I Understand You, I Almost Always Try To Think About What Our Hero Would Do If He Were In My Place…

The first battle of Maple Castle

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

Spoilers for chapters 280 to 288

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

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

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

Toonka ignoring all formalities and attacking instantly was simply art.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is how the first battle of Maple Castle ends.

I don't know if I like it or not, but at least now I can stop dying of frustration every time I read "Alver" (￣▽￣)

TCF headcanon !

I've had this HC for maybe over 2 years now n I've never heard of anyone talking about it here so:

I've always called Alberu Alberu in my head but when I read the manhua, it changed his name to alver so I made this up in my mind to make sense of that.

Alver: name he uses in public, this is what he goes by when he's doing prince stuff. It's formal and it's probably what his father/brothers refer to him as

Alberu: name he uses almost exclusively when he's in his bark elf from. It's the name his mother gave him at birth. I'd imagine this being the name the people closest to him call him! (Like cale, Tasha, choi Han ect.)

Got this because so many people around me have a name in their traditional language and another English name, so it just got stuck in my mind lol

I feel that if this were to happen, the Henituse family would realize that Cale doesn’t think of himself as part of the family. I believe that even in canon, he had trouble accepting the Henituse family as his own, at least initially (which might be contradicted by Cale’s thoughts during his first encounter with Venion, but let a girl dream (ᵔ.ᵔ)).

The Henituse family could have quite interesting reactions if Hans ever informed them about the diary.

Lily might feel guilty and sad, somehow implying that her Oraboni is not part of the family, and she would try to change her way of thinking by spending more time with him.

Basen might feel guilty, thinking he’s replacing his Hyung-Nim, even though we know it’s not true. He would try to convince Cale to accept the heir position and distance himself, possibly no longer “bothering” him.

Violan, similarly, would feel guilty, being seen as a replacement for Jour. Instead of continuing to distance herself to allow him peaceful mourning time, she would try to spend more time with him to improve their relationship.

And Deruth would feel terrible; from Cale’s perspective, it might seem like he’s replacing Jour and Cale with Violan and Basen. Deruth’s distancing and problem-solving approach didn’t help either. In a brave moment, he would probably try to go to Cale and apologize for everything.

One of the things that has also been in my head for a while is Cale having a journal.

Like- Cale starts a journal when he realizes that he's going to be a lot more involved in the novel's events than intended so to make room for new records he writes things down

When it's songs that he liked as Krs, he'd scrapbook a background and write them down

He'd also add artwork on some pages and has art of people. Like Choi han training, Ron with the lemonaid, Alberu doing whatever- he'd do a bunch of profiles for each person or maybe just have a separate book for that all together-

Cale doesn't really let others see either book, just changing the topic when it comes up. Everyone eventually learns not to ask.

Would be very interesting if there was a connection with Og!Cale and Krs where krs!Cale began to dream about some of og!Cale's memories

After a particularly bad memory, Cale is more closed off towards Deruth and Deruth doesn't know what he did wrong.

Cale obviously puts something about this in his journal

In honor of og!cale, he makes a drawing of his mother and him and doesn't use the 'Henituse' last name, he uses 'Thames'

The thing that Cale has learned about the original Cale is that he's never really felt like he belonged with Violian and Deruth. Always feeling like he was intruding.

So for plot convenience, Cale is called by the crown prince in the middle of writing and leaves the book out in the open.

Hans, who's been assigned to clean Cale's room, See's a book that has no cover or title or anything and opens it out of curiosity.

Hans sees a few drawings of the kids and naturally is excited because 1- Cale can draw really well, and 2- He loves cats.

Then he keeps going through the book, looking through drawings of him, Ron, Choi han, and- the Henituse family with Cale not in the portrait.

Hans is confused. (Deep down, he knows exactly what this implies)

He assumes that the drawing isn't finished (it's already been signed) and closes the book with shakey hands. Maybe the Count doesn't need to know about this-

Except when he comes back next week, the drawing hasn't changed.

Huh.

---

Just posting my drafts now- honestly I do really like this idea, maybe I'll write something to go along with it later?

I should start making the second parts of things I've already posted lmao-

A master of deception? (¯ ¯٥)

Only for himself (￣。￣ﾉ)

What Cale thinks of himself vs. Everyone

Cale: I'm a shrimp compared to them

Everyone: You are my king/Leige/lord, your not anything like that

Cale: I'll only do a little bit of work then rest

Everyone: Please leave some work to us, stop doing everything by yourself

Cale: Self sacrificing, what are you talking about.

Everyone: Are you kidding me!

