Chapter Text
While rocking wistfully in a rocking chair he discovered somewhere within his bedroom, Kim Rok Soo, who was now inhabiting Cale Henituse's body, stared blankly at the wall while dressed simply yet elegantly in aristocratic style.
Days had passed since he transmigrated into the book The Birth of a Hero, and he had been moving around the city, running errands, and racking his brains for a way to survive his imminent fate of being beaten up by the main protagonist.
He grimaced internally as he recalled the passages he had just read from the book, which described how the original Cale Henituse was beaten until he was black and blue and was rendered unconscious for a few days.
Cale shrugged and looked straight up at the ceiling, “And I only read the first five volumes of the book.” He was very grateful for his record ability to recall the details of the novel accurately. He had been brainstorming ideas for the previous few days.
“If this world is on the verge of destruction, how am I meant to live comfortably?”
However, as if his words were a curse or perhaps a blessing in disguise, a light appeared to shine through the ceiling and land directly in his eye. He winced and blinked a few times to get rid of the discomfort when he heard a loud thump on the floor.
Thud!
“What—”
At least five identical copies of him just appeared right in front of him. With the exception of the man with long black hair, who he assumes was wearing a disguise, he can see that they are all of the same physical builds but have varying hair colors and lengths.
“Hyung-nim, if you want to be the pope, at least preach about love, hope, and peace and not about world dominatio—” A man with waist-length red hair, who appeared to be a priest and was wearing a veil over his head, spoke as if he had been speaking to someone before pausing when he appeared to realize that he had been transported to another world.
But judging from the way he sighed and stared intently at him as if waiting for an explanation, it seems that the man who resembles him is used to it.
“Eruhaben-nim,” the man with long black hair, who appeared to be surrounded by a sense of hopelessness and grief, mumbled, but he soon stopped when he realized that other people were there.
“Anna, if we freeze him then he’ll become an ice statue then we can sell him back to his country. Besides, Hans is shi—” Anna? Hans? Was the man watching Frozen before he got here?
“……” His fourth look-alike just stared at them with— is that tears?
“Hyung-nim, you vicious bastard, how could you toss me into the arms of White Star just because I used you as a dead mana shie—” A miniature clone of him stated with an underlying disgust in his tone. However, the tiny redhead also stopped speaking when he realized he was no longer on the battlefield.
They were all looking into each other's eyes in complete silence as the room fell silent.
“Have I finally gone insane?” Cale muttered and laughed to himself while grasping his hair so firmly that he felt as though he could grow bald if he did so any further. He literally has five people who are identical replicas of him inside his room.
The young redhead sighed quietly to himself as he pretended to be dead while lying on the ground. He was first transported because of the ancient book that the children brought him; then he was taken to the time when the original Choi Han was engaged in battle with the White Star, and now he has gone back in time again. Transmigrated? Regressed? What the hell is even going on?
“…”
“I blame the God of Death,” Two redheads, one of whom was dressed in a priest outfit and the other one who had been blathering recently about the movie frozen, muttered with disgust in their voices and clicked their tongue afterwards in annoyance.
Despite the fact that some of them have yet to meet the God of Death, they all share the same sentiment deep in their hearts.
“So, you're telling me,” The third Cale, who was undergoing the Sealed God's test regarding Disney, said in a panicked voice as he glanced at the other Cale, who was masquerading as a priest. “That you are a thousand years old...?”
The oldest Cale, who has been alive for a thousand years, nodded nonchalantly as he observed the other Cale with black hair.
“So, after I pass the Sealed God's test, I'm just going to be an immortal and spend the rest of my life with the White Star...?” Third (Disney) Cale murmured to himself, his gaze fixed on the windows, wondering if he should just take his life there and then.
Before he started crying again because of the new information, Fourth Cale spoke in a monotonous voice, “I wonder what he went through in the test for him to act that way.”
“Cut him some slack, I undoubtedly would go crazy too if I was forced to be a Disney princess,” Little Cale responded, his hands discreetly twitching violently at the thought of what the third Cale went through. He feels fortunate that his future didn't become like that.
“Why did you become a child?” Disney Cale briefly paused in his suffering and turned to face the younger Cale.
“Ancient book,” Little Cale mumbled, raising his brow as the previously crying Cale buried his face in his palm.
All of them fell silent as the man with black hair sighed wearily.
"Based on our circumstances, we might all have the same soul, but we originated from alternate universes. Hence, the future we all went through is slightly different."
The oldest Cale nodded in agreement while cracking a small smile. Out of all of them, it appears that someone endured a different future that not even he can comprehend. Given the other man's lifeless eyes, he wonders what type of future the raven-haired person experienced.
Thud!
“Ah…?" They all turned to look at the man who had just fallen to the ground after the black-haired man made a bewildered sound.
"My slacker life," said the original Cale who was originally in the dimension they were all currently residing in. His voice was so depressing that it caused him to become one with the floor.
Hearing what the other man had said, they all clenched their teeth in exhaustion. In all honesty, some of them are burdened and worn out by the impending return of war. Quite surprisingly, they believe that it will be simple this time because they know themselves very well.
And what could be better than four supreme commanders and two future commanders joining forces to beat the shit out of the enemies?
To be honest, Little Cale could just drop a gigantic meteor on the ARM's base and call it a day.
“Name— we need a name. If we intend to remain in this dimension for a long time, we can no longer address ourselves by our names.” The oldest Cale stated thoughtfully, “We don't know if we'll even be able to come back.”
“We can't truly say we are cousins because we all have the same appearance. Being siblings, or even safer, being twins is our best option.”
“I was already in disguise when I got transported here, you can just simply call me Ciel.”
"Hm… I guess I'll take Cien then. We can even pass off as twins," Oldest Cale said with a slight smile to which the raven-haired reciprocated, the two already thinking of ways to solve their situation.
The teary-eyed Cale who is now Cade sighed and muttered, "If that's the case, then I'll take the name Cade if we're going to pretend to be twins." He then sat next to Cale who was staring blankly at the wall.
‘I guess we truly are the same,’ he thought as he too continued to look mindlessly at the wall.
Little Cale hummed as he observed the two eldest members of the group discuss their identity-related problem in a corner. He is the one with the largest problem out of all of them. Because the ancient book's curse hasn't been lifted, he cannot pretend to be someone's twin. He's far too young for that.
The other Cale, who underwent significant trauma as a result of being forced into becoming a Disney Princess, can't also pass off as the twin of the original Cale or the other Cale who kept on tearing up while maintaining a straight face. Despite the fact that they share a similar appearance, the other two appear to be younger than the Cale who has already undergone the Sealed God's test years from now.
The best solution is to make someone bear the humiliation of having a kid— which is him.
Actually, he can just pass off as the younger cousin of the original Cale because he now has the appearance of a five-year-old, but the other Cale, who suffered from being a Disney Princess, reminded him of his Hyung-nim being stressed out basically every day, which makes him want to tease his other self as payback for how Alberu tossed him into the arms of the White Star.
He pulled the Disney Cale's sleeves while maintaining a neutral expression, to which the other answered with a deadpan.
“…Want to be a father?”
“—No.”
“I’ll be taking the name Cain and you can be Ceth, how does that sound?”
Third (Disney) Cale shot the five-year-old kid a spiritless look before responding, “I’m still not going to be your father.”