Chapter 394 – The crazy one, the innocent one, and the laughing one (4)

Cale then watched as many scenes passed by.

'Kim Rok Soo!'

He could hear Choi Jung Soo's voice. Choi Jung Soo was standing in front of him with his sword raised.
Cale could also see a large monster coming out of the ground, making it seem as if the world was covered in darkness and fire. Numerous other monsters that seemed to be the large monster's subordinates were next to it.

He watched as his work buddies charged toward those monsters.
Fellow team members, his sunbaes, and his friends.
People who he had been working together were all charging toward this deathtrap.

'Kim Rok Soo! Hurry up and contact the government and central HQ! Send an emergency signal to all guilds!'

Cale could hear his team leader, Lee Soo Hyuk's voice.

This is what Cale, Kim Rok Soo, had said at that time.

'…This is difficult. Team leader, this is too difficult.'

Kim Rok Soo who oversaw the strategical planning in the rear support calculated the numerous records in his mind ever since the monsters had appeared in the world and concluded.

'We are all going to die if we try to fight that monster right now.'

This was how Lee Soo Hyuk had responded to him.

'But what else can we do?'

Kim Rok Soo could not forget team leader Lee Soo Hyuk's face as he asked that, as well as Choi Jung Soo's face as he held the sword in his hand again.
He had not been able to respond to Lee Soo Hyuk's question.

The large guild in charge of this area had run away.
Because of that, there were no ability users nearby who could block the monsters that suddenly appeared.

However, there was someone who had anticipated this sudden monster's appearance.

'Kim Rok Soo, it's not your fault.'

The voices of his only friend who had said that to him in a mischievous way hit Kim Rok Soo, Cale, like a tsunami.

'Hey, it would have been really bad if it wasn't for you.'

The Kim Rok Soo at the time had so many records and data that he could use his ability to foresee the appearance of the second strongest monster ever seen in the history of the Earth.

One hour.
It wasn't much time, but it had been enough for them to contact the guild responsible for that area to prepare and evacuate the citizens.

However, while Kim Rok Soo could foresee the location the monster would arrive but not its strength.
That was why his teammates who had already come here knowing that they might die had to face an existence beyond their expectations.

Cale could smell, see, hear, and feel the conversations from that day, the heat and burning smell in the air, as well as the black and red surroundings of that day.

'Kim Rok Soo, wipe your nosebleed. You should get some rest if you have overloaded.'

Kim Rok Soo used his sleeve to wipe his nose. He had continued to pay attention to Lee Soo Hyuk as he did that.

'Ah still, thanks to you and our efforts, most people evacuated on time. Well, although the guild in charge ran away as well. We just need to hold that monster back until reinforcements arrive.'

Cale felt his head getting hotter and hotter as if he was getting a fever.
However, the records in Cale's mind did not stop.

He recalled what team leader Lee Soo Hyuk had said after that.

'This isn't that hard. Actually, no.'

Team leader Lee Soo Hyuk had seemed calm even while looking at that scary monster.

'Hey, have you ever seen our team do easy work? We always have had to do everything in our powers to survive.'

Not even once.
Kim Rok Soo had never fought a battle with an overwhelming advantage ever since joining the company and working under team leader Lee Soo Hyuk.

They really never had it easy.

'This is just the same as usual. That is why we need to do what we need to do. Isn't that right?'

Kim Rok Soo had laughed at that comment back then. It was because Lee Soo Hyuk was right.

'Huh? You're laughing now, you little punk?'

Team leader Lee Soo Hyuk and Choi Jung Soo had left the laughing Kim Rok Soo behind as they joined the other team members to fight.

Cale felt his mind becoming a mess at that moment.

'And then, after that-'

He knew that he had a clear record of what had happened next.
Those images quickly burst into Cale's mind.
However, Cale was unable to read those records correctly.

The strength of the destructive monster.
His teammates fighting against it.
All of them being put in danger.
They started to run toward him.

All of these images mixed together in his mind.

He suddenly felt as if his hot head was cooling down fast.
He felt as if he had fallen to the bottom of a deep lake covered in ice.

He saw someone down there in the darkness.

He sat down to see everything being destroyed by that large monster.
He could also hear the siren behind him signaling the fact that reinforcements had arrived.

'…You, you-'

And then…

'You-'

Kim Rok Soo was standing there unable to speak properly while Choi Jung Soo was kneeling in front of him with his sword stabbed into the ground.

'What is it, you punk.'

Choi Jung Soo who had no blood left to cough up was jokingly responding as he died.

'I leave it to you.'

He could also see team leader Lee Soo Hyuk close his eyes while leaving the rest to him.

All of them.
All of his teammates had died just like that.

'Mr. Kim Rok Soo! Mr. Rok Soo!'

Once Kim Rok Soo was the only one remaining, he had snapped out of it after someone from the reinforcements team grabbed his shoulder.

'And then, and then I-'

Cale recalled how Kim Rok Soo had acted back then on the battlefield where all of his team members were dying.
He looked once toward team leader Lee Soo Hyuk who had closed his eyes, and then once at Choi Jung Soo who had his head down. After that…

'Here is the status report.'

He looked toward the government officials, guild members, and ability users who had come to fight against this monster and calmly started to speak.
His team leader and his friends had left the rest to him.

'I will explain the fighting patterns of that monster.'

He first explained about the battle. Then he asked the person next to him for something once he stepped back and the reinforcements moved in to fight against the monster because he had no fighting power.

'Please collect their bodies.'

It was because Kim Rok Soo could not move at that time.
He had explained about the monster's abilities with his remaining strength even as his nose continued to bleed. The reinforcements all focused on his explanation, but nobody said anything about wiping his bloody nose.

