Chapter 16: Transmigrator Inside, You've Been "Surrounded"
How is it, Klein?
Surprised? Unexpected?
Nairn hadn't intended to give Mr. The Fool a jump scare Above the Gray Fog, but instead, he gave Zhou Mingrui/Klein an even bigger shock.
In that instant, Klein felt his brain go "buzz," turning completely blank.
He... he-he-he... how could he be here?!
How does he know I live here?!
How does he know I'm a transmigrator?!
A series of questions exploded in his mind like thunderclaps, leaving him frozen in place, his hands and feet turning cold.
Now, those secrets had been completely exposed by the stranger outside the door—someone he had never even met—in such a nonchalant, such... casual tone!
Fear!
An unparalleled fear instantly gripped his heart!
Who was the person outside the door?
It was "Lovers"!
It could only be him!
Aside from that "fellow countryman" who also came from Earth and spoke Chinese, there shouldn't be a second person in this world who knew these things!
But... how did he find me?
Tingen City was so large; how could he so accurately find the lower sector of Iron Cross Street, find this apartment building, and find my room?
When did he arrive?
Why did he come?
What exactly did he want by coming to find me?
Countless questions, like runaway horses, galloped wildly through Klein's chaotic mind.
He felt his body trembling uncontrollably, his palms already drenched in cold sweat.
Before, Above the Gray Fog, he could rely on his identity as "The Fool" and the concealment of Sefirah Castle to maintain a facade of calm.
But now, offline, in the real world, when this mysterious fellow countryman stood right at his doorstep in the flesh, all his disguises and all his wishful thinking were shattered in an instant!
He had been calculating how to carefully and step-by-step test the other party and "reconnect" with them.
And the result?
The guy didn't follow the script at all, flashing right into his face and unleashing his ultimate immediately!
This feeling was like a low-level alt in a starter village still wondering how to fight the mobs at the entrance, only for the final boss to teleport right in front of him, friendly-patting his shoulder and saying, "Hey, bro, want to run a dungeon together?"
Shocking, terrifying, ridiculous!
Klein felt his worldview being repeatedly shattered within a single day, then forcibly glued back together, and now it had crumbled into pieces on the floor once again.
It's over!
That was the only thought in Klein's mind.
He felt like a person with no clothes on, exposed nakedly to the other's gaze, with all his secrets having nowhere to hide.
What should he do?
Play dumb? Say he doesn't understand Chinese?
No, it's useless.
Since the other party could accurately find his door and even use Chinese slang like "Open up, Checking the water meter," it meant he already had solid proof.
Any sophistry would only make him look more ridiculous.
Fight?
As soon as Klein thought of the other's nonchalant attitude Above the Gray Fog, treating all living beings as a play, he immediately dismissed that unrealistic notion.
He wasn't even a Sequence 9; what did he have to fight against an existence suspected of being an ancient god-tier big shot?
He couldn't win a fight, and he couldn't deceive him.
The only choice seemed to be... opening the door and letting the other party do as they pleased.
Klein felt his throat go dry; he swallowed, his palms already drenched in cold sweat.
He didn't know the other's intentions.
Was it goodwill? Or malice?
Fellow countrymen meet, only to stab each other in the back?
Or... meeting an old friend in a distant land, with eyes full of tears?
Just as Klein was having an internal struggle and hesitating, Nairn's voice rang out again from outside the door, still in that lazy, smiling tone.
"Open the door, sir. Or should I say, Mr. The Fool."
"If you don't open the door, I'm going to shout. 'Transmigrator inside, listen up, you've been surrounded!'"
Although it was true—Klein was indeed surrounded by various fellow countrymen and higher existences.
Klein: "..."
He felt his blood pressure soaring.
This guy is definitely a Fun-seeker! A pure one!
And right now, his greatest fun was standing outside his door, enjoying the sight of "The Fool" in a panicked state!
Calm down!
Klein, you must be calm!
You are "The Fool"! You are Zhou Mingrui! You are a transmigrator!
You can't panic!
He frantically told himself in his mind.
