Chapter 2 – The countdown Hits Zero
Ning Lu's voice echoed above the Sefirah Castle, but just then, from the distant Tarot Club stone table, a sound seemed to pierce through the gray fog and reach his ears.
"…Good afternoon, Mr. Fool~"
The Tarot Club had begun… Ning Lu exhaled deeply, stepped forward, and sat at the edge of the gray mist.
Although he had no idea why his current situation felt so bizarre, he still carried out the most basic investigation of his surroundings.
As he sat, he gently pressed the border of the gray mist; the sensation under his fingertip felt like rough stone. With that sound in his ears, the previously blurry "Tarot Club" scene sharpened rapidly.
"The scenery in this area can change to some extent according to my will; I just can't leave this zone for now…"
Ning Lu reached out and touched the writhing gray mist ahead, feeling an insurmountable resistance—he definitely couldn't leave yet.
Right then, another voice drifted over. Ning Lu identified that unfathomable tone, and his expression turned odd.
"The Tarot Club has officially started…"
"Miss Justice has obtained the Spectator potion formula, and Alger seems to have opened his Spirit Vision, quietly peeking at the Fool… he was this bold from the start?"
He couldn't help muttering,
"Luckily, the Sailor Path doesn't grant too much Spirit Vision—barely better than the Hunter Path that can only see 'rosy and healthy.' Otherwise, a sequence 7 staring straight at a deity would end up downright miserable…"
Moments earlier, using his Cryptologist's keen Spirit Vision, Ning Lu had confirmed that Klein had already become a Beyonder.
Although Klein had only just stepped onto the Beyonder path as a Sequence 9 Seer, his entire body was genuinely shrouded in Sefirah Castle's mist; any Spirit Vision-sensitive Beyonder would have dropped dead on the spot.
"Still, my sight doesn't seem blocked by the fog cloaking them… what exactly is my current state?"
Ning Lu grumbled, stood up, and, while listening to voices coming through clearly, walked toward the plaza where countless Cocoons of light hung.
His gaze swept across the faces sealed inside the Cocoons as the ongoing Tarot Club discussion streamed into his ears.
Just now, our venerable Mr. Fool—without understanding a thing—had already told the two members about the Acting Method and asked them to collect Roselle Gustav's diaries.
Hearing the Club mention Roselle's diaries, Ning Lu couldn't help feeling a twinge of mourning for Roselle.
After all, while the Black Emperor could revive again and again, social death was final—once dead, forever dead.
Unless Roselle "distorted" the memories of everyone who knew about "Roselle's diaries," there was no saving him.
Time flew in the Tarot Club. Ning Lu listened as the trio shifted from "Roselle's diaries" to "the Spectator potion," then to Loen's governmental system, and heard Klein speak, offering—like a Keyboard Politician—some schemes once seen on Earth.
Sensing the meeting was nearing its end, Ning Lu quickened his pace toward the remaining Cocoons he hadn't examined.
He suspected that, since his arrival in Sefirah Castle had been triggered by Klein convening the Tarot Club and ascending to the Castle, he might be dragged out together when Klein left.
Cocoon after Cocoon slipped past his view; soon he stopped again, standing beneath the resplendent cyan-black gate and the light-formed "Cocoons," and lifted his chin slightly.
Beneath the gate, only three torn "cocoons" swayed in the wind… The gray mist slowly dispersed. Just as he'd guessed, when Klein exited Sefirah Castle, Ning Lu felt a violent falling sensation—and then he was back in his study.
"Exactly as I thought…" As Ning Lu exhaled, a faint burning pain flared across the back of his hand. He quickly raised it and saw, beneath the gray countdown on his right hand, a mark slowly emerging.
The mark was entirely greenish-black, its ends curved so that it resembled the light-door he had just seen above Sefirah Castle—only far simpler, without those coiled worms, just a symbol shaped like an "Ω".
"Does this mean… after ascending to Sefirah Castle, my body underwent some change?"
Pale sunlight spilled across Ning Lu's face. He brushed the greenish-black mark on his right hand with the index finger of his left, trying to channel the "spirituality" he had sensed ever since arriving in this world straight into the mark.
The greenish-black mark on the back of his hand transformed rapidly as spirituality poured in; the grey mist of hanging Cocoons he had seen earlier re-appeared before him, and his spirituality began draining away at great speed.
Watching the grey fog materialize, Ning Lu was struck by a bold idea. He scooped up a stack of paper beside him and shoved it into the mist.
Then he cut off the flow of spirituality.
Deprived of spiritual support, the grey mist quickly dispersed. A few seconds later Ning Lu drew a deep breath and re-activated the mark on his hand; the grey fog re-formed, and he reached in and pulled out the very sheets he had inserted.
"So this is like the application of Sefirah Castle Klein will later develop…" Ning Lu murmured, setting the stack of letter paper on the table beside him.
"Looks like I can't reach Sefirah Castle yet, but I already have a 'storage space'… Whatever happens when the countdown ends—whether I return home or transmigrate again—I can stash things inside Sefirah Castle."
"Right now I'll raid the Aurora Order's little vault and see what's useful; it might come in handy later…"
"…"
"…Damn, why's Amon such a jerk? He even steals from his old man's subordinates?"
When Ning Lu stepped into the empty warehouse his face darkened.
He stared at the bare interior, not a glimmer of Beyonder spirituality anywhere, and couldn't help thinking how awful Amon was.
The Aurora Order member standing nearby was beaded with sweat; pale-faced, he stammered out what had happened, trying to excuse his dereliction.
"If the former Mr. L heard you making excuses he'd have fired you—literally. Understood?" Ning Lu gave the man a sidelong glance and said flatly:
"Before nightfall, buy some heavy-calibre firearms and restock everything here."
"Don't bungle even that. Tonight, go confess before our Lord yourself."
Late at night, crimson moonlight poured through the window into Mr. L's bedroom. Ning Lu stood quietly by the window, watching the countdown on his hand tick toward zero.
[00:00:31]
I've already stored enough food, medicine, and the emergency weapons the Aurora Order purchased into the mark on my hand. This mark shares the same source as Sefirah Castle; there's a good chance it will still work after the countdown hits zero… I've also placed markers on my body and clothes; if, after the countdown, I'm still in this body and the marks haven't changed, odds are I'll transmigrate together with this body.
[00:00:03]
As long as I don't drop dead the instant the timer hits zero, it's an acceptable outcome… [00:00:02]
[00:00:01]
[00:00:00]
Grey mist, familiar pain welled up in Ning Lu's mind once more.
A vivid deep-red burst forth.
Ning Lu opened his eyes to see a blond, blue-eyed youth gripping an axe, warily staring at him.
He started to speak, but the boy's eyes filled with terror and he spun and fled without hesitation.
Er… Ning Lu stood dumbfounded for a moment, then felt a sharp pain in his hand.
He looked down: the countdown on his hand was jumping eerily.
[72:00:00]
[71:59:59]
[71:59:58]
…"Great—Cordu Village. We're doomed."
Surveying his surroundings, Ning Lu said with resignation.