KRS: *Gremlin Mode On* LSH: *Holding KRS Like A Little Child* Look At This Cuteness… ( ◕▿◕ )

I'm the only one who saw the official KRS art and said "someone give this man some African braids" (O⌣O)???

From the ashes [재], we rise (TCF AU).

Okay, I have an AU idea that could be a lot of fun to write. (＠＾◡＾)

This is nothing serious, I just thought what if this happened, and here I am. ┐(￣ヮ￣)┌

So, this is my AU:

OgCale was a commander of a platoon with whom he formed close bonds.

KRS managed to connect with the team members after JSH (Joo So Hoon) admitted that his father died of old age. The rest of the team (excluding KMA) consoled him, revealing that they also lack close family members.

They offered to be each other’s family, marking their oath by getting matching maple leaf tattoos. (Because the Korean word for ‘one’ [일] can be translated as ‘day’ [낮], and ‘autumn day’ [가을날] can be translated as ‘maple’ [단풍].)

This triggers Rok Soo to spend more quality time with Team 1, subconsciously thinking of them as family.

Simultaneously, an attack by an unclassified monster occurs during the battle in Puzzle City, pushing both Team 1 and the platoon to the brink of death.

The god of death brings OgCale and KRS to his domain, proposing that they return to their worlds and switch bodies. They acept whit one condition: their teams must go with them.

For OgCale’s side, it’s straightforward. The platoon members are easily placed in the younger bodies of Team 1, just before the destruction of the shelters. They receive information about the future situation and their new lives, enough to survive and thrive.

However, Team 1 (+ the Bae family) faces a tougher challenge. All platoon members were born during the war, so they can’t travel to those bodies.

The solution? Create new bodies for them. But there’s a problem: the resemblance to Choi Han.

His mutations in the Dark Forest (because you can’t convince me he didn’t mutate in the 150+ years trapped, surviving with magical beasts and mutated herbs while exposed to lethal poisons and dead mana ┐( ’ д ') ┌) would make him something a little less than human for those who know how to look.

The solution: create non-human bodies that replicate these mutations (bright reflections in black or brown hair, sharp fangs, thicker skin, high resistance to toxins and both live and dead mana, night vision, slightly pointed ears, etc.). This provides a viable explanation for their post-apocalyptic abilities.

Once done, they’re left somewhere between Rain City and Roan’s capital.

Everything up to the start of the journey to the capital happens as in canon, except that Cale’s tattoos (located above his knees) come with him to Nameless 1.

The encounter with the bandits changes everything. In their camp, they find a bunch of cages containing Team 1.

Cale, worried and mentally cursing the god of death, approaches to free them.

Meanwhile, Choi Han is visibly shocked to see a group of Koreans locked in cages (noticed by Cale’s entourage).

Cale frees them using a key he snatched from the leader.

And accidentally, Sejong calls him Timjang-Nim [팀장] (which means ‘team leader-nim’).

Ron asks if he knows them, and Min Ah, carrying her daughter, inadvertently worsens the situation by claiming they’re her clan.

Meanwhile, the knights wonder if this is why Cale brought Choi Han to the Henituse mansion, and they start concocting increasingly elaborate theories.

Actually, this is something that makes the novel attractive in the first place. After all, in every isekai I’ve read, the protagonist already knows everything.

While there are plot twists and all, usually they’ve already read the entire novel, played the complete game, etc.

TCF is special in that regard ♡( ◡‿◡ )

Cale does not know everything

Why did anyone think he did?

[Note: There will be SPOILERS about the first part of TCF so if you haven't finished the first part or you don't want spoilers, I suggest you don't continue. Thanks!]

When I first read the novel, the most common mistake new readers often make was they all thought that Cale is omniscient. Yeah, I saw the comments. There were a lot.

I think, once again, it's because of how in most KR novels and manhwa, the main character usually knows the whole story of a novel they read or a game they played before they transmigrate to another world. They don't have all the details but it's more than what Kim Rok Soo knows.

Because that's the thing. The difference is that Kim Rok Soo doesn't know the whole story. In fact, he only read up until five volumes of "The Birth of a Hero" before he transmigrated in another world.

