Chapter Five: Above the Gray Mist

June 28th.

Just after finishing his shopping and receiving a divination from the beast tamer, Klein was walking home when a man dressed as a bartender suddenly approached him with a sly grin.

The bartender was tall and muscular but had a delicate, almost doll-like face that seemed incongruous with his nearly two-meter height. His fluffy pale pink hair framed ears adorned with earrings, and he wore gold-rimmed glasses.

If one had to describe him, he was like a blend of a refined scoundrel and a suit-clad thug.

“Sir, our tavern officially opens tonight at eight. As a conscientious business, we're holding a promotion—everything’s 30% off, buy one get one free on all drinks. Interested in learning more?” The bartender’s delicate face was plastered with a flattering smile as his tall frame blocked Klein’s path like a wall. He shoved a flyer into Klein’s hand, leaning in relentlessly, causing Klein to shudder.

“Uh, no thanks,” Klein said, growing uncomfortable with the man’s enthusiasm. He pushed him away with his free hand and moved around him.

The bartender didn’t persist but turned to hand out flyers to others. Klein gradually distanced himself, the obsequious voice behind him fading into faint murmurs of “discount,” “conscientious,” and other sales jargon.

Back at home, Klein casually placed the flyer and his shopping bag on the table. He didn’t rush into the ritual to change his luck but first translated phrases like “Blessed Mysterious Yellow Heavenly Sovereign” into ancient Fursak script and runes. During this, he noticed a tiny, nearly imperceptible cut on his left index finger. Though he didn’t mind much, he washed it carefully—no infections, please.

Having done so, he took four rye breads from the paper bag, placing one in the corner where the coal stove used to be, one inside the base of the dressing mirror, one at the cabinet’s top where two walls met, and the last beside the clutter on his desk.

He then stood in the center of the room, took a deep breath, and walked counterclockwise in a square while softly chanting: “Blessed Mysterious Yellow Immortal Sovereign, Blessed Mysterious Yellow Heavenly Lord, Blessed Mysterious Yellow Supreme Deity, Blessed Mysterious Yellow Heavenly Sovereign.”

In Klein’s anxious state, whispers—sometimes delicate, sometimes sharp; sometimes illusory, sometimes enticing; sometimes frenzied, sometimes mad—echoed in his ears.

On Narcissus Street, on the second floor of a tavern not yet officially open, Selris sat on a sofa, flipping through the bestseller novel Storm Manor—one of the most famous works by renowned author Falls Wall.

Suddenly, a voice came from the other end of the sofa—from “Gornes,” a tavern staff member whom Selris had conjured using the appearances of several old friends through mysterious powers. After all, he was too lazy to manage the tavern himself; that would be too troublesome.

“Boss, it’s reacting. Look.”

Gornes held out his left hand, palm hovering over a single drop of blood emitting a faint gray-red glow.

Selris took it with an exaggerated smile. “Hey, picked up a cat, folks, he wants to come home with me.”

[Ugh, what a perv.]

When Klein opened his eyes again, he found himself floating in an endless sea of gray mist.

The mist flowed like water, speckled with deep red “stars”—some large, some tiny, some hidden deep within, others floating on the surface.

Staring at this holographic scene, Klein half confused, half inquisitive, reached out his right hand to touch one of the deep red “stars” floating near the surface to his right, searching for a way out.

The instant his finger brushed the star’s surface, ripples surged from his body, triggering the “deep red” to erupt like a burst of ethereal fireworks.

Startled, Klein withdrew his hand abruptly but accidentally touched another “deep red” star. Unnoticed by him, a star glowing with orange-red light shot swiftly from somewhere and collided with the wound on his left hand.

Three stars flared brilliantly.

…

In the capital of the Rune Kingdom, Beckland, Queen’s District, inside a lavish villa, Audrey Hall sat before her dressing table, stroking an ancient copper mirror with cracked surfaces and intricate engravings.

“Magic mirror, magic mirror, awaken quickly…”

“In the name of the Hall family, I command you to awaken!”

