World Occult Usage Guide

“Woo, woo…”

The sweltering, humid wind blew through my meager amount of clothing, and the unbearable heat made me sweat profusely and feel dizzy.

Inside a ventilation duct that hadn't been cleaned in a long time, Edward bent his limbs and crawled forward with difficulty, using both his hands and feet. In front of him was another person, who was agile and moved swiftly through the narrow space like a spider.

She would stop every now and then, her dark, inky eyes fixed on Edward, who was lagging behind.

"Mr. Roberts, climb faster."

“I’m sorry, Ranger, I thought the world had become a giant Harry Potter, and that you and your Philosopher’s Stone could easily evade Muggle surveillance and sneak into a conference hall. I never imagined we’d have to crawl like watchdogs.”

At 6 a.m., Lin Xile met up with Edward, who was also at the hotel. The two crawled into a kitchen ventilation duct and followed the route they had scouted a few days earlier toward the conference hall.

“As a gentleman, I must be careful to look down, because from this angle I can see under your skirt, Miss Emera,” Edward continued.

"Hurry up, or I'll knock you out with a deluxe edition of Harry Potter and then drag you over."

The reporter shut his mouth, but his movements remained sluggish. Lin An, who was controlling Lin Xile with his mind, narrowed his eyes.

"You don't seem very proactive."

“Ah…” Edward said sullenly, “For some reason, I have a bad feeling.”

“If you’re scared, you can hand over your speech and materials anytime, and I won’t have to keep looking back and waiting for you.” Lin An’s tone was calm. “Edward, if you can’t climb a single pipe, you’re probably not suited to the mystical world.”

Edward trudged a few steps dejectedly. A beam of morning light shone in from the equatorial horizon, dust swirled, and tiny flying insects buzzed around, making the place look like a mass grave from hundreds of years ago.

"I'm not afraid, I'm just..."

He paused, then answered in a devout yet slightly childlike tone.

"Forest ranger, I think that social progress creates straight roads, mutual fear brings peace, so much so that egoists increase and weave a trap to attract a group of believers. The devil doesn't want people to know that the crooked path without progress is the path of humanity."

“Every day, unbelievable, strange, and unexpected news happens, sometimes bringing a smile to one's face, sometimes reflecting all sorts of misfortunes. Whether good or bad, people have the right to know these things, rather than indulging in fabricated utopias.”

“This is a meditation I had when I was young. I saw that the world itself was full of God’s greatness, so I wanted to be someone who reported on it. Perhaps this is part of participating in creation.”

Edward raised his dusty face and gave Lin An a shy smile.

“Whatever awaits me on the road ahead, Mr. Ranger, I want to tell you that I am very happy now. You are like a guiding angel, making my soul more complete.”

The air rippled and shimmered, time seemed to shrink to a single point, and he clasped his hands together, as if feeling the Holy Spirit nurturing his tender breast with mercy and compassion.

Lin An stared into Edward's sincere yet weathered eyes and curled the corners of his lips into a smile.

"Then climb faster, lest the angels kick you out of the group."

"okay."

Having cleared his mind, Edward's lingering confusion and gloom vanished, and he quickly arrived at his destination.

"The press conference room is just ahead," Lin An said. "Are you ready, Edward?"

"Ah."

The reporter nervously swallowed and jumped out of the exit.

"Ladies and gentlemen! I apologize for interrupting you, but I have a very important report to share—"

Before his feet even touched the ground, Edward took out his international press pass and stated his request in a logical and reasonable manner. However, darkness engulfed him, and his words came to an abrupt halt, like flowers suddenly pruned by a gardener.

"thump."

Edward's legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground, because he found that the audience seats were full of faceless people without features. He tried to look up, but found that the pipe that Lin An had opened had disappeared.

It was as if he were standing on an empty stage, completely alone and helpless.

Fear gripped Edward instantly. He breathed heavily, trembled all over, and looked around frantically, wanting nothing more than to find a place to escape.

Is there anything you'd like to tell us?

