Another world.
A world of fantasy and unbelievability that is only possible to be seen in a metaverse.
Kai never believed in it, outside of fiction that is.
Maybe that is the reason he never successfully published a book, even though he spent precious time writing the goddamn fiction.
Yet the situation now makes him question it.
"Don't slack, or else there won't be any food left" Kai got a good kick to his chin as he lagged behind a little from others.
The one who kicked held a whip that may whip him if he stood any further.
And so he moved his almost lifeless legs towards the goal. A defensive camp with a center is a wooden fortress.
Kai at last stumbled inside the gates of the fortress as the gates began to close slowly.
"WAIT!" someone shouted behind him.
Turning back, he saw a girl looking at him, her face looked like she would fall and never wake up in a few moments.
Yet her legs stood still all the same. Behind her, two more people were moving over with slow but desperate steps.
The one who held the whip earlier walked leisurely, easily overtaking the two people.
Seeing this the two men only grew more desperate and tried to produce a last-second boost but ended up tumbling over each other.
The girl saw this and said to him with pleading eyes.
"Please carry me inside, I…I will spend the night with you" Kai would never think a girl would offer him something like that. Especially a pretty one.
And again, never would he have thought of rejecting her as well.
But he doesn't have the energy to do that.
But he is not the only one the girl addressed.
Beside him are others who finished earlier and regathered some energy to chat.
"Look at the bunker, I wager it would be good to have it for dinner," one of the men said lewdly.
In return, others scoffed.
"And what, the mouth will increase by one. Fewer mouths to feed, more food to have. And more energy to survive" another man said like it is a golden rule of survival in this world.
The others nodded as the girl finally fell down to her knees in hopelessness and despair.
The camp, in this chaotic world, is the only place for the likes of them, Orphans.
Kai himself wasn't an orphan, but the body he was in is.
And strange enough both of their names were Kai and their physical details were the same, except for a large scar on his face that made it hard for anyone who know him to identify him.
If not for the second set of memories and the chaotic world he is currently in, he would have thought all of this is a nightmare.
Then the man with the whip stopped beside the girl who was half his age and appraised.
Seeing the gaze, the girl trembled.
"I will let you in, You can spend the night with me" the man finally said and the girl trembled.
"Fuck, he took her in. We will have less food today" one of them cursed.
"Oh, I applaud her bravery, no one who entered his tent has returned without bloody scars all over '' another said loudly, making the girl tremble in fear more.
"Again, there is no choice, the alternative is to spend the night outside the camp" another snickered at the situation the girl is in.
Kai himself felt fear at that, a night alone outside the camp.
Horrors.
Beasts and zombies alike roam the outside.
And no one had seen a person alive once they stayed outside the camp.
Oh, they did see the gored remains of them, but not their living self.
Recalling the image of one such remains a few days prior, Kai would have vomited if not for his stomach being empty.
And his stomach growled instead a smell of food wafted over.
"Ah, the food is here" someone shouted running over to the table where a big urn of porridge is kept.
It's mealtime.
The gate closed finally as the girl and the man with the whip stepped in.
The two who fell over outside looked helpless as the fortress closed on their faces.
The man let go of the whip and examined the goods, reaching inside her dress with his filthy hands.
The girl gritted her teeth and held it in.
"It's not big but not small either hehe" the man let out lewd comments as Kai gave a final look and proceeded to the table with the porridge.
He had to get some food and energy or else he would be left behind tomorrow.
The two outside are not the only ones who were left behind, a few more people have lagged behind even before reaching the outskirts of the camp.
The routine of his new life is simple to list.
Early in the morning, they had to get and assemble before dawn.
If missing they will be found and thrown into the river and be eaten by fish.
Then they will proceed outside the camp and jog into the deep forest.
On the way, they are at their own peril, they can eat the fruits and other items in the forest.
But if they poisoned the couch, the one with the whip, will only look on.
Next, when they had reached deep enough, the couch would disappear somewhere and the beast which hid because of the Couch would appear one by one.
For two hours they have to survive it somehow and the hour is up, the couch will come back chasing the beast instantly.
Then it will be time for the fighting.
People will have to fight each other and the winner will get their first meal of the day.
As for the defeated, sorry the weak don't have a say.
The next thing will be for them to walk back to the camp in a roundabout manner, just in time for the camp base to shut its door in the evening.
The couch nor anyone else cares about those who are injured mortally or unable to drag their body back.
They are left behind as food for the beasts.
After standing in the queue Kai was able to get one full bowl of yellow porridge.
He drank it in a couple of gulps even though he felt disgusted by the color.
When finished he started licking the bowl clean, just like the others.
Even after the bowl was crystal clear, he felt the hunger inside him not subsiding.
Then every one of them proceeds to the tent made of tattered clothes. Kai entered one and sat down.
It had been nearly a month since he had transmigrated and had gotten used to life here.
Life of a sheep who followed the evil shepherd.
As for the thought of escaping, sorry, he is a weak ant in this world.
But one thing he knows is this world is definitely not normal if the beasts and zombies he saw didn't raise the alarm seeing people break stones.
He knows next to nothing of this world both from memories of the body and the last month's experience.
The camp doesn't have a library of common sense for him to browse.
Then back to the subject of transmigration, he did earn a cheat.
The only problem is he doesn't know what it is.
He closed his eyes and sensed the cube-like structure inside his head.
It is entirely pitch black, and his awareness got sucked inside without resistance.
Inside the cube is a vast white room with a pillar-like round tower in the center with a mouth-like opening...
Walking inside, there is a stair leading both above and below.
As far as he gathered, he would enter the center of the cube each time, and there is a way for both up and down.
The stairs will lead to an equally empty room on both the top and bottom. Both rooms have four rooms in four directions. And each of the four rooms holds two doors for the adjacent corner rooms.
He had entered pretty much all the rooms, and all the rooms are the same except the eight corner rooms. Four on the top and four on the bottom.
The corner room is special because they have door frames in the center of the room which are locked.
Kai guessed his cheat is related to the locked doors, he had tried many sorts of ways before to unlock one but ended up futile.
This day was no different.
After spending some time over it, he exited the space easily.
Then he started to try to find some kind of foreign presence in the air.
The orphans in the camp will be taught a manual early on.
But not everything will be taught, only the first chapter.
The magic sensing.
Magic is a requirement as far as he knows, in this world to live a life.
But like all other days, it ended up futile.
This is the case for all of the orphans in the camp.
While they were 'taught', it is nothing more than dumping incoherent words inside one's head, for orphans who didn't go through systematic learning.
Kai is a bit better in this case and able to understand most of the words.
Even then he didn't waste energy and time on it. He had to save them to survive tomorrow and went to sleep.