Chapter 9: 9. Chapter 9 Notes

Chapter 9: The Notebook

After resting for half an hour, Zhou Mingrui, who had already begun to identify as Klein, finally recovered. During this time, he discovered that four black dots had appeared on the back of his right hand, forming a small, perfect square.

These four black dots faded from dark to light and soon vanished, but Klein knew clearly that they were still hidden within his body, waiting to be awakened.

"Four dots, a square—could it be a correspondence to the four staple foods at the four corners? Does this mean I won't need to prepare staple food in the future, and can go straight to the steps and incantations?" Klein had a vague guess.

This seemed good, but having "things" of unknown origin and lacking understanding inside one's body was always terrifying.

Thinking back to how the inexplicable occult arts from Earth could actually produce effects here, thinking of his strange transmigration in his sleep, thinking of the mysterious, psychedelic world of gray fog that he didn't know the meaning of, and thinking of the whispers that had lingered around him during the "ritual," driving him to the brink of madness, Klein couldn't help but shiver. He shivered in the sweltering heat of late June.

He had once heard a saying: "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." Now, he was deeply experiencing the fear that stemmed from the unknown.

Unprecedented and uncontrollable, a strong impulse arose in him to touch the mysterious realm, to learn more, and to dispel the unknown. Yet, there was also the urge to bury his head and escape, pretending that nothing had happened.

Outside the window, the sunlight was bright, coating the desk in a layer of "gold dust." Klein gazed at it, as if touching a sliver of warmth and hope.

He relaxed slightly, and immediately, a surging wave of exhaustion washed over him.

The lack of sleep last night and the consumption from just moments ago made his eyelids feel as heavy as lead, drooping uncontrollably.

Shaking his head, Klein reached out to support the edge of the table. Ignoring the rye bread placed at the four corners, he stumbled toward the bunk bed. The moment he lay down and touched the pillow, he fell into a deep sleep.

*Gurgle! Gurgle!*

Hunger awakened Klein. He opened his eyes, feeling refreshed.

"Except for my head still hurting a bit." He rubbed his temples, sat up, and felt as if he could eat an entire cow.

While smoothing out the wrinkles in his clothes, he returned to the desk and picked up the silver-white pocket watch with vine patterns.

*Snap!*

The lid popped open, and the second hand ticked away.

"Twelve-thirty, I slept for over three hours..." Klein swallowed his saliva and put the pocket watch into his linen shirt pocket.

In the Northern Continent, a day was also divided into twenty-four hours, each hour into sixty minutes, and each minute into sixty seconds. As for whether the length of each second was the same as on Earth, Klein had no way of knowing.

For him, at this moment, even words like mysticism, rituals, and the world of gray fog couldn't enter his mind. The most important thing right now was food, food!

Only after being full could he think of a way! Only then could he do things!

Without hesitation, Klein took back the rye bread from the four corners, flicked off the small amount of dust that had settled on them, and decided to use one of them as his lunch.

Because there was a custom in his hometown of sharing offerings after a sacrifice, and these four pieces of rye bread didn't look like they had changed at all, he felt that with only five pence left in his pocket, he still had to be frugal.

Of course, this was also due to the subtle influence of the original owner's memory fragments and habits.

Because coal was too expensive and using it for lighting was heart-wrenching, he moved the stove out and added some coal. Klein paced back and forth, waiting for the water to boil.

That kind of rye bread would choke you if you ate it dry!

"Sigh, am I destined to live a life of black bread in the morning, black bread at noon, and only meat at night... No, if it weren't for Melissa considering my upcoming interview, I'd only be able to eat meat twice a week..." Idle and unable to think about serious problems due to hunger, Klein looked around.

Thinking of that pound of lamb, his eyes seemed to turn a bit green as he looked at the cupboard.

"No, no, I have to wait and eat with Melissa." Klein shook his head violently, rejecting the idea of cutting half of it to eat now.

As a single man drifting in a big city, although he mainly ate out, he had honed some basic cooking skills. It wasn't delicious, but it was enough.

