“…The Directory?”
“Yes.”
Bud smiled brightly at Cale’s short answer.
“Then let’s sneak over to the Mercenaries Guild!”
Cale observed the smiling Bud and pointed out his choice of words.
“Sneak?”
‘He doesn’t want to openly go there?’
“Yes. Sneak. We need to go to the city with the Mercenaries Guild’s central headquarters.”
The Mercenaries Guild’s central headquarters.
That was enough for Cale to understand what the Mercenary King was thinking about.
“…Arm’s people might be watching the Mercenaries Guild.”
“Correct.”
Bud pointed toward Cale.
“And in my opinion, now anyone above the middle-grade rank in Arm probably knows what you look like.”
Cale had fought with the White Star already and had a high chance of fighting again in the future.
Maybe Arm’s lowest ranking members might not know about him, but the middle-grade and higher members were most likely informed of Cale’s appearance for strategic reasons.
“And I’m pretty certain that there are middle-grade ranking members around the central headquarters since they are desperately trying to find me as well.”
Bud did not need to explain any further.
Cale nodded his head in agreement.
The White Star was currently trying to use Arm to gobble up the Mercenaries Guild and kill the Mercenary King.
That was why the Mercenary King was moving around in the name of investigating.
Cale started to speak.
“The last information they have about you is that you arrived at our inn, so it would cause quite the stir if you suddenly appeared in the central headquarters. That’s bad for you and for our inn.”
“Correct. That is why I am saying we should quietly go there.”
Cale nodded his head. He then looked somewhere else.
“Gramps! Are you better now?”
Raon was flying around Eruhaben and inspecting. Eruhaben snorted at Raon before starting to speak with an arrogant expression.
“Little kid, why are you saying something so obvious?”
Eruhaben looked fine on the outside. Actually, he looked very healthy.
The children averaging nine-years-old finally started to smile.
“I’m relieved.”
Ron Molan commented to Eruhaben in a gentle tone. Beacrox bowed once he made eye contact with Eruhaben, while Choi Han smiled back.
This made Eruhaben feel very odd.
He had never had anybody worry about his lifespan or his health during his life.
He couldn’t understand why such a thing was happening in his final year and he was unintentionally getting a lot of concern from those around him.
He didn’t know how to feel in such a situation.
“Goldie gramps! I will build you a house later! Just wait! I’m going to visit you every day! I’ve gathered a lot of money!”
“Me too!”
Raon and Hong were walking in circles around Eruhaben with excitement. On was slowly roaming around Eruhaben as well.
Eruhaben observed the children for a bit before turning his head. He ended up making eye contact with Cale.
Cale’s gaze looked the same as it always did, however, the ancient Dragon found it difficult to keep looking at him for some reason.
However, he started to smile as he knew that one could not avoid something forever. Cale then started to frown and turned away.
Cale ended up making eye contact with the Mercenary King again as a result.
“What? What is it?”
Cale bluntly asked the Mercenary King who was observing him. Bud approached Cale and asked in a quiet voice that others would not be able to hear.
“The ancient Dragon-nim did use the ancient artifact, right?”
Cale looked at Bud’s pupils behind the glasses. Bud started to smile in response and tried to explain himself.
“No, I was just wondering why my friend might have suddenly wanted to enter the training ground alone. That was why I asked one of the many potential situations I had considered.”
Bud’s green eyes behind the glasses started to curl up as he smiled.
A similarly smiling Cale was visible through the reflection on Bud’s glasses.
Cale whispered quietly as well. However, his voice was not very quiet.
Other than the children averaging nine-years-old who were still happily chatting away by Eruhaben’s side, the others had moved over toward Cale, who was a bit away from them.
Cale spoke in a quiet tone that was loud enough for experts like Choi Han, Ron, and Beacrox to hear.
“There is no longer an ancient artifact for anyone but Eruhaben-nim to use anymore.”
This was technically the truth.
Although the ancient artifact was in Cale’s possession, he was saving it for Eruhaben.
Cale could see Choi Han who was looking at him after hearing what he just said.
He could see Ron and Beacrox nodding their heads as well.
Cale had suddenly entered the training ground alone. Everyone was curious about what Cale and Eruhaben had done inside there.
They probably had their own hypothesis about what happened.
