. Wouldn’t a disguise be terribly done if you put it on while other people are looking?

But it was then however that it hit the princess.

It’s exactly because it would be a bad idea to put the disguise when everyone is looking that Kim Rok Soo decided that now was the best time for it—since everyone’s attention were directed to the projection and could not be bothered!

Perhaps, except for the man named Cale Henituse, the man with blood red hair, no one was paying attention to them at all right now.

Cale flicked his finger to beckon one of the servants standing at the entrance of the residence over and walked out with him. Cale still seemed angry, so that servant did not say anything as he followed behind Cale.

Once he exited the residence, he could see the garden and the gate of the exit farther away. It was only then that Cale let out a sigh and peeked backwards. He could see Ron’s stiff expression through the closing door.

‘I’m glad I was able to shake him off.’

“I think it’s enough so that we can shake most people off of our tail if we do it right.” A satisfied smile crept up Rosalyn’s face as she moved to prepare the spell and disguise Kim Rok Soo, “Do you have any preferences, young master?”

“No. Just do as you see fit.”

Kim Rok Soo trusted Rosalyn not to overdo it.

Magic coated Kim Rok Soo’s features, making Kim Rok Soo feel a bit weird feeling it so close for the first time, quite literally sticking to his skin. Kim Rok Soo in the other side of the room marveled in the new sensation of magic, but then suddenly.

“…What’s wrong?” Kim Rok Soo raised an eyebrow at Rosalyn who had suddenly turned quiet and then made a funny expression out of nowhere.

“Ah… it’s nothing really, just…”The princess trailed off as she murmured to herself, intrigued.

“I thought I felt something strange in the mana for a second there, for some reason.”

Rosalyn fell into deep thought as she pursed her lips. She didn’t feel this strange oddity that time she had to restrain General Toonka before Choi Han stepped in and sent him flying with one clean hit to the chin. It was truly strange and also a bit unnerving, but she tried to reason with herself that perhaps it was someone stronger among the people in the room playing a trick on her or maybe just an unusual nature of the room that she didn’t notice before.

That couldn’t be good news in any way to Kim Rok Soo though.

-Human

…Until he heard an almost hesitant young voice inside his head that sounded very familiar.

-…This woman is a smart human.

“Ah…”

Kim Rok Soo almost made a face as he realized exactly what the “strange” thing Rosalyn felt in the mana was.

‘Damn, the dragon’s still here?’

He recalled all the scenes from <The Birth of a Hero> involving how mages react to dragons and promptly scrunched up his nose. If elves were the type to drop to their knees in the most dramatic fashion or just straight up faint in the presence of such a majestic creature, mages were highly likely to crash and stop functioning properly, going from a respectable scholar of nature’s wonders to a sudden devout cultist in the presence of one.

Kim Rok Soo quickly thought of the worst case scenario wherein Rosalyn finds out about the 4-year-old baby dragon hovering around them in an invisible state and couldn’t help but shudder at the image of the cool-headed and rational Rosalyn suddenly going gaga or freezing up like a broken computer.

No, no, no, that image is wrong in so many levels.

‘The dragon must have felt her potential as a mage and was impressed enough to reveal himself lightly.’

…That or the dragon just felt curious.

…Dragons were the pinnacle of magic so it was to be expected for their race to be interested in people aiming to reach their levels, but goddamn.

‘I don’t know anything.’

Kim Rok Soo firmly decides to feign ignorance as he thanks Rosalyn quietly for the disguise and then walks even faster.

He was glad that Ron did not follow him. However, Cale was afraid of that stiff expression. He was an assassin after all. Cale decided that he will treat Ron better and not make him angry starting the next interaction as he exited the estate. Of course, he was on a carriage.

He arrived at his destination a little bit later.

“Young master. Is this the right place?”

The driver cautiously asked as he opened the door. He then peeked toward the shop in front of him. The driver’s face was clearly filled with confusion.

“Yes. This is it.”

Several heads quickly took interest in the new place being introduced to them. With how comfortable they’ve all become in such a short period of time, one would think they were simply being toured around the Henituse county instead of being held in a mysterious black space in who knows where for important matters of the future.

Cale, who was wearing clothes that would be fancy to others but was the simplest thing in his closet, walked out of the carriage. Nobody was around them, as they had moved away as soon as they saw the carriage with the count’s crest on it.

[The Fragrance of Tea with Poetry]

“Oh! I know this place!” Hans, the ever-reliable deputy butler, spoke out in delight as the words flashed up front.

It was a tea shop that allowed you to read poems while drinking tea. This clean three-story building looked to be pretty expensive. It was true that the owner of the shop was very wealthy. In fact, as the bastard son of a concubine of a large merchant guild, he was even wealthier than Cale. The only thing was that he was living here while hiding that identity.

‘…Why do people always go to my territory while hiding their identity?’

If Ron and Beacrox had not been busted by the projection’s contents, would the Henituse family have ever found out that they were in fact assassins and not just normal servants who just so happen to be extremely competent?

Contrary to Count Deruth’s slightly anxious thoughts, most of the royalty and nobility in the room as well as the people who lead tribes on their own couldn’t help but respect the Henituse county—not only for surviving so long despite amassing a lot of hidden experts unknowingly, but also for earning a reputation for being a safe refuge for those in hiding.

‘If I recall correctly, the owner goes to the capital around volume 3 to meet Choi Han there. It is there that he claims that, he may be a bastard son of a concubine of the merchant guild, but that he will become the owner of the merchant guild.’

A bold claim, everybody in the room recognized it as so, while a certain man in one side of the room quietly sitting next to another robed person could only stare at the words of the projection quietly.

The man who shouts and swears to Choi Han that he will become the owner of the merchant guild. Cale only read the first five volumes, and thus did not know if the man ever ended up becoming the owner of that merchant guild, but since he was one of the main character’s partners, he probably will succeed.

It would be nice if everything you strive for would work out well just because you’re a partner of the protagonist.

Cale looked toward the driver who was sweating like a hog and gave an order.

“You can leave now.”

“Excuse me?”

“Are you going to make me say the same thing twice?”

“No, that, do I not need to wait for you, young master?”

Cale casually answered as he opened the door to the tea shop.

“Yeah. I’ll be here for a while.”

Gulp. He could hear the driver’s gulp behind him, but a much clearer and pleasurable noise filled Cale’s ears. Clang. A quiet but clear bell sound announced Cale’s entrance into the tea shop.

“Hey, wait, didn’t he say that he’s going to meet Choi Han? Are you telling me that punk is actually inside a tea shop?”

“Oh, quiet, Archie. Do you seriously think a grieving man will go to a tea shop?!”

“I am warning the two of you, again. Do you or do you not want water coming in through the wrong hole on your face?”

Cale stood at the entrance and looked around the tea shop. It was still early, and there were not many people there. Cale could see that all of them were shocked to see him there.

Well, the novel did say there was nobody in this region who did not know about Cale. He was public enemy number one for the merchants because he had a tendency to break everything in their shops.

At this point, Valentino has decided that whether or not Cale Henituse was a dick or not, what’s important is that he made the right decision and gave them this second chance in the very end. You don’t exactly get to see the future every day and through the help of just any man, after all.

“Welcome.”

However, the owner of this shop warmly welcomed Cale in. Cale looked toward the baby pig-like man who welcomed him in from the counter.

‘He must be the owner.’

The wealthy bastard, Billos. His round face and full body definitely looked like a baby pig like the novel described. His charm was his extremely bright smile.

‘He looks like a piggy bank.’

Lily likes this person. They seem nice to her orabuni and he also seems nice to imagine based on the short description.

The only thing though is…

“Why a “bastard”…?” Lily ended up asking that out loud before she could think it through and her dear mother, Countess Violan, right behind her gave a very audible inhale through her nostrils upon hearing it.

Cale took out a gold coin and put it on the counter as he ordered.

“I plan on staying on the third floor all day today.”

Billos stared at Cale with a smile on his face. Cale pretended not to notice as he pointed to the bookshelf.

“Any tea that is not bitter. Do you have novels here too or just poems?”

Clang. The sound of someone putting their teacup down rang through the shop.

Cale just thought of it as someone putting the teacup down hard and looked toward Billos. He preferred novels to poems.

“Of course. We have a lot of novels as well, young master Cale.”

“Really? Then send up the most interesting book and a cup of tea.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“……………….”

The people from the Henituse county turned quiet along with their royal companions.

“….You know, the more I read through this guy’s eyes, the more I realize how much this guy just can’t possibly be the young master.”

Hans’s words spoke for the rest of them, even the ones who personally didn’t know the young master before but know him quite a bit now thanks to the projection’s explanations and the deputy butler’s flashback seizures.

‘That’s what I told all of you from the very beginning!’

Cale, who was still very much right there with them as they all unanimously came into silent agreement, had the urge to roar but kept it in since, fuck, he’s an adult now and his dark history is honestly the worst of his problems right now.

Cale’s gold coin fell onto Billos’s chubby hands. Cale turned away as Billos tried to give him change.

“I’ll drink more tea later so just keep it.”

“…But it is still too much, young master.”

A gold coin was worth 1 million gallon. Having that coin, that was worth 1 million Korean won, Cale did something that he had always wanted to try.

“I have a lot of money. Consider it as your tip.”

Talking about how rich you are.

“…..Pft.”

Bud Illis tried very hard to keep it in, but the way the projection showed it was just too… too…

“PFFF—HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Once Bud fell into laughter while slapping the floor and wheezing a little “EVERY MAN’S DREAM” in between each intake, a big portion of the audience ended up following after—either because they understood the humor, were so rich that they found this “thing that this man has apparently always wanted to try” really cute, or found that a blue-haired guy in his 30s rolling on the floor while laughing his ass out is surprisingly more hilarious seen than heard.

And even then, the members of the audience that didn’t huff out a chuckle or two had a reaction completely different on their own.

‘He’s throwing around a few million gallons like it’s just a few pieces of candy!’

 Chief Harol Kodiang was not devastated but he was certainly feeling even more impoverished, with his kingdom, especially his faction, being in war right now. Wars are fucking expensive.

Who cares if Billos actually has more money than he does? He also knew about many fateful encounters that will earn him a lot of money. Cale tried to look cool as he pointed toward the tables on the first floor with his chin.

“Well, if it is too much, you can treat everyone here to a cup of tea on me.”

Golden Bell. He wanted to do something like this once. After he told his father that he needed allowance, he received three gold coins which were worth a total of 3 million gallon.

“Young master, still…”

“Ah, enough. Just bring my tea.”

It really was good to be the trash.

“Haaa. Hahaha, Haaaaaaaaaa… Glenn—Glenn I think I’m dying.”

Bud Illis actually did sound like he was choking on himself with how much he was wheezing on the floor just from that statement alone, but one look at his perfectly fine face was enough to know it was just exaggeration.

Glenn to his right, who had moved away as soon as the alcoholic friend of his started going into hysterical laughter, could only give him a very flat look that seemed to quietly judge his very soul.

Cale did not care about being respectful as he headed up to the third floor. He could hear whispers coming from behind him, but he did not need to care because there were already enough rumors about him, the trash of the Count’s family.

“Just like I thought.”

There was nobody else on the third floor right now because it was early in the morning.

“Wait, so no Choi Han?”

“Archie.”

“…Your highness, it was just a question! P, put down the fucking—GLUGHGLUGHLUGHLUGH-“

If only breathing water through your nose was just as easy in human form as it is in whale form.

Cale took a seat in the innermost corner of the third floor. He then looked out the window.

‘This is the right spot.’

The spot where you could best see the Northern Gate of Western City.

Ron, who had been silent for a while now, looked up at that moment while the Count and Countess belatedly realized the reason why the projection’s “Cale” came here in the first place. There was no way territory lords wouldn’t know what the gates were for.

‘Could it be…?’

Choi Han who had been walking right behind Kim Rok Soo and Rosalyn in the rear too, momentarily, stopped. He clenched his hand around the hilt of his sword for a bit before unclenching it and forcing himself to calm down.

Yeah, if it was him, then he would have gone to the city, too, after… after everything. Just to ask help.

And where else can he go in except the front door?

At that moment, the final line for the current chapter displayed itself in full.

Cale planned to watch Choi Han from this location today.

And the light in the room came back to illuminate everyone properly signalling the end of a chapter.

---

By the time the projection disappeared and people started shuffling around once more in a relaxed manner within the black room,  the Korean duo and their newly acquired mage princess companion had arrived to their destination—their very own spot—almost entirely unnoticed by the people around them.

It was all thanks to Rosalyn’s carefulness—in truth, after disguising Kim Rok Soo with magic, Rosalyn took another step forward to ensure their safety by casting invisibility on all three of them, making sure to not use more mana than necessary and attract unwanted attention. Not that they don’t already have a lot of that going for them right now, anyway, but Rosalyn as a princess was used to it.

This feat mostly ended with Kim Rok Soo having to listen to a certain young dragon’s little musings, which by the way, was ominously starting to increase in frequency in a matter of minutes.

“Mr. Bob, Mr. Choi Han. You’re back.”

The one that greeted the Korean duo as soon as they arrived in their former spot before the abrupt projection was the robotic voice of the hooded Mary.

The Bob nonsense aside, Kim Rok Soo stared at Mary in surprise, so much so that Rosalyn almost thought that perhaps this mysterious hooded fellow was not an ally, but then he blurted out, curiously, “Hold on, how’d you know that it was me?”

Rosalyn did cast disguise magic, right?

“….? Because you are next to Mr. Choi Han?”

The hooded fellow tilted their head to the side, shallowly.

A pregnant silence suddenly fell upon the trio that had just arrived.

…Now that they think of it, as long as there’s a random man next to Choi Han, at this point, most people would be able to infer immediately that it was Kim Rok Soo.

“….Miss Rosalyn.”

Rosalyn could only sigh. She understood the situation very well herself.

“Yes, young master-nim.”

Without even needing to be told what to do, the mage quickly enveloped both herself and Choi Han in her deep red mana and casted a disguise spell on both of them.

“There.”

“Thank you, Miss Rosalyn, and sorry for the trouble.”

“It’s my pleasure to help.”

Right on time, the other hooded fellow who was with Mary saw her and the trio arrive and called out happily.

“Ah, you two are finally here!”

Kim Rok Soo’s face twitched a little as he could just hear the fake smile without looking. Oh, he was kinda hoping that guy would turn out to be one hell of a fool and just leave them alone, but he stayed (probably because Choi Han almost sliced him already once) and now he has to deal with it. This is just terrific.

“Shawn” came up to the group with the perfect text-book version of a smile, down from the dimples to the crinkle of the eyes. It was so polite that it felt like it might not even truly be.

“Did you two see that thing that happened with the projection?”

“Ah.” Choi Han exclaimed as he remembered the peculiar events that had taken place before the 4^th chapter.

Indeed, most of the people in the black room had probably already forgotten about the sudden change in schedule as well as the crazy glitch long ago. Maybe they’ve forgotten about the cracks already too, given that it actually disappeared as if it had been cleanly repaired somewhere in the middle of the projection. Choi Han didn’t even notice when it had suddenly disappeared.

Now that he thinks about it, what was that all about?

When all is lost, the Korean turned towards his fellow Korean—the deadpanning Kim Rok Soo who was staring at “Shawn”.

Kim Rok Soo turned to look at Choi Han and then at “Shawn” before shrugging and simply saying, “I did see that but I’m afraid I know just as little as you all do about it.”

The two men looked a bit disappointed after not receiving an answer, with the latter being more open about it than the fake “Shawn” who hid it with a calmly neutral expression, but Kim Rok Soo wasn’t finished talking yet.

“All I know is that whatever that thing was, it wasn’t something that could possibly be caused by something inside the room.”

The people gathered together in the koreans’ spot all narrowed their eyes upon that single bit of logical assumption. If this was under any normal circumstance where they had been kidnapped and entrapped by some crazy bastard inside a room (which is more or less their actual circumstance), then they could just play this information off as someone trying to rescue them. However, this wasn’t just something as normal as getting abducted by some crazy motherfucker.

When they first came here, the God of death told them a few things, but first and foremost he told them this:

“While in this room, time has stopped in the real world.”

There was no way that an ordinary human could be the outsider influence that affected the projection. All humans outside the black room should be in an indefinite frozen state, as time was not flowing—and so that leaves them with one thing.

‘A god.’

They were already kidnapped by a crazy god once, how surprising would it be really if there was suddenly another? And speaking of that crazy god—the God of death didn’t even try to explain shit about the projection’s errors just now nor the change of schedule.

There were two possibilities: It was either the God of Death was busy… fighting something off, or he was just being a major dick.

It’s unfortunate that the mortals within the black room didn’t know him enough to discredit any of the two, and it’s even more unfortunate that the god’s own favorite child probably won’t discredit the latter no matter her “favorite” status.

“Anyway,”

Kim Rok Soo clapped his hands together once, successfully attracting his companion’s attention, before deciding that they should do away with the crazy god, bastard god theories and have the introductions over with for now.

”Mary, this is princess Rosalyn from the breck kingdom. She’s a mage. Rosalyn, this is Mary. She’s…”

‘She’s the cousin of a really questionable guy, but she’s pretty much okay except I have no idea why she’s here’ was left unsaid but very nearly at the tip of Kim Rok Soo’s tongue but he fought against speaking it out. As much as he finds their arrival and mysterious background a headache, he doesn’t really want to antagonize the two just because he doesn’t know more about them.

It was while he was thinking of what to introduce Mary as, however, that the robed woman suddenly spoke out in her monotone voice that reminded Kim Rok Soo of a GPS.

“I am nobody. It is nice to meet you.”

“…Uh?” Rosalyn’s red eyes glance between a gaping Kim Rok Soo, a calm and covered Mary, and a frozen and also hooded guy whom she has not been introduced to yet, questioningly, but as expected of a princess, she recovered like a queen, and gave a dazzling smile, “It’s nice to meet you too, Mary. I hope we get along.”

“Shawn”—no, fuck the fake identity for a moment, Alberu wanted to facepalm so badly.

When Alberu told Mary that they were supposed to be “nobodies” and not tell anyone their true identity for their own safety as creatures with the dark-attribute, he didn’t say that they should quite literally take “nobody” as an identity.

However, at that moment, it was too late to clarify anything with her.

The necromancer had already turned towards his direction with a face so impassive it would fail to give away the fact that she was actually in a pleasant mood, and then exclaimed, “Ah. And this is my cousin, ‘Shawn’. He is also a nobody.”

“Hahaha, oh, I see. It is nice to...”

Rosalyn’s good-natured laughter died almost instantly as she faced the man that the necromancer turned to. Her eyes were wide and it was like she froze.

Funny enough, the man who introduced himself as “Shawn” also froze.

Almost like a deer caught by headlights.

---

Chapter Text

The moment he laid eyes on the red-haired princess of the Breck Kingdom, Alberu didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry. This could qualify as one of the worst moments of the Crown Prince of Roan’s life.

And of course, Kim Rok Soo would unknowingly make things worse without batting an eye.

“Miss Rosalyn, this is Mister Shawn. Mr. Shawn, this is Miss Rosalyn.”

Kim Rok Soo did the introductions with an impassive face.  Whether or not he picked up on anything, Alberu couldn’t tell.

To be honest, Kim Rok Soo found it strange when Miss Rosalyn suddenly stopped talking and started blinking a couple of times like she got something on her eye. But he figured that she might just be a bit surprised to find that Mary might be a southerner based on her cousin’s looks alone.

Not that it was easy to find out if she really is. Mary’s robes made it almost impossible to check.

Mary’s hood swayed lightly as she inclined her head a bit as if she was sensing that something was amiss.

Choi Han’s brows furrowed in concern.

“Rosalyn? Is there something wrong?”

“…..Yes—I mean, no.”

The three by-standers could only watch as Rosalyn put a hand on her head with a strained smile for a split second, her calm façade breaking.

There were too many questions in Rosalyn’s head right now—but it all boiled down to one thing.

‘If I push the Crown Prince of the Roan Kingdom into a mud pool and make him sink completely under the mud from head to toe, I feel like this is what I would see…?’

It was a very strange thought but Rosalyn felt like her brain was on to something when she saw the similarity. There was no way she wouldn’t recognize how a neighboring country’s crown prince would look like, being royalty herself. Knowing all about your neighbors was a necessary skill for your country’s survival, after all.

Now that she thinks of it, she’s seen plenty of important figures here and there, from Paerun Kingdom’s Rock Sekka to the Queen of the Jungle and the Caro Kingdom crown prince, all of which were implied to be important people in the projection’s “story”…..

But why is it that even though this story is implied to revolve around his kingdom, the shining blonde crown prince of the Roan Kingdom was nowhere to be seen?

Rosalyn’s eyes sharpened as she once again examined the features of this “Shawn” person carefully.

It was at that moment that Mary suddenly went “Ah-” and the “Shawn” person, upon hearing it, suddenly sighed.

‘ I messed up.’

Mary was told before by Tasha and the others time and time again that before they picked her up in the desert, she was a commoner. As someone who was raised in the peaceful City of Life, whose administration could be described as nothing but unique and who didn’t have to worry over factions waging war against each other, her understanding of how leaders of the current era lived was lacking.

It only came to her now that, of course, Rosalyn, a princess, would recognize the facial features of Alberu, the prince next door. And that was bad—because no one is supposed to see him like this!

Kim Rok Soo was staring at this entire scene with observant eyes. Choi Han was, too, his eyes growing a bit suspicious the more Rosalyn held her silence, however he couldn’t know about how the Crown Prince of Roan looks and so he wouldn’t know if the crown prince wasn’t in the room as well.

At this moment, the robotic Mary wanted to raise her hand lightly and speak to divert everyone’s attention, but in that moment of carelessness, her robes creased dangerously close to opening a window into what her robes were hiding and Alberu’s eyes flashed as he noticed this.

Rosalyn, who was staring at Alberu intently, didn’t miss this reaction.

Unfortunately, before she could turn to where he was looking, Alberu had already grabbed Mary’s arms in one swoop and put it back down without saying anything, his head going down on a bow.

Mary stiffened.

“I apologize for my cousin’s rudeness, your highness.” The brown-skinned brown haired “Shawn” talked smoothly as he bowed his head lightly towards Rosalyn, “My cousin was especially sheltered during a majority of her life, so she has no way of knowing how to properly greet royalty.”

