Cale and opening himself again
I have been rereading TCF and I want to talk about something I realized.
Cale Henituse, previously Kim Rok Soo, accepts easily his new reality. His new "him".
He keeps everyone at arms' lenght, just like in the past. But why the change?
1. Thanks to reading Boah, Cale knows the characters and the world, so doesn't have high defensas and in survival mode at every instance. He has data, to his relief.
2. He isn't on Earth, so his trauma fades slowly. He isn't confronted by records of destruction, despair, blood and deaths every moment of his day. He isn't in the Company, where he has made many memories with his first Team. There aren't monsters in Nameless 1, so, in someway, he is "able to move on".
3. He thought Boah was just a book, so he (at first) sew the people there as characters. He knew them like that, so there was already a connection (reader and character). Moreover, Cale knows how strong they are, so they can protect themselves. To be powerful is important to form part of Cale's group.
4. The kids! The kids are the ones who made him to be soft and to start to care for— and be close— to others again. He did care for his old Team in his own way, but they weren't close. Also, it isn't the same type of care. He—because he assumed the responsibility of taking care of them—has to do it right. Cale knows what children need so well, and in that way, he provides them with physical touches and words to make them feel safe and confident about themselves.
5. He doesn't feel attached to his past world. (Which I believe it isn't just because of the transmigration, but something that was inside of him since a long time ago. He was just surviving, not living at all.) He begins to see himself as Cale, he sees Roan as his kingdom and the Henituses as his family. He acts as trash (well, tries to), because that's how it's supposed to be.
He detaches himself from his past since he embraces "Cale Henituse". Who was he? Kim Rok Soo, orphan and an office worker. He doesn't mention the apocalypse at all when thinking about his past. While it makes sense that it isn't mentionated at all at the start (because for readers it would very confusing and the surprise factor later would be lost) I believe it’s because Cale didn’t want to remember that, it was painful. He was leaving that behind.
(I want to make another post about this, about how Cale views reality. First is Boah, second is despair test, third is the rest of god temple test. Then, we have his dreams and wind test, which doesn't classify as reality for him.)