At least the other party didn't know his real name yet; he had likely just found his home, so there was still room to maneuver.
He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, forcing himself to be comforted.
He knew that right now, opening the door was bad, and not opening it was also bad.
Opening the door meant admitting his identity and completely falling under the other's control.
Not opening the door... Heaven knows how much more dark history this Fun-seeker knew! If he really shouted it out, he could face social death tomorrow and then have the Nighthawks or Punishers come to check his water meter!
Weighing the pros and cons, Klein sadly discovered that he seemed to have... only one choice.
He took a deep breath, knowing he couldn't delay any longer.
If he let him keep shouting outside, the landlady would be coming up to check on things soon.
Besides, with such a smiling and joking manner, the other party shouldn't have any malice.
Should?
With a trembling hand, he slowly unlocked the door.
"Creak—"
The old wooden door groaned and slowly swung inward.
Nairn's figure appeared before Klein.
Sunlight streamed in from the hallway window, falling on him and making his impossibly handsome face even clearer.
Nairn leisurely sized up Klein in front of him.
Hmm, much like the description in the original work: black hair, brown eyes, very scholarly features. He looked like a recent college graduate, somewhat thin due to poverty, but his eyes held a world-weariness that didn't belong to his age, along with... utter confusion.
He looked at Klein's stiff expression and those black eyes filled with vigilance, unease, and a hint of despair, the smile on his face growing more brilliant.
"Hello, Mr. 'The Fool'."
Nairn took the initiative to reach out his hand and said in a very familiar tone, "First time meeting you. My name is Nairn."
"Ah. Hello."
Klein subconsciously shook hands with him.
The other's palm was warm and strong, without the slightest hint of hostility.
This made him breathe a slight sigh of relief, but the vigilance in his heart didn't diminish at all.
"How... how do you know me?" he asked the question he wanted to know most in a dry voice.
"How do I know you?" Nairn asked back as if he had heard a funny question. "Your home Wi-Fi didn't have a password, so I connected to it."
Klein: "..."
He was certain: this guy wasn't just a Fun-seeker, he was the ultimate king of bad memes.
Seeing Klein's aggrieved expression, wanting to get angry but not daring to, Nairn finally stopped teasing him.
He tucked away his smile, walked into the room, and closed the door behind him.
He looked around the narrow apartment.
A small living room connected to a dining area, furnished with a few old but clean pieces of furniture. The air was filled with a faint scent, a mix of cheap food and old books.
A typical slum apartment.
"Conditions are a bit tough." Nairn walked over to the only sofa and sat down, then looked up at Klein, who was still standing blankly at the door, and patted the spot next to him.
"Don't just stand there. Sit down; let's talk."
Klein's body moved; he walked stiffly to the sofa, sat down rigidly with his hands on his knees like a primary school student waiting for a teacher's lecture.
"I still want to ask... how did you find me?"
"Find you? Is it hard?" Nairn had a matter-of-fact expression. "When we were Above the Gray Fog, the connection between us was two-way. I could feel your 'coordinates,' so I just followed them here."
This was a lie—but Klein couldn't help but believe it.
Followed the "coordinates" here?
Klein's eyelids twitched as he listened. What kind of divine skill was this? Did this fellow countryman's Pathway include abilities like "tracking" or "positioning"? And at a trans-spatial level?
"Besides, did you forget? I am 'Lovers'."
"One of the symbolic meanings of the 'Lovers' card is 'connection'."
"As long as I want, I can find anyone I've established a 'connection' with at any time."
"We've been in the same 'chat group' for so long; this connection is quite deep."
Klein's eyes twitched.
Bullshit! Since when did the "Lovers" card have that function? You're purely cheating!
But he didn't dare say it.
"Don't be nervous; I have no malice." Nairn's tone became slightly more serious. "If I wanted to harm you, you would already be a cold corpse or a puddle of writhing flesh."
Although these words sounded terrifying, they allowed Klein's heart to settle completely.
Yes, with the strength the other party displayed, there was no need for him to play these fancy games.
Since he was willing to sit here and speak calmly with him, it meant he at least had no hostility for now.
