Chapter 572 – Night of Potential (8)

But all Alberu could see was Cale's calm face.

"…So, you're saying…"

Alberu Crossman, the Roan Kingdom's crown prince, quietly mumbled in his shocked tiger face.

"…So, it is body possession?"

He could see both Cale and Choi Han nod their heads in response.

They both seemed quite nonchalant about it, and that made Alberu slightly annoyed even as his mind was a chaotic mess.

Cale didn't notice that as he added on.

"Oh, just so you know your highness, this is something only Raon, Choi Han, and now you know about."

"No, that…"

That's not the important thing right now!

Alberu closed his mouth without being able to finish saying what he wanted to say.

"Ho."

He was just in disbelief.

'Possession? Did he say possession?'

The word, 'possession,' floated around in his mind in circles.

Even Alberu Crossman, who would not be shocked about most things, could not hide his shock at this fact that he could have never even imagined.

But his expression was slowly returning to normal. It was because he recalled word for word what Cale had just said.

'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.'

If it was two years ago, then that was the year Cale had used the Silver Shield at the capital.

Alberu slowly started to realize the hidden reason behind why Cale's reputation started to change.

'It must be because he became a different person.'

It was completely unbelievable.

"In that case…"

Alberu opened his mouth after a while.

"In that case, is this appearance your true appearance?"
"That is the case, however… This appearance is also my past appearance from when I was around twenty years old."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, your highness. Ah!"

Cale stopped talking and looked toward Choi Han as if he realized something.

Choi Han smiled after seeing his gaze and started to speak.

"I wish to tell you something as well."

Alberu who also looked toward Choi Han flinched after hearing that statement.

"…There's more?"

Cale started to speak at that moment.

"Choi Han is my friend's paternal cousin once removed. He's an elder in my friend's family."
"…Ho."

The Dark Tiger's pupils started to shake once again, but Cale and Choi Han continued to speak without caring.

"As Cale-nim mentioned, I am Cale-nim's friend's paternal cousin once removed. Basically, Cale-nim's friend is my nephew. And just so you know your highness, I traveled through dimensions when I was about 17 years old and am actually much older than I look."
"He's right, your highness. Choi Han is quite old. In fact, he is probably older than your grandfather, the deceased former Emperor. Am I right?"
"Yes, Cale-nim. Of course, I am older than him."
"Your highness, he says he is."

Alberu who had been listening to the two of them started to speak again after a long pause.

"You motherfucking bastards."

The Dark Tiger started to shake its head. Its majestic mane was elegantly waving in the air.

"…Are you done now?"

Alberu could see Cale firmly nodding his head.

"There are more details, but I believe we've mentioned the big issues."
"Your highness. I will slowly tell you the details."

Choi Han had a calm smile on his face as he said that with an innocent expression.

Alberu looked at them with an even deeper frown before starting to sigh as he nodded his head.

"…I guess my secret is nothing in comparison."

It was quite funny, but Alberu felt that his secret about being a quarter Dark Elf was nothing in comparison to Choi Han and Cale's secrets.

It felt even more like that because of Choi Han and Cale's nonchalant demeanors as they shared their secrets.

'I do like that though.'

Alberu found it funny that he was having such a thought right now, but liked what he just thought about.

There was something else he liked as well.

'They trust me.'

He could feel the emotions behind the two people who told him their secrets.

Whether it was Choi Han who said it as if it was nothing but had his fists clenched or Cale who was focused on observing his expressions…

Either way, they trusted Alberu and told him their secrets.

The Dark Tiger started to speak.

"I like it."
"Excuse me?"
"…Excuse me?"

The confusion was now on Choi Han and Cale's faces.

Alberu didn't care as he nodded his head with a satisfied expression.

"I will maintain your secrets."

He then added on.

"Then am I the dongsaeng?"
"Should I be the hyung?"
"No. I don't like that."

The Dark Tiger sternly shook its head before adding on.

"Aren't you planning on returning to where we are anyway?"