He, like us, doesn't know how the story ends.

I might be getting repetitive but the reason why I love TCF is because the author, Yoo Ryeo Han, doesn't share everything to us right off the bat.

They never info dump us with the whole story about how OG Cale actually made a deal with the God of Death, about Kim Rok Soo's past as an ability user, about Choi Jung Soo, and about the existence of the White Star. Instead, all these plot points are gradually revealed later in the story.

And I honestly prefer it like this. This way, we can only guess what will happen next. It's not a boring story but a mysterious one because there's something we won't expect.

The story starts with Kim Rok Soo opening his eyes in another world.

We are never completely told what Kim Rok Soo read before he transmigrated. The most he tells us is a summary and a few details here and there at the start of the novel.

We only find out more by experiencing it through Cale's point of view. We read his thoughts about the novel. And we follow him in his journey around the Eastern and Western continents.

But as mentioned at the beginning, he doesn't know how The Birth of a Hero ends. His knowledge stops at the end of volume five. Everything else depends on him.

But even before the war happens, there are already some hints that Cale doesn't actually have all the information he needs. He is not fully equipped with everything about the book. He, like us, is in the dark about certain factors that can affect his goals.

Indestructible Shield

When the shield was first mentioned, Cale questioned why no one took it.

'No wonder nobody ended up taking control of it. But then why would the author mention something that could be useful but was never actually taken by anybody?’

- Chapter 11: Picked It Up

It's odd because it's found in the territory where Choi Han appears in the beginning of the story. Yet from volume one to volume five, not a single soul knew of its existence.

It's the first ancient power he gets that he finds out because he read the book and he's the only one who knows about it. He doesn't know why it's there nor does he question it any further. His only goal was to get it.

It's only when the Glutton Priestess told him about her past that he finally gets the bigger picture.

The fact that this tidbit was shrugged off by Cale, and probably some readers, as something unimportant only to find out later in the story about its huge connection to the original White Star is just insane. And it's the reason why the books he read aren't informative at all. Because why did it leave out this piece of information if they want him to use it to save their world?

He didn't even know a single thing about the current White Star at the start of the story and here is a random ancient power sitting prettily in the Henituse territory that actually has a connection to the same guy Cale Barrow wants to imitate. He was utterly clueless like the rest of us.

I'm not gonna lie, I was shaking my head by how dumbfounded I was when I first read the novel. I was questioning everything I read in the early chapters, thinking if there's something else that I didn't notice (there were a lot actually).

The fact that the author gives us only a little info about the tree where the shield was found and its connection to the other ancient powers only solidified my respect by how good the author is at hiding this plot until the big reveal.

The Wolf Tribe

‘The novel didn’t say which of the divine items they brought.’

If Cale knew what the divine item was, he would be able to get one step closer to the identity of the secret organization. Unfortunately, the novel only described how the Wolf Tribe became weak because of the divine item. He had no way to determine the identity of the secret organization.

- Chapter 32: You

When Cale sends Choi Han to find Rosalyn and Lock, Choi Han returns with Lock who was about to transform into his berserk mode.

Later, Choi Han explains what happened and Cale realizes that a lot of things changed compared to what happened in the book. For one, Lock did not hide and fought back against Arm. Another is instead of assassins, the ones that appeared are official members.

For some, including me, this can be excused because of Cale's actions. He's a new variable to the story and thus, he ends up changing a lot of scenarios that happened in the story.

But, thinking about it, this is the only thing that is completely different from what happened in the books. Everything else is the same aside from when Cale is actively doing something like becoming a guardian to three kids or getting the ancient powers that originally belongs to someone else. Unless Cale acts, nothing actually changes.

There's the bombing at the plaza that also changed but that can still be excused as Cale ruining Arm's movements early on and them revising their plans.

Lock however, is not influenced by Cale. He could've stayed hidden just like in the book but in this case, he didn't. Arm could've sent assassins but they didn't. There is no reason for them to change from assassins to official members. Plus, instead of killing all of them, the wolf children survived.

This is not because of Cale.

So...does that mean that the book he read is not completely reliable?

