Chapter 3
Liam searched for the meaning behind the words that had made his heartbeat weaken.
"Does he know that I'm not the real Zavi? That's impossible... there's no way he knows," Liam whispered uncertainly.
Once again, the door closed. Liam dragged his feet back and forth between the window and the door before returning to his chair and beginning to write something.
Half an hour later, he tore a sheet of paper from the notebook and read it from beginning to end before deciding to keep it.
To recover his memories and uncover everything else, he would remain in this world no matter what; he had no intention of returning to Earth, even though his memories of his origins were fragmented.
Another reason was that he was already sick of the ridiculous news that appeared every day on Earth. Aside from all that, living there meant having to prepare himself mentally just to avoid being stressed by the government's bizarre policies.
In the world of games, the highest difficulty was probably Nightmare or Hard. However, Liam admitted that living in that place was far more difficult than any level found in a game.
That was one of the reasons he chose to stay here. He did not care whether this place was the same as Earth or not. What mattered was that he could have some freedom for the time being.
He raised the paper and read it once more, checking for any spelling mistakes or things he might have forgotten to write down.
'There are so many problems here; wasn't Zavi originally trying to find a job? Then why did he end up dying because of that place?'
"A date...?" Liam instinctively said after searching through Zavi's memories for evidence.
Satisfied with his notes, Liam stood up and walked to the left, toward the wardrobe and the other furniture.
He immediately slipped the paper into the pocket of his tailcoat. After closing it, he walked to the bed and prepared to sleep, waiting for morning to arrive. The plan would begin tomorrow morning.
However, when he lay down in bed, Liam's eyes refused to close, still haunted by that horrifying moment.
'Come to think of it, how did I end up in this body?'
The question kept repeating itself, and he could find no definite answer, causing his mind to constantly send signals urging Liam to find out immediately.
Naturally, with the little experience and knowledge that had faded over time after being locked away in prison, Liam Tirarty was confused, nearly smashing his own head against the bedpost.
'What scares me is... what exactly was that shadow I saw earlier? It looked like the demons or spirits people living near my house used to talk about, the ones that became a major topic at school back then.'
Thinking about frightening things made sleepiness begin to creep over him. His breathing became steady, the cool night air flowing through the ventilation opening and helping Liam relax as his mind grew calmer.
Several minutes passed. His eyes grew heavy before finally closing, and he fell asleep with his cheek resting against his hand.
...
October 21. Sunday. 7:30 a.m.
Liam had actually woken up much earlier that day, but for some reason, after experiencing a nightmare about Zavi's death, he moved to the living room and fell asleep face down on the sofa.
Even Isabelle, who had left the house at 7:00 a.m. to visit her friend and go to church, had not noticed Liam's presence in the living room.
By coincidence, at the same time, his mother left her room and calmly walked through the living room to retrieve her bag from the hook behind the sofa where Liam was sleeping. Unexpectedly, she found her son sleeping soundly on the sofa, his face buried in a pillow as soft snores escaped his mouth.
Just as she was about to wake Liam, her foot stepped on something. She looked down, and a wooden door was beneath her foot. From the distinctive carvings on it, she immediately recognized it as the door to Ren's room.
'Why is this door here?'
The question caused Mei's thoughts to stop for a moment.
Swallowing with difficulty, she slowly woke Liam.
"Wake up, dear. Did you stay up all night again writing job applications?" she said while gently shaking him.
Feeling something touch him, Liam slowly opened his eyes, catching the faint light filtering through the ventilation opening before looking at the cloudy sky through the half-open window.
He tried to sit up while holding his neck, which suddenly felt stiff and throbbing. Realizing that it was because he had slept in the wrong position, Liam was unsure but tried to hide his discomfort from his mother.
"What time is it, Mom?" he asked while yawning and rubbing both eyes.
'It feels like I'm actually talking to my own mother,' Liam thought with relief, even though he still did not understand how he had entered this body. Yet somehow, it filled the emptiness in his heart after it had been wounded for so long.
His mother took a pocket watch from her handbag, glanced at it briefly, then answered, "It's 7:35." She held the watch out in front of Liam's face.
Liam immediately took the pocket watch carefully and checked it himself. Realizing that he had slept for more than two hours after first waking from the discomfort of the nightmare, he returned the watch, then hurried to the kitchen to fill his now growling stomach.
His mother looked surprised, then smiled at her son's behavior. As she turned around, Mei suddenly realized that she had forgotten to ask why Ren's bedroom door was in the living room.
"Zavi... did you have another fight with your brother?" she asked, her voice a mixture of concern and tenderness.
Although Ren was not her biological son, she loved him dearly and had treated him like her own child ever since her husband, or rather, Ren's biological father, died in a workplace accident in the capital.
