Chapter 571 – Night of Potential (7)

Cale looked toward the Dark Tiger in shock.

Cale was not the only one who was wondering what was going on.

"Son of a…"

Park Jin Tae's pupils started to shake.

'What am I looking at right now?'

Park Jin Tae had never seen anything like this since the world became like this.

Lee Chul Min, who had small injuries here and there from rolling around the ground, walked up to Park Jin Tae and started to speak.

"Leader-nim, d, did that monster just introduce itself? A, Alberu what?"

Lee Chul Min could not hide his shock as he stumbled through the monster's name.

He was more nervous about this monster not acting like a regular monster than its foreign-sounding name.

"Grrrrrr-"
"Screeeeeeeeeeeeech—!"

Park Jin Tae turned toward the noisy Grade 2 monsters that had been pushed to the back by the taster Grade 1 monsters.

"Grrrrr!"
"Kruuuuuu-"

The monsters were all making suppressed noises.

Park Jin Tae started to laugh in disbelief.

"Ha!"

It felt as if the monsters were confused as well.

They seemed to be shocked by this situation too.

Park Jin Tae could not help but share his thoughts.

"…Does this make any sense?"

Park Jin Tae suddenly got chills on his back.

He felt an overwhelming pressure behind him.

'Mm!'

But he could not turn around.

It was a pressure he had felt many times already.

Lee Chul Min and Park Jin Tae saw someone running past them toward Cale who was close to the Dark Tiger.

"Rok Soo hyung!"

It was Choi Han.

Park Jin Tae and Lee Chul Min could hear Choi Han's shocked voice.

The Dark Tiger and Cale heard his voice as well.

Alberu the Dark Tiger tilted its head.

"…Rok Soo? …Hyung?"

Alberu then saw the awkwardness in Cale's eyes before the tiger started to smile.

The Tiger opened its mouth and started to speak in a loud voice.

"Hmm. So it's my dongsaeng Rok Soo."

Dongsaeng Rok Soo.

People either dropped their jaws in shock or closed their mouth after hearing that voice.

Lee Seung Won who was watching subconsciously started to speak.

"Holy shit. Are we in some traditional fairy tale or something?!"

A tiger, the Grade 1 monster Dark Tiger, was calling a human its dongsaeng!

How was this possible?

They heard something even more shocking at that moment.

Lee Seung Won could see a smile appear on the anxious Kim Rok Soo's face.

"Then I will consider you to be Alberu Crossman hyung-nim."
"Sure thing, my dongsaeng."

Choi Han who had approached them looked at them in disbelief.

Of the many people looking at them, Lee Seung Won subconsciously started to speak again.

"…Noona, what is going on?"
"…I… don't know either."

They then heard Kim Min Ah's brother, Kim Min Joon, quietly mumbling.

"…The world is vast and there are a lot of shocking things. This would be a total hit if we still had TVs..."

The Lee siblings quietly nodded their heads.

Cale and the Dark Tiger were still chatting.

"Dongsaeng Rok Soo, it sounds like we need to chat."
"I will prepare a spot."

* * *

"This is the spot you said you would prepare?"

The Dark Tiger looked shocked as it looked around.

"Yes?"

Alberu turned toward Cale after hearing the brusque voice respond.

He could see an extremely skinny and feeble man.

The pale Cale had looked very weak to the point he would feel pity every so often while looking at him, but he wasn't as bad as this person in front of him right now.

'He looks like he hasn't had much to eat in a while.'

It was different than the wealthy Cale Henituse missing his meals despite his affluence.

This person whose face looked even sharper because their cheekbones were visible due to their extremely skinny cheeks was enough to make Alberu's heart feel heavy.

'This punk looks quite bad, but the others are pretty similar.'

Alberu had just observed the people who were looking out of the building windows or standing on the roof.

Many of them looked very thin.

Some of them looked healthy, but they were in the minority.

"What are you thinking about, sir?"

Alberu heard Cale's voice, no, the voice of this man called Rok Soo.

"…I was thinking that this spot you prepared is quite terrible."
"What's wrong with this spot?"
"Everybody is looking at us right now."

Cale looked around after hearing Alberu's response.

Only a few people were still outside as most of the people had gone back into the building.

The Grade 2 monsters were still at a distance creating a wall around them.

Cale was currently in between the wall of monsters and the building. He was sitting at the center of the area where they had just fought against the taster Grade 1 monsters facing Alberu.

Alberu had expected them to go somewhere quiet, that was why he was looking at Cale who had prepared this clearly open area in shock.

But he soon understood the situation.

"I guess this place would indeed be the quietest."

This was a spot where neither humans nor monsters were willing to approach.

