CHAPTER 5 : RITUAL

For some fickle reason, the whole entire Tarot Club received a strong premonition that

something extremely shocking was going to be revealed real soon! For such a strong feeling

that came out of no where, the Tarot Club stiffened, and raised their guards higher then

before, with expectancy filled in their eyes as they gaze up at the count down flashing on the

screen that seemed way to advanced for the current epoch they resided in.

Audrey observed the fogless faces around her, beside her was her friend, Fors Walls, who sat

across from her roommate Miss Xio. Ever since she arrived here, there was so many things

going on her mind that she hasn't gotten the chance to observe her surroundings more

carefully than just a quick sweep of her eyes.

Of course, the abnormal behavior of the Great Mr. Fool caught her eye, but as no one said

anything, she didn't dare to either. With no clue how much time has passed, Audrey, under the

assumption that they aren't leaving any time soon, decided to use this time to finally digest

the immense amount of information that she didn't have any screen time earlier to show.

But before she could enter her own small little world inside her mind, a strong premonition

hit her. She sat up, eyes wide, and back soaked with sweat.

What was this strong intuition?

As a Sequence 3 Beyonder of the Visionary Pathway, such a strong intuition was as rare as

Susie turning human!

Audrey tried to hide her surprise as she covertly glanced at others around her. To her

disappointment, there wasn't much reaction from anyone...

Except from Mr. Derrick, The Little Sun of the Tarot Club.

Audrey held back a smile from crawling onto her face, as she watches Little Sun fumble

around, glancing around him nervously. Clearly she wasn't the only one that noticed, as Mr.

Hangman also glanced to his side with a small frown on his lips.

*

[The Hangman] aka Mr. Alger Wilson peaked at the tall young blond who sat 6 seats away

from him at his right with a frown. Derrick looked around him alertly, skittish. This almost

made him chuckle, a kid younger but taller than him, being so nervous.

What is he, a child?

..Wait, the other practically is as he doesn't even know what the ocean looked like until he

was almost 18..

Don't ask him why he knows the others birthday, as that is a story for another day.

But truth to be told, the other person did have a genuine reason to be extremely nervous. The

foreboding feeling that seems to hit only the Tarot Club, gave born to a new theory to Alger.

In his peripheral vision, Alger took a meek peak at the Great Mr. Fool.

Perhaps, this foreboding feeling was sent by the Great Mr. Fool himself? After all, it would

be strange if The Fool didn't get stronger from sleeping this long! An exciting feeling swelled

inside Alger, as well as a sense of great respect and fear, mixed with awe. As, when 'He' gets

stronger, the Tarot Club as a whole will get a part of the fruit as well!

He suddenly wondered what else did the Great Fool has achieved and unlocked from 'His'

deep slumber...

*

Azik frowned, he knew his student was different from before,

he gained a unique fate. But transmigration was something he never thought of before.

Azik sighed, his bronze eyes were so deep that it seems to drown you if you gaze into it for

too long.

Either way to him, no matter what body or name the other held, whether it be Klein Moretti,

or Zhou Mingrui, the other will forever be his eternal student that he was thankful for.

*

Klein suddenly received an ominous feeling, but he knew nothing too strange happened in

the circus tent with his divination..

'...So what's going to happen this time huh?'

Klein: ... blankface.jpg

Sighing, Klein decided to think of the reason later, as he set his gaze back onto the theatre

screen.

BEEP-

Free? Free things cost the most!

The inner monologue of Klein Moretti echo'ed in the pitch quiet theatre, except the sound of

quiet inhale and exhale of breathing, it was all they could hear. Melissa buried her head in her

hands in second-hand embarrassment.

While the Great Mr. Fool would love to copy his dear little sisters posture and dig a hole six

feet under to hide, he couldn't do so. Thus he could only thicken his skin and control his

expression with his clown powers as the best as he could. He was quite confident that no one

noticed, if not for a fact that a certain bafoon was staring lasers at him with a disgusting grin.

'Just ignore it, just ignore it, you've dealt with worse bullshit than this Klein!!'

The Great Mr. Fool sat up with his back straight of the chair, perfectly composed and stared

calmly at the screen ignoring the burning gaze.

Zhou Mingrui silently mumbled and decided that he would not purchase any additional

services whatever they were. He would firmly refuse them all.

If you are really that capable, try divining that I transmigrated here!

"If their divination services were that capable, it would be an understatement for it to cost

your organs, much less free!" Roselle rebuked Klein's poor ass.

