Chapter 115: Who is the Protagonist?
Klein instinctively noted the information about dangerous forbidden knowledge hidden in book titles, thinking it seemed reasonable given the apparently unsafe content of the book in question.
After a moment of silence, Klein recalled Leonard's comments about the protagonist and curiously asked, "Do you remember who the main character of that book was?"
Alice suddenly hesitated. She glanced at the ceiling, Klein, the table, and the floor. Noticing her behavior, Klein couldn't help but ask, "Is there something you can't say about this?"
Alice opened her mouth, but after much hesitation, she swallowed back words like "This book tells the love story between you and Amon." Instead, she said sincerely, "You."
"What?" Klein asked reflexively.
Alice looked at Klein earnestly and replied, "You are the protagonist of this book."
Klein observed Alice's expression and recalled her earlier behavior, feeling there was more to the story. He pressed further, "Then why did you have that expression earlier?"
Alice suddenly wished she could find some tape to cover Klein's mouth. Quickly abandoning that impractical idea, she gave an answer that was truthful but not the whole truth: "Because I feel being the protagonist in this kind of book doesn't sound like a good thing."
Klein nodded in agreement. Then he asked curiously, "What about you? What's your role in the book?"
Alice's smile suddenly vanished. She was certain there was no character named Shen Yinghuan in the book - otherwise, Song Shu's initial assessment of her wouldn't have been "a born monster."
Alice's face paled as she stopped herself from recalling further details. When she looked at Klein's concerned expression, she said numbly, "You don't need to worry so much. After all, if I could die like that, it might be a good thing... right?"
Familiar with Alice's personality, Klein chose not to respond to this statement.
Alice sighed in disappointment and skillfully reined in her wandering thoughts. She remembered what the goddess had told her before her revival - that an unknown entity had erased the original owner of this body from fate and inserted her destiny instead.
Perhaps she didn't truly belong in this book. Perhaps that "unknown entity" was related to the truth behind her transmigration, or her blank past.
The next question was whether the book truly existed in that vanished civilization, or if the idea of a vanished Earth civilization was actually part of the book's setting, and she really came from another world...
Moreover, the notion of living inside a book reminded her of some unpleasant memories, like the quill 0-08 that could write without ink, and of course, Ince Zangwill.
If this book existed in the vanished Earth civilization, could its creator have been a powerful Beyonder? Did the story they wrote eventually become reality in this world?
Come to think of it, the history of this world bore striking similarities to Earth's civilization. Could this also have been written by someone?
This was a dangerous line of thought. Alice quickly pulled her mind back, switching to another question: What was the purpose of that "unknown entity" in placing her into this book?
Alice had many questions but unfortunately could not find answers to any of them. She could only look at Klein and reply:
"Perhaps I wasn't meant to exist in this book originally, but was inserted by another entity... Besides, why couldn't I have entered a novel with you as the protagonist?"
Klein felt convinced by this reasoning. He analyzed seriously, "You have a point. In other words, this is no longer the original book. We're actually in another book now, and you're the protagonist of this one..."
Alice thought she really should find some tape to cover Klein's mouth.
She glared fiercely at Klein, and after he fell silent, she thought to herself: *Ah, I wonder what Mr. Fool would think if he saw those drawings at the Tarot Club...*
This was quite a dangerous thought, and Alice found herself curious about this question as well after considering it.
She had initially thought about showing those drawings to Klein himself, but hesitated and gave up on the idea since she didn't know the identity of the other main character at the time. But now...
The idea was extremely tempting. Alice spent a great deal of effort suppressing this thought, deciding to postpone it until she understood the specific relationship between these two people.
...Surely their relationship wasn't purely physical?
Alice shook her head, throwing those dangerous thoughts out of her mind. Then, maintaining her composure, she asked, "If that's the case, do you think this book has any romantic plotlines? Is there a male lead or something?"
Klein fell into deep thought.
Their exploration of that still heavily obscured past ended there. Klein then kindly asked, "How do you plan to deal with Charles King? Do you need any help?"
Recalling Charles King's failed attempt to report her, Alice pondered and asked in return, "Why do you think he tried to report me to the Church of the Night rather than running away or killing me?"
*Because he felt he couldn't escape or defeat you.*
The answer was obvious, but neither of them dared to say it out loud - the idea of a mid-sequence Beyonder of the "Fate" pathway being forced into a corner with no way out was terrifying to contemplate.
Especially for Alice.
Unlike Klein, she had truly been pushed onto this path by fate. Every step of her journey to this point could be said to be filled with the traces of destiny.
What worried Alice was the white giant snake coiled atop the tower that she had dreamed of when she first arrived in Backlund.
If both the nameless "Lucky One" from back then and the current Charles King were sent to her by fate, how similar was her situation in that dream to theirs?
She had no desire to die inexplicably before that entity one day!
Declining Klein's offer of help, Alice returned to the real world amidst the silently spreading gloom.
The moon still hung in the sky. Having lost all desire for sleep, Alice opened her pocket watch to find it was only 3 AM, still far from dawn.