...Is what he said, but the glint in his eyes was communicating something entirely different from what he was saying.

Shawn—no.

Alberu could only hope that the smart princess would understand his message.

“This is just how she is. She was raised away from all the politics of this world, you see.” He added leisurely, his eyes fixed on the princess, ready to gauge her reaction.

And not one to disappoint, understanding passed over the red-haired princess’s face, immediately.

A smart woman.

“…It’s alright, Mr. Shawn.”

If she connected the dots and realized Alberu’s identity, no one would be able to tell from the look on the princess’s face.

Rosalyn’s eyes crinkled to a smile that looked so natural, so genuine, you wouldn’t think she was faking it. Alberu couldn’t help but internally applaud her not only for both her quick-mindedness and intelligence but also her great acting.

“You can call me Miss like all the others as well.” Rosalyn coyly said, but then quickly changed the topic naturally with an even wider smile, “Ah, by the way, would the two of you like a disguise, too?”

“No.” Mary answered, her voice still robotic but somehow more harried as she tugged at her black robe. She wasn’t sure if magic would be able to disguise the black veins on her hands so she could only say, “No need for me.”

Rosalyn nodded, understandingly and then glanced at “Shawn.”

In the first place, she was extending this offer to the crown prince rather than to Mary, whom she doesn’t know much about.

“Mr. Shawn?”

“If you could please.” Alberu said with a polite smile, and Rosalyn nodded.

She cast the appropriate magic onto him.

Alberu was still in the middle of feeling up the mana that was sticking closely to him when he suddenly remembered their original topic of conversation.

“Wait, so about those cracks, all of you think it’s possibly something divine causing it too, right?”

Rosalyn and Choi Han turned grave at this sudden reminder of what they’ve speculated before.

If it was really a god messing with them…

They may be strong but they were not arrogant. They knew the strength they had today and could not fathom winning against one.

As of now .

“It’s too hasty to say that it was necessarily a god that caused it.”

Everyone turned to look at Kim Rok Soo who suddenly spoke calmly.

“Well, obviously, I used the term divine for a reason. That’s not just strictly about gods now, is it?” Shawn rolled his eyes, “We don’t know much about the divine realm to begin with so it’s too hard to tell anything.”

Kim Rok Soo mentally agreed but there was something he wasn’t telling the others in his group.

He pondered over the cracks on the panel and the lack of response from the God of Death for a long time. He managed to narrow down the possibilities enough to be able to tell that technically, this crack may have been a technical issue rather than something about gods trying to invade (oh, how scary would that be?) but he wasn’t feeling like telling everyone about it yet as he didn’t have conclusive evidence for it.

Maybe in the future he’d share it if it becomes important enough.

'But it would be nice if we never have to bring up this issue ever again.'

---

“Daaaamn, what was with that crack earlier? It scared me half to death!”

Back in the Henituse family’s little group, Bud Illis was recovering from his session of rolling around with a huff. Now that the projection was over, the things that happened at the beginning of this chapter started coming back to everyone’s minds. Bud personally thought that a giant or some sort was trying to kick down the panel and kick their faces and was scared shitless—and can you blame him?

This was his first time getting kidnapped by a god!

It didn’t take long for the people in the black room to form their usual groups once again without any prompting. Without Cale needing to kickstart the discussion, the people in the Henituse County’s group had picked up where they left off earlier in their own volition.

There was no helping it. With the peculiar technical events of this chapter, they had realized that their free time might start becoming scarce in number.

Now that the 30-minute downtime was suddenly abolished, who knew when the projection might start up again?

“Hyung.”

While everyone was participating in group discussions about the things they’ve learned from this new chapter, Basen had quietly tugged at his older brother lightly.

Unlike the others who paid full attention to the panel, Basen had his attention elsewhere through most of this chapter.

“The southerner stayed put in one place with his companion the entire time.” The 15-year-old reported with a serious expression, his eyes flicking towards a corner where certain individuals were fathered together.

Basen was reporting to Cale about the whereabouts and activities of the suspicious southerner that for some reason, didn’t seem keen to meet up with Queen Litana at all.

Being 15 and all, Basen may be young but his mind was sharp. Perhaps it was because of his temperament but he had always been good at observing things—and bad at doing something about them.

“Excluding the one he already had with him, three more people appeared just after the end of the projection’s duration. He seems to have integrated himself into this group of people but not completely.” Basen continued with his report while his brother attentively listened, “And also…”

His voice trailed off into a hesitant silence.

Cale, who was seated on the ground, lowered his voice so as to not attract the attention of a certain queen of the jungle, “What is it?”

“…I think I know who Kim Rok Soo and Choi Han are now.”

“Oh? You sound confident, and you figured it out so fast, too.”

Cale praised his younger brother and ruffled his hair into a mess which made the boy smile slightly. Cale smiled at his little brother and quietly whispered, “Keep it a secret for now, will you?”

The usually stoic-faced Basen just smiled even wider. He was already planning to do that.

“It was my decision, not Kim Rok Soo’s, that caused everything going on right now.” A displeased expression appeared in Cale’s face.

It wasn’t lost to him what some people were thinking about “Kim Rok Soo”.

It was him who technically caused the transmigration and him who dealt with the God of death, and yet perhaps because Kim Rok Soo had nothing to his name compared to the lout of the count, some people found it easier to thrust the blame to him.

“That guy didn’t do anything wrong and is just as clueless as all of you, so don’t treat him badly.” He sternly told his brother and Basen nodded his head.

Seeing the look on his brother’s face, Cale let out a satisfied smile.

Meanwhile, as Cale turned his attention elsewhere, Basen looked toward his brother and then at the man named Kim Rok Soo from the corner of his eye, quietly comparing the two.

It was a little funny. These two people didn’t look alike at all, his brother’s crimson hair being far too rare for that to happen, and yet, he felt as though it wouldn’t be surprising if anyone wouldn’t be able to tell that one has replaced the other in the projection’s future, given how similar they felt.  

Like how the people of the Henituse family were gathered around Cale, the interesting people picked up by this Kim Rok Soo person gathered around him as well and took the lead.

‘Hyung made a deal to switch places with someone like that…’

Basen wanted to see how his brother would fare but a fear settled into his stomach the more he thought about it.

He feared that the moment he saw his brother in another person’s body, it would be the last.

“…Hyung. if you like how the future turns out…”

Basen started, his face turning grim, but unfortunately for him, he wouldn’t be able to finish that sentence as Bud Illis’s cry rang out through the black room once again.

“Ah, this is making my head hurt a lot! Why are there so many secret organizations on the globe?!”

The outburst attracted a lot of attention and made Basen’s courage disappear to the wind.

Bud Illis was groaning on the floor. He had been racking his brain to squeeze out more helpful information during his discussion with the Molans, and perhaps he’s stretched it far too much. There was no way he’d remember everything he’s ever read—he’s not a memory monster.

“Don’t push it.”

Glenn helpfully told him, like a good friend.

“You might take a shit.”

“You’re shit!” Bud retaliated, as friends do, looking close to taking off his shoe and launching it at the mage.

“Ahem, language, gentlemen.” Queen Litana sheepishly cleared her throat, not really wanting to keep hearing needless vulgarity being thrown around, side-eyeing a certain young girl in their midst (read: Lily).

Princess Jopis snorted beside her. She can’t wait for this western continent queen to hear her cursing.

Although the anxieties brought about by the last chapter were still there, people seemed to have more or less relaxed now. Most people were still vigilant of the projection’s possible comeback within the next few minutes, but after 10 minutes passed, most people had gone soft, resting on the floor languidly like fish basking in the sunlight.

Their guard was still up but most people figured it was useless to mentally exhaust themselves while waiting impatiently for the projection to jump-scare them.

By the time the projection came back once again, everyone was either talking to each other casually or sitting down on the floor, used to it already after 4 previous chapters, the cracks on the screen forgotten in their mind.

---

[Chapter 5: They Met (2)]

“It became even shorter this time.”

Someone from the noble group muttered once the projection reappeared in front of everyone’s eyes, clean and devoid of cracks. This person was Taylor Stan who had been keeping track of time since long ago, his hands placed neatly on his lap whilst he sits on his wheelchair.

Since the time it took between chapters had suddenly been shortened once, he was worried that it might get cut even more again and sadly, he was right. It made him curious about what made a god change their mind about something like reading pace all of a sudden.

Unfortunately, the other nobles in the area who overheard him couldn’t help but stiffen.

‘ Well, it’s fine, it’s fine…’ Eric Wheelsman tried to think to himself in an attempt to appease his racing mind, his eyes briefly moving towards the familiar shade of red in the distance.

It’s not like any of them in this room particularly needed rest anyway.

‘He gets chased away from the gate early in the morning.’

Choi Han headed in the direction he remembered hearing about from the villagers after he finished burying all of his beloved villagers. He was heading toward Western City.

Choi Han had been transported to this world when he was a freshman in high school, but he had lived here for tens of years already. Of course, the fact that most of that life was spent trying to survive in the Forest of Darkness made him mature in a slightly twisted way, and, as such, he was more rational than anybody would expect after such an incident.

‘I need to go report this to the lord at the castle.’

“Strong guy.” Cage murmured from behind Taylor, leaning forward slightly as she read the beginning texts of this chapter and connected it to the things they’ve learned from the previous chapters so far.

Taylor couldn’t help but nod.

If it were anybody else, they would have surely broken down and would have been rendered incapable of doing anything but grieve. Taylor had a feeling that he would, at least, and maybe Cage, as well. It was hard to stay rational after seeing your closest aides die, after all.

‘ Come to think of it…’

Taylor suddenly blinked, a thought coming to mind as he stared down at his crippled legs.

‘ I wonder what our situation was in the original novel… or should I say, the original timeline?’  

Harris Village may have been a remote village, but it was still under Count Henituse’s jurisdiction.

The Henituse county’s faces turned dark at the reminder of what they and their other selves failed to prevent.

That was why Choi Han headed to Western City, hoping to at least prepare a small funeral for the villagers.

He was also planning on looking for information regarding the assassins he had killed when he had lost his calm, as he was unable to ask them any questions. However, sending the dead off properly came before revenge.

‘If you think about it, he really is an affectionate person.’

‘ That’s true.’ Kim Rok Soo thought to himself as he glanced at Choi Han who had gone quiet beside him again. Their little group that now consisted of exactly 5 people and one dragon had settled casually together on the floor without making any proper arrangements about what they should do from here on out.

But losing all of the first people who showed him love after tens of years in the Forest of Darkness at once made it impossible for Choi Han’s mind to not become twisted.

In the novel, that was when Cale messes with Choi Han and touches a nerve.

“Ah.” Kim Rok Soo flatly says, remembering that he kind of changed the wording of the scene to Choi Han when he told him about it for the first time.

“Ah.” Cale Henituse’s face twists into an expression that looks very much in pain.

A lot of eyes fell on the latter.

He remembered what the Cale in the novel said to Choi Han.

[“Why should my father care whether or not some useless villagers are dead? This cup of alcohol in my hand is worth more than all of your useless lives combined.”]

“……………”

All hell broke loose.

“CHOI HAN, PUT DOWN THAT SWORD!”

“ Useless ? What kind of bastard…”

“Ahem, ahem, the human mind when drunk, am I right? No? Yeah, no—”

“Tsk.”

“Young master Cale…” The royals disapprovingly turn to look at the red-haired young master.

To add to the offense, Deputy Butler Hans nervously chuckled a whisper into the space of the ensuing judgmental silence:

“That… haha, does sound like our young master.”

Cale sends the deputy butler a well-deserved glare for his unnecessary comment, but the redhead doesn’t say anything more—doesn’t even defend himself.

In truth, at that time, since Choi Han was meeting him for the first time, he had gone trash mode instantly. Back when he was 18, Cale really thought that he needed to make sure that everyone absolutely hated him, that not one person would like him, just so his stepfamily could safely take his place in the roster of the County instead.

Now, he knows that there are worse things he needs to protect his family from than some petty vassals—but he doesn’t regret the words he uttered. Not if it made it much easier for Choi Han to have a more favorable liking towards his brother, instead.

Cale doesn’t notice the way said-brother was frowning lightly while staring at the back of his head.

Choi Han starts to laugh at Cale’s words as he asks back.

[“What an interesting thought. I am very curious to know whether you will change your mind or not.”]

[‘Shall we test it out?’]

That test was beating Cale to a pulp so that he was almost dead.

Deruth Henituse, aged 40 above, choked on his own spit in the resting room prepared to him by the gods.

“H-hyung-nim?” Basen sputtered loudly right next to Cale, eyes round and questioning.

This was not something they were informed of.

Everyone knew that Choi Han was going to beat up Cale but they never mentioned it was to the point that he would almost be dead…?!

The amazing thing was that Cale never changed his mind even after he was beaten to a pulp.

“That is amazing, actually.” Bud Illis marveled although his expression was a bit iffy, because how could it not be when no sooner than the projection spoke its words, the Henituse family were already huddled around their eldest son in an attempt to cover him from everyone’s eyes?

He guesses that the family, especially the kids, feared that someone (read: the black room’s Choi Han ) would take offense over their young master’s opinion and take a punch at the count’s son as well.

‘ Honestly, who do you take us for? Immature children?’ Bud Illis couldn’t help but bitterly smile.

Princess Jopis on the other hand had no qualms bluntly saying that the beating was well deserved and that maybe they should try to take a hit again. The youngest, Lily, was thoroughly horrified and the princess cackled.

‘ Poor guy got beaten near death once, and is in danger of getting beaten again.’ Litana couldn’t help but think when she stared at the blank expression on the red-haired Henituse’s face, but she agreed with Princess Jopis’s sentiment.

Those words were just too far.

“Ah, I’m getting the chills.”

‘ Who wouldn’t if that’s the future you get?’

No one in the room could think of a reason why a near death experience would look attractive in any way.

Except Toonka.

Near-death experiences was just another challenge for Toonka.

Cale started to rub his arm after seeing the goosebumps that were developing. He quickly took a sip of the tea that Billos had brought for him. He then looked out the window once again, only to get the chills right back.

‘It’s that punk.’

Eyes lit up in attention as finally, the main character arrives.

The moment the gates opened for the morning, a young man wearing clothes with black marks everywhere, such that it made it seem like the clothes were burnt in multiple places, approached the gate.

It was Choi Han.

Choi Han looked at the projection with a funny expression. It was kinda weird to finally have himself show up as a “character” in this “novel” but I guess he understood the displeased look on Kim Rok Soo’s face and the embarrassed noises the deputy butler of the Henituse county seemed to make whenever they appeared—which is to say, Kim Rok Soo looks almost always annoyed because there seems to be never a moment where his “character” is not mentioned.

Cale did not get up from his seat as he observed Choi Han.

His speed was admirable, as he ran like a lunatic through a distance that would normally take a carriage a week to travel, but, as a result, he looked like a mess.

Of course, the events in the village were responsible for a bit of his messy look as well.

Choi Han flushed a little as he quickly looked down at himself, given that he and his projection self should be wearing almost the same thing, having come out of the same sticky situation.

He didn’t really care if he looked presentable.

His sense for things like this had gone dull long ago in the forest of darkness.

But to be pointedly told he was a mess by a fellow Korean…

“Pft.” Rosalyn covered her mouth as she turned away from the suddenly self-conscious Choi Han, while Alberu raised an amused eyebrow at the scary punk with the sword.

“Do not worry, Choi Han.” Mary offered, her tone as monotone as always, “You do not look like a mess to me.”

‘ But he does to me.’ Kim Rok Soo quietly thought without looking at any of his reading buddies, his attention fixed unto the projected Choi Han’s first appearance even though he’d read it before.

The guard blocked Choi Han’s path as he walked in with his head down, looking completely exhausted. Cale didn’t know what they were saying, but he could see Choi Han shake his head at the guard’s question.

‘I’m sure they’re asking if he has any identification.’

The guards of Western City were generally gentle, but they were strict when it came to the rules. They replicated their liege, Count Deruth’s personality.

The northeastern nobles who knew this very well smiled, and so did Countess Violan, although hers held more pride.

“They kicked him out.”

The smile dropped quicker than one could blink.

Right, when it comes to her husband, the rules are the rules, until it's his family on the line, in which case, he’d bend it and even twist it if necessary. But Choi Han is not family now, is he?

As expected, Choi Han walked back out of the gate. He did not even throw a fit. After continuously running for a day, his slightly recovered conscience told him not to kill an innocent man.

Choi Han’s shoulders crumpled a little in relief after reading that. He, too, had slightly recovered from his experiences enough to be a little bit horrified by the fact that he was truly out of it in his anger.

His eyes flashed with a bit of viciousness however as he thought to himself:

‘ That does not make my anger invalid, though.’

‘Choi Han will now wait until night time before he stealthily jumps over the city wall to enter.’

He then runs into Cale who was busy drinking away.

Cale winced at the unspoken ‘ then he beat him to a pulp’ in that sentence.

Mm, yeah that was pretty much what happened back then, probably.

Screech. Since Cale was alone, the sound of the chair being pushed as he stood up sounded pretty loud. He went downstairs and informed Billos who was at the counter.

“I’ll be back soon. Don’t clear my spot.”

“Yes, young master. I look forward to your return.”

‘ It seems that the illegitimate child of the Flynn’s is a fearless man, looking forward to seeing reputed trash again.’ Alberu glanced at the letters with mild disinterest, leaning onto one of his knees where he was sitting on the floor.

Cale ignored the smile on Billos’s chubby face as he walked out of the tea shop.

“He didn’t break anything!”

Cale could hear someone’s voice coming from inside the shop—

“Pfffft—”

--but he did not care.

He needed to set the foundation to earn that Indestructible Shield today.

‘ …my reputation.’ Cale Henituse grimaced as he slowly watched his carefully built image slowly disintegrating into dust.

Meanwhile, Valentino was silently starting to give Cale a look, and Cale doesn’t know what’s worse: The fact that Valentino just stopped asking in general or the fact that Litana was starting to give him the same look as well, although more discreet.

The Indestructible Shield.

It is not talking about a physical item. The best comparison might be a mage’s mana shield. Something that does not actually have a physical form. However, it was very different from a mana shield, as it was closer to superpower than magic.

The funny thing was that the human who created the power, but ended up dying, was someone who served a god but ended up being excommunicated.

‘All sorts of weird things are in this novel.’

In one corner of the black room where the more calm and collected individuals lingered, vertical pupils seemed to take interest in the projection’s words the moment a mage’s mana shield was used in comparison to this “superpower”.

“Is this punk talking about ancient powers?” Asked the irritated man in pajamas who had a buzzcut in this group.

As with the history of any fantasy world, this world also had its ancient history. During that ancient time, neither magic nor weaponry was developed.

Instead, it was a society where your own innate talent or talents gathered from supernatural occurrences played a pivotal role. The strongest powers in that society were superpowers, divine powers, and natural forces. It was a very primitive time.

Some of those powers have lasted all the way until now, staying hidden in certain locations or items. It was possible to take those powers for yourself if you meet the right conditions.

The humans within the room perked up in interest at the explanation of the powers that they have only heard in passing until today. After all, everyone knew that ancient powers were rarer than seeing wolf tribesmen these days—

Not that the black room had a particular scarcity in wolves right now.

“Cool!” A wolf cub gasped as he read the projection, and the other kids of differing ages all around him whispered their assent excitedly. The eldest among them, the tall 13-year-old Lock, also agreed as he stared at the projection in awe.

Meanwhile in the non-human side of the room…

“The right conditions… hah.”

A golden haired elf let out a long-suffering sigh as he stared at the utter arrogation that the human exhibited with how he explained how ancient powers work.

Ancient powers were not something that you could just get under the “right conditions”.

If it was fated to be, then it will come to be that you possess them.

What are these “right conditions” that this human thinks so little of?

Ancient powers.

The heroes would find these powers, however, these powers were all supporting powers, not strong enough to be used as a hero’s mainstay.

These were the powers that Cale was looking to find.

“Ambitious.” A woman with beige-hair tied to a braid commented with amusement.

“Hah. More like, arrogant!” The buzzcut guy barked, but it was then:

‘Everything but the divine powers.’

Whether it be god or angels or devils, Cale did not want to get involved with any of them.

That was why Cale was looking for the powers that people naturally developed or came from nature.

‘…I retract my sentence; this man at least knows not to touch what belongs to gods.’

‘That is the way to make sure I don’t need to put in any effort.’

‘……I retract my sentence again; This man is just lazy as fuck .’

Those were the types of powers he was looking for. Something like sword art or magic would require him to put in effort to practice. He didn’t want to do something like that.

Unlike other books, the ancient civilization in the novel, [The Birth of a Hero], was not that strong.

As civilization developed, the magic and summoning skills that were developed outshined the natural powers left behind by the ancient civilization. Superpowers were the same way. Most subtle superpowers would be blown away by a single hit from the, ‘Aura,’ that was used in present-day.

It wasn’t like the heroes just used these powers sparingly for no reason.

‘And my goal is to collect these subtle superpowers to become decently strong.’

It was a satisfying goal. Especially because he also knew the ancient power that could strengthen these subtle super powers.

In order to take the first step in his plan, Cale started to look for the ancient power that was hidden in Western City. He knew the requirement to earn that power.

Taylor quietly looked at the texts about ancient powers and briefly remembered the power that he had been trying to research and pinpoint until this day—the Vitality of the Heart. His grip on the robes covering his useless legs tightened a little as he wondered if maybe this “Cale Henituse” of the projection knew where it was.

“Youn, young master. Welcome.”

Cale just nodded his head at the baker, who bowed so low that it looked like his head might touch the ground, to respond. Gasp. He could hear the baker gasping, but Cale pretended not to hear it. He felt bad about how his trash reputation was making this baker so fearful.

“Give me some bread.”

“Excuse me?”

Cale pointed at all of the bread in the bakery and sternly responded.

“Everything from here to there.”

Litana stared at the texts with a hint of suspicion, her face marred with a frown. She was having a hard time wondering if Kim Rok Soo was a good person or not because he kept having nice thoughts and doing seemingly respectful things only to later have some questionably cold decisions in his head that make her wonder just what is going on with his head.

What an unreliable narrator.

Clang. The gold coin that Cale took out started to spin on the counter.

“Pack it all up.”

The baker seemed to be frozen in place as Cale continued to speak.

