Chapter 736
# Pushing forward too rashly (6)
Choi Han was so frustrated that he was almost going crazy.
Deputy Section Chief Kim. What's up with you lately? Hmm? Why can’t you even do something so trivial properly?
Haaaa.”
The person sitting across from Choi Han sighed and could not hide their frustration that was probably even worse than what Choi Han was feeling.
“No, this...”
The woman across from him was wiping her eyes with her hand and biting her lips a few times as if sighing wasn’t enough to calm her frustration and commented in a tired voice.
“You can go.”
She seemed as if she didn't even have to strength to talk anymore.
Choi Han slightly bowed his head and returned to his work station after realizing the suffocatingly tense office atmosphere that he had created.
Plop. He clenched his eyes shut as soon as he sat down on his chair.
‘I don’t know any of this.’
Choi Han.
He had woken up in the body of someone named Kim Hyun Soo. This ordinary office worker Kim Hyun Soo was a single man in his thirties. He seemed to have lived with his parents before but he was living in his family's villa alone after his parents returned to the countryside.
‘...Kim Rok Soo.’
The target of Choi Han’s indignity test was Kim Rok Soo.
Choi Han had imagined Earth after the cataclysm as soon as he heard the target’s name. Kim Rok Soo had lived quite a difficult life in his early twenties. However, the world he came to was Earth prior to the cataclysm.
That was the start of Choi Han’s headache.
Choi Han had lived in Korean tens of years before Kim Hyun Soo. Furthermore, he was finding it hard to adjust to Kim Hyun Soo’s Korea since he only lived here until he was 17 years old and a freshman in high school.
Choi Han would have been more familiar with the world after the cataclysm.
However, that was not the issue.
How was he supposed to find Kim Rok Soo?
This was not a time where he could find someone's personal information easily because he knew their name and their age.
It was even more difficult for a stranger to learn information about a child. It wasn’t as if he could just lurk around the nearby elementary school.
‘I thought that they might be relatives since they both had the Kim family name.’
But forget relatives, nobody in Kim Hyun Soo's phone had any relationship with Kim Rok Soo at all.
He had opened his eyes during the weekend and looked around the neighborhood he lived in but had not seen even a glimpse of Kim Rok Soo. He had no choice but to go to work on Monday to gather information.
It was now Thursday and he had been doing his best to live as Kim Hyun Soo, but this was unbearable.
‘...There isn’t much that I can do.’
This was not a world with sword masters nor was it a place with a Mercenaries Guild. There was naturally no information guild either and Choi Han was trying to gather information through this errand services center.
‘It is hard to find any connections to Kim Rok Soo at work.’
Going to work was so painful for Choi Han.
Putting the knowledge of the subject matter aside, there was too much he did not know, including cell phones and computers.
Choi Han felt that he, as he was now, could not live in Korea.
Choi Han loosened his tie out of frustration.
‘I will focus on my goal for now.’
Kim Rok Soo when he was even younger than On... ‘That time was the time of indignity?’
Choi Han could not hide the ominous feeling building up inside of him.
‘I will quit my job.’
He searched through the internet to find out how to write a letter of resignation. Choi Han pulled that envelope out and got up from his seat.
Later that evening...
Choi Han had submitted his letter of resignation and dragged his tired body back home.
‘Office work is harder than swinging the sword.’
Choi Han truly was exhausted right now. Kim Hyun Soo's body was weak. Of course, it was stronger than Cale's body.
‘...Let’s go buy some ramen.’
Choi Han headed toward the neighborhood market and mart.
He would eat first before doing anything.
“Wow, really?”
It was at that moment.
Choi Han overheard a voice that made him stop on his way inside the mart.
Two women were standing by the discounted items located outside. They were frowning while chatting with each other.
“No, Mr. Kim really fell deep into gambling?”
Mr. Kim.
Choi Han couldn't help but stop whenever he heard that family name.
"Exactly! He's asking anybody he knows if he could borrow some money from them! Apparently his eyes look hollow and he reeks of alcohol!”
“My goodness. Unnie, then is Mr. Kim Seung Jong not working?”