Pretty much, yeah. Which already answers the question if he knows everything like a cliche main character does. No, he doesn't know everything. And the books he read can be taken as a guidebook but an incomplete one with a few mistakes here and there.

Let me remind you that this happened before the war started and there's already something Cale doesn't know or expect.

[Side note: I only realized this whole bit about the Wolf Tribe while reading a freaking reaction fic. If I had not read that fic, I wouldn't even realize how weird this one is. Am I dumb? Don't answer that.]

White Star

Another reason why Cale is not omniscient even though he looks and acts like it, is because he didn't find out about the White Star until the war against Arm and the Indomitable Alliance.

This man is like a god to his followers and allies and not a single person in Cale's group and even outside of it knows about him. Not even Ron, who has his whole family annihilated and later loses his arm in the process, knows about him.

Again, the five volumes of The Birth of a Hero never mentions this elusive White Star. The only reason he knows about this guy is through interrogation and torture. So when he finally appears in the Mogoru Empire, all Cale felt was anger and fear.

Because this unexpected factor is dangerous.

Cale knows they're completely unprepared to face this new player in the game. Eruhaben, an ancient dragon, was getting his ass kicked by this man who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and the dragon even told them to run. What everyone considers a very strong existence in this world is telling them that there's no hope in defeating him.

And the most shocking out of all this is that Cale never expected how the White Star knows that Cale and Choi Han have their "time warped for them". He knows something about Cale just by looking at him.

So the books by this point are basically useless and he has to rely on himself and others to plan ahead of time. He works extremely hard for it.

He has to dig information using his Record to find out about White Star. He has to talk to the World Tree to get the weapon to use against the White Star. He has to talk to Sheritt to know more about the White Star and his curse. And he has to find out from OG Cale himself on how to finally kill the White Star.

It took the whole book to finally defeat him.

And none of these are mentioned in the books he read.

So Cale, in conclusion, does not know everything like what some readers once complained about. He has some pieces of the puzzle but it's like if he needs a hundred pieces to complete the puzzle and he only has ten, then he's never gonna complete it.

He knew about the first five volumes and the rest were just him and his allies' hard work. It's pretty much why he's so stressed in the whole book, zooming around the two continents just to look for the White Star's weakness while also juggling different problems like more wars or the God of Despair or finding the earth attribute the White Star needs.

So yeah. Don't judge a book by the first few chapters and expect to know everything.

end notes:

Alberu better give him his slacker life when this story ends.

Nelan Barrow and the God of Death really made him work for it.

I'm not gonna lie, I want someone (Cale) to kidnap Choi Jung Gun and interrogate him about why the heck he didn't explain the important bits in his "guidebook" and why the whole thing about the wolf tribe became different from what was written. He could've at least mentioned what the secret organization's name is but he left it to Cale instead. It's just the name, CJG. Why are you hiding it? Is Choi Han in the books really that slow or what? If you want someone to save your world, at least send more information like the name of the secret organization. You talked about the Indestructible Shield's location but can't spell Arm? Shame on you, CJG.

If it wasn't KRS that was transmigrated and it's just a random normal person, that person would've died even before meeting the White Star.

Or maybe Nelan Barrow just wants to be an author like Yoo Ryeo Han and be all mysterious about it.

"Wouldn’t you get angrier at people who are wearing a shabby version of the uniform that people would clearly notice wasn’t the real thing while messing around as them than at people with a perfect uniform messing around?" - Cale Henituse (Chapter 178)

I think it was something that happened to all of us, after all I discovered TCF thanks to a gacha club video ┐(￣ヮ￣)┌

The biggest hypocrite in the world that we all love (¬‿¬)

Cale: I want a slacker life.

Cale: But to have a peaceful life, my family needs to have a peaceful life as well, and we need to live in a peaceful world too to not be bothered by anyone.

Cale: So let’s achieve world peace.

Cale: Then let’s do multiverse world peace because other worlds could also bother us and for an unknown reason I HAVE to be the one who does it instead of sending my subordinates and lazing around.

Cale: And while striving for world peace, something that nobody has been able to achieve so far, I’ll complain that I don’t want to work and say I’m weak.