“Two or three more gold coins should be enough for a week’s worth of bread, right?”

The baker’s gaze, which had been on the gold coin, moved to Cale. It was too much money to pay for the bread.

“What the hell is he going to do with that amount of bread?” Bud blurted out the question that every person except for Kim Rok Soo was thinking, his face scrunched up.

Was this an act of kindness? Litana skeptically looked over the text over and over again until it was replaced, not noticing how two identically blonde twins from afar were whispering assumptions and guesses to each other.

“Maybe… he’s going to donate it to the poor…?” The boy sheepishly muttered, but all he got from his sister was a snort.

With what she’d seen so far, Hannah doubted that.

 Cale just stoically responded to the baker’s shaking eyes.

“I can go somewhere else if you don’t want it.”

“No, it is nothing like that! Young master! I will pack it as fast as possible!”

Cale stared at the text in front of him dubiously as he wondered if it was possible that an ancient power would require bread from its test-taker. Surely not, right?

The baker was extremely respectful for a different reason than before as he moved around quickly. After a few minutes, Cale left the bakery with a bag full of bread over his shoulder.

Even though it was just bread, it weighed quite a bit. The weight made Cale start to frown, and he ignored the baker who was watching him leave as he stepped into the street.

Cale leisurely walked down the street, noticing that anybody who made eye contact with him would quickly turn and walk away. The majority of the people even ran away to avoid eye contact with him.

‘It really is different from Korea. It is truly a fantasy world.’

Cale looked around as he wandered around this market that gave off the typical fantasy feel.

“Mm.”

“Mmph.”

Any time he made eye contact with a merchant, they became shocked and avoided his gaze. Tsk tsk. Cale really must have lived up to his title of trash in the past.

‘The young master was that bad, huh.’ Valentino mulled over.

Cale walked past the market and toward the western part of Western City.

The slum is located to the west. No matter how wealthy a territory may be, there are always going to be poor people.

In a situation like this, most people would probably expect something along these lines to happen.

‘Ah, it is a fateful encounter that you can earn by sharing food with the poor.’

“…It’s not, is it?”

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

“I told you so, oppa!”

Cale could feel people peeking at him as soon as he entered the slums. This was the place where both the idlest and the most vicious people lived together.

Although the poor may not know the face of their liege, the count, they knew Cale’s face. These people who had nothing needed to pay even closer attention to the type of person that would cause a ruckus in the market, pub, plaza, well, you name it, and Cale has probably caused a ruckus there too.

“Tsk.”

Even though they knew all these stories about Cale, they couldn’t resist the sweet smell of the bread in Cale’s bag.

 Cale just ignored all these gazes as he continued to walk.

Litana frowned again.

The tip of his expensive leather shoe started to become dirty from the dirty water. An unknown stench also filled Cale’s nose, making him naturally start to frown.

This made him start to walk even faster. The slums were on one side of a small hill and constituted of old houses. Cale was heading toward the top of that hill. As he got closer, the gazes and steps of the people following him started to lessen as well.

Cale’s sharp glare probably played a role in this as well.

‘At the very least, he probably got the original’s glare right.’ Many from the henituse entourage thought to themselves.

‘It’s better here.’

After being freed from the stench, Cale stood at the top of the hill and turned around to look down at Western City. Of course, this hill was not as high as the count’s estate. There was no way that they would allow the lord of the territory to live somewhere that was lower than that slum.

Cale came back to his senses as he headed toward a tree that was fenced off in all directions. The fence, that was made of planks the width of Cale’s body, had an entrance that had rotted. It was easily broken once Cale pushed at the fence.

This large tree seemed to have lasted for hundreds of years. Trees in the slums were usually chopped into firewood or had its layers peeled off to make it useless, but this tree was not like that.

The reason was simple. The reason could be heard in Cale’s ear. These two were the only two who had followed him until the end from the slums.

“Huh, this hill… and a lone tree…..this…” Count Deruth started, feeling like he knew which hill it would be if it was slightly elevated, but as the memories came back to him, his face twisted in alarm, “Wait a second, isn’t this the hill where…”

“You can’t approach that t-tree!”

Cale ignored that warning. He heard another worried voice as well.

“You can’t go there! It’s a man-eating tree!”

The northeastern nobles that comprised mostly of youngsters yet to fully mature gasped in surprise, while the royalty that tagged along with the Henituse entourage had their eyes widened.

Cage turned to look at the Henituse County with wide eyes as she blurted out.

“You guys have a man-eating tree in your territory?!”

That’s awesome shit right there…! She wants to move in!

A man-eating tree. Anyone who hung themselves on this tree became mummies overnight. Furthermore, any blood that lands on this tree instantly disappeared.

“What the fuck?!” Bud Illis exclaimed in the face of the seemingly supernatural event.

Finally, there was only dirt around this tree. Grass, and even weeds, were nowhere to be found.

This was the tree that Cale was looking for.

“No, why are you looking for a scary thing like that?! Fuck!”

At the mercenary king’s ramblings, the real Cale Henituse within the heart of the Henituse County’s little group could only let out a small laugh of disbelief.

‘ I see.’

He was starting to connect the dots.

A long time ago, during ancient times, there was a person who loved food so much that his gluttony in the place of worship got him kicked out. That person ended up starving to death.

This tree is said to have grown on top of his body, and that person’s grudge and strength were both in this tree.

The Indestructible Shield that Cale was looking for was here.

‘ Bingo.’ A villainous smile spread across the redhead’s face.

How primitive, mysterious and strange was this!

The majority of the ancient powers were mysterious like this.

“Primitive…” One of the people from the calm and collected nonhuman group muttered with slight offense.

“The utter disrespect…” Another one murmured with a frown.

Cale took a bread out of the bag and carefully observed a hole that was the size of an adult’s head. He needed to first send away the owner of that voice before starting his work. However, before Cale could even say anything, the voice was even louder this time as they could no longer see Cale from outside the fence because he crouched down. The voice was shaking quite a bit.

“You’re going to die! Don’t do it!”

“…Is it Choi Han?” 

“Archie, your reading comprehension disappoints me.”

“What? Things like this are pretty common! Unexpected first meetings!”

“Choi Han didn’t have the identification cards to get into the city and it would be stupid to sneak in under broad daylight. The projection already told you this!”

“Well, I’m sorry I didn’t know that the slums are considered part of the city!”

“Noona, Archie, please shut up.”

Cale pressed his temples with his fingers.

“Sigh.”

The number of people following him decreased the closer he got to the man-eating tree at the top of the hill, however, the owner of that voice continued to follow him.

‘There are always nosy punks no matter where you go.’

‘Ah, it must be someone from the slums…’ Litana thought to herself, trying to put down the dissatisfaction she felt from hearing someone call the suffering citizens of the slums as nosy punks.

‘Wait, wasn’t there more than one voice?’

Cale frowned as he turned his head around. When he did, he noticed a girl who seemed to be around 10 years old, holding her younger brother’s hand while looking at him. Her eyes were full of concern.

Gasps came about a second time.

“It’s a little girl!”

It was hard to tell what the age of the speaker was because of the novel-format so the people of the black room had automatically assumed that it was an adult trying to warn the redhead in the projection. But now that it was revealed what their mystery character was, the statement about the voice not seeing through the fence made sense.

A little girl and an even younger little boy wouldn’t be tall enough to see through a fence if a young adult like Cale Henituse crouched down!

Seeing that Cale was frowning and staring at her, the young girl stumbled on her words and started to mumble.

“It’s a man-eating tree. You’re going to d, die.”

“What a brave and good kid.” Hans smiled fondly. If it were him, he wouldn’t have been able to climb up the hill in the first place, knowing what’s up there.

“I won’t die.”

Cale took two breads out of the bag and threw it toward the little girl. It didn’t matter if it rolled on the ground because they were all individually wrapped.

“Take that and get lost.”

“And what a dull and mean adult.” Bud Illis complained for the children’s sake.

“Hey, at least he’s giving them food.”

“Honor cannot be swayed by mere food, Glenn!”

The young boy instantly grabbed the bread, but the young girl was still hesitating. In the end, Cale needed to use his identity. He stood up and pushed his head outside of the fence.

“You two don’t know about Cale the trash?”

The young girl’s face turned pale.

‘Now he’s scaring children.’ Cale squinted his eyes, not sure what to feel about that.

Not even Cale would do something like that—mostly because the children around him usually tend to scare themselves so there was no need.

Her younger brother just looked toward Cale before picking up the other bread for his sister and started to tug on her arm.

“Noona.”

“Uh huh.”

The young girl looked back and forth at the tree and Cale even as she was being pulled.

“You can’t die.”

The sentence brought warmth into many people’s hearts—specifically, Hans’.

Especially Hans’.

Cale clicked his tongue at the young girl who continued to say that, before making sure nobody else was around as he sat down underneath the tree. Nobody would be able to see what he was doing unless they came right up to the fence.

“Let’s get started.”

He started by taking a loaf of bread out of the bag and putting it into that hole. His hand soon disappeared into the darkness underneath the tree, and Cale could feel a cold sensation as the bread in his hand disappeared.

He felt like his whole hand might be sucked in, and quickly took it out.

The darkness in the hole underneath the tree was still the same.

“That shit scary as fuck.” Bud Illis shuddered, “What if the tree ate his hand instead of the bread?!”

Glenn sighed in exasperation.

“Now that’s even more preposterous. Haven’t you realized it already, you idiot?”

“If you die with a grudge, you have to resolve that grudge.”

This man-eating tree wasn’t actually a man-eating tree. It was a tree that would eat anything. It was the side effect of the power that was left behind by the person who starved to death.

But for such a thing to be related to an ancient strength…it was comical, but made it seem more realistic.

‘I remember it said I need to feed it until the darkness disappears.’

The darkness in the hole underneath the tree was not the result of shade. It was darkness formed by the grudge.

“Wait, don’t tell me… This tree is an ancient power?!”

Bud Illis had an ancient power himself so he dared not take ancient powers lightly or even insult them as he holds high respect for these powers, but to think that a tree that could have eaten a corpse hanging on its branches held an ancient power…

The Mercenary King started sweating, ‘ It’s not a sinister ancient power… right?’

In contrast to him, on the other hand…

“Harol, the shield power has a mouth!”

Toonka was very surprised and excited to know that shields could eat things, too, just like him. He normally wouldn’t care to defend himself with a shield (defense? What is that? Can he eat that?) but if he had a shield like that—

Ohohoho!

Images of the crazy Toonka running around laughing while holding a shield with a mouth, with the lips and the teeth included, flashed in chief Harol’s mind, and suddenly he felt like he became ten years older.

‘I don’t think the shield has an actual mouth…’ Harol weakly comforted himself.

But actually, now that he thinks of it, such a shield would be pretty useful against those damned mages now, wouldn’t they?

This could not be done with other people. One person had to continue to provide a large amount of food until the darkness disappeared. Once the darkness finally disappears, the light that was hiding underneath would appear.

Once he eats that light, the, ‘Indestructible Shield,’ will become Cale’s.

“Wait, he’s going to eat the light?”

The idea of someone trying to eat light was a bit…

“Eat all you want.”

Cale put the opening of the bag into the hole and emptied all of the bread into it. In a normal situation, that small hole should have become filled with bread, however, only the darkness continued to remain once Cale removed the bag.

“I guess I’ll need about ten more large bags.”

The darkness in the hole was slightly fainter than before.

Ten bags. Only someone like Cale, with 3 million gallons as allowance, could casually say such a thing.

Rumble-

An odd cry seemed to resonate from the tree. It seemed to be saying that it was hungry and asking for more food. Cale felt like the darkness might suddenly reach out and grab him.

“…It is a bit scary.”

“Oh, so you do acknowledge that it’s scary! But what the hell is with a bit ?!”

Everyone ignored Bud Illis’s little flare up.

Cale quickly got up. He felt like he should not be here for a long time.

“I’ll come back tomorrow.”

Cale said goodbye to the rumbling tree as if it was a person and exited the fenced area. Cale noticed the siblings eating the bread as soon as he entered the slums.

For someone who was claiming that he should not go there because it was a man-eating tree, they seemed to be enjoying the bread. They must be liking the flavor, because both of them seemed very happy.

Cale snorted at the siblings before ignoring their gazes. However, their gazes were not on him, but on the bag that was filled with bread earlier but was now empty.

They were probably curious.

But what could they do? They couldn’t do anything.

The people in the room who had a good impression of the children frowned at that.

These children were probably too scared to even go near the man-eating tree. However, it is always good to be on the safe side. It would be bad if they went up to the tree and put their head into the hole and got eaten.

[The children of the slums have no fear. It was because they treasured a single grain of rice more than a blade coming their way. Death is always around them, so they do not fear death. They fear being hungry more than death.]

Countess Violan’s hand around her fan tightened as she read this passage as she thought to herself what it would have been like if she and Basen had succumbed to the struggles of poverty. Basen might have ended up just like these kids had that happened.

Thank god, it did not.

It was something that was written in [The Birth of a Hero]. That was why Cale decided to speak to the pair of siblings.

“If you want to eat bread again tomorrow, don’t say a thing.”

“At least he’s making sure they don’t stick their heads underneath the scary tree.” Bud murmured to himself while Jopis stayed surprisingly quiet while reading the projection’s words.

The two siblings did not say anything. They were immediately following Cale’s order. The young girl, who seemed hesitant earlier, put her hand on her brother’s mouth and pretended to not see Cale. Cale smiled and thought that she was pretty smart, as he quickly left the slums.

A few people chuckled at the siblings for a bit before shaking themselves out of it to focus.

The people in the slums who knew Cale had gone to the top of the hill were looking at him wondering what crazy thing he was doing now, but Cale liked that kind of gaze.

The people outside the slums looked at Cale weirdly as well, but Cale didn’t care about these gazes.

“Ah, young master. You are back.”

Once Cale returned to the tea shop, Billos greeted him pretty happily.

“Hyung, do you personally know Billos Flynn?” Basen curiously asked his brother upon seeing how different Billos seemed to treat Cale compared to the people all around him.

Cale shook his head.

“No. I’ve never even known him in my life, actually. I might have known about him at some point but his name doesn’t stick out. I think he’s just nice because of my money.”

“Ah.”

“Yes. Bring me a new cup of tea. A refreshing one this time.”

Cale headed back to his seat on the third floor. It should have been pretty busy at this time, but there was nobody else on the third floor. They were all avoiding the trash of the Count’s family. That was why Cale could relax.

“Here is your tea, young master. I also brought up some desserts.”

“Ah, great. Thanks.”

“Well, isn’t he living a good life?” Valentino chuckled as he watched the new young master’s day proceed like he didn’t just visit a man-eating tree.

Cale only continued to look toward the city gate as he took a sip of the tea. Billos observed Cale’s face with an odd expression before he quietly left the third floor. It was weird to hear Cale thanking someone.

Cale continued to order tea and desserts as he looked outside the window until the sky slowly turned orange and the sun set. He only got up when night arrived and it was dark outside.

It was now time to go interact with the dangerous dude who will come from outside the wall.

And the chapter ended just like that.

Whether or not people talked about the shortening of the break time in between the projections, Kim Rok Soo didn’t really care. In all honesty, it didn’t really affect him much anyway, since he had Record on hand.

Even so…

“Shall we all discuss something?”

The little crew of misfits he’d gathered all turned to look at him with mild surprise in their eyes upon hearing his suggestion. Kim Rok Soo shifted one brow up in response to their incredulous looks. What? He was just asking, why are they looking at him like that?

It was kind of comical, actually, to look at their little group from another perspective.

We had all these youngsters seated on the floor making a rather wobbly circle and then there was 36-year-old Kim Rok Soo in their midst, face stoic and alias even more so. However, if you looked at it from the perspective of a master, you would find that all four youngsters are actually hiding their strength and the eldest and biggest-looking among them was the one at the bottom of the food chain.

Though technically, if we were going by age, then Choi Han should be the eldest among them… but anyway.

“Young master Bob, what do you have in mind?” The cooperative Rosalyn was the first to push the conversation forward with a curious look on her face. 

Choi Han explained most of the things they’ve been doing since arriving here, and apart from the surprising show that Choi Han displayed when he was annoyed by Toonka, it seemed to her like their little group were pretty casual when it came to reading and even more so when it’s break time. It’s almost like they do nothing during break time at all.

Of course, this is because Choi Han didn’t tell Rosalyn about the dragon. Kim Rok Soo and he had both agreed that there was no reason to tell anyone else in the room about their dragon-saving adventure, so he wisely omitted that part of their activities when relaying information to Rosalyn.

In truth, the Korean duo, although not really keen on discussing and predicting, were somehow always doing something during breaktime—like, for example, saving a dragon, negotiating with suspicious southerners with very fake smiles, and recruiting a mage-princess. They also often kept tabs of the other people in the room—especially the calm and collected few in the far corner that Choi Han can’t gauge the strength of.

Hearing the term “Young master Bob'' come out of Rosalyn’s lips and the subsequent frown it earned from Kim Rok Soo, the disguised crown prince Alberu’s political smile almost twitched in his attempt to not laugh.

“…Well, first of all, I think it would be nice to know if Miss Rosalyn has a cleaning spell to reassure Choi Han that he looks fine.”

“Bob Hyung .” Was Choi Han’s mortified statement.

“Done and done.” It took just a snap of Rosalyn’s finger, the red-haired princess not even batting an eye as she inclined her head and asked, “Anything else?”

“Mr. Bob, did you read about those two children at the end, too?”

This time it was Mary who brought up something to the conversation, her robotic voice inquisitive but not pushy.

Kim Rok Soo shook his head, “There weren’t many young characters in <The Birth of a Hero>. They were either killed early by the antagonists of the story or…”

He paused when he felt a reptilian-texture landing somewhere on his shoulders.

“…There weren’t many young characters.” Kim Rok Soo decidedly said, “That’s all you need to know.”

“Wait, but if there aren’t many young characters…” Rosalyn’s smile turned strained at that, as her eyes flickered to a certain space in the distance, confused. Kim Rok Soo knew exactly where she was looking at, and so he changed the topic immediately.

“It’s probably because the story only focuses on action and war. Children don’t need to be part of that so of course, they wouldn’t appear in <The Birth of a Hero>.” He bullshitted and then quickly added, “However, in this new “novel” that we’re reading, I think these children are different.” 

His words successfully managed to grab everyone’s attention away from the fact that there were 11 or so wolf kids in the room and two more underage characters from the Henituse family, some of which may have died in the catastrophic tragedies enclosed in Choi Han’s life story.

“Oh? How so?” Alberu questioned, skeptically, and Kim Rok Soo answered simply:

“The way the novel wrote about the baker and the servant who drove him were different from these kids’ meeting with Cale, or should I say, me .”

Wow , that was weird to the tongue.

Kim Rok Soo frowned a little but continued to explain when it looked like his four companions hadn’t understood what he meant, “Think about it. The baker was only mentioned because Cale needed bread. The servant was only mentioned because someone needed to drive Cale to the tea shop. But why were the kids even mentioned?”

“Isn’t it just to dramatically introduce the man-eating tree to… ah, no, this is not just an ordinary novel but a peek of the future!” Rosalyn seemed to understand immediately what he meant, her eyes lighting up as if she had an epiphany, “Are you saying that they might be important characters in the ‘ story ’?”

“That would be a bit of a stretch, but I’m sure that this will not be the last time we see them.”

“I see.” Alberu smiled as he pondered over it a bit, “The novel is just starting to ‘ set up’ the use of its characters so we can’t say for sure who will be important and who will not be among the unnamed, but Mr. Bob is right. The kids are the only people who know Cale is visiting the man-eating tree, and it would be a waste if they don’t show up again.”

Choi Han mouthed a little “oh” under his breath and then said, “It’s… it’s like that gun.”

“Gun?” Mary, who has been having a little bit of trouble following the conversation, echoed Choi Han’s words questioningly.

“Gun?” Rosalyn and Alberu both said at the same time, perplexed.

“Um, it’s something from my world. I think I remember they called it the… the Chakra gun…?”

“Chekov’s.” Kim Rok Soo deadpanned.

Somewhere back on earth, a linguist and a writer who survived the apocalypse were suddenly crying, but they don’t know why.

“Chekov’s. They call it the Chekov’s gun.” Choi Han said with a straight face, “It’s like a rule when writing a story. If you show a gun, then you’ll have to eventually use it.”

“In our case, the baker and the driver have already been used, but do you think the children introduced in the end already fulfilled their purpose?” Kim Rok Soo further explained, “There is no reason to show or tell something to an audience if it wouldn’t be important.”

‘ Not that <The Birth of a Hero> followed that rule, strictly.’

  Kim Rok Soo quietly thought to himself as he recalled Chief Harol Kodiang’s out-of-nowhere extra-detailed backstory.

At that moment while Kim Rok Soo was internally wondering why the hell he would need to know about Harol Kodiang’s parents’ tragic love story, a young voice suddenly echoed in his head, small but curious and obviously attentive to everything these people have been saying until now.

-Am I important, too?

Kim Rok Soo who was about to open his mouth to speak to his reading buddies suddenly shut his mouth again. The weight that had been hanging around his shoulders had disappeared long ago but the tell tale reptilian thing that was smacking his back every now and then told him enough.

“…………”

-…………

“Anyway, everyone, rest your minds while you can—”

-Human! You bastard, I know you can hear me!

Chapter Text

‘Okay, who taught this child how to swear?’

“Bob Hyung?”

Kim Rok Soo blinked back to his current situation—his visible situation—the situation wherein he wasn’t having a one-sided argument with a 4-year-old dragon about a topic that is very delicate, especially since said-4-year-old is very much not visible.

There was an insistent light smacking at his back and an even more insistent young voice inside his head angrily trying to get him to answer.

Choi Han was looking at him in concern.

To him and the others, Kim Rok Soo had looked like he had something to say but then suddenly stopped. The words that came out of his mouth instead was a reminder to rest but even that was abruptly stopped, this time with a visible grimace.

‘ What’s going on?’

The four stared at Kim Rok Soo, confused, until the Korean took a deep breath and made his decision.

Dragons were powerful beings--Even if the dragon in question is only 4 years old.

Between dying to a baby dragon and looking like a lunatic… Kim Rok Soo chose the third option: To somehow answer without making it look like he’s lost a few screws.

“Hey.”