Cale: Don't be like me

Raon: But I want to be just like you

Minus the self sacrificing part

Cale: I don't deserve this

Everyone: WHAATT, young master-nim who told you that

LOL ( ˙꒳​˙ )

Poor Cale, he could never be a slacker

Cale: “And this, is how I am going to become a slacker” *proud cale*

Everyone else but Cale: *don’t laugh don’t laugh….*

Actually, this is something that makes the novel attractive in the first place. After all, in every isekai I’ve read, the protagonist already knows everything.

While there are plot twists and all, usually they’ve already read the entire novel, played the complete game, etc.

TCF is special in that regard ♡( ◡‿◡ )

Cale does not know everything

Why did anyone think he did?

[Note: There will be SPOILERS about the first part of TCF so if you haven't finished the first part or you don't want spoilers, I suggest you don't continue. Thanks!]

When I first read the novel, the most common mistake new readers often make was they all thought that Cale is omniscient. Yeah, I saw the comments. There were a lot.

I think, once again, it's because of how in most KR novels and manhwa, the main character usually knows the whole story of a novel they read or a game they played before they transmigrate to another world. They don't have all the details but it's more than what Kim Rok Soo knows.

Because that's the thing. The difference is that Kim Rok Soo doesn't know the whole story. In fact, he only read up until five volumes of "The Birth of a Hero" before he transmigrated in another world.

He, like us, doesn't know how the story ends.

I might be getting repetitive but the reason why I love TCF is because the author, Yoo Ryeo Han, doesn't share everything to us right off the bat.

They never info dump us with the whole story about how OG Cale actually made a deal with the God of Death, about Kim Rok Soo's past as an ability user, about Choi Jung Soo, and about the existence of the White Star. Instead, all these plot points are gradually revealed later in the story.

And I honestly prefer it like this. This way, we can only guess what will happen next. It's not a boring story but a mysterious one because there's something we won't expect.

The story starts with Kim Rok Soo opening his eyes in another world.

We are never completely told what Kim Rok Soo read before he transmigrated. The most he tells us is a summary and a few details here and there at the start of the novel.

We only find out more by experiencing it through Cale's point of view. We read his thoughts about the novel. And we follow him in his journey around the Eastern and Western continents.

But as mentioned at the beginning, he doesn't know how The Birth of a Hero ends. His knowledge stops at the end of volume five. Everything else depends on him.

But even before the war happens, there are already some hints that Cale doesn't actually have all the information he needs. He is not fully equipped with everything about the book. He, like us, is in the dark about certain factors that can affect his goals.

Indestructible Shield

When the shield was first mentioned, Cale questioned why no one took it.

'No wonder nobody ended up taking control of it. But then why would the author mention something that could be useful but was never actually taken by anybody?’

- Chapter 11: Picked It Up

It's odd because it's found in the territory where Choi Han appears in the beginning of the story. Yet from volume one to volume five, not a single soul knew of its existence.

It's the first ancient power he gets that he finds out because he read the book and he's the only one who knows about it. He doesn't know why it's there nor does he question it any further. His only goal was to get it.

It's only when the Glutton Priestess told him about her past that he finally gets the bigger picture.

The fact that this tidbit was shrugged off by Cale, and probably some readers, as something unimportant only to find out later in the story about its huge connection to the original White Star is just insane. And it's the reason why the books he read aren't informative at all. Because why did it leave out this piece of information if they want him to use it to save their world?

He didn't even know a single thing about the current White Star at the start of the story and here is a random ancient power sitting prettily in the Henituse territory that actually has a connection to the same guy Cale Barrow wants to imitate. He was utterly clueless like the rest of us.

I'm not gonna lie, I was shaking my head by how dumbfounded I was when I first read the novel. I was questioning everything I read in the early chapters, thinking if there's something else that I didn't notice (there were a lot actually).

The fact that the author gives us only a little info about the tree where the shield was found and its connection to the other ancient powers only solidified my respect by how good the author is at hiding this plot until the big reveal.

The Wolf Tribe

‘The novel didn’t say which of the divine items they brought.’

If Cale knew what the divine item was, he would be able to get one step closer to the identity of the secret organization. Unfortunately, the novel only described how the Wolf Tribe became weak because of the divine item. He had no way to determine the identity of the secret organization.

- Chapter 32: You

When Cale sends Choi Han to find Rosalyn and Lock, Choi Han returns with Lock who was about to transform into his berserk mode.

Later, Choi Han explains what happened and Cale realizes that a lot of things changed compared to what happened in the book. For one, Lock did not hide and fought back against Arm. Another is instead of assassins, the ones that appeared are official members.

