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Hello!:D Before I ask like—maybe one of the most persistent questions endlessly bugging my mind, I just wanna say I love your posts sm and I love you for it (>v<)♡

I have noticed that there are side characters that stand out the most compared to other side characters, even if they have limited screentime.

And one of those characters is none other than OgCale.

I can even go as far to say that he's one of the most popular characters ever in the fandom, his popularity can surpass some of the main cast's despite having very little screentime and it's actually pretty fascinating. In other transmigration/reincarnation stories, people don't usually care about the original owner of the body the MC currently possesses—and I get why. But Og!Cale? Heck, he's widely loved by many fans!

And so my question is—

Why is Og!Cale so popular and loved in the TCF fandom? There are other characters out there who may have far more intriguing backgrounds and personalities than him, and yet *gestures to the fandom* several fans absolutely adore him (myself included, hehe).

First of all, thank you for your kind words! I'm very happy you enjoy my posts 💖

As for the matter of OG Cale… Why is he so popular and beloved in particular, despite being one of many great side characters in the series? Excellent question! I actually had to sit down and think about it for a little while. I came to the conclusion that it boils down to three major factors.

Number one, the build-up.

OG Cale was a mystery since the beginning. When Cale transmigrated, the question of what kind of person he really was kept coming up. There were obvious contradictions, such as despite being a troublemaker he only went after gangsters and thugs. He allegedly had a bad relationship with his family, and yet they all cared about him very much. He was meant to be an alcoholic trash who threw and broke things when drunk, and yet his alcohol tolerance was incredible and he always missed when he threw bottles, never actually hurting people.

Basically, OG Cale was suspicious. He was hella sus since the start, and that built intrigue around his character. That isn't the only reason why people love him, of course. Many fans got spoiled about him straight away, before reading the whole story, so that can't be all there is to it. But that's definitely where the interest began.

Number two, the subverted expectations.

Don't forget, OG Cale isn't the only "Cale" who's beloved by the fandom. When we got first introduced to our MC, there was this unspoken first impression that he was a typical, what TV Tropes calls, "Audience Surrogate". You know, the type of protagonist who mostly has no personality, solely for the purpose of being a self-insert for the audience. Not to be confused with "Mary Sue " – that is a type of character who definitely has a defined personality. Although both protagonist types serve the same purpose, the latter has more to do with how the overall story is written, and how everybody acts like they're the center of the universe, and how things only happen around them, or directly because of them.

Cale, Kim Rok Soo, was in "danger" of becoming either type of MC at the beginning of the story. Because of how he was trying to sell us the idea of how totally normal of a guy he is, and how he just wants to be left alone in peace, that's all, he swears. I've seen both Audience Surrogate MCs and Mary Sues who claim the same thing at the start of the story yet become the focal point of the plot regardless, and yet fail to show any kind of character development or growth whatsoever – because of the author's bad writing.

In Cale's case, it was revealed as far from the truth as you can get. He quickly subverts those issues before they can become real concerns. Not only does he have a defined, flawed personality and showcases growth, but so do many other characters. And the writing behind Cale's character is so effective, that real people love him about as much as the fictional characters who keep him company in the story.

What does it have to do with OG Cale?

Well. Do you remember when you said, "people don't usually care about the original owner of the body the MC currently possesses, and I get why"? Let's explore that "why" for a little bit.

Where Cale could be expected to be an empty Audience Surrogate character, if TCF was poorly written that is… OG Cale could have ended up as a Blank Slate.

That is, a one-dimensional character whose only role in the story was not to be missed. Which is what happens to most "transmigration victims" in isekai. (The fact that OG Cale is the actual transmigrator in this case instead of our MC makes all of this more fascinating.) In some cases, the "original" was objectively a terrible person; be it a petty crook, or a serious villain, or someone with a rotten personality who used to abuse their privilege, letting the righteous protagonist take over and make things better for everyone. Sometimes they're completely innocent, a tragic victim who passed away prematurely, and the newcomer isn't stealing their life as much as simply slipping into a no-longer-occupied identity, while the original souls reaches a peaceful afterlife. Heck, sometimes the "original" expresses blatant consent before their passing, absolving the protagonist of all guilt regarding their transmigration.

You see, OG Cale could have easily been one of those characters. Written specifically to make create an empty spot for the MC to take over and become the starting point in their journey. And that's exactly the first impression we get! "A generic villain who gets beaten up by the protagonist". No friends, no loose ends, seemingly a worthless noble who does not contribute to society. Whose family only "puts up with him" because they're too nice to throw him out. Someone who kept such distance with everyone in his life, no one even noticed the "original" was gone.

…And yet. He is NOT a Blank Slate at all. Not in the slightest.

To quickly skip over all the reasons why OG Cale was so important to the plot: he was never a generic villain, nor an innocent, tragic victim. Instead, he is THE REASON for the plot. The how and the why of the current timeline. And he's not even dead! He is doing just fine in Kim Rok Soo's body, living a good life. Filling the empty spot left by Cale. I don't think I've seen this kind of plot twist in ANY other isekai! It's really amazing! This is exactly THE best subversion of this trope that I have ever seen. And I love it.

The third and final reason? OG Cale embodies another trope called "The Greatest Story Never Told".

Basically, the kind of life OG Cale lead when he was young – sacrificing his reputation for his step family without anyone knowing, and the deal that he made as he was at the brink of death… Those choices makes him someone who is not only a heroic figure in his own right; he's an unappreciated heroic figure. And that? That is EXTREMELY compelling to any audience.

People like heroes. People also like angst. Hero with angst has double the appeal (which is why so many broody heroes and anti-heroes exist). A heroic figure who has a tragic backstory and never gets the full credit for their sacrifice? People eat that up. I eat that up like candy myself! One of the many reasons why I enjoy time travel stories so much.

Moreover, OG Cale is in fact the only currently alive hero in TCF timeline who has never and will never get that heroic recognition – unless Cale reveals the truth to the Henituse family, which has long become extremely unlikely. Of course it makes OG Cale ripe for all sorts of fan scenarios, be it an AU where he and Cale are twins, where OG Cale goes back in time to save the world himself without Cale's transmigration, where he and Cale are the same person with combined angst… OG Cale has enough complexities to BE a protagonist in his own right. Fans recognize that, subconsciously or not. It makes him great character to write fanfics about.

I'm sure there are many more reasons why fans love to love OG Cale, naturally (his personality and his looks for example). But I think those 3 are the main ones:

Despite his shallow public persona and terrible reputation, he was built up properly as a mysterious character with great depth, and it stayed a mystery for a really long time in the story, which made the fanbase's interest in him grow exponentially.

Just like Cale, he was a clever and plot-relevant subversion of expectations, and an excellent take of what could potentially happen to the "original" that got swapped with a transmigrating protagonist.

He is a tragic heroic figure who's never got credit for his sacrifices, which makes him very compelling to explore in fanfictions.

I hope this helps! Let me hear other reasons why you guys personally love OG Cale 🙂

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The thing about this poll...

Yes, Cale Henituse has absolutely done enough crimes to land in court (I would know, I literally made a post about his crime list and it's over a 100). But with what actual EVIDENCE?? He's way too smart to leave any behind - anything actually usable, that is. Not to mention, there are entire dimensions full of people who commit perjury for him without hesitation (and much worse), mountains of gold on Cale's disposal to bribe anyone involved in the court committee, an army of politicians on his side to give him diplomatic immunity, and if everything else was to fail, the judge would just get threatened into submission by a bunch of Dragons. Cale would be released as an innocent man with not a scratch on his record no matter what.

Would Cale get a trial for his crimes, well yeah. But would he win it despite all of it being 100% correct? Heck yeah he would

Every poll on this blog is about fictional characters only. This request was sent to us and we made a poll in response to it. Send any Blorbo-related question you want to our inbox and we’ll make a poll on which people can vote with their own Blorbos in minds

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This is a very interesting topic, actually! No matter which Cale we're talking about. I hope you don't mind if I share my thoughts on this.

Here are the facts:

Kim Rok Soo accepts his role as Cale practically right away after transmigration. He only ever uses his previous name in his inner monologue when he refers to specific events of his past, such as his traumatic childhood or his role as Team Leader.

Interestingly enough, the Ancient Powers, Cale's companions inside his own mind, also refer to their host as "Cale", and never as Kim Rok Soo. Even after the events of Earth 2; because while we were never told how much of his mind they know, they MUST know of his real name past that point. They wouldn't do that to spite him, so that means Cale must be fully comfortable with his new identity.

As for OG Cale - the new Kim Rok Soo - he actively encourages Cale to not only embrace his new name, but to throw away his old identity.

This is direct contrast to Choi Han, who clings to his name as the last, one and only, thing he has left of his identity. Everything else had been stripped away by madness in the Forest of Darkness.

Depite this flippancy in behavior regarding his own name, Cale still pays utmost attention when he names Raon; he explicity thinks over how names are very important. This contradiction always struck me as odd: Cale said names are precious, but what about his OWN name? Wasn't it precious to him at all, if he got rid of it so easily? Like it was no big deal?

Like... what gives?

