“I Am Stupid. I Do Not Know Any Fancy Words And My Head Doesn’t Work Very Well. However, I Do Know

I really like that the romance and shipping are left for the secondary characters (Mannah, Jax, Hatoonka, etc.) (￣ω￣)

I prefer to read about queerplatonic relationships, family and friendships, that's one of the main reasons I love this book. (*¯ ³¯*)♡

Love all the shipping but i gotta remember why i started reading this manhwa in the first place xD

Cale and Choi Han's friendship truly moves you to the core, their camaraderie and unconditional loyalty are enviable ♡(｡- ω -)

I was thinking a bit about character development.

Like, Cale, Choi Han, and Alberu have a beautiful friendship - and it grew over the course of the entire story.

I'm probably going to talk about later parts of the story, so Imma put the rest behind a divider so you can avoid spoilers

In the beginning, Choi Han was loyal to Cale but .. it was kind of shallow.

Choi Han didn't understand why they had to wear those shitty Arm robes, was shocked when Cale created his alibi by drinking, and so on and so forth.

He followed Cale, but he didn't really know Cale that well yet and that was clear.

Oh, and it was much more of a hierarchical relationship. Cale as his legs, Choi Han as Cale's knight.

This slowly began to change, though I think there were a couple of key turning points.

Cale almost dying after the Battle of the Gorge was one of them.

I think that's when Choi Han truly realized he couldn't trust Cale when it came to his health. Not that he hadn't seen signs before, but Cale always brushed things off and I think this was when Choi Han realized that no, it's really not okay, no matter what Cale says.

After that, we see Choi Han start asking more questions...

And Cale (with a clear flashback to his time as a team leader, where his people desperately wanted to help more) actually answered them.

The relationship started to shift, and become less liege and knight, and more colleagues. (This, btw, came from both of them. Choi Han asking more, and Cale telling more. Somewhat. A little bit.)

They definitely grow closer in other ways - Choi Han telling them about his long life after they found the Dragon Village, for example. (Though Cale already knew it, so you also see just how much Cale is still keeping his secrets).

And then...

We get Choi Han receiving Choi Jung Soo's memories.

That causes the biggest shift yet.

Now they aren't just liege and knight.

Now we have Cale thinking of Choi Han as his best friend's elder (even if Choi Han doesn't feel a need for that).

Also, Choi Han now knows. Not just that Cale is a transmigrator, not just about his life as Kim Rok Soo, not just about the cataclysm (and what happened to the Choi family).

He also knows about the tragedy that has pretty much defined Cale. He may not know about the aftermath, or Cale's time as team leader, but he knows that Cale was devastated after losing everyone.

We also see Choi Han (who got Syrem's ancient powers and now knows what it's like to use them) insist that Cale shouldn't absorb the Blood-drenched Rock power, a potential standoff that ended when Cale found another way and used Embrace instead.

They are no longer liege and obedient knight.

And then came the sealed god's test, where Choi Han gave up quite a lot of his potential lifespan, just to join Cale in one of the worst times of Cale's life.

And he was happy for it.

We see Cale truly overcome with emotion. The trust and friendship between the two of them is just beautiful.

And I truly meant to talk about Alberu as well (him joining them also adding to this) but I only realized when writing this just how much I had to say about Cale and Choi Han, so maybe I'll do that another time.

Anyways.

That still wasn't everything. Because we also had the indignity test...

And while I think the author didn't fully finish everything Choi Han saw because it'll probably come up in part 2 (it hasn't yet, but I think I see the author building up to something. Because so far they've all been too busy to really address a few things, plus apparently there's dragons dealing with time? Anyways, I suspect we'll get more on Cale's childhood, and what Choi Han knows, and some other things, but we'll see. It took almost 300 chapters in part 1 before we got all the amazing scenes with Cale and Choi Han and the sealed god's test and instant so I'm willing to let the author build things up again.)

Oh, sorry. What was I saying? Right.

Even though we don't have the full story, we know that Choi Han knows.

And in one of the side stories, he says this:

He didn’t know at first, but that person’s days of rest that Choi Han saw was more of a period of recovery than days of rest. Of course, the person himself thought that he was playing around, but it did not seem like that to Choi Han at all. That was why his people, who at some point realized the meaning of this rest day, tried their best not to bother his recovery.

And again, in the same side story but referring to a moment later in part 1

Cale was mumbling. “Haaaa. It’d be great to be a slacker.” Choi Han knew the meaning of those words. ‘I want to rest. I need to heal.’ That should be the meaning. However, he now knew what Cale would say after that.

And skipping the specific details, what Choi Han probably meant when he said he knew what Cale would say after that

Cale looked toward the east and calmly commented. “There are too many things to do, so I can’t rest.”

Choi Han understands Cale 1000x more than he did when they started.

And Cale understands Choi Han better, too.

Which is probably a topic for a whole other post, considering Cale initially almost seemed to put Choi Han on a pedestal as the hero and protagonist of the story.

I support this idea!

When I was a newbie I came across a Calebab spoiler and the only reason I didn't stop reading was the lack of context and my curiosity (ﾉД`)

When I was a newbie I came across a Calebab spoiler and the only reason I didn't stop reading was the lack of context and my curiosity (ノД')

I'm really glad I didn't leave it but it's important for all newbies not to be filled with spoilers o(>m<)o

So I really like this idea (b ᴖ▽ᴖ)b

(gods I reblogged this on the wrong blog, I want to hide in a hole and die („ಡωಡ„) )

I have come to the conclusion that we, the TCF fandom, do not know how to talk about TCF without telling absolutely the entire story and filling people with spoilers.