Cale could see that Alberu's gaze was focused on him after asking that question.

Cale responded without any hesitation.

"I plan on going back. Of course I will go back."

He was quite happy to be able to meet people from his past whom he had to let go of once before, but the people of his present where he had not lost anybody yet was precious as well.

Cale truly wanted to create a future with the people of his present.

This world he was going through this test could be a real world and the people he was looking at could really be living breathing people, but…

Kim Rok Soo's 36 years. The memories he had with these people during that time were not there.

Cale heard Choi Han's voice as he organized his thoughts once more.

"I'll be going back as well."

There was a smile on Choi Han's face.

There seemed to be a bit of sorrow in his smile.

After being next to Cale's side here, Choi Han had been thinking about the moment he traveled through dimensions. He had thought about what it would be like to go back to that time.

'I won't be able to get used to it.'

Unlike Cale, who could adjust pretty well even after returning to his twenty-year-old self, Choi Han was not confident that he could live a normal life as a high school student.

'It's impossible.'

He had not forgotten that his name was Choi Han, but he had forgotten about a lot of other things.

He had also experienced a lot of new things as well.

Many of Choi Han's emotions had been buried or broken during those times, but they had newly blossomed to arrive at where he was now.

'I like how it is right now.'

Even though they had not taken care of the White Star yet… Even though a lot of things were uncertain and things could be dangerous for Choi Han and the people he had connected with, Choi Han still liked how it was right now.

That was why he had no desire to go back.

Choi Han recalled a portion of the conversation he had with the God of Death, something he had not told anyone.

'Let me know if you want to go back to your world.'

'Really… Just as Cale-nim mentioned…'

"The gods really do whatever the hell they want."

Choi Han flinched after subconsciously saying that out loud before making eye contact with Alberu and Cale.

"That's very true."
"Choi Han, nice choice of words."

Choi Han chuckled at the two of them who were strongly showing their agreement and nodded his head.

Alberu quietly observed Choi Han and Cale who seemed to be more at ease and kept his mouth shut.

'…I'll tell them later.'

Originally, Alberu was planning on telling Cale about how the White Star had smacked him in the back.

However, he kept his mouth shut after seeing the desperate expression on Cale's face during the battle and hearing that this was Cale's past from when he was twenty years old.

'…I'll do as much as I can do first.'

It was not something that could be resolved even if he mentioned it right now, so he decided not to tell them for the time being.

It was at that moment.

Pat.

Cale put his hand on the Dark Tiger's furry front paw.

"Now then, hyung-nim."
"…What is it?"

Alberu felt iffy after seeing that Cale was smiling brightly.

He found the smile to be even more suspicious as he suddenly called him hyung-nim after calling him 'your highness' until just a moment ago.

It felt extremely sly after he thought about the fact that Cale was at least 38 years old.

"Hyung-nim, around when are you going to wake up?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"I don't know how the Dark Tiger would act once you wake up."

Alberu who had been feeling iffy looked down at his body after hearing a normal and understandable question before he started to speak.

"I'm dominating this body so it should move as you tell it to move if I order it to follow your orders while my mind is not here."

Then Alberu could chat with Cale again as the Dark Tiger once he fell back asleep.

Smile.

The corners of Cale's lips started to go up.

"Oh. That's great."
"…Right?"

For some reason, Alberu had a bitter taste in his mouth after seeing that smile.

It was at that moment.

"Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii–!"

A sharp screeching noise filled Alberu's ear. As the Dark Tiger's eyes looked up at the sky…

"It's here."

Cale stood up from his seat.

He could see a shocked Park Jin Tae running toward him.

"Hey, Kim Rok Soo! Isn't that a Grade 1 monster? Why did another Grade 1 monster appear? I thought you said there were only seven of them!"

Another Grade 1 monster, a large hawk-like monster with stiff grey feathers, was headed this way.

This monster was not a regular Grade 1 monster.

Alberu started to speak.

"That one seems like a leader too."

Although it was screeching like a monster right now, this monster was actually another leader of the taster monsters that was capable of communication.

