Klein wakes up in a strange room with blood on his hands, a gun on the table, and a hole in his head. He’s completely confused. As vague memories begin to flash through his mind, the hole in his head starts to regenerate. He remembers his past life as Zhou Mingrui on Earth, but now, he also holds the memories of another man—Klein Moretti.
From what he can piece together, he’s now in Klein Moretti’s body—a jobless history graduate living in the city of Tingen. Hoping for answers, Klein checks the man’s journal and discovers that a month ago, Klein met with someone named Welsh McGovern, and together, they began decoding an ancient book that belonged to the Antigonus family. Though Klein doesn’t know much about them, he senses they are significant.
The journal is filled with cryptic phrases—like “Black Emperor” and “Tutor Kingdom”—but then, the entries stop abruptly. That, combined with the presence of the gun, paints a grim picture. Just then, the journal flips open on its own, revealing a chilling final entry: “Everyone is going to die, including me.” This convinces Klein that the original man must have discovered a terrifying secret that led to his death.
Before he can think further, Klein’s little sister, Melissa Moretti, knocks on the door. He can’t let her see the blood-soaked room, so he quickly shuts the journal and starts cleaning. When Melissa enters, she’s confused by the mess—books stacked everywhere—and asks if he stayed up reading all night. Klein lies, saying he was just organizing.
He tries to hide the gun in a drawer, but he does it clumsily, making a loud thud. Melissa hears it and asks what the noise was. Panicking, Klein pulls out a broken pocket watch as a cover. Silently, Melissa takes it and begins fixing it for him. Despite her cold demeanor, her small gesture shows she still cares.
After she leaves, Klein finishes wiping away the blood. Though his memories remain scattered, it’s clear that the ancient notebook is connected to everything. But now he wonders—how did he even end up in this world?
In his former life, Zhou Mingrui was just an ordinary man, struggling and dissatisfied. One day, fed up with everything, he performed a “luck ritual” he found online to try and change his fate. Somehow, it worked—and transported him into this new body and world.
A few minutes later, Melissa, now dressed for school, gives him a plate of bread and reminds him to buy more from the bakery. She also promises to make a special meal for him that evening, knowing he’s been trying to find a job. But Klein doesn’t plan on staying long—he wants to perform the ritual again, hoping it might send him back to his original world.
For now, he heads to the bakery. While shopping, he gets a strange feeling—as if someone is watching him. After buying the bread, he walks through the city, which appears normal… aside from the eerie, blood-red moon that appears at night.
Along the way, he spots some men playing the card game Landlord, something that also existed on Earth. History books here say the game was invented by Roselle Gustav a hundred years ago. Not only that, but Gustav is credited with inventing tarot reading, steam engines, and even sailboats—massively advancing this world’s technology.
Realizing all this, Klein concludes: Roselle Gustav might have been a transmigrator too—just like him.
At first, Klein feels a bit relieved—if Roselle Gustav was also a transmigrator, then he might not be alone in this world. But that relief doesn’t last. Suddenly, he’s startled by a creepy clown and instinctively reaches for his gun. To be fair, the clown is unsettling, so his reaction is understandable. However, that strange feeling of being watched creeps in again, prompting Klein to quickly walk away.
Convinced he’s being followed, Klein ducks into a nearby tent to lose his pursuer. As it turns out, the tent belongs to a fortune teller. Since he’s her first customer of the day, she offers a free tarot reading. Intrigued, Klein agrees and asks her to reveal his past, present, and future. When asked which he’d like to see first, he chooses the present. The card she flips over is The Fool—the zero card, symbolizing new beginnings. But before she can explain, Klein senses the follower getting closer, so he quickly leaves the tent.
Moments later, a man walks in asking for Klein, but by then, he’s already gone.
Later that day, Klein returns home, ready to attempt the luck enhancement ritual once more—hoping it might send him back to his original world. He prepares talismans and wraps them around pieces of bread, placing them in the four corners of the room. Then, he begins the ritual by chanting “Celestial Worthy” four times.
At first, nothing happens—but suddenly, he’s overwhelmed by a splitting headache, as if his body is being torn apart. When the pain subsides, Klein finds himself floating in a strange void filled with swirling red and blue lights. The lights converge—and suddenly summon two strangers: a young woman named Audrey Hall and a man named Alger Wilson.
Both are confused, but from their perspective, Klein appears almost god-like. Audrey politely asks if this divine realm belongs to him. Klein is clueless, but the moment he thinks about a shrine, one forms from the surrounding gray fog. It seems that he has control over this realm—specifically over the mysterious gray fog.
Alger then asks Klein who he is. It’s a simple question, but Klein hasn’t had time to truly reflect. Is he still Zhou Mingrui, or has he fully become Klein Moretti? After a moment of thought, he decides to embrace a new identity and introduces himself as The Fool.
