It took Lin Ruo three seconds to confirm that he had once again traveled to another world.
Yes, again!
Lin Ruo was no longer a novice at this. His last journey was to the world of "Bungo Stray Dogs."
In that world, he gained a supernatural ability and used it along with his foresight to outmaneuver many powerful beings, almost changing the balance between ordinary people and ability users. Unfortunately, he eventually died at the hands of a blonde Frenchman due to an unexpected event.
"It's like being toyed with by fate… Is this karma?" Lin Ruo thought, smiling bitterly at the unexpected end of his previous life.
The reason for this was his supernatural ability, "Truth and Fallacy."
This ability had no direct offensive power but was considered highly dangerous by the authorities. It had two main parts. The first part, "Truth," allowed him to guide fate using words. This guidance amplified the likelihood of events happening. The higher the original probability, the more likely it would succeed. Conversely, the lower the probability, the more likely it would fail. This was independent of the target's strength and only related to the event's likelihood. Regardless of success or failure, there was always a cost, but Lin Ruo would sense it if it succeeded.
Events with almost zero probability wouldn't succeed even on ordinary people, while events with high probability could affect even top-tier ability users. However, "Truth" couldn't directly kill someone; it could only guide them into dangerous situations—though that was often enough.
The second part, "Fallacy," was simpler and more brutal, allowing him to distort reality and alter others' perceptions to a certain extent. The distortion wasn't usually significant and required maintenance, and it could only affect himself. Lin Ruo preferred the perception-altering aspect of "Fallacy," which, despite its limitations, was a perfect complement to "Truth."
With "Truth and Fallacy," Lin Ruo, despite lacking direct combat power, managed to manipulate many people effectively. However, this still couldn't save him when he encountered a spatial ability user at close range.
That was, after all, a top-tier ability user in the "Bungo Stray Dogs" world.
"Tsk!" Lin Ruo gritted his teeth, suppressing his emotions, and began to observe his surroundings.
The room he was in wasn't large, even small by his standards. There were two brown wooden doors on either side, a bunk bed against the opposite wall, and various daily items like a cupboard, coal stove, pots, and pans. These items had clearly been used for a long time, and even the only dressing mirror in the room had two cracks.
Undoubtedly, this wasn't a wealthy household, and the era he was in was likely closer to the Industrial Revolution or the Steam Age rather than modern times.
More than the room's furnishings, what caught Lin Ruo's attention was the only other person in the room.
A young man was lying on the table, thin and frail, wearing a linen shirt with black hair. Because he was lying face down, Lin Ruo couldn't see his face but could see a gruesome wound on his temple, clearly caused by a close-range shot from a revolver.
Amazingly, the wound was healing slowly.
This scene felt very familiar to Lin Ruo, reminding him of the opening of a novel he loved.
If he weren't currently a spirit-like entity unable to move heavy objects, Lin Ruo would have tried to pull out the notebook under the young man to see if it was signed by Klein Moretti.
Yes, a spirit-like entity!
Upon waking up, Lin Ruo realized he didn't have a physical body but existed in a ghostly form. He could feel a faint connection between himself and the young man on the table.
Lin Ruo speculated that he might have become a guardian spirit or something similar.
Perhaps this was the price of traveling again?
Lin Ruo frowned. He didn't like his current ghostly state, but with too little information, he decided not to act rashly.
First, gather information!
With this in mind, Lin Ruo floated to the young man's side to observe the wound's healing.
At that moment, the young man's body twitched, and he opened his eyes.
His brown eyes were still dazed, seemingly unaware of his situation.
Seeing this, Lin Ruo waved his hand in front of the young man, who didn't react.
The young man straightened up, looked at the items on the table, then around the room, and finally raised his head.
He seemed to see something, stood up suddenly, but then fell back into the chair.
Lin Ruo couldn't help but chuckle, then looked up at the sky, seeing a fleeting shadow of a velvet curtain.
Lin Ruo knew what it was. After his first journey, his memories of his first life became very clear, including the content of "Lord of the Mysteries."
Wait… If he remembered everything, why was he still standing here?
Lin Ruo suddenly thought of a crucial point he had overlooked—knowing about the Outer Gods and the cosmos would lead to contamination unless protected by a powerful being.
'Is it my special nature or… have I already been arranged?'
Lin Ruo raised an eyebrow, then looked up at the crimson moon in the night sky.
Red moon… If this was indeed the world of "Lord of the Mysteries," the Goddess of the Night should already be watching!
'Of course, it could also be that I'm overthinking, and this isn't the world of "Lord of the Mysteries" at all!'
While Lin Ruo was thinking, the young man had stood up, seemingly startled by something in the notebook, almost falling again but catching himself on the table.
The young man's gaze then fell on the revolver on the table and the bloody handprint on the desk's edge, frowning.
Under Lin Ruo's watchful eye, the oblivious young man finally approached the dressing mirror. He was clearly shocked by the wound on his temple, stepping back several paces, but didn't immediately check if he was still alive. Instead, he turned sharply to look in Lin Ruo's direction.
This surprised Lin Ruo, and a guess formed in his mind. He floated towards the mirror, the young man watching him and the mirror, seemingly confirming something while stepping back.
At the mirror, Lin Ruo saw himself, as expected. He blinked, then looked at the young man, who was staring at him with a ghostly expression, and greeted him.
"Hi, good evening!"
He said this in Chinese.
The young man's eyes widened.
Good!
Lin Ruo smiled brightly.
It seemed this was indeed Mr. Fool!