With this in mind, Zhou Mingrui followed behind the woman whose face was painted

red and yellow, stooping low to enter the low tent.

The tent's interior was extremely dark, illuminated only by several beams of light that

managed to seep inside. A table covered with paper cards could be made out faintly in

the low illumination.

The woman with the sharp pointy hat was not affected by this at all. Her long black

dress glided as though it was moving over water while she went around to the table. She

sat on the opposite side and lighted a candle.

The dim yellow light flickered, causing the inside of the tent to appear bright and dark

at the same time. It instantly added a much more mysterious feel to the atmosphere.

Zhou Mingrui sat down quietly, his gaze sweeping over the tarot cards on the table

where he discovered familiar cards like "The Magician," "The Emperor," "The Hanged

Man," and "Temperance," etc.

The Tarot Club all paid special attention here, looking for possible clues for their each

individual theories.

Could Roselle have been a 'senior'… I wonder if he was also a fellow countryman of

mine… Zhou Mingrui mumbled to himself subconsciously.

Roselle:...I am-

Before he could finish looking at the opened cards on the table, the woman who claimed

to have accurate divinations had already reached out her hands to gather all of the

cards together. She stacked them into a deck and pushed it in front of him.

"Shuffle the cards first and cut the deck," the circus fortune-teller said in a muted voice.

"Me? Shuffle?" Zhou Mingrui asked reflexively.

The yellow and red paint on the fortune-teller's face squirmed together as she revealed

a slight smile, saying, "Of course, everyone's destiny can only be unraveled by

themselves. I only serve as a reader of it."

Zhou Mingrui immediately questioned her warily, "This reading does not require

additional fees, right?"

Everyone:...why are they surprised at this point

Klein, dirt poor, Moretti, once again thicken up his skin, and thought to himself that it was

only normal for someone who has limited allowance to ask that ok!

Stop shaming the poor, Roselle!

Roselle, who was suddenly shaming the poor, Gustav: ...

As a keyboard folklorist, I've already seen too many of such tricks!

The fortune-teller was visibly taken aback before finally saying muffledly, "It's free."

Zhou Mingrui, relieved, stuffed the revolver further back into his pocket. Thereafter, he

calmly reached out his two hands to shuffle and cut the deck skillfully.

'Don't tell me Klein was planning to shoot the poor fortune teller if she said no right?!?!' A

chill ran down Leonard's spine, thinking his ex-coworker doing that probably isn't far of from

reality, after all, his identity as Gehrman Sparrow is still a part of him..

Simultaneously, Klein, dirt poor, violent, Moretti gazed deeply at a certain poet through his

peripheral vision, frowning.

'..What crazy theory do you have now *Poet Classmate..'

"It's done." He placed the already shuffled tarot cards in the middle of the table.

The fortune-teller clasped the cards with both her hands and carefully looked at cards

for a while. Then, she suddenly opened her mouth and said, "I'm sorry, I forgot to ask,

but what would you like to ask about?"

Back when he was wooing his first love, Zhou Mingrui had also done research on tarot

cards. He asked unhesitatingly, "Past, present, and future."

Roselle resists the urge to gossip as his eyes were fixed on the screen. He had a gut feeling

that if he looked away soon, he might miss something important.

This was a type of divination as part of tarot card interpretation—three cards when

opened sequentially symbolized one's past, present, and future.

The fortune-teller nodded first, then curled her lips to reveal a smile and said, "Then

please reshuffle the deck. You can only truly get the cards you want if you know what

you would like to ask about."

Were you fooling me just now? Do you have to be this petty? Didn't I only ask a few

times if this would be a free service? Zhou Mingrui's cheeks twitched a little. He took a

deep breath and took the tarot deck back to reshuffle and cut it.

"There won't be any problems this time, right?" He placed the already cut deck back

onto the table.

"No problem." The fortune-teller reached out her fingers and picked a card from the

top of the deck. Then she placed it on the left side of Zhou Mingrui. Her voice was going

lower and lower as she spoke, "This card symbolizes your past."

Everyone's eyes followed the fortune-teller's hands as she moves the tarot cards.

"This card symbolize your present." The fortune-teller placed the second card right in

front of Zhou Mingrui.

Tension was building, the Tarot Club was especially tense.

Then, she picked the third card and put it on the right side of Zhou Mingrui.

"This card symbolizes the future."

