Huge cauldrons simmered with food, the aroma thick in the air. Many Chimera Beasts waited hungrily on the sidelines. I found a spacious spot, right under thirteen massive pillars, surrounded by a ring-shaped city.
There were countless Chimera Beasts I’d never seen before. They had transformed to human size, chatting among themselves. Most were familiar faces—some even friends. It felt like a long-awaited reunion, and their conversations brimmed with joy.
To prepare a proper meal for them, I spent nearly a whole day getting ready. Finally, everything was set. In a few hours, they could eat. The Law of Karma hadn’t struck yet.
This surprised me. I asked Nuwa, but she didn’t know either. Maybe after it devoured my shattered memories, the Law of Karma had exhausted its strength. With the help of the Chimera Beasts, that force was now destroyed.
Even now, nearly half my body remained translucent. It seemed I’d only recover once the Law of Karma’s Karmic Erosion was truly finished. About half my fragmented memories still hadn’t been wiped out.
Especially in this place—the ring-shaped city around us was mostly intact. I kept checking every cauldron, and some Chimera Beasts had already started eating.
“How’s your body holding up?”
Just then, Hayden Orion approached me. I shook my head.
“Using my powers still isn’t smooth, but it feels like I’m recovering—slowly.”
As I spoke, Hayden Orion placed a hand on my shoulder, sensed for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
I rested my chin in my hands, quietly gazing at everything before me. Unconsciously, I began to feel a bit dazed. Alarmed, I immediately stood up, my expression turning serious as I swept my eyes around the room. I shouldn’t be able to feel tired—I don’t even have a body that can feel fatigue. Something isn’t right.
I walked out of the room and went straight to the rooftop. A gentle breeze brushed past me. When I turned, Eugenia appeared, grinning as she strolled over.
"You seem troubled lately."
"I suppose so."
I replied, and Eugenia shook her head.
"Humans are always like this. Why do you have so many worries?"
I pondered for a moment, then smiled and said,
"Because we’re weak, we have so many troubles. Unlike the beings here, born strong, able to rely solely on their own will and power to achieve anything."
"Not entirely. We have our own worries too, but compared to humans, it’s much easier. Take Hayden Orion, for example—he’s always frowning every day."
I burst out laughing.
"Of course. His wife ran away—how could he be happy?"
Suddenly, a buzzing sound filled my head and I staggered to the ground. Eugenia looked at me in surprise.
"What’s wrong with you?"
I got up and shook my head, then gave her a bitter smile.
"Looks like the Law of Karma can’t get to me from the outside, so it’s trying to drag my consciousness away directly."
Now I understood—just as Nuwa said, I could only rely on myself. The Chimera Beasts could help me guard my memory fragments, but the Law of Karma would still find ways to pull my consciousness away. I could really feel it now: fatigue, the urge to sleep.
"Leave this to us. We won’t let anything devour what’s here."
I nodded, returned to the room, and lay down on the bed. I didn’t know where my consciousness would go once I fell asleep, but it didn’t matter anymore. As long as everything outside was secure, if I entered the inner world, the Law of Karma couldn’t interfere with my powers through my shattered memories. I was certain of this.
The sensation was strange—wanting to sleep from exhaustion felt like this. My body felt light and comfortable. Eugenia was still saying something in my ear, but soon her presence faded as my eyes closed, and her voice slowly drifted away.
Gradually, darkness enveloped everything around me. I lay heavily in the void until, suddenly, a cacophony of voices jolted me awake. I was floating, with the blazing sun above and a school ahead. Startled, I saw a flood of students carrying bags and luggage, surging into the building.
Confused, I wondered what this scene meant. But soon, I felt something strange. Among the crowd, a thin, short-haired boy in jeans and a white shirt, carrying a large bag and looking timid and young—that was me.
Startled, I drifted beside the boy—Zhang Qingyuan—who was inching his way through the throng toward the school entrance.
Watching everything, I struggled to remember. This must be my past. I glanced around—a sprawling city—then followed Zhang Qingyuan into the school.
Inside, many of the classroom buildings looked old, but the environment was nice: clean floors, plenty of greenery. After entering, I watched Zhang Qingyuan join his class—the Electrical Engineering Department, Class One—where nearly ninety percent of the students were male.
Zhang Qingyuan sat nervously at his desk, listening to a teacher named Qian Jiaming speak. Soon, the teacher led them to the dormitory for room assignments.
Zhang Qingyuan’s expression relaxed somewhat as he walked with his classmates, but having missed the right moment, he couldn’t join their conversations. Before long, they arrived at a dorm building.
The students followed Qian Jiaming into the dormitory, while the girls went with the manager of the women’s dorm.
But then a problem arose: each dorm was meant for four, but there was an extra person. Some mix-up had left no spare rooms, and many students began to complain.
Zhang Qingyuan was assigned to that crowded dorm. The five of them stared at each other—the room had only four beds. The homeroom teacher, Qian Jiaming, kept discussing the issue with the dorm manager.
Even after a long discussion, there was no solution. All the other dorms were full, except for the girls’ dorms, which still had space.
"Teacher, it’s fine, I’ll move out. I was planning to live alone anyway."
At that moment, Zhang Qingyuan spoke up. I stared at him in surprise. The problem was solved; Qian Jiaming apologized to Zhang Qingyuan, who just smiled and said it was no big deal.
I watched this face identical to mine in astonishment, unsure what he was thinking. Zhang Qingyuan’s back looked lonely, but his expression seemed almost content, as if he was used to solitude. He looked far more relaxed than he ever did at school.
Following the teacher’s instructions, Zhang Qingyuan walked past a street lined with bars and headed to an apartment building outside a newly cleared hillside. I stared in wonder—this must be why the place felt so familiar. This building.
He must have lived there all four years of college, and the rent was cheap—just 200 a month, plus utilities.
I watched as Zhang Qingyuan quickly registered as a resident. Suddenly, I understood why the rent was so low—because the building was never full, even though the environment was nice. But as I followed Zhang Qingyuan inside, I saw a massive black vortex swirling above the building, like mist shrouding the rooftop, with only a faint glimmer of light at the center.