It happened a few days ago when they were about to destroy the temples.

Everyone who worked under the red-haired commander were ready to raze the holy building to the ground, until the gate suddenly opened and they got teleported to what seemed to be a god's domain based on what Cage and Jack had said.

"Come out and tell us where Cale Henituse is, you motherf*cker!" The ex-priestess cursed out loud into the void.

The pope of the Sun God placed his hand on her shoulder gently to calm her down. "Cage," Jack said softly, but anyone could hear the slight venom in his voice. He's also very much disturbed by the disappearance of a friend.

All of them were prepared to attack. The swordmasters raised their aura-covered swords menacingly, Rosalyn and the dragons' mana were fluctuating in the air, the beast people were on the edge of going berserk, and Alberu was holding himself back from transforming Taerang into a large-caliber gun.

There was only silence.

Just as they were about to do something...

"Everyone, halt."

A sudden stifling voice suddenly spoke, and they immediately went to cover their ears- which didn't do much. Upon hearing the voice, their knees began to shake, but they did not falter.

Even under the mercy of a god, if it's for Cale Henituse, they're willing to fight against the heavens.

God of Death internally sighed upon watching the glares directed to the void.

The three gods decided to not show themselves. It wouldn't do any good appearing in front of the mortals. Simply hearing their voices would cause an extreme effect, and they didn't dare hurt Cale's companions even by accident.

However, it's a whole different thing if they're revealing themselves to Cale. That guy can somehow be able to look at a god in the eye without blinking.

"Bring back our esteemed legend!" Clopeh demanded in his commanding voice, fury in his emerald green eyes and his nails almost drew blood.

"You know where he is, don't you? Tell us," Hannah hissed through her gritted teeth, trembling but still holding her sword upright.

Rasheel glowered, his sharp glare deepening. "Where the f*ck is he? Say something so I can go back to sleep, damn it!"

This time, the Sun God answered.

"Cale Henituse is safe."

That answer made them feel relieved, but they haven't let their guard down just yet.

"What happened to him?" Alberu asked cautiously, his usual bright smile could no longer be seen on his face.

Unbeknownst to the others, God of Death and the Sun God simultaneously looked at the God of War, urging him to speak.

God of War only cursed them silently before replying, "If you remember the Sealed God test, this situation is similar to that. The hunters have thrown him in a faraway world, almost out of our reach. Thankfully, we managed to pull him back in time." After finishing his explanation, he glared at the God of Death. There was no way he's going to be the one who says the next part. Might as well throw it to the one who's actually responsible for this.

God of Death exhaled for the second time. "I have successfully communicated with Cale. However, we cannot bring him back yet."

When the others were about to protest, he continued as if he never noticed.

"Bringing someone from thousands of worlds away would require a great amount of divine power and sacrifices of probability. We must gather our strength first before we can return him. If not, it could possibly endanger his safety. The more power we gather, the safer it will be for him."

That successfully made them quiet. When it's regarding the well-being of Cale, these people are oddly easy to predict. The fact made God of Death smile.

"Then what can you do?" Choi Han narrowed his eyes. "You're gods, aren't you? There must be something you're able to do for Cale-nim."

The mortals watched the void expectantly, and the gods held back a breath of disbelief.

Amused, God of Death spoke, "Let's make a deal. Shall we?"

• • •

Present Time...

'F*ck this. F*ck it all. I'm going to smack that f*cking bastard the moment I return.'

A string of profanities echoed in Cale's mind as he frowned, freezing in his spot.

'Reach the end of scenarios? Seriously? That means I'll have to work my ass off! It basically implied that I'm going to get tangled in the plot further and I already stole Namwoon away from the main character! I don't want to be involved with those people at all. Why is it so hard to be a slacker?!'

Kim Namwoon simply watched him through his silent anger, not daring to say a word. He never saw Cale getting furious because of the latter's nonchalant personality, so this was a new sight- one that Namwoon would personally never want to experience again because Cale's expression alone could probably kill someone.

The black haired man sighed, causing the younger male to flinch.

"It's going to happen soon."

"Eh?"

Just then, a hologram appeared within their sight, and the previous cream-colored dokkaebi could be seen.

[ Hm, what's this? Only a few of you survived? ]

The creature sighed in disappointment.

[ What a bummer. Well, it matters not. As a reward for the first scenario, you are entitled to the sponsorship of the 'constellations.' Before you ask unnecessary things, allow me to explain. At this moment, you are incredibly weak. Sponsors are great beings who are willing to help you through the scenarios by giving... hm, you lot can consider it as a blessing- strengths and powers that you can use. It's quite easy to understand, right? ]

With a snap of a finger, a blue window was in front of them.

[Sponsor Selection]

- Please select your sponsor.

- Your chosen sponsor will be your strong supporter.

Upon watching his banter with the upper-gods, no constellations dared to approach Cale Henituse. He had caught the attention of higher beings, and perhaps they knew that touching him would only bring trouble.

So, naturally, only one option was available for him.

'Sovereign of Eternal Rest'

Cale held back a snarl. "You're really annoying," He rudely remarked.

Nonetheless, he willingly picked the option he knew would give him the most benefit.

[The constellation 'Sovereign of Eternal Rest' is satisfied.]

[50,000 coins have been sponsored.]

'That many coins for making him feel satisfied?'

Cale raised an eyebrow but decided to mentally note that down for future reference.

"Yah, did you pick yet?"

