Chapter Text
-Grrrrrrr
-Bzzzztttt
-Swooossshh
Once again Cale dodged monster's attack, in his left hand he burned it with lightning and stabbed with a water spear in his right hand. Then he quickly retreated with the wind as he used a stone spear to stab the monster that was about to bite him.
I am hungry...
He had coughed up blood earlier and a small trace of blood had already dripped from his chin.
I want to eat steak...
"Cale!!"
-Bang!!
Cale sent out his fire lightning and turned to Kim Dokja who was wearing an angry face.
Seeing Cale looking at him, Kim Dokja said his feelings.
"That bastard Yoo Joonghyuk... ...he had occupied the room first..... he says nonsense 'he's tired'... I want to hit him..."
There was a sound of gritted teeth when Kim Dokja said that.
"Forgive me..."
-Slash
Kim Dokja slashed the monster's head when his hand was almost bitten.
"What can we do about it? What about gilyoung?
"He might try to catch up, but..."
-Groooooaahh
Kim Dokja looked back, where Yoo Joonghyuk was looking at them while holding Gilyoung's one hand.
"..I think he will restrain Gilyoung."
Seeing Cale frown, Kim Dokja added with a slight laugh while kicking the monster that was about to scratch Cale.
"Don't worry, I told Gilyoung not to mention your name."
"Oh, very good. Now, Kim Dokja"
"Hah?"
KIm Dokja stared in surprise as Cale used the holy shield and faced him. That little boy wore a rare serious face.
"Keep your head down for a moment, what is that?"
"What?"
"Just get down!! Hurry, we're running out of time!! Why is it on you!!"
"Ah, yes"
When Kim Dokja looked down in confusion, he looked at Cale who still had a serious face that looked like he was facing a difficult problem. He opened his mouth to ask, but...
"What's wrong- Hmm!!"
Cale inserted the Specter Stone and pushed Kim Dokja's jaw shut, until there seemed to be a crash as his teeth collided with each other. As a result, the stone broke and Kim Dokja's body became transparent.
"!!!"
"Oh... it seems too strong. Good night."
Those were the last words Kim Dokja heard as he lost consciousness and his body became invisible.
-Bang Bang bang
"Cough.. tsk"
Before Cale could open his mouth to call out to his uncle, light arrows and fire swords were seen. They finished off the monsters that hit Cale's shield.
"If it takes longer than this, I intend to make Kim Dokja faint himself."
Barrow said with a frown, as he approached Cale.
-Bang bang
-Trang
-Grooooo
-Ssssshhhh
Cale just nodded slightly, he looked at Dorph who was attacking the monster with his body directly.
“Dorph, use your walls near where the monsters are created, it would be good if their movements slow down. Aim for their necks and stomachs, Sayeru stay near Dorph and attack the monsters that will get too close. Barrow and I will fight the remaining monsters that neither of them can defeat. Don't forget to let go of those who are not attacked, don't force them to fight. Our opponents are many, not few. So attack with as little movement as possible."
""Okay""
"Just rest a little Cale"
Cale shook his head at Barrow's concern.
"Kim Dokja said that the monsters will come out until dawn, but if we can finish off the number of them that will appear at once, then that would be good. No matter how strong we are, our stamina will be drained when we fight for 3 or 4 hours without stopping."
Barrow pushed away the monster that was about to attack Cale with his fire sword then looked at Cale again as Cale continued.
"The fastest is one hour, and the slowest is 1.5 hours. That's our limit. At this speed, maybe it can be done. Besides, our power is only half functional. It would be better if I still fought."
Cale looked at Dorph who was tearing the monster from its head and body with his bare hands and Sayeru who was splitting the monster with his lightsaber.
'Super Rock'
-I know 🪨
When Cale stomped his foot, a snake made of rock appeared. The same snake, when he broke through the Molden kingdom and encountered the young world tree.
-Me too ⛈️
Cale threw his fiery lightning at the snake's head.
"Go"
And asked the snake to attack the surrounding monsters.
-Brakk
Rock snakes and monsters collided, the scene became bloody. Barrow also threw his wind snake which immediately ate the monster and tore apart the monster that had entered the wind snake's stomach.
-Sshhhhhhh
There was the sound of snakes, but also the sound of wind. Cale and Barrow controlled the snakes and used other ancient powers as well to speed up the massacre.
The scene was chaotic with blood and nature clashing, but the rasi and dokkaebi found it beautiful as they all agreed to remain silent and not interfere with the fight.
Bihyung even bit his nails because he was worried seeing blood continuing to drip from Cale's chin.
