"A fake?"
Choi Han stood up as well as Glenn, displaying a heavy frown on their foreheads, Eruhaben who was in the same state as they burned the fragments of the fake divine item and said.
"The Bishop is a sly b#stard."
"That fox...!"
Cage clenched her jaw and scoffed, she kicked the cabinet beside the door before storming out and shutting the door, she yelled angrily and spewed every stress she was having.
"That's it! I'm burning the Vatican now!"
"Cage-nim!"
"Let her be."
Glenn called her but Choi Han stopped Glenn from following the ex-priestess. Eruhaben cleared his throat before frowning even more deeply.
"The Bishop, he must have known this coming."
The ancient dragon had thought that it was impossible to steal the divine item that easily, how are the Bishop and the Vatican that stupid? something must have happened... something similar when Cage and Choi Han stole the fake divine item.
"Glenn, have you heard something about 'Bold thieves that are trying to steal the divine item?"
Glenn who was sweating flinched slightly and said.
"Thieves? I have read one of the documents from an acquaintance. 'Four thieves have tried to steal the divine item from the Church of death, two have been executed, and the rest are on the run..."
As if Glenn was putting in the final puzzle piece, he gasped.
"The fake divine item, they are luring the two remaining thieves... Choi Han and Cage took it, but they aren't the thieves they were searching for!"
"Exactly, that is why I destroyed the fake divine item. I sense a tracking device inside of it."
Choi Han, who looks like all of his blood has drained said hopelessly.
"Then, Eruhaben-nim..."
He clenched his scabbard tightly with a feel of a hole inside of him.
What about Cale?
They thought they could do something with this divine item that they had obtained, they thought that they could help Cale to make the situation becoming easier...
'... We made it worse.'
Eruhaben who saw the darkened expression on Choi Han's complexion sighed.
"We could still do something, ah. I haven't checked on Cale--"
Bang!
The earlier door that was previously shut by Cage was opened by Rosalyn who was huffing her breath, she with On and Hong behind exclaimed with a slight panic and excitement.
"Young master Cale! he woke up!"
On then continued what she wanted to say.
"But he didn't do anything, just staring at nowhere!"
-----
[Cale's point of view]
After vanishing from thin air, Cale opened his eyes to see a black surrounding with colors of space, seemingly to show off their beauty to the confused Cale, the redhair stared at it for a while with wide eyes, before shaking his gaze off.
Feeling no floor below him, he looked down.
"What the h#ck?"
He was taken aback when he saw no floor to support his legs, to be precise, he was floating in an endless void, similar to a tunnel shaft though there is no platform to be found.
Suddenly Cale got this creeping chill coming from his spine, scared?
'Me? scared? no way.'
Cale Henituse is not scared, he is not the type of person to feel that.
All amount of up and downs in his former world nor his current, even with the encounters of Gods and lunatics...
Floating in an endless void of space, nothing that couldn't be reached, and the quietest place of all places in the universe...
Cale Henituse has never been floating alone in the abyss of reality.
Kling!
A sound of notification that he was familiar with when he was still Kim Rok Soo was heard, Cale turned his head to the sound. he saw a floating rectangle with a white screen and a faint glow, making it similar to a TV in his former world.
Beside it, there was a system-like thing that is named on the top, 'Subtitles'.
'Why need for subtitles?'
He ignored what he thinks was useless and looked at the rectangular shape TV. The thing similar to a TV started to move towards him at a slow pace, Cale looked towards the screen with squinted eyes.
There was a video playing.
There was a clip of CS!Cale blinking his eyes, then turned around confused while seeing the surrounding of a battlefield suddenly appear around him.
Cale caught his eyes at the corner of the TV.
1
A number one was displayed at the corner of the video.
There are no sounds from the TV, only the sound of Cale's breathing and the fast beating of his heart.
'So this is why there's a subtitle, I see...'
A buzz from the TV made him jolt, the video started to change into a different clip.
CS!Cale was breathing heavily, his head was bleeding and blood is flowing on the right side of his face, he tried to cover the bleeding with his quivering palm, and he tried to stand up from the debris of the wall that had buried him.
Two hunters are standing while looking at the hurt young master.
Cale could see another number in the corner of the video.
12
A number twelve.
Cale mumbled while frowning.
"... numbers and CS ..."
Why is there a 'CS' in the first word of his name?
What does CS mean?
He continued to watch through the continuing appearing videos around him, the clip of CS!Cale tried to breathe properly when he realized his surrounding has turned into the battlefield he always remembered many times, when CS!Cale is trying not to faint and run away from the two first appearing figures of Alberu and Choi Han that are asking about his condition, the fast-beating heart of CS!Cale and the shaky eyes that are trying not to remember the visions of the bloodied cries of his family begging him to stop and not kill himself.
20
31
45
68
102
204
403
Cale looked at the numbers of the videos with pursed lips.
These numbers are the turns he had been experiencing.
506th turn.
689th turn.
743rd turn.
Though there is no audio coming from the appearing videos, but when CS!Cale screamed in frustration and the pent-up grief he had been bottling up.
Cale could feel the anger and sadness in his eyes.
And finally.
The previous video disappeared, leaving only the last clip that was presented on the TV screen.
999th turn.
The last string of sanity inside of him snapped.
['How can this be?']
CS!Cale blankly stared when he saw the same battlefield once again.
['When will this eternal suffer stop?']
He turned his head to the right to see two figures, six meters beside him, Alberu and Choi Han, looking at him worriedly.
CS!Cale suddenly has this strange feeling.