Cale: Ah, I’m weak. *killing the strongest villain who tried to become god*

Cale: I want a slacker life. *trying to achieve world peace and working more than anyone else*

Cale: Sigh…

Reader: Sigh…

Reviews TCF the Manhwa ＼(٥⁀▽⁀ )／(1-10)

I'm waiting for enough chapters of book 2 to be uploaded to start a marathon and while I wait I've been reading the manhwa.

And I'm going to say it honestly, I was a little disappointed (-ω-、), I'm going to do little reviews for the chapters I read from now on so here's my review of the first ten chapters.

The first thing I noticed is that they skipped the scene where KRS woke up in Cale's body and I'm a little disappointed that Ron's first appearance isn't the same, but the bathroom scene makes up for it a bit (＾〃＾)b, its design is charming and I loved the fox eyes that seem to have eyeliner in Cale's design, after all they demonstrate his cunning, plus as another publication mentions, he is the only character with white pupils instead of black, if we add the knowledge That his eyes are the same as when he was KRS is a very good omen ⸜( ´ ꒳ ` )⸝

The face Cale made when he declared that the key to fashion is the face gave me a lot of tenderness so there are no complaints on that part ┐(￣∀￣)┌

The first appearance of the Henituse family was very similar to the one in the novel and the panels were very interesting, I liked it, that's all I'll say (︶‿︺)

I really liked Billos's design, I feel that it correctly captures his character and description (￣ ▽ ￣)

Continuing to talk about the design, for some reason I really liked Ohn's shoes in their first appearance, they reminded me of ballet slippers and now I have the headcanon that that is the type of shoe he likes to wear, something comfortable and soft but It is perfect for stealth missions and easy to obtain regardless of your socioeconomic level (─‿‿─)

The first appearance of the man-eating tree was not as shocking as I expected, I feel like it still had a lot of color for a dead mana-infected tree, in fact, I didn't like its appearance either once I obtained the Indestructible Shield, where are the blue leaves? ? because that's green! not blue! (；￣Д￣)

The design of the gluttonous priestess seemed a little too similar to Egyptian clothing for someone who lived in the jungle, although it is acceptable if that is Cale's imagination (ᓀ ᓀ)

In the bar scene I saw a ruffian with a long blue braid and my first thought was, Why didn't they give that design to, I don't know, Bud? He's too handsome for an extra (`皿´＃)

When Cale and Choi Han meet Cale seemed a little awkward to me and he is perfect for this type of scene plus Ohn and Hong were super cute (´ ∀ ` *)

I liked Choi Han's design, they made all the black of the clothes work and although I would have liked the cape to be brown instead of gray, the magenta highlights in the hair and the large number of buckles on his boots made me like it. I would like the design (´▽`)b

The first mention of how those who give you food are good people hit my heart when remembering Cale's past, it was perfect ヽ(⌒▽⌒)ﾉ

The first appearance of Hans and Beacrox is not very memorable but I loved their designs, I imagined Hans as a thirty-something with a beard but I loved the fact that they presented him as a cute twenty-something, and just looking at Beacrox gives that enhanced mysterious and terrifying vibe because of the dark circles under his eyes, but he looks incredible and the resemblance to Ron is noticeable.

Cale's imagination with the bowling pins-Ron and Beacrox being hit by a ball-Choi Han was very cute highlighting Cale's way of thinking and demonstrating it again with the matryoshkas-Ron, Beacrox and Choi Han (≧◡≦)

Deruth's reflections on Cale's change reminded me that no matter how bad a father he is, he is still one.

The first appearance of the dreaded lemons was iconic and Cale's expressions are beautiful (￣ω￣)

Choi Han's transformation from mad dog to puppy has already begun and it is beautiful ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶

The Henituse family crest was shown for the first time that I have noticed it and it is perfect.

Rosalyn and Lock's silhouettes with their shadows were incredible and gave us a good idea of what they will look like.

Besides Cale's imagination of what Raon looked like was hilarious, is that perhaps a foreshadowing of his adult form? Or is Cale just underestimating things? (°▽°)?