Cale looked back toward the Mercenary King and quietly added on.
“So let’s hurry on.”
He needed to take care of the tasks at hand as quickly as possible.
* * *
“…Is this really necessary?”
Beacrox was the one who asked that question.
There was a terrible frown on his face as he crawled on the floor.
They were in a completely dark tunnel.
It was a tiny tunnel that an average adult male could barely crawl through, so Beacrox’s meticulously combed hair was being covered in dust.
“I thought we were heading toward the marble buildings because you said we were going toward Resting City.”
It was rare to see Beacrox sighing and grumbling like this.
He looked at the dust on his body and continued to frown. His white gloves were already extremely dirty.
Resting City, a free city located in the central region of the Eastern continent.
That was where the first branch of the Mercenaries Guild was built in the past, and it was where the building that was now being used as the central headquarters was located as well.
The original Mercenaries Guild base was an old three-story wooden building in the outskirts of Resting City.
This building used to be the central headquarters in the past, however, the Mercenaries Guild purchased land inside Resting City about two hundred years ago and built a new central headquarters that was quite spectacular and tall.
The new central headquarters was a building built with marble that was famous for its beautiful and extravagant exterior.
Choi Han, who was crawling in front of Beacrox, made a comment.
“You’re being so annoying.”
“…What did you say?”
Beacrox started to frown even more.
However, neither Choi Han nor Beacrox could say anything else.
“…Both of you should shut up.”
It was because they heard the ancient Dragon’s low voice.
Eruhaben was crawling as well.
“Huff, huff, huff, huhuff-”
Mercenary King Bud Illis who was crawling at the front of the group was starting to cold sweat.
He started to speak.
“I, I’m sorry. The HQ will be alerted if an unauthorized person uses magic in this tunnel.”
There were magic circles throughout the tunnel.
These advanced magic circles did not match the shabby tunnel.
This was a secret passage that only the Mercenaries Guild’s top leaders knew about. They made sure that no unauthorized person could use magic in the tunnel and the area at the end of the tunnel.
“Enough, just keep moving.”
Cale’s voice made Bud flinch before he started to quickly crawl once again. He said just one more thing to them.
“Ahem, I should have said something in advance, but I didn’t remember it until we got here. Ha. Ha, haha-”
It was the truth.
Thinking about bringing Cale here quickly but stealthily made the Mercenary King forget about the unique nature of this tunnel.
He heard Ron’s voice at that moment. It was a decently warm tone.
“The Directory is located at the end of this tunnel, right?”
However, Bud felt that that voice was cold.
It almost sounded like a threat.
It sounded as if Ron was saying that Bud was dead if the Directory was not there.
Bud quickly shouted back.
“Yes sir! The room with the Directory is at the end of this tunnel, patriarch-nim! That is why I am leading the way! Hahaha.”
The Mercenary King’s mage friend was currently stealthily entering the central headquarters.
Bud, who was left with Cale’s group alone, couldn’t help but shake after hearing Ron’s response.
“I see. That is why we have been crawling for the past hour.”
That was the current situation.
Cale’s group had been crawling for one hour.
“Weak human! Should we rest again? Your arms are shaking! Is it tiring? Should I give you another apple pie? Human, we have already rested twice, but we can rest again if you’re struggling!”
“We can rest again!”
“You’re the only one sweating so much!”
Bud’s cold sweat became even worse after hearing the children averaging nine-years-old.
Raon was fluttering his wings and leisurely flying around while On and Hong were easily walking in the tunnel in their kitten forms.
The children averaging nine-years-old who were tiny were just amazed by this tunnel.
“Ahem, the central headquarters will be alerted if an unauthorized person uses ancient powers as well.”
That was the only thing Bud could say.
“…Just hurry up and go.”
Bud started to crawl faster after seeing Cale make a comment instead of sighing.
Cale held back a chuckle at Bud’s reaction.
His arms were shaking.
But they had rested twice while crawling for an hour. Cale was fine.
Even if the amount of muscles he had had gone down, he had not become a complete weakling.
Cale just ignored the excessive concerns of the children averaging nine-years-old.
Instead, his mind was quickly moving. He was thinking about what Bud Illis had said before they came into this tunnel.