Basically, Barrow's ancient power had been sealed in the mask and he was just borrowing it, so Barrow didn't really feel the backlash from it. Plus his plate is strong and wide, but Cale's plate is still weak and now, his body is small. So Barrow several times attracted the monsters to be attacked by himself and left only a few for Cale.
Almost an hour passed in that way, until...
"Ugh"
"Dorph!"
Cale saw the monster's claws piercing through Dorph's stomach, Sayeru, who panicked, threw an arrow at the monster's head, which bounced off.
-Bzzzt
Cale quickly followed up the failed attack, by throwing his lightning bolt at the neck of the monster that was still impaling Dorph.
"Go to the edge!! Barrow, make way."
"Yes"
Barrow created a wall of water in front of him and Cale to block the waves of monsters, then directed his snake to clear a path to the edge of the platform, Cale also created his shield wings to protect Sayeru and Dorph from the monsters attacking from side.
After arriving, Barrow immediately changed the direction of his snake to attack the wave of monsters again, to create a safe area when Cale approached the two of them.
"How?"
Giving the potion to the two, Cale looked at their tired faces.
Dorph and Sayeru did attack more as the first barrier.
"I'm ok.."
"A little rest would be welcome."
Dorph replied followed by Sayeru, When he narrowing his eyes at Dorph. After Dorph lowered his head, Sayeru was about to get up and go back to fighting, but Cale held his shoulders and looked at the side of Sayeru's mouth which still had blood streaks, then Sayeru's eyes.
"You also rest, there are not as many monsters as before. There are only a few left."
"But without Dorph, the monsters' movements will be fast again."
"I have an idea, now get some rest or I'll never ask you two for help."
Sayeru and Dorph looked at each other and were silent. Then after a full minute, Sayeru stroked Cale's head with a serious face.
"Do not push yourself."
"Of course not, because of you two, we were able to fight comfortably. Barrow also made me fight less, so I had enough rest."
"Be careful"
Cale nodded and stood next to Barrow while stabbing one of the monsters with a water spear, his rock snake had been deactivated 10 minutes ago.
"Can you use the water wall and fire sword for 30 minutes?"
"My plate isn't as burdened as yours, so I can last even 1 more hour."
Cale snorted.
"Don't lie, your hands are shaking."
"You saw wrong."
"Good- Ukh"
-BUkh
Cale had not finished speaking and was thrown to the side of the wall when his water spear attack missed.
"Cale!"
Barrow slashed the monsters that were attacking Cale, but he couldn't get close to Cale because he had to hold back the waves of monsters alone.
"These damn monsters..."
Barrow gritted his teeth, while Cale...
"Damn it..."
my ribs are broken...
-You're hurt enough Cale... sniff.. 💓
'I know'
Cale was about to get up when he heard a call that was more like a scream.
"Naru!! No!! Cale!! Let me go!! Cale!!!"
Cale looked at Gilyoung who was crying and screaming as he was being held by the damn protagonist. Apparently he fell not far from the hidden room. Because of the noise from the monsters, Cale couldn't hear Gilyoung's words, so he thought Gilyoung was worried about Kim Dokja.
"Kim Dokja just turned into a ghost and is fine"
Cale said as he waved his hand and got up.
"This hurts... damn.. I hate pain..."
Cale frowned in annoyance as he woke up while feeling excruciating pain. He then took out his superior's whip.
"Guys, do you remember what we did on the twin islands?"
-Wind dome?!
-What do you mean when we detain intruders to island, Cale?
Cale was about to shake his head when one of the elementals shouted excitedly.
-DANCE!!!
"Ah, right. When we spread the fire with the wind."
-We will dance!!!
-CHAOS FIRE DANCING!!
-What do we need to do, Cale?
"Help me spread the fire to attack the monsters, just do it for 30 minutes. When I tell you guys. Put out the fire immediately."
-Okay Cale!!
-We understand
-DESTRUCTION MURDER LET'S DANCE!!!
Cale threw his fiery rose lightning towards the monster which is directly spread by the wind.
"Barrow!! Let wind spread your sword's flames too, then buy 30 minutes until I can restrain the monster's movements!!"
Barrow showed that he had heard, by deploying a wall of water to block the monsters from approaching any further and drawing out his fire sword.
Wind spread the fire to monsters, making them howl in the heat until they were scorched. Like a dance, the fire winds weaved around the monsters and chose their own targets.
Seeing that scene, Cale closed his eyes.
-There are trees on the surface, although they are far apart and it takes time to contact them. 🛡️
'Do it'
-Okay 🛡️
-Don't overdo it Cale 🪨
-I... sniff.. will heal your injury 💓
'Thank You'
While Cale was still concentrating on contacting the tree, Barrow maintained his fire and water, as well as the wind elemental spreading the fire to the monsters.
Yoo Joonghyuk with a pale face was forcing Gilyoung to speak.