He started, schooling his expression properly while at it and gathering his companion’s attention to himself.

“Have you ever wondered if a dragon is here with us?”

In an instant, it was like the atmosphere of their little gathering got dunked into cold water--wholly overturned.

“That….”

Choi Han stiffened like a particularly suspicious rock while Rosalyn’s and Alberu’s eyes turned wide.

The latter two had obviously never thought of that question before until Kim Rok Soo brought it up.

Mary, too, was surprised although it was hard to tell with her voice and hood.

“I… I had my suspicions but I didn’t dare…”

-Human, what are you talking about? Of course, there’s a dragon here! This great and mighty dragon is here!

Kim Rok Soo’s facial expression didn’t change at all even after hearing the dragon’s question interlap with Rosalyn’s ramblings.

“Well, think about it.” He simply shrugged as if he was not hearing a young dragon’s voice in his head, “If anyone would be important in a future that endangers the entire world… don’t you think a great and mighty dragon should be part of the list?”

“……!”

-…….!

“…What you’re saying makes sense because dragons were given a high responsibility by nature itself, but to think that we could be in the same room as one…” Alberu shakily trailed off, although his voice remained steady.

Dragons are majestic beings that normally don’t mingle with humans. It would be a rare sight to see one even be in friendly relations with one, given how prideful they are as the pinnacle of magic and nature.

Maybe it was his heritage speaking for him, but Alberu suddenly finds it suffocating to be in this room right now.

He remembered how General Toonka had been pestering everyone in the room at the start of their time here in the black room and suddenly had a terrible thought.

What if that battle-crazy barbarian picks a fight with someone in this room who is actually a dragon? Maybe even offend one?

Oh, that is going to be terrible.

Alberu emptily laughed inside his own head as he tried his best to think of what he should do to avoid such a situation. Although no one in this room could die, the God of Death never said it wouldn’t hurt.

Meanwhile, maybe because Alberu was merely a quarter dark-elf in blood, Rosalyn the rational but magic-obsessed princess was experiencing a more violent reaction than him.

“Are you saying there could be a, a dragon-nim here ? Here, in this room ?”

Her eyes were wide and excited, almost looking a little bit crazed due to enthusiasm, and the ends of her lips were trembling as if she was trying to make them stop from rising to form a smile.

Choi Han sewed his mouth shut, sweating a little at his new friend’s reaction.

-Hmph! The woman is smart! There is indeed a great and mighty dragon, and he is not only in your room but also in front of you!

‘Aigoo, please don’t actually say that to her. Not right now.’

Kim Rok Soo wanted to tell the dragon to not ever say that actually but since he could not telepathically do so, he found himself sweating a little bit as well while internally praying that the black dragon will not suddenly reveal himself yet.

If he revealed himself now when he was hovering around Kim Rok Soo, it would stir something that cannot be reversed—Kim Rok Soo can feel it .

So, instead of answering the mage Rosalyn, Kim Rok Soo merely gestured towards the group of calm and collected people whose power level they have not yet determined and let the smart Rosalyn’s mind find the answer on her own.

“I see! Of course, among such a group of unique people, there’s a possibility that a dragon in disguise would be among them!” Rosalyn’s eyes shone with enthusiasm as she tried her best to keep her trembling voice down.

‘Amazing. She found an answer for herself that even I didn't think of.’

Kim Rok Soo applauded the smart Rosalyn inside his head. After all, what she said was very possible--But whether or not there really is a dragon or not in that group… ah well, Kim Rok Soo can care less.

It was highly unlikely that a dragon would be brought here, anyway. There has only ever been one dragon in the novel that Kim Rok Soo read and dragons were supposed to be very rare, so it was nearly impossible. With that, Kim Rok Soo successfully managed to get the 4-year-old black dragon talking inside his head to shut up and throw the consequences of his decisions towards other people to deal with.

What Kim Rok Soo didn’t know however… was that there really was a dragon in that specific group of people.

“Hehehe,” A boy with pink hair snickered mischievously, “Mom, did you hear that?!”

“It seems there are smart humans in this crowd of people, after all.” A beige-haired woman said with slight interest, stroking her son’s hair.

“Bah. I’m going to sleep.” A man with a buzz cut went to one corner of the room and curled up comfortably on the ground, falling asleep in a matter of minutes with a snore.

“………..” The golden-haired elf in the group did not react, but stared at Kim Rok Soo from afar with scrutiny.

After all, even though Kim Rok Soo was correct, he was also pretty wrong.

There wasn’t just one dragon in this group.

…. There were four.

“….So, shall we discuss your man-eating tree, or?”

“Bud, please shut up.”

Unlike what one would expect, the Henituse County did not engage in any particularly good discussions this time. After a while of paying extra attention to the chapters, the people of the county had realized that actually, the information they could get from a single chapter was pretty small.

It was to be expected since the chapters were not particularly lengthy to begin with, but it was because of this that most of the people in the Henituse group have decided to forego the need for a discussion and do the things they were doing before.

Of course, any significant findings were quickly reported to the others, but since there weren’t much of that yet, they decided it was fine to catch a little bit of a break.

Cale Henituse who was still recovering from his serious injuries definitely needed it.

There was no need to always be on guard for now.

Before they knew it, enough time had passed for the next chapter to come forth, and the people who had resorted to lying down out of boredom had jumped back to their seats.

[Chapter 6: They met (3)]

‘ Again.’

Where everyone else was welcoming the projection, Taylor Stan couldn’t help but uneasily notice the time frame between the chapters shortening once again.

The hands settled on top of his now-useless knees had some of its fingers folded, indicating how many minutes had passed, and it was three minutes shorter than before.

Taylor knew there was no use trying to fathom how the gods work but being in an unfamiliar environment with the childhood he experienced, he couldn’t help but feel more at ease trying to actively figure out what was happening all around them.

‘Is it because the content of each chapter has become shorter as well? Did they time it according to the length of each chapter or is there another criterion…?’

When does a person get angrier?

“….?”

The people who had enthusiastically risen from their resting places in order to read comfortably and respectfully all blinked at the unexpected first words of today’s chapter.

Is it when they get hit by a strong straight or when they are hit five or six times by annoying jabs?

It is, of course, the latter.

“………….”

‘No, weren’t we going to meet Choi Han? Why are you talking about this?’

Some of the people from the Henituse County felt themselves tense up. They knew already that this was not their young master but for some reason, this sentence was making it sound like he was about to do something very much like him—which is to say, he’s about to do something that is not good at all!

Cale threw five jabs before he was hit. Which means, one jab should be okay.

‘No, what do you mean by that?!?!’

“Hyung-nim?” A wide-eyed Basen croaked out subconsciously, voice cracking in confused concern.

“Ahaha, I like his way of thinking.” Cale laughed as he read the words but to everyone around him it sounded dull—probably because internally he was adding in with a trembling heart that he does not like where this is going.

Basen stared at his brother, at the projection and then at the general direction of Kim Rok Soo’s little group, face filled with disbelief.

The soul was not his older brother’s but the words flowing in the screen certainly seemed like so!

Putting that together with the knowledge that he gets beaten until near death by someone who could be compared to a dragon, was this not seeking death?!

“Are you heading out?”

“Yes.”

There were not many people left in the tea shop.

It was past 9pm.

‘ He stayed in a tea shop until 9 pm?’

Beacrox found that small sentence incredulous. Doesn’t that mean he skipped dinner?

This was the time when there were more people in the bars than tea shops. Since this was the time that the people mining in the pits went to drink, the bar should be full of people.

“I look forward to your next visit, young master.”

Cale nodded his head at Billos’s statement.

Alberu once more found himself noting the characteristics of the Flynn Merchant Guild’s illegitimate child.

Although impartiality was always supposed to be the strong suit of merchants, the people who were in this field nowadays wouldn’t have reacted the same way Billos did when encountering the Trash of the Count’s family.

No matter the rumors there were about the Lout, Billos maintained a cooperative attitude and provided his service without fail.

That was the mark of someone who was truly good at business.

“The tea was great.”

Cale shared his observations with Billos.

“And the book was good even though I only got through half of it. I especially liked the main character whose abilities are appreciated and the way he grows.”

“Ah, yes, he’s about to meet the main character who beats him up, but he still has the nerve to drink tea and read novels.”

Bud Illis will never stop talking about how impressively devoid of nervousness this Cale Henituse is.

In that instant, the corner of Billos’s eyebrows frowned for a moment before returning to normal. His eyes were cloudy as he observed Cale.

However, Cale did not notice, as he was trying to remember the contents of the book. He was too worried about Choi Han that he did not pay too much attention to it.

However, it was still fun to read while having this sense of urgency in his heart.

“Oh, nevermind.”

Of course, this new Cale Henituse would be nervous, haha! He was still human, after all. It seems he just has a good way of dealing with it, Bud figured.

It might be an auto-setting from possessing the original Cale’s body, but Cale was able to understand the language of this world, and had no issues reading and enjoying the book.

‘ How convenient.’

Several people wryly thought as they watched the projection move forward.

A smile formed on Cale’s face as he continued to speak to Billos, who was standing there with a blank expression on his face.

“Don’t let anyone else read that book, so that I can read it whenever I come.”

This truly was the immature son of the Count, who was trying to monopolize someone else’s property.

“…No, not really.” Hans muttered quietly under his breath as he read that passage.

All around the ginger, the royals mixed with them and the subordinates of the Henituse County all remembered that one previous passage that made it obvious that if the immature son of the count was to monopolize anything, it wouldn’t be a book but instead alcohol.

…The study had not been used for years for a reason.

Billos, the bastard son of a wealthy merchant guild might not like it, but what could he do? Cale was the son of the Count.

“Yes! I will reserve this book only for young master Cale!”

However, Billos’s response was different from what Cale expected. Billos smiled brightly as he urged Cale to come back soon.

“Please come again soon. I will be waiting for you.”

“Sure, whatever.”

Cale didn’t want to go, but had to leave to go meet Choi Han.

Alberu secretly smiled where he was seated in between Mary and Rosalyn on the floor.

He had already decided that making contact with this Billos Flynn is a must in the future.

Meanwhile, the two girls in either of his sides were taking the chapter by a stride and curiously wondering not about the “Cale Henituse” that was with them in this room but instead the “Cale Henituse” who was in the projection.

Rosalyn, who knew Kim Rok Soo’s real identity already, asked, “Young master Bob, do you like reading novels?”

‘Your highness, Princess Rosalyn, do you not feel ashamed calling someone over a decade older than you a young master?’

Kim Rok Soo was slightly annoyed by the incessant ‘ Young master Bob! Young master Bob!’ business, but he brought it upon himself, so he could only bite his tongue and pretend that suddenly, he was deaf. Seeing that she was ignored, Rosalyn could only shrug although deep inside she was obviously laughing.

She was definitely, definitely, aware of what she was doing.

Ring.

The bell rang once more and it suddenly felt like the tea shop became louder once Cale left.

However, it was even louder outside the tea shop than it was inside. Even though this territory was far from the capital, the fact that a lot of artists resided here and that they had a special product made it a popular location. These individuals, as well as the miners who were looking to relax after a long day in the mines, all were out late to drink.

“Drink?” The alcoholic king—er, the mercenary king, Bud Illis, spoke up from where he had lazily laid himself down on the floor, like a dead person coming back to life.

“Drink.” The alcoholic of the cou—er, the trash of the count’s family, Cale Henituse, repeated with a satisfied smile on his face as he gave a nod to the mercenary king lying down on the floor.

“I very much wish to have a drink right now, too .” The alcoholic pries—er, the crazy priestess, Cage, mumbled quietly to herself while lazily leaning unto the side of her best friend’s wheelchair, a bit disgruntled given who brought them here in the first place, and beside her, her best friend Taylor could only stifle a laugh.

Cale walked that street alone.

‘If you think about it, he really is a unique person.’

Hm?

‘Who?’ Everyone raised an eyebrow at the sudden thought that came about. They really couldn’t keep up with the mental gymnastics that this “Cale Henituse” does inside his head.

Meanwhile…

“Is it Choi Han?”

“Archie, what is with you and you asking if it's Choi Han?”

“He’s the main character!”

“That doesn’t explain any—wait, do you read novels like this???”

“…You mixed blood punk, why do you look so surprised?!”

“Archie!”

Everyone ignored the three-way whale tussle that suddenly went down in one corner of the black room in favor of reading the next lines in peace.

Normally in fantasies or martial arts novels, the trash of the family tend to hang out with the gangsters or bad crowds. They drink, fool around with women, and cause a ruckus on the streets or stores.

‘ …Wait. Is he talking about me?’ Cale Henituse couldn’t help but blink like a stupid fish.

He’s heard the word unique be associated with him before, but it was more sarcastic than sincere. Here, in written form however, there was no way to tell.

“Is he talking about Oraebuni…?” Lily also outspokenly echoed what Cale thought—and huh, is that not a testament to how much of a troublemaker her oraebuni was if she immediately recognized that it was him being thought of at that moment?

Cale could only try his best to beat down the sheepishness trying to climb out of the depths of his soul.

The funny thing was that Cale Henituse actually hated gangsters and scammers.

In fact, he despised them.

‘ What?’ Cale stared at the projection’s words in disbelief, ‘ The novel mentioned that, too???’

‘He thought that they were all scumbags.’

The worst of all scumbags. It was better to at least be the citizens who worked hard even though there was no hope for a better future.

“Huh.” Hans’s and Hilsman’s face couldn’t decide what expression to wear at this sudden revelation about their ‘ trashy young master’ , while the one who thought he knew Cale the most, could only blink in surprise.

This person was Ron, who had gone surprisingly quiet for some time now.

Violan, although a stepmother and someone who Cale avoided at that, had a pleasant smile on her face upon this confirmation.

She thought as much. It was easy to tell.

That was why he never beat people up when he was drunk but had no issues throwing things at the gangsters he saw.

Well, attempted to throw things, since his aim when drunk was terrible.

“Hey.” Cale Henituse couldn’t help but frown at the obvious jab, defending his pride from no one in particular, “I joined the war efforts and was able to throw stones accurately at the white star’s bastards to defend the lord’s castle even while intoxicated, you know.”

Not that it did much to take down bears, but it certainly took down a human bastard or two.

It wasn’t that he had terrible aim, he just thought it was better to scare than to actually injure somebody just for the sake of worsening his reputation.

Basen, who was analyzing his brother’s words and the words of the projection, figured it was either that or his brother’s aim just got better over time.

Maybe that was the reason.

‘Aigoo, young master, you’re here?”

The owner of the bar was extremely afraid of Cale. It was because of that one day when Cale broke pretty much everything around where he was sitting to drink. In fact, Cale was probably number one on the blacklist for Western City bars.

“Oh, that must be terrible.” Bud Illis grimaced.

“Yes, the county had to pay for the damages all the time.” Hans sighed.

“No, I was actually talking about being blacklisted from the bars and taverns. I can’t imagine what life would be like with that.”

Hans opened his mouth as if to say something about that but ended up closing it in the end.

“Well, blacklisting him can’t really stop him from still striding in.”

Much to everyone’s surprise, it was Count Deruth himself who continued the conversation once the deputy butler decided to drop it.

Count Deruth met the gazes that stared at him in surprise before laughing a little, “What? He’s his mother's son and he is also my son. Even if I locked him in a room to prevent him from that, he’d have found a way out. Methods like this never stopped my wife before, how could it be able to stop him?”

…Suddenly, many people were curious about the personality of the Count’s first wife.

He did not respond to the owner’s greeting and just threw a gold coin at him.

“Bring a bottle of my usual. Oh, and roasted chicken breast. Don’t put salt on it.”

“Excuse me? Y, you don’t want to find a seat first?”

“Yeah, sure, invite a pretty destructive guy in your place to take a seat. It’s not like there will be a risk of destruction of property or anything.” Glenn sarcastically said, his expression fighting a smile as he did so.

His voice wasn’t that loud so not everyone could hear it, but they certainly heard the response that the purple-haired mage got from the destructive guy in question.

“Do you want to have your property damaged, sir?” Cale Henituse purred jokingly.

Bud Illis practically barked with laughter.

Cale started to frown. The owner immediately waved his hands and bowed his head.

“Immediately! I will bring it immediately!”

Cale looked around the bar that became quiet once he walked in. Everyone was avoiding his gaze and turned their heads. It was like they were wondering why he had to choose this bar of all bars in the city. The gangsters and scammers in the bar were all extremely nervous right now.

“God, what did you do to them?” Jopis raised an eyebrow although a smile was forming on her face.

Really, to be so nefarious that gangsters and scammers will tremble in your presence was pretty impressive, you know?

“Tsk.”

The sound of Cale clicking his tongue could be heard through the silence in the bar.

“Young master, here is the bottle you requested.”

“Great.”

Cale grabbed the bottle and bag of chicken. It was the alcohol he drank often. It was probably the most expensive alcohol in this bar. He accepted the bottle with no regret and left the bar.

“Hm? Wait a second, why did he buy a bag of chicken, too?”

Hilsman’s statement was not very loud but many people heard of it, and that included Beacrox who immediately internally snorted.

It was because he hadn’t eaten dinner yet, that’s why. Beacrox was sure of it.

Cale immediately opened the bottle and drank about half of it as soon as he stepped out of the bar.

“Oh.”

The alcohol tasted pretty good.

“Of course. I have high standards.” Cale jokingly declared, leaning on a palm propped up by his knees.

Since Cale had a high tolerance to alcohol, it did not affect him at all to drink half of the bottle at once. He just flushed easily, making people think he was a lightweight.

“And apparently, high alcohol tolerance, too. Young master Cale! Be my friend!”

The voice of a woman loudly shouted, enough that everyone in the room was able to hear it. If it were an ordinary woman who did that, they would have been embarrassed immediately, but this woman was no dainty flower.

It was the crazy priestess, Cage.

Recognizing an alcoholic lunatic when he sees one, Cale cupped one hand near his mouth and promptly answered with a smile, “Only if you offer good wine, you crazy priestess!”

“Wait, you know who I am?!”

Who doesn’t? Cage was a scary woman who cursed people in the battlefield in the future Cale came from, but since the redhead caught sight of the crippled man next to her, he decided not to say that and instead shrug without answering.

The people in the room who quietly watched the loud exchange between the two people who were from different sides of the room could only draw their eyebrows together at the brazen scene they just witnessed.

‘ …Are they done talking now?’ Kim Rok Soo could only quietly grumble as he focused on the projection.

Cale quickly walked along with the bottle in his hand.

You see, Kim Rok Soo was actually getting a little bit nervous right now.

He walked back past the tea shop he stayed in all day until he saw the guards stiffen up after seeing him. Seeing them acting like that made him want to go out of the gate, but unfortunately, that was not his destination.

“Ah, I’m starting to get hot.”

From what he saw from the trailer they received at the very beginning, this was definitely not the place where he would die, he knew that. The God of Death was so confident that things would be different if he were to become Cale Henituse so it would reflect poorly on that bastard if he did die.

Remembering the vision made Kim Rok Soo’s heart ache for some reason.

There were so many things shown in that video-like footage and yet it felt so distant from the chapters they had now.

Cale felt himself heating up as he continued to drink. He walked a bit further until he reached the city wall not too far away. The tall city wall that started at the gate seemed to defend against any potential intruders.

Kim Rok Soo knew himself. He knew that if it was him, he would have run away from the main plot of <The Birth of a Hero> as soon as the opportunity presented itself and all contingency plans in the middle of the war was completed—because he had full confidence that Choi Han’s story, <The Birth of a Hero>’s story, would end with Choi Han’s victory no matter what.

But now, Kim Rok Soo knew that that was not the case at all.

Adventure fantasy, my ass, if he were to base things on the 40-year-old Cale Henituse’s testimony, then the genre of Choi Han’s life story was not an adventure fantasy at all.

‘Well it depends on the person.’

Cale recalled the information from the book.

‘Approximately 100 steps from the city gate.’

That was the location where Choi Han jumped over the city wall.

‘ It’s a tragedy.’

Cale clenched the bottle in his hand as he quickly ran toward the location. There were not many people on the streets because it was the residential area.

But his future self who was currently living the start of that tragedy doesn’t know about that.

‘…Fuck, please don’t make him beat you up.’

He should really trust himself but now that he knows that his other self may or may not be operating under faulty assumptions, he has no choice but to be a tad bit scared.

Cale took a deep breath once he arrived at the calculated location.

Exactly 100 steps away from the city gate. It was a corner of the residential area so there wasn’t any other light other than the torch the guards put on top of the wall, as well as the lights coming out of the residential windows.

But that was enough light.

Cale slowly approached his destination after letting his eyes adjust to the dark.

‘Just as I expected.’

He could see something curled up underneath the city wall.

Actually, there were multiple things.

Delicate looking things that were shaking because of the cold.

Cale continued to walk toward the location. He could hear the voices of the curled up lifeforms.

Meow Meeeeeow.

Two cats were meowing as they lay curled up underneath the city wall.

“Cats?” A certain ginger blurted out loud, face suddenly brightening like the sun at the mention of cats, while the resident chef of the Henituse county deadpanned not so far away with an almost unenthusiastic realization that, yes. Cats.

In the far side of the room, one of the whales who was currently being sat on by the other whales looked at the words projection and muttered quietly, “Wait so it’s not Choi Han?”

The whip holding him together tightened and he squawked before obediently going limp.

The silence that returned right after the whale lost consciousness was a bit awkward for those who heard and saw the scene but at least the environment was conducive for paying attention once again.

Cale started to smile.

‘It’s right here.’

He found the right spot.

Several people curiously read the words that followed.

The moment Choi Han jumps over the wall, a baby kitten is body slammed by the alpha cat of the neighborhood and gets sent tumbling to the city wall. Choi Han quickly twists his body to avoid landing on the kitten.

‘ So, that was it.’

Valentino thought to himself as he started to realize how these kittens were connected to the story at all.

This was a world where coincidences played a big role.

The blond-haired twins of the sun God dubiously looked at that sentence before exchanging looks and holding each other’s hand tighter.

‘He really is a good guy.’

“Um…” Choi Han awkwardly stared at the words that seemed to be praising him before lowering his head a little to nod at no one in particular.

Choi Han twists his ankle after unexpectedly twisting his body to avoid hurting the kitten. He had run like crazy to reach Western City after killing tens of people for the first time and burying the corpses of the villagers. His body had reached its limit making him unable to land properly after making such a movement.