Here's my personal take: as important names are to Cale, aka. OG Kim Rok Soo, names also have meaning. And the meaning of the name of "Kim Rok Soo", for our main character? It's the name of a man with terrible past. He did not hate his previous identity, but his experiences; as much as they taught him and shaped him and helped him grow. They were still pretty awful experiences overall. The literal WORST.

So, "Cale" is the promise of a new life, new chance, better outcomes. He rolled with the punches and decided to let go of his name, to take the future into his own hands. And same applies to OG Cale as well. It's not like the heritage of the Henituse family doesn't matter to him; heck, he sacrificed so much for them, of course he cared! See, he did not encourage Cale to abandon his old identity with any malicious intent. Instead, he was letting him know that WAS completely ok for him to embrace the role of Cale Henituse. OG Cale chose to completely become the new Kim Rok Soo as well. Instead of trying to be like the previous occupant of his body, he was... himself. In a new body. With a new name. Which allowed him a second chance at life with a new family (or, well, old family reincarnated - same difference). He shaped the role to fit his desires, not reshaped his desires to fit th role. The difference is the key.

In conclusion: it cannot be "deadnaming" either of them when the entire point is to make the name fit the person, and not the other way around. Neither Cale nor OG Cale/new KRS ever pretended to be something they're not (aside from keeping the transmigration a secret, that is). Instead, they carved out their own identities with this brand new blank slate they got to work with, with incredible results.

...Cale, Kim Rok Soo, Team Leader, Bob? Who even cares! No matter his name, he is always the same person.

Wait- umm guys would calling Cale, Kim Rok Soo, be deadnaming him?? this question might seem quite offensive?? Idk what to say it but

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Cale: *in denial of being kind and a workaholic* Eruhaben: *in denial of being a softie and susceptible to flattery*

Cale: You could totally heal that necromancer better than Pendrick right Goldie Gramps: Absolutely, but it's not like I'm working for you or anything

🤣🤣🤣

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Omg I love you

Almost every post that I see about lcf you are on it AND YOU ARE ALWAYS SO REAL

Why, thank you very much! 🥰 I love this series a lot, that's all. I'm very happy you're enjoying my posts! Have a wonderful day 💖

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@mojitotheslothsblog No don't worry, I'm honored to contribute to this discussion! :D

Please allow me to expand some of the points that @lovesim09 made:

Cale powers' additional characteristics:

Super Rock – most people miss its danger related precognition. Yes, I am talking about the "Are You Trying To Sacrifice Yourself" bit. Super Rock senses mortal danger before Cale does. It's because in TCF, the element closest to death is the earth; it's the reason why Blood Drenched Rock's aura of death is so nasty. Honestly I consider it the most busted of all of Cale's APs because it has defense, offense, AND special abilities with no major drawbacks (other than the fact that you need to sincerely sacrifice yourself to unlock it... imagine the irony if the White Star actually managed to get it lol)

Indestructible Shield – chlorokinesis; that is, the kinetic ability to manipulate, grow and shape plant. Cale was able to turn seedlings into drown trees with it, and make himself a staircase in the air from the branches. Freaking awesome.

The Sound of the Wind – I theorize it offers echolocation, it's just that Cale never needs it. Remember; the Thief was blind. Yeah she had the elementals to help, but come on; she literally said "All I needed to see was the wind". She was totally like Toph from Avatar.

Fire of Destruction – the purification aspect cannot be understated. Remember; ordinary fire can't destroy dead mana, much less black despair or the power of chaos, only the powers of the Sun God can and this one AP. This is definitely the second most busted ability Cale has. Part 2 also has several scenes where Cale uses electrical shocks; so on top of firebeding it's feaking lightning bending too.

Sky Eating Water – one thing Part 2 made clear is that its true purpose is to subdue god-like beings. It is powerful it took no less that TWO GODS COMBINED to bind it. So, third most busted ability on the list, definitely.

Vitality of the Heart – let's not underestimate how important it is that it allowed Cale to avoid a horrific death due to an imbalanced plate... allowed him to freely combine god-like powers, unlike a certain someone... and destroy a reincarnator as well... I'll be honest, I think the White Star is an absolute loser for never finding it. It's not like it was extremely difficult! You'd think on his quest to become a god he'd find a rumor about a city with interesting history and bizarre rock tower tradition. A freaking INVALID found it before he did! (No disrespect to Taylor of course)

Dominating Aura – not only does it protect the user, it extends its protection to others. And is able to absorb and imitate the auras of other powerful beings in Part 2. Really cool. Proves that Cale Barrow was an absolute moron for not seeing its true potential.

Blood Drenched Rock – it was never explored but I am also 100% convinced it had hidden attributes and potential offensive abilities just like Super Rock. Also I think it had one thing in common with Chaos; it's probably capable of driving people irreparably mad... and possibly the user as well. Cale was warned not to get "drunk on the power" by his other APs, and that's not the sort of advice he needs on regular.

Annual Rings of Life – not included above for some reason; anyway, unlike what the White Star got, Cale's half of it was able to predict the future. Which, as all prothetic powers, is not to be underestimated. Anyone else thinks OG Cale's mom foresaw her own death and commited suicide so that she could at least do something useful with it? Because that's what it seems like to me.

White Star powers:

Water Wall – I think it's potentially much more powerful and annoying to deal with than Cale's Shield? I mean, imagine trying to break a wall made out of water. Not gonna happen, man. That power was utterly WASTED on a moron like Cale Barrow, who barely ever used it.

Wind – yet another one that he barely ever used, except for flying I think? Could have been something else, but he definitely flied when he first showed up in the Empire fighting Eruhaben.

Earth Cloaking Ability – I think people forget how amazing it is that the White Star was able to bypass all the security measures that the Henituse family had, kidnap and impersonate Deruth... a disguise that is indetectable with magic, even for Dragons? So freaking busted.

Annual Rings of Life – the White Star was able to determine when a tree died. Limited psychometry?? That could be actually really useful! Aside from that one specific occasion I mean.

Sky attribute – interesting bit that people don't talk about much? That it gave the White Star the aura of a Holy Being. Despite how nasty in nature it was and how much damange it could cause, it actually felt pure to Saint Jack?? Crazy!

Dominating Aura – I'll talk about my theory why he didn't want it below.

Wyvern Control – it's such a fun ability for a Dragon Slayer to have, don't you think? To control reptile monsters like pokemon? Really fits the vibe! I can imagine that in the past it was a cherished part of the heritage, that actually had NOTHING to do with Choi Jung Gun at all.

Sword of Disasters – I'll be honest, I shouldn't be talking about it because I have NO CLUE how this power actually works. I mean it sems simple on the surface, but... The power of natural disasters? What does that even mean?? Does it actually control the elements or the weather??? Or is it just a metaphor of strength enhancement with some fancy special effects???? Somebody feel free to enlighten me!

Abandoning your Life – you would THINK that the White Star should be able to spam the hell out of this one since he got infinite chances to reincarnate... I mean, if I understand it correctly, it can create power in exchange for lifespan. Create your own Ancient Powers from scratch, dude!! On the other hand... I don't think self-sacrifice is even in his vocabulary, so. Let's just be grateful that Cale never got this power and move on~!

Now, about what @lovesim09 said:

"I wonder why we haven't seen the wood power of the ancient white star."

When Cale was in the Mercenary King's Directory, Wood and Earth were the 2 most rare elemental Ancient Power types. Here's the direct quote from chapter 361:

"There were a total of 31 people with ancient powers in those 9,889 records. 29 of them are determined to have passed away. Four of them had water attributes, nine had wind attributes, six had fire attributes, one had wood attribute and 11 had other attributes."

Only one wood attribute in a 1000 years worth of records. Not a single earth one. I don't know what kind of power the OG White Star had, but whatever it was, it disappeared. And Cale Barrow had one HELL of a time trying to locate another one, so he couldn't afford to be picky. Who knows; the single wood attribute mentioned could have been a Thames!

As for what @kuroyuki-kokuyoku said:

"If I didn't know how shortsighted that pitiful megalomaniac is, I would've thought he was trying to do reverse psychology and deprive Cale of a valuable source of info on his Ancient Powers and/or the Ancient Times by telling him he can be stronger by getting rid of their voices."

That would have been a pretty good strategy, but I agree with you; the White Star was way too full of himself to consider something like the voices of the original owners useful. I'm pretty sure it never even occurred to him such a thing was possible, and even if he did, he still wouldn't understand all the implications. He only saw the surface – that Cale did not absorb his APs fully and thus was weaker for it. "What an amateur," he must have thought. "Look at me, I only kept the truly useful powers with me."

Now, for my honest thoughts? The reason why the White Star was so dumb was because he was too obsessed with strength. That's why he only sought out offensive powers. He didn't see value in other types of abilities at all. That's why he disregarded the Dominating Aura. The White Star must have considered the power's true nature shameful.

Think about it! It is a power DESIGNED FOR THE WEAK. Why would a strong person need a fake aura of strength? For Cale Barrow, this power was an embarrassment! As proud as he was about his Dragon Slayer lineage, he clearly did not understand its true purpose nor appreciated the beauty of weak beings standing on equal ground with the strong. He wanted to be THE strongest, no contest. He did not understand the DA's true value at all. That's why he so carelessly threw it away, just like he threw away everyone and everything he loved for his ambition.

