Chapter 5: The Real World

Of course, in the end, Shad did not run. The three-month task left behind by Mr. Hamilton sounded suspicious no matter how one thought about it, and since Shad had already been dragged into it and hadn't left before Hamilton died, it was even less likely he would leave now.

But investigating that task and probing Hamilton’s secrets were matters for the future. The key right now was to secure enough money to survive for a week before making any other plans.

After packing the investigation report and the map, he didn't forget the compass and pocket watch in the desk drawer. For safety’s sake, although he hadn't found any firearms, his walking stick could serve as a weapon, and naturally, he didn't forget to take a fruit knife.

For clothing, he chose an inconspicuous black button-up coat and trousers, which fit the dress code of Tobesk City at the beginning of summer.

There were two bedrooms in Room 1 on the second floor, and Shad found clothes that fit his current frame in the other one. Unfortunately, that room, which presumably belonged to the original Shad, contained no diary or any notes written in the original Shad’s pathetic literacy level; otherwise, life would have been a bit simpler.

By the time he finished all this, the grandfather clock in the corner of the living room was nearing eleven in the morning.

Shad found the keys to the front door and the downstairs entrance in a bowl on the cabinet by the room's door. He carefully locked the door, took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and plucked a hair from his head. Crouching on the floor between the door and the stairs, he placed the hair into the gap under the door, squinting his left eye to ensure the hair was aligned with the room's interior, specifically pointing toward the protrusion on the left edge of the bedroom door inside.

The stairwell window was closed, the first floor was sealed off, and all the windows inside the room were shut, so there was no need to worry about the wind moving the hair. As long as Shad didn't stomp his feet when he returned and was careful when opening the downstairs door, the position of the hair would indicate whether anyone had passed by or entered the room.

He wanted to stand up, but then looked at the locked door of Room 2 on the second floor next door. After a moment of thought, he painfully plucked another hair and wedged it into the door gap, parallel to the lock.

Because there were simply too many secrets left behind by Mr. Hamilton, it was always better to be cautious.

Descending the spiral staircase, the *thud-thud-thud* of his footsteps in the quiet space made Shad feel inexplicably nervous again.

There was no dust on the stair railing, and the decorative oil paintings on the walls looked as if they were wiped down frequently. The closer he got to the ground floor, the more he felt his heartbeat accelerating.

He understood there was nothing to panic about, but this was, after all, his first step into this place—his first real step into this world.

He changed into his boots in front of the door, grabbed the black bowler hat from the standing coat rack and placed it on his head, and it took him a long time to finally grip the doorknob and push the door open.

His heartbeat quickened the moment the door opened. The feeling of completely entering an unfamiliar environment and accepting the fact that he had transmigrated was truly quite unpleasant.

He stepped over the threshold but didn't look out immediately. Instead, he quickly walked out with his head down, then turned around to rotate the key and lock the door.

Closing his eyes, he slowly turned to face the street, backing up until his spine pressed against the door, his head resting against the cold metal "No. 6" plaque.

"Nothing to be nervous about. Just stepped into another world, and there's a high probability I can't go back, that's all."

He said to himself, struggling to suppress the urge to gasp for air. He lifted his head, opened his eyes, and leaned against the door, looking at everything before him—

The air was wreathed in smoke, and the weather was even gloomier than it had been in the morning. Yet, the bustling square was still crowded with people: gentlemen in formal wear and top hats, ladies in dresses with powdered faces, porters carrying wooden crates, newsboys shouting barefoot, shy flower girls soliciting customers, four-wheeled carriages driving by in a hurry, and bloated housewives clutching paper bags and wearing lace bonnets.

There was a burnt smell in the air. All sorts of people mingled on the streets at the edge of the smoke-filled square, the sounds of hawking and clamor almost completely overlapping. On the other side of the distant square were three-story houses just like the one behind him, with dense metal pipes clinging to the walls like vines or spiderwebs, gleaming in the weak midday sun.