I don't know how no one has said this before but this fic is the most adorable thing I've ever seen in my entire life (♡μ_μ)

I'm drowning in fluff and loving every moment I spend reading this fic (♡˙︶˙♡)

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…

Walnut pie (≧◡≦).

I just read TCF chapter 1036 and the ending is one of the cutest things I've ever seen (◕‿◕)♡

~ Spoiler alert for chapters 1032 to 1036 ~

Kendall and Rasheel's fight was beautiful, pure art (＾་།＾)

The way the attributes of "Victory" and "Indomitability" interacted was a marvel (*￣▽￣)b

Archie going to help was something I considered kind of cute, after all, Rasheel and Bud think they're the only sane ones, even when it's the opposite (￢ ￢), so I think they could be very good friends and this interaction made me proves it (⁀ᗢ⁀).

Changing the subject the complete beating that Rasheel gave to Kendall once she managed to land the first blow was incredible, it was not only physical, but also mental ∑d (° ∀ ° d).

He destroyed her ideology and self-esteem with every blow and phrase he uttered ＼ (٥⁀ ▽ ⁀) ／

And what I liked the most, Rasheel being a Tsun-Tsun (///￣ ￣///), after all he himself said that any attention other than a beating was a waste of time for someone who treated him him and his companions as toys to destroy.

SUPER CUTE! (o^ ^o)

Furthermore, it also turns out that Rasheel is just as reckless and oblivious as Cale is by not recognizing the concern that Raon and Cale feel for him after seeing him so hurt, seeking praise instead of trying to understand it (︶︹︺).

In fact, what I liked most about these chapters was the end of 1036.

Raon, the cute one (ﾉ ´ з `) ノ, decided that Rasheel needed cake to cure him, but he wasn't going to give her his human's apple pie.

He instead gave him Walnut Cake! (❤ω❤)

He is so cute! ( = ⩊ = )

Is it weird that he wants Rasheel to get hurt more so Raon keeps giving him pecan pie (¯ . ¯٥)?

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.)

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

I'm just seeing the results and these were:

Out of 64 votes…

Including me, 2 were for "Yes, I did it! ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ"

23 for "No, what were you thinking? (´-ω-｀)"

18 for "No but now I see it too (; ω; )"

and 21 for "No but now I see it too (; ω; )"

I am not crazy! I'm not the only one who saw it! (๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

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

The first battle of Maple Castle

The animation of the battle of Maple Castle encouraged me to re-read it and I really enjoyed it (⌒▽⌒)☆

Spoilers for chapters 280 to 288

The Whipper king is a fucking cowardly bastard who deserved to die during the civil war and it is certain that unless he acts as an enemy or obstacle he will die in every fic I am ever going to write 凸(`△´＃)

The way Toonka encouraged his soldiers made me enjoy his unique style of charisma and the strategy meeting was simply amazing.

The beginning of the battle was fabulous, in fact the references to KRS's life and the cataclysm were fabulous and now I understand everything correctly (*¯︶¯*)

Toonka ignoring all formalities and attacking instantly was simply art.

The way the soldiers (from both sides) reacted once the barbarians and the third brigade clashed was incredible, I like the way it is indicated that even those who are not warriors as long as they are from the Whipper kingdom are crazy (at least from the eyes of the empire) (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)

I really liked the clash between Toonka and Huten since it shows the character of both parties and that same meeting is what motivates Kanelle to go ahead with the plan (*≧ω≦*)

I liked the bone birds, they show the progress of the Whipper kingdom in accepting magic again, from nothing to just magical tools to magic being allowed but only as long as no one in the town gets hurt. Huten being tricked, the native wizards acting freely and unleashing their full power, the dwarves gaining determination to defeat the lions, and Cale discovering his new power; All of this happened in a single chapter (385) and it was so fast that I felt like I was really there, sheltered in the castle and seeing the war in front of me. That Huten thought Cale would never rise up against the empire was funny paraphrasing Raon "Human! Are we scamming the Duke?!" Hay and Raon! It's super cute! The way he said that all of Cale's powers had to be fortified and then got sad because he didn't have enough in his piggy bank touched my heart! (っ˘ω˘ς )

The wizards creating a bottleneck for the warriors to fight with Toonka and his people excited was great! I felt my adrenaline rising! ٩(◕‿◕)۶

The political plots in the background were just the icing on the cake and Choi Han pledging to stay hidden and being a tsundere with Toonka I loved it! Huten wanting to kill Toonka and automatically forgetting about him as soon as Choi Han arrived was very "I don't care about you anymore, I have a new rival" style, but it happens that that rival is just as (more) stronger than me and seems to have come out of hell ↑_(ΦwΦ)Ψ

Meanwhile Choi Han used it as a springboard to improve his sword art. Huten thinking that Choi Han is a noble for his "refined sword art" was funny and in the background the soldiers going crazy and shouting instructions like they should tie the enemies' feet improved the situation a lot (ᵔ◡ᵔ)b

Choi Han understanding that he didn't fall into darkness thanks to his family was very cute to me and his joint battle with Toonka was great. I like the way they treat the "grand Duke of the empire" like a rag doll <(￣ω￣)>

And the first time I saw the Whipper kingdom strategy I didn't understand it but now I was excited to reach the climax of it, the chaos caused was glorious with all the rubble falling and every armor destroyed \(✯◡✯)/

This is how the first battle of Maple Castle ends.