We know well by now that humans in TCF can ascend, with their own efforts and merit. The true path to glory was always in the exact opposite direction from the one Cale Barrow took. He wanted to become stronger than Dragons? A GOD? He could have done that the old-fashioned way. SACRIFICE. Protecting the world. Being a real Dragon Slayer! HE WASTED IT ALL LIKE A FOOL.

So, when the White Star told Cale that "he did not know how to use his Ancient Powers correctly"? He couldn't have possibly been more wrong.

Let me say it again. The White Star was an absolute moron.

Thanks for inviting me to join in! :)

the proper way to use ancient powers

I remember White Star saying that Cale didn't know how to use his powers properly, he was partly right of course. Cale didn' t absorb them properly, he didn't get rid of the will of the previous owners, and as a result his power is weaker. However, I think White Star is also not using his power properly. First of all, we have never seen him use his Dominating aura. After all, Cale only has a "shell", which means White Star should still have one. Imagine fighting someone who uses a power similar to dragon fear. Cale people would have a much harder time fighting than normal, no matter how you look at it, apart from the dragons, Cale and Choi Han, the others would have a similar reaction like when they first met Eruhaben. White Star knows how to use the remaining abilities that the dragon slayers had. Probably because he's the warrior type.

Another thing is that each power that Cale has has some additional functions. Why does White Star have such basic powers?

Cale powers:

Super Rock - rock control, body strengthening, before he started talking he was like a danger detector. Power filtering?I'm not sure what to call it, but when Cale first used the crown, he said something about him being busy filtering the power they had from the crown.

The Indestructible Shield - Summons holy looking shield, tree control, dead mana absorption using trees. The ability to absorb other powers.

The Sound of the Wind - Creates whirlwinds, allows the user to move quickly and fly. Detecting Divine Artifacts. (I'm not sure if I'm right, but the thief most likely destroyed her plate to divide her power. )The second part of the power allows user to hear wind elementals (this is cheating, you have an informants that almost no one sees).

Fire of Destruction - Summons thunderbolts, can create something like a sea of fire. Purifies dead mana and black despair. In part 2, with the help of the artifact, can purify Jiangshi.

Sky Eating Water - Summons pillars and spears of water. In part 2, she learned how to make rain and chains similar to those that imprisoned her. She also created a tsunami.

Vitality of the Heart - healing ability, but only injuries inflicted after gaining this power. Keeping the owner alive if his body is unbalanced. Longer life, as we know the previous owner didn't die until he was 150 years old. Cale said that this power can regenerate limbs, I don't know if he was exaggerating or if he knows this from the book and information about how Taylor could have ended up (I'm afraid the author will eventually remember about it). Regeneration that makes you cough up blood 😂. The body and blood has more vitality, as confirmed by World Tree and Duke Fredo.

Dominating Aura - An aura similar to that of a ruler. The aura can make others want to submitting. Immunity to dragon fear. Allows to control a crown that likes to drink blood. In part 2, the aura has become so strong that it can compete with God. Also have an imitation of the power of a saint of the God of Chaos.

Blood Drenched Rock - Instills fear of death, Cale Created an isolated space using this power. According to Super Rock their powers are similar, which means also has offensive abilities. The user appears to be covered in blood, when uses this ability. (yes I gave it a different color because this power did not belong to the heroes )

And on the other side we have the powers that belong to the ancient white star.

White Star powers:

Wall of Water - Supposedly the strongest defensive ability, at least according to CJG. Creates a wall of water. (Is that really all?! I understand then why he tried to get Water of Judgement.)

Wind - In most situations White Star used it as a wall of wind or to push enemies away. We don't even have a name!

Fire of Natural Disaster - A dangerous ability that, when combined with Sword of Disasters, creates a truly dangerous combination. Can control something similar to lava.

Earth - Allows you to change your appearance. We don't know the name and other abilities.

Annual Rings of Life - has only half power. Allows to see a person's time but not all. It allows you to recognize people with warped times. It can determine when something died or how old objects are. Can be used by a person with Thames blood.

Sky attribute - control the rain, the wind and even the sunlight using clouds. Summons Thunderbolts, which were stronger than those created by Fire of Destruction. Even dragons had trouble stopping them. Allows you to move in a place full of dead mana. Need to absorb dead mana or black despair regularly. Dead Man's power stops it from destroying the owner of that power from inside. The power comes from the Demonic race.

Dominating Aura - similar to the power of Cale Henituse. It may be weaker though. Never used.

Wyvern Control - Can control wyverns. Stronger than the ability Choi Han has from Syrem.

Sword of Disasters - It has a power similar to natural disasters. Stronger ability than what Syrem had. It can easily destroy the dragons' shield. Even the Indestructible Shield couldn't stop the attack for long.

Abandoning your Life - The power to allow the Sword of Disasters to become stronger. Allows you to sacrifice some of your lifespan in exchange for power. Using this ability also allows you to grant your dragon slayer powers to someone else.

As for powers stronger than those of the heroes of ancient times, they are surprisingly weak and non unique. To me this looks like a power that was not properly developed by the original owner or abilities wrong used by the current owner. I wonder why we haven't seen the wood power of the ancient white star. He wanted to imitate him and didn't even try to look for his wood ancient power. It'll be funny if Cale ever tries to use them and accidentally unlocks their potential. Because he decided to listen to the voice of AWS. I still think it's stupid to get rid of the previous owner's will. These were their powers, they know better what these powers can do. Not to mention that these are people who lived in ancient times. They know the history better than anyone else. It's like Cale gave someone the Record and didn't explain anything. Okay Poor example, he could do that.

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That is actually a good point, thank you for correcting me! We KNOW OG Cale remembers his mom so he couldn't have been younger than 5 when she died. I was pretty sure it as mentioned somewhere that Deruth's second marriage happened quickly, but the 1 year thing could have been another Mandela Effect in action; it makes sense logically, but we're still missing evidence for it. I'll try to find the exact words about Deruth and Violan's marriage to make sure there was no extra information missed. Good work!

Hi! Can you please tell me the cannon events of ogCale. I want to know about ogCale's life from his childhood till his death.

There are too much misinformation about him in the fandom. I can't decide anymore what is canon and what is fanon about ogCale anymore.

I would also like to hear your head-canons about ogCale's past.

You might want to check out this recent post of mine, concerning what is canon and what isn't about OG Cale's personality. As for the exact events? Let's see... (Big Spoilers Ahead!)

OG Cale was born in year 763 of Felix Calendar (the particulars of the calendar are never elaborated upon), in the main city of the Henituse Territory: Rain City or Weston, depending on translation. While the details of his childhood are never directly stated, it's implied to be a happy upbringing by his parents, until the death of his mother Jour/Drew Thames (Jour was first proposed version of the name and I'm personally partial to it over EAP's "Drew") sometimes around the year 771. Jour got into a carriage accident when coming back from Harris Village, where she split her own plate and hid half of her Anciet Power, the Annual Rings of Life, making it seem like it was the carriage crash was the cause of her death. OG Cale only found out the truth about the even after he made the deal with the God of Death many years later.

Within one year Deruth Henituse, Cale's father, met and married Violan, whose past is mostly unknown aside from the fact that she comes from a merchant family (which raises all sorts of red flags, considering how the Hunters like to disguise themselves as merchants, but it might just be red herring) and that she had a son named Basen/Bassen from an unknown previous relationship (no mention whether she was married or not). Basen is 3 years younger than Cale, so he had to be born in 766, and shares no blood relation with him as his step brother (although Kim Rok Soo!Cale is unaware of this fact for most of the story, as he never was given any details about OG Cale' mother and her death). Deruth and Violand had another child named Lily/Lilly, Cale's half-sister, who was born in 774, 3 years into their marriage, when OG Cale was 11.

We know that in year 771 Basen and Cale had a conversation where OG Cale told him to pretend to be Deruth's biological son. From that point on, he did his best to act like "trash", aka. a spoiled brat, with the explicit goal to be kicked out of the family and pass the heir position to his step brother. In year 778, when OG Cale was 15, he added drinking to his personna and became known as an alcoholic with low alcohol tolerance and terrible, violent temper when drunk. It continued that way until year 783, when 18-year-old OG Cale met Choi Han, on his way to report the Harris Village massacre that occured on March 28th ("third month of the year" to be exact, but we never got any direct confirmation that that months were named differently in this universe, so whatever). "Drunk" OG Cale insulted the dead villagers to Choi Han's face, possibly because he was being "in-character", but canonically also because he hates Harris Village as the place where his mother died. Which lead to OG Cale's brutal beatdown documented in "The Birth of a Hero" series, Volume 1.

Now, let me dive into that for a bit, because there seems to be a huge misunderstanding about the following events among the fandom.