Namwoon raised his head from looking at the blue screen, a bright grin decorating his features.

"Yep~"

"Who is it?" Cale asked, and had no doubt Namwoon would answer it honestly.

'Must be the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon.'

"Oh, it was something called... 'Everlasting Shelter of Bloodshed'? One of those constellation thing you spoke to."

'... The God of War?!'

[The constellation 'Everlasting Shelter of Bloodshed' apologizes with a smile.]

'This one is also a damn bastard!'

Cale decided to push the current god situation behind him. With a click of his tongue, he began walking towards the mansion, the younger boy close on his tail.

"Namwoon-ah, let's get going."

"Go where?"

"Gumho Station."

Before Namwoon could ask about it more, something appeared through the wall- 'oh my f*cking god, is that a floating head'- he internally panicked, his pupils shaking and he screamed.

It was an unexpected high pitched shriek as he latched onto the older passive man.

"Eliezer. I might be used to it by now, but please be more considerate to our guest."

"Ah! I apologize, young master-nim! I just sensed you approaching and figured I must come as soon as possible," The youthful butler apologized, though he doesn't seem very guilty about it, perhaps finding Namwoon's frightened state to be entertaining.

"W-wh-" The white haired boy stammered, unable to process the situation as he clutched the back of Cale's jacket tighter. "Holy sh*t, is that a ghost?"

Cale calmly nodded.

If it were outside, like that time the ghost driver gave him a ride to the library, other people might be unable to see them. But this mansion is their home. The ghosts connection would obviously be stronger, hence why Namwoon can see them just fine.

"A lot of people work under me. He's the head butler and he's very capable."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Namwoon," Eliezer smiled upon being introduced.

At this point, the more he's with Cale, the closer Namwoon is to getting a heart attack.

"... Nice to meet you too," He reluctantly responded before turning to Cale. "Ahjussi, you're really weird."

The stoic man easily brushed off the comment and addressed his butler, "You'll be able to handle everything just fine, right?"

"Of course, young master-nim!"

"... Will all of you still be here once I'm finished with my mission?"

Eliezer's gaze softened. "Young master-nim, this place is under the god's protection. This building is still standing, God-nim still exists, and we have yet to fulfill our requirements to enter the afterlife- so yes, we would still be here the moment you return."

"Good."

The fawn-haired male tried not to tear up as he watched the tranquil expression on his liege's face. Truly, even if it doesn't seem so, the young master cares about them.

But actually, he's just thinking that it'll be a waste of money if everything here were to disappear. He hadn't gotten the chance of looting that son of a b*tch yet.

Now that he got some form of reassurance, Cale started to think things through.

'There are two options. One, I'll finish the scenarios independently with limited connections. I can't possibly steal Kim Dokja's companions, he needs them in order to complete the story- which brings me the second option, involving myself with the main characters.'

His face twisted in disgust.

He had planned to live quietly as a dead rat, just how did it come to this?

'Option one wouldn't be bad, but I'd give myself too much baggage. There are still a lot of things that I don't know about this world. It would be nice if it's similar to the Birth of A Hero, such as Ways of Survival, but this is Omniscient Reader, the story that Kim Dokja had changed. If I have to act, I'll have to do so with the knowledge that Kim Dokja has, which would be unfortunate for the guy. I really don't want to make things harder than it already is for him.'

Cale's head began to pound lightly. Just thinking about this is giving him a headache.

'There's also a choice of involving myself with them instead, but doesn't that mean there's going to be even more baggage since I'll directly be present with a bunch of trouble magnets? I really really don't want to interact with them, the brief encounter with Lee Jihye last time is enough.'

He took a few more moments to weigh his decisions, and eventually set himself on something.

'Let's help them in the shadows.'

"Hey, are you ready?" Cale asked without looking at Namwoon, checking his spatial bag one last time.

"To Gumho Station?"

"Mm."

This time, Namwoon couldn't help but ask.

"What are we gonna do there anyway?"

"Taking over that place and getting rid of a certain bastard before he acts up."

Cheon Inho, the supposed leader of Gumho Station in Omniscient Reader during the second main scenario. It's safe to assume that he hasn't established his role in the novel at this time since the apocalypse just started. It's easier to suppress him when he has little influence.

Cale's first step is to throw that annoying guy out of the picture.

His brown eyes glinted dangerously, a devilish smirk appearing on his face, and Namwoon held back a shudder.

The teen didn't know just what kind of man he's following right now, but his instincts are telling him to stay by his side if he wants to live, so he's going to obediently listen this time.

"Are we going to kill them?" Namwoon questioned with ease, as if there was nothing wrong with it.

Cale stared blankly at him, and the boy had no idea of knowing the black haired man's thoughts screaming about how vicious he is.

"Yes."

A short and curt answer.

The hidden redhead didn't even realize just how much scarier he is compared to anyone Namwoon has ever seen.

He held out a hand, and Eliezer swiftly handed him a teleportation scroll with Gumho Station's coordinates written on it.

"Have a safe journey, young master!" The butler cheerfully bid his farewell.

Along with the sound of a ripped paper, the two men disappeared in a flash of light.

---

a/n: it's 3 a.m, i wrote this in a flash.

also, the ghosts can't participate in the scenarios since they're... well, dead. cale can't bring them along either even if he wants to because they're tied to the mansion.

anyways, welcome to another series of cale wrecking havoc and causing chaos! 🎉