Leon stared at his friend, and also got the feeling as if he was looking at a total stranger.
'Why am I feeling this way? It's clearly the same person, but it feels like there's a slight difference. Maybe I'm thinking too much from the scare I got when I thought he died.' He tried to come up with a reason for the strange way he was feeling.
"Dean, are you alright?" Leon asked while getting back on his feet.
Dean stared at the youth he was seeing for the first time, stunned.
'How does he know my name? It can't really be that I transmigrated, right? But, that's impossible!'
'Well, I should confirm where I am before jumping to conclusions,'
Calming himself, he asked Leon, "Uhmm… where are we?"
Dean asked while staring at Leon.
'My voice is also different, it seems like I truly did transmigrate. Then could it be that what I saw wasn't a dream, but was real?' He thought about the person he saw who looked almost exactly like him.
Leon stared at Dean with a weird gaze.
"You don't know? Stand up and let's leave this place already," He urged, seeing Dean was still lying on the floor.
Hearing this, Dean got into a sitting position and carefully observed the youth before him.
"What's your name?" He asked calmly.
"Huh? My name? Dean, I suggest you stop whatever game you're playing cause I don't find it funny. We just got out of a serious predicament, and you somehow woke up from the dead. This isn't the time for this," Leon reprimanded harshly.
These past ten minutes or so haven't been good for him. He just went through the pain of losing his friend, then through the joy of getting his friend back. Now, his friend started acting strangely after waking up.
"I really don't know your name, also, I don't know where I am," Dean said feeling wronged.
'I thought after transmigrating, my head would be flooded with memories of the previous owner. Bullshit! Those books were lying, and I believed them!'
He complained when he remembered all the books he had read about transmigration that always said after the MC dies and occupies the new body, their brains will be flooded with a series of information that would give them a general overview of the world they were in.
'I don't even know if this is a cultivation world, I think it is. I remember Dean saying he didn't train and spent most of his time goofing around,' Dean went deep into thoughts.
Leon kept staring at his friend.
'What is happening? Why is he acting this way?'
A series of questions bombarded his confused mind.
'Maybe he lost his memory during the attack. I'll just tell him some things and see if it jogs his memory,'
Thinking up to this point, he felt his hypothesis was right.
"I'm Leon O'Brien, normally, you should know me since we grew up together..."
Leon went on to tell him about the recent event which happened and also how he supposedly thought he was dead.
Hearing all the weird new names, Dean couldn't help but scratch his nose.
"So this isn't earth huh?" He mumbled in a low voice.
Although transmigrating here helped him avoid death, he still felt sad. He couldn't see his mother again, his father, his sister, his friends, and lastly, his girlfriend.
Leon, who was still telling his friend about what happened, froze.
"Earth? What's that?" He asked with a puzzled expression.
This was the first time he was hearing about this place called earth, and he couldn't help but feel curious about it.
Hearing this question, Dean stared at Leon.
'So this is the friend he said I shouldn't disappoint? He's not bad given how he is taking his time to tell me what happened thinking maybe I lost my memory.'
'I currently have two choices, either I tell him the truth, or I lie. Getting to know this world won't be easy on my own, I'll need a native to tell me everything about it. And this guy here fits the bill.'
'But, how will he feel when he finds out his friend is dead? I should tell him now, rather than for him to experience heartbreak when I won't be as close to him as 'I' previously was.'
He contemplated the issue for a while before opening his mouth.
"My name is Dean Gallaway, and I'm from earth. I don't really know what happened, and how I got inside this body, but I know I died back on earth. And from the looks of it, my soul transmigrated into your world, and the body of your just deceased friend," Dean calmly told Leon about himself.
He didn't feel his decision to tell Leon this was wrong. He was in a new world, with no knowledge whatsoever, in a place where there are beasts who are so strong they could easily destroy a city. Not just beasts, there are also people too!
'This is not a novel, it's reality. I don't have an author who will provide me with unlimited plot armor. It's best if I play it safe. I've died once, I don't want to die again because I offended people I shouldn't.' Dean thought after telling Leon his piece.
He didn't know how Leon would react to all this, but he knew he had to tell him the truth. Besides, the previous Dean said he could tell him. One thing he was certain of was that Leon would not harm him or even tell anyone about this. If he was really close to the previous owner of the body, then he wouldn't want anything bad to happen to him.
"What nonsense are you spouting? You're clearly alive and well, or maybe I died as well." Leon chided his friend.
'How could he come up with such words, and he even changed his family name also. The hit might've made him worse compared to his previous self.' He thought while still staring at Dean.
Dean gave a wry smile, he knew it wouldn't be easy to explain this to Leon. But he had to anyway since this had to do with his survival.
"What I'm saying is not nonsense, but the truth. I'm a first-year college student. I have a little sister called Malia who is six years old. I have a car, a girlfriend, two loving parents, and four great friends. My grandparents are already..."
Dean looked Leon straight in the eyes as he told him every single thing about him, down to the last details. He even spoke about some of the novels he read.
Leon's gaze was fixed on Dean the entire time. He couldn't comprehend what Dean was saying, he knew every family member Dean had and knew his grandparents were still very much alive, in fact, they shouldn't have a problem living another sixty to one hundred years as long as they were not killed.
'Where did this little sister come from? Could it be that he's telling the truth? But that's impossible.' Leon shook his head lightly, finding it difficult to believe what he just heard.
"Don't you notice the unfamiliarity from the way I look at you?" Dean suddenly asked.
Given how close Leon and his predecessor were, this should be easily noticed by him. He also remembered his predecessor told him that Leon might be able to figure out he was different.
"Yes, but that doesn't change the fact that what you're saying is crap. How do you expect me to believe that my friend is dead? And you somehow died in a place called earth but you mysteriously transmigrated to this place, and even occupied my friend's body?" Leon raised his voice when asking the last question.
"I know it's hard to believe, but this is the truth." Dean said calmly.
"I don't expect you to accept this easily, but I had to tell you the truth. Because I feel you will hurt more when you start noticing some changes and also maybe if I drift from you."
"Also, I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this because the soul of your friend told me not to disappoint you in particular, before the soul extinguished." Dean said seriously.
'Okay, maybe that last part was a lie. But, it's not like his dead friend will tell him.' He thought inside.
Leon just stood still, dumbfounded by what he was hearing.
'I don't believe this!'
He repeated this sentence multiple times to himself.
When Dean asked if he didn't notice the unfamiliarity in his eyes, he couldn't say no because he noticed it.
From everything he's hearing, it all pointed toward one direction, Dean was speaking the truth, but he didn't want to believe this. How could he believe something this absurd?
'My friend is dead?'