After successfully returning home, Zhou Mingrui prepared for the luck enhancement ritual- but first, he translated the words of the ritual from Chinese to common languages of this world- as they say- when in Rome, do as the Romans do!
Although it was quite tough since he only had fragmented knowledge and vocabulary from the original Klein Moretti- he finally was able to make a decent translation.
After that, he picked up 4 loaves of rye bread and just as the ritual he had done on earth- placed them on the 4 corners of the room. He then went to the center of the room and took 4 steps counterclockwise in the shape of a square while chanting his incantation,
"Blessings Stem From The Immortal Lord of Heaven and Earth.
"Blessings Stem From The Sky Lord of Heaven and Earth
"Blessings Stem From The Exalted Thearch of Heaven and Earth
"Blessings Stem From The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth!"
He then waited with his eyes closed with a nervously beating heart, somehow he could even feel the ring in his pants pulse slightly- then as soon as he opened his eyes, he was greeted by boundless grey fog!
This…
"What the hell is this…" Zhou Mingrui sighed with great awe as he observed the boundless grey fog around him- he was standing, no, floating on some thick fog and there were countless crimson stars dotting the water-like expanse. Zhou Mingrui reached out with his right hand and touched the two crimson stars which seemed more dazzling and burning in front of his eyes.
He was just trying to leave this place- who knew it would summon two other people here?!
In the luxurious manor of the Hall family, Audrey Hall, the youngest daughter of the family was chanting random incantations in front of the 'magic mirror' her father had gifted her, after about 10 minutes of no response she sighed and attempted to walk away- but then suddenly the mirror started glowing in sudden crimson light and she felt her senses go black!
In the Sonia Sea, Alger Wilson was standing on the deck of his ghost ship, holding the ancient looking quirky shaped glass bottle, bubbles billowed inside the bottle at times, frost turned into snow at times, and signs of gusting wind could be seen at times.
Just as he was grumbling about something- a crimson light shone from the bottle and enveloped him and his surroundings!
Above the grey fog, Audrey and Alger regained their sight and observed their surroundings in slight horror and confusion. That was when they saw each other- looking just as confused and then their sight landed on the other mysterious figure over the boundless grey fog.
"Sir, where is this?"
"What are you planning on doing?"
'I would like to know as well! How the fuck would I know- I'm as confused as you are!!' Zhou Mingrui cursed in his heart- but he knew of the life lesson he had learned in his life back in the twenty-first century-
Whenever in confusion- just speak outta your ass!
After a few seconds of silence in the fog, Zhou Mingrui chuckled. With a low but not heavy tone, he calmly spoke as though he was replying to the polite greetings from the visitors, "An attempt."
'An attempt of what- I do not know either,'
After observing the man explain to the young girl about the world of beyonders and trying not to feel excited and giddy at the explanation of the 'Sailor' formula and 'Spectator' formulas- Zhou Mingrui watched the pair attempt to trade through the grey fog so some liquid he didn't know of.
Then he suddenly saw the two gaze at him and nodded respectfully, "Sir, the fact that you brought us here shows that you have tremendous strength unimaginable to us. Neither one of us would dare violate a promise with you as a witness."
'What tremendous strength? I can't even catch a fly!'
"Sir, please be a witness to our trade," the lady said with a respectful bow before suddenly realizing something, "Sir, how should we address you?"
The man also nodded and asked in a serious tone, "Sir, how should we address you?"
Uhhhh-
Zhou Mingrui was taken aback. He gently rapped his fingers on the bronze table. The contents of the earlier divination flashed across his mind suddenly.
'The Fool' and 'The Lovers'.
He didn't really want to be seen as a pervert or some ambiguous person so he discarded 'The Lovers' card from his mind. The next was, ' The Fool'- and wasn't The Fool considered the number 0? The start? The most important card?
He leaned back, withdrew his right hand, and crossed his ten fingers, placing them below his chin. He gave the duo a faint smile.