“How can he work when he’s like that?”
The older looking middle-aged woman snorted and shook her head before lowering her voice.
“But isn’t there a kid in his house?”
“Ah! I, I heard that he brought his distant relative!”
The woman who was chatting with her covered her mouth with her hands.
“My goodness... then-”
“Ah. That is a bit concerning.”
The middle-aged woman turned her head and made eye contact with Choi Han at that moment. Choi Han slowly walked past them and into the mart as if he didn’t hear anything.
The tired office worker's gaze slowly sunk and turned sharp.
“...Kim Seung Jong.”
‘He brought a distant relative to live with him’
He had a feeling about this.
Choi Han returned to his villa and opened the door to the room that used to be Kim Hyun Soo’s parents’ room but was now being used as a study.
Creeeeeak.
There was a wooden sword and a fruit knife in there.
These were the first things Choi Han bought after coming here.
He was not a regular Korean person anymore.
He didn’t have common sense about this place nor did he know how to act in society. Choi Han's only choice was to move according to his own methods.
He picked up the wooden sword and touched its blunt blade.
“Kim Seung Jong......”
Choi Han made up his mind while quietly mumbling that name.
“I will take care of him my way if he is as I expect.”
He was hoping for the night to end quickly.
Once Friday morning arrived...
Choi Han met a child.
The child was extremely skinny and looked as if he had starved. He only had an old and thin jacket despite the cold spring weather.
However, he looked clean. Of course, the kid seemed to have done it himself as there were some missed aspects.
“Is your name Kim Rok Soo?”
Choi Han could not look away from the child’s eyes as he asked.
The child's eyes were extremely deep but sunken so low that he could not feel anything from them.
Choi Han continued talking despite not having heard a response yet.
“Have you eaten?”
He thought of that question for some odd reason.
* * *
Cale started to think.
‘Ah, should I not have said that he is the strongest here?’
He got cold sweats. He turned his gaze. The knights outside the steel cage were frozen stiff without any of them daring to move.
Booboboboooooooooom--!
The cave was shaking.
The black mana coming out from the young Dragon in front of Cale was causing it.
“...Destroy... everything......”
The young Dragon mumbled those words with his face full of rage.
The problem was that Cale seemed to be a part of his targets.
‘I guess this makes sense.’
It was true that Cale took the chains off.
However, this body had helped out quite a bit as Venion's lackey to torture Raon.
‘Our Raon isn’t soft-hearted enough to be betrayed by someone even if he is off alone.’
Cale had that thought as he opened his mouth.
“Yeah! Destroy it!”
The already silent cave became even quieter.
Even Venion, who was plopped down on the table, raised his head from the table to glare at him. His eyes were full of shock.
Cale didn't care and shouted with excitement.
‘This is an illusion and it isn't my body anyway!’
“Destroy everything! Destroy me too! But you should probably destroy the cave and let it break everything instead of getting blood on your front paws!”
The black Dragon's jaw slowly dropped.
A high-grade knight outside the cage shouted at that moment.
“Are you crazy?!”
Cale calmly responded.
“Yes. I am crazy.”
“W, what?”
Cale looked at Raon and enunciated clearly despite the others looking at him in disbelief.
“I'm doing this because that son of a bitch annoys me and I hate this body. I'm just being capricious. I am annoyed at everything.”
He didn't want Raon to feel any burden or guilt.
Cale looked at the Dragon's body that still had injuries and said it as brightly as possible on purpose.
“So, destroy everything.”
It was at that moment.
Smirk. One corner of the Dragon’s lips curled up and the Dragon’s eyes created two beautiful crescents.
Boom!
The cave shook violently and Venion channeled all of his strength as humanly possible to barely shout.
“You shitty reptile who has only lived a life of trash! You will be recaptured soon even if you escape!”
He was shouting at Raon.
However, the black Dragon simply chuckled and waved his front paw. The Dragon had no hesitation or awkwardness after finally getting the moment he had longed for for so long.
Booboboboooooooooom--!
“No! We must rescue the young master-nim first!”
“Hurry! Send the rescue signal out!”
“Holy shit!”
