"Hey, is your name Ei? The kidnapper told me to convey his words," quipped Elurian while eating rice cakes on the balcony of his room.
The entity did not answer for a long time until Elurian finished three rice cakes. He didn't want to think about his plans at the moment, everything almost fell apart because of his carelessness many times.
He had to fix that and the first thing was to recognize the entity that put him in this world. He didn't want to be stabbed in the back again.
[Yeah, I know. I also heard his words at that time. Regarding that curse...]
Elurian interrupted as he got up from his seat on the balcony, "Maybe I'll be a little sore tonight, so try to help me."
His experiment to utilize the original owner's soul was indeed successful, but he couldn't utilize it tonight because it had already reached the six hour limit. Moreover, every time he took advantage of the original owner's soul, there would be a plot control that made everything chaotic.
I also couldn't use the book too much or I wouldn't be able to afford the price. Elurian remembers the notebook in his dream, which can organize things according to what was written as long as it makes sense. However, its influence was limited by various things including the price that needs to be paid for the coercion of fate.
Well, I have to forget about that or the entity will dig into my brain and find out about that book... He had to stop thinking about his secrets, even what he was thinking could be revealed and it could endanger his life.
I had to investigate how deep the plot's control was on the characters, no, the people in this world .... Elurian sets his initial goals before fulfilling his ultimate goal.
He had to take one step slowly, he couldn't rush. Correcting what was wrong with himself, adapting to the changes, then understanding the plot anomalies of this world.
Elurian walked out of his room and saw one of the guides assigned to guard him. It was a guide with a green robe like the color of his hair. Elurian knew who he was and of course this was a good opportunity to test his guess.
"Young Master, are there anything you need?" Lazorie, who was asked to replace Elurian's guard duties, prepares to serve Master Rex's disciple. He lowered his body so that Elurian didn't have to look up at him.
"Can I go out and walk around town?" Elurian asked while wearing a pleading expression.
Lazorie was stunned for a moment seeing his expression and felt like he couldn't bear to refuse Elurian, he was weak to children's pleas.
"Sure, I'll accompany you for a walk," he answered as he stretched out his hand and patted Elurian's head gently.
His green eyes were a little emotional as if Elurian reminded him of someone precious to him. Lazorie picked up Elurian and took him to go outside.
"Well, I'll show you the places that are worth showing," said Lazorie, aware that some places in the Sanctuary were not worth seeing for children.
"Yeah, how do I call you?" Elurian pretended not to know his name.
"If Young Master wants, you can call me 'Big Brother', but Master Rex probably won't like it. Well, Young Master can call me Lazorie," Lazorie joked about Rex Violet's opinion if Elurian called him big brother.
The corners of Elurian's mouth twitched as he railed inwardly. I don't want to even if Master allows it, I only use that nickname for my older brother!
[...] The entity looked at Elurian's expression then at Lazorie, in the end he was speechless.
They walked along the third floor corridor, then down the stairs to the front of Crescent Manor. The servants were seen busy tidying up things and carrying various objects to be stored in the warehouse. Elurian watched the servants closely, his violet eyes narrowing slightly as he discovered something odd.
His little hand tugged at the collar of Lazorie's robe, then he whispered, "Are the servants puppets?"
Lazorie's expression froze as he looked into Elurian's curious eyes.
"Uh, that... I can't tell you." He chose to remain silent.
Lazorie immediately changed his expression and raised the corners of his mouth, trying to divert Elurian's attention
"I will show you an interesting place that can only exist in this Sanctuary. In fact, humans are still humans who need enough entertainment in the midst of dire situations or they will be consumed by madness."
Elurian's eyes lit up, he chose to put aside the problem of the servants for the time being. Something that could only exist in this Sanctuary, he knew what it was.
[Are you okay?]
The entity finally couldn't hold it in anymore as things didn't look right.
"I almost found the red thread, don't you feel it?" Elurian replied in their private communication.
[What's that?]
"The secret of this world."
The entity pressed anxiously. [What do you think?]
"I won't tell you now."
Elurian finished playing around with the entity, then noticed that he had been taken out of Crescent Manor.
