Chapter 4: Identity disorder

Following Karl, Aryan entered the large dome-like structure.

Before him was a vast white hall, filled with all sorts of holographic screens, boards, and different counters. While adventurers of all ranks and levels could be seen here.

Aryan didn't have a clue what he was doing or where he was going, but he kept following Karl because it was the most fun thing to do.

Other than people working everywhere, one more thing Aryan noticed was the gazes of admiration and celebrity-like attention people were paying to Karl. Despite Karl's friendly attitude, none of them dared to get close to him, either out of respect or fear; he didn't know.

'He did call himself the strongest man in the city; I guess that makes him sort of celebratory in this world.' Aryan thought as he followed Karl towards a specific countersection.

Despite reading numerous novels and comics about reincarnating into a magical world, watching things in real life was way more confusing than a fantasy. Earlier, he thought it would be some magical world with an 18th-century setting and all, but the more he explored, the more he found out that this world was far more advanced than his Earth.

Which made sense.

It's quite natural for a world with both magic and science to be more developed and advanced than a world based only on science. It's just that his pre-notion about fantasy novels made it hard for him to accept things.

"Tap! Tap!" Karl tapped his hand on the glass window to attract the receptionist's attention. It was an elf with blonde hair in a formal costume. Karl looked her in the eyes and, with a smile on his face, said, "Hey there, Sweetie! Tell me how much you missed me these days while I was away."

"It's you again. The toughest part of my job." The receptionist responded in an annoyed tone, slapping her forehead. She took a deep breath before pulling a makeshift smile from her face. "Just tell me what you want and get it over with."

"Hehehee," Karl grinned as he lightly slapped Aryan on the back, pulling him towards the counter. "You see, my brother here wants to register as an adventurer, so I want you to take the test."

The receptionist frowned, looking at Aryan, then Karl, and then she looked at the clock and said, "I am sorry to say this, but sir, you are 3 hours late for the registration test. So you will have to wait for the next"

"You seem to be a little mistaken, miss. I didn't ask you whether you were taking a test or not." Karl interrupted, cutting her sentence in half. The smile on his face faded, slowly replaced by a cold gaze. "As a member of Royal Knight, city 7. I hereby order you to take the registration test."

Silence fell in the hall.

Beads of sweat formed on the recipient's face.

An intense aura was felt coming from Karl. It was so intense that for Aryan, it hurt to breathe. 'So this is what you call mana pressure.' Aryan thought, trying to hold onto his consciousness.

"Please follow me to the test room, sir." The receptionist responded nervously. Holding a few papers in her hand, she walked towards a metallic room.

Karl chuckled as a smile appeared on his face again, and the intense aura faded away. Aryan took a moment to breathe before he too followed Kael and the receptionist into the room without asking a single question.

'It's better to keep a secret that I am not his brother.' Aryan thought, looking at Karl's back. He entered a testing room filled with all sorts of equipment.

The tests continued one by one.

The first test was to run on a virtual reality treadmill while facing a few obstacles along the way. But in this world, VR wasn't some headband he needed to wear; instead, the whole room turned into an illusion of a vast field.

The second test was to lift weights, and the third was to check the impulsive strength of a punching bag.

Despite being nerdy about his behavior, Aryan's physique was no joke. From his perspective, he was at least performing better than most humans would in the modern world. But despite this, in this world, he was an average newbie.

The last test was somewhat related to genetics and skills. So, all Aryan needed to do was drop a little blood on a tablet, and now both he and Karl were waiting inside a fancy guest room for the results.

"Hey, big brother Karl?" Aryan asked hesitantly; it was the first time he started a conversation with Karl, and he didn't know how the other would react. "What do you think about my performance in the test, to be honest?"

Karl looked at him, patting his back. He said with a genuine smile on his face, "Honestly? It was pathetic. And embarrassing as well. But I was kind of expecting that from you."

"Expecting from me ?" Aryan asked, surprised.

"It took you way too long to recover from the accident, plus you never had access to resources like those kids." Karl said, with a little tinge of disappointment in his tone, Most of the money you make and I send you is spent to pay for basic survival necessities, so you are still on level 1."

"Honestly, it makes me happy to see you walk outside." Karl said with a genuine smile on his face, "When I rescued you from the demon village, you were barely eating or talking to anyone."

"What makes me truly happy is the fact that you didn't give up." Karl said, his attention attracted by the receptionist, who had entered the room with the result, "Strength is not just physical; it's an inner wall. And from what I see, Aryan, you are strong."

Aryan had his eyes filled with tears, almost on the verge of crying. 'such a deep motivational talk, and then there includes me. Still wondering if it's a dream or not,' he thought.

At this point, all he wanted was for the earth to split open and take him in.

Aryan then closely looked at Karl, especially the black skin color and red hair, which were more muscular and even taller than him. In comparison, Aryan was fair-skinned with black hair, the same appearance as in his previous world.

'If I place the words correctly, Karl calls me brother, because he rescued me... or me in this world from some demon village. In essence, we are not blood-related, and I am technically an orphan.' Aryan thought of a theory, trying to make sense of things.

'Let's consider the theory of the multiverse. There used to be an Aryan in this world who was rescued by Karl from the demon village. Still, the Aryan from this world was suffering from depression and trauma... until I am in this body.'

'If I believe in Isekai novels, there are two possible things that happened here. Either the Aryan in this world somehow died, or my soul crossed the world and entered his body. Or, due to some unknown event, both of our souls swapped and crossed worlds.

Aryan sat with arms crossed, blanked out, his eyes intensely looking at the flower vase before him. As if he were trying to break the vase with his gaze alone.

"Aryan!" A voice sounded, followed by a pat on his head. He instantly broke out of his daze, concentrating back on Karl, who had a few papers in his hand.

"Sorry, I was just thinking something." He said this, embarrassedly scratching the back of his head.

"It doesn't matter; the report is out, and there is good news."

"What is it?"

"You failed the exams," Karl said, with a grin on his face, touching ear to ear.

[ If you are reading this message, it means the next chapter is in the edit, it's coming soon. Within 24 hours, so just wait patiently or you are gay. ]