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After half an hour's rest, Klein had gradually recovered. During that time, he discovered four newly formed black spots on the back of his right hand. They made up a small square.

The four dark spots faded from sight and disappeared quickly, but Klein knew they were still hidden in his body and waiting to be awakened.

“Four points and a square. Do they correspond to the four portions of staple food in the four corners? Perhaps after this, I don’t need to prepare the staple food for the Ritual anymore. I might be able to go straight to the pacing and cite the spell.” Klein made a rough guess.

[This may seem advantageous, but there is something in the body that you don't understand. This is scary.]

Despite the hot June weather, Klein could not help but shudder. Why the inexplicable ritual on the Earth could actually produce an effect here? Why did he crossed over during his dreams? What did the mystical and mind-blowing gray world of fogs represent? What were the maddening whispers during the ‘ritual’?

He recalled a phrase. "The oldest and most intense emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and most intense fear is the fear of the unknown." Now, he deeply felt the fear of the unknown.

In an unprecedented and unyielding way, he had a strong desire to reach out to the mystical realm to learn more about it and dispel his doubts. Yet at the same time, he also felt an impulse to pretend that nothing had happened.

The sun was a glowing medallion in the sky and the radiant rays covered the desk with a layer of "golden powder". Klein glanced out of the window and felt a tint of warmth and hope.

He relaxed a bit and immediately felt a surge of tiredness flooding towards him.

Last night’s lack of sleep and the exhaustion from the ritual had made his eyelids as heavy as lead. He found it hard to stop them from closing.

Shaking his head, Klein reached for the edge of the table to support himself. Without even bothering to pick up the pieces of bread, he staggered his way to the bed. Once he lay down, with his head touching the pillow, he had immediately fallen asleep.

Klein woke up with hunger and a growl in the stomach. He opened his eyes and felt refreshed.

“There is still a slight headache.” He rubbed his forehead and sat up. He was so hungry that he could almost eat a whole cow.

As he straightened the folds of his clothes, he returned to the desk and picked up the silver-white vine-pattern pocket watch.

Pa!

The lid popped open and he saw the second’s hand ticking slowly.

“It is half-past twelve, I have slept for more than three hours…” Klein swallowed his saliva and put the pocket watch in the linen shirt pocket.

In the Northern Continent, the day was divided into 24 hours, 60 minutes per hour, and 60 seconds per minute. As for whether the length of each second was the same as on earth, Klein had no ways to verify.

At the moment, even the occult studies, the ritual, and the world of fogs were not at the top of his mind. The most important thing was food, food!

[I need to eat before I can think of a way!]

Without hesitation, Klein took back the dark rye bread from four corners and cleaned off some of the dust. He intended to consume one of them for noon.

There was a custom of eating offerings after rituals in his hometown. Therefore, it was fine for him as there were also no visible changes to the four rye pieces of bread. Furthermore, he had only five pence left in his pocket. He felt a need to be more diligent and thrifty.

Of course, it was also due to the subtle influence of the original Klein’s memory fragments and living habits.

Gas was too expensive. It was distressful to use gas even for lighting. Thus, Klein took out of the furnace and added some coal. Then, he paced back and forth, waiting for the water to boil.

[With this kind of rye bread, eating it dry eating can cause choking!]

"Oh no. Do I have to live with dark rye bread in the morning, dark rye bread in the noon, and only meat in the evening? Wait, if it weren't for Melissa's consideration of my upcoming interview, I could probably only eat meat twice a week…" Kline was so hungry that he couldn't think straight anymore.

When he recalled the pound of mutton, he looked at the kitchen closet and his eyes turned green.

“I have to wait for Melissa.” Klein shook his head violently, subduing his desire.

He had lived alone in a big city before. Therefore, he had managed to hone his cooking skills despite eating outside frequently. While he was not at a level of chef, it was still good enough.

Turning around, Klein suddenly remembered that in the morning he had not only bought meat but peas and potatoes too!