"Alright, which card would you like to see first?" The fortune-teller raised her head up

after completing her placement of the cards and gazed deeply at Zhou Mingrui with her

grayish-blue eyes.

'Which one?', many people questioned. Some thought Klein would choose the to look at the

future, while others thought about his mysterious past. But most guessed that he was going to

look at his current predicament, The Present.

"I'll have a look at the 'present' first," Zhou Mingrui said after giving it some thought.

The fortune-teller nodded slowly and flipped over the tarot card that was directly in

front of Zhou Mingrui.

A colorfully dressed character was depicted on this card, wearing ragged headgear with

a stick over his shoulder. There was a bindle hanging on the end of the stick and a

puppy was following behind him. It was numbered "0."

A quiet gasp resounded in the theatre.

"The Fool," the fortune-teller lightly read out the name of the card with her grayish-

blue eyes affixed on Zhou Mingrui.

The Tarot Club has expected this outcome long ago that Klein Moretti was related to The

Fool, and even some selected few even knew that Klein Moretti was The Great Mr. World,

The Crazy Adventurer, Gehrman Sparrow.

No matter how surprising how such a scholarly, thin man, could be someone who would kill

without blinking an eye.

But seeing the results in person, was still surprising nonetheless.

Did Mr. Fool had his eyes on Mr. World this early on? Was it because Mr. World was an

transmigrator? How much authority did Mr. Fool had at the moment? How long has Mr. Fool

been awake?

Just when they thought they had gained some clues that would help them get closer to the

answer they were looking for, more questions were born. This greatly amazed yet confused

the Tarot Club.

It was only now that they realized, what did they even know? Compared to the Great Mr.

Fool, they were only pawns in 'His' eyes. Once again the feeling of deep-rooted respect and

fear overwhelmed the group. (if only they knew.. aiya XD)

The Fool? The "0" card of tarot? A start? A fresh beginning with all kinds of

possibilities? Zhou Mingrui was not even considered an amateur enthusiast of tarot, so

he could only make a rough interpretation based on his own impressions of tarot.

Just as the fortune-teller was about to say something, the cloth curtains of the tent was

suddenly lifted open. The ray of sunlight that shone in was so blinding that it caused the

back-facing Zhou Mingrui to instinctively narrow his eyes.

"Why are you impersonating me again! It's my job to handle the divination for people!"

a woman's voice growled angrily. "Return to your post quickly! You must remember

that you're just an animal trainer!"

'The women was only an animal trainer?!' Fors widen her eyes, the wheels in her head turned

quickly, more and more theories popped up, each more ridiculous than the previous.

'The women is clearly more skilled than an animal trainers! ...Was she perhaps sent by Mr.

Fool?'

An animal trainer? Zhou Mingrui's eyes had already adapted to the light by now. He

saw a similar-looking woman who was also wearing a sharp pointy hat in a black dress,

with her face painted in red and yellow as well. The only difference was that she was

taller and had a slimmer physique.

The woman who was seating in front of him immediately stood up and said

disgruntledly, "Don't mind this, it's just that I like doing this. But I have to say, my

divination and interpretation can be really accurate sometimes. I'm serious…"

She spoke and lifted up her dress to go around from the side of the table before quickly

trotting away from the tent.

"Sir, would you like me to interpret your cards for you?" the real fortune-teller looked

at Zhou Mingrui and asked with a smile.

Zhou Mingrui's lips twitched and asked her sincerely, "Is it free?"

Roselle's lip twitched.

Klein rolled his eyes at him.

'Money is hard to earn these days y'know?'

'Oh right, you don't know as you were born sucking on a *golden spoon...'

"…No," the real fortune-teller answered.

"Then forget it." Zhou Mingrui pulled his hands back and put them into his pockets. He

clutched his revolver and money before stooping again to exit the tent.

Damn! He actually got an animal trainer to be his fortune-teller?

Was an animal trainer who didn't want to be a fortune-teller not a good clown?

Zhou Mingrui very quickly put this matter behind him. He spent seven pence at the

'Lettuce and Meat' market for a pound of not-so-great mutton. Then, he also bought

some tender broad beans, cabbage, onions, potatoes, and other items. Together with the

bread that he bought earlier, he spent a total of 25 copper pennies, which converted to

two soli and one pence.

"There is really not enough to go around for spending. Poor Benson…" Not only had

Zhou Mingrui spent the two notes that he had brought with him, but it was also

necessary for him top it up with the one penny he had in his pocket.

