The Anomaly Beyond The System

Chapter 181: The forgotten Fragment

"How much... did you say?" Lucian asked in a low voice, his crimson eyes widening behind his glasses after hearing the receptionist’s answer.

He had only come to the hotel recommended by that receptionist from the Association building, only to be greeted by a ridiculous price that almost made him question his own hearing.

"800 dollars per night."

The receptionist calmly repeated the price for a single room.

Hearing it again, Lucian couldn’t help but feel as though someone was trying to rob him of everything he had today.

First, his house had been completely destroyed and reduced to rubble.

And now...

The money he had painstakingly earned by using knowledge from his previous life seemed to be disappearing as water poured onto dry sand.

For a brief moment, he even wondered whether that woman had intentionally recommended this place and was trying to scam him together with the man standing before him—who might very well be her partner.

Seeing the suspicious expression on his face, the man behind the counter smiled apologetically.

"Sir, due to the crisis happening around the world, even the smallest luxuries have become extremely expensive."

The demand for almost everything—especially food and safe shelter—had skyrocketed.

Lucian’s expression didn’t change much, but after thinking for quite a while...

He let out a long, frustrated sigh.

"Fine, book two rooms for us."

"Two?" Seraphina’s quiet voice immediately came from beside him.

Lucian turned his head toward her with a slightly puzzled expression.

Seeing that, Seraphina fell silent before asking softly,

"Don’t you want to... save money?"

"It’s fine," Lucian answered without much hesitation.

"I can afford it for some time."

He paused briefly after noticing the faint reluctance in her eyes.

"Or... would you rather stay in the same room?"

Seraphina narrowed her eyes ever so slightly.

Then, after a second of silence...

She slowly shook her head.

"No... it’s alright."

Lucian quietly studied her expression for another second.

Although saving as much money as possible would undoubtedly be better, he also wanted some time alone.

To do something he had postponed for nearly two months now.

After getting her confirmation, he finally booked two rooms, thankfully managing to get them right beside each other.

As both of them walked down the corridor toward their respective rooms—

"Mom," Lucian suddenly called out.

Seraphina, who had been lost in thought, stopped before her door and turned around.

"I probably won’t be coming out of my room for a while..."

A faint frown appeared on her face.

"Why?"

"I haven’t taken a proper rest for almost two months, so I’m going to get some proper sleep."

Seraphina found the answer a little strange, especially coming from someone like Lucian.

Still...

Knowing how much he must’ve trained under the Duchess for nearly two months without any proper break... it was somewhat understandable.

She also knew he had to be carrying quite a bit of fatigue after training for so long without resting properly.

’You could’ve done that if you had booked only one room as well.’

The thought crossed her mind, though she never voiced it aloud.

Instead, she simply gave him a nod of understanding before entering her room.

A few seconds later—

Lucian opened the door to his own room and stepped inside.

The room was clean, illuminated by bright white lights that he hadn’t seen in Bloodveil—where dim lighting was more preferred.

There was a bed that wasn’t ridiculously large, but looked comfortable, neatly covered with white sheets.

There were a few more pieces of furniture, along with several small accessories.

A few tea bags and coffee packets rested to the side as well, though their smell wasn’t particularly pleasant to his vampire nose.

Yet...

The room was far smaller than he had expected, especially considering the outrageous price.

Another faint sigh escaped his lips.

"If this goes on, I’m going broke in less than a month," he muttered to himself.

Walking over to the bed, he sat down before allowing his body to sink into the soft mattress—though it still wasn’t as soft as the one in Valentina’s castle.

Then—

He simply fell backward, letting his body rest against the bed.

He set his black glasses aside as his crimson eyes stared at the plain ceiling above.

Silence filled the room.

One minute passed, then another.

Finally...

’You’re sure it won’t take more than a day, right?’ he asked inside his mind.

’I still have to go for that registration tomorrow.’

[I’m a ma—I mean a woman of my word.]

[Don’t you believe me?]

’...’

Lucian didn’t particularly want to answer such a tricky question.

[Oi, answer!]

’...I do.’