Potatoes! Klein instantly had an idea, he rushed to the kitchen closet like a whirlwind and took out two potatoes from the handful in the drawer.

First, he went to the shared washroom to clean the skins of the potatoes thoroughly. Next, he put them into the kettle and boiled them together with the water.

After a long while, he took out the seasoning box from the cupboard, opened the lid, and sparkled a little yellowish and coarse salt into the water.

Waiting patiently for a few more minutes, Klein lifted the kettle. He poured the water into a few cups and a bowl. Then, he used a fork to pierce the two potatoes and placed them on the table.

He peeled off a little of the skin while blowing off the heat on his hand. The smell of the cooked potatoes started diffusing in the air and it was appetizing.

With saliva secreting madly, Klein could not wait to finish peeling the potato. While the potatoes were still rather hot, he had taken a fierce bite on one of them.

It was powdery and tasty! Klein was in tears. He quickly devoured the two potatoes, together with a little bit of the skin.

After that, he took the bowl and drank a little of the "soup". The light savory taste washed his dry mouth.

[When I was a child, I loved to eat like this..…] Klein finally had something in his stomach. He then proceeded to break the dark rye bread with his hands and soaked them into the "soup".

Perhaps the "ritual" consumed too much energy. Thus, he also ate 2 pieces of rye bread.

After cleaning up. Klein felt that he was completely reinvigorated again. He could enjoy the feeling of being alive and the warmth of the sun.

He returned to the desk and began to think about the next steps.

[I can’t just run away. I must think of ways to gain experience in the mystical realm and the become the Extraordinaries mentioned by ‘Justice’ and the ‘Hanged Man.’]

To overcome the fear of the unknown.

[The only solution now is to wait for the next ‘meeting’ and try to listen to the potion formula of the 'Audience' or some other knowledge of the mystical realm.

There are four more days before Monday. Prior to the meeting, I will still need to confront the problems faced by the original self. Why did he commit suicide? What happened to him…]

Since it was no longer possible to cross back and leave, Klein picked up the notebook that he had left on the table. He wanted to see if there were any clues that might help to complete his fragmented memory.

Fortunately, the original Klein had the habit of taking notes and he had used the notes as a diary.

Klein also knew that the right cupboard of the desk was full of notebooks.

The notebook in his hand was in use since May 10th. The first part was mainly about the school life. It described his mentors and the knowledge in school.

"May 12, Mr. Azki mentioned that the lingua franca of the Byran Empire in the Southern Continent also originated from the Ancient Fusaq, which used to be a branch of the Giant's languages. Why is this so? Is it possible that all intelligent creatures had once used the same language? No, it must be wrong. In the records mentioned by the "Revelations of the Night" and the "Book of the Storms", the Giants were not the only masters of the land. There were elves, unusual species, and dragons as well. Well, those were all legends and myths."

"May 16th, senior associate professor Cohen and Mr. Azki discussed the inevitability of the Steam Era. Mr. Azki believed that this was accidental. If it wasn't for the sudden appearance of Russell the Great, perhaps the Northern Continent is still in the same conditions as the Southern Continent, living in an era of swords and shields. However, the mentor believed that he placed too much emphasis on the role of an individual. He asserted that with the development of time, even without Russell the Great, there would be a ‘Robert the Great’. In short, the Steam Era may be delayed, but it will inevitably arrive. I am not interested in their discussion. I just think that it is a little meaningless. In fact, I prefer to discover new things and restore the history beneath the fogs. Perhaps, I should not have come to the Department of History. I could have gone to the Department of Archaeology?”

"On May 29th, Welch came to me and told me that he had discovered a notebook of the Fourth Epoch. My Goddess, a notebook of the Fourth Epoch! He didn't intend to go to the Archaeological students. Instead, he asked me and Naya for help to decipher the contents. How could I refuse such an opportunity? Of course, I will arrange for this after my thesis defense. As of now, I cannot be distracted."

