Ring~ Ring~ Ring~
The bell signaling the end of learning activities at one of the high schools in Seoul rang.
The red-haired youth who had been burying his head between his hands immediately raised his head when he heard the sound of the bell which for some reason was more beautiful than the song of the mermaid in his ear.
Cale raised his gaze and watched the teacher walking towards the outside of the room, a slightly pleased look appearing on his normally flat face. The redhead's hand took the suit that belonged to him on the table and then put it on.
The redhead stood up, he waited for everyone in his class to come out before loosening his tie and slowly walking out of the classroom.
In front of the class that was waiting for 3 youths who had hair color that were next to each other, Cale approached them. The owner of the black hair among the three people noticed Cale's arrival and immediately put on an innocent smile, ignoring the other two who were still busy arguing.
Choi han drew closer to Cale while still showing his smile.
"Cale!" Cale gave a small nod.
"Choi Han." Hearing the voice of the youngest automatically stopped the fighting from the other two.
The two people with very flashy hair colors drew closer to Cale.
"Cale./dongsaeng!" Cale let out a small sigh.
"Hello hyung." Bud and Archie chuckled at the forced tone in Cale's voice.
Cale ignored the two people and chose to stare at Choi han who always looked quiet and calm.
"Don't you have night class? Why are you even here?" Choi Han smiled again.
"I want to say goodbye."
"Heum! Choi han is right Cale! I want to say goodbye and give this whale some advice to take good care of you!" Bud ignored the grumbling from the white hair and chose to hug Cale's shoulders and slightly pulled him closer.
Cale sighed, he glanced at Bud, and at himself then realized that they had quite long hair.
Well that didn't mean Cale was uncomfortable, because his hair was currently the same length as his when he was commander and led the war as well as Bud's which was almost the same length as his own hair. Cale only tied half of his hair while Bud tied up their hair completely.
Cale remembered that Bud's hair was shorter compared to his real hair when he was in the Roan kingdom, well because indeed the maximum length allowed by the school was the same as their current hair.
(Cale)
(
Bud)
(
It's Archie, but his hair was short, as short as Choi han)
Cale nodded curtly, the four of them walked towards the gate accompanied by the fight between Bud and Archie. Cale just sighed while Choi han completely ignored the two people and only focused on the road and occasionally chatted with Cale.
They finally arrived at the school gates after saying their goodbyes, Cale and Archie finally walked towards the animal buying area for tomorrow's festival.
-------------------------------------------------------
The redhead walked around the shop and Archie faithfully followed his lead while occasionally smiling at Cale's serious look and in the next second the redhead groaned in annoyance, it was funny to Archie.
"What should we buy?" Archie snapped out of his daydream and saw Cale who was staring at him.
"Buy whatever you want Cale." Cale sighed.
"...I know that, but the teachers said the animals we brought with us should be taken care of then we should always report on their progress. That's troublesome." Archie chuckled lightly at the grunts from Cale.
"Then buy an animal that doesn't require much grooming." Cale nodded curtly.
"How about that?" Cale pointed at the two gold fish with large bellies.
Archie looked at the 2 fish before finally nodding.
"Heum. They seem to be pregnant, we just need to report until both have children. Fish care isn't too much of a hassle anyway." Cale nodded in agreement.
After reaching an agreement the two walked towards the cashier and immediately paid for the fish of their choice.
They chatted occasionally until they arrived at the train station, Cale and Archie waited for the train that would take them while occasionally paying attention to the fish on Cale's lap.
The announcement from the train had sounded, Cale and Archie stood up then walked into the carriage of the train. After making sure Cale was seated comfortably Archie also sat beside Cale.
"Next week..... You're taking part in the swimming competition aren't you?" Archie smiled at Cale's flat tone.
After more than 10 years of living together with the redhead, Archie felt that now he knew Cale even more than the rest of Cale's family in Roan. So Archie knew behind the flat tone that sounded Cale really cared about him.
"Hey, don't worry I'll win." Cale snorted.
"I know you're a whale after all." Archie immediately laughed at that.
