What's going on...?
Who am I...?
Zhou Mingriu was in a sea of dreams filled with chaos. His mind hurt so much that it felt like he was being exposed to dozens of illusory murmurs that echoed from the depths of his body to his soul.
It feels like my head is going to explode...
Am I going to die...?
My arms are burning so badly...
His head throbbed with broken memories that were beginning to rapidly restore themselves, completely destroying anything that passed between his disordered and messy thoughts.
He was also Klein Moretti from the kingdom of Loen. A young man fascinated by the history of the Fourth Epoch who lived a simple life in Awwa County, Tingen.
He was a follower of the Midnight Goddess who prayed every day to no longer have strange visions in all his dreams.
He wanted so much to pass the history university so he could get a good job and then he could finally live well with his brothers…
No, I'm Zhou Mingriu…
I'm…
I…
Who am I…? — Zhou Mingrui was immediately stunned, unable to help but fall into this dilemma.
He weakly tried to open his eyes, only to see the illusory and surreal sea of stars, they seemed to be moving towards everything in reality.
Zhou Mingrui stared blankly at the stars, his face expressionless. He tried to move even though he couldn't.
When he finally moved a finger, he had realized something about these illusory stars; they weren't moving normally.
Suddenly, an unimaginable horror gripped his heart. Those stars seemed to want to merge with everything!
He raised his head numbly as the pain penetrated his brain, as if he had been thrown into a crusher.
In front of him, there was an open window, revealing a majestic crimson moonlight that bathed him entirely.
There was a serene glow coming from the heavens, from the moon.
Midnight Goddess...
What...
His vision blurred slightly before it began to spin.
This…
Loen… Am I in Loen…?
No… I was home…
Around him, a strange black curtain covered him like a cloak, silently overlapping reality.
There was a strange feeling trying to cling to the insides of his spirit, as if it was trying to spread itself within him with so much mystery that it began to be torn into countless pieces.
This nostalgic feeling sank, fixing itself with itself as a part of him.
When he blinked in a daze, he noticed a strange red liquid oozing from grotesque, intertwined cracks that were open misalignedly on the inside of his arm, writhing slightly with some translucent worms protruding from them the size of a finger.
Worms...?
Worms!
He was so horrified that he tried to retreat, only to find that he had no strength at all to get up from the chair he was sitting in, so he just fell back down, almost hitting his head on the table.
His gaze fixed on the desk he was leaning on.
There were a few neatly arranged stacks of storybooks with a trace of blood staining the cover.
Beside them was a blood-stained copper weapon that was "twitching" in reality.
And on the ground was a rusty silver dagger with bubbling blood that distorted, mysteriously disappearing.
A knife...
I... Klein committed suicide...
A gun full of blood...
Worms...
His thoughts seemed to have been so jumbled that he couldn't even focus entirely on the blood.
The horror he was feeling finally woke him up completely as understanding spread like a shock.
This wasn't his home! It wasn't Earth!
He was in another world!
Did I transmigrate...? — Zhou Mingriu jumped off the chair with all his remaining strength as horror deepened throughout his mind. In the process, he accidentally laid his gaze on the black-covered book that was open.
In its yellow pages that had been blown by the wind, there was a deep black sentence splattered in blood that said in Ancient Jottun:
"Everyone will die, including me."
The wind suddenly blew over the pages, passing by a specific sentence written in a confusing manner:
"The stars will fall."
What is this...? — in the midst of his panic, he accidentally bumped into the bloodstained notebook.
A vision stretched out before him in an unearthly manner, filling his senses completely.
It was the top of an imposing mountain so tall that it even tore through the clouds.
There was a majestic palace that certainly did not belong to any human, it had certainly been magnificent in some distant time, but now it was just ruins that should not be remembered.
On its walls weeds grew from the cracks and huge holes full of moss that were obvious.
In the center was a throne made of dull and worn gold, the very beautiful stones and jewels with ancient and incomprehensible markings and symbols were relics that adorned the throne long since destroyed and filled with strange beings.
Translucent worms were densely packed on the throne, slowly writhing when suddenly a hand appeared from within them!
— Night! — something roared with words along with a deprecating laugh, the gothic palace shook along with the towering mountain, causing an unprecedented earthquake in the region of colossal mountain ranges.
— Hahaha.
Zhou Mingriu's thoughts exploded after hearing that laugh piercing his mind like lightning.
His head was flooded with hazy images stacked on top of each other with a sharp pain, it was as if a hundred needles were poking his thoughts every second without stopping for a single instant.
Incomprehensible laughter and murmurs seemed to be ringing in his ears. Some were just madness, others contained empty and meaningless joy, and there was even a trace of deception and mockery in those ravings.