Rosalyn sadly smiled as he cast the awkward man beside her a glance.

Meeeeow Meeeeeeow.

Cale gazed at the kitten that was curled up and shaking, as well as the other kitten that seemed to be its sibling licking the shaking kitten.

Then, he turned to look at one of the alleys that was close to where was standing.

‘I found him.’

Kim Rok Soo’s heart felt a bit faint upon reading that but he willed himself. He needed to know what’s next and it would be bad if he missed such an important scene like this just like the unconscious white-haired whale that is now being sat upon by the other two whales like a log.

The man who was wincing in pain while looking like one of the homeless that lived in the slums.

Cale could see the shaggy black hair and the old and burnt clothes.

“You do not look like a mess.” Mary said immediately in her robotic voice as soon as the words were played on the projection.

This was the first time she’d spoken since the start of this chapter, and her words were impactful enough.

“…Thank you.” Choi Han stiffly said, although he was tugging at the same burnt clothes wrapped around his person, especially the robe that had been stained before by blood.

Rosalyn’s magic could clean him of the evidence of the slaughter but it could not fix the burns on his clothes.

According to the novel, Cale and Choi Han would meet tomorrow.

Tonight was the night Cale got drunk and got the scar on his side.

Said-scar tingled by 40-year-old Cale Henituse’s side.

Things were already different than in the novel, even though it was just minor details.

‘No shit.’

The trash of the count’s family had already become not only a more respectful person but also a book lover overnight—that was surely different from the original already.

Cale stood up as he had crouched down to look at the kittens.

Choi Han must have felt his gaze from a few moments ago, as Choi Han slowly raised his head and his eyes focused on Cale through his shaggy black hair.

‘…Damn it, I’m shaking.’

Cale could hear his heart going crazy.

Although it was too dark to see clearly, Choi Han’s eyes that Cale could see through his hair were extremely cold.

‘…Surely, I wouldn’t get beaten up in the future, right?’

Kim Rok Soo held back a nervous laugh but at that moment he felt a tap at his shoulder and almost felt his soul jump out of his body. He whipped his head towards the Choi Han that was seated right next to him and flinched a little when he saw the serious look on the guy’s face.

“I will not beat you up.”

“……….”

‘ What kind of reassurance is that?!’

Alberu, the person that Kim Rok Soo currently disliked the most in their little team as well as the person most in tune with the man’s personality, turned his head away to cover his cough-like laugh.

Cale thought that it was a good idea that he chose to drink.

Cale congratulated himself for making such a smart decision and calmed himself down as much as possible. Jab. He needed to launch a jab and leave a good first impression.

Or else he’ll be beaten up , was the unspoken words that followed.

Cale took a deep breath as he started to speak to Choi Han who was staring at him.

“You look like you are hungry.”

Tsk tsk. Cale clicked his tongue and took the chicken breast out of the bag. Then with an extremely gentle movement, Cale offered the roasted chicken breast not to Choi Han, but to the kittens.

“You poor things. Go ahead and eat it.”

Meanwhile, Beacrox’s gaze twisted into something a bit complicated. So, the roasted chicken was not for himself, but instead for two random kittens?

Cale didn’t know that the kittens would be this small. He hope that they could still eat the chicken breast. Tsk. He clicked his tongue as he ripped the chicken breast into pieces so that the kittens could eat it better.

He was wondering what the hell he was doing crouching here feeding these kittens.

Hans made a rather incorrigible sound as he read that passage, something that was in between reminding his young master of how uncharacteristic this is and cooing at the imagery—because, I mean, come on, their young master, trashy or not, was eye candy!

And with KITTENS?!

‘ …he’s too far gone.’

Hilsman can’t understand Hans’ obsession with cats at all

To be honest, Cale did not like cats.

At least, Kim Rok Soo didn’t.

However, Choi Han treasured small animals.

-…I am not small. And this dragon is not an animal, either!

‘…Yes. Let’s just focus on reading right now.’

Grrooooowl. Groooooowl.

The injured kitten must have understood Cale’s dislike for cats, as it showed its teeth and started to growl, but Cale started to pet the kitten’s silver fur as he looked into its golden eyes.

“You poor things. Eat this and get better soon.”

He didn’t even look at Choi Han when he said that, however, he was thinking that Choi Han was definitely looking at him.

‘ He’s trying to make Choi Han believe that he’s a good person in order to avoid getting beaten up.’ Cale noted with some mirth.

He doesn’t know if that’s what Kim Rok Soo did to get Choi Han on his side in this black room, but the fact that he was able to win over Choi Han in this instance says a lot.

Now all that’s left was this question:

Would he win over Choi Han in this future as well?

“Do you have somewhere to go?”

He did not hear a response. However, Cale continued to speak. The guards would soon come to patrol this area, and he needed to make a move before Choi Han started to limp away to avoid the guards.

“Or a place to stay?”

Everyone in the black room remained silent as the words seemed to reverberate across the projection screen even though no sounds were used.

Cale petted the growling silver furred kitten with golden eyes and pushed away the red kitten that was trying to attack him as he asked. The red kitten kept trying to hit Cale for some reason. It’s golden eyes, that matched its sibling’s eyes, shone brightly even in the darkness.

But Cale needed to focus on Choi Han.

Litana visibly frowned but did not dare to say anything.

Not in a moment like this.

“Are you hungry?”

There still was no response. Cale had expected this. Choi Han was probably observing him right now, but he also probably wanted to rest. Both his body and mind had reached their limit. In addition, he had received a huge shock just the other day.

For someone like Choi Han who had lived on his own without any human contact other than the villagers of that small village, Western City was completely foreign to him.

He may have lived for tens of years already, but he was still young.

A beige-haired woman quietly held her son close to her, much to the boy’s confusion.

“Are you not going to say anything?”

“…Why are you talking to me?”

Choi Han finally seemed to have decided that Cale was weak.

Cale was weak enough that he could easily kill him even though he was at his limits. That was why Choi Han felt that it would be okay to accept Cale’s goodwill even though he had no idea why Cale was being nice to him.

No one in the black room said a thing and merely observed the words that flowed out seamlessly.

Cale stood up and walked toward Choi Han. The guards would soon come patrolling through this location.

Maybe it was because they thought that this was a moment that they should not intrude upon—a moment where the “novel” that originally recorded Choi Han’s life, started to change.

But no one spoke a single word.

“Hey.”

Cale could see Choi Han’s situation better once he got closer. He was a mess.

Choi Han of the black room bitterly smiled.

He knew that more than anyone else, and yet the words that came next slightly surprised him.

However, maybe it was because he was the main character, but his eyes were clear.

The black hair and black pupils that showed that Choi Han was Korean were actually quite nice to see.

Choi Han blinked and then turned to look at the man next to him.

Kim Rok Soo stared right back at him with an indifferent look.

Under Rosalyn’s disguise magic, the two men’s similar black hair could not be seen; however, the two still had a similar thought as their situations slowly sunk into them.

That was why Cale smiled as he casually spoke to Choi Han.

“Follow me. I’ll feed you.”

In an unfamiliar world, it was nice to have someone who shares your home.

The best first impression was to be the one who provides delicious food.

‘ And the second best… was to treat someone like your own.’

A smile formed in Choi Han’s face while Kim Rok Soo hesitantly let a small smile form on his own.

‘…The chapter is over already, right?’

He nervously wondered to himself and as if on cue, the projected sentence in the air disappeared and no more words came to follow.

Left with a smiling Choi Han and a rather vague ending, Kim Rok Soo couldn’t help but feel iffy, but he guesses that it should be fine.

Just like how Kim Rok Soo could predict how he would act in this world, exactly because he was himself, Choi Han could do much of the same, and if Choi Han says that he won’t beat him, then he’ll just have to wait and see.

There will always be a next chapter, after all.

Bud was ecstatic.

Finally, after hours of waiting patiently, the main character has finally arrived and they could kick the plot going! It was getting boring around here, but wait, now that he thinks of it, there wasn’t really any conflict set up for some juicy action to happen now, was there?

‘Unless some random monster or enemy appears with no warning… I can’t seem to think of something that could serve as an antagonist for the main character and this Kim Rok Soo guy yet?’

Bud blinked as that thought materialized in his mind.

The more he compares the development of the story to a novel, the more he is forced to admit that it actually feels unlike so.

Maybe because it was too peaceful…?

Bud contemplated this for a bit until he decided that maybe it was better brought into discussion. He opened his mouth to mention it to the others who were starting to return to their most comfortable positions on the floor, without wasting any time.

“Hey, you guys, what do you think about—”

“What do you think about Kim Rok Soo so far, Young Master Cale?”

Bud found himself gaping in surprise when an elegant but firm voice cut him off. Everyone had initially moved their gazes to look at Bud because he was loud and was the one who spoke first but by the end of it, all eyes had fallen to the speaker responsible for interrupting him instead.

“The God of Death told you,” Litana, the owner of the voice, spoke, unfazed yet determined, “that you were supposed to switch places with this man to save the world, am I correct?”

The people of the Henituse group couldn’t help but eye Litana warily after she brought that up. Not only the people who were closely tied to the Henituse family, but also the other royals in the group thought that her tone of voice seemed off.

At the beginning of the events that lead to the projection, they had set up rules under the 40-year-old Cale’s demand. Even though they were late to the party, Bud Illis, Glenn Poeff and even Jopis had all silently decided to adhere to all of this—at times they even seemed to follow these rules better than the Henituse family members themselves.

Rule number 1: Whatever the fuck the man named Kim Rok Soo does in Cale Henituse’s body, the real Cale Henituse will not be to blame.

This was the rule that most of the family members of the real Cale Henituse still had trouble with, perhaps because it was still hard to separate the name from the person.

At heart, they’ve already accepted it, that this person was not the person with them in this room who had to go through 20 years of war, but every now and then, someone would still slip up.

Maybe it was because they found that for all the differences this Kim Rok Soo seemed to have with their trashy young master, they also had a fair share of similarities that some of them currently refuse to acknowledge.

But well, this rule wasn’t really that important, anyway. It was a rule that Cale set up mostly because he sensed that he would need to set it up or else he would never hear the end of it.No one may be talking about it now, but everyone still remembered the image of a red-haired young man stabbing his own heart.

The rule that no one has dared to breach until now was the true rule that they all unanimously agreed to obey:

Rule number 2: No matter what happens on screen, they must absolutely not harm the Kim Rok Soo in this room even if they feel like it.

So far, everything was good.

In order not to unnecessarily bear animosity towards the young man, many of the Henituse entourage had made concessions on their part and purposely did not bring up points of topic that could cause hostility to build up, making themselves focus entirely on their individual tasks and not think about anything else.

No one spoke haphazardly about what they will do after the body switch, or about their doubts about Kim Rok Soo’s qualifications as the God of death’s chosen. No one pointedly tried to antagonize him in any serious way, although they did not particularly like him.

And yet, at this moment, the queen of the jungle sounded almost like she was about to do so.

“…That’s right. Why are you asking this question, Miss Lina?”

Queen Litana’s eyes coldly smiled as she received the young master Cale’s question. Knowing full well that she was a warrior, Cale almost felt the hair on his neck sticking up when he saw it.

“I am merely in need of your opinion, young master.”

As far as everyone knew, Litana was one of the most civil people in this room right now. Compared to General Toonka, the crazy priestess, Bud Illis and the other figures that seem to be very outspoken and rarely pull back their thoughts, she was the most mature in action and demeanor.

Quick to judge but mature, smart and kind enough not to act immediately upon instinct.

There was a reason the jungle’s sectors could unite under one banner—and the reason was sitting among the vigilant people in the Henituse group today.

“I do not want to needlessly hold negative assumptions about the projection’s young master Cale. That would be breaking rule number 2, after all, would it not?”

Litana looked into Cale’s reddish-brown eyes before slowly relaxing.

“I would like to get the young master’s input about this new Cale Henituse so that he can persuade me. I know that our fates lie in that man’s hands, but if his way of saving the world is paved through using and manipulating people, I will be conflicted.”

Her eyes sharpened just a bit as she declared, honestly to everyone.

“I do not like meaningless sacrifice.”

What’s the use of saving the world if you slaughter or step on the people on the way?

Litana took a deep breath before putting her palms on her lap and facing Cale Henituse head on, “So persuade me by answering me this question, young master Cale.”

‘…Shit.’

Cale uneasily tried to maintain his expression as Litana kindly smiled at him.

“What do you think of Kim Rok Soo ?”

‘What an uneventful chapter.’

Harol Kodiang tried his best not to sigh in disappointment as he sat where he was on the floor of the black room. He was wearing robes on his person and thankfully had a bag with him when he was brought here right after he conducted a secret meeting with the anti-mage faction, but the more chapters he read, the more convinced he was that it’ll take a long time before he could conduct the next one.

If his calculations are correct, then it would be a long time before conflict in Roan brews and even longer for his kingdom, the Whipper kingdom, to appear in the story.

He did find some solace in the fact that time was frozen deathly still outside this black room since that would mean that he would not miss anything—not a meeting, nor a counterattack from the mage faction—but he still can’t help but feel disgruntled deep inside by the situation.

That was because, like a mage, he was sensitive to the flow of mana—he could feel it as though he was one. And a few times while watching, he felt it nearby.

He had tried to search for it, even tore his gaze away from the supposedly future-showing projection in order to do so, but he could only figure out the general direction of the mage when he felt it again later on.

It was quite unfortunate for Harol Kodiang, really, that he still could not pinpoint where it belonged at that point. Not being a true mage, the actual reason he had feel that fluctuation of mana was because he was at some point very close to its source—Rosalyn and the baby dragon—but he still could not find the two of them, since at that point in time, one was invisible while the other was already disguised.

Harol Kodiang released a long-suffering sigh as he pondered on what he should do for now until someone like himself or maybe Toonka appeared in the projection.

Deciding that he couldn’t do anything other than just read and watch, Harol turned around to talk to Toonka who was supposed to be lying down on the ground and resting only to stop in mid-speak upon seeing the empty spot behind him, where a certain battle-crazy mongrel was supposed to be.

His face paled a little, and at that moment.

“YOU! I FOUND YOU!”

In the corner of the black room where five people and one invisible dragon were hanging around, a mass of unruly brown hair akin to a lion’s mane could be seen shaking in laughter.

“FIGHT ME!”

‘Oh dear lord….’

Chapter Text

Cale doesn’t know what’s worse, the fact that he was suddenly asked to answer this question by a warrior queen who died valiantly in battle back in his time or the fact that everyone in the Henituse County’s group was now staring at him as if expecting for him to appropriately do so.

‘What do I think about Kim Rok Soo? I don’t know shit about Kim Rok Soo!’

The redhead wanted to cry out but restrained himself because he knew that depending on his answer, it wouldn’t just be him who could be in trouble but the two Korean punks, all the more so.

How should he go about answering a question like this?

Cale Henituse was really troubled as it felt like if he did not give an answer sufficient enough to make the Queen of the jungle like his other counterpart, his future “self” would earn an enemy for life.

What does Cale Henituse think of Kim Rok Soo?

Well, to be honest, his opinion of Kim Rok Soo was only slightly better than that of the people who don’t know him. After all, in truth, he and that guy haven’t even exchanged proper words yet. Although the two of them were the first to be brought into this room, they were also one of the ones who had not been able to talk ever since.

Cale briefly remembers the few times he had exchanged glances with the man and tried to think carefully.

From what he’s learned so far, at least it didn’t seem like Kim Rok Soo was a bad person. He could have just run away from the start, knowing a war is ahead but he didn’t. He was an orphan, he took note of that, but the important detail has always been the fact that he was someone personally handpicked by the God of Death for this deal.

Surely, there must be a reason why Kim Rok Soo was chosen by the God of Death.

Cale uneasily glanced at Litana for a moment.

‘But would that sentence be enough to persuade her to put her feelings aside?’

Well, the name of that bastard God was a major turn off already so of course it wouldn’t be. Damn.

‘Think, Cale, think.’

“…………”

No, he can’t think at all!

There was just too little that he knew of about the man right now and one wrong word could spell the both of them doom! They were already in this transmigration business together, whether they liked it or not! It was either they stay in this ship or die!

When it seemed as though Cale would no longer be able to keep his stoic façade for long, his internal panicking causing cracks on his micro expressions already, an unlikely hero saved him the need to say anything through a loud shout.

“YOU! I FOUND YOU!”

Everyone in the room jumped at the crazed roar that echoed through the black room. Several people whipped their heads towards the direction of the scuffle, including the people from the Henituse group who had been intently staring at Cale before.

Free from the eyes pointed his way, the 40-year-old Cale breathed out a sigh of relief, only to flinch at the loud yell that followed.

“FIGHT ME!”

‘…What’s going on?’

Cale cautiously glanced towards the place where everyone else was currently looking at, his expression slightly nervous as he realized who should be in this general direction, and at the spot where a certain Korean duo was supposed to be, he caught sight of wild brown hair and almost swore out loud.

Fucking shit!

What did those Koreans do now?!

Cale just took his eyes off of them for like 30 minutes and before he knew it, that Barbarian from the Whipper Kingdom, that crazy Toonka had somehow already zeroed in on them and was now asking for a fight!

The scene almost looked hilarious actually.

General Toonka of the Whipper Kingdom was no scrawny guy—he was big. He wasn’t called a warrior for nothing, and comparing his bodily physique to 40-year-old Cale or 36-year-old Kim Rok Soo was just unfair. This tall ass lunatic was laughing like the madman that he is as he towered over the Korean duo who should actually be older than him… ah wait.

‘Come to think of it, how old is this guy, actually?’

Unbeknownst to Cale, there was also another person who was wondering the exact same nonsensical question.

‘Aigo, how old is this guy, really? Shit, why is he so big?’

Middle-aged man Kim Rok Soo couldn’t help but feel a tad bit self-conscious of his appearances given that Whipper Kingdom’s resident manchild general was bulkier than him.

Although all he wished was to live a slacker life and somehow find a way to retire, Kim Rok Soo had made sure to exercise and work hard to gain the muscles that he has now. It was technically for the sake of not instantly dying when he uses Instant, but apart from that, muscle mass, stamina and strength was something that Kim Rok Soo decided he needed for himself in a post-apocalyptic world.

He's fine if he doesn’t do an awesome job in a fight—but he doesn’t have Choi Jung Soo and the Team leader to cover for him anymore. If he wanted to do a proper job as the new team leader, he needed to change his style even if it was the type he doesn’t like.

‘I ended up with this body after more than a decade of work, how long has this guy done it? Since the moment he was born?’

Toonka must have been hitting it with the weights since he came out of the womb, what the fuck.

“…No.”

Kim Rok Soo belatedly snapped back to reality when he heard Choi Han’s low response to the bear-like Toonka looming menacingly over their little group.

Choi Han had one hand over the hilt of his sword and was glaring frostily at Toonka but he did not make a move to knock the man out unlike before when the two first “met”.

To his side, Rosalyn was tactfully keeping quiet although her eyes were fixated on the infamous mage-slayer, while “Shawn” pulled Mary behind him with a vigilant gaze.

Currently, except for Mary, all of the people in Kim Rok Soo’s group were under disguise magic and should not be recognized based off of physical appearance alone. After all, the black-robed Mary had been benevolent enough to lend everyone a black robe to better hide their bodily physique.

(“Miss Mary, where did you get these?”

“I bring them with me all the time. They are my emergency robes.”

“…Mr. Shawn?”

“Just take it and be grateful.”)

Unfortunately, disguise magic and a few robes can’t disguise one’s strength.

Toonka, being the battle-crazy guy that he is, recognized Choi Han the moment he was lucid enough to get up and take a look around, and he was able to do so by feeling out Choi Han’s power level. If it was in any other situation, Kim Rok Soo would think that was impressive but unfortunately, this was Toonka. What would Toonka do with the information that someone is super strong?

“Fight me!”

…He’ll pick a fight with that person with no fear of consequences. And he’ll keep asking until he finds something better to do with his time—but sadly, the criteria for something “better” than battle is completely subjective.

“Why are you so persistent to fight me?”

Much to Kim Rok Soo’s surprise, the response that Toonka got from Choi Han was longer this time. Of course, that doesn’t mean Choi Han is the least bit interested in fighting Toonka right now the same way Toonka does with him, but Kim Rok Soo can almost swear that there was a really dangerous glint in Choi Han’s eyes.

“Just because no one can die in this space doesn’t mean it will not hurt. Or is it that you are so eager to go back to bed?”

There was a sharp to Choi Han’s voice as he said that, his expression reminiscent of something almost mocking that it surprised Kim Rok Soo. Well, he knew already that this punk was vicious but he knew deep down that Choi Han was a good person at heart so to make a comment like this…

Well, Cale Henituse wasn’t surprised.

‘If that guy over there isn’t Choi Han, then the God of Death can send me back to the White Star’s ass.’

The redhead didn’t know for sure who was who when he looked over because of the robes that obscured the people’s physiques, but as someone who has personally experienced an angry Choi Han once in his future, he would be ashamed if he couldn’t remember this scary tongue.

Choi Han may look like a tame 17-year-old but that guy has probably killed more monsters than the average war veteran in the western and eastern continent combined.

Despite hiding his identity as “Choi Han,” the guy was openly threatening the general of the Whipper Kingdom that he’d send him back to dreamland just like before if he didn’t back down and he had the strength to back his threat up.

“Bed? There are no beds here. Come on, show me what you got! You’re strong! Why hang out with weaklings like these?!”

‘Ah. This fool.’

Kim Rok Soo grimaced as Toonka continuously dug his own grave with bustling enthusiasm.

He watched as Choi Han’s hand closed and opened around the hilt of his sword as if he was aching to just draw it out and calmly started taking a few steps away from the man. Rosalyn happily made space for him next to the wall behind their group, praising him for his wisdom.

If it came down to it, she was prepared to openly show her magic and cast a shield around the two of them and Mary and Alberu as well.

‘A shrimp will just die in a battle of whales.’

And Toonka and Choi Han were bona fide whales, no doubt. Kim Rok Soo valued his life, okay?

Unbeknownst to Kim Rok Soo and Rosalyn, however, their preparations for what seemed to be an inevitable “fight” hadn’t gone unnoticed.