"Tell me! Who are you calling Cale!"
"I-it hurts.."
Gilyoung grimaced when he felt Yoo Joonghyuk's grip on his hand. Since 20 minutes ago, this bad guy beside him kept asking about Cale. Gilyoung was very panicked and forgot that he had to call Cale's fake name, Naru, because this person had a dispute with Cale.
To make amends, Gilyoung never said anything. Will never. However...
"Please..."
... what was strange, Gilyoung saw this person loosen his grip and lower his body to be parallel to him. Then this person put on a sad and pleading face.
"Please.. I beg you.. tell me who you called Cale.. I've looked everywhere for him.. I never find him.. I thought he was already... I... please..."
Yoo Joonghyuk looked down, while Gilyoung stared with wide eyes. His pupils trembled, he remembered Cale himself saying that he had a conflict with this person, but why did this person have a different response?
"You.. had a falling out with.. Cale.."
Gilyoung was still hesitant but he was also curious, so he said it weakly. However, the regressor had high stats and of course he heard about it.
"I'm not at odds, we did part without any words, but we never had an argument. I... I owe him my life... without him... I might have given up on life..."
Yoo Joonghyuk closed his eyes sadly, he looked for it in every regression and the result was always failure. His traces disappeared like he never existed, Cale gave him a lot of life advice, and accompanied him in the critical moment he owed a lot. He wanted to protect her in return, but he still couldn't meet her, no matter what he did.
His uncle just said that Cale disappeared, without explanation, no matter how they fought, they would remain silent. Even when Joonghyuk asked for cooperation so that they could search together, the three of them just tried to kill him and told him not to interfere.
He was desperate, feeling horrified after thinking that Cale might have died in the initial scenario. He hides his emotions, even from his colleagues. He didn't want Cale to become his weakness and get attacked, but no matter how he tried, he still didn't get any clues.
So now he saw the only hope.. he hoped.. maybe... he was okay..
"Please tell me..."
"Cale... he... are... are you really not going to do something bad to Cale?"
"I promise I never will. Without even promising I will never hurt him."
Gilyoung glanced at Cale in the form of Naru who was still standing still with his eyes closed.
Then he took a breath, deciding.
“That is Cale.”
Gilyoung said pointing at Naru.
"He... probably disguised himself because he was afraid of you..."
Yoo Joonghyuk looked at Naru in disbelief, he was confused but also looked scared. Besides, his hands were clenched tightly as if he wanted to run. This was the first time Gilyoung saw someone able to show so many expressions at one time. Then Gilyoung heard Yoo Joonghyuk lower his head and mutter.
".. I.. I did scare her.. she was with Kim Dokja.. Kim Dokja might say bad things about me... but I won't hurt her.."
"Then help Cale"
Gilyoung looked at Yoo Joonghyuk calmly. He didn't understand the emotions of the person in front of him, but he just wanted someone to help Cale. No matter what, he wanted to help Cale.
"If you're strong, help him fight that monster. I'm weak but you're strong, right?"
"I-"
Before Yoo Joonghyuk said anything, Cale shouted.
"Turn off the fire!!"
Cale saw the wind elemental put out the fire. He then raised one hand up and lowered it.
"Help me"
From the tunnel sky, tree roots tied the monsters tightly. One, two, seven, eight, twenty-one, twenty-three. Continue until all the monsters are bound by the tree roots that follow the movements of his hands.
[Many constellations are stunned by the natural scene seen]
"Kuh, Cough guh... uh.. kuhuk... damn... ugh this.. cough cough!!"
Cale covered his mouth that was bleeding profusely with his hand while one hand was still controlling the tree. The monster went berserk and forced its way free, which was a painful pressure for him.
-You've gone too far Cale 🪨
-We have to stop 🛡️
'no, continue'
-Your body will be seriously injured sniff.. don't continue.. sniff.. 💓
'just a little more'
-I'll try... 🛡️
-Haaaa 🪨
"Barrow.."
Cale said in a hoarse voice, still holding back his cough. However, Barrow and Sayeru had already moved after seeing the tree blocking the monster's movements.
this is very tiring.. I want to sleep..
As Cale staggered a little from the impact of the monster attacking the tree roots, someone grabbed his shoulder.
"?"
Cale raised his head, his vision was a little blurry due to fatigue but he was sure that in front of him was protagonist.
"You.."
"I'll help."
Joonghyuk patted Cale's head and took out his sword, he ran wildly and massacred the monsters. His face was scary too.
cruel bastard...
Cale patted his chest, feeling grateful that he was still in disguise. He was sure he too would be slaughtered if he was found out.
I can't go near him...
Cale nodded and focused his concentration on the tree.