‘This tunnel was created by the first Mercenary King. It was created when the Mercenaries Guild was small and weak. That was when everybody just considered mercenaries to be cannon fodder.’
A small house built in the forest outside Resting City’s walls.
The tunnel was in that house’s basement.
That house was thoroughly hidden by magic circles created by the Mercenaries Guild.
‘This tunnel is the only passage to the location of the Directory.’
Cale had asked in response.
‘Where exactly is the Directory located?’
The Mercenary King had smiled before responding back.
‘Underneath the first Mercenaries Guild’s branch.’
The three-story wooden building did not have a path down to the basement.
However, that basement had a secret area that stored the Directory, which could be considered the Mercenaries Guild’s most important pieces of information.
‘And that area will explode if someone tries to infiltrate it using any type of power.’
That was the reason Cale’s group was currently crawling through the tunnel.
“F, finally!”
Cale could hear the Mercenary King’s excited shout.
He could faintly see some shining stones past Bud.
“Those shining stones are the entrance! They are on the door! Hahaha!”
Bud laughed for the first time in an hour. He then heard Ron’s voice.
It was a warm and gentle voice.
“My my, it sure took a long time to get here. Mercenary King Bud, can you make some time to chat with me later?”
Bud oddly felt as if the hair on his back was starting to stand up.
It was a warm voice, but it felt very cold.
“L, let’s quickly head over there!”
The Mercenary King quickly continued to crawl and finally arrived at the end of the tunnel.
He touched the shining stones here and there.
Cale could see the light on the stones disappearing as the Mercenary King touched them.
And once he touched the final stone…
Boooooooom-
The tunnel started to shake.
Bud started to speak in an excited voice.
“Here it is!”
Ooooooooong.
The rumbling came to a stop.
Boom!
A new entrance appeared with a loud boom.
“Please follow me.”
Cale watched as the Mercenary King crawled into the entrance before he followed behind him.
“I’m going to turn the lights on.”
Cale then heard a click and slowly started to see a large area.
Flash. Flash. Flash.
The lights started to turn on one by one.
They had crawled through a small tunnel in order to get to this large area.
Cale stood up.
He then looked around.
“…A library.”
He could hear Choi Han’s voice behind him.
“Amazing.”
Beacrox who was mumbling to himself had even forgotten to brush the dust off himself.
“…Ho.”
The ancient Dragon sounded amazed.
Cale left those reactions behind him as he started to walk.
Tap. Tap.
The ground was made of stone.
Bud Illis started to speak once Cale got a good look around the area.
“I believe that this is the Mercenaries Guild’s greatest pride and joy.”
He laughed as he introduced the area to the group.
“This is the Eastern continent’s first and greatest record library.”
This area looked large enough to fit multiple houses.
This whole place was filled with books.
Preservation magic was cast on them so that they were maintained in the best condition.
These books all recorded just one thing.
“This is the record of strong individuals the Mercenaries Guild has collected for hundreds of years.”
Strong individuals.
The first Mercenary King and the first Mercenaries Guild started to record information about strong individuals in order to survive.
Bud Illis approached Cale and continued to speak.
“I did call it the records of strong individuals, however.”
The Directory.
The reason these records were important was not just because of the information on strong individuals.
“You can actually call it the history of the Eastern continent for the past 1,000 years.”
This area was filled with tens of thousands of books.
Humidity, temperature, preservation and security. All of these spells were cast on the books in this records library.
The Mercenary King smiled and asked Cale a question.
“What do you think? Do you think you can find the information you are looking for here?”
Tens of thousands of books.
The group looked at Cale and the Mercenary King.
Their expressions did not look good. Even the ancient Dragon seemed a bit upset.
Tens of thousands of books.
They needed to find information about that reincarnator, the White Star, in these books.
It was at that moment.
“It’s been a while.”
The Mercenary King could see a bitter smile appearing on Cale’s face.
Cale started to laugh as he continued to speak.
“It really has been a while.”
His cold gaze was slowly looking through the numerous amounts of books in front of him.
“What’s been a while?”
Cale responded to the Mercenary King’s question.
“I expected this. 1,000 years’ worth of records should at least be this much.”
The area with the Directory.
Cale thought it was obvious that a significant amount of information would be present.
Cale brushed his hand past his eyes.
“I’ll need to record for the first time in a long while.”
