Paying the fare, Reyn entered the "Violet House."
"Violet House" sprawled over a vast area; the reception hall alone spanned over a hundred square meters. The interior was modestly furnished, conveying restrained elegance and depth.
As Reyn crossed the threshold, several reception clerks perked up, and one, beating the others, approached with a radiant smile:
"Welcome to 'Violet House,' sir. May I have your name?"
She wore a strict yet elegant work uniform, like office attire from his past life. Hair in a bun, figure sculpted. Speaking, she looked Reyn in the eye, her gaze genuinely warm.
One of the distinctive features of the "Violet House" was that the staff here consisted predominantly of women, each possessing above-average beauty—any of them would be considered a beauty outside this establishment.
It was rumored that the shop manager was an elf, but she rarely showed herself to ordinary visitors.
Reyn had been here before, so he showed no particular surprise and answered directly:
"Hello, my name is Reyn. I would like to undergo a soul check."
"Excellent, Mr. Reyn, please follow me."
The maid gracefully indicated the direction with her hand and walked ahead, leading him.
Reyn followed her through the spacious hall into a small, tastefully furnished room in the depths of the building. The room was divided into two parts by a glass partition, behind which stood something like a dental chair, and next to it—a device.
The apparatus, half the height of a human, resembled a metal cabinet, atop which sat an irregularly shaped, bizarre stone. The stone's lower part was embedded in the metal casing, concealing its internal mechanism.
Beside the device sat a middle-aged woman in a long dress the color of sea waves. She held a metal wire connected to the apparatus in her hand and seemed to be channeling energy through it.
At that moment, a young man of about twenty lay on the chair. He touched the stone on the device with his hand; his eyes were closed, but his face was contorted and pale, covered in sweat—clearly, he was enduring unbearable pain.
Behind the glass, another maid watched the process, timing the test subject.
"How long has it been?" the maid who had brought Reyn asked quietly.
"It's already reached the intermediate level of pain."
The maid glanced at the wall clock and, turning, said:
"Mr. Reyn, please wait a moment. This client should finish soon."
"Alright."
Reyn nodded. He had never undergone a soul check himself, but he knew how it worked.
This device was the Soul Stone. Inside it was a mechanism for channeling spiritual power. A superhuman had to pour their spiritual power into the Soul Stone on top, and touching it caused excruciating pain, simulating the Soul Transformation Ritual.
However, the pain didn't reach the level of the Soul Transformation Ritual right away—it built up gradually as spiritual power was infused.
The first five minutes corresponded to the initial pain level. Those who endured those five minutes moved to the intermediate pain level. Another five minutes brought the pain to a high level—that was the most agonizing stage of the actual Soul Transformation Ritual.
Anyone who withstood five minutes at the high pain level earned the right to perform the Soul Transformation Ritual, with a success probability approaching fifty percent!
Naturally, the longer one held out, the higher the success probability.
Not even two minutes passed before the young man on the chair cried out loudly, yanked his hand from the Soul Stone, and sat up abruptly.
He glanced at the wall clock, and his face twisted in disappointment, then in frustration at his own weakness.
Less than two minutes at the intermediate pain level... If he attempted the Soul Transformation Ritual, his success probability would be nearly zero.
The middle-aged woman in charge of the Soul Stone offered a few consoling words, released a green spark from her fingers that absorbed into his forehead, and allowed him to stand. Staggering, he emerged from behind the partition and sank into a chair in the anteroom to rest. The maid responsible for him brought him a cup of tea. After drinking it, he finally regained a healthier appearance.
"Mr. Reyn, you may proceed to the check."
Reyn removed his outer clothing, handed it to the maid, and entered behind the partition.
"Please lie down and relax," the middle-aged woman said softly. Her voice was very melodic, suggesting some vocal training.
Reyn had already determined from outside that this woman was a second-rank superhuman, specialization—"Plant Shepherd"!
Her rank might be modest, but no one would dare underestimate a Plant Shepherd capable of casting spells.
The key element of Plant Shepherds was their affinity with plants. They masterfully controlled all manner of flora, using it for spells of every kind: from healing and destructive to summoning and control. And if such a specialist also studied alchemy for creating poisons, they became a truly elusive assassin.
Inviting a Plant Shepherd to conduct free soul checks for clients—this was unheard-of luxury. The might of the "Violet House" increasingly astonished Reyn, enveloping it in an aura of mystery.
He lay down on the chair, took a deep breath, and placed his hand on the Soul Stone.
"Beginning."
As soon as the woman spoke, Reyn felt a piercing, drilling pain shoot from his palm straight into his brain, as if his fingers had been severed. He nearly jumped from the chair.
His entire body tensed for a moment. Clenching his teeth and taking several deep breaths, he somehow withstood the first assault.
