Life didn't get easier, even in another world.

Chapter 359  A voice

"So... What are your abilities?"

"Abilities?"

Kairen tilted his head upon hearing that strange question. No one would expect someone to just walk inside their room and ask such a thing out of the blue! Staring at the woman, who claimed to be a fan of his brother, Kairen asked once again.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Don't you know? It's not free to live!"

The woman folded her arms and leaned back on the wall.

"You'll be staying here for a while as per the commander's request, however, it's not that easy to live in this place. Most of the people who were allowed to stay either have powerful abilities or are useful in other ways. If one can't be helpful, they'll be sent to other shelters. So, what can you do?"

As much as Kairen knew, shelters were places where people stayed and fought the monsters. According to Aaron, these places were built all across the world to protect people from harsh environments and to also nurture powerful fighters. Shelters had levels for themselves and varied from top shelters to common ones found anywhere. The place where Kairen was currently staying at one considered a top shelter.

Kairen had heard from his brother that these shelters became useless as time passed and after a few years, there was no need for them as the survivors managed to retrieve a large portion of their lands and build cities on them, however, here he was in a shelter. Kairen didn't consider it too much. It was possible that a lot of things have changed since Aaron left this place, so there was nothing to be too surprised about.

"I'm not sure..."

Kairen thought about the things he could do while under the woman's gaze. If it was the past, he could proudly and confidently say that he was a powerful mage, but not now. He couldn't use mana anymore and all he could do was land some attacks using his special power, which was too much of a burden for his body. Plus, Reynold had told him not to randomly use his power a lot as it might damage The Chain.

On the other hand, Kairen was neither too physically strong nor smart, so there really wasn't much he could do in the shelter no matter how much he thought.

With an embarrassed smile, Kairen lowered his head and scratched his neck.
"I... Don't think there is much I can do... But I'll probably not stay here for too long so..."

"Is that so?"

The woman seized Kairen up and down before heaving a sigh.

"How long will you be staying then? When will you live and where will you go?"

'When will I live and where will I go? Well, that depends on Reynold...'

Kairen was pretty much sure that Reynold would come to take him away from this world, or would at least show him a way to leave this place. It was because Reynold had previously asked for Kairen's help in confronting his old friend, Samuel. Reynold had asked Kairen to activate a device in the world he used to live in. He had also told Kairen that this was actually something important and if his plans failed, the whole universe was in danger of entering The Void.

This made Kairen certain that Reynold hadn't sent him to this place on purpose as there were things that Kairen needed to do for the redhead in his world.

Also, the fact that Reynold was in a hurry to finish the preparations needed for his plan, and as one of those preparations had to be done by Kairen, he was sure that it wouldn't take too long for Reynold to come to his rescue.

However, there were still some problems.

One was that time passed differently in different worlds, so he couldn't be sure about the exact amount of time that would pass in this world for Reynold to arrive here. It could take a few days or a few years. As much as Kairen knew, the time here passed faster than in the other world he used to live in. If Reynold took the time of the other world as the standard, then Kairen would probably have to wait for a long time for the redhead's arrival.

On the other hand, Kairen was not sure if Reynold was actually aware of the fact that Kairen was sent to the wrong place. He had a nagging feeling that Reynold might not be aware of it yet. Maybe Kairen needed to do something in order to inform Reynold of his situation.

Furthermore, he had no idea how he was supposed to live in this place. He knew no one and could do nothing. He was, in fact, ashamed of his uselessness. He wanted to help these people out as much as he could, but he didn't have any clues on what he was supposed to do.

"I'm waiting for someone to arrive. I'll leave as soon as he comes."

Kairen answered honestly, not trying to make up a lie this time. The woman seemed to want to ask more, but after seeing that Kairen was not giving any proper answers, she suppressed her curiosity.

"If you don't have any special abilities, then you have to help the residents in doing the chore. I'll show you the one in charge of managing the chores. Talk to him and he'll guide you."

"Sure!"

Kairen was rather experienced in doing small jobs. He had spent a long time moving from one part-time job to the other so he had gained experience in various jobs and chores. Thus, he didn't reject the woman nor did he ask anything else.

The woman led Kairen to a specific room where a lot of people were gathered, talking, and dividing tasks. Kairen was also given a random task: Cleaning the building.

Picking up his tools, he walked to the lowest level of the building and began squeegeeing the floor.

"Reyn!"

In the middle of rubbing the squeegee on an oil stain, Kairen's hands suddenly paused moving as he froze on his spot. It was because of the voice he was suddenly hearing. Kairen moved his head and looked around, but there was no one around him. The voice was of a man, the voice that he found familiar yet distant.

"Reyn!"

It seemed to be coming from inside his head!

"Huh...?"

Just as he realized that a sharp pain like a needle stabbed his forehead, sudden and numbing enough to make him dizzy. Kairen subconsciously gasped once as he bent his back a little bit, leaning on the squeegee. The sudden pain didn't last even a second, it disappeared as fast as it appeared. There were no voices after that either. It was only Kairen, sweating, thinking about the thing that just happened.

'That... Sounded like Reynold's voice...'

Was Reynold that fast? Did he come after Kairen so quickly? But if that's the case then where is he? There was no one besides Kairen on the lowest floor of the building. And why was he hearing his voice inside his head? Why "Reyn" and not "Kairen"?

Kairen was confused about the thing that just happened, but no matter how much he thought or how many times he searched his surroundings, there were no answers for him.


"I guess... I should wait to ask him..."

Shaking his head, Kairen reassumed cleaning the tiles.