Lucky One!

Time was a relative concept. Three years was not long for some people, yet it was exceedingly long for others—such as Alice, who had spent three years taking classes.

This life of devoted study seemed to resonate somehow with Huanhuan's memories. Alice still could not recall most of her memories as Huanhuan—what was her name? What kind of family and friends did she have? What did she like and dislike? What sort of person had she been?

Those memories that carried the nature of "experiences" seemed to have vanished from Alice's mind. Even with Beyonder methods, she had been unable to remember them.

But Alice had still remembered many unusual things.

In her memories, Huanhuan had lived somewhere utterly different from this place. Whether it was the automobiles she had seen in those images or the many modern, high-tech products she recalled afterward, none of them seemed to exist here—including those two descriptive terms, which had surfaced along with the vague memories.

And from the deep impression Huanhuan had of taking classes, homework, exams, and such, Alice realized that those things had probably made up the main part of Huanhuan's life—she had been a student.

The girl who had appeared in the white mist seemed to have been a very close friend of Huanhuan's. It was certain that her memories of that girl had not completely vanished, but Alice did not know how much remained. As she gradually learned common knowledge and Mysticism Knowledge, Alice realized that faint prickling sensation had actually been a warning from her spirituality.

And setting aside everything concerning Huanhuan, there was not the slightest trace of the original owner's memories. It was as though this body had been an empty shell prepared specifically for her.

The thought startled Alice, but for no apparent reason, she resisted considering the matter any further.

Everything Alice learned about this body had ultimately come from the case file.

The few people who knew the girl called her Alice. Perhaps that was not her real name, perhaps she even had a surname, but no one cared, so no one knew.

Three years ago, she had probably been only twelve or thirteen—or fourteen or fifteen, stunted by malnutrition. Her exact age could not be determined, because no one knew. However, Alice guessed it was likely the former, because even after entering an environment with sufficient nutrition, she had only just begun to develop.

She survived through begging, stealing, and scavenging through rubbish. Occasionally, when she was lucky, kind-hearted people hired her to run errands—this was the life of most wandering children in the city.

It was worth mentioning that after her clumped, grimy hair was washed clean, the mud and dust wiped from her face, and clean clothes put on her, the girl actually had a fairly pretty face.

Of course, it was not beauty stunning enough to topple cities, but she had exceptionally brilliant golden hair and pure blue eyes. Such bright colors seemed innately ill-suited to a wandering child.

Yet the facial features beneath that face concealed by mud and dust gave Alice a subtle sense of familiarity—perhaps that had come from Huanhuan?

Yes, Alice still had reservations about whether she was Huanhuan. In comparison, she was more willing to accept the name she had blurted out back then: Alice Kingsley.

Of course, the case file contained more than that. Alice had also learned about the circumstances of her case.

The man she had seen fall down in terror was an unlucky Lucky One—after all, no one had ever Heard Of a Sequence 7 Beyonder falling to his death that way, right?

Yet that was exactly how something so dramatic had happened. As though fate had played a joke on him, he had smoothly become a Beyonder, reached Sequence 7 without suffering any great setbacks or experiencing any great joys, and then suddenly fallen to his death one night.

Then, a Wandering Girl passing by had picked up the Beyonder Characteristic on him and become the new Lucky One.

If his Beyonder Characteristic had been a gift fate prepared for that girl, then he had probably been the deliveryman.

But Alice had no choice—she had already accepted the gift. All she could do was wait, wait for the day fate came to collect the price it needed.

Yes, Alice preferred to describe that Beyonder Characteristic that way, because the police officer—or rather, the Nighthawks—had told her that day that they had reported the matter to Backlund. But the people sent from Backlund had conducted a comprehensive examination of her and concluded that she was even more normal than Beyonders who had advanced normally.

As for the pathway of her Sequence, its potion, and its characteristics, they had been learned through spirit mediumship and divination of that deliveryman—I mean, Lucky One.

Sequence 9: Monster. Possessed extremely high Spiritual Perception, often heard sounds others could not hear and saw things others could not see, occasionally saw images of the future, and had keen intuitive premonitions of danger.

Sequence 8: Robot. Possessed terrifying Calculation Ability and precise control. All physical qualities were clearly enhanced, making one naturally gifted in combat, shooting, and similar fields. It also granted the abilities of divination and Anti-Divination.

Sequence 7: Lucky One. Just as its name implied, a Lucky One gained extraordinary luck, but could not control it. It was passive, and the luck was not fixed, rising and falling—sometimes exceptionally powerful, sometimes like that of an ordinary person.

As for what came next... sending Alice back to be a wandering child was obviously impossible.

Alice stayed in Tingen City, temporarily residing in the church for ease of observation, considering how unusual her situation was.

Considering her age and her lack of extensive knowledge, she was nominally admitted into Tingen City's Nighthawks team. In reality... you could not expect a child who had not even learned all her letters to go out and carry out missions, right?

In fact, Alice had not merely refrained from carrying out missions; she had barely returned to Nighthawks Headquarters at all. Her Daily Life had been arranged quite tightly—meaning studies in language and various basic subjects.

On one hand, this was to make up for Alice's lack of common knowledge. On the other, it was to isolate Alice from the Extraordinary World for a time and observe her condition.

And Alice... uh, Alice adapted to this life of studying very quickly. She even felt she was not studying long enough each day... Well, she always felt that studying more than ten hours a day was what she ought to be doing.

"So what kind of life did Huanhuan live before? Didn't she sleep at all?!"

After realizing she had such thoughts, Alice fell into deep contemplation over the question... Well, she truly could not understand how anyone could study more than ten hours a day.