In the center of the square stood a fountain of a young girl holding a water jug. The fountain wasn't spraying water, and the statue had already turned somewhat yellow. A patrol officer wearing a police badge sat by the fountain, looking at Shad with curiosity. The middle-aged man asked with his eyes if he needed help, and Shad hurriedly looked away.

A newsboy passed before his eyes, and the sound of his soles rubbing against the gravel-covered ground made Shad’s hair stand on end. The clanging of the bells on a four-wheeled carriage passing the door, combined with the inquisitive gazes from the carriage windows, caused Shad’s heart to pump blood even faster.

Feeling his heartbeat, he pressed his open hands against the door behind him, instinctively leaning back, terrified by the reality of everything before him. His blood pressure surged, his heart raced, and the sudden tolling of a bell in the distance sounded almost like a bomb exploding in his head, making Shad nearly faint.

It was so real, so incredible, so contrary to the common sense of the past twenty-plus years. This was another world; he had truly left his homeland and come to another world, a completely unfamiliar world.

"Don't panic! Don't panic!"

Shad repeated this in his heart, but his body's instincts could not be suppressed just like that.

"It's okay, I will get used to all this, I will integrate into this place!"

He desperately kept telling himself, but his body still involuntarily leaned back against the door, his back already soaked with sweat.

Suddenly, that woman’s whispering voice sounded again. Although this was also a voice from another world, it seemed to pull Shad back to reality, forcing him to face all of this. The whispering voice declared, as if reciting a poem

【You have gained 'Enlightenment'.】

His heart rate slowed because of this voice, and his high blood pressure gradually returned to normal due to the murmuring whispers. The voice echoed in his heart.

"What enlightenment?"

It wasn't that he hadn't heard clearly; he just didn't understand the meaning of the phrase. [Enlightenment] also belonged to the four mysterious elements vaguely mentioned by the detective before he died, but Shad needed further explanation. He was now fully certain that what was in his brain was definitely not a system; that voice was highly likely to be a part of this world's mysterious system.

【You are me, and I am you. Outlander, you manipulate the direction of fate from the front of the curtain, and fate unfolds because of you; I touch the reality of the world from behind the curtain, and you become powerful because of me. Even if you are suspicious, we are one and the same; there is no difference between us.】

The woman’s voice gave an answer that didn't match the question, but Shad wasn't angry; instead, he felt a bit happy.

His guess was right. In this world's occult system, the voice in his head was highly likely to be a part of contacting and using mystery. The worldview of this world seemed somewhat close to Cthulhu and agnosticism; the extraordinary and the mysterious possessed power, and their very existence would affect mortal things, which was why another power was needed to help mortals contact those strange and dangerous things.

"You are me, and I am you. Although you say that, you are definitely different from a normal situation."

He wanted to verify his thoughts with the whispering voice in his head, but all he got was the woman’s soft chuckle.

Regardless, he had at least come into contact with the mysterious elements of this world. Even if he didn't understand anything, at least he was standing here, possessing his own goals.

The panic from just a moment ago gradually subsided, as if he were a little closer to this steam-powered age wreathed in smoke. The feeling of having his feet on the ground made Shad more steady. He told himself to gradually accept all of this, rather than panicking uselessly

"Earn money from a commission, investigate Hamilton’s story, gather the four elements, study the voice in my head, and move forward. Don't panic."

Repeating this in his heart finally allowed his back to leave the door. Abandoning the idea of going back to change clothes, Shad carefully, very carefully, walked down the three steps at the entrance and stood on the street at the edge of the square. He opened his eyes wide amidst the flow of people, looking up at this world and letting the world reflect in his eyes

"No matter what, move forward."

He said in his heart, and after a brief pause, he followed the plan he had made inside the house, stepping out along the circular street of the square toward the entrance of the main street leading away from the square.

PS: If you have any extra recommendation tickets, I would appreciate them. The data during the new book period is very critical.

(End of chapter)