I carefully re-read the beginning of the novel recently (the official translation that is, mostly to see if there were any major differences from what I remembered of EAP's translation), trying to fish out as many details as possible about the TBOAH timeline. One intersting thing about OG Cale's introduction in the books that Kim Rok Soo read is that he did not actually appear just once. He was not a recurring character mind you, nothing particular being mentioned about him or the Henituse family after the first Volume, but it was clearly stated Choi Han "bumped into him a couple of times" before their final confrontation.

The way I see it, the timeline of TBOAH probably like this: Choi Han must have passed a bar where OG Cale was having a huge public tantrum over his wine not tasting good, causing it to be mentioned in TBOAH, which was written from Choi Han's POV. It probably did not count as a meeting though, with Choi Han having no reason to actually enter the bar. But that tantrum caused OG Cale to injure himself with a piece of broken table leg, making KRS!Cale notice that he did not have a scar on his side when he transmigrated; a specific detail which allowed him to place his position in the TBOAH timeline.

We don't know what Choi Han did for the next couple of days; possibly he spent looking for something to eat, a place to rest, or asking for information about where was the man in charge and how he should approach him. Maybe he spent time in the slums, met some homeless kids along the way (the reason why Cale had a specific quote in mind about them when he met On and Hong), got into some fight where he showed his fighting prowess (more on that in a bit), possibly went past the Man Eating Tree, prompting its backstory regardless of the fact that no one got the Indestructible Shield Ancient Power in the TBOAH timeline (at least, not within the first 5 Volumes which Kim Rok Soo had read). Kim Rok Soo never thought about the narration seeming too strange, and he's an observant guy. So it must have felt like natural exposition for the audience. Perhaps Choi Han met Billos/Bilose Flynn as well, prompting his introduction and backstory.

What we know for sure is that OG Cale and Choi Han had their "first meeting" the next day after Choi Han jumped over the wall (missing Hong and twisting his ankle as the result, slowing down his progress on top of physical and emotional exhaustion), while OG Cale was out and drinking. But I think it also makes sense to assume they did not exchange words just yet, as Choi Han was in full depression mode at the time had no reason to be chatty. It's possible OG Cale just threw a casual insult at him, reinforcing Choi Han's terrible impression of him. In other words, they had at least one "meeting" by that point in the timeline, but OG Cale did not get beat up just yet.

In TCF, Deruth also mentioned that "Cale would leave for the capital in five days", causing Cale to think how "OG Cale would get beat up in four days time", delaying the actual confrontation of these two from Choi Han's initial arrival quite lot - about a week, in fact!

Here's what I pieced together: in order for Choi Han to meet the Count he had to find way to get past the guards, without showing an identification or fighting them, which he was actively trying to avoid (his conscience recovered enough for him to remember not to kill innocent people regardless of his rage). So the meeting was no accident: he must have approached OG Cale on purpose, knowing that he was the son of the local Count. He probably asked for help regarding the Harris Village directly to OG Cale in hope that the man would be sympathetic enough to let him meet his father (not a very good plan, but probably the best one he had at the time). We also know it happened on a rainy day, and it did NOT rain when Cale first met Choi Han in TCF, nor the day after when he got the Shield, which took a couple days of buying bread for Cale to acquire (and when he finally did was only foggy, presumably because of On helping, but not raining!). After Cale got his Shield, it was explicitly stated that it rained heavily for a several days in a row; like during Cale's talk with Billos about his father. Once the rain passed, Cale was satisfied with the fact that the deadline for his beating had passed and he successfully avoided that fate.

So... Choi Han must have spent a full week in Rain City before he beat up OG Cale (minimum of 3 days of Cale buying bread, and 4 consecutive rainy days), unlike many fans seem to believe; the generall impression I get is that Choi Han stayed in the city for barely a day or two before moving on.

We also know that Beacrox/Vicross Molan met Choi Han exactly four days earlier in TCF than in TBOAH. Which leads me directly to the bottom of the misunderstanding I mentioned earlier.

In TBOAH, after Choi Han beat up OG Cale, there did not seem to be any legal complications for him; no mention of him paying a fine, since he was homeless and poor he couldn't have afforded it, and no mention of guards trying to arrest him. Either no guards witnessed the confrontation, or they chose not to help OG Cale. I find the second option hard to believe though, since what we have seen in TCF seems to indicate that despite OG Cale's behavior, the Henituse Territory's knights were quite loyal and competent. I think they probabably didn't see nor hear anything BECAUSE of the rain. Someone could make an argument that Beacrox COULD have seen something, but that's highly unlikely; instead, I think Choi Han must have had a fight with someone else, because it was mentioned that Cale wanted Choi Han and Beacrox to bond over Choi Han impressing him with his strength. I don't see how "impressive" it would be to see Choi Han beating up OG Cale, who was completely ordinary in strength... I think that's where the common misunderstanding among the fans lies.

To sum it up: I am fully convinced there was no one around when Choi Han beat up OG Cale. It was raining, OG Cale was too stubborn to admit defeat or to call out for help, and Choi Han was never arrested. I'm 100% certain there was no witnesses, especially not Beacrox.

And beside that, if we sum up days, we reach another crusial conclusion: Choi Han met Beacrox before approaching OG Cale.

It only makes sense from the timeline! When I mentioned earlier that during the week that Choi Han spent in the city, "he possibly got into some fight where he showed his fighting prowess", that is what I meant. Either Choi Han got into a fight with some thugs (which do exist despite the Henituse Territory not having a criminal underground; TBOAH narrative clearly states that OG Cale liked to terrorize thugs instead of bothering innocent people), and Beacrox happened to see it, or they bumped into each other and fought personally. Possibly both.

Choi Han's exact TBOAH activities might not seem all that relevant to the original question regarding OG Cale, here's where we come back to the main point. Namely: Ron and Beacrox leaving OG Cale behind to travel with Choi Han.

Since Ron was such an important figure in OG Cale's life, we can imagine him leaving (wihtout a goodbye or warning, no less) affected him quite a bit. But fans like to make extra drama, and somehow created this narrative where 1) Beacrox sees Choi Han beating up OG Cale and doen't stop him, and 2) Ron leaves OG Cale with the guy that harmed his charge without any care in the world. Which simply does not add up at all! This is the reason why I think that there were no witnesses when Choi Han beat up OG Cale: Ron absolutely would have tried to avenge him!! For his own professional pride if nothing else - he wouldn't have simply left with Choi Han if he knew!!!

Yes, Ron and Beacrox were under the impression that Choi Han was involved with Arm, due to him "having their scent" (more of my exact thoughts on that in this post). So they decided to follow him not because they LIKED him, but because they found him useful. Their comradery developed slowly and gradually after that misunderstanding got resolved and got to trust him more (and Choi Han lightened up a bit after the events in Harris Village). But I'mstill pretty sure they never found out about Choi Ha being the one who beat up the guy they worked for over a decade. The Henituse had always been generous with them, and aside from OG Cale's bratty behavior they really had no reasons to complain. And no matter his protagonist status, Choi Han certainly wasn't "charming" enough to make them forget all of their gratitude out of the blue.

You might be thinking, "but how could they not figure it out"? Well... OG Cale was known for causing trouble. Someone beating him up around the same time that Choi Han was in town? Doesn't mean much. And Deruth wouldn't have let it slide either! If he had any idea what Choi Han had done to his son (remember, he beat him up NEAR DEATH), Deruth would have never sent Hans to help with the proper burial of the villagers! That kind of gesture of good will just doesn't make sense, no matter how tragic the massacre was. OG Cale was clearly found and brought in for healing, Choi Han got the audience he wanted with the Count, OG Cale wasn't around to make any comments on it because he was stuck in bed, and Basen went to the capital for Zed's birthday instead in his older brother's place.

Then the terrorist attack happened, and the rest of 5 Volumes of TBOAH happened, followed by the Henituse Territory invasion by Clopeh Sekka... 20 years of war, erased from the timeline by the transmigration deal with the God of Death... and the rest is history.

So, here's the quick summary of my long, LONG post about what exactly is canon regarding OG Cale:

OG Cale was born in 763 (no exact month of birth confirmed)

His mother died in 771 (when he was 8)

Deruth remarried same year, Violan and 5-year-old Basen becoming Henituses

OG Cale started acting as a spoiled brat to help his step family

He added alcoholism to his personna in 778 (15 years old)

He met Choi Han in 781 a couple of times (18 years old); first time probably sometime 1st of April, and got beat up around 5th-6ths, around 1 week after the massacre of Harris Village on March 28th,

He probably spent the next 2 years trying to get himself kicked out from the family but Deruth nor Violan ever allowed it (because their love was unconditional)

Henituse Territory fell in spring of 783 to the Indomitable Alliance of the northern countries, officially lead by Clopeh Sekka of Paerun Kingdom

He transmigrated around 803 (40 years old), becoming 36-year-old Team Leader Kim Rok Soo

What fans commonly misunderstand and get mixed up:

Choi Han did not beat up OG Cale upon their first meeting

Beacrox did not see OG Cale getting beat up nor stood on idly the sidelines watching

Ron probably never found out Choi Han was the one who beat up his charge either

Neither did Deruth or anyone important someone would have tried to arrest Choi Han or at the very least fine or blacklist him from Rain City, none of which got mentioned in TCF

So Ron and Beacrox did not merrily set off into the sunset with the guy who beat up OG Cale, they left to keep an eye on the suspicious guy who smelled like Arm (Beacrox liked sparring with him but that was just a side bonus)

We do not know whether Basen died or got hurt in the terrorist attack as it was never explained in TBOAH, we just know he had to be there instead of OG Cale

It is implied that all the Henituses aside from OG Cale died during the invasion, but the how any why was never explored so anything about that topic is pure speculation from the fanbase

OG Cale fought in the war later but his exact role was never elaborated on either

I hope you find this helpful! Have a good day everyone 💖

[Bonus: I forgot to adress one last thing: the scene OG Cale witnessed in the final battle. OG Cale saw the White Star grab Choi Han by the arm (not the neck unlike most fanart of that scene!) and say the line about his time being warped. There is no mention whether OG Cale have ever actually met the White Star before that point, and there is no information regarding their relation (which is implied because of how similar they look and how White Star was able to use the Annual Rings of Life, which could be only used by the Thames). So anything about OG Cale's family is still yet to be adressed in canon. OG Cale's unknown relative (possibly uncle because of Jour mentioning her brother) showed up exactly ONCE, and he never even showed his real face. So everything connected to that stuff is still only theories and all.]