Turning around, Klein intended to keep it out of sight, but just then, he suddenly remembered that besides buying meat this morning, he had also bought tender peas and potatoes!

Potatoes! Klein was instantly inspired. He whirled around like a whirlwind, rushed to the cupboard, and took out two from the few potatoes he had.

He first went to the communal washroom to scrub the potato skins clean, then put them directly into the kettle to boil with the water.

After a long while, he took the seasoning box from the cupboard, lifted the lid, and sprinkled a little bit of yellowish, coarse salt into the water.

Waiting patiently for a few more minutes, Klein lifted the kettle, poured the "soup"—which wasn't really soup—into a few cups and a large bowl, and finally fished out the two potatoes and placed them on the table.

*Hoo!*

He peeled a bit of skin and blew on his hand. The fragrance of the boiled potatoes gradually permeated the air, whetting his appetite.

Saliva secreted frantically. Klein couldn't care that he had only peeled half, or that the potatoes were still a bit hot; he picked one up and took a fierce bite.

Floury! Fragrant! A sweet aftertaste! Klein's heart was instantly filled with emotion. He devoured the two potatoes like a starving man, even eating some of the skin.

Only then did he pick up the large bowl and take a delightful sip of the "soup." The faint salty taste washed away the dryness in his mouth.

"I loved eating like this when I was a kid..." Klein, having cushioned his stomach, sighed silently while breaking off the rye bread and soaking it in the "soup" to soften it.

Perhaps because the previous "ritual" had consumed too much, he ate two whole pieces—a full pound.

After drinking the "soup" and cleaning up, Klein felt he had truly come back to life. He experienced the joy of being human again and enjoyed the brilliance of the sunlight.

He sat back at the desk and began to think about what he should do next.

"I cannot escape. I must find a way to touch the mysterious realm and become a Beyonder, as 'Justice' and 'The Hanged Man' mentioned."

"I must overcome the fear caused by the unknown."

"The only current path is to wait for the next 'gathering' and see if I can overhear the formula for the 'Spectator' potion or other mystical knowledge."

"There are still four days until Monday. Before then, I must face the problems of the original owner himself. Why did he commit suicide? What did he encounter..."

Unable to travel back and just walk away, Klein picked up the open notebook, intending to flip through it to see if there were any clues or if he could fill in the missing memory fragments.

Clearly, the original owner had the habit of keeping a notebook and the hobby of using it as a diary.

Klein knew clearly that the cabinet serving as the right leg of the desk was full of finished notebooks.

This one had been in use since May 10th. The beginning mostly involved school, mentors, and knowledge

"May 12th, Mr. Azik mentioned that the common language of the Balam Empire in the Southern Continent also originated from ancient Feynapotter, which is a branch of Giant language. Why is this? Could it be that all spiritual creatures once used the same language? No, this must be wrong. Even in the records of the 'Book of Revelations' and the 'Book of Storms,' in an era older than old, giants were not the only masters of the continent. There were elves, there were other species, there were dragons. Well, these are all just legends, just myths."

...

"May 16th, Senior Associate Professor Cohen and Mr. Azik discussed the inevitability of the steam era. Mr. Azik believes it was accidental. If it weren't for the sudden appearance of Emperor Roselle, perhaps the Northern Continent would still be in the cold weapon era, just like the Southern Continent. My mentor thinks he overemphasizes the role of the individual. He believes that with the development of the times, if there were no Emperor Roselle, there would be an Emperor Robert. In short, the steam era might be late, but it would definitely arrive. Regarding their debate, I just feel it has no meaning. I prefer discovering new things, restoring history shrouded in fog. Perhaps I shouldn't have studied history; I should have studied archaeology."

...

"May 29th, Welch found me, saying he had obtained a notebook from the Fourth Epoch. My Goddess, a notebook from the Fourth Epoch! He didn't want to ask his classmates in the archaeology department and wanted to ask me and Naia to help interpret the contents. How could I refuse such a thing? Of course, it has to be arranged after the graduation defense. At this time, I cannot be distracted."