"Right, I'm a whale." Archie looked at Cale who was busy staring at the fish in his hands.
"...fighting." The small smile that formed on Cale's face made Archie's smile also expand.
"Of course Cale." The two of them fell back into a comfortable silence while waiting for the train to move.
Not long after, the train started moving.
Cale was deep in thought he remembered the children as well as the rest of his family. Hell, he even misses his Ancient powers that are always fussing in his head.
For the past 10 years Cale had always tried to use his Ancient powers but it was a shame that he couldn't do it. Cale sighed.
'I miss the cry of the crybaby... Invitation to spend money from cheapskate..... Glutton who always asks to eat..... Thief who always invites me to steal from Arm..... Invitation to beat anyone from Sky eating water.... Also lectures from super rock, hell even I miss the sound of wind elementals... haa-'
-sob- that's touching sob- why can't Cale hear us?
Cale was silent.
-shut up! I miss Cale too, damn gods! just wait! I will beat them all!
-HAHAH right! Let's destroy everything! after that, we can waste all of Cale's money!
-when will Cale steal from the bad guys again?
-I am hungry
-calm down you guys, Cale can't hear us.
'......?'
-.........!
-! CALE!!!!
- Cale! Can you hear us?! You can hear us right?!
-sob- Cale answered sob-
'..... I listen.'
-I'm grateful! You know it's been 10 years we tried to talk to you but you didn't respond to us, so we know that we are sealed by those gods.
-damn gods! Let's fuck them up, Cale!
-HAHAHA beat!!!
A smile appeared on Cale's face, although his head was quite dizzy hearing voices scrambling to speak but he was happy. Cale was very happy.
'Relax.... If you are sealed doesn't that mean that we have your seal removed?'
-that's right Cale unfortunately our strength is not like before we are weaker....ah that also means the apocalypse is coming soon-
Ngingg-
Just as the words from super rock ended the carriage Cale and Archie were traveling in suddenly came to a sudden stop, Cale almost fell down if it weren't for Archie holding his body.
"Cale! Are you all right?!" Cale nodded slightly, he grabbed Archie's arm trying to balance himself.
The lights in the train carriage went out, Cale looked around him, suddenly a feeling of deja vu filled him.
The sound of panic filled the train carriage enough.
"Cale?" Cale shook his head slightly.
"To All passengers-"
The people on the train breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the train driver's words, but unfortunately it didn't last long-
"E-everyone run-"
Everyone on the train panicked.
"What? What happened?!"
Archie drew closer to Cale and protected Cale's body from whatever was about to happen.
A familiar feeling filled Cale's head, a light suddenly appeared and a voice sounded in everyone's ears.
[The free service of planetary sytem 8612 has been terminated]
[The Main scenario has started!]
Cale knew he shouldn't doubt God's words, but still he felt annoyed at the goddamn god.
Right in front of the door of carriage 3807 a white creature appeared.
".....Dokkaebi?" Cale heard a woman's voice, he turned his head and then a click filled his brain. Cale snorted in disbelief.
'Really? Another novel? That god seems to really enjoy playing with me."
That cute white creature was a Dokkaebi, Cale well remembered how it was described in the famous novel when he was still Kim Rok Soo.
[$ @ & # € £ & !]
The creature started to speak but what it emitted was not a coherent language that anyone in the carriage could understand.
[£ & # $ @ ! ]
"What's that?"
"An animation?"
All of the voices were overlapping scrambling to be heard, but of course Cale could still quite well hear the words of the brown-haired woman he was more or less familiar with.
"That sounds like Spanish, should I try to talk to him?" Cale glanced at the woman, he could see a man beside him slightly flinched slightly.
Cale watched the man.
'The protagonist in this world..... Kim Dokja- a bastard who always sacrifices himself. Yes, even though I don't read ORV novels, all my colleagues used to always tell about Kim Dokja, the person who always dies in every scenario. I was going to read the novel after I finished reading the novel (Birth of Hero) but unfortunately I can't do that.'