[blueteller]

Hi! Can you please tell me the cannon events of ogCale. I want to know about ogCale's life from his childhood till his death.

There are too much misinformation about him in the fandom. I can't decide anymore what is canon and what is fanon about ogCale anymore.

I would also like to hear your head-canons about ogCale's past.

You might want to check out this recent post of mine, concerning what is canon and what isn't about OG Cale's personality. As for the exact events? Let's see... (Big Spoilers Ahead!)

OG Cale was born in year 763 of Felix Calendar (the particulars of the calendar are never elaborated upon), in the main city of the Henituse Territory: Rain City or Weston, depending on translation. While the details of his childhood are never directly stated, it's implied to be a happy upbringing by his parents, until the death of his mother Jour/Drew Thames (Jour was first proposed version of the name and I'm personally partial to it over EAP's "Drew") sometimes around the year 771. Jour got into a carriage accident when coming back from Harris Village, where she split her own plate and hid half of her Anciet Power, the Annual Rings of Life, making it seem like it was the carriage crash was the cause of her death. OG Cale only found out the truth about the even after he made the deal with the God of Death many years later.

Within one year Deruth Henituse, Cale's father, met and married Violan, whose past is mostly unknown aside from the fact that she comes from a merchant family (which raises all sorts of red flags, considering how the Hunters like to disguise themselves as merchants, but it might just be red herring) and that she had a son named Basen/Bassen from an unknown previous relationship (no mention whether she was married or not). Basen is 3 years younger than Cale, so he had to be born in 766, and shares no blood relation with him as his step brother (although Kim Rok Soo!Cale is unaware of this fact for most of the story, as he never was given any details about OG Cale' mother and her death). Deruth and Violand had another child named Lily/Lilly, Cale's half-sister, who was born in 774, 3 years into their marriage, when OG Cale was 11.

We know that in year 771 Basen and Cale had a conversation where OG Cale told him to pretend to be Deruth's biological son. From that point on, he did his best to act like "trash", aka. a spoiled brat, with the explicit goal to be kicked out of the family and pass the heir position to his step brother. In year 778, when OG Cale was 15, he added drinking to his personna and became known as an alcoholic with low alcohol tolerance and terrible, violent temper when drunk. It continued that way until year 783, when 18-year-old OG Cale met Choi Han, on his way to report the Harris Village massacre that occured on March 28th ("third month of the year" to be exact, but we never got any direct confirmation that that months were named differently in this universe, so whatever). "Drunk" OG Cale insulted the dead villagers to Choi Han's face, possibly because he was being "in-character", but canonically also because he hates Harris Village as the place where his mother died. Which lead to OG Cale's brutal beatdown documented in "The Birth of a Hero" series, Volume 1.

Now, let me dive into that for a bit, because there seems to be a huge misunderstanding about the following events among the fandom.

I carefully re-read the beginning of the novel recently (the official translation that is, mostly to see if there were any major differences from what I remembered of EAP's translation), trying to fish out as many details as possible about the TBOAH timeline. One intersting thing about OG Cale's introduction in the books that Kim Rok Soo read is that he did not actually appear just once. He was not a recurring character mind you, nothing particular being mentioned about him or the Henituse family after the first Volume, but it was clearly stated Choi Han "bumped into him a couple of times" before their final confrontation.

The way I see it, the timeline of TBOAH probably like this: Choi Han must have passed a bar where OG Cale was having a huge public tantrum over his wine not tasting good, causing it to be mentioned in TBOAH, which was written from Choi Han's POV. It probably did not count as a meeting though, with Choi Han having no reason to actually enter the bar. But that tantrum caused OG Cale to injure himself with a piece of broken table leg, making KRS!Cale notice that he did not have a scar on his side when he transmigrated; a specific detail which allowed him to place his position in the TBOAH timeline.

We don't know what Choi Han did for the next couple of days; possibly he spent looking for something to eat, a place to rest, or asking for information about where was the man in charge and how he should approach him. Maybe he spent time in the slums, met some homeless kids along the way (the reason why Cale had a specific quote in mind about them when he met On and Hong), got into some fight where he showed his fighting prowess (more on that in a bit), possibly went past the Man Eating Tree, prompting its backstory regardless of the fact that no one got the Indestructible Shield Ancient Power in the TBOAH timeline (at least, not within the first 5 Volumes which Kim Rok Soo had read). Kim Rok Soo never thought about the narration seeming too strange, and he's an observant guy. So it must have felt like natural exposition for the audience. Perhaps Choi Han met Billos/Bilose Flynn as well, prompting his introduction and backstory.

What we know for sure is that OG Cale and Choi Han had their "first meeting" the next day after Choi Han jumped over the wall (missing Hong and twisting his ankle as the result, slowing down his progress on top of physical and emotional exhaustion), while OG Cale was out and drinking. But I think it also makes sense to assume they did not exchange words just yet, as Choi Han was in full depression mode at the time had no reason to be chatty. It's possible OG Cale just threw a casual insult at him, reinforcing Choi Han's terrible impression of him. In other words, they had at least one "meeting" by that point in the timeline, but OG Cale did not get beat up just yet.

In TCF, Deruth also mentioned that "Cale would leave for the capital in five days", causing Cale to think how "OG Cale would get beat up in four days time", delaying the actual confrontation of these two from Choi Han's initial arrival quite lot - about a week, in fact!

Here's what I pieced together: in order for Choi Han to meet the Count he had to find way to get past the guards, without showing an identification or fighting them, which he was actively trying to avoid (his conscience recovered enough for him to remember not to kill innocent people regardless of his rage). So the meeting was no accident: he must have approached OG Cale on purpose, knowing that he was the son of the local Count. He probably asked for help regarding the Harris Village directly to OG Cale in hope that the man would be sympathetic enough to let him meet his father (not a very good plan, but probably the best one he had at the time). We also know it happened on a rainy day, and it did NOT rain when Cale first met Choi Han in TCF, nor the day after when he got the Shield, which took a couple days of buying bread for Cale to acquire (and when he finally did was only foggy, presumably because of On helping, but not raining!). After Cale got his Shield, it was explicitly stated that it rained heavily for a several days in a row; like during Cale's talk with Billos about his father. Once the rain passed, Cale was satisfied with the fact that the deadline for his beating had passed and he successfully avoided that fate.

So... Choi Han must have spent a full week in Rain City before he beat up OG Cale (minimum of 3 days of Cale buying bread, and 4 consecutive rainy days), unlike many fans seem to believe; the generall impression I get is that Choi Han stayed in the city for barely a day or two before moving on.

We also know that Beacrox/Vicross Molan met Choi Han exactly four days earlier in TCF than in TBOAH. Which leads me directly to the bottom of the misunderstanding I mentioned earlier.

In TBOAH, after Choi Han beat up OG Cale, there did not seem to be any legal complications for him; no mention of him paying a fine, since he was homeless and poor he couldn't have afforded it, and no mention of guards trying to arrest him. Either no guards witnessed the confrontation, or they chose not to help OG Cale. I find the second option hard to believe though, since what we have seen in TCF seems to indicate that despite OG Cale's behavior, the Henituse Territory's knights were quite loyal and competent. I think they probabably didn't see nor hear anything BECAUSE of the rain. Someone could make an argument that Beacrox COULD have seen something, but that's highly unlikely; instead, I think Choi Han must have had a fight with someone else, because it was mentioned that Cale wanted Choi Han and Beacrox to bond over Choi Han impressing him with his strength. I don't see how "impressive" it would be to see Choi Han beating up OG Cale, who was completely ordinary in strength... I think that's where the common misunderstanding among the fans lies.

To sum it up: I am fully convinced there was no one around when Choi Han beat up OG Cale. It was raining, OG Cale was too stubborn to admit defeat or to call out for help, and Choi Han was never arrested. I'm 100% certain there was no witnesses, especially not Beacrox.

And beside that, if we sum up days, we reach another crusial conclusion: Choi Han met Beacrox before approaching OG Cale.

