1. The Antique Bookstore

“Dear Mother, greetings.
“…I have secured the position of professor at Lamifa University, responsible for teaching the history of literature from the Silent Era and earlier. I have met my colleagues at the institute, some of whom were my former professors, and they are all very agreeable people.
“…
“…I hope you take care of your health.”

Siles Noel sat at his desk, eyes lowered, holding a quill pen and drafting a letter to his mother on scrap paper.

After a moment, he added a few less-than-honest lines: “The salary from the professor position is sufficient for my life in Lamifa City,” and “My current landlady, Mrs. Fain, is a very agreeable person, though I will move to the faculty dormitory provided by the university after the semester begins.”

Once the letter’s content was finalized, Siles let out a slight sigh of relief. Subconsciously, he glanced at the pocket watch beside his hand. It was already late at night. The sound of pattering rain came from beyond the dirty, blurred window glass.

Siles stood up and walked to the window, gazing out at the hazy night and flickering glimmers of light.

The past day had been chaotic for him.

At this time yesterday, he had become Siles Noel, a research scholar who had just graduated from Lamifa University this year—conceptually similar to a postgraduate student on Earth. His field of study was literary history.

Before becoming Siles Noel, his name was He Jiayin, a fairly renowned novelist on Earth.

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Nyvla, obld bl xlv psxl nszzlytwlp qasx vbl Rdpvkvwvl sq Nkvlayvwal yde Tkpvsau, vblu olal alxyajyczu oyax yde qakldezu.

…But a twenty-four-year-old student, freshly graduated, ascending to become a full professor at the most prestigious university in Lamifa City?

It sounded somewhat unbelievable.

From the original body’s memories, he had simply graduated as expected and applied for the position as advised by his mentors. Everything had fallen into place smoothly, and he secured the role.

The original Siles was a student of Lamifa University. During the interview, Siles encountered several of his former professors. From their behavior, nothing seemed amiss.

Yet, Siles harbored deep suspicions.

He cautiously added “why I became a professor” to his list of future investigations.

His investigation list was already extensive.

For instance, the geographical location of Lamifa City, future living arrangements, and this world itself.

Last night, after becoming Siles and absorbing his memories, he was astonished to realize that this world bore striking similarities to the setting of the tabletop role-playing game he had been running with friends before his death.

The same Lamifa City, the same heretic who had escaped and caused panic in the city, and even, from the original body’s memories, a few vaguely familiar figures that closely resembled character cards from the tabletop game.

And then there was…

Siles turned and glanced at an object on his desk, placed beside the ink bottle.

It was a dodecahedral die.

A tabletop role-playing game was akin to the scripted murder mystery games popular among young people on Earth. However, a key enjoyment of tabletop games lay in the randomness brought by dice rolls.

In such games, players typically had a character card representing their in-game persona. The character card had three basic attributes—constitution, spirituality, and willpower—as well as various skills such as investigation, psychology, mythological knowledge, and so forth.

During the game, the game master described the setting and story progression to the players, while also rolling dice to determine outcomes and their impact on the story’s development.

For example, if a character card’s investigation attribute was 25, and the die roll resulted in a 20, lower than 25, the investigation would be deemed successful, allowing the player to uncover useful information.

But if the die roll resulted in a 30, higher than 25, the investigation would fail, and the player would miss clues, even if they were right in front of them.

Such unpredictable outcomes greatly influenced the players’ progress. Some unlucky players might fail to uncover any information during a session and die inexplicably.

When Siles played tabletop games in his previous life, he was the game master. His friends were the players, and the scenario was sourced from the internet.

At the time, they hadn’t used physical dice, relying instead on random numbers generated by electronic devices.

But when he arrived in this world, he was surprised to find a real die by his side.

It was a pitch-black dodecahedron with edges glinting with golden light, roughly three centimeters in length, width, and height. The numbers on each face constantly shifted, from 0 to 100, never stopping.

Out of instinctive caution, Siles had not used the die since noticing its presence, nor had he attempted to toss or roll it.

In the past day, he hadn’t heard any rattling sound of the die rolling.

Everything seemed calm.

But he clearly knew that the die’s presence was likely tied to his transmigration. Why had he transmigrated? Why had he come to this world? And where had the original Siles gone?

Was he dead? Yet, from the memories he inherited, the original Siles had simply gone to sleep as usual, and when he awoke, he was He Jiayin.

He felt this matter was extraordinary, with secrets surely hidden behind it.

At that moment, Siles abruptly thought of something.

In the tabletop game he played, the game master was called the Secret Keeper—the one who guards secrets.

Siles took a soft breath, held it for a moment, then exhaled slowly. He thought, at least no one with transcendent powers had suddenly appeared to arrest him for usurping another’s body.

The world of Feishier had real deities, so he also suspected the existence of so-called “transcendent powers.” After all, in his previous life, he was a novelist.

Thus, until he uncovered the truth, Siles would guard the secret of being a visitor from another world and strive to survive in this world so different from Earth.

On that foundation, he would try to find a way back to Earth. Even if it might take countless time and effort, he was, after all, a stranger in a foreign land.

Siles closed his eyes briefly, then returned to his desk, transcribing the letter for the original body’s mother onto formal stationery. He folded it, placed it in an envelope, and planned to mail it the next morning.

On the envelope, he wrote the mother’s address:
“Lamifa City, Merlin Town, Kanyo Farm.”

