Chapter Text
Opening his eyes, Cale saw endless darkness. Different from the usual darkness, dark like when he almost died as Kim Rok Soo. Dark belongs to death.
Getting up and sitting down, Cale currently couldn't see anything. He wakes up in a place with nothing. Frowning, Cale stood up and tried to walk wherever his feet took him. After walking in a daze until time couldn't be measured because he couldn't sense time at all. Cale saw a light at the end, approaching the light, Cale finally saw a figure.
A handsome man with white hair and a cold face stared at the screen in front of his eyes. That, if you ignore the lightsticks in his two hands, he will look mysterious. Feeling that he had run out of patience, Cale finally shouted.
"GOD OF DEATH!!!!!!!"
And the man stared at Cale with his pupils dilated, dropping his light stick while it was still frozen.
"He will hate you more death" ☀️
"I agree with Sun" ⚔️
Cale looked to the other side after hearing that voice. A beautiful golden-haired woman, and a manly brown-haired man who carries 2 swords on his right and left. And Cale finally found out that this was the doing of the damn gods again.
15 Minutes ago
"Death" ☀️
Angelina, the sun god, approached Death who was still seriously staring at the screen containing his beloved Cale Hanituse hugging Dokkaebi happily. Death just hummed without looking at Angelina who was still watching him.
"Haven't you seen the opening yet? We need to quickly get him into your territory and explain everything to Cale." ☀️
"I agree with Sun, it will be better now that the apocalypse has just started and not too much attention yet" ⚔️
“Not yet, the constellations are still watching him. It would be strange if he suddenly fell asleep.”
"Don't think I didn't see you sweetly muttering over and over again. You just wanted to watch Cale's behavior for a bit longer right?" ⚔️
"Death..." ☀️
"Wait- ah.."
"Hmm?" ☀️
"?" ⚔️
"I didn't bring it on purpose..."
Death looked at the other two gods who were looking at him in confusion. Still holding the pink lightstick, Death said weakly as he looked back at the screen where Cale had suddenly fallen asleep.
"I just wanted to touch his chubby cheeks on screen.. but I accidentally used the hand that held that power to bring his into my territory.."
"Haaaaa...you..." ☀️
"Never mind, because already too. Now, where is he?" ⚔️
"...I haven't set the coordinates yet, so his consciousness will be transferred anywhere in this domain..."
"..." ⚔️
"..." ☀️
"Let's wait.." ⚔️
"Really...you.." ☀️
Death also looked back at the screen while spreading his perception, to guide Cale towards it. While staring at the screen that was still showing the panicked Dokkaebi carrying the body of his beloved child into the carriage and covering it with the Dokkaebi's blanket, and also stared at the messages of the constellations who panicked before calming down after seeing human they were worried about were only sleeping.
It didn't take long before Cale came and shouted
Now.
Cale glared at the God of Death who awkwardly averted his gaze and turned off the screen that still showed his body asleep on the train seat.
Angelina had explained the death god's foolish mistake with the god of war closing his eyes in previous resignation. But Cale was still annoyed with the god of death who always acted ridiculous. Cage once said that the god of death often whined, cried, screamed in his head. But he didn't know that this god was ridiculous even when faced with him. Very ridiculous. Doesn't match his cold face. Again, VERY ridiculous.
Inhaling and exhaling calmly to calm his emotions, Cale put on a straight face again while looking at the dark place before returning to the familiar office environment. Cale headed to the sofa in the corner of the wall and sat down while looking at the three gods who remained silent.
Right now Cale was in his adult form because it was his mind that was drawn here, not his body. So seeing the handsome Cale Henituse sitting quietly watching them nonchalantly was terrifying.
"Ahem, let's explain first about the blessings we have given you" ☀️
"Blessed to be loved-"
"Shut up Death ☀️
"You just shut up" ⚔️
"..."
Cutting off the death god, the two gods returned to explaining while giving Cale a small smile.