It only makes sense from the timeline! When I mentioned earlier that during the week that Choi Han spent in the city, "he possibly got into some fight where he showed his fighting prowess", that is what I meant. Either Choi Han got into a fight with some thugs (which do exist despite the Henituse Territory not having a criminal underground; TBOAH narrative clearly states that OG Cale liked to terrorize thugs instead of bothering innocent people), and Beacrox happened to see it, or they bumped into each other and fought personally. Possibly both.

Choi Han's exact TBOAH activities might not seem all that relevant to the original question regarding OG Cale, here's where we come back to the main point. Namely: Ron and Beacrox leaving OG Cale behind to travel with Choi Han.

Since Ron was such an important figure in OG Cale's life, we can imagine him leaving (wihtout a goodbye or warning, no less) affected him quite a bit. But fans like to make extra drama, and somehow created this narrative where 1) Beacrox sees Choi Han beating up OG Cale and doen't stop him, and 2) Ron leaves OG Cale with the guy that harmed his charge without any care in the world. Which simply does not add up at all! This is the reason why I think that there were no witnesses when Choi Han beat up OG Cale: Ron absolutely would have tried to avenge him!! For his own professional pride if nothing else - he wouldn't have simply left with Choi Han if he knew!!!

Yes, Ron and Beacrox were under the impression that Choi Han was involved with Arm, due to him "having their scent" (more of my exact thoughts on that in this post). So they decided to follow him not because they LIKED him, but because they found him useful. Their comradery developed slowly and gradually after that misunderstanding got resolved and got to trust him more (and Choi Han lightened up a bit after the events in Harris Village). But I'mstill pretty sure they never found out about Choi Ha being the one who beat up the guy they worked for over a decade. The Henituse had always been generous with them, and aside from OG Cale's bratty behavior they really had no reasons to complain. And no matter his protagonist status, Choi Han certainly wasn't "charming" enough to make them forget all of their gratitude out of the blue.

You might be thinking, "but how could they not figure it out"? Well... OG Cale was known for causing trouble. Someone beating him up around the same time that Choi Han was in town? Doesn't mean much. And Deruth wouldn't have let it slide either! If he had any idea what Choi Han had done to his son (remember, he beat him up NEAR DEATH), Deruth would have never sent Hans to help with the proper burial of the villagers! That kind of gesture of good will just doesn't make sense, no matter how tragic the massacre was. OG Cale was clearly found and brought in for healing, Choi Han got the audience he wanted with the Count, OG Cale wasn't around to make any comments on it because he was stuck in bed, and Basen went to the capital for Zed's birthday instead in his older brother's place.

Then the terrorist attack happened, and the rest of 5 Volumes of TBOAH happened, followed by the Henituse Territory invasion by Clopeh Sekka... 20 years of war, erased from the timeline by the transmigration deal with the God of Death... and the rest is history.

So, here's the quick summary of my long, LONG post about what exactly is canon regarding OG Cale:

OG Cale was born in 763 (no exact month of birth confirmed)

His mother died in 771 (when he was 8)

Deruth remarried same year, Violan and 5-year-old Basen becoming Henituses

OG Cale started acting as a spoiled brat to help his step family

He added alcoholism to his personna in 778 (15 years old)

He met Choi Han in 781 a couple of times (18 years old); first time probably sometime 1st of April, and got beat up around 5th-6ths, around 1 week after the massacre of Harris Village on March 28th,

He probably spent the next 2 years trying to get himself kicked out from the family but Deruth nor Violan ever allowed it (because their love was unconditional)

Henituse Territory fell in spring of 783 to the Indomitable Alliance of the northern countries, officially lead by Clopeh Sekka of Paerun Kingdom

He transmigrated around 803 (40 years old), becoming 36-year-old Team Leader Kim Rok Soo

What fans commonly misunderstand and get mixed up:

Choi Han did not beat up OG Cale upon their first meeting

Beacrox did not see OG Cale getting beat up nor stood on idly the sidelines watching

Ron probably never found out Choi Han was the one who beat up his charge either

Neither did Deruth or anyone important someone would have tried to arrest Choi Han or at the very least fine or blacklist him from Rain City, none of which got mentioned in TCF

So Ron and Beacrox did not merrily set off into the sunset with the guy who beat up OG Cale, they left to keep an eye on the suspicious guy who smelled like Arm (Beacrox liked sparring with him but that was just a side bonus)

We do not know whether Basen died or got hurt in the terrorist attack as it was never explained in TBOAH, we just know he had to be there instead of OG Cale

It is implied that all the Henituses aside from OG Cale died during the invasion, but the how any why was never explored so anything about that topic is pure speculation from the fanbase

OG Cale fought in the war later but his exact role was never elaborated on either

I hope you find this helpful! Have a good day everyone 💖

[Bonus: I forgot to adress one last thing: the scene OG Cale witnessed in the final battle. OG Cale saw the White Star grab Choi Han by the arm (not the neck unlike most fanart of that scene!) and say the line about his time being warped. There is no mention whether OG Cale have ever actually met the White Star before that point, and there is no information regarding their relation (which is implied because of how similar they look and how White Star was able to use the Annual Rings of Life, which could be only used by the Thames). So anything about OG Cale's family is still yet to be adressed in canon. OG Cale's unknown relative (possibly uncle because of Jour mentioning her brother) showed up exactly ONCE, and he never even showed his real face. So everything connected to that stuff is still only theories and all.]

[blueteller]

How "official" LCF translation goes...

EAP translators shooting in the dark: "Yeah judging by these Korean symbols the Golden Dragon's name should probably be Eruhaben"

Fandom later: "It probably should have been Erhaben since that's the German word for 'sublime', right?"

EAP translators: "Upon further consideration that seems to be the case, don't worry the official translation will probably set the records straight later"

Meanwhile, "official" LCF translation be like: "WELL GRAGON ERHAVEN IT IS!!!"

[blueteller]

Yes, he was... and if the timelines of Nameless 1 and Earth 1 happened to match (which they could very well NOT; we have no proof there is any consistent flow of time between worlds at all, so take this theory with a grain of salt), Choi Han transmigrated to Nameless 1 in 1947, and Kim Rok Soo in 2034... 87 years between the two events (86 of which Choi Han spent in the Forest of Darkness), making Choi Han exactly... 103 years old

So... Choi Han's a century old boomer 😅

I want to tell you how much I like your lcf posts they're super helpful and fun! I was wondering if you can tell some infos about choi han, his wiki is tragically short and there's no many information there which is kinda ironic considering he's the "og protagonist" and is a major character. Do you by any chance have any idea about what era of Korea he came from and maybe the kind of uniform used that time?

In order to answer the question, "when Choi Han was born?", we must start with his family. And to do that, we must begin with our actual main character; Kim Rok Soo. When exactly was he born? We get a very decent clue right away:

"It was a typical day off. It had been a while since he had read an actual book instead of on his phone, so he went to the library to check out some books." –EAP translation of TCF Chapter 1

"It started as a typical day off. He hadn't leafed through a physical book in a while, what with how often he read on his phone, so he went to a book rental shop to borrow some." –Official translation of LCF Chapter 1

Both versions state pretty much the sam thing. We can conclude three things:

Smartphones and e-books were popular in Korea by the time the present happened, since Kim Rok Soo was used to them.

Because we have to take into account the Monster Invasion of Earth 1, e-books had to gain popularity BEFORE it initially happened, since after that point humanity would be mainly focusing on rebuilding, both in the physical and social way. I doubt e-books would be a priority for humanity to develop afterwards, so they had to be invented AND popular before that point.

Since Kim Rok Soo was poor before "the cataclysm", him being a college student with multiple part-time jobs on top of being an orphan… It would be wise to consider whether there was a time in Korea where electronic devices became a part of college scholarships. Because he couldn't possibly afford them on his own, so he definitely got used to them through a funded scholarship program.

According to my online research, the use of electronic devices in colleges was already underway by 2010, when smartphones were already widespread and common technology. I think this is a good starting point for our timeline: by the time Kim Rok Soo was 20, the state of technology of Earth 1 was at least comparable to what we had in 2010. This is our "earliest" starting point.

Our "latest" point should probably be in 2018, when the author of the series first started posting in Korean on Munpia. Because while this story does technically take place 16 years in the future, it is a surprise twist which gets revealed much later on; at the beginning, the readers are under the assumption that Kim Rok Soo is "a regular guy from a regular South Korea".

So: Kim Rok Soo was born somewhere between 1990 and 1998. This means Choi Jung Soo was also born between 1990 and 1998, because they were the exact same age.

Choi Jung Soo is Choi Han's paternal cousin/nephew once removed. In other words, Choi Han had a brother, who had a son, who then had Choi Jung Soo. So generation-wise, Choi Han should be around the age of Choi Jun Soo's grandfather.

Grandfathers generally have to be at least 30 years older than their grandchildren. Once again, according to online research, the average age gap between grandparents and their grandkids in Korea should be 59 years. So between 30 and 60 years sounds about right.