Suddenly, a voice rang out from among the faceless men, and Edward's eyes widened in shock. He knew someone had just asked him a question.

By the way, the mysterious one...

What I saw was all the work of the Red Poppy Merchant Guild!

Someone wanted to close my eyes, to stop me from seeing, hearing, and speaking.

But what he didn't know was that no matter how tightly his hands covered the light, his eyes would still frantically search for any trace of it.

Overwhelmed by his conviction, Edward had the strength to stand up and strode over to the microphone.

No matter what happens, he must adhere to the duties of a journalist, because it involves integrity, critical thinking, and truth.

Edward overcame his dizziness, cleared his throat, and read aloud.

"There are 300 million liters of polluted water here—"

As he recited the first paragraph of his speech, a strange, warm, and intense feeling spread throughout his body, as if his soul had been cleansed and elevated.

Although his lips were still moving clearly up and down, Edward was already in a daze, his vision blurred, and the image of the faceless men became increasingly indistinct. They flowed like a river, converging towards the center, and eventually formed the shape of a single person.

"Pah, pah, pah."

The crisp sound of clapping brought Edward back to his senses somewhat, and he looked at the person who had approached him, puzzled.

"Forest ranger?"

"it's me."

"Ugh..." Edward groaned, "My head hurts so much, and I have so many questions. What's going on?"

"We exist in a constantly recurring fragment of time."

After some explanation, Edward roughly understood the effect of "The River's Rebirth".

"A cyclical prison... fine, but why are you doing this, Ranger? If I've offended you in any way, I can correct it—am I climbing the pipes too slowly?"

“No, it’s because you’re dead,” Lin An said. “And you’ve been dead for a while.” Edward was struck dumb, frozen in place.

Even after several months of working with mystical colleagues, "death" remains a profound and complex word.

"It all started a few months ago. We had just arrived in Mbanbuka when I was trapped in a time fragment by the Four Living Gods Prophet for two months. After returning to reality, I checked everyone and found that your light spot had undergone an unknown change."

Lin An continued speaking to himself, and Edward could only listen silently.

"After careful examination, I discovered a 'seed' parasitizing your body. It was in a latent stage, but it had already merged with your soul. At first, I didn't know what it was until that voodoo priest killed someone."

“Misuru learned from questioning the ghosts that he went to the border between Bantu and Lacono to sell arms ten days before his death, which was reasonable for a warlord, but the civil war was already in full swing at that time, and he did not take the opportunity to flee, but instead returned to Kinsasha.”

“Ever since that incident, he frequently experienced symptoms such as spacing out, talking in his sleep, and mental confusion, eventually dying with foam at the mouth and his eyes popping out.” Lin An smiled faintly. “By the way, that’s how you died too.”

“Uh, I don’t need to know my autopsy report, thank you.” Edward wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"His death reminded me of another person who did something logical yet slightly strange—you."

"What did I do?"

"As an international journalist who graduated from a prestigious university, you know very well how to publish reports. Normally, you wouldn't just pick up a computer and publish everything in the public media without investigating public opinion and the situation or choosing a publishing channel."

Edward's pupils contracted; it was indeed strange.

Upon entering Mbanbuka's office, he hastily published a news article without even considering contacting any publishers.

"Oh, sir, what have I done!"

"It's nothing, I was just 'artificially demoted'—but after sorting out the whole story, I roughly guessed the scheme of the person who was secretly manipulating things."

"What is it?!" Edward's eyes widened.

"First of all, the Red Poppy Merchant Guild did want to kill you and bury the scandal on the banks of the damp Kuba River. However, after losing a key member, the guild leader became more cautious, careful, and increasingly greedy."

"greedy?"

"By providing you with shelter, I have effectively 'possessed' you and the evidence you possess. Given time, I will certainly want to use this as leverage, either to gain benefits or to damage the Chamber of Commerce's reputation. Edward, recall why you wanted to come to this press conference?"

"It is my duty to report the truth to the public."

"No, normally you would stay far away from this mess of infiltrating the Voodoo Cult and connect with me remotely. An ordinary person wouldn't get carried away and get involved in a battle between two Source-level beings, and one of them certainly wouldn't drag this burden who's been climbing pipes for 3 hours along with them."