"Who exactly are you? Are you also... a transmigrator?" Klein asked again.
"Yes and no." Nairn sat back in the chair and crossed his legs, his posture very casual.
"What do you mean?"
"It means I indeed come from the East, but my situation is a bit different from yours." Nairn looked at him and said slowly, "I am... an unlucky transmigrator who accidentally fell into this world."
An unlucky transmigrator?
Klein, who didn't know Nairn's actual start, looked at Nairn's relaxed and comfortable manner, then thought of his own tragic situation—nearly being shot and burdened with debt at the start—and his lips couldn't help but twitch.
You call this treatment—knowing all the formulas and being able to teleport all over the world—"unlucky"?
Then what am I? An African refugee starting on hell-mode difficulty?
How can the gap between people be so large!
Seemingly seeing Klein's inner frustration, Nairn waved his hand and said, "Alright, don't dwell on my issues. Let's talk about your issues first."
"My issues?" Klein was stunned.
"Yes, your issues." Nairn leaned forward slightly, his deep eyes staring straight at Klein, a gaze that seemed able to see through all his disguises.
"Mr. Zhou Mingrui, or should I call you Klein Moretti?"
Boom!
Klein felt like his skull was about to be blown off!
He even knows my Chinese name!
He really did see through me Above the Gray Fog! That so-called "The Fool" identity was nothing but a joke in front of him!
Klein's face turned red and white; he felt like a clown stripped naked and thrown into a square for display, with all his secrets and disguises appearing so ridiculous and pale before the other party.
"What... what do you want?" He asked this with a hint of despair.
He was now like a fish on a chopping block, completely having lost the ability to resist, only able to be slaughtered at will.
However, Nairn's next words stunned him once again.
"What do I want?" Nairn leaned back on the sofa, spread his hands, and said with an innocent face, "I don't want anything. I just came to drop by, acknowledge our shared roots, and by the way... discuss a deal with you."
"Discuss... a deal?" Klein was completely bewildered.
He asked in confusion, "I'm just an ordinary person, an unlucky guy who just arrived in this world a few days ago. There shouldn't be anything about me worth your attention, right?"
"No, no, no, you're wrong." Nairn wagged a finger. "You're not ordinary at all."
His gaze seemed to penetrate Klein's body, seeing that gray-white mysterious mist perched upon his soul.
"How can a transmigrator who can command that 'Gray Fog Space' be called ordinary?"
"You...!" Klein's pupils shrank suddenly.
Gray Fog Space!
He actually knew about the Gray Fog Space!
This, the greatest secret on him, something even he hadn't figured out yet, was actually called out by the other party in one breath!
At this moment, the last shred of wishful thinking in Klein's heart was completely shattered.
He slumped onto the edge of the bed, a bitter smile appearing on his face.
"Fine, I'll lay my cards on the table."
He said self-deprecatingly in a tone of giving up resistance:
"My name is Zhou Mingrui. I'm a transmigrator who arrived three days ago. I have a cheat on me that I don't even understand. Currently, I'm worrying about my three meals and distressed about how to go home."
"So, big shot, what exactly do you want with me? Just give it to me straight. If you want to possess my body, please be quick about it and don't torture me."
He adopted an "I've got nothing left to lose" attitude.
Nairn looked at his "broken jar" attitude and laughed again.
"Possess you? Why would I want to possess you?"
If there's to be a possession—it wouldn't be him doing it.
Even Nairn didn't know if, under his interference, that Lord of the Mysteries would even have a chance to come out and possess him.
He stood up, walked to Klein, and patted his shoulder.
"I said, I have no malice."
"I came to find you just to make a deal with you."
"A deal?" Klein looked up, his eyes full of doubt.
"Yes." Nairn nodded, the smile on his face becoming meaningful.
Even though the final apotheosis ritual had been deliberately forgotten by him, Nairn still followed his own plan.
"I'll help you gain a foothold in this world, help you digest potions, help you solve troubles, and even... help you find the way home."
"And the price you need to pay is also very simple."
"From today on, you, Klein, must become the best 'lead actor' under my command."