"Lots of people betray and stab each other during apocalypse. So that blessing will make you seem friendly, and people will tend to like you on the first meeting. It doesn't always work, but at least we guarantee you will survive the apocalypse when Blessing is active" ☀️
"Quite useful, but wouldn't that be a bit scary? A reader suddenly approaching me kindly annoys me, plus some people before the apocalypse also became friendly for no reason. Isn't that a bit strange? Wouldn't anyone feel uncomfortable with that? "
"Just the impression of being friendly and liking you a little Cale, doesn't mean they will just like you. It just means they won't attack you on the first meeting. It can make it easier for you to plan with those who become friendly rather than hostile." ☀️
"Of course"
Cale nodded in agreement with the sun god's words. The blessing would let him make a good first impression in any situation, and if the blessing actually activated properly, Cale would be able to keep the crazy protagonist from attacking him and see him as a friendly little boy. Pretty useful.
"Ah.. but the closer you are, the more that person will like you. Not to the point of infatuation but depending on the situation, someone will think of you as their favorite sister, nephew, child or anyone precious to them." ☀️
"They will become more protective"
Cale imagined his family in another world, which was quite protective even without their blessing. But Cale came back to thinking that he could show his strength, and make others realize that he was strong enough to protect himself. So Cale just nodded his head waiting for further explanation.
But the gods just kept silent while looking at him, ouch 2 gods because the god of death secretly made coffee with a cup, again with the words 'My Cale is so cute ' which makes Cale want to get up and crush it with anything around him. But before that brilliant plan could be carried out, Cale finally remembered one of the strange skills on that cursed window. Cale chose to ignore that damn 'half-immortal' there because he remembered his ancient power once saying it was the effect after stabbing a world tree dagger and he was asking about another strange skill.
“Something like a calming aura, is that from you guys too?”
Cale raised his eyebrows after seeing the war god speak after he was silent just now, he scratched his head and sat down on one of the office chairs.
“I just think that the apocalypse is the same as war, people tend to panic and there will be chaos. Just like the shelter I gave Cotton. This blessing has nothing to do with the war itself. The aura around you will make the people around you feel a little comfortable. , but it will be more effective if you make direct physical contact with the target. They could be instantly calmed by that aura. Don't worry about its effects, it is just as relaxing as its name suggests. Hopefully useful " ⚔️
Seeing the faint smile on the war god's face, Cale was reminded of the shelter where the mercenary's men were imprisoned before. That place had nothing to do with war even though it belonged to the god of war, though apparently, Angelina who was the sun god was even scarier with how she once ordered the extermination of people with black mana.
But Cale then glared at the god of death while gritting his teeth. Cale thought, if his aura and blessings were enough, why did that damn god have to make him a child who wasn't even 15 years old. His hands were itchy, he wanted to hit the death god right now. So Cale spoke his words sharply.
"why.did.you.make.me.into.a.child.you.bastard!!!"
"..." ⚔️
Seeing the two gods staring at the god of death, Cale was absolutely sure it was just the useless god's doing again. Even the god of death kept his cold, useless face while answering Cale's growl.
"Blessings are of no use to the constellations since among them are gods, angels, even demons. So the form of children will lower their guard. If they get suspicious, can't you just act innocent?"
The god of death answered calmly, but Cale could see a twitch in his mouth that others might not have noticed. The other gods even turned their eyes away.
"You can make me a 15 or 17 year old child, that's also still an innocent child. Why does it have to be a child? Hm? Huh?! Answer!!"
“Ahem, cute kids are loved by many. 10 years is the right age, not small or big.”
"Stop smiling, you two don't hold back your laughter either!!"
Cale turned to the other gods who were still holding back their laughter mischievously; it was even the war god whose shoulders shook the most as he held back his laughter.
“Anyway, children of that age are most suitable for deceiving all ages and races. You can be very well-liked even without a blessing, so we only hope for the best with that addition.”
"..."
Cale chose to ignore it and not bring up the matter but then he recalled the locked stats and asked about it. To which the death god still answered, who took the cookies out of nowhere.
"That's because you're not from that world, the increase in stats affects the world system, but you're not from that world so the system won't affect you. But that would be good, considering you're going to come back to that world and be gone, right?"
