When Yoo Joonghyuk first arrived at Gumho Station, there was only one thing on his mind.

'Many things have changed.'

It was not small changes that he would encounter in his previous regressions, no. Other than meeting Kim Dokja who admitted to be a prophet, something he noted was the fact that Cheon Inho would always lead his little inhumane group to control the other survivors in this station. But now, not only that he could not spot a single member from their group, their leader is an entirely different person.

So his thought immediately shifted into,

'Who did this?'

He could hear the murmurs of a foreign name.

Cale Henituse.

It's a non-korean name, and it's a name he had never heard of before. Then again, there will always be new variables that Yoo Joonghyuk could never expect. After all, every different actions he made would result in different outcomes. So there comes the next question.

'What did he do?'

What did Cale Henituse do to gather people and create a harmonious environment?

Yoo Joonghyuk isn't blind, he could see clearly how people in this station are talking casually to the point he heard the rare sounds of laughter coming from them.

He hadn't heard people laugh so freely in years.

There's only one conclusion.

These people being under Cale Henituse are doing better than they ever did compared to Cheon Inho.

They're undoubtedly healthy and... happy— as one could ever be in an apocalyptic world.

For some reason, Joonghyuk welcomes the change. Until the last thought crossed his mind.

'Is this man an ally or a threat?'

Because let's be honest. Being able to do all of this isn't something a normal person could do. Having people actually listen to you is not an easy feat, especially since they seem to be persistent in protecting their leader even though they feel pressured and intimidated.

Yoo Joonghyuk is wary, but most of all, curious.

His curiosity grew when he saw Kim Namwoon, who's frankly not supposed to be here. He always met the teen in the subway on the next compartment, so how come...?

But when Kim Namwoon said the word 'hyung', Joonghyuk accurately guessed.

'It's Cale Henituse again.'

And strangely enough, Kim Namwoon is stronger. He could feel it after their clash against each other, and he could sense the loyalty that this young man has over this hyung of his.

Yoo Joonghyuk was rendered speechless once again, because Kim Namwoon is not loyal. That kid is a bloodthirsty individual who desired strength above all else.

So not only does Cale Henituse able to gather people under him with the utmost compassion and loyalty, he also changed Kim Namwoon's personality.

Ever so often, his gaze would land on a teenage girl. Na Bori— people called her. The sole incarnation of The Great Sage, Sun Wukong.

Too many things are happening in one place, Yoo Joonghyuk was completely appalled.

Cale Henituse. He needs to talk to him.

The tall brooding man walked past the guide, receiving complaints but he ignored them. He entered the tent to see a familiar black haired person.

He thought back on the first time he sees him.

'This person is weak.'

Their leader, Cale, is an extremely weak person. Not only does he have a frail figure and a pale complexion, Joonghyuk feels like the other could faint anytime in any place. It came as a surprise. He expected someone strong with either a friendly or fiery personality, anything but this.

Cale Henituse is apparently a stoic, unreadable, and lazy man who doesn't seem to be affected by his surroundings.

'How did he become their leader?'

A useless thought that Joonghyuk couldn't help but indulge his mind into.

However, there's one weird thing about this man, something that he can't put his finger on. It's not physical strength, nor is it any remarkable abilities. He doesn't know what it is, but it's making him feel uneasy.

He could see Cale staring at him blankly, silently questioning his uninvited presence, so Joonghyuk decided to speak.

"How..."

Cale raised an eyebrow, confused by the trail of words. 'Speak, you bastard. I'm not Kim Dokja. I can't read your mind.' He cursed in his head, despite his expression remaining neutral.

"How did you do it?"

The man frowned, displeased by the cryptic words.

"Do what?"

How did you meet Kim Namwoon? How did you find Na Bori? How did you get rid of Cheon Inho and his group? How were you able to keep these people safe? How did you manage to make them happy?

"...Becoming their leader?"

Cale widened his eyes, jaw dropping slightly.

Yoo Joonghyuk anticipated his answer upon seeing the reaction, but he never expected to hear the next words.

"Did you hit your head somewhere?"

"...What?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? What leader? I'm trying to slack off."

Well, he certainly did not see that coming.

Joonghyuk was flabbergasted, and Cale was too shocked to even continue the conversation or care about what face the other man is making right now.

'This protagonist is definitely crazy, what the hell?'

Thankfully, his sanity was saved when Na Bori returned.

"Ahjussi, I'm ready, let's—" She cuts off her words when she spotted Yoo Joonghyuk, and her face twisted into displeasure. "What is he doing here?"

Cale frowned. "Don't be like that. He's still older than you. At least talk politely."

'Na Bori, don't provoke the protagonist. He might kill you,' He thought, but there's no way he could say that.

Na Bori bit her inner cheek at the scold before nodding slowly. "Okay... Sorry..."

She glared sharply to the ground, and Joonghyuk watched intently.

'This Ahjussi hurt Namwoon and he was acting weird at the mention of Cale Ahjussi, who knows what he might do now? He's suspicious. I definitely can't let him get too close.'

'She has great potential. She would be beneficial for me to reach the Final Wall.'

Cale noticed his sharp gaze and quickly tried to divert their attention. "Okay. Let's go, Bori-ya."

"Where are you going?" Unfortunately, Yoo Joonghyuk decided to ask.

"...Somewhere."