From the kitchen on the left side of the living room, near his mother's room, Liam peeked from the doorway and answered, "No. I think you're overthinking it, Mom."
Mei fell silent for a moment before speaking again to make sure. "Then why is his bedroom door underneath the sofa in the living room?"
Liam's mind went blank, his pupils widening at the strange statement.
'I don't know anything about that either.'
His body suddenly began trembling uncontrollably as the image of that mysterious black figure flashed through his mind again and again.
"I don't know," he answered loudly. "I'll fix it later."
"All right... don't do anything reckless. And don't forget to ask someone else for help. Mrs. Menier is ready to help you, you know." Mei shook her head briefly.
"Okay," Liam shouted from the dining room and kitchen.
Afterward, Mei struggled to lift the door and place it in front of the bookshelf where various other items were stored. After that, Mei hurried to the market in the town square, realizing that it was Sunday, the day when the market became busier than usual.
In the room connecting the kitchen and dining room, Liam sat in a mahogany chair, his thoughts in disarray as he stared blankly at the dining table covered with various delicious dishes.
'Now that I think about it, why was that door there? This is strange. Really strange...'
He remained silent for a moment before continuing his thoughts.
'As for the vague silhouette I saw yesterday, after thinking about it more carefully, I'm certain it wasn't a human shadow.'
Liam had felt that something was wrong from the first moment he saw it, and the nightmare had only added to the burden he had been carrying since yesterday.
That shadow was different from an ordinary human silhouette, slightly larger, with a pair of tightly folded wings on its back and curves along its body.
'Was it a woman?'
Honestly, he did not want to think about it anymore.
He immediately raised his head. Liam began eating, tasting flavors he had never experienced before on Earth and also... inside a prison cell. The food was wrapped in unique native Moran leaves called Kele, containing rice, pieces of meat, eggs, and vegetables such as peas, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, and celery leaves, with various sauces and chilies added.
At exactly 8:00 a.m., he finished eating, carried the dirty plates to the sink, washed them until they were spotless, then arranged them back on the shelf.
Breathing felt much more pleasant, and his stomach felt considerably fuller than before. He walked to the living room, picked up the door, and returned it to Ren's room.
After putting it there, he searched the storage room for tools to repair it. When the storage room door opened, dust flew into the air and hit his face.
When the dust entered his nose, he could not suppress the reaction that came over him, and some of it went deeper into his lungs.
Huff...
Just by looking at it, it was obvious that the storage room had not been entered or cleaned by the Actitus family for a long time.
"Are the tools still here?" he muttered softly.
'Yeah, I know this is strange. As for what happened to me this morning, I heard heavy, rhythmic footsteps accompanied by a long whistle echoing with every step. And regarding those memories of death, it seems I have to investigate them myself so I won't continue being haunted by fear,' he thought, confused by what had happened before dawn. Liam's body suddenly went rigid, and he trembled from head to toe.
Even though he knew Ren was only his half-brother, Liam would still try to treat him like a real older brother.
After struggling for so long, he was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. He decided to check whether the minor repairs had made the door function properly.
Doing all that turned out to be enough to erase the strange thoughts haunting him. He decided to lie down in his room for a while, feeling as though there was nothing left to do. Everything felt quiet and directionless.
However, as soon as he entered, his gaze fell on the desk. A notebook was lying there, and his thoughts returned to that night, the night when he had written down and organized his plans.
Liam immediately remembered what he had written the previous night: he would recover his memories from Earth, along with the vague fragments of Zavi's memories that overlapped with his own, and once that was done, he would enjoy the freedom he had longed for.
He immediately opened his wardrobe, took out his tailcoat, and put it on carefully.
Two minutes later, he left his room and locked the bedroom door from the outside to prevent his younger sister from entering and discovering the secret that he was no longer the older brother they had once known.
Liam dressed in a classic style, wearing a tailcoat and a neatly pressed white shirt with a black tie.
His fingertips touched the cold metal for a moment before he took a deep breath and stepped out of the narrow alley separating the house from the street, where people and horse-drawn carriages usually passed.
The city's suffocating air greeted him with a mixture of strange scents, faint smoke, a cool breeze, and damp earth. He decided to head to No. 01 Cosdever Street, which was quite far from No. 11 Vica Street, where he lived.
Liam's steps remained steady amid the crowded sidewalk. Shoulders brushed against one another. Conversations overlapped. Along the stone road, horse-drawn carriages passed by, their hooves striking dry stones mixed with mud, while wooden wheels creaked loudly around the corners.
'It feels like I've been transported to a world resembling nineteenth-century Earth.'
Liam thought as he observed his surroundings.