Cale started to speak at that moment.

"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."

In addition…

"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."

And finally…

"Third."

Cale made eye contact with Lee Jin Joo.

"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."

The third was the worst situation.

Although there would be no leader monster there, the remaining Grade 1 taster monsters and the Grade 2 monsters would all come charging in.

Cale turned his gaze and looked up at the sky.

The Steel Feather Hawk, another leader of the taster monsters that was headed toward this building…

This hawk was the bastard who had attacked the central shelter closest to this central shelter.

It fell under the third category as it had come to attack this place as well.

The corners of Cale's lips started to go up.

"The prey is here."

Cale slightly shook his head.

"No. I guess it is an enemy to chat with?"

Alberu's eyes clouded over after hearing his mumbling.

He didn't know everything that was going on, but he could deduct something from what Cale just said.

"You… Are you planning on keeping that bastard captured here?"

Cale raised his hand instead of responding.

This was a signal they had discussed in advance.

Lee Jin Joo started to speak at that moment.

{Starting now.}

Her voice was shaking a bit.

'I didn't know he would really do it!'

Her heart was shaking even as she said the things Kim Rok Soo told her to say in advance.

But she clenched her fists and opened her mouth.

Lee Jin Joo's voice echoed to the two nearby central shelters that could hear her.

She was speaking to the two other central shelters that would be doing their best to resist the Grade 1 monsters with the information from Cale that Park Jin Tae had delivered.

She delivered a message to them.

{We will now send the first round of reinforcements.}

Park Jin Tae who had been headed toward Cale stopped moving and looked toward Lee Jin Joo with his eyes opened wide.

He then turned his head again to look at Cale.

{Please hold on a little longer.}

Grandma Kim remembered the conversation she had with Kim Rok Soo and stood up.

"It's my turn now."

Lee Jin Joo added on.

{The first round of reinforcements will take care of all of the taster monsters.}

Cale opened his mouth to speak.

"Choi Han."
"Yes, Rok Soo hyung?"

Cale's gaze was focused on Lee Jin Joo even after hearing Choi Han's response while also looking at the Steel Feather Hawk.

He continued to speak with his gaze still focused.

"Play around with that Steel Feather Hawk for a while. At least until 5 pm. You can get some rest while training Lee Chul Min."

Choi Han's eyes sparkled for a moment before he nodded his head with an innocent expression.

"Yes, hyung-nim."

Cale started to smile after hearing a reliable response.

He then looked past Park Jin Tae who was now close to him and looked toward Alberu.

"Please go with me, hyung-nim."
"Ho."

Park Jin Tae could not hide his shock at the fact that Cale was going to go help another central shelter with this leader monster.

However, the Dark Tiger started to smile and revealed its hidden fangs.

The Tiger's low voice echoed in the area.

"Are you and I the first round of reinforcements?"
"There are a few other people as well."

Cale stopped for a moment before continuing on.

"First."

Each central shelter's attack teams had people who might not be at Park Jin Tae's level but were at least pretty close.

The central shelters had crumbled in the past because of the taster monsters, but they should still be holding on thanks to the information Cale had given them.

'I told them to send up a signal if they fell.'

They had not seen any of the signals yet.

That meant that everybody was doing their best to hold on.

That meant that there was only one thing for Cale to do.

"First, we will go to help them."

He then quickly added on.

"Then, we will prepare to launch a counterattack."

Park Jin Tae and Alberu looked toward Cale while Choi Han seemed calm.

"C, counterattack? Us?"

Park Jin Tae was stumbling on his words.

'How could they launch a counterattack against these monsters? Was something like that even possible?'

Park Jin Tae could see Cale's calm gaze after he asked that question.

Cale opened his mouth and started to speak in a calm voice.

"There's no reason we can't launch a counterattack."

His voice sounded peaceful.

"We can't keep being on the receiving end."

However, the corners of Cale's lips that had twisted up gave Park Jin Tae the chills.

***

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]