"Cale.... Isn't that Eastern Continent's language?" Cale turned to look at Archie before noticing the Dokkaebi in front of him.
".....That's right, it's Eastern Continent language." Archie and Cale were very familiar with the language that the Dokkaebi emitted.
".....Should we talk to him?" Cale shook his head.
"No need, be prepared I feel things will get worse." Archie nodded, his left hand moving to guard Cale while his right hand headed towards the dimensional pocket on his shirt, Archie was ready to draw his spear at any moment when the situation worsened.
".....Do you know what it is? Do you want to ask for money?"
"No but...."
The woman's words were cut off because familiar language began to sound from the white creature.
[Ah. Ah. Does this sound good? I had a hard time because the Korean option didn't work. Everyone, can you hear me now?]
As the usual language spoken was heard, everyone in the carriage began to put on a relaxed expression. That's when a big man stood up, "Hey! What are you doing now?"
[..... Hah?]
"Are you filming? I have to go because I have to hurry to the audition." Cale and Archie looked at the person flatly.
'A fool like him is usually the first to die.'
[Ah audition. Yes, this is also an audition. Haha, there is a lack of data. I just logged in at 7pm.]
Everyone looked at the Dokkaebi strangely.
"What are you talking about?"
[Now, now. All of you, relax in your seats and listen to me. From now on I will tell you something very important!]
"What? Get off the train quickly!"
"Someone call the captain!"
"What do they do without the cooperation of the citizens?"
"Mom... What's that? Cartoons?"
The carriage was filled with chaos, but none of that bothered Cale and Archie who were still keeping their cool and observing the situation.
"Hyung, do you remember when I said that I wasn't Cale henituse?" Archie looked at Cale in confusion before finally nodding.
"I said that I entered into the novel which is your world right?" Archie was getting confused by the direction the redhead was talking about but he listened to it anyway.
"Now we are in another novel." That statement hit Archie's thoughts, he looked at Cale in disbelief.
"You mean...." Cale nodded.
"We're in a novel, but I've never really read this novel." Archie was silent as was Cale.
"Yoo sangah-ssi it's dangerous, so stay here."
"Hah?" Cale glanced back at the two people who were only a few seats apart from him. He saw Dokja holding Sangah's arm slightly widening his eyes.
"The chaos is about to start Archie." Archie nodded and drew closer to Cale putting on a stance that was ready to attack or defend.
[Ha ha. You guys are so noisy.]
There was a presence with a stronger persuasive power compared to the people in the carriage.
[I told you to be quiet.]
Cale reflexively closed his eyes when he saw the eyes of the Dokkaebi turn red, the previously cute face turned sinister. For God's sake, Raon was hundreds of thousands of times cuter than the white creature over there!
Explosions were heard filling the carriage and then everything fell silent.
"Uh... Uh..." A hole Cale could see in the forehead of the actor who was about to audition.
[This is not a film shoot.]
Another explosive sound came from the man who questioned the captain.
[This is not a dream, this is not a novel either.]
'Well actually this is a novel-'
One, two.... Blood spurted into the air as the heads of several people started to explode. They were the ones who protested the Dokkaebi, as well as the ones who screamed and went wild. Instantly the subway became a bloodbath.
[This is not the 'reality' you know. Do you understand? So everyone shut up and listen to me.]
More than half of the people died, blood and body parts filled the subway carriages. Everyone was now silent no one dared to say a word, Cale and Archie stared at their surroundings blankly.
'That is human instinct, when they know there is a power higher and greater than them then they will all bow down obediently to that power.'
[Everyone, your life so far has been fun haven't you?] Cale and Archie simultaneously frowned.
'Pleasant? We die to kill the craziest criminals, then come back to life only to come back to face stupid things like this. And you said this was fun?!' Archie gritted his teeth a little, he was annoyed. It felt like Archie wanted to tear the white creature apart with both hands.
Sensing Archie's irritated feeling, Cale lightly gripped Archie's left hand, as Archie's hand felt the smaller hand gripping it automatically Archie's irritation evaporated like it never existed.
"Calm down." Archie nodded slightly.