Nearly 15 minutes later, all the monsters had died and the corpses had disappeared.
Cale immediately fell and covered his mouth with his blood-stained hand. The blood on his robe had been cleaned but the new blood that flowed out continued to stain the white robe again and again.
this is why I prefer black..
Cale frowned and was about to stand back up when...
"A-are you okay? I shouldn't have taken hidden room so you could come in, it's my fault... sorry..."
"????"
Cale raised his head with a big question mark.
this must be the protagonist's voice, right???
And sure enough, In front of him was Yoo Joonghyuk who was wearing a scary face earlier. But this time his face was very pale and his hands continued to shake as he stared at the blood in Cale's mouth.
what? is this person fake???
Cale continued to stare blankly as Yoo Joonghyuk took out a black handkerchief from his pocket and cleaned the blood on his chin and neck.
"Yoo.. Joonghyuk..?"
Cale said confusedly, Joonghyuk stopped his hands for a moment then hummed.
"..."
Only that? Aren't you an indifferent person? Why are you helping? Even in the novel, Dokja also tells about that!!
Cale blinked his eyes several times again and asked hesitantly.
"Why-"
"Cale"
oops.. caught..
Cale froze and stared blankly at Yoo Joonghyuk.
"Can you return to your appearance..?"
"..."
Cale nodded stiffly. He was conflicted between running away with the wind or deactivating the vampire treasure and returning to his original appearance.
-You can't use my power to escape, Cale.. 🍃
-Y-you sniff... you could pass out for days if you use your powers again.. sniff.. let me rest Cale... sniff.. 💓
-Ahem, I don't feel anything bad, so just follow Cale. Or Crybaby will go on strike later and you will be made to lose consciousness for days 🪨
'...'
-Be good 🪨
'...'
Cale held his breath and returned to his original appearance. But he was still preparing to run using his strength.
-Cale... 🍃
On the other hand, Yoo Joonghyuk stared at Cale intensely, Cale just felt like he was in the presence of a predator. However, when Cale was serious about running, Yoo Joonghyuk picked him up and pushed Cale's head onto his shoulder.
"??"
"It's really you... I'm grateful..."
is this the protagonist from another world? Maybe it's swapped?? He's from a parallel world, right? Bring back the real Yoo Joonghyuk!!
Cale was still daydreaming, while Yoo Joonghyuk stroked his back like he was calming a child.
Cale swore, he almost fell asleep several times because of Yoo Joonghyuk's movements. If only he didn't see Sayaru and Barrow who almost fainted being carried by other group members, who rushed to help.
Or Gilyoung who for some reason looked at him and nodded his head, clenched his fists and left. But Cale didn't understand, why was he nodding?? What the heck is this???
"..wait... don't you hate me?"
Joonghyuk's movements stopped but continued again.
"Who dares to say that to you?"
Is this just my feeling or does his voice sound colder...?
Cale swallowed his saliva then continued.
"Didn't I hit you, ask you to cook, bully you, destroy your house and more?"
"Haaa... I'm not bothered by what you asked or did to me, I just felt it was funny. But I was just worried when you suddenly disappeared..."
"..."
There was silence, Cale was at a loss for words while Yoo Joonghyuk just wanted this peaceful moment to last a little longer. But Cale couldn't stand it, he also felt strange. So he said.
"Didn't I also hit your head several times and called you an idiot??"
Cale raised his head and looked at Yoo Joonghyuk's eyes strangely, but Yoo Joonghyuk's reply was just a smile.
"That's just cute, why am I angry?"
"..."
it must have been swapped.... he's not Yoo Joonghyuk.. even back then, he rarely smiled... this must be a transmigrator..
"You...you're Yoo Joonghyuk, right?"
"yes Cale"
The protagonist chuckled again while pulling Cale's cheek.
...damn... is he 'M'?!
Cale felt like his worldview seemed to be collapsing, he just felt tired and wanted to sleep. He blamed the god of death and the person who dragged him here. It was because of them that Cale experienced strange things that made him doubt his life.
He just wanted to wait to be sent back, but why did he experience such troublesome things?
Cale was tired, so tired, he didn't want to think, he was just going to go through the scenario and not ask anything about this protagonist anymore.
-This is Cale's karma, karma, you will be in trouble, the same as when you give your family constant headaches 🪨
'...'
Cale fell silent and chose to ignore super rock. Maybe this protagonist was hit in the head too much by Cale that his brain shifted, so Cale would forget about it. Just assume it's the right thing and let it be.
Let's sleep...
And Cale planned to pretend everything was fine after waking up.
I just need to go through the scenario calmly anyway...
Then Cale hoped that, after waking up, Kim Dokja would also be done having nightmares.
I miss the talkative Kim Dokja...