Seeing the faint smile on the death god's cold face, Cale picked up the cookies that was flying toward him while frowning. The death god said 'you' so Cale thought that did not include his uncle. Even though they were evil before, Cale, who lived with them for 5 years, knew that they had changed and were living a good life. Even Cale Barrow had changed a lot after the curse was lifted. Not because of sympathy or the effect of being with them, but Cale really knows that they are truly aware and live their lives sincerely. Having said that, Cale looked into the eyes of the death god and asked.
"What about them?"
The gods just fell silent, Angelina sighed, War closed his eyes and the death god looked back into his eyes quietly. He put down his cup and said calmly.
"Jung Gun and Jung Soo managed to infiltrate and take information from this world, there is something about the Absolute throne. We can send you back to your world when a gap opens during the struggle for the throne. The throne contains the power of an outer god, so we can exploit the gap amidst the chaos."
Cale gritted his teeth seeing the god of death change the topic, so he just repeated his question.
"What about them?"
“In that case, you will be able to return to that world.”
"Useless, Death" ☀️
"You better explain, you know yourself that Cale loves his family. As long as he considers them his family, he will protect them well." ⚔️
"Death..." ☀️
"..."
The death god was still looking into Cale's eyes and Cale was looking into his eyes. They continued like that until the death god sighed and averted his eyes first.
"I intend to just leave them like that"
“In the apocalypse?”
Forcing his words through between his teeth, Cale clenched his jaw tightly. He had long known that the god of death was always arbitrary, just like how he unfairly pulled Choi Han out just to save the world. But he's such a jerk.
"I refuse"
"You don't want to come back?"
"Back, but with them"
"Your friends won't agree"
“My family isn't the type to let people be abandoned just because they have no choice. My family is always looking for ways even by cursing gods to solve problems. Like how Hannah didn't go with Arm, and the half-dragon that was with us. I have the faith to change their destiny, and the faith to believe in their change. I'll convince them if they don't like it. After all like you said before, their power, especially Cale Barrow, is still with me. He's just an ordinary person if I want him to be. But if he could help fight the hunters as a card, wouldn't the three of them be good allies?"
"Their nature is criminal"
“It is not their wish to become a villain, as Dorph said that he was once a hated lion. Or Sayeru who just wants his clan to remain rather than disappear. They were just desperate, but those who reached out were fellow humans who is also desperate. Like how Hannah would follow Arm if she wasn't given hope, she would become a 'villain' and kill people. Blame it on the god of despair who exploited their weakness. I'm sure you know that too, god of death. That's why you brought them to me, you wanted them to change, you wanted them to become allies. Don't try to turn away"
Closing his mouth, the god of death averted his gaze as if reminiscing about the past. The gods just fell silent in the middle of their conversation quietly. The god of death was silent for a long time until he finally slowly opened his mouth.
“Cale Barrow is not from the dragon slayer village. He is an orphan who accidentally entered there. An 'outsider', in other words, he is hated wherever he is. He tried to gain recognition after living there, but he only received cold treatment. Until he heard about the story of the ancient white star that was defeated by heroes. About the ancient white star that enslaved and eliminated those who opposed it and retained those who worshiped it.
After that, Cale Barrow found the cave and carved it with his dream of becoming an ancient god and white star after that. He hopes that after becoming a white star, people will appreciate and respect him. He heard about Jung Gun's pact with the Dragon God, then took advantage of the curse loophole. And as you know, everything that was precious to him died, so he wandered through many reincarnations, following the trail of an ancient white star. But he lost so much more and in the end the god of despair just took advantage of him and made him only motivated to be a god."
Cale was silent, he finally understood why Cale Barrow had such a sad face when he asked why he wanted to become a god. And he also finally knew why that person looked so happy when everyone was together. Because from the start he was just lonely, but the curse made him unable to feel that loneliness anymore so he forgot.
"My son, Cale Barrow should have died when you killed him with the world tree dagger. But I gave him life again in that world with his curse removed. Took his right and left hand to accompany him. But he couldn't last long."
