Amidst the bustling city, Van and Soulen walked side by side. With Van's suspicions of Soulen's selfless kindness still lingering in his mind, they barely spoke a word for several minutes.
It was Soulen who broke the silence. "So, would you mind telling me your name, you quiet kid?"
His tone was somewhat joking. Van understood Soulen's somewhat annoying nature, but since he had helped him, at least he knew it would be rude not to give his name to his savior.
Using one hand as a writing pad and the other as a pen, Van wrote his name, while also asking frankly about his suspicions about Soulen.
After reading the writing, Soulen gradually looked up at Van's calm yet slightly worried face.
This time, Soulen's expression stiffened slightly, and the confident and warm smile faded slightly, replaced by a wry, fearful smile.
"Before I explain, I hope you'll come to my house first. I won't say anything for now."
With that last sentence, their journey continued awkwardly, at least until they arrived at the door of a narrow apartment building.
As the door opened, the light from inside dazzled Van's eyes, which had become accustomed to the dim streetlights.
"Brother, you're home!?"
The sound of a girl's scream reached Van's ears, and his retinas captured the 120-centimeter-tall child jumping up and hugging Soulen, who immediately accepted the embrace.
When the girl's eyes met Van's, she asked, "Brother Soulen, who is this sister?"
"Hm...?" Soulen glanced at Van. "Rana, that brother isn't a girl, he's our new friend."
"New friend? Rana won't be alone anymore?"
"Yes, that's right. So, introduce yourself properly, Rana."
With her dark eyes, she gazed curiously at Van before bowing, her straight, waist-length brown hair falling to the side of her face. "Nice to meet you, my name is Rana Msiari Foulensia. For now, I'm a guest and family member of Brother Soulen."
Van, hearing this introduction, was speechless. He immediately connected the knowledge Soulen had implicitly explained about the issue of surnames earlier.
Van reflexively turned to Soulen, and at that moment, Soulen understood what Van was curious about.
"Just as you think, Van, Rana isn't a commoner, but she's not a noble either. In fact, I think she has a more complicated lineage than either of us can imagine."
Pausing briefly to look at Rana, Soulen continued, "It was just a strange coincidence that I brought Rana to my house, but I'll probably tell you about that later. For now, I want you to understand what you just experienced out there."
Van nodded slowly, already curious about the horror he'd experienced for the first time in his life. But before Soulen could begin, a rumbling sound filled the room. Hearing this, Soulen tried to hold back his laughter at Van, whose face was flushed with embarrassment.
"Then, why don't you listen to my story while you eat? I don't think you'll be able to focus with your stomach rumbling that loud." Soulen hurried to the kitchen to find some groceries in the refrigerator, while Rana, still wearing her innocent face, pulled Van's hand and led him to sit at the round wooden table.
It only took a moment for Soulen to cook something whose aroma made Van repeatedly groan in hunger.
With a satisfied expression on his face, Soulen placed a bowl of boiling white soup, filled with vegetables, a few thin, paper-like pieces of meat, and tender tofu.
"Now, let's eat! I won't forgive you if you don't finish it!"
Soulen smiled confidently at his cooking, while Van gulped, intrigued by its appearance and aroma, which tickled his appetite.
One puff, two puffs, the steam rising from the soup spoon continued unabated. Van started with one mouthful, his eyes immediately widening only to continue with one mouthful after another, ignoring the heat burning his tongue.
"Haha, take it slow, Rana, Van. No one's going to take your food away from you."
"Huh, looks like I'll only be able to tell him about it after he done eating," Soulen thought to himself, smiling at the sight.
The sound of stainless steel utensils and ceramic bowls clinked for several minutes. Only after everything was over did Soulen once again walk over to the round table and sit on the slightly cool floor, staring at Van, who was sitting silently and Rana, who was already fast asleep on the bed.
"Okay, Van, where should I start this story? Do you want to know what really happened on that street, or do you want to know why you came to this world?"
Van's mouth dropped open, his eyes in disbelief. The choice Soulen had just given him sounded so unreal. With the paper and pen Soulen had prepared for him, Van immediately asked what he meant.
"There's no particular reason, it's exactly as I said. I know you're not from this world. If you're asking why I'm so sure, it's probably because I am one."
Soulen's sudden statement filled Van with mixed emotions—confusion, joy, curiosity, and annoyance all at once. He never imagined that the answer he was searching for in the future might suddenly appear before him without warning.
With a complicated expression, Van asked with his pen, "I hope you can truly answer all the questions related to this world."
Soulen averted his eyes, his face turning sour. He answered in a tone as if he, too, was frustrated by a problem Van didn't understand. "Well, I'll answer as best I can, but one thing you must remember: I'm human like you, not an omniscient god who can provide all the answers to your every question."
Van nodded lightly. With a slight sigh, Soulen opened his mouth.
"Van, you must remember that before I called you, you looked back first. But do you remember that I was there when you first turned around?"
Van flinched slightly, shaking his head quickly.
"As I suspected, you can hear their voices too. Okay, I'll explain a few things related to those voices."
Armed with the notebook and pen Van had previously used for writing, Soulen began to describe the situation in the city, which was currently in crisis.
In his drawing, Soulen drew a tower. He explained that the tower was the original shape of the world, or more precisely, the city they inhabited. Soulen only said that he got the rough outline from an old woman he met when he first arrived in this world.
Like Van, Soulen said himself that he had also possessed the body of someone who was dying. The reason he knew Van was from another world was because Van could hear their voices.
"Actually, even now, I can't be sure why those voices can only be heard by us, but one thing is certain: those voices are something that is destroying this world."
Van, still confused, tried to confirm his understanding once again, "How can you be so sure that only people from another world can hear those voices?"
"About that, I've tried taking Rana to the place where the sound echoed the most intensely, and when I was there, my head felt like it was going to explode while Rana just looked at me in pain with a worried face. Besides, the old woman who gave me the description of this world could also hear the sound, unfortunately, before she and I could get more research results, she had already died."
****
Van stared at the ceiling in the dimmed room. He still couldn't find a clear answer as to why he had come to this world. Was it truly because of his death, or was there some other reason that compelled him to come to this world in crisis.
As Van's thoughts continued to wander aimlessly, a faint, soft voice, mixed with the pattering of rain, woke Van from his daze.
The voice seemed to penetrate directly into his brain. At that moment, he realized it was their voice, but what Van couldn't ignore were the words the voice was uttering.
"Help me. I won't hurt you. I'm in pain. I'm being chased."
The words repeated themselves in Van's head, and an unusual sight was also displayed from the window leading to the balcony. As Van peeked through the curtains, he saw a girl who looked more like a ghost, with platinum hair so long it wrapped around her entire body, and white eyes that seemed to have lost her sight. Van wasn't foolish enough to open the window.
However, before Van could decide to ignore the voice, he stopped. The girl was now lying helplessly on the balcony, drenched by the increasingly heavy rain, approaching a storm.
Van frowned, still deep in thought. After all, this wasn't his home, and he wasn't the only one here.
However, suddenly someone tapped Van on the shoulder and said, "Let her in. I don't think this is just a terrifying voice."
As Van searched for the source of the voice, Soulen was standing right next to him with a determined expression. He knew it could be a trap, but Soulen believed this was a rare situation, where a creature manifested by a terrifying voice would call for help, and the voice would stop when it lost consciousness.
Van, understanding the risks and rewards, nodded curtly, opened the window, and quickly brought the girl in.