Melissa patted Benson on the shoulder in pity, while nodding along with Klein's words on the

screen.

Benson who suddenly received his little sister's pity pats:...

He just sighed and did not think further about it as he hurried back home.

With the staple food, he could now carry out the luck enhancement ritual!

…

After the second-floor tenants gradually left, Zhou Mingrui was still in no hurry to

carry out the ritual. Instead, he translated the "Blessings Stem From The Immortal

Lord of Heaven and Earth" and related phrases into the ancient Feysac language, as

well as the Loen language. He was intending to try the ritual again the next day in those

local languages if the original incantation did not take effect!

After all, he had to take into consideration the differences between the two worlds. In

Rome, do as the Romans do!

As for translating it into an ancient ritual prayer that used the dedicated Hermes

language, Zhou Mingrui had a difficult time completing it due to his lack of vocabulary.

After readying everything, he finally took out the four loaves of rye bread. He placed

one in the corner where the coal stove was originally, one at the bottom inner side of the

dress mirror, one at the top of the cupboard where two walls met, and one at the right

side of the study table where miscellaneous items were kept.

With a deep breath, Zhou Mingrui came to the center of the room and spent a few

minutes to calm himself. Then, he took a solemn step forward and went in a counter-

clockwise direction in the shape of a square.

When he took the first step, he chanted in a low whisper, "Blessings Stem From The

Immortal Lord of Heaven and Earth."

'Why does this sound familiar..?' The Tarot Club questioned.

The second step, he sincerely chanted, "Blessings Stem From The Sky Lord of Heaven

and Earth."

Many people sat up from their seats.

The third step, Zhou Mingrui breathed out a whisper. "Blessings Stem From The

Exalted Thearch of Heaven and Earth."

'He' nudged his monocle with a smile.

At the fourth step, he spat out a foul breath and meditated in concentration. "Blessings

Stem From The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth."

Just to ruin the tension, Klein sighed, "I shouldn't have wished for 'his' blessings at this time..

now that I did, all kinds of trouble came.'

When he returned back to the original spot, Zhou Mingrui closed his eyes and waited in

his place for an outcome. He had some anticipation in him, some unease, some hope,

and some fear.

Could he make it back?

Was there going to be any effect?

Could there be some unexpected situation?

The unknown in front of him was tainted with the crimson light of hope. Zhou

Mingrui's thoughts were swirling in his head and was finding it difficult to quell it.

It was at this time that he suddenly felt the surrounding air seem to stop, becoming

thick and mysterious.

Immediately after, a low whisper could be heard beside his ears that sounded at times

real, at times sharp, at times imaginary, at times alluring, at times maniacal, and at

times crazy.

!!!

Leonard frowned with worry, clearly, his ex-coworker wasn't a beyonder yet, so what was

happening? Why was he experiencing the ravings one would only have when they start losing

control?!

He clearly did not understand the murmuring that went on, but Zhou Mingrui still

couldn't help himself from wanting to listen to it and distinguish what it was saying.

His head was in pain again. It was so painful that it felt like someone had stuck a steel

drill rod into it.

Zhou Mingrui only felt like his head was going to explode. His thoughts were filled with

a psychedelic of colors.

He knew that something was wrong and tried to open his eyes. However, he wasn't even

able to complete such a simple action.

His entire body was getting tighter and tighter and it felt like he could just break apart

at any time. At this time, a self-mocking thought came up in Zhou Mingrui's mind:

"If you didn't seek death, you wouldn't die…"

Klein smiled self-depreciating, if only he could.. But there are always things that are much

more important than himself.

He could no longer bear with it. Just as his mind was going to break, the murmuring of

voices faded away and his surroundings became very quiet. The mood was an erratic

one.

It was not only the mood; Zhou Mingrui felt his own body going through the same

sensations as well.

He tried once more to open his eyes, an extremely easy task this time.

A gray fog appeared over his eyes—haziness, vague, and endless.

Tarot Club: :0

'Sefirah Castle?'

'Is this perhaps the first meeting between The World and Mr. Fool?' (ohoho~ they're SO

wrong XD)

Klein, who is both Mr. World and Mr. Fool: ...D:

It suddenly dawned to Klein, what was the purpose of him waking up early and for his family

and Tarot Club members to react to his transmigration?

Whatever species is behind all this, their goal is to expose him!

So far, whatever they have seen, was only about him, from the very beginning!

