Read 13 Main Street :: Identity Crisis

"Bro, what are you thinking about?"

Mina, who had just helped Karen with his nose, saw her cousin staring out the window in a daze and asked curiously.

In the past, Karen had been somewhat reclusive due to the death of his parents. After finishing middle school, he stopped attending high school and stayed at home, rarely communicating with others. However, after this recent serious illness, although he seemed a bit "lost in thought," he had become much more cheerful than before, and she was willing to talk to him.

"Oh, I'm thinking about whether or not to continue my studies."

Karen gently rubbed his nose, which no longer hurt as much as before. He had cotton stuffed in his nose and figured it wouldn’t be long before it could be removed.

Earlier, he had actually been contemplating the events that had just occurred in the basement and the scenes from his dream. He wondered whether they were merely coincidences related to his "body" and "spirit," or if he had truly encountered a "supernatural event." After all, the basement had contained most of the triggering conditions for the latter.

But, ultimately, it had just been a dream. No matter how frightening the nightmare, the heart-pounding sensation would dissipate after waking up.

What occupied Karen's thoughts more was the path he should take in the future. He didn’t believe that as a "transmigrator," he could easily achieve success and wealth.

However, having been a self-made "striver" in his previous life, he felt confident that he could establish a respectable life in this "new world" through his abilities and qualities. After all, no matter what, the identity of "Karen" offered him no burdens, and that alone was enough.

"Bro, you used to hate school the most," Mina said with a laugh.

The previous Karen, who tended to be somewhat like an autistic person, naturally did not like the crowded environment of school.

"School is very important, especially when you're young," Karen said earnestly. "Most people, when they grow up and become adults, will regret why they didn’t put in a little more effort and endure a bit more hardship during their youth."

"Your tone sounds just like Mom's," Mina remarked.

"Heh." Karen shrugged. "Mina, can you get me a glass of water?"

"Sure, Bro."

His sister obediently went to get water.

Karen opened the window in the room, and fresh air rushed in. He took a deep breath but quickly closed the window as the wind was quite cold.

Turning around, Karen noticed the black cat Poe had appeared at the head of his bed, lying there and staring at him with its cat eyes, occasionally tilting its head as if assessing him.

"Poe, tsk tsk tsk..."

Karen tried to coax the black cat using the universal "cat and dog calling language."

Poe tilted its head slightly, not taking the bait.

Karen walked over, and the black cat didn’t seem afraid. After all, he was family. He reached out to stroke the cat's head.

"Meow..."

Poe turned its head, seemingly displeased with the affection.

"Why did Grandpa give you such a difficult name?" Karen muttered to himself. "Poe... Poe, heh, it would be much fresher if you were called Pu'er."

The black cat shifted slightly, obviously unimpressed with the similar-sounding "new name."

Mina returned with a glass of water and said, "Mom is on the phone looking for Dad."

"Really?"

In this era, with no "mobile phones," finding someone through a landline was quite inefficient. Moreover, if all went well, Uncle Mason should be out there somewhere "drifting" in his hearse.

After delivering the water, Mina familiarized herself with cleaning the window sill. Originally, the Immelais family had two maids: one for cleaning and housekeeping, and the other for cooking. However, after Uncle Mason's family and Aunt Winnie returned, the two maids were dismissed by Grandpa.

Daily chores were now handled by Mina along with her younger brother Runt and Aunt Winnie’s daughter, Chris. The meals were alternately prepared by Aunt Mary and Aunt Winnie.

Everyone in the house had "jobs," so Karen was actually the most idle one.

This also reflected how, in contrast to others, Grandpa Dith treated this grandson differently despite his usual strict demeanor.

At that moment, Grandpa walked upstairs.

Mina immediately stood up, and Karen, holding the cup of water, also stood up.

Often, whether there are rules in a family does not depend on so-called "family education" or "traditions," but rather on whether there is a person in the family who commands respect and fear.

Grandpa Dith's gaze swept over his grandchildren, lingering a bit longer on Karen, but he didn’t say anything. He pushed open his bedroom door and walked in.

The tense atmosphere in the air resumed its "flow" only after the door closed.

Karen sighed with relief and looked down at Mina, only to find that Mina was doing the same.

