Trash of the Count's Family

“October 25th, 11am.”

Cale quietly watched Lee Seung Won who was peeking at him while speaking.

“Keep going.”

Lee Seung Won hesitated before responding to Cale.

“Hyung, will this really be useful?”

Cale looked up after seeing the uncertainty in Lee Seung Won’s eyes.

He could see the clear sky.

He was currently on the roof of the central shelter building.

‘Cale-nim.’

Cale recalled the conversation he had with Choi Han last night.

‘What is it?’

‘The God of Death said this in passing… But either way, this is what he said.’

Choi Han had wondered if it was important, but he still said it as if it was nothing.

‘The sealed god is not able to return to the past, but he is able to push his way into a different dimension.’

Choi Han then shrugged his shoulders, saying that was it.

Cale, who had been extremely busy since last night, was finally able to think about it now that he had some time.

‘He's able to open a path into a different dimension?’

Did that mean that this place was not a test created with his past as the background?

“…Could this be a different place?”

Or was it just an illusion created for his test?

“Rok Soo hyung.”

Cale turned his gaze.

"Can I ask you what you mean by that?”

Cale shrugged his shoulders at Choi Han's question.

“Hmm? Oh, nothing much. I was just thinking about the dimension thing you mentioned last night.”

“Ah.”

Choi Han instantly understood what Cale was thinking.

“Are you thinking that a different dimension-”

He peeked at Lee Seung Won for a moment before shutting up.

Lee Seung Won was looking at Choi Han with interest.

‘He said that he was Rok Soo hyung’s close dongsaeng?’

They were said to be like blood siblings.

‘He’s the same age as me.’

They were the same age, but Lee Seung Won found it difficult to speak to Choi Han for some reason.

Choi Han also stayed next to Rok Soo hyung and did not try to chat with the others.

Cale nodded his head at Choi Han who had stopped speaking after peeking at Lee Seung Won.

“Yes, I'm just thinking about that statement.”

“But I came into your consci-, mm, anyway, that was the condition.”

Since Choi Han had come into Cale's consciousness, he didn't think it was a different dimension or anything like that.

“I'm not sure.”

Unfortunately, Cale didn’t trust either the God of Death nor the sealed god.

Gods. He had never seen them lie, but he had seen them not tell the entire truth many times.

‘Either way, whether this world is an illusion or a test or whatever…’

He was going to treat it as if it was real.

Cale had already made up his mind.

He looked toward Lee Seung Won and started to speak.

“You asked if this will be useful?”

That was the question Lee Seung Won had asked Cale just now.

‘Hyung, will this really be useful?’

Lee Seung Won cautiously nodded his head.

“…Yes. Do you think it’ll be useful?”

Cale nodded his head at the question.

“It’ll be useful.”

The more that this world was real to Kim Rok Soo and Cale Henituse…

Lee Seung Won’s ability was necessary.

It didn’t matter whether this world was an illusion or a test.

He needed to create a future for them.

He needed to give them hope.

Wouldn't that be the best way to get rid of his despair?

If getting rid of Cale’s, or actually, Kim Rok Soo's despair was the conditions for passing this test…

That made it more important for Cale to create a future for them.

That way he could… Wash away the despair he had for not just this one moment, but the future that would come.

“I told you, right?”

He put his hand on the shoulder of Lee Seung Won, the boy who was only three years younger than him in this place.

“Data is the future. Even weak humans are able to defeat a monster if they know its weakness. Being able to think. That is the greatest strength humans have.”

Lee Seung Won’s ability.

‘Recording.’

Cale looked at the small badge in Lee Seung Won’s hand.

It was a random badge that had been rolling around inside the building.

“Seung Won. The information you create with your abilities will become the hope for this world.”

“…To survive-”

“You’re saying that it’s a useless power for survival?”

Lee Seung Won nodded his head and quietly responded to Cale who cut him off and asked.

“…Yeah.”

“There’s no such thing.”

Cale disagreed with Lee Seung Won without any hesitation.

There were no abilities that were useless for survival.

They needed every ability.

However, it was just the difference of whether it was needed now or for the future.

Cale looked down from the roof.

Lee Seung Won also looked down at the ground as well.

They were looking at the area inside the boundaries where monsters did not come.

Lee Seung Won took in all of it.

More people than ever were standing inside the boundaries.

He could feel the rowdiness inside the building right now.

Lee Seung Won heard Cale’s whisper.

“Seung Won. Take a good look at today's battles.”

That whisper was very confident as if he was telling the truth.

“You'll see how even people without abilities can fight and win.”

Lee Seung Won looked back toward Cale.

Cale was standing up at that moment.

Screeeech.

Cale looked toward Park Jin Tae who had opened the door to the roof and was walking in.

