This room is no longer livable!
Vincent immediately made up his mind and turned to leave, but as soon as he took a step, everything around him suddenly went pitch black and pale white, as if he had fallen into an ink well.
Damn, I've been so careful. How did I still fall into this trap?
Vincent's breath was suddenly cut off. As he remained alert, he mentally shouted, "This is real danger. Body, move already!"
Unfortunately, he remained frozen in place.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but a pale gray light gradually dispelled the darkness, allowing Vincent to see his surroundings: It was a room that seemed to resemble a living room, with typical Western-style decorations—paintings, carpets, a fireplace, and exquisite silver ornaments.
The atmosphere in the room was heavy and suffocating, as everything around him was shaded in gray, like the screen of an old black-and-white television.
Looking around, he could see a window and a door, with only pure darkness outside.
Where am I now?
Vincent tensed his body and waited patiently for a while. Nothing happened, so he cautiously took a step forward. After waiting a few seconds, he slowly walked to the window.
He saw nothing outside, only pure darkness. In the reflection on the glass, he saw his own figure, not Bernadette's!
Am I back in the Harry Potter world?
No, this feels more like...
He lowered his gaze to his slightly transparent body and felt that familiar weakness, realizing that he was most likely in a soul state right now.
So, my soul has detached from Bernadette's body?
Is this because of that compass?
Vincent paced around the room, trying to find a way out, but came up empty-handed.
The only remaining option was the door.
He walked to the gray wooden door, gripped the handle, and gently pressed down. Hearing a "click," he immediately let go and stepped back.
In an instant, boundless darkness mixed with deep red seeped through the gap in the door, quickly spreading throughout the room. The next second, his vision was consumed by the deep red glow.
...
Tingen City.
Klein had just finished his shooting practice and took a public carriage back home. By the time he got out of the carriage, the sky had already darkened. (The time difference between the two timelines is due to the different locations.)
He looked up at the red moon in the sky. Even though he had been in this world for a while, he still hadn't gotten used to the blood-red hue of the night.
Click.
As soon as he entered the house, his sister, Melissa, bounced up from the couch, eagerly asking, "How did it go, Klein?"
"Uh."
Klein knew she was asking about the "bread thief" that had been wreaking havoc in Tingen recently. Normally, Melissa didn't care much about such matters. For her, studying mechanics was far more interesting.
The reason she cared so much was because… she had been the first victim of the "bread thief!"
A week ago, she had kindly taken a poor, mute, homeless man to a bakery to buy bread, only for him to snatch a whole plate of buttered bread from the baker!
And because of that, Melissa Moretti was mistakenly treated as an accomplice and was handed over to the police by the baker.
She had been stunned at the time.
Unfortunately, her defense didn't help, and the baker was adamant that Melissa had brought the thief to the store. She had to take responsibility for her actions and compensate for the losses.
Melissa, feeling wronged, refused to admit guilt—she had never even tasted the buttered bread! It wasn't until Klein received the news and paid the compensation that she was released from the police station.
Since then, Melissa had never forgotten that number:
2 pounds, 8 shillings, and 7 pennies!
This was enough to cover their family's food expenses for several weeks!
As the only member of the family who didn't make money, Melissa had always tried to save wherever possible, and yet, after a single act of kindness, she had caused such a huge loss.
She couldn't swallow this bitter pill. She wanted to prove her innocence and make up for the loss!
Knowing that Klein worked for a security company that had some connections with the police, Melissa had been asking him every day about the "bread thief."
Klein, feeling somewhat guilty, shifted his gaze. "Well... from what I know, the 'bread thief' has likely already left Tingen."
"What?!"
Melissa staggered, her expression blank: If the thief couldn't be caught in Tingen, and now he's left, then it's really impossible to catch him. My innocence, my loss…
Seeing his sister so disheartened, Klein felt helpless.
Not long ago, Sheriff Gate had come to Blackthorn Security, suspecting that the "bread thief" wasn't an ordinary person, and had asked for their help.
Naturally, it fell to Klein to find the thief. Using traces left by the thief during a previous incident, Klein had relied on his divination skills to trace him.
But after seeing the thief's extraordinary abilities firsthand, Klein had wisely backed off. This led to the near-total failure of a Tingen team operation, and the "3 pennies" would forever be etched in Klein's mind!
Damn bastard!
I was kind enough to give you money, and you go ahead and screw over Melissa, and then me? Are you intentionally targeting us?
Every time Klein thought about this, his anger boiled over.
However, since then, the "bread thief" (the homeless man) hadn't appeared again, and the captain had concluded that the thief had either achieved his goal and hidden himself or had left Tingen.
As someone familiar with "role-playing," Klein privately suspected that the thief's unusual behavior—stealing bread—might have been part of some kind of "role-playing" method.
In any case, this matter seemed to be winding down.
Later, Klein had hinted to the captain whether the company could reimburse the substantial loss caused by the "bread thief," but the captain didn't even acknowledge it—of course, it might have just been forgotten.
"Alright, don't think too much about it. Let's eat."
"Oh."
Melissa lowered her head and served Klein a bowl of lamb soup with a slice of white bread. She then grabbed a piece of rye bread and started munching on it with a glass of water, nibbling like a rabbit.
Klein stared at her in disbelief. "Is this all you're eating?"
She pursed her lips and replied, "I'm going to save up to make up for my losses!"
"…"
Klein sighed and opened his mouth to speak, but then, suddenly, he felt a stirring in his soul, and a swelling, deep red star seemed to flicker before his eyes.
...
Elsewhere.
Vincent's vision was completely consumed by the light.
He found himself standing in a vast palace supported by massive stone pillars. In front of him was an ancient, worn-out bronze table, and across from him sat a figure shrouded in thick gray mist.
Mysterious and enigmatic.
To be continued…