Others would not be able to hear them if they chatted quietly.

"Hey, Kim Rok Soo."

Alberu turned toward the direction of the voice calling Cale.

It was Park Jin Tae who was one of the people who had not gone back into the building.

Park Jin Tae flinched at the Dark Tiger looking at him before quickly looking away after hearing Cale's voice.

"What is it, sir?"
"Is it okay to do this?"

Park Jin Tae turned toward the Grade 2 monsters still surrounding the area.

"Are you sure it's safe?"

Cale answered without any hesitation.

"Until 5 pm… As long as this Alberu Crossman hyung-nim is sitting here, the Grade 2 monsters will not attack."

Cale had a clear record in his mind related to this incident.

< The taster Grade 1 monsters attacked the central shelter for a few hours and tormented or killed the people inside. >

< The things that happened after that fell into one of three categories throughout all of the central shelters. >

First.

< At exactly 5 pm. Once the leader of the taster Grade 1 monsters moved away from the central shelter... The Grade 2 monsters came charging in. >

Second.

< Even if the leader of the taster monsters did not leave the central shelter area, the Grade 2 monsters still came charging in at 5 pm. >

Third.

< If the leader of the tasters left the central shelter area before 5 pm, the Grade 2 monsters started to attack even before 5 pm. >

Cale answered with certainty based on those three pieces of information.

"We are safe until 5 pm, so please tell everyone to get some rest."

Park Jin Tae was hesitant but had no choice but to trust Cale. He had seen enough until now.

"I got it."
"Yes, sir. Please rest well. You'll need to fight again later."

Cale had an odd smile as he said that. Park Jin Tae felt the back of his neck going cold for some reason, but he ignored that feeling and went back to the building.

The Dark Tiger watched him leave before it started to speak.

"Are the people involved the only ones left now?"

Cale, Choi Han, and Alberu were the only ones here now.

Choi Han started to speak at that moment.

"…Your highness."

Choi Han's expression did not look good.

Alberu's tiger face tilted sideways in confusion as he looked at Choi Han. Choi Han finally managed to ask in a heavy voice.

"…Did you make a deal with a god?"

Alberu slowly nodded his head.

"Yes."

Alberu could see the two people's faces at that moment.

"Fuck."

Cale who was brushing his face with both hands, and…

"Why-!"

An angry Choi Han whom he had never seen get angry before.

"Huh?"

Alberu subconsciously gave a confused response before Choi Han, who seemed to be barely suppressing his anger started to speak.

"I was enough, so why did you give up your lifespan-!"
"Huh?"

Alberu gave another confused response which made Choi Han subconsciously start to get angry again.

'Someone other than me!'

Someone else had made a deal with the God of Death.

Alberu must have give up a part of his lifespan or something equivalent to it.

There was a fire burning in Choi Han's heart thinking about that.

"That motherfucking God of Death!"

The swearing Choi Han heard an awkward voice.

"But I made a deal with the Sun God?"
"Excuse me?"
"Hmm?"

Choi Han and Cale turned toward Alberu at the same time.

Their sparkling gazes made Alberu subconsciously start to tell them about what had happened.

"I met with Saint Jack."

He told them about how Cage came to his tent and had served as a messenger to connect him with Saint Jack.

"The deal was that I would get a device that would allow me to talk to Cale in order for returning the curse of the Crossman bloodline. I was only told that I could chat with you through this device."

That device was a black and white video communication device.

"I thought I was going to have a video call with you since they gave me a video communication device. But that…"

Alberu stopped for a moment before continuing to speak.

"It was a sleep induction device."
"A sleep induction device?"
"Yes."
"I was told that holding onto that video communication device would put me to sleep within five minutes and make me remain asleep for one or two hours. I was told that I could chat with you in my dream. I took that as only the two of us chatting together."
"Ah!"
"Hmm?"

Cale gasped while Alberu looked at him in confusion. Choi Han responded for Cale.

"Your highness, the flow of time is different here."
"The flow of time?"

Cale added on.

"Time moves faster in your world than it does here. It's only been two days here."
"What?"

Alberu's eyes opened wide.

However, Cale nodded his head and deciphered what was going on.

"…There shouldn't be any issues if you remain here as the Dark Tiger while you are asleep, your highness."

The one or two hours that Alberu sleeps in their world would be multiple hours here, but there shouldn't be much of an issue if the time he slept here was in his dream.

"Mm, for the flow of time to be different… But there shouldn't be any issues if it is in my dream. It won't affect the world I'm in while I get to spend more time with the two of you."

Alberu nodded his head as well. His mane majestically fluttered in the wind.

"Anyway, I opened my eyes to this situation."