For some, including me, this can be excused because of Cale's actions. He's a new variable to the story and thus, he ends up changing a lot of scenarios that happened in the story.

But, thinking about it, this is the only thing that is completely different from what happened in the books. Everything else is the same aside from when Cale is actively doing something like becoming a guardian to three kids or getting the ancient powers that originally belongs to someone else. Unless Cale acts, nothing actually changes.

There's the bombing at the plaza that also changed but that can still be excused as Cale ruining Arm's movements early on and them revising their plans.

Lock however, is not influenced by Cale. He could've stayed hidden just like in the book but in this case, he didn't. Arm could've sent assassins but they didn't. There is no reason for them to change from assassins to official members. Plus, instead of killing all of them, the wolf children survived.

This is not because of Cale.

So...does that mean that the book he read is not completely reliable?

Pretty much, yeah. Which already answers the question if he knows everything like a cliche main character does. No, he doesn't know everything. And the books he read can be taken as a guidebook but an incomplete one with a few mistakes here and there.

Let me remind you that this happened before the war started and there's already something Cale doesn't know or expect.

[Side note: I only realized this whole bit about the Wolf Tribe while reading a freaking reaction fic. If I had not read that fic, I wouldn't even realize how weird this one is. Am I dumb? Don't answer that.]

White Star

Another reason why Cale is not omniscient even though he looks and acts like it, is because he didn't find out about the White Star until the war against Arm and the Indomitable Alliance.

This man is like a god to his followers and allies and not a single person in Cale's group and even outside of it knows about him. Not even Ron, who has his whole family annihilated and later loses his arm in the process, knows about him.

Again, the five volumes of The Birth of a Hero never mentions this elusive White Star. The only reason he knows about this guy is through interrogation and torture. So when he finally appears in the Mogoru Empire, all Cale felt was anger and fear.

Because this unexpected factor is dangerous.

Cale knows they're completely unprepared to face this new player in the game. Eruhaben, an ancient dragon, was getting his ass kicked by this man who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and the dragon even told them to run. What everyone considers a very strong existence in this world is telling them that there's no hope in defeating him.

And the most shocking out of all this is that Cale never expected how the White Star knows that Cale and Choi Han have their "time warped for them". He knows something about Cale just by looking at him.

So the books by this point are basically useless and he has to rely on himself and others to plan ahead of time. He works extremely hard for it.

He has to dig information using his Record to find out about White Star. He has to talk to the World Tree to get the weapon to use against the White Star. He has to talk to Sheritt to know more about the White Star and his curse. And he has to find out from OG Cale himself on how to finally kill the White Star.

It took the whole book to finally defeat him.

And none of these are mentioned in the books he read.

So Cale, in conclusion, does not know everything like what some readers once complained about. He has some pieces of the puzzle but it's like if he needs a hundred pieces to complete the puzzle and he only has ten, then he's never gonna complete it.

He knew about the first five volumes and the rest were just him and his allies' hard work. It's pretty much why he's so stressed in the whole book, zooming around the two continents just to look for the White Star's weakness while also juggling different problems like more wars or the God of Despair or finding the earth attribute the White Star needs.

So yeah. Don't judge a book by the first few chapters and expect to know everything.

end notes:

Alberu better give him his slacker life when this story ends.

Nelan Barrow and the God of Death really made him work for it.

I'm not gonna lie, I want someone (Cale) to kidnap Choi Jung Gun and interrogate him about why the heck he didn't explain the important bits in his "guidebook" and why the whole thing about the wolf tribe became different from what was written. He could've at least mentioned what the secret organization's name is but he left it to Cale instead. It's just the name, CJG. Why are you hiding it? Is Choi Han in the books really that slow or what? If you want someone to save your world, at least send more information like the name of the secret organization. You talked about the Indestructible Shield's location but can't spell Arm? Shame on you, CJG.

If it wasn't KRS that was transmigrated and it's just a random normal person, that person would've died even before meeting the White Star.

Or maybe Nelan Barrow just wants to be an author like Yoo Ryeo Han and be all mysterious about it.

Reviews TCF the Manhwa ＼(٥⁀▽⁀ )／(1-10)

I'm waiting for enough chapters of book 2 to be uploaded to start a marathon and while I wait I've been reading the manhwa.

And I'm going to say it honestly, I was a little disappointed (-ω-、), I'm going to do little reviews for the chapters I read from now on so here's my review of the first ten chapters.

