Chapter Text
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Illusory Prison.
It was a zone that triggered the victim’s trauma, capable of incapacitating even the strongest Incarnations. It worked by analyzing one’s worst memory and recreating it in their mind. The only way to escape was either by utilizing a Dispel skill, using items that grants the user some mental attack resistance, or with sheer mental fortitude alone.
“Human, are you gonna faint?”
Cale blinked, just as Kim Dokja used his Personal Skill to somehow escape the Illusory Prison. He rubbed the bridge of his nose to stave off the sudden headache, before turning to look at the baby dragon on his lap.
“You look pale,” Raon said when Cale didn’t respond. “Is it ‘cause of this Sub-Scenario? Should I threaten the Dokkaebi again? Or should I just destroy this planetary system?”
“...No, it’s nothing,” Cale said, realizing once again how vicious dragons were. He turned back to the screen to observe the way Kim Dokja dealt with the aftermath of the Illusory Prison. “I just saw something unexpected, that’s all.”
“Must be shocking for someone as weak as you,” Raon nodded sagely. “Why, it even shocked this great and mighty dragon to see those humans losing their minds! What was up with the soldier human, anyway? He had his head on the ground and his butt high up in the air!”
“It’s a common form of punishment in the military,” Cale replied with a shrug, hoping his nonchalance was good enough to hide his unease. “It strains your whole body, especially your head, neck, and back, considering that you have to maintain that position for a prolonged period of time.”
“Is it painful?” Raon wondered, before trying out the punishing pose himself. Apparently, his head was too big and his hind legs were too short that he ended up using his snout to maintain his position instead of his forehead. His front legs couldn’t even touch each other on his back as they were blocked by his wings. “It is difficult!”
“It’s tough, yeah,” Cale said, indulging the dragon who looked like a shriveled winged caterpillar at the moment. “Which is why it’s used for punishment.”
Cale noticed Choi Han smiling eerily in the background, the familiar vicious light back in his dark eyes. He was a sharp one, as always, though most likely misunderstanding the punishing form as the reason why Cale was bothered at this moment.
After all, however brief it was, he didn’t expect to see the illusion as well.
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“Oh? If it isn’t young master Cale.”
As they entered Chungmuro, their channel was immediately joined by multiple others. The Main Scenario was becoming more large-scale, and the third one was about to begin in this very place. Acquaintances among Constellations greeted each other, and it was no different for their group, as a screen tab appeared on one corner of their screen, showing a video of a familiar blue-haired woman.
“Witira,” Cale greeted the Queen of the Whale Tribe with a smile. “I see that you’ve been following her.”
“While I did begin by following Yoo Joonghyuk, this girl seems more interesting than her so-called ‘Master’.” As expected of a Dokkaebi’s channel; the quality of the video call was so excellent that Cale could see the minute curl of her lip when she said the word ‘Master.’ “She’s got potential, and she reminds me of my younger days. It is unfortunate that I was too late to find her.”
“Huh,” Cale raised an eyebrow at that. It was quite amazing that this brash teenager managed to pique the Whale Queen's interest. Witira was always dignified and polite whenever he encountered her, but then again she didn’t hesitate to beat Tonka to a pulp the first time Cale saw her. Maybe she and this human girl did resemble each other, after all. “Who did she get, then?”
“Some human admiral,” Witira shrugged, before looking at her own screen. “The monk in your channel seems to know him.”
Cale widened his eyes. It didn’t take long for him to connect the dots; it may have been ages ago, but he could not forget learning about him in history class when he was a teenager himself.
“Human, you know the Constellation?” Raon asked, noticing his bewilderment. “Was he your friend in your previous world?”
“Of course not,” Cale replied, amused. He had met many strange beings in his whole lives both as Kim Roksoo and Cale Henituse, but an actual legendary hero from Korean history books was not one of them. Yet. “I do know who he is, though. All Koreans learned about Admiral Yi Sun-sin in school.”
“Who?”
“Admiral— Choi Han, you should know.”
Choi Han, the only other (former) Korean in the room, genuinely looked confused. “I can’t remember. It’s been too long.”
“You remembered ramyeon and kimchi.”
“Those are food. This is some historical figure,” he shrugged, as if the legendary Korean admiral was a mere random human on Earth. “There is a difference.”
“Point taken,” Cale sighed, before going back to the screen, just in time to watch Kim Dokja ask Lee Jihye about her master’s whereabouts. “Anyway, have you seen His Highness Alberu?”
“Hm? He was here not too long ago,” Witira looked around. “He must’ve followed Yoo Joonghyuk aboveground. Oh. Seems like my girl is going to look for Yoo Joonghyuk too.”
“She’s not your girl.”
“She will be once I defeat the little human admiral.”
“Constellation Sponsorship doesn’t work that way…”
“Anyway, I’ll be able to find Crossman by following her, so see you later, young master Cale.”
“See you later, Witira, and please don’t beat Admiral Yi up when you see him!”
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It was when Gashan’s Incarnation got into trouble with the Landlord Coalition that Cale sensed a faint presence.
No one but him seemed to have detected it. While the rest were glued to the screen (Raon was eager to destroy the world for not allowing little Gilyoung to use the toilet while Hong had an ingenious idea of causing cockroach infestation in Gong Pildu’s bathroom), Cale focused on the mysterious presence instead. It felt as if it was far, far away from this world, even farther away than the Outer God that followed Kim Dokja around. It remained silent, its presence nothing but a whisper amidst the voices of Constellations, yet Cale knew that it was watching. Following the story.
Dreaming.
Cale smiled, and prepared for a plot twist.
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