Choi Han spied what the two of them were doing, moving away as if destruction was to be expected, and thought of it as an implicit permission to cause the expected destruction.

There was a dangerous light in his eyes as he finally properly laid his eyes on the wild Toonka that had served himself up to him on a platter and almost wanted to coldly smile.

‘Let’s just stretch an arm just a little bit.’

---

To say that chaos descended in the black room would be an understatement.

Although a mess was already to be expected when everyone first appeared and got stuck here, it wasn’t nearly as much of a headache as this. At least, for Kim Rok Soo.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“DUCK!”

“NO, STUPID, RUN!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Choi Han had only stretched out one arm towards Toonka and yet before it could even connect, as if Whipper Kingdom’s number 1 barbarian had been hit by the force of a dragon, General Toonka ricocheted into the air.

The guy flew towards the place where the northeastern nobles, whales and some more people were loitering about, before promptly crashing unto a black wall, and it was only by some form of miracle that everyone was able to scramble away from his path before they could be involved in it.

‘Aigo, how did things end up like this?’

Kim Rok Soo felt himself sweat as he watched Toonka’s large body crash right into a wall like a fearsome meteor, creating a rather conspicuous crater on it. He could have sworn that he saw a short-haired woman screaming while frantically wheeling a pale white blonde man out of harm’s way and a few young nobles rolling on the floor in a desperate attempt to save themselves from unfathomable pain.

How did Choi Han phrase it? We won’t die but it will still hurt?

“T-this…! M-mana?!”

Ah, of course.

Kim Rok Soo had to hide a grimace as he felt the extreme change in mood that the now shaking Princess Rosalyn experienced within 2 seconds. The redhead was trembling like a plastic bag tied to a stick in the middle of a storm, red eyes dilated and face colored with disbelief.

Meanwhile, within the confines of his head—

-STINKY BASTARD! SO NOISY! FOR A WEAKLING, YOU ARE ODDLY DESPERATE TO DIE!

The young voice was incessantly cursing out a storm telepathically and Kim Rok Soo feels like giving himself a pat on the back for being able to keep a straight face in the midst of it.

Let’s back up a moment and review what happened.

Kim Rok Soo had retreated to a safe distance with Rosalyn and got Mary and her cousin to do the same on their side when Choi Han made his move. Seeing as it seemed like Choi Han’s patience had already worn out, he had braced himself for a flying Toonka 2.0 as Toonka proudly puffed out his chest, confident in taking the hit.

Defense? What’s that? Toonka has no fucking idea what that is, obviously.

Unfortunately, at that exact moment, something strange happened.

Kim Rok Soo didn’t feel it personally but he noticed it when both Rosalyn and Mary’s cousin suddenly scrunched up their noses and then flinched as if sensing something in the air. Kim Rok Soo doesn’t know about that “Shawn” guy with them but if anything could make Rosalyn start shaking on the spot like a vibrating sea lion, it could only be one thing.

That one thing was spoke to him moments after the disaster had already happened.

-Dragons protect the world’s future!

Those were Kim Rok Soo’s own words, coming back to him in order to politely bite his ass.

-I know that this Choi Han is important for the future of the world! I can tell this much! I only helped because of that really!

The young voice of the black dragon insisted stubbornly in his head even though Kim Rok Soo wasn’t accusing him of anything otherwise. Personally, Kim Rok Soo already had an inkling that the dragon had intervened because it probably felt indebted to Choi Han since it was him and Choi Han that had freed it so there was no use saying that.

He had been trying to deny it before but now he had no choice but to face it: It seemed like the dragon was really keen on sticking around with them.

“Uh—um…?”

A baffled Choi Han stared at the empty air in front of him and his outstretched hand.

Suddenly, Kim Rok Soo felt pity for the confused-looking Choi Han standing rooted where he was with one hand still outstretched. The guy blinked a few times before turning a bit worried, but he was probably more worried that he had unnecessarily used more force than he intended to rather than worried for Toonka.

He honestly had the gall to have ‘That was not what I intended to do…?’ written all over his face while Toonka’s unconscious body started sliding down from the broken wall where it had momentarily gotten pinned to gracelessly to the floor.

As the battered body of the whipper kingdom general fell to the floor with a thwack, the dragon’s young voice returned in Kim Rok Soo’s head.

-I only made that hit a biiiiit stronger!

‘Aigo.’ Kim Rok Soo face palmed, unable to face this situation with a straight face.

“HOLY SHIT?!”

Bud Illis’s cry echoed from the other side of the room where the Henituse family was safely cooped up on. The young nobles that had evacuated Flying Toonka 2.0’s landing site scrambled to their feet, faces covered in cold sweat like they just faced death and survived—which might be accurate.

Seeing how messy things were becoming, Kim Rok Soo felt a bit curious what face the original—what face Cale Henituse was wearing right now with all this chaos but unfortunately the only thing Kim Rok Soo could see was Harol Kodiang breaking through the traumatized young nobles like a frantic whirlwind, immediately checking to see if Toonka was still alive.

‘It’s not like he could die here, though?’

Kim Rok Soo scrunched up his nose as he quietly hid behind Rosalyn, who was taking deep breaths to calm her excitement and stay rational.  Her hands were clasped together and trembling but it seems that she was doing progress since her eyes sooner than later turned clear.

It was then however that a shout could be heard.

“That man is a mage…!”

 The owner of the voice was the pale-faced Glenn who had unconsciously blurted it out in his stricken state. His yell caused the start of a chain reaction that could only be called explosive, with several people snapping out of their awestruck daze at the same time and looking at Choi Han sharply with surprise and fear.

It wasn’t hard to guess what they were thinking.

‘Strength capable of knocking out the Whipper Kingdom General, a lifespan comparable to that of a dragon’s, and now even magic?’

No one dared doubt Glenn’s words even when they didn’t know who he was.

There was no way they were underestimating this man.

Choi Han’s eyes widened at Glenn’s words and at the gazes directed his way and he quickly turned to look at the Rosalyn and Alberu behind him, shaking his head frantically as he made his point clear, “I am not a mage.”

“I know that now. It doesn’t make sense for you to lie about that.” Rosalyn exhaled shakily but despite that, she was obviously calm now. Her red eyes wandered towards Kim Rok Soo who was still standing behind her, “Am I correct, young master Bob?”

“You… even now… haaa.”

Kim Rok Soo gives up. He’s Young Master Bob now.

“You’re right, he is telling the truth. Choi Han is not a mage. Never was, never will be.” Kim Rok Soo exclaimed as he stepped out of Rosalyn’s shadow. His clarifications made Alberu sigh in relief and Mary tilt her head curiously, while in his head…

-That’s right! It was me, the great and mighty dragon all along! This human is strong but he doesn’t have a single talent in magic in him!

At this point, Kim Rok Soo knew he had to tell them about the dragon eventually. But he wasn’t going to rush it. There were more important matters to deal with—such as the fact that everyone was currently looking at them intensely, toeing the line between judgmental and fearful.

Actually, these gazes had always been there—had always been directed towards them from the start of the projection until now. He knew that. No one knew more than him how colorful of a group they were. But what could they do, anyway? Beat everyone up? Run away? To where?

They were literally in a box. A closed room scenario.

Even if they wanted to, there would be nowhere to hide.

Kim Rok Soo had thought that there wasn’t harm in tolerating it so he let it be, but with so many eyes looking at you like that, of course, even breathing would suddenly become exhausting.

‘…If I play things right… We could have complete freedom for a few chapters.’

This thought echoed in Kim Rok Soo’s head as he formulated a plan on the spot. He never thought of himself as a particularly smart person but at least when it came to planning, he had enough experience to have confidence in his ability to plan and execute the best ways in order to survive.

Kim Rok Soo closed his eyes only to reopen them with a silent determination hiding within.

‘It’s okay.’

No one in this room can die. Although Kim Rok Soo hated pain, as long as he was alive that was all that mattered.

Without realizing it a record was already playing in his head, superimposing his thoughts with another person’s voice.

‘So, let’s try it.’

He gestured for all four members of their little group to gather together.

With all these talents around him, there was no way he would fail.

---

“What the fuck…?”

Cale wasn’t supposed to be standing but people say that the weirdest shit can make even legless creatures start to walk.

‘How?’

The redhead’s reaction was just like everyone else’s—he was at a loss for words at what he had seen. The Whipper Kingdom’s scary general was like a doll in front of Choi Han’s power. Seeing it once made people wary but seeing it again could only wash away every doubt.

Of course, Cale already knew that Choi Han was scarier and stronger than anyone else. Not just because he was someone who that terrifying power was used on but because he was someone who was on the side of humanity.

He knew more than anyone what Choi Han could do, what monsters, what armies he overthrew as he was hailed the hero among heroes, the commoner who ruled the battlefield with his sword, the strongest player Roan had against the White Star.

“That man is a mage…!”

…That’s why he could only be shocked stupid by the things coming out of people’s mouths all of a sudden.

Choi Han? A mage? The sun would rather go out first before that becomes a thing!

‘That punk is already strong enough as he is without magic! Don’t suddenly put something like this into his character?!’

Cale wanted to cover Glenn’s mouth and stuff it full with paper because of the scary things coming out of his mouth, but he knew that there was no way Choi Han was a mage. Although they were not close, they both worked in the same side of the war and Cale knew about his friendship with the archmage Rosalyn.

Everyone knew that Rosalyn was the shield that protected both Choi Han and that young beast person he seemed to have taken in—she expended at least ¼^th of her magic blocking hits for the two of them to be able to shine without thinking of anything but victory.

If Choi Han really was a mage, why does he not use magic to shield himself instead of relying on the former princess’s power? 

It didn’t make sense for Choi Han to be a mage in Cale’s head.

‘And well, he doesn’t look like the kind of guy who can cast anything, really.’

Cale cast a glance towards Choi Han and Kim Rok Soo who seemed to have started conversing, ignoring how everyone has taken to staring at them intensely. It wasn’t just the two of them, there was also Princess Rosalyn, the so-called southerner and his companion. Even though they had robes on and disguise magic changing their appearances, there was no mistaking who these people were.

The five of them were gathered together with Kim Rok Soo in the middle, seemingly explaining something. It was too quiet and too far away for Cale to pick up, especially since every corner of the room had gone to chaotic whispering and panicking as they glued their eyes on every single move made by this peculiar group of people, but when Cale was about to wonder what they would do now, he locked eyes with Kim Rok Soo.

Reddish brown eyes met and it was like a tacit understanding was made.  

For someone who has supposedly led a rather sad life until now in another world and someone so stoic you wouldn’t know he had feelings, Cale noticed that Kim Rok Soo was not beyond smiling. An orphan who has no one he loves to death nor anyone he would give his life to wouldn’t be so natural at grinning mischievously like he was about to have the most fun experience of his life. It was nothing but a miniscule change in expression but it was enough for Cale to form some food for thought.

In a situation where it seemed like they’d be cornered, this punk had the guts to be excited.

‘What do you think about Kim Rok Soo?’

Cale…somehow felt like he found the answer to Litana’s question now.

---

“….?! T-they disappeared?!”

The room that had already been buzzing with tension and nerves could only explode in the seconds that came after the brief connection that Cale and Kim Rok Soo had from across the room.

Just a few seconds ago, the group of peculiar robed people and the person that everyone suspected was Choi Han under the Breck Princess’s disguise magic were gathered together but in the next second, all of them had suddenly disappeared at the same time. With so many people watching them, things could only get rowdy once they, whom this audience learned to fear, were out of sight.

The people’s panicking, though…

‘It’s nothing but a show.’

Duke Fredo smiled wryly as he leaned unto a wall and watched the amusing theatrics of the humans in fullplay, his arms crossed. Priestess Cotton was quietly sitting on the floor, leaning on the same wall, not far from him, her eyes staring quietly at the scene.

“There was no glow. No formation nor array made. It’s not teleportation, and even then, they couldn’t have disappeared from here even if they tried to use teleportation.”

The priestess muttered to no one in particular as the humans fret over things that they already knew weren’t possible. There was no way that the majority of the people of the black room could be so stupid that they wouldn’t see that the group they were after merely casted an invisibility spell on themselves and nothing else.

If someone were to just charge forward and try to hit at the air randomly like a blindfolded child trying to swing at a pinata, they were for sure going to find at least one of the people from the group. If everyone worked together, actually, they might be able to find all of them rather quickly.

They all knew that.

“But they won’t do it.”

Cotton blinked before squinting her eyes at Duke Fredo who was smiling with his fangs, a bit disgruntled and uncomfortable. The silver-haired vampire wasn’t even looking at her when he spoke. His eyes were fixed on the humans who were dancing around in a show of fear and panic as if they didn’t know what they needed to do, duly entertained.

They knew what could be done to find the peculiar group of people that caused a scene and then suddenly disappeared but no one was willing to do it. No one charged forward. There was no one with the guts to throw a stone.

Count Deruth and the Henituse family bit their lips, fully aware of what was happening, as they huddled around their young. The young nobles from the northeast were still recovering from the shock of near-death experience, checking on each other. There was no way they would charge back into the arms of potential death after that.

Everyone knew what they weren’t doing but they could not care more.

In the end, everyone only cared about themselves.

“Ho.”

Duke Fredo laughed. Against the might of someone like that, the humans did not even dare take up arms. And this was just that man named Choi Han. It was so funny to him, and yet he couldn’t help but let slip the dagger within his eyes and tone.

What could these puny humans do in front of that White Bastard’s presence if they can’t even move to oppose someone who was objectively weaker than him?

Fredo, as someone who worked directly under that man, Cale Barrow, and yet desired to overthrow him and his horrible plans, could only laugh bitterly.

How pitiful and pathetic must it feel like, huh?

‘At the very least, this can become nourishment for growth.’

Realizing you are lacking is the first step of improving.

It’s always one step at a time with these humans so Fredo supposes he can bide his time and just enjoy the show until it was time for him to appear once again.

---

[Chapter 7: They Met (4)]

Choi Han stopped leaning against the wall and pushed his body up.

For the first time in a while, the black room was deathly quiet when the projection returned. No one was too keen to talk about the disappointing cowardice they showed, nor about the dangerous experience that some other faced, nor about the current location of the people they believe were being lead by Choi Han, himself, and Kim Rok Soo. No, no one was eager to talk at all.

His body was leaning to his left probably because his right ankle was uncomfortable, but Cale did not help him or say anything about him. There was no reason to be any nicer to him than he had already been.

Even Litana who would usually have something to say about that line was quiet. She was only staring at the projection curiously while glancing at the red-haired young master not so far away from where she was seated. It seemed like she was in deep contemplation.

Cale told Choi Han to follow him as he headed toward the Count’s estate. However, an existence blocked his path.

Meeeeeeeeow.

The red furred golden eyed kitten ran toward Cale and rubbed its cheeks on Cale’s shoes. Cale started to frown. He didn’t like cats, but this one seemed pretty cute. However, he suddenly felt chills all over his body and turned around. Choi Han was staring at him.

‘Damn it.’

Cale awkwardly started to pet the kitten.

Hans shifted a little in his seat as he read that but he kept his lips tightly sewed together.

“It seems like it likes me. But I have to go. See you next time.”

Cale never understood why people talked to animals. However, Cale, who had now become that person that was speaking to animals, quickly stood back up and walked away from the kitten.

Grroooooowl.

The silver furred golden-eyed kitten growled as if it was telling the red-furred kitten to come back while telling Cale to get lost. The red-furred kitten seemed to not want to go back as it continued to look back at Cale as it walked away. However, Cale did not turn back.

Meow, meoooooooow.

The sad cries of the kittens were getting farther away.

“Awww…”

Basen turned his eyes to Lily when she broke the ensuing silence of the black room without meaning to.  She was old enough to know that some things were bad but she was far too young to fully understand how complicated things can be. Apart from the unconscious whale, she was probably one of the only people who could bear to say anything at this time.

Ah, of course, there’s also… well, Cale, himself, too.

“Boohoo.”

The redhead was not ashamed to say that from where he was sitting on the floor, arms crossed and face twisted in mock pity. At this point, Basen has no idea what his older brother is trying to do—dissolve the silent atmosphere or incur a moralist’s wrath with his sarcasm.

No matter how many years pass and no matter if there is peace or war, it seems that his Hyung-nim is just really a bastard sometimes, through and through.

“Haaaa…”

Cale glanced at Basen who suddenly sighed, and raised an eyebrow but brushed him off in favor of reading the projection instead.

The chapter pretty much went how he thought it would go.

Kim Rok Soo in his body would lead Choi Han back to the Count’s estate, using his status as the Count’s son to bypass the normal procedures that would be needed to get him in. For some reason, that Kim Rok Soo guy kept on thinking that Choi Han was planning on killing him, but despite that, he still looked after the punk quite well. The Korean’s thoughts said the opposite but his actions spoke otherwise.

‘He has a long way to go before he qualifies as trash… but I think he doesn’t need to try hard to be one in the first place.’

Cale thought to himself as he watched the projection’s words change line by line.

This “Cale Henituse” inside the screen was a different person from him and didn’t even know his reasons for acting like trash.

He doubted that the novel told him about that.

For the person acting on the screen through the words that flowed, he only wanted to keep up the image of trash in order to live an easy and peaceful life but the maintenance of this reputation was done in an awfully mild manner. It was good that he had a good grasp of the new world he was thrust into and the new household he now belonged to, but he really was going to be the bane of Cale’s carefully built reputation in his own turf.

Cale couldn’t help but snort just thinking about the future “he” would have after that trashy reputation was toppled down to the ground.

As the chapter continued, there were only a few reactions that occurred here and there, and some of them could even be considered microscopic. Cale could tell that his mother was very pleased to know that their guards were honorable knights who wouldn’t let the young master go with a dangerous person even if the young master instructed them to let him be, and everyone could tell that Vice Captain Hilsman was very proud too.

The man puffed his chest out like a peacock at the praise given to the knights under him.

There were embarrassing moments for Deputy Butler Hans as usual and an unsurprising appearance from Ron and Beacrox, whom Cale could already tell Kim Rok Soo was planning to quietly hand over to Choi Han. The Korean wasn’t really hiding his fear towards them and yet he could still be so shameless with them despite knowing what they could do, so much so that it was impressive.

It was done.

The projection flickered slightly as it changed  to the next line as the general silence persisted within the black room.

Beacrox and Choi Han.

And even Ron, someone that he did not expect.

The three of them were connected now.

Beacrox and Ron glared at the projection.

In comparison to the father-son duo, Cale was calm as he watched the connection between these three people be drawn unto stone.

It already happened once, after all.

With the projection’s “Cale” instructing Beacrox to make food for him as well and complimenting his cooking, the only thing that the real Cale could really think was:

‘Ah.’

“Your steak last night was the best. You are a great chef.”

The tip of Beacrox’s knife slightly shook.

“Something like that steak would be a wonderful meal. Prepare it quickly.”

Cale turned around without waiting for Beacrox’s response. He then left the kitchen and headed towards his chamber.

‘Maybe this was for the best.’

Beacrox and Ron should be able to tell Choi Han’s strength. In the novel, Beacrox originally swears his loyalty to Choi Han because of his strength, so he should pledge his loyalty after figuring out Choi Han’s strength this time too. Of course, Cale had some other plans in the case that Beacrox was unable to determine Choi Han’s strength.

All Cale had to do was make Choi Han beat someone or something up, without it being him. Oh, and Beacrox had to be there to watch.

Even if it might have some holes, Cale had thought about a lot of different things.

“Young master-nim.”

“Hans. Stop annoying me and just bring the meal over to my chamber when it’s ready.”

“Hm? What is it, Ron?”

Cale looked up towards the old man that suddenly called out to him, no trace of somberness visible in his smiling face. It was the default lackadaisical grin he always fell back to no matter if he was playing trash or being truthful.

He must say, the old man’s glare being directed his way was scarier now with the added context of what his butler could do, but right now…

As expected, Ron did not follow him.

Cale left the knight and Hans outside his chamber door as he closed the door and laid down on the bed. He was happy. His exhaustion and the alcohol made him fall asleep before the food ever showed up.

“It is not that easy to get rid of me, young master-nim.” The assassin coldly spoke and Cale had to quizzically raise an eyebrow in doubt.

“That—”

What the hell was Ron going on about?

It wasn’t him getting rid of him, it was Kim Rok… ah, let’s forget it.

Now that Ron and Beacrox met Choi Han, the events that the projection’s “Cale” talked about is highly likely to happen now, and so Ron and Beacrox would—

That was why he did not know that Beacrox’s cooking knife slashed toward Choi Han’s neck and that Ron’s sharp dagger was flung toward Choi Han’s heart.

—would go with Choi Han to… wait, what?

Cale felt like he had been slapped in the face by a duck. He blinked his eyes and looked at the projection’s words twice but it was already time for the words to change.

Of course, both of their attacks had failed.

No, what the fuck?

The redhead suddenly felt the need to start sweating at the projection’s casual lack of explanation. He wasn’t alone in this sentiment, with several people, including the newly awakened killer whale Archie, being taken aback by the “connection” that the three experts formed with their weapons.

‘I feel like the world is spinning in the wrong direction.’

Well, this was actually a situation that nobody, other than the three involved individuals, would know about.

It was not helping that the usually harmless-looking Ron and the usually stoic-looking Beacrox were smiling in satisfaction, their eyes almost glowing with a knowing look to them.

----

‘That was not how it was supposed to go.’

Cale has no idea what went wrong for the relationship that these three people had to go to terrible direction upon their first meeting. They haven’t even talked to each other yet, it was only “Cale” doing the talking in the projections until now for the three of them, and yet as soon as they were left all alone, they suddenly pounced on each other as if it was an inevitable thing—like it was some sort of ritual.

It was a ritual, right? Like some kind of ceremony or test you gotta go through before the father-son duo accepts you as one of your own?

‘What the hell, this isn’t a cult-’

It would be so easy to just ask the two directly since they are literally just right there but does Cale even want to ask? Does he want to know the answer to that question?

He couldn’t help but murmur to himself.

“You left easily and quietly last time.”

“Cale?”

Countess Violan must have noticed something was wrong with the redhead’s reaction because she materialized like a ghost right behind him with an expression of concern.

“Cale, is there something wrong?”

“I reckon it must have something to do with us, Countess-nim.”

“Sir Ron?”