Rows of houses stood close together, each with chimneys still releasing thick black smoke, their windows tall and narrow. Yet the houses still looked comfortable enough to live in. There was no morning fog, as factories were very rare in Chapena, especially in Moran. Some men wore formal suits and bowler hats or top hats, while women wore classic yet elegant dresses and clothing, combined with long, wide skirts.
A few seconds later, he arrived at an intersection where horse-drawn carriages usually stopped and gathered. A horse nervously swished its tail, its breath condensing slightly in the air before it whinnied upon noticing someone's presence.
'David Havertson's government in Chapena really does have its benefits.'
He was a nobleman who governed several areas of Chapena, including all of Vica and Cosdever.
When he turned his head, his gaze suddenly froze. On the porch of a dimly lit shop busy with passing pedestrians, someone was behaving strangely. His face was hidden in the building's shadow as though concealing malicious intentions toward one of the people passing by. Only his eyes were clearly visible, open and silent, staring directly at Liam as though watching him.
"Huh!?"
Liam instinctively quickened his pace. He moved toward the crowd ahead, slipping between two men in flat caps leaning beside the wheel of a carriage. One of them was calming a horse that had begun to whinny softly for no apparent reason.
While covering part of his face with his arm, Liam spoke calmly. "Could you take me to Kyomi Library?"
The man in the flat cap lowered the brim of his hat before answering in a hoarse voice, "The fare might be a little expensive. Around 3 Pace, maybe 4 Pace from here to there."
Liam fell silent for a moment, calculating in his head before making his decision. "All right. We'd better go soon."
'4 Pace? If I convert it into Earth's currency, it might cost about three meals where I used to live.'
Liam tried to interpret the relationship between this world's currency and the Earth he had once lived on. Roughly 52,500 thousand in rupiah, Earth's currency.
The man stretched his stiff back, patted his friend's shoulder, then told him their destination. He gestured for Liam to get in before the horse began moving.
The interior of the enclosed carriage was decorated with intricate symbols belonging to the Kingdom of Norn, carved into its outer frame. The carvings looked unfamiliar yet symmetrical, like ancient emblems that had existed for a very long time. And all of it originated from a proposal by Moran's main church, Morotuane, which worshiped one of the nine gods: Auneron, the bringer of fortune and virtue.
As he sat down, something pressed against his chest. Reflexively, he opened the small curtain behind him, his gaze sweeping over everything behind him.
'Where did that man go? Was he watching me, or is this just my strange intuition?' Liam thought suspiciously, then knocked twice against the carriage wall from inside before the carriage finally began moving.
However, the misunderstanding could have had fatal consequences if it had not been properly clarified. The man Liam had previously suspected was actually only waiting for a pamphlet from his friend, too embarrassed to show himself to anyone while receiving it.
Finally, the carriage moved forward, followed by the crack of the whip and the horse's whinny.
'Now that I think about it, I remember the logo on that man's clothes. But where did it come from?'
A few minutes later, he got off at the intersection of No. 1 Cosdever Street. He paid the agreed fare and walked away without looking back.
The sidewalks here were cleaner. The buildings looked larger, their windows decorated with thin stained glass. In the distance, two cathedral towers rose high into the pale sky, their bells ringing every ten minutes, mourning the string of mysterious deaths that had struck Moran yesterday, Saturday.
After walking for several minutes, he arrived in front of a large iron gate. Beyond it stood a magnificent building and beautiful grounds that left him stunned and speechless for a moment.
A magnificent building with a gleaming stone facade. A beautiful garden surrounded it, neat and symmetrical. In the middle of the pathway stood a tall fountain, its water flowing calmly and serving as the focal point for every visitor.
After waking before dawn about an hour earlier, he had dreamed of two things. First, Zavi's death. Second, a dream that had left him waking drenched in sweat after hearing a strange whisper that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, although afterward he could no longer remember it.
Liam could not hide his fear, forcing himself to remain calm and act normally as he conducted his investigation alone.
'This can't be a coincidence.' That thought alone strengthened his resolve not to panic.
He stood before the open iron gate, watching elderly people, teenagers, and children accompanied by their mothers pass through the entrance and enter Kyomi Library.
Liam smiled politely at the guards and continued toward the main entrance. As soon as he stepped inside, the first thing to greet him was a massive chandelier hanging overhead.
He glanced at the layout of the building, then moved to the left, passing rows of towering bookshelves in search of informative texts. After a long search, he found a book that seemed suitable.
"Is this really the right one?" he muttered softly.
However, after only ten seconds of reading, a cold voice pierced his ears. His body instinctively froze as he slowly turned to the side, coming face to face with a man and a woman.
"So you finally came too, Zavi," Leo, his former classmate, muttered.
