#somewhere in Earth 2 a chill ran through LCM's spine

[kuroyuki-kokuyoku]

Remember Lee Chul Min?

You know, the asshole who abandoned everyone at the Shelter to die and go on to found his own Guild?

Yeah, there's no mention of him succeeding in life beyond that.

And knowing how petty and malicious Cale can get, I imagine him waiting until Lee Chul Min has peaked at life.

Maybe he got married, had a kid or two. Maybe he reunited with a surviving relative. I imagine his job as a Head of a Guild gives him a pretty generous paycheck. I also imagine his subordinates greatly respect him.

Then KRS strikes.

Now knowing in canon proper, LCM is a coward with a "survival of the fittest" mentality. In Earth 2, he had to be gaslit into staying and helping with Cale cutting off all matters of escape for him within a conversation. I imagine his counterpart in Earth 1 is no different, but he's worse. He doesn't learn from running away. If anything, he'll probably double down on his toxic "I have the power to do anything I want and everyone else weaker than me is canon fodder" mentality.

And that's what KRS would use against him.

I imagine he flips everything over and exposes LCM for what he truly is and all the shady shit he's, without a doubt, been up to in all these years.

KRS didn't just go after his job. He went after EVERY ASPECT in LCM's life that he has built on the corpses of Central Shelter.

His wife divorced him. His kid(s) are ashamed of him. His relative disowned him. His loyal subordinates, who just days before would have happily died for him, now wants to feed him to the next monster that shows up. And all of Korea wants his head on a pike.

Even after all this, KRS is not yet done with him.

As a last show of "mercy", KRS pays out of his own pocket the best lawyer money could buy, so LCM could avoid the death penalty by the skin of his teeth.

And so, LCM is quietly serving a life sentence in prison.

But not before KRS anonymously spread around the names of the surviving relatives of the prisoners that LCM had allowed to die so he could continue to live his cushy life after the fall of Central Shelter.

His only condition, LCM still needs to pay in blood for the rest of his miserable years, don't kill him.

You try connecting Cale's actions post the transmigration to his past as Kim Roksoo and it gives you more insight into how he might have been as a team leader. Like, take the Golden Plaques thing for example. You know Director Ma gulped and clutched his pocket everytime he had a meeting with the guy because he knew Kim Roksoo was boutta suck him dry.

I love side story 2 because of this particular reason. Choi Han did mention it after getting Choi Jung Soo's memories that his personality is still the same even after transmigrating. But side story 2 shows us how. He wasn't known to the public much but he was famous among the government and guilds and all the power players. And I doubt it'd have been for a different reason then. Even then he was a terrifying bastard whom they couldn't help but listen to because he was the most efficient tactician.

This is why reading the initial chapters of the series, specifically the war with the indomitable alliance, after knowing his past as Kim Roksoo puts so many things into place. Like, no wonder he was so good at understanding the power dynamics between the nations. No wonder his predictions were so on point. Even with the knowledge of TBOAH world it would have been difficult for anyone else to achieve such an overwhelming victory in the war. Their side never lost a single battle and it's in huge part owing to the expert strategising of Cale.

The Church of the Sun God insulted Mary and Cale decided in a heartbeat he'll bring them down for daring to do so. Do you think something like that ever happened on Earth? Someone insulted his subordinate and he instantly started plotting their demise? He lost a subordinate once. If it was due to someone's betrayal, like a colleague, a guild or any other human or organisation, you know they never came out alive from that.