All sorts of voices mixed together as the cave shook so wildly that they could see it shake.
Drip. Drip.
Debris of broken rocks started falling from the ceiling.
Craaaaaaack.
The walls and ceiling of the cave started cracking and splitting apart.
‘I guess I will pass Raon’s part of the test now.’
Cale thought that one of two indignity tests should be completed since he was able to get Raon out of his terrible situation.
‘Then will I spend both day and night as the attendant?’
He thought that that wouldn't be bad either.
Then he should be able to take care of Alberu’s test in a day or two as well.
‘Hmm?’
Cale snapped out of his thoughts after suddenly feeling a chill.
“Huh?!”
He subconsciously stumbled back.
The Black Dragon was right in front of Cale now.
The cave was now like an explosive that was ready to blow. The Black Dragon came over to Cale and waved his front paw.
Pow!
“Ugh!”
Cale felt black mana wrap around him just as he felt a skinny front paw smack him on the back of the head.
“I will keep an eye on you for now.”
Raon mumbled and Cale slowly noticed things going dark.
‘Ah. This is...’
Cale immediately realized what had happened.
‘I fainted.’
He either fainted or was under a sleeping spell.
The Black Dragon had made up his mind to observe this Venion's lackey who was one of the terrible bastards but seem to have gone crazy.
‘...This is an unexpected direction-’
Cale wondered what would happen to the indignity test now.
However, his body fainted before he could think anymore.
Cale had never expected that he would ever faint at Raon’s hands.
Blink.
He faced a different reality as soon as he opened his eyes.
“...I guess I open my eyes on the other side when I faint.”
Cale woke up in the attendant’s body and got off the bed to head toward the window.
He could see the silent night of the palace.
“This is good.”
Cale had things he needed to do at night anyway, so he took off his attendant’s uniform and put on the black outfit that he had prepared in advance.
‘I've already selected the route.’
He had not gone to the Palace Library just to learn about the poison Venion's lackey had on him.
There was one other reason as well.
Alberu Crossman.
He was a bit of a complicated individual.
‘He wouldn't think that he overcame his indignity because I gave him some good clothes, food, and items.’
It needed to be something more fundamental, something that would change Alberu’s overall mindset.
Something that would make it so that Alberu would not feel indignity no matter what happens and just consider everything to be a temporary obstacle. He needed to think about something that could set the foundation for Alberu to become like that.
‘The Library.’
Cale had gone to the second basement level of the Palace Library with Alberu in the past.
The secret area that was only known to the Crossman king, no, the patriarch of the House of Crossman...
That basement area was where the truth about the fact that the House of Crossman did not receive the blessing of the Sun God was hidden. Instead, they were being observed as the bloodline of the ancient White Star.
If Alberu was to find that out right now, he would think a bit differently about his situation where he needs to hide his Dark Elf blood and naturally start to accept himself more.
‘I need the Crossman insignia to get to that second floor basement.’
To be more specific, he didn't need the royal seal but the seal handed down to the patriarch of the House of Crossman.
Alberu had received it from King Zed and shown Cale that area but King Zed Crossman should still have that seal in this world.
Cale was not confident that he could steal that insignia. Especially in this attendant's body.
That was why he was planning on bringing Alberu secretly here at night, tell him about how to open the area, and let him know that such a thing existed.
That was his plan.
Cale, who was stealthily infiltrating the area around the library at night after having observed it for a few days, couldn’t help but frown.
“Who are you?”
The current king... Alberu’s father...
Zed Crossman.
He was pointing a sword right at Cale's neck.
“Ah.”
He inspected Cale's face a bit before commenting in a casual voice.
"Are you that punk who is causing a ruckus in Alberu’s palace?”
Cale's eyes clouded over.
“...Do you know who I am, your Majesty?”
Zed Crossman knew about Cale.
No matter how much ruckus he was causing in the palace, he was just a rookie attendant.
This meant that Zed Crossman was completely aware of Alberu's situation.
‘So it wasn't that he had no interested in his son?’
Cale had a feeling that he might learn something he didn’t know until now.
It was something that perhaps even Alberu didn’t know about.