The pain became deep throughout his mind, it felt like it was being torn into many pieces as he saw a thick, gray mist envelop him completely.
He seemed to be going through a storm of endless madness as he felt himself rising to a place above a strange world.
Zhou Mingriu passed by seven brilliant lights containing infinite knowledge that illuminated the strange sky of a timeless place that could not be comprehended.
Finally, he reached a sea of gray mist that looked very much like a castle with a colossal dome. It was endless and covered everything, spacious even for extraordinary beings like dragons and giants.
There were countless majestic crimson stars scattered around.
Zhou Mingriu could only blink in confusion and began to feel the sensation of falling again.
Amidst his broken thoughts, he looked at the mirror that was half cracked in the corner of the small room.
Reflected in it was a twenty-year-old youth with short black hair and some blood staining his arms.
His eyes were yellow in a shade neither light nor dark, but they suddenly turned as black as the shadows of darkness.
Illuminated by the crimson moonlight, there was a horribly gaping hole that was twisting and writhing as worms crawled through his grotesque cerebral flesh before fusing with his skin.
Zhou Mingriu's eyes widened, dazed and utterly confused as he tried to recoil from the sight he was seeing.
This made no sense at all!
He fell from his chair in horror and disbelief that he was still alive.
No one could resist a bullet that had grotesquely pierced their head.
T-This is Klein. — He concluded in a daze after recalling some information that painfully appeared in his mind.
How did this... How did this happen? — Zhou Mingriu let out a deep sigh as he reached out to support himself on the desk, avoiding the book that was in the center.
When he finally stood up, his gaze fell on the notebook again.
There was a symbol that exuded a mysterious air of distortion that he had not seen before on the last yellowed page.
It was a pupil-less eye with partially distorted lines.
Below it was a sentence in majestic and meaningless black script written in a language of bygone ages, Ancient Jottun:
"When the past reflects on history...."
...
On June 28, 1349, in Awwa County, Tingen, the full red moon hung above the night sky, exuding an air of serenity.
The night sky was covered by a gray mist that seemed to vaguely emerge from the void, covering an unimaginable area.
However, the mist only lasted for a moment and then immediately disappeared, as if it had been covered by darkness.
There were stars in the night sky, and the red moonlight filled the earth with its calm glow.
Suddenly, a man with long, dark brown hair, his golden eyes like pure gold from the vicissitudes of life, was looking at the sky when his eyes became cloudy
. He was sitting on a wooden bench inside the house, silently reviewing some ancient history books from the Fourth Epoch.
— What was that? — Azik stopped drinking his coffee and narrowed his eyes cautiously.
At that moment, he couldn't help but wonder what was happening before his eyes.
— Grey mist… It reminds me of something… What was it? — he muttered to himself before dropping his coffee on the table.
...
In Backlund, in the Northern Borough.
A child with pure white hair was leaning against the open wooden window, with a large view of the various houses and a Church that had the sacred symbol of the Goddess of Midnight.
He was looking at the crimson moon while playing with tarot cards in his hands, suddenly, he took out a card from the deck.
There was the image of someone dressed in strange clothes and wearing a hat, there was also a dog next to him with a line written below:
"The Fool."
— What? — the boy frowned, his wide crimson eyes landing on the outside where everything was covered by a thick and endless fog that covered everything.
When the child looked at the card again, the corners of the Fool's mouth were slightly curved!
He frowned before taking out another card from the deck, one that had the symbol of a spinning wheel.
— The Wheel of Fortune
...
East Burgo, Silver Cross Headquarters
A man with long, blood-red hair was leaning lightly against the window, as he read a book that looked like it had come out of a museum, it was so old.
His bloodshot eyes that seemed to reflect the crimson moonlight had a serious tone as he moved on to the next part of the report.
There were many things changing in the laws these days, so there wasn't much free time to continue thinking about other things.
Medici turned his head to look outside unconsciously, however, all he saw was a thick, majestic gray fog that seemed to have come out of mythical tales.
— Gray fog? — He unconsciously straightened up, quickly turning to the outside as he dropped the reports on his desk.
When he blinked, that majestic sight had disappeared as if it had never existed.
He immediately raised an eyebrow, still doubting his eyes and senses.
— Mist...?
...
At Saint Selena's Cathedral, Tingen.
A young man no older than twenty years old raised his hands to the sky, his long, black hair cascading down his shoulders and his neck exposed by his unbuttoned shirt even though it was freezing cold.
— What do you mean by fog? — He immediately recoiled as he saw everything obscured by the thick gray fog that covered even the crimson full moon above the heavens.
His beautiful green eyes immediately widened and he quickly asked:
— What is this?
