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It was clearly demonstrated during the Wind Island test, and although it is not exactly traditional eremophobia (which is more than anything the fear of being physically alone), unlike this, Cale fears more than anything being the last survivor among his dear ones.
I think the reason Cale is always at the vanguard is that he is afraid of seeing his loved ones die. So, if they end up in a situation where their enemy is stronger than them and they can’t flee, at least he will die before the others.
Trauma will always push him to avoid seeing his people die, lest he be the last survivor. The guilt of having those ideas, of imposing that fate on someone else, can make his already low self-esteem even more non-existent than before.
I just realized I'm rambling, so I'll leave it here. Anyway, even if this analysis is wrong, I think it can be quite accurate in many cases.
Body stolen by the White Star's reincarnation
Being affected by the Curse of the God of Death ("All those you cherish shall die") before being born
Rebirth in Korea, shortly followed by the death of his parents
Taken in by his abusive uncle, Kim Seung Jong, who falls into alcoholism and gambling
Either the uncle dies due to his addictions or it gets so bad Kim Rok Soo runs away – that part was a bit unclear
Gets into the orphanage, where all friends or caretakers he comes to care about leave him, one way or another
Choi Jung Gun shows up when Kim Rok Soo is about to get murdered by the Hunters Park So Jin & Jung Yi-Rang, posing as his counselor & classmate
CJG or the Hunters wipe his memory of the event, which one did it is slightly unclear
Just as KRS's life gets stable enough that he gets a job while studying at a university, the Monster Apocalypse strikes and he loses everything all over again
KRS starves under the wreck of a building for a week before getting rescued by Lee Soo Hyuk
LSH takes him to a shelter where Park Jin Tae is in charge, just for him to turn into an abusive leader who bosses KRS around and beats him up
Then the monster wave shows up, killing everyone KRS got to know and care about at the shelter. Hello, Survivor's Guilt!
Somehow, he survives the rest of the monster wave, but that surely wasn't a pleasant experience, considering all shelters lost power for 24 hours and KRS probably experiences the minor ones failing in-person (who knows just how many different shelters he tried to run off to??)
After a time skip KRS gets into the company and we assume life is pretty good for a while for him, under LSH's guidance and the friendship with Choi Jung Soo, as well as their other Team members... except then the Unranked Monster shows up and wipes KRS's entire Team in one go, leaving him the last and only man standing. Hello, Survivor's Guilt Part Two!
KRS attends the funeral of LSJ & CJS, only to be talked about behind his back how he's not even mourning them correctly because he's not crying (those bastards-!)
He takes upon himself to avenge LSH and the rest of the Team, because they were supposed to have back-up from a Guild which all ran away and left them to die. I suppose KRS going after them went down similarly to how he later toppled Arm and the Mogoru Empire, so let's call it his "practice run on Dismantling Corrupt Organisations"
He takes over as the Team Leader as well, overworking himself to the extreme (not even taking a single day off in the first year) to have a 0% casualty rate
He distances himself from the team in order not to suffer another heartbreak if something happens to them (also, my theory is that KRS subconsciously recognized the pattern of his Curse and made himself believe that he's a bad, selfish person who doesn't care about others... just so the Curse don't kill off his Team members this time)
Once again, he gets his body stolen without his permission – and sure, that turned out well in the end, but still: not just once, but TWICE! NOT cool, God of Death!!
He's dumped with the knowledge and responsibility of the conflicts to come in this new world, which was supposed to be originally CJS's job to fix. Come on, it's not KRS's fault he lived instead!! Not he's gotta clean up THIS mess...
Once again, Cale overworks himself white trying to achieve World Peace, because HOW is he supposed to rest if the world comes to an end around him – AGAIN!?
Cale's body wastes away from continuously sacrificing himself (while claiming that he isn't sacrificing himself) and keeps falling into a coma from Ancient Powers overuse
He breaks his plate in the battle at the Gorge of Death and suffers terribly to get it fixed
He gets a premonition that he's probably going to die around November 8th – THANKS A LOT, GOD OF DEATH!!
He also goes through a traumatic test of seeing his worst fear at the Wind Island
He attracts the attention of several nasty characters: like Adin, the White Star, or the Sealed God... which is definitely NOT a good thing
The Sealed God casually tosses him into an alternate universe to relive his greatest trauma
Cale, once again, has to solve problems in another world because he literally cannot do anything else
Also the White Star is trying to murder him in the meantime, so he suffers great physical AND mental pain at the same time - hurray!
Oh and let's not forget, now he gotta defeat the Final Boss by stabbing himself. It won't hurt, the World Tree says...? WHY DON'T I BELIEVE YOU (Also the Sealed God made sure everyone saw everything, nice going there you son of a-!)
And just when the whole thing with the White Star and the Sealed God gets resolved, the HUNTERS SHOW UP, BECAUSE WHY THE HELL NOT
And now Cale gotta go around MORE UNIVERSES to solve ALL OF THEIR PROBLEMS. ..... H o w n i c e
Bodysnatched: x2
Cursed with loneliness and misfortune
Orphaned
Abused
Lived in poverty
Target of attempted assassination (also used as bait for assassins)
Had his head tampered with
Lived through an apocalypse
Trapped under a building (hello potential claustrophobia!)
Starved
Chased down by monsters
Bullied
Survivor's guilt: x2
Betrayed by allies
Forced into leadership
*Body dysphoria due to scars (forgot to mention that earlier)
Impostor syndrome: x2 (for both becoming the Team Leader and becoming Cale Henituse)
Judged for coping mechanisms
Regularly gets hurt and falls into coma
Near death experiences: x[INFINITE]
Forced to experience his worst nightmare
Forced into self-harm
Forced to save the world: x? (at least 3 times and the counter is still rising!?)
(I blame you, God of Death – WHY would you consider reincarnation a good punishment?? And a CONTAGIOUS CURSE which affects the victims of your target!? This is all your fault.
...But mostly the Hunters' fault, obviously.)