"I'll join you."

It wasn't even an offer.

Cale stared at him, dumbfounded. He held back a sigh. He really doesn't understand how Kim Dokja is able to deal with him in the novel.

"Do whatever you want. But if you do, you'll have to help."

He clearly can't prevent the protagonist from coming along. Might as well just agree instead of pointlessly arguing. Plus, his plan will definitely work better with the addition of a crazily strong person. The question is whether or not the other man is willing to step in.

"Okay." Strangely enough, Yoo Joonghyuk agreed.

Now, Cale feels a bit suspicious.

'Is he tagging along so he could kill me in a place far from here?'

Contrary to his expectations (or not), Yoo Joonghyuk's thoughts were a bit different.

'Maybe... If I follow him, I might know the answers to my questions. But if he's deemed as a threat, kill him.'

Na Bori doesn't seem even the slightest bit satisfied by this development, but she also seemed to realize that there's nothing stopping the persistent emotionless man, especially with how he would strike someone without hesitation.

So they quickly left a message to Kang Gunwoo to take care of the station for a while before setting off on their journey.

• • •

"Step back," Cale's monotonous voice spoke.

He summoned a small amount of his wind ancient power to create a path through the poisonous fog.

"Is this enough?" He mumbled quietly, not too loud to be heard by Na Bori, but enough for Yoo Joonghyuk who has sensitive ears to hear.

The man could only wonder why he's talking to himself, but chose to ignore it.

A familiar voice answered in Cale's head.

— Hm, yes it is. Based on my estimation, you can use the wind 2 times this strength, but more than that, you'll definitely cough out blood.

— Ughhh, this is so weird! Your powers are definitely stronger but there's some kind of strange limitations pressing them down! It's so frustrating, damn it! I just want to make a sea of fire!

Cheapskate complained.

Cale also frowned at this. Stronger powers would be useful, so it's normal to feel frustrated after seeing you have them but can't use them because of the recoil. He's sure it wouldn't hurt because of his vitality power, but coughing up blood every time isn't very preferable.

— I think... there's a way for you to properly use them.

Super Rock thoughtful voice filled his mind.

'Hm? There is?'

— As I've said before, your powers are being limited by this world's probability. Doesn't this mean you can solve that problem by simply expanding it?

At this realization, hit brown eyes gleamed.

Probability; the extent to which something is probable or happening. It's essentially how much of their full power that a person is allowed to use, and can vary based on who you are in the scenario. In a way, probability is the "rules" of this world. It exists in order to maintain balance.

To put it simply, Cale is currently a powerless incarnation— other than the fact he came from another world and was chosen by what constellations called the 'upper gods' (whatever that means).

Although he has his ancient powers, his status prevents him from using them, because the probability that a small weak human having powers that could rival the gods is small.

'He said I just have to expand it, right?'

Cale smirked slightly.

"Let's go," He spoke, creating whirlwinds under his feet.

When he was about to do the same for Na Bori, he paused.

A nimbus cloud had appeared underneath her before she flew outside and shot up into the air faster than he could blink.

Yoo Joonghyuk followed suit by using his Air Steps and Red Phoenix Shunpo skills. In a flash, he was already standing beside the teen.

At this, Cale blinked and suppressed a shudder.

'Vicious punks.'

Then he finally caught up to them with a frown etched on his pale face.

It took 30 minutes on air to reach Dongmyo Station. Too long to be stuck by the eerily silent Yoo Joonghyuk who Cale tried to ignore.

Na Bori peered over from her nimbus cloud to observe and raised her eyebrows at the sight.

"Ahjussi, look! There's no fog... I thought you said the fog would stay until Scenario 2 is finished."

Cale calmly responds, "Scenarios happen differently in other cities. It could start late or early, depending on the incarnations involved in the dokkaebi channels and the constellations that watched them."

'And I'm assuming this one started early and also ended early.'

Yes, his gut instinct is strongly telling him that Han Donghoon is here.

He grabbed his spatial pocket bags and rummaged through it.

"You."

He turned to look at Yoo Joonghyuk.

"You said you'd help."

Cale pulled something out of the bag to give it to the other man.

It was a black outfit with five white stars and one red star on the chest. Unlike the ones he had back in his world, the stitches around the stars looked neat.

"What is this?" Yoo Joonghyuk asked flatly, staring at the uniform being held up in the air.

"Just wear it."

Cale threw the outfit towards him after feeling his arm slowly getting sore. Joonghyuk swiftly caught it before it hit his face. Na Bori also took the same outfit and her mouth formed an 'o' shape after touching it.

'The fabric feels so expensive. It's also really soft... Is it silk...?'

She knew her ahjussi is rich, considering the expensive clothes he's always wearing. Still, it's still a bit shocking to touch it by herself.

The three wore the outfit and pulled the black mask to cover their faces.

"Ahjussi, so how are we going to kidnap him?" Na Bori asked quite innocently for someone who's trying to commit a crime.

Yoo Joonghyuk almost faltered in his steps.

Kidnapping?

"Simple," Cale replied, and the others could somehow see the sly smile hidden under the fabric.

"Just destroy something."

———

a/n: it won't be cale if it doesn't involve doing flashy stuff in a kidnapping attempt.

also, i have a question...
do you prefer long chapters and longer updates or short chapters with faster updates???