Cale, for all the years he spent in the battlefield, could only freeze up as a shadow loomed over him from where he was seated on the floor. Ron was staring down at him, eyes crinkled to a smile as he answered the question that Cale did not have the heart to ask.

“Assassins like us have similar temperaments to the cats of the eastern continent, in a sense, young master-nim. We do not trust easily, but once we’ve found an object for our loyalty, turning away from someone we trust is more difficult than you can imagine.”

“…You’re joking right? Seriously? Cats?”

Violan smacked the back of Cale’s head lightly with her closed fan as soon as those shaky words left his mouth. It’s rather devastating having a child like Cale. But Ron was someone who raised Cale since he was a mere baby. He was already used to dealing with him, his antics and his clever mouth.

“Rest assured that the only reason why an assassin would disappear without saying goodbye is when we do not want others to be involved in our business.”

Business meaning danger. And danger meaning ‘them’.

Ron’s piercing gaze as his smile widened from his ordinary smile to that of a very vicious one as the information piled up one by one inside his head.

For the past few chapters, he and that mercenary king had been listing out the possible organizations responsible for the attack on Harris Village—but without the only survivor’s testimony, it was hard to narrow it down to a few names.

His and Bud Illis’s knowledge could have been better utilized if they could personally see the situation of Harris Village and not just read about it but who is he to be able to understand a god’s whim? Even now, Ron felt disgusted at the idea that they were being played with by a deity.

But with this new scene that just played out in the projection…

“Really, what the hell are you suddenly going on about?”

As Ron expected, the young master-nim casually circumvented addressing the implication of Ron’s message to him, almost desperately pretending to be blind and in such an astounding manner, too. If not for the slight sheen of sweat on his forehead, you wouldn’t know that he desperately wanted an out from having to deal with this.

Countess Violan who was supporting Cale from behind, her hands gently placed on his shoulders, grinned softly upon seeing this familiar tactic, while Beacrox who was standing nearby could only snort.

“I am talking about assassins and by extension, cats, young master-nim.”

“No, but how is that… no, nevermind. Damn.”

‘Scary old man.’

Cale rolled his eyes but there was a delicate kind of fondness to it. An emotion that was quite hard to describe. Cale knew the correct term for it but just to be a little shit, he preferred thinking that it was merely the butterflies within his stomach finally performing a coup on him.

“Beacrox, pull me up.”

“……….”

The chef looked at Cale’s outstretched hand. It seemed like he was considering yanking him up, but gave up on it with a sigh when he remembered that he was injured, so he could only obediently comply.

Seeing this, Cale could only internally snicker.

‘Ah, wait, come to think of it..’

Oh, yeah, he almost forgot.

The redhead’s eyes landed on the group of important figures that had joined them throughout the viewing. Crown Prince Valentino of Caro, Princess Jopis of the Eastern Continent, Mercenary King Bud Illis—all of these key persons were leaders that had it in their interest that this future somehow ends up well. Better than the future Cale experienced, at least.

Oh, and of course…

“Miss Lina.”

The queen of the south raised her head as she was called, a thoughtful look on her eyes as she turned to look at Cale who was surprisingly smiling.

Well, that meant no good.

Everyone’s attention could only hone in on the redhead, wondering what he was up to, to be smiling like that.

“Now that this chapter is over, I think we can continue our conversation now.”

Cale was really glad.

He hadn’t known at first what to answer the Queen of the Jungle because he had been suddenly put on the spot. At that time, if he had answered normally or in a standard level, he was sure that he would have failed. Queen Litana may say she was open to his opinions right now but that does not change her inherent and existing bias against Kim Rok Soo’s train of thought.

Answering normally was the wrong answer.

As the person responsible for everything, from Kim Rok Soo’s transmigration, the timeline’s regression and the black room’s projection, Cale wanted to at least get this right.

So all throughout the events that followed the question, he thought long and hard.

What was the best answer he could give to get the result that he wanted?

To change a strong-headed queen’s mind?

‘I can’t believe I’m thinking this, but thank you for buying me time, General Toonka. Your sacrifice will not be in vain.’

He’d already found his answer.

“You asked me what I thought about Kim Rok Soo, right? My thoughts and opinions?”

Cale’s grin widened slightly, brimming with bustling mischief. To everyone who knew him enough, it looked to him that he was excited. So excited that he could barely contain it. It was like he was about to try something out.

It was unsettling to see, so Litana could only really shift in her seat while maintaining her polite smile.

“Yes, that is correct. I find it hard to have faith in him just yet, so I would like to have the young master’s input.”

Of course, everyone’s input would be good to hear, too.

Litana quietly thought to herself before glancing around the room, warily. Somewhere out here in the black room that man named Kim Rok Soo was hidden from plain sight.

She bit her lip as a stormy thought formed in her mind.

“I see.” Cale nodded his head, with a suddenly serious expression on his face, “How about we make a bet about him and his future behavior then?”

“I’m sorry?’”

Litana wasn’t sure she heard that right.

“Oh, don’t be.” Cale gave a sharp smile, almost like his solemn demeanor from before was nothing but a lie as he fell back to his joking manners, “I understand that you can’t have faith in Kim Rok Soo since you don’t know him well just yet—it’s perfectly normal to not trust someone with the safety of the entire future when you haven’t even met them in person or heard of them do anything, after all!”

“Um… where is this going…?” Valentino quietly whispered to Jopis from where the two of them were sitting behind Litana, watching the show go down, and Cale’s eyes crinkled then.

“So, why don’t we make it so that you have no choice but to have faith in him?”

Cale does not need to persuade Litana. She might even subconsciously reject his attempts at persuasion, anyway, since what is the weight of the words of someone who also hasn’t met Kim Rok Soo personally yet? Nor exchanged names properly with him?

‘I don’t need to persuade her, at all.’

There was a better method.

Litana looked at him skeptically for a moment, trying to understand his intentions, but eventually, she spoke up.

“What are we going to be betting on?”

It was important to make the details clear.

“We’ll be betting on Kim Rok Soo’s disposition, capability and his overall character. We will bet on whether or not the future can truly be called “better” with him guiding this new timeline’s ‘story’.”

“Hm? But is that not an automatic loss for me, already?” Litana’s eyes narrowed, “If we are talking about just ‘better’ then there is no doubt that the future would be better if the God of Death is trying to persuade you with it. You would already win.”

“Let me finish.”

The red-haired nobleman coldly said.

“The one who will be determining whether or not it is a better future will be you, Miss Lina. I have no say on whether it is better or not in this bet. And besides, did I ever say that I was going to be the one betting on the better future?”

Everyone listening to the conversation could only blink.

“Miss Lina, you will be the one betting on the good ending, and you will also be the one to determine whether the ending Kim Rok Soo achieves is ‘bad’ or ‘good’. But, of course, to make it fair, you’re gonna have to perform a vow of death and swear honesty about your most heartfelt opinion by the end of this story. Since we are in the territory of the god of death and even have a priestess here, it would be easy to do.”

“Wait, there’s a priestess of the god of death in this room?”

“OH, OH, THAT’S ME!”

Everyone turned to look at the disheveled woman with short black hair leaning unto a man on a wheelchair. Her expression was bright and sunny as she waved happily while saying something along the lines of “I’m so glad you remember me, you f*cker” that can be hardly heard from this distance, but the Henituse group was shocked.

“Young master, be my friend!”

It was her! It was the woman from before!

“Yep, that’s her. We’ll just have her oversee it when the time comes. But, anyway, since this is a bet, we’re going to have to put something on the line.”

Cale’s words drew everyone’s attention to him and his unusual actions.

The redhead was suddenly walking over to the nearest wall and knocking on it curiously with a bright smile, “Hey, hey, you bastard god of death, are you on the line?”

What came after it was the sound of static.

A flash of light and the projection was back, although it seemed different than the ones that they saw when they were viewing the future’s events and when they were talking to the God of death before that.

Words were etched neatly on this panel.

The God of Death is a bit busy right now.

If you want anything from him, you can confirm it with me, if you want.

“Oh? Gods have secretaries?”

………

“Ah, nevermind that, Mr. God-of-Death’s proxy.”

Cale nonchalantly leaned closer to the wall as his smile grew wider.

He wasn’t sure if this would work, but it seemed like it would make things way more fun, especially for the queen of the jungle, so why the heck not?

“Mr. God-of-Death’s proxy, can you do me a favor?

---

“…This man is crazy.”

In the office of the God of Death, Lee Soo Hyuk was leaning over a computer, hands hovering above the keyboard. The image of everything happening inside the black room was being burned into his eyes. He had initially only dropped by to see how Rok Soo was doing, but when he came back he was surprised to see that the man was nowhere to be seen inside the black room and ended up seeing this instead.

“Crazy…”

But even though he was muttering that word over and over again for several minutes now, Lee Soo Hyuk was smiling. If he still had a physical body right now, then he would have certainly started sweating at just how insane this Cale Henituse was—how similar he was to a certain punk who could be considered the same level of crazy back in earth.

There was a reason why the God of Death chose Kim Rok Soo and Cale Henituse as a pair for a body switch.

“Ah, he’s stupidly insane, just like you, Rok Soo-ya.” Lee Soo Hyuk couldn’t help but laugh.

Cale Henituse’s plan to shut up Queen Litana and maybe even turn her around from her existing bias against Kim Rok Soo was something that only a madman like him could think of. Lee Soo Hyuk doesn’t know anyone who’s crazy enough to decide they will play the villain and become trash just to have their step family be accepted better into noble society, and at 8 years old too.

Instead of answering Queen Litana’s question directly, he instead turned it into a bet—a bet where he is bound to lose and win, at the same time.

People say that the customer is king and in this scenario, although the god of death was catering to more than 20 people, the only customer, the only king he really needed to please, was none other than Cale, and Cale knew that and he was making full use of that.

He set up a bet where the odds and stakes were completely skewed, and decided who bets on who.

The redhead asked Lee Soo Hyuk if it was possible to make someone from within the black room lose all memories of the projection’s future if the God of Death wanted it to happen.

It was funny to see how everyone turned pale when he said yes. Even the copper-skin of the southerner queen Litana almost looked white. It was hilariously evil to be laughing at this.

Everything was quite literally moving to Cale Henituse’s favor.

Queen Litana was someone who couldn’t trust Kim Rok Soo yet, but now she was thrust in a position where she has no choice but to trust that he’d make good decisions until the end if she wanted to keep all the useful information she was able to gather regarding the future. It was what Cale decided should be at stake for her since she was a leader, but when you compare it to Cale’s stake, which was just a few million gallons of money from the Henituse county, it looked so incredibly unfair.

But fair wasn’t what Queen Litana asked from Cale, was it? All she asked was for him to persuade him.

With her doubt towards Kim Rok Soo and the pressure of a vow of death, Queen Litana will be forced to fight her own mind and wish desperately that she was wrong.

‘Strong-headed people only cave in when they realize these things by themselves.’

It was a smart move from Cale Henituse, and it was a decision that was consistent with his unusual tendency to antagonize himself at the regular, too.

Lee Soo Hyuk moved his hands even as he was thinking to himself, providing responses to their “Customer’s” inquiries, and couldn’t help but smile wider. Within the screen of the computer, he could clearly see the digitalized look of flustered confoundment grow on Queen Litana’s face as she sputtered and spoke.

“Wait, if I’m going to be betting on Kim Rok Soo being good, then what are you going to be betting on?!”

“Is that even a question?”

Crimson red hair and reddish-brown eyes that seemed like it could swallow everything in its path covered the entire screen with an enigmatically bright smile.

It was the smile of someone who had long become determined to lose the battle but win the war.

“I’ll be betting that Kim Rok Soo is a piece of shit!”

Lee Soo Hyuk wheezed.

The God of Death better wake up from his beauty nap soon, because, oh, he is missing out on a lot.

---

Somewhere in the black room, a figure covered in countless spells ranging from invisibility, shield magic, disguise magic, temperature magic, sound-proofing magic and some more was casually leaning on to one of the walls near the Henituse group, arms crossed and face unreadable.

“…The original is helping me out, huh.” He mumbled to no one but himself.

-HA??? HUMAN, HOW IS THAT HELPING—HE IS TALKING SHIT ABOUT YOU!

“…You’ll understand when you get older.”

Reddish brown eyes hiding in plain sight looked up to the panel and the writing on its surface and then looked away, pushing himself away from the wall before leading himself away from the chaos that is the Henituse discussion group.

‘It’s time to find a different place to hide.’

Chapter Text

[Chapter 8: Picked It Up (1)]

The projection started up again not so long after the little fiasco Cale Henituse started.

After all the things that happened in between the Queen of the Jungle posing a question and Cale Henituse somehow managing to rope her into a vow of death while she was on her knees, it felt rather anti-climactic to go back to reading right away. It was like the intimidating presence of the redhaired war veteran’s fearless smile meticulously cut apart the Jungle leader’s high walls one moment and then suddenly decided it was the perfect time to read a boring book in the next.

If Kim Rok Soo was asked to describe it, it was like walking in and out of a soap opera, a changed man.

If Hannah was asked to describe it, it was like walking in on the pope of the Sun Goddess giving a subordinate a backhanded bitch slap and then having to pretend like it never happened.

“The poor woman…”

Hannah cast a questioning glance towards her frowning brother when she overheard his murmurs while he gazed at the pale Litana who seemed to be spacing out and rethinking many things, sitting quietly on the space of the floor occupied by the Henituse company.

Jack and Hannah don’t have much experience with people outside of the few that were assigned to take care of them back when they were hidden away by the church of the sun god. They can’t claim to have a good understanding of how they are supposed to interact with others outside of the teachings drilled into them since they were babies abandoned to the pope’s arms.

Hannah grunted, with arms crossed.

“Leave her be, oppa.”

The twins meet eye to eye, a silent conversation passing between them. As much as Jack might empathize with the internal struggle that the warrior Queen of the jungle must be feeling now, he knew he couldn’t just go over there and talk to her about it. He couldn’t afford to.

He squeezed Hannah’s hand lightly to reassure her that he wasn’t going anywhere, a sad smile fixed on his face.

As far as they were aware after all, Korean or not, everyone in this room could be an enemy.

Late at night.

Deputy butler Hans had to stand in front of Count Deruth. He started to make his report while Deruth quietly listened until he was finished.

People around the black room hummed a little as they read Hans’ report to the Count. Some took note of the fact that the chapter started without the “new Cale Henituse” in the picture, and were interested to see the new point of view.

It was a great opportunity to figure out what the Count felt about the sudden changes in his eldest son, after all.

“Should we put a tail on him?”

Several eyes shot towards the poker-faced Cale Henituse who was leisurely lounging on the floor, as if expecting him to have a reaction towards the notion of such supervision.

There was a nervously sweating ginger not so far from him, trying desperately to keep a straight face.

“No need. As long as he is in the city, anything he does is under my authority to handle.”

‘A responsible leader… or should I call him a responsible father?’ Jack idly thought as he played a little with his sister’s fingers in boredom and looked over at where the Henituse patriarch was currently an almost exact replica of his son, poker-faced and unmoving.

“Do what you have been doing in terms of observing Cale inside the house and reporting what you see.”

“I understand.”

“Huh, at least he keeps tabs on the trash…” A white-haired man murmured only to be hushed by the intense glare of his two companions whose hair was like that of the ocean.

Deruth cherished Hans the most out of all the young deputy butlers. It was because he fulfilled orders well and was a good person.

The ginger beamed, keening at the praise with flushed cheeks.

Jack absent-mindedly watched as the deputy butler of a noble family got teased by snickering tanned coworkers and giggling little ladies, not really paying attention to the faint light of the projection in front of his eyes as he did so. He distantly wondered if he’d ever seen people laugh like this under the pope’s strict rule over their lives.

He tuned out the words of the projection, scanning them quickly but not really taking them to heart while continuing to glance at the other groups in the black room every now and then in curiosity.

‘Cale has changed.’

Hannah stared neutrally at the words of the projection, bored out of her mind while she let her twin brother ogle at the other cliques openly. She doesn’t understand why they were brought here, but it’s not like they were able to just choose to leave, and after seeing a glimpse of her brother running towards danger back in the trailer…

She figured she should give this whole thing a try.

‘It was honestly bland so far though.’

She thought that maybe the Count would be a bad parent, a bad neglectful guy they were supposed to hate, but so far, he just looked like a plain old guy trying to be some plain old dad, both in the projection and in the black box. Can a man trying his best not to look embarrassed over a scene in his point of view even raise his voice against his kids? Talk about boring. Even the pope was a more interesting person, and that’s saying something because all Hannah is interested in at this point of her life was blood.

To his credit, though, the Count seemed to be pretty perceptive for a bland guy.

The atmosphere around the continent was dangerous.

Dark expressions fell on several of the world leaders in the room, as if reminded of the reason why they were here in the first place.

It was like a volcano right before it erupts. Deruth could clearly feel the dangerous atmosphere despite the fact that he was in the corner of the kingdom. It was because he was always receiving an endless amount of information about it.

“It seems that there were already signs this early on.” Cale Henituse murmured to himself but in the still silence of the room, it sounded loud enough to be heard by a good portion of readers, spurring many to uneasily whisper to each other.

‘Just how far back does the preparations for the end of the world go?’ Many people wondered.

The former Counts of the Henituse territory always passed on a single piece of advice to the next in power.

‘There is no need to be recorded in history. Just live for peace and happiness.’

That…

Hannah felt like frowning a little as something uneasy stirred in her gut.

‘Fakes! Nothing but fakes! But we have to make do with you, somehow.’

Those were the words the pope always used to say once it became evident that she and her brother were not the real holy twins—her brother only having half of his supposedly saintly powers and Hannah receiving none at all.

All their lives, since before they could even walk, they’ve been told they needed to live for the will of the sun god, according to the church’s doctrines and eradicate darkness. They’ve been starved, punished, and locked away from the rest of the world for this very purpose.

Then… then, what?

Suddenly, they were actually fakes.

But the church couldn’t let go of the grand plans they designed for them—couldn’t let go of the both of them.

‘Tsk. It doesn’t matter if you’re not the real saint and holy maiden.’

The pope had said in faux benevolence as he held both of their faces in his hands, as if he was a loving parent.

‘In the end, we’ll just make sure no one knows.’

Hannah scowled as she shut down that memory before it could reach further than she desired to see. She felt her brother squeeze her hand twice, having sensed her distress, and she found it grounding.

She squeezed back, silently.

…As the Saint and Holy Maiden, they needed to be recorded in history. It was their purpose to be the saint and holy maiden, but as fakes, the only way for them to truly fulfill it is to make everyone believe it, undoubtedly. Even past their lifetime, and maybe past the relevancy of the church.

“Peace and happiness…” Hannah could hear her brother whisper under his breath, dreamily, and she couldn’t help but close her eyes.

An outstretched arm, an easy smile and a lance.

‘We’ll get you out of this place.’ He had told her.

“Oppa.”

“Hm?”

Hannah eyed her brother a little before cracking a small smile, “What do you think about becoming normal citizens after this?”

“Normal citizens with a blood obsession?”

Her smile turned wider as she heard the joking question of her twin.

No one else could have known her better.

“How about normal citizens that can win fights, all bloodied?” She cracked a genuine grin as she snickered, feeling the warmth of the hand in hers.

Jack looked at her in the eye for a few seconds, searching for something, before hesitantly smiling as well.

“…If it was possible, it would be nice.”

“I guess I need to reinforce the city walls.”

Flop.

Hannah blinked.

“…Hannah?”

The blonde woman blinked a couple of times before suddenly putting a hand protectively in front of her brother and whipping her head towards a certain direction—towards the place where she felt something strange fall down to the ground.

She swiped her hand at the empty air and hit a sturdy yet invisible face.

“………”

An awkward silence ensued as Hannah grabbed the face so that she can be sure where the unseen person was, refusing to let go even after an uncomfortable amount of time.

“Uh-” The face eloquently exclaimed before something hot hit Hannah’s hand, causing her to hiss and rip her hand away from the boogeyman.

“Hann—?!” Jack’s eyes widened as the sounds coming out from his mouth were silenced. In front of him, the projection continued to play like nothing was wrong, but as new words replaced the old…

The face of a woman briefly appeared in front of them.

Finger pressed to her lips, she gave them a sheepish smile and then…. disappeared once again.

“…What the fuck?”

Hannah blankly blurted out, caressing her hand.

“Language.” Her brother reprimanded in a weak voice, his hand clutching unto her sleeve as he did.

Both siblings stared at each other and then at the supposedly empty space next to them.

The two of them decided to inch far, far away from it for the foreseeable future.

---

Cale had slept in.

In the other side of the black room, the royalty hanging out with the Henituse family were stealing glances at the man—or at least the physical representation of the man in the readings.

The fact that Ron brought lemonade instead of cold water again made things even worse.

Valentino was one of those people.

‘He’s enjoying the attention…’

He thought to himself in bewilderment as he watched the near 40-year-old survivor of the technical end of the world stretch his arms a little like a particularly pleased cat, not an ounce of tension in his shoulders.

Personally, the Caro kingdom prince could not understand how anyone could go from downright villainous to spoiled overgrown baby in a matter of 5 to 10 minutes, but then again, some questions are just better left unanswered.

He eyed Litana who was still as pale as a sheet of paper next to him and as quiet as a mouse.

However, Cale could not say anything about it.

It was because there was a bandage around Ron’s neck.

“Are you hurt?”

“…Are you worrying about me?”

“No. It’s just annoying to look at.”

Litana’s face practically deflated, but it seemed that something new took over her eyes after that. Something contemplative.

‘It must be hard...’

Valentino looked at Litana with pity as the jungle queen looked down at the floor, biting her lip. He remembered what the God of Death’s proxy had told them earlier.

‘If the God of Death so desires, any person within the black room could have their memory erased after the viewing.’

If he was in her position, he would be feeling stressed too, but still, he kinda agreed with Princess Jopis a little. This set-up was a little bit funny.

‘It’s like watching someone undergo emotional constipation for the first time in their life.’ Valentino internally commented as he watched the warrior queen visibly trying to fight with her opinions and emotions through sheer force of will.

…she should probably just relax a little and let the story unfold.

“It is nothing much. I was just scratched by a cat’s claw.”

…Is a, ‘cat,’ another reference to an innocent person?

“I dunno, man, does Choi Han seem like an innocent person?” Bud Illis shrugged, his head resting on his best friend’s knee as he read the projection with the point of view looking towards the ceiling.