"Grandpa seems really busy every day," Karen remarked.

"Yes, there are many things happening at the church, and Grandpa often goes on business trips," Mina replied.

As they spoke, Grandpa's door swung open again, and he emerged dressed in a "priest" outfit, carrying a black box.

"I'm not coming back for lunch," Dith said.

"Oh, okay, Grandpa," Mina quickly responded.

Dith went downstairs.

Soon, through the window, Karen saw Grandpa walking into the courtyard below.

The outfit Grandpa wore clearly had religious connotations but also seemed different, giving him a very specialized feeling.

To outsiders, it seemed that Dith being a "priest" would help expand the family business. After all, his identity easily gained the trust of the church's congregation, thus enabling him to... bring in more clients for the family.

However, Karen didn’t think things were that simple. It wasn’t until Grandpa pushed open the courtyard gate and walked out that Karen finally recognized the source of that "meaning."

"Our grandpa has a bit of a resemblance to Uncle Nine."

"Bro, who is Uncle Nine?" Mina asked.

"A priest who specializes in catching vampires."

"Oh, I see. A character from a drama?"

"Yeah, right. Mina, do we need to clean this area too?"

"Yeah, we still have the stairs."

"I'll help you."

"But your body..."

"No problem."

Karen began helping Mina clean the floors. After they finished, he went to clean the stairs. While changing the water bucket, he headed to the courtyard where there was a large faucet to fill it quickly.

At that moment, Uncle Mason returned, driving his modified "shell" car. Ron and Paul pushed a stretcher down from the vehicle, on which lay an old man, covered by a white sheet, revealing white hair underneath.

Uncle Mason rushed into the courtyard, completely unaware of Karen, who was in the corner filling water. Instead, he went straight to Aunt Mary.

"Father is looking for you," Aunt Mary said.

"Where is Father?" Uncle Mason asked, his eyes somewhat vacant.

This seemed like a sign of guilt, as if he had done something wrong and feared reprimand from an elder. Karen, based on his previous life experiences, noticed these details.

"Father just left," Aunt Mary replied.

"This..." Uncle Mason seemed to exhale deeply and then said, "It's fine, it's fine. I'll go look for Father. He might be at the church."

"Okay, then you go."

Uncle Mason immediately dashed out, leaving the car behind.

Aunt Mary didn’t notice her husband's odd behavior because her attention was now on the old man who had just been sent from the nursing home.

Soon, a scream from Aunt Mary pierced the air.

"Oh my God, he’s still dirty!"

...

Paul and Ron, who hadn’t completed their assigned task, were ordered by Aunt Mary to take responsibility for cleaning the body. Faced with Aunt Mary’s anger, they didn’t dare to resist.

Paul first took the stretcher to the basement, while Ron approached Karen.

"Young Master Karen, I need to borrow a bucket and mop."

"I'll help you take it down."

"No need, no need." Ron twisted his neck; he was quite large and somewhat overweight. Although he wasn’t very old, he already had a noticeable beer belly. "We can handle it ourselves."

Karen smiled and asked, "Then why didn’t you have the caregiver clean the body properly?"

That should have been the caregiver’s job, to do a preliminary clean-up of the deceased’s body. Otherwise, it wouldn’t look good for family members to see their loved one’s body dirty.

"Apologies for that, Young Master." Ron scratched his head awkwardly. "I asked the caregiver responsible for Mr. Mosang to go watch a movie with me in a couple of days."

So that’s it...

Ron’s face turned slightly red as he continued, "She said she liked watching movies and eating popcorn, and when we watch the movie, she can feed me. So... so I didn’t want the hand that would feed me popcorn to have just wiped down the body."

"Do you think you're dreaming?"

Paul's voice came from behind, having just brought Mr. Mosang into the basement and now coming up to grab some plastic gloves and laundry detergent.

"Paul, I know you’re just jealous of me!"

"Jealous of you? Come on, Ron. Apart from Mrs. Hughes, the owner of the crematorium, who would ever like you?"

"You're talking nonsense!"

Ron angrily pointed at Paul.

"Mrs. Hughes?" Karen asked curiously.

It sounded like the owner of the funeral home was a wealthy woman, so why was Ron so agitated?