Seeing this, Klein's spirits lifted. Compared to the previous history notes and conceptual debates, the newly appeared "Fourth Epoch" notebook was more likely to have led to the original owner's suicide.

The Fourth Epoch was the era before the current "Iron and Blood Epoch." Its history was full of fog and many gaps. Even the unearthed mausoleums, ancient cities, and documents were few and far between. Historians and archaeologists could only barely piece together a "glimpse of the original appearance" with the help of the vague theological classics of the seven major churches, which were primarily focused on faith education. They knew of the existence of the Solomon Empire, the Tudor Dynasty, and the Trunsoest Empire.

Klein, who was determined to break through the fog and restore history, had no interest in the "first three epochs," which were more like myths and legends. He only cared about the Fourth Epoch, also known as the "Age of Gods." His excitement was understandable.

"Hey, looking at it this way, the original owner's focus on the interview and worry about future employment was actually unnecessary..." Klein couldn't help but sigh.

Currently, universities were still very rare. The vast majority of students were children of nobles and wealthy families. As long as commoners entered, even if they were discriminated against due to their status and not included in others' social circles, as long as they weren't extreme, they could still gain certain networking resources through group discussions and collective activities—very precious networking resources!

For example, Welch McGovern was the son of a banker in the city of Konstadt, Intis, in the Loen Kingdom. He was generous and free-spending. Because he was often in the same group as Klein and Naia for homework and reports, he was accustomed to asking them for help.

Without letting his thoughts wander further, Klein continued reading the notes

"June 18th, graduated. Farewell, my Hoy University!"

"June 19th, I saw that notebook. After comparing the structure, roots, etc., I found it to be a variant of ancient Feynapotter. More accurately, in the history of over a thousand years, ancient Feynapotter has actually been evolving slightly."

"June 20th, we interpreted the content of the first page. The author is a member of a family called 'Antigonus'."

"June 21st, he mentioned the 'Black Emperor.' This completely contradicts the era deduced from the previous content. Could my mentor's view be wrong? Is the 'Black Emperor' actually a common title for every emperor of the Solomon Empire?"

"June 22nd, this family called 'Antigonus' seems to have had a prominent status in the Solomon Empire. The owner of the notebook mentioned that he was conducting a secret transaction with someone named Tudor. Tudor? The Tudor Dynasty?"

"June 23rd, I am controlling myself not to think about that notebook, not to go to Welch's place. I have to prepare for the interview! This is a very important matter!"

"June 24th, Naia told me they had new findings. I think I should go take a look."

"June 25th, from the newly interpreted content, the owner of the notebook accepted a mission to go to the main peak of the 'Hornacis' mountain range to visit the 'Kingdom of Night' located at the top. My Goddess, the main peak of the Hornacis mountain range is over six thousand meters high. How could a country exist there? What do they rely on to survive!"

"June 26th, are all these strange things real?"

The notes ended here. Zhou Mingrui had transmigrated in the early morning of June 28th.

"In other words, there was actually a note for June 27th, which was that sentence... 'Everyone will die, including me'..." Klein flipped to the page he had seen at the beginning, feeling a slight chill as he made the judgment.

He felt that to solve the mystery of the original owner's suicide, he should go to Welch's place and take another look at the contents of the ancient notebook. But with his rich "experience" from novels, movies, and TV shows, he felt that if he went, and if the matter was indeed related, he would most likely encounter unknown danger—those guys who knew there were ghosts in the ancient castle but went to die anyway were a warning!

But he couldn't not go. Escaping would never solve the problem; it would only make things accumulate until they burst, completely drowning him!

Call the police? I can't exactly say I committed suicide...

*Knock!*

*Knock, knock!*

Suddenly, a rapid and forceful knocking sounded at the door.

Klein sat up straight, tilting his head to listen.

*Knock!*

*Knock, knock!*

The knocking echoed through the empty and desolate corridor of the floor.

(End of chapter)