Meeting Again

With that thought, Lumian arrived at a conclusion: If his earlier hypothesis was true, it meant the reversal of time was confined to Cordu Village and its surrounding area—everywhere else had been unaffected! Did this mean that as long as they could escape this place, they could return to a normal life? Thoughts flashed through Lumian's mind. He turned to look at Aurore, feigning a guilty conscience: "Well, uh, I was actually the one who caused this telegram." "You?" Aurore was torn between exasperation and amusement, but mostly bewildered. She wondered if she had unwittingly fallen victim to a prank by her younger brother. Talk about an experienced hunter getting pecked in the eye by a hawk! Lumian offered an "earnest" explanation: "Here's the thing. Haven't I always wanted to go see Trier? So a couple of days ago, I secretly sent a telegram to the telegraph office for Novel Weekly, asking under your name when the next writers' salon would be. And sure enough, they sent an enthusiastic invitation." "So that's how it is..." Aurore's face took on a look of 'the mystery is finally solved.' The very next second, she snatched up the wooden stick beside her and ground her teeth. "The boy's grown up, hasn't he!" Lumian hurriedly added, "Aurore—no, sis, listen to me make excuses... no, listen to my explanation." He wasn't panicked in the least, even deliberately joking around. "Fine, talk," Aurore said, leaning on the stick. "Your sister has always won people over with virtue and upright conduct. How could I convict the suspect without hearing his statement? "Even in death, you'll die knowing why!" Lumian spoke at rapid speed: "In Intis, the place with the most universities and the highest quality of education is Trier. I'll be taking the unified higher-education entrance examination soon, so I wanted to go do some field research beforehand to decide which three schools to apply to." Aurore gave a barely perceptible nod, signaling her brother to continue. Lumian praised his sister in earnest tones: "I believe that as long as I made such a legitimate request, you'd definitely take me to Trier for a trip. But that way, it'd be your money spent. If the invitation comes from Novel Weekly, not only will our steam locomotive tickets and hotel accommodations be covered, but even all sorts of entertainment expenses in Trier can be reimbursed. "I know you don't lack this kind of money, but you earned it all word by painstaking word through your writing. If there's a way to save, I'd never pass it up." Aurore's expression softened. "At least you know how to look out for your sister. "But did you consider that I don't want to attend any writers' salon? I hate dealing with so many strangers." Lumian smiled. "Aurore—uh, sis, have you thought about this? Novel Weekly isn't inviting you so passionately just to get you to the salon. They're using the salon as an excuse to get on your good side. You're a famous bestselling novelist. "So the salon isn't important; what's important is you. As long as you accept their invitation and travel to Trier to enjoy yourself for a while, you can make up any excuse to back out of the salon when the time comes. The people from Novel Weekly won't be angry; they'll actually be relieved—relieved that you accepted the hospitality earlier." Aurore looked Lumian up and down. "You're getting better and better at reading people." She let out a breath and said, "All right. I'll take care of a few things, pack some luggage, and take you to Trier in two days. When the time comes, we'll send a telegram to Novel Weekly ahead of time and have them pick us up at the Trier train station." "Great!" Lumian didn't hide his delight. Though he doubted he and Aurore could just walk out of Cordu Village so easily, and that "escaping" might trigger unpredictable changes before they unraveled the secret of the time reversal and found its root cause, he still had to try. He couldn't just leave himself trapped in place. With this mindset, he had made the effort to persuade Aurore. Lumian had no intention of telling his sister about the time reversal right now. Aurore had lost all recollection of it, making it unlikely she would believe a hypothesis bordering on delusion unless Lumian continuously made "prophecies" that proved true. But he wanted to pretend he had noticed nothing about the time reversal, keeping off making any "prophecies" for now to see if he could uncover any clues. Using reading as an excuse, Lumian returned to the second floor and stepped into the study. He sat down, picked up a random book, opened it, and checked to make sure it wasn't upside down. Then, he sank into thought, hoping to make more sense of his current plight through the details he had discovered last night and today. As his gaze drifted blankly, Lumian caught sight of the little blue book on the desk. His heart gave a thump. Pulling his thoughts back, he reached out, picked up the little blue book, and flipped rapidly through the pages. Pages with missing words and empty holes where they had been cut out immediately met his eyes. "That letter..." Lumian murmured soundlessly. Combined with the "belated" reply from Novel Weekly, he had a new theory about the distress letter that Lia, Leyn, and the others had received: Maybe I really did write that letter. Maybe I'm the "culprit"! The time reversal has most likely happened more than once. According to the definition in Aurore's novels, this should be called a time loop. In one of the previous loops, did I uncover certain abnormalities through some investigation, and decide to seek outside help with an anonymous letter so as not to implicate Aurore? And by the time the authorities realized how serious the situation was and