The pain washed over his consciousness in waves, as if someone were repeatedly sawing his fingers with a dull, jagged saw, mercilessly tormenting the nerve endings.
"Damn, this hurts!"
Reyn howled inwardly. He could still endure it for now, but he wasn't sure he'd hold out when the pain reached the intermediate level in five minutes.
"I need to distract myself!"
He began mentally counting sheep but couldn't even reach ten—the pain interrupted every time.
Then he tried reciting poetry.
"The ancient region of Yu Zhang, new Hundu Prefecture. Stars divide the constellations of Yi and Zhen, lands adjoin the Heng and Lu mountains. Encompasses three rivers and five lakes, controls... controls... Damn 'controls,'" he howled inwardly. "It hurts like hell!"
"The white sun dips toward the mountains, Yellow River waters flow from the heavens... No, wrong. Bright moon over the bed, hanged from the southeast branch, one branch of red apricot reaches through the wall..."
Thoughts swirled chaotically in Reyn's head; he couldn't coherently recite a single line.
He desperately tried thinking of anything unrelated, even recalling his cherished "teachers," whose images had been stored on his hard drive for years: Teacher Ohasi, Teacher Takagi, Teacher Hatano, Teacher Matsushima, Teacher Mikami, Teacher Ishihara, Teacher Utsunomiya... But it was futile—the horrific pain disrupted his thought process, mercilessly interrupting the vivid performances of his mentors.
Unnoticed, five minutes passed.
Then the even stronger intermediate-level pain crashed down—even now it felt like his hand was being roasted over an open flame!
"Who could endure this?!"
Reyn bit his lip until it bled to avoid screaming. Veins bulged on his forehead, and cold sweat streamed down.
A thought flashed through his mind like lightning: the previous guy had lasted two minutes—incredible endurance!
Then he recalled one of the martyr heroes from his past life—a truly great man, worthy of admiration!
Minutes dragged on, and Reyn still held. His right hand on the Soul Stone had gone nearly numb, veins bulging on the back of his palm, but he gripped the stone with a death grip, refusing to let go.
He glanced at the wall clock. The pendulum swung steadily back and forth, counting seconds.
But each second was excruciating torture. Reyn suspected the clock was broken—why else would the pendulum move so slowly?
After two minutes, joy surged through Reyn: he had surpassed the previous test subject!
But then agony hit as he realized this stage would last three more minutes.
Then those three minutes passed.
They were the longest three minutes of both his lives. Before he could even rejoice inwardly, the pain spiked sharply to the high level—the most agonizing, final stage of the soul check.
This time, it felt like a thick steel nail was being driven into the crown of his head and twisted in his brain.
Reyn couldn't hold back a muffled groan; his entire body shook.
"If you can't endure anymore, just say so," the middle-aged woman's voice came at his ear. She feared his body might convulse from the unbearable pain, preventing him from even pulling his hand away.
"N-no... need..." Reyn forced out.
A minute passed, feeling like an eternity to Reyn.
Then another eternity. His consciousness nearly faded; he was on the brink of breaking.
On the third minute of high-level pain, Reyn's mind went blank; he couldn't even think anymore. The distraction technique failed—he held on purely by willpower.
Reyn didn't know how he survived the last two minutes.
When the clock hand passed the five-minute mark, his will nearly faltered, and he almost yanked his hand away.
"No! I can still go! I need to find my limit."
Surpassing the five-minute mark, Reyn broke through to a new level and held for another three minutes.
Everyone present watched tensely, afraid to make a sound.
Reyn sat with closed eyes, his attention wandering. As his strength waned, he caught a glimpse of the Little Red Flower in the corner of his vision and opened his phone interface.
In that moment, he couldn't think straight and poked randomly at the screen.
By chance, the music player opened.
A beautiful melody filled his mind: "Sunset on the horizon lights my face again, lights my restless heart. What is this place, still so desolate? The endless journey is so long..."
The song instantly captured Reyn's attention. "What song is this?" he thought.
And then he noticed the pain easing!
Reyn was overjoyed. He focused on the song, mentally singing along, and indeed, the pain gradually subsided. Though not gone entirely, it dropped from high level to roughly initial—quite bearable.
Moreover, as he sang along diligently, the pain kept retreating.
After two songs, the pain diminished to the point where it felt like his head was just pinched in a door—even initial level was stronger. Now he could hold without effort.
"I never thought I'd one day rejoice at the feeling of my head caught in a door..." Reyn thought with a crooked smirk.
After a few more songs, he realized further testing was pointless and pulled his hand away.
The pain vanished instantly. Reyn exhaled, came to his senses, and found the middle-aged woman beside him staring in astonishment, as if she'd seen a ghost.
And not just her. A crowd had gathered behind the glass partition—maids from the "Violet House" and several shop clients.
Seeing Reyn pull his hand away, they all gasped in unison, their eyes filled with pure amazement.