She tried various incantations, but the mirror remained silent. After more than ten minutes, she finally gave up, pursing her lips in frustration and murmuring softly, “Dad really lied to me. He always said this mirror was a treasure of the ancient Solomon Empire’s Black Emperor, an extraordinary object…”

Before her words faded, the copper mirror on the table suddenly burst forth with deep red light, enveloping her instantly.

At sea near Sunya, an outdated three-masted sailing ship battled through a storm. Alger Wilson stood on deck, swaying with the ship's motion yet maintaining balance with ease.

He wore a robe embroidered with lightning patterns and held a strangely shaped glass bottle that occasionally bubbled, sometimes frosted over like snow, and sometimes bore wind-blown streaks.

“Just need the blood of the ghost shark…” Alger whispered.

At that moment, the glass bottle and his palm erupted in deep red, instantly engulfing the surroundings.

---

On the tavern’s second floor, Selris closed the windows and returned to the bedside, feeling a subtle psychic pull.

He tilted his mask to the left temple and closed his eyes, enveloped by the power of Memory. His body began to turn somewhat translucent, transforming into a memetic form. Mr. Fool still couldn’t pull him up into the gray mist, but if he chose to climb up, that would be another matter.

The “Fool’s Sacred Blood” floating in his palm flared with deep red light.

[Wow! So powerful!]

At Klein’s home, a thread of protective and mnemonic energy drifted from the casually placed flyer, passing through the wall and entering Klein’s body, stabilizing his connection to the gray mist dimension. This was to prevent Mr. Fool from prematurely disconnecting due to the unexpected presence of an additional person.

…

Above the gray-white mist, Selris assessed his state. Unlike others who had only their souls pulled up, Selris’s memetic form was an entire soul-body.

He tried to minimize his influence on Klein, a sensation akin to reducing one’s gravity while floating in the air—not physical weight, but mystical “existence.”

He slowly opened his eyes.

[Gray mist sways, Selris opens his eyes.]

Not a buddy—how did you get up here too?

Looking around, he saw three others: one panicking and scanning wildly, two pretending calm but equally anxious.

“Sir, where is this place?”

“What do you intend to do?”

“Hey, guys, are the four of us going to play mahjong?”

Audrey and Alger were taken aback, falling silent before speaking simultaneously. Selris joined in with a playful remark.

Same Rune language, same grave and tense atmosphere, plus a discordant note.

“Where is this? What do I want? I’d like to know too… uh… mahjong? Does this world even have mahjong? And you’re a bit too quirky…” Klein calmed down, silently echoing their questions and teasing one of them.

What caught his attention most was not the sentences or their meanings, but the fear, caution, dread, and reverence expressed by the man and woman, aside from the seemingly casual person.

Being inexplicably dragged along into this gray mist world was shocking even to him, the “perpetrator,” let alone the passive trio.

To them, this ordeal must have surpassed all imagination. The casual one was likely feigning composure to seize control of the conversation. As a keyboard warrior with a touch of worldly knowledge from a past life, Klein recognized this negotiation tactic.

At that moment, two options occurred to Klein: one, to pretend he was also a victim, hiding his true identity to gain some trust and observe quietly; two, to maintain his mysterious aura and actively guide the situation to extract valuable information.

No time to ponder, Klein seized the fleeting thought and chose the second approach—leveraging their current psychological state to maximize his advantage.

After a brief silence above the gray mist, Klein chuckled softly, his tone calm and low, as if responding politely to a visitor’s greeting: “Just trying.”

“Trying…?” Audrey Hall stared at the mysterious man shrouded in gray mist, feeling the absurdity, humor, horror, and strangeness of the situation.

She had just been in her bedroom at the dressing table; turning her head brought her here, surrounded by mist! How utterly baffling!

Audrey took a breath, wearing an impeccable, polite smile, nervously asking, “Sir, is the trial over? Can you send us back?”

Alger Wilson wanted to test the waters too but, more experienced, restrained his impulse.

Even as a qualified member of the Angry Folk, he knew when silence was prudent.

Klein looked toward the questioner and faintly perceived her silhouette—a tall girl with silky blonde hair, though her features were blurred.