A Flashback...
[Mossieus eye is giggling at the despaired young master.]
[Noireq is laughing at the helpless Cale.]
The two most annoying Inhabitants, those b#stards that kept calling him hopeless and worthy of being pitied...
Suddenly, CS!Cale felt the two presentations of the Inhabitants inside Choi Han and Alberu.
CS!Cale was disheveled, he kept seeing Choi Han and Alberu as the two Inhabitants, but then it disappears, and appears again...but then dispersed...like a glitch that is also playing with his mind.
CS!Cale who has witnessed countless turns had been too tired to think of anything except revenge.
How he had been trying to be patient, having to bore these awful things. how he is so tired to even care anymore, where he came back after cutting his own neck with a sword...
His intentions are even not to protect his family anymore, but to hope that he could really die and leave this world forever.
Are these inhabitants really that uncaring? Allow him to repeat this story so many times that he doesn't know when it will be finished?
Having many such thoughts on each turn had made a small spark inside him that slowly became a bursting fire, making him frown and tense his jaw. The enlarged fire then seemed to burn his body. A wave of great anger and hatred had taken hold of his mind.
A thought of revenge...
['I'll kill them.']
He wants to kill those Inhabitants.
['I'll kill them all.']
!Error!
!Error!
!Error!
[Your actions are not following the storyline!]
[Warning! your actions are not following the storyline!]
["Cale-nim?"]
A red glow was swirling around the palms of CS!Cale, the young master's face darkened as he stretched his arms to Alberu and Choi Han.
["YOU D#MNED MOSSIEUS EYE!"]
["Cale--?!"]
Sparkles of red started to appear in their surrounding, Alberu took a step back while holding Taerang as well as Choi Han who was taken aback by the sudden shout.
["YOU FUCK#NG INHABITANTS! I F#CKING HATE YOU!"]
Like a raging bull, Cale Henituse ran towards the two of them with anger-filled eyes, ignoring the wound on his arm and screaming uncontrollably. Alberu and Choi Han dodged the coming strings of red with spikes, looking at the redhair with confusion.
["DONGSAENG! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"]
["Leave me alone you f#ckwards! get the h#ll out of my life!"]
A sob came out from his throat, but CS!Cale continued to attack blindly without any care.
["D#MNED SH#THEADS, YOU INHABITANTS!! I HATE YOU THE F#CK SO MUCH!"]
He just wants to rest.
['I'm tired.']
The heart of CS!Cale cried.
['Why can't they leave me alone?']
1000th turn.
CS!Cale blankly stared at the weak White Star.
['Why can't I get any rest?']
He bit his lip, he did not express any pain when blood was flowing from it.
['Just let me rest.....']
His knees went weak, he covered his face with desperation and clawed it roughly, a small hic sounded back.
['Please...']
as it turns out, his life is just a game of the Inhabitants, just a puppet doll pulled by a thread. having to play the same story all over to the start, again and again.
['..... I still want.']
CS!Cale thought.
['I want the freedom I deserve.']
Having to experience the same nightmares without any rest, to witness it countless times...
He wanted a good dream without any nightmares, just him being happy with his family.
A little spark at the very bottom of his heart still wanted to hope, a desire to get out of here, to stop the inhabitants out there from continuing this story, maybe, just maybe...but.
['Is hope even real?']
After all that had happened, can hope could still be obtained?
He curled and thought.
['I really hope.']
['.... I hope, someone will end us and this eternal nightmare...']
The screen went off.
End of clip.
"Mm...."
Thinking of the videos that have been played and the subtitles who have helped him with what was happening, Cale deducted that the videos are fragments of memories that the main character, CS!Cale has gone through.
Ah, reminded by CS!Cale....
"What is the meaning of CS?"
'Cale's story'? doesn't go well, thousands of universe out there also has thousands of different Cale's story, so it--
Ting!
Once more, a sound of a notification popped out. though it was from somewhere else on the TV. Cale searched where the sound came from and met with something.
There was a message from the Subtitle system.
[Do you want to know the meaning of 'CS?']
Ting!
[I will tell you.]
Not giving any time for Cale to respond, the system from who knows where started to explain without any command.
[CS means 'Copied story', meaning that CS!Cale and his family are 'copied', why copy? the original story, 'Cale' who made this story come true made Seth, the writer who wrote the original story, in other words, 'Copied story'. made CS!Cale's existence comes true.]
"... In short, CS!Cale is someone who was birthed by Seth... who imagined the original story and wrote it down, making a copy of it."
[Precisely.]
Cale closed his eyes and thought deeply.
'This system is suspicious.'
Suddenly appearing out of nowhere and saying that it knew the meaning of 'CS'? it sounds like it has hidden motives and is trying to lure him to trust and rely on this unknown system, also, why could it be sentient?
Trust him, with all the nonsense things that had happened to the redhair, dragons, elves, demons....vampires, so many things that are still out there waiting to be found.
but a talking system answering his question easily and appeared out of nowhere, also seemingly not give any empathy toward CS!Cale that is suffering every turn....
This 'System' thing could not be trusted.
Though Cale has such thoughts, human beings have curiosity.
Cale opened his eyes and stared towards the system.
"Who are you?"
The system that has known this coming made another message to the interface.
[I am someone that has created you from words.]
--
... well, who's back?
Hello everyone! surprising you all with an update! now I have returned after... almost 2 months....I got myself a Beta reader who is very sweet and kind to me!
now that I have updated, I will continue to sleep- ahem. write chapters, hooray!
thank you all for reading!