"Why don't you just knock me out with a copy of Harry Potter?" Edward said with a wry smile.

"After the Countess died, the president of the Red Poppy Merchants Association decided to use you as an 'anchor point,' a protagonist in a story, to slowly mislead my thinking. He made you think, 'I can't publish news online,' and 'it has to be spread in a certain place to be effective.'"

"So when the press conference was held, you thought, 'This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,' and eagerly applied to me for a spot. Even though you knew in your heart that ordinary people are less useful than ants in the battle against the mystics."

"Bang!" Edward pretended to hit his head with a book.

“Don’t faint, I haven’t finished yet.” Lin An patted his shoulder. “That voodoo priest took advantage of the chaos to come to Mbanbuka and cast a voodoo spell on you—you were originally a ‘voodoo doll’ bound to me.”

Edward pointed incredulously at himself: "Me? A voodoo doll? And you?"

"What was wrong with you that day, wanting to eat half of my breakfast? As a 'Lion Kingdom gentleman,' you never share food with anyone, not even a cup of coffee."

“What would happen if we swapped breakfasts?” Edward asked.

“I suspect that the binding of the voodoo doll requires the exchange of… bodily fluids between two people.” Lin An’s lips twitched as he saw Edward’s innocent and serious expression. “You’re too close. In short, the priest chose Mrs. Adamek.”

"I see……"

“After the Chamber of Commerce president changed the ‘narrative protagonist’ to Mrs. Adamek, you were abandoned. On the night we joined the company, the voodoo priest cursed you to death, but before your vital signs disappeared, I activated [River’s Rebirth].

“Uh.” Edward scratched his head. “You mean, the real me is just on my last breath, while the me here, alive and kicking, is just repeating virtual time and scenarios?”

“Otherwise, how could you have obtained clues about Mrs. Adamek so easily?” Lin An shrugged. “Oh, you probably don’t remember.”

With all the mysteries revealed, Edward suddenly understood. After a long silence, he spoke with difficulty.

"The world of the mystics is too complicated, and... cruel. You have deprived me of my ability to think during this time!"

Lin An glanced at him indifferently, and Edward shuddered, quickly adding something.

"I'm sorry, Ranger, I spoke without thinking. I know you're protecting me, who is weak, but I just hope that in the future, while retaining my own will, I can do what I can for you. After all, I like you and the entire World Tree very much."

"You'll have many opportunities ahead."

What Lin An didn't tell the other party was that the moment he realized Edward might pose a threat to him, he wanted to kill him to eliminate any future trouble.

Anyway, this guy is deeply affected by voodoo and doesn't have long to live, so it's better for him to die sooner rather than later.

...However, they had already had coffee, and Edward chose double espresso.

When Lin An aimed the Hittite ritual at the reporter, he suddenly remembered another person who liked to drink bitter coffee. They also had a devout, righteous, and incredibly stubborn heart, and he also had murderous intentions towards them.

The reasons were exactly the same: they stood on Lin An's path of exploring "Comers".

After watching Edward working at his desk for a while, Lin An threw out the Devil's Dice.

"Is there any way I can save him from his fate of extinction?"

The dice spun around and finally landed on "Yes".

“Very well, it’s settled then.” Lin An retracted the entry. “God won’t call you to another world; you still have a mission here.”

Memories flashed through his mind, and he smiled as he spread his hands, the whole world turning into scattered fragments.

"The Voodoo Priest is dead, and his mystery no longer erodes your soul; through the stimulation just now, you have also attracted the 'Judge' medium and will officially become a Mystic. The awakened base radiation value will make your Tree of Life evergreen."

“Ranger, you have protected me, and I will repay you—I will not let you down.” Edward made the sign of the cross. “I hope I have the honor of being by your side.”

"Ranger-07, it's time."

The broken human figures were replaced by green data, and a stream of code appeared before the reporter, issuing the final instructions.

"Let those people hear the whole truth." (End of Chapter)