Luke's pupils constricted in horror and he found himself frozen in absolute shock.
How can this be?! I'm sure I had thrown it away. Then, how…
Although the memories of the events surrounding his transmigration were hazy, he vividly remembered tossing this coin away in that dark alley.
He remembered the coin heating up inside his pants pocket that night. It was such a bizarre moment that he couldn't even forget it even if he wanted to.
It came as such a shock to him that his first instinct had been to throw the strange coin away.
So then how did it appear back inside his drawer?
There was only one rational conclusion that he could draw from this crazy situation.
Perhaps it was his mind playing games with him, or not, but he suddenly felt like there were countless eyes silently staring at him from all around.
He couldn't help but yelp in alarm as he suddenly shot to his feet. He turned around in panic, scanning his small bedroom.
However, no one was there.
"I know you're here! Come out, coward! I'll have you know I'm armed!"
He put his trembling hand inside his waistcoat, pretending to take out an imaginary gun, and remained in that position. He wasn't armed. He was bluffing, hoping to scare away anyone that might be in his house.
But even after more than a minute had passed, nothing happened. He heard no sound whatsoever, indicating that no one was inside his home.
Fuck! Is there actually no one here? He thought to himself in a panic.
He wanted to go down and check the first floor, but he was too scared!
Fuck! What do I do?!
He took a few deep breaths and gathered all the courage in the world.
God, please protect me!
He then vigilantly walked toward the staircase leading downstairs.
"I'm telling you I'm armed! Come out now, and I will spare you! If not.. hehe, not even God can save you!"
Luke put on a brave front as he slowly walked down the stairs, screaming, "This is your last chance, son of a bitch! I'm warning you!"
Sitting room, empty.
"I'm coming!" He screamed louder.
Kitchen, empty.
He then walked towards the door that led to his backyard and locked it. Then, he locked the main entrance to his house. Moreover, he even placed the table in front of the door.
After ensuring that he had locked every point of entry. He hurriedly climbed the stairs like his life depended on it. After entering his bedroom, he locked the door as well.
His heart pounded like a wild horse as he made his way toward the window. He removed the curtains a little and peeked outside.
All he could see were working-class people going on about their day, and a few carriages moving through the dirty cobble streets.
"What the fuck! That was scary!" He really thought someone was inside his house.
He loudly gulped and sat back on the chair, fearfully gazing at the coin inside the drawer. The surface of the coin was darkened silver, and there was a skull engraved on it along with some strange characters and symbols.
For some strange reason, Luke felt as if the skull was looking at him.
Someone must've kept this coin back in here! But who?
Could it be those thugs I met in the alley? No, that's improbable. I threw the coin long after they'd left… So, how in the world would they know?
Could it be Miss Thompson? She seemed highly suspicious, she even knew my full name!
The more Luke thought about it, the more his heart was gripped by panic.
Okay! Okay! Deep breaths, Luke, deep breaths!
He inhaled deeply, and exhaled deeply. He repeated this several times until his heart calmed down a little.
This is a very strange coin, he thought.
It started heating up like crazy that night. It's definitely not a normal item! I need to stay as far away from it as possible.
Having made up his mind, his eyes shone with a determined light as he got up from his seat and opened his window.
Then, he grabbed the coin from the drawer, but as soon as he did, a spooky voice echoed directly inside his head.
"The debt is paid!"
"Ahhh!!" Overcome by fear, Luke mustered all the strength he could and threw the coin out of the window.
What the fuck was that?! The debt is paid? What does that mean?
All sorts of thoughts emerged in his mind, almost overwhelming him.
He then remembered that this strange voice had echoed inside his head the night of his transmigration as well. However, back then he couldn't understand what the voice was saying.
Luke could understand it now as he had finally assimilated with Abel's memories!
Fear flashed in his eyes as he looked out of the window. Just what kind of cursed coin would speak directly into his mind? What kind of crazy concept was that?
"I'm… tripping, right?" He muttered in denial.
"Yeah, I'm definitely tripping!"
Definitely in denial.
He closed the window and then sat back down. He sat there in a daze for a very long time, trying to make sense of things. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't.
"Am I going crazy?" He began ruffling his hair, looking around his bedroom as if there was someone there other than him. Suddenly, he found the perfect justification.
Right, this should be the side effects of my soul transmigrating! Yes, that has to be it! Fatigue and hallucinations, yes!
His eyes, however, gradually dimmed when he thought of something else.
Wait… if something as supernatural as transmigration is possible, then a talking coin…
He hurriedly shook his head, trying to get rid of that dangerous train of thought. He feared that if he continued down that line of thought, he might truly go insane.
Luke slapped himself on both cheeks. Twice.
"Focus!"
His gaze was drawn to the items he had taken out of the drawer—Abel's journal, the broken hand mirror, and the bloodied envelope.
Right, the journal!
He reached out for it and then started reading it, trying his best to divert his mind from what had transpired earlier.
As Luke read through Abel's journal, he learned that it contained a mix of his personal reflections, daily struggles, academic notes, and observations about the world around him.
When he read the strange yet familiar handwriting, he felt very weird. He felt as if he was reading the life story of someone else, but also his own.
It was strange. Very strange.
Complaints about the hunger and cold, descriptions of his recent streak of misfortunes, losing money through gambling, wasting money on alcohol.
Luke's eyebrows creased together, the more he read. Eventually, more and more memories of the recent events became clearer in his mind.
"That's right… The recent stroke of misfortune that I've been going through for the past couple of months," Luke mumbled.
He continued reading the journal. Slowly, his eyelids started to feel heavy again and he was gradually overcome by exhaustion.
The journal spoke about summaries of lectures at the university, Abel's personal thoughts on various subjects he was studying, notes on professors, foreign languages that he was trying to learn.
Suddenly, he came across a journal entry that caused his hands to tremble in disbelief.
***
May 2nd, 1030
I stumbled upon an antique coin today at the pawn shop on Coppergate Street. The pawnbroker swore it would bring good fortune to its owner, but I could see in his eyes that he was lying.
What truly caught my interest was his claim that the coin dated back to the era of the Holy Namor Empire. That alone made it worth the two pennies I paid for it.
The Holy Namor Empire—the age when the Radiant Church stood at the height of its power—has always fascinated me. Whether the coin brings me luck or not, I couldn't care less.
***
"No way!" Luke blurted out in shock, his gaze involuntarily drawn to the window. "It couldn't be that coin… right?"
He nervously gulped, looking out of the window in a daze. He couldn't even see the coin anymore, he didn't know where he'd thrown it.
After a long time, he shifted his attention back to Abel's journal. He had to find out what happened next!