Afterward, he set the envelope aside, meticulously organizing the papers, ink, quill, notebook, and other items on his desk before heading to the small washroom attached to the room.

Moments later, he emerged from the washroom, changed into pajamas, lay on the bed, closed his eyes, and soon drifted into dreams.

The next morning, Siles Noel dressed in suitable casual attire and placed the envelope in the inner pocket of his coat. He took his pocket watch, a small notebook, a sharpened pencil, and, with caution, slipped the die into his pocket.

He glanced through the blurry window glass and saw that the weather remained overcast, though it wasn’t raining. Still, he brought a long-handled umbrella, using it like a cane.

He put on waterproof leather boots suitable for the muddy roads of this weather, grabbed his wallet and keys, and left the apartment.

The apartment building he lived in was located at 13 Milford Street, West Lamifa City.

His landlady, Mrs. Fain, owned the entire building. Her husband was a wealthy merchant who was rarely home, so Mrs. Fain managed and rented out the apartments to pass the time.

Siles’s apartment was at the end of the second floor’s east side. This floor had three units, each about twenty to thirty square meters, each with its own washroom. In West Lamifa, such apartments were considered quite decent.

Siles met Mrs. Fain in the first-floor lobby.

Mrs. Fain was a middle-aged woman in her forties, always wearing a long skirt and an apron. Despite her wealth, she preferred to handle things herself and had not hired a maid.

Her eyebrows were perpetually arched. She was an unforgiving woman who rarely spoke kindly. Her husband’s constant absence and her son’s wayward behavior had made her solitary and sharp-tongued.

Siles greeted her: “Good morning, Mrs. Fain.”

“Good morning, Mr. Noel,” Mrs. Fain replied, her expression slightly surprised. But she quickly added, “Are you heading out? Be careful, that damned heretic is still in the city. I don’t know why those useless priests haven’t found him yet.”

“Thank you for the reminder. I’ll stay safe,” Siles said politely. “I’ve found a job and plan to send a letter to my mother. By the way, I meant to tell you, barring any surprises, I’ll likely move out in about a week.”

“Oh…” Mrs. Fain frowned. “Mr. Noel, you should have told me sooner.”

Siles apologized, “I only got the job yesterday. It was too late to disturb you when I returned.”

Mrs. Fain nodded distractedly. “Alright, alright… I understand.” She seemed about to say something but stopped herself, instead saying, “Once I find the next tenant, I’ll refund part of your rent. Not all of it, of course.”

Siles nodded.

The faculty dormitory at Lamifa University was free, so even if moving out now meant losing some money, it was better than staying with Mrs. Fain. Besides, commuting from here to Lamifa University was quite inconvenient.

However, Mrs. Fain’s attitude seemed unusually amicable. He had expected her to react more strongly.

Siles’s gaze, slightly troubled, swept over Mrs. Fain’s expression. She seemed preoccupied with some worry, which might explain why she didn’t care much about his departure.

Was it because of her husband? Her son? Or perhaps a troublesome tenant?

The former novelist’s mind began to weave possibilities.

But he didn’t show his thoughts, quickly bidding farewell to Mrs. Fain and leaving the apartment building. Soon after, he arrived at the carriage station in West Lamifa and mailed his letter.

Lamifa City had no dedicated postal service; letters could only be sent through carriage stations with carriages heading to the intended destination. Siles was fortunate to find a carriage bound for Merlin Town.

Merlin Town was a small town east of Lamifa City, where Siles Noel was born and raised.

The Noel family now consisted only of a widowed mother and her son. Siles’s father had passed away in his childhood, and his mother had raised him alone. From Siles Noel’s memories, she was a strict yet loving mother.

The mother and son depended on each other, their bond warm, which was why Siles, after sorting out his thoughts and securing a job, immediately wrote to the original body’s mother.

Though he hadn’t yet decided how to approach this mother going forward.

After leaving the carriage station, Siles mentally reviewed his upcoming tasks.

For the next while, his main priorities were preparing lessons and moving.

With only a week until Lamifa University’s semester began, lesson preparation was urgent. After yesterday’s interview, he learned that the previous literature history professor’s teaching plans were still in the office, and he could reference them.

Siles decided to visit Lamifa University today.

The university was not in West Lamifa but in East Lamifa, across a river. West Lamifa was the earliest developed area, now called the Old City, while East Lamifa was the more prosperous part.

To travel from West to East Lamifa, one could rent a private carriage or take a public carriage. The latter followed fixed tracks and stopped at designated stations, far less convenient than a private carriage.

But public carriages were cheaper.

In his letter to his mother, Siles had claimed his salary was more than enough for living expenses. However, if he wanted to investigate the truth behind his transmigration, he would likely need money for various purposes in the future.

So, he opted to save where he could and planned to find ways to earn more.

Following the original body’s memories, he headed to a nearby public carriage station.

The station was at Logan Merchants’ Market, southwest of Milford Street. This was the liveliest part of West Lamifa, with various shops and vendors—shoe stores, clothing shops, bakeries, butchers, spice shops, and occasionally stalls from merchants outside the city.

Lamifa City had deliberately set up a public carriage station here for residents’ convenience.

As Siles passed a corner and began to smell the complex aromas of Logan Market, he caught a glimpse of a dimly lit shop at the corner.

At that moment, a rattling sound of dice echoed in his mind.

【You need to make an investigation check.】
【Investigation: 30/15, Success.】
【You inadvertently notice an antique bookstore. You believe you can obtain useful information from it.】