Park Jin Tae was with Lee Chul Min as they walked over to Cale.

He opened his mouth to speak.

“I delivered your message to the other central shelters. We went to more temporary shelters as well.”

“Didn’t they call you crazy?”

“Pfft.”

Park Jin Tae chuckled.

“Of course they did. Who wouldn’t? We were telling them that all of the shelters would be destroyed and that monsters will come charging in.”

From last night until this morning…

Park Jin Tae and a few others had urgently gathered teams to go visit the two central shelters close to this one.

They also stopped by the temporary shelters they knew of along the way as well.

They had informed all of those shelters about the things Kim Rok Soo had told Park Jin Tae.

They also handed them the things Kim Rok Soo told them to deliver.

“We also brought the people who believed us back, just as you wanted.”

One corner of Cale's lips went up after hearing Park Jin Tae’s comment.

“Was it just because I wanted it? Didn’t you bring them because you wanted to save them? Isn’t that why you kept doing it all morning even though it was supposed to end at dawn?”

Park Jin Tae had been busy since last night and all morning today bringing people over from many places.

Park Jin Tae avoided Cale's smile.

“…Don't speak such nonsense.”

Smirk.

Cale smiled once more and Park Jin Tae started to frown as he started to speak again.

“I handed out all of our food except for one day's worth.”

Park Jin Tae did not give out all of the food they had gathered during the hunts.

They always put aside a portion of the food with long expiration dates.

They did it for the days that they couldn't hunt.

But he had given out a majority of their reserves today.

“Everybody must have eaten until they were full.”

“Yes. That’s the only way for them to be able to deal with your plan.”

Park Jin Tae took a step toward Cale. He then started to speak in a concerned tone.

“We will starve in one day if you lied.”

Cale's calm eyes looked toward Park Jin Tae.

“Do you not believe me?”

Park Jin Tae looked past Cale and at Choi Han.

He then looked at Lee Seung Won as well.

Park Jin Tae then started to speak again.

“…I haven't seen any monsters nearby since last night. It’s quiet even when we are out past the boundary. It looks as if the monsters are hiding from the humans.”

“It’s the calm before the storm.”

Park Jin Tae nodded his head.

“I don’t have foresight, but I do have my intuition. It seemed as if there would be a storm soon.”

Lee Chul Min had a stiff expression while standing behind Park Jin Tae as well.

He seemed to have felt the eerie fear surrounding them as well.

“Grandma Kim told me to give you a message. She said that the things you asked for are all prepared.”

“Then I guess I should go down now.”

Cale headed toward the door.

He then headed down.

Park Jin Tae and Choi Han were right behind him.

Lee Seung Won watched them for a moment before starting to speak.

“The current time is 11:45 am on October 25th.”

His voice sounded slightly anxious.

“All central shelters will be destroyed at 12:01 pm. The temporary shelters will slowly be destroyed as well. The monsters will continuously attack for 24 hours.”

Lee Seung Won closed his eyes for a moment before opening them back.

“However.”

Lee Seung Won's voice started to sound more energetic.

“A new central shelter will soon appear.”

His voice was being recorded.

“We plan on heading there.”

Lee Seung Won hesitated before continuing to speak.

“Kim Rok Soo has prophesized all of this and I, Lee Seung Won, believe everything he said. We will now start the first record.”

Lee Seung Won clenched the badge and headed down from the roof.

It was so that he could follow behind Kim Rok Soo.

‘Hmm.’

Cale looked around as he headed to the bottom of the building.

He could feel the whispers and anxious gazes being focused on him.

It was not very loud inside the building because everybody was speaking quietly.

That made people even more anxious.

But Cale's eyes were looking at something else instead of that anxiety.

‘We did as much as we could.’

It was only one day, but there were many things prepared throughout the building that Cale had asked for.

“Hey, Rok Soo.”

“Grandma.”

Grandma Kim was in charge of everything inside the building while Park Jin Tae was going to the nearby shelters last night.

Park Jin Tae told people that he was leaving everything to her, so everything was able to quickly proceed as Grandma Kim had a good reputation with everyone.

Cale headed for the main door on the first floor.

“Mister.”

Jang Man Soo who was sitting on a chair near the door waved at him.

“Here. Take this.”

He took the item Jang Man Soo handed him.

It was a watch.

It was one of the few devices that still worked.

Tick tock.

Time was flowing by.

A lot of time had passed as he slowly came down while looking around.

The current time was 11:55 am.

Cale opened his mouth to speak.

“Choi Han, move the mister.”

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

Jang Man Soo got on Choi Han’s back.

Cale headed out the door.

In the open area outside the building… There were many ability users gathered in this area inside the boundaries of the central shelter.

They were looking at Cale with anxiety, distrust, confusion, and all sorts of other emotions.