Kim Rok Soo had noticed something odd when he had first woken up as Cale Henituse.
He remembered.
Even though Kim Rok Soo had transmigrated into Cale Henituse’s body…
For some reason…
Kim Rok Soo remembered all of the contents of < The Birth of a Hero > until volume 5, as well as the rest of the information he had recorded.
Those records had not erased even as time went by.
Even the conversations he had with everybody since living as Cale had not disappeared from his mind.
These memories that a normal person would have long forgotten about…
He remembered everything he wanted to remember.
No, to be more specific, they had been recorded.
Kim Rok Soo had realized it when he realized that fact.
‘My brain has come here too.
No, a portion of my ability has come here.’
Cale brushed his eyes once again.
Cale Henituse’s eyes were reddish-brown.
Kim Rok Soo’s eyes were reddish-brown as well.
Kim Rok Soo, Grade 1 Ability User.
First brain-related special ability, ‘record.’
Medium to use ability, ‘eyes.’
His eyes slowly took in the large number of records. He started to walk toward the tens of thousands of books as well.
Cale faced a familiar sight for the first time in a long while as he unbuttoned the first button of his shirt.
His mind always heated up when he recorded things.
He had unbuttoned the top button in order to help with the stuffiness.
That was Kim Rok Soo’s habit whenever he worked.
I had a suspicion how he could remember all of the content of the story, damn it.
Hehe… Me too~ ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ
Well, maybe it’s not much.. but for someone like me who is a culinary student and like cook so much, there is plenty recipe in the whole world, sometimes i forgot those recipe and where did i put the recipe is T_T
AS A LAW STUDENT THAT ABILITY IS SO USEFUL 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 KIM ROK SOO LEMME BORROW UR ABILITY
Medical student need this ability too😥😥😥😥
Now I’m getting the hints that I need to do some brain exercises since I’m going to take Law too. Haaaaa, I just wanna be a slacker…
As I a biochemistry student, I really need his ability XD
As a nursing student, I also need it… ✋😔
That makes so much sense! I wish i had that ability, I forget absolutely everything! T^T
Wowie… This time we’ll see the real Kim Rok Soo ability!
Thank you for the chapter
I’m going to need to borrow his eyes, preferably forever
First brain-related special ability… meaning he has another? I remember in an earlier chapter that he was part of the mental support team, was he in charge of remembering info on the monsters or does he have another support-type mental ability? Hmm.
Thanks for the chapter!
Eu preciso urgentemente dessa habilidade
cale, stripping: my time has come
weeks ago, i asked how the heck he remembers the content of 5 volumes. now i know.
also ‘portion’ . he had more abilities that maybe unlocked
_(:з」∠)_
so for those who complained in the comments section in the previous chapters that kim rok soo’s background is boring and a turn off with all that ability users or monsters blah blah not necessary… well folks, here is your answer. you should have already noticed that something is up with him when he can remember every details from the novel,every scene, characters and abilities he read, and just as a reminder, the cale henituse that we are all cheering for now is kim rok soo, just in cale henituse’s body. kim rok soo is already a mystery even without the mention of ability users. i mean, just what kind of life did he live that he is so good at attacking his enemies behind the back and “manipulate” people according to his bidding behind the scenes. he was just an orphan and a team leader???( i though he was a normal office team leader at first until the hints start coming in) give me a break. someone can’t formulate that strategies just by reading novels. even how calm he is, he knew what reactions he should show under pressure to increase the morale of his group. how he can see the bigger picture even before a fight ends. how even after a fight he already has a plan for the next step just like a general. all of those actions can just come from experience. and now that it is revealed him being an ability user, a team leader in his world with monsters, wooohoooo! he is freaking battle experienced! team leader kim rok soo ability-user backdrop is a perfect foundation for commander cale henituse. three thumbs up for the author for creating a solid framework based on kim rok soo’s life to support cale’s becoming a hero. some author will just make up that that cale was able to strategize and command strong people because of his unique personality, he was a game/novel addict or given some special ability when he transmigrated to this world etc. just like any isekai novels out there but NO, the author gave us the solid framework that kim rok soo is actually a veteran in battle that’s why he is so confident when he asked crown prince alberu to make him the northeastern military commander. i always wondered why cale is the one who volunteered to make himself a commander when i read that part, i mean even if he thinks he is strong with the ancient powers and his group’s ability, just what made him gave him the confidence to name himself as the commander. Now that kim rok soo’s life is being revealed, it makes sense why he did that. i want to hug the author so much, every detail counts, and the backgrounds of the characters are solid and in line with the plot progression. this one of those web novels that just keeps getting good as pieces flow into their place. kudos!