The first thing I noticed is that they skipped the scene where KRS woke up in Cale's body and I'm a little disappointed that Ron's first appearance isn't the same, but the bathroom scene makes up for it a bit (＾〃＾)b, its design is charming and I loved the fox eyes that seem to have eyeliner in Cale's design, after all they demonstrate his cunning, plus as another publication mentions, he is the only character with white pupils instead of black, if we add the knowledge That his eyes are the same as when he was KRS is a very good omen ⸜( ´ ꒳ ` )⸝

The face Cale made when he declared that the key to fashion is the face gave me a lot of tenderness so there are no complaints on that part ┐(￣∀￣)┌

The first appearance of the Henituse family was very similar to the one in the novel and the panels were very interesting, I liked it, that's all I'll say (︶‿︺)

I really liked Billos's design, I feel that it correctly captures his character and description (￣ ▽ ￣)

Continuing to talk about the design, for some reason I really liked Ohn's shoes in their first appearance, they reminded me of ballet slippers and now I have the headcanon that that is the type of shoe he likes to wear, something comfortable and soft but It is perfect for stealth missions and easy to obtain regardless of your socioeconomic level (─‿‿─)

The first appearance of the man-eating tree was not as shocking as I expected, I feel like it still had a lot of color for a dead mana-infected tree, in fact, I didn't like its appearance either once I obtained the Indestructible Shield, where are the blue leaves? ? because that's green! not blue! (；￣Д￣)

The design of the gluttonous priestess seemed a little too similar to Egyptian clothing for someone who lived in the jungle, although it is acceptable if that is Cale's imagination (ᓀ ᓀ)

In the bar scene I saw a ruffian with a long blue braid and my first thought was, Why didn't they give that design to, I don't know, Bud? He's too handsome for an extra (`皿´＃)

When Cale and Choi Han meet Cale seemed a little awkward to me and he is perfect for this type of scene plus Ohn and Hong were super cute (´ ∀ ` *)

I liked Choi Han's design, they made all the black of the clothes work and although I would have liked the cape to be brown instead of gray, the magenta highlights in the hair and the large number of buckles on his boots made me like it. I would like the design (´▽`)b

The first mention of how those who give you food are good people hit my heart when remembering Cale's past, it was perfect ヽ(⌒▽⌒)ﾉ

The first appearance of Hans and Beacrox is not very memorable but I loved their designs, I imagined Hans as a thirty-something with a beard but I loved the fact that they presented him as a cute twenty-something, and just looking at Beacrox gives that enhanced mysterious and terrifying vibe because of the dark circles under his eyes, but he looks incredible and the resemblance to Ron is noticeable.

Cale's imagination with the bowling pins-Ron and Beacrox being hit by a ball-Choi Han was very cute highlighting Cale's way of thinking and demonstrating it again with the matryoshkas-Ron, Beacrox and Choi Han (≧◡≦)

Deruth's reflections on Cale's change reminded me that no matter how bad a father he is, he is still one.

The first appearance of the dreaded lemons was iconic and Cale's expressions are beautiful (￣ω￣)

Choi Han's transformation from mad dog to puppy has already begun and it is beautiful ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶

The Henituse family crest was shown for the first time that I have noticed it and it is perfect.

Rosalyn and Lock's silhouettes with their shadows were incredible and gave us a good idea of what they will look like.

Besides Cale's imagination of what Raon looked like was hilarious, is that perhaps a foreshadowing of his adult form? Or is Cale just underestimating things? (°▽°)?

I really liked the first appearance of the Indestructible Shield, but I was left wondering where the wings were (¯ . ¯٥)?

Ohn and Hong's adoption was very sweet and Hans' reaction to "the cute nim-kitties" was hilarious and lived up to his name as a cat lover, plus the faces they made when they found out they were Discovered I loved them (´ ε `)♡

I really liked the conversation between Cale and Billos, plus the face Billos makes is very cool (✧ω✧)

And this is everything that caught my attention from the manhwa so far＼(٥⁀▽⁀ )／

See you later! (^０^)ノ

Jungsoo just needs to get a child form to complete the Soos trio (๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

I need Cale-nim in Naru form and team leader Sui Khan to act and scam the world together. The master and his top student, two master scammers, the whole ordeal is gonna be so beautifully done.

"Because of you! Why? Why do I need to struggle like this! Humm? I want to be a slacker! That! Is! My! Dream! I'm someone whose dream is to live quietly! Also, keep your damn subordinates in line! Huh? He wants to use Raon as a sacrifice?! Where the hell is your lackey getting the confidence to spew such ludicrous statements out of his damn snout?"- Cale beating up White Star with a Rock

Can someone please write a crossover of PMMM and TCF?, I don't dare write it because of the angst but I really want to see it o(TヘTo)