I really liked the first appearance of the Indestructible Shield, but I was left wondering where the wings were (¯ . ¯٥)?

Ohn and Hong's adoption was very sweet and Hans' reaction to "the cute nim-kitties" was hilarious and lived up to his name as a cat lover, plus the faces they made when they found out they were Discovered I loved them (´ ε `)♡

I really liked the conversation between Cale and Billos, plus the face Billos makes is very cool (✧ω✧)

And this is everything that caught my attention from the manhwa so far＼(٥⁀▽⁀ )／

See you later! (^０^)ノ

This dynamic makes my little broken heart beat with emotion (*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡

The Soos embody that "childhood friends who have witnessed every embarrassing moment in each other's life and are so used to each other's bullshit they don't question any of the actions the other does anymore" energy

And I have receipts for this:

Cale: *stops the Plaza Terror Invident and coughs up blood for the first time*

Choi Jung Soo and Sui Khan: *pops party poppers* congrats to our dongsaeng he did it! Now let's cut the cake

God of Death to Choi Jung Gun: they prepared the "Congrats Cale on Fucking Up Your Slacker Life Again" banner 3 weeks ago. Cale hadn't even planned on going to the plazza yet

_______

God of Death: Lee Soo Hyuk reincarnated and Choi Jung Soo became a wanderer

Cale: of course they did I should have foreseen this

_______

Sui appears as a hawk beastman: sup

Cale: ........ damn it I thought you were gonna be a baby

Sui: missed you too <3

_______

Choi Jung Soo: *crashes from the ceiling right in front of his friends who have been looking for his fugitive ass for weeks*

Cale: oh we found him

Sui: *mild annoyance but not surprised*

Choi Jung Soo: hi guys

We must not forget about eremophobia.

It was clearly demonstrated during the Wind Island test, and although it is not exactly traditional eremophobia (which is more than anything the fear of being physically alone), unlike this, Cale fears more than anything being the last survivor among his dear ones.

I think the reason Cale is always at the vanguard is that he is afraid of seeing his loved ones die. So, if they end up in a situation where their enemy is stronger than them and they can’t flee, at least he will die before the others.

Trauma will always push him to avoid seeing his people die, lest he be the last survivor. The guilt of having those ideas, of imposing that fate on someone else, can make his already low self-esteem even more non-existent than before.

I just realized I'm rambling, so I'll leave it here. Anyway, even if this analysis is wrong, I think it can be quite accurate in many cases.

Kim Rok Soo!Cale – aka. Poster Child of Trauma

Let's list down all the traumatic experiences of our MC, shall we? :)

Body stolen by the White Star's reincarnation

Being affected by the Curse of the God of Death ("All those you cherish shall die") before being born

Rebirth in Korea, shortly followed by the death of his parents

Taken in by his abusive uncle, Kim Seung Jong, who falls into alcoholism and gambling

Either the uncle dies due to his addictions or it gets so bad Kim Rok Soo runs away – that part was a bit unclear

Gets into the orphanage, where all friends or caretakers he comes to care about leave him, one way or another

Choi Jung Gun shows up when Kim Rok Soo is about to get murdered by the Hunters Park So Jin & Jung Yi-Rang, posing as his counselor & classmate

CJG or the Hunters wipe his memory of the event, which one did it is slightly unclear

Just as KRS's life gets stable enough that he gets a job while studying at a university, the Monster Apocalypse strikes and he loses everything all over again

KRS starves under the wreck of a building for a week before getting rescued by Lee Soo Hyuk

LSH takes him to a shelter where Park Jin Tae is in charge, just for him to turn into an abusive leader who bosses KRS around and beats him up

Then the monster wave shows up, killing everyone KRS got to know and care about at the shelter. Hello, Survivor's Guilt!

Somehow, he survives the rest of the monster wave, but that surely wasn't a pleasant experience, considering all shelters lost power for 24 hours and KRS probably experiences the minor ones failing in-person (who knows just how many different shelters he tried to run off to??)

After a time skip KRS gets into the company and we assume life is pretty good for a while for him, under LSH's guidance and the friendship with Choi Jung Soo, as well as their other Team members... except then the Unranked Monster shows up and wipes KRS's entire Team in one go, leaving him the last and only man standing. Hello, Survivor's Guilt Part Two!