Klein lowered his head, and his breath hitched, horror flashing past his eyes. If they knew

that The Fool was also the World, who was also Klein Moretti, he would be done for! Not

would he be exposing himself completely naked, but for sure all of the Tarot Club members

would lose their respect for the great Mr. Fool!

What would they see him as? A Loser? A creep who likes to cosplay as gods and form a cult?

Dread filled Klein's guts, no matter what he thinks, he can't seems to find a solution. All

pathways ends up with him exposed, and face lost!

Klein's eyes hesitantly looked back up on the screen, filled with dread. It seems like he could

only expect his fate...

"What's with this situation?" Zhou Mingrui suddenly looked around him and then

lowered his head down to discover that he was floating at the edge of an endless fog.

The fog was flowing like water and was dotted with a lot of crimson 'stars.' Some of

them were enormous while others were tiny. There was a sense of them being hidden in

the deep depths, while others floated over the surface of this water-like fog.

Looking at the seemingly holographic sight, Zhou Mingrui reached out his right hand in

a half-confused, half-exploring manner to try to touch the crimson 'star' that was

seemingly floating on the surface. He was trying to find a way to leave this place.

When his hand touched the surface of that star, a water mark suddenly appeared from

within his body and agitated the stars into a "crimson" burst. It looked like a dreamlike

burning of flames.

Zhou Mingrui got a fright from it. He retracted his right hand in a panic, but

accidentally touched yet another crimson star.

As a result, this star burst with splendid light as well.

In turn, Zhou Mingrui felt his mind empty and his spirit dissipated.

(oh how much I wanted to end the chapter here...)

…

In the Loen Kingdom's capital, Backlund. Inside a luxurious looking villa at the royal

district.

Audrey: !!!

'That's my family's resident!'

Audrey Hall sat in front of a dresser. The markings on it were antiquated and there was

a cracked bronze mirror on the surface.

"Mirror, mirror, awaken…

"In the name of the Hall family, I command you to awaken!"

Most, if not all of the Tarot Club all turned their head awkwardly to Miss Audrey Hall after

seeing the cringe-worthy actions of hers on the screen, as if they were double checking that it was the same person.

While on the other hand, the usually elegant, and optimistic Miss Justice was having a rather

hard time keeping her composure. Her lips twitched, and her nails dug into her thighs.

She didn't expect the screen to suddenly pan to her perspective, much less to this version of

her when she was still so naïve!

Oh, just how much did she want to end herself at this moment...

(Achievement: First Tarot Club member's social death!)

…

She switched between many different sayings, but there was no reaction from the

mirror at all.

After more than 10 minutes, she finally chose to give up and pouted her lips in

grievance. She said in a soft murmur, "Father was indeed lying to me. He always tells

me that this mirror was the treasure of the Roman Empire's Dark Emperor, and that it

is an extraordinary item…"

'Hmm? Isn't this the day that I met 'Him'?'

Her voice trailed off. The bronze mirror which rested on the dresser suddenly glowed

with a crimson light that shrouded her completely.

…

In the Sonia Sea, a three-masted sailboat that looked like an obvious relic was

navigating through a storm.

Alger Wilson stood on deck, his body undulating with the currents at sea, maintaining

his balance easily.

"..Wow.. Mr. Alger look so cool!" Derrick exclaimed in admiration.

Alger looked away from the screen, having an icky feeling.

He wore a robe embroidered with lightning patterns, and in his hand was a quirky-

shaped glass bottle. Bubbles billowed inside the bottle at times, frost turned into snow at

times, and signs of gusting wind could be seen at times.

"We're still short on the Ghost Shark's blood…" Alger murmured.

'Ah. It should be around this time when I met 'Him'.'

Then at this moment, a crimson burst appeared in the space between the glass bottle and the surface of his palm. In an instant, it enveloped the surroundings as well.

In the fog of gray mist, Audrey Hall regained her sight. She started reckoning the

situation in a state of horror and confusion when she noticed the blurry image of a man

on the opposite side of her doing the same as well.

Immediately after, the both of them discovered another mystery person standing not far

from them who was shrouded in a gray mist.

The 'mysterious person' was none other than Zhou Mingrui. He was similarly

dumbfounded.

"Sir, where is this?"

Audrey and Alger were startled at first, falling silent in the process. Then, they

immediately started speaking in unison.

"What are you planning on doing?"

[End of Chapter 5: Ritual]

"..."

"WHAT?!"

"HUH?!"

"JHJDAJHSGSDHK"

"I'M SORRY?!"

"PARDON???"