Widening his eyes, Cale was about to ask before the god of death continued his words again.
"His body and soul can only last until the future absolute throne. He will disappear as he should after that."
“Is… is there no other way?”
"..There is"
"Then-"
“He should return to your world where his soul was destroyed. He would have been able to take his soul fragment if he had been there.”
"Then it's as I wish, just send him first-"
“Are you sure, Cale? Barrow, who has finally obtained a family, will let you send him off, while you are still in the middle of the apocalypse?”
"...what about those lions and bears, can you send them too?"
The god of death frowned at Cale's question, Cale answered the question with another question.
"We can only take Cale Barrow because after that we have to repair his soul. But after that, we can then dispatch the other two at once."
"Can you guys send us 3 times?"
Cale turned his question to the three gods, Cale could see the war god nodded immediately, the sun god hesitated while the death god still frowned.
“Cale, do you want to be last?” ☀️
"Yes, I'm leaving last. So if possible, please send them first."
"Better think about it, Cale. Barrow will go berserk if he goes alone. You don't want him to become a criminal after he comes back to life, do you?" ☀️
"I'll take care of it, please send them back safely to our world."
“Okay, we got a lot of power thanks to your family and sect.” ⚔️
"War!!"☀️
"So we'll try. The first one is on the absolute throne but the second one can't be seen yet, we'll steal more information later"⚔️
"War.. you.." ☀️
“Angelina, you also know that Cale will not change his mind. Not after hearing Death say that to him. I believe Death also knew of this outcome when he made up his mind⚔️
"..Thank You"
Cale stood up and lowered his head sincerely. He knew they could force him back without telling him and asking his opinion. But apparently not. He thanked the gods this time.
“You should explain it well Cale, if we see any sign of disobedience while his soul is leaving that world, we will immediately destroy his soul.”
"En"
"Sorry we can't send you all at once, because it would be suspicious if all four of you disappeared at once" ⚔️
"Ah!! We forgot, we let your family see the screen where the constellations are looking at you. Even if they can't communicate, they can monitor your condition so don't get hurt." ☀️
"Who else is hurt, I'm afraid of getting sick so it's impossible. I'll just stick to the reader, who is the key to the world, while relaxing and lazing around"
"Um.." ☀️
"Uh.." ⚔️
"..."
Cale ignored the gods who turned their eyes away from him, as Cale declared he would be lazy and just stick around. Cale thought they must be disappointed in him, even though the gods only doubted Cale when he said that.
“It's been too long, maybe 3 days there. The time difference between this world and my territory is quite large, so you should return.”
Cale nodded and stood up, the death god approached him and patted his head. From the death god's hand, black smoke started to cover him. But then Cale heard the death god's voice.
"Oh I forgot. Because your power is too strong according to that world, half of it will be sealed or that world will hurt you with the power of Probability. We don't want that world to hurt you so please understand. And we also created a side effect of narcolepsy to compensate for your power. The more you use it the greater the effect of narcolepsy, so be careful~~ And we are Kim Namwoon's sponsors so we can help when it's critical, see you my son!!"
"Agh!! Damn-"
And Cale disappeared from the death god territory, before he could go on a rampage.
Apart from that, the other 2 gods stared at the death god speechlessly because he must have said it on purpose when he was about to send it.
"You really want to be hated, don't you?" ☀️
"Hmm?"
“Surely he will be cursed again” ⚔️
"..."
In the Roan Kingdom
Currently, Alberu is enjoying his break after inaugurating the Henituse Museum created by Clopeh Sekka. This person incited residents to help him convey the 'people's aspirations' so that the future king would inaugurate the Museum for Heroes. So Alberu, who had promised his beloved dongsaeng to give him slacker live for his dream life, could only surrender and arrange an apology for later.
After the letter in the sealed god's temple was received, the people calmed down again, although not too much. The dragons and their friends and even the duke helped spread the news so that everyone would help pray that the gods would have the strength to return their heroes who were taken by the evil gods (Nonsense from Clopeh). The eastern continent also spread prayer requests to nearby temples through mercenaries.
