Can we really call Cale oblivious?
When I was reading tcf for the first time I had the question "Why is cale oblivious to his own actions destroying his slacker dream? Why does this man turn the world upside down and still thinks he might be unknown at the end of the day? ?" In my mind all the time..
So, I decided to analyse his actions in his own perspective!
What did Kim Rok Soo do that was so different from Cale? Nothing really, in both lives he's doing the same exact thing :
โข Fighting the evil beings with overwhelming advantage (as much as he could).
โข Scamming the bad guys in whatever way he does it.
โข Preparing several plans for most possible situations before stepping in.
โขEncourages and helps his people to become stronger and uses their abilities in the most efficient way helping them 'stand out more than him' as he thinks.
โข Has no problem in retreating if the situation is not going as intended, prioritise his people's wellbeing above all else!
โข Works from the rear as a strategist, but is always ready to step in whenever the situation goes south to flip the tables; not just turn them.
He has been doing this since he became a team leader and has continued in the same manner after transmigrating, so far almost 13 years !!
But here's the one most important difference between now and then: Cale is not affected by the White Star's curse anymore! Since it broke the moment he transmigrated into Cale's body nothing now is hiding his achievements from the world.
However, as a victim of both WS's reincarnation and og Cale's transmigration, (the curse's cause and its breaker) he had no idea, until recently, so this is the thing Cale does not understand the most. He may have figured out the concept of what effected him but he's yet to link his past to his present comparing them to the point he believes this is an important factor of why he's becoming a worlds wide hero.
So when he says 'i just wanted to be a small hero why isn't it working like it always has?!' he actually means it and is genuinely confused! (And certainly justified) Because why ,if he does almost the same strategy, is he's having different results this time!?
The variables become clearer if you have an outsider pov, for example: krs's curse made it that he can't cherish anything or be cherished, that's why all the people he cared about left him one way or another, This explains why Cale can't understand why his family care for him. Something inside of him thinks unconsciously "How are they still here?". It's not that he's in denial, it's rather that he has never been given the chance to process this love and care in his 40 years of life, for as soon as he starts to accept that he may have a chance of happiness, it's immediately stolen from him, leaving him more traumatized than before...
Another side would be that every time a chance arised for him to standout in public, like the speech thing he talked about, "something" would happen; a monster outbreak, an accident, or maybe an unexpected attack from some evil ability users...
Which means it's not only his desire to stay hidden that has been keeping his achievements in the dark as krs, it was mostly his curse and when he couldn't be praised he thought 'Well, who wants public recognition anyway?'
You can see he was well-known inside his feild, the government,guilds and throughout the company, He was almost an idol to the people in the brain team! But that's where it stopped, always.
So, it's totally understandable how Cale gets confused everytime he does something good and is praised and cheered for by the citizens; what he had learnt from YEARS of experience is that whatever he did, in the end it remained between these companies walls. [It mostly won't go further unless someone is digging around, like the assassins and illegal guilds that hated him]
No matter what good deeds he does, he can't be 'loved', for he is cursed to be left alone. I mean, we still barely know ANYTHING about team leader krs,his abilities, exact strategies, his team and their relationship with each other what other hardships did he face?
The speech curse is one thing we figured just recently and it never crossed my mind before that he could have been in such a situation...
Maybe he never bought a better house because each time he tried it would get destroyed because he "can't have anything to cherish" so he had to be stuck with the wrecked place that triggered his records and brought him more pain and suffering...?
Back to the point, krs was free to do much more without standing out, he didn't have these "fame/heroic consequences" as for he thought this was the norm for him at least, and tbf that's a major one less headache for him to deal with since he had enough enemies already. And he's a shy little boy but we don't talk about that !
And one little thing to note, he's used to trouble coming after him, and he has this sense of responsibility that he should be the one dealing with all of the trouble since most of the time he concluded that he was the reason everyone around him got hurt...and he can't forget so that's two reasons why he's now dealing with all these problems even if his actions now have such consequences or if it brings him more trouble.
If your daily life was like this of course you'll be confused to WHY ISN'T IT WORKING OUT I JUST WANTED TO LIVE IN PEACE !!!