KRS attends the funeral of LSJ & CJS, only to be talked about behind his back how he's not even mourning them correctly because he's not crying (those bastards-!)

He takes upon himself to avenge LSH and the rest of the Team, because they were supposed to have back-up from a Guild which all ran away and left them to die. I suppose KRS going after them went down similarly to how he later toppled Arm and the Mogoru Empire, so let's call it his "practice run on Dismantling Corrupt Organisations"

He takes over as the Team Leader as well, overworking himself to the extreme (not even taking a single day off in the first year) to have a 0% casualty rate

He distances himself from the team in order not to suffer another heartbreak if something happens to them (also, my theory is that KRS subconsciously recognized the pattern of his Curse and made himself believe that he's a bad, selfish person who doesn't care about others... just so the Curse don't kill off his Team members this time)

Once again, he gets his body stolen without his permission – and sure, that turned out well in the end, but still: not just once, but TWICE! NOT cool, God of Death!!

He's dumped with the knowledge and responsibility of the conflicts to come in this new world, which was supposed to be originally CJS's job to fix. Come on, it's not KRS's fault he lived instead!! Not he's gotta clean up THIS mess...

Once again, Cale overworks himself white trying to achieve World Peace, because HOW is he supposed to rest if the world comes to an end around him – AGAIN!?

Cale's body wastes away from continuously sacrificing himself (while claiming that he isn't sacrificing himself) and keeps falling into a coma from Ancient Powers overuse

He breaks his plate in the battle at the Gorge of Death and suffers terribly to get it fixed

He gets a premonition that he's probably going to die around November 8th – THANKS A LOT, GOD OF DEATH!!

He also goes through a traumatic test of seeing his worst fear at the Wind Island

He attracts the attention of several nasty characters: like Adin, the White Star, or the Sealed God... which is definitely NOT a good thing

The Sealed God casually tosses him into an alternate universe to relive his greatest trauma

Cale, once again, has to solve problems in another world because he literally cannot do anything else

Also the White Star is trying to murder him in the meantime, so he suffers great physical AND mental pain at the same time - hurray!

Oh and let's not forget, now he gotta defeat the Final Boss by stabbing himself. It won't hurt, the World Tree says...? WHY DON'T I BELIEVE YOU (Also the Sealed God made sure everyone saw everything, nice going there you son of a-!)

And just when the whole thing with the White Star and the Sealed God gets resolved, the HUNTERS SHOW UP, BECAUSE WHY THE HELL NOT

And now Cale gotta go around MORE UNIVERSES to solve ALL OF THEIR PROBLEMS. ..... H o w n i c e

To shortly sum all of Cale's traumatic experiences:

Bodysnatched: x2

Cursed with loneliness and misfortune

Orphaned

Abused

Lived in poverty

Target of attempted assassination (also used as bait for assassins)

Had his head tampered with

Lived through an apocalypse

Trapped under a building (hello potential claustrophobia!)

Starved

Chased down by monsters

Bullied

Survivor's guilt: x2

Betrayed by allies

Forced into leadership

*Body dysphoria due to scars (forgot to mention that earlier)

Impostor syndrome: x2 (for both becoming the Team Leader and becoming Cale Henituse)

Judged for coping mechanisms

Regularly gets hurt and falls into coma

Near death experiences: x[INFINITE]

Forced to experience his worst nightmare

Forced into self-harm

Forced to save the world: x? (at least 3 times and the counter is still rising!?)

Basically, this man's life maybe have gotten better in the past 2 years... but his life is still hell 😅

(I blame you, God of Death – WHY would you consider reincarnation a good punishment?? And a CONTAGIOUS CURSE which affects the victims of your target!? This is all your fault.

...But mostly the Hunters' fault, obviously.)

I found this fanfiction, it’s very recent, but I really like how it addresses Record and Cale’s trauma. I also enjoy the one written from Eruhaben’s POV and how it portrays their father-son relationship. (✧ω✧)

I highly recommend reading it! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