Leo Zilvera, accompanied by a woman named Forn Vinora, walked toward him, both of their gazes fixed on Liam. They had been Zavi's classmates at Vamaeora High School in Tezny District, the center of Moran City.
Liam fell silent for a moment before asking hesitantly, "Were you two looking for me?"
'Weren't they Zavi's classmates during his second and third years? Why are they here?' Liam thought nervously, unsure what to do, feeling as though something unpleasant was waiting for him.
"Oh. Leo happened to see you," Forn replied, her black hair tied back and her brown eyes remaining calm as she continued, "Actually, he was planning to visit your house, but he changed his mind after accidentally seeing you enter the library. It's rare to see you wanting to read."
Liam chuckled softly, acting like a true friend.
'Uh, I don't know. Maybe he wants to invite me somewhere, right? A reunion to strengthen our friendship?' Liam frowned, unable to believe how quickly the situation had changed.
Their meeting was brief. Liam chose to take his leave because he did not want to interact too much, afraid that his identity as someone else would be exposed. However, they did not let him leave so easily.
Instead, they immediately revealed their true intention of spending time together somewhere, since it had been about two and a half years since they had last met, talked, and laughed together.
His fingers grew sweaty, and his breath caught in his throat from the discomfort of being constantly pressured to go with them. He felt annoyed as the people inside the library began turning their attention toward him.
Then, hesitantly, he decided to back down, leaving his two friends with somewhat awkward expressions.
Liam stopped and turned around. For a moment, he saw an indescribable, somewhat gloomy expression on their faces. He let out a long sigh and reluctantly said, "All right, all right. When is this outing going to take place?" he asked while looking at their faces, now filled with happy smiles.
They approached Liam, and Leo whispered the meeting point a mystical, sacred and delightful place. The meeting point was a park in the Tezny District, at 12 Ahiston Road.
Liam nodded and paused for a moment to commit the location to memory. After that, they said goodbye, reminding him not to be late for the meeting.
They both went back to what they were supposed to be doing: getting ready.
"Right, then," replied Liam with a blank expression.
From a distance, Liam watched their backs as they walked out through the library's main entrance. He then returned to the bookshelf where he'd been reading earlier and carried on until he'd finished the book.
"What on earth is all this about?" he muttered in surprise. "What sort of strange conflict is this? And the discovery of bodies with black spots on their necks?"
'Could this have anything to do with me?' he thought suspiciously.
'Underground organisations, terrorists, cults, and groups of strange people are attacking key facilities across Moran, including the cathedral. Chaos in Sanerva. The downfall of a nobleman. What on earth are they thinking?'
Liam's eyes widened slightly. He didn't know whether events like this were common in this world.
He then leafed through the book further, surprised to find that it chronicled both past and present events. Unlike back home on Earth, the history recorded in the books here was very strange and varied.
The book Liam was holding, titled 'Mysteries and the Upside-Down World', detailed the beginning of the Star Calendar era around the 550s. It was an age of war, cultural discrimination and religious conflict everywhere, and more specifically, hatred towards tall, brown-eyed people with somewhat straight hair, people referred to as 'Hell's Demons'.
"Isn't that cruel?" Liam nodded and muttered absent-mindedly.
"But surely there must have been a reason, or perhaps it was simply to satisfy their own desires and impulses?" he continued softly, his hair standing on end after reading a few paragraphs on page fifty.
The war and the mysteries surrounding those petrified corpses were clearly documented in the book.
A beautiful world hidden behind the mountains had emerged during that era, alongside the appearance of nine extraordinary figures, each bearing a unique title:
King of the Chemical Prisoners.
Rhythm Mystical.
Black Flame Ordeal.
The Banishing Naraka.
White Foggy Night.
The Elusive Sorcerer.
Although this was kept secret and only a handful of people truly knew the details, including Zavi, who was aware of the names of the three mythical titles.
'Heaven of Inevitable Descent. Monarch of Shaman. Lord of Chaos. They became the stuff of legends and even popular tales amongst children and adults alike.'
Liam was familiar with these three figures, whilst the other six were completely unknown to him. This knowledge stemmed from Zavi's memories, along with vague, hard-to-recall and rather strange fragments.
Events from over a thousand years ago were vividly described in the book; a single line on page fifty recounted the brutal massacres carried out across various regions by the brown-eyed human race against various races with blue eyes, as well as those with dark brown, grey, amber, hazel and black eyes, all of whom were said to have connections to non-human beings.
'If I want answers, there's only one way: to investigate the documents and written secrets kept by the rulers out there.'
Liam smiled bitterly and was about to close the book, but stopped himself when he accidentally turned another page.
'It can't be. The largest continent in this world, Karanda… isn't from this world?'