This week was what the gods promised if they could see their beloved Cale Henituse, so the Dragons flew and stood guard around the temple with Clopeh and his cult followers sitting around praying like ants. Alberu sat in one of the inns in Puzzle City after inaugurating the museum and doing work for the next few weeks.
-Prince cookies!!! Suddenly there is a god power barrier surrounding the puzzle city starting from the sealed god temple!!!
"Pffft"
Alberu who was relaxing finally spat out all his tea when he felt the immense divine power. Not long after, an enormous blue strange screen appeared in front of the entrance of the sealed god temple. From the screen, they saw their beloved red-haired hero with the form of a 10 year old child who was too cute.
Alberu, the envoys of many kingdoms, the Duke family, Cale Henituse's best friend, the Vampire king, the Elves, important figures of the eastern and western continents, even Choi Han and the Dragons stiffened seeing the little boy.
Alberu could even see Litana covering her mouth that was on the verge of screaming, and Toonka opening his mouth without being able to close it properly. Raon-nim also fell silent immediately, when he should have screamed for meeting his guardian after such a long time.
-T-that...
Look, our cute dragon is even speechless. Rosalyn the future tower master also took out a large number of recording orbs with Clopeh. The thousand year old ancient dragon that shouldn't be easily startled even froze.
-Nguuungg
Alberu turned his attention towards the live communication orb and connected. But once connected, all was very quiet, with no one making a sound.
It wasn't until about 10 minutes that the red kitten sitting beside the Dukes and the molans started talking.
-Ca-Cale becoming little child nyaa!!
But the atmosphere returned to silence, even Alberu saw the mercenary king spill his alcohol, into his clothes with a face that was still blank even after Glenn waved his hand in Bud's face, and the hands of queen Jopis who was looking at the blue screen through another communication device, were shaking violently while holding the cup. half of the tea has been spilled.
This time it was Eruhaben-nim who opened his mouth with a trembling voice.
-It seems like this barrier aims to separate this place from the outside.
-I received information that the flow of time outside is different from inside the city
Ron continued, who had just received information from his assassin.
-The god of death said that the flow of time in the world is different, so the barrier here functions to adjust to the time there
-The god of war said that the time difference remains the same as said before
-Here the sun god also said that we can only see young master Cale from the screen without being able to communicate with him
And after saints (and former saint) said what their respective gods had said, there was another silence. Alberu was sure that everyone wanted to especially wonder why Cale Henituse had to be a child, but was confused about who to ask.
Not long after the suffocating silence, everyone snapped back from their thoughts after hearing the sound of beating from the blue screen. There people beat an old grandmother. Alberu saw Choi Han glaring viciously at the screen and everyone focused their eyes on the now small hero.
They looked, cheered and worried to see their hero on that screen. They watched everything, from Cale preventing the white-haired teenager from killing, carrying small children, giving insects to other people, distributing apple pies, even when he hid in a hole in the ground while hugging a white creature, which made Alberu somehow feel that it had happened before. Cale cried which made the women worry, as well as Cale suddenly fainting which made the dragons fly almost crash into the screen.
All of them, whoever saw the blue screen, reacted while seeing their hero.
Correct. Alberu thought that his beloved dongsaeng would definitely get into a lot of trouble when he came back, seeing how many people would see whatever he did. Especially Clopeh who kept muttering 'As expected of my legend', but let's pretend we didn't hear.
And Alberu was right, it wasn't just chaos, Cale Henituse would also get a lot of lectures afterwards because of his crazy actions that didn't change even in another world, which made everyone very furious and would jump over worlds if they could.
But that's another story.
At this time Cale, who had just woken up on the carriage seat, felt goosebumps and scared for some reason. He even felt like his slacker life was running away from him, but he shook his head, and felt that it was impossible because he would become a slacker person who stuck to readers in this apocalypse, and a rich slacker person after returning later.
And for the umpteenth time, Cale's dream will be crushed before it even begins. With how the entire continent was watching his heroic deed later...
RIP Slacker life