Cale quietly recalled the battle just now.

'…It was indeed a bit weird.'

The Dark Tiger's reaction had become weird during their conversation. Cale realized that that must have been when Alberu had opened his eyes as the Dark Tiger.

Furthermore, he was able to deduce some other things as well.

'The monsters that appeared on Earth definitely have a connection to the Demon World or to the sealed god.'

And one more thing…

'The God of Death and the Sun God… Actually, all the gods might have tried to intervene with what happened on Earth.'

The proof of that was the leader of the taster monsters in front of him right now.

'Maybe the monsters that were capable of communication… Held a much deeper meaning.'

Cale could see Choi Han's shoulders flinching as he organized his thoughts.

He turned his gaze before realizing that the Tiger's black eyes were staring at Choi Han with a piercing gaze.

"…Looks like our instructor made a deal with his lifespan?"
"Mm."

Choi Han avoided Alberu's gaze while the Dark Tiger started to frown, making it look heinous.

It was extremely vicious.

"It looks like I need to have a deep conversation with my instructor."
"Mm."

Choi Han avoided Alberu's gaze again and looked toward Cale. He was asking Cale to do something.

Alberu stopped looking at Choi Han and looked toward Cale as well.

"Now then. I pretty much explained my side of the story, so now it is my turn to listen to your story."
"Mm."

It was Cale who groaned this time.

The Tiger didn't care and started to smile.

"I know about the test and the sealed god and little bits here and there based on everything I've heard."

The Tiger looked around.

It was very different than his world.

"…But this situation does not seem to be a simple test."

Even without considering the monsters, the crumbled buildings and roads, the people's appearances and clothing… Their abilities…

Everything was different than Alberu's world.

"And why…"

The most important thing.

"Choi Han looks the same, but…"

The Tiger got a little closer toward Cale.

The black eyes could see all of Cale.

Choi Han watched them with nervousness.

He bit down on his lips.

'What do I do?'

Alberu asked in a low voice as Choi Han had all sorts of thoughts going through his head.

It was the question that Choi Han had been worried about.

"Why do you look different?"

Cale looked toward Alberu without saying anything.

Alberu continued to speak while looking at him. He was not done talking yet.

"I know you very well."

That was the reason he was able to figure it out.

"The way you fought earlier while coughing up blood didn't seem like someone who was just trying to clear a test."

The Cale he knew seemed very affectionate, but he was cold in some aspects.

Cale had a stoic expression on his face during the battle just now as well, but Alberu could feel the desperation and solemness underneath that stoic face after having spent so much time with Cale.

That was why he realized it.

This place meant something to Cale Henituse.

"Where is this place? It must be related to you somehow."

Alberu asked Cale a question.

"Can you explain it to me?"

He could see Cale quietly observing him.

"I'll listen with full sincerity."

Alberu recalled the image of Cale fighting just now and added on.

"No matter what it is you tell me, I'll sincerely listen to anything you tell me."

Cale's pupils shook for a moment.

His eyes were the same as Cale Henituse although everything else looked different.

The dark reddish-brown eyes calmed down and continued to observe Alberu as if they had never been shaking in the first place.

"Your highness."

Cale's mouth opened after a long time.

"Yes."

Alberu waited for what Cale had to say.

Cale continued to speak without any hesitation after he opened his mouth to speak.

Alberu looked as if he would listen to whatever Cale had to tell him.

Cale continued to speak after a short duration of silence.

"Are Raon, On, and Hong okay?"
"…Huh?"
"The children. Are they doing well?"

Alberu let out a sigh with a look of disbelief.

However, he responded to him.

It was actually weird that Cale Henituse had not asked him about them as soon as he saw him.

"They're fine. As Choi Han probably told you, they were quite chaotic at first, and even before I fell asleep, they were talking about destr-, mm… Anyway, the Molan patriarch is making sure to feed them properly."
"I see. Are they eating well?"
"Yes. They are eating very well because I told them that you said they need to eat well."
"I see. I am a transmigrator."
"…Huh?"

Alberu questioned his ears for a moment.

He wondered if he had heard incorrectly because of his tiger ears.

Alberu could see that Cale looked calm.

Cale continued to speak with that calm expression.

"I started to possess Cale Henituse's body two years ago."
"…Huh?"

The Dark Tiger's jaw dropped.

Cale casually added on.

"For reference, my name is Kim Rok Soo and I worked at a company in this world until I was thirty-six years old until I suddenly woke up in Cale Henituse's body and have lived as Cale Henituse for the past two years."

Alberu could only respond in the exact same way.

"…Huh?"

The Dark Tiger was looking at Cale with a blank expression.

***

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]