Cale saw the Dokkaebi who was making eye contact with one of the old grannies on the special seats for people with special needs.
[You have lived too long for free. Isn't life too generous? You are born and don't pay to breathe, eat, pee and reproduce! Ha! You guys really live in a good world!] The frown on Cale's forehead deepened.
What? What did he say? Free? Cale snorted, no one in this world lived for free. Even defecation they have to pay if they do it in a public bathroom, The only thing free is breathing. Well- although Cale did steal money from some brash people sometimes- but let's save that story for later.
[But now the good day has ended. How long can you live for free? If you guys want to enjoy happiness, it makes sense to pay the price, right?]
The people in the carriage were gasping for air, they wanted to answer but didn't have the slightest bit of courage to do so. It was then that someone cautiously raised his hand. "W-do you want money?"
Cale and Archie secretly sighed.
'Another fool.'
"Yoo Sangah-ssi. Isn't that Department Head Han from the finance team?"
".... Right." Archie glanced at the man who was talking about the money and then whispered towards Cale.
"Cale, isn't he your next target?" Cale nodded.
"I was planning to rob his family of money - but that doesn't seem necessary now."
"Too bad."
Cale watched the man, his Record ability recalling all the information he had about the man. (Cale is really grateful that his Records ability isn't as sealed as his Ancient powers.)
Han Myungoh, the head of the Finance department of one of the companies. He got the position because of the influence of his family, a few months ago Cale managed to find out the illegal activities carried out by the family, Cale was going to reveal all that to the public and rob some of the assets owned by the family but unfortunately that couldn't happen now.
Cale's ability also recalled the conversations his colleagues had about the novels they were reading, if Cale remembers correctly Han Myungoh was a very annoying character at the beginning of the chapter luckily he finally has character development in the future. Ah- Cale came to remember that Han Myungoh had a daughter- well let's forget about that.
"I'll give you money. Take it. Please note that I am this kind of person." Han Myungoh took out his business card, Cale could see several people staring at Han Myungoh as if he was a savior from an act of terrorism. "How much do you want?"
He offered a large amount of money, Cale and Archie snorted in amusement. It should have been an impossible amount for a head of the Treasury at a lesser-known company, but when you think about the illegal activities the family was involved in, the amount he was offering was quite reasonable.
In Cale's head, Cheapskate laughed at Han Myungoh and said that his entire family's fortune couldn't compare to Cale's. Yeah- he wasn't wrong either.
[Hmmm. You gave me money?]
"T-that's right! The cash I currently have isn't much but.... I can give you anything if you get me out of here."
[Money. Good, plant fiber that many humans agree on.]
The man's expression brightened, on his face it was as if it was written 'indeed, money is everything.' Sad.
"Now this is all I have-"
[That only applies in your space and time.]
"Hah?"
In the next second, flames appeared in the air and completely burned the check in the man's hand, causing Han Myungoh to scream in terror.
[The paper has no value in the world of the macrocosm. If you do this one more time, I'll blow your head off.]
"U-uhhh..." Fear filled the faces of the people in the carriage again.
"Well - at least he can flaunt his possessions a bit before it ends tragically." Cale almost laughed at Archie's comment.
[Phew. The debt piles up when you're noisy. OK. Rather than explaining it a hundred times, wouldn't it be quicker for you to make some money yourself?]
The Dokkaebi's horns rose like antennae, and its body soared to the ceiling of the carriage.
A moment later, a message sounded.
[# Channel BI-7623 open]
[The constellation has entered]
A small blue window that closely resembled a game setting, appeared before everyone's empty eyes.
[The main scenario has arrived!]
+
[Main Scenario #1 - Proof of Value]
Category : Main
Difficulty : F
Clear conditions: Kill one or more creatures.
Time limit : 30 minutes
Compensation : 300 coins
Failure: Death
+
The Dokkaebi smiled faintly as it became transparent and disappeared into the next space.
[In that case, good luck to everyone. Please show me an interesting story.]
In that instant the Dokkaebi disappeared.
"Should we kill now, Cale?"
".........."