Chapter 47: A Cell Phone?!

Klein tried, and it was quite easy for him to open the envelope. What came into view was familiar Simplified Chinese. Klein had anticipated this; after all, the diary provided by Mr. Demon during the Tarot Gatherings was always in Chinese.

"My name is Caelris. When you read these words, I am already dead."

"Right now, I am trying to watch an ad to revive, though I have no idea how long that will take."

"I don't know who you are, but you must be the Chosen One. I foresee that two hundred years from now, the situation will be in turmoil and the apocalypse will be imminent. Externally, fiends, ghosts, and packs of wolves will be eyeing us hungrily; internally, the Celestial Worthy and the Lord will be watching us like tigers eyeing their prey. This is truly a moment of crisis between survival and demise."

Klein stared at the words "Celestial Worthy," repeating them silently in his heart.

"Only by believing in the Heavenly Sovereign of Freedom and Eternal Joy—who is supremely benevolent, righteous, mighty, and virtuous—can this world be led out of a sea of misery. To this end, I have established an organization named the Masked Fools, taking the salvation of all living souls under heaven as my bounden duty."

"I have passed down my name; every single leader is called Caelris. I foresee that you will be the key to whether this world can survive. Here, I sincerely invite you to join the Masked Fools."

Having finished reading the front of the letter, Klein turned the sheet over and saw written on the back: "In short, dear Chosen One, you wouldn't want your friends and family in this world to die beneath the apocalypse, would you?"

This sentence left Klein's mouth slightly agape, not knowing what to say. He put down the letter in his hand and looked at Caelris, who wore an innocent expression.

Only then did he remember that he actually didn't know Caelris's name.

"My name is Caelris Bruce. You can just call me Caelris," Caelris stated his name.

Klein lowered his head again to glance at the line, "Every single leader is called Caelris."

"Alright, Mr. Caelris. I more or less already know what you are here for. However, I still need to think about matters of this sort," Klein tactfully attempted to refuse.

He saw Caelris lowering his head, seemingly fiddling with something.

Tilting his head slightly to look past the obstruction on the desk, Klein was startled once more. The Caelris before him was holding something he found quite familiar.

A smartphone.

***

Caelris was typing on his smartphone, presumably replying to someone's message. Hearing Klein's response, Caelris promptly stood up with nimble movements and turned to leave without hesitation.

"Alright... then..."

"Wait a minute," Klein behind him gestured with a halting hand.

"Is there anything else, Mr. Klein?" Caelris turned around, wearing a smile that was not quite a smile.

"Cough," Klein gave a deliberately reserved cough. "It's just that, I wanted to ask... this... this thing of yours... what is it?"

A smartphone! This was actually a smartphone! Klein recalled the novels he had read in his past life, recalling the trope of "traveling back and forth between two worlds to play the merchant." If this was truly the case, if this was genuinely a dual-world travel trope! Could he possibly...

"Oh, this is called a smartphone. It's something brought over by the very first Caelris. You should already know this, right? Every leader of the Masked Fools is named Caelris."

[Bah, what a shameless scoundrel.]

"Yes." Klein motioned for Caelris to sit down. "We can still talk about it. Right?"

"Of course." Caelris smiled and sat back down.

***

For the past two days, Stelle had a strange sensation; she felt that the flaming lance in her hand was growing impatient and thirsty for battle.

This was the precursor to the main storyline unfolding—at least, that was what Stelle thought, and she believed in it implicitly.

"I am going to Trailblaze!" Stelle insisted, her will shining brightly. Nothing could stop her.

Because she, the Trailblazer, was the freest woman in the entire universe!

"Birds do not break out of their shells just to spend their whole lives inside a cage; even if they lack the strength to soar, the sky is their true home." Stelle felt as though she were practically glowing, as if chicken wings were sprouting from the back of her head.

***

"But that is not a reason for you to vandalize public property at will." The inspector across the desk rubbed his temples in distress, thinking that perhaps the person before him belonged not in a police station, but in an asylum.

"But they respawn every day..." Stelle still wanted to defend her actions.

"I am the one who replaces them every single day! It's me!" shouted the officer beside the inspector, slamming his hand on the desk in anger. "At six o'clock every morning!"

Stelle was shocked: "So they don't just respawn automatically?"

The inspector pushed the officer beside him back down and said helplessly, "Alright, alright, just pay the fine, and you can leave once it's settled."

A few minutes later, Stelle left the police station. It was mere pocket change, something she didn't care about at all. Still, she shouldn't cause trouble for others; it seemed she wouldn't be able to go around randomly smashing destructible objects like roadside crates, street signs, and pots anymore.

It was genuinely interesting, though. Previously, destroying such objects yielded absolutely nothing. Yet starting a few weeks ago, they actually dropped credits and crafting materials from time to time. It was truly baffling.

She planned to go find Old Neil to play; it was about time to advance the questline.

Old Neil had told her that his workplace was at the Blackthorn Security Company on Zoutland Street, a place she had visited before.

Following her memories, Stelle found the Blackthorn Security Company.

Pushing the door open, the very first thing she saw was a young girl asleep with her head resting on a desk.