There were a mix of noncommittal noises in the crowd but no one answered, vouching to read more than talk to get this one over with.

“Will you be heading out right away?”

“Yes. I’ll take care of everything on my own outside.”

“I understand. Oh, young master.”

Cale let go of the door handle and turned to look at Ron. Ron had an odd smile on his face.

“What do you think about the lemonade?”

Cale narrowed his eyes for a split second at the question. The old butler next to him hummed.

‘…Is that a trick question?’

“Great. It’s delicious.”

Ron’s voice became an octave lower.

“…Is that so?”

“Yes.”

‘What kind of question was that?’

It was.

Valentino blinked in surprise, a possible future starting to appear inside his head—a future where maybe the Molans found out about the switch. As far as he’s learned so far, Ron probably spent the most time with the young master among the Henituse people and thus, knew him the most. It wouldn’t be surprising if he found Kim Rok Soo out.

But then again…

‘Why did it seem like they never appeared in the future events, not even once, if they did find out?’

Wouldn’t they be important?

Valentino pulled a frown and decidedly pushed those thoughts away for now.

Since Ron was someone that he could not ignore, Cale just answered the question as nicely as possible while opening the door.

At least he’s not trying to outright lie. That would have been a stupid move, Valentino thought.

The chapter continued with Ron and Cale interacting in an… interesting way. Unlike the picture painted by the original and by the employees of the Henituse County, the new Cale Henituse, possessed by Kim Rok Soo, was subdued, passive and almost evasive.

Ron was obviously purposefully playing with him by not mentioning that Choi Han was waiting outside, and yet he did not dare throw a tantrum.

Maybe it was because he was sharply aware of the original’s destiny to get “beaten to a pulp” by a strong individual, but this new Cale Henituse seemed to treat everything regarding strong individuals as if it was a threat to his life.

“Pay you back.”

“Huh?”

“I will pay you back for the meal.”

‘Pay me back? Is he trying to make me have a heart attack?’

Case in point.

The handful of people who discovered the pattern sighed exasperatedly.

Who in their right mind would use Choi Han for manual labor? Cale just wanted Choi Han to get out of this city as soon as possible.

Of course, Choi Han would agree to help Cale out if he said it was to pay him back. He was that kind of person. However, Cale didn’t have anything he needed from Choi Han.

“Yeah, right.” Jopis snorted while cradling her dog, thoroughly amused, “You need protection, pretty boy. Protection from him.”

“Or he could make Choi Han a bodyguard?”

Several mild glares from the overprotective Henituse family were sent towards a certain blue-haired man after that.

“Or a vow of death to never beat him til he’s close to death in the near future. That’s actually a good idea, your highness.” Glenn solemnly nodded, pointedly ignoring and covering a certain mercenary king’s mouth with one hand, as if to make it look like the man never spoke. 

He quickly rejected Choi Han’s offer and asked if there was anything else he needed.

‘This guy is either really eager to get to his good side or just plain hospitable.’ Valentino furrowed his brow as Choi Han’s response and the ensuing interaction appeared on the projection.

In the end, Cale Henituse, or should Valentino call him Kim Rok Soo…? Cale Henituse passed Choi Han unto his father’s trusty butler, Hans.

The ginger was close to blushing at the compliments that came with the reasons for the redirection but then he realized that this version of the young master basically just handed off Choi Han to him as if to say, “he’s your problem now.” Huh, he doesn’t know how to feel about that.

At the very least, Mr. Ron was also left in charge of him.

“Ron here is pretty useful as well. He will also be able to help you out. Ron, he is my guest. Make sure to take proper care of whatever he needs.”

Cale also gave Ron an order before moving his hand off of Ron’s shoulder.

There was no noise that could hide the click of an old butler’s tongue upon those words.

He then heard Choi Han calling out to him.

“But, you don’t even know who I am.”

“Oh, if you only knew.” Bud Illis chuckled under his breath and Glenn exasperatedly covered the man’s face again as if trying to will him to sleep.

Cale turned around to look. He could see Choi Han still observing him. The scary feeling emitting from him had disappeared, and Cale could only feel an unexplainable purity coming from Choi Han.

Valentino pursed his lips as he tried to reconcile the image of the man who sent the general of the whipper kingdom flying twice and the description of Choi Han right now.

A few people from the Henituse family regarded the statement with curious eyes, keeping in mind that the man on screen was a survivor of a forbidden region.

“Why do I need to know who you are? Is there a reason to help someone who does not have as much as I have?”

That sounded more like something meant to placate than something to honor truth. Or at least, that’s what most of the people thought to themselves, judgmentally, as the Choi Han of the novel frowned and the new Cale Henituse panicked slightly.

In the end, he also ended up passing on the Korean to his old butler.

“Young master, I will do as you commanded.”

‘I don’t care whether you do or do not.’

Frying and stirring was for them to do as the main characters, not Cale. Wouldn’t they get closer to each other faster since they met four days earlier thanks to him?

There was a rumble of low laughter and suddenly all eyes turned towards Ron, whose eyes were crinkled into something that looked positively vicious.

Hans and Hilsman who were still processing the fact that their co-worker was an assassin and who were nearest to him took a step back, averting their eyes nervously.

Yeah, nope.

Ron looked toward Cale, who was moving away from the both of them, before looking down at the empty cup in his hands.

“Interesting.”

That fearless puppy did not like sour things. He still did not like it. However, he now drank it.

Ron touched his neck. He had been hurt for the first time in a long time, but something more interesting than the injury kept nagging at him.

The fearless puppy was scared of him.

Does he know something?

The real Cale Henituse scrunched up his face, muttering a questioning, “puppy???” under his breath.

The rest of the readers weren’t so focused on that.

…What does an assassin do when they feel like they’ve been found out?

A few people asked themselves this question while shifting uncomfortably, a pit forming in their stomach as the chapter continued on, diving a little deeper into Ron’s point of view regarding Choi Han.

The old man obviously didn’t like the Korean. He didn’t like him but after fighting him, it seems like he was entertained by the fact that Choi Han was “pretending to be clean.” Apparently, his dislike was more because of the guy’s aura than anything concrete.

‘I guess there is no way those people would cross over.’

No one noticed the flinch the old butler did upon reading those confusing words.

“Follow me.”

True to his words, the Ron on the screen did exactly as he was told to do, despite his personal conflict with Choi Han, leading the Korean away. Choi Han looked towards Cale’s direction for a split second before following the old butler.

And then, that was when the chapter ended.

---

“My lord.”

Deruth turned around and so did the rest of the group as a dark-faced Ron suddenly approached him as soon as the projection ended.

“I believe that we lot need to have a discussion.” The old man said with firm eyes.

The people exchanged glances but eventually nodded, despite their hesitation.

It has been a while since a proper discussion was done.

---

“Ya. I know you can hear me.”

Somewhere in the dark room, not long after the projection ended, Kim Rok Soo grumbled, not bothering to keep his voice down. Knowingthe dragon perched on his shoulder, he knew and vaguely sensed that he had their bases covered, down from invisibility, sound-proofing and even defense.

He found that he actually liked this on-the-spot plan of his, but he does not like the reason why he had to create it in the first place.

He doesn’t know how many minutes it has been since the ruckus they’ve caused. In this place, time is almost inconsequential, after all, just like how outside, time was apparently frozen still. But judging on the fact that silence still dominated the area, he knew that it couldn’t have been that long since the real Cale’s stunt.

He took this opportunity to ask the dragon hidden on his body a stern question.

“What did I tell you when we first met?”

-……… Heal properly and hide yourself.’

“That’s right, that’s what I told you. Now, what did you do?”

The voice inside his head turned uncharacteristically quiet.

-….I am healed and I was perfectly hidden.

‘Like hell, you were.’ Kim Rok Soo rolled his eyes.

If Kim Rok Soo was guessing right then surely someone was onto the dragon’s existence already. It could be Rosalyn, it could be “Shawn”, heck, it could even be Harol, but in the end, it spelled “DOOM” in thick letters for him and the peaceful existence he wanted to lead inside the black box.

Perhaps sensing the thoughts running in the Korean’s head, the young voice came back in full force although stumbling a bit with his words.

-Y-you told me to do whatever I want! I am a great and mighty dragon!

A great and mighty dragon who is 4-years-old!

Kim Rok Soo put a hand over his face as he decided that briskly walking away from the situation is the best he could do at this point. He knew that dragons were highly intelligent beings—hell, he was surprised to find that the dragon knows a surprising amount of concerning words throughout the time he spent with it talking to his head—but intelligent and knowledgeable are not exactly synonymous.

You can be smart and yet not know that somewhere out there, a dolphin once had a romantic relationship with a human woman. You can have the sharpest minds and yet not know how to do integral calculus the moment you were born.

The dragon that was now restlessly pawing at Kim Rok Soo’s shoulders (painfully so, since it has claws) was a creature that had been locked away for the entirety of its life. It’s been on mana restricting chains for as long as it probably remembers, and although it knew instinctively about the presence of mana within its body, it could only know so much without being able to actively utilize it as a resource.

Kim Rok Soo wouldn’t be surprised if whatever stealth the dragon tried to do in its attempt to help Choi Han was sloppy enough to give its draconic nature away.

But then again…

‘It’s good that it’s at least getting a good grasp of its newfound freedom.’

Kim Rok Soo did tell the little thing to just do whatever the hell he wanted.

Although according to Kim Rok Soo’s understanding of the situation, the dragon would have to be returned to captivity as soon as this entire viewing was over.

‘Hopefully not for long.’ Kim Rok Soo frowned.

Even… even if the original refuses to switch places with him after this was all over, Kim Rok Soo was sure that if not Kim Rok Soo, the original or Choi Han would find a way to save the dragon somehow. If not them, then maybe someone like Litana or Rosalyn.

And that? That was good enough.

“Dragons are powerful beings.”

The pawing at his shoulders stopped at his abrupt statement.

Kim Rok Soo pocketed his hands as he let out a sigh, “Dragons are not meant to be tied down and so, you should keep doing whatever you want. Just… don’t drag me along.”

There was silence.

Then a curious query.

-…. What if I want to drag you along?

Well, isn’t that a terrifying thought?

“…Please don’t.” Kim Rok Soo pleadingly whispered, face stoic as stone.

-Hmph. Fine. This great and mighty dragon will not do that. BUT! What if it was this great and mighty dragon that got dragged into your problems instead?

‘Then my life as a slacker is long dead.’

-Heeeey? Human! Answer me!

With a carefully neutral face on his face, Kim Rok Soo hummed placatingly, pretending to not hear a single thing.

---

“Are you sure about this, Mr. Ron?”

Count Deruth’s voice was shaky but his eyes were not filled with fear. In fact, as Ron looked at the usually mild-mannered man, it was like he saw a burning sea of fire in his eyes. Ron has seen those eyes before—he saw it in his own eyes once.

“Yes. I am sure, my Lord.” He lowered his head, regrettably, and the people around him could only stare in tense silence, gawking like gaping fish.

He thought back to the conjecture that he made based off of his future self’s reaction to Choi Han just now and pondered over it.

The assassins of Harris village and the people who killed off the Molan Household… what are the chances of the two of them being one and the same?

Ron’s face darkened, ‘It’s not very low.’

Everyone else seemed to think the same, stewing in their silence in horror.

Up until this point, several members of the Henituse County, specifically the ones who were involved in the administration, had been guilt-tripping themselves because of the tragedy of Harris village.

‘Maybe if we put more soldiers nearby to patrol’, ‘Maybe if we regularly checked on the village before’, ‘Maybe if we had tried to bring some of the villagers to the city for rehousing…’ These thoughts had plagued their minds. It was one thing for a soldier under the Henituse county to die in battle, but it was completely different if innocent civilians got caught in such a senseless slaughter due to neglect.

Basen, who was relatively new to the administrative work of the county, was particularly miserable since it was revealed although he tried his best to show otherwise. He’d thought that maybe if they had put guards around the village long ago, the event could have been prevented. Maybe at least a few more citizens could have survived.

But, now, he thought differently.

‘An organization that could wipe out the best assassin households in the eastern continent would be able to kill off Henituse soldiers like they’re merely a plaything.’

Basen bit his lip in frustration.

In the first place, it’s not like they had known that Harris Village was going to be attacked in the first place. Whatever they’d have done, a group as powerful as this would have killed everyone anyway. He closed his eyes, trying his best to accept that it was pointless. It is pointless.

Then, he heard the sound of glass shattering into a million pieces.

“Y-young master-nim…!”

It was Hans who cried out first when Cale Henituse, quiet and bloody, suddenly threw one of the used bottles originally filled with liquid healing magic, right towards a nearby wall.

The sound that it made was so loud and sharp that it drew everyone’s unabashed and shocked attention towards him. It didn’t help that he’d just went villain mode on Litana a while ago—and oh, the queen of the jungle was not feeling good about how quiet the man who ran his mouth off shamelessly was being.

Even though they knew the man would never hurt them, Basen and Lily still flinched, moving closer to their mother and away from the glass fragments on the black ground, as quiet as terrified mice.

And finally, after some time, the redhead who had hobbled up to his feet on his own after much excruciating struggle finally spoke.

“Of course, they’re the same organization…”

He whispered at first to no one in particular, looking at no one in the room as he grabbed a fistful of his own hair and growled low and feral.

“Of course, they’ve been right under our noses this entire time! I—We’re so stupid! We literally had the hints, we had the survivor, the corpses, and the right to investigate—fuck!”

The redhead swayed a little on his feet but firm hands moved to support him.

To his surprise, it was Beacrox who did, his face just as ashen as everyone else.

In the original timeline, the Henituse county had been the first place to be attacked by the war, but as it turns out, even before war truly broke out, pieces that would cause it had already been planted without anyone knowing.

What else are they gonna find out? That there’s a secret base in the forest of darkness for these creeps?

“Y-young master Cale, let’s all calm down…”

Crown Prince Valentino, bless him, tried to mediate the situation. Behind him, Vice-Captain Hilsman had apparently dived to grab all the nearby bottles of potions and retreated behind the royals, as if to keep another glass-shattering moment from occurring. It looked completely done by reflex, but Valentino tried not to think too much about that.

When it didn’t look like the seething redhead would calm down at all, the Caro prince defeatedly decided to switch tactics and opt for redirection.

“H-hey, on the bright side, at least we know about this stuff now—” Bud Illis had suddenly blurted out only to be cut off by a burst of courage from Valentino.

“Mr. Ron! I have a question I would like to ask you, actually, if I may be so bold!”

Bud Illis’ eyebrows furrowed before turning to look at Glenn, his dear best friend.

“Why am I having de javu?”

“…Why would I know?”

To Ron Molan’s credit, he didn’t even blink.

“Ask away, your highness.”

‘Let’s word this properly and not pull a Miss Lina.’

Valentino nervously swallowed as he gathered himself before putting forth his query.

“About assassins. I was just wondering.” He started, “If an assassin finds out that their identity has been compromised, what… what exactly do they do?”

“You mean… when they get exposed?” Princess Jopis blinked. Several others did the same. It seemed like no one had thought much about the normal procedure when getting outed as a murderer, but the projection casually outing the Molans in a manner that could not be dealt with could be blamed for that.

‘Not necessarily like that.’

Valentino bit the inside of his cheek.

“Ho.”

Valentino tensed a little as a cough-like laugh left the old assassin’s mouth, but he kept his expression schooled neutrally. One could not go about becoming royalty without the skills to pretend everything is fine.

‘The prince of the desert isn’t too bad.’

Ron leveled the Caro prince with his gaze, his eyes cold but amused. He had an idea of where the man’s questions were coming from.

“When an assassin is exposed in the middle of a job,” Ron begun with a harmless tone, as if he was nothing more than an old man trying to educate, his eyes sweeping across the people within the group, “It is proper procedure to either threaten the leak to secrecy using a vow of death or kill them yourself.”

Valentino winced; however, Ron wasn’t finished talking.

“But that’s not what you wish to know, am I correct, your highness?”

The old assassin’s eyes crinkled to a smile—a smile that Valentino will later undoubtedly associate with the projections unconsciously—and the Caro prince hesitantly nodded his head. The assassin had said it quietly as if to let only him hear about it.

Something passed over the assassin’s expression as he suddenly looked tired, and older, the white of his hair becoming more evident on a pallid face.

“When someone in hiding is found out, they cannot afford to retaliate. They cannot afford to kill, because then that would be leaving others with obvious hints of your trail. And you can’t afford to give them a trail. Not if you want to live a semblance of a normal life. Not if you want the people you hold dear to live a normal life.”

He was talking about Sir Beacrox, obviously, but the Caro prince couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t just his son he was talking about.

“…So then,” Valentino says, his voice like a whisper, “what do you do?”

Ron was quiet for a moment.

“…you run away.”

You leave behind the life you’ve led so far and decide that its time to go to the next. You let go of attachments and never reattach them—never let yourself be attached to anything, actually. Because surely, one day, you’ll have to leave again. And it’s better to do it without kicking a fuss.

The old man’s gaze had a faraway look to it, but when Valentino glimpsed at where he was looking, all he saw was Cale Henituse, throwing a light tantrum as his family members tried to coax him into sitting back down again while Beacrox’s face turns more and more regretful the longer he must keep the redhead up.

You run away and never look back, or you stay behind and doom yourself and everyone around you.

Cale Henituse, apparently having had enough with his family’s antics, groaned, and finally conceded, rearranging his feet on the floor. He turned his head and looked straight at Ron and Valentino; his face twisted in thinly veiled irritation.

“What are you looking at?”

The only response he received was a huff from Ron.

Valentino can’t say he understood everything packed within that moment when Ron seemed to appear lax despite being in an environment caused by a deity, but when the old man turned back towards him and asked him, “Does this answer your question?”, he nodded, anyway.

He thought of how much the “new Cale Henituse” was trying to get rid of the father-son duo and then how no one saw the Molans in the glimpses they received of the future.

‘Them running away is an infinitely better alternative than them being dead.’

Assassin or not, Valentino does not wish to see anyone from this black room die.

Despite the upcoming war, he really hopes he does not have to.

---

“It seems that those Henituse people are stirring some kind of drama again, like usual.”

Cotton murmured to herself as she watched the people from the Henituse group divide into three: The ones talking, the ones cleaning up the glass shards and the ones trying to talk Cale Henituse down. Cale Henituse, himself, is in a different category altogether.

‘That man sure has a talent for throwing fits.’ The demonic priestess thought to herself with a little interest.

Her eyes then searched the area around them once more, landing on several people whom she could not recognize but could at least size up. Even a priestess has tricks up her sleeves.

It’s been at least 7-8 chapters now since the start of the projection but only few bits of information have been revealed to them. She does not understand how long it’s been since they arrived, but needless to say, her fellow citizen of Endable was starting to be annoying about it.

“How boring. I thought he was gonna hit someone.” A certain silver-haired vampire pouted.

Duke Fredo was bored. Very, very bored, in fact.

The man has practically draped himself on his knees on the ground, expression light and utterly disinterested. His face had lit up only two times throughout the recent chapter—when Cale Henituse broke a glass bottle like a maniac and when the Sun twins suddenly acted weirdly.

Not that Cotton was keeping count. She was also just as bored, really.

She moved her gaze towards the blonde twins in the other side of the room. There was no mistaking who they are. From their presence alone, as someone who dabbles in dead mana, and the dark arts, a priestess to demonic gods, she can tell from their aura that they were highly dangerous believers of the sun god’s teachings. No, at most, they are probably blessed.

‘The holy twins…’

Those two had been acting odd since somewhere in the beginning of the recent chapter. At first, they had this forlorn look to their face, their eyes clasped together as they talked quietly in the middle of the readings. But then at one point, the girl had shot her arm out to grab something invisible in the air, her face like a shocked duck as she did, as if she didn’t expect there to actually be something there.

The twins had inched far away from that particular spot since then, eyeing the place warily when they could. Duke Fredo had no such reservations.

“I should head over there.”

“No.” Cotton groaned as she covered her face with her hand.

“It’s gotta be something. I bet it was the Koreans. It seems they’re just as prone to causing trouble as the Henituse to fits.”

‘Don’t generalize the Henituse, that’s only Cale Henituse.’ Cotton winced but eventually sighed.

“Do whatever you want but don’t blame me if the twins sense the dead mana heart inside you and wipe you out on the spot.”

“Hey, now, let’s not be too pessimistic.”

It’s already pessimistic enough that the two of them ended up here, in a room filled with probable Anti-white star people, when they technically work for the white star. Cotton can just imagine how that conversation will go.

‘Maybe if I never say my name, they’ll never associate me with my projection self.’

What an optimistic thought.

Cotton snorted, “Whatever, I don’t care. Just don’t drag me along your—”

Achoo!

“—uh?”

She forgot her words as soon as she heard the telltale sound of a sneeze nearby, her face twisting in confusion.

Duke Fredo and Cotton stared at each other.

The two may not be of the best terms but they’ve known each other long enough to question each other. Both raised an eyebrow each in silent conversation.

‘Was that you?’

‘Do I sound like a woman to you?’

‘Cotton, you are a woman.’

The dark priestess scowled, “I can’t sneeze and talk at the same time, jerk.”

Duke Fredo just shrugged as if to say, worth a try.

Cotton rolled her eyes before sharply turning them to their immediate surroundings, probing the area. Everyone had already given them a lot of space because of a certain vampire’s tendency to burst out laughing like a lunatic at the most questionable moments, so that sneeze shouldn’t have sounded as loud as it did unless it was someone close by or someone amplified with sound magic. And the latter part just doesn’t make sense, why would you amplify a sneeze?

It helps that there just so happens to be a group of invisible people running amok the room, lead by a certain individual, at this moment.

‘There.’

Her eyes trained on a supposedly empty space next to them, feeling something odd on it. She stared at it so intensely that whoever might be there, whether it be that Choi Han man or the red-haired woman, they would have started to sweat buckets.

Meanwhile, Duke Fredo had no qualms hiding the excitement in his eyes as he looked at the space like he’d found a new toy.

He was about to bounce over, most probably to scare the shit out of the youngsters there, but unfortunately, the lights disappeared once more in the room, signaling the start of the next chapter, and his face fell.

“…Tch.”

‘…Leave the kids alone.’

Cotton sighed in exasperation as she settled down on the floor.