Reluctantly answering her, Lucian swiftly sat upright.

"Kanna, come out."

At his command, the maid silently emerged from his shadow and stood before him, her hands neatly folded in front of her as always.

Lucian’s crimson eyes rested on her emotionless, almost porcelain-like face.

"I’ll be unconscious for some time, so don’t disturb me."

His tone came out slightly more serious this time, since he didn’t know exactly what would happen to him after using it.

A faint flicker of confusion passed through Kanna’s eyes, though her expression remained as still as ever.

Despite her puzzlement, she didn’t ask why and simply gave a quiet nod without another question.

"Also... stay with my mother for a while and see if she runs into any problems."

"As you wish, Master Lucian."

Lucian silently thought for another moment, making sure there wasn’t anything else he had forgotten.

Finally...

He slowly raised his palm.

The next instant—

A pitch-black fragment materialized above his hand, floating silently in midair, almost as though it refused to touch his skin.

It resembled a black shard formed from void-like mist, with countless tiny white specks drifting within it like distant, distorted stars scattered throughout a chaotic expanse.

The moment it appeared, that same strange sense of familiarity stirred deep within him once again.

A feeling he simply couldn’t understand.

[Memory Fragment]

Rank: Immeasurable

Rarity: Immeasurable

Description: A small restored piece of the memory of $&@^#&, lost through the entirety and preserved by ######.

— — —

Lucian’s eyes narrowed.

The description...

It had changed slightly.

Was it because of his evolved Analysis?

And why did both of the names appear distorted...?

’Just whose memory is this?’

The more time passed, the more curious he became about the mysterious fragment.

After Valentina had practically kidnapped him for two months of relentless, torturous training, he hadn’t really gotten a single proper opportunity to examine this object—or whatever it truly was.

In fact... he had nearly forgotten that he even had a memory fragment sitting inside his inventory.

Kanna, on the other hand, quietly observed everything from the side with a faint trace of concern—slightly worried about his mental state.

Again and again... she had seen him either speaking to himself or staring into empty space—though that could simply be because he was looking at his status window.

But now...

He was simply staring at what appeared to be an empty palm.

To her, Lucian truly looked more like a mental patient than a genius vampire at the moment—especially considering he had learned the racial abilities in such a remarkably short amount of time.

Completely unaware of the thoughts running through the maid’s head, Lucian briefly lifted his eyes toward her.

Then...

He looked back at the mysterious memory fragment—whoever it belonged to.

There was no manual explaining how to use it.

But... almost instinctively, he knew.

’Devour.’

Darkness spread across his palm.

Wisps of pitch-black liquid emerged, slowly wrapping themselves around the floating fragment.

Then, under Kanna’s confused yet bewildered gaze—who, despite being unable to see the fragment, could clearly see the strange black substance gathering around his hand—

Then—

The darkness completely engulfed the entire fragment.

Moments later...

Both the black liquid and the fragment disappeared entirely, leaving nothing behind.

[Ding~!]

A familiar chime echoed inside Lucian’s mind.

His vision instantly blurred.

[You have devoured a Memory Fragment.]

As soon as the notification appeared before him—

The light within Lucian’s eyes dimmed.

His body suddenly felt heavy.

Before he could even process what was happening...

His eyelids slowly drooped.

The last thing he saw was Kanna’s faintly surprised expression.

Then...

Darkness.

His consciousness disappeared completely as he fell into a deep sleep.

His body tilted forward as all strength left it.

But just as he was about to collapse—

Kanna’s figure blurred from where she stood before instantly appearing directly in front of him, catching his unconscious body before it could hit the floor.

Her emotionless eyes rested on his closed eyelids and peaceful, sleeping face.

His breathing gradually slowed before becoming steady.

’What... happened just now?’ she wondered inwardly, unable to understand what she had just witnessed.

What exactly... had he done?

For several long moments, she remained completely still, quietly looking down at him.

Then—

Remembering his instructions, Kanna pushed those thoughts aside.

She carefully laid him down on the bed, pulled the blanket over him, and silently tucked him in.