dispatched Leyn's group to deal with it, Cordu had already started a new loop, and I—just like Aurore now—lost all corresponding memories and reverted to my "initial" state... Now there's a problem: why does this little blue book still have those cut-out words? Logically speaking, it should have reverted to its "initial" state as well, just like the food I ate in the previous loop... Well, two possibilities: First, discovering the abnormality and seeking outside help happened before the time loop began. But if so, the relevant memories shouldn't have been reset. Could there be another reason I lost part of my memories? That makes things even more complicated... Second, the me from that loop found a way to exempt an object from the loop's effects... What could that method be? If there really was one, why didn't I just take a sheet of paper and write down everything I discovered? Lumian felt as though he had parted a layer of mist and reconstructed the general picture, yet he found himself sinking into even more confusion. He figured he must have lived through quite a few time loops already. It was just that in those earlier cycles, once everything restarted from the beginning, both his memories and physical state were reset, leaving him completely unaware. The reason he had been able to retain his memories and keep the Hunter Beyonder characteristic this time was because he had met that lady, received the Wands card, entered the dream ruins, and stimulated the peculiarity within himself. Since the peculiarity brought about by those two symbols allowed Lumian to "bring" his Beyonder state from the dream into reality, they were entirely capable of "preserving" his complete physical condition through to the cycle's starting point. "So even after the shotgun monster's state was reset, it still couldn't 'take back' the Hunter Beyonder characteristic..." Lumian leaned back against his chair, staring up at the ceiling, and slowly exhaled. Then he gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Barely a Beyonder, and I already have to face something this abnormal. Not even giving me time to develop... "Well, it's not completely certain that I sent that distress letter. It could also have been Aurore, and Madame Pualis is just as suspicious... As Beyonders, both of them could have noticed something wrong in a previous loop and made an effort to save themselves. Besides, with their knowledge of mysticism, it'd be easier for them than for me to find a way to leave behind traces... Still, no matter what, a repeating time loop is indeed the hypothesis that best fits all the current circumstances." As he thought, Lumian hit upon a way to verify the source of the distress letter. The method was simple: enter the dream ruins and check the same little blue book in his home there. If that little blue book also had words missing, it would prove that Lumian had made the distress letter himself. The home in the special dream was formed by the projection of his subconscious mixed with the ruined world, so things his subconscious knew should all appear there. If it didn't, it was most likely the work of Aurore or Madame Pualis. Lumian's subconscious couldn't possibly know about it, and he wouldn't be responsible for it. Lumian was in no hurry to catch up on sleep. Seeing that the time was about right, he slipped out of the house and headed straight for the Old Tavern. In a corner of the Old Tavern, a familiar figure met his eyes. The lady who had given him the Wands card and the potion formula had appeared once again. She wore an orange mandarin-collar dress with flounced edges, and beside her hand rested a light-colored ruffled lady's hat. Lumian instantly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like a drowning man who had finally grabbed hold of a life preserver. He hurried over and saw that what lay on the table before her wasn't breakfast, but tarot cards divided into three stacks. "Need me to draw a card?" Lumian asked tentatively. "You've already drawn one." Without raising her head, the lady gathered the three stacks of tarot cards together. In an instant, Lumian felt his eyes sting. As expected, she hadn't been affected by the time loop either! Dispensing with pleasantries, Lumian sat down and asked bluntly, "Are both I and the entire Cordu Village trapped in a time loop?" The lady raised her head and answered with a smile, "Yes. You are all Inhabitants of the Loop." Inhabitants of the Loop... Lumian repeated the term in his mind. Puzzled, he asked, "What does that refer to? People trapped in a time loop?" The lady gave a slight smile. "It has two explanations. The first refers to a special power equivalent to Sequence 4 obtained after praying to a certain existence; the second is your current situation." "One can obtain power by praying to a secret existence?" Lumian was deeply astonished by the first explanation of "Inhabitant of the Loop." Wasn't it said that advancing through all twenty-two Beyonder pathways relied on consuming potions? The lady nodded gently. "Theoretically speaking, the 'Eternal Blazing Sun' can also make His believers Beyonders purely through boons without potions. But to Him, this is a burden that can serve only as a temporary measure. The more people who require boons, the greater the burden, to the extent that it could even affect His state. "Recipients are not without downsides either. They will slowly draw closer to the 'Eternal Blazing Sun'—in body, mind, and spirit alike. "Furthermore, since it is a boon from higher beings, They can take it back at any time—unless you possess the unique powers of certain pathways and secretly accomplish a degree of concealed theft during the period of life while you still hold the boon."