Kim Rok Soo had felt as if the world was crashing down at that moment.

'…It's too late.'

The reinforcements had been too late.

Boom. Boom.

Cale's heart suddenly ran wild.
The sense of responsibility, anger, and sorrow that had made Kim Rok Soo's heart boil had risen. The things that he had barely managed to suppress deep inside himself were running wild.

It was at that moment.

– Human!
"Cale Henituse."

Pat. Pat.

Cale could feel a small paw and a hand placed on his shoulders.
He heard a voice behind him as well.

– Human, are you okay? I came over because I had a bad feeling.
"I didn't look at the paper. I just thought you seemed off."

It was Raon and Alberu Crossman.

Cale blinked his eyes.
The darkness disappeared and he could see the crown prince's bedroom wall again.
He quickly folded and put away the paper with the weird language the God of Death had left for him and turned around.

He could see a concerned Alberu Crossman but not the invisible Raon.
Cale looked at Alberu and started to speak.

"What is it, your highness?"

Cale thought that Alberu Crossman would scoff if he asked this way.
However, he could see that Alberu, as well as the rest of the group at the table, were starting to look at him in a different way than he expected.

All of them had serious expressions on their faces.
Cale made eye contact with Alberu.

"Are you okay?"

Alberu could see Cale's pale white face and his lips that had turned blue.
His forehead was full of cold sweats as well.

He had seen Cale cough up blood or be in pain, but never like this before.

He seemed like someone who was in shock after seeing something very scary.
Alberu's gaze moved away from Cale's face to the paper in his hand.
He had not seen what was written inside it.

'Just what did he see?'

He was concerned, but Alberu was blocked by Cale's hand.

-Human, human! Are you really okay? Grandpa Ron told me to remember and tell him about it if you even come close to fainting!

Cale could hear Raon's voice. He then started to speak to Alberu who could not come toward him because of his hand as well as the invisible Raon.

"I am okay, but let's talk in a bit. I haven't finished looking at it."

Cale nodded his head to Cage who had jumped up from her chair as well before slowly turning back around.

"…Alright then. I'll wait for you over there."
– …I'll let it go for now as well! I'll go wait over there, you weak stupid human!

Cale opened the paper once again after feeling Alberu and Raon moving away.

5 minutes.
Only five minutes had passed since everything went dark in front of him. No, five minutes had decreased.

Cale recalled Kim Rok Soo's birthday.

He looked at the paper the God of Death delivered to him via Cage. He looked at the decreasing time.
The God of Death had said that it would be time for Cale to choose once that time hit zero.

He thought about the day that the time would run out.

That day was Choi Jung Soo and Kim Rok Soo's birthday. It should also be Choi Jung Gun and Choi Han's birthday as well.
Cale had to decide on that day.

'How cruel.'

He couldn't think of anything else to say.
He finished reading what was written on the paper.

< Choi Jung Soo was not supposed to die at that time. >

He was right.
Choi Jung Soo was not supposed to die at that time.
Team leader Lee Soo Hyuk and the other team members should not have died then either.
And then…

< Kim Rok Soo. >
< You were the one who was supposed to die. >

'I can't die either.'

Cale's eyes lit up.

Those people should not have died that day.
He could not die either.
In addition, his people in this world could not die as well.

He read the rest of the message from the God of Death.

< Yes, you were the one who was supposed to die. >
< However, the world's laws and coincidences... Humans are one of the few existences who can destroy all of those things. >
< The people who tried to save you broke the law that said that you were supposed to die. >
< That is why I respect and admire humans. >
< You learned many things from those people and put those lessons to use in your life. >
< I'm curious to see what your decision will be. >

Cale folded the paper and put it in his inner pocket.
He then turned around.

Cage, Taylor, and Rosalyn were still sitting at the table while Alberu was standing with his arms crossed nearby.
Raon was probably near Alberu as well. The fact that the corner of Alberu's shirt was scrunched probably meant that Raon was there holding onto it.

Cale could see priestess Cage cautiously starting to speak.

"Young master-nim, was it bad news?"

She had copied down the image the God of Death had shown her, but she could not read or comprehend it.
She couldn't even tell if they were images or words.

It was a message from the God of Death that was meant only for Cale.

The others had either nervousness or concern on their faces as they looked toward Cale after hearing Cage's question. Cale answered without any hesitation.

"Let's just…"

The group could see that Cale's eyes were burning up contrary to his pale face.

'Decision?
He wants me to decide when the White Star is running wild?
Who will be able to do something if I'm not involved?'

'Avoid it?
Run away?'

It was one thing if they all ran away together, but he would never run away on his own.

Cale did not hide his anger as he continued to speak.

"Let's just ignore it."

The original, 'The Birth of a Hero,' didn't exist anymore.
Cale planned to live however he wanted to live.

"…You're going to ignore a message from a god?"
"Yes."

The God of Death had told Cale to decide.

"He told me to live however I pleased."

He chose to interpret it however he pleased.

"That is why I am going to do whatever I want."
"…And what would that be?"

Cale responded to Alberu who cautiously asked.

"A shit show."
"…What?"

Cale knew that he was selfish and bad and that he cherished people who were important to him the most.

"I plan to use overwhelming strength to destroy everything."

He liked fighting battles where he had an overwhelming advantage.
That was when his people would not get hurt.

"Haven't you already been doing that?"

Cale smiled at Alberu's response.

"I plan to do it even more."
"…What a disrespectful smile."

Cale pretended not to hear Alberu's comment.

The time was going down second by second even during that moment.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]