— ...
— Don't you want to tell me? — He frowned his handsome brow before continuing to stare at thZhou Mingriu felt confused about those mysterious words. A senseless horror took over a part of his being, but it quickly dissipated, leaving some traces inside his mind.
At that moment, the slightly distorted symbol disappeared from the notebook.
— Past? — He was dumbfounded by what he had read in that notebook. Disbelief was apparent on his face.
His past was on Earth and only there, so what could that sentence mean? Besides, what was that symbol that disappeared?
It wouldn't make sense if it was something related to transmigration. Probably no one knew that it had happened since not even Melissa who was in the next room had heard anything, so there were no suspects.
He had seen so much.
My head still hurts, so it must be real... That means I really did transmigrate to another world... What did I do to deserve something like that? — he thought deprecatingly and began to tap his finger on the table, a tic he had.
I have to calm down... — Zhou Mingriu thought about these words over and over again until he could think more clearly.
He was in a different world in the Age of Steam and Machinery that resembled the Victorian Age, the Iron Age where there were seven Orthodox Churches spread across the world. From the memories of Klein that he had seen, he knew that he lived in the kingdom of Loen where the three main beliefs adopted by the kingdom were the Goddess of Midnight, the Lord of Storms, and the God of Steam and Machinery.
The owner of this body had committed suicide in a completely senseless manner. It seemed that there was no noise and there was also not much blood splattered and none on his clothes, which was impossible since the inside of his arm was completely cut off.
Even though Zhou Mingriu should have been in complete panic, he couldn't be too scared about it because the memories of Klein in his mind made him feel familiar with this world, but not with the suicide part or the delusions.
Of course, that situation was unimaginably absurd, something he couldn't imagine happening to himself if he spent hundreds of years reading web novels and other books.
For him, the best thing to do was to think carefully about what he should do from now on, and he also had to analyze the situation.
Well, I'm still alive after all.
He looked at the slightly bloodstained desk thoughtfully, with several doubts arising in his head.
Where did this strange and macabre notebook come from?
There was nothing about it in the fragmented memories he had of Klein even if he had searched through it, it was just as if it had magically appeared on top of the desk.
There was also this bloody weapon... Klein couldn't afford to buy that...
His thoughts came to a complete halt as he turned his head slightly to look at the ground.
The dagger had disappeared!
it disappeared...
Zhou Mingriu frowned, more confused than before.
There was no way things could disappear so suddenly, at least in normal logic.
But this world didn't seem to be normal at all... There were translucent worms in my wounds...
He focused on his arm more closely to check the severity of the wound after a moment.
He discovered that the grotesquely opened cut was closing as it writhed in a terrifying manner.
He quickly took another look in the mirror, and the bloody hole on his temple seemed to form a small scar, as if he had never been hit by a bullet.
It's healing on its own... This must be some effect caused by something. The transmigration? Or that notebook? — Zhou Mingriu hid the wound with his hair.
If Melissa were to suddenly come in here, she would probably die of fright upon seeing him all bloody with a hole in his head and his arm all open.
She would also be frightened by that gun!
He threw the copper gun into the drawer absentmindedly as he pondered a few things.
That castle full of mist was so mythical... And those seven lights in the sky of that strange and incomprehensible place...
There was also that sea of stars from when he was still asleep... Sea of crimson stars... They were getting closer to everything.
It's a lot to think about in one moment... Fortunately, those images and delusions stopped repeating themselves in my mind.
Zhou Mingriu paused for a moment, thinking about how he could get out of this situation or what he could do at this moment.
Am I forgetting something...?
Uh...
Looking at his blood-stained hand, he remembered that there were still traces of a viscous, red liquid in the room.
It looks like a murder scene... Actually, technically it is one.
I don't even know what Melissa's reaction would be if she saw the room in this horrific and terrifying state.
He took a dark cloth to clean all the traces of blood that were in the room.
After that, he took a good look at his wounds that were still open just to check if there were any translucent worms.
As he had seen before, there were no more worms crawling in his wounds.
Anyway, I should find something better to cover up these tears on my arm, I look like a walking murder scene.
— I wonder how I'm still alive… I look more like a zombie than a human being. And where did those worms come from…? And did they merge with me? — Zhou Mingriu muttered in disbelief at everything he was seeing. — Speaking of which… Don't these wounds on my arm look like a part of that symbol I saw in the notebook?
What kind of macabre plot is this? Anyway, I should find something better to cover up these tears on my arm, I look like a walking murder scene. — He scoffed internally as he lightly poked the inside of his arm.
It didn't hurt at all, even when he pressed the grotesque tear he didn't feel any pain.
