Ouch!
So painful!
My head hurts so much!
The bizarre and whispering dream shattered rapidly. Zhou Mingrui, still in deep sleep, felt an intense throbbing pain in his head, as if he had been hit hard with a stick. No, it was more like a sharp object had pierced his temple and was being stirred around!
Sss... In a daze, Zhou Mingrui tried to turn over, cover his head, and sit up, but he couldn't move his limbs at all. His body seemed to be out of control.
It seems I haven't really woken up yet. I'm still in a dream... Wait, maybe I'll think I'm awake but still be asleep... Zhou Mingrui, who was no stranger to such experiences, concentrated his willpower to break free from the darkness and confusion.
However, in the half-awake state, his will was as fickle as smoke, hard to control and focus. No matter how hard he tried, his thoughts still scattered and random thoughts emerged.
Why would I suddenly have a headache in the middle of the night?
And it's so severe!
Could it be a brain hemorrhage or something?
Oh no, am I going to die young like this?
Wake up! Wake up!
Hey, it doesn't hurt as much as before? But it still feels like there's a dull knife slowly cutting in my brain...
It seems I can't sleep anymore. How am I going to work tomorrow?
What about work? With a real headache, of course I should ask for leave! I don't need to worry about Manager Luo's nagging!
Thinking this way, it doesn't seem so bad, hehe, a half-day off from the hustle and bustle of life!
Wave after wave of throbbing pain gradually accumulated a faint strength in Zhou Mingrui. Finally, he mustered all his energy, straightened his back, and opened his eyes, completely breaking free from the half-awake state.
His vision was initially blurry, then gradually covered with a faint crimson hue. Looking around, Zhou Mingrui saw a wooden desk in front of him, with an open notebook in the center. The paper was rough and yellowed, with a sentence written in strange letters on the top, the ink deep black and striking.
On the left side of the notebook, close to the edge of the desk, was a stack of neatly arranged books, about seven or eight in total. To the right of the notebook, on the wall, were grayish-white pipes and a wall lamp connected to them.
This lamp had a distinct Western classical style, about half the size of an adult's head. The inner layer was transparent glass, and the outer layer was a black metal grid.
Below the extinguished wall lamp, a black ink bottle was bathed in a pale red glow. The raised surface formed a blurry angel pattern.
In front of the ink bottle, on the right side of the notebook, a dark, plump fountain pen lay quietly, its tip glimmering faintly, and the pen cap was placed beside a left-handed revolver with a copper-colored sheen.
Revolver? Left-handed? Zhou Mingrui was completely stunned. The things in front of him were so unfamiliar, nothing like his own room!
While in shock and confusion, he noticed that the desk, notebook, ink bottle, and revolver were all covered with a layer of crimson "veil", which was the light shining through the window.
Subconsciously, he raised his head, and his gaze slowly moved upward:
In the middle of the air, above the black "velvet curtain", a full crimson moon hung high, shining serenely.
This... Zhou Mingrui was filled with inexplicable terror. He suddenly stood up, but before his legs could fully straighten, another wave of throbbing pain hit his head, causing him to briefly lose strength. His center of gravity shifted involuntarily, and his bottom hit the hard wooden chair seat with a thud.
Crack!
The pain didn't affect him. Zhou Mingrui supported himself with his hands on the table and stood up again, frantically turning his body to examine his surroundings.
This was a small room. On each side were a pair of brown doors. Against the opposite wall was a wooden bunk bed.
Between the bed and the left door was a cabinet, with an upper section that opened from the middle and a lower section with drawers.