Seeing this, Klein’s interest became aroused. In comparison to reading historical notes and conceptual arguments of the past, the newly mentioned "Fourth Epoch" notebook was more likely to have caused the original self’s suicide.

The Fourth Epoch was the period before the "Epoch of Black Iron". Its history was shrouded in darkness with many missing parts. The number of unearthed tombs, ancient cities, and literature from that epoch was extremely rare. Historians and archaeologists could only use vague descriptions from the theological books of the seven major churches to piece together a rough impression of the era. It was known to have the existence of the Solomon Empire, the Torton Dynasty, and the Tran-Soester Empire.

Klein, who was determined to unveil the fogs of the past and restore the truths behind history, had little interest in the "Third Epoch" which comprised of mainly myths and legends. He was more passionate about the "Fourth Epoch", which was also known as the "Epoch of the Gods." It would not be hard to imagine his excitement on the matter.

[Oh, by the way, the original self's concern on the interview and his worries about future employment were not that necessary…] Klein couldn’t help but sigh.

At present, universities were still very scarce. The vast majority of students came from noble or wealthy families. When civilians entered, they might be discriminated against because of their status, or not included in the other people’s social circles. However, as long as they were not extreme, they could build valuable relationships from the group discussions and group activities.

For example, Welch McGovern was the son of a banker in Coyston, Intersea Province of the Ruen Kingdom. He was a generous person who spent lavishly. Furthermore, he had been in the same assignment group with Klein and Naya for a long time. Therefore, he had consistently asked them for help.

Without getting distracted too much, Klein continued reading the notes.

"June 18, graduation. Good Bye. Hoey University!"

"June 19, I saw the notebook. After comparing the sentence structure and root words, it was found to be in a variant of the ancient Fusaq language. More precisely, for more than a thousand years, the ancient Fusaq has been slightly evolving with time."

"June 20, we deciphered the contents of the first page, the author was a member of a family called ‘Antigonus’.”

"June 21, he mentioned the 'Dark Emperor'. This is completely in contradiction with the previously deciphered contents of that era. Is it true that the mentors' views are wrong and that the ‘dark emperor' was actually the common title of every emperor of the Solomon empire?"

“June 22, the Antigonus family seemed to have a prominent place in the Solomon Empire. The owner of the note mentioned that he had a secret deal with someone called Torton. The Torton Dynasty?”

“June 23, I have to control myself to stop thinking about the notebook and not going to Welch's place. I have an upcoming interview! This is very important!”

"June 24, Naya told me they had a new discovery. I think I should take a look.”

"June 25, according to the new interpretations, the owner of the notebook accepted a mission to visit the main peak of the ‘Honakis’ mountains. His destination was the ‘Kingdom of the Night' located at the top of the peak. My Goddess, the main peak of the ‘Honakis’ is more than six thousand meters high. How could a country exist? What did they survive on?”

“June 26, are all these strange things real?”

Here, the notes ended and Zhou crossed over in the early morning of June 28th.

[It is more appropriate to say, there is a line of note for June 27. It is that sentence … “Everyone will die, including me…”] Klein turned to the initial page he had seen and felt goosebumps rising on his skin again.

He speculated that in order to solve the mystery of the original self’s suicide, he would need to visit Welch and take another look at the contents of the ancient notebook. However, with the rich “experiences” from web novels, movies, and television drama, he had a hunch that if he had gone back, and if everything was indeed related to the notebook, there would definitely be unforeseen dangers. It was like those people who courted their death by daring themselves to visit a haunted castle.

[I can’t go back but I shouldn’t do nothing. Trying to avoid the problem will never resolve it. It may accumulate until one day where it finally explodes, drowning myself.]

[Should I inform the police? But can I tell them that I’ve killed myself?]

Dun!

Dun! Dun!

Suddenly, there was a series of sudden and powerful knocks at the door.

Klein quickly sat up and listened.

Dun!

Dun!

The sounds of knocking reverberated in the lonely corridor aisle.

TN:

Adjusted some terms in earlier chapters.

Tuzen Era (old), Torton Era (new).

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