"You can address me as…"
Upon saying this, he paused for a moment. He said amiably and calmly, "The Fool."
He couldn't help but feel that his entire set of actions were really cool!
Zhou Mingrui sat on his small old bed with a splitting headache, after The Justice and The Hanged Man (the names the lady and the man had taken) had finished their trade and some random exchange of information- specifically about the Blasphemy Cards by Roselle, the previous transmigrated protagonist of this world, Zhou Mingrui had ended the meeting as he felt some power from inside of him drain away and his headache coming back after making a promise to hold timely meetings.
In the end, even after re-attempting to do the luck enhancement ritual, he was unable to find a way back to his home… although he did end up with some sort of power over the weird place over the grey fog which could probably help him find a way back home- he couldn't help but feel that the mysterious place was somehow connected to his transmigration…
Beyonders…
Such strange powers he had heard about from The Hanged Man… they seemed like the class and job system in some of the RPGs he had played back in high school or college.
It was also some kind of mysterious power that had brought him here… was the world of beyonders the secret and the way for him to find his way back to his friends and family back on earth?
But it sounded very dangerous…
He didn't really want to turn into minced meat while figuring out some way to go back to his life as Zhou Mingrui.
His eyes then landed on the pocket of his trousers,
The ring…
It had somehow traveled with him to the grey fog even though none of the other items had gone with him to that foggy area.
And it had even helped him manipulate the grey fog to a certain more extent than he guessed was possible with his current state and was even helping him relieve his headache… was this really some kind of cheat item he got for his transmigration along with that mysterious place above the grey fog as a combo pack?
But he really wanted to sell it and get the money…
He remembered his family and friends back on earth and his calm and quiet life as a software engineer and part-time online keyboard warrior back on earth…
To be able to get back to his own world again he couldn't just nope around and do nothing!
The first step was…
Zhou Mingrui looked at 'himself' in the mirror.
From now on, he'll be Klein Moretti.
That was when he heard a knock at the door-
Were Benson and Melissa back? But why would they knock on the door?
"Coming!" Klein screamed as he rushed downstairs towards the door.
As soon as he opened the door-
He saw the figure of a man clad in weird clothing- it was like a mix between modern era clothing and some weird old noble style. It looked regal and flashy and just one glance at the material of the clothes told Klein that this probably cost more than Benson's yearly wage. There were small gems inlaid onto the cufflinks and the brooch on the left breast pocket of the outer coat had some weird symbol of some sort of clock weird around his clothes with a silver chain, which was also probably real silver as well.
He wore high-heeled boots which reached his knees and his thighs and legs were covered by a soft looking grey blue pants tucked perfectly and neatly into the boots and had some sort of thigh straps around the right thigh- Klein couldn't help but remember the stripper straps from his own world-
There was a large sapphire inlaid right in the middle of the white frilly cravat on the man's neck and he even wore a weird wizard hat for some reason.
The man had a smile on his face that looked innocent enough but would make people unconsciously feel unsafe and like they were being taken advantage of, he wore a crystal monocle on his right eye and had dark curly hair which looked really soft. There was also an ancient looking gold and silver pocket watch which looked like the best craftsman ship Klein had ever seen hanging from his hips… looking at that Klein couldn't help but feel that his own pocket watch- the only thing that the Moretti family had which had any actual value was just a piece of crap.
Klein blinked confusedly at the noble-looking man in front of his door who totally did not fit in the run-down neighborhood that Klein Moretti lived in with his 2 siblings.
"So… who are you?" He asked, half hiding behind the door.
The black curly haired man chuckled as he fixed the monocle on his right eye, "Is that a new joke? I'm Amon, your fiancé~" he raised his right hand and pointed at the dazzling ring on his ring finger. "We're engaged." He smiled.
Klein's brain shut down.
'So I was about to sell my own engagement ring for money????'
Amon, who could read Klein's mind, "…"