Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Saying Goodbye to My Past Self
In that instant, Lloyd’s previously calm emotions erupted into violent turmoil. He desperately wanted to stop the recollection and flee.
The image in the mirror before him began to blur. Cracks spiderwebbed across the once-smooth surface, looking as if it would shatter at any moment.
At this critical moment, Lloyd recalled a passage from the journal:
"To [Veto] one’s past, the key is not to forget or flee, but to face and accept."
Lloyd snapped back to his senses. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to calm down and let the memories in the mirror continue.
The cracks on the mirror didn’t vanish, but thankfully, the image stabilized, once again showing scenes of his past self splurging on gacha pulls.
After riding that emotional wave and finding his calm again, Lloyd watched the memories—some joyful, some regretful, some heartbreaking—as if he had grown accustomed to them. A tranquil smile stayed on his face, and his breathing remained even.
An unknown amount of time passed before the perspective in the mirror shifted again. A familiar yet strange figure slowly materialized.
It was Lloyd as he had been on Earth: young, naive, and utterly ordinary.
The real Lloyd maintained his faint smile. He chose his words carefully, then whispered:
"Goodbye."
At his word, the floor-length mirror shattered, dissolving into a cloud of luminous dust that slowly faded into the air.
Lloyd’s mind gradually swam back into focus from the trance, and he opened his eyes.
He was still in the luxurious room, still sitting on the plush sofa. The floor-length mirror before him was completely intact.
Only the music box was silent, and the two candles had, at some point, burned out.
It seemed everything that had just transpired had only happened in a peculiar dream.
Unless someone could pry open Lloyd’s skull, delve into his consciousness, and peer into his memories, no one would ever know his past, nor what he had truly [Veto]ed.
’The [Enlightenment] is over? Did I succeed? It doesn’t really feel like anything happened.’
Lloyd scratched his head, not yet understanding the situation.
But a moment later, the panel began to display notifications:
[Ding! Extraordinary Enlightenment complete. You have entered the [Veto] system. All Attributes +5]
[Number of Transcendences for this system: 1]
[Delve deeper into the system to achieve more [Transcendence].]
’Looks like it was a success, and I didn’t attract the Saint’s attention... Haha, I was just scaring myself before. I really am too conservative, too cautious. I should have been bolder.’
Lloyd chuckled self-deprecatingly and pulled up the panel to check his current status.
But then, he was suddenly barraged by a flood of notifications:
[Ding! [Transcendence] complete. Twisted System has leveled up, LV1→LV2. All Attributes +5]
[Number of Transcendences for this system: 2]
[Delve deeper into the system to achieve more [Transcendence].]
[Ding! Sufficient proficiency gained. Skill level increased: Swordsmanship LV3→LV4]
[Ding! Sufficient proficiency gained. Skill level increased: Precise Dissection LV3→LV4]
[Ding! Sufficient skill fragments acquired. Skill level increased: Dizziness Resistance LV3→LV4]
[Ding! Sufficient skill fragments acquired. Skill level increased: Aggressive Speech LV1→LV2]
The panel only appeared before Lloyd’s eyes after the notifications had finished.
[User: Lloyd]
[Status: Normal]
[Madness Value: 1452/2500, Max: 6500]
[Rationality: 65]
[Spiritual Power: 60]
[inspiration: 40]
[Cognition: 60]
[System: Twist LV2, Veto LV1]
[Mastered Skills: High-Efficient Learning; Probe; Divination LV3; Dizziness Resistance LV4; Precise Dissection LV4; Twisted Realm LV3; Swordsmanship LV4; Aggressive Speech LV2]
Lloyd: "???"
’He knew that [Transcendence] made one stronger; he’d experienced it himself.’
’And his skills had leveled up too. It seemed that slump wasn’t a total waste after all. Even though he couldn’t upgrade directly, he had accumulated the necessary proficiency and skill fragments. They were just stored away, and now that the [Transcendence] is complete, they’ve all been cashed in at once.’
’But the [Aggressive Speech] upgrade was a little baffling. He’d gotten that skill from a high-risk Demon Ghost, and it needed more skill fragments to level up.’
’He had dispatched plenty of Demons recently, but he hadn’t run into one as strong as that again. So where did these skill fragments come from?’
’Whatever, I won’t worry about it for now. Getting stronger is always a good thing. I’ll take it as a pleasant surprise.’
Lloyd nodded, quite pleased.
But his brow furrowed almost immediately.
’But what’s the deal with [Twist]? How did it level up out of nowhere?’
’Lloyd couldn’t wrap his head around it. He hadn’t come into contact with [Forbidden Knowledge] or performed any rituals for the [Twist] system. So how did it just level up on its own?’
’How can it just piggyback on another system’s upgrade? Is it a freeloader or something?’
’Am I really destined to stray further and further down the path of a villain?’
’I won’t accept it!’
Just as Lloyd was ranting internally, his vision suddenly swam.
When his sight returned, he found himself standing in a vast Wilderness.
Above him was a pitch-black night sky, deep and heavy.
It was deep, like an Abyss that could swallow everything; heavy, as if it might collapse at any moment.
Yet in the center of this nocturnal canopy hung a scarlet, full moon, like a single red eye in the darkness, silently gazing down upon all creation.
The red moon appeared motionless, but after staring for a few seconds, it felt more like a reflection, subtly rippling and twisting, making the scarlet moonlight look like churning blood.
Beneath the celestial canopy stretched an endless Wilderness. The only visible color was a lonesome, deathly gray. Even with the red moon blazing above, the Wilderness remained untouched by its crimson light.
Upon this Wilderness stood colossal towers, soaring majestically as if propping up the entire world.
The towers had a unique shape, like coils of deathly gray bandages or uncoiled springs, spiraling and twisting as they snaked upward to connect the heavens and the earth.
Beyond that, there was nothing else in sight.
There wasn’t even a stray sound. The silence was suffocating.
Lloyd felt as if he were in a post-apocalyptic world, and the colossal towers were tombstones commemorating something unknown.
He stood among them like a lone Tomb Guardian.
’Is this the [Thought Space] mentioned in the journal? Or is it the [Consciousness Realm]?’
He muttered to himself, turning to look around.
’This is way too desolate, isn’t it? I’m a cheerful, optimistic guy. Why is my [Thought Space] like this?’
The thought had barely faded when, perhaps out of sympathy for his loneliness, a gaze pierced through the abyss-like night sky and fell upon him.