That means that the earliest age of Choi Han we should be considering should place his birth around year 1930, and at latest 1968 – let's round it up to 1970 for simplification. Then Choi Han transmigrated at the age of 17 (I heard once that Koreans measure their years differently or something so he should actually be 16 but whatever; one year makes little difference here), so around 1947, to 1987 at latest possible date.

If we take earlier numbers into account – Choi Han being born in 1930 and transmigrating in 1947, what historical era was it? World War II era, obviously, and Korea was under Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945), so it probably wasn't such a great time. Luckily Choi Han was too young to get drafted into military, as the minimum age was exactly 17.

Then, what about the technology?

Most Koreans were involved in agriculture or low-level labor under the colonial regime, and Korean children were given substandard education, with no focus on technology use. Their society only had access to basic mechanical and electrical technologies, such as typewriters and factory machinery. Phone already existed, but were limited to landline, and more common in government offices than households – mostly exclusive to the upper Korean class citizens and elite Japanese residents. So the Choi family definitely did not have them. Between 1930 and 1970, cars were a luxury or rarity, with domestic car production only kicking off in the mid-1960s; so no cars for the Chois either. First public TV broadcast in South Korea happened in 1956, so they did not have TVs just yet either. Computers did not enter the stage until mid-to-late 1940s, and were only in use in military and research settings in countries like the USA and Great Britain. The internet came in only in the late 1960s in the USA, so Choi Han definitely never witnessed it, much less used it. South Korea's true technological development began in earnest during the late 1960s to 1970s, and accelerated through the 1980s and 1990s – so Choi Han could have witnessed some of it, but not all that much. Not with him and his family living in a peaceful countryside.

So, uh… we gotta face it guys… no matter of how much of a "modern" person Choi Han was as a transmigrator… he was actually kind of a peasant? Like, a legitimate one?? He could read of course, but his family DEFINITELY consisted of farmers, no matter if they could swing a sword or not.

I did not expect this when I began researching this topic hahaha!

No disrespect to farmers of course (that would be hypocritical of me), but like… no WONDER Choi Han had such a rough time in the Sealed God's Temple Test of Indignity! Imagine, this guy must have felt like on another planet!! (Well it literally was lmao) He made a jump from a war colonial era or post-war recovery era countryside, to the 21st century modern city and an office job! Man, I feel so bad for him. And his realization that he had no place on modern Earth make so much sense. I would have felt the exact same way in his shoes; Roan Kingdom medieval style must have felt more like Korea to him than the actual Korea.

As for the part of the question regarding school uniforms…

Not everyone was able to afford uniforms in Korea back then, due to obvious financial constraints, so many children did not have "real" uniforms and wore simple, handmade, second-hand stuff instead. But generally, what was considered Korean school uniforms for boys at the time was based on Western-style military: blazers, pants, high collars, neckties, buttons, caps et cetera. They were commonly navy or dark blue, with occasional gray maybe? Only after the war some USA influences came in, like turning the pants into shorts and overall making the uniform less soldier-like and strict.

So if you are looking for inspiration for fanart to draw Choi Han in accurate Korean-style school uniform from his time period, something that looks like a dark blue navy uniform is probably your best bet.

Wow, this was an expected dive into South Korea's history! I learned a lot. I hope you found this helpful at well!

[blueteller]

I want to tell you how much I like your lcf posts they're super helpful and fun! I was wondering if you can tell some infos about choi han, his wiki is tragically short and there's no many information there which is kinda ironic considering he's the "og protagonist" and is a major character. Do you by any chance have any idea about what era of Korea he came from and maybe the kind of uniform used that time?

In order to answer the question, "when Choi Han was born?", we must start with his family. And to do that, we must begin with our actual main character; Kim Rok Soo. When exactly was he born? We get a very decent clue right away:

"It was a typical day off. It had been a while since he had read an actual book instead of on his phone, so he went to the library to check out some books." –EAP translation of TCF Chapter 1

"It started as a typical day off. He hadn't leafed through a physical book in a while, what with how often he read on his phone, so he went to a book rental shop to borrow some." –Official translation of LCF Chapter 1

Both versions state pretty much the sam thing. We can conclude three things:

Smartphones and e-books were popular in Korea by the time the present happened, since Kim Rok Soo was used to them.

Because we have to take into account the Monster Invasion of Earth 1, e-books had to gain popularity BEFORE it initially happened, since after that point humanity would be mainly focusing on rebuilding, both in the physical and social way. I doubt e-books would be a priority for humanity to develop afterwards, so they had to be invented AND popular before that point.

Since Kim Rok Soo was poor before "the cataclysm", him being a college student with multiple part-time jobs on top of being an orphan… It would be wise to consider whether there was a time in Korea where electronic devices became a part of college scholarships. Because he couldn't possibly afford them on his own, so he definitely got used to them through a funded scholarship program.

According to my online research, the use of electronic devices in colleges was already underway by 2010, when smartphones were already widespread and common technology. I think this is a good starting point for our timeline: by the time Kim Rok Soo was 20, the state of technology of Earth 1 was at least comparable to what we had in 2010. This is our "earliest" starting point.

Our "latest" point should probably be in 2018, when the author of the series first started posting in Korean on Munpia. Because while this story does technically take place 16 years in the future, it is a surprise twist which gets revealed much later on; at the beginning, the readers are under the assumption that Kim Rok Soo is "a regular guy from a regular South Korea".

So: Kim Rok Soo was born somewhere between 1990 and 1998. This means Choi Jung Soo was also born between 1990 and 1998, because they were the exact same age.

Choi Jung Soo is Choi Han's paternal cousin/nephew once removed. In other words, Choi Han had a brother, who had a son, who then had Choi Jung Soo. So generation-wise, Choi Han should be around the age of Choi Jun Soo's grandfather.

Grandfathers generally have to be at least 30 years older than their grandchildren. Once again, according to online research, the average age gap between grandparents and their grandkids in Korea should be 59 years. So between 30 and 60 years sounds about right.

That means that the earliest age of Choi Han we should be considering should place his birth around year 1930, and at latest 1968 – let's round it up to 1970 for simplification. Then Choi Han transmigrated at the age of 17 (I heard once that Koreans measure their years differently or something so he should actually be 16 but whatever; one year makes little difference here), so around 1947, to 1987 at latest possible date.

If we take earlier numbers into account – Choi Han being born in 1930 and transmigrating in 1947, what historical era was it? World War II era, obviously, and Korea was under Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945), so it probably wasn't such a great time. Luckily Choi Han was too young to get drafted into military, as the minimum age was exactly 17.

Then, what about the technology?

Most Koreans were involved in agriculture or low-level labor under the colonial regime, and Korean children were given substandard education, with no focus on technology use. Their society only had access to basic mechanical and electrical technologies, such as typewriters and factory machinery. Phone already existed, but were limited to landline, and more common in government offices than households – mostly exclusive to the upper Korean class citizens and elite Japanese residents. So the Choi family definitely did not have them. Between 1930 and 1970, cars were a luxury or rarity, with domestic car production only kicking off in the mid-1960s; so no cars for the Chois either. First public TV broadcast in South Korea happened in 1956, so they did not have TVs just yet either. Computers did not enter the stage until mid-to-late 1940s, and were only in use in military and research settings in countries like the USA and Great Britain. The internet came in only in the late 1960s in the USA, so Choi Han definitely never witnessed it, much less used it. South Korea's true technological development began in earnest during the late 1960s to 1970s, and accelerated through the 1980s and 1990s – so Choi Han could have witnessed some of it, but not all that much. Not with him and his family living in a peaceful countryside.

So, uh… we gotta face it guys… no matter of how much of a "modern" person Choi Han was as a transmigrator… he was actually kind of a peasant? Like, a legitimate one?? He could read of course, but his family DEFINITELY consisted of farmers, no matter if they could swing a sword or not.

I did not expect this when I began researching this topic hahaha!

No disrespect to farmers of course (that would be hypocritical of me), but like… no WONDER Choi Han had such a rough time in the Sealed God's Temple Test of Indignity! Imagine, this guy must have felt like on another planet!! (Well it literally was lmao) He made a jump from a war colonial era or post-war recovery era countryside, to the 21st century modern city and an office job! Man, I feel so bad for him. And his realization that he had no place on modern Earth make so much sense. I would have felt the exact same way in his shoes; Roan Kingdom medieval style must have felt more like Korea to him than the actual Korea.

As for the part of the question regarding school uniforms…

Not everyone was able to afford uniforms in Korea back then, due to obvious financial constraints, so many children did not have "real" uniforms and wore simple, handmade, second-hand stuff instead. But generally, what was considered Korean school uniforms for boys at the time was based on Western-style military: blazers, pants, high collars, neckties, buttons, caps et cetera. They were commonly navy or dark blue, with occasional gray maybe? Only after the war some USA influences came in, like turning the pants into shorts and overall making the uniform less soldier-like and strict.

So if you are looking for inspiration for fanart to draw Choi Han in accurate Korean-style school uniform from his time period, something that looks like a dark blue navy uniform is probably your best bet.

Wow, this was an expected dive into South Korea's history! I learned a lot. I hope you found this helpful at well!