Alger asks if there’s a reason they were summoned. Though the summoning was accidental, Klein plays along with his new persona and says it was an experiment. Neither of them questions it.
Curious, Audrey asks if they may leave now since he doesn’t seem to need anything from them. Klein reassures her that they are free to go, and she seems to enjoy the mysterious experience. She then asks Klein how to become a Beyonder. He has no idea what that means—but can’t admit that—so he tells her to ask Alger instead.
Alger, still wary of Klein, is amazed that Audrey (who sounds like a noble from Backlund) and he himself (who was far out at sea) were both summoned here—something that would take tremendous power. Putting that aside, he explains that people can become Beyonders by joining the Church of the Evernight Goddess or other similar churches. Though it’s rare to rise to that level, it is possible.
Audrey appreciates the info but doesn’t want to lose her freedom by joining a church. She asks if there’s another way. In response, Alger reveals he has two Sequence 9 potions—something that shocks Audrey because of their rarity, and surprises Klein because he doesn’t even know what they are.
When Audrey asks which potions he has, Alger replies: the Sailor and the Audience. The latter grants keen perception and observation skills. They soon reach an agreement, and Audrey asks Klein to act as a witness to their pact. He accepts.
Before they leave, Audrey makes one final request—she asks if Klein can host more gatherings like this. Alger agrees, now viewing Klein as a powerful benefactor worth following.
Klein hesitates to agree to the meeting request. The more he interacts with the others, the higher the chance they’ll realize he’s not truly powerful. Still, he needs information about the mystical realm, so he agrees and tells them their gatherings will be held every Monday at 3:00 p.m.
With that settled, Audrey suggests they use code names instead of their real names. Since Klein had named himself The Fool, Audrey chooses Justice, and Alger decides to go by The Hanged Man.
Suddenly, in the real world, there’s a knock on Klein’s door. The noise breaks his concentration, and he struggles to keep the gray fog realm stable. Forced to end the gathering, he dismisses everyone and returns to his body.
Back in reality, Klein quickly hides his bloodstained journal and shoves the gun into the stove. When he peeks through the keyhole, he sees an inspector at the door. He ruffles his hair and pretends to have just woken from a nap before answering.
The man introduces himself as Leonard Mitchell, an officer from the Nighthawks, and barges in without waiting. He’s accompanied by his partner, Dunn Smith. They question Klein about Welsh McGovern and Niah, who were both found dead from apparent suicides the previous day—the same day Klein shot himself. Of course, he can’t exactly admit that.
Trying to play dumb, Klein claims he doesn’t remember anything. But Leonard has already found his journal, and its final entry—“Everyone will die.”—clearly raises suspicion. Leonard demands to know what it means, but Klein simply says he doesn’t remember.
Dunn then informs Klein that they have evidence placing him at the McGovern Manor, and that a gun went missing that night. When asked about it, Klein admits he hid the gun—in the stove. Since he’s already telling the truth, he goes on to explain that he woke up this morning after surviving a suicide attempt, but his memory of the event is mostly gone. Naturally, he leaves out the fact that he’s a transmigrator.
Strangely, Dunn believes him. The story matches his own deductions. Still, protocol requires confirmation, so they decide to take Klein to a psychic for verification. Klein panics at the idea that his memories from Earth might be discovered, but he has no choice.
As they escort him to a carriage, Dunn briefly gets distracted by a child. Klein uses the opportunity to flee through a back alley. He runs as fast as he can—but suddenly, time freezes and the world around him begins to float. Realizing a Beyonder is nearby, Klein tries to escape in another direction, but the road itself rises to block him. The entire terrain shifts to trap him.
Just in time, Klein squeezes through a narrow gap and reaches the main road. He jumps into the first carriage he sees and tells the driver to take him to the port. The carriage moves, and for a moment, he thinks he’s safe—until he realizes the driver is none other than Dunn Smith.
Klein wakes up again, this time at his desk, and hears his door creak open. At the end of the hallway, Dunn stands silently. The eerie atmosphere confirms for Klein that Dunn is likely a Beyonder. But he’s not alone. A woman suddenly grabs Klein’s head, pulling his consciousness into a dreamscape.
This woman begins probing Klein’s mind, searching for memories. Thankfully, the gray fog protects his memories of Earth, keeping his secret safe. Still, she continues looking for clues about what happened the night before.
She asks Klein what happened with the Antigonus Notebook, but he genuinely doesn’t know. Then she asks what he was doing when Welsh died. Her powers force Klein to re-enact that moment, and he ends up shooting himself in the head once more—just as it happened.
He snaps back into the hallway as the woman leaves his mind. She informs Dunn that Klein is telling the truth: he really did attempt suicide, and she found no memory of anything prior to that. However, the Antigonus Notebook is still missing, and Klein remains vulnerable.
Recognizing this, Dunn offers Klein a chance to join their organization—the Nighthawks—and become a Beyonder himself.
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