Elurian tugged at the collar of Lazorie's robe again to signal him to lower it, he wanted to walk around on his own without being carried.
Lazorie was helpless to resist, he put Elurian down, then took him to explore the city. Crescent Manor and the city in Sanctuary are only separated by a wall that separates the manor from the surrounding residential areas.
Right outside the gates of Crescent Manor, there was already a town square where the residents usually perched The environment looks clean and comfortable, like the city before the destruction occurred.
This was what Rex Violet has been trying to do, to create a city where the people who live there were not affected by the destruction outside.
Elurian was amazed by the view of the city like medieval Europe. The square, which has a unique fountain, was surrounded by people chatting. Meanwhile, children ran around, teasing pedestrians and street musicians.
Not like the environment where the apocalypse occurred. Elurian knew from the novel's explanation that all of this was created to keep the remaining humans from being affected by the tide of madness.
With a comfortable environment, just like the world before the apocalypse, then those people will appreciate it more and be willing to fight for their comfort.
But, Master seems too kind... Or is that just his mission as a guide?
Lazorie noticed Elurian's amazement, as if he had never seen a view of the city before. This makes Lazorie wonder if the child wasn't from this Sanctuary? Was he a refugee from another Sanctuary?
"Do you want to explore on your own before going to that place?" Lazorie saw Elurian watching the children running around. He immediately understood that children tend to want to play with each other.
"Really?" Elurian looked excited.
"Well, I'll wait here, don't go too far."
Elurian immediately ran towards the square where the cup-shaped fountain was located. He had to confirm his guess there, by taking advantage of the guide, then everything should be fine.
The entity suddenly understood what he was about to do.
[Hey, you're not going to activate it, right?]
His voice sounded warning. Lately, the entity's voice has started to become more human and like its own voice without imitating anyone else's voice
"Take a guess?" Elurian passed a group of children who were trying to invite him to play, he ignored them and rushed to the fountain.
Arriving near the five meter high fountain, Elurian looked at the clear pool that held the water. He looked at his own reflection in the pool, his violet eyes seemed to grow darker.
This was one of the games that the Master left behind. If my guess was wrong, then I will be fine. But, if it's true...
Elurian knows what the consequences will be, but with the assurance of a guide, the guide can be a witness.
With that in mind, Elurian reached out to his reflection in the pool, then cast a spell he had memorized.
"Reflections above the sky and below the earth, a gray world that was a reflection of reality, one part of the river of time."
With the continent's common language, the spell could work. For information, Elurian gained a linguistic understanding of the privileges granted by the entity. Otherwise, he was practically illiterate and couldn't talk to people in this world, that was a terrible situation.
After the spell was chanted, a bluish light appeared from the bottom of the pool, then it was as if time had stopped, Elurian suddenly sensed from the surroundings. The colors disappeared, the people around became statues, and all that was left was him and Lazorie.
This was a gray world, a reflection of reality, while also confirming Elurian's guess, namely the time loop.
-"Hyun-ie, isn't this setting interesting? A gray world created by Rex, it signifies recordings from previous timelines being saved and time frozen. It's like a parallel line between reality and illusion."
-"Hyung, that's too strange and doesn't make sense. Why did you make the setting like that?"
-"This setting will not exist in the first timeline. Which means if the gray world exists, then.....
-"What?"
-"I'll keep that secret until the next volume."
Elurian remembers the conversation he had with his older brother before he died. Unfortunately, that next volume was the last volume that will never have the ending.
He didn't know what the secret was, but he managed to confirm the strangeness of the surroundings and concluded that this world was not in the first timeline. Also, it's clear that the entity knows about it, but keep it a secret.
So, that's why there are so many inconsistencies happening, even to myself. How I was suddenly dragged into the disciple selection and suddenly selected, everything was a setting.
All the plot holes, the messenger I heard for the first time, and the remaining soul of the original owner.
Elurian didn't transmigrate on in the early stages of the novel, no, more precisely he actually from the start continued the story of the novel in its final volume.
The final volume was the redemption of Rex Violet.
***