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

Chapter 361  Dragon?

A monster was emerging from within the gate, its body so huge that one had to snap their neck up to see the monster's head. Its skin was dark-blue, almost black, and it seemed thick as if it had layers after layers of hard-to-pierce armors instead of skin. The four limbs of the monster were longer than the tallest building in the city and each one of its fingers was as large as a truck. The monster had a tail that looked like the lizard's but in a much larger size, and its whole body was covered in big and small thorns.

Alarms sounded everywhere as screams rose up. People started to run to the safe areas and those who could fight hurriedly picked up their weapons, however, all of them froze on their spots or slowed their actions once they saw the monster that was emerging from within the gate. It was as if they saw the scariest nightmare of their coming alive. Those who knew about monsters and had the ability to fight them were the first ones to feel something inside of them shatter, fall apart, and their hearts go empty. No matter how they thought about it, there was no way to fight this huge thing with their little number and lacking strength.

"A dragon..."

No one knew who was the first person to mutter those words among the crowd, but only a few seconds later, everyone was having similar thoughts while looking at the huge monster that was still stepping out of the gate.

The monster's head was now completely visible. Razor-sharp white teeth were visible through its gaped mouth, each as thick as an adult man's body. The two eyes of the "Dragon" were bluish-gray, cold, and piercing at a glance. The body was so tall that it was almost attached to the gate far in the sky even though it had completely left it.

The eyes of the monster moved in one direction and locked on one location as soon as they emerged from the gate. They shimmered slightly as they dilated a little bit as if trying to zoom in on the picture to see it clearer.

In the place where the monster was staring, inside the building and just beside the window, Kairen couldn't help but shiver a little bit while being under the gaze of the huge being. The glasses had cracked a little bit due to the small quakes of the earth and some had shattered, falling to the ground. Kairen walked past the broken glass and stood beside the window, staring back at the "dragon" that was still staring at him.

"Such a huge thing..."

Kairen had switched worlds, faced various kinds of monsters, seen strange seals and traps inside ancient ruins, fought some statues that had suddenly come to life, dealt with bombs that could destroy the whole capital, experienced death, and liven in The Void for some time, however, he was still shocked and somehow scared after seeing this huge "Dragon", even more, when the monster suddenly started staring at him.

After the initial shock, Kairen calmed down significantly. It was because he remembered his past experiences. He had seen a lot of monsters who, after Kairen's appearance, stopped doing all things to either look at him or rush to him. The higher the level of a monster, the greater their reaction to Kairen's presence. Thus, it was obvious how this giant thing would act.

'Wait... There is no way that this "dragon" came here because of my presence, right?'

Kairen didn't want to consider that question as the mere thought of it made him feel extremely guilty, so he shook his head and looked around. People were seen running out of the buildings and rushing to safe locations and also fighters gathered around the leader of the area to receive orders. Kairen glanced at the middle-aged blonde man, who claimed to be his brother's close friend, giving instructions to people, before he was jolted out of his dazed state by a loud yell.

"Oy! What the hell are you waiting for? We must run!"

At this voice, Kairen turned around to see the other man who was in the same room with him, standing beside the door and shouting at Kairen.

'Didn't he run away?'

Kairen, surprised, took a step to the left as he hurried to approach the man, however, the next second, he froze on his spot once again.
"Reyn!"

It was because of the voice that rang out in his head.

"Reyn! Reyn! Stop!"

A familiar voice was screaming, in a pleading tone, begging. It vibrated in Kairen's ears and filled his head, making his sight blurry for a second and his mind empty. His body trembled, went numb, and he staggered to the side, stepping on the broken glass and leaning on the cracked wall.

"Get out of that place! Reyn! Are you listening to me?"

The voice was very familiar yet distant, and it was triggering unknown emotions inside Kairen's heart just by those mere words. Kairen knew that he was the only one hearing the man's screams. He had experienced it several times in the past few days, yet it was louder and clearer this time.

"Argh..."

Gritting his teeth, Kairen pulled on his hair as his body crouched a little bit. In a few seconds, his back was soaked in sweat and his hands were ice-cold.

"Oy! What the hell are you doing?"

The other man in the room frowned, yelled at Kairen once again, and after receiving no response from him, he turned around and ran out of the door.

"Listen to me and move away from that platform now! Reyn! Don't smile like that! Run!"

The familiar voice kept screaming in his head, making Kairen momentarily unable to think properly. He knew who that voice belonged to. It belonged to a certain redhead whom Kairen was waiting for.

"Shut the fuck up! Crazy man! Shut up!"

Kairen's voice echoed in the empty building. He had unknowingly yelled out loud in response to the voice in his mind. Surprisingly, the voice inside his head calmed down after Kairen's yell, allowing the young man to find the time to think about his situation.

'I should run away!'

That was the first thing that surfaced in his mind. He didn't know if this thought crossed his mind because of the situation he was in and for the man who was waiting for him to run, or because the voice inside his head kept telling him to run, yet, he was sure that he shouldn't stay there and had to move somewhere else, somewhere safe.

Kairen once again glanced out the window. The monster was still staring at him with the same cold and bloodthirsty eyes. The fighters had gathered below the monster, all holding their weapons tightly, waiting for an opportunity to strike the unwelcomed guest, however, hesitation and fear were written all over their faces. From their posture, their frightened eyes, and their low spirits, it was clear how they too wanted to run away and hide from the enemy that they couldn't defeat.

Kairen stood beside the window, his feet rooted to the ground. He kept looking at the monster and then the fighters, the people running to the hideouts, and the destroyed city. Thoughts flashed in his mind, some that were not even suitable to think about in this kind of situation.

'That man said that Ron's family was killed...'

'He had a wife and a daughter... I saw their picture in the newspaper. The girl looked rather cute.'

'Were they killed by monsters?'

'The world is in this state... In this state because of the monsters.'

'The place me and Ron used to love so much is now in ruins... The place where Aaron protected for years...'

'Will these people manage to defeat this thing? No. No. The whole place will be destroyed... They will all die... They will all die...'

'Just like Ron's family...'

'Why? What's so different here? Why isn't the other world I lived in so ruined? Was it because the monsters attacked that world thousands of years ago? It was in the past so the people had the time to rebuild their land?'

'But how could they rebuild their land if the whole land got destroyed? As much as I know, a whole continent and its people disappeared after the first appearance of the monsters, never to be seen or found again.'

'Yet, the continent we lived in was in such a good state... It was because the people living in it survived those dark ages and fought against the monsters.'

'No! It wasn't that they fought against the monsters, but that they found a savior. A man to rescue them... Reynold...'

'Why do I hear that man's voice inside my head? Have I gone crazy? Is this the first sign of losing my mind?'

'But again, why does Reynold talk to 'Reyn'? Is he talking to himself? Telling himself to run away? Is he crazy? Is being crazy contagious? Did I catch a crazy virus from him? Oh man...'

Standing on his spot, Kairen glanced at the defensive line of the city for one more moment. It was then that he realized another gaze on himself. It belonged to a certain blonde middle-aged man, someone who claimed to be Aaron's close friend. He was staring at Kairen with narrowed eyes while glancing at the monster from time to time as if searching for the thing that the monster was staring at.

'Oh yeah... I'm the weird one here... And I wouldn't be surprised if this huge... 'Dragon' has appeared due to my presence...'

'After all, all of these strange things appear because of me... No matter which world I'm in, it's all my fault...'

'It's all...'


At some point in time, golden-silver electric current-like cracks started to fill the air around Kairen.