"Haha." Paul laughed first and then explained, "You might not know, young master Karen, that before a body is pushed into the furnace for cremation, they need to spray gasoline on it to help it burn. And skinny people often require more gasoline; otherwise, their bones won't burn completely. But for fat people, the oil in their bodies can help with the combustion.

So, Mrs. Hughes at the funeral home particularly likes people like Ron because he saves on gasoline."

"Oh, I see."

"D*mn it, Paul, how dare you frame me like this in front of young master Karen!"

"Come on, come on, let's get back to work; otherwise, Mrs. Mary will get angry again."

As Ron and Paul bantered, they picked up their things and headed to the basement.

In the hall, Aunt Mary lit a cigarette; her mood had improved a bit.

This was because Paul had told her good news: the old man named Mo Sang had children, and they would be coming later.

If it wasn't a welfare case, it meant there was profit to be made, even if it was from the lowest-tier package.

And Aunt Mary's "salary" depended on the family's "performance." After deducting expenses, the remaining profits were distributed as allowances to family members; the accounts were managed by Aunt Winnie.

This was also why everyone in the family was afraid of grandpa but no one spoke ill of him behind his back. He was very serious but not a stingy, greedy old man.

Karen returned to the second floor to help his cousin Mina dust the furniture.

Just as they were finishing up, he heard Ron and Paul coming up from the basement; they had already prepared the body, and now it was time for Aunt Mary to take over.

The family might be coming in the afternoon to arrange the mourning ceremony, so it was necessary to make the old man presentable first.

However, it seemed like there were guests at the house. Karen heard Aunt Mary calling from downstairs:

"Karen, come down and entertain Mr. Hoffen."

Karen put down the cloth and mentally scanned through his memory for "Mr. Hoffen":

He was an old man, a retired professor from the university's philosophy department, with a good pension, living comfortably. He was a friend of grandpa's and often came to drink tea and chat with him.

Additionally, he had a great interest in fortune-telling and had once gifted Karen a beautiful deck of playing cards—not tarot cards, but the kind you could use to play Blackjack.

Karen first went to the kitchen on the second floor to brew a cup of tea, then prepared some simple snacks and brought them to the living room on the first floor.

Mr. Hoffen was very tall but quite thin;

for thin people, their features often stand out more, and their emotional expressions can be more intuitive.

When Karen saw him, he found that Mr. Hoffen's gaze was directly locked onto him.

Even the golden retriever lying next to Mr. Hoffen seemed to sense its owner's emotional fluctuations, slowly getting up but looking a bit confused, unsure of what was wrong.

Until it saw Pu'er, who was crawling at the foot of the stairs, it seemed to instinctively find a point of interest and wanted to go over.

But Pu'er merely glanced over with her cat-like eyes, and the golden retriever immediately drooped back down.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Hoffen. My grandpa is out, but I think he will be back soon; my uncle has gone to find him."

Karen put down the tea and said something polite.

Unexpectedly, at that moment,

Mr. Hoffen suddenly reached out, grabbing Karen's wrist, and leaned in close, his breathing becoming incredibly hurried.

In an excited yet suppressed tone, he asked:

"You are not Karen... who... who are you really?"

In an instant, a sense of crisis surged through Karen's mind. The crisis stemmed from the fact that the other party had instantly torn apart his identity upon first meeting, leaving Karen, who had already mentally prepared himself for half a month, feeling somewhat flustered.

Karen instinctively took a couple of steps back, trying to create distance from Mr. Hoffen,

But unfortunately, as Mr. Hoffen lost his balance while gripping Karen's wrist, he stumbled forward, reaching for the table to steady himself but finding nothing to grab onto, leading to him tumbling forward and hitting his forehead against the edge of the table.

"Bang!"

A muffled sound rang out,

followed by,

Mr. Hoffen fell backward, his head hitting the tiles with a heavy thud, unimpeded;

"Smack!"

Karen looked in shock at the scene before him,

The elderly man who had just pointed out his "identity issue" was now breathing more out than in;

Moreover,

a pool of blood was starting to spill out on the tiled floor beneath his head.

At this moment, Mina, still busy upstairs, seemed to have heard the noise and called from the staircase:

"Brother, what happened downstairs?"

Karen licked his lips,