Cale walked past them toward the edge of the boundary.

“You're here?”

Lee Seung Won's older sister, Lee Jin Joo, awkwardly smiled and greeted him.

“Is this my spot?”

“Yes, sir. Choi Han, put the mister down.”

Jang Man Soo was now next to Cale. He had been lowered right in front of the boundary.

He felt the soft blanket under him as he looked up at Cale.

‘…I didn't know he had this side to him.’

He was looking at Kim Rok Soo, who was standing up straight despite the anxious, fearful, distrusting, and angry gazes focused on him, in amazement.

Cale started to speak at that moment.

“There's 1 minute left.”

Park Jin Tae quickly raised his voice.

“Everybody, get to your stations!”

People quickly moved to their stations at Park Jin Tae's order.

Park Jin Tae could see some distrusting gazes as he watched them move.

‘You trust what Kim Rok Soo said?’

‘What the hell are we doing so early in the day?’

That was what their gazes were saying.

Those were the grumbles and questions directed toward Park Jin Tae, the leader of this central shelter, who had been moving around because of Kim Rok Soo since last night.

‘This is driving me nuts.’

Park Jin Tae was actually feeling the same way.

He wondered if they really should be doing this.

However, he decided to wait as well since he said he would trust Rok Soo.

Soon.

The moment Kim Rok Soo described would be here soon.

They heard Kim Rok Soo’s nonchalant voice at that moment.

“3.”

The sun was still bright and the sky was clear.

“2.”

Everybody inside the central shelter looked up at the sky.

Their hearts were beating wildly.

“1.”

And at that moment…

The world turned dark.

Everybody felt as if they were losing strength in their arms and legs.

Their bodies felt as if they were going cold.

It was because they could imagine the terrible nightmare that was to start.

‘Kim Rok Soo was right!’

From inside the darkness…

Park Jin Tae started to frown in this world where he could not see anything.

It was at that moment.

“Noona!”

He could hear Kim Rok Soo's voice through the darkness.

He was calling for Lee Jin Joo.

“Noona! Speak as loudly as you can!”

Cale put his hand on Lee Jin Joo's shoulder as she was curled up in fear from the darkness.

Maybe it was because of his body heat…

Lee Jin Joo started to speak.

{This is a message from the Park Jin Tae shelter.}

She had supposedly majored in Music.

Maybe that was the reason.

{Last night, or maybe early today. You should have received information from the Park Jin Tae shelter.}

Her voice echoed through the dark world.

Her ability was ‘amplification.’

Her voice was loud enough to reach the nearby shelters and the other two central shelters.

Normally, she would not use her ability as it would draw monsters to them, but it was different if the monsters were going to come anyway.

{Please use that information to persist.}

To the people in the other shelters who had not believed Cale’s words that Park Jin Tae had delivered to them…

Her voice would be like a lighthouse.

{As mentioned in the information we delivered, a new central shelter will appear.}

The new central shelters would be the size of 3 - 5 current central shelters combined.

‘But that means that 3 - 5 of the original central shelters will disappear.’

3 - 5 of the original central shelters would disappear and a large central shelter would take their place.

She continued to speak.

{You will hear my voice once every hour.}

It was about time for that voice to stop talking for a moment.

{I hope to see you all at the new central shelter. Let's all survive together.}

Cale who was listening to the ticking of the watch that still had batteries started to speak.

“10 seconds.”

‘9, 8, …. 5, 4.’

{Good luck.}

As Lee Jin Joo's first amplification came to an end…

‘3, 2.’

“1 second.”

The world brightened up again.

“Ho!”

Step.

Park Jin Tae subconsciously took a step back.

He had the chills.

Intense pressure was bearing down on him from all sides.

He felt as if he was going to be suffocated to death from the pressure.

Park Jin Tae stopped walking back after looking out in front of him.

“…F*ck……”

He could not see the end.

There were so many Grade 3 monsters that Kim Rok Soo mentioned moving toward them that he couldn't see the end.

The Grade 2 and Grade 1 monsters would be waiting their turn behind them.

“…My goodness! I, it really-!”

Park Jin Tae could hear Lee Chul Min's astonished voice.

Everybody couldn’t help but feel fear and despair at the reality of the situation.

They had prayed that it wouldn’t happen, but this nightmare, no, this real situation, was suffocating them.

They heard a sharp voice at that moment.

"Everybody snap out of it!”

Everybody turned toward Cale who was standing right in front of the boundary.

They were all looking at his back.

Cale had not even turned around.

But he needed to do something about the people who were afraid of the reality of the situation.

He needed to tell them they didn’t need to be afraid.

“Choi Han!”

Cale and Choi Han made eye contact.

“Sweep them away!”

Choi Han started to run toward the Grade 3 monsters charging toward them.