He immediately remembered that there were some old white cloths in a basket so he took them out to bandage it.
When he tore them, he made sure that the noise wouldn't be too loud.
He then tied them to his wounds and also took the opportunity to cover the cloths on his arm with the long sleeves of his white linen shirt, so that it was unnoticeable.
When he turned to the moon, it was not as bright as before.
The black veil that covered it had strangely distorted, disappearing from his vision.
Several questions fell on his mind at the same time.
What were those stars that tried to merge with everything?
Did Klein commit suicide or was he murdered? If it really was murder, it would be at least completely senseless. There was no motive for the crime! Suicide would be the same thing, Klein was an ordinary person who had never had suicidal thoughts from what Zhou Mingriu had seen in his memories.
What were those worms and how did they merge inside my head?
And that palace on the peak of a mountain range? There were several translucent worms on the throne and there seemed to be something in the palace... Night? Why did the unknown being shout that? What place was that?
Was the gray mist also related to my transmigration? Or was it an effect of the notebook? And how did I end up in that place?
What was that black "curtain" around me? Where did it go?
His eyes widened at that moment. He remembered the nostalgic and inexplicable feeling that had disappeared.
What was that? It was as if I wasn't Zhou Mingriu... Or Klein... But at the same time I always felt that I was Zhou Mingriu... I don't know how to express it...
Where did those hazy images that I saw piled up in my mind along with delusions come from? I feel like I forgot something...
They were my dreams...
Looking at the notebook, he realized that the last sentence had disappeared from the yellowed pages, leaving only the first sentence he had seen:
"Everyone will die, including me."
With a shiver running through his body, Zhou Mingriu looked around to see if there might be any clues to Klein's strange suicide.
He searched every corner, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. He even opened the wooden cabinet to see if he could find any traces. His focus returned to the desk and he opened the second drawer.
There was a stack of neatly arranged tarot cards with one specific card turned upside down.
The image was of an individual in strange clothing like that of a magician or a fortune teller, and by his side was a dog.
Below were lines written majestically in ancient Hermes:
"The Fool"
The Fool... — Zhou Mingriu shivered from the bottom of his heart inexplicably, a chill rising through his body.
— A tarot card... Tarot — he said with confusion and nostalgia spreading through his mind.
His heartbeat increased rapidly.
This could only be on Earth!
From Klein's memories, there was a high-ranking consul of Intis who later became known as Emperor Roselle after transforming the republic into an empire.
He was known as the "son of Steam and Machinery" because of his amazing inventions that he always knew how to build, like a unique talent.
These inventions, however, were so reminiscent of past models of inventions on Earth that it was impossible for Zhou Mingriu not to recognize them.
In addition, Emperor Roselle created a set of cards with hidden secrets about the divine that were hidden or lost to history.
However, there are records of tarot cards dating back to the Fourth Epoch, the Epoch of the Gods, indicating that their creator came from an era so ancient that it could not even be dated.
Is Roselle a transmigrator?
A compatriot?
Uh... Roselle was killed long ago, in 1198 when he was betrayed... He died...
Is the creator of the tarot cards also a transmigrator?
What is his true identity?
Was he living in the Fourth Epoch? He may have lived much earlier... In the "Revelations of Eternal Night" and the "Book of Storms" it says that the Third Epoch was the Epoch of Calamity where the gods guided humanity towards salvation... Well, could he be from the Third Epoch? Why is there such a big difference? He must have at least come from a similar time...
Maybe he's even a compatriot...
Is he dead? With so many strange things in this world, could he have survived three Epochs? That's beyond the expectations of human life or any other species! He must be human, right?
There are at least two transmigrators before me or more... One of them is dead and the other completely hidden in history without any identity...
I can try to find information in the library... I'll look for it when I leave early in the morning.
Melissa should wake up soon...
Still, the most important thing is to go back home!
I need to find a way to go back home! A chance to be able to reunite with my family, my friends, and everything I know!
I have to go back home!
Zhou Mingriu narrowed his eyes trying to remember the last thing he had done before ending up in this world.
He had recited a text from an old book he had found in a bookstore when he was traveling with a foreign friend from Europe a long time ago. Its title was: "Quintessential Divination and Arcane Arts of the Qin and Han Dynasty".
There wasn't much in the book, but he decided to read it after a while. After that, he ate some food and slept for the night like any other normal person.
The ritual text had four sentences about the blessings of a Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth. It was simple overall with a few other separate steps like taking four steps, forming a square.
The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth…
Toc.
Toc, toc.
Zhou Mingriu frowned, turning to look at the bedroom door.
Toc, toc.
Toc.
The knocks echoed through the hallway covered in pure darkness.