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Seth felt a sudden chill in his arm, and his hand was involuntarily pinned to the wall. He realized a chef's boning knife had slashed his arm and nailed his sleeve to the cabin's wooden fence.
As he struggled to pull the knife out with his free hand, a sharp voice pierced his ears. A thin man wearing a chef's hat charged forward from behind the fallen valet.
The chef, silently standing behind Jack, finally launched his attack. Under the lantern light, Seth saw the chef's bloodshot eyes, distorted facial features, and sharp white teeth—like a beast ready to devour him.
The chef reached him in an instant.
His mind went blank, but his body reacted on its own. He yanked the boning knife from the wall and struck the chef's face with the handle. The chef's head snapped back, his face bloodied, but he didn't retreat. Instead, he lunged forward, grabbing his shoulders and cheeks and exposing Seth's neck to his gaping mouth.
Just as the chef was about to bite, he suddenly froze. A boning knife had been driven up from his chin, piercing his mouth and reaching his head. The madness in the chef's eyes quickly faded, and he collapsed onto Seth, the two falling together.
Sitting on the floor, Seth took a deep breath, his thoughts finally catching up with his actions. He quickly pushed the chef's body away, looking at his blood-stained formal suit in shock.
"What's happening to me?" he muttered. He knew the original owner had received marksmanship and combat training as a nobleman. But the precision in shooting the valet and killing the chef felt too instinctual, too practiced.
As he sat there, trying to make sense of it, he heard a faint splash and a familiar voice calling for help. A young man with blond hair and an aquiline nose flashed through his mind—Joyce. He was in trouble.
Seth quickly stowed the revolver and ran out of the cabin. The battle outside had moved away, leaving no one around. In the firelight, he saw someone struggling in the water.
Shedding his coat and kicking off his shoes, Seth jumped into the icy water and swam toward the drowning man. As he got closer, he recognized Joyce's wet blond hair and face.
"Please help me; I have a leg cramp. Mr. Seth, it's you!" Joyce cried.
"Stay calm, I'm coming," Seth said soothingly. He swam behind Joyce, grabbed him under the armpits, and dragged him back to the ship using a reverse breaststroke. They reached a boarding ladder and climbed up.
Seth pulled the blond youth back on deck, collapsing from exhaustion. Joyce panted and looked at Seth gratefully.
"Thank you, Mr. Seth. I thought I would die."
Seth, too tired to respond, waved his hand dismissively. Just then, cheers erupted from the upper deck. Someone shouted, "Eunice is dead! The captain killed him, and we've won!"
Hearing this, Joyce raised his head excitedly. "We won? My God, the disaster is finally over!"
Wearing wet clothes was uncomfortable, but Seth didn't mind. He stood before the door of the second-class cabin where he had discovered something abnormal earlier. Claiming there might be more lunatics hiding inside, he quickly convinced the captain to investigate the room.
Shortly after the captain and his men entered, Seth heard gasps from inside. Whatever they found was terrible, but there were no sounds of fighting. Moments later, the captain emerged, his face grim in the lantern light. Two sailors carried out a stretcher with a body covered in a white cloth.
The captain tipped his hat to Seth. "That corpse is in bad shape. It's missing some flesh."
Seth tried not to think about where the missing flesh had gone. The captain seemed unwilling to discuss it further. "Everyone's tired tonight. The lunatics have been dealt with. Find a clean room and rest. Tomorrow, we'll decide our next steps."
The crowd dispersed, leaving Seth to contemplate the night's events
According to the memories, Seth found his first-class cabin, which once catered to a life of luxury with three servants, a dedicated chef, a dining room with a view, a special room for smoking cigars, and a place for parties and card games. Now, it was just a large room.
Seth removed his drenched clothes, showered, and collapsed onto the bed. In no time, he had fallen asleep. When he opened his eyes again, the sky outside the window was bright. It was already the following day.
He opened the closet to find his shirt, vest, formal suit, trousers, a half-height silk top hat, and a gold-encrusted iron heartwood walking stick. After dressing, he picked up the heavy cane and walked to the living room, where he sat on a sofa.
"Let's think about it," he mused.
"What did I do that made me cross over inexplicably?"
Seth crossed his legs, put a hand on the armrest, and began tapping it rhythmically with his fingers. His memory bubbled up like boiling water, one detail after another.
"Well, during this period, I developed a strong interest in secret magic because I read the Lord of the Mysteries. I collected much information on this subject and bought a copy of [The Tree of Life Kabbalah] online."
He paused, recalling the pivotal moment. "I received an email containing an ancient ceremony. Out of curiosity, I conducted the ceremony, and then…"
Seth stood up abruptly. "If I crossed over because of that ceremony, what would happen if I conducted it here?"
"The worst case is that I can't return and might stay in this mysterious world forever. How bad can that be?"
He put down his cane, found a dagger left by the bodyguard, and gathered a few candles. Recalling the ceremony, he lifted the carpet and scratched the wooden floor with the dagger.
He took off his coat, lying on the floor in his shirt for convenience, and carved an untidy hexagram. Next, he engraved two concentric circles outside the hexagram and added 12 symbols representing natural elements like earth, water, fire, and wind between the circles, arranged according to the 12-hour clock.
Finally, He lit three candles and placed them on three hexagram points.
Standing at the center of the hexagram, he took deep breaths to adjust his mood until he felt completely calm. Then, he began the ceremony.
He solemnly raised his left hand, palm up, and said softly, "The Eye that sees everything."
Then he raised his right hand, palm up, and said, "The Gods who overlook everything."
Exhaling deeply, he put his hands together and chanted, "You are the controller of knowledge; you mock fate and play with time."
Finally, he spread his hands as if to embrace the morning light, saying, "You are the true witness, the uncrowned kings above the starry sky!"
The ceremony was complete.
Seth looked around. Nothing happened. "Did it fail? Or is there no response?" he wondered, feeling frustrated.
Just as he was about to leave, he noticed the window curtain lifted by the morning breeze, which had not fallen. He saw the dust in the morning light, seemingly frozen in mid-air. The colors around him intensified, reds becoming redder, blues bluer, and yellows yellower, transforming the scene into a vivid oil painting.
Suddenly, a thick tome materialized in his hand, outlined by an imaginary light. On the cover, an eye stared from within a solid triangle, with a line of information below: [Knowledge Authority-9].
A pair of ethereal hands covered in strange symbols slowly receded into the void. Glancing at one of the tiny patterns on the hands, Seth felt an inexplicable fear and panic.
He quickly turned his attention to the book, subconsciously forgetting what he had just seen. The book, summoned by the ritual, appeared as a solid object. Seth realized it was the same 'book' he had seen the night before when he first woke up.
This time, the eye on the cover had seven fuzzy symbols around it, one of which was becoming apparent. The mist over the symbol dissipated in the morning light, revealing an open book surrounded by many ethereal eyes, all observing and reading it.
Anticipation and uneasiness filled him as he touched the cover. The book felt solid under his fingers. He gritted his teeth and opened the cover to find a white quill on the slightly yellowed paper.
He picked up the quill, feeling its light, fluffy texture. Then, his pupils dilated slightly as he saw that the information on the first line of the paper had changed. New content filled the page that he hadn't seen the night before.
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[Record: Your adventure biography has received more than one favorite, you have met the conditions, and the restriction on using the 'message board' has been lifted.]
Seth stared at the page, dumbfounded. This was just the beginning of his extraordinary journey.