Have you heard of the Fool?

Eating lunch with your eyes closed is clearly not a wise choice.

Sitting across from Klein, Alice, who had wrapped a cloth around her eyes to avoid accidentally opening them, regretted her decision for the umpteenth time.

The most annoying part wasn't even being unable to find the food – for some reason, she was surprisingly adept at moving around with her eyes closed.

In fact, what Alice hated most was not being able to see what the food looked like. Even though, frankly, Loen wasn't a country known for its cuisine, Alice still believed that at least half of one's appetite came from the appearance of the food.

...Speaking of which, given the quality of food in Loen, wouldn't opening your eyes just ruin your appetite anyway?

Of course, this didn't stop Alice from being angry about it. So, with the attitude of someone facing an enemy, she viciously tore a piece off the bread, as if tearing flesh from her foe.

Undeniably, this performative act of revenge did, in a sense, startle Klein. He hesitated to speak several times, but unfortunately, it was like casting pearls before swine – or rather, winking at someone who couldn't see, since Alice had covered her eyes.

"I thought you had something to say to me." Alice, tearing off another piece of bread with gusto, couldn't help but speak first.

Klein was clearly flustered by the name Alice had blurted out. He had been thinking about this problem all morning. At this moment, he naturally asked the question he had been formulating all morning without hesitation: "That name... have you heard it somewhere before?"

"I don't know," Alice said, tearing off another piece of bread.

This answer brought the scene to a standstill. Klein wasn't sure if he should continue asking. He could only stiffly make the sound people most often make when confused: "...Huh?"

"You must have heard that I lost my memory, right?" Alice gave up her struggle with the bread and looked towards Klein with her covered eyes – seeing nothing, of course.

"Then why did you..." Klein looked at Alice in confusion. Of course, he had heard that this lucky Miss Lucky One had lost her memories of the past. But there couldn't possibly be someone named Zhou Mingrui in Loen. She must have heard that name from somewhere else – what if she could remember?

"In my last... or rather, my earliest memory," Alice put down the bread, sat up straight, and adopted a rare serious demeanor, "there was a girl wearing that kind of ugly and baggy tracksuit with a school emblem printed on it who called me 'Huanhuan'... I remember we should have been classmates." (Words in quotation marks were spoken in Chinese, same below)

"...'Huanhuan'?" Klein was stunned. A guess surfaced from the bottom of his heart – after all, this was clearly not a Loen-style name.

"Yes, and she seemed to be speaking another language..." Alice made a thoughtful expression. "A language completely different from the Loen language system."

"'Chinese'?" Klein couldn't bear it any longer. He decided to lay his cards on the table first – after all, this amnesiac Miss Lucky One probably couldn't remember much, and from her description, he suspected this Miss Lucky One wasn't very old.

"You do know," the corners of Alice's mouth curved into a joyful arc. Even though her eyes weren't visible, her happiness was palpable. "You must have a connection to that place... So, can you tell me who 'Zhou Mingrui' is?"

"...That's me," Klein admitted helplessly.

"!" Alice seemed even more excited. "Then have you heard of 'Automobile'? Have you heard of 'Neon Lights'? Have you heard of the 'Internet'? Have you heard of..."

"I've heard of all of them," Klein interrupted Alice. He finally realized the purpose of this Miss Lucky One – she was like a duckweed searching for an anchor point. The world in her memory was different from Loen, but she couldn't remember the people and things related to it – perhaps she had even forgotten her own name.

How much better am I than her? Klein laughed at himself, shook his head, and said to Alice, "Perhaps, we come from the same place, a place called 'Earth'."

"'Earth'," Alice repeated the word, and then subconsciously recited a string of words, "'It is the third planet from the sun at a distance of 150 million kilometers, and the only celestial body known to humanity that harbors and supports life...'"

Then this recitation was mercilessly interrupted by Klein: "Stop!"

Alice stopped.

"Do you remember how you Transmigrated... Uh, you know... Do you remember what Transmigration means?" Klein tried to steer the conversation back on track.

"I don't remember, but I can imagine," Alice replied. "If I remember correctly, I should have died? Hmm... I remember I was talking to the girl who called me 'Huanhuan', and then she suddenly looked very scared, screaming for me to be careful, and then I only felt a sharp pain..."

Recalling death was clearly not a pleasant experience. The pain that penetrated her soul prevented Alice from even distinguishing the Spirituality warning within it, so she stopped and didn't continue.

Klein also realized that his way of asking was problematic. It was clearly inappropriate to press further. He changed his approach: "I mean, did you encounter anything special?"

"Can you be more specific?" Alice asked in confusion. Although she most likely didn't remember, what if she remembered with a little prompting?

"Like, things that seem related to Mysticism? For example, strange spells or rituals or something... Maybe items?"

"..." Alice frowned and began to think.

"There's one thing... I'm not too sure."

"What?"

"I... The last thing I heard her say was that she said I was like a born Monster."

"A born Monster?"

"...The Sequence 9 of Lucky One is called Monster."

Klein didn't make a sound for a long time – he really didn't know what to say. Alice's words sent a chill down his spine. He didn't dare to think further.

Alice also chose not to break the awkward silence, or rather, she didn't have the energy to do so right now.

The Fool Not Belonging to This Era,

The Mysterious Ruler Above the Gray Fog,

The Yellow-Black King Who Holds Good Luck,

I implore Your listening,

I implore Your gaze..."

In the dense White Mist, the familiar young girl was reciting this passage with her hands clasped together, in a rather affected posture and tone of piety – still in Chinese, of course.

She seems to be demonstrating for me.

Alice quickly realized the situation, but when she was about to continue thinking, indistinguishable murmurs and whispers intruded into this White Mist, making her face turn pale, and the mist dissipated.

"Have you heard of... The Fool?" She turned her face towards Klein in a daze, asking in an ethereal voice.

Actually, this book came from my rambling when I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night. Yesterday, I woke up and found that it had been approved, and I regretted it so much I wanted to delete my account and run away... But I found that there were actually people reading it (tactical retreat). Well, anyway, since someone is reading it, I'll try my best to write