[She’s really pretty.]

“Hey, don’t mess around,” Selris thought.

Although seeing through the gray mist was easy for Selris, Klein’s grasp was less stable. If he pushed too hard and severed Mr. Fool’s network, many joys would be lost.

[Blocking others from what you dare not do yourself—such a presumptuous man, who understands?]

---

“Quack, it’s version T0, everyone back off!” Selris exclaimed mentally in shock.

[So what?]

Klein didn’t rush to answer the girl’s question but turned to the two men beside her—one with deep blue, seaweed-like messy hair and an average build, the other with black hair and something like a mask clipped to his left temple, slimmer than the first.

At this moment, Klein had a sudden insight: when he becomes stronger or understands this gray mist world better, he might truly see through the haze and recognize their features.

In this event, they were guests, and he was the host!

With this shift in mindset, Klein noticed previously overlooked details.

The sweet-voiced girl, the composed man, and the seemingly frivolous man were all quite ethereal, tinged with faint red—like projections of the three deep red “stars” above the gray mist.

These projections were based on Klein’s connection to the deep red stars—intangible yet tangibly grasped. Severing this link would dissolve the projections, allowing them to return.

Klein nodded subtly, looking at the blonde girl and smiling gently: “Of course, if you formally request it, I can send you back right now.”

Audrey, sensing no malice, relaxed and trusted that a man capable of such wonders would keep his promise. The young Miss Justice had yet to grasp the harshness of the extraordinary world.

Her spirits steadied, she didn’t rush to leave but let her emerald eyes flicker with an unusual light. Tentatively, eagerly, almost excitedly, she said, “This truly is a marvelous experience… I’ve always wanted something like this. I mean, I love mysteries, I love miracles beyond nature. No, what I mean is, sir, how can I become an extraordinary being?”

[That’s obviously by using your own magnetic field to drive electrical currents, spreading your aura to become a powerful, dominant magnetic field master!]

“Shut up! The name Audrey clearly means she’s going to be a magical girl! Magical Girl Audrey, see? What a great name!” Selris launched a charge in the party voice chat, vowing to defend the honor of Magical Girl Audrey.

[You fool, is your brain full of orchids? A magical girl is someone who controls power through love and belief, who walks her path resolutely even if misunderstood… What do you call that?]

“Could it be! No! I don’t want that! Don’t say it aloud!”

[Exactly, a magnetic field lunatic!]

“Quack! I don’t want to see Audrey turn into a lunatic! Gah, I can already see it—Audrey using the power of imagination to spin a million psychic dragon fists and knock Klein to the ground, definitely…”

“Damn caterpillar, why do you have such a good imagination!”

No one noticed Selris ranting madly in the corner. Audrey grew more excited, even somewhat incoherent, as the childhood dream sparked by elders’ tales finally seemed within reach. Within moments, her previous fear and anxiety vanished.

Good question! I want to know the answer too… Klein muttered to himself, pondering how to respond while maintaining his mysterious aura.

Meanwhile, standing and chatting felt a bit low-class; such a scene demanded a temple, a long table, and many ancient-carved, mysterious high-backed chairs, with him seated at the head, calmly observing his guests.

As Klein’s thought concluded, the gray mist suddenly churned, startling Audrey and Alger, and forcing Selris out of his frenzy.

In an instant, towering stone pillars appeared around them beneath a vast dome. The building was grand and majestic, like the legendary palace of giants.

Directly beneath the dome, amid the swirling mist, stood a bronze long table flanked by ten high-backed chairs on each side, with similar seats at front and rear. The chair backs shimmered with deep red, outlining strange constellations not corresponding to reality.

Audrey and Alger sat opposite each other near the head of the table. Selris was to Alger’s right, slightly farther from the head.

[Looks like you got snubbed.]

“Who asked you?”

[We had an amazing gathering, everyone sat together, guess who wasn’t invited? You!]

Audrey glanced left and right, whispering, “This is truly marvelous…”

Indeed, marvelous… Klein reached out with his right hand and lightly traced the edge of the bronze table, expression unreadable.