At the edge of the cabinet, at a height of about one person, there were also grayish-white pipes embedded in the wall, but they were connected to a strange mechanical device with a few gears and bearings. In the right corner near the desk, there were things like a coal stove, as well as kitchen utensils such as soup pots and iron pots. Beyond the right door was a cracked dressing mirror with a simple and plain wooden base. Glancing over, Zhou Mingrui faintly saw himself in the mirror, the present him: black hair, brown eyes, a linen shirt, a thin and ordinary figure, with a deep contour... This... Zhou Mingrui immediately sucked in a breath, a myriad of helpless and chaotic guesses surging in his heart. A revolver, a European classical style decoration, and that crimson moon so different from the Earth, all were indicating something! Me, did I really time travel? Zhou Mingrui's mouth opened little by little. He grew up reading online novels and often had such fantasies, but when it really happened, he found it hard to accept. This is probably what's called liking dragons but not daring to face them? After a few dozen seconds, Zhou Mingrui self-mockingly said to himself. If it weren't for the persistent pain in his head, making his mind tense and clear, he would surely have suspected that he was dreaming. Calm, calm, calm... Taking a few deep breaths, Zhou Mingrui tried to keep himself from being so flustered. Just then, as his body and mind were harmonizing, fragments of memories suddenly jumped out, slowly presenting themselves in his mind! Klein Moretti, a person from Tingen City, Ahowa County, the Ruin Kingdom in the Northern Continent, a recent graduate of the History Department of Hoy University... His father was a sergeant in the Royal Army, who died in the colonial conflict in the Southern Continent. The pension he received gave Klein the opportunity to study in a private grammar school, laying the foundation for him to enter university... His mother was a follower of the Night Goddess and passed away the year Klein passed the entrance exam for Hoy University... He had an elder brother and a younger sister, and they all lived in a two-bedroom apartment... The family was not wealthy, and could even be said to be poor. Currently, they were all relying on his elder brother, who worked as a clerk in an import and export company... As a history graduate, Klein mastered the ancient Fuscian language, which was said to be the origin of the languages of the Northern Continent's countries, as well as the Hermes script often found in ancient tombs, related to sacrifices and prayers... Hermes script? Zhou Mingrui's heart stirred, and he reached out to press his throbbing temple, then turned his gaze to the notebook spread out on the desk. He felt the words on the yellowed paper change from strange to unfamiliar, from unfamiliar to familiar, and from familiar to understandable. These were words written in Hermes script! The deep black ink said: "Everyone will die, including me." Sss! Zhou Mingrui was inexplicably frightened. His body instinctively leaned back, trying to distance himself from the notebook and the words. He was very weak and almost fell, hurriedly reaching out to hold onto the edge of the desk. He felt the air around him become agitated, and faint murmurs echoed in his ears, giving him the feeling of listening to a scary story as a child. Shaking his head, it was all just an illusion. Zhou Mingrui regained his balance and moved his gaze away from the notebook, taking deep breaths. At this moment, his eyes fell on the revolver with its gleaming brass finish, and a question suddenly popped up in his mind. "With Klein's family situation, where did he get the money and the channel to buy a revolver?" Zhou Mingrui couldn't help but frown. While lost in thought, he suddenly noticed a half red handprint on the edge of the desk, darker than moonlight and thicker than "gossamer". It was a blood handprint! "A blood handprint?" Zhou Mingrui subconsciously opened his right hand that had been pressing against the edge of the desk and looked down. He saw that his palm and fingers were covered in blood. At the same time, the throbbing pain in his head still persisted, slightly weakened but continuous. "Did I hit my head?" Zhou Mingrui wondered as he turned around and walked towards the cracked dressing mirror. After a few steps, a medium-sized figure with black hair, brown eyes, and a distinct scholarly air clearly appeared in the mirror. Is this me now, Klein Moretti? Zhou Mingrui was stunned for a moment. As it was the middle of the night and the light was insufficient, he couldn't see clearly. So he continued walking forward until he was just one step away from bumping into the mirror.
Under the light of the pale red moonlight, like a gossamer veil, he turned his head sideways to examine the situation on his forehead.
The mirror clearly reflected the truth. A hideous wound was located at his temple, with the edges showing signs of burning, surrounded by bloodstains, and inside, grayish-white brain matter was slowly oozing.