[blueteller]

My GOODNESS this is amazing, I love it so much

B l o n d C a l e ! ! !

🤩🤩🤩

<3

[blueteller]

My GOODNESS this is amazing, I love it so much

B l o n d C a l e ! ! !

🤩🤩🤩

<3

[blueteller]

Wrote a short TCF fic. Enjoy!

[blueteller]

This is so awesome🤩Great job!

tcf part 2 chapter 197 The trade's been established (3)

cale meeting the god of hope

this scene was just really beautiful to me, with the revelation of what all the "stars" were. i might do something for the first meet of the god of balance so we'll see

[blueteller]

Could you please tell me about ogCale's personality? I want to understand him from your perspective.

I would love to! Happy to be of service.

First of all, one important thing to note: a lot of things you might have come across about OG Cale on places like tumblr or AO3? Most of it, it's fan speculation. The character had exactly ONE canon appearance, aside from a few rare flashbacks from other characters' POVs and KRS!Cale's recollections of "The Birth of a Hero" series.

So, I think it's best to break it down one-by-one.

First chapters of the book, we see how people react to the "new" Cale. They specifically notice the things Cale ISN'T doing, such as: throwing bottles (with "terrible aim", which could either be true or staged, but I personally suspect the former), breaking things (which his father always had to replace with new stuff, so OG Cale was actually doing people a service with that), complaining about food (fans made lots of speculation about it, but the exact reasoning for that one is unclear), being rude to servants (probably to make them gossip about what an awful heir OG Cale would make), and terrorizing local gangsters (instead of harassing the poor or beautiful women, like a real trash would). This creates a pretty solid image of what OG Cale was "usually" like.

So, his MO is acting like a spoiled, bratty noble. The drinking only began when he was 15, so he had to act full 7 years without the excuse of being "drunk", so he mostly depended on being rude, rash, and others not asking any probing questions about it. They probably all thought the trauma of losing his mother affected him this way, and did not want to trigger him by mentioning it. After all, according to Cale, "it was basically taboo to talk about the late countess in the house".

But there are other, more subtle hints: how Basen is shocked that Cale smiled about food – meaning he did not smile a lot, at least not happily. He was likely used to wearing an unhappy expression around his family, or maybe being sarcastic. Deruth's expectation that Cale would be unhappy about delicious food, so him being grumpy was also a regular thing. It is also strongly implied that OG Cale also avoided family meals, but participated in them from time to time regardless, due to his father's request (because otherwise Basen would have no expectations of Cale's behavior at meal times; not enough to drop a fork in shock at his smile, at least). In TBOAH, Cale remembers that OG Cale supposedly "only listened to his father, and only liked Ron among his servants and saw him as a father figure". He also avoided interacting with Violan and her children. So we have a clear image of awkward, yet somehow still respectful relationships of OG Cale with exactly 5 people. Yet even those 5 never suspected the extent of OG Cale's mask… they all assumed that he was so hurt by the past, he was lashing out in the present. And to be perfectly fair to them – Cale was just a kid at first, and then a teenager. Occam's Razor reasoning would bring anyone to that conclusion unless they had any evidence to the contrary. Which OG Cale made sure not to leave behind, because he wasn't honest around anyone; not even Ron.

Another thing? Rosalyn remembers hearing gossip about Cale Henituse in the Breck Kingdom – a FOREIGN NOBLE. His antics were so "scandalous" it even reached the ears of foreign royalty! In other words, OG Cale knew how to draw exactly the type of attention he wanted. And yet, no one knew his actual, real personality. Even Alberu Crossman's spy network did not manage to find anything fishy about OG Cale before the transmigration. Nor did the literal undercover assassin by his side... That's how insanely good his acting skills were.

There is little on his personality before, but we see some glimpses. Early on in the series, Ron remembers OG Cale hugging Deruth after Jour's death, in contrast to his later "trashy" behavior (which started when he was eight years old). From this, we can conclude two things: first, OG Cale was compassionate as a child, at least to his own family. Second, his "trashy act" was not how he had always behaved. We have no specific scenes to confirm if he was a sweet kid, or a cheerful kid, or if he used to playful or hyperactive. My own guess that he had always been a bright kid, at least. We will see evidence for OG Cale's intelligence later on, as subtle as it is.

Also quite early on, Eric remembers Cale as his Dongsaeng, and kept writing him letters. When he meets Cale in canon, he thinks that "his hard work was finally paying off". We can conclude two things about this relationship: one, OG Cale tended to ignore Eric. Two, despite mostly ignoring him, he still did not reject his advice outright. So their relationship was at the very least friendly-ish. So OG Cale wasn't "completely awful" to his peers – the ones he respected at least. He was at the VERY least, mildly amicable. Obviously both Neo Tolz and Venion Stan considered Cale a total loser, so he had no friendly relationship with those two.

If I remember correctly, Basen's flashback was mentioned twice, once from his own POV, and once again from his brother's, with more detail. After getting bullied by some relatives of the Henituse family, OG Cale told him to stand proud and declare himself as "Henituse blood ". While Basen doesn't quite understand the reasoning behind it (after all, Cale was 8 and Basen was only 5 at the time), he listens and gradually becomes accepted into the noble social circles as the "apparent heir". So we can conclude two things: OG Cale was observant enough to read a room – both the general vibe and the political sense, which indeed makes him quite clever for his age. And second, and even more important, is the fact that OG Cale was charismatic. It went beyond his acting abilities.

And finally, we get to the part where OG Cale actually speaks himself about the past. He states that "the family wouldn't kick him out no matter how much he acted out". So it was his actual GOAL to get kicked out!! I don't know about you guys, but I suspect OG Cale would have had no problem adjusting and making an honest living if that ever actually happened. Someone with his acting skill and brains? He totally could have changed his name, left the country and live as a commoner. He had "expensive tastes" in clothes in food – or at least he pretended to – but he made do with Kim Rok Soo's life just fine. It really seems to me like he was fully prepared to "throw away the name of Cale Henituse" LONG before the transmigration happened.

I'll quickly go over the implications of his account from the 20-year-long war from the TBOAH timeline; OG Cale survived long enough to live to see the final battle. He was a soldier. He was able to keep KRS's role as a Team Leader without major difficulty. He was a talented fighter, a brilliant strategist, and overall an extremely capable man. Not something you would expect from a dumb kid who spent his entire childhood ignoring his studies and being spoiled rotten by his dad.

So, to quickly sum up all facts about OG Cale:

He was a compassionate kid, at least towards his dad, and we see him still being compassionate and a good dude as adult transmigrated KRS, so that has to be his "real", base personality

He could read the political climate at early age and came up with a clever strategy to elevate his step family's social position

He was brilliant and an incredible actor, able to play with other people's expectations, and knew how to fuel rumors to reach even across borders

He kept his real personality under lock and key so the 5 people he actually liked never suspected how far his acting go, they thought he was lashing out because of his mother's death

He still wasn't a total jerk to his peers even if he ignored Eric's advice

OG Cale had a talent for strategies and fighting despite being "average", like knowing how to miss on purpose and terrorizing gangsters into behaving themselves in the Henituse territory, and becoming a good enough fighter to survive 20 years of war in TBOAH timeline.

Things we absolutely DO NOT KNOW about OG Cale:

His exact childhood personality, or his relationship with his mom. All we know is that they were very close

Whether he ever let his guard down around anyone, or if he acted as trash 24/7 in front of everyone

Whether he actually threw away his studies like everyone assumed, or if he still continued his education in secret

Why exactly he decided that being a spoiled brat wasn't enough and decided to add drinking to it at the age of 15 (maybe becasue it wasn't working and he wanted to be thrown out? That's still only my own speculation though)

Whether OG Cale's immunity to alcohol extended to other poisons as well (but it's a fun headcanon regardless)

Whether he was ACTUALLY unhappy as "trash of the count's family", or if he liked playing his role. Many fans make him out to be this tragic, misunderstood victim, but he might as well has been merely pretending to be unhappy… with all the money and fancy clothes and delicious food and everything. For all we know, he could have been having the time of his life fooling with everybody's expectations – aside from some minor angst over no one realizing the truth. (I've read a couple of fanfics where OG Cale actually has fun acting as an agent of chaos and honestly, I can see that being canon. OG Cale!KRS in the side-story is definitely mischievous, and KRS!Cale loves acting and scamming as well. Still; it's all just speculation with no clear evidence to support it.)

Why he complained about Beacrox's food, there could be plenty of reasons (he could have been jelous of Ron's attention, maybe he did not like Beacrox personally, maybe he just wanted to sell the act more and actually loved the food; who the heck knows)

What rank he had in the army later on (Some people suggest he found an Ancient Power, but I kind of doubt it, while some other fan headcanons make his a Swordmaster, which is NOT impossible seeing as his sister Lily is becoming a very powerful swordsman in canon... but there is no evidence for either. For all we know he could have been a freaking mage lol)

Whether he ever found out about Alberu's identity as a quarter Dark Elf in the TBOAH timeline (we have no idea if he ever got close to know any of Choi Han's allies or even Choi Han himself, he only said he saw him on the battlefield)

I hope this helped!

[blueteller]