When I was reading this in the beginning of the novel – i really suspected that cale -no kim rok soo has photographic memory and i thought he was the author/editor of the novel LOOOOLLLL My theory is somewhat close hahaha
Man, I’d kill for that Grade 1 ability;;;;
Wow how could a story just gets better??!!
And Cale would you give even just 5% of that ability???😭
Thank you for the chapter!
//Kim Rok Soo, Grade 1 Ability User.
First brain-related special ability, ‘record.’
Medium to use ability, ‘eyes.’//
Shit this part is so cool aaaaaaa I love the little hints author-nim has been sprinkling all over the novel
there’s people that complains about rok soo’s past? I dun remember but if there are, YOU LOT!! HA!! CRAWL HERE AND TAKE YOUR BEATING!!!!
I need to borrow your ability for only two years, no, just a year pls—
Lol
But the world of Kim Rok Soo past life is quite of similar with Solo Leveling or even Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint isn’t it? Huhh
The more I read the more I fell excited to discover Kim Rok Soo past…
And here i thought that kim rok soo was just a more accurate version of what i experience! (*’▽’*) Which is that i get very easily engaged and can remember a lot of details about the things i like, but quickly lose memory of things i dont care about. Cause im like that, i just accepted cale-nim’s memory like it was natural xd
Cale-nim unbuttoning his shirt again ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Ive seen fan art of this moment. It is now time to *imagine~*
Sht I’ll never get used to Cale’s surprises 😖
// Kim Rok Soo, Grade 1 Ability User.
First brain-related special ability, ‘record.’
Medium to use ability, ‘eyes.’ //
KIM! ROK! SOO!’S RECORD! 😭
An ability that has good and bad costs. (ofcourse the good cost is when he unbutton his clothes lmao well atleast for me 🥹🤣🤣)
Thank you for the chap! 🤗
Everyone here is talking about Cale’s abilities while I’m sitting here laughing my ass off thinking about how Bud is scurrying on all fours as fast as he can while running for his life and everyone else is just crawling after him ಥ◡ಥ
Ya poor Bud…
‘My brain has come here too.
No, a portion of my ability has come here.’
Cale brushed his eyes once again.
Cale Henituse’s eyes were reddish-brown.
Kim Rok Soo’s eyes were reddish-brown as well.
Kim Rok Soo, Grade 1 Ability User.
First brain-related special ability, ‘record.’
Medium to use ability, ‘eyes.’
————–
Finally!!!! I had an idea that his “ability” before would be this but is so good to finally get a clear answer. ☺️
If his ability from the real world/Korea transferred with him here, does that mean it was the same with Choi?
Choi Han was transferred here before the apocalypse
Kim Rok Soo, Grade 1 Ability User.
First brain-related special ability, ‘record.’
Medium to use ability, ‘eyes.’
– that is so make sense nows!!KRS past life make me wanna know more and he unbottoned his clothes😍
Oh dang! Finding out that it’s an ability that transmigrated with him and not just a natural brain quirk got me really hyped for some reason lol
Looking forward to the continued reveals as we go!!
so that is his ability. great! I often find that little detail in most isekai stories don’t make sense because they can remember the contents of the novels they read..
He had unbuttoned the top button in order to help with the stuffiness. That was Kim Rok Soo’s habit whenever he worked.
uwah 🫣
i was looking for someone else to be lowkey swooning at this too hahaha. wau he’s such a cool guy 😳😳 i’m so jealous of that ability
The first one has entered the chat
‘Kim Rok Soo, Grade 1 Ability User.
First brain-related special ability, ‘record.’
Medium to use ability, ‘eyes.’
Ahhhhhhhhh still makes me soooo excited!
Also
‘Cale Henituse’s eyes were reddish-brown.
Kim